Archive of Our Own

With Keelin back in the States for good and Hope mentioning she wasn't content at the boarding school anymore, Freya decided it was time for a change. Hope had wanted to be far away from anything that reminded her of her parents or uncle Elijah, and Freya had randomly chosen Forks, Washington. The town was small, but had all the necessities for every day living, and her niece and wife had readily agreed after Keelin found out the local hospital was hiring.

Keelin wasn't promised a spot after submitting her résumé via email when she had called to inquire about the job, but the girls moved there anyway. Freya had found them the perfect two story, three bedroom house with enough attic space for her witchy supplies, and they packed up what they wanted from the abattoir before closing the Mikaelson home down until either Rebekah or Kol went back.

Now in Forks, Hope happily settles in and quickly finds the smallest bakery she's ever seen that also sells coffee and tea. She finds they make an excellent cup of peppermint tea and vows to herself that this will be her new to-go spot before school.

Keelin gets called in for an interview at the hospital, and Freya and Hope tag along in hopes of getting a feel for the locals while they wait at the hospital. It's there, nearly forty minutes later, that Freya realizes they're not the only supernatural beings in town. Keelin walks out of an office with a sheepish smile, she then quickly beckoning Freya and Hope to her. They enter the office and Keelin nervously introduces them to her new boss Doctor Carlisle Cullen- Doctor Cullen with the golden eyes and pale flawless skin that doesn't hold an ounce of body heat.

Introductions are quickly made, Freya immediately pegs Doctor Cullen as a vampire during their handshake, and Hope watches on in amusement as the adults go back and forth. He's surprised when Freya outs herself as a witch and Keelin a werewolf not even a minute afterwards, and Hope merely shrugs when his golden eyes land on her.

As they speak, it's obvious Doctor Cullen is wary of other supernatural beings. Freya and Keelin pick up on it and they promise that they aren't there to cause trouble; they really just want a fresh start after they'd lost several members of their family. They are used to keeping the supernatural a secret so Doctor Cullen has nothing to worry about, and after that it seems like the vampire can breathe a little easier. It's also during this meeting that Hope finds out Doctor Cullen has children attending the same school she's going to be attending, and to not be too offended if they don't automatically seek her out because they're used to being on their own. Hope laughs it off, telling him it's okay since she's usually a loner herself.

And since the three newcomers know about him and his family, Doctor Cullen asks if it's okay for him to tell his family about them. Freya, Keelin, and Hope agree that it's only fair.

After having collected her schedule and a map of the school over the weekend from the Principal and his secretary themselves, and having been taken on a tour to locate her classes, Hope feels comfortable enough showing up Monday morning. So with her peppermint tea in hand and backpack strapped to her back, Hope exits Keelin's vehicle with a smile.

"Bye! I love you. Make good choices!" The dark skinned, dark haired werewolf muses.

Hope quickly slams the door, but Keelin rolls down the passenger window. Laughing and disregarding every stare, Hope shakes her head in amusement. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome. You going to need a ride after school? I won't be out until five."

"Yes. Hopefully there'll be something to keep me occupied until then."

Keelin coos. "Aw. Look at you all grown up." Hope rolls her eyes and sips her tea to hide her smile. "Enjoy your last year, kid. Public school is a lot different than that boarding school of yours, so-"

"You forget we did nearly a month of public school for that.. exchange program Alaric put us through. I'll be fine, Keelin. Don't worry."

"Mhmm. Well if anything changes, text me or Freya. We'll come get you."

"Sure."

The window rolls back up as Keelin pulls away and Hope watches her drive off. She finally takes notice of the stares a moment later and plasters on a smile that she knows probably looks like a grimace. But not caring what anyone has to say, she turns on her heel and marches off towards the front office to retrieve the slip Ms. Cope told her she'd need every teacher of hers to sign before turning it in at the end of the day.

Kids come up to her left and right, and she tries her hardest to come off as friendly. But being who and what she is, it's easy for her to suss out just who is being real with her and who isn't.

Angela Weber is an immediate favorite of hers- the girl being mellow and just the right amount of curious about where she moved from and why. She likes Tyler Crowley and Mike Newton just fine, even though their flirtatious behavior is rather grating, but they're real personalities are on display for her to see upfront. Eric Yorkie is annoying, but tolerable, and Jessica Stanley could be a decent girl if she didn't try to compliment someone and then degrade them all in one breath. But Lauren Mallory? Lauren is a hard no. Hope does not like the mean spirited teen and the teen in question is why she doesn't sit with the apparent group of friends when at lunch when Tyler loudly beckons her to join them.

Instead Hope finds an empty table and sits, she hesitantly pushing around the food on her tray. If there was one thing she missed from the Salvatore Boarding School, it was their personal cook. Public school lunch food was, in one word, disgusting.

Several tables down, the Cullen and Hale teenagers push around the human food on their trays and make it seem as if they're eating. Alice has happily tucked herself under her mate Jasper's arm while Edward and Rosalie sit a little too close to one another, murmuring and just enjoying the close proximity. Emmett, the only unattached of the bunch, sits backwards in his chair while covertly watching the room.

"New girl, ten o'clock," he says. Edward and Rosalie chance a look her way since they're all ready facing that direction, but Jasper and Alice have to rely on everyone else's input. "Think she's special like those aunts of hers?"

Rosalie's golden eyes dart towards Hope and then away. With a shrug, she says, "She's cute. Figured she'd be sitting with the popular kids by now."

Jasper shakes his head, his blonde curls slightly tossing. "I've been watchin' her when I can. She's all smiles 'n giggles, but when whoever she's talkin' to walks away, her expression falls."

"Maybe she's tired of being hit on," Emmett muses, lips quirking at the corners. "Crowley and Newton have all ready laid claim, but they don't appear to be getting anywhere."

"Edward?" Alice suddenly chimes in. "What's wrong?" She was the only one to notice his creased brow and frown as he stared at Hope Mikaelson.

"I can't hear her."

And that- that causes his siblings to tense and really take notice of the new girl.

"What did Carlisle say her aunts were again?" Rosalie asks, frowning.

"A witch and a werewolf," Edward answers. "But he never got an answer on what Hope was."

"Well there's no time like the present." Emmett moves to stand and Rosalie's hand snaps out, wrapping around his wrist.

"Don't," she hisses.

"Chill, Rosie. Carlisle said it was okay to talk to her. In fact, he and Esme encouraged it."

"You don't show interest often," Jasper muses. "What's so different now, brother?"

Emmett's grin falters. "Call it boredom."

"Or call it what it really is," Edward says, slowly smiling and laying an arm on the back of Rosalie's chair to help soothe her. "You think she's pretty."

"Ohh. He thinks she's more than a little pretty," Jasper smirks. "I can feel just how pretty he thinks Hope Mikaelson is."

Alice giggles and the rest try their best to smother their smiles. Emmett glowers, but a smile of his own slowly breaks out. He chuckles. "Here goes nothing." The entire cafeteria seems to go quiet as they watch the largest Cullen leave his family and head for the new girl. She doesn't look up, so Emmett pulls out a chair directly across from the girl and turns it around before plopping himself down. "Hope Mikaelson," he muses.

She glances up then, her eyes narrowing before a small huff of laughter escapes her. "You're one of Doctor Cullen's kids."

"Emmett," he smirks. "The others were too intimidated to approach you." Hope follows his pointed gesture before smiling and waving at the other vegetarian vampires.

"I hardly doubt that. I'm not even that scary."

"Says the new girl who we've no idea what she's capable of."

Hope's gaze darts back to Emmett, her shoulders losing some of their tension as she grins at him. "A girl's got to have some secrets."

"Yeah." His gaze scrutinizes her and Hope challenges his stare, popping a carrot stick into her mouth while not breaking eye contact. "Speaking of secrets, did your aunt do some magic hoodoo stuff to your head? Edward can't read your thoughts." That causes her to blink and Emmett suddenly whoops. The cafeteria falls silent and Hope groans, trying to sink into her chair as every astonished gaze falls on her table. "I win."

"Jesus. Okay. You win. Lower your voice," she grumbles. Emmett hunches in his seat and Hope suddenly starts twisting a ring on her right index finger. "So Edward.. reads minds?" She glances at Emmett's family's table and sees the bronze-haired individual nod. "Just surface or.."

"He can only read what's on the surface. My siblings and I just usually mentally sing a song or mentally scream if we wanna keep him out."

"Oh." She twists her ring some more. Sighing softly, she says, "The last thing I want is you or your family uncomfortable with me and my family's presence." She slips off the ring, nods at Edward, and then faces Emmett to ask, "What do you want to know?"

"Why did you move?"

Hope slightly tenses and fidgets in her seat. "New Orleans holds a lot of.. terrible memories." Her mom's death flashes in her mind and she gulps, knowing Edward saw it. "Both my parents and uncle Elijah sacrificed themselves there. And Mystic Falls, where I attended Boarding School, is where I was constantly fighting for my life against a monster every other week. I grew tired of it."

"Do you come in peace?" Emmett's lips twitch and Hope rolls her eyes.

Chuckling, she says, "Yes. I honestly just want to finish my first and last year of public high school. And make some friends. I had trouble with making friends growing up because of who my family is."

"And just who is your family?" Emmett wonders.

"The Mikaelson's. I'll.. I have a book on my family's legacy. I'll let you borrow it as soon as I find it, but I'm warning you right now. Their past is.. bloody."

"You just keep getting more interesting the longer we talk."

"Says the vampire."

Emmett smiles, but before he can get out his last question Hope is slipping her ring back on to shield her mind once more. The bell rings, startling Hope and signalling the end to the lunch period. As Hope stands to collect her tray, he asks, "What are you?"

That gives Hope pause and she blinks in surprise at Emmett. She slowly grins. "One of a kind. Literally."

"Don't tell me you're a unicorn." He laughs, but then quickly sobers when he sees Hope's expression of distaste.

"God no. Unicorns are pretty, but they're devious." She shivers and her expression suddenly appears far away. "Gross mind controlling slugs. Never again."

"..what!"

Hope refocuses on Emmett, she sheepishly laughing. "Yeaahhhh. See you around." And then she quickly takes her leave.

The rest of Emmett's family joins him as Hope disappears. "She was telling the truth," Edward says. "Every answer she gave was accompanied by a visual representation. She witnessed her mother's death."

"So a ring kept you out of her mind?" Rosalie then muses after the awkward tension of mentioning Hope's mother's death vanishes. "I might have to ask her for one of those."

Edward grins, but Emmett is still gobsmacked by what Hope last said. "Unicorns are real? You think she was telling the truth about that?"

Alice giggles and Jasper grabs his mate's hand to escort her to her next class. "Probably. She slipped that ring of hers back on and blinded Edward again."

"Damn."

"Don't worry." Alice smiles knowingly. "I get glimpses here and there of her. Hope will be sticking around."

"Oh?" Edward, Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie all grin. Emmett's eyes then narrow. "What do you know?"

"The same thing you do if you'd just open your eyes a little wider, brother." And with Jasper's parting words, the rest of their family follow him and Alice out.

A moment passes and then Emmett sighs. "What does that even mean?"

The next few days sees Hope avoiding questions her nosy peers have for her after Emmett Cullen so brazenly approached her at lunch, especially since he continues to do so days after. The only human Hope had found a moment of solace with was Angela, but even then the Cullen and Hale clan could see that Hope was still keeping her distance.

Her second week of school, however, finds Hope watching her aunts staring out the front window of their home in amusement one morning.

"What are you guys looking at?"

Keelin glances over her shoulder, grinning. "You didn't tell us you befriended Doctor Cullen's children."

Hope shrugs. "Well yeah. They're intrigued by the girl their mind reading brother can't read."

"Mhmm. So intrigued that they sent one of their own to give you a ride to school?" Freya wonders.

"..what?" Hope scurries to the window to see what her aunts are staring at and finds Emmett standing near the hood of a large jeep that's parked outside their home. "I'm gonna give him a brain aneurysm," she grumbles. "What is he playing at?" As Hope stomps off towards the front door, her aunts are quick to follow.

"He's cute," Keelin teases. "What's his name?"

Her hand freezes just before she can grab the door handle. "Freya? Please tell me you have a privacy spell up around the house and the vampire outside didn't just hear your wife call him cute?" Their silence is very telling and Hope chuckles through a groan. Finally opening the door, a beaming Emmett is standing there with a to-go cup of something steaming.

"Peppermint tea. Your apparent favorite." Keelin and Freya don't bother hiding their coos. "And a brain aneurysm? Really? That's kind of harsh, Hope. I've been nothing but nice."

Hope gives him a deadpan stare before taking the tea, she then making quick introductions. "Freya and Keelin, meet Emmett. Emmett, my aunt Freya and her wife Keelin."

"Hey." Emmett beams, a dimple in his right cheek forming. "Do either of you care to fill me in on what Hope is? She's not playing fair."

"She hasn't told you?" Freya asks.

"No. And Edward can't read her mind as long as her ring stays on."

Hope glances at her aunts. "What? It's not my fault they're terrible at guessing."

"But I bet you're not playing fair either." Keelin nudges her niece. Then looking at Emmett, she tells him, "You've probably all ready guessed what Hope is, but you're looking at her as if she's only one species. She's not."

"Wait, what?"

Hope sighs and then grumbles. "I'm a tribrid." Emmett gapes at her. "I told you I was one of a kind. Now come on, lets get to school so you can tell the others."

And after that fateful day, it becomes a regular occurrence that Emmett picks up and drops off Hope before and after school. Freya and Keelin can't help but adore the large vampire, and even Hope eventually gives in to his bashful smiles and playful behavior. Everyone at school is surprised to see the largest of the Cullen/Hale siblings behave so carefree, and even Emmett's family seem a bit surprised at his behavior, but in a good way.

Hope then becomes so used to Emmett's towering presence that when it comes time to give him her family's legacy book so he can know her history, she makes herself sick with anxiety. Her aunts do their best to soothe her worry, but she doesn't quite calm down until Emmett suddenly appears at her bedroom window one night.

Slowly opening the window after he gently knocks on the glass pane, Hope steps back on sits on the edge of her bed. Emmett enters her room, sitting on the sill.

"That was.. wow. Your family are the Firsts."

Hope nods, avoiding his gaze and twiddling her thumbs in her lap. "Only Rebekah, Kol, and Freya remain."

"That was a lot to take in. Jasper's re-reading it." Hope flinches and Emmett moves to stand before her, he then crouching and settling his hands on her knees. "Hey. Hey," he says again, reaching up to make her look at him. "Your family's past is crazy, but it's their past. Their past does not define you. We all still think very highly of you and are still looking forward to the day you grace us with what your tribrid qualities are."

Hope huffs a laugh. "I'm a witch, werewolf, and vampire," she finally tells him after a week of the Cullen and his siblings trying to guess the right combination.

"No shit? I can't believe we never guessed it."

"Well after I mentioned the unicorn your imaginations took over and started throwing out every other mythical creature that you think is real too."

"They're not?"

Hope grins at his pout and flicks his ear. "Maybe. Maybe not. One can't be too sure unless you've seen it with your own two eyes."

"At least tell me dragons are real?" She then laughs at his hopeful expression, shoving his shoulder and then huffing when he doesn't even budge. Stupid Cold One strength. "There's the smile I was hoping for."

Since Emmett's started talking to her, he's thrown in a few flirty remarks here and there. Hope's grown to expect it from him, but what she hasn't grown used to yet is the way her heart skips a beat and the way she warms all over when he genuinely smiles at her. And given his senses, she knows that he knows exactly what his proximity and words do to her.

"So what are you doing here?" She finally asks. "Did you come all the way here just to soothe my worries?"

"Yes and no." Emmett finally backs off and takes a seat next to her on the bed. "Esme's been anxious to finally meet you. We talk about you a lot and Carlisle talks a lot about how good your aunt Keelin is at her job. She's a bit miffed she's the only one who hasn't met you or your aunts."

"Oh. Well we, um, can go right now if that's okay with you?"

"Yes."

Emmett immediately stands and sits halfway in, halfway out of her window, and Hope slides off her bed to make her way towards the bedroom door. Calling out, she yells, "I'm going out with Emmett!"

"WHAT?!"

Emmett snorts and Hope's eyes widen when she realizes what she's just said. "Heading out! I'm heading out with Emmett!"

They can hear Keelin cackling from somewhere downstairs.

"Okay!" Freya then calls back up. "Don't stay out too late."

Blushing, Hope then makes her way towards a smirking Emmett.

"No shoes?"

She shakes her head. "No. I'm assuming you ran here and we're running back, so I'll just have you drop me off halfway and I can shift."

"Awesome. Climb on my back and hold on."

Since Hope's window was situated over the side walkway overhang, Emmett crouches near the ledge and waits for Hope to join him. She climbs onto his back with a small laugh a moment later, and after a brief warning Emmett jumps. His hands grip around the backs of her thighs and her arms are wrapped around his neck. She grunts when he lands, but then she's laughing as he runs.

The world is blurring by her, but not as fast as she expected since her senses can keep up with vampire speed, and she relishes the feel of the air whooshing passed her. But all too soon, he's stopping and letting her down gently.

"All right, Mikaelson, lets see what you got."

"Yeah, yeah." Hope shifts nervously before lowering herself to the ground on her hands and knees. "Have a blanket ready for me when we get there. Clothes tend to disappear through the transformation and I'd hate to scar anyone with my nudity."

He waggles his eyebrows. "You're going to be naked?"

"Don't make it weird." Emmett's laugh booms and he startles several woodland creatures. He's still laughing when Hope says, "And whatever happens next, just let it take it's course. I've been through the transformation before. I know how much pain I can endure."

His laughter immediately ceases. "What?"

Instead of answering, the first of many bones in Hope's body cracks to rearrange itself for her new form. And if Emmett had any color in his features, the color would have drained at Hope's grunts and cries of pain, her bones snapping and bending at unnatural angles.

At one point he calls her name and he takes a step back when Hope throws her head back, her eyes blazing yellow. She cries out and her back arches with a snap, and Emmett watches in awe as an abnormally large gray wolf takes the place where Hope just was.

The wolf blinks and shakes her fur out as Emmett slowly crouches. "Hope?" He gulps. The wolf nods, her tail swaying from side to side. Slowly but surely, Emmett then smirks. "Hell yes. Race to you my house?"

The wolf barks and takes off after Emmett, she letting him stay ahead of her since she didn't actually know where the Cullen's lived.

Edward and Rosalie were the only two who hadn't seen Hope's wolf form since they were out the night she showed up to their house, but with Edward's mind reading abilities he was able to see everything from his family's point of view. Rosalie didn't care to see a werewolf, instead she was rather more intrigued by the magic side of Hope and Freya's lives.

As the weeks then slowly progress, it becomes the norm for Hope to spend time at the Cullen household. Keelin's been picking up a lot of hours at the hospital, and Freya's busy getting paperwork together and what not for the opening of her very own shop that she plans to sell home remedies at.

So, of course, Hope's at the Cullen house when things go to hell.

Emmett, Jasper, and Edward are wrestling- Emmett and Jasper wearing leather cuff bracelets to protect their minds from Edward's mental probing- while Rosalie and Alice toss out some friendly taunts. It was finally a fair fight and the brothers were ecstatic to test them out.

Hope's standing with Esme since Carlisle's currently at the hospital, and the two keep their distance as the boys get rowdier and rowdier. Suddenly Alice goes still, Edward's mind is no longer on the fight, and he stares in horror at Hope. The others quickly catch on, but before Alice can come out of her vision.. whatever it was comes to fruition.

"Hope!" Edward manages to shout before Esme is thrown from the girl's side by some unseen force.

Hope gasps just as Jasper catches their mother and before she can utter a single word, a stick or stake or something is forcefully embedding itself in her throat. She immediately gurgles on blood and falls on her butt, her eyes flooding with tears from the pain as she attempts to pull the wooden stake out. There's an almighty roar that sends a shiver up and down her spine, and through her tears she sees an enraged Emmett pounding against an invisible barrier of sorts. In fact, the entire Cullen family is pounding against an invisible barrier, Emmett's black eyes focused on her.

Hope whimpers and shakily raises one bloodied hand, she trying to concentrate and release the vampires. Before she can focus enough energy to fuel her spell, she's slammed on her back and arms magically pinned to the ground, two more stakes embedding themselves in her wrists. She cries out, struggling, but it's no use.

A woman is suddenly looming over Hope, which only prompts the young tribrid to struggle some more. The woman tuts, waggling a finger at her. "Don't, child. You'll only bleed out faster."

"W-Why?"

"What was that?" The woman crouches and pulls the stake out of Hope's throat, Hope then screaming out in pain. There's another roar and the woman crouching over Hope grins. "Well he's pissed. You really have the big one wrapped around your finger, don't you?"

Hope chances a look in Emmett's direction, her heart beating faster at the sight of other individuals surrounding the family. Their hands are held out at the sides and flames erupt around the Cullen's. "No."

The woman next to Hope shrugs, still glancing over her shoulder. "They're abominations. It's a shame really. The tiny one is kind of cute."

Alice hisses, as does Rosalie, but the family has stopped pounding and instead moved closer to one another and way from the flames. Hope sniffles. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because they made you happy." The woman then glances back down at Hope, her gaze hardening. "And no Mikaelson deserves the chance at happiness. Not after what your father did."

"My father is dead!" Hope grits out. "He had changed. It wasn't his fault you witches kept coming after his family. He only did what he had to do to protect us."

"Yes, well now we intend to end it once and for all. You're a threat to our way of life."

"Screw your way of life."

"Hope!" She glances towards the Cullen's once more, catching Alice's gaze. "You can do it. Concentrate."

Hope doesn't know what she's supposed to concentrate on, and all she knows is that she's hurt and royally pissed off. Her eyes slip shut and she focuses on breathing.

How dare these witches come after her and the Cullen's when they've done nothing wrong. How dare they call the vampires abominations when witches themselves were an anomaly and not what nature intended either. How dare they think that she, Hope Mikaelson, could be taken down so easily.

Eyes snapping open, Hope momentarily relishes in the gasp that leaves the witch's mouth. She knows her eyes are blazing yellow and she meets the gaze of the shocked witch. "Patere." The witch hovering over her is forcefully thrown away, and with a grunt Hope pulls on her wrists and dislodges the stakes from the ground. She quickly pulls them out, letting the wounds heal as she climbs to her feet.

Hope carefully makes her way towards the Cullen's where the witches are still chanting, she stopping and holding her own hands aloft at her side. Breathing deeply, she concentrates on every witch trying to harm her friends, and then jerks her wrist. There are audible snaps before the witches collapse.

"Adiuuatur." The flames dissolve, and then with a wave her hand the barrier vanishes. Emmett is immediately at her side against Edward and Jasper's warning, but he's gentle with her as he checks her neck and wrists. "It's fine. They healed as soon as the stakes were removed."

The rest of his family gather around and it's Jasper who voices what's on everyone's mind. "Your blood doesn't- it's not tempting us."

"Well I should hope not," Hope muses and then grunts when Emmett suddenly engulfs her in his arms. "I'm a hybrid. Vampire or werewolf blood should not be appetizing to you."

"Huh. Well that's good to know."

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Esme suddenly muses. "What they did was unbelievably violent."

Hope winces, she patting Emmett's sides so he'd let up. He does, but she ends up being tucked under his arm and against his side. She sighs. "I'm good, Esme. Doing magic under duress is just tiresome." The motherly vampire nods along in sympathy. "And I'm sorry about the mess. I don't usually.. kill, but they threatened you and your family. I couldn't let it slide. Where there's one wave, there's bound to be another."

The Cullen's glance around at the dead witches, some glaring that they'd gotten the drop on them and others shrugging as if it were no big deal.

"I'm sorry to have put you on their radar, but I need to speak with Freya. Just for being associated with us, our enemies have now become your enemies." Hope's shoulders droop and she hastily wipes the tears from her eyes. "I should just- I should go. I never should have gotten so comfortable here."

Emmett growls and holds tight as Hope tries to leave. Edward and Jasper both glance at him, realization dawning in their expressions several moments later as Hope frowns up at Emmett who can't quite meet her gaze.

"She's your mate. Isn't she?" Jasper says.

Hope gives Jasper a double take, her eyes narrowing as Edward slowly smirks. She then looks up at Emmett who appears momentarily panicked, his expression then smoothing out into something far too pleased at the knowledge. "Excuse me?"

"How did I not realize this sooner?" Emmett then gently cradles Hope's face in his hands, he staring down at her in awe. Her mouth opens to reply, but then Emmett's hugging her again and her face is pressed into his chest.

Turning so it's her cheek pressed against his solid frame instead of her face and nose, Hope sighs and rolls her eyes. "You can't just hug me and think everything's okay." The rest of his family adopt wary expressions and Hope huffs a laugh as she wraps her arms loosely around his waist. "We're so going to have to talk about this. Later though. I really need to talk to Freya and you guys have bodies to bury.. or burn. Whatever is good with you."

Rosalie breaks the awkward atmosphere by groaning, she then stomping over to the first body. "You owe me, Mikaelson. I wanna be the first to test out the sunlight ring if Freya ever figures out how to make it work for our kind."

"Deal." The squeezing Emmett, she asks, "Can you run me back home?"

"As if you even had to ask."

Emmett's quick to scoop Hope up in his arms, he then vanishing from sight within the blink of an eye.

"How did we not pick up on that sooner?" Jasper suddenly muses. "They've been practically joined at the hip since her first day here."

"I don't care." Alice beams, giggling as she skips over to pick up a dead witch. "I'm just happy to finally have another sister!"

Rosalie huffs. "At least we like this one. That one human who keeps staring at Edward is getting on my last nerve."

"You're just jealous because it's Edward she's set her sights on and the two of you have that weird thing going on," Jasper muses. "Just get married all ready."

Rosalie glares at her twin, she then grumbling as she picks up another body. Edward sighs, punching his brother in the arm. "Thanks for that. She's going to take her anger out on me now."

Jasper waggles his eyebrows. "You're welcome."

- X - 

Emmett drops off Hope in her back yard, she then running up to the door and throwing it open. Freya startles, but taking in her bloodied niece and the simmering anger practically wafting off of Emmett puts her on alert. Not even their joined hands is enough to distract her. "What happened?"

"Witches."

"Dead witches," Emmett then grumbles.

Hope slowly exhales. Then looking up at Emmett, she squeezes his hand. "Hey. Go hunt," she tells him. "Take some time to calm down while I fill in Freya."

"But-"

"No buts." He frowns, but gives her a terse nod. Bending down he quickly presses a chaste kiss to her forehead and then disappears. Hope grins.

"That's new."

"Tell me about it. Apparently Cold Ones have mates and I'm his. We only just figured it out." Freya's oddly quiet, but when Hope glances at her aunt she sees that her aunt is fighting off a smile. "Don't. Me and him are going to talk about it later. Right now we have a bigger problem."

Slowly Freya collects herself, she then putting away the herbs she's been sorting on the table. "Right. Tell me everything."

- X - 

Keelin had been given the rest of the day off after Carlisle had been filled in on what was going on, and Hope filled her aunts in on everything. They were a little worried about witches still targeting them after a year of peace, but they promised Hope not to worry about it and that they'd contact Rebekah, Marcel, Kol, and Davina to look into what was going on now.

Hope was still feeling a little wary, but Freya sent her up to shower the blood off and change. She did and then when she went back downstairs she figured she'd find her aunts still discussing the problem at hand. Instead they're discussing Hope.. and her apparent future with Emmett.

"So," Keelin grins from her seat at the table, stirring her hot chocolate, "Emmett, huh? Nice."

"Nope. No. We're not talking about this," she nervously laughs. Hope pulls open the fridge and pulls out a container of apple juice. Pouring herself a glass, she waves off both her aunt's knowing gazes. "Emmett will be stopping by in a bit. We're gonna talk and only talk. I might go on a run afterward so don't freak if my room is empty."

"Sure. Keep the door open!" Freya calls after her.

Choking on her juice, Hope glares over her shoulder at her giggling aunts.

Upstairs in her room, Hope shuts the door and then shoots off a quick text to Emmett. As she waits for him, she finds a stick of sage and lights it, blowing out the flame and smiling as the plumes of smoke waft upward. Sipping her juice she then sets it down in a bowl and turns around, a yelp escaping her mouth at the sight of Emmett casually leaning against the headboard of her bed.

"Dammit, Emmett. I'm gonna spell our yard to alert us when you're lurking if you don't start making noises." She glances down at the floor and then her shirt, making sure she didn't spill her drink. "Oh good. No spillage."

"So what's the verdict? Do I get to defend my mate's honor? And what's with the smoke?"

"No fighting. Yet," she says, making her way towards the bed and gingerly sitting next to him. "And the burning sage is for a privacy spell. Freya and Keelin are a little too invested in our new relationship status, and I have to ruin their fun somehow."

"Killjoy." Hope chuckles and settles against her own headboard, she sipping her juice one last time before setting the glass aside. Settling in, she faces Emmett and he grins. "So it's like this, huh? No weirdness? No crying? No denial?"

"Do you want me to reject you, Em?" She muses. "Playing hard to get seems exhausting. I rather just-" Her words are cut off as Emmett leans in, his lips capturing hers. She laughs against his mouth, trying to properly return his kiss, but not being able to do so as her laughter gets the best of her.

"Seriously?" Emmett pouts.

"I'm sorry." Hope giggles some more, biting the bottom corner of her lip. "You just.. surprised me with your enthusiasm."

If Emmett could blush, there was no doubt he'd be doing so now. "My bad. I've just been wanting to do that for a while."

"Yeah?" Hope's eyes sparkle as she smiles. "Well in that case.." She leans in, stopping just shy of pressing her lips to his. "Then you can wait just a little while longer." Emmett groans. "I need to run and burn off some energy. Run with me?"

"As if you even had to ask."