Lightning Strikes Twice

Twenty Six

Méalla stared down at Rebekah's contact on her phone, debating if she should call or not. It's been a constant debate she's been doing for the past few months, ever since Saoirse and Hope had to be sent away. She desperately wants to know how her daughter and niece are, but they have to keep up all pretenses, including the death of the babies. She put down her phone as Alex came into the room.
Over the past few months, Alex had grown taller, started to fill out more and her broken leg healed, but she still had a bit of a limp. She had taken vampire blood, to see if the limp could be stopped, but her bones had already healed so there was nothing for the blood to fix.
"Hey there, wolf pup." Méalla greeted the girl as she came in. Alex smiled at her.
"I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie. Disney, horror, murder mystery, anything. You've just been looking sadder this week." Alex said hopefully.
"I'm down. Want to watch Sherlock Holmes?" Méalla asked. Although she still had her bad days and her awful days, Alex always helped her through it. She was just a bright light when things got dark. She didn't know what would've happened if Alex wasn't with her.

"What's the plan?" Méalla leaned forward as Elijah told them he found the last twelve moonlight rings.
"We're taking the twelve original rings. Now, four of them sit on the hands of the Guerrera brothers. One on Oliver, one on Francesca, three with the home security detail, and the rest scattered amongst her lackeys. Now, each ring is distinguishable by its setting - gauche, like those that wear them." Elijah started.
"How horribly fitting." Méalla muttered, glancing over at Hayley, who stared ahead with anger on her face.
"If they believe they can get their hands on the stake, they will come for me when I am weak. Each ring you retrieve will strengthen me, but I will still be at a disadvantage." Klaus stated.
"Ergo, any hope of our success depends entirely upon our working together." He glances at Hayley, Méalla, and Klaus in turn.  "The three of you can no longer afford to retreat to separate corners." The three look at each other. Méalla nodded as Klaus stood up and sighed.
"This is our fight. Are you ready for battle, Hayley?"
"Just promise me that Francesca doesn't come out of this alive." Hayley said darkly.
"Her head will be delivered to you on a silver platter, little wolf. " Klaus smiled weakly.
Méalla frowned at Hayley's tone, but didn't blame her.
"I'll deal with the last piece of the puzzle." Elijah said, starting to leave.

Méalla was tasked with moving Alex to safety, so the wolves wouldn't hurt her in the fight and then she came back to the Compound, ready to beat some wolves. They took her baby away, she's going to take their life. Fair trade, in her eyes.
Hayley and Méalla waited in their darkened corners of the Compound, watching the wolves move silently. They split up, two heading for the stairs and the rest going to sweep the ground floor. Hayley vamp sped to the wolves on the stairs, snapping their necks instantly. Méalla joined her as she slipped off their rings.
"More are heading this way. You ready?"
Hayley nodded, a grim look on her features.
Wolves started to surround them, Méalla and Hayley almost back to back, accessing.
"Have I mentioned I've had a rotten couple of months?" Hayley snipped, lunging. Méalla took that as her sign to get moving. She yanked a guard towards her, kneeing him in the nose before snapping the neck of the one who tried to punch her. She dodged all the attacks and kept taking out the wolves around her, until all of them were down. She slipped the rings off their fingers as Hayley did the same to the wolves she took out.
Oliver came charging at Hayley, who beat him senseless before grabbing his throat and pinning him to the wall.
"You think you're strong because of that ring you wear? You're nothing! We were strong, we were part of a pack, and you ruined it." Hayley took off his ring and waved it in front of his face.
"If I see you with one of these again, I will kill you myself." Hayley dropped Oliver, who scrambled away.
"Now for the grand finale, let's go kill ourselves a mob boss." Méalla smirked, venom dripping from every word. Hayley and her took off, heading to go deal with the bitch.

Méalla heard commotion upstairs and ran up to see what was going on, to see Hayley destroying Hope's nursery, sobbing.
"Hey! Hayley! Please!" Méalla reached Hayley's arms to settle her down, but Hayley backed away from her. Hayley looked exhausted, not just physically but mentally.
"I killed her. Francesca looked me in the eye and begged me for her life as I tore her apart. But I don't feel better! I don't feel peace! I don't feel anything!" 
"Revenge doesn't always do what you want it to, Hayley. It's natural you're feeling an influx of emotions given what you're experiencing,"    Hayley interrupted. "Nothing about what I am, Méalla, is natural!" Méalla bit her cheek at those words but ignored her own feelings, and continued to try and calm Hayley down.
"As a hybrid, you will begin to experience feelings with a greater intensity. It will take time to feel in control again."
"I don't want to live like this, Méalla. I hate it! When I was living with the Crescents in the Bayou, I finally understood the," Hayley paused looking for the words, "purity of being a wolf, the nobility. I killed eight wolves tonight before I got to Francesca. Eight of my own people. What's noble about that? I acted no better than a..." Méalla's heart broke as she saw Hayley's face and the weight of her words sunk in.
"Than a vampire or a hybrid?" Méalla said softly
"Everything has changed. And not just for me." Hayley took a step towards Méalla, who stood, hurt. "I saw the way you looked at me before. And, I see the way you look at me now. I was a mother, and now I'm a monster. Things are different now. You can't tell me that they're not."
"You're right. I can't say that things are the same. But you're not a monster, no matter how much you feel being a hybrid makes you one." Méalla said. Hayley stilled, hearing the hurt in Méalla's voice as she talked about being a hybrid. She then took off, feeling even more upset and guilty.
"Hayley!" Méalla called after her. Hayley didn't stop or turn back, leaving Méalla standing in what would've been Hope's nursery alone. Méalla just felt broken. She missed her daughter, Hayley hates herself and her life as a monstrous hybrid, no doubt thinking Méalla is the same, and the only one who talks to her like she's still a person is Alex, who is always at the risk of getting hurt by associating with Méalla.

Hayley and Klaus were sitting in one of the living rooms and talking.
"It will get better." Klaus said softly.
"When? I'm immortal now. If I can't get through today, how am I supposed to get through forever?"
Klaus sighed, waiting a beat before speaking. "You know, over the years, I've had my share of friends, enemies, lovers, losses, and triumphs. With time, they all begin to run together. But, you will find that the real moments are vibrant. The rest just fades away. Your pain will fade."
"Not until I can hold my baby in my arms again."
"And so you shall. But, in order to do that, we need to regain control of the city. Now, we worked separately to unite those wolves. We can work together to do it again. They don't need to be our enemies."
"After ambushing them, they're not going to want to be our friends, Klaus."
"You waged a just war on those who would harm your child! Not only will they respect you, they will answer to you!"
"Why would they do that now?"
Klaus smiled. "Because you're their queen."
"What about all our other enemies? The witches don't stop even after they're dead."
"We defeated my mother and her witches because we stood united." Klaus came to sit next to Hayley. "That is how we will face all our enemies. As a family." Klaus took her hand in his and squeezed it. Hayley gave a small smile and Klaus smiled back.