"So where's my room?" Lenora asked. "It's not too close to yours, is it? And it better not actually be yours either!"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," James said. "What makes you think I'm interested in you? For all you know, when they took my heart away, they took away my need for women too."

"Oh, please," Lenora said. "I doubt that. So, my room? Where is it? Or do I have to sleep in a barn or something?"

"No," James shook his head. "You get a space in the house. If I put you anywhere else, it would just make it easier for you to run away."

A rat suddenly ran across the floor and Lenora let out a shriek and jumped into James' arms. "Nothing to be frightened of," he said. "Just some vermin." Lenora let him go. "Are there a lot of them around here?"

James nodded. "Shooting them is one of Max's favorite pastimes. And the ones he doesn't shoot, they get caught in the traps, which you'll dump outside."

"Can I not?" Lenora asked. "Can't you get Max to handle the vermin?"

James shook his head. "No. What kind of person would I be if I made him take your punishment, hmmm?"

"Take me to my room now," Lenora commanded. She was beginning to feel ill.

He led her up to a small, cramped space wit a very narrow bed and a raggedy red blanket. "You'll sleep here," he said. Lenora's face contorted. "I think I'll take my chances in front of the fire with the rats."

James nodded. "As you wish. You might as well go to sleep now. Your day begins at five."

Lenora's eyes widened. "Five? In the morning?"

"Yes," James nodded, his lips curling. "Five. In the morning."


Lenora was rudely awakened at five am by having a bucket of water tossed on her. "Oh, my god!" She said, shaking droplets off herself. "What is your problem?"

"I just came to wake you up," James said. He looked down her body and grinned. "You look a little damp."

Lenora glared at him. "If you're up, why can't you do the chores? Or at least some of them?"

"See, I don't think you quite understand the punishment part of this," he said. "You killed a woman. That's wrong. Now you have to face the music and you're doing that by cleaning my house. It's not something where whoever gets up first does the chores. Now get up, Princess."

Lenora glared at him. "I really hate you."

He played with her hair. "You really do look good wet," he said. "It's a shame you have to change. But you'll get a chill if you don't and I can't have you getting ill. That would inconvenience me enormously."

"Yeah," Lenora said, slapping his had away and grudgingly standing up from the floor by the fire. "I can see how my being sick would be an incredible inconvenience for you."

"Actually," another voice said, "if you got ill, I could do the chores. I wouldn't mind."

"Max!" James snapped. "Don't say that to her!"

"Why?" Max asked. "I'm just saying I would do it if she got ill. Which could happen. It wouldn't hurt to have a plan 'B' then."

"Oh, don't be silly, Max. That's never going to happen," James said, his eyes lighting up. "I just remembered that you're a vampire, aren't you? You can't get ill!"

"How do you know?" Lenora asked. "It could be possible for me to be sick since I'm part witch too. It would be a good idea for you to be cautious and just assume that it's possible for me to be ill or otherwise incapacitated."

James grinned. "I'll believe it when I see it."


A few days later, Lenora was the one who woke James up. Early one morning, he was abruptly awoken when he heard screams and an acrid smell entered his nostrils. The screams soon became shrieks and he ran from his room to the front hearth where he saw Lenora running around the living room. Her nightgown, hair, and parts of her body were aflame. "Max!" James called. "Get some water! Lenora is on fire!"

It took a little while, but eventually, they managed to put out the fire that covered Lenora, but her hair was charred and her arms and legs badly burned.

James looked her over and she grinned. "See?" She said faintly. "Don't you underestimate me, James. You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Now I do," James said. "If you're willing to set yourself on fire just to get out of some housework, you're clearly insane, aren't you?"

"Does that bother you?" Lenora asked.

James shook his head. "No. It just means we'll have to be more diligent with locking up the sharp objects and keep extra water around in case you decide to burn the castle down, but other than that, once you're healed, it will be back to work bright and early as usual. At least until your next crazy bid for freedom, that is."

"You don't seem too upset by the thought of me making them," Lenora observed.

"I don't mind," James shrugged. "You won't succeed and it lends excitement to my otherwise dull existence."


Selina came into the kitchen and saw Klaus sprawled out on the floor with his head under the cabinet while he fixed the sink. Smiling to herself, she silently and carefully made her way across the kitchen floor, then gently lowered herself to her knees, unbuttoning and unsnapping his jeans before gently stroking him. He groaned and his body shot upwards. He hit his forehead and swore.

"Oh, my god! Selina cried, trying to suppress giggles. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to bump your head!" She got up and put some ice in a bag, and then as he sat up, she handed it to him. He put it on the bump for a little bit and then stood up. He went downstairs, turned the water back on and grabbed the sprayer on the sink, pointing it directly at Selina. "Let's see if this works now, shall we?" He said. He turned the faucet on and the sprayer soaked her from head to toe, which caused her t-shirt to cling to her body. She wore no pants and no shoes.

"You look very...wet," he said as he pulled her to him.

"Oh, believe me, I am," she said, her voice breathy. He kissed her and backed her up against the kitchen counter. "Why are you dressed like that?" He asked her. "Not that I'm objecting of course, I'm just curious."

"I decided that since I don't have to go into the bakery today, it would be 'no pants' day for me." She grinned. "Would you like to join me?"

Klaus grinned. "Do you even have to ask?" He carried her into their bedroom and the two of them made love until they heard the sound of the school bus outside. Then, they quickly pulled apart and dressed again, heading to the living room. Gregory came in first. He looked at his mother briefly, but said nothing before taking his bag off his shoulders and going to his room. Laura came soon after, holding Colin by the hand. Her greeting was much warmer.

"Hi, Mom. hi, Uncle Klaus!" She said. She took a piece of paper from her backpack. "We're gonna go on a field trip for class," she said, handing Selina the paper. "Mr. Pratt says you have to sign that before I can go."

Colin detached his hand from his sister's and after kissing Selina, ran off to his room. Selina took the paper from Laura and looked it over. "The science museum? How fun!" She grinned. "Are you looking forward to it?"

Laura shrugged. "Maybe," she replied. "But it might be boring."

"You know," Selina told her. "I would have killed to be able to go to a science museum when I was your age."

"Why didn't you?" Laura asked. "Did your mom say no?"

Selina scoffed. "That would have been nice if she'd only said that, but she was much more adamant than she needed to be. And we didn't exactly have science museums when I was a girl. I wasn't even allowed to learn most of the stuff you're learning at school."

"Why not?" Laura asked.

"Because I was a girl," Selina told her. "No other reason than that."

"That doesn't seem fair," Laura said.

"It wasn't really," Selina said. "So even if you think the science museum will be boring, you should go and be grateful that you're even allowed to." She deftly signed the form and handed it back to Laura. "Put that somewhere safe so that you don't lose it before you get to school tomorrow."

Laura nodded and put it in the front pocket of her backpack. "I think I'll go do my reading assignment now," she said. She strode off and then Selina turned back to Klaus, who was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"What?" Selina asked. "What's so funny?"

"Did you hear yourself?" He asked what was that little speech about?"

"Nothing!" Selina replied. "I just wanted her to be grateful for all the opportunities she has now. Some of us weren't so lucky."

"So that speech is your equivalent of 'eat your dinner because there are starving children in Africa who don't get any'?" Klaus asked.

Selina shook her head. "No, I just...I want Laura to experience everything she can, you know? So she's aware of all the possibilities for her future. I know it's silly to dwell on my less than ideal childhood, especially when things are so good for me now, but sometimes I can't help it. Am I wrong for not wanting my kids' lives to suck?"

Klaus came and put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You don't have to be sorry," he said. "I know what that's like too."

Selina nodded. "I know you do." She sighed. "At least we have each other to share crappy childhood stories with, right? And make better ones in the present?"

Klaus grinned. "Oh, I like that last thing you said." He kissed her hair. "So," he said. "What are we gonna do about Mikael?"

"What?" Selina asked. "That's an abrupt change of topic."

"Sorry," Klaus said. "But I thought now would be a good time to start thinking about it now that we don't have any small children around that have to be looked after any minute. They're getting to the age where they can handle themselves better, so we need something to occupy our time. What better way than pondering how we're going to go after Mikael. Have you forgotten?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "Believe me, I haven't forgotten. But how would we come up with a plan? We don't know where Mikael is, for starters! Or how to figure it out!"

"I know," said a quiet voice. They both looked over and saw that Laura had sneaked to the edge of the hallway to the bedrooms with her hand gripping the wall.

"You do?" Selina asked her. "Honey, how do you know?"

"Cause Gregory's been talking to Grandpa," Laura said, her voice quiet, her eyes averted. "He thought he would get in trouble for it, so he made me promise not to tell you."

"No, this is good!" Selina said, hugging her. "This is something we need to know."

"Why?" Laura asked.

Selina and Klaus looked at one another. "Do you think we should tell her?" Selina asked.

"Tell me what?" Laura asked.

Selina sighed. "You know how ever since your daddy's been gone, we've told you that he just went away?"

Laura nodded.

"Well, that's not necessarily true," Selina said. "The truth is that it's your grandfather who is responsible for making your father go away. He didn't like that your daddy liked me, so he punished him by putting a dagger in his heart and trapping him somewhere where I couldn't find him."

Laura's eyes got big. "That's not very nice!"

"No," Selina agreed. "It's not."

"I gotta tell Gregory about this!" Laura said.

"I'll come with you," Selina said. She looked at Klaus. "We'll be back in a bit," she said. They strode off to Gregory's room. The door was ajar and they heard him talking to somebody.

"...No, Mom doesn't know we're talking," Gregory said. "I don't think we'd be having any more conversations if she did. All right, Grandfather. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye."

Laura knocked. "Hey, Gregory! Can I come in?"

"Do you need help with your homework?" Gregory asked.

Laura looked at Selina, who nodded.

"Yes," Laura replied. "I do. So can I come in?"

"Yes, yes," Gregory said. "Come in!"

Laura got the door open and came into Gregory's room and Selina followed, quickly shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, hello, Mother," Gregory said, eying her with distaste. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to tell you you have to stop talking to Grandpa because he's a very bad man!" Laura told him. "He's the reason Daddy is gone!"

Gregory shook his head. "No, it's not! He said Mom did it! And judging by what's going on between her and our uncle, I think I believe him." He frowned at Selina. "You got rid of Father just so you and Uncle Klaus could make kissy faces at each other."

"All right, Hamlet," Selina said. "I did not have your father killed so I could be with your uncle, all right? And your uncle had nothing to do with it either. It was all your grandfather's doing. I understand why you don't believe me, but that's the truth, all right?"

Gregory eyed her suspiciously for a moment.

"We're telling the truth!" Laura said, striding up to him and looking up at him with reproach. "If you don't believe us, you're stupid!"

"Laura, that's not very nice," Selina said. "Your brother isn't stupid. He's just dealing with two different versions of the same event and he has to decide who to believe."

Gregory looked down at his little sister with a smirk. He patted her on her head and said, "Do you really think insults are the best way to get someone to believe what you say?" He asked. "If you do, you're wrong. In order to get people to believe what you say, you must give them a good reason to. 'You're stupid' is not a compelling reason."

Laura stomped her foot. "But didn't you hear Mom say that Grandpa hurt Daddy? Why do you believe Grandpa more than her?"

"Because if she really loved Father, she wouldn't be with his brother now!" Gregory said. "She would be waiting patiently for Father to come back!"

"I want your father to come back," Selina said. "Or at least to avenge him for what your grandfather did. Your uncle and I both do. But we can't do that unless we know where he is. He won't tell us because he hates us, but he'd tell you where he is, wouldn't he? Would you ask him?"

"Why?" Gregory asked. "So you can hurt him too? Then who will I have left? You will have made everyone go away!"

"Gregory, I understand why you're upset and reluctant to help us, but believe me, there are much better men that you can look up to," Selina said. "Like Alistair. You like Alistair, don't you?"

"Yes," Gregory nodded. "He's all right. But he's not related to me!"

"We're not gonna kill your grandfather," Selina said. "We're just gonna talk to him and tell him how upset what he did to your daddy made you. Or you can do it."

Gregory nodded. "All right," he said. "Am I in trouble for talking to Grandfather?"

"No," Selina sighed. "Just be careful with him. I don't think he'll have any reason to hurt you because you're the precious first grandson he's had in awhile, but he can be very sneaky when he wants to be, so be careful."


"Nicky, could you come zip me up?" Selina called. It was the night of the party Selina was catering. Klaus stepped out of the closet, dressed in a tux and holding onto his tie. "I'll zip you up if you tie my tie," he said.

Selina nodded. "That will not be a problem. She tied his tie and then he pulled up the zipper of her pastel purple dress.

"Now," she said, "it's my first big catering affair, so you have to behave yourself tonight, okay? No sticking your hand up my skirt and then leading me off to a closet so that we can have sex. Tonight is too important. You look really nice, by the way."

Klaus grinned. "Thank you," he said. "Forgive me if I don't compliment you back, but if I start thinking about everything I want to compliment you on, behaving myself will be very difficult, and I am sincerely trying to make an effort on your behalf."

"I know," Selina said, giving him a brief peck on the lips. "Thank you."

They said goodbye to Alistair and the kids and even though it took a little while to pry Lissy off Klaus, they were finally able to leave and go to the convention center where the party Selina was catering was being held. They went inside and were met by an older lady in a black cocktail dress, her brunette hair up in a bun.

"Selina!" She said. "I'm so excited for all my friends to try what you've prepared this evening."

"Hi, Margaret," Selina greeted her. "This is Klaus. He's my date. Did everything unload okay after we dropped it off? Do I need to check on anything?"

"No," Margaret said. "Everything seems all right."

Selina nodded. "Good. Excuse me, Nicky. I have some food to work with."

Things went smoothy until, as Selina was slicing up pies, she heard Margaret say, "Selina, I want you to meet our biggest benefactor. Mr. Mikael Erikson, this is Selina Warren, our caterer. She also takes part in many fine causes herself when she's not feeding the masses." Selina looked up from the pie and when she saw the man that Margaret had referred to as 'Mr. Mikael Erikson', she gasped, choked on her own spit and began coughing.

"Are you all right?" Margaret asked.

"Yes," Selina said when she got her breath. "I'm fine."

Mr. Erikson looked at Margaret. "I wonder, my dear Margaret, if you wouldn't mind leaving us alone?"

"Sure," Margaret nodded. "You two have a lovely talk and you know where I'll be if you need me."

"What are you doing here?" Selina asked angrily. Mikael just grinned. "Now is that the proper way to greet your father in law?"

Selina's eyes narrowed. "How can you expect me to think of you that way when you deprived me of your son? What did you do after you stuck the dagger in him? Put him in a box somewhere?"

Mikael grinned wider. "It's very clever of you to ask, but I'm afraid that Elijah will be brought back only when I choose, so it's useless to ask questions."

"Including just when you plan on bringing him back?" Selina asked.

Mikael put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, especially that. Although it does pain me not to tell Gregory the truth. He shouldn't be blamed for faults that are yours, but I can't risk him blabbing to you, can I?"

Just then, Selina felt another hand grip hers. "Is everything all right over here?" Klaus asked.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "We're fine, Nicky."

"Yes," Mikael said dryly. "Don't worry, Niklaus. I was just leaving." But he stayed a little while longer, his eyes locked on Selina and Klaus' joined hands. Then, a man came and touched his shoulder, and they walked off, chatting as if they knew each other.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked her. "Did he do anything to you?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "He was just being a jerk like usual and killing all our plans for revenge. And why do you think he was staring at us for so long?"

Klaus shrugged. "Why does it matter? This is your special night. Don't let him ruin it for you." Selina nodded and as she sliced the last piece of the final pie, a slow, romantic tune began. "So," Klaus said, "Are you allowed to dance, or do you have to stay behind the table and toil all night?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "Margaret said it was okay for me to dance every so often."

Klaus grinned. "Good. Selina, will you dance with me?"

Selina came around the table and put her arms around him. "Of course," she said as he led her onto the dance floor. "I would be honored, Mr. Mikaelson."