Hi! First, this chapter consists of both past and present. Secondly, Adriana's name is pronounced A-dree-A-na. Thirdly, my interpretation of Elijah is slightly darker than what they interpret in the show, basically I've made him a tiny bit more 'Mikaelson", if that even makes sense.

So, please buckle your seat belts because the show is about to start.

Warnings: Mild language, Elena bashing (All round hate on doppelgangers actually) and the fact that you can actually buy a person.
Disclaimer for the story: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, I just write these things because of self entertainment (and partial boredom). I don't do it to earn your rightful spotlight. Bla, bla, bla, yada, yada, yada. And away we go!

Present
Past

Doppelgangers And Slaves

In which Adriana hates doppelgangers and a slave is brought.

Trying to understand Elijah and Adriana was like trying to understand the concept of a maze. It had twists and turns, dead ends, and only one possible exit, but you enjoy it all the same.

They are opposites Elijah and Adriana, yet more similar then they cared to admit.

Some may class it as a love story, but no, they've stabbed each other in the back far too many times for that to be true. Their relation was based on loyalty, anger, and a bracelet.

No, I wouldn't class this as a love story.

...

This was ridiculous. Absolutely, bloody, ridiculous. 'Adriana, we need the doppelganger' Well screw the next brother playing whore! She wasn't putting her neck on a cutting block for someone she didn't even know, much less a filthy, no good doppelganger. She didn't even want to know the existence of this-this armpit of a civilisation.

Her short brown hair swung, her small lips thinned and the clicking of her black, 6 inch heels echoed through the house. Well, when she said house, she meant a run down, torn down, mansion placed in the middle of nowhere. Seriously. She had been driving for hours looking for this run down, boarded up, dusty, old pig sty.

Elijah had better pay her double. A small scoff left her dark red painted lips at this. Forget that, he didn't pay her anyway. Speaking of Elijah... the petite brunette woman fiddled with the small golden bracelet on her left wrist. Where was he? He was supposed to be waiting for her with that bloody doppelganger. And-oh... The small brunette froze at the top of the hallway. Eyes fixing on the figure impaled into the wall.

"Well," She muttered, her soft, velvet voice, much like Elijahs, indicated the loss of her once beautiful Italian accent. "That explains a lot."

The doppelganger had someone protecting her.

It just got better and better didn't it?

Italy, 1112

"Adriana! Adriana Mafiay, come to my office immediately!" A twenty and one winters old Adriana slowly looked up from her cleaning duties at the call of her master, Lord Dominico.

The petite maid quickly picked up the long, plain skirt of her dress and scampered down the seemingly endless, narrow hallway. Trying to avoid other staff and nobles as she ran. Halting immediately in front of the Lords large office door, she took a deep breath and hesitantly knocked gently on the door.

"Come in." Came the deep, rich voice of the Lord. Adriana carefully slipped into the room, gently closed the the tall, dark oak, brass door door behind her. Careful to make as minimal sound as possible when she entered the room. Keeping her head low and dipping into a curtsy, she quickly studied the other two occupants of the room, beside her master

They were both tall, powerful- going by their stature- and extremely rich, going by thier clothes and skin.

One had brown hair, brown eyes and a strong face. The other, lighter hair, blue eyes and similar features to the other.

Both of them seemed extremely surprised to see her.

"Your greatness." Adriana greeted, once again dropping into, yet again, another formal curtsy.

"Adriana Mafiay." The Lord acknowledged briefly, not having any respect for his eldest maid."Years ago you came into my service as just a small child from the slave market. Even as a babe you understood the cruelty of life, living only for yourself and pushing away others who came to help. Therefore, for that one reason, I am selling you again."

"S-sir?" Adriana stammered, crystal blue tears pooling in her eyes, protests echoing around her mind. He couldn't do this! This was her home! He couldn't just kick her out like a stray animal, selling her of like unwanted scraps.

"You are to be Lord Mikaelsons personal slave." Dominico continued, having no empathy for the lowly maids feelings. "You're to live in the outskirts of Italy, never to set foot on this premises again, you are to have an arrow to your heart if so."

"You can't do this." Adriana shouted unexpectedly, throwing herself at the Lord as the two men dragged her back with alarming strength. "You have no right! This is my home!"

The Lords answer was to move around his dark wooden desk and backhand her across the face, tears pooling in the younger womans eyes as a stinging sensation burned on her red cheek.

"I have every right." He spat, leaning closer to her. "You have no power Adriana. No position or even a penny to your name. You are a slave. I do to you what I see fit."

"Well, well, well." She snickered lightly, calmly advancing to the temporarily dead body of Elijah, her tall heels clicking sharply as she went. "What do we have here? Wakey, wakey, rise and shine Elijah. This is no time to take a nap."

She had to smother her laughter with her hand as Elijah slowly took out the wood and threw it onto the floor.

"Adriana." He greeted her with a serious, all business, nod. "This is no laughing matter, we have a doppelganger on the loose and some vampires are protecting her." Adrianas left eye twitched slightly in annoyance, knew it. "Find out everything you can about the Petrova family tree, I want to know how that line continued after Katerina. And while your at it, find out where Rose Marie is. I have a feeling she'll lead us straight to the doppelganger."

He stood beside her, her head only coming to his chin, even in her heels.

"But I already did that." She whined, referring to when he had ordered her a few centuries back to find any remaining relatives of Katerina.

"Oh, Adriana." He sighed dramatically, walking toward the open door while adjusting his suit. "Did you really think I believed you?"

"Fine." She grumbled reluctantly, making fast work to hack into the necessary files as they walked, checking CCTV and blood lines as they both got into Elijahs car, leaving that god forsaken house in the dust.

Good to see you too, Elijah. She thought sarcastically as they drove away. It's good to see you too.

"Let me go! I demand you let me go this instant." Adriana demanded, wiggling vigorously as both men dragged her away from her home. While the brunette brother was silent, the blonde chuckled in mirth.

"She is a feisty one isn't she Elijah? If you ever give up taming her, just hand her to me. I'm sure we will get along splendidly." The blonde laughed, causing both Adriana, whom still kicked and thrashed around, and 'Elijah' to grimace in distaste.

"No, thank you." Adriana sneered in undisguised disgust, falling limp as both of them unceremoniously dropped her onto the dirt path, Elijah gathered the female up in his arms as tears slid down her face.

"Not so feisty." Klaus muttered, hauling himself onto his horse as his brother comforted the crying woman's while glaring at him at the same time. "It was your idea to get a personal maid to blend in brother. Don't put your sins on me." With that the younger brother turned around the horse and rode to their estate.

"You're going to be okay." Elijah gently soothed Adriana. Stepping back as the female wiped away her tears.

"I suppose that you are Lord Mikaelson?" She asked, straightening her back and crossing her hands in front of her, refusing to look him in the eye.

"You guess right." He confirmed, kissing her hand as she curtsied to him. "But you may call me Elijah."

She smiled shakily at him, raising her eyes to look at him.

"Greetings, Elijah."

"Why are we here again?" Adriana complained as she carefully examined the glass sheet wall of the cafe, she could see the several forms of Rose Marie, Slater and someone she had later identified as 'Damon Salvatore'. The last name sent a flash of cold hate in her eyes.

Salvatore, it meant saviour in her home language but the name still brought bile to the back of her throat. The name Salvatore was a taboo for Adriana, bad blood only came from thinking that name.

"Because, Adriana, we need that doppelganger to lure Klaus. How many times do I have too say it?" Elijah said from behind her slightly. The coat of frustration in his voice did not go unnoticed by Adriana.

"Oh, I don't know. Based on how many times you've said it already," she tilted her head to the left silently listening to the conversation going on in the cafe. "I'm estimating; a lot."

"Not such a rumour." Damon was saying to Slater, making Adriana sneer slightly just as Elijah came up next to her.

"Mystic Falls." Slater whispered "I've got to visit this place, it sounds awesome."

Sorry sweetheart. She sneered in her head, but you're not going anywhere after this.

The sound of the metal coins, shuffling around in Elijah's hands, stopped her from listening.

"Do you have to do that?" She sneered with a hiss, but all Elijah did was send a slight smirk down at her, moments like this was when she cursed her short stature or was it Elijah and his incessant habit of throwing it in her face, she had lost count over the centuries of being alive.

The loud sound of breaking glass echoed through her ears when Elijah (finally) threw the coins with expert precision, shattering the glass protecting the three from burning.

'Well,' Adriana smirked 'two of them will have to do. If only I could get that blasted ring of Salvatore's finger...' She had instinctively took a few steps forward at the gruesome thought, snapping back to reality when Elijah called out to her.

"Come Adriana. We have a job to do."

England, 1492

"Why is she still here?" Adriana snapped, bursting through the large, oak doors of the library, instantaneously finding Elijah sitting on the rich leather chairs near one of the numerous shelves.

"Whoever do you mean, Adriana?" He stated calmly, flipping a page in his leather bound book.

"You know exactly who I mean." She hissed, advancing on him with her back curled like an angry feline. "That Bulgarian peasant, Katerina Petrova." The words lashed on her tongue. Tasting bitter as they went.

"Be careful what you say Adriana. You're treading on a very thin line." Elijahs calm, collective tone of voice was still there but Adriana could sense the underline of threat in his words.

"Drop the act Elijah you care for the girl." She spat out the word care like it was venom, the single syllable tasting sour on her tongue at the thought of him actually loving that sacrificial lamb.

"Don't act so surprised Adriana, think of this as a small revenge for you gallivanting around with the stable boy or the incident you orchestrated in Romania, I have not yet decided which is worse."

Him getting revenge on the incident in Romania had been no surprise to her, she wanted him to know it was her, but the fact he knew of Benedict made her stumble back slightly. One angry tear sliding down her cheek.

She had actually grown to like that innocent boy.

Well; that was until she found his torn off head left in front of her chamber door.

"Fine." She sneered, regaining her composure in record timing. "In that case, I'm sure you know how your, beautiful, dear Miss. Petrova is whoring around with Niklaus, your own brother, while your back is turned."

"Don't you dare accuse Katerina of those things Adriana. Much less when you are blinded by your own jealousy." Elijah very almost shouted at her, abandoning his book and standing up from his chair to defend Katerina's non - existent virtue.

Adriana was about to reply, but then the pain started. White hot and fiery, zapping her like lightning as it fired all around her body, making her fall to the ground in pain.

No! She shouted in her head, strangled gasps coming from her throat as she raked and grabbed at it. He wouldn't. He promised he wouldn't. But the small, faint glow of the pure golden bracelet, imprinted with six norse symbols, and the pain in her body betrayed her hopeful thoughts. Elijah turned and left the library, not sparing a single glance at his convulsing lo-no! She argued with herself through the scorching pain, she was not his lover, not anymore at least.

While Katerina Petrova and the servants slept peacefully in there beds that night, Adriana Mafiay spent it writhing on the vast, stone library floor like the servant she really was. Her screams of torment, while not loud enough to awake the guests or the staff, was loud enough, that with supernatural hearing, echoed across the vast stone halls of the castle until the first touch of daybreak.

In one part of the castle, Elijahs jaw tightened. In another, Niklaus Mikaelson let out a sharp tone of laughter and raised his drink at Adrianas misfortune.

Slater was boring.

Seriously, the guy was all about his college degrees. For the record, she had more then him, mainly in Business Studies and Mathematics but; details weren't important.

And for a guy who new so much about every vampire in America, and the Originals on that matter. He was pretty lame when it came to identifying who the Originals keep by them. For Mafiay's sake, a blonde wig and a change of name and accent he would invite you in with the smallest bat of eyelashes and a secret smile. Men. They never did change did they?

Adriana's ears perked up when she finally got the itchy blonde wig off, her ruler straight brown hair gently tumbling down her shoulders when she did. Meanwhile, Slater had finished his phone call with Rose.

"Very nicely done." Elijah said from next to her, his voice emotionless like always.

"Thanks. I have a degree in theatre." Adriana tried to resist rolling her eyes at this, keyword being tried. There we go. Again with the degrees. "How can you compel me? A vampire can't compel another vampire."

Does this guy ever stop asking questions?

"Well, obviously your facts a wrong." She huffed loudly, crossing her arms as both Elijah and Slater looked at her, Elijah in warning and Slater in curiosity.

"I'm a special vampire." Elijah summarised, turning back to Slater.

"Because you're an Original?" Slater asked, terror lacing his voice. Questions. We're back to the questions then.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" She asked, suddenly appearing behind him. Leaning into his ear as she whispered the words, smiling innocently at his slightly shaking figure.

"Y-You must be Adriana then, servant of Elijah." Adriana couldn't help but scoff. Servant? Not in this century.

"I prefer the term assistant." She corrected, turning her head to Elijah. "Why do people still call me your slave?"

"That's because you are Adriana." He said in disinterest, turning the stake over in his hand, his eyes turning back to Slater. "Now, I want you to take this stake and drive it through your heart."

"That would kill me forever." Slater said, taking the piece of wood from Elijah, Adriana rolled her eyes and examined her Crimson painted nails in boredom.

"As people these days would say: duh!" Adriana commented, mimicking the deep sarcastic voice people of today used when someone said something extremely obvious.

"I know," Elijah said, his pupils dilating with the use of compulsion, "but it's necessary."

With that, Slater shoved the stake in his heart, Adriana grimaced and took a few small steps back, watching as his skin slowly turned grey and his veins turned black. Kicking him lightly with her foot, just to make sure, and the fact the temptation was to strong, she made a satisfied noise as his desiccated head rolled freely to the side.

"Was it really?" Jonas asked, Adriana's head snapped to the witch as he walked up to the two of them.

"It had to be done." Elijah said, turning to the witch. "He delivered his message. Wont be long know."

Making sure not to touch the disgusting skin of the dead vampire, Adriana reached into his pocket to grab Slater's phone. Walking up to the computer nearby and typing in his password.

Kristen Stewart. It was all too predictable.

Quickly deleting all the information Mr. Questions had, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

"Adriana." Elijah called from the door.

"Coming!"

Looking at the back up one more time, a smirk broke its way onto her face. The doppelganger would be here soon enough, why not give her something to put her life in danger?

It was all far too tempting.

Shutting down the computer and grabbing her black leather bag from the nearby table, Adriana left the apartment with a wide, gleaming smile.

After all, what's life without endangering someone else?

Especially if that someone else was a doppelganger quite a few people wanted dead.

Oh, the joy.

...

Why does she stay?

Adriana had been asking herself the same question for nearly nine hundred years.

Personally, she blamed the bracelet, the memoir of her promise.

She did leave, once, after the whole ordeal in England with Katerina. She came back only several days later, with a dress covered in mud, rain soaked hair, and blisters appearing on her arm as fast as she could heal them. Elijah welcomed her back with open arms, the worry in his eyes ceasing immediately when he saw her sitting next to the fire, trying as much as she could to soak up its warmth.

They needed each other, not that they'd ever admit it, but they did all the same.