So someone commented on the last chapter that witches can't be compelled. I totally forgot. I've only seen the VD once all the way through (oops) so I sometimes forget a lot of the facts they've laid out. Since I don't feel like rewriting the last chapter, what's say we all just ignore that part lol and from now on witches (and non-Hybrid werewolves apparently) will not be compelled.


Chapter 46

Flashback:

The day after being brought to the Mikaelson household, Marcel wandered aimlessly around the Compound searching desperately for his purpose. He watched the servants wash their clothes and scrub the floors but when he picked up a brush to help them, he was scolded by Elijah Mikaelson and given a book in its place. His fingers trembled as he held the book, his eyebrows knitted nervously at the top of his head, afraid it was a trick. He knew boys like him were not supposed to know how to read and there were terrible consequences for the ones who did. He remembered an older boy that stayed in the shack near him had somehow learned to spell his name. 'Todd,' he would say out proudly to the other boys. 'T. O. D. D. Todd.' The very next day he was dragged from his home by the overseers, beaten in front of everyone, and sold off never to be seen again.

Marcel stared wearily up at Elijah. He seemed like a very stern man. He always had perfect posture, always well-groomed, and always very serious.

"I-I can't read, suh," he muttered, hoping he'd given the right answer.

"It's never too late to learn," Elijah replied rapping on the cover of the book with the tips of his fingers. "William Shakespeare. These are his best works so they will be entertaining as well as educational. Come along."

Marcel stood baffled as Elijah started off towards the library. "You gonna teach me tuh read? B-but I ain't 'posed tuh...I-I can't."

Elijah could see the disbelief written across the boy's face. He turned back to him and said, "Not with that attitude. One must make it up in their mind that they can do something before they try and trying becomes a lot easier."

Marcel shook his head vehemently, "N-no. I ain't 'posed tuh." Marcel looked wistfully down at the book in his hands. "Boys like me...we ain't 'posed tuh."

Suddenly understanding the boy's trepidation, Elijah said, "Marcellus, do you understand why we pay our servants, and I mean ALL of our servants, a decent wage for their hard work?"

Marcel glanced out the window and watched as two of the Mikaelson servants worked: a man, skin no fairer than Elijah, hammered nails into a broken fence, drenched in sweat from the hot sun, and a woman the same color as he scrubbed the dirt from one of Niklaus's dress shirts against a washboard in a tub of some of the most bubbly water Marcel had ever seen. They both stopped what they were doing when a young girl came outside carrying a pitcher of tea and several glasses filled to the brim with ice. They spoke and laughed with each other in a congenial way that Marcel had never seen before.

"Marcellus," Elijah called, grabbing the boy's attention again. Then, without waiting for Marcel to remember the question he asked, Elijah said, "It's because we do not believe a person's worth is determined by anything other than how hard they are willing to work to achieve their goals. Not by arbitrary physical characteristics. The world that you came from, Marcellus, is no longer the world you live in."

Marcel's face scrunched with confusion and Elijah couldn't help the small laugh that escaped.

"Has Niklaus told you what he is," he asked, deciding to explain things to the boy another way.

Marcel thought back to the day before. Klaus had just finished adding fresh dressing on his scars when he decided if Marcel was to live with them and be surrounded by their supernatural allies, he should know the truth sooner than later. He sat the boy down in his room and told him the story of the Original Witch. Marcel was very familiar with witchcraft. He always heard a lot of slaves whispering about the witches in the bayou. Klaus then explained to him about the Original Vampires, being sure to emphasize how none of them would ever hurt him despite what he might see them do to other people but MArcel wasn't afraid. He was fascinated with the concept of powerful, immortal beings that could do whatever they wanted. It was the idea of werewolves that terrified the boy. A man that turns into a beast in the full moon and wildly ravages nearby villages, killing without control. It was enough to keep him awake all night. Niklaus held off on telling the boy about Hybrids, afraid that Marcel would then begin to fear him like he did the werewolves in his story.

"Yessuh," Marcel answered. "He told me 'bout'cha family 'n 'bout the witches 'n...the werewolves."

"You needn't be afraid, Marcellus," Elijah said noting the tremble in the boy's voice as he spoke of the wolves. "We have a community here. We believe everyone should be free and treated fairly. Your expectations as a Mikaelson will always be the same, Marcellus. Simply do your best in everything that you do, and we will always be proud of you."

"P-proud," Marcel repeated. "Of me?"

Elijah walked closer to the boy and knelt in front of him. "Yes, Marcellus," he put his hand gently atop the boy's shoulder. "Niklaus wants you to be more than his ward. If you would have him, he'd like to adopt you. Do you know what that means?"

Marcel shook his head 'no'.

"It means he wants to be your father."

"M-me? But...I'm just a slave."

"You are not a slave, Marcellus. Not anymore and never again. Niklaus has rescued you from that life. You can be whatever you want now. But," Elijah brought his hand down to the cover of the book and said, "First things first."

Marcel went on with Elijah to the library but his mind was focused on Niklaus. Why would he want him as his son? The Governor didn't even want him, why would a complete stranger?

Later that day he found Niklaus coming out of his private studio.

"Marcellus," Klaus greeted with a cheerful smile that inadvertently brought a warm smile to Marcel's face as well. In the short time that they'd known each other, Klaus never failed to make Marcel feel at home in his presence. "Elijah's told me you spent the morning learning the Alphabet. Said you did quite well for your first time. Did you have fun?"

"Yessuh," Marcel modded enthusiastically. People didn't normally ask him if he'd had fun doing anything. Especially if it was supposed to be work. But he'd actually had fun learning to read. He wanted to know everything that was in every book in the Mikaelson library and he wasn't going to stop learning until he did.

"Mr. Mikaelson, suh,"

Klaus cringed at hearing the boy speak so formally to him. It was only yesterday that he'd taken Marcel from the Governor's plantation for the last time so he didn't expect him to start calling him father right away, but still, to be called 'Mr. Mikaelson' was a step in the wrong direction.

"Please, call me Klaus."

Nervous about calling the man by his first name, Marcel stammered, "K-Klaus, can I as' you somethin'?"

"Of course," Niklaus answered walking calmly over to the quiet-spoken boy. "You can always ask me anything, Marcellus."

Marcel hung his head at hearing the name 'Marcellus'. Ever since Klaus told him the meaning of the name, the boy felt undeserving. 'Little Warrior'. The name implied that he was strong. That he was a fighter. Which he was. Sometimes. But most of the time the whip won out. It was only when he was frustrated or truly afraid that he gained the courage to fight back. He feared if Niklaus knew that, he wouldn't feel so inclined to call him 'Marcellus' anymore.

"Mr. Elijah said you wanna...be my fath'a," he mumbled. "Is...is that true?"

"It is," Klaus answered with a shimmer in his eyes. "But you don't' have to start calling me father right away. Just...whenever you feel the time is right."

Staring down at the freshly polished floor. "B-but...why? Why do you...wanna be my fath'a"

"Why do I want to adopt you?" Klaus asked with a smile, sure that the answer should have been as obvious to the boy as it was to him.

As Marcel continued to stare at the floor, Klaus knelt down so he could look the boy in the eyes as they spoke. Marcel looked up in surprise. No one had ever knelt to speak to him before.

"Well, one reason is that I don't believe a boy should be all alone in this world. We all need a family, Marcellus, and I want to be that for you. But, also because...the other day, when I saw you throw that apple at the man whipping you, you reminded me of the boy I wish I were when I was your age."

Marcel stared at Klaus in confusion and the man continued to explain.

"When I was a boy, there was a man...my father...he used to beat me much in the same way...but I never had the courage to fight back. I took everything he did to me, giving back only tears and shame. You, Marcellus, are much braver than I have ever been. And you deserve a family that can truly appreciate your bravery."

"But...," Marcel hung his head in shame. "I...I don't always fight back. S-sometimes I..."

Marcel's eyes welled with tears as he remembered all the nights he went to his shack alone, body covered in bloody welts from a lost battle with the whip.

"I'm s-sorry," Marcel rubbed his eyes with tight fists, hoping to force his tears away but they wouldn't stop falling. He hated himself for crying. If Klaus thought he was strong before, surely he knew different now. "I-I don't mean to cry. I-I'll stop, I swear."

Without warning, Niklaus pulled the boy into a hug and squeezed him. Marcel was taken aback at the sudden bout of affection. He hadn't been hugged in a long time. After his mother died, if any of the slaves tried to show him affection, the Governor would have them punished. Eventually, they started avoiding the boy like a bad omen. The feeling of being hugged for the first time in years brought a heavy stream of tears to Marcel's cheeks. He wrapped his arms around Niklaus he hugged him as if he was afraid it'd be his last.

"It's alright," Klaus whispered in the sobbing child's ear. "You've been so strong for so long. You don't have to be anymore. You can cry, and smile, and show your fear and laughter, and I will be right here protecting you from all the monsters. You don't have to carry the weight of your own safety anymore, Marcellus. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. I'll always be here for you. Always and forever."

End Flashback

Hope sat nervously at the dinner table across from her mother. Hayley hadn't said a word to her about the night before since she'd been home but Hope was certain she knew. She overheard her yelling at her dad and Uncle Elijah in the study on her way to the kitchen and just knew that they had to have been talking about her but no one said anything when they came to dinner which only made her more anxious. Soon Rebekah and Kol entered the dining room and drew the others out of their silence. Hope felt a wave of relief at seeing her mother laughing as Rebekah joked about the sweltering New Orleans weather.

Everything was fine until Freya entered with Finn following at her heels. They paused at the doorway, uneased by the glare of all the Mikaelsons focused on them. No glare more insidious than Kol's.

"What is he doing here," Kol growled, staring daggers down at Finn.

"Don't worry, little brother," Freya stated firmly. She kept her vindictive little brother in her peripheral vision as she moved to the table and started piling food on to a plate for her and Finn. Finn didn't move from his spot by the door. With the way Kol and Niklaus were glaring at him, he feared going anywhere near the table, especially anywhere near Hope, would not end well for him. "We only came down for food. We can tell when we're not wanted."

"It's not you that we're excluding from the table," Klaus corrected.

"We're not excluding anyone from the table," said Elijah. Klaus stared in surprise as Elijah stood up and motioned for Finn to come sit at the table beside Rebekah, a mere one seat down from Hope. "Sit," Elijah insisted. "We're having roast duck. If I remember correctly, it was a favorite of yours."

Finn looked to Freya, unsure if Elijah was trying to bait him into a trap, but his sister's calm eyes urged him to trust their brother. Freya was willing to accept Elijah's peaceful gesture and she knew that if Elijah opened the doors to peace, it wouldn't be long before the others followed.

As Finn took his seat beside Rebekah, Kol slammed his hands down on the table. He refused to sit across from the brother that hexed him, but as soon as he stood up, Elijah ordered, "Sit down."

"I am not eating with him," Kol bit. "He killed me, Elijah."

"Everyone in this family has done something they regret to another," Elijah said, subtly reminding him of the torture he put Marcel through and his own misgiving against Marcel on the bridge all those years ago. "Family is nothing if not forgiving. Especially to those who atone for their actions."

The shrewd lilt in Elijah's voice caused Finn to glance over to him. Elijah nodded, encouraging him to speak.

Staring down at his place, Finn said, "I'm sorry, Kol for...hexing you. I know it doesn't mean much to hear me apologize with the way you suffered but..." He looked up to Freya and remembered all the years he spent alone and how much it hurt and how just having Freya around made that pain go away. "I don't want to be without my family anymore. You can be angry with me for as long as you'd like but...I promise I'm not going to hurt you again."

Kol cut his eyes down at Finn, still not sure if he could believe his once evil brother could be truly sincere, but then he glanced down the table at Niklaus. Remembering how Niklaus could forgive him for what he'd done to Marcel and how Marcel had forgiven Elijah for killing him twelve years ago, Kol sat back down with a huff, deciding to give his least favorite brother one last chance.

Hope couldn't help but be intrigued by the Uncle she never knew, an Uncle only ever spoken of derisively by everyone in her family except for Freya. As a child, he didn't look nearly as intimidating as the man she and Sebastian met the night before and seeing him so quickly submit to her other Uncles made Hope confident enough to want to confront him again.

As soon as they were both done eating, Freya and Finn excused themselves from the table. Assuming this was her chance to talk to Finn, Hope decided she was done as well.

"May I be excused," she asked, already standing up.

"No you may not," Hayley answered without missing a beat. "You're going to help Elijah clear the table."

"But mom-"

"You heard your mother," said Klaus, voice just as no-nonsense as Hayley's. Pointing at her seat with his dinner knife, he ordered, "Sit."

Hope flopped down back in her seat, her arms folded tightly over her chest. A little part of her wished Marcel was there to take up for her but after that morning she wasn't sure if he wouldn't be on her parents' side as well.

A part of Klaus stung after being so harsh to his daughter but the lecture he and Elijah got from Hayley before dinner still rung in his head. They shouldn't have let the girl go an entire day without being punished. That was one of the reasons she still thought she could get away with her misbehaviors.

As dinner came to an end, Hope helped Elijah clear the table but she worked as slowly as possible. Elijah's side of the table was cleared and he was currently loading the dishes into the dishwasher when he came back to the dining room to see Hope still slowly staking plates on top of each other.

"Moving slowly will only prolong your punishment, young lady," he scolded. "Your parents are vampires. They have all night."

Hope pushed her lip out, crocodile tears making their way to the corners of her eyes. "I-I was just trying to help."

Elijah walked over to Hope, taking the plates from her hand and setting them on the table. Lifting the girl's chin so she was looking into his eyes, he said, "You help by staying put. This family will do anything to keep you safe but we can't do that if we don't know where you are." He brought his thumb up to her cheeks and brushed her tears away. "Go to your room. I'll finish up down here."

"N-no," Hope picked up a stack of plates. She knew what was waiting for her and her room and she wasn't ready for it yet. "I'm not done."

"Yes," Elijah calmly removed the plates from her hands again. "You are. Go on. The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can move on."

Her head hung low, Hope moved slowly through the Compound to her room. She wasn't surprised to see her parents standing in the middle of the room in quiet conversation, presumably talking about her. Real tears pricked her eyes at the sight of the brush in her mother's hand.

"Hope," Hayley nodded at her. "Shut the door."

Hope walked quickly away from the door leaving it wide open, hoping to buy more time before she faced the gallows. "No, mom, please not the brush," she begged.

"You risked your life," Hayley growled. "Again. I am sick of it, Hope."

"I-I'm sorry. Everyone seemed so scared of that Mikael guy. I-I thought I could help."

Klaus quickly came to Hayley's side. "Your family is stronger than any other being on Earth. The Mikaelson have survived against Mikael and every other threat against this family for a thousand years. The day we will need you to step up and risk your life to protect yourself is when the rest of us are dead and that will never happen. Do I make myself clear?"

Tears flooded Hope's cheeks. It was harder to be scolded by Klaus than by her mother. Her mother has scolded her for fourteen years. Klaus rarely raised his voice to her, let alone scolded her.

Klaus felt his heart tear in two at the sight of Hope bawling at his words. He had never been so harsh with Marcel at her age. In fact, the boy couldn't even shed a tear without finding himself in the comfort of his father's arms.

Before he could break and swaddle Hope, in a tight hug, Hayley took the girl by the arm and pulled her over to the bed. "Close the door, Klaus," she ordered.

Klaus forced himself to drown out the sounds of Hope's pleas as he closed the door.

Standing Hope between her legs, Hayley said, "Remember the night you left the Compound during the wolf invasion?" Hope's tears were too turbulent for her to answer verbally but by the intensity of her crying, Hayley knew she remembered. "We promised the next time you did something that dangerous, we would both punish you again. And that is exactly what you're going to get, young lady."

"Nooo, please," she wailed, dancing from foot to foot. Turning to Klaus, she pleaded, "Daddddy,"

Klaus turned to Hayley for direction, remembering the conversation they'd had just before Hope entered the room. Klaus wasn't sure if he could go through watching his daughter suffer like she did that night during the wolf invasion but Hayley assured him he could. It wasn't easy for her to watch Hope in pain either, she was her little girl after all, but she knew it was something they had to do. She instructed him to turn his face to stone, no matter how much the crying bothered him. Hope was a clever girl and if she sensed weakness, she would attack it until they bent to her will.

Following Hayley's lead, Klaus forced all emotion from his face and said, "You were warned, little wolf. You brought this upon yourself."

Hayley laid Hope over her lap, being sure lock the girl's legs between hers before Hope could begin her bout of wild kicking to break free. As strong as Klaus pretended to be, he couldn't bear to watch Hayley punish Hope knowing that he would have to do the same a few short minutes later. He turned his back and walked towards the window, staring down at the Quarter lights shining beneath them as Hayley yanked Hope's jeans down her thighs and began raining down smacks to the curve of the girl's bottom, peppering every inch with the hellish brush.

"I'm sorry," Hope cried, pushing desperately against her mother's legs trying to break free, but the Hybrid had her locked securely in place. The sting that once ached her bottom was now a red-hot fire. "Mommy! Please! Daddddy!"

Hayley's heart sank at hearing Hope call for Klaus for protection. She lifted her from her lap and tried to stand her up again but Hope wanted nothing more than to be held. She fell limply on her mother's shoulder, sobbing as she rubbed the pain from her behind.

Hayley couldn't help but fall victim to her daughter's tears. She held Hope in her arms until her crying quieted into choked sobs. As soon as Hope's tears began to quiet, she felt her father's hands around her waist lifting her from her mother's lap.

Before she could register what Klaus was doing, she was face down over his lap. Klaus didn't trust his resolve to see Hope's face and hear him begging. Klaus lifted his knee to get a clear view of Hope's balming red bottom as he took the brush from Hayley. Hope was back in heartwrenching tears before Klaus could land the first lick. "Daddy, nooo! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

Klaus landed methodical licks across Hope's entire behind, covering it in a new layer of bright red blotches. She kicked her feet against the floor but Klaus had her legs in the vice grip of his thighs. Hope couldn't find the strength to plead for a quick ending anymore. She simply grabbed Klaus's pant leg and sobbed against his leg. Seeing the fight wain from his daughter, Klaus brought her pain to an end.

He sat her up in his lap and held her crying against his chest. "Alright, sweetheart. It's over."

Hitching back sobs, Hope blubbered, "I'm sorry. I-I j-just wanted to help."

"I know, sweetie, I know."

Hayley stood and held her arms out to Klaus, motioning for him to pass her the tearful girl. Hope slumped into her mother's arm, grateful for her cuddling embrace. Klaus pulled back the blankets and Hayley tucked the girl into the satin sheets.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Hayley whispered placing a kiss on her soft cheek.

"G'night, mommy," Hope mumbled, eyes heavy and ready to finally fall asleep after shedding her weight in tears.

Klaus and Hayley snuck quietly out of Hope's room, closing the door softly behind them.

"That never gets any easier," Klaus grumbled.

Hayley let out a heavy sigh, struggling to keep her own composure. "I know. When she started calling for you over my lap...I swear, I almost started crying myself."

Klaus smirked. "I could tell. And you say I'm the soft one."

Hayley smacked Klaus's shoulder. "I want to be angry but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made it through that so, thanks."

With a sly smirk, Klaus held his hand out to Hayley. She stared dubiously at it.

"What's that for?"

Klaus chuckled lightly and said, "Our relationship may have started on rocky grounds and ended with a soft blow of a hot flame but...it gave us a beautiful, if not headstrong, little girl. And despite all of our past disparities, we are now partners in raising her. So, I offer you a deal. So long as I believe you have Hope's best interests at heart, which I hope will be for all eternity, I will listen to your request and share the responsibility of raising our stubborn little wolf, 50-50."

Hayley smiled. Klaus rarely proposed an idea she agreed so wholeheartedly with. Taking his hand in a firm grip, they shook.

-M-

Rebekah crept silently into Kol's bedroom, giving her big brother a fright as he came out of the adjoining bathroom with his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Wha' 're yuh do'win," Kol barked attempting to keep the mouthful of toothpaste from falling from his lips.

Rebekah turned her nose at her brother's poor manners. "Disgusting. Spit."

Angry at being bossed around by his little sister, Kol quickly spat his toothpaste out in the bathroom sink and came stomping back into the bedroom. "You can't just come into my room making demands! Need I remind you, I'm your big brother."

"Well," Rebekah shined a beguiling smile at him. "Big brother. What if I told you, I'm about to make the past dreadful twenty-four hours a whole lot better for you."

Kol scoffed. "I doubt it. Unless Davina's about to walk through that door right now, nothing's going to make today any better."

Rebekah looked down at her phone, scrolling through her last few text messages to Marcel. "Well...not 'right now' but..."

"What," Kol exclaimed. "What do you mean? Is she on her way?"

Rebekah's smile grew. She knew that would cheer him up and she was sure the rest of her news would send him over the moon. "Later. Marcel's waiting for Klaus to go to sleep first and then he's going to sneak her in."

Kol fought the urge to dance with joy. "I always did love that Marcel."

"You haven't heard the best bit yet," Rebekah continued.

She stayed silent for a moment longer, letting Kol stew in his eagerness. She sat on the edge of Kol's bed, neatly brushing down the frilly end of her nightgown, completely ignoring her jittery brother standing above her.

"Well," he bit, growing impatient.

Then, with a gleeful laugh, Rebekah announced, "Marcel's going to let her move into the Compound."

Kol's heart went aflutter. He'd become so excited he thought he might faint. But in the same instant, he felt his joy come crashing down as he thought about how Klaus would react to the news.

Rebekah was confused by Kol's sudden drop in excitement.

"It'll never work," he stated, flopping down on the bed beside her. "Klaus would never allow it."

"Not right now anyway," Rebekah agreed as if the plan still made sense to her. "Hence why we are sneaking her in tonight. But Marcel is sure he can convince him."

Kol shook his head, frustration growing at what he perceived to his sister's naivety. "Even if it were possible to convince Klaus to let Davina move in here - which I assure you, it's not - there's no way he would agree to it right now. Not right after he's forbidden me from seeing her for a week."

"I think you've suffered enough," she growled. Rebekah felt anger boiling her blood as she thought about the state Kol was in when she and Elijah interrupted Klaus that morning. She knew she shouldn't blame Klaus since he wasn't completely under his own control but she almost couldn't help herself.

Kol still couldn't believe it. "I'm not Marcel," he mumbled. "Klaus doesn't just...coddle me when I'm feeling upset and relent to my demands."

"Stop it." Rebekah jumped to her feet. She grabbed Kol's shoulders and forced him to face her. "Klaus loves you. I know he doesn't always show it the right way but-"

"I know he loves me," Kol rolled his eyes. "I don't need everyone constantly reminding me of that. It's not his love that I doubt. It's the extent to which he loves me." Kol suddenly jerked away from Rebekah. "He would do anything for you, his baby sister, his precious Rebekah. You, Elijah...Marcel. He would sacrifice it all for you. But...most of the time, I doubt our brother would even go the extra mile for me."

"You're wrong," Rebekah placed her hands around Kol's soft cheeks, holding his face like their mother used to. "Niklaus loves you, brother. He would do anything for you. He's just...so damn stubborn. Always waiting for the other to break."

Kol chuckled. "Stubbornness. Truly the Mikaelson curse."

"It is," Rebekah smiled. "Eventually, one of you will have to relent."

Kol stared away from his sister, watching the shadows dancing against his windows at the passing car lights. Rebekah was always cursing him for being so stubborn and self-reliant. But that had always been his way of protecting himself. It was how he protected himself against Mikael. While Rebekah was leaning on Klaus and Klaus leaned on Elijah, Kol always felt he had to fend for himself. No one looked out for him like he did.

But now he wondered if he was wrong all along. He looked into his sister's eyes and saw a glimmer of sorrow, true sorrow for her brother's lost innocence. He began to wonder if he had simply fallen to his siblings for protection when they were children, would he feel the sense of belonging they all seemed to cherish now.

Pulling out of his sister's hold, he said, "Y-you should go. I need to shower and change if we're to fool Klaus like it's just another night."

Rebekah watched as Kol walked slowly towards his bathroom, shoulders slump.

"Hey," she murmured. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Kol put on the brightest fake smile he could muster and turned back to her, "Of course I am, love. I'm about to spend the night with the girl of my dreams and pull one over on my big brother. Two of my favorite things."

Rebekah smiled but she knew when her brother was actually feeling mischievous and when he was feigning it for the sake of normalcy. Still, in order to help him save face, she left and went back to her room, waiting patiently for the sound of Klaus's gently snoring in the next room so she could text Marcel to come home.


I feel like y'all hate me for this SUPER late chapter *awkward laugh emoji* Please don't

I promise, the next chapter will be up in the next two weeks.