Chapter 25: Meeting Hope
Elijah called three times before I agreed to meet him at the compound.
"Klaus wants to talk," he said over the phone.
"About?"
"Hope. He's... considering allowing you to meet her."
My heart did something weird. Skipped a beat, maybe. Which was impressive considering it barely functioned. "Considering?"
"He's protective. Understandably so. But I've been advocating on your behalf." A pause. "You saved Hayley. Protected Hope through the pregnancy. Underwent tribrid transformation because of her birth. Klaus recognizes that means something."
"When?"
"This afternoon. 2 PM. Come alone."
He hung up before I could ask what "come alone" meant in terms of weapons.
The compound looked different in daylight. Less menacing. More like an actual home where an actual family lived, instead of a fortress where paranoid immortals plotted.
Klaus met me at the gate.
"Roy Stark." His voice was carefully neutral. "Thank you for coming."
"Thanks for the invitation."
We stared at each other. Two hybrids. Two tribrids, technically, though Hope was the only natural-born one. The tension stretched like rubber about to snap.
"Elijah says you want to meet my daughter," Klaus said finally.
"I've been protecting her from a distance for months. Seemed like time to actually meet her."
"And why should I allow that?"
"Because we're connected. Both tribrids. Both impossible. She'll need someone who understands what that means when she's older." I met his eyes. "And because I've proven I'm not a threat. If I wanted to hurt her, I could have done it a dozen times already."
Klaus's jaw tightened. "If you harm one hair on her head—"
"You'll kill me. I know. You've made that threat several times now." I kept my voice level. "But Klaus? I'm not here to hurt her. I'm here because she's innocent, and innocent lives are worth protecting. Even from their own family's enemies."
Something in his expression shifted. Not softening—Klaus didn't soften—but... acknowledging.
"One meeting," he said. "I'll be watching. Any threat, any suspicious movement, and you'll learn why I'm called the Original Hybrid."
"Fair enough."
He led me through the compound. Every vampire we passed watched with barely concealed wariness. Hayley was in the courtyard, talking with Elijah, and she looked up as we entered.
"Roy," she said. Cautious but not hostile. "You're the one who's been killing witches who threatened my baby."
"Among other things."
"Thank you. Sincerely."
"Don't mention it."
We climbed to the second floor. Klaus stopped outside a nursery door, hand on the knob. "Rules. You don't touch her without permission. You don't use magic near her. You don't make any sudden movements. Understood?"
"Understood."
He opened the door.
The nursery was... surprisingly normal. Soft colors, toys, a crib in the center. And in that crib, sleeping peacefully, was Hope Mikaelson.
I approached slowly, giving Klaus time to intercept if he decided I was a threat. But he just watched, arms crossed, ready to tear me apart at the first sign of danger.
Hope was so small. That was my first thought. So tiny and fragile and powerful. Even sleeping, her magical signature blazed like a beacon. Vampire, werewolf, witch—all three natures humming in perfect harmony.
Like mine. But natural. Untainted by torture and imprisonment.
She was perfect.
I stopped at the crib's edge, looking down at the infant who'd triggered my transformation. Her eyes were closed, face peaceful. Dark hair, Klaus's features softened by Hayley's influence.
Hello, little miracle.
Her eyes opened.
Not gradually. Instantly. One moment asleep, the next staring at me with eyes that glowed faintly purple. Tribrid eyes recognizing their mirror.
"That's not normal," Klaus said from behind me. "She doesn't wake like that."
"She feels me. The connection."
Hope didn't cry. Just stared with impossible awareness for a newborn. Then she smiled—tiny, brief—and reached up.
I looked at Klaus. "Can I?"
He hesitated. Nodded once.
I offered my finger. Hope grabbed it with surprising strength, and the moment she made contact, magic sparked between us. Not painful. Just... recognition. Two tribrids acknowledging each other through a bond that went deeper than blood.
I could feel her nature. Vampire strength waiting to grow. Wolf instincts still dormant. Witch power that would one day eclipse every magic user in New Orleans.
She was the future. Everything I'd been meant to be but hadn't been until she was born.
"Hello, little miracle," I whispered. "We're going to be very good friends."
Hope made a sound—not quite a laugh, not quite a coo. Just acknowledgment.
Klaus moved closer, watching the interaction with an expression I couldn't read. Suspicion mixed with something else. Hope or maybe pride.
"She likes you," he said quietly. "She doesn't like most people."
"Maybe she senses I'm like her."
"Or maybe she's a terrible judge of character."
I smiled. "Probably that."
Hope held my finger for maybe five minutes. Then, content, she released it and closed her eyes. Asleep again, as if the last five minutes hadn't happened.
I stepped back from the crib, turned to face Klaus and Hayley who'd joined us in the doorway.
"I swear on my existence," I said formally, "nothing will harm her while I live. Not witches, not werewolves, not her own family's enemies. She's the future, and I'll burn the world before letting anyone extinguish her light."
Klaus studied my face. Searching for lies, manipulation, hidden agendas.
He wouldn't find any. Because I meant every word.
"Why?" he asked finally. "Why do you care so much about protecting a child who isn't yours?"
"Because she's innocent. Because she didn't ask to be born into this nightmare of supernatural politics." I glanced at Hope's sleeping form. "And because I know what it's like to be used for what you are. She'll have choice I never did. Agency. Freedom to become who she wants instead of what others need."
Silence.
Then Hayley stepped forward, extending her hand. "Thank you. For protecting her. For caring when you didn't have to."
I shook her hand. "She's worth it."
Klaus didn't offer his hand. But he nodded. Once. Acknowledgment.
I'd take it.
Elijah walked me out.
"That went well," he observed.
"Klaus didn't rip my heart out. I'm calling it a victory."
"He's afraid. Of being like his father. Of failing Hope. Your presence complicates that fear."
"Because I'm more powerful than him?"
"Because you're proof that power doesn't require cruelty. That someone can be ancient and terrible and still choose kindness." Elijah stopped at the compound gate. "He needs that example. Desperately."
I looked back at the building where Hope was sleeping, protected by an army of paranoid immortals and one very determined tribrid.
"I'll keep protecting her," I said. "From the shadows, from threats Klaus can't see. That's my purpose now."
"And what about your revenge? Against my parents?"
"Still planning it. But Hope comes first. Revenge can wait."
Elijah smiled. "You've changed, Roy. Since you arrived in New Orleans."
"For better or worse?"
"Better, I think. Much better."
I left the compound feeling something I hadn't felt in... well, ever. Purpose. Real, meaningful purpose beyond revenge or survival.
Hope Mikaelson would grow up safe. Protected. Free to choose her own path.
And I'd make sure of it.
Whatever it took.
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