AN: First chapter of a new story! I hope you guys like it. Like always, good or bad, let me know. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

K slapped Klaus' arm repeatedly and faster than he assumed she would. She berated him with a hundred smacks in the time it would take a human to do ten. He was mildly impressed she was so angry, but that didn't stop it from hurting. Unable to take anymore, he snatched her wrist and held tight. Klaus looked at her blankly.

"Ow." He said in a flat voice.

K wrenched herself from his hold.

"The hell is wrong with you?" she snapped. It was clear she wanted to continue hitting, but kept herself as under control as she could. "Who disappears for four days? Four days! And you just left Hope behind?!"

"I knew she was in good hands." He replied casually. "I had no doubt you'd care for her while I was gone."

"That's not the point, Niklaus." She was still mad. He knew she would be when he came home. "Where the hell did you go for four days?"

"Out of town." He said in the same tone he'd been using since arriving. And just as leisurely as he'd been speaking, Klaus stepped around K in favor of a drink.

K's brows were pooled, her mouth slack and her brain fighting to keep from exploding. How could he be so nonchalant? How could he remain so carefree about disappearing, leaving Hope behind and then suddenly coming home without the slightest clue as to where he's been?

"You're kidding," she finally said. Klaus turned lazily on his heel to face her while he sipped his drink. "Right? I mean, you didn't really think that I'd be okay with this, did you?"

"With what?" he asked easily. "You simply babysat for a few days. I sincerely doubt it was anything you couldn't handle."

She openly glared at the hybrid.

"You are so arrogant." She growled. With his continued blithe behavior, K found it increasingly difficult to remain calm. She was getting angrier by the second. "You left her, with me, for four days, without a single hint to where you went, and you turned off your phone."

"I left her with Rebekah for months." He replied simply. "What's your point?"

Exasperated with his continued glibness, K threw her hands into the air. It was like he was intentionally trying to piss her off, and she couldn't help but rise to the occasion. Still frustrated, K ran her fingers through her hair, took a steadying breath and looked at him again.

"At least tell me where you've been." She said. "What was so important you had to suddenly scurry away in the middle of the night?"

"I'm afraid I can't, love. Not just yet, at least." He said before taking a sip. Her eyes narrowed slowly. "I will though," he admitted, "once the rest of the pieces are in place."

"Pieces?" she mumbled. "Good Lord, you're plotting again, aren't you?" He smirked wickedly as he finished off his booze. "Oh God, Nik," she sighed heavily. "What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing overly horrible." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Really?" she mocked. "Are people going to scream?"

"Probably."

"Are they going to run in fear?"

Klaus couldn't fight the chuckle he felt rumble in his throat as he thought about it.

"Probably." He mused. He wasn't laughing because he was lying. He was laughing because it was the truth and he just found it funny.

Her gut turned mildly as she asked her next question.

"You're going to destroy lives, aren't you?" she asked with a hint of disappointment.

He shrugged a single shoulder without care.

"Things most definitely won't be the same." He grinned. "I can guarantee everyone worth anything will be at my feet."

Her brows came together sadly. Why did he always have to destroy everything? Why did he have to cause pain? Why, oh why, must Niklaus Mikaelson be the architect of his own misery?

K felt the weight fall onto her shoulders. He'd already left New Orleans a wreck in his wake and it seemed that he only wanted to keep up the trend. And she'd agreed to go back with him… The weight grew heavier the more she thought about it. She wasn't going to suddenly say she was staying in Beacon Hills because –as she told him- she'd already agreed to go back. Now she was wondering what she was not only walking into, but what she was unknowingly complicit in. Whatever plans he was making now at her side –if she didn't stop him- might as well be their plans.

With another heavy sigh, K stepped towards the front door and grabbed her jacket.

"I'm going for a walk." She said before leaving the apartment completely.

Klaus cocked a brow and watched her leave. Honestly, he was expecting more of a fight than that.

~!~

K found herself sitting on the highest building in Beacon Hills. She didn't really know how she'd gotten there, but she liked the height. Being there made the noises of the city fade along with the people in it. So she sat on the edge of the thirty floor building with her legs dangling freely.

From her perch, K could see her apartment in the distance. She stared at it and thought of the young man waiting there with his daughter. Why did Klaus have to constantly cause turmoil? Why was he so uncomfortable with peace? Why did he always have to start something when nothing need be started?

K felt her chest tighten and her heart sink. She began to regret agreeing to return to New Orleans with him. What was waiting for them when they returned?

~!~

The sun had disappeared long ago and the moon was held high above by the time K headed home. She didn't bother with the stairs either. She jumped. The fall was euphoric, in a way. For seconds there was nothing but the all-consuming rush of the fall before she landed on the ground.

K felt her bones shatter up the length of her body and heal just as quickly, like a ripple in a pond after someone had thrown in a pebble. Less than a minute after landing, she was whole again and started off for home.

When she walked through the door, Klaus was sitting on her couch with a drink in hand. The television was on –some show about home improvement- as she locked the door and tossed her things onto the bar. He looked at her sideways with irritated disapproval. K didn't care. She stripped herself of her jacket and walked to her bar, paying a passing glance to her room where Hope slept soundly in her crib.

"Where've you been these long hours?" Klaus asked leisurely while K finished off the scotch Klaus had been suckling since arriving in Beacon Hills.

"Thinking." She replied in the same tone.

"Hm," he mumbled. He didn't sound amused. After all, K had been gone for nearly six hours. "Do I dare ask?"

K turned and looked at the man with his legs on her coffee table, his arm resting on the arm of the couch and his glass within his fingertips. Klaus felt her stare and met it without blinking. K took a long, single sip of her drink and finished it off before closing the distance between them.

He continued to watch her, silent and annoyed. When she made it to his side, he refused to lower his legs. She didn't seem to care. To his surprise, K swung one leg over and took a seat on his thighs, not quite in his lap, but not on his knees either. She wanted to keep enough distance between them to properly see his face.

Klaus remained quiet, but cocked a brow at the odd behavior.

"I will come home with you," she said simply, "because I gave my word,"

"And?" he pressed when she paused.

"But," she said instead. "You will not return to your hatred. You will not sink, yet again, into that dark place."

Klaus sighed obnoxiously and rolled his eyes. He thought her demands were futile and weak, but K didn't care. Her hand shot out and grabbed his jaw. Klaus' brows came together in shock at the way she handled him as she guided his face forward. She could tell he was borderline angry for the 'man-handling' but she didn't care.

"I'm serious." She said. Klaus jerked his head to the side to free himself from her grip. She let him, but kept her eyes glued to his. "Don't put me through that again, Niklaus. I won't stand for it."

"Are you making demands?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "And they will be met."

His blue eyes flashed with rage. Klaus didn't stand for being ordered around, no matter who it was, and she knew it.

"How dare you." He growled through his teeth.

"I'll leave again." She told him plainly and without fear of his outburst. He hesitated, but didn't let the emotion touch his features. "I swear to everything holy, to any god that might exist, I will leave and I will never come back if you turn into that man again." Her eyes began to tint pink. The odd reaction made Klaus begin to realize that she wasn't making the demands out of some sick delusion of superiority, or using her leaving as an idol threat. She meant it. "I can't watch you be that man again Klaus, I can't, and I won't. That Klaus…" her brows slowly began to tug together, "scares the shit out of me." She admitted. "And I refuse to be around him."

His jaw tensed and relaxed as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. He saw the fear in her eyes and could almost feel it.

"And if I can't?" he finally asked. His voice was calm and softer than before. "You're asking more than you realize."

"I'm not asking you to become a Saint, or anything close to it. I don't want you to be someone else." She said. K blinked and a small tear fled each eye. "Just please don't be him."

She was terrified of what he planned to do when they were back in New Orleans, of the plans he'd made while he was gone, and Klaus sensed it. He didn't think his disappearing would frighten her as much as it had, but he should have. Of course she'd think he'd lay waste to the city when they returned. He'd never given her anything else to think and his cryptic behavior hadn't changed. He wished he could tell her what he'd done, but he couldn't. He wasn't lying when he said it would change everything, or that he planned to stand above everyone when he was finished.

"Okay," he finally said. Klaus reached forward, ran the back of his index finger quickly across her cheeks to clear them of the tears and pulled her close. He hugged K and she returned the affection. "I'll try."

It was the best he could offer and the best she could hope for. If he'd told her he would never become that man again, K would know it's a lie and so would he. So he simply told her he'd try.

Klaus cradled her gently to his chest while K rested against him.

"May we go home now?" he asked with a sigh after a few minutes of silence.

K smiled to herself and nodded.

~!~

The four walked through the front door of the manor in New Orleans. Elijah didn't hesitate to break apart from Klaus and headed for the other side of the compound just to put distance between them. Klaus fought the urge to comment on it and instead elected to go to his room. K followed with Hope in her arms.

Freya heard their arrival and stepped into the courtyard to welcome her brothers. She didn't have the chance to speak to Elijah before he wandered off, and was shocked by who she saw at Klaus' side. The blond and K caught one another's eye and it was obvious the vampire was daring her to speak. Freya said nothing and let them walk upstairs to Klaus' bedroom.

The tension in the house returned alongside the two Mikaelson brothers. It was as though that night with Dahlia happened only hours ago instead of weeks.

Each set their bag down along with Hope's things when they made it to his bedroom. Klaus set Hope in one of her playpens so she could stretch, but he wouldn't have to hover while he gathered the rest. It was good to be home. As he moved through his bedroom, he noticed K hadn't quite begun to settle in yet. It drew his attention.

"Would you prefer your room?" he asked.

"I don't know." K replied. "I still have my home."

"You should consider selling it."

"Why?" she asked. "I like having a place of my own."

"Why bother?"

"Because you and your brother like to fight." She said plainly. "I'd like to have somewhere to go just so I don't have to listen to the squabbles."

He eyed her and noticed her light smirk. It caused him to relax a bit when he realized she wasn't 'attacking' him with her comment, only teasing.

"I'll take my room." She told him.

Looping her bag over her shoulder, K left Klaus' room in favor of hers next door. He was glad to have her home, and K was glad to be back… for the moment. After all, nothing was ever calm for long in any Mikaelson home.

~!~

It had been a month and a half since K came back to New Orleans and while things weren't hectic or chaotic, they'd never relaxed. Elijah hated Klaus –something anyone could see- and K hated Freya. Dinner was… well it was interesting. The feuding brothers would sit across the long table from one another, staring silently at each other and thinking all manner of things. The same could be said for K and Freya. They sat closer to one another –only because the table was thinner than long- and just stare. Freya found it difficult enough to eat in the deafening silence between Klaus and Elijah. Her discomfort was only added to when she had to sit across from the brooding, angry K.

And this was every night because Klaus insisted they all sit together to eat despite the fact two didn't ingest human food. No one knew why he was being indulged, but they did it regardless.

Klaus had at least made steps, which K found admirable. He kept his word when it came to Marcel and let the vampire take over the Quarter. He didn't care to have it anymore and let his progeny return to his throne.

He never mentioned what he did while he was gone those four days either and K forgot to keep asking. In the wake of moving back to New Orleans and the tension that now filled her waking day, K had all but forgotten about the havoc he'd promised he'd cause once home again. He never seemed to make steps towards it and as a result it slipped from memory.

And he'd even softened towards Hayley, a bit.

On the first full moon since their return, Elijah had every intention of taking Hope to see her mother. Klaus protested vehemently. He thought that –as part of her torment- Hayley should be denied the chance to see her child. The fight that followed was intense and nearing blows until Freya and K intervened. Freya squared herself on them both, but K headed straight for Klaus. To Freya's shock, the vampire seemed capable of calming the erratic hybrid and convinced him to let Elijah go. She told Klaus Elijah wasn't going to flee with Hope, that Hayley wasn't going to run with her either, and that he was better than his petty anger. He was still agitated, but Elijah left with Hope regardless.

At the moment, Klaus sat on the leather couch in his study reading a book leisurely while Hope and K sat on the floor playing. Elijah and Freya were somewhere on the grounds, but neither were in the room. They were in their own little bubble. It was pleasant until Klaus thought he'd be clever.

"One would think you might be jealous." Klaus said with a grin as he continued to eye his book.

"Of her?" K scoffed as she made a stuffed bunny dance for Hope. "I have nothing to be jealous of."

"Oh I don't know," he said leadingly forcing K to look up at him through her lashes. He continued to 'read'. "She's intelligent, attractive,"

"Human," K finished in the same tone. Klaus looked up and chuckled when he saw her staring at him. "Honestly, if you want to keep seeing her and spilling your problems to Cami, feel free Nik, but I'm not jealous of the little human bartender."

"Not worried I'll begin to court her?"

K snorted under her breath which he noticed immediately.

"What was that for?"

"Courting? Seriously?" she teased.

He cocked a brow.

"I'll have you know, I've made many a maiden swoon throughout the centuries."

"Little debutants who weren't allowed to leave their homes without escorts? I'm sure you did." She nodded.

K continued to openly tease Klaus which he found annoying.

"But things are a little different now-a-days." She said. "It's more than flashing a charming smile."

"It's really not." He replied.

K rolled her eyes and went back to playing with Hope while Klaus glowered. She seemed to know just how to push his nerves.

"You don't think I'm capable, do you?" he pressed. K shifted so she could sit at an angle with her palm propping her up as she looked at him. He could tell by her expression that she didn't.

"Honestly, I don't know." She resigned. K could tell he was dancing between annoyance and actual anger. "It's not like we've ever dated."

"Beacon Hills."

"You mean when you made me eat human food?"

"It was you favorite." He shrugged.

"When I could still taste. Now I just remember it tasting like… dirt. Which was intentional," she said, pointing the bunny at him as though it were her finger. "Wasn't it?"

Klaus cocked a single brow and shrugged a shoulder. K openly rolled her eyes. He didn't even bother hiding the lie that time. K went back to playing with Hope while Klaus glanced to the clock. It was time for another meeting with Cami and he said as much when he stood. K scooped Hope up into her arms so he could hug his daughter and give her a kiss. Before leaving, he gave K one as well, brief but still sweet, and left.

As he walked through the compound to meet his shrink –something K still hadn't let go- he thought about what she said. Klaus was romantic. He could made the most chaste woman swoon and fall in love with him without even bothering to try. How could she say he couldn't?

His irritation with her mocking grew the longer he thought about it. Perhaps he would have to show her. Perhaps Klaus would have to make the effort to make a young lady swoon just to prove he could.