"How dare you" said Niklaus while holding his sister's attacker against the wall. "How. Dare. You. …How dare you touch my sister, you pathetic waste of space." Nik was angry, angrier than he had ever been. Angrier than he had ever been at his mother and father combined. He had never felt this much anger. In one swift movement he ripped off Mark's right arm, causing blood to ooze out.

"Did you really think you would get away with hurting my sister" asked Elijah who was still standing next to Niklaus.

Nik slammed Mark into the ground. Mark started laughing manically.

"What brings you joy at a time like this" asked Elijah while his patience was running out.

"Oh. Nothing. It's just your sister tastes exquisite" said Mark while spitting out blood with a huge grin on his face.

Elijah rushed over to him and punched him, he heard his jaw break. Elijah didn't even bother rolling up his sleeves. He couldn't care less if there was blood on him.

"She tried to fight me off the whole time. She wouldn't give up" he continued laughing.

Elijah broke his legs.

"I nearly killed her - twice" Mark said with a grin.

"Enough!" yelled out Nik.

The two brothers exchanged a quick glance and proceeded to tear Mark to shreds. When they were done, all that was left was a puddle of blood.

"It's done" said Elijah.

"So it is"

They were both covered in blood. They should feel triumphant, they killed Rebekah's captor. But somehow, they knew killing Mark was not going to bring peace to their sister. They walked out of the dreaded house and made their way to the car. Elijah handed over to keys to his brother wordlessly and got into the passenger's seat. And with that they made the hour drive back home in silence.

… … … … …

When they arrived home they saw that was done to the living room, but decided not to comment.

"Is Bekah in her room?" asked Nik.

"Yes" said Kol simply.

A silence not often felt blanketed the room. A silence that screamed anger, pain, frustration. Elijah, Nik, and Kol just exchanged looks before going their separate ways for the moment.

… … … … …

"We need to figure out what we're going to do with Rebekah. We have obviously failed to protect her. We need to get her a protection detail" said Elijah to his brothers.

"I don't think Rebekah would like that. She can barely stand one of us having to accompany her everywhere, what do you think she'll have to say about having complete strangers following her around" said Nik.

"Does it matter what she thinks? She needs to be protected" said Kol.

…. …. …. …. ….

After some discussion they all came to an agreement. The mansion would now have guards at every entrance; there would be security cameras all over the grounds in case anyone wanted to trespass, and Rebekah would now have guards with her at all times. Her brother's hearts were in the right place but there was no way of prediction Rebekah's thoughts to this new rule in the house.

… … … … …

In the early morning Nik heard Rebekah stir in her room. He made his way to her room seconds after that. He knocked three times and he heard Rebekah whisper "come in."

He walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. Wordlessly he bit into his wrist and offered it to her, and she silently took it and sucked at it. It was a new experience consuming blood for her, after she lost her vampire side, it no longer tasted rich and smooth but like cooper and was coarse on her lips. Nik saw her skin weaving itself whole again causing the bite marks to slowly disappear. After Rebekah had lost her vampire side, her relationships with her brother changed drastically. Elijah was sweet as always but he would always make sure to ask how she was feeling, and he was the one who would always remember to ask if she was hungry or thirsty when out and about, something Nik and Kol would often forget she needed to do. He seemed to be much more understanding with her. Kol would always offer to go shopping with her, mostly because he knew she wasn't allowed to go alone but because he wanted to keep her company and Rebekah enjoyed it as well. Kol always knew how to lift her spirit up when she was feeling down, and he knew losing her vampire abilities had taken a toll on her at first. Nik, he was much gentler with her, not only physically but emotionally, he would always try to control his temper around her, and Rebekah loved seeing a calmer side to him, even if it was only momentarily.

"I'm sorry" said Nik calmly.

"Please, Nik, don't do this to yourself. Don't blame yourself for what happened to me. You couldn't have possibly know I was going to sneak out and that this would happen" said Rebekah sitting up from where she was lying in bed and looked straight into her brother's eyes. She could tell he was hurting, he wouldn't show it to her or anyone else, but she knew he was hurt.

"I vowed to protect you Bekah. And I broke that vow."

"Listen to me. You did absolutely nothing wrong. Please don't blame yourself Nik" said Rebekah while cupping his face. He looked like the child he once was, when she would have to nurse him back to health after her father beat him. She would feed him and make sure she changed his bandages often so he didn't get an infection. Those moments were he was the person she once knew him to be were the ones she missed the most.

Nik nodded in understanding, he wasn't going to argue with her. He knew it was his fault, and he would never forgive himself.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said "Thank you for healing me."

… … … … …