AN: And, officially, this is the last chapter for now. I know, in my head, what happens in the future, but I haven't got real plans for a story around it, so I will call this collection of oneshots complete for now. If there is a big desire to hear what goes on in their lives later, I might post a summary if enough people are interested. But I think this is a good place to close it for now. Thank y'all so much for going on this journey with me, and I'm so glad that so many people have cared about my characters so much! It blows me away.

In the Heat of the Moment

Part cinq

A few switchbacks later and they're on their way to Virginia. Apparently the vampire's buddies either don't care enough about him or aren't too keen on leaving New Orleans. Unfortunately, a whole other problem arises.

"What are we going to tell Mom and Dad?" Grace asks.

Fay and Kol exchange a glance. "They're gonna know something happened," Fay says with a sigh. "Since we… you know."

"Since we can be in the same room together now?" Kol says lightly, smiling.

"Since you kiss in the same room now," Malachi corrects him.

"Right," Fay mumbles. "But we've handled it. No need to interrupt their vacation. And they'll be back in two days anyway. They'll come back, figure out something happened, and so we'll just sit them down and explain."

However, when Elijah and Leah do return home, the explanations get a little… muddled. And told backwards.

"Fay are you sure about this?"

"Yes, Leah, okay? It just sort of happened while we were on the run."

"You were on the run?"

"Mom, listen, there was this vampire, and Kol killed him —"

"Well, you're not going to college there," Elijah says, like that settles it.

"But Kol saved us because we were walking around looking at stuff at a street fair and Grace got separated from us and this vampire —"

"It came after you?" Leah gasps.

"It bit me. Kol had to give me his blood. It was gross, Mom."

Dead silence.

"You are definitely not going to college there," Elijah says, and that's the end of Tulane.

In the middle of the night, Grace wakes up from a nightmare, and lies in bed, panting. She dreamed that the vampire was after her again, but she was running down a blind alley with no way out. She woke up just as a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

She shudders and pushes back the sheet, slipping out of bed and tiptoeing downstairs. A light is on in the kitchen, and through the doorway she can see Elijah at the table, typing on a laptop.

"Can't sleep?" he says quietly, without looking up.

Grace slips in the doorway. "I had a bad dream," she whispers.

Elijah looks up at her and pushes the laptop away. "Do you think ice cream would help?" He smiles.

"Can't hurt," she says with a small smile.

"Okay," he says. "What kind do you want? I'll scoop you some." He gets up and opens the freezer. "There's vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, and some sort of orange something." Their family is big on sweets.

"Cookies and cream?" Grace asks hopefully, perching on a bar stool by the counter.

"Coming right up," he says, pulling out the carton. "So what was the dream about?"

Grace sighs and rubs her arms. Her t-shirt still feels sticky from sweat. "He was running after me," she says. "But there was nowhere for me to go."

Elijah slides a bowl in front of her full of ice cream and a glass of water, sitting down beside her with his own bowl. "It's just a dream. You know that," he says gently.

She takes a bite of ice cream and a sip of water. "I know." After the story came out in full, her mom had talked to her about it for a long time to make sure she was okay. And she was, mostly. It was just… "Daddy," she whispers, staring into her ice cream bowl.

"Yes, Grace," Elijah says quietly.

"I've never been scared of vampires before," Grace says. She takes another drink of water.

"Why not?"

"Huh?" she says, looking at him.

"Why haven't you been scared before?" Elijah repeats, eyes kind.

"Because… because Mom's Mom, and you're my Dad and… even when Uncle Klaus gets mad or Kol does something stupid, I'm not scared. They wouldn't…."

"Wouldn't what, Grace?"

"Wouldn't hurt me," she whispers.

She felt his hand rub her back, and she looked up in his eyes. "I did everything like you said," she said, feeling her throat close. "I pretended to be compelled and I tried to stay calm and I didn't thrash and I sprayed him with vervain, but I was scared —" Her voice cracks. "I was scared I was going to die." Tears burn in her eyes. "And people did die; that policeman died."

"I know," Elijah whispers, and though she feels too big, he pulls her into his lap. She clings to him and cries. "Go ahead and cry," he whispers, rubbing her back.

He's held her so many times that the silence from a barely pumping heart is comforting to her, soothing as she lets the tears come. The back of her throat aches, but it's a good ache.

"None of this was your fault, you know," Elijah says. She nods into his shirt. "It's okay to be scared. And you were incredibly brave."

"Didn't feel brave," she mumbles.

"Brave isn't always a feeling," he says, gently turning her face up. "And I'm so proud of you." He kisses her forehead gently and smiles. "You can always talk to me about it, Grace."

"I know," she says, still snuggled in his arms.

They sit like that for a few more minutes before he points out, "You're ice cream is melting."

Grace sniffs and giggles and slides off his lap to sit back on her own stool, picking up her spoon. The ice cream is now more like a glacier in some soup, but it still tastes good.

"What's this about you wanting to go to a gun range?" Elijah asks Malachi that evening in the living room, when Grace and Leah are making cookies for a church potluck.

A muscle in Ky's jaw works. "I want to know how to shoot."

Elijah raises an eyebrow. "All right." He opens his newspaper. "I'll take you on Saturday."

Ky stares at him, flummoxed. "You're all right with it?"

"Of course," Elijah says, over the top of the paper. "As long as I'm there to supervise."

"You're not mad or anything?"

Elijah puts the paper down. "Ky, why would I be mad?"

Ky shrugs, looking out the window at the fading daylight.

"Does it have something to do with the vampire?" Elijah murmurs, watching his son carefully.

The muscle in Ky's jaw jumps again. "I shot him," he grinds out. "I shot him three, maybe four times. Didn't even slow him down. But if the bullets were wood, I —" he breaks off, staring at a loose thread in the sofa arm's slipcovers. He picks at it and doesn't continue.

"You what, Ky?"

"I could have killed him," he snaps. "I wanted to."

"I'm glad you didn't have to carry that burden," Elijah whispers, standing and crossing to where Ky perches on the sofa arm. "I don't want that for you."

Ky's hands shake, and he crosses his arms to hide it. "He was hurting Grace," he forces out. "He bit her. She's just a kid —" His breath catches, and he turns away to hide the sudden tears.

Elijah hugs him. "Let it out, Ky," he says. "There's no shame in tears."

His son's shoulders shake with sobs. "I was scared we were both going to die," Ky manages to say. "If Kol hadn't come, we'd be dead."

"Thank God for Kol," Elijah says, something he'd never thought he'd say without a trace of irony.

"I couldn't do anything to stop it." Ky swipes ineffectually at his eyes.

"That's not true," Elijah corrects him. "You kept a cool head. You held off the vampire so your sister could get away. You got the both of you running, and you had Grace call Fay. Those were all the right things."

"But all the right things don't keep the bad guy from winning," Ky protests.

"He didn't win, Malachi." Elijah stares into his son's eyes, only a few inches difference. "You're both alive. Don't torture yourself with what-ifs."

"I know," Ky whispers, looking down.

"I love you," Elijah whispers, placing his hands on his shoulders. "And I'm so proud of you. Remember that."

Ky's shoulder's relax. "Thanks, Dad."

As it happens, Klaus receives the news last. He bursts in through the back door, shouting for Leah.

"She's at the jewelry store," Fay calls lazily from the living room. "What do you need?"

It's hot enough to roast something outdoors, and the air conditioner is making funny noises, so they've got it on eighty until a repairman makes it out to take a look. While eighty might feel nice when you come in from outdoors, it's still quite warm, so every fan in the house is whirring.

"Fay, would you call Bekah and tell her that —" Klaus breaks off, registering that Kol and Fay are in the same room and not throwing heavy furniture at each other. They're not particularly close, but then, nobody wants to be close on a hot day. "Oh. Bury the hatchet, finally?"

"Kindly close your mouth," Fay said tartly. "It's rude, and some bug might fly in there. Are there bugs that can turn into vampires? What if a mosquito feeds off me and then I swat it? Does it turn into an undead vampire mosquito? That sounds awful."

"I don't know," Kol says, raising an eyebrow. "Although there are enough of them around to make you wonder."

"Great," Klaus says loudly, uninterested in the possibilities of a vampire mosquito population. "Someone call Bekah."

"Fine," Fay mumbles, getting up. "I'll ask her what you did now."

"Another tiff?" Kol smirks. "You know, Nik, if you admit your faults, it works wonders."

On her way to get the phone, Fay smacks Kol on the back of the head. "A little groveling wouldn't hurt your cause, mister."

"I'm glad this isn't one of those hundred-year-spats," Klaus says, watching them.

"Of course you know all about those, hmm?" Kol says, smiling with all his teeth.

"Shut up, Kol."