𝙻𝚊𝚁𝚞𝚎

You can't burn what's already been scorched.

"Enough already with the family squabbling!" Rebekah snapped at both of her brothers who kept on bickering. "Come on, Nik! This was Elijah's decision shouldn't we support that."

Hints of annoyance in Klaus' tone as he dared to speak again, "Support that he's on the other side sulking-"

"As I have explained to you repeatedly, brother, my presence here in Algiers is purely to assemble allies. And given all the enemies we have afoot in the form of wayward siblings and ancient, maniacal aunt Dahlias, I would think you would applaud my efforts." Elijah interrupts, explaining what his actions mainly were.

Rosalice piped in, "Does Nikkie even applaud anyone but himself?"

"What did we say about that horrendous nickname, little cold one," Klaus growls over the phone.

"And what did we say about your unflinching ability of never shutting the fuck up when need be?" Rosalice rebutted.

Klaus hisses, "Oh, that reminds me, the Volturi called and demanded that their prize possessions come back in their arms."

Rosalice rolls her eyes knowing it was false. Cauis refused to interact with children of the moon—werewolves and shifters combined. Marcus didn't speak to anyone besides a few words. And Aro... She shook her head. "Awe you think I'm a prized possession."

"I will stab you."

"Do it p-"

Rebekah chipped in, "Alright, can you two at least try and stay focused on what's best for Hope and the twins' safety?"

"I am doing exactly that!" Klaus stated.

Rosalice however blew a piece of hair out of her face, sprawled across the floor paint covering her shirt and trousers as well as the tarp underneath. "So am I, but your brother is a pain in Elijah's ass, I as his mate have to at least trouble the big bad wolf."

"See? You're on the same team." Rebekah smiles over the phone. "Conflict resolved, crisis averted." And with that her line went dead.

Klaus murmurs, "Say that again?"

"What? That you're a pain in your brother's ass?" Rosalice raises an eyebrow.

"The other thing."

"Oh! You just want to be called what everyone sees you as." Rosalice didn't even need to see what was going on in the hybrid's mind to know that he wanted to be called the big bad wolf. "Little red riding hood likes his title."

"Fuck you," Klaus' curses his accent heavier than ever that it mushed his words together.

"Have fun giving Grandma's her baked goods." Rosalice closes her eyes allowing the soft sun onto her skin, heating it up yet it could never naturally tan nor could it soak it all up if she wanted to. Thank god she didn't sunburn that easily—it was hard for her to do so. The only time she ever had a sunburn was in Arizona underneath constant sun with barely any shade.

The line went completely dead, Elijah smirking, chuckling softly into the air. "I haven't even married you yet and you two are already acting like siblings," He mainly talks to himself.

Rosalice lifts her head at him as he now looms over her, his shadow covering the sun. "Yet?" She raises an eyebrow of her own towards him. Licking her lip, she asks him, "Should I ask Alice when you're going to ask the million dollar question?"

Elijah shakes his head, clicking his mouth, "Impatient aren't you my darling."

"Impatient?" Rosalice repeats. "We literally have twins and you're telling me I'm impatient?"

Elijah continues smirking, mumbling, "That is exactly what I'm saying." His eyes glances down at the canvas splashed and filled with colors of every shade of every color on it. "We should hang that up," He suggested.

Rosalice follows his eyes. "We most definitely should not." Rising from the ground she grabs a hold of the wet canvas settling it onto a higher surface where no baby could get it.

"Why not?" He questions, tilting his head to the side.

Rosalice plainly shook her head, not wanting to answer. When staring at the painting it brought nothing to her, no feeling, no dedication. All it told her was wasted paints and things were missing from the piece. Removing herself before she started to pull out her hair from the mixed colors of abstract. Rosalice tried her best not to worry about it and worried about the current problem at hand.

[Time Skip]

Rosalice continued to unpack even as Elijah was whisked away to deal with Rebekah. She would have gone but didn't want to leave their babies behind with someone she barely knew. And felt bad if she asked Hayley to watch them, she had enough on her plate at the current moment.

For most of the day, she unpacked and moved furniture to the perfect position. And yet when she finished with all those things and kept the twins entertained, she grew bored, placing them in their playpen in her bedroom she began pulling out the same black colored suit. Shifting through the closet she began counting just how many black suits he owned. The answer was eighteen including the one he was currently wearing. Placing it onto the bed laying flatly.

Looking over at the twins, she asks them, "Should I draw something on your daddy's suit?" Coos and giggles fill the air. "I think I should."

Pulling out bleach, a paintbrush she almost never used, and a piece of chalk, she sat just outside of the playpen she began her work. Time slipping from her. Occasionally stopping to feed and change the twins and putting on Barbie.

Drenching her paintbrush in bleach she follows the lines of chalk recreating what she designed. It took an hour max to finish his suit jacket, currently, hearing as the door opened and two footsteps entered the living room, she continued doing his pants, drawing it all in bleach.

"Can't we just bring wine? Or coffeecake? Bundt cake? Any type of cake?" She heard an unknown voice, a female voice.

"From what I can gather, Ms. LaRue was something of a musical prodigy in her youth." Elijah's voice fills the other side of the air, sifting through papers. "However, in her heart is the music she loves the most..." He carries out his words, placing down papers. "Beethoven's No. 9, Opus 47." He finishes.

"How about I bring my laptop, speakers, and a drum beat?" Gia suggests.

Elijah smiles softly at her, "I promise, your performance is what will open the door for us. If this fails, the life of someone I care for deeply will be in jeopardy, and that will displease me immensely."

Finishing her project she puts away her supplies and hangs up her pants legs as she continues to listen to the conversation being held in another room. "Shall we move, please."

Gia crosses her arms, defiantly, "No. Why don't you make both our lives easier and just compel someone from the symphony."

"My darling Gia, you are an artist far more gifted than anyone from any local symphony." He compliments her talents. Rosalice slips into the room invisible, placing the hanged trousers right besides the suit jacket. A light clink alerting both vampires. Eliah continued even as his eyes lands on his freshly designed suit, "Unfortunately Ms. LaRue despises vampires, so we need to show her that our community is compromised of a different breed. With a new sophistication." He stares at his suit, frowning at it.

Gia smiles, "Sophisticated, huh? I suppose you want me in a dress?"

Elijah hums out, "We should adapt to our audience, yes."

"And you? Dark suit on the left side of your closet? Or..." She stares at the hanged suits that have yet made it to the closet. Gia gasps mockingly, "Identical dark suit on the right?" 

"I prefer the one in the middle, thank you so much." Looking towards his bedroom threshold awaiting for his mate to enter the room to explain what she did to his suit, and how many she did them to.

Gia comments, "Man if anyone needed a woman to mess his life up a bit..."

Elijah glances at her, "Do you assume I made the bleach skeleton from my suit?"

Gia amusely asks, "Who's the girl?"

"Rosalice!" Elijah calls.

Seeing her walking towards him with twins wrapped tightly around her chest and back. Her twisted and being held up by a paintbrush rather than a hair tie. A couple of strands of hair falling over her face. Gia's eyes widened at the twenty-one year old woman. Her mouth slightly agape. "A skeleton?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Would you prefer I do a dragon?" Rosalice asks. "Cause I can do a dragon if you want."

Elijah orders, "You're not allowed anywhere near my suits."

A hum left her lips, as she nodded towards the vampire, "Have something to tell me with the shocked vampire?"

The Mikealson man smiles, "I'll tell you more about the lovely Gia when you throw on that perfect dress waiting to be used and come with us."

Rosalice shakes her head, "I'm watching the twins."

"Good thing I have a rather large family," Elijah reminds, smiling even more baring his teeth. "That wouldn't mind watching Salem and Sage for a couple of hours."

"I'm good."

"You owe me."

"I don't owe you anything."

"My suit?" Elijah brings up.

"You still have seventeen black ones left." Rosalice rubs Sage's back. "I only touched one."

Elijah leans down, placing a kiss on her head, "This is payback, my darling." He whispers into her ear.

[Time Skip]

Dressed in a the same colored as Elijah's suit, Rosalice messed with the hem of her skirt thinking over the dress that Elijah had come to pick out just for her to wear it was an off the shoulder cocktail dress revealing every surface of skin that she tried hiding throughout her teenage and young adult years. But when staring at the dress she supposed she could live beyond comfort and step into a land of insecurities.

An older woman with dark hair and ice blue eyes, seated before them. Moments after their arrival Gia plays the song that Elijah had carefully picked out. Everything seemed to be a plan he had come to articulate. Once finished she settles her violin at her side, staring nervously.

Josephine speaks, "You are as calculating as I've heard, Mr. Mikealson." Rosalice listened, her fingers finding themselves tracing over her scars, something that Elijah had always done when the two were alone—it brought her comfort more than anything and right at this moment she needed just that. "Having your companion play the very piece I once performed to great acclaim."

Gia looks uncomfortable, Rosalice sends a comforting smile acting like her grandparents. "Is it not also a piece that you enjoy?" Rosalice heard Elijah talk. She knew what he was doing without ever looking into his mind. Every word, every action was all a part of his mastermind plan. Collected and calculated. But his plans would never reach the cold harsh bitterness as he saw through his plan thorough and thoroughly.

Josephine LaRue spoke, "It's best not to insult those more powerful than you, which is the only reason I allowed you into my home." She then hums out, "Now, if you will excuse me, I have many things to do."

Elijah fakes a smile that all perceive as real. "My goodness, I had expected a more cordial welcome here." Rosalice's blue eyes danced along Josephine and her mate.

Josephine questions, "And why would I be cordial to you?" Elijah remains silent, his mind wanting to say something but denying it. "Since your family has returned to this city, our Elders have been murdered. Promising young witches have been inhabited against their will." She explains the problem at hand.

"I can put an end to all of it," Elijah promises.

"With all due respect, I can believe that... as much as I believe I will play my violin again someday." The old woman looks down at her hands, shaken and swollen. Her fingers and joints left stiff, disfigured and she was filled with pain. "Because Mr. Mikealson, beneath your formal attire, and behind the lovely Beethoven." She nods her head towards Gia. "Along with a pretty face." She then nods her head towards Rosalice, taking in the prominent scars her eyes softens. "You are all the same. Liars. Monsters wearing the skins of humans. Good day to you three." 

Rosalice hand crumpled into fists, digging her nails into her palm leaving several crescent moon shapes behind. "Ms. LaRue, we needn't be unpleasant." Elijah tries his best to keep the atmosphere controlled.

"I hold no animosity, nor do I want to do you any favors. I simply want you to leave my home." Josephine disagrees.

"Screw her, Elijah." Gia says, staring at the hybrid. "I don't see a friggin' crown on her head." Turning her eyes towards the woman.

"I beg your pardon?" Josephine remains calm.

"You're not the Queen of the witches. You don't speak for all of them." Sighing in her own frustration she looks down at herself. "You know, I can't believe I dressed up and learned how to play Beethoven. I hate Beethoven."

Josephine becomes amused, "And what do you like, young lady, if not for Beethoven? Then, what?"

Gia picks her violin placing it into its respective spots, beginning her own tune of an upbeat jazz piece. Elijah smiles, Rosalice glances at the man besides her knowing what Gia would come to do. "Eddie South. That makes you a true jazz girl," Josephine comments.

"You know Eddie South?" Gia asks incredulously.

"One time, I nearly eloped with a jazz musician." She frowns. "Um, my mother learned of my plans and..." She looks down at her own two hands. "Let's just say she wasn't pleased." Looking back up at Gia noticing her sympathetic look. "Your candor is refreshing. I find most vampires more calculating." She turns to the two. "No offense."

"None taken/All taken." Both Rosalice and Elijah speak. Clearing his throat, he slips his hand into Rosalice's rubbing a circle on the back of it. "I also, on occasion, admire her candor."

Gia then informs Josephine, "He's a man you can trust. And I say that as someone who doesn't trust easily." She glances at Elijah, her supposed mentor. "Or, at all really."

"I suppose I should just hear you out, Mr. Mikealson."

Josephine sends a look to her butler who leaves the room returning with a stack of files. Elijah grabs a hold of it skimming through it. "Thank you." He says. "One of the witches that escaped the Fauline Cottage is of particular importance to my family. My request to you—tell your people to leave her to me."

Josephine frowns, "You have no idea how dangerous these witches can be."

"She will cause you no further trouble, I can assure you that," Elijah promises. "In return, I shall find all of the remaining witches and deliver them safely back to you." Looking through the psychic evaluations of Eva Sinclair, the body that Rebekah is currently inhabiting. Pulling out a photo of her, he hands it to Josephine. "Consider this the first step in a new and mutually beneficial alliance."

"Eva Sinclair. Powerful and sadistic. If I am to relinquish someone like her into your custody, I will require someone equally powerful in return." Elijah waits for an answer. "The Treme Coven wants Vincent Griffith returned. How you expel your brother Finn from his body is your concern."

Elijah smiles, "Consider it done."

[Time Skip]

Putting the twins down to bed, Rosalice found herself leaning against the wall looking up into the night sky, staring at the constant bleeding burning stars. As a child she once saw those stars as wishes. Wishing upon a star the night before she had come to interact with the Volturi, wishing that no one had to be wiped from the earth.

Hearing the door open and close, she didn't dare move, she had no reason to. Her senses weren't going off screaming at her to turn invisible. It felt more at ease with the person that recently came in.

Within moments she felt arms wrapping around her, feeling long boney fingers trailing, tracing each scar her arm had come to obtain from the age of 7 and 11 to 17 years of age. Her body relaxing against him.

At first silent seemed to be prominent the more she stared at the stars and the more he took in her scent. Finally looking into his eyes, staring deeply into his brown hazel ones. The moonlight splashing against the two.

Something plagued Elijah, always had ever since she first said two names inside his mind. "I have a question." Elijah whispers, his lips pressing against her earshell. All that left Rosalice was a soft hum that soothed his ears. "You told me two names..." He hung his sentences. "Sierra Kol Mikealson." He repeats. "And Soren Finn Mikealson."

Frowning, she tells him, "We can change the Finn one." Her hands found him, messing with his fingers. "I just... thought he was close to you. But considering certain events-"

"Why?" He asks her, cutting her off. "Why did you create two names we never are going to use?"

Rosalice ducks her head, pink coating, covering her cheeks. "Just in case." She says truthfully. "If we were to ever get pregnant again." She then teases, trying to hide her blush, "Because you can't pull out for the life of you."

His eyes remain soft. "You think we'd get pregnant again?" His voice quiet, soft.

Shrugging her shoulders, she continues messing with his fingers. "It all depends. Really. Right now? Definitely not, not when your aunt is coming, not when your new sister popped up out of nowhere. Someday in the future, yeah."

Elijah presses his lips against hers, muttering against the kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too." She kisses back.

The two share a peaceful, blissful moment that nothing can tear them down. The two had hope for their shared future that was awaiting for them. Nothing able to get in their way.