whenyouearnit | Honesty among family

There was only one place that Rebekah would consider going after seeing Damon in the streets of Darrow. There was only one person who needed to explain himself, needed to explain the lies and the secrets. Elijah, her brother, her companion in this awful place. She had trusted him and he had betrayed that trust.

Why did she do this? She should have known better, should never have betrayed Niklaus, not even with Mikael's arrival in Mystic Falls. He was the one, the only one who'd never lied to her, never betrayed her. She held on to that thought, that anger, furious when she knocked on her brother's door.

"Elijah," she could break it down, but there was no need. He would answer it, and would answer her questions. Rebekah feigned sweetness, her voice nearly dripping with honey. "It's your sister. Let me in."

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From:

manof_myword

Elijah had been a little thrown by everything since his conversation with Damon. The things he'd told him, the hope, the hurt. Elena was alive, but something she never wanted to be--but she hadn't perished in that crash. That was...better.

Even better--probably--Klaus wasn't dead. He hadn't realized how much he still loved his brother until Rebekah told him he was dead. That they stayed together, that he didn't want to let him go, really, upon reflection? Yes. What Esther had done...he loved his family, all of them.

But just what a hole the thought of Klaus's death would leave in his heart...but he was alive. Alive and being an ass, in general, but Elijah could live with that.

Rebekah's knock roused him from the book he'd been not reading as he moved to open the door, a more relaxed smile on his face than there had been since he'd arrived. "Hello, sweetheart."

From:

whenyouearnit

She's not in the mood for being called sweetheart, and though she may try to hide her upset, Elijah knows her well enough to see through her mask to the storm that is brewing. "The strangest thing happened tonight, brother."

Brushing past him she heads straight for his liquor cabinet. There's scotch there, a nice scotch too, and she pours herself a generous measure, waiting until the glass is nearly full to look at him again.

"The strangest thing in that I met Damon Salvatore tonight."

From:

manof_myword

Her mood is completely obvious, yes, and he's already wary when she pushes past him. That doesn't go away as she pours herself a drink. He continues to watch her warily, even as he closes the door and trails in behind her.

Her words, however, clarify the situation pretty quickly.

"...I see. Strangely enough, so did I."

That wasn't so much a distraction as it was random comment to catch his breath.

From:

whenyouearnit

"Did you really?" She swirled the glass before drinking down half of it in a gulp. Her anger is hard for her to hide, she's never been good at covering her emotions, especially with her family.

"Would you like to know the things he told me?"

From:

manof_myword

Elijah watches her, well aware that she's angry and emotionally bracing himself to face it. His face, however, remains impassive--as usual. It takes a lot to break his control, and knowing the fate of those left behind has given him back most of what the emotional off-kilter had taken.

"I can imagine, but if you'd like to tell me...."

From:

whenyouearnit

"You can imagine, can you? Because the things he told me are the sorts of things I would have expected my loving brother to tell me." Rebecca hissed her words, her voice low and nearly shaking with the anger she was trying so hard to contain. How could he be so calm, especially when faced with his own perfidy?

"He told me that our mother is alive. Our mother. You kept that from me?"

From:

manof_myword

Elijah does blink at that, having expected her upset to be far more over the entire situation with Niklaus, though, in retrospect, he suspects that was rather less important now that it was all for naught and his own grief had been meaningless.

In his defense, he's spent the whole time he's been here grieving Niklaus and Elena, and compartmentalizing away Esther's further betrayal.

"...Oh," he says a little blankly, before rallying. "Did he tell you the rest of the story? Because the answer lies in that, not such a simple sounding fact."

As far as Elijah is concerned, their mother is not alive. A monster who had once been her had been, however briefly--one who had destroyed everything he had loved about his mother, tarnishing her memory forever in his mind.

From:

whenyouearnit

Damon hadn't the time to tell her the entire story. Her own anger had been too much that even compelled she had not gotten everything about what her future held.

"He said something foolish about her betraying us all, but I'm sure that's just what he believes." Rebekah needs to believe that, needs to think that Esther would never do such a thing to her children not when she was finally reunited with them. "Our mother would never do such a thing."

From:

manof_myword

The blankness shifted toward something darker, a hint of the similarities he shared with his siblings, the vampire capable of sacrificing innocents to preserve or avenge his family without blinking. Anger, hurt, betrayal--all of it naked there for a moment, then shuttered away once more.

"She's not our mother anymore."

From:

whenyouearnit

There is an ache so deep inside of her that Rebekah feels she is going to break apart. "Not our mother?"

The ache comes with more anger, the rage easier to cling to than the hurt. "How can you say that? She made us what we are, she saved us."

From:

manof_myword

Elijah doesn't move to get a drink though he wants it rather desperately--at least not, yet. But the patience does snap, just a little bit, mostly in response to the anger being directed to us.

"I heard a human mother in a mall tell a child once, 'I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it.' Apparently the woman who was our mother feels the same way--because all she has done since she came back is try to kill us, managing to destroy even more lives in her attempts."

From:

whenyouearnit

"No," Rebekah smashes her glass on the floor, the tantrum coming full circle. The rage is burning itself out replaced by a shattering sorrow. It feels as if her insides are being hollowed out, that all she'll have to feel is grief.

Sobbing, she sinks down to the ground, the broken glass at her feet forgotten. "She wouldn't. Not us. Not me."

From:

manof_myword

The last thing he wants is to break her heart, but there is an inevitability to it, at the same time. And keeping the secret had been hard.

He moves when she does, though, sinking down beside her, just as heedless of the glass. Pants can be cleaned, cuts will heal. He wraps his arms around her. "She's been watching us, all these years. Everything we've done. Everyone we've killed. Everyone our progeny have harmed. She blames herself for all those lives..."

He includes himself in that, too honest to even pretend at superiority right now.

From:

whenyouearnit

"How could she?" Rebekah turns into his embrace, needing the comfort even more than she had thought. Her words are sobs, her heart broken. "How could she do such a thing to her children?"

Whether she speaks of the curse, or her attempt to revoke it later is unclear.

From:

manof_myword

His arms tighten around her, fingers slipping to brush lightly through her hair. Her brokenness tugs at his own, making his heart hurt. "I don't know, sweetheart."

From:

whenyouearnit

It's enough that he's here, now. Her anger isn't for her brother anymore, but for her mother. A mother she'd loved and cherished beyond words. She wishes revenge, but that's a secondary feeling, the hurt still too great. "We're alone here, aren't we?"

From:

manof_myword

After everything else his mother has done, Elijah wants that revenge more than anything, honestly. For Alaric. For Elena. For the things she made them into. His fingers slide to cradle the back of her head. "Not so long as we're both here," he says softly. "We have each other, so we're not alone."

From:

whenyouearnit

"We're not," Rebekah whispers, hope in her eyes as she tilts her head to meet his eyes. Hope that he won't leave her too, that this place won't be like all of the others. "Don't leave me."

From:

manof_myword

Elijah slips his fingers through her hair again, tucking it back behind her ears, then reaches in his pocket for his handkerchief to wipe the tears gently off her cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. Not of my own choice, not again."

From:

whenyouearnit

She lets him comfort her, promise her. They are words that she wants to hear, but she hates to admit to wanting. "May I stay here tonight?"

Not that she needs to sleep, none of them really need much. But she wishes to stay near to him, to help believe he is truly there for her.

From:

manof_myword

"Of course," he tells her quietly, without any hesitation. In truth, he's been too much on his own, and having her near makes him happy, even when it's sometimes difficult to find the right words to say after so long and so much gone wrong in their lives.

From:

whenyouearnit

Rebekah only nods, not trusting herself to say anything. She's too likely to say something rash, to become upset all over again, and all she wants is to forget the pain. If it becomes anger, fine, her desire for revenge on those who wronged her not changed. But she has cried too much as of late, has been too weak.

Her head on his shoulder, she closes her eyes. If she can just pretend for a moment that she's learned none of this, that the betrayal they face is not so horrible, then perhaps she'll be fine.

From:

manof_myword

Elijah just holds her for a moment, then moves, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the sofa where he settles, her on his lap. Some instincts just never quite die, and protective older brother is one of them.

He presses a kiss to her temple, settling his arms more securely around her, not pushing her to be all right, but just being there with her.