I am so so sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. I am now back from holiday but it may be a couple of weeks before I get back into my updating schedule as I have to write a lot of new material first. So thank you so much for being so patient.

Wow - 13 followers. I can't believe that, thank you. I never thought that people would be interested in my work; I only started submitting these because the ideas would not get out of my head (blasted plot pandas).

A reviews. I have reviews. I had never expected reviews.

Brookeworm3 - I hope you have been enjoying all of the chapters as much as you did the first one.

Guest (I'm sorry I don't know your name :() - I'm really glad you enjoy Ana. I know it sounds corny as hell when writers say that they base OCs on themselves, but it was only when I was writing the third chapter that I realised I have been doing it unintentionally. I too enjoy Fanfictions that have their own spin on it, for me that's what Fanfiction is all about.

MissTigerLily1013 - Your review made me laugh so so much, and made my day so thank you.

Cloudedstargazer - Your review nearly made me cry: This story is amazing! Ofcourse I am favoriting it. It's easily my favorite story and it's only starting! Thanks so much for posting it. I look forward to your updates and hope that this story becomes as successful as I know it deserves :) Thank you thank you thank you :).

time-twilight - Am very happy that you like two of my stories, made me smile a lot. I'm afraid I can't answer any of your questions however, as that would give away plot details. As I said in Shadowed Moon, spoilers ;).

On with the show

xXx

Chapter Four

It had been a spontaneous decision to attend Marcel's ball. But he had heard through Davina that his sister (and therefore Klaus) would be going and it seemed to be the perfect time to let everyone know he was back in the Quarter, Marcel included.

Speaking of Marcel, Elijah had a deeper respect for the vampire (not that he would be telling anyone that of course). It took a lot of guts to take on the witches in their own land and take one of their own away. And it took a lot of power to keep that witch away from her kin and keep the rest of the witches' from holding their own place in the Quarter. Of course it helped that he had Davina on his side who was able to let him know when a witch was casting. She was one of the most powerful witches he had ever come across. Possibly more powerful than the Bennet witch when she had channelled the power of a hundred dead witches in an attempt to kill Klaus. But Elijah knew she wasn't as powerful as his mother, who had been one of the most powerful witches to have walked the earth. It was because of her magic that his family had become vampires, and through them the vampire race existed.

So the party had been a good idea. And when he had seen that woman appear in the entrance to the compound, Elijah knew that by dancing with her, the one woman who had managed to capture the attention of everyone there, all would know of his return. What he hadn't reckoned on was what would happen after the dance. Which was very unlike him, but the sight of her had driven all rational thought from his mind. Well, as excuses go it was a pretty reasonable one.

He had known that Klaus would be up to something at the party, but to find out his actions were an attempt to get him back from Marcel was strangely touching. Hayley may have finally started rubbing off on him. But it wasn't Klaus' actions at the party that he was contemplating the next morning, standing on the porch ringing the old plantation house they had settled in and watching the sun rise; no it was what happened immediately after the witch Katie had tried to attack the vampires.

Elijah still wasn't sure as to just how surprised he was when Sapphire appeared. As soon as he had heard about the ball and that his siblings would be attending he had known something was going to happen, but what he didn't know was how well informed she would be. He snorted slightly as he remembered her statement about being here to heal the city. But she certainly seemed to be sincere about it last night when she knocked Marcel on his ass. She could be a powerful ally, but he had a feeling it would never happen, especially with Klaus on his mission to take the Quarter back from Marcel. She was definitely a force that had to be reckoned with, as well as someone to consider in their future plans.

And then there was the mystery woman. Well, not that she was a mystery anymore. Elijah was having a hard time wrapping his head around what had happened following Sapphire's departure.

October 31st, 21:45

Silence dominated the street. Every head was turned towards the woman, Anastashia.

"Anastashia Wayne." Those two words echoed through Elijah's head. He had been pretty sure that the woman was new to the Quarter, probably new to the city, but never in a million years would he have imagined just how well known the woman would have been. He recalled what she had said to him back when they were dancing, that most people in the city knew her simply as Ana. Including his brother. What exactly had been happening whilst he had been…away?

Elijah glanced to his right and saw Klaus' jaw tightening slightly in irritation. He hadn't known who this woman was; she had told Elijah that she had merely introduced herself to his brother as Ana, and had deliberately left off her last name. Why? Looking back down to the street he saw that Marcel was also stunned. So he knew her as well. This ball was starting to become very interesting.

"Way…as in Bruce Wayne?" Marcel's voice cracked slightly on the name.

Elijah saw a smile form on Anastashia's face even as she rolled her eyes. Clearly this wasn't the first time she had heard that sentence. "Yes Mr Gerard. Bruce is my older brother. He would have come down here himself but…something else came up." Her voice turned a little sarcastic at the end of her sentence, and everyone read the implied meaning; Bruce Wayne was a notorious playboy. "Which is why I am here instead." She smiled brightly at Marcel.

"And why exactly are you here A…I mean, Ms Wayne? You do not have the…party reputation your brother has." Marcel was choosing his words carefully, clearly trying not to offend her.

She laughed softly. "This is a party Mr Gerard, I insist that you call me Ana." She continued to smile at him. "It is only when we are in the office that you should call me Ms Wayne."

Elijah arched an eyebrow, he couldn't help it. Before Marcel could reply however, Klaus' voice cut through the air. Elijah groaned; thankfully the rest of the street was quiet enough that even a human standing at their height would hear the conversation on the street. "And do you plan on doing much business here, Ms Wayne." He emphasised her name heavily, making it seem like he making a point of not knowing her full name beforehand. Never mind that it was a game he liked to play himself on others, but Niklaus hated it when his tricks were played on him.

Anastashia's head turned slowly and she lifted her eyes almost lazily up to meet Klaus', a smile still playing on her lips. Almost like she knew something they didn't. Elijah had to admit it was…irritating. "Well that depends, Mr Mikaelson," Elijah shuddered internally at the deprecating sound of her voice, "Do you have any say in the matter?" By god she was mocking him. His brother stared down at her for a long moment before allowing a small grin to curve his lips. He didn't answer her and she grinned, turning her back on him.

Elijah could have sworn his breath caught in his throat. Here was a human, a mere slip of a girl really, who had just turned her back on one of the fiercest creatures to walk the planet, who (judging from the look Niklaus was currently sporting) had managed to one-up an Original, had managed to leave the conversation the victor, and had managed to look down on his brother even though he was standing three stories above her.

He could hear soft gasps emanating from the otherwise silent street as Anastashia turned back to Marcel, rather effectively ending the small interlude with Klaus and dismissing him from the conversation. She smiled pleasantly at her confounded host. "My brother and I are both interesting in expanding Wayne Enterprises further south. He thought that New Orleans would make a good place for the southern hub, and I must say after being in this city for a few days I am starting to agree with him. Seeing as you are a man of such prominence in the Quarter, Elijah had to smile at that, not for much longer, "I'm sure you will want to be kept updated in the development of our plans." She was very clever with the way she worded her sentences, putting just the right amount of emphasis to stop them sounding like questions and queries. "I am meeting with the Mayor of New Orleans tomorrow morning regarding land and development, but seeing as I'm starting to like the French Quarter more and more you are more than welcome to attend."

Elijah fought to stifle a laugh; she was acting like a queen bestowing a favour on a humble peasant. He had to admit to himself that she did look very queenly with her posture straight, her dress hugging her body in all the right ways, the way she held her wire mask so loosely at her side and her wind blowing softly in the wind. Before Marcel could say anything she had turned and began walking down the street. Pausing suddenly she turned to look over her shoulder at the dark-skinned vampire. "Until then." Her eyes drifted up and she briefly locked gazes with Elijah before smirking slightly. She turned back around and was gone.

Elijah blinked, bringing himself back to the present. He didn't think that it was possible for one of his kind to blush, yet he felt strangely overheated as he remembered the look she had given him before she left the night before. The sound of banging within the mansion brought him further out of his thoughts and he sighed heavily. Both Niklaus and Rebekah had been in foul moods ever since they had returned from the ball the previous evening. Rebekah was annoyed that she hadn't been the centre of attention (for the first time in a very long time) and instead of upstaging the other women there (especially Camille) she herself had been upstaged.

And Niklaus, well he was furious that his plans had been so casually ruined the night before. Thanks to the mysterious Sapphire Marcel still had his trusted right-hand man. Not only that, but the witch he had so cleverly manipulated into attacking Marcel was still alive, because the vampire was wary of what Sapphire might do next if he raised a hand against her. The witch had made herself scarce after Sapphire had left, aided by her lover, and had gone no doubt to the other witches to tell them about what had happened. Klaus was also pissed off for being wrong footed by Anastashia, and had not been best pleased with Elijah when they had returned home.

Not to say that he wasn't happy to see his elder brother, and had been apologetic about stabbing Elijah and leaving his body in the care of Marcel. He was happy to know that Elijah was now out and about, free from Marcel, but was pissed that he had decided to wait until the ball to reveal himself. He was equally annoyed that Elijah had already encountered Sapphire and had failed to find a way to mention her to him before the ball. As Elijah then pointed out to him, "Considering you had no idea where I was at the time, and it was mere hours away from an event I knew you would make certain to attend, what else was I to do? Need I remind you I was also without my ring brother, and so was unable to come and see you during the day." This was true; Klaus had removed Elijah's daylight ring before handing his body over to Marcel, just in case if the younger vampire decided to do anything with it. Klaus had been quick to return the ring after receiving a furious look from Hayley. Something had definitely happened between the two of them; before Elijah's incapacitation they had barely been able to be in the same room together, and now Klaus was acting…well not whipped, but he certainly seemed to have a lot more respect for the pregnant werewolf.

"Good morning brother."

Ahh, speaking of said brother…Elijah didn't turn around but tilted his head slightly to Klaus would know he held his elder brother's attention.

"I was wandering where you had gone off to this morning."

"Merely enjoying the sunrise, and contemplating the events of last night brother."

He could practically feel Klaus' smirk. "Indeed? And what have you made of them?"

At this Elijah did turn his head to stare at his brother, an eyebrow raised. "And what is it to you Niklaus, what my thoughts are?"

Klaus attempted to look contrite. "We are family Elijah, and I have missed your council." Elijah continued to stare at him and Klaus eventually laughed, not looking in the slightest bit embarrassed. "Oh well, it was worth a go I guess. I want to know what your take on little Ms Wayne is."

Elijah winced softly. "You may wish you had not said that Niklaus," he replied. "Something tells me she will not take insults lightly."

Klaus snorted, unperturbed. "Whatever brother. You seemed rather taken with her last night; did you know who she was?"

Elijah sighed. "No I did not. She told me her first name and that was it. I decided to take a leaf out of your book and try something dramatic for a change."

Klaus laughed again, clapping a hand on Elijah's shoulder. "That you did." He stopped laughing after a minute, though a deprecating smile was still on his face. "I can't see that she will be too much of a problem. Who knows, maybe we can get her on our side when we topple Marcel."

"Yes and how is that coming along?" was Elijah's next question, fully aware that Klaus was still smarting after his ruined plans the previous evening. He looked over to his brother to see the smile had faded. He had propped himself against one of the stone columns and looked out over misty grassland at the back of the property.

"We still need to get rid of Thierry. Without him Marcel has less people to trust. Not only that, but there will be a place open in that inner circle of his. We can get someone in."

Elijah didn't comment on the continued use of 'we'. It was without question that, despite everything his brother had done, the countless times he had been daggered by him, Elijah had sworn to stand by his side. Always and forever. Of course this wasn't just them and Rebekah anymore; Hayley and her unborn child were also a part of this now, and a bigger reason for Elijah staying. "And if this Sapphire character turns up again?"

Klaus turned to him, a wicked grin playing on his lips. "You think I should be worried about her brother?"

Elijah shrugged. "She did make an effective point with Marcel last night. I certainly think she is someone you should consider when making your plans."

Klaus' smile now turned feral. Elijah would never admit this, but he felt a tiny sliver of unease run down his spine. "She went up against a vampire. A vampire that isn't even 200 years old yet. She'll find it to be much more difficult to go up against me I can assure you."

Elijah didn't reply to his statement, but mentally he was wandering if Klaus truly believed that, or was just putting it on. "And you truly believe that do you brother?"

Both male Originals turned to see their sister Rebekah standing in the doorway. She smiled at Elijah before turning back to Klaus. "We've never gone up against someone like this before. We don't even know what she is. And she could well have gone up against things far more powerful than us."

Klaus snorted. "Don't you worry sister. This Sapphire," he grinned, mocking the name, "won't interfere with our plans. And if she tries, we'll let her know what it truly means to go up against the Originals."

Rebekah merely rolled her eyes as Klaus walked back into the mansion before turning to Elijah. He wore a small smile on his face, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, which held a hint of exasperation. "So he's the same as ever then."

She shrugged. "He's gotten worse in the last few weeks actually. Being in the city is making him reckless; it's almost like he's forgotten he isn't in charge here anymore, that nothing has changed since we left."

Elijah shook his head slightly. He knew his brother was acting like this because he was on his home turf, somewhere that was so familiar to him he couldn't help but fall back into old habits. But this time the game was different. The stakes had changed. True they didn't have their father hunting them down anymore, but they were trying to go up against a being that had a major following within the Quarter, as well as in other parts of the city. They had to consider Hayley and the child she was carrying, the witch that was magically linked to her, and now there was the new player to consider. Players, Elijah had to remind himself. Anastashia Wayne had looked like she knew more than she was letting on the previous night, and if she truly was looking at expanding her family's company into the city it could prove to be problematic. Elijah forced his mind away from the memory of her hand entwined with his and his arm curved around her small waist to focus on the other player.

Sapphire. Elijah still wasn't sure if she could be treated as an ally or a threat. She hadn't appeared to be interested in taking over the city, either for herself or for someone else, so he doubted she would work with them in that regard. He had a feeling she would leave them alone, unless their actions threatened innocent lives. Last night after Klaus and Rebekah had gone their separate ways Elijah had done some research on Sapphire. She proved to be exceedingly reclusive, but there were pieces on the internet that linked her to more recognisable names; Superman, the Batman (ironically considering he was well known for working on his own), Flash (really?) and someone called the Green Lantern. That had caught Elijah's interest and he had vowed to conduct some further research into him. He seemed to share some traits with Sapphire. Rebekah's voice brought him back to the present. He blinked, finding her to be in the middle of a sentence.

"…like her. I think Klaus has underestimated her."

"Who?"

Rebekah sighed heavily, displeased that Elijah hadn't been listening to her. "This Sapphire person, whoever she is. I reckon she'd knock Klaus flat on his back."

"No need to sound so pleased with that thought sister," Elijah reminded her quietly, though he too was enjoying that mental image.

Rebekah snorted, knowing full well that although he didn't say it, he did agree with her. "Okay then. Well what about this other girl. The Wayne." She said the name sarcastically.

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her tone. "You don't sound like you approve of her. Strange, I thought you'd want to get to know her better."

His sister scoffed and shook her head. "Why on earth would I want to do that. Do you not remember the way she spoke to our brother last night, the way she just dismissed him?"

He hid his smile. "Remember that Niklaus does often have that effect on women. But she certainly seems to be able to stand up for herself, and hold her own going on the way she spoke to Marcel."

"Trust me Elijah, she carries on that way, someone's either going to snap her neck or drain her dry by the end of the week."

With that she turned and headed back into the house, leaving Elijah alone once again on the porch, trying to determine why her words had such a strange effect on him. He forced himself not to worry. Anastashia Wayne appeared to be strong enough to hold her own; her ignorance of the supernatural communities within New Orleans would only help preserve her life if she intended to stay for a while. Her name would give many reason to pause. And Elijah decided that, along with helping to dethrone Marcel and take back his family's city, he would keep an eye on her, whether she knew it or not.

It was later that day that Ana finally returned to the Quarter. Despite having left the party early the previous night she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night; the events of the evening keeping her from falling properly asleep until she had given up, throwing the sheets off of her with a huff and getting out of bed. A glance at the clock told her trying to get back to sleep would be pointless, so instead she'd made herself a hot drink and curled up on her sofa, switching the television onto a random channel and turning the volume down. She had brought her briefcase with her and from it pulled out a wad of papers and a thick notepad. The papers contained the outlines, plans and proposals Wayne Enterprises had come up with in regards to setting up an office in New Orleans.

Normally someone from the Board would be doing this, but she, Bruce and Alfred had decided that it made more sense for Ana to be there – she was joint CEO, her reputation was far less stained than her brother's, and she had a far better way at dealing with people. Her methods were very subtle compared to Bruce, who tended to blunder around like a bull in a china shop. It also gave her a credible reason to be in Louisiana, and meant that she could also carry out the favour Bruce had asked of her – sorting out the problems that had arisen in the city. Ana hadn't just been analysing the supernatural events that were happening in the city since her arrival, she had also been looking at the amount of corruption that had allowed said supernatural elements to take over. The crime was up in the city and, despite the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Katrina, the defences the city had against natural disasters were severely lacking. This was bemusing to Ana, who had come from a city that was the very definition of corrupt (she was pretty sure there was a picture of Gotham next to the word corrupt in the dictionary) and yet had some of the best defences against natural disasters in the world. That could of course be contributed to Wayne Enterprises major involvements within the city. Hopefully by expanding to the south of the country and focusing on New Orleans they could be improved here as well.

It had been about 2:30 in the morning that she had started going over all of the reports. Her meeting with the mayor of New Orleans was at 10:30 and his office was not too far away from the Quarter, but on the other side from where she lived; thankfully a car sent by his office arrived at her apartment at 9:45 which gave her more than enough time to get ready. Image is everything. Her inner voice was starting to sound more and more like Alfred. Ana wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

The meeting went surprisingly well, Ana thought as she climbed out of the cab she had picked up outside the Mayor's Office. Mitch Landrieu was a very popular man, having been voted in as Mayor in 2010 and staying in office ever since. Unlike other city leaders there was no hint of corruption about him, and was determined to do everything he could to help the city and its inhabitants.* Ana had instantly liked the man and they had both gotten on extremely well. Landrieu had supported Wayne Enterprises proposals to open new offices within the city, and in time to use them as the Head Offices of the Southern Branch the company was hoping to create. She had fired off a quick text to Bruce in the cab saying it was looking very likely that a contract could be written up and signed by both the city and the company before long.

Ana had decided that because it was such a nice day she would take a slow walk back to her apartment. First bloody time I've seen the sun in months, she thought to herself as she strolled down Burgundy Street. It was 13:30 and she'd decided to grab something from lunch, but wasn't sure where to go. Being the French Quarter there were numerous cafés and restaurants to choose from and she ended up sitting in the courtyard of a small seafood restaurant called Oceana Grill. Fortunately it was rather quiet and she had been able to grab a table at the back of the courtyard with her back against a smooth brick wall, able to keep an eye on the rest of the complex and everyone in it. Having decided what she wanted to eat Ana sat back in her seat with a glass of white wine at her fingertips and pulled her phone out. She would sort out all the information she had gathered at the meeting later on; right now she was more interested in the other reason why she was in the city.

She had put Marcel at the top of the list of people, beings you idiot, last night, and was contemplating whether or not to add Klaus Mikaelson there as well. His brother was about half-way in the list, and their sister was at the bottom, but only because she hadn't officially met her yet. Ana had a feeling that once they had officially met each other that name would rise rather quickly. Her gaze landed once again on Elijah's name and she swallowed, suddenly feeling dry-mouthed. She'd met him three times now, okay technically once seeing as the other two times were as Sapphire and no one in the city knew she was both people, and she didn't know what to make of him. He seemed extremely…posh. Well educated, rich if his clothes were anything to go by. Handsome, her brain added and Ana blinked. Well yes okay, she had to admit he was handsome, abnormally so if she were being honest with herself, although that could just be due to the fact that he was a bloody vampire. A being that killed indiscriminately, without mercy. Who had been left to rot in a coffin. Gah, Alfred's voice was echoing around in her brain again. Well at least it made a change to Hal's. Nonetheless her brain was right, unfortunately. He had been left daggered in a coffin by his sibling, and Ana couldn't help but feel sorry for him, despite the power he had. Because he certainly had that, she'd felt how strong his body was when they had danced last night. She felt her face heat up slightly at the memory, then frowned at the reaction. What the hell? Okay so it had been an experience dancing with the man but…oh for goodness sakes girl, pull yourself together.

She was so lost in her internal ramblings that she was unaware of the eyes that were watching her from the other side of the courtyard. It was only when a shadow fell across the table she was sitting at that she realised she had company and jumped slightly, looking up in surprise. Her mouth fell open involuntarily and she was pretty sure her face was now beetroot red. Because standing on the other side of the table, with a small grin on his face, was none other than Elijah Mikaelson.

Well shit.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Something about writing scenes between Klaus and Elijah just puts a smile on my face :). This chapter isn't quite as long as I wanted it to be but ultimately decided to stop it where I have as it is quite a good ending and the chapter probably would never have ended otherwise. Some of you may like that I'm sure, but I can certainly say that my fingers would not agree with you :).

* I feel like I have to point out that I am not an American citizen and I do not follow American politics. Therefore anything I have mentioned about the governance of New Orleans is what I have managed to gather off of the internet, and my own interpretations. Please please please do not get upset with me if I write something you think may be offensive; it is not my intention to offend anyonewith any of my writings. I apologise profusely if anyone does take offence or has an issue with what I have written.