Disclaimer: I do not own Legacies I am just a fan.
This is a continuation of a story I wrote called the 'Bastions of Hope' so you might be confused by the changes I made to the original plot and by the OC included. It is a very long fanfic and if you don't have the patience for it you can just skip to Chapter 14 and the final chapter to kind of catch up.
Summary: 300 years is a long time but these are just snapshots of the lives of Hope Mikaelson, Rafael Walsh and Duncan Walsh.
14 August 2040
Raf had left New York for a 2 week long business trip in Ireland. It was annual retreat where he would touch face with the home office. He was 4 days in, 83 hours that changed everything. He had gotten the call when he was still in his Ireland office burning the midnight oil. 30 minutes later he was on a flight back to New York. There was no such thing as a world away when you had a private jet.
And 7 hours later he landed in an airport In the middle of the night. No matter how many jets he had been on every time he got off one, he would pause for a moment or 2 taking the time to appreciate his privileged life in contrast to his days in foster care. But the moment he got off the jet he didn't take that moment. He didn't enjoy the smell of the rain or the sensation of its droplets on his skin. He wasn't there because of a luxury but because of a tragedy. So he rushed form the jet to the car that had been waiting for him.
"To the Hospital." He told the driver and after radioing the rest of the motorcade the cars started moving. 2 SUVs in the front another 2 in the back. Security was high priority especially after what happened.
The motorcade moved quickly with limited traffic going towards Manhattan. It was were the hospital was located. A secret hospital that didn't cater to humans, it was meant more for supernaturals. The best one in the city of New York and one of the few safe zones in Walsh territory.
He arrived at the hospital 9 hours after he got the call. 92 hours since he left the city. 92 hours being the difference between a thriving city and one on the brink of destruction. He would soon do his best to stop the apocalypse form happening, but at the moment he had to see a friend.
He walked through the lightly guarded halls of the hospital with an army behind him being guided by a member of his wife's security detail. When he reached the floor they were in, his guide and the army behind him joined the ranks of the security that were guarding the floor. A total of 20 men guarding that one floor.
"Hey." Fi said with low energy and a saddened face.
"Hey." Raf said back giving his wife a brief kiss on the cheek. He had left New York for 4 days, but he hadn't seen her in nearly 2 weeks, their schedules had clashed with his annual trip and her organizing a benefit in New Mexico. She was set to arrive 2 days after he left. And the plan had been to meet up in Ireland in 5 days. Unfortunately their early reunion was not under the best of circumstances. "How is she?" He asked.
"She still hasn't woken up." Fi said hesitant to say the worst of it "She lost him and the babies." Fi finally said it.
That piece of bad news broke his heart to hear it. It rocked him to his core to the point where he needed a moment to truly process it. It was soul crushing to him but he could barely imagine what she was going to feel when she woke up.
Fi allowed him a minute to compose himself and after her reminded himself he wasn't a concern Raf walked into her room with Fi behind him.
He stared at her lying on the hospital bed. She didn't even have a scratch on her and neither did her clothes, she must have been changed out of them. The old ones were on the bed next to her. It was as though nothing had happened to her.
Raf walked over and parted a strand of auburn hair from her face. She was just lying there with her eyes closed, eerily peaceful as though she were just sleeping. But she wasn't.
Hope was dead. And soon enough she would wake up. But they wouldn't. She had lost both Jay and the babies. In a few hours Hope would come back from the dead and her world would be shattered. Especially since it wasn't an accident.
"It was Denzino's son." Fi informed him
The Denzino family was one of the most powerful faction within the city. A large pack werewolves among the 5 ruling factions. Denzino was a smart man, his son not so much.
"I'll meet with him." Raf told her still staring at Hope's corpse.
"Raf maybe I should meet with him." Fi suggested. She was worried he would let his anger get the best of him.
"Fi it's okay." He said with cold detachment. It was the only way he was going to get through this "I have to do this. I'll talk to Denzino and you will call in everyone in the east. Tell them to get ready to meet us here." He told her.
With the expansion of Walsh industries, there Paxon's all around the U.S. and he wanted them ready for the worst case scenario.
"Okay." She agreed.
"Thank you." He said kissing her on the cheek "Stay here watch over her."
"Sure." She replied.
And with him knowing that both of them were safe under guard Raf took 5 men leaving them with the other 15.
He set up a meeting with Denzino in a neutral location outside of both of their territories. The Denzino family owned a large portion of the city, but not as large as the Walsh family. When Marcel left the city a lot of territory had been up for grabs and Raf had made sure that Walsh family got the lion share of it. And the rest was split among the other 3 ruling factions.
They meet near the docks in Garagalo coven territory. The Garagalo were allies to both the Denzino and Walsh family.
Raf stared into the body of water as the light of the twilight reflected of it. Making sure that he remained calm and collected during this meeting. He wouldn't want Fi to say "I told you so." He got more than enough of that on a regular basis.
"Rafael," Denzino said coming up from behind him. "Thanks for meeting me."
Alexander Denzino was a brown haired born and breed New Yorker past his prime. As the days went by everyone grew scared of the day his impulsive idiot son would take the reins of the family. By the end of the day it would no longer be a concern.
"Of course Denzino." Raf said shaking his hand. Denzino was the opposition not the enemy.
"It is unfortunate we had to meet under such circumstances." Denzino said.
"It is." Raf said being more cordially than a person in his position could be. It was ripping him apart on the inside, he turned back to the water where he would remain calm.
"I hope you know that it was done without any authorization from me." Denzino said.
"I assumed as much." Denzino was old and had lost the recklessness that came with youth a long time ago.
"Look my idiot son and his friends" Denzino said "They thought that they could..." He tried to explain.
"I don't care about the why," Raf interrupted him. 'Calm and cool' Raf told himself "I care about the who."
"Frankie Shultz, Vincent Corolla, Owen Johnson and Joey Madden." Denzino gave out the names leaving only one.
"There's a name missing from that list." Raf reminded.
"Rafael, Frankie is one of my favorite sister's kids and I told Joey's father I would look after him when he took a bullet for me and I've been doing that since Joey was a kid, I practically raised him. Those two are like sons to me and I'm willing to give you the 4 of them on a platter. But not him." Denzino bargained.
"Denzino," Raf said "this doesn't end until everyone responsible is held accountable." They all had to answer for their crimes.
"I can't do that." Denzino said "No matter how much of a screw up he is. He is still my son. I hope you can understand."
"Hope." Raf bitterly chuckled "Now that's funny." He could see how uncomfortable his joke made Denzino. "I hope you can understand. Trevor's sins carry a lot of weight. He murdered a friend of mine. One of the best people I knew." Jay was an amazing guy. Everyone loved him. In 7 years of friendship Raf had never heard of anyone say a single bad thing about him apart from his jokes, he was just impossible to hate. He was kind, loyal and no matter how cheesy he could get he was always funny. The 2nd best person Raf knew.
"Second only to another friend of mine that he stole everything from." Hope had lost her fiancé and best friend in life and the children they were going to have. "I am not going to let this city burn, because of what he did. For the sake of our friendship you will have time with your son." A small kindness Raf could give to the old man who had been one of his allies. When he was first starting out, no matter how much territory Raf took up, no one respected him for it, he was too young for them to respect him. Denzino was the first to do so, no matter how many times The Walsh and Denzino family butted heads "But for the relative peace that we have enjoyed in this city over the past 5 years you will turn him and his friends in by sun set, or you will be just as guilty as them." Raf calmly threatened.
"I understand your position but I can't do that." Denzino countered.
"You still have a couple of hours to decide to do the right thing." The sun was just rising, he had at least 12 hours before it set.
"I have already made my decision to do the right thing." Denzino said "And the right thing to do is be a father, no matter how much my son makes me regret it."
"He'll be the death of you." Raf stated.
"I know. He is still my son." Denzino replied.
Raf didn't have children of his own but knew just how powerful the bond between parent and child was. Especially for werewolves. It was in their blood to go through hell and move heaven and earth for their children. He also knew just how difficult it was for the parents to truly give up on their kids, no matter how much of a lost cause they were. It still left Tess haunted.
Raf and Denzino had both made themselves clear but they would wait for the deadline before any of them took action.
With the meeting over Raf headed back to the hospital to see her. When he entered the hall the 5 men went back into formation. He found his wife still waiting outside of Hope's room.
"She woke up 30 minutes ago, but hasn't said a word." Fi informed him
"Have you told her?" Raf asked.
"No. I was giving her a little breathing room." Fi answered. It would be overwhelming to take it all in at once, transitioning after losing everything.
"Any word on the others?" Raf asked.
"Awaiting your orders." Fi said
"Tell them to come in, Denzino won't give up his son."
Raf wanted to keep a lid on the whole entire situation until it was resolved. The attack on Hope had been kept quiet. But the truth always had a way of coming out and calling in all the Paxon's from the east side was going to make a lot of noise and raise a lot of question.
Raf had been hoping to avoid calling them in, but he was going to need an army if he was going to take Trevor from his father.
"Raf are you okay." Fi asked.
"No, I'm not." He admitted "But I'm not high up in the priority list. She is." Raf said but Fi frowned. She and Hope had become friends again but she was still more worried about her husband "But I promise I will tell you everything," Raf assured "after I make sure I save this city from destruction."
Even though Hope had a limited role in New York supernatural community she was still a Mikaelson. They would not allow an attack on her and Jay to go unanswered. They would want blood on the streets as payback and half the city would bleed because of the action of 5 bastards.
And as dangerous as the Mikaelsons were they weren't his largest concern. It was Duncan. Years at the top of the food chain hadn't satisfied his hunger for destruction. They had just made him lazy. Since he no longer had to be ingenious and resourceful he had lost the precision of a strike team and was more of a nuke. A person of mass destruction that wasn't concerned with collateral damage. Humans for the most part were safe from him, but all supernatural creatures didn't have that luxury and we're acceptable targets for him. If word ever got out to him that the people responsible for hurting Hope hadn't been dealt with. Duncan would take it upon himself.
But the threat the city faced was only the 2nd on his priority list. He wanted to check in on her again.
He walked in to her room to find her sitting on the bed. She was staring out of the window seemingly in another world.
"Hey Hope." Raf said, but he couldn't reach her. "Hope?" He tried to get her attention but it didn't reach her as well. He was about to call out again.
"Fi was in here a couple of minutes ago." Hope said still staring out of the window. "You know how good her poker face is, so I couldn't tell what happened. And I was too afraid to ask because the answer might be 'no, they didn't make it'. But I know that if I look at you I will know the answer." If she didn't know the answer, it meant that they could still be alive. A little piece of hope she was keeping alive.
Raf hated that he had to take that from her.
"Hope." Was all he said but the tone in his voice was enough to tell her the truth. She turned to him and it broke his heart even more to see the tears fall down her face "Their truck collided with yours car at nearly 200 mph. The airbags went off, but they weren't enough to stop it. Jay died instantly from sever head trauma." He said as she started sobbing "You healed by the time they were able to pry you out of the car, so nobody knows exactly how you died. But the twins… they tried to save them, but they couldn't and they were stillborn." Raf informed her and her sobbing turned to weeping.
He sat in her bed and hugged her as she cried and cried. He knew wasn't the person she wanted bury her head in. She wanted Jay. But he wasn't there, not anymore. Raf still filled in as a warm body for her to hold as she thought of Jay and they babies she lost. She bawled out loudly but Raf couldn't even be truly there in that moment. Not when the people responsible for taking everything from her and threatening the city were still out there.
Hope tired herself out crying to the point of passing out. And Raf let her rest and left her with Fi and 15 guards.
He left the hospital and went straight the warehouse. One the Walsh industry holdings. As the day went by Paxon's arrived in droves. More and more until they were a formidable army. Nearly half the Paxons in America showed up.
But they weren't the only out of towners to show up. The Denzino family called in reinforcements of their own. Raf didn't know why the Gévaudan Pack was throwing in with the Denzino family all he knew was that It was shaping up to be a war.
When the sun sat it would begin.
Raf hated what he was going to have to do in the war. They were outnumbered and it had been 10 long years since the Paxons had been at war. 10 years of peace but no matter how they tried, it didn't change what they were. They were Paxons. War was in their blood. In his blood.
Even with help for the Gévaudan Pack the Denzino never stood a chance.
The blood of hundreds filled the streets. Casualties on both sides, most on the Denzino side. By midnight it was all over.
The Gévaudan pack ran back to Louisiana with their tails between their legs. Trevor Denzino had been the death of his father and more than half his men. But the war was over as quickly as it began. 31 Hours had passed since he got the call.
Now he was in a warehouse with the 3 of the 5 people responsible. The other 2 had died in the battle.
Trevor Denzion was chained in the middle. Beaten and bloody and with a healthy dose wolfsbane coursing through his system making his healing slower and other herbs stopping him from turning or using his magic.
Owen Johnson and Frankie Shultz were tied next to him. Getting the shit beat of them by Jed and Malcom.
"Okay stop!" Trevor said and it made Malcom and Jed pause.
"Why?" Raf asked as Malcom and Jed started hitting Frankie and Owen harder. If Raf felt pity for either of them it would have been for Frankie. Jed had been strong enough to be accepted into the pack but Malcom was born in it. A young and hungry 280 pound 6 foot 6 Paxon with a lot to prove.
"For god sake we get the message! Just leave them alone!" Trevor said spitting out some blood.
"You probably should have thought about leaving Hope alone. But you didn't did you." Raf said as he rolled up his sleeves. And Malcom and Jed stopped "Instead you rammed your truck into a car with a pregnant woman and her fiancé. Do you have any Idea what you 3 did?" Raf asked grabbing Trevor by the hair to make him face him. And when Trevor didn't answer Raf hit him fueled by all of the frustrations of the past 31 hours.
The time for cool and collected was over. It was time to let everything he tried to keep buried out "Everyone knew you were a pain in the ass for your pops but now he's dead because of you" Raf said punching Trevor for being the cause of Denzino's death "And you killed a friend of mine." Raf punched Trevor even harder for Jay "And you stole everything from another one." Raf hit him hard enough to knock out a tooth for Hope who had lost Jay and the twins.
"You know ever since I found out I couldn't grieve for the friend I lost or console the one you stole everything from. I was too busy worried about what would happen to the city because of what you did. Now the only thing that has my attention is you." Raf said as he Malcom and Jed went back to work.
For years Raf had been doing his best not to be like them. He was descended from a long line of lost causes but his choices were his own. He didn't have to be like them. Like his father. Like Duncan. But for that one night, that one exception he wasn't going to choose to be the better man. He was going to get his pound of flesh and more.
Jay always kept his promises to her. The only promise he couldn't keep was because she couldn't keep hers.
She promised to always protect him and he promised to never leave her.
She had opened up to him in ways she had done with few others. Even more than that, she had told him everything. They shared everything together, all of their worries, fears, guilty pleasures and wishes. They were even going to share the babies. Fraternal twins a boy and a girl for the both of them. When he found out that they were pregnant 4 months ago he proposed on the spot. He had been carrying around the engagement ring for months burning a hole in his pocket while he tried to find the right time.
She said yes the moment she saw the ring, and said yes again after he finished proposing.
She was going to be his and he was going to be hers for the rest of their lives together. They were going to be the parents of twins. Until the truck hit them. And she woke up without them.
The entire day had been a blur, but she remembered the highlights. She saw Fi and her stone face walk into her hospital room revealing nothing so her family was still alive then. Raf came in later and they were truly gone. She spent the entire day crying while thinking of joining them, but she didn't.
She completed her transition so that she could be at the funeral.
Raf and Fi took care of everything. They even let her stay at their place, it was too hard for her to back to hers without Jay. Over the days everyone came to support her. All of her friends and family. They were always around here and it gave her the strength to make it to the funeral.
It was beautiful. As morbid as it was Jay would have liked it, to bring people together like that. He would have preferred it if she had expressed her feelings but she didn't. Because if she did, she would have let the floodgates open and fallen apart. So she held herself together as they buried Jay and the twins, she even kept herself together during the reception.
She knew none of them would have wanted her to be alone for even for a minute, it was like they were afraid to leave her alone, so she snuck out of the reception.
She ended up at her apartment confronting a fear of her own. She pushed through it by putting the key in the door and turning it.
She walked into their apartment, their home that felt more like a house without him. It was a mess with papers all over the place. Most of the files were his, she loved Jay but he was a disorganized person and it had rubbed off on her so some of the files were hers.
She walked into their bedroom to find one of his hoodies on the bed. She took it and like the entire house it had his scent. But this one was more powerful and pronounced. He loved that hoodie. 5 years after graduating he still wore his Columbia hoodie. He had been planning to be one of those guys that were pushing 50 and still wore their Alma matter hoodie. Hope sniffed the hoodie and everything she had been holding back came out.
She was no stranger to death, but for it to happen so suddenly when she had the perfect life. When she had opened he heart to someone after years constant heartache. Someone who soothed the pain and made her feel whole again. Someone who had been ripped away from her leaving her with an overwhelming sense of loss and pain. It was too much for her.
She just wanted the pain to be gone. To stop crying and it was only a switch away.
AN: Not sure if there was demand for this story but I wrote it anyway because the characters were stuck in my head.
As always please R&R because I always appreciate the feedback on these stories.
Until next time.