I should have gone to bed two hours ago. But I really wanted to get this one out!

-26-

Kol

Isolde was angry with him. Kol knew it the moment he saw her face when he brought Freya the broom and rubbish bin. Of course, his bonded locked it all down almost immediately but still; he saw it.

She grew angrier when he moved her out of the danger zone between him and Elijah, too. And her rage compounded with every word that came from his mouth until the moment she left with Finn.

As soon as Kol was sure she'd left the house, he released the breath he'd been holding. Was this how Nik felt the last several days as Isolde was angry with him? This… guilt and anxiety. He hated the way it made him feel like he was walking on eggshells, waiting for her to yell. To hit him. Anything.

But what he got was a cold touch to his fingers and an even colder kiss to the cheek.

The indifference in her eyes drove him mad. He wanted nothing more than to chase after her and make her yell at him, to scream, to throw things. To threaten, even. Kol could deal with all that and more but he didn't know what to do with indifference.

"Seems like you and I are in the doghouse." Nik laughed as he stood from his position on the floor, eyeing Kol.

Kol snorted. "You're in the doghouse, mongrel. I'm on the couch, at least."

"Likely not even the couch," Elijah started with a smug grin on his face, "as Finn is now taking up residence. I imagine your presence would make it uncomfortable for him. I doubt Isolde will appreciate that. Not until you make up for whatever vile things came out of your mouths before Freya broke Niklaus and Finn's necks."

Nik's eyes narrowed the same time Kol's did. "And the reason you're happy about it is because our absence gave you a chance to cement your position in her life, I suppose? You're feeling rather confident right now, I imagine." Nik said with a scoff. "You'll be on the receiving end of her ire soon enough, brother. Mark my words."

Elijah just threw a smile over to Nik, and then changed the subject. "Are we all going to New Orleans?"

Kol opened his mouth to bring them back around to the prior subject, but was interrupted when Theon and Rebekah flounced through the door in a hurry.

"I should bloody well hope so, I just did quite a lot of work for no reason if we're not all going." Rebekah said, looking around the room, with unconcealed rancor. "What the hell happened here? I'm not cleaning this mess!"

Kol and the rest of his siblings said nothing.

Theon raised a brow then crouched down to inspect one of the ravens. They all watched him with bated breath as his eyes narrowed and he looked up at them more coldly than any of them had imagined he could. An expression much like Isolde's had been, Kol realized, just before she'd shut it down and treated him with that indifference that set his teeth on edge.

The elder immortal stood and closed the distance between himself and Rebekah, placing a supportive hand on her upper back.

"You best tell her, before I do," Theon stated coldly, with restrained malice in his tone that… if Kol was being honest… scared him.

If Isolde was the Ice Queen then Theon might just have the title of Ice Prince, for all the warmth they'd seen from him in the last few days was gone without a trace as he stared at them all.

It was Freya who spoke, head down. "I killed Esther."

Rebekah went still for a moment. Theon's absolutely murderous look made Nik shift as though he was ready to bolt. After having heard the story of how the massive hole in their wall came to be, Kol thought that he'd rather run than meet Theon head on for a fight as well.

"You mean to tell me," Rebekah's voice quivered as tears filled her eyes, and that was like a knife in the gut - a sentiment share by his brothers if their shift in postures were anything to go by, "-that you're with us all of a few hours and you feel you've earned the right to kill one of us. Without care for what any of us thought about it?"

Kol looked away, unsure of how to feel.

Long before her return Kol had mourned his mother's loss. He wasn't fond of Esther back then, he never had been fond of her, really. From the way she had turned a blind eye to Mikael's abuse, most especially his abuse of Nik, to the way she doted on Finn and ignored her other children, Kol had never been his mother's biggest fan.

He was even less of a fan now that she'd wormed her way back from beyond the grave with the express intent to murder him and his siblings. Still, he would have rather had Esther die on his terms, or that of his siblings. The ones who actually had to suffer by her hands.

Kol understood that Freya's life had been no happy affair in Dahlia's clutches, and he understood uncontrollable emotions. Better than the rest of the family. His moods had been unstable even when he was human, after all.

Still. He found himself agreeing with Rebekah.

"I'm sorry." Freya whispered.

"Damn right you are," Rebekah responded in the same tone - Freya flinched, "where is Finn, then? He was closest to Mother. I assume you didn't spare a thought for his feelings when you murdered her."

At that they all looked away. Kol could've stopped it. Nik could have stopped it. But they didn't. Because they both had wanted Esther dead and it didn't matter how it happened.

But Finn's reaction, they should have considered that. They should have, yet they didn't.

"Isolde took him home with her, he won't likely be returning to the manor for some time." Kol answered, pulling Isolde's phone from his pocket and passing it to Theon. "I was supposed to go and get that fixed for your sister but with everything I haven't had a chance."

Theon threw him a look that told him exactly how incompetent the god thought he was. Kol supposed that he was, in comparison to Theon who had spent the last hour arranging the logistics of at least two armies.

Then hovered a hand over the phone. They all watched with interest as the screen melded back together until it looked as though it had never been broken and the screen lit up with the phone company logo. The elder immortal give Kol a blank stare and slid the phone into his pocket.

Rebekah turned on her heel, looking back at Theon. "I want to go see Finn."

Theon nodded at her and turned back to her brothers and sister. "Anything else I need to know?"

Elijah stepped forward with Isolde's car keys. "She wanted you to bring her car home, and she asked that I let you know Emeric requested for a 'Missy and Paul' to join us in New Orleans."

The keys flew out of Elijah's hand of their own accord and into Theon's waiting hand. The incubus gave them all a single nod and turned away from them, leading Rebekah out of the door.

Nik released a breath. "That was bloody tense."

"And that's the younger brother," Elijah reminded them all, "the older one is who we're supposed to worry about. And in case you didn't catch it, it is Emeric who we will be meeting tonight at the airport." He moved to stand beside Freya, picking up her long discarded bags and raising a hand to direct her up the stairs.

"I have quite a few things I would like to say to the elder Alexander." Nik growled.

Kol cleared his throat and held up a finger. "I really don't think that's a bear that we ought to poke just yet, brother."

Isolde

Isolde ran her fingers between Finn's cheek and ear, thumb in his hair. She held him tightly as he laid face down, partially spread over her in the bed. She'd asked him if he wanted to have a nap with her and he'd agreed, hesitantly. He was a bundle of nerves until the moment she'd opened her arms in the bed, him standing by on the opposite side eyeing her and wringing his hands. He'd crawled into her arms when she patted the empty spot next to her with an encouraging smile. Within seconds in her embrace he sagged and the nervousness from before flowed right out of him.

She was glad that he felt safe enough to be there with her. Especially with his guard down like this.

Finn wasn't sleeping, she knew. Instinctively Isolde realized he was overturning negative thoughts and so she interrupted them. He didn't know what was happening with New Orleans. He didn't even know what or where New Orleans was - just that Freya had likely been there. This may be the only time she has to fill him in, and she hated that she had to interrupt his grief with it.

"As much as I hate it, I have to leave soon, tesoro mio-" as expected, Finn stiffened against her, "-to retrieve Vera. My brother is on his way from Egypt to help, I have to meet him in a few hours."

Finn's grip on her tightened minutely before he spoke. "I am coming with you."

"You don't have to," she continued brushing her fingers along his cheek, "of course, you're welcome to, I would love for you to be there. Just don't think it is required of you. You've been through a lot today - coming with me might put you through more."

At this Finn raised his head. Those jade rimmed amber eyes bore into her, his brows knit and his lips pinched - Isolde felt like she was about to be scolded. She was right.

"Required." His brow pinched more and Isolde fought the urge to rub a thumb over the crease that formed between his eyes. "I do not care if I'm 'not required' to come with you. I will be 'put through more' as long as I live. I have accepted this part of my existence and you will not so easily shelter me. I will remain with you. So long as you'll have me." He paused, even as Isolde's jaw slacked at his admission. The confidence in his gaze lessened and he lowered his head back to the pillow again. "Where you go I go." Finn murmured, his tone laced with finality.

With a soft smile, Isolde leaned forward to press a kiss to his temple. "Okay," she agreed, "where you go I go."

They were quiet again for a few minutes. Isolde still had more to say so she broke it once again. "You'll see me at my worst."

Finn sighed deeply and raised his head again, giving her an annoyed look. Isolde went on the defensive.

"I'm just telling you. My brothers and I, we won't let the supernatural community of New Orleans get away with kidnapping Vera. That, and there's a legion of my people that will be watching my every move - because there are those that are even as we speak conspiring against me and I must show that I have not gotten weak in my time away." The words were coming out in a rush now, Isolde's own anxieties climbing as her uncertainties about how Finn felt wormed their way into her thoughts. "There are expectations that my family and my people have of me, and I will meet those expectations. I just want you to be prepared to see it because I really don't want you, of all people, to look at me and see me as a monster-"

Finn wormed his arm out from where it was wedged between them and his hand landed gently over her mouth, ceasing all noise. She looked at him in confusion as he, evidently satisfied that she'd stop talking, removed his hand.

"You are no monster," he said simply, as if his saying it were a declaration of fact, "though you may do monstrous things at times. From what I've seen, you are more kind, caring, and compassionate than any one I've met. Granted I haven't lived as long as the rest of my family." His smile was self-deprecating. "You lead a nation. More people than I've met in my life follow your guidance and leadership for their survival. I've no way to fathom how that affects your decisions. I only know that I've hardly led my own life, it is not for me to judge the way you lead so that others may live in peace. You needn't worry about my opinion of you - I'm nothing more than a simple hunter, a trained warrior with no battles to fight."

"You are far, far, more than you think you are, Finn. I hope to help you realize that." Isolde admonished sadly, quietly touched that Finn had been the first of her bonds to actually acknowledge that she was a leader, that she had an alarming number of people that relied on her for their very survival. She nearly melted under him as he spoke, one anxiety beginning to ease as he reassured her. "And of course I'm going to worry, your opinion matters to me."

Finn's hand, tentative and unsure, rose to settle over the top of her head and large enough that he cupped the side of her face. His fingers were in her hair and his thumb brushed lightly over her cheekbone, his arm resting against her chest while his eyes were locked onto her face.

Isolde felt herself stall like a car with a dead battery. Everything she was getting ready to say just whooshed out of her mind, her heart rate increased and she couldn't look away from his face as he opened his mouth to speak.

"That is exactly why you don't need to worry, Kærasta." Isolde had to fight the blush that threatened to spread at the Icelandic term of endearment. And Finn, suddenly releasing a flirtatious side she'd not seen before, smiled in a way that crinkled his eyes at the corners and made little lines appear around his mouth. It was so endearing that Isolde actually did blush, even as he changed the subject. "Tell me more about those you mentioned, the ones who conspire against you."

He was still swiping the pad of his thumb across her cheek ever so slowly and she swallowed, enjoying his open affection but also trying to answer his question. It was harder than she thought it would be. But explain she did, and his thumb stopped half way through the story. By the end, his face was pinched with thinly concealed animosity, his fingers sliding away from her hair and down her face to fully cup her cheek.

"I see," he began, his tone deeper and more husky than it had been before, his eyes had sharpened in a way she'd never seen from him before, "it seems there is a battle to fight after all."

Isolde gave him a sad smile as he withdrew, pulling himself out of the bed with a stretch. After he stood, he came around to her side and she turned to face him as he kneeled down next to her.

His eyes and body language were serious, though his tone was light. Isolde drew herself up, swinging her legs over so she would be in a seated position. "Is it like the days of eld? Shall I find a sword and swear my allegiance or does my saying it do the trick? I have no idea what the modern custom for fealty is."

Isolde studied him, knelt down before her like thousands (if not millions) of others had in her painfully long existence. Like with all those before him, she asked; "Are you certain?"

Finn's expression did not change. "I am."

Isolde was suddenly very concerned that he was replacing his loyalty to Esther with loyalty to her. She wanted to reject his fealty on this grounds alone, until he was able to make such a decision with a clear head and heart. But… if she rejected him now, he would spiral. If she told him no it may damage their relationship. If she said 'not yet' though…

She leaned forward and held her hands out for him to take. A testament to the last several hours and how much more comfortable he'd become with her, he easily slid his hands into hers.

"I would love to accept you. I think, however, that you may want to wait until after New Orleans. Get a better idea of what you're getting into."

Finn shook his head, a stubbornness she didn't realize he possessed rearing its head just as a deep frown stretched his face. "No. I don't need to get a better idea of what I am getting into. I am well and truly into it," he stressed this point, raising a brow and settling her with that scolding look again, "you've spent the last several minutes trying to dissuade me from the path that I am choosing for myself."

Isolde's face pinched and she looked down, thinking over the conversation she had been having. Then she groaned out loud.

"By the gods, I have," she breathed, looking back up to Finn with wide eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I-"

His face softened and he nodded at her, running one of his hands up her arm soothingly and cutting her off gently. "I know. I know you didn't mean it. It's alright."

"It's not alright, you've had too many choices robbed from you."

Finn's face remained soft. "Then will you allow it?"

Isolde eyed him, removing her hands from his to slide them across his cheeks and cup his face. He leaned into the touch. "I don't have fancy customs for most things. I'm the more lax of us all, I accept anyone who asks me. Of course I'd be happy to accept you, Finn. You'll be taking a mark. It's a literal brand, though small, and it is painless. If you're sure."

He gave her a look at that last bit and she laughed, removing her hands from his face. "Okay, just checking. I'll take your sword hand, please." She held her hand out to him and he placed his left in it.

Isolde hadn't lied, there was no ceremony. Within seconds, the little symbol associated with her appeared in deep black as though it were a fresh tattoo at the base of his middle finger. She released his hand and he brought it up to his face to get a closer look.

"It looks like an eye?" He asked her.

"It will identify you as one of mine to anyone in the know and they won't bother you, as you're now very clearly associated with me. Bonus? Emeric will like you more than your brothers as soon as he sees it, if you're feeling mischievous, let him see it right away." She leaned forward and smiled conspiratorially.

Finn's eyes crinkled and he nodded in understanding, running the fingers of his right hand over the symbol.

Without warning, they heard the front door slam open and they both shot up, Finn instantly positioning himself in front of Isolde protectively. Half a second later, Isolde's bedroom door opened revealing a teary eyed and red faced Rebekah, Theon close behind.

"Finn…" Rebekah released a sob and launched herself at her eldest brother, who caught her and held her close.

Isolde brushed a soothing hand over Rebekah's hair and met Theon's eye. He nodded his head toward the hall and Isolde turned away to give mourning siblings some privacy, meeting Finn's eyes as he nodded to her over his sisters' shoulder. She closed her bedroom door gently and followed her brother out of the room down the stairs and all the way back to the basement.

"All is in order?" Isolde asked quietly when there was enough space between them and the vampires.

"Yes," Theo pulled her repaired phone out of his pocket and handed it to her, dropping himself on the couch and running his hands over his face with a deep sigh, "the Shade and Incubi at our disposal are on the move. They should be flooding the city by the time we get there. Missy and Paul will meet us at the airport in Louisiana - they're handling accommodations for us and the Mikaelson's. Evidently they have a penthouse that will be large enough to accommodate all ten of us. The Tumaini somehow already knew Vera had been taken and hundreds of Pagan witches were already well on their way, dozens already there. Everyone is looking to witness the first grand spectacle of the new millennium. What else did Emeric say?"

Isolde dropped down onto the couch on the opposite end of her brother. "Not much. He included the Mikaelson's in his strategizing, so that's promising." Theon focused a look at his elder sister and she raised her hands. "I said it was promising, I didn't say I believed him."

Theon snorted and shook his head. "I'm not surprised he already knew."

"He didn't know much. I filled him in."

Theon grunted, his ire apparent in the way that he scrubbed his hands down his face once again and lowered his voice so even Isolde struggled to hear him. "Why couldn't Freya have waited to kill Esther after we came back from leveling New Orleans? This has upset Bekah and it's driving me wild that I can't do anything to help her."

Isolde pursed her lips, mirroring Theo's volume. "She said she couldn't control her anger. She hadn't planned to do it right away."

Theo's brows snapped together. "Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"I hope it's not the case," Isolde shrugged.

Theon threw her a 'no shit' look and let himself fall to the side, groaning, until his head smacked the arm of the couch. "If he's lingering around then I'm going to beat the ever loving fuck out of him for this when he shows himself."

"If he shows himself." Isolde corrected, swinging her legs up on the couch and burying her cold feet under her brother's thighs.

"Oh, if he's around causing mayhem then he'll eventually show himself. I just hope it's one of those rare instances where he's just feeling the paternal instinct to 'check in.'"

This time it was Isolde's turn to snort indelicately. "Right. Because parental instinct always came easily to Set." She shook her head. "I was thinking about something else before I fell asleep last night…"

Theo waved a flippant hand, still very distracted by the idea that Isolde just gave him. "Out with it then."

"When was the last time we experienced a rapid expansion of the family? And the time before that?"

There was a pause. Then Theo shot up, looked at his sister with wide eyes and stilled, his mouth dropping into a perfect 'o' as realization flitted over his face. "Oh fuck."

Isolde sighed, dread filling her stomach. "Oh fuck indeed."

A shameless self-plug: I started another Mikaelson/OC story. It's called Ad Meliora, if you're interested.