i'm leaving you my last curse

[bravebartender]

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[founderscouncil]

( He exchanges a look with his wife, he's listened to all the names in his daughter's stories. )

Katherine? Elena couldn't protect you from her while you were in the hospital. She feels guilt for that.

[vampireboulevard]

[Of course Elena hadn't gone too deep into Katherine yet. But the sigh Caroline gives is more about how much Elena puts on herself than it is about Katherine.]

There's not a lot Elena could have done. Katherine Pierce is the previous that we know of Petrova Doppelganger. She's also a very old vampire. Her getting to me in the hospital was like taking candy from a baby, either playing on people thinking she was Elena or just compelling them to ignore her.

Also I love Elena to death, but she thinks that everything that happens to other people is her fault if she's tangentially involved. Her survivor's guilt has a whole fancy luggage set of baggage.

[founderscouncil]

( His eyebrows furrow, understanding what a Petrova doppelganger really is, and perhaps why Elena and Caroline and everyone was targeted in the first place. )

But, really, it's Klaus. And Katherine. And vampires in the tomb. All vampires that fall under our side of what vampires are. Please, tell us about other vampires. One that's not a Salvatore or you. Doesn't feel like an even playing field to us.

( He needs to hear about it. It might help him feel better about any of us, about his daughter just being born into circumstances. And Ryan, he'd add, but he thinks Ryan is implied. )

[vampireboulevard]

Um.

[Okay. She takes a breath as she tries to think of who would be good examples.]

There's this kid, MG. A recent grad from the school. He's a really good kid. Loves comic books and just wants to do what's right for people. When the kids at school would team up to deal with a problem, he called them the super squad. He got turned by accident, and his mom was aware of the world and brought him to us so we could help him. His best friend is named Kaleb, and he's a lot more of a smooth talker and more likely to get into trouble, but it's your regular teenage boy kind of trouble.

[Who else who else who else.]

There's a vampire shrink. Her name is Camille O'Connell and she is honestly helping a lot of the older vamps deal with their trauma. So much so we're willing to forgive her her husband, who is not great but a lot better than he used to be because of her.

[She gives a small shrug.]

There's a new vampire I'm working with who's an FBI agent, and he has ADHD so was having a bit of a hard time with the enhancements of it all, but he's doing a lot better now and he's loyal and smart and incredibly sarcastic, but we all have our coping mechanisms.

We're all just ... people. Doing the best we can with this thing that happened to us. It wasn't our fault, but we're making it work.

[founderscouncil]

( Well, they sound dangerous and also harmless, and also like teenagers.

Apparently, vampires really do get redemption and do things like people. )

A therapist for vampires?

( Now he's heard everything.

But, he nods along, okay, she gets points for real stories. )

Okay. Thank you. And. You obviously have advanced hearing. And speed. And strength? And you don't only go out at night.

[vampireboulevard]

Daylight ring.

[She holds up the lapis lazuli ring on her hand.]

Bonnie made it for me. As long as I'm wearing it, I can go out in the sun like a normal human. I go out without it and I go up like a torch.

[founderscouncil]

So, anybody with that kind of ring could be a vampire.

( Which goes against everything they know. )

Is there anything else we should know? That might help our understanding, or might save our lives one of these days?

[vampireboulevard]

[Caroline pauses, because from an objective scenario she's not really sure a lot of what they know about vampires doesn't still hold true.]

Vervain is still good for preventing compulsion. If you take it in your tea every morning, you should be fine.

[At least as far as protection is concerned.]

Just ... give Elena and Jeremy a little grace. There's a good ... decade of trauma that they're trying to unpack for you guys, and Elena also is trying to protect the secrets of the people she loves too. She's not keeping secrets to hurt you, she's just doing her best.

[founderscouncil]

( They did ask Dean for it, first thing. They planted some on the path along the river. They don't know how long they'll be here. )

We know. We don't blame her. Or you. Or, this. We know, despite it all, how lucky we are to have this chance.

[vampireboulevard]

I know. Just remember what I said. Full matching luggage set of survivor's guilt.

[She flashes them a smile, before her expression turns a little more pensive.]

I wish my mom could have been here. She really missed you guys.

[founderscouncil]

We're sorry she isn't.

( There is no polite way of asking, 'Was it vampires?' )

[vampireboulevard]

[Caroline nods, before providing, unprompted:]

It was cancer.

[Miranda almost slumps in relief for one of her friends dying a tragic but more normal death that doesn't require an entire explanation. "And Bill?"]

Stabbed! Also with supernatural shenanigans, but nothing that directly impacts Elena or Jeremy.

[Let's not put Ric on the wrong foot with Elena's parents. Especially when it wasn't really his fault.]

[founderscouncil]

Well, we're sorry about Bill, too.

( He wasn't a good man, but he was a man and he was her father. )

[vampireboulevard]

[Caroline nods, and she starts to get up before Miranda speaks up again. "How did Liz ... get past all of this?"

Caroline pauses, before shrugging.]

It wasn't immediate. She found out without me telling her and things got ... complicated. But we talked, and we kept talking, and she realized she loved me more than she hated vampires.

[Because that's really what it comes down to in the end.]

[founderscouncil]

( That feels like a familiar metaphor (19) that it seems to resonate in him. It doesn't change everything. But, he can see how Caroline being around (and dead) might be better than dead (and gone.) )

Okay. Is there...anything we can do to help with the Thanksgiving prep? Slyly pass by our -- lecture? Maybe start over?

[happiness_elude]

["Yes, I am good to start over. And we should probably go check on the turkey."

That is a good place to start.

Miranda steps away, however, which is probably for the best because she's useless in the kitchen anyway.]

I'm going to go check on Jeremy.

[Because he's been in that shower a long time.]

[barely]

( He's not in the shower, he's half-dressed with a provided robe, sitting on his bed and looking up flights to Scotland, timing it out. He wouldn't even make it in time... )

[happiness_elude]

Jer?

[Miranda knocks lightly on his door, not wanting to barge her way in but wanting to make sure he's okay all the same.]

You alright in there?

[barely]

( He pulls himself away from the computer and jumps off the bed, letting his mom in, before turning back and returning to the computer. )

I could take a plane to JFK and then fly into London before switching planes. I'd have to rent a car in Edinburgh.

[happiness_elude]

[Miranda slows her initial reaction, taking her time to close the door before making her way across the room to look at the flights over his shoulder. She doesn't want him to go, but she also knows that if were Grayson, buried under a castle full of rubble halfway around the world, she wouldn't want to sit still either.

She peers at the flight times, before resting her hands on his shoulders.]

I understand why you want to go. But that's fifteen hours on the plane alone.

[She lets that amount of time sink in before continuing.]

Maybe it would be best to wait, just a little while. Bonnie's been sending updates, and while she hasn't found Dawn yet, you don't want to be on a plane, unable to answer the phone when she does.

[barely]

( She's real. She's real and behind him and grounding him. He knows she's right, too. Fifteen hours on and off, and then he'll have to rent the car. )

No, I don't. I just feel so powerless.

( He hates that. )

[happiness_elude]

I know. Believe me, I know.

[It's a sensation she's becoming intimately familiar with in the face of her children and the lives they've led, the ones they're still leading. But this kind of comfort she can do.]

But do you trust Bonnie? Or this ... Stefan or Scarlett or whoever is there with her?

[barely]

Yeah, yeah I do. And, I'm worried about Buffy, too. Her sister. And everyone else there. The other slayers. They were all attacked through no fault of their own. Sometimes, I just - I hate the world.

( Even though he is one thing he also hates. Hunter. By blood and nature. )

[happiness_elude]

Me too.

[She rubs his shoulders gently as she moves around to look him in the eye.]

I'm sure Dawn will be fine. For all we know Bonnie's next update will be that they found her and she's safe. Don't give up hope yet.

[barely]

I haven't. I couldn't. But, that doesn't make the worrying any easier.

( Nothing could make this easier. )