Klaus snapped the man's neck without ceremony. The motel manager fell dead at his feet.
"Well, that was bloody useless. He knew nothing."
Elijah cursed, visibly distraught. No one had any information on what had happened to Leah.
He continued to pace around the lobby in a tight, tense circle, tearing his mind apart as he worked through dozens of scenarios – when had she left? How had she left? Why had she left?
He had returned to an empty motel room. Three hours later Leah was still missing.
Klaus rolled his eyes as he watched his brother in distress. He gestured at the body in aggravated anger.
"Another dead end, Elijah, another magnificent waste of time. Are we done here?"
"We'll try again. Someone must have seen her leave."
"Or… we can accept the inevitable and move on."
"Leah will return," Elijah pivoted, "and we will wait until she does."
"Then we'll be waiting forever! This is bloody ridiculous!"
"This is your doing, Niklaus - you have driven Leah away like you drove away our sister."
"Yes – pin this on me, Elijah, when all I did was tell her what she needed to hear."
"Neither the time nor the place - and she didn't need to hear it from you."
"Oh, so would you have preferred I'd been more delicate in my delivery then?"
"I would've preferred if you'd –"
"Hey –, " Hayley barked at them. "Can we hit pause and maybe do something about this body?"
Elijah spun away in frustration, leaving Klaus to deal with the inconvenient corpse.
"Is it ruining your aesthetic?" he glared at her.
"We talked about not killing people in front of Hope."
Klaus' scowl softened into a frown as he noticed how his daughter was turned away, arms crossed, unable to look at the dead motel clerk. He sighed; he couldn't breathe nowadays without disappointing her.
"Just…kick him to the side a bit and I'll deal with it later."
"Klaus!"
"I said I'd deal with it later, Hayley."
"She's right, Niklaus. You are only creating more problems."
"And with Leah gone we have one less so you see it all evens out in the end."
Elijah's worry for Leah overcame his rage. This was the only reason his brother was still standing.
"We wait for her," he now appealed to Hayley. "Just wait a little longer."
"Klaus is right, Elijah. We were supposed to be on the road hours ago."
He looked at her with open disappointment. Hayley tried to defend her decision.
"Look – I'm sure Leah's just upset and went for a drive to cool off but we can't wait any longer, Elijah. Rebekah's had hours ahead of us so if we're still planning on going after her we need to get a move on it."
"Indeed," Klaus added snidely. "We've only stayed this long to humor your pathetic search."
He now turned to his niece, the only other person he knew supported Leah.
"Hope, I am confident you see there is only one option."
She looked to Elijah then tried to reason on his behalf with her father.
"I'm sure Leah will be back soon. Let's just wait a little longer, dad."
"Absolutely not – and this is not up for a family vote. We're leaving without her. Now."
"One more hour, Niklaus."
"Do not try to negotiate with me, brother."
"This is not a negotiation. This is a fact – I am not leaving. Take Hope and Hayley but I am staying."
"You'll do no such thing, Elijah. You are coming with us, one way or another."
"Niklaus - do not make me choose between Rebekah and Leah."
"Then allow me to make the decision for you…"
Even as Hope realized what her father was about to do she moved too late. She only saw the flash of silver as he lunged forward, plunging his hand into her uncle's jacket and withdrawing the weapon in a single, smooth move.
By the time she jumped forward to pull her father away the dagger was pressed against Elijah's heart.
"Dad, you won't. You won't do this!"
"He would choose Leah over his own sister – over you!"
"That's not the choice he's making – don't do this! Please!"
Hope wrapped her hands around his wrist, trying to pull his hand away from Elijah. Her efforts, however, were like those of a child; Klaus shook her off easily, pushing her aside as he continued to level the dagger at his brother.
"I don't want to do this," he growled, "but you've left me no choice. Let Leah go."
"I will not leave her. I will never leave her."
Elijah just stood there in silent fury. Klaus' eyes now glowed with rage.
Hayley immediately grabbed Hope and pulled her back. She wasn't about to let her daughter throw herself in the middle of this fight. Elijah's emotions had ruined his reason; Klaus' paranoia had turned violent. Neither of them was safe to be around; neither of them was in their right mind.
In fact Elijah had made no move to evade the dagger at all. On the contrary he bore down on his brother.
"Do it, Niklaus," his voice rolled like thunder. "Use the dagger but understand that when you remove it I shall hunt you like Mikael if harms comes to Leah."
Klaus didn't blink. His hand remained steady around the dagger.
"Don't do it, dad, you promised me!"
"Do it, Niklaus, because I will not leave her otherwise."
The growl started low in the back of his throat before exploding into a frustrated snarl. Reluctantly, Klaus lowered his hand and backed away.
Hope sighed in relief. Elijah didn't move a muscle. He continued to glare as his brother waved the dagger in his face.
"You have one hour," Klaus granted, "but I'll keep this until you remember to keep the promises you made to this family."