Author's Note: Another extra scene, this time from after 3x02. I wonder if these will start to become a tradition? Probably not, but I bet I do a few more.

Unbreakable

Slamming the door shut behind her with enough force that she heard the wood crack Hope strode into her room. Turning she winced as she saw the crack running up one side of it, before nearly jumping out her skin as she heard someone speak to her. "Rough night?"

"Lizzie!" Hope half-yelled, spinning around with her eyes wide in surprise to see the blonde sitting over by the window. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed her when she first entered, it wasn't like she was trying to hide. "What are you doing here?"

"I was downstairs when I saw the hobbit slink in. Didn't take much to guess that you two must have fought," Lizzie answered, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "It's too bad that we can't just throw him into Mt. Doom anymore."

Hope just stared at her for a moment, before deciding to just go with it. Sighing she walked over to her bed, letting herself fall onto it. Pulling a pillow to her she fought the urge to scream into it, not exactly trusting herself to keep control over her magic if she did.

"Want to talk about it?" Lizzie asked, moving from the window to sit on what had been Alyssa's bed. Idly she wondered if they would try to give Hope another roommate now that Alyssa was actually dead or just let her go back to having the room to herself. Probably the latter, there had to be some perks for always being the hero.

"Not much to talk about," Hope muttered out, not needing to actually look over at Lizzie to know the skeptical look she'd be giving her.

"Ugh, you two better not have broken up already," Lizzie said, getting Hope to lift her head from the pillow and look at her curiously. "Oh believe me, I wish you would send the hobbit back to the Shire but breaking up so soon after nearly dying over each other would just be sad."

"We didn't break up. At least I think not," Hope said, turning her head so she could at least face Lizzie as she let it fall back onto the pillow. "We just had a fight... Well, more like Landon decided to pick a fight."

"So, what happened?" Lizzie asked, pressing Hope once more.

"He's just... insecure I guess, over losing his phoenix powers. It's like he thinks that's the only thing that makes him worth anything," Hope said, a sad look in her eyes. She just wanted the people she loved to be safe, was that too much to ask?

'Well it kinda is,' Lizzie thought, although for once she didn't immediately say so. She was trying to be supportive here. "Well if all he wants is to be supernatural then he can always get one of the vampires to turn him. Or you could do it yourself I guess."

"Don't go giving him any ideas," Hope said, giving Lizzie a slight glare. She didn't want Landon killing himself to try and fit in. And there was a chance it wouldn't work, he was a phoenix, even if he had lost his abilities. It might not be possible to turn him, just as it hadn't been possible with Raf. In Rafael's case that had been because he was effectively in a transition stage between life and death after the Necromancer had cut his control. There was no way to tell that something similar wouldn't be true with Landon as well.

"He thinks that the only way we can be together is if he's 'unbreakable'," Hope said, a flash of rage coursing through her as she remembered what he said. Did he really think that was the answer? That there was some power limit to be with her?

"Damn, you're that rough?" Lizzie said, smirking as she saw realization slowly dawn on Hope's face.

"Lizzie!" Hope yelled, a smile coming to her face even as she blushed. "I'm not- I mean we haven't even... shut up."

"That's better. There's only so much brooding I can take," Lizzie said, finally getting off the window sill and moving over to sit on what had been Alyssa's bed. "Hey so since Alyssa's dead, do you want a new roommate? Josie has been talking about us getting separate rooms for forever."

"Lizzie! We don't even know for sure she's dead," Hope retorted, shaking her head at how cavalier Lizzie was being.

"Whatever. She set me on fire once. I'm not going to feel sorry for her," Lizzie said, feigning indifference. She wasn't as callous as she sounded but it was easier to pretend to be than face the reality that Alyssa really had died. Especially when it was because of Josie. "And please, be honest, you don't care that's she dead either."

Hope wanted to refute what Lizzie said, even opened her mouth to do so, but she stopped herself. Lizzie was right, she didn't care that Alyssa was dead. If she was being honest her first thought upon Alaric telling her the news was that she got her room back. "Well if we're being honest... part of me thinks Landon is right."

"Everyone around me dies," Hope continued, not giving Lizzie time to interject. "And simply being supernatural isn't enough. I couldn't count how many witches, vampires, and werewolves have died because of me. Hell, I've killed dozens of vampires myself. My mom was a hybrid, Elijah an Original, and my dad was both. And it didn't matter in the end. Landon being a phoenix gave me a small shred of hope that he would actually be able to survive."

As much as she hated to admit it, Landon had a point. She was still angry with him, angry at the way he had accused her of something she hadn't done. But she couldn't deny that there was truth to his concerns. It was why she hadn't tried to argue harder against what he was saying.

"So what about me then?" Lizzie said, getting Hope to look up at her in confusion. "You said everyone around you dies, so what about me? And Josie? We've known you since we were six, still not dead. Dammit Hope, you're the reason either of us are still alive. How many times have you saved us?"

"That's... that's different," Hope said, looking away from Lizzie's gaze.

"Really, how so? Because me and Josie came with an expiration date already stamped on us?" Lizzie pressed, refusing to let Hope avoid this. She wasn't going to let her blame herself for Landon being a moron. It didn't matter if there was some truth to what he had said, going at Hope and blaming her for it after everything she'd done today was way across the line.

"Hope, it's not your job to save everyone," Lizzie said softly, getting up from Alyssa's bed and moving over to sit next to the tribrid. "I mean, you are awesome at it. And we count on you way more than we should but it's not your job. We can do some of it ourselves."

"I know," Hope said, giving Lizzie what she hoped was a reassuring smile. There was some truth to what Lizzie was saying, as the twins and the rest of super squad had ways to defend themselves. But Landon didn't anymore.

That was what kept eating at her, for as much as she was pissed at Landon for the way he had dumped it on her he was right. He was human now, and all to easily killed. She would have to be on watch constantly to keep him safe, and it still might not matter in the end. It was the same problem as when he had first started at the school, and it wasn't like the danger lessened outside of it. She didn't even know how many enemies her family had left that would like to kill her, how many factions might try simply because they feared what a tribrid could do.

So even as she smiled and did her best to convince Lizzie that everything was okay she couldn't help the knot of dread that settled at the bottom of her stomach. Landon had been right, the most reassuring thing about him was the fact that he couldn't actually die. Now that it had been taken away she couldn't help but feel that everything about their relationship had shifted. And no matter how much she loved him or tried to deny it that wouldn't change. Before they had been unbreakable, now there was weak-point that she couldn't help but fear would shatter them.


Author's Note: When I had the idea and started writing this right after seeing the ep I had a slightly different idea in mind. Then as I was writing I realized that Landon did have a point. He was still an ass about it but he wasn't necessarily wrong. So I tried to reflect that. Not entirely happy with what I ended up with but I think it works and is a decent view on Hope's mind. She was oddly calm in that scene on the pier, so it's hard to get a gauge on how she really feels. Anyways, usual stuff, review, favorite, check out my other stories. One of my favorite things is waking up to see a dozen favorites/reviews from the same user going through everything I've written.