Sinners and Saints

Chapter 3


Niklaus

I emerged from my room and headed out into the common area. I marched into the dining room to see Elijah sitting down at the table reading the newspaper. He wore a happy glow.

"You are up rather early," I remarked.

"I am up early often, Brother," he said not even bothering to look in my direction.

"But not usually after being up so late entertaining guests."

"Enough with the games, Niklaus. I will not let you sour my mood. So why don't we cut to the chase?! What exactly are you getting at?"

"You know full well what I'm getting at!" I snapped.

"No, I truly don't."

"You are trying to bed Giselle!" I accused.

"I can assure you that I'm doing no such thing. Even if I was, why exactly would that concern you in any way?" He asked curiously.

"We don't know her. We don't know if we can trust her."

"How can we do that if we don't spend time with her? Just give her a chance."

"Does she know what we are, Elijah?" I asked him. He lowered his paper to look at me.

"She seems very aware that we are original vampires, although that shouldn't be a surprise. Cami knows and the O'Connell's have been very involved in the whole vampire, werewolf, witch saga. She doesn't seem at all bothered by it. Now I think we owe Cami the courtesy of accepting her cousin for the duration of her stay, however long that may be. Giselle seems very close to her heart and it would probably mean a lot to her if we don't drive off what's left of her family. Please just get to know her." I knew that Elijah was right but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of telling him that.

"I'll try to get to know her but i'll let you know right now that I do not trust her. She's hiding something, I can feel it."

"People are allowed to have secrets."

"Not around here they aren't!"

"What can't people have around here?" Freya asked as she entered the room with a smile. She was always way to perky in the morning for my liking.

"Niklaus says that people can't have any secrets," he informed her. She laughed with gusto.

"That's funny coming from you, Klaus. You are the most secretive one of all of us. What brought on this conversation?"

"Cami's cousin, Giselle, has come to town for an extended stay. He's convinced that we can't trust her."

"Oh, Klaus, you worry too much. If she doesn't give you a reason not to trust her, maybe it's worth trusting her. Cami trusts her after all, right?," our big sister lectured.

"She's hiding something! Her reason for returning to the quarter might not really be Cami. She might be up to something and her intentions may not be a true as you think they are!" I argued.

"This extreme paranoia will do you no good, Klaus. Cut the girl a break."

"Thanks, Freya, that's what I've been trying to tell him." I hated when these two teamed up on me.

"You've got to admit that it is strange that we couldn't find Cami for two days and then Giselle just finds her within a few hours!" I retorted.

"She knows Cami incredibly well and knew where she might go. That's family not suspicious. It wasn't like she fought off an army of wolves!" he said with a laugh.

"For all we know, she did!" I growled.

"You are impossible, Brother."

"Oh piss off!"

"Is Giselle the woman who I could hear talking out in the courtyard last night?" our sister asked with a playful curiosity.

"Yes it was. She's very charming and witty. You would like her, Freya."

"We should have her and Cami over for dinner some time soon. It would be nice for all of us to get together for a meal like a real family," she added.

"That would be nice. I'll make sure to mention it to them," Elijah replied chipper.

"Fantastic, while we're at it I'll be sure to invite Hayley and her husband!" I said venomously, just trying to make Elijah squirm. I walked out of the room not waiting for a response.


Giselle

"How are you feeling today?"

"Good, I guess. I didn't think that Klaus would freak out on me like that," Cami said stirring her coffee. We were having breakfast and coffee at a quaint little bistro in the quarter. A perfect start to our time together.

"He does seem to be a bit of a hot head...at least according to Elijah."

"When did he say that?" She asked with a confused expression.

"Oh, I stayed for awhile after you left and had a few drinks with him," I said casually. It truly wasn't a big deal.

"Huh..."

"Was that not okay?"

"No, no. It's fine. I'm just surprised, usually you aren't the most social person."

"A lot has changed since we last inhabited the same city, Cam. First of all, we are adults now and not a couple of awkward children! Second, both of my parents are dead, I have no siblings, and Julian and I broke off the engagement...so I'm more social now...I kind of have to be unless I want to be a hermit."

"I'm sorry, Giselle. That was insensitive of me. I should have considered that-"

"No need to apologize, I'm fine.

"Good... So you enjoyed your time over there?" She asked carefully. I stared at her for a second trying to get a read on her. I felt like she was dancing around something here.

"I did...Oh! Oh my gosh. Don't worry, nothing happened like that. It wasn't anything weird...just some conversation between two people. He's a very fascinating person!"

"He is. The whole lot of them are!"

"Well living one thousand years will do that. They have lived so many lifetimes," I said casually. Cami nearly spit her mouth full of coffee clear across the table.

"What did you just say?"

"They have lived a thousand years..."

"You know? Did they tell you?" She asked with wide eyes.

"I do know. I've known about their world for many years, Cam. Uncle Kieran and I had many talks about it over the past decade. He specifically asked me not to mention it to you. Like, he made me promise him. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You know how much I hate to keep things from you."

"I know you do. I just don't understand why he wouldn't want me to know? He was grooming Sean to inherit his position as head of the human faction and he'd been talking to you about it all along...Why single me out?" Guilt hit me like a ton of bricks I wanted to tell her everything but I just couldn't bring myself to.

"To protect you. He wanted you far away from here, from this life. He didn't want you playing with these beings. Uncle Kieran knew how dangerous it was in the Quarter. That's why he was so happy when you left Louisiana for college. He was happy that both of us were safely out of this city so we wouldn't be in the line of fire. Then you came back here. He tried everything he knew how to to keep you safe and sound."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. He knew of the three of us kids, you were the one with the best shot of staying out of this and having a normal life. He wanted better for you...for all of us. He thought he was doing right by Sean though. He wanted to follow Kieran's path into the faith so badly. Sean wanted to help people because that was just who he was. Kieran thought he was nurturing that part of him. Sean's death weighed so heavily on him because in his mind, it as his fault for putting his nephew in the line of fire. He was so crushed. So take his secrecy as a testament of how much he loved you because he wanted nothing more than to shield you from the ugly," I said softly, reaching across the table and squeezing her hand. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you...god I miss him."

"Me too, Cami. I miss both of them."

"The four of us were quite a crew...inseparable for a few years there. It's so weird not having them here anymore. To not be able to see them or call them..."

"The'd both be proud of you, you know. Like it or not, in a way you are carrying on a McConnell family tradition by getting involved in Vampire/witch business..." She laughed.

"Well one of these days it's going to get me killed!"

"Amen, Cam, amen."


Niklaus

Night fell on the city and I was out on the town. I was searching for the newest, blonde resident of the French Quarter. She wasn't at Cami's apartment or at Rousseau's. Since I had no idea where she'd decided to live, I was forced to go on a search. Now I just strolled down the street hoping to catch sight of her. After nearly 45 minutes of searching, I spotted the blonde scurry out of a bar in a little black dress and a leather jacket. A tall brunette man attempted to drape an arm around her. She rebuffed him but the man wasn't taking the hint.

"Hey asshole!" I called out to him.

"Fuck off man, I'm busy," he spat gesturing to Giselle.

"I don't think you understand. She's coming with me."

"Listen, pal, this doesn't concern you." I stepped towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. I looked deep into his eyes to compel him.

"You are going to apologize to her and then you are going to leave this woman alone. You are going to go home immediately and go to bed because you are a drunken asshole. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good." I let go of his shirt. "Move along then."

"I'm sorry. Goodnight," he said sheepishly before practically running away.

"Thank you, Niklaus."

"It's my pleasure...although I do have my own motives," I admitted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, I would like a word with you."

"Uh, okay. Is everything alright?" she asked a bit nervously as we began to walk.

"Everything is fine. Just wanted a little chat, that's all."

"Want to go into Mac's for this chat?" she asked gesturing to the bar up ahead.

"Sure, why not?" She lead the way into Mac's.

"You grab a table and I'll grab a round." I was a little surprised by her take charge attitude. People didn't usually behave that way towards me. I went to grab a table as instructed. She returned to the table and set down a glass in front of me.

"Thanks."

"So, what did you want to discuss?"

"Call it curiosity but I wanted to know how you found Cami so easily yesterday." She took a drink.

"I went to Cami's place and saw a picture of us as kids. Then I remembered that when we were kids and she'd run away, she always wound up at Grandma O'Connell's. So I went there and sure as shit, She was there. Boom! Secret's out!"

"Seriously? That's it?"

"Yep. Simple as that...are you mad that you couldn't be her night in shining armor?" She teased.

"Of course not! I just didn't understand how you did it," I mumbled.

"Relax, will ya? Drink a little, let loose for once." I smirked as I raised the glass to my lips.

"I can have fun."

"I'll believe it when I see it!" she challenged. "Now come on, lets play darts."

"Darts? You want me to play darts?"

"Hell yeah. It'll be fun. Come on!" She grabbed her drink and walked over to the now vacant dart board. Once again I followed her lead, baffled by her charm. "Here," she said handing me a set of three darts.

After a quick refresher, we began to play.

"So how am I doing?" I asked her with a grin. I knew I had to be playing rather dreadfully. She took a big chug of her drink.

"You aren't the worst player I've ever seen. It's nice to know there is some things vamps can't do well," she teased. I laughed heartily. I couldn't believe I was actually enjoying myself.

"Give it time! I'll master this. You just wait!"

"I'll be waiting!...so, can I ask you something?"

"Okay. Ask away." I stopped and looked at her seriously.

"What's it like to live a thousand years?" She asked with wild eyes, her curiosity in full swing. Nobody had ever asked me that question before. I was quiet a moment, pondering my answer.

"It's quite a roller coaster really. You live through so many world events. Inevitably, you have to travel around a lot to conceal your immortality. You meet countless people. You make many friends and even more enemies. You'll find people you love and lose them...people die...people try to kill you. Trust me, it's not for the faint of heart, Giselle."

"I believe it. It must be hard to handle at times."

"I can assure you there's nothing I can't handle," I said with a sly grin. I was met with a smile from her plump lips.

"There's the confidence I was expecting..."

"I believe it is my turn to ask a question."

"That seems fair. Ask away, Nik," she decided, throwing in a nickname evidently. Her gumption keeps surprising me at every turn.

"Why are you really back in the Quarter?" I asked, looking into her eyes. I wanted her to tell me the truth so I could put my paranoia to bed...or at least catch her in a lie. Either way I'd be able to settle this in my mind.

"I'm here to be with Cami. I was telling you the truth when I ran into you and Elijah outside of Rousseau's the other day, I did come here because I was worried about Cami. She's struggling. Kieran called me the day Cami started figuring out this world. He urged me to get through to her...to convince her that she needed to come live with me. I wanted her to make her own choices...she needed to be the one to decide what kind of life she wanted to live."

"So you let her stay."

"Yeah, I kept out of it. But since she found out about this...she has these days when she'll run away out to Grandma McConnell's with stories of a new adventures. She freaks out from time to time because this life is dangerous and insane, you know that better than anyone."

"I do. But that doesn't explain exactly why you are here," I pointed out.

"I'm getting to that!" she laughed, whacking me in the arm playfully.

"Hey! Fine. Get on with it!"

"As for me moving back. I grew up here. This place always felt like my home. With all of the death that have hit my family in the past ten years: Sean, Kieran, my father, my uncle, my aunt... it really made me think long and hard about my life and how I'd like to live it. I finally decided that if I was going to make the most of my time on this earth, I wanted to be with the person who means the most to me..."

"Cami."

"Yes, Cami. She is this sister I never had and always wanted. If she wants to be here in the hotbed of trouble, I'm going to be right along side her," she declared, finishing up her drink.

"That's a sentiment I can appreciate," I said softly, thinking fondly of my siblings. We'd followed each other through hell for the sake of family.

"I do hear that the Mikaelson clan is infamous for that as well."

"You'd be right. It's worth it."

"I guess we are cut from a similar cloth then, Niklaus."

"And here I thought we'd have nothing in common!" I teased. It was incredibly clear that her response to my question was genuine but I couldn't quite shake the small voice in my head that told me she was still hiding something.

"Another round?"she asked happily.

"Why not!"

"Alright, I'll be right back. Don't you go anywhere, Mr. Mikaelson," Giselle warned before heading to the bar.


Thank you all for take the time to read Sinners and Saints! I hope you'll stick with me and keep reading to see what shenanigans Giselle brings forth to The Originals! Comments and feedback are appreciated! This is my first Originals Fanfic so take it easy on me :)