because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

[somanyadjectives]

Comments

[matriarchate]

( She looks up from her crossword, over at her boyfriend. Back down at her phone and then back over. )

Is Dean still in Battle Creek?

[imnot_likeyou]

Last I checked?

[Sam reaches for his own phone to see if there are any updates from his brother but the last text is from Dean is a picture of him and Mary with Ben, which seems to indicate that things are going well on that front.]

He hasn't said anything about coming back.

[matriarchate]

( She sets her phone down and slides it over to Sam before getting up from the table. She gestures )

She texted me our code, except, according to this, she's telling me Dean's being very Dean today, and that I should encourage more brotherly time. And she's at work.

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam raises an eyebrow with a slow smirk sliding up the side of his face, before taking the phone.]

You had a code?

[That's very cute, and he is glad they're bonding, but he didn't think a secret code was required. He can get the details later.]

Do you think we should call her?

[Or maybe they should call while they're on the way to the hospital.]

[matriarchate]

Focus on the context.

( Yes, it was cute girl code. They had other code, when things were bad, but she sent code that doesn't make sense. )

Do you think that she needs us to bring pickles back from the store, or she meant that for her notes app?

( She's fishing, because she doesn't. She swipes her phone back up and taps out of the conversation before hitting the phone call. )

[imnot_likeyou]

[The phone does ring. And then the phone is answered, and placed on speaker. It's a risk, because Allison is the one she reached out to and she doesn't have super hearing. She's hoping that Allison won't make any noise to give herself away.

"- I'm sure you realized this was coming, Dr. Gilbert. You're a smart girl. You likely figured out my son-in-law long ago."

"Impugning my husband already, Mother? This conversation has barely been two minutes."

At David's voice, Sam reaches for the phone before either of them can make a sound, and taps "Mute" before turning back to her.]

I don't think she was asking for actual pickles.

[matriarchate]

( Allison quickly taps the speaker button, both her and Sam recognizing David's voice - but not his mother's. )

The Inner Circle took her. With a door they forced out of David? Sam.

( She stays quiet to listen to anything else that might give them any clues to where she is. )

[braveandstupid]

So what do you want? As I'm sure you can see I'm very busy and I have a job to do.

[So, she may not have left the hospital. Not yet. Sam is already sliding to his feet and looking for his keys, ready to drive them to the hospital. If she's still there, maybe they still have time.

"And I am truly sorry about that, but I don't believe you will be seeing patients today. We have a need for you that takes precedent."

Elena scoffs, because of all the ways they could demand her time, a polite demand is not what she expected.]

According to you. But it's my blood and my body, and I have no interest in giving you what you want.

[matriarchate]

Grab the phone.

( Allison goes for Sam's phone, pausing her action. Do they call Dean? Do they alert Jeremy? She looks to Sam for guidance. All she knos is they have to go, so she grabs for his bag over her shoulder and stays close by Sam as the call continues. )

[braveandstupid]

[There's no time for calling anyone right now. David is there, and if David has a door, it's only a matter of time before Elena disappears through it. So for right now, Sam grabs the witch killing bullets and drives them to the hospital as fast as he can.

"Oh, my dear. You're under the illusion that you have a choice. Please allow me to absolve you of that."]

Will you?

["You see, I picked this particular area specifically. For the door, obviously, but also, for these interesting cannisters. Highly flammable, from what I understand. And placed against these oxygen lines would likely make quite the explosion. I'm sure if I played my cards right and cast the right spell, I could probably sunder this entire hospital."

There's a pause as this sinks in, and David's mother must see something on Elena's face because she continues.

"You have a good heart, Dr. Gilbert. It's very admirable. I doubt you would want all those lives to be wasted for yours. You're not Katherine Pierce."]

[matriarchate]

She's sick.

( She holds Sam's phone in her hands. )

I could call, force an evacuation. Bomb threat?

[braveandstupid]

["It won't slow them down. She said a door's right there. If some kind of alert goes off, she may just blow it and grab Elena anyway."

Sam's not saying it's a bad idea, but it may just accelerate things. It's probably better if they just continue to let Elena buy them time to get there. She can stall, can't she?

She's certainly going to try. Anger rises in her voice as she turns to the other witch in the room who's been far too silent.]

So you're just going to let this happen? Let her threaten all these people. I know she probably doesn't care, but don't you?

[There's a long silent pause as David finds his words. "You say this like I have a choice, Elena. I don't."]

I thought that's what you were fighting for.

["Yeah, well. Some wars can't be won."]

[matriarchate]

He gave up the ghost, or his parents always knew what he was doing. And, all his efforts, they were this smokescreen until they could finally take Elena.

( She does get an idea, however, calling the hospital from Sam's phone. She taps through the automated numbers before, ) Hi, I'm trying to get in touch with Dr. Elena Gilbert? I'm a patient of hers? ( to Sam )

How far away are we?

[braveandstupid]

["Five minutes, give or take?"

The hospital operator responds: "Is this an emergency, or are you following up on previous care?"

Meanwhile, Elena is still trying to stall.]

How do I know you won't just kill them all anyway?

["I suppose that would be a concern for you, wouldn't it? You're familiar with binding rituals are you not? Promise locks? I will bind myself to my word. If you go with us, quietly and peacefully, I will not harm any of the people in this hosptial."

Elena sets her jaw before nodding.]

Fine. Complete the ritual and then we'll go.

[matriarchate]

Previous care. I actually have an appointment today but I just have a quick question. I'm a worrier.

( she does her best to convince the voice on the line. )

Hopefully, it will be a longer ritual? No, not you. Sorry. I'm with my boyfriend.

[braveandstupid]

["Oh, no problem. Let me page her and see if she's available."

On the other call "Dr. Gilbert, please dial extension two-three-oh-five," echoes over the speakers.]

Am I allowed to still do my job while you do this?

["I wouldn't bother. We're almost done. Your hand, if you please?"

Sam's car pulls up to the front of the ER, and he just park it just outside the ambulance bay before getting out and heading inside.]

[matriarchate]

Elena's office is this way.

( She grabs her phone, holding her bag with her other hand.

Allison takes off, bursting through the lobby doors. She takes the main stairs up with Sam right behind. )

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam does follow, at first, before pulling on her arm to bring her to a stop.]

There aren't oxygen lines in her office, are there?

[David's mother was very specific about her threat.]

She has to be some kind of patient area.

[matriarchate]

( She comes to a stop and thinks. Oxygen lines. She doesn't know. She looks at Sam. )

Any OR, Sam. She - she could be anywhere in this entire hospital.

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam sets his jaw, scanning his eyes over the space before moving to the closest nurse's station, patting down the pocket of his jacket to see what ID he has on hand. Fortunately, his FBI badge is on hand.]

Hi. My partner and I had a couple questions for Dr. Gilbert? Do you know where we might find her?

[Fortunately, the nurse doesn't look took long at the badge before looking over the schedule. "She's probably doing rounds. The Children's Wing, second floor."]

Thank you. We'll start there.

[matriarchate]

( Allison nods, letting Sam take the lead, phone still clutched in her hand. But, they're distracted, focused on finding her and not listening to what's transpiring. )

Sam, they asked for her hand. It won't be long.

[imnot_likeyou]

I know.

[They hit the second floor, and Sam rapidly scans through the rooms, trying to find the one hospital room that does not have a child patient, that's just three adults, one of them Elena.

But each door keeps coming up empty, until he skids to a stop in front of an empty room, with a phone sitting on the nearby table, the call to Allison's phone still going.

He grits his teeth as he picks it up, before shaking his head.]

Damnit.

[matriarchate]

( Allison tries the other side of the hallway and they meet up at the end, the farthest room, and she sees the phone, too.

She walks over to pick it up and end the call. )

They have her now. This is it. This is their big move. Why Elena?

( She puzzles over that, looking to Sam. )

[braveandstupid]

[The home of the Inner Circle is more austere than Elena anticipated.

It's not uncomfortable. There's enough lushness to it that it's clear they have considerable funds, but the decorations are fairly plain. It's not ostentatious. Maybe that's a vampire thing, more so than a witch thing.

Still, she follows closely behind David's mother, David moving in step next to her, and she is keeping her eyes straight ahead, holding on to that anger for as long as she can.

"Max, darling," Mrs. Gainor says as she comes up on a blond witch Elena doesn't recognize. "Do you know where your father is? I've recovered that last thing we needed for our little project."]

[maxxx]

( Max assumes that as the parents get a bit long in the tooth, they stop the ostentatious redecorating his remembers from his childhood. If a family friend died (read: was killed), than the next week their living room might be a shade of purple. Those kinds of changes died down when he and his sister came of age.

He feels like he's in a relay race, each heir in their separate places along the way to the prize, until they're all inevitably brought together. He was told to wait while they fetched something. He's, so far, like the others played dumb to what the project is. He's kept his golden boy persona, only dropping his smile when his mother and David left on their errand. )

He's with your husband's ex ( What's that about, his eyes say, to David ) and Sierra.

( His sister was sent after something else. Or, maybe they were trying to busy her. His phone's been taken, like all of theirs. He woke up and it was gone one day. He's never been brought into the inner workings of fate, or nature itself, so Elena reads equally as innocuous as he does. )

And you're supposed to come with me.