On My Own | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [4]

24 | Your Guilt

Lexi can hear two heartbeats in the Mikaelson Mansion when she walks in. She rolls her eyes at their scents before she makes her way to the kitchen, ignoring her siblings when they see her pass. Rebekah shouts her name as Elijah follows her and watches as she climbs onto the counter to open the cabinet and pluck two bottles of whiskey off of the top shelf. By the time she looks back, both of the siblings stand before her, Klaus nowhere to be seen.

"I cannot believe you!" Rebekah says with her fists clenched at her sides.

Lexi shrugs as she closes the cabinet and slides back to the wooden floor. "Whatever do you mean, dear sister? You'll have to be more specific. I have done a lot of things lately."

"You almost killed Cora."

"Oh, yes. That." Lexi flicks the top off of the first bottle of whiskey and presses it against her lips. "Gave you quite the scare, didn't I?"

Elijah narrows his eyes as Rebekah leans against the counter, saying, "We thought she was dead—"

"Do I look like I care?" She arches an eyebrow.

Elijah holds a hand out before Rebekah can strangle their sister. "Yes, actually," he says. Lexi's expression drops. "You look like you care very much."

"And what gives you that misguided impression?"

"You did not kill the girl." Elijah watches as Lexi glances out the window. "You made us think she was dead, yet you let her go unharmed."

"It was fun to see you squirm," Lexi says monotonously. "After getting the Salvatores to torture me—"

"Don't change the subject." Elijah moves to her side of the counter. She takes a step back, raising the bottle of whiskey once more and gulping down the bronze liquid. "I hear the other wolf was quite upset. Rebekah told me he wanted to kill you."

Lexi meets his gaze; for a moment, her gaze softens before her facade comes back up. "Good. He'll finally leave me alone." She finishes off the first bottle. "Maybe he'll do what they all eventually do."

"Which is?" Rebekah asks.

"Betray me."

Scoffing, Rebekah replies, "Derek would never betray you, no matter what you do."

Lexi narrows her eyes. "Do you truly believe that?" She nods. "Who do you think told Mikael where my apartment was?"

Rebekah's eyes widen. "He what—"

Elijah shakes his head. "You compelled him." Lexi rolls her eyes as Rebekah glances between them. "That is not fair; you compelled him before you left Beacon Hills the first time."

"Damn," Lexi purses her lips. "I forgot I told you that. Whatever. It does not matter because now, he hates me, and you understand that I cannot be saved. I've killed hundreds if not thousands of people by now. There is no point."

"Is that what your friend would say?" Elijah asks with his eyes narrowed in rising anger.

"What friend?"

His lips tug upward. "Talia."

Lexi blinks. She straightens her back and frowns. "She is dead. It does not matter—"

"I was wrong, Alexis," Elijah says as he takes another step towards her; she counters back. "All this time, I thought you turned it off because Kol died and the grief became too much."

"Where are you going with this, Elijah?" Rebekah asks, her eyes bouncing between her siblings.

He holds up a hand, silencing Rebekah. "You did not turn off your humanity because of Kol," he says. "You did not do this because of your sadness or because you were overcome with grief. You did this because the guilt became too much."

"What guilt?" Lexi snaps. "Kol did that to himself. Karma bit him in the ass."

"You were too late." Elijah's gaze softens. "You went to save him from himself, and yet you were too late to save him from the white oak." Lexi's eyes find the last unopened bottle of whiskey. "Just like with Laura Hale. And just like with Talia."

"Don't speak as if you understand what happened, brother," Lexi says, each word curt and sharp. "Kol was not my fault—"

"And yet you cannot forgive yourself, can you?" Elijah tilts his head. "Let me ask you a question." He takes another step forward, and Lexi's nostrils flare, her eyes darting away. "When you saw Kol burning on the ground, did it remind you of anything?"

"Stop it," she snaps, her eyes flashing red. "You do not understand—"

"What was so important that you could not hear them screaming?" A sick smirk spreads over Elijah's lips as he watches her squirm. "Was Mikael that important?"

"Elijah, maybe we should stop," Rebekah says, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Not until we have our sister back," he replies without moving his burning gaze. "Are you listening, Alexis, or have you given up on us too?"

Lexi looks at the floor. "Elijah, please," she says, her voice threatening to crack. "Stop."

"You were a coward," Elijah snaps. "and they died because you decided to leave them."

"I left them to save them!" Lexi yells as her eyes flash red.

"And yet they still burned." Elijah towers over Lexi now, her body shaking beneath him. "And it is all. Your. Fault."

The whiskey bottle shatters as Lexi screams. She throws her hands over her ears as glass flies through the air, cracking as it lands on the countertop or ground. Everything stops as Lexi slides to the ground with her head in her hands.

What remains of the glass bottle begins to glow dark purple; Lexi lets Dahlia take it as she shivers in her spot, her knees rooted to the ground. "I'm sorry," she whimpers. "I'm so so sorry. I never wanted to—" Tears fall down her face as she looks up at them. "They're all dead because of me."

"Lexi—"

"Don't, Derek." Lexi flinches away from him. "I killed hundreds of innocent people, and I liked it." She lowers her voice. "But none of it changes the fact that I was too late too many times. They trusted me to protect them—Henrik, Talia, Laura, even Kol—and I failed them."

"That's right." Lexi hangs her head down as Dahlia's cruel voice echoes in her ears. "So, what makes you think you'll be able to save Hope?"

"Because Lexi is the most powerful supernatural creature to ever exist," Peter says, his snarl clear in his voice. "More powerful than you."

Dahlia chuckles. "If she's so powerful, why can't she break free?"

"Look, witch," Stiles steps forward. "you may be freakishly strong, and you may have Lexi incapacitated, but it's only because you're scared. I've seen it before. You trapped all of us because you're afraid of what we could do if we were awake. Your little fox creation learned that from you."

Lexi whimpers as Dahlia looks down. "My fox creation?" She repeats. "You know of my fox?"

"It killed our friends," Lydia snaps. "So I think you want to be very careful about how you approach us next."

Dahlia blinks. "It was never supposed to kill," she says to herself. "Nonetheless, it's interesting Klaus did not tell me of this."

"He has no idea," Lexi whispers. Her tired eyes droop as she stares at the wooden floor. "No one knew, I did not tell anyone." Her hands tighten into fists.

She jumps up and punches Dahlia in the face. The witch stumbles back as Lexi grabs her blouse and sneers, "You tell Niklaus a message for me. You tell him I know what he's doing. And when I get out of this—when I reach the end—I'm coming for him."

So, Lexi's back. She has humanity once more, and she's upset. 

Hope you enjoyed!

-L