chapter thirty,

yet as she sat with him in the small hospital room, she was hardly surprised when they rolled down his cheeks. The thought of losing one's own child brings an unbearable pain, and the reality of Marian's near-death had almost completely destroyed him. She understood how he felt—she had always liked to think of Marian as her own daughter.

Together, the three brothers had brought Marian to the hospital where—much to Klaus' dismay, as he now believed that they were not safe if they weren't together—she was to stay for one week. Klaus was on edge; at any moment his mother could come back and finish what she started. He had compelled the staff to keep her admission there a secret so that no one would know where she was. Elijah had brought two chairs from another room with him so that each could sit, Kol on the bed next to his daughter.

For a while, they had sat in silence. Rebekah had joined them not long after, sitting with her brother and holding his hand comfortingly to stop him from staring wordlessly at the blood that stained them. Marian's blood.

"Why won't she wake?" Klaus demanded finally, though he already knew the answer to his question. Yes, Marian had healed herself when she channelled the brothers, but the blade Esther had used had been cursed—it was a dark object—and the wounds opened up not long after.

"She's lost a lot of blood, Nik," Rebekah told him pointedly, tightening her grip on Kol's hand. "She probably won't wake for a while."

"What are we going to do about mother?" asked Klaus.

"Our mother is not our priority right now," said Rebekah softly.

"Surely we aren't going to leave her frollocking about town where she can kill us at any moment—"

"She needs the power of the full moon to complete the ritual," Kol interrupted. "Without it, she's too weak. Besides, why waste time hunting us when she's got her favourite son just itching to die right beside her."

"Kol," Rebekah warned. "What he did was unspeakable, but he is still our brother—"

"No brother of mine would try and kill us all," Kol hissed. "No brother of mine would try to kill my only child." He didn't understand how the others could still defend Finn after what he had done not one day ago.

Rebekah looked up at him sadly. "We can deal with Finn later," she said firmly, looking at each of her brothers with great intent. "What matters right now is that Marian is still alive and safe."

Klaus scoffed. "She's hardly safe when half of Mystic Falls wants her dead so they can be rid of us once and for all," he remarked. "Bonnie was like a sister to her, and yet she was the witch helping our mother. Damon was her lover, and he used her so she'd be somewhere easy for Finn to find." He paused. "Her own friends want her dead."

"She'll be so destroyed when she wakes up," said Rebekah sadly.

Kol couldn't listen anymore. He couldn't be in this room waiting for Marian to wake up. He couldn't be confined in a small space with the siblings who had daggered him time and time again. There was a soft knock at the door, and the four Mikaelsons turned to see a nurse standing there with a small smile. Kol felt sick as he let his eyes drift to the man's hands which held a bag filled with blood.

"She's lost a lot of blood," said the nurse, walking into the room. "This should help." Kol leapt out of his seat as he passed him, startling the others.

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I need to go." He hurried out of the small hospital room, ignoring the calls of Elijah as he quickly exited the hospital.

"I'll go after him," said Rebekah, standing up from her seat and following Kol.

"Kol," Rebekah warned, following behind him. "What are you doing?"

"I just need some air, Bekah," he dismissed. As they walked through the entrance to the emergency department, Rebekah sped in front of her brother and stopped him, firmly clasping her hands on his shoulders.

"Don't lie to me, Kol," she said darkly. "Marian may not be my own child, but I have always felt like she was." She sighed. "I know this hurts you. But you have to be strong for her, because if she looks up to anyone in this damn world it's you."

Kol looked down. "I can't," he whispered. "I can't be in that room anymore. I can't bear to see her so close to death. I can't pretend that everything is okay, because it's not."

Rebekah frowned, seeing her brother's despair growing. She knew it was hard to see her this way; the last time they had seen her so badly injured, she'd died. Her first death.

She quickly leant forward and wrapped her arms around Kol tightly. "I promise you, brother, that she will be okay." He said nothing in response, but wheezed his eyes shut as he felt the pressure of tears build up in them and hugged her a little tighter. "I love you, Kol," she whispered to him, a small smile forming on her face. It had been a long time indeed since he had shown her any kind of affection.

"I love you too, sister." Her smile widened.

As the two let go of each other, Rebekah thought of an idea to keep Kol distracted from his fear. "Let's go find something to eat."

...

"Would you look at that," Klaus mused. "Our brother is afraid of blood."

"Niklaus," Elijah interrupted, placing his fingertips on his temples and slowly rubbing them to try and calm himself. He had hardly spoken since they'd arrived at the hospital, his mind filling with instant thoughts of regret... and the more his mother's words replayed in his mind, the more he began to believe them.

"Oh, what have I done now?" Klaus asked. "I was only trying to lighten the mood." He glanced towards the nurse who—under compulsion—left after he had made sure that the infusion was working smoothly.

"Now is not the time for jokes, brother," Elijah reprimanded. "We're in a hospital because our seventeen-year-old niece is paying for the millennium of mistakes we have made."

Klaus quickly understood what was happening. "Don't you dare let our mother get inside your head," he demanded. "She's only trying to make you compliant."

Elijah frowned, not fully listening to his brother. "But she's right: we are a disease—"

"That she created."

"—that needs to be stopped. We destroy everything we touch." His eyes flickered to Marian. "And to think that I was better than this... desire to create chaos and thirst for blood." His voice turned to a whisper. "I'm no better than Kol."

"Elijah, you're listening to a woman who betrayed her marriage and didn't even try to resolve the abuse of her own child," Klaus tried. Elijah closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the floor. "A woman who betrayed nature not once, but twice: first by bringing her youngest child's daughter back from the dead, and then by killing her children to make them unkillable. Immortal. She did this to us. It is not our own fault, but hers." His voice was strained, as if he was trying to plead with Elijah to believe him.

"So it's her who's spread terror throughout the world for a thousand years, and her who hides our family in boxes for a hundred years at a time," Elijah retorted. "And it's our mother who likes to make a game out of ruining our niece's life."

Klaus huffed angrily. "If you want to wallow in self-hatred and sacrifice yourself to our mother while I stay with our niece and wait for her to wake up, please, be my guest," he said. "But just know that you'll be walking away from your family. And I will never forgive you."

Elijah looked up sadly. "I'm sorry, brother," he whispered, taking a deep breath and walking out of the room.

"No," said Klaus. "Elijah." Quickly, he went to follow his brother out of the small hospital room.

"Is everything okay?" asked Ambrose, walking towards the doorway.

Klaus started to walk out of the room. "Don't leave her until I get back," he warned. The boy nodded, watching as Klaus hurried down the hallway and out of the hospital.

He halted slightly when he saw the girl in the bed. Her skin was pale and covered in a thin layer of sweat, her hair messy and sticking to the back of her neck. Ambrose hadn't expected to see her like this. Klaus had told him that she was asleep, but for some reason he had expected her grumbling about something unimportant like she usually did with him. "You look terrible," he commented. He knew she wouldn't respond.

...

Kol and Rebekah had struggled to find a single soul who was outside of their homes this early in the morning. It was a surreal sight to see the bustling town full of drama all asleep in their beds. The streets were mostly empty with the exception of cars parked outside houses. So, instead of trying to find something—or rather, someone—to eat, Rebekah had decided to show her brother just what her daughter had been doing while she was in Mystic Falls.

They had stopped in front of a few houses, which Rebekah had explained belonged to her friends. First was Jack's home, and then Hannah's. Now, they stood outside of Penny's house. "She's Marian's best friend," Rebekah explained. "Not the brightest girl, but she keeps Marian extremely entertained."

"She seems to like Elijah very much," Kol added with a smirk, remembering all the things he'd overheard his daughter's friend saying at the ball. "So clearly, she has no taste."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and pulled him down to the end of the street. "You really are the most conceited person I know," she complained.

"I don't spend an hour every morning choosing from a selection of the same suits to wear," he retorted.

"At least he's private about it. You just love to tell people how good looking you think you are."

"Does it bother you that I'm the best-looking sibling?" Kol asked.

Rebekah smiled sourly at him. "This is our next stop," she said abruptly.

"Changing the subject so soon? I was rather enjoying where this was going," he joked.

"This is Bonnie Bennett's house," Rebekah said irritatedly.

"Descendant of Ayana?" Kol questioned. "I remember seeing her this morning. Pretty little thing she is. Who knows, maybe she'll agree to a shag."

Rebekah hit his arm harshly. "Don't be gross," she groaned. "She tried to kill us a few hours ago. Not to mention the fact that Marian considers her a sister."

Kol shook his head. "We'll see about that," he told her. "If there's one thing my daughter can't stand, it's liars who betray her trust. She won't be in a good way when she wakes up."

"This life hasn't been kind to her," Rebekah said quietly, glancing towards the empty space a few doors down from Bonnie's house. "Mikael killed the woman who adopted her." Kol looked up at his sister, then followed her gaze to the space where a house once stood. "She still won't tell us how. It completely ruined her. I don't know what would've happened if Elijah hadn't undaggered you."

"If I recall correctly, I pulled the dagger out of your chest." Kol growled dangerously at the sound of the older Salvatore's voice.

"Kol," Rebekah warned.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Damon held his hands in the air. "It's a lovely night for a stroll, don't you think?" He sighed. "I just want to know if she's okay."

"What's it to you, Salvatore?" Kol spat. Rebekah quickly held onto her brother's arm tightly, trying to stop him from doing something reckless. "You're the reason she's like this," he continued. "If she dies, it's on your hands."

"Esther told Elena that Marian wouldn't be harmed," Damon said.

"Esther also said that she'd never kill her children, and yet here we are."

"She loves me," said Damon, taking a step closer to the siblings.

"Not for long, mate," responded Kol, pulling away from Rebekah and stepping forward threateningly. "You didn't see the look on her face when my mother drove a knife through her heart." Damon winced. "My daughter is a clever girl. She always finds out the truth."

"She'll forgive me."

"I'm afraid she's all out of forgiveness at the moment. Something to do with her friends trying to kill her." Kol smiled cruelly. "Now if you don't mind," he continued, beginning to step backwards. "My sister's giving me a tour of this pathetic little town, and I do believe the doppelganger's house is next. Who knows, maybe she'll let us in for a drink."

Damon sped in front of the Original, wrapping his hand around his neck. "You can't touch her. Klaus will kill you."

Kol laughed. "You clearly don't know who I am if you think I care about what my brother thinks," he mused, pushing Damon's grip off him.

Behind them, Rebekah answered her phone, her breath hitching as she listened to Klaus speak.

"I know who you are," said Damon. "You're Kol Mikaelson, the dick who won't let his daughter love."

Kol sneered, pushing his hand forward into Damon's chest and holding his heart in his hand. The younger vampire cried out in pain. "How many times must I tell you, Salvatore, that you are not to see my daughter," he said angrily. "I did not approve of you then, and I certainly don't approve of you now."

"Kol," Rebekah interrupted, rushing forward. "She's awake." Kol didn't move at first, but slightly loosened his grip around Damon's heart.

"You don't know anything about us," Damon heaved, looking dangerously into Kol's eyes.

"We need to go," Rebekah urged.

Kol leant forward. "I know that if you go near my daughter again, I will kill you." He pulled his hand out of Damon's chest. "And I won't hesitate."

And in an instant, the two Mikaelsons were gone.

part ii:

tvd s3, ep15:

wc: