everyonelives | as we pass through arrangements of shadows

[Elena wasn't expecting Nadia to turn on her like that, and she goes down hard, the concrete of the sidewalk knocking the wind out of her (1). She manages to recover somewhat, trying to scramble her hands up to get around Nadia's wrists and keep her hands away from something vital (12).]

Nadia, this isn't you. Wake up!

( Nadia misses everything vital and fatal, not even managing to scratch at her.

"Elena," Natalie says, trying to scramble over to her, but she and Katherine are both still crouched down and too close to the ground.

Nadia in her stupor tries to get her hands around Elena's throat (17) )

[Elena's on her game now. She wasn't prepared before, but she's aware of where the stakes are. She pushes back, getting her hands around her wrists and using whatever strength she has to push her upward (19).]

Don't worry about me. Deal with him.

[She can handle tangling with Nadia for now.]

( Elena pushes Nadia back (2). Nadia is only human and influenced and loses her balance.

Katherine echoes Elena, but only because it is a one person job. )

Go. Get what you need.

( She sends Natalie off to her car before getting to her feet. She tries to grab Nadia by the arm to drag her back but Nadia is too hysterical (8, 11). Nadia tries sending an elbow back at Katherine but she misses, too, (4, 13). She's basically flailing.

As Natalie makes it to the car, Phil appears. She sees his reflection in the window as she unlocks the car. He tries to grab her to send her head into the car, but she gets out of the way in time (11, 18). She tries opening the door onto him and it slams in (19, 11) )

[Elena glances between the two, and since Katherine seems to have Nadia in hand, she tries to back Natalie up with Phil. Glancing around, she reaches for something with some heft to it and attempts to swing it at the back of his head (19).]

( It lands (16), and drops him to his knees, giving Nadia the chance to climb into her car.

She successfully reaches for iron chains, first, while Phil misses the chance to grab her ankle (4, 8).

Katherine tries to take Nadia by the neck, but her erratic behavior has her slipping out of grasp. (15, 16). She then crawls for something substantial to swing it at Katherine, who catches it (19, 19!) )

[Elena swings her weapon of choice around, trying to brace it against Phil's chest (8), before calling after Katherine.]

You good?

( Phil jumps back. (10) )

I'm fine.

( She struggles, before forcing what Nadia has a grip on against herself. (5, 1). Natalie swings backward, head hitting the step with an audible crack.

Natalie twists the top off of a flask full of holy water, dousing the chains. Phil tries to wrestle the object that has heft away from Elena (9). )

[Elena manages to keep hold of her weapon of choice (18), but she can't help the way her gaze snaps to the side as Nadia falls. That sound is not a good sound, and the doctor in her knows she needs to act fast.

She swings her weapon at Phil one last time (15), and then regardless if it hits or not, will pass off her weapon to Katherine as she goes to try and assess if Nadia is okay (12).]

( Phil escapes the weapon's wingspan just in time for Natalie to emerge and swing her iron chains around his neck, but he catches them, hand starting to sizzle. He holds onto the chains wrapped around his hand, though.

Nadia... is dead. Blood pools underneath the step. As a doctor, there was probably instant brain swelling.

It's tragic.

Katherine flashes back to the possessed girl, taking a step behind her. )

She was fighting me.

I know.

[There's no blame in her tone. This isn't an instance of Katherine Pierce doing terrible things to get what she wants. She was there long enough to see that it was an accident, but that doesn't stop her from trying to help. From being unable to let go of the lost cause, even if she knows it's lost.

So she'll keep trying, until it's clear that she can't do anything else.]

Just help Natalie.

( Natalie tugs on the chains to try and slam his head into the car (9, 6). He lets go of the chain. Katherine tries to, again, slam the car door on him next (7, but he drops flat 16.) )

[Eventually Elena hits the point when she knows there's nothing else she can do. She closing her eyes in acceptance, before glancing over and picking up Nadia's abandoned weapon to head back into the fight, taking a swing at his head (18). All that she has left now is rage, so she does her best to channel it into the blow.]

( That lands, too, (14) with pain and prejudice. Katherine tries to send a heel through his chest (11, 3) and she does with a cry of pain from Phil. Natalie slides to the edge of the seat, seeing Nadia behind them. She climbs out and over Phil's body, standing above him with the other women.

"You're cornered." )

[Elena is still angry, fingers gripping tightly around her chosen weapon.]

You didn't have to make her suffer like that.

( "She made herself suffer," he says. "I only feed on the lies people tell themselves. Until that's all that consumes them." If they didn't, he wouldn't have any sway.

Natalie crouches, making her chain into a garrote, his neck sizzling underneath them. )

[Elena grits her teeth, forcing herself to stay and watch. It's all too easy to look away, but she wants to make sure this is done. So she holds his gaze until Natalie finishes, and he's gone for good.]

( He fights against the strangulation, rasping out,

"She was. Your sis...ter."

He seems gleeful about this truth as his life leaves his body. )

[When he's gone, the anger fades, looking between the two women in concern. As much as she can handle herself as a hunter, she doesn't know what to do once the fight is over.

She looks down at the blood on her hands, her clothes, before turning back to them.]

What now?

We bury them.

( She speaks coldly, trying to rise above how violent everything got. )

With that list out there, we don't know what if any law enforcement we can trust.

[Elena nods, before stepping back towards the rooms.]

I'll go grab some sheets from the rooms. We can use them to wrap them.

[And it'll give her a second to compose herself. Because she's not going to make it to the car for that one (2). Elena may be a hardened doctor, but that doesn't mean the deaths don't still hurt.]

( While she's gone, Katherine and Natalie wait, an understanding moment of silence lingering between them. )

I'm sorry.

( "This wasn't you," Natalie says, already hardened again. )

[Eventually Elena returns after splashing some water on her face, two sheets in hand. She passes one off to the other two women for Phil while she heads back over to Nadia to gently wrap her up to take her away.

It's not a far drive to a isolated highway forest where they can bury them quickly. But once that's done, Katherine and Elena part ways with Natalie, and off they head towards the bunker.]

as we pass through arrangements of shadows

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