I own nothing but my own words.
Chapter 29: Hello, Brother
His eyes hurt.
A bright light consumed his vision, one as bright as the one that shone around Josie Saltzman when she siphoned the crystal to cleanse her of all black magic. It didn't hurt as much as it did then, but it still made him close his eyes against it before looking down and away.
Curious. He was standing in the middle of a small creek bed. Water running so clear, he could see the long polished pebbles beneath the surface.
The water wasn't deep by any means, just about mid-calf high. He made his way to the embankment, stepped out of the water, and then turned around to take in the entire view.
He knew this place.
Hundreds of years ago, after spending his days learning how to read, he would come to this place for a few hours to be alone with his thoughts.
The mud in the embankment had been his temporary paper, a stick his only pen.
He picked up a stick and sat, staring down at the wetness until he began to draw.
He drew a rough sketch of a stick figure man, whispering the word "father" as he went.
He paused when he finished, admiring his work, then moved to another wet area and began again.
"Jakob," he said, using the name for himself that the village elder had given him.
Sitting back, he thought over everything he had been learning. Not of the words, but of the people of the village. He learned that the little people were children and that over time they would grow up to be the big people, just like how he was now.
He learned the word family. That all families had a father and a mother first, the children came after.
Looking down at the ground, he began to draw again.
Another stick figure, standing on the other side of Jakob.
When he finished, he pulled back and stared down at it, mouthing the new word.
"Mother."
The Elder had said all children had one of those. So, why didn't he have one?
His first memory was the first day of his existence. His father wiped away the muck. There had been nothing else. No one else.
Ryan dropped the stick and stood up, frowning down at young Jakob's temporary portrait.
Why was he thinking of long ago memories of his uneducated mind? He had much to learn at that point, obviously, including that he wasn't born into a family or raised from infant to adult like a normal human child.
In fact, there was nothing human about him besides his visage. He couldn't even procreate like them. He had the means by which to perform the act but not the means to actually create life.
Shaking his head of his musings, he tried to remember what was happening.
Oh yeah.
He died.
He had let the descendants of his father's creators use his body as a vessel to destroy his father once and for all.
So, what was he now?
By rights, he shouldn't even be aware. He should have ceased to exist right along with his father, or just 'exist in the ether' as Hope had said to him once long ago before either of them had discovered feelings for the other.
Hope.
He wasn't going to see her ever again, was he?
Of all the things he had learned in his eight hundred or so years of life, the things he learned with her had affected him the most. He learned he had value, that he was capable of love, that he was worthy of being loved.
And he learned to have actual hope for the future. That, for once, something he wanted was truly within his grasp. He had always wanted his father's love and acceptance, but he had known deep down inside he would probably never get it.
With her, he dared to dream.
Dream of a life spent loving each other and being their own family. He even dreamed about children with her despite her insistence of not wanting any. Not that he could provide them, but he could raise them and love them with her. He knew there were other children out there like him—ones without a family to love them. He knew how to do it now. He knew how to love. He could do it. He would do it.
But it had been stupid of him to dream. It was all over.
The universe owed him nothing.
"You're made up of more than your father."
Completely taken by surprise, he jumped back and looked toward the giant outcropping of rocks a few yards down that sat upon the embankment. He used those very rocks to lay and sun himself some days. Drying off before returning to the village for the evening.
There was a woman sitting on them now, staring out across the creek bed, dressed in forest green, with long brown hair flowing down her back.
"Who are you?"
"You are, you know," she said, ignoring his question. "Made up of more than him."
"Yeah," he scoffed. "Mud."
"Earth," she said. "You're made up of earth, Ryan."
He looked around, "Not Jakob?" If this was a memory he had forgotten of that time, shouldn't she be calling him that instead of his current name?
"I've known all your names," she said. "And I know you prefer Ryan most of all."
"I don't get it. I don't know you," he said. He really didn't. His memory was photographic. He would've remembered her if he had ever met her before. "Why would you care?"
"Isn't it beautiful?" She looked around, ignoring his question once again. "A simple little creek surrounded by some of earth's most amazing creations. Shows the true power of earth's magic, doesn't it?"
He nodded cautiously.
"In darkness," she said, "connected to your father as you were, there were consequences. Black magic always has consequences. One of which made you unreachable. In fact, if it weren't for you finally accepting the light, you'd be gone now. For good."
"We used earth magic for the spell," he realized. "The twin..."
"The Gemini twins are adoptive children of earth. They have long been protectors of this world, each pair making the ultimate sacrifice to keep the darkness out," she said. "Unfortunately, that same darkness overwhelms them."
"You speak of consequences," he said. "What are the others? And why would you want to reach me?"
"You're more powerful than you know," she said. "You've just been shrouded in darkness too long."
He contemplated her words, looking back at the creek bed, trying to understand what she was telling him. And slowly…slowly, the pieces came together and everything clicked.
"You're her, aren't you?" he asked, startled and amazed. "I actually do have a mother. That's why the vision. The memory."
"The earth is mother to a great many things," she replied. "But you're her only son."
He needed a minute to take this all in.
She was telling him that earth itself was his mother. That the very mud part he had always hated was actually from her. That because of his link to his father—the father that had been created in black magic—she had never been able to reach him before now. She was telling him that with the death of his father, the link was severed.
That he had survived.
"I'm alive?" he realized, breathing out the words, unsure if he should dare to even try to hope again.
"You are," she said.
"Does this mean…" he immediately thought of Hope, "I can be with her."
"That's up to her," she smiled for the first time, knowing exactly of whom he spoke. "But I'm sure you have nothing to fear. She's one of nature's greatest and most powerful creations. That was no accident. Her father's redemption, yes, but there's no one else on earth like her, the only one of her kind. Just like you…
"Nature always finds a loophole, or so I've heard," she continued, still smiling softly. "And she didn't want her son to be alone."
It wasn't as if he needed any further proof that Hope was the one meant for him, but if he did, he just received it.
"Your father's gone, but his legacy lives on," she said solemnly. "What you do with it, is entirely up to you."
He didn't quite understand what she was saying, but he would figure it out eventually. She had a way of speaking where she let him draw his own conclusions.
"How can I see you again?" he asked, looking around. He wasn't sure where he was, somewhere in Europe he guessed. How he got there, he didn't know, but he had to make his way back to Hope immediately. First, though, he needed to make sure he could reach his mother again whenever he wanted to.
"I'm all around you," she replied.
"I mean, talk to you?" he asked.
"Just go to sleep, Ryan," she said. "You can find me in your dreams."
"I don't dream," he said.
"What do you think you're doing now?"
When he opened his eyes, it was to a world that was completely familiar but, in so many ways, a million times different.
There was something else different too. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
There was a lot to take in and reevaluate.
He had a mother.
He was alive.
He had to get to Hope.
He attempted to sit up but found himself sprawled on the ground again.
Lizzie, seeing his movement, immediately pressed her foot on his shoulder, pushing him back down.
She glared at him cautiously, "Malivore?"
"No," he shook his head. "It's me."
"Prove it," she said, not letting up.
"You suggested to Hope I wasn't capable of satisfying her in the bedroom," he said, with his usual sarcastic smirk of a glare that he generally directed at this particular twin. "Looking forward to proving you wrong tonight."
"Yep," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes and removing her foot. "That's Clarke."
She reached down to offer him a hand.
Glancing at it cautiously, he grasped hold and allowed her to help him stand.
"Never thought I'd be glad to know you're alive," she said. Relieved didn't even begin to describe what she was feeling. Whereas before she had been dreading it, now she couldn't wait for Hope to wake up.
"Uh, thanks?" he started to pull his hand away, but then he remembered. He grasped hold of her hand again, this time for an entirely different reason.
"Thank you," he said sincerely.
"You're…welcome?" she looked at him strangely.
"The earth magic," he said. "It made all the difference."
"Told you so," she smirked.
"That you did," he nodded.
He let go and looked around.
The fighting had ended while he was down. All of the monsters were on their knees, frozen. Everyone else seemed to be a cross between happy, confused, and cautious.
"What did all this?" he asked, wondering if it was a side effect of Malivore being destroyed.
"She did," Lizzie nodded toward Hope.
Kaleb had picked Hope up but didn't know what to do with her.
Everyone else was trying to decide what to do next. Malivore was defeated, but there were still plenty of creatures that had been released from the pit strewn across the field. They didn't know how long the spell Hope put on them would last. They didn't know if they should kill all of the monsters while they were frozen or wait until the spell wore off in case the creatures didn't want to fight now that they were no longer under Malivore's control. They really needed their fearless leader to wake up and tell them what to do.
Lizzie was at a loss, and so was Josie. They helped with the planning, but the war and killing—that was all Hope.
Seeing Hope passed out in Kaleb's arms, Clarke immediately went to her.
Lizzie looked after him and a small smile spread across her lips.
Hope, Clarke, and… she glanced over to the other figure on the ground, sitting up with help from Wade… Landon.
All three were alive.
"Well, Daddy," she murmured to herself. "Looks like I was right. I could save them all."
Clarke was taking Hope from Kaleb's arms even before he started speaking.
"I've got her. What's wrong with her?" Clarke asked.
"She let out this insane burst of magic, man," Kaleb shook his head, giving her over. "Guess it was too much for her because she passed out right after."
Clarke nodded, relieved. He held her body close. She was going to be okay. He just had to wait for her to wake up.
Landon had resigned himself to never seeing the light of day again. Having no way to judge the amount of time that passed, he wondered aimlessly through the darkness completely and totally alone. As time wore on though, he knew his attempt to get Clarke to kill their father by killing him must have failed. He prayed he at least succeeded in saving Hope.
He accepted that Malivore had won until things had changed today. He could feel something moving through him—feel his body for once. He actually saw Hope for a brief moment. His vision flashed in and out of the scene. She was alive, and she was trying to save him. That was Hope alright, a hero to the very end.
The feeling was fleeting, but it was enough for him to know. This would be over soon.
The next time things changed, his view was quite different. Instead of Hope, he saw Clarke, and he was feeling incredibly weak. He knew that feeling. Lizzie had siphoned his power once before. She was doing it again, but she was taking way more than she ever had before. Despite the weakness, he could feel his body again, every single bit of it, and he wasn't fading back into the darkness.
Suddenly the siphoning stopped and he knew. Malivore was gone. He was free.
Well, except for the weird prison he seemed to be standing in the middle of.
The weakness proved too much and he must have blacked out because the next thing he knew he was being pulled to a sitting position by Wade and the prison was gone.
Looking around, he tried to take everything in at once.
"Wade," he said. "What's going on?"
"Malivore is dead," Wade replied. "They're trying to decide what to do with his creatures."
He was sitting in the middle of a giant field and there were people everywhere. Most of them, he didn't know.
He was also soaking wet.
The water tank he saw behind Wade must be to thank for that.
"Where's…" he trailed off when he saw her.
Hope was passed out, and Clarke was holding her.
He sprang to his feet and went to her.
"Is she okay?" he asked as he approached.
Clarke regarded his brother with a wary look.
"She'll wake soon."
"Isn't there some place you can put her down?" Landon asked. He would try to take her from him, but he didn't want to get her soaked too.
"She's right where she needs to be," Clarke said with a hard look.
"What does that even mean?" Landon stepped back, getting a weird feeling.
Hope began to stir right then, shifting as she felt strangely weightless. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the chest her face was pressed against. Her eyes rose and she saw the face of the person holding her.
"Ryan?" she asked, barely daring to hope.
He smiled down at her. "Yeah, it's me."
"Ryan!" She tried to sit up and throw her arms around his neck at the same time.
Clarke let her legs down gently and wrapped his arms around her too.
Landon stepped back again, that weird feeling growing to something that landed quite painfully in the pit of his stomach. What was going on?
"You're alive!" She pulled back to look up at Ryan. Her smile was wide, bright, and relieved.
"I don't know how," he shook his head, still in disbelief at everything that had happened. "The Sphinx said someone had to die."
Her smile dimmed.
"Rafael…"
"What about Raf?" Landon may not know how to deal with what was happening right in front of him, but he wasn't going to be silent when his real brother, his best friend, was mentioned in the next breath after dying.
Hope finally noticed him. "Landon…"
"What about Raf?" he asked again, desperate for something to feel right about the world he woke up into.
"Follow me," she said, pulling back from Ryan. Unable to let him go completely, she took his hand to bring him along with her.
When they found him, Landon immediately knelt by his side. All the horror and sci-fi movies he ever saw hadn't prepared him for this. Seeing someone who meant the world to him dead at his feet. Despite seeing it done a million times on screen, he didn't know how to check for a pulse but, given the angle of Rafael's neck, it didn't matter.
It proved too much for him. Tears pooled in his eyes and his head dropped.
"Where's Josie?" Hope asked no one in particular, looking around.
"I'm here," Josie said, breaking through the small crowd of schoolmates that had gathered.
"He was with you before the fighting started," Hope said. "Do you know if he took it?"
"I…don't know," Josie said. "I know Jade did, but I was distracted when Malivore started waking up."
"How about we get him out of here?" Clarke said, immediately noting a potential problem. If Rafael had taken Hope's blood, too many people had seen him dead out here. If he all of a sudden woke up on the field and was fine, people would start asking questions. Word could spread. The crescent pack may already know—or some of them at least—but the rest of the factions didn't need to know. Loyalty only went so far.
"Move him to one of the cars, just in case," he said, casting a meaningful look at Hope.
She nodded.
"We've got him," MG said, as he and Jed moved forward.
Jed placed a hand on Landon's shoulder. "We'll take care of him for you."
Landon looked up, noting the irony of Jed of all people trying to comfort him.
"Follow us," Jed said as he squatted at Rafael's feet and MG did so at his head.
They lifted his body and carried him away. Landon followed, looking lost and confused.
Hope sank back against Ryan as she watched them go. She felt so bad for Landon. He came back to a world where Raf was dead and she had moved on with Ryan. She knew she was going to have to talk to him later. It was over between them, had really been over since before Malivore took control, but things had never been properly settled. She needed to give him a chance at closure. She owed him that.
"Hope," Lizzie stepped forward after wiping away her tears and trying to gather her composure. "We don't know what to do with them." She gestured out to the field. "How long will your spell last?"
Hope looked around. "Honestly, I have no idea. I wasn't really thinking when I did that." The grief had overwhelmed her. She had lashed out with all the anger and sadness she felt. She pressed back even more into Ryan, clutching at the arms he wrapped around her. He's alive! She could scarcely believe it.
"Don't suppose you've got a pit of your own we can drop them into," Jade joked to Clarke.
"Your father's gone, but his legacy lives on. What you do with it, is entirely up to you."
"Actually…" He remembered waking up, thinking something was different.
He focused on that feeling, not sure of anything at all, but gave it a shot anyway. He looked at an empty area on the ground, away from everyone, and commanded something imaginary in his mind to open.
Everyone jumped back when a black portal opened suddenly.
"Did you do that?" Hope gasped, looking up at him in shock.
"Yeah," he said. "My father is gone…but his legacy lives on apparently."
"Bro, send those creatures back now," Kaleb said.
"But that means…" Lizzie stepped forward, eyes widening as she met Hope's.
"Get Chad out!" Hope exclaimed. She turned and grabbed Clarke's arms. "Can you do it?!"
"I'm sure, just new at this," he said.
"You get him out and I take back every bad thing I ever said about you," Lizzie said. She didn't even remember the first time she met Chad, but she had told him she would do everything she could to save him. Take backs were covered under "everything".
"Do you really think I care about that?" he asked.
"Maybe not," Lizzie said. "But I'm one of Hope's best friends, and I can make your life completely miserable otherwise."
He had to admit, that threat was valid. The she-beast had a way of intruding upon everything.
"Give me a minute," he murmured to Hope.
This was going to require more focus. He had to think about the inside of the pit, a place he didn't like to go. When he did though, he felt something completely different than he expected.
He reached out and grabbed at Hope to ground himself.
"What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly worried.
"I can feel them," he said, gasping at the strangeness. "I can feel them all."
"It's okay," she said. "If you need to stop, do it."
"But—" Lizzie started.
"It's okay," Hope repeated with a glare at her friend.
"No," he said. "I got it…"
"Can you find him?" she asked softly.
"I think so…" he thought about it, trying to focus. "He's there. There's another human with him… I've seen her before. My father. He used her body before he used Landon's."
Lizzie nodded, remembering Chad's friend, "That's Evelyn. She was helping Chad."
"Can you get them out?" Hope asked softly.
He focused on them, thought about the blue vortex that usually swept him up before spitting him out of the pit, and he could see in his mind's eye that it worked. The cyclone started sweeping through and picked up both humans.
The black portal that he already opened began to bubble.
"Something's happening!" Jade exclaimed.
Rising up out of the portal, completely covered in the black substance that was the pit's signature sludge, two figures stepped onto the ground and held their arms out, trying to fling the muck off.
Hope waved a hand and the sludge cleared from their faces.
Chad looked around and his face lit up. "We're out!"
Evelyn sighed in relief.
Chad saw Lizzie and went running for her, "Lizzie!"
"No," Lizzie put her hand out. "Stop, wait, no, no!"
It didn't matter, Chad was too excited. He hugged her tightly.
"You couldn't have wiped away all the Mali-goo first?" Lizzie glared at Hope with gritted teeth as she waited for Chad to get his enthusiasm out. He just had to be a hugger.
Hope giggled despite everything.
Then found herself with an arm full of Mali-goo. "Hope!" Chad exclaimed.
It was Lizzie's turn to smirk.
Hope rolled her eyes then waved her hand and cleared off the black sludge from all of them.
"Thank you," Lizzie said.
Clarke cleared his throat.
"Yeah, alright," Lizzie said. "Thank you too."
"Can you work on commanding all the creatures to return to the pit?" Hope asked Clarke.
"Yeah," he nodded. "But what are you going to do?"
"The vamps would've healed by now," she looked around. "But the injured wolves and witches are going to need my help." Especially since she knew the witches would probably scoff at consuming vampire blood to heal. The blood wouldn't work on the wolves. They would need to heal on their own.
He started to speak but thought better of it when he remembered there was any number of vampires out there with perfect hearing. "Remember the mountain lion," he said instead. "Now's not the time for that."
She frowned at him.
"There are too many," he said. "And some secrets are better kept." He knew her too well. She would do everything she could to help these people but just as the truth about her blood needed to be protected, so did her ability to heal. They also didn't know how its continued use would affect her. He was a firm believer in being safe, not sorry.
She begrudgingly agreed.
"I've got supplies!" Josie called out, returning with her father. They opened huge duffel bags and started passing out everything they brought to patch up the wounded.
MG returned too, holding his phone out to Clarke. "Mom's bringing in medics to help. But she wants to talk to you."
Hope looked around while Clarke took the phone.
"Let's get to work."
Numb.
That was how Landon felt.
Completely and utterly numb.
Rafael had died while fighting a war of his father's making.
So had countless others, if what he had seen on that battlefield was anything to go by.
He shuttered to think what else his father had gotten up to while using his body as his 'meat-suit'.
He would have to take a near-boiling shower after all of this. And then repeat that three times a day at least. Repeating that process every day until he felt like his body was his own again.
MG and Jed had carried Rafael to the Salvatore school bus. The automobile had seen better days. A lot of the windows were shattered and arrows poked through the roof.
He walked past Dorian who was seeing to an injured Emma as he followed the others. He was too numb to do more than look at his teachers as he passed.
He wasn't sure that Rafael would fit well laying out on any of these seats, but MG and Jed stopped at a seat that had been altered and expanded to lay him on. They turned Rafael to put him down gently on top of the blanket there.
"Hey," Alyssa called out from her spot at the front of the bus assisting Dorian since Doctor Saltzman had to leave to help the wounded.
All three boys looked at her. Their combined somber looks, and the sadness in Jed's face that his alpha was dead, hit her all at once. She paused before saying anything else.
"I'll get the elephant," Jed said, figuring she was going to complain that they were using her space for Raf. They weren't moving him, but he knew the elephant was important to her.
"I was gonna say… put it right next to him," she said instead. That elephant had gotten her through some of her worst days. It was a silly thought, but maybe Rafael could use it. "He needs it right now."
Jed nodded and found it. He put it next to Rafael. Maybe Alyssa did have a heart somewhere in there after all.
The boys all settled in seats around the wolf.
Landon sat in the one directly across, unable to take his eyes from him.
"What are we waiting for?" Landon asked softly. He hadn't been paying much attention to anything since he found Raf. It seemed like the other two were waiting for something to happen, but he didn't know what.
Jed pulled a vial out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Doctor Saltzman gave the student wolves this to take before the fight. He didn't go into much detail, but he said if we died in the battle but had taken this, we would come back to life as a hybrid with one catch—we'd have to change a hundred or so times to return to any semblance of normal. We wouldn't have complete control of our own minds until we did. Someone else could control us. Once we did, though, we'll always be able to control our change. Never change again if we didn't want to."
Landon stared from the vial to Rafael and back again. "So you mean there's a chance…"
Jed nodded. "If he took it, then he'll come back. If he does, the only way to keep living is to take another one of these."
"So…" Landon reached hesitantly toward the vial in Jed's hand.
"Take it," Jed handed it to him. "I never took mine."
"Why?" Landon had to ask in case Rafael had come to the same choice.
"My parents tried to control me my entire life even though they were barely ever there," he replied. "I didn't want to give anyone that power over me. And changing, it hurts. I can't go through that more than once a month."
MG's phone rang and he apologized, "Sorry. Mom knows the battle is over. She wants to help. I think."
They barely nodded at him, watching over Rafael together while MG spoke quietly.
He finally took the phone away from his ear and turned toward them.
"Mom's sending in a clean up crew with medics for the wounded and to help transport or dispose of bodies," MG said. "I've got to get back out there."
"I'm gonna help too," Jed said, rising from his seat. "Landon?"
"I'll just wait right here…" Landon stared at his brother, clutching the vial gently in his palm. "See if he wakes up."
Jed grasped Landon's shoulder again, unsure of how to respond. He knew there was a fifty/fifty chance.
"Thanks," Landon said softly.
"I'll be back to check in when this is all over," Jed said.
Landon nodded.
Finding himself alone, Landon rested the side of his head against the back of his seat and stared at Rafael.
For the longest time all he heard were the sounds of Dorian and Emma. A medic must have come on board because Emma was removed, transported to an emergency vehicle.
And he continued to wait.
"Landon…"
He looked up over the seat and saw his mother.
"Seylah?" he asked, surprised.
She looked from her son to his friend lying on the seat.
"I will sit with you," she said. She settled on the seat in front of Rafael so she had a good view of her son.
"How are you here?" he asked.
"That's a long story," she said. "Better suited for another time."
He nodded. He wasn't really up for storytelling time right now anyway.
So he waited with his mother for his brother to wake up.
He lost track of time. He didn't notice anything happening outside or around him. He didn't even notice when another woman joined his mother, or that woman's teenage son.
He tried to convince himself. Rafael had to know if he perished in the fight and Landon survived, that meant he would have to live without him. Rafael would never leave him, not if he could help it. It didn't matter what consequences awaited him at the bottom of the tiny vial. He wouldn't chance leaving him alone.
Right?
Right.
Landon saw it, the second something changed.
"Raf?" he stood up and approached, looking down for another change.
"Landon?" Seylah asked, worried about her boy. They were sitting with him while he came to terms with the loss of his best friend, weren't they?
He saw it again. His chest moved.
"Raf," he reached down and grasped at his arm. "Wake up."
"Landon," Seylah said gently. "He's gone."
He shook his head. "No he's not. He took it. He's not dead."
"Took what?" Seylah asked.
Landon shook his head because even he didn't know what was in the vial.
"Raf, wake up," he insisted again.
Rafael turned his head, wincing as the bone cracked back into place.
"Landon?" he mumbled.
"Jesus," Landon nearly fell over at the relief rushing through him. "Okay. Okay! You're alive. Take this." He shoved the vial in Raf's face. "You need to take this."
Rafael shook his head. "I'm not sure I want to. I just wanted to make sure I got to see you again."
"You're really going to leave me now?" Landon asked.
Rafael shook his head. "Nah, man. Just…give me a minute. We're good. Doctor Saltzman said I had a day to decide."
"Okay," Landon nodded.
Rafael reached out a hand and Landon grasped it, pulling him to sit up.
"How is this possible?" Seylah asked, looking back and forth between them.
"I've stopped asking that question," Ethan said. "This world is full of surprises."
"Hey, Ethan," Rafael nodded at him.
"Who are you?" Landon asked.
"Ethan," Ethan said. "Wolf, and apparently your cousin."
Landon raised an eyebrow.
"Glad to see you're alive," Mac said to her nephew. "You too," she said to the other boy though she had never met him.
"Thanks," Rafael said tiredly.
"Landon," Seylah said. "This is my sister, and the reason you found your way to me last year. She left behind the photo for you to find."
"Uh…hi?" Landon said awkwardly. "Nice to meet you?" How did he suddenly have more family than he knew what to do with?
"I guess this means he did it," Rafael said, looking at Landon. "Clarke destroyed Malivore."
"Clarke did it?" Landon asked.
"Him and the twins, yeah," Rafael nodded. "Ethan and MG helped."
"What about Hope?" Landon asked.
"I had to distract her," Rafael said. "Otherwise, she never would've let Clarke die in her place."
"Clarke isn't dead though," Landon said. That had been made abundantly clear by Hope jumping into his arms and holding his hand.
Rafael shook his head at the irony. "I guess nature found a loophole for him."
"So she did," Landon said.
Hope looked around.
Everything was nearly cleared up, save for the giant troll statues.
Exhaustion had taken its toll, but it was done.
Spending the afternoon doing everything she could to help, she met so many of the ones who had come to join her. Vincent had said she didn't need to make any speeches or announcements, but she could do that for them.
She knew whenever she returned to New Orleans from now on, it would mean something different for her. It wasn't just home. She would never refer to them as a kingdom like her father might, but these people were her people. She could never express to them how much this had meant to her.
In the world's biggest plot twist, Triad had come through too. The very government agency that had hunted them and tried to kill them was helping. She wasn't sure what kind of magic Clarke had wielded to make that feat possible, but he did it.
Clarke had managed to send all of the monsters back too.
Doctor Saltzman had also requested the return of another human who had disappeared over a month ago, Megan Brenner. Her sister was apparently frantic to find her even if she couldn't remember her.
Once the monsters were gone, Aunt Freya had cast the spell to return the memories. It was either that or everyone from New Orleans who had come to help wouldn't remember anything about the battle. Of course, it meant everyone passed out for a few minutes, but it had to be done.
Nearly everyone had left the area to return home or go to the hospital, save for the Salvatore students, her family, and a few others.
Now that she could breathe a little, she closed the door on the last car, bidding farewell to a group of witches she had just met.
She turned around and walked back to the center of activity.
She could see Josie and Lizzie together and she had the sudden urge to join them.
"Hope!" Josie called out, grinning at seeing her.
Hope walked faster; the overwhelming happiness of knowing it was truly over was swelling up.
"Josie!" she said with a happy grin before she hugged her friend.
"Isn't that sweet?" Lizzie said with a wide smile of her own.
"Get in here," Hope said, motioning with one hand.
"If you insist," Lizzie couldn't even fake disdain at this point. She wrapped her arms around Hope and Josie, resting her head on top of her sister's.
"We did it, didn't we," Lizzie said.
"You did it," Hope said. "I barely helped."
"No," Josie said, head smooshed against Hope's shoulder. "You guys did it!"
"I was right the first time," Lizzie argued. "We all did it. And we rocked!"
"Totally," Hope said.
MG came walking over, brandishing the golden arrow. "I found it! I'll get this to Landon later." He saw the girls then and perked up.
"Can I get in the hug pile?" MG asked.
"Why not?" Josie said.
"The more the merrier," Hope grinned.
MG reached around and did what he could to hug them all at once, grinning himself.
"I missed you guys," Josie said, gripping hold of Hope tighter. All of her anger was gone now. All it took was a hug and that smile on Hope's face at being glad to see her.
"We missed you too," Hope and Lizzie said at the same time, giggling softly.
"I love you guys," Josie said.
"We love you too," they said together, laughing harder now.
"Does that include me?" MG said.
"Oh, MG," Josie said, shaking her head.
"Can we go home now?" Lizzie said. "Or at least to a nice hotel room with the world's hottest shower?"
"Yeah," Hope laughed. "I'm sure that can be arranged."
Ethan looked around the bus.
After doing what they could to clean it up—and with help from some witches—it was looking better and they were preparing to leave in a little while.
Today had been eye opening to this whole new world he found himself a part of.
And he couldn't wait to learn more.
He would let his mom know as soon as they got home, but he was going to switch schools. Maya wouldn't be happy, but he had to do it.
There was so much he still had to learn about his abilities but also about himself and where he came from.
Hope had promised to tell him about the Crescents. He knew they had been there today, fighting alongside them. He saw many of them change into wolves to fight instead of hand-to-hand. He had to fight back his urge to join them. He knew now wasn't the time, that it was too dangerous.
Still, he wished he could've done more than hose down his cousin.
And yet, he had. He had been part of some kind of magical blood ritual that had destroyed a threat to the world.
Dennis' death really hadn't been in vain.
One of the witches had done a spell earlier and all of his memories had come flooding back when he woke after passing out. He remembered being on that roof with Dennis and Jed. He recalled the birds attacking and him accidentally knocking into Dennis causing him to fall. He had tried everything he could to prevent that death. Dennis' death had been an accident. He still felt horrible that he caused someone's death, but at least now he knew it had been an accident in every sense of the word.
"You should've seen it, Alyssa," Kaleb said. "There were these trolls and they just started banging on the barrier."
"You killed trolls?" Alyssa asked.
"Well, no," Kaleb said.
"Hope did," Jed interjected.
"But it was still cool to see," Kaleb said, interrupting Jed with a look.
"I'm just sayin," Jed held up his hands.
"What did you kill then?" Kaleb asked.
"I killed things," Jed said defensively.
"Not during the first half, you didn't," Kaleb said, raising his nose in the air.
"I was invisible and trying to jump into Malivore," Jed said. "I had a job to do."
"Well, my job was to watch Hope's back and I did, by keeping the monsters at bay," Kaleb argued.
"No," Jed said. "The barrier spell kept the monsters at bay. You just tried to make them back off."
"So I protected the barrier that protected Hope," Kaleb said. "Same thing."
"I say that it's not," Jed argued.
"Fool, you better watch yourself," Kaleb leaned toward Jed.
"Or what?" Jed met his threat and leaned toward him.
They glared at each other before they both laughed.
"It was a pretty epic battle though," Jed said.
"The best," Kaleb agreed.
Ethan watched the entire exchange, tilting his head. This wasn't the first argument he had witnessed between the two of them. Each argument was over the same girl but, curiously enough, they always spent more time focusing on each other during the arguments than on Alyssa. In fact, Alyssa looked pretty bored. But then, that was her general facial expression.
"Seylah!"
Ethan looked to the front and saw a tall and lanky guy, probably somewhere in his early twenties, had entered the bus. The guy's face lit up the instant he saw Ethan's aunt.
"Chad?" Seylah actually stood up in surprise.
"It's me!" Chad announed, grinning and heading straight for her.
If there was one thing he knew about his aunt, she wasn't very hands on. Hugs, pats, comforting, nope! She gave off an air of "don't touch". Whoever this guy was, he didn't seem to care about her unspoken rule, and she didn't seem to mind as she let him hug her.
"It was so terrible without you in there," Chad said, pulling away but speaking in his usual endless drivel. "But I made a friend and she helped me with my mission. Which was your mission. But you left. So Lizzie gave it to me. She's gone now. My friend, not Lizzie. Evelyn just wanted to go home and those super dapper government agents said they'd get her there. So she's gone. But I'm here!"
"I'm glad you made a friend, Chad," Seylah said. "Let me introduce you to my family."
"Sweet!"
"I guess that's it then," Lizzie said, looking around.
"Yep," Hope said. "My family wants to talk to me, and I think they'll be leaving too." Before that, though, she needed to find Ryan. She hadn't had a moment alone with him in a couple of hours. Now that things had died down, she had a few things she needed to say to him.
"So, Malivore's gone, but Clarke's alive and gets to rule his hell dimension," Lizzie said. "Rafael died but miraculously gets to live and become a hybrid. Looks like everyone gets a loophole except for me."
Lizzie sighed. "I wish I could shove all my problems into a black pit and let them disappear."
Hope grabbed her arm. "Oh my God, Lizzie."
"What?"
"I think… I have an idea…" Hope couldn't believe it. Was the solution really that simple? "I need to talk to Ryan first though…"
"Will I like this idea?"
"You'll positively live for it," Hope said.
"Then go find your man," Lizzie said.
Hope didn't need to be told twice.
The last time she saw him, he had been with some of the Triad agents.
"Ryan!" she said, seeing him from afar.
He said something to the person he was talking to, then immediately came over to meet her.
"Finally my turn?" he asked with a teasing smile. He knew she had a lot to take care of
"Be grateful I've been busy," she said, eyeing him with not a little attitude. "What the hell were you thinking? You could've died. You thought you were going to die. And you didn't say anything to me about it."
"You wouldn't have let me do it," he said simply.
"Darn right, I wouldn't have," she said. "Don't ever do that to me again. You're not supposed to be the hero. I am."
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" he said with disgust. "I'm not a hero. I only care about you. And you told me you were willing to die today. Well, so was I. For you. Because I don't want to live without you."
"Well, maybe I don't want to live without you either," she said. "Ever think about that!?"
He smirked.
"What?" she said. "What could you possibly be smiling about right now?"
"You love me," he said.
"Really?" she said. "You're just going to say it like that?"
"Not like you were in any rush to say it," he shrugged.
"So you're just going to take the words out of my mouth?" she asked.
"You could always take them back," he suggested.
"Ryan," she said with a glare.
"Yes?" he smiled impishly.
"You're so lucky I love you," she said.
"I know," he said, reaching for her.
She couldn't stand back a second longer. She put her arms up around his neck and tugged him down, standing on tiptoe to meet his descending mouth.
He placed his hands at her hips, holding her gently, while she pulled her arms down enough for her fingers to splay against the back of his neck, keeping him firmly in place while she kissed him.
She finally pulled back and met his eyes.
"I love you," she whispered.
He smiled at her, glad she had finally officially said it. He couldn't believe how well everything was falling into place. He had so much to tell her. Not the least of which is what he had just found out.
"I have to go take care of a few more things with Triad," he said, not wanting to let her go just yet, but knowing he had to. "Say goodbye to your family."
"What's going on with Triad?" she asked. "You're not going to work for them again are you?"
"No…" he said. "This goes the way I want, I think they're going to be working for me."
"What?"
"I'll tell you about it later," he said.
"Good, because I need to ask you something else," she said. "The merge."
"What about it?"
"Malivore, he could open as many portals as he wanted, as big as he wanted, right?" she asked. "So you can do that too, right?"
"In theory," he nodded. He would need to practice.
"And, in theory, you could just leave a portal open forever if you wanted to," she said. "Right?"
He nodded. "In theory."
"If we can figure out where the dimensional portal is between earth and that other world, the one the Gemini left behind, could you open a portal big enough to cover that portal?" she asked. "So any creature that makes its way through would end up in the pit instead of on earth?"
Blinking, he understood exactly what she was saying. "In theory…"
"So, there's a chance the world won't need the Gemini seal anymore? We could destroy it and the twins won't have to merge?" she asked.
"The twin bond is still tied to the seal," he said. "You'd have to dissolve that link."
"With a coven of witches strong enough, like the New Orleans witches maybe?" she asked hopefully.
"In theory, yes," he said. "Though there's no telling what will happen if you do it. The twins already have symptoms from the black magic tied into the bond."
"But what if we could figure it all out?" she asked. "Would you do it?"
For Josie? No. He didn't care.
But for Lizzie? The only reason he was alive, the only reason he had finally been able to meet his mother? The pain-in-his-ass blonde that had damn well better stay away from his room that night?
Yes. He would do it.
"Yes."
She lit up and jumped up to kiss him again. "You're the best!"
"Can I go have this meeting now?" he asked. "I want to get it over with so we can leave."
"One more thing…" she said, her joy fading. Her face showed the seriousness of her next words. "I have to talk to him."
"Who?"
"Landon," she said.
His gaze grew cautious. His silence his only reply.
"I'm with you," she said, raising her hand and caressing the backs of her middle and forefinger down the side of his face like always. "I love you. I only want to be with you. He needs to know that."
"You don't need my permission to do anything," he finally said. He knew she loved him. He knew she was meant for him. But she had loved him—his brother—first. That was the part that didn't sit well with him. He would have to learn to live with it.
"I know I don't," she said. "I'm not asking for it. I know it matters to you though, so I'm letting you know what I'm going to do before I do it, and reassuring you that everything will be okay."
She was showing him that she respected him and his feelings. He couldn't ask for more than that.
"Have your meeting," he said hoarsely. "And I'll have mine."
"Aunt Freya arranged for us to have the car a little longer, so I'll meet you there?" she said.
"Sounds like a plan."
As luck would have it, Landon was standing outside of the bus with Rafael, making it easier for Hope to approach him without everyone staring at them.
"Landon," she called, coming to a stop.
He looked up, "Hope."
"Can I talk to you?" she asked.
He awkwardly stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I'm hanging with Raf right now, letting him get some fresh air."
"Raf, I really need to talk to Landon," she said. "Can you go inside please?" She wanted to get this over with, there would be no excuses.
Rafael immediately nodded, "Okay." He turned and walked away without another word to Landon.
"Hey!" Landon called out, surprised that Raf didn't even look at him before he left. He knew Landon wasn't looking forward to talking to Hope.
Hope winced. "He decided to take the other vial then." Darn it, she hadn't meant to tell him what to do. She would need to get better at that.
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "He'll live."
"Good," she nodded. She didn't wish for Rafael to go through what would be needed if he wanted to destroy the sire bond between them, but she was glad he was alive. He didn't know yet that she was the one who controlled the bond. Doctor Saltzman had mentioned to her that he hadn't given her away. She needed to talk to Raf too, but there was time for that.
"So…" she said. "We need to talk."
"Um…" he put his arms behind his back, clasping his hands and stretching. "I went into the woods and never really came back out. But if I had, we were supposed to talk things over then…"
"Well, we're talking them over now," she said.
"But are we?" he asked. "I mean, obviously things have changed. Whereas before you insisted that dream meant nothing, I just woke up to the complete opposite."
Hope nodded. "You did."
"I mean, I asked him to save you," he said. "I wasn't giving him permission for anything else."
"Permission wasn't yours to give," she said. "You broke up with me."
"I said I thought we should take a break," he corrected her. "I never broke up with you."
She shook her head, "Landon. That's the same thing."
He looked down. "You love me. You told me that. You promised me that."
"I do love you," she said. "I never lied about that. Some part of me will probably always love you, but only as a friend. I'm not in love with you."
"You're seriously telling me you're in love with him?" he said, flabbergasted and maybe even a little outraged.
"Yes," she said.
"He's…he's… you know what he tried to do to me," the words burst out in disbelief. "What he tried to do to you. He tried to help our father. He's my brother for crying out loud. If you had to be with someone else, did it really have to be him?"
"Landon, I don't need to explain anything to you," she said. "I'm not here to argue with you either. I'm here to give us the official ending we never got."
He scoffed to cover the pain he was feeling.
"I know its cliché, but I really do hope we can still be friends," she said.
"I was right though," he said, shaking his head. "I said if you got him his body back, he'd make us regret it. And he did, at least to me."
Hope sighed, "Goodbye, Landon. I'll see you at school."
"Right," he kicked at an imaginary rock as she left.
He turned away. He couldn't watch her walk away from him.
He knew they had their issues, he knew that he had struggled to trust her. But he always thought they would get past it all eventually.
He was wrong.
Trying to keep his mind off of Hope's current destination, Clarke went to meet with Veronica.
Contacting Triad to clear the humans from the area had turned out to be a stroke of genius on his part, if he did say so himself.
Not only had he made Hope happy by protecting civilians, he provided a means to clean up the aftermath of everything. Triad had sewn up and medicated the wounded, and they would arrange for bodies to be returned to families. They had even arranged for clean up of the dead monsters from the pit.
The only thing Veronica had wanted in exchange for all of that extra was a chance to meet with him. To sit with him. To make a deal.
He wasn't a fool. He knew exactly what was going on.
Yesterday he only asked for the area to be clear—and for a ten thousand gallon water tank so he could thoroughly soak his brother whenever he tried to fly away.
But yesterday he didn't have control of the Malivore pit.
He knew she must have been observing somehow. He didn't get that phone call until after he learned to open the pit.
For hundreds of years, that was how Triad functioned. They hunted down the monsters and tossed them into the pit. Without a pit, their entire operation had run defunct.
He knew exactly what Veronica wanted.
And he knew what he wanted too.
"Ryan," Veronica said, coming to join him at the makeshift table her people had set up. "Good to see you again."
It had always bothered him when she called him that. He always felt like she wasn't respecting his rank. Of course, he had been much higher than her in ranking before he went into the pit the first time.
"Skip the pleasantries," he said. "What do you want?"
"Surely you can appreciate everything we've done here today," she said.
Was she really expecting him to thank her? "It's your job, isn't it?" he asked. "Clean up crew."
"Yes," she nodded. "Thank you for the head's up. Knowing of impending attacks is helpful in keeping these things contained, as you well know."
He tilted his head. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, so why don't I spell it out for you. You don't have a pit anymore. And you want one." Everyone wanted a portal today, it seemed.
Veronica hesitantly nodded, as if she was reluctant to give anything away.
"What's your offer?" he asked.
"Honestly," she begrudgingly spoke. "I've been instructed to offer anything you want."
"Really," he had to laugh. "That's some offer."
"What do you want, Ryan?" she asked.
"I want Triad," he replied.
She breathed out, the only hint of emotion she gave. "And by that you mean…"
"I want to be in charge," he said. "Run things. I want all of you," he enunciated to make sure she knew he was including her specifically, "to work for me. Instead of being a government organization, it'll be mine. And the government can contract us to help with those things that go bump in the night."
"Is that all?" she said, looking a little strained.
"If anyone tosses someone in the pit that doesn't belong, I will know," he said. "And there will be consequences. Monsters aren't whoever you or the government don't like. In fact, they aren't all monsters at all."
"What do you mean…" she asked.
"Not all creatures are evil," he said. "Round up the ones who are. Not the ones who aren't." In fact, he intended to go through the creatures already in the pit to determine who was supposed to be there and who wasn't.
"I see," she said.
"Are those terms acceptable?" he asked.
"There was only one request they made that they won't be swayed on," she said.
"And that is?"
"Whatever spell is being used to return the memories of those tossed in the pit," she said. "They don't want that used ever again."
He leaned back, suddenly glad he had the conversation he had with a certain former operative earlier.
Seylah hadn't been pleased to wake up and find the entire field crawling with Triad agents. When she found out he was responsible for it, she hunted him down. She was worried they would take her in. She went as far as demanding he open a portal for her to jump into just so they would forget about her again, and then let her back out. She mentioned she would just try to hunt down another serum for her sister.
Which, of course, led to him making an interesting new discovery. He always knew Triad used scientists to research the material in the pit. He knew they had been working to alter it so it would contain all supernaturals. He didn't know they figured out a way to return the memories though.
"I happen to know you had a team of scientists who once discovered a serum that could be used to return the memories," he said. "I'll make sure the spell is never used again if a supply of the serum is readily available. Just in case, you understand."
"Your terms are…acceptable," she finally agreed.
"Excellent," he reached out to shake her hand. "I'll need the weekend. I'll contact you on Monday to get started."
She shook his hand but looked decidedly pale the entire time.
"You're absolutely correct, by the way," he said while standing. "It was good to see you again."
"Whew, what a day!" Jade said, settling into the car.
Josie flopped back on the seat next to her, grinning, "That it was! I'm so glad it's over!"
"And I'm really glad Hope's aunt arranged a car for her and she's letting us tag along," Jade said.
Josie had to smile at that. Hope had insisted both Josie and Lizzie travel with her since the bus was such a mess. MG coming along was a given, but Josie has specifically asked about Jade. Hope had agreed with a knowing look.
"It is just the car ride though," Josie said. "Dad plans to stop at the same hotel we're going to. Everyone is exhausted."
"How is he footin' the bill for that along with the one back home?" Jade asked, surprised. "It can't be cheap doing that."
"Insurance is covering a lot back home," Josie explained. "Plus, I think the community raised some funds too. Besides, Dad only had to get a two room suite for him and the boys, and one room for the girls. The Sheriff is getting a room for her family."
"So that means…"
"Yeah, we're sharing a room with Lizzie and Alyssa," Josie said, wincing.
Jade turned to her quickly, grasping her wrist. "Please don't make me sleep next to Alyssa Chang."
"I won't," Josie reassured her. "Lizzie will just have to deal with that. You can sleep with me."
"Cool," Jade said.
Josie smiled at her. "You don't hog the covers do you?"
"Guess you'll just have to find out," Jade said.
"Looking forward to it," Josie said.
Jade glanced at her. "I do like you a lot, but I'm not sure I'm the right person for you."
"Don't I have any say in that?" Josie asked. "Isn't that the point of dating? Getting to know each other?"
"Jos…"
"We can just give it a try?" Josie suggested. "If it turns out we're completely incompatible, we'll call it quits and just be friends again."
"You really think it's that easy?" Jade asked.
"I do," Josie said, shifting closer. "But I know the best way to determine compatibility right off the bat." Her eyes drifted down to Jade's lips.
"You do, do you?" Jade said, shaking her head at Josie's transparency. "Okay, let's do this then. Instant compatibility meter."
She leaned in close to Josie too, closing her eyes as she met her lips with her own. Not bad.
Josie really hoped Jade was enjoying this as much as she was, because she was pretty certain the compatibility meter was off the charts.
"Ewww," Lizzie said when she pulled the door open to climb into the car. "Save that for some time that's away from me."
Josie and Jade pulled apart quickly but didn't turn to Lizzie. They only smiled softly at each other.
Jade conceded defeat.
She really liked Josie.
"Your father would've been proud," Marcel said into Hope's ear, hugging her tightly.
"And so would your mother," Rebekah said, waiting impatiently for her chance to hug her too. "You got the best of both worlds from them."
"Thank you," Hope pulled away from Marcel and hugged Rebekah. "I'm so glad you were here for this with me."
"We wouldn't have missed it for the world," Kol said, waiting for his turn. "Don't be afraid to call should any more trouble arise."
"I won't," she laughed as she reached for her uncle.
"And come to visit us next summer," Davina said. "Beaches, palm trees, and the ocean—San Francisco is quite the vacation destination."
"After our trip to Milan," Rebekah was sure to correct her sister-in-law.
Shaking her head, Hope hugged Davina next, "We'll plan it all out, I swear."
"As in we, I can only assume you plan to bring a guest along?" Davina asked with a knowing look.
"Maybe…" Hope blushed.
"I, for one, just hope to see you all again for Christmas," Freya said.
"I'll be there," Hope promised, hugging Aunt Freya last. "I can't wait to spend winter break in New Orleans. I made a lot of friends today."
"You did more than that," Marcel said. "You earned their respect. Even with the wolves, while they all had that vision, they had never met you. Most of them did today, just like the vampires and the witches. They saw your power, and then they saw your heart. They fear you, but they also respect you. I have no doubt many would answer the call if you were to need them again."
"Let's hope that never happens," Hope said quickly.
"We should be going, unfortunately," Kol said. "The day wears on and we've a flight to catch."
Hope nodded. Only Freya needed to return to New Orleans, the rest would be heading to San Francisco or New York City. They had booked late flights when the fighting was over and needed to catch their ride to the closest airport.
"I love you all," Hope looked around.
"As do we love you," Rebekah said, running her hand gently through her niece's hair. "Always and forever."
"Always and forever," they all responded.
"I'll check-in," Clarke murmured to Hope.
Nodding, she turned back to Lizzie while he moved to the front desk.
"Dad already checked us in when he got here earlier," Lizzie said.
Doctor Saltzman had left before Clarke returned to the car, so everyone else had long since arrived and had presumably begun to settle in for the night.
"I guess you better go then," Hope said. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah, right," Lizzie said with a look of disgust. "Did you see Jade and Josie all over each other? They are totally going to share one queen bed, which means I'll have to share the other one with," she gagged a little, "Alyssa."
Hope stepped in front of Lizzie and grabbed her arms tightly.
"Lizzie. I love you like a sister. But I swear by all that is holy and sacred in this world, if you go anywhere near my room tonight, I will kill you."
"Chill," Lizzie said, pulling away. "I already got the memo."
"Good!" Hope said.
"Besides, I don't know the room number," she said.
"When has that stopped you before?" Hope grumbled.
"True," Lizzie nodded.
Ahead, Clarke motioned for Hope that it was time to go.
"That's my cue," Hope said.
"By the way," Lizzie called out. "I've changed my mind!"
"About what?" Hope called out, turning around, walking backwards to Ryan.
"I'm Team Clarke," Lizzie said.
"About time," Hope rolled her eyes and turned to grab his hand.
"I asked for a room far away from all of them," Clarke said.
"I made sure we won't be disturbed," she said.
"Better put a spell up just in case," Clarke said.
"Definitely."
"I need to shower," she said after he let her into the room.
Everything was so familiar. It seemed like they had done this a hundred times before. He checked them into a hotel room, and she went to shower.
Except this time, they both knew what was to follow was very different than usual.
"Go ahead," he said. "I need one too."
War was dirty.
As she went to the bathroom, he went through his travel bag.
Finding the foil packets he packed in case he found himself alive that evening, he stared down at them in the palm of his hand.
Kol had given him condoms to prevent some kind of miracle baby.
At the time, Clarke had thought he was insane. But now, he really wasn't sure of anything anymore.
His mother had said the darkness he was shrouded in had consequences.
What if one of those consequences was his inability to father a child?
If his mother was earth, the creator of life itself, why then wouldn't he be able to create life?
There were too many questions with too few answers.
Tonight wasn't the night to try to answer them though.
Tonight was about them, consummating their love finally.
As much as he would love to be skin to skin with her, he wouldn't do it without telling her there was a chance. But, to do that, he would have to go into the entire story.
He wanted to tell her everything.
But not tonight.
So, tonight he would protect her, just as her uncle demanded. Just as he had sworn to himself he always would.
He placed the foil packets down on the night stand next to the bed.
He requested a room with one bed this time. King size. Plenty of room.
She came into the room and he had to smile.
"You found it," he said, seeing his shirt on her. He noticed she wasn't wearing any shorts. He wondered if she was wearing anything at all under it.
"Before we left," she smirked. "You were right, Aunt Freya did wash it."
"I'll be right back."
He showered in about five minutes flat. He was too impatient to drag it out anymore than that.
He returned to the room wearing only a pair of loose black pants and went around to his usual side of the bed, climbing in next to her.
"Hey," he said softly, looking over at her.
"Hey," she said, grinning.
"May I?" he asked, reaching toward her.
"Yes, please," she said, reaching for him too.
His mouth found hers and he pressed her down against the bed, moving his legs over hers. She parted them and he easily settled between her thighs.
He began to slowly undo the buttons on the shirt. He kissed his way down to her neck, then kept going but paused after each button was released to kiss and lick at her skin.
Gasping, she grasped at his head, needing to touch him as he kept going. When the shirt spilled open at the top, his lips surrounded her left nipple and he sucked gently. She arched up, crying out when he increased the pressure. He kissed his way over to the other side, and did it again, grinning to himself when she cried out again. She really liked that.
Finally, when she was shifting restlessly, he continued his descent, knowing she loved when he paid attention to her stomach. It was her first kink he ever learned from that initial sex dream. All he had to do was kiss slowly back and forth across her stomach, pausing to lick and bite at the skin, and she was crying out again, making those sounds he loved.
She reached down and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back up. He didn't need to wonder at her intent for long, as she immediately pushed to roll them over. She straddled him and ran her hands up his chest.
He lay back as she explored. He expected this. She needed to take a bit of control. She needed to feel comfortable, and that came from control.
She leaned down and kissed at his stomach too. He flexed involuntarily, groaning. Then she kissed her way up, her fingers found his nipples, and then her mouth did too. He shifted, bucking up against her as she gave him back exactly what he had given to her. Her hips undulated against him as she rubbed herself against him through their clothes.
When she reached down for his waistband, he couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her up this time and rolled them over again.
He reached down for her thigh and slid his hand up the bare skin, under the shirt. She was wearing panties he found. He continued moving up to find the top edge and met her eyes as he tugged them down. She lifted up, making it easier for him as he shifted off of her and slid them down. She bent her knees toward her, and he looped them off, tossing them far away.
Putting her legs back down, the shirt had slid up enough that she was bared below completely to his gaze.
She flushed slightly, so he moved to kiss her again, shifting on top of her once more. He settled between her thighs again, this time rubbing his still clothed hardness against her.
"You're incredible," he whispered. "Perfect." He wanted her to focus on the pleasure and nothing else, no reason to feel any embarrassment or shyness for what they were doing to make her blush.
She moaned, arching up against his movement. Her eyes were dazed and pleasure filled. He helped her remove the shirt completely.
Then he pulled back, reached down, and pushed at his own pants. He had to move to his knees between her thighs to get them completely off, but he did it as smoothly as he could.
During that, she eyed his manhood with curiosity and a little fear, but mostly desire which was what he was aiming for.
Lying back down on top of her, he kissed her again while reaching down to slide his fingers against her and into her.
She gasped into his mouth, spreading her legs even further.
Heat greeted his fingers as he sought out the nub inside. The heat told him she was ready, but he wanted to make absolutely sure so he pressed his thumb against it. He nearly lost control himself when she gasped and jerked her hips up. She was hot, wet, and completely ready for him. He was so hard.
He reached for the night stand and grabbed one of the foil packets, tearing it open as quickly as possible and wasting no time in rolling it on.
He shifted and lined himself up against her, but looked up once more to ask permission before he took her.
She nodded; her face a mess of desire that showed him exactly how much she needed him now.
Keeping eye contact, he surged forward slowly, pushing himself inside of her, pressing forward until he couldn't go anymore.
Hope stared up at him, at a loss for the moment. He was actually inside of her. It was so strange, so big, but it didn't hurt. She shifted, feeling the restlessness return. She needed more. She wanted more.
When she started shifting beneath him, he knew she was ready for what came next. Taking a breath, he pulled back slightly and thrust forward again.
Her eyes widened and she moaned. And then he did it again, and again until she was arching desperately to meet every thrust, their eyes never leaving each others.
As the pleasure mounted, she got even more vocal. Moaning and crying out each time he slid home inside of her. She clutched at him and murmured, "I need…"
"Yes?" he asked softly.
"I need…" She didn't even know. All she knew was, she was quickly loosing control. "Roll over…"
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Yeah," she nodded, clutching at his shoulders.
He gripped her hips tightly and pushed firmly inside of her as he rolled onto his back, not at all surprised she would seek out control again when she was so close to losing hers.
He managed to stay inside of her while he moved, only because he pulled her against him so firmly.
She rose above him, straddling him, and quickly readjusted. She shifted her hips, experimenting for a moment, finding an angle she liked, and then she was off.
He held his hands at her hips, guiding her as she moved up and down above him, pressing his own hips up even as each down movement saw their pelvises connect. All the while, she kept moaning.
"Ryan…"
"Uh huh," he groaned out, biting his lip as he held himself back. Watching her above him was turning him on too much, his control was in jeopardy.
"It feels so good…" she murmured, leaning down and planting her hands down on either side of him.
"I know…" he breathed out.
He felt the change in her movements, felt them become more frantic, and knew she was almost there.
For all her bravado though, as the pleasure swelled and she was about to completely lose control, she looked down at him, her eyes big, almost frightened and unsure, she said, "Ryan?" in a small voice.
"That's it," he encouraged her. "You're almost there. Just let go. I've got you."
When she finally let go, her orgasm was amazing to behold.
It was the first time she broke eye contact by tossing her head back and letting out a wild, loud moan that was nearly a scream.
She tightened around him and with two more upward thrusts, he lost control too. The pleasure was nearly his undoing. He had never felt the way he did with her. It was indescribable. It was perfect. It was earth shattering.
She fell forward on top of him, her face finding his neck, still connected to him.
Their hips moved gently together, trying to soak up any last bit of pleasure before finally stilling.
He reached over, trying to find his breath, to grab a tissue off the night stand. He rolled her over and removed the protection before it became ineffective and disposed of it.
He turned back to her, and pulled her against him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked softly.
"What?"
"How good it would be?" she said.
"You didn't ask," he smirked, then kissed the top of her head.
"I love you," she murmured against his chest.
"I love you," he murmured back.
She fell asleep against him, and then he followed her into sleep as well.
He didn't think he would ever pass a night without sleeping again.
"It's time."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Klaus," Hayley said. "She's alive, she's happy, she's in love. She's at peace."
"But what if it doesn't last?" Klaus asked.
"All relationships have their ups and downs," Hayley said. "Nothing is ever going to be perfect. Our little girl is going to be okay though. It's time to let her live her life, time for you to find peace."
Klaus hesitated.
Hayley rose and clasped his shoulder, "You know it's time."
He nodded and stood too.
"Come on," she said. "Elijah is waiting."
Klaus looked up then, seeing the brother that meant the world to him.
"Niklaus," Elijah said with a gentle smile.
Klaus walked forward and hugged him fiercely.
"Hello, Brother."
Stay tuned for the Epilogue.