It had been silent for a long while. I had no idea where all the vampires I heard earlier disappeared to, but I was guessing they hadn't gone too far. They needed to be ready to take down Nik for Rebekah and Marcel's ridiculous scheme that would get the majority of them killed. Stupid baby vampires.

Sudden footsteps pierced the silence and I had a feeling that the man of the hour had just arrived. Too bad he wouldn't be a big fan of the surprise party that was awaiting him. His footsteps slowed as he examined the deserted compound, freezing altogether when a voice rang out through the air.

"Klaus," Marcel said crisply.

"You've been avoiding my calls." Nik said dully.

Silent footsteps entered the room as one of Marcel's minions came in, redoing my ropes to how they had been previously before picking me up and carrying me downstairs.

"Been a little ticked off lately," Marcel said.

"Apologies for my behavior can come later. You have something of mine. I want it back."

"Oh, I have two things of yours." He pulled the dagger out of his jacket as the vampire carrying me flashed downstairs, dumping me at Marcel's feet in a weakened heap, before flashing out of sight again. I saw Nik stiffen out of shock, his eyes widening when he saw me. "Sorry. I can't give you either of them," Marcel taunted. He held the dagger out to the girl waiting in the shadows. Rebekah emerged, kicking my legs out of her way as she glided over to stand beside Marcel, taking the offered dagger. I groaned in pain as my shins throbbed, even more than they had before from the vervain in my bloodstream.

"What is this?" Nik asked in a betrayed tone, his stare burning into me.

"Apologies for your behavior? You don't apologize, Nik, you just act," Rebekah spit out. "I've had enough. We have had enough."

"Well look at you," Nik taunted, stepping closer. "Finally in possession of the one thing that can take you down."

"And we're in possession of your weakness too," Marcel spat before holding his fingers to his lips and letting out a piercing whistle. About twenty pairs of feet pounded on the floors around us as a portion of Marcel's vampire horde stormed the area, all hoping to take revenge against the Original hybrid in the name of their king.

"So this is it? The evil bastard Klaus has gone too far?" Nik asked sarcastically. "He must be punished, and by his own sibling. His innocent wife has to suffer as well, even though they haven't seen each other on one thousand years. Nonetheless, how positively biblical. And you Marcel? Is this your idea of a hit? I taught you better than this paltry excuse for a take down. You think you can subdue ME!" With THIS!" He gestured furiously to the small group of vampire surrounding him.

"No," Marcel said, shaking his head. "But I think I can with this." He whistled again and even more vampires came crawling out of the woodwork, making a circle around Nik as he assessed them.

Nik sighed, his gaze flickering briefly to me before focusing his attention back towards Marcel. "Let's end this charade, shall we? Vampires of New Orleans! Do recall that I am an Original. A hybrid! I cannot be killed. Eternity is an awfully long time. How long do you think Marcel will stay in power? What if one of you lot were to release me and my wife, knowing we would be eternally in your debt? Oh, I would pity those of you who dared to cross me. I can assure you, your end would be spectacular. To borrow a trick from an old friend," he said, holding up a coin. "Whoever picks up this coin gets to live." He tossed it onto the ground and I felt the clattering of it deep in my soul.

"Anyone who wants that coin, to pledge allegiance to Klaus, take it now." No one made a move. "Go ahead. The choice is yours." All the vampires remained rooted in place, not even twitching an eyelid.

"Take him."

At Marcel's order, two vampires flashed towards Nik, getting taken down immediately. Nik turned back to Marcel, raising his arms to the side in a silent challenge. Marcel gestured to two men behind Klaus and two chains were swiftly wrapped around his extended arms, dragging him backwards towards a doorway and giving the rest of the vampires a chance to attack. They all rushed him at once, continually slamming him back to the pavement the instant he regained his feet. I winced in pain, both for him and for me as I watched my husband be slashed aand stabbed with knives and stakes.

When they began kicking him, I felt a fiery anger flow through me. The combination of adrenaline and two hours without consuming fresh vervain gave me enough strength to rip the ropes binding me as I climbed swiftly to my feet and yanked the gag from my mouth. Rebekah tried to grab my wrist as I moved away, but I threw her into a wall before she could even get a grip on me, smirking at the yelp she made when the force of my throw crumpled the stone around her. Marcel raced over to check if she was alright, leaving me with an opportunity to go take out some of the group attacking Niklaus.

I picked up the semi tattered ropes, ignoring the burning in my palm before I sped over to the fight, wrapping the ropes around the neck of the nearest vampire and pulling until his neck snapped sideways. I left him before moving to the next vampire on the edge of the horde, my Original strength gained from one thousand years of living easily trumping their measly power as I went through the group, ripping out hearts and snapping necks as I went. I normally was very against killing, but these idiots were messing with my man. I may hate him right now, but he was still mine.

Three vampires grabbed my arms, pinning me down against the wall as a fourth jabbed a fire poker into my chest. I screamed, but this time in fury, not in pain. I struggled to pull the poker out of me as I watched them drag Nik back towards the doorway and chain him up before they all took turns stabbing and slashing at him.

His eyes roamed around looking for a way out as they continued to attack him relentlessly. Our eyes met and I saw his eyes fill with rage before one vampire grabbed his face and ripped our gazes apart. The vampire raised a knife and quickly cut Nik across the throat, the other vampires cheering as he let out a roar of pain and slumped his head downwards.

"NIK!" My voice cut through the air as I stared at his limp form. I felt my fangs extending as I hissed angrily at the vampires closest to me for hurting my husband

"You're little wife is next," one of the vampires yelled, others joining in his threat. They all silenced as a loud growl cut through the air and Nik slowly raised his head, his eyes glowing yellow as his canine extended. A few vampires stepped back, terrified, and I launched myself forward on the poker, not even caring about the pain I inflicted as my body left it. I flung myself into the crowd, tearing apart vampires as Nik ripped the chains off of himself and joined me. We fought viciously, protecting each other, until Marcel's voice cut through the air again, freezing everyone.

"ENOUGH!" I dropped the vampires whose neck I was just about to break, letting him fall in a heap as I made my way to Nik's side. We watched silently as Marcel picked up the coin, ending the fight as he indicated that Nik now held his allegiance.

"Well, well, well," Nik said as he and I stalked closer to Marcel, me staying behind his right shoulder to allow him his moment of glory. "The great Marcel, self proclaimed king of New Orleans, bowing before me."

Marcel tossed the coin at Nik's feet. "There. I hereby pledge my allegiance to you. You have the keys to my kingdom. It's yours." His voice caught on these words, like they were painful to say.

Nik smiled down at Marcel before holding the crook of his arm out to me. I walked over to him and slipped onto his elbow, keeping a steady glare on Rebekah as she stared at the both of us uncertainly. I may not like Nik all that much right now, but smart politics dictated that the queen support her king after a successfully staged coup, so I cut him some slack at the moment.

"Well, I for one do not like my home being dirtied with dead bodies. Nik, have someone take care of it, please," I ordered, before walking towards the front door.

"Of course, Love," he sighed before telling one of the vampires to gather all the bodies in the courtyard to be burned.

I paused right beside Rebekah as she stood staring blankly at the deceased vampires. "You are lucky that your boy toy picked up that coin when he did, dear sister, or this battle would have had an entirely different ending for you, I can promise you that. Just remember, I held a grudge against Nik for nearly one thousand years. I'm very good at remembering those who betray me and I assure you that they always receive their just dessert in the end. So watch your back, Rebekah."

With that I strode past her, my heels leaving a hollow clicking sound echoing through the yard filled with silent mourners.

*Timeskip*

I had just finished packing up all of my things when Klaus came into my bedroom. "I take it you know we're moving to the compound then?" He asked, his pouty smirk adorning his face as one of his eyebrows rose upwards.

"Well why else would I be packing everything up? I did tell you earlier that it's much harder to torment you from far away."

He stepped forward, pulling me into his arms. I admit, it was nice to be back in his arms again after a millennium, but I also wasn't going to give in to him that easily. "Now come on, Love. I thought you had forgiven me after the way you fought for me earlier this evening." He leaned down to pepper a few kisses on my shoulder.

"Hmm," I hummed. "Well, the reason I fought to protect you was because I still have some business to take care of involving you."

"And what business might that be," he muttered, nipping at the side of my neck playfully.

"Revenge, of course," I said, stepping out of his arms. He stared at me, slightly shell shocked.

"I thought you were done with that silly little revenge notion, Lisette," he said, trying to pull me close again, but I smacked his hand away.

"Oh no, Nik. As I said earlier, I'm only getting started. The next century should be quite enjoyable for me. For you, not so much."

"I thought you said it would only be a year!" Nik protested.

"At least year until I would sleep with you again, yes. Although I may up the ante a few years if you irritate me. Now, be a dear and take my bags out to my car. You can put them in the master bedroom. It'll be fun to taunt you with what you can't have."

I smiled happily to myself as I heard Nik groan out of frustration behind me before the sound of him picking up my things reached my ears. I sat in the driver's seat while he carried down four loads of my luggage, strapping my shoe cases in like I taught him earlier. He closed the rear door and was just about to open the passenger side door to climb inside but I quickly flicked the lock shut. He looked up at me through the closed window, immense irritation burning in his eyes while I twinkled my fingers at him before stepping on the accelerator and pulling away. I glanced in the rearview mirror, smirking when I saw him punch a nearby tree out of frustration.

It was about a fifteen minute drive back to the compound. Nik would be able to get there before me if he wanted to, but I had a feeling he would go out to a bar before hand to blow off some steam. Oh, how I loved driving my husband mad.

When I reached the compound, I was surprised to see Nik there already. I decided to give him a break, ordering one of the baby vampires hanging about to take my things up to the master bedroom and threatening their life if any harm came to my shoes.

I went to bed as soon as my things were delivered. Sometime during the night, Nik joined me in the bed, but he kept his distance from me as I had ordered him to. I felt slight remorse at the way I was treating him, especially after Rebekah and Elijah had betrayed him, but if I gave in to him now, I would never be able to regain the hold I had over him at the present. Still, he was very emotionally unstable at the moment, and I did not want to rile him up more than he already was, so with a sigh, I rolled over and pressed up next to him, tucking myself into his chest. He stiffened for a moment before his arm slowly snaked around me and he pulled me closer.

We breathed silently for a moment before I leaned up and kissed his cheek gently in the darkness. "Goodnight, Nik," I said softly, before placing my head on his chest and relaxing into his arms. He did not say anything in response, only pulling me closer to him, almost as if he were afraid to let me go.