Strange Fates - The End
Pairing: Mikaelson Brothers x Reader
Warnings: nope
A/N: A New Year’s present from me to you. Hope you like it. Thanks for loving this one, too.
***
It was the pain that managed to break through the barrier they’d tried to maintain. A wave of sorrow followed by an intense burning. To be truthful, Elijah had feared they would arrive at your home to find it aflame. That you had somehow gotten trapped and they would lose you forever.
When the house appeared as calm as always, they knew something else was going on. They shouted and pounded on both doors of the house. It wasn’t until the connection between you faded to almost nothing that they truly began to panic. Mere seconds passed before they busted through both doors. They rushed in with no care to the wards that you thankfully hadn’t reset as they passed through unharmed.
Klaus reached you first. He pulled you from your seat and sat on the floor with you in his lap. You were a burnt and bloody mess. Tears ran down his face. “Oh no. What have you done to yourself, love?”
Kol raked his hands through his hair. “What did we do, Elijah? We did this to her.”
Elijah knelt beside Klaus as he rolled up his sleeve. “Calm yourself, Kol.” He bit into his wrist and held it to your mouth. When you remained limp and unmoving a jolt of panic shot through him. He clenched his teeth and lifted the back of your head with his free hand. “Drink, damn you.”
When you began to obey him, he slumped in relief as the tension flowed from him. You would survive. Once he determined you’d taken enough, he stood. “We’ll take her home and discuss what to do from there.”
***
You woke with a groan and a smile. You were surrounded by mountains of pillows and had sunk down into the bed as you slept. God, this bed was worth every penny. You turned your head to the side and inhaled deeply, catching a bit of the scent from all three of your mates. Yep, best bed ever.
But how did you get here? Last thing you remembered you were…
Oh, god. Oh, no. You shouldn’t be here. You should be at home passed out on your table. You should have woken up with physical pain to take your mind off the heartbreak you couldn’t live with. You scrambled in the bed, trying to find purchase to push yourself up to the headboard. Finally succeeding, you shoved the bedding away from you and drew your knees up to your chest. “No, no, no.”
The words were barely audible but it was enough to draw the brothers into the room. Or maybe they’d felt you wake up. You still seemed to be firmly tied to them despite your desire to forget. You’d hoped getting rid of your marks would lessen your bond.
The three of them stood at the foot of the bed just looking at you as if they didn’t know what to say.
“Why?” you asked. “Why would you bring me here? How can I forget you if I’m here? Why would you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?” Your words held far more of a plea in them than you would normally care for, but right now, you didn’t care. You just wanted—no, needed—to get away from them.
Klaus stepped forward, his eyes full of tears. “Calm down, love. Everything will be okay.”
You shook your head. “I can’t. I can’t stay here. You have to let me go.”
Kol shot forward and you flinched though he stopped just short of climbing on the bed with you. “We can’t do that, Y/N. We love you too much to do that again.”
You sucked in a breath.
“Hush, Kol,” Elijah snapped.
Kol turned on his brother with an anger you’d rarely seen him wear. “No. I’m sorry but I can’t just stand around and pretend I don’t love her when she’s in front of me hurting. And obviously she’s not better off without us. Look at her.”
Your eyes darted between them. If they loved you, why would they leave you? You had a million questions and no idea where to begin. Fortunately, you were spared from having to make the decision.
“Out,” Rebekah ordered as she strode into the room.
Klaus rolled his eyes and Elijah sighed. “Not now, Rebekah.”
“I’m not asking. All three of you, out now. She needs to get cleaned up and I’m sure as shit not about to let any of you lot help her. You’ve done quite enough.”
When they didn’t move, she stomped her foot on the floor. “Out!”
Elijah held up a hand to quiet her. “All right. We have some matters to discuss anyway.”
You stayed silent as they filed from the room and Bekah flipped the lock behind them. Not that it would keep them out if they really wanted in but it was a nice gesture. She laid the clothes in her hands on the end of the bed and held a hand out to you. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
You slipped your hand into hers and let her lead you into the bathroom. You sat on the counter at her gesture. Your gaze followed her as she got a rag and wet it down. You closed your eyes and let her wash the grime from your face. You kept them closed as she gently tended to you, both of you silent as she did so.
Her fingers traced the skin on your wrist where your soulmarks sat and you opened your eyes to follow their path. There they were, right back where they started. If anything, they were darker than they used to be. You huffed. Figured.
“Are you all right?” Bekah asked and you lifted your head to meet her gaze.
You gave a little shrug. “Does it matter?”
“Of course, it matters. Why did you do this to yourself? You’re better than this. Better than them, at the very least.”
The pure annoyance in her tone had you huffing a laugh. “I wasn’t trying to hurt myself. That was just a side effect. I just wanted the marks gone. The reminders of what I’d had.”
You hopped off the counter and went into the other room. After stripping off your dirty underthings, you put on the fresh clothes Bekah had brought you. You were surprised to find they were your own. You glanced to your friend in surprise.
“You had things in the laundry when they packed you up. I kept them around for when they came to their senses.”
You smiled. “Well, thanks.” You sat on the edge of the bed and stared at your hands in your lap. “I was so happy for a while, you know. Really happy living here with all of you. Then they told me it was all over. I was heartbroken, but once I got past the initial shock and grief of it I thought I would be okay.”
You shook your head and licked your lips. “I mean, I’m persistent. At the very least, I could annoy them into taking me back. But then they locked down the bond. Do you know what it’s like to have three people’s emotions and presence in you, keeping you company all the time, and then they’re just gone? Only a whisper remained. I’d never felt so alone.”
“I am so sorry.” The tremble in her voice had you looking at her. Moisture pooled in her eyes.
“Not your fault, Bekah.” The brothers were outside the room. They had been for some time, listening. Which was good, you supposed, as they needed to hear what you had to say. “And you know, the thing is when I was a kid and my sister gave me shit about my mark, I did some research. One way to reject your mate, to sever the bond permanently between you is to lock it down like they did. Lock it down and keep it that way for six months. I figured that’s what they intended to do. I didn’t want the marks if they weren’t going to be mine.”
A knock came at the door and Bekah scowled as she stomped over to it. She yanked it open to find all three brothers on the other side. “What do you want?”
“We need to talk to her,” Elijah said looking past his sister to meet your eye.
“Too bad. Fuck off.”
Your hand flew up to your mouth to stifle the laughter that threatened to erupt.
“Rebekah—”
She immediately cut Kol off. “You already destroyed her once. I won’t let you do it again.”
“She’s our mate, Rebekah. We’re not going to hurt her,” Klaus argued.
“That didn’t stop you last time.”
“Rebekah, just leave us with her. Please.” Elijah tried to sound reasonable but annoyance was heavy in his voice.
She glanced back at you and you nodded. She turned back to the men. “Fine. But if you hurt her again, I’ll never forgive you.”
As people shuffled in and out of the room, you moved over the sitting area in the corner. You so did not want to have this conversation on the bed. You poured yourself a drink and sat down. Kol sat on the opposite end of the sofa and Klaus took a chair. Elijah remained on his feet.
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “First, I should tell you that we eavesdropped on your conversation with Rebekah.”
You lifted your brows. “I know.”
“How?” Klaus asked.
“The bonds. It took me a moment to realize it when I woke but they’re open again. It’s most of the reason I’m calm even though I’m hurting. It’s horrible to feel so empty all the time. It was awful.” You swallowed the lump in your throat.
Kol immediately slid next to you and took your hand in his. You glanced at him, uncertain if you wanted to lean closer to him or snatch your hand away from his touch. “We had no idea, Y/N. I promise you. We thought the only way to sever the bond permanently was with a witch. We simply thought it would be easier for all of us if we didn’t feel each other’s pain so intensely.”
You hummed, not sure what else you could say you hadn’t already.
“That wolf that attacked you targeted you because of us,” Elijah explained as if you hadn’t already known that. “As long as you are with us, your life will be in danger.”
“We felt the only way to protect you was to no longer be with you,” Klaus added.
You blinked as you processed their words. You’d already known this to an extent but you had honestly thought they were just using it as an excuse to be rid of you. Looking them over, it was evident the last few days had been just as difficult for them as they had for you. Elijah was even in jeans and a t-shirt instead of a suit. He must have really been suffering. You giggled a little at the thought and shook your head.
The brothers gave you questioning looks that you ignored.
They may have overheard you talking to Bekah, but you needed to make sure they understood you couldn’t do this again. You wouldn’t survive them leaving a second time. “When you locked the bond down, what did you feel?”
“Hollow.”
“Empty.”
“Lost.”
They spoke in unison and you honestly weren’t certain which of them had said what word. You nodded. “Good. Remember that feeling. Now triple it. And add the uncertainty of why it was done. The not knowing if it was permanent or not.”
“We know we hurt you, darling. We’re so sorry.” Kol squeezed the hand he was still holding and you gently slid it from his grasp.
“That’s not enough, Kol.”
Your mates looked stricken and pure sorrow come through the bond. They thought you weren’t going to take them back. If you were a crueler person, you’d let them continue to think that for a while. Rebekah would probably be pissed you didn’t.
“All of you need to understand that I won’t survive this a second time. So, you need to realize that I am capable of taking care of myself. Yes, it was unnerving when I killed that asshole, but I did it. Me.”
Hope flowed from them and you smiled softly in response.
“I’m not a fool. I know a life with you will be full of danger. But I also couldn’t possibly be any safer than I am with you. If you can’t promise me now that we’ll take whatever the future brings together then you were right—we should end this before we get more invested.”
There was a stretch of silence as they processed your words.
Klaus was the first to speak. “If the last three days has shown me anything, love, it’s that it’s already far too late for that. Dramatic phrasing about not being able to live without you aside, I don’t want to live without you. You make me whole. So, you’re stuck with me for an eternity or so. If you’ll have me, that is.”
Your gaze shifted from him to Kol. He grasped your hand again and kissed the back of it. “I didn’t want to do this in the first place so I’m certainly never doing it again. I love you, darling.”
Your lips twitched as you turned to Elijah. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rocked on his feet. “I have spent a thousand years thinking that I knew what was best for our family. Obviously, I don’t know everything. We need you back in our home, Y/N. Back in our lives. We may live forever, but what would be the point without you.”
You allowed the silence to stretch before shaking your head. “You guys are really cheesy, you know that?”
It took exactly one heartbeat for Kol to snatch you off the couch and spin you in the air. He tossed you onto the bed as you laughed. Soon you were surrounded by your mates and you felt content for the first time in days.
As they held you, they gave you soft kisses and whispered a thousand apologies. Things weren’t perfect or even close to settled. They had a lot to make up for after all. But you were home and back where you belonged. You had an eternity to figure out the rest.
