The plan had seemed like a good one at the time. For Hope, it was going better than expected, as Klaus called Hayley's phone not long after Freya discovered the two mothers were missing. The moment Hope told him Hayley and Audrey were missing, he said he was coming back to New Orleans, and there had been nothing they could do but wait. Freya had been trying to track them with her magic, but they were cloaked, not even her magic was able to breakthrough. 

   For now, Freya decided it best they didn't tell Grace and Elliot what was going on. The twins were safe at school, and hopefully, Audrey and Hayley would be found before too long. They were only seven, they didn't need this stress on their shoulders. Mira agreed with her aunt, knowing it would only worry her brother and sister, and deep down she knew they had nothing to worry about.

   "Hey." Mira mumbled, making her way into Hope's room that evening.

   Hope lifted the headphones off her ears as she sat up, looking at her cousin knowingly. "Can't sleep either?"

   "Not at all." Mira muttered, crawling onto Hope's bed and laying down beside her.

   The eldest of the two Mikaelsons put the headphones down on her nightstand, turning her speaker onto a soft volume so jazz filled the room, as the girls laid staring at the ceiling side by side. Neither of them had to say anything to know they were both thinking the same thing. This was all growing a lot more complicated then they had originally planned for it to be, but at the same time, they knew it was the only way either of them might possibly get what they wanted.

   The first step was Hope finally talking to Klaus.

   Then Mira would tackle the issue that was her own father.

   "Mira..." Hope let out quietly, shaking her arm as her eyes went wide. Mira furrowed her brow and turned to see what Hope was looking at, and saw the flowers in the vase on her nightstand wilting to the point of death.

   "That means--"

   "Dad." Hope finished before Mira could, jumping out of bed and running out of the room.

   Mira was quick to follow behind her, but by the time the two teenagers made it to the study, only Freya was stood there. Looking at Hope with sympathy in her eyes, as Hope's face fell entirely.

   Klaus wasn't going to make this as easy either girl hoped it might be.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

   Hope was up early the next morning, determined to go and track down her dad. She knew he was going to try to avoid her as well as he possibly could, and she wasn't going to make it easy on him. Mira got up with her and went to her own room to get dressed, knowing her cousin was going to need the help and support with this. She was pulling her jacket on when she heard her mom's phone vibrate on her desk, still working completely normally despite it's now shattered screen.

   She grabbed it, pulling on the best smile she could manage when she answered the call. "Hi aunt Elena." She greeted softly. 

   "Caroline told me what's going on." Elena immediately got to the point, and Mira let out a sigh. "How are you? How are Grace and Elliot?"

   She knew Audrey wasn't as close with her sister and brother as she used to be, a lot had happened between them before her family had moved to New Orleans, but they'd been slowly working on rebuilding things between them over the years. So Elena's worried phone call didn't surprise her, nor did the texts that had came through from her uncle Jeremy, saying he was a call away if the family wanted any help trying to track Audrey and Hayley down. 

   "Okay." Mira nodded slowly, despite the fact her aunt couldn't see her. "We're okay. Uh, Grace and Elliot are still in school. Aunt Freya thought it best they stay there, just until we know what's going on. It's safer that way."

   "You're sure you're okay?" Elena pressed. "You could always come and stay for a while. Being there with your mom missing--"

   "I'm fine." Mira quickly cut her off. "Really. I want to be here, help if I can. I'll call you and uncle Jeremy the second we know anything. Besides, if needs be, aunt Freya will send us back to school early if needs be." 

   Mira held some guilt lying to her, but she didn't have any other choice. As insane as this plan was, it had brought Klaus back to town, which meant it was working. They just had to keep going with it for a while longer.

   "Fine." Elena gave into her niece with a sigh. "But offer is there if you change your mind, alright? Damon and I are a call away if you need anything."

   "I know." Mira assured her softly. "Tell uncle Damon and Stefanie I said hi."

   And before anything else could be said, she uttered a quick goodbye before she hung up, placing the phone back onto her dresser. She then made her way to Hope's room, pausing as she opened the door to see Roman Sienna stood with her cousin.

   "Gilbert." Roman nodded when he caught her look.

   "Roman. You're here." Mira moved her narrowed gaze from Roman to Hope. "Why is Roman here?"

   "He wanted to talk to me." Hope gave her a look that the Sienna vampire couldn't see. "About what happened to Henry."

   Mira frowned at that. She and everyone else at school knew the people Roman's friends were the cause of the problems Henry was dealing with. They were the ones that bullied him to the point he thought he needed to turn to make his life better, which had what led him to ask Hope and Mira for help in the first place. 

   Roman looked between the two of them. "Where are you going? It's barely even dawn." He asked, changing the subject before Mira could push anything.

   "It's a long story." Hope admitted, glancing from him to her cousin.

   "Lizzie Saltzman said she saw Henry jump from the turret." Roman then said after a moment. "A werewolf wouldn't survive that kind of fall."

   "Yeah. Well, Lizzie also said that I exploded an orphanage with my brain when I was eight." Hope told him, making Mira bite her lip as she shook her head  at the thought. That rumor had taken a lot of cleaning up afterwards. 

   "I'd take what Lizzie says with a grain of salt." Mira told him honestly. "She can sometimes exaggerate away from the truth."

   The Sienna boy let out a small chuckle as he nodded. "Yeah, I-I heard that one. I also heard you're a long-lost Romanian princess." His gaze fell directly onto Hope, who was trying to hide the way her smile was growing. "So... what is your secret, Marshall?"

   "Could y... could you maybe wait here?" Hope cleared her throat. "I won't be long. Uh, Mira can wait and keep you company."

   "I can?" Mira asked, not even attempting to hide her distaste at the idea.

   "You can." Hope looked at her with a pleading expression. "Please."

   Mira let out a reluctant sigh and rolled her eyes, nodding as she looked at Roman. "Yeah, I'll stay here with you." She gave in. "Not like I could do something better with my time." She added in  a mutter, not caring that he could hear or that fact Hope dug her elbow into her side.

   Hope paused as she turned to leave, glancing back at Roman. "They've got me all wrong, you know. Truth is, I exploded an orphaned Romanian princess with my brain. Brat had it coming, though." She smiled before she left, Mira unable not to chuckle as Roman watched her go in disbelief.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   They'd gotten lucky it had seem, as so far, Freya nor Keelin had been around the compound to notice the boy Hope had invited inside. Mira was grateful, as she had no good way to explain Roman's presence, and his impromptu visit hadn't came at the best time. He wasn't making keeping an eye on him easy either, as he disappeared to look around when Mira took her eyes off him for a second. 

   "Close it." Mira said firmly, eventually finding him looking through a cabinet.

   Roman looked over his shoulder at her. "I wasn't gonna steal anything."

   "I never said you were." Mira nodded, walking over and closing the cabinet for him. "But it's not your stuff to go through either."

   "You, uh..." Roman watched her for a moment. "You don't like me much, do you, Gilbert?"

   "What could have possibly given you that impression?" Mira shot back, her tone making him smirk in amusement. 

   "Let's call it a hunch." He hummed, and she just rolled her eyes. "Any real reason why? I mean, I don't think I've ever actually done anything to you."

   "Does there have to be a specific reason?" Mira shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think everything that happened with Henry is enough justification."

   "I never--"

   "You didn't exactly stop it either." She cut him off. "And I don't believe your sudden bleeding hearts act. You didn't need to come all the way to New Orleans to find out what had happened to Henry, I'm sure the truth would have found it's way around school eventually, and let's not pretend you haven't broken into Doctor Saltzman's office for less important reasons before." Roman didn't even attempt to open his mouth to argue that one. "I don't trust you, and I don't trust you not to hurt Hope."

   "I guess I'm just going to have to prove you wrong then." Roman spoke up after a moment.

   Mira gave a small scoff. "Good luck with that. I got my mom's talent for reading people, and her instincts are flawless."

   Hope walked in at that moment, pausing in surprise when she saw the air, her surprise focused on Roman. "Oh. Uh... you weren't in my room... I thought you left." She admitted.

   "Still here." Roman offered her a small smile.

   "Snooping." Mira added on flatly. "I was just reminding him to have manners when a guest in someone else's home."

   Roman's smirk twitched at his lips once more, and Mira got the idea he was starting to enjoy how much he was getting under her skin. Maybe, somehow, he'd be able to prove she was judging him too quickly. But until then, something about Roman Sienna didn't sit right with her, and she wasn't going to ignore that feeling. "Well, according to my school files, I have a rebellious nature and a callous disregard for authority. So... no."

   "Just ask." Hope blurted out, a nervous edge to her voice. "Okay? I-I know you want to."

   "This is like a house of horrors." The Sienna boy said honestly, gesturing around where they stood. "Viking grimoires. A million weird knives. And did you know you have a dead redhead wrapped in a sheet in your parlor?"

   "Not dead." Mira corrected knowingly.

   Hope nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That's my dad's crazy ex. It's a sleeping spell. Just no one really knows what to do with her."

   "Normal." He muttered before he looked between the pair honestly. "Hey. Look, I can keep a secret. I got plenty of my own. So, what are you?" He asked, once again his focus more on Hope, Mira's look giving the impression she wasn't willing to answer.

   Hope turned and looked at Mira, Mira giving a small shrug in response. It was their choice who knew the truth about them. Lizzie and Josie knew the truth about them both, and other than them, Mira hadn't confided in anyone else about who she truly was. "My name is... Hope Mikaelson." She began slowly, Roman watching her with surprise. "My grandmother practically invented dark magic. My mom is the Crescent alpha. And... my dad is... Niklaus Mikaelson."

   He stared at her for a long moment. "So that makes you..."

   "The mythical tribrid freak show." Hope finished with a nod.

   "But you two are cousins, so..." He trailed off as he looked at Mira once again.

   Mira bit her tongue as she debated if to answer or not, but she knew now he'd put it together one way or another. "My real name is Mira Mikaelson. My mom is Audrey Gilbert, one of the two remaining Petrova doppelgangers." She told him, and she could see by the look in his eyes he knew what she was going to say next. "My dad is Elijah Mikaelson. They were soulmates. I'm part witch, part vampire. A hybrid of sorts."

   Roman moved to sit on the couch as he took all of this in, the two Mikaelson girls moving to join him. "So... your blood turns werewolves into... vampire hybrids?" He began, looking at Hope at his side.

   She nodded. "And my kiss turns princes into frogs. Maybe." She said, rolling her eyes. "The theory remains untested."

   Roman shifted himself closer to her, Mira watching him carefully as he gently brushed a strand of Hope's hair behind her ear. "It must have been so lonely, keeping your life a secret all this time."

   Before she could answer, a familiar, angry voice filled the air. "Hope! Mira!"

   Hope's eyes widened in alarm at the sound of her father's voice. "You have to go." She told Roman quickly, giving him an annoyed look as he hesitated to move. "He will literally wear your spine as a necklace. Leave."

   Roman rushed out, leaving the two girls alone. Both of them knew what was coming, getting to their feet as Klaus walked into the room with an unreadable expression toward his daughter and niece. "Please tell me it isn't true." He began, his disbelief growing as both girls just looked at him silently. "What have you done with your mothers?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   From the moment they'd put their plan into place, they knew there was the risk someone would figure out what they had done. Neither of them had counted on Klaus working it out as quickly as she had. He paced in front of the two girls as they sat on the couch quietly, trying to put into the words just how angry and disappointed he was in the pairs actions.

   "Do you have any idea what you've done?" He asked as he looked at them.

   Hope was quick to try and defend them. "I knew it would take something big to bring you home."

   "So you had your little hybrid friend attack your mothers?" He asked in disbelief.

   "Henry just did the heavy lifting. And "attack" is a really strong word. Mom and aunt Rey are fine." Hope continued, Klaus looking at her as Mira shook her head, silently begging her to stop trying to 'help' them. "In really nice coffins, sleeping. We cloaked them in a sleeping spell that we wrote ourselves."

   "Oh, well, in that case, I've never been prouder." Klaus mused, sarcasm thick in his voice as he gave the two a warning glare. "Where are they?"

   "You're just gonna go disappear again if I tell you." She refused knowingly.

   "Hope, you and Mira are in danger when we're in proximity. I know you feel that." He reminded, and they couldn't deny it. Both girls had felt the pull of the dark magic the moment he'd stepped foot into the room with them, and the flowers in the vase before them wilted and died as a reminder, a snake slithering out of the vase. "The dark magic inside us manifests itself in ugly ways. We could be putting others in danger, too. The whole city." 

   But finally having her father in the same room as her, Hope wasn't willing to give it up that easily. "I don't care!" She got to her feet in refusal.

   "Hope." Mira winced, but was ignored.

    "This is not a debate, Hope!" He snapped before he shook his head, turning away from them. "The little girl I knew would never have dreamed up a scheme like this. Neither of them would have." He added, making Mira's guilt worse.

   "Well, sorry to disappoint you." Hope's tone turned slightly flat as she crossed her arms. "But that little girl hadn't read your memoirs. You compelled Cami O'Connell to write your story. About a guy who used to put his family members in coffins and use them as leverage."

   Mira glanced between her cousin and uncle carefully, seeing how the look on his face changed. A smile had appeared, though she got the feeling it wasn't for any good reason. "So you've studied my old tricks." He nodded as he walked to stand in front of his daughter. "Did you learn this one?" He placed a hand on the side of both of their heads, making the girls gasp as he closed his eyes, entering their thoughts. Revealing the two coffins laid side beside in a familiar attic. "They're at St. Anne's."

   "Get out of our heads!" Hope snapped as they pushed his arms off.

   "You could die, Hope. Both of you could." He stressed to the two teenagers. "Just by standing here, I could be destroying you. I'll ask your mothers to take it easy on you. Okay? Good-bye, Hope." He said before he made his way toward the door.

   "Hope, don't." Mira shook her head, seeing the look appearing on her cousin's face.

   But she was too late, as Hope telekinetically shuts the doors in front of Klaus, preventing his leave. "I know some tricks, too." She spoke as he turned back to look at her. Klaus, still determined to find a way to leave, began to make his way downstairs to find another exit, with Hope following closely behind him. Mira followed the pair but stayed quiet, knowing better than to try and come in between the two.  "You called, you wrote letters, then you stopped... why?" She demanded.

   "You know why." Klaus attempts to leave through another door, but Hope's barrier to stops him.

   "I didn't think I had to knock before entering an astral plane." She shot back, Mira knowing the story of what they were on about well. She'd been the one comforting her cousin as she cried that night. "Sorry I interrupted your murder orgy."

   "You came to me that night because cards and letters weren't enough." Klaus argued as he walked over to her. "I stopped them for your own good."

   "You don't know what's good for me." She shook her head. "You know, you stir up these stories about a crazy original dropping bodies, and people talk at school, and I have to be quiet little Hope Marshall, when I am so mad I want to scream."

   "Well, welcome to the bloody party!" He finally snapped, causing her to look at him in shock at his outburst. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his voice once again. "I was protecting you when I left. The horror in your eyes that night when you saw me is... burned into my memory."

   "I was nine. And I saw this scary monster who looked like my dad... who taught me how to mix paint... who called me a princess." Tears welled up in Hope's eyes as she spoke, Mira moving from where she stood to hold her hand in comfort.  "I didn't know which version of you was real. And I waited for you to explain it... Or apologize. Or tell me that you loved me. I waited for you for years. But you didn't come."

   Klaus tried to avoid her gaze, growing upset himself. "In my experience, fathers cause pain. Whether by their presence or their absence, there's a certain type of ruin that only a father can... can leave behind. And you... you were such a sweet little girl. Perhaps I was always bound to leave you broken." He whispered sadly.

   "You-you really think I'm broken?" Her tears fell, his face sinking as he realized exactly what he'd said. She quickly tried to pull herself together, her look growing slightly cold. "Maybe you're right. Maybe that little girl you miss so much would be better off if she'd never loved you at all." Hope releases the boundary spell. "You can go now."

   "Hope, please..." But as he looked behind them, and saw the amount of snakes appearing out of the fountain, he took one last look toward his daughter before he disappeared.

   Leaving Mira to pull her cousin into her arms as she broke down into tears.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Hope left the compound once she'd managed to calm down, wanting to go see Marcel now he was back in New Orleans. Mira had been tempted to join her, but she opted to stay behind instead, the conversation between Hope and Klaus leaving her to think about a lot. She'd wondered so much over the years what her dad would think of her, if he could remember her. What he'd think about the person she'd become now. What he'd have to say if knew what she'd done to Audrey.

   She knew he'd be disappointed, but she didn't know if he'd consider her to be broken or not. She was different to the little girl he'd once known, and maybe in some ways, Klaus wasn't wrong. The Hope and Mira they'd once known would never have even let an idea like this even cross their minds.

   But it wasn't like they'd been left with any other choice.

   "Hey kid." Mira turned from where she sat the piano bench, to see Marcel leaning in the doorway of her room. "Should I be hurt you didn't come see me with your cousin?"

   Mira managed a small small. "Hey Marcel."

   "You know, your dad taught me how to play." Marcel nodded to the piano as he sat down beside her. "I wasn't much older than you were when you started learning."

   "Mom always tried." Mira told him, her fingers trailing aimlessly across the keys. She'd been attempting to play to distract herself from her thoughts, but she hadn't been able to focus on any of her sheet music. "But she always said my dad would be a much better teacher for me." She bit her lip. "She tried again after he left..." She added on quietly. "She saw how much I missed my lessons with him."

   "That's your mom for you." Marcel didn't look at all surprised. "She's one of the best there is. Her, your aunt Hayley, there was a time I didn't think we'd ever be on the same side but now? There ain't anyone else I'd rather have fighting by my side."

   "Would..." She bit her lip as she glanced up at him.  "Would he be disappointed in me?"

   Marcel was confused a moment before he realized what she was asking. "I think he'd understand." He told her. "And he's your dad. No matter how much you might mess up, nothing is going to change how much he loves you. Your mom will feel the same way when she gets back."

   She let out a sigh. "I guess..."

   "Hey." Marcel wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Mira didn't even try to fight it as she hugged him back, needing the comfort more than she cared to admit. She'd spent most of the day trying to be there for Hope, she'd not let her own feelings out. "Would I lie to you?"

   "No." She mumbled with a small shake of her head.

   "Here or not, memories or not, he loves you." He told her wholeheartedly. "He loved you from the moment he found out he and your mom were gonna have you. You, your mom, Elliot and Grace, you were his whole world. If he was here for all of this, of course he's going to talk to you about it, he's going to point out what you did wrong. But he'd still love you, no matter what. Everything he's done is because he loves you."

    "I really miss him, Marcel." She whispered sadly.

   "I know, Mira." He rubbed her back. "I know."

   Marcel helped a lot more than he probably realized. He stayed for a while after that, and the two ended up playing some music together, which was enough to put a smile onto Mira's face. Not long after he left, Klaus surprised the two teenagers when he arrived back at the compound, needing to speak with the pair of them. They made their way to where Hope was in her room to talk, and neither of them could figure out what was going on.

   We went to the church to get your mothers." Klaus began as the two teens stood in front of the balcony doors. "They weren't there."

   Mira furrowed her brow. "What do you mean they weren't there? That's impossible. They have to be there."

   "We protected them." Hope nodded vigorously in agreement, looking just as confused. "We wrote the perfect cloaking spell, we kept them safe. I... I don't understand. The-the coffins were just empty?"

   Klaus looked toward them gravely. "The coffins were destroyed. Whatever happened to your mothers didn't happen without a fight." But his words weren't helping either of them. Hope began breathing heavily in panic, as Mira looked frozen, her brain starting to run through every countless possibility as to what could have happened. And none of them were good. "Look, I know it wasn't your intentions for someone to get hurt. I know you did this because I left you with no choice. Because of your father..." He bit his lip as he looked toward his niece, who closed her eyes with tears forming.  He let out a sigh, his focus moving onto Hope as he stepped closer to her. "Sweetheart, look at me. This... this is my fault. I'm gonna fix it. I've already spoken to Alaric. You'll go back to Mystic Falls tonight. I need to know you're safe." Hope begins coughing, as if she's choking on something. "What is it? Hope?"

   Mira's hands moved to the side of her head as the dark magic whispers got worse, and Hope dropped to her knees as she coughed and choke, until a snake slithered out of her mouth and onto the ground. Klaus looked horrified, Hope shaking her head. "Go, go. You have to get out! You have to get out." She cried at her father.

   He hesitated to move, bent down in front of his daughter in worry. "I'll find your mothers. And I swear I'll return her to you. I love you." He promised before he forced himself to leave.

   Silence fell after he was gone, that was soon broken by both girls cries. Neither of them had any comfort to offer the other in that moment. Their moms were missing, and despite what he might have said, they knew deep down it was there fault.

   And they had no way to put it right. 

Sorry this took a while, this au is just as and when I get inspiration, because season five is a hard season to write. Plus the plans I have for it...it's gonna be tough one. 

I hope you all enjoyed!