Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", Meredith meets Paul Vaughn.

Chapter Eight

Klaus stood in front of an easel, working on a recent masterpiece of his. He was no doubt in a good mood and it was all because he had Caroline with him. Speaking of the blonde vampire, he smiled as he sensed her behind him. "I thought you were asleep, love?"

Caroline returned his smile. "I was, but I woke up and didn't see you next to me." She looked at the painting he was working on. "Is that a new painting? It's beautiful. Then again, I've always been an admirer of your work."

"Yes, it's my latest piece," Klaus replied. Putting down the round disc he used to have all his paint colors on, he turned and brought Caroline into the circle of his arms then picked up the disc once more and resumed painting.

"You're going to get paint all over me, Klaus," Caroline said with a laugh.

Klaus smiled at her. "Perhaps you can let me paint you, love. You'd make an excellent portrait. It would be an excellent tribute to your beauty."

"Oh, you think so?" she asked.

"I know so, love," Klaus replied.

Caroline smiled. "Well then, I look forward to when I'm posing for you." She kissed his cheek. "How shall I pose for you, my King, naked and wearing only a necklace, like Rose did for Jack in 'Titanic'?"

"When that day comes, I say you will be ten times as beautiful as Kate Winslet was in that film, love," Klaus replied.

Caroline smiled. "Thank you."

Klaus returned her smile then turned her head toward him and was about to lower his own when he suddenly caught sight of someone out of his peripheral vision. "Yes, Finn, what is it?" he asked.

"I hate to interrupt you in the middle of what you and Caroline are doing, Niklaus, and I apologize," Finn said. "I need to speak to you."

Klaus was about to answer him but Caroline beat him to it. "What did you need to tell him, Finn?"

"No offense, Miss Forbes, but this is sibling business," Finn said. He then walked out of their line of vision before Klaus turned to look at Caroline.

"I'm sorry, love, but it looks like we'll have to discuss our painting later," he told her before brushing his lips over her cheek in a butterfly caress and turning to follow his brother. Heading to the downstairs study, Klaus found Finn waiting for him. "To reiterate Caroline's question, what did you need to tell me, brother?"

"I am sorry to pull you away, brother, but I thought you should be the first to know. Marcel is planning to begin a war," Finn replied.

Klaus let out a curse and huffed out a breath. "Thank you for telling me, brother."

Finn nodded then turned and left the hybrid alone to go back to Caroline. "Klaus, is everything okay? I heard what Finn told you…" she said quietly.

Klaus took her hands in his. "No. Marcel will stop at nothing to defeat me."

"You don't have to take him on alone, you know," Caroline said. "I'll help you."

"Love, as much as I appreciate you offering, I don't think that would be a great idea," Klaus replied. "Marcellus has you beat in age by over two hundred years. And I…just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I understand. Do you plan to ask Sage for help, or is she going to be supervising me?" Caroline asked.

Klaus shook his head. "Knowing how protective he is of her, I doubt Finn would be willing to let Sage help us, even though she's perfectly capable of handling herself."

In the Other Room

"You can't be serious!" Sage shrieked at Finn. "I'm not going to sit here and watch you get yourself killed…again. I just…I won't let it happen, Finn." She huffed then crossed her arms over her chest. When he attempted to sit down by her, the redhead glared sternly at him and he stared back at her.

"I don't understand why you are angry about this, love." His voice was a soft murmur as he attempted to reach for her again but she only shifted to bring her knees up to her blouse covered chest, wrapping her arms around them, and his face fell at her actions.

"Why do you THINK I'm angry, Finn?" Sage said. "You're risking your life fighting against someone Niklaus turned! I lost you once, I'm not about to lose you again!"

"I don't want to lose you either! Okay? You mean too damn much to me, and when we both died that night, I saw that your soul had died in my last moments of the 1000+ years I'd been alive," Finn growled.

Sage growled again, knowing that she wouldn't be able to win this verbal fight. "You know what? Fine, go risk your life against Marcel and see if I care!" Before Finn could stop her, she got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Immediately, Finn rushed after Sage, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her back to the room they were occupying and vamp speeding them to the bed, where he forced the redhead to stay seated. Sage scowled at him. "Damn you, Finn Mikaelson, what is it you're trying to prove here? I'm furious at you and if you think that holding me down on this bed is going to get me take what I said, you have another guess coming!"

"Marry me!" he yelled at her.

"What?" she sputtered at him.

Taking a deep breath, Finn calmed himself down then moved to bring her to the edge of the bed, where he knelt down in front of her. "Sage, no pun intended on that song, but I've loved you for over a thousand years, and I want to love you for that long. So, will you do me the greatest honor of accepting this ring…again?" he said, holding up the emerald-and-diamond covered band between his fingers for her to see.

Sage looked at the ring, her anger forgotten. Finally, she looked at Finn, tears in her eyes. "Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I will marry you, Finnegan Mikaelson!" Her boyfriend grinned at her then placed the ring onto her left hand, grasping it gently and tugging her toward him until he could place a warm kiss onto her lips. Sage returned his kiss, moaning softly against his mouth before pulling away, smiling at him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Finn."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, love," he replied. "It's my fault, being protective of you and everything."

"And you have every right to be protective of me. It's just…sometimes, I want to help out with the battles," she said in a soft murmur.

Finn sighed and nodded. "I know you do, Sage, since you've got the strength of a thousand men. I was just afraid that Marcellus might try something and you'll be caught off guard."

She nodded silently. "If you or Niklaus need me to, I can stay here with Caroline and keep her company. And maybe Rebekah too," she suggested.

Finn nodded. "I think that will be a good idea. I overheard Niklaus telling Caroline that Marcellus has her beat in age and that he doesn't want her to get hurt. So, I think if you stayed here and kept her company, he'd appreciate it."

As her new fiancé spoke, his fingers stroked over the clothing-covered thigh and Sage bit gently down on her bottom lip to keep from making a sound but then squealed when Finn tackled her onto the bed, giggling as they kissed, the kisses turning into a passionate foray of tongues clashing, demanding and surrendering. "Finn…" Sage whispered when he broke off the kiss to start pressing open-mouthed kisses down the column of her arching neck.

Finn smiled against her neck. "That's my name, love."

Shaking her head, Sage then pushed on his chest until he had landed on his back. "If you know your name, why would you say that?" she said with a smirk.

Finn returned her smirk. "Maybe it's because I heard that's what men say when their lovers say their name during an intimate moment."

"Not always," she told him.

Finn smiled. "I love you, my Irish Rose."

Sage smiled as well. "I love you too, my handsome British Prince. I want you to remember that when you're out there defending the city with your brothers."

"I'll never forget it," he said in a soft murmur, sitting up until he could embrace her, his arms resting loosely around her waist.

Hayley sat in her bed, her hand gently caressing her belly, when she sensed someone else in the room. She looked over and saw Elijah in her doorway. "Elijah, you startled me." She saw the look in his eyes. "What is it?"

"I just heard some terrible news. Marcellus has captured my sister," he said solemnly.

"What? Why…why would he take Rebekah?" she said, sitting up and pulling him down gently next to her.

Elijah sighed and kissed her forehead. "He wants to use her as leverage against us."

"You can't let him get away with this," Hayley said. "You have to get Rebekah back from Marcel."

"We will, but not right away. If he wants a war, he's got one," Elijah vowed.

Hayley nodded. "Make him pay for what he's done, Elijah. He deserves it for kidnapping Rebekah."

"I intend to," Elijah said. "And once I tell Niklaus about this, he's going to want to do the same."

"I wish I could go with you."

"No, you don't," Elijah said. "You'll get hurt, as well as the baby, and I can't risk that."

"Elijah, you didn't hear what I said. I said I wish I could go. Not that I want to; I know that I should stay with Sage and Caroline, so that's what I'm going to do," the werewolf told him.

Elijah nodded, understanding what she was saying. "Good. They'll keep you company."

"And I'll keep them company," Hayley said, smiling softly at him.

Elijah returned her smile, kissing her softly. "I'm just a phone call away if you need me."

"Okay," she said, kissing him softly back. He stood after kissing her forehead and had gotten only a step away before he was tugged back around. "Elijah, please remember that I love you, okay?"

Elijah smiled at her. "I wouldn't forget that. You mean everything to me."

"Good. Go get your sister back, okay?" she murmured. He nodded then kissed her forehead before turning and exiting her room. Hayley let out a soft sigh then fell gently back onto the pillows, her hands immediately going to fold tenderly over her baby bump. "We'll be okay, baby of mine. You, me, Elijah, your daddy and Caroline…we'll all be okay."

No sooner did Elijah exit Hayley's room than he ran into Klaus, who had been listening to their conversation. "I won't stand for this, Elijah. We have to get our sister back."

"I take it you were eavesdropping, Niklaus? You know that's not polite."

"No, the one thing that isn't polite is you not telling ME first!" Klaus growled.

Elijah stood his ground. "I just found out a few minutes ago."

"Regardless," his brother replied. "I would've preferred that you told me instead of your girl."

"Finn doesn't know anything either, brother," Elijah said firmly.

"I don't know anything about what?" Finn asked just then as he appeared in the hallway, wearing just a pair of jeans, his feet bare.

Elijah was about to answer but Klaus beat him to it. "Marcellus has kidnapped Rebekah."

Finn blinked. "He did WHAT?"

"Wow, he's really devastated. Maybe we should consider taking something that is valuable to Marcellus," Elijah said.

"Who would we take though?" Klaus asked.

"It would have to be someone he can't stand to lose," Elijah said. "Someone that he would move heaven and earth for…"

"I think I know of someone that you could snatch," Hayley said from the doorway. "Belinda La Fleur…"

"Who is that?" Finn was the first to ask.

"She's a witch," Hayley said. "From what I understand, she's also someone Marcel is sweet on. As a matter of fact, he's in love with her. If he found out that you've taken her, he'll be like putty in your hands."

"I'll snatch her," Finn said. Elijah and Klaus both nodded then turned quiet when they noticed Sage step out of hers and Finn's bedroom. Finn looked at his brothers, who headed toward the stairs. Hayley retreated back into her room, closing the door gently behind her.

"Who are you snatching, Finn?" his new fiancé asked softly.

"Marcellus has kidnapped Rebekah," Finn said. "And Hayley suggested that we retaliate by kidnapping a witch by the name of Belinda La Fleur. Apparently, she's also someone Marcel is in love with."

"How do you plan to go about this plan, Finn?" she asked.

"Catch her off guard," Finn said. "I know that witches are capable of using that annoying ability to fry a vampire's brain with their magic, so if I can sneak up on her and grab her before she could use it to defend herself, then I'll have no trouble grabbing her. I know that it's risky, but if we want to get Rebekah back, then this is our best option."

She went silent for a few minutes, and the only sound lingering between them was their breathing. "You will be careful, right?" Sage asked quietly.

Finn nodded and approached her, one hand framing her cheek, the other pulling her close to him. "I'll be careful, my love. This is to get Rebekah back from Marcellus. When he finds out that we have his beloved Belinda, he'll do anything to ensure her safety." Her nose nuzzled along the skin of his neck as she held the tears at bay. Finn ran his fingers through her hair. "We won't fail, Sage. I promise."

"I'm sorry. I can't do this right now," she murmured before turning and heading into the bedroom to dress before heading downstairs and out the front door. She gasped when she suddenly slammed into a now-dressed Finn. "Damn it, Finn!"

"Sage, please," Finn said. "Why are you acting like this? Is it something I did?"

Sage shook her head. "I…I just need time, Finn," she said softly, her tone almost a whisper.

Finn sighed. "Sage, I know that this is a lot to take in, but we're not going to kill Belinda. We're going to hold her hostage while we figure out a way to negotiate with Marcellus for the safe return of Rebekah."

"I meant from us!" she ground out. "I know that you're trying to make amends with your siblings and I'm only in the way. Please…just let me go."

"You think you're in the way?" Finn said. "Sage, that's not true. You're not in the way. I never gave you that impression."

"You don't have to. I've seen the way that your brother looked at me. Like he didn't want me there in the first place," Sage said.

Finn rolled his eyes. "If you want me to speak to Niklaus about his treatment of you, I'd be more than happy to after we get Rebekah back from Marcellus."

"No! Don't bother. I need time, Finn. Please, just give me a little time," she said. Finn watched with saddened eyes as she removed her engagement ring, took his hand and put the ring into his palm before closing his fingers around the ring.

"Take all the time you need, Sage," Finn said. "I'll still be here when you're ready."

She smiled sadly, wondering why he wasn't putting up more of a fight, but then turned and walked away from him without looking back. Elijah noticed Finn's misty eyes when he and Klaus caught up with him. "What happened, brother?"

"Sage gave me the ring back," he replied. "She…told me she needed more time." He looked toward Klaus. "She even said that Niklaus made her feel like she didn't belong here at all."

"Oh, I didn't want her to leave because of that!" Klaus said, immediately feeling awful for what he'd done to his brother and the woman he loved. "I'll go and talk to her."

Before either Elijah or Finn could stop him, Klaus went after Sage, catching her before she could get in her car. "Sage, wait!"

Sage looked toward him. "Save it, Niklaus! It's obvious that I'm in the way of you making peace with your siblings! I see it in the way you look at me sometimes! You claim that you want a family, but you sure as hell don't treat me like family!"

"You're my brother's family, Sage. And both my brothers and my sister matter that much to me," Klaus said.

Sage raised an eyebrow at him, not sure if she should believe him as she asked, "Really? You're not just saying that to get me to change my mind?"

"I mean every word, he replied. "That and I know that Caroline and Hayley wouldn't be pleased with me if they found out that I didn't stop you from leaving."

Author's Note: Because Erin and I love Sage & Finn so, so much, I know that it nearly shattered my S&F-loving heart to almost break them up!