Niklaus made his way with Kol in tow as he entered Marcel's flat to find him looking out at the window towards New Orleans.

Niklaus- "Marcel I have something to discuss with you."

Marcel snapped back- "I'm not interested in anything you have to say today, so get out!"

Niklaus ignoring him- "I see you met Rebekah."

Kol- "Oh, did my dear sister break your little heart?" he mockingly laughed

Marcel zoomed over to attack before Niklaus stepped in front of him holding him back, "Calm yourself, Marcel, we're here because of Rebekah."

Marcel angrily glared at Kol who was hiding behind Niklaus- "What do mean?"

Niklaus looking serious now- "Did you happen to see her hands when you talked to her?"

Marcel calming down backed off- "Her hands? No, I wasn't looking at her hands at the time."

Niklaus- "Well on her hands, more specifically her ring fingers..." causing Marcel to flinch when he heard ring finger "...There are marks, something that should not be possible on us Originals, It is of my belief that this new man in her life is controlling her somehow and I was hoping you could help us distract her while Kol here investigates."

Marcel now looking solemn- "Is this true?" he asked as his anger rose at the thought of Rebekah being stolen by some mind control freak.

Niklaus nodding- "While she may be mind-controlled, you always had a soft spot in her heart, I believe we can still use that to our advantage."

Marcel furrowed his brows- "I don't even know what that guy is, his eyes glowed orange when he was talking to me, not to mention he is strong." looking at Niklaus, "He felt stronger than you."

Niklaus showed an ugly expression at his remark as Kol behind him opened his eyes wide at hearing that.

Niklaus- "I do not know what he is either, what matters at the moment is finding my sister alone and investigating those marks."

Kol getting tired of this roundabout way asked- "Is there a reason we just don't dagger her?" after all that was Niklaus go to, it was strange he wasn't using that as an opener.

Niklaus- "I'm not certain the dagger would work and I'd rather not piss off our sister and drive her away before I can free her." he said not explaining or wanting to tell them about how she's hybrid thing now and the dagger might not work because of it and that her strength may equal his. His ego not letting him think she could possibly be stronger.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Plus he would not want to talk about the baby she may or may not be caring, he knows that to hurt it in any way would make him Nevan an enemy for life and without knowing what he is, this was not a good option. Not to mention the fact he would feel the same should it be his child.

Marcel not wanting to waste any more time decided to ignore his lack of information- "Alright let's go help her...wait a minute shouldn't Elijah be helping?"

Kol also looked over wondering the same thing.

Niklaus- "Elijah is indisposed at the moment, it'll be up to us, don't worry I have a plan."

They were still unaware that Niklaus had a child of his own and that Elijah was protecting it.

______________________________________________________________________________

Niklaus made his way back to his New Orleans home alone to prepare for the plan when he found Rebekah surprisingly alone already. Giving the house a once over to make sure he secretly made his way back out to make a call.

Niklaus- "Change of plans, get here now."

It wasn't long before Marcel showed up with Kol tagging along. They made their way inside finding Rebekah making her way down the stairs.

Niklaus trying to keep a straight face, decided to grin as he tried to get things to work out- "Sister, you remember Marcel still don't you? I heard you had a bit of a fight earlier and I wanted to make sure our family stayed strong, you see he brought Kol along, I'm sure you'll still recognize him even in his new body."

Rebekah rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt to manipulate her, she may have fallen for it in the past, but she was on high alert around him now that she was pregnant.

Looking over at Kol though was interesting, to say the least, seeing a family member you've known for so long in a different body- "Is that really you Kol? Well at least you didn't get a downgrade in the looks department." she laughed trying to lighten the mood.

Kol grinned- "Sister it's been too long, I hear you found yourself a man that Niklaus hasn't immediately killed, I would love to meet him." Which made Rebekah snort in displeasure.

When Rebekah was down and out away from the stairs, Marcel knowing what he needed to do made his way over.

"Rebekah I was hoping we can talk more, I didn't like how we left things," he said as Kol made his away around to her back, acting as if he was giving them room as he started to inspect the tattoos on her hands with his magical sense.

When he walked a little too close to her back she backhanded him away sending him flying into a pillar, while kicking Marcel away back into the front door entrance before facing Niklaus in case he made a move.

Rebekah with an angry face- "I don't know what your all planning but know this, I will not stand idly by while you do it."

Niklaus looking at his cohorts slowly getting back to their feet tried to remedy the situation- "Rebekah, I just want to be a family, keep you safe, there are no malicious thoughts or actions behind what I do, I just want what's best for you."

Rebekah sneered as she started to push him back with every word- "No Nik, what you want is what's best for you." She then zoomed away to go find Nevan.

Niklaus then headed towards Kol with Marcel right behind him as he asked with a serious face- "Please tell me you were able to discover something."

Kol sighed- "Ai, I found something, It's powerful stuff whatever it is, but as for controlling, it doesn't look like that's what its for, I felt no dark magic, but it seems like there probably is a small influence of some kind coming from it, for what I don't know."

Niklaus however only heard what he wanted- "So she is indeed being influenced by this lunatic, we need to find a way to save her, the problems just keep piling on."

Kol shook his head exhaustively and said- "Nik that's not what I sa..."

Niklaus interrupted- "Kol you need to find a way to take care of this, have your girlfriend help, Marcel you need to help me locate Finn, my mother, and Mikael, we can't fight on too many fronts, we need to start eliminating the threats.