"He'll slaughter all of you if you don't listen to me." Claire whispers to her.

"We'll see" Kim whispers before shoving her hand into Megan's chest. Megan gasps and wakes up. She looks at Kim, who is holding her heart, and then to Claire, who is chained to the wall.

"No, no, no, please, no" Claire begs shifting in her spot. She pulls at her restraints. "Don't kill her."

"Cl-Claire" Megan whispers. Claire looks into her eyes. "I'm sorry" She whispers tears filling her eyes. Claire shakes her head, tears of her own clouding her eyes.

"Like I said, if you're not with us, you're with Klaus and that makes you the enemy" Kim said simply. Before Claire could even blink, Kim rips Megan's heart out. Claire's mouth drops, her heart stops. She watches as the fear, the pain in Megan's eyes amplifies until there's nothing. She watches her body go limp and her last breath escapes her lips.

"No! Megan" Claire gasps sitting up. "No, no, no.. Megan, no" Claire sobs pulling her knees to her chest.  Her face buries in her knees, her body trembling. Arms wrap around her and hold her tightly.

"It's alright, love.. It's alright" Kol whispers rocking her gently. "I've got you, you're safe." He kisses her head gently. 

"She killed her... She killed her" Claire whimpers burying her head in her face. 

"I know, darling... I know" He whispers holding her close. "I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry."

Caroline had explained what had happened to Klaus, Finn and Elijah. Kol and Henrik stayed with Claire while they spoke in another room. Once Caroline explained to them, Elijah relayed the story to Henrik and himself. 

To say Klaus was furious that all his hybrids have broken his sire bond was an understatement. Finn just barely stopped his brother from killing all of them instead of just the unloyal ones. Finn had remembered Claire explaining the situation which helped him explain to Klaus what had been going on. While the 12 hybrids that betrayed Klaus and took Claire, including Hayley and Tyler, are missing, the remaining 17 hybrids stuck around... for Claire.

"Try and get some more sleep" He whispers.

"I don't want too" Claire shakes her head rubbing her nose. Claire climbs out of his arms. She rubs her tear soaked face.

"Claire-" Kol says standing up.

"I want to be left alone" Claire snapped glaring at him. Kol sighs and doesn't take it personally. "I'm sorry" She whispers looking away from him. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't... I just..."

"Claire, relax" Kol mutters grabbing her gently. "Why don't we get something to drink?"

"Ok" She whispers nodding. He lets her go and lets her walk to the kitchen without him hovering over her. However, he hovers from a distance. She gets into the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. Kol grabs some blood and sits at the island.

Claire climbs onto the counter, her gaze looking into the water. She fumbles with the bottle. She couldn't stop thinking about Megan, about Kim. 

When Claire glances up she notices her other mates slowly trickling into the kitchen. They were doing various things but she knew they were actually just wanting to be near Claire, keep an eye on her, make sure she was alright. Physically, she felt as if she could run for miles, mentally she felt drained.

"Their planning something" Claire whispers her eyes looking at Klaus. The hybrid meets her gaze. "I don't know what... but their planning something against you." Klaus walks over to her. He spreads her legs and pulls her to him.

"What their planning doesn't matter" He says cupping her face. "Whatever it is, we'll deal with it."

"Doesn't matter?" Claire growls. She shoves him away from her and hops off the counter. "How can you say it doesn't matter?" She snapped.

"I'm not worried about what a few hybrids can do to me" Klaus tells her lightly.

"Well neither was I but guess what happened" Claire snapped glaring at him. Klaus sighs and nods.

"Alright, I'll try and figure out what their doing if you promise to get some sleep."

"Why does everybody care about my fucking sleep schedule!?" Claire shouted. "I have slept for long enough. I don't want to sleep anymore. What I want to do is figure out why these fucking hybrids think it's a good idea to go against us?" She shouts pacing in the kitchen. 

"Elskan-" Elijah walks in front of her. He reaches for her hand.

"You want to know what else I want?" She growls moving away from him. Elijah sighs and watches as she walks around the island. "I want you guys to stop acting like I'm made of glass! I want to be left alone, can I get some god damn fucking privacy!?" She screams in frustration and marches out of the room. She jogs up the stairs, knowing fully well her mates were watching her. She enters the closest room, Elijah's study, and slams the door shut.

Once she's securely in the room, she collapses on the couch and starts to cry. She tries to keep calm and not start hyperventilating but the more she thinks about it the more she freaks out. She doesn't hear someone knocking on the door nor does she hear that person coming into the room.

She feels arms wrapping around her, pulling her into their embrace. She climbs into their lab, curling into a ball. They start whispering in her ear and she recognizes his voice, Finn's voice.

"All I can think about are her eyes" Claire whispers to him. "She was so scared, in so much pain." Her voice cracks. "Megan counted on me, she trusted me and I got her killed."

"No, no you did not" Finn said sternly. "You are not responsible for Megan's death."

"Megan was pretending to be loyal to Tyler. She was getting information because I asked her too and she died because of it. I put her in that position" Claire mutters climbing out of his arms. She paces. "Her last words were, 'I'm sorry'." Claire told him. "She was worried that I was disappointed in her. There she was, beaten and about to die, and she's worried that I was disappointed in her, that she had failed me." Claire laughs shaking her head. Her laughs turn into cries.

"Claire, you didn't kill Megan" Finn said pulling her into his arms. She fights and struggles to get out but he holds her tightly. "You didn't rip her heart out, you didn't force her into anything. I'm so sorry this happened but Kim will not get away with it, I promise you." Finn says holding her even tighter. She begins to relax in his embrace.

"I'm so tired, Finn" She whispers. 

"Then sleep" He whispers. She smiles softly and looks up at him.

"That's not what I'm tired of," She whispers to him. She steps out of his embrace and walks around the room. Finn's eyes follow her. Neither of them say anything for a few moments. "I'm tired of always being vulnerable. Of not being in control of my own life, of not being able to not only protect myself but the ones around me, the ones I care about the most."

"Claire, you're not as vulnerable as you think." Finn said keeping his distance noticing that she loses it whenever one of his brothers got close or said the wrong thing.

"I trusted Kim and she used that against me. She killed Megan, tortured me. And lets not forget that this isn't the first time I've been taken and tortured" Claire points out. "I couldn't stop Alaric and Sage either" Claire laughs shaking her head, running her hands through her hair. "I couldn't stop Trevor from almost killing me, I couldn't stop Katherine from turning Caroline, I couldn't stop Damon from using Caroline and hurting the both of us. Hell, I can't even get Tyler to be a decent father."

Claire sighs stopping by the window, looking out onto the property. She rests her head on the cool glass. She hears Finn hesitantly moving closer.

"I'm tired of always being the victim." Claire whispers. "If I can't even protect myself, how can I protect Madelyn?" She asks, her eyes turning to look into his. "How can I protect my baby?" She whispers, her hand over her stomach. 

"I remember you telling me that you got back at Damon for hurting you, for hurting Caroline." He raises an eyebrow. Claire tries to hide the smile and looks out the window. She thinks about how she had almost siphoned Damon to death, how she had stabbed him with a pencil. "I also remember having dreams of you while I was daggered, dreams of you beating not only Tyler but his uncle... Mason, was it?" Claire grins slightly as she recalls her taking on Mason and the various times she took on Tyler. "That doesn't sound like a victim to me" Finn mutters raising his hand. He gently turns her head towards him. "You're learning. You're getting smarter, stronger, more powerful. I have no doubt that you will be able to protect Madelyn, protect your baby. You trusted Kim and she betrayed you. Being betrayed doesn't make you weak, it just shows you have a kind heart."

"Well my kind heart is starting to become a pain in my ass" She mutters. Finn smiles. He bends down and kisses her forehead.

"I'm sorry about Megan but there was nothing you could have done and it most certainly was not your fault." He whispers to her. "You're a very strong person and you are in control. In case you haven't noticed, you're the one who's been calling the shots around here" He smiles at her.

"And someone died because of it." She whispers.

"It unfortunately happens. Every decision has it's consequences and sometimes people die, people we care about. All we can do is keep moving forward. She will not have died in vain, I promise you. We will get Kim and the other hybrids. We'll stop whatever plan they have against Klaus. It'll be alright" He pulls her into his chest. She breaths calmly.

"I love you" She whispers. He smiles and kisses the top of her head. He mumbles the words back to her making her smile widen. 

"Do you need more time to yourself?" He mutters.

"Just a little bit" She whispers wanting to get her mind wrapped around everything. He nods and kisses her gently before walking out of the room. Claire sighs and walks out of the room as well. She walks down the hallway and turns around the corner. 

She slips into the bathroom. She closes and locks the door behind her, not wanting anybody to join her. She slips out of her clothes and into the warming shower. Steam fills the room, the water helping relax her muscles.

"I'll protect you" Claire whispers rubbing her stomach. "You and your sister. You have my word, I'll protect you. I won't be the only one, don't worry. You have a very protective father and very protective aunts and uncles and we all love you already." Claire smiles to herself. "We're going to be just fine."