Warning: Spanking of a Minor


Chapter 3

Once he got his baring, Marcel went back to the sanctuary.

"Uh-uh, nope, get out." Vincent greeted Marcel at the doors of the church. He'd been waiting for his return all night. "You're not welcomed here anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh no, don't play coy with me. There's talk going on all through the streets about how you and your men attacked Klaus's kid. I told you not to bring trouble 'round here."

"That was just a big misunderstanding. Me and Klaus talked that out, everything's okay."

"Nothing's ever okay when it comes to you and the Mikaelsons. Get out of here, Marcel."

Vincent flicked a finger and the church doors slammed in Marcel's face.

-M-

While he wasn't busy running the supernatural world of New Orleans, Klaus was spending all of his free time with his family, especially his daughter.

"Where's your mother?" Klaus asked as he entered the den where Hope was lying on the sofa texting away while the TV played noisily in the background.

"Uh…I think she went out with Uncle Elijah."

Klaus's face puckered. He wasn't happy that his brother was in love with the mother of his child but he couldn't say anything about it. After losing Cami he decided to never stand in the way of true love again, even if it wasn't his.

"Then how about you and I do something together."

"Can't, dad. Sebastian is on his way over."

"Sebastian?"

In every father there's a gene that shuts down all reason whenever their daughters mention a boy's name, that gene had not skipped Klaus by.

"And who is Sebastian?" He said with a façade of calmness.

"You know Sebastian, daddy. He's a witch. His mom is the new Regent. We're studying spells together. I was hoping…you'd let us borrow Grandma Esther's grimoire."

"I believe my mother's grimoire is a bit too advanced for witches as young as yourself."

"But Uncle Kol says I'm one of the most powerful witches he's ever met."

"Well that's because you are. You're a very powerful witch for your age but you're still not quite ready for Esther's grimoire."

"You let Davina study it when she wasn't much older than me."

Klaus's face hardened. "Who told you about Davina?"

"Uncle Kol. He said that studying that grimoire made Davina an even more powerful witch than she was already destined to be."

With a sigh, Klaus sat down beside Hope. He took her hand in his and said, "Davina Claire was a very special young witch placed into a time of war which forced her to learn advanced skills at an early age. We are at peace. There's no reason for you to burden yourself with the stress of learning such ancient magic so soon."

Hope remained unsatisfied by her father's answer. Like any witch, she longed for greater knowledge and the greatest knowledge she could have was in Esther's grimoire.

"How about," said Klaus as he sprang to his feet. "I make you and me a Hot Fudge sundae and we can eat it out on the terrace while you tell me about all about your day yesterday and more about this Sebastian chap."

Hope nodded with a wide smirk. Haylee was often strict with her but in the weeks that her father's been awake, Klaus has spoiled her with anything she wanted.

As they were sitting out on the terrace sharing a Sunday and talking about Hope's Halloween night, the subject of the attack came up and a question that Hope had been pondering all night suddenly slipped out of her mouth.

"Who's Marcel Gerard?"

Klaus nearly choked on the ice cream in his mouth. "Um, Marcel Gerard? He's…no one of consequence. He's just a man who saw a young girl in trouble and came to her aide. A good Samaritan."

"That's not what Uncle Kol said. He said that Marcel Gerard was probably the only person in the world that loved Davina Claire more than he did and you knew Davina, right? So you must've known Marcel too."

Klaus silently cursed Kol. "Okay, the truth is, Marcel and I were…old friends once upon a time but then he betrayed this family in a way that can never be forgiven so I banished him when we returned to New Orleans. He returned last night and saved you but that wasn't enough to clear his debt and I banished him again."

"Why? What'd he do that was so terrible?"

"Nothing you'll ever have to worry about. You are my world, Hope," He said, brushing back a lock of her soft blonde hair from her face. "And I'll do anything to keep you safe. Now, let's forget about Marcel and talk about what else happened last night. You say there was a live band at the school? Were they any good?"

Hope wasn't ready to drop the subject of Marcel but she knew her father was and so she went on to talk about the school dance, making a note to herself to find out more about Marcel when she could.

-M-

Hope left the compound with Sebastian to search witch shops for the ingredients they needed for a potion that would give a person warts. They wanted to use it to prank someone. Though they didn't know who yet, it was fun thinking about it together.

As they were about to enter the shop, Hope saw a familiar figure enter a hotel not far from them. She slowly began recognizing it as the figure that saved her the night before. Marcel Gerard.

"Um, you go in without me, Sebastian."

"Why? Where are you gonna do?"

"Uh, I have to call my dad. You know him, if I don't check in every so often he'll come find us. I'll be quick."

Sebastian chuckled and went into the store. When the door closed, Hope used her supernatural speed to get from the storefront into the hotel she saw Marcel walk into before Sebastian could see her. He was still at the front desk checking in when she entered. She stayed hidden as he got his room key and waited for him to get into the elevator before speeding through the closing doors so they could be alone.

Marcel was shocked by the girl's sudden appearance, assuming it was one of Klaus's new Sire-lings come to bring the trespasser to justice. Once he recognized the girl as Hope Mikaelson his apprehension didn't decrease.

"You!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"You're one to talk. My dad said you're supposed to be banished. What are you doing here?"

Marcel hated himself for the fear that pooled in his stomach at the thought of Niklaus finding out about him still being in the city.

The elevator doors opened to his floor and Hope continued, "Don't worry, I just want to talk."

"About what?"

"About you. I want to know who you are. I want to know why I always hear your name whispered throughout my home but whenever I ask someone about you they all always say the same thing – that you're no one."

"No one, huh?" He said stepping out of the elevator. "Even Rebekah?"

"Aunty Bex never talks about you. But my uncle, Kol does, especially when he's talking about Davina."

Marcel slipped his hotel key into the door and opened it to a free luxury hotel room compliments of the Hotel Manager, and his wonderful mastery of Compulsion.

"Okay," he agreed, motioning for the girl to enter the room. "Let's talk."

Hope entered the room and sat down at the desk while Marcel helped himself to the bar, pouring a Scotch for himself and a cold glass of milk from the mini fridge for Hope.

"First things first," Hope started after taking a sip of milk. "Who were you to Davina Claire? Did you two, like, go out or something?"

Marcel shook his head with a chuckle. "No, nothing like that. I just…watched over her. When she was just a few years older than you she was caught in some bad witch business. Her coven was about to sacrifice her for this Harvest Ritual and, well, I saved her."

"Why?"

"Why did I save a 16 year old girl from being sacrificed?" He laughed.

Hope blushed and elaborated, "I mean, did you know her then or were you just being a good guy? Like you were to me, when you saved me and my friends from those vampires last night."

Marcel took another drink of Scotch and said, "No, I didn't. But I got this rule about hurting kids. I'll pretty much save any kid I see in danger. Davina didn't have a safe place to go after because the witches were still looking for her so I hid her and protected her."

"Oh," She said softly. "And here I thought I was special."

"You are. You're the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson, a miracle of nature. Not to mention that you're a Tribrid and from what I witnessed last night, you're one hell of a witch – pardon my French. If I didn't come to your rescue, I'm sure you would've ripped those guys apart on your own."

Hope smiled and for a moment there was a twinkle in her eyes that Marcel almost mistook for Davina.

"What happened to her?" The moment she asked that question Marcel began to painfully relive that night.

"Kol didn't tell you that?"

"He said that she was killed by the old Ancestors but he wouldn't tell me how."

Marcel thought back on the night he walked into the bar and found Davina's lifeless body on the floor, touching her cold face and her blood coating his hands.

"Let's not talk about this," Marcel answered coldly.

Hope stared down at the glass in her hand. "You sound just like him. Whenever I ask him about it he gets quiet and then he says he doesn't want to talk about it. Mom says it's because it hurts him too much to think about it because the wound is still fresh for him. She says it's best if he only remembered the moments they spent together while she was alive."

A small smile graced Marcel's lips. "Your mother's a wise woman."

Hope nodded. Then she tried to think of the best way to ask her next question without coming across as too pushy.

"What did you do?" She asked straightforwardly.

Caught off guard, Marcel stuttered, "Uh, um, e-excuse me?"

"To get banished. It had to be something horrible otherwise my dad wouldn't still be so angry with you after what you did last night."

"What I did happened a long time ago but it caused irreversible damage and it's probably going to take an even longer time for your dad to forgive me, if he ever does."

"I'll say. Whenever I hear them whispering your name, the whispers always sound the angriest coming from dad. He talks like he hates you."

Marcel's heart sunk at that discovery.

"Do me a favor," He said. "Don't tell anyone I'm in town or that you spoke to me."

"Of course not. If my dad found out I snuck into a hotel room with some guy he'd have a conniption. I'd be grounded for life and he'd probably kill you."

"Oh you can bet on that." Marcel chuckled heartily.

"How long have you two been friends? I mean, 'were' friends. Before that horrible thing you did happened."

Marcel let out a heavy exhale and said, "Since I was a boy." He saw the look of confusion on the girl's face and decided to tell her the whole story from the day he met Niklaus to the day he was turned. "Niklaus was more than just my friend and Sire…he was…my…"

"Dad." Hope's voice came out as a soft whisper.

Marcel nodded and finished off his Scotch. When he set the empty glass down on the desk in front of her, Hope jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tighter than he'd been hugged in a long time.

"I'm sorry." She choked. A tear dropped from her eyelash to his neck and Marcel realized the girl was crying. "I'm sorry for Davina, and for my dad, and for everything that happened to you."

Marcel was hesitant to hug her back at first but after spending years blocking out the pain, having her crying on him brought it all back just as clear as if it'd just happened.

The hug didn't end for what felt like a full 60 seconds and then Hope pulled back from him and said, "I know that I can never be Davina but I'm your…you're my…we're…" She threw herself back into his body, hugging him one last time before saying, "You're my brother and I'm going to make sure no one ever hurts you – especially not dad."

"Aren't I supposed to be saying that to you?" Marcel tried to laugh through his emotions.

Hope smiled and squeezed him tighter. She was overwhelmed. She'd always dreamed of having an older sibling – someone older who still wanted to hang out with her, someone to drive her where she wanted to go and take her to the movies and to fairs without her parents having to tag along, someone to goof around with when the rest of her family were being too serious. Here she had one all along but her father had banished him.

A loud banging on the room door caused both of them to jump, breaking their hug.

"Oh, no," Hope whispered nervously. "That's Uncle Elijah."

"You sure?"

Hope took a deep whiff of the air and said, "Yep, I'd know his scent anywhere."

Elijah banged on the door again and screamed the girl's name at the same time. Marcel jumped from his seat. He knew if Elijah found him he would definitely drag him back to Klaus and the last thing he wanted was another encounter with Klaus so soon after their last.

Hope saw the look of worry in her newfound brother's eyes and realized that she really had to make sure he didn't get found out by the other Mikaelsons now.

"No matter what, don't say anything." She said before she began to chant a spell to herself as she moved to the door.

When she opened the door, Elijah burst into the room. The younger vampire's heart nearly jumped from his chest for fear of being found but then Elijah kept going as if he looked right through him. It was then Marcel knew that Hope was casting a Perception Spell on him, causing Elijah to see nothing but the wall behind him.

"Uncle Elijah, what are you doing here?" Hope asked timidly.

"I always have a tail following you whenever you leave the house without one of us. Imagine my surprise when I get a call today saying that my young niece was spotted sneaking into a hotel with a strange man."

"It's not what you think, Uncle. He was…he was just a tourist looking for a witch to create a love potion for him."

"Hope, you are old enough to know better than to go off with strangers. Where is he now?"

"He's left. He already had the raw ingredients mixed, he just needed me to do the witch stuff, y'know. Make it magical. Nothing else happened, I swear."

Elijah grabbed the girl by the arm and spun her around, landing three solid smacks on her jean-clad bottom.

The smacks were so sudden and strong that Hope almost lost her bearings for the spell keeping Marcel invisible but she somehow managed. When Elijah spun her back around to face him, the girl's face was scarlet from the shame of being spanked in front of her new brother. Tears began to pool in her eyes from both the pain and humiliation.

"You are never to go anywhere with a stranger ever again. Do I make myself clear, young lady?"

"Yes, sir." She sniffled.

"And you can rest assured that your father will be hearing of your little exploit the moment we get back to the compound."

Hope nodded her agreement, her tears now falling heavier. Elijah's tough-guy façade immediately fell and he picked the sniffling girl up in his arms and shushed her as they left the room. Once the hotel room door was closed, Hope released the spell she was casting and fell asleep in her uncle's arms, the stress of keeping up the spell and being spanked at the same time having worn her out.