VALENTINA waited for hours for any news about her husband. She paced the floor repeatedly. Every time she took a seat, she would instantly rise to her feet again and resume anxiously again.

As soon as Elijah returned home, she ran into the room with urgency to see Klaus lying shirtless in their bed. His light blue eyes closed as he writhed in pain from Papa Tunde's blade embedded deep inside his chest.

She gaped in horror at the sight and cautiously approached his side. "Oh, Nik." She placed a hand on his sweat-covered cheek and hovered her other hand over the large scar running down his chest. "Take it out." She sternly demanded from the older Original.

"I intend to," Elijah replied as he stared at Klaus, clearly conflicted, from the opposite of the bed. "This was all you." He whispered to his little brother while removing his suit jacket and rolling up his dress sleeves.

Valentina scoffed harshly in rejection. "Please. You're just gonna pretend like Rebekah and Marcel didn't betray you, too? Why do you always do this?"

"I am not your enemy, Valentina. I understand your anger. You too lost a great deal that night, and I sympathize---" Elijah attempted to reason with her earning an infuriated glare in his direction.

"Then why do you try to justify any of it? We barely got away, and even then, it cost nearly us everything." She said emotionally, tears burning at her eyes. "Tell me, Elijah, would you be able to stand here and justify the recklessness if Mikael had killed me that night?" She interrogated bitterly then shook her head side to side before he could answer. "Actually, you know what? Never mind, I don't want to hear the answer."

Elijah's stern scowl softened into a face of surprise and sadness. "No. Valentina, that's---"

"Can you just take th torture device out of my husband's chest already, please?" Valentina impatiently snapped and averted her eyes from his gaze.

"You're angry. You're hurt. I understand that but you must also try to understand their reasons." He grabbed a scalpel from the table and sliced it into Klaus' flesh along the red scar bisecting his chest. He set it down and then dug his hand into the open wound to grab the blade.

"Fuck their reasons." She snarled coldly with a finger jabbed in his direction. "They had other options but they choose the stupidest one. What is it with Mikaelsons and picking the dumbest option?"

"You say that as though you are not a Mikaelson yourself. You also forget that you come from the most stubborn family I have ever met." Elijah tried not to smirk in amusement.

He finally ripped the blade out from Klaus' chest causing the hybrid to moan in pain. "Tell me, have you finally settled on names for the twins?" He questioned in genuine curiosity, changing the subject when he sensed her anger growing.

"No." She answered honestly after a long pause. "I can't decide. Nothing feels... fitting."

He set the weapon down in a metal bowl and grabbed a towel to clean his hands of his brother's blood. "Niklaus will be weak as he recovers. Seeing how you're the only person in this entire world that he would not slaughter, I need you to watch over him and feed him if you would from these." He motioned to a stack of blood bags sitting on the table. "But slowly, please. I've taken the liberty of lacing them with vervain so he'll ingest it slower. Perhaps you could use the time constructively? Persuade him not to murder his baby sister."

Valentina walked over to the blood bags, grabbed one in her hand before, and examined it before rolling her eyes dramatically and tossing it back down.

"Niklaus, it was not my desire to bring you pain, but I will not see you hurt Rebekah," Elijah whispered to Klaus, who was weakly staring up at him. "Now, I fear Sabine will be making a final move against us. I intend to find her and to end this."

"Elijah. You will pay for this." Klaus threatened through a hoarse groan.

Elijah ran his tongue over his lower lip, smiled sarcastically, then turned on his heels to leave but not before giving Valentina a gentle kiss on the top of her head. When his back was to her, the Salvatore held her middle finger up to his retreating figure with a scowl.

"Stop being childish, Valentina." He called out from the hallway, almost like he predicted that reaction from her.

She looked at the blood bags again, shook her head, and walked out of the room.

A moment later, she returned with fresh blood bags and a wet rag in hand. She set them down at the end of the bed before slowly easing Klaus into a sitting position. He pressed his sweat-covered back against his headboard and weakly raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

Valentina ripped the tab off one of the untampered blood bags and held the tube to his lips. "I'm not gonna purposefully poison you just because Elijah told me to. Here. Drink."

Klaus pursed his lips around the plastic straw and hollowed out his cheeks, slowly sipping on it. He moaned deeply as it ran down his throat and he gripped the bag by placing his hand over hers. He drank until the bag was practically dry then pulled away with a husky groan.

Valentina tossed the empty bag into the trash before sitting down on the stool beside him. She grabbed the wet cloth and started gently cleaning his chest of blood. She looked up after feeling his eyes burning holes into the side of her head. She sat back with a sheepish smile and cleared her throat. "What?"

"If Mikael killed you that night..." he trailed off while shaking his head, the idea painful to think about let alone speak of. "I would have hunted him down and killed him with my bare hands. I don't think my life would hold any merit without you in it. I would have nothing without you. Letting you go was hard enough, I cannot imagine living if you were gone from life completely. I don't think I would've stopped searching for a way to get you back. Even if it meant giving up every piece of my soul."

Valentina's bottom lip quivered as tears pooled in her eyes. She gripped onto his hand and leaned forward to place multiple soft kisses on his knuckles. She sat back completely in her chair with quiet sniffles and ran the pad of her thumb along the back of his hand.

He was caught off guard when she stood up, set the blood-covered cloth in the bowl with Papa Tunde's blade, and crawled into the bed beside him. She got cozy against the side of his bare torso, nestling her face in his neck while wrapping her leg around one of his.

He groaned from the pain radiating through his body but still welcomed her. Klaus grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips, holding it there for a moment before kissing her fingers. He rested the palm of her hand on his cheek, let out a loud, content sigh, and laughed weakly. "Can I assume this is all a clever ploy to distract me?"

"No. Not at all." She denied it in honesty with a shake of her head and draped her arm across his shoulders. "I was so worried about you. I just wanna hold you for a minute."

A smile formed across his lips and he rested his chin on top of her head. "Okay." He breathed out in agreement with his eyes closed. One of his hands fell down to her baby bump, resting affectionately on the side of it as he felt the tiny heartbeats of his children.

She yawned involuntarily causing him to chuckle underneath her. Valentina rubbed her eye with the back of her hand. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that." She apologized before yawning a second time. "Ah. Shit. I'm sorry. I haven't really gotten any sleep in the past day."

"Get some sleep." Klaus encouraged as he ran his fingers through the ends of her brunette hair.

"No. The moment I do, you'll take the opportunity to run off and hunt down Bekah." She accused knowingly with a disapproving scowl.

"Nooo..." He tried to lie but sensed her unconvinced glare and smirked mischievously. "You've caught me."

"Mhm." She hummed smugly then tilted her head back to glance up at him. "You're not that sneaky."

"Aren't you supposed to be convincing me not to chase her to the ends of the earth?" He questioned pointedly with a raised eyebrow.

"See... I'm conflicted." She admitted stressfully causing him to give her a curious look. "I don't want you to kill Rebekah because she's your sister and I know you'd regret it but on the other hand, she did summon Mikael here so while I understand why she did it, I don't think she took into consideration the consequences."

"I'm sensing another "but"," Klaus commented as he waited for her to continue.

"But..." she drew out then sighed heavily with a frown. "I know no matter what I say, you've already made up your mind. You're gonna get revenge how you see fit so I'm not gonna even bother. Instead---" She wiggled closer to him and closed her green eyes. "I'm gonna enjoy this moment until you're strong enough to get up." She reached blindly behind her to grab another blood bag and ripped the tab off before holding the tube out for him.

"Mmm." He hummed in appreciation and began slowly drinking from it. "Thank you." He groaned out after he was finished and rested his head back against the bed.

A comfortable silence covered them like a warm, soothing blanket and they both soaked in the other's presence.

"I love you." She broke the quiet, her voice wavering slightly as all the emotions from the past day started to flood her once again.

"I love you. I have loved you for one hundred fifteen years and I will love you for one million fifteen more." Klaus proclaimed in an enamored tone of voice.

"Only one million?" Valentina jokingly gasped loudly. "Hmm. I see how it is."

Chuckling, he tangled his fingers in her hair while resting the palm of his hand on the side of her head. "I will love you until I take my last breath and far after when I'm stuck on the Other Side or until the Earth ultimately dies. Whichever should come first."

She beamed at him then leaned forward, pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss. She placed her hand on his chest causing him to flinch back with a low groan. Valentina immediately began apologizing profusely and looked at him in concern.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He repeated assured her while holding a hand over his former wound and another hand out in front of him. "I'm still hungry."

Valentina nodded her head in understanding and carefully slid out of the bed until her feet were flat on the hardwood floor. "Okay. Stay put. I'll be right back." She assured him then left the room to grab more blood bags.

When she walked back in, Klaus was attempting to get out of bed but he was still far too weak. He almost fell onto the floor but she rushed after him as fast as her swollen feet could carry her and caught him just in time. "Hey. Stop. Stop. Here. Sit down." She eased him into a sitting position back onto the bed.

"I despise this." He grumbled lowly with an unhappy pout. "I'm not supposed to be the one who needs caring for."

Scoffing, Valentina ripped open a third blood bag and held it out to him. "Stop. You don't have to be so macho all the time. It's okay to need help and to rely on others. You have always taken care of me. Now, let me take care of you."

Klaus took the blood bag, raised it to his lips, and rapidly sucked it down. He pulled away with a pleased moan and rolled his eyes at her. "That was a bit of a hypocritical suggestion if you ask me."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I wasn't." She snarkily remarked while giving him a passive-aggressive smile. She took the empty bag from his hands, tossed it in the trash, and handed him a new one.

"Right. My bad." He chuckled in genuine amusement before draining that blood bag just like the others. He started to stand up again so she wrapped her arm under his armpit for support and helped him onto his feet.

"Stop exerting your energy. It'll only cause you more stress and that's bad for the babies." He swayed a bit at first but managed to steady himself. He stumbled across the room toward the minibar and began pouring them both a drink.

"I really don't think that's the best choice right now, Nik." She commented pointedly and approached him with his black button down shirt.

"What are you? A doctor?" He questioned in fake frustration earning an exasperated eye roll in response from her. "So I'm still waiting for the big "don't kill your sister" speech." He commented while pulling the shirt over his shoulders and individually clasping the buttons.

"There isn't one," Valentina admitted with a small shrug of her shoulder. "Just don't kill your sister." She suggested nonchalantly then sighed loudly. "I'm pissed too. Not as much as you. Understandably. But I don't think you should kill either of them over it."

"What do you suggest I do then?" He snapped defensively and scowled at her before throwing back his glass of scotch. "What would you do if you were in my place?"

"I've already been in your place. My brothers let Mikael use me as bait for you." She reminded him pointedly. "The situation may be different but I understand how it feels to be betrayed by family. The very people you're supposed to trust above all. It's heart-wrenching and it leaves you questioning everything about your life. I get it, honey. I do. But you can't let yourself be dragged down by revenge. If you kill Rebekah, you'll regret it. It'll only destroy you further."

He stared at her with tears in his eyes then looked down at the table and let out a quiet sniffle. "Elijah has always carried guilt for that night for not stopping our father. I told him not to blame himself. When your father wants to kill you, he wants to kill you. Nothing you can do about it." He attempted to brush it off as an inconvenience but Valentina saw straight through his ruse.

She walked around the table to cup his face in her hands, cradling him in her touch. He raised his head to meet her eyes and gently set his forehead on hers.

He pulled away after his phone vibrated in the front pocket of his jeans. He pulled it out to check the message and tilted his head to the side before looking down at her again. "My sister and her lover have been spotted in town. So I must be going. I'm afraid." Klaus walked over to a statue on the table, knocking it over onto the floor. The statue broke into pieces and he bent down to pull the indestructible white oak stake out from inside the bust.

Valentina gaped down at the weapon in horror as he twirled it around in his hand. He held it up in the air for her to see with a devious smirk on his lips. "Unlike my father's, this one cannot be destroyed."

He kissed her passionately on the lips and then sped out of the compound before she could say anything further or process what had happened. Rolling her eyes, Valentina quickly followed suit and found him feeding off a random man in the alley behind the Abattoir. "You can't just show me that you have a white oak stake and then leave like it's nothing."

Klaus dropped the lifeless man to the ground and turned to face her, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips with his thumb. "I believe I just did, my Valentine. Whatever you have to say, save it. I'm going to kill my sister and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Okay. Can we just... think for a second?" She suggested sternly and gestured toward him with a wave of her hand.

"Oh. I've thought this over plenty." He argued furiously while shaking his head. "See, I will not be terrorizing my sister and her lover for centuries. Nor will I humiliate, torment, or dehumanize them. No, none of that. I will simply and quickly end them."

"Nik---" Valentina barely got a word out before he sped away from sight, leaving her alone in the middle of the street. She threw her hands up in the air and let out a loud groan of frustration.

---
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-the1andonlytifftiff