So I would just like to say something that I've noticed. After saving Klaus from Marcel's torture, Elijah's become even more protective of him. He threatened Marcel, tried to make sure Klaus didn't fight the Hollow's minions, when he went to find a way to learn what the Hollow wants he tried to tag along, he had Freya cast a containment spell to keep him inside. And this was never addressed by anyone. So I decided to write about him dealing with this.

In this Klaus was able to sacrifice himself to the pendant to save Elijah.

Trigger warning for alcohol and abuse

"Elijah." Hayley whispered as she helped him upand hugged him. He quickly hugged her back before pulling away. "Where's Niklaus?" He asked. When she didn't answer, he knew something was wrong and noticed the broken pendant around Freya's neck. "No." He whispered before breaking into a run. "Elijah! Wait!" Hayley called after him.

He moved slowly at the sight of his baby brother on the ground. His skin had turned blue with lines running everywhere. This was the one thing he had tried to avoid; losing him again. They barely got him out of the dungeon, barely escaped Marcel who wanted him dead. Elijah slipped his hand underneath his neck and the other over his waist. He was struck with the memory of when they saved him. Klaus barely had enough energy to stay standing on his own and it took all of Elijah's energy not to lift him in his arms and speed away to another country. That was an instinct he's been fighting for years, since the first time their father laid a hand on Niklaus.

He slowly raised his brother up into a sitting position. "What happened?" He got no answer, that was something he couldn't handle. Right now his brother was suffering and he needed to put a stop to it, but he couldn't do that if he didn't know what the problem was. "Answer me!" He demanded. His tone was scary, one he rarely used, but one that they were all aware he had. It was a tone he used when someone, particularly Mikael, threatened Klaus. "If we put you in the pendant, it would've stopped the Hollow, but," Freya took a shaky breath before continuing. "You might not have survived the process. Klaus didn't want to take that risk, so he took your place."

"No." He protested. This could not be happening. He couldn't let this be true. "No! Wake him!" Niklaus had to wake up. He couldn't be asleep, not like this.

"I can't! Not now!" Freya argued. "He has to remain asleep until I fix his mind! And then I have to fix the pendant! His mind shattered with the pendant, if I bring him back now he won't survive."

She was right, and he didn't want that. He didn't want to lose his little brother permanently. But he also didn't want his little brother suffering. "Then what do we do?" He asked as he pushed back Klaus's hair. Freya gave a sad smile. She'd noticed over the past few months that Elijah had grown even more protective over their younger brother. He even had Freya cast a containment spell to keep him in the compound, and Marcel told he about Elijah threatening him after cleansing them of the Hollow. "I fix the pendant and save our baby brother. Then, we can wake him." She knelt in front of the two men. "First though, we get him home." He nodded and lifted Niklaus into his arms. His head hit his older brothers shoulder as they walked away from the Quarter.

Niklaus was neither heavy nor light in his big brothers arms. Somehow he managed to feel and not feel the burden of the cargo- very precious cargo at that- that was his baby brother.

He hadn't done this since they were young, when Mikael would beat Klaus so hard he would black out. On those days Elijah would carry him to his bed and tend to him. Niklaus would try to get out of bed and do his chores out of fear their father would hurt him more, and Elijah would promise to make sure he didn't. He'd rock him back and forth until he fell asleep.

However, those days were gone. These days it took everything in him to fight those instincts, for it was those instincts that lead to him being tortured for five years. He had been hit with visions of the dagger being shoved into Niklaus's chest, by the same man who had been manhandling him. He acted on those instincts and killed Marcel, and because of that he and his siblings were stuck in a sleep for five years, while Klaus acted as the anchor.

And for that, he blamed himself. Maybe if he hadn't been so impulsive, maybe if he kept his little brother under his watch, maybe, so many maybes.

While he regretted killing someone he cared about, and breaking the trust of the brother he adored and loved, he didn't regret protecting him. If anything, he'd do it all again if it meant keeping Klaus safe.

But once again, his brother had been hurt, because he wasn't under his watch. Because he'd been caught off guard. If he hadn't been, Klaus wouldn't be suffering right now.

All this ran through his head as him and Freya hurried towards the compound to place him in a coffin. A coffin that would keep him safe, a coffin that Elijah would never leave the side of if any of Klaus's enemies tried to take advantage of the situation and kill him.

"I know you can hear me, brother. So listen to me, and listen closely." Elijah spoke in a calm but stern voice, one he often used when it came to his brother as he placed him gently down in a coffin. "I will wake you up, I promise you. I hope you know how incredibly reckless of you this was. But you will return to us, I will make sure of it. The Hollow is gone, Hope is safe. And I will make sure you are too."

He brushed the back of his hand against Niklaus's cheek, hoping to feel some sort of pulse, any sign of life.

But there wasn't.

He didn't know what he was expecting. All he knew was that he felt disappointed, hurt, worried. He just wanted to hug his little brother and never let go.

Freya knocked on the the side of the door. "It's time." She whispered. "You ready?" All she got was a nod. Sighing, she continued to speak. "I need you to stay here and watch over me and Klaus, don't let anyone or anything near either of us." He nodded again in understanding.

She laid down in the circle and started to mutter a spell until all she saw was white.

When she opened her eyes she saw that she was in a long white corridor with little M's on the doors. She heard a soft whimper coming from one of the doors on the left. When she opened it, she was hit with a soft yellow hue and saw a blonde young boy, around eight years old, and a blonde girl around five years old.

The boy must be Klaus. She thought. That would make the girl, Rebekah.

"What's wrong Bex?" Klaus asked. "The storm's coming, storm's are scary." She whimpered. The young boy thought for a minute before getting up walking behind a tree. There, he dug out a small wooden box from the ground. He knelt in front of the trembling toddler. "Here, open it." He whispered. When she did, she saw a bunch of little carvings. "This one," he said in a soft, soothing tone. "Is a white knight, he'll keep you safe. Just as I will. Always and forever."

Freya was touched by the action, this was nothing like the Klaus she met. This one was openly loving, kind, but equally protective. However, she missed the brother she knew and loved. The oneshe would protect at anycost, like Elijah would.

"Klaus. It's me, Freya. I need you to listen to me." She whispered as she approached the two. "We're trying to bring you back but you need to look at me."

But he didn't react. He just took little Rebekah's hand and took her back to the hut. "Klaus!" She called. "Please, I'm your big sister, I'm trying to protect you!"

Still, she smiled and worried at the same time when he didn't even glance back. This Klaus was such a sweet little boy, what happened for him to change? Or at least hide that part of himself.

When she opened the next door she saw Klaus, around nine, cowering on the floor with a drunk Mikael towering over him. "You bastard! Why'd you have to go and mess up you weakling?!" He demanded. "Father!" A young Elijah appeared. "Leave him alone! He's a child." Elijah pushed himself between his little brother and father, determined to protect young Niklaus. "Why don't you go hunt for dinner?" He offered, anything to get him away from the young boy who had yet to learn how to hide his fear. After a few scary moments, Mikael relented and went to hunt, but not before sneering at Klaus. The second he was gone, Elijah knelt down and gathered his little brother into his arms, cradling the back of his head into his shoulder.

"What happened, little brother?" Elijah asked and Klaus pointed towards a broken plate on the floor. He sighed at the fact that their father would beat such a small child over a broken plate. "He can hate you over small things like this all he wants. But for me, you could burn our entire village to the ground, and I would still love you." Klaus nestled his head into his older brothers chest and sighed and Elijah stroked his hair.

Freya placed her hand on Klaus's shoulder before speaking. "Always and forever, brother. We will keep you safe, always and forever. But you need to look at me, you need to hear me. You need to come back to us."

He still didn't react, just continued to allow Elijah to rock him back and forth while muttering about always protecting him.

"Please little brother, I need you to hear me. Elijah will stop at nothing to protect you, as will I. But I need you to help me do so." She still got nothing. How was she to help him if she didn't understand him? She didn't understand how he got to be the way he is. At that thought, she remembered something Elijah told her. When he and Klaus had been stuck in Aya's Chambre de Chasse, Tristan asked how Aya saw him.

So if she needed to look for the core of Klaus, she needed to know how Klaus saw himself.

Yeah, when she was done with this, she and Klaus were gonna need some serious bonding.

Back at the compound, Elijah sat with seven year old Hope in his lap as he explained that her aunt Freya wasn't hurt, she was healing her father. "So, my dad's gonna be okay, right?" She asked and he nodded. "Me and your aunt Freya will stop at nothing to make sure he stays okay." There was a silent moment as the words sink into both of them. "Did you really take care of my daddy when he was a little boy?" She finally asked. "I did indeed. From the moment our mother told me she was pregnant I loved him. Your uncle Finn and grandfather were heartbroken over a death, very indifferent over the news that your father was to exist. I, on the other hand, vowed to alway protect and love him no matter what."

She remained silent as she thought and Elijah was struck by how much she looked like her father. She had her mother's chin and wavy hair, but the strawberry blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, the expression she held when she thought, that was all Niklaus.

"So, you looked after him, like daddy looked after my brother?" He was caught off guard by the comparison, but he couldn't very well deny it. Hope would know he was denying it, so he didn't say anything, she could tell what he meant by the silence.

Hayley leaned against the door as she watched the moment happening before her. She knew Elijah loved Klaus the way she loved Hope. She remembered him telling her the story of Klaus making a paintbrush out of wood. She knew very well that the moment had broken Elijah's spirit as much as it broke Klaus's skin. Every time she looked at Hope she was overwhelmed by love, which was how she knew Elijah was every time he looked at Klaus.

Freya continued down the hall until she heard the sound of laughter. A child's laughter, full of contentment and happiness. She hadn't realized that Klaus had one in his memories. So far his memories have been sadness and comfort, never pure happiness. She was scared at the thought that she was surprised, but overwhelmed with joy that Klaus had moments of happiness in his childhood. She knew Mikael was awful to him, something that haunted her every waking hour with worry and fear. The centuries she had not been there to protect her baby brother. The only solace she got was the knowledge that Elijah had been there to hold him and love him.

When she finally worked up the courage to open the door, she saw Kol, Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah having a chicken fight in a swimming pool. Finn stood with Esther on the sand, holding Henrik. She was surprised by the distance he held himself at. The brother she knew would have been overjoyed at the mere thought of playing with his little siblings. Elijah held Klaus on his shoulders while Kol held Rebekah. Freya noticed Klaus wasn't wearing his starling necklace and started to look around until she saw that Esther was holding it. She could imagine little Klaus saying in a kind and loving voice, "just in case it falls in the water. I don't want to lose it forever."

She watched and laughed as Klaus and Elijah worked together to push both Kol and Rebekah into the water.

A loving brother. She thought. He's a loving brother at the core.

"Nice job Niklaus!" She called. She gained no reaction, instead he laughed as Kol worked with Rebekah to pull both their big brothers into the water. "Careful my children!" She heard Esther call to them as Kol and Klaus got a little too excited. "Yes mother!" Elijah shouted back. "Klaus it's me! Freya!" Elijah slowly sneaked up behind Klaus, pressing his finger to his lips, a silent instruction for Kol and Rebekah to stay quiet. In a flash he grabbed Klaus by the waist and pulled him underneath the water. The rose to the surface laughing.

They were going to have to make the most of the day, after all, Mikael would return soon and such games and antics wouldn't be appreciated by him.

"We taunt each other and tease each other but at the end of the day we love each other!" She begged and begged for Klaus to look at her, to see her. She needed her little other, without him, she had no idea how to survive the Mikaelson family. "Please! You're a good brother! A good father! Which is how I know you'll listen! You won't leave us! I need you! Elijah needs you! Rebekah, Kol, Hayley, Hope! We all need you, so please, listen to my voice, hear me, see me, come back to me!" She was practically sobbing at this point. She was so broken, she wanted to save her brother so badly but this wasn't the right memory.

He didn't see himself as a good brother.

But he was a good brother. Deep down, he didn't want to be the monster Mikael turned him into. He just wanted to be understood, loved. He became this because he thought it would make at least one of his fathers love him. In doing so, he strayed from the creature his siblings loved, and once he saw that the love was gone, he never turned back, believing that once it was gone, it couldn't come back.

Klaus saw himself as a monster, and a paranoid little boy afraid of his supposed father.

That's when she got an idea and left the room.

Rebekah and Kol ran into the main room as fast as they could. "Is he awake yet?" Rebekah asked, and a bit of her heart broke when Elijah shook his head sadly. "Listen, I have to stay here and watch over them. Right now, their defenseless. You two and Hayley will go and find the white oak stake so that no harm can come to them while they're asleep." Seeing as there was no room for argument and they wanted to help their big brother and sister in anyway they could, they agreed and ran out of the compound with Hayley faster then should've been possible, but hey, they vampires and on an adrenaline rush.

Elijah leaned over the coffin and watched as Klaus tried to move. He couldn't tell if Freya was waking him up or if he was in pain. He hoped it was the former and not the latter. He knew he shouldn't have favorite siblings, but it was no secret that Klaus was the apple of his eye.

Freya remained outside the last door she had gone into with the door open. "Klaus! Listen to me!" She called. "I know you're afraid! I am too! I'm afraid of failing you! Of all our siblings! Of failing to be a big sister!" She took a shuddering deep breath. "I know you're afraid of being a big brother, of being a father! Of being alone! But you are not the monster Father thinks you are! You're a good father! A good brother! And no matter what, we do love you!" She stopped for a moment to hear for any sounds and let out a laugh of relief as she heard a door creak and a few footsteps. "That fear doesn't make you weak, Niklaus. It's what makes you strong. It's what is proof that no matter how many times this family has broken you're heart, and I know that's a lot, you've still remained a loving brother. You're kind, loving, brave, strong. All I ask, is that you come inside this door." She held out her hand and closed her eyes, praying that Klaus was in front of her. A smile crept on her face when she felt a warm hand close around hers. "Hey, little brother." She whispered. "Hello, sister." His deep voice caused her heart to leap. And she remembered the fear that she would never hear it again.

Slowly, they walked through the door. The memory of the family playing by the watering pool. And she watched as Klaus became the same little boy in the memory. "We all love you, no matter what Niklaus. Even if you burn the village to the ground, that love will never waver. Always, and forever.

She turned towards him and knelt down. "I'm going to fix the pendant and wake you. Until then, stay here, love, and be loved, my baby brother." She whispered as she ran a hand down his cheek.

Before she left, she paused at another door. There was one the sound of singing. The sound of their mother singing. Slowly opening it, she stepped inside. "You know, Niklaus. Elijah promised the moment he knew you to exist, to always love and protect you." She said as she lifted him up and spun him. "What do you think? Is he keeping that promise?" She asked as she tickled him. He nodded with a laugh.

Freya smiled, her brother couldn't be more then four in this memory.

Elijah walked down the stairs with a smile on his face. "There he is!" Esther fake gasped. "You must of summoned him Niklaus!" Klaus giggled and clapped. Elijah reached for his little brother and laughed as the child eagerly clung to him. "There you are brother! How on earth did you summon me?" Elijah asked in a voice he reserved for his baby brother. Klaus just shrugged with his hands up. Esther smiled at the sight of her sons together. Elijah has indeed kept his promise.

Freya wished more than anything she could've been there for these moments, to take care of Klaus when he was so young. She too would've promised such a thing. She would've loved her brothers with all her heart.

Freya gasped as she woke, stirring Elijah from whatever world he had drifted off to. "Can you wake him?" He asked right away and she nodded eagerly. "Until he wakes, he's safe and happy. I made sure of it." She said, and her heart leapt yet again at Elijah's smile. "Where did you find him?" He asked. "I didn't, he found me. I just made him see that he isn't a monster or weak and pathetic. He's loved and always will be our little brother." There was a silence that fell over them, but it wasn't awkward. It was peaceful. Elijah felt as if he was that four year old toddler watching over Niklaus when he was baby in his cradle again. "You know, I know the story Esther would tell. About you, swearing to love and take care of Klaus when she was pregnant with him, when Father and Finn didn't care for him." Freya finally spoke. "You did a good job."

"I failed him."

"You made him smile, laugh, you made him happy."

"But I couldn't keep him safe from Father's rage."

She stared at him, absolutely flabbergasted. "No one, could've done that. Clearly Klaus doesn't think you failed him, or else he wouldn't trust you to protect him."

"He shouldn't."

This time, the silence was awkward. You could cut the tension with a knife. "Is that why you're so protective of him right now?" He didn't answer, he just continued to stare at Niklaus's lifeless body. "He's going to be okay. We're all going to take care of him." She reached out and took both her brother's hands. "Five years. I spent five years, linked to his life line, helpless to protect him. The only comfort I had, was knowing that he was alive. But that did little, because right after,"

"You remembered he was Marcel's prisoner. I get it. I went through the same thing."

"Being the older sibling is hard."

"Really hard." She agreed. "What was hardest, was when we saved him. I should've been relieved but, instead I was even more worried. He was starved, beaten, and I couldn't do anything to save him." He whispered. "Let's wake him." She decided. "Let's." He gave her hand a firm squeeze before walking with her to the table. She started to chant the spell as she channeled him. All he could think was, please, wake brother.

Slowly, the lines on his body began to disappear until he woke and gasped for air. "Niklaus." Elijah gasped and the brother and sister rushed over to help him out if the coffin. Klaus staggered out of the coffin, leading to his brother holding him up. "Oh, you're okay." He whispered and tugged him into a hug, holding the back of his neck. Freya held both her little brothers in her arms. "That was a good idea Klaus, a scary as hell idea, but a good one." She whispered. Elijah held the back of Klaus's head in his palm before reluctantly releasing him. "Just never do that again." Elijah said, leaving no room for argument. Klaus nodded in agreement, looking like that little boy that needed protecting again.

Once again, none of Elijah's fear for his baby brothers safety left. If anything, he feared for it more.