"INGRID..." Klaus whsipered softly and stared emotionally at the woman below him. He sped toward her and stopped a few inches away. Time seemed to slow around them as they lied eyes on each other for the first time in years.

She stared back at him, flinching at the ghostly whispered swirling around in the back of her mind. Ingrid ignored it as best she could and smirked mischievously at her husband. "I didn't fly all the way from Siberia for you to stand there and stare at me. I will say hello properly when this over." She promised then gave him a stern look. "Right now we have important matters. Where is Eirik?"

When neither of them answered and shared a significant look, Ingrid clapped her hands together. "While I may not age, but I'm guessing that---" She remarked, pointing at the flowers wilting in front of her. "--is one of the consequences of us being too close to one another. We are on limited time and someone better start talking."

Klaus cleared his throat and looked over at their daughter. "Hope, why don't you go to your room while I speak to your mother? We'll call you when we're done."

Hope gulped back her fear and nodded her head curtly before doing as told. She walked into her room and gently closed the door behind her. She began to nibble on her fingernails while pacing the floor anxiously. She couldn't hear anything being said and it was quiet for a moment. She began to ease slightly until she heard glass shattering and incoherent yelling echoing from downstairs.

Taking a shaky breath, she waited for the wrath of Ingrid Mikaelson that many spoke about. The sound of footsteps approaching her door started to get louder while her father yelled out his wife's name and chased her down.

The door aggressively flew open and Ingrid burst through the doorway with a glare so cold and harsh that it was almost like the frozen tundra of Siberia itself. "Are you off your rocker?!" She bellowed furiously at the witch, closing the distance as Klaus stood a few feet behind her.

He knew better than to get in Ingrid's way, especially when she was that enraged. However he stayed behind, ready to mediate when need be.

"Mom..." Hope began to try to explain, tears already falling down her cheeks. "I am so---"

"No!" Ingrid snarled and held a finger up, cutting Hope off from a sob filled apology. "No. I don't want to hear it right now." She closed her eyes and ran a hand slowly down her face then placed her nose on her hands, almost as though she was praying. The ghostly whispering echoed in her head but she continued to ignore it as she tried to calm the rage bubbling up inside of her.

Opening her dark brown eyes, she pointed a finger at Hope and spoke slowly. "Here's how this is going to work... you are going to stay here in your room. You're going to pack whatever you need to because you're going back to school tomorrow morning. Your father and I are going to go look for your brother, even if it means I have to burn this entire goddamn city to the ground and sift through the ashes and then... I will deal with you when I get back." She remarked then gave laughed darkly and gave Hope a warning look. "If I find out you snuck out or did an inkling of magic, the consequences awaiting you..." She trailed off, hinting at the options lied out in front of the teenager. "Well, let's just say it's your choice. Try to make the correct one this time, yes?"

Ingrid then spun around on her heels and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she left. Klaus and Hope both flinched and watched the door fall of the hinges, crashing to the floor. Hope turned to Klaus with a terrified expression and licked her lips, crying softly. "Mom seems..."

"Niklaus!!" Ingrid's voice echoed harshly from the courtyard.

"Don't." Klaus shook his head at Hope and quickly moved to follow after his wife, leaving Hope to herself. Once she heard the front door close, Hope fell back against her bed and sobbed into her knees.

Ingrid rushed out onto the sidewalk and tuned into her surroundings as Klaus stood silently beside her. He opened his mouth to speak but she held a hand up, stopping him. "Priorities, my darling. Find Eirik and then we can deal with the drama."

Klaus nodded his head, knowing she had a point, and sighed heavily to himself. "I have an idea of where he may be." He admitted grimly and she turned her head to look up at him. "The problem is... peace has remained between the communities for seven years and if we go after them, Marcel..."

"Niklaus, I don't care about peace. I care about my son, our son." She sneered impatiently at him. "I will tear every last person in this city to shreds until I find him. Whoever they are, they lost peace when they took him. The carnage is on them and Marcellus will get over it."

Klaus glanced at her for a moment before nodding his head. "Finally. Let's go kill every last one." He said vindictively causing her to smirk widely in a sinister manner.

The couple started the journey toward the Shiloh house and spoke quietly amongst themselves. "So, what did you do this time?"

Klaus chuckled humourlessly and shook his head. "I didn't. Our daughter did. Hope started selling her blood at school and she sired a hybrid, who made the mistake of biting and killing a vampire." He explained and flattened his lips. Ingrid sighed in frustration and ran a hand across her forehead. "Yeah... and when these vermin saw the opportunity, they took it."

When the house came into view, Klaus brought a finger to his lips and stopped her from advancing. He pointed to the two vampires standing guard at the door and turned toward her. "Feeling rusty?"

Ingrid scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please... I can outdo you, Niklaus. Even after being in a coffin for seven years. Everyone knows that." She commented smugly causing him to laughed huskily.

"Care to wager?" He offered with a mischievous expression on his face.

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at him in amusement. "Always. What's your offer?"

"Who ever kills the most vampires has to..." He leaned over and whispered the rest of their bet into her ear.

Ingrid was confused at first but then smirked seductively to herself as he pulled away. "Oooh... you're on." She agreed and held her hand out for him to shake.

He clasped her hand in his and shook it slowly up and down. The couple stared at each other for a moment then flashed the other their golden-amber eyes before speeding off toward the guards. Klaus bared his fangs and took a sizeable chunk out of the vampire's neck then snapped it while Ingrid punched her hand into the other's chest and ripping their heart out.

Ingrid raised an eyebrow at her husband and clicked her tongue. "Sloppy." She judged in disapproval and carelessly dropped the heart to the ground.

"Yeah?" Klaus challenged with a small laugh. "You do better then."

"Gladly." She remarked smugly then tried to enter the threshold, only to find that they were unable to. "What--- ugh!" She sneered in frustration then backed away from the front door and perked her ears up for any sound of voices. "Niklaus." She whsipered into the night sky and he glanced at her in interest. "There's a shed in the back."

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement then watched as she slowly approached the shed and pushed the door open. Ingrid stepped into the small outbuildings to find Eirik strapped to a chair with a gag over his mouth. She immediately rushed toward him and undid the binds around his mouth. Noticing the gash bleeding on his forehead, she growled animalistically and did her best to not lash out.

Eirik began to stir and blinked his eyes repeatedly. He felt someone behind him, touching the binds around him, and started to thrash around in panic. "No! Stop!"

Ingrid gently placed a hand over his mouth and walked around to stand right in front of him. "Hey. Hey." She whispered quietly and held her other hand up in surrender. Eirik's eyes widened in surprise and tears glistened in them against the moonlight pouring in from the small window. "It's okay. It's all okay. When I pull my hand away, you need to be extremely quiet. Can you do that for me?"

He nodded his head slowly so Ingrid pulled her hand away slowly and glanced at him in concern. Once his mouth was free, the only thing Eirik could think to say was "Mommy?"

Ingrid grinned widely and knelt down to rip the ropes around his ankles. "Hi, baby." She whispered affectionately and reached up to stroke his cheek with the pad of her thumb. "We're here to save you."

After all the ropes were off, Eirik stood to his feet and immediately wrapped his arms around Ingrid's neck in a hug. She was caught off guard for a second but then she smiled emotionally and hugged him back. She placed a hand on the back of his head and smoothed out his soft, bouncy sandy blond curls. "I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"

"Okay." He whispered in a watery voice and pulled out of their embrace. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more, baby. Alright. I know you're basically a grown man now but I need to pick you up. Can I do that?" She asked for permission and wiped his tears away. Eirik nodded in acceptance and she enclosed her arms around his waist before hoisting him up. "Hold on tight." She advised kindly and felt his grip strengthen around her.

She was about to speed away when a random vampire blocked her path, standing menacingly in the doorway. Rolling her eyes, Ingrid growled at him and flashed her golden eyes. "Eirik. I need you to close your eyes and whatever you hear, don't open them."

The youngest Mikaelson nodded his head and squeezed his dark brown eyes shut. Ingrid couldn't see him so she called out to him while placing her body between his and the vampire's. "Are they closed?"

"Yes, mom." He responded, burying his head into her shoulder.

"Good." She praised then shifted him onto her hip to free one of her arms and struck the vampire in the chest, yanking his heart out in one swift motion. Dropping it to the ground, she wiped the blood onto her jeans then grabbed tightly onto Eirik again before speeding out of the shed. "Niklaus!" She yelled loudly into the trees and stopped on the edge of the property. Groaning, Ingrid decided it was best to leave him behind and rushed toward the SUV. She flung the passenger door open and set Eirik down in the seat.

He looked up at her with bewildered eyes when he saw the blood and she quickly moved to cover it up while speaking frantically. "I need to find your father so I need you to stay in the car and hide. In the glove compartment is a necklace Auntie Freya spelled for emergencies. Have you seen Harry Potter? Is that still popular?"

Eirik cracked a smile at her and nodded curtly. Sighing in relief, she gave him a smile back and continued on, talking rapidly. "Remember in the Sorcerer's Stone when Dumbledore gave Harry the invisible cloak for Christmas?"

"You're a nerd, mom." Eirik commented in amazement and nodded his head again. "Yes. I remember."

"Yeah, well, your mom's old. Anywho, it's just like that. Put it on and stay in the car." She ordered sternly and handed him the car keys. "Lock it." The hybrid commanded and closed the door. She was about to walk away but she turned around and blew him a kiss through the window before speeding off to find her husband.

Ingrid found Klaus on the west side of the property, surrounded by several dead bodies. She walked toward him with pursed lips and mused lowly to herself. "Hmmm.... impressive."

"I couldn't find Greta. She must have run off." Klaus replied while tossing a body to the side. "Did you find him?" He asked in worry, his voice cracking as fear washed over him.

She nodded her head and smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Yes. He's safe in the car."

"Good. That's all of them. Well, I have eight, my love. How many did you have?" He questioned curiously with a smirk.

"Two..." she whispered with a frown then held a finger up when he began laughing. "But, I saved our son. So..."

Scoffing, he grabbed her hand and they walked toward the SUV. "Whatever." He grumbled lowly and she laughed happily along side of him.

"Niklaus..." She called out to him with a worried expression causing the other hybrid to turn toward her. "Did this feel a tad too easy to you?"

Klaus started walking again, pulling her with him, and nodded his head. "Yes. But we will deal with that when we get to it."

When they go to the car, Klaus was about to panic about not being able to find Eirik. Ingrid hushed him and rapped her knuckles on the window. Eirik removed the necklace and waved at them. "Hi, dad."

Klaus sighed in relief and glanced over at Ingrid, who smiled at him, before they all climbed into the car and he drove them home.

The trio returned home and Eirik requested that Ingrid tuck him in and read him a story. She waiting for him to shower and walked around his room, studying. There were posters about the solar system and a series of video games. It was hard for Ingrid to grasp that her son was eleven years old and she frowned to herself, feeling guilty for the time she had missed.

The sound of the door opening snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned to see him walking into the room, wearing a fresh pair of pajamas and a bandaid on his forehead. She motioned to her own forehead while glancing at him in concern. "How's your head?"

"It's okay, mom." He assured her and pulled back the covers of his twin bed then climbed in. Ingrid walked over and tugged the duvet up over his chest. Kissing his affectionately on the forehead, she backed away and sat down next to him.

"Can you read to me?" He requested in a small voice.

Ingrid glanced over at him, silent for a moment, and nodded in agreement. "Sure. What do you want me to read?"

He reached over and grabbed a book off his nightstand before holding it out to her. Raising an eyebrow, Ingrid took the book from him and flipped it around to read the cover. Noticing that it was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, she cracked a smile and laughed lightly. "Okay." Ingrid turned to the first page and began to read aloud. "Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived. Mister and Misses Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."

Eirik smiled happily to himself and settled down amongst the covers while listening to the soothing sound of his mother's voice as she read to him until he eventually drifted off to sleep. Once she was sure he was asleep, Ingrid closed the book and set it back down on the nightstand before slowly slipping out of the bed and kissing him on the head again. She walked to the door and gave a lingering stare. Smiling to herself, she whispered softly and closed the door. "Good night, baby."

Ingrid walked down the hallway and watched the foliage start to die around her again. Sighing, she walked into Hope's room to find the witch stacking her suitcases on the end of her bed. Hope turned to face her and trembled lightly in fear.

"Sit down." Ingrid ordered in a dull voice and not wanting to anger her further, Hope sat down in her comforter.

Hope watched anxiously as Ingrid pulled her computer chair around and set it down in front of her. The Original sat down in the chair and stared at her in silence for a moment.

"We don't have a lot of time so I'm just going to beat around the bush here." Ingrid remarked with an exhausted expression on her face. "How could you do something so selfish and irresponsible?" She breathed out disappointment and folded her hands together.

Tears pooled in Hope's light blue eyes again and she licked her lips, glancing down at her lap and refusing to make eye contact with her mother.

Ingrid frowned and her tone grew stricter. "I asked you a question and you will look at me when I speak to you."

Hope snapped her head up and mouthed several words before actually being able to verbalize them. "I thought if you found out Eirik was missing, you'd come running home. I didn't mean for him to really get kidnapped."

"So, you thought the best way to bring me home was to endanger your brother's life?" Ingrid questioned incredulously. "It doesn't matter whether you meant it, it happened. Now you have to take responsibility for it. Honestly, what was going through your head when you conjured this up?"

"That all I wanted was my mom back even if she didn't care to be in my life." Hope responded in anger and sniffled back tears. "How could you leave like that? I waited for you for so long and you couldn't be bothered to even write a letter explaining where you were." She snapped, raising her voice. "You want to talk about selfishness. What about your selfishness? You made dad lie to everyone to cover your ass. How can you live with yourself?" She interrogated and stood to her feet abruptly. "Answer me!"

Ingrid rose to her feet with a dangerous expression on her face and gritted her teeth together, the rage building up inside of her again along with the whispers. "You do not speak to me in that tone." She sneered furiously and her eyes darkened. "I'm your mother and you will speak to me with respect. I do not ask for much from this family but I will not tolerate your disrespect. So, sit back down and reevaluate how you want the rest of this conversation, and your life, to go."

Hope sat back down for a second then stood to her feet again. "No! I deserve an explanation."

Ingrid sighed in frustration and closed her eyes, clenching her hands into fists and flattening her lips. Sucking the air from her teeth, she reopened her eyes and glared at her daughter. "An explanation for what? I don't know what else I can tell you, Hope! I left because I had literally no other choice. I did exactly what your aunt and your uncles did. Go berate them. Are you also up Elijah's ass or did he get a free pass?" She asked incredulously and scoffed harshly, getting angry at a whole different situation.

"The only way to keep you safe was to leave and I did. Is that what you want me to say? That I walked out on you and Eirik and your father? Is that what you want?" Ingrid pushed furiously and threw her hands up. "Fine! I walked out on you. I walked out on my family. But don't you ever dare stand there and claim me to be selfish in your narrative. I have sacrificed more for this family than you will ever know."

"Daggering yourself and sleeping for seven years isn't a sacrifice." Hope scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Hope..." Ingrid trailed off, trying to control her temper. "You cannot even begin to understand the gravity of the situation and I don't expect you to. But what you won't do... is throw it in my face." She warned with a stern expression.

"You're a shitty mom for leaving her kids to take some stupid eternal nap. Just admit that you were too weak to handle it so you gave up." Hope insulted angrily causing Ingrid to laugh sinisterly and run her tongue along the corner of her mouth. Hope didn't appreciate this reaction and narrowed her eyes into two slits. "You don't even care! You find all of this amusing because you're exactly how they said. You're cruel and vindictive. I bet you enjoyed leaving us. Like some sadistic way of getting off. I thought I wanted you here but in reality, I hate you!"

"I'm done, Hope. I refuse to stand here and be insulted because you're deciding to project whatever onto me. I'm not a punching bag. So if you want to talk like an adult, you come find me later. But until then, I'm done with this." Ingrid replied dully and moved the chair back to the desk. "You're leaving for school tomorrow so at least you'll be surrounded by people who find you amusing because I sure as hell don't. You're spoiled and entitled and it's not a good look. Fix your shit, Hope, before I do it for you. Oh! I expect you to apologize to your brother tomorrow morning and mean it."

Hope rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Ingrid closed the distance between them and glared down at her daughter. "He could have died. Do you really want to know what I would have done had that happened? I would have never forgiven you. How you're holding me leaving above my head... I would have hung this over you forever. Mean right? But that's to be expected when you're a shitty mom." Ingrid pointed out angrily and stared at the teenager, who gaped in shock. "I'm not giving you a choice. You want to act like a child, you will be treated like a child. The recklessness, the blood deals, the selfishness, the entitlement.... it all stops now. Do I make myself clear?" She asked harshly and Hope glared at her. "I said, do I make myself clear?"

Hope was about to say something when she began coughing harshly, almost as though she was choking on something. Ingrid watched in concern and reached toward her. Hope slapped her hand away before coughing up a snake. They both gaped in horror and Hope looked at Ingrid, frantic. "Go, go. You have to get out! You have to get out. Get out!"

Ingrid nodded frantically and sped out of the compound, rushing to save her daughter despite everything that had been said. She rushed as far as she could, making it out compound, and sobbed quietly to herself.

A few moments later, she was sitting on top of a building outside the city with a paper bag full of fries in her lap. She shoved a fry into her mouth and narrowed her eyes at the man she noticed walking across the street. "I see you and you see..." She trailed off then smirked when he looked up at her. "Me..." She then began to hum the Jaws theme song to herself until he appeared next to her. She dramatically finished the ending to the song and laughed happily.

Marcel sat down next to her and chuckled in amusement. "Did you just Jaws me?"

Ingrid turned toward him and laughed along with him. "Maybe." She mused slowly then held out the paper bag. "Fry?"

Marcel reached his hand into the bag and grabbed a fry, placing it in his mouth. "I heard you were in town. Starting to think you had forgotten about me."

"Forget you? I could never." She replied honestly with a small scoff. "It was in my plan to see you."

"Oh, you had a plan?" He questioned mockingly and smiled over at her.

"Yeah! I was on a plane for almost an entire day. What else was I supposed to do?" She asked him curiously and ate a few more fries.

"What was on this plan?" Marcel grabbed more fries and looked at her curiously. "Make it rain blood and kill all the flowers?"

"I was starting to wonder what would happen and believe me... I wasn't expecting that. Hope threw up a snake." She informed him with a deep frown and stared off at the New Orleans skyline.

"Hey, it's okay." Marcel tried to assure her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You didn't know."

"Yeah but I knew there would be repercussions for getting close. But I---" She said, shaking her head with an overwhelmed look on her face.

"Had to save Eirik. I know." He finished for her and she leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I wasn't expecting to be awake this soon. I thought I would be in for at least another few years." Ingrid admitted and sighed heavily. "I don't have the slightest idea how to raise teenagers especially supernatural ones." She remarked with a small laugh and looked down sadly at her paper bag. "She told me she hated me..."

"Hope doesn't hate you. She's just mad and she's a teenager. She doesn't know how to handle all her feelings and emotions right now." Marcel tried to reassure her but knew deep down that it was no use. He decided to take her mind off her argument with Hope, he looked down at her and smiled kindly. "One thing's for sure, I could never hate you."

"I missed you, Marcellus." Ingrid mused affectionately.

"I missed you more, ma." He remarked and kissed the top of her head. "How's Eirik doing?" Marcel asked in concern and furrowed his eyebrows.

Ingrid nodded, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder while she did so. "He's okay. Exhausted and a little scared but he's going to be alright. He's a tough kid. It's almost unbelievable. I feel so lost. When I left, they were little and now... I wonder if I'm doing them a favor or if I'm hurting them by coming home. Maybe I should have stayed gone."

"Are you considering leaving?" Marcel asked sadly.

"A little. Hope goes back to Mystic Falls tomorrow morning so I could technically stay but I think it'll just hurt everyone because I can't stay." She replied with a deep frown. "Maybe I'll move to Alaska. Siberia has taught me to like the cold." She joked with a laugh and he shoved her shoulders. "No, I don't know yet. Why? Do you want me to stay?"

"Of course!" Marcel mused happily and hugged her tightly. Ingrid laughed and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back.

When they let go of one another, Ingrid's smile fell slowly. "I need to tell you something, Marcellus and... you're not going to like it." She said and pulled away to look him in the eye. "I know who took Eirik and if you don't deal with it, I will."

---
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