Through His Eyes (The Originals)

No Quarter

 We were on our way to get Klaus. It's ironic, really, when you think about it: I, who planned his death for centuries, was now taking part in his rescue. 

 We had to make our way into the city undetected; Freya said she needed to be in the city for her locator spell to work. There was quite a bit arguing over plans to save Klaus. but eventually it was settled: Rebekah was going to provide a distraction for Marcel (I was not informed of that idea until it was already in motion) while Elijah, Freya, and Hayley went down to the tunnels to find Klaus. In the meantime, Kol and I were staying at Rousseau's with our old acquaintance Josh.

 I stood staring out the window while listening to Josh tell Kol some nonsense about how everything would get better with time. He was talking about Davina, I realized. But as I listened, I realized that was exactly how I had felt when I lost Esther. I hated everything and everyone. I didn't like the idea that my son was going through the same process.

 "Well, since we're such good friends now," I heard Kol say, "Perhaps you could explain to me what 'Teutoburg' means."

 Kol was holding up Josh's phone. There was a message that indeed say 'Teutoburg'.

 "Probably some sort of secret code," I said. "Josh, can you explain."

 "Look, guys, I'm really not a part-"

 "I would say you are now," I cut in. "My children are out there, Josh, and if this means something that could put them in danger, you had better tell us now."

 "Or we can just do things the more painful way," Kol added.

 Josh sighed. "It's a battle where the bad guys caught the good guys. Marcel is warning me that you're all here so that I can spread word to the rest of our guys."

 "Too bad you won't get the chance," I said, and watched as Kol snapped his neck.

 "He's lucky Davina liked him," he said.

~~~~~~

 We arrived at the cemetery to find Rebekah already impaled with arrows by people who appeared to be hunters and were mostly likely working for Marcel.

 "We could get a pretty penny for Rebekah Mikaelson," one of them said.

 "Yes, we could," the woman replied. "But if Marcel wants her safe, then I'm gonna keep her safe." 

 Kol immediately moved to kill the first one who had spoken. "Well, he won't be taking anyone, as he is rather indisposed. To be fair, you won't be taking anyone, either."

 As the woman ran off, Kol and I pulled the arrows out of Rebekah's back.

 "What did Marcel do to you?" I asked her.

 "Well, it's not like I didn't threaten him first," she said.

 More vampires came, but they were easy to take out when you have three Originals on your team.

 Once they were gone, Kol asked, "Can we please leave now?"

 "Where's Elijah?" Rebekah asked.

 "I have no idea," I answered, "But they probably should have been back by now."

~~~~~~

 We waited outside the city for them.

 "I suppose I should thank you both," Rebekah said.

 "For what?" Kol asked.

 "Coming to save me."

 "We wouldn't have left you, Rebekah," I said. "Now, where are they? Shouldn't they have been here already?"

 "We're here."

 Elijah, Freya, Hayley, and Klaus all came out through the drainage pipe.

 "We can all hug later," Freya said as Rebekah moved to hug Klaus. "We need to leave now."

 "Marcel was right behind us," said Hayley. "Come on."
 
  As we all ran for the car, we heard, "Actually, I'm right here."

 We all stopped, and I slowly turned to face Marcel.

 "None of you should have ever come back here," he said.

 "That's what family does," said Hayley. "We fight for each other."

 Marcel scoffed. "Yeah, so I've heard. Though it didn't really work out for me, did it?" 

 "Oh, for God's sake, you were never a Mikaelson, get over it!" Kol cried. "Don't you have a city to run? Vampires to boot out of town?"
 
 Marcel made a move towards Kol, but Rebekah got between them. "If you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all."

 "Hey don't push me, Rebekah." 

 "Stop it," I hissed at Kol and Rebekah and got in front of them both. "If you want to kill any of them, you're going to have to fight me first. I think I'm the only one you haven't taken a jab at yet."

 "Oh, you want to go at it, old man? I see you haven't changed much." 

 "I would gladly fight you," I said. "You know why? Because I see through you. You're not the big, fearless ruler you're making yourself out to be. You are-"

 "That's enough!" Klaus shouted. "Mikael, we can all see you still have your bad temper, but this is not a good time to let it show." He turned to Marcel. "You won. New Orleans was once our city. Now it's yours. For good."

 "Is the great Klaus Mikaelson accepting defeat?" Marcel asked. "Or is this all just another distraction?"

 "Neither," Klaus replied. "In fact, despite your appalling behavior, I'm offering you a chance at peace. Attempt to kill us all, and you will be making a mistake. Any who survived would no doubt return to seek revenge, bringing our enemies back to your city in our wake. And even if you did manage to eliminate us all, one day my daughter would come for you. And her daughter after that. On and on for all your days, an endless cycle of violence you will bring upon yourself. Or we leave and never come back."

 "After all that time buried in a hole, you still have some nerve," said Marcel. "You stand here with a straight face and try to sell this like it's your choice. But here's the truth: I could kill all of you right now. And tonight I would sleep like a baby. Hell, that's what you would do. You've destroyed, taken more lives, ended more families than anyone who's ever lived. All because you can. But here's the other truth. Despite being raised by you people, I am nothing like you. In fact, I'm proud as hell not to be a Mikaelson. I beat you all without turning into you. And now you can live the rest of your lives knowing that the only reason you exist is because I showed you mercy. Now go. Don't come back. Ever."

 "Come on," I whispered and pulled Kol and Rebekah towards the car. "Let's just go." 

~~~~~~

 The ride was absolutely despressing at first, but when we were further away from the city, things started to lighten up a little.

 "So that's how Father and I heroically stopped Josh from spreading the word and saved Rebekah as well," Kol said as he finished his story. He playfully clapped me on the shoulder. "It's funny to think about, isn't it? Father actually helped to save us. He was even part of your rescue team, Nik."

 I smiled at Kol. "I think you're giving me too much credit. Hayley's done a lot of the work. I'm more like the sidekick."

 Klaus didn't say anything, but I could feel him staring at me. Of course he had to be surprised I was part of his rescue team.

 When we finally did reach the safe house, it was already night. Henrik, however, was awake, and came outside when we pulled up.

 "Where have you been?" he asked. "I've been worried. You didn't even call, Father."

 "I'm sorry," I said. "I've been busy. But we did bring some people back with us." 

 The others had climbed out of the car, and stared in astonishment as the looked at the young next to me.

 "None of you recognize you brother?" I asked. "Henrik, perhaps you should reintroduce yourself."

 "He doesn't need to be reintroduced," Rebekah said, and pulled Henrik into a hug. "We missed you."

 I quietly went into the house as the others got back together. I thought about everything Marcel had said. He was right about us, everything he said. How had this family gotten to be terrible? If it was me, I would have killed the enemy without thinking twice about it.

 Marcel had said he was proud not to be part of the family, and now I felt ashamed that I had a part to play in our horrible history.