I promised myself I wouldn't post this until tomorrow, but...I got several awesome reviews both here and on ao3, so I'm going to post it today! The next chapter will be out in a few days (seriously this time).
Full chapter title: That That Don't Kill Me Can Only Make Me Stronger, from Stronger by Kanye West
To Guest - I agree, it was very messy. I'm going to keep the same plot lines, but I've added dates in hopes that this version will be easier to follow.
To Annie - Don't worry, Kol is still bi! i just decided it would be too difficult to write an ot4. There will be more on that in later chapters.
WARNINGS: smoking, anxiety, mentions of what Mikael did.
March 22nd, 2013
1.1 - Atlanta, Georgia
Freya loves kids. She only has three of her own, but three is quite enough for her.
She also has a love-hate relationship with smoking tobacco. After a rough tenure in the foster system, she's got habits she can't break. Smoking is one of them, even though her two of her children have asthma.
Her job at a daycare, which helps support her and her family, has her do what she does at home - go outside to smoke.
So, on that chilly day, she goes outside and tries to relax a little.
As much as she loves kids, they're stressful as hell. If it isn't Radley trying to get a girlfriend, or Théo and Lucy tricking Lucien, then it's the kids she watches at the daycare.
She takes a drag, thoughts drifting to her oldest son.
Radley hates that she smokes. He complains about it every chance he gets. It's not good for Théo and Lucy, he says often. It's not good for you. You need to quit, Mom, full-turkey. Please.
It's not like Freya hasn't tried to quit, it's that she needs something to help her anxiety, and nothing else has worked like cigarettes do.
With a sigh, she checks her phone. Sure enough, her break is over.
She puts the butt out and puts it in the ziploc baggy she keeps in her purse specifically for butts. She has to use all her effort to open the heavy door, glad to step inside the warmth it offers.
Freya's just putting her purse away in her cubby - high up and away from prying hands - when she hears the TV, usually showing Spout or Disney, going into a commercial.
Or rather, she hears part of the commercial. Names. She turns to see, expecting something far different than what she gets. It's an older couple, white, dressed comfortably. It's the woman speaking, and her voice has an accent lilting it, one Freya can't quite place. It's so familiar, though, just like the names. Well, the names are much more familiar than the voice.
Freya Mikaelson, Finn Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, Niklaus Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, Henrik Mikaelson…
"...they need to be reunited. Please help us find our grandchildren. Tips can be sent to 1-800-441-7192. Thank you and God bless you."
Her heart skips a beat. She hasn't heard those names since she was 17. She hasn't been Freya Mikaelson since 2000. She hasn't even thought of her siblings in years. And now, their names are being talked about on TV.
One of her coworkers calls her name, so she puts everything away and goes to help.
But don't for a second think she's going to let the commercial go.
1.2
When Freya gets home, it's to find Radley chilling out on the couch and the younger kids out with Lucien.
She hangs up her coat and sets her purse on the side table. Radley glances her way before turning back to his phone, where he's texting someone. Probably Aamira or Taavi.
"Hey, Radley? Can you do me a favor?"
He sighs and sits up. His blonde hair falls into his face; it's high time he gets a haircut. "Sure."
She ruffles his hair, knowing that, at 15, he hates her babying him. He rolls his eyes, acting just like Finn used to.
Huh. One mention of her lost siblings and memories of them are coming up to the surface.
She shakes her head to get rid of the thoughts. "Can you look up something for me? I would do it myself, but my phone died."
He nods and, once he's all set up, he looks to her so she'll talk.
"Mikaelson. M-I-K-A-E-L-S-O-N. Thanks."
Radley frowns a little, confused about why she wants him to look up her maiden name. Ever since his name was changed to Castle, there haven't been any Mikaelson's in the family. "'Course, mom. Um, let's see, is it this?"
He turns his phone around, and the screen shows a website with a bold title of Find The Mikaelsons. She nods.
He pulls the phone back, and reads, "this page was made for Leif and Aerona Trulsson, who were recently informed their son, Mikael, was dead." Her heart stops for a beat, again. The name Mikael is not one she likes or even tolerates. "They also found out that he'd gotten married and had children while he was away, a wife and children they knew nothing about. The children were put into the foster system and got separated. Haven't talked since 1996." Oh my god, she thinks. Mikael and 1996? Can it be a coincidence? Please let it be a coincidence. "Leif and Aerona came all the way to NYC from Tromsø just to find the grandkids…. There's a picture, lemme pull it up…." He gasps, and she shoots forward, wanting to know what's so shocking.
"Mom, that's you," he says, shoving the phone at her. She grabs it just before it can fall, and sees herself, sure enough. Seventeen-year-old Freya Mikaelson, who had scars only from acne. Who was sitting on a couch next to Finn, who held Henrik. Next to Finn was Elijah, Niklaus over her shoulder, and Kol and Rebekah at their feet. None of them are smiling - she remembers this photo, remembers that her father had just said he would cut Niklaus out of the picture if they messed anything up.
Her eyes slide downward, to the caption. It reads: "This is the only picture in the Mikaelsons' belongings that does not have Niklaus' face scratched out. It is also the only photo of all seven children together. Go through this slideshow to see a summary of each Mikaelson, with picture identification, as well."
She swipes, and the picture changes so there's a thick red circle around her head. Freya Riley Mikaelson, the caption reads. The oldest of the siblings, she was born around 1979 in Mystic Falls, Virginia. In 1996, when Esther (their mother) died and Mikael (their father) went to jail, she was 17 years old. She aged out of the foster system without getting adopted or placed in a permanent foster home. Her last known location, in 1999, was in Georgia, USA. If you have any information on her, please come forward.
It's surreal. It's like she's a missing person, one who's just gone. But she isn't, and she hasn't been. She's just been in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1996.
"Mom? Why is your picture on that website? Who are those other kids?"
She looks at him, finding that his confused frown has fallen into a full blown one. The look reminds her sharply of two men she hates - Mikael and Radley's father. Both were frowners whose lips turned so far down it was almost comical. Radley doesn't know that, though - he knows nothing about her life before him except that she was orphaned at 17 and got pregnant not long after.
She gives his phone back as she says, "those are my siblings. Apparently my grandparents are looking for us." She shrugs, but saying the word grandparents out loud makes things even weirder. Neither her nor Lucien have living parents, and growing up, Freya didn't have grandparents. Just an Aunt Dahlia who freaked her out and never visited except the once.
His mouth falls open in shock. "You have siblings? Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"
In the face of all his questions, she feels terrible. Partially because he deserves to know these things about her, and partially because she's keeping other things from him that are even more important than her siblings.
She rounds the couch to sit next to him, to make them more equal. "Radley, I haven't told you this before because it's hard to talk about. But I'll tell you now. I have six younger siblings, born from 1981 to 1994. In 1996, my father killed my mother, a family acquaintance, and…" she can't choke out the words, tried to kill me and two of my brothers. She can't. So she says, "...and we were separated. I haven't heard from or seen my siblings since then."
"Oh my god, mom," he says softly, just before launching into a hug. "God, I'm so sorry. That's so unfair to you guys."
She hugs back, feeling love for him practically welling out of her.
"Will you tell me about them?" He pauses before asking, "do you think I have any cousins?"
She laughs, almost positive he doesn't. She'd never wanted to be a mother, and none of her siblings (except Henrik, who could say only two words when she last saw him) wanted kids, either.
Freya's pretty sure that isn't the best story to start off with, though. Maybe….
"Well, in order, it was me, Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik. And I'll let you in on a family secret. Niklaus was another man's son."
2.1 - St. Louis, Missouri
Spongebob's giggle is replaced by a man talking about genital herpes, and Finn has never been more grateful.
He's already got a headache - hearing three of his six children fight over Dora, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and iCarly, only to agree on Spongebob has not helped at all. The baby is crying somewhere, too, not responding to Sage's cooing hushes, and god knows where the eldest is. Christine, the second to last, is sitting in his lap, watching as he types in more information.
"Who are you looking for, Daddy?" She pokes him on the cheek, and giggles madly. He smiles at her sweetly; her laugh is infectious and so endearing.
Lacey, from the living room, screeches, "shut up, Christine!"
Christine's eyes water, and she starts sobbing. Her whole body twists to curl into his, narrowly missing stepping on his groin.
Finn sighs, helping her situate herself on his hip. He hushes her as he walks to the living room, only quieting her cries the tiniest bit. The eldest, Philip, is passed out on the couch. How, Finn has no idea. Sage swears the boy could sleep through a tornado.
Lacey is sitting three inches from the TV. Grant and Zach have followed her lead and are even closer.
Finn's headache is going full force. It's times like these he remembers saying he would never have children.
He sets Christine on the couch, and turns to the kids on the floor. "Why are you sitting so close to the TV?" Lacey smirks like she's gotten out of trouble, so he adds, "Lacey, you're definitely not off the hook."
She huffs and pouts, so Grant says for her, "well, Phil is on the couch, so we had to sit on the floor, and Lacey thought we should sit close so we can see better." Zach nods his head so hard, he gets visibly dizzy. Lacey taught him how to headbang (he has absolutely no idea where she learned it herself) and he does it all the time now. Leave it to Lacey to be a bad influence.
He pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't sit that close to the TV. You could do bad, bad things to your eyes, alright, kids? Boys, come sit over here by the couch. Lacey…." She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes as the boys do as they're told. They're barely out of the terrible two's and three's that all Mikaelsons have, and yet they're much more obedient than their older sister.
She's seven. She already acts just like Freya did when she was that age.
"Lacey, you are not allowed to say shut up. Also, please, do not influence your siblings to do things you know you aren't allowed to do. Now, apologize to your sister."
Lacey huffs, but says, "sorry." She says it like he's forced her with threat of death. She said it, though, he thinks, and that's a win in my book.
He moves to pick Christine up again, and take her back to the kitchen where he was trying to research Sage's family tree. Christine likes to help, so he'll let her sit on his lap while he goes through the hints and such. Whenever he finds pictures, she loves making up stories of the people in them.
However, he's stopped when he hears what must be the final commercial - and commercials have always been a bad thing, until he had to listen to Squidward contemplate suicide all day that is.
An older woman's voice says, "I'm looking for my grandchildren. I've never met them, and I'm hoping to find them. They were separated in 1996 - they haven't seen each other in almost 17 years. Recently, my son, their father, died, and none of them can be found to be told the bad news. They need to be reunited. Please help us find our grandchildren. Tips can be sent to 1-800-441-7192. Thank you and God bless you." She says the number, and Finn whips out his phone to dial it. He presses down way too hard on the buttons, but he barely notices.
Sage comes downstairs to hear the tail end of the commercial, and see the picture of Finn and his siblings on the screen that he'd thought lost. He isn't thinking about the picture, though, nor how all of his kids except Adam, who's sleeping in Sage's arms, and Phil, who's still asleep on the couch, were suddenly looking a little frightened at his frantic movements.
No, it's none of that. As soon as he heard Freya's name, his thoughts had gone to two places - one, now he can potentially expand his side of the family tree, and two, he's really sick of waiting to see his siblings again.
The phone rings once, twice, before - "Hello?" It's a woman's voice, not the same one as before, though. It's accented the same, Scandinavian if he had to guess. Finn doesn't care though; man, woman, adult, child, he might be about to reunite with his family. Whoever is on the line doesn't matter.
Breathlessly, he answers, "hi. I'm calling about the commercial? For the Mikaelsons?"
The woman on the other side of the line gives a shocked sounding laugh. "Wow. Alright, I'll go get my father. He'll be very happy to hear someone has answered his calls."
The line goes quiet, so Finn takes a moment to reassure his family. 'It's fine,' he mouths, and moves to the kitchen. He sits heavily in his chair, pulls up himself on his family tree, and waits. He has every move, every date put into his profile. His siblings' are empty; he hates that he doesn't know those things about them any more.
After another moment, an old man's voice sounds, "my daughter says you're calling because of the commercial?"
"Yes, I am. I - "
"Oh, I forgot to say, my name is Leif Trulsson. What's your name?" The old guy sounds friendly, and any worries Finn might have had about this wash away.
Finn grins, so excited he could go outside and bounce on the trampoline for hours. "It's Finn. Finn Mikaelson."
0.2 - New York City, New York
Leif drops the phone. Torunn, his youngest, scrambles to pick it up. Her hovering has one good thing about it - he doesn't have to bend over to get it. That's not the only reason he's glad she came along with them, of course, but it's a bonus on his old bones for sure.
She hands him her cellphone for the second time, and he chokes out, "Finn Mikaelson?"
Torunn's eyes go wide, and she claps a hand over her mouth. Aerona, sitting on one of the hotel beds, stands quickly and makes her way to them. Both girls look anxious to know what's going on.
The man on the other line - with an unassuming southern-American/diluted-British accent, and a noticeable hitch in his breath - responds, "yeah. I just saw your commercial. You said you were my grandfather?"
"I-I, yes, I am." A thought occurs to him, and he says, "I don't mean to be rude, son, but is there any way you could send proof?"
Thankfully, Finn seems to understand. He pauses, silence reigning over the phone for only a moment. "I could text you a picture of my ID?"
"Hold on," he says. To Torunn, he asks, "can your phone get pictures?" She nods, so he tells Finn, "that sounds fine. But how will I know it's you?" He's heard about people using other people's pictures before. He won't be goldfished or whatever it's called.
"I'll uh...I'll hold it up to my face so you know it's really me. Is that okay?" Finn's voice sounds hesitant, hopeful. Leif's smile gets so big, he's afraid his dentures will fall out.
"Yes," Leif says, feeling overjoyed. Ever since the first call, he's heard more about what Mikael did to his children. Several police calls, a restraining order from a woman who said she was scared he would harm her, the horrible injuries he caused…all covered up by his job as a politician. Leif has been worried that Mikael permanently damaged his children; he's been worried they would be mean, uninterested, or something worse. But Finn sounds so nice and happy that his worries are soothed.
"Alright, well, I'm going to hang up to take the picture, but I'll call right back. Okay?"
Leif nods before he realizes Finn can't see him and says, "okay."
The line goes dead. He pulls the phone away from his head, hands shaking.
As one, Torunn and Aerona demand, "well?"
"He's sending proof. Will one of you get the picture, please, so we can compare it?" It's the only one they have, the only picture in Mikael's belongings. His grandchildren look regal in it, like they're royalty. Even the baby looks demure and in charge at the same time.
Torunn fetches the framed picture quickly, just in time for Finn to send his own picture.
The man in the picture is holding up a Missouri-issued driver's license that clearly says, Finn Caspar Mikaelson, DOB 10/28/1981.
He holds the frame in his hands, and Torunn holds the phone next to the picture.
He is, unmistakably, their Finn Mikaelson. He looks older, of course, and he's thinned out some, but it's him. He's got dark hair and dark eyes, a strong jaw that comes from Leif's father, and a smile that is 100% Aerona.
Finn is calling within seconds of their revelation, and Torunn answers the phone, as it's still in her hand. She squeals into the device, "you're Finn Mikaelson!"
He says something, and Torunn laughs.
Aerona and Leif share an excited look - this is just the beginning, and they both know it.
1.3
When Lucien gets home, Théo and Lucy chattering in French with him, Freya and Radley are still talking about her siblings. She's told just about every story, but when he asks a question, another one comes to mind.
Radley spots his step-father, and exclaims, "Dad! Me and Mom have been talking about her siblings - you have to hear some of these stories! They're hilarious."
Lucy says, "I wanna hear them!"
Théo says, louder, "me too!"
Lucien chuckles, crouching down so he's at their height. While Radley is a mama's boy who looks a lot like her, the kids are definitely more attached to their daddy. And with their dark hair and dark eyes, they look more like him, too.
"Your mother will tell you one for a bed story, how about that? For now, go get washed up."
"Grass belongs on the ground, not in you hair," Freya adds, much to Radley and Lucien's amusement. Théo whines but follows Lucy upstairs.
Freya, in the meantime, pulls Lucien into a welcome home kiss. Radley allows it for approximately one second before making a grossed out noise. "Come on, guys, right in front of me? Seriously?"
"Someday," Lucien sings, laughing at the same time, "you'll be the one kissing your wife, embarrassing your child."
"I honestly don't think Aamira will be that embarrassed," Freya adds, causing a bright red blush to fill her son's cheeks.
"I'm not getting married to Aamira! I don't like her like that!" He shoots back, overtly defensive.
Lucien and Freya share a smile. "Of course not," Lucien soothes, "you only have her as your background because you're good friends."
"Yeah, and you only talk to her every single day because you want to talk to someone, not because you want to make sure she's doing okay."
As one, Freya and her husband nod. "Right." Their sarcasm, in this case, is a particular brand Freya and her siblings have been known for since the beginning, plus a dash of Lucien's own sass. Radley hates it.
Radley groans like he's suffering torture, throwing his head back to look upward. "Patience, Radley, patience," he faux-whispers.
Freya and Lucien laugh loudly, thoroughly enjoying getting on their son's nerves.
"I'm gonna go help the kids," he mutters, swiftly going upstairs.
Lucien flops down next to her, taking the free spot. "What was he talking about earlier?"
"Oh, my siblings. I saw a commercial today about a guy looking for seven Mikaelsons, one of whom is named Freya. We looked it up and they're actually looking for me," she says, trying for casual. He sees right through her, like he always has, and he pulls her close. She settles in his lap, legs hanging over his. They wrap their arms around each other, taking advantage of the moment together.
"Are you going to get into contact with them?" He makes his voice soft, comforting. Sometimes, she's worse off than him. This is the voice he uses when she's having an anxiety attack.
Somehow, it always coaxes answers out of her.
"I don't think so."
"Why not, darling?"
She closes her eyes, determined not to look at him. Expressing feelings is hard for her period, let alone looking him right in the eye. "I'm scared that they'll be like my father. I'm scared they'll find us all and hate Niklaus, or not find us all, because not all of us are still around…." She takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. "There are just so many things that can go wrong. I don't want to get hurt just so I can see my siblings again."
He rubs her back, thinking about what he wants to say. They're silent for a while.
Sounds of feet upstairs makes him speak. "Freya, mon petit chou, I understand your fears. But I honestly believe that seeing the people you grew up with will be worth any hurting that may or may not happen. I really think you should contact them, and I'll be at your side through everything. I promise."
With tears in her eyes, she hugs him tightly and only pulls back to kiss him passionately. "I love you," she whispers.
"Je t'aime, aussi," he croons, and it's really no surprise to her that she loves him more and more everyday.
Mon petit chou - literally means "my little cabbage", actually means a term of endearment, e.g. dear/sweetheart/love.
Je t'aime aussi - literally means "I love you also", but in this case it means "I love you too"
Thank you for reading! Leave a review if you liked what you read (pretty please).
EDITED 5/15/18 - I'm going back and changing the way they're being verified as themselves. Now they're sending pics of their licenses which I understand is still...not perfect but it's much better than just a picture and their face!