Esther's presence is a wrecking ball to Hanne's relief.
Her hope was fragile as an eggshell and now it's been cracked wide open. Finn holds Hanne's hand as they walk back down the stairs, into the mess of the Mikaelson family who stares at their mother in stunned silence. Klaus stands away from his siblings, grief etched onto his face and a hint of fear in his eyes.
Hanne knows what he feels. The anger, the hurt that has festered over the years after Esther's magic had signaled him out to Mikael as a scapegoat. She doesn't know the pain of a parent's rejection, not anymore, not in this life. But she sees it in the way he trembles in place and Hanne hates.
"I hate this family," Hanne mutters under her breath.
"Mother," Klaus croaks.
But it's Hanne who she looks at, her expression utterly blank. "You're alive."
"I am."
"How is that possible?"
"I'd say ask your husband but he's kind of dead." Hanne shrugs, giving a mean smile.
Esther's lip twitches. "I see."
"Hanne," Finn scolds, his grip tight enough to make the bones of her hand creak. "Have more respect for Mother."
Esther spins a tale of forgiveness and family and love conquering all tragedy. She even smiles at Hanne and invites her into the family hug that follows, her youngest children clinging to her frame while the eldest stays back. Finn tugs her forward and forces her into the hug, right into Elijah's arms as he takes his place next to her. It is only Klaus who stays away.
But he isn't the only one who doesn't believe this farce. Hanne's gaze meets Elijah over Rebekah's sobbing form.
Elijah, as calm as always, smiles. It doesn't even begin to reach his eyes.
In a room full of liars, Hanne smells the bullshit a mile away. She knows each of these people and their tells. Knows when they are carefully hiding them away, to sell a lie. It's a flawless rendition of the hopes that lie in her children's hearts, but Hanne hates this woman and is unmoved by her daring attempt at human emotions.
Despite the love she sees writhing in burning anguish in Elijah's face, she knows he doesn't believe her either. They give each other the tiniest of nods.
They will not let Esther break their family apart.
No, Hanne hisses internally, possessively, if anyone is going to bring the Mikaelsons down it's going to be her and her alone.
Going over the details of tonight was not meant to make the Nyland family group chat explode, nor force Jae-Joon to call her, but Hanne sighs into the receiver audibly anyway. Korean flows through the speaker and Hanne adapts just as planned. On her tongue, the language is heavy and stiff, totally unlike the smooth tone of her brother.
"What do you want?"
"Hello to you too. Your Korean is still shit, by the way."
"Thanks. Missed you too."
"It's a miracle you speak Norwegian and English, honestly. If one can count you're incessant bitching as speaking."
Hanne rolls her eyes. The corners of her lips twitch, pieces of the heavyweight in her chest beginning to chip off. Jae-Joon always knew what to say to make her feel better. Or what not to say.
"Need help with a jailbreak? I could set his house on fire. Or his hair. Or his-"
"Don't set anything on fire, you pyro." Hanne grinned sharply. The image of setting Klaus on fire was a compelling one. Part of her protested at the very thought but the meaner part of her laughed.
"Mom keeps asking if we can kill him now, and I do so love fire…"
"Tell her I'll think about it. A lot has happened tonight- more than planned. I had thought I'd get the siblings and go, but it seems fate laughs once again." The edges of her words blur, the hint of an ancient accent coloring them even through her choppy Korean.
"So then what will you do, while you're thinking about possibly or not possibly setting your ex on fire?"
"Go back to school. Do homework. Cry into my coursework. All the things I should have been doing while he dragged me around like a dog on a leash. Maybe get a stiff drink."
The door to her room ominously opens, the hinges squeaking. Soft yellow light from the hallways sconces pierces the black of her room and Hanne has to squint to identify the lone figure in the doorway.
"Gods, my absence has left you positively bored, hasn't it? You must have been terribly lonely. Look at you, moping in the dark like Finn. I am glad I was eavesdropping."
Kol saunters in, kicking the door shut behind him. Covered by the dark, Hanne doesn't see him move about her room until her lamp flicks on and he's standing at the edge of her bed with a bottle of whiskey she knows by smell alone is from the library.
"Of course one of you knows Korean." She says flatly.
"But of course," Kol answers, perfectly fluent. "We all know at least five languages. I happen to know thirteen. I would know more, but Klaus simply adores keeping me in a daggered and in the dark of musty buildings. But don't worry darling, I'm the only one who knows Korean."
"Who is this loser? He sounds dramatic."
"He sounds like you."
Kol snatches the phone from her hand, the corners of his mouth a touch too tense as he stares down at the object. "How do you speak into this device?"
Immediately, Hanne narrows her eyes. "Why?"
"Because I have a message for your brother," Kol spits.
She can't help but snort. "Speak into the bottom half."
"Hello? Hanne's brother? Yes, hello. And goodbye, I will be spending time with my sister." Kol unceremoniously hangs up and drops the phone back onto her bed before flopping down on it. "Let's get drunk."
An odd sort of amusement dances in her chest. She reaches out, taking the glass with a careful hand, her mouth twisting. "You don't have to be jealous of Jae-Joon, Kol. In fact, you'd like him."
Her phone buzzes with her brother's undoubtedly irritated responses. Kol shoves it under the comforter and rolls his dark eyes. Strewn across her bed with his hair a mess, he looks less like the younger image of Elijah and more like a modern teen with an attitude problem. Given who his other brother is, Hanne only thinks the thought all the more hilarious.
"We are your family, not him. He was just some off-the-rack witch you picked up because you missed me."
"Jae-Joon's family. He's been there for me since the day I met him. It's sandbox love, little brother. You never get over that. And never let him hear you call him a witch, he'll hex you till his fingers fall off. How do you even know he's magic?"
She watches as he pours them both a hefty amount of liquor, licking the drops that run free down her fingers when he misjudges the distance. No longer looking so sour, Kol levels her with a dark vulpine grin.
"I didn't. You just admitted it to me."
"Ah," Hanne huffs a laugh, taking a long swig. "Still as tricksy as ever, I see."
"And I know you. You're a Mikaelson, even if you play house with another family now. You've never been one for boring friends. I can only hope this friend specializes in revenge. I do believe dear Nik has it coming."
Awareness comes to her slowly, then all at once. The air feels thick and suffocating, heavy enough to choke on. Her weak eyes fight and fail to penetrate the dark of her room. No matter how desperately she tries, she cannot see what has woken her up. A dip in the mattress is her only warning.
Hanne can feel him watching her, the weight of his gaze like hands that run over her body.
She can't see him. Can't hear his breathing, or the shifting of his clothing. But she can feel him.
Klaus slithers over her, slowly winding his way till she can feel him hovering face to face. The stolen heat of his skin seeps into her blanket, barricading her with his much too-warm body. No sleep paralysis demon she could recall ever came close to this feeling of torment. His forehead comes to rest against hers, the pressing of it hard like he wished to burrow into her skull and meld them together.
A shuddering breath pries itself from his lips, the scent of bourbon and metal ghosting across her face. Her heart beats wilder than a drum from within her ribcage, a mixture of fear and desire blooming in her chest and starting to spread its own savage song the longer he hovers.
His lips press to the corner of her mouth, as soft as the brush of a moth's wing. Her hand shoots out to grip his jaw in her hand. Her arm trembles with exhaustion, the toll of their earlier battle wearing her down before she can even start. It takes everything to shove his face away from her.
When her hand comes away, it comes away slick. Warmth slips through her fingers and onto her face, drops of what could only be blood coating her chilled skin. Her tongue darts out of reflex to lick it away, a tremble working its way through her at the unfamiliar taste. She's known the taste of a soul, but blood has never called to her. She wonders if he'd let her lick the inside of his mouth before she forces that thought right out of her mind and into the dark where it belongs.
His name is a tentative question on her lips. "Klaus?"
Of course, he deigns not to answer. She can feel the way he shakes from the sound of her voice, but he says nothing.
Just as she's about to raise her hand once more, the desire to kiss him at war with the desire to kill him, Niklaus lets out a deep, strangled whine. Just as quickly as he came, he leaves.
She scrambles for the lamp. What he's left behind is a crime scene of intimacy, the bloody handprints illuminated by the light.
Annoyance sweeps away the fear. Of course, he's left her with the mess. Hanne drags herself from her bed to change, stripping herself and her sheets until everything is bare. She tosses the soiled mess into a bundle by the door, the blood beginning to itch where it's drying on her skin.
She barely contains her guttural scream.
"What is wrong with this family?"
Hanne redresses herself with the first set of pajamas her hands land on, her body suddenly nearly too heavy to carry through the doorway. The hallway is empty as she makes her way to Rebekah's room, though the hair still rises on the back of her neck like she's being watched. She doesn't bother to check and slips into the other girl's bedroom with relief.
Moonlight paints the blonde in silver, the edges of her hair pearlescent. She barely stirs even as Hanne crawls into the bed and tucks her forehead in between Rebekah's shoulder blades.
"Iona? What is it?" Rebekah asks, voice thick with sleep.
"Nothing, Bekah. Go back to sleep."
Like this, it's easy to pretend they are two girls settling in for a sleepover. Hanne could almost let herself believe it, to be lulled by the lie.
Almost.
She gets a few days with the Nylands when Esther asks for time alone with her children. Typically, Hanne would have stayed simply to piss her off. But she wants as far away from that witch woman as possible. Not even Rebekah pouting nor Kol's sulking gets her to stay. Oddly enough, Klaus has not bothered her since he visited her room.
Likely licking his wounds. His mother, who he killed, was back and Hanne herself had basically set fire to the bridge they were standing on together in hopes of going free. But his absence only annoys her. All that work to get her to like him again, and he buckles at first blood? Boring.
She'd expected something more from him, honestly. Something more in line with the dreaded Big Bad Wolf he thinks of himself as. But no matter. Today, she is blessedly free and with her kid.
Elena pants heavily, her coltish limbs shaking. "Damn," She grunts, stretching her neck.
"Again." Erika drawls, her long coffin-shaped nails tapping an impatient rhythm against the wall she leans on.
Everyone was gathered in the backyard, watching as Elena stumbled through a training session with Hanne's mother. Enzo and Anders lounge upon a Victorian wicker set, shaded by the delicate awning Erika had made back in the nineteen-forties. Snacks had been placed out on the table, courtesy of Anders, who sips at his steaming hot tea with a wide grin aimed right at his wife.
"How you're drinking hot tea right now is beyond me," Hanne mutters, sprawled across a thick picnic blanket. A mess of school books and less fancy snacks surround her. Jae-Joon smirks next to her.
"Not everybody likes sweet tea. Especially here, Americans love dumping sugar into everything," He'd grown bored of the 'show' after the fourth time Elena had been knocked down, now suntanning.
Elena doesn't let the chatter bother her. Every chance she gets to strike, she tries to take it. It's too bad her opponent moves like smoke, there in Elena's grasp and gone within the next. Hanne had to bite down her grin at the sight of Elena's sweaty face. Despite how slow it is earned, Elena shows her progress with every lesson.
It's hard, being essentially a human in a world of creatures so much stronger than you. Elena is slight of figure and not all too physically strong. But what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in ingenuity. She feints a punch before swinging with a stake in her hand, the sharp tip ripping through Erika's expensive tracksuit. Everyone is silent as they watch, wondering what Erika will do next.
Erika stares at the rip in her tracksuit top, fingering the rough edges. Slowly, a smile worms it's way to her mouth and she looks down at Elena with amused fondness.
"You're fierce, for a human. As expected as a Nyland."
Jae-Joon and Hanne glance at each other in shock. Even Elena stands there, dumbfounded. Erika takes the moment to knock Elena back down. Flat on her back, she looks dazedly up into the soft mid-morning sky. But she doesn't leave her there. Erika leans down, placing a delicate hand on Elena's sweat-stained cheek.
"You are blood of my blood, girl." Her voice is quiet, her black eyes softening. "You are Hanne's great-niece, and therefore you are our family too. I would never have thought I'd see the day I take a human in, but I guess even an old lady like me can change her mind. Well. For you and your brother."
That sounds more like her. Hanne covers her snort with a cough, waving off her father's raised brows and gesture of tea. A glance at Enzo reveals much of the same, his face openly entertained. He nods back at the frankly startling scene in the grass and Hanne thinks maybe her little Grinch heart grows a few sizes.
Elena leans her face into Erika's hand, blinking back tears. What she's thinking, whatever it is she's seeing in that moment, makes Hanne wish mind reading was one of her abilities. But regardless of what it is, one thing is utterly clear.
Elena is terribly lonely. She drinks in the sight of Erika like a girl lost in the desert, having finally found a cool oasis. How lonely it much have been, being the only thing keeping the Gilberts together. That history teacher could only do so much, and he was usually gone day drinking his sorrows away with the town's most obnoxious vampire.
"You are not alone any longer," Erika whispers. "Not with us."
When Jae-Joon is not making Elena suffer through the equivalent of magical suicides, Erika takes Elena and puts her through the paces physically. And when neither can spare the time…Anders takes her under his wing. Watching Elena witness her first autopsy makes Hanne's chest swell up with glee. Only a tinge of it is malicious, though she would find amusement in anyone in Elena's position. After a crash course in anatomy and general decay, Hanne has to practically carry Elena up the steps of the Gilbert house.
"Your family is insane,"Elena mumbles sleepily.
"Our family is insane, you mean. Look, you'll find no better teachers in the wild and weird than a Nyland. I'm sure Enzo can teach you some pickpocket tricks next."
"What you consider a useful education is a bit concerning."
Hanne shrugs. "You're more fragile than us. If you get taken by another weirdo looking for a sacrifice, you'll need to be able to protect yourself. Magic won't always save you, either. Look at Bonnie. She can still bleed."
"But showing me a corpse?"
"I'd call that exposure therapy. Being a Nyland involves a lot of corpses. Being a doppelganger trying to live past twenty involves even more. And you want to live a long, human life, right?"
They reach the front door and Hanne takes the keys from Elena's shaking hand. She walks her niece over to the couch, letting her flop onto it. Hanne takes a seat on the coffee table, leaning back with a small smirk on her face.
"I want a life of choices. Being immortal takes those right out of my hands."
"Then we have to get you into the best shape we can. People will never stop coming after you, Elena. Not while you were human. We will do what we can to make you stronger, and you can rely on us for the rest."
"I'm going to be ripped by the time your mom is done with me."
"You can teach Jeremy a few things. Get him ready, too. Be workout buddies when we can't train you anymore."
"I don't want Jeremy even more involved with this life."
"He's involved no matter what. He's a Gilbert and he's your brother. Like it or not, you both were born into this life and only death could permanently take you out of it."
"You are so grim."
"Was that a Reaper joke?" Hanne asks drily before smirking. "Cause you killed that."
Elena groans gutturally into the couch cushion.
It's the evening the next day when Hanne feels something shift. Her eyes shoot to the door just as someone knocks on it. By the time she opens the front door, nobody is there…
All that she sees are two envelopes, with her and Elena's names on them.
The script is elegant, all flourishing letters on expensive paper. Not a soul is to be seen when she glances around. She picks them up, frowning. Even the weight of them screams luxury. Whoever sent them must have been made of money. She pulls out her letter, giving it a skim.
Or a Mikaelson.
Her frown deepens as she reads the invitation. A ball? Tonight? How utterly like them to demand people to show up the same day an invite is issued. Hanne rubs her forehead as she thinks.
"What is it?" Elena says, coming up behind her. She sees the invites and takes hers, tearing off the top. "A ball, so soon?"
"Apparently so."
"Where would I even get a ball gown this late?" Elena sighs, turning the invite around. On the back is a message specifically for her. Bit by bit, a cold rage begins to build in Hanne.
Of course, it was from Esther. She couldn't leave well enough alone. Asking for a private audience with Elena? Was she insane or just stupid? Hanne could bet that Esther hadn't thought Hanne would be there when Elena got her invite.
"Give me that for a second?" Hanne asks, voice frightfully calm. Elena gives her the letter, and uncaring if she looked insane, Hanne takes a deep whiff of the parchment paper.
The faintest whiff of a familiar aftershave clung to it. One she knows only a handful of people in the world could buy, let alone enjoy.
"Clever," She whispers. A smug smirk slowly crawls across her face. "Very clever, brother."
An: I know it's been foreverrrr I have no excuse I just got wanted a break. But my love for TVD has been relit, so expect some more chapters coming up. Oh, and here's a picture I drew for this story.
Also, if you want to see the new cover better, check it out here:
Instagram: wildrodrev
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you could probably see it better on my Ao3 as well!