Chapter 55

Season 1, ep20

The funeral was set for the following day. It was a procession of people through the streets of the city towards the cemetery. In an odd way it was actually quite beautiful.

The four supernatural creatures from all walks of life walked down the street together, blending in with the locals and looking as nothing more than other mourners. It was a nice little amalgamation amongst them that made K muse to herself. There was her, the vampire standing beside Klaus the Original hybrid. Beside him was Hayley, a werewolf Queen pregnant with a three quarter wolf, one eighth vampire, one eighth witch baby and an Original vampire at her side. Between them they encompassed every faction save humanity.

K held her laced parasol on her shoulder so it was out of the way, but helped keep her fair skin from blinding the locals. She wandered in and out of thought, remembering the way the few days prior had progressed and wondered why she suddenly felt more comfortable than she had in a while. Despite the war, the death and the threat of something biting at the back of her neck, K felt comfortable.

Fingers threaded their way through her lacey glove-covered digits and clamped down. K looked to the contact and noticed Klaus was holding her hand. When she met his eyes, he gave her the slightest hint of a smile. Returning the sentiment, K held his hand and continued the walk. She knew why she felt comfortable.

Hayley coughed and like he had ever since meeting her, Elijah was right at her side.

"Are you okay? You look-"

"A hundred months pregnant and pissed off at the world?" she offered. The trio nearby smiled at her comment.

"I was going to say lovely."

"Although," K teased causing Hayley to glower lightly out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you guys think I was the target of those bombings?" she asked, not expecting an immediate answer.

"Of course you were the target." Klaus offered quickly. "Were I to wage a war on the wolves, you'd be my first kill." A smile twisted at his lips. "Id' string you up for all your worshipers to see."

"I believe that was my brother's way of telling you he'd like for you to return home with us." Elijah said. "Perhaps try another approach Niklaus. Fewer references to murder?"

"As much as I'd hate to throw you over my shoulder kicking and screaming back to the compound, you know I will."

"No you won't."

Klaus turned the woman at his side.

"I didn't stutter." K told him simply. "I'm fairly certain Hayley's capable of deciding for herself."

"Thanks." Hayley said. "Look, just because you had one bad dream doesn't mean you have to suddenly start acting like an over protective daddy."

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," Klaus sighed. He laced his free arm over Hayley's shoulder. "My father's life was dedicated to tormenting me. I'll not repeat his mistakes. This cycle of misery with end with my child."

"Well," Hayley shrugged off his arm. "There's one thing you forgot while pleading your case. She's not your child. She's ours."

Hayley quickened her step and moved through those walking ahead of the vampires.

"Very heartfelt Niklaus." Elijah said.

"I bloody hate funerals." He sighed.

Klaus' eyes darted around the streets. On reflex he tensed his hand on K's only to realize it was no longer there. He looked down and sure enough K's arms were crossed over her chest. She'd taken her hand away while he spouted about his baby.

She didn't mean to, but for some reason she'd forgotten about the fact Hayley was close to having the baby. Up until that point, she'd only ever known Hayley as the wolf pregnant by Klaus. Now the child was coming and soon they'd be a family…

"Something wrong?" Klaus asked when he stepped a bit closer to her.

K shook her head, but the uncertainty running through her mind was still evident on her features. Instead of trying to pry it out of her, Klaus decided to cut out any chance for lies or a fight and delved into her mind. It was harder than he would have liked, but she was thinking about the same thing repeatedly. Glimpses were more than enough for him to realize what bothered her. He sighed to himself. For some reason he'd never assumed how awkward the addition of his child would make K feel.

He laced his hand along her lower back and pulled her just close enough he could whisper to her without too many hearing him.

"No worries, love." He told her softly before placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.

K wasn't as sure as he wished she'd be, but she couldn't help it. Things were changing and she wasn't entirely certain where she fit into it. They were a family. She was an outsider.

As she looked around, trying to ignore the childish fears coursing through her mind and Klaus tenderly running his fingers along the small of her back, K noticed Hayley further up in the crowd. She was coughing again and bracing herself on a column as she tried to weather the fit. It was an odd enough scene because Hayley shouldn't have been coughing like that. Between her healing abilities and that of the baby, there was never a more healthy woman.

Hayley suddenly coughed up whatever was blocking her throat and K immediately smelled blood. She stopped walking. Her eyes were wide as she waited for Hayley to give her the slightest clue to where the blood had come from. Both Klaus and Elijah noticed her stop the same moment Genevieve yelled for the hybrid. But K was there first. She raced for Hayley and dropped to her knees, sliding to the wolf's side a second before she would have hit the ground. K turned Hayley onto her back and revealed the blood dripping from her chin the same second the others joined her.

"Give her to me." Elijah demanded.

"I already have her." K replied, using her position to hoist Hayley up and into her arms.

Elijah grumbled. He wanted to be the one to hold Hayley, but he wasn't going to fight over it. Together, the five made their way to the manor in minutes.

Klaus and Elijah wasted no time clearing a table top and K set her gently onto its surface. Bickering started almost immediately, but K ignored them. Her fears of being forgotten disappeared when she was faced with saving the woman and unborn baby.

Genevieve began to do her spell, Klaus and Elijah paced uncertainly and K remained where she'd posted herself on Hayley's side. She said nothing nor moved as she pushed herself into the wolf's mind. It was fuzzy and difficult, but she began to dig through the haze, to see what Hayley was dreaming.

Klaus suddenly growled loudly and bit into his wrist. He pushed K aside, dislodging her concentration and placed his bleeding wrist to Hayley's lips. Of them all, he was the only one that could possibly heal the wolf. After all, it was his blood currently coursing through her and her baby's veins.

"She's still not breathing." Elijah said. "It's not working."

In his fearful rage, Elijah reached for the nearest object and launched it into the wall, forcing it to splinter into firewood. Genevieve jumped, Klaus continued to force her to drink his blood, but none of it worked.

Unwilling to allow foolishness and rash behavior take hold, K moved once more to Hayley, but this time took her stance near the wolf's head. She drew Genevieve's eye.

"Work." K said, snapping her fingers at the redhead and pointing to Hayley.

Genevieve nodded hesitantly, but continued working the spell. K touched Klaus' hand and moved him away so she could concentrate. He hesitantly did as she asked, but was clearly still unhinged. K had to see what Hayley was seeing. It was obvious whatever was happening wasn't natural, so maybe a glimpse… just a peek.

The fog was lifting. The air was clearing and K could hear voices. She suddenly gasped and took a step back from the body, staring at the wolf as though she'd seen a ghost.

"What?" Klaus demanded as he took wide steps towards her. "What did you see?"

K barely met his gaze before finding her way to Hayley again. She knelt down beside the wolf and leaned forward. K rested her head against Hayley's beside the compress Genevieve had on her. K tenderly placed her hand at the crown of Hayley's head and again pushed into her mind to hear the fight raging.

"He's not real." She whispered into Hayley's ears. K spoke so softly, Klaus and Elijah almost didn't notice, but her words quickly caught their attention. "He's weak. You're stronger. If you can hear me, fight him, Hayley. Fight back. Fight for her."

Klaus and Elijah shared a frightened stare. They could imagine who K was referencing and it made their blood run cold. K simply repeated the statement over and over, hoping just a single note of it would make it through the haze.

"I have to take her to a hospital." Elijah said, moving towards the body.

"If you move her the spell will break." Genevieve snapped the moment Elijah touched Hayley. "And she won't make it to a hospital."

"Will the baby survive if delivered now?" Klaus demanded. "I'll rip it out of her if I have to."

He charged for Hayley's motionless body, but Elijah stopped him.

"Hayley will bleed to death." Genevieve told him angrily.

"I'll not lose my child."

"And I won't lose either of them." Elijah told him sternly.

"Enough, all of you." K snapped. She glared over her shoulder at the two feuding brothers. She understood their fighting, but she and Genevieve were trying to concentrate and they weren't helping.

K went back to telling Hayley to fight, Genevieve kept chanting and soon it became clear what was needed. The witch immediately ordered someone to retrieve her bag. K did it, noticing Elijah and Klaus seemed temporarily paralyzed with the fear of losing the girl they unknowingly loved. Elijah loved Hayley, Klaus his daughter. One way or another, the life of someone they needed was at risk and the fear of losing them was too much to make them move.

The vampire handed off the things the witch wanted and immediately returned to Hayley's mind. She could see the wolf struggling to better Mikael, but the fear of his reputation was almost enough to stop her.

"What's happening?!" Klaus demanded as he paced like a wild animal. "What do you see?"

She knew neither he nor Elijah had the calm mind required to link with Hayley's so she tried not to be angry for their asking, but it took time away from her spying.

Without warning, Hayley shot up with a deep breath and K took a wide step away from her. Elijah rushed Hayley's side.

"I saw him." She breathed. "And he tried to kill me. I saw Mikael."

Elijah and Klaus had assumed as much, but hearing that Hayley had come across the only thing in the world they were truly afraid of put them on edge. Silence stretched between those gathered for a few minutes before K emerged beside Hayley.

"Come on." She said softly. With Elijah, she helped Hayley off the table and looped the stunned wolf's arm over her shoulder. "Let's get you cleaned up." Elijah meant to follow, but K gave him as reassuring a smile as she could. "I've got her."

Reluctantly, he nodded and let them go without him.

~~!~~

Hayley was still staring into nothingness while K wiped Klaus's blood from her chin. She didn't bother asking Hayley what happened since she already knew, for the most part.

"There." She said finally after the last drop was gone. Hayley tore her eyes from the shadows and met K's gaze. K smiled warmly. "You're blood free now."

Hayley nodded, but there was little else she could do. K tossed the rag down into the bowl of red tinted water.

"You want me to get you something else to wear? I think we're the same size." K said. Both their eyes slowly traveled to Hayley's stomach. "Mostly."

"Sure." Hayley replied under her breath.

K nodded and took the bowl into her hands. She turned to leave, but Hayley grabbed her arm. K paused and met her blank stare, waiting for Hayley to speak.

"I could've sworn…" she muttered. "… I thought I heard your voice."

K smiled softly and nodded, silently telling Hayley that she was right.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said sincerely. "I'll be right back with something to wear."

Hayley nodded and let K walk out of the room.

~~~!~~~

K stood in her room folding the dress Hayley had handed over to her to be washed. K would take it to the dry cleaners the following morning along with the things she was going to have cleaned herself.

Klaus knocked on her open door. K glanced up to acknowledge him, but went back to her task. He stepped in without waiting for a verbal invitation that might never come.

"Thank you, for helping Hayley as you did." He told her.

"You're welcome."

Klaus paused near her bed's post. She hadn't bothered to look up when she answered and there was still a distant tone to her voice.

"Something still bothers you."

K finished folding Hayley's wrap and paused.

"I just don't know where I fit into any of this." She said simply. "Or if I fit at all."

"You're still frightened."

Her brows came together briefly. Hesitantly K turned to give Klaus her full attention. She wrapped her arms around her body.

"Petrified."

"Of what?" he asked sincerely, taking a step closer to her.

"Nothing. Everything."

"Does this mean you're planning to leave again? Before the baby arrives?"

"Hayley's the mother of your daughter." K said. "And Elijah's your brother. You guys are a family."

K reached forward and gathered the garments into her arms to set them aside for the morning. In that moment, Klaus remembered the conversation he'd had with his brother only minutes ago.

"When Mikael is truly gone, do you think then I'll find peace?"

"I certainly hope so. Although, its not only our father who haunts you, Niklaus. You might want to make peace with the living."

After speaking to Hayley, Elijah and Marcel, Klaus was finally faced with talking to the one person that seemed to hold more sway over his thoughts than anyone previously.

K has set the clothing down on the table near the window, moving the crystal vase aside that Klaus ensured always held fresh blooms. Elijah was right, as he tended to be.

When K turned around to continue on with her nightly rituals, avoiding Klaus because she didn't know what else to say to him, the hybrid suddenly appeared in her path. He reached for her. Klaus gingerly touched her cheek before gliding his hand back and into her hair. The other fell to her waist and remained.

"In more than a thousand years," he whispered. "I have never been so supremely miserable," K shot back from him, but only moved so far before Klaus secured his grip around her. He pressed her to his body while she stared at him angrily. He only smiled. "Than while you were gone." She barely relaxed. "I need you at my side, Kali." He continued in a soft voice. Klaus tensed his fingers in her hair which forced her scalp to tingle and again lull her into a sense of calm. "You make me stronger, wiser and you temper the chaos that reigns supreme within my head." His brows came together and she saw a desperate sadness in his eyes, an emotion he rarely showed a soul outside the small group who could say they'd known him for more than a century. "Stay with me and I will make up for the pain I've contributed to your life."

K's heart pleaded to begin beating within her chest, but it couldn't. Still, Klaus's sincere words made it skip and sputter. Her stomach filled with butterflies and in that moment K was suddenly aware of how badly she'd wanted to hear those words.

She must have nodded or given Klaus an answer because relief immediately touched his features and before she could register the action his lips were pressed to hers. K's body relaxed and she molded into the touch. He formed a fist in her hair, gripped her waist firmly and pressed her as tightly to his body as he could as though she'd disappear if he didn't. But she didn't. She wouldn't.

They kissed for a moment, maybe two before either was willing to part. K felt Klaus's declaration vibrate through her and finally felt like she had a place, a home. They parted an inch at the most -Klaus still clutching her to his chest- and kept their foreheads connected. He wanted her as close as possible. They both calmed more than they thought possible, like the bad never happened and neither had buried a friend that week.

"Amasiuncula."(Latin- darling)

The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it. Every muscle in Klaus's body tensed at once. He pulled back from her and met the eyes of the one who spoke it.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that again."

A weak smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Truthfully, I never thought I would say it again."

He wasn't surprised by her answer. It was an ancient term of endearment in a language that didn't exist anymore, something she'd called him and considered him when she was still human. He never realized how much he missed the simple phrase until he heard it again.

Klaus took a breath and sighed. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it back behind her ear before cupping her cheek. He tenderly rubbed her skin with his thumb.

"Goodnight." He told her softly.

"Goodnight."

With a parting kiss, Klaus left K alone in her room again. She watched as he glanced over his shoulder at her before closing the door.

While it was difficult to fight the butterflies in her stomach, K knew better than to get her hopes up and Klaus seemed to share the skepticism. Neither of them might intentionally try to ruin whatever it was they were struggling to build, but there was a distinct chance it may happen regardless. So while she might have been hopeful, it was a tentative hope.