Antoinette wasn't one for eavesdropping but having two of the most formidable vampires in history in the same room as her made it a little hard to stay away. She made a smile at the guests in the restaurant, pretending she hadn't witnessed her two employees retreating into the backroom with an unknown guest. She wasn't about to peek, but all she had to do was tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

In the backroom, Klaus was ready to set the whole building on fire. His blazing eyes switched between Cami and Elijah, wondering who he was most angry with. "How the hell did you let this happen?" He directed his question at Cami while gesturing madly at Elijah.

The blonde vampire in question scowled. "It's not like I can control him, Klaus. He understands who he is but he doesn't want to come back."

"It's true," Elijah agreed calmly. He was the calmest of the three despite being the source of the problem. "I know I am Elijah Mikaelson, but I do not want his memories and I most certainly do not want his problems."

"See?" Cami gestured at him. "I have tried everything to get through to him!"

"I can't believe you're doing this," Elijah turned to her, now seeming rather offended by her betrayal. "I said no. I listened to your argument and I still said no. Why on earth would you call him in?"

Now it was Klaus' turn to be offended. "Because I am your family," he snapped. "And right now, our family is in crisis. I traveled all the way to bloody France to make you understand where you ought to be."

"I'm not your family," Elijah said so plainly, so matter-of-factly that it struck Klaus into silence. "And I'm not going back."

"Elijah," Cami sighed and looked away. She'd tried her hardest to convince Elijah they needed to go back to New Orleans and help find Hayley. She talked, she yelled, and for one moment she thought of just dosing him and bringing him back to New Orleans herself...but that would be bad.

"We made a vow, brother," Klaus stormed up to Elijah, meeting him face to face. "Always and forever."

"You're talking about somebody else's life—"

"No, this is still your life! You have responsibilities! You cannot just abandon them for a fairy tale, playing piano in the French countryside!" Klaus practically shouted in Elijah's face. "You have no idea the risk I'm taking simply by being here! There are consequences to us being together! Don't you see?"

"So leave!" Elijah looked him dead in the eye and meant it.

Klaus faltered. He hadn't believed Cami when she warned him that Elijah had made his decision to remain in France. Right now, Klaus felt like he was more lonely than ever; helpless than ever. Maleny was gone and without a trace to find her with, Hayley was still missing and his daughter Hope was still waiting for him to keep his word to find Hayley. "I would never have come if the circumstances weren't dire. Maleny...she chose the other witches. I need you, brother. Please, Elijah…"

Elijah remained unfazed. His silence was more than enough as an answer.

Cami drew in a breath and stepped in-between the brothers, gently pushing them apart. "Klaus, let me have a word with him. You just wait for me outside the restaurant." Her eyes then landed on Elijah as she finished, "Whatever happens, I'm coming back with you."

Klaus' gaze lingered on his brother, making himself understand that Elijah wouldn't be returning with him. When he turned away, he did so in silence and without looking back. Elijah was his last option, his last...sense of home. Maleny made it clear she was not interested in being that again, and Klaus couldn't really blame her. To her, he was nothing but a stranger. A traitor.

Cami turned to face Elijah, her face a cross between anger and plain disappointment. "I thought Klaus coming would make you understand—"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me he was coming," Elijah looked down at her in disdain. "I made my response very clear about this."

"I couldn't believe my Elijah would turn his back on his family like this," Cami returned with the same disdain he had. "You, who always did everything to keep them safe…"

"Maybe that's why I'm finally breaking away for good." Elijah attempted to grab her hand but she yanked it out of his reach before he could touch her. "You're on their side, then?"

"You mean on our family's side? Yes, I am," she snapped. "I have kept you safe for as long as we've been here. I've always been on my guard for anyone who might want to hurt us. I thought when the time came you would be there for me too."

"I don't understand what that has to do with the Mikaelsons," Elijah pointed at the doorway Klaus had gone through. "They are not the ones I want to keep safe. It's you. And here, we are safe. We're happy."

Cami's smile was a sad one. The tears in her eyes were the same. "I'm not happy, Elijah!" Her voice trembled the more she confessed. "You and I...you and I were supposed to come here as a getaway - as time for us - but the plan was always to go back to our family. To at least have the option to go back! I want to see my other family too, you know? See Maleny? Your niece, maybe!? And right now they all need us so you bet your ass I'm not going to be as selfish as you are and stay here. I am going back with Klaus today, whether or not you accompany me."

"You'd leave?" Elijah asked the question whose answer he already knew. It was written all over his face. He was a little surprised but after looking more at Cami, he realized this was something she had made up her mind about a long time ago.

"Everyone you love needs you now," Cami cleared the tears from her face. "I will not argue with you anymore. You made your decision and I made mine. I'm going back...will you be too?"

As before, Elijah fell into silence.

A minute later, Cami's tears resurfaced.

~ 0 ~

Nicolas gave a polite nod each time one of his students greeted him with a "Good morning" in the hallway. As he was going up the staircase for the girls' dorms, he felt his cellphone vibrating in his jean's pocket.

"Grandmother? What's wrong?" he stopped by the alcove of the staircase, allowing a group of girls to go down.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing," Abigail's curt tone made him wince. He could picture her scolding glare. "Your mother went missing - again - and you go back to Mystic Falls?"

"Who told you where I went?" Nicolas asked, kind of annoyed someone let it slip, especially since there was only four people who knew about his whereabouts.

"That is not the point, Nicolas Mikaelson!" snapped Abigail.

Nicolas sighed and leaned his back against the wall. "Grandmother—"

"Don't you 'grandmother' me! Your mother hasn't shown up since we brought her back three days ago! I don't know where she is and—"

"She's with Julius, grandmother," Nicolas said.

As expected, Abigail went into silent mode for a few minutes while she processed his words. "And you say that so...calmly…"

"Because she's not in trouble, grandmother. Mum called me yesterday, and since I was the only one who took her call…" Nicolas purposely paused, hoping she'd get the message they had some fault in Maleny's disappearance, "I'm the only one who knows that she's alright."

"I didn't see any calls—"

"Because you were busy assuming the worst." Nicolas leaned his body from the wall and continued his way up the stairs. "Unlike my Dad who just seals himself away, I'm here for when Mum needs me. And right now, she's kind of upset. She remembers everything now, including that she turned her emotions off and ultimately gave consent to have her memories wiped."

"That's why we're here waiting for her!"

"Except now she's taking care of business. She said she'd be back today anyways. Keep an eye out, she might be on her way."

"Fine," huffed Abigail. "Now can you tell me why you're visiting Hope all of a sudden? I thought you requested time off work?"

"I did," Nicolas made a turn into the hallway. "Because she's 15, she's missing her mother and doesn't know that she can technically see our Dad for a couple weeks without having the world explode. Plus, Vincent may be on our case about something important."

"Which is…?"

Nicolas stopped in front of Hope's dorm. "That the Mikaelson children may in fact be the end of the world."

"Wait, what—?"

"I'll talk to you later, grandmother!" Nicolas purposely hung up. He hadn't said a word to anyone about Vincent's prediction.

How did one put that he and his sisters were the devil's spawns who, if given the right tools, could end the world. And that was only talking about the third generation. Vincent went into full detail about what the three parents involved could do if they joined together. Honestly, Nicolas wasn't that surprised his family was once again at the center of an apocalyptic prediction.

He put his phone into his back pocket and knocked on Hope's door. The teenager answered within seconds. "Wh-what happened?" She yanked her headphones off her head.

"Uh, oh, no, nothing," Nicolas hated seeing her face fall. "Dad's got factions scouring every inch of the city. When he gets back, I'm sure he'll join."

"Get back?" Hope made a face. "What do you mean?"

"Dad went to France to get uncle Elijah and Cami to come back and help."

"But wouldn't that...be fatal for the rest of us?" Hope had to say she was a little jealous right there. Here she had been practically begging for her father to be in the same room with her for a minute, and now she hears he willingly went to retrieve Elijah?

"Not right now," Nicolas knew the next part wouldn't be met with such joy. "Aunt Freya and Grandma Abigail performed a spell that allows my Mum and Dad to be in the same room without fearing the Hollow. So, by extension, Dad can basically see you and me now."

It took Hope a minute to realize what it meant. "And he didn't come to see me?"

"If it makes you feel better, he didn't come to see me either. But that's just Dad. He really wants to find Haley so he's prioritizing her first. Plus...Dad might not want to get our hopes up because he knows that he can only see us for a little bit."

"Doesn't mean he has to skip out on us again," Hope said with a crestfallen face. "I want to see him, even if he doesn't. And I'm going to see him."

"Yeah, I figured you were. Which is why you better have your suitcase packed in two days because that's when I'm returning back to the Quarter." Nicolas smiled when his sister realized his plans, or part of his plans anyways.

~0~

There were so many cops in the courtyard with their ringing phones and bustling papers. Freya felt like she would be murdering one of them if things didn't quiet down soon.

"Does Niklaus seriously think we're going to find Hayley with a bunch of humans?" Abigail walked up to the railing beside Freya. "I'm kind of insulted actually."

"Don't be," Klaus' voice drew the women's attention towards the entrance of the courtyard where he and Cami were just walking through. Klaus was looking particularly care despite not having his brother at his side. "They're here for number reasons only. We do need the eyes everywhere don't we? I had Marcel get a head start and compel the nearby precinct so when we arrived we could get straight to work."

"Cami," Abigail smiled at the blonde. "Good to see you back. And Elijah?"

Whatever smile Cami had on her face disappeared the moment Abigail mentioned Elijah's name. the blonde vampire cleared her throat and very quietly said, "He's not coming."

Freya exchanged looks with Klaus, not needing any powers to know something happened between the brothers.

"You should know Maleny is still M.I.A," Abigail informed, not missing Klaus' intentional averted gaze.

"Is she?" He did a poor attempt of sounding casual too.

"Nicolas said Maleny called him yesterday to tell him that she was fine, albeit a little upset because she remembers everything now, but that she was taking care of business now."

"What business?" Cami was the one to ask.

"Only God knows," Abigail said. "And this damn circus you got going on here isn't helping!"

Before they could say more, a burst of paper appeared in midair. Klaus and Cami looked up to see the paper coming down for them. Klaus caught it and turned the envelope over. When he slid the paper out, he found an address nearly written on it.

~0~

"So, if Dad's still looking for my Mom and Aunt Mal is taking care of vampire-witch business, why are you here?" Hope was quickly cleaning up her mess off the floor.

Nicolas watched the particular books she was clutching in her arms. "I told you already. I'm bringing you back to the Quarter."

Hope gave him a side-glance of a smile. "Yes, but just like everyone else in the family, you've got a second intention in mind."

"Well, there are a few things I did want to talk about," Nicolas plopped down on Hope's bed. "And I'm just warning you that you'll have to pay for my silence." Hope's smile faded into confusion. "I know you kept Roman hidden in the compound and if I tell Dad you know exactly what'll happen."

Hope's eyes widened in good measured alarm.

Nicolas smirked that crooked smirk that made him look exactly like their father. "So let's talk."

~0~

"You realize this is most definitely a trap, right?" Cami looked between Klaus and Marcel with hope that they were a little smarter than just going into an abandoned house blind.

"Of course," Marcel made a huffing noise then briefly sent a glance at Klaus who had said nothing so far. If it had been up to Klaus, he wouldn't have called anyone but luckily Cami was around and she made the call. "I could have vampires here in five minutes."

"He knows," Cami now looked at Klaus the same way Marcel was. "He's just choosing the broody, silent path as usual."

"You know, if your assistance requires psychological evaluation, allow me to make this easy for you: psychopath on a mission, no time for chitchat," Klaus picked his pace up and walked ahead of the other two.

"Look, you want to shed blood today? Get in line," Marcel snapped. "I care about Hayley, too. So be a dick to everyone else, but watch your tone with us."

Klaus basically ignored the threat and stopped in front of a shabby two-story house. "We're here," he didn't wait for the other two and started down the front yard.

"I don't hear anything from there," Cami remarked once they'd caught up. "Definitely a trap."

"Then prepare yourself," Klaus pushed the creaky door open and stepped inside first. The three momentarily separated to inspect the rooms of the first floor.

When they re-joined at the second floor, they agreed every room was empty. Klaus took the lead down the hallway and paused when he got a scent of blood.

"I smell it too," Marcel said after a moment.

Klaus started again on a quicker pace, stopping only when he came into a room with blood on the walls. He saw a chair at the end and moved over, getting a whiff of two more scents. His eyes roamed the rope still hanging from the chair.

Marcel walked over second and bent down, taking in a deep breath. "Wolfsbane and vervain. She was here."

"Oh my God," they both heard Cami's gasp. They followed her gaze to the wall behind them to see a message. "Crossbreed freak," Cami swallowed hard and glanced at the two men. "Who the hell are we dealing with?"

It was a good question that unfortunately couldn't be answered straight away. However, they would soon understand to what extent the culprit would go to hurt them all.

They heard screams from the street, followed by shattering of fences. The three vampires exchanged looks before speeding out the house. They arrived in time to see a vampire's beheaded body crashing over a car's top.

There was a small group fighting amongst each other, but it seemed like there was a specific target in mind...and they knew said target.

Maleny had her fingers curled as she sent a deadly wave of pain at the three vampires in front of her. Two more vampires came in and beheaded the other three. Another vampire, a man, came up behind Maleny and struck her legs with a metal pipe. As the blonde screamed and fell, the man yanked her arms back, twisting them against her back.

Klaus, Marcel and Cami jumped in to help her. Cami took care of a woman wanting to yank out another woman's heart by stealing hers heart first. She then moved onto a pair thinking they could get away with using Maleny's be-heading trick. Marcel sunk his fangs into a woman's neck and dropped her body in seconds. He repeated the same tactic with two more vampires wanting to hurt a familiar face.

Julius' face was splattered in blood he had been splattered with from another body, and when he saw Marcel was his savior he was at a cross of horror and gratitude. He scrambled up to his feet and moved towards the man with Maleny, but Klaus beat him to it. He grabbed the man's arms - like he had with Maleny - and pulled them right off before yanking the man's heart out. Klaus then turned for the remaining vampires, as did Marcel and Cami.

"No, don't hurt them," Maleny said in-between her panting. She instantly gained the confused glances from the three. She tried to get up but her legs were still healing from her cracked bones. "They're...they're my sires…"

Klaus, Marcel and Cami took another look at the remaining three vampires, apart from Julius, around them. They were all hybrids like her.

"We need to get out of here before more come," Julius got back on his feet and made a move towards Maleny but was blocked off by Cami and Marcel, rather menacingly too.

With all his courage and fear for her, Klaus walked to Maleny's spot and bent down in front of her. Maleny met his gaze and for the first time in 7 years, it was her. It was her soft gaze, it was her feelings and it was her guilt sitting in her eyes. "Let's go home." He was hesitant at first but eventually slid his arms around her and picked her up.

"Don't hurt them please," Maleny pleaded with Klaus and the others. "They're my people."

Against his better judgment, Klaus obligued with her request. It didn't stop him from shooting dirty looks at the sires, specifically at Julius. He may have held Maleny a little closer before taking off with her.

"Who are you?" Cami asked Julius and his other 'friends'. She figured that out of everyone, she was perhaps the most unbiased party to handle the two sides.

"The question you should be asking is 'who are they?'" Julius gave a nod to the vampire corpses around them, and Cami thought he made a good point.

~ 0 ~

"If Dad doesn't kill Roman, I'll fail him in every class he has here," Nicolas' dry joke was met with a mock-glare from Hope. He was laying on her bed holding up one of her books in the air.

"You don't have that kind of power," Hope snatched the book from his hands.

"I smell a challenge," Nicolas made a face after getting his book taken. "And I guess you did too because you're nose-deep into locator spells in ancient languages." He pushed himself up into a sitting position and threw Hope a smirk. "You're not allowed to do magic outside of the classroom, Hope."

"What do you want me to say?" Hope crossed her arms, not about to lie. "My mom's missing and it's my fault."

"Trying to break every possible spell in those books by yourself would take a thousand years," Nicolas thought his words were obvious to Hope but then again she was a teenager.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. And guess what? You and the witches haven't gotten anywhere. I'm coming at it from a different angle. I'm the one that put the cloaking spell on her in the first place. Maybe I can find a way to lift it without being in the room with her."

"And the fact that that's never been done in the history of witchcraft isn't going to deter you," Nicolas sighed. "Definitely trying to live up to the impossibility that's around you."

"I can't just sit around and do nothing," Hope repeated herself, hoping he'd get the message.

Nicolas knew where this would lead her so he decided to cut it short. "All right, then. Let's get to work."

~ 0 ~

Maleny brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her eyes followed Abigail and Freya as the two paced in front of her bed. Cami and Klaus did no pacing but their motionless stances at the corner of the room pretty much gave their position on the situation. No one was pleased with her disappearance and much less to find out she had created an entire new species.

"How many of them are there?" Abigail finally stopped pacing once she had her questions set up.

"In total there were about 15," Maleny's picked words were met with confusion. With a sigh, she added, "Five were hunted and killed by the same people that have Hayley. Julius told me."

"And you believe this guy?" Freya frowned. "He's a stranger—"

"He's not," Maleny's voice hardened, though the brief gaze she made with Klaus took her bravery away. "I knew him when I was in my emotionless phase and…" she brought a hand to her forehead, the guilt once again settling over her shoulders, "I just know him, okay? He helped me get my memories back and he told me what's been going on."

"And what's been going on?"

"There's a group - a faction of vampires - who don't like hybrids. Any hybrid like us is an abomination. The ones that I created were spread around the world, and they were still hunted. Julius is the one who's figured it out. He nearly got hunted himself."

"And you know this why?" Klaus finally spoke up, meeting her gaze for a longer moment. She knew exactly what he meant: why should they believe Julius.

"Because I've seen them - the ones who are alive anyways," Maleny swallowed hard and touched the bracelet sitting on her wrist. "Turns out evil-me is a much better mastermind than I am." She pulled her bracelet off and held it out for someone to take. "In case I was able to once again turn my emotions off, I took a little bit of each of my sires so that I'd be able to find them when I needed them."

"Clever," Klaus had to admit. He was the one to reach out and take the bracelet from her. "And have you made contact with any of them?"

"I did. Some of them are on their way here, despite my insistence not to," Maleny sighed. "I warned them of what was going on, and I told them to hide instead…"

"When you have sires, they have an overwhelming feeling to protect you," Klaus explained.

Maleny gave a light nod of her head. Her eyes flickered to Freya and Abigail. "The people who have Hayley...they're the ones who sent me a note to go to that same house. It was a trap to kill me and the others. We need to find Hayley or they will kill her too."

"We'll get on it," the two witches said and started heading out.

"Mal, the vampires with you, we sent them home," Cami said for Maleny's benefit. "They said you'd know where you can find them."

"Yeah," the blonde pushed some of her hair back and sucked in a breath. "If they were smarter they'd leave me here."

Cami offered her a light smile. "They're loyal. Which is more than what I can say for others." Her bitter remark and departure attracted Maleny's attention.

It only took a minute to figure out what Cami meant. "Elijah didn't come back with you, did he?" she asked Klaus. The hybrid gave a silent shake of his head. "I'm so sorry, Klaus," she sighed. There was a lot to apologize for and she honestly didn't know where to begin...where she was brave enough to begin. "I'm still processing everything that I did these last years and I'm...I'm disgusted with myself."

"Maleny, stop," Klaus ordered, or pleaded, it was a difficult mixture. He moved around the bed so that he was on her side. She swung her legs to the side of the bed just as he bent down in front of her. "There's nothing to apologize—"

Maleny's expression turned incredulous. "C'mon, Klaus. I murdered in cold blood and I can't even count the bodies I left behind. I literally lost count!"

"Been there," Klaus said with a smirk. Admittedly, it did make her want to smile. "Still there, actually."

"I did horrible things. I'm known as a terrible nightmare for the supernatural community," Maleny drew in another breath, her eyes slightly wide just by remembering that. "Everyone either looks at me with fear or they're giving me dirty looks."

"Well then, you've finally become a full-fledged Mikaelson," Klaus' joke was met only halfway with a roll of eyes. "And those people know you are not to be trifled with."

Maleny wished she could be so calm about it, but the truth was it scared her. It scared her to know that she was capable of being a cold-hearted murderer. She had murdered for no reason, just because she wanted to. She'd even turned people for no reason but boredom and calculating escapes.

She was at a cross between despondence and anger. Sadness for all the things she'd done and yet fury for why she had been in that situation in the first place.

"The thing about this family, Mal...we've all done horrible things," Klaus' words pulled her from thoughts. "That includes our son who has the face of an angel but devil horns over his head, and our daughter who may as well be the devil in heels. And neither will judge you. No one will."

Maleny stared at him for a minute, a slow smile spreading across her face. My God she missed him. She jumped off the bed — seeming more like a lung — and hugged him. She didn't know what they were, if they were, but right now she could at least touch him.

Klaus didn't know what to make of it, but he thought like Maleny. He wanted to hold her, regardless of what they were.

"We need to find Hayley," she murmured. "The clock's been running."

"To do it, we need to go by different angles," Klaus said, sounding like he was warning her that the dark choices she had made before were not finished yet.

And she was lying if she was going to think otherwise. She was still working on her memories, healing her mind, but she was no fool. The threat of these enemies was getting bigger and bigger. They had to do everything they could to get Hayley back.

~ 0 ~

Cami had just hung up on a phone call that was surprisingly with Marlenie. As soon as she tucked her phone away, she was met with the curious looks from Abigail, Freya and Marcel. "What?"

"You were talking to my granddaughter?" Abigail pointed, her face blinking wide eyes.

"Uuh...yeah…?" Cami looked at the other two and found that while they didn't have the same wide eyes as Abigail, they were still overall surprised. "Why?"

"She doesn't talk to anyone," Freya said quietly as if Klaus or Maleny would overhear them. If only they knew the two weren't even in the building anymore. A wicked scheme had been created behind closed doors.

"Well, it's not like we're on a talking basis but we just...we call each other when we need help," Cami shrugged.

"What she want right now?" asked Marcel.

"Nothing. I was just letting her know what was going on here."

"Did she give any indication she would be coming?" Abigail was a fool to hope but she still wanted to have a little faith that her granddaughter would come to her senses.

Cami was sad to shake her head and break that tiny hope. "Sorry."

~ 0 ~

Josh and Greta trudged along the Bayou in search for Hayley, not that either had a lot of choice in doing so. While Josh stuck it out for Hayley, Greta seemed to get angrier by the minute. It was blazing hot and here she was searching for someone she could care less about.

"Why does Marcel have us wasting time in this stupid bayou?" she demanded like Josh would know the answer she wanted to hear.

"Well, you know, technically, you can't waste time if you're immortal," Josh tried to be cheerful but the look on Greta's face told him he better stop.

"This is how we honor Poppy's memory?" the woman took a quicker paced-walk and went ahead of Josh. "Wasting time searching for someone who's not even part of us? Hayley's been an outsider for years and we're suddenly supposed to care whether she's lost?"

Josh sighed. "Okay, look, Marcel wants Klaus out of town ASAP. Finding Hayley makes that happen. Just trust me, okay?" Greta stopped walking and turned to face Josh, not looking very convinced in this reasoning. "The more time Hayley spends being captive, the more Mikaelsons we have to deal with. We've already got Klaus, and now we have Maleny as well." Now that piece of news did seem to surprise Greta. "You want those two gone? We find Hayley as fast as we can. Them being gone is good for everyone."

"Fair enough. But what about when what's good for everyone isn't good for vampires?" Greta was met with a blank face. Of course Josh wouldn't understand because he'd always been blindsided by the Mikaelsons. "I'll head down to the water," she mumbled and took off.

Josh didn't know if that went good or bad but he figured since Greta was going to continue searching, it had to be semi-good. He took one step forwards and was suddenly met with an insane pain in the head. He groaned and brought one hand to the side of his head while his legs started to buckle. "Where the hell—"

"You bad-mouthed us," he heard a soft voice ahead.

He looked from under his hand to see Maleny standing a few feet away from him. Oh crap, he thought.

"That hurt my feelings," Maleny's sarcasm was an indication something terrible was going to happen. Josh knew it.

"Look, Maleny, I…" Josh groaned again when a new surge of pain hit him. All Maleny did was just tilt her head and watch him suffer. "It's just reasoning with someone who doesn't want to do the job, alright?"

"Hm," Maleny smiled only briefly. "Do you take me for an idiot?"

"No ma'am," Josh quickly said. He knew better than to antagonize her or any other Mikaelson.

"Smart move, Joshua." Soon as Josh heard Klaus' voice, he knew this was the end for him. Klaus appeared with an incredibly smug face. "Your, uh, friend—" he pointed to the side where Greta had gone off, "—was not as smart as you."

"What did you do to Greta!?"

"Time to go, Josh," Maleny smirked right before she snapped his neck.

The next time Josh and Greta opened their eyes, they found themselves in the compound's dungeon. Just as they both sat up, Maleny and Klaus were bringing in two more people — one witch and one werewolf.

"Oh, wow, a hostage situation," Josh pushed himself and dusted his hands off. "How creative."

"I'd tone down your sarcasm if I were you," Maleny pushed the witch into him. "I'm not as nice and patient as I used to be. Now couple new-me with him—" she pointed a finger behind her where Klaus stood, "—and you've got some real trouble."

"How dare you —" Greta got up on her feet fast, but before she could even think about speeding away, Klaus stood in front of her.

"Be smart and don't move," he warned her with amber eyes.

Greta had the good sense not to, least not right now.

Satisfied, Klaus returned to stand next to Maleny. "Do it, Mal."

There was something about the way he said her nickname that gave Maleny a new type of thrill. Maybe it was the fact they were both on a new page now; a new darker road. Did it make her a bad person to like that?

Oh well, it's not like she cared for the answer.

After sealing their three prisoners in an invincible barrier, the two hybrids made their way back upstairs. It was still crowded with human cops going back and forth trying to find Hayley.

"You know what I don't understand?" Maleny folded her arms while she stared at one detective fervently going through a pile of papers at his desk.

"What?" asked Klaus.

"I already told you that the party responsible for all these hunts and murders of hybrids are vampires so —" Maleny turned to him, revealing a rather irritated expression, "—why the hell are we wasting time kidnapping 3 useless people?"

There was a smirk on Klaus' face that warned Maleny she wasn't fully aware of the entire plan at hand. It was his annoying habit (that maybe she missed just a little bit). "Because, we know it was the vampires but we don't know which vampires. Now I'm sure that after this, those at fault will unintentionally reveal themselves. We just gotta wait."

"Didn't you just hear me downstairs? I'm not that patient anymore," she scowled.

"Yeah, I got the gist," he retorted with a look on his face that was akin to...studying. Yeah, he was studying her.

"What?" even her sharpened tone didn't stop him.

"You've really changed."

Maleny couldn't help roll her eyes. "Well, what did you expect?"

"I'm sensing a lot of resentment here, coupled with a good amount of anger." Klaus backtracked several steps away from her. "Let's hear it, then, shall we?"

"I'm not doing this here." Maleny shifted on her feet, but it wasn't because she was nervous. She was frustrated and she'd been doing a good job of keeping all her feelings buried for the sake of finding Hayley. She was glad that she got to see Klaus again, she couldn't deny that, but it didn't mean that everything else just disappeared. There were too many things to forgive.

"Fine, let's go somewhere else," Klaus opened his arms in a gesture. Truth be told, he had some things to say too.

"I'm not doing this!" she snapped. "It's completely—"

"Maleny?" Abigail's call from the second floor cut in. Maleny froze but didn't look up at her mother. "Maleny?" Abigail called again, her tone sharper (like Maleny's, ironically) since her daughter was being outright rude. Maleny rolled her eyes just before turning around and raising her gaze to the rails. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"What about?"

"Uh, well, some...recent developments."

"Like what?"

Abigail raised an eyebrow at her daughter, but even the hard motherly look didn't make Maleny back down...which was completely unlike her.

"You know what? I'm going to go find my sires," Maleny announced then looked at Klaus, "Let me know how that kidnapping works out, alright? The barrier I put up can't be taken down unless someone by blood does it." She smiled briefly then sped out, leaving the terse air behind her.

"What is happening to my daughter?" Abigail frowned at Klaus, but the hybrid was in no mood to be blamed for this one.

"Well let's see, shall we?" Klaus put his hands together as he feigned thought for a second. "She might be a little upset that she had her memories wiped clean and now she's taking it out on me."

"She consented," Abigail reminded.

"To the idea which, last time I heard, she never actually went through with it. You made her," Klaus pointed a sharp finger up at Abigail. She frowned. "Marlenie told me her mother chose to turn off her emotions. That was it."

"She was going on a rampage murdering people," Abigail argued. "What were we supposed to do?"

"Let her live her life."

"That's what we did with you," snapped Abigail. "And should I even point out how that ended?"

"I'm not arguing for nor against it, I merely want to point out what happened and the consequences. She—" Klaus pointed in the direction Maleny went off in, "—is angry as hell and she's been doing us the favor of keeping it in. But we both know Maleny, no matter how strong she is, she will explode. And why wouldn't she?" His tone went sour, matching the darkened expression on his face. "She had her will stripped away, her life taken. I'd be angry as hell too."

"And you are," Abigail said quietly. "But not for the same reasons. You both are angry, perhaps with us but also with each other. Let me just remind you that this entire situation — you two being able to see each other — will only last for a moment. Don't waste it, Niklaus. Not because of your pride."

It's uncanny how Abigail sounded a lot like Elijah right now. Klaus despised it and yet...was grateful for it, though he would never openly admit it. If Elijah wouldn't come back, then he would need to figure everything out on his own no.

A/N:

I realized that I published the same chapter twice? My bad about that! This is the chapter that should have been chapter 6!

P.S. As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)