Chapter 30

Klaus stopped in the middle of his painting and fished his phone out of his pocket at the sound of his text alert going off.

'Just found out Hope's been skipping school. Did the adult thing and grounded her. Somebody owes me a cookie.' - Kol

Klaus scoffed and put the phone back in his pocket. That wasn't his concern. Hope being kidnapped by his enemies: Klaus problem. Hope attempting to perform magic beyond her skill level: Klaus problem. Hope skipping school: Not a Klaus problem.

"I'll just let Hayley handle that," Niklaus said to himself as he picked up a paintbrush and restarted his painting. "Or Elijah. He lives for stuff like this."

He continued on with his painting, relaxing his mind more with each stroke until the studio door burst open with Hayley on the other side.

"Did you see Kol's text?" She asked walking heatedly over to the father of her child.

Klaus sighed heavily as his peace was disturbed but continued with his painting, not looking back at the woman even once. "It's a non-issue, Hayley. Or should I say, it's not my issue."

"Excuse me?" Hayley marched over to Klaus and snatched the paintbrush from his hand. He glared down at her, his teeth gritted in anger knowing that he couldn't dare retaliate to the mother of his child the way he would normally do to someone who dared interrupt his peace. "Your daughter and throwing her future down the drain and it's not your issue?"

"She's a tribrid, dear," he retorted irritably. He picked up another brush from the set and dipped it in the paint. "And a Mikaelson. We will take care of her."

"That's...besides the point, Klaus! Skipping school is irresponsible. Not to mention if she's not going to class, what is she doing?"

"She's probably selling drugs," Klaus joked. "Or maybe she's joined a violent street gang. Oh! Perhaps she's started her own secret coven of evil witches and 4th-period gym is the only time they can meet."

"That's not funny, Klaus!"

"It is funny because you seem to forget how wonderful our daughter is. If she's skipping school it's because she's bored with it, not because she's up to something nefarious. Maybe she's using all of her extra free time to brush up on her magic."

"That's not a good enough reason to skip school, Klaus. I know school means nothing to someone who's been alive since forever but our daughter needs an education. I won't let her go through life compelling whatever she wants out of people. She will finish high school, go to college, become a lawyer or doctor or anything to keep her out of Mikaelson drama."

"Once a Mikaelson, always a Mikaelson. She could make it to the highest office in the country and Mikaelson drama will always be her drama. You should know that by now," Klaus flicked his paintbrush, ending the last stroke on his painting, and finally looked Hayley in the eyes. "But I am working to put an end to all Mikaelson drama so she won't have to face it. So, just in case the thought of taking her from her family ever crosses your mind again, don't."

Hayley raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "Wow, no threats of violence against me or my wolves. I'm impressed."

Klaus stood back to take a good look at his painting. "I told you, love. I'm changing for the better."

"Fine. You want to be a better father, care about your daughter's future. Help her have more options than just being a Mikaelson."

Irritated by Hayley's persistence, Klaus said, "If you want me to be on board with her grounding, then I am, but only because in skipping school she disobeyed you and lied to us. But I am not going to be a hypocrite and pretend like I care about her skipping a few days of middle school. Sure, I aspire for her to be great one day but she can do so without middle school. Marcel was taught exclusively by Elijah his formative years and he went to college. Twice. As a matter of fact, I've been against her going to school with the threat against this family still looming all along. I say we pull her out of school for the rest of the semester until this Travis business is taken care of."

As Klaus moved to grab the painting and put it somewhere to dry, Hayley vamp-sped in front of him. "That is not happening, Klaus," she growled, her eyes cutting deep inside him. "I want Hope to have a normal childhood. She spent twelve years living in hotel rooms and traveling the country with her mom. We have never stayed in one place long enough for her to complete a full year of school. We've had to move so much that it was nearly impossible for her to make lasting friendships. But now she is back home. She's with her family who loves her more than anything. She has a best friend who would do anything for her. And she's going to school like a normal thirteen-year-old girl. If you want our daughter to have a happy, normal childhood, you won't even think about pulling her out of school again."

Klaus rolled his eyes, annoyed that he hadn't considered Hope attending public school so rationally at first. Hayley was the one to talk him into letting her go to school in the first place. If it were up to him, he would have kept his little girl at home with him forever just like Marcel.

"Fine," he relented. "I won't pull her from school. If you really think that her attending class with a bunch of unambitious, pubescent knuckle-draggers is what's best for my little girl...I will learn to care about middle school. But for the record, if you wanted someone to agree with you on this 'school skipping' case, you should've gone for Elijah. I'm sure he's far more invested in this than I am."

"Oh, he is. He's in her room lecturing her about it right now."

Klaus smirked. I knew it.

-M-

"Boy, it is good to be home," Josh exclaimed as he walked through the front door of his apartment. Kol entered behind him followed by Marcel and his two sired vampires. "I can't believe Klaus just let us go,"

"Sure," Marcel mumbled sarcastically. "He just let you go. No horrible debt was paid by anyone."

"I know, I know," said Josh having overheard Klaus's mumbling with his vamp hearing. "You guys probably sold your souls to the devil, quite literally, to get us free and for that, I am eternally grateful." Josh's eyes lit up as he had a sudden idea. "Let's go to a club to celebrate."

Marcel groaned as Josh put his arm around his and Kol's shoulder, squeezing them together.

"What do you say, fellas? Beautiful people, amazing drinks, awesome music. Could be just like old times."

Before Kol or Marcel could answer, Lora barked, "I'm not going anywhere with him! Have you forgotten that he killed Gwen?"

Kol rolled his eyes. "Kill one worthless vampire, save two. I think things have sorta evened themselves out."

Marcel shook his head, a knowing smile on his face as he pulled away from Josh. "Y'see, I knew you were never gonna change."

"C'mon, mate," Kol groaned as every vampire in the room glared at him. "What do you want me to do? Apologize? Because that's not gonna happen. I'm a Mikaelson. We have the tendency to not care about any vampire who isn't friend or family. Your friend Gwen was neither."

"To me, she was both."

Kol closed in the gap between him and Marcel and whispered tensely, "You start getting attached to every vampire you create and you're gonna live a long, miserable existence, mate. They all die eventually. If you're going to call yourself a Mikaelson, you need to learn that family is all you're ever gonna need."

"What about me," Josh spoke up, interrupting Kol's speech. Kol looked over to his friends noting the betrayal in his eyes. "Am I...am I just nothing to you?"

"Don't be silly," Kol grunted. "You're my best friend. You know what you mean to me."

"But I'm just going to die eventually, right? So what's the point of getting attached."

Kol's nose flared at the mention of Josh's death. "You're never going to die. You're under my protection and I'll never let anything happen to you. You're a Mikaelson by association."

"Then so are they."

"No, they're not," Kol barked angrily. He was getting irritated by the argument. "They're just a couple of broken kids Marcel turned to fill a gap in his life but I've got news for you, mate. They will never replace Davina."

Marcel's hands formed two tight fists. The night he turned Gwen, he knew he was only doing it because she looked like Davina. He tried to convince himself that she would be a valuable part of his army but deep down he knew the truth. But Kol was right. She couldn't replace Davina. No one could. But that didn't mean that he didn't still care for each of them.

Kol surveyed the room, taking in how each of the vampires was starting to feel towards him and he realized he was making more enemies than friends. To him Lora and Zane meant nothing and he wished Josh and Marcel felt the same but it was clear that they didn't, nor were they going to change their mind anytime soon.

All he wanted to do was celebrate their victory over Klaus with a nice stiff drink so to end the argument, he forced himself to calm down and said, "They are not family but...maybe I was too quick to dismiss them as friends." Looking past Marcel at the two vampires behind him, Kol smiled and said, "Let's go grab a drink and get better acquainted. I'm sure after you're properly buzzed you might start to like me."

Zane gave a wily half smirk. "You killed our friend. You should hope that we don't get drunk and try to kill you."

"Well," Kol stared Zane down, making a note to not let his guard down around him. "That sounds like a fun night too."

-M-

Klaus sat in a wooden chair completely immobile in the middle of an empty white room. He struggled to move an inch of his body but no matter how strong his will was, he body wouldn't budge. Only his mouth was still able to move, allowing him to scream for help but no one came.

After what felt like hours of him sitting cemented to the chair, his captor finally appeared. Mikael.

Mikael stood in front of him, the white oak stake in one hand, a long silver blade in the other.

"Mikael," Klaus growled. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing yet," Mikael replied, his sharp glare focusing intensely on Klaus. "Boy."

Just as suddenly as Mikael appeared before Klaus out of thin air, so did Elijah. Elijah scanned the room, looking over Mikael and Klaus as if he couldn't see them. "Hello," he called out. "Is anyone here?"

"Elijah," Klaus screamed. "Elijah, I'm right here."

"He can't see you," Mikael explained. "I didn't bring him here so the two of you could share your feelings with each other. I brought him here," Mikael took the silver blade and ran in across Elijah's throat. Elijah fell to his knees, struggling to keep his hands over the wound on his neck but the blood was coming too fast. "To make you suffer." Mikael raised the white oak stake in the air and Klaus anticipated his next move.

"No!" he screamed but his terror did nothing to impede Mikael's strike. He plunged the stake through Elijah's back, hitting his heart. Tears flooded Klaus's eyes as he watched his brother's skin begin to pale, the live draining from his body.

He had no time to mourn Elijah's death before Rebekah appeared.

"What the bloody hell," Rebekah exclaimed as she was snatched into existence. Then her eyes fell upon Elijah's dead body. "No," she muttered, falling to her hands and knees over her brother. "No, no, no. Elijah, please no." She caressed his cold cheek, her tears dripping down her face on to his cheek.

"Rebekah, get up," Klaus screamed. "Run! Get out of here,"

Mikael sneered, "Haven't you learned yet, boy? They can't hear you."

He stabbed Rebekah through the heart with the stake. Her head jerked at the sudden sharp pain going through her chest but it only lasted for a second before her body began to wither and die.

"Such a shame," Mikael tutted. "She was my favorite. Once."

"I am going to kill you," Klaus screamed hysterically. "When I get out of this I am going to rip your body apart piece by piece before ending you with your own filicidal weapon!"

"You're never moving from that seat. You're not ever going anywhere. Not as long as the boy you call son has that blade stuck in your chest."

Klaus suddenly gained the ability to move his head. He looked down to see the long discolored scar indicating that Papa Tunde's blade was still in him.

"You're weak," Mikael continued to degrade him. "And pathetic. Too much so to save your own family."

Marcel appeared in the room, a confused look on his face until he saw the lifeless bodies of Rebekah and Elijah piled up before him.

"Bex," he fell into sobs cradling her body in his arms. "No, Bex, no, god no!"

As Mikael took a step closer to Marcel, Klaus's heart began to pound. "Leave him alone," he begged, tears coursing down his cheeks. "He has nothing to do with this. Leave him alone!"

"According to you, he is a Mikaelson," Mikael scowled. "That means he has everything to do with this."

"If you want to kill me then kill me! But leave my son alone!"

"Son," The word left a bitter taste on Mikael's tongue. "He's the reason you're here now and you still regard him with such affection."

Klaus's eyes fell to Marcel. Seeing the mournful look on Marcel's face as he sobbed over Rebekah's body broke his heart.

"I deserve it," Klaus muttered. "He's innocent. I made him do this to me. I gave him the Mikaelson bloodlust. It's my fault. If you want to kill someone for it, kill me. Leave him alone."

"How touching," mocked Mikael. "If you really don't want him to die, then I will give you a choice."

Mikael lifted the hand holding the white oak stake and for a moment Klaus thought his end hand finally come. Then, right before his eyes, Hope appeared.

She couldn't see Marcel or Rebekah and Marcel couldn't see her. She saw only Elijah. As the little girl fell to her knees, sobbing over her uncle's death, Klaus wondered what Mikael had planned.

"Time to choose, boy," Mikael stated. "Either he dies or she does."

"No! Leave them alone! Kill me! Leave them alone...please," Klaus's gut wretched at that word fell from his lips. In a thousand years he always thought he'd die before he ever begged Mikael for anything again but at that moment he didn't care about his pride. He only cared about saving his children.

"Choose," Mikael demanded.

"I won't!" Looking down at the sullen faces of both his children, Klaus muttered, "I would never..."

"Fine. Then I'll choose for you."

Mikael dropped both of the weapons in his hands and knelt down behind Marcel and Hope. Pointing a finger at Marcel, he said, "Eenie." His finger swung to point at Hope. "Meenie." He pointed back at Marcel. "Miney,"

As Mikael turned his attention back to Hope, his hand forming a claw prepared to rip through the girl's back and grab her heart, Klaus screamed out but Mikael ignored his screams of terror.

"Moe,"

Klaus woke in a cold sweat. His heart racing, his eyes ardently scanning his empty bedroom to confirm that he was indeed alone, Mikael was indeed still dead.

He laid back on his sweat-drenched sheets and took deep calming breaths. He couldn't go back to sleep if he wanted to. Instead, he went down to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Just as the aroma of Jamaican coffee beans filled the air, Elijah entered dressed in silk pajamas and soft loafers.

"I thought we agreed that I would pick the coffee tonight," Elijah complained as he grabbed two coffee mugs from the cabinets for them.

"You were late," Klaus smirked. "I didn't have the patience to wait for you."

"Sounds about right," Elijah chuckled. As he poured the coffee into the mugs, he watched Klaus sitting at the kitchen aisle, staring forlornly at the granite countertop.

Elijah's body had become attuned to sleeping lightly throughout the night so that he could hear it when Klaus woke in the middle of the night. Sometimes he would mistakenly drift off into a heavier slumber but the scent of coffee in the dead of night was almost like an alarm, urging him to wake up and take care of his brother.

"So, what was your nightmare about tonight?"

"What makes you think I had a nightmare," Klaus scoffed.

"Dear brother, must we play these games," Elijah tutted. "We go through this at least twice a week but yesterday was rather long so why don't we skip the introduction and get straight to the problem. If you don't mind.

Klaus smirked halfheartedly. He hated talking to Elijah about his nightmares but if there was one thing he learned from Cami it's that he should trust his family to help him through the hard stuff.

"Mikael got a bit creative tonight," Klaus admitted. "He decided to torture me by torturing and killing you all in front of me while I helplessly watched."

"That sounds like our father," Elijah sighed as he slid Klaus's cup across the counter to him.

The two sat in silence for a bit, just sipping on their drinks. Elijah waited for Klaus to give more details about his dream but if there wasn't anything he'd taken away from the many nights he spent awake with him since their return it was that if he tried to push him for answers, Klaus would shut down and keep his pain to himself.

"He tried to make me choose," Klaus mumbled.

"What was that?" Elijah urged.

"Between Marcel and Hope. He...he was going to kill one or the other and he tried to make me choose...and I couldn't. I couldn't even try."

Elijah stared down at his coffee. That wasn't the first time Klaus had told him about a dream in which Mikael was trying to force him to choose between Hope and Marcel. It seemed to occur at least once a week and every time Klaus would be more devastated by it than any other dream.

"Of course you couldn't. You love them both. It makes sense that you couldn't choose between them."

"He's trying to break me," Klaus uttered, his voice swollen with emotion. "He's trying to force me to pick which one I love most."

"Mikael is dead, Klaus," Elijah stated calmly. "The man in your dreams is nothing more than a manifestation of your fears brought about by the lingering remanence of having Tunde's blade in you for twelve years. It can't hurt you or Hope or Marcel."

Klaus knew Elijah was right but that didn't stop him from fearing whatever psychological damage his nightmares were causing.

"What if someday...," he spoke softly, ashamed of the thought that dared to cross his mind. "I choose? How...how can I live with myself knowing I sentenced one of them to death to protect the other?"

Elijah walked around the counter to his brother, placing his hand gently upon his back attempting to comfort him without pushing Klaus beyond what he was willing to accept at the moment.

"Whatever happens in your dreams," Elijah started. "Is not your fault. You are not in control of them. They are just a manifestation of your greatest fears so if you do choose one day...that's only because the act of choosing is what you're most afraid of. Not what you most desire."

Klaus sat staring at the black coffee in front of him ruminating on his brother's words. Elijah sat quietly beside him, hoping that his presence would be comfort enough for Klaus but waiting prepared to pull him into a hug should it not me.

In the same instance, they both heard someone enter the Compound. "It's Kol," Elijah sighed, recognizing his brother's energy.

"And Marcel," Klaus added, sensing his son's presence. He glanced up at the clock hanging in the kitchen and saw that it was after three in the morning. He was curious to know where they were coming from so late at night.

As Klaus rose heatedly to his feet, Elijah got up and followed him. He had no idea what Kol and Marcel were up to but he knew whatever it was, Klaus was in no state of mind to peacefully accept it.

Marcel laughed at Kol as he stumbled into the courtyard still trying to finish off the last bottle of vodka they compelled from the bartender from the last club they went to that night.

"Marcellus," Klaus's voice bellowed through the courtyard.

Marcel stiffened at the sound of his father's voice. Klaus's booming call started Kol so much that he dropped the bottle, spilling the rest of the vodka in the dirt.

"Well, well, well," said Klaus as he walked with heavy, determined steps through the courtyard. "What do we have here? Since when are you two such close friends?"

"We're not friends," Marcel answered immediately. "We...we went to check on Josh earlier and Josh suggested that we all go out together to celebrate your decision to spare his life."

"Is that so. My ever loyal son out all night with my most trustworthy brother and the vampire who has never orchestrated a plot to bring me down."

"He's telling you the truth," Kol grunted, annoyed by Klaus's sarcastic descriptions of them. "We went out and we had a few drinks and a little bit of fun. The only crime we committed is refusing to invite you and considering how large that angry vein on the side of your head is right now you can understand why we didn't invite you."

Klaus sped over to Kol and wrapped his hand around the collar of his shirt. "I showed you mercy. Don't make me regret it."

Kol released a heavy huff from his nose thinking about the punishment Klaus neglected to give him.

Seeing that his brother had received his threat, Klaus turned his attention back to Marcel. "Marcellus," he called, waving Marcel over with a wag of a finger.

Marcel knew exactly what Klaus intended to do. He was going to compel him to tell him the truth but Marcel felt that was unnecessary. He knew Klaus wasn't going to trust him with important things anymore but this was something that he could take his word on.

"C'mon, Klaus," said Marcel a bit annoyed. "You know I wouldn't put Josh back in the middle of something like this. I'm telling you the truth. All we did was party."

Furious at Marcel's disobedience, Klaus sped across to him, gripping his son's jaw in his hand as he forced him to look him in the eyes. "Tell me what you did tonight," Klaus compelled him.

"I had a few drinks" Marcel answered honestly. "And I danced with some familiar locals and drank from the vein of some unfamiliar tourists."

Klaus released Marcel from his compulsion but he continued to squeeze his cheeks in his hand. "How did you get away with feeding on tourists if you didn't use your compulsion?"

Marcel went silent. In his drunken stupor, he'd forgotten about his order to not use compulsion. Since he was no longer under Klaus's compulsion he considered lying, telling Klaus that Josh or one of the others had compelled his victims for him but he knew that's what Klaus was waiting for. He wanted to catch him in a lie to prove to himself that his son couldn't be trusted.

"Just as I thought," Klaus said reading the look of guilt on Marcel's face as he released his face.

"I forgot," Marcel admitted. "I was drinking...I wasn't thinking."

"Go to your room," Klaus growled. "And stay there until I say otherwise. I'll have a servant bring you your meals."

"Wait...are you grounding me to my room," Marcel boomed.

"Call it what you will just as long as you do as I say."

"Klaus, that's not fair! I made one little mistake."

"Then maybe next time you'll learn to think before you drink," Klaus yelled back. "Now get out of my sight before I decide 'grounding' you is not a strong enough punishment."

Marcel wanted to argue more but he knew Klaus and he knew that with the mood he was in now, he wouldn't listen to a word he said.

As Marcel sped out of the courtyard, Kol lingered behind. "Well," he muttered. "I'd just like to state for the record that I had no idea he was compelling anyone tonight."

"Of course not," Klaus growled. "Everything's always about a good time with you. Marcel could've been secretly making more vampires tonight but you were too soused to notice."

"B-but he wasn't. H-he would've told you if he did while he was under your compulsion."

"I know that! The point is that he could have. And you, my useless little brother, were too focused on having fun to notice it if he had. Perhaps I made a mistake sparing you from punishment earlier." Klaus stepped closer to Kol and froze in his spot. His eyes shot to Elijah standing quietly at the entrance of the courtyard watching everything. "Elijah can't help you know," Klaus growled, noting the pleading look in Kol's eyes.

He sped over to Kol and grabbed him by the arm. Kol immediately tried to pull out of Klaus's grip but the Hybrid was too strong for him. Tears breeched his eyes as he thought about the pain Klaus's Hybrid strength would bring to his tender behind.

"Calm down," Klaus demanded, giving Kol a small shake. As Kol stopped fighting against his brother's strength, his tears began to fall.

Seeing Kol in tears reminded Klaus of his own tears from his nightmare. Then he thought about the look of fear that was in Kol's eyes earlier that day when he was begging Klaus to spare him from the dagger. It made Klaus sick to his stomach to think that he had the same effect on Kol as Mikael had on him.

Releasing Kol, Klaus said, "Get out of my sight. And if I ever see you with another drink in your hand, I'll make you wish that the daggers was still an option for you."

Kol wasn't sure what that meant but he wasn't going to stick around long enough to ask. He sped out of the courtyard, leaving Klaus and Elijah alone.

As soon as Kol was out of his sight, Klaus lost the fight against his stomach to keep his dinner down. Elijah hurried to his brother's side as Klaus threw up. He was a bit repulsed by Klaus using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his mouth but he didn't complain since he didn't have a handkerchief handy to give him.

"Are you okay," asked Elijah.

Klaus nodded. "That little con-artist manages to cheat his way out of anything even when he's not trying."

-M-

Marcel walked into his room fuming but at seeing the sleeping figure of Rebekah lying in his bed, his anger slowly dissipated.

He tried to take his clothes off quietly but she woke at the sound of his belt buckle hitting the floor. "Sorry," he muttered as her eyes fluttered open. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Where have you been," she asked, not believing her eyes. After the day Klaus put her through she thought she wasn't going to see Marcel again for a very long time. "Klaus has gone mad, swearing that you and Kol are plotting against him and trying to start an army of vampires. He had the wolves scouring the city for you. I've been out all day trying to find you before they did. Then I got this text from Kol saying that he had to ground Hope and I knew he must've been back home and I hoped that meant you were too but when I got here neither of you was here. I've been waiting for you to text or call or do something to let me know you were alright. You couldn't have been bothered to pick up a phone?"

Marcel suddenly felt an overwhelming guilt about going out with Josh and Kol that night and forgetting to even text Rebekah to let her know where he was.

He leaned over the bed and placed a firm kiss on her soft lips. "I'm sorry," he said as he broke the kiss. "It'll never happen again."

"Where have you been?" she insisted, worry still gracing her tense eyebrows. "Have you worked things out with Klaus already?"

"Don't worry," Marcel calmly said as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his broad, bare chest. "I talked to Klaus. Everything's alright now."

"Are you sure?"

Marcel slipped under the covers beside her, pressing her lovingly against his chest. "I'm sure," he promised. "I am exhausted. Can we please talk about this tomorrow?"

"Fine," Rebekah agreed, resting her head against Marcel's smooth pecs. "But tomorrow I want the whole story."

"Alright," he chuckled at her persistence.

Rebekah cuddled closer to Marcel, her arms wrapped securely around his waist to keep him close to her so that he couldn't sneak off again and enjoying his robust scent as it lulled her back off to sleep.