Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own

A/N Please review and tell me what you think

"I don't want to be bounced around from safe-house to safe-house! I want to stay here and fight!"

"Well, it's not up to you, Baby Wolf-."

"Go head, call me that one more time." Both Klaus and Hope were trying to keep their voices down, but it still brought her mother and aunt into the room.

"Honestly, darling, don't be so dramatic." Rebekah scolded. "It's only temporary."

"We're immortals! Temporary for you guys is, like, a hundred years."

"Then you won't mind a bit. You said it yourself: we're all immortals here." Klaus pointed out. Hope glared at him but couldn't think of anything to say.

She had gotten tortured by Esther and Finn. Yes, it was horrible. But she could handle it. She was quite certain she was already well on her way to recovery, both mentally and emotionally. Evidently, no one else could handle it. This is like my transition period all over again, she thought, getting sent away right when I learn to call this place home. She looked towards her mother for some help, but Hayley just crossed her arms and stared at her feet. Feeling useless, Hope groaned and stomped out of the room. She passed Kol on her way out and he gave her a wide berth.

"Oh, brother! Your little pretend-son just dropped off a present." He announced cheerfully once Hope was gone. Klaus, trying to keep his cool, followed Kol out to the balcony. Kol pointed downwards and Klaus obediently looked. Finn was chained up with the anti-magic shackles, looking barely conscious and very angry. At that, Klaus couldn't help but smile.

"Well, well, well... I think it's time for a sibling chat."

"I'm not going!" Hope protested again as Hayley tucked a t-shirt into Hope's duffel bag. As she turned towards the closet, Hope sped over to the bag and pulled the shirt back out, tossing it into the closet and watching it land in a heap on the floor. Hayley sighed and stooped to pick it up.

"Look, baby girl, I don't want this either. But there are things we don't understand yet and we can't protect you here." The shirt, refolded, went back in the bag.

"I can protect myself. Big bad vampire-hybrid princess, remember?" The shirt was tossed back out.

"Well, the big bad vampire-hybrid princess is going to listen to her mother for once!" The shirt went back in.

"Bite me!" The shirt went out.

"Hope!" The shirt went in.

"What's sending me away going to do besides make you feel safer? You can't protect anyone anywhere! You didn't protect me when I was a baby!" Hope's voice rose to a shout and Hayley looked at her, shocked.

"Hope, you know... you know what happened." Hayley sputtered. "I thought we'd gotten past this." Hope was looking appalled at herself.

"I know. We did. I just... I have to go." Hope started to rush out of the room but Hayley grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"You're not going anywhere. You know how dangerous-."

"I'm just going to Davina's. I'll be careful. I have to go." She ripped her arm out of Hayley's grip and sped away.

Once she got away from the compound, Hope slowed and tried to collect her thoughts. Why on earth had she snapped at her own mother like that? She hadn't meant to, she didn't think. Was this some kind of delayed reaction to the transition? She had been violent and bloodthirsty when she was with Rebekah and Kol but she'd never actually lashed out at either of them, not like that. She stumbled down the street towards the church, keeping her eyes on the ground. Her other senses were harder to keep focused, though.

Like her sense of smell, for example. She smelled the blood and her body froze without her permission. There was blood somewhere. Her head whipped around, trying to spot the source. There was a tourist group nearby. One tourist was laughing, showing off a paper cut and shaking her head at her own clumsiness, apparently. Hope turned around to face forward again. Don't turn this into Twilight New Moon, don't turn this into Twilight-... No. Feed. Feed now, she told herself. The next thing she knew, she was right in front of the group, compelling them to follow her to an abandoned alley. Kol knew a thing or do about mass compulsion and he had taught her his tricks; she did it efficiently and no one else on the street paid her a second look.

At the back of the alley, Hope turned towards her group, who were starting to look more and more like animals heading to the slaughter house. She let her fangs come out and, just like she'd told them, no one made a sound. She pounced, feeding like a wild animals on... well, less wild animals. She'd made her way through half the group before someone was grabbing her, pulling her off. Another person was shouting her name. Only once she'd been forcefully thrown onto the ground did her fangs retract and she could focus.

Marcel and Davina. Marcel had pulled her off and thrown her down. Davina was the one shouting her name. She looked up at her extended family, feeling the shame of her actions immediately.

"I-." She started, heat rushing to her face.

"Get her out of here, I'll handle this mess." Marcel cut her off by barking an order to Davina. Davina hurried forward, pulled Hope off the ground and pushed her forward, making her move away from the scene. As they hurried down the back-alleys towards the church, Hope tried to explain again.

"Davina, I-."

"What is wrong with you? Do you want to get yourself killed? What happened to not attracting attention?" Davina demanded.

"I just... When I feed I feel more powerful and I had to-."

"You're insane!" Davina hissed, pushing her into the church. She pointed towards the attic. "You go upstairs, now. Give me your phone first."

"No, do not call my parents!"

"Hope, I'm not going to let you turn yourself into a ripper!"

"I'm not turning into a ripper! I'm fine."

"You want to try that again after you wash that blood off your mouth?" Davina snapped. Hope clenched her jaw, saying nothing. "I won't call your parents, alright? But I still need your phone." Reluctantly, Hope handed it over and Davina snatched it from her. Hope turned and walked slowly up towards the attic, wiping at her mouth. Once she was upstairs, Davina started scrolling through the contacts on her phone. Finding one she hadn't been looking for but decided was probably better than Klaus, she hit dial and put it to her ear.

"We arrive into this world as innocents. Wide-eyed. Vulnerable. It is the job of our parents to nurture and protect us. Unfortunately, our own parents failed miserably at even the most basic of parental tasks. But, we are not beholden to the past they created for us. Today, a new future awaits. Forget your animosity toward Elijah and myself. Instead, join us against she who truly deserves your ire: our mother. Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms!" Klaus waited for Finn to respond, smirking his infamous smirk at his elder brother. Kol, Elijah and Rebekah all sat around them and Finn was still shackled. Despite his obvious disadvantage, Finn still didn't look intimidated.

"Brothers, sister... Do those words even apply to us? After all these centuries of betrayal? And, has loyalty to you ever rewarded? I should count myself lucky to escape your vile machinations."

"You think me vile? What, then, do you make of the one who cursed us?"

"She was trying to make you mortal again!" Finn shot right back. Kol picked up a knife from the table, turning it over in his hands while he studied his brother. Rebekah smacked his hand and grabbed the blade from him.

"And, you refused her. It only proves how far you've fallen. But perhaps your ex-lover and your daughter will have a different opinion?"

"Hope is off limits to you. Pursue her and you will suffer." Klaus snarled.

"And Hayley! Though, I suppose she could kill you herself now." Rebekah put in.

"Yes, you have a very breakable body now, brother. I'd be careful." Kol added with a smirk.

"I doubt either one of them would be hard to find or convince to-." Elijah grabbed Finn, pulled him halfway across the table before sinking his teeth into Finn's neck. Rebekah jumped and backed away. Kol just watched in interest and it turned out to be Klaus that dragged Elijah off. He pinned Elijah against the wall and Elijah put up his hands in surrender. Klaus backed off, tugged Elijah's handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and handed it to him.

"I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone, but our brother has power, as well as knowledge of Esther's plans. We need him alive. We need to persuade him."

"I'm through with persuasion." Elijah started forward again but Klaus grabbed his shoulder. "Has the earth shifted on its axis? You needing restraint from me?" Kol's phone rang behind them nd they turned towards the sound. Kol glanced at the screen and stood up. "I'll be back. Don't start the torture without me." He stepped out of the room and, once he was out of earshot of the others, answered his phone. "This is Davina. There's... there's something wrong with Hope. Can you come over to the church?" The young witch's voice was slightly panicked on the other end of the phone. "I'll be right there."

Davina met him right inside the church, wringing her hands in front of her worriedly. Kol smirked at her and her obvious discomfort at his presence. "So why was I the first person you thought to call, Davina Claire?" "She said no parents. Figured Rebekah and Elijah were pretty much the same thing. Do you want to see her or not?" "You called for my help. Lead the way." He waved her ahead. Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, Davina led him up the stairs into the attic. Hope was sitting on Davina's bed, looking miserable. Kol sighed as he saw her and Hope turned to look at him. "Kol." "What have you done this time?" "I didn't mean to!" "Yeah, I'm sure those people just happened to fall onto your fangs." Davina told her sarcastically, pacing behind Kol. Kol raised an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off of Hope. He was the last person to judge about having a little vampire-snack, but he'd thought she was past that part of her new vampire life. Hope made a face, looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Okay, so maybe I meant to a little bit..."

Klaus strode over to Finn, who had been moved to the front room, hanging from his wrists by the manacles. Finn looked up weakly and Klaus smiled, clasping his hands behind his back. "So, brother, ready to embrace your new life of freedom?" "I'm already free, brother." "You're aware our mother cares nothing for you?" "Niklaus, I assure you, my mother loves me. She loves all of her children. You would not exist without her sacrifice." Klaus smirked, obviously not believing him, and headed for the door. He stopped when Finn continued: "Do you even know the truth? That she was barren? And she grew so desperate for a family that she begged one of the most powerful witches in history for help: her sister, Dahlia. Of course, Dahlia's price was high. She agreed to make our mother fertile, but in exchange, she sought the first-born as sacrifice. Having no other choice, our mother gave away our beloved Freya." Klaus scoffed and turned around to face Finn again. "Our sister died of plague." "Esther gave her away. Think about that. The pain, the grief." "If what you say is true, then death is far too delicate a fate for her." "She loves us more than you realize." "And is love the reason she wanted my child dead?" "She was trying to protect you from Dahlia's curse!" Klaus lost his temper and his next words came out as a shout: "WHAT CURSE? "Dahlia demanded the first-born of every generation. If your child lives, she will have to pay the price! And, if anyone tries to protect her, Dahlia will come and destroy us all."

The second Hope walked into the compound, Rebekah shoved a duffel bag into her arms. "I don't know where you've been all day, but we need to leave, now." "What's going on?" Kol asked as Hope adjusted the bag to put it on her shoulder. "Cami's the body that mother's decided to try and shove me into. There might or might not be some old witch trying to hunt down Hope. All in all, we need to leave." Rebekah insisted. "Wait, wait." Hope told them. Rebekah looked impatient but motioned for her to go on. "Just... let me grab something from my room." "I have everything you need-." "Just let me check." Hope brushed past them and sped up into her bedroom. Hayley was in her bedroom, looking around wistfully. She turned to look at Hope as she entered and sighed. "Hope." "I'm sorry." "I know. It's fine." Hayley pulled her into a hug and Hope returned the gesture. "Just promise me you'll be alright and you'll go with Rebekah." "I will." "Okay." Hayley pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "Be good, baby girl." With that, Hayley hurried away. Hope watched her disappear around the corner and then turned and ran to her bedside table. She dug out the spell for the moonlight rings and tucked the paper into her back pocket. Then she grabbed the wooden knight and stared at it for a moment. "Are you and Rebekah leaving now?" She turned towards Klaus, wrapping her hand around the knight. "Yeah." She replied. "Good. There's a safe house not far from here. It's only temporary-." "That's what you guys always say." Hope sighed, pushing the toy into her pocket and heading over to the door. She looked at Klaus. "I'll see you later. Don't make it too much later." "Are you alright?" She was being way too submissive, Klaus knew something must be wrong with her. "I'm fine." She lied through her teeth and forced a smile before walking past him. In the hallway, she was caught by someone else. Dylan. "Hey, are you leaving?" "Yeah." She agreed, nodding. "For how long?" "Don't know." She shrugged and tried to look unconcerned about it, even though she felt like she was dying inside. Dylan hesitated, looking around awkwardly. "Well, good luck." He finally said. "Thanks." They stood therefor an awkward minute longer before he jumped forward and his lips crashed against hers. She stumbled backwards, surprised, but then kissed him back. When they finally pulled away, she smiled at him. "Good luck." He repeated more sincerely. She nodded mutely and he released his hold on her and walked away. She turned towards the stairs and slowly started down. She now had a mission while she was at the safe-house: learn to be a better vampire. Marcel and Davina had showed her that she was being insane. All Mikaelson's were a little whacked in the head, but that was no excuse. She was supposed to be better. Instead of wishing she was powerful, she was determined to be powerful. Also, she wanted a while to think about how amazing that kiss was and hope that her father never found out.