I am so sorry this is so late. Life has been really hectic, and I ran out of buffer, but it's the weekend now, so I plan on writing a lot. Plus, this chapter is just over 3,000 words, as an apology for the lateness.

Warnings: a few comments about Klaus' drug deals, minor, extremely vague mention of a cat giving birth, Kol being Kol (you'll see what I mean), and Klaus' temper.

4.3

Klaus wants everyone to know that the chairs his vet have in the waiting room are despicable and evil.

The sound of a wailing cat - probably Camille, if he thinks about it, which he really doesn't - permeates the air and makes everyone wince. 'Everyone', in this case, being a lady with a bird that's also screeching, and a teen with a dog with a cone around it's head.

This is not how he wants to spend his time. He'd rather be with Sophie, the girl he sells to (who also has wild mood swings between 'you're cool' to 'I want you to die'), or Davina. Or even Tierney, the other bartender who always tries to hang out.

God, even Stefan would be better than this….

"Hey, could you turn this up?" The lady calls. He nods, grabs the remote from it's sitting on another of the evil chairs, and turns the volume up. He catches Oprah's voice, and his head snaps up.

There, on the screen, is Leif. He looks like any other old man on television, wrinkled and aging but happy. When Oprah speaks, he smiles a smile that's missing a few teeth.

"We have Elijah Mikaelson on the line, everyone! What a treat."

Klaus' eyes widen.

"He called in right before we started rolling, actually. Elijah? Can you hear me?"

"Yes I can, thank you. Thank you for having me."

"Of course," Oprah says, then launches into a question. Klaus doesn't hear it. All he hears is the voice of his brother, and not the pre-pubescent one, either. He hears Elijah say something about wanting to see all of them again, how it's been his biggest wish since he was hauled over state lines in the days after Mother's death. His mouth drops open in utter shock - this is his brother, his big brother. Hearing him speak is more shocking than he'd thought possible.

The sounds throws him through such a loop, when the vet comes out, he's just gaping at the TV.

"Mr. Mikaelson?" Klaus closes his mouth with a click and stands. The teenager and the lady suddenly look very interested in him. The teenager pulls out his phone.

"How is she?"

The vet smiles at him. "She did great. There's five little kittens waiting for you. As for Camille, she's sleeping right now, and letting them nurse."

"Good, that's great," he says. The teenager's phone makes a noise, but Klaus ignores it.

"Here, I'll take you back there now."

Camille is in a cat bed on an operating table, with five little fluff balls suckling for milk. There's only one who looks exactly like Camille - a little white fluff ball in the middle of four other, calico fluff balls.

Objectively, Klaus knows he can't keep all of them. He knows having seven cats, therefore nine pets total, is not the sane thing to do.

He decides that he doesn't care about objectivity or sanity and goes over to pick out names.

0.5

"So, are you our only aunt, Torunn?" Elijah asks over the dinner table. Freya, Finn, Kol, and Aerona all tune themselves in. Graham is out getting batteries or something, so it's just the family for the moment.

She snorts and shakes her head. "I am as far from being an only child as a person can be."

"Well, duh," Kol says, "you're Mikael's sister. Obviously you aren't an only child."

"What Kol means to say," Finn cuts in, "is that we are wondering what other siblings you may have."

Torunn responds, "let me think for a moment. There are a lot, even without my half-siblings."

Freya shoots them all a look, asking half-siblings? without saying anything.

After a moment of them mouthing words to each other frantically, Torunn says, "I have 12 siblings and 4 half-siblings. I'm the youngest, and Gregor is the oldest. Some of them have passed, sadly. But, anyway, Mikael was number seven, I think."

"What?" All of the Mikaelsons exclaim at the same time. Aerona, who's listening in on the conversation, smiles at the way they've all familiarized themselves so quickly.

"What do you mean what?" Torunn asks, looking from one shocked face to another.

"Well, he never mentioned any family. I'd never heard of any of you until you came and started trying to find us. Hearing that he was number seven of what, seventeen, that's crazy!" Freya exclaims.

"Does anyone else remember him saying he had no family?" Kol asks, looking around from sibling to sibling.

Finn nods. "Yeah, he always insisted it was just him. When I was making my family tree, I couldn't find anything about him, so I almost believed it."

Elijah perks up. "You have a family tree? Can I see it?" Finn nods, smiling, clearly happy that someone else is interested in their family history.

"Is that what you caught from that?" Kol snarks. "Did you miss the part where there is nothing about Mikael on the internet at all?"

"Sorry I don't really care about him," Elijah rolls his eyes. Kol snorts at the sarcastic comment, but doesn't respond.

Freya asks, "are we on the tree?"

"Of course. I don't have any of your kids or anything, but - "

"Wait, wait, wait." Kol interrupts.

"What?"

"How many of us have children?" Everyone in the room except for Kol raises their hand. "Seriously? It's just me that has common sense?"

"Unlike some people - " Elijah starts.

"Someone, you mean." Freya cuts in.

" - who will not be named, we have found someone that we loved - "

"Okay, that's bullshit and I know it. What happened to 'I'll never bring another Mikaelson into this world lest they end up like us'? Was that only good for a limited amount of time? Has my vasectomy coupon expired or something?" Kol looks around at them expectantly. He gets nothing. "Okay, so you're all old now, great. I can't wait for Nik, Bekah and Henrik to come so we can bask in our childless lives."

Everyone stares at him. "...anyway," Freya says.

Kol huffs and sinks down in his chair like he used to when Mikael would ignore even his backtalk.

"I'd really like to hear about our other aunts and uncles. I'm sure Finn would, too."

Finn nods eagerly. "For sure. Lemme just get out my phone and I'll - "

"You'll have to do that later, my boy," Leif says as he comes into the room, Torunn's cell in his hand. "I just got a very interesting call."

"What was it, annwyl?" Aerona asks, leaning forward in her chair.

"A boy in New Orleans called to say he saw a man who was called 'Mr. Mikaelson' the same night that I was on Oprah. Apparently, he wasn't sure if he was allowed to call it in, and that's why he waited so long. But, he sent a picture of the man. Torunn, child, show everyone, please."

She grabs the phone from his hand, and curiously looks at the picture. In it is a man around Elijah's height, with blonde hair and a nice figure. She couldn't see any face, unfortunately.

Kol perks up, and reaches for the phone. Torunn hands it over with a "there's no face to see."

Kol looks at the picture and shrugs. "If I'm being completely honest, that ass is definitely one of ours."

Elijah looks over his shoulder and nods. "I agree, actually. And that's Niklaus' hair color, or it is as I last knew it."

Kol hands the phone over to Finn and Freya, who look at it with a critical eye. After a moment, they nod in unison.

"So Nik is in New Orleans?" Kol asks, clapping his hands together once. "That really narrows it down. No, really," he clarifies at the looks his siblings give him, "I'm not being sarcastic. He could've moved out of the country. He always said he wanted to go to Europe, and he's old enough that he could have gone if he really wanted to."

"Well, now we know he's here in America, more specifically New Orleans. It's a start."

There's a moment of silence, then Kol says, "I really thought he'd be here by now. Like, you know how he was. He clung onto us tighter than Mikael did to his bat." Freya and Elijah flinch, while Finn looks down at the table, an awful look in his eye. "Why isn't he here now? Why hasn't he come forward?"

Elijah speculates, "maybe it's because he feels we're better off without him. Father ingrained his supposed otherness so deep into his head that Niklaus would never refer to us all as 'us'. He confined once that if not for him feeling like the rest of us needed him around, he would have run away and left us be."

Freya, Finn, and Kol all look shocked. They start speaking over each other, questioning Elijah about this piece of their brother's psyche they never knew about.

Leif, Aerona, and Torunn watch on as their son/brother's children talk about what the abuse that was dished out did to their brother. And even though he was their son/brother, they're glad, in that moment, that he's gone.

4.4

A few days with the babies has told Klaus one thing - he's going to keep as many of them as he can. He has a feeling Davina is going to steal one, but he won't be giving any of them up easily, not even to her. She's the only one he's okay with his babies going to, even if it's only grudgingly.

The little white mini-me of Cami he named Hope, while the others were named Diego, Tim, Lexi, and Josh. Camille and Marcel had been in parent mode since he brought the babies home.

He's been spending his time since making sure they're growing properly and ignoring the development of the Mikaelson Manhunt. He's noticed that Kol and Elijah made their ways to New York City, just to see their older siblings. Must be nice to have that kind of money, he muses. And time, he adds, as he's helping Camille get out of the box the cats are all in and looking at the clock, which tells him he's going to be late to work.

"Shit…." He gathers his wallet and keys quickly, and leaves with a pat to both Hayley and Tyler's heads.

Calling Davina leads to her voicemail usually, but this time, she answers, thank god. "Davina, hi. I need you to check on my pets today. Whenever you get the chance, please."

"It's my day off, so I'll just stay until you get home and eat all of your food," she teases. He grins, and dodges several people as he makes his way down the street.

"As payment, I assume?" She hums in agreement. "How about no. You get to play with the dogs and make sure they don't eat the kittens. That's payment enough."

"Cami had her kittens?" Davina squeals. Cami had been Davina's for a while, but then Davina had moved to an apartment that didn't allow pets, so she had gone to Klaus. Davina doesn't see her much anymore, but she still keeps up with her.

"Yes, she did, but you can't have them."

"Aww, Klaus…."

"No." His tone is stern, but he's smiling widely at their banter. Davina is his only friend, his only real one, at least. Sophie and Lucien never make him laugh when he goes out to sell to them. Davina is always trying to cheer him up.

"At least one, you can part with one, can't you?"

"No."

"Oh come on, Klaus. You can't have six cats. That makes you the newest old cat lady of the French Quarter."

Teasing, he replies, "you're absolutely right. I can't have six, I can have seven."

"Ugh!" She barks. "When I come over, I'm stealing one in my bra and you can't do anything about it."

"Okay, I could if I wanted to, seeing as we've long established that you are of legal age. And if you take one, then have fun dealing with Cami, and also bottle feeding the poor animal until it's big enough for solid food. Now, I have to go to work, so I'm going to end the call. But there better be five kittens when I get home."

He smirks when she sourly says, "whatever," just like every other teenager alive.

Once work is over, he trudges his way back home, expecting that she's stolen one or is making up a campaign that'll get him to hand over one of his babies.

What he finds instead is Davina, sitting on his couch, eating his leftovers, and watching his TV. And she's let Tyler onto the couch.

He closes the door loud enough that she jumps, and gives her the Mikaelson Family Eyebrow of Incredulity. He probably should have forgotten that stupid nickname for the shared family facial expression, but he's clung to the weirdest things from his childhood.

She grins sheepishly, and gently pushes Tyler off the couch. He grumbles and clip-clops over to his bed.

"Sit down," she offers, scooting over and waving towards his couch.

"Oh wow, Davina, thank you so much for allowing me to sit on my own furniture. Are you going to let me eat my own food, too? Wow." He plops down as he speaks, and makes sure that Davina has very little room.

"Smartass."

"Well, now you've done it," he rolls his eyes. "I can see I'm not welcomed here in my house, so I'll just be going." He stands like he's really going to leave, but Marcel runs into his legs like he's protesting it. "Fine, fine. I'll sit. Are you happy now, cat?" Marcel meows his answer, then purrs loudly when Klaus reaches down to scratch his ears.

Davina watches it all with a smile. "He's got you wrapped around his little paw, doesn't he?"

Klaus just nods. Davina laughs.

After a moment, she reminds him, "I'll be taking one of the babies when I go."

"No, you won't be. You won't claim one as yours, you won't do anything. I'm their keeper, and what I say goes." He's a little angry sounding, he realizes after he's finished talking. He sighs at himself.

Davina gives him a look that could melt steel. "And why exactly are you so adamant about this? It's just one cat, Klaus. Just one freakin' kitten."

"Why? Because I won't sit around and let them be separated. They belong together, and taking them away from each other would be like ripping them limb from limb."

She gapes at him for a moment. He's said too much. He stands, ready to grab her and throw her out, when she whispers, "is Klaus short for something?" He clenches his jaw. "Is it short for Niklaus?"

He glares at her, not unlike how he had when they first met, her a grumpy sixteen year old who was going through tough times, and him an angry 23 year old who was feeling major depression. "Is that any of your business?" He snaps.

She gasps. "You're - It - He's - "

"Time to go now," he interrupts, and grabs her by the bicep. He's done this before, when she was drunk and sad and threatening to puke on Hayley, so he knows how to be gentle but firm.

Davina still recoils like he's dragged her off the couch by her hair. "Why haven't you called it in, you idiot? Why haven't you connected with them?"

He opens the door, and pushes her out. "Just leave. Thanks for watching them, but just go."

She smacks the door open before he can slam it shut in her face. He pushes on it, making them end up in a test of strength. She's spitting mad, her nose is scrunched up and she's glaring daggers at him. "I'm going to call you in," she threatens.

"Call me in to what? I have no idea what you're talking about," he says through his teeth.

"I'm going to call Leif Trulsson and tell him your address and phone number."

It takes a moment, but her face when she speaks shows none of her tells. Her tone isn't enough to cement her sincerity, but her face being stone cold sober and her tone together tell him something. She is completely serious.

He stops pushing on the door, and she stumbles forward.

Eyes wide, he asks, "what do you want from me?"

Smirking smugly, she responds, "I want two of your kittens."

7.2

Henry watches the reunion of Elijah and Kol with tears in his eyes. He's not the only wet eye in the house - he can clearly see Joanna and Kyle wiping away tears. Even the professor seems emotional.

The professor gives everyone a moment, then turns off the video. "Alright everyone, we need to get cracking to our real-life case study. Henry, we think we've made a breakthrough. Can you jog our memories of what you remember?"

He's done this four times now. Still, he stands to do the tedious task. "I was the youngest of more than five siblings, we lived in Virginia but I'm not sure where, my name wasn't Henry, and my mother died around the tenth of May, 1996." He sits back down before anyone can needle him with questions he doesn't know the answer to.

"Alright. Thank you, Henry. Everyone, please take a look at the materials I've sent to you…"

Henry tunes the professor out, remembering Emily's voice telling him how this was all creepy. He doesn't agree, exactly - it's not creepy, it's just a little annoying.

He can't recall the last time he came to class and it wasn't spent researching leads to his family.

He used to love this class, but now it's wearing on him. Especially with the Mikaelson Manhunt gaining traction all around the world, and becoming big news.

He sighs, and pushes the thoughts out of his mind. He'll have to talk about why he's feeling so exhausted of researching his family with his Mom, when they get back. Until then, he'll have to settle for only passively looking through the adoption records.