How's staying indoors going for you guys? :)


Warning: Implied abuse.

Chapter 59

Flashback:

Klaus sat beneath the shade of a great willow tree, a book in his hand. He glanced up from his book for a moment to watch Marcel dive into the deepest end of the lake, Kol floating on his back below. He fought the urge to caution his son against such dangerous acts. Marcellus was getting older, almost nineteen years old, and Klaus knew each word of caution from him or Elijah seemed to the boy to be more from an act of control than concern. So he was sure to simply be there in case his son ever needed him.

As he returned to his book, Marcel swam to the edge of the lake.

"Where are you going," Kol asked, splashing behind his friend.

Marcel pulled himself on to the bank with a laugh. He looked up to the sky, holding his hand above his head to block his eyes from the beaming sun beating down on his bare shoulders.

"Just need a little break. I don't have an endless supply of energy like you."

Kol splashed water onto the bank and Marcel just barely jumped out of the way of it. "Not yet," the young vampire said just loud enough for Marcel to hear. Marcel smiled back at him.

Marcel walked over to Niklaus and sat beside his father in the grass. Klaus looked up from his book for only a moment to give Marcel a slight nod before returning to his reading.

Marcel wrapped his arms around his knees as he watched his friend continue to swim laps across the lake.

"Tuckered out?" Niklaus asked. "After only three hours."

Marcel sighed. "The curse of mortality. Limited stamina. Although...if I were a-"

"Do not," Klaus immediately cut Marcel off before he could ask the question he'd asked nearly every day for the past year. "Ask me to turn you again. Not right now. Not while we're having such a peaceful afternoon."

Marcel groaned.

Klaus placed his hand softly around the back of Marcel's neck, massaging his spine with his thumb until Marcel relaxed. With a slight tug, Marcel allowed Klaus to guide his head down to his lap.

"I'm not a kid anymore," Marcel said staring up at the blue sky peeking through the rustling leaves above, Klaus hand firmly massaging his temple. "I know the consequences of your ailment and I'm ready for them. I-"

Klaus's hand suddenly stilled on top of his head. "I said enough, Marcellus. I said that I would turn you when I think the time is right, when I think you're mature enough, not a second sooner. Your impatience only serves to prove how immature you still are. Now, do not ask me again!"

Marcel flipped over to his side, facing away from his father's irritable mug to the lake.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," Klaus sighed, brushing his hand through Marcel's wet hair as he continued reading. "I apologize. It's only that...I am enjoying the moment, the warmth of your cheek against my hand, the life in your eyes...the thought of you being dead, even as a vampire...is unimaginable to me."

"You promised," Marcel mumbled. "You never break a promise. Not to me."

"And I don't intend to break that one." Klaus nestled his fingers deeper into Marcel's thick hair, caressing his scalp with the tips of his fingers. "You have trusted me for this long, Marcellus. Trust me now."

Marcel wanted to pout but he soft touch of his father's hand massaging his scalp mixed with his physical exhaustion sealed his mouth shut and his eyes weren't far behind.

"Go to sleep," Klaus urged. "I'll wake you when I finish this chapter and we'll go see what Uncle Elijah has cooked up for us."

Kol peered at Marcel and Klaus from the lake. He didn't know why he was jealous of the way Klaus coddled Marcel but he was. He swam to the bank, climbing out of the lake and pausing just long enough to take in the sight with growing jealousy.

Klaus felt Kol's gaze burning into him and looked up from his book. "Can I help you, brother?"

Kol crossed his arms over his bare abdomen, nervously rubbing his hand against his elbow, embarrassed at getting caught. "Uh...just wanted to see if Marcel wanted to have a little race."

Klaus looked down to see Marcel's eyes shut, his breath even as he slept. "Not now," he answered for his sleeping son. "I think he's done for the day."

"Well...how 'bout you, big brother?" Kol smiled as he remembered the last time he and Klaus had a swimming race. They were still human back then. "Been a while since we had a good race. I don't recall which of us was fastest. Bet it's me."

Klaus shook his head and returned to his book. "Not right now, Kol. I'm hoping to finish this book in this century if possible."

For a split second, Kol lost his smile, but only for a second.

"Yeah," he said with a fake laugh. "What's the point anyway. It's...childish. I'll just...go into town and see if I can find a couple of ill-fated bloaks or lucky lasses to keep me entertained."

As Kol passed him on his way to the Compound, Klaus said, "Do not do anything to draw attention to yourself, little brother."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Gah, you're so boring now! What happened to the fun Nik we all knew and loved?"

"I don't have the privilege of being a mindless beast that entertained you so much. Now I have someone to protect." Klaus looked up from his book, lacing Kol with a cold stare. "And if you do anything to put his life in danger, the dagger will be the least of your worries."

"Yeah," Kol groaned as he started walking again. "Whatever."

End Flashback

Elijah opened the bedroom door to find Izzy sleeping soundly in Oliver's bed, her little brother snoozing on her arm. He smiled at the sight. Vincent worked the girl to exhaustion, forcing her to exert her magic until she could barely stand. He had to carry her back to the Compound.

Elijah drifted across the room to the bed, gently nudging Izzy's shoulder until she woke.

"Hello," he smiled down at her as she groggily wiped her eyes. "I hear your training went well?"

Izzy sighed as she thought back to her time at the sanctuary. "Your friend is very strict. He wouldn't let me stop until I got every spell right and perfectly in time. Asshole."

Elijah chuckled. "Yes, well, if I thought he'd be easy on you, I never would've suggested he be your teacher."

Izzy cut her eyes up at him. "So you knew he'd be an asshole? Guess that makes you a bigger one."

"You should watch that attitude. It could go from endearing to disrespectful rather quickly."

Izzy folded her arms over her chest, pouting at Elijah's comment.

"Come now, it's time for dinner."

Izzy's exhaust lifted at the prospect of food. "Fine," she groaned.

Oliver woke to his sister's gentle shake. "Hungry, Ollie?"

The boy nodded, stretching his arm out for her to pick him up.

Elijah tutted them both, lifting Oliver from the bed and setting him down on his feet. "You're a big boy, Oliver. You can walk on your own."

Tears brimmed Oliver's tired eyes.

"I always pick him up when he wants me to," said Izzy.

Elijah stared down at Oliver, moved by the boy's big watery eyes. He picked Oliver up and placed him on his hip.

"You spoil him," he halfheartedly scolded Izzy as he walked towards the door.

Izzy smirked at the sight. "I can carry him, y'know."

"No, no. I've got him. You've got to regain your strength. Your studies with Vincent start again tomorrow after breakfast."

Izzy followed Elijah groggily to the dining room. "How long do I have to train with him?"

"Until he says your training is over."

"And how long will that be?"

Elijah cut his eyes back at the girl. "I'm no witch, but I assume the answer is...however long it takes."

Izzy pouted, irritated by Elijah's glib answers.

Oliver tapped his hand against Elijah's cheek, drawing his attention from Izzy. "What's for din-din?"

Elijah smiled. "Well...how do you feel about gumbo?"

"Is there Oak'a?"

Elijah looked down to Izzy, hoping she could translate her brother's question.

"He doesn't eat okra," said Izzy.

Elijah thought about the gumbo recipe in his cookbook Hayley followed. He was sure there was okra in it.

"Hmm," he started. "Tell you what, you eat one bowl of gumbo and I'll let you have all the strawberries you want after."

Oliver was silent for a moment as he contemplated Elijah's proposal. "I eat...one spoon of gumbo and I eat all the st'awberries I want."

Elijah chuckled at the boy's offer. "A full bowl."

"But...I don't wanna."

Elijah's eyes narrowed. "It's not up for debate, Oliver. Sometimes children have to do what's best for them even if they don't want to do it."

Oliver whined, stretching his arms back out for Izzy. Elijah passed the boy over to the girl without another word.

As soon as they walked into the dining room, Oliver spotted Marcel sitting at the table talking to Hope and Sebastian. He lept out of Izzy's arms and bound over to Marcel's lap.

"Whoa," Marcel chuckled as he lifted the boy in the air before his knees could collide with his stomach.

"I missed you!" The boy snuggled close to Marcel's neck.

"We just saw each other before your nap," Marcel laughed, hugging Oliver back. "You didn't have time to miss me."

"Hmm-umm, Elijah's being mean. He won't let me eat st'awberries."

"You're more than welcome to have all the strawberries you can eat," said Elijah, taking his spot at the head of the table. "Provided you eat at least one bowl of gumbo."

Oliver flopped down on Marcel's lap, his arms folded tightly over his chest. He made eye contact with Elijah and firmly said. "I don't wanna have Oak'a."

Izzy took her seat beside Hope, saying, "He's not going to eat it. He hates Okra. You should just give him the strawberries. It's better than nothing, right?"

Elijah scratched his finger across his eyebrow as he glared down at the boy. He refused to lose in a battle of will to a toddler.

"Okra?" Marcel rolled his shirt sleeve up to show off his mighty bicep. Oliver stared in awe, Marcel's arm was bigger than his entire body. "Y'see this body? This is the body Okra made."

"R-really?" Oliver stammered.

"Yep. Okra and other veggies. Elijah here, when I was a boy, he made me eat all kinds of veggies I hated but the more I ate, the stronger I got until one day...I was as strong as ol' Iron-ass himself."

Oliver's eyes lit up at the thought of being as strong as Marcel. He looked to Elijah, a serious look on his little face, and said, "Okay...I eat three oak'as and all the st'awberries."

Elijah smirked. "One bowl."

Oliver's pout only grew at the man's unbending compromise. "Meanie."

In the corner of his eyes, Oliver spotted Rebekah and Davina entering the compound through the courtyard carrying half a dozen shopping bags between them. He scooted from Marcel's lap and ran to Rebekah.

"Bekah! Bekah! Elijah's being a meanie."

Rebekah scooped the boy into her arms, balancing with ease amongst her many packages.

"Oh, is he now," she said as if she expected as much as she sauntered back to the dining room with Davina at her side. "Tell me, what did my mean older brother do?"

"He wanna make me eat oak'a but I don't wanna."

"Well...that sounds downright despicable of him."

"Dish-big-able," Oliver repeated with certainty and Rebekah couldn't help but laugh at the boy's proud mispronunciation.

"Tell ya what." She knelt down, sitting Oliver back on the floor as she dug into one of her bags and pulls out a white bottle. "I got this especially for you."

He grabbed the cool bottle, rolling it back in forth in his hand as if he could read the words written on it but the printed cartoon animals dancing around it certainly caught his attention. "What's this?"

"It's a magical growth serum. If you drink it, you'll grow into the biggest, strongest boy ever."

"Really?" He quickly turned back to Marcel and said, "But you said eating veggies is how a get big and st'ong."

"Well, that's just one of the ways," Rebekah continued, drawing Oliver's attention back to her. "Actually, it's the best way. Eating your fruits and veggies makes you bigger and stronger quicker than anything. But...whenever you don't want to eat your veggies, you can drink one of these and it will give you all the powers that veggies do. That's what makes it magic."

"What's it taste like?"

"Well, this one tastes like vanilla. But if you don't like that, I have one that tastes like chocolate and one that taste like strawberries."

"St'awberries," the boy shouted.

With a broad smile, Rebekah took the vanilla shake from his hand and replaced it with a strawberry flavored one.

Oliver clutched the bottle in his hands and marched back over to Elijah. Holding the bottle out to him, he said, "I drink this...and I don't eat any oak'a and I get more st'awberries. Real st'awberries, not drink st'awberries."

With a sigh, Elijah took the bottle from the boy and began reading the nutritional information. The shake provided 1/3 of a toddler's complete daily nutrition. He looked up to see his sister smiling proudly at him.

"Well, little sister," he smirked. "Seems you're finally maturing."

Rebekah snarled back at him. "I've been mature, big brother. You're just finally discovering that fact for yourself."

"So it seems I am." Elijah handed the bottle back to Oliver and said, "If you drink this, and I mean every last bit of it, and you won't have to eat the gumbo. Although I think you will be missing out on a very delicious meal."

When Kol entered the dining room, Rebekah shoved her bags into his hands. "Just the Mikaelson I was looking for. Get rid of those for me, would'ja. I am exhausted."

"You have a bottomless reserve of stamina," Kol growled.

"Mentally exhausted." She corrected. "Most presently by this conversation so, off with you," she fanned her hand at him, shooing him away as she sashayed into the dining room.

"Rebekah," Elijah sang. "Kol is not your errand boy. You can put your own shopping away."

Rebekah slid onto Marcel's lap, giving him a light peck on the lips before turning her irritation to Elijah. "Oh, c'mon Elijah. I already had to play single mother and do all of the shopping on my own since you had Marcel tied up with...whatever you lot were talking about. The least our atrocious brother can do is put away the children's things."

Davina wrapped her are around Kol's and guided him begrudgingly out of the dining room, excited to show him the things she bought just for the two of them while Rebekah was distracted elsewhere during their shopping trip.

"You...you bought us stuff?" Izzy peeped.

Rebekah's face lit with just as much joy. "Of course I did, love. You two are going to need things to live, aren't you? I got you a new laptop for school in the fall, your basic toiletries, and I got little Oliver a whole mess of new clothes which was quite fun shopping for if I might add." Rebekah leaned over to Oliver sitting on the other side of Marcel and said, "You are going to be the most dapper four-year-old this side of the Mississippi. And for you, Miss Izzy," she looked back to the teen with a smile. "I didn't quite know how you styled your wardrobe so I thought we could just take you out with the black card tomorrow and go on a little shopping spree. I owe my niece one anyway. It's been a while since we've gone out and tried to max out Marcellus's cards."

"Try all you want," Marcel said with a smile. "I keep telling you there's no limit."

"A shopping spree, Rebekah?" Elijah arched his eyebrow. "Izzy just started her studies with Vincent. We shouldn't tear her away so soon."

"Come now, big brother. Surely she can have a little fun for a few hours."

Izzy looked to Elijah with pleading eyes. She'd never been on a shopping spree before and she certainly didn't want to miss out on one but she also didn't want to anger Elijah.

With a sigh, Elijah said, "Just for a few hours in the morning. Have her back at Vincent's at 11."

"11," Rebekah groaned. "2."

"11."

"1:30."

"Sister."

"Come on, Elijah. Eleven gives us barely two hours. That's like...one store every fifteen minutes."

As the two Originals locked eyes an a seemingly endless stare down, Izzy prayed Rebekah would win.

"Fine." Elijah finally said. "2. But Izzy, I expect you to put in a lot of work the rest of the week to make up for this."

"Yes sir," the girl quickly agreed.

Sebastian bounced on the edge of his seat. "A limitless shopping spree. Please, please, please tell me I'm invited."

Rebekah nodded. "Of course. Who else can I trust to be brutally honest with me when I foolishly fall victim to the alluring veil of last season's couture. Provided you promise to help keep my niece out of trouble, you're more than welcome."

Sebastian locked his pink in with Hope and held their hands up so everyone could see. "I swear," he sang.

Marcel shifted Rebekah on his lap so that she was facing him. "Did you get my message?"

She kissed his nose. "I did. You are now the proud guardian of one gorgeous teenage witch and her adorably stubborn little brother."

Izzy couldn't help but overhear from across the table. "Wh-what? You mean...you actually did it? You really became our guardian? I know you're like...an ancient vampire but...you look only a few years older than me. They really let you be a foster parent."

"Well, according to current records," Rebekah turned back to Izzy. "Marcel is going on seventy now. But I did have to do a bit of compelling since he wasn't there to sign any of the documents and a bit more to have everything pushed through ASAP. It was a very tiring day," Rebekah let out a long exaggerated sigh as she turned her attention to Elijah. "Thanks to someone, I had to do it all alone."

"So independent," Marcel said, kissing Rebekah's cheek in hopes of calming her down. "I'm lucky to have a beautiful young woman like you taking care of a seventy old man like me."

"Be sure to update your records as soon as possible," Elijah interrupted. "No one in this household looks remotely seventy. It could cause problems down the line and it is such a hassle to hunt down and...compel people who figure out our secrets."

Marcel rolled his eyes, snarling, "That's going to be hard to do...all things considered."

Elijah smirked, remembering Marcel and Kol's punishment. "First thing Monday morning then."

Marcel's heated glare softened as he felt a slight tug on his shirt sleeve. He looked down to see Oliver staring back at him with big brown eyes.

"What's a 'gar-bian'?" The boy asked.

With a slight chuckle, Rebekah climbed off Marcel's lap. She lifted the boy from the chair and took his spot, sitting him back down on her lap as the other Mikaelsons made their way into the dining room taking up the last of the seats leaving no other seat for the boy beside's Rebekah's lap.

Finn paused as he and Freya entered the dining room last. His hands tightened around the book in his hand as he watched the chairs all fill, leaving only two behind. They were together but they were between Niklaus and Sebastian. After what Sebastian did to him in the study, Finn didn't want to be anywhere near him, but he couldn't help but wonder if sitting next to Klaus would be worse. His stomach churned with worry. He was hoping to sit through dinner quietly reading so he wouldn't have to interact with anyone and get himself worked up but now it seemed he would be forced into an interaction one way or the other.

Freya smiled calmingly down at him, taking his hand and guiding him over to the table. Finn sat next to Klaus deciding his brother's hate would be the lesser of two evils.

"A guardian," Marcel explained to Oliver once everyone was seated. "Is...the person that's in charge of taking care of someone else. Like we are now in charge of taking care of you and your sister."

"So...you're my new Daddy?" The excitement in Oliver's eyes brought a smile to Marcel's face. Oliver looked up to Rebekah and said, "And you're my new Mommy?"

"For now," Izzy blurted, putting an abrupt end to Oliver's joy. "As soon as I find us a place of our own-"

"You're not going anywhere before you turn eighteen," Elijah stated firmly. "And even then, you will have to make a decent wage, enough to provide for you both comfortably, before you're allowed to move out. Unless...you decide to go to college. Then we will continue to provide for you both until such time as your education is complete."

Izzy looked around the table at the other Mikaelsons who all seemed to be in silent agreement with Elijah's sentiment.

"Why...do you care so much?" she asked. "We're not your responsibility."

Marcel shook his head. "The moment you showed up to Hope's balcony...the way you did the other night, you became our responsibility."

Izzy's eyes dropped to the tablecloth fighting back tears. She took a deep breath, controlling her emotions, and said, "Thank you. I promise...we won't cause any problems."

As everyone began serving themselves to the different foods on the table, Oliver looked on with growing envy. In addition to the shrimp gumbo, who's delicious smell seemed to call him from the ceramic bowl at the center of the table, there was also steaming hot cornbread and dirty rice. His mouth watered at the aroma wafting under his nose from Rebekah's plate.

As he watched her scoop up a forkful of rice, he became so distracted that he nearly dropped his smoothie. Marcel caught it just as it slipped from his hand.

Izzy shot a stern glare across the table at her little brother, silently warning him to watch what he was doing.

"Whoa," Marcel held the bottle up in front of Oliver, waiting for him to grab it. "Do you still want this?"

Oliver looked down the table at Elijah. Elijah simply smiled at the boy. He knew his resolve would break as soon as he smelled the food.

Looking up to Rebekah, Oliver said, "Can I have just a little spoonful? No oak'a."

Rebekah shined a smile back down to him as she grabbed her spoon and dipped it into the gumbo, adding a bit of celery and chicken in with the broth before bringing the spoon up to Oliver's lips.

She was just about to tell him to blow on it when Oliver clasped his mouth around the hot spoon, immediately spitting the scathing content out on the floor just barely missing Rebekah's lap.

"OLIVER," Izzy shot up from her seat. "What do you think you're doing? You know you're not supposed to spit!"

Oliver flushed with shame. "'M sorry."

"It's alright, no need to get worked up," Marcel said, grabbing a napkin and cleaning the food off the floor as a servant hurried to his side to dispose of the napkin. "See," he looked back to Izzy. "No harm, no foul."

"Besides," Rebekah pulled Oliver back against her chest in an apologetic hug, "It was my fault. I should've warned you that it was hot sooner. Do you want to try another spoonful? I'll blow on it to cool it down for you first if you'd like."

Oliver shook his head 'no' and reached back out to the smoothie bottle in Marcel's hand. He was done with gumbo for now.

As Izzy sat back down, she couldn't help but notice the condemning look Elijah laced her with. She sunk down deeper into her seat attempting to hide from his eternal gaze.

A text notification from Sebastian's wrist drew his attention to the text notification on his watch.

"No phones at the dinner table, Sebastian," Elijah warned.

"I know, I know, just one sec." the boy said quickly unlocking his phone to see the text he'd been hoping for.

Elijah's intense glare brought an awkward smile to the boy's face as he slid his hand over his watch, turning it off.

"Sorry. That was my dad. He said it's okay if I stayed the night...if it was okay with you guys." He turned his big smile to Rebekah. "Then you won't have to wake so early to get me. I'll already be here."

Rebekah laughed at the boy's cleverness. "You know I love you kid, but I'm not the one you need to convince."

Sebastian turned to Hayley and Elijah on one end of the table Hope turned to Niklaus at the other end, and with big pleading eyes, they begged in unison, "Please, please, please!"

"Fine," Niklaus immediately gave in. "He can stay." With a heavy sigh, he muttered, "If we don't watch it, Elijah, these children are going to outnumber us one day."

A beep from her watch drew Hope's attention to a new message. "It's Tanya," she whispered to Sebastian, showing him the message on her wrist. "She wants to know which mall we're going to tomorrow."

Before Sebastian could think of a response, Hayley bit, "Hope, turn that thing off before I take it from you."

With a heavy groan, Hope turned off her watch without responding to her friend. Then, looking down the table at Finn, she said, "How come he gets to read but I can't text my friends?"

Finn tensed, his hand frozen midway through turning a page as Hope brought Elijah and Niklaus's attention to him.

"Finn has his own rules," Elijah said promptly. "You needn't worry yourself about him."

"But that's not fair."

"Do you really want to have a conversation about what's fair?" Hayley cut her eyes at the girl across the table and Hope's anger washed away, her face turning red with shame. Her eyes pleaded with her mother not to do or say anything in front of Izzy to indicate that she still gets spankings.

"N-no ma'am," Hope muttered before Hayley could say anything.

"Good, now eat your dinner."

"Yes, ma'am." Hope was more than happy to stuff her face with the delicious food at that moment.

"All done!" Oliver screamed as he slapped his empty shake bottle on the table. "More st'awberries."

"What do we say," Rebekah tutted.

In a long-winded breath, Oliver sang, 'Pleeeeeeeeeeaase!"

With a laugh, Marcel disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a bowl of strawberries. Oliver danced on Rebekah's knee as he ate the juicy berries, unmindful of the mess he was making as he did so.

"That boy eats like he was raised by a pack of wolves," Elijah growled to Hayley.

"Don't you remember how messy you were when you were his age?"

"Thankfully, I've blocked out all of those memories."

As dinner came to an end, Izzy hurried out of the dining room, eager to get away from everyone after embarrassing herself. She left Oliver with Rebekah and Marcel, sure that they could handle getting him ready for bed.

No sooner than when she closed her bedroom door did she hear a knock on it.

"C-come in," she said hesitantly.

The door glided open to reveal Elijah on the other side.

"Are you okay," he asked coming further into the room.

She stared off at the wall away from him as she nodded.

"Are you positive? You seemed a bit...agitated during dinner."

"I-I'm sorry. I just...thought you all would be a lot more upset about Oliver's mess. I...I overreacted."

Elijah smiled.

"Just a bit. But you're new to this. Give yourself, as my niece would say, 'a break'. My siblings and I are far from perfect but when it comes to children, we have a sort of...unspoken yet readily understood rule: Children are allotted as much patience and understanding as possible. Yelling at him will not help Oliver learn the lesson you want him to learn. All it teaches him is that mistakes are met with anger. And he'll never learn from his mistakes if he is always afraid of making them."

"I'm sorry," she blushed, anxiously running her hand through her thick brown hair. "You're all are so much better at this than I am. I try so hard but...I give in to him when he has a tantrum, I yell at him when he messes up. I'm like...the worst big sister ever."

Elijah took steady steps over to Izzy as he said, "Niklaus has killed almost every lover our sister Rebekah has ever taken throughout history, he has even taken a few from myself. Our brother Finn hexed our brother Kol to death. So I would say, in comparison to the sins of the Originals, losing your temper once is easily forgivable. All any of us can do is strive every day to be better. Besides, you're just a girl forced into parenthood long before you were ready."

Elijah placed his hand on her shoulder, his gaze softening as he stared at her intense face.

"You can relax now. My family and I, we've had years of experience when it comes to raising children. We can take care of Oliver. For now, you just focus on being a teenager, staying out of trouble, and practicing your magic."

Izzy groaned and rolled her eyes as she remembered that she had to study with Vincent again after her shopping spree the next day.

"C'mon now," he said as she flopped despondently down in bed. "It can't be that bad."

"It's not," she admitted. "He can actually be kinda fun when he's not being so serious."

"Than what's the problem?"

Patting her stomach, she said, "When he focuses on something, it's all he focuses on. He wouldn't let me take a break today until I perfected one spell and it took damn-near all day. Even public schools give a lunch break."

Elijah gave a hearty chuckle. "I'll talk to him about it. I'll tell Rebekah to make sure you all get a nice lunch before she takes you back to the sanctuary tomorrow and from now on, I'll also start packing you a lunch to take with you."

Izzy suddenly sat up, her eyes wide. "A...a lunch?"

Elijah's eyes narrowed, unsure what part of it confused the girl. "Yes. Of course, I'll need you to write down preferred meals as I will be preparing them in advance before you wake each morning. Also a list of allergies. One for Oliver too, if you can."

"Will you put it in a brown bag?" She asked.

"Yes, well, we do have brown bags downstairs but if you'd like a traditional lunch pail, I could send a servant out first thing-"

"No, that's okay. I...I'll take the bag. And could you...write my name on it?"

Elijah cocked an eyebrow in confusion. He didn't understand why she would think Vincent would confuse her lunch for his own but he assumed she had her reasons. "If you wish."

Her smile widened across her cheeks as she fell back down into her soft, clean blanket.

Still a bit confused, Elijah wished her a goodnight and left the room.

As he started down the hall, Elijah spotted Hayley coming upstairs.

"Izzy doing alright?" she asked.

Elijah folded his arms over his chest, glancing back at the girl's closed door. "I'm not sure. I told her I'd make her a lunch for her training tomorrow and then she became...somewhat strange. She almost seemed thrilled by the knowledge that it would be in a paper bag and then she asked me to write her name on it. Why would she need her name on her lunch? Does she think Vincent makes himself bagged lunches in his own home?"

Hayley smiled at Elijah's cluelessness. "Paper sack lunches are sort of the ideal classic 'parental love' gesture. You didn't have any kids around you in the 20th century so it's probably something that just slipped under your radar but...she's probably excited because her absentee birth parents never bothered to make her one."

Elijah's eyes widened at the realization.

"If you really want to make her day..."

Hayley's voice trailed off as she spotted Hope and Sebastian ducking behind a wall in the courtyard. They didn't see her on the balcony because they were too busy focusing on Finn coming out of the dining room. Freya had already gone back to her workshop but Finn had forgotten his book and had to go back to retrieve it.

With a wave of his hand, Sebastian caused the ground beneath Finn so soften and turn into quick sinking mud. The more Finn struggled to get out of the mud the faster he sank. Hope lifted her hand and began mumbling a spell and suddenly an illusion formed right in front of Finn - a giant alligator big enough to swallow the boy whole.

Finn screamed out in horror.

Flashback:

Finn sat in a tree in the middle of the forest with his mother's grimoire, studying the spells she forbade him to see in secret when he spotted his two younger brothers running nearby.

Seeing him in the tree, Elijah screamed up, "Come play with us, Finn."

"I'm too big for such childish games," Finn yelled back.

"You're never any fun, Finn," Niklaus groaned. "I can't wait for Kol to get big enough to run with us so we can finally have a decent game."

"Perhaps we could convince another child to play with us," Elijah suggested.

Excited at the thought, Klaus started to run back towards the village when he suddenly tripped over a log. Or what he thought was a log.

He opened his eyes to see a giant alligator staring him in the face, it's mouth jutted open in anger at the boy falling over him. Elijah and Finn were both petrified at the sight.

Niklaus let out a high pitched scream as the gator slammed its mouth shut in a warning. He fell back on his hands and crawled as far away from the gator as he could get until his back was pressed against the tree.

The gator advanced towards him and his screaming grew louder. He shut his eyes as the monster stood in front of him, it's mouth again open, this time hoping to take a chunk out of his leg.

When suddenly he heard the sound of a blade cracking through bone and dirt.

Niklaus opened his eyes to see Mikael standing before him, he sword piercing through the alligator's mouth and pinning is shut into the ground. As he stared into his father's tight, angry eyes, he wasn't sure if he should have been grateful or afraid.

"You are cornered by an enemy, and your only thought is to scream, boy?" Mikael growled deeply.

"I-It was bigger than me."

Niklaus's lip trembled as he watched his father bend down and grab a broken branch from the forest floor.

"I'm sorry," he began to cry before the first lick even landed, holding his arms over his head to protect himself from any fatal blows.

Finn looked away, unable to watch as his father began beating the boy but he could not block out his screams or his father's harsh words.

End Flashback

Elijah flew from the balcony landing in the middle of the alligator causing Hope's illusion to vanquish. Then he reached out to Finn, grabbing his brother by both arms and pulling him out of the quick sinking mud before his waist had sunk in.

Elijah was shocked as Finn buried his face into his chest, his body still trembling in fear.

Finn's voice was soft and low as he said, "I-I'm sorry I screamed."

Finn's trembling didn't stop until Elijah wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him into a hug.

Hope and Sebastian jumped in fear as their view of Elijah and Finn was suddenly blocked by Hayley standing inches away from them.

"Both of you," she growled. "To your rooms. Now."


I also want to make it clear that Marcel isn't like a 17-year-old vampire (even though most of his flashbacks have him as 17). He was more like 19, close to 20, when he was turned. Rebekah though I think is canonically a teenager when she was turned so I always assumed she was like 17 or 18 and that's why she was able to go to Highschool in TVD and Klaus makes jokes about her like Highschool Jocks.

A/N: Big Shout out to the reviewer who pointed out my mistake (I made the gator a croc at first, I should know better, facepalm) but I fixed it. Also, I'm not sure how many gators live in Virginia (where Klaus's family live in America) but I took a creative leap and assumed a thousand years ago maybe gators made their way there before the settlers came lol. Maybe I leaped too far, idk. Hope everyone still enjoys the story (awkward laugh).