Kol Mikaelson stared at the glass of vodka in his hand with a drained look on his face. He had spent the entire morning talking on the phone with Freya and Rebekah, then part of his evening talking to his niece.

Today was the day Nik and Elijah had died 50 bloody years ago. The day that Kol had always dreaded. The day where he had to be the emotional rock for the girls in his life. Especially for Hope.

Always for Hope.

Not that it was her fault that Nik left her with a lot of emotional baggage. Thank god for those twins that she surrounded herself with. Lizzie and Josie Saltzman. Her found-family.

A smile flickered across his face as he thought of the fiery blonde that reminded him strangely of himself and the strong-willed brunette that was practically a female Elijah but was far more passionate than Lijah ever was.

The second generation of Originals. A tribrid and two hybrids, or heretics as they were called. Vampire-witch hybrids.

Kol ignored the twinge of jealousy at that, he didn't need to start hating his niece's best friends. Especially since he found himself quite fond of them, they were strangely like another set of nieces. One's that he wasn't related to.

Kol shook his head, trying to clear it. He loved his niece, he wasn't ashamed to admit it. She was his family and would eventually be the last Mikaelson, other than him, left. They'd be the last of the Original family, with Nik Jr. and Ariana Gerard being the last to go.

It was strange to think about. Depressing even, yet Kol couldn't find it in himself to be angry. Not anymore. He was tired of being angry. He was tired of a lot of things. And perhaps that was okay. Life changes, time continues, and people grow. That was the way of the world.

Kol knew that one day he may decide to stop, to move on but that day wasn't today and wasn't tomorrow. He knew he probably wouldn't for a long time. Hope needed him now and he wouldn't fail her as his family failed him.

He would help her become the leader she was born to be. She may be a 40 something year old vampire but there was still much for her to learn. One day she will be equipped enough to navigate this new era of the supernatural world.

This era of peace. An era where vampires, wolves, and witches could live together in harmony. Ironically, all it took was his family dying out - and Hope dealing with any enemies that wanted her or the twins dead for being 'abominations'.

He glanced at a picture on the wall of his apartment. In it, was the entire Mikaelson family, back when Hope was only 7 years old. His eyes trailed the many faces but stopped as they landed on Nik.

His brother, the great hybrid, or as he knows him, controlling asshole. Kol sighed. A part of him. A very small part of him missed his brother. Or maybe he missed what could have been.

Then again, what could have even been? If Nik was alive, would they be a family? It was doubtful.

He had never truly belonged with them. No matter how much he yearned for it, it wasn't going to happen. Even at the end of it all.

And if Kol was being honest, he was okay with it. It took a thousand years and dying a few times but it had finally set in.

Kol didn't need them, not really. All he did was destroy himself trying to prove himself, trying to get them to see him. He put in so much effort, only for nothing to come of it. His family would always be his family but he didn't need 'Always and Forever'. It was never for him and would never be.

Despite that Kol would help his sisters for as long as they live, and then, he would say goodbye when their time finally came. He had come to accept that he would lose them too.

Human lives were fickle like that. They come and go, there one moment, gone the next. It was natural. He finally understood what humans found so precious about life.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had once seen the world the same way when he had been human but those memories lay in the past, so that's where they'll stay.

Kol sighed, pulling away from the thoughts of death, not wanting to be drawn into the memories of Davina's passing. His eyes continued along, eventually landing on his noble brother.

The brother, who would betray him in an instant if Nik asked to. The brother he would always resent, despite trying to push those feelings away into the past.

Kol always found it ironic that he seemed to despise Elijah more than he did Nik.

Perhaps because he expected it from Nik. He was the loose cannon after all. The one with the monstrous temper.

Whereas Elijah was the oldest, or in the very least, the oldest at those points in time, and he was supposed to protect him.

Kol was his little brother yet he watched him self-destruct. He watched as Kol became more and more broken, and did nothing. He let Nik dagger him multiple times - even helped him.

And even as he did this, he pretended to care. He told him that it was for his own good when in reality it was just to get him out of the way. Kol would probably always harbor anger towards them for the centuries of his life that were stolen from him.

He sighed again, and stood up, placing the glass on the counter. He sped up to his room and changed, getting into some sweatpants. Kol caught himself in the mirror and walked over.

He eyed his hair critically, his brown hair had auburn highlights that Lizzie had forced him to get. Going on about how he needed a new look and that switching things up could really help with his mental health.

The little brat had somehow sniffed out that he was depressed, and the second she had said that, Hope and Josie jumped right on board.

Although, he actually found he quite liked how it looked, not that he'd ever tell the girl. She already had too big of an ego, she didn't need him to add onto it.

Kol laughed quietly to himself, not noticing the strange glow that flickered over his eyes, then disappeared a moment later. Kol frowned as a chill went up his spine but he shook it away and laid down.

Passing out almost instantly, and had he'd been awake, he may have heard the cloaked figure that crept out of his room like a ghost. Kol slept on, unaware that everything was going to change.

<><><>

Kol felt himself slowly gain awareness. He tried to peel his eyes open but found he couldn't. It was like they were glued shut by some unknown force.

He shifted, muscles tensing. Freezing as he felt a wave of exhaustion. It felt like every muscle was straining at even the littlest movement. He found himself with enough energy to flex his fingers yet even that was slow going. In the back of his mind, a part of him recognized this as familiar but as he tried to grab onto those thoughts, they slipped away from him.

He couldn't focus. His throat burned and it felt like sandpaper when he tried to swallow. Then, he was hit with a terrible hunger. One he hadn't felt in such a long time.

His eyes snapped open and was met with the stinging light that made him want to reclose his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted, he froze.

There were many things wrong with what was happening.

One of them being that he was in a coffin, rather than his bed. The other was the figure standing near the end of the coffin.

Very familiar brown eyes stared at him from a suit-wearing vampire. Kol knew what he was seeing, it was obvious yet his brain couldn't accept it.

He was dead. Kol felt like a deer in headlights. Wasn't he? This wasn't possible. Elijah.

His muscles tensed, and with strange ease, he climbed out of the coffin. He could see Elijah's mouth moving yet the words sounded distant. Kol could hear ringing in his ears as his eyes darted around him.

This can't be real, can it?

Rebekah was standing to his right but what caught his attention was that she was fang deep in a human.

Vampire?

His eyes flickered to his left.

Finn was standing there with his long hair and stupid face. He was staring at everything around him like it was completely foreign, every once in a while switching his gaze back to Elijah, just to glare at him.

Kol didn't know what to do or how to react. Two of his dead siblings were standing in the same room as him. One of which was a terrible brother and the other, a backstabbing bastard. And his human sister was no longer human.

Slowly, the ringing sound seemed to drift away, taking the muffled feeling away.

Kol heard movement out of his line of sight and turned his head to look at the doorway to the room. And there stood Damon Salvatore staring at them, eyes full of regret.

What in the bloody hell was going on?

Kol felt his chest tightening and his breathing quicken as the realization struck. There was no way yet everything seemed so familiar. This entire situation had happened before.

Over 60 years ago.

His mind was racing a mile a minute as he tried to use his sluggish brain. He could feel his muscles burning as they kept him standing straight. His need for blood was getting stronger but he ignored it.

He could feel his hands shaking slightly as the air in his lungs seemed to leave. A part of him registered that he didn't need air but it didn't seem to matter.

Damon suddenly looked him directly in the eyes and Kol saw him pause, eyeing him confused.

"Hey Elijah, your brother good? He seems to be having a freakout," Damon said, narrowing his eyes. Kol wanted to snap that he was fine yet the words wouldn't come out.

He was fine, completely fine. The impossible had just happened and he needed a moment to comprehend it.

Or a lot of moments.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kol saw Elijah turn abruptly from where he was dealing with the pissed off Finn.

"Kol," Elijah said, his voice was firm even as he seemed uncertain with the idea of going near him. Kol felt a flash of confusion before he remembered that Elijah had helped Nik dagger him in 1914.

Kol watched him approach him, hand reaching out as if to calm a wild animal. And before he could stop himself, he flinched away violently, causing Elijah to stop in his tracks. Elijah stared at him and Kol noticed a sliver of guilt mixed in with confusion.

Kol shook his head, and continued to move backward, stumbling slightly as he did so. His eyes darted around him, finally landing on the human girl that he had killed the last time he had been undaggered.

One moment he felt the sharp pain of his fangs extending, the next, he was across the room with his fangs buried in the girl's neck.

Within seconds Kol could feel his strength returning to him and all aches disappeared. Kol felt his chest loosen as his mind cleared, allowing him to think clearly.

Kol suddenly felt the girl starting to slump from blood loss.

Stop.

Kol pulled away and looked down at the girl, then quickly bit into his wrist and fed her his blood. Once the girl was stable enough to stand on her own, he moved back, ignoring the burning gazes of disbelief on his back.

He lifted the girl's chin and looked her in the eyes. "You will forget what just happened and return home. When you get there, buy yourself a herb called vervain, and put it in a necklace that you will never take off, understand darling?" Kol compelled, gently.

"I understand," The girl said, face completely blank.

The girl then turned and walked out.

Kol turned and stretched his arms over his head as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Well that went well," He commented, looking at the rest of his siblings that were staring at him like he was an alien, while Damon had an impressed look on his face.

"What the bloody hell?" Rebekah shouted.

Kol fought the urge to groan as he felt a headache coming on. This was going to be disastrous. Perhaps he should ask Elijah to dagger him again and wake him in the next century.