Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cleo Sertori, Emma Gilbert and Rikki Chadwick are mermaids.

Perhaps, I should explain more.

Cleo and Emma were best friends before they met Rikki Chadwick. They had been friends for years before they met her, actually. Rikki wasn't very close to the two of them before the incident, but they were friends nonetheless.

After helping Emma train by timing her laps, Cleo had walked home but was tricked into helping Zane Bennett repair his boat. Deciding to pull a prank, he and Nate set her adrift in his spark plug-less boat and into the sea, knowing that she could barely swim. Rikki has jumped aboard the boat with the spark plug which she had stolen previously, saving Cleo in the presses.

Cleo and Rikki ended up deciding to take the boat for a joyride. Along the way, the girls ran into Emma and invited her to come along. With Rikki steering and the girls having a good time, they ended up miles offshore and soon found out that they were out of fuel in the middle of the ocean. With little choice, the three girls paddled their way to the closest land they could find: Mako Island.

Once ashore on the deserted island, Cleo and her friends pondered on how they should call for help. Emma had suggested they use her phone, only to find that it couldn't get a signal. Emma came up with another idea, that they should head inland towards a higher altitude in hopes of getting a signal for a call. As they ventured deeper into the jungle-infested island, the three girls soon came across a clearing where a river stream turns into a waterfall over several boulders. Rikki and Emma had jumped one easily, but Cleo hesitated and fell into a hole. The other two followed her and continued to pursue a way out of the underground cave.

The three of them ended up at the end of the tunnel and found the moon cave with a pool at the bottom of the island's hollow mountain. Emma realized that the Moon Pool was connected to the ocean and may be their only way out, and dove in to find out. Confirming her find, she and Rikki convinced the hesitant Cleo to escape with them. When all three of them entered the pool, the full moon became aligned with the moon pool, causing it to bubble and glow a mystic blue glow and emitting small orbs of magical light particles into the air. Oblivious to what was happening to them, the girls ventured out into the open sea where they were rescued by the local water-police.

The next morning, Cleo had decided to take a morning bath, only to transform into a mermaid with a large tail hanging at the edge of her bathtub only ten seconds after touching the water. After talking with the girls, they confirmed that they were all mermaids.

The three of them lived as peacefully as they could without their friends and family's, with some exceptions, finding out they were mermaids. Their lives were good until Emma Gilbert came home panicking, saying she had to leave. Cleo and Rikki searched for Emma but did not find her.

And that started the adventure of Cleo Sertori becoming Hayley Marshall, ending up in New Orleans pregnant with the Original Hybrid's baby when all she wanted to do was find her sister.

Chapter Text

"Emma?" Cleo asked as her friend paced around her room. "What's going on?"

"I have to go back," Emma told her. "He'll know if I don't."

"Who is he?" Rikki asked from where she was sitting.

Emma stopped, turning to face the two girls. "Thank you two for being the sisters I always wanted."

They exchanged hugs, holding onto each other tightly. Rikki and Cleo shared a look. Something was wrong with Emma, and they were determined to find out what. But when they went around her house the next day, she was gone. They were told that she was moving to live with some relatives in America, they didn't know when Emma would be back. This only made the girls more confused. The Gilbert's reasoning sounded rehearsed.

Cleo Sertori and Rikki Chadwick would later separate after a few years, each moving in with their lives while searching for Emma Gilbert.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Cleo Sertori had left her hometown in Golden Coast in Australia ten months ago, a few weeks after graduating high school.

Cleo Sertori, Emma Gilbert and Rikki Chadwick had received their tails almost three years ago when they got stranded on a deserted island and had to swim their way through a moon pool during a full moon. After two years, the girls had found Emma panicking about having to go back. They had gotten the occasional letter for a few months, then nothing.

Cleo and Rikki had been worried about their friend, their sister, but then a new mermaid, Bella, had moved in town. The water would attack them every full moon. Cleo, Rikki and Bella had worked together in defeating nature and everything was alright again.

This did not stop their worrying about Emma. Yes, they cared about Bella, but she wasn't Emma. They both viewed Bella as a friend but Emma was their sister.
Rikki went to college while Cleo decided to ask Emma's parents one last time where she was before leaving Australia. The Gilbert's told her that their relatives lived in Mystic Falls, Virginia.

She ended up in The Appalachians, where a boy named Tyler found her. She had been stumbling through a path, clutching a small bag when he came across her.
He had given her the name Hayley Marshall, the wolf girl, when introducing her to people.

Cleo did not mind this name.

She stayed with him and his group for a week before she continued her journey to Mystic Falls. She met the Gilbert's that lived there, there was no one in town named Emma Gilbert. Cleo stuck around in town for a while and ended up meeting Klaus Mikaelson. And sleeping with him.

He had told her about a birthmark on her shoulder that she had never really cared for. She knew that it was from her pack, her biological one. Cleo was happy with her family, with Rikki, Emma, Kim, her parents. They were her pack, she didn't need the people who had given her away. But with her family's encouragement, Cleo decided to look for her biological pack.

Cleo ended up in New Orleans. In a matter of weeks, everything she thought she knew was false.

Just like Emma Gilbert.

Chapter Text

Cleo had been kidnapped by witches and she was not impressed. They had told her that she was pregnant with an Original's miracle baby and they were waiting on the baby daddy's brother. Three witches eventually came and took her out of the room, leading her to a man in a suit. This was the brother.

"Who are you?" Cleo asked quietly.

"Give us a moment, please." He looked to the witches. He looked back at her as they left. "I'm Elijah Mikaelson."

"So, have they been holding you here against your will?" He asked.

"I was going to get lunch and they kidnapped me." Cleo raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "And they did all these... witchy tests. Not that I understand how this could happen. Vampires aren't supposed to be able to have children!"

"Perhaps if you knew my brother's story, it might explain how this is possible. Here, if I may." He raised his hand to place it on her temple, but she moved back.

"You're not getting in my head." She told him crossing her arms over her chest. "You can tell your brother’s story perfectly fine without your superpowers."

Cleo listened, fascinated. She had only heard rumours and what Tyler told her, which wasn't anything nice, so it was refreshing to hear it from an original them-self.

"Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts," Elijah told her. "We were actually just a family trying to survive in a time where it was hard to do so. And, for better or for worse. We were." He proceeded to tell her how they once lived, and the death of their youngest brother, Henrik. The had werewolves killed him and their father had come up with the idea to make their children immortal. He told her that Esther had an affair with a wolf, Klaus was the result, and when Klaus made his first kill as in immortal, he became a vampire and a werewolf. A hybrid.

After learning about the Original family, more specifically Klaus and Mikael, Cleo looked up at him. "Your father was awful."

"I'm Hayley, by the way." Cleo hesitated longer than she had hoped on the name. "You should probably know my name if you're gonna tell me your whole life story. I went to Mystic Falls to look for a friend and ended up sleeping with a notorious psycho."

"I cannot excuse his behaviour, but you must understand, when 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 told her, shaking his head after a moment. "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."

"I'm glad you feel that way, because we need your help," Sophie said as she reentered.

"What, precisely, is it that you want and what does it have to do with this woman?" Elijah asked.

"We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town. Klaus is the key." Sophie told him. "Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire, he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him, and he won't see the betrayal coming."

"Yes, well, as I'm sure you're aware, my brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do."

"That's why I brought you here." Cleo watched the two with wide eyes, starting to regret ever leaving Australia. "Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. Do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighbourhood? Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family."

"That sounds remarkably like blackmail."

Sophie shrugged. "Like I said, I'm desperate."

"Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?"

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Cleo said nothing as Klaus and Elijah argued with the witches. In all honesty, Cleo was terrified. She had left Australia to look for Emma but ended up pregnant with some miracle vampire baby.

"No. It's impossible."

Elijah almost sighed. "I said the same thing myself."

"This is a lie. You are all lying." Klaus insisted. "Vampires cannot procreate."

"But werewolves can," Sophie told him. "Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf. You're the Original hybrid, the first of your kind. And this pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes."

Klaus turned to Cleo. "You've been with someone else, admit it!"

"I was just trying to go get lunch and now I'm an alligator bayou because they think that I'm carrying some magical miracle baby. Don't you think I would've fessed up if it wasn't yours?" Cleo exclaimed. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her parents, her sister. Most importantly, Rikki and Emma.

Sophie interrupted them. "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. We can keep them safe. Or we can kill them. If you don't help us take down Marcel, so help me, Hayley won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress."

"Wait, what?"

"Enough of this. If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself." Elijah told the witches, but apparently, that wasn't good enough for Sophie.

"No. We can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules."

Elijah looks at Klaus, awaiting his reaction. "How dare you command me, threaten me, with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses. This is a pathetic deception. I won't
hear any more lies."

"Niklaus!... Listen." Elijah told his brother.

Klaus paused, hearing the heartbeat of the baby. He looked at Cleo, then at his brother and the witches.
"Kill her and the baby. What do I care?" He declared before leaving.

Cleo scoffed. "I'm leaving."

"No one touches the girl," Elijah warned. "I'll fix this."

Cleo’s eyes narrowed as Sophie nodded before she turned and grinned at the other witches.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

While waiting for Elijah to return, Cleo had started to play with her necklace. It was comforting. It helped her calm down and reminded her of home.
"Marcel and his vampires are out of control. Something had to be done." Cleo overhead Sophie.

"And the solution is to bring in more vampires?" Agnes countered.

"These aren't just any vampires, Agnes. They're the Originals."

"What makes you think you can control the hybrid?"

"She can't." Elijah appeared, casually leaning against the wall. "I'm not entirely certain that I can, either. But now that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question: What prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating?"

Cleo watched Sophie carefully as she grabbed a needle and showed it to the Original. She stuck the needle into her hand.

"Ow!" Cleo looked down at her hand as she felt the prick.

Elijah looked at her. There is a drop of blood on her hand, exactly at the same point where Sophie hurt herself.

"The spell my sister performed, the one that got her killed? It didn't just confirm the pregnancy. It linked me to Hayley. So anything that happens to me, happens to her, which means her life is in my hands. Klaus may not care about his own child, but it's very clear what it already means to you. If I have to hurt Hayley – or worse – to ensure that I have your attention, I will."

Cleo's breath hitched in her throat, and by the way Elijah was looking at her, she figured her heartbeat had picked up quite a bit as well.

"You would dare threaten an Original?" Elijah asked, appearing slightly amused.

"I have nothing to lose," Sophie told him confidently. The previous amusement from Elijah's face left. "You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind."

The witches and Cleo were still in the mausoleum as the church clock started tolling.

"His time is up," Agnes announced. Cleo did not hate many people, but the witches of New Orleans were getting up there on the list. "What're you gonna do now, Sophie?

"I'm gonna do what I said was gonna do."

Sabine looks between Cleo and Sophie.
"What, kill the girl? Kill yourself?"

"Klaus does not care about the child." Agnes rolled her eyes, gesturing towards her.

"I do." Elijah's voice was heard. He walked into the mausoleum, carrying the body of Jane-Ann. "And I bring proof of my intent to help you: the body of your fallen friend, which I procured from Marcel himself."

"Jane-Ann." Sophie almost whimpered.

"May she be granted peace. Klaus will agree to your terms. I just need a little more time."

"You had your time. It's passed." Agnes argued.

"Shut up, Agnes."

"For now, accept the deal. The girl and the child remain unharmed, or Klaus will kill you all." Elijah offered. He started to walk away but turned around. "And I will help him."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Cleo was finally out of that mausoleum and away from the witches. It was nice. The Mikaelson brothers, though it was mainly Elijah, had brought her back to where they were staying. He had gotten her backpack from the hotel room she was staying in, before getting me from the witches, something she was thankful for.
Cleo looked around the room she and Elijah were in before pulling the sheet of a crib, coughing because of the dust in the air.

"Are you alright?"

"Just dust," She nodded, her nose scrunching up at the amount of dust that was in the room. "This place is ancient."

"Yes, it should serve our purposes." Elijah agreed. "It's a sanctuary from our business in the Quarter. Right now, you are the most important person in this family. You need a good home. So I'm curious... in all this time, has anyone asked you how you feel?"

"About having a miracle baby with someone who everyone warned me to stay away from?" Cleo asked.

"About being a mother." Elijah clarified.

"I graduated high school less than a year ago, I wasn't planning on being a mother for many more years," Cleo told him, frowning slightly. "I was abandoned when I was born, but my parents did the best they could raising me, even when we had to adjust to me turning into a wolf every full moon."

"I will always protect you. You have my word on that." Elijah promised, getting a grateful smile in return.

"And noble Elijah always keeps his word," Klaus said as he walked in.

Cleo looked between the two brothers before deciding to head to the room that she would be staying in. "Thank you for getting me away from the witches, but I'm gonna go to bed."

Cleo smiled in return as the brothers nodded to her, turning and walking up the stairs. She let out a deep breath as she laid on the bed. All she wanted was to find her friend but she ended up in a whole different world.

Chapter Text

Cleo-Hayley- shoved her phone into the pocket of her cardigan after updating Kim, her sister, on her search for Emma. She didn’t tell her family she was pregnant, she especially wasn’t going to tell them it was with the Original Hybrid’s baby. She hadn’t even spoken to him in two days and she didn’t want to approach him after watching him dagger Elijah.

Hayley walked downstairs, hearing Klaus arguing with someone. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Klaus and a blonde who she assumed was his sister.

“Ah, Hayley. This is my little sister Re-“ Klaus started, motioning to his sister who had turned around.

“Emma?” She cut him off, staring at Rebekah with wide eyes.

“Cleo?” Rebekah countered as she took a step forward.

Hayley stepped back, faltering when she saw the look on Emma-Rebekah’s- face. “No, no, no…” Hayley looked between the blondes with wide eyes, hearing heabeat getting faster. She had been looking for Emma for over a year, and it turned out she was actually an original vampire. She was not okay.

“Rebekah?” Klaus asked quietly. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing, Nik.” Rebekah gave him a smile they all knew was forced. “Go meet Marcel, I’ll stay here with Hayley.”

“Alright,” he nodded after a few moments before heading towards the door. He could tell that Rebekah knew the wolf and they obviously needed to talk. “Welcome home, little sister.”

A few minutes after Klaus left, she spoke, dropping the American accent. “What the hell?”

“It’s great to see you too, Cleo.” Rebekah, Emma, grumbled.

Ignoring every negative feeling, Hayley pulled her into a hug, smiling when she was instantly squeezed back. They stayed in the hug for another ten minutes before they finally moved to a couch.

“I suppose you want to know how Im Rebekah Mikaelson and Emma Gilbert?” Rebekah said, continuing when Hayley nodded. “Well, when I was daggers I was able to get into the mind of the person who was transporting the coffins and got him to realize me for small amounts of time. It wasn’t really compulsion, so it didn’t matter if he was on vervain or not. Eventually, I was able to escape. The man would contact me if Nik was ever going to open my coffin. When I left, I went as far away from Nik as possible and I ended up in Australia. When I got there, I compelled a couple who were thinking about having another kid anyway, the Gilbert’s, to think I was their daughter. They picked my name, Emma, and I fit in the family as Elliot’s older sister. I enjoyed being a big sister again…” Rebekah tailed off.

“I had a witch basically mass compel the town that I had been a part of the family the whole time. We became friends, then we met Rikki. When I had a tail after the moon poll incident, I was surprised. I’m an original, that magic shouldn’t have worked. It meant that I had magic, and you can’t have magic and be a vampire, so I decided to look into it. I got in contact with my, would you call it now, godmother? Anyway, I talked to Ayana and her theory was that while we didn’t keep our magic after turning, nothing was said about magic on top of our immortality. After two years, I got a call from the man who was watching the coffins saying that Nik was about to open mine but he got a call. I compelled the Gilberts to tell everyone I was going to visit relatives in America when in reality, I was going back in my coffin with a dagger in my chest. I’m a hybrid now, just not like Nik, I’m a vampire/mermaid hybrid.”

“I guess it's my turn now.” Hayley said after a few moments. “Well, I was in the system for a six years before the Sertori’s adopted me. I was with a foster family for three years, the Marshall’s, before they put me back in the system. I broke my curse when I was 13. I was at party and I shoved someone who was trying to hurt me, he fell, was in the hospital for two days but ended up dying from head trauma. My parents found out the next full moon when I did, but we kept it a secret from Kim. I don’t know how, but I didn’t shift the night we ended up in the moon pool, probably because it was making me a mermaid. I was worried that you and Rikki would find out about me being a werewolf, but it turns out, I don’t have to shift every full moon, I just get moonstruck. But it turns out I can shift to avoid becoming moonstruck. Last full moon I didn’t shift or get moonstruck, but I guess that’s because I’m pregnant.”

“I can’t believe you slept with my brother!” Rebekah exclaimed.

“Your family is really pretty!!” Hayley defended herself with a huge grin. “Anyway, I came to America to look for you, ended up finding Tyler Lockwood untiring your brother's hybrids and followed him back to Mystic Falls. He introduced me as Hayley and it just kind of stuck.”

“What happened while I was daggered?” Rebekah asked, leaning into the couch.

“A lot.” Hayley started. “We met another mermaid, Bella, she gave us necklaces but I turned mine into a ring.” Hayley lifted her hand so Rebekah could see, before continuing to tell her everything that happened from Kim’s first boyfriend to stopping a comet. “Everyone went to college, Rikki and I agreed to keep looking for you and stay in contact.”

“You still have your locket.” Rebekah commented, nothing that Hayley was playing with it.

“Never took it off.”

“Me either,” Rebekah lifted hers from under her shirt. “I can’t believe you stopped a comet.”

The girls sat in a comfortable silence, staring at the ceiling before Rebekah stood up. “I’m going to check the basement for Elijah, do you wish to come?”

“Not really, but I will.” Hayley stood, following Rebekah.

“The governor had lots of secret rooms, I'll show you his favourite.” Rebekah said as they arrived in a dusty cellar room.

“These are Kol and Finn’s coffins,” Rebekah pointed to them as she said her brother's names. “They were killed by the doppelgänger and her friends in Mystic Falls.”

Hayley put a hand on Rebekahs arm. “Im sorry,”

Rebekah shook her head. “I will see them again, one day. We will all see each other again.”

She nodded to her coffin next. “That one’s mine.”

“He keeps your coffins on standby.” Hayley said bluntly.

The blonde nodded. “Nik likes to be prepared for when we disappoint him or we need to run. Elijah’s isn’t here- he stashed him somewhere else.”

Hayley sighed. “It's always the pretty ones that are crazy.”

Rebekah grinned. “Welcome to this mess of a family, Cleo. You should ran the moment you realized Elijah was gone.”

“Problem with that great plan of yours.” Hayley rolled her eyes. “The witches here put a hex on me, linked me to one of the crazy ones. As long as I’m carrying your niece, I can’t leave New Orleans, they’ll kill me if I do.”

“Well, we best find a way to break that hex. Can have any witches trying to kill my best friend now, can I?” Rebekah grinned.

“Of course not.” Hayley grinned back. “Now, can we go get some food? Your brother is awful at grocery shopping.”

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley waited on a bench while Rebekah was talking to someone. She had only been sitting for a few minutes before she heard a voice behind her.

“Dumb move, coming into the Quarter. You’re coming with me, wolf.” The vampire demanded, spitting out the last word as if it were poison.

When he was close enough, Hayley punched him in the jaw before lifting her knee, causing him to groan in pain. She spun around and saw two more vampires.

Rebekah showed up, calmly setting down the bags in her hand before snapping the neck of one vampire and ripping out the heart of the other. “Now, that’s no way to treat a pregnant lady.” Rebekah looked down at the bodies before smiling at Hayley. “And I do hate bad manners.”

Rebekah raised an eyebrow at Hayley. “Nik is pissed at us.”

“Sounds like him.” Hayley agreed. “Did you get strawberries?”

“We got everything on the list, Cleo. We have enough fruit to last us years at this point.” Rebekah tilted her head. “Why do you smell like wolfsbane?”

“Some lady bumped into me earlier who smelled like it.” Hayley shrugged, grabbing her bag off the bench.

She shook her head. “No, it's a lot stronger than that.”

Hayley felt her pockets, her nose scrunching up when she felt a vial with a paper rolled around it. She pulled it out and read the note. ‘Put a few drops in a cup of tea and it will work. Do the right thing.’

She looked up at Rebekah, who stared back.

“He’s not going to be too happy about that either.”

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

They returned to Klaus throwing a final body onto a small fire in the courtyard. He turned, giving them a fake smile.

“This is why I told you never to leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, and your little nighttime stroll put it all in peril. Leave him!” He shouted to Rebekah who had taken a step towards the pile of bodies.

“You’ve done enough, don’t you think?” He waved his hand. “Leaving a trail of bodies like a road map to my door?”

“It wasn’t like she was unprotected, I at least went with her.” Rebekah told him. “And don’t give me that crap about having a plan. You’ve had all the time in the world to execute a plan and no one’s seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child, but you obviously don’t give a damn about the child or Elijah, because what have you done to honour it!”

“I have done everything.” Klaus seethed. “Let me spell it out for you then, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn’t trusted me. From day one, he’s had his vampires ingest ingest toxic vervain which as you know, little sister, protects them from mind control.” Klaus grabbed one of the vampires from the pile. “And this one- I’m gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain why he lost three more vampires tonight.”

Rebekah and Hayley shared a look, following Klaus as she dragged the vampire inside the house. “Does anyone have any more questions? No? Good, because I have a question. Hayley, what were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?”

“Pretty well all of the food here is expired and I get hungry.” Hayley told him. “Rebekah went with me so I wasn’t in the quitter alone, we split up for a few minutes before we were coming back here then the night walkers came.”

“Leave her be, Nik.”

Hayley watched as he visibly calmed down. “I'm going to head upstairs, i'll see you two in the morning.”

“It’s okay to care.” Hayley heard Rebekah say as she entered the room she was staying in. “It’s okay to want something. That’s all Elijah was trying to do, all he’s ever wanted for you. All we’ve ever wanted.”

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley was almost asleep when Klaus entered her room, picking up the wolfsbane.

“I didn’t use it. I never would’ve.” Hayley told him quietly, putting it together that Rebekah had told him about it.

“You’re awake.”

“I barely slept.” Hayley sat up, leaning against the headboard. “This house is like a sauna.”

“What stopped you?” Klaus asked, not looking at her. “You could have been free of all this… of me.”

“I could have.” Hayley agreed, but shook her head. “There’s a part of me that always wanted a kid, or maybe it was because my birth parents gave me out and my next set of presents put me back in the system. I didn’t have an example of good parents until I was almost seven. I want to be better than that, I want to protect my child.”

“I’m beginning to think we’re a lot alike, you and I,” Klaus said after a few moments. “We’re both castoffs who learned to fight when we’re backed into a corner.”

Hayley looked up at him. “Well, we’re backed into a corner now.”

“Ah, that we are. It’s time to fight…little wolf.” Klaus placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently before going to leave.

Hayley stopped him. “The whole thing with Marcel- what happened?”

“I made Marcel everything that he is. I treated him like a son, and when my father chased me and my family away from New Orleans a hundred years ago, we believed Marcel was killed. We each mourned- in our own way. Yes, when I returned, I found out that not only had he survived, he had thrived. Instead of seeking us out, instead of sticking together as one, he made a choice to take everything my family had built and make it his own. Now, he is living in our home, sleeping in our beds. That ‘M’ he stamps everywhere, it’s not for ‘Marcel’. It’s for ‘Mikaelson’. I want it all back, and if I have to push him out to get it, that’s exactly what I’ll do.” He turned back to look at her from his spot in the door frame. “I’ll have someone see to the air conditioning.”

Chapter Text

"I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me. You know how I love to set things on fire!" Hayley heard Rebekah say as she walked downstairs.

She was still overwhelmed from finding Emma, who she found out was actually an original vampire and named Rebekah. She called her parents to say she was relatively safe in New Orleans, but didn't mention Rebekah, Klaus, Elijah or the pregnancy.

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot? Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked the helpless pregnant girl who's carrying my child!"

"Oh, I am so moved by your new-found sense of fatherly duties towards the girl carrying your hybrid bun in her oven."

"Are you two always like this?" Hayley asked as she walked in before shaking her head. "Nevermind. I don't think I want to know. The werewolf would like to know what the plan is."

"Well, that depends what plan you mean, love-- my plan for global domination, or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?" Klaus turned to face her.

Rebekah grabbed a pencil from the desk beside her and threw it in Klaus' direction. Klaus caught it easily before it could embed itself in his face

Hayley sighed. "The plan to rescue Elijah, who is now in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed him in the back?"

Klaus smirked "In the front, if we're being specific."

"You two said that you would get him back. So is there a plan?" Hayley crossed her arms.

"Okay. Well, firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy, he's my friend. Albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless." He paused, glancing between the two of them. "And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenage witch, I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly-" He turned to Rebekah, gesturing for her to speak. "-Sister, please."

"And thirdly, the plan is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back." Rebekah told her.

"That's not the whole plan, is it?"

Rebekah scoffed. "Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical."

"And that's only Plan A, love!" He told her. "There's always a Plan B."

"And do tell, what is Plan B?"

Klaus smiled. "War."

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley sighed as she listened to Klaus, Rebekah and Sophie argue. She had been trying tp snap, but it got too loud so she ended up eavesdropping. Klaus and Rebekah were currently arguing with Sophie, planning to use Thierry and Katie to find Elijah.

Hayley thought it was an awful plan, but she listened to Rebekah and let Klaus do his thing. She jumped as she heard Klaus slam his hands on the table in the room next door. "Sophie Deveraux! You're in no position to be so principled. You can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be. How many times have the vampires been one step ahead, known something they shouldn't? Your sister, executed in the public square for practicing magic-- who knew she'd be caught? Did she even attempt to flee?"

"...She was caught hiding in a cargo hold of a freighter before it set sail down the Mississippi." Sophie answered.

"And who, pray tell-- of Marcel's valued inner circle-- manages his business at the docks?" Klaus pressed.

Sophie sighed. "Katie's boyfriend, Thierry."

After Sophie left, Rebekah went to Hayley's room and laid on the bed. "So... how'd it go?" Hayley asked, getting a muffled groan in response. "You wanna try that again?"

Rebekah turned so she was on her side, facing Hayley. "This plan is going to get messed up somehow."

"Why do you say that?"

"The last time Nik didn't have our coffins, it took weeks to get them back. Who knows how long Marcel will hide Elijah."

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley absently walked around the pool, being careful to not touch the water, watching the wolf that was staring at her.

"You're not supposed to be out here." A voice says from behind her. Hayley sighed, turning around.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Sabine. We met. I'm one of Sophie's friends." She continued.

"You're one of the witches." She said bluntly. She nodded.

"Sophie just asked me to come keep you company while everyone's out." She looked over at the wolf curiously and gestured toward it. "You know, it's drawn to you. The child you're carrying is part vampire, part werewolf. You and Klaus made something special."

"Well, a one night stand with a vampire shouldn't have gotten me pregnant and here we are." Hayley rolled her eyes.

"You know, I can do something to find out if it's a boy or girl." She offered.

"I thought you couldn't do witchy stuff around here." Hayley said. "Anyway, I can just go to a normal human doctor and find out easily."

"It's not magic, just an old trick my grandmother taught me." She smiled. "Come on. You have to be a little curious."

A few minutes later, Hayley was laying in the kitchen, Sabine holding a crystal hanging on a chain over her stomach.

"I think it's a girl." She smiled down at her before frowning as the crystal started to swing in the other direction. "No... wait."

"Hoc est infantima malom, Nos omnia perditu el eam."

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley laid on her bed, staring at the screen in front of her in shock. She had to rework the words in front of her, but the reaction was the same.

The child is evil, it will destroy us all.

She picked at her nails, an awful habit she had picked up over the years. Klaus paused at the doorway of her room, noticing how nervous she looked, before taking a step in.

"I thought you might like to know, Elijah is returning to us." He said quietly.

"That's good, I suppose." Hayley looked up, smiling. "I learned something today, Klaus. I think it's a girl."

After a few moments, he smiled as well.

Things were finally starting to look up for Cleo Sertori, thought she knew it would only get worse.

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

"Your brother is in a church attic?" Hayley let out a laugh.

Rebekah groaned. "Yes, I'm aware of the irony."

Hayley rested her head on Rebekah's shoulder, pulling the blanket up further.

"Why are you on top of me?" Rebekah asked, not looking away from her laptop screen.

"My wolf is going crazy. You're the only person close to me who is pack. Everyone else is back home." Rebekah said nothing in response, instead, adjusting herself so that Hayley would be more comfortable. She had to deal with this before, of course, after going long periods of time away from Klaus. It was instinct.

"I think I'm going to make her middle name Kimberly." Hayley said quietly. Rebekah nodded, shutting her laptop.

"Have you talked to Kim yet?" Rebekah asked.

Hayley shook her head as much as she could without having to move. "Not about me being pregnant. I've talked to my parents, though, they know, just not who the father is. Or that I found you, I haven't found a way to bring that up yet."

"Technically, you found my brother." Rebekah laughed as Hayley hit her arm.

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley was pissed. It had been a peaceful day, really. She woke up in a good mood, ate a good breakfast and spent two hours with Rebekah. Then, Agnes showed up and ruined the whole day.
Nobody liked Agnes, especially Rebekah. Anges decided that Hayley needed a doctor's appointment in the Bayou, which Hayley politely declined, but she kept pushing. So, she called Rebekah in.
Rebekah and Hayley had fallen right back into step like they were still living in Australia and called Cleo and Emma. When her brother wasn't around, they did practically everything together. They toned it down when he was there, though he was out most of the time. While they knew there were still many problems around them, they enjoyed spending time with each other, both wishing they could go back in time.

Hayley laid on the couch, staring at a book she wasn't reading as Rebekah sat a few feet away from them. Hayley let out a low growl as Agnes mentioned the appointment again.

"I feel great, Agnes." Hayley snapped. "You can leave, there's no reason for you to be here anymore."

Hayley pursed her lips as Rebekah let out a quiet laugh, too quiet for human hearing.

"You're overdue for a checkup." Agnes presisied.

"What do you expect me to do? Pop into the Quarter for a quick ultrasound? A pregnant werewolf escorted by a witch? Not happening." Hayley shut the book, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I'm going to see a human doctor tomorrow, I don't need to see anyone you know."

Agnes was silent for a few moments. The girls shared a look, hoping that it would finally shut her up, but Agnes spoke again. "While that is good, I know a doctor out in the Bayou, off the beaten path." Hayley shot Rebekah a panicked look. "Now, I took the liberty of making an appointment for you. Tonight, after-hours, just us. Vampires will never get word of it."

Agnes wasn't going to stop anytime soon, so Rebekah and Hayley came to an agreement. Hayley would go to the bayou doctor and would text Rebekah if anything suspicious was happening. Rebekah would meet up with her nonetheless, but she had to deal with her brother first.

"Okay, fine. Bayou-baby-doctor it is."

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

"This is the doctor's office?"

Hayley regretted ever agreeing to go to the Bayou doctor. It was one of the sketchiest places she had ever been to.

Agnes smiled. "Dr. Paige is only this far out because Marcel's men kept terrorizing her patients. Go! She won't bite!"

Hayley got out of the car, purposely slamming the door as she pulled out her phone . She overheard Agnes calling someone, shaking her head. She texted Rebekah as she walked into the clinic.

'At the clinic. Agnes is sending someone after me.'

Later, Dr. Paige stood above her, giving her an ultrasound. The doctor smiled at her. "Your baby's heart rate is perfect."

Hayley smiled. "I knew it."

Dr. Paige chuckled and handed her a tissue to wipe the ultrasound gel off of her abdomen.

"That's a unique birthmark." Dr. Paige remarked.

"We're done here, right?" Hayley put her sweater back on, pulling out her phone as it buzzed. There was one notification on her screen, a simple text that said, 'send me your location. I'm on my way.' She sent it to Rebekah, putting her phone in her away when she was done.

"Your blood pressure is a bit high, I've got something for it." Hayley's spine straightened as she heard a wolf howl. She could see headlights approaching from the window. She needed to get out of there.

"You know, I'm not too good with pills." Hayley said as the doctor walked back in.

"Heh, neither am I, truth be told." Dr. Paige set the medicine cup on the table and starts preparing something.

Hayley glanced over, hearing a low whisper. A group of intimidating-looking men walked into the clinic and whispered something to Agnes.

Her arm shot out in time to catch Dr. Paige's arm as she lunged at her. IShe pushed her sarm awry, stomping down on the doctor's foot. She let out a cry but was silenced as Hayley stabbed the syringe into the doctor's neck, causing her to pass out onto the floor.
The men in the lobby ran toward the door, but I managed Hayley shut and locked it before they could enter. One of the men rattled the doorknob as she opened the window, getting out as fast as she could.

After a few minutes, the men who raided the clinic were looking for her in the woods behind the clinic. They passed her a few times, not seeing that she was hiding behind a tree. She ran up to the first man as he passed her again, kicking him in the stomach before knocking them to the ground. She jumped, kicking the second man down as she snapped his neck. A third man tried to attack her, but she grabbed the knife from his hands and cut his neck with it. When a fourth lunged toward her, she grabbed his shotgun and knocked him to the ground, stomping on his neck.
Hayley's eyes flashed gold as she looked around for the others. A large man tried to attack her, but as she got ready to attack him, his neck was snapped by Rebekah.

"Emma, finally."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Was the first thing she asked.

"I learned to survive." Hayley huffed, though she was glad Rebekah finally showed up. "You're late."

"Sorry, family problems, had to deal with that." Rebekah apologized. "Who were they?"

"Witches. Warlocks." They could see more men with flashlights in the distance hearing towards them.

"There're more of them. Run!"

Hayley wanted no time running away. She was worried for her, but she knew Rebekah would survive. She kept running until she was hit in the shoulder with an arrow. She cried out at the sharp pain, her eyes fluttering closed.

━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ━━━

Hayley woke up to four wolves around her, each of them were visibly concerned.

"Creepy." Hayley blinked, staggering as she stood up. "I'm going to find my... people. You can do your creepy watching thing from a distance."

She could hear Klaus and Rebekah talking as she made her way towards the clinic. She winced as the wolves howled. It was too loud.

"Hayley! What happened? Tell me what happened." Klaus said as he rushed towards her.

"I don't... I can't remember." She frowned, looking up at him.

She stayed still as Klaus examined her for any wounds. "You've completely healed. There's not a scratch on you."

Hayley leaned into him, thankful when his hold tightened so she wouldn't fall over, not that either Original would let that happen. "Werewolf healing."

"No, werewolves don't heal that fast."

"It's the baby." Rebekah said after a few moments. "The vampire blood- Nik's vampire blood- in your system. It can heal any wound." Klaus turned and stared at her incredulously. "Your own child healed you."

Rebekah shifted her focus back to her friend. "How did you escape? You were outnumbered, unarmed? Those men were ripped to shreds!"

"I think it was the wolves. They're trying to protect me." She said quietly.

"The witches were supposed to protect you! When I get my hands on Sophie Deveraux-" Klaus started angrily.

"It wasn't Sophie. It was Agnes." Hayley cut him off, finally taking a step away from Klaus.

"Fine! Agnes, Sophie, it's all the same to me! I'll slaughter the lot of them!" He said.

"Not if Elijah gets there first." Rebekah told him.

"Did you find him?" Hayley asked her.

"He's been in touch, and he has a plan. All he asks is that we take care of you." She said.

Hayley smiled before looking at Klaus. "Hey, can we go home now? I'd really like to sleep for a few days..."

When Hayley went to walk, her knees buckled and she stumbled, but Klaus flashed over to catch her, and scooped her up to carry her.

"Ooh, I've got you, love. I've got you."

Hayley leaned into him, burying her face in his neck, glancing at Rebekah. After a long night, she finally felt safe.