For Now, For You
Synopsis: AU from 1x08. One broken neck leads to Marcel's victory and determines a whole new course for the city and the Original family. In his prison below the city, a chained-up Klaus and his traitorous sister start a new game.
Chapter Two: Blood
In which Rebekah visits her brother.
oOo
"Wasn't it you who once said I could talk my way out of hell?"
- Klaus to Rebekah, The Bloody Crown
oOo
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She can tell that her brother is awake when she opens the door, but he doesn't look up or acknowledge her presence. The torch she carries casts a pool of warm orange light through the dungeon, not quite reaching the far corners of the room where shadows continue to lurk.
It's quiet down here. This far below the city the sounds of the endless partying and life above are nothing more than a vague thrumming, even to her sensitive ears. Only the sound of her footsteps and the heavy door falling shut behind her break the silence. When she comes to a stop a good five feet away from her brother's kneeling form, she can hear his heavy breathing and the slow thumping of his heart trying to pump blood through his dry veins.
Niklaus only looks up when she places the torch in the holder on the wall. The flames dance almost wildly over his sunken face and like this his eyes seem darker than ever.
"Sister," he croaks, the word broken in his throat but no less venomous. "Have you come to gloat?"
She suppresses the chill that goes down her spine when she hears his voice, hears the anger that's still present behind her brother's dark eyes. Reminding herself that he's powerless, that she won, she forces her tone to be flippant. "Do you think so little of me, brother?"
He closes his eyes. "Why not? You have me imprisoned here, in chains, in the dark. Don't pretend the thought hasn't crossed your mind."
"It has," she acknowledges, "but that is not why I'm here."
At that he opens his eyes again, eyeing her with barely veiled curiosity.
"Marcel wants some of your blood to use in the case of a werewolf attack."
"And Marcellus forced my dear sister to fetch it for him? I must say I'm disappointed."
"No." She retrieved the blade from her pocket. "I volunteered."
Her brother's eyes are trained on the knife as he speaks, sounding intrigued. "Did you, now?"
She steps closer. "The fewer people who know where you are the better. I'm well aware that you have a way with words."
When he lifts his head, his dark eyes seem to pierce hers. "Yes, there is that," he just says.
She holds out her blade again. His eyes flicker to it and then back to her face. "You'll have to feed me first, you know," he states conversationally.
"What?"
"I've been here for over two weeks, dear sister. The blood in my veins is running dry. You won't get much no matter how deep you cut, and I know how skilled you are with the knife."
He smiles, a little pained, and now that she knows where to look for she can see the signs of desiccation even in the dark shadows of the room.
It's a painful process, desiccation, beginning like a hunger somewhere behind your teeth and deep in your gut and getting worse from there. The burning starts on the third day. That's when when the blood runs still in the veins and every part of the body cries out for fresh human blood to replenish itself.
The last time Rebekah suffered the effects it had lasted only a week and it had been torture.
It's been close to three weeks since her brother's defeat.
"You'll have to feed me first," Klaus coaxes her, "to get my blood running before you take it."
Obvious flattery aside, he sounds so reasonable like this and she hates herself for falling for it but she can't see a single flaw in his argument.
"I didn't bring a blood bag and there are no humans anywhere around here," she finally says, frustrated.
He shifts his weight, leaning back and resting on the back of his legs with his arms still always held up in the chains. "Well then," he says. "That's a bit of a conundrum." His eyes are half-lidded and trained carefully on her face when he casually suggests, "you could always feed me your own blood."
She looks at him sharply. "No."
"Why not? Even if I bite you, which I wouldn't, you could just take my blood to heal yourself. Besides-" He lifts his arms, shaking the chains to make his point. "I'm quite incapable of doing much harm, chained up as I am."
"It's not your actions that worry me. Your words are poison, you mean to trick me into letting you free."
His eyes are intense as he still keeps them fixed on her face. He hasn't really looked away the entire time she was here. It's as if he's imprinting her face into his memory, perhaps so he can savour the moment later when he breaks her in punishment. She doesn't trust those eyes, and yet she can't seem to make herself stop listening to him either.
"Even if that were the case, the fact remains that I am at your mercy and you want my blood." He raises his brows, a small smirk appearing. "I couldn't possibly make you do anything you wouldn't want to do."
He's right of course, in that horribly reasonable way. And he's not denying that he's trying to manipulate her, but then again they both know that would have been a lie.
Of course he's trying to manipulate her. Words are all he has left, and beneath his calm exterior she's quite sure he's still seething inside. Nik does not tolerate disappointment. He doesn't forgive and he doesn't forget. He's doing his hardest to make her forget, though. He'll talk to her like this, nicely, like he wouldn't dagger her again at the first opportunity he has, and he'll smile. All of it to make her lower her guard until she slips up.
She knows all of this and yet there's nothing she can do about it. Sure, she could flounce out and leave him here, but Marcel does want Klaus' blood. It's a useful leverage and insurance against werewolves, which might come in handy in the near future.
She could leave Klaus now to get a blood bag or some hapless tourist who would open his vein for her brother, but she wants to get it over with. And Nik isn't lying when he says he's powerless to do anything. She's seen the burns on his wrist from the endless trickle of liquid vervain. He couldn't harm her in his state, especially not after two full weeks of desiccation.
Mind made up, she steps forward again and pulls up her sleeve. "If you try anything I will plunge this through your heart," she warns, lifting her blade.
His eyes flash dark but he smirks. "I wouldn't expect anything less," he replies smoothly.
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A/N: One final update before the season starts, and a glimpse of what this story might entail going forward. Hope you all enjoy. As always, reviews are much appreciated!