Elijah Mikaelson had one hour to do the impossible.
When he had agreed to fulfill Ms. O'Connell's request it was honestly for entirely selfish reasons. Despite the desperate situation with Cami's academic career Elijah was doing this solely for the greater good of his family. When it came to his siblings at least, his family was both the carrot and stick. For ten centuries the urge to fix those around him had both driven him forward and held him back. What Cami was offering now was a chance, a real opportunity, to finally make some progress.
And while his faith in psychology was just about as strong as his faith in God, Elijah believed in Cami. He had seen the effect just her presence had on his brother and if she had somehow been able to survive her journey to the center of the worse of the Mikaelson siblings then maybe there was hope for him and the rest as well.
In Camille, Elijah had faith; in his ability to get all his family in the same room? Not so much.
Hanging up with her on the phone, he immediately began planning, preparing himself to do whatever it took to get his family to hear him out and consider Camille's offer. Fortunately, when it came to convincing, Elijah was well versed in all manners of persuasion, including the Mikaelson trifecta of bribes, lies, and brute force.
He decided his best bet would be his baby sister Rebekah. Absence made the heart grow fonder and normalcy and happiness had always been her raison d'être. She would certainly at least hear him out before letting him know he was being a fool and hanging up the phone… which was honestly as good as start as any.
"And he could call her without having to leave the couch, so there was that too.
"With his cell to his ear, he waited through the rings for his sister to pick up. "Elijah. What's happened?"
"Ah, Rebekah. All is well. Please do not fret. I am just calling because –"
"No."
"But I haven't even—"
"No, I'm not telling you where I am. It's called off the grid for a reason, brother."
"Oh," Elijah nodded, remembering their last conversation. Despite the danger to his baby niece, he was always desperate for confirmation that Rebekah and Hope were safe and happy in hiding. "Of course," he told her. "As long as you are well hidden, your secrets are your own, sister. I am calling about something else actually."
"What has Klaus done now?"
"Surprisingly nothing…yet."
"Then what is this about, Elijah? I am juggling a million things right now and its feeding time for one of them."
"Then I will make this brief and to the point. Camille O'Connell has approached me with an offer regarding our family."
"Cami? That blonde wisp Nik compels to type his memoirs? I thought he got bored of that pet project ages ago."
"It appears Niklaus has become the project."
"I don't follow."
"Camille wishes to interview each of us for a research project on family psychology."
"He held the phone away from his ear as Rebekah was laughing quite loudly now.
"And let me guess: you rang to ask me to participate?"
"An hour of your time, sister. That is all I ask."
"And what's in it for me?"
"A chance to speak your piece. You can even speak it to Niklaus if you wish, I'm sure Camille can arrange it. This is a golden opportunity, Rebekah. Klaus will be forced to sit quietly and listen to what you have to say."
"He will?"
"Elijah heard her wonder pensively on the other end of the line and he grinned, so sure he had her.
"So can I tell Camille you look forward to talking soon?"
"No," came his sister's firm reply. "This isn't going to work."
"No?"
"And you're a fool, Elijah."
Well, there it was, just as expected. He really had tried.
"I do hope you reconsider," he said, sighing in resignation. This wasn't looking good; if he couldn't get Rebekah onboard, the rest of them were hopeless.
But then Rebekah surprised him.
"I'm not really in hiding, am I, if every random human can just call me up out of the blue."
"Wait…so you are in fact agreeing to speak with Camille?"
"Oh, I wasn't saying 'no' to her request, Elijah. I'll do it. Let her know she can call me at this number. That's fine. No, I was simply expressing my condolences for whatever hope for our family you have riding on this silly exercise – it's clearly futile."
"Your enthusiasm, Rebekah, is infectious as always."
"I just don't want you to beat yourself up at the end of the week when absolutely nothing has changed, brother. What's that saying again? Something about tigers and stripes…or is it leopards and spots…?"
"Thank you for your cooperation, dear sister. Perhaps we will find ourselves talking again quite soon."
"Until then, Elijah, and good luck with the others. You are going to need it."
