So I have yet to actually watch Legacies in it's entirety - I can't get it in the UK, so I'm relying on YouTube clips, which is one of the reasons why I'm only borrowing elements for this. Therefore, some characters from Legacies may be OOC. Also, Hope will be different - not completely different - she is still her father's daughter after all - but she has a different mother and - crucially - she grew up with her family as the 'Princess' of New Orleans, not in hiding, or separated from her family because of the Hollow.
A few moments later, Hope stood surrounded by smoke and bodies, her chest heaving. Her knees buckled and strong arms caught her before she hit the floor.
"Whoa, are you okay?"
"They gave me wolfsbane," Hope said, her voice slurring a little. "I'm a bit woozy."
"Well, you also just took out most of the people in here," Roman said. "Self-rescuing princess."
"Damn right," Hope said. "You had me worried for a second there."
Roman managed a small smile. "I wasn't ever going to hurt you."
Hope laughed shakily. "Well, I know that - you just killed your mother and your sister."
"I snapped their necks," Roman said. "Not dead yet."
"Well, once Dad gets here they will be," Hope told him.
Roman shrugged. "They deserve it, Hope. Your family are waiting at the edge of the boundary spell - although I did kill the only witch in the building, so I assume it's now down."
Hope nodded. "You'll need to carry me out."
"Are you sure?" Roman asked. "I can help you walk. Your parents are already worried and I'm fairly sure most of New Orleans followed us; it's not going to do your street cred any good."
"They still see me as a kid," Hope said. "Besides, it'll do wonders for your life expectancy. Dad's probably on the edge already. Make it look good and he should settle. Also I don't think my legs are going to work."
"Okay, hang on." Roman's arm shifted around her waist and he lifted her into his arms. "Okay?"
Hope wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm okay. Thank you for coming for me."
"Just stay awake for me," Roman murmured. "I think you're still going to have to talk me out of an early grave."
"Mom'll protect you," Hope mumbled.
As they left the house, her family had just reached the door.
"Oh, thank God!" Caroline breathed, reaching out to touch her face. "Hope, sweetie, are you okay?"
"'M fine," Hope murmured. "He saved me."
"She saved herself," Roman said. "Fairly sure everyone's dead, but I left my mother and sister for you to deal with," he added to Klaus.
Klaus gave him a very dangerous smile. "Good lad."
"Did she kill anyone?" Caroline asked, as her in-laws made their way into the building. "I saw the magic explode."
"Only vampires," Roman said. "I made sure I took the witch out so she didn't have to."
Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Are you alright?"
Roman gave her a weak smile. "I will be."
Returning to school was thankfully not as painful as Hope had expected - her disappearance had been glossed over, so only Penelope, Josie, Roman and Alaric knew exactly what had happened.
The only downside was the mandatory counselling.
It had been two long weeks of daily sessions, and quite frankly she'd have taken the kidnapping all over again if she had a choice between the two.
There was a tap at her window and she jumped, just managing to keep a streak of paint ending up where it shouldn't.
"Hope?"
"Roman?" Hope hurried over to the window, pulling it open. "What are you doing on the balcony?"
"Well, you weren't answering the door," Roman said in a low voice. "I was worried."
"There's a spell on it," Hope admitted. "I just … I needed a bit of quiet time. Dr Saltzman knows about it - it doesn't work on him, so he can still reach me in an emergency."
"An emergency that he needs to protect you from, or one you need to protect him from?" Roman asked.
Hope couldn't help laughing. "Both. What did you need?"
"Nothing really," Roman said, pulling the window close behind him. "I was worried - I haven't seen you all day. And you missed classes - which you've never done in all the time I've been here."
"Yeah, well, I had my last counselling appointment this morning," Hope muttered.
Roman grimaced. "Yeah, my last one was yesterday. I don't blame you for having no energy left after that. I brought you the class notes - Josie gave me the ones for spell labs."
"Thanks," Hope said quietly, taking them.
"You paint?" Roman asked, wandering over to the easel.
"Since I was young," Hope answered, sitting down on the end of her bed. "Dad taught me."
"You're very good," Roman said. "I guess I should …"
"Do you think I'm a monster?" Hope asked suddenly.
Roman faltered. "Wha - No! Where did that come from?"
"I'm tired," Hope said quietly. "Mom told me everything I needed to know about my family history last summer, and it sucked. And I know there's even more I don't know and … I can't keep pretending it doesn't bother me."
Roman sat down beside her. "This sounds like something to talk to Miss Tig about."
Hope laughed humourlessly. "Sorry, have you met her? She stops just short of telling me my family are monsters and I should be ashamed of them."
"Have you told Dr S?" Roman asked.
Hope shook her head. "She never actually says that. I could just be projecting."
"I'll be honest, I got a weird vibe from her," Roman said. "She might just be a bitch. Or a crappy counsellor, one of the two."
"I'm hoping for the latter," Hope said. "I'd rather think the best of people until I'm proved wrong." She sighed. "I'm afraid I'm a psychopath."
Roman choked back a laugh. "Sorry, you did just hear yourself, right? The first two sentences completely invalidated the third."
"Well, it's clearly hereditary," Hope said, standing up. "What if there's something lingering under the surface, just waiting for me to snap?"
"I'm fairly sure anyone can snap if you push them far enough," Roman said. "I'm also fairly sure that if you're afraid of being a psychopath you're almost certainly not one."
Hope gazed out of the window. "I'm a freak miracle baby. I shouldn't even exist."
"Hey."
There were footsteps behind her and his hand settled on her shoulder.
"Miracle, maybe, but there are at least three other students who fit that description," Roman said. "Your cousin, for one. And weren't the Salvatore girls born to vampires as well?"
"Henrik's mother is still human," Hope said, "and the spell was an accident. And the Salvatore girls were pure magic. I was the work of a psychopath. Sometimes I feel like some great cosmic mistake."
"You're not," Roman said. "Look at me."
Reluctantly, Hope turned to face him, forcing herself to meet his eyes.
"The cosmos is lucky to have you," he said firmly. "I know I am."
Hope's breath caught in her throat, his gaze searing through her. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Roman lifted a hand and brushed a strand of hair back from her face. "Your dad's going to kill me for this, isn't he?"
"I won't tell if you don't," Hope breathed, her eyes closing as his lips touched hers.
His hand moved down to her waist, sliding to the small of her back to tug her closer as the kiss deepened.
A knock on the door broke them apart.
"Hope? I need to speak to you."
Hope's eyes widened. "You need to go," she whispered.
Roman nodded, pressing one last kiss to her lips before disappearing out the window.
Hope checked her reflection, made sure her make-up wasn't too smudged, and opened the door. "Dr Saltzman?"
Alaric gave her a smile. "Josie said you had the spell up and you missed all your classes today."
"I know," Hope said. "I'm sorry."
Alaric frowned. "Can I come in?"
Hope stepped back silently and collected the notes Roman had left behind, checking through them. "Roman already dropped off my class notes."
"That's good," Alaric said. "Are you alright? Emma said that she feels you need further counselling."
"No!" Hope said hastily. "No, I can't. Please don't put me through that."
Alaric sighed. "Hope, she's our school counsellor. Her job is to help you deal with what happened."
"Yeah, well, I was dealing with it better before I spoke to her." Hope said. "I have seen her every day for two weeks and, quite frankly, that's enough. I was kidnapped because my father's a psychopath. And I will deal with that in my own time. I know enough from Cami that if you don't get along with your counsellor, you may as well not be there."
"You have a point," Alaric said. "Alright, I'll sign off, but on the agreement that you call Dr O'Connell and set up an appointment with her."
Hope pulled a face, but nodded. "Okay, deal."
"Good." Alaric gave her a fatherly pat on the shoulder and turned to leave.
"Dr Saltzman?" Hope said suddenly. "I … I wanted to say thank you."
Alaric paused. "For what?"
Hope dropped her gaze. "Mom told me about the hybrid curse last summer."
"Hope …" Alaric let out a heavy sigh. "You cannot carry the weight of the world. What happened was not your fault."
"I know that," Hope said. "But Dad's an asshole and doesn't apologise for anything." That surprised a laugh out of him and she couldn't help smiling. "I don't know how you can look me in the eye sometimes."
"You are not your father," Alaric said. "He and I are never going to be best friends, obviously, but given everything that's happened, we have an understanding. And whatever issues I have with him - they're not going to impact my relationship with you and your mother, okay?"
Hope nodded, stepping forwards to hug him. Generally during the school year, she tried to keep the distance of teacher-student, but this was still someone who had almost always been in her life, so she let it go from time to time.
He rubbed her back and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Make sure you go to class tomorrow."
"I will." Hope watched him leave and reset the spell, before rushing back to the balcony. She stepped out into the night air a second before Roman landed silently beside her.
"Well, that was close."
Hope giggled. "It wasn't close. He had no idea you were here."
"Good." Roman pulled her into his arms again. "So can I take you out tomorrow?"
"Well, I don't just kiss every guy who comes through my window," Hope said, with a smile, "so I should hope so."