INGRID and Klaus were making out on their bed with Klaus sitting up straight and Ingrid in his lap, straddling him. His large hands running down the length of her back and Ingrid's hands tangled up in his hair, tugging gently on his blond curls.

Klaus' button up shirt had been undone, exposing his bare chest, while Ingrid was in nothing but her lingerie and a see-through, lace robe. She trailed a hand down his chest and slowly pushed him down onto his back, hovering over him and never breaking their embrace.

He smiled into the kiss and moaned lowly as she giggled happily. They were blissfully unaware that anyone had entered the room until someone cleared their throat. The couple stopped but otherwise didn't pull away. Klaus groaned in aggravation and fell back against the bed. "I thought I smelled swamp." He commented and turned to look at Jackson and Elijah, both of whom looked furious and disgusted while glaring at Klaus and trying to not look at Ingrid.

Noticing their discomfort, Ingrid chuckled in amusement and sat up, still straddling Klaus whilst making no attempt to cover herself. "May we help you?" She questioned curiously as Klaus stood up from the bed, forcing her to stand to her feet as well.

Elijah moved his eyes away from their direction, staring at the wall next to him with an uncomfortable look plastered all over his face. "Ingrid, please put clothes on."

She glanced down at her lingerie with pursed lips and grazed her brassiere with her fingertips before shaking her head. "No... I think I'm good."

Sighing heavily, Elijah narrowed his eyes but still refused to look at her. "How many times must I see you in your lingerie?"

"How many times must you walk through a closed door without knocking?" She questioned back with a raised eyebrow and a pointed look. "Normally, a closed door means waiting to receive permission to come in. We've talked about this. A closed door is not a locked door. Plus, this is our room so... put one and one together."

Jackson grew infuriated at their family mess and sneered at Klaus, who was still standing there bare chested. "What'd you do with Hayley?"

Elijah turned to his brother with a stern expression and took a step toward him. "Tell me what you know."

Klaus walked toward them with a coy expression. "Has Jackson misplaced his bride?" He mocked and pretended to tap his chin. "Come to think about it, I did read that global warming was affecting migration patterns. Try Georgia!"

"I just left the bodies of people I care about to rot in the woods because you left them defenseless against poachers!" Jackson growled angrily and Klaus looked surprised to hear this but smiled fakely to cover it up. "Like Kingmaker Land Development. Does that ring a bell?" The werewolf questioned and both the hybrids' faces fell causing Jackson to realize that he was onto something. "Yeah, the CEO is Lucien Castle." He informed them, gesturing toward Elijah. "Elijah tells me you two go way back--"

Elijah cut him off and walked toward Klaus so they were standing face-to-face. "So, I will ask you once again-- what do you know?"

Klaus pointed at Elijah and smirked smugly. "As it happens, we just came back from a romp with our good friend Lucien. You can find him in the penthouse of the gaudy new construction on Canal. And while you two are catching up, be sure to ask him about the prophetic vision he showed us of our family's spectacular downfall. You could use a good laugh."

"Yes... it's rather..." Ingrid trailed off and sucked her teeth, searching for the proper words. "Amusing in a Shakespearean type of way. The whole family will reach its end." She mocked with a laugh. "Not that it hasn't already..." She whispered lowly to herself.

Elijah sighed and pointed at Jackson. "You stay here. Niklaus and I will deal with this."

"Actually, as long as Hayley's prowling about on two legs and unaccounted for, I'm staying with my daughter." Klaus said in determination then walked toward Jackson, looking at him suspiciously. "And, should I discover that this is yet another cock-eyed scheme for Hayley and you to abscond with her, the paltry remains of your beloved wolf pack will be sniffing at your entrails come morning." Klaus threatened aggressively, a warning laced with venom.

Jackson scowled at him, which made Klaus smile as he turned around and walked toward Ingrid. However, Elijah sped in front of him, blocking his way. "This doesn't frighten you, brother. But, one day, your daughter will know exactly the kind of man that her father is."

"Really?" Ingrid rhetorically questioned with a cold sneer. "No, you're right. She will. She'll know exactly what kind of man her father is. The man who has sacrificed everything for her and has done nothing but try to fall in line with you and your ridiculous ideas of peace. The man who would move hell for her! But you want to know what else she'll know?" Ingrid snarled furiously, walking toward him and getting a few inches away. Elijah licked his lips uneasily and refused to look at her. "She'll know what kind of man her uncle is. The man who put everyone else before her family. Your family." She snapped, jabbing him harshly in the shoulder with her finger. "Who tried to give her away! She's going to know exactly what kind of man you are, Elijah!" Ingrid started to grow physically aggressive the more she went on and Klaus grabbed ahold of her waist, pulling her away from an altercation.

Klaus was touched that Ingrid always stood up from him without a moments hesitation or his request. There weren't many people who would stand up for Klaus especially with the passion Ingrid always carried. He knew he could count on her at every turn to have his back and to be there for him despite his many, many, many transgressions.

Elijah looked at them with a deadly serious expression. "Ingrid..." He spoke slowly and stern. "Is the example you want to set for your daughter? Parading around like--" he trailed off while motioning at her with an unimpressed look.

"Finish that sentence. I dare you!" Ingrid's eyes flashed gold and she pushed Klaus off of her before speeding toward Elijah and shoving him harshly. The noble Original flew into the wall, cracking the dry wall, and stumbled for a bit. "Get up!" The female hybrid growled animalistically and watched Elijah wipe blood away from his nose with his handkerchief. Her lips curled up in a sneer and she glared before lunging at him again but Klaus and Jackson grabbed Ingrid, holding her back as she glared at her brother-in-law. She pointed a finger in his direction and smirked darkly. "You claim Niklaus will spend the rest of eternity alone but I think it is you who will be alone. You have this claim to nobility but you lie, cheat, and manipulate for your gain. Hayley didn't want you and now we don't either." She harshly threw in his face. "So get out! Go save the wolves. We all know that you treat them better than your real family anyway!"

Elijah wouldn't admit that Ingrid's words stung and he was hurt that she would say that but he quickly covered it up and looked at them in disappointment.

Ingrid didn't regret those words at that moment but she would slowly grow to regret them and it was something she would punish herself for.

"If anything should happen to Hayley, you mark my words-- no one will have to take Hope from you. She will, without question, leave you of her own accord." Elijah warned harshly then walked away, with Jackson following suit, without another word, leaving a furious Ingrid and a stunned Klaus behind.

Later on, Klaus and Ingrid, now fully dressed, were walking down the stairs of the compound as he left Freya an annoyed voicemail on her phone. "Freya, I'm aware that 21st century technology remains a mystery to you, but when you see my name pop up on your phone, you answer it. Come home. Immediately."

When they reached the bottom, they noticed an unhappy Cami standing there waiting for Klaus.

He smirked smugly at her and gestured around him. "Mere hours after you lecture me about boundaries, and here you are in my house in the middle of the night..." He sat on the couch as Cami, exasperated, sat down across from him in an armchair and Ingrid walked toward the bar to pour herself a drink.

"I came in through the front door. You appeared through my window like a creeper. Besides, this is a matter of life and death." Cami informed him, opening her bag and pulling out her laptop, before showing him the crime scene photos of the serial killer victims.

Klaus leaned forward in his seat and studied them closely with narrowed eyes. "Oh, how novel!"

"Call it a hunch, but I think your friend Lucien is torturing and killing humans in the Quarter. There have been two victims so far, but I've constructed a psychological profile of the killer, and I don't think it's going to end there." Cami concluded quickly causing Ingrid to groaned in an exaggeratedly loud volume, trying to make a point.

Klaus hid his smirk at his wife's reaction and rolled his eyes at the blonde. "Lucien would never be so sloppy."

"When you get this old, you grow bored of sloppy." Ingrid remarked, walking closer to them and studying the photos. "Especially when you're pretending to be as eccentric as Lucien." She added in disdain, walking behind the couch to stand close to Klaus.

Cami, not convinced, turned her laptop around to show him the photo of the first victim. When Klaus saw it, his amused smile fell as he became mildly concerned. "...Although, I admit, there is a familiar method to this particular madness..." he mused slowly and pointed a finger at it.

"You want to prove to me that you're turning over a new leaf? Make sure this latest victim is the last one." Cami demanded and started to pack up her bag.

Klaus looked at her curiously and smirked deviously. "Are you suggesting that I prove my redeemability by killing my oldest friend? Such irony!" He commented in a sarcastic tone and Ingrid chuckled to herself, bringing the glass to her lips.

Cami rolled her eyes at him then sighed, hoping to get through to him. "Look, NOLA PD can't take down a thousand-year-old psycho with vampire powers, but you can. You're the smartest, and the strongest, and the scariest. So, make him stop."

Klaus was clearly pleased to hear this description of him and smiled brightly. Ingrid noticed him and scoffed with an eye roll. "You're only fueling his ego, Camille. Besides, Niklaus is not the vampire police. How do you even know that it was a vampire? How do you know it's not a human? Or a wolf? Or, say... a witch? Hmm?" She interrogated then pointed at the human with a tight lipped smile. "You don't. But, suddenly an old vampire rolls into town and you start pointing fingers. You're jumping to conclusions. You can't be sure it's Lucien but you're scared so you want him gone. If I didn't know any better... I would suggest that you're prejudice, Camille. Don't ask for favors like murder then judge when he murders people. It's hypocritical."

Cami stood to her feet and appeared to want to say more but closed her mouth and stormed out of the compound. Ingrid watched her go with a pleased expression and Klaus reached behind him to grab her hand, placing a kiss on her palm, smirking to himself. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb and spoke in a pointed tone. "You don't think this was Lucien."

Ingrid shook her head and responded in a curt manner. "No."

Freya then walked in arm-in-arm with a young man and smiled up at him. "Nightcap?" She asked politely and gestured around the room. "You'll find bourbon on basically every horizontal surface." She seemed too drunk to notice her brother and sister-in-law a few feet away.

The man she was with smirked seductively and offered an idea suggestively. "Or, we can skip to the fun part."

Freya giggled cheerfully and the two began to make out against an end table. Before it could progress, Klaus cleared his throat and they broke apart in surprise. They turned to see the hybrids glancing at them in amusement.

"Freya! It's about time you brought a gentleman home to meet the family." Klaus greeted happily, standing to his feet and walking toward them so he could introduce himself. "I'm Freya's brother. And you are?" He questioned curiously then cut the human off with a laugh. "No, don't tell me. Let me guess-- Brad? Chad? Brody? Let's go with Brody." He finished his game and started interogatting Freya's date. "What are your intentions for my sister? Shall we discuss a dowry?"

Klaus and Ingrid then flashed their golden-amber hybrid eyes just a moment, which scared Freya's suitor so much that he backed away quickly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Bro, what the...?"

Klaus' eyes returned to their usual light blue and he glared at the drunk human. "Leave. Now." He threatened with an animalistic growl.

"Brody" did as he was told and rushed out of the compound without another word. Klaus laughed in amusement and Ingrid smirked mischeviously. Although Freya gave him a look, it was clear that she thought it was funny as well.

Klaus held his hands up in surrender while laughing. "He was drunk! No one will believe his story."

"They'll either think he's a horrible lush or a resident of the loony bin." Ingrid commented with a chuckle and finished the rest of her drink then shrugged nonchalantly. "Either way."

Freya smiled at her family and shook her head. "Not three months ago, you utterly despised me, and now you're playing protective brother."

"I'm sure you're quite capable of protecting yourself against the scourge of Fraternity Row." Klaus remarked proudly then paused for a moment before his tone became serious. "I need you to perform a locator spell. Hayley's missing."

Freya stared at him, hopeful and concerned. "You're worried about her."

"I prefer to know the whereabouts of my enemies. Besides, Hayley has a history of taking what's mine." Klaus snarled furiously and turned around.

Freya, assuming she knew him better than he did, took a step toward him and shook her head. "No. You're afraid she's truly lost." She argued and Klaus turned to face Freya, looking unamused, so Freya changed the subject. "I'll need the best connection to Hayley. Do you have anything of hers?"

"There should be a pile of her stuff shoved in a crate somewhere in Elijah's room. I'm sure if you call him, he'll be more than happy to give you the permission." Ingrid bitterly answered and rolled her eyes. "Otherwise, good luck." She mused sarcastically and turned on her heels, walking away.

Later on, Klaus put Hope in her small playpen, where she lied down on her back and stared up at the ceiling, slowly falling asleep. As he watched her, Klaus pulled out his phone and dialed Lucien's number. "I taught you better than to leave your leftovers in the street! My streets."

Lucien sighed as the sound of him sifting through things was heard in the background. "You'll have to elaborate, mate."

"Two bodies were found sporting rather memorable lacerations. Are you exorcising your demons by carving up the innocents of New Orleans?" Klaus questioned, both curious and worried.

Lucien laughed weakly and caught his breath for a moment. "Oh, your family is full of unfounded accusations today. And if I was the culprit, why would you care? We used to make fantastic messes together."

"There is a delicate balance in this city. There are rules." Klaus informed him, unamused.

"Ah, and people you care about. You can't afford to have weaknesses like that right now." Lucien remarked smugly.

"Speaking of weaknesses, there is a wolf chained to my wall who claims he took a chunk out of your arm. Come see me. I'll give you my blood in exchange for your word that the killings will stop." Klaus bartered an offer.

"I'm afraid your family dog missed the mark, friend. Barely a scratch. No venom breached the skin." Lucien explained deceptively.

Klaus closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance at losing his leverage. "You listen carefully, friend-- my city has enjoyed months of relative peace. If that peace is in any way disrupted, the next gruesome murder will be yours!" The hybrid threatened sternly, thoroughly getting his point across.

Lucien chuckled in amusement, which only made Klaus far more frustrated. "Now there's the Klaus I know." He praised happily and hung up before Klaus could say anything further.

Klaus pulled the phone away from his ear and growled furiously then looked up when a soothing female voice spoke up from the door frame. "Lucien lied." Ingrid commented dully, walking into the room with her arms folded over her chest. "I know he lied because I sincerely doubt Jackson would lie about biting a vampire. That seems to be something wolves are prideful of."

Klaus sighed heavily and met her halfway. "Do you truly still think he's innocent?" He questioned curiously, trusting her judgment more than anyone else's.

Ingrid tilted her head to the side and flattened her lips before nodding slowly. "Yes. He may have lied about getting bit and my guess is to refuse your help. But I don't think he lied about not killing those people. Lucien loves to brag. This would be something he would brag on and he's not. If he did it, he's being uncharacteristically quiet about it."

"People change over thousand years." Klaus pointed out sternly.

"Not that much." Ingrid rejected his theory then made an annoyed facial expression. "Oh, I regret to inform you that Hayley is here and she has requested a word."

Klaus walked out onto the balcony and greeted Hayley, who was covered in blood, smugly. "Hayley. Come to apologize for all your transgressions?"

At the sound of his voice, Hayley turned around and rushed toward Klaus aggressively. "Do you have any idea what you have taken from me?" She snarled viciously and threw a punch at him, but he dodged it and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back causing her to scream out in pain. Hayley broke out his hold easily by kicking him backwards in the gut and spinning around to roundhouse-kicking him in the face.

Ingrid walked down the stairs with a collected appearance and folded her hands together. "I'm assuming not much." She answered the other hybrid's question in a mocking manner and stopped at the bottom. "Either you've filled your head of wild delusions or you're truly pathetic when you assumed you could protect my daughter better than us." The Original sneered, gesturing between herself and Klaus. "What was the game plan there? Pretend she's yours and raise her as your own? Lie to her about where her real parents are?"

"You two are poison. She was always better off without you." Hayley growled at Ingrid and sped toward her but Ingrid grabbed Hayley by the throat and tossed her across the room, sending the Cresent hybrid crashing down into a set of chairs.

Ingrid appeared in front of Hayley with a warning look. Pointing a finger at him, she shook her head and made a tsking sound with her tongue. "See... now I'm confused. Because when I was pregnant, you and Tyler tried to convince everyone that Hope was a danger to this world. And yet here you stand, saying that it's actually us."

Klaus stood to his feet with a dark expression and walked toward them. "You didn't have much to lose. But since you're asking... the very thing you sought to take from us-- the chance to raise our daughter. Your punishment fits your crime."

Hayley clentched her hands into fists and glared at him. "Your family was ruining her life!"

Klaus sped toward Hayley and pinned her in a choke-hold against a nearby table, causing her to gasp for breath. "My family saved her life while you tried to steal her from me and ran off to play hide-and-seek in the forest!"

Jackson broke one of the chains binding him to the wall, just as Freya started to stir awake after being knocked out by Hayley earlier.

Hayley headbutted Klaus in the face, causing his nose to bleed, and Jackson broke the other chain, completely freeing himself. Freya, realizing that it was about to get ugly, cast a spell to keep him unable to intervene.

Jackson groaned loudly in pain and fell to his knees. "Let me go! He'll kill her!"

"They'll kill you!" Freya argued frantically, holding onto her spell while weakly pulling herself up from the concrete.

Klaus looked over at Hayley, blood still fresh from his nose, and glared at her. "There's a very short list of people who've tried to take Hope away from me and you're the only one left breathing."

Hayley gaped at him, enraged, as tears welded in her eyes. "Are you that delusional, Klaus? You cursed all of us! Every wolf that I fought for, everyone that stood up for your daughter. You took all of them away from their families!"

"Better than the alternative." Ingrid pointed out in a smooth tone then laughed darkly. "Klaus left you with the humane option. My plan was to massacre everyone in that swamp and leave your bodies to rot there forever. Sends a good message."

Hayley, more furious than anyone has ever seen her, broke an end-table and used the broken leg as a stake as she lunged for Ingrid.

However, Ingrid dodged it with ease and grabbed the stake from her, throwing it aside with an eye roll. Ingrid grabbed Hayley by the jaw and forced the younger brunette to met her maddened glare. "Do not for a single second pretend to have that child's best interest at heart. Do not assume you know better than me. Her mother. I am her mother. Not you." Ingrid then punched her hand into Hayley's chest and savagely gripped onto her heart, compressing it in her hand. "You are insignificant. A stain on this earth. I could end your life in a split second and it wouldn't even matter."

Suddenly, Elijah returned home and tried to intervene. "Ingrid!"

Rolling her eyes, Ingrid stared at Hayley in annoyance but refused to turn to face him. "One second, Elijah. I'll be with you momentarily."

Elijah attempted to speed toward Ingrid but Klaus stopped him, holding him against the wall. "Not another step, brother."

Ingrid squeezed Hayley's heart, earning a high-pitched squeal of pain from her, and spoke in a slow, calm tone of voice. "I hold your whole life in my very hands and I could end it in a mere second. So, please enlighten me on why I shouldn't?"

From the corner of Ingrid's eye, she watched Elijah and Klaus battling it out and for a brief second it seemed like Klaus had the upperhand until Elijah stabbed him in the torso with Hayley's makeshift stake.

Sighing loudly in aggravation, Ingrid removed her hand from Hayley's chest cavity and snapped her neck in one swift movement. She glanced at the hybrid's unconscious figure with a fake, polite smile. "Excuse me. I'll be right back."

Elijah looked over at Ingrid and attempted to calm the aggressive nature behind her actions. "I don't want to fight you, Ingrid."

"I think it's a tad bit too late for that. Don't you?" Ingrid remarked patronizingly and smirked bitterly at him.

Klaus pulled out the stake with a low moan of pain and dropped it to the ground. He stood to his feet and turned his body to face Elijah, ready to protect Ingrid if need be, not that she truly ever needed it.

"No. I refuse to fight you, Ingrid." He reiterated in a stern manner and held his hands up, showing her that he had no weapons and wasn't planning to attack her. "We don't have to keep going on like this."

"I don't trust you." She snapped at him with a face of disbelief. "You have shown me continously that you'll choose her over us. After doing the same thing repeatedly, it stops being a mistake and it becomes a pattern. It becomes a choice." She explained before shaking her head and speaking in an emotional tone. "I'm done, Elijah. I'm done putting in the effort to be civilized with you because truth is; I'm heartbroken. I loved you and I trusted you but you betrayed me in the worst way possible. I'm not Niklaus. I can't just let it be bygones and pretend that eventually we'll get along again because I don't think we ever will. There's nothing left to mend." She said, tears involuntarily rolling down her cheeks, then shook her head again and walked out of the room, leaving the mess behind for them to clean up.

Hours past and everything had calmed down. Elijah helped Hayley and Jackson back to the Bayou while Klaus cleaned up the broken furniture and any spilt blood. Ingrid sat in Hope's nursery, watching her sleep peacefully while processing everything to herself. Klaus peaked her head in a few times to make sure she was alright and she reassured him that it was but she just needed a moment.

Freya called them three Originals down to the courtyard and began preparing to perform a spell on a table while Klaus bled into a bowl for her. "If you fed on this prophetic witch, her blood is still in your system. If there's a weapon that can kill you, we need to know." The Mikaelson witch said in determination.

"Oh, we're doing this again." Ingrid grumbled dully.

"Ingrid." Freya encouraged her to follow in Klaus's steps and Ingrid did so without a word or any hesitation. Ingrid bit into her wrist and dribbled her blood into the same bowl as Klaus.

Freya then lit a tall black candle and placed it in the middle of the table, surrounding it with smaller lit white candles. She took the bowl of blood from Ingrid and set out four small pieces of paper with Norse runes written on them. The runes spelled out "Ingrid", "Elijah", "Rebekah", and "Klaus." Freya stared at the black candle in the center, looking nervous, before she dipped her fingers in the bowl of blood to make a connection with Alexis and her visions. "No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve. No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve."

As she chanted, blood started to drip from inside her right ear and the house started to shake. Freya's voice became more and more strained, as though the effort was physically hurting her causing Klaus and Elijah to grow concerned.

Elijah worriedly grabbed Freya's arm and attempted to call out to her. "Freya? Stop!"

Despite Elijah's pleas, Freya was overcome by visions of the prophecy. She saw Elijah's painted portrait in the living room splashed with blood and the beast with large, long, and wickedly sharp fangs roar as he bared his bloody teeth.

Suddenly, the pieces of paper with their names written caught on fire. Freya gasped loudly, her eyes flying open, and the flames on the table finally extinguished themselves, but Freya was visibly shaken by the visions she was shown, speaking grimly. "It's true. You have a terrible shadow over you. Rebekah, too. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall..." She looked up at her family, clearly not wanting to share the next piece of information she gleaned from the visions "...One by friend, one by foe, and one... by family."

---
Comment
Vote
Share
Xoxo
-the1andonlytifftiff