whumpay - Tumblr blog

[whumpay]

Hiii everyone! okay so it took me a bit of time to set up this because i was busy yesterday but I will making posts of participants and completionists with little badges. theyre just little images i made but theyre something!

if you completed any version of the challenge including the extreme version fill out this form: https://forms.gle/G8T8HquN2neh5mkDA

and if you didn't complete any challenges but did make at least one participating post fill out this form: https://forms.gle/u11MqRUjZvjcJp9V9

[whumpay]

Whumpay Day 15: No Anesthetic and Day 19: Phantom Pains

500 words; characters referred to as Whumpee, etc.

CW: amputation, gender neutral characters

Whumpee and Caretaker had been lost for weeks, wandering through a huge jungle in search of something, anything, that could give them a clue of where they were. Whumpee had fallen and badly cut their leg days ago, and the raging infection that set in hadn’t gotten any better in the last few days. They had seen cases like this before with other team members on previous excursions. There was only one thing to do.

“Bite down on this.”

Whumpee shut their eyes and bit down hard on the little piece of leather between their teeth. They braced themselves for the worst. Caretaker hesitated, then began cutting. They almost stopped when Whumpee cried out, but they kept going. They had to. If Whumpee’s leg wasn’t amputated, then the infection would begin to spread and they might never make it out of that jungle.

When Caretaker finally finished, they looked over at Whumpee. They had passed out from the pain. Caretaker wiped off their knife and wrapped up Whumpee’s wound. They double-checked the bandage and left to look for something Whumpee could use as a crutch. A strong, forked branch would do the trick. As Caretaker returned to their campsite and leaned against the tree, they noticed Whumpee trying to sit up.

“Oh my god, how are you feeling?” Caretaker rushed over to help them.

“Crappy. But I think you did it right.”

“Thank goodness. Here, I’ve got a crutch for you. We need to keep moving if we want to make it to the river before dark.” Caretaker had seen the river up ahead when climbing a tree yesterday, and the two of them had been hoping to set up camp there tonight.

“Ok, I can manage.” Whumpee tried to stand up, balancing on the crutch and their good leg, and immediately fell down to sit again. “Or maybe not. A little help?” Caretaker came over to their good side and supported their shoulder, helping them take a few wobbly steps. They continued like this for a good hour, until Whumpee stopped abruptly, causing Caretaker to stumble. They both landed on the ground in a heap.

“What happened?” Caretaker tried to untangle their feet from Whumpee’s crutch.

“My leg hurts.” Whumpee sounded confused.

“Of course it does.” Caretaker tried not to sound frustrated. “You just had it amputated, remember?”

“No, not that. My foot hurts. The one that’s not there anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can feel it. It’s kind of tingly.”

“You can’t feel something that’s not there!”

I can. And it hurts.”

Caretaker softened as Whumpee looked close to tears. “Okay, if it hurts, it hurts. We can stop here for a while and take a break.” Caretaker guided them both over to a large rock and they sat there for a bit, staring out at the trees surrounding them.

“Hey, Caretaker?”

“Mhmm?”

Whumpee reached over and grasped their hand. Caretaker squeezed theirs reassuringly. “Do you think we’ll ever get out here?”

“I sure hope so.”

“Me too.”

[whumpay]

Day 25: Snowed In

We're still on track! Here's day 25, in the An Original Mother AU, and I had a hell of a time writing this. Here is your reminder that I live in New Zealand, specifically the North Island, where there is practically no snow unless you start climbing the really tall mountains.

So I've never been snowed in, never been in danger of being snowed in, and I've touched snow maybe 10 times max in my entire life. So yknow, if its inaccurate or something... Let me live in ignorance, I really don't know.

Still, hope you enjoy!

“It’s snowing,” Elijah hummed, holding her children close to her body.

They huddled together, seeking her warmth, even as the fire blazed before them. She gazed out the window, thinking of things to come, like she hadn’t already planned things out. It was snowing, and it was only the start of winter. Their stocks were put away, and they would be trapped in this cottage for months before it thawed.

She’d gone out the previous day, relying on her vampiric hearing to tell her if either child woke up, or if something happened to them. Guiding animals back to the cottage they were staying in, too far from civilisation to be in any danger, was easier than expected.

There was, of course, always the option of just letting herself desiccate. Elijah would be fine, after all, and she wouldn’t be found here. It was a good option, and if she wasn’t still providing for her babies from her own body, she may have considered it.

But her twins were still breastfeeding, and Elijah could not bring herself to drink from them this winter. They were too small, too fragile for the amount of blood she’d need to take each day, not even thinking of the amount that her body converted back into milk as well.

Eating animals did not appeal to Elijah, like it didn’t for most vampires (there were a few odd ones out there, Elijah knew, who did drink it, but then they had all kinds of issues that she didn’t want to delve into either). Still, if it was drinking animal blood and staying alive and alert, or not doing so and probably accidentally killing her children of bloodlust, Elijah knew which one she’d pick.

She’d already picked, after all. Her children came first, always.

And it wasn’t as though Elijah could take them back to her family either, to trust that “always and forever” would help her keep them safe. She’d already learnt that lesson, and Elijah wasn’t in the habit of being a repeat student.

One child killed by a family member was enough. Elijah refused to let any of her other children come to the same fate. Not if she could help it.

Briefly, Elijah did consider seeing if her father could help her. Mikael had been so good with Nina, all those centuries ago. He’d seemed genuinely delighted to be a grandfather, had kept her daughter safe through it all, until she’d died of natural causes.

But that was still centuries ago, and she didn’t want to place her children’s safety in the hands of her father alone. She didn’t know where he was, either, and tracking him down would take her away from her twins, take away their protection.

It would take too long, and all that for him to maybe say no? (Deep down, Elijah knew that Mikael would say yes if she asked. He’d genuinely enjoyed helping her with his granddaughter, and it would be heartless to keep him away when she was in need of help anyways. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to reach out, to let him know of his newest grandchildren.)

Any allies Elijah could consider, she immediately had to toss. Witches were a gossipy bunch, and it was probably already making the rounds that a member of the Gemini coven had slept with a vampire. If news got out that he’d slept with her, gotten her pregnant with her siphoning twins, it would be even worse.

No one liked a siphon witch, and being abandoned in the snow outside would be the least of Elijah’s children’s worries if their existence was discovered.

Werewolves despised vampires, and despite Elijah’s resistance to their bite, as an Original, her children would still be in danger if she got bitten. Hell, she might accidentally kill them in the midst of the hallucinations. Elijah truly couldn’t live with herself if she killed her children. She’d barely survived when her half-brother had thrown her baby, her little Eirikur, off their balcony, and that had been more due to her inability to contact Mikael, and the lack of any other white oak stake, than any particular will to live of her own.

So witches were out, and werewolves were out. Vampires could maybe have worked, and Elijah did consider it more thoroughly than the other two options. Vampires were less of a risk, all things considered. On the surface, they seemed to be a good choice.

And Elijah could compel them if necessary, so they couldn’t breathe a word against her, or say anything about her children. Vampires would also be willing to protect Elijah, as an Original, right? Since they didn’t know how bad her temper would be if anything happened to her children, and the example of an Original that everyone knew of was her brother Niklaus. They would be scared to risk Elijah being as bad as, or even worse than, Niklaus, and so would do as she said.

Except, under the surface, it became more complicated. Vampires gossiped just as much as, if not more than, witches. If anything happened, Elijah wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the source easily, since they were also good at hiding the initial rumour starter.

Any vampires who did help could also be under compulsion from Elijah’s siblings, to report back what had happened to her. They did worry still, although Elijah had been taking time away from them for her own branch of the family for centuries.

And, of course, Elijah discovered the main issue of trying to get someone to help her now. With the snow that had already been piling up before she’d woken up this morning, there wasn’t a way out of the little cottage. She supposed that she should count herself lucky that the chimney wasn’t similarly blocked, except that was because of little contraption at the top, stopping snow from piling.

Still, she was locked in now, just Elijah and her children. No help was going to come, and they would simply have to wait until spring for anything new, or to get a move on.

Outside, the snow continued falling, unaware of Elijah’s thoughts.

[whumpay]

Day 24: Struck By Lightning

I'm finally all caught up! And with a week left, lol. But here, this is part of no established AU, and never will be, I have full confidence that something this stupid probably happened in canon.

Enjoy!

“Kol,” Elijah called, exasperated. “Kol!”

His younger brother (youngest, now, and didn’t that just hurt Elijah’s heart? Little Henrik, dead…) ignored him, instead trying to climb higher in the tree, his sword held above him. At the rate, Elijah felt he’d have to climb after him, which he did not want to do.

“Stop encouraging him!” Elijah’s head whipped around to their siblings, Niklaus and Rebekah both laughing on the ground as they watched Kol.

The idea was either Niklaus’ or Kol’s, originally. Elijah hadn’t been paying enough attention at the time, braiding Rebekah’s hair for her, trusting that Finn would be able to look after their brothers for five minutes. Except that apparently, Finn had done his own thing, and left their more chaotic siblings together.

Hence why Kol was now climbing the tallest tree they could find, covered in as much metal as they could find on such short notice. Where he’d even gotten half of it, Elijah wasn’t sure. But what he was certain of was that just because their mother had said they were immortal, it didn’t mean they should be testing it out like this!

It was a heavy storm, too. Elijah was certain it was going to cause lightning, and thunder, and the danger only increased his efforts to get his brother down, before he got struck. Of course, it seemed that being struck by lightning was Kol’s goal, as he climbed higher, waving his sword around.

Honestly, sometimes Elijah wondered why he didn’t just leave them to their own devices. Right, because they would come running to find him soon enough, having messed up enough that they needed him to fix it for them. His siblings should be lucky that he loved them, Elijah thought, because they’d be in big trouble if he didn’t.

Trouble like being hit by their brother whilst they were busy laughing at him, as was what happened now. Kol got his wish, the lightning striking him before Elijah could even draw breath to yell at him again. He flew from the tree, the metal surrounding him sparking, little bits flicking off of him, as Kol landed right on top of his siblings.

Neither Rebekah nor Niklaus were laughing much now, Elijah noted in the back of his head. They were yelling a lot more instead, both at Kol, and for Elijah, so he could be mad at Kol.

Although why they seemed to think they were off the hook for this, when Elijah knew full well that they had been egging Kol on with this idiot plan of his, he had no idea. Even if it had backfired on them now, with Kol slamming into them, the electricity from the lightning still flying off of him, zapping their siblings, Elijah saw no reason to exclude them from his disappointment.

They were old enough to know better, in his opinion. Suddenly being invulnerable to the stupid things their brains could come up with was not a reason to do it, and Elijah told them so. If he’d obeyed the stupid thoughts in his head when he was their age, like they were doing now, Kol would have been tossed into the fire, and Rebekah’s hair would be much shorter (from the same fire, incidentally enough).

He could feel Finn’s smirk, despite his older brother not actually saying anything. The way their younger siblings’ faces started scowling at something behind Elijah gave it away, and so, he promptly included Finn in his scoldings as well.

After all, he’d trusted Finn with Niklaus and Kol, and had expected his brother to keep them out of trouble. And instead, what did Elijah find? Two idiots climbing a tree, and Finn was off writing love letters to Sage or something like that.

Elijah had managed to get Niklaus down, thankfully, but Kol had ignored him, and it was for this reason that he was getting the brunt of it. Not too much more than the others, though, Kol was still smoking after all, and a fall from that height couldn’t have been much fun, regardless of how immortal they were.

Finally, Elijah sent them off to think about their actions. It wasn’t much, but it did work on the younger ones, even though he knew Finn wouldn’t be taking it to heart. His older brother would be more than likely to compose more sonnets to Sage, instead of thinking about his actions, but Elijah couldn’t force him to do anything. It was the perils of being his younger brother, after all, despite all the responsibility he held in regards to the rest of the family.

Sometimes, Elijah really hated that he’d been born the second son, and that Finn held him accountable for things that happened before his birth. It would be a lot easier if Finn either listened to him, Elijah reckoned, or if his brother at least didn’t actively go against him whenever he could.

[whumpay]

Day 23: Natural Disaster

Here we go! Back to Supernatural for this one bc I had ideas, and a little au that I think fits in here nicely! This one is called In The Cage (What Secrets Are Hidden), and its a crossover with Good Omens bc I like that!

This is also referenced Lucifer/Michael, so if that's not your thing, just don't read! And again, like the last one, I maintain that angels are genderless without a vessel, so as there's no vessels here... Lucifer and Michael are both they/them, and the child is an it bc I found it easiest to write like that. And also I didn't think Lucifer would refer to the child by a gender until they were sure said child was going to survive, which seems smart to me.

Hope you enjoy!

Every so often, an earthquake would rock the cage. Not a big one, they’d faced much worse down there, but enough to be noticeable. Enough to cause panic in the citizens of Hell below, those that could see the cage swinging in the shock waves.

Their child was enjoying it, at least. They could feel the little one’s excitement, every time they felt the rumblings throughout the cage. Lucifer could tell, when their child came out, they’d be making waves just like the ones they were enjoying so much right now.

It was from the left over traces of its sire, they knew. Their strongest memories, the ones they’d clung to after their Fall, were the ones before they’d even had a name, when it was just them and their elder and their parents, the Light and the Darkness. When they hadn’t needed to be precise with their emotions, when a mere expression of happiness had been enough to wipe out an entire planet.

Lucifer could tell their child was picking up on it, slowly but surely. It was already making little waves in their grace, whenever it wanted to let its bearer know anything. It would do wonders, when they were out of here, and Lucifer wondered if their mate, their life-partner, would recognise their child’s methods as theirs.

They doubted it. Michael had never been one for much introspection, and they would probably scorn the existence of Lucifer’s child, no matter that it was theirs as well. Even though the way it expressed itself was so alike to the way they had Before.

Here, there wasn’t much to do. Lucifer could teach their child about control, about self-restraint, so they didn’t become uncontrollable when they were out. They knew, regardless of how they left the cage, they would need to hide, and their child needlessly destroying things because it couldn’t express itself any other way would be a surefire way to be discovered immediately.

Already, those loyal to Lucifer had reported back about the state of their Father’s prized planet, Terra, and the way these increased disasters in Hell were affecting it. Volcanoes, although small enough to not be detected by the little monkeys up there, were popping up at an alarming rate.

Of course, Lucifer felt proud of their little one for it. They looked forward to when they could escape, could teach their child about the wonders of the heat, how good it felt to dive into a pool of plasma, or lava, how it was to be able to fly as high as they wanted without any limitations.

But they, and by proxy their child, would need to leave, first. And it wasn’t looking like that was happening any time soon, not when their loyalists didn’t want them to leave when their True Vessel hadn’t been born yet.

Well, they could wait. It had been a few millennia already, since they were shunted down here, and they were patient. They’d had to be, for so many of their plans to work out. Michael wasn’t stupid, and neither were their parents. It had taken time, even after they’d had the Mark placed into them, to arrange for their little schemes, and even longer to wait for those schemes to finally come to fruition.

Even now, they were patient, letting their little one take its time to come out. Despite how furiously it liked to move inside their grace, Lucifer knew that it wasn’t yet ready to come out of them just yet. It was okay. They could understand not wanting to be separated, they weren’t particularly looking forward to the day their little one came out either.

And yet, despite its long stay inside its bearer, the little one didn’t seem to be all the patient. It was constantly sending its little ripples, asking questions that fizzled out before they could understand them. If Lucifer wasn’t carrying it, they would’ve wondered how it was even theirs, with this trait from its sire prevailing over everything else.

At least, they could comfort themselves, it would help them get out, once it was ready. They knew of the Antichrist prophecy, about how it would let the Devil (them, supposedly, although most days they didn’t really feel like a devil) out of Hell. But Lucifer wasn’t willing to go after any but their life-partner, even if said partner had thrown them down into the cage to begin with, so this fledgling in their grace would have to be said Antichrist.

So clearly, their fledgling was going to have to love them, before they helped it get itself a human shell, so it could go masquerade on Terra. Before it brought all of Terra crumbling down, and set them free, naturally.

Centuries later, looking across the airfield at their son, as he told them firmly that they weren’t his father, all Lucifer could feel was pride, even as they were sent back down into their cage. Their son was finally holding his own.

[whumpay]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: CT-9904 | Crosshair & Clone Trooper Hunter, CT-9904 | Crosshair & Clone Trooper Wrecker, CT-9904 | Crosshair & Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-9904 | Crosshair & Emerie Karr Characters: CT-9904 | Crosshair, Clone Trooper Tech (Star Wars) (minor), Clone Trooper Wrecker (Star Wars) (minor), CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo (minor), Clone Trooper Hunter (Star Wars), Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) (minor), Emerie Karr (minor), Batcher the Lurca Hound (Star Wars) (minor) Additional Tags: CT-9904 | Crosshair Needs a Hug, CT-9904 | Crosshair Angst, CT-9904 | Crosshair-centric, I Can’t Believe I Wrote This, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, I am not joking when I say there’s no comfort here, Everyone Needs A Hug, Imperial Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Kinda maybe a little bit, this plot makes no sense, Whumpay 2024, whumpay, Prompt: Phantom Pains, Prompt: Seeking Revenge, Hunter is not evil I swear, There’s wayyyyy more to the plot

Summary:

He thought it was Hunter who came to him. He thought his long-lost brother was finally coming home. But whatever or whoever he is, he is not Crosshair’s brother. Hunter wouldn’t hurt him. He wouldn’t. So then why…?

Read on:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14357448/1/Whumpay-Day-Nineteen-Phantom-PainsSeeking-Revenge

https://www.wattpad.com/1446467713-the-bad-batch-one-shot-collection-whumpay-day

[whumpay]

Whumpay 24 Day 17: Memory Loss

Blinding white light assaulted Whumpee’s eyes. It was followed almost instantly by the sharp scent of alcoholic cleaning supplies and medicine. They blinked rapidly to remove the sting, watching as a pale room materialized around them.

Feeling slowly returned to their limbs. First twitching in their fingers and toes, spreading into the palm of their hands and feet, then empowering their arms and legs. Along with this comes a deep ache in each of the appendages. They tried lifting up, but found themself to be restrained to a hard bed with scratchy sheets.

Instantly the shock and fear sets in and they fruitlessly pull at the leather straps. Muted whimpers and grunts tumble from their tongue as tubes around them are jostled. Panic rises further and their clawing more desperate until a soft voice calls out to them.

“Hey, hey, Whumpee. It’s okay.” A hand lands on their shoulder, keeping them down and hoping to provide comfort. “You’re in a hospital. You escaped from Whumper and we found you and brought you here. You’re safe now.”

The person smiles at them. Whumpee says nothing. They should probably thank him, but nothing comes out. Their gaze slowly falls to the bandages covering their skin, and the man seemingly understands their question.

“Don’t worry. We patched up all the cuts and burns… and other injuries. The doc says it’ll be fine in a few weeks.” His voice is slightly strained. “That’s great, right?” 

They nod. What else can they do? They don’t recognize the name he said before or remember how they got the injuries. But it is nice to have a stranger so worried about them. Though it also is a bit weird if they think about it more. He must’ve been the one to find them.

“W- Wha…” Their throat is incredibly dry and the man is quick to hand them a cup of water. Whumpee takes it gratefully and chugs the cooling liquid. They cough a few times, salivating their throat and begin to try to speak again. “What’s your n- name?” 

He looks at them in shock. “W- What?” He asks, flabbergasted. “I- It’s me, Caretaker.” The man takes a step back. “Whumpee. It’s me?” 

Uh oh. That was not the right question.

Whumpee shifts uncomfortably as they watch him flop down into one of the hospital chairs, head in his hands. “Of course…” he mumbles to himself, “of course he wouldn’t leave you with nothing. The scars weren’t enough, he had to take your mind too…” They can do nothing but watch as the man sobs quietly to himself. Nothing Whumpee could say could make him feel better, because he had to be right.

Whoever he was talking about, whatever had happened, they had lost it, and it took Whumpee with it. 

[whumpay]

Whumpay 24 Day 8: Asthma Attack

TW: Solitary Confinement

Whumpee was thrown roughly onto the ground. Disoriented from the sudden shift in gravity, they could not stop the door slamming closed. 

A garbled voice speaks through the small window in the solid metal. “Two days locked in the cell should learn you some manners.” They start to respond but are cut off by the small yellow light sliding off. Whumpee is now stuck in the pitch black room.

Understanding Whumper came with the knowledge that they were serious in their threat. Two days would be spent in the dark room, no food or water, until the punishment was over. Whumpee sighed, readying themself for the long haul, eyes slowly adjusting to their temporary prison. 

It was a typical square room, a few metres by a few metres, made of concrete. Nothing else, not even a bed or a toilet. No stimulation. Whumpee tsked to themself as they realized that the days would be a bit harder than expected. 

They stood up, feeling against the walls and floor– the ceiling was too high for them to reach– for anything interesting or useful. Again, nothing. Not a stray nail or unique bump anywhere. Just dust-covered smoothness. Even the door, with only a small seam that was impossible to see and only barely felt. 

Whumpee slumped against the wall in a huff. 

They aren’t sure how long they sit there, inhaling the dank air and stewing in their anger before they feel a familiar press against their chest. Instantly, they begin to panic. 

How had they not noticed all the particles flowing in the air, how had they not taken any precaution for all the dust they felt? 

They try to slow their breathing, but an itch starts in the back of their throat, growing more persistent with each second. Despite their efforts to hold them off, Whumpee lets out a dry cough, which is followed by another and another, until they are full on wheezing. Their lungs have tightened to the point of no entry, trachea preventing any air from fueling their system. 

Whumpee crumples into themselves, eyes tearing up, and clawing uselessly at their own neck. The sounds that echo in the room are unpleasant, which only sets Whumpee off further. Their attempts at breathing pick up, but no matter how hard they try they can not catch their own breath. 

Thoughts of their own imminent demise fill their head, supplying more ammo to their panic. Sure, they weren’t that afraid of death– they had become ready for it in a way– but if this was how they had to go, curled on the floor of a dusty square dark room gasping for a breath that will never come, Whumpee was going to have a word with whatever force was running things. Because, frankly, this was not as fun or interesting of a death they believed they deserved. 

As their eyes began to close, the effort of their body trying to save itself only killing them quicker, Whumpee only wished they could rub their unintentional demise in Whumper’s face– a final ‘fuck you.’

But even that would not be permitted. 

Whumper slammed the door open, the loud clang of metal colliding against stone echoing in the room. Very unhelpful. 

They crouched down to Whumpee’s prone, breathless form, lifting their head and shoving plastic between their lips. It took them a moment to understand what it was, until their tongue traced the familiar outline of their inhaler.

They tried slowing their breaths and inhaled the medicine from the canister. Instantaneously their throat relaxed, muscles finally allowing for the intake of air. Their heart rate relaxed and they shakily took the puffer from Whumper. 

They gave Whumpee a few minutes to come down from the attack before ripping the item out of their hands again. Whumpee stared up at them, unabashedly glaring at Whumper.  

Whumpee didn’t care for ‘learning their manners’. They lost their fear a long time ago; they knew they would see Whumper in hell. So, they felt no apprehension talking down to their captor. 

“Maybe put me in a closet instead, next time.”

[whumpay]

Whumpay 24 Day 4: Vivisection

TW: Detailed Autopsy

The scalpel cuts through the soft meat of Whumpee’s chest. First trailing from each shoulder to the middle of his collarbone, then slicing down through their pelvis. Little blood spills from the long dead corpse, and Caretaker is thankful for the small mess. 

Caretaker recognizes the man. He had stopped and harassed her after a long night clubbing a week ago. Her only saving grace was the taser she always kept on hand and her ability to run in heels, otherwise the night would have ended in a much less tasteful way. She never reported the man, because at the moment she didn’t remember much of what he had looked like. And, despite working for them, she knew how lax the police could be with reports of unsavory men, especially when they technically never did anything. 

Looking at Whumpee now, she could not muster any sympathy for him. 

Before she continues, Caretaker catalogs what she found initially on his body. There were marks along his wrist and ankles, leftover from being chained. Along with uneven cuts across his arms and thighs, and, unnervingly, bites everywhere, but with no indication they were for any sexual reason. She had checked the man’s mouth, finding bruising along the inside, proof of something being shoved down Whumpee’s throat before his death.

A saw is then forced through their ribcage, neatly cracking each rib, which are to be placed in a metal tray, stored for later. It freaks her out that somehow two of the left ribs are already missing. Though, she supposes, it explains the two holes on Whumpee’s side. 

Next, Caretaker begins to remove each of his organs. First the lungs, then the liver and kidneys, his heart, and finally his intestines and stomach. With each removal, Caretaker inspected the part for any signs of disturbance. None of them showed any obvious causes of death until the guts.

The intestines had scarring from poison, though she would have to send the organ to toxicology to find out what exactly. Caretaker took the stomach, cutting it open to see if she could see the extent of the damage and any more clues on what the chemical was. But, she stopped upon seeing a large clear pill stuck inside. Caretaker peeled the item out, blue gloves protecting her from the crimson gore sticking to the capsule. Upon further inspection, Caretaker realized there was a scrap of paper inside. 

Popping it open, she unfurled the note, disturbed at the message.

‘Don’t worry my Ixchel, I will always protect you.’

[whumpay]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Emerie Karr & Batcher the Lurca Hound - Relationship, Emerie Karr & Clone Force 99 | Bad Batch Characters: Emerie Karr, Batcher the Lurca Hound (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Hunter (Star Wars) (minor), Clone Trooper Tech (Star Wars) (minor), CT-9904 | Crosshair (minor), CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo (minor), Clone Trooper Wrecker (Star Wars) (minor), Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) (minor) Additional Tags: whumpay, Whumpay 2024, prompt: Stockholm Syndrome, prompt: fighting against caretaker, In a sense, Emerie karr needs a hug, daemon AU

Summary:

When Hemlock broke Emerie’s bond with her daemon, she never imagined she would see it again. At least not until she ends up on Pabu with her newfound family to discover that Batcher may be more familiar to her than she ever expected.

Read on:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14356898/1/Whumpay-Day-Eighteen-Stockholm-SyndromeFighting-Against-Caretaker

https://www.wattpad.com/1446230610-the-bad-batch-one-shot-collection-whumpay-day

[whumpay]

Whumpay Day 13: Medication Tampering and Day 14: Injury Brushed Off

650 words; characters referred to as Whumpee, etc.

CW: abuse, gender neutral characters, brief language, medication tampering

“But I might rip my stitches out.” Whumpee was looking at their team in disbelief. “They just got put in yesterday.”

“Pfft.” Team Leader waved their hand dismissively. “You’ll be fine. I only asked you to unload one truck.”

“Yeah, Whumpee, don’t be such a baby,” Teammate called from their perch on the couch. “I got stabbed yesterday. I hardly think that—”

“Whumpee, go unload the truck,” Team Leader cut in.

“But Teammate could do it. Why—”

“That’s an order.” Team Leader’s voice was firm.

Whumpee sighed inwardly. Better to just walk away before saying something they’d regret. Whumpee’s old team would never have treated them this way. If only it hadn’t been for that stupid argument, they’d still be there now, eating dinner with their friends. Instead they were lifting heavy boxes, in the middle of a heatwave, with a fresh stab wound. What had their life come to?

***

Their stitches did get messed up, of course. Whumpee slammed the truck doors shut and trudged back to the medbay. Medic fixed them up, berating Whumpee the whole time about being more careful, then gave them a bottle of bright blue pills.

“Antibiotics,” Medic explained as they shoved it into Whumpee’s hand. “Take one every morning and evening.”

Whumpee decided to skip dinner and go straight to bed. They tossed the pill bottle on their dresser and yanked off their shoes, chucking them into a corner. Not even bothering to change into pajamas, they flopped on the bed and fell asleep within minutes.

***

The days passed slowly. Whumpee’s relationship with the team didn’t get better, but at least it didn’t get worse. Whumpee got their stitches out, and continued taking the antibiotics as instructed by Medic. They still had to do the grunt work for the team; at first they were told it was because they were the newest member, but as new teammates joined and nothing changed, Whumpee suspected there was more to it than that.

The last straw was when Whumpee discovered Teammate had been messing with their medication. They walked into their room one evening to find Teammate carefully placing blue pills into their bottle.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” Whumpee snatched the bottle away from them.

“None of your business.” Teammate tried to duck past them, but Whumpee was bigger and stronger than them and pinned them against the dresser.

“That’s my pills you’re messing with so yeah, it is my business. I’m not going to ask again. What were you doing?”

“Ugh. Fine. Just—“ Teammate gently pushed Whumpee back a few steps so they weren’t squished between Whumpee and the dresser. “There we go. Team Leader wanted me to replace your pills with sugar pills. Happy?”

“But… why?”

“Something about how if you were at the top of your game, you’d be a threat to their leadership. Listen, I don’t really know, and I don’t care. Can I go now?”

“…Yeah. Yeah, you can go. I’ve got to do something.”

“Whatever.” Teammate ran out, leaving Whumpee staring at a bottle of sugar pills.

“Team Leader?” Whumpee had interrupted dinner, walking right up to the head of the table and standing there with a backpack slung over their shoulder.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I’m resigning.” A hush fell over the room.

“You- you can’t do that.” Resigning wasn’t something you just did. There were only two ways to leave a team: get fired or get killed. “Where do you even think you’re going to go? Your old team won’t take you back,” Team Leader sneered at them.

“I’ll figure it out.” Whumpee smiled. “When I joined this team I swore to uphold its values. We all did. Honesty, loyalty, integrity, fairness. That’s what you said they were. But you lied.” Whumpee threw the bottle of pills into Team Leader’s mashed potatoes. “You lied.” Whumpee turned and walked out the door. They didn’t look back.

[whumpay]

Blood of Glory, a star wars: the bad batch fanfic | FanFiction

Blood of Glory - Prologue - Wattpad

[whumpay]

Day 22: Slowly Running Out of Air

And now, the challenge of figuring out how to make them run out of air when they're literal vampires! I've done my best with this prompt, but seriously, vampires don't need air. And the other option was I enjoy writing the angels, who , surprise, don't need air either! So we're going back to the Runaway Treasures AU, bc I can trap Elijah in a place without air for that!

Enjoy!

If he was truthful, Elijah hadn’t expected to catch up to Katerina. Innocent she may have portrayed herself as, and certainly more human than either him or Niklaus, but Elijah hadn’t missed the sharp intelligence in her eyes, nor her general sense of self-preservation.

As such, Elijah could only assume that the reason he was able to find her, although miles ahead of the other men and vampires his brother had sent out with him, was because Katerina had let him. He’d been all or bringing her back, even though she was now a vampire, so his mate could get closure on it, and Elijah wouldn’t have failed his task, but.

Katerina wanted to talk, and so, in the name of their former friendship, Elijah agreed. And he didn’t like what she was saying. Things about Niklaus, about their relationship. She wasn’t really trying to explain why she’d run from them, he’d realised quickly. Still, he’d stayed, letting her talk.

Eventually, he wasn’t quite sure of what Katerina had said that had convinced him, but Elijah ended up going with her. Avoiding all of his mate’s attempts at guilting him through their bond, and ran with her.

And where had it gotten him, he mused. Trapped inside a church, under it, even, after being cornered by the vampire-hunting townspeople who were convinced they were doing the right thing. Without his friend, the one he’d spent some 300-odd years running with.

Oh, Katerina had arranged for the escape of both of them. They were still friends, and she did still care for the Omega, despite their rocky beginnings. But Elijah had given it up for a younger vampire, little Anna, and so he was stuck here, whilst Anna and Katherine, as she’d decided to go by, were running free.

The upside, Elijah mused, to being vampires, was that they didn’t require air. There were a few townspeople who were caught up in the spell, and were now trapped down here with them, but they had quickly been devoured, before they’d even had the chance to run out of air.

Still, breathing was a comfort to many, after they’d turned, and the air in the tomb quickly ran out. Elijah could spot a few newer vampires struggling with the lack of air, as they desperately tried to inhale whatever was left of a substance they no longer needed.

It amused him, Elijah supposed. And it was fascinating, to see how they hadn’t quite grasped the vital thing they were missing down here, something he had noticed as soon as he’d realised the others weren’t dying in the fire.

It wouldn’t be long, he reckoned, before they started attacking each other for the blood in their systems. These young vampires, they wouldn’t be thinking rationally, trying to stay alert the longest, as opposed to merely waiting. None of them would be getting out any time soon, by Elijah’s estimate. They would all desiccate, no matter how much blood they stole from each other, before the spell upon this tomb was released, and they could walk free.

And it wasn’t as though it was easy to tell time in here, either. It was cold, and dark, and Elijah could tell when he tried breathing that he’d be long dead if he was a human. It had been easier to track, when there was still some oxygen left in the room, but given it was all gone now… He couldn’t be completely sure of how long it had been.

Only Elijah’s bond with Niklaus, still thrumming along the back of his mind, despite their centuries of distance from each other, kept him awake. Far longer than the others in the tomb, long after they’d even stopped twitching, from the lack of blood in their systems, Elijah remained conscious, even as his body shut down.

But it was something, at least. A little push and pull with his mate’s emotions, over the centuries. Just enough to keep him with a vague sense of what was happening, purely based on Niklaus’ emotions. A little fear here, a little caution, a little love… It served to make his time as a corpse more interesting, at least.

And then, over a century after he was trapped inside this tomb, Elijah tasted fresh blood on his lips, and saw moonlight stream into the tomb, and knew that his freedom had come.

[whumpay]

Day 21: Role Reversal

We're almost fully caught up! I was going to switch Elijah and Freya, but then I realised that it'd be pretty much the same as canon, given that they both have very similar characteristics. So, a little swapping of Elijah and Finn, encouraged by @crimsonlyinglilly <3

This is a little standalone fic, because I don't particularly feel like expanding on it in any way. Maybe at some point in the future I might continue in this au, but it's ubnlikely at the moment.

Hope you enjoy!

Elijah was born into a happy family. It was him, and his mother, and his father, and his older sister. And they were happy, together. Sure, there was a clear preference for Freya, but he didn’t mind. He’d been only a little older than a child, it was only in hindsight that he could recognise how biased his parents had been towards their sunshine-haired child.

He was still young, only 3 years old, when his sister was taken. The lady, his aunt, claimed her as her child, as her prize, for a deal made with Elijah’s mother years beforehand.

Well, Elijah knew deals. He made deals all the time. Little ones, like an acorn for a pretty flower, or a fish’s eye for its tail in midwinter. So, he gathered up his courage, and marched up to his aunt before she left. She was grabbing his sister, holding Freya so tightly by the arm that it had to be hurting her.

“I want to make a deal,” Elijah announced to her, his voice wobbling a bit. He’d only started talking a few months ago, but he was speaking in full sentences already.

“Oh? And what deal does a child have, to make with me?” Dahlia asked, her voice mocking.

Clearly, she didn’t think much of him. Well, Elijah had learned some things. He’d heard the terms of the bargain, his mother gained the ability to have children, and Dahlia gained her sister’s firstborn, and all the firstborns after that.

“My magic,” Elijah announced proudly, ignoring the gasps of horror from his mother and sister. “You look after my sister and make sure she’s happy and stuff, and you can have all my magic!”

Dahlia looked to be considering it, although Esther and Freya both immediately started protesting. Elijah’s magic still had potential, after all, and more magic was why she was doing this. For the price of treating her niece well? It wasn’t exactly like she was going to treat her like dirt anyways.

“I agree,” Dahlia decided.

“The rules of the bargain are: You treat my sister well, and let her live a happy and healthy life, and in return, you get my magic, aside from my bargaining powers,” Elijah recited happily, holding out his hand.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow at the add-ons, but shook her nephew’s hand anyways. It was a fair deal, and it wasn’t like his “bargaining powers” would be all that much of his magic anyways. She was still getting the better deal out of this.

The magic she received through the transaction was powerful, Dahlia had to admit. Nowhere near as much as a firstborn child would have, but it wasn’t something to sniff at, either. And the child, Elijah, looked happy with the deal too, with the knowledge that his sister would be safe.

As well as the little bits of his hair he’d slipped into Dahlia’s palm with their handshake. She didn’t know what she would do with it, for now, but she decided to hang onto it until she did know. And if she never used it? Then she never used it, and it would be fine either way. Hair was a powerful tool in magic, and she wasn’t sure her nephew even knew how much power over him he’d just given her.

“Don’t try to come for her, Esther,” Dahlia warned her sister before she left. “Or I’ll come back, and I’ll take Elijah too, and little Finnbjørn as well”

“It is a boy,” Elijah whispered, although Dahlia didn’t think she’d been meant to hear it.

Had he truly not known the gender of his own sibling? True, it was unborn, but Dahlia had known Esther’s gender when their own mother was pregnant. Well, it wasn’t Dahlia’s problem. She took Freya with her, back to her home, far from her sister’s. Whatever Esther chose to tell her husband (Dahlia sneered at the thought of the man her sister had chosen over her), it wasn’t Dahlia’s problem.

Years later, Dahlia would give in to Freya’s begging, and they would create a device, a mirror, so Freya could talk to Elijah, regardless of the distance. They’d use his hair, that he’d slipped to his aunt so many years ago, to send it to him, and the two children were chattering together soon like time had not parted them.

Freya loved her aunt as her mother, definitely more than she loved Esther, and she was delighted whenever Elijah would come to the mirror to talk. He’d usually have at least one of their siblings with him, Esther having made him in charge of them, and Freya adored seeing her brothers and sister as well, even if they didn’t know her as their sister.

It was to the mirror Elijah ran, the night Henrik died, crying to Freya of what had happened. And it was them he told first, when he was turned into a vampire, of how they’d discovered their brother Niklaus’ heritage, and the ritual that would be required to break the curse Esther had him under.

And after that, once every hundred years, Freya would tap on the mirror, gaining Elijah’s attention, and he would come and find his sister and his aunt, and show them around the world for a year. What new things had happened, any updates on the world, the latest news with their family.

And at the end of it, when Elijah asked Dahlia to please not take Niklaus’ child Hope, Dahlia caved. She agreed to another deal with her nephew, this time to save his own niece, and let the child return to her family.

And when Hope was older, Dahlia died peacefully in her old age, surrounded by her family. She’d watched her niece, practically her daughter, get married, she’d watched her nephew settle down with his two werewolves, and she’d watched her grandniece enjoy life to the fullest.

And throughout it all, Dahlia found that she really couldn’t regret having taken that young boy’s deal that day.

[whumpay]

Day 20: Love Potion/Spell

Back to Experiments in Blood! I wasn't quite sure how to do this prompt, honestly, but then I had this idea, and it was honestly too good for me to resist writing it. They're out of the experiments themselves, as least?

Warnings: being drugged

Hope you enjoy regardless!

Elijah sighed, annoyed. More than annoyed, even. He was angry. Truly, mind-numbingly angry. Before him, he’d left his younger brother chained up, unable to leave the bed he was attached to. And generally, if Kol wanted to leave, he could’ve, but Elijah had made sure that the chains were coated in vervain, so he could keep him there.

He had Kol’s friends on the lookout, searching for the woman who’d drugged him. More than drugged him, in Elijah’s opinion. He couldn’t imagine why someone would seriously dose a vampire with a love potion, no matter how attractive they were.

And this person clearly had knowledge of the supernatural community, if they weren’t a member of it themselves. They had to know how stupid this was.

Vampires wore through love potions faster than any witches did, or werewolves, and above it all, it was like having a pet tiger on a leash - far too dangerous, and you could never tell when it was going to turn on its owner.

Never mind that they’d have to dose the vampire in question repeatedly, this was still Elijah’s little brother. It wasn’t uncommon for vampires to be solitary, which Elijah supposed could excuse this stupidity (not really, but he could pretend, for argument’s sake), but Kol wasn’t.

And whoever had done this, they had drugged Elijah’s brother when he was just feeling safe enough in himself to cope with being away from Elijah for a few hours, and would therefore face the full force of Elijah’s wrath for it. Kol wouldn’t be leaving Elijah’s side for at least another few years, if he’d judged his brother’s trauma correctly.

Not to mention, Kol’s little friends wouldn’t be leaving for long, either. After all, Kol was an Original. If this could happen to him, even though Elijah was going to utterly ruin whoever did it, then what did it mean for them, who weren’t protected by the status of an Original?

Sure, if it happened to either Lorenzo or Damon, Elijah would still take revenge. He’d taken them under his wing, so to speak, when Kol had refused to stay away from them after their combined traumatic ordeal. They were his, and Elijah definitely didn’t hold back when it came to people hurting those that were his.

The many destroyed Augustine Society laboratories, as well as the lives of those who were a part of the society in question, were proof enough of that.

But now, someone had the audacity, the nerve, to drug Kol. When he’d first found out, Elijah had been torn, between staying with his brother, and helping him, keeping him from going out to find whoever had drugged him, or leaving Kol’s friends with him, and going out to find whoever it was himself.

His decision had been made when Kol had easily overpowered his two friends, using his strength to knock them around before he’d headed out. Or, well, tried to. Elijah had only pretended to leave, curious to see what would happen if he’d left.

And while Kol was good, and not trying to escape when Elijah was around, the same couldn’t be said when it was just him and his friends. So, Elijah got to look after his little brother, and Lorenzo and Damon were off trying to track down the one who’d drugged Kol with the love potion.

Elijah sighed again, leaning his head against the wall behind him. It was going to be a long night.

[whumpay]

Day 19: Phantom Pains

And here's another one, this one is returning to the Fickle Memories AU, even if it doesn't really seem like it. Still I'm happy with this one, even though it's been written for a while.

Also, this is a slight departure from normal, in that this is more set in Legacies than in TO or TVD or before either take place. Why? Idk, I felt like it, and also I did like Landon when I watched it, and how freaked out he kinda got about it.

Thanks to everyone who's still following along, hope you enjoy this one!

“Are you saying that I'll never be able to see my family again?” Rafael asked, his voice quieter.

“Not… necessarily,” Josie edged, looking uncomfortable.

“That's my dad, my brother! I've been Elijah's foster since I was 6, man, you can't just say that I have to leave him now!”

“It's just until you learn to control your urges,” Alaric told him, his voice calm. “So you won't hurt them or anything”

Landon didn't know what had happened, but he knew that he was getting out of there. And if what those people had been telling him to do was true, he wasn't going to let Raf know that he was leaving. After all, he was finally with people like him!

Werewolves. Landon couldn't really wrap his head around it. Werewolves and vampires and witches. And for some reason, their mind-control thing wasn't working on him.

So he was out of there, before they figured out that he still remembered everything. He took his phone out, called his foster father. He may not have been with Elijah as long as Rafael had, only a couple of years, but the man had proved that he would have their backs. And Landon didn't want to think of the shitfest that Elijah would raise when he learned of this situation, although he was sure it'd be worse if Landon didn't tell him.

“Elijah speaking,” His body relaxed partially at the sound of his foster father's voice. It was childish, but he knew Raf had the same reaction: that sense that everything would be okay if Elijah was around.

“I- Are you home yet?” Landon threw himself headfirst into it.

“No…” Elijah's voice sounded guarded. “I'm just off the airplane. What happened?”

“We didn't do anything!” He internally winced at how defensive his voice was. “But those neighbours from next door, the über Christian ones, you remember?”

“Yes..”

“They came in, they took Raf to the church down the road. Locked me outside it. Said he was a devil, and they tried to do an exorcism on him. Or it sounded like it. Then this van shows up, and this guy and Hope - she's the girl I danced with at the fair last year, you remember - and Hope just says some words and the doors opened, even though I tried to open them, and I couldn't!”

Landon paused, the insanity of the entire situation sinking in fully for the first time. He'd had some time to think whilst he'd been in that cell - they had a real life dungeon cell! Why?! - but it still hadn't seemed real at that point. He wouldn't blame his foster father if he didn't believe him, but Elijah just hummed in response to his words.

“Continue, Landon,” He encouraged.

“And they went in, and the guy had a wooden crossbow, and they stopped the priest, I think Hope removed his mouth? But then Raf turned into some wolf thing, and then they stayed there all night and I stayed because Raf kept growling when I went to leave and in the morning he turned back into a human and it was horrible, Elijah! I swear I heard his bones crack!”

“Calm down,” Elijah soothed. “Control yourself. You're both okay now, though?”

“I- yeah.” Landon took a few deep breaths. “They took us to their school place, and Raf's there now. The guy introduced himself too, said his name was Alaric Saltzman?”

Elijah made a noise of acknowledgement, stopping Landon.

“Do you know him?”

“Once, a long time ago,” Elijah replied, and his small smirk was practically audible, even through the phone's shitty speakers. “No point in asking though, he won't remember me”

“I'm not there anymore,” Landon revealed. “They kept making me look into Saltzman's assistant's eyes, telling me to forget about it and let Raf stay with them or something.”

“It didn't work, did it?”

“Not the first time. I tried to hit them,” Landon shook out his hand, feeling the phantom pain of the assistant's, MG's, grip on his wrist. “So they stuck me in their cellar, in an actual dungeon cell, Elijah. It was so small, and damp, and I was in there overnight. They said I'd had something called vervain?

“Do you know what that is?”

Elijah hesitated before answering. “It's a herb,” he finally said. “It burns vampires if they touch it, and if you ingest it, you cannot be compelled - or mind controlled, yes - by a vampire.”

“Oh,” Was all Landon could manage at that, his mind flying.

But… I hadn't had any herbs before that? I didn't even know what it was. Why did that mean they'd treat me like I was going to kill all of them? What does it mean that I wasn't affected by their mind control - compulsion? - without it? His mind started running wild with this new bit of information.

“I keep some in one of the jars at home,” Elijah continued, unaware of Landon's thoughts. “Just in case it's ever needed. There's wolfsbane as well, in my private garden”

“The garden you never let anyone into?” Landon asked, his mind still in a daze.

“Yes.”

“Ok.” Landon shook his head to refocus himself. “They tried re-mind controlling-compelling me the night after, 'cause it'd be out of my system or something. But then I just pretended that it worked, so I took my bag, and I walked out of there.”

“You're at Mystic Falls, yes? I'll swing by and pick you up,” Elijah offered.

“It's fine, there's a bus coming in the next few minutes anyways,” Landon tried to protest.

“No, go to the Mystic Grill, get yourself some food.” Elijah ordered, overruling his foster child. “I'll be there in the next half hour, so get the server to put it on a tab, and I'll pay it when I get there”

Landon nodded, his mind still slightly in shock. He still wasn't used to how Elijah would genuinely care for his foster children, not just using them for the government paycheck, despite having stayed there for a few years already. Insisting on him getting himself food that he wouldn't pay for? None of Landon's foster parents had ever done that for him, especially since it'd be easier and cheaper for him to just catch the next bus and wait for him at home instead.

Still, Landon was happy to go get himself some food, so he made his way into Mystic Falls, settling himself down with an order for fries and a burger. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he gasped slightly, as his finger nicked a blade that he didn't remember putting into his pocket.

He pulled it out, seeing its golden sheen, as the bus pulled up.

[whumpay]

Day 18: Stockholm Syndrome

Day 18! I think this one might be the longest thing I've written so far, which is uhh.. yeah. Stockholm Syndrome is an interesting prompt, bc when going with TVD... I think probably the best examples are Klaus and Elijah's relationship. There was a part of me that just wanted to make this a small thing, and just write "Klelijah: Just fucking look at them".

But nope, I've written a whole thing for it! I had an idea for this AU, but then, I had another one that would arguably be worse, but ultimately it doesn't apply to this particular fic

So yeah, this is a new AU called Runaway Treasures.

This is ABO, Klaus is an Alpha, Elijah's a Beta, and the doppelgängers were all Betas bc I had to decide on what I wanted to do with those.

The relationship present is Klelijah, in a romantic sense, bc i wanted to try it lol

Content warnings: Abuse, and all the usual shit that comes with Klelijah

Hope you enjoy!

Elijah had spent a lot of time working his way towards being acknowledged and respected. It was hard, he could admit, his gender as an Omega working against him, but it did work, eventually. All of the supernatural community knew of him, at least, as the Honourable Original. And whilst he wouldn’t call himself that, Elijah couldn’t deny that the title had come in handy at times.

Like now, with one of his underlings leading him towards a guest. Trefor, he believed this one was called, but then Elijah’s breath was taken away by the girl he’d brought Elijah to. She looked exactly like Tatia, and for a split second, Elijah thought back to his friend.

The Beta woman had been a good friend, and Elijah deeply regretted what had happened to her. It shocked him for a moment, seeing her face here, in this century, before Elijah’s brain kicked back online, and he remembered about her doppelgängers.

Women descended from his friend, who looked exactly like her, even down to their dynamic. The scent was different, Elijah noted idly, but everything else seemed exactly the same. Her voice was different too, he noticed as this women before him, Katerina, as Trefor introduced them, spoke.

Human, too, Elijah was pleased to realise. His mate would be happy about that, at least. And what a coincidence, that this doppelgänger had shown up at this celebration, of all times. Officially, it was a birthday party for his mate. Unofficially, it was a celebration of their anniversary, although Elijah had requested something a little more… Low-key, for this year. Clearly, Niklaus had ignored that.

It wasn’t the first time his lover had ignored Elijah’s requests, so Elijah elected not to let it bother him, although it didn’t stop him from wishing Niklaus a happy birthday when the Alpha finally showed up. The warning glance he got told Elijah he’d be wishing he hadn’t said that, later, but Elijah let that pass him by, as well.

There was a slim chance that Niklaus might forget, after all, when he saw Elijah’s gift.

Delight bloomed over Niklaus’ face when Elijah introduced Katerina, enough that he barely spared his mate a glance at the full name. And he abandoned Elijah, as well, choosing to walk off with the doppelgänger instead.

To charm her, no doubt. He’d need her to be entirely trusting of them, when the time came for the ritual. Elijah pretended that it didn’t bother him, the way that his mate had so cleanly blown him off. On their anniversary, as well!

He pretended that he didn’t see the pitying glances from a few of the vampires around him, although he did note their faces for later. He wasn’t some harmless Omega, who could only rely on his Alpha to do things. It was as though they didn’t remember that Elijah was older than Niklaus, even if he’d been stupid enough to mate with the vampire.

He didn’t see his mate the rest of the night, nor did he see the doppelgänger girl, either. After the party, Elijah took himself to his room, shared with Niklaus, and waited for his mate to return.

Niklaus did not return to bed that night.

Nor the next.

An ugly feeling started churning in Elijah’s stomach, but he pushed it down. Niklaus had not strayed from him, for all the centuries they had been mated, and Elijah didn’t believe he would start now. No matter that they had had plans to mate with Tatia, before, and this girl he was spending all his time with looked just like her.

Elijah had to cling to his belief, to his hope, that nothing had happened between them. He needed to. Else he would lose his composure, his famed self-control, and the mansion they were staying in would be bathed in blood as he lost himself in his emotions.

The third night, Niklaus returned to their bed. He was drunk, and smelled of the doppelgänger. Stunk of her, really. Not in the way that would mean that they’d slept together, thankfully, but just in the sense that he’d spent so much time with her.

“I’m heading to Spain,” Elijah announced, wondering if Niklaus would care. “I heard Kol and Rebekah are there at the moment, and I wish to join them,”

It seemed that if Elijah had left in the days prior, Niklaus wouldn’t have even noticed, too caught up in his new toy. And he wasn’t lying, their siblings were in Spain, and Elijah did miss them, but privately, he could admit to himself that the reason he was leaving was because he felt slighted by Niklaus’ actions.

“What?” Niklaus’ head shot up. “No!”

“And why not?”

“I forbid it! You’re not going to Spain, Elijah, and that’s final!”

Elijah pressed his lips together, but didn’t continue the argument. There was no changing Niklaus’ mind, and he didn’t feel like trying his mate’s patience at this time. Vampires they may be, Niklaus was still rather vicious, and Elijah disliked covering up the injuries that he caused, even if it was just for a day.

Just leave, Rebekah had told him once, helping him patch himself back up after another temper tantrum from their brother. I know he’s your mate, but he hurts you, ‘Lijah. Just come with me.

He’d refused her, then. And Elijah knew if she asked again now, he’d refuse her again. He knew why Niklaus lashed out, and he could take it. They were mates, they promised to stand by each other. Elijah didn’t want to leave him alone in the world, like Rebekah had suggested. It’d only be worse when they got back, anyways, and Elijah couldn’t stay away from Niklaus for long, no matter what he did.

Sometimes, Elijah found himself wishing that Niklaus would punch him, rather than just use his words. When he was hurt, Niklaus apologised, and was the sweetest Alpha Elijah could ever ask for, until he next grew mad. But sometimes, with the smaller things, Niklaus refused to acknowledge that they were his fault, and he didn’t seem to realise that his hurtful words deserved an apology as well.

Once, he’d mentioned this to Rebekah. She’d nearly gone to try and take their brother’s head off, despite their immortality. It had only been Elijah pulling her back that had made her stop, and even then, she’d been cold towards Niklaus for the rest of the week.

The next few weeks proceeded pretty normally, for Elijah. They’d had the party on the full moon, which wasn’t intentional but did help with Niklaus’ plans, at least. Still, he had his new toy, but Niklaus didn’t want to spend too much time with the doppelgänger, Katerina, so he sent out Elijah to do the work of bonding with her for him.

But this distraction was a boon for Elijah, truly. Niklaus couldn’t focus as much on Elijah as he used to, too busy tracking down the moonstone for his ritual. And, Elijah admitted to himself, Rebekah had also sent another letter for Niklaus only, which Elijah knew more than likely contained threats of what she’d do if Elijah was injured again when she returned to them.

“Why do you love him?” Katerina asked breathlessly one afternoon, after she and Elijah had played a game of tag throughout the gardens.

“He’s my mate,” Elijah pointed out. “Why shouldn’t I love him,”

They were both collapsed on the grass now, their smiles fading away in their talk. Immersed in it, Elijah failed to feel the tug of his mating bond, nor smell the Alpha coming closer. Klaus stopped, just out of sight, and observed them silently.

“No!” Katerina giggled. “I mean, why did you mate with him? I’ve never seen you do anything like courting, but you’re supposed to be married!”

“I love him,” Elijah chose his words carefully, still unaware of his mate’s eyes staring at him. “I’ve known him for what feels like my whole life. He makes me feel complete, and I couldn’t imagine a world without him, or one where I’m not by his side,”

Klaus stepped forward then, rustling the bushes he was walking by to pretend as though he hadn’t been eavesdropping. The two in front of him jumped apart, Elijah getting up quickly as well, looking for all the world as though they’d been having an affair, and not just talking.

Or, well, Klaus hoped it was just talking. If Elijah was trying to leave him, for his doppelgänger… His vision tinted red at the thought, but he managed to table it. Not long now until sunset, and with it, the full moon he needed for his ritual.

He raked his eyes across Elijah’s body in appreciation, before he led Katerina away by the hand - Klaus did love his mate, and he definitely loved looking at him. Besides, who knew what the ritual tonight would do to him? It was best to drink his fill now, even if it was just with looks, and then deal with whatever happened later.

Katerina escaped, was what happened later. Elijah hadn’t known, of course. He’d prepared the potion he’d gotten from the witches, ready to get Katerina to drink it. She was nice, and he enjoyed spending time with her. He didn’t particularly feel like letting his friend die, even though he’d had to let it happen to Tatia centuries before.

It wasn’t because he was in love with her, like Niklaus had accused him of a few times. Just because Elijah was spending more time with her than Niklaus was (time that Niklaus had told him to spend with her!), it didn’t mean that Elijah was wanting to stop being mates with him.

And it wasn’t like Elijah had known that Katerina would escape, either. He’d learned of it after Niklaus had, when his mate had held him to the wall, by his throat.

“What have you done?” His Alpha roared as he enter their side room, where Elijah was writing peacefully in his journal.

Internally, Elijah flinched at the sudden noise, and the obvious anger from his mate, but he was thankful that his body didn’t react. It wouldn’t do for him to provide Niklaus with any more reasons to be angry.

“I don’t understand,” He closed his book, placing it to one side.

It seemed as though he wouldn’t be getting to finish his writing today, not with how angry Niklaus was already. He spoke softly, as though not to disturb the silence he’d surrounded himself with, like Niklaus hadn’t already done that with his explosive entrance.

“Katerina is gone,” Niklaus nearly growled at him, coming to a stop in front of Elijah. “She has fled,”

In one fluid motion, Elijah rose from his chair, coming face-to-face with his brother. “No,” He couldn’t believe it, Katerina had seemed so happy. They’d spent the afternoon together, whilst Niklaus was off finishing his preparations for the ritual tonight, and she hadn’t given him any reason to think she wanted to run.

“What did you tell her,” Klaus snarled into his face, causing a little fear to coil into Elijah’s stomach.

This was his mate, his love, and he’d never hurt him bad, not on purpose. Fear wasn’t something he should be feeling, not when it was just the two of them. And besides, Elijah knew that he was just angry because his doppelgänger had gotten away, that they’d have to postpone the ritual once again. Niklaus was just getting tired of waiting to unlock his wolf again, Elijah reassured himself. And he was just making sure the person he took it out on could actually take it.

“I-I told her nothing,” Elijah protested. It was true, he hadn’t mentioned anything about the ritual, nothing that could’ve made her want to run.

But this wasn’t good enough for his brother. One second, they were standing eye to eye, staring into the other’s, the next, Elijah was slamming into the wall previously behind Niklaus, his mate’s hand pressing down on his throat.

Niklaus’ anger slipped through their bond, as well, making Elijah angry, and as the veins under his eyes threatened to writhe free, he watched his mate’s burst into life. Instinctively, Elijah brought his hands up to the Alpha’s, scrabbling at them, trying to release him from his throat.

The rational thought in Elijah’s head was fading, just his instincts kicking in. And his instincts were telling him, he was in danger here, and he needed the air that was being denied to him.

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” Niklaus yelled into Elijah’s face, small droplets of spittle landing onto his mate.

He was too far gone in his anger, Elijah could feel it. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck, hoping that Niklaus would take the hint and bite. It only worked half the time, but when it did, it calmed Niklaus down like nothing else.

“You are my Omega,” Niklaus hissed. “And she is my doppelgänger. I should never have left you alone with her,”

His grip grew tighter around Elijah’s neck. “Niklaus,” The Omega begged, his voice gurgling from the tight grip. “Please,”

Thankfully, that worked. Niklaus released his grip, enough that Elijah could suck some air into his lungs. Even if he didn’t technically need air, as a vampire, it was calming, and he preferred being able to breathe than not.

“I-” Elijah tested out his voice. It was barely there, and for a moment, Elijah thought he saw a hint of remorse in Niklaus’ eyes.

It was okay, though. Elijah knew that Niklaus hadn’t meant to be so harsh, he was just upset. Clearly, he thought that Elijah had strayed from him, towards Katerina, and that maybe her running away was from him revealing details of the ritual to her. No matter what he said, Elijah could tell that Niklaus wasn’t going to accept the truth, so he didn’t try to explain it any further.

I will find her, Elijah projected into his mate’s mind. He knew it frustrated all of his siblings, that he could do more mental tricks than them, but he needed to use it now, since his voice was now gone. You have my word.

Although his anger, at the situation, at his mate for throwing him around, at Katerina for not just staying put so Niklaus could have access to his wolf again - it was a lot harder to hide it, when he was communicating mentally.

“And you have my word,” Niklaus leaned even closer, so their lips were barely touching. If Elijah licked his lips, his tongue would brush Niklaus’ as well. “That if you do not…

“You will be dead.”