Lightning Strikes Twice

Twenty

Elijah was worried. They knew the whereabouts of Rebekah and Klaus, but Celeste had said they didn't take Méalla. If they didn't, who did? Alex, scared as she was, refused to leave Hayley's side until Méalla was back, so Hayley was doing her best to keep the girl occupied.
Elijah really wanted to find Méalla, but he had the more pressing issue of Klaus wanting to kill Rebekah as soon as she's in eyesight. Méalla would probably tell him to keep their sister safe until she got back, so he was going to do just that.

"So what now?" Méalla asked Alana as she came into the room.
"Now, I release you back into the wild and you make the right decision by next week." Alana came over to Méalla's side. "I'm just going to put you under, can't have you breaking my neck as soon as your hands are free." Alana placed her fingers on Méalla's forehead and she passed out.
Méalla woke up on her bed in her room at the Conpound, Alex and Hayley sitting beside her.
"Hey sweetie." Méalla said to Alex, sitting up. Alex threw her arms around her as soon as Méalla had fully sat up.
"You're awake, thank god." Hayley said, moving closer. Méalla hugged Alex as Hayley told her they found her outside the Compound, passed out.
"Where are my brothers?" Méalla asked.
"Well, uh, Klaus is pissed at Rebekah so Elijah stabbed him with Papa Tunde's blade, so Rebekah and Marcel could flee, but uh, now they're stuck in a cemetery together. It feels like a powder keg exploded and is setting off a much bigger one."
"I'm pissed at Rebekah too. I know what she did. The friendly neighborhood captor shoved me into the Harvest Witches' Mikaelson Mental Torment." Méalla muttered. She'd deal with that later.
She focused back on Alex, who hadn't let go of her at all while she and Hayley were talking.
"Hey sweetie. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Alex lifted her head from Méalla's shoulder.
"I'm not hurt but it was scary and I was scared you'd be hurt. I'm sorry I couldn't help." Alex said, eyes lowered.
"Oh sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry about. You did the right thing by listening to me. And look, I'm right here and I'm not injured at all. I'm right here." Méalla rubbed Alex's back as the girl clung to her tightly. "Why don't we sit and talk for a few minutes and then I'll go deal with those siblings of mine, okay?" Alex nodded.

Méalla entered the cemetery, emotions swirling. She could hear Klaus calling for Rebekah and Elijah yelling at him. Suddenly, a blonde head skidded to a stop in front of her.
"Rebekah." Méalla's voice was smooth and frozen. Nothing like what was going on in her head. Elijah and Rebekah were to be the death of Klaus, and they would still say he killed them from beyond the grave.
"Méalla! Oh thank god, Klaus, he's got the white oak stake, he's fighting Elijah, and Elijah has Papa Tunde's knife. You can stop them, you've always been good at brokering peace." The blonde Original sounded panicked.
"Is that so? Me, broker peace?" The words slipped through her voice like skates.
Rebekah suddenly seemed to notice her sister's demeanor. Calm. Cool. Collected. Leisurely strolling. She felt terror bloom in her heart.
"Méalla? Sister?" The blonde whispered, starting to back up. Méalla kept strolling forward, eyes lifeless.
"Sisters? Is that what we are? You, who called our fucked up malicious ass of a father who had wanted to kill both me and Klaus all our lives, just so you run off with a boy, a boy who when you were chased out of what used to be our home, stayed and climbed the hierarchy, making ours his?" There was no mistaking the ice in her voice now. Rebekah was trembling. A small voice in Méalla's head was telling her to stop, that Rebekah made a mistake, but she chopped the voice box off it, silencing any qualms she might have had.
Without warning, Méalla vamped forward and snapped Rebekah's neck. Picking her sister up, she casually carried her to where Klaus and Elijah were circling each other.
She dropped Rebekah without care, alerting her brothers she was there. Elijah took in Méalla and started to realize just what damage had been done. Klaus looked at Méalla, and through his own anger, worried for what she might do to their little sister. He had only ever seen her this way once. Nobody survived, in the end.
"Elijah dear, sit your ass down until our darling sister wakes up and we'll go from there hmm?" The sickly sweet voice struck fear in both of her brothers. They did as she said.
Rebekah woke up some time later, taking in Elijah sitting tense beside her, Klaus twirling the torture blade sitting behind Méalla cleaning her nails with the white oak stake, leaning against a mausoleum.
"Ahh. The final act can start, all the characters are here." Méalla spoke once she noticed Rebekah was awake. Rebekah took one look at her sister, and didn't know if what was staring back was Méalla.
"Elijah. Earlier I believe I heard you say Niklaus looked like our bastard father with his anger. What is it you said? 'You should see yourself-- the murderous expression, the self-righteous posturing. You look like father.' For a man who thinks himself tactful, you make so many mistakes."
"What did Klaus reply? Oh yes. 'I'm not him. Rebekah's betrayal justifies my anger. His was that of a madman. You were never the recipient of his cruelty. None of you were-- not Kol, not Finn, None of you! I think you've forgotten what he was truly like.' Dear Klaus, I was also subject to that of what you were and maybe more. After all, I was a bastard daughter. We do need to talk about the way you show affection, but that will be later." Méalla spoke in a terrifyingly calm voice, making her siblings fear what to come.
"Méalla, Niklaus, I understand your anger, but I implore you, be better than Mikael. Do what he could not; demonstrate the grace of mercy, rather than this petty cruelty." Elijah pleaded.
"You ask me to show mercy to one who has wronged me. You really don't know me at all, do you, brother?" Klaus growled.
"Enough. Whatever I have done wrong, my guilt is nothing compared to yours. You want revenge? Fine. But, before you have it, I will look you in the eye and tell you why it was your cruelty and your spite that led us to this." Rebekah bravely stated, a tremble evident in her voice. "Go on, then. Speak your piece, and when you are finished, I will grant you the punishment you deserve, even if I have to go through Elijah to do so." Klaus spoke and all turned to the eldest Mikaelson sister. She gestured for Rebekah to start with the white oak stake, eyes never betraying her emotions. Rebekah gulped.
"Let it begin. The trial of Rebekah Mikaelson." Klaus said from his new perch on a tomb.
"What a relief. His ego is in check." Rebekah muttered but was silenced by a glance from Méalla.
"Just speak your truth. I'll make certain he behaves himself." Elijah reassured Rebekah.
"Is that so, oh noble Elijah?" Méalla still twirled the white oak stake.
"You stand accused of betraying your own blood. How do you plead?" Klaus demanded.
"I plead you to shut up and listen." Rebekah yelled.
"You summoned our father. You brought him to our home. What possible defense could you have?" Klaus questioned.
"I knew he was the only thing that you feared, and I wanted you to run." Rebekah stated.
"Because you hated me."
"Because you were hateful. You denied me the freedom to love." Rebekah continued.
"Oh, so that's your defense. You called Mikael, the destroyer, the hunter of vampires, because I detained you from pursuing some dull suitors." Klaus stared incredulously.
"You were cruel and controlling and manipulative." Rebekah growled.
"I was trying to protect you! From imbeciles, and leeches. Not to mention your own poor judgment." Klaus countered
"And what about the one that you loved enough to call friend? Why did you forbid me to love Marcel?" Rebekah responded.
"Do not mention his name." Klaus' reply was short.
"What has happened to you? I remember the sweet boy who made me laugh and gave me gifts, who loved art and music. I wanted to be just like you. How could you have fallen so far?" Rebekah stared at Klaus.
"You say you despise Rebekah for her betrayal, and yet no one has stood by your side for so long, not even I myself. Perhaps it's you that's forgotten. I remember the day that father caught you whittling little chess pieces with his hunting knife. He beat you so mercilessly and for so long, I actually feared for your life." Elijah advances towards Klaus. Méalla stopped him with a glare.
"I've stood by Klaus and I plan to always, because no matter how diabolical or uncaring his plans seem, you two are always the ones who reap the benefits in some way or another while he is painted as the Evil Hybrid." Méalla spoke for the first time since the trial began. Her glare felt like scalding water as she stared into Elijah and Rebekah's faces. Klaus looked at her in shock, but continued.
"So, you would paint her as a loyal sister, but she betrayed me out of lust for Marcel. Perhaps that was why you did it-- for love. Perhaps I might temper my rage if Rebekah will admit she was a victim of her own idiocy, that her great love, Marcel, used her to oust this family and to take my city."
"Marcel did not manipulate me."
"You defend him, and yet you can't help but wonder, what if I'm right?"
"We loved each other. It was your refusal to respect that that led to your ruin." Rebekah's voice was rising.
"Then why didn't he chase after you when you fled New Orleans? Oh, yes! That's right. He was here stealing what I built!" Klaus' anger was clear to Elijah and Rebekah, but only Méalla saw the underlying hurt.
"You want me to renounce Marcel, to beg for your forgiveness? I won't. Marcel is not at fault. I called Mikael." Rebekah screamed.
"Rebekah, you must-" Elijah tried to stop her but it was too late.
"I was the one who brought him to New Orleans because of your wickedness! I wanted love and happiness, and you denied me the freedom to have either. Yes, I hated and I was afraid of our father, but he was a lesser evil than you. My bastard brother who loomed over me, threatening me as you are now. I wanted rid of you, and given the choice, I'd do it again!" She screamed.
Méalla started to advance on Rebekah, eyes murderous.
"Sister, leave us." Elijah stood in front of the youngest Mikaelson.
"I'm not going-"
"I said, leave us, please." Rebekah vamp sped away.
"You wouldn't listen to her. So, now, you must deal with me." Elijah vamp sped, grabbed the torture blade from Klaus, and vamp sped back to block Méalla's path. She tried to vamp speed around him, but that only succeeded in him grabbing the stake out of her vice grip, careful not to accidentally hit her in the belly.
"So what's it gonna be? You hold both weapons. Tunde's blade would put me down, but the stake could finish me off for good." Klaus taunted.
"Well, unlike you, brother, I have no taste for fratricide." Elijah holds up the stake. "I only hold this to keep it from you." He holds up the torture blade. "This is just my insurance." "Why must you defend her? Rebekah betrayed you, as well, when she brought Mikael here." Klaus frustratedly yelled.
"Because she is our sister, and because I like to remember her the way that she was before we became what we became. She was an innocent girl, quick to laugh, full of life." Elijah looked wistful.
"My memories serve to make her betrayal more painful." Klaus' anger his emotion.
"You forget, Elijah, we've become who we are because of the last thousand years. We were not who we were as children a century ago and certainly, not now." Méalla's face was stone.
"Niklaus, it was your cruelty that led her to do what she did." Elijah implored, seeing his sister wouldn't budge.
"Do you not see, Elijah? She didn't mean to chase me off. She wanted me dead."
"You're wrong." Elijah growled.
"She has always hated me. You know that's true." Klaus yelled.
"You have no idea, do you? You have no idea what she was prepared to do for you. When our sister sees something that she perceives to be an injustice, she can be stubborn, impetuous, and, at times, downright dangerous, and never was this more apparent than the night she tried to kill our father."
"People change, Elijah. You, out of all people, should know that. She was much more than a petulant child when she brought our abusive father back to all of us, and what we held dear." "What is this, some melodramatic fiction designed to garner my sympathy?" Klaus questioned. Elijah ignored Méalla.
"It is the truth. I was there. And she would have done it, all to protect you, had I not stopped her. I often wished that I could revisit that moment, complete the task myself." He looked down.
"Why are you telling me this now?" Klaus didn't mask his pain well this time.
"Niklaus, sometimes our sister acts without thinking. She's short of temper, she's quick to fall in love, but she loves you. But, your malicious treatment has broken her heart. So, yes, she responded by summoning our father. Yes, that was a mistake. I'm not entirely sure that I can blame her." Elijah admitted.
"I can." Klaus and Méalla responded in unison, both rushing around each side of Elijah to Rebekah's hiding place. Elijah gets there a second before them and brandishes the stake and blade.
"Niklaus, Méalla, so help me..."
"Are you really going to stand against us? And not with that pathetic, single, blade. You'd just have to pull it out someday, and then I'd hate you as I do her, now. If you want to protect Rebekah, you'll need to use the white oak stake. On both of us." Méalla's voice was dark.
"I don't have to listen to this nonsense." Elijah blustered.
"Yes you fucking do!" Méalla screamed for the first time. Both her brothers stare at her, and her sister listened from her spot in the tomb.
"Oh, don't pretend you haven't thought about it. You look at Klaus, and you see everything you abhor in yourself. You look at me, and you see what you've become. Sure, you dress it up with your fancy suits and your handkerchiefs. You, with your mask of civility and eloquence, you're every bit the abomination we are. Or worse. Go on, Elijah. Go on. Use the white oak stake." Méalla stalked forward. Elijah stood still and then tossed the stake away.
"I'm not so cowardly that I have to kill you, but if I have to make you suffer to protect Rebekah, that is what I will do."
"You see? I knew you couldn't do it. You still cling to the hope that I can be redeemed, and if the bastard can be saved, then maybe there's hope for you." Klaus wheedles, then vamp sped over, grabbing to torture blade and stabbing Elijah in the same motion.
"There. Now you know how it feels."
"That was supposed to be my line." Rebekah quipped as she held up the stake. "Now, I have this. So I decide who lives and who dies. I'm taking out that blade."
"You'll have to kill me first, and now you hold the means to do so. Why not finish what you started a century ago?" Klaus taunted.
"I did not want you dead. I wanted you to run." "Liar! You wanted revenge." Klaus yells at her. "You drove me to betray you, and now you want to twist it and make it worse so you can justify killing me instead of accepting your own fault? All I did was love your friend! You could've been happy for us, but instead, in your paranoia, you feared losing us both. And, because of that, you did. There is no one else to blame, Nik. Only you." Rebekah yelled back.
"You against me. It's hardly a fair fight, is it? I mean, perhaps, if Marcel were here, you'd stand a chance, but I expect he's already found another girl. No doubt younger and prettier." Klaus coaxed.
"You take joy in other people's pain, and then you wonder why I hate you."
"Yes, and that hatred led you to do what you did. Admit the truth. Admit you wanted me dead."
"I wanted you to run, that is all--despite your delusions."
"Elijah lies suffering, and I will allow you to help him. All you have to do is admit it." "You're insane."
"Yes! Yes! I am a vicious, heartless monster, and so you summoned Mikael to kill me. Admit it."
"It's not true."
"You know what you did. Admit it."
"I didn't."
"You wanted me dead! Admit it."
"ENOUGH!" Méalla bellowed.
"Do you know why Klaus did all that to the men who loved you? Because if they could stick with you through hell, they deserved heaven. Few of them did. Do you know why Klaus is such a heartless monster, as you say? Because he puts his heart in a locked cage so far buried because every time he let himself trust after getting away from our motherfucking awful parents, someone who he considered family or that he loved broke it! Elijah, the oh so noble brother, never accepting Klaus for who and what he was, instead thinking him a monster who needed saving. Rebekah, the loving sister, blaming Klaus for the men who took advantage of her big heart. Klaus' mistakes are ugly, but who says yours aren't? We all have thousands of years of blood on our hands, and the one who would pry his heart out for his family, is the one monstrous!" Méalla let the words fly out of her mouth, not caring about tact anymore. Elijah and Rebekah have hurt Klaus just as much as they've hurt him and aren't accountable for their actions. It wasn't fair and she wasn't going to allow it anymore, even if he will, no matter how much he's hurt her.
Rebekah had dropped the stake out of shock. Elijah had pulled out the blade and collapsed, staring at Méalla, knowing she spoke truth.
Klaus was also shocked. He knew Méalla loved him, and thought it unjust that he let himself be treated like the villain, but he didn't expect her to be so angry for him. To be hurt for him. To stand with him in his anger.
Méalla vamp sped to the stake and stabbed Rebekah without a single thought, but Rebekah didn't burn.
She then vamp sped to Elijah and snapped his neck.
"I don't want to hear anymore from them while we're stuck in here." Méalla said, approaching Klaus tentatively. She couldn't read his face after her rant.
He vamp sped over to her and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I love you Méalla. I know I'm not good at showing it. But I do." Klaus said into her hair. She wrapped her arms around his waist and listened to his heartbeat.
"I know you do big brother. I love you too. More than you know." They stood in that hug for what felt like hours. "However, I know about Niamh. I know why you did it. But you broke my heart, and you need to work for my forgiveness." Méalla pulled away from her brother

Rebekah woke, finding Méalla and Klaus watching her. Méalla had staked her. But she's alive.
"You didn't get my heart." She whispered to her sister.
"I wasn't aiming for it. I wanted you to feel a fraction of the fear Mikael had instilled in Klaus and I." With that, Méalla got up and walked away.
"I love my family. You, Elijah. I love all of you. I know I can be difficult, but I did not make myself this way. It was Mikael who ruined me."
"He ruined me, too. That's what you forget. Centuries later, each of us is broken. You with your anger and paranoia, me with my fear of abandonment. Méalla's bleeding heart and need to make everyone feel loved, but walls and years of self hatred and bitterness. And Elijah. He dedicates himself to everyone but himself. We are the strongest creatures in the world, and yet, we are damaged beyond repair. We live without hope, but we will never die. We are the definition of "cursed." Always and forever."

"We're still trapped in here. Whatever you're going to do to me, do it now." Rebekah said softly, staring beyond the gates, Méalla and Klaus next to her
"You said our father ruined us. And I can't help but wonder, what if his father ruined him?" Klaus responded. The gates opened with strong wind.
"The barrier is down." Klaus murmurs.
"I know you hate me, but what's done is done." Rebekah stares at her siblings.
"What's done is never done. It remains within us, a story we tell ourselves so we know who we are. Vicious father, a bastard son, the sister who betrayed him, and the sister who killed for him. Perhaps it's time for a new story. What is it you want, Rebekah?" Klaus' voice was quiet.
"Same things that I've wanted since I was a child. I want a home. I want a family. I want someone to love me, and I want to live." She responded sadly.
"Then go. Go far away and never come back. We are far too damaged to remain together, less a family now than a volatile mix of ingredients. New Orleans will be mine. I will raise my child here in the city you took from me. No doubt, Elijah and Méalla will choose to stay, but you? Sister, you are free." Rebekah stood still but started to walk out when Méalla spoke.
"Goodbye, Rebekah. Experience everything there is. Let no trouble follow you and peace find you." Méalla's voice was soft, and Rebekah saw hurt and love in her eyes.
"Goodbye sister." With that, they parted.