I am...soooooo drunk right now, like hella drunk lol, but I haven't updated in a while so he's a chapter lol I have not proofread this but I hope it's good, I'll read it tomorrow and find out with all of you *awkward laugh*. No spanking in this chapter but plenty of it in the next chapter (at least three (and two of them are not who you think they will be)) so be warned.

Chapter 88

Marcel searched the Compound until he found Davina and Oliver in the den, a cartoon playing on the TV and Davina attempting to coax Oliver out of his sullen state with strawberries since the now stale bowl of popcorn didn't seem to work.

Oliver's eyes lit up when he saw Marcel enter the room but he didn't get up to greet him as Marcel expected. He stayed with his back flush against the sofa, his little hands tucked under his thighs as if he were afraid of an angry accusation coming.

Marcel trailed slowly over to the boy, checking his current feelings towards Klaus at the door so as not to frighten Oliver any more than he already seemed.

"Hi, buddy," Marcel started, a smile on his face as he knelt down between Oliver and Davina. "You doing okay?"

Oliver nodded but his eyes fell slowly to the floor in shame.

"He's not eating anything," said Davina as if evidence that the boy was in fact not feeling okay. "Rebekah said he hasn't eaten since breakfast so he should be hungry again by now."

"I ate candy," Oliver muttered, his voice shaking with shame.

Marcel's cocked an eyebrow. Surely the stick-in-the-mud Uncle Elijah he knew wouldn't allow the boy to have candy before lunch (or at all if he had any say on the matter).

"Elijah gave you candy?" He asked

Oliver's face reddened as he shook his head 'no'.

"I-I...I tooked it at the store wh-when Unc'a 'Lijah wasn't looking," he repeated the lie he told Elijah. Then, tears suddenly formed in his eyes as he said, "Now he's mad at me."

"Hey, now," Marcel brought his thumb up to Oliver's cheek, softly wiping away his tears. "Uncle Elijah isn't mad at you."

The boy pushed the balls of his palms against his eyes and nodded his head. "He-he is. I tooked the candy and it melted on his car seat and now he's mad. Th-that's why he made mommy bring me back here b-because...because I'm bad and he doesn't want me around no more."

"You're not bad," Marcel stated firmly, placing a finger under the boy's chin and tilting his head so that he was looking up in his eyes.

"Then why didn't Unc'a 'Lijah want me to keep shopping with him and Izzy?"

With a sigh, Marcel sat on the couch, pulling the boy onto his lap. He knew Rebekah didn't tell the boy about what was going on with Izzy because she didn't want him to worry but the boy was now worrying about something entirely different and Marcel didn't know which was worse.

"Izzy...got into a bit of trouble," Marcel finally decided to say. "And she's run off somewhere. So now mommy, Uncle Elijah, Aunty Hayley, and the rest of the pack are out looking for her before she gets into any more trouble."

His fear growing evermore, Oliver asked, "Is Izzy gonna get sent to the bad place again? It wasn't her fault. She tooked it for me."

Marcel's eyebrows rose in confusion and then, realizing what the boy could mean, he asked, "Izzy took the candy?"

Oliver chewed desperately at his lip. He thought Marcel and everyone had already figured out the truth but apparently, they didn't.

"Ummm," Oliver's eyes fell to the floor. "No. I tooked it. I just...got confused."

Marcel wanted to scold him for lying but he knew the boy didn't think he was doing anything wrong. He was supposed to protect his sister from perceived threats. The only problem was, his family wasn't a threat.

"You know you don't have to lie to me, sweetheart," Marcel said, his voice falling soft and low so as to remind the boy that he was safe.

Oliver nodded but kept his eyes focused on the grey carpet.

"You're a Mikaelson now. And Mikaelsons are always and forever. That means there's nothing you can say or do that will make anyone in this family angry and want to send you away."

"I know," Oliver said softly. And he did know. Everyone always liked him more than Izzy, even their old mommy. She used to call him special and say that Izzy was broken because her 'conscience was too strong' - whatever that meant - but Oliver would be different, she would make sure of it. She never hugged or kissed him because she said it would make him weak like Izzy but his big sister was always there to hug him when he was afraid or kiss his skinned knees when he fell. Oliver didn't want to be different, he wanted to be just like Izzy when he grew up. She was so kind and loving. But none of the adults around them could see that. They all thought she was bad and always wanted to punish her. He couldn't let that happen.

"Mikaelsons also do not lie to their daddies," Marcel continued, noting the wandering look in the boy's eyes and wondering if he was getting through to him. "Because daddies protect their sons against everyone and anything. But daddy can't protect you if he doesn't know the truth."

Oliver's pout grew deeper, his little face darkening with contemplation. "Izzy protects me," he finally muttered. "But...nobody protects Izzy."

Knowing he was finally getting through to the boy, Marcel asked, "What do you mean, sweetheart? Who does Izzy need protection from?"

Oliver looked up to him, his bottom lip trembling as his eyes filled with tears. "Everybody. Everybody just wants to send her away all the time. I-Izzy don't mean to be bad. Sh-she can be good too. She just...she forgets sometimes. And...and it's my fault. She just wanted me to be happy but I won't ask for candy no more. Please don't make her go away, daddy. I'll miss her. She'll be good from now on, I promise."

Marcel squeezed the boy against his chest as he muttered soft words of reassurance in his ears. "Izzy's not going anywhere, sweetheart. She's a Mikaelson too, always and forever. They are going to find her and bring her back home before anything bad happens to her. And we're never going to let anyone take her away again. No matter what."

"P-promise?"

Pulling the boy back to look into his swimming brown eyes, Marcel said, "I promise."

-M-

Izzy stood outside of Vincent's sanctuary with the stolen brushes and Elijah's credit card lying on the front step at her feet. She'd rang the doorbell and hid behind a nearby mailbox for almost half an hour but no one ever came to retrieve them. She was afraid to leave them in case some curious thief wandered up to the steps and stole them for good but she knew she couldn't stick around the city much longer. She knew Lillian had to have called the police by now and every blaring siren made her want to run for the hills.

She considered taking the card and brushes back to the Compound but there was always someone there. Maybe the Mikaelsons hadn't found out about her incident yet but she knew it was only a matter of time before they did and she didn't want to see the disappointment or disgust in any of their eyes when they found out she was the violent thief everyone warned them she was. That's why she got rid of her phone as soon as she ran away from the art shop. She also didn't want them to track her with it. A tracking spell would take a bit more time to get together than pinging her GPS so she had to toss her phone in the first trash she saw as she ran.

"What are you doing here?"

Izzy jumped at the sound of the familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see Vincent with two paper bags cradled in each arm.

"Um," she quickly grabbed the brush set and card and turned back to him. "I...need you to give this to Elijah Mikaelson for me."

She couldn't read Vincent's hard-set eyes as he glared at the brush set. Did he know they were stolen?

"I'm not your errand boy," he growled as he marched up the steps and shoved one of the grocery bags in her arms. "I don't 'give things to the Mikaelsons' for you."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old key, unlocking the big church doors and leading the way inside.

"C'mon. Help me unload these bags. You hungry?"

Izzy slipped into the church, closing the door behind her as another police siren called in the near distance. "I can't stay, she said, following him through the empty church to the back of the building where a small kitchen sat.

She was shocked by the emptiness. The church had been gutted out a long time ago, all of the pews and podium removed to make way for cots and dressers for the folks in need of Vincent's protection and even though there were never very many residents of the sanctuary, it had never been so empty either.

"Where is everybody?" she asked as she set the bag on the kitchen counter.

"Re-housed," Vincent answered simply.

"But...where did they go? Don't they need you for protection?"

"Don't worry 'bout that. I took care of 'em. You get those eggs in the fridge before they go bad."

With a sigh, Izzy obeyed, hurrying to put away the groceries so she could leave without causing suspicion. Obviously, Vincent had no idea what she'd done so she needed to go before he figured it out.

As Vincent grabbed the loaf of bread and started layering sliced chicken and cheese on top of two slices of bread, Izzy eased closer to the door. "Look, I've really got someplace to be. If you don't want to take this stuff back to Elijah, that's fine, I'll just-"

"You'll take this sandwich to the dining room." Vincent shoved the plate her way and she took it without hesitation.

The sandwich looked amazing, piled with enough chicken to fill her for the rest of the day. And the best thing about sandwiches was that they were portable. She could take it with her on the run.

As she turned to leave the kitchen, and the sanctuary altogether, Vincent said, "And don't you even think about going out that front door. Running away from your problems ain't gonna solve 'em."

Izzy turned back to Vincent, realizing that he knew more than he let on.

"You...you know what I did?"

Vincent paused in the middle of making his own sandwich and looked back at her. "Don't think that because I don't affiliate myself with any of the New Orleans covens that I don't know what's going on in them. Talk going around the Quarter that you destroyed an art store."

"I didn't destroy it," she barked. "That bitch is lying-"

Vincent held his hand up to silence her. "I know you didn't," he said calmly. "Witches have the tendency to exaggerate. But I'm guessing you must've done something to have them all in a stir."

Izzy bit her lip, unsure if Vincent would understand, sure that no one would understand. Especially not Elijah. He was always so calm and put together, he could never understand someone who loses their temper as much as she does.

"I...I didn't mean to," she muttered, thinking about how stupid that sounded. She was too old to still have such fragile control over her magic as she did. "It was an accident."

Vincent sauntered over to the girl and took her hands in his. He could feel the magic rushing uncontrolled within her even now. He often felt it getting out of control when they practiced together but he'd hoped with constant, disciplined training she would learn to manage it better. When Freya called him earlier and told him about the girl's father and her mother's plan for her, it all began to make a bit more sense. There was no telling how being half-wolf was affecting her control, if she would ever be able to truly control it, especially after activating her werewolf gene.

Luckily, he had a plan.

"Go home," he stated plainly. "Freya has something that might help."

"I...I can't go back," she shook at the thought. Even if the Mikaelsons accepted her back, the police were looking for her. "I have to get out of the city or I'll end up back in juvy."

"No, you won't. Elijah has already taken care of the cops and the owner of the shop. The Mikaelsons going to pay for the damages and the stolen brushes and, from what I hear, Elijah's has also agreed to donate a considerable amount of money to get the shop updated with an all-new security system. In exchange, you are free to go." As he walked back to the counter to finish his sandwich, he muttered, "You are one of them now so their benefits are yours. So go back home. But eat that sandwich first. You look like you've been running all day."

Izzy stood at the doorway, staring at Vincent with uncertainty. "How do you know they're going to want me back?" She asked, her voice rising just above a whisper?

Turning back to face her, Vincent said, "A while ago, Elijah Mikaelson came to me and asked that I teach at that new school his vamp friend is opening in Algiers. Of course, I declined the first, second, and third time he asked because, well, first of all, I don't much care for teaching. And the thought of teaching at any school sponsored by the Mikaelsons makes my skin crawl. And second, I was needed here. But then offered to officially pardon everyone in the sanctuary and donated a large portion of that massive Mikaelson fortune to a fund that would help them all get back on their feet. It would've been selfish of me to say no then so I accepted. When I asked him why he wanted me at that school so badly, he said it was because I was the only New Orleans witch you could stand to be around and he wanted you to be around as many familiar faces as possible to reduce any boarding school anxiety you might find yourself with."

He walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder, guiding her out the kitchen and into the dining room.

"The Mikaelsons are old, powerful, self-centered bastards," he said as he pushed her firmly down into one of the dining chairs. "But when it comes to their loved ones, they'll move heaven and Earth to keep them safe. I don't know what criteria they use to determine who gets to be called a Mikaelson, but you seem to fit the bill, so eat your sandwich and go home. We have our lessons in the morning and I need you well-rested."

She couldn't help but groan at the thought of Vincent working her to exhaustion again but at the same time, her heart fluttered with hope, hope that he was right and Elijah and Hayley did still want her back after such a stupid mistake.

"Do you really think," her soft voice paused him in the kitchen doorway. "That...they'll want me back? What if...what if they don't?"

"Did they make that Godforsaken oath to you?"

Izzy looked up at him in confusion. "Oath?"

"Always and forever," he elaborated.

Izzy nodded, remembering the promise both Elijah and Hayley made to her.

"Then they want you back. The Mikaelsons are awful in a lot of ways, but they keep their promises. If they promised you 'always and forever', then you're one of them. Always and forever."

As he turned to leave again, Izzy said, "Thank you, Vincent. For agreeing to come to the school. I...I don't think I could do it without you."

-M-

Niklaus let out a small yawn as he made his way through the Compound. It was past noon and Elijah was still in search of Izzy so there was no lunch to look forward to but he could still help himself to a blood bag.

As he passed by the den, the sound of cartoons playing loudly on the tv drew his attention inside.

Marcel sat on the couch, finally asleep with Oliver in his lap and Davina lying against his shoulder. The girl had fallen asleep as well but Oliver sat wide awake, his thumb in his mouth as he stared at the colorful sea creatures swimming around in search of a fictitious treasure. The sight was so disgustingly cute, it nearly sickened Klaus. But then he saw Marcel's face, his brows tense as if he'd fought sleep to the last moment, and he could not help but smile at his little warrior.

Noticing someone in the doorway, Oliver looked up at Klaus and popped his thumb from his lips.

"Unc'a Klaus," the boy said softly as if afraid to wake Marcel. Holding up the empty bowl beside him, he asked, "Can you bring me more st'awberries?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at the request. "You're a big boy, Oliver. You can get your own strawberries."

As Klaus continued down the hall, Oliver carefully crawled from Marcel's lap and hurried out of the room behind him.

Klaus nearly flinched as the boy wrapped his tiny hand around his but Oliver was ignorant to his discomfort. Marcel and Elijah always insisted on holding his hand so he assumed Klaus would as well.

Klaus simply rolled his eyes again but didn't pull away from the boy as he led him down to the kitchen. The boy took the stairs at such a slow pace, Klaus couldn't help but lift him onto his hip so he could be free of this dreadfully intimate encounter.

"I miss Izzy," Oliver mumbled, lying his head against Klaus's chest.

Klaus sighed. "She hasn't been gone long enough for you to miss her."

"Yes, she has. What if she doesn't come back?"

"She will," Klaus stated definitively as he sat the boy on the floor at the bottom of the staircase and Oliver immediately took his hand again. "Hayley or Elijah will find her. Mikaelsons don't get to abandon their families so easily."

Once in the kitchen, Oliver released Klaus's hand and hurried to the fridge. As always, there was a variety of pre-chopped fruits and veggies on the bottom shelf for him as well as at least half a dozen strawberry flavored yogurts. But there wasn't a single real strawberry in sight.

As Klaus opened the freezer to retrieve a blood bag, Oliver's eyes opened wide.

"Does that taste like st'awberries?"

Klaus cocked an eyebrow at the question. "No. It tastes like blood."

Oliver folded his arms over his chest. He only vaguely understood the concept of vampires. He knew that they had to feed on blood to survive (though Marcel thought the sight of them feeding on humans would be too traumatizing for the boy so he'd never actually seen it happen) and that the special rings his family wore allowed them to walk in the daylight but other than that, they seemed just like any other person. This meant, he decided, that blood must taste like something good (perhaps strawberries) otherwise they wouldn't want to drink it as often as they did.

"Can I have some?"

Klaus bit into the bag and drank a mouthful of blood before plainly stating, "No."

Oliver folded his arms over his chest and asked, "But you get some."

"Well, when you're as old as me, perhaps you can have some too."

"How old is you?"

Klaus gave a wily smirk. "Far too old to be interrogated by a toddler. Grab yourself a few of those carrots and wait a bit. I'll prepare lunch."

With a pout, Oliver walked away from the fridge without grabbing anything and pulled himself up to one of the bar stools. He didn't like carrots and he wasn't going to eat them just because Uncle Klaus thought he should.

"What's for lunch?"

Klaus glanced through the open fridge, unsure of what would be appropriate fare for a four-year-old. He opened the fridge, hoping Elijah had some prepared frozen mean for him when both he and Oliver noticed at the same time the tub of strawberry ice cream sitting in the middle of the freezer.

"Ice cream!" Oliver exclaimed.

-M-

"I don't understand," Freya muttered, staring down at the map of New Orleans laid out in front of her. Elijah and Hayley paced the floor of her workshop in anxious anticipation for the answer to their worries. They'd been out searching for Izzy for an hour with no luck so they put the last of their hope in Freya to find the girl.

The spot of black ink on the map that started at the Compound and was supposed to lead to wherever Izzy was stayed in place on top of the compound to Freya's shock. "It says...it says she's here."

"She's still in New Orleans?" Hayley asked with a sigh of relief. At least the girl hadn't left the city yet.

"No, I mean...yes, in New Orleans but...here. In the Compound."

Hayley and Elijah looked at each other in confusion for a bit and then Hayley took a whiff of the air and smelled the faint, very familiar scent of cocoa butter and citrus. Elijah noticed the look of recognition in his love's eyes and as soon as she dashed out of the room, he followed behind her.

Izzy jumped as Hayley and Elijah came to a sudden halt in front of her as she stood in the courtyard, her hands trembling around the stolen brushes and card.

Before they could say anything, she held the stolen items out in front of her and said, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't spend anything on your card. B-but...I lost the phone you got me. I'll figure out how to pay you back for it. I just have to-"

Hayley pulled her into a hug, squeezing her with as much strength as she could without breaking the girl as her eyes watered with happiness. Izzy had only been missing for an hour but in that time, all Hayley could think of was how afraid the girl had to be. If she'd tried to hitchhike out of the city with some stranger...

Hayley couldn't help but think of her life as a runaway. At least she had her werewolf abilities to protect her as a vulnerable teen. A thousand awful scenarios played in Hayley's mind at the thought of Izzy attempting to exist out there on her own.

"You are in so much trouble, young lady," said Hayley, squeezing the girl even harder as if to reassure herself that she was real.

Izzy slowly wrapped her arms around Hayley, pushing her face into the woman's collar bone as she hugged her. She couldn't remember the last time her mom hugged her. Or any of her foster moms. Hayley's hug felt like a rush of running water flowing over her body after years of surviving in an arid desert.

"I'm sorry," she repeated softly.

"Where have you been?" Elijah asked with as calm composure as he could muster. "We've been looking all over the city for you?"

Izzy broke her hug with Hayley and kept her eyes on the courtyard ground as she answered, "I...went to Vincent's. I wanted to give him this," she held the stolen goods out to him again. "So he could give to you but he wouldn't take it. He...he told me to come back here because Freya had something for me."

Elijah nodded. They'd all discussed Vincent's idea that morning and he and Hayley agreed it would be the safest thing for the girl for now.

"Why didn't you just come to me after the incident," Elijah continued. "Instead of going all the way to Vincent's?"

With tears forming in her eyes, Izzy answered, "Because...I-I thought you'd be mad that I lost control and caused more trouble for your family." She ran her hand forcefully against her watering eyes. "I...I didn't want you to let them take me back to juvy."

She stilled as Elijah marched to her and stood inches from her. "I promised you last night that I would treat you as my own blood, that means, you answer to no one but me. Not the police, not the proprietor of any shops in this city or anywhere else in the world. I am your father. Hayley is your Alpha. You answer to no one else but us. Have I made myself clear, young lady?"

Izzy's heart fluttered with both nervous anticipations of what that would mean and also relief. Vincent was right. They still wanted her.

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now. Let's go see what Freya has for you and then the three of us will retire to my study to discuss your running away for the second time in less than 24-hours."

Izzy swallowed the limp in her throat. She glanced cautiously around the courtyard for any wandering ears as she muttered, "Are you...going to spank me?"

Elijah clasped her chin between his fingers and answered, "Yes. And this will be the last time you ever run away from home again or-"

Izzy suddenly threw her body into Elijah's, hugging him as if she never wanted to let go. "I won't," she stammered. "Th-thank you. F-for not letting me go."

Elijah couldn't believe his ears. He expected her to argue about the punishment like Hope would or run and hide like Marcel. Certainly not hug and thank him for an impending punishment.

Still, he draped his arm over her and muttered against her hair, "You are a Mikaelson. You are mine. You will stay here for as long as you want and no one will ever make you leave or take you away. Always and forever."