𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀
ミ★ ( reign of wolves, act two ) ★彡

     Arkansas. That was the place that Rebekah thought of to be the safe house for the Mikaelsons. It was the place that the siblings of the Original family fled Mikael after his attack on New Orleans; it was the place of happy memories in the midst of terror according to Klaus. Klaus didn't hesitate to drop everything to help Rhea go to Elijah. It was clear from her phone call and her discussion with Finn that she was worried about him; and she needed to be with him. His pace quickened further when he realised that he and Hayley would finally be able to reunite with their daughter.

Klaus practically ignored any speed limit the entire time there, which was great for time but not so much for his gas tank when he had to stop for gas. Hayley was sat in the front seat of the car, sitting quietly the entire time. Rhea had only assumed it was because she was nervous to reunite with Hope after so many months of being apart; would Hope remember her? Would Hope notice how much of a monster she had become due to her heartbreak?

"I'm getting married." Hayley told Rhea after a few moments of silence while they waited for Klaus to pay—or compel his way out of paying—for gas, causing the other hybrid to sit up straighter.

"What?" She asked, a twinge of jealousy in her heart that Hayley would be able to get the chance while she was still waiting for her own.

"Yeah, it's a unification ritual to help the packs. It'll give them an opportunity to get away from being under the thumb of Finn and Esther since I'm a hybrid and they'd have all of the abilities without the ring." Hayley explained.

"Oh." Rhea mumbled, gnawing on her bottom lip, "Congratulations, I guess? I'm not really sure what to say to what." She responded, "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Jackson..." Hayley hesitantly answered.

A smirk grew on Rhea's face, "Ah, Jackson." She teased but she stopped when she noticed how unsure Hayley was, the girl shifting uncomfortably in her seat, "Hey, he's a great guy. I'm sure you'd grow to love him eventually. I'd actually be surprised if you don't have any feelings for him already."

     Hayley blushed, "Yeah... he's really great. I just don't really know I'm going to go through with this. This is marriage we're talking about and I barely know the guy."

"Yeah, but you'll do it anyway... for your pack." Rhea reminded her, "At the end of the day, marriage is a partnership and Jackson would be a great partner."

     Soon enough, Klaus returned to the car, and the conversation stopped.

     The car drove down the driveway of a homely house, and Klaus didn't even get the chance to park before Hayley rushed out of the car and sprinted toward Rebekah, Elijah and her daughter, who were waiting for them all out the front. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she sees Hope, as though she can't believe her eyes. Rebekah and Elijah both smile at her as Klaus and Rhea catch up with her, and Elijah wasted no time handing a smiling Hope to Hayley.

    "Hi." Hayley whispered, tears brimming in her eyes before she hugged her daughter tightly, letting out a sigh of relief. Behind her, Klaus is near tears also and was too overwhelmed to move. Hayley turned so Klaus can see Hope as well and Hope coos happily, making Klaus and Hayley both laugh as they smother her with kisses.

     In a moment of happiness, Rhea walked over to Elijah and pulled him into a tight hug. "We need to talk." She whispered into his ear.

     Elijah signalled his sister, and they moved away from Klaus, Hayley and Hope so they could talk and bond with their daughter, but soon enough, they followed after them and joined them.

    Rebekah decided to start building a bonfire while they spoke; Klaus informing them about what he had discussed with Finn back at the compound while the others weren't around him.

     "Curse on the first-born? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Rebekah scoffed.

     "Well, according to Finn, our sister, Freya, didn't die of plague. She was taken as payment by our aunt Dahlia, who then cursed all Mikaelson first-borns for eternity." Klaus explained and Rhea's eyebrow raised at the idea of another Mikaelson sibling running amok.

     "Is any of this true?" Hayley questioned, clearly concerned.

     "We'd be stupid if we didn't heed the warning." Rhea stated, shaking her head, "A threat is a threat, even if it's coming from Finn."

      "It's not a question on whether we believe Finn, it's whether we believe who he learned it from, the bastion of truth—our mother." Elijah reminded them all.

     Rebekah sighed, "Well, no wonder Finn hates us. He lost the sister he adored, and instead got a judgy pack of siblings who found him unbearably dull."

      "Great." Hayley said sarcastically, "So, is there any chance of us running into your loony aunt Dahlia any time soon?"

     "The fable's over a thousand years old. Dahlia is long dead." Elijah assured them all.

     "Like Esther?" Rhea says hesitantly as she raised an eyebrow.

     "No one's going to hurt Hope, because no one's going to find her." Klaus decided before he turned over to Rebekah, who had still been adding wood to the bonfire, "There's enough wood, Rebekah. You'll burn down the whole bloody state of Arkansas."

     Rebekah only rubbed her hands together excitedly as she returned to where her siblings are standing, "Well, we're just missing a key ingredient!"

     Klaus sighed, "No, we're not." He disagreed.

     "Yes, we are, Nik!" Rebekah whined before turning to her other older brother, "Back me up, Elijah!"

     Elijah only laughed, "I suspect Niklaus would rather choke on the ashes."

     Hayley's eyebrows furrowed, "What are you all talking about?"

     "Yeah, I'd like to know, too." Rhea stated, her expression matching Hayley's.

     "Well, before we light it, we write down our wishes for each other to burn for luck." Rebekah stated excitedly, "It was Kol's favorite part when we were kids!"

     Rhea's face softened at the mention of her friend while Klaus scowled, "It's further evidence as to why we should ignore it!"

"Hope's first bonfire season. I like it." Hayley smiled, "We're doing it!"

Hayley then turned around to go inside for paper. Rebekah, pleased, only turned to her brothers and smiled smugly, making Rhea chuckle at her.

Klaus was holding Hope later that afternoon in the dining room when Rhea came in with a small notebook and pencil in her hand to write their wishes. She held out the supplies for him to take, "Here." She offered him.

Klaus was too busy doting on Hope that he doesn't take his eyes off her when responding to Rhea, "I'm holding a small child, Rhea. This silly wish game will have to wait." He responds to her in a happy tone, making Hope coo.

Rhea smiled at the sound but insists on handing Klaus the pen and paper, "Well, you write and I'll hold my adorable niece." She suggested, "I've waited months to hold her. You have to share."

"You do realise it is not I who is to be the husband you can boss around?" Klaus remarked, "He's in the other room, might I remind you."

"Oh, I've already bossed him around into doing it." Rhea grinned back, "Which is why I've come here to boss you around now. So, give me Hope and you can write your wish."

Klaus chuckled and sighed as Rhea happily walked over to take Hope from him, the baby girl coping again as soon as she was into Rhea's arms, making the brunette grin as she lightly tapped her nose, "Hi, love bug."

Klaus picked up the paper and pencil and started to narrate out loud what he was writing, "I wish Rhea would tell Elijah that my mother engraved nightmares into your system about him her you, and now she is terrified of her own soulmate; in which I would pour him a scotch and comfort him on the fact that he has successfully driven away another woman in his life."

     He ripped off the page and handed it Rhea, who just glared at him, clearly not amused by his jokes, "How do you know about that?"

     "When you hugged me." Klaus shrugged casually, "You left your mind open and I saw snippets of it. Knowing our mother, I know it wouldn't of just been the one time she would toy with your mind."

     "Luckily for you, she'll have to try a lot harder than that to drive me away from him." Rhea stated as she snatched the paper from his hands and crumpled it into a ball, "And not a word to Elijah about this or I'll put this wish down your throat and make you choke on it." She threatens as she held up the paper ball, tossing it on to the ground before leaving the room, Hope on her hip.

     Klaus only smirked, clearly pleased with himself.

Rhea walked outside to the porch where Elijah was, stacking up firewood. He seemed to be in a daze and she looked at him concerned when she noticed his hand shaking by his side, "Elijah?" She called out to him softly.

Elijah blinked out of it at the sound of her voice, as if her voice anchored him to reality. He offered her a smile, "Hey." He said to her.

"Are you okay?" Rhea asked him, "What are you thinking about?"

Elijah only shook his head, "I don't want to scare you." He said, "Especially with the little one around."

He went to walk over to pinch Hope's cheeks but Rhea smacked his hands away, "Hey, dirty hands." She pointed out before handing him his handkerchief from his jacket, "Here."

"Thank you." Elijah chuckled as he pressed a kiss to Rhea's head before placing one on Hope's. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he liked the look of Rhea with a child, but he knew her aversion to children so he didn't want to anger her.

"Talk to me, Elijah." Rhea pleaded, "You're clearly struggling. What are you thinking about?"

"Things I've done. Images of who I was." Elijah answered vaguely, wanting to spare the gory details from Hope, "It's a lovely gift from mother. I can't turn it off. I suppose it's her way of demonstrating I'd be better off taking her deal."

     Flashes of him covered in blood, his fangs reaching for her appeared in her mind and she quickly blinked them away, "Believe me, I understand." Rhea sighed as she sat down on the porch swing, resettling Hope on her lap so she could lightly bounce her leg up and down, making her giggle, "But, the reality is that her deal is not better off for us."

"She wants us to start over. To live a mortal life, have children of our own if we choose." Elijah looked down at his hands.

"Yeah, if we're to believe Finn's story, we'll have more cursed first-born children to give to spooky aunt Dahlia." Rhea reminded him sarcastically.

"Not if we're no longer of Mikaelson blood." Elijah argued, "That is the beauty of my mother, Rhea—sometimes even her darkest deeds possess a logic that is difficult to refute."

"But, it's a fantasy, Elijah." Rhea shook her head, "She's not doing it for us and our family, she's doing it for herself. The ancestors have clearly offered her some kind of deal in order to fix her mistake of creating vampires a thousand years ago. And what happens to all the other vampires in the world if we abandon our bodies? Do they go, too?"

"I know. It's just... you and I both know now what my mother is capable of. I just wonder if she would relent and leave us be—" He cuts himself off and sighed, licking his lips anxiously before he lowered his voice, "What if all that mother needs is a victory?"

"No." Rhea said sternly, "No, Elijah. Absolutely not. I saw what she did to you, I refuse to let her get her grubby hands on you again." She scowled, "Not to mention, we're supposed to spend the rest of eternity together—how are we supposed to do that if you become mortal?"

"I'm merely just thinking out loud." Elijah backed down when he noticed how against the idea she was, placing a hand on her thigh, "I won't do it if you don't want me to. I just thought she might leave us alone if she believed she had a victory against us."

"Let her find the victory somewhere else—somewhere far away from our family." Rhea stated, "Besides, she wants all of us. One won't cut it." She reminded him, "So, forget about it, Elijah... I mean it." Hope started to fuss in her lap and she let out a sigh, "I better get her back to Hayley. She probably needs to eat."

     Klaus had just lit the match to chuck into the pile of wood to turn it into a bonfire, with Elijah, Rhea, Hayley, and Hope surrounding him and the now lit bonfire. Rebekah rushed outside to join them, "Hey! Look what I found!" She called out to them, holding up a Polaroid camera, and the boys groaned, "I wonder if it'll work?"

     Klaus sighed, "Oh, bloody hell."

     "Come on, let's try it!" Rebekah begged as she held out the camera to Klaus, "Hey, Nik, do you think you can cram us all into a selfie?"

     "Oh, Niklaus is a virtuoso at cramming his siblings into confined spaces." Elijah remarked and Rhea smacked his chest lightly, holding back the laugh that threatened to escape her lips.

     "Well, I'm just glad I traveled hundreds of miles to visit my mentally ill brother, only to have him insult me to my face!" Klaus retorted.

     "Hey, let's not throw stones in glass houses." Rhea defended with a frown.

"Oh, come on, just take the picture!" Rebekah groaned. Klaus sighed at her and held up the camera to take the picture of the six of them together. Everyone smiled, Hope included, except for Klaus, who remained blank-faced, "Aw, see?" Rebekah cooed as they all watched the photo develop. She then frowned at how happy they all looked despite everything was going on, a sense of longing hitting her, "I wish that it could always be like this."

"If wishes were horses..." Elijah also frowned.

Klaus sighed ruefully, "Beggars would ride." He finished the quote. They all looked back to the photo happily, and Klaus sighed once more, "You realise we'll have to burn it?" He asked them all and they looked up at him but he had turned to Rebekah, "You want me to make a wish for the family, Rebekah? I wish it didn't have to be like this. But, it does." He handed the photo to Hayley, "We can't risk it falling into the wrong hands."

Rhea and Elijah look at each other, both visibly sad, and Hayley takes a good, long look at the photo before reluctantly throwing it into the bonfire.

"No! This isn't right." Rebekah shook her head, "We deserve this. We've earned this." She looked at Elijah, Rhea, Hayley, and Klaus, seeming unhappy about their current situation, and suddenly got an idea, "I won't let it slip away. I know what to do to stop Esther."

Elijah tensed, "Rebekah, no—"

"I'm going to take her deal." Rebekah decided, "And, when I do, I'm taking her down with me." Rebekah and Klaus only stared at each other and Rebekah gulped anxiously, "It'll work. She will be distracted during the spell. She'll be vulnerable."

     "No. If we kill her, she body-jumps." Klaus shook his head, disagreeing with her plan.

     "Then stop her from jumping!" Rebekah argued snappily.

     "If I knew how to bloody stop her from jumping, don't you think I would have happily murdered her ages ago?" Klaus exclaimed.

     "Well, ages ago, you didn't have a Harvest girl or a Mikaelson witch." Rebekah reminded her, "Kol knows all of her tricks."

     "This is insane." Rhea scoffed, keeping her eyes on the fire.

     "You might think so, but this was Elijah's idea." Rebekah argued, "He's the one who said she needed a win, and if we get this right, then she'll have one."

     "And I shut it down because it was insane!" Rhea snapped, "If we get it wrong, you're no longer in your own body, not to mention, what do you think she'll do with your original one? She'll get rid of it, and in turn, every other vampire that belongs to your own sireline. It's way too risky."

     "Would it really be the worst thing to not be in my own body?" Rebekah questioned, "Elijah was ready to do it himself."

     Klaus looked at Elijah, surprised and concerned to hear that and Elijah only looked down at his feet in shame, "It was a foolish moment, and one that Rhea sagely dissuaded me from because she's right. It's too risky."

     "Hopefully, we'll get lucky and stop the spell before I jump." Rebekah said.

     "Think about this, Rebekah. Please." Rhea begged. She couldn't handle losing anymore people in her life, including Rebekah, and especially not at the hands of Esther.

     "But, if we're not lucky, you'll get what you always wanted." Klaus realised and Rebekah swallowed nervously, confirming Klaus' suspicions, "I mean, that's what you're saying, isn't it? You're willing to lose."

     "I'm willing to risk losing, yes." Rebekah confirmed.

     Klaus sighed, "Well, we need to find someone for her to jump into. Someone anonymous. Someone who could disappear with Hope."

     "Rebekah, we've been together for centuries. If you were human—" Elijah started.

     Rebekah only rolled her eyes, "When I'm old and wrinkly, you can dump me back into my old body. Nik already has a coffin he can store me in."

     Elijah crossed his arms, "But, to trust Kol?"

     Rhea narrowed her eyes on him, "We can trust Kol." She assured him.

     "Kol will do what's best for Kol—we just have to meet his price." Klaus says as he pulled out his phone to dial a number.

After Klaus spoke with Kol, they left to head back to New Orleans to confront Esther and pretend to go along with her plan. Rhea had waited a few moments before she walked into the living room where Elijah was standing in front of the fireplace, "Hi." She said softly, calling him out of his deep thought before walking toward him and wrapping her arms around his waist, the original pulling her into his embrace, "Are you okay?"

     "Better now." He told her and he pressed a kiss to her head, "Everything's better when you're here."

     Rhea smiled at him, "You've just been really quiet today, I thought I'd check up on you."

     "I'm always quiet." Elijah pointed out with an amused smirk and she sent him a pointed look, "But I do suppose I have had a lot on my mind." He said as she pulled away to go sit down on the couch, him following after her.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to... I know I've been pushing you a bit today." Rhea bit her lips while he pulled her legs into his lap, "So, why don't you tell me what your wish was?"

"For you to be safe and happy." He told her and she only rolled her eyes, but blushed regardless that he thought of her for his wish, "What did you wish for?"

"It was more of a hope." Rhea shrugged, "But, I just hoped that whatever your mom did to you; that you'd be stronger than it and you can fight it."

"I love you." Elijah blurted out suddenly and she smiled at him, "I'm so in love with you, Rhea Winona Lockwood."

"Believe me, the feeling is more than mutual." She said as she scooted closer to him to sit into his lap and wrap her arms around his neck, "I love you too, and I am going to be there every step of the way. We are going to beat this. Your mother won't win."

Elijah only pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes in complete content—and for once, when he closed his eyes, he wasn't plagued of nightmares of his past transgressions; he only saw peace.