INGRID was sitting in the living room at the plantation when Rebekah stormed through the door whilst yelling out for her oldest brother. "Elijah, if not answering your phone is part of your clever plan to get me back to this godforsaken city, then well done. I'm here, and I'm worried. Now pick up before I kick in your bloody door." The blonde noticed the hyrbid sitting in the living room, slouched in one of the arm chairs, and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Elijah?"

"Hello to you too." Ingrid grumbled in feigned offense and shrugged her shoulders while making the mumbled sound accompanied by the usual I don't know. "I haven't seen him in about three days. My assumption is he is attempting to keep the witches in check and just hasn't had the time to come home."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at her sister-in-law then immediately began yelling again. "My assumption is that Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like." She sneered before storming around the house. "Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!"

Ingrid rolled her eyes in aggravation and called out through the house without getting up from her seat. "Niklaus!"

Klaus opened a pair of French doors and stromed into the room, a displeased expression crossing his face. "Enough with all the shouting." He snapped then smiled widely at the sight of Rebekah. "Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?"

"They were very rude. Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter." Rebekah defended her actions with a shrug of her shoulders then turned to him in sarcasm. "So sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends."

Ingrid chortled and covered up her nose with her hand but couldn't contain her laughter. Klaus glared over in her direction and pointed a finger at her in warning. She nodded her head with a raised eyebrow and amused smirk. "Yeah? Try me."

Klaus ignored her and turned back to Rebekah with an offended expression. "I do have friends. I have Marcel." He explained before smirking suggestively at her. "You remember him, don't you? Yes, of course you do." He mocked then rolled his eyes in annoyance. "He fancies himself the 'King of the Quarter' now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It'll be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you."

"I don't care about Marcel or his rules. Elijah doesn't welch on deals. What did you do to him?" Rebekah's questioned in an accusatory tone and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Klaus smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps he's on holiday... or taking a long autumn nap upstairs. Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I."

Rebekah had a distant expression on her face and studied the house closely before turning back to Klaus. "I remember everything. I remember how the drunken fool of a governor hid away all of our vampire sins in exchange for gold. I remember the lavish parties the governor threw, as if to impress you." She then reminisced about Klaus killing her beloved, Emil in 1820.

Klaus waved her off and shot her a stern look. "Well, he wasn't good enough for you."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and scoffed in disgust. "No one was ever good enough for me, Nik, you made sure of that. Now where is Elijah?"

Klaus' phone started buzzing so he pulled it out to check it. He stood still for a moment and moved to leave.

"Where are you going?" Rebekah questioned him curiously and watched him approach Ingrid.

"It appears the night is not quite over, yet. I'm off for another drink with Marcel." Klaus explained to them, mostly to his wife, and kissed her affectionately on the back of the hand.

Rebekah crossed her arms acorss her chest and glared at him. "Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together."

"I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink." Klaus insulted her to get back for earlier and Ingrid snorted out a laugh. "And when they drink, they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the 'how' so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today." He remarked with a bitter smile and gave Ingrid a parting kiss on the lips before turning on his heels and walking toward the door. He paused once he reached the door and turned to the blonde with a wide smile. "Oh, and welcome home, little sister."

The door shut behind him and Rebekah turned on her spot, contemplating what he said. She tapped her fingers against her upper arms and turned to Ingrid with a mischevious face. "The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite."

The hyrbid glanced at her in confusion and interest before smiling back. They walked into a dusty, cobwebbed cellar room and Ingrid noticed their coffins sitting in the corner. She rolled her eyes and scoffed in disbelief. "Of course he brought them."

"He used to bring you everywhere." Rebekah informed her as she opened each lid. When she noticed the brunette's surprised explained, she nodded and flattened her lips into a tight line. "Didn't matter where we were going, he always made sure he had you. Even if it was just you."

"I know that is his twisted idea of romance but that's just..." Ingrid trailed off, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose.

"Depressing?" Rebekah finished for her with a teasing smirk then sighed heavily in disappointment after seeing each coffin empty. "He's not here."

"Well, I don't know what you were expecting but you should have known Niklaus wasn't going to store him in the basement." Ingrid remarked with a pointed expression causing Rebekah to roll her eyes and sigh again.

"I'm leaving as soon as I find Elijah." She informed her sister-in-law, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why? Running off to see Matthew Donavan?" Ingrid mocked with a disapproving face. "You can do so much better than Matt or Damon or Stefan. Trust me. A woman of your calibre shouldn't be submitting to men as low as them." She lectured with a stern expression then walked passed her, toward the stairs. "Try looking around the city. You were here with Elijah and Klaus, you must know of their hiding spots."

Later on that night, Ingrid was strolling around the quarter with a plastic cup with a lid and a straw on it in her hand. She sat down on one of the nearby benches and sipped on her drink while swinging her legs back and forth. She was studying the city that Klaus had fallen in love with almost a century ago and sighed in peace. That peace was interrupted when two random vampires sped toward her with a devious smirk. "Dumb move, coming into the Quarter."

She looked at them in annoyance and pursed her lips. "Uh... okay. I should care, why?"

"Marcel will pleased to hear that Ingrid Mikaelson is in town." One of them mused happily and took a step toward her. "You're coming with me."

"Yeah... I think no." She trailed off and yanked herself away from his grip. "Dumb move attempting to touch me."

Suddenly Rebekah sped toward rhem, snapping the neck of one vampire and ripping the heart out of the back of the other. She dropped their heart onto the ground and sneered to the dead vampires. "Now, that is no way to treat a pregnant lady. I do hate bad manners."

Ingrid glanced at her with an amused smirk and sipped on her drink again. "We both know I didn't need the help."

Rebekah shrugged her shoulders with a laugh, winking at her. "Yeah... well, you're carrying my niece or nephew and I would be a horrible aunt if I let you handle that alone."

Ingrid snickered to herself and smiled widely. "Well, thank you. I appreciate the effort." She mused genuinely then frowned when Klaus came into view. "Oh, bullocks..."

Klaus was throwing the final body onto a small pile in the front courtyard while he berated Rebekah and Ingrid for their behavior. "This is why I told you never to leave the house." He angrily sneered at his wife then yelled at Rebekah, who had started walking toward the pile of bodies "Leave him!" At Klaus' last command, she stopped in her place and glanced at Ingrid, who shook her head. "You've done enough, don't you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a road map to my door?" He questioned Rebekah enraged. "I had a plan!"

"Don't give me that crap about having a plan. You've had all the time in the world to execute a plan, and no one's seen you do a damn thing! Elijah made a deal to protect your child, so that it could save you from your selfish, rotten self. But you obviously don't give a damn about the child or Elijah, because what have you done to honor it?" Rebekah angrily snarled at him and Ingrid waved her arms wildly to stop her but it was no use.

Klaus glared and took a step toward her. "I have done everything. Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn't trusted me. From Day One, he's had his vampires ingest toxic vervain which, as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control." He explained and grabbed the vampire that was still alive from the pile. "And this one - I'm gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight." He dragged the vampire into their house with the women following close behind. "Does anyone have any more questions? No?" He snapped at them and neither responded. "Good, because I have a question. What were you doing in the quarter, Ingrid?!"

She placed a hand on her chest and glanced at him in a challenging manner. "I know you're not speaking to me like that. Change your attitude. Because you will not speak to me in that tone, Niklaus." She passive aggressively remarked and he shot her an unamused glare as Rebekah smirked to herself. "There is no food in this house. I am starving. You left me all alone, you weren't answering your phone and all I wanted was a peanut butter milkshake." She defended herself, holding her cup out to him.

He took it from her and smelled it through the straw before sighing heavily, calming down slightly. "If you wanted a milkshake, I would have gone to get you one, love. You didn't have to leave the house."

"I feel like a prisoner. I'm cooped up in the house all day long. It's only been three days and I'm already losing my mind. I hate this! I am not something you can just hide away." She emotionally informed him then pursed her lips to keep herself from crying from hormones. "I just wanted a milkshake... I--my apologies..." She whispered lowly to herself before turning on her heels and storming up the stairs.

"Ingrid!" Klaus gaped at her retreating figure in shock and immediate regret and sighed to himself, feeling guilty about how he had reacted.

Rebekah realized what was happening and placed a hand on her brother's arm. "It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted."

Klaus, calmed down but reeling from being confronted with his feelings, sat down on the stairs and glanced at the plastic cup in his hands with a frown. He closed his eyes and placed his head in his other hand. "I gave Elijah to Marcel." He sheepishly admitted, not looking up at her.

Rebekah sat next to him and asked for further explanation. "What?"

"Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so... I gave him a peace offering." Klaus remarked in a dull tone then looked up at her in a stressed manner. "He didn't even know that Ingrid was here. Let alone that she's pregnant with my child. I was trying to keep her safe while earning his trust."

Rebekah gawked at him in disbelief, her mouth hung open. "You bartered our brother?"

"I have a plan." He reiterated in a stern manner, laying the line down for the next series of events. "Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, be there for my wife and my child while keeping them safe at the same time. I am executing that plan the only way I know how." He stated with a shake of his head and hid his tears well enough for her not to notice. "If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care." Klaus rose from his seat and walked up the stairs, cup in hand, as Rebekah leaned back, her work cut out for her.

He walked into the room that he shared with Ingrid to see her lying in their bed. She was in the starfish position in the middle of the bed, halfway under the duvet. He attempted to sneak into the room but she spoke up without opening her eyes. "No need. I'm still awake."

"Can't sleep?" He questioned her in concern, setting the cup down on the side table and sitting down on the bed next to her.

Ingrid let out a deep breath and sat up in the bed, her back to him. "No. It's too hot in here for starters. It feels like I'm in Hell's inferno." She explained then sat in silence for a brief moment. "Then there's the matter of you being angry with me."

"I'm sorry for being angry with you." He expressed genuinely in regret and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "In my efforts to take Marcel down, I have neglected to provide you with what you need." Klaus remarked with a sad frown and walked to stand in front of her. "I will change that. Just give me a list of everything you need and want around here and I will get it for you." He assured her with an affectionate smile and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I know you don't like being kept in the house but I'm doing it for your safety." He explained then smirked when he noticed her unconvinced face. "And it's not because I don't think you can't protect yourself. It's not... it's not about just you anymore."

"I know... It's no longer just me." Ingrid grumbled then placed her head in her hands. "I understand what you are trying so hard to do but I'm having a hard time accepting that I cannot do whatever I please anymore. I am fearful that what Sophie said could be correct. I can and will survive everything but what if our... child cannot? I don't want to risk it." She said in an emotion tone of voice as tears welded up in her dark brown eyes.

"And we won't risk it. That's why you have to stay here, safe in this house." Klaus remarked with a pleading expression on his face and she nodded in understanding. He sat down next to her again and it was silent for a second before he spoke up again. "I made Marcel everything that he is. I treated him like a son. And when my father chased us from New Orleans a hundred years ago, we believed Marcel was killed - we each mourned him, in our own way. Yet, when we returned, I found not only had he survived, he had thrived. Instead of seeking us out, instead of sticking together as one, he made a choice to take everything my family had built and make it his own." He explained to her as he face slowly curled up into a furious sneer. "Now, he is living in our home, he is sleeping in our beds. That 'M' he stamps everywhere... it's not for 'Marcel'. It's for 'Mikaelson'. I want it all back, and if I have to push him out to get it, then that's exactly what I'll do."

Ingrid placed a comforting hand on top of his and gave him a sympathetic smile. He looked over at her with a loving smile and kissed her cheek. "I'll have someone see to the air conditioning." He assured her while standing up from the bed. He then noticed her milkshake had melted and glanced at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, darling. I'll go get you a new one."

She shook her head with an appreciative smile. "No, that's okay, my love." She said honestly then held a hand out for him. "Just join me in bed for a bit before you have to go back to overthrowing a throne."

He smiled happily, causing his dimples to peak out from their hiding spot, and wasted no time climbing into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling them down onto the mattress. She giggled and allowed him to cuddle up close to her. She closed her eyes as a comfortable and soothing silence filled the room around them. The only sound that Klaus bothered to hear was that of their unborn baby's rapid heartbeat fluttering away next to him and he grinned, finally happy and complete for the first time in over a millennia.

---
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