Who: Hope and Hayley When: Hope's return Where: Their place What: Talking about home things. Rating: PG-13 Status: Completed Gdoc
How long had she been gone? It felt like a lifetime for Hope, but it could have merely been days since she left Madison Valley. Now she was back with new memories and new experiences. Most of which were ones Hope would rather not have. She hadn’t just lost Landon here; she’d lost Landon at home too. It was all her fault; they’d slept together finally and Hope had...killed him. Malvore was Landon now or what was left of Landon. Her worst fears, nightmares, realized in moments.
And the only way to stop him? Hope had to fulfill her fate as the strongest supernatural in existence. She had to become a tribrid; Hope had to die. Her last moments in her world involved facing down Landon with her friends by her side, the “super squad.” All of them determined to find another way to beat Malvore, but deep down, Hope knew there was only one way.
She returned to Madison Valley in the park, but, thankfully, it wasn’t a long walk back to their home. Hope tried to keep herself calm, but her emotions were just simmering beneath the surface. She’d lost Landon forever. Her fear had finally become a reality. Like everyone she ever loved, he was dead too. Because of her. It was always because of her. Hope bit her lip hard to keep from crying. She’d shed enough tears back home to last a lifetime.
Reaching the house, Hope realized she didn’t have a key. How would she even face her mom? Lizzie? Aunt Rebekah? Despite her reservations, Hope knocked on the door.
Hayley knew that if Hope’s things were still here then she was coming back. That didn’t stop her from losing her mind, however. She paced. She fretted. Poor Aiden felt that since hugs made him feel better, it would make her feel better so Hayley rarely put him down after that. She was absolutely useless at the restaurant and a manager actually shooed her out before she got in the way too much.
Today she was decorating the house for the holidays. Not only as something to do but so it looked nice for WHEN Hope returned. She hadn’t gotten a tree yet. Hayley hoped her daughter would be back so they could pick one out together. As a family. No she wasn’t sniffling, thank you.
She jumped a mile when the knock came. Hayley sighed at herself as she pushed her hair back then went to see who it was. Possibly Caroline or Cammie. But when she got close enough to catch the scent of the person at her door she let out with a small cry before rushing the rest of the way.
“Hope!” The door was hauled open so fast Hayley almost tore it off the hinges. Then her daughter was pulled in for a tight hug.
Back home, Hope had to face it all alone. Losing Landon, almost dying, and finding out the only way to beat her worst enemy was to actually die. To become the tribrid. Though she leaned on the twins and the rest of the “super squad,” Hope still kept a lot of things inside. If they couldn’t find a way to kill Malvore, Hope knew she’d have to make another sacrifice in her life. The millionth of her short existence. It was a lot and even if it was worth it, it was still a loss for Hope.
But being able to come back to Madison Valley meant she didn’t have to face what happened at home alone. Her mother was alive in Madison Valley. She had that support she could never have in reality.
When her mother opened the door and immediately hugged her, Hope felt tears trickling down her cheeks. She clung to her mom like she was eight-years old again and buried her face into her mom’s shoulder.
“Hi mom,” Hope replied, her voice quiet and strained from the lump growing in her throat.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to leave you.”
“Shut up,” Hayley said through a quiet sob. She was just so relieved to have Hope back.
Before it seemed like she was never going to let go Hayley pulled Hope into the soon to be abandoned apartment. “Let me see you,” she said then held Hope out at arm’s distance. “Ok good. Not thirty seven.”
Hope got another hug then led to the kitchen. “Are you hungry? Want a beer? I’ll let it slide this time.”
Despite the heaviness of the situation, Hope smiled weakly at her mother’s words. “No, still just a teenager. Sorry to disappoint you though.”
Hope greedily accepted the other hug before she followed her mom inside. At the offer of food, Hope passed, but she did accept her mom’s offer for a beer. After the trip home, she probably could have gone for her father’s drink of choice instead.
“I’ll take the beer since you’re offering,” Hope replied, taking a seat at the table. “I’m sure you can guess it wasn’t a great trip home.” History already dictated that anything involving the Mikaelson’s usually wasn’t wonderful.
Hayley chuckled a little. Honestly, she had expected Hope to pass on the beer and take the food. Having it the other way around lightened the mood a bit. Not that she was upset. Quite the opposite. She was elated to have Hope back. But she could tell that home hadn’t been kind to her daughter.
“One beer coming up.” Hayley pulled out two, one of each of them then sat down next to Hope. “I assumed it wouldn’t be. Mystic Falls and New Orleans are bad luck.”
Hope opened her beer and took a sip, trying to figure out exactly how to tell her mother everything that happened or if she should tell her. Hayley was happy here and Hope didn’t want to burden her with what her daughter would be going through back home in a world where she couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t fair and yet Hope wanted to talk about it.
“Did I ever tell you about Malivore?” Hope asked after a moment. “The gross mud monster that sucks up all other supernatural creatures and pretty much makes the rest of the world forget they existed? The creature who can only be destroyed by me.”
Hope took another sip from her beer. “He’s the one bad guy I can’t defeat and he turns out to be Landon’s dad.” Who now was possessing Landon making it impossible for Hope to kill one without killing the other forever. Unless they came up with a solution, a solution Hope didn’t believe existed outside of doing something she didn’t want to do: become the Tribrid.
“Who is now possessing Landon and making it impossible for me to defeat one without killing the other.” She wasn’t sure if she should mention how she slept with Landon and thanks to him being part of Malivore, he turned into mud right before her eyes. Or how her and him were never meant to be together.
Hayley opened her beer, already prepared to get another one. Hope wasn’t bubbly and bouncy which meant her trip home had sucked beyond the telling of it. She’s only seventeen! She shouldn’t have to shoulder this kind of shit yet! Hayley wanted to change reality but knew that was impossible. It was frustrating.
“You mentioned him, yeah.” Along with that Necromancer guy who sounded just really annoying more than anything.
Hearing it was Landon’s dad put Klaus into perspective. If Hope’s father ever returned Hayley just might apologize to him. But she doubted it.
She took a drink of beer then threw out the obvious. “Perform an exorcism.”
Hope wanted it to be that simple and maybe, just maybe it would be. Maybe the twins and her could come up with something to separate the two. However, the rational, realistic, part of her believed that, in the end, she would have to become the tribrid. They couldn’t find a loophole because the loophole to Malivore had always been her, Hope Mikaelson.
“I hope it’s that simple. I really do,” Hope replied quietly, playing with the label on the bottle. “But this is me we are talking about in a world that never gives us easy solutions ever.”
She took another sip of her beer and looked over at her mom with sad eyes. “Have you-Have you ever thought about what would happen when I become a full tribrid mom?”
Obviously, her parents hoped she would never fulfill that part of her destiny and Hope wanted that way too. However, Malivore wasn’t giving her any options.
“Hey,” Hayley said as she reached over to put her hand on her daughter’s. “Sometimes we get a win. If it sucked all the time I think your dad would have set fire to the world a long time ago.” Because Klaus had the patience of a spoiled toddler.
At Hope’s question Hayley just smiled at first. “That was a point of conversation between me and your Uncle Elijah many times.” She still missed Elijah, but the longer she spent time here with Jesse the less it hurt. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask. What exactly do you want to know?”
As much as Hope probably shouldn’t have, she smiled at the statement about her dad. She missed him. Damn this place for giving him to her and snatching him away so fast. And now he was left to wander, without peace, forever. No light. No hope.
Hope put her other hand on top of her mom’s and held it tight. She needed the comfort now more than ever. Mom. Hope just held on as if her life depended on it.
Maybe Hope should not have been surprised that her mom and her uncle had spoken about her fulfilling her fate. They too had to wonder what it would be like when she became all three species.
“I guess I want to know what did you think would happen to me. Like did you think I would change? Would I-Would I become something no one liked?” Hope didn’t explicitly say like her father, but it was a fear of hers. “A monster? Or would I be something good? Someone people wanted to know still.”
Hayley understood Hope’s worry. She’d been the same way when she knew she’d become a vampire after her first death. Because of that she knew just what to say.
She ducked her head enough to catch Hope’s eyes. “Am I a monster?” Because she’d turned when Hope was born. “Your Uncle Elijah? Aunt Rebekah? Even yes, your father.” Because there were other reasons than being a vampire for why Klaus was the way he was.
“Listen to me.” She gave Hope’s hand a squeeze. “Completing your transformation isn’t going to suddenly turn you into something that needs to be put out of its misery. You’ll still be you. Still beautiful, caring, overly worried, “ she smirked, “but still Hope.”
Hope met her mom’s eyes and slowly shook her head. She knew many people would consider her family monsters, but Hope was not one of them. She knew they could be fiercely protective and thus violent when needed, but she didn’t see them as monsters. They were complicated and yes, dealt with a lot of the same pain as normal humans did, but with more power at their fingertips in which to cope. They made bad decisions and fell apart, but no, Hope didn’t think they were monsters.
At Hayley’s words, Hope gave her mom a brave smile and squeezed her hand in return. “Thanks, mom. I needed to hear that.”
Because she wasn’t afraid so much anymore of being a full tribrid. Her mom was right. She would still be her.
Hayley really wanted to know what prompted Hope to ask her about this, but her daughter was upset enough and Hayley was just glad she was back. If/when Hope was ready to talk about it, Hayley would be here.
So she gave Hope a smile as she squeezed her hand. “Hey. Want to go pick out a christmas tree for the new place or would you rather do something else?”
As long as Hope was here, she wouldn’t have to become the tribrid. There was no reason for her to burden her mother with the possibility of her fulfilling that destiny and possibly killing Landon. Maybe after Christmas she would talk about it more, but right now, she didn’t want to.
Hope took a final sip of her beer and, despite how exhausted she felt, she nodded. “I would really like to do that, mom.”
Hayley’s smile lifted into an actual grin of excitement. She’d been hoping to save this to do with Hope. Part of her had been afraid she’d been holding out in vain. She was thrilled to the core that she’d been wrong about that.
“Let me grab shoes and a coat.” She got up from her chair but Hope got another strong hug and a kiss to her hair before Hayley would continue. “I am so glad you’re back. Love you.”
Hope was encouraged at her mom’s expression. Hope wrapped her arms around her mom in return, taking comfort in her scent and the embrace.