A/N: This will be following parts of the show so you will see scenes from episodes if that bothers you or you find it redundant I apologize in advance.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Marcel announced his presence catching sight of the witch that came for her sister's body. "I gotta tell you Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight. Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson."
"We're putting her to rest Marcel. Leave us alone."
"I never said you could move the body. Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason: send a message." Marcel responded. "If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the Quarter and yet a little birdy informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious. Oh, yeah. While I have you, quick Q&A. My old friend – the hybrid, Klaus – he just happened to show up out of the blue asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne. Any idea why?" It would be nice if he had some information as to why Klaus was here that he could take back to Caroline.
"I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire business." Sophie stated.
"Hmm. That would be pretty stupid, that's for sure. Tell you what, go back to the restaurant, cook up some of that famous gumbo, and keep those tourists happy." He told her, he looked to his vampires. "Take the body."
"What? No!" Sophie protested. "Stop! Stop! Marcel!"
"I'm gonna hold on to your sister's body in case maybe you remember why Klaus is here."
"Marcel please." Sophie said an edge of desperation creeping into her voice. "Her body won't be at peace."
"Not my problem." Marcel dismissed, walking away with his vampires and Jane-Anne's body.
Klaus moved through the busy pub weaving his way in and out through the other patrons, finding his way to the kitchen where he saw the woman he was searching for.
The sooner he found what these witches wanted with him the sooner he could put all his focus on Caroline.
He watched as she stiffened sensing his presence before turning around and watching him with wary, cautious eyes, eyes that were red and puffy. "You're Klaus."
"I am. And you're upset. Sophie, isn't it?" He questioned which was expected seeing as her sister's throat was just sliced wide open like New Orleans main attraction. "I assume this is because of what I just witnessed with your sister on the corner of Royal and St. Ann."
"Did you enjoy the show?" Sophie retorted bitterly, angrily.
"It was a little melodramatic for my tastes. What did your sister want with me? Why did Marcel kill her?" He got to the point not much caring for her grief or loss.
"I see you brought friends." She said, not answering his question.
Klaus glanced behind him and saw two vampires had followed him inside. "They're not with me."
"They're with Marcel. That's all that matters." Sophie told him like that should have been obvious to him. "I know you built this town, but this is his town now. His and Caroline's. He killed my sister because she broke the rules. So, I talk to you in front of them, I'm next." She turned away, completely dismissing him and he glared, his features hardening, turning and walking right to the bar where the two men were seated.
"Are you two gentlemen following me?" He stood behind them, his hand coming down on each of their shoulders, clapping down hard.
"Marcel said we're your guides." The man grunted through the strong clasp of Klaus's grip on his shoulder.
"Oh, he did, did he? Well, then, let me be exceedingly clear about something." He tightened his grip on their shoulders and could practically hear their flinch of pain as they sucked in harsh breaths. "If either of you follow me again, you'll do so without the benefit of a spine."
"Sorry for the wait." A blonde waitress appeared behind the bar with a welcoming smile just as Klaus released his hold on the two men. "If you're here for the gumbo, I'm about to break your heart. We just ran out."
"Your oldest scotch for my two friends here, love." He slapped down a hundred dollar bill onto the bar before focusing back on the two men. "Marcel wants to know what I'm up to, he can ask me himself."
Klaus maneuvered his way through the crowds of vampires dancing in the ever familiar compound, his eyes scanning in search of his son.
"Where's Marcel?" He demanded of a vampire, Diego, who stepped in his path.
"Who the hell's asking?" The man responded, looking Klaus over with not the least bit of recognition.
"I assume you're joking." Klaus growled out, everyone knew who the hell he was.
"I only answer to Marcel." Diego replied. Okay that wasn't completely true he also answered to Caroline but everyone knew the two were a package deal with Marcel came Caroline and vice versa.
"Well, then, in that case, perhaps you'll answer to this." Klaus features hardened, his eyes like stone. "You're aware the bite of a werewolf can kill a vampire?" He flashed his hybrid eyes, his fangs dropping, his hand wrapping around his throat. "Well, as you can see, I'm half-werewolf, so I'm gonna ask you one more time!" He raised his voice shouting, demanding. "Where is Marcel?!"
Caroline had been dancing amongst the crowd, her body moving effortlessly to the beat, trying to forget all about a certain Mikaelson's return to New Orleans but then she could hear his voice shouting, looking for Marcel.
She let out a string of curses weaving her way through the crowd and saw him gripping Diego's throat, his face was change but it looked different than before and she realized with quick clarity that he had broken the curse that kept his werewolf side sealed away. The one he had been so intent on breaking.
She flashed in front of Diego, shoving Klaus harshly back making him lose his grasp on Diego's throat. "Keep your hands off him."
Klaus faltered at Caroline's sudden appearance, not expecting to see her again but he was starting to realize where Marcel was so was she. He pushed down the immediate urge to reach out to her and tried to focus back on his task. "Where's Marcel?"
"I don't know." Caroline ground out. That was a lie but she could care less, she didn't want him near her son.
Klaus face had returned to normal but his features still darkened. "Don't lie to me." He stepped forward towering over her. "Don't play these games with me right now, Caroline. I want to know where Marcel is."
Caroline crossed her over her chest, eyeing him with a look of condescension. "Always so demanding, Klaus. Things never change with you, do they?"
"No they don't." He shot back at her. "And you know what happens when I don't get what I want."
"Do I look like I care what you want anymore?" Caroline shot back uncrossing her arms and glaring at him heatedly. "You can't intimidate me into caring either." Klaus's expression darkened further as he grew frustrated.
Diego reached out, grasping Caroline's shoulder in concern. "Caroline, maybe you shouldn't-"
"I'm fine." She shook his hand off, dismissing his concern. "I can handle him."
"Why don't you stay out of this." Klaus snapped at him. "Go make yourself useful and get Marcel."
Diego made to step around Caroline to get in Klaus' face but Caroline put a hand out stopping him just as Marcel appeared. "H-hey. I'm right here. I'm right here. Easy, now. Diego's just looking out for me. Nobody harms my guys. Those are the rules." He looked between Caroline and Klaus. "How about the two of you try to be civil?"
Caroline scoffed, shooting them both a glare. Oh she would be civil with Klaus when hell froze over but not a moment before.
"I don't care about your rules, Marcel." Klaus snapped. "I don't need chaperones. Why are you having me followed?"
"Because I told him to."
Klaus eyes snapped to Caroline. "You what?"
"I don't trust you and as long as your in this city consider yourself under a microscope." Caroline eyes were cold.
"Really? This is what it's come to? 700 years together and you can't trust me?" Klaus demanded.
"600 years. Don't count the years you ran away from here." She snapped.
"Alright. Alright." Marcel stepped between them. "I think you both made your point. Let this fight go." He looked at Caroline. "For me."
Caroline stared back at her son, seeing in his eyes his silent question, asking her to let him handle this, to trust that he knew what he was doing.
"Okay." She relented, sending Klaus one more glare before turning to Diego. "Come along, Diego, let's get a drink." She tugged Diego along through the crowd.
"What the hell was that about?" Diego walked with her without complaint. "How do you know him?"
"We have history." Caroline muttered.
"Clearly." Diego said dryly. "But what kind of history?"
Caroline glanced at him briefly. "He's my husband."
Diego's eyes widened. "You're what?"
"It's a long story I rather forget." Caroline muttered.
Klaus watched as Caroline disappeared in the crowd with Marcel's guy and anger rose in his chest, needing to distract himself from Caroline, he focused on Marcel. "Why don't you show me what you've done with the place while you explain exactly what it is you've been up to in my town?"
"Follow me." Marcel led Klaus to a balcony that had a great view of the city. "Look at that skyline. That there, that's progress. More hotels, more tourists, more fresh blood. And the humans? I taught them to look the other way."
"And what of the witches? In my time, they were a force to be reckoned with, and now they live in fear. How do you know when they're using magic?"
Marcel paused there was a time when the witches were allies. Mainly because they had been loyal to Caroline, there was a history there before the witches ruined that alliance with their cold child blood sacrifices.
The witches had become their enemy but he was more than glad to know he held all the cards to keep them under control. "Maybe I got a secret weapon, an ace up my sleeve, something that gives me complete control over all the magic in this town." He said finally.
"Hmm. Is that a fact?" Klaus eyes narrowed, if that were the case he needed to get his hands on said secret weapon.
"Might be. Or maybe I'm just bluffing." Marcel smirked, placing a vervain petal in his mouth and chewing.
"You take vervain?" Klaus noted in surprise. And immediately wondered if Caroline took it.
"'Burns like a bitch. But I figure I should limit the number of things I'm vulnerable to." He watch the way Klaus clenched his jaw. "Don't be mad about that chaperone thing."
"You mean the one because Caroline doesn't trust me." He said lowly.
"No, she doesn't." Marcel didn't sugar coat it. "She believes you have an agenda." He eyed Klaus. "I'd like to think you're just here to have a good time. Catch up. But tell me something, is she right? Do you have an agenda for being here?"
Klaus was silent, he turned his gaze away from Marcel and back into the party his eyes zeroing in on Caroline, she stood with another vampire, making hand gestures with her hands as she talked. "Why I came here no longer matters."
Marcel followed his gaze and saw his mother speaking with Silvi, a gorgeous brunette that Caroline had turned in the 30's.
"The only thing that matters is why I'm staying." Klaus eyes never left her.
Marcel eyes narrowed, a feeling of protectiveness washing over him for his mother. Growing up he had little in the way of family and even now he kept the ones he considered just that close to him. He could let them go if he had to but if there was one person he intended to keep in his life always it was his mother.
He would not let anyone come into his town and take her away from him. Not even Klaus.
And while he felt protective of Caroline he knew he had no reason to worry. Caroline would never leave him behind. That was something he knew with absolute certainty.
"I told my guys to follow you under Caroline's suspicions of you and it gave her peace of mind, plus I told them to look out for you. That's what we do here... Look out for each other." Marcel looked back out toward the city, taking a note of a blonde walking the streets alone. "Mmmmm. New blood"
Klaus easily recognized the blonde from the bar. "The bartender, walking alone at night. She's either brave or dumb."
"Let's see. Brave, I let her live, dumb, she's dessert." He leapt down over the balcony landing just behind the blonde. "You know, it's not safe here alone."
The blonde turned with an air of confidence. "You know, I have a black belt in karate."
Klaus watched his son talk easily with the blonde when he felt a shift in the air and a pair of familiar always judging eyes on him. "Evening, Elijah."
"Niklaus."
"What an entirely unwelcome surprise."
"And what an entirely unsurprising welcome." Elijah returned, pushing off the wall he stood against. "Come with me"
"I'm not going anywhere. Not until I find out who's conspiring against me." He turned his eyes looking past Elijah but no longer saw Caroline inside.
"I believe I just found that out for you." Elijah informed him.
Klaus paused, stopping his scanning of the crowd inside for Caroline and zeroing his gaze on Elijah.
He didn't really want Elijah's help but the sooner he had this witch business dealt with the sooner he could focus all his attention on his wife.
"What are we doing here?" Klaus questioned as he and his brother walked through an old cemetery.
"Want to know what the witches have in store for you?" Elijah asked him. "Follow me." He led the way inside the crypt and Sophie Deveraux was there waiting for him.
"Sophie Deveraux." Klaus shot a look at his brother. "What is this?"
"He's all yours." Elijah told the witch ignoring Klaus. "Proceed."
"You know you're famous in this town?" Sophie began, no longer showing fear like she had when he first come across the grieving witch. "Witches tell bedtime stories about the powerful vampire Klaus. We know Marcel was nothing but an orphaned street rat until you made him what he is. And now he's out of control. He does what he wants. He kills who he wants. I'm gonna stop him... And you're gonna help me.
Klaus looked at Elijah with a condemning look. "This is why you brought me here?"
"Hear her out?" Elijah insisted.
"I don't need to hear her out." Klaus dismissed. "I assure you, love, there is not a thing on this earth that will matter enough for me to waste even 30 more seconds of my time-"
"Caroline." Sophie said suddenly and Klaus stopped his tirade abruptly.
"What?" he gritted out, not knowing why the witch was speaking her name to him but either way he didn't like it.
"Marcel may be able to keep us from practicing real magic in this town, but we still talk, we still convene with our ancestors. The world may have forgotten as time passed but the witches haven't. Niklaus Mikaelson would do anything for his wife. The world has forgotten Caroline's connection to you but we have not and we're more than willing to use her to our advantage."
A dark looked passed over Klaus's face and Sophie found herself hoisted in the air Klaus's hand wrapped tightly around her throat, she gasped for breath and though her heart beat in fear, her pulse throbbing, her eyes were clear, defiant and determined. Klaus's hand tightened on her throat. "You think I will allow you to threaten her?! You're a very foolish witch." He sneered.
Caroline didn't know what happened one minute she was dancing with Silvi and the next it was like she had a steel vice around her throat and while she didn't technically need to breathe if felt like she did.
"Caroline?" Silvi questioned reaching out her hand in concern. "Are you alright?"
She clutched at her throat, her legs giving out on her as she collapse to the floor amongst the crowd.
"Caroline!" Silvi exclaimed dropping beside her, catching the attention of Diego nearby. He rushed forward at the sight of Caroline on the floor, choking for breath. "What's wrong with her?" He demanded as a crowd began to gather.
"I don't know, she just, she started choking all of sudden!" Silvi said, reaching her hands out to Caroline but pulling them back at the last second unsure of what she could do for her.
Diego watched as the veins beneath Caroline's eyes appeared, her eyes blackening, her fangs dropping, as she choked desperately for air, clutching at her throat.
"Spe-spell." Caroline choked.
Silvi eyes widened. "It has to be the witches."
Diego cursed under his breath violently before thundering, his voice echoing off the walls of the compound. "MARCEL!"
"I-I'm do-doing what I ha-have to." Sophie choked out, her face beat red, beginning to turn a shade of purple.
"Niklaus don't!" Elijah grabbed his arm, jerking him away from Sophie and the witched collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath rubbing at her neck. "If you kill her the wife you spent the last hundred years believing was dead will be."
Klaus's expression darkened further. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Marcel who was entertaining a crowd head snapped up when he heard the shout of his name and he immediately started moving at how Diego had sounded.
When he pushed through the crowd and caught sight of familiar blonde hair and Diego and Silvi kneeling down next to the blonde he rushed forward shoving people out of his way without a care, his concern taking hold of him.
"Caroline?" He dropped in front of her to his knees, his hands reaching out cupping her face, noticing the way she choked for breath hand grasping at her throat like she was trying to pry someone else's hand away and failing. "Mom?" he whispered lowly, voice filled with emotion.
"I ca-I can't breathe." Her hand reached out pulling one of his hands away from her face and grasping tightly to it. And fuck she was a vampire, she didn't breathe but the grasp on her throat was undoubtedly painful.
"We think there's a spell at work." Diego whispered quietly.
Marcel cursed violently, dropping his hand from Caroline's face and tugging his hand from her's, scooping her into his arms and standing, vamp speeding through the compound, a door slammed opened and closed behind him. He was setting her onto her bed when suddenly she gasped for breath, greedily taking in air.
He settled his hands on her shoulder kneeling in front of her. "Mom?"
"It stopped." Caroline told him, rubbing at her neck, taking in a huge breath. "It felt like steel wrapped around my throat, making my airways cave in, like the bones were seconds from cracking, shattering from beneath the strain."
"But you're okay now?"
Caroline smiled at his concern. "I'm fine." She paused. "This had to be magic, a spell or something." Her expression darkened with anger. "We have to find out who was behind this."
"We will." Marcel promised. "I will." He swore. He couldn't let someone, anyone get away with targeting his mother. An attack on her was an attack on him.
Sophie gasped for breath rubbing at her neck as she pushed to her feet, breathing heavily. "My sister gave her life to perform the spell. A spell that linked Caroline's life to mine."
"Let's say I believe you and you did something that stupid. Caroline's a vampire, one over 600 years old. You're nothing but a weak pathetic witch." Klaus scoffed. "If I snapped your neck right now, she'll just wake up hours later with a massive pain in her neck and you'll still be dead."
Sophie glared squaring her shoulders. "You think we weren't prepared for that?" Klaus met her stare head on challengingly. "You're wrong. We didn't just link her to me. We linked her very vampire life force to mine. If I die so will she." She sent him a smirk. "Vampire or not she'll be just as dead as me."
Klaus eyes blackened and he went to rush forward but Elijah grabbed his arm to stop him. "Get off me!" He lashed out shoving Elijah off him and making him stumble back as he advanced on Sophie not stopping till he was invading her space. "If Caroline dies because of you I will kill every fuckin' bloody witch in New Orleans. I will make it my mission to bring your kind to the brink of extinction."
"Niklaus that is enough!" Elijah pushed his way between them forcing Klaus back.
"Are you done threatening me?" Sophie demanded.
"Oh they weren't threats witch, their warnings." Klaus eyes turned back to their usual blue.
"Enough of this, if you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself." Elijah said, at this rate they weren't going to come to some kind of understanding. An alliance.
"No. We can't. Not yet." Said Sophie. "We have a clear plan that we need to follow and there are rules."
"How dare you command me? Threaten me with my wife's safety? I don't have to stand here and hear anymore of this bullshit." Klaus ranted angrily. "If you can't deal with Marcel you sure as hell can't deal with Caroline on your own."
"Why do you think we're using magic. If I have to sacrifice my life to end hers than so be it." Sophie tilted her chin up defiantly.
"You said it was Marcel who you wanted." Elijah protested.
"We want to make him suffer the way he has made the witch community suffered. What better way then to rip his closest ally from him."
Klaus scoffed. "Is that what you think she is to Marcel? You know nothing."
"They know enough." A voice said as they entered the crypt.
When Klaus caught sight of the brunette he rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"She's an ally." Said Sophie. "A werewolf in a town of vampires will come in handy on a full moon in return we help her find her family."
"I should have let Katherine kill you." Klaus muttered.
"I just want my family." Hayley defended. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want."
Elijah looked between Hayley and Klaus, he didn't know their history and didn't need to. "Klaus, you need to listen. If we can turn Caroline against Marcel our family will be whole." As whole as it could be with both Finn and Kol being dead.
Klaus gave a bitter laugh. "She spent a century at his side. She won't turn against him." Beyond that he knew she loved Marcel unconditionally the way a mother was meant to love their child. She would protect Marcel to her last moments. "Any enemy of Marcel's is a enemy of hers."
He didn't wait for a response, storming outside.
"Whose Caroline?" Asked Hayley her brow scrunching in confusion.
"I thought you said she was an ally?" Elijah questioned. "Shouldn't she know the facts about the key players in this game your playing."
"We tell her what she needs to know." Sophie responded, she looked to Hayley. "Caroline is Klaus's wife."
"His what?!" Hayley spluttered. "Who in their right mind would ever marry Klaus?!"
"Just how do you know my brother?" Elijah inquired.
"We met in Mystic Falls he was protecting me from Katherine in return I gave him information on her."
Typical. Klaus was still intent on killing Katerina. Elijah responded with a shake of his head before following after his brother.
"Niklaus." Elijah chased after him.
"No." Klaus said instantly. "I won't be commanded by anyone." If the witch knew what was good for her she would heed his warning and leave Caroline be.
"This isn't about controlling you. It's your chance."
"To what?" He snapped turning back to face him.
"To start over. Take back everything we lost. Everything that was taken from us. Niklaus, our own parents came to despise us. Our family was ruined, we were ruined, and since then, all that you have ever wanted, all that we have ever wanted is family. Caroline is family if we don't step in she'll be caught in this war the witches are raging against Marcel."
Klaus found it telling how Elijah seem to forget Marcel was family too. "I will not be manipulated."
"So, they're manipulating you. So what? We can unite our family."
"I'm gonna kill every last one of them."
"And then what?" Elijah demanded. "Then you resume your life as the hated one, as the evil hybrid? Is it so important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name?"
"People quake with fear because I have the power to make them afraid. What will uniting our family get me? Will it guarantee me power?" He didn't care about uniting the family he only cared about getting his wife back to his side, everything else didn't matter.
"Family is power, Niklaus. Love, loyalty. It's power. You'll have Caroline back." Elijah insisted passionately. "This is what we swore to one another a thousand years ago, before life tore away what little humanity you had left, before ego, before anger, before paranoia created this person before me... Someone I can barely even recognize as my own brother. This is us. The Original family. We remain together, always and forever. I am asking you to help me unite our family. I will help you and I will stand by you." He placed his hand on Klaus's shoulder. "I will be your brother. We will build a home here together. Help the witches against Marcel and Caroline will come back to us. To you."
No, she wouldn't, Klaus knew this with absolute certainty. If he came after Marcel she would do everything in her power to protect him. He brought his own hand to the back of Elijah's neck, a rare brotherly gesture from him, before speaking lowly, quietly. "No."
And Elijah watched his brother's back as he walked away.
Klaus walked back into Marcel's party. He noticed Marcel but didn't see Caroline.
"Hey, man. Where'd you run off to?" Marcel questioned.
"You mean your minions aren't still documenting my every move?" Klaus shot back.
"I've had more important matters to deal with than you but clearly someone put you in a mood. What can I do?"
"Where's Caroline?" He demanded.
"She called it a night."
"Fine then. What you can do is you can tell me what this thing is you have with the witches?"
Marcel resisted the urge to sigh. "We're back to that?"
"Yeah, we're back to that." Klaus glared. Whatever it was it had put Caroline in the witches crosshairs and he wasn't going to let her become a casualty because of it.
"You know I owe you everything I got, but I'm afraid I have to draw the line on this one. This is my business." Marcel would deal with the witches on his own, especially with whatever the hell stunt it was they pulled. "I control the witches in my town. Let's just leave it at that."
"Your town?" Klaus repeated.
"Damn straight." Said Marcel, recognizing Klaus's tone but not backing down.
"That's funny. Because when I left 100 years ago, you were just a pathetic little scrapper still trembling from the lashes of the whips of those who would keep you down, and now look at you." Klaus sneered. "Master of your domain. Prince of the city. I'd like to know how. I'm sure having a vampire as old as Caroline standing behind you benefited you greatly."
Marcel didn't like the insinuation that he used Caroline. "Why? Jealous? Hey man, I get it. 300 years ago, you helped build a backwater penal colony into something. You started it, but then you left. Actually, you ran from it. Caroline and I saw it through and she hasn't been standing behind me, she's been standing at my side." There was a difference. "Look around. Vampires rule this city now. We don't have to live in the shadows like rats. The locals know their place. They look the other way. I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends. You want to pass on through? You want to stay a while? Great. What's mine is yours, but it is mine. Caroline is my mother and I'm not about to let you come back here and take her from me. This is my home, my family, my rules."
Klaus smirked. It sounded to him like Marcel feared losing Caroline to him but he hated that Marcel actually believed he was going to follow any rules. "And if someone breaks those rules?"
"They die. Mercy is for the weak." Marcel wasn't about to back down. "You taught me that, too. And I'm not the Prince of the quarter, friend. I'm the King! Show me some respect." He snapped.
Klaus eyes blackened, amber eyes glowing, losing hold of his temper, snatching Marcel's friend, Thierry, ripping into his throat before letting him drop to the floor.
"Your friend will be dead by the week end." Thierry's blood coated his mouth as he challenged Marcel. "Which means I've broken one of your rules. And yet I cannot be killed. I am immortal. Who has the power now, friend?"
The two faced off an Marcel said nothing matching Klaus's challenging look, facing off with him, staring a hole into Klaus who shot a smirk at the crowd before he turned to leave. "Give your mother my regards, I'll be around."
Marcel glared after Klaus's retreating back, anger coursing through him.
"You find him, and then you call me." Marcel said into his phone. "Don't worry. I know how to deal with Klaus."
"Is that so? Please elaborate."
"Elijah Mikaelson." Marcel wasn't all that surprised to see the man. He was never too far from Klaus.
Marcel's entourage of vampire bodyguards who were seated around the restaurant, rose as one ready to protect Marcel.
"No. I got it. It's all good." Marcel told them not taking his eyes from Elijah.
Elijah took a seat across from Marcel. "It's time we had a little chat."
"Well if you're gonna talk, talk. I got things to do."
"Oh my, you have grown quite confident over the last century, haven't you?" Said Elijah in amusement.
"Me?" said Marcel. "I'd say it's you and your brother who got cocky, coming to my town like you own the place."
"Well, we did own the place once. We were all quite happy here as I recall. But we could never control those pesky witches of the French Quarter. How do you do it?"
"Your brother asked me the same question. I gave him the same answer: It's my business." Marcel responded, if he didn't tell Klaus he certainly wasn't going to tell Elijah. "Everything in the Quarter is my business. Klaus comes into town all nice and friendly, chasing after Caroline and when she doesn't fall into his arms, he starts looking down his nose at what I've done like it's some cheap knock-off of one of his dumb paintings, then he gets pissed off like a little bitch and bites one of my guys."
"Well, I do apologize for Klaus' poor behavior." Said Elijah but he didn't look all that apologetic if you asked Marcel. "I assume you know that the bite will kill your friend within a matter of days. Of course, Niklaus' blood would cure him."
"What?" Marcel asked in surprise.
"Yes, apparently the blood of the hybrid will cure a werewolf bite. Quite a handy little thing when one needs leverage in negotiations."
"What kind of negotiations are we talking about?" Marcel questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Return the body of the witch Jane-Anne. Allow her people to put her to rest."
Marcel brow furrowed. "What do you care about the witches?"
"Well, that's my business, now, isn't it?" Elijah replied.
Caroline weaved her way through the streets of New Orleans, Silvi and several other vampires following in her wake.
"How are we going to go about this, Care?" Silvi questioned.
Caroline stopped to face her and the others as they stood in front of her, ready and willing to follow her lead.
"I don't much care how we do this." Caroline told them. "I just need to know who is behind this and how to undo it and quickly and if we have to crack a few twisted witches skulls open in the process so be it. The only other thing I ask of you is that no innocents get caught in the crossfire."
"We'll do our best." David, one of the vampires among them swore and one of the ones that were loyal to Caroline to a fault. "Whatever you need."
Caroline shot them each an appreciated look. "I just need this taken care of and quickly. The sooner the better." She paused. "Now, this is where I think we.." She went on to tell them where she thought the best place to start their search was and how to make sure no human's got caught up in any of this.
The vampires listening to her every word with rapt attention, ready to follow any order she gave.
Klaus took in the streets of New Orleans, even though night had fallen the streets were still bustling, a artist stood on a street corner painting, he noticed the blonde bartender from earlier watching the artist paint, he walked over stopping beside her.
She looked over at him. "The hundred dollar guy."
"The brave bartender." He looked at the nametag on the uniform she still wore. "Camille. That's a French name."
"It's a grandma's name." Cami rolled her eyes. "Call me Cami." She looked back to the artist. "Amazing, isn't he?"
"Do you paint?" Klaus inquired even as his eyes started scanning the crowds gathered on the street.
"No, but I admire. Every artist has a story, you know." She responded conversationally.
"And what do you suppose his story is?" Klaus questioned.
"He's... angry. Dark." Camille said after a moment. "Doesn't feel safe and doesn't know what to do about it. He wishes he could control his demons instead of having his demons control him. He's lost, alone." Her voice started to fade in the background as he caught sight of his wife across the street, he saw her immersed in a crowd.
He moved over hearing as she seemed to be ordering the group around.
"I don't care how you do it just find out what I need to know. And do it now." She ordered.
The vampires didn't seem to need further instruction as they dispersed into the crowd.
"Marcel said you retired for the night though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. He doesn't seem to want me around you."
Caroline sighed inwardly turning to face him. "That's because I told him I want nothing to do with you. He's only following my wishes."
"You have to talk to me, Caroline." He insisted, feeling ire rise in his chest. "How are we supposed to get past this. How are we supposed to fix this."
"I don't want to get past anything. There's nothing to fix."
"Is that you talking or Marcel?"
Caroline glared. "Marcel has nothing to do with how I feel about you, what I think about you. I spent the last hundred years hating you for leaving and I liked to keep it that way. So do yourself a favor and leave." She turned not waiting for his response, disappearing into the crowd.
Klaus clenched his jaw so tightly, his jaw felt like it was about to crack as he watched her walk away from him.
Klaus held a bottle in his hand, drinking from it needing one after his run in with Caroline. He heard Elijah arrive, and spoke without turning to even look at him. "Have I not made clear my desire to be left alone?"
"Oh, you demand to be left alone at least once a decade. Your words have ceased to have an impact." Elijah responded, sounding almost off-handed, like he couldn't really care what Klaus wanted.
Klaus threw the bottle against the floor, where it burst, glass shattering. "Why do you even care?! Aren't you tired of fighting for a family that never fights for you."
Elijah sped forward, wrapping his hand around Klaus's throat. "I will never stop fighting for this family."
"Let. Me. Go." Klaus growled out angrily.
"I WILL NOT!" Elijah shouted angrily, throwing Klaus against the floor, then heaving him up again, not letting up off of him.
"Don't make me say it again." Klaus warned with deadly intent.
"I will not let go. I will never let go." Elijah swore.
In response Klaus grabbed Elijah and hurled him against an iron rod fence.
Elijah stood up lightning fast ripping away one of the iron rods. He advanced forward, the rod in his hand. "Even if I have to spend eternity saving you from your own stubborn, petulant, vile self..." he sped forward hitting Klaus with the iron rod, using it as a weapon. "If I have to beat you as father used to beat you, to remind you of your own humanity –" he struck Klaus again with the rod. "– to care about anything..."
He tried to hit Klaus again, but Klaus had had enough. Klaus ripped the iron rod from Elijah's grasp and gave him a taste of his own medicine striking him with it before grabbing him and hurling Elijah a few meters back, where he fell to the ground and stayed down for the time being.
Klaus breathed heavily, letting the iron rod fall to the ground and walked a few steps towards Elijah's sprawled form on the ground. "You're beyond pathetic, Elijah." He all but sneered in derision.
"Well who is more pathetic? The one who sees hope to make his family whole, or the coward who only sees the world through his own fear?"
"I haven't cared about anything since I believed Caroline was dead." Klaus responded. "Why on earth do you?"
"Because I failed you." Elijah admitted. "Because the first time our father laid a hand on you, I should have struck him dead. I made a promise to you: always, forever, family above all."
Klaus couldn't help the laugh that escaped, reaching his hand out to his brother.
Elijah accepted it, taking Klaus's hand and standing up back to his feet.
"You are a sentimental fool." Klaus told him.
"Perhaps." Elijah conceded. "But I've lasted this long in spite of it, haven't I?" Elijah turned leaving Klaus standing there, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Klaus sat alone on the bench, staring out at the street before him when Elijah joined him, sitting down next to him.
"Are you here to give me another lecture of the importance of uniting our family?"
"I've said all I needed to say."
"I forgot how much I liked this town." He murmured. "I pushed it from my mind because it was a reminder of my last moments with Caroline. Because it was too much to think of her memory knowing I would never see her again."
Elijah looked at him in surprise that he had spoke so honestly of his grief of Caroline before averting his eyes, knowing if he made a bid deal out of it Klaus was likely to shut down on him. "I didn't forget. All the centuries we've spent together and yet I can count on one hand the number of times that our family has been truly happy. I hated leaving here."
"As did I." When he left here he lost everything.
"What is on your mind, brother?"
Caroline was his immediate thought but that wasn't what he said. "For a thousand years, I lived in fear. Any time I settled anywhere, our father would hunt me down and... chase me off. He made me feel powerless, and I hated it. He cost me Caroline. This town was my home once, and in my absence, Marcel has gotten everything that I ever wanted. Power, loyalty, family. Caroline at his side. I made him in my image and he has bettered me. I want what he has. I want to be King. And I want Caroline. I want my wife. I want back all that I lost a century go." And if he had to do it at the cost of Marcel then so be it. "Why are you so invested in bringing Caroline back to the family?"
"Caroline always had a piece of you that no one else could touch. She understood you better than anyone, she was able to reach you in a way I haven't been able to do in a thousand years. It's what I've always liked about her." Elijah admitted. Klaus had a habit of shutting him, their family out but Caroline. He always did everything in his power to keep her close. "She's always been the best parts of you."
Klaus turned locking eyes with his brother, knowing he couldn't argue that. "Tell Sophie Deveraux we have a deal." He said finally. He couldn't very well risk Caroline's life.
"So, how do you propose this will work?" Elijah inquired walking with Sophie in the cemetery.
"Your brother needs to cement his place in Marcel's world. His inner circle, the daywalkers... That's where we begin. They're his friends. His family. And of course, he needs to turn Caroline against Marcel. We'll be hitting him where it hurts."
Klaus pushed his way into the room of the compound, Thierry the vampire he bitten was laying on a bed in the room, vampires gathered around him including Marcel and Caroline.
Caroline glared, advancing on him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help." He told her.
She threw her head back with a scoff. "You're here to help? That's funny since you did this to him in the first place. A fact you failed to mention last night when we ran into each other."
"You're angry enough as it is I didn't want to give you something else to hold against me." Klaus sighed, doing his best to look remorseful which wasn't one of his strong suits. "I had time to sleep on it last night. I'm not your enemy. Where my family and I failed this town... Marcel succeeded. My blood will heal him. As though it never happened."
Marcel moved toward them, stopping beside Caroline. Klaus continued looking between them both. "The quarter is your home, but I would like to stay a while, if I'm still welcome."
"Is it done?" Elijah asked his brother when he returned to the home they decided they would be staying in, the old plantation just outside of the Quarter.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Your underhanded deal worked quite well." Klaus informed him. "Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies." Though he couldn't say the same for his wife. She was less than pleased at the turn in events. "His man, Thierry, yet lives and I remain a welcome guest in the French Quarter. Caroline is still being challenging. My only concern now is this coven of impudent witches who think they can use her life like a pawn in their game against Marcel."
"I believe them to be honorable." Elijah said, they seemed dedicated to their cause especially Sophie. "Although, they haven't been entirely forthcoming. Marcel obviously has something that they need and their clearly holding a grudge against Caroline. They don't want neither of them dead. There must be a reason why."
A pretty brunette was sitting behind a window of a dark and dusty attic with just a simple bed and some canvases.
She turned on and off the flame of a candle with just the movement of her hand.
The door to the attic open as Marcel and Caroline walked in. "I assume it's all quiet out there?" Marcel inquired.
"The witches know better than to use magic. They know I can sense it when they do." Said the girl with certainty.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Caroline murmured. "They did something to me."
"But you're okay, right?" Davina moved toward her in concern.
"I will be. We have people looking into it but we'll get to the bottom of it," Caroline assured her, moving to sit on the edge of Davina's bed. "And when we do I'll need you to undo whatever the hell it is that they did."
"Of course." Davina said instantly without hesitation, she looked between Marcel and Caroline her brow furrowing in question. "What about the old ones? They're dangerous, and I don't want them to hurt you or Caroline."
"The Originals?" Marcel questioned. "Davina, as powerful as you are, they don't stand a chance."
Elijah and Klaus were talking in a study as they unpacked the room.
"In addition to the secret weapon he uses to control the witches, Marcel has assembled a small army of vampires. And there's the fact he has some one as old and smart as Caroline on his side." Said Elijah. "Working together, we can destroy them from the inside."
"And what of Rebekah?" Klaus questioned. "Has she stopped her pouting long enough to join the fun?"
"She has made her disinterest quite clear." Said Elijah which was an understatement if there ever was one. She wanted nothing to do with Niklaus.
"One too many times daggered and shoved in a box, I gather?" Klaus mused. "Or perhaps she doesn't share your unwavering belief that I can be saved."
"Rebekah may surprise us yet. After all, we all swore the same vow." Elijah said in reply. He had faith that given time Rebekah would come around. She always did.
"I hope she stays far away." Said Klaus moving around the desk in the room. "Because in my desire to reclaim this town, to steal from Marcel that which he holds most dear and take back my wife, I have realized one massive vulnerability that I can neutralize. One weakness that Marcel would exploit."
"And what is that?" Elijah turned toward Klaus and when he did he felt a dagger against his chest.
"You." Klaus slid the dagger home in Elijah's heart, his brother groaning with the pain. "I once told you love is a vampire's greatest weakness and I know from my own personal experiences. Caroline is that weakness for me and I cannot afford to have anymore. Caroline is the only exception I'm willing to make." He paused. "Forgive me, my brother. There is no power in love. Mercy makes you weak. Family makes you weak. If I am going to win this war, if I am going to get back everything I lost I have to do it alone."
A/N: I write as I go so feel free to send suggestions on things you might like to see. Currently, this is all I have written for this story so far. Feel free to leave a review. Thanks for reading.