I've always loved the phrase 'kill them with kindness' or 'catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.'

-25-

Isolde

"What in the name of Isis happened here?" Isolde asked, carefully stepping around the multitude of bird corpses that scattered the Mikaelson's beautiful entryway. The storm had finally let up and the sun was now streaming through the stained glass and casting a creepy glow over the… avian graveyard?

Klaus and Finn were both sprawled out on the floor, their necks at odd angles. Freya was sitting at the bottom on the stairs with her head in her hands when Isolde and Elijah walked in. The eldest Mikaelson grit her teeth when she looked up at her brother.

"I killed Esther."

Elijah shifted minutely. Misinterpreting the move for grief, Isolde put a supportive hand on his back.

Freya had tears in her eyes, they could hear the way her jaw popped as she clenched down. "I didn't mean to. I was overcome by my anger," she paused with a look of contrition and met Elijah's hard stare,"I was planning to kill her, eventually. But I didn't mean to do it so soon. I apologize for disrupting your plans."

Isolde watched Elijah's jaw jump while his eyes narrowed. He ignored his elder sister's apology and nodded at his brothers who still lay prone and discarded on the floor. "And them?"

"They nearly came to blows." Kol's voice sounded from around the corner just as he came into the room, dropping a broom, dustpan, and the kitchen trash can right at Freya's feet. "Harsh words were spoken. Finn nearly turned his humanity off."

"Tell me, Kol, how much worse did you and Niklaus make this situation for Finn, who's only real connection in this world was Esther?" Elijah asked with false serenity, sliding his hands one hand into his pocket and adopting an air of nonchalance.

Kol raised a brow, then narrowed his eyes, stepping up into Elijah's space. He snapped a hand out and wrapped it around Isolde's arm, pushing her just a few steps out of the way.

"Sorry love, Elijah's turned on his wanker switch and I'd rather you not be in the middle. Thank you." Kol winked and Isolde pursed her lips, fighting her anger at being man handled out of the way. As though she couldn't utterly devastate everyone in this room in a fight. Her hackles rose as Kol turned his back on her to address his brother once more. "So eager to assume the worst, as usual, Elijah."

Elijah said nothing while Kol stepped into his elder brother's space with an arrogant smile before he continued on.

Isolde fought every natural urge she had to teach Kol exactly why he shouldn't count her out of a fight. She fought it so hard, willing herself to relax while the monster nipped at her heels and growled because how dare he. Who did Kol think he was? Did he believe that his bond to her gave him the right to move her out of the way like last week's trash?

"Finn was seconds from turning off his humanity and attacking Freya," Kol spun to gesture toward their eldest sister, "I made a comment, thinking he might redirect that anger to me. It didn't work so Nik met my eyes across the room and clearly decided to take charge. He made his own scathing comment once it became quite obvious Finn was planning to attack Freya, and it finally worked. Freya broke their necks to give them time to cool down."

This only served to incense Isolde more, and she was struggling to calm down as it was.

"Am I to understand that whatever harsh words came from your mouth in the moment were meant solely to benefit Freya?" Elijah asked with a raised brow. "I don't know whether to laugh that you think me so easily manipulated or punish you for the insult."

Isolde was a thousand percent over this conversation and utterly disgusted with Kol's behavior and justifications. She slammed down every instinct she had to lash out by biting her tongue so hard that she had to swallow quickly to get rid of the blood while it healed.

She didn't know exactly what Kol and Klaus said to Finn, of course, but she could assume that it was vile enough - his sarcastic and defensive commentary right now gave that away.

She met Freya's eyes as Kol and Elijah continued arguing. Freya mouthed to Isolde and nodded towards Finn's form. It took the elder immortal a moment to understand what she'd said.

'Get him out of here. Please.' Freya had mouthed. Her face was pinched, red, and her bottom lip trembled as she stared at Finn. She looked miserable and that told Isolde a lot, too. It spoke to how much Freya loved Finn and how badly she felt about hurting him like this. Isolde felt a small part of the ice that was forming over her heart because of this situation thaw, despite it being Freya who had created the issue in the first place.

She nodded back to Freya. Obviously she was going to get Finn out of the manor. He wasn't staying with his brother's if they couldn't treat him like a real person with feelings. Finn was more than welcome to stay with her. It would be better anyway, that while he healed and regained exposure to the world he was with someone who would help him instead of hinder him. There was time to work on reconciling relationships with estranged family after he was accustomed to simply being alive.

If he consented to that, of course. Isolde wouldn't rob him of his choices. He'd been stuck for nine hundred years against his will. He was turned into a vampire against his will. So many things in Finn's life weren't consented too, Isolde would have no more of it.

"... these actions caused Isolde to feel her neck break as though it happened to her. Just the same as her decapitation felt to us. She was driving, Kol." Elijah bellowed, the vein at his forehead popping outward with the strain of his anger as he yelled at Kol - though he should be yelling at Kol, Freya, and Klaus.

This admission caused Kol and Freya's eyes to widen and they both looked at Isolde, who just waved a flippant hand as she stepped over to Finn. "No one was in danger. I'm glad I knew right away that something was happening," she crouched down and ran a hand through Finn's soft hair, "I'm taking him with me. Objections?" Isolde raised a brow, looking at Kol with a cold stare that dared him to speak. When he didn't, she looked to Elijah. "Will you grab a bag of his things for me?"

Elijah flashed up the stairs to do as she asked without a word. Kol took a step toward Isolde and she held up a finger to stop him in place.

"What did you and Klaus say to him?" She asked, staring up at his face and watching his microexpressions to detect any deception, should he attempt to employ it. This wouldn't be advisable, because she was beyond angry with him at the moment and it wouldn't take much for her to lose the tight control she had on her anger and lose her shit.

Kol released a shaky breath. If she were a betting woman, Isolde would guess that he was feeling some small ounce of shame under her scrutiny. Especially with the unwavering coldness and rage that was simmering underneath her false serene look. She was willing to bet he picked up on that, too. Kol was a smart man. Probably the smartest of the Mikaelsons.

Instead of answering, Kol's face shut down and he folded his arms over his chest.

"Really?" Isolde let her disappointment be known. Kol still said nothing and Isolde nodded. More flies with honey, she reminded herself before she spoke again. "I see. Well despite all the flippancy and petulance, I am sorry for your loss today." Elijah was back in a blur of movement, holding a small duffle bag. "Even with such a tumultuous relationship, Esther was your mother. My condolences." She stood and took the bag from Elijah, stepping in to kiss him on the cheek. "In the coming days, please let me know if there's anything I can do to be of assistance."

Kol looked away, his jaw tight and eyebrows knit together. He tensed when Isolde stepped up to him and brushed her fingers against his, letting some of the monster's coldness seep from her fingers to his in a vindictive little move that was below her, but she didn't care.

His fingers flinched away, his eyes burning into hers and she gave him a smile. "I will, however, be leaving for New Orleans in about ten hours. I'll return in under three days." She said, and his eyes widened when she leaned up and kissed his cheek like she did Elijah's. Without the coldness.

Kol's head whipped around to look at her but she was already retreating, shaking Freya's hand.

"You think you're going to New Orleans without us, love?" Klaus' voice entered the conversation, and they all turned to look at where he sat on the floor, arms draped over bended knees. None of them heard him come to. Isolde guessed he recovered faster because he was a hybrid, but she didn't know for sure.

Isolde dropped Freya's hand and turned to the hybrid. She raised a brow at Klaus, stepping around the dead animals to crouch down beside him, too. "I will be doing as I please," she reached up and brushed a curl back, Klaus laid a hand over her wrist, suspicious eyes not leaving her face as she continued, "if any of you want to join, you are more than welcome to do so. The jet will leave from a private airport outside of D.C. at midnight tonight."

Isolde leaned forward like she had with Kol and Elijah, but instead of dropping a kiss to his cheek, because of their angle, she kissed the top of his head and pulled her wrist out of his grasp to run a hand side to side between his shoulders a few times before she pulled away. "I'm sorry about your Mother."

Klaus took a sharp breath, jaw clenching, and he looked like he wanted to say something but Isolde didn't give him the chance as she stood and moved past him. She crouched back down and wrapped a hand around Finn's upper left arm. She hesitated and looked up at them all.

"Can you guys give Finn a respectful distance for a while? Let him come back on his own terms?" Isolde asked quietly.

Elijah nodded, his eyes conveying his gratitude and his sorrow. "Of course. Take care of him, please."

"How are you planning on getting him to your home?" Freya asked, finally standing up from her spot on the stairs, concern written all over her features.

At this Isolde smiled. "I have my ways," she glanced at Kol, "you can give my phone to Theo when he eventually shows up with Rebekah, he'll get it back to me," then she looked to Elijah again, "and give him my keys, if you'd be so kind. He can bring my car home later. Oh, and I forgot to tell him Emeric asked for Missy and Paul to join us tomorrow, if you can let him know for me."

Without further fanfare, Isolde shrouded both her and Finn in darkness and nearly laughed at Freya's shocked gasp before she started pulling through the shadows and racing home with Finn supported by void tendrils beside her.

It really wasn't much to keep someone else shrouded with her, but she hadn't done it for quite some time so she made sure to avoid town and take the long way around through the woods.

She was so angry. Beyond angry, really. It took every bit of control she had over herself to not yell at Kol, Klaus, and Freya the way she wanted to.

The last few days had proven that when she lost her temper and was firm with Klaus he didn't react well and it caused contention between them. Of course, she knew that another argument was inevitable and would happen sooner than she hoped. It was the way Klaus was, and she wouldn't abide by every action he pulled just for the sake of keeping the peace.

So she was trying another approach, to see how he would react to how she handled the situation with Esther's death.

Call it an experiment.

Still, Kol had said he and Klaus acted to redirect Finn's rage from Freya to them. That was another thing that gave her pause. Isolde didn't want to go slinging accusations if what Kol said was true. Because if it was, then even if she didn't agree with his methods, Kol and Klaus taking the burden of their eldest brother's rage to protect Freya from getting attacked wasn't something Isolde could fault either of them for.

She could still be annoyed with their methods, though. And she was. But also, their mother was dead. Regardless of if they acted as though that didn't faze them, she was willing to bet that it did. Just like it mattered to her when her mother decided to reabsorb herself. Isolde didn't have the best relationship with Nephthys, better than the Mikaelsons and Esther, but it definitely wasn't just okay when she 'died.'

Isolde made it home in record time, flinging the sliding glass door open with an errant tendril, unshrouding as soon as the door clicked shut. She paused in the kitchen and wondered where exactly she should take Finn before shrugging and taking him to her basement sanctuary. She didn't know what Finn's personal preferences were but it was dark and cool down there and when she was upset she didn't want the sun in her face.

Finn could be totally opposite of this, though.

Isolde would just have to ask.

She laid him down gently on the couch and retracted the tendrils, grabbing a throw out of the basket she had by her television and draping it over Finn. Then she lifted his head and slid under him, pulling an ottoman closer to her with her toes. She got comfortable and lowered Finn's head into her lap, gently brushing through his hair with her fingers. She turned on the tv, lowering the volume and settled in to wait for him to wake. He was going to be confused when he came to, she just hoped he didn't confuse her for Klaus and try to kill her right away.

Finn

Every time he closed his eyes he went back to that black horizon, that place where he was abandoned and forgotten by his own family.

Even now, when he was supposed to be unconscious Finn went back to that dark, lonely place and it clawed at his chest like a caged rat. A dream or a bitter reality, he couldn't be sure. Niklaus might have daggered him again. The thought made him want to rage, to lash out, to find a way out of this hellacious half-existence and burn everything his family built to the ground for their indiscretions and mistreatment of him.

But wait. His slew of vengeful thoughts halted as he remembered. Kind eyes, green like the forest after a storm. A beautiful laugh. 'Welcome back to the world, Finn Mikaelson, I'm so glad you're here.' The daggers were melted. The ash - destroyed.

He can't be daggered. Not anymore.

As he felt his neck repair, the anger, the resentment, and the grief bubbled and festered all over again. Now compounded by his annoyance at having his anger robbed from him by temporary death. A brawl with Niklaus might've been what he needed.

Finn slammed into consciousness and gasped, wrenching himself upward. He felt something jolt behind him and, thinking it was Niklaus readying for a fight, he launched himself away to get some distance. In doing so, he tripped over a chair that was just feet away and caught himself on the wall behind it.

"Finn." Gentle. Smokey. A voice he was becoming rather attached too, much like the woman it belonged to. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall without turning to face her. He wasn't in the right frame of mind to be good company, he knew. His mate shouldn't have to deal with him this way. She should have nothing but the best from him but it currently wasn't in his capacity to keep up a pretense.

The rage began to ebb away as the scent of the room he was in, the scent of Isolde, registered and created a calm atmosphere around him that he didn't know that he needed and it helped more than he could've guessed it would. The tightness in his shoulder eased, but with it the flashes of memories, the good and bad, started to flood through his mind.

Mother.

He heard Isolde getting off the sofa. Listened to her approach. Released a long breath and trembled pathetically when he felt her hands land on his back and slide around his waist until she could thread her fingers together. He clenched his jaw and struggled to keep himself from sobbing when Isolde pressed herself against his back and laid her forehead between his shoulders.

Finn dropped one shaky hand from where it was braced against the wall and placed it over Isolde's hands.

Finn's first thought was so this is what it is like to be held.

He tightened his grip on Isolde's hands in response to her grounding contact. But his mind went back to those birds, the way his mother burst into them with that look of resignation. That short nod. Like she was giving Freya permission to kill her. No more fighting. Just an easy death.

She didn't even glance at him. He'd been fighting to get to her and she didn't even look in his direction. His mother loved him, he knew this. But in her last moments she wouldn't even meet his gaze and it was shocking how much this observation ripped through him like a dagger to the heart. It hurt, it hurt far more than the flippant remarks made by Niklaus and Kol.

Finn took a sharp breath and tried to control the sorrow, the confusion, the fresh anger that swept through him. He must have failed and given himself away somehow because Isolde dropped her arms and stepped away. There was a split second where his thoughts spiraled out of control…

She thinks I'm weak. I'm pathetic. I'm a coward. Nobody wants me around. Mother didn't even look at me. Isolde doesn't want to be around me. Why am I so wretched and worthless… I should find white oak and rid myself of this accursed existence. Free Isolde and the rest of my family of my insufferable presenc-

The dark twist of his thoughts sputtered and stalled when Isolde wedged herself between him and the wall and threw her arms around his shoulders and neck, gripping him tightly.

Finn didn't hesitate, as affection starved as he was.

He clung to Isolde as his only remaining lifeline, as the man who'd been thrown out to sea during a storm sent by Thor himself. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as tightly to him as he could without hurting her, burying his face in her shoulder. He couldn't even control the mournful sobs that wracked his body, and eventually neither he or Isolde could keep him up as he sagged, and they both lowered to the floor in a heap.

Isolde was running her fingers through his hair and down his back, whispering soothing things to him while he rocked back and forth, an unconscious attempt to self-soothe through the grief. It could have been minutes or hours later that he shuddered and took a long, steadying breath.

"I'm sorry." Finn whispered, face still buried in Isolde's shoulder.

"You have nothing to apologize for, tesoro mio," she pulled back and he tightened his grip reflexively with a soft whimper - and gods if that didn't make him feel every bit as pathetic as Kol accused him of being. He couldn't help it at the moment, he didn't want her to move away from him, Isolde was the only thing keeping him from becoming overwhelmed. "I'm not going anywhere, Finn, just pulling back so I can look at you."

Finn supposed that was okay, so he loosened his grip and she moved back, taking her hands from around him and placing them gently on his cheeks, brushing the remnants of tears away.. He could see the genuine concern and hear the sorrow in her voice when she spoke. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Finn."

"I thought you hated my mother." He said before he was able to censor it. He hadn't meant to bring it up but the thought had crossed his mind while Isolde held him as he wept.

Isolde looked down, one hand leaving his face to tuck some of her long hair behind her ear before she looked back up at him. "I didn't particularly like her, that's true. There was a time when she was a child where I did enjoy watching over her, much as I enjoy watching over all the children I've been around in my lifetime. Unfortunately, children grow into young adults who think they know all there is to be known about the world, and Esther came to hate me because of a misunderstanding that I allowed her to believe to save her relationship with her sister. I had hoped to reconcile once we caught up with Dahlia, but now that is impossible."

Finn raised a brow, curiosity winning over his better instinct not to pry. "What was this misunderstanding?"

Isolde dropped both of her hands to her lap, fingers playing with the hem of her blouse. It was then Finn noticed that Isolde was in his lap. Quite literally straddling his legs where they both were on the floor. He tried to fight the warmth that spread up his neck at the position.

"Esther thought that I killed the man she was in love with before she met Mikael."

All thoughts of their… precarious position and the implications of it flew out of his head at this admission. Stunned, his eyes landed back on Isolde's face.

She gave him a sad little half smile that made his chest squeeze. "And it was Dahlia?"

"He wasn't a good man. In comparison Mikael was a saint, but Esther had her heart set on Ragnar." Isolde looked off to the side for a moment. "We all tried to warn her, to no avail. Eventually he showed his true colors. To make a long story short, Ragnar tried to…" she looked at him potedly and he understood without having to hear the word, "... Dahlia. I showed up just in time to realize what was happening and Dahlia killed him with her magic before I could act. Esther arrived seconds later and fell to her knees, cradling Ragnar and screaming at her sister. I told her I did it, because Esther wouldn't have forgiven Dahlia for that. And Dahlia had just been assaulted, she was traumatized. I couldn't let Esther keep screaming at her sister after all that so I gave her someone else to blame. I don't remember the reason I gave for his murder, something that wasn't entirely justifiable, as I recall, but I was trying to spare both Esther's and Dahlia's feelings."

Finn opened his mouth and Isolde dusted her fingers over his lips. He shut them promptly, marveling at the tingling that was left behind by Isolde's brief touch.

"I feel quite guilty about it now. When I remembered Ragnar I realized that I am likely the reason Esther didn't come to Vera for help with her fertility. I think I am the reason for your suffering." Isolde's jaw tightened with this admission and she looked away from him again, dropping her hand to her lap. Regret was written across her face, eyes shining in the low lighting of the room he didn't recognize. "So, in truth, you have nothing to be sorry for. I am culpable for your family's suffering and I'm so beyond sorry for what I've caused you."

Thoroughly blind sided, Finn reeled back with a look of outrage. Isolde's eyes widened and she pulled back from him more and he gripped her upper arms to keep her in place - why did she keep trying to move away from him, he wanted her to keep touching him - and caught her eyes with his.

"You are not culpable, Isolde." Finn's voice was rough after the emotional upheaval he'd been through, but it cracked like an authoritative, confident whip. A tone he'd often had to use to corral Kol and Rebekah when they were younger and acting wild. Finn employed it now, and Isolde's back straightened, eyes wide. His hands slid down her arms to take her hands in his. "My mother's decision to take Dahlia's deal instead of seeking out Vera as an alternate method can only be a burden placed on her shoulders, especially when Dahlia named her price."

He felt as Isolde relaxed. She pursed her lips and leaned forward, pulling their hands apart and wrapping her arms around him again. Finn reciprocated instinctually, glad to have her back in his arms instead of attempting to retreat from him. Her embrace soothed a part of him and he leaned into it.

Isolde sighed, her hand rubbing slow circles against his back. "Well, in any case. I have a blood bag upstairs, if you're feeling hungry. I also had Elijah pack a bag for you so you could stay here. I'm sorry if that was presumptuous but after I walked into the manor earlier… well, I didn't want you to feel like you had to remain there. I'd love to have you here, there's plenty of room and you can stay as long as you want."

It was an obvious change in subject that Finn had planned to address until that last sentence.

'I'd love to have you here.' Isolde said. She'd love to have him. She wanted him to stay with her. She had Elijah pack him a bag so he wouldn't have to return to the manor.

He wrapped his arms around Isolde even tighter, burying his nose back into her shoulder and thanking the gods he'd met her.

"I'll stay."

Isolde released a happy sigh and turned her head, pressing her lips to his temple and the intimacy of the action made Finn's eyes pop open in surprise.

Like a blow to the chest Finn realized that he wasn't so alone in the aftermath of his mother's death after all.

Things are definitely not over for Finn, of course, but he's not teetering on the edge of turning off his humanity now, at least.