11 February 1850
Niklaus watched over the edge of his book as Giuseppe shoved Damon out the door before heading towards his office. As soon as the office was shut, Niklaus shot to his feet. Ensuring the doors were locked and the blinds were closed, he yanked the office door open. A smirk rose to his face as the door slammed open, effectively creating a hole in the drywall behind it. "WHAT THE HE—! Mr. Mikaelson, what seems to be the big problem?"
Forcing himself to remain calm, Niklaus slowly started to approach Giuseppe, who had sat back down behind his desk. "Tell me, what could your son have possibly done to earn your ire? To have earned your hatred?" A growl tore from his throat as Giuseppe shifted in his chair. Giuseppe allowed a bemused look to cross his face, motioning for Niklaus to take a seat. "My son, Damon, is a very stubborn young man. If one isn't careful, stubbornness can become arrogance and cause many problems. You ask me why I hold nothing but contempt for my son. It is because he is responsible for the death of my beloved wife, his mother, Lillianna Salvatore."
Niklaus felt the anger leave him in a sudden rush at Giuseppe's words. The anger he had originally felt was immediately replaced by hatred at the accusing tone that had entered the words Giuseppe had spoken. Glaring into his eyes, Niklaus kept his tone even, venom dripping from his lips as he forced complete obedience through his chosen words.
"You are going to sit there and be silent. I tore out my mother's heart for the harm she caused my siblings and me. One day, I will put my father down for the 'punishments' he provided to my siblings and me. I abhor those who harm a child for any reason especially imagined slights. You say your son killed his mother, and you have done a phenomenal job convincing him it was his fault. However, I looked into the boys your boy's eyes last night, and I can truly say they are not the eyes of a killer. Damon has never taken a life of that, I am sure. So in consideration of this, you will do exactly as I say. You will immediately sign over written custody of Damon to me, and you will not so much as acknowledge him so long as I am around. When I feel it is time, Damon will be leaving with me, and the moment he does, you will set the house ablaze with yourself inside."
Giuseppe struggled furiously against the weight he felt settle in his head as Niklaus ordered him about. Moving against his will, Giuseppe grabbed a piece of parchment and carefully signed over the guardianship of his eldest son. Throwing the parchment towards Niklaus, they both watched as it fluttered softly to the ground. Glancing away, a smirk grew to cover Niklaus's face, his jaw clenching tightly as he grabbed the paper from the floor.
Lunging forward, Niklaus slammed Giuseppe hard against the wooden wall behind his desk. "You are only breathing now because you have yet to outlive your usefulness. Do as I say, and for the foreseeable future, you will remain useful but go against what I tell you, and your usefulness will end fairly quickly. Do I make myself clear?" Niklaus hissed hatefully against Giuseppe's ear, his hand resting against the man's throat as he slowly started to apply pressure to his windpipe.
Clawing at the hand on his neck, Giuseppe struggled frantically as he attempted to force an answer out with the little breath he could retain. "Y-y-yes." Giuseppe gasped in a choked whisper as he finally fell to the ground coughing against the sudden rush of oxygen.
"Wonderful because, as you should know, I will be watching, and I have little patience for those who go back on their words." Niklaus's eyes sparkled with amusement as he saw the deplorable man attempt to right himself. Yes, Niklaus would have quite a bit of fun tearing the eldest Salvatore down slowly until he was all but begging for the impending darkness of death. Perhaps, then he would understand just what harm he had caused Damon and why he should never cross someone under the protection of the Mikaelson's, whether they knew they were or not.
'This is going to be quite fun.' Niklaus thought as he strolled out of the room and toward where he knew his new ward would be hard at work.
The mobile rang softly against his ear as aggravation and fury coursed through his bloodstream. Years of caring for and watching his brother's back had obviously meant nothing to Stefan. Damon's younger brother seemed to have made his decision on whom his family really was, so Damon would do the same. "Hello?" a feminine voice rang out clearly. "It's me. Did you find anything?" Damon kept his voice low as he scanned his surroundings.
"Not yet. It would help if I had more to go on, Damon." Seeing Bonnie watching him from the reflection in front of him, a small grin graced his face. "Mikaelson. I was informed that the pendant was connected to a family by that name. Will that help?" "The Original family. That certainly changes things; I'll see what I can find. Stay safe, Damon, and I'll talk to you soon." "You too, bye." Damon tucked his phone away quickly as he saw Elena and his brother approaching him.
His eyes narrowed sharply as he saw the scooby gang slowly starting to encircle him. The air seemed to crackle with electricity as Bonnie stood mere feet from him and forced enough power at him to take him down to his knees. Damon braced himself as he felt the familiar thrum of energy rushing towards him. He felt the air leave his lungs as a massive weight hit his back, surprise filling him as no pain seemed to follow it. "It'll keep you safe, my Blackbird. I promise." A voice whispered through the air by Damon's ear.
Another weight hit his back harder than the first as Bonnie drew in closer, frustration, and anger written on her face. Realization filled him as he glanced down at the pendant around his neck to see a soft white light emanating from it. With every hit from Bonnie, the light around it seemed to pulse brighter. Stefan and Elena rushed toward his side as it became obvious that Bonnie was not making any impact. A light flashed in his eyes as the sun reflected off the syringes in Elena's hand.
If that was the way they wanted to play it, Damon would match them on the board. Damon waited for Elena to attempt to inject him with the vervain that was no doubt in the vials. As her hand drew close, he grabbed her arm and twisted until he heard an audible pop of her shoulder dislocating. Elena screamed, her hand quickly releasing the vials as she struggled against Damon's grip.
Snatching the syringes mid-air, Damon slammed them into the side of Stefan's neck, pushing the plunger down and emptying the vervain into his bloodstream. He watched as his brother crumbled gracelessly to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his skull. Elena's blunted nails scratched angry stinging red lines down his arm as she tried to relieve herself of his grip. Squeezing tightly, Damon heard the bones under his hand start to crack, breaking and fracturing under the pressure.
Damon felt Bonnie standing at his back, her hand brushing against his skin as if she hoped contact would improve the effectiveness of her spells. He shoved Elena to the ground as he turned and gripped Bonnie by the throat, slamming her against the alley wall. "You should be more careful about who you go up against, Bon Bon. You'll have plenty of time to think these things through in the future." Damon quickly sliced through the thin flesh on his arm and shoved it against her mouth.
Ignoring her thrashing, he held her steadily until he was certain the blood had made it down her throat. Stepping back, he let her drop to the ground as she gagged, trying to expel his blood from her system. She glared heatedly at him, tears of anger rushing down her face, "You're pathetic. If the worst you can do is knock Stefan out and hurt Elena's arm, it will be ridiculously simple to take you out once I find the right spell."
"Too bad you lost your magic, Bon." Damon smirked haughtily as his hands quickly snapped her neck with a satisfying crack. His body thrummed in anticipation of another attack as he stood alone in the alleyway, surrounded by the unconscious forms of his attackers. It was like he had told Alaric, he would do whatever he needed to do, and to be honest, he could have done much worse than this to them. At least they would get to walk away from this alive, for the most part anyway. He would not, could not promise they would if they attempted to cross him again, though.
Making sure the coast was clear, he bolted out of the alley heading straight for his car. Damon knew when it was best to make a hasty retreat, and he had a safe house lined up on the outskirts of town that he had made sure no one knew about besides him. He glanced back as he left their unconscious forms hidden in the darkness and couldn't help but wonder what their next play would be. Things were bound to get interesting if they failed to take his little warning to heart. All that mattered was that he was prepared to deal with the ensuing storm headed his way.
A pair of ice blue eyes stared at Damon yearningly as he tore off from the alleyway. Watching his pup tear out of the lot, Klaus walked slowly towards where he had just left. His eyes burned with rage as he saw the prone figures that lay at his feet. A snarl tore its way onto his face as he imagined the attack these three must have done for Damon to react in such a way. His boy was violent, ruthless, and uncaring when it came to those who attempted to harm him or the ones he cared for. However, he was also compassionate, loyal, and honest to those whom he claimed as his own. For him to have attacked his younger brother means that someone had crossed a line when it came to his blackbird.
By crossing Damon, they had unwittingly come to the forefront of the hybrid's attention. Even those who had only heard of him in passing knew that you did not anger him by going near those he had claimed as his own. Those that chose to ignore the warning often found themselves in a shallow grave not long after.
Walking away slowly, Klaus wrangled in his temper, allowing his anger to simmer just below the surface of his skin. Acting now would be careless and detrimental to his plans. First, he would discover everything there was to know about the doppelganger and her little group. Then once he had completed the sacrifice, he would rain down hell upon those who had ever thought to lay a hand on his cub. Blood would run through the streets, and he would flay them alive until they begged for death. A deadly grin spread across Klaus's face, his eyes darkening as the thoughts of what he would do raced through his mind.
Relief flooded through Elijah as Jonas and Luka gained the powers of the dead witches they had been searching for. After months of surveying books and maps, they had finally found the location this morning. The timing was nothing short of impeccable as Elijah was now certain Klaus was in town. He had heard whispers of him heading in this general direction as of late but no concrete proof. That was until one of his men had contacted him to let him know Klaus had been spotted in the town square mere hours ago. The same town square that Damon Salvatore had vacated earlier that day.
While it may be a coincidence that they were in the same location within minutes of each other, Elijah was not going to hedge his bets. Keeping eyes on Klaus would be impossible; he would see Elijah's men coming from miles away. Damon was slightly less observant, so his people had been instructed to watch the boy and report anything of importance to Elijah.
Thoughts buzzed in his head as Elijah, and the Martins left the witch house. He had still not discovered a direct connection between Niklaus and Damon. The only true possibility would have been for him to have met the boy when he was still human in the 1850s. It wore at Elijah that the only lead he truly had on Damon being claimed as a Mikaelson was Niklaus. If he truly wished to know how Damon came to being under the protection of their family, then he would need to go directly to the source.
Still, the how and why had begun to matter little to him. All that truly mattered was that the boy was safe and protected. Even if the person Elijah would need to protect him from was Niklaus himself.