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Chapter 3
When Elijah groomed himself back to his impeccable form, he went to find his family. Rebekah, as of lately, looked bored, Kol was still amused and Klaus was obviously angry. Elijah shook his head. Of course Kol would have told them what happened.
"Have fun, Elijah?" Klaus bit out. "We've been trying to come up with a plan, and you've been touching my doppelganger. My doppelganger!" The hybrid repeated his words, the second time yelling. He didn't need anyone messing with his plans, even if it was his brother. He took a deep breath. They had a situation to deal with at the moment. After, he would make sure to take care of it.
"Really, Elijah," Rebekah sighed. "What is it about them that you can't let go of?" She just didn't understand the appeal that they offered him. Tatia was a horrible person. She allowed that she hadn't always been that way; but once her brothers started fighting over her, that was enough for her. From then on, she maintained that the girl was bad, and his had been that way ever since. While she hadn't met Katherine, she'd heard all about her. Neither of her brothers had nice things to say to her. Actually, no one had anything nice to say about the vampire. Elena may not be as deceptive as them, but she had her moments. If only her brother could see them as the manipulative witches they were.
Elijah's jaw ticked. "I am not going to discuss what happened in there, with you," he denied his sister, cutting a look to Klaus, "with either of you," he clarified. "Things got…carried away, but nothing happened." He picked at a piece of lint on his jacket.
The youngest brother snorted at the denial. "You were undressed, and nothing happened?" If it had been him, and that girl was pressed so closely against him…he wouldn't have let the moment go to waste. He shook his head in disappointment; his brother really was a prude.
"It's called self-control, Kol. Perhaps you could exercise some once?" Elijah suggested. The tone of his voice implied more of an order than anything.
"Yes, because back there, you were the perfect picture of self-control," he younger Mikaelson sibling snarled back.
Without a thought, Elijah's arms wrapped around his youngest brother's neck and he squeezed. He pushed Kol against the wall. "Are you challenging me?" He demanded. His anger may have paled in comparison to Klaus' fury, but he was not to be overlooked!
Kol, understanding that he took things too far, changed his body language. "No," he whispered through gritted teeth.
When the doorbell rang, Rebekah moved to answer it. As she left the room, she offered the quarrelling brother a roll of her eyes. After so many years of existence, she would have thought that Kol would have learned a lesson by then. Whatever filter that was located between a person's brain and their mouth was missing from Kol. As for Elijah, she really didn't understand the invisible pull he felt to the doppelgangers. He was awfully defensive of Elena.
Elijah noticed the annoyed look on his sisters' face, but ignored it. Being the only girl, her brothers doted on and protected her. As much as she insisted that she hated it, they knew that she relished in the attention. She always had issues whenever someone else was the center of attention. It was worse when that someone else seemed to be a member of the fairer sex. After so many years, he finally learned to let her words and attitude roll off his shoulders.
"There will be no further snide remarks about the matter," Elijah ordered. "Are we clear on that?"
He wanted nothing more than to fight Elijah away from him, but since they were expecting guests, he knew it wasn't the time. "Crystal."
Elijah let go of Kol, moving further away in the room. Seconds later, Rebekah rejoined her siblings, the Salvatore brothers following behind her.
"Happy reunion?" Damon smirked, not missing the fight between the two siblings.
"Damon, you weren't introduced before," Elijah began, a tight smile kissed his lips. "This is Kol. He is the youngest of my brothers. Kol, this is Damon Salvatore…and his younger brother, Stefan," he held a hand out to each brother.
Rebekah smirked at Stefan before looking to her brother. "Stefan was the one I met in the twenty's. We had a very good night."
Kol looked between the new vampires. "So which one of you is/was involved with Elena? Spit fire that one, she is." He was feeling slightly envious. If she was always like that, he would be able to look past the human aspect.
Stefan smiled brightly, too brightly, at his brother. "That would be Damon here."
Damon once again rolled his eyes. "Hey, you walked away from her. She waited for you, and she would have welcomed you back with open arms. You didn't act." He looked to the newest Mikaelson sibling, a smirk biting his lips. "He's jealous that I acted." With an overdramatic roll of his eyes, Damon continued. "Oh, and there's that little thing about force feeding her blood and threatening to drive off the same bridge where her parents died." He let out a dramatic sigh. "Some people just don't know how to let go of things."
At the news, Elijah's head snapped up and he looked at the younger Salvatore sibling. He certainly had missed a lot. He heard the bit about Damon and Elena kissing, but not about Stefan's threat. "You did what?" The expression on his face was severe, the news only adding to his increasing bad mood.
Damon bobbed his head, interested in the look that the Original vampire was giving Stefan. "Yup, that was my reaction too."
Elijah ignored Damon, continuing to glare at Stefan. "You fool."
Stefan stepped up to Elijah, refusing to back down from his glare. "And I owe you answers why?" As far as he was concerned, he'd dealt with Klaus, he could handle Elijah.
Elijah moved even closer to Stefan. A cold expression covered his face, but he smiled easily. "I'm an Orginal, show a little respect," he warned the young vampire. He'd had the same conversation with Damon months earlier, but never Stefan. Elijah knew that there was no love lost between them, but at least Stefan had shown some respect, even if it was grudging. Apparently love wasn't the only thing he'd lost in the last months.
"See, we're no longer working together, so I don't owe you anything," Stefan replied. "I don't like you, I never have. I have no reason to back down from you."
Damon, able to see that it Elijah was ready to lose his cool, broke in. He stepped between the two, pushing his brother backwards. "We're in their house, perhaps this isn't the time to pick a fight?" He suggested. "Four against one, could get pointless," he added, making it known that he would not help him if he was attacked because of his provocation.
Caroline joined them in the room. As soon as she found Stefan being pushed down on the couch, she moved closer and towered over him. "You may not like them, but you will be working with them again," her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. Once upon a time, she thought that Stefan was the greatest thing in the world. She had been a little jealous over Elena's luck in getting him, looking at the man of her thoughts, Caroline scrunched her nose. What had she been thinking? "Something happened to Elena, and Klaus was nice enough to get us out of a situation with some vampires."
The elder Salvatore brother looked between the occupants of the room. "What happened?"
"Some vampire made a potion for Elena, that she drank unknowingly," Caroline explained. "Apparently she has the same face of his former lover."
Damon hissed. "Katherine?" How was it that after a century, she as still creating havoc in his and his brother's lives? He thought she was gone for good since Klaus was in town.
Stefan shook his head. "I don't think so. Katherine told me quite a few things about her past. She never mentioned that there was another man…"
Caroline offered a thin smile. "Yeah, because she's the first one I'd trust," she replied. "Anyway, we don't know who it was, but we think there might be another doppelganger if not her."
He didn't focus on the doppelganger aspect, though he was surprised that Klaus and Elijah hadn't mentioned one before. He'd focus on that later. "And the spell?" Damon asked.
"It heightened her strength and lowered her inhibitions," the hybrid answered. "I believe Caroline likened her to dear Katerina."
"It's morphed since then," Elijah broke in then. "Elena says it's like her skin is on fire, but when I touched her she said it went away."
Stefan looked around the room, counting the occupants of it. "Then why is no one up there with her?"
"I'm afraid it's more than that, mate." the hybrid explained. "She needs full body contact, skin to skin. My brother was nice enough to help her out earlier," he gestured to Elijah, his tone mocking.
"I actually have an interesting theory about that," the eldest sibling said, ignoring Klaus' pointed observation as well as the glares that he received from the Salvatore brothers. "I was going to mention it before, but things got in the way," he cut a pointed glare to Kol. "While I was with Elena, she mentioned something. I didn't think anything of it at first, but she said it a couple different times." He looked to Caroline. "Do you remember what Elena said once you joined her?"
"About you being the one she wanted to soothe her?" She considered his words and then realized that when she touched Elena, nothing happened, there was no relief whatsoever.
Elijah nodded, unwilling to feel even the slightest bit embarrassed about what happened. He cared for neither Salvatore brother, owed them nothing. "She said that a couple times to me. Thinking back on it, she made it sound like only certain people could help her."
"So, we test that theory out," Damon said, standing up. He knew there was no choice between himself and Stefan since his brother's recent actions.
Damon let out a sad sigh when he entered the room that Elena was in. He could see the perspiration on her skin. She was groaning, tossing and turning in the bed.
"When we got back here, the fever took over quickly," Caroline explained from her position near the door. "She's been like that ever since, except when Elijah was with her."
Damon nearly growled at the news. He had never been thrilled with Elijah's presence in their lives. He hated the truce that existed between Elena and the Original, because Damon knew how to read people. And whether Elijah realized it or not, he felt something for Elena; or he had. As soon as he entered the room, Elijah's scent overwhelmed him. It wouldn't have been so offensive if the scent of Elena's arousal wasn't sprinkled into the mix.
Klaus tagged along into the room, taking a deep breath. "I have to give it you, brother; Elena does smell amazing," he said. Both Elijah and Damon cut him glares. "Just don't go sweeping her away, Damon here thinks that he has a chance with her since Stefan is no longer in the picture."
Damon ignored them, turning to Elena. She had the capability to make him love her and hate her all at the same time. She was the one person he wanted that he couldn't have, and that made it interesting. It was more than that though. Elena Gilbert made him feel things that he had tried to lock up but failed.
He both admired and hated her devotion to Stefan, and it was out of respect for his brother, that he held back as much as he did. Damon had already done the triangle angle with Katherine, he wasn't eager to place himself in a similar situation with Elena. However, he figured that things were effectively ruined between his brother and the human they loved, and Damon wasn't about to hold back any longer.
"Klaus, I actually asked you to come for a reason," Elijah said, not wanting to deal with Damon's temper tantrums. "Elena looks at you and Damon from two completely separate angles. I figured the two of you could each try and…"
Klaus stepped forward. "Well, since I'm the one she dislikes most in this room, I guess I'll go first." He expected a negative reaction from the doppelganger. He pushed past Damon, smirking as he did so. He leaned down, placing a hand against Elena's forehead. He wasn't surprised when she whimpered and moved her head away from his hand. He moved his hand to her cheek, just in case it was a fluke reaction. Again, Elena whimpered, moving her hand away from him. "Hmm, I can't say I'm surprised," he surmised.
Elijah filed away the finding; turning to Damon, who had yet to remove his eyes from Elena's suffering form. "Damon…"
Damon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got it." Walking slowly, he sat down on the side of the bed, turning to look at the young woman who unknowingly held the love and loyalty from so many people. "Elena…" he voiced. He wasn't sure what he expecting, but she didn't even turn to his voice. "So, I heard you were getting freaky with the Original bad ass," he tried again, this time his voice was taunting. He hoped that she would sit up and argue with him. With an unsteady hand, he turned her head to him. "Come on, Elena. Open your eyes for me…" he framed her face in his hands. She moaned when he settled his hands on her body, and Damon almost thought it was a positive reaction, until a scream was torn out of her throat. He let go of her, as if she'd burned him.
Klaus smirked. "Hmm, even I didn't make her scream."
Elijah frowned at the reaction. He didn't understand how her reaction to Damon was so negative. How was it that when he had touched her earlier, she turned into the touch…begging for it.
The screams died down to sobs, but Elena continued to thrash on the bed. Whatever minute respite she'd found was definitely ruined. Elijah ignored both men in the room, walking around to the other side of the bed. He claimed a seat on the other side of Elena.
"Elena, I'm here," he said in a soothing tone. Without a conscious thought, he ran a hand through her hair, brushing the loose strands away from her face. She turned to his body. His hands trailed over her face, moving them down to trace down her exposed arms. "Elena?"
"Hmmm, Elijah. You came back to me," she whispered. "Don't stop…please don't stop touching me."
Jealousy welled up inside Damon. How was it that Elijah managed to provoke such a reaction from Elena? Even when she was awake and feeling her best, she used to look for Elijah; for whatever reason. "I don't get it. Why is it that you can touch her, but I can't?" Surely, if anyone in the room had the ability to calm her, it would be him. He was closer to her then either of the males in the room.
"I don't know," Elijah admitted, but his eyes never left her face. He wanted nothing more than to sooth her.
Klaus studied his brother's reaction to Elena, and he was not happy with what he saw. His brother had been the epitome of collected for hundreds of years. Even as a human, he was reserved, only showing his true emotions to his family and close friends. Seeing the…dare he assume, love, on his face did not settle well. Klaus shook his head. This would have to be nipped in the bud.
"It's because the spell is linked so closely to you."
Both Elijah and Klaus turned their attention to the bedroom door where Esther stood.
