for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[braveandstupid]

[Elena pulls away the remains of her lab coat to show the gash in her arm. She's covered in blood in various ways and is very much looking forward to getting some juice and cookies before crashing into bed, but she survived, as she always does.

And she can admit to being glad that Ezra survived too.

She passes over the arm and sighs.]

I think it'll need stitches.

[praevaricatio]

And they say that doctors make the worst patients.

( Taking off her lab coat, he pushes the sleeve of her shirt upward, beginning his prep-work, readying her arm for stitches. )

Elena Gilbert. Final girl. Has a ring to it, don't you think?

[braveandstupid]

Can't say I love it. It usually means a lot of people needed to die for me to earn the title.

[But she's always been the Final Girl. It's become the story of her entire life, part of her life that she had hoped she'd put behind her.]

But I also can't say I'm mad to have survived either.

[praevaricatio]

Me neither. This is the best of all outcomes.

( He numbs the area he's about to stitch. )

I hate that she took you.

[braveandstupid]

[She shakes her head.]

I hate it too, but that ... is the lot of the doppelganger. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.

[But it does make her want to crawl into a hole and cry, but that's going to be something for a different audience.]

[praevaricatio]

I want it to be. At least from us. We're out of the doppleganger game. And anyone under us or who wants to do business, they will be, too.

( He starts his work, pushing the needle in the beginnings of her wound, talking as he stitches. )

This is where the Colony and Elena Gilbert diverge.

[braveandstupid]

I appreciate that.

[It's nice to know that at least one coven isn't looking to get into the doppelganger business. And maybe the fact that she's keeping company with Winchesters will be enough of a deterrent too.]

But not where Elena Gilbert and Ezra Gainor diverge?

[Not that things are simple or that they're not still rebuilding, but they can try.]

[praevaricatio]

Not if you don't want to be. That, I'm leaving in your hands. I took the choice out of them. Under duress or not. But, if my vote counts for anything. They don't. They stay in touch. Discuss boy problems and complex procedures and parents. ( He continues his stitch. ) And Matt Donovan.

[braveandstupid]

I think that is definitely on the table.

[She nods slowly, though who knows what Elena is saying right now.]

After I sleep for like ... twelve hours and stop feeling lightheaded.

[praevaricatio]

Almost done.

( And then she can sleep for however long she wants. )

Any more than fourteen hours, you should probably see a doctor.

( He smirks. )

[braveandstupid]

[She laughs.]

I'll be sure to get on that.

[But given that she knows that the next week at least is probably going to be rough:]

Be careful, Ezra. Make sure you know who you've got around you.

[praevaricatio]

Don't worry. I can already hear Jaqueline now. She's probably rounded up the entire staff and the noncommits. We know we can trust each other. We'll vet everyone else. And, really, they don't want to go up against us.

( In addition to his doctoring. That's also a superpower. )

They'll want to even less after the ascension.

[braveandstupid]

Well, then hopefully they'll be smart about it.

[And not make things more difficult. She glances down at the stitches to take a look at his handywork.]

Am I all set?

[praevaricatio]

You'll live.

( The stitches should heal nicely. He does great work. )

I knew they couldn't handle you, for the record. When David's mom said they'd brought you back... I knew that was the end. Not just because of Dean and everyone else. But, because you're a fighter.

[braveandstupid]

[Elena nods, because sometimes she's tired of fighting, of pushing back against these things that keep invading her life, but she has a lot to fight for now, even more before the night is done.

But more than that, she wants to live. Somewhere along the way, she figured out how to do both - protect people and also protect herself.]

I had faith in you too.

[She gives his arm a small squeeze, before heading off.]

Don't be a stranger, Ezra.

[And with that she will head back out into the crowd, in search of either her boyfriend or brother, whoever she happens to find first. She catches Jeremy's shoulders and makes a beeline towards him.]

Hey.

[barely]

( "You, either."

Ezra cleans up his supplies and then things really sink in. On autopilot, he goes to the kitchen.

Jeremy is waiting patiently. He called Dawn first thing, got rid of his favorite jacket because it's bloody, and he's keeping an eye on all the foot soldiers. There's a crazy-eyed witch not bothering him at least.

Jeremy jumps, because there are crazy-eye witches about, looks back, and smiles. )

Hey. I heard you were cut up pretty bad.

[braveandstupid]

Yeah. Crazy witch angry that we had taken out her husband.

[She shows him her now stitched up arm.]

Didn't hit anything vital but it still needed to be stitched up.

[barely]

Good. I was worried. I kind of came in half-cocked and got nailed for it. But, I'm fine, too. In one piece and everything.

( He had blood from Elijah, but that can be later. If it needs to be at all. He does know how Elena doesn't like secrets, and though she's tired, she gives him her patented sister side-eye. )

Okay, I went down but Elijah took care of it. I'm okay, too. Seriously.

[braveandstupid]

I believe you. Also Elijah Mikaelson was not someone I expected to be in my rescue party.

[She will have to go thank him. It will probably be her next stop after this.]

I'm glad he had your back.

[barely]

You should know by now, Elena, there's a line for your rescue party. And I don't know anyone that wouldn't be a part of it.

( He just hates that his sister has to have them. )

For the record, I'd like there to be a long time before we all have to gear up and rescue you again. Give our parents a real break.

[braveandstupid]

You and me both. In fact, I'd love it if "never again" was an option.

[She has a pretty good run for the last decade or so. That decade was kind of nice.]

But Ezra says this particular coven won't be darkening my door anymore. So that's at least something.

[barely]

If my vote means anything, put one more down for "Never again." I think Dawn would vote the same, too.

( Actually, everyone would. )

I don't hate the idea of him, anymore. That's gonna be the start for me. ( But learning he was a stalker. Lost him so many points. ) I do miss talking baseball stats with him.

[braveandstupid]

[She gives a small shrug.]

Maybe you guys can do some kind of fantasy team. Do they do fantasy baseball like they do fantasy football?

[Elena does not do sports, but she's learned enough about football through osmosis. Baseball has not computed.]

[barely]

They do. ( It's less popular, but she has a good idea. ) Maybe I'll hit him up. After all this... goes. ( He looks around them, not really knowing what's coming next for Ezra or his guy or any of the other witches. ) We should all get some sleep soon, though. Sam's arranging the rooms. Dean's with his old friend, Jo and her mom. I didn't think this day could get any more...

( How it is. )

[braveandstupid]

[She nods, and she is worried. She's worried that this is more temporary than they think. But even the times when the other side came down, those ghosts weren't alive with heartbeats and needing to breathe.

She can't help but feel a little hopeful that they'll get to keep him. She squeezes his shoulder gently as she nods.]

Do you think you could stick with Matt? Make sure he gets settled okay.

[Elena has a couple more stops to make before she sleeps.]