The Beautiful Monster

"She can come," Melina said. "Tyler will be with me."

"And I'm coming too," Scott said with a bold grin. "Gotta have someone around to moderate."

Elias rolled his eyes. He should've expected Scott to try to force his way into any situation possible.

"She's a doctor. She can't just leave everything behind to come with me," he said sternly. He would never ask that of her.

Alyssa suddenly came up to his side, taking his arm.

"I'll come with you," she told him.

Elias looked at her in shock. She couldn't possibly be serious. She had too much back in New York to just leave it behind. He didn't want her to feel obliged to come along.

"You don't have to. I'm fine with us staying in New York together," he told her as he turned to face her, placing his hands on her upper arms.

"But what if Alaric attacks? What if something bad happens?" Alyssa asked, looking worried. "You need to be ready. I can't lose you."

Elias frowned as he gazed at her. He hadn't seen her look this tense in a while, and he didn't want her to be overcome with worry for him. He cupped her face and pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

"You won't lose me. I just can't ask you to leave your job behind for me," Elias said.

Alyssa peered at him for a moment before shrugging.

"I'm great in my field. I can always get another job or go back to my old one after everything settles," she replied. "I would rather be alive and jobless than dead."

"Huh. I guess I was wrong about you," Scott commented.

Elias immediately turned on Scott, getting in his space.

"What does that mean?" he snapped.

"I always thought that she would hold you back. Distract you," Scott replied evenly. He glanced over at Alyssa with a smirk. "Sorry about that."

"Guys, stop," Melina sighed as she stepped closer to them. "I know this isn't ideal, but Alaric will kill all of us. We have to do this to even have a chance against him."

"She's right," Alyssa spoke up. She grabbed Elias' hand, tugging him away from Scott. "We have bigger issues to deal with. Your parents' house war burned down. That had to be a warning for what's to come."

Elias rubbed the back of his neck, calming himself down. If Alyssa supported the plan, then there had to be something good about it. It would be a hassle leaving his life behind, but he also didn't want to die. It was a sacrifice that he had to make.

"Fine. We can try it," he said. They could always stop if things didn't work out. He wasn't actively rooting against the plan, but he wasn't sure how well it would work. He didn't even know how to go about training with Melina.

Melina brightened up a little.

"Great. Tyler and I will figure out travel arrangements," she said.

"No, no. We'll take care of it," Daniel said, waving his hand dismissively. 

"You just lost your house. You have enough to worry about," Melina said, shaking her head.

"We want to make sure that you're well taken care of on the road," Nora replied as she looked between Elias and Melina with a hint of a smile on her face. "I've been waiting for you two to be reunited for so long."

Elias didn't say anything. He had a whole list of snarky replies to that, but his mom looked so happy right now that he couldn't bring himself to speak his thoughts. He would let his mom have this moment. He had things to go take care of.

"Well, we have to go to New York to take care of some things. When are we leaving?" Elias asked Melina. He would rather the plans go through her than through Scott.

"On Friday," Melina said before glancing at Tyler and Scott. "If that's okay."

"I'm ready," Scott said as he rubbed his hands together.

Elias turned to Alyssa.

"Are you sure you want to come?" he asked her. He would drop everything for her in a heartbeat if she wanted him to. Her safety was more important to him than his own. That was what it was like for him to be in love, but he wouldn't trade that for the world.

"I'm right by your side the whole way," Alyssa reminded him.

Elias breathed in slowly and nodded. It looked like they were about to take an extended road trip.

He still wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he had made his mind up. They were going, and he could only hope that Alaric didn't quickly catch up.

**********

"Just send me any important reports. I can look over them and send back any comments," Elias said as he spoke on the phone with one of his assistants.

He paced through his penthouse, rubbing the back of his head as he moved.

He was lucky that he could trust his staff to take care of his company while he was gone, but it still felt weird handing over control.

His company had been his baby for a long time. It had been his saving grace in a way because it kept him focused on his future instead of the pain that he felt from the breakup.

Without his company, he would've surely fallen apart.

Now, he had something that he made that he could be proud of, and it allowed him to live comfortably. He didn't want to lose all of that hard work.

"I want all of the meetings recorded so that I can look back on them too," Elias added. He wanted to be kept in the loop as much as possible.

He had no idea how long he was going to be gone for, so he didn't want to be set too far behind. It made him feel better to know that he would be able to catch up once things settled.. If they ever did.