You Don't Know What I'd Do For You (Love you like oxygen)

two

*A/N* Hello! Second chapter, let's get it! There's just an itty bitty time skip, this chapter starts later that same night after everyone has gone to bed. Just to avoid any confusion, enjoy!

Though the months had turned to years, and the years into decades, and the decades into centuries, the nightmares did not fade. Every night, without fail, Elijah's mind would be plagued with terrible, haunting memories. Tonight, of course, was no different. He bolted up in bed, entire body trembling, t-shirt damp with cold sweat, chest desperately heaving in ragged breaths. With shaking hands, he wiped away the tears that had fallen in his sleep, trying to ground himself.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he pushed himself up to standing. After changing out his shirt for a dry one, he silently made his way downstairs, knowing that he would get no more sleep that night. Finding himself in the kitchen, he tried to take a seat but the smell of the blood bags from the freezer drove him insane. Hurriedly getting up, Elijah grabbed his shoes and stalked out the doors of the compound, ignoring the questioning looks of the nightwalker guards. He just needed to get out, fresh air might help to clear his head.

Restricting his blood intake had gotten wildly out of hand. He couldn't control himself around it but the thought of drinking it made him feel sick. Not feeding wasn't a permanent solution, and he knew that, but he didn't have many other options and there were larger issues at hand right now. It was a terrible battle between keeping his control and not growing too weak. He had only been without blood for around two weeks now, though it might pose some functions issues for the average vampire, he was an Original, so fortunately it wasn't much of a concern. He could feel it, yes, but his abilities still worked when the need arose for him to use them and that was the important thing.

Elijah walked the streets of New Orleans absentmindedly, turning random corners and admiring the buildings and lights. The air was cold but he enjoyed the chill, it was a sharp sensation that brought him back to his senses. He enjoyed moments like these, treasured them, when the world was quiet and still, and didn't seem intent on tearing at the seams. It was precious seconds like these where he could be alone but not feel alone. He could fall apart without having other obligations.

He hadn't been expecting it, he should have felt the presence, been able to sense someone coming. But he hadn't, could have, yes, but he didn't. Perhaps he chose not to, however subconsciously. Maybe he didn't want to run and fight anymore, maybe, he just wanted to give up the constant war. Either way, whether he could have, would have, should have, he didn't.

It happened quickly, one minute he was awake, though clearly not very aware, and the next, he simply... wasn't. The magic overwhelmed him, overcame him, not physically because his attacker wouldn't have stood a chance, but it overcame his mind. And without mental control, the body is nothing, physical strength is rendered useless. Elijah was known for his control, restraint, plans, decisions, famous for his iron grip on everything that he touched. Regardless of physical size, even age or ability, he was in charge of every room, the mediator of every crowd, the king of kings.

But alas, everyone must be allowed moments of weakness, regardless of control. If the moment is not permitted, the weakness appears regardless, just without preparation. This was how the greatest of the Mikaelson siblings was beaten. A split second of weakness thrust upon him, a brief lapse in control without preparation for the consequences, without reinforcements for the fallback. It was in that one moment, that he suddenly couldn't move, held still by invisible forces in all directions. It was in those few seconds that everything abruptly fell completely dark and he knew no more.

~~~~~

"Where the bloody hell is Elijah?!" demanded Rebekah, throwing her hands up as she stalked into the sitting room after searching the entire compound for her older brother.

"We don't know, none of us have seen him since last night," Kol replied, sipping on a glass of blood as he relaxed into an armchair, unperturbed by his brother's absence.

Freya ran an anxious hand through her hair as she paced back and forth. Though she admittedly hadn't known him long, she definitely knew that Elijah wouldn't just disappear without telling anyone. With Esther on the loose and gaining power, they can't afford to be unorganized. Original vampires don't just drop off the face of the planet either, anywhere they go, the supernatural world would recognize them. They aren't really something that you can just lose.

Klaus practically barged into the room, trailed by a clearly stressed Hayley, cradling a cooing Hope "I've called his cell phone about a hundred times, he's not picking up," the hybrid stated, as he went to stand beside Rebekah.

"I mean, he wouldn't just vanish," reasoned Hayley, sitting down heavily on a couch, laying her daughter on her chest, "Has anyone asked one of the nightwalkers if he left the compound last night?"

"Marcel just went," Kol answered, admittedly a little sharply, him and Klaus' sire had never been on the best of terms.

Marcel, as though summoned, came marching into the room. "They said that he went for a stroll at about 3 AM and never came back," he said, facing the roomful of expectant gazes with a shrug.

Rebekah scoffed, "Well that was monumentally unhelpful."

"Not necessarily," Freya interjected, "now we know that he left the compound of his own accord and how long he's been gone."

"Should I start some search parties?" Marcel suggested, already on his way out the door to go talk to some guards.

"No, that probably wouldn't do much good," Klaus answered, shaking his head as he ran a hand over his stubbled chin, "It's been almost 7 hours, he could be anywhere by now."

"I'll get a locator spell ready," Freya sighed, starting towards her room, "bring me something that was really important to him, I don't know, a photo, piece of jewelry, whatever you can find."

The rest of the family scuttled around, making their way up into their older brother's room while Freya went down the hall to her own. "Alright, um, can anyone think of anything?" Rebekah questioned, racking her brain of anything that her older brother would hold dear.

The rest of the group fell quiet, looking around at each other and shaking their heads. She sighed, there must be something, everyone had something that was important to them. Hayley had her photo albums, Freya had her bracelets and necklaces, Nik his paintings, Kol his violin and collection of sheet music. But when it came to Elijah, she couldn't think of anything, no hobbies or talents or interests or passions. Over a thousand years together, and now that she thought about it, she barely knew him at all.

The only thing she could ever remember him doing was protecting all of them, staying by their side, always and forever. It had been devastating when he had left, for almost a century, he had simply vanished. Gone one day without warning and returned just as abruptly. He had never told them why, simply changed the topic whenever it was brought up and had only ever given vague, incomplete answers to her questions. But now it was happening again, he was gone, the glue of her family, the supporting pillar to their empire, was gone.

*A/N* Thank you so much for reading, let me know about any grammar or spelling mistakes and I'll fix them. In the next chapter we're back to Elijah in his newest predicament!

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