Would you mind if I hurt you?
Understand that I need to
Wish that I had other choices
Than to harm the one I love
-What Have You Done by Within Temptation
As she crosses over onto Wickery bridge, goosebumps come to life on the back of her arms. Elena peers over the rails, her small form looking fragile under the full weight of Hanne's headlights. She doesn't move or turn to acknowledge Hanne's presence, and for a horrible second in time, Hanne thinks she's looking at Elena's ghost.
She climbs out of her hearse, grip tightening on the door. "Elena?"
Elena doesn't budge.
With as much gentleness as she possesses, Hanne drifts over to Elena, laying a hand on her shoulder. The girl jumps, hand coming forward towards Hanne's face. Hanne drops to her belly to avoid the sudden boom of thunder soaring right above her head. It ripples like waves through the air, whatever Elena had just shot out at her, taking out a piece of the Wickery bridge sign and sending it crashing into the lazy water below.
"Elena! Elena, what the fuck?" Hanne scrambles to her feet, already bracing to run.
Elena stares at her hands, her blood-covered mouth open in horror. Far tears roll down her cheeks and onto her trembling fingers. "I-I'm sorry. I thought you were Stefan, or Klaus or or-"
"Hey, shh, it's okay," Hanne whispers. "It's alright, it's just me. What the hell did you throw at me anyways?"
"I don't know. I heard your footsteps and it rang through my head like a gunshot and I just wanted you away from me. I'm sorry."
"Enough with the sorries, Elena. It's alright. I promise."
"What did you see, what I threw- whatever at you?" Her horror churns into awe, the shakiness of her fingers slowly ebbing. "I threw magic at you. Hanne, I threw magic."
Hanne smiled wryly. "Hell yeah, you did. You threw some invisible crack of sound at me."
"There was no spell for that, though! I thought it was spell based. Jae-Joon said-"
"Jae-Joon must have conveniently kept out that part where if you learn how to use magic from your life force, you'll have bursts of energy like this now and then. One time, when we were children, he turned the ground into a marshland because I was beating him in a race and he's a sore loser. And you're a Doppelganger. Who knows what you could really do, Elena."
Thousands of possible experiments jotted themselves on Hanne's mental list. For all they know, Elena could take the world and tear it into two. There was no way to tell, not without listing the help of Katherine to compare notes. And Hanne would rather eat glass than ask Katherine Pierce for anything.
Elena swallowed. She clenched her hands into fists, still holding them up to her face. A tangle of Latin fell from her lips. She unfurled a hand, revealing the spark of a tiny flame slowly growing in size right in the palm of her hand. Their eyes met over the fire, two sets of glowing embers reflecting each other over an endless thread of time. Two ancient creatures reveling in this newfound strength, their smiles twin white crescents.
"And I can't wait to find out," Elena whispered, the flame in her hand going out and turning to smoke in the night breeze.
Hanne's nerves sizzle and fray. She pulls at a tendril of hair left out of her bun, a few curling pieces framing her face in a way she knows makes her look soft. Like she's a princess and not the dragon. It's a leftover gift of being Blythe and others long past, the knowledge of how to adorn her body in clothing that settles just right and paints an image meant to distract.
She isn't stupid. Hanne knows if she were to change her clothes too suddenly, Niklaus would catch on. He was too paranoid not to. But she's dressed nice enough to fit somewhere in the middle of Niklaus and Elijah, their seating representing a sliding scale of expensive taste. Elijah with his perfect suits and Niklaus with his artistic hipster clothing that hides designer labels are two different images of pretension and Hanne has somehow landed in the in-between.
Elijah had insisted, saying it'd give Niklaus the idea of a united front. The Mikaelsons -and Hanne is a Mikaelson, no matter her feelings, he insists- them on side, and the Salvatores on the other. Despite her disgust for Stefan, it brings her some solace that she's stuck between two of the most terrifying people to walk the earth. If he wants retribution, he's going to have to go through them.
And nobody gets through both brothers.
The Salvatore brothers show up in their everyday wear like Elijah isn't going to take it as a slight. He won't outright say it, of course, but it's a quiet kind of disrespect to the elder Original that Hanne thinks might be intentional on their part. She looks at Elijah and knows that this man has killed for less and she smiles at him for it.
He smiles back at her, ire ironed out by affection as he pats her hand softly and he takes his seat once more. Staring at Stefan now looks like staring at a stranger. She can't help but sneer at him, cruel words dancing on the tip of her tongue. In her paces, the wild cat Damon dubbed her as and she sported the predatory gaze to match.
"You look well, for a man who almost had his heart ripped out." Klaus interrupts, smiling with the smugness of a cat. He stares Stefan down from across the table, his fingers lacing together underneath his chin as he leans forward. "And Damon, you're looking rather peaky still. Did my bites not fully heal?"
"Really? I thought I looked like my usual 'Eternal Stud' self. Wild Cat, it's nice to see you again" He nods at Hanne, a smirk curling on his lips.
"Demon," Hanne acknowledged in a bored voice.
"Wild Cat?" Elijah glanced at Hanne.
"It's an angry big feline. What, you don't have Animal Planet?" Damon flops into his chair.
His brother stands behind it, gripping the carved wood. "We didn't come here for dinner, Klaus."
"And yet you will sit and hear what we have to say," Elijah says before his brother can even open his mouth to retort.
Stefan's cold eyes flicker to Hanne. For what feels like forever, they stare at each other. Rage courses through her at the mere sight of him. Elena's tear struck face, the hurt in her eyes- She drew in a shuddering breath. Hanne gives him a nod if only to keep Elijah's plan from falling through.
"Stefan."
"Hanne."
Stefan waits for a beat longer, searching for something that he won't find. He nods back at her, finally taking his seat and turning his attention to Niklaus. It always goes to Niklaus, as if the man is nothing more than limbs and fangs held together by a web and Stefan is nothing but the helpless fly stuck in its trap. The bond between Stefan and Klaus is frayed now, though. There is no helping Stefan from being devoured.
Nothing but the last coffin.
"Now gentlemen, I am sure we can come to some kind of accord. We would like the fourth casket returned to us. Now is the time to make your demands."
"If we give you back the coffin, we want you out of Mystic Falls and for Elena to be free."
"The first I am willing to cater to, but Elena will come with us," Niklaus scoffs.
"Now is not the time to be possessive," Hanne mutters. "Let Elena live her life, Klaus. She's a child."
Not that that meant anything to Niklaus. All lives except his and his loved ones were forfeit in the gamble of life.
"She's not a toddler," Damon rolls his eyes, leaning back into his chair.
If a gaze could kill, Damon would be food for the worms. "She's barely eighteen. Every single one of us at this table dwarfs her in age. Her life has barely begun."
"Elena will always be a child to you because she is your family," Elijah commented, taking a careful sip of wine. "I doubt that will ever change."
"No more talking about Elena," Stefan said with a tight frown.
"Why? Feeling guilty?" Klaus taunts.
"Yeah, Stefan, are those pesky emotions starting to trickle in?" Hanne sneered.
"You two, please do not torment our guests. We are here for a civil discussion."
"I apologize. We will leave, and you can keep your little human with the stipulation that she continues to give me her blood." Niklaus's smile is razor sharp. "Now, if you do not bring me the last coffin, I will not be so understanding."
"Deal." Damon slaps his thighs. "I'll go get that coffin of yours."
"We will eat first," Niklaus waves his hand, motioning for Damon to sit back down. "Then we can conclude our little business deal."
Hanne audibly groaned. Ignoring the looks shot her way by the men at the table, she began to eat. The sooner they ate, the sooner this could be over with. She stares at Stefan's wine glass mournfully. She should have poisoned it.
Trying to eat dinner without slipping into a coma of boredom is a hard feat. The four men talk amongst themselves, content to leave her out of the conversation. It doesn't bother her much, she doesn't care to hear the story of Tatia and Elijah's everlasting love for her. She was there when it happened. She remembered. Hanne picks at her food, about ready to summon ghosts just for somebody interesting to talk to when Elijah inquires about the only forbidden subject tonight.
"And how is the lovely Elena?"
"Didn't my brother say not to bring her up? You must be hard of hearing in your old age." Damon smiled tightly,
"Well, I don't imagine she's well after last night's little…incident," Klaus adds, sitting back with a smirk though his eyes were tight with anger.
Stefan shrugged as if it were nothing of consequence. "She's fine."
"You almost drove her off the bridge where her parents died. And you stuck vampire blood in her mouth, knowing that's the last thing she wants." Hanne scowled, taking a wild stab at her filet mignon with her steak knife.
"Stefan wouldn't have killed her," Damon said. "He just had to make it seem real for your boy toy over there."
"Don't be upset because it worked, Hanne."
"You're without your humanity, not brain cells, Stefan."
"Already coming at me with the insults. How adorable," Stefan smiled. While still looking perfectly humanity-less, there was something off about his eyes. Something a touch more alive than the hollow gaze he'd had before.
Ice water ran through her veins, her anger no longer boiling but as cold as the Arctic. Her smile was little more than the baring of her teeth, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she fought back her own dark amusement at the situation. She leaned forward as if telling a secret.
"You want to know what I really think about last night, Stefan?"
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."
"I think you weren't just trying to trick Klaus. I think you enjoyed last night. You enjoyed causing Elena so much fear and distress. Maybe you were even punishing her." Hanne's grip on the knife tightened.
"Now wait a minute, he has his humanity off, Stefan in his right mind would never do this-"
"Stefan in his right mind led me right to him, practically gift wrapped." Hanne jerked her head toward Niklaus, who gave a wiggle of his fingers. "Stefan is not the saint he pretends to be, even when he's full of compassion and brooding silence. In fact, I don't think he's being entirely truthful about his humanity."
Stefan's eyes narrowed. He too leaned with a sardonic smile on his face. "You think I'm back to my old self? You must be stupider than you look."
"I think it's trickling back in," Hanne tilted her head, taking him in. "I think you just don't want to let it. It's easier that way you are now. Damon?"
Damon was staring at his little brother's profile. Slowly, it dawned on him. He quickly brought down the shutters to hide his thoughts, but the tick to his jaw gave them away clearly.
Niklaus laughed, clapping his hands. "Now isn't this wonderful? That Ripper persona of yours isn't totally separate from your humanity."
"Maybe you're right," Stefan said slowly. "Maybe I did do it to punish her."
The table once again went silent.
She moves before anyone can stop her, lunging across the table to slam the steak knife into Stefan's hand. The fragile bones inside make a crunching noise as they break. Her other hand rears back as he gasps from the pain before snapping forward. Blunt nails dig into his cheekbone nearly down to the bone. Damon's chair falls behind him as he stands, vamping across the table toward her only to be stopped by a smiling Niklaus.
"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't, if I were you, mate."
Elijah takes hold of her wrists and peels her away from Stefan's bleeding face. Score lines reveal split skin and muscle, bits of white peeking through the healing flesh. Gore clings to her fingers, bits of skin dropping in clumps onto the white dinner cloth. Elijah pulls out a handkerchief and sets about cleaning her hands, his grip hard enough to bruise.
Damon walks back to his brother's side and rips the knife out, throwing it onto the table with a dirty look. This wasn't a part of the plan. Hanne avoids Elijah's gaze in fear of seeing the disappointment in his dark eyes. He's never known her to be so violent.
"I believe it is time we got that coffin," Elijah said, his voice cool. "Damon, what do you say?"
"I would say finally. I'll just go get those coffins now."
"You should go with him, brother. "
Elijah shoots a glance towards Hanne, who gives him a small nod. "Very well. Do be on your best behavior yourselves while I am otherwise occupied."
The two leave behind a tension thick enough to choke on. Hanne settles back into her chair, sitting on top of her hands to keep them from trembling. She focuses on her breathing and on stilling the heart beating like a drum in her chest. Niklaus gives her shoulder a soft squeeze, his gaze locked on Stefan's healing wound.
Somehow, it always comes down to the three of them. They are a triangle of hatred that can't be unbroken, never mind how much each of them desperately wishes to for one reason or another. It's poetic, Hanne thinks, that Stefan would be at both the start and the end of her imprisonment.
"It does not need to be this way, Stefan. Why not leave Elena to a much better fate with Matthew? He could give her the little picket fence life she so desires."
"And continue the Petrova line by having little Donovans," Stefan narrowed his eyes. "No."
"Won't take her and won't let her go. And you thought I was cruel," Niklaus chuckled.
Hanne got up, pretending to stretch out a cramp in her calf she did not have. "You know, I'm feeling a little hungry for dessert."
"How rude of us. We almost left without any," Elijah's smooth voice entered the room. His body followed soon after, a placid smile upon his lips.
Damon and one of the many compelled girls in gold skirts in Klaus's employ shadowed him, Damon with a smug look and the girl carrying a covered tray. Elijah gripped the cloth and pulled. Two perfectly polished daggers lay on the tray, placed with the utmost care.
Wariness overtakes Niklaus's face. Hanne shadowed him, keeping close as he got up from the table. He took her hand in his, the slight tremor to his fingers barely noticeable.
"What have you done?" Niklaus asks.
"What haveyoudone? See, I've learned to not trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We are doing this on our terms now."
Another shadow of the past flickers into view, dressed as if he were going to a party and not filled with murderous rage. He has a face that brings tears to Hanne's eyes, though tucked partially behind his shoulder the way she is, Kol doesn't see her right away. When he does, his lazy sadism turns into sheer incandescent rage.
"Kol." Niklaus drops her hand to give his younger brother a placating gesture.
" Hallo,Lillebror," Hanne whispers, giving him a watery smile.
"Long time no see, brother. And Iona! What a terrible yet lovely surprise. Your betrayal knows no bounds, does it Nik?"
"Hanne-"
"It is not her I wish to hurt. Darling, you may wish to cover your eyes for the next bit."
She keeps them wide open. Niklaus blurs in an attempt to escape, only to be met with the tip of a dagger and Finn's unimpressed face. It was hard to contain herself, to not launch herself at Finn and Kol and hold them tight. Cold tingles dance across the back of her neck, a room full of the undying dousing her like ice water.
"Finn, don't-'' Finn takes hold of his hand and runs the dagger through it, Niklaus's screaming flooding the room.
Hanne howls, clutching her hand to her chest as if she too had been stabbed. Startled, Finn rips the dagger from its place embedded in Niklaus's flesh. Niklaus spins in place, making a mad dash for the whimpering woman. Just as he reaches her, Rebekah appears behind Hanne, her own dagger in hand. It finds a home in his abdomen, both Hanne and Niklaus letting loose another shrill scream.
"Rebekah, brothers, not now." Elijah chides, jaw tight. "You Salvatores are free to go for the night. This is family business."
The two younger vampires fled from the room. Only the Mikaelsons and Hanne remained. Sweat beads along Hanne's forehead, but she only grits her teeth. The next part is all her and she refuses to back down without a fight. A hoarse laugh flies from her throat, hard enough to make her shoulders shake and her eyes water.
"Are you well,Lillesøster?" Finn calls, stepping forward. Elijah stops him with an arm.
"I'm perfect," She chokes out. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
"Hanne?" Niklaus whispers, reaching forward to trace her cheek.
She lets him, if only because it gives her an excuse to bring his face into her hands. His stubble scratches her psalm, and for a second, she wavers. The second passes. Hanne straightens up as much as she can, the phantom pains of Niklaus's wound feeling more like dull cramps. Hanne smiles.
"Love, what is this?" He asks. He's at war with himself, torn between sinking into her loving touch and staring at her with creeping betrayal.
"Nik," Hanne sighs his name, her thumbs stroking beneath his eyes. "Won't you free me now?"
A thousand emotions thunder in his storm-ridden eyes. Niklaus's mouth opens. Closes.
"No."
It's so simple. Just a 'no', as if that was all she deserved. But Hanne only smiles wider, the corners of her lips aching with how wide it pulls her mouth.
"Then we both will go down." She says.
Kissing Niklaus again felt like taking a tumble down a rabbit hole. The past and present meld together, the world turning into nothing but a blanket of silence. His lips are surprisingly soft, the mere press of them silencing everything in her head. He tastes like wine and Hanne lets herself get drunk on him.
There is a reason Reapers never feed from a werewolf. Unlike humans, werewolves could fight back. Instead of turning to silver smoke, the wolf thrashed inside of the Reaper like the caught animal it was, raking its claws down their ribs that had formed a cage. All the anger that came with being a werewolf, all that violence that clung to their fur, it formed into teeth that wanted their own pound of flesh.
Hanne knows this. She knows that it's a pain like any other.
But she's so done being pushed around.
Hanne breathes in.
Immediately, Niklaus begins to trash in her hold. Stars dance across her vision as she inhales, the feeling of her lungs being torn to shreds reflecting back to her through Niklaus's agonized face. In tandem, they ache. It hurts to pull from him, the beads around her neck sending white-hot pokers down her throat in warning. Both the wolf in Klaus and the binding beads resist her at every turn.
The pain is almost too much to bear. Blood vessels erupt and pop in her throat, rushing up to spill from her lips. It coats both her mouth and his in liquid crimson. Her blunt nails dig into his forearms as the world around her sways, her head filling with helium like a balloon about to pop.
Niklaus buckles and they fall as one. When Hanne opens her eyes, molten gold stares back at her. He strains against her hold, the volatile stolen strength flooding her making her feel ten feet tall. He manages to break free with a ragged gasp.
"Let me go," Klaus rasps.
"Set me free, Nik," She pants. "Set me free and I'll let you go."
"Are you mad? You would kill us both?"
"Hanne," Rebekah's voice sounds so far away and Hanne brushes it off.
"You know Nik…I'm starting to think there's a little bit of wolf in me too."
To the others, it may sound nonsensical, a fragmented comment from a suffering mind. But Niklaus understands. He always has. His stare nearly blinds her with golden light. They are all alone in the world, breathing in each other's grasp. His grin is angry, sharpened by the fangs in his mouth. But his amber gaze looks at her with dark admiration.
"I will have you back," He warns. "This is not over."
"We will see about that."
Niklaus stares at her blood-slicked mouth, leaning forward for a lingering kiss that threatens to short circuit Hanne's brain. When he leans back, the words she's longed to hear since the beginning spring force between hoarse breaths.
"I call upon thee child of Hel,
To revoke my right as a child of the night.
Thy tithe has been paid in blood and bone,
And I reverse thy spell long set in stone.
His hand trails down the side of her face to rest on the rosary on her neck. Hanne stares at him, resolute, tears prickling in her eyes. Already the link between them is dimming.
"With this broken necklace,
I set thee free.
I reverse The Call to unbind thee from my heart,
No longer in my death shall we part."
His fingers gripped the rosary, and with a mighty tug, the necklace came undone. Its beads clatter to the floor, spilling beneath the table and hitting the shoes of the people gathered. The first breath of air Hanne takes in tastes all the sweeter in her victory despite the copper clinging to the back of her throat.
She lets out a breathless laugh, her head tipping toward the ceiling.
"What a painfully dramatic spell," Kol muttered from the corner.
High off her release, she barely feels Finn's hands beneath her armpits as he lifted her up. She rests against his chest as he carries her to the couch, his long hair tickling her nose. Centuries have been stolen from him, evident by the off-white shirt he wore and the unbound hair too long to be fashionable. It aches her to see the grief barely hidden in his eyes.
"We're both free now," She whispers. "We are free,storbror."
In the background, the rest of the Mikaelsons descend upon Niklaus. There is no shared pain, no battering that blooms on her skin like she was still his mirror. She is blessedly, finally, free.
She sags in Finn's hold. Realizing she isn't going to budge, he settles into the couch with her, allowing her to lean against him. He's tense, but when her hand comes to wrap around hers, Finn melts into the couch. Here in his arms, Hanne feels safe.
Rebekah is screaming like a banshee as she and Elijah tag team against Niklaus, her finger curled like a talon in his face near enough to touch. Elijah, for all his stoic silence, has left it behind as he berates his brother with wildly gesturing hands. His disappointment must sting more than Rebekah's enraged screeching from the crestfallen expression on Niklaus's face. While they are an amusing sight to see, it's Kol grabbing a fire poker and holding it in the flame that catches her attention.
"Kol," Finn warns, disrupting his youngest brother's work. With a heavy sigh, Kol throws the fire poker across the room and rounds on Niklaus to join in on the screaming.
"Aw, did you have to do that?" Hanne sighs.
"It is not gentlemanly to display such brutality, especially with ladies present."
"I just about killed Klaus and myself like a coyote eating its own foot to get out of a trap and you're thinking a hot fire poker to his stomach is too much?"
"Kol would not stop at his stomach. He favors wielding it like a blunt object and going to his victim's heads."
"Oh. So brain matter would have just gone all over the dining room floor."
"Must you be so crass?"
"Finn. Times have changed."
She half expects a lecture, but Finn has always managed to surprise her. He chuckles, tugging at a strand of her hair. "As if you have changed all too much. You were just as wild when we were young, you are not fooling me, my dear."
Hanne grins, snuggling into his hold. Or at least she tries to, but her throat feels raw and a coughing fit overtakes her when she tries to speak again. A wrist is brought to her mouth, Finn's concerned hazel eyes pleading.
"Drink, it will heal you."
It was either drink or wait till her own healing kicked in. She could eat one of the service girls, but Finn would probably be cross with her if she did so. Hanne sucks in a complaint and takes to his wrist with a pout.
"Oh, get a room," Kol groans.
"Don't be weird, Kol. That's our sister!"
"Children, please, let's get back to the matter at hand." Elijah chides.
Niklaus only glares at them from his perch on the dining room table, his arms crossed. Hanne gives him a lazy middle finger as she wipes her mouth. Finn snorts, covering her hand and pushing it back down. His blood floods through her, stitching together every broken piece and filling her with renewed energy.
"Thanks."
"Always."
"I should probably go grab my things," She sighs, pushing off of him.
"No-" Niklaus jumps from the table. But before he can get to her, his siblings block off his path.
"Niklaus, I suggest you sit back down."
"That may be for the best," Finn says as he eyes his younger brother. "I will accompany you."
Finn walks at her side with an arm laying across her shoulders, ever the silent protector. They make the journey up the stairs with little fuss, though Hanne does make a comment about how ridiculous it is to have so many steps. Finn's quiet the whole way up, his eyes sweeping across her room from where he lingers in the doorway.
"You can come in, Finn."
"I am fine here."
"Suit yourself."
She goes into her closet and comes back out with an already packed duffle bag and her backpack for school. Finn raises an eyebrow.
"You were in on the plan, not only taking advantage of the situation."
"Elijah had the plan. I only added my full cooperation and made him promise to not step in."
"He knew you were going to gamble with your life?" Finn sounded absolutely disgusted.
Carefully, she sets her bags back down and goes to sit on the edge of her bed. She pats the spot next to her. Finn's face twitches but he relents with a sigh, picking his way through her room and sitting gingerly next to her. They turn to face each other, one high off of freedom and the other weighed down by centuries of regret.
"It was worth it, Finn. True death or freedom, either way, I would have won in the end."
"You can not possibly mean that. You can not possibly think that your death is in any way a form of victory."
For a moment, she is fifteen again. Sad and afraid and slowly losing her mind under the weight of memories she didn't understand. Hanne plays with the edges of her sleeves.
"You of all people must understand," She says quietly.
"I do," Finn sighs. "Locked away in that casket for centuries, doomed to desiccate while my family lived on without me, all because they did not understand me…I know only too well why you would wish for it. But I beg of you, never again attempt a move as dangerous as that. If he had not set you free, I fear what would have become of you."
"The weight of immortality is already heavy enough, Finn. I can not,willnot, bear it under the thumb of a cruel man. I have died and lived too many times because a man has decided I should. My last death will be my choice, and mine alone. It was your father that took that choice from me over the centuries and while Niklaus isn't really his son, I won't allow another Mikaelson to do the same."
If the revelation that it was his father who killed her startled him, he did not show it.
"Did you know?" She asked carefully.
"I suspected when he brought you to us. But I had banished the thought."
"You wanted to believe in him."
Finn smiled bitterly. "I believed in him until my very last human breath."
"What a sad thought. You even believed in him after he ran the sword through you?"
Finn shrugged. "Do we not all wish to believe in the best of intentions regarding our loved ones?"
They sat in silence. It should be heavy, should be miserable, and yet she finds herself oddly calm. The endorphins of his blood and her newfound freedom were starting to wear off, but Hanne found herself content.
"Do you wish for it, even now that you are free?" He asks in a whisper.
"Death? No." She laughs, a little breathless. "No, now I want to live. I want to go to school, get my degree, and spend time with my descendants and our family. Finn, there's so much I have to tell you."
She looks at him but he is looking at his hands, sight unseeing.
"There is also something I must tell you, dear Iona. If you will permit me."
"It's Hanne, now. And shoot." He gives her a confused look. "I mean, yes. You may share whatever it is you wish to."
Teaching him about modern times is going to be harder than it was with Rebekah, she can just tell. Imagining Finn with a smartphone already gives her a headache.
"I must apologize,lillesøster. About your first death. If I had thought my father would have hurt you, I would never have allowed him near you. I truly believed he would never dishonor you or our family in that way."
"You didn't think he would act upon it. But still, you tried to keep me from him. For all your devotion, you tried to protect me."
"You honor me in trying to find any righteousness in my being. This family does not deserve you, Hanne."
It was her turn to shrug. "I'm no saint myself, Finn."
His face was fond as he smiled at her. "You could do no wrong in my eyes, dear one."
"Give it some time," She jokes, smiling back.
Suddenly, his head whips towards the door. His face is etched with shock and he climbs to his feet.
"Hanne."
"What is it?" Hanne jumps up, glancing at the door in a panic.
Did Niklaus get past his siblings? Were the Salvatores back to turn on them while the Mikaelsons were busy turning on themselves?
"It's mother. She is alive." He breathes.
AN: Someday, I should start up a companion series on her old lives. Just a bunch of one-shots.
Possibly, I could start that in December? It'd have sporadic updates. But what say you?
Also! PLEASE tell me how you're feeling about this chapter. She's finally free, and things are going to be on a more even playing field from here. Don't expect a romance between she and Klaus for a while though. They are a slow burn in terms of finally getting together.