Author's Notes:
Hello!
Here we are with the first true chapter of the story, sooner than I thought.
I broke my own promise. It's a little over four thousand words (double, actually). But I was quick, and that's all that matters.
I apologize; it probably has a lot of errors, but I didn't want to slow myself down too much while I looked through them all. I'll come back after I publish these "preview" chapters.
I wish you a good read. Let me know what you think, I hope you like the imprint I'm trying to give to this story!
In the previous chapters:Diane lost her mother, and after a long cry, she woke up in Klaus' bed. In what seemed like a dream, she slept with him. However, when she woke up, she realized the truth. In a way, she had become Hayley Marshall. Willing to do anything to protect her future baby girl, Diane sets out for New Orleans. Leaving her old life behind, the new Hayley is ready to face the chaos of The Originals – on her terms, though.
Setting:
4x20 TVD / 1x01 TO
Chapter 1:
Let's get this show on the road
"For twenty years, I have watched the supernatural as a spectator.
Now, I have become part of it.There is no way to bring me out of it, nor do I want to.
I must use my knowledge. Imust protect her, my Hope.
I once had another name, but that name died the moment I awoke here.
Now,I am Hayley Marshall.
I'm a wolf, and I'm pregnant with the Original Hybrid Klaus Mikaelson.
This is my story."
Hayley had been walking around the French Quarter for a few hours. She had been there a little over two weeks. She supposed it would have been at least a day or two before the witches kidnapped her. Bonnie, after all, had only written to her that night that Elena had attacked her, so Klaus must have just received Katherine's letter.
At least, she hoped so. She didn't know if Katherine would write the letter after her kidnapping; what she was sure of was that she would be held captive for three days, and then somehow, she would find herself on the plantation, and in three seconds, it would be September, and Rebekah would show up, announcing that summer was over before it even began.
It was a bit of a mess, but that was to be expected with TV series chronologies; she had already had the chance to find out.
Contrary to what she had supposed while watching the series, it was, in fact, already June, and if everything had gone as it should, Hope would have been born in March instead of the canonical May.
But the strange timelines weren't interesting to her right now; she would find out as she lived that there was something more important she needed to focus on right now.
Standing outside St. Anne's Church, Hayley looked around before going in.
She quickly walked to the attic and knocked on the door.
It opened almost immediately, and a little girl with the most innocent face Hayley had ever seen appeared before her.
The she-wolf smiled at her. "Hello, Davina. I'm here to help you if you'll let me."
A couple of hours later, she was at Russaux, eating Jane-Anne's roast chicken.
"Second time here this week, and it's just Tuesday."
Hayley sighed. "It's the only decent place I've found to eat. You know how much spice you use in this city?"
Jane-Anne laughed. "It's New Orleans, what did you expect? And you have Sophie to thank for the food. I wouldn't know where to start without her."
Hayley snorted. "Don't tell me. I'm going to have to take a cooking class someday. I can't keep doing take-away."
"If you're nice, my sister will be willing to give you a lesson. She's the best in the neighborhood. You know, the women here say my sister, Sophie, bleeds a piece of her soul into every dish."
She glanced at her sister, who was working on the other side of the restaurant.
"I bet," Hayley lifted the side of her lips.
Here it is, it was starting.
"You know," she began, preparing to recite the lines of the script. "I asked around the Quarter about my family..."
Jane-Anne leaned toward her. "And?"
"Nothing," Hayley sighed theatrically, perhaps a little too much, but it had been years since the church plays. I can't find a single person who remembers them. It's like they've been erased. "She went off script, but honestly, she didn't think she could keep up the act for long. She just had to ensure this conversation went as it was supposed to, and then she could take a little more liberties.
Jane Anne shrugged. "No wonder, Hayley. People like you were run out of here years ago."
"You mean wolves?" Hayley blurted out and had to bite her tongue. Damn her nerves!
Jane-Anne was surprised by Hayley's ease with bringing the supernatural to the table. However, she had a goal to achieve and quickly pulled herself together. Nodding, she walked around the counter and picked up a map.
"In the bayou," she explained. "They call werewolves' Roux-Ga-Roux.'" She grabbed a pen and marked a spot on the map. "If you head out there, you'll find what you're looking for. Be careful. It's the last place you'd ever want to go."
Hayley faked a smile and stood up. "Thanks, Jane-Anne."
The witch hugged her, and she could easily hear her hair being pulled. "See you soon."
With the map in hand, she left the Bar and headed for her car.
She climbed in but sent a text before starting the car.
After the instant response, she finally took off, heading for the BayouBayou. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the backpack on the passenger seat. "No fasting for me this time," she commented amusedly, placing the gear shift hand on her belly. "You know, it's hard enough fighting off a wolfish appetite. Your endless food demands will make me go broke again in no time. Lucky for you, the rest of your family will soon start taking care of the shopping."
Naturally, she didn't receive a response, so Hayley kept on driving. She was pretty confident everything would be fine, but she couldn't help but hum to ease some of her nerves. She had been feeling this way since the previous day, ever since she had taken the pregnancy test that had confirmed Hope's growing presence.
She had expected it, really. She had started to feel slightly nauseous a couple of days before, and her taste had changed, but seeing those lines of hers had still been an overwhelming emotion.
She had cried for a long time that night, hugging her belly. She had prayed for a long time that everything would go well, that the changes she intended to implement would not turn against her.
Then, she had gotten up and gone to the desk in her hotel room. She had sat there typing on the computer until dawn. She had written and deleted ideas for so long that she had even forgotten where she had started. But when the phone rang with the alarm, she felt satisfied with herself. Of course, working on paper did not mean working in reality, but after ten years of seeing that universe, she could say she knew how its characters thought quite well.
So, while she munched on a bag of chips, she put aside her nervousness and concentrated on not ruining the car in that swamp.
She had been in the Bayou lands no more than five minutes before the map Jane-Anne had given her caught fire. Hayley braked on instinct and quickly threw it out of the car. The flame had spread to her sleeve, and she cursed the witches as she put out the fire with her hand. She particularly liked that green shirt. It was one of the few non-dark items she owned.
Meanwhile, the car had died, and Hayley didn't even try to start it again. She wanted to speed things up as much as possible, even if it all depended on how long it would take Jane-Anne to complete the spell. Despite knowing what was coming, she slung her backpack over both shoulders and got out of the car, her heart pounding. She popped the hood and pretended to check something before huffing and taking out her phone.
The witches must have been in a hurry, or she had wasted more time than she thought, because before she could even dial the number she felt a weight around her chest and she just had time to put the phone in her pocket before she passed out.
When she woke up, she was in what looked like a catacomb.
She put a hand to her head to try to block the pain, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sophie and Jane-Anne in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Hayley, but we had no other choice," Jane-Anne smiled slightly regretfully at her.
Hayley laughed. "There's always another choice, Jane-Anne. You just sentenced yourself to death, you know that, and for what? Klaus will never help you. He'll kill all of you as soon as he can."
The two witches looked surprised, but Jane-Anne was the first to regain her composure. "Then so be it, but his heir will fall with us."
Jane-Anne grabbed a handful of dust from the altar behind her and blew it in her face.
Hayley blacked out for the second time, and when she next woke up, she was alone. Taking advantage of the moment, she grabbed some food from her backpack, which was abandoned next to her.
While eating a sandwich, she stood up and tried to leave the catacombs but found herself unable to. Snorting, she sat back down.
The witches came and went for the next two days. Hayley didn't even protest during their tests or try to ask questions; after all, she already knew everything.
She had taken the opportunity to think.
Soon, she would find herself at the first fork in her plan. She would have to choose whether to follow the plot or walk away from it and even if she leaned towards the latter and was confident of what she and Davina had planned, she was still hesitant.
Something changed on the third day. A witch quickly walked toward her and broke a salt line on the ground. "An Original wants to see you. Come with me."
She reached for her backpack, but the witch grabbed her arm and pulled her toward her. "You won't need it. Come on, hurry up."
Hayley wrenched her arm free. "I'll walk, thanks."
As she walked out of the catacombs, Hayley could hear Sophie's voice telling the others to take her to her.
The next moment, she found herself staring at Elijah, who was looking at her stupidly at the information Sophie had given him.
Going off script, Hayley smiled at him. "Hello, Elijah."
The vampire still looked dazed as he took a few steps toward her and asked Sophie to leave them alone.
The witches told them to return to the catacombs, and the two followed silently.
"Are you okay?" was the first thing Elijah asked her once they were alone.
"As much as a prisoner can be," she replied, settling on the low table where she had been sleeping these past few days.
"So, have they been holding you here against your will?" Elijah asked, pacing in front of her.
"The witches lured me out to the Bayou and grabbed me. Then they did all these weird witch tests. I already knew I was pregnant and that the baby had to be Klaus's. Even though it was unexpected. You know, the great thing about sleeping with vampires is that you don't have to worry about the consequences," she tried to joke.
Elijah listened patiently and then stopped in front of her.
"Perhaps, if you knew my brother's story, it might explain how this is possible," he exclaimed, sitting in front of her. "Here, if I may?" he asked, bringing a hand close to her face. Contrary to what the Hayley of the show would have done, she did not oppose.
"Open your mind to me. I can show you."
Hayley looked Elijah in the eyes and then nodded and closed her own. In an instant, she found herself inside Elijah's memories.
"In the beginning, our family was human," Elijah's voice accompanied her as she watched Rebekah play with her brother. "A thousand years ago, now. Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were actually a family trying to survive a time when it was quite difficult to do so. And, for better or worse, we were happy."
Hayley smiled as she watched the brothers fight and have fun together, but then her vision changed and darkened.
"That is, however, until one night, our youngest brother was killed by our village's greatest threat. Men that could transform themselves into wolves during the full moon."
Hayley's heart broke as she saw the desperation in Klaus's eyes as he carried the lifeless body of his little brother in his arms. Even though she had seen those images on TV before, the pain in reality was much more potent. Hayley could feel Elijah's heartbreak as he realized little Henrik had died. She could see the desperation in Esther's and Rebekah's eyes and even Michael's cold gaze.
"Our family was devastated, none more than Niklaus. Desperate to protect the rest of us, our father forced our mother to call upon her black in order to make us stronger."
Hayley had to hold back a groan of pain as the Elijah of her memory was stabbed. The disbelief of her brothers' death, the sense of betrayal towards her parents... everything was too strong, almost as much as the pain of her own transformation, different and the same in a thousand ways, and Hayley was forced to retreat and break the hold that Elijah had on her mind.
Panting, Hayley put a hand to her racing heart, looking for a way to block that dull pain.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes, no...", the girl stammered. "It just... it hurt," she explained. When she could no longer feel anything, she looked Elijah in the eyes and nodded. "Continue, please. I'm fine."
Uncertainly, Elijah did so, and Hayley was immersed in the memories of their first kills. "In this way, the first vampires were born. But with this speed, this strength, this immortality, came a terrible hunger. No one felt this hunger more than Niklaus."
Hayley watched sadly again as Klaus curled up on the ground and cried in despair after his first life. It was an image so distant from the man he was now, or at least from what he showed. Sure, maybe killing didn't cause him that much pain, but Hayley had watched him for years through the screen, and only a snap would not have seen the pain he carried with him, more significant than that of all his brothers combined.
"When he killed for the first time, we knew what he truly was."
Phantom pains ran through her body as Klaus groaned in despair as his bones broke and he became a wolf.
Hayley saw Elijah trying to reach him, but Mikael had blocked him. "He's a beast, an abomination," that infamous father shouted, and Hayley wanted to resurrect him just to kill him again.
"He wasn't just a vampire," Elijah stated the obvious, and Hayley couldn't help but speak, just as she had on screen, even though the words were different.
"He wasn't a monster, he… he wasn't an abomination. He was just a young man burdened by a woman's betrayal," she growled. "Being a wolf, a vampire, doesn't make someone a monster. It's their actions. The only monster I see is your father."
Elijah chuckled. "Katerina was right. You have a fiery spirit."
Not fully understanding the comment, though she was somewhat surprised to hear it, Hayley glossed over it, trying to steer the conversation back to the scripts. "Then what happened?"
"The truth came out, then. Niklaus was the result of an indiscretion our mother had hidden from us all. An affair, with a werewolf like yourself. Enfuriated by this betrayal, my father forced our mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus's werewolf side, denying him any connection with his true self."
Elijah showed her how he had been forced to hold Klaus while their mother cursed him; Elijah's pain was as great as his brother's. Elijah's eyes were crying, as were Klaus's, who looked at him with a clear sense of betrayal in his gaze.
"Your father was a dick," Hayley's line came out so quickly, and only then did she realize she had used the exact words of her.
Elijah chuckled. ""I can't blame you. Mikael's hatred for Klaus was always there, but after that moment and our mother's death, our father hunted him— hunted us—for centuries. Every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee. Even here, in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long after Niklaus broke the spell which prevented him from becoming a hybrid, he defeated our father. I thought this would make him happy," Elijah shook his head. "He was angrier than ever. I wonder if perhaps this baby might be a way for my brother to find happiness. A way to save him from himself."
Hayley wet her lips. "I don't know if it will help, but I need to show you something too."
Hayley looked into his eyes and placed her hand on his cheek. "Please," she whispered, and Elijah closed his eyes, immersing himself in the girl's mind.
Hayley had been preparing for this moment for a long time, and the information she wanted to share with him was at the forefront of her memories. She didn't show him Diane, and she didn't tell him much about herself, but she showed him what she knew, what she had seen.
Elijah saw glimpses of the series' first episodes; he saw the deaths of so many innocents, the pain Klaus would feel, Rebekah's pain, and his own, Hayley's death, and Klaus and Hayley's desperation after separating from their daughter. Then, she showed him the baby's powers. She wasn't lying to him; she didn't want to, but he had to believe those visions came from somewhere to believe in them. And then she got to the hard part— the part that would shape her future.
"I know how to stop this," she whispered as she outlined her idea. She'd never been so grateful for her eidetic memory and imagination. "Trust me."
By the time she finished, Elijah was smiling faintly. "Hayley Marshall, the gift you're giving us is more than ourHope."
Just then, Sophie entered the catacombs, breaking the magic of the moment. "I'm glad you feel that way, because we need your help."
Elijah stared at Hayley for another long moment, then nodded, standing up. "What, precisely, is it that you want, and what does it have to do with this young woman?"
"We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town," Sophie explained, even though it was information Elijah already knew now. "Klaus is the key. Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire, he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him, and won't see the betrayal coming."
"Yeah, well, as I'm sure you know, my brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do," Elijah quipped.
"That's why I brought you here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. Do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby into the neighborhood? Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family."
In a flash, Elijah was inches away from the witch. "Don't threaten me."
Hayley had to give her credit for that: Sophie didn't flinch in the slightest. "Like I said, I'm desperate."
Taking a step back, Elijah adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. "Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?"
After, he looked at Hayley with a complicit gaze. "I'll take Klaus on board."
The girl, who had been feeling peckish for a while and had run out of supplies, called back to the Original. "Hey, if you come across a fast food place on your errands, make a pit stop. I'm pretty hungry. Your niece definitely has the appetite of a wolf."
There was a hint of amusement on Elijah's face. "It will be done."
When the two women were alone, Hayley cracked her neck, shaking off the last tension she felt. "Hey, by the way, what happened to my car?" she asked Sophie.
The witch looked at her for a moment and then shook her head. "It's where you left it if no one stole it."
Shrugging, Hayley made herself more comfortable on the low table. "I'm pretty sure no one is that desperate."
The witch shook her head and walked away.
Alone again, Hayley found herself breathing a sigh of relief. Her gaze dropped to her stomach, and she rubbed her belly, where she could hear a fast, ringing heartbeat, something new from the day before. "Your uncle is on board, and if all goes well, your father will be there too soon. You'll be safe, my beautiful Hope."
It was quite a few hours before the witches came for her again. "The hybrid is here with his brother. Come on," one of them called out, and Hayley stood up, her heart in her throat.
"This wasn't how I thought I'd tell him he was going to be a dad. If he takes it badly, I already know who to blame."
The witches snorted, but after three days, they were used to her chattering, so they didn't comment and simply urged her to walk ahead of them.
Hayley did as told and strained her ears, trying to listen to the conversation the two brothers were having with Sophie. Despite the memories of the other Hayley, she still had to get used to her developed senses. The only times she had found it easy to use them were to hear Hope's heartbeat, but that seemed almost instinctive to her.
Nevertheless, it took her a few seconds to concentrate enough to hear Klaus's voice.
"–Deveraux, I didn't think you were a kidnapper. My brother said you were looking for me."
Sophie's reply was quick to come. "You know you're famous in this town? Witches tell bedtime stories about the powerful vampire Klaus. We know Marcel was nothing but an orphan street rat, until you made him what he is. And now he's out of control. He does what he wants, he kills who he wants. I'm gonna stop him, and you're gonna help me."
Hayley could hear Klaus chuckling.
"Brother," Elijah called back.
"You know, when Elijah told me about the girl, I didn't believe him, and I still don't. But well, bring her here, and then we can talk."
His words were different, but Hayley had expected it. Prompted by the witches, she walked out the gates and, as before, found herself staring at an Original, and all she could do was smile.
"When I invited you to take a tour here in New Orleans, I didn't expect it to be under these circumstances," she joked.
Even though Klaus knew what he would see, his eyes still looked surprised. "Hayley," he murmured, his voice as thin as the wind.
She took another step forward. "Hello, Klaus."
The hybrid's eyes were locked on hers. Unlike the show, though, he wasn't looking at her with condescension, suspicion, anger, or whatever she was expecting. There was a kind of awe in his eyes and a kind of fragility as his gaze moved back and forth from Hayley's eyes to her belly.
"Listen, brother," Elijah invited, but Hayley was sure Klaus was already doing so.
"Are they really mine?" Klaus asked her, his tone cold, but Hayley wasn't fooled by appearances.
Klaus's heartbeat was faster than usual, and the way his hands were shaking conveyed all his nervousness.
Hayley's gaze softened. "She is. She's a miracle, Niklaus. No one could have predicted it, but she's here. She deserves more than what we've been through."
Klaus's eyes were fixed on her belly. "How is this possible?" he whispered more to himself than anyone else.
"Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf," Sophie's voice said, making Klaus look away from her. "You're the Original Hybrid, the first of your kind. This pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes."
Hayley expected Klaus to explode, but he surprised her when he motioned her closer, a thoughtful expression on his face. "We'll take the girl and go," he informed the witch. "I would thank you, Sophie, but from what my brother says, you've been holding her captive for days, so you can be happy that I'm leaving you with just one warning: don't get in my way again."
Sophie's gaze hardened. "That wasn't the deal. My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm this pregnancy. Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are now controlled by us," the witch took a few steps toward Klaus. "If you don't help us take down Marcel, so help me, Hayley won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress."
"You–" Klaus lunged for Sophie, but Elijah held him back.
"Stop," he said to his younger brother. "If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself.," he offered.
"No. , we can't, not yet," Sophie said. "We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules."
Klaus broke free of Elijah's grip and began walking toward Sophie, livid. "How dare you command me...threaten me" he shouted, punctuating every word. "And you think I'll obey because you think you have found my weakness? You think I'll kneel and let you maneuvered by you —a witch who can't even cast spells without having her throat cut?" he raged. "Well, you're wrong. Hayley, come on," he ordered, and she began to step forward.
"No, stop!" Sophie's hand grabbed her arm. "You want to know how I know you'll do what I want? My sister's spell didn't just confirm the pregnancy. It also linked me to Hayley's, which means that the fate of this wolf and her little monster is in my hands," he explained, and Hayley found herself getting angrier than she thought possible. "Whatever happens to me, happens to her," Sophie continued.
In one swift motion, she pulled a knife from her jacket and ran it across the back of the hand wrapped around Hayley's arm, continuing up her arm and up, her moans barely contained that she didn't even notice Hayley wasn't complaining. "The next stab might fall lower, and something tells me neither of you want that," she said with gritted teeth.
Hayley lost her mind; she wouldn't take any more threats against her baby from the lips of the witch.
For the first time, Hayley used her enhanced strength and took advantage ofSophie's pain, which had made the grip on her weaker, to free herself. In a moment, she wrapped her arm around Sophie's neck—the same arm that the witch had cut off and the same arm that didn't bleed.
Hayley could imagine Sophie's eyes filling with shock.
"How is this possible?" the witch whispered.
Hayley smiled coldly and whispered in her ear, "Never threaten a mother, Sophie. Jane-Anne should have shown you we're willing to do anything for our children. Goodbye, Sophie."
Then, and before the witch could even try to fight back, Hayley raised her other hand and snapped Sophie's neck with one swift movement.
Hayley stood there momentarily, surprised by what her anger had made her do and overwhelmed by guilt. It wasn't Hayley's first life, but it was definitely Diane's first, and she felt almost gripped.
Diane never thought she'd find herself knowingly killing someone.
The twenty-year-old had decided to dedicate her life to saving lives; her desire to help others was so ingrained in her DNA that it drove her to slog through books day and night to graduate as soon as possible, so strong in her that it drove her to rack up hours and hours of overtime at the hospital, so genuine that it drove her to attend support groups in the pediatric and geriatric wards on the weekends. But her love for her daughter had surpassed everything else. Nothing was more important: not human lives, not the needs and dreams of others. There was Hope, and there was the rest of the world. She would gladly watch it burn if it meant her daughter was safe.
So, with the awareness of having lost her morals for the sake of one and only life, Hayley dropped Sophie's dead body to the ground and buried her guilt and remorse deep down with it —the tearful face of a teenage Hope was the only thing on her mind. And she didn't regret it and knew she would never regret it.
"No, Sophie!" some of the other witches gasped, and Hayley saw others ready to spring, blocked by their sisters.
Even Elijah and Klaus were looking at her, astonished.
It wasn't the plan; it wasn't the idea she had shared with Elijah, but she could fix things and use the moment to anticipate a couple of moves. Yes, it would almost have been better.
"It's impossible," a young witch's voice said, breaking the silence and bringing her out of her thoughts. "You and Sophie were close."
Hayley shrugged. "I know a witch who is better than you," she teased in a cold, careless tone that was unlikely to be hers but the only one she felt she could say at that moment.
It was almost as if a switch had been turned off inside her, and even though she was not a vampire, in that moment she could imagine why so many chose to press it. Suppressing the pain was liberating and radicalizing at the same time.
"Then I might as well kill you now; you have lost all your usefulness," Agnes said as she pushed through the witches.
"Ah-ah, that's not a good idea. Jane-Anne may not have managed to bind me to Sophie, but Davina has linked herself to my baby. If anything happens to her, your long-awaited harvest will never be complete," Hayley exclaimed, revealing one of her cards and surprising the witches. "Now that that's been established, you will let me and my baby go, and the Originals here will allow you to go and bury Sophie with the proper rituals. If you don't, you will meet the same fate as her; only that, instead of some broken necks, there will be rolling heads."
The witches didn't seem to like being threatened either because two of them raised their hands towards her and began chanting a spell: "Mors equam–"
Their chant was stopped by the two Originals present, who ran towards them and knocked them out.
Elijah then moved in front of Hayley. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her, or we will carry out the girl's threat, and you will end up like your friend."
Hayley placed a hand on his shoulder, and when the Original turned to look at her, she shook her head slightly.
Then, she met Klaus's eyes and whispered quietly enough for only the two vampires to hear. "Just humor me."
After the nod she received from Klaus, she stepped out from behind Elijah's back, her eyes locked on Agnes's. "I wasn't finished," she exclaimed. "Marcel rules this city with an iron fist, giving vampires the edge, preventing you from practicing your magic, chasing away the wolves. Things need to change. That's why I'm offering you a deal."
"And what can you, a lone werewolf, offer us?" a witch to Agnes's right spat at her.
Hayley smiled. "As Hayley Marshall, nothing. As the heir to the Crescent Wolf pack, the last living Labonair, I can offer you a deal that will ensure the balance you hold so dear will be restored again to this city," she said.
The witch was about to protest again, but Agnes held up a hand. "Let her speak."
Nodding, Hayley continued her speech. "Davina is prepared to complete the connection within the twelve months provided in exchange for her peaceful exit from your coven. In this way, she and the other girls will be resurrected. You will support the Mikaelsons as they regain control of the city, and they, in exchange, will allow you to perform free magic again," she glanced at Klaus, who looked calm; Elijah must have obviously filled him in, so when he didn't protest, she continued. "My pack and every other wolf will be welcomed back into New Orleans, and a council of the four factions –Witches, Wolves, Vampires, and Humans– will be formed. No master species, no dominated species. A diverse group of supernaturals and humans living together peacefully, under the leadership of the Mikaelsons, who will act as guarantors."
"How can we trust your word?" asked a witch who looked to be about Agnes' age. "How can we trust you not to try to euthanize us again?"
Hayley put a hand on her stomach. "Because my daughter will be one of you. Witch, wolf, and vampire all at once: atribrid."
The witches began to whisper among themselves, and the word "abomination"seemed to pass from mouth to mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, Hayley saw Klaus stiffen and clench his fists, but she didn't have time to dwell on him; her gaze was still fixed on Agnes, who, unlike the other witches, had remained silent, observing her.
"My daughter is the clearest example that there can be a balance, that our species can coexist peacefully. Her conception is not a coincidence. Nature wants to show us the way."
"Vampires will never agree," Agnes commented.
Elijah took a step forward. "Then they will have to leave the city or face us, right, brother?"
Hayley turned to Klaus, surprised that he had remained silent all this time. "Niklaus?" she looked at him uncertainly because he was her biggest unknown in the whole plan.
The hybrid remained silent for a while before speaking. "When I founded this city, I did it in my image. I chose it as a home for the great potential it had. A safe place for every species, and that is not what I saw when I returned. New Orleans will have its king again, and every species will be free to thrive. Do we have a deal, Agnes?" he held a hand to the witch.
The witch exchanged a look with the other older witches present and then nodded, shaking his hand. "We do."
Hayley breathed a sigh of relief, and her shoulders stopped looking so stiff. It was over; it was done. It worked. Her gaze fell on Sophie's body. Too bad only for the unjust victims, murdered while they were only looking for justice.
She gasped as that word crossed her mind: murdered. It was her; she was a killer now.
"You did the right thing," Elijah said beside her. "Sophie Deveraux was desperate, and desperation can make you reckless. She would never give up, ever."
"I know," Hayley nodded, more out of politeness than because she honestly believed it because, despite everything, she couldn't help but think that there would be another way.
After a few more pleasantries and an agreement to stay in contact, Klaus, Elijah, and Hayley left the cemetery.
"You are a real surprise, little wolf. A firecracker who craves chaos," Klaus commented once they were far enough away.
"You won't be happy when our daughter turns out to be a real pest," Hayley joked.
Klaus's face hardened again, and Hayley's softened. It couldn't have been easy to accept that you were about to become a father when, for a thousand years, you had been convinced that it was impossible.
"So, my car is stuck down in the Bayou. Can one of you give me a ride to my hotel?" I changed the subject.
"Not so fast, little wolf," Klaus exclaimed. "Elijah here has ordered an old plantation we used when we lived here to be fixed up. You're coming with us. We have a lot to discuss."
Hayley wanted to protest –she needed time alone to take care of some business– but Elijah's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"You'll be safe. The witches have agreed to support us for now, but they're not the only ones who might want to take advantage of your situation."
Hayley thought for a moment and then gave up. "Well, I'll come with you. But I want my car and my things back from the hotel."
Elijah nodded. "We'll take care of that."
"Thanks," she smiled at him and then remembered something. "Btw, about that pit stop?"
A few minutes later, she was in the back seat of a sedan, eating the fantastic cheeseburger Elijah had gotten her.
From the front seats, she could hear Klaus snorting in amusement. "I can't believe that after days of captivity, instead of freedom, you would ask your savior for a cheeseburger."
Hayley shrugged. "I eat for two, remember? And I'm a werewolf. So I eat for two wolves, which is about four humans. You can expect your grocery bills to rise in the next eight months. Consider that compensation for all the changes my body will go through."
"You still have to pay me back for those twelve hybrids, love," Klaus replied.
"I took your hybrid sandwich to the oven,love. I think that's worth more than twelve hybrids, considering you could create more with her blood."
Elijah slammed the brakes on, and Hayley remembered that she hadn't shown him that particular memory, but it didn't matter; Hayley had seen something in Klaus' eyes that she really hoped to see, and that was all she cared about: indifference.
After the initial surprise, in fact, Klaus's eyes hadn't shown any joy for that news, nor had some form of calculating look taken shape on his face. Somehow, Klaus was already fond of his daughter, and that was more than enough for Hayley to start to really trust him.
"How is that possible?" Elijah asked, putting it back in mode.
"I guess it's because she was never cursed. Instead of doppelganger blood, her own will do from what I've seen," she said, and apparently, the information about her visions had already spread because Klaus didn't seem surprised. "Even though I'll be really angry if you turn her into a blood bag, you can ask her for a donation when she's older and able to understand, not before."
Klaus rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. "Speaking of what you showed my brother, there's no way an unborn witch has ever been heard of with such great power that she can give her mother visions."
Hayley couldn't get around Klaus, but they'd have to go along with that story. "There's no way a vampire can conceive either. There's a first time for everything."
"Touche, Niklaus," Elijah backed up, and Hayley was surprised at how much the Original nobleman had come to trust her after only one and a half meetings. "We'd better keep this talk out of earshot; we're here."
Opening the door and grabbing her backpack, Hayley followed Elijah and Klaus into the plantation.
Honestly, it looked like something out of a horror movie. More than a house, it seemed like a mansion that had been abandoned decades ago.
When Elijah opened the door for her, she found herself sneezing. "Will I make it back to the hotel? I'm terribly allergic to dust."
And it was true. Werewolf or no werewolf, Hayley couldn't stand mites, and Diane's allergies were no less; her inhaler, always in her bag, could attest to that.
"I'll send a cleaning crew and builders tomorrow. This house will return to its former glory in no time," Elijah assured her.
"Yes, yes. The wolf will have her mites cleaned, and we'll have a few pieces of furniture not eaten by the terms. Now, little wolf, you want to explain what's happening here in New Orleans?"
It took Hayley a good half hour to tell the two vampires everything she knew, starting with the harvest, the curse one of the neighborhood witches had left on her pack, Davina's need to be sacrificed, and their agreement to make sure she came back to life.
"Marcel has her locked up in a church attic for her safety, but Davina's tired of it. She's fifteen; she should be hanging out with friends, stressing about school, and not checking to ensure witches aren't casting spells. I did what I did with Elijah, showed her what I knew about her future, and she agreed to be sacrificed," she downplayed their conversation a bit, then her gaze shifted to Klaus, a joke she couldn't help but make. "You know, when you're not threatened, people are willing to die if there's a way to bring them back to life. Makes it easier to have people willing, don't you think?"
Klaus rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to be friendly, little wolf. Just don't push it too far."
Stopping her nagging, she went back to discussing their next moves, and the two Originals threw a few more ideas down on the table, which seemed a lot better than Hayley's. She wasn't surprised. The Mikaelsons had been alive for over a thousand years, faced more enemies than they could count, and knew how to deal with crises. They may not have been natural strategists, but their experience had made them some of the best in the world.
"I just have one question, little wolf. You went to Davina before you were kidnapped. Did you know you were going to be captured? Something tells me yes and that you've been aware of it for a long time. Bonnie Bennett came to me and insisted I come to New Orleans, and I don't think that's a coincidence."
Hayley bit her lip and then sighed. It was information she didn't want to reveal, but she wasn't going to lie to them. They would have to build some trust to get through the next few years, and Hayley knew that Klaus didn't forgive betrayals: hiding information from him or lying to him meant just that to him, and she couldn't afford to make him feel that way about her. "When I said I had a better witch, I was talking about her. I knew what would happen before I came here to New Orleans. I asked her for a favor, and she said yes. We've kept in touch; probably when she realized I wasn't answering her anymore, she got worried."
"Did she still help you even knowing they were mine?" Klaus asked her.
Hayley nodded. "Like I said, our daughter is a miracle. And she is innocent. Bonnie can understand more than anyone how difficult this world is. The legacies left to many of us are something none of us asked for."
"What I don't understand," Elijah said. "It's because you came here anyway. You could have come to us. You could have kept your daughter safe somewhere else."
Hayley took a few seconds to think before answering. "New Orleans is my home; it's where I come from and where I should have always lived, but it was taken away from me. I've seen more than I've shown you. Not everything is clear, but from what I've understood, there are more enemies than we think in our future. Everything will happen here, everything will start here, and everything will end here. I should have always come back, you should have always come back, and Hope should have always grown up here. I couldn't run away from her destiny, and even less, I could keep her away from her family. I know what it means. I know the questions that would have formed in my little girl's mind. I wouldn't have made her go through what I went through. I would never have taken her away from her father," Hayley looked Klaus in the eyes. "I know it will be hard, but I have seen how much you and your family will love her, and I know that together, we can make her life better than I have ever seen. I owe it to her, and you owe it to her. She is our legacy, and she deserves more than we got. She deserves peace."
Klaus looked into her eyes for a long time, fixed and with an expression of enviable seriousness. He was looking for something in Hayley's eyes, and then he seemed to find it because he nodded. "We will make sure," and the discussion seemed to end.
Elijah then showed her to her room and helped her fan the old sheets to chase away some dust.
Her allergies got the better of her, and Hayley had to hold back a cough.
"I'm sorry. Perhaps it would have been better if we had just let you spend the night in a hotel," he apologized, starting to make the bed.
She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I can handle it, really. After this pregnancy, I can handle anything," she said, thinking of all that lay ahead.
Even if her fate was the same as Hayley's and she had no way of changing things, she knew she wouldn't back down.
"I'll make sure the cleaners are here as soon as possible. Right now, you're the most important person in this family. You need a functional home," he said as he grabbed a pillowcase and began stuffing it into a pillow.
Hayley laughed. "Well, I'm grateful."
"No, we're the ones who should be grateful for what you're willing to do for our family and our city. But through all this, has anyone asked you how you feel?"
Hayley stopped tugging on the blanket and looked up at Elijah. "You mean the pregnancy? I admit: I'm scared. But I already love this baby more than anything in the world, and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. I was abandoned, my adoptive parents... let's just say they've never been perfect. I've always looked for my place in the world, a way to feel like I own something. And she's mine, you know? I've never had something that was truly mine, something that I felt so much connected to. I'll do anything to protect her."
Elijah put the blanket on the bed and moved closer to her. "And I'll be here to protect you, always. You have my word, Hayley."
The girl looked at him for a long time and saw nothing but truth in his eyes. "Thank you, Elijah. My daughter will be lucky to have you as her uncle."
"We are all lucky to have Elijah in our lives," Klaus's sarcastic voice came from the door. "Now, let's leave the little wolf to rest. You and I still have something to discuss, Elijah."
"Goodnight, Hayley," the older Original greeted her, and soon, the girl found herself alone in that dark room with her thoughts.
Hayley tried to lie down and rest. She tried for a long time to fall asleep, but every time she closed her eyes, Sophie's body appeared before her. She tossed and turned for a long time, trying to listen to the conversation downstairs between Klaus and Elijah, but they were speaking too quietly for her to hear. All she could clearly hear were the words,"Mystic Falls–Rebekah–I'm back,"in Elijah's voice, and then the plantation door closing. Footsteps came up the stairs, and another door slammed. With the mansion silent, Hayley was left alone with her thoughts and growing anxiety forming in her chest. Before it could get to her, Hayley huffed and sat up, walking over to her backpack and pulling out her phone.
There were numerous messages from the past three days. Most of them were from a worried Bonnie. The last few were that she had gone to see Klaus, which she already knew, and that he was begging her to let her know he was okay. Hayley answered and reassured her, telling her how Klaus and Elijah had helped her. Then, Hayley asked what was happening in Mystic Falls. She didn't get an answer; the witch must have already been sleeping, and she moved to the chat with Davina, informing her that she was free again and would come to her as soon as possible.
With nothing left to do and not tired enough to sleep, Hayley decided to get up and go drink a glass of water. She silently descended the stairs to the ground floor, going into the kitchen before moving to the living room.
It was late at night, and even from outside, there was no noise other than crickets and crows. Approaching the large window, Hayley began to observe the darkness of the overcast sky. It also seemed to participate in the suffering that gripped Hayley's heart. The bright stars were hidden from view for the first time since Hayley had arrived in town, and she wondered if the sky was suffering for the losses that the city was facing and for the war that, behind closed doors, she and the Mikaelsons were preparing to wage.
Hayley's thoughts turned to the witches. She wondered if they had already buried Sophie's body, if they had managed to recover Jane-Anne's, or if they would ever be able to do it now without Elijah. Watching the show, she had always thought that they were unjust victims, driven by the desire to have their daughter and granddaughter back.And look how the world goes.Once inside the story, she had even turned into the murderer of one of the two.
Footsteps distracted her from her thoughts.
"It's not the first time you've killed, and yet the desolation in your eyes makes one think otherwise."
Hayley didn't turn around, her eyes still lost in the sky's darkness. "Do you ever think about your first kill, Klaus? Do you ever regret the lives you took, the dreams you destroyed, the hopes you shattered, the pain, which, like a spiderweb, spread around everyone they were tied to?"
Klaus's footsteps resumed, and soon she could hear him stop a hand's breadth behind her, his breath tickling the back of her neck.
"Witches talk about balance, but there is no balance in this world. Power is in the hands of the few; even those who believe they have it are just irrelevant dots within the system. Witches believe they're the center of the world, the pinnacle of society, but they are just worker bees doing the work of a deity who never asked anything of them.
Even wolves and vampires believe they are superior, but they are just a dot in the darkness of the world.
Everything is temporary. Everything is momentary, ephemeral. Even we Originals, despite our proclamations of immortality, are not invincible. So, no, I do not think back to the lives I have taken. I do not dwell on them because they are nothing in the infinity of the world. And yet, I get angry when a life I care about is taken away."
Hayley turned to him and looked at him with eyes full of tears that she didn't even know when they had formed.
Klaus's hand rose, and for a moment, Hayley thought he would push the water away from her face, but then he pulled it back. "You learn to live with remorse. The first kill? I remember that. It's fixed in my mind. But I've abandoned the guilt. Every kill I make has a specific reason."
"When she threatened my...our little girl, I was overcome with anger. I wanted to protect her. I always will. But it scares me how I'm willing to do anything for her, to cross any limit, without regret," she confessed what made her feel most guilty.
"It's a war, little wolf. Sophie was a victim of the same conflict she caused. She threatened us. If it makes you feel any better, she would have died by my hand anyway."
Hayley laughed and then covered her mouth with her hand because she didn't even know why she was laughing. "I shouldn't laugh, I really shouldn't. Damn hormones," she muttered.
Klaus smiled for a second before his expression became serious again. "Go to sleep, Hayley."
The girl nodded and started to walk past him. However, before she did so, she leaned over and kissed the hybrid's cheek. "Thank you for trusting me today. Goodnight," she murmured and then walked toward the tremors.
His whispered response came to her after she had climbed the first few steps, but as Hayley entered her room, she thought this would not be a good night for anyone in the house. Too much had happened that day, and too much would happen. Nevertheless, the exhaustion accumulated during those days of captivity finally seemed to hit her, and a few minutes after resting her head on the pillow, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Hayley, however, was right. That night, New Orleans had slept peacefully, perhaps for the last time in a long while. The war would soon arrive at its gates, hidden and concealed at first, but no less disruptive for that.
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think! How would you like the story to continue?
I haven't decided on the final ships for this story yet. Everyone on AO3 is leaning towards Klaus/Hayley. Is anyone here for Elijah/Hayley?
Ssee you next Friday—or sooner, depending on how long it takes me to proofread! Have a great week!