Chapter Text
Chapter Three
Klaus paced around the surgery waiting room anxiously. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was too great to sit still. He felt like his heart was in his throat. He was on edge, hoping that both his brother and the agent, though he couldn’t explain why he cared about the agent’s status of health, were going to survive while also worrying about the possibility of retaliation attacks occurring. When they had arrived at the hospital it was apparent that both the agent and Kol were in critical conditions. The bullet had nicked the agent’s liver causing her to suffer from massive bleeding and for thirty seconds, thirty long seconds, she had died. Kol had been wheeled into the same bay as the doctors worked on him right alongside her. He had lost a fair amount of blood but stabilized more quickly. The area of the trauma bay looked like a slaughterhouse and by the time both Kol and the agent were stable enough to go into surgery, there was blood seemingly coating every surface.
Kol was wheeled out first, and much to Klaus’s surprise, the agent was wheeled next to him in the ICU not twenty minutes later. Seeing them both alive allowed him to take a momentary breath of relief. He knew it would be short lived but he had to take his victories where he could get them.
“Mister Mikaelson,” one of the doctors said, approaching him with a still grim look on his face. The doctor raised an eyebrow at Klaus’s still bloodstained suit but knew better than to comment on what he saw when it came to the family he served. “We haven’t contacted your father, per your request, but he has eyes everywhere here. I’m not sure how long you’ll be able to fly under the radar.” Klaus clenched his jaw but nodded.
“I assume you’re quickly coming to a point?” he snapped, his tone a little more aggressive than he knew it should have been. The doctor gave him an exasperated look.
“Follow me,” he said, turning on his heel and leading him into the ICU where Kol and the agent had been given a private room to best avoid prying eyes. “They both pulled through. Your brother is going to need physical therapy for that shoulder, and he won’t be able to use his arm much while he heals. If he overdoes it, he runs the risk of permanent damage and impaired range of movement. As for your…federal agent friend, a miss Elena Gilbert according to her ID, she had a bullet graze to her liver. She lost a lot of blood, but it was through and through which means we were able to close it all up cleanly.”
Klaus took in the doctor’s words. He didn't want his father knowing he had recused a federal agent while simultaneously losing the deeds and manifest. Kol would be fine when their father found out he was injured, Elena’s body would be dumped in the East River. He sucked in a deep breath as he weighed the options before him. Klaus turned to look at the room which was concealed by curtains at the moment.
“Have the agent moved to my apartments downtown. Father doesn’t go near the place that I keep in Neutral territory,” Klaus said, keeping his voice low. He discreetly slipped the doctor another envelope of cash. “You’ll get the last part of your payment when she is safe.” The doctor nodded before departing quickly.
Klaus slowly walked back into the room and over to Kol who was awake, yet silently staring at the ceiling. His little brother looked over at him with solemn eyes. Klaus sat down in the chair next to the bed and rubbed his hand over his face. There was nothing he could say that would change what was coming. Aurora was alive, but it would remain to be seen if Tristan would survive his wounds.
**
Kol’s shoulder was throbbing painfully but he did his best to ignore it. He could only imagine what his father would do when he found out they had failed. He knew he wasn’t as hated as Klaus but that didn’t mean he was immune from suffering Mikael’s wrath. Out of the corner of his eye he cast his older brother a hesitant glance. Klaus had a stormy look on his face that only seemed to grow darker by the minute. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to know what his brother was thinking about.
“You should probably leave before father shows up. You and I both know he is going to be pissed that we didn’t find what he wanted,” Kol said quietly. Klaus only nodded his head, clearly lost in his own world. Eventually he knew that his older brother would pay for failing Mikael. However, he was going to do his best to keep his brother out of harm’s way.
“For now, just rest. I will call you in a few days when things have died down and I’ve figured out what has happened. We should have found everything in the safe,” Klaus said before abruptly standing. “I trust you won’t say a word about that woman over there?” Kol only nodded once before watching his brother leave the room.
**
Saturday, January 18th 6:30am
Elena was intensely drowsy when she finally woke. Hazy lapis eyes, the color of a tropical ocean, blinked open slowly. The steady beeping of a monitor was the only thing she was aware of when she first came to consciousness. She furrowed her brow at the ceiling in slight confusion, not remembering where she was, or how she got there. Her throat was so dry it felt as if she had been guzzling sand and her body felt heavy like her limbs were filled with concrete. Slowly she tried to sit up, until a sharp pain knocked the wind out of her. She swayed dangerously in bed, nearly collapsing. Her hand flew to her injured side, shocked to find that the area had been stitched and bandaged. She wrinkled her nose when she realized that it was her that smelled like antiseptic and hospital. However, when she caught her breath enough to look around, she noticed that she was in a room that looked nothing like a hospital.
"Mamka mu," she cursed softly to herself in her native Bulgarian, trying to remember what had happened. She remembered the Lockwood-Branson case. The garage on 86th. She had been looking for something…the manifests and deeds. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized her clothes had been changed, and almost in a panic, she began looking around for her things. There was a clear plastic bag sitting innocuously by the door, like someone had set it down and forgotten about it. With immense difficulty she managed to get to her feet, disconnect herself from the machines and the IV, and walk over to it. Bending over to retrieve the items hurt so much it took her breath away, but she was determined. She had to contact her job and tell them she'd found what the DEA needed and that at some point, she'd gotten shot. She could only assume that was what this was though she still couldn't remember fully yet. Elena was aggravated with herself for having such a large span of memory gone.
She took the bag back to the bed, wishing she had actual clothes instead of the little hospital dress that barely reached the tops of her thighs. They must've dressed her in a rush, whomever they were. She hastily dumped the bag onto the bed, sighing with relief when she saw her badge, and her bloody cut up jeans. At least some of her personal effects were still with her, though her gun was glaringly absent. She dug into the back pocket, pulling out a bloody, folded stack of papers about 20 sheets thick; the deeds. In her jacket pocket, she found the manifests and heaved a sigh of relief. While her bandaged side clearly said she had been shot, she had a distinct feeling in her gut that she had also shot someone. However, no matter how hard she wracked her brain she couldn’t remember and nothing more was going to come of it at that moment.
Her phone was dead, and though she had her car keys she had no car. It was probably still in the alley where she had parked it, at least she hoped it was still there. She had to contact her job and let them know she was alright, surely there were people looking for her. Though she had no idea how long she’d been in the not hospital room which meant there was also a chance that her boss thought she was dead.
The room was definitely the weirdest hospital room she'd ever seen, if it was indeed a hospital. She carefully made her way over to the window after folding all the papers and tucking them in the waistband of her underwear. She'd apparently almost died trying to get them which meant there was no way she was letting them out of her sight. She pulled open the heavy curtains, wincing against the soft morning sunlight but after a moment her eyes adjusted. What she saw left her even more confused.
She was in the heart of Neutral territory; her home turf. In the distance she could see the general hospital for the area and beyond that, she could see the skyscrapers of the Mikaelson family that marred the skyline. Clearly she wasn't in a hospital, and if this did turn out to be a hospital of some sorts it was certainly not a public one. No public hospital was this luxurious. Her gut twisted violently and she got the distinct feeling that something nefarious was happening all around her.
**
Klaus sat in his office which gave him a fantastic view of the whole city. To his left was the Mikaelson territory and to his right was De Martel territory. He felt safest in Neutral territory where people’s only goal was to survive the territory war and to make a decent, honest living. Klaus rarely ventured out during the day, not wanting to expose his favorite safe house which he had obtained under the name Alaric Saltzman. The only member of his family who knew the exact location of the apartment was his sister Freya, though he had suspicions that Elijah knew of all his safe houses. Klaus knew that Mikael was aware he kept an apartment somewhere in Neutral territory, but so far it seemed to remain fairly hidden.
“Nik, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but having a federal agent you kidnapped here isn’t a smart idea. You should have left her at the Neutral hospital. At least her people wouldn’t be looking at our family,” Freya said as she walked into his office unannounced. She sat down on the couch and looked at her little brother. “And before you go trying to blame Kol for ratting you out, it was Keelin who told me. Or did you forget she is a cop that works homicide? She is always crossing paths with the feds.” Klaus rolled his eyes but then froze.
“So I assume that Tristan De Martel didn’t survive? That certainly causes a few problems. Aurora will be even more unhinged which makes her dangerous,” Klaus said with an amused smirk. Freya waited for Klaus to finish gloating to break the news.
“Actually, no. Tristan is alive and well, though he is refusing to speak. It would seem he is being threatened by Marcel Gerard and possibly Lucien Castle. It would seem those two are still loyal to you after all these years,” Freya said. Klaus narrowed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
He wasn’t sure that Tristan being alive and blackmailed was any better than him being dead. At least it meant he was less likely to be killed by his psychotic ex-girlfriend. Klaus rotated his chair to face back towards the windows. Freya was right. He should have taken the agent to a regular hospital and left her outside the ER. As much as he tried to tell himself that she was the only possible person to have what he was looking for, that had not been his motivation for grabbing her. Klaus had been genuinely concerned for her well-being which was strange to him. On a regular basis he proved to himself and the world that the sanctity of life meant very little to him.
“We will see with time how useful those two are. They are never truly loyal to anyone. Though Marcel’s interest in Rebekah makes him easier to control than Lucien who, for all I care, can choke on his own blood,” Klaus said in a bored tone. He could feel his sister staring at him and he finally turned his head to make eye contact. “Tell Keelin that the woman is fine and that she is safe.” Freya gave her little brother an unimpressed glance. She knew the agent that was just a few rooms away. Elena deserved so much better than to be caught up with their family, Klaus especially. She was a good person who, no doubt, was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Protect Elena, Nik. She doesn’t deserve any of this. You sealed her fate the moment you decided not to leave her in a civilian hospital,” she said waspishly. “Fix this. Or you will no longer have a safe house.”
Klaus felt his stomach clench into a tight knot at his sister's threat. He knew she would go through on her word just as she had left the Mikaelson name behind. Though she occasionally visited her family, her last name had officially been changed to Malraux upon her marriage. Always and forever no longer applied as she was making quite clear. Klaus turned his head away from her and listened to Freya’s retreating footsteps.
Once he was sure that his sister was gone, Klaus stood and stretched a little. He was exceedingly stiff from spending most of the night in his desk chair. He had been unable to sleep as his mind tried to figure out what he had missed. The only thing he could figure was that the agent had stashed the deeds before they had arrived. After all, she had clearly been in the room for a while before he and his brother arrived at the garage.
Klaus made his way to the room where Elena was staying as he was lost in thought and opened the door without knocking, expecting to see her still asleep. He was shocked when he came face to face with her out of bed with the IV disconnected. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I wouldn’t advise you to move too much. Your liver was sliced by that bullet and you will cause internal bleeding if you’re not careful,” Klaus warned, setting a pair of his sweats and a hoodie on the bed. Elena’s eyes narrowed at him slightly as he set down clothes for her on the bed, eyeing him suspiciously. “It’s the best I’ve got until Freya returns with clothes for you.” He wasn’t expecting her to say anything but he continued to stare at her, his eyes never leaving hers.
**
Elena stiffened and whirled on her heel when she heard the door swing open, biting back a grunt of pain at the sudden movement. Yet she refused to take her eyes off whoever was coming inside.
He's dressed in all black, everything tailored to perfection which is startlingly familiar. He was taller than her by a few inches, an expensive watch glinting off his wrist. There was a brief flicker of recognition on her face but nothing stood out clearly in her memory, not even when his river-clear blue eyes locked onto her. He looked from her, to the bed and the discarded wires and tubes, then back to her with that same unimpressed stare, one that Elena was sure could see into the depths of her very soul.
"You're going to be okay. You're safe now."
"Ludiyat vŭlk," she says quietly to herself, the memory finally coming back to her when she thought about that voice. "Klaus Mikaelson. You...carried me out. You...saved me?"
It was becoming quickly apparent how dangerous and precarious the situation was and she knew she was going to have to tread carefully. She wished desperately that her gun hadn’t been taken from her. Mafia only left feds alive for one reason, and there was no chance he didn't know what her occupation entailed. He had seen her badge the night before, she remembered that much, though she wasn’t exactly sure why that part of her memory was coming back to her. The Mikaelsons especially were good at blackmail, and kept quite a few crooked cops, and ex-cops, on their payroll. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted, but she didn’t dare speak it aloud lest she was wrong about his motivations. Klaus has a reputation for being unpredictable as well as violent and while she was injured that was not a combination Elena wanted to deal with.
"I suppose it is safe to assume my job has no idea about my current status or whereabouts? They'll find my blood, and Tristan and Kol's, at the garage. How long do you think it'll take for them to announce my death?" Elena asked, trying to keep as much distance between her and the hitman as she could.
Klaus watched her with a still vaguely unimpressed look on his face. Elena found it infuriating that he could watch her with such a casual and cold stare. It was clear he didn’t really know why she was bothering to ask such questions. Enough cops were paid off that he wouldn’t be worried about how long she stayed missing. He continued to watch her before saying anything.
“They’ve already found all that. But don’t worry, it seems your friend Keelin is married to my sister so you’re protected for now,” Klaus said, moving to lean against the wall and watch. He tilted his head to the side, eyeing her like a wolf. “But you have heard of me. Fantastic. It means I won’t have to waste my time threatening you as you already know what I’m capable of.” Elena gave him a dry glare at the smug little curl in his tone. Of course she had heard of him. Every law enforcement agent in all precincts had, along with every other member of his family. Her side throbbed and she placed a hand against it but she didn't buckle or flinch. She wouldn't show another inch of weakness in front of him; not when it could easily mean the worst for her. He could've killed her in her sleep had he wanted to, and that thought sent a cold dread down her spine. Elena blinked in surprise, a flicker of confusion crossing her face when her mind circled back to him mentioning Keelin.
"Keelin Malraux? From Homicide?" she asked, hesitation laced through every part of her tone. She was reeling at the information; there was no way Keelin had passed a background check whilst being married to a Mikaelson; the force, as corrupt as they could be, would've never allowed someone from a Mafia family to be that close. They would've been hit with corruption charges faster than they could have blinked. How had something like that flown under the radar? Elena’s stomach sank with the possibility that more than a few bribes had exchanged hands to keep that particular bit of information secret. Keelin was a good cop, a damn good cop, but if it ever came out that she was involved with the Mafia, she would face a huge inquiry. Every single case she worked on would be picked apart. She would be seen as a threat. A leak. A mole.
Klaus wasn’t sure if she was going to run, but he supposed he should start interrogating her about the deeds before she attempted to flee. However, something stopped him. Where he would usually attack he was holding back. Something about the strength mixed with intense vulnerability that was apparent on Elena’s face drew him in. He wanted to protect her from the world he lived in because no doubt she was a good person. His heart rate picked up with the conflicting thoughts that were swirling around in his head. Klaus clenched his jaw and sucked in a deep breath as he decided what he was going to do.
“You’re going to need to lay low for a while here. Tristan survived both of us shooting him which means he will be out for blood. No doubt Aurora will be coming for you like the psychotic twat she is,” he said in a low and even voice, though the hand he rubbed over his face clearly showed that he was at least somewhat overwhelmed. He supposed Elena could use that against him in the future but it was exhausting constantly keeping up his walls and never being able to let anyone in behind them.
Elena wrinkled her nose but knew he had a point when he brought up Tristan and his batty sister. She was probably going to be hunted, but she didn't fully understand why she had to stay where she currently was. As far as she was concerned, she'd be much safer in the FBI building, where everyone had a gun and security was tight. However, when she heard the way he spoke about Aurora her ears pricked up. It was almost like he knew her personally, and not just in a you're-my-enemy sort of way, but as she was lost in thought she was suddenly jolted back to reality when she realized Klaus was talking at her again. The throbbing pain in her side also reminded her that she needed to stay alert.
“I’ve seen your file and I do know that you can take care of yourself, which leads me to the proposition I have for you. Though we have different reasons for wanting my father to be gone, I think we could potentially work well together to remove him from power,” he said. Klaus narrowed his eyes as he watched her face closely. He wasn’t bribing her with money because he knew she would never sink so low. He thought there was a good chance that she would be tempted by the idea of Mikael being taken out of the picture. There was also a chance she was purely a good person and would insist that Mikael needed to be removed through the justice department, which in his opinion, would be a pain in the ass. The legal system was slow moving and corrupt. He didn’t have time to battle with the courts and cops to obtain the power that he felt he deserved. “And for the record, I did save you and I have no idea why, so don’t go asking for answers on that. I wanted nothing from you at that moment so don’t think I’m just like the rest of my family. You know what I do and kidnapping isn’t on the list.”
"You...I’m sorry, let me get this straight, you want to overthrow your own family's empire?" She repeated, her tone laced with doubt, shock, and disbelief. Klaus smirked at her surprise when he mentioned overthrowing his family. She scoffed lightly. "As if I'm ever going to believe that. You and your family live like royalty at the expense of others. That's what you do, that’s what you’ve always done. Isn’t that your little promise you and your family are constantly going on about? Always and forever, family above all?" Elena eyed him critically.
The mention that he had seen her file and the fact that he potentially knew a lot about her was unsettling. It put him at an advantage over her since what she knew about him was limited to the dossier and rumors that swirled around. Elena had grown up in the Saint Augustine of Mercy Home For Children literal blocks away from where her parents burned alive in a house fire, a fire that she was still convinced wasn’t an accident. Her parents had been vocal about wanting the Mafia families gone and then had ended up dead. Elena refused to believe that their death was an accident. Now she suffered from PTSD because of it, having to take medication religiously so it interfered as little as possible with her life, medication that she had been on since she was six years old. Despite the challenges she had faced as a child, she had pushed herself to excel in school, even with some records of delinquency in her more rebellious years, and had graduated with honors from the local high school and later from college. She'd forged her own path in life through blood, sweat, and tears, never allowing anything to hold her back. Elena wasn’t going to let this man try to sway her morals no matter how horrible Mikael was known to be.
When Klaus had confirmed that he had in fact saved her, and that he himself had no idea why she was even here, her gut twisted. Elena didn’t like the idea that she owed a Mikaelson. His wording, however, caught her attention, even as her breaths grew slightly labored and she rested her back against the wall, her body hurting. But she was determined to remain upright until Klaus finally left her on her own.
"In the moment you didn’t know why you saved me but now you do. Now you want something from me," Elena corrected tearsely. She could feel the papers, warmed by the skin of her hip where they were tucked under the hospital gown. "Kidnapping may not be your style, but the rest of your family isn't above it. You prefer murder, beating, maiming, flaying; you're the Enforcer. The Mad Wolf of the Mikaelson family. Hardly makes me feel any better, by the way. You can't expect me to just stay here in your gilded cage or believe anything that comes out of your mouth." She suppressed a wince, her hand still on her side. Her body was yelling at her to lay down, but still she persisted.
But he save my life… she couldn’t help thinking, her mind at war with itself. Uncertainty flashed over her features. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, because if he had wanted to cause her bodily harm, he already would have, regardless of what information she might have. But she still wasn’t sure if she could trust him.
"Why do you want to dismantle the Mikaelson family?" she asked instead of continuing to rail against him. Trying to figure him out seemed like a better option.
**
To Klaus, it seemed she was unaware that he wanted to take Mikael’s place at the head of things and for now, he was content to let her mind pick apart what his words could possibly mean. He started to move towards the door when he saw her wince in pain yet again.
“You should lay down, agent. I would hate for you to have to have another round of surgery,” he said, his tone cold, not showing an ounce of actual concern. He left the room as quickly as he had entered and made his way to his own room.
Once he was in the solitude of his personal retreat, he let the act drop. In reality, he was exhausted to the point of being able to sleep for days. His muscles screamed at him to rest but he kept pressing forward. There was too much at stake for him to spend time sleeping. He cast a glance over at the half finished canvas standing in the corner, lit up by the early morning sun but didn’t stop to paint. Klaus continued on into his lavish bathroom that he had renovated just the previous summer. It was sleek and modern with almost every surface a shining obsidian. There was an oval standing tub in the middle of the room and a wall of windows that had a perfect view of all parts of the city.
Stripping out of his clothing he stepped into the rain shower in the corner of the large room. Klaus let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he had been holding as the water cascaded over him. The hot water soothed the muscles in his back that screamed at him. From the shower he could see his back in the mirror and noticed two bullet graze wounds. It was no wonder that he was in so much pain and he was shocked he hadn’t noticed them earlier. He let out a soft sigh and made a mental note to have the doctor look at them when she came to check on Elena.
Klaus braced himself against the wall of the shower with his left hand. He closed his eyes simply enjoying the sensation of the near scalding water droplets. Klaus tried to let his mind go blank, sparing him the bloody thoughts of the night before. However, instead of gunfire, all he could hear was Elena’s voice reverberating in his mind. The way her blue eyes surveyed him with scrutiny rather than fear. He had to admit, she had a beautiful figure. That much had been made evident by the slightly too small hospital gown, her beautifully slender legs on display as she had attempted to tug the gown lower.
Unconsciously, Klaus had spread his legs and let his right hand move to his aching balls. Ever so gently, he began to squeeze them, warming himself up for the inevitable climax. As his body began to slowly relax, he hooked one finger around the base of his cock, holding it upright. Klaus shivered as his hand left his balls and wrapped around his throbbing shaft. He desperately craved the climax that was sure to happen, yet he deliberately kept the pace slow.
Holding the shaft just above his pubes, he placed his thumb on the upper side of his cock and three fingers on the underside. Ever so lightly, he began moving his hand up and down his member but not greatly enough to move his foreskin. Then he kept the pace steady; not too slow, not too fast. Slowly, Klaus’s excitement began to build, his knees trembling a little. Blood was tight in his cock, blue veins standing out proud, a map of pure sex.
Klaus increased the pressure of his grip on his cock, now wrapping his whole hand around himself. His head was completely relaxed and hanging forward, just out of the water. His body, on the other hand, was taut with tension as he varied the pace of his masturbation. A soft groan left his mouth as he imaged Elena lying beneath him, legs spread wide and pussy dripping. He could only imagine how good her ivory skin would taste on his tongue as his teeth marred her body. His legs became restless and a low, almost growl dropped from his lips.
His hips began to move, bucking forward as he fucked the air and his hand. Klaus began to rotate his hips forward, imagining himself thrusting into Elena’s perfect pussy, ass, and mouth. He wasn’t particular to which hole she offered him entrance, all he knew was he wanted to sample her delights. Klaus was desperate to claim her, marking her womb with his seed and his body with his teeth. Pre-cum started flowing out of his slit and, using his index finger, Klaus smoothed it around the tip and shaft, making sure it was well lubricated.
Klaus’s hip stuttered in their pace and his breathing became erratic. Heavy at first, then shallow and needy. The head of his cock was becoming more sensitive and was now a deep, angry red. Every time his thumb passed over the tip a soft whine of desperation left his mouth. Then all at once, his knees buckled, sending him to the floor of the shower. Klaus felt his balls grow tight and draw up against his body, his left hand now free to cup his them. He could feel it, he was nearly at his peak. He was brought to the brink of oblivion before he fell over the edge, the orgasm washed over him with the intensity of a tidal wave. The world stopped, and everything faded away except the image of Elena lost in her own ecstasy below him.
“Oh God, I’m cumming,” Klaus moaned. “Oh yes, Elena! I’m cumming!” He was sure he had been much louder than he meant to be, but there was nothing he could do now that the moment had passed.
Klaus froze, his eyes glazing over. His ass cheeks were sucked into his body and forty-five seconds of pleasure followed. The first blast of cum tore from his slit, hitting the black shower wall. His hips thrust upwards involuntarily, aiding the next shot of cum which painted his belly. His whole body was so rigid it was almost painful which only served to heighten his senses. His wrist continued to jerk his cock as more ropes left his body, thoroughly coating himself and the shower. And then, Klaus felt himself slowly coming down from the orgasmic high. He collapsed against the wall from kneeling before sitting on the shower floor. When the realization of what had just happened sunk in, a pink flush crept up into his cheeks.
“Oh bloody hell,” he grumbled, his body still shaking, the image of fucking into Elena burned into his mind. How was he supposed to function around her if that was the fantasy stuck in his head?