Chapter Text
Everyone is born with a soulmark, a unique tattoo that you and your soulmate share. It’s not always in the same spot, though. Most people hide their soulmarks under their clothing. Hayley’s, a small circle with three dots on the outside, is on her wrist though, so ever since she was kicked out by her foster parents, she tells people it’s a regular tattoo. She ought to get some actual tattoos to help hide her soulmark. She didn’t want a soulmate. She made enough of a mess of her own life, no need to ruin someone else’s.
Case in point.
Hayley was currently being held captive by some witches in a crypt in New Orleans. Not exactly how she wanted her fact finding mission to go, but even worse than failing to find anything out about her parents was the fact that the witches were convinced she was pregnant. With Klaus Mikaelson’s kid. Yes, she’d slept with the terror of the supernatural world and lived to tell the tale. Not that they gave a damn about each other, no way he would come for her. She had no idea what his soulmark was, despite them seeing all of each other, since he had several tattoos. That’s what gave her the idea to get some tattoos of her own, to hide her connection to her soulmate the way he was clearly trying to hide his own weakness. Maybe she should have told the witches they’d have better luck kidnapping Caroline Forbes, since Klaus was obsessed with her, but Hayley had messed up that girl’s life enough. Caroline and Tyler might never forgive her, but she’d rest easier knowing she hadn’t thrown them under the bus in this way at least.
Anyway, back to the predicament in front of her. Apparently the witches had managed to lure Elijah at least into their plot. It was probably too much to ask that he’d help her out, given that they’d never even met. Unless he wanted her little demon spawn for some reason. Which would probably just burden her with a whole new host of problems. She hadn’t decided if she wanted to keep it yet, if she’d even get the choice.
As the Deveraux witch drones on about the witches’ problems with Marcel, Elijah casts his mind throughout the cemetery, hearing the presence of several other people, presumably more witches, and smelled at least one werewolf. Sophie does bring up the presence of the werewolf, apparently she had come there from Mystic Falls. That was likely another problem to be dealt with, since too many in that town knew of weaknesses against his family. He’s stunned, his thoughts turning blank, when the witch makes her next claim.
The wolf girl is pregnant. And it is Niklaus’s.
He rightfully tells her that her story was impossible, and she rightfully reminds him that Niklaus, being the Hybrid, was nothing but magical possibilities. When Sophie calls out to her fellow witches to bring out the werewolf, he’s momentarily taken aback by her beauty. While Niklaus rarely bedded women who weren’t beautiful, Elijah was rarely struck by the sight of one. Even her surly expression seemed to add to her beauty, rather than take away from it.
“I’m guessing you’re Elijah, based on the suit,” the girl snarks as he stares at her. Particularly the emblem on her wrist. It had taken him less than a second to recognize the sigil, the same one that he had on his upper thigh before he drank in her face. He feels as though Niklaus just delivered a particularly strong punch to his gut.
“Give us a moment, please,” he says to the witch, once he’s finally able to tear his eyes away from her.
Elijah is pacing the small crypt. This is far too many surprises for one day. He prides himself on being prepared for any scenario, but he could admit (internally) to being woefully unequipped to deal with the twin problems in front of him. The twin problems. The one woman. “So have they been holding you here against your will?” He asks, not coming across as gently as he’d intended, as he continues to pace, thoughts a blur.
His soulmate. His brother’s one night stand. That could be easily overcome, but the baby…. Is it even real? It is inconceivable his soulmate would be actively plotting against his family, surely Fate wasn’t that cruel? But then again, he knew It had been, many times over his life. This woman could be conspiring with the witches to deceive him, deceive them all. Maybe that is what he deserves from his other half.
She scoffs. “They lured me out to the bayou and grabbed me. Then they did all these weird, witchy tests. Not that I can understand how this could happen. I mean, vampires are dead.” He pauses, absorbing the full implications of that. He was dead. She wasn’t. She’d never be undead either, not when the only way to make hybrids had been driven off Wickery Bridge. Elijah’s mind flits through a dozen possibilities in half a second, before realizing he…was already attached. He barely knows this woman, she could simply have a tattoo similar to his soulmark for all he knew. Or maybe this is part of the larger scheme, a way to lure in both brothers.
The wolf is still speaking. “Vampires can’t have children.”
“Perhaps if you knew my brother’s story it might explain how any of this was possible,” he says because it is possible, usual rules be damned. Likelihood of the love of his life sleeping with his brother be damned. “If you’ll allow me…” he comes over and raises his hand to her face, but she flinches. He had been so close to touching her hair…
“What are you doing?”
“Relax,” he says, glad his centuries of control allow him to stay outwardly calm, “If you open your mind to me, I can show you.” He slowly places his hands on either side of her face, closing his eyes to enter her mind. He refuses to look once inside, merely relaying the memories to her as he describes their family history. His family history. He could let his soulmate know who he was as a mortal under the pretense of telling her about Niklaus.
When he comes out of her mind, she says something that surprises him: “Your father was a dick.” He chuckles at her bluntness as she offers him her hand to shake. “I’m Hayley, by the way. You should probably know my name if you’re gonna tell me your whole life story. I mean, I know yours. Your family is legendary; your brother is a notorious psycho. Who I slept with, classic me,” she jokes in a self deprecating tone and he resists the urge to reach out and soothe her. To hold her hand.
He finally gives in and touches her hand, flipping it over so he can study the mark on her wrist more closely as she looks at him warily. “Lovely tattoo,” Elijah says calmly, careful to avoid touching her mark directly.
“You know it’s not a tattoo,” Hayley says darkly.
“Well, to speak of such things is considered impolite in this day and age,” Elijah replies.
Hayley scoffs. “And it wasn’t in the years you’ve lived?”
“Not at all, such things were openly spoken of in our village,” he says simply.
“So what, did you and Klaus sit around the campfire and compare soulmarks?”
Elijah chuckles. “Not quite. In fact, I recently discovered reason to believe that at least one of my siblings does not remember what my soulmark is. It’s not in a very visible place.” He hopes that is what happened, that Niklaus hadn’t realized Hayley’s connection to himself. Even Niklaus wouldn’t have knowingly crossed that line. Would he?
Hayley laughs darkly, flashing him her wrist. “Yeah, lucky me. Where’s yours?” She asks, leaning into his space.
Before he can answer, the Deveraux witch barrels back into the room. “Well, are you ready? Can we count on you to keep Klaus in line and help us take down Marcel? Because if not, everyone learns about the newest member of the Mikaelson family.”
Elijah stands smoothly and walks over to the witch, so he can properly tower over her. “I expect you have a good reason I can not just kill you and abscond with Hayley?” He hears a sharp intake of breath from Hayley behind him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have just implied he was willing to kidnap her.
The witch visibly steels her spine. “I do.” Elijah cocks an eyebrow and gestures for her to go on. “The spell my sister did wasn’t just to confirm Hayley’s pregnancy. It also linked me to her.”
“What?” Hayley snarls, standing and coming up behind him. He throws out an arm to stop her advance.
“And what all does this linking entail?” Elijah asks, as calmly as he can manage. This is not a comforting twist on this concerning situation.
“It means that the lives of Hayley and her baby are controlled by me. If I die, they both die. If you harm me in any way, Hayley will experience that pain. And I will stab my own stomach if you decide to take your displeasure out on the other members of this coven.”
Elijah stares at the woman for a long moment. Sophie Deveraux’s death will be long and painful, as soon as he could manage it. He decides another tactic is necessary at this juncture. “You are lucky you did not surprise Niklaus with that. I might be the only one in this room to survive his fury should you attempt to manipulate him in this way.”
Sophie squares her shoulders. “It’s the only way I’ve got.”
Elijah purses his lips. “Indeed.” He glances back at Hayley, who’s looking at Sophie with such loathing, he finds it oddly endearing. “What all do you want Niklaus and I to do, in return for Hayley and the baby’s safety?”
Sophie looks relieved, likely making the mistaken assumption that he has agreed to her plan. “We have a plan to take down Marcel. Klaus is the key. He made Marcel into who he is today, he can turn his organization inside out.”
“I would be happy to kill Marcel right now, in exchange for you unlinking from Hayley,” Elijah says calmly. Even Niklaus would consider that a fair trade, once he came to his senses. His out-of-control-protégé in exchange for the new child.
“No,” Sophie says, shaking her head. “That’s not the plan.”
“I doubt Niklaus will appreciate your plan, or that fact that it is being dictated to him,” Elijah says, leaving out that he doesn’t appreciate the witch’s plan either.
Sophie doesn’t care. “Get him here and I guess we’ll find out.”
Hayley isn’t sure it’s better that one of the Mikaelsons believes the witches about her demon spawn. Maybe if no one took the bait, they’d be forced to let her go. But Elijah, the noble one, at least according to his reputation, seems obsessed with keeping her safe. All it took was a single conversation. But she’s not sure she trusts him, despite his criminally hot looks. Klaus is almost as attractive as Elijah, but she’s all too aware of what a monster he is. Yet Elijah seems almost…nice when he relays their family history. She’s trying not to be awed by his precise self control, when she doesn’t really have any. Elijah is clearly reluctant to leave her in the crypt to fetch Klaus, as he makes several pointed threats to Sophie before he disappears into the night.
It’s not long before he returns.
Klaus is trailing him, looking less-than-happy with the scenario. Though the only time she’d really seen Klaus happy was when he was flirting with Caroline at the Miss Mystic Pageant. Klaus is quickly advancing on her, hate in his eyes. “WHO ELSE HAVE YOU BEEN WITH?” He roars, as Elijah grabs his brother to hold him back.
“I’ve spent days held captive in a fucking alligator bayou because they think I’m carrying some magical miracle baby,” she snaps at him, refusing to be afraid. “Don’t you think I would have fessed up if it wasn’t yours?” Hayley might not be a nun, but she uses protection regularly and part of the reason she’d slept with Klaus was her months-long dry spell. She figured with a thousand years under his belt, he’d be good in bed despite being a megalomaniac, and everyone else in Mystic Falls hated her at that point. She isn’t above admitting she has needs, ok? Even if she now wishes she had used a condom, even though that’s completely ridiculous. Who the hell would have thought to use a condom with a dead guy?
Elijah’s been speaking in hushed whispers to Klaus, who seems to be calming down, at least a little bit, until Sophie speaks. “So are you on board with our plan?”
“ Your plan ?” Klaus says with a dark laugh and Hayley’s stomach does a flip. “The hell I am.”
“Niklaus,” Elijah says gravely, “play the long game.” The brothers exchange a look that Hayley’s surprised she understands. Klaus and Elijah had long deaths in store for everyone in that room. She just hopes that hit list didn’t include her.
Sophie and the other witches allow Elijah and Klaus to take Hayley out of the crypt, and she’s soon settling into her new home, an old plantation on the outskirts of town. Elijah comes into the room as she’s uncovering furniture. “How are you feeling?” He asks in that eerily calm voice of his and she blinks at him in surprise.
“About what? Being kidnapped, being threatened, or being pregnant with a new species?” She snarks at him, but is floored by his next words.
“About being a mother.”
“I…I don’t know. I never really had a good one, so I’ve got nothing to base it off of.” A dark look crosses his face, so she hurries on. “I was abandoned as a baby and my foster parents kicked me out once I unlocked my werewolf side. See? No good role models.”
“Well, our father was ‘a dick’,” Elijah says with a chuckle, “and our mother turned us into abominations. You might be the most well equipped one here.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Hayley mutters and Elijah’s eyes light up with warmth.
“And how do you feel about your potential child?” Elijah asks and Hayley gets the feeling he wants to know more about her motivations.
“I don’t feel pregnant,” Hayley admits. “I have no way to tell, ok? I’m working off the same information you are; all I have to go on is the witch's word. So if they are lying, I have no idea. All I know is that they are desperate enough to link to me.”
“You are pregnant,” Elijah says simply and she gapes at him. “I can hear it.”
She automatically cradles her stomach and is surprised by the motion. “You can hear the baby?”
He nods slowly. “It’s not an actual heartbeat, it’s too early for that, but older vampires ought to be able to hear the change in you.”
“How old? Marcel?” She asks and he stiffens.
“Marcel won’t get close enough to you to hear your own heartbeat,” Elijah promises and she’s a little frightened by the intensity in his eyes, to be completely honest. He seems to pick up on her unease, breaking their stare off and removing a sheet covering a crib.
“What if I don’t want to keep it?” She whispers to his back and his shoulders square.
“What you are carrying is likely the only hope for my brother’s soul, but I would never take your choice away from you,” he says, voice tight. He turns to face her, something closed off in his face. “I will protect you whatever you decide. If that means defending you from Marcel, or Niklaus himself, I will do what I must.”
“Why?” She asks and he seems caught off guard.
“Because you are family now, regardless of what you decide,” he eventually settles on and she gets the feeling there’s more he’s not saying, but decides now isn’t the time to press.
When Hayley settles to sleep, Elijah corners his brother in the parlor, determined to get answers after their horribly unsettling day. “We need to find out what Marcel has over the witches,” Elijah says gravely.
“Unfortunately, he and all his men are on vervain. I’ve checked. Thoroughly,” Klaus says darkly.
“And what is your goal here, Niklaus?”
“I want what he has. The city, the followers, the control over the witches. I want it all,” Klaus says, clutching a chair back so tightly it turns to dust.
“And your child?” Elijah asks calmly, despite his internal storm.
Klaus cocks an eyebrow at him. “Do you truly believe the witches speak the truth?”
“If there is a lie, Hayley is not privy to it,” Elijah says. He was certain. While Hayley was far from guileless, she had spoken frankly with him earlier and he believed her. “I can look into it further, for both of us, but I want to know your intentions.”
“I have no need for a child,” Klaus scoffs, then his gaze turns calculating. “Though the baby would be a good bribe for Rebekah. Get her here, will you? I want to see how it throws Marcel off balance.” Klaus turns away in clear dismissal and Elijah weighs his options. He decides he would rather get the truth out of his brother now rather than stew in paranoia.
“Hayley’s soulmark,” Elijah says to Klaus slowly, “when you two…. spent the night together ….. did you see it?”
“It’s on her wrist, of course I saw it,” Klaus scoffs, then turns serious, studying his brother intently. “Are you suggesting I should have recognized it?”
Elijah’s surprise slips through his calm. “You didn't?”
“Honestly, brother, if you’re here to complain that I killed the skank’s soulmate, it’s too late. I’ve killed countless people,” Niklaus reasons, “and I’ve separated nearly as many soulmates. What does it matter that I deprived some harlot of lo-”
Elijah’s arm flashes out and he has his brother by the throat, pinned against the wall. “Are you really speaking ill of the mother of your child?” he asks, seething.
Klaus throws him off easily, slamming him into a bookcase. “What need do I have for a child or its mother?” Klaus shoves him further against the wall, the wood cracking behind Elijah as he glares at his brother. “Careful, I can’t have unreliable foot soldiers. You could end up with a dagger in the back.”
Klaus shucks his shirt off once in the privacy of his own room, catching a glance of the tattoos gracing his back in the mirror. He really ought to add more, three isn’t enough to disguise his soulmark. He hesitantly reaches out to graze his fingers along the true mark, three birds in flight along his shoulder blade, wishing he could experience that fleeting buzz that had danced across his skin only once, if it actually had at all.
“Caroline, now’s not the time,” Klaus growls out, flashing to put on a shirt and abandoning his pliers. He has yet to remove the slivers of white oak Silas had buried near his heart.
Caroline sniffs. “I honestly thought you’d use any excuse for me to see your shirtless.”
“Why, did you like what you saw?” He flirts automatically. She rolls her eyes and he breathes a sigh of relief that she didn’t see his tattoos. Not that there’s any reason to be concerned, he convinces himself. He doesn’t have weaknesses the way mortals do. He ends up crying out in pain when the white oak shifts inside him, and Caroline’s at his side in an instant, looking concerned despite herself.
“What’s wrong?” She asks with those too-blue eyes and he stares into them for as long as he can get away with.
“Silas,” he finally grounds out, once the pain has subsided. “He’s buried some white oak near my heart.”
Caroline’s eyes go wide. “That could kill you. Meaning me. And almost everyone I care about.”
“If you would be a dear and get it out?” He huffs out through labored breaths, trying to ignore the hurt that flashes through him at her obvious lack of caring for his life.
“I…” Her hesitancy pains him. “I can try.” She moves behind him and begins to poke at the wound. He bites back a moan when her hand grazes his shoulder blade. That was an odd sensation. It was almost like his skin reacted to her touching his soulmark, even through his clothes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’d be easier if you took off your shirt.”
“No,” Klaus bites out. Caroline can’t see his soulmark, not even if he adds twenty more tattoos to cover it up. They couldn’t be…. He hadn’t just felt…. His mind spirals into panic, unable to feel his body anymore as he’s trapped internally with his thoughts. With the thought that he’d just imagined a connection between them that he was incapable of having.
“What do you mean, no?” Caroline backs up from him to glare him down, hands on her hips. He just gives her a death stare in response. “UGH, YOU’RE INFURIATING! FIRST YOU DEMAND I HELP YOU, THEN YOU WON’T EVEN LET ME!!! WHAT’S YOUR FREAKING PROBLEM?!?!?”
Klaus snaps out of his internal debate once he notices her anger and immediately revels in the lack of pain in his chest. “It’s gone.”
“What?” Caroline snaps.
“It’s gone. It was a mind trick Silas was playing on me,” Klaus says, suddenly calm as he gets his bearings again.
“So what? Silas got bored of torturing you?” She snarks and he shrugs, brushing past her to leave the room. Perhaps it was also a result of Silas’s games, but he could have sworn the pain ceased the moment he felt that….that odd sensation. When Caroline touched his soulmark.
It was a trick of his mind, he decides. He doesn’t have a soulmate, he can’t be burdened with one. Love is not power, whatever Elijah says. Even if Caroline is the first in literal ages to make him wonder….