Phoenix Rising
Ch. 57
Katie paced the living room floor, a wailing Hope in her arms. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Cami asked as she walked into the room looking helpless. Hope had been crying her little heart out since one that morning, her first tooth breaking through was proving to be a long and painful process for everyone.
"What time is it?" Kaite asked, looking around only to realize there wasn't a clock anywhere in the room.
"Six forty-five." Cami answered after looking at her cell phone before she tossed it on the couch.
"Would you mind getting her some Motrin?" Katie asked as she rearranged Hope on her hip. "It's in the kitchen and the dosage is on the bottle."
Cami nodded and disappeared. When she came back she handed Katie a medicine syringe with a little bit of orange liquid in it then watched as Hope sucked it down. "You know, Elijah and I can watch her for a few hours if you need a break." Cami offered seeing how much of a toll Hope's fussiness was taking on Katie.
"It's fine." Katie replied then gave her a tired smile. "I appreciate the offer though."
"If you're worried about Elijah you don't have to." Cami told her with a serious look. "He's getting better and he'd never hurt this sweet baby." Cami gently rubbed Hope's back.
"Yeah, and I never thought he'd try to kill me." Katie pointed out flatly then walked around her and over to the rocking chair that had been placed in the corner of the room. Cami left Katie to tend to her daughter as she saw fit.
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Finally after an hour of rocking Hope, she fell asleep and let Katie lay her in her padded play pen. So Katie had a blood bag then fell asleep on the couch closest to Hope. She had only been asleep for an hour when Klaus's voice on speaker phone pulled her from sleep. "Do not wake them." she opened her eyes to see Elijah standing in the middle of the room with his phone in his hand.
"Too late. Katie is already awake." Elijah informed his brother.
She wanted to speak to Klaus, but it had been agreed she wouldn't speak to him over the phone in case someone overheard. If they found out she was alive it would only lead them to believe that Hope was still alive as well. It's the same reason she had her cell phone deactivated. "That is just not my chin, Nik." she heard a woman with a british accent comment. "It was much more delicate."
"The only delicate thing about you, Sister, is your ego." Klaus commented and Katie gathered that the new voice she heard on the phone was the one of Rebekah's new body. Which meant that Rebekah was no longer missing.
"When placed beside the behemoth size of yours, certainly." Rebekah popped off and Katie could hear Klaus's quiet laugh at her.
"Could we dispense with this fascinating dispute for a moment and return to the subject of our supposed long lost sister?" Elijah asked. "I'm sure the woman glaring daggers at me for waking her would very much like to be brought up to speed."
"There's not much to catch her up on, Elijah. This woman released me and the other witches from the confinements of the Dowager Fauline Cottage, said she was Freya then darted off into the night."
To keep from waking Hope, Katie and Elijah relocated to the kitchen where a basket of laundry sat on the table. To keep busy in the awkwardness that hung thick in the air around them, both Katie and Elijah started folding the laundry. "And you believed her?" Elijah asked.
"I met the girl in a mystical loony bin." Rebekah replied. "She could be anyone, telling any lie. But...she did seem...familiar somehow."
"And how is she still alive?" Klaus asked what Katie was thinking. "A question as ridiculous as it's possible solutions given this family's annyong predilection for cheating death." she could tell by the sound of his voice that he was aggravated.
"I don't know, Nik, I'm just telling you what she said." Rebekah replied.
"Did you happen to ask, if by some similar miracle, our aunt Dahlia lives as well?" Klaus asked, his aggravation increasing.
"I barely had a chance to process-" Rebekah started.
"Because on the list of questions, it'd be nice to know if the woman who placed a curse on the first-borns of this family is still breathing air!" Klaus yelled at her.
"Well, let me turn back time and do it again to your liking then!" Rebekah snapped back
Katie, irritable form lack of sleep, agitated and quickly getting fed up with their bickering, let out a sharp whistle. "I believe that was someone's way of saying, enough. Both of you." Elijah told them, his own annoyance with his brother and sister tainting his voice. "If she is who she says, we'll find out soon enough. For now it is imperative no one learns of Hope's existence. This has been our salvation thus far."
"Okay, if we're going to be saying out loud that Hope is alive can I at least join in in the conversations now." Katie asked.
"I was never opposed to us speaking over the phone. That was an agreement you and Rebekah came to without me." Klaus answered. "As was you deactivating your phone."
Hearing his answer felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. "Thank god. Keeping silent felt like torture." she heard Klaus chuckle on the other end of the phone.
"I hear our little one is being difficult." he replied as Elijah handed her the phone and she took it off speaker.
"More like a holy terror." she replied as she pushed her loose waved back out of her face.
"You sound tired." he said sympathetically. "Elijah shouldn't have woken you."
"No, I'm glad he did." she said with a shake of her head. "It was worth it to hear your voice."
He could hear how much she missed him in her voice, just as much as he missed her. "I agree, but you need sleep."
"I'll sleep when she does." Katie brushed it off.
"Is she not asleep right now?" Klaus asked and Katie didn't reply, knowing he would talk her into getting off the phone with him to go take a nap. "You know Camille would watch her long enough for you to get some rest."
"Klaus, I'm not a weak little human anymore. You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself, remember?" she replied, once again pushing her hair out of her face before she pulled it up into a messy ponytail and secured it with the elastic that seemed to stay on her wrist these days.
"I know you can, Sweetheart, but I also know that you will run yourself ragged if you do not accept the help of the people at your disposal." he replied trying to sound understanding but stern at the same time. Katie rolled her eyes and rubbed at her temple. "You can trust Camille and you know how much that means coming from me."
"I know." she answered quietly.
"Now, will you make me a promise?" he asked and Katie hummed a positive answer. "Take care of yourself as well as our daughter."
"Only if you promise to stop worrying about me." Katie replied.
"Deal."
"I love you." she whispered to keep the sadness the thought of hanging up with him brought her from tainting her voice.
"I love you too, Little Phoenix. Now, will you please-"
"Get some sleep?" she finished for him. "Yes, I promise I'll go lie down as soon as we hang up."
"I was going to ask you to pass the phone off to Camille." he told her with a smile in his voice. "You get snippy when you're low on sleep."
"Yeah? Maybe I should run to the convenience store and grab a Snickers bar." she replied as she headed to find Cami.
"Is that your way of saying you're feeling murderous?" he asked with an amused tone.
"Possibly." Katie answered as she started slowly walking up the stairs.
"Under other circumstances I would say have at it, but instead I'll say to wait a little longer and we'll feed when we're together again. To say I'm curious about your technique would be an understatement." he told her, bringing a smile to her face.
"My technique, as you put it, would probably result in you murdering the victim yourself." Katie told him as she knocked on Cami's door. "Besides I thought we wanted to be better for Hope."
"I, of all people, know how therapeutic feeding can be. Besides, living in Mystic Falls, with people like Stefan who wished to suppress your vampire nature, robbed you of some of the best parts of being a new vampire the first time."
"I would argue my morality did that." Katie replied as she reached the top of the stairs.
"Please, you would have fed on and killed those classmates of yours alongside Stefan that night in the gym had Elena not given you that judgy little look she was so good at shooting your way." he argued.
"Good point." Katie agreed.
"Besides, Hope is young. For now we must do whatever keeps us alive and sane enough to be her parents." Katie just raised her brows and tilted her head in agreement. "So I'm assuming your hunting methods are similar to the ones you used while humanityless?" he asked, getting back to the topic of her feeding.
"That, my dear fiance, is for me to know and you…to dot, dot, dot." Klaus laughed at her as Cami opened her door. "Here's Cami." Katie passed Cami the phone then went down stairs where she found Hope, thankfully, still sound asleep. So she laid back down on the couch. Not five minutes later sleep found her.
An hour and a half later Katie was pulled from sleep by the sound of Hope crying. "What can I do?" Cami asked as she came into the room, anticipating another long bout of Hope crying.
"You can make her a bottle if you want." Katie answered as she sat up and stood from the couch. "She's not in any pain, just hungry."
"How can you tell?" Cami asked curiously.
"Vampire ears." Katie answered with a smirk as she picked up Hope. "The pitch of her cry is different for different things." while Hope was crying Katie looked into her mouth to see a bit of white peeking out of the pink of her gums. "The good news is…" Kate started as they headed for the kitchen, "her tooth finally erupted so her mood should improve." Katie looked down at the wiggly girl in her arms with a smile, "Huh princess?" Hope squealed in response.
"Good, because I was hoping she and I could get out of the house for a little while and go to the farmers market a few miles up the road." Cami admitted as she started making a bottle of formula.
"Just you and Hope?" Katie asked with a frown at Cami as she poured a scoop of formula into a bottle of water. "Why not make it a girls day?"
"Because Klaus asked me to discreetly find a way to give you some you-time." Cami answered with a small smirk. "I'm not good at being discreet. Plus it's my professional opinion that you are well on your way to becoming a cosseting parent."
"A what?" Katie asked with a confused quirk of her brow. "I don't speak therapist."
"A helicopter parent." Cami clarified.
"So you're saying I'm clingy." Katie said as she looked down at Hope while Cami capped and shook the bottle.
"Don't get me wrong." Cami noticed Katie's change of mood at having her parenting critiqued. "I completely understand why. Hope is and always will be a very special child and people will always want to harm her, but continuing as you are, never letting her out of your sight, can be just as harmful as your enemies."
"I do let her out of my sight." Katie defended as Cami handed the bottle to Hope who grabbed it and started drinking as Katie pushed the end of the bottle up to keep her from swallowing air. "When I have someone I trust to watch her."
"You can trust me." Cami said, but Katie just walked past her and into the living room where she sat down on the couch with Hope in the crook of her arm. "Klaus does."
Katie took in a deep breath then let it out. "I'll think about it."
"Okay." Cami said letting it drop and as she turned to walk away Elijah walked by. "Elijah, I was just about to come find you." Elijah stopped and gave Cami a curious look. "I have something for you." she pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him.
He unfolded it and looked at Cami. "What is this?"
"A to-do list." Cami answered.
"This is your prescription?" he asked with a bit of a smirk. "Mend the home mend the man."
"You've done the work to face your atrocities. Truth is, it's just going to take some time to settle." Cami explained. "In cases like yours sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive than examining it through therapy. Staying physically busy instead of mentally can help. This house, though charming, is completely falling apart." Elijah just looked at her with a quirked brow. "Or we could go fishing and I could tell you about the summer I lost my virginity."
"I'll mend the home." Elijah quickly replied making Cami smirk.
"And...if Katie agrees I'll spend the day with Hope while you spend the day not thinking and she spends the day relaxing." Cami replied.
Katie laid Hope down in a baby swing and stood from the couch. "So if I let you take Hope, I'll be stuck in the house with him?" Cami and Elijah looked at her. "How is that considered me time?" she wasn't concerned about losing the me-time that she didn't want anyway, it was getting left alone with Elijah that bothered her.
"Most of his chores are outdoors." Cami shrugged then walked out of the room.
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Katie was washing Hope's empty bottle when Cami found her. "Have you thought about it?"
Katie set the bottle in the draining board as she answered, "Yes."
"And?" Cami asked.
"And…" Katie turned from the sink and looked at Cami, "while I'm not entirely comfortable with you taking Hope, I can see that I am standing at the top of a slippery slope that leads to becoming a controlling parent." Katie halfway answered. "I've always said it takes a village to raise a child and it seems, since you've earned Klaus's trust, that you have become a part of that village. Seeing as how she and I are both cloaked she will be just as safe with you a few miles up the road as she will be here. Just...take your phone and call Elijah if anything, and I mean anything, happens, please."
Cami smiled. "I will."
"And don't stay longer than a couple of hours." Katie added.
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With Hope and Cami gone, Katie couldn't find anything that relaxed her. All she felt was the pit in her stomach that kept nagging her, telling her that she shouldn't have let Cami leave with Hope. If idle hands were the devil's playthings, then he had his puppet strings tied tightly around her wrists at the moment, because the itch to find someone and rip their heart from their chest was almost too much to handle. The only thing that even slightly scratched the itch was listening to the playlist on her phone titled, Emotion Series: Anger.
She was sitting on her bed, her eyes closed and music playing on her tablet that sat on her bedside table when she thought she heard Elijah yell out in pain. Skrillex, "First of the Year", got turned off as she listened closer and peeked out the window. "How'd you find me?" Elijah asked.
"With a little help...from our sister." a man with a southern accent answered.
"Rebekah would never lower herself to wallow in your filth." Elijah replied.
"We have more than one, you know." the voice responded. "And I get the sense she doesn't like you all that much."
"Freya?" Elijah asked.
"Mother warned me Dahlia would kill us all to acquire another first-born Mikaelson. And me, I'm in no mood to die." the person talking had to be either Finn or Kol in the body of the witch Esther had placed him in.
She wanted more than anything to go down there and deal with him herself, but she knew that wouldn't be wise. Any moves she made had to be carefully planned because she had no way of knowing exactly what she was dealing with. She knew, thanks to Elijah, that even after Kol had been turned that he never stopped plotting and hanging out with witches.
"Cowering behind your witchcraft. You always were pathetic, Finn." Elijah's words let her know they weren't dealing with Kol, but still she never cared enough to learn much about the boring Mikaelson that was Finn.
"After nearly a millennium of dishonorable acts hidden away in your own mind you have the audacity to call me names." Finn was living up to the reputation given to him by his siblings. He was petty, immature and judgy as hell. "What I do now, I do for the members of my family who can still be saved. Unfortunately neither you nor Niklaus managed to make that list."
As soon as he stopped talking Katie heard the sound of Elijah grunting in pain once, then twice before they both went silent and as she listened closer she only heard the one heartbeat, that of Finn, in the vicinity. "Shit, shit, shit." Katie whispered to herself knowing that if he could take down Elijah killing her would be a piece of cake and if he didn't kill her he would try to torture Hope's location out of her.
So she went to her bag and started digging, flinging clothes out until her hand hit cold hard glass and she pulled out the only magic muting bomb she had on her, hoping to hell that it would affect him even though he seemed super powerful. She heard the front door open and Finn's heavy footsteps before he called, "Where are you Camille?." a few seconds passed before he called, "There's no use in hiding!"
Since she now knew he was expecting Cami and not a fast vampire like herself she whooshed downstairs and set the bomb off in his face as she zippef past him. He groaned out in pain from the glass busting in his face. She heard another groan of pain from him and whooshed back around him coming to a stop beside Elijah who kicked the front door closed.
Finn pulled a knife out of his stomach then wiped blood from his face before he looked up at them, lifted his hand and and spoke in a forgine language as he flicked his wrist slinging Kaite and Elijah into the walls a few times before he pulled them face to face with him and slung them through the wall into the library. Elijah looked at the hole in the wall as Katie sat up, then looked at her and grabbed her wrist. "The gas line in the wall is busted, help me keep him distracted then, when I tell you to, run. Find Hope and Camille and get as far away from here as you can. I will find you." his words echoed through her head as she looked at him across her shoulder then gave him a nod. While they were communicating, Finn was yelling out in pain for reasons unknown to any of them.
When Finn found them, Elijah was on his knees with his back to him and Katie kneeled down next to him, facing the opposite direction. Her goal, at the moment, was to play the part of concerned friend. "Look...at...you, Brother. You're a mess. And as we both know untidiness is your undoing." Finn taunted. "Tell me, do your soiled clothes serve as a reminder of your filthy memories?" It really was no wonder the rest of the Mikaelson siblings kept him daggered for so long. "Are you having bad memories now, Brother? Perhaps of the innocent Tatia? Or any one of the other poor souls who met their fate at your hands?" A frown took over Katie's face at Finn's words. Elijah killed Tatia, not Esther?
Now wasn't the time to harp on that. "Do you ever stop spouting hypocritical bullshit?" Katie asked with a glare up at Finn then looked down at Elijah and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Elijah?" he didn't look at her and she knew it was because he was playing the part of the unstable brother who's mind had been tampered with by their mother. Or at least she hoped he was just pretending.
"I admit, I was surprised to find out that you were the mother of Niklaus's child." Finn replied, now taunting her. "From the way you stood up to Mother I assumed you'd be by Elijah's side until continuously being reincarnated drove you insane. I thought you to be a devout woman, but you are no better than my siblings. Pitting brother against brother...killing countless people in cold blood." White hot anger flowed through her and the veins popped under her eyes filling the whites with bright red blood, the itch to rip his head from his body taking hold as she flashed her sharp fangs. "I'm sorry, is the truth too much for you to handle?"
"Shut...up!" She yelled and tried to whoosh at him, but with a wave of his wrist he pushed her to her knees beside Elijah. "You know nothing about me!" She yelled as she fought the force he was pushing on her with and whooshed at him, managing to land a punch to his face before he flicked his wrist again this time sending a crippling pain throughout her skull. This, she couldn't fight and fell to her knees, crying out in pain.
"Leave her, Brother." Elijah spoke up as he stood and turned to Finn who looked at him with a confused frown.
"I see you have managed to fight your way out of the vulgar refuse that floods your mind." Finn observed.
"I assure you, my mind is quite clear." Elijah responded. "Much like the gas that has pervaded every single room of this home whilst you have been ranting, like the lunatic that you are." Elijah looked down at his hands then back at Finn. "You have disgraced this family for the last time." he looked at Katie as he took off his daylight ring, "Run." As soon as she was out of the house Elijah stuck his arm into the sunlight from the window. "Goodbye, Brother."
As the house exploded Katie heard Cami's, "Oh my God!" nearby and looked around to see her sitting in the suv at the beginning of the driveway. Katie whooshed to them and hopped into the back seat beside Hope. "Turn around and drive as fast as you can."
"I can't, the car died." Cami answered right before the car started all on its own, making her give Hope a weird look.
"Cami, Finn has found us!" Katie yelled to snapp Cami out of her shock. "We gotta go, now." Cami didn't move, agitating Katie. "Cami, I know you're in shock, but you either need to drive or switch me spots." Katie told her, eager to get the hell out of dodge and as far away from Finn as possible.
Cami quickly snapped out of it and turned the car around. After a few minutes of driving in silence she asked. "What about Elijah? We just left him."
"He told me he would find us." Katie answered not knowing what else she could say and the car fell silent again, but a few minutes later they heard a thunk on top of the car and Cami swerved. "It's Elijah, stop the car and let him in."
When they were back on the road Elijah called Klaus and told him everything that had happened. "Come home."
"What?" Katie asked with a wide eyed look at the phone. "If he has jumped into a new body it is most likely going to be one there. We would be handing ourselves over on a silver platter."
"He already knows Hope is alive and proven that he has the means to find her. If you come home I will at least be able to protect the two of you myself." he replied. "If it will further reassure you and if you agree, I will talk to Hayley, tell her Hope is alive and see if she will keep her promise to help protect our child."
"I agree. Talk to her, we'll need all the help we can get." Katie answered seeing no other option.
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Klaus was waiting for them in the courtyard and as soon as Katie saw him she passed Hope, still in her carseat, over to Cami and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. "I take it by the two men guarding the front doors that you've spoken to Hayley and Jackson?" she asked as she pulled back, keeping her hands on the sides of his neck as she looked him in the eyes.
"I did, but they wanted nothing to do with anything going on in the quarter. It seems the new parents would rather hide out in the woods and abandon their pack than stand up for them." Klaus answered, making Katie frown. "Another wolf, Aiden, is now in charge. He has agreed to uphold Hayleys promise to you and allotted us a few members of his pack that are willing to stand up to Finn."
"A few?" Katie asked, worry clear in her voice.
"Fifteen or so. All with moonlight rings." Klaus answered then cupped her cheek in his hand. "This house is now a fortress. With Finn's link to Esther and Mikael broken he is no more powerful than any other witch. Hope is safe here in her home, with us."
"Finn was channeling your parents?" Katie asked and Klaus nodded. "And you're sure these wolves aren't secretly still loyal to Finn?"
"Trust me, they want to be rid of him just as much as we do." he answered as he turned from her to look at his sleeping daughter. "How is our little princess?"
"Good." Katie answered. "She's a trooper."
"Like her mother." he added with a small smile at her that Katie returned.
"So, if Finn was channeling both Esther and Mikael, would that explosion even hurt him?" Katie asked with a look between him and Elijah.
"Kol broke the link." Klaus replied. "He channeled Rebekah and I along with a plethora of dark objects and overpowered him." Hope woke up and started crying, not knowing where she was at. Klaus took her out of her carseat. "Come here, Sweetheart."
"She's hungry and could probably use a diaper change." Katie told him as she rubbed Hope's back then looked at Cami. "So are you going to be staying with us for a while, until we know that you're safe from the wrath of Finn?"
Cami looked at Klaus who looked at Katie then back at Cami. "You are more than welcome." he told her so Cami nodded.
"I'll show you to your room." Elijah offered so Camie followed him upstairs.
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Katie and Klaus watched Hope playing in her crib in the nursery as the morning sun rose outside her window. "So you, Rebekah and Kol are all on good terms now?" Katie asked, curious about the fact that Klaus trusted Kol enough to let him channel him when Kol had such a strong reputation of being untrustworthy. Not to mention before Klaus dropped Katie off with Rebekah he had been ready to murder her himself for summoning Mikael to New Orleans back in the twenties.
"So much has happened while you were away and we have a lot to discuss, but right now I just want to enjoy this." he answered as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and started placing light kisses over the side of her neck. She let him take his time as they both soaked in the moment, the feeling of being in one another's arms again. But after a few minutes Katie turned in his arms, and pushed back the blood that had rushed to her eyes from the sensations that his touch sent through every nerve ending in her body. He laughed loving that she wasn't as in control of her impulses as he had been when they first met. It gave him a more true insight to what she was feeling, how he made her feel, like he was getting to peek inside her mind without having to ask. When the blood had faded she gave him a look that asked him to start filling her in. "Finn has cured Kol." Klaus started. "He's locked him in his current body, unable to jump into another before he dies the slow death Finn granted him." Katie frowned and placed her hand over her chest, knowing what his death meant to Klaus especially after what they had recently gone through together. "Kol and I have had our disagreements in the past, but he is my family and I do not wish to lose him again...just when it was starting to feel like we could truly be brothers again."
Katie dropped her hand from her chest to grab his. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you the first time you lost him, but I'm here now and I will do whatever I can to help save him." she grabbed his other hand and looked him in the eyes. "Whatever it takes, whatever you need."
"I've seen black magic like this time and time again. Once it's wormed its way in it latches on like a vice. Try as they might Davina and Rebekah can't save him." he told her with watery eyes.
Not knowing the right words to say Katie let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her face into his neck as he hugged her back. After a couple minutes she pulled back and gave him a confused look. "Why would Davina want to save Kol? I thought she hated most Mikaelsons." Klaus just gave her a suggestive look. "Kol and Davina?" she asked with raised brows.
"They've spent a particularly large sum of time together since he was resurrected, mostly scheming against me." he answered.
"Huh." Katie huffed as she picked Hope up and moved her to sit on the turtle shaped play mat with criss crossed bars that had toys hanging off of it and was in the corner of her and Klaus's room. "I imagine if anyone could tame the wildest Mikealson man it'd be her."
Klaus just smiled at her. "While we are on the subject of new romances, you might be happy to hear Joshuah has found someone." he told her as he sat down at the head of the bed and motioned her over to him.
"Really, who?" she asked as she walked over and moved to straddle his lap, but he maneuvered her around to sit between his legs with her back resting against him so they could both keep and eye on their daughter.
"Aiden." he answered as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"The new leader of the wolves?" she asked with a look at him over shoulder and he gave her a nod. "A vampire and a werewolf, scandalous." she replied as she relaxed back against him again.
"Our little princess seems to be in a better mood than she was yesterday." Klaus observed as they both watched Hope babble as she played with the toys hanging over her head.
"I forgot to tell you," Katie looked over her shoulder at him with a smile. "Her first tooth came in yesterday." he smiled at her. "She's still a little grumpy about it, but the most painful part is over."
They spent a few minutes in silent familial happiness before Klaus broke it. "Hayley had a request that I need to discuss with you." his words made Katie move around to sit beside him, giving him her full attention. "When I told her Hope was alive she asked for a couple vials of her blood."
"She wants to turn one of her people?" Katie asked with a frown already not liking the request.
"Herself." Klaus answered. "There is a werewolf ritual they wish to perform. A ritual in which two alphas wed and any distinct powers one has is not only shared with the partner, but their pack as well."
"So...if Hayley was a hybrid and she married Jackson, the wolves would no longer need the moonlight rings." Katie gathered. "They would be free of not only Finn, be anyone who wished to control them."
"It would bring us one step closer to truly uniting the factions of this city." Klaus added making Katie get quiet, thinking about what he'd just told her. "Fill me in on your thoughts please, Little Phoenix?"
"I admit, the idea of putting this train wreck of a city back on the tracks is nice, but I don't think we should use our daughter to do so." she answered.
"I decided a long time ago I would never use her powers for our own personal gain." he admitted. "I refuse to violate our daughters rights."
"So we agree? Hayley will not become a hybrid." Kaite asked.
"We agree." Klaus answered. "But she will not like it. She may even retract her previous promise."
"Then we will deal with the consequences as best we can." she said with a serious look. "They can be happy that they will be allowed to keep their moonlight rings after Finn is dealt with or they will have no rings at all." Klaus gave her a look that said he didn't know if he should be impressed or worried. "You've been calling me a queen for some time now. It's about damn time I step up to the plate, stop running and stop letting you shoulder all the responsibility that comes with being a pillar of this city." she told him as she threw her leg over him and straddled his lap. Hope squealed behind her. "Sounds like she agrees."
"As do I." he told her before he slipped his hand over the sensitive skin of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss.
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Katie and Klaus were sitting on the floor of Hope's nursery when Elijah and Rebekah, now in the beautiful body of a petite, almond skinned woman with curly dark hair, walked in. They both looked up at them from Hope. "It's Kol. I couldn't help him." Rebekah told them sadly. "He's not gonna last through the night."
When they got to the cemetery that was lit up by the bright moon, "More Than You Know" by Billie Holiday was playing while Davina and Kol slowly danced, but they were interrupted by Kol coughing. Katie knew he didn't have long from the rough, wet sound of it. "I think I wanna be alone for this bit." He told Davina as he walked away from her coughing as he did.
"I'm afraid that's not an option." Elijah informed Kol, getting his and Davina's attention.
"Always and forever is not just something you weasel out of brother." Klaus told them as he walked to the front of the group and gave Kol a smirk.
"Katie?" Davina asked through her tears. "How are you here?"
"That's a long story for another time." Katie left the siblings and went to Davina. "Come here." She opened her arms and Davina took the offered hug, wrapping her arms around Katie's waist. While Davina's tears sank into Katie's t-shirt Katie brushed her hand over her hair soothingly. Klaus and his siblings disappeared into the open tomb Davina and Kol had been dancing near. After a few minutes Davina pulled back and wiped her face. "Come on." Katie jerked her head to the tomb.
Davina sat down and started chanting a spell while fiddling with a silver chain. So Katie moved to stand near Klaus, watching as Rebekah helped Kol sit down on the concrete floor of the tomb. "All my life...all I ever wanted was...you lot...to care about me." Kol told Klaus, making a tear slip down Klaus's cheek. Katie made a pained face when a coughing fit caused Kol to double over and Klaus kneeled down, wrapping his arm around Kol, letting him cough into his shoulder while Elijah and Rebekah placed their hands on his back.
When the coughing fit subsided Kol leaned back into Rebekah. "Kol, listen to me," Rebekah told him as she stroked his cheek, "you don't have long. You're going to die, but you will die...a witch. And we will consecrate your body. You will join the ancestors of the French quarter and those spirits can be brought back. And I promise you, Brother, I will not leave this body until I find a way to bring you home."
A tear slipped down Katie's cheek and she wiped it away. Davina scuttled across the floor and took Kol's hand. "I tried a different spell."
He shook his head at her, telling her it didn't work. "It's okay." He reassured her. "I'm...I'm not scared." Klaus and Elijah shared teary eyed looks before Kol coughed again and they all looked down at him as the light faded from his eyes and his body went limp. Davina collapsed into tears, resting her head on his stomach.
A shaky breath left Klaus's lips before he bit them closed, tears slipping down his handsome face. Katie grabbed his hand and he used it to pull her into his chest. She closed her eyes, a few tears of her own seeped into his thin shirt. When she opened them they landed on Rebekah still sitting behind Kol, holding up his torso while her head rested on his shoulder and her body shook with sobs. Katie couldn't help reaching out and setting her hand on Rebekah's shoulder, letting her know she was there for her, and when she looked up at Elijah he knew she was there for him too, even if they weren't on good terms at the moment.
The siblings fought like cats and dogs...it made it easy to forget how deeply they truly loved and cared about one another.
TVDTVDTVD
After Kol was consecrated and his body cremated, they all walked silently back to the compound, the dark star filled sky above them. When they entered the compound Elijah spoke up. "Katie, may I have a moment?"
Katie stopped and looked at Klaus then at Elijah. "Sure." she looked back at Klaus. "I'll be up in a minute." he gave her a nod then headed up to their room attached to the nursery.
"In the interest of maintaining the peace, I have decided to join Marcel in Algiers." Elijah told her. "I believe, with the correct instruction and guidance, the community he is building there may well prosper."
"That's just an excuse, isn't it?" Katie asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're really leaving because you can't stand being around me." Elijah sighed and narrowed his eyes. "Would you at least tell me why?"
"I am angry with you." he told her and Katie dropped her eyes to the ground. "Do you know why it was so hard for me to move on?" he asked and she shook her head no as she lifted her eyes back to his dark browns. "It's because you have no idea how rare love is. In your fifty or so years you have found it three times. In my thousand I have only found it twice." he answered making her heart feel like it was going to break. "I left you not because I didn't love you, but because I loved you enough to sacrifice my own happiness to keep you sane."
Katie picked her foot up and started tapping the toe of her black and white converse down into the floor as she whispered, "I'm sorry."
"You once told me that if removing yourself from my life would help, you would do it. That time has come." he replied. "Only you can not leave because this is your home now."
"This is your home too, Elijah, we need you here." Katie argued as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"In my long, long life I've called many places home, Katie." he told her. "Klaus has made this place a fortress, I am not needed here." his words held a tone of finality as he walked around her and up the stairs to his quarters.
When she walked into Hope's nursery she found Cami rocking Hope in the rocking chair in the corner while Klaus stood with his arms resting on the foot of Hope's crib watching his daughter sleeping with a small smile on his face. Katie could tell by the fact that Hope's pacifier hadn't fallen out of her mouth yet that it wasn't quite safe to risk laying her down without her waking up. "Thank you, for watching her." Katie told Cami quietly.
"It's no problem, really. I'm just surprised you trusted me with her." Cami replied with a small smirk.
"Yeah, well, recent events didn't exactly give me much choice." Katie answered as the pacifier fell from Hope's mouth and Cami stood up and laid her in her crib. "I never thanked you for taking her to that farmers market." Katie told her sincerely. "Had you not, Finn would have found her."
"It's no problem." Cami said with a smile down at Hope. "She's actually pretty low maintenance when she's not violently teething. She keeps looking around and smiling, I think she likes it here, feels like home." Cami looked back up at Katie and Klaus, "If you guys ever need me to baby sit again," She placed her hand OK Katie's forearm and looked her in the eyes, "don't hesitate to ask."
Katie gave her an appreciative smile. "Will do."
"Goodnight, you two." Cami told them with a small knowing smile as she walked around them and out of the set of doors that led out onto the balcony, closing them behind her.
They watched Hope sleeping, dressed in a pink onesie with small multicolored polk-a-dots on it for a while before Klaus jerked his head for Katie to follow her into their room. Katie quietly closed the door behind them. "So, what did Elijah want?" Klaus asked as he pulled the army green Henley he had been wearing over his head and tossed it into the dirty clothes hamper.
"He informed me that he is moving across the river to help Marcel with his community of vampires." Katie answered.
"What?" Klaus asked, looking angry. "Why would he leave?"
"Because of me." Katie answered, sadness clear in her eyes. "After we found out that Rebekah hadn't jumped into Angelica Barker's body, Elijah had an episode and attacked me."
"What do you mean he attacked you?" Klaus asked, already looking like he was going to go rip Elijah a new one.
"I went to talk to him and the next thing I knew he had his hand in my chest and this...blank look on his face. He was completely checked out. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk him down and I couldn't move. So I got into his head, but even in there he was just...gone, like a robot in kill mode." She leaned her hips against the footboard of the bed and Klaus patiently waited for her to continue, not wanting to react until he had the full story.
"The only chance I had of making it out alive was to shock him back to reality. So while I was in his head I used the fact that he still has feelings for me against him and...I...kissed him." Klaus stared at her, a look of pure rage in his eyes, yet he remained unmoving. Her mind went into paranoid overdrive, the fights she'd had with Damon after circumstance pushed her to kiss Elijah while they were together flashed through her head. She knew Klaus wasn't like Damon and the circumstances were different, but the fear of losing Klaus due to her mistake brought tears to her eyes as she hugged herself and started tapping the toe of her converse shoe into the floor. "You're angry...I know I screwed up…" her voice cracked as she blinked back tears, "and I'll understand if you want your ring back, but I'm begging you, please-"
He cut her off with a kiss and when it broke he pressed his forehead to hers. "Your actions are not the cause of my anger, Little Phoenix." their eyes met as he pulled back and cupped the side of her neck in his hand. "You did what you had to do. I do not blame you for that."
"You blame him." she realized then, that he was pissed at Elijah, not her.
"Where did you hide those daggers?" he asked and she didn't answer. "I will find them with or without your help."
"You can't dagger him, Klaus, we need his help to protect Hope." she argued.
"How can he protect her when he is clearly incapable of keeping a clear head?" Klaus asked, his tone now matching the anger in his eyes.
"Because while he can't stand the sight of me, I know that when push comes to shove he will stand against those who would harm her." she argued.
Klaus started looking around the room for the daggers. "He is a threat to you and I will not let anyone hurt you, especially not my own family."
"He needs time to heal, Klaus, he can't do that with a dagger in his chest." she told him as he grabbed the mattress and started to flip them, but she grabbed them and pushed them back down onto the bed.
"He almost killed you, Katie!" he yelled.
"But he didn't!" she yelled back. Hope, having been woken up by their arguing, started crying. Katie left Klaus to go to her and picked her up. "I'm sorry, sweet girl. It's okay...Everything's okay." she shushed Hope, holding her close as she swayed her side to side. When she turned to Klaus, standing in the doorway of Hope's nursery, she saw all anger gone from his eyes, replaced by regret. It was the same regret Katie was feeling for yelling at him, especially around Hope. "This isn't Elijah's fault." she told him when Hope quieted down. "If you want to blame someone, blame Esther. She's the one that made him like this by putting that door in his head in the first place."
"I know." he replied quietly. Katie walked over to him and he slipped his hand over Hope's head and wiped the crocodile tears that were still on her face. "I'm sorry, Princess."
"So do you still want to know where the daggers are?" Katie asked.
He hummed a negative answer and shook his head no. "I'm sorry."
Katie looked up at him. "Me too."
"I've come too close to losing you too many times." he pointed out. "Even though you're a vampire now and you're stronger, you're still vulnerable." he took Hope from her and sat down in the rocking chair in the room, cradling Hope in his arms as he started to rock her. "I would move heaven and earth if it meant you could be invinacle like me."
"I've got to admit I sometimes feel like the odd man out in our little family." he tilted his head at her curiously. "I'll always be a simple, vulnerable vampire. But you're a hybrid, and our daughter is a tribrid." Katie turned her eyes to their daughter who's eyes were already becoming heavy. "I won't know what it feels like to practice magic, to have that connection with the earth. I'll never know what it's like to be a werewolf or even have the untriggered gene and have to deal with the rage that comes on the full moon. All I have is blood lust and heightened senses and emotions. She's alive and so far acts and feels things like a normal baby." she admitted then looked back at Klaus. "I just...I hate that I won't have a clue how to help her through any of that and that it rests solely on your shoulders."
"That's why we're a team, Mo Bhanríon." Klaus told her then looked down at his daughter as the pacifier fell from her lips. Klaus laid her back down in her crib and when the door to her room was shut he turned to Katie and cupped her chin in his hand. "Let's try not to wake her again." he gave Katie a look that told her exactly why they might be loud before he caught her lips with his in a needy, passionate kiss.
A moan slipped from her lips before she broke the kiss. "We might need to relocate." her whispered words made Klaus chuckle and she giggled when he scooped her up into his arms with a growl and whooshed them to their quarters.
A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever. Life has been getting in the way but I'll try to be more consistent. Also, a guest left a review that said, "Katie is not and will never be a with Klaus period." Does anyone know what they could have meant by that, because I'm a bit confused. Lol. Anyway thank you for reading and review are always highly appreciated :-)