The Monster Within
Series: The Originals
Pairings: Hayley/Elijah (haylijah)
Warnings: canon typical violence, language
This is not a part of the TGW universe
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She stumbled into the compound, her mind swirling with images of what she had seen. Hayley had thought she had seen it all, hell she had done her fair share of things. But the hatred she had seen had set her on edge.
Before she even realized it, she found herself standing in the bedroom she shared with Elijah. She had meant to head to the bathroom first for a long hot shower, but her feet had taken her to the bedroom instead. To Elijah. A shower could wait, she needed Elijah to hold her until she stopped seeing the bloody corpses every time she closed her eyes.
“Hayley,” Elijah called out upon seeing her enter their bedroom. He had been in the process of removing his tie but his hands froze when he noted the blood on her face. “What happened?”
The edge to his voice brought her up short. She hadn’t even considered her appearance and the fear it would invoke in those who saw her. Bringing her arm up to wipe her face, she smeared the blood on the sleeve of her shirt, likely making more of a mess than anything.
Although the constricted words did little to reassure Elijah. He wasn’t used to seeing her so rattled. Hayley had been in many tight situations in her life, many before he had even met her. And yet, whatever had happened that night had shaken her.
Crossing the room in three large strides, Elijah pulled out a handkerchief. Reaching up to gently wipe the remaining blood, he repeated his question, “What happened?”
“Have you ever met a person who is so vile that you just want to rip them apart?” Her eyes closed as she leaned into his soothing touch, but she didn’t miss the twist of his lips that settled into a knowing smirk. He knew exactly the kind of people she was talking about. This is exactly what she needed after the day she had. “Calling them human is too kind. They were nothing but monsters.”
Questions whirled in his head but he fought the urge to press her. He had more important things to focus on. Like making sure every single creature that had made her voice quiver were six feet under.
“‘Were?’” He attempted to keep his voice light as if he didn’t have a murderous rage building just under the surface.
“I took care of them.” The raise of her eyebrow was a challenge. Hayley had never needed his protection but it didn’t stop him from worrying. “They were just some newbie vamps.”
It was his turn to raise his eyebrow. Hayley could easily take down multiple new vampires. It would take more than a fist fight to cause the horror he had glimpsed in her eyes when she first entered the room.
“They were just these disgusting purist vampires.” She shrugged her shoulders as she pushed past him to walk further into their room. “Came into the bayou talking about this cult that they are apart of. Saying they are on a mission to kill every ‘beast’ that exists. They came into our homes and attacked families, children, all because of what we are. Fucking monsters.”
The set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes should have been his main focus, however, her words brought him back to a time that he had preferred to forget. A time when his life was full of pain and anger himself. Similar words had slipped from his own lips.
The anger that still existed between the species was a direct result of his actions. Of his family.
After his little brother had been killed by the werewolves, he had been consumed by anger. This was only exacerbated when his parents had cursed him with vampirism. He had made a similar vow to destroy the beast that had killed his baby brother.
And so the war between the vampires and wolves were born.
“Elijah.” The voice sounded muffled as if he was underwater. “What is it?”
His dark eyes met hers and concern overtook her face. Hayley had clearly been speaking and he hadn’t hear a word of what was said.
“I apologize.” He cleared this throat, hands tugging at his neck tie that was still handing around his neck. It had suddenly become difficult to breathe.
“Where’d you go?” Her voice was more gentle as she reached out to steady his hands and help remove the offending piece of material. Her voice was the same tone she used with Hope when she woke up from a nightmare.
“I merely got caught up in a memory,” he said noncommittally. “Please continue what you were saying.”
“What memory?” Hayley wasn’t letting it go. Elijah very rarely wanted to talk about his past. If something she had said had triggered a memory, she wanted to know what it was. “You look upset.”
“You’re upset.” Elijah deflected once again causing Hayley to narrow her eyes. He might be stubborn but he was no match when Hayley dug her heels in. His eyes were unfocused as he took a step back, out of her reach. “How much do you know about the war between the species?”
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, unsure if he was changing the subject once more or if he had a point to the question. Deciding to placate him, she answered, “It’s always been that way I guess. Since the beginning.”
She hadn’t truly thought about the hatred between the werewolves and the vampires. Like she said, it had always been that way. But, here she was, standing before one of the Original vampires who had been there at the start.
“When we first met, I told you of the fate of my youngest brother, Henrik,” he continued. His rigid stance told Hayley that he did not want to be approached. Which was normal behavior for him when he was feeling vulnerable. His walls went up and not even Hayley’s brazen attitude could break through. “He was killed when he and Niklaus snuck out to watch the wolves transform. I’m not proud of it, but it colored the way I viewed the wolves for a long time.”
He watched as her eyes turned hard. The realization dawning on her that the vile monsters she had just torn apart for their cruelty were a symptom of the man before her.
“While much of the hatred came from our father,” he cast his eyes down, “I let my anger consume me for many years, resulting in the death of many of your people.”
The silence that enveloped them was suffocating. Even with the tie removed, Elijah’s hands still clawed at the collar of his shirt.
“Hayley, you must know I would have never behaved in such a way had I known…” His words trailed off as if he had begun speaking without knowing what he intended to say. Which was incredibly out of character for Elijah.
More in character of him, was his hand that seemed to reach out to her without his consent. His fingers were merely inches from her face when Hayley ducked her head away from them. Regret flowed into her as she watched Elijah’s face crumble beneath her gaze. His eyes blinking rapidly to prevent any stray tears from falling.
“Excuse me.” His words were tight as he pushed past Hayley, careful not to touch her. Sure that she wouldn’t want the touch of such a vile creature after what she had just witnessed. After her family had just been slaughtered because of him.
Hayley didn’t stop him as he fled the room, quickly speeding out of the compound altogether.
It had been hours since Elijah had walked out of their room and Hayley was beginning to worry if he was ever planning on coming back. She had taken a shower and spent much of that time cuddling Hope to calm herself, but it wasn’t what happened in the bayou that was unsettling her now, it was the look on Elijah’s face. The same look that had taken over his face when she had stepped back from him after her first hand experience behind the red door.
And here she thought they had dealt with this already.
Yet, here she was, in her bed crying herself to sleep when all she wanted was the comforting arms of Elijah and his soothing voice telling her everything would be alright.
It was well after midnight when she heard the bedroom door push open so quietly she was certain it wasn’t her rambunctious daughter.
Hayley was careful to keep her breathing even as to not alert Elijah that she was still awake. Her curiosity getting the best of her. And, as she had expected, Elijah did not head towards their bed, but rather the armoire across the room where he kept his clothes.
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she sat up. Elijah was nothing if not predictable. Her movements were enough to attract Elijah’s attention. He spun around to face her and their eyes met in the dark room. His hair was mussed as if he had been running his hands through it in agitation. She didn’t often see him like this but she couldn’t help appreciate how untidy he looked with his button up disheveled, tie missing, hair a mess.
“Forgive me,” he said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No?” She asked, her voice on edge. “You thought you would just sneak in her, take your clothes and leave?”
“I…” Hayley watched as he struggled for the words, not offering him a reprieve. “I was looking for a change of clothes.”
“Hmm,” she hummed because what else could she say. She was too tired to hide her annoyance. “Why do you have a bag?”
“I assumed you wouldn’t want to share a bed with me.”
“Well you know what assuming does?” She let out a dark chuckle at her attempt at a joke. “You know you could have just asked.”
Elijah sighed as he placed the bag on the dresser he had been rooting around in.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” And bless him, he was always trying to do the right thing by her. He was just too wrapped up in his own self-pity to know what that was at the moment.
“And you thought it wouldn’t make me uncomfortable to wake up and discover all of your things were gone?”
“I didn’t intend to take all of them.” He shifted on his feet, clearly not expecting this line of questioning. “Just to give you some space.”
“I didn’t ask for space,” she snapped. “You don’t get to unilaterally decide what we need. You don’t just get to walk away.”
“You clearly didn’t want me here.” His voice grew angry, her words clearly affecting him.
“You basically told me you hated what I am.” She stood from the bed to stand in front of him. “I’m allowed to have a reaction to that.”
“That is not what I said.” Hayley watched as his eyes widened, his anger quickly deflating. “I could never hate what you are.”
She felt her own anger start to dissipate at his words. This was the Elijah she loved. The one who protected her since their first meeting. Who had protected her pack numerous times, even at the cost of his own safety and well being.
“I know,” she replied gently, reaching up to stroke his cheek to reassure him. “I know who you are and I’m not afraid of you. I just needed a moment to process. I’m allowed that.”
He nodded his head slowly, ducking his head to avoid her gaze. “You should be afraid of me.”
“If you’re trying to scare me away from you,” she nudged his head up so that he met her eyes, “you’re a little late. Years late in fact. I’ve seen who you are over and over again and I’m still here.”
“I’m the reason your people are dead. I’ve killed countless wolves in my life. How can you even look at me?”
Hayley took a deep breath, thinking over what he had said. Truly letting them sink in and giving herself a moment to sit with them.
“I’m not naive, I know you weren’t a fan of wolves when we met.” And this was the truth. Even though Elijah had been there for her, she remembered how the Mikaelsons would so casually make degrading comments about her kind. But she also saw a shift in them all. The comments stopped and they fought for her, for her family. “If I had called you and told you what was happening in the bayou, would you have joined the vampires?”
Elijah’s face jerked back as if she had slapped him, his response louder than he intended, “Of course not.”
“And if you were in the woods and a random wolf stumbled upon you looking for help, would you kill them?”
“No,” he whispered this time. “I would help them.”
“I know you would,” she whispered back, moving closer. “I know you’ve done a lot of messed up things, but I also know who you are now. I can’t hold what you’ve done in your past against you any more than I would want you to hold my past mistakes against me. You feeling like this tells me you aren’t that person anymore.”
“I only feel this way now because of you,” he argued, clearly not ready to forgive himself for his actions. “Because I love you.”
Hayley thought on that. Thought of how Elijah had defended the pack against Oliver’s betrayal when she wasn’t even there. How he had spent an entire day in the bayou protecting her pack from the vampires Klaus had sent out to kill them. How he had gotten taken and tortured by his mother and brother while helping her sneak the children out of the city. Sure he had acted to help her, but along the way he had learned to understand her people. He had learned to respect their traditions and even grow to care for them on their own.
“Agree to disagree,” she whispered back as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
She hadn’t lied to him, she knew exactly who he was and she loved every part of that person. They couldn’t go back in time and change what they had done but they could make sure they brought out the best parts of each other. “But you don’t get to just walk away. You have to talk to me, even if it’s hard.”
He nodded his head once more and rested his forehead against hers, “I can do that.”
“Good,” she signed and pulled him towards their bed. “Now will you lay down with me. Ever since I got back from the bayou, I just wanted to be in your arms.”
Elijah felt even more guilt wash over him. Here Hayley was, after a horrendous day, and he had made her comfort him. He quickly kicked off his shoes as she climbed back under the covers. He didn’t bother changing his clothes, not willing to spend another second not comforting Hayley. He was under the covers, his arms around her, before she could even blink.
She let out a shaky breath as she rested her had on his chest. This was exactly what she had needed all day. What she looked forward to coming home to everyday.
