Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

Mommie Dearest

It had been a long day, one that was not set to end with the overtime Abigail put in at work. The sun had disappeared, clouds taking it in the day, the moon replacing it at night, and it only made things seem harder. So, as Abigail made her way home, she decided that it would in fact end there.

She was expecting a few things when she walked through the door. First, all of the lights on. Jo, or the soul inhabiting Jo's body, was fond of them. Second, questions, all of them fast and new. Third, a request for food. And forth, Alaric's greeting through it all. But none of those things happened because she wasn't there.

Alaric was sitting on the couch with an open bottle of bourbon between his legs. He didn't look at her, instead he left his eyes trained on the television screen. She knew what he was watching. She'd seen it once, the same day she watched the video Kai left behind. And she could remember every second of it.

"I don't think you should be watching that."

He took a long swig from the bottle before slamming it onto the coffee table. "Why not?"

The minister's words filled the space until she paused the video. "Because it was the worst night of your life."

When he finally looked at her, he broke down into devastating sobs.

"I loved them, Alaric. The moment you told me Jo was pregnant, I loved them. I loved them before I knew there were two of them. And all I wanted to do was protect them." She pulled him all the way into her arms. "And Jo, I loved Jo. I know you loved her, too. You may not have been in love with her, but you loved her. So, you know, just for that, I loved her. I loved her because she found a way to make you happy. Because she was there for you when I wasn't. Because she was an amazing woman who lived an amazing life that we were lucky enough to be a part of."

He laid his head in her lap without letting go of her and he stayed there as he cried himself to sleep.

Alaric's phone buzzed on the coffee table, and when she saw Bonnie's name on the screen, she reached for it carefully. "Hey..."

"I've been trying to call you. Where is your phone?"

"Sorry." She blinked the tears from her eyes. "It's still in my bag."

"Oh..." The way Bonnie asked her next question was not the same way she'd asked her first, "Remember when we used an ancient relic to raise Jo from the dead and ended up imbuing her with someone else's soul?"

Although she could not see her, she shook her head. "Listen, now is a really bad time. Alaric is-"

"I'm at Scull, where faux-Jo is currently holding her laptop like it's a book. You and Alaric promised you would help her figure out who she was before she did anything crazy." Her voice was coming out with sympathy, but her words did not lend their hand to it until she said, "I know this is probably impossible for the two of you, but we have no idea what's going to happen to her. We can't just leave her unattended."

She ran her fingers through Alaric's messy hair. "Can you keep an eye on her until I can get over there?"

"I can't. I have to go to Mystic Falls. Lily Salvatore's peace-party mixer will probably result in half of our friends nearly dying if I don't attend." Bonnie took an anxious breath. "So, get here now. Preferably before someone asks Jo to perform surgery, okay?"

She pulled the phone from her ear as Alaric stirred awake. "Hey, Ric."

"Hey..." He rolled onto his back. "How was your day?"

"Better than yours." She took his hand. "How long has she been gone?"

"She slept for twelve hours, ate all of the food in the fridge, and by the time I realized it, she'd snuck out of the front door."