There were a lot of times when Connor didn't think they'd make it, either.
The sheer magnitude of what they were going up against made it impossible for him to see out of the hole he'd sunk into. None of them had been prepared for what was going to happen. None of them save maybe Adam were prepared for the monstrosity of what Lucien would force down on each and every one of them. Even Adam couldn't have fully prepared for it, as Lucien only grew more erratic and deranged after Virginia killed herself.
It made him that much more unpredictable and that much more sadistic.
He finally didn't have absolutely anything to lose, and the cards were stacked on his side once he had each and every one of them. Connor doesn't even really want to know how long Lucien was in Chicago, possessing someone else's body, watching their every step. He doesn't want to know if he talked to him beforehand, befriended him and invited him into his life and the lives of his friends without even knowing.
God, he planned it all so perfectly well.
There wasn't anything he didn't know when it all came to blows. There wasn't anything they could hide from him. Not the people that were important to them, not the places they'd frequently visit, not the events they'd go to and the schools they'd enrolled in. He knew everything. Every little tiny piece of information was one he studied and stored away, as if building up to those moments when he'd finally break them with it.
Connor doesn't know that he didn't succeed.
They all look broken. He feels broken, too. It's not all hopeless, and it sure as hell isn't over, but he's no longer as determined and willful as he had been when this all began. Logan's hand tightens over his shoulder, and he bows his head a little. There's no way to keep that downtrodden expression off his face, certainly not when Ethan looks the way he does.
When he wouldn't respond, no matter how many times he tried to reach his younger brother. He wasn't there. He was just gone, and it's horrifying to try to think of all the many ways in which their father could've caused this, could've brought Ethan to this breaking point.
Logan hopes and Connor wants to hope with him, but he doesn't think that he'll fully be able to until Ethan responds, until he sees something of Ethan inside the weightless body that has now shut down on him along with -- along with everyone else.
Elena has always been willing to lay down her life for those of others, for those loved ones and family that she has.
He just hadn't ever been confronted with the extreme willingness of Elena's and she doesn't even think twice about it anymore. As far as she's concerned, she's always known her choice. If it's between her or her family, it's always going to be her family.
Everyone is always so willing to die for her. Everyone goes to extremes to keep her safe and all she's ever wanted is to do the same for them. It wouldn't be hard, dying for someone she loves. (Living for them has always been so much harder.)
Elena's hands are delicatedly placed over his face, and she notices how he's practically seeing through her. It's terrifying, everything about this is threatening to let the fear take over, and she can never let the fear take over. She has to place it aside, and she has to get through to him, and Elena stubbornly refuses to accept another outcome.
"No. No, Ethan, it wasn't mine. It wasn't my blood. It's what he wanted you to think. This is what he wanted to do to you," Elena says, and she can barely keep the thinly veiled hatred out of her voice. The contempt swirls in the pit of her stomach, she can almost bitterly taste it in her mouth, but she places it aside because it won't help.
Her breath gets tangled up in her throat, a painful sob that never makes its way out catching in her throat. "I know you're scared," she says, and she hates that he is while understanding why he is and why he wouldn't be able to touch her right now. "I know why you're scared too, but Ethan, I'm not. I love you and I'm not scared."
Elena doesn't move back when he pulls away. She stays in place, giving him the distance, but close enough that she's still there when his head rests on her shoulder. She closes her eyes and blinks back the tears, shaking her head against him as he palm cups the back of his neck. She tightens her hold, only marginally, brings him close enough that she can hold him better.
Her hands return to his face when they pull back and he looks at her.
She shakes her head when he opens his mouth to protest.
"I'm real. Connor and Logan can see me, too. They're here with us and they know that I'm alive," Elena says, and she looks over at them as if willing them to corroborate this for her since he might not be able to fully on his own. She's reached him, but he still thinks she's a hallucination and Elena needs him to see that she's not.
Connor's throat tightens, eyes burning with tears as he steps forward, placing a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Ethan, man. She's here," he says, and he doesn't -- part of him wants to leave the room since it feels like an intrusion but he stays there long enough to give Elena's shoulder a squeeze before he steps back.
"Okay, trust me," she says in relief, slipping her hands further up his face as she stands up a bit more when he backs away.
She isn't in pieces.
She's in one piece and she's fine, as fine as anyone can possibly be after all that they've been through. She'll feel fine, or at least not quite so terrible, once she's reached him but physically she's more than fine. There was probably vampire blood in a lot of their systems at some point but as long as it does the trick.
"Ethan, it's me," she says, firmly. She's not stepping back or letting go.
Elena's never been able to die either of those things.
no subject
The sheer magnitude of what they were going up against made it impossible for him to see out of the hole he'd sunk into. None of them had been prepared for what was going to happen. None of them save maybe Adam were prepared for the monstrosity of what Lucien would force down on each and every one of them. Even Adam couldn't have fully prepared for it, as Lucien only grew more erratic and deranged after Virginia killed herself.
It made him that much more unpredictable and that much more sadistic.
He finally didn't have absolutely anything to lose, and the cards were stacked on his side once he had each and every one of them. Connor doesn't even really want to know how long Lucien was in Chicago, possessing someone else's body, watching their every step. He doesn't want to know if he talked to him beforehand, befriended him and invited him into his life and the lives of his friends without even knowing.
God, he planned it all so perfectly well.
There wasn't anything he didn't know when it all came to blows. There wasn't anything they could hide from him. Not the people that were important to them, not the places they'd frequently visit, not the events they'd go to and the schools they'd enrolled in. He knew everything. Every little tiny piece of information was one he studied and stored away, as if building up to those moments when he'd finally break them with it.
Connor doesn't know that he didn't succeed.
They all look broken. He feels broken, too. It's not all hopeless, and it sure as hell isn't over, but he's no longer as determined and willful as he had been when this all began. Logan's hand tightens over his shoulder, and he bows his head a little. There's no way to keep that downtrodden expression off his face, certainly not when Ethan looks the way he does.
When he wouldn't respond, no matter how many times he tried to reach his younger brother. He wasn't there. He was just gone, and it's horrifying to try to think of all the many ways in which their father could've caused this, could've brought Ethan to this breaking point.
Logan hopes and Connor wants to hope with him, but he doesn't think that he'll fully be able to until Ethan responds, until he sees something of Ethan inside the weightless body that has now shut down on him along with -- along with everyone else.
Elena has always been willing to lay down her life for those of others, for those loved ones and family that she has.
He just hadn't ever been confronted with the extreme willingness of Elena's and she doesn't even think twice about it anymore. As far as she's concerned, she's always known her choice. If it's between her or her family, it's always going to be her family.
Everyone is always so willing to die for her. Everyone goes to extremes to keep her safe and all she's ever wanted is to do the same for them. It wouldn't be hard, dying for someone she loves. (Living for them has always been so much harder.)
Elena's hands are delicatedly placed over his face, and she notices how he's practically seeing through her. It's terrifying, everything about this is threatening to let the fear take over, and she can never let the fear take over. She has to place it aside, and she has to get through to him, and Elena stubbornly refuses to accept another outcome.
"No. No, Ethan, it wasn't mine. It wasn't my blood. It's what he wanted you to think. This is what he wanted to do to you," Elena says, and she can barely keep the thinly veiled hatred out of her voice. The contempt swirls in the pit of her stomach, she can almost bitterly taste it in her mouth, but she places it aside because it won't help.
Her breath gets tangled up in her throat, a painful sob that never makes its way out catching in her throat. "I know you're scared," she says, and she hates that he is while understanding why he is and why he wouldn't be able to touch her right now. "I know why you're scared too, but Ethan, I'm not. I love you and I'm not scared."
Elena doesn't move back when he pulls away. She stays in place, giving him the distance, but close enough that she's still there when his head rests on her shoulder. She closes her eyes and blinks back the tears, shaking her head against him as he palm cups the back of his neck. She tightens her hold, only marginally, brings him close enough that she can hold him better.
Her hands return to his face when they pull back and he looks at her.
She shakes her head when he opens his mouth to protest.
"I'm real. Connor and Logan can see me, too. They're here with us and they know that I'm alive," Elena says, and she looks over at them as if willing them to corroborate this for her since he might not be able to fully on his own. She's reached him, but he still thinks she's a hallucination and Elena needs him to see that she's not.
Connor's throat tightens, eyes burning with tears as he steps forward, placing a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Ethan, man. She's here," he says, and he doesn't -- part of him wants to leave the room since it feels like an intrusion but he stays there long enough to give Elena's shoulder a squeeze before he steps back.
"Okay, trust me," she says in relief, slipping her hands further up his face as she stands up a bit more when he backs away.
She isn't in pieces.
She's in one piece and she's fine, as fine as anyone can possibly be after all that they've been through. She'll feel fine, or at least not quite so terrible, once she's reached him but physically she's more than fine. There was probably vampire blood in a lot of their systems at some point but as long as it does the trick.
"Ethan, it's me," she says, firmly. She's not stepping back or letting go.
Elena's never been able to die either of those things.