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Sorry it has been a while! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter!


"Finn!" Elijah called, amidst bouts of laughter, as his older brother walked into the room, "Look at what Nik made."

Finn walked over to his brothers, "What do you have there Niklaus?" He asked with a small encouraging smile towards his little brother.

"I drew a picture of us all." The boy said with an impish, yet proud smile.

"I found him some chalk near the falls." Elijah said with a smile, moving away from Nik to make space for Finn to sit in between them.

"That's you," Nik pointed towards one of the figures, with an almost nervous expression setting on his face as he waited for his brother's reaction, "and this is Eli and me, and then Kol and Beka," his lips curled over his little sister's name, still having small difficulties with how to pronounce it, "and mom." Nik finished with a grin. The image lay out on the floor before them, Finn the oldest standing next to Esther, who was holding baby Rebekah in her arms as Kol leant against Finn's leg and Elijah and Klaus sat on the floor.

"This is really good!" Finn exclaimed enthusiastically as Elijah nodded in agreement, "Where's father?" He asked slightly hesitantly. Nik stiffened slightly, his hand gently touching his upper arm and he grimaced. Elijah lightly tapped Finn, warning him this wasn't a good topic right now, but this only furthered Finn's confusion.

"I didn't want him in it." Finn frowned.

"Why not Niklaus?" He asked, deciding to ignore Elijah's warning to not press the subject.

"He's mean." The boy replied, "He hurts me." He added in a quiet voice. Finn frowned again, this image of his father that Niklaus was describing wasn't necessarily that new to Finn, he'd seen the way that Mikael glared at his son, but physical abuse? Mikael had never laid a hand on him, nor Elijah, there was no rational response that could enable Finn to understand why his character would have changed so much that he abused Niklaus.

"He won't like this picture Niklaus." Finn warned him adopting the persona of the oldest brother, and the primary heir to the Mikaelson name, "Go wash it out," He turned around to his little brother who was glaring stubbornly at him, unmoving, "Now!" Finn ordered, causing Nik to scamper out of the room in search of water and some rags.

"Finn, come on, its just a drawing." Elijah pleaded, and Finn understood that to Elijah he was being a mean and controlling brother. But Finn also understood that this drawing would make Mikael angry, and upset even, and Finn didn't want his father to be upset, and whilst Finn didn't believe Nik's insinuations of physical abuse, an angry Mikael wasn't a good Mikael.

"A drawing in open defiance of our father." Finn replied, "Niklaus needs to learn." Finn paused slightly, hesitating before he continued, "It would be good if he stopped spreading lies about our father as well, if the village found out," He paused again, "Father could lose some business."

"They aren't lies." Elijah retorted angrily, "I've seen the bruises, it's like he hates Nik, for no reason." Elijah said accusatorily, always being the protective brother, standing up for Nik, Finn had never fit into that role as well, focussing more on making his father proud of him.

"Our father's a good man." Finn replied confidently. Elijah may not have known him before Freya had died, but Finn did, and Mikael had always been a loving and kind father - and Finn would be the first to admit that Mikael had changed since losing his daughter, but what father wouldn't be affected by that? His sons should show empathy and understanding, compassion towards their parents. Perhaps now Rebekah was born Mikael would become softer again, in having another daughter, Finn mused, reflecting on his childhood (for at 15 he was no longer a child, but a man), no, he assured himself, his father would never lay a hand on any of his sons. "Niklaus is probably just being picked on by the village kids for being..."

"For being what?" Elijah countered bitterly,

"Weak." Finn snarled at the same time as Nik came into the door way with a bucket and some rags, tears already forming in his eyes as he heard his oldest brother's words. Finn felt some regret at his words - but it isn't as if they weren't true, Niklaus was never the most masculine of children, always obsessed with drawing and arts and crafts, making things pretty instead of manual labour. Finn hoped that at the very least some tough love would make his brother stronger, for men who weren't strong in this era never tended to fare well.


"Finn." Klaus snarled as he wrapped his arm over his brother's shoulder, "I believe we need to have a talk."

"Do we now brother?" Finn replied, pushing Klaus' arm off of him,

"Yes, brother, we do." Elijah answered him, a calculated yet menacing glare being thrown in his older brother's direction.

"And, what may this inquiry be about?" Finn asked, pushing up a façade of confidence despite the increasingly feeling like he was a deer that two lions were hunting.

"Caroline." Klaus responded, shoving his brother up against the wall and allowing the blood to rush to his eyes which turned golden, and his fangs protruded from his mouth. "She has some," he paused, "beliefs now, that just don't seem to be very like her." Klaus finished, tightening his grip on his brother as he pressed his arm towards against his neck.

"People change Niklaus, things change, it has been a thousand years-"

"Not for her." Klaus interrupted. "Don't even try to weasel your way out of this - we know what you did."

Finn straightened slightly - though with Klaus pressing him up against the wall it didn't exactly make him seem threatening - "Then you know that I can't undo it." He replied calmly, trying to find some semblance of having the upper hand.

"Oh that may be true brother," Elijah said, his right hand loosening his cufflinks on his left sleeve before rolling it up, "But we can." He continued, pulling out a dagger from his pocket, causing Finn's eyes to widen in fear.

"You?" He asked, "You work with Niklaus after he daggers you and puts you in a coffin for decades."

"To be fair, it wasn't even a year this time." Klaus interrupted with a smirk,

"A little hypocritical, brother, for you have been working with mother to try and kill us. Permanently." Elijah stated calmly.

"Don't dagger me, please." Finn said pleading towards Elijah - having no faith in Klaus' ability to have empathy. "You don't know what it is like, spending centuries and centuries like that - it isn't just like sleeping and waking up, after a while you become aware, left to foster in your thoughts, paralysed and unable to move. It's hell." Finn begged, and for a second he almost thought he saw a flicker of guilt in Klaus' eyes, as his brother's grip on him loosened slightly.

"Why'd you have to go after Caroline though?" His brother asked him, his voice taking a softer tone.

"Because she's your weakness." Finn replied, "Because you love her."


AN/ I'll try and update more frequently now for reasons obvious to anyone who's aware of anything going on in the world at the moment/ Sorry this chapter is really short!