The Original

Long Lost Family

Genevieve stood out on the balcony attached to the parlor upstairs. The night breeze wove its way through her hair, and tickled her cheeks. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of jazz coming from the streets, and the far off sounds of the bayou, like crickets, frogs, and rushing water. She heard a noise beside her, and opened her eyes to see Alaric standing beside her.

"It's a small world isn't it? I mean, you and I have known each other for a long time, and apparently you've known Damon and Stefan for even longer, Damon is the one who turned my wife, and apparently you know the Mikaelsons too."

Gen chuckled. "Yes, it really is such a small world."

Alaric watched her intently, seeing that something was lurking beneath the surface of those words. "Gen, why did you leave the Mikaelsons all those years ago? I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't really like any of them. They've all done some pretty horrible things. But, it's obvious you wanted to stay with them. You even said so yourself. So, why not just tell them the truth? Maybe ask them to help you hunt Circe?"

Gen sighed, and turned to look back out across the city. All the city lights seemed so much brighter now.

"When I was with them, for the first time in so long, I felt like I was truly part of a family. And, to be quite frank with you, I was involved, briefly, with Elijah. I suppose...I was just scared. I hadn't let myself get close to anyone in years, because I couldn't jeopardize my mission. But, I was also scared of what they would think of me if they knew the truth."

"I understand. But I still feel like you're hiding something," Ric pointed out.

"When I was with Elijah, I felt...free. I felt loved. And...I loved him. But I saw something in him. I saw that darkness."

"Yeah, I've seen it too."

Gen looked him straight in the eye. "No. You haven't. You may think you have, but you really haven't. What you've seen is a mere fraction of the man Elijah is when evil overtakes him. But when I knew him, he was trying so hard to keep the darkness at bay, to not give into it. And I couldn't be the one to draw him back in. So, I did the best thing I could possibly do. I gave him up."

"It hurt him for a while, I know it did. I kept tabs on him for years, and I knew that I had caused such pain. But I knew this was something he could recover from. If I had stayed, and drawn him back in, he would never have come back. He would have forever been consumed by darkness. Because that's what happens to people I care about. There are things in my past, dark things, evil things, things I'm not proud of, and that I never tell people. But, eventually...they all fall prey to the darkness. And I just couldn't do that to him."

Alaric nodded, and was about to say something, but just then, they heard a noise behind them, and turned to see Elijah standing there. His face was expressionless, but she could see something in his eyes that made her think that he had heard every word.

"We found her. She's hiding out in the Warehouse District. We're about to head out."

"Thank you. We're on our way down," Gen said.

Elijah nodded once, before disappearing downstairs. Gen looked back at Alaric once, before they both followed him. Downstairs, Everyone had broken into the hidden armory in the compound, and were arming themselves for a fight. Gen wanted to tell them that their weapons wouldn't do any good, but she knew they wouldn't listen. Gen walked up to Elijah and pulled him aside.

"Elijah, if this goes the way I think it's going to go, I need you to get everyone out of there. They won't be able to take her on, and will just get themselves killed trying to. I'm trusting you to get everyone to safety."

"Genevieve, what is it you're not telling us? I can tell that you're hiding something, so why not just tell me?" Elijah asked.

Gen shook her head. "It's better if you not know. Believe me, I-" 

But she was cut off before she could finish that sentence, because at that moment, and stranger waltzed into the compound, stopping just feet away from the group. Gen's eyes widened, and she stumbled a little in shock.

"F-Felix?" She whispered, incredulously.

The young man smiled, and walked up to her, placing his hands softly on her shoulders.

"Hello, sister," he murmured, before pulling her into his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face into his chest. "Have you missed me?"