Within a day, Hope was home.

It was strange that nothing happened in those hours that they were waiting for her to return. There were no attacks. No stalkers (at least, that they knew of) out in the streets monitoring them. In fact, they'd heard nothing from The Strix.

"I think us bringing Aurora's body here was a good idea," muttered Maddy after lunch. "Tristan must think she either left, dissatisfied because I'm alive, or he'll think we kidnapped her, which would mean he's biding his time. He would have gone on a rampage the instant he learned she was dead."

"I expect it to be the former," said Klaus. "We didn't tell them that we knew Aurora kidnapped you. And, given the lack of communication between Tristan and Aurora, he will be unaware that he needs to be looking for her."

Maddy wrung her hands together, looking at the clock. "They should be here any second. And then... the house isn't going to be quiet at all for a good while. Last time my brothers stayed here it was loud all the time. And this time... Valerie's coming with them, Ansel... Liv... even Tyler and Caroline are coming to help out. Then, of course, Jeremy and Davina. The only ones not coming are Jenna, Ric, Meredith, and Matt because they have jobs they can't take time off from."

Klaus blew air out of his mouth. "At this rate they'll need a bus to bring them all at once."

"They're vamping here from St. Anne's to keep anyone from realizing that a lot of people are showing up. And Kol is going to refresh the silencing spell over the entire Compound. We will hear the outside world but they can't hear us. They won't know how many people are in here. With all of them backing us up and the wolves on our side in case of an emergency... we'll be in a good position to stop anyone who comes after...." she looked down. "Me."

"Don't look so ashamed. You defeated a vampire far older than you."

"And now there are consequences. I shouldn't have defeated her. I shouldn't have been able to. I got extremely lucky, Nik. I've gotten lucky way too often for the past several years of my life. Lucky that you love me and lucky that a lot of people give enough of a damn to back me up in situations like this. These people that are coming to stay here... they might die to protect me."

Klaus shook his head. "They aren't only protecting you, love. They're protecting themselves. And the things they value. If Tristan and Lucien were to succeed in locking my family away, they could dominate the world. Change things for vampires and other supernaturals permanently. A war could still break out between the sirelines and then, their freedom will be in jeopardy. Trust me, love, these people do truly care about you but this fight is no longer just for you and for our family. It's for vampires everywhere. The Strix are ruthless and they love to conquer. If Elijah were with the rest of us trapped for eternity... they would surely slaughter every vampire not from their sireline to seize control of the entire vampire world."

Maddy winced. "I guess so..." she perked up at the sound of movement in the doorway. They both went out, where the other four Mikaelson siblings and Elena and Bonnie were waiting for their guests to arrive while Anita slept in her stroller.

Enzo and Liv arrived first with their luggage. "Fratellino," said Maddy teasingly to Enzo, going to hug him and kissing him on the cheek. "And Liv, it's nice to see you again."

Next, a car pulled up outside, bringing Jeremy and Davina. Not long after they walked in, Tyler and Caroline sped into the house. The blonde squealed when she saw Bonnie and Elena, going to hug them and nearly trampling Davina, who was greeting Elena alongside Jeremy.

Stefan and Valerie arrived a few minutes later, looking a bit more weary. "This house is quite a bit larger than I expected," said Valerie while Maddy ruffled her brother's hair. Klaus seemed shocked to hear her speaking with a British accent despite the fact he'd heard her voice over the phone before.

"Your room assignments are on this chart," said Elijah cordially. "All are the same, solely on different floors. We've mostly granted the upper floors for a better view of the city, which I think you will all enjoy. We've placed numbers on the doors to make it easier. And, we spaced them out as much as possible to allow for more privacy. There are silencing spells to keep us from hearing too much happening inside the rooms. All we ask is that if there is anything important to share with the group, you do so at one of the meals when everyone is here."

There were no other rules, which kept them all looking satisfied. They started to put their things away, clearing the courtyard as Damon and Ansel arrived with Hope.

The instant Maddy saw her daughter, she bolted forward, taking her from Damon and pulling her into a tight hug. Hope babbled, patting her shoulder and looking over it to wave at Klaus, who rushed toward her, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Hi princess," said Maddy, tearing up as she rubbed Hope's back. "Oh, I missed you so much..."

Elena picked up Anita, who started to whimper as she woke up with all the noise being made. Hope started to make grabby hands at Klaus, who took her, holding her so that she could face forward. Elena brought over Anita, who yawned and reached a hand to Hope, who grabbed it and started to babble again, as if talking to her.

"Now that is precious," said Rebekah. "My two little nieces." She nudged Elijah, who blushed.

Maddy could see the longing look in the blonde's eyes. Chances were, Rebekah would take the cure as soon as Tristan and Lucien weren't a problem anymore. She wanted to start having kids already, that much was clear.

They let Anita and Hope play on a large mat in the courtyard while everyone else got settled in. Maddy was seated on the floor with them, smiling and watching as the two tumbled around, making faces and giggling at each other.

"No, no, no," she said at one point when Hope grabbed a small wooden knight from the toy box. "Don't put that in your mouth."

"She'll be fine," said Klaus from behind her.

"But you carved that one thousand years ago," said Maddy, trying to get Hope to disconnect from the night, only for her to press down harder with her gums, whining and shaking her head. "What if it has germs? She's at that stage where she's putting everything in her mouth—"

"Love," said Klaus calmly, "she's a tribrid, she will not be felled by something as silly as germs."

"Well, Anita can get hurt by it, and she'll think it's fine if Hope does— okay, nope," she said, giving up when Hope rolled onto her side to avoid having the knight taken from her. "You really like that, huh?"

"Of course she does," said Klaus proudly. "I made it."

Maddy made a face, before helping Anita sit up before she could try to put a stuffed animal's limb in her mouth. "No, no, your mother especially won't want you doing that..."

"Elena's her mother now, is she?"

"She's been her mother, we all know that. All that's left is for her and Elijah to adopt her legally. Anita Mikaelson. I like it."

They looked up as Ansel came downstairs, still holding his bags.

"Ansel," said Maddy. "Is something wrong with your room?"

He seemed surprised he'd been given one. "Perhaps it would be better if I remained in the Bayou. Tyler and I both believe we ought to be there, to help the wolves, and your family as well."

"Nonsense," said Klaus. "We won't have our guests living in the swamp."

Ansel cast him a look, as if reminding him that before getting to stay at the Boarding House in Mystic Falls, that was exactly where he'd been living. "We will manage. It will not be hard to contact us. Tyler has a phone. As do Hayley and Jackson."

"We'd prefer you remain here," said Klaus more firmly. "The wolves are our allies, but we do not wish for them to become targets. If you were to stay with them, we would need to be speaking with them more often as well. It could make it obvious to our enemies that they can be used as bait to reel us into a trap."

"Please stay," insisted Maddy. "We'd feel more comfortable if you were close by. It's really no trouble..." she decided to tease, "unless my brothers have already driven you crazy and that's your reasoning."

Ansel chuckled lightly. "They are fine. I simply don't want to intrude." His words seemed more directed to Klaus, who still didn't look at him very much.

"Stay," said Klaus, forcing himself to face him. "You will be safer here."

At least that implied that Klaus cared whether Ansel got hurt or not. It was an improvement. Not to mention he already trusted him with Hope, and they needed as many people as possible to be able to keep an eye on her and Anita.

Ansel nodded, and went back the way he came.

"They should be perfectly safe now," said Maddy, looking down at the two little girls. "We have... six witches here now. Freya, Kol, Bonnie, Davina, Valerie, and Liv. And, then, technically Jo and Vincent, because they still have magical knowledge even if they don't practice."

"Don't forget Finn," said Klaus. "Freya never lets us forget he's still in her pendant, and she channels him from time to time when she needs a boost on a spell. That makes... nine witches. Should be more than whatever The Strix Coven has. They typically allow six to seven witches at one time."

"Well, they specialize in dark magic. Do you think that—?"

"Love," said Klaus, putting a hand on her arm, "two Mikaelson witches, a Bennett witch, a Harvest witch, a Gemini Witch, a Heretic, and the other three that could help when needed? We will be just fine."

"And," came Valerie's voice as she and Stefan came back downstairs, "there are six other Heretics we could call for extra assistance. We once asked a Strix Coven witch to help us restore Beau's voice. She double-crossed us, and we killed her. We'd be more than happy to kill any one of those brats if they threatened you or these two sweet little girls. Additionally, of course, I imagine Malachai would not be opposed to a fight."

"He's sipping margaritas who-knows-where right now with Monique, enjoying their life as a vampire couple. He's a last resort. But you do have a point... if worst comes to worst they're an option. We'll try to not do that, though, since Jo and Liv are here. Kai may have spared them but... they're still not ready to try and have a better relationship with him again."

Valerie assented, coming to kneel beside Hope. "She's definitely begun to show more signs of magic," she said. "Sometimes, when she grows excited, certain objects float around her." She brought out a small bracelet. "Davina and I made this for her. We waited to speak to you about it in person. This should suppress her magic, to ensure that she does not begin using it until she's at an age where she can learn to control it properly. We worried that she might accidentally levitate an object and hurt herself or someone else."

Maddy took the bracelet. "That... is actually a really good idea." She looked at Klaus. "Dahlia said firstborn Mikaelson witches would lose control a lot, right? This should give her a break if it ever becomes too overwhelming."

"Indeed," said Klaus, who figured Freya had likely been consulted about this, since she and Valerie spoke often. He lifted Hope's arm, making her let go of the wooden knight so that Maddy could put the bracelet on her.

"There you go," said Maddy softly. "So pretty."

Anita crawled over, starting to tug at the bracelet, though she couldn't remove it. "We can get you one, too," said Maddy. "That way, you can be twins." She smoothed her hand over Anita's head. "Her hair is already started to darken quite a bit. She doesn't look as much like Hope, whose hair is..." she tilted her head. "Blonde? Light brown? Red? It's so hard to tell."

"She definitely got Klaus's hair, and not yours," said Stefan. "And his eyes."

"And hopefully," said Damon as he trotted down to meet with them, "Maddy's personality. She's got enough of Klaus in her." He crouched down beside Hope, ignoring as Klaus made a face, though he wasn't actually angry. "Then again..." he offered his hand to Hope, and she immediately tried to remove his daylight ring, "your mom isn't the friendliest either. See this, Mads? It's like she wants me to burn in the sun. Little sadist."

"I think she learned that from you," said Stefan. "You snatch stuff away from people all the time." Stefan whistled, and Hope turned to him, though she quickly faced Klaus when he whistled back. She started to giggle, removing the little wooden knight from her mouth.

"Hello," said Klaus softly, reaching his hand down. Hope took it, bringing it to her mouth and squealing. "Ah... alas, I suppose my hand is only good as a chew toy."

"Don't say 'chew toy,'" said Maddy, scrunching up her nose.

"Well, she is my littlest wolf..."

Once everyone had finished settling in, they all came to sit at the dining table to go over their plans.

"Most likely," mused Rebekah, "had The Strix gotten the Serratura, we would have been lured into the trap so that we could be locked away. Now, chances are, they'll launch a direct attack if they suspect we have Aurora. The chances of them determining she is dead are slim, I went into her mind to ensure we knew if she contacted anyone. She hadn't. Tristan will not know where to look. By now, any evidence of her presence in St. Anne's has been taken care of by Marcel."

"That being said," continued Klaus, hands clasped together, "it'd be wise for everyone to stay in the house as much as possible. Unwanted vampires can easily be kept out. We are not to risk an attack on the Davilla Estate until we are certain we have an advantage. For now, we are to lay low. Continue to learn what we can. Jo and Vincent are already learning more about the Serratura in secret. Freya and Kol will be conducting their own research with a fake Serratura so that if anyone is watching the house, they will believe they hold the Serratura."

"We will inform you all of anything we would like you to do to help us," said Elijah. "Feel free to relax as much as you would like."

The first night they all spent there was fine. Hope slept soundly between Maddy and Klaus, who were awake half the night just observing the different faces she'd make.

The following morning, Maddy made breakfast for everyone while Freya and Kol got started on their research. Immediately after, the group of witches went upstairs to start thinking of ways they could gain an advantage against The Strix. They conjured up a map tracking Tristan and Lucien's movement around the city, then began to read up on spells that The Strix Coven could perform, from a booklet Kol had made of documents he'd gathered over the years.

It was around lunch that everything started to go wrong. Freya and Kol arrived very suddenly, with Kol yelling out for help. They all rushed out to see Freya was bleeding from her neck.

"Bring her here," said Elijah, urging them to the couch. He bit into his wrist, pressing it against Freya's mouth and letting her drink. "What happened?"

"It was The Strix," said Kol breathlessly. "They took the fake Serratura. We were ambushed in an alleyway. I managed to snap their necks but they're still by Rousseau's—"

Rebekah and Klaus sped off immediately, likely to finish them off. Maddy ended up allowing Kol to drink her blood so that he, too, could heal. "How many of them?" she asked.

"Two," said Kol. "I didn't recognize them. They may have been on the younger side. Where are Jo and Vincent?"

"Jo took off of work today," said Elena, already calling her. "I think they went to see another Tremé witch to figure out if they can destroy the Serratura... she's not picking up. Maybe they're busy."

"Or maybe," said Kol, "a pair of Strix attacked them as well and killed them."

"Hey," said Bonnie. "Don't be such a pessimist." She then frowned. "Freya... where's your pendant?"

Freya immediately clutched at her chest, and her eyes went wide. "No... they must have ripped it off. Finn! Finn is in the pendant!"

"Why would they need that pendant?" asked Liv. "Are there any other mystical powers it possesses?"

Freya shook her head. "What if that's the trap? What if they lure us somewhere to get the pendant back—?"

"No offense to Finn," said Kol, "but I wouldn't give into their demands just to fetch Finn. You're the only one who can bring him out of the pendant, Freya. And he has no body to go to. Even if Tristan and him were pals, Finn is useless to him. Perhaps they only wish to channel him."

Elena let out a frustrated groan. "Jo is still not answering. Something is wrong, I know it."

Liv huffed. "I'm going to go do a Locator Spell on them." She started to go upstairs, and Enzo followed. Valerie and Stefan followed, likely to lend a hand.

Freya suddenly gave a light whimper, her hand flying to her neck. Elijah frowned, removing her hand to reveal an inflamed puncture wound. "This scratch is not healed," said Elijah worriedly. "This... this is poison. This was an assassination attempt." He immediately started to feed her more blood, but it didn't seem to be working.

"So, clearly they're trying to get into the house," deduced Damon. "But why? Because they think Aurora is here, or because they want Maddy or Hope or...?"

"My guess is an ambush and rescue mission," piped up Caroline. "They have no reason to want Maddy or Hope, but Aurora is definitely on their list of priorities if Tristan suspects that she's being kept here. Which... I mean... she is, just not alive..."

"Freya," said Kol worriedly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," she groaned. "Those vampires must have stabbed me with something."

"The Strix are fond of this slow-acting poison," said Elijah. "There is an antidote... if I can get my hands on it. But to do that..."

At that moment, Rebekah and Klaus sped back in, their hands bloody to suggest they'd ripped out some vampire hearts. As soon as they realized what was going on, Klaus gritted his teeth. "Lucien would likely have an antidote. However it is unlikely that his loft will be unguarded. And the only ones that can enter are vampires from my sireline..."

"How about this?" said Valerie as she, Stefan, Liv, and Enzo came back down. "Liv and Enzo go and find Jo and Vincent... it appears they're in a building not far from the hospital. They may be injured. Stefan and I can find Lucien and, if need be, distract him. We may be younger vampires but I am a witch as well, and he would not be expecting me to perform magic if he senses my vampiric nature first, which he definitely will. Then, you and Maddy can go into Lucien's apartment, check for the antidote, then come back here while the others watch Freya and the girls."

They decided to go with that plan. As soon as they confirmed that Lucien was not home, Klaus and Maddy sped there, going up what felt like a billion flights of stairs before they reached the main entrance. Klaus forced the doorknob open, and the two split— Maddy went to look in every cabinet in the main room while Klaus went through Lucien's room.

"There has to be a hidden compartment somewhere," said Maddy. "There's no way a guy like this wouldn't have a safe in the wall. You have one, and he seems to be weirdly obsessed with being just like you even though he resents you a lot. Maybe because he felt he couldn't get the girl without being more like you."

Klaus made a face, suggesting this was probably true. "Hmm..." he started tapping against different parts of the wall, trying to find where there was any hollow portions. At last, one bit seemed to call his attention, and he dug his fingers behind one of the panels, popping it open. Inside was a safe, but it had been left unlocked. Inside were a few vials, and though most of them had a yellow tint, one in particular was more green, and this one in particular was within a syringe and needle compartment. "I recognize this. I recall when Elijah first learned of their poisoned rings, he said that they had a greenish tint to them. Chances are, this is the one."

"The rest of those must be cures for different ailments," said Maddy. "One of them... or multiple... being cures for wolf venom."

They decided the green one was the one they needed. They closed the panel just as it had been before. They did a quick sweep of the room, making sure everything was as it was when they arrived. They sped out, and within minutes were back at the Compound with the antidote. Freya was laying with her legs up while Rebekah stroked her hair.

"Let's try this," said Maddy, arching Freya's neck to the side and injecting her with the antidote. Immediately, the puncture wound started to close and heal. "Oh, thank fuck, if that had just made it worst I think I would have melted."

Freya gave a weak laugh. "Is there still a bit of antidote in there?"

"Yes," said Maddy, showing some small amount of liquid. "Think you could make more of it?"

"I imagine so," said Freya. "Once I'm stronger. Where are the others?"

"Valerie and Stefan should be heading back soon," said Caroline. "Enzo and Liv only found Jo... they're not sure where Vincent is. The real Serratura is gone."

"Oh, no," said Tyler suddenly. "Wait... Vincent... I'm a little rusty on what all happened here months ago but isn't that the guy Finn was inside of? Like, possessing?"

"Bloody hell," said Rebekah. "That must be what Tristan wants. If he were to put Finn in Vincent's body... he could activate the Serratura. I would think Finn wouldn't help him but... who knows..."

Maddy winced. "This isn't good. At this point... we might need to assume the Serratura has been activated."

"In that case," said Damon, "we just need to provoke them into using it... right? Just not on the Originals. Or on any of us. Or better yet, we need to get it back and slap it on a box and just lock that wooden horse away so Maddy doesn't grow a hernia from watching Hope chew on it." He checked the time. "'Kay, why aren't Valerie and Stefan back? They should be here already. What was the last thing they sent?"

"Ten minutes ago," said Bonnie. "They said they'd be back soon, they never even had to approach Lucien. They said they were keeping an eye from afar."

When Valerie and Stefan didn't come back in another five minutes, they started on Locator Spells. By then, it seemed that they'd been cloaked, because none of the witches could get a read on him.

"They could be dead," said Jo fearfully, sipping from a mug of tea, imagining what awful things The Strix could be doing to Vincent, Valerie, and Stefan to force them into whatever their plan was. "Why Valerie? Why Stefan?"

"Stefan is my brother," said Maddy softly. "If they do suspect Aurora is being kept captive... it's Tristan's eye for an eye. He'll likely want an exchange. Vincent is needed to active the Serratura. And Valerie... I don't know."

"I think I have an idea," said Elena. "She's a siphoner... right? What if Tristan wanted to test a theory? What if he wanted to make sure a siphoner can't deactivate the Serratura? If she can... then he has Vincent there to activate it all over again. It would have ensured that if we got out hands on it again, we couldn't render it useless."

Liv pursed her lips. "You might be right. Which means... now we just wait for them to contact us."

A letter arrived for them that evening.

'Dearest friends,' Tristan had written, 'if you wish to see your loved ones again, you will meet me at Coltrane's Autoshop, 1268 Adderly in the Ninth, with my sister alive and well. Kind regards, Tristan.'

"What do we do?" asked Rebekah. "We haven't got an 'alive and well' Aurora!"

"I may have a plan," said Kol suddenly. "And if it works... we may be able to use the Serratura and get rid of Tristan simultaneously."