“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude”

– Maya Angelou

Change could be the start of something extraordinary, something you never could have imagined happening but now couldn’t live without, or it could end up being your downfall, thing that brings you to your knees begging for the end to come swiftly.

It was Sun Tzu who once said, if you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles but Imogen was afraid, she was terrified what this new change in the French Quarter would mean for her little sister. It was one thing to dance with the devil she knew, but something else entire to freely place Davina’s safety into the hands of who called himself the devil in disguise.

It hadn’t taken long for the news that Niklaus Mikaelson had defeated and taken over the role of King from Marcel to sweep across the supernatural community of New Orleans. Imogen had numerous voicemails, text messages and emails from her contacts within the human faction, the vampires and even a couple of reluctant witches letting her know about the change regime.

There was an upside to the Original Hybrid becoming the new King of the Quarter in Imogen’s opinion, and it would have been foolish of her not to look for a silver lining in the situation. Klaus was the most powerful creature of the planet since he was the Original Hybrid and she was willing to use every means to keep her sister safe from the witches, even form an alliance with a homicidal vampire. Imogen knew that if she didn’t seek out allies in times of semi-peace then you would end up isolated and weak in times of crisis, and she refused to be weak.

And that was why Imogen Clare was currently waiting in an office The Abattoir, the place that the vampires used as their primary residence in the Quarter after sweet talking her way past some nightwalkers she was friendly with during Marcel’s reign.

Despite having been to The Abattoir a number of times since being introduced to Marcel, and a few times before during her more rebellious phases, she had never seen that particular office before. The furniture was all expensive antiques that had probably been purchased brand new, it was exactly what you would expect a king’s office to look like and she couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she strolled over to the bookcase at the side of the room. Her fingers ran over the old perfectly preserved book covers, disrupting the dust that had settled and pulled one out at random as she tilted her head to the side curiously.

“I was told you seek an audience with the King.” A familiar British accented voice stated from the doorway to the office as they closed the door behind them and Imogen looked over at them with a smirk on her lips as she slid the book back onto the shelf. “Very bold.”

“You’re speaking in third person now, Klaus?” Imogen asked him in amusement as she tilted her head to the side with seriousness in her blue eyes and she watched cautiously as he sauntered over to the chaise longue on the other side of the room.

“How can I help you this evening, Imogen?” he asked her politely with an edge of impatience in his voice as he sunk down on the comfortable couch and threw his arm lazily over the arm as he placed one ankle on the opposite knee.

“I’m sorry, was I meant to wait for your coronation before offering my congratulations?” she asked him in an mocking innocent voice as she strolled towards the armchair across from the couch and Klaus levelled her with an annoyed glare as she sat down gracefully on the cushion. “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. Do you know who said that?”

“Sun Tzu. You came here to quote battle strategy to me, love?”

“I came here to win.” She replied easily as her blue eyes narrowed slightly with undisclosed determination and he raised an eyebrow at her in intrigue as he leant forward slightly with a faint smile on his lips. “If Marcel is no longer in power, if he can no longer control the witches, then I need to realign my association to someone who can. “

Niklaus tilted his head to the side in consideration as he studied the witch’s resolute expression with a blank look on his face and internally marvelled over the fact that she was at his doorstep not three hours after he came into power to discuss forming an alliance. He had no doubt that her purpose was on the behalf of her sister, just like it had been when dealing with Marcel for the last eight months and he found that devoted loyalty admirable, if not a little predictable.

There was something about the witch that drew him in without him even realising, something about her that called out to the humanity he wished to keep deeply hidden within and he found himself wanting to know more about her, to know the inner workings of her mind.

He couldn’t deny that he had been intrigued by the stunning brunette the moment he saw her sitting comfortably with Marcel in a bar full of vampires, completely at ease surrounded by bloodthirsty beasts. And so, he had discreetly started to gather information about her from some of the most reliable sources at his disposal: Marcel, her current suitor, Sophie, her ex-best friend and Camille, her closest friend.

Marcel had immediately grown suspicious when Klaus started to innocently ask questions about the witch over drinks one night but he known that the hybrid would find answers one way or another and so he offered up small pieces of honest information, making sure that it was nothing that Klaus wouldn’t be able to find out from someone else.

Sophie firmly refused to answer any of his queries about the other witch, clinging closely to the last thread of friendship between them and loyally keeping every secret shared to herself as she tried to protect her best friend in the only way she could.

Camille had been the most open about her association with Imogen because their relationship was strictly on a human level and she only knew the basic facts about the brunette’s life before they met, but she was more than happy to sing praises for the other girl’s glowing personality.

Three main facts about Imogen Clare became abundantly clear to him after speaking to each of his informants and they only caused him to grow even more fascinated by the young witch that was current sitting in front of him.

One: that she had grown up in an abusive household, with a controlling mother watching her every move and a violent father ready at a moment’s notice to make her suffer for non-existent crimes.

Two: that she would do absolutely anything in her power for the people she loved, with Davina at the top of that list and very few people following after her.

Three: that she was strong. Everything that he had learned about her eventually came back to the fact that she was resilient and seemingly dauntless.

The silence stretched on as they stared at each other from opposite lounges, measuring the other’s tenacity to see how long it would take for the other to crack until Imogen sighed to herself as she internally rolled her eyes and clasped her hands round her knee with a small smile on her lips. “Enough of the staring. I spent all day in psychology class and all night nursing an ailing Original vampire out in the bayou, I want to go home and sleep. I just need to know whether or not you open to negotiations.”

Klaus couldn’t help the slightly startled expression that crossed his face at the young witch’s declaration, his blue eyes widening a fraction and his lips pressing tightly into a straight line as he immediately leaned forward on the couch. “You spent the evening alongside my brother?”

“Yeah, Hayley called me for help thinking that there was something magical I could do to help him through the dementia and hallucinations.”

“Ah. And did my moral older brother inform you of the treacherous actions I took against him?” he asked in a bitter tone of voice as he leaned back against the couch with a blank expression on his face and

“You mean how Hayley was kidnapped by a vengeful hybrid you sired back in Mystic Falls wanting to test a theory that the blood of your baby could be used to sire hybrids and that you knew about it from the beginning and were intending to build yourself an army? He mentioned it.” she told him nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders dismissively with a passive expression on her pretty face and he raised an eyebrow at the indifferent tone in her voice as he tilted his head to the side in silent question. “I’ve only met you once and I don’t know you but something tells me you actually care about your child. Call it witches intuition.”

There was something in her voice that seemed to snap something inside of Klaus’ as he stared at her blankly for a silent moment while contemplating her words carefully, it was like one of the many strings tethering his humanity back from the world diminished into nothing and the pure, untainted love that had been slowly growing since he found out Hayley was pregnant with his child flooded through his veins.

Gratitude wasn’t something he was used to suffering from, but that was the only label he could correctly bestow upon the feeling he was currently experiencing towards the brunette in front of him and he loathed feeling bonded to somebody who he had no deeper knowledge about because he didn’t want to be without any leverage on that person. He was vaguely interested in knowing what Imogen really thought about him, with her degree in psychology and her ‘witches intuition’ as she called it.

Imogen watched intently in curiosity as various emotions flashed across Klaus’ face too quickly for her to decipher before he plastered on a completely blank mask and stared at her as though he was seeing her for the first time, searching her face like he was trying to memorise every inch. It was almost disconcerting having an immortal hybrid ogling her as though she was under a microscope but she refused to show an discomfort and kept her expression carefully composed in a façade of indifference even though she was relying heavily on the outcome of this meeting.

“Given what you do know about me, what you’ve heard whispered about your witches’ coven like campfire stories, what do you think of me?” Klaus asked her curiously with a small frown etched on his face as he tried to hide the deep rooted insecurity in his little blue eyes but Imogen saw it and she understood that he was afraid of the answer because he knew that she wouldn’t

“I think you have unstable personal relationships, stress-related paranoia, chronic anger issues, and fear of abandonment. You’re a competitive obsessive who both desires anyone or anything that can give you an advantage and are threatened by anyone or anything that can give you an advantage. If the obsessive can't have the object of his desire he'll choose to destroy it instead, you can’t deny that that is something you have done and would do.” She answered him in a soft tone of voice as she tilted her head to the side thoughtfully while she spoke and he lifted his head with a blank expression, expecting to see the revulsion or loathing in her blue eyes but was surprised to see that they had the same compassion and sincerity as before. “If I were a registered psychologist I would be prescribing an antipsychotic. You could benefit from talking to someone professionally.”

“I think I prefer to talk to you.” he told her honestly with a small amused smile on his lips as he leaned forward on the couch and she rolled her blue eyes as though he was joking but he was utterly serious as he stood up from his seated positon.

Imogen watched him with a confused frown on her lips as he crossed the smalls space between them in one large step and held out his hand for her to take, to which she looked at warily as he chuckled under his breath at her suspicion. “Come on, love. I don’t bite.”

“Well, that’s a straight up lie.” She countered instantly with a quirked eyebrow as she hesitantly placed her hand in his larger one and he easily pulled her to her feet with a smirk on his lips as she huffed indignantly.

There was a vast difference in the sensation she felt when holding hands with Klaus compared to the experience of touching Elijah’s skin like she had done earlier that day. Accidently brushing her fingers against Elijah’s had sent mighty currents of electricity through her veins, much like lightning striking an unexpected victim but purposely holding hands with Klaus caused a kind of content hum of energy to wash over her skin.

Klaus quickly led her out of the office at a fast human pace as she hurried to keep up with him and he chuckled to himself as she stumbled slightly but righted herself before she could lose her balance. He slowly came to a stop outside a set of closed wooden doors as he glanced over his shoulder at the witch and she quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly as he slipped his hand from her grasp to push open the set of heavy doors.

“What are we –? “Imogen started to ask him curiously with a hint of annoyance but trailed off into silence when she caught sight of the makeshift art gallery slash studio that the room had been transformed into.

The large studio was lined wall to wall with canvases in varying degrees of completion and the strong smell of paint and turpentine wafted through out of the room all the way to the door where Imogen stood with her lips slightly parted in awe.

“What do you think, love?” Klaus asked her quietly with a slightly insecure undertone in his accented voice as he watched her looked around the room and he tilted his head to the side with undisclosed curiously in his light blue eyes as she slowly walked into the middle of the room.

“These are amazing.” she whispered in admiration as she strolled over to the side of the room where an easel was set up with a completed painting of the moonlight hitting the Mississippi River and a soft smiled spread across her lips as she regarded the lovely scene captured forever on the canvas in front of her. “This is remarkable.”

There was a content silence as Klaus slowly approached her with his hands clasped behind his back and he stopped next to her with his head tilted to the side as he studied her profile, scrutinising the slight glint of wonder in her blue eyes. “Do you paint?”

“I can paint my nails.” she told him sagely with a nod of her head as she peeked at him from the corner of her eye and he shot a look that was a mixture of amusement and bewilderment as she turned to face him slightly. “Trust me, it’s harder than it looks and sounds.”

“Oh, I have no doubt, love.”

“I’m being completely serious. It’s really tricky. You basically need a PhD in order to perfectly execute a home manicure.”

The Original hybrid couldn’t help the sincere bout of laughter that escaped him as he threw his head back, the chuckle sounded slightly startled as though he was surprised by his own response and the uncommon sound made Imogen chuckle along as she saw his light blue eyes light up with amusement.

Imogen shook her head slightly with a half-smile on her lips as she turned her head back to the canvas in front of her and sighed tiredly in exhaustion as she pursed her lips in consideration with her head tilted to the side. “I love this piece. There’s something lonely about it. Like the moon is overlooking the city but can’t interact with anyone or anything. Lighting the way in secret, never getting credit for playing its role. Being taken for granted.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow in surprise at her in depth analysis of his artwork, impressed that someone had deciphered the clandestine meaning behind the painting and even more astounded that it was the young witch next to him that could read the intended symbolism.

The meaning of the painting wasn’t lost on Imogen, who had reviewed the importance of creative art therapy when studying for her psychology degree at college and had excelled in the topic because she wanted to maintain an understanding of Davina’s artworks in case they were secretly a cry for help. Art therapy was a form of psychotherapy that involved the encouragement of free self-expression through painting, drawing, or modelling and was often used as a remedial or diagnostic activity.

Imogen hummed to herself thoughtfully as though she had uncovered something ground breaking and pensively tapped her lower lip with her finger gently as she wandered over to the side of the studio where a table was covered in parchment. Her fingers skimmed over the charcoal sketches of the same beautiful young woman with wavy shoulder length hair, high cheek bones and a cute button nose that scrunched up slightly as her lips upturned into a small smile, there was something about the woman in the picture that radiated pure elegance.

Klaus hurriedly rushed over to her side with a blank expression on his handsome face as he covered the pictures with a closed sketchpad so that she couldn’t see them and she stepped back in surprise at his sudden appearance besides her as she tried to hide the smirk forming on her lips.

“Problem?” she asked him in the most innocent voice she could muster as she tilted her head to the side with her hand resting on her hip and he glowered at her slightly as she quirked an eyebrow at him, silently daring him to say something. “Who’s the girl?”

“None of your business, sweetheart.”

“She’s beautiful. I can practically see the aura of light surrounding her.”

“She’s the embodiment of light and grace and dignity and kindness.” Klaus corrected her softly with a small genuine smile on his lips as he avoided her knowing blue eyes but quickly remembered where he was and cleared his throat gently as he carefully made sure none of the sketches were visible. He didn’t want anyone in New Orleans to know about the gorgeous blonde baby vampire that he left behind in Mystic Falls without adequate protection and he wasn’t entirely sure if he could trust Imogen with one of his only weaknesses, despite how fondly his siblings and Hayley spoke of her.

There was something in the way he spoke about the woman in the sketches that made Imogen’s heart clench slightly as she looked back down at one of the uncovered pictures and she knew with absolute certainty that the mystery woman had captured the heart of the ruthless Original hybrid. “Wow. She must be something remarkable if she can earn the love of even the most emotionally damaged of men.”

Klaus turned to look to her with a quirked eyebrow in question as a small smile played on the edge of his lips and she shrugged her shoulders innocently with a smirk as she tapped the uncovered hand drawn sketch of the beautiful woman. “What? Like it’s not true? You should hold onto her. Someone like that needs to be cherished.”