"What are you doing here?"
Even though a part of Lucien was expecting such a reaction from Freya, the other part of him was convinced that maybe, just maybe her defensiveness would be toned down given the situation.
Of course, he was wrong.
"This is a bloody hospital," Lucien shot back, "Last time I checked anyone can enter here,"
"How did you get in?" Klaus asked, his tone careful in front of Aliza.
"You honestly thought your minions could stop me?"
Henrik pinched the bridge of his nose. He had always thought that his siblings were a little childish despite being centuries old. But Henrik was getting irritated by their lack of understanding of the situation.
He glanced at Aliza, who sat there on the bed with the same blank stare that she had since the moment she woke up. Mithila sat beside her, clearly exhausted by everything while Vincent sat on the sofa along with Katherine, both with unamused looks on their faces.
Vincent had to spell the room to avoid any complaints by the hospital staff. Lucien had shown up, asking about Aliza. Even though Vincent wanted that man to stay away, Mithila let him in the room.
Vincent knew Mithila must have had some reason to let Lucien near Aliza. But it was strange to see him getting worried about her.
"You have no business here," Elijah spoke, his voice firm yet threatening.
He didn't trust Lucien in the slightest. If it were to him, Elijah would have got rid of him the second he saw him again.
Lucien clenched his jaw, glancing at Aliza. He had rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard the news about what had happened.
He felt a sharp stab of pain at the sight of the little girl. Lucien held himself responsible for not gaining his senses sooner, perhaps if he had reacted quickly at least some of this could have been avoided.
The change in her personality was hard for Lucien to miss. He spent almost an hour in the girl's company before the tragic events occurred.
Lucien remembered Aliza's unending questions and her witty comments, it was something he could never forget. For the first time in his life, Lucien had someone be so curious about his side of the story, and be nothing but honest with him.
But at that moment Lucien realized that that lively girl was long gone. There was no hint of emotion in Aliza's eyes, he was informed that she hadn't said a word after the breakdown she had.
"We're giving you one last chance," Kol threatened, standing behind Rebekah.
"Fine," Lucien mumbled underneath his breath. He was here to make sure that Aliza was okay not to disturb her when she was supposed to rest.
Lucien was about to step away from the bed but he stopped.
Freya's eyes widened when she saw Aliza's hand on Lucien's wrist. Her eyes were still void of any emotions but her grip was tight.
Mithila stared at Aliza for a while. Everyone else was quiet, Mithila's eyes shifted to Aliza's tiny hand that clutched Lucien's wrist.
"You want Lucien to stay?" Mithila asked, her voice soft and low.
Much to everyone's surprise, Aliza nodded her head.
Lucien smiled gently down at Aliza. He reached out and with his free hand patted her head as he spoke.
"I'll stay as long as you want, love,"
Klaus exhaled, holding himself back. Out of all the things he had expected, this wasn't one of them.
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"What is going on?"
Freya turned her head to look at Keelin. She didn't know how much time had passed, but it must have been somewhere near midnight.
Freya was still awake despite the exhausting day, what had happened this afternoon was replaying in her head.
"Nothing," She lied, with a smile.
"Is it about Lucien?"
Freya's smile twitched, while Keelin raised her eyebrows.
"How do you know about him?"
Keelin shrugged, "You didn't let me visit Aliza, today. I knew something was wrong so I asked Josh,"
Freya sighed, turning to fully face Keelin. She reached her hand out and pulled her close.
"Aliza wanted him to stay,"
"You know why?" Keelin asked, nestling her head on Freya's shoulder.
Freya shook her head, "No, she just grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go," There was a sharp pain in her chest at the memory of what happened.
"He saved her, maybe she feels safe around him," Keelin suggested.
Freya just hummed, resting her chin on Keelin's head. There were many things going on in her mind but Freya had to be sensible. She may not be convinced about Lucien but she had to see things from Aliza's perspective.
There was a pang of heavy guilt that Freya felt was suffocating her.
Keelin could sense there was something going on with Freya but she knew after everything that happened with Aliza, Freya would not listen to her.
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"Isn't Sapiens a little too complex for a hospitalized eleven-year-old?"
Lucien scowled, somehow he had a feeling that everyone was on a secret mission to get on his nerves. He was feeling a wave of uneasiness, the hospital had so much going on at a time.
Every time he went outside the room, the voices were banging in his head. There was chaos in every room, he could hear people crying in anguish while some howled with laughter at the sound of their newborn child.
Lucien had never stepped a foot inside a hospital, he never needed to but now that he was here, Lucien realized how eventful the place was. So when Elijah offered to take Mithila and Vincent to the cafeteria, Lucien decided to stay back.
Elijah wasn't pleased with the decision but Mithila had no problem. Lucien couldn't understand why but for some reason the witch trusted him. Even more, than she trusted Elijah or any other Mikaelson.
"It's one of her favorites, and as you can see my intention was to put her to sleep," Lucien defended, gesturing at Aliza who was sound asleep on the bed.
"I see this as an absolute victory,"
Stefan pressed his lips together, it would not be very appropriate of him to smile in such a situation. But seeing Lucien with a book based on mankind in his hands seemed like a bad joke that he found hilarious.
Stefan stepped into the room, walking right to the other side of the hospital bed and taking a seat on the vacant stool. He had decided to visit Aliza first before going to the Mikaelson house with Bonnie and Enzo.
"What did the doctors say?" He asked, staring down at Aliza's face.
When he had heard the news, Stefan felt an immediate gut punch.
If it were to him, Stefan would have gone to New Orleans the second Caroline informed him what happened if it were to him.
He still had a hard time processing everything, Stefan couldn't even imagine what Aliza must have gone through that night that caused her to take such a step.
"She wasn't in danger in the first place," Lucien replied while keeping his eyes on Stefan, "What we call immortality is a miracle for them. The only downfall is that she can't heal herself,"
"Have you tried vampire blood?" Stefan asked, shifting his eyes to look at Lucien.
Lucien shook his head, "Doesn't work,"
"Not even an original's blood?"
"Not even Klaus' blood,"
Stefan raised his eyebrows, glancing back at Aliza. The more they found out about the lion warrior, the more they were bewildered.
"Where are the others?" He asked. Stefan did see Marcel and Kol in front of the hospital, and Rebekah along with Camille at the reception.
"Elijah took Mithila and Vincent to the cafeteria," Lucien answered.
"How are they?"
"Not good," Lucien said, honesty in his voice. He didn't know Rome in person but Lucien could see how important he was for Mithila, Vincent, and Aliza.
"The witch is yet to be found," Lucien continued, growing a little uncomfortable by Stefan's grim face.
"You didn't see her?"
"No," He replied, shuffling his feet and keeping his eyes on the book. Lucien began to curl the edge of the page, around his finger and he spoke.
"When I woke up, Tristan and his men were the only ones present in the room."
Stefan just hummed, nodding his head as he glanced back at Aliza.
"How long-"
"How many more questions do you have?" Lucien cut him off.
Stefan just squinted his eyes at Lucien but didn't say anything. He could see the way Lucien refused to meet his eyes, the subtle sound of the paper just made the atmosphere dense around them.
He didn't know much about the guy, they met once and Stefan wasn't a fan. The next thing he heard was that somehow Lucien killed Finn.
"I don't understand why she asked you to stay," Stefan began, "Guess she doesn't know-"
"She knows," Lucien cut him off once again. He lifted his head, meeting Stefan's confused eyes.
"I told her everything."
Stefan stared at Lucien dumbfounded.
"What?"
Lucien snorted, "Are your ears not working, toddler?"
"I have a name," Stefan shot back.
"Toddler suits your baby face," Lucien just shrugged, enjoying the look Stefan gave him.
"I don-"
"I see there is no need for formal introduction,"
Both the men's heads snapped to see Katherine walking into the room.
Stefan got up abruptly, his eyes widened while Katherine just snorted.
"You're acting like you haven't seen me before, Stefan,"
At the sound of Katherine's voice, Stefan couldn't but respond.
"Right. You almost killed me on my wedding day. That's not something anyone can easily forget,"
"You're married?" Lucien asked in shock.
Stefan winced, he was thankful that Aliza was a heavy sleeper. He doubted anyone would continue to sleep peacefully at the sound of Lucien's voice.
Katherine rolled her eyes, "Please, your marriage lasted, let me guess? For a year and a half?"
Stefan gritted his teeth, hating that she still knew about him so well. He glanced back at Aliza. Without saying a word, Stefan stormed out of the room, pushing past Katherine and not sparing them a single glance.
"I see you touched a nerve," Lucien commented, staring at the door with his eyebrows raised.
Katherine just smiled innocently and tossed her hair back.
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I thought Hope has Marcel as a brother, so why don't I make Lucien a brother figure to Aliza. It seemed fair to me tbh.
I actually wanted Lucien to become a more humanized character and Klaus trying to make it up to him. Lucien clearly had the potential of having a redemption arc, the writers just used him to kill off Finn and Camille.
Also, I thought I should clear this up but I wrote more scenes between Kol and Bonnie compared to Klaroline because I always wished for Bonnie to have more romantic scenes but the tvd writers just used her. So I felt like doing justice by giving Bonnie normal relationship problems instead of having her use her magic.
Bonnie is the strongest character on TVD but she was also just a teenager like her friends. Elena had so many people being there for her, she got to have so many romantic relationships. Even Caroline had so many love interests.
But Bonnie was out there taking care of everyone and fighting for everyone. Like you rarely saw her at school dances enjoying like a normal teen. She was constantly used as a plot device and then just disposed of when the show was over.
Stefan actually was the only one to comfort her, but the writers never expanded their friendship and then made him kill Enzo. After so many years when Bonnie finally got a proper love interest, they took it away from her.