𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄━︎━︎H. Mikaelson ✓︎

𝐒𝐢𝐱

CHAPTER SIX:
ASHAMED

SHE HAD BECOME A MASTER at functioning without so much as a wink of sleep. Staying up at ungodly hours of the night in order to track down the tribrid that her mother was so determined for her to find a kill. And to say that it was a hard task was an understatement. It was probably one of the hardest assignments that she had ever been given. And Grayson was absolutely terrified of his sister's health both mentally and physically. It took him ten tries before he finally managed to rip the laptop from his sister's grasp, hiding it from her and forcing her to get some sleep.

And as soon as her head had hit the pillow, she had immediately fallen asleep. He pulled the covers over his sister, a soft sigh falling from her lips as he looked down at her for a moment. Looking towards the open door, Grayson's jaw clenched. He was pissed at his mother for putting so much pressure on his sister. And he was going to say something about it, whether or not it was against his own good judgement.

Carefully closing Lilianna's door, Grayson made his way down the hall in search of his mother. Usually whenever he was angry he would make his way outside, train for a little while and let his anger out on a target that had done absolutely nothing to him. His mother made him angry a lot, she seemed to make it her goal in life to make him angry every single day. And seeing his sister so drained, so exhausted because of their mother, that was a step too far, and he was about to shut it down. 

     When he found her, he wasn't surprised to find a stack of files placed beside her as she silently made her way through every one of them. "Mom." The simple word made Talia hum in response, barely glancing up to her son. His jaw clenched again. "Mom."

     A sigh fell from Talia's lips as she closed the file she had been reading. She crossed her arms on the table, looking up towards Grayson with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, son? What do you need?"

     "You need to back off." Grayson was quick to the point, ignoring the surprise on his mother's face when he spoke to her in such an aggressive tone. His mother scared him, that was true. But there were times like this where his fear was pushed away and his anger took over him. "She is exhausted, she hasn't slept in almost two days, thanks to you. Do you know how unhealthy that is?"

     "I don't control what your sister does and doesn't do." Talia simply shrugged her shoulders, and that simple action seemed to make Grayson even angrier.

     "Yes you do!" he let out a scoff of disbelief. "You're so hell bent on keeping her legacy alive, that you're ripping her childhood from her. She's sixteen, Talia! She's a goddamn kid. Let her be a teenager for once."

     Talia stood up, placing her hands flat on the table as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at her son. "I don't know who the hell it is that you think you're talking to in that tone of voice. I'm your mother, you don't speak to me like that." Grayson scoffed. "Lilianna knows why I'm doing this. I'm trying to make sure she lives up to her legacy."

     "And in doing so, you're making her health both mentally and physically fall." Grayson snapped.

     "Grayson―︎"

     "Be a mother for once in your damn life. Be concerned about your children! Don't just brush us off like we are nothing but agents to you that go out and do your killing! We are your kids, and if dad were here, he would be ashamed to ever call you his wife." Without another word, Grayson turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Talia to stand there alone.

His words were harsh, Grayson knew that. But he also knew that he was speaking the truth, and that his mother needed to hear what it was that they had to say. He missed his dad. David Stark was an amazing father, keeping his children shielded as long as he could from the creatures that went lurking through the night. His son and daughter meant the entire world to him. They always came first. The came before the supernatural, before the hunt, before friends, hell even before his wife. They were everything to him, and he made sure that they knew that.

Talia used to be the same way―︎though she had always been more pushy than their father had been. She used to show the love that she had for her children, but even then Grayson knew that to her training always came first. And that increased even more once David had died. All care for the wellbeing of Grayson and Lilianna flew out the window, and killing the thing that killed her husband became number one over everything. And Talia wanted that to be the main priority to her children as well.

She just didn't realize that the more that she pushed, the more that she gave them missions they didn't want, the more that she was losing her kids. And it wasn't going to be too long before they both walked out, and she would lose them forever.