-2-
The smell of impending rain moistened the humid spring evening. Hope leaned against a bike rack, phone perched between her ear and shoulder, her hair sticking to the back of her sweaty neck.
"I would also advise that you return Drug Box to its designated hiding area," Uncle Elijah's voice was hollow. Must have been a bad day at the office. Her father had been an absolute nightmare lately. So much so, that she overheard Keelin ask Aunt Freya if Hope was moving in permanently. It was coziest at her Aunt's home and also the closest to the bayou...to her mother. She probably would move in permanently if it wouldn't crush her dad. Hope couldn't breathe right when her father was upset because of her. She avoided it as much as possible.
Hope shifted the phone to her other ear. "Return Drug Box? What do you mean?", she asked, tucking it into her bag before glancing around. No men standing in suits, meaning he knew it was gone because he had been looking for it. This town car had better hurry. She sent for it long enough ago that she was able to order a coffee on the corner of Rue Dauphine at some new cafe that replaced a fortune telling place. After the whole thing with the coven trying to murder her for being an abomination of nature, Hope's family had put such regulations on the magic community that witch owned businesses started to suffer and many closed down through the years.
His response was a lengthy exhale and extended silence. Then in his clipped tone she knew all too well, " Your father is coming home from a faction meeting and I would like to have it put away before he arrives."
She knew he was more concerned with getting his hands on it than whether she got caught or not.
"Uncle Elijah..." she poked in amusement, "Uncle Kol is in Germany."
"That was one time."
Hope smiled and ducked into the town car that squeaked to a stop in front of her, the memory of being around eight or nine and guarding her father's room swirling in her mind. He had put her on duty to report back on who entered his room looking for the 'adults only' wooden box. Uncle Kol had flown in for a brief stay and the siblings had a way of timing their Drug Box raid around such occasions in hopes that anything missing would merely be blamed on the black sheep of the Mikaelson family. Her father had swept the dark honey curls from her face to murmur, "don't let them get away with it Littlest Wolf." Uncle Elijah's face when she cleared her throat from under the bed as she caught him pocketing something was priceless.
Once buckled inside the car and the driver finally edged into traffic, Hope asked, "what are you going to take though? I'm nosy."
"I find the green pills to be quite sedating with enough scotch," he offered plainly.
The driver drove for another few blocks before she finally replied. It had begun to sprinkle, a storm rolling off the river. Hope traced a rain droplet's trail down her window with a pressed finger to cold tinted glass.
"Are you taking them because you are seeing Mom today?" Hope asked carefully.
She knew he didn't like to talk about how he felt when it came to her mother. He only ever wanted to talk about how Hope felt or how her dad felt. She supposed they all felt the same anyway; shitty.
His reply was low and soft, "It is hard to sleep after seeing her in such states. Herbs and potions stopped working long ago."
Hope closed her eyes, feeling the sting of tears. "I know the feeling."
Silence settled between them until she arrived at the compound which doubled as her father's home and family headquarters. Lightning reflected off the sputtering fountain in the courtyard, warning her to seek shelter in the apartments Hope had gradually taken over. Swallowing back the bubbling emotions, she hung up the phone and lugged the herbs and Drug Box upstairs, her Converse clad feet smacking each stone step noisily. Uncle Elijah was there waiting in the common area, seated with an open book and an empty glass dangling from his hand. He looked up. Not a hair out of place and looking like a million dollars, the empty glass clanking heavily back down on the side table. He offered a small nod, snapping his book shut to stand and adjust the white sleeves that sat rolled at his defined forearms.
Hope handed him the book bag. "I look like hell, let me freshen up really quick before we go."
Uncle Elijah nodded and busied himself with rummaging around her bag.
She could only find her jean shorts. Everything else had been spread between her room at Aunt Freya's and more at Uncle Elijah's. Her mother's clothes still filled the closet and her toothbrush remained next to Hope's, brittle and still. But Hope could never bring herself to wear anything of hers or throw out the toothbrush.
Hope heard Uncle Elijah call from down the hall, "Niklaus will notice what is missing, but I have returned Drug Box and hidden the wormwood and calamus."
She poked her head out of the bathroom, "Well Niklaus had it coming. I won't forget his behavior towards Benny."
Uncle Elijah joined her, hovering in the doorway with a refilled glass. Hope could smell the bourbon on his breath when he replied, "Perhaps it was Benny who had it coming. Do try and remind the boy that his brand of…humor…does not bode well in this family."
Hope smiled at him and grabbed his drink. He raised an eyebrow as she took a gulp, his daylight ring clinking against the glass when she thrust it back into his hand. With another look in the mirror, Hope scrunched her nose at the paleness to her face. She wasn't eating well lately, all she did was obsess and plot and plan. They were so close to getting her mom back, it was radiating in her chest like the storm building outside. Uncle Elijah gulped the rest of his alcohol and checked the shiny watch she had given him for Christmas last year. She had it engraved and everything. Silut. It means something is worth it. Uncle Elijah had been teaching her words and meanings since she could remember.
A loud clatter downstairs drew their gazes away. "Dad's home," Hope sighed.
"Let me handle this," Elijah reminded her, pushing off the doorway to greet Klaus in the common room. Hope trailed in not long after, securing her sweat-damp hair into a knot atop her head as she greeted her father. Hope thought maybe the reason her dad hated Benny so much was because they were both so loud and took up so much space with their energies.
She stopped short, dropping her hands heavily at her sides when Klaus directed his glowering glare at her. There was a time when he was happy, even with mom gone. They would rough house and he would make her laugh like nobody else ever could. He would play pretend with her for days, never falling out of character and always letting her be the villain. There was even a time he looked at her like she was his elysian creation. Now, she never knew what version of her dad she was getting. He was as unstable as the rickety old shack her mother lived in; his biting tone as putrid as the swamps that bubbled under the summer sun.
"Why do I pay for your phone services if you never use the bloody thing?" He immediately tore into her, his voice slicing through the room like a paper cutter.
She knew not to respond as he was far from finished and would only talk over her anyway. She had texted him back but she knew it didn't matter because she hadn't texted immediately. Her eyes flicked to meet Uncle Elijah's. It was a knee-jerk reaction.
"Do not look at him, you look at me," Klaus seethed. Hope slid her gaze back towards her father's penetrating eyes. She held her ground and didn't move a muscle when Klaus strode to stand too close. It was something she noticed he did to the females in the family when they stepped out of line. It really hadn't always been like this. Though, Uncle Kol once called her father an ostentatious bastard under his breath at dinner when she was eleven. She gathered after jotting it down in her notebook, that it meant he was a phony illegitimate person. It still confused her until Uncle Elijah explained that her father was trying to be a better man so that he could be a better father and Uncle Kol was not buying it.
She still couldn't understand why the term bastard was so triggering for her dad. Uncle Elijah explained it was a word none of them should ever use around him. It was only a reminder that he wasn't the same. Hope knew he was only a half sibling to the Mikaelsons…and not really a Mikaelson at all. She knew Mikael was a cruel father figure for Klaus but never learned the specifics.
"Daughter," her title rolled off his tongue laced with anger, "do tell me why you were in the French Quarter without your security detail?"
"I had to get more herbs for mom's potion for our trip. I just wanted some time alone, I was sad," Hope answered sort of honestly. She had been sad and she had wanted to be alone -there were just more in depth reasons.
Klaus's features softened for a moment and he hung his head. With a hand on her shoulder he murmured, "I apologize. It has just been…challenging…with your mother lately."
Hope nodded and tentatively stepped towards him to wrap her arms around his body, just as boldly as she had when she was little. His arms around her were warm and tight. He smelled like the rain and the leather of his car. Without letting her go, he spoke against the top of her head. She heard him breathe in her scent; the big bad wolf grounding himself. Hope tried to forgive his anger with the same grace the rest of the family gave him. Her mother once told her that the family felt guilty about their abusive father and that was why they allowed so much to pass. Hope figured it was also largely because her father was the strongest sibling. He was alpha.
Uncle Elijah interrupted their moment with a gentle reminder. "Niklaus, Hope has requested I take her to see Hayley before dinner tonight."
"You will see her tomorrow, why tonight?" Klaus asked. The air felt cold when he stepped out of their embrace and headed for the drink cart. The lights flickered when another boom of thunder rattled the pictures on the walls. He let out a frustrated growl, "and traipsing around in the woods in weather like this? I think not."
Hope opened her mouth to protest but Uncle Elijah cut her off with a look. "Brother, I will make sure our travels and arrival go smoothly. I do not see a reason to deny her request, she is sad and needs her mother."
"Come with us," Hope suggested, knowing full well Aunt Beks was flying in and Klaus had agreed to pick her up.
The invitation seemed to soften the situation and Hope had to hide the smugness when she glanced back at Uncle Elijah. One day he would admit that it was safe for her to take the wheel in matters concerning her father. Klaus turned them down, shifting on his feet and contemplating a hair in his glass. After fishing it out he stated, "be back by dinner. Rebekah will be famished and eager to see her niece."
A/N: I'm obviously a Hope/Elijah fanfreak but you will see a ton more Klaus/Hayley with a really fun (when I say fun I mean angsty/sexual/dramatic of course) filled story line in future chapters.
