Elijah was ready to do better than this morning as Cami began. "You stated in our session earlier that your goal in life is your brother's redemption."

She had to ignore Klaus' laughter in order to finish the question.

"Elijah, why, even after a thousand years, is this still your goal and why do you feel Klaus needs redemption in the first place?"

Klaus was now laughing even harder, which at least gave Elijah time to think. He watched his brother finish filling his glass and return to the couch with a disillusioned gait. Klaus then leaned back into the sofa, one arm along the back, and broke out into a grin. "Oh, this is good," he said. "I'm curious to know myself. The suspense alone is delicious."

Cami frowned. "This isn't meant to be entertaining," she said. "Elijah… whenever you are ready, the floor is yours."

Elijah was ready: open and honest.

"Our mother turned us into vampires," he began. "But we lost our way and our sense of self and turned ourselves into monsters. In time, I do believe Rebekah and I learned to…reconnect, let's say, with our humanity. My brother, however, is a slow learner."

Klaus snorted into his drink. "What my brother means to say is that Rebekah and he became boring over the years and forgot that being a vampire means you don't have to play by the rules. That includes whatever rules of morality you pride yourself in, Elijah."

Elijah ignored his brother's comment and addressed Cami directly. "Since Niklaus is so charmingly stubborn on the matter of his humanity, you see now, Camille, why my quest for his redemption is my singular afflication."

"That and your insufferableness," Klaus couldn't help but say.

Cami ignored that comment too, looking up from her furious notes. "But why is Klaus' salvation your burden specifically, Elijah? Especially when I think it's clear he has no interest in any sort of self-improvement."

Elijah did take a moment to wonder for himself. "Because perhaps I am the one of us who still remembers how he used to be…"

Klaus swooned, "...and here we go!"

"…and perhaps," Elijah continued. "Perhaps, I am partly responsible for why Niklaus," he sighed, "…is Niklaus."

Cami halted her pen mid-stroke, looking up. She suddenly recalled the vision Klaus had shared with her of his past, months ago after he had compelled her memories away and Davina had gotten them back. She knew exactly what Elijah was alluding to: "You mean the hybrid curse your mother put on him …and how Mikael abused him."

"I'm right here you know," Klaus griped. "Sitting right here. In the same room as you!"

"Are we talking now?" Cami smiled. "I hadn't realized you were ready to rejoin the conversation, Klaus."

The hybrid grew very still. "Just to speed this unfortunate conversation along, I can tell you right now why Elijah's so hung up on my redemption. Guilt; there's your one word, love. Elijah's still thinks he didn't do enough to protect his little bastard of a brother."

"I didn't."

"You couldn't, Elijah! If you stood against Mikael he would have struck you down too."

Elijah pivoted sharply. "And what about Esther, our mother? Niklaus, I should not have aided her the way I did in binding your werewolf side."

Klaus laughed it off. "This is all old news. The hybrid curse was sorted in the end, and I ascended to the creature I am today. Part wolf; part vampire. All power. How's that for self-actualization, Camille?"

Cami was on her fourth page of notes. She was really getting somewhere now. "Elijah, how would you wish to see your brother?" she asked.

The tension left Elijah's shoulders and he eased back into his seat. "I wouldn't mind if he learned to care about someone other than himself," he said.

"Nonsense," Klaus retorted. "I care about Rebekah and you…more often than not."

"And I presume a modicum of respect for the joys of human life would be too much to ask?"

"Ugh, humanity. So tedious…"

"And yet you used to revel in it, brother. As a child you knew nothing about the world or your place in it and yet you had such a passion for life, for beauty and art, a wild, innocent curiosity and so much love, despite and in face of everything."

Klaus didn't want to hear it. "Save the sentimental drivel for your diary, Elijah."

"But what happened to you, Niklaus? What happened to that child?"

"Good question, brother: where did I go wrong?" He jerked forward to the edge of his seat. "Was it Mikael's brutality…or our mother's lies that made me the way I am? Maybe I became a monster when I turned into a vampire…or was it after my first transformation when I realized I was both an abomination and a bastard. The son that no one wanted…oh, but at least my dear, dear siblings vowed to stay by my side, to never leave me, always and forever - right, Elijah? What a joy; a thousand years with the two of you: my treacherous sister and my deferential brother. Surely I'm not merely the most powerful creature on earth but the luckiest one as well!"

With a resonating sigh, Elijah set his jaw and turned to Camille. "That was sarcasm, by the way."

"Figured," she agreed. But she wrote down what Klaus had said anyway. There were a lifetime worth of issues packed into Klaus' response; three thesis chapters right there.

Klaus had sprung up to fix a new drink, but Cami needed him back on the couch and talking. "Let's leave Elijah to the side for a moment and just you and I talk," she said to him.

It worked. Klaus took his seat again. "Or Elijah could leave altogether," he suggested. It annoyed him to no end that his brother remained so calm and collected after an hour of this torture.

"Actually, we still have ten minutes on the clock," Cami noted. "In the time we have left, let's you and I work through some of the things you just revealed to Elijah."

"Oh, that's nothing new," Elijah offered, almost bored. "I've heard it all before. That was basically my brother's away message."

"Is this correct, Klaus? Do you feel that the actions of others define who you are?"

The hybrid perked up. "Ah, finally – an easy question. No."

"No? You just listed everyone who has ever hurt you in life: Mikael, Esther, your siblings…Elijah asked you why you are the way you are and you gave me a list of other people."

"That's the short list." He smirked. "I can get you the full list by Thursday."

Cami closed her notes. "Klaus, do you not feel that if you wanted to make a change in your life, that you could?"

He folded his hands, leaning in with a grin. "I'm an all-powerful immortal, sweetheart. I'm the Original Hybrid. Why would I ever want to change?"

"For your child, perhaps, if she had lived?"

Klaus froze.

"Wouldn't you have wanted to be a better person for her?" Cami added.

Klaus' breathless expression said it all. Cami's questions had caught him off guard. Perhaps he had a response, but whatever Klaus was thinking was having a hard time coming out as English.

Elijah was on the edge of his seat, as well, eager to hear his brother's answer. Cami might not have known the baby was still alive, but he knew Hope would – and was already - having an amazing impact on his brother. Elijah wanted nothing more than for his brother to realize as much for himself.

But Cami's phone began to ring, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"I'm sorry, just one second, it could be my advisor."

She stood to take the call, excusing herself into a corner of the parlor to answer her phone. She didn't recognize the number. "Hello?"

"Is this Cami?"

She knew that voice. "Rebekah?"

"Elijah gave me your number. Told me to ring if I have some free time."

"Well, thank you, for calling. You are all helping me out big time. In fact, I am currently talking to two of your brothers right now?"

"Oh, really? Which ones?"

"Suits and Daggers."

Rebekah laughed. "Impressive. Elijah and Klaus in the same room."

"On the same couch," Cami added.

"You know, I like you, Camille. Perhaps I was wrong about you. You have spunk…and daring. Obviously. That or you're straight up mental."

"Thank you?"

"Any time. So when do you want to schedule this thing?"

Cami glanced toward the brothers. Klaus was emptying the decanter and Elijah was watching her intently, too polite to voice his exhaustion. They both needed a break from the couch.

"How's first thing in the morning?"