everyonelives | you're gonna love tomorrow, i'm making it my personal guarantee

( Witches have always been shady, especially witches being born into their magic. When it comes to the Bonnie Bennett's, they get to fight against their circumstances and carve out their own life. For a born witch with Traveler and Gemini blood, Ezra's life is already planned out. That he uses circumstances to his advantage, well, that's always been his MO. Being gay wasn't beloved, but it wasn't celebrated. So, Ezra linked up with another witch family. Lied about it. Your last name is what? He started his Romeo and Romeo story, pushed through the politics and fell in love with his husband. He wanted to pursue a medical degree? Good thing the doppelganger had the same intentions. Bad thing, that Tilly in her graduating class died. Good thing that Ezra was placed in her program. They became fast friends, two people fighting against a darkness they were born to inherit.

Elena didn't know how deep his ties were. His stories were always vague. He fell in love with guy in a rival family. California wineries. Elena thinks it sounds like a romantic comedy. Your future husband is possessed as a teenager by a demon because of his witch ancestors, sure. Lifetime-worthy. But, Ezra keeps it up. He's generally a serious and calculating person, but he has his genuine heart. He likes Elena, even though Elena is his mission. He gets to practice medicine, to live his long-distance small town life (he does hate that part) in order to stick close to the doppelganger and to protect her. The Salvatores were always going to be in her life. This is a long line of witch's contingency.

His niceness comes from his Palm Springs upbringing. The laid back, let everything happen vibe that twists around his family with a sinister grip. Let everything happen as it's always meant to happen. His mother is the matriarch that mustn't be trifled with. His birthright must not be passed. Just passed on.

He's not there yet. He's losing time for that, too. An ongoing conversation he mutes and hangs up for. He loves his mother. He likes being a witch. He's dedicated to saving lives.

He just happens to be assigned to the last remaining doppelganger.

Following Elena on his two days off proves to be the most difficult it's ever been. From a gas station, with two strangers, to some dive. And then to Damon Salvatore's house. Where she remains. He doesn't realize she's moved because he falls asleep. He called his husband and asked for some guitar, something to keep him awake.

There's a shift in the fabric that jolts him awake. Taking out his phone, he pulls up his enchanted map app. Not Apple Maps, but, 🥭maps. While witches did, eventually, learn that code can be enchanted. Code the right way, with the right symbols, and it's as good as a spell. In this case, this app is just coded to her phone. And her phone is heading away from the house.

"Fuck."

Getting the car into gear, he races toward the light that - veers off the road and --

"No, no, no," he exclaims, swerving around someone on a motorcycle.

She has too big a head start so he's not able to stop the scream he hears once he U-turns and parks on the side of the ride.

Keeping the car running, he whips out of the front door and half-runs down the steep incline. Up ahead, he sees them, two figures in tactical gear pulling Caroline Forbes and -- the guy who was watching the house from the wreck. )

Icaeus!

( Losing grip of Caroline and - that guy, they go flying. Rushing over, he assesses Stiles' body, it's closest. No pulse. And Caroline Forbes is a vampire. Turning, he finds her, Elena laid down in the backseat. He climbs in without asking. )

Elena. ( He brings his head to her chest, listening for a heartbeat and checks her pulse. Which is when he sees the redhead. ) You screamed. Is she --

( He's going to get so much shit from both covens. All covens with a stake in Elena Gilbert's life. )

Edited 2020-12-11 18:56 (UTC)

Not yet.

[It's not the most comforting thing, but Lydia's not one-hundred percent present at the moment. Screaming for people you don't know is one thing, but screaming for someone you do takes something out of you. A final understanding that she never wanted.

Denial isn't a luxury that a banshee can afford. Not when your throat is raw and it's the first time you've screamed in a long time.]

It wasn't for her.

[After that, she crawls slowly out of the passenger's seat, unfolding out of the car. Caroline is already gone. She checked Stiles behind Ezra's back but Lydia can also hear the screams of the hunters who came for them as Caroline ensures they don't come for anyone else.

She won't scream for them. They don't deserve it.

Instead, she kneels down beside Stiles' body, unaware of the life saving measures Caroline had already taken, and cries, because she doesn't have anything else left.]

( Not yet. Well, if it's not yet, there's a yet he needs her to not reach. She has a pulse. It's faint, but thready. But, it's there.

Already pulling his phone out, he calls 911, sliding out of the car. He describes where they need the ambulance, that it was a car accident, stops short of saying they need a coroner and he hangs up.

Standing over the collapsed banshee, he brings his phone down. )

He's still in there.

[She glances up at him, confused. Because he can't be. He's dead, she screamed for him, that should be the end of it. It doesn't occur to her to think things through further than that, but thankfully, he doesn't have to.

The hunters, whatever stragglers are left, are fleeing. Caroline makes her way back, clothes bloodstained and bodies left behind. Normally she wouldn't relish being so violent but after being forced into an accident, shot and someone dying on her watch, her anger had to go somewhere.

But, she fills in the blank that Lydia's missing.]

He's in transition.

[She looks over at Ezra, trying to figure out this witch she doesn't know, but he seems to be helping. Lydia's going to need a minute to process that anyway.]

You know Elena?

( He was going to go with, "saw the car, here's a coincidence for you," but, she speaks so openly in front of him. She must've been conscious when he threw them aside. She also addresses this kid and why he's half there, half not.

He's not sure he can throw out 'coincidence.' )

We both work at the hospital. An ambulance is on its' way.

[She knows how to play dead when she needs to. And she eyes Ezra as he speaks, but she's willing to buy it for now. As long as it gets Elena to a hospital and she'll be okay.

She's hoping that if she keeps his secret, he'll keep hers.]

We need them to treat Stiles like he's still alive, and try to get him and Elena in the same room. Are you going to be okay with what I need to do to make that happen?

Your car has bullet holes running up the side. I was going to insist you compel them.

( The car's totaled, but he's not about to rub that particular salt into any wound. But, he disagrees emphatically with Caroline's plan. )

Do you really want to stick the transitioning vampire in with an unconscious human who can't defend herself?

I wasn't going to leave them completely alone.

[What, do you think she's new at this?]

My blood turned him, he's my responsibility. So I'm not going anywhere until he makes his choice.

[And even then she's not going anywhere, in the event that he decides to become a vampire.]

Good. You have your work cut out for you, compulsion-wise but if you get to the night nurses, you may be good until shift change.

( He isn't about to insult her to make sure they don't hook him up to any machines, or give him an IV. Waking up in transition is traumatizing enough, to do it in a hospital treated like a patient? )

When did he die?

Just now.

[And the remorse is there. She did her best to keep everyone alive, and she utterly failed in every case except Lydia. This ... is going to be a long night.]

I'll make it work. How long until the ambulances and cops get here?

( As if on cure, sirens sound in the distance. )

Any minute. It's a small town.

( She knows. They all know. He crouches down, meeting Lydia's eyes. No obvious injuries. Caroline must've gotten to her, too. )

You're clear. Does anything hurt?

[Lydia shakes her head. She's mostly still in shock, letting the conversation happen over her head. But the time for wallowing is over. Stiles needs her and she's not going anywhere either.

She swipes at her eyes, trying to put her game face back on.]

We need to tell the rest. Jackson needs to know.

[Caroline nods. "I'll keep them in the loop. You stay with Stiles, I'll go with Elena."]

( These names mean nothing to him, he pulls himself back up. )

They're going to take them both, and they need to if you want to keep them together. Or, I can drive Stiles and -- ( Her ) If we do that, I can pull something together to persuade a nurse, make her think Stiles is fine, he just needs a bed. You tell me. I'm on-call, anyway.

( He'll probably be called in when they see it's Elena. )

We should have time before he wakes up.

[As long as Caroline can get to a doctor quick enough to compel who she needs to compel.]

I'll get Jo Laughlin in the loop. She'll be able to smooth things over on the hospital end too. Let's have the paramedics take him in and we'll go from there.

Find me at the hospital if you need more reinforcement. You - you're with me. We'll meet them there.

( Does she have a name? Does it matter? He offers a hand, anyway, to pull her up. This is another in the long line of mistakes he's been paying for, but it's his first in years. It's still not a mistake that will be taken lightly. )

[Lydia's eyes dart from Ezra to Caroline. She doesn't want to leave Stiles' side, especially not with a stranger she doesn't trust, but she can acknowledge that Caroline is going to have her hands full compelling all these poor first responders.

Swallowing hard, she nods as she takes Ezra's hand.]

If you take me anywhere but the hospital? I will blow out your eardrums.

[Just to be clear.]

[On the way to the hospital, Caroline sends out a couple of texts.

To the group chat:]

We were in an accident on the way to the hospital, though ambushed is more like it. Lydia is fine. Elena is not, we're in an ambulance now. Stiles is dead, but he had my blood in his system so he's transitioning.

I need someone to clean up the hunters.

[She's busy compelling people. Then to Alaric, after texting Jo about their predicament:]

I need you to get in touch with your contact in the sheriff's office. There are some hunter bodies off the main road that need to not hit the system.

[And finally, to Ryan:]

Can you meet me at the hospital with a change of clothes?

[Meanwhile, sitting on the chair in front of the contained dead hunter that will probably be entering transition soon, Damian stares at the body pensively before looking up at Damon.]

Now, I'm not saying it was a bad call. But I do have some questions. Though really, they might be more like quibbles.

[Yeah, let's start there. With the quibbles.]

[Alexander hadn't intended to swing from one fire to another, but after dropping off some of the backup witches he brought to secure things at the graduation, he makes his way over to the location Jackson gave him. He lets himself in winds his way through the house until he locates the person he came to see, and smiles as he does.]

Nice digs.

Hunters?

( He reads one message, but a second is sent just to him, so he lets the group chat go on. )

Sammy and I are on our way. They run you off the road?

You need your car cleaned up, too?

Caroline, how bad is Elena?

( Damon had words with his brother, he's not looking forward to a 'Damon this is your life,' tour. But, he's been told this is his problem. His phone goes unanswered on the pool table. )

Tell me what I did wrong. Really looking forward to it, 666.

( Jackson's with Hayley, in the backyard, keeping watch to make sure hunters don't return, and while Buffy cleans up the patio.

Hey you.

He smirks when he sees him come through the living room, past the departing hot hunters. )

They're a vampire's. Good. Vampire. ( Or, something. ) Do you know Derek Hale?

Edited 2020-12-14 03:54 (UTC)

you're gonna love tomorrow, i'm making it my personal guarantee

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group chat: 1/?

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DONE

to Caroline:

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