No Pairing
Mystic Falls, Virginia
Mikaelson Guest House
Sunday Afternoon
May 6, 1855
It was Prague, the spring of 1348, they were building a university near her flat. Everything she examined seemed bathed in golden light. Rebekah lived near enough to see Prague castle being rebuilt and her lover, a nobleman, was handsome and strong. Then, her brothers found her and slew her love. Niklaus threw his head into the Vitava river from the beautiful sandstone bridge. Rebekah tried to flee into the Bohemian forest, but it was too late. Her love was dead and a shadow was cast.
When she awoke, Rebekah was not sure if that had happened or was just a nightmare. Something was wrong.
Rebekah woke up suddenly panted, she looked around wildly. The room was empty. Stefan! The little boy, he was gone! She vamped up and down the hallway of the modest guest house calling for him breathlessly.
"Stefan! Where are you?"
What had woken her up? She could hear something downstairs. Rebekah fled down the narrow stairs and found Elijah and Niklaus dumbstruck. Stefan had dropped a...knife, no, it was a dagger. What was the child doing playing with something so dangerous? Rebekah vamped over and snatched it. She was ready to blast a hole in her brothers' ears, when she turned behind her at a soft grunt.
"Finn!" Rebekah gasped. She grabbed Stefan and moved him behind Elijah and Klaus. Their eldest brother stood tall and looked dusty, his brown hair curling down to his shoulders. His expression was that of consternation. She had not seen him awake in 750 some years.
"Systir," Finn said simply. Sister.
"How can this be?" Elijah said.
"The boy plucked the blade out of my cold, dead heart," Finn croaked.
"You can speak English?" Klaus asked in shock. "How can this be?"
Finn laughed coldly, "I could hear you, all of you, for the last hundred years or so. Yes, you left 'dull old Finn' to rot, but he was a witness to your depravity."
"Finn, we meant to let you out when we got settled in the new house," Klaus defended weakly.
"You are a liar, Niklaus. I hunger," Finn complained. "I woke up in the darkness, but could not move. I was trapped for decades, I know now how long. I must have blood now.!"
Klaus gave Elijah a look, "Just not the cook! Please."
Elijah nodded and came back a moment later with Maddy, Rebekah's maid.
"Not my maid, she is a good girl! Stefan, shut your eyes!" Rebekah hollered as Finn sunk his vampire teeth into her throat. Rebekah clutched at Stefan and covered his eyes with her hand as he squirmed away trying to see through the spaces in her fingers. She was too distracted to stop him.
Elijah was already looking for a second victim. He brought back his own butler.
Finn let the woman crumple dead to the floor and Elijah pushed his servant into his arms. They were all compelled not to resist.
Rebekah shooed Stefan into the now empty kitchen. Klaus followed. Finn was as weak as a kitten and would pose not threat to noble Elijah. In terms of brothers, Finn had only liked Elijah a touch, barely tolerating Niklaus, Kol, and Henrik, while he had adored their Mother. As she had adored her first born son. Like his siblings, Finn had tried to avoid Mikael as much as possible. With Rebekah, Finn had never had much contact, she had always been closer with her four other brothers and mother.
Rebekah leaned down and compelled Stefan to forget what he had just seen and to go back upstairs. "You will forget what you saw and what you do. Now you back upstairs and finish your nap, you naughty rascal."
"But I do not want to! I want to watch the funny man," Stefan pouted. "I am not naughty."
Klaus' mouth fell open in shock, "Did you not just compel him?"
"I did. It should have worked, unless he's a ...witch!" Rebekah exclaimed. "It is not possible."
"A witch?...Stefan, do you know if you mum was a witch perhaps?" Klaus asked. "I did not sense any magic at all in the old man."
Stefan's face flamed red, "Mother is not a strega. How dare you? And why did you say 'was'? My mother is going to be quite well."
Klaus bent down to look him in the eyes, "Of course, Son. I meant nothing by it. Forgive me."
Rebekah snapped, "Why were you up from your nap? What you did was very naughty!"
Stefan's bottom lip trembled at the scolding,"I am sorry. I got hungry. I did not mean to disobey."
Klaus patted the child carefully on the shoulder, "It is all right, lad. No need for tears."
"Fine, sit and I shall get you something to tide you over until supper. Unless Finn eats Cook," Rebekah said in resignation. "Where the bloody hell is she? She never leaves the kitchen!"
"Language, Sister! In front of the lad." Klaus patted Stefan's shoulder, "I shall check on our brothers."
Rebekah opened the larder and began to dig for something to feed the child.
Klaus found Finn still feeding. He looked bigger than Klaus remember him.
Elijah was pulling his butler away from Finn, "You need not kill them to feed. We can make them forget and feed off them many times, Brother. It is a new way. Come, let us wash you and change you from those filthy rags."
"What year is it exactly?" Finn pressed.
"1855," Elijah said simply.
"We are back in the old homeland, the land of our birth, I gather. Where is Kol?" Finn asked.
"Resting. Klaus has a son now, Marcellus. Are you aware of that?" Elijah asked warily.
"Yes, I am aware of everything I could hear from that infernal box. I shall not go back again," Finn said with determination.
"No, of course not. Come Brother, let us get you settled. You can stay in my room," Elijah said.
"I shall arrange a bath for him and some more sustenance. Brother, ah, Finn, you are not angry with me, are you?" Klaus asked quietly before Elijah led him away.
"Angry, Niklaus? You have no idea the vexation you have caused. The last thing you said to me was, 'It will not be for long, Finn. We must all stay together.' Do you recall?" Finn spat in a quiet fury.
"Aye, we always meant to free you. I was just afraid you would leave again. Father, he still hunts us," Klaus said trembling.
"You lied, little Brother, did you not? What did Mother use for liars? That fish oil from the cod father used to bring back from raids?" Finn warned with a gleam in his eye.
"I believe they call it cod liver oil now, it did have the most repugnant smell ever. But Finn, you cannot blame Niklaus alone. I also allowed you to rot in that coffin. Forgive me," Elijah said in shame.
"Elijah, it was not you who shoved that blade into my heart. Let us speak not more of it now. We shall have a reckoning later. I would like to wash and rest and then see Kol and speak to our sister," Finn said firmly.
"Of course," Elijah said casting a wary look at Klaus. Klaus looked devastated and ashamed. He had no words.
Kitchen
"You have jam all over your face and hands!" Rebekah giggled.
Jennett came in with a slab of meat wrapped in a cloth, "Apologies, Miss. I was in the smoke house trying to get Miles to give me a little something for supper."
"Jennett, your timing has never been better. Ah, our eldest brother, Finn has...arrived. Please, stay close to the kitchen today. He is ill-tempered," Rebekah said carefully as she wiped the jam from Stefan's mouth and hands.
"Yes, Miss. Does this little one want a sweet? I heard he is quite fond of cakes. Has he been a good boy today?" Jennett inquired.
Stefan shook his head in defeat, "No, Miss Jennett, I was bad today." A tear dripped down his face and he let it drip on his nightshirt. Rebekah could not help but smile at Jennett and nod.
"Well, just this once, we shall overlook it. One sweet will not hurt, will it?" Rebekah responded as she wiped the tear away with her thumb and pulled the child on her lap. This time, he did not resist.
Boys' Bedroom
Kol woke up thinking about the school. He thought his brother was jesting. Surely, they would not force him to sit in a school house with real children! It was true that Kol had never had an affinity for mathematics or sciences, but he was well-read. Elijah had seen that Kol had sat through many a tutoring session with Marcel, in his human years. Kol heard a cry, it seemed that Damon was having a nightmare. If he was a vampire, Kol could enter his mind and see what it was, but he could not do that with humans.
"Damon, wake up! You are dreaming," Kol said shaking him roughly.
Damon opened his blue eyes with a start, as if he wasn't sure where he was.
"Father?" Damon gasped.
"Nay, I am not your bloody da. That bloke is...Well, ya lads have no need of him any longer now that my brothers got their claws into you. There is nothing they like more than a boy with a terrible father who is hungry for their...affections," Kol said bitterly.
"Hungry for...Sir, all I want is my brother to be safe. I was dreaming of my father killing us. We were out in a road and there was a woman in a cage that we were trying to save. She was so beautiful. The most beautiful girl I've even seen. I wanted to die for her," Damon uttered.
"Dying for love is still dying, you dolt. Now, get up. If you sleep all day, you shall be up all bloody night and keeping me up. Come now, do you need clothes?" Kol said tossing some shirts and trousers on Damon's bed.
"Yes, thank you. Your brother said we could get our things soon. I just do not want to see Father. I am afraid he will not let us go again. He is a real bastard," Damon said getting up and starting to change.
"Whoa, Damon. Ah, Nik does not like the word 'bastard.' You would be wise to not use it in his presence again. There is a lot you do not know about this family still," Kol smirked.
"Oh, thank you. I did not mean to be impertinent, Sir," Damon said.
"You do not need to call me 'sir', either, call me Kol. Make haste and put on your boots, this room is stuffy and I would like to know what Marcellus has been up to while we have been put to bed like babes," Kol scoffed.
"Is he your rival? I do not understand the relationships here," Damon admitted.
"You will figure it out," Kol said opening the door and finding Elijah coming toward the room.
"Brother, something has happened. May I speak to you in private? Damon, you will find Stefan and Rebekah in the kitchen," Elijah said kindly.
"Thank you, sir," Damon said trotting off.
"Stefan pulled the dagger out of Finn!" Elijah whispered.
"What? I told Nik he should have those coffins magically seals. Bloody hell, he is going to rip us all to shred or...-" Kol exclaimed.
Finn interrupted Kol's diatribe by coming up behind him and embracing him.
"Nay, little Brother, I will not seek vengeance against you. You were just a boy when this all occurred. I missed your mischief, Kol," Finn admitted.
Kol let Finn hold him tightly a moment, "Finn, I thought that you did not care for me. You never seemed to before..." Kol winced at the whining tone of his own voice, but could not help it.
"I was wrong. I had a lot of time to think the last hundred years of solitude in that torturous box. I would have gone insane if I had not thought of all your pranks and mischief, your joy at the simple things. I was too much of a serious mind then. It was all for naught. I shall not waste this second chance at life," Finn said.
Elijah looked surprised, "Does that mean you will forgive me? And Niklaus? We have children here whom we have pledged to take in from their cruel hearted father. And our sister, you know her tender heart, or do you? It is true, Finn, that when we became vampires, our differences increased. We feared you would leave us."
Finn paused, "I was going to leave. I was going to seek Father to end my miserable existence. And I did not care if you all died with me. Perhaps Niklaus was right to do what he did. But I have though much and I wish to help keep all of you safe from Father. That is something I should have done in the first place."
Kol and Elijah were now equally shocked and speechless.
"You, at a loss for words, Kol. Now I have seen everything. People, even vampires, can change. If you will allow me, I will remain here with you, as I should have done from the start. If you will have me, always and forever," Finn pledged.
Klaus crept up from the spot where he was eavesdropping near the stairs, "Brother, do you mean it? Is this the truth or some plot to punish me for my past ills? Please, tell me now."
Finn guffawed, as sound they had almost never heard.
"Niklaus, we do have some unfinished business. First, your lies. Second, your lack of respect for privacy, but I will forgive you the worst of your offenses as you did them to keep us all safe and together. I should have been a better brother to you all," Finn admitted sadly.
"Thank you, Finn. We should have undaggered you long before. But I shall try to make it up to you. As to the lying and the privacy, I apologize," Klaus said uncertainly.
"Oh, you will, Niklaus," Finn smiled.
Elijah smirked, "Kol, let us find our sister and take the boys out to play. I feel like our brothers need a few moments to speak."
"Elijah, you would not let him thrash me! I said I was sorry," Klaus whined.
Kol giggled and said to Elijah as they walked away, "Is that what I sound like before a spanking? It is a touch pathetic, eh?"
Elijah ruffled his hair and put an arm around him, "Niklaus, let Finn do the deeds that I could never bring myself to do. It is long overdue, Brother."
Finn put an arm around Klaus, "Find me another servant to sup from and then something to thrash you with. Nothing like Father would use, but nothing for a child either. And be quick about it. I am going to start counting. Meet me in Elijah's bedroom when you have the items."
Klaus flushed and his mind went blank. Elijah had never thrashed him, even when he had done the most heinous acts. But he looked at Finn and said a calm, caring look in his eyes. His brother did not hate him and he deserved punishment. He had been lying, to himself, to his family, and to Finn. He was never going to let him out of the coffin. Never.
Klaus went to get the groomsman and then scurried to Rebekah's room and picked up her heavy, silver backed hairbrush. He knew it was effective because he had spanked her with it several times himself. Klaus heard Finn counting and picked up the compelled groomsman. He might as well get this over with. Klaus wondered with horror what the counting was for, he figured he would soon find out.