Something Stupid

3

Tyler finally came home. He walked into the apartment he shared with his girlfriend Caroline and slumped down on the couch. His black hair was tousled and he looked exhausted.

Caroline sat down next to him. She had been waiting for him to come home for dinner, but the food had long gotten cold.

"OMG, I can't believe he made you work late again!! This is the third time this week!" Sympathetically, she laid her hand on his and asked if there was anything she could do for him. He  replied and said he only needed some sleep now. But tomorrow, he would have some time for her in the morning. Caroline nodded understandingly and watched her boyfriend go to bed. Her heart felt heavy. Being a woman looking for stability in life, she liked living in a commited relationship, but said relationship was hard to enjoy when her boyfriend was hardly ever home. She just hoped it would get better soon.

***

Elsewhere

Klaus entered the Mikaelson family Plantation house. Once inside he went straight to the dining room. Everyone else was already there.

"Hello folks. Sorry I'm late."

"You're always late!" a voice from the other side of the room. It belonged to Mikael, patriarch of the Mikaelson Corporation, head of the Mikaelson family and father of Finn, Elijah, Kol and Rebekah Mikaelson. Klaus, however, was the result of an affair Mikael's wife had had during a crisis in her marriage with Mikael. Eventually, Mikael and Esther came back together and Mikael accepted Klaus into the family. Nevertheless, he was always very reserved in front of him.

Klaus, who was used to his stepfather's criticism, just slightly rolled his eyes and took a seat.

After dinner, which went by without any special occurences, Klaus found Elijah on the terrace in front of the house, alone and deep in his thoughts.

"Elijah! Penny for your thoughts?"

At first, there was no answer. Then, Elijah turned towards his brother and told him what was troubling him.

"I went to check Katerina's sister today. She seems to be all clean. My agent confirmed it. No sign of any sort if misbehaviour in her entire life, nothing. She was known to everyone as the responsible bookworm."
Klaus raised an eyebrow. "And that troubles you so much? Doesn't sound like a problem to me."

"And you're right. It's not. There is something else." Elijah now took a deep breath choosing his next words very carefully. "When I talked to her, she talked to me about her parents in present tense, indicating that they're still alive. But Katerina has told me they are dead. If Elena was telling the truth, then that would mean Katerina lied to me!"

"Still no surprise here, brother."

Elijah now seemed even more concerned. "Try to understand: either Katerina has been lying to me to a very large extent or her sister is a very clever fraud. I may have been able to raise some professional concerns about Dr Elena Gilbert, but I am neither her family nor her direct employer. That means I have no legal rights for personal information about her. I honestly don't know what to believe anymore. Or what to do about it."

"And that's what's troubling you." Klaus concluded. He nodded, reflecting. Then he smirked. "But not to worry, there is a easy solution to your problem."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. Knowing Klaus, he could only guess what this solution of his might look like. "I'm listening." he said.

Klaus smirked a little mire and gestured with his head to the living room behind them. Elijah followed his brother's gaze and saw his mother talking with his sister and his brother-in-law sitting on the couches in the living room, talking. The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes at his brother. Who, in return, simply smirked.

"Brother, are you suggesting that I should ask Marcel to have his contacts look into this?" Elijah made a mental sigh. His brother's suggestion did not come as a surprise for him; Klaus tended to consult his brother-in-law whenever he needed some sort of special information.

"Come on. He's good at this. Ask him now and you will know whatever you want to know by tomorrow afternoon." Klaus said. He knew how moral his brother was, so he knew Elijah wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of using Marcel to dig into a stranger's personal data. But he also knew that, practically speaking, it was the easiest and safest way. And Elijah was not one to hold back when something had to be done. This was something that troubled him; so he had to find out.

And he was right. Later that evening, Elijah pulled Marcel aside and asked him to find out whether or not his ex-girlfriend was an orphan. Of course, Marcel immediately guessed that it was Klaus' idea, but agreed to do it nevertheless.

***

"I knew Klaus likes to use you for his purposes when he wants something. But you normally have some clear boundaries and when something is too much, you say no. This is downright illegal! If it comes out, you could get into some serious trouble. Why did you agree to do it?" Rebekah asked her husband. She was confused and upset. Elijah had never before asked Marcel to do anything for him that required Marcel using his position, especially not for something illegal. Rebekah couldn't imagine her noble brother asking this of her husband. Elijah's moral code was usually very reliable.

Marcel now took his wife's hand and said: "I know, I normally wouldn't. But you saw Elijah. And you know how infatuated he was with Katerina. I'm doing this for him, because I hope it will help him get some closure. My gut tells me, he needs it."

Rebekah thought about it for a minute. Then, she nodded.
She caressed her husband's face lovingly, smiling at him. Her brothers were not always easy to get along with, but Marcel liked them as they were. And they loved him. And since Rebekah knew what kind of attitude her brothers sometimes showed towards Kol's girlfriend Davina or Finn's wife Sage, she was very glad about their good relationship with Marcel. She now kissed him.

Their kiss started soft and tender, but quickly became more heated and passionate. Rebekah just broke the kiss for one moment and asked Marcel: "Do you need to be somewhere tomorrow morning?" She was short of breath now as was he. He pulled her closer to him and whispered hoarsely: "No I don't." And added with a little smile: "We have all night."

Rebekah bit her lip returning his smile. Then she crashed her lips on his again and took off his shirt. In a swift movement, he lifted her up the ground and carried her to their bedroom.