So, this really won't make any sense unless you've read the other two installments in the "Baby Vampire" series. It's too much to explain and there's a lot of lore built-in there. For those who have read it, this takes place at the same time as "Starting Over". When I wrote the chapter where Klaus finally punishes Marcel for how he's treated Kol, many wanted to see that dynamic expanded upon. This first chapter starts where Ch10 of "Starting Over" left off, with Klaus dragging Marcel back home.

As in the other fics, spanking will play a role here. Right now, it'll just be Klaus (or occasionally Elijah and Hayley) spanking Marcel, but maybe at one point Caroline will do it? I haven't thought it through too much and as always, I love to hear everyone's feedback and ideas. In this installment, Caroline is very much the Hayley to Kol/Elijah, but not to such an extreme extent. At least not now.

I've said before, Marcel will never drop as far as Kol has, however I do think it's very in character for Klaus to treat him a bit like a child and I think he'd end up falling into that occasionally too. Maybe like an older child/pre-teen? Basically lots of whining and annoyance. But overall, Marcel is still the leader of the kingdom...just with his papa by his side.

Right now, my focus is on this verse as well as "I'm right here". Anyway, please let me know what you think and feel free to give me any prompts.

For at least 5 minutes, Marcel struggles in vain to remove himself from his father's grasp. While he's built up his strength over the past century, there is little hope for him compared to a hybrid. Especially one as emotionally charged as him.

"Now," Klaus speaks up, breaking the silence. "Would you like to use your words and tell me why you took off?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you!" Marcel snaps. "I'm a grown man. I can leave my home when I want."

"Not after we have an argument and you do not notify me where you're going. Do you not understand what it was like to go to your study and find you gone?"

"Do you not realize how annoying it was to have you show up at the creek?"

Marcel grows quiet at the sound of his father's heartbeat pick up. Klaus scowls.

"You are really digging a deeper hole for yourself, Marcellus."

"Marcel," the young man tries to hide a whine. "It's just Marcel."

"We can all have nicknames, but at the end of the day, I named you Marcellus."

Marcel rolls his eyes. "You act as if I'm still that same little boy you saved. I'm a grown man!"

"Thus is your argument and yet, you hardly act like it. Throwing tantrums when you don't get your way then running off instead of dealing with your problems. That is not befitting behavior." Marcel glowers, heat rising in his cheeks. "Now, if you do not wish to talk to me about what's bothering you, that's fine. Maybe you'll feel differently after your thrashing."

"You can't spank me!" Marcel exclaims. "I didn't do anything!"

Klaus expels an irritated sigh. "Marcellus, we just went over all your transgressions. Must I go over them again?"

Marcel yanks against him as they make it through the clearing to his manor. While he knows the other vampires are long gone, he can't risk any seeing him like this.

"Let. Me. Go!"

"Never!" Klaus thunders.

A sharp woosh and Caroline appears before the two. She puts her hands on her hips, eyes narrow.

"It is 11:00 at night! The two of you are going to wake up all of New Orleans!"

Klaus' grip lightens a bit, but not by much. "I was just trying to bring him home."

"By screaming at the boy?"

Caroline glances over at Marcel. He sheepishly smiles in spite of his annoyance. As irritating as his father has become, he has a small soft spot for her. Caroline seems to be one of the few that can actually keep Klaus in line. She's sweet and silly, with a fierce and stubborn side. A part of Marcel wonders how she and Klaus work so well together. How in the world is his papa melted by such a woman?

"Hi, Caroline," Marcel mutters.

"Where I stand on the side of your earlier argument doesn't matter right now," she says, her voice soft yet firm. "You can't just take off like that."

"I know…I'm sorry."

Caroline's features soften. Klaus rolls his eyes. "So for her, it's "Oh Caroline, I'm so sorry"," Klaus mimics. "But for your papa, it's sass."

Marcel rolls his eyes. "Because Caroline isn't a controlling dick!"

Caroline's eyes widen as Klaus' grip on his son tightens. Marcel swallows upon seeing the combined look of hurt and anger in his father's blue eyes. Caroline takes a step forward and pushes Klaus off of him. The hybrid falls back into a wall, grunting. Klaus slowly walks closer, that hurt still there. Caroline steps in front of Marcel.

"Go to your room."

Marcel shakes his head. "I am not…"

"I know you are not a child. This isn't to treat you like one, this is to give you and your father a little space right now."

Her own blue eyes are kind yet firm. Marcel slowly nods, heading into the manor without another look at his papa.

Klaus opens his mouth to question his wife undermining him, but Caroline speaks first. "Before you start your rant, let's go inside. I was in the middle of some wine before you arrived and I have a feeling I'll need to finish it for this conversation."

She strides into the manor as Klaus looks after her, a little amazed. He is still unsure how she has this affect on him. If anyone else tried that, they wouldn't have made it 5 feet.

Klaus trails behind her into the den. On the flat screen television, A Walk To Remember is paused. The side table has a box of tissues paired with the promised bottle of wine and a glass. She tops it off and takes a long sip. He can't help but take her in. Beautiful, long blonde curls and shining (if not a little annoyed) blue eyes. Even in her loungewear, she looks ravishing. His heartrate decreases as he stares at her.

"Okay," she says, once it's gone. "You may begin."

Klaus blinks a few times, still distracted by Caroline's beauty. He's only pulled out of it as he listens to Marcel slam some drawers up in his bedroom.

"Marcellus cannot get away with how he spoke to me!"

Caroline sets the glass down. "Have you considered he only did that because of how you were acting?"

"I was bringing my son home! After he took off through the woods and left me to worry!"

"And why did he do that?"

"How the bloody hell am I to know if he won't talk to me?!"

"Well, he's not going to want to talk to you if you keep screaming at him," Caroline says, her voice remaining even. "Or dragging him through the woods like he's 5."

Klaus shakes his head. "It was the only way to bring him back here."

"No," Caroline corrects. "It was the only way you could force him to come back here and not risk he'd run even further away from you."

Klaus narrows his eyes but Caroline's stubborn demeanor doesn't soften.

"I am only trying to look out for him and his safety," Klaus whispers harshly. "That is hardly a crime."

"You're right, it's not. How you go about it, is a completely different story. Demanding he do exactly as you say when it comes to his kingdom…"

"We agreed we'd run it together."

"It is still his kingdom first and foremost. He is trying to find the link between all these disappearances and it doesn't help when you just try to take over."

Klaus shakes his head. "He's a stubborn boy…"

"Really? And what are you?"

Caroline folds her arms over her chest. Klaus pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I am trying to prevent him from getting a stake shoved through his heart. That hardly makes me the worst father in the world!"

"You refuse to listen and demand he blindly follows your orders. Even Elijah isn't like that with Kol."

"I am not my brother."

"No, you're not. You also don't have close to the same dynamic the two of them do. However, I know Marcel was trying to develop a regular father/son relationship with you, until you started trying to control him."

"I am just trying to…" He's swiftly interrupted.

"Protect him. I know. But look around, Klaus. Did refusing to let him speak or ordering him around keep Marcel here tonight?" Caroline takes a step forward. "Or, did it land him running through the woods because he couldn't handle you?"

Klaus grows quiet. Caroline sighs, dropping her arms by her side.

"Babe," she whispers. "I know you love him. And I know deep down, this is all a response to fear. For years, I've heard you talk about Marcel and how badly you miss him. What you'd do to have him back. Well, now, you do. He's here. He wants you to work alongside of him. He wants you to be his father. In order to keep all that, you need to actually listen to him."

Klaus gnaws at his lip. "What about the times he is doing foolish things that are only going to get himself hurt?"

"Then you communicate with him. It isn't wrong to occasionally pull out the "I am your father" card, but you can't use it as often as you try." Caroline smiles a little. "Take it from someone who's mom loved to use "Because I said so" as an answer to everything. It didn't make me feel heard or seen. Even in the times she was right, I just wished she would've calmly explained things to me."

A bit of sadness takes over Caroline's eyes. Klaus vamps over and takes her hand. She quickly blinks away any tears, trying to avoid the look of pity on his face.

"This isn't about me, alright?" Caroline clears her throat. "My point is, look at the rest of your family. The more you were able to let go and allow them to make their own choices, the closer you all became. It doesn't mean you won't protect one another. Simply, you get to live your own lives."

"Our own lives," he mutters. "As we live under one roof."

Caroline smiles. "As I said, we're a close family. It just means that should one decide to venture out, they know we'll be there when they return."

"It's different with Marcel," Klaus whispers. "He's my son. I cannot handle the thought of losing him again."

"Well, you might if you keep this up."

Silence takes over once more. Sadness and guilt racks up within Klaus as he listens out for Marcel. He's still in the manor, safe in his room. Klaus feels the paranoia that won't last forever. Anything could happen, it's up to him to stop it…

But how can he stop his son taking off? For good, this time? Or worse, banishing him from the city. Klaus would burn the entire earth to find his son, but he can't do that if he's not allowed over the town line.

"I shall talk to him," he says. His wife shakes her head. "Caroline, he is my son, I must…"

"Right now, he is riled up. Trying to talk to him is only going to make that worse."

"What if he's so angry that he leaves again?"

"He won't." Klaus' anxiety doesn't ease. Caroline sighs. "I'll talk to him, alright?"

Klaus raises a brow. "You?"

"Yes. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone who's removed from the situation."

Caroline cups his cheek and gently kisses him. Klaus wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close. She gazes into his eyes, grounding him to this Earth.

"You're not punishing him for any of this," she whispers. Klaus' mouth drops open but she doesn't give him a chance to speak. "I know we've spoken about you not spoiling him in terms of consequences but tonight was on you."

"He ran off and called me a dick."

"Sweetheart, you were acting like one." Klaus glowers. Caroline chuckles, patting his cheek. "Okay, on a normal night, none of that is okay. I think you can give him a break. Going in there and spanking him isn't going to do much good right now."

"Fine. But if Hayley gets mad at me over this, you can deal with her wrath."

Caroline snorts. "I'm not the one she has an issue with, babe."

She pulls away from him and heads up the stairs. Klaus reaches down and grabs the bottle of wine, not even bothering with a glass.

Marcel looks up from his book when he hears a knock at the door. He vamps over and swings it open, calming when he sees his step-mom on the other side.

It's strange to see Klaus with Caroline. Of course, he wasn't a monk when Marcel was a boy. There was a carousel of women that circled through their home, not just for him but Elijah and Kol as well. None truly stuck. At one point, Marcel wondered if Klaus was trying to find him a mother. Now, he realizes that there was no way his father would've shared him with anyone, let alone his own wife.

Klaus is calm around Caroline. Even when he raves like a mad man, his eyes are different when they hit her. Marcel can hear his heartrate decrease as the blood stops boiling. She's like a magical anchor bringing Klaus back to earth. Marcel wonders what sorcery causes that.

He's built a relationship with his step-mother. Certainly not one like Kol has with Hayley. It's more of a friendship, or rather, an allyship. Caroline is here to play both sides.

"Caroline," he says awkwardly. "Did you need something?"

"I wanted to talk to you. May I come in?"

Marcel grips the door. "Is my father with you?"

"No. He's safe downstairs."

She gestures past him and he nods, stepping aside. Once both are in the massive bedroom, he shuts the door. Caroline's features are soft, kindness mixed with stern in her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry if I worried you," Marcel says. "I didn't intend to hurt you in any way."

"I know you didn't. I'm not upset, just worried. You were emotionally charged when you took off and I know that's not a good combination. Especially in a city such as this one."

Marcel slowly nods. "Regardless, I wouldn't do anything to harm you."

"Your father's a different story, I take?"

Marcel scoffs. "That man deserves to worry a little bit."

"I think he's going to do that, regardless. Klaus' anxiety is not something I tread lightly with. No one does."

"Of course not. Everyone tiptoes around him so his head doesn't explode."

"That was the case before, but he's much different now."

Marcel has noticed his father is calmer these days. The truth is, the only time he grows irritated with him are moments like these.

"I told him he needed to back off a little bit," she says.

Marcel tilts his head. "You did?"

"I don't think any of us are going to convince him to never share his opinion."

He smirks, chuckling a little. "No amount of reform is going to stop that."

Caroline smiles. "Exactly. However, I am trying to convince him that he needs to hear you out more. To allow you to lead without trying to take over every five seconds."

"The likelihood of that is slim to none."

"I don't know about that."

Marcel sinks into his chair, drumming his fingers on the arm. Caroline sits in the one beside him.

"You know, Elijah has similar control issues," she says. "Not as bad as Klaus', of course. But he still likes things in a set way."

"I remember that."

"However, he's lightened a bit. Especially when it comes to Kol. I think he realized that part of the reason your uncle was like that is due to everyone just talking at him and then ignoring him when he acted out. Yes, he needed structure, but he needed to be heard."

"Caroline, if you're trying to make a point, you may not want to use the little troll."

She inhales through her nose, then exhales. "I understand your feelings towards Kol. It's easy for Hayley and I to look at him the way we do, because we didn't know him back then. My point still stands that once Elijah realized what Kol needed, he did his best to adjust. Heaven knows he's not perfect and they've had their issues, but Elijah's trying. He's loosened up a little. Hayley's helped a lot with that."

"As you pointed out, Elijah was never as bad as Klaus in terms of control."

"Maybe not, but I believe your father is capable of making the same strides. Or at least attempting to." Caroline pats his hand. "Especially as I'm here to play peacemaker."

Marcel eyes her wearily. "You really want to do that?"

"I love Klaus, and that means I care about the people he does. Including you." She smiles a little. "Your relationship means a lot to him, which means it means a lot to me. I know Klaus wants to try, so I'm going to help him."

Marcel tries to fight a smile of his own. Many have tried, he isn't sure she has it in her. "It won't be easy."

"Well, I'm not one to give up."

Caroline squeezes his hand.

"However, it goes both ways."

Marcel raises a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Your father has his control issues and I am going to work with him on it. To get him to see that you need to be heard. And I'm not saying you handled anything wrong tonight. However…you need to be willing to let him be your dad sometimes."

"I never said…"

"While he needs to hear you out and let you do things on your own, he is still your papa. He is trying to protect you in the only way he knows how. Running off and cursing at him isn't going to make anything better. This may also sound foreign to you, but there are going to be times that he's right."

Marcel frowns. "Do you think he was tonight? Before we started arguing, but in not wanting to deploy the army to patrol?"

Caroline hesitates then nods. "We don't know exactly what's going on right now. If it's werewolves, that can be deadly for them. Yourself included. If it's the witches, we're nowhere near prepared. Until we're properly armed to handle whatever danger comes our way, we can't just launch into action. This plan is going to take time."

"Time we may not have."

"A long time ago I may have agreed with you. I still want as few casualties as possible, but we're no good to anyone if we don't have a proper plan."

Marcel sighs, reluctantly nodding. Caroline rubs his arm.

"Now, as I said, your father didn't handle it properly. At all. I think had he been calmer, the two of you may have come to this realization sooner." Marcel nods again. "It doesn't really matter now. We can't focus on the past. All we can do is improve in the future."

"You're right."

"I know you've got a lot to think about, so I'll leave you to it." Caroline stands up.

"Hey, why were you the one to come up here? I thought Klaus would come storming in, trying to whoop my ass."

"I talked him out of it. He realized that you both need some time to cool off. And, I don't think he'll be doing any of that."

Marcel tilts his head. "Really?"

Caroline smiles. "Really. I told you, he's trying." She leans down and kisses his cheek. "Though, I think there are only so many spankings I can save you from, so maybe try to stay out of trouble."

He chuckles. "Gotchya. Thanks, Caroline."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Marcel."

She walks out of the room, leaving him be with his thoughts. Marcel rises to his feet and crosses to the window, looking out into the city below. He's hardly been alone since taking over New Orleans. There's a party at his manor nearly every night. Between dealing with problems pertaining to the supernatural, he goes to bars and clubs. There's no less than 3 vampires around him at all times. It doesn't change how lonely it all felt.

Until Klaus came back into his life, dragging along the Mikaelsons with him. Including their newest members.

His father cares for him. In his own messed up and crazy way, he loves him. He wants to protect him.

And while Klaus has a lot to improve on, there are worse things than a father actually trying.