#{noxious}

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“Elijah, phone for you.” Elena’s head poked into the cleaning closet. “It’s the sheriff.”

He bit back a sigh and gave her the best smile he could. “Thanks. I’ll be up there in a minute.”

“She’s on line three. Good luck.”

After she left, Elijah’s shoulders drooped and he trudged out to the front desk to answer the phone. Most of the time, Elijah got by just fine without a cell phone and was grateful not to have the extra monthly expense, but sometimes he thought it might be worth it to avoid embarrassment like this.

“Sheriff Forbes, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“It’s Kol.”

Elijah closed his eyes and bit back a curse. Of course it was Kol. It was always Kol. “What did he do this time?”

“Underage drinking and public intoxication, though he skipped resisting arrest this time. We have plenty of room in holding if you-”

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes,” he said. He wasn’t going to leave his brother in a cell overnight, even if he deserved it. It just wasn’t in him. “I’m sorry about all this, Sheriff.”

“Take your time. You know he’s no real trouble to us here.” She hung up and Elijah stared at the phone for a few more seconds before putting it back in the cradle and trudging back to the supply closet to finish up for the day.

He still had another half hour in his shift here at the Gilbert clinic but he was just about done and Dr. Gilbert was usually understanding when he had to leave for family emergencies like this one. He just hated having to ask the favor, hated seeing the pity on the doctor’s face, hated that apologetic smile Elena always gave him when he left.

When he finally got out to his truck, he took a calming breath before starting the engine and heading for the station. It was going to be a long drive home.

-------------------

Every time this happened, Kol wondered if it would be the time Elijah finally gave up on him and told Sheriff Forbes to just let him rot in this cell. He probably deserved it by now.

But, no. Every time, his older brother showed up, dutifully paid his bail, and gracefully withheld from pulling Kol out of the place by his ear before a stifling ride home.

Sometimes, Kol wished Elijah would make him wait overnight just so he would be more sober for these rides.

To Elijah’s credit, he did wait about five minutes before starting his spiel this time. “Kol….”

He rolled his eyes. “Spare me the lecture; I’ve heard it a million times before. I’m smarter than this, if I just applied myself I could do great things, you told me I was just going to get bored when I dropped out of school, and so on and so forth…. Do you ever get tired of spouting the same shit?”

“Do you ever get tired of getting arrested?” Elijah snapped. “I just- I don’t care that you dropped out of school. I don’t care that you don’t have a job. I don’t even care that you spend most of the day lounging around the house playing your music too loud and eating all our food. I don’t, I really don’t. But would it kill you to just stay out of trouble? Is that so hard for you?”

Kol scoffed. “What? So I should be more like you? The noble Elijah, who threw away every opportunity he ever had so he could take care of his stupid, ungrateful family? No thanks.”

Elijah gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I didn’t throw away anything,” he muttered. “I just picked my priorities and acted accordingly. I’m not asking you to make the same choices I did, I just want you to acknowledge that your actions have consequences and now that you’re a full legal adult, they’re going to catch up with you. One of these days, I’m not going to be here to look out for you, and then where will you be?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Really? You have no degree, no work experience, you lay on your ass all day and I’m pretty sure if I didn’t make breakfast for you, you wouldn’t leave your room. Please, enlighten me as to how that means you can take care of yourself.”

“I could get a job. Not my fault no one wants to hire a Mikaelson.”

“Finn and I have jobs.”

“Yeah, well, it’s different for you.”

“Different how?”

Kol rolled his eyes. “Because it’s- You don’t get it.”

“What don’t I get?” Elijah snapped. “I’m a Mikaelson too. I live in this town too. I hear all the same shit about our family that you do. And yet, I manage to earn money and stay out of trouble, unlike you. What exactly am I not getting?”

“You’re a ‘good’ Mikaelson, that’s what you don’t get,” Kol muttered. “People like you. They respect you. They don’t side step you on the street or look at you like you personally put dog shit under their shoes.”

Elijah scowled. “I hate that.”

“Hate what?”

“Being a ‘good Mikaelson’. It’s so fucking patronizing.”

“Yeah, being considered ‘good’ is patronizing.” He rolled his eyes again. “This is why you don’t get it. Not only did I get the shit end of the stick being born into this fucking family, now you gotta go raising the standards for the rest of us.”

Elijah barked out a bitter laugh. “Riiiiight. Because keeping a job for longer than two months and having an understanding of common decency is such a high standard to reach.”

Kol opened his mouth to retort, but the words died in his throat when Elijah’s headlights illuminated their family home.

Klaus’ motorcycle was leaning against the front porch and even from out here they could hear the shouting. Sitting on the steps was Rebekah, her shoulders shaking with silent tears. When she looked up, even Kol balked at seeing her black eye.

“Take her to Finn’s. Carry her if you have to; I’ll need the truck.” Elijah got out before Kol could respond, not that he had anything to say. Elijah bolted up the stairs past their sister and Kol dashed right up to her. “Are you okay?” he asked, cradling her face in one hand while he inspected her for any other injuries.

“Dad’s gonna kill him,” she whispered before she flung herself into his arms. “Mom left and- and Nik’s not Dad’s and- and Dad’s gonna kill him!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay….” Kol rubbed her back and helped her get to her feet. “Elijah won’t let that happen. Let’s just get to Finn’s and get you patched up, okay? Then you can tell me what happened.”

Rebekah shook her head. “I tried to stop him but he- he’s so mad…. I never seen him this mad…”

“It’s okay,” Kol lied again, leading her away from the house. “But we need to get moving, okay? Just keep moving….”

He hoped their eldest brother would answer the door when they got there.

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Elijah burst through the front door and followed the shouting to the living room. He stumbled at what he saw.

Mikael had Niklaus pinned to the floor and was repeatedly punching him. He was shouting something, but it was too loud and too fast for Elijah to understand. Not that he needed to.

He grabbed Mikael and ripped him off his brother, shoving him toward the other side of the room. “That’s enough! Back off!”

“Don’t protect him!” Mikael’s speech slurred as much as his next punch, which Elijah easily blocked. “Damned bastard. Never could stand him….”

“You’re fucking drunk.” Elijah grabbed both of his arms and forced him out of the room. “Don’t make me knock you out.”

“Ungrateful brat,” Mikael spat at him. “That’s no way to talk to your father, boy.”

Elijah usually prided himself on his ability to keep a level head. He was good at taking insults, letting them wash over his back and moving on with his day. He had a talent for keeping the peace, settling disputes, cleaning up the aftermath.

But everyone had their limits. And when it came to Mikael, his limits were very, very short.

Elijah punched him, nearly knocking him to the ground. Then he punched him again. And again. Even as his knuckles stung, the punches felt good. Really good.

“Big fucking talk coming from the man who hasn’t kept a job for longer than half a year. When’s the last time you paid a bill in this house, huh?” Elijah shoved him out the front door. “I pay the fucking bills for this house. I put the fucking food on the table. I even buy your fucking beer. So watch who you call ‘boy’, you noxious piece of shit!” He couldn’t help but smirk when his father fell on his ass at the bottom of the porch stairs.

“You think you’re so big,” Mikael muttered as he staggered to his feet. “You wouldn’t be here without me.”

“No. I’d be having a nice family dinner right about now without you. I’d have less shit to put up with without you. I’d have one less freeloader around without you.” Elijah sneered at him. “Why don’t you just- just leave? You never loved us, and all you do is make shit harder for us.”

Mikael laughed, a cruel, biting sound. “You don’t know what you’re on about. You don’t know the sacrifices I’ve made, what I’ve done for you. It was always your mother-”

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that.” Elijah stormed down the stairs and punched him clear across the face. “You don’t get to say shit about anyone in this family. You’ve never done anything for us. Just- Just get the hell out of here!”

“Fine! I-I’ll fucking go! See how you do without me!” He stumbled to his own truck, on the other side of the lot. Elijah waited until he’d sped down the road before running back inside to collect Klaus.

“Hey, hey, I got you,” he said softly, kneeling next to his brother and assessing the damage. His head was bleeding and Elijah could hear him wheezing with each breath. “Come on, let’s get you fixed up…” Elijah helped him to his feet and half carried him out to the truck. “It’s gonna be okay,” he muttered, not sure who he was trying to convince as he buckled his brother into his seat.

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Elena was just flipping the “CLOSED” sign on the front door of the clinic when a familiar junker screeched to a stop on the curb. She was unlocking the door before Elijah got out of his truck and she gasped when she saw who he had with him. She jammed the doorstop between the hinges so the door would stay open while she ran back to get her parents.

“Elijah just pulled up with Klaus! And it really doesn’t look good.”

She made it back to the front in time for Elijah to be carrying Klaus into the front room. Elena nearly gagged seeing the state Klaus was in; she could barely see his face beneath the blood and he wheezed with every breath.

“I-I told them you were coming, you can just take him back-”

“Thanks!” Elijah ran past her toward the larger emergency room and she followed. She caught up just in time for Elijah to be shut out of the room while her father got to work. Elena observed him from the other side of the hallway. He was leaning on the doorway with one hand, his eyes not leaving the window where he could see his brother. He was breathing heavily and a closer look revealed blood dripping from his knuckles.

“Hey,” she said softly, grabbing his attention. “They’ll be in there for a while. Let me look at you?”

“I’m fine.”

She pointed to the hand hanging at his side. “You’re bleeding; that doesn’t count as fine.” Elena didn’t give him more time to argue before she grabbed his arm and dragged him to a nearby exam room. She directed him to sit on the examination table and put on some gloves. “Let me see your hands.”

“Elena, I can wait for-”

“Don’t argue with your doctor. Hands, Mr. Mikaelson.”

He raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue further, holding his hands out for her to inspect. “You’re a doctor now? I didn’t realize you’d finished medical school.”

“Yeah, I actually just graduated from the Gilbert School of ‘Shut Up and Let me Take Care of You’.”

Elijah chuckled. “Not the catchiest name.”

“No, but they have a great record.” Elena returned his grin with a wink.

She took his hands and carefully dabbed disinfectant where his knuckles were split and wiped away the drying blood. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” she asked.

Elijah shrugged. “Just family stuff,” he muttered. “House full of hot heads, sometimes people get hurt. It sucks, but what can you do?” He smiled again, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You drove up here like a bat out of hell and almost ran over me bringing your brother back here,” Elena pointed out. “You can’t blame me for being curious.” Her eyes dropped back to his hands as she applied a bandage. “I know things get a little….crazy at your house. But it’s not usually this bad.”

It was far from the first time Elijah had brought one of his siblings in because of “family stuff”. Kol and Klaus were repeat customers with the occasional visit from Rebekah. She suspected he brought them here because they didn’t ask too many questions and wouldn’t spawn rumors the same way a hospital visit would. Her father was objective about it, but Elena always worried. It wasn’t normal for people to “bump into doors” or “fall down the stairs” that often.

“House full of hot heads,” Elijah repeated. “It’s really nothing for you to worry about, Elena. We look out for each other.”

“I know.” Elena almost offered to call the police, but she knew he wouldn’t go for it. Family business was family business in a town like Mystic Falls, even if everyone was talking about it. “I’d take it easy on those hands for the next few days, but nothing is broken,” she said, flawlessly changing the subject to safer territory. “Any questions?”

“No. Thank you, Doctor Gilbert.” Elijah’s real smile returned and Elena hid her blush behind her hair. She busied herself cleaning up while he left the room to check on his brother.

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When Finn left the Mikaelson “Manor”, he took two boxes of clothes, a trophy he’d earned at Orchestra Solo and Ensemble, and his youngest brother. As much as he’d wanted to start completely fresh with Sage, leave everything from his family behind and make his new safe space, he couldn’t leave Henrik in that house.

What was once a great manor that sat on sprawling acres of fertile land was little better than a run down shack. What had once been a great family, worthy of being among the Founding Families of Mystic Falls was a horror story of bad investments, gambling debts, and poor work ethic. The house was always in need of repair and there were days that Finn wondered at how it hadn’t been condemned already. And the Mikaelson family name had been so thoroughly drug through the mud by it’s own members that it was no surprise no one else in town respected them.

There was a reason Finn took Sage’s name and insisted Henrik do the same once the adoption went through. There was a reason he rarely called home except to update his mother on Henrik and to check up on Rebekah. Even if he only really moved a few miles away, he had, for all intents and purposes, left his family behind. He’d promised Sage he was putting her and their future first when they got married and that meant he couldn’t let his family drag him into their fires (which they had nearly every day).

Elijah may never forgive him for it, but that was his problem. Just because he felt like throwing his life away for the family, didn’t mean everyone else had to follow suit.

So, when Kol woke them up banging on the door, Finn was ready to tell his brother to kindly fuck all the way off his porch and call in the morning if he needed money that badly.

Any indignation he had faded when he saw the state Rebekah was in. He let them in without a word.

Kol filled him in while Sage saw to Rebekah’s injuries. “I wasn’t there, but Bekah saw everything….”

Mother had been having an affair for over two decades. Ansel, the leader of a biker gang that rolled through town every so often, was the object of her affection. And he was Niklaus’ real father. She’d kept it a secret before, but after finding out she was pregnant with his child again, she decided to go a different route and tell the truth.

“Dad was pissed,” Kol said quietly. “Like really pissed. When Elijah and I got in he was beating on Nik bad. I didn’t see anything but we could hear it from the truck. And…. Well, you saw what he did to Beks….”

Finn nodded. None of them had ever been safe from Father’s wrath, but usually the physical abuse was reserved for the boys, and even then Klaus got the worst of it. He’d never done more than yell at Rebekah before. “What about Mother? Where is she?”

Kol shrugged. “She wasn’t there when we got in. Beks said something about her riding away with her lover. I guess she’s gone for good.”

Finn nodded and a piece of his heart broke off. For all her faults, he’d never had a problem with Mother. She taught him how to be a better husband than Father was and how to stretch a dollar. Without her, he may not be living in his own house now. Knowing that she left without so much as a goodbye call stung. “Where are Elijah and Nik?”

“Elijah probably took him to the clinic to get patched up,” Kol said. “I mean, if he could’ve taken care of Klaus himself he’d probably be here by now….”

They trailed off into awkward silence. Finn had never been good at this part, the comforting and cleaning up. “...Are you okay?” he asked, his voice awkward and stilted.

Kol shrugged. “Fine. Nothing like a little family drama to sober you up,” he said wryly.

Finn frowned. “You were out getting drunk? In the middle of the week?”

His youngest brother rolled his eyes. “Yes, and I already got the lecture from Elijah when he picked me up from the drunk tank so don’t fucking bother.” He walked away, probably to check on Rebekah, and Finn let him. It wasn’t his job to straighten out his siblings.

He walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. He had a feeling they were all going to need it before the night was over.

While the machine percolated, Sage joined him. “I set your sister up in the guest room. Kol is trying to get her to go to sleep.”

“How is she?”

Sage shrugged. “She stopped crying. She’ll be better in the morning, once she sees Klaus is okay.”

Finn nodded and kissed her cheek. “You’ve been amazing with all this. Thank you.”

“Of course. They’re your family.”

He hid his grimace in her hair. He didn’t hide his family from her before they got married, but he didn’t find reasons to bring them together either. She was too good to put up with their nonsense.

Just when the coffee had finished brewing, Finn heard the familiar, broken rumble of Elijah’s truck pulling into his driveway. He opened the door before they reached the porch and had to bite back his reaction to Klaus’ condition. His head was nearly completely covered in bandages and he was heavily leaning on Elijah. “Is he….?”

“He’s fine,” Klaus muttered. “Just need a solid night’s sleep on your couch, dear brother.”

Finn’s gaze slid to Elijah, who was rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

It almost seemed normal, Elijah carrying Klaus back into the house after a bad injury under Finn’s watchful eye. How often had this happened during their childhood? How often had they bandaged each other up after a fight or a bout of rough play? How often had they taken that simplicity for granted?

Finn took up Klaus’ other side without a word. When they made it to the living room, Sage was just finished setting up the pull out couch. He offered his wife a quiet thanks while Elijah got their brother settled.

“Thanks for this,” Elijah said, standing up slowly, not taking his eyes off of Klaus. “Tonight’s been...crazy.”

“Of course.” Sage spoke for him. “Rebekah’s sleeping in the guest room and Kol is keeping an eye on her there. I’ve got a spare air mattress but you’ll probably need to share-”

“Don’t worry about me.” Elijah gave her a false smile. “I need to get back to the house and sort things out. If they can just stay here…?”

“Of course,” Sage agreed while Finn stiffened. That didn’t sound right.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in the morning to get them.” He headed for the door and Finn was right on his heels, following him out on to the porch.

“What are you doing? You can’t just leave them here! And what are you even going to do at the house?!”

Elijah stopped and whirled around almost faster than he could register. “I can’t just leave them here?! They’re your siblings, not stray cats!” he hissed. “Is it so hard for you to at least pretend like we’re family?”

Finn returned his glare. “I’m not kicking them out,” he said carefully. “But this is a lot at once, even you have to admit that. Henrik has school, tomorrow; Sage and I have work. I’m not saying I can’t handle it but this is not how I wanted to spend my night.”

“Well, tonight’s not going how I planned either,” Elijah snapped. “I was going to enjoy a home cooked meal and finish my book. Instead I got to pick Kol up from the drunk tank, fight with Mikael, and worry that Klaus was about to fucking die in my truck!”

Finn put his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know; I’m sorry. I’m glad you’re okay. But I don’t think you should be in that house by yourself, not tonight.” He glanced down at the bandages on Elijah’s hands. “Whatever it is you think you need to do, do it tomorrow. Maybe get Kol to help you-”

“I’ll be fine,” Elijah muttered. “I’ve just gotta clean up the mess and make sure Mikael is still gone. I’ll come get them all in the morning, I swear. And they won’t be trouble tonight,” he added hurriedly. “Kol and Rebekah will be fine, and you just need to worry about Klaus’ concussion. And Henrik will like seeing them all again; you know he adores Niklaus.”

“What do you mean, ‘make sure Mikael is still gone’?” Kol hadn’t said anything about their father leaving.

“We fought. I told him he should just get the hell out of our lives since he only ever causes trouble. He got in his truck and said we’d be begging him to come back soon.” Elijah said all this with an air of nonchalance but Finn could see the slight tremble in his bandaged hands.

“I worry about you driving this late, especially after a night like tonight.”

“It’s just a few miles; I’ll be fine.”

Finn crossed his arms. “There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, is there?”

“When have you ever changed my mind on anything?”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Fine. Do whatever you think you need to do. Just- Don’t hurt yourself in that house by yourself, okay?”

“I’ll be fine; I always am.”

He wasn’t sure how to tell his stubborn brother that’s what he was worried about.

-----------------

Mikael was still gone when Elijah stopped in front of the house. He hoped that meant he was gone for good.

He slowly walked through the house, taking stock of everything that needed to be fixed. All the damage was on the first floor, which was a nice break. Usually Mikael’s anger extended to the whole house. There wasn’t much- some blood on the floor here, a broken chair there.

The worst of it was a new hole in the wall courtesy of Mikael’s fist. Elijah would need to go to the hardware store tomorrow to get something to fix that. He may as well make a list of anything else that needed fixing so he could price it at least. Maybe he should ask Mom if-

It hit him as he was collecting the cleaning rags from the closet that he wouldn’t be asking her anything again. Klaus had told him most of the story on the way to Finn’s from the clinic. She was gone, off with her lover for good. She hadn’t done much for the family, but she put money toward the home (more than Mikael did most of the time) and she buffered most the rage when she could. And if Mikael stayed gone….

Well, that just left Elijah to handle everything, didn’t it?