Mystic Falls } If You Knew I Was Dying Would It Change You?

[easily]

"You really are a hopeless fool," Nik saya, taking a step closer to her as he dips a dagger into ash. "Did you really think I'd let you leave. You'll blab everything to the first boy who bats his eyes at you. It's pathetic. Did you really think this one would be any different just because he took you on some vacation?"

She tries to get out, but Stefan blocks her way. Stefan who's asked her why she stayed before, who knew she had been happy with Neal in Cape Verdi before he had talked into coming back. The Stefan she had once loved.

"I'm sorry, Rebekah."

It stings, that he had handed her back to her brother after convincing her to come back here in the first place, but fine. She probably shouldn't be surprised. And she's too tired to try much harder to get out, too emotionally drained. So she turns back towards Klaus.

"Go right ahead. Laugh at the girl who loved too easily. But I would rather have lived my life than yours, Nik. No one will ever sit around a table telling stories about a man who couldn’t love. Do it. Look me in the eye and do it, you coward!"

He doesn't. Look her in the eyes, that is. But the dagger slides into her all the same.

She's given to Stefan for save keeping, and currently her body is stashed somewhere within the Salvatore Boarding house. It's been weeks since she left Neal in Cape Verdi. Any phone calls, texts, or other forms of contact he's tried to made would be left unanswered.

There's a reason why she had informed him about the daggers before. In case she ever up and disappeared on him like this.

Comments

[alias_savant]

Mozzie is going to kill him for this.

It's one thing to have a perpetual need to rescue the woman he loves. It's the reason why he wound up in jail, wound up working with Peter, wound up almost going back to jail -- Neal tends to get himself into more trouble than he's worth. But it's another thing entirely to be a wanted felon and sneak back into the country that wants to haul you back into prison and brave very old, very strong vampires for a girl.

And Mozzie doesn't even really know about the vampires. Or the vervain that Neal has been dumping in his coffee.

Still, the point is, of all the stupid things that Neal has done for love, this is probably the stupidest. It may help the cause that Mystic Falls is a town so small that it wouldn't even register on the FBI's radar, but it's still a giant risk. And it's a risk he takes after three days of not hearing a word from Rebekah because he doesn't trust her brother. Rebekah's told him about the daggers, and if he's done it before (and he has, many times), there's no saying he won't do it again.

So he hires a private jet to get him in with a fake manifest and a new alias. He flies into a tiny little out of the way airport with minimal security and drives the rest of the way to Mystic Falls. He checks the Mikaelson house first, because Klaus seems to be out of town, but every room turns up nothing. He then decides to run the risk of checking out the Salvatore house.

They're not there. They all seem to be dealing with a gas leak across town. It leads him to believe that what they're reporting as a gas leak isn't really a gas leak, but that's not his concern. He's just glad the house is empty.

He quietly goes through each room in the house, making sure that he doesn't leave anything where it wasn't already, and wearing gloves to keep his fingerprints off the doorknobs. He eventually makes his way down to the basement, where there's a body shaped form covered in a blanket. When he sees who's under it, his heart drops to his stomach.

She looks like a corpse. Neal hasn't seen many in his time, but the idea that someone could do this to her -- could essentially just kill her and leave her in the basement like a piece of furniture that they didn't want to use anymore makes him far angrier than he has any reason to be, especially given what he's dealing with. He pulls the blanket back the rest of the way, before wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the dagger before tugging it out.

She told him, when she told him about the daggers, that sometimes it can take a little time to come back. There's blood in the car for after she wakes up (and he can officially add "robbing a blood bank" to his list of "crimes he never thought he'd commit") but for right now, all he can do is wait.

[easily]

The thing is, Rebekah never expected him to come rescue him, even as she told him about the daggers before she left Cape Verdi (she's not dumb, she knows her brother, and his version of making peace with his family tends to involve stuffing them in boxes. This time he didn't even have the decency for that). She's not the girl people risk their life over. She's not the one people do anything to save. She's just not. She's never been that person for anyone so she doesn't expect that to suddenly change now.

Not that she could expect much of anything with a dagger lodged up her back and leaving her more or less dead. But still. It's not the role she usually plays in life.

It takes about twenty minutes or so for her body to begin to reanimate. It unshivrels up, the color turning back to her normal tone. Her whole body feels stiff and uncomfortable as she begins to sit up, trying to take in her surroundings. The emotions of the moment before this, of challenging her brother, trying to get something out of him are still there and it takes her a few moments before she realizes where she is (not Nik's place, and that fact stings more than it should) and more importantly, who's she with.

"You came for me."

If you hear surprise in her voice Neal, that's because it's there. She's very surprised.

[alias_savant]

Neal, on the other hand, couldn't imagine not coming for her. The idea of not trying to help when she's in trouble was never one that entered his brain by virtue of the fact that he felt like he had gotten her into this by letting her go.

He shouldn't have. He felt it in his gut at the time and he ignored it because it was her choice, but he should have said no.

"Of course I did," he says softly. He's surprised by her surprise, and he reaches for her hand. "But we shouldn't stay here long. I don't know when Stefan and his brother will be back."

They can debate why she's surprised by this once they've gotten away clean.

[easily]

She nods numbly as she realizes where she is. The Salvatore boarding house. How kind of Stefan, helping her brother by hiding her on top of everything else. Neal is right though. In her weakened form she is in no shape to take on Stefan or Damon. So she grabs his hands and pulls herself up. Her body is still stiff but the more she moves the less that will be true. And once she gets some blood in her system she should be fine

"Let's go then "

The vengeful part of her wants to tell Elena everything to screw over her brother and his plan but there is no reason any she can't do that on the phone safely from Cape Verdi. The sooner she gets the hell out of this town, the better.

[alias_savant]

He leads her back up the stairs and through the house, pausing as he goes to make sure they're still alone. There are no footsteps, no voices, and they make their way out to the car. Neal doesn't actually speak until they're already on the road, heading back to the small airport he had originally arrived in.

"There's a cooler in the backseat."

It's implied what's in it. It might not be enough, but it will hopefully be enough to get her on the plane.

[easily]

She's grateful he doesn't start asking questions right away though she knows sooner or later she'll have to tell him everything, why she came back and why she was daggered again. Because knowing her brother he may send people (his precious hybrids) after them. Neal needed to know what he was getting involved in. For now though she turns to get the cooler from the backseat. The blood she finds in there is enough to hold her over at least. She punctures the bag and being drinking greedily from it. After a few minutes she pauses to speak.

"Thank you."

For saving her. For bringing her blood. For thinking she is worth saving

[alias_savant]

He glances over with a small smile, briefly, before diverting his eyes back to the road. "Thank you. And when Mozzie kills me for taking stupid risks, all I ask is that it's a beautiful service."

He's joking. Mostly. If Mozzie does actually kill him, then it's unlikely that there will be a body to have a service for, but the thought would be nice all the same.

[easily]

She laughs though it sounds a little more hallow than she would have liked. "I think I could manage that." Though if someone ever did kill Neal she would probably do a lot more than just have his a nice service. She is a vampire after all. But hopefully it won't come to that.

[alias_savant]

Yes, hopefully. He's fairly certain that Mozzie will be as happy to have Rebekah back as he is, so that will outweigh the wanting to kill him part. Even better if he can get them back to Cape Verdi without attracting the FBI's attention.

"Good."

[easily]

If they do attract attention she isn't beyond compelling the fbi to forget what they saw and knew. It's the least she can do after Neal came and risked everything to find her. No one has ever taken that sort of risk for her before. She takes another drink from the blood bag before speaking again.

"You took a big risk coming back here to find me."

[alias_savant]

The highways are fairly empty as they drive out of Mystic Falls, giving way to sparser houses and less cars. He lets his eyes linger on the road for a moment, before turning to look at her again.

"I wasn't going to leave you there to rot. Risk or not, it was worth taking."

[easily]

"I don't think anyone has ever taken that sort of risk for me before."

And considering how long she has lived that is saying something. She glances out the window watching as the town disappears in the distance. She feels no regret leaving Mystic Falls.

[alias_savant]

He's surprised, to be honest. He knows how long she's lived, and the idea of never having someone who would take the risk, to do what needs to but done -- it's unthinkable.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

[easily]

She shrugs a little awkwardly. "It is what it is." She falls hard and fast, loves with everything she has, but it usually doesn't get returned the same way. It's how it's always been.

[alias_savant]

But it shouldn't have been, and Neal understands that more than she would think. People need to fall into things like love whole-heartedly, otherwise it doesn't mean nearly as much as it should.

"Well, next thing you know, we'll be back in Cape Verdi and this'll all be behind us."

[easily]

She smiles weakly at that, nodding in agreement. "Yes. I can't wait to get back."

She should have never left, she gets that now. There's nothing left for her here.

[alias_savant]

He returns the smile, before diverting his eyes back to the road. He lets them sit in silence until they're back on the plane and heading to Cape Verdi.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

[easily]

"Something hard." She'll probably need more blood once they get to Cape Verdi, but for now alcohol would help curb that need. And she could just use a drink, after everything else.

[alias_savant]

He nods and signals heads to the kitchen area to fix their drinks himself. Once that's done, he makes his way over to sit next to her, offering her the glass.

"To not looking back."

[easily]

She takes the glass from him, holding it up in a salute. "To not looking back."

And with that, she took a long drink.

[alias_savant]

He tosses his glass back himself, before settling into the seat next to her and reaching for her hand. It's meant to be silent reassurance that he's not going anywhere. He'll always come for her, no matter what it takes.

[easily]

She takes his hand gladly, squeezing it tightly. It's a silent promise. She will not leave his side again, no matter how hard her family may try to get her to in the future. She has made her choice.

[alias_savant]

He wants to ask what her brother wanted, but he knows that would be a sore subject. Instead he just leans back in the seat, closing his eyes.

"We should get some sleep. It's a long flight to Cape Verdi."

[easily]

If he asked, she would tell him. She would tell him everything. But all the same, she doesn't mind waiting to talk about it, until it hurts a little less. So for now she would just curl up in the seat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're probably right."

[alias_savant]

He gives her hand one last squeeze, before shifting to adjust his seat. They can talk later. Right now, it's alright if things stay where they are.

"See you when we land?"

[easily]

She agrees. They don't need to get into all of it right now, even if they probably should eventually. What's important is that he came to get her and they're together now. That's what matters.

"I'll see you then."

[alias_savant]

He shifts, before leaning back and quietly drifting off to sleep.

[easily]

And she'll fall asleep next to him.