Family Above All

3. Stayed Alive for You

Pairing: Klaus/Damon (M/M) hairbrush, hand, mouth soaping

Mystic Grill

March 22, 2012

Hours Earlier

Finn and Sage clung to each other in the alley outside the Mystic Grill.

"How can this be?" Finn asked again. The tall, dark, and handsome vampire had cleaned up nicely. Sage kept putting her hand on his face and feeling his smooth, beardless jawline. That was something she had never seen before and she liked it.

Sage pulled away from her first and dearest lover, the one who had turned her into an immortal.

"I stayed alive for you," Sage breathed, her green eyes troubled for a moment. "All these years, I waited. There were times when I thought I was close to getting you back, but your family moved quickly. Every time I was close, Mikael was closer and I lost you all over again."
"You had witches in your employ, did you not?" Finn wondered.

"Yes, I did. Sometimes I had to do things I was not proud of," Sage admitted. "But it was worth it. Here you are."
"And here you are," Finn retorted, smiling for the first times he could remember in 900 years. "I feel like I'm in a dream. Maybe I am still in that coffin with a magical dagger in my chest?"

Sage laughed in a musical tone, saying, "You are finally awakened. Promise me that we shall never part again!"
"Never," Finn vowed. He put a hand in her red hair and pulled the tall, fit woman in for another deep kiss.

A noise stirred both vampires and a blond boy came out with a bag.

"Ugh, sorry, folks. Just takin' out the garbage. Um, we'll about to close if you want to close out your tab...," the boy drifted off.

Sage smiled, "Sure, Matt. We'll be back in there in a moment."

The boy grinned, "Sure, okay. No, um, rush."

"Seems like a nice lad," Finn commented.

"I think they want to close the place so they can go home. I can hear them vacuuming," Sage commented, looking back at the door.

"I do not know what that means," Finn advised her, a little embarrassed at his ignorance.

"I will teach you all you need to know. Would you accompany me to my place?" Sage teased.
"I would like that very much. But I also want you to meet my family. My brother has also wronged you. I would like him to answer for that," Finn said gruffly.

"Niklaus? The Hybrid? Please, Finn, don't provoke him. Promise me," Sage begged. "His name is known for being one without mercy or a shred of compassion. He turned the witches of New Orleans against our entire kind. They vowed to destroy us all. And that's in addition to the hunters who seek to wipe us from this Earth."

Finn frowned, "None of this surprises me. Would it be safe for us to flee this land? Just you and me?"

Sage bit her lip uneasily and whispered, "I do not know. To kill an Original would be a great boon for our enemies. And because you cannot die, there are covens that would use you to bolster their own power. Let us not be hasty. Actually, even being in this alley makes me nervous. Let's pay the bill and get to your brother's house. But please, do not show them your scorn. Your family kept us apart for far too long."

"But how can we trust them now?" Finn asked.

"We cannot," Sage went on. "We'll have to be very careful. There are tales of white oak being in the hands of the wrong people. I don't want a splinter of that near your stout heart. Let us go."
Sage opened the door and they re-entered the warmth and light of the Grill. It would take Finn to get used to these bright torches. How they worked, he could not figure. He would ask Sage later, in private.