Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own
A/N Please review and tell me what you think
Hope fell towards the altar, but someone caught her before she could hit it. Marcel swept her up into his arms and then vamp-sped away. Hayley was screaming still, tears running down her face. Klaus didn't hesitate to run after Marcel, his expression unreadable. Elijah was breathing heavily, staring at where Hope had been. Kol clenched his jaw, angry.
"Where would that little runt take her body?" He finally asked after they'd all stood there in shock for a moment.
"The Compound." Kol and Hayley started to move to run back, but Elijah gestured for them to wait. "We need to know exactly what is going on." Abigail was still alive, the iron rod embedded deep in her stomach. The three of them looked at each other and then moved to interrogate the witch.
Klaus sped into the compound, looking around at the carnage that surrounded them. Marcel was sitting, leaning against fountain, which had more blood than water in it at that point. Hope's body was lying there, her head against Marcel's knee. Marcel looked at Klaus as he came in.
"I was too late. There should have been more time."
"Looks like the wolves came back and finished what they started." Klaus told him absentmindedly. He went and kneeled down next to Hope. He reached out to touch her, then pulled his hands away.
Everything about the body said that this was Hope Mikaelson. Her hair, messy and hanging in loose curls down her back. Her plain black tank top and denim shorts that showed off too much leg. Her ankle boots, perfect for trudging through the swamp or kicking someone in the teeth. But he didn't want to believe it. She was white as a sheet, looking frail and far, far too young. The blood from her slit throat had soaked her tank top thoroughly.
Klaus tore his eyes away from her, his eyes settling on Marcel's bites. He held out his wrist for Marcel to bite. But Marcel just pulled away from him.
"This bite, all this..." He glanced at Diego's body. "I know it didn't come from nowhere. This is the last note in a song that I started a century ago when I brought your dad to town. And for that, I am sorry."
"I have treated you like a son, Marcel. I cannot lose another member of my family tonight." He held out his wrist again and Marcel finally bit into it and drank his blood. "We will take down whoever brought this upon us, I swear it."
"They didn't get her blood on the altar, that was the point." Marcel told him. Klaus stared at him, not getting his point. "She might still wake up. I took the shackles off her. She might wake up." He explained. Klaus looked down at Hope, wondering if he ever should even begin to hope that whatever the witches had done wasn't permanent.
"May I?" Marcel nodded, moving. Klaus took his place, holding Hope on his lap instead. Marcel sat on the edge of the fountain, head in his hands. There was a minute of silence, Klaus staring down at his daughter and Marcel looking completely distraught.
With a gasp, Hope woke up, frantic and thrashing around. Klaus wrapped his arms around her immediately, trying to contain her.
"Shush, shush, you're alright, love." He promised. She grabbed at her throat, but the wound had healed.
"Hope!" Hayley, Elijah and Kol had come into the Compound. Hayley ran over to Hope, who was still panicking despite Klaus's attempts to calm her. "You're fine, baby girl." Hayley promised, smoothing down Hope's hair, trying to calm her down as well.
"You're in transition." Klaus told her. Hope fell back against his chest, tears running down her face.
"I died."
"You're alright." He held her closer.
"Abigail said that the witch who told them to do all this for the ancestors was Esther. Our mother." Elijah snarled. He, Klaus and Kol were standing outside Hope's room. Hayley was sitting with her, an empty blood bag between them. Hope was a full hybrid. She was a witch, she was a wolf and she was a vampire. If Klaus wasn't so upset, he would have been proud at her newfound powers.
"We should have felt our mother's hand in this. We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death. And now she has control of the witches. They will never stop."
"No."
"Nor would I expect the Guerrera wolves to back down. Hayley and Hope are wolf royalty, and as such, they are a threat to Francesca's claim to the leadership. They will never be safe." Klaus paused for a second. "What was it you said to me earlier? That I have made enemies every day of my miserable life? Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother. And I have shown them the one weapon they can use against me." He glanced into the room at Hope, who had her face buried in her hands, a new daylight ring on her finger, looking completely miserable.
"Then we will arm ourselves! We're immortals, why shouldn't we show our enemies what we can do?" Kol demanded. Elijah and Klaus glanced at him.
"Brother, we have fought every adversary in this town, and we have won. And we'll fight them again, no matter who they are! We will make this home a fortress." Elijah agreed, getting excited.
"I will not have her live her life as a prisoner." Klaus told him quietly.
"Then we leave here, together. All of us." Elijah glanced at his brothers, then into the bedroom where Hayley and Hope were.
"Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt her. She has inherited all of our enemies, none of whom she deserves."
"So, whether we stay, or we leave, we condemn her."
"We need another option." Hayley came to the doorway and they all turned to look at her. "I grew up in a war zone. My parents thought they could protect me. But, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved. Hope may not be a child, not anymore, but she does not deserve this. She just died because of us, because we thought we could protect her from a threat we didn't even understand!" Hayley took a deep breath, lowered her voice and tried to calm herself as she continued: "I think the only thing to do is... send her away... while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made."
"No! This is insane. You heard the witches: so long as she lives, that baby will be hunted."
"I'm not living anymore." Hope came to the doorway too, eyes staring at the floor instead of up at them. "I'm dead. The witches don't know that I'm still alive. Let's keep it that way."
"Are you suggesting…?" Elijah started.
"Make everyone believe that Hope is dead. Clean up this mess and we can bring her back." Hayley explained, looking over at her daughter, trying not to cry.
"Who can protect her better than us?" Kol demanded.
"You, for one." Hope told him. He looked at her.
"No one knows you came back from the other side. Anyone who saw you is now dead, in this room or Marcel." She pointed out.
"For second?" Elijah pressed. Klaus smiled weakly.
"It always does go back to your aunt with you, doesn't it?"
"I'll have two Originals with me. You, mom and Elijah can do what you can here."
"Fine. But hurry this up, brothers; I'm not fond of babysitting." Kol told them, rolling his eyes. Hope shot him a half-hearted death look but smiled and he smiled back.
"Call Rebekah. We have to get Hope out of the city, tonight." Hayley told them, her voice turning from tearful to emotionless. Elijah hurried away while Hayley steered Hope back into the room to pack. Kol hurried off to who-knew-where, while Klaus stood on the balcony to watch Hope and Hayley, wishing that there was a fourth option…
Cami walked down the street and spotted the crowd of people at the Memorial Wall. Gang violence. That was what they were calling the supernatural battle of New Orleans that taken place. Cami couldn't stop her eyes from scanning the wall. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar name, inching closer in order to make sure she'd seen and read it right.
In Memoriam: Hope Mikaelson
There was a picture of Hope, a recent one. Cami could see they'd cropped Rebekah out in order to get Hope alone. Cami put her hand over her mouth, gasping in horror. Then she was running, heading for the Compound. She didn't stop until she found Klaus, standing on the balcony in his study.
"Klaus? Hope?"
"She died. A few hours after the Guerrera attack. Bloody witches won after all." He murmured. Cami gasped, covering her mouth again, bursting into tears.
"This is…This is all my fault!"
"I can assure you it is not."
"No! If I hadn't hesitated, I could have uncovered Francesca's plot in time to stop it!"
"And how would you have stopped the coven of witches in league with her? No. If anyone is to blame, I am."
"I am so, so sorry." Klaus finally turned to face her and she saw that he was actually tearing up himself.
"Camille. I appreciate you being here, but we cannot be friends."
"What?"
"You had me pegged from the start. A man, damaged by his demons. And those demons are not dormant. They're hell-bent on killing me, and everything I find beautiful. And you? You are beautiful. Please. Please, just go."
"Klaus-."
"Go." Crying, Cami turned and ran away. Hope was just around the corner in Klaus's bedroom. She slid down the wall, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop any sound from coming out. She'd heard Klaus's voice. She'd heard the pain. She'd heard Cami crying. She'd heard, she'd felt, everything. And she knew it was all because of her.
Klaus sat on the hood of his car, waiting. Kol was leaning against the door, flipping through one of the grimoire's he salvaged from his tomb. He was intent on teaching Hope some 'real' magic. Hope sat on the side of the road, playing with a loose thread of her ripped jeans.
Finally, a car pulled up and they all straightened up. Rebekah sped over to Kol, hugging him tightly.
"Kol! Brother, is it possible for you to stay dead?" She asked, pulling away to look at him.
"This handsome face? The world would suffer without something beautiful to look at." Rebekah rolled her eyes, then turned serious as she turned to Hope. Hope hugged her and Rebekah wrapped her arms tightly around her niece.
"I'm so sorry, Hope."
"We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Seventeen's a good age to be."
"Oh, Hope." Rebekah gave her one last squeeze and pulled away to look at Klaus.
"Hope, you'll have to cast a cloaking spell." He instructed.
"I'll do it."
"No one can ever find you."
"I know." Klaus hesitated, but then took her arm, pulling her away from Rebekah and Kol to talk to her. Wanting to give them privacy, Rebekah looked back at Kol and started talking to him. Once they were a suitable distance away, Klaus stopped, his hands still on her arms.
"This city would have seen you dead. But, I will have it your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as my blood runs in your veins. You will return to me." He promised.
"Drama king." He chuckled and she smiled at him.
"Be safe, be happy."
"Doubtful on both fronts but I'll do my best." She promised. He pulled her closer to kiss her forehead. She started crying and he pulled her into a hug.
"You'll be safe; I'll make sure of it."
"I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you." She sobbed. "I hate enhanced emotions." She added, as if to explain her sobs.
"You'll be alright." He promised.
"Please let me come home, daddy." Klaus's breath hitched in his throat. She called Hayley 'mom' all the time but it had always been just 'Klaus' for him. He hugged her closer, his arms tight enough he was half certain that he was hurting her. Looking over her head, he saw Kol and Rebekah. Kol was looking away and Rebekah was crying as she watched them, all privacy out the window.
Finally, Klaus sighed and pulled away.
"You need to go now." He reminded her. She nodded, not saying anything. They slowly walked back to Rebekah and Kol. Klaus took something out of his pocket and handed it to Rebekah. It was the little toy knight that he'd given her over a thousand years ago.
"Despite our differences, Rebekah, there is no one I'd trust more with my daughter's life." Rebekah, smiling and crying at the same time, took the knight.
"And you don't trust me at all. You're just passing me off to someone else. I understand." Kol said dramatically, which pretty much ruined the moment. But Hope laughed at him, which made Rebekah and Klaus smile. Evidently, that was his goal, because he grinned over at his niece.
Rebekah wrapped her hand around the little toy knight, reached over to hug Klaus and then slowly went towards the car. Kol handed Hope her backpack as she passed him. Hope cast one last glance over her shoulder at Klaus as they went towards Rebekah's car. Klaus sat on the hood of the car again, looking more upset than Hope had ever seen him.
"Back seat, Kol." Rebekah ordered and Hope turned to look at him. Kol mumbled something vulgar under his breath and got into the backseat.
"You guys are going to be fine to live with." Hope told them, slipping into the front passenger seat.
"We're the most fun you'll ever have, darling." Kol informed her, leaning forward from the back. Rebekah looked at toy in her hand and handed it to Hope.
"Here. A brave knight to protect you." Hope smiled and took it, holding it as she watched New Orleans disappear in the review mirror.
