Forever The Name On My Lips

thirty-five.

thirty-five. where you lead, i will follow

Elijah was sitting by your side when you woke up. You were now on a couch and assumed your self-proclaimed brother had moved you. You sat up quickly and looked around. "Where is he?"

"Y/N," he said trepidly.

"Where is he, Elijah?" you cut him off.

"It seems they have taken him," he said after a moment.

You bristled in anger. "Elijah, they did something to him, the witch. She desiccated him. Now they took his body?"

"I promise you, Y/N, I will get my brother's body back," he said. You heard something in his voice and looked at him sharply.

"His body," you repeated. "You're not planning to give him blood, are you?"

"A few decades in this state might finally teach him some manners," he said.

You glared at him. "You can't leave him like that," you said. "They know he's the originator of their line. They won't let him go."

He sighed. "What would you have me do, Y/N? You know as well as I do that they won't just let him go. Not unless we give them something in return, and what they want more than anything is to ensure Elena's safety." You scoffed and he smirked slightly at you. "Yes, yes, I know your feelings towards doppelgängers, but these are the facts, Y/N. They will not let him go...unless I promise them I will not resurrect him until after her life ends of natural causes. Our only other option is nothing short of a bloodbath. Are you prepared for that?"

What he said made sense, but you still debated it in your head. You were already ready to storm the Gilbert house and kill Elena yourself to get him back. But you knew they wouldn't give up without a fight. Damon and Stefan had bested you a couple of times solely by catching you by surprise. You didn't like to partake in the violence, but that didn't mean you were weak. You were the butcher of Chicago after all. They outnumbered you now, as you knew even the humans and the witch would fight for her, but with Elijah here now, it was more evenly matched. You knew Kol was only a phone call away, and whatever their differences, Rebekah would come back to help you retrieve Klaus' body. But then there was Tyler. Without Klaus' blood to heal you, his bite would be fatal to you, though not to the rest of your family. You found you didn't care much. It was worth the risk, if you could save him.

Though that did leave Alaric. While you weren't scared of the hybrid, you were scared of Ric. The fear he instilled in you was perhaps because you knew him and you knew he was damned skilled as a vampire hunter. With the added strength and speed, he scared you in a way even Mikael couldn't. Because Mikael killed with a purpose. He killed with revenge in his heart. But Alaric...he was indiscriminate. He would kill all vampires and any humans who sympathized with them.

"Elijah," you said quietly. "You weren't here. You didn't see Alaric. He wants to end all vampires and the easiest way is to kill the Originals. Do you think he will leave us alone? He has the white oak stake. We need Klaus to help fight him. Always and forever, right? You guys are stronger together. I'm stronger with him."

"We will not be easy targets with or without my brother, Y/N," he promised you. "We will run, as we have before. I don't enjoy the prospect of a nomad life again, but I will bear it, if we can get Klaus and the stake back. There is also the issue of Alaric finding Klaus first."

You knew he was right. As much as you wanted to kill them all, and take Klaus back yourself, you knew it was only part of the problem. You didn't know where they hid Klaus, and there was a chance you wouldn't find him before Alaric did. Which would mean both he and you would die anyway.