IN the freezing tundra of Siberia, a group of men were fishing in the East Siberian sea, sitting in silence and drinking amongst themselves on their boat while waiting to catch something in their nets. There was a sudden tug on the end of the net and they all rushed to pull it up. Considering how heavy the load was, they assumed they had caught an immature sunfish. However when they pulled it out of the water, they saw a grey coffin lying in the bottom of the net surrounded by small fish and clumps of seaweed.

Murmuring in confusion and shock, they pulled the coffin into the boat. Deciding it best to deal with this immediately, they slowly made their way back to the shore. After they docked, they all lifted the coffin out of the boat and set it down against the snow.

"Do we open it?" One of them asked the others in Russian.

"It's a coffin. What are you expecting to see? There's obviously a dead body in there." Another responded in disgust and shook his head. "I say we call the police and wait until they get here."

The tallest of the group scoffed and threw open the lid to reveal Ingrid lying peacefully inside with the golden dagger sticking out of her chest. They all gasped in shock and crowded around her. "Why does she look like that?" One asked, studying her appearance. "Are people usually grey and dry when they die?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen a dead person before." They answered and leaned closer to the Original. "Maybe it's because she was underwater."

"Is that the murder weapon?" They asked and pointed at the dagger. "I wonder if it still has fingerprints on it. Should we pull it out?"

"No. Stop touching everything. You'll just contaminate the evidence." They snapped, trying to get the other four to back away from the coffin. "I'm going to call the cops. Just back away and keep your hands to yourself." He ordered sternly and walked a few feet away to make a phone call.

The other four ignored him and remained close to the coffin, staring down at Ingrid. The taller snapped his fingers and gestured to the glove in the other's pocket. "Hand me your glove. I'm going to pull this baby out." He wrapped glove around his hand and gripped the handle of the dagger tightly in his hands. He pulled the gold weapon out of her chest and studied the blade. "No blood. That means it was put there after she died. So it can't be the murder weapon, right?"

The one returned to the group and saw the dagger in his hands. He sighed and threw his hands up in disbelief. "Guys!" He yelled then gestured to Ingrid, who's color started returning to her cheeks. "What did you do?!"

Suddenly, Ingrid's dark brown eyes snapped open and she grabbed the closest man by the collar of his jacket. "Where am I?" She asked in English and watched them furrow their eyebrows, no recollection for what she was saying. Narrowing her eyes, she climbed out of the coffin and let go of him. "Where am I?" She asked again slower.

"I don't know what you're saying." He responded in Russian and looked at her in concern. "Are you alright? We thought you were dead."

Ingrid tuned into his language and realized he was speaking Russian so she changed her language to match. "Where am I?"

"Siberia, Russia." He answered and watched her closely. "How--- what---?"

"How far are we from the closest town?" She asked him curiously, brushing her clothes off from the dust.

"Pevek is a hundred sixty kilometers that way." He replied and pointed off in front of him, still dumbfounded at the events unfolding before him.

"It'll have to do." She commented lowly to herself before baring her fangs and feeding on each one of the men. Their blood fell upon the pristine white snow, staining it with memory of their death. Dropping the last body to the ground, Ingrid grabbed her dagger and rummaged through their pockets for loose change and anything that could be of use. She heard the wailing of sirens approaching her and quickly sped off.

Hours later, Ingrid stopped in a random, small town and walked around, looking for someone to give her directions. She noticed a pay phone along the side walk and slowly approached it. She climbed into the booth, shutting the door behind her, and inserted a ruble into the slot before dialing a number by heart. Tapping her foot impatiently, she listened to it ringing.

Back in New Orleans, Klaus had left the living room after seeing the news about the murders and was storming out to start the search for Eirik, putting Ingrid's return on the back burner for a time being.

"You've known where mom's been this entire time?" Hope questioned incredulously as she followed Klaus out the door. "You lied to me. For seven years! You let me feel like she abandoned me. But no, you locked her away again! How could you do that? How can you lie to me like that?"

Klaus turned around to face her with a scowl on his face. "I don't have time for this right now, Hope. Your brother is missing and I have sneaking suspicion he was taken as punishment for your darling pet, Henry."

"How could you do that? How could you do that to mom?" Hope demanded, walking closer to him. "How could you lie to all of us?" She asked but he refused to say a word so she raised her voice. "Answer me!"

"Because she asked me to!" Klaus admitted honestly causing Hope, and Freya, to gape at him in disbelief. Sighing, he licked his lips and glanced at them with a sad look. "She asked me to dagger her and leave her somewhere no one would find her. I thought Siberia was good enough but I guess not. She made me swear not to tell anyone where she was. I intended to uphold that promise."

"Why--- why?" Hope asked with tears in her eyes.

"We can talk about this later. I---" He was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing and glared in annoyance while pulling it out of his pocket. Looking at it, he was that it was an unknown number, brought the phone to his ear, and greeted them in a patronizing tone. "Whatever scam this is---"

"Niklaus?" A soothing female voice with a British accent called out to him from the other end.

Klaus froze in place, shocked to hear who it was, and his heart started to beat rapidly in his chest. "Ingrid?" He whispered, almost unable to believe that he was speaking to his wife again. Freya and Hope glanced at him in astonishment.

"Oh, thank Odin!" Ingrid breathed out in relief then spoke quickly. "Listen, my love, I'm using a pay phone so I don't have much time. Did you hire those idiots to wake me?"

"No." Klaus responded honestly and shook his head. "You're not supposed to be awake yet." He admitted grimly then heard her sigh in disappointment. "I know... I'll tell you everything when I get the chance but right now we have a problem. Eirik is missing."

"Where are you?" Ingrid asked in a dark tone of voice.

"New Orleans." He answered, looking over at Freya and Hope. "I'm still here."

"I'm on my way." She assured him sternly then almost hung up the phone but realized she was missing something. "I love you." She whispered emotionally, her voice wavering from tears.

"I love you." Klaus said affectionately with tears in his eyes then listened to the dial tone beeping in his ears. He slowly lowered the phone and stared at it for a moment. Putting it back in his pocket, he turned toward the other two women and spoke slowly, still in disbelief. "That was Ingrid..." He drew out then shook his head. "I'm going to speak to the factions and ask for their help." He informed them and began to walk out the door.

"Wait, dad!" Hope called out to him, hoping to stop him again.

"Whatever it is, it can wait until Eirik is home." Klaus snapped impatiently and turned around again causing her to frown. "I don't want to hear anymore. I'm going to save my son." He said sternly and looked over to Freya. "Start a locator spell. I don't care what you have to do to find him, just do it." He ordered harshly before officially leaving the compound.

Ingrid walked into a small shop, the bell ringing when she opened the door, and glanced around. The little mom and pop place was selling clothing suited for the harsh cold and she realized that making the journey back to New Orleans was going to take a least a whole day. She picked out a large coat and a set of gloves and walked to the counter. As the older woman was ringing her up, Ingrid smiled kindly and began to ask for directions in fluent Russian. "Excuse me. I'm trying to get to America. How do I fly out from Pevek?"

"There's an airport eight kilometers east from here. It'll take you to Srednekolymsk." The woman explained to her and looked her up and down. "You are American?" She asked in English, her tone almost one of disgust.

Ingrid smiled and chuckled lowly to herself. "I am many things." She vaguely answered in English, her British accent slipping back into her native tongue. "My family lives in America for the time being."

The human woman nodded and smiled back at her before speaking in Russian again. "Ah. Well, your total is three thousand rubles."

Ingrid pulled the spare change out of her pocket and quickly counted. Realizing she didn't have enough, the Original leaned over the counter and stared directly into her eyes. "I think I'll just take it." She spoke in a slow, monotonous voice with a wide smile.

"It's yours." The woman replied back unwillingly and snapped out of her trance. "Thank you for your business."

Ingrid grabbed her coat and gloves and walked out of the store with an appreciative expression on her face. She slipped the coat on and zipped it up then puked the gloves over her hands. "Alright. East... come on, Ingrid. Your father taught you cardinal directions for a reason..." she mused lowly to herself and closed her eyes as a harsh gust of icy wind blew past her. "Ahhh!" She winced and shivered from the blast. "Oh, how I miss New Orleans."

She looked up at the sky and say the faint outline of the North Star. Turning her body in to the right, she started her path and always made sure the star was still to her left. Approximately, ten minutes later she arrived to the Pevek airport and walked toward the reception desk. "One ticket to Srednekolymsk."

"Hundred fifty rubles." The receptionist informed her and Ingrid handed over the money. "Passport?"

Ingrid groaned and rolled her eyes before compelling her as well. "I'm all set."

"You're all set." She replied dully then smiled happily and slid a ticked toward her. "Enjoy your flight to Srednekolymsk."

"Thanks." Ingrid mused and took the paper slip from her. The hybrid boarded the plane and rested her head back against her seat with a heavy sigh. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded paper then opened up it up, revealing a map, and glanced at it in interest. Clicking her tongue, she smirked in amusement and spoke quietly to herself. "Of all the places in the world, Niklaus had to pick Siberia."

At Rousseau's the vampire community was holding a funeral for Poppy, the vampire Henry had mistakenly killed. Marcel, having returned from New York City heartbroken, had lead the toast and was drinking with his fellow colleagues. He received a text and looked at it in confusion before turning to Josh and pardoning himself. "Excuse me a minute." He said then walked out the back door to meet someone in the alley. "You can't be here. It'll cause more bad blood."

"Crashing a funeral... My favorite way to spend a Friday night." Klaus mused with a slight smirk then frowned sympathetically. "Sorry about Rebekah."

"I'm sure you are." He said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "It's good to see you, too. Why are you here?"

"Eirik's missing." Klaus explained painfully and Marcel frowned as panic washed over him. "I need help finding him but there's certain leads I can't follow."

"What do you need from me?" Marcel asked immediately, more than willing to help find his baby brother.

"I'm assuming someone took him as punishment. Now that may just be classic Mikaelson paranoia but I have to look into every opportunity to save my boy." Klaus explained quickly and sighed. "If you could ask your vampire friends and the Crescents if they've seen him, it would be a wonderous help."

Marcel nodded in agreement with an urgent tone. "Anything."

Klaus turned to leave but flattened his lips and looked back at the King of New Orleans. "Ingrid's awake." He informed him.

Marcel's eyes widened in shock and he furrowed his eyebrows as a series of emotions mixed together in an overwhelming cocktail. Klaus noticed this reaction and nodded his head. "Yeah and she's on her way. No doubt she'll want to see you." He said with a warm smile and placed a hand on Marcel's shoulder. "Please call if you find anything." He requested before walking away, leaving Marcel alone in the alley.

Freya was setting up what she needed for a locator spell when Hope walked into the room, fiddling with her fingertips. "Auntie Freya?"

"Hmm?" Freya hummed in acknowledgement but otherwise didn't look up to meet her eyes.

"I need to tell you something..." Hope trailed off, sheepish and guilty, and Freya finally looked up at her in concern.

A few minutes later, Klaus stormed furiously into the compound, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Hope!" He searched the house for her until he found her sitting in the den. "Please tell me it isn't true. What have you done with your brother? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Hope burst into tears and placed the back of her hands on her forehead. "I did it before I knew mom was in Siberia. I thought that since she wouldn't come home for me at least she would come home for her precious baby boy!" She snarled out in jealousy then shook her head in regret. "But now I know better."

"So you thought that if your little hybrid friend attacked Eirik your mother would come home!?" He snarled at her, beyond enraged. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! He is eleven!!"

"Henry just did the heavy lifting. And "attack" is a really strong word." She tried to justify her actions while keeping her tears at bay. "Eirik's fine. In a really nice coffin, sleeping. I cloaked him in a sleeping spell that I wrote myself."

"Oh, well, in that case, I've never been prouder." Klaus sneered sarcastically and threw his hands up. "Where is he?" He demanded but she refused to answer so he growled lowly. "You do realize that your mother is coming here because she thinks your brother is missing. All the work she took to keep you safe, you're just throwing it all away! Hope, you are in danger when you two are in proximity. She could be putting others in danger, too. The whole city. Just to stand in front of you!"

"I don't care!" Hope yelled selfishly and glared up at him.

"This is not a debate, Hope! Where is he?!" He shouted angrily at her then launched forward and placed his hands on her temples, entering her mind. "He's at St. Anne's."

"Get out of my head!" She yelled incredulously and shoved him away from her.

"You could die, Hope. Just by standing here, your mother could destroy you." Klaus tried to explain to her and clapped his hands together. "You really don't have an inkling of understanding. You are bringing your mother here under false pretenses. Whatever reunion you have made up in your mind isn't going to happen. Do you want to know what's going to happen? She is going to tear into you worse than I have ever before. The five minutes that you're going to get with her is going to make you wish she never came back."

"You don't know that." Hope scoffed, refusing to believe that her mother was as nasty as he said. "She'll be mad but I'm sure she'll understand."

"Hope... your mother holds a grudge like no other." Klaus breathed out and tried to plead with his daughter. "She will be far from happy. If you know what's good for you---"

"You don't know what's good for me. You know, people talk at school about you and about mom and I have to be quiet little Hope Gerard, when I am so mad I want to scream." She informed him in offense.

"Well, welcome to the bloody party!" Klaus shouted loudly at her and she gaped at him in shock.

"I just want mom back and I don't care how I have to do it!" Hope screamed back with tears pouring down her face. "For seven years I was angry at her for leaving, for abandoning me. I lied awake at night thinking she was living her life and doing just fine without me. Almost like she had given up and forgotten about me. But she wasn't living a life. She was---"

"Lying daggered in a coffin." Klaus finished for her knowingly and nodded his head.

"Why did she do that?" Hope asked in a watery voice, sitting down on the sofa and crying softly.

Sitting next to her, Klaus licked his lips and stared down at his wedding ring. "I don't talk about your mother enough. In my grief, I've neglected what you both needed and that's your mother. But no matter how hard I tried, I'm not her. I'm not even a fraction of the person Ingrid is. When we were deciding who was going to absorb the Hollow, Ingrid offered herself up with no hesitation because... she wanted me to be able to raise you both after missing five years. She said it was her turn to sacrifice herself for our family. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn't talk her out of it." He remarked with a small laugh and fiddled with the small gold band around his finger. "Your mother is the most stubborn person I've ever met. She asked that I allow her to do this and to... to let her go. Truth is, I would do anything for her. Even if it meant risking my life.

"Your mother couldn't bear to live a life where she wasn't allowed to be around you." He continued and sniffled back his own tears. "The only thing she's ever asked of me in a thousand years was to be a good father to you both and to hide her away. And I failed her in both. The plan was to keep her that way until it was safe or until you were both... gone."

"Mom was going to stay asleep until Eirik and I were gone?" Hope asked in surprise and wiped her tears away.

Nodding, Klaus flattened his lips into a tight line. "She wasn't willing to sacrifice your life or to put either of you in danger so... she asked to be taken out of the game. Your mother sacrificed her life for yours."

"I can't understand how she would want to just be gone completely instead of living across the world. At least then she could write or call." Hope argued, anger bubbling up again.

"Would it have been enough for you?" Klaus asked curiously and raised an eyebrow. "Truly?"

"Yes." Hope answered without thinking it over.

"Hope..." he trailed off with a knowing look. "Be honest. Would it have been enough?"

"No..." she said honestly, shaking her head and looking down at her hands. "It wouldn't have."

"Exactly." Klaus replied pointedly. "You would have searched the Earth for her. No doubt you would have done so if I had told you where she was."

"But how could she just leave?" Hope questioned in heartbreak.

"She wanted nothing more in this life than to be a mother. She loves you more than I think you will ever understand. Ingrid has sacrificed more for you and your brother than she has for anyone. More than me. She left because she had no other choice." Klaus responded in a gentle whisper. "I need you to make that sacrifice count."

"Okay..." Hope trailed off, nodding her head in agreement and brushing the tears away.

"I'm going to go get your brother. I'll be back." Klaus promised and kissed her on the temple before standing to his feet and walking out of the door.

Moments later he returned to the compound with an enraged facial expression. He walked back into the den and glared at her. "Hope, we went to the church to get brother and he wasn't there."

Hope gaped in shock and shook her head in denial. "What? No. I protected him. I wrote the perfect cloaking spell, I kept him safe. I... I don't understand. The-the coffin was just empty?"

"The coffin was destroyed." He whispered softly with tears in his eyes. "Whatever happened to your brother didn't happen without a fight." Hope glanced around frantically while she began hyperventilating and Klaus took a step toward her. "Look, I know it wasn't your intention for someone to get hurt. I know you did this because I left you with no choice." He tried to talk her down as she sobbed in regret and guilt. "Sweetheart, look at me. This... this is my fault." He took the blame and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm gonna fix it. I've already spoken to Alaric. You'll go back to Mystic Falls tonight. I need to know you're safe. But I'm going to do everything I can to find him."

She was about to respond when the sound of high heels echoed across the concrete floor of the courtyard below them. They both walked out onto the balcony to see a short, brunette woman walking into the compound. She glanced up at them with a dangerous expression on her face and took a deep breath. "Niklaus, where is our son?" She asked in a slow, wavering voice.

"Mom..." Hope breathed out in shock and stared at her in disbelief.

---
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