Bryony's eyes flutter open as she slowly sits up allowing her eyes to adjust to the new lighting before she looked around. She was no longer in the burning room; instead she'd been moved inside some sort of fire-proof chamber. Her eyes widen as the memories of the past event rushed back to her, she whimpered and covered her face with her hands.

"Morning sunshine"

She jumped at the voice and turned to the corner of the room to find Klaus sitting on a chair; he leaned on the back and smiled at her. Klaus hadn't been able to go to sleep for he was worried about her for a reason unknown to him so he'd gotten permission to watch over her from his father instead. Bryony frowned as she thought about what she'd done and how he'd seen her become a monster.

"Are you not afraid of me?" She was genuinely surprised he could even talk to her after what he'd seen, she was different and different wasn't usually accepted. It wasn't in her life at least, whenever anyone found about what she was they'd shun her, the only people that ever really cared about her was her parents...but they were no more.

Klaus frowned, his eyebrows upturned in confusion, "Now why would I be scared of you, there's nothing to be scared of, all I can see is a cute little girl in front of me" He joked, winking at her in attempt to make her smile.

"I-I'm sorry"

Klaus shook his head and sighed , "Hey, Hey there's no need to apologise the room needed to be redecorated anyways, so this gives us a chance to actually start on it haha" he said with a chuckled and stood up, dragging his chair closer to the bed she sitting on.

Bryony watched him move closer to him, her eyes wandered over his face and she noticed he had large purple bags under his eyes and his brown curls were a mess. What was he doing she thought, why was he coming closer to her, wasn't he scared of her?

"I mean I'm sorry for losing control..." she said facing the bed sheets, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

Klaus squeezed her shoulder and shook his head with a sympathetic smile on his face. How strange it was for him to actually want to make someone feel better, how strange it was for him to actually care he thought to himself.

"Look, I'm sure the old man deserved it, but it really wasn't your fault, he probably riled you up right?"

She looked up at him and the word 'murderer' popped into her head, she widened her eyes and curled herself into a ball, tears began escaping her eyes.

"H-he was just stating the-the truth" She sobbed, rocking back and forth in attempt to calm herself.

Klaus frowned in confusion, he hadn't a clue what she was talking about as he wasn't there for most of it, and he'd only gone back to the room when the building had begun to shake.

"What do you mean the truth?"

She whimpered before slowly looking up at him again, her eyes red, bryony began to rub at her eyes to stop the tears but they wouldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. Klaus looked at her with genuine worry, this girl was broken and alone she thought to himself, she kind of reminded of himself in a way and felt the need to protect in any way he could.

"I –

"NUMBER 4"

Both Klaus and Bryony jump at the all too familiar voice, they both turn their heads to the door, where Reginald stood, the same cold look in his eyes as he looked at the two of them. Bryony began to shake, she pulled the cover over herself more in attempt to try and get away from him more. Klaus was just frozen; he didn't look away from his father's icy glare.

"F-father..."

"What did I say about no idle chatting, really you should know to follow my instructions by now, number 8 has a lot to do today and she doesn't need you bothering her right now"

Klaus' eyes widened before he turned to look at the terrified girl on the bed, she was shaking her face buried in her knees. His fist tightened and he took a deep breath before turning to face Reginald.

"N-no father can't you leave her for today, look at her she's terrified she won't be of any use today" Klaus' voice betrayed him as he stood up to his father, however he didn't back down either, he stood there staring into his eyes as if his father was a ticking bomb ready to go off.

Reginald's face slowly reddened as he looked down at Klaus who dared stand against him, he raised his hand and smacked Klaus across the face causing the boy to hit the floor in shock.

"How dare you defy me number 4, you will be punished for this, how about you take a little visit to the cemetery again for your defiance" Reginald said with a growl, staring down at the boy on the ground.

Klaus let out a small squeaking sound, all colour in his face had been drained completely, "N-no, please father anything but that...please"

Bryony watched as the boy grovelled on the floor, she felt sick watching it; he had no reason to be treated like that. How could he smile at her and joke around when he had such a wicked father like that, it horrible. She bit her lip till it bled as her fingers began to get hot, she couldn't lose it now.

"You haven't got a say in this boy, you will be punished and that is final!"

"N-NO- PLEASE!"

"I SAID-

"STOP!" Bryony screams, her fist exploded into flames as she banged the wall leaving a dent in the solid metal, grabbing their attention. They both turned to her; Klaus was shocked however Reginald's facial expression did not change. Bryony's eyes were still red and her fist was bleeding due to the force she'd hit the wall with but she ignored it.

"Don't punish him...I'll do what you want me to do and I won't fight back but just please leave him alone...he was only trying to help me" She said her fist still tensed, she didn't want to give into this man, he was horrid, but the boy was the only thing that made her feel even remotely calm after all that had happened...he didn't deserve to be punished because of her.

"No you don't have to do that for me" Klaus said, his lips still trembling. As much as he tried to be brave he was still just a little boy, terrified. Bryony smiled at him and shook her head,

"No, but I want to", she slowly moved out of the bed and stood up to face Reginald.

"Do we have a deal or not?" She said with a glare, looking up at him with burning red eyes.

Reginald smirked at her, "Well what an interesting turn of events don't you think number 4, you won't defy me at all if I don't punish him?"

Her jaw twitched, she had no clue what she was getting herself into, but all she did know was that she wanted to save this boy, he was the first person to smile at her even after seeing how much of a monster she was.

"T-that's right, I'll do what you want me to, so leave him be" she said with a gulp, there was no going back now.

Reginald went silent, his face was unreadable and he stood like a rock, there were no signs of movement. Bryony stood awkwardly looking around the room, hoping he'd answer her quicker. Finally Reginald smirked before letting a shocking laugh; it was low and raspy but a laugh none the less. Both Klaus and Bryony looked at him genuinely terrified, he didn't seem like a person who was even capable of laughter.

"Well look at that number 4, your little hero has come to your rescue, I won't punish you as that is what she wishes, so be thankful you are being let off for your insolence"

Klaus looked from him to Bryony a bunch of mixed emotions flashing on his face; he wasn't sure how to feel or what to say so he simply nodded at his father before looking at the floor.

"Now then number 4 I want you to get number 8 into her uniform and introduce her to the others, after that send her to my office"

He didn't bother to wait for a reply and walked away from them; he made it to the door and input the pass code so he could get out of the room before leaving them. Bryony and Klaus watched as he walked away in silence, as soon as he'd disappeared from sight they both let go of the breath they hadn't realised they'd been holding.

Klaus turned to face Bryony who smiled at him, how is it she ended up protecting him when he was the one that decided he wanted to help her. He chuckled to himself before tears began to make their way down his face.

"Klaus?"

"Thank you, god you don't know how much suffering you've just save me from, thank you, thank you so much" He said with a smile on his face rubbing his eyes. He hated crying in front of others, and yet for some reason he couldn't stop himself in front of her.

"No...Don't thank me Klaus I don't deserve it, just let me thank you for not being scared of me"

This time he burst into laughter, she was so weird he thought to himself, how could anyone be scared of her, they'd be crazy to be.

"You're weird"

"Yeah well so are you" She said in attempt to defend herself before Klaus's laughter had spread to her as well. They both stood there laughing as if nothing bad was going to happen, as if everything was alright for once.

Bryony opened one of her eyes and looked at him as she laughed and thought to herself, maybe it won't be so bad here...