"Hope, you aren't going, and that is it!" Auntie Bex cried loudly her palms slamming down against their dinner table so hard that the legs fell out from underneath it.

"It's not fair!" Hope cried back not the least bit fazed by the destruction, "All my friends are going!"

"Well you aren't, forget the fact that you are far too young, it is too dangerous for you to be running off on your own." Auntie Bex said sternly.

"I'm thirteen, Aunt Bekah!" Hope said firmly crossing her arms over her chest, "I am not too young to go to the beach with my friends and then spend the night at one of their houses."

"That beach is four hours away, I don't know any of your friends, and you are not going, Hope Mikaelson."

"Oh yeah, and who's going to stop me?"

Auntie Bex raised her eyebrows at her bold choice of words and stepped forward, "You take one step out of this house, without me, on Saturday, and I promise you Hope, you're going to be in a whole world of hurt."

Hope frowned blinking back the tears that were forming quickly. She couldn't help it, Hope didn't cry when she was sad, she cried when she was angry, she didn't know why, but the second someone pissed her off, it was all over.

"I thought you said my father didn't want me to be a prisoner," Hope said quietly before turning on her heel and making her way to her bedroom, but not before she missed the taken aback look on her aunt's face.

It was a low blow, but Hope knew better, her aunt was expecting her to say something worse, about how she wasn't her mother or something of that nature, but that wasn't in Hope's nature. She didn't want to hurt her aunt, she just wanted to let her go.

Hope pushed the covers to her bed back and slipped in, not bothering to take off her jeans, or her sneakers. She was just tired, she was tired of being scared all the time, she was tired of being careful all the time, she just wanted to do something for once, that had nothing to do with trying to keep herself alive, she wanted to do something stupid.

She wasn't sure how long she laid there, but it must have been a while, because she woke up to her Auntie Bex walking into the room. She must not have realized Hope was awake though because her movements were quiet – like she was trying not to wake her.

Hope kept her eyes closed as her Auntie Bex placed a covered plate of whatever she had made her for breakfast on her nightstand, pull of Hope's shoes, and jeans, before carefully tucking her covers back around her.

"I don't want you to feel like you're a prisoner, my sweet girl," Auntie Bex said quietly bending down at the side of her bed and running a hand through Hope's hair like she had done when Hope was a child, and couldn't fall asleep, "And there is nothing I want more than for you to be with your friends, and do reckless things, but right now, my darling, we don't have room in our lives to be reckless."

Hope wasn't sure if her aunt knew she was awake or not, but she made sure to keep her breathing adjusted, because her best guess was that her aunt thought she was still asleep.

"One day you're going to do something incredibly reckless, and no one will give it a thought because you won't be in any danger. You'll be safe. But until then I need you to just keep holding out, just for a little while, if not for me then for your parents. I know there are things you want, Hope, but there are things your mother and father want for you as well, and I think we owe them enough to try and stay out of trouble."

Auntie Bex sighed as she stood up and kissed Hope's head for a long Mument, before exiting the room in the same quiet and fast manner than she had entered in.

Hope sighed as soon as her aunt was on the other side of the house, and turned over to her back. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep, not when she was so restless. Hope stared at the door of her bedroom, gripping at her blanket tightly, telling herself not to do it, she had heard her Auntie Bex, and while she had never truly been in trouble before, she was trying to convince herself that she didn't want to find out what would happen when she was.

'Screw it,' Hope thought throwing off the covers in an extremely quiet movement, 'She was going to do something stupid, and reckless, and nothing was going to happen. She was going to be fine. The witches thought she was dead, there was no one actively hunting her, there was nothing dangerous about going out.'

She grabbed a pair of black short shorts that she usually wore to sleep, and pulled them on. She glanced at her white tank top, and figured she would be fine – it wasn't like she could get cold anyway, and with one last glance at her closed door, and a silently whispered apology to her aunt, she pushed open her bedroom window, and jumped.

Hope landed gracefully on the tips of her toes, and then she was running. Faster than she ever had before, and she was laughing, maybe she was even crying. She wasn't sure, all she knew was that racing into the forest that surrounded the back of their neighborhood had made her feel more alive than she had in the past thirteen years.

She wasn't sure how long she ran, or where she had run to but by the time she finally stopped, the sun was starting to set, and she was literally in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely no idea how she had gotten there.

Hope closed her eyes as she realized the problem, she was lost, totally and completely lost, there was no way for her to figure out where she had come from, because she had literally run everywhere – her scent was everywhere, and she had already been gone for hours. And as if that wasn't enough, Hope had jumped into water as well, and as soon as her body had hit the water, her scent had been washed off.

Her Auntie Bex most definitely knew she was gone, but more than that she had absolutely no way of finding her.

Hope breathed slowly, she had to calm down, she was a vampire, a vampire, werewolf, witch hybrid, and she could figure this out. But she was also a barefoot, barely dressed, thirteen year old who had absolutely no idea where she was, and in her desire to make a stupid decision, had probably made the worst mistake of her entire life.

Hope glanced around, she was in some kind of small town, but that was all she could gather at the Mument. She eyed the sign to what looked like a small convenience store, and slowly started to make her way over it, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so, wishing she had the brilliant idea to put on some actual clothes besides her tank top and tiny shorts.

But then again, if Hope had even the slightest bit of intelligence, she wouldn't have gone and run off in the first place. What had she been hoping to achieve by doing so? She knew she wasn't going to get to go on Saturday, and now she had just made the situation ten times worse for herself.

"Can I borrow a phone, please?" Hope asked the old man who was sitting behind the counter smoking a cigarette. Hope wondered if that was even legal.

"Its fifty pence a minute," The man nodded towards the payphone that was tucked into the corner of the shop.

Hope sighed and got onto the tips of her toes, making eye contact with the man before speaking clearly, "You will give me two pounds to make my phone call."

As if in a daze, the man opened the register, and pulled out two pounds, and held them out to her. With a sheepish smile, Hope took the coins and made her way to the back of the shop, where she immediately slipped the coins into the slot, and dialed her Auntie Bex number.

"Come on, come on, come on," Hope said under her breath as the phone continued to ring and ring. Why the hell wasn't she picking up the phone?

When the phone finally ran out of money without her Auntie Bex picking up, Hope slammed it back into the cradle so hard that the machine broke, causing Hope to curse. Great, now not only was she lost, but she had compelled two pounds out an old man, and then proceeded to destroy his shop.

"You'll forget I did that," Hope compelled the man once again before exiting the shop, and looking around once again trying to find out what to do. It was now nearly dark outside, and Hope couldn't help the panic that was filling her body. She had never been on her own like this before, never.

"Hello beautiful."

Hope turned around to find a man – the kind of man that never had good intentions – looking her up and down, and for what must have been the millionth time that night, Hope hated herself for her choice in attire.

"Hello," She said curtly before turning on her heel and walking away. She could easily overpower the man, but she had a bad habit of freezing when she was frightened, and if she wasn't frightened right now than she had absolutely no idea what she was.

"Oh come now love, don't be like that. I just want to have a little chat."

Hope flinched as she sped up slightly, but not enough to make the man think she was afraid. Hope didn't know much about being by herself – if her Auntie Bex was here the man wouldn't have even been breathing anymore – but she did know a couple things about being alone, and the most important rule was don't look vulnerable. Though she figured at the Mument she looked like the poster child for vulnerability.

"Have a good night," Hope said easily as she made a beeline for the next street that was illuminated with lights. That was rule number two, stay where you can easily be seen.

"Oh I'm sure we'll have a great night together beautiful in my-"

Whatever the man was saying was cut off by a quick cry, a snap, and then the sound of a body dropping. Hope froze in her tracks and ever so slowly turned around praying that that was her Auntie Bex and she had somehow managed to find her.

Hope couldn't have been more wrong.

"Hope Mikaelson," The man's voice was deadly, and strangely calm, his eyes – identical to her own – illuminated with anger, as he took a step away from the man he had just killed, "You are in so much trouble, little girl."

"Daddy," Hope breathed.

This had to be him, this just had to be. He knew her name, and he had her eyes, and she was positive that if he smiled – which she was also positive was something she most definitely hadn't earned from him – a set of dimples would reveal themselves in his cheeks, and his hair was curlier than her waves, but nevertheless similar.

And despite the fact that he had just killed a man, and despite the fact that he was looking at her like there was nothing he wanted to do more than beat some sense into her, Hope took off running, but not away from him, rather towards him.

It was only seconds later when she collided roughly into his strong chest, her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, and her arms around his neck, her head burying itself in the crook of his neck that fit her so perfectly as if it was made for her.

And she sobbed. She sobbed for every moment she hadn't gotten with her dad, she sobbed for every moment she hadn't gotten with her Mum, she sobbed for every bit of panic she hadn't realized she had been feeling till the relief of her dad's presence filled her, she sobbed for every moment that had led her to this, and she sobbed at the anger she could literally feel radiating off of her dad, despite the fact that his arms were wrapped tightly around her, one arm around her waist, and the other under her bum, holding her up, making sure she didn't fall.

She could tell that she had disappointed him, and she couldn't think of anything worse she could have done in the entire world. Even disappointing her Auntie Bex, hell even disappointing her Mum, wouldn't have made her feel as terrible as this. And for that reason Hope couldn't contain the sobs that racked her body.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," She managed to gasp out between sobs, "I'm so sorry."

"Shh, sweetheart," He soothed despite the fact that he still sounded angry, "We'll talk about it soon enough."

And then Hope cried harder, she didn't want to talk about it, because she had a feeling that if she talked about it with her dad, everything would come spilling out, the unhappiness, the frustration, and she didn't want to sound ungrateful, she didn't want to sound like a brat, not to her dad.

"You're angry with me," Hope said sniffling when her tears had finally died down, though she still hadn't pulled away – so her voice was muffled from his jacket.

"Well I'm definitely not pleased with you," He said gently putting her down, "What on earth were you thinking?"

Hope looked down at her bare feet with the common sense to look contrite as he glared at her, "I guess I wasn't really."

"No," Her dad said sternly, "You weren't thinking at all. And what the hell are you wearing? You're thirteen, Hope."

This time she had the decency to blush, "Their sleep clothes."

"And do you make a habit of going around in your sleep clothes?" He asked in an annoyed tone as he pulled off his leather jacket that she hadn't really noticed he was wearing, and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her arms through the sleeves of it.

She hugged it closer to her body as her dad bent down so his eye level was slightly lower than hers – why was she so short?

He raised his eyebrows making Hope realize that he was actually expecting an answer.

"No."

"No?" He repeated, "What about your feet? Do you make a habit of not wearing shoes?"

"No," She said once again, "I just…"

Hope trailed off as her dad finished her sentence.

"Wasn't thinking."

"Yes."

Her dad looked at her for a second before shaking his head, and standing up, "Let's go, you must be hungry."

"I'm okay," Hope said quietly as he began walking causing her to do the same.

Her dad stopped and gave her a look that made Hope immediately clamp her mouth shut, suddenly finding herself starving.

"What do you like?" He asked as they set off again.

"Anything," Hope said slowly as the realization hit her hard once again, this was her dad, she was finally with her dad.

"I'm not some kind of god, Hope," He said gruffly when he noticed that she was stumbling over her own feet because she was staring at him, "In fact I'm the complete opposite, so you don't have to look at me like that."

"You saved me," She said quietly.

"That isn't why you are looking at me like that," Her dad said, "And we both know you could have saved yourself from that man."

"And if I couldn't?" Hope challenged.

"Well I was there, wasn't I?"

"How did you know I was here?" Hope asked as they entered a diner a blast of cold air hitting her, causing her to pull her dad's jacket tighter around her. If it wasn't for the fact that he was standing right next to her, and it would have been creepy, Hope would have inhaled deeply, the leather jacket smelled amazing, it smelled like her dad.

"What would you like?" He ignored her handing her a menu.

"Do I have to eat?" Hope asked carefully figuring she'd try again, she was too nervous to eat.

"Do you really want to do this with me right now?"

Hope internally winced, her dad wasn't playing any games, he was pissed at her, and unfortunately Hope knew that he had a good reason to be. Briefly, she wondered if this is what Auntie Bex had in mind when she had promised Hope 'a whole world of hurt.'

Because she couldn't think of a single thing that could hurt more than having her dad both angry and disappointed with her.

"No," She said quietly as she briefly scanned the menu and then asked him hesitantly, "Can I just get a plate of chips? I'm really not hungry."

He looked her over for a second as if deeming her state of hunger for himself, before nodding and getting up from the table – that was tucked into the back of the diner where they weren't visible to anyone else – to give her order.

Hope sighed as she leaned her head against the wall, tucking her legs underneath her bum. She was exhausted, she wasn't hungry so much as she was exhausted, she had absolutely no energy, and she wasn't even sure she was going to be able to keep her eyes open long enough to have the conversation that she really didn't want to have with her dad.

He was back minutes later with an empty glass, and her plate of chips. Hope watched with fascination as her dad bit into his hand, and filled the cup with his own blood, before pushing that towards her as well.

"You're going to finish both," He said leaving no room for her to argue.

"How did you know where I was?" Hope asked again.

He pointed at the food.

Hope sighed and picked up two chips biting into both of them at the same time.

"Rebekah called in an absolute panic once you had disappeared, her witch's locater spell wouldn't work on you for some reason, and your scent disappeared a long while back. Your Mum, Uncle Elijah, and I were the only other people who knew your scent."

"How did you get here so quickly?"

"You've been missing an entire day," He said disapprovingly causing her to glance away and stuff some more chips into her mouth.

"Does Auntie Bex know I'm with you?"

Her dad nodded.

"Is she mad?"

"She's furious."

"What about Mummy?" Hope asked carefully unsure if she really wanted to know or not.

"She's not happy with you, but she's more just glad that you're safe."

Hope exhaled, as she took another chip, that was good, she didn't need two parents who she had never met ready to dagger her just so she wouldn't do something stupid again.

"Don't be so pleased with yourself, I don't think I've ever been so angry with anyone in my entire life, and that is saying something, Hope."

"I know I know I messed up," She said quickly.

"That's a bit of an understatement, love."

"It wasn't fair though!" Hope cried unable to hold back the dam of words, maybe it was because she wasn't sure the next time she would see him, or maybe it was because being around her dad was like drinking a truth serum, she was suspecting the latter, but she let the words escape from her mouth.

"I don't get to do anything, ever, Daddy! And I know it's to keep me safe, I know! But if I'm going to be a prisoner with Auntie Bex in London, then I'd rather just be a prisoner with you, Mummy, Uncle Elijah, and Auntie Bex in New Orleans!"

"Oh Princess," He sighed as some of the anger left his features – though not all of it, "Come here."

Hope slid out of her side of the booth, and into his, and allowed him to pull her into his chest, her legs folding underneath her bum, on his lap.

"Sweetheart, you are not a prisoner," He said quietly running a hand through her hair, "You are free, my littlest wolf, you are free to run, and you are free to play, and you are free to be thirteen. But that's just it, you are only thirteen. So the running off, the clothing choice, the pure stupidity of this, the situations you put yourself in, none of those things are acceptable."

"I know," She said just as quietly.

"Do you, Hope?" He asked sternly pulling away so they could look at each other with identical eyes, "Or do I need to think up an actual punishment so this behavior doesn't ever happen again? Because I promise you I can, and I promise you it will be far worse than anything Rebekah dreams up."

"No sir," Hope said both seriously and quickly, "I promise."

"Never again?"

"Never again." She repeated.

"Then all is forgiven, my littlest wolf." He smiled for the first time at her revealing dimples identical to her own as he kissed her forehead.

"Daddy?" Hope asked as she crawled off his lap, only to sit down next to him, tucking her head on his shoulder, "When can I come home?"

"As soon as it's safe," He continued on as she opened her mouth to protest, "I know that's not the answer you want to hear, Hope, but that is all I have for you."

"What if I don't want to be safe?" She looked at him, "What if I don't care?"

"Well that's the thing isn't it, love?" Her dad smiled gently, "It's not your choice. I'm the parent, and your safety is the only priority, you don't get an opinion, not when it's about your safety."

"I can help," Hope insisted, "I'm strong, I can do – I don't know what I can do, but I know I can help. I'll do much more good in New Orleans than I will in London."

"Hope," Her dad lost his smile and his voice became stern once again, "This isn't up for discussion. You'll stay in London with your Aunt Rebekah, and if you want to argue with me over this more, then we can revisit the discussion about consequences for your actions."

Hope clamped her mouth shut as she realized that her Auntie Bex was right, her dad didn't take shit from anyone, and that was including from herself, the only difference was that Hope had much more leeway than others, and she figured that any punishment her dad gave her wouldn't include killing her or hurting her in any manner.

"Finish your food," He sighed, "And drink that."

Hope groaned but pulled the food, and the glass over to her, and began biting into the chips once again. They sat in silence as she finished eating, before she glanced at the cup of blood, and then at her dad with a pleading expression.

She usually always had a cup of blood a day, it curbed the vampire in her, while actual food curbed the werewolf and witch, however it also had this way of filling her up, and she usually had it as a meal. She really wasn't hungry at all, and all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed, and go to sleep.

The instant she looked at him, she could tell that she wouldn't be getting up from the table without finishing the cup, but instead of the stern tone she had been expecting, he picked up the cup, and gave her a smile.

"Come on, love," He held it out, "Just one cup, and we'll call it a day, alright?"

"But I don't want it," She pushed her luck when he didn't show any signs of anger.

"I also didn't want to get a phone call this morning telling me my daughter had run off into god knows what kind of danger."

Hope glared at him; that was a low blow.

"Alright, I'm sorry," He conceded, "But you do need to drink this."

"Are you sure?"

"Look at your feet, Hope."

Hope made a face at the oddness of the statement, but nevertheless looked down at the bottom of her feet. She frowned, they were cut up, and covered in dried blood, they hadn't healed from all the running she had done, that had never happened before.

"Right now your vampire side is being curbed," He explained, "Blood will help that, and in turn you will heal yourself."

"But then I only need a sip right?"

"You know if Rebekah had told me you were so whiny, I would've just shoved my wrist into your throat the second we got here."

Hope blushed at her father's teasing statement, but gently placed her hand around the one her dad had around the cup, and drew it to her lips. And with a shut of her eyes, and quick sips, she downed the cup before letting go of it, allowing her dad to pull it away from her.

The effect was instantaneous, her feet that she hadn't realized were hurting till they weren't healed, her exhaustion immediately wore off mostly, and all around she just felt better. She wasn't sure if she was happy or not that her dad was right.

He gave her smile like he knew exactly what she was debating.

"Come on sweetheart," He ushered her out of the booth, "Let's get you home."

"Here."

Hope stared at the vial of blood that her dad offered her after she had changed her clothes and slipped into her bed in confusion. She had literally just drank a whole cup of blood; what did she need more for?

"What's this?"

Her dad sighed as he looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite decipher but could tell that it didn't mean anything good.

"Do you know what white oak is, Hope?"

"It's the only thing that can kill an, Original," Hope said slowly unsure of where this was going, "The only thing that can kill us."

"There was one white oak stake left, we burned it, but kept the ashes. This vile contains some of the ashes of the oak."

"And you want me to drink that?" Hope furrowed her eyebrows, "You want me to drink something that could kill me?"

"It's not going to kill you, love," He explained, "It won't hurt you at all, you won't even feel any different."

"Then why do you want me to drink that?"

"Because it will weaken you, even though you won't be able to tell, it will weaken you just for a little while."

Hope stared at her dad for a long moment trying to figure out why her dad would want her to drink something that would make her weaker – however temporarily – before the realization hit her like a bus.

"No," She shook her head pushing the vial back into his hand, "Absolutely not, I won't take it."

"You don't have a choice, Hope," He said sadly.

"Yes I do!" Hope cried vehemently, "I am not a child anymore, I'm not a baby, you don't get to make my decisions for me, not anymore! I get a say in this, and I say no."

"We talked about this, my littlest wolf, yes you do get a say, and you are old enough to be part of making decisions about your own life, but not when it comes to your safety."

"And this," She cried pointing at the vial, "Weakening me, so you can compel me to forget that I met you tonight, how does that keep me safe? I can keep my mouth shut, Daddy, you can trust me!"

"Hope," He said placing a hand on her face as she began crying again, "This isn't a matter of trust. This is about leaving no room for error, no loopholes, the only way no one will ever know that you are my daughter, is if you yourself don't know that you are my daughter."

"But I do know," She sniffed quietly already sensing her own defeat, "Even if you compel me, I will still know what I always knew, my parents are two people that made stupid decisions, and now they are cleaning up the mess they made so I can come back home."

"And that could be any two people in the world," He said giving her a sad smile, "I promise you, Hope, if you are not with me and your mama in New Orleans by the time you are sixteen, I'll let your Auntie Bex tell you some more about the two of us. I let her tell you about how I am the Original Hybrid, I'll let her tell you about your mama, but you need to just trust that for now this is what's best."

"I don't want to forget," She whispered miserably.

"I know you don't, my littlest wolf, I don't want you to forget either."

"No," Hope shook her head finding his eyes once again, "I don't want to forget that you love me."

"Do you ever doubt that?"

"Sometimes," She whispered the terrible truth, "Sometimes I think that Auntie Bex just tells me that my parents left me with her to keep me safe because she doesn't want me to know that my parents didn't want me."

"Hope Mikaelson, if you ever say something that foolish again…" Her dad trailed off but the implication of the words were clear.

She wasn't to think something that stupid, ever again.

"Come on, love," He said wiping at her tears, "Close your eyes."

Hope did so, and didn't hesitate when the cool glass of the vial tilted into her mouth, and simply down the contents.

They were silent as Hope laid down into her bed, and her dad pulled the covers up under her chin, and he sat down on the floor so they eye level.

"I love you, Daddy," Hope whispered.

"I love you too, my littlest wolf," He promise, "Always and forever."

Hope sniffed and then nodded her blue eye finding her dad's identical ones for what she figured would be the last time in a very long time.

"You will forget today ever happened, when you wake all you will remember is your argument with your Aunt Rebekah. You will think through things before you make decisions in the future. When you wake up, you will do so with the knowledge that your Mama and Daddy love you. Go to sleep, Hope, have the sweetest of dreams."