*I just want to apologize about the extremely slow updates. I'm trying my hardest. Please don't give up on this story. Thank you all so much for staying with it this far. I promise I'll make the waits worth it.*

Claire holds Madelyn close to her chest. Her daughters wiggles in her arms slightly but doesn't wake. Claire smiles kissing her daughters forehead while walking into her bedroom. Madelyn sighs softly as Claire tucks her in whispering for her to have sweet dreams.

Claire watches her for a moment before going to Kaylin's room to check in on her youngest. She sighs softly feeling comforted by the fact that both of her daughters are safe and sound asleep.

Silently, Claire slips out of the bedroom and goes to the kitchen. She pours herself a drink, pausing for a moment as she wonders when the last time she had one. It had been over a year since she drank. Smiling slightly, Claire sips on her drink smiling at the familiar taste.

She walks to the living room and lays on the couch watching some TV. She hardly paid attention to the show as she sipped on her drink lost in her thoughts. Tonight her family is working to get the untriggered werewolves out of Esther's grip and somewhere safe. 

Claire wanted to help but her desire to protect her own children caused her to stay behind. She didn't want to leave Kaylin and Madelyn on their own without some sort of protection. 

Most of her family; Kol, Archie, Kaleb, Davina, Penelope and Kai, are out searching for Esther. They knew she would be in or around the cemetery. They were hoping to find her, kidnap her, and separate her from Hanna so that they could finally kill her.

Enzo, Caroline, Rebekah and Asher are at the Abattoir hosting their grand party. It's their attempt at keeping things normal and protecting as many humans as they would. Not only were they looking after the humans but they were keeping their eye out for the untriggered kids. Although, they didn't really know what the kids looked like so they left finding the kids to the werewolves.

However, they refused to let the werewolves work on their own. Elijah and most of the hybrids aided them where they could. Their assistance to the werewolves helped make the werewolves realize that they could count on the hybrids and the Mikaelson's, helped them realize that they were trustworthy.

Henrik and Klaus prowled throughout the city in case Esther wasn't in or near the cemetery. They were hoping to find her, and although they did find somebody, it wasn't their mother.

Finn decided to stay with Claire at the plantation. He was standing on the back porch looking into the woods. He could sense something but couldn't see anything. He trusted Claire's barrier spell she put around the place preventing any unwanted guests from entering but he still felt tense.

Arms wrapping around his waist brings him from his thoughts. He turns his head, covering Claire's hands with his own. She nuzzles her head in between his shoulder blades. His body relaxes against her.

"Come inside with me," Claire whispers to him. He tugs on her arm pulling her in front of him. "What's wrong?" She whispers.

"Nothing," He whispers not knowing how to explain the tense feeling. Claire hums understanding the feeling.

"We're safe," She whispers to him. "Esther and whoever is on her side can try everything they can but they won't be able to get in, not anymore. Come inside," She whispers pulling him towards the door.

"Did you put Maddie to bed?" Finn asks and Claire nods pulling him to the couch. Claire doesn't hesitate to curl into his side once he sits down.

As the night went on, Claire could feel her anxiety rise. It started out subtly but soon began to rise. Claire had thought it was her own anxiety about not knowing the exact whereabouts of her other mates. Only it wasn't just her anxiety but the gradual rise of the anxiety of each of her mates.

While feeling their anxiety is nothing new in a situation such as this one, it isn't until around midnight did the anxiety turn to pain. Claire didn't remember dozing off while cuddled against Finn but she remembers waking with a gasp.

"Claire?" Finn asks groggily. "What's wr-"

"Elijah," Claire gasps jumping off of the couch. "Something's wrong with Elijah," Her hand goes to her chest rubbing it. She knew her mate had been daggered but felt immense relief that he hadn't been killed. The longer she's awake the more she realizes Elijah isn't the only one in pain. She could feel both Henrik and Klaus. While their pain isn't near Elijah's it's still there. "Something's wrong, something's happened" She grabs her phone and tries to call Elijah first.

"You called sooner than I thought you would," Hanna's voice answers Elijah's phone. Claire's blood runs cold. "I assume you're trying to reach Elijah but I'm afraid he's not able to talk to you right now, try again later," Esther says.

"Where is he?" Claire asks.

"He's with me," Esther tells her. "But don't worry, I'll give him back soon enough." She promises before hanging up.

"No!" Claire shouts into the phone angrily. "Goddamn it! Call Kol, find out where the fucking bitch is," Claire snapped before calling Klaus knowing him and Henrik are together. While she waits for her hybrid to answer, Finn calls his little brother dread building in his chest as he thinks about Elijah.

"Now's not exactly a good time, sweetheart," Klaus breathes through the phone. Simply hearing his voice, despite him sounding winded, helped her calm down.

"Esther has Elijah," Claire whispers. "What is happening with you and Henrik?"

"Well, we've finally found daddy dearest," Klaus growls. Claire instantly tenses as all the stories about Mikael begin to cloud her brain. She knew they suspected he had risen from the dead but had desperately hoped he hadn't.

"Mikael?" Claire whispers. "Where is he? Where are you two?" Her heart hammered in her chest as she stressed over the wellbeing of her mates.

"We lost him," Klaus admits grumpily. "But we're on his tail, we'll find him. Now what about Elijah?"

"Let me worry about Elijah," She insists. "Finn's getting ahold of Kol. We'll figure this out"

"Do not go against my mother alone, Claire" Klaus says sternly.

"I won't," She promises him. "Just be careful, don't get hurt. Either of you,"

"We'll be alright, sweetheart," Klaus promises before hanging up. Claire sighs running her hand through her hair before turning to Finn.

"Kol and the others are on their way back," Finn tells her. "They believe Esther is at the cemetery," 

"Which means that's where Elijah is," She whispers. Finn nods silently. "Mikael's back," Finn instantly tenses. "Klaus and Henrik are dealing with him... I don't know where they are or what they're doing but I just have to trust that if they need help they'll get it," She says sitting on the couch hoping that Klaus and Henrik wouldn't try to take too much on their own.

Finn moves around the couch and sits beside her. His arm wraps around her shoulder. She instantly leans into him finding comfort in his embrace. He kisses the side of her head and simply holds her until Kol arrives with the others.

"Angel?" Kol asks coming into the house. Finn drops his arm as she stands up. She takes two steps while Kol speeds the rest of the way towards her. He instantly cups both sides of her face looking relieved to have her within arms length.

"Mikael-"

"I know," Kol whispers kissing her forehead. "Don't worry about him, he's being dealt with," He promises. Claire sighs and nods.

"The kids were a distraction," Davina speaks up. Claire turns to her as Archie, Kaleb, Penelope and Kai fill the room. "Esther didn't care if any of them triggered their curse or not,"

"It was a ploy to separate us," Kaleb continues.

"And she got Elijah," Claire finishes running another hand through her hair.

"Not to sound cocky or anything," Kai smirks arrogantly. "But we've been kicking this bitches ass ever since she's returned."

"Kai," Penelope whispers looking up at him.

"All I'm saying is that she's outnumbered and we're just been letting her run around," Kai shrugs. "We can take this bitch... From what I've heard and seen, I'm sure you could take her on single handedly" Kai says nodding towards Claire.

Kol growls not liking the idea of Claire facing his mother. Finn is by her side in an instant having the same reservations as Kol. Kai simply rolls his eyes at their protectiveness but knows he's not better when it comes to his Puddin.

"We don't know if we go against Esther if we'll hurt mom," Penelope said as if she was reminding him for the millionth time.

"We know where Esther is and we know she has Elijah," Archie spoke up. "If we all go up against her maybe we can weaken her and trap her. We can keep her locked up until we find a way to separate the two and we'll get Elijah back."

"Only problem with that mate, is that my brother and I cannot go into the cemetery," Kol reminds him. "Darling mother made sure of that," He grumbles.

"No offence but we don't really need you," Archie shrugs. "You could severely hurt or kill Hanna... If we do this our way we have a chance at getting our mom back. The strongest coven in New Orleans against Esther Mikaelson."

"Again, only problem with that is you assuming my brother and I would allow Claire anywhere where we can't follow," Kol growls growing frustrated with his future brother-in-law.

"Well, Elijah will be there," Kaleb mentioned.

"We don't know the condition Elijah is in, he won't be able to protect her," Finn instantly reminded him.

"Does she really need you to protect her though?" Kai asks with a smirk and a shrug.

"I mean, she did control the whole werewolf population while severely pregnant," Penelope brings up. Claire instantly remembers the night where she killed Hayley.

"She also stopped Jim seconds after giving birth without any magic," Kaleb points out causing Archie and Penelope to share a look. Neither of them had been close with their uncle Jim but it still hurt to think about his betrayal and later death.

"They do have a point," Claire speaks up. "I can handle myself and we can't leave Elijah with Esther for long... Whatever she's doing to him, it's not good"

"I still don't like the thought of you going into the cemetery," Finn tells her.

"Neither do I," Claire tells him honestly. "Cemetery's are the last place I want to be," She whispers. Finn gives her a small smile. "I'm tired of Esther running around, if we have a chance to get her then we need to take it"

"When Esther is weak enough, when we take her out, the barrier spell she put around the cemetery will drop," Davina quickly speaks up before Kol and Finn could continue to argue with Claire. "You two could wait outside, we take down Esther and come barging in when you can,"

"See," Claire grins turning towards her two mates. "You can come in after we do all the heavy lifting," She play fulling winks at them. Kol growls softly.

"And what about Kaylin and Maddie?" Finn wonders crossing his arms. Kol points towards his brother.

"Excellent point," Kol smirks. "Now, you wouldn't leave them alone before I doubt you'd leave them now," He mimics Finn's stance.

"I'm sure Caroline and Enzo wouldn't mind coming over," Davina counters coming to stands beside Claire. "Or maybe even Bonnie and Jamie?" Claire smirks at Davina and slowly crosses her own arms.

"Both valid options," Claire smirks watching Kol slowly become annoyed.

"You need a source of magic," Finn says. "Sure you could siphon from us before you leave but you'll be using a lot going against my mother,"

"And you don't like siphoning from anybody other than us because you don't like putting the others in pain or weakening them," Kol smirks.

"Still have that bracelet I gave you?" Kai asks Claire. "You know, the one that acts as a magic source" Claire's mind goes back to when her and Kai went hunting down Tyler to get Madelyn back.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Claire nods. Kol growls towards Kai but Claire quickly gains his attention. "Trust me," Claire says grabbing his hands. "I'm not going alone and we're more than capable of controlling her,"

"Don't underestimate her, Claire," Finn says touching her arm. "She has tricks up her sleeves,"

"She's getting to the point where she's desperate, we've been foiling plan after plan of hers. She'll get predictable, she's vulnerable because her emotions control her. We can do this," Claire says her eyes dancing from one mate to the other. "I'm not leaving Elijah alone with her,"

"Fine," Kol grumbles. "Don't talk, don't fall for her tricks. Get her weak enough to drop the spell and we'll come for you." Claire nods kissing his cheek. "Nothing better happen to you, Claire" He says pulling her to his chest.

"Don't worry, Queenie will be just fine," Kai smirks.

*I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, major ass kicking next chapter!*