For Yvonne, happy birthday, sweetie, love you :) Takes place after "All my children", one-shot for now

Mystic Falls, present day

"Hi…It's me…again. I don't know if you'll ever get these or if this is even your number anymore, but… I could really use someone to talk to. No, not someone, you. I know I have no right to ask, but could you please call me if you get this? I need to…hear your voice. Please."

Elijah stared at his phone for a moment before putting it back to his jacket pocket; he had never felt so depressed in his life. Why else would he be sitting at the Mystic Grill by himself, having his who knew how many drink. Well, he felt that he had the right to drink after his own mother had tried to kill him. All his siblings, except Finn, were probably somewhere doing the same thing, whether if they were drinking alcohol or blood. That was how they handled emotional pain; they certainly didn't gather round and talk about their feelings.

Elijah knew that tomorrow they would have to start making plans for protecting themselves from their mother, but tonight they would all handle the whole thing the best way they could. Hopefully Kol wouldn't cause too much destruction, but even if he did, Elijah was determined for not to care about that, not tonight. He was sitting at the bar and apparently he looked so gloomy that no one had dared to approach him. Until now.

"You have a lot of nerve to show up here after what you did to Elena," the older Salvatore said.

For a moment Elijah considered teaching the cocky young vampire how to speak to an Original, but he was too tired to do that, more tired than he had been for a very, very long time. It was much easier to simply ignore the annoyance known as Damon Salvatore.

"What, nothing to say," Damon snorted when Elijah took a gulp out of his glass. "A scotch, please," he added and sat down on the empty barstool next to Elijah. "Elena is fine by the way, but no thanks to you or your psycho sister…"

"I wouldn't test my patience now if I were you," Elijah stated icily.

"What, you think you're the only one who had a crappy day?" Damon snorted. "Besides, your mother failed, didn't she?"

"Yes, I imagine you couldn't be happier about that."

Damon shrugged and picked up the glass the bartender placed in front of him.

"It's nothing personal; I just don't like you or your family."

Elijah huffed; the young vampire's arrogance was almost amusing. Almost.

"I would advice you to remember who you are talking to. Or do you wish to have another lesson about respect?"

"No, thanks," Damon muttered and touched his neck. "But I think its pretty hypocrite of you to talk about respect after what you did to Elena today."

"I did what I had to do to protect my family," Elijah snapped, although he wouldn't have to explain himself. "I imagine you would have done the same, at least for Elena."

Damon didn't say anything; he took a long gulp out of his glass.

"Yes, Petrovas…" Elijah murmured. "They know how to wrap men around their little finger."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Damon huffed. "Elena isn't Katherine. Or Tatia."

"Maybe not, but she has shown that she can be deceitful," Elijah replied. "She had no problem to lie to my face."

"She had every right to defend herself from you and your family," Damon snapped.

Elijah glanced at him briefly and turned his eyes to the melting ice cubes on the bottom of his glass.

"Believe it or not, but I know how you feel; I would have given my life for Tatia. Unfortunately that wasn't enough for her."

Elijah kept his voice free from emotions; he had got over his mixed feelings towards Tatia. And Katerina. Both of them had betrayed him and for a moment he had thought that this newest doppelganger would be different. Well, live and learn, treacherousness seemed to be in their blood.

"You're not much of a ladies man, are you?" Damon huffed. "It shows."

Elijah turned to look at him and frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Damon replied innocently.

Elijah ignored his words and concentrated on his glass. There was only one lady who he would have wanted, but he had probably ruined things with her for good. The thought cut him deeper than he wanted to admit. All he would have wanted was to hear her voice, but he doubted that she would call. He could only blame himself for that. She had been his, the light of his miserable existence and he had ruined that. Perhaps his mother had been right, he claimed to be noble, but she might disagree, he hadn't treated her the way she would have deserved to be treated. For a moment he allowed himself to get absorbed in his memories, the day when he had met her…

Duchy of Milan, 1502

Elijah looked outside through the window of the carriage absentmindedly and tried his best to listen to his brother. Niklaus was very excited, he was more than eager to meet this witch Antonia he had heard so much about. Elijah didn't share his enthusiasm, but he was glad to see his brother feeling better, last decade had been very unpleasant for all of them. Rebekah had threatened to leave many times when Niklaus had been at his worst, but she had stayed with them, probably because she didn't want to infuriate Niklaus more than Katerina already had.

Elijah certainly wouldn't want to be in her position when Niklaus would finally find her. Thinking about her still filled him with bitterness, but perhaps he should thank her, she had given him a valuable lesson which he had almost forgotten; never let anyone so close that they can hurt you. Elijah crossed his arms; they had just arrived to the small village where Antonia lived. She didn't usually accept visitors and she didn't leave from her house, but somehow Niklaus had managed to arrange a meeting with her.

Elijah doubted that this witch would be able to give Niklaus what he was yarning for, but perhaps she could give him something. The driver stopped the carriage and a young servant boy who was sitting next to the driver jumped down in order to open the door. Elijah stepped out and looked around; they were in front of a small house that was a little apart from the other houses, Niklaus was already heading to the door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Elijah asked.

"No, I do not think that will be necessary," Niklaus replied without even looking at him.

Elijah sighed and decided to stretch his legs; the ride had been very long. Slowly he headed to the centre of the village and noticed a large crowd gathered on the village square. There were men, women and children; they were all looking at the stage that had been set in the middle of the village square. Elijah noticed a man who seemed to be a priest and a young woman who was on her knees next to him, she was in shackles. Her long black hair shielded most of her dirt-smudged face and she kept her eyes down, her grey dress was dirty and torn.

"…fornication and perjury," the priest was saying in Italian. "This woman brought shame to the family who took her into their home when no one else did. And how did she repay them, by making outrageous accusations towards this honorable, God-fearing man in order to cover her whorish ways."

The priest paused and waved his hand towards the man who was sitting few feet away from the stage under a silk canopy, there were two soldiers standing by his side. The man was probably in his late thirties, he had black hair and piercing blue eyes.

"She has admitted the truth now," the priest continued. "She has whored with so many men that she does not know whose bastard she is carrying."

The crowd started to shout insults at this woman and some people even threw stones towards her.

"Kill the harlot!" some man shouted.

"Good people, please!" the priest tried to calm them down. "We are not barbarians, she is with child. Her sentence will be 30 lashes and her deceitful tongue shall be cut off."

The crowd started to cheer, Elijah saw the woman flinching. The man under the canopy hid his smile behind his hand.

"After that the merciful lord Cosimo has promised to take her back to his household," the priest continued. "He truly is a man of God."

The crowd cheered again, lord Cosimo gave them a dignified nod.

"I believe we are all God's children," he said, gazing at the woman who kept her eyes down. "I forgive her, but for her own good she must be punished for her sins."

"Well said, my lord," the priest said and motioned a tall man who was holding a whip to come closer. "Let us begin!"

"Stop!" Elijah shouted. He had no idea what he was doing, but he couldn't let this to happen, the woman was pregnant for heaven's sake. Everyone turned to look at him, but he managed to stay perfectly calm. "I demand you release her at once."

"How dare you," the priest snapped. "Who…"

"I am the father of her child," Elijah heard himself saying, the crowd gasped. "And therefore her life belongs to me."

The priest stared at him disbelievingly, but not as disbelievingly as lord Cosimo, his face was turning red.

"That is a lie!" he shouted before he managed to control himself.

Elijah looked at him and smiled, it wasn't difficult to see what was going on here. Obviously "the God-fearing" lord was the child's real father.

"Perhaps you should ask the young lady," Elijah suggested calmly.

Very slowly she looked up, her big dark brown eyes observed him intently.

"Is this true?" the priest asked.

She nodded without hesitation; apparently she was willing to take her chances with him rather than be whipped and lose her tongue. Lord Cosimo's eyes darkened, obviously he wanted to say something, but he really couldn't, not if he didn't want everyone to know the truth.

"Do you honestly want this woman?" the priest asked disbelievingly. "She has admitted that she has fornicated with countless of men…"

"She is carrying my child, I know this for a fact," Elijah interrupted him. "And I know my rights, I am sure you know them too, father."

The priest pressed his lips together, but didn't say anything, the crowd moved out of the way when Elijah marched towards the stage. The woman didn't look at him when he stepped next to her.

"Unchain her," Elijah demanded.

The priest didn't look pleased at all, but he waved his hand, the man with the whip bent down and unlocked the chains. The woman tried to stand up, but she couldn't, she would have fallen down if Elijah wouldn't have taken her hand and helped her up. She couldn't stand, so Elijah bent down and lifted her into his arms. She didn't make a sound, but her body tensed a little. There were some whispers among the crowd, but people were still too stunned to really react. Elijah was planning to get away from here before they would be ready.

Fortunately no one tried to stop him, he walked away from the village square as fast as he could without using his vampire speed. Neither he nor the woman said a word, there were some unhappy people following them. He could only hope that Niklaus would be finished already, they really should go. Thankfully Niklaus was standing next to the carriage, looking more than impatient. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Elijah, the woman in his arms the people who were coming after them.

"Right…" Niklaus muttered. "What did I miss?"