Mistakes We Knew We Were Making

Couples: Elena/Elijah, Caroline/Klaus

Characters: Rebekah, Kol, Anna, Jeremy, Tyler, Bonnie, Alaric, Damon and Stefan

Umm…you know, ensemble and stuff

"They were Vikings, Elena. Conquering is what they did."

Elijah:

Elena sent Jeremy to Denver in order to keep him safe from the Originals. Concerned that Klaus would use Jeremy as a pawn, Elijah takes off after him and soon begins teaching him ways to protect himself from vampires and possibly even kill Klaus. However, Jeremy returns home after Anna mysteriously turns up in Mystic Falls, very much alive. When Elijah returns with Jeremy, Elena is faced with a vampire she must trust in order to protect her family. But how can she trust a vampire who periodically turns on her to save his own kin?

Klaus:

When Caroline realizes that the only way to keep her mother and loved ones safe from Klaus is to give into his romantic inclinations, she feels this is a sacrifice she must make- but not one to play the victim, Caroline fights to turn the situation into her favor by using her time with him to gain his trust and find a weakness she can exploit. However, the closer she gets, the more Klaus seems to change and the more she wonders if she can truly go through with a plan to kill him.

Rebekah and Kol:

The bickering siblings have two common goals: A loved one they want to bring back and surviving an onslaught of enemies that include their own family members. With the threat of Klaus, Esther and the Salvatore brothers looming in the background, the two must get along enough to ensure their continued existence. But soon Rebekah becomes worried for her brother's sanity and is worried that he too will end up like Klaus. Her only hope is Anna, who holds the key to Kol's stability, but will the born-again vampire be more harmful than helpful?

But when Esther returns, threatening all of their existences, will these three factions be able to work together, or will betrayal lead them all into extinction?

Author's Note: I love Elijah/Elena, I love Klaus/Caroline and I love the Original's complicated relationship with one another. This is what came of it. Starts after 3X18

Prologue: A Little Too Human

Jeremy Gilbert's favorite weapon was the crossbow. Elijah noted how gifted he was with it-how precise his aim, how quickly he could reload and how when he hit a target he smiled with pride. Jeremy Gilbert was a natural, which possibly stemmed from his vampire hunting ancestry or maybe just the sheer hatred stemming from what Klaus had done to his life. At the moment Jeremy was perched on the roof about 3 houses over and waiting for Elijah to walk past. The street was empty, as time worked its way toward morning, and the suburban neighborhood was unaware of the predator that lurked its streets. The cloak of darkness was supposed to make it harder for Jeremy to hit Elijah with the arrow, but Elijah had his suspicions that Jeremy was going to do just fine.

So far the training had been wonderful and Elijah was surprised at how renewed he felt spending time with the Elena's younger brother. The youth had a fresh outlook on the world; and even after suffering as much as he had, Jeremy still had hope. It helped that he wasn't stubborn to the point of absurdity, quite like vampires tended to be after living for so long. Age often gave way to intractability, because vampires began to feel as though they had lived long enough to be incredibly wise, forgetting that vampirism also went hand in hand with heightened emotion. Even those that felt that they had shut off their emotions were really just living in a state of hedonism. The feelings were still there, the shame and pain was just gone. That made them no wiser than it did when misery was eating them alive.

Oddly enough, this made vampires very like the average young human that they often looked like. However, Jeremy was anything but average. At one point he had been, Elijah could still see the remnants of the behavior from time to time, but that behavior was mostly gone now. What really set him apart was that Jeremy loved knowledge. He enjoyed knowing things, sometimes just for the sake of knowing them. That already put him a step ahead of Klaus, Rebekah and Finn. In fact, it reminded Elijah a lot of himself as a young man. There had been a time when he was human that Elijah's greatest love was questioning things and trying to find answers to those questions. It was a passion that remained with him throughout his eternity and earned him a great deal of information. So, much to his surprise and pleasure, Elijah's goal to keep Elena's brother alive was actually quite pleasant and he found himself enjoying the company, as well as assuaging some of the guilt he had for all of the atrocities that he had helped bring into her life. That was, after all, why he had found Jeremy in the first place. After leaving Elena, Elijah had gone directly to look for Jeremy. Elijah knew how much Jeremy meant to her, and he knew that Elena would not let him help her again out of lack of trust. Jeremy would allow him to help because he wanted what Elijah could give him: autonomy. Using Elijah's skill, Jeremy could learn to protect himself while also learning to provide for himself. Elijah taught him the basic skills that a father would teacher a son- He taught him how to balance a checkbook, how to change a tire, and how to do other tasks by himself. Most importantly though, Elijah taught Jeremy how to disguise the sound of an arrow zipping through the air using naturally occurring sounds, how to hide from the keen senses of the vampire and how to fight back as best as a human can. This was all Elijah could do to try and make things up to Elena.

Thinking of her hurt him, and so he tried not to do it often but sometimes it was impossible. At the moment, as he started walking down the street, his mind was fixated on her. The dark eyes full of compassion, of pain, and of love were permanently etched into his mind. They had been the eyes of Tatia and of Katherine, but she wore then differently than either woman had before her. But then she was different than both women, wasn't she? It was strange how three women could have the same face but such different personalities. Stranger still, that he felt something for each of them, but each feeling was completely unique to that woman and it lacked the confusion one might think would mire his mind.

These were the thoughts that left Elijah distracted enough to actually stagger when the arrow came through his shoulder. A few minutes before he had been expecting it, but the thought of Elena and those haunting eyes took his mind elsewhere and he almost fell into the bushes. He composed himself quickly, cast a glance around, and saw the car speeding away. It had masked the sound of the arrow, but it hadn't been necessary for he had been paying such little attention that he had not even noticed the car driving past. Elijah smiled to himself, feeling pride at Jeremy's adept shooting skills and chose to ignore his own vulnerability. He ripped the arrow from his shoulder, which caused a shot of sharp, agonizing pain through him. His face kept its neutral mask, as he was used to wounds, and he started towards the area where he would be meeting Jeremy to give him the proper accolades for his good work. The boy had even managed to make sure there was no one around to see the shot transpire, so Elijah didn't even have to compel anyone to forget.

Elijah reached the spot in the park long before Jeremy arrived. Smilingly, he set the arrow down on the bottom of the slide, then reached beneath it and pulled out an untouched plastic bag. He emptied the contents, which was a brand new, top-of-the-line sketchbook with a black leather cover with Jeremy's name in silver letters at the bottom right hand cover. It even had a lock keeping it shut. Sure, it was a flimsy lock that even a five-year-old could have broken, but the sentiment behind it was real. Elijah knew how important it was for a boy to have his privacy and he wanted Jeremy to know that he hadn't and wouldn't invade his. The idea for this present came shortly after Jeremy's sketchbook had gone missing a week before, when Kol was in town watching Jeremy on behalf of Klaus. At that time, Elijah had kept to the shadows, not wanting any of his family to know where he was or what he was doing. Elijah felt it best they be surprised by the weapon he was grooming.

It was a few moments before Jeremy arrived, looking triumphant. The crossbow was strapped to his back, covered by a bag so it looked like he was a hitchhiker and not a vampire hunter. His dark hair was messy, tossed and turned by the wind so that it was going every which way. His skin was flushed with excitement and his dark eyes sparkling. Good, Elijah thought with conviction, he needs to enjoy this. "Well done!" Elijah said loudly as Jeremy approached. "I didn't even hear the shot."

Jeremy shot him a lopsided grin, his hands were in the pockets of his black slacks, which almost served as body armor with their thickness. The shirt was made from the same material. Hunters often wore it so that if they fell out of a tree when hunting, the branches and brush wouldn't cut through to their skin. Mountain climbers were also a fan of it. Elijah had ordered it for Jeremy because he thought it would serve as some protection and even a little was better than none. "Thanks. I was nervous that there wouldn't be a sound to cover the arrow, but that car came right in the nick of time."

The park was quiet around them and Elijah knew that they were completely alone and could speak freely. Kol had vanished a few days earlier, much to Elijah's relief. He assumed that he was no longer linked to the other Originals in his family and that was why his brother had vanished. Out of all of the Originals, Kol had the least loyalty to the family, even Klaus was second to Kol in that department. Elijah nodded and then outstretched his arms, hands holding the book he had procured for him. "A present."

Jeremy took it, looking at first to the book, then to him with a smile and a brightness in his eyes that made him look even younger than his sixteen years. "Wow. This is nice." He ran a finger over the cover, then traced his name lightly with his forefinger. "What did you do this for?"

Elijah smiled wanly, "for a job well done, of course. All of your hard work has been paying off, Jeremy."

"I don't have anything for you though, and really, you're the one helping me."

Elijah's smile grew, "that shot was present enough." He joked, motioning to the hole in his jacket. He picked up the arrow from the slide and handed it to Jeremy, "and here is your prize."

Jeremy took it and examined the homemade arrow carefully, then he looked up at Elijah and smiled. "We're really going to do this, aren't we? We're really going to kill Klaus."

And in the end, that was their mission. Elijah was silent for a moment, contemplating the young vampire hunter thoughtfully. Once Klaus was dead, Elena could have her family back and his shameful behavior would, in some ways, be atoned for. He would walk away from Mystic Falls alone and live out his eternity in a way that even his mother might one day be proud of. Perhaps he would convince Rebekah to join him, maybe Finn too…

For some reason, this thought made Elijah feel hollow. Was it this new attachment to Jeremy, or something else?

Finally he answered, "yes. We're going to kill Klaus."

XXX

Her blonde hair fell in ringlets over the pillow as she slept, completely unaware of his presence. Klaus watched her contentedly from his seat on the window. He was old, so very old and had always felt that he had witnessed the most beautiful things that this world had to offer. Then something would come along and remind him that there was yet more beauty for him to enjoy.

He had met Caroline Forbes.

She was breathtaking to look at, yes, but it was more than that. She was stronger, livelier, better than almost anyone he had come in contact with before. She possessed an air to her that would have made most queens he had met green with envy. Her presence was commanding and authoritative. Had this been another time, another place, she would command armies of loyal knights ready to die in her honor. Even now; bare of makeup, hair messy, unkept and spread over the pillow; her beauty was unmatched.

It really was too bad that she was constantly conspiring with the Salvatore brothers to kill him. That really put a damper on what they could have had.

Niklaus sighed heavily, crossing the room in one swift move and sitting next to her on the bed, waiting for her to rise and greet him. Instead she turned over in her bed, vulnerable and unaware. Why did she feel so safe in this house of hers? This home he was invited into and could come and kill her at any time? Did she know how much she meant to him and that is what gave her such sound sleep? He contemplated this for longer then he should have, fingers brushing over the air just above the contours of her lips, not touching but only by a few centimeters. She is all that is beautiful- but then all the deadliest things are. Klaus sighed heavily, drinking in beauty that he would soon be starved for and would live only in memory. He couldn't help but think of everything that could have been, that if Caroline had realized her true merit, all the potential she possessed, and how blissful it would be if they were together that maybe they would not be in this predicament. Sadly, that was not the reality and he was faced with a very difficult choice, but it was not the first he ever had to make.

"Love is a vampire's greatest weakness, and we are not weak, Elijah. We do not feel, and we do not care."

The words to his brother haunted him, for he had never thought he would be the one who needed reminding of this aspect of their lives. In the end it was survival. Yet here he was, besotted with a teenage vampire and beside himself with thoughts of all they could be together.

It was best to end this now- to extinguish this spark of humanity inside of himself before it became an inferno that could not be repressed. He had hardened himself to this idea when he burned the drawings he had done of her. Now it was time to follow through.

Finally she stirred, her beautiful eyes fluttering open and meeting his. He was probably a little hazy to her from the sleep, so he waited as she sat up in her bed with a start, backing away from him fear. She was right to be afraid. "What do you want?" She asked haltingly but without a tremor in the words. He was a little proud that she was trying to hide her fear, it was that very bravado of hers that increased her beauty tenfold.

"You." He responded in spite of himself, "I thought I made that clear." She was shaking her head and opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. "But since you seem to want nothing to do with me outside of causing my demise, I suppose your death will be my consolation prize."

She shot up, crossing the room before he could catch her and rip the heart from her chest.

"This is what you think love is?" She asked from the window where he entered from, perched and ready to jump out of it. "If someone doesn't return it, then you kill them?" He wasn't quite sure what to say to that, since she was obviously disgusted by the mentality he subscribed to without reservation. "I hope you never wonder why you're alone." She spat angrily, "because I think we just isolated the cause of it." Then she lunged out the window and when he followed her, found that he was too late. She was gone.

Angry, at both his hesitation and at her words, he stalked through the upstairs of her home, knocking over the stand in the hallway sending its picture frames and flower vase crashing to the ground. He broke down the door to her mother's room, expecting to find a frightened woman cowering but instead found an open window and a vacant bedroom. "Sod it all." He slammed his fist into the wall, the material collapsing under his strength and leaving a gaping hole behind him as he quickly exited the building through the window.

XXX

Rebekah was more than a little frustrated and annoyed at her brother.

"How exactly is this my fault again, Kol?" She asked waspishly as they raked through the woods for the fourth time that night. "You said that she would welcome you back with open arms, remember? Oh Rebekah,'" she mimicked his voice and inflections easily, "it musn't be you she sees first, it must be me. You might frighten her.' Yet, here we are, combing the woods for a vampire that your face terrified. Good show."

Kol, dressed impeccably in a pair of designer jeans and a buttoned down navy blue shirt, rolled his eyes, then in a second was up a tree then back down it again with lightning speed. "Something must have gone wrong. Ayanna must have messed up the spell in the first place."

"Hm. Maybe she messed it up because you were threatening to kill her children if she didn't do what you wanted her to do." Rebekah muttered in a know-it-all voice. "Besides, a spell like that? Can't be easy, even for the late, great Ayanna." The name was said with slight disdain, for Ayanna had been partly to blame for the hatred that Esther would have for her children, or rather, that was who Rebekah found herself blaming anyway. It had to be the witch, she was the one who didn't want their mother to do the spell to turn them in the first place. "I'm sure if you had asked her nicely, she would have done it. Everyone knows that you would have turned out just like Klaus- even worse- if it hadn't been for her."

"Shut up, Rebekah." Kol replied tartly, "I'd rather be Klaus than you any day. He might be starved for love but at least he still has his pride."

In a flash Rebekah was on top of him, her hand holding his body down by his throat, legs positioned on either side of his torso and her left hand positioned over his face, fingers ready to jab out his eyes. She couldn't kill him, but pain was definitely in order for the spoiled little brat. "What was that about pride, brother?" She asked, tone flavored with acid, "perhaps you ought to watch your tongue."

He grinned, "you always were the most fun, weren't you, Bek?"

She rolled off him, stood up and brushed the dirt off of her red dress. Red always had been her color, even when the dyes were incredibly expensive. She appreciated the ease at which she could purchase her trademark color now. "Get up, let's keep looking for her before even more problems of your making arise."

Kol stood up and smiled at Rebekah, "We'll find her, you know."

"We better."

The two siblings stared at each other and Rebekah wondered if Kol realized that out of all of the siblings, they really had the most in common. It was a thought that often occurred to her when she contemplated their family and at the moment it was glaringly obvious.

They had gone to Ayanna together a thousand years before, begging the witch to make the spell that was going terribly awry for them now.

"Please, please do this." Rebekah had begged in Ayanna's own tongue, "she is like a daughter to you, is she not? Do you not want to keep her safe from Klaus? He means to kill her."

Rebekah had thought her pleas would work, but Kol had become impatient. He began threatening Ayanna's daughters and anything else that would get him his way. Finally, Ayanna had agreed to a spell, saying that the only reason she would do it was to keep Kol from turning into the monster she foresaw Niklaus becoming.

Rebekah had been relieved beyond measure at the news, but not nearly as happy as Kol. When she looked at her brother right then, she could see the worry etched into his features. "We'll find her." She reassured him, just as she had done when they were children, "don't worry."

Then he surprised her, he looked back and said quietly, sounding so human that it took her off guard. "Thank you."

XXX

Bonnie handed Alaric the bottle of herbs and watched as he washed it down his throat, expression of disgust unconcealed. She truly felt sorry for him and his predicament and hoped that this new concoction, as well as the cleansing spell, would do a better job of keeping the monster inside him at bay.

He smiled ruefully at her, then grabbed for the glass of water he was going to use to cleanse his palette. When he finished it, he sighed heavily, "I still think you should have Damon or Stefan here to help protect you."

She didn't want to tell him that she would rather die than be in their presence, or that vampires as a whole sickened her at this point, and so instead she just gave her head a little shake. "I'm more powerful than they are," she replied, 'I can easily stop you more quickly than they could."

"Right." He nodded, "magic."

It wasn't boasting. To be completely honest, she had been honing her powers against vampires specifically. Not just vampires like Damon, but the Originals too. It was time for them to have a weapon to use. Stopping Alaric was child's play at this point. "How are you feeling?"

He shook his head in answer and she knew that the potion must be taking its toll. In large doses some of the ingredients were poison to a human and so it was undoubtedly making Alaric feel sick. "I'll get Elena, we'll put you to bed then."

Bonnie took another long look at Alaric, his skin pale and gray, his t-shirt and sweatpants rumpled, before walking into the kitchen where Elena and Jaime were cleaning up from their midnight dinner. They had eaten late because the spell had to take place after dining. The food had all been specially prepared to cleanse Ric physically.

Bonnie's best friend turned around as she walked in, the dishes forgotten immediately. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she wore the pink and black pajamas that she donned for her sweet-sixteen slumber party. That had been a time when things were so much less complicated and Bonnie didn't feel quite so…empty and broken. The reminder did not lift Bonnie's mood and so she said glumly, "we should get Alaric up to bed."

"Okay." She responded, "Bon, you okay?

Bonnie nodded, "yeah, sure."

"I can help Elena get Alaric into bed." Jamie offered. His lips formed into a polite but meager smile; he felt the loss of Abby acutely and rarely broke into the full grin that transformed his handsome features into gorgeous ones anymore. Bonnie understood that, she felt there was little to smile about herself.

"Thanks."

Elena looked to both of them sorrowfully. There was always compassion from Elena, always forgiveness, always hope. Bonnie sometimes struggled to understand how Elena's moral compass functioned. How could she provide support for vampires like Damon who killed for fun, or even Stefan whose morality was tenuous at best, and yet still think another creature was evil. Yet she did, and Bonnie found herself being dragged into those muddied waters as well.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Bonnie stiffened at the sound, afraid of who might be at the door. So far the only vampire invited inside was Caroline, which eased her a bit. However, she better than anyone knew that there were people outside of these walls that could be harmed in order to get an invitation inside. She quietly snuck to the window, glancing towards the porch so she could see who was standing at her door.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of Caroline and the sheriff, Bonnie opened the door and let them in. "Oh good- I thought maybe you would all be asleep." Caroline said passionately and walked inside with her mother in tow. "We can't stay at my house anymore, Klaus showed up. He tried to rip my heart out."

Bonnie stared at the two, not even feeling shocked anymore. "We have to do something to protect people." She finally said, "we have to stop this."

Caroline nodded, then looked up as Elena descended the steps alone. "Klaus tried to rip my heart out tonight." She repeated, catching Elena up to speed. Bonnie watched as Elena's concerned expression turned into one of fear.

The three friends stood in a circle, looking at each other, at a loss on how they could keep everyone safe.

XXX

Tyler lay the limp body on the ground of his "cell," the place his mother had referred to as 'the old slave quarters' but where, Tyler deduced, wolves held themselves when they changed. It was the place that he had first changed, when Caroline had stayed by his side, where she had risked her own life so that he would not have to be alone.

He paced the cell lengthwise and looked down in disbelief at the body there. He had seen her running through the woods, looking frantically behind her, so that when he came at her from the front, she collided into him. He wasn't quite sure what to do or say- completely taken aback by who she was, not to mention her nudity. He didn't have a chance to speak anyway, she collapsed and he brought her here instinctively.

It couldn't be her though, it couldn't be Anna.

Because she was dead. She died in the same building that his father had died in. Jeremy had told him that, he had explained everything.

But it was the very same face that he had seen in the Grille.

He covered her nude body with another blanket and sat down next to her. She didn't look good. Blue veins threaded her skin, her lips were pale and blue as well. He reached into the cooler beside him and pulled out a bag full of blood that he had stolen from a hospital a few towns over. He had been trying to keep his supply up so he could remain powerful, but he didn't want to take too much from one hospital and cause a blood shortage. He ripped open the bag and put it to her lips, urging them to part and take in the fluid.

This was probably a bad idea and Tyler knew that, but something inside him was telling him to do it, that this was something that was necessary.

It worked, much to his amazement. Her lips parted and she started sucking down the liquid. He held it there steadily and let her empty out the contents. As it ended, her eyes fluttered open and he noted the dazed expression on her face. She started to sit up and the blanket fell as she did, but she was not at all bothered by the naked flesh of her breasts being exposed. "Who…"

"I'm Tyler," he answered without letting her finish the question, "remember? We met at the Grille."

She blinked a few times, her tongue darting over her lips. "Who…am I?"