ELIJAH was on the phone with Klaus while Hayley impatiently stood next to him and Ingrid sat nearby, listening in.

"Yes, brother, what is it?" Klaus greeted in a dull tone of voice, not wanting to be bothered at that moment.

"It appears our wolves have gone astray, brother." Elijah began to explain but Hayley cut in from the background.

"They should have been back hours ago." She added in a panic.

"We need to find them." Elijah said in urgency and interrupted her, holding a hand up to stop her.

"Well, that might be a bit tricky. You see, we've located their car on a back road in the middle of nowhere. I suspect they've been shanghai'd." Klaus informed him.

"And you didn't feel the need to share this information?" Elijah questioned in anger.

"It was my intention to present you with a problem only after I had found an appropriate solution." Klaus responded in nonchalance.

Elijah narrowed his eyes and clentched his jaw. "Do enlighten us." He ordered sternly.

"I'm closing in on it as we speak. The only person who would be bold enough to snatch my wolf allies is the one who has the most to lose." Klaus hinted, waiting for Elijah to find the answer.

Elijah sighed as he came to the realization. "Marcel."

"No, he'll kill them!" Hayley yelled in fear, her broke eyes wide as saucers.

"Genevieve assures me that Marcel has procured a cloaking spell. The only witch who will aid Marcel is Davina. I just need to get one last bit of leverage before I pay her a visit." Klaus explained then paused for a second before speaking again. "And there it is." He said with a smirk evident in his voice and hung up the phone.

Ingrid placed a hand on her baby bump and winced slightly. She had been having contractions all morning but she didn't want to worry anyone until it got closer. They only happened every twenty minutes so she knew she had time before going into active labor. The mild contractions were manageable so she knew it wasn't worth getting everyone worked up.

Elijah left the compound to help Klaus and Jackson while the two women stayed behind the compound. Hayley began pacing around the floor in the study and Ingrid was watching her in aggravation.

"Hayley, your pacing is making me nauseous." The Original complained while resting her head in her hand. "Just sit down for the love of God."

She was about to make a snarky response back when Elijah, Klaus, and Jackson, all looking very disheveled and covered in ash, returned home.

Hayley ran toward them and let out a deep breath in relief. "Thank god you're alive!" She gave Jackson a hug and looked at Elijah over his shoulder. "Thank you."

Elijah nodded at her and watched as Hayley and Jackson sat down to tend to his wounds. His heart aching in his chest at the sight.

"I'm fine, too, thanks for asking." Klaus remarked sarcastically and Ingrid laughed causing him to turn toward her.

"I would have gotten up to do the same but I fear that I am stuck in this chair." She informed him with a wide smirk and motioned to herself. "I am thankful that you're alright and somewhat unscathed."

Chuckling, Klaus walked toward her and helped her out of the chair before pulling her into a tight hug. "Hello, love."

"Hi, darling." She greeted him with a smile, hugging back immediately. Pulling away, she turned to Elijah and rubbed his upper arm. "I am pleased to see you alive as well."

"What about the stones?" Hayley asked in worry.

Elijah sighed and shook his head with a frown. "Scattered across the bed of the Mississippi, I'd imagine."

Klaus walked over to pour himself a drink. "Marcel's not a fool. He knows an empowered werewolf army would mean the end of vampires in New Orleans. The explosion is his way of saying he means to prevent that. For all the good it'll do him."

"Well, it did him pretty damn well, didn't it?" Hayley looked at Elijah, who frowned.

"This is my fault." Jackson looked up at them in guilt. "I'll find a way to fix it."

Hayley rubbed his shoulder affectionately. "No, Jack, you're hurt. No one's blaming you."

"I'm blaming you!" Klaus yelled at him. "Those stones will be hard to replace." Then he looked over at Elijah and smiled evilly. "Fortunately, I always have a backup plan."

"I imagined as much." Ingrid commented with a knowing look on her face then turned around to hide her reaction to another contraction. She blew out an inadible, shaky breath and quickly moved to cover it up. She looked back at them and mustered up the best mischevious smirk she could at that moment.

Downstairs, Francesca walked into the compound with five other men, all of whom were wearing suits, and one of whom was carrying a briefcase. They all walked out and walked down the stairs to greet her.

"You can't seriously mean her! She's a gangster!" Hayley argued incredulously, gaping at Klaus in disbelief.

"Hayley, there are three Originals, a werewolf, and a hybrid in this room and you are worried about gangsters?" Ingrid questioned in amusement, raising an eyebrow at her. "Priorities. "

"I see her more as a means of procuring rare items at short notice." Klaus turned to Francesca and her entourage. "Greetings, Ms. Correa! I see you've brought company."

"These are my brothers. I always include them in delicate business matters." She turned to her brothers. "Fellas, meet Mr. Mikaelson."

He smiled at them. "Please, call me Klaus. All my friends do."

"Not all of them." Ingrid corrected with a smirk and Klaus licked his lips with a small chuckle.

"I don't know if I'd call us friends." Francesca remarked with a pointed expression then reached into the briefcase her brother was holding and withdrew out a small black drawstring bag. "But, if you and Marcel are planning on having a little throw-down, I'd prefer my family to be on the same side as the inevitable victor."

"Smart choice." Ingrid commended with a nod of her head then swiftly hid another wince of pain.

"Then, you have what I asked for?" He questioned her professionally.

She held out the bag for him to take and shrugged her shoulders. "Not enough for an army at such short notice, but it's a start."

"Strange, I wasn't aware that she was familiar with our plan." Elijah joined the conversation, taking a step toward them and sparing a glare in his brother's direction.

"My price for doing business is full disclosure. Your brother complied." Francesca looked at him with a smug smile, practically rubbing it in his face.

"And what does the Human Faction stand to benefit from all of this?" Elijah questioned in confusion.

"I only want us to solidify our allegiance to the ruling class. It's good for business." She said calmly and smiled over at him.

Klaus then began examining the stones and smirked in satisfaction. "If only everyone shared your capacity for reason."

"Sadly, they don't. Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after me, or my family, just for meeting with you." She remarked in a fear and took a deep breath. "It might be in our best interests if we combine our efforts."

"So be it! The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better." Klaus smirked smugly and looked over at the group. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Genevieve arrived to the compound and began to cast the moonlight ring spell while the Mikaelsons watched carefully. The witch held her hands out and chanted lowly. "Tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse."

They were watching her intently when Francesca rushed in with a panicked expression on her face. "My people say Marcel is on the move, and he's bringing friends."

Klaus kissed Ingrid on the forehead and turned to Elijah. "Get her to safety." He ordered sternly before rushing away.

Elijah walked over to Ingrid and placed a hand on her back. "Come please, Ingrid." He advised softly and she nodded her head in understanding, prepared to leave with him.

Hayley scoffed and walked toward them. "No. One of you needs to be here to watch her." She gestured to Genevieve, who didn't stop her spell.

Elijah looked at Hayley, conflicted on what to do, until Francesca walked up to them and gave him a reassuring facial expression. "You should help Klaus. My brothers and their security detail won't be much against a vampire army. I'll stay with Hayley to watch over Genevieve."

Hayley thought about it for a moment then nodded in encouragement and waved him to leave. "Go, Elijah." She walked over to him and looked him in the eye. "And don't hold back."

Elijah looked over at her with an unreadable face before nodding curtly and leaving the room with Ingrid in tow. He sighed and licked his lips then turned to his sister-in-law and speaking in Old Norse, making sure that no one could understand their conversation. "Leave and do not stop until you're miles away."

Ingrid reluctantly agreed and placed a hand on his cheek in reassurance and comfort. "Be safe. Make sure Niklaus is safe. Please."

"Always." He replied sternly with a nod of his head and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Now go."

She spared one last glance in his direction and smiled warmly before speeding away. She managed to get outside the compound safe and sound but had to stop because a strong contraction rippled through her uterus and her amniotic-sac ruptured. Ingrid's water had broke. She leaned against a brick wall and held her baby bump while moaning loudly in pain.

Hissing through gritted teeth, she took a deep breath and sped away again. She stopped again as the contractions started to get closer together. Looking up, she realized she was standing in front of St. Anne's church.

After Father Kieran's death, the church had become abandoned so Ingrid knew no one would be inside. Panting, she rushed up the steps and ran inside. Closing the door behind her, the hybrid grabbed one of the unlit candelabras and shoved it through the door handles then wrapped it around several times.

She clutched her abdomen and yelled harshly in pain. She gripped tightly into one for pews for support, splintering it into a series of pieces. Once the contraction had passed, she let go of the pew and took deep, shaky breaths while thinking out of a plan.

Ingrid was alone.

She had to create a plan to give birth alone in that church while her family was busy fighting a war in their home. She was running through her head what she could do to support herself while she gave birth. There was no one there to hold her hand or assist her in any way and Ingrid quickly accepted that.

She ran toward one of the back rooms and grabbed a stack of sheets. When she was grabbing a pair of scissors from what used to be Kieran's office, another contraction rushed through her. She hunched over while bellowing in pain as sweat began to pool at her brow. Making her way through the pain, she walked back into the church and stopped at the altar, holding onto it for support.

Ingrid knew she was running out of time and lied one sheet in the ground behind the altar. She quickly took her shoes off and began taking her maternity jeans off, tossing them carelessly to the ground. She removed her maternity panties and sat down on the sheet. Grabbing another one from the pile, she drapped it over her lap and inhaled deeply.

Ingrid repositioned herself so that she was in an odd squat with her knees bent all the way up. This caused then natural angle of the pelvis to follow a natural path. After a few minutes, she felt the sudden urge to bear down and push. Going with her instincts, she used her pelvic muscles to push until her newborn daughter was officially brought into the world.

Tears and sweat poured down Ingrid's face as she pushed with all her strength with loud, painful screams. All she felt was a burning, seering pain as she screamed loudly and cried at the top of her lungs.

The sound of a newborn baby's cry brought the hybrid to attention and she immediately wrapped her daughter up in one of the nearby sheets. Ingrid sobbed happily and gazed at her child in amazement. She gently wiped the blood from her daughter's face and kissed her affectionately on the forehead. "Hi." She greeted in a soft tone of voice and smiled, overjoyed. "Hi. Oh, you are the most beautiful thing in the entire world. I love you more than all the stars in the sky."

Baby Mikaelson looked up at her with an odd stare, unsure what was happening. All of Ingrid's fear and panic disappeared the moment she looked into her daughter's eyes.

However, her happiness and bliss was short lived when the witches broke into the church and charged at Ingrid. Due to the amount of energy it took to give birth, Ingrid was too weak to fight all of them off at once. Genevieve snatched the newborn Mikaelson out of Ingrid's arms while Monique and Abigail used magic to pin Ingrid to her spot.

"No, no, no! NO! Please!" Ingrid begged desperately as tears streamed down her face in a never-ending waterfall. "Please! Anything else! Not her. NOOO! PLEASE!!!"

Klaus weakly stumbled down the street as he heard Ingrid's horrified and pleading screams. Fully enraged, he roared at the top of his lungs in the middle of the road before speeding toward the church. When he walked through the doors, the witches were no where in sight. He walked toward the altar as the scent of blood grew stronger. Rounding the corner he found Ingrid with a golden dagger stuck through her chest. Her skin was grey and desiccated. Her dark brown eyes were wide open and lifeless. Fresh tears had escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. A bloody sheet was inbetween her legs and her hands were blood stained.

Klaus immediately pulled the dagger out of her heart and tossed it to the ground next to them. He grabbed her lifeless body and pulled her into his chest, waiting for her to revive as he sobbed loudly into her hair.

---
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