Not edited, sorry.
Chapter 82
Flashback:
"What do you mean you thrashed him?" Klaus said in a deep, hateful growl.
Elijah stood in front of his brother and sister, unmoved by Niklaus's anger. He expected Niklaus to be angry when he told him about Marcel's first thrashing but he was prepared for it.
"He disobeyed me," Elijah responded calmly. "And he tried to ride his horse in the dark and we all know he doesn't know the property well enough in the daytime to stay in bounds. If he got lost out there at night, who knows what would've happened to him."
"But a thrashing, Elijah?" Rebekah tutted, her eyes filled with worry as she peered at the Compound entrance, wondering what the boy was feeling after such an ordeal. She and Kol were spanked by their brother regularly enough that she was sure the boy had at least heard one of their thrashings by now but that didn't mean he wasn't still conditioned by that hell he'd come from to view such a punishment as anything but an act of hate. She wondered if Marcel knew that Elijah still cared about him after the spanking as he still cared for his siblings or if Elijah was now just another beast to be feared.
As she stared up to Niklaus's face, his angry scowl offset by the worry in his eyes, she knew he was wondering the same thing.
"He is fine," Elijah said calmingly. "He is in the library now, studying."
Niklaus pushed past his brother, without a care. The entire time they were away, it was Kol that he feared would do something to traumatize Marcel but, according to Elijah's initial report, Kol had kept his distance from the boy the entire time. Now, as he barged through the library doors, Niklaus wished Elijah would've done the same.
"Poppa," Marcel's eyes lit with joy at seeing Niklaus enter the room. He leaped from his seat at the desk and bounded across the room, jumping into his father's arms with as much joy as he'd always grown to have whenever he saw Niklaus.
"Marcellus," Klaus began softly, setting Marcel back on the floor so that he could look his body over for any visible marks or bruises. "Are you alright, son?"
Confused by Klaus's unnecessary concern, Marcel nodded. "I learned two new passages while you were away, poppa. Do you want to hear them? They're from Hamlet."
Niklaus couldn't believe his eyes. Here he was, expecting his son to be inconsolable and perhaps even fearful of him and his siblings but the boy acted as if nothing had happened.
Taking MArcel's hands into his, Klaus began, "Marcellus...Elijah told me...he had to thrash you while I was away."
Those words washed the joy from Marcel's face immediately. His eyes dropping to the floor, Marcel muttered, "P-please don't be angry. I won't disobey again. I swear."
Niklaus could have wept at the words, but instead, he pulled Marcel into a hug and squeezed the boy tightly against his chest as he said, "I'm not angry, sweetheart. I could never be angry at you." He wanted to tell him that he was the only person in the world capable of keeping him from being angry but he knew the boy wouldn't understand. "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. Does your bum hurt?"
Marcel shook his head 'no' against Klaus's chest as he hugged him back. "It did at first. Uncle Elijah has a very hard hand. But I promise never to disobey again, poppa," he repeated.
Klaus held Marcel a bit longer, afraid to let go before Marcel, and when the boy finally released him, he said, "Do you know how much I love you, Marcellus?"
Marcel shrugged. "Um, a lot?"
With a chuckle, Klaus said, "More than that. There is nothing and no one in this entire world that I love as much as you. I don't ever want you to think that I'm angry at you for anything, sweetheart. Do you understand me?"
Marcel gave an enthusiastic nod, his fears squeezed away with his father's hug.
"Good." Niklaus tussled the boy's hair as he rose to his feet. "Now, let poppa go wash up after his trip and I will be all yours for the evening. You can recite as much Shakespeare to me as you'd like."
As Marcel bounded back towards the desk to his books, Niklaus's entire body relaxed. He didn't know how Elijah knew that Marcel would be alright after such an ordeal and he wasn't sure how he'd feel about the man ever doing it again, but he was at least happy that Marcellus still felt safe in their home.
End Flashback
Klaus lead Davina by the arm through the bayou, ignoring the girl's sniffling as he kept his senses keen on the world around them. As irritating as the little witch could be, he knew he had to get her home safe or Marcel would never forgive him.
Davina gave Klaus's hand a tug, attempting for the dozenth time to yank her arm out of his hold but the Original wouldn't release her.
"You're becoming increasingly vexing, harvest girl," he growled.
Running her free hand under her tearful eyes, Davina said, "Yeah, well, just wait 'til Marcel finds out what you did to me. We'll see how 'vexing' you find me then."
"I'm sure Marcel will be quite dismayed at finding out I've done what he's failed to do in all the years I've known you but as long as the outcome justifies the means, I will live forever in peace with his discomfort."
Davina turned her pouting face away from Klaus as she remembered the spanking she received at Marcel's hand which Klaus apparently knew nothing about, a fact for which she was grateful.
She yanked her arm again and again Niklaus pulled her back to him, a deep growl rumbling through his throat at her constant rebellion. He wasn't quite sure why the girl was still fighting him. According to Elijah, Marcel was much more amiable after his first spanking and Hope, though still rambunctious at times, at least feigned obedient daughter when her parents were around to witness. Davina, on the other hand, seemed to hate him even more for daring to discipline her.
Klaus suddenly stilled, his firm grasp on her arm jerking the teenager to a stop. Her eyes widened with fear as a furious golden tint appeared on his eyes.
"Speak of the devil," he growled, his eyes returning to their normal shade of blue-green as Marcel, Kol, and Finn sped out off the forest and stopped a few feet away from her.
"Davina," Marcel sighed with relief at seeing the girl securely in Niklaus's clasp.
Klaus released the girl so that she could run to Marcel, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she buried her face in his chest, hoping he wouldn't see her tears in the dark. She couldn't even look at Kol, the shame of her still aching behind causing her face to burn as read as she was sure her bottom was.
"Are you alright?" Marcel cooed, running his hand through her hair.
She nodded her head against his chest. "I can't find Izzy," she muttered, hoping to change to subject.
"Don't worry," he kissed the top of her head. "We'll find her."
"I'll find her," Klaus corrected. Cutting his eyes at Kol and Finn, he said, "You were supposed to be heading North as I recall."
Finn fought the urge to cover his bottom at his brother's menacing glare.
"I-I told them," he mumbled, almost too low to hear. "They wouldn't listen to me."
"Good thing we didn't," Kol bit, unmoved by his brother's obvious irritation at their disobedience. "We would've missed her."
"Do you not trust me to bring Davina home safely to you?"
"Well, considering that the two of you are as close to enemies as one can get without actively trying to murder each other," Kol shrugged.
With a smirk, Klaus said, "Davina, please inform my dear brother of the means I've taken to make sure you are brought home safe and sound."
Davina pulled away from Marcel's chest to cut her eyes at Klaus, enraged that he would dare use her humiliation as a way to get back at his brother.
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Klaus continued, "We do not keep secrets in this family, harvest girl. Tell them, or I will."
"You wouldn't dare," she barked, her entire face flushed so red it could be seen even in the dark.
"In time you will learn, little girl, that I most certainly would 'dare'."
Marcel's eyes darted between Klaus and Davina, watching the two of them standoff against each other as if they were each contemplating murder.
"Klaus," Marcel's voice rumbled through his chest. "What did you do?"
Breaking eye contact with Davina to turn his attention to Marcel, Klaus said, "Your witch used her magic against me so I gave her a thrashing she will not soon forget."
Every mouth dropped.
Even Finn could not believe what he'd just heard. Davina seemed to be the most mature of all of them - if Klaus could find reason to thrash her, there would truly be no hope for him.
"You did what?" Marcel roared.
Davina released him as he marched closer to Niklaus, the Original stoic in the face of the enraged younger vampire.
"You had no right!" Kol bellowed next. "How dare you ever put your hands on her!"
Cutting his eyes at Kol, Klaus growled, "How many witches in a thousand years have I let live after using their magic against me? She got away with a couple of sore mounds which is a lot better than the last witch who dared to stand against Klaus Mikaelson."
Marcel suddenly knotted his hands around the collar of Klaus's shirt, pulling the man into his face as he growled, "And what happened to the last Mikaelson that put his hands on her?"
Klaus's eyes were dead of all emotion as he stared into his son's fuming eyes. Placing a firm hand against Marcel's cheek, he leaned forward, bringing their foreheads together.
In a low, hardened voice, Klaus said, "Release me this instance, and I'll allow her to leave before we discuss this outburst."
Marcel bit his lip, his eyes still seething with rage as he contemplating Klaus's offer. The threat was unspoken, yet clear.
Marcel's jaw tightened in growing frustration. He was conflicted between following the paternal desire to protect Davina and listening to the inner sense of self-preservation urging him to obey his father.
Not wanting Davina to witness whatever Klaus had in mind, Marcel released Klaus's collar and took a step back.
"Kol...can you take her home."
Kol continued clenching his fists at his side. Like Marcel, he wanted to do nothing more at the moment than to bury Niklaus but they both knew that wasn't possible. Even if the two of them could get the best of Klaus, there was nothing that could keep the Hybrid down forever and they would have to eventually have to face the consequences of their actions. If not from Klaus, then from Elijah.
"We're not leaving without you," Davina stated, her confidence renewed now that Marcel and Kol were at her side.
Kol looked down at the girl's tearful eyes and felt his heart melt. She was always so feisty. He wasn't sure how bad Niklaus tanned her bottom but he always found himself a bit more obedient to his brothers afterward, even with a light smacking. Here she was, ready to fight Klaus with her tender human bottom still aching.
"C'mon, love," said Kol, placing his hand gently against her elbow. "He'll be fine. If my vindictive brother didn't kill you for attacking him, trust that he's not even considering it with Marcel."
Davina's eyes narrowed, not sure if she should be as trusting of Niklaus as Kol was. And then, she suddenly remembered something Klaus said while he had her suspended in the air. 'You will be punished just like every other Mikaelson.' Her eyes widened with shakey realization. The way Marcel refused to look back at her made her wonder if her fears weren't real. Does Klaus really spank Marcel? she thought. He said every Mikaelson. Turning her eyes up to Kol, the worry in his eyes clear even in the dark, she wondered if he was spanked too.
"C'mon," Kol repeated, his voice strained with a plea. "Let's go get you in a bath and relax for the rest of the night."
"What about Izzy?"
"Rest assured," said Niklaus. "We will find Izzy. Now get out of here before you find yourself in a very familiar position far too soon."
"Klaus," Marcel's voice came out as a deep, threatening growl. "Enough."
His eyes narrowing at his son's tone, Niklaus said, "I decide when it's enough, Marcellus. If you wanted to keep her out of the Mikaelson dynamics then you should've left her across the river with Josh. If you want to make her a Mikaelson, then she's a Mikaelson in every sense of the word."
Realizing that her fears were indeed closer to the truth than she was ready to get, Davina allowed Kol to cradle her in his arms and speed out of the bayou.
Fin stood in silence as Klaus and Marcel continued to stare each other down. He wondered if he should've sped away with Kol but Klaus didn't tell him to leave and his brother seemed to be in a bit of a mood. He didn't want to be the next one on Klaus's list.
In a deep, aggravating growl, Klaus finally asked, "Did you just threaten to kill me, Marcellus?"
Marcel's teeth sunk deeper into his lip, his nostrils flaring with unhidden rage.
"Answer me!"
"Yes!" Marcel shocked himself with the answer. Then, remembering he was still under Klaus's compulsion, his anger grew anew. "You can't put your hands on her, Klaus. You are not her father."
"You're right. It's your job to teach her how to respect her elders. You failed. And where you fail, I pick up the slack."
"Touch her again and..."
"And what?" Klaus stepped closer to Marcel with a snarl.
His chest puffed with pride, Marcel prepared to say 'And it'll be you and me,' but instead, his cursed lips spoke the truth. "And I'll move her back across the river with Josh."
Klaus cocked an eyebrow, unsure of how that was supposed to be a threat to him.
With a sigh, Marcel relaxed and resigned himself to telling the truth. "I don't want to fight you, Klaus. It wouldn't end the way I want it to. We both know you'd win, you're eight hundred years older than me. And then I'd start resenting you for it and...we'll end up back where we were twelve years ago. But...you can't spank Davina. She barely trusts you as it is."
"What do you expect me to do if she threatens my life? I can't kill her, I can't fight her, and now I can't spank her."
"Tell me, Klaus. I will handle Davina. She is my responsibility. You don't think that I'd planned to take her over my knee as soon as I got her home for running off like this? But now I can't because now I have to spend the evening consoling her after what you've done. "
Klaus couldn't help but be proud of the definitiveness of Marcel's tone. "Fine," he agreed, attempting to hide his pride behind a face of steel. "I will not thrash the harvest girl again...no matter how much she may deserve it. But you, Marcellus,"
Marcel stiffened as Klaus closed the gap between them.
"You threaten me again," he started in a low growl. "And you will not be able to sit for a week. Do I make myself clear?"
Marcel's eyes drifted unconsciously over to Finn, the silent witness to his chastisement.
Klaus grabbed Marcel's chin and forced him to focus on him. "I'm talking to you, Marcellus. Don't look at him."
Marcel's face burned with shame. In a low mutter, he said, "Okay, Klaus. I hear you."
"Good. I will forgive your little slip tonight because I know how emotional you can get when it comes to that little witch. Now, Finn,"
Finn jumped as his brother called his name.
"Escort Marcel back the car and then the two of you go home."
"What about Izzy," Marcel demanded.
"I will find Izzy. Tyler Lockwood is out here, I found him roaming around with your harvest girl. Instead of threatening my life, you should be thanking me for saving her from what was obviously Tyler's plan to get back at you through her."
Marcel furrowed his brows, refusing to thank Klaus for spanking Davina in spite of the outcome.
"I also sense at least half a dozen other wolves out here and if they're in cahoots with Tyler Lockwood, I don't want you anywhere near them."
It irked Marcel how Klaus still treated him like a child in need of protection but he decided not to argue this time. He needed to get back to Davina and make sure she was okay...and not plotting revenge.
"Fine," Marcel threw his hand up and started marching in the direction of the car. "But it sounds like she's going through a lot right now so how 'bout you try not to spank her while she's out here."
"We'll see," Klaus replied with unhidden sarcasm. "Of course, I make no promises. You know how trying teenagers can be when they're in a mood."
-M-
Elijah and Izzy walked side by side through the bayou in silence. Izzy was not quite ready to discuss why she felt she needed to see her father and learn about her dead siblings and Elijah wasn't going to force her. He'd learned a long time ago from Marcel that teenagers would open up when they felt the time was right and pushing them would only make them shut down more.
They left her father lying in the bayou after Elijah moved his body closer to the campfire so he wouldn't be eaten if he didn't wake before the gators. Elijah considered waiting for the man to wake before leaving but Izzy insisted they leave first. She didn't want to see him again, ever if possible.
"I'm sorry I left the Compound after curfew," Izzy finally spoke.
Elijah looked down at her, her eyes focused on the ground ahead of them instead of looking at him. He placed his hand carefully on her shoulder, hoping to reassure her that everything was alright.
"We will discuss it when we get back home."
She cringed at the staleness of his tone.
"Hey," he gave her shoulder a squeeze and she finally looked up at him. "I'm not angry. If I had a dollar for every time someone in this family broke curfew, I would be a very rich man." He shrugged as he remembered his family's bottomless reserve of wealth. "Richer man."
"So...I'm not in trouble?"
Elijah was silent.
Then he repeated, "We will discuss it when we get back home."
She walked in silence a bit longer before finally saying, "Were you serious? About me becoming a real Mikaelson if I wanted?"
"I was."
Looking into his eyes, she said, "That means you turn me, right?"
He chuckled. "No. You can be a Mikaelson without being a vampire. Freya is proof of that."
"Oh." She stared back down at the ground. "I think...I'm okay with that. I mean...if I am a Hyrbid like he said I am...I think...I'd rather be that than a vampire."
Elijah's hand tightened on her shoulder, this time a bit firmer. "You're not thinking of taking anyone's life, are you?"
"N-no," she said, quickly turning back to his face. "I mean...not unless I have to. To protect myself. Or Ollie. Or Hope."
Her eyes widened in surprise, unsure of when she'd decided Hope was someone she needed to protect.
"We will protect you," said Elijah. "All you have to do is obey us and stay out of trouble."
"So...does this mean it's official? Now that I've asked...am I a Mikaelson? Or do you have to call a Mikaelson Summit to confer with your brothers and sisters first?"
Elijah chuckled at the girl's sass. "It is a decision that I can make all on my own but it is an important decision. Once you decide, there is no going back. You are a Mikaelson for life."
She shrugged. "Just like any other adoption, right?"
"Yes, but...joining this family comes with rules. And the consequences for breaking those rules are not always easy to take."
"You won't just pick up and move one day and leave me to take care of a hyperactive toddler on my own, will you?"
"No," Elijah answered firmly. "Never."
"Then I don't care." Turning her eye back to the bayou, afraid to look at Elijah as she spoke, she said, "There's nothing worse than that, y'know. Being abandoned. I don't even know what I did wrong. She could've left a note or...sent a text. So...as long as you never just...runoff without telling me why...I don't care what else you do."
Elijah's heart broke at her statement.
He released her shoulder as he slowed to a stop.
She turned to face him, a bit confused that he'd suddenly stopped walking.
"Izzy," he said calmly. "When Marcellus first came to leave with us, we made him certain promises to never abandon him. We tried to keep those promises for as long as we could but I am ashamed to say that we could not always keep that promise to him. Almost a year ago, we banished him from his home and his family because he committed crimes against this family that we thought were unforgivable. But we have since come to realize that there should be no crime too grand to come between the love of one Mikaelson to another.
"I will take you into our home. I will love you as if you were my daughter from birth. And I swear to never abandon you. No matter what. It doesn't matter what you do or who you become - Hybrid or vampire. You will always be mine and I will always take care of you, do you understand? Mikaelsons are always and forever."
Izzy stood in quiet shock. She didn't expect Elijah to vow to love her. Oliver, he was cute and, although he could be a bit much at times, he deserved a family that would love him forever. Her...she'd grown out of her cute stage a long time ago. He'd see that soon enough and she was sure he'd forget every promise he made to her.
Brushing him off, she shrugged and said, "Whatever."
Elijah placed a finger under her chin, guiding her face back to his so that he was looking in her eyes as he said, "I am serious, Izzy. My siblings and I have been together for a thousand years. Marcellus was with us for a century before we left New Orleans and now that we've returned, he will remain with us. As will Hope. And if you are serious about being a Mikaelson, for as long as you exist on this Earth, dead or alive, you will be one of us. You may go off to college or on the occasional worldwide adventure, but when your family calls you home, you will return. If your family needs your help, you will help. When we give you orders and set limits, you will obey us because we only do it to protect you. Disobey and you might find yourself grounded to be without friends or electronics for a certain period of time that we will determine based on the infraction. Or..."
Elijah released the girl's chin and crossed his arms over his chest as he considered how to phrase his next sentence.
"You may even be spanked. Never more than what you can handle but sometimes it will be bare if a more thorough lesson is to be taught because we find that is the best way to gauge the extent of your limits. Mostly by hand, sometimes with a brush, slipper, or ruler."
Izzy stared at him wide-eyed, sure that he was joking but Elijah never cracked a smile.
"I...I'm sixteen," she stuttered out. "I'm too old to be spanked."
"In my experience, teenagers tend to require the most correction."
"You can't be serious. You wouldn't really..."
"I urge you to ask any one of my siblings just how serious I am."
Her eyes grew wide as saucers at that unveiling. "You...you spank your siblings?"
Elijah nodded. "All but Niklaus and Freya."
"Wh-what...what about Hayley?"
He smirked. "We do not have that kind of relationship. Hayley is her own woman. And an Alpha. She would never submit to me that way. But it's hardly necessary. Hayley and I agree on most things."
"Would she try to spank me too?"
Elijah quirked an eyebrow at the word 'try'. "She will most certainly spank you if you give her a reason. She is not one that is often hesitant to exact punishment when it is due."
Izzy just stood in shocked silence for a while longer and Elijah let her. He wouldn't rush her to agree to join their family. If it took a few days or weeks for her to think it over, he would allow it. It was a very important, and permanent, decision after all.
"Oliver," she muttered. "Would you...spank him too?"
Elijah took a second to consider her question though it was a thought that entered his mind every time he had to deal with the boy's brattiness.
"Yes," he answered. "But not to the same extent. He is very young and, though I have never had to discipline one as small as him, Hayley has raised Hope with the same firm hand she continues to raise her with now and it helped keep her alive to this point. If Oliver is a Hyrbid as you suspect he is, it would be best for us to teach him control now so that he is better at handling his emotions when puberty hits than you were."
Again, Izzy went silent.
And then, to Elijah's surprise, she said, "In the time that I've known you, Elijah Mikaelson, you've never done anything to break my trust." She stared into his eyes, her eyebrows knotted with seriousness. "I want to trust you...what is it you Mikaelsons say...'always and forever'? I'm tired of being responsible all the time. I'm tired of having to plan for a future that includes me playing single mother to my little brother. And I'm tired of always being afraid to trust people because...every time I trust someone, they shatter my trust into a million tiny, sharp pieces." Tears began to form in her eyes but she continued. "I want to trust you and I want to trust Hayley and Marcel and the others but...I need you to promise me, right now...that you will never abandon us like my mom and dad did and..." She closed her eyes and sucked her lip between her teeth, almost afraid to say the next words. They fell softly from her lips. "You will never try to do to me what Ollie's foster dad tried to do to me."
Her breath caught in her chest as Elijah's arms were suddenly around her, pulling her into a hold so firm, yet comforting, she couldn't help but let her tells fall against his shoulder.
"I will never even think of hurting you like that," he whispered against her ear, fighting against the tears that threatened to breach his own eyes, knowing he had to be strong for her. "No one in this family would. And we will kill anyone who ever tries to again. This I promise you, Izzy. Always and forever."
He held her until her sobs quieted and as she regained control of herself she broke their hug and said, "Okay. I...I'm ready to be a Mikaelson now."
Elijah nodded as he placed his hand back on her shoulder and started guiding her back through the bayou. "Good. Because, just so you know, you are grounded for the next two days for running off without telling us where you were going."
"Two days?" Izzy protested lightheartedly. She didn't care to be grounded to Compound for two days, there was nowhere she wanted to be more than at home right now. "What about my studies with Vincent?"
"You may go to Vincent and then back home again and that's it. If I know Vincent, you won't be having much fun there anyway so I consider that a bonus."
"There you are!"
Elijah turned at the sound of the familiar voice to see Niklaus marching through the shrubbery to them.
"I am only half-wolf, y'know," Klaus growled. "I don't fancy trudging through these bayous at night so the next time you find who we've come out here to look for, do us a favor and give the ol' cellphone a little ring."
Elijah smirked. "I figured you'd be too busy covertly following Marcel around to care."
Klaus rolled his eyes. Then, looking down at Izzy, he said, "You're alright, I suspect?"
She shrugged. "I did just get grounded for breaking curfew."
Klaus turned his sight back up to Elijah, surprised that he would bother to ground the girl. "Did she now? I'm surprised she didn't get a thrashing."
He said the last bit with a playful laugh but then his laughter came to a halt as Elijah said, "It is only a first offense. I believe Izzy understands that a light thrashing is a possibility should it ever happen again."
A flash of red grew across her almond face as she nodded her understanding.
"Well," said Klaus, his voice lilting with his shock. "Seems as though the two of you have come to a bit of a breakthrough out here. Elijah, I suspect you will fill the rest of us in later?"
"Of course, brother." Elijah continued his walk back through the bayou with his hand on Izzy's back. "After we get the children back to sleep."
Izzy leaned back against his hand, deciding at the moment to simply allow herself to be cared for by the Mikaelsons.