So sorry for the super late chapter lol I've been soooo busy I haven't had an hour to myself in weeks. Oh well, here you go.
Chapter 10
Kol watched nervously as Niklaus and Rebekah ran out of the party. He could tell by the pained expression on her face that Rebekah knew something and he dreaded that it was about Marcel.
He calmly rushed around the room in search for Freya but his eldest sibling was nowhere to be found at the party so he searched the rest of the Compound. He found her alone with one of the Werewolf royalty in the den beside a roaring fire. It was a romantic sight indeed before Kol burst into the room.
"We have a problem." Kol stated.
Freya pulled away from her rugged suitor to growl, "Can't you see I'm busy, little brother. What do you want?"
Kol was too worried about Klaus finding out what they had done to respond with his normal level of spite. "Rebekah knows. About Marcel. I think she's telling Klaus right now. What are we gonna do?"
Freya's eyes widened with the same fear. She left her date behind and scurried out of the room to her workshop with Kol following close behind her every step.
Freya barged into her workshop unsuspecting of Klaus's presence. Everything was trashed: remnants of the spell she used against Marcel was tossed with reckless abandon about the room along with every other spell she had in place.
"I knew Kol had to have a powerful witch under his thumb in order to complete such a powerfully wicked spell." Klaus spoke with bridled intensity. "I just didn't think it would be my own sister."
"Niklaus," Freya started slowly but she didn't know what to say. Her brother was furious, that was easily enough to see, but she could also so his pain. She knew he was deeply hurt by their betrayal.
"Niklaus," Kol stated seemingly unbothered, hoping to talk his way out of this predicament. "You told us to drive him away. We were just doing as you ordered."
Niklaus gave no warning before he sped across the room, grabbing Kol by the throat, and slamming him against the wall.
"If you thought what you did was right you wouldn't have kept it from me. I should break you in half!"
"Niklaus," Freya grabbed Niklaus' arm and tried to pull it away from Kol as their younger brother struggled for air but Klaus was too strong. Elijah's entrance came as a blessing.
"Nik," he barked. "What is the meaning of this?"
Niklaus released Kol and he dropped to the floor gasping for breath.
"These two have been plotting behind our back! Betrayal once again running deep within my own family!" Niklaus went on to tell Elijah what he knew. Although Elijah was shocked that he didn't know what was going on under in his own home, he wasn't surprised by Kol's actions.
Attempting to defend himself before Klaus decided to put a dagger in him, Kol said, "We were only trying to get the treacherous bastard to run away like Nik wanted."
"Kol," Elijah snapped. "Do us all a favor and shut your mouth."
"I should've known you'd take his side!" Kol barked, his fear quickly replaced with anger. "We spend twelve years bonding, trapped in each other's minds – the most intimate situation you can be in with another person – but I see now that means nothing now that you have the bastard hybrid back."
"That is quite enough, Kol. Now…we have guests downstairs looking for their hosts so it behooves you all to put this issue away until after the party."
Without another word Kol stomped heatedly out of the room.
"He thought he was doing the right thing." Freya defended. "So did I. Marcel is not one of us. He doesn't deserve to be here and he doesn't deserve your forgiveness. We are your family. Not him."
As Freya tried to leave Niklaus slammed his hand against the doorframe, blocking her exit.
"Marcel is as much family to me as anyone, I see that now. If either of you ever hurt him again-"
"Niklaus," Elijah quickly interrupted. "Let her go, brother."
With a heavy grunt, Niklaus moved away from the door. Freya took one last sorrowful glance at her brothers before leaving to the party.
"You can't blame them for hating him." Elijah spoke to the quiet room. "Last I checked, you trusted him least of all."
"Distrust does not equate hate, dear brother. For example, I no longer trust my siblings but that does not diminish my love for them."
"Might I ask what brought about this sudden swell of emotion for Marcel?"
Niklaus thought back to the feelings he had when he saw Marcel earlier that night.
"Seeing him in that state…it reminded me of when he was a boy, right after I first took him in. For months he was afraid someone was going to come take him from me and return him back to those monsters. I swore I'd always be there to protect him but tonight I realized that my siblings are monsters all their own and I failed to protect him from them."
"As much as I admire your sudden paternalism towards Marcel, don't misconstrue these emotions. You may care for him but that does not mean you should trust him. Not completely. Not just yet."
Niklaus nodded in agreement but Elijah could see it in his brother's eyes. Niklaus was too trusting when it came to old friends. He knew he would have to keep an eye on them to make sure Marcel didn't take advantage of his brother's credulous ways.
-M-
Flashback:
Soon after Marcel's sixteenth birthday Elijah and Niklaus were called away to Baton Rouge to discuss and alliance with a coven of particularly strong witches, leaving Marcel alone with Rebekah and Kol. Klaus wanted to bring Marcel on the trip with them because he feared leaving him with Kol but Elijah believed in their brother's redemption and insisted Kol would do nothing to harm Marcel in their absence so Klaus relented and let the boy stay.
What Niklaus failed to see was the friendship that was beginning to bloom between Kol and Marcel. Once Kol stopped seeing Marcel as an obligatory nuisance, he realized that he actually enjoyed spending time with him.
"Oh, Marcellus," Kol sang as he skipped through the forest plied on German liquor. He found Marcel in the middle of a clearing practicing his archery. Marcel paused his practice to look on entertained by Kol's drunken antics. The man carried two bottles of the foreign drink, one in each of his hands. The bottle in his right hand was significantly less than the other and as Kol stumbled closer to him Marcel knew why. "Look what I compelled from a weary traveler along the road. Here,"
Kol tried to give Marcel the half empty bottle but the boy refused.
"I shouldn't." He said. "Poppa expects me to be on my best behavior in his absence. Besides, I'm not allowed to drink Spirits. Only wine and only if he says it's okay."
"Oh, c'mon lad. To hell with the rules. Niklaus and Elijah are gone now. I'm the head of the family now and I say you're allowed to have a bit of libation."
Curious because of never having had liquor before, Marcel took the bottle and began slowly drinking it. The taste was stronger than he was used to but after being mocked by Kol the first time he complained about the burning sensation he decided to ignore his discomfort.
The two drunken youths scuttled about the wooded area playing drunken games, paying no attention to where they were going until Marcel stumbled into the backside of a stallion. He looked glazy-eyed up to the man sitting on top of the horse and was shocked to see a stranger on what he thought was still the Mikaelson property. Two other men on horses appeared which only frightened the intoxicated child more.
"Lookit what we have here." The first man heckled. "Think we found ourselves a runaway."
Kol suddenly appeared by Marcel's side just as the boy was frozen with fear.
"What are you lot doing on my family's property?" Kol growled.
With a heavy scoff, the horseman replied, "You're one of those Mikaelsons, ain'tcha? Well I got news for you. Your property line ended about half a mile back the way you came."
"Oh," Kol smirked beguilingly. He grabbed Marcel's arm and said, "Then I guess we should be getting back."
"Wait a second. Does this boy belong to you?"
"He doesn't belong to anyone. He's a free man."
"Well, we're gonna need to see some 'free man' papers."
Marcel's fear grew. He didn't have papers because he never left the property without Niklaus and no one ever questioned Niklaus. He feared that his worst nightmares were coming true and the men were going to take him away from his home.
Kol had the same fear but for a different reason. He knew if he allowed these men to take Marcel, Niklaus would dagger him for at least a few centuries.
Without a second thought, Kol sped through and ripped off the heads of all three men. Marcel was left speechless. He hadn't seen such a vicious act since the last time Kol was awake.
"Wh-why didn't you just compel them? L-L-Like poppa does."
Kol wiped the blood from his hands on one of the saddles of the still standing horses.
"Suppose I could've. Didn't really think about it." He chuckled. "Oh well. The world is better off without their kind anyhow. Now, where were we? Oh, that's right," Kol sped over to Marcel and gently pushed his shoulder. "You're 'it'."
End Flashback
"Stinkin' bastard!" Kol screamed to himself as he stuffed his collection of ancient mystical objects into an old tattered suitcase.
Freya entered his room just as he was about to leave it for good.
"Where are you going?" She asked surprised to see his room in shambles and his most prized possessions missing from their usual place.
"I'm getting the heck outta dodge and if you had any sense you'd come with me."
"Kol, I'm not leaving my family."
"Fine, stay, what do I care?"
Freya stepped gracefully in front of him as he tried to squeeze by her. "No, you're not leaving either. We are a family, Kol. You don't just get to leave when things get tough."
"You haven't a clue what you're in for, love. We've royally screwed up and that means a dagger for me and who knows what the bastard's got planned for you. Our only other choice is to get lost before the going gets tough and give Nik a little time to cool his head. Trust me, I know this family better than you."
Kol then pushed past his sister and stormed out of the room. He was in such a hurry to get out of the Compound that he didn't see Marcel rounding the corner in front of him until they were both laid out on the floor after the collision.
Kol jumped to his feet and grabbed Marcel by the collar of his shirt. Marcel stood stoic, prepared to take whatever Kol was going to dish out.
"You're always getting in my way." Kol growled. His anger boiling over, Kol punched Marcel sending him flying down the hall to the balcony overlooking the party.
Marcel wasn't expecting Kol to punch him but the second he was back on his feet he was primed to fight. Kol sped down the hallway to him, once again taking hold of Marcel's shirt but this time Marcel grabbed him back. The two wrestled against the banister until they fell over into the sea of partiers. The floor cleared around them with everyone looking on in shock until a sudden surge of magic broke the two squabbling vampires apart.
Freya stared down from the balcony in dismay but Kol and Marcel's eyes were focused on the sight of the eldest two Mikaelson brothers speedily making their way down the staircase.
"I would like to express my deepest regrets to everyone for tonight's events." Elijah stood before the guests and apologized while Niklaus quietly guided Kol and Marcel out of the courtyard. "I can assure you, it will not be happening again. Please, carry on."
As the band proceeded to play their music and Rebekah and Hayley did the best they could to renew everyone's spirits, the King of one of the werewolf clans came over to Elijah and grunted, "If you can't keep peace within your own family, how can we be sure you'll be able to keep the peace of an entire Kingdom."
"Travis, I can assure you-"
The werewolf King held up his hand in silence and continued, "Talk is cheap, brother. You've proven tonight what you and your family are capable of. I hereby reject your alliance."
"Let's not be imprudent." Elijah stated warningly. "If you're not with us, you're against us."
"Then I guess I made my choice."
As Travis and his werewolf brethren left the party, Elijah glared heatedly up at the balcony to Freya now as angry with her and his brother as Niklaus was. Travis's clan was the biggest of all his guest and in a time of impending war, the last thing they needed were more enemies.
