ELIJAH and Klaus were having breakfast in the dining room, where Klaus was drinking a mimosa and looking pleased with himself. Elijah, however, did not seem amused, and scowled at his drink. Klaus noticed this and glanced at him curiously. "Is something the matter, brother? Can I fix you a drink, perhaps?" He sipped his own drink with a smirk and Elijah just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Strangely enough, Klaus, I'm not in a mimosa mood." Elijah remarked in a bitter tone of voice.

Klaus shrugged with a wide smirk and laughed. "Fantastic! More for me."

"Ooh, I'll take you up in that offer though." Ingrid commented in interest as she walked into the room. She walked over to the table and poured herself a drink.

"Let's discuss strategy, shall we, Niklaus?" Elijah questioned with a slight glare. "Just wondering if you actually have one. We can begin with Mikael's ashes-- given that they are the main ingredient in our weapon against Dahlia, would you care to tell me where they disappeared to?" He gave his younger brother a sarcastic smile.

Klaus set down his drink, looking annoyed and put-out as he fake smiled. "Elijah! I have compelled the city's finest pastry chef for your own personal edification, and yet, you ignore my efforts in favor of needless concerns!"

"May I ask why we always have an extravagant breakfast every morning after a fight?" Ingrid questioned curiously and sat down next to Klaus. She motioned to the display before her and pursed her lips. "Seems like such a waste."

Rebekah then entered the room, looking tired and hungover. She shielded her eyes and waved her hand in the air, overwhelmed. "Can we stop talking so loudly?" She noticed the pot of coffee and sighed in relief. "Give me that." She walked over to pour herself a glass.

"Rebekah, the lush." Ingrid commented in laughter.

Klaus chuckled and smirked over at in amusement. "What's the matter? New witch body not up to last night's bender?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes and defended her stance. "So? I had a few." She sat down at the opposite end of the table from Klaus with a wince and rubbed her temples. "It's not every day you lose your father at the hands of your brother. Again."

Klaus laughed heartily and winked at his family. "Whoever said opportunity only knocks once, eh?" Elijah and Rebekah stared at him blankly and silently, and Klaus scoffed with an eyeroll. "Oh, come on! We all fled Mikael's tyranny together for centuries! I would have thought the mood this morning might be a bit more jubilant!"

"Under normal circumstances, the annihilation of our father would be rather commendable, Niklaus. Unfortunately, we have a greater threat to contend with." Elijah stressed.

Klaus hopped to his feet to pour himself another drink. "You know, for someone who's been invited to a celebratory breakfast, you're proving quite the buzzkill."

Elijah sighed deeply. "Well, Niklaus, if anything indeed has killed the--" He made air-quotes with his fingers. "--"buzz," as you say, perhaps it was because murdering Father alienated the one person who truly knows how to defeat Dahlia!"

"If Freya wants to be part of this family, she should be willing to accept us, warts and all!" Klaus argued with a smirk.

"Agreed. But I don't think that's easy for the weak minded." Ingrid remarked with a pointed look on her face.

"Elijah's right." Rebekah cut in with a shake of her head and frowned deeply. "Freya loved Mikael, and you've likely ruined everything."

Ingrid groaned loudly and rolled her eyes. "Ugh! Who cares?"

Klaus rolled his eyes petulantly and gave his sister a sarcastic smile. "Pity. Whatever shall I do?"

"Whatever you please, apparently!" Elijah yelled in aggravation and scowled.

"Yes." Ingrid answered, pointing a finger at him in agreement. "I'm glad you've finally realized that."

Klaus angrily slammed his hand against the table causing the silverware to make a loud crashing bounce. "Do not mistake my high spirits for lack of clarity! I know full well the threat we face. And, I intend to deal with it-- personally."

Elijah gave him an annoyed and skeptical look, but their conversation was interrupted by the sound of high heels clacking loudly against the stone floor in the next room.

Klaus was immediately suspicious of the noise and held a finger up, unnerved. "Someone's here." He quickly stood up again and rushed into the courtyard as the other three followed behind him.

Upon entering, they found Josephine, wearing a velvet-choker around her neck, looking at them calmly as they approached her.

Elijah gaped at her, confused, and hesitantly walked toward her. "Josephine."

She smiled kindly at him. "Forgive me for calling so early, Elijah, but, I've come bearing a message from your aunt Dahlia." Elijah was stunned at this response, but Josephine remained unperturbed. "She is owed a debt, and she means to be paid."

Klaus smiled fakely and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. "She can writhe in Hell first."

"For merely taking what your mother promised her?" Josephine questioned him as Klaus's fake smile fell at those words, and he glared at her. "If you must harbor hatred, isn't it better spent on the one who traded your child away a thousand years ago? Blame Esther, if you must, but I seek only to fulfill a bargain. A bargain that, consequently, resulted in your very existence. Perhaps you should be thanking me?"

"I blame Esther for a lot and yes, I blame her for this." Ingrid jeered darkly. "But I will not thank you, Dahlia."

The Mikaelsons began to scowl and glare at the witch as Elijah stepped toward her, staring at her intently. "Dahlia." He whispered in a guarded manner.

Dahlia, using Josephine's body as a host, grinned arrogantly. "My child-- I prefer Aunt Dahlia."

Klaus took a deep breath and walked toward her until they were face-to-face. A dark scowl plastered across his face as he stared down at her. "You dare enter my home?"

Dahila sighed in boredom and annoyance. "I only came for what is mine." As she spoke, the spell that reanimated Josephine's body began to weaken and her throat started to bleed profusely from underneath her choker. "The time has come to add the child's power to my own. Though, I do not detect her here. I see you've used a spell to cloak her. No matter-- such spells will yield, as will you. Say your farewells. You have 'til nightfall tomorrow, and then the child shall be mine. No reason we can't be civilized about this."

Klaus smirked at her and gave Elijah a look before completely losing his temper and karate-chopping her in the neck, decapitating her and sending her head flying across the courtyard. Both Rebekah and Elijah looked horrified about what they had just heard at witnessed. Ingrid froze in her spot and glanced around in surprise but Klaus smiled as he looked at Josephine's lifeless body on the floor.

Klaus was in his art studio at the compound, where he was furiously painting an abstract piece. He had covered a large canvas in dark red, gold, and green-brown paint, which had a mottled appearance. Elijah entered the room to find him absorbed in his artwork and seemed appalled at his behavior. Elijah sighed and held his hands up at his side in disbelief. "You do understand there is no time?"

Klaus looked back at Elijah and glared at him before going back to his work. Once again, Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes. "Niklaus, if Mikael's ashes are the key to ending Dahlia, then surely you must see the need to share their whereabouts?"

"Good luck with that one." Ingrid commented with a smirk as she strolled into the room. "He won't tell you and no, I won't tell you."

Klaus didn't even turn around and simply continued painting. "I see nothing of the sort."

Elijah looked at him, confused and hurt. "It is no secret that you often strategize while painting. I assume you have a plan, here."

"You ask that I share my strategies so you can run straight to Freya and bring her into the circle of trust?" Klaus jabbed before scoffing and shaking his head in rejection. "I think not."

"It is too dangerous for you, brother. You cannot do this alone!" Elijah pointed out in frustration.

"And who should I trust to protect Hope? Our new-found sister with duplicitous motives of her own? Hayley, whose allegiance to her husband grows stronger by the day? Or, how about Jackson, self-declared King of the Wolves?" Klaus questioned with a sarcastic look on his face

"No." Ingrid answered for him and sat down in one of the armchairs.

"You need only trust me." Elijah argued, hoping to win his favor, causing Ingrid to throw her hands up in disbelief.

"I would love to, Elijah. Now, more than ever, I need my brother, my closest ally, my blood." Klaus admitted then hesitated for a moment and frowned in frustration. "But, you have not been the same since Mother got inside your head."

Elijah looked hurt by this statement and walked away from him. However, Klaus continued on and explained further what he meant which further hurt Elijah's feelings. "Your judgment is not what it was. You are not what you were! The Elijah I know would never have clung so desperately to the word of a duplicitous stranger telling him what he wants to hear!"

Elijah nodded slowly to himself then sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Freya is our blood, brother. She also has every reason to want Dahlia's demise! We have no cause to distrust her!"

"Blood means nothing." Ingrid dully remarked, folding her hands together.

"Which is a far cry from being trustworthy!" Klaus snapped, turning away from his painting completely. "She vanquished Finn, yes, but only after she herself resurrected him. And, though lorded for saving Rebekah from Eva Sinclair, but how do we know she didn't have a hand in waking that demon in the first place?" He asked curiously, raising a point.

"Niklaus, if we cannot trust one another, we can't work together." Elijah replied in exasperation, hopeful.

Klaus sighed and returned to his painting. "No, we cannot."

Elijah frowned at him, clearly frustrated with his attitude and hurt by his distrust of him. He turned toward Ingrid, who held her hands up in a motion that read I don't know, and walked out of the room in disappointment.

Klaus continued to paint while Ingrid watched him curiously. She was anticipating his plan and how he wanted to go about the defeat of his aunt. They had Mikael's ashes and she knew he intended to using it to forge a new weapon but she was anxious as to when he intended to do so.

She was about to ask for details when she heard a noise in Klaus' study next door. Holding up a finger to signal hold on, she stood up from her chair and slowly walked toward the door.

Aiden was in Klaus' study, pulling a pair of the cursed manacles out of a wooden box and gently stowing them into his inner jacket pocket. Once he was done, Klaus wandered into the room, wiping off his paint-smeared hands on a rag and looking surprised to see him. "Aiden. To what do I owe this visit?"

Aiden was clearly startled by this encounter and tried his best to calm his nerves as to not arouse Klaus' suspicions. "I... just wanted to tell you that Hayley, Jackson, and Hope are at Marcel's jazz club, and they're safe there. Very well-protected."

"Can I ask again why we decided to bestow the protection of our daughter onto Hayley and her ill-kept husband?" Ingrid questioned, curious and annoyed, as she walked into the room.

"Easy, my love." Klaus whispered to her and placed a hand on the small of her back. "We have to do what is best for Hope and right now that's the best option." He assured her calmly then turned back to Aiden. "Well, you can hardly be my eyes and ears there if you're standing before me." He shot Aiden a hard look and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you here?"

Aiden, at a loss for excuses, gestured to a stuffed bunny sitting on Klaus' desk before picking it up. "Uh, this! Hayley said she left it here yesterday? I guess it's Hope's favorite!" He laughed nervously as his heart beat wildly in his chest.

"Indeed it is." Ingrid dryly replied and narrowed her eyes. "She refuses to sleep without it."

Klaus seemed slightly suspicious, but shrugged it off and chuckled as he walked toward Aiden. "Your loyalty is refreshing." He commented quietly.

Aiden smiled and held up the bunny again the made his way for the door. Before he could leave, Klaus called out to him. "However, your life will be worth less than the velveteen on this little rabbit if I find my faith in you has been misplaced. Understood?" Aiden said nothing, he just smiled nervously before he left Klaus continued to look suspicious, but after a moment, he smirked.

Once he was gone, Ingrid turned to her husband and raised an eyebrow. "He wasn't here for the bunny."

"Oh, I know." Klaus replied with a smirk and chuckled down at her. "Guess we'll have to wait and see."

Later on, Elijah, Hayley, Ingrid and Klaus were at the safe house, arguing about what to do next.

"Freya objected to us making a single weapon because it spoiled her plan." Klaus sneered angrily and was about to continue but was interrupted by the sound of Jackson's angry voice calling out from the entrance hall.

"KLAUS!" Jackson yelled furiously as he walked in with Aiden's dead body thrown over his shoulder and another werewolf guard following behind him.

Hayley glanced at her husband, confused. "Jack?" She questioned then noticed Aiden's body and looked horrified. "Oh, my God."

Jackson and the other werewolf placed Aiden's body on a table in the next room, and Klaus, Ingrid, and Elijah followed Hayley in to investigate.

"What happened?" The werewolf queen asked in concern and surprise.

"Klaus made Aiden spy on us. Instead, he told me everything--" Jackson turned to Klaus and gives him a mutinous look. "-- so you killed him!"

Klaus looked at Aiden's body with a blank face and Hayley glanced at Klaus in disgust. "You killed one of the wolves sworn to protect your daughter?" She, Jackson, and the other werewolf stared Klaus down and Elijah looked at Klaus, not sure what to believe.

Klaus looked upset for a brief moment, being accused of something he didn't even do, but pushed it down and opened his mouth to speak. However, he was cut off when Ingrid stepped in front of him and did something he least expected: lie.

"No." She rejected with a shake of her head and tilted her chin in a strong stance. "I did." The female hybrid lied smoothly and stared back at the werewolves with narrowed eyes. "I killed Aiden." She took the blame and pointed a finger at Aiden's body. "I wanted everyone to know what happens when you cross me. This is what happens when you try to betray my family."

Klaus and Elijah gaped down at her in pure surprise but each one for a different reason.

One of the werewolves sneered at her, furious, and stood there anxious for a fight. "Just give us the word, Jackson."

Ingrid smirked sinisterly and shouted to the crowd circling around her. "Ooooh, yes! Please do! I invite you all to try. However, may I inform you that you'll be making a sacrifice for someone who was willing to betray everyone to save himself?" She took a jab at Aiden then turned to Jackson with a low chuckle. "I mean... this could have all been prevented... had your pack been lead by a real Alpha."

Jackson lunged for Ingrid and punched her in the face, which was all the invitation she needed to fight back. She pushed Jackson backward into the other wolves who had come to defend their leader. When Hayley sped over to Ingrid to get between them, she grabbed Hayley by the jaw and threw her across the room. Breaking the Cresent hybrid's mandible and several other facial bones.

Klaus fought any werewolves that intended to strike Ingrid from behind as she continued to battle it out with Jackson.

When Elijah saw Hayley readying to attack Ingrid again, he jumped into the fray and lunged between Ingrid and Jackson, pushing each of them backwards with an arm. "Do you wish to die?" Elijah questioned Jackson in a warning tone.

Hayley, furious, sped to her feet and shoved Elijah away from them. "You wanna kill me, too, Elijah?"

Elijah looked hurt and stood in front of the hybrids, who both looked pleased with this outcome. "If you come at them, you come at me."

"You lot should make better use of your time." Klaus suggested with a smile.

"Yes, I suggest you choose to mourn your friend." Ingrid added in a taunting manner.

Hayley glared at them, enraged beyond belief and only seeing red. "GET. OUT."

"Niklaus, you mentioned a plan. I recommend you begin." Elijah remarked lowly and glanced at Ingrid with a reassuring look. "Hope is safe for the time being and not going anywhere." She opened her mouth to argue but he held a hand up and cut her off. "I will stay here and I can assure you that despite your... transgression, they will not harm Hope."

Staring at the werewolves, who glared back at her with hatred, Ingrid hummed to herself before smirking smugly at Hayley and the werewolves and whispered loudly. "Hmm... we'll see. Besides, we don't have much longer to wait." She taunted on her way out the door, Klaus followed close behind, and left the Cresent wolves and Elijah behind.

The way home was quiet and uneasy, the couple walked into the courtyard of the compound and Klaus looked like he wanted to say something. However, deciding it was best not to do it out in the open, he allowed Ingrid to lead her to their bedroom and shut the door before speaking.

"You lied. You lied for me." Klaus remarked in astonishment. "You could have easily let me taken the fall but you didn't..."

"Because you were innocent, Niklaus. You are always the one they blame for everything so for once..." She trailed off while shaking her head and smiled affectionately. "For once, I can take the blame." She walked toward him and placed a hand on his cheek. "Niklaus, you are my husband. The father to my children. The love of my life. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you and that includes lie for you. But make no assumptions, I will never lie to you."

"Ingrid, I love you more than anything on this Earth but I can't allow you to sacrifice your honesty." He put up a fight with a stern shake of his head and placed a hand over hers. "It's important to you and so, in turn, it's important to me."

"It hasn't been sacrificed. One small lie isn't the end of the world." She reassured him with a soft look on her face. "We need to do what we have to to save Hope." She reminded him before reaching up and placing a loving, tender kiss on his lips.

He immediately kissed her back and placed a hand on her waist. He deepened the kiss before speeding them against the wall and pulling her up so that she could wrap her legs around him. She moaned at his touch and tangled her fingers in his dirty blond curls. He pressed harder against her, pressing her up against the wall.

Their moment grew hungrier and more intense as Klaus trailed kisses down from her mouth to her collar bone and just above her cleavage. He snaked his hand up her blouse before ripping it open, sending the plastic buttons to fly off in different directions across the room.

She quickly took his jacket off then roughly pulled his t-shirt over his head, exposing his bare chest.

He reattached their lips and sped them toward their bed, throwing her down onto her back and crawling on top of her. Shs giggled in delight and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply on the lips again.

Later on, Klaus went to his art studio and Ingrid went to her office only to find Elijah already standing there, looking out the window and holding one of Klaus' paintbrushes. After a moment of silence, Elijah lifted the paintbrush in the air and pursed his lips. "He put them in the paint." He remarked earning a feigned confused look from her. "Father's ashes, the earth from sacred ground, all hidden in plain sight."

She clapped her hands together while making an impressed face and walking toward her desk. "You figured it out." She sat in her large, executive chair and crossed a leg over the other. "I thought it would take you just a smidgen longer but bravo."

Klaus, hearing their voices, walked in to the room with an unamused expression. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be guarding Hope."

Elijah paused as he thought of how to word his next statement. He turned toward them and spoke calmly. "She's gone. Hayley and Jackson took Hope, and neither of you will find them."

Ingrid stood up from her seat and slammed her hands against the wooden top of her desk with such force that it cracked across the surface. "WHAT?!"

Klaus gaped at his brother furiously. "You helped Hayley escape? With my daughter?"

"Well, someone had to protect that child." Elijah replied with a hint of malice and anger.

"EXCUSE ME!?" Ingrid shouted in offense.

Klaus was so enraged that he sped toward Elijah, shoving him through the French, glass doors until he was bent backward over the railing to the balcony overlooking the city and bellowed into the night sky. "HOW DARE YOU?"

Elijah grabbed Klaus' arm, twisted it and him around, and threw him back into his room, where he crashed into one of the bookshelves, sending all the books crashing down to the ground.

Ingrid grabbed Elijah by the lapels and held him down against the desk with a choleric look on her face. "YOU ALLOWED THOSE BACKWOOD ANIMALS TO TAKE MY DAUGHTER. MY DAUGHTER!"

Klaus pulled himself up and walked toward them. "We're hybrids, Elijah. Why provoke a fight you cannot win?"

Instead of replying, Elijah pulled the golden dagger out of his jacket pocket and shoved it into Ingrid's heart. She gasped in pain while letting him go and backing away from him.

Taking advantage of her stumbling, Elijah stabbed the rest of the dagger's blade into Ingrid's chest. She was so taken off-guard by this move that he had no time to fight back as the dagger began to desiccate her.

"For Hope." Elijah whispered lowly then turned to Klaus, who was growling at him with narrowed eyes. Elijah grabbed another golden dagger from his pocket and pointed it at him. "Don't tempt me further. Don't make me do this."

"Too late." Klaus charged at his brother and they fought for a bit of time before the hybrid met the same fate as Ingrid. Elijah stabbed the dagger into Klaus's heart in order to prevent him from getting involved and freeing Ingrid.

As Klaus fell to his knees and became weaker, Freya and Rebekah walked into the room and watched him with blank expressions at first until they realized it was Klaus who was daggered. The plan was to dagger Ingrid and hide her away from Klaus so they could continue their plans without her involvement.

They stared at their brothers in shock and confusion but Elijah refused to meet their eyes.

Once Klaus was fully neutralized, his body lying gray and mottled on the floor next to Ingrid's, Elijah, Freya, and Rebekah each looked at each other nervously. As Elijah walked out onto the balcony, looking horrified by what he had just done, the three heard the bell tower of St. Louis Cathedral playing Dahlia's tune to the city.

---
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