KLAUS was leaning against his parked truck, where Hope was sitting quietly in her car seat in the trunk and Ingrid sitting quietly next to her and Freya's unconscious body.

The hybrid mother had her knees pulled up to her chest with her elbows resting on top of them. She tilted her head to the side and glanced at her husband in disbelief. "Did you have to kill Gia?" She questioned with a loud puff of air, holding her hands up in the air. "I actually liked her and I don't usually like people."

Klaus rolled his eyes and gave her a side-glare but didn't respond. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I'm just saying, darling. There were better options."

Several feet away, Dahlia had set up a small table, on which she had created an infinity symbol with salt and lit candles. There were two small pewter chalices sitting within each circle in preparation for her linking spell.

It was eerily still and quiet between them all until, Klaus sighed audibly and she glanced at Klaus for a moment before speaking. "You're quiet. Are you having misgivings?"

"I was just looking for a polite way to ask, "What the hell is taking so long?"." He answered in an irritated grumble with a condescending smirk.

Dahlia gestured to the table with a smile. "Well, we can begin now."

Klaus's smirk wiped off of his face, and he tilted his head curiously at her as he waited for further explanations.

Dahlia smiled at him, visibly pleased about winning. "Once we're linked, I'll no longer have to sleep a hundred years again. Your concerns for my status will ease, and I'll finally be able to focus on Hope." She looked over at Hope, who was still sitting quietly in the car.

Klaus looked over at Hope as well, and Hope turned her head to look at her father. Ingrid smiled down at her and ran a hand through the child's hair.

After a moment, Dahlia walked toward him as she explained further. "I will only need one drop of her blood--"

Klaus sighed and stood to his feet, blocking her from coming any closer to Hope, giving her a patronizing smile.

Dahlia's lip curled up into an annoyed sneer and continued on regardless. "--And then her power shall be mine also."

Klaus looked into the backseat, where Freya still lied unconscious. "What do you want to do about Freya?"

"She served her purpose." Dahlia answered simply, brushing off the well-being of her niece as she looked up at the moon, which was in the waning crescent phase. "So, tonight, at the moon's apex, I'll end her life, and once our link is severed, the bond that I share with your daughter will become permanent."

Klaus wasn't pleased about Dahlia's reaction or her plan in general, but he did his best to keep his intentions concealed by smiling at her. "Best get on with it, then." He pushed past her and walked toward the table, Dahlia following closely behind him. Once there, she held out her hand and Klaus took it in his own, clasping tightly.

Dahlia waved her free hand over the table and started chanting. "Medareno sometswar. Medareno sometswar."

After a moment, the pewter chalices in front of her started to fill with blood, pouring over the rim and onto the table. From there, the blood traveled toward the center of the infinity symbol and Klaus could barely cover up his displeasure at this event while Dahlia swayed and clutched onto his hand tightly, still chanting.

Suddenly, Dahlia and Klaus were forcefully knocked backward by the power of the spell and both gasped loudly as Dahlia felt the rush of Klaus' power coursing through her. In the car, Hope started to whimper causing Ingrid to rub her back and soothe her with a hum. Klaus walked over to check on them and Ingrid nodded at him, signaling that it was alright. Once Dahlia had recovered, she started to laugh happily while Klaus' back was turned to her. "With your strength, I will never need to sleep for a century again."

"Well... perhaps one more nap." Klaus mused vaguely and Dahlia, confused, turned back toward Klaus, who turned around to face her with the tip of the golden dagger piercing his chest.

Dahlia realized what he was about to do and thrusted her hand toward him, but it was too late-- he had already daggered himself, and she and Klaus both weakened immediately as the dagger took its effect.

Once Klaus had desiccated, they both fell unconscious onto the floor. Hope started to cry when she saw her aunt and father laying on the ground so Ingrid picked her up and held her on her hip. She walked toward them and stood over top of Klaus with a deep frown. "You better be right about this, Niklaus."

After a moment, Freya awakened with a loud gasp and looked around in surprise to find both Dahlia and Klaus neutralized. She made eye contact with Ingrid and took a shaky breath of air. The hybrid gave her a bitter smile and narrowed her eyes. "Welcome to the party."

After a moment, Elijah arrived and Freya sighed in relief with a guilty frown. "Well, my adage holds-- nothing good ever happens in a clearing in the woods."

"Nothing good ever happens where my brother is concerned." Elijah sneered furiously and looked at Hope, who had stopped crying, and his face softened slightly at the sight of his niece safe and sound.

"You're one to talk." Ingrid snapped, also furious causing him to sigh in annoyance with an eyeroll.

"Ingrid, I did what was necessary. Someone has to protect this family for its own disfunction." Elijah attempted to justify his actions

"Oh." Ingrid replied simply with a slow nod of her head. She then pursed her lips and mused lowly. "Yeah, of course. Even if it means letting my daughter be kidnapped or... daggering Niklaus and I, for what could be all of eternity, to wait to do it. But that's acceptable, right? Because it's what was necessary."

"Ingrid--" Elijah began to explain himself again but was cut off casuing him to roll his eyes.

"Nope. Got it. Message received." She snarled with venom lacing her voice.

Freya cleared her throat and awkwardly shifted on her feet.. "Rebekah tells me Klaus has a plan to kill Dahlia, that he knew our plan would not work?"

"Yes. According to him, our ingredients were incorrect. Niklaus infiltrated Dahlia's mind. You didn't break her heart." Elijah revealed and the witch glanced at him on confusion as Ingrid laughed in a mocking manner. "We needed the blood of the witch she loved the most, and you are not that witch-- that honor goes to our beloved mother."

Freya sighed in frustration, as she knew that Esther has been dead because she was the one that killed her. "So, we need Esther's blood? Well, that's impossible-- I killed her."

"Good." Ingrid dully praised with a nod of her head.

Though he was mildly surprised, Elijah did not seem at all upset by this confession. "One incarnation." He replied and Freya looked at him in shock. "Our mother is buried in New Orleans. Niklaus wants us to revive the original body."

The Mikaelsons returned to the compound with the still-daggered Klaus and neutralized Dahlia, lying them on the floor of the living room. Rebekah looked at them in a bewildered fashion and Marcel kneeled down to examine Klaus' body.

Rebekah sighed loudly and threw her hands up on the air. "Nik is demented! Are we really to dig up our mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol's, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol... if Davina doesn't turn us inside out!"

"Or, we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it." Elijah suggested and Ingrid growled animalistically with golden-amber eyes.

Freya unhappily stared at Dahlia, quiet for a moment. "I say we choose a more permanent option-- find the white oak stake, kill Klaus, Dahlia dies with him."

Ingrid sped toward Freya and slammed her against the concrete wall, strangling her. "You will not touch him!"

"INGRID!" Elijah scolded her, baffled by her behavior.

Ingrid turned toward him, her face changed to reveal her hybrid eyes and fangs along with the gnarly, purple veins that accompanied them. She sneered at him angrily and glared. "Do. Not." She warned sternly, jabbing her finger at him.

Elijah sped toward her and in an attempt to prevent him from making contact, Ingrid sped backward thus letting go of Freya. The Mikaelson witch fell to her knees and coughed harshly while gripping her throat and glaring up at her sister-in-law.

Marcel scoffed at the witch and stood straight to his feet, rejecting the idea. "If you kill Klaus, you kill me, and every other vampire that Klaus has turned!"

Rebekah heard a strange sound and frowned before turning back toward the bodies. When she looked back at Klaus, she noticed that the golden dagger in his chest was beginning to melt. "The dagger!"

The rest of them turned toward Klaus and saw the end of the dagger slowly but surely melting away so that the handle grew shorter and shorter.

"It's bloody melting!" Rebekah cried out in horror.

Elijah sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "We have no choice but to finish the task that Niklaus has set."

Elijah, Rebekah, Marcel, and Freya all looked grim as they considered their only options and watched as the dagger continued to melt. Ingrid smirked to herself about her family's anxiety.

Freya began working on a spell to halt the magic from melting the dagger in Klaus' heart by sprinkling salt over it as she recited an incantation. "Convultaras distere. Convultaras distere."

While she did that, Elijah walked toward Ingrid and sighed heavily, preparing himself for the conversation. "I understand your hostility but in order for this plan to work, we need full cooperation between all of us."

She rolled her eyes immediately and stared at him with a cold expression. "So instead of working with us from the start, you made it a point to villainize us and now..." she trailed off with a humorless laugh. "Now you want our help." She paused for a moment then sucked her teeth and nodded her head slowly. "Fine. We'll cooperate but as soon as this is over, we are done." She sneered while motioning between herself and Klaus's siblings. "I don't want any of you near my daughter ever again. I want nothing to do with you."

"But, Ingrid--" Rebekah attempted to reason but the hybrid shook her head and held a hand up.

"No. You---" Ingrid paused while clenching her hands into fists and flattening her lips in frustration. "You allowed Hayley to kidnap Hope... my daughter... because you thought it was best." She remarked emotionally, her voice wavering and her eyes pooling with tears. "I will never forgive you for that. She is my daughter before she is your niece. So next time you decide to make a choice for her, you will tell Niklaus or I first. However, you needn't worry because there will not be a next time."

A thick, tense silence then filled the room around them as Elijah gulped in guilt. After a moment, Freya became frustrated when the spell didn't seem to work and she threw the rest of the sand on Klaus. "It's no use-- I can't slow her magic. Everything I'm trying fails."

Marcel anxiously rubbed his brow with his hand. Suddenly, they heard a faint whispering noise, along with creaking, and looked up to see that vines covered in black dahlia flowers began to grow inside the compound. The vines twisted.around the railings on the balcony overlooking the courtyard and both Freya and Marcel were incredibly alarmed.

"There's gotta be a way to kill her." Marcel said frantically.

Freya grabbed the white oak stake out of her inside jacket pocket and held it up, looking both unhappy and determined. "There is."

Marcel turned around, looking confused, but when he noticed the stake, he immediately lunged for her. "No, Freya!"

Freya raised her hand and thrusted it toward Marcel, pinning him to the wall behind him. Marcel desperately tried to fight it, but he was stuck in place.

She held the white oak stake over Klaus' daggered body, watching the golden dagger's handle almost completely melt and form a pool of molten gold on Klaus' chest.

Ingrid sped toward them but Elijah caught her by the arm and held her back, wrapping his arms around her chest as she aggressively fought him. "No! NO!" She roared loudly with tears in her eyes. "STOP!!"

Marcel struggled against her powers while desperately pleading for her to stop. "Freya, we can find another way!"

Freya turned toward them, her eyes fearful. "I'm sorry, but I see no other way." She said with a shake of her head then looked determined to stake Klaus, thereby killing Dahlia along with him.

"No! No! No! You kill him, you kill me, too!" Marcel called out to her with a pained scream.

Freya looked at Marcel, clearly not happy about doing this, with tears in her eyes and appeared so anxious she was almost hysterical. "I don't want to kill you!" She then looked down at Klaus desperately. "I don't want to kill him! This is the family I longed for, but because of her--" She looked back at Dahlia's body with loathing. "--I'll forever be alone."

She lifted the stake up and was just about to thrust it into his chest as Ingrid yelled at the top of her lungs with tears pouring down her face. "NOOOOO! STOP!" She thrashed in Elijah's arms and her knees gave out causing her to fall to the ground, pulling him down with her.

Klaus, who was no longer desiccated, reached up and grabbed Freya's wrist to prevent her from finishing the job. He looked almost touched after having overheard her confession about her family and smiled. "Sister..." He lowered her hand but squeezed it tightly and affectionately.

Ingrid elbowed Elijah in the face and sped toward her husband, holding his face in her hands and kissing him repeatedly. He laughed into her embrace and tangled a hand in her hair. She backed away from the kiss and let out a loud, deep breath of air in relief. He smiled up at her and ran his thumb across her cheek.

Dahlia suddenly awoken with a gasp and was absolutely furious about what Klaus had done. Klaus sat up, still weakened from the effects of the dagger, glared at her furiously.

Ingrid helped Klaus up onto his feet and he used her for support as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The two of them, Freya, and Marcel backed away from Dahlia, who was standing upright as well and was glaring at them. "I'm almost impressed by the lengths you'd go to for your little girl. Though, not enough to let bygones be."

Dahlia held up her hand and used her telekinesis to rip the white oak stake from Freya's free hand, grabbing it midair. The Mikaelsons looked alarmed for a moment, but Klaus tried to play it tough. "We are still linked, dear aunt. You may not want to punish me with that particular weapon."

Dahlia glanced at him, amused. "Hmmm. I made sure that the link between us melted along with that dagger. Meaning... I'm quite free to kill you!" She pointed the stake at him and used her magic pull Klaus toward her, the stake pointed at his chest.

Ingrid grabbed ahold of his arms just as Marcel lunged forward and tackled Klaus to the ground, bringing Ingrid down as well. He did so to save both Klaus and all of their combined vampire progeny. The three vampires groaned upon impact and smacked into the concrete.

However, they were so distracted that they didn't notice that Dahlia had vanished with both the stake and Freya. They suddenly heard Hope crying upstairs in her nursery and Ingrid ran up the stairs to check on her with the two men following.

The vines and dahlia flowers were still growing inside the compound and managed to cover all of the walls and ceiling of the nursery as well. As they grew, they wrapped around Hope's cradle and moved out toward Hope, pricking her hand with one of its thorns and drawing blood causing Hope cry even harder.

Ingrid rushed over and scooped her up into her arms, bouncing the infant in an effort to soothe her.

Marcel and Klaus made it upstairs to Hope and were momentarily relieved to see that she was still there. Klaus wasted no time walking toward his wife and child, checking on the latter.

Marcel looked over at them and furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "Why didn't she take Hope?"

Klaus stroked Hope's hair while staring grimly. "Because all she needed was a drop of her blood. Unfortunately, I have no idea where the vile harpy has fled to."

Marcel sighed heavily and nodded his head. "All right, go. Get Hope someplace safe. I'll track down your witch." He assured them before giving Klaus a hard look. "And, when this is over, you and I are gonna settle up."

"Provided we survive what's to come tonight, I look forward to it." Klaus remarked with a small smirk.

"Be careful, Marcellus." Ingrid genuinely expressed her concern and nodded encouragingly at him.

He nodded in understanding and offered her a warm smile before turning on his heels and walking out of the compound as the Mikaelsons stayed behind with their daughter. They held her close and took in those seconds with her before they prepared for what could be the fight of a lifetime.

At Marcel's jazz club, Esther was wearing cursed shackles and was dressed in a plain black dress and flats. She sat in one of the chairs with Elijah sitting at the table behind her, casually spining a knife in his hand.

"Let me guess-- you brought me back from the dead to torture me." Esther remarked with an amused smile.

Elijah rolled his eyes in annoyance and shook his head. "My dear mother, we simply need your blood. Though, in the event that you should suffer horribly, I can't promise I won't enjoy it immensely."

Then Ingrid and Klaus arrived and joined them in the dining room. Esther maintained her usual serene demeanor but Elijah immediately became enraged by the sight of his brother.

Klaus smirked mischeviously and gestured in front of hi.. "Ah, Mother. I've arrived just in time for another one of your deaths, and as much as I appreciate the front-row seat, I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone the festivities."

"Be fortunate that it won't be at my hand." Ingrid advised her with a cold expression on her face before letting out a small puff of air in a laugh and the corner of her lips twitched into barely a smile. "Again."

"You're in excellent spirits." Elijah growled furiously.

Klaus smiled in a condescending manner. "Lucky for you, as I'm the one needed to save the day."

"Is that what it's called?" Elijah questioned, unamused.

"Why not? My plan's worked perfectly." Klaus bragged with a wide smile causing Ingrid to roll her eyes and scoff at his behavior.

Elijah grew enraged by this glib comment and lunged for him, but Klaus stopped him. "Easy, Elijah-- I can see your red door swinging wide open, but our job's not yet done." Klaus warned and pushed him away.

"So, we kill her and be done with it." Elijah said sternly, ready to be finished with Klaus.

"To be clear, I do want her blood, but I want it on this blade--" Klaus requested and held up a long silver knife. "--Which I've had bound with the soil from Dahlia's homeland, not to mention Viking ash. Mother's demise will have to wait. You see, I need her to weaken Dahlia's defenses." Klaus leaned next to Esther's head and whispered threateningly into her ear. "Bit of psychological warfare before I slaughter the both of you."

"Ah, yes. You expect me to walk willingly to my death." She said sarcastically.

"Yes." Ingrid answered bluntly and held a hand up in the air. "Was that unclear?"

"Well, your willing participation would have been a bonus, but it's far from necessary. If needs be, I'll drag you there myself." Klaus offered with a grin.

Suddenly, Rebekah walked in and joined the group. Both Esther and Klaus were shocked to see Rebekah in her original body while Ingrid wasn't all that surprised.

"Yes, dear Mother, you do not have a choice. Then again, why should you be any different from the rest of us?" Rebekah questioned bitterly then narrowed her eyes. "We're all dancing puppets in Nik's end-of-days marionette show. He forces every move we make." She snarled furiously, insulting him indirectly.

Ingrid rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "Here we go again with the "Let's blame Niklaus" game. Doesn't it get tiring pretending to be so self-righteous and innocent?"

"And how long are you gonna stand there and pretend you don't need me to?" Klaus questioned upset and offended. "The both of you have fought me at every turn, leaving me no choice but to act! We're no strangers to disagreements on the battlefield, but we also have a very long history of doing whatever it takes to win the war."

"And what of Gia?" Elijah questioned in fury and Klaus seemed hurt at how grief-stricken Elijah truly was. Once they were standing face-to-face, Elijah smiled fakely at him before continuing. "Hayley?"

"Fuck Hayley!" Ingrid snapped, enraged. "Fuck all of you! You literally sat by and allowed her to take me daughter. You were actually going to let her run away with Hope and made not one attempt to stop it."

Klaus' smile fell but he tried his best to appear unbothered by his actions. "Collateral damage."

This infuriated Elijah so much to the point that he punched Klaus forcefully in the face. Klaus took a moment to recover while Rebekah and Elijah glared angrily at him.

"You claim your actions are part of some ruse-- this was punishment." Elijah snarled furiously.

Klaus decided to play dumb while rubbing his cheek. "Punishment? Whatever for? Perhaps the dagger you put in our hearts? Or maybe kidnapping our daughter? What ever could it be?"

"You brought that upon yourself!" Elijah raised his voice to a shout and Klaus opened his mouth to speak but Elijah cut him off. "No, we have fought together for centuries, and once again, to break your enemy, you broke your family." Klaus was both surprised and hurt by this reaction, but Elijah was even more enraged than he had ever been. "Well, know this-- whatever the outcome tonight, you will no longer see me by your side. You want to be alone? Well, congratulations. You have your wish." Elijah then turned to Esther and grabbed her by the shackles as he dragged her out the door. "Come, Mother."

Rebekah glared at Klaus before shaking her head and walking out the door. Klaus and Ingrid shared exasperated looks and equally rolled their eyes.

Dahila dragged a struggling Freya by the arm into a storage warehouse that was used to store of antique cars from the early 1900s. "Two centuries ago, this city hung its traitors right here. I thought it only fitting that it be your slaughtering grounds."

She cast a spell to choke Freya and the young witch fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Dahlia then smashed a bottle of salt onto the ground and used her magic to form a magical circle around herself and Freya, trapping the latter inside, before walking around and waving her hand as she cast another spell around them.

"I actually pity you. Over the course of our long lives together, I could see you were broken." Freya panted with a hoarse laugh. "I used to think it was my fault, but in time, I learned your ability to love died long ago."

Dahlia considered this for a moment before she replied in a solemn tone. "Darkness isn't born, you know. It's created... by the snuffing out of the light." She kneeled behind Freya and spoke into her ear. "So, however you thought you might mend me, please know you never could. Whenever I looked in your eyes, I saw your mother-- the sister who turned my heart to stone. And, with that stone, I will crush every one of her children."

Suddenly, Klaus appeared behind her with Rebekah and Ingrid following close behind him. "Isn't there a saying about stones and glass houses?" He questioned snarkily and smirked.

"In case the analogy is lost on you, I believe my brother is calling you a hypocritical bitch." Rebekah sneered at Dahlia and folded her arms over her chest.

Dahlia glanced over at Freya with an amused look on her face. "Hmm. Bringing vampires to a witch fight. Someone hasn't learned their lesson."

"Well, I can be a bit thick sometimes..." Klaus joked with a shrug and a small laugh.

The sound of chains rattling was heard behind him and after a moment, Esther appeared with Elijah, joining the other Mikaelsons in circling around Dahlia.

"Although, on this occasion, I'd say I took your lesson to heart." Klaus informed her, his light blue eyes narrowed into slits.

Dahlia and Esther were shocked to see each other and for a moment, it looked as though Dahlia was about to cry. However, in reality, she actually began to laugh hysterically. "My sister... in chains? Is... is she to be a gift to buy your freedom? Because I brought something." She pulled out the white oak stake and held it up, causing thunder to crash overhead.

"One stake, four of us." Klaus mused incredulously and gestured to his family. "Even if you don't hesitate, the other three will rip you in half."

"Sound thinking." Dahlia praised with a smile then titled her head to the side, glancing at them patronizingly. "But... small thinking." She said in amusement then held up the stake again as thunder and lighting began to rumble in the sky above them.

After a moment, the stake was telekinetically thrown up into the air, where it exploded into hundreds of tiny pieces, looking like snowflakes falling down around them. She then used magic to direct the stake fragments into the mouths of the Originals. As they breathed, they began to cough and gasp in pain and their veins become visibly red and irritated.

"You're killing them!" Freya yelled desperately, struggling to free herself.

The four Original vampires fell to their knees and coughed forcefully, clearly in agony from the fragments of white oak in their lungs.

Dahlia smirked gleefully at Esther, who seemed surprisingly upset to see them hurting. "Now, sister, let us watch together as I burn your children from the inside out."

Esther hesitated for a moment before walking toward Dahlia. "You still carry around so much anger for me after all these years?"

"You broke your vow." She snarled angrily. "We were to stand together, always and forever, and you left to marry that brutish Viking imbecile. You ended my family, and they we the result." Dahlia gestured to all of Esther's children before casting a spell that knocked Ingrid, Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus backward. Elijah scratched at his neck and the veins that ran along his throat turned blood-red and swelled up.

"No!" Rebekah gasped out im anguish.

The vampires all continued to gag and cough while their veins grew increasingly more red and irritated through their skin.

"You call this my wrongdoing? You made me bargain away my firstborn child! My daughter!" Esther argued with her sister.

"Not just this firstborn, but every firstborn!" Dahlia pointed out to her in anger.

Klaus pulled out the blade bound with the ingredients and tried to pull himself to his feet.

"And even then, you found a way to deny me that which you had sworn to be mine! How do you think that felt?" Dahlia questioned her sadly.

Klaus jumped toward Dahlia with the blade in hand but she telekinetically threw him backward, which caused him to drop the blade.

Dahlia then looked up at the ceiling's skylight, where she could see the waning crescent moon had hit its apex. She smiled and looked down at Esther. "Now, Esther, say goodbye to the last of your children."

Dahlia thrust her hand forward and put Freya in a telekinetic choke-hold, causing her to gasp desperately for breath.

Elijah, Rebekah, Ingrid, and Klaus were running out of time but before Dahlia could give Freya the final blow, Esther rushed forward at the last moment and stopped her. "Sister, wait! Wait!"

Dahlia looked at her and loosened her choke-hold on Freya but didn't let go completely as she watched Esther stare at her pleadingly.

"You've won, Dahlia. You have everything you ever wanted, including the firstborn of a new generation! You have bested us all. At least let me try to make amends." She begged and walked even closer to Dahlia, until they were finally face-to-face. "Let me share with you the glorious freedom that I have found... in death."

Esther lunged forward and wrapped the long chain of her manacles around Dahlia's neck and choked her with it. Dahlia released her hold on Freya to fight against her sister's grip, and Freya quickly used her own magic to break the circle binding her and cure her siblings of their white-oak-induced sickness.

They all coughed up blood and sawdust but otherwise, seemed to be healing as normal.

Esther was struggling to keep strangling Dahlia and turned back toward her children. "Elijah?" She called out frantically.

Elijah picked up the blade and when Esther nodded in encouragement, he tossed it to Klaus. Armed with the blade, Klaus sped toward them and stabbed Esther in the back with the blade, driving it through her and into Dahlia's heart as well, killing them both.

Dahlia and Esther bodies turned to ash and they stood still in an embrace, both looking more content as they had ever been. Freya, Elijah, Klaus, Ingrid, and Rebekah all stared at them for a long moment before Klaus finally sighed heavily and commented. "Seems we're officially orphans."

"Thank God." Ingrid breathed out im relief.

Later that night after everything settled down, Klaus was in the nursery, rocking in the rocking chair while holding a sleeping Hope and telling her a bedtime story. "Once upon a time, there was a wolf king who fought a war for the most precious treasure in all the kingdom... his beautiful little princess. But, victory came at a price. Allies lost.. New enemies made... And so, the wolf king stood alone with only his queen at his side. Happily ever after, it was not. But, sometimes, even the worst endings are not really endings at all. And, you should know, my littlest wolf, that even when all seems burnt to ash-- in our story, there is always another chapter to be told."

Ingrid was leaning against the door frame, listening in quietly to his story, with a wide, adorning smile on her face. He noticed her standing there and beamed at his wife. She quietly entered the room and walked toward them before kissing their daughter on the forehead and her husband on the lips.

Klaus stood to his feet and gently set Hope down in her crib with a wide smile. Ingrid approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder and her head against his. Rubbing in a soothing manner, she eased the unspoken thoughts that roamed around his mind. "We won. She's never coming back to harm Hope again. She's safe."

"I know." He whispered in return with a nod of his head while staring down emotionally at their daughter. A comfortable silence filled the room around them until he turned to face Ingrid with an appreciative look on his face. "Thank you." He expressed his gratitude and grabbed her hands in his.

Raising an eyebrow with an surprised laugh, she glanced up at him and smiled. "For what?"

Pulling her close, Klaus placed a hand on the small of her back and kissed the top of her head. "For being the only person to stand by me."

Her face softened as she realized why he was thanking her and she rubbed his upper arms with a genuine smile. "Niklaus, I love you. I'm going to stand by you regardless." She assured him softly and reached her hand down to grab his free hand. "Do not let them villainize you to fit their narrative. They were going to take our daughter away."

Klaus leaned down and passionately kissed her on the lips. Ingrid held onto the collar of his jack and pulled him as close as possible, deepening the kiss. Moaning huskily against her, Klaus sped them toward their bedroom. He pressed her roughly against the wall, her back making contact with the flat surface, and pinned her there with his body.

Ingrid began to pull his jacket off while he trailed his hand up from her hip toward her neck, wrapping his large, calloused hand around the sensitive, soft skin of her throat and lightly applying pressure. Giving him a sultry smirk, she placed her hand on his wrist then jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer to her and reattaching their lips.

He chuckled against her lips and placed his other hand on the wall behind her. He left a trail of kisses from her lips, down her jaw, and behind her ear. Growling lowly in pleasure, Ingrid pushed off the wall and sped them toward the bed, pinning him down on the mattress of his back with her straddling his waist.

Klaus grabbed the hem of her shirt and hungrily rip it up over her head before grabbing her hair at the root and pulled her down toward him. He stared up into her eyes, a series of emotions swirling around in them. Ingrid glanced at him confused and worried and sat up slightly. "What?"

Shaking his head, Klaus smirked at her and ran a finger down the middle of her spine, sending a shiver to course through her back. "Oh, nothing." He then looked at her with a mischevious expression and she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Do you trust me?" He questioned teasingly, however there was a hint of genuinity and worry behind it.

"Completely." Ingrid answered immediately in an honest tone of voice and lowered her head so their lips were grazing against each other. "With every fiber of my being."

He crashed his lips into hers and sat up, pulling her into his lap, before turning around with supernatural speed and placing her back against his chest. He ran his hand along the inside of her thighs while kissing her in the crook of her neck, gently sucking on her skin and creating faint bruises that healed immediately.

He slowly moved his hands from her thighs, grazing her hips and her stomach, in a teasing and seductive manner. Klaus caught their reflection in the mirror and watched as her dark brown eyes fluttered shut and she gently bit her bottom lip. Smirking to himself, he brushed his fingertips up toward her cleavage then toward her shoulders.

Klaus pulled her bra straps down her shoulders in an agonizingly slow pace and Ingrid growled in frustration causing him to laugh lowly in amusement. He placed his lips against her shoulder, leaving soft, gentle kisses behind. He wrapped his hand around her throat again and tilted her neck to the side, giving him unobstructed access to the side of her neck.

Ingrid closed her eyes, soaking in the gentle, intimate motion of his actions, and reached behind her with one arm to place a hand on the back of his head, playing with his curls. The sharp apices of Klaus' fangs grazing across her sensitive neck, sent shivers running through her as she anticipated what came next.

Klaus sunk his fangs into her neck, making contact with the carotid artery running through and Ingrid verbally moaned in pleasure, tightening her grip around his hair and rolled her head to the side. He grabbed onto her jaw, gripping tightly, and wrapped an arm around her torso. He pulled her as close as he could while digging his nails into her hip.

She tugged harshly on his hair and wrapped her fingers around the sheet of the bed with the hand. Klaus' pulled away from her neck and watched the two small pinhole wounds heal. He eyes flashed golden-amber and he looked at the reflection from the mirror. He turned her head toward the mirror and she opened her eyes, meeting his gaze through the reflection. Her eyes flashed golden-amber as she watched him kiss her shoulder softly.

Klaus smirked at her then roughly pushed her down so that she was on her hand and knees and pulled her hair back aggressively, forcing her to watch from the mirror. He then lowered his lips down to her ear and made eye contact through the glass. "Usually I let you have your fun but tonight... you're mine."

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-the1andonlytifftiff