The blonde bartender slid two martini glasses on the bar counter in front of us. I looked up from my phone and turned it off, slipping it into my back pocket. I crossed my arms on the counter and grabbed my glass, bringing it to my lips.

"So what brings you to the Big Easy?" The blonde asks, smiling at us.

"We used to live here." Elijah, my older brother, replied as he used the toothpick to stir his drink.

"Really, when?" She asks, tilting her head in interest as she prepares another drink for other costumers.

"Oh, it feels like a hundred years ago." Elijah said, looking over at me.

"Yeah..." I didn't know what else to say but I just nodded along.

"I just moved here myself." she responded, "What brought you guys back?"

"Well, our brother's here somewhere. I'm afraid he might have got himself into a bit of a bind." Elijah replied.

"You say that like it's a common occurrence." she said.

I snorted, "He's...complicated."

"Defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental." Elijah added, nodding along side with me.

"We don't share the same father." I began, "And so he never felt like he belonged."

"Of course that never bothered us, but he resents it deeply." my brother added, sipping his martini. "All told, he has a long history of getting himself into trouble."

"And I'm guessing you have a long history of getting him out of it."

Elijah and I nodded in unison, smiling softly at her.

"What kind of bind is your brother in?" she asked.

"He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him." Elijah answered, placing his martini glass back on the bar counter.

"Wow. Narcissistic and paranoid." she replies, shaking her head as she chuckles. When Elijah and I stared at her, she added, "Sorry. Bartender with a grad degree in psychology. Total cliché."

"I like you..." I looked down at her nameplate, "Camille."

Camille smiled back in response and I slid my empty glass across the bar to her.

"Listen, Camille, I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament." Elijah began, "She works here, Jane-Anne Deveraux. Any idea where I might find her?"

"No." she shook her head, "But I know someone who might."

—

"Sabine." I muttered, "Is that even a real name?" I asked as Elijah and I walked down the sidewalk.

Elijah chuckles as I continue, "Honestly, it sounds like a name for an old lady who's also a with and who used a broom stick to fly. Don't you think?"

"That's her." Elijah said as he suddenly stopped walking.

I frowned and followed his line of vision. My gaze stops on a dark skinned woman who guides a group of people across the street.

Sabine led the tourists down the sidewalk and she stopped in front of the voodoo shop. She told them to go ahead and enter. Once they were in, she turned around and walked closer to us.

"Are you going to continue following me, Elijah, or do you wanna talk?" Sabine said before she turned around to face us. She froze when she spotted me. "And you must be Rebekah."

"Isabella, actually." I corrected, sending her a tight smile.

"Oh, the young Mikaelson."

"You know who we are." Elijah commented, his hands in his suit.

"Original vampire, always wears a suit." she looked at me, "Blondie who I thought was Rebekah." I hummed in reply and she continued, "You and your family are famous amongst the witches, especially with your brother back in town."

"Well, Niklaus—"

"Don't call him Niklaus. You make him sound like an old man." I said, looking up at Elijah.

He rolled his eyes, "Klaus is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him. Someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux."

"Well, if he's looking for Jane Anne, he's a little late." Sabine replied, her hands behind her back.

"Oh shit, did she flee across the world and died in an airplane crash? Oh my god, did her baby die too? This is so sad! Can I visit it her?"

Sabine sent me a narrowed look, "No, no, and she's not pregnant."

"Was pregnant?" I asked.

Sabine sighed and rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

"Are you telling us she's dead?" Elijah asks, frowning.

"Come on, her sister Sophie's gonna want to talk to you two." Sabine sighed and she nodded her head so we could follow her.

Elijah and I obliged and followed her down the street. I whistled a low tune as I skipped behind them, my fingers playing with the pulled out string of my jacket.

A gust of wind blew and I pushed my blonde locks behind my ear. I crossed my arms on my chest and silently followed the two adults, my eyes roaming New Orleans.

It truly had changed. The streets, the shops, the buildings, and everything. People danced on the street and got paid for street performance. Others guided groups of people around the city. Others played instruments in their own world.

We turned a corner and suddenly, we were our of the busy streets. We were now in a more quieter private property. I walked a faster pace so I could walk beside Elijah and Sabine.

My eyes spotted a group huddled a hundred meters away. They were crying and weeping silently as a dead body laid on the floor. Blood staining her neck, obviously dead. Flowers and candles circled around the corpse. A girl sat beside the dead body as she weeped silently.

"Please tell me that's not Jane-Anne." I muttered, my eyebrows furrowed as I studied the mourning witches.

"That's her."

"That's Jane-Anne? Killed in public for everyone to find?" Elijah asked, his expression shocked.

"Only people that come around here are the witches." Sabine replied, "Now her sister has come to take her body. Her spirit can't rest until it's been properly interred in the cemetery."

"Please tell me that my brother had nothing to do with this." Elijah prayed.

"No." she shook her head, "Jane-Anne died because she got caught doing magic."

"Caught doing magic?" I asked and before Sabine could answer, a loud whistle blares in the empty streets.

"You wanna know who killed Jane-Anne?" she asked, looking between Elijah and I. "You're about to get your first glimpse of Marcel in action."

"The vampire Marcel?"

"Marcel?"

"Things have changed since your family left town. Marcel has changed." Sabine responded, her voice rushed.

I turn around and watch as vampires jump down from buildings, jump over the cars, and turn around the corner as thy approach the witches.

"I'm asking you, stay hidden. If Marcel finds out that a witch lured the Originals back into town, my people will be slaughtered." Sabine pleaded.

Elijah nodded, "C'mon Bella."

Elijah vamp speeds to a spot on a balcony and I follow him. We stay hidden in the shadows as we look down at the commotion.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Marcel appeared, laughing. "I gotta tell you Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight. Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson." He told the sister who stood up from the floor.

"We're putting her to rest Marcel. Leave us alone." she mumbled weakly.

"I never said you could move the body. Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason: send a message." Marcel replied as he walked around the circle, "If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the Quarter and yet a little birdy informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious."

He stopped in front of the sister, "Oh, yeah. While I have you, quick Q&A. My old friend – the hybrid, Klaus – he just happened to show up out of the blue asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne. Any idea why?"

"I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire business." she gritted through her teeth.

I watched as Marcel stepped over Jane-Anne's body and stood behind her sister. "Hmm. That would be pretty stupid, that's for sure. Tell you what, go back to the restaurant, cook up some of that famous gumbo, and keep those tourists happy." He turned to the vampires, "Take the body."

"What?" the sister exclaimed just as a vampire wrapped his arms around her to keep her caged in. "No! Stop! Stop! Marcel!"

"I'm gonna hold on to your sister's body in case maybe you remember why Klaus is here." Marcel said before he turned around and walked down the street.

"Marcel please. Her body won't be at peace." the sister called out, her voice pleading.

"Not my problem." Marcel called back, shaking his finger in the air as he and the rest of his vampires disappeared down the street.

Once they were gone, I turned to look at Elijah. Elijah looked just as surprised as I was.

"That's not Marcel." I said quietly, "That's not the boy Klaus raised."

"Sabine said he changed." Elijah replied.

"I hate him now." I muttered under my breath. "We should talk to Jane-Anne's sister."

"Okay. Let me just inform Rebekah about the news." he nodded before he pulled out his phone and dialed Rebekah's number.

Later when Elijah ended the call with Rebekah, he and I headed over to Rousseau's, the bar. I took a deep breath and listened, blocking out every noise as I searched for her voice.

"I'd say ask her yourself, but I guess you can't, seeing as Marcel killed her." I heard her say, her voice coming from the corner around the bar.

"She's in the alley." I told Elijah before I walked around the building to where I heard her and two other guys talking, probably vampires.

I spot a vampire trying to attack her. I instantly speed to the balcony over them and grab the vampire that attempted to attack her. Before he could make a noise, I forced my hand in his chest and pulled his heart out. The vampire fell to the balcony with a thud.

I turned around and looked over the railing. The girl and the other vampire looked around repeatedly, trying to figure out where he went. I smirked and dropped the heart from my hand.

The heart fell to the floor with a soft thud and both the girl and the vampire turned to look at it. The other vampire looks up and turns around to attack her but Elijah grabs him throws him against the wall with a dagger stuck in his chest.

"I'm Elijah." Elijah says, looking at the vampire attached to the wall.

I jumped over the railing and landed gracefully on my feet next to Elijah.

"And I'm Isabella." I said, "But call me Bella."

"You heard of us?" Elijah asked, turning to look at her.

"Yes." she nodded repeatedly as her body shook.

"So, why don't you tell us what business your family has with my brother?" Elijah asks, smirking at her.

—

"A cemetery?" I asked, scoffing. "What are you guys digging my brother's grave?"

"No..." Sophie, the sister, drawled with a shake of her head. "I wish. But no."

I chuckle as Sophie pushes open the gate with a squeak and enters the cemetery. I follow behind her to step past the gate, but I am pushed backwards.

I trip on my feet and I fall backwards but Elijah slips his arms around my waist and steadies my clumsy ass. I stand up straight and straighten my beige coat, muttering a small 'thanks' to my brother.

"This is sacred ground, which means vampires have to be invited in." Sophia says, turning to us with a smirk. "But, since I'm desperate." She sighs, "Come on in."

Elijah placed his hand on my back and urged me to step before him first. I stepped inside the cemetery and Elijah follows, his hand still on my back.

"We can talk freely here." Sophie says as she leads us throughout the cemetery.

"Then I suggest you start talking." Elijah replies, "What did your sister want with Niklaus?"

I opened my mouth to remind Elijah to not call him Niklaus, but then I shut it when I realize that now is not the time.

"Isn't it obvious? We have a vampire problem, and we need help. Marcel has an army backing him. The witches have been trying to fight back." she sighs, "We haven't had much luck, until my sister Jane-Anne met a girl, a werewolf passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia. She had a special connection to your brother."

"What kind of connection?" Elijah asks.

"Someone has had a connection with Klaus?" I ask, purely shocked at the fact that my brother would connect with someone.

"Apparently, they spent some time together." Sophie responded, "One thing led to another and now this special werewolf girl – she's pregnant. And the father of the child she's carrying is your brother Klaus."

I choked, "What?"

"That's impossible." Elijah says, his expression shocked.

"Nothing is impossible, especially not when it comes to your brother. Think about it – they call him the hybrid, right?" She raised her voice and turns her head, "Bring her out!"

Three witches come out, standing in formation around a girl, probably the pregnant werewolf girl. The girl seems a bit confused and really irritated as she stands in front of Elijah and I.

"Who the hell are you two?" she asks.

"Give us a moment, please." Elijah says to the witches while I stare at the girl in pure shock and interest.

"I can't believe my brother so irresponsibly impregnated a werewolf." I muttered under my breath as Elijah and I followed the pregnant werewolf girl to a burial vault with numerous candles on the walls around us.

"I'm Isabella, by the way." I told the girl, "And this is my brother, Elijah." I nodded towards him.

She nodded and I rolled my eyes, "What are you nameless?"

The girl chuckles but doesn't say anything.

"No? Nothing?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Okay then. From now on I'll refer to you as pregnant werewolf girl." I told her as I sat beside her on the bench that sat in the middle of the vault.

"So," Elijah began, "have they been holding you here against your will?"

"They lured me out to the bayou and grabbed me. And they did all these... weird witchy tests." she replied, "Not that I understand how this could happen. I mean, vampires are dead. They can't have children!"

"Perhaps if you knew my brother's story, it might explain how this is possible." Elijah said, standing straight as he walked over to where she and I were seated. "Isabella."

"Oh yeah, sure." I stood up and walked to the wall, leaning against it.

Elijah sat beside the pregnant werewolf girl and turned to her. "Here, if I may." he tries to lay his hand on the pregnant werewolf girl's temple but she recoils.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax. If you open your mind to me, I can show you."

She nods and allows Elijah to touch her head. They both close their eyes.

"In the beginning, our family was human. A thousand years ago, now." Elijah began, "Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were actually just a family trying to survive in a time when it was quite difficult to do so. And, for better or worse, we were happy.

That is, however, until one night, our youngest brother was killed by our village's greatest threat. Men that could transform themselves into wolves during the full moon. Our family was devastated, none more than Niklaus. Desperate to protect the rest of us, our father forced our mother to call upon her black magic in order to make us stronger.

Thus, the first vampires were born. But with this speed, this strength, this immortality, came a terrible hunger. No one felt this hunger more than Niklaus. When he killed for the first time, we knew what he truly was."

"He wasn't just a vampire." I added.

"He was also a werewolf." the girl said, looking at me. "That's how the werewolf curse works. It isn't activated until you take a life."

"Niklaus was the result of an indiscretion our mother had hidden from us all. An affair, with a werewolf like yourself." Elijah says before he places his fingers back on her temple.

Elijah continued, "Infuriated by this betrayal, my father forced our mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus's werewolf side, denying him any connection with his true self."

Elijah pulls back and stands up, offering me his seat. I sat down and Elijah stood behind me, his hands in his suit's pockets.

"Your dad was a dick." the pregnant werewolf girl says, making both Elijah and I to chuckle.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"I'm Hayley, by the way." she said, offering me her hand. I shook it and Elijah nodded at her, smiling. "You should probably know my name if you're gonna tell me your whole life story. I mean, I know yours. Your family is legendary. Your brother is a notorious psycho... who I slept with. Classic me."

"I cannot excuse his behavior, but you must understand, when our father hunted him – hunted us – for centuries, every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee." Elijah said, "Even here, in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long after Niklaus broke the spell which prevented him from becoming a hybrid, he defeated our father. I thought this would make him happy." he shakes his head, "He was angrier than ever. I wonder if perhaps this baby might be a way for my brother to find happiness. A way to save him from himself."

"I'm glad you feel that way, because we need your help." Sophie says, entering the vault.

"What, precisely, is it that you want and what does it have to do with this young woman?" Elijah asks, turning to Sophie.

"We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town. Klaus is the key. Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire, he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him, and he won't see the betrayal coming." Sophie replies.

"Yes, well, as I'm sure you're aware, our brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do."

"That's why I brought you two here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. Do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighborhood?" Sophie crosses her arms, "Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family."

"I'm sorry." I began, standing up. "Are you blackmailing us?"

"Like I said, I'm desperate." Sophie replies, looking between Elijah and I.

"Well, then, we have our work cut out for us, don't we?" Elijah says, turning to me as he smirks at Sophie.

—

Elijah and I had convinced Klaus to come and see Hayley and the baby she was carrying. It took us almost an hour to convince his stubborn ass the vault. Once we reached he had made a huge commotion.

But then Elijah told him to listen to the heartbeat. The look on Klaus's face when he listened to it was priceless. He wanted it. I knew it. Elijah knew it. Everyone did.

Yet he was still stubborn and denied the fact that he wanted his baby as much as we did. He then left with Elijah following him, probably trying to convince him that the baby is a gif.

While I took a break from the situation and headed to the bar Elijah and I were previously in. The bartender was a guy this time and I had ordered a burger with a side of fries.

Currently, I was sipping at my coke and eating my fries. The bar was empty with only me and the bartender. The town was quiet and everyone were probably asleep.

"Are you gonna finish that?" The bartender asked, eying my food.

I rolled my eyes, "Terrible service."

I slipped down from the bar stool and grabbed my beige coat from the counter. I slipped it on and walked over to the door. I pulled it open and stepped outside to the chilly air.

I walked down the empty quiet streets and slipped my hands in my coat pockets. The faint breeze blew against my blonde hair, fanning my face.

My steps halted when I spotted Klaus and Elijah sitting on a bench across the street. Both their eyes were trained on me as I walked across the street and over to them.

Once I reached them, they both scooted over and I sat between them. I cleared my throat and leaned back on the bench, crossing my right leg over my left one.

"This town was my home once, and in my absence, Marcel has gotten everything that I ever wanted." Klaus said quietly, "Power, loyalty, family. I made him in my image, and he has bettered me. I want what he has. I want it back. I wanna be king."

"So is that all this child means to you? A grab for power?" Elijah asks, looking at his brother.

"What does it mean to you?" Klaus asks, turning his head to look at Elijah.

"I think this child could offer you the one thing that you've never believed you had."

"And what's that?"

"The unconditional love of family."

"Klaus," I said quietly, placing my hand on his shoulder. "This baby is everything you've – we've – ever wanted. It's a second chance at happiness, humanity, and redemption."

Klaus turned to look at me as I continued, "This baby is a gift. It's our chance to start over and to take back everything we lost, everything that was taken from us. All our life, our own parents despised us and our family was ruined – we were ruined. And since then, all that you have ever wanted – all that we have ever wanted was a family.

Power and loyalty don't matter when you have the one thing that could your life into a better one. With this baby, you will feel powerful because love and family is power. It's the one thing that will keep you going. It's the one thing that will help you survive, Klaus."

Klaus's eyes tear up and I smile sadly at him, "Elijah and I will stand by you, Klaus. We will be your family and we will help you throughout this war. But I'm begging you to give this baby a chance. Please, Klaus."

Klaus averts his eyes and he looks down at the ground. My hand slips down from his shoulder and I stand up. I push my hair behind my ear and I walk down the street and away from them.

"Tell Sophie Deveraux we have a deal." Klaus says before I could walk away.

I turn to him and wide smile takes over my face. Klaus smiles back and I clap my hands in happiness. Elijah laughs and smiles as he looks between Klaus and I.

First chapter!!! Yayayya!!!

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