chapter thirty-seven,

Marian groaned, wincing when she rubbed her hand over her face. Her cheek throbbed heavily. Looking around, she was in a bed that she'd never seen before and a room she very vaguely recognised. Where am I? she wondered.

"Well, you tried to drown yourself, almost died, lost your magic, and then killed your uncle," came Ambrose's voice. She looked up, her mouth opening when she saw that he was standing in the doorway of the room with nothing but a towel covering the lower half of his body. She couldn't help but stare at his body before quickly checking that she still had her own clothes on. "You then passed out in my car while you were on the phone to your dad. I thought it would be better if you just spent the night here. Slept on the couch."

Marian closed her eyes and frowned: she'd hoped that yesterday had all been some kind of horrible fever dream. "Can you please put a shirt on?" she asked after a moment.

He grinned. "Don't like what you see?" he teased.

"No," she snarled, hoping that he couldn't hear her heart skip a beat at the lie.

She quickly looked away from him and around the room that she was in. The walls were a light shade of a mix between blue and green, and the sheets were a deep grey colour. Beside the door was a painting of a girl's face, smudged and blurred, but delicate and intricately designed. A red tear stained her golden-freckled cheeks, and her fingers were entwined in her hair as if she were going to go insane.

"So this is your sex dungeon," she concluded.

Ambrose chuckled, glancing down to his right. Marian found it incredibly attractive. "I guess you could call it that." He looked back at the girl in his bed. "But you're the first to stay till morning."

"I feel so honoured."

He stared at her for a moment, the morning light making her skin glow. She looked beautiful. "I bought some stuff from the store in case you wanted breakfast," he told her. "I don't have a toaster, but you could use the stove I guess."

Marian smiled. "Thanks," she said, genuinely surprised that he'd thought about that.

"And I went and got some of your clothes so you could have a shower. You kinda smell," he added. Marian quickly picked up a pillow and threw it at him, though he easily dodged it. "I'm a hybrid. You're going to have to try a lot harder than that, sweetheart."

"I'm a Mikaelson. You really think that's all I've got?" she smirked, though it faded when she thought about what had happened yesterday. Now that her power was gone, that was all she was: she was just a Mikaelson—a defenceless target for all of her family's enemies.

Sensing her change in mood, Ambrose cleared his throat and tilted his head towards the door on the opposite side of the hallway he was in. "The bathroom's over there. I put a spare towel and your clothes in there already."

She pulled the covers off her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The morning air was cold, and she felt a shiver run through her body as her feet touched the ground.

"You might want to give Klaus a call, too. He's pretty concerned about you." And so am I, he wanted to say, but the words never left his lips.

Marian nodded, reaching for her phone which she found on the bedside table, and standing up. She walked over to Ambrose who still stood in the doorway, and looking up at him she said, "Thank you." Her voice was quiet, as if the weight of the past few days had finally come down on her. She sounded tired and upset; fragile.

He gave her his best comforting smile, and she walked off in the direction of the bathroom. It was bigger than she thought it would be, and far nicer than she'd expected. Looking at the clothes she'd picked out, she found that he'd taken the green top he'd once said she looked nice in and a pair of jeans, some socks and her tennis shoes on the floor beside the sink. She gulped when, picking up the top, she found a pair of lacy underwear hiding. You sly dog, she thought, shaking her head.

Instead of turning the shower on and undressing, she decided to put the toilet lid down and sit on it, turning on her phone and scrolling through her contacts until she found Klaus' number. She hesitated, her finger hovering over his name for a while before she finally pressed on it, breathing deeply as she listened to it ring.

"You're finally awake," he said, answering after the third ring. "How are you?"

"I'm..." Marian thought for a moment, trying to find the right word. Hurt, angry, sad, depressed, alone. "Okay," she concluded.

"You and I both know you're not okay, love," he told her. He may not have had his magic taken away from him, but Klaus had been through something similar. He knew how hard it was to come to terms with the fact that a part of himself had been stolen, but unlike his circumstances, he had no idea if Marian would ever get that part of herself back.

"You're right," she agreed. "I'm not okay." Saying it out loud made her realise just how much grief she felt, but she refused to let herself cry. She'd done enough of that, and poor Ambrose had had to deal with her.

"Will you be coming home today?" he asked, knowing better than to expect her to do anything. Damon's betrayal had already made her angry and unpredictable, and last night had only intensified that.

"I don't think so," she admitted. All she wanted was Kol. She hadn't seen him in so long, and after everything that had happened, she felt that she needed to be with him.

"You do what you must," Klaus said. "Just keep us informed. We don't need you going missing again."

"No," she laughed humorlessly. Her mind wandered off to Finn and what she'd done to him. Did he even know that his brother was dead yet? That she'd killed him? "Nik, about Finn..."

"I know," he said.

"I didn't mean to do it. I-I was just so angry," she explained. She needed him to understand. "What he did, I... this whole time he's been trying to kill me and I didn't even know."

"Marian, what he did to you is unforgivable. You don't have to feel bad about it."

"But he was my uncle," she argued. "Your brother."

"No uncle of yours, nor brother of mine, would do the things he's done to you. I admit, I've done terrible things to you in the past, but the only time I was selfish with you was to break my curse. The other times were to keep you safe. Finn only wanted to cause you harm."

She took several deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm. "I think," she began, pausing for a moment to clear her head. "I think I'm gonna go to Denver early."

There was silence on the other side of the line until Klaus finally spoke up. She imagined that he was fighting the urge to tell her not to be stupid and comme home, but he knew that being with Kol was probably the best thing for her. "How will you get there?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "I'll probably get Brody to take me to the airport. I just... I can't be here anymore."

"This town is cursed," Klaus agreed. "I'm glad you're getting out."

"You could come with me," she suggested. "Bekah too." Mystic Falls had caused them nothing but pain, even when the Mikaelson children were still human. Henrik, Finn and Mikael had all met their demise there, and if they weren't careful, so too would Rebekah and Klaus. Elijah and Kol had already left, now it was their turn.

"I'm afraid your aunt and I still have some unfinished business here. Lives to ruin and what not."

The corner of Marian's lips twitched upwards. "Give Damon Salvatore hell for me."

"You know I will, love."

...

It hadn't taken long for Marian to convince Ambrose that she needed to go find her dad in Denver. He knew it was what was best for her, and besides, Kol would know more about how to help her than anyone else. What took time, however, was him convincing Marian to take him with her.

Sure enough, after eating the breakfast he'd made for her while she was in the shower and a long drive to Richmond, the two ended up at the airport and bought two tickets to Denver.

Now, the two sat comfortably in their seats on the plane, Marian staring nervously at the wing through the window. Ambrose had teased that it might catch fire if she stared too hard at it, which made her gulp in horror. She'd then explained to him that the last plane she'd been in had crashed, and she didn't quite fancy it happening again.

Figuring that it would do them both well to distract the girl from her thoughts. He decided he would tell Marian about his life before Klaus, since he knew almost everything about her and she knew so little about him.

"I have two mums," he announced, catching her off guard. "Katie and Joanna. Katie was married to some deadbeat mechanic when she met Joanna, and we moved in with her when Katie decided to get a divorce. I didn't know they were in love until I was seven."

Marian didn't quite know what to say to him, and though her mind was still very much stuck on the fear of falling out of the sky, she was thankful that he was trying to make her feel more at ease.

"Then there's my sister, Elsie. She's seven. A total bitch in the making. I think you'd like her."

Marian scoffed and shoved Ambrose's arm. "I'm not a bitch."

He laughed. "You said it, not me," he defended cheekily.

"I hate you so much right now," she groaned.

"Hey, I'm coming halfway across the country with you of my own free will. I can't be all that bad," he reasoned with a grin on his face, pointing a finger at her.

"Yeah, why are you coming with me?" Marian asked, an eyebrow raised.

Ambrose shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "I mean, Klaus did make me your bodyguard, and I kind of have to do everything he says."

"And you're okay with that?" she pushed before he could continue. "Being Klaus' bitch."

"I'm not Klaus' bitch," he denied.

"You totally are," she joked. "I bet you'd jump off a cliff if he asked you to."

"It's not like it'd kill me."

"You're not invincible, Brodie." Marian's face turned more serious. "I know you feel like you owe him everything, but you don't. If anything, he owes you. He made you trigger your curse so that he could turn you. You weren't like the others."

Ambrose gulped, not quite knowing what to say. She was right, of course. She was always right. When Klaus had found him, he'd had no idea that the supernatural world existed out of fiction. Klaus had made it seem like he'd given Ambrose a gift, but was it?

He cleared his throat. "Anyway," he began, trying to change the subject. "It's my job to keep you safe, but I also kinda like your company."

"Ha ha," she responded humorlessly.

"You're annoying as hell, but sometimes—sometimes—I think you're one of the nicest people I've ever met. And on rare occasion, I get the feeling that you like hanging around me too."

It was Marian's turn to be quiet now, and she wasn't quite sure if her cheeks were hot because the plane itself was warm or if it was a result of the butterflies that had been released in her stomach. Not wanting Ambrose to notice, she quickly told him that she needed to go to the bathroom, however she hadn't thought it through. The boy pushed himself further into the back of his seat, telling her to go over him.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Marian stood as best she could and moved towards the right, wanting to cry out in embarrassment when the plane stumbled slightly, making her fall for just a moment onto Ambrose's lap.

Without uttering a word, she rushed off to the nearest bathroom, sat on the toilet lid, and cursed herself for not being able to stay collected. She had no idea that Ambrose was scolding himself for being so forward.

Some minutes later, while the pair were still separated, a girl who had been seated diagonally across from their aisle unbuckled her seatbelt and walked over to where the boy sat with his sudoku book, easily writing numbers in their correct boxes.

"Hey," she greeted softly, placing a hand on the back of his headrest. Ambrose looked up, smiling politely and then back down to his book. "I'm Katie."

"Brodie," he replied, giving her a tight-lipped smile. He quickly glanced in the direction of the toilets, though he saw no sign of Marian anywhere.

"Headed to Denver or just stopping over?" Katie asked.

"Denver," he said simply.

"If you're not too busy, I could show you around," she offered. "I'm a local."

"No, thanks. I'm—"

"Excuse me, you're in my way." Ambrose watched as Katie's smile faltered. Marian had come back.

"Oh, sorry," she apologised, stepping back. Marian moved back toward her seat, purposefully staying closer to Ambrose than she needed to. Katie watched closely. "Anyway, think about it." She pulled out a napkin from the back of her jeans. On it was a phone number. "In case you change your mind."

Marian, who had just taken a sip of water from the bottle stuffed in the pocket of the back of the seat in front of her reached up and snatched the napkin, rubbing it over her mouth. "Thanks," she said, pretending not to notice what the girl was trying to do. "Just what I needed."

Katie scoffed and went back to her seat in a huff, allowing Ambrose to turn to Marian with an amused but bewildered expression on his face.

"What was that?" he asked her.

"That girl was looking at you with real sex eyes," she explained. "She needed to go."

"Really?" he challenged.

"Trust me, aeroplane sex is unhygenic and uncomfortable. I did you a favour," she replied.

"And you'd know this because...?"

"Because I'm one thousand years your senior and very well versed in the art of seduction."