A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! It's so heartening to know that people who've read this story from the first time I posted to the ones who discover it newly are so warm and generous in their support and encouragement I love you guys! Thanks to my amazing Beta MarsterRoo.

This chapter gets a little interesting and we get a small peek into the dynamics developing between Elijah and Fee! Enjoy my lovelies!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, it would be Originals centric.


Fiona huffed out a breath as she landed on her back feeling every bone in her body rattle just before Klaus pounced on her with his hand hovering above her heart, "That's the fifteenth time I've killed you now. What's the matter, love? You seem to be off your game," he said as he frowned at her.

"Maybe it's this fucking brutal training that you've pushed on me for the past three weeks." Fiona said frustrated as she pushed him off her and shoved herself up. Elijah and Klaus had set a relentless pace for her in the last three weeks since the boot camp from hell had kicked off. Though she had to admit that she was getting better and stronger, she had woken up this morning feeling literally drained and nothing was going right. The harder the two of them pushed her, the less she felt like putting any effort into training today.

"This "fucking brutal training" is what is going to save your fine ass when you face off against Silas and his minions." Klaus snarled back at her equally pissed off.

"Take a break and cool off, both of you." Elijah stated firmly. Fiona glared at the two of them before stalking off towards the house. She wanted some space from everyone and the cool comfort of the house would be a welcome change. She was gulping down a bottle of cold water when she sensed movement behind her and turned, Elijah stood watching her from the doorway of the kitchen. They stood in silence before he asked, "What's wrong Fiona? Your head hasn't been on the training all morning." She let out a dry laugh as she said, "What's wrong? How about everything?"

"From the minute I've come back home I've felt like a rag doll that's been tossed and beaten. The last three weeks have been nothing but the worst kind of torture. I haven't had a minute to myself and I'd just like a FUCKING BREAK!" Fiona yelled, venting out finally. There was absolute silence, broken only by the sound of her ragged breathing, as they continued to stare at each other. Elijah pushed himself off of the doorjamb and walked towards her, stopping only when he was less than a foot away from her. He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Fiona." He said softly, "I can only imagine how hard this is on you. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. If Niklaus and I push you, it's only so you can protect yourself and not be helpless. Neither of us wants to see you come to any harm, but we cannot always be there to protect you. So we need to make sure you can protect yourself."

"God, you don't think I get that?" She whispered with closed eyes, "I know when I'm being churlish and having a temper tantrum. But I need to blow off some steam every now and then. And this nonstop training, with no time to do anything that's just normal, gets to me." She finished opening eyes that brimmed with emotion. As their gazes locked and held, Fiona felt that fluttering just beneath her heart again. She thought she saw some answering emotion in Elijah's eyes before he dropped his fingers from her face and stepped back.

"I admit, we might have gotten too focused on the training to think about normal human needs. I will apologise for that oversight. Tomorrow we'll take a break. You can have a day to yourself to do whatever it is you choose to. Would that be fine?" Elijah asked warmly.

"Thank you. That would be wonderful." She breathed out. Elijah nodded and turned to walk out, before he could get too far Fiona called out to him, "Elijah. I appreciate everything you and Klaus have done for me. I know without your training I wouldn't stand a chance against a strong human, let alone a supernatural being. It just occurred to me that I've yet to thank either of you. So, thank you." She said earnestly. He just looked at her before inclining his head in acknowledgement and walked back out.

Fiona let out the breath she hadn't been aware of holding and continued to look at the spot the Original had occupied just moments before. She could still feel the imprint of his fingers on her skin as if they'd been branded there. She could admit, if only to herself, that over the last few weeks it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore the effect he had on her. The more time they spent the more increasingly aware of him she became.

When they were training his proximity and touch didn't seem to affect her. But in those moments in-between when he held her if she stumbled. When he gave her a helping hand to pick herself up off the floor and her body brushed against his as she stood up, the brush of his arms as they stood close while they were discussing something. Or when his fingers lingered a few seconds longer than necessary on her as he explained a maneuver. Her heart would flutter, her breath would hitch and the temperature would seem to rise exponentially.

She knew all of it meant that she was attracted to him, and the attraction was growing rapidly. If she was being honest she had to admit that she'd felt a spark of attraction from the first time she laid eyes on him, but she'd refused to think about it and brushed it aside. It had been easy to do it when she was dealing with discovering the existence of supernatural beings, doomsday prophecies, realising she was the descendent of a great sorcerer and being the key to saving the world.

It had all been fine until she had to spend three weeks in non-stop close proximity to the enigmatic Original. She could have gone on ignoring her attraction had she not have had to deal with him on a daily basis. Now she had no excuses and had nowhere to hide from the truth. The worst part of all this was she didn't know what he felt. He was the most difficult person to read.

All the Originals had that uncanny ability to mask what they were really feeling, but they all had moments when they showed what they truly felt. All except Elijah it seemed. This coupled with everything she'd told Elijah were what finally made her snap today. When she said she needed a break, she also meant a break from him. Not like she was going to tell him that. After taking a deep cleansing breath and letting it out, she walked out and back to her torture session.

"Are you ready to start again?" Klaus asked shortly, but his eyes held a softness to them that told her he wasn't mad.

"As ready as I'll be on a day like this." Fiona answered with a smile.

"I want you to try this." Klaus said handing her a mean looking weapon that was somehow sleek. She looked at it dubiously before saying, "What is THAT?"

"That would be a battle ax. More boost than a sword which would work better for you I think. You have good upper body strength and agility, but you'd have better leverage with this than a sword. Might take a little while to get used to the weight and movement of it. Why don't you try it and block me." He said as he moved to pick up a sword.

"I'm not used to it. I could hurt you." She said as she looked at the weapon unsurely.

"I'm the Original Hybrid, love. No harm you inflict on me is permanent." Klaus said with his signature smirk as he spread his arms out.

"So you'll grow back your arm if I cleave it off you?" Fiona asked drily.

"Let's avoid that shall we, sweetheart? Now, block." He said and she thrust out the ax out of sheer instinct.

"That's good. But while you're stuttering around trying to find your balance I've put my sword through your back and finished you."

"The damn thing is bulky and heavy." She said indignantly.

"It's not, spread out your grip. Get a good feel of the balance. That's it." He encouraged as she followed his commands.

"Now think of it as a dance. The ax is but an extension of your arm. Come down on the sword. One. You not only want to counter my moves, but throw me off my rhythm, make me follow where you want to go." Klaus said as he thrust and blocked and moved with her. "Strike, strike, turn. Thrust up, across, cut down, block, pivot." He called out as he led her in a dance of war.

Fiona moved with him and acted out of instinct mingled with obedience. When they stopped she said, "You're right, this feels more organic than the sword. Thanks." She said to him with a genuine smile before positioning herself again. They continued parrying with each other as Elijah and Klaus took turns to train her and point and correct her weaknesses. At the end of two hours she had to admit she felt more at ease with the weapon and pretty damn badass! As they drew to a stop and Elijah declared the session over she heard a smattering of applause and looked over to see the others gathered at the picnic table watching them.

"Wow, you look like some sort of Xena!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Yeah, and you seem like you've been doing it for ages, Fee. That's amazing." Elena said in awe.

"Have to admit that was totally hot Red." Damon chimed in as Elena whacked him upside of his head.

"If I don't look badass after being trained by the two most badass vampires, something would be wrong." Fiona said laughingly as she looked at Klaus and Elijah.

"Hey! I'm a lot more badass than 'Lijah could ever be." Kol said offended.

"Please, he'd eat you for breakfast without breaking a sweat." Rebekah sneered.

"I might have to relinquish my badass status with what I say next." Elijah said in amusement, "Tomorrow we're going to take a break from all the training. Everyone gets a day to relax and do whatever they want. But we're going to get back to training on Monday." Elijah said and everyone cheered. Fiona caught his eyes and mouthed Thank you, before walking over to Elena and Caroline.

"I propose a girls night. We'll head to that club outside town everyone's been talking about and party. Then continue it with a sleepover. We'll get Bonnie out as well." Fiona said.

"Yes! Let's, it's been ages and I could definitely blow off some steam." Caroline exclaimed as she jumped up and down.

"That sounds wonderful!" Elena added as she threw an arm around her shoulder hugging her. Fiona saw Rebekah try to look uninterested and turned to her, "What do you say Rebekah? Want to join us?" She asked the Original who seemed startled to be addressed. She composed her face and said carelessly, "Well, it's not like I had any plans. I suppose I could tag along."

"Great it's a plan then. Meet at our house around seven?" She asked the other girl who nodded before walking off towards the house. As she turned to go she looked at Elijah who was looking at her with a strange emotion, he smiled at her before walking off towards Klaus.


"Did you really have to invite her Fee. She did kill me, you know." Elena said annoyed.

"Well you daggered her too Elena and then desiccated her brother and planned to kill her other brother. Cut her some slack. You know you'd have killed anyone you thought had killed Jeremy or me." Fiona said getting irritated.

"I can't believe you're defending her!" Elena said seeming genuinely shocked.

"Elena, I'm just pointing out that you've caused her suffering as well. I don't condone the fact that she killed you, you know I would never do that. But she's got her own hurts as well." Fiona said exasperatedly.

"So what? Now we're supposed to be best friends with her and forget everything?" Elena asked scathingly.

"No Elena, I don't expect that. But anyone can see she's a lonely girl. All she's known is the company of her older brothers..for a thousand years. Can you imagine what that must feel like? Besides, doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? She is helping you learn to protect yourself too isn't she? If we have to work together we need to learn to co-exist together as well." Fiona said wisely and watched as Elena seem to digest that. She took a deep breath as she looked up at Fiona and said, "Fine. But if she pisses me off I'll retaliate."

"Ok. All I'm asking is give to her a chance." Fiona said before she turned back to check her makeup. They were both dressed to kill and would no doubt knock the socks off of any male they encountered, Fiona thought with satisfaction.

Elena was in an emerald green form fitting bandage dress that stopped a few inches above her knees and showed off her body to its fullest advantage. Her hair hung straight down her back as usual and the three inch metallic pumps she had on gave the illusion of her legs going on forever. Fiona was dressed in a turquoise blue dress that stopped mid thigh and molded her body. It had a modest scoop neck that just hinted at cleavage. It looked basic enough in front, but all modesty flew out the window when she turned. The back was nothing but four criss-crosses of strings till the fabric started again just above her lower back leaving the long, smooth column of her back exposed. The four inch silver peep toe pumps with the jeweled front added oomph. Her hair was clipped low on her left side and fell over her shoulder. The smokey eyes and freshly glossed lips gave her a contrast of vixen and innocent. Men of the world, eat your heart out she thought!

They made their way down as they heard the bell ring. Bonnie, Caroline and Rebekah all came in within minutes of each other. Since Jeremy was staying with Matt and out of Estrogen Central as he'd termed it, they'd decided to have the sleepover there. Once the girls had left their overnight bags, they all made their way to Rebekah's car and piled in. Rebekah turned to Fiona as the car drove down the road and said, "Thank you for inviting me. I don't think I said that earlier."

"If we're all going to fight and possibly die together we may as well get shit faced drunk together as well." Fiona said flippantly though she gave her a warm smile. Rebekah returned it with the first true smile she had seen.

"Well, let's get this party started then!" Caroline said as she took a swig from the vodka bottle she'd brought and passed it around. Fiona turned up the music and Pink's Raise your Glass bellowed out of the speakers.


Things are starting get interesting with Elijah and Fee right *wiggles eyebrows*. What did you'll think? Review please? You know I need them as badly as Fee needs her first cup of coffee!

xx

Bee