unstoppable;

“I could never hate you, Maggie, I love you,” Ren said, not even thinking about what he had said. The fear of her hurt, struggling, and the fear of losing her overshadowed the fear of unintentionally ruining it if he put some sort of label on it, or said something wrong. He loved her at the core of it, but he was scared and scarred from past relationships that sometimes he felt unlovable, so sometimes it was scary to ever say it when he overthought it too much. “I wish I could do more,” he whispered, grabbing her hands and holding them in his. He wished he could do something for Ariadne, he hated the thought of Maggie being in this position when he knew how it felt. “You’ll get that chance, if there’s anything I know about Ariadne, which isn’t too much, but I’d be blind if I couldn’t tell that she was strong. She’ll fight. Whatever you need, I’ll be here, okay?” He kissed her fingertips between his hands gently. “If you need to fall apart, fall apart. I’m not leaving you, and I’ll never hurt you. We can stay here, no matter how long it takes to make sure Ariadne is okay.”

It took Maggie a moment to catch what he’d said to her. “You.. what?” She hadn’t expected to hear that coming from his mouth, but she was so glad that he said it. “God, I love you too,” she whispered back. Maggie squeezed his hands back tightly, looking into his eyes. She knew he was right. Ariadne was going to fight, she had to believe that with everything she had. She shook her head softly. “I can’t fall apart, not here.” She glanced at the door that lead to her daughter’s  room and sighed. “She’s not going to want me here when she wakes up, and I think Alex is in there with her,” she said. Maggie leaned in, pressing her lips to his. “I love you. Take me home with you.”

“Yeah, she’s very stubborn like that. She spent a lot of her life protecting herself, and me, I think she thinks it’s weak to ask for help, ” he replied. Alex knew that it wouldn’t of done anyone good if he had been there, albeit feeling absolutely helpless when it came to Ariadne. He couldn’t heal her, his blood did nothing to her. For centuries, it had been Alex and Ariadne, just the two of them, and Maggie being here meant a lot to him, to see how much she’s been trying since reconnecting. He knew his sister had a harder time with it though, he knew she didn’t trust many, figured it was to protect herself. Sometimes though, when Alex saw how hard their mother tried, like staying with her now, he wished that Ariadne would try just as much too. 

When she told him she was fine, Alex didn’t push, knowing that they just had to let the healing process happen, he knew that his blood couldn’t affect another vampire either. He just gave her a look over, noticing they were starting to heal, but because they were burns, he knew that it took a while longer for Vampires to heal from burns. Alex leaned against the wall, sliding down till he was sitting on the floor with a sigh. He felt like he was a child over again, hiding from everything that scared him. “I know,” he told her, responding to her saying she couldn’t handle both him and Ariadne hurt. “If something happens…” Alex got choked up again. He tried to let out a deep breath, but it came out shaky and short. “I can’t handle losing her. I can’t… I won’t…” He shook his head, he was trying to push all the emotions away. “I don’t trust myself to not just shut it all off if something happens to her… if something had happened to you. I don’t exactly have a great track record with dealing with my emotions. The last time I shut my humanity off, to deal with everything Dad was doing to me… Ariadne was the one to bring me back.”

.

“I used to think it was weak to ask for help too. I learned that it’s not, but it took me a really long time. If she makes it out of this, and god I hope she does, I hope she realizes that you don’t have to do everything alone,” she said with a sigh. Maggie needed Ariadne to let people in, because this was too much. She didn’t want to see something like this happen again to her.

Maggie sank down to the floor next to her son, and she pulled him close to her on her good side. “It won’t,” she said, her words coming out just as shaky and choked up as his were. “She’s alive, and they’re.. they’re going to keep her that way. You aren’t going to lose her,” she said. There was no guarantees, but she knew they needed to think like that. She wiped away a couple of her own tears that she’d finally let fall. “I’m not going anywhere. And if, god forbid, something happens to her... If you get to that point, I will fight to get you back even if it somehow kills me.” She gave him a squeeze. “But right now, you need to try and think about something good. Think about her getting better. Think about her smile, and her mannerisms, think about her. Because she needs us to do that, she needs us to try not to think of the worst case scenario.”

Ren tilted his head, he loved her, it was no doubt to him that he would be there for him. “Of course I am, you called,” he said, as if it was completely normal. “It’s okay, you’re totally off the hook, all things considered.” Ren moved his hands to check out the scratches on her face. Ren moved a chair over, moving Maggie gently. “Here, sit,” he said. Ren whispered a small spell to help with the healing of the scratches. “I can’t do much about the burns, they’re a little out of my ability range.” Ren hadn’t hated more that his warlock abilities were not as they should be at his age than at times like these. “I can’t tell you to forget about your daughter, that wouldn’t be kind of me, plus it would be stupid. I was a Dad once too, I know it’s not possible, but are you okay?” She couldn’t help take care of Ariadne if she didn’t take care of herself. He knew too hard of the consequences of that. “Talk to me. I got you, I promise.”

.

“I was afraid you’d hate me,” she admitted. Maggie’s feelings for him were so strong, but her fears of rejection and never being loved back often ate away at her. His reassurance meant the world. Maggie sat down in the chair, and it was then that she was able to let her body fully relax. It was like all the adrenaline she had was fading. “It’s okay. I’ll heal. It’s what vampires do. I’m just.. I’m lucky it wasn’t more fire in my direction, because that could have been way worse.” She nodded slowly as he spoke, and when he asked if she was okay, she shook her head. “I was an absent mother for hundreds of years because I couldn’t get my shit together, and then I finally have a miniscule chance at her wanting me in her life, and this happens. I hate myself for not being able to protect her better. I hate myself for almost losing her because if she takes a turn and doesn’t make it now I don’t think I’d be able to live with that.”

She paused. “And physically? It hurts. I’m not a fighter. My fight or flight always turns into flight. I.. I’ve been hurt before by people, physically, and it was a long time ago, and it.. it brings me back to those feelings of pain,” she admitted. “I just need something good, I need something good to happen or I might not be able to hold it together.”

closed starter - ren & maggie ( @mdrakos​ )

When he got the call from Maggie, Ren didn’t wait a second to rush there. That was surprising for Ren, especially when it had to do with hospitals. He had his own traumas there, his diagnosis with diabetes, a few injuries from work, and even an overdose. That wasn’t why he hated hospitals, he remembers the smells of the hospital the day he brought his son in and never left, he remembers walking in after hearing about his ex-girlfriend. Every sight and sound of a hospital made Ren go rigid, and the thought of Maggie hurt, her daughter even more made him feel cursed. Ren didn’t do good losing people, and it made him crave for a fix albeit being clean for so long. 

Ren didn’t care though, the only thoughts running through his head was to make sure Maggie was okay. He was panicked, he knew they were talking, but he needed to make sure, he thought maybe it was the firefighter in him that made him feel that way. Ren pulled to loosen his tie when he walked in, going up to the front desk. “Hi, I’m looking for Maggie Drakos, she and another girl came in a few hours ago?” the lady working the front desk pointed down the hall and he rushed that way, looking for her. “Maggie?” he said, gasping lightly when he saw her, “Oh my God, Maggie.” He wanted to hug her, but he was scared to hurt her more. So he refrained to check her out, with what looked like burns. “What happened?”

.

“You’re here,” she breathed out, relief rushing through her body. “I’m so sorry, I was hoping I could make it home for the wedding thing,” she told him. “I didn’t mean to stand you up,” she added. The scratches across her face weren’t bleeding anymore, and looked far better than they did when she had first arrived. And the burns, they were taking longer; vampires and fire were not a good mix.

“Ariadne was hiding out in the woods, and I went to go see her. And when I got there, we were ambushed by dragons, no doubt apart of the faction,” she told him. “There was two of us, and... god, at least four of them. Ariadne got the worst of it. They were after her first and foremost, not me. I have no doubt that if I hadn’t been there she would be dead right now.” Maggie took in a shaky breath. “I have lived for centuries and I’ve never had to do something like that, and I feel sick thinking about it.”

Alex squeezed her back in a hug. He tried to stop his hands from shaking, especially when Maggie was hugging him, he didn’t want to worry her about him when they were already worried about Ariadne and she was already so shaken up. “I told her the woods weren’t safe, I should’ve talked her out of staying out there, I should’ve… I…” he choked up, swallowing the tears that were threatening to come again. He knew he should’ve dragged her out of the woods or something when he had the chance, he knew it wasn’t safe. It took a moment for him to think even a little clearly and notice the injuries on Maggie. “Oh my God, Mom, what are you doing? You need to get checked out.”

“They just came out of nowhere,” Maggie told him. “We were outnumbered by dragons and... And it’s a good thing I was there,” she said. “Because she was struggling. She didn’t want me helping her, but she needed it. She won’t ever admit it though,” she said. “But I’m glad you weren’t there. I can’t handle both of you hurt.” They both knew that. When he looked at the injuries, she shook her head. “No, I’m fine, I’ll heal. I can’t.. I wasn’t going to leave her.”

closed starter - alex & maggie ( @mdrakos​ )

Alex burst through the doors of the hospital. Alex felt somewhat calmer, but panic still at the forefront. He wasn’t even sure if he could handle it, seeing Ariadne hurt, he barely kept it together when Astra burned her. Hell, he knew he couldn’t handle it, but he needed to be there for Ariadne. He tried the front desk to find them but whoever was meant to be stationed there, seemed to have stepped out for a minute. He resorted to looking for his mother and sister himself. “Maggie?” he said, searching for signs of Maggie or Ariadne. “Mom?”

Maggie had refused any treatment for her own injuries. She’d heal. But she insisted that Ariadne be seen fast, because she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t make it. Calling Alex was the worst phone call she’d ever had to make. When he finally showed up and she heard him calling, she rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. “I got her here as fast as I could, but it’s... it’s not good.”

Ariadne knew she was being stubborn but she would have pushed anyone off then. When she fought, she showed no weakness and she always got back up. She didn’t need help. That was why she usually fought alone and she could not break that habit in the moment. It did hurt her to see her mother get scratched by the remaining dragon, not any kind of deep ache but enough to know she didn’t want to see her die. She could hear Maggie’s words though they were foggy and distant as she grew weaker. Even her abilities as a huntress weren’t strong enough to keep her upright. She raised her bow and had another arrow ready, a battle cry mixed with strangled pain leaving her as her burnt skin stretched and throbbed. She couldn’t see clearly enough to take aim. The pain was blinding. She blinked over and over.

A calm fell over her and she thought  it was the calm that meant she was about to pass out and she closed her eyes. Fortunately, it was focus. She thought about her brother. Her niece and nephew. She even thought about Astra. She needed to stay alive for all of them. Soon, she was filled with the rage for the people who would try and hurt her and her family and that fire was enough to clear her mind and vision to take aim and fire the arrow. It plunged into the dragon’s soft spot but Ariadne did not have time to see if it did any good because the fire then left her and she crumpled into unconsciousness. 

.

Maggie was trying her hardest not to cry. Was this how normal mothers felt when their kids were hurting? She’d seen tons of people hurt over the centuries of her life, but none of them struck a cord like this did. She was genuinely afraid, and she didn’t know how to make that feeling leave. She needed her daughter to be okay, and watching the way she couldn’t even take another shot with the bow, she knew that she wasn’t okay. She was far from it.

Ariadne pushed her mother off. She would not show weakness, not in front of any enemy and not in front of her own mother. She should have been filled with some kind of warmth that her mother was trying to protect her but she did not feel it. Ariadne took her opportunity when Maggie presented it. As she choked the air out of the dragon, the huntress buried her knife into their back. It took basically all of her remaining energy and there was still one more dragon to deal with. As the creature fell limp, Ariadne turned to their remaining foe but collapsed again. The pain was taking over and she wasn’t sure she had enough in her to keep fighting. Still, she planted one foot on the ground to get up to fight again. She had no interest in standing down or letting them win. 

“I honestly love the outside,” Ren replied, “so I’m totally down for a picnic style lunch date. When I was younger and learning more about my abilities, I used to shapeshift into a golden retriever and run around. Honestly, I think I was a golden retriever in a previous life or something.”

Maggie let out a small laugh. “I can’t lie, that somehow does not surprise me at all,” she told him. “You’ve got that kind of energy about you as a person, so choosing to transform into that seems fitting,” she said, leading him out. She stopped to grab the blanket to sit on, before reaching for his hand. “Did you have anything else you liked shifting into?” she asked, leading the way down the road to the spot she had in mind.

When the dragon was in human form, Ariadne hoped to do more damage. Unfortunately, the beast switched too soon and there was only a little blood on the scales where the arrow had struck him. Now she had to be more accurate with her aim to find the soft spots. Ariadne was keeping her mother in her peripheral, thinking she would need help but she managed to take down one dragon fine. She was also on a good track. She had her bow but when she could get in close proximity to a dragon, she could pull a knife from her thigh and stab at it. She did manage to wound one enough to make it cower and retreat but at the same time, another managed to catch her with its fiery breath. She tried to duck out of the way but her torso was singed. Pain seered through her and she growned, biting down on her lip to keep in a scream so hard that she tasted blood. She did fall to her knees and it took all her energy to get back up when all she wanted to do was lie down and fall into unconsciousness. She staggered to her feet and knocked another arrow, taking aim at the wing of another dragon.

“I don’t need more people,” Ariadne insisted, “Eventually someone just gets hurt,” she added. She had plenty of proof to attest to it too. At the mention of more than one person, she nocked an arrow into her bow. Living out in the woods had always been a risk, especially with the faction on the rise but still, the idea of it actually happening surprised her. Not too much of a surprise that Ariadne wasn’t ready for it though, “Back to back,” she whispered. It was the quickest way to limit vulnerabilities. Fighting alongside her mother was not on her bucketlist but she didn’t have a choice now. Soon, four dragons appeared in the clearing. They were half-transformed already and she quickly started forming a plan in her head. She was not dying today. She was not waiting for them to strike first, letting her first arrow fly and hitting the first dragon in the leg as they moved out of the way just in time to miss it in the chest.

Maggie knew she couldn’t argue. There was no point, and Ariadne was set in her ways. Maggie grabbed a large knife from her daughter’s weapon stash, before swiftly moving into position. She didn’t like that they had to be doing this at all, but she knew they had to. Seeing that it was dragons, she was nervous. She wasn’t much of a fighter, she had never needed to be. But she had instincts, and she needed to act on them. As the dragons began to strike, she stood her ground. She was thankful for her speed and agility, being able to duck. One flew overhead, letting out a breath of fire. Despite the burn she got on her shoulder and neck, she managed to reach up fast enough to grab the dragon by the tail, stabbing the knife into the soft spot before slamming it into the ground.

“I mean they’re bigger now, and they move fast, and they’re not even walking yet,” Alex replied with a sigh. “It’s like they tag team me and they love doing it. I have been alive for over 800 years and none of that prepared me for babies.” Alex let out a small laugh of stress. “Trust me, I’m kinda in the same don’t know how to handle babies boat. This is all so new to me, and I’m literally learning as I go. I swear, Mariza like has something natural about it, and I love her for it. Plus, Natalie moved out, and she was a huge help, so now I’m trying to adjust to that too. I’m… not very good with change.” 

“They move fast probably because they’re half vampire,” she pointed out. “Alex, nothing prepares anyone for babies. God knows I wasn’t prepared. And yeah, there’s more out there now that tries to prepare parents than there was 800 plus years ago, but it’s crap. It’s meant to make you think you know, but you don’t. And you’re a good dad, I don’t have a single doubt in the world about that. You just have double trouble to deal with.” Maggie smiled, going to grab a pacifier. “She’s got a strong mothering instinct about her. And Natalie.. she couldn’t stay forever,” she told him. “I’m not spectacular with change. At least not change that’s not really in my control,” she said. “But I’m not far if you ever need me. Just look at today. I’m their... whatever it is you want me to be to them. And I’m here. And I’ll keep being here if you need me.”

“Can you please try to understand that that doesn’t change anything?” Ariadne replied, “It doesn’t change that I can take care of myself. It doesn’t change that I’m better on my own. It doesn’t change that I don’t need you to look after me. I don’t need anyone except Alex,” she said. She had no idea how much Maggie knew about her relationship with Astra and hoped it was not enough that she’d realise she left her out of it, “No, I won’t. And you-” she was interrupted by the snap of a twig and suddenly she was on even higher alert, “Don’t move,” she whispered, reaching for her bow and arrows.

“I’ll never believe that you’re better on your own. I don’t have any doubt that you are one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. I do think you’d be stronger if you let more people in. It sucks to start, but it... it’s not the worst thing.” She had noticed that Ariadne hadn’t mentioned Astra in the people she needed, but she wasn’t going to push. She knew she wouldn’t get an answer anyway. She heard the sounds of people approaching before Ariadne even stopped speaking, and the twig snap only confirmed her suspicion that they were not alone. “It sounds like there’s a few of them out there,” she whispered back.

closed starter - alex & maggie ( @mdrakos​ )

Alex opened the door to his mother, kicking it open more to let her in as the twins were crying. He had been meaning to clean up a bit, but didn’t have a chance as the twins had a cold, and he was stressing over it, which didn’t help his anxiety that was at a high lately. “Hi, I am so sorry about the mess,” he said, picking up Ariadne. “The twins have a cold so they’re a little restless, I told Mariza I’d be fine if she went to work, and…” he sighed mid-ramble, reminding himself that this was Maggie. He turned to her. “I think I might need some help.”

“You have two babies, I think the mess is to be expected,” Maggie pointed out. She was surprised that he had called her, but when she got there, the surprise died down. He looked like a walking disaster. When he said he needed help, she paused. “You do remember that I have no idea how to.. handle babies, right?” she asked, before going and picking up Tanner. “But it’s fine. We’ve got this, we can do it,” she said, feeling a bit of relief when the baby calmed down in her arms. “See. It’s fine.”

“I’m healing so I’m fine,” Ariadne replied simply. She did not want to get into it. She was half-surprised Alex hadn’t told her what had happened when he got permission to tell their mother where she was. She was grateful he hadn’t. She still needed to figure it out, “I can look after myself. I have managed without you for centuries, you don’t need to start now,” she wasn’t intending to be hurtful. She just didn’t want Maggie to do anything. She tried not to get angry at the stranger comment. She had come to terms with her mother being alive but she was still essentially a stranger. Ariadne made very little effort to get to know her, only tolerating her for Alex’s sake, “I don’t want to scream. I just want to be left in peace.”

“Ariadne, can you please try to understand that I am not the same person I was all those centuries ago?” she asked. “You don’t need to like it, but you need to learn to live with the fact that I’ve changed and I care and I’m trying to do better. You don’t need a mom, I get it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying, it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop giving a shit.” She sighed. “Can you please tell me what happened? Please?”

Ariadne was better. There were still burns but they were healing nicely and not bleeding as much anymore. She had more motion in her shoulder and arm. Still, she wasn’t ready to go back to town. She barely slept, panicked that she would get news of Erik and his sireline - brother, niece and nephew included - were dead. At the same time, she was getting ready to head back into town and hunt down the woman responsible, no matter how much she loved her. She still had hope that Astra would change her mind.

In the mean time, she texted Alex every day and he had mentioned a few times about their mother wanting to know where she was. Eventually, she gave him permission to tell Maggie where she was just for the questions to stop. When the older vampire appeared, Ariadne didn’t move, “Okay, I’m alive. You have seen it with your own two eyes now. Anything else?” she asked.

@mdrakos​

Maggie was worried. When she realized that Ariadne was gone, she was scared. She’d lost her once before, she didn’t want to lose her again. Not when they were making progress. She’d been pestering Alex for answers, and when he finally told her where she was, she made it a priority to go find her and see her. If nothing else than to show her she wasn’t going away and would have her back if she needed it.

The closer she got to Ariadne, the more she knew something wasn’t right. There was a faint scent of burnt flesh, and when she finally laid eyes on her, she could see why. “You’re alive, but you’re hurt,” she said, looking at the healing burns. “Who hurt you?” she asked. Maggie sighed. “I’m here for you, Ariande. I don’t know what drove you to hide away out here, but I’m not going anywhere. If you need me to hurt someone, I’ll hurt them. If you need someone to get you food, I’ll do it. If you need someone to scream at, I’m no stranger to that. I just... I’m here.”

Ren let out a small laugh. “Not exactly sure where I’d get that,” he replied. “But glad I could still help with the whole pasta thing. Where do you suggest we eat this? It’s a nice day outside, have any place to sit out maybe?”

“That’s fair. Most non-vampires don’t have a supply of it in their house at any given moment,” she said with a laugh. Maggie nodded. “Yeah, come on. I know a good spot, as long as you don’t mind sitting on the ground, picnic style. I’ve got a blanket we could sit on in my car.”