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Elijah wasn't looking at him.
Elijah was refusing to meet his eyes and Tristan wanted to strangle him.
His fear at the news of Elijah sudden collapse had quickly turned into relief when he had arrived to Elijah awake and reinsuring his girls.
That had vanished after the call from those he had in Mystic falls, watching Elijah's family.
The confusion on how? How was Elijah effected half the world away? was quickly swallowed by rage at the memory of Finn's visit, the vial of Elijah’s blood he had left with, more than enough for a linking spell by ‘the original witch’.
And if anyone knew about the sirelines it would be the witch that made them, Elijah excuse of her ‘prolonging her life’, was a cover and Tristan had believed him.
Trusted him.
He had sent the girls away, leaving him and his assistant alone with Elijah.
“You knew.” He said, keeping his voice flat.
Elijah didn’t answer so Tristan gave into the urge to throttle Elijah, it was far better than the alternative of giving into the burning in his eyes.
After everything, Elijah was still trying to-
Elijah took the choking grip around his throat without a fight, moving his head to give Tristan better access while looking over his shoulder as he squeezed, enough to leave bruises.
They were all linked he knew now, Finn, Klaus, Kol and Rebekah they would all feel it, Finn would even know who was behind it but it wasn't enough.
He didn't want to hurt them, he didn't care about them, he wanted Elijah to hurt, to beg, to regret ever wanting to leave him.
And he knew the one thing that would get him what he wanted.
He let go and watched as Elijah coughed and struggled to regain his breath before beckoning his assistant closer
“Prepare room 1003 and the electric-” he started to order, before a panicked voice cut him off
“No!” Elijah said, his hand reaching out to grab him.
Tristan ignored the sudden change in Elijah.
“Go ahead.” He nodded at his assistant, who knew what he wanted and wouldn't be swayed by Elijah's words.
The man left to set up the equipment and Tristan forced a smile to his face, the hand on his wrist, Elijah's wide eyes, he had his attention now.
“Not that!” Elijah hissed.
“It has to be done.” Tristan told him, Elijah had to understand, had to know what he would get for this, going behind his back, attempting to die after everything they had done to protect him.
“Anything but that!”
“You should have thought of that before trying to help your family murder us.” he replied lightly, anger smothered, he would not show it, he had done that enough.
“You can punish me however you want, just not-” Elijah tried to argue but Tristan refused to hear it curling a hand around Elijah’s forearm and pulling him closer.
“I can punish you however I like, whenever I like,” he said, tightening his grip and watching as pain appeared in the other’s face, “if you're going to act like the early days, then so shall I.”
“Tristan, don't,” Elijah pleaded as Tristan started to pull him from the room, Elijah struggled in a growing panic but as always thanks to the ritual, preventing Elijah from harming him there was nothing Elijah could do to break his grip.
—
Aurora was unimpressed when she returned home, she had spent a week away staying at her dorm to finish some coursework for her most recent degree, only to return to find the headquarters of the Strix, quiet and catching the first whispers before she had even entered the building.
Tristan had dragged a screaming Elijah away yesterday and Elijah hadn't been seen still, his office empty, girls turned away, all lessons with the human recruits cancelled and his projects on pause until future review.
She had hoped they were just overblown, that she'd arrive to their rooms to find Elijah chained up but snarky.
Instead she entered to find Tristan watching the bed with a frown and Elijah curled up in it with his back to them.
“Well now,”she called to announce her arrival, startling her brother, showing how focused he was on Elijah “what happened here?” she asked the room.
“Aurora,” Tristan smiled, “how was university?”
She had several things she could tell him but she wasn't going to let him distract her. Elijah looks small in their shared bed.
“What happened?” She repeated, looking Tristan in the eyes, blue-grey stared back, her brother was clearly attempting to wait her out, hoping her attention would wane, it wouldn't work, “The place is filled with all sorts of juicy rumours about the head of the Strix dragging the founder away screaming.” She paraphrased smiling herself when his eyes widened.
Poor Tristan, her brother was ever so smart until feelings got involved and with Elijah feelings were always involved for him.
“Elijah decided to help his mother and Finn to kill himself and all of us with him,” Tristan told her as he pulled his phone out as started typing, no doubt in an attempt to manage the rumours. “So I punished him.”
Her eyes narrowed at the brief explanation, that didn't add up to Elijah being seen or heard screaming, rumours grew sure but they grew from something, and Elijah's silence spoke volumes.
“How?” she asked, “What punishment did you choose, brother?” Because she had seen Elijah take most of them and never end up like this.
“ECT.” Tristan answered after a short pause looking away from her, ‘at least he understood he had gone too far’ she thought.
Until he spoke again and corrected her of that idea.
“He tried to kill us all.” Her brother protested, and Aurora gave him a questioning look, Eljah who had been at the centre of the Strix and never out of their control for nearly a century tried to kill them with his mother and Finn who were on another continent and had only meet once, instead of pointing out how he may be over blowing it she went another direction.
Because what Tristan meant to say was ‘he tried to leave me.’ and her brother never took that well.
“So you decided to kill his feeling for you.” she replied, it wasn't a punishment for working with outsiders or endangering them, his was lashing back for making Tristan hurt.
“‘Rory.” Tristan frowned.
“Tristan,” she echoed him, before taking a step to forward to poke him hard in the chest with her nail. “The one thing he trusted you with, trusted you not to use against him. And you used it.”
His jaw made a snapping sound as his mouth shut.
—
She waited until Tristan left in a huff before she hopped on the bed, making no attempt to be careful and not to bother Elijah, that was the idea
He said nothing and didn't turn over, so she crawled until she was kneeling beside him.
She knelt over him, clearing his recently cut short hair away to see his face and winced at the slowly healing crescent burns on his temples.
His eyes moved to look at her.
“Are you in there?” She sang.
“Yes,” he replied, voice cracking, no doubt having torn his vocal cords, he'd be back to normal in the morning, physically at least.
Perks of being a vampire.
Still, feeling kind, she offered her wrist to him, giggling when he bit down and drank.
“Just giving Tristan the silent treatment.” She commented as he drunk her hand settled in his hair.
She had never been that interested in him when she was alive, he was another in Tristan's circle, one that her brother was fascinated by, but Aurora hadn't seen it.
She had warm, kind, beautiful Rebekah during her days a friend who didn't care about the rumours or Tristan's glares, and at nights she had Klaus’ intensity and sweetness.
Elijah had seemed plain, dull and cold beside them, now she saw beyond that, to the monster beneath, the fragile ruthless broken mess made by his parent's neglect or the weight of captivity her brother had put him through.
Aurora didn't care how, only that she could enjoy the end results.
“Did he manage it?”
Elijah hummed to show his confusion at what she was asking, which she didn't blame him, thoughts were always slow after an electric session.
“Manage to kill your love for him?” she asked.
He shook his head slowly.
“Good because you can't really escape him now.” She told him running her free hand through his hair to cup the back of his neck, keeping the ‘us’ behind her teeth, he didn't need to know that part.
Elijah was their missing part; a distraction and voice of reason for Tristan and an anchor she hadn't thought she needed.
Whether he had always been and she hadn't noticed before, blinded by Niklaus or made himself due to his need to be useful, it didn't matter, he was theirs.
‘Finder keepers, losers weepers’ and she was going to make Niklaus weep eventually.
“So why were you trying to kill us all?” she asked carelessly after some time had passed in silence.
“I just wanted an escape.” he exhaled.
She made a wordless noise before she started to use her nails to scratch at his scalp, he sighed relaxing further into her.
“I don't need your judgement.” he said but Aurora heard the fear of it in his tone.
“No judgement,” she replied lightly, “I understand wanting to get away.”
Elijah gave her a look.
Aurora grinned, fighting to control a laugh, ‘The noble Stag’, they weren't wrong.
If Niklaus was a puppy with pleading eyes, then Elijah was a fawn, big dark wary bambi eyes.
She leaned down to press a kiss to his lips before he could ask what was amusing her.