Ahem. Vera had to come exhume me from the depths of a pyramid. Currently de-mummifying as we speak.

No but really. Sorry I took an abrupt hiatus. Truthfully I'm on the fence about this story. On one hand I want to write this fic because fuck yeah Mikaelsons. On the other hand this plot is so damn awesome that I want to convert it into an Original Story and publish it on Kindle or something. I'd have to change a lot about the romantic interests but not much at all about the overall plot.

But ultimately I really don't have the discipline for that. So here we are! Klaus is still fighting me, the prick. This one is a little short but you may understand why at the end.

-19-

Niklaus

Isolde was pacing in her kitchen with her hair wrapped in a towel and speaking rapidly on the phone in a language Klaus assumed was far older than him. One of her kittens followed her, pouncing on the ends of her robe. He watched as she stumbled, spilling a few drops of coffee from her mug.

Like this it was remarkable to Klaus that Isolde was five times his age.

After the telling revelations in her room that morning, Klaus felt mildly less angry over the events of the night before.

Mildly.

That is to say he no longer wished to enact his tediously plotted revenge after hearing Isolde's story and seeing the damage that had been done to her thousands of years ago. Perspective was beginning to click into place and while he knew that the power of Isolde's enemies far outmatched his own, seeing and hearing what Apophis had done to her… he could hardly imagine how much strength it took to repel such a being.

She'd bounced back from decapitation within minutes with no scar.

To have her abdomen completely marred and twisted…

It was enough to triple Klaus' concerns. 'A soul bond is a strength,' he reminded himself, 'having the Alexander's in the Mikaelson's corner would be a tremendous boon.'

But the danger that came with them. Could his family withstand it?

Klaus watched Isolde roll her eyes, meeting his for a moment and mouthing an apology, holding up one finger to indicate her call wouldn't be much longer.

Kol was already attached. So much so that he'd already found them in bed together. (Which grated for an entirely different reason.) Kol was the Mikaelson that had had the most trysts over the last thousand , when Kol's feelings were involved with someone, it was typically a long lasting affair. The younger Mikaelson brother, like all of them, was loyal to a fault when it came to his love once he'd gotten to that stage.

Without daggers the best Klaus could do would be getting a witch to desiccate his youngest brother. Something told him Isolde would have words with him over that… and actions to back them up. Isolde couldn't be contained like his family could. And then there was her family and their reactions to consider.

Elijah was also becoming attached rather quickly, and that was a whole different bag of difficulties should Klaus try to stop Elijah from getting close to Isolde. Klaus' favorite brother and the one who had stuck with him the most. Klaus wasn't a stranger to taking Elijah's happiness away from him, should it be necessary. However, with a soul bond, Klaus knew that trying to do so might finally cause that irreparable rift between him and Elijah.

Klaus didn't want that.

Finn seemed the least interested, and that made sense for the dullard of the family. But least interested did not mean disinterested. Klaus may not have been explicitly paying attention to Finn behind the grocery store but he did notice his eldest brother's reaction to Isolde's decapitation, even though he didn't comment on it.

He'd never seen Finn cry, the stoic bastard he was. It was an altogether surreal revelation that Finn had emotions at all. Klaus didn't particularly care about Finn's feelings, but after having left him in a box for nine hundred years Klaus was hesitant to want to take even the smallest fledgling connection his elder brother shared with Isolde away from him. If only in recompense for the slight Klaus had made against him.

Even Rebekah liked Isolde, and Rebekah deserved to have a friend. Isolde being the soul bond of all the Mikaelson brothers would put her in the position to be closer to Rebekah than any other female in their acquaintance had ever been. Then there was that whole Theon business keeping Rebekah firmly in the Alexander's corner and making it even harder for Klaus to consider running off with his family.

And he couldn't forget that the youngest Alexander was out hunting down any hints as to the whereabouts of the eldest Mikaelson sibling completely of her own accord.

And if Klaus were being honest with himself, he was developing a strange… he wasn't sure exactly. It wasn't just an attraction. That much was obvious. No, this was deeper than attraction.

He knew he felt safer than he'd ever been now that Isolde had given them some truth about her and learned of her strength. But with that came the uncertainty of her enemies, her kingdom, and how much he didn't know about the Alexanders themselves.

Klaus also felt as though he'd been seen in a way he had never been before, and though he let his temper get the best of him often, he knew that meeting someone who could understand him as easily as Isolde seemed to was rare.

And he wanted that, if he were being honest with himself. Klaus had never wanted anything more than for someone to accept and understand him.

Isolde was doing that, or at least trying to. As much as Klaus would let her, and even then she seemed to pick up on more than he'd like.

So even with his constant plans and ideas for how to get his family away from the Alexanders. Even with his revenge plots and temper issues, deep down, for the first time… Klaus didn't actually want to run away from something overwhelming. He didn't want to flee from this.

The revelation hit him like a blow to the gut and Isolde hung up the phone and placed it on the counter with a long sigh, turning those deep green eyes upon him with a small apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that. Several of my people are gathered a few miles to the north, just outside the county line. I'm going to have to go address them. I'd like you to come, if you're not busy."

With a single raised brow Klaus responded. "That conversation was much longer than the logistics of an address to your people."

Heaving another sigh, Isolde stepped away from the counter. "That's because I was catching up with Marcus." Klaus barely withheld the sneer that the name of Isolde's non-Mikaelson bond. That was another issue he wondered how he and his brothers would address later on. "Things are going to move quickly just as soon as I get word from Vera about Dahlia or Freya." She pulled the chair across from him back and took a seat. "Long story short, I've mobilized a legion. My Legatus' know that my active orders amidst an extended holiday mean I intend to return to Italy within a year. I will be returning in a month. I've received a report that… Well, screams of insurrection and I aim to disrupt those who plot against me. With luck, word of this won't have reached Emeric. He's… " she swayed her head, pursing her lips as if looking for the right word "... genocidal when someone threatens one of his siblings. I'd rather him and his not descend on me and mine when I can handle my own house."

Klaus felt his temper begin to stir, every bit of his revenge plot against Isolde crumbling into dust under the weight of this new information.

A threat. To his newly found mate. This would not do. His wolf paced and growled and clawed inside of him, demanding the threat be neutralized with all haste and extreme prejudice.

Klaus leaned back and threw one leg over the other, pensive. Halting an insurrection was an endeavor that he was exceptional at, as paranoid as he was he often caught onto such things earlier than the rest of his family and was labeled a lunatic when he preemptively destroyed their enemies.

Intrigued and determined, but almost certain she would give him no further information on account of just meeting him, Klaus asked; "You're just now learning of this?"

"Last night." Isolde confirmed with a sharp nod. "Talking on a secure line with Marcus just now he explained in further detail what he's been observing in court. A Tribuni leads a group of senators that aim to seize control of the Shade. Meaning an entire Legion has likely been turned against me."

Shocked at how much Isolde was trusting him with, Klaus continued. "Six thousand?" Klaus had never dealt with enemies of that magnitude before.

Isolde just waved a flippant hand. As if this wasn't an issue at all. Klaus was by comparison completely floored.

"That's not a problem. The Legion is being manipulated by their Tribuni. I can win them back easily when I return. The trick is returning early enough that it knocks the insurgents off balance. As I said, they're used to me returning around a year from the time I start to resume control over my forces. At this point I haven't even talked to Yasu-chan. Though, it's not likely that she knows even half as much as Mark does. Still, I would prefer for Theon to remain in the dark about this as long as possible. Shade business is not Incubi business, after all."

Instantly annoyed at her insinuation, Klaus leaned forward with a raised brow, elbows on the table and hands collapsed. "And what shall you do if I run off and alert your brother as to the happenings of this Shade business?"

Klaus had no intentions of doing so at this time, of course, he had no inclinations of betraying his soul bond at all unless her personal safety was at risk. He didn't particularly care about the fate of the Shade, either, but knowing how Isolde considered and solidified his investment in his hybrids through securing Elena's blood, it seemed prudent to return the consideration.

At least for now.

Should things seem to be getting out of hand, however, Klaus will do what needs to be done.

Klaus always does what needs to be done.

"Nothing." Isolde shrugged, derailing Klaus' line of thought.

Isolde merely smiled at him from across the table, unraveling the towel that had been wrapped around her hair. The damp locks fell from their intricate knot and Klaus couldn't look away while his mind tried to assess just what she was trying to tell him. His face must've said it all, unbeknownst to him, because she huffed a breath and rolled her eyes before continuing, folding the towel.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to accommodate Theon's involvement if you do that. The issue is not that I don't want him involved, it's that it makes me appear to my people as though I need to lean on another Royal in order to conduct my own house. This in turn would make them feel unsafe with me leading them, which might lead to more conflict later." She finished folding the towel and placed it on the table in front of her, pressing it down neatly before meeting Klaus' eyes and the intense darkness swirling in her's sent an anticipatory chill down his back and a jolt to his cock. "Then I'd have to purge. I haven't done that in two thousand years and less than two dozen Shade are older than that, old enough to remember. As I've said before; Alexander's don't leave behind loose ends."

She sat back and her intensity was gone, just like that. In a mere fraction of a second she was back to her usual calm and Klaus was left wanting to see that darkness again. A bit put out that she hadn't elaborated, but now might not have been the best time to push for more.

"And yet you're here, telling me all about a potential mutiny within your ranks."

"Indeed." She leveled with him. "Am I wrong to assume you would rather know what is happening, especially when it would inevitably involve your family to some degree? By nature of the soul bond, even were we to part ways today I'm certain at this point hundreds of people already know about this-" she gestured between them "- and it won't take long for that number to be in the hundreds of thousands."

"And your enemies will be ours." Klaus said on a deep exhale, pulling his arms back from the table and slumping against the chair.

"As yours will be ours." Isolde agreed, then hesitated. She looked to be considering something, eyeing him from across the table. Klaus watched as her head tilted, then she seemed to steel herself. "I thought about it for some time and I recognized that my words were harsh yesterday. I apologize. For saying them, and for the delivery. If it means anything, I truly don't believe you're weak. I do believe you have more potential than you're currently manifesting and that there are things you could be doing better in order to fully realize that potential."

His rage had already dulled and that was fortunate. Had her apology come just a few hours earlier it would've riled him more and he might have gone through with his retribution plot despite all he'd learned.

Now, on the other hand, having had time to cool off and gain more insight into Isolde he found that he could separate how he felt about what she'd said to him and what she actually meant.

That didn't mean that her calling him weak hadn't stung, of course it had. But…

She believes he has more potential than what he's currently living up to. He agreed with that. He wanted to be more, to be better. This was a large portion of his reason for pursuing his hybrid side, then subsequently his hybrids.

In order to be better he needed his family. All of them, united.

And frankly he needed Isolde now, too. Because of the bond and because he was quickly learning that she herself was indeed one of a kind. Authentic, passionate, good hearted, forgiving and strong. On the darker side she was morose, lonely, confrontational, and seemingly inflexible. But these weren't necessarily the worst traits to have, in fact Klaus admired a few of those vices and had them himself.

The more he learns about her the more he could see how remarkable she is and had the universe not bonded them he would likely have pursued her in some way had they simply met as nothing more than acquaintances.

With her, as Elijah had noted, the Mikaelson's had hope of unity.

Right now everything was a mess. Klaus knew the real struggle had yet to come. Isolde's expression is open, and genuine as she waits for him to finish contemplating her apology. She seemed to want him to succeed.

In fact she seemed to want them all to succeed, and she's willing to fight everyone, even the Mikaelsons themselves, to see that happen.

He had to admire that fire.

People typically rooted for him to fail. Isolde wanting him to do and be better, and believing that he could was a rare perspective that he suddenly caught himself wanting to live up to. ( And once again, Isolde was causing that fluttering in his chest he'd been electing to ignore for days now.)

"I'm not going to fully accept your apology." He said finally.

Isolde deflated a little.

"But-" he paused for emphasis while her eyes searched his, "-I will take your words into consideration going forward."

Isolde nodded with a small but genuine smile. Silence descended between them until a loud rumble sounded and broke them both out of their own thoughts. Isolde gazed outside with a disapproving glare and pushed her chair back from the table.

"I suppose I'd better see to business before the rain drowns everyone because I dallied." She pushed in her chair and met Klaus' eyes once again, a small almost shy smile on her beautiful face and it made Klaus' chest tighten. "So would you like to come?"

He rolled his eyes, a token struggle. He certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see Isolde address her 'forces' for the first time. He stood abruptly. "If only to ensure you don't find yourself decapitated by your own people."

She swatted at him with narrowed eyes and he jumped away laughing as they exited through the back door.

…elsewhere…

Two young women, one truly young and the other young only in appearance, stand before an iron gate gazing up at the structure in front of them.

"That is not a cottage," the young one said, glancing at her mentor, "the magic feels weird here."

The elder nodded in understanding, waving her arm and slamming the gate off its hinges as they stepped onto the property. "What you're feeling is an Arabian branch of magic called Kemiya, it's a bit unlike what you're used to. A cottage once, this place is now more of a prison. Or an asylum, if you will."

As the younger woman stepped onto the property she drew in a sharp breath and stepped back onto the sidewalk, shaking her head. "I don't think I should go in there, Vera."

The elder woman frowned. "I can't risk leaving you out here, not the way this city crawls with supernatural beings intent on keeping witches subservient." Vera reached her hand out to the young one and stepped toward her again with a kind smile. "Hold my hand, I won't let anything happen to you Bonnie."

Bonnie nodded, dark eyes scanning the area around the asylum. She reached a trembling hand out to her mentor. "Let's find the missing Mikaelson and get the hell out of here."