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"I should stop packing these away. There's always one family member or another in need of a good shackling. Find Rebekah or Eva or whoever the bloody hell that was, use these to stop her from doing magic, and don't hurt her. The non-psychopathic bits are still my sister." Klaus tells my dad as I sit on the couch with my eyes closed. I was exhausted, I didn't sleep good, I felt sick to my stomach from the pregnancy and I think my magic is coming back and it's not coming easily.

"All right. I won't be the only one looking for her. She killed witch kids. The 24 hour hold that Elijah got the covens to agree to ended at midnight. Every witch in the city is gonna be gunning for her." My dad explains to Klaus.

"Go to Elijah, get him to charm this elderly witch until calling off the hunt." Klaus says to Hayley.

"And leave Hope? Don't you think I should stay here and protect our daughter?" Hayley asked angrily.

"Jackson has been working night and day to secure this compound, surrounding it with his werewolf army, not to mention the fact that I'm here, and I know the best way to protect our child is to get Rebekah out of that serial killers body and back into the original model." Klaus raises his voice as I open my eyes tiredly.

"Klaus, I love you, but if you keep yelling I'm gonna murder you." I mumble tiredly ignoring his guilty look. I know he feels guilty about this all happening and he's trying to protect his daughter from Dahlia and be present with me and the baby.

"Hmm. And what will you be doing while we're doing all the dirty work?" Hayley asks.

"Why, attending to the even dirtier work as usual." Klaus says.

*

"I know you miss Rebekah but staring at her portrait is a little creepy, sweetie." I tease walking beside him. He cracks a smile and kisses my head softly.

"How are you feeling?" He asks with a certain look in his eyes. I did tell him about my magic coming back. I trust Klaus and I know he trusts me and respects that I want to keep my magic to myself right now. And when the time is right, I'll be strong and I'll be able to protect my family.

"I'm okay. Tired. But okay." I smile and lean into him, looking at the portrait. I miss Rebekah.

"Our sister was quiet the beauty." Freya says walking down the stairs.

"You said that you could put Rebekah back in her original body. Do it." Klaus tells her not even glancing her way.

"Heh. So you've come to your senses." She says with a slight laugh.

"My senses have not faltered. They still demand you are not to be trusted. However, circumstances dictates otherwise, for now." He says turning to her.

"What changed?" She asks glancing at me.

"Eva Sinclair has resumed control of her body, leaving Rebekah trapped and powerless, so make with your spells and enchantments and put my sister back in her true body." Klaus says loudly.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." She says looking to him.

"More stalling. Very well." He smiles. "I know I can't kill you but I shall have a fine time trying. Tell me, have you ever been skinned alive?" I laugh at my boyfriend and watch as he smiles looking to me.

"That was good." I whisper to him, well aware of Freya listening.

"Thank you, my love." He responds as Freya rolls her eyes.

"The problem is Rebekah's condition has worsened. When I offered to help, she was in control of Eva's body. If she's lost inside Eva, I don't have a spell that can breach Eva's mine and find her." Freya says as I think and Klaus walks away from her.

Klaus and I share a look before he speaks up, "fortunately for you, I know someone well versed in such spells." Klaus opens the box that was in front of him and takes the shackles and speeding to Freya, forcing them around her hands as she gasps. "Let's go meet her shall we?"

*

Klaus, Freya and I are currently walking into the tomb with Esther in it. "I fail to see the need for these. I'm not your enemy."

"Oh, they're not to protect me, love. They're to protect her, the one who knows more about mind invasion and body jumping than all of us put together." Klaus says looking at the dark area and throws some blood bags.

Freya looks curiously and wearily before fear and anger shines in her eyes. "No, no!"

Klaus takes a hold of her shoulders to stop her from going anywhere. "Mother, Freya." He introduces. "Freya, mother."

"It can't be." Esther stutters.

"You won't trust me, yet you would trust her?" Freya asks angrily.

"I trust my mother about as much as I would a stuck snake. Fortunately, she is now a vampire, and as such, vulnerable to my compulsion." Klaus says walking towards her and grabs her face. "You will answer me truthfully." He compels, making her stand up and keep a hold on her. He brings her closer in the tomb past the ray of sunlight that shines through. "There. Now at least everything that comes out of her wretched mouth will be honest. Let's raid mommy dearests mind for spells, shall we?"

"My beautiful girl." Esther starts going to touch her cheek. "My first born."

Freya backs away from her angrily. "Touch me, and I will use these chains to strangle you."

"Yes. Well, now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, let's begin, shall we?" Klaus asks the two. "It appears your delightful sister Dahlia is on her way to New Orleans and hell-bent on stealing my child. I need Rebekah back in her original body so she can help me destroy her."

"Your...your child?" Esther asks him.

"Oh. Yes, I suppose it is difficult keeping up on current events whilst rotting inside a tomb." Klaus smiles, rubbing his hands together and walking closer. "Very well. The short version. My child is alive, Dahlia is on her way but now the previous tenant of Rebekah's body has seized control and isn't keen on giving it up. Young Freya here, although powerful, lacks the spell to put Rebekah back in her true body, and that's where you come in." Klaus grabs her shoulders and begins to compel her. "I need you to be a dear and dig deep in that ex-witch mind of yours." He takes a blank piece of paper out of his jacket and hands it to Esther. "Give me the spell that puts Rebekah's back."

"I'm also pregnant." I smile sarcastically looking to Klaus with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, that too." He smiles looking at me.

*

The four of us still stand in the tomb, Esther writing down the spell, Freya leaning against the wall, Klaus is pacing and I'm sat down. "What is taking so long?" Klaus asks impatiently. "You didn't tarry when you attempted to kill my child."

"I took no joy in that. I knew if your daughter lived Dahlia would come not only for her but for all of you, and however you may despise me, I would not wish that upon you." Esther says her eyes looking to me, or more my stomach really.

"How touching." Klaus crosses his arms in front of him, not really caring about what she said.

"Isn't it?" Freya asks sarcastically. "I always wondered what maternal compassion sounded like. Of course, I wouldn't know since you sold me into slavery at the age of 5."

"When I made that bargain with my sister, I had no idea what it meant to be a mother." Esther begins making me listen. "I thought if I had a dozen children I...I would not miss the one, and then you were born. You were beautiful. You had a light about you. It put a smile on the face of the hardest man I had ever known," I look over to Klaus as she says this and watch as his mouth parts open and he looks down. As much as I love Klaus, I know that he gets angry and paranoid. He's easy to love but also, in a way, hard to love too. "And when Dahlia took you, I believed that same light might warm her embittered heart, that you would lead a good life."

"A good life?" She raises her voice and stands straight. "You were my mother! You should have come for me."

"Yes, I should have, but it would have been a mistake," Esther looks over to Klaus, "the same mistake you'll be making if you let this girl help you."

"For gods sake, speak plainly." Klaus says annoyed.

"The light I saw in Freya as a child, it's gone." Esther says walking up to him. "While she was mine for 5 years, Dahlia was her mentor for a thousand, and like her mentor, she will offer to solve your problem but for a price."

"There is no price. I loathe Dahlia!" She goes towards Esther but Klaus puts his hand on her shoulder making her stop and Esther back away from her.

"No violence until she's finished writing the spell, please. Honestly, it's all temper and no timing with this one. Heh. I for one am glad you gave her away so that I could be born. You should think of me as an upgrade." Klaus says making me chuckle.

*

"I can't do this. This spell requires an enormous amount of power." Freya says.

"Which you have." Esther responds.

"And that power needs to be anchored, or ill be lost inside of Eva's mind along with Rebekah. Unlike your magic, mind isn't anchored to any one place. Because of you, I have no home." She yells.

"Would you stop with the god damn yelling?" I ask freya, "I didn't have a home either. Okay? My parents died and before that I had to leave my entire family behind. My parents, my grandmother...my brother. All of them. Lots of people don't have a home. So get over it." I freak out and take a breath.

"Perhaps, but there is no other spell." Esther says looking at her son.

"Oh, you." Freya says looking at the both of us. "I can use you as your anchor. I'll channel your power while I breach Eva's mind."

Esther scoffs, "And there it is. The price. You won't channel Maddison. She's pregnant and that is a great Danger to the child she carries and her herself." I look to Esther in shock. I didn't think she would want to keep me or my baby safe. Klaus looks to me and Esther looks back to Klaus. "If she channels you, she will have access to your mind past and present. She will know everything about you."

I look away, I don't want that. I don't trust Freya or Dahlia or even Esther but I told Klaus about my magic and if he does this then Freya will know and maybe Dahlia but Klaus will do anything to save his sister and I can't stop him from doing that. It's hypocritical.

"All of my strategies and all of my secrets laid bare to give to Dahlia. You must think I'm a fool." I sigh in relief as he says this.

"Unless it's not a trick." Elijah walks in making me sigh once again but in annoyance. "I'll be the anchor."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I whisper and shake my head.

"Brother, I think not." Klaus says turning to him.

"Brother, whatever this is, nothing must prevent us from saving our sister. I will not lose Rebekah." Elijah says to him.

"Oh, yes, by all means, let's give Dahlia's whelp access to all the information she needs to destroy us." Klaus says to him.

"And since do we heed the word of this serpent?" He asks Klaus looking at Esther.

"Enough!" Freya yells and breaks the chains that kept her from doing magic. She uses her magic to break Klaus' neck making me gasp and go to his side. "For an upgraded model, you're not very sharp." I go to attack Freya but Esther grabs my shoulders. "Let's go." She says to Elijah, walking out, with him following.

*

"Why did you tell Freya that she couldn't channel me?" I ask Esther while sitting beside Klaus' unconscious body.

"You're with child." She says.

"So? Hayley was with child and still then you wanted to kill her baby. What makes mine so special?" I ask her angrily.

"You." I grow confused and look at her. "Yes, the reason I wanted to kill Niklaus' first born was because of Dahlia but your baby isn't his first born. Your baby is a blessing."

"So is Hayley's. All babies are blessings." I say and reach down to touch my stomach. "You know, I hate you, I hate you for taking my magic, I hate you for not stopping the abuse Klaus went through, I hate you for being the reason why Ansel died a thousand years ago and I hate the fact that my child will grow up and learn about their fathers history and that their grandmother wasn't a good person. That she turned her children into creatures who drink blood, who are vicious and who are immortal." I look to Esther and see her eyes water. "I was lucky to have had my grandmother as a little girl and I think it's just awful because my kids won't have that. If only you could have just been a good person and a better mom. My baby isn't even born yet and all I want is to keep them safe. I would die if I ever hurt my child, so why did you?"

"I thought I was protecting them. I thought I was protecting them all when I went after Niklaus' child, protecting them from Dahlia." She says a far away look in her eyes. "I was scared of Mikael after we lost Freya, he turned cold and he always took it out on Niklaus, and, I just never knew why. He was a good boy, a sweet and kind child. Even as he grew up."

"Do you think he will be a good father?" I ask. "Okay, not looking at what species he is or how he is towards you but just as a person, as your son..."

"I do." She nods as I let out a breath.

"I'm sorry, Esther. Knowing Klaus, you're gonna be dead way before my baby is born. And even though, I know what you've done, past and present, I think it still would've been a little nice for my baby to already meet you once. Let them decide, when they grow up, how they want to feel about you." I say trying not to cry.

"You're a kind person, Maddison. You're gonna be a great mother. And I appreciate that deeply." She smiles.

"You better because it's not something I would let Mikael do." I laugh as a tears rolls down my cheek. She lets out a small laugh as I do.

She and I sit in silence for a bit before Klaus gasps awake. "You recover fast, but they're gone." Esther tells him.

"I compelled you to tell the truth, not state the bloody obvious." Klaus says annoyed.

"She will poison them against you. You know that." Esther says to him as he stands up.

"And you suddenly care, do you?" He asks her.

"Klaus, lying here, starving in the darkness, I have thought of nothing except what could have been if I had left you to live a single mortal life." Esther tells him.

"We would have burnt bright for a while and then burnt out. You see, you think of turning us as your greatest sin, but the truth is it's the only one of your many faults. I've come to forgive. I prefer us as we are." He says making her shake her head.

Esther puts a hand in her cheek as she speaks, "No, my son. We are a macabre echo of a family, and I take all the blame for that. I only wanted to undo my evil that you might love me again."

Klaus takes her hands away in his own. "My mother...the comedian. Enjoy the darkness."

Klaus says and walks away as Esther let's out a cry.

I walk up to Esther and hug her tightly. She sobs in my shoulder as I rest my chin on hers. I feel bad for comforting her because of Klaus but I can't help it.

I walk into the compound tiredly and up to my room. I stand in front of the mirror and Listen to Rebekah and Klaus downstairs, Klaus let her into his mind. He let her in. Let's just pray to god she doesn't go spilling secrets that are meant to be hidden. All I know is that if Freya tries to hurt the people I love, I don't care what I have to, I will put her down for good. My eyes glow in the mirror and the candles in my room light and rise high, magic flooding through my veins.