Tiberius Salvatore: The eldest brother

27

Rio hung out with Charlie and Anya. Rebekah just happened to be there. He didn't mind Rebekah. Rebekah was talking to Anya, whilst Charlie played with Rio's hair and jumped in at certain points. Rio was just on his phone.
"So your 16 now."
"Well I'm going to turn 16. I didn't actually know when my birthday was, so I chose August 28."
"You're so adorable, but you look nothing like your mother."
"Mum says I look more like her mother." She grinned. Rio soon got bored of his phone, and inserted himself into their conversation.
"You do have Lottie's eyes though. And her nose."
"I haven't heard that before."
"Well it's true."

Stefan came into the warehouse. "You're back. Finally. Nik went to check on the witch." Stefan stood next to the coffins and Rebekah walked over to him. "Dreary, isn't it? The family cargo." She remarked.
"Hmm. Why don't you undagger them?"
"Because he would hunt me down and kill me. He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother."
"But you still care about him. Why?"
"Never underestimate the bond of family, Stefano."
"Well, I hated him for a long time. It was exhausting."
"Besides Stefan, Klaus probably had his own misguided ideas about how it would help her. You can't hate someone for trying to protect you. It's hard." Anya spoke up. She identified with Rebekah. Her own father made sure she slept for a couple hundred years, only leaving her awake for 1 per nap. Rebekah sat down near the coffins and Stefan followed.
"You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run."
"Also exhausting."
"Who were you running from?" Rio groaned. He knew what Stefan was getting at.
"Guys I'm bored. Stefan can you buy me some water?" Rio tried to break it up before it turned ugly.
"Why can't you get it yourself."
"Because I'm super comfortable over here and that's what little brothers are for. To get you a drink when you need it."
"Why do you want water anyways?"
"Because water is delicious."
"I'm pretty sure it has no flavour."
"It does. You just have to want to taste it."
"Go get yourself water." He shot back and turned to Rebekah. "Who were you running from."
"What do you mean?"
"Last night I saw you, there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid. I just...I wouldn't think Klaus would be afraid of anybody." Rio closed his eyes knowing Rebekah was already onto Stefan.
"No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan. Not even Niklaus."
"Who was that man?"
"I can't. Please." She stood up. "If Nik knew we were talking about this, he would..."
"No, no, no. I'm sorry." He also stood up. "Just forget I asked. Okay?"
"He told me about the girl you loved. The one that died. He also told me that you're only with him because he saved your brother."
"It's true."
"I think he secretly admires that about you. You'd sacrifice anything for family. Don't tell him I told you that."
"Your secret is safe with me." Rio rolled his eyes. Stefan turned around but Rebekah pulled him back and kisses him.
"Woah, woah, woah. Kids around guys!" Rio said covering Anya's eyes. He turned to her. "Don't roll your eyes at me young lady, I can feel it."
"Do you think you'll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?"
"One day, maybe."
"I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan."
"What? I'm not"
"Don't bother your kiss almost gave you away."
"Maybe we should leave them to talk?" Lottie said.
"But it was just getting interesting. With this there's no need for a tv." Anya smirked. Klaus walked in.
" Gloria's gone. She's cleared out. We need to find a new witch immediately." He stopped, sensing the atmosphere. "What's going on?"
"Something's wrong. He was asking about Michael. He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it."
"She's wrong. Klaus-" Klaus snapped Stefan's neck.
"Klaus. If you want to make up for trying to permanently kill my brother you do not temporarily kill my other brother."
"Rebekah's instincts are never wrong, Rio. You of all should understand that." Klaus turned to him. "Your brother was up to something. I'm inclined to believe you know what. You have 5 minutes."
"Or what? You'll kill him?"
"If that's what it takes. I don't want to kill Stefan. He was a loyal comrade, a best friend- a brother even. But I cannot have anyone around to try to assassinate me or my family. And who knows perhaps Damon knows about this too."
"You're a dick. No wonder you can never hold onto friends. Elena's alive and in Mystic falls."
"She's what?"
"Yeah, she even came to Chicago- was in the same room as you. Guess no one really does look for you when you're dead."
"You knew that my hybrids were failing because the doppelgänger wasn't dead?"
"That's not why they're failing."
"How do you know?"
"You broke the curse, so theoretically the survival of the hybrids shouldn't depend on the curse but on another ingredient or something. If there was something wrong with the curse, you wouldn't be a hybrid."
"Maybe. Or maybe not. We're going to Mystic falls, and we're going to find out."
"Fine, but my brother is coming with me."
"No, I don't want him awake till we get there."
"He's my brother."
"Don't make me compel you Rio."
"You go ahead and do that. You can add it to the list of things I already hate you for."
"Damn it, Rio. I'm only going to snap his neck. I don't want him to die."
"But if he says the wrong thing, then who knows what will happen. I have an obligation to him as his eldest brother. I won't let you hurt him repeatedly- literally killing him over and over. You'll have to force me."
"There was a time you would have let me."
"There was a time I trusted you to respect my family enough not to kill them." Rio shot back. They had a stare off.
"Rio- I promise not to rip his heart out or head of or stake him."
"Your promises mean nothing until you come through with them. If I even attempted to kill Elijah or Kol or even Finn who you haven't actually seen alive for 900 years, you'd murder my brothers in front of me, torture me and then give me a slow and painful death. And here you are expecting me to trust you with the life of my brother, hours after you tried to kill my other brother after promising you wouldn't." Stefan stirred. This slight movement wasn't missed by Rio though Klaus' back was to him so he didn't realise.
"I'm sorry for trying to murder your brother. I should have respected the fact that he's your brother but I didn't. I don't know how many times I can tell you that I'm sorry. In another century, we'll be laughing about this little spat between you and I?"
"That is assuming my brothers are alive."
"Ugh, watching you two argue is like watching someone take away the bone from a dog." Rebekah groaned.
"I'm not a bone!" Rio cried indignantly.
"No, you're the person taking away the bone."
"So you admit your brother is a dog."
"He's a hybrid. That literally means half dog."
"Oh, shut it Rebekah." Klaus said.
"Be nice to your sister at least. She's the only one who likes you."
"Charlie likes me, don't you Charlie?"
"Don't pull me into this. It's between you two. I'm not a part of this. You two need to sort this out yourselves." She saw Rio's look. "Or not"