AN: I'll be taking aspects from Legacies and Season 5 of The Originals, but not sticking to the show - no Malivore, because that makes my head hurt. On saying that, I know Roman's backstory isn't right.

Caroline turned white, falling back into her chair. "Okay, explain."

"Apparently my mother turned up this morning and Hope had to go out and manually open the gate for her," Roman said. "No one saw her come back. I had no idea that … I hadn't realised that Hope was … who she is."

"And now you know," Caroline said quietly. "Sit down, take a breath and start from the beginning."

"Caroline …" Ric began.

"Ric, we went through all of this with Elena," Caroline said. "You know as well as I do that panicking is not going to find her any faster. Roman?"

Roman sat down. "My father became a vampire first. He turned my mother and my sister and me, because he was a controlling abusive asshole. Sorry …"

"Don't worry about it," Caroline said, far calmer than she felt. "Just … keep going."

"He decided he wanted to be the most powerful vampire on the planet," Roman said.

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "How did that go for him?"

"Klaus killed him," Roman said.

Caroline nodded. "That sounds about right. Should I be apologising?"

"No," Roman said. "He was awful. I couldn't care less. My mother and sister feel differently." He sighed. "When she suggested I come here, I thought maybe she was doing something for me for once - I never went to school. But now I wonder if she did it on purpose."

"How would she know it was Hope that would answer the gate? Ric asked.

"She probably didn't," Roman said. "She probably thought she could manipulate me into helping her and then took advantage of the situation when Hope answered. She probably had a witch with her, who messed with the gate mechanism so Hope had to go out."

"Okay," Caroline said. "This is speculation and that won't help us. Ric, canvas the school; see if anyone saw anything. Roman, I'm going to need you to come with me."

"Caroline, I have a duty of care …" Alaric began.

"I know; I'll keep him safe," Caroline said, gathering her things. "If she did intend on him being a plant, she'll be in contact, and that's our best bet of finding her. Come on."

Roman hurried after her. "I really didn't know."

"I believe you," Caroline said. "Ric's got a truth globe on the shelves in his office. You'll be okay."

The drive to the Quarter was quiet, Caroline tapping her fingers impatiently against the steering wheel.

"We'll get her back," Roman said quietly after a while.

Caroline managed a smile. "I know." She pulled in outside the compound. "Let me do the talking and stay behind me, okay?"

Roman nodded, following her inside.

"Nik!" Caroline called. "Don't overreact, but Hope's missing!"

The Mikaelsons were in front of her in a split-second, all of them clamouring for details.

"Wait," Klaus said, his voice deceptively calm, yet somehow cutting through the others. "Who's this and why is he here?"

"This is Roman," Caroline said. "He's going to help us find Hope. We think it's his mother that has her." She put a hand on his chest, urging him to stay his hand. "He had no idea. The truth globe in Ric's office proved that."

Klaus relaxed a little. "Explain."

"You killed my father," Roman said, his voice almost completely steady. Almost. "And, honestly, I owe you for that, because he was an abusive, controlling, manipulative monster. So I don't care that he's dead. It means he's not using me as a punching bag. But my mother and sister never agreed and they always swore revenge. They didn't tell me what they were planning - I would never have agreed to help."

His phone began to ring in his pocket.

"Is that her?" Caroline asked.

Roman checked it. "Yeah, that's her. What do you want me to do?"

"Answer it," Klaus answered. "Pretend you're at school still."

Roman nodded, stepping away from them to take the call. "I can't talk right now."

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?"

Roman sighed. "Look - there's a student missing; I'm supposed to be looking for her."

"You won't find her."

Roman paused. "What did you do?"

"You know who she is?"

Roman frowned. "Hope? Um, she's a witch?"

"She's Klaus Mikaelson's daughter, Roman."

"She is?" Roman asked. "Wait … What the hell? What are you doing?"

"We're going to avenge your father," his mother said with an audible smile

"This again?" Roman asked. "Mother, she's a sixteen-year-old girl, she didn't kill him!"

"Roman, you've always been weak-minded."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Yes, because feeling that we shouldn't target one person in retaliation for what someone else did is weak-minded. Look, just let her go. Please?"

"You like her, don't you?"

Roman swallowed, his eyes darting towards her parents. "She's a nice girl, Mother. She doesn't deserve to get dragged into this. Look, let her go, and I'll help you come up with something else, a way of getting him back in person."

"I've got a better idea," Greta said. "You join us, and I'll make it a quick death."

She hung up.

"You did really well," Caroline said kindly, despite the fury in her eyes. "I'm sorry we're going to kill the rest of your family."

"I'm not," Roman admitted, staring at his phone. "I've been fighting for their affection since I was born. I don't know why I bothered. Okay, I've got an address."

"Good," Davina said from the top of the stairs, "because she's cloaked."

Roman handed Caroline his phone. "Do you know where that is?"

"I do," Caroline said grimly, showing Klaus. "Stay here and …"

"No," Roman said. "I'm coming with you. They're expecting me after all."

Hope came around slowly, the muscles in her arms aching as though she had overworked them. A moment later, she realised why - her hands were chained above her head leaving her just a little too high off the ground.

She tugged on the shackles a little, but they didn't move.

"They won't break."

Hope focused on the woman in front of her. "Mrs Sienna. Sorry - that is your real name, right?"

"It is," she said. "But please call me Greta."

"My mother taught me better," Hope said. "Plus I prefer to not be on first-name terms with my kidnappers. I assume these aren't just anti-magic shackles?"

"Certainly not," Greta said. "They're enforced - plus we took the precaution of injecting you with wolfsbane."

"Ah, I thought I felt a little woozy," Hope said. "Alright, what do you want?"

"Revenge," Greta answered. "Your father murdered my husband."

"And you're responding by killing his daughter," Hope said. "Too scared to go after him in person?"

"Doesn't it bother you?" Greta asked. "Your father …"

"My father has a history," Hope said, her voice bored. "If I apologised to everyone he'd pissed off over the last millennium, I'd never stop talking. He'll find you, you know."

"I'm sure he will," Greta said. "But my witch has put a boundary spell around the area. No one can enter without an invitation from me. And the Mikaelsons would spoil the party. By the time they've broken the spell, you'll be dead and I'll be long gone. Mind you, Roman's clearly very fond of you. Maybe I'll let him have his fun with you before we kill you."

"Why do we have to wait for him?"

Hope's eyes snapped to a younger woman, who was lounging on a chair. When she saw she had Hope's attention, she smiled.

"I'm perfectly happy to take my revenge right now."

"Patience, Antoinette," Greta said fondly. "Roman has another few minutes to get here."

Hope strained to hear what was happening outside the dilapidated house. She thought she could hear her mother in the distance, but maybe that was just her imagination. Despite her bravado, none of the previous attempts (and there had been some) had never got this far, and she had never doubted that a member of her family was within striking difference.

"You must have thought you'd won the lottery when I answered the intercom," she said.

"It did make things far easier," Greta admitted. "My son can be a little soft."

"He doesn't strike me as the type," Hope said. "Unless by 'soft' you mean 'reluctant to murder innocents'."

Greta laughed. "Innocent? You have bloodlust running through your veins, young lady."

"Okay, not even my mother calls me that," Hope said. "Not to mention, I have never killed anyone, nor am I a vampire, so I think your bloodlust might be stronger than mine is."

Greta took a step towards her, but then the door creaked open and Roman stepped inside.

"Aright, I'm here," he said, his eyes flickering towards Hope. "Let her go. They know she's missing; they've figured out you've got her. You know they'll burn the world to find her - and you."

"And how do they know I've got her?" Greta asked.

"Maybe because there was someone right next to me when I answered the intercom," Hope said, "and you gave me your real name. Doesn't take a genius."

"Mother," Roman said, his voice low. "Just let her go. Please."

"Here's your choice," Greta said, handing him a knife. "Either you man up and kill her, do your duty to your family, or I'll let Antoinette do it. And you know how she enjoys playing with her food."

"Oh, please," Antoinette practically purred. "She looks delicious."

"No," Roman said hastily. "No, I'll do it."

Hope tugged on the chains again. "Roman, please …"

"I kind of figured you'd have dealt with it by the time I got here," Roman said. "You're supposed to be Super Witch."

"Super Witch can't do much with anti-magic shackles," Hope said, as he approached her. "Roman, please - this isn't a fair fight - please …"

"Oh, shut her up," Antoinette said, rolling her eyes. "She's starting to get annoying."

Roman rested the knife against Hope's clavicle, his free hand resting on the wall beside hers. "Damsel in distress doesn't suit you, Mikaelson."

Hope narrowed her eyes. "Well, it's not a role I excel in."

Roman smirked. "Let's fix that then."

In a split second, he had broken the chains around her wrists and she dropped to the floor, her magic flowing back into her. "I got this. Move."