Nik and I made our way back to the dining room - to where Nik and Elijah moved Finn earlier, and while Nik made his offer and plead his case to our oldest brother, I just observed him silently. I've already said all that needs to be said to him and Finn chose his side. In an ideal world he would see our mother's wrongs for what they truely are and join us to fight against them. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world.

Reality sucks.

But no matter what my twin said, Finn wouldn't say anything. Well, no, that's wasn't correct. He had plenty to say - clever and crafty insults that makes up half the Mikaelson humor - but just nothing about our mother. So, we came up with another plan and called in some help.

When Marcel arrived we led him to the dining room and the two of them walked inside with smug looks on their faces. I decided to observe silently once more.

"Brother!" Nik exclaimed joyously, like we were at a nice, normal family gathering. "I apologize for keeping you waiting. Good news is, I've returned with an old friend. Someone who wants to say hello."

Marcel smiled widely at Finn, "Hello!" Finn rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh at the cheery greeting. "How's it going?"

"Ah, Marcellus! Still licking my brother's boots?" Finn called and Marcel chuckles are she strips off his jacket and hangs it up before rolling up his sleeves.

"Oh, I volunteered for this." Marcel informed him matter-of-factly.

Finn raised his eyebrows, "Did you now?"

"The way I see it, you have it coming." He shoves Finn roughly in the chest and I barely supressed a wince. Different body or no, that was still my brother in there and it made my protective instincts rise. I have half a mind it's why Nik never hurt him either, he didn't want to hurt Finn any more than I do. Normally, when we fight amongst ourselves, we are angry with the other one and in the heat of anger it's much easier to do something or say something we normally wouldn't do.

"First you and your looney mother messed with Elijah." He continues pushing Finn backward. I adverted my eyes and clenched my fists. There was no satisfaction in watching a member of my family get hurt. Esther and Mikael may have raised us, but the moment Esther supressed our werewolf sides and Mikael started hunting is, they turned me and Nik completely against them. I don't know how what my other siblings feel, so I can't speak for them, but feeling for our twin bond, I noticed that Nik didn't like this any more than I did. Marcel, on the other hand, just went on with his taunting. "Now, I hear you wanna drag Rebekah into all this. Uh-uh. Not happening."

For the sakes of appearences, Nik put on an amused look. "Well, I'd prefer you to join me against our mother. But I'll happily settle for one or the other. Either way, if you continue to deny me, your life will be reduced to an unending sequence of agonizing torture!" Finn merely maintains a poker face as he looked at the three of us. "So, which is it to be?"

"Leave us." My words surprise even myself. Marcel and Nik looked at me in shock. I wasn't intending on speaking to Finn at all, he's made his decision, but there was one more thing I could do. Maybe, just maybe, I could convince Finn and change his mind. It was a long shot, but I was willing to try. Nik and Marcel did as I asked, and left the room.

Finn raised a curious eyebrow at me, "Want to torture me all by myself, sister?"

"Believe it or not, Finn, I have no desire to hurt you." I told him truthfully, pulling out a chair and taking a seat infront of him.

"Then I assume you take the roll of good cop in this little game of Niklaus?" He asked, face void of any emotion.

I huffed, a little annoyed and somewhat insulted. "You know as well as anyone that when it comes to my family, unlike my twin, I do not play games."

"Yes, I do know." Finn nodded, face appearing apologetic for a moment so fleeting that I wondered if it was my imagination. A silence settled around us as we studied each other silently. I crossed my legs and rested my hands on my lap.

"I'm sorry." I eventually told him. His eyes widened, clearly surpised and taken off guard by my words. "All those years, when Nik and I kept you daggered - and yes, I also decided to keep you in that coffin - I thought it was for the best. You were so miserable as a vampire, you hated everything about it. The weaknesses and the strengths. And I just, I thought it was a better alterative. I never, not once, thought that you would have been actually happy to be with us, undaggered. I'm sorry, I really truely am, Finn. I'm sorry I made the choice for you, I'm sorry I made you feel that by daggering you we were shunning you from the family. That was never my intention. I just wanted you to be at peace. Your are my brother, Finn, as much as the rest. So, I am asking, no, I'm begging you, pick us. Fight with us, stand with us. Mother is wrong, you know she is."

Finn just kept staring at me, the expression on his face completely aloof. I didn't know what to think. "That was a nice speech, I must admit. How long did it take you to come up with that?" He sneered at me, words cold and cruel.

I felt winded, like someone sucker punched me. My eyes started stinging as I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I stood from the chair and left the room without saying anything. In the hall I found Marcel and Nik looked at me with sympathetic eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek and I just continued walking, still not saying anything. I ended up on the balcony of my room, looking over the sky line and trying to mend the cracks in my heart.

I felt Nik's presence behind me before he uttered a words. "Want me to go and punch him for you?"

I chuckled wetly. "I'm pretty sure Marcellus is doing that for us."

"You know," My twin mused, coming to stand by my side. "I hear rumors, people talking about how cold and ruthless you are, even more so than I am, when in reality, you have the biggest heart of us all. Even bigger than our suit wearing brother."

"Yes, well, a lot of good that's done me." I said bitterly, hands gripping the balcony.

Nik sighed, voice gentle when he spoke, "Lexie, you can't save everyone."

"I don't want to save everyone," I told him, my voice just a touch desperate. "I just want to keep my family safe."

"Finn has made his choice." Nik told me, voice hard.

I snorted, blinking my tears away but the stinging in my heart remained. "Oh, come off it, Nik, it hurts you as much as me that he chose mother, I can feel it. You can't lie to me."

"I won't deny that," Nik conceded, sounding like he'd rather have his teeth pulled. "But the fact remains that Finn chose his side. I will still try though, to change his mind."

I gave him a faint smile, "Thank you."

***

"Lex!" Marcel's voice called me from downstairs. If it wasn't for the note of panic that almost made his voice squeaky, I wouldn't have gotten up from my painting. It was a nice landscape that I have been trying to finish for the last week.

With a deep sigh I put down my palette and paintbrush and sped down to the courtyard. "Oh for fuck sake's, can you lot not do anything without me?" I practically snarled at him and whoever as down there.

I was momentarily stunned by the sight that greeted me. Davina and Nik, facing each other with expression's of pure hatred. Worry made my stomach swoop when I saw a wound that was leaking a trickle of blood from Davina's forehead. I looked at Marcel, who was pinned to the wall by magic. "And what, pray tell, is going on down here?"

"Your little witch came in here, demanding explanations and attacked me. I merely returned the favour." Nik sneered, glaring at Davina, never once taking his eyes off her.

I turned my head to her, "And what are you doing here, Davina?"

"Where's Kol?" She answer my question with one of her own. I rose an eyebrow at her, but she didn't look at me either, too occupied with glaring at my twin. I supressed the urge to scream.

"Currently unavailable." I answered smoothly.

Her eyes flicked to me momentarily and I saw a deep hurt in her eyes, one that I knew was reflected in my own orbs. It was hurting both of us to be without each other. I was suddenly reminded of an old saying that I've never found truer, 'the greater the love, the greater the pain'. She adverted her eyes from mine, "Why, did you kill him?"

"Seeing as how this is a family matter, little witch, I don't see how it concerns you." Nik spat at her - he was nowhere near ready to forgive her. Hurt spread across her face and my heart clenched a little.

I stepped in between them and looked at the beaunette beauty, who's attention immediately went completely to me. "Kol is perfectly fine, Davina, he is running an errand for us."

She looked at me, both her eyes and her tone accusing. "Marcel told me he kidnapped Kol."

"Yes, and I informed both him and my brother that Kol's true loyalty lies with us, and not our mother." I told her, my voice taking on a slight edge, as if daring her to accusing me of lying out loud. Her shoulders relaxed somewhat and my stomach unclenched. "You'd please let Marcellus down." I pointed up at him, where he was still magicked to the wall. A faint flush spread across her cheeks, my heart warming at the sight, as she let Marcel down. "Now that you know my brother is okay, you may exit the same way you came in." The hurt in her eyes intensified, but I kept my resolve.

Before she could take a step, our party was joined by another. I raised an eyebrow at the blonde human. "Let me guess: you have a problem and you need my brother's help."

Cami was surprised, if her wide eyes was anything to go by, and nodded. "It's your mother."

I scowled, Marcel looked worried, and Nik huffed out an irritated, "Of course it is."

I breathed in deeply, feeling more than a little resigned. "What has she gone and done now?"

The human all but exploded. "I woke up with puncture wounds all up and down my spine and no idea how they got there. According to my uncle's files, they're part of this ancient spell, and I don't know about you guys, but when I see 'ancient' and spell in the same sentence, I think Esther."

"I'll help." Davina immediately offered.

My protective hackles rose. I didn't want Davina anywhere near my mother. I stepped forward and grabbed her arm, steering her in the direction of the front door. "No, you're leaving."

"But-"

I cut off her protests, "Davina, no. I don't want you here."

Davina swallowed, once again, hurt by my actions as she ripped herself out of my grip and turned to face me, her breathing a little quicker than normal. "Are you really so angry with me that you would rather let Cami possibly die than let me help?"

A wave of strawberries and cream entered my senses, making my heart beat speed up and for a moment I struggled to get my thoughts in order. I glared at her, "I don't give a damn what happens to Camille. You, on the other hand, are a different story. I have no weaknesses, except for you. And I will not have my mother, or any one else for that matter, use you against me."

"I want to help." She said firmly, the unwavering determination in her eyes let me know that I wasn't going to change her mind.

A frustrated growl bubbled through my chest, and for a moment, my eyes flased crimson and amber. "Have I told you that you are a complete and utter pain?"

Her lips lifted slightly, my heart skipping a beat at the sight. I miss her smile. Her voice was lighter when she spoke. "Not recently, no."

"Um, excuse me, not to interrupt or anything, but I'm kind of freaking out over here." Cami said, a little impatient, a whole lot of cautious. Clearly, she did not want to piss me off.

I took a deep breath, partly for strength, partly for that scent of strawberries and cream that calmed me down better than anything and turned to the blonde human. I walked to her, "Lift your shirt."

"Excuse me?" She squeaked, arms immediately going around herself.

I rolled my eyes, "I need to see the marks to know what's going on." When she still looked hesitant, my temper flared a bit. "Camille, it's nothing I haven't seen before. Now, you have one of two choices: one, play the virgin mary and suffer whatever my mother has planned, or two, lift your shirt and show me."

"I -fine. Can we just do it somewhere a little more private?"

"The study is just upstairs." Nik offered.

Marcel and Nik led her upstairs and I rolled my eyes once more, "I'll get her some sugar water."

I turned on my heel hand made my way to the kitchen. Footsteps followed me and, despite myself, my lips curled into a soft smile when I recognised the footsteps.

"What's the water for?" Davina asked as I headed for the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Old remedy for calming someone down. Camille seems one supernatural encounter away from a nervous breakdown." I shrugged as I took a glass from the cupboard and grabbed a spoon from the drawers. I poured a generous amount of sugar into the glass and looked at her over my shoulder and spotted a strange look on her face. "What's with that look on your face?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly. I looked at her again, not believe it but just shrugged and poured the water into a glass, and stirred it so that the sugar would melt. "It's just . . .is it really neccesary for her to lift her shirt?"

It suddenly dawned on me, and I laughed. I turned to her, my eyes sparking with mirth. "Are you jealous?"

"Well, excuse me for not wanting you to look at another girl naked." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"First of all, I will only lift the back of her shirt. Second of all, the only person I actually want to see naked-" I slowly trailed my eyes over her body, before giving her a very pointed look, one that had her blushing furiously. "-is you."

I left the kitchen with a smile, Davina's bright red cheeks imprinted in my mind.

***

right, so this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but my mom came to visit and I never got around to it.

also, so i'm a little stuck right now on whether or not to have finn turn on esther and join his siblings. like in season 3 i was so sad with his ending, and like, all of the other mikaelson's was too. so yeah, idk man.

hope you enjoyed!

-Mixie