Tainted | Finn Mikaelson

Chapter 23

Finn picked her up, and sped her away.

When they arrived in her apartment, he set her down on the couch, and immediately covered his mouth before turning toward another direction, breathing heavily.

"You're angry with me," she realized.

"Katya, you're the smartest person I know," he said. "How could you be foolish enough to— to think that—"

"I knew she was trapped and weak. If I hadn't heard anything about a barrier spell, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to—"

"She could have killed you! A hungry vampire is the worst possible person you could have gone near! Darling, why— why would you risk your life—"

"Because my friend was terrified," said Katya sharply. "Because Klaus should have killed Aurora and he didn't, and after all you have been going through, I just wanted to help. Have there be one less enemy to worry about."

"You went alone, on top of everything!" continued Finn. "At the very least, you could have had backup if you wanted to help! Not even my brothers and I have the strength to deal with vampires of Aurora's caliber entirely alone. She's unpredictable, she's unstable—"

"And she's dead," snapped Katya. "Dead, and unable to hurt anyone. Was it reckless? Yes, it was, Finn. I'll admit that. But it went well—"

"And if it hadn't?" he said, speaking louder to try and get her to listen. "If it hadn't gone well, and she would have killed you? Where would you be now, Katya? You'd have been gone from this world for good!"

"But I'm not, am I? I'm standing right here, and I'm fine."

Finn shook his head. "You shouldn't have done it."

"Was I expected to just sit here and take it? Sit here and lean back and wait for everything to be solved by everyone else? I pitched in where I felt I could."

"Next time you feel that way, tell me, Katya, and I will make sure I tell you where you can help, within reason. If anything happened to you—"

"Nothing happened to me!" hissed Katya. "I'm fine! I may be some fragile doll to you but I am not completely weak! All I ever get to do is lay low and hide and pretend everything is alright and be kidnapped. I don't like being the damsel in distress. If I don't do more, I'll just keep being an easy target. If any vampire within a ten mile radius hears that a human killed a one-thousand-year-old vampire, they'll be more wary—"

"No, they won't be!" Finn said, starting to lose their temper. "They won't stop targeting you. You are strong and you are fierce and you can stand up for yourself, but none of that stops you from being human. You're breakable and you're a fresh source of blood and you can't heal easily. Anyone who wants to hurt you will hurt you, regardless of how strong you are. Darling, I was killed by a mere human the first time. No one feared the boy that killed me. They just wanted him dead more than ever! He became a threat, and because he remained human—"

"If you want me to apologize, I'll apologize, because you're clearly unhappy—"

"I don't want you to apologize, Katya, I want you to realize the severity of the situation! I want you to value your life more! You've never wished to kill. Where did this come from? Is— is it what Cami said?"

Katya faltered, and he knew he was right. "Darling, we all have a dark side," he said, holding her shoulders. "It's out of our control in most situations. It doesn't make you a terrible person. It doesn't mean you have to prove it or disprove it. Elijah has spent one thousand years denying his and it makes him lose his mind. Kol and Niklaus spent one thousand years embracing theirs and it only got them into more trouble. It is different for everyone. For Cami, it manifested. Her words need not make you think that you have to accept it and act on it."