Chapter 13

The right thing

"Niklaus," Elijah said firmly. "A word."

Klaus was heading to the kitchen; he stopped and turned to look at Elijah.

"What is it?"

Elijah crossed his arms and looked at his brother harshly.

"I think you know. What are you doing with the girl?"

Klaus frowned.

"What am I doing? I'm helping her."

"Really? And why is that?"

"She needs some help and she won't get it from our brother. I thought you would be pleased one of us is trying to do the right thing."

"The right thing?"

Klaus smiled.

"Yes. I promised to look after her and the child."

"How very kind of you," Elijah snorted.

"Yes, I think so too…"

"Alright, enough. What do you want from that girl?"

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Come on, brother, isn't it obvious?"

Elijah stared at his brother disbelievingly.

"You can't possibly mean taking advantage of a damaged young woman."

"Of course not," Klaus snorted. "I have no intention to force her into anything. I want to help her and if she would choose to repay my help… Well, that's completely her choice."

"What… Since when have you wanted a child?"

"Since I heard about the possibility," Klaus replied sternly. "Don't try to tell me that the thought never crossed your mind."

It would have been a lie to say that Elijah would have never hoped for children, but definitely not with someone like Brie.

"Niklaus, the girl has been taken advantage of more than enough, you can't possibly believe…"

"She needs a protector, we both know that. I can offer her and her child a safe home. She can even call me daddy if she wants to."

Elijah's eyes narrowed.

"Niklaus…"

"I was kidding! Honestly, brother, where's your sense of humor?"

"Forgive me for not finding this amusing."

Klaus sighed.

"Look, I'm not a monster. Well, not that kind of monster. As I said, I'm not going to force her into anything, but I don't deny hoping that she would decide to give me a son or a daughter. Is that really so wrong?"

"It is with her."

"Why? I'm not going to mistreat her in any way, on the contrary. I will be kind to her and make sure she'll have everything she needs. Does that make me a monster?"

Elijah pressed his lips together.

"Niklaus…"

"After she gives me a child, if that is what she decides, you can ask her to do the same for you. I know how much you have always wanted to be a father and now you finally have a chance. Just think about it, brother and consider all the facts before making any judgments. That girl has been treated nothing but badly her whole life, doesn't she deserve something better? Doesn't she deserve to feel safe and protected? You and I can give that to her."

"She's not some kind of a baby factory…"

"No, of course not. How many times do I have to tell you, the choice is completely hers. However, she is already carrying our niece or nephew, so I believe it is our responsibility to look after her. I doubt that Kol is planning to do that."

Elijah didn't think so either, although he hoped that he was wrong.

"What exactly are you suggesting then?" Elijah asked sharply.

Klaus smiled.

"I'm not suggesting anything. The girl will stay with me and I will keep her safe."

"Really? Have you asked her opinion?"

"I have and she wants to stay with me. Ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

"Yes, I think I will ask her," Elijah stated coolly and headed to Klaus' room. He opened the door, but there was no one in the room.

"Brie?"

She wasn't in the bathroom either. Where was she?

"Please let me go, I'm sorry about everything…"

"Calm down," Kol cut in as calmly as he could. "As I said, I'm not going to hurt you."

He was carrying the shaking girl towards his car, clearly she didn't believe him. He had asked Freya to lift the spell that kept Brie in the compound; he needed to speak to her in private. They had many things to settle. Obviously this wasn't the best way to make her less afraid of him, but he didn't have much choice unless he wanted to fight with Nik. It hadn't been difficult to guess what Nik wanted from Brie and Freya had confirmed Kol's suspicions. Nik wanted to use Brie as a breeding mare. No. Kol wasn't going to let that happen.

"Don't be afraid," he murmured. "You're safe, okay?"

She didn't say anything as he lifted her into the car. He bit his bottom lip while starting the car and driving away from the compound.

"Look," he sighed after a moment of silence. "I know I've acted like a jerk and you have no reason to trust me, but I ask you to hear me out."

"Okay," she murmured cautiously.

"Okay… Good. First of all, I'm sorry about what happened in your room. I had no right to scare you like that."

Her eyes widened, she stared at him disbelievingly.

"It's okay, I'm sure it was my fault…"

"No," Kol huffed. "It wasn't your fault; you don't deserve to be treated like that. Not by me, not by your father, not by anyone."

She didn't say anything, she looked confused. Kol sighed; this wasn't going to be easy. The girl had been abused and brainwashed her whole life, it would take time to convince her that he wasn't going to hurt her. Sure it would have been easy to control and manipulate her when she was like this, but that wasn't what he wanted. He was going to find a way to give her some confidence. She was carrying his child and for once in his life was going to do the right thing.