AN: For reference Elijah's new look is from Daniel Gillies portrayal of Elijah Mickelson from Season 2 of The Originals (2013-2018).
The smell of blood surrounded him, it coated his bare chest, his arms, his jaw as he stalked towards his next prey. Emma.
The tail end of her white night dress as it billowed behind her was what caught the vampire's eye as well as her drumming hear beat as he turned the corner of the long hallway to see the blonde woman scurrying away from him as he continued his relentless pursuit of her.
Her escape came to abrupt end when the young woman hit a red door at the far end, reaching for the handle the young woman found the door locked as she continued to pull and tug at the handle as the vampire closed the distance between him and his prey as she frantically hit the red door in desperation for someone to help her.
Looking back the blonde gasps in fear seeing how close the vampire drenched in blood was before continuing her frantic attempts of escape only for a strong hand to take hold of her arm, forcing her to turn. Only as Emma turned to face her pursuer. Her face changed.
Sibyl.
"Prince Charming" she gasps in fear as her sweet blue eye's full of fear, met his blank emotionless ones. She tries to fight his hold as a strong hand takes hold of the back of her head, forcing it back as his fanged teeth sunk into her neck, making her scream met his ears.
Gasping awake, the vampire sat up in fright as he found himself back in his bedroom in Storybrooke, back in the comfort of his bed as he pushed the remnants of the red door from his mind. The vampire was met by the first streams of daylight came through the curtains that had been replaced after tearing them down in his hurry to find his daylight ring after magic had been brought to the sleepy town, re-awakened his second nature that had laid dormant for the last twenty-eight years.
After watching Henry walk away from him and his sister to be with his birth family, the vampire quickly made the decision to hunt in the forest for whatever game had the misfortune to be making its way through the forest at that time.
With his stomach full he returned home to spend the rest of this evening alone in his room after washing off the Enchanted Forest from his skin. But whatever book he picked up to try and bring his mind some peace and quiet was quickly put down as he found himself failing to concentrate on a single sentence. His body craved for something stronger.
So instead of giving into them, he suffocated them in a bottle of bourbon before passing out on his bed. Not the most elegant way of falling asleep, he'd rather sleep than face his home being so quiet.
Turning himself so that he sat on the edge of his bed the vampire instantly reached out for his daylight ring on his bedside only to hesitate when he saw a beam of sunlight that had managed to come through the black-out curtains that had replaced his old ones as he still felt the first signs of the hangover that was quickly fogging his mind. He needed to wake up, and rid himself of the images of his nightmare of the red door. And he knew one sure way to do that.
Reaching out with his left hand his finger's inched closer to the beam on sunlight, before thrusting forward so that the light landed straight in the palm of his hand.
Stifling the hiss of pain that turned into a groan, the vampire fought his instincts to pull away as his skin sizzled and burnt before him, his teeth clenching as he held it for another five seconds before snatching it away to safety. He was awake now.
Quickly slipping the blue gemmed ring to his finger, Elijah waited long enough for the skin on his hand to heal before pushing himself onto his feet to find his trainers and running gear.
He needed a run.
Trainer clad feet hit the cement street of Storybrooke like he'd done for the past twenty-eight years as the vampire kept a steady pace as he ran his usual route around town.
Before the curse had been broken, the Elijah Mill's had taken up running eleven-years to keep his human body fit and healthy for the sake of his nephew despite no sign of the curse allowing him to gain or lose weight, or even dying.
After a while, he began to enjoy them even. It got him the mindset he needed for the day ahead of being a parent to his nephew and his role at the school. Also, he didn't mind the look's he received from certain waitress that perfectly timed her 'begrudgingly' putting out the board outside the diner to him running past.
Now, it would have to be a way of keeping him grounded as he concentrated on his breathing as he came across the first early riser Dr. Hopper. Meeting the therapists gaze on the sidewalk on Main Street the man simply nodded at Elijah in greeting with a friendly smile before the latter ran past him.
Pausing his and Pongo's morning walk, the man couldn't help but wonder how he was coping with everything that had happened in the time leading up to the curse being broken and finding out that he had been cursed all along. He hoped his sister would convince him to seek out his help.
As he continued, he wasn't greeted with the usual people he would see on his runs as he didn't pass Mr. Gold crossing the road, Sheriff Graham driving past in his patrol car. As the realisation of how much everything has changed, so much so, he hadn't noticed how he come to stop in the middle of the street barely feeling his muscles strain from the workout as he barely felt a beat of sweat on his body. He didn't feel anything despite the ground he had already covered.
Hearing a small bell to his left the vampire looked up to see that he had stopped right outside the local barber opening his shop for the day ahead. Catching his reflection in the glass, the vampire saw what everyone had seen for the last twenty-eight years. And he didn't like it.
He needed to change to adapt to his new surroundings. Starting with a haircut. He was never a fan whenever his mother had manged to pin him down long enough for a servant to take a blade to his hair. But as he grew older Cora gave up and allowed him to grow it long enough so that it reached his shoulders. Any longer and she would compare how he looked like his sister.
Stepping into the clean shop the barber walked out from the back to see who had entered his business first thing that morning. Not giving the man the chance to kick him out the vampire pulled out a wad of cash from his shorts, placing it next to the register before heading to a chair.
Making himself comfortable as he could the barber made his way over to stand behind him as their eye's met in the mirror.
"Cut it off" he orders the man. With a nod the barber throws a cover over Elijah's front fastening around his neck before taking a pair of scissor's to his hair.
Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
Watching the battle that raged on below her from the safety of the hilltop. The Evil Queen watches as King George's kingdom burn in the fiery inferno that had broken out as her's and the King's armies clashed against that of the Princess Snow's and her Prince Charming after waking up from her sleeping curse.
She knew her army was in the safe hands with her brother leading the lines. Where he would be able to gorge on the blood of their enemies with no one to stop him. She had seen what he could do alone. The thought of what he could do for her as a creature of the night made her smile to herself. He would be the deterrent she needed to discourage any hero brave enough to try and topple her rule.
"My Queen!" a voice calls out to her making her look to her right and see a number of her Black Knights approach her, making her turn her steed to face them "We've received word. Snow White and the Prince have defeated King George. His army has fallen. The kingdom is theirs" he informs the Queen of the status of the battle she had been watching.
"And what of George?" the Queen asked in annoyance of their defeat.
"His fate is unknown" the knight tells her "But, without his forces, we are now alone. We cannot defeat them" he concludes. Not even the Queen's brother could defeat them.
"Do not tell me what we can or can't do" she snaps at the knight, only to realise of who they hadn't mentioned when informing her of her defeat.
"What of the Lord Elijah?" she asks the knight next "Where is my brother?".
"Injured, Your Majesty" he reports to her "He was attacked by their werewolf. Lord Elijah was taken by his guards from the battlefield to heal".
"Was he bitten?" the Queen quickly asks the knight. Werewolf bite's were fatal for people like him. Or that was what she had heard.
"No, Your Majesty" he reassures her.
Good. She thought to herself, he was safe. While King George's armies fell she needed to make sure her baby brother was not one of them.
"Where is Snow White now?" she presses the knight.
"Alone, on her way back to meet the Prince".
A grin grew on the Queen's face knowing this was her opportunity of getting the girl alone "Excellent. I don't care how many men you lose – keep them apart long enough for me to find her. I will not let them defeat me. Get the Lord Elijah back to the palace. I don't care if you have to offer him your own neck, just get him better" she order the knight as she spurs her horse down the path
"Yes, Your Majesty". was the last thing she heard her knight say to her before disappearing in the dark forest to find Snow White herself, unknowingly falling into a trap designed to capture the Queen if she refused to surrender to the clear victors of the night.
He had to admit he liked it. It had been a while since his hair was this short. Stood in his bathroom with steam surrounding him from his shower, the vampire stood in nothing but a towel around his waist as he admired the work done by the barber that morning.
Gone with the short bangs that hung over his forehead to leave behind a more...modern look, with a clean shaven face. With all remnants of his unplanned trip back home gone, he felt like himself, more human. Even if that was possible.
By the time he had returned, his sister was awake with the only missing component that would've made this morning like any other, that would be waking up in an apartment with his birth mother and maternal grandparents on the other side of town.
Dressing in fresh suit for whatever came that day minus a tie, he didn't feel like having anything around tight around his neck just yet, he hadn't planned on leaving the house for anything except from hunting later that evening when he was less likely to come into contact with any hikers that might get in his way.
Following the beat of his sister's heart, he found her in the kitchen, dressed for the day, seemingly lost in thought as she stood at the kitchen sink looking out of the window into the backyard.
"Good morning" he greets her leaning against the open doorway catching her attention to see her baby brother leaning against the door way in a deep blue suit and crisp white shirt with the top two buttons undone with no tie. Taking note of his fresh haircut.
When she heard him leave early that morning, she made it her mission to act as closely to normal as she could without Henry here.
"Good morning" she smiles at him the best she could, nervously brushing her hands over her pencil skirt "How are you feeling?".
"Better. Thank you" he answers her honestly "More..human".
"Good" she sighs eyeing the pot of freshly made coffee she had made especially for him "Would you like some coffee?" she offers her brother. She wasn't' sure where they stood after his promise to leave her side.
"Please" he answers stepping further into the kitchen to stand at the island in the middle of the room as his sister turned to the pot of coffee she had ready to serve.
"I uh, spoke to Dr. Whale this morning" she starts as she turns back to the mug that he usually drank out of, pouring a generous amount of the caffeinated liquid into a mug, she knew it would help "The hospital is willing to provide us some bags of blood for you to keep here, in exchange for some 'charitable' donations" she tells him as she slides the coffee over the counter to him.
"That's not necessary" he quickly tells her picking up the mug from the counter "I know how to hunt and there's plenty of game in the forest for me to survive on".
"I'm only trying to help" she retorts "If I knew this would happen to when the curse broke-".
"Then you'd have done what exactly? Not have given Miss Swan a poisoned apple turnover for your son to eat instead?" he blinked at her as he took the first sip of warm liquid that would help him fit in with the living.
"That's not fair" she retorts "That was an accident". And it was.
"And yet it happened" he wasn't going to let her forget what she did soon, despite their time apart he still wanted to her to be held accountable for what happened in the run in of the curse being broken.
Taking a pause to the former Queen took a second to quell her anger towards the growing argument with her brother as he continued to nurse his drink. He was still angry about being cursed. As he had every a right to be.
"I called Dr. Hopper. He's agreed to see us both for an appointment for a joint session".
Therapy? With his sister? Now that was combination he never knew that existed.
"Us sister?" he questioned her.
"Yes, us" she echoes "I want to show you how serious I am about changing. That I'm done with the Evil Queen".
"For yourself or Henry?" he asks her.
"Both. Also to give us a chance to...talk, about everything that happened".
"You mean when I discovered that you had in fact cursed me along with everyone else, despite the promise you gave our father and I that you wouldn't".
"Exactly" she answered with a sarcastic smile that was mirrored.
"When's the appointment?".
"In an hour" she replies "It was the only appointment he had left on short notice".
"Then I shall meet you outside in thirty minutes" at that the man turned and left his sister to prepare himself for the therapy session he was being forced to go to. For Archie Hopper's sake, he hoped the man would be able to keep temper the Mill's, for only those with the strongest of wills would be able to keep them from killing the other.
It wasn't like he'd never been to therapy before. He had sat in this very room before and spoke at length to the man sat in from of the sofa and gone into detail of his life as much as he could with the curse therapist when Henry was first adopted eleven years ago.
The sound of the clock ticking was the only thing that could be heard as neither sibling had said anything since arriving. Taking a seat at either end of the sofa while the therapist made himself comfortable on his wooden desk chair while his dalmatian quietly slept on his bed. He didn't want to be here it was easily to see as the vampire sat turned away from his elder sister deep into seat with a knee resting on the other, with his arm stretched out along the back of the furniture while his hand was occupied with the tie that he put on after he was informed of the impromptu appointment.
While on the other end the former Mayor sat on the edge of her seat with her back straight and her hands in her lap like she had been taught to from an early age waiting for something to be said by someone.
"So, uh, Elijah" Archie broke the silence that had engulfed the room "Why do you think Regina wanted you to come here today with her" he asks the man hoping to open up the conversation between the pair of distant siblings.
"Perhaps it was to ease her guilt for nearly killing her son with a sleeping curse" he bluntly answered the therapist as he heard a scoff come from the other end of the sofa "Or that you conspired with the Dark One to ensure that no one would make it back to Storybrooke, including myself. Or when-".
"If you're not going to take this seriously" his sister snapped at him as his brother remained unperturbed by her irritation towards him.
"Regina" Archie quickly tempered the irritated former Queen to keep quiet before looking towards the man in the suit "Elijah, think of this as a chance not to voice your, issues...".
"In which there are great many" the vampire quickly interrupting the man, before he carried on anyway.
"But as a chance to voice any doubts you might have in a safe environment. From the conversation's I've had with Regina, she wants to show to you how committed she is to changing".
"And why exactly does she think she has to prove to me?" he asks the therapist.
"Regina?" the therapist called the woman to speak, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat to turn and face her little brother at the other end.
"What you said in the hospital" she speaks up "About giving Miss Swan your word and the promise you made to our father. I've come to realise that I haven't been the...best sister, especially when I needed you the most" she trails off "I would like a chance to prove to you that I can change not only for Henry, but also for you. " she tells him leaning over to place her hand on the cushion between them trying to bridge the physical gap between them as he eyed it out from the corner of his eye.
"Family Above All" the words made him turn to look at her in surprise. She had remembered them, it had been so long and so much had happened since he told her what those words meant to him "I need you, Elijah, probably now more than ever, I'm-" her voice broke as she pleaded for her brother's forgiveness once again "I want you to keep your promise if that is what will make up for everything the Evil Queen did".
"Also...I'm not sure I can do this without you" she admits to him with a pleading look in her eye's. A part of him wanted to reject her attempts of his forgiveness, to stick to his promise of leaving her to be alone whatever the outcome of Henry's curse. But the other part that told him that there was something to fix still and he couldn't walk away just yet, not until he was sure there was nothing to fix anymore.
"Always and Forever" he replies finally giving into her plea for forgiveness, taking hold of her hand on the cushion as the therapist watched on as the siblings pledged to reconnect on a foundation on which they could re-build their relationship.
After the joint session with Archie and another one booked in the coming days, the vampire in the suit parted with his older sister on the sidewalk outside the building, before he watched her leave with a plan to get some groceries for dinner later tonight, the vampire looked across the street to see the clock tower that overshadowed the town for the last twenty-eight years and the library the he heard that had re-opened since he had last been in Storybrooke. Now run by the maid he had first met in Rumpelstiltskin's Dark Castle.
Belle.
A brief detour to Granny's, the man made his way over to the library with the two-to-go cups in his hand, let himself into the building to find the woman herself towards the back of the library, reaching up on her tippy toes as she attempted to return a book to the top shelf. Hearing someone enter, the librarian tried to glance over to the door only for the movement to sway her balance on her toes slightly making her quickly right herself.
"I- uh, be right over!" she calls out to whoever came in only for the heavy book in her hand to slip out of her finger's as she felt herself starting to follow after the book onto the ground only for the sudden gush of air around her to feel a tight arm wrapped around her waist, to keep her on her feet as the book was caught by a hand that sported a familiar blue gemmed ring on their middle finger.
Looking up the librarian was met a pair of brown eyes she had met before as he kept her from falling.
"Hello" Elijah down at her smirked at her "Look's like I came at the right moment".
"E-Elijah" the younger woman gasped as she stepped out for his arm to see the man that visited her during her time as the Queen's prisoner before and during the curse. "You're back" the words slipped from her mouth as she gaped at the tall man.
"I am" he confirms not sure how she reacted seeing him again after so long before the woman threw her arms around his neck in a warm embrace that surprised him as he stood tall to wrap his arms around her as he picked her from the ground.
"Thank you" he heard her tell him again this shoulder as she held him tighter.
"What for?" he asked in confusion, placing her back down onto the ground. He and his sister held her for years against her will in a bid to use against the Dark One, she shouldn't be thanking her for anything.
"For coming to visit me, for giving me those books. You have no idea how much your visits meant to me, but then-" he suddenly stopped visiting. At his worst he stopped venturing to the top of the tower where her cell was located to bring her another book to occupy her time.
"I'm sorry for that. I truly am, but it was safer for you that I didn't-".
"I-I know" she stopped him as he looked down at her in bewilderment "Ruby explained everything, that you couldn't because you couldn't trust yourself around human's" she went on.
"Right" he trailed off not wanting to correct her as she looked over the man in front of her.
"I-I can't believe your a vampire" she says to him "I've only read stories about them from the books in the father's castle".
"Well it's not something I was planning on becoming one day".
"Oh, I'm sorry" she empathised with him.
"I brought some tea for us" he changes the subject, pointing to the cups he had left on the front desk to rush to her aid behind him "Perhaps we can have some and catch-up if you have time, of course".
The brunette librarian smiled wildly at the man as she recalled the first time she had met him at the Dark Castle after offering him some tea to kill some time as he waited for the Dark One to appear.
"I would love some tea Elijah".
Tea and chat with Belle killed the hours between Archie's session with his sister and returning home nicely as the pair sat at one of the tables comfortably catching up with everything that had happened in Storybrooke since the curse had broken as he recalled his time back in the Enchanted Forest when she asked how their home was after the curse ravaged though the lands. He could only tell her the truth, but his honesty didn't stop his optimism that the land would recover from the curse that had swept through the land.
Once he returned home as the sun began to sink into the horizon, the vampire entered his home to find a letter addressed to him from the school waiting for him, inviting him to a meeting the next day to discuss his position as Principle. It was protocol he supposed. Circumstance had changed and they needed to adapt to them. It was natural for them to be concerned, but he had no intention of leaving his post knowing he could still fulfil his duties as the Principle.
As he came to the end of the brief letter, he was informed by his sister of an invitation to a 'Welcome Home' party at Granny's later that night, extended by Emma Swan herself when his sister bumped into her and Henry at the store.
With strict instructions to feed before they left, the vampire binned two empty bag's of blood he had found in the fridge that would keep his belly full for the night ahead while his siter cooked her famous lasagne in the kitchen to bring with them.
Dressed in a fresh suit and tie, the vampire carried his sister's dish in his hand as they walked down main street towards Granny's later that night as he sighted the white picket-fence in the distance. He didn't want to go, being stuck in the same room as Snow and David and their allies was the last thing he wanted. But he wanted to see Henry. He would drink all the vervain in the world for a chance to spend some time with his nephew.
"Are you sure having me in a room full of those people is the best thing for me?" he voiced his concern to his sister beside him.
"You'll have to face them eventually" she reminds him much to his annoyance "Besides we were invited, it would be rude not to".
"I don't recall you ever being considerate of rudeness" he reminds her "You did invite yourself to Snow and Charming's wedding after all to threaten their happy ending".
"As I remember inviting yourself to many of my banquets before sneaking away with one of my servants" she retorted. He couldn't defend himself. He couldn't remember how many of King Leopold and his sister's festivities he had shown up to when he was supposed to be at home.
"Ahhh, Elena" he drawled out in as remembered the young girl that served his sister when she became the Queen "How could forget the lovely Elena" he amused to himself before he felt the back of his sister's hand playfully strike his chest.
"Behave, please" she sternly tells him with a pointed finger as they came to the archway. Leading the way up the pathway, the pair climbed the steps up to the door as Elijah opened the door to let him and the dish in his hand as the bell above the door announced the late arrival's as those inside clicked their mugs of beer and drinks together to toast to the return of the hero's, making the whole room look at him.
"Elijah!" he heard Henry call out in excitement seeing the man in the suit before his sister followed in behind him.
"Sorry we're late" Regina announced their arrival with a wide smile as she stepped into the diner behind her brother to meet the surprised looks of everyone inside with the exception of Emma and Henry that looked pleased to see the pair.
Reaching for a knife from the counter Leroy turned with the weapon his hand to face the pair at the door. "What are they are doing here?" the dwarf growled out with gritted teeth clenching the knife in his hand as his gaze was met by the vampire's hardened gaze as he saw the clear threat as he felt a hand quickly grip in arm telling him not to react to the knife that was drawn against them, only for the dwarf to quickly back down as he saw the dark vain bubble under his eye's.
"I invited them" Emma quickly speaks up and tells the room, as the blonde creates the breath that was needed as the dwarf returned the knife back on the counter as Elijah and Regina made their way over to the counter to drop off the casserole dish in the vampire's.
"Oh no, this is much worse than I thought" Regina hears her brother say to her as he heard the room of drumming heartbeats in his ears.
"Stop it" she whispered to him as they were joined by Henry.
Surprised by their daughter's decision to invite the siblings, the Charming couple swiftly dragged their grown daughter
"We're celebrating today because of Regina" Emma argued to her parents "She helped us get home. No matter what she did in the past, we owe her our thanks now" she tells them.
"Didn't you think to tell us about it?" David asked the blonde.
"I did, but you two were a little busy this afternoon" referring to how she and Henry had found them once they returned to the loft with groceries.
"Emma, she tried to kill us" her mother pointed out "Yesterday!" she exasperated.
"No, she didn't" the saviour corrects her mother "She's trying to change for Henry. He believes in her. And, Henry's really missed Elijah being around, he wouldn't shut up about him on the way back".
Emma told her parents glancing over to the counter where Henry had joined his adopted Mother and Uncle see the pair
The man was smiled down at his nephew as he listened to the boy talk, she looked back at her parents "Elijah's been missing him just as much. Right now, that's enough for me. I couldn't have changed if I wasn't given a chance, so… she get one, too".
Looking over to the scene at the counter, the Prince how happy his grandson as the vampire playfully engaged with him after so long apart as he went to take a piece of his nephew's food only to get his hand slapped away by his sister, feigning hurt that made the eleven year old laugh.
Looking to his wife, the pair silently agreed to give the former Queen a second chance, much to their reluctance.
"I'm glad you came" Henry told his mother.
"Me too" she replied with a genuine smile on her face as she plated a piece of her lasagne to share seeing Leroy hovering behind the eleven year old who was eyeing her dish suspiciously "Oh, I made a lasagne" she offered the dwarf a piece.
"What's the secret ingredient?" he asked the former Queen suspiciously "Poison? Blood?" he spat looking at the vampire, next to her.
"Red pepper flakes" Regina simply answers the dwarf "Gives it some kick" she adds as the man accepts it giving it a curious sniff before walking away with it, as Granny approaches the siblings on the other side of the counter.
"We don't serve blood here" the grandmother tells the vampire straight off the bat.
"Granny!" Ruby chastised her grandmother having heard what she had said to the man.
"Good thing I'm not hungry then" the vampire smoothly replied "But I wouldn't mind a drink if your serving. I am rather thirty after spending so long back in our home after falling into the portal with Miss Swan and Mary-Margaret".
"I'll get it" Ruby offers, knowing his preferred drink leaving him with his nephew and sister either side of him.
"Thank you Miss Lucas" he tells the younger woman as she gives him a flash of a smile before leaving to find a drink for him.
"Uncle 'Lijah'" Henry called out to making him turn towards the young boy "You know any cool vampire tricks you can show me?".
"A few" he tells him "But not tonight. Or I'll get in trouble with both your mothers" he tells his nephew with a playful wink of his eye that made the boy smile up at him.
He could do this. With Henry here, he could face the mob.
As the evening wore on, the vampire found himself sticking to his nephew's side as much as he could as he nursed the amber liquid in his glass that was kept full by the helpful Ruby, that kept it from even reaching the bottom, knowing he needed the alcohol to his craving in check after seeing him starting to struggle early on despite the two blood bags he had before arriving.
She seemed to sense his struggle whenever his eye's would involuntarily slide down to the neck of the person he was having a polite conversation with, which only seemed to be Archie. He hadn't had a chance to speak to Emma, but each time the opportunity came up, she was quickly taken away by one or both of her parents. They were keeping her away from him. For whatever reason it was
He needed a break from the constant drumming. Excusing himself from the therapist the vampire turned and headed towards the back to take a second to clear his mind only to hear a pair of boot covered feet behind, follow him into the corridor.
"Elijah" David's voice reached his ears making him stop and turn to face the Prince, he knew this was going to happen as soon as he face the man again.
"Charming" he greets the former Prince "How are you?".
"I was, hoping to talk to you about something?".
"About what?" the vampire enquired with the man.
"About what happened during the curse".
"Are you referring to when I humiliated you in my school, or when I broke into your home, or...when I slept with your wife" he couldn't help the smirk that played on his lips.
The fist flying towards him came quickly at the vampire who simply caught the balled up fist in his hand, gripping the offending fist with little to no effort as the Prince started to wince in pain. He could break it without with a simple squeeze, but he was on his best behaviour tonight.
"Mary-Margaret was cursed and heartbroken, because of David Nolan" he reminds the man letting go of his fit for the Prince to take back, shaking it out in pain "If it wasn't me it would've been someone else. And might I remind you, I was also unknowingly cursed by my own sister".
"Hurting me won't ease the pain you feel for what David Nolan did to her. Take it from someone who's carried the pain before. My advise: Move on, or next time I will break your hand".
At that the vampire walked past him to re-join the party, leaving the Prince to tend with his aching hand as he thought about the parting words between the two men.
As the vampire felt the party was winding down to a natural end he found himself sat at the end of the counter, near the kitchen window with full view of his ex-fiancé feeding her true love food as he found his nephew contently conversing with the dwarf's sat at the breakfast bar with their empty plates of his sister's lasagne in front of them. Waiting for a moment to say a quiet goodbye to Henry before leaving himself.
Looking over to his right he found Emma speaking to Archie keeping a polite smile on her face as she listened to the therapist talk. Feeling eye's on her, the blonde saviour glanced back to find the man in the suit looking back at her failing to keep the amused grin on his face knowing he could hear every word the therapist was saying, enjoying the fact she was trying her best to listen to Archie, when she was starting to grow bored, before the saviour noticed Regina suddenly leaving the diner by herself.
Her sudden departure hadn't gone unnoticed as her brother was taken aback by the move as both Archie and Emma had seen the woman leaving as the man in the suit jumped from his seat to follow after her only for the blonde saviour to quickly stop him by a silent look sent his way, making him stay where he was before, excusing herself from the therapist the blonde saviour follows after her leaving the vampire to listen from inside the diner.
Rushing out of the diner the blonde saviour was met with the image of the older woman swift retreating form as the door
"Archie made a cake" the blonde quickly told the former Queen making her stop and turn to face the saviour as she descended the steps down tot eh pathway "You don't want to stay for a piece?" she offers the woman hoping it would entice her back into the building behind her.
"I'm fine, thank you" the brunette politely declines the invitation.
"Okay" the blonde replies only "So, uh. Elijah's back" she states to the former Queen in front of her.
"Yes. My brother is back, much to the joy of custom suit tailors everywhere, not to mention me".
"Right" the blonde muses knowing she wasn't going to get much else, the blonde turns to re-join the party only for Regina to stop her.
"Thank you" the woman suddenly tells her.
"You just said that".
"F-For inviting Elijah and I" the older woman goes on to say.
"Henry wanted it" Emma tells her "I'm glad you guys got to spend some time together".
"Me, too. I'd like to see him more. Maybe you'd consider letting him stay over some time. I… I have his room just… waiting for him. A-And I know Elijah would love a chance to take him out for a hot cocoa".
"Oh… I'm… I'm not sure that's best" the blonde answers her request.
"Because you know so much about parenting in the five minutes you've been with him" the mother pointed Talk to David. At least he took care of him while you were away. Like my brother and I did, during the ten years you were away the first time!" she snaps at the blonde woman who had the gall to decide what was best for her son.
"Okay" the blonde ends the conversation there "Thanks for coming" she add turning to leave the woman only for Regina to stop her again.
"No, wait. I'm sorry" the former Queen quickly told the blonde "Emma I… I'm… I'm sorry" she stammered "Snapping at you – I shouldn't have done that. Will you accept my apology?".
"Okay. You're right. Archie said you were trying to change. And, well, you are".
The mention of Dr. Hopper made the former Queen take note of what the woman had been told since arriving back from her breid trip the Enchanted Forest with her mother . The only person she only person who knew about her sessions with Archie was her brother, and he wouldn't tell a soul.
"Dr. Hopper said I was trying?" she asked the saviour.
"He said you came to see him. That you're trying not to use magic, that you're trying to be a better person. You understand, I was hesitant to inviting you. I asked him, and he thought it was a good idea".
"Thank you. It was" she tells the blonde "I should be going" at that the former Queen turned and left, leaving the saviour to watch her walk down the street, hearing the diner door open and close behind her as the person that had joined her outside took a place beside her seeing the trail end of his sister disappear out of view having heard what was said.
"Good talk?" the man in the suit and coat asked her.
"Could've gone better" Emma told the man beside her.
"She's trying" he spoke up for his sister as he stepped away from the blonde to pull out one of the chairs outside the diner to take a seat as the blonde took one opposite him "More than she ever has before I must admit. I only regret it took her son nearly dying for her to realise that she couldn't carry on the path she was going down".
"So where are you in all this?" Emma asks the man across from her, folding her arms across her chest.
"Where do think Miss Swan?" he rhetorically asked her.
By her side, like always, despite everything that she's done.
"I don't get it" Emma suddenly states to him shaking her head at him "Why are you trying to put together your family when it's so clear that one part of it is broken".
"To me, the very definition of the word 'Broken' suggests that something can be fixed. The Dark Curse gave me an eternity to accomplish one simple task; My sister's salvation. If I surrender this, then tell me what value I would be, to my family, to myself. To Henry" he trailed off.
"No offence, but that doesn't sound simple".
"It doesn't does it?" he mused to himself as the corner of his lip quirked up in a half smile "Family rarely is. And yet it's the thing that kept me occupied for nearly thirty years until, someone came and broke said curse, that is".
"If you think you're getting an apology.." she teased him.
"Oh I doubt I ever will" he smiled to himself looking at the woman in front of him. Out of the red jacket that shielded her from the world around her "Nor I would ever ask for one" he trails off as his gaze met her's.
The same feeling of being draw in came over his mind as the pair stayed in comfortable silence as he fought the feeling that he needed to throw aside the table that stood in his way and take her like he should have in his office like he wanted to, but this time it was worse.
"Emma-" a new voice was heard breaking the silence between the pair as they looked up to see Mary Margaret and her husband stood at the open door to see their daughter alone with the vampire having come out to find her. The voice snapped him out of his thoughts of the woman sat opposite him as her parents looks a mix of surprise and concern.
"Oh, Elijah" Mary Margaret gaped at the man they saw him leave after a brief goodbye to Henry at the counter "We thought you were leaving".
"I am" he tells her, standing up from his seat stuffing his hands in the deep pockets of his coat as Emma followed him "I was just thanking Emma again for inviting us again".
"Don't you want to say goodbye to Henry" the blonde offers the man in the suit and tie thinking he came straight out here after his sister left.
"I have. I should get going" he tells Emma "I have a meeting in the morning anyway".
"Oh, okay" the blonde replied feeling slightly embarrassed that her parents were practically pushing the man to leave.
"Goodnight Miss Swan" was Elijah's parting words before her started to walk down the wet path to make his way back home.
"Nice haircut by the way" Hearing this from the saviour, the vampire grinned stopping to turn seeing the saviour smirking to herself at the inside joke they had managed to create between themselves. She liked it, he could tell, and he didn't even have to listen to her heartbeat to know that.
"A friend suggested I get one. I thought it a good idea".
"Must be a good friend" she replied "Night Elijah" with a nod the vampire turned to leave as she watched him turn down the street to follow his sister home.
Turning to head back into the diner, the blonde was taken aback to see her parents still there having watched the entire interaction.
"Seriously?" the blonde exasperated to the pair before moving past them to re-enter the diner before her parents followed her in.
Stood upon a nearby roof, with a telescope in his goods hand Captain Hook watched from a distance as he watched the Queen left the gathering, before her little brother shorty followed the same path as her with a small grin playing on the vampires lips as he made his way back home after his sister's departure. Whereas the older Mill's sibling left with a deep frown on hers.
"Well, is she broken?" Hook asked the sibling's mother next to him.
"Not yet" Cora tells the pirate "Not until we get my son first, and with the instruction's Lestat left us. He'll soon be in our hands to break her for us".
"I fear the Queen will never change" Jiminy Cricket voiced from his place on the table, his small voice amplified for the group to hear what he had to say "We must dispense justice" the cricket adds to the other's as they discussed as to what to do with the Evil Queen now that they had her behind bars.
"Agreed. What are our options?" Charming opened the conversation to the council.
"How about giving me five minutes alone with her and my axe?" Grumpy offered "…She's still restrained, right?".
"Yes" Blue answered the dwarfs question "But the magic that we used to capture her, will only keep her powerless for a short while".
"How about banishing her to another realm?" Granny suggested to the group.
"We can't" Jiminy quickly dismissed the old women's suggestion "It would be unconscionable to condemn another realm to the suffering that we've endured".
"Jiminy's right" Red agreed with the cricket "She's our problem, and we have to deal with her".
"Then only one thing is certain" Charming addressed his and Snow's council standing from his seat "As long as the Queen lives, the kingdom is in danger".
"Are you saying…" Snow trailed off.
"Yes" he tells his fiancée "We must kill the Queen" he announced, the whole table going into a hush as their decision sunk in, before the doors to the room burst open and two guards to disturb the meeting as the whole council looked to the door, making the Prince jump from his seat from the abrupt disturbance.
"What is it?" the Prince snapped at the pair for the interruption.
"Our apologies your highness, you have a visitor requesting an audience" the guard tells the Prince.
"Who?" Snow was the one to ask the question.
"The Evil Queen's Brother" the guard visibly gulped "The Ripper. He wishes to negotiate the release of the Evil Queen".
A hushed mummer washed over the council at the mention of the vampire being in the castle as the rumours of his defeat to Red spread like wildfire in the kingdom. There were even rumours that he had died of his injuries since no one had heard or seen him since their victory and the Queen capture.
"Where is he now?" the Prince's voice broke the mummer's as he looked to the guard for an answer.
"Outside, Your Highness".
"Send him away" he orders "Tell him we don't negotiate with his kind" he adds expecting the guard to turn and leave only for the pair to remain at the door.
"He insists, your highness" the guard starts to shake that goes noticed by the Princess as she reached up to tug at her love's arm.
"Charming, something's wrong" Snow called out to her love as the second guard slowly took hold of the hilt of the sword at his waist ready to do what he was told to do if the vampire was refused entry.
"What's going on?" the Prince narrowed his gaze on the two guards at the door.
"He said if you refused, I-" the guard didn't get to finished as the second guard's sword came dangerously close to the end of his life as a sword was thrusted towards his chest, sending the whole council on alert only for a voice to halt the death of the guard.
"Stop" Elijah's voice filtered into the room before he walked in as the tip of the guards sword dug uncomfortably into the other's chest. Right above his heart.
The vampire stood confidently on the other side of the council table with his arms clasped behind his back as he regarded every face in the room until his eye's landed on the she-wolf that beat him in battle.
In her wolf form, the woman managed to out-manoeuvre the young vampire until his speed and strength took her by surprise as he threw her across the field into a group of soldiers before she recovered and cut through his chest and back with her claws, sending him onto his knees' before his guards dragged him away to safety.
She wasn't the first werewolf he had encountered, he had met a few packs during his brief time in the Kingdom of Transylvania. Sending the young woman a playful wink of his eye and smile he was met by her amber eye's that flashed in warning as a deep growl reverberated in the back of her throat, making her grandmother reach up and stop her from doing something stupid when two people's lives were in danger.
"Forgive me for the dramatics" the vampire says dragging his eye's away from the werewolf "But my sister's life currently hangs in the balance".
"What did you do to them?" Red spoke up from where she stood in front of her chair.
"A little compulsion goes a long way if you need to make a point" he tells the werewolf before looking back to the couple "Now. Shall we talk?".
Alone in the council with the vampire, the Charming couple sat on the opposite side of the table as the former was flanked with soldiers either side of him, as he sat on one of the wooden chairs that surrounded the round table.
Agreeing to hear him out in the vampire agreed to free the guard of his compulsion in return, leaving him dazed and confused why he was holding a sword above his friends heart before he was taken away by the other's as the filtered out of the room to leave the three alone to hash out any sort of deal.
"And you'll just leave?" Snow asked her ex-fiancé as she sat with her current one next to her.
"Just like that" he tells the pair with a small grin "I will take her to a place in which she cannot harm you both to live out the remainder of your natural lives without fear of an resurgence of the Evil Queen".
"We finally stopped her Elijah" Snow voiced to her old friend "After everything that she's done to us, to me. I can't just let you bring her back".
"I give you my word Snow" he spoke to the Princess "My sister nor I will not step back inside this kingdom or any other bordering it within yours's nor even within your children's lifetimes. Perhaps that'll finally teach her some manners".
"Why should we trust you?" Charming spoke up "After everything you've both done, not only to us, but to the rest of the realm".
"For that I'm deeply ashamed" he answers the Prince with regret lacing his voice "But know this, I could've killed you both and everyone within this castle the second I stepped onto it's grounds, to get her back" he stated to the pair in a straight voice before looking over to the one person who had the only power to decide his sister's future and the one person his sister made it her mission to destroy.
She knew he was correct in saying this. Despite any affection he may have shown to her over the last decade, it could never seemed to compare to the devotion in his elder sister. No one in this entire castle would be able to stop him from killing everyone to get to Regina.
"So, I leave it to you to make the decision, whether to trust me or not. Do we have a deal?".
The question sent the room into silence as Snow looked to Charming for help with the proposal to keep the Queen alive but no where near them.
"It's up to you Snow" her love encourages her, knowing she needed to make the decision not him.
"Why do want Regina?" the Princess asks him.
"She's my sister" he plainly answers his friend "We remain together. Always and Forever".
The Rabbit Hole wasn't a bar he frequented during the curse for obvious reasons, but seeing it was the only one close enough to the school and wasn't a place the Charming family would step into without reason, it was the place to be to drown his sorrows at the latest personal fallout of the curse breaking.
Upon entering the bar after the car crash that was his meeting with the school board, the vampire headed for the bar and sat himself down and not moved since for hours as drink after drink was placed in front of him as he sought out numb the pain and devastation he felt from being fired from his position as Principle, with a generous severance pack to soften the blow.
But he wanted his job, the thought of getting back into the solace of his office smoothed his mind when he, Emma and Mary Margaret returned home. But the decision was unanimous, between the board members.
As the clock reached two in the afternoon, the vampire had drunk at least two bottles of bourbon that he bought outright by the time he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol in his system. He needed to forget and the drink was the only way to stave the feeling of needing a different type of drink to make him forget the pain in his chest of losing another part of his life before the curse.
"Look at what we have here boys" his voice of the former Sheriff of Nottingham reached his ears making the vampire visibly cringe as the man made his way over to him, disturbing his peace and quiet as the man stood right next him "It's the Lord Elijah".
"Nottingham" he greets the low some man between gritted teeth, he could taste the bitterness of the man from where he sat "Can I suggest you take a step back. I am fighting the monumental desire to mount your severed head upon one of these walls" he says using his finger to point towards the walls that surrounded them. An improvement for sure.
"I'd like to see you try, leech. I don't think the hero's will let you get away with murder like your sister did. Or are you still her little lap dog".
Gripping the glass in his hand, the vampire heard the first cracks splinter the thick glass from the grip he was holding ii, letting it go before it shattered in his hand and wasted a decent drink across the bar.
"Tell me Sheriff, were you able to apprehend that little thief before the curse came" the vampire changed the subject "What was his name uhh Robert... Rowan...Roman" he feigned ignorance with the man next him before landing on the right name "Oh yes. Hood".
The name struck a cord with the man next to him as he stood straighter, continuing to listen to the vampire's rambling.
"You see I came to know his name from when his and Snow's White's faces covered Wanted Poster's all over the Forest, often side by side. Only difference between you and my dear sister. Is she was able to curse Snow White. You however allowed him and his merry men continue to steal from nobles to give to the poor. So, you're either completely incompetent of your job or this man is the luckiest man in the entire Enchanted Forest to evade your capture".
"However at this present moment I am only seeing the former as you continue to antagonize someone who can rip your tongue out of head and feed it to your friend next you".
The former Sheriff of Nottingham brow's furrowed as he made sense of the man's ramblings before he finally spoke "Are you calling me stupid?".
Point proven. Robin Hood was the smartest man in the entire Sherwood Forest.
"Oh no, no, no" the vampire went on as a grin flashed on his lips, turning on the stool he was sat on to look up at the man "I'm calling you very stupid".
An angry fist flew toward him only for the vampire to quickly take hold of the man's front and push him up against the wall. Nottingham squirmed as the vampire hold as the vampire held him at arms length with a flat palm against his chest as he felt and heard his heart beating under it.
"You are a runt," he sneers at the man "I recommend you not give me any further reason to rip out that feeble, incurvated sternum of yours and feed it to a pack of wild dogs".
"Elijah!" Ruby's voice broke through the room as the she-wolf made her way to stand between the man being pinned against the wall and the man that was keeping him here "Let him go" she demands from the vampire "Now".
Taking a beat, the vampire let the former Sheriff go, only for the man to slip down the wall and collapse in crumple heap in front of him.
"Spineless" he spat at the man on the ground seeing his fear completely take over his mind "Like I thought".
"We're leaving" the she-wolf tells the vampire as she stomped towards the bar to snatch up his suit jacket before heading towards the exit, leaving the man to follow her out.
"What are you doing here?" the man asks the woman once they stepped into the daylight.
"The owner called asking for someone to take you home before you drank the place dry. Good thing I came when I did. You looked like you were about to kill him" she tells the man as they came to the sidewalk to where her red car sat parked not too far from his own.
But she had point. He would've most likely killed him and not left him a puddle of his own fear.
"Keys" she demands from the man holding out her hand at him.
"Who are you? My sister?" he grumbled at the woman digging in his pant pockets to retrieve his bunch of keys that included his car keys before placing them in her hand.
"No, just the idiot who's stupid enough to come to drag your ass out bar in the middle of the day. How drunk are you?".
"Not enough as it seems as I can still feel" he replies with a straight face. This made the she-wolf pause as she looked to the man that she first met at one of the worst moments of her life. Whatever had happened between last night and now was bad enough for the man to want to forget about the young man that once told her fight. He was spiralling, and she needed to stop him.
"Get in" she orders the man "I'm taking you to Granny's to sober up while I work".
"Miss Lucas-".
"Elijah" she retorted in the same tone cutting him off "Look, it's either me or David throwing you in cell, and something tells me you don't want to give him any reason for you not to see Henry".
The mention of his nephew seemed to sober him up enough to nod and slowly make his way over to the passenger side of her car ready to be taken away.
With a cup of coffee shoved in his hands as soon as he was put into a marron booth by himself allowing the tipsy vampire to be watched like a hawk as he took the first sips of the hot beverage in a bid to sober him up enough to send him back home to his sister.
Finding five minutes between customers and working through the book's, Ruby made her way over to the silent brooding vampire with a fresh pot of coffee to top-up up his cup, coming to stand at the end of the table as the man barely looked up from the half-empty cup in front of him.
"More coffee?" she offers him, holding the pot out to him. Sitting himself straight in the seat the brunette silently poured more into his cup before sitting herself down opposite him to find out what had driven the man to drown his sorrows in the middle of the day.
"Are you sober enough to talk yet?" the she-wolf asks from across him.
"There's not much to speak about" he simple tells her taking a sip of the hot beverage, feeling what little of the alcohol in his system starting to fade away.
"That's not true. What happened?".
Reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket that was back on his shoulders the vampire took out the letter he was presented with at the end of the meeting at the school. The last twenty-eight year's of his life-despite it being cursed- was all that left of it, and placed in front of the young woman, silently inviting her to read it.
Picking the piece of folded paper up, the she-wolf opened it to read the two sentence's that ended his career. Looking at the man opposite her in disbelief that the school would forget everything that he's done over a curse "They fired you" she summarised.
"They saw it 'inappropriate' for a someone such as myself to oversee the education and management of this town's children and it's staff " he quotes the boards words verbatim to her.
"That isn't fair" she voices to him. And it wasn't "Let me talk to Mary-Margaret".
She could fix this, get her to speak to someone at the school, and convince them that they didn't need to rip away the last two decades of his life in two sentences.
"I have a feeling she already knew" Elijah stops her from intervening any further, not that one teacher would be able to make a difference, he had a feeling her husband would convince her otherwise. It was another way of keeping him away from Henry.
"That's not right" she voiced to the man opposite him "You haven't done anything wrong".
"Except for helping by sister to devastate an entire population for revenge one person" he dryly retorts despite the pain she heard in his voice "There's no point fighting. It's over" he concluded.
"I'm so sorry" she tried to sympathise with him. His job meant everything to him "At least let me call someone. Maybe Emma?".
"No" he refused her. He didn't want anyone to know. Hide and heal. That's what he wanted to do.
"Elijah-" she went to argue, only for him to interrupt her.
"I'll get a room at the inn for the night, if that'll keep you happy" he tells her giving into the woman's kindness.
"Sure" she relents standing from the booth "Forest or Square".
"Surprise me" he tells the woman with a flash of smile before it disappeared a second later.
Later that evening, while Ruby was closing up the diner, Elijah volunteered to help clean seeing the trouble she had gone to that day to bring him out of his alcohol fuelled spiral, the sober vampire got to work sweeping the floor while the she-wolf ventured outside to bring in the heavy sandwich board sign, only to pause with one hand on the sign when she saw Regina making way down the sidewalk across the street heading towards Archie's office building.
The last time she had seen the former Queen was that very morning when she interrupted a heated discussion between her and the therapist while she was on a run on the pier. Something was off.
Shrugging the feeling off as the older woman disappeared into the building, the she-wolf picked the board up to take it back indoors for the night.
Hearing the bell about the door ring out the vampire looked up from his work to see Ruby come back in with the sign in her hands with ease as she placed it down, to find Elijah out of his suit jacket with the long sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and his tie missing from his neck the top of his shirt laid open with the first few button undone.
She couldn't help but to stare at the man that stood with a broom in his strong hands as she because suddenly aware that they were they only two people in the building. The cook and other waitresses long gone. She didn't know how it was possibly for the gorgeous man to look better with shorter hair, but somehow Elijah had managed it..
"Everything okay?" the man suddenly asks her, having noticed her staring.
"Yeah" Ruby made herself say blinking herself out as she turned to lock the door behind her, making sure the sign on the door was tuned to 'Closed' "There's a room ready for you" she tells him, turning back around to face him "You ready to go?".
"After you" he prompts her putting the broom to one side as he turning to fetch his jacket that was draped on a stool with his tie neatly rolled up in the pocket as the light's were shut off above him before following the woman through the back to the adjoining bed and breakfast that was attached to the diner, leading him up to the room that overlooked the forest.
Opening the door for the man, the vampire stepped into the room with his suit jacket placing it on an arm chair before making his way to the bed to his arm as he took in the simple furnishing that filled the room. He was ready for sleep despite the caffeine that flowed though his system. He just wanted the day to end.
Placing the key on a nearby surface, the she-wolf hovered on the threshold as she waited for the man to say goodbye, anything really.
"Well..." Ruby awkwardly spoke up to fill the silence of the room "Goodnight Elijah" the women went to close the door behind only for his voice to stop her.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked from where he sat on the edge of the bed.
"What?" she asked her brows furrowing in confusion.
"What did you help me today? Instead of calling Charming and having me thrown into a cell, you decided to help me despite not knowing the reason's. Why are you going out of your way to help me when I have done nothing but allow my sister to rip us away from our home".
Sighing to herself the she-wolf entered the room, closing the door behind her to take a seat beside him as he watched her.
"I guess, I wanted to help you today because of the way you helped me when we first met" she answers him "You gave me your word that it would get better, and it did. I owed you".
"You don't owe me anything" he states to her.
"But I do" she corrects him "If it hadn't been for you, those hunter's would've found us. You made me fight. And seeing you like that today, it made me think that you needing reminding to do the same. That job didn't define you Elijah. You're a fantastic Uncle. A good brother, better than what she deserves anyway" she lists taking his hand into hers, he allowed her to thread her fingers between his stockier ones making him look down at them resting on his knee "And you're a good friend, despite everything that happened between us..".
"You were cursed" he reminds her, ashamed of what he may have done during their arrangement despite it's casual nature "I shouldn't have-".
"I didn't do anything, I didn't want to do" she quickly tells him.
"It still doesn't change the fact that-".
"Elijah" she says using her free hand to cup his cheek and lift his head back up to look her in the face "Shut up" she tell him before crashing her lip onto his, silencing any further protest as the man stiffened for a second or two before melting into the embrace to kiss her back with equal vigour as he took hold of the back of her head as their joined hands unclasped for the vampire to find the top of her thigh before, pulling away to take a much needed pause to look at the woman in front of him, as he felt a pull towards her, that was there during the curse.
He couldn't deny she wasn't a beautiful woman, she was. Always had been, but they'd always been on opposite sides of a war that the Queen has started with Snow White. Free of the fight, the vampire looked for any indication that she didn't want that kiss to continue.
Taking control, the she-wolf closed the distance between their faces and tenderly kissed his lips as she rested her hands against his chest to push him back enough for her to straddle his thighs as he pulled her further onto his lap steadying her as she continued show how much she wanted the man beneath her.
With her hands the werewolf using her strength to push the vampire onto the bed, taking him by surprise as she managed to pin him down on to mattress, ripping his dress shirt open making the button's fly every which way as he lied at the werewolf's mercy as, making a devilish smirk appear on his face.
Two could play at this game.
Pushing himself up the vampire quickly turned the tables on the she-wolf as he wound an arm around her waist before using his superior speed to switch positions, with her legs wrapped around his waist as he bent down to lay on the bed with her mouth catching her eye's flash amber
"That all you got Miss Lucas?" he glowered down at her with his eye's completely transfixed on the woman below him.
"You have no idea" he barely heard the woman say before she leant up to find his lips again to pull him down to pick back up where they had left off during the curse.
The taste of remnant blood in mouth is what he woke up to the next morning as the former Principle found himself in bed with Ruby wrapped up tightly in his arms, nuzzling the tip of his nose into the base of her neck where the sweet aroma was the most pungent as he heard her steady heart beat stronger as she roused from her sleep.
"My apologies" he gently murmur's into Ruby's ear "I got a little carried away last night" he purrs into her ear, doing his best to kiss away the pian of the bite mark he had left behind making her giggle as he cleaned up the smear of blood that remained around the healing wound "Although I didn't hear you complain all that much" he adds earning him a playful pinch on the top of his hand where it rested splayed over her naked stomach before he was pushed away, allowing her to turn around and face the man she had spent the night with.
"Do you regret last night?" the vampire brought up the subject first, not sure if she truly regretted going back to something her cursed-self put an end to, when she was trying to discover who she was.
"No" she tells him "You?".
"No" he answers her silent question "Then this..?" his question hung int he air of where the events the previous night left the pair.
"Something" was all she said with a tight lipped smirk before making a point on turning away from him and exit the bed much to his displeasure as he turned on his back face the ceiling giving her a moment a privacy to find the pieces of her clothing that had been thrown around the room in their eagerness to remove them.
"You should get home" Ruby reminds the manas she started to dress, returning him to the reality that was his present. An unemployed vampire "Talk to your sister".
"And if I wish to stay in here for the next eternity".
"In that case, you can explain to Granny the stains on the pillow cases" the sentence made the man furrow his brows in confusion before looking to his right to see the evidence of his 'meal' the previous night in the throws of pleasure. He'd get a stake in his heart if the woman ever saw it.
"I better get home then".
Parting with her night with Elijah early that morning, Ruby returned to her day job as the diner opened it's doors for the town's early risers looking for breakfast, with smirk playing on her lips the way she had parted with him at the back door of the diner with dress shirt hanging off his toned torso from the buttons that been ripped off and his suit jacket just about hiding his naked chest from view as he left to find his car again and return home.
Hiding the healing bite mark will take some time, but in the meantime she had to find a way to hide it from her grandmother, after refusing any help from the man himself she carried on with her day like always.
Making her around the diner the waitress walked by the maroon booth occupied by the blonde sheriff and her son as the latter noticed the fashionable scarf wrapped around the waitresses neck. It looked out of place somehow, making the blonde to narrow her gaze at the accessory.
"Nice scarf Ruby" the blonde disguised her suspicion about the accessory as the woman walked by her's and Henry's table as they sat eating breakfast before she walked him to school. She was hiding something from the smirk she sported and the extra spring in her step. A guy maybe?. She was good at reading people.
"Thanks Emma" the waitress replied with a smirk she walked past their table.
"So" Henry's voice brought her back to him "What was it like? Over there?".
"Well, let's see" she trailed off in thought as she ate "There were ogres, Elijah drinking animal blood, the dead rising, people trying to kill me. And…more ogres" she listed off meekly.
"Awesome" the eleven year old chirped in excitement, hearing this from this birth mother.
"Kid, we got to work on your sense of awesome" she tells him "Come on. It's time for school. I'll walk you to the school bus"
"It's okay. I can go on my own" he tried to reassure her as he left the booth shrugging his backpack on his back.
"I know that you can. That doesn't mean that you should" she retorts as she stands from the seat.
"David let me" Henry argued "Elijah did as well" he added hoping it helped his case hearing that his Uncle allowed him to walk to the bus stop alone over the last year despite his adopted mother's objection. Only for her younger brother to remind him of how mature his nephew had become.
"Well, I'm not David or Elijah".
"You used to let me" he argued to his mother.
"Well, I am not me. I'm walking you, because that's what mothers do" she tells him placing arm around his shoulder to guide him out of the diner "And I'm doing it".
Upon leaving the diner the pair's journey to the bus stop was interrupted when a barking Pongo off, loose off his leash running towards them, in distress and no sight of his owner in sight comes to stop in front of the eleven year old.
"Hey, Pongo. It's okay. It's okay" the boy tries to calm him down only for the Dalmatian to continue as Emma looks for his owner behind him.
"Where's Archie?" asks the question as she Ruby bolt of the door having heard the dog
"Emma, something's wrong" the waitress tells the blonde as she tried her best to calm the distressed canine, taking hold his head to stroke him.
"How do you know?" the blonde asks the waitress only to remember what she was. Did this mean Elijah could talk to bats? Wait. Could he turn into a bat? "Never mind" she says shaking the questions from her mind "The wolf thing" she answers her own question before looking to her son "You know what? Eleven is old enough to walk to the bus stop. I'll pick you up later".
"Okay" he say turning to leave the pair at Granny's to find the bus stop before Pongo calms down enough to pull himself away from Ruby's reach to run across the street to lead the pair to his master.
Following the dog up the stairs and around the corner to Archie's office, the pair find his door ajar.
"Archie?" the Sheriff calls out to the man as she let herself into the office, the blonde searches round the room only to see the man lying on the floor where his murderer had left him the previous night "Archie? Oh, hell" she breathes out rushing over to help him as Ruby enters the room holding Pongo by the collar
"What? What is it?" the she-wolf franticly asks the blonde.
"Archie…" she called out to him as she checked for a pulse on his neck only to find nothing. He was dead. The blonde could do nothing but look back at the she-wolf behind her in disbelief as her expression told Ruby what had happened.
"No… No…" she cried out in disbelief as she kept Pongo restrained.
"Who would do this?" the blonde voices the question. Who would kill a person who had only ever wanted to help people as the she-wolf remembered what or namely who she saw going into the building across the street before spending the night with her baby brother.
"I think I know".
Snow refused his deal.
He couldn't blame their reluctance to release the Evil Queen into her brother's custody with the promise of taking her far away land in which the couple could live out their lives in peace. No, they needed reassurance that the woman would never try to return. His word meant nothing to them.
With his first denied, he made another one, hoping to appeal to Snow's kind nature of allowing him to visit his sister one last time before her execution. Fortunately, she granted it, for he had one last trick up his sleeve to get what he wanted. His sister free. Forever.
Out of the extravagant dresses and head pieces the Queen was left in grey rags as she watched the day go from the 'comfort' of her cell as people went ahead with their day not giving the woman that had terrorized their lived a second thought.
Her only source of comfort came in the form of her father, pleading for her show her captors an ounce of regret that just might save her life in the end while her baby brother tried to negotiate a way to keep his sister alive with the royal couple themselves.
"You have a visitor" her guard announced from her door, taking her away from the window to see Elijah on the other side in a suit like always, fully healed from the injured her knights had reported to her before her capture.
"Grey compliments you sister" he greet her making a watery smile grow on her lips as the pair move forward to meet at the metal bars that separated the pair, as the elder Mill's sibling reached through the bars to cup her baby brother's cheek as he gripped the bars.
"I failed. Snow refused my request" he informs his sister refusing to look her in the eye as the Queen's eye's shimmer from the tears that had gathered hearing his despair before he finally looked her int he eye with his own tears running down his cheeks "This is my fault. I should've fought harder, done more to protect you" he rambled on trying to ear his forgiveness.
"Elijah. Stop" she tries to comfort him, brushing the tears that trailed down his face. She's always been the one to comfort him whenever their mother berated him for not being simply perfect in her eye's. He needed to be the perfect son, brother, man. Anything less was seen as a failure in her eyes. His only use to her was to marry someone like Snow White.
"I could've protected you" he growled gripping the bars in frustration "Even if I killed Snow and her Charming with my bare hands" What was the point to all this power he felt if he couldn't do anything? Instead he let a pup get the better of him. "Even as I am. I'm a failure. How could you ever forgive me?".
"You are not a failure" she sternly tell him through the bars as she felt her own tears run down her face "How could I blame one of the people I love the most? The only ones to stand by me. To the end. Always and Forever".
"It doesn't have to be the end" he suddenly tells her.
"Don't" she quickly cuts him of already knowing what their father wanted her to do "I can't do that Elijah, not even if it saves my life. Otherwise losing Daniel would've been for nothing. At least this way. I'll be able to see him again".
"No, sister" he corrected her making her blink at him "There's another way to save you. The same way you saved me".
No. He couldn't be suggesting that. She was desperate and Wotton offered a way in which her baby brother didn't die from the tear he had made in his portrait. If she truly knew how their lives would change from that decision to save his life, she wasn't sure if she would make the same one.
Reaching into the inside of his jacket, the vampire produced a metal flask, hidden from view from the guard down the corridor, placing it in the palm of her hand that had been placed on his cheek, curling her fingers around the object before pushing her hand back through the bars.
Stepping away from the bars the Queen, hesitantly unscrewed the top to bring it up to her nose for the metallic odour to hit her nose straight away as she looked at the man on the other side of the door knowing what he wanted her to do.
It was blood.
His blood.
She'd seen first hand what vampire blood could do to a person. Hell she was looking at it at that very moment.
"It should be enough to do what you want" he whispers to his sister "Drink it before the execution" he instructs her "Once Snow and her Prince get want they want. Father and I will take your body into our custody, all they'll know is that we've taken you to be buried next to Daniel back home. Only when you wake up, we'll leave this place forever. They'll be none the wiser".
"Elijah-".
"At least think about it" he stops her from saying anything else "Please. Let me save you this time. Always and Forever".
Stepping inside his home, the vampire took a second after he closed the door before the sound of heels stormed into the foyer disturbed the seconds of peace.
"Where the hell have you been?" her voice echoed through the foyer as she came to a stop at the top of the staircase from the front door.
"Good Morning to you sister" he drawled out as he made his way towards the staircase to find his bedroom.
"Elijah-" she went to continue only to see the condition of his dress shirt "What happened to your shirt?".
"Now, I never questioned your late night trysts with the huntsman or any paramour that found themselves in your chambers alone back home. Why should you be able to do that here?".
"You damn well know why" she glowered at him.
She was afraid he may have relapsed so soon after returning home from the Enchanted Forest. Madness or bloodlust. Pick one and the other would rear it's ugly head if one flared. So far the bouts madness he experienced from the curse on his portrait hadn't made itself known and he was keeping his hunger in control, better than the first time he had turned at least.
Reaching into his jacket pocket the man produced the same letter Ruby had read the previous night, handing it to his elder sister to read the two sentences that had ended his career. Even it was cursed, it was his.
"The school is no longer in need of my services as it's Principle" he tells her before she could even open the letter "Citing the resent changes to circumstance, the curse breaking and my vampirism to name a few, as the reasons for the termination. So we'll be seeing a lot more of one another now at home".
"Elijah-" her tone softened hearing this. She knew how much her loved his job, even it he was cursed with it "I went to the Rabbit Hole after the meeting, after a few hours I was escorted out to spend the rest of the evening at Granny's and the Inn. I was safe".
"Now if you'll excuse me. I need to change" he tells her turning to walk up the stairs only to stop when sharp knocks were heard on the front door. Looking at his sister his brows furrowed, looking to his sister, asking her of the early visitor before she headed to the door with him following close by for the former Queen to open the door to not only one but of Storybrooke's Sheriff's on their front porch, with their badges on show. This was a business call.
The way she stood stiffly in front of the pair and the way she was trying her best keeping her anger in check as she looked toward his older sister, knowing he could hear every beat of her heart.
"Sheriff Swan" Elijah greeted the pair over his sister's shoulder "What brings you by this early?".
"Something's happened" the blonde tells them before focusing on the older woman "You were named by a witness. We need you to come to the station with us for questioning".
With some reluctance, Elijah allowed his sister to be taken down to the Sheriff's Station, leaving him behind to wonder the reason's behind the Sheriff's early visit. While he looked for answers himself. Regina was sat in the small interrogation room wating for the Sheriff's to join her as Mary Margaret took her place behind the two-way mirror to watch as her former step-mother was questioned for the murder of one of her dearest friends.
The sound of the door to the room opening brought the former Queen out of her thoughts to see both father and daughter enter the room/
"Glad to see the Sheriff's station's now a family business" the older woman greeted the pair "Why am I here?" she asks them wanting to get whatever this was over with.
"You know why you're here. Because of Archie" the blonde starts.
"Oh, it's now against the law to get into an argument with someone?"
"It is, if you go to their office later that night and kill them" the male sheriff tells her from the back of the room.
The statement took her by surprise as froze for a second or two taking in the information before speaking "Archie's dead?".
"Stop it, Regina" the former Prince intervened seeing the woman's attempts to deceiving them "Ruby saw you going into his office last night".
"Then she's lying. I was home all evening" she argues.
"Can anyone vouch for that?" Emma asks her knowing that there was one person that be her alibi only for the woman to brush the question off knowing she couldn't answer it as she looked to the only reasonable person in the room. Emma.
"After everything I've done to change, to win Henry back, why would I toss it all away now? And, if I did and I was going to kill Archie, you would never know it. The fact that he's dead and you caught me shows sloppiness".
"You've been caught before" David reminds the former Queen "Come on, Emma. Who do you think's lying – Ruby, or her? She's incapable of change, no matter how many times we've given her the chance. Why should this time be any different?".
He was disappointed. He thought at least the entire Enchanted Forest would come bare witness to the end of the Evil Queen. Instead only small crowd had gathered to see her end as Snow and Charming sat upon a pair of 'thrones' with their allies' close by as he and his father watch their sister and daughter be escorted into the stone courtyard to be tied to a wooden post and archers stood nearby awaiting instructions from their monarchs to proceed with the execution.
Among the crowd the Queen's younger brother stood with his father as he felt a pair of eye's burning holes in the back of his head, making him turn and make eye contact with the she-wolf behind him as he saw a flash of amber eye's silently warning him not to try anything to stop the execution despite she wouldn't be able to do a thing if he truly wanted to do that. No. He trusted his sister would make the right decision when it came to the flask of blood he gave her through the bars.
Sending a playful wink towards her way, the vampire turned back to the event at hand, catching a familiar figure hidden from view under a brown hood moving through the crowd. Rumplestiltskin.
With the the Queen in place, the crowd watched as the talking cricket flew towards the villain as the vampire listened to his small voice.
"Regina" Jiminy addressed the woman "This is your opportunity to meet your end with a clear conscience. Do you have any last words?".
"Yes. Yes I do" she answers the bug as it flies away to re-join the royal couple. Pausing the Queen finds her father and brother in the crowd.
"When I look back at everything I've done, I want you all to know what I feel. And that is… Regret" she paused again "Regret, that I was not able to cause more pain. Inflict more misery. And bring about more death" she seethed at the royal couple as her lips curled into a snarl as she continued to glare at Snow White as the vampire smiled to himself seeing the Queen giving what her audience wanted from her.
"And above all else, with every ounce of my being, I regret that I was not able to kill… Snow White!".
Hearing this, Charming leapt to his feet as he barked out an order "Arrows!".
At his order, four bowmen step up with their weapons as the Queen was blindfolded, drawing their arrows.
"Take your aim!" he called out again.
She head the sound of bow string being pulled tight as the guards aimed true. Squeezing her eye's shut, tears ran down her cheeks as she willed her last memories of her life .
"FIRE!" Charming's voice boomed through the courtyard as she waited for the sharp arrows to fly through the air and pierce her chest only for a voice to yell out.
"Stop!" Snow yelled out for the execution to be stopped.
Quicker than any magic the blue fairy could use to stop the arrows mid-flight, the vampire was quicker as he sped in front of the flying arrows and caught all four in his chest, around his heart as the man jerked in pain as he grimaced from the pain that flared from the each arrow that produced from his chest that would've killed his sister if Snow hadn't stopped the execution.
"Elijah!" the Princess called out to the vampire only for Red to hurry forward to help the ailing vampire.
"Snow!" Charming called out to his fiancée in protest for her sudden change of mind as Red pulled an arrow from the vampire's chest as he saw the material the arrow head had been made from. Wooden. They had planned on him stopping the execution himself. He had to give them some credit for that.
"This is not the way" the Princess tells her true love before storming away leaving the man baffled at her actions.
"Take her back to her cell" Charming ordered the guards as one appeared behind her to remove the blindfold from her eyes for her to see her little brother with arrows meant for her in his chest being helped by the she-wolf as she was escorted back through the courtyard, smirking at the crowd at her small victory as she heard Elijah yell out in pain.
"Ow!" Elijah voiced to the she-wolf as she jerked another arrow out of his chest.
"Don't be a baby" she scold him.
"Then don't pretend like you're not enjoying this" the vampire grinned through the pain she took hold of a particularly deep arrow.
"Your right" she smiles at him "I am enjoying this" she tells him, before pulling it out with a hard tug making him cry out in pain again.
Letting go the former Queen for the time being, Emma sought out the one person that might be able to help her understand the former Queen more than anyone else in town and why she would kill someone like Archie when she was trying to prove to everyone that she was changing for Henry.
Finding the vampire in the suit at the diner, the blonde managed to convince him to speak privately in the adjourning Inn. With Mary Margaret and David stood behind her, the blonde Sheriff sat herself in an armchair while the vampire took up the entirety of the small sofa, while Ruby stood behind the vampire with her arms across her chest at the vampire's request, he didn't want to be left alone in a room with the people that had ended his career, in fear he would do something he would regret doing if Henry ever found out.
To say he wasn't happy wasn't the best description as he sat across from the Charming family with a scowl on his face as he eyed the hero's that had come his home demanding to take his sister for questioning that morning.
"I take this something to do with Dr. Hopper's sudden death last night?" Elijah broke the tense silence in the room as he looked to the family in front of him.
"How do you know that?" David asks the vampire.
"Miss Lucas informed me, when I came searching for answers of why you arrested my sister without evidence of any wrong doing" he answers the man.
"She wasn't arrested" Emma tried to reassure him.
"Not yet at least" David curtly added from behind his daughter's chair.
"We need to ask you a few questions about last night" Emma continued, wanting to move the conversation forward.
"And you all think I have something to do with Dr. Hopper's tragic death?".
"No" "Yes" Emma and David answered the man at the same time.
"No" the blonde reaffirmed with her father, turning in her chair to give him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut, before turning back to the man in the suit "We just want to establish Regina's alibi for last night".
"As far as I was aware she was at home the whole evening" the vampire in the suit tells the blonde Sheriff.
"And you?" David questions him.
"Here" he answers the man "Helping Miss Lucas close the diner after spending most of the day in the Rabbit Hole after learning that in my brief absence after the curse had broken, I had been permanently removed from my position as Principle from my nephew's school" he says looking straight at the married couple stood before him, taking the blonde aback.
"What? What do you mean?" the blonde questioned him in confusion. This was news to her.
"I was fired" he tells her straight "And by the way your parents haven't said a word. They knew all about it".
This made the woman turn in her seat to look at both of them with guilty looks on their faces knowing they should've said something to her about it.
"You guys knew?" she accuses the pair.
"Emma, you need to understand-" Mary Margaret started to argue, knowing it was the right thing for the town to move forward only for her best friend to interrupt them.
"He was in a room upstairs" Ruby interrupted the growing argument between the blonde and her parents "The whole night. With me" she adds.
The admission made the blonde blink in realisation to what she was saying. They had spent the night together. Alone. At least she had been right. There was a guy. And the guy just so happened to be Elijah.
"Can you prove that?" David asked the pair needing further proof that she wasn't just saying that to cover for the vampire.
Turning his head, the vampire gave the she-wolf the decision whether to tell them about the night together knowing the healing bite under her scarf was the only proof he had of his whereabouts.
Making her decision, the she-wolf reached up to her neck to unravel the piece of material that was hiding the lightly bruised area that was slowly healing showing the the small family the full set of fading teeth marks including the two rounded holes on the top row.
"Ruby" the blonde blurts out wide eyed at the image before her. That was a big hickey.
"Oh-oh my" Mary Margaret stuttered out in shock seeing the intimate bite mark on her friend's neck. Now that wasn't something the blonde was expecting when she saw the scarf that morning.
"I was here with Miss Lucas the whole night and this morning" the vampire tells the family before standing from his seat, the vampire buttoned the grey suit jacket "Now unless you need anything else from me. I need to speak to my sister".
Without another word said the vampire walked out of the room to have a conversation with his sister that neither of them would enjoy having.
Returning home the vampire entered his home in search for his elder sister to find her in the living room as she stood from the sofa to meet her younger brother and the scowl that was on his face that told her that he knew what had been happening.
"You know" she stated to the man.
"You'll have to be more specific" he replied stepping into the room to stand on the other side of the glass coffee table "Do I know that Dr. Hopper was found dead his morning or that you're the number one suspect after Miss Lucas witnessed you arguing with him before she saw you marching into his office late last night".
"You believe them don't you" the former Queen accused her baby brother "You're on their side".
"I'm on no-ones side Regina!" he yelled at her trying to get her to understand "It doesn't matter if it was you or someone else. What matter's is that a good man is dead, someone your son care's about. You told me that not only wanted to change for Henry, but for me. I can only keep my promise to our father if I can trust you to keep your word".
The look of betrayal wouldn't best descried the look on his sister's face as she looked at the man that she had stood by through thick and thin. Through his moments of madness all in the name of keeping his youthful looks and his transition to the creature he was today. Now in her hour of need he wouldn't believe that she would risk everything over a petty argument. Risk losing Henry.
"It seems like you've already made your decision. Brother".
"Regina-" he didn't get to say much more as a the Queen raised her hand and harshly twisted her wrist as the vampire's head twisted harshly to the side, the snap of his neck echoed through the house as his body fell onto the floor, making the woman snap herself out of her daze as she looked at what she had done to the one person she promised she would never hurt as the tears silently fell down her face before turning to leave him to wake up alone in an empty house with his sister nowhere to be found by him or the heroes after watching her kill Archie Hopper with her bare hands.
Waiting patiently in the same courtyard his sister was meant to lose her life in, the vampire stood knowing that his sister had failed the test he and Snow had made with Rumplestiltskin to see if she could truly change. With a hair taken from the Queen, the sorcerer had created a protection spell on the royal couple so that the Queen could never harm them again. At least in this realm.
It was the dead of night as the Queen was escorted out of the castle unchained with only a few guards as the woman saw the first sign of her banishment in the form of her baby brother waiting for her.
Stopping just in front of him, the guard paused behind her as the vampire looked behind his sister's shoulder to address the men that hadn't left.
"Unless you'd like become a meal" he started "I would leave while you still can".
At that the guards hastily retreated inside the castle walls leaving the siblings alone as the Queen took out the metal flask her brother had given to her.
"I believe this is yours". turning the top the vampire watched as his sister tipped the flask upside down expecting for his blood to empty onto the cobblestone, only for a drop or two to hit the ground as she looked him straight in the eye that told him everything that needed to be said between the siblings.
Dropping it on the ground the flask clattered on the cobblestone as the vampire turned and offered his arm to his siter that she accepted to walk out of the castle together, and with the royal wedding set for a fortnight's time, they had time to find a way to find his sister's vengeance against Snow White.
AN: Longest Chapter so far! Hope you all enjoyed it!.
Thank you to everyone that leave reviews, you have no idea how much I love reading your thoughts about the fic and just general comments about the story.
bumblebeeash19: You better take another shot! LOL.
Next chapter is The Outsider/ In the Name of The Brother, then there's a plan to skip out the next few eps while for reasons you'll come to understand, but picking back up properly in Welcome to Storybrooke. There is a hint in this chapter of what's coming and what I have planned, but I'll leave it up to you to find it (Hehe).
Until then..
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