Presidential Suite

"If you keep thinking like this, you'll end up believing that you're not good enough, that you don't deserve to be loved and happy." Scott said, Rebekah's every emotion enveloping him; emotional pain and despair in the lead. "If you start believing that, you'll lose hope.

Once you lose hope, you'll stop trying to find love and happiness."

"I've been trying to find love and happiness for hundreds of years, Scott." Rebekah responded, sniffling. "Look where I am. Look where we are."

Scott went silent for a moment and then made a suggestion.

"Maybe it's time you stop trying to find love and let it find you, then."

"I wasn't trying to find or like you." Rebekah retorted. "We literally bumped into each other and everything just happened."

Beat.

"How about you focus on happiness, for now?" Scott made another suggestion. "You can be happy without being in love or a relationship, right? Think about what makes you happy and focus on it."

Rebekah didn't respond to that for a few moments.

"What makes you happy?" She inquired.

"I make me happy." Scott replied, and got a double take in return. "I'm serious. Evolved werewolves learn to control their abilities by focusing on something that has meaning to them, which we call an anchor. It keeps us grounded.

It could be an emotion, a scent, memory or a mantra or someone important to you, anything. My first anchor was my first love Allison. After we broke up and something happened and she started moving on, my control started to weaken.

Although we remained friends, I had lost her not only as a girlfriend but as an anchor too and as a result I started to lose control. When I almost shifted in front of my dad while we were arguing, before I told him about everything, my mom took me away and gave me a much needed talk.

At the end of it, she told me to be my own anchor. Being my own anchor means that I'm hundred percent responsible for my emotional state. It means that I'm responsible for my self-control and my happiness, they don't primarily depend on my relationships with other people."

Rebekah took that in and reflected on her life. She acknowledged that her happiness depended on others, on every relationship she's had, especially her family. In her defense, though, Rebekah found that life was a little easier that way. It meant she wasn't fully responsible for things.

But for the past centuries, easier hasn't done her any favors and it didn't look like it ever would, nor did her quest to find love and happiness from without. It seemed like leaving Klaus' side was the first step towards a new direction in Rebekah's life, and meeting Scott was the next.

That thought made her look at Scott, like really look at him, and she found something she has been losing; hope.

"What?" He asked, uncomfortable with the way Rebekah was looking at him, growing admiration in her eyes.

"I don't know how to make myself happy." She admitted. "And I'm scared of being happy because I know, from experience, happiness doesn't last. But looking at you... I think I've found my anchor."

"Making someone else your anchor can be dangerous, Rebekah." Scott said, although he was touched. "I lost control when I lost mine."

"Then make sure I don't lose you, Scott." Rebekah replied, eyes locked with Scott's. "Don't lie to me, don't try to control me, don't kill, manipulate or take away what and who I love, don't abandon me, don't hurt me and when I'm hurt or need you, be there for me and look out for me.

But most of all, don't betray me; don't dagger me, put me in a coffin and forget about me for nine decades if I choose to be happy over you. If you promise me that, I will promise to stay by your side and never leave you."

TRANSITION

Nice Town Hotel Restaurant

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Lydia asked, a few minutes into lunch. "Or are we going to pretend nothing happened and Scott isn't upstairs talking with his original aunt, who we had a fivesome with?"

"You've already started, so go ahead." Malia replied, not taking her attention from her food, and neither did Cora, causing Lydia to roll her eyes.

"Werewolves." She commented.

"I'm a werecoyote." Malia corrected.

"Shapeshifters."

"That's better."

Another eye roll.

"We're still friends, right?" Lydia inquired.

"Why wouldn't we still be friends?" Malia retorted.

"Malia."

"Yes, we're still friends, Lydia. Scott and I spoke about it and we agreed that it's OK to have sex with other people, with each others permission."

"Really?" Cora asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I'm glad Scott kissed Rebekah and the sex was with us and it was last night because if it didn't happen with us last night, it might have happened with other girls while he was in Davis and caused irreparable damage to our relationship and the pack." Malia responded.

"Why the pack?" Cora inquired.

"Whose side would you choose if Scott cheated on me and we had a bad break up big enough to divide the pack?"

That quickly answered the question, but...

"What happens if you fall for your hookups?" Cora asked, something both Malia and Scott missed.

"The key is to not have sex with the same person more than once, twice if the sex is great, and make it clear that it's only sex and leave it at sex." Lydia said.

"Then I guess sex with Aiden was more than great." Cora commented.

"Aiden was my first werewolf and sex with him made me understand why Allison didn't care what her family thought or even the death threats they gave Scott. So, yes, it was more than great, but last night topped it off." Lydia replied. "It's definitely my new standard for great sex."

"I bet. You passed out."

"I'm out of practice and I don't have your werewolf endurance, Cora. Bite me."

"Again?" Cora asked with a smirk, before adding. "You might pass out. Again."

"I wonder how long you lasted before passing out." Lydia retorted.

"Longer than you."

"That's what I thought." Lydia responded, before they went silent, and then laughed at how ridiculous they were being.

Malia just shook her head in amusement.

"Do you think Scott has told Rebekah the truth?" Cora asked.

TRANSITION

Presidential Suite

Speechless. That's how Scott was, because he sensed that Rebekah meant what she said. If he promised all that, she would stay by his side and never leave him.

On a side but important note, it seemed getting daggered really affected Rebekah and that raised the question of how the others were affected.

"Let's start with what makes you happy before making promises." Scott responded.

Though a bit disappointed by not getting the promise she was looking for, Rebekah thought about what makes her happy but came up with what would make her happy if she wanted to focus on happiness.

"Being in love and having people around me makes me happy. I hate being alone." She replied. "But a normal everyday dull life would make me happy."

Scott chuckled at that, until he saw that Rebekah thought that he was laughing at what would make her happy.

"Sorry. I'm not laughing at your answer." He apologized. "It's just; my life is anything but a normal everyday dull life.

In the last two and a half years of my high school life, my friends and I have fought a beast alpha, werewolf hunters, a kanima and its masters, a darach, an alpha only pack, a celestial kitsune with her summoned oni and a dark kitsune she once summoned and wanted to kill after we accidentally released it and it possessed my best friend.

And then there were assassins and more werewolf hunters hired by a banshee who thought she was doing the world a favor by fulfilling dreams of a vengeful werewolf who thought he would be a better alpha than his late sister after wiping the town's supernatural community to start afresh.

Mixed in there was a hunter-turned-werejaguar and her berserkers, she even turned me into a berserker so that my friends wouldn't recognize me while the vengeful werewolf tried to convince my friends to kill me so that my beta would inherit my alpha spark and he would take it from him.

And then on my senior year, pseudo-supernatural humans started popping up and being killed by three parascientists who worshipped the supernatural so much that they dedicated their whole lives to resurrecting the most infamous werewolf in history and they succeeded.

Of course, after that something else had to come along. Someone tried to use us as assassins for hire and since we couldn't let that go or what she revealed to manipulate us into action, we took on an entire vampire empire and bought it down and became werewolf royalty.

What's next? I don't know. But experience says it's not a normal everyday dull life after the calm, even though I hope my higher education career will be far less chaotic and my friends and I won't have to fight another fight and lose another one of us.

If you want a normal everyday dull life, I'm not the person you should be promising to stay by his side and never leave, Rebekah. Our lives are either pretty good or pretty bad, and when they are neither, we wait to see what's next while we try to live our semi-normal lives until they're not so normal.

But since a normal everyday dull life is what you want, focus on that, go for it and be happy."

"Wow. You've had an eventful life." Rebekah commented, noting that Scott has revealed a lot about himself during their conversation, something that made her happy because she revealed a lot too.

"Yeah. But it's not all bad."

"I have more questions now than I did before." Rebekah told Scott.

"Ask away." He replied.

TRANSITION

Missouri

"Hey! Paige." Kimberley greeted over the phone.

"Kim?"

"Yeah. It's me."

"What happened?" Paige asked. "We waited for you but you never showed up and when I tried to call you, your phone was off. For months! Until now."

"I, uh, I... Promise you won't get mad."

"I'm not promising anything, Kimberly. You disappeared for months when you should have been with my pack, under my care, like I promised your father that I would look after you if anything happened to him."

"OK. Fine. Just promise you won't hate me, then." Kimberly replied.

"Why would I hate you, Kimberly?" Paige questioned.

"Paige, please." Kimberly begged.

"Alright, I won't hate you, Kimberly."

"Promise."

"I promise."

"I didn't show up because someone showed up before I could leave and made me an offer I couldn't refuse; power to avenge my family and pack." Kimberly finally answered.

"What kind of power?" Paige asked.

"The kind of power only a werewolf and vampire hybrid can possess."

Silence.

"The Hybrid got to you, didn't he?" Paige asked rhetorically. "And he promised you the Moon and the Sun when you'll only get the Sun because you already had the Moon. Do you have any idea what you've done, Kimberly?

You didn't just get the power to avenge your family and pack. You ended them, Kimberly. The family you seek to avenge ENDS with you."

The reality of what Kimberly did hit her at Paige's words, it hit her hard. She tried not to think about the consequences of becoming a vampire-werewolf hybrid; hence she avoided getting in touch with Paige, until now.

Unfortunately for Kimberly, Paige wasn't in the mood to comfort her after the revelation, especially a thought came to mind as to why Paige was contacting her now.

"Please tell me you didn't call to convince me to allow my pack to be turned into..."

"I didn't." Kimberly interrupted, guessing what was on Paige's mind. "I know you would rather die than allow that to happen."

"Then what do you want, Kimberly? Why have you called me after all this time?"

"I, I need to find someone." Kimberly answered with some hesitation.

"The Hybrid wants you to find someone, you mean." Paige correctly corrected, audibly disappointed by Kimberly. "Forget it. I'm not going to help you find more werewolves to turn into vampires."

"I'm not looking for a werewolf; I'm looking for a vampire."

"Unbelievable." Paige responded. "Do me a favor, Kimberly. Don't come around anymore and don't bring your undead pack here. You are not welcome anymore."

"You promised you would not hate me." Kimberly reminded, trying hard not to cry, but tears still fell down her cheeks.

"I don't hate you; I hate what you did and what you've become. And to think if you had come here, like you should have, you would have gotten a far better alternative option."

"What do you mean?" Kimberly asked.

"You don't know?" Paige responded, sounding even more disappointed. "To think you believe the Hybrid will be able to help you avenge your family when he doesn't even know what's going on in the world or his pack's status in it.

The Hybrid's werewolf-vampire Hybrid Pack isn't the hottest topic around the streets anymore. A hotter topic, and far more superior pack, has everyone's attention now. I know you're going to repeat this to your new Alpha, so, listen well, Kimberly.

Listen well and realize the biggest mistake of your life, baby girl. A mistake I wish, with my whole being, that you didn't make."

TRANSITION

Presidential Suite

"So, how many betas do you have?" Rebekah asked. "Wait. MPGs and SPGs; I assume the M stands for Malia and S for Scott. Does that mean they're your betas and you've combined your packs?

And what did you mean by you 'became werewolf royalty'? Is Malia some kind of evolved traditional royal bloodline werewolf? That would explain why she smells a little similar to werewolves but unique, different."

"Are you going to let me answer?"

"I'm done. You can answer now." Rebekah replied, and got a shake of the head accompanied by a smile.

"You're right, the M and S stand for Malia and Scott." Scott responded. "But they are only to differentiate between Malia's guard team and mine. Malia became an alpha as a member of my original pack and then Alpha of my original pack after we became werewolf royalty.

This might be shocking for you, considering you once lived there and helped build the place, but the vampire empire I told you about was built by a vampire who claimed to be the very first non-original vampire in history, Lucien Castle, and his Co-King, Marcel Gerard, in New Orleans."

"What did you just say?" Rebekah questioned, getting to her feet, for the news weren't a matter of might, they were a matter of a definite shock. "Marcel died decades ago. I watched Mikael kill him with my own eyes."

Though surprised by Lucien's survival and it brought her to remember the de Martel siblings, Marcel's had more meaning for her at the moment.

"I found Marcel ruling New Orleans with Lucien about two weeks ago, and after I killed Lucien and spared Marcel, so that he could continue leading Vampire Faction, Marcel and I are Kings of New Orleans." Scott said, getting to his feet as well.

"If this is true, why are you here?" Rebekah asked. "Why aren't you in New Orleans?"

"Lydia has a personal matter in Mystic Falls, one of the reasons I revealed my existence to you, and I needed a break from all the politics I've had to deal with for the last two weeks; negotiating coexistence terms with the factions and making allies, to name a few.

So, I'm accompanying her and we decided on a road trip on the way while life is calm."

"Nik is in Mystic Falls."

"We know. It's one of the reasons we're accompanying Lydia."

"If Marcel is alive, why hasn't he reached out to us?" Rebekah decided to continue her inquiry, wondering why he didn't reach out to her.

"I don't know, Rebekah." Scott answered. "I don't really know him and we're not friends. I doubt we'll ever be anything close to friends after my pack and I destroyed what he built with Lucien and I killed Lucien in front of him to effectively end any chances of Lucien rebuilding his empire.

Vampire Faction has lost a lot of power and muscle and werewolves are back in New Orleans and reestablishing themselves, and Marcel is not happy about that, especially after I made every species in New Orleans equal with the same privileges, advantages and disadvantages.

If you want answers, you'll find Marcel in New Orleans."

"I'm not leaving you, Scott." Rebekah stated, surprising Scott. "You said that a part of you wants to know your biological paternal family. I want to know you too. I'm sorry for my initial reaction.

I'll stay with you to make up for it and see how you do as an anchor. And I'd love to see how Nik reacts to having a son."

"I'm not planning on telling him." Scott responded, putting stop to that thought.

"Why not? You told me."

"Where have you been in the last ninety years?" Scott asked rhetorically, and Rebekah's silence was all the reason he needed. "I told you about my existence against my better judgment, and I'm glad I did. Despite 'you know what'. But I'd rather start with getting to know only one Mikaelson.

Preferably one who isn't going to 'dagger me, put me in a coffin and forget about me for nine decades if I choose to be happy over' him."

"He's not all bad, you know." Rebekah defended her brother. "And he wasn't always like this. I wasn't always like this. None of us were."

"I know." Scott replied. "I'm not the same as I once was either, and I've only been in this world for a few years. I can't imagine how much you've changed in the hundreds of years you have lived in it. But I have taken a selfish risk by revealing who and what I am and telling you everything I've told you.

I can't take another by telling Klaus and the world my true origin and what I really am. Rumors will start circulating soon, if they haven't already, about me being a chimera created by the Dread Doctors and I'd like for that to be the story.

I'll tell Klaus when I'm ready to tell him and when I am sure he won't hurt my mom, my dad, my friends and pack. It's my secret to tell, so you can't tell anyone anything I've told you, Rebekah. You asked me to not betray you. Please, don't betray me, either."

"Fine." Rebekah responded. "I promise I'll keep your secret and let you tell it at your discretion. It's probably a good idea to keep it secret, anyway. We've made a lot of enemies over the centuries and they wouldn't miss the chance to hurt us through you through those you care about if they knew you're one of us.

But make no mistake; you are one of us. You're a Mikaelson even if you use another man's surname. I don't even know your full name."

"Scott McCall."

"Scott McCall." Rebekah tried the full name out. "Scott McCall. Sounds nice. Scott Mikaelson sounds better."

"Scott McCall Melissason sounds way better than Scott Mikaelson." Malia said from the other side of the conference room door, bringing a smile on Scott's face as he opened the door. "Why haven't you eaten anything?"

Malia asked this question because the food she had delivered to the suite was still waiting in the dining room and now cold.

"I totally forgot about food." Scott replied, having had too much on his mind and then focusing on his conversation with Rebekah.

"Are you done?" Malia followed up.

"What are you?" Rebekah inquired in response. "I'm not familiar with your scent."

"How come when you're so old?"

"I am not old." Rebekah replied hotly. "And just because I've lived longer than most, it doesn't mean I've met or I know every creature that walks the earth. For the most part, we actually tended to keep our distance when we sensed most supernaturals."

"I'm a werecoyote."

"Oh. How does a werecoyote become werewolf royalty?"

"How much did you tell her?" Malia asked Scott.

"Everything. I was just about to tell her how we became werewolf royalty." Scott responded.

"Then you'll finish off on the way. There's a music show in the park and we're going."

TRANSITION

Niklaus' House

While Cora, Lydia, Malia, Rebekah, Scott, Tara and the Royal Guard departed Nice Town Hotel for a music show in a park in Nice Town, Klaus was busy painting in his studio at the house. That is until a call came in.

"I hope you have good news." Klaus said in greeting.

"The opposite." Kimberly replied. "None of my contacts are willing to help me find Rebekah. I guess I should have expected that after disappearing on them like I did. But that's not the bad news. The bad news is that Scott McCall is far more dangerous and powerful than we first thought."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"How dangerous and powerful could an eighteen years old boy be, love?"

"Dangerous and powerful enough to be Alpha of nine packs that make up one giant pack, two of which are royal bloodline packs." Kimberly told Klaus. "And kill, apparently, the first ever non-original vampire in a fair fight to become one of two Kings of New Orleans, while his pack decimated Vampire Faction in one night, and restore order within two weeks."

Kimberly's first revelation shook Klaus and left him in denial that a teenager could achieve what took him hundreds of years and multiply it by nine, he didn't believe it. It was just impossible.

The second revelation gave weight to his disbelief. Having turned the first ever non-original vampire and knowing how powerful Lucien would be if he was still alive, Klaus doubted Scott could kill a vampire that old, especially in a fair fight.

The third revelation gave Klaus a specific location, his former home and kingdom; the place his family was probably the happiest and called home for the longest and helped build. But it also gave him a motive for Scott 'killing' the 'first ever' non-original vampire and information on New Orleans' leadership.

The fourth revelation spoke of Scott's Pack's apparent might and numbers, but most of all, discipline. Nothing short of excellent discipline could lead to Vampire Faction falling in one night.

Though Klaus didn't bother to know anything about New Orleans after Mikael chased him and his siblings out of it, he doubted Vampire Faction became so weak that it would fall in one night, especially if the 'first ever' non-original vampire was one of two kings who led New Orleans.

The fifth revelation spoke of how organized, powerful and persuasive, and maybe controlling, Scott was to kill a leader, take their place and establish order within two weeks when he's an outsider. It made Klaus wonder who the other king was and where the Faction was.

"I turned the first ever non-original vampire back in one thousand and two and personally trained him." Klaus responded. "I doubt Lucien would get himself killed by a..."

"Lucien Castle?" Kimberly interrupted, and Klaus went silent in surprise.

"How do you know his surname?"

"That's the name of the apparent first ever non-original vampire Scott killed two weeks ago to become a King of New Orleans. You just confirmed Lucien's identity, meaning everything I was told must be true." Kimberly said, and whispered to herself, thinking about what Paige said. "What have I done?"

Klaus didn't hear Kimberly's whisper or how distraught she sounded; his mind was working overtime processing what was said. But a thought suddenly crossed his mind. If Lucien was one of two Kings of New Orleans, there was a chance Tristan de Martel was the second king.

That would mean there was a possibility that Tristan's sister Aurora could be in New Orleans as well. The very thought made Klaus' heart race like it has never done since Aurora broke his heart, but he had to know.

"You said Scott is one of two Kings of New Orleans. Who is the other?" Klaus inquired, and held his breath in anticipation, not heeding Kimberly's reaction or her quiet sniffling.

"Marcel Gerard." She answered, and Klaus' world came to a sudden stop although Kimberly's answer echoed.

"Word on the street is that Scott spared Marcel and other Faction leaders just so Human Faction, Vampire Faction and Witch Faction would have experienced leaders." Kimberly continued. "But Scott revealed some things that have people questioning their leadership.

Although New Beacon Pack, Scott's giant Pack, killed a lot of people during their attack, mainly vampires, at Scott's command and he confessed, a lot of people seem to favor his leadership and pack over the Faction. They..."

"Marcel is alive." Klaus said to himself, shocked, not knowing how to feel.

On one hand, he was happy and it was like a weight fell off his shoulders at learning that his adopted son was alive, having felt guilty about failing to protect Marcel from Mikael.

On the other hand, Marcel was alive but never tried to contact Klaus and tell him, but most all, Marcel was currently one of two kings of Klaus' former kingdom, Lucien having been a king with him before he was killed just two weeks ago. Something was wrong with that.

"Marcel is alive." Klaus repeated. "And he didn't even try to contact me. He was partners with Lucien, ruling my kingdom together. When did Lucien arrive in New Orleans?"

"I don't know." Kimberly replied.

"Find out." Klaus commanded. "And find Rebekah. Find everything you can about Lucien, Marcel and Scott and his pack."

"I can't, Klaus. My werewolf contacts don't want anything to do with me now. The only reason one of them told me about Scott was to show me that I made the wrong decision by joining your Hybrid Pack and now my family ends with me even if I avenge them. I ended my family, Klaus!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Kimberly?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Kimberly responded, clearly disappointed. "I shouldn't be surprised. Just yesterday, you thought Bonnie should be over your sister killing her best friend and help you reunite with Rebekah.

That's not how wolves grieve, Klaus. We respect other people's grieving period because we feel our grief ten times over. Bonnie lost her friend but she feels like she lost a family member because they were close. When Rebekah killed Tony, didn't you feel how it felt like?

To me, it felt like I lost an irreplaceable limb. The others share this feeling with me because Tony was one of us. He was pack and your sister killed him to spite you and you have me searching for her so that you can have a family reunite with her like she's not the murder of my pack mate.

You're a vampire through and through, Klaus. It doesn't matter how much I teach you about wolves. At heart, you're a vampire and it's probably not by choice. You've just lived most of your life as a vampire and you don't know how to be who you were meant to be, what you were meant to be; a wolf under the moonlight.

Do whatever you want to do to me when I get back, but I'm coming home to be with my pack. I'm done searching for Rebekah. If you want to reunite with her so much, abandon us and go look for her yourself.

I stupidly ended my bloodline with me to join your pack, and so did Tony and the others. They are my family now, but are they yours? Are we yours, Klaus? Would you be willing to do anything to protect us like an alpha should? Who are you, Niklaus Mikaelson? A wolf or a vampire?"

With that said, Kimberly ended the call to grieve having ended her family with her.

Kimberly's questions echoed long after the call ended and they made Klaus question if maybe Scott McCall was Alpha of nine packs at such a young age and a King of New Orleans because he knew who he was and what he wanted.

Truthfully, now that Klaus has achieved most of his long term goals; removing the curse placed on him and becoming a true hybrid again, hopefully longer than the last time, and building a pack made of those like him, he was a little lost.

Yes, he wanted to start a new kingdom, preferably in Beacon Hills because of the Nemeton and after killing Mikael, although what Kimberly said about Lucien, Marcel and Scott might change that, but how could he hope to start and lead a new kingdom when his right-hand and first hybrid questioned his leadership?

Klaus found himself happy in the presence of his pack. There was just something about being around them and hunting with them in their wolf forms, it made Klaus feel closer to his biological father and family Mikael destroyed.

But like Kimberly said, at heart, Klaus was a vampire and it was probably not by choice. One couldn't just change their mindset of more than a thousand years in less than a year, and sadly, the person Klaus hoped would be by his side to help him with the process ran away from him.

Klaus feared losing sense of who he was as a vampire, and that was one of the reasons he revived Rebekah, so that she would be by his side like she has in the past.

But with her gone and Stefan a traitor, there was no one left to help Klaus balance his vampire nature with his werewolf nature which he was beginning to understand, and that led to Klaus' fear of losing sense of who he has been for more than a thousand years.

He couldn't have that. People feared Klaus because of who he has been and he couldn't lose that fear factor because it kept his enemies and those of his siblings far from him and his family, minus Mikael. Hence he decided to revive another sibling in his time of need.

A sibling who he believed was more connected to his vampire side than the others, aside from Rebekah who was so connected to her vampire nature that she discovered their most subconscious instincts; Kol Mikaelson.