One moment Elijah and Hayley were lying in bed together, and then the next they were standing in Hayley's old room, still fully naked. Hayley looked to Elijah, checking to see if he had any idea what was happening but from the confused look on his face, he was just as lost as she was.

"Who's there?" Elijah heard his brother call out from below. "Show yourself."

"Nik. Always so dramatic." Rebekah smiled at her brother, approaching him. Elijah felt a smile come to his lips. He hadn't heard Rebekah's voice in such a long time.

Elijah was distracted by hearing his siblings so close that he didn't notice Hayley quietly opening up the wardrobe for clothes. Hayley almost groaned as she realized it wasn't the clothes she had left behind, rather clothes that seemed outdated by at least one hundred years. She grabbed some trousers and button ups for both of them. Anything was better than greeting their family in the nude. Klaus would never let her hear the end of it.

"Rebekah." Nik said fondly, wrapping his sister in a tight hug. He had missed his siblings more than he would ever admit.

The Chambre de Chasse seems to rumble for a second as a very naked Kol gets dropped into the center of the courtyard.

"Oh, bloody hell." Kol groans. "My least favorite recurring nightmare."

Elijah smiled once again as he took the clothes from Hayley and started to get dressed. Kol's sense of humor typically annoyed Elijah but it had been so long since he had heard from his little brother, he was relieved to hear not much had changed.

"I was in Corsica, drowning my sorrows about Marcel when I suddenly dropped." Rebekah explained. "What I wouldn't give to spend a decade without being dragged into a godforsaken Chambre de Chasse."

"I suppose you were in a boarding meeting?" Nik almost laughed at his brother as he walked back into the room, now dressed.

"I was waiting for my wife to come home from work." Kol shot his brother a look. "Piss off any witches lately?"

"Actually, my current enemies are a group of hate mongers who see myself and my daughter as abominations to the vampire race." Klaus glared. He was hoping Greta's death would have slowed them down, but apparently, he had been wrong.

"The bigoted undead. That's new. They must have a witch for hire." Rebekah pointed out, crossing her arms.

"A witch who has spent enough time here to replicate every detail?" Kol picked up a bottle of wine from the table. "This is Elijah's prized Cheval Blanc."

"Maybe a little closer to home." Freya said, descending the staircase. "A witch who knows the compound well and who doesn't trust you to stay away from Elijah. Someone who would risk everything to save New Orleans from plagues."

"Vincent." Klaus groaned once again. It was impossible to keep all of his enemies straight at this point.

"On the bright side, he'd never harm Hope." Freya smiled slightly. "I expect he'll be shipping your bodies to the four corners of the world."

"All of our bodies? He isn't here, is he?" Rebekah asked, looking around excitedly.

"He is." Elijah took this as his cue to reveal himself and descended the stairs, Hayley right behind him.

"Elijah." Rebekah breathed. She didn't waste a moment before she launched herself at her brother. Elijah easily caught her in his arms, holding her tightly.

"Hello, sister." Elijah said, kissing her on the head, not quite ready to let her go.

"I hear you have your memories back." Rebekah pulled away so she could see his face, as if to confirm it with her own eyes.

"Yes." Elijah said, almost sheepishly. "Rebekah, I–"

"There is plenty of time for that later. First, we need to figure out how to get out of here." Rebekah said, brushing away the beginning of his apologies.

Rebekah let her brother go as she turned her attention to Hayley, pulling her into a tight hug as well.

"I've missed you, Bex." Hayley hugged her back.

Elijah smiled at the women hugging and then turned his attention to his brothers and older sister, who all wore identical smirks on their faces.

"Don't start." Elijah warned.

"I don't know what you mean, brother." Klaus held back a laugh. "I just think your fashion sense is interesting, if not a little outdated."

At this point, Rebekah was now paying attention to the conversation.

"Wait, are you two…" She trailed off suggestively.

"I think that is a discussion Hayley and I should have before we have it with the entire family." Elijah attempts to say, diplomatically.

"And on that note, I think I might have found a way out of here." Hayley smiled and led the family down the hall.

They stopped in front of a door that did not exist in real life. It had several keypads attached to the door.

"It's representational magic." Kol supplied, as he investigated the locks. "I expect there are keys, one for each of us. Maybe something meaningful, something connected to who we are."

"Fantastic." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Witches and their bloody riddles."

"The door won't open unless all five locks are released." Freya added, "The only way out is together."

"We need to split up." Klaus took the lead. "We need to turn this place upside down. I only just promised my daughter that I wouldn't abandon her again. I can't be stuck here."

"Hope will be okay." Hayley said reassuringly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "She's a smart girl. She'll be safe at the Abattoir until we figure out how to get out of here."

"Hayley, come help me search." Rebekah said, looping her arm through Hayley's. "We have so much to catch up on."

Rebekah and Hayley headed out of the room as Rebekah threw a wink at her older brother.

"Good lord, I wouldn't want to be the focus of whatever conversation they are about to have." Kol said, smirking at Elijah.

"Yes, well perhaps we should focus on finding our own keys." Elijah wandered out of the room, Klaus following behind him as Freya and Kol went in search of their own keys.

XXXXX

"So," Rebekah started when she felt she was far enough away from her brothers to chat freely. "You and Elijah seem cozy."

"You got all of that because we walked down the stairs together?" Hayley deflected.

"No, I got all of that because you both clearly showed up here missing a few key items." Rebekah gestured towards Hayley's ill-fitting clothes.

Color flooded Hayley's face. It's not as if she hadn't spoken to Rebekah about men she had been with over the years, but it was different this time. This time it was Elijah. Hayley couldn't help the flutter in her stomach when she thought about what she and Elijah had been doing right before. They hadn't really talked about their future, but she was already giddy about the thought of them having a future together.

"We haven't gotten a chance to talk yet." Hayley started looking through cabinets, not sure what she was searching for.

"To busy doing other things, I'm sure." Rebekah joined her, searching the other side of the kitchen.

"Shut up." Hayley groaned. "I'm not even sure if it can work out."

Rebekah stopped searching at Hayley's tone. She was so focused on being happy that all of her siblings were together again that she hadn't thought about the fact that this was all temporary.

"We'll figure it out." Rebekah smiled reassuringly at Hayley, wrapping an arm around her. Although, she wasn't so sure she even believed it.

XXXXX

"Where do you think Vincent would hide keys for us?" Elijah mused. "Mine is likely in the deepest pits of hell."

"Don't be ridiculous." Klaus threw an arm around Elijah's shoulder. "But I would check the copy of Dante's Inferno."

"Helpful." Elijah deadpanned, heading into his old study. He hesitated for a moment, sensing something was off. It had been seven years since he last stepped foot in their family home, things had likely changed, but there was something oddly familiar about it as well.

"So how are things going with the mother of my child?" Klaus asked, sitting behind Elijah's desk, rifling through drawers.

"You know, I don't prefer it when you phrase it that way." Elijah ignored his question, instead searching the bookshelves. He knew Niklaus was joking about Dante's Inferno, but it was as good of a place to start as any.

"Would you prefer I call her my former one-night stand?" Niklaus grinned, pulling out a box from the desk.

"Yes, that is far better." Elijah said dryly, sifting through the pages, not finding anything.

Elijah expected some witty response from his brother, but instead was met with a frosty silence. He turned around to see Niklaus sorting through what looked like unopened letters.

"What did you discover?" Elijah walked over to the desk to see what had captured his brother's attention.

"While you were in your blissful, no-memory state, I may have made some poor choice." Elijah wasn't entirely surprised to hear that. Niklaus was notorious for making poor choices when life became difficult. "My daughter saw me in a less than favorable state and I…"

"Made some poor choice." Elijah supplied where his brother seemed to be at a loss for words. "From what Hayley had told me, Hope was excited to spend the day with you today, so it must not have been that traumatizing."

Elijah lifted one of the letters so he could read. He instantly recognized the handwriting. They were unopened letters from Hayley addressed to his brother, returned to sender. Elijah could deduce what had happened.

"I missed out on so much." Niklaus was still looking down sadly at the letters.

"You have a second chance to make it up now." Elijah said reassuringly. "We just have to find a way out of here first."

His brother nodded at him, grabbing the box off the desk and bringing it over to the fireplace. Elijah looked on confused until Niklaus started a fire.

"What are you doing?" Elijah made a move to stop him.

"Relax brother." Klaus started throwing the letters into the fire. "They will still be in the real world, and this expedites the process."

Elijah did understand that, but it still felt wrong to him to burn something so precious. These letters detailed his niece's life. As he was contemplating this, he heard the tell-tale sign of a metal key hitting the stone floor of the fireplace.

"How did you know?" Elijah asked, as his brother inspected the key.

"It was the only thing that seemed out of place." Niklaus mused. "This room, everything in it, it's too old, it's not from this century."

Elijah looked around the room again. Niklaus was right. That's why it all seemed familiar to him. This had been his study over a century ago.

"So, we are looking for anything anachronistic." Elijah nodded, scanning the room. At least they knew what to look for now.

As they walked into the hall, they heard shouting from downstairs. Kol was yelling at Freya for something. The brothers glanced at each other before vamping down the stairs.

Klaus was able to gather enough from the conversation he overheard between Kol and Freya to join in the fray.

"What have you done, Freya?" Klaus demanded, coming to stand right in front of her. To her credit, she did not flinch back.

"Hope asked for my help." Freya met his eye.

"So, you decided to lend a hand in her destruction?" Klaus stepped closer to her.

"The plagues are nearing their end." Freya explained, squaring up to Klaus. "All it would take is one more meeting between you to end it all. Something needed to be done."

"We have all kept away from each other for seven years." Klaus argued. "We will continue to do it."

"Will you?" Freya met his eyes and then looked over to Elijah. "Now that Elijah's memories are back? What about Elijah and Hayley?"

Freya met Elijah's eyes who stared right back. He would say he resented the lack of faith Freya seemed to have, but it was the same lack of faith that led him to erase his memories. Hayley and Rebekah joined them in the courtyard, clearly having listened to the entire conversation.

"Who's to say you all won't be weak again, testing the limits to see your daughter? As you all have done with Elijah." Freya began to walk away from her brother.

"Don't put this on me." Klaus growled. "I was trying to protect her. Perhaps I was wrong to have faith in you. Maybe your obligations to family were infringed upon by other plans. Keelin's back, isn't she?"

"Brother, that's enough." Elijah stepped in between his siblings before it became a blood bath.

"That's not fair, Klaus." Hayley came to Freya's defense as well. "Freya has sacrificed everything for Hope. For this family."

"I have sacrificed everything for our daughter." Klaus turned on Hayley.

"Really? Because while you were gone, I was here. I was with Hayley, with Hope." Freya felt tears coming to her eyes. "Hope has done everything we have asked of her. The one time she acted out was because she missed her dad. She deserves to make her own choices"

"She's just a kid." Klaus fought back his own emotions.

"She stopped being a kid when those bigoted vampires kidnapped her and almost killed her mother."

Hayley almost cried at that. She didn't want to think about the fact that she had failed her daughter. She herself had to grow up too quickly because of her life, she wanted to protect her daughter from that.

"Everyone in this family has done dangerous things for family and we have seen each other through it." Freya continued.

"What are you talking about Freya?" Hayley joined Klaus, facing off with Freya. "What is Hope trying to do?"

"She's going to take the Hollow back, isn't she?" Elijah said evenly, trying not to let his anger out. He tried to reason with himself that Freya wouldn't do anything to hurt Hope, but he couldn't understand how Freya could let Hope do this.

"You have to stop her." Hayley demanded, taking a step towards Freya.

"I will not." Freya said simply, touching the door and disappearing from the Chambre.

"Everyone needs to find your keys." Klaus glared around the courtyard. "Now!"

XXXXX

Everyone split up once again, a renewed vigor in their search for their keys. Klaus and Kol at least had their keys and now they knew it would be something out of time and something Hope would relate to them.

Hayley instantly knew where her key would be hidden. After Klaus introduced Hope to beignets, it developed an obsession. When Hope missed her father, Hayley would often suggest they make them together to feel closer to him. Hayley assumed since Klaus' key was in a place tied to her, her key would be in a place tied to Klaus.

Hayley walked into the kitchen, grabbed the boxes of Cafe du Monde beignet mix out of the cabinets, unceremoniously dumped them on the floor. Hayley resisted the urge to pat herself on the back as a silver key hit the ground. She knew her daughter better than anyone.

She left the kitchen in search of the others. Hayley found Rebekah and Elijah searching through her room, sorting through boxes.

"Found mine." Hayley announced. "Any luck?"

"Not yet." Bex replied, dumping another box out. A plush bunny fell out of the box and Elijah reached to pick it up.

"She still sleeps with it." Hayley smiled at him. She remembered when Elijah gave that bunny to Hope. The day of her birth had been so traumatic for them all, but there was something so normal about Elijah placing the soft bunny next to Hope's sleeping form. "Although she will deny it if you ask."

Elijah smiled down at the bunny, before ripping its head off. Hayley had to hold back her gasp, she knew it wasn't real but it still made her sad to see. Through all the fluff, Elijah pulled out his own key.

"That just leaves you sister." Elijah raised an eyebrow at Rebekah.

"No pressure, thank you."

The storm around the Chambre seemed to pick up. The wind rushed past the windows, shaking the shudders.

"We need to move quickly." Hayley said, urgently.

"I think it's too late for that." Elijah met her stare as he heard the voice from Hollow growing louder. Hayley's eyes widened as Elijah and Rebekah collapsed before her. It was too late, and they still had one more key to find. Hayley thought about Rebekah's relationship with Hope. Another idea crossed her mind of where Hope would have hidden Bex's key. She rushed off to locate it, maybe it wasn't too late.

By the time she located Rebekah's key, where it had been with Hope's necklace, the Mikaelsons had all woken back up and gathered in the courtyard.

"Did she do it?" Hayley looked between the siblings. The fact that none of them could meet her eye told her everything she needed to know. Hayley's heart dropped. She remembered the last time the Hollow was in her little girl.

"This is all my fault." Hayley's voice cracked. "I should have been there with her, instead of off…"

Elijah looked down, ashamed. He had distracted Hayley and now his niece was paying for it.

"This isn't on you Hayley." Klaus defended her. "I was with her all day. She told me she was tired and wanted to rest. She would have found a way to get rid of you as well."

"No." Hayley insisted. "I'm her mother. I know her better than anyone. I should have stopped her."

"We should get out of here." Elijah cleared his throat. "We have all the keys now."

Hayley glanced at Elijah before facing the door, putting her key in the lock. They all followed suit until each lock disappeared off the door.

Silently, they all walked through the door. Elijah felt himself gasp as he woke up on the floor of the church. He could hear his siblings all around him, but for the first time in seven years, he didn't hear the whispers of the Hollow. This disturbed Elijah more than anything.

"Where is she?" Elijah heard Hayley demand. He sat up and saw Hayley about to attack Freya.

"She's safe. She's back at the manor." Freya says, holding her hands up defensively. The last thing they needed was an all-out brawl.

"Come on Hayley, let's go find our daughter." Klaus pulled Hayley away.

"Don't look at me like that." Freya frowned at Elijah. "I did what was best for this family."

"At the cost of our niece?" Elijah demanded, letting his anger seep in slightly.

"We should all go with Klaus and Hayley. At least we can all be in a room together again." Rebekah suggested, placing a hand on her eldest brother. She wanted to take just one moment to enjoy being with her family before they had to figure out how to destroy the Hollow.

XXXXX

Back home, Hayley watched her daughter sleep peacefully. Or at least she seemed to be peaceful.

"She doesn't seem affected." Klaus murmured. And he was right. She seemed perfectly normal. "She's had a long few days. She'll probably be out for a while. We should go join the family downstairs."

"I'm going to stay here with Hope, until she wakes up." Hayley walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge so she could stroke Hope's hair.

"You can't be with her every second of every day." Klaus tried to reason.

"I should have been here with her." Hayley felt a few tears escape from her eyes. "I was being selfish."

"You were not selfish, Hayley." Klaus touched her shoulder so she would look up at him. "You have been single-handedly raising our daughter and taking care of this city, you deserved one night to yourself. And besides, you left her with her father and her aunt, she was in good hands."

Hayley scoffed at that.

"She was. She is in good hands. Our family will do whatever it takes to fix this."

"What if we can't" Hayley whispered. "We have spent her whole life trying to protect her and we keep failing."

"We have not failed her." Klaus nearly growled softly at her. "She is alive, and she is happy and healthy. We have not failed her."

Hayley gave Hope a small smile, "She is pretty amazing."

"I'll let you both rest." Klaus said, kissing her on the forehead before exiting the room.

XXXXX

Klaus found his family gathered around the table, a glass of bourbon in front of each one of them.

"How is Hope?" Elijah asked, pouring Klaus his own glass.

"Sleeping, practically comatose." Klaus threw another glare at his elder sister.

"She's gone through a lot, but I'm sure after a little rest, she will be fine." Freya retorted, not at all concerned by the anger radiating off of her brother.

"What do we do about the Hollow now?" Kol asked, drawing the attention away from Freya.

"We have to figure out a way to trap it somewhere. Somewhere that is not my daughter preferably." Klaus slumped heavily into his chair, drink in hand.

"Yes, well that may be easier said than done." Elijah sighed, "Which is why we came up with this plan seven years ago."

"Can we not just stick it in a Chambre de Chasse, like we were?" Rebekah offered.

"We would have to have something incredibly powerful to tie the Chambre to." Freya looked to Kol for any ideas.

"We do have one of the oldest vampires in existence, resting under the floorboards." Kol replied, weighing the idea in his head. It wasn't the worst plan.

Elijah listened to his siblings discuss different ways to trap the Hollow into some sort of prison world. Klaus met his eye, gesturing upstairs. Elijah gave him a subtle shake of the head. Hayley needed some time with her daughter and away from him.

"You both are ridiculous." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"What's going on?" Rebekah joined in on her brothers' conversation, leaving the magical talk to the family witches.

"Hayley and Elijah are attempting to break the record of the shortest relationship." Klaus grinned wickedly at his sister.

"What? Why?" Rebekah demanded, turning her full attention to Elijah.

"Would you both stop." Elijah's eyes never left his drink. "Hayley and I have yet to speak. Your wild assumptions are not helpful."

"They aren't assumptions if it's based on past experience." Klaus argued, "You both are relentlessly selfless, attempting to hold the weight of this whole family alone. You are allowed to share that weight together."

"This may very well be a moot point; it is up to Hayley." Elijah sighed. He saw the look on her face when she realized what Hope was planning. Elijah knew just by that look that their brief reunion was over. Hayley would never do anything to jeopardize Hope, and neither would he. They couldn't afford distractions.

XXXXX

Hope woke up slightly disoriented. She could hear the whispers of the Hollow in her head. She tried to sit up but felt the weight of her mom's arms wrapped around her. She paid closer attention to her surroundings. For the first time ever, it sounded like the house was alive. She could faintly hear people talking downstairs, likely eating breakfast. She could hear someone walking on the stairs near her room. Her plan had worked.

For so long it had just been her, her mom, and her Aunt Freya. Hope excitedly jumped out of bed to go join her family, forgetting this action would likely startle her mom awake.

"Hope, what's wrong?" Hayley gasped, jumping out of bed. "Are you alright?"

"Everyone is here." Hope said with a grin breaking out across her face. "They're all downstairs eating breakfast."

With Hayley's vampire senses, she could hear more than Hope and could tell exactly where everyone in the house was. Despite everything, she smiled at the idea of the Mikaelsons all being together again.

"Well, we better go join them." Hayley smiled at her daughter's excitement.

Hope had a sense of deja vu as she descended the stairs to go meet her family after years of being apart. She remembered when she was seven, she was so nervous that she would somehow disappoint them. Now, all she cared about was seeing her family happy and whole. Consequences be damned.

XXXXX

When Hayley and Hope entered the dining room, everyone stopped talking. Her father was sitting at the head of the table, but he stood up as soon as he saw her.

"You're awake." Klaus walked over to Hope and pulled her into a hug. "Come and have a seat my littlest wolf, you must be famished."

Klaus led Hope over to the table and sat her directly next to him. Hayley took a seat next to her Aunt Freya and the conversations seemed to start back up.

Hope chatted with her father, hanging onto every word. She couldn't help but glance over at her Uncle Elijah seated at the other head of the table. He was the only family member whom she didn't have many memories with. Most of her memories were based on stories her Aunt Freya and mom had told her over the years.

He seemed more reserved than his siblings, giving small signs of acknowledgment that he was listening but not joining in unless he was asked a direct question. Hope couldn't help but notice her mother glancing over at him as well.

As everyone was finishing up, Hope heard a cell phone ring. Elijah pulled a phone out of his pocket and excused himself from the table.

"He's had amnesia for seven years," Her Uncle Kol looked after him, "who the bloody hell is calling him?"

XXXXX

After breakfast, Hope went up to her room to get some art supplies so her father and her could paint together. As she was walking to her room, she passed the study and glanced in. Hope saw Elijah sitting on the couch, seemingly deep in thought.

Hope hesitated outside the door, debating if she should go in. From what she knew about her uncle, he seemed to like his time to himself. He probably didn't want some teenager bothering him in his study.

"Are you planning to linger out there all day?" Her uncle asked. Hope blushed, of course, he knew she was there. Vampire hearing and all that.

"No." She said quietly, entering the room. She walked around to the other couch, so she could sit across from him. He had a book resting next to him, but he didn't appear to be paying it much attention. "Why aren't you with your family?"

Elijah gave her a brief smile and paused, as if he needed to gather his thoughts. "Sometimes I need a moment away from them to think."

"I do the same thing." Hope admitted, "Mom says it helps manage the werewolf anger."

"Your mom is a smart woman." Elijah gave her another brief smile. They lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Hope fidgeted with her hands and Elijah stopped himself from reaching for a drink.

"What's going on with you two anyway?" Hope looked up to meet his surprised stare.

"I –" Elijah stuttered, "You should probably speak with your mother."

Hope smiled at how uncomfortable he seemed. From what she could tell, he was always so composed. He didn't seem to like being the topic of conversation.

"I'm asking you." She challenged. "Mom broke up with her boyfriend the second you were back and then spent the night out. I'm not a child, I can imagine where she was."

Elijah shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Hope had to suppress a laugh.

"Well, yes we had dinner." Elijah started. "We had a lot to catch up on after not seeing one another for seven years."

"I'm sure." Hope gave him a leveled look.

Elijah took another moment to compose himself before trying to explain himself.

"Hope, I would never presume to do anything that would make you uncomfortable. I know children often wish for their parents to reunite."

"Reunite?" Hope snorted, "I'm under no delusion there. I know I was conceived through an alcohol-induced hate bang."

"Ok." Elijah tried to stop her from talking. "What I mean to say, is that you are our priority."

"So what, you and mom can't be happy because of me?" Hope said defensively. She was so tired of everyone in her family sacrificing everything for her.

"We are all happy to be back together and that is because of you." Elijah narrowed his eyes at her. The Hollow was so powerful they had to split it into four of the strongest immortal creatures that existed, and yet here his niece sat holding it all inside.

"I just wanted my family to be together again." Hope looked back down at her lap. It was her only wish for as long as she could remember. "I didn't want to be the reason you were all separated anymore."

"Hope, you are worth every sacrifice." Elijah shifted so he was leaning forward forcing Hope to look him in the eye. "We would do anything to keep you safe."

"I don't know if I'm worth that." Hope felt a tear fall down her cheek. Maybe it was because her uncle felt like a stranger, but she found it easier to confess her fears to him than to her mom or dad.

"You may not believe it, but you and your mother saved this family. You are why there is something to fight for."

Hope gave her uncle a teary smile and nodded. She looked behind his shoulder and saw her mother leaning in the doorway with a small smile of her own.

"Your father is waiting downstairs with all of the painting supplies New Orleans has." Hayley informed her daughter.

Elijah stood up at the sound of Hayley's voice but didn't turn around to face her, his face slipping back into a carefully neutral mask. Hope took this as her cue to leave. She stood up and began to walk past Elijah but stopped next to him and threw her arms around him. He seemed to be startled for a moment but quickly wrapped his arms gently around her in return.

"Thank you, Uncle Elijah." Hope held on for a moment longer.

"You're very welcome, Hope." Hayley smiled as she watched the interaction. She knew how much it would mean to Elijah for Hope to refer to him as 'Uncle'.

Hope threw her arms around her mom on her way out of the room. She knew she had been unfair to her about the whole Declan thing. Part of her knew that it wasn't safe for Declan to be in their world and her mom had done the right thing. But either way, she had almost lost her mom and she would not take that for granted.

"I love you, baby girl." Hayley stroked her back, holding on a little tighter than normal. This family was becoming big on hugging lately. Hope kissed her mom and left the room to gather her art supplies and join her father downstairs.

"As nice as your back is, are you ever going to turn around and face me?" Hayley walked into the room. Elijah smiled at her teasing, but still didn't turn around. He knew, just like he knew that day on the balcony, that as soon as he did, any hope of a future would disappear.

Hayley sighed and instead walked around to stand in front of him.

"You disappeared after breakfast." Hayley sat on the table in front of the couch. Elijah followed suit, sitting back on the couch.

"Yes, well I had an important call I had to take." Elijah said, clearly avoiding telling her who the call was from. She merely raised her eyebrow at him. "Vincent was calling to confirm which Mikaelsons were in the city and which ones planned to remain."

"Why'd he call you?" Hayley and Vincent had developed a friendship over the years, it was strange that he wouldn't call her or Freya.

"It seems I am the one he is most concerned about remaining." Elijah responded bitterly.

"Well, that's stupid." Hayley rolled her eyes. She knew how Vincent felt about her family and that a lot of that anger was directed at Elijah, but she also knew Elijah wouldn't act unless it was in defense of his family. "Clearly they should all be worried about Klaus."

Elijah let himself smile at Hayley's attempt to ease the tension.

"He has every right to hate me." Elijah admitted.

"I know." Hayley wasn't going to argue with him. They both knew he was right.

They fell into another silence. Neither one of them wanted to start the conversation.

"Listen–" Hayley began.

"I know." Elijah cut her off. "'We were doomed from the start.' We've been here before."

Their eyes met and Hayley reached out for his hand.

"And yet we keep coming back to each other." Elijah squeezed her hand back. "I meant what I said in France, Elijah."

"You want to dance?" Elijah kissed her hand gently. He knew what she was referring to though.

"For whatever reason, we are destined for each other. And I intend to see it through this time." Hayley said with as much sincerity as she could convey with her words. She needed him to know that she was ready to fight for them. Maybe then he would stop bolting anytime things got rocky.

Elijah seemed surprised by that statement. He was sure after the events of last night Hayley would pull away again.

"I've lost so many people in my life. I'm tired of losing people." Elijah tugged on her hand gently and Hayley allowed him to pull her into his lap, tucking her head in the crook of his neck.

"I don't think I could handle losing you." Elijah admitted. "It almost killed me when I thought we lost you fifteen years ago. I don't think I could face it again."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm a vampire." Hayley kissed Elijah's neck.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Elijah allowed them a moment more, "Now, let's go find out the plan to save your daughter."