Through His Eyes (The Originals)

Queen Death + Phantomesque

 I woke up the next morning to find I wasn't in my bedroom at the compound. Instead, I was in Erik's hotel room, where he brought me after Klaus knocked me out in that alleyway.

 I sat up in bed and let my memories from the night before slowly come back to me, and was ashamed of what came back. I had been so angry; angry with myself for losing my granddaughter, angry at Erik for distracting me, angry at Klaus for kicking Erik out and basically just being himself. And because I was angry, I took advantage of whatever possible affections Erik might have had for me by sleeping with him when I wasn't even sure how I felt about him.

 "Ah, good. You're awake."

 Erik was sitting by the window, and seemed to have just noticed I was awake.

 "Morning," I muttered, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Um, how long have you been up?"

 "Not very long. I thought I would let you sleep."

 "Right." I sighed. "Erik, I'm sorry about this. I feel like I took advantage of you last night."

 "Oh, Mikael. Don't be sorry for what we did last night. You were so angry and riled up, and I was the calm one. If anything, I should be apologizing for taking advantage of you in your state. I can't say I regret it, though."

 "Well, it was nice, I guess," I said, pulling my clothes on. "But I don't think I should stay much longer."

 "Why not?" he asked. "We could spend some more time together, couldn't we?"

 "I...don't know. I don't know what's going on at the compound."

 "Mikael," Erik touched me gently on the arm, "You need time off. You need a day to relax and stop worrying. Text one of your children and let them know you'll be away for the day. They can call if they need your help with anything. Given your behavior last night, I think you really could use some time away from all that drama. Please? Just this once, and then I'll take you home tonight."

 I sighed. "Fine." I get out my phone and sent Henrik a message to let him know where I would be. "Okay. Drama-free day, here I come."

~~~~~~

 The sun had just finished setting as Erik and I returned to the compound.

 "Now, was I right?" Erik asked. "Did you enjoy it?"

 "Yes, I did. You were right about me needing a day away. I'm glad it was with you, Erik."

 He smiled. "So am I. Since we're alone, there was something I wanted to ask. Once all this business with the Hollow is over, and you can live in peace, would any of your children try to kill me if I came to court me?"

 "To...well, the only one would probably be Klaus, but I doubt he cares who I go out with. I think I could get everyone else to come around. I take it you're saying you'd like to take me out on more drama-free days. But once this Hollow thing is over, we have to leave New Orleans. Marcel Gerard won't let us stay."

 "Then I'll come with you," he said.

 "Erik, you don't have to-" I started.

 "But I do want to. Mikael, if you have to leave, then I'll come along. If you're not here, there's really no reason for me to stay."

 I smiled. "Then come with me. I won't mind."

 I took his hand in one of mine, and looked down to see it begin to desiccate. I looked back up at his face to see him desiccating, and he collapsed.

 "Erik!" I got down on the floor beside him and examined him. "Erik, wake up. Erik!"

 "Mikael?" 

 I looked up to see Hayley standing over me.

 "He-he just collapsed," I said. "I don't know what happened."

 "It couldn't have been." Klaus was standing in the doorway. "He must have been part of Elijah's sire line."

 "His sire line? What does Elijah have to do with this?"

 Hayley and Klaus shared a knowing look, and I knew there had to be something I didn't know.

 "What is it?" I asked. "What haven't you told me?"

 "Mikael," Hayley said, "Elijah's dead. The Hollow killed him."

~~~~~~

 My world had suddenly grown dull and dark. We had lost Elijah, which led to me losing Erik. And now the Hollow would be on the loose, causing all sorts of mayhem.

 Freya opened my door. "You in here?"

 I nodded. I was sitting on the floor by my bed, just staring off into space. Freya sat down on the bed and looked at me with what seemed to be a mix a sorrow and pity.

 "You're not here to lecture me, are you?" I asked her.

 "No. Not this time. I'm sorry about Erik, and I'm sorry we weren't able to save Elijah in time. But I'm going to bring Elijah back. I still have his soul locked away."

 I stared at her. "And how does that work?"

 "You'll see." She paused. "Something else happened to me recently. It's about Keelin."

 "What about her? She's not dead, is she?"

 "No, no, she's fine. It's...we're...she and I are dating."

 I had to take a moment to process that.

 "When did this happen?" I asked.

 "Recently. Look, she's a great person, Father. You just need to get to know her better."

 I sighed. "Well, I suppose I'm in no position to judge you."

 "No, you're not, and that's why I wasn't all that nervous about telling you. I do have some good news. Rebekah and Kol are coming. They should be here soon, if they're not already."

 "Of course I'm here already."

 "Kol." I gave him a smile. "You came after all."

 "Well, family issues and all," he said. "Freya, can I have a few minutes alone with him?"

 "Sure," Freya said. "I will be downstairs if you need anything."

 When she was gone, Kol said, "So, Nik told me your new boyfriend died. Some Norwegian bloke?"

 "He was Finnish," I corrected him, "And he wasn't my boyfriend."

 "Well, Nik said you ran off after him the other night and didn't come back until the next day."

 "That's none of his business," I snapped. "It was because I was mad at him that I left for the night."

 "Well, I can understand that," he said. "Look, Father, what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry you had to lose the guy, whatever you were to each other. Henrik said you guys seemed pretty close."

 "We were getting close. Thank you, Kol."

 He nodded. "I have to be off. Family crisis going on, you know. I'll be around for a bit, though. Feel better soon."

~~~~~~

 That evening I finally left my room to walk around a little. Thankfully, I didn't run into anyone until I eventually found Hayley on the sofa alone.

 "Is something wrong?" I asked her. "You look troubled."

 She sighed. "I'm fine."

 "No, you're not." I sat down next to her. "Tell me. Maybe by listening to someone else's problems, I can forget my own."

  She sighed again. "I went into Freya's pendant to find Elijah. She warned me he wouldn't be in his right mind when I went him there. But I wanted to find him, to bring him out. There was a red door, and I saw the darkest, most vicious part of him."

 "He went into the darkest corner of his mind to hide."

 She nodded and rested her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her.

 "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I'm sorry you had to see it."

 "Do you think anyone would be angry with me if I broke up with him now, of all times?" she asked.

 "It's understandable," I said. "He's my son, but you're my friend now. So I'm going to trust you to make the right decision."

 "But I don't know what the right decision is."

 "Do you know how many times I've struggled with the same thing?" I asked. "You'll figure it out. I know you will. But I would do it before Elijah comes back. You need to be prepared."