May 5, 2017
Time felt strange for five years.
In the attic of the Willoughby Lake house, the four Mikaelsons remained unchanged. Trapped in their sleep, preserved in their poisoned and dying states until a cure could be made.
But downstairs, the little girl who spoke to them every day had grown quite a bit.
"Muddy shoes aren't allowed on the couch," said Maddy just a millisecond before Hope leapt onto the couch, where Klaus was sketching. Too late, the mud splattered onto the cushions. Hope started to giggle, seeing her father making a silly face at her, pointing at a particular chunk of mud that seemed to be in the shape of a heart.
From the kitchen, Maddy raised a brow at them, and Hope quickly removed her shoes, walking to the doorway to set them on the designated mat. "Sorry, Mom, I forgot," she said, going to the couch and wiping the mud off. "It's Theo's fault, he didn't want to bring me to the door and made me walk through the pasture."
"Ah, that Theo," said Klaus, peeking out of the window at the horse in the distance. "I believe he may still be offended that you did not give him his carrot on time yesterday."
"But I was painting, I forgot! I didn't do it on purpose."
"Tell that to Theo," said Maddy, heading toward them with bowls of sliced fruit. "Try to eat some of the pineapple, don't just give it all to your dad."
"Thank you," said Hope, taking a fork and starting to eat, though she waited until Maddy turned around to quickly place the pineapple slices in Klaus's bowl. He simply smiled and ate them before Maddy could notice. "Are they coming yet?"
"They should almost be here," said Maddy, checking her phone. "Your Aunt Elena said they'd be here around midday."
"We're gonna have a sleepover," said Hope happily. "I already made a tent in my room."
"Just make sure you actually sleep," said Klaus. "You cannot stay up chatting all night, my littlest wolf." He finished his painting, and removed it from the easel, going to set it aside so it could dry. "Do not give your aunts a hard time."
"We'll be good," said Hope. "When you come back, you'll wake the others?"
He assented. "Yes. After we return from our errand, we will wake them. You will be able to meet your Uncles Kol and Elijah, and your Aunts Freya and Rebekah."
"Anita's excited to meet her dad," said Hope. "Do I get more cousins once they wake up?"
"Most likely you will," said Maddy. "But it will take just a bit of time— it won't happen right away."
"I know," said Hope. "Babies take a while to get here. The storks have to travel a lot to bring them."
"Mhm," said Maddy, ignoring the wink Klaus was sending to her. "Something to say, Nik?"
"Not at all, love," he said, getting to his feet, and handing Hope the remaining grapes in his bowl, because he knew how much she liked them. He came to stand beside Maddy, kissing her cheek and tickling her side.
From the couch, Hope perked up at the sound of a car pulling up outside. "Is that them?"
"I think so," said Maddy, just as her phone chimed, a text from Bonnie letting her know they'd arrived. "Yep, it is."
Hope squealed, rushing to put her shoes back on before running outside just as Elena parked the car. The back door opened, and Anita jumped out to greet Hope, who accidentally tackled her to the ground.
Elena and Bonnie emerged from the front two seats. "We're here," said Bonnie, nodding to Klaus and Maddy as they came to stand in the doorway. "The sooner you two head out, the better."
Maddy glanced at her husband. "I'm ready if you are."
"As am I," he confirmed.
The younger vampire went to get their bags, handing one to him before stepping outside, and kneeling in front of their daughter, placing her hands on her shoulders. "We'll be back soon, princess," she told her. "Be good with your aunts and Anita, and be nice when your uncles arrive later, please."
Hope nodded, holding up her hand and making half a heart with her fingers. Maddy lifted her own, making the other half before pressing it against Hope's. She then kissed her forehead, smoothing a hand through her hair as she whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Mom," said Hope as Maddy got back to her feet. Next, Hope went to Klaus, who scooped her up, tapping her nose and making her giggle. "I'll take care of Theo until you come back."
"Don't forget his snacks when he wishes for them," Klaus reminded her. "The spoiled prince wants it on time. We will see you soon, littlest wolf. I love you."
"I love you, Dad," she replied, patting his chest so he'd set her back down.
Maddy and Klaus set off a minute later, beginning the drive to the airport, where a private jet would fly them to Texas.
Five years ago, they'd all gone their separate ways to hide after Lucien had left the four Mikaelsons for dead.
Marcel had remained in New Orleans with Cami, watching over the vampires, while Vincent and Jo watched over the witches. The two men, alongside Hayley and Jackson, kept the three supernatural factions of New Orleans at peace with one another, despite the constant stream of visitors who came checking to see if Klaus Mikaelson was in New Orleans. They never did find him, despite their Locator Spells insisting he was in the Compound.
Most others were in Mystic Falls. Jeremy and Davina were both now attending Whitmore College, living life as normally as they could. Alaric had taken the cure so that he could grow old with Jenna, and then removed it from his human body to be set aside for Rebekah. Matt was waiting for her, day after day, hoping she'd be back soon.
Damon and Meredith were living at the Salvatore Boarding House, coordinating with Enzo and Liv, who had managed to use the Augustine research to cure Freya and Kol, but were unsuccessful in finding a way to create a cure for Lucien's venom, which meant they'd had to focus on finding pure wolves from the Seven Wolf Packs. Stefan and Valerie had traveled to follow leads, every now and then checking on the surviving Heretics, who were happy in Europe. Whenever they took time to visit their family, Caroline and Tyler took their turn to travel.
Elena and Bonnie had remained in New Orleans for college, the both of them having been raising Anita. During midterm season, Hayley and Jackson kept an eye on her, and during vacations, they came to spend time in Willoughby so the two young girls could have fun together. Once, when Hayley had been babysitting her, she noticed a mark on her back. To their surprise, they learned she was actually a Crescent. A Labonair, in fact, likely a distant relative of Hayley's. Now, Elena was taking a gap year as she prepared for medical school, and Bonnie was working on her Doctorate to become the next Occult Studies professor at Whitmore once Alaric retired.
Klaus and Maddy had remained in Willoughby with Hope. They'd waited until she was three to get a horse, which Klaus had wished to name 'Theo' after the one he'd had in Spain. He'd been a foal when they got him, and now he was rather big, enjoying the abundance of grass they had around the house. He always tried to go off to the very edge of the protective Boundary Spell that Bonnie had placed for them, to ensure that Hope couldn't exit unless she was with one of her parents. They hardly went into town, having compelled citizens long ago to get them groceries when it was absolutely necessary.
As Hope had grown older, she had learned to read, to write, and how to speak English, Italian, and French. She painted with Klaus nearly every day, and already knew how to take care of Theo. Every now and then, their family visited, but it was really only safe to come once a year, around Hope's birthday. At the very least she got to meet her uncles and aunts, though she wished she could know those who were upstairs, asleep. She went up to sit beside their coffins constantly, chattering away about all the things she'd done that day, wondering if they could actually hear her.
Bonnie came a bit more often to teach her some basic spells. Hope was an incredibly fast learner. She was allowed to remove her bracelet to do magic, but otherwise, had to keep it on. It allowed her to control her magic better, as it had a tendency to burst out depending on her emotions, and it often caused a bit of damage. Once, she'd grown frustrated with Anita because she broke her doll, and without meaning to, Hope had sent the doll flying into the wall, knocking into a lamp that nearly fell onto Anita's head.
Hope never wished to hurt anyone. In fact, she was constantly trying to fix what was broken. Anita's finger had gotten caught in a door, and had been quite bruised. Hope had calmly removed her bracelet and set the finger, before waving her hand and causing the swelling to go down. Theo's face had been cut by a branch, and she mended it instantly. She was always healing all the animals that came onto their property, if she ever noticed they were hurt in any way.
She was a good kid. She was respectful and caring, and whenever she lost her temper, she'd apologize and genuinely mean it. She listened to instructions, and she was a good student (though it was clear she wished to go to school like others her age).
One of her favorite people in the world was Ansel. He visited once a month, given he always awoke close to their house following a full moon. They hadn't told her that he was Klaus's father, because that would have raised too many questions about why Klaus didn't call him 'Dad,' and why he didn't really tend to speak to him. Ansel was fine not being known as her grandfather officially, because she technically considered him one anyway. Maddy figured that she actually knew the truth but was too kind to bring it up because she didn't want to make Klaus or Ansel sad.
"How is Anita a werewolf?" Hope had once asked.
"We just know that she's distantly related to Hayley," said Maddy. "We're not sure who her parents are, only that one was a Crescent werewolf. Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "Anita looks like Ansel."
"It's the eyes, a bit, huh?" Hope nodded, and Maddy continued, "Ansel is from a different werewolf pack, so I don't think he and Anita are related."
"Is he from the same pack as my Dad?"
"Yes."
That seemed to be enough for Hope. "Okay. I'm going to go play now." She kissed her mother's cheek before grabbing her rainboots and rushing out of the house. The next time Ansel had visited, Maddy had seen Hope taking him by the hand and leading him to her favorite spot in the backyard, where she liked to set up her paints. Perhaps she figured if Ansel was Klaus's father, he could paint, too.
The rarest visitor of all was Sarah. She'd only come by twice, once when Hope was three, and once after she'd turned five. After her rescue, Maddy had sat her down and told her everything. They arranged for Sarah and her parents to be monitored from a distance by a group of vampires, while a Protection Spell courtesy of Valerie would keep any outsiders from finding them. In that time, Sarah had been able to finish her studied at Duke, and was now starting her own photography business for special events. She'd yet to meet Damon, but she spoke to all Salvatores often, referring to them as 'cousins' whenever she spoke of them. It was clearly strange for her to see them as anything different, considering she'd never had the intention of finding her birth family and meeting anyone she was related to. But she was more than happy to know them, and was always glad when she received pictures of Hope, who she loved very much.
"Are you sure you're up for this?" asked Maddy as she and Klaus boarded the jet. "This would be your first time going on a mission without your Original strength."
"I've grown accustomed to being far weaker," said Klaus. "It's only for a while longer. Once my siblings are healed and awoken, my strength will return."
"Yes, but getting used to it while working around the house isn't enough to prepare you for a potential fight. Hayley and Mary Dumas suddenly heard about this lead on the Malraux when we thought, three years ago, that they were extinct. We know those sirelings of yours are still searching for you, still trying to find you and kill you along with the rest of your siblings. They might know about this girl we're going to find, and they might confront us."
"Then let them," said Klaus. "We have the white oak. There is no more venom we need to be afraid of. We will find the wolf, obtain her venom, then fly back home to our daughter within seventy-two hours. We needn't worry."
Maddy shrugged. "I worry. What if Keelin doesn't want to help us? She has no idea who we are and she has no reason to care about our problems."
"We will make her help us."
"No, we won't. We can't force her into it. How is it right if we're always teaching Hope about being good and considerate when we'd revert to old habits and manipulate and hurt people?"
Klaus sighed. "Then what do you propose we do if Keelin is unwilling?"
Maddy pursed her lips. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Her phone began to ring, just before the plane began to depart from the airport. "It's Marcel." She answered. "You're on speaker."
"Good," he said. "Just wanted to let you guys know, the usual's up in New Orleans. Out of town vampires in the Compound, trashing the place. There's more of them than last year. And I'm getting word about someone named Alistair Duquesne being in charge of this group. He's telling people that he's hunted down members of The Strix, and he offers them as proof— if they're alive, so is Elijah."
"Alistair," said Klaus, rolling his eyes. "Well, you can make quick work of him, Marcellus, he is younger than you."
"Well, he may be, but he's got vampires positioned all over the city. I won't have him hurting the locals. How close are you to waking the others up?"
"We're about to begin our flight to Austin, where we will find a hopefully willing Malraux wolf. We will obtain her venom before flying back home, where Enzo and the others will be waiting to cure them all simultaneously. At most, three days."
"I'd push it to one. Get this Malraux wolf and fly her to your safe house instead of getting her venom in Texas. The sooner you all come back to get rid of these vampires, the better. The locals don't deserve to suffer for this. It's bad for tourism and bad for my group. Besides, what are the odds that more vampires than usual show up here, the same day you're going to get the last puzzle piece for your cure? Something's fishy here. Feels like a trap."
"As long as Keelin is willing, we'll bring her with us," said Maddy. "Hopefully the compensation we offer is enough to sway her to accept."
Once they touched down in Austin, they followed Bonnie's Locator Spell instructions to a bar, where a group of women were doing shots at a round table. Maddy and Klaus walked in, and the younger vampire held up a small photograph of Keelin, matching it to a curly-haired woman who was just walking to the bar to ask for another round of shots.
"Having fun?" asked Maddy calmly as she went to stand next to Keelin, with Klaus behind her.
"I am, actually," said Keelin kindly. "I just finished my residency, which makes me an official ER doctor."
"Congratulations," said Maddy. "Have a lot of loans to pay off?"
"Phew, you would not believe me if I told you the number."
"Try me."
"Well, as of yesterday when I last checked, it was $241,748."
"I see." Maddy opened her purse, pulling out her checkbook, and beginning to write a check for that amount. "I need a bit of help with something. I have more than enough money to pay all that debt, if you'll at least hear me out. Even if you say no, the money's yours. But I'm really hoping you say yes."
Keelin could see the confident way she filled out the check, and figured she wasn't bluffing. "Make your case," she murmured, only just noticing that Klaus was standing rather close to her. She noticed that in the 'MEMO' section of the check, Maddy had already written, 'Keelin' on it. "Wait, how do you know my name?"
"My friend told me," whispered Maddy. "I suggest we have this conversation outside. It's not safe here."
The wolf reluctantly followed them out through the back exit, and once there, Maddy began to explain, "I'm Madeleine Mikaelson, and I'm in need of venom from a Malraux wolf in order to wake up my in-laws and make our family whole again. Will it hurt? Yes. But, if you accept to coming with us to Vermont for the day, we'll get a witch to make it painless, and we'll have you back here by tomorrow, debt paid instantly. That sound like something you may be interested in?"
"Mikaelson," Keelin murmured. "That name... it's familiar..."
"It ought to be, if you're a werewolf," said Klaus with a wicked grin. "The Original hybrid... etcetera, etcetera."
"Klaus Mikaelson," she said, as if just recognizing him. "I remember back when you were traveling around, turning wolves into hybrids. They told us to steer clear of you."
"He's not turning anybody into hybrids now," said Maddy. "We don't want to hurt you. We just really need your help."
"What's in it for you?" asked Keelin, nodding to Maddy. "You're a vampire. Why do you even need wolf venom?"
"That's a long story, one I can relay in detail on the flight to Vermont if you accept. To shorten it, I have a daughter who needs her family's support now that she's growing older. I care a lot about my in-laws, and unless I get your venom, they're going to die. Like I said, if you're willing to provide it here, it will hurt, but after that, you'll be done. However, it may be safer for you to come with us to Vermont. We worry that some vampires may come after you if they know how important you are to us."
Keelin pursed her lips. "Fine. But I want to be back here by tomorrow night."
"Fine by us."
Maddy ended up explaining quite a bit on the flight back to Willoughby Lake. Keelin was a good listener. She told Maddy more about her own experience as a werewolf, admitting that she'd used science to alter her body so that her healing wouldn't be accelerated. Maddy smiled, knowing Keelin may have a good time at the house once she got to speak with Meredith, Jo, and Elena.
The house was practically overflowing once they arrived. Maddy's brothers and their partners had arrived shortly after she and Klaus had left. Jo was there with Cami, and Matt had come along with Jeremy and Davina. Even Jenna and Alaric had stopped by, the two of them chatting with Ansel, who apparently had been teaching Hope and Anita to whittle.
Hope shot up when she saw her parents, running over to them and pulling them into a hug. "Everybody's here!" she said excitedly. "Are you gonna wake them up now?"
"Yes," said Maddy. "Everyone, this is Keelin, who has been nice enough to come here and supply her venom so that we can finish the cure today. Think we're ready to get started?"
It was probably very weird for Keelin to suddenly be surrounded by all these strange people. But she remained silent, watching as the four coffins were carried down. Bonnie and Davina set up for the spell, creating a star with seven peaks and placing the vials of wolf venom at each peak, beside lit candles. Keelin remained very still while they extracted her venom into the seventh vial, having been relaxed by an herbal mixture Davina made for her. As soon as they had enough venom to add to the star, they opened the two coffins containing Freya and Kol. Enzo came forward with two syringes of the cure for their poison. Maddy and Elena each took one, stabbing the needles into the two witches' hearts, and injecting the serum.
Freya and Kol both shot up, looking slightly panicked when they found themselves in such a packed space.
"Did you get the ingredients?" Freya panted as the two women helped them out of the coffins. Bonnie rushed to Kol, kissing him on the lips and leaving him unable to say anything. Freya replied once Maddy nodded, "Good, we need to begin. If we can't turn all that into a cure, Elijah and Rebekah are going to die."
"How much time do they have?" asked Maddy as Ansel and Klaus carried the empty coffins back to the attic so they weren't in the way.
"Maybe an hour," said Freya. "Assuming they live that long." She went to sit on the floor next to the star, motioning for Kol to sit across from her. "Venom from the seven packs..." she tapped each vial, "along with Klaus's blood," she motioned to the bowl in the center of the star, "infused by our Mikaelson witch magic and magnified by the Dark Objects..." she nodded to Cami gratefully, since the blonde had brought several items and placed them around the star. "It's going to take all our strength and more than a little luck, but it should be enough to fashion a cure to save my siblings."
"Mom." Maddy looked down at Hope, who was tugging at her arm. "Can I do magic with them, please?"
Maddy smoothed a hand through her hair. "This is a pretty big spell, princess. You might feel very tired. Are you sure you want to try and do that? You haven't practiced it."
Hope nodded, removing her bracelet and handing it to her mother, before going to sit with Kol and Freya. The two Mikaelson witches smiled before taking Hope's hands. "If it starts to hurt you, I'm going to stop it," said Maddy to Hope, who was peeking at her when she was supposed to be closing her eyes.
"Repeat after me," said Freya to Kol and Hope before chanting, "La candidat au somme, la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus..."
To Maddy's surprise, Hope pronounced it perfectly after hearing it only twice. The group moved closer, watching as the blood in the bowl started to have different colors swirling through it. Simultaneously, the venom from the vials began to disappear, magically being transported into the mixture. Freya gave a sudden gasp, and a milky white circle appeared in the bowl. She picked it up, going to Elijah's coffin first and opening it.
She revealed where Lucien's bite oozed on his flesh, and dipped her fingers into the mixture, smearing it over the wound. Slowly, it began to close, and she handed the bowl to Kol, so that he could do the same to Rebekah. Maddy and Elena came forth with blood bags as they woke up, both gasping, but thankfully alright.
"We did it," said Hope proudly, taking her bracelet back and clipping it on. She went to Anita, who was hiding behind Liv. The two girls came forward as Elena helped Elijah out of the coffin, gesturing toward Anita, who was looking at him with big eyes.
"Come say hi," whispered Elena. "This is your dad."
Anita tiptoed over to Elijah, and he knelt down carefully, offering her his hand to greet her. A smile grew on her face, placing her hand on his before pulling him into a tight hug.
"This is a nice family you have here," said Keelin, once Maddy was helping her get settled into the last available guest room. "That wasn't what I expected when I heard the name 'Mikaelson.'"
Maddy smiled. "Thank you so much for your help. I'll arrange for the jet to take you home tomorrow."
"Actually," said Keelin a bit shyly, "I was wondering if I could stay... just a bit longer. I wanted another chance to ah... speak to Jo and Meredith. And your sister-in-law, Freya, she mentioned something about a moonlight ring?"
The vampire smirked to herself. "Stay as long as you'd like. After tomorrow, we'll hopefully never have to use this safe house again."
"Where will the horse go?"
"We have a place for him near our house in New Orleans. I think my husband and daughter would go ballistic if they couldn't see him every day." Her phone started to ring. "Excuse me, I need to take this. Sleep well, Keelin."
She walked out into the hall, closing the door behind her. "Vincent," she answered, "all is well here. We'll start packing to go back to New Orleans tomorrow."
"I'd delay your return here," he said shakily. "There's something bad here, Maddy. Something real bad."
"Wait... what do you mean?"
"One of the young witches disappeared today. And Marcel and I are getting word of sigil markings on walls in abandoned buildings. Symbols I recognize... dark magic. It's better if you stay over there until we figure out how to deal with this."
"Mom?"
Maddy turned around, the phone still against her shoulder. "Yes, princess?" she asked Hope as she came up to her. "What's wrong?"
"I had a bad dream," she said, pouting. "Can I sleep in your room?"
"Of course you can. Your dad's already in bed, I'll be there in a bit, okay?"
She nodded and went ahead. "What do these sigil markings look like?" she asked Vincent. "Anything I need to look out for?"
"I'm not sure you'd see anything where you are, but it's this image of a serpent eating its own tail. The Ouroboros."
"Alright," she said. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll tell the others in the morning. Goodnight, Vincent."
"Goodnight."
She hung up, beginning to walk down the hall, not thinking to peek into Hope's room.
Had she looked, she would have seen the Ouroboros, drawn over and over again on different pages of Hope's sketchbook.
A/N: Just a note for faceclaims: We know young Hope is portrayed by Summer Fontana, while older Hope is portrayed by Danielle Rose Russell. Since Anita is a new character, I wanted to list the faceclaims for her. Young Anita: young Raffey Cassidy. Older Anita: Jordan McEwen. Also, sorry I hadn't updated, I'm home for spring break and it took some time to readjust to being with family. Comment for more!