I'm getting progressively worse with updates, so I apologize now. I hope you enjoy however :)
Chapter Nine
Black high heels stepped out of the NYC taxi cab, sinking into the grass near the side walk where Elena had the driver drop her off. This was a gathering for the rich and powerful, showing up in a cab at the front door would get her laughed out of town.
Pulling down the bottom of her black dress that ended right above the knee, Elena took a deep breath and held her clutch close to her side as she walked towards the building to see Damon, dressed in a tuxedo while looking impatiently as his watch.
"Ah, so the lady does own a dress." he greeted her, extending a friendly arm.
"Don't push it Damon." Elena returned quickly with a fake smile as they walked through the large glass double doors, following the trail of other party guests to the ballroom.
The lights were dimmed down onto the shining hardwood floor, colors speckling off of it like faeries in the wind from the lanterns hanging in each corner. Strewn across the walls were works of art, pieces for the auction that would be happening later on in the evening. Throughout, the entire room was buzzing, a small orchestra playing in the back corner, small cliques of old rich housewives (all looking much younger than they were) chattering about like birds.
It was a lot to take in at first; the entire room seemed to evaporate money like it was nothing, but at least she wasn't underdressed.
It was as though they walked into a fairytale world, stuck in the modern times, it was much more than she had expected for a charity event.
"Look." Tapping Elena's elbow, Damon nodded to the back of the room where standing set aside from the orchestra was Klaus Mikaelson with the man she immediately recognized as Finn-wearing a scowl on his face-while apart from the rest, leaning casually against the wall, stood Elijah.
"Klaus." Ignoring her "ally", Elena hissed through her teeth, his face reminding her why she was there in the first place.
"I wonder what got him to crawl out of his hole in the ground." Damon laughed, and Elena asked herself the same thing. Elijah had told her he would make an appearance, but to be so…bold about it was foolish, or he just preferred hiding in plain sight.
"I'm not sure." Of course, she already knew it was his confidence in his innocence, a plaguing trait of this family.
Together as one, this family worked as a unit, a damaging force when pushed to a corner and having them all in the same room together was volatile.
Forcing her eyes off of the trio of brothers, Elena followed Damon towards the small table set off to the side that had appetizers when a familiar fiery look caught her attention.
"Hey Damon, isn't that…" she tugged slightly on his sleeve, pointing to the red headed woman who walked with a confident bounce in her step, glowing radiantly in her skin toned dress.
"Sage." He finished for her with a smile, "I think I am going to go and make friends."
Sage Barron- a Mikaelson by marriage to the second son, Finn, she hated this family, being a part of it she knew her life was in danger. She believed they were all born to lie, and as the woman's words played over in her mind again, Elena's thoughts became frantic,
Was Elijah playing with her?
Feeling alone without Damon in the sea of strangers, Elena found herself a place against the wall, avoiding the crowds, the chatter and staying out of the wait staff's way.
She was alone to her thoughts. Not even Damon was aware of her intentions tonight, thinking that they were here to "spy" on the family, (as if they had a natural habitat to observe them in) to build a case when really the case had already been closed. She had another purpose tonight-a meeting with Klaus Mikaelson-hopefully.
"My mother sure knows how to throw a party doesn't she?"
Spinning around and nearly losing her drink in the process, Elena found herself face to face with Kol Mikaelson, the devil looking brother with his inseparable companion of a sister, Rebekah.
"Yes, she definitely does." Elena agreed warily, but did not step away.
"Yes, it is very rare for our family to get together; she insisted that we all attend." Rebekah's shining blonde locks fell down to her bare shoulders in waves to the bodice of her golden dress, and with her brother wearing a pitch black tuxedo they truly represented the sides of heaven and hell. It was frightening to a newer biblical meaning.
"I'm sure each time is extra special." The detective sneered, toying her own braid in a tick. Her lower lip curved into a taut frown, imaging the havoc created whenever these two were in the same room.
"Is everything all right Elena?" Damon had come to her rescue, saving her from a conversation with two people she did not want to have.
"Ah, Detective Salvatore," Kol grinned, baring his canines like fangs, "How nice of you to join us. I was just apologizing to your partner here for our incident the last time we met."
"Yes Damon," Elena smiled to Kol with crooked eyes, "And I was just waiting to hear it."
There was something wild in Kol's eyes, like blood red veins traveled through his iris' making him seem more intimidating even when she saw Elijah as the silent killer (ironic considering their one brother was a serial killer and the other a defense attorney).
"I was just waiting for your partner to come to your rescue." He curled his upper lip in a humorous manner, but switched his demeanor instantly with enlarged angelic eyes. "Detective Gilbert, I apologize for my actions against your partner. I am told I can be quite impetuous."
Like Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kol Mikaelson was different, sending Elena through yet another wave of confusion. Which sibling was the worst of them? And worst of all, how many more times would she go back and forth between the good and bad in this family? She began to wonder if protecting Elijah had been the wrong decision, and if it would only lead to his guardianship of the brother before her.
"Who invited you two anyway?" Rebekah, speaking for the first time since Damon appeared, snarled and gave Elena a distasteful glare.
"Oh, didn't you hear Bekah? Elijah is playing nice, hoping to show how we are such good people." Kol piped up, turning away from the pair and linking an arm to his sister protectively. "I think he is just hoping to avoid a spectacle and police presence will keep the trouble at bay."
Rebekah laughed, passing a willful smile at Damon and followed her brother as they walked away from the detectives. These two siblings were strange, like two sides of the same coin and working as one, complimenting each other with their differences and similarities. Deep down, Elena hoped she would never have to see them again.
"Weren't you off mingling with the rich folk?" the brunette joked waving towards the crowd and Damon nodded.
"I'm trying to keep my eyes on Klaus, can you watch my back?" It was pointless-so she thought-but she nodded in agreement. Her and Elijah may have come to a favorable agreement, but Klaus Mikaelson was at the very bottom of her list of people she trusted. "Meanwhile…" his eyes shifted around, "You keep tabs on the rest of the clan and make sure that one…"he edged his thumb to the direction of a small round table where Elijah sat now, talking with his mother. "I still don't trust him."
Unfortunately, that seemed to be the general consensus when it came to the oldest Mikaelson, but Elena had no choice but to put her trust with him.
Watching Damon disappear into the crowd of people admiring the art on the walls, Elena hung back to the archway to better survey the room in her own preferred solace.
Or not.
"Every year my mother likes to throw a ball here as well…"
She should have been used to this by now, but still, Elena nearly jumped from her skin and looked up to see Elijah this time, standing before her, concern shadowing his expression. She hadn't seen him get up from his table, and her guess was that had been his intention.
"Elijah." She said with pursed lips, shifting her side braid over her shoulder again.
"It looks like your partner is quite the social butterfly." He mused, noting Elena's betrayal of Damon's confidence, as if the thought hadn't been running through her head all day already. He stood by her, shoulder to shoulder but Elena wouldn't look at him, instead she kept her eyes shadowing the room, pin pointing each Mikaelson sibling. Rebekah and Kol had found themselves a place at the mini bar, the sister now looking stone cold while her brother smiled vibrantly as he flirted with the woman behind the counter.
"That's debatable." She replied glumly, and still smiled as Elijah grabbed two glasses of champagne from the caterer's tray and passed one to her.
"Well, already he seemed to be enjoying the company of my cousin."
"Cousin?" Oh god, there's more.
"Yes, Khloe. She is quite close with my brother during the rare times she is in town." He lifted his glass in gratitude, though she still wouldn't look at him. Seeing his face would show her that he was real, a human being with positive intentions rather than the monster she was forcing herself to imagine.
To the far corner of the room sat Finn, sitting at a smaller dinner table across from Sage. He held her hands cupped in his, his eyes coated in love and devotion seen from across the room. It was painfully beautiful, possibly the only two pure souls in this family, as even Elijah was torn in two. "I want to talk to Klaus." She mumbled, now looking at the floor.
Plainly, Elijah replied, "Not yet, later, I promise." Lightly he allowed his fingers to graze her elbow, leading her (not unwillingly) to face him more directly. "My mother also enjoys hearing herself talk. She is planning a toast within moments."
His eyes moved to the stairwell, large, white and elegant in color and he smirked. "After the toast we will speak in a more…private location." His eyes were given a cloudy opacity from the ballroom lighting above, it made him seem blind though he was far from it. Elena had instantly pegged Elijah as a man who has seen much more than his societal position would allow. It formed his family to become co-dependent on him while he became protective of them and their tendencies, but still wanting to hold some form of dignity, restraint, and honor.
How many ways can one man be torn? Elena wondered as she stared-maybe that had turned into an entranced gaze- into his eyes.
"Okay." Finally, she found a few words and he seemed to chuckle to his own amusement at her loss.
The ringing of a glass being tapped by a spoon brought both to look up to the top of the stairs where Esther Mikaelson stood, dressed in a long white silk dress, her hair done up in a round of tucked curls. "Now, if you will excuse me." The tips of his fingers lingered on her forearm as he shifted past to move to the front of the group that had gathered (Damon standing surprisingly close to Caroline and Tyler amidst the dresses and tuxedos.). Elena had promised to keep her focus on the Mikaelson siblings and saw they all had formed an unintentional circle around their brother Klaus, making it easier to keep her focus on Elijah, her target, her mark.
Focus held on him, she unintentionally ignoring the matriarch's words as she spoke, thanking her guests for their generous donations and the like. Instead, Elena watched the woman's oldest son, feeling safe knowing that he wasn't watching her.
With each rise of his mother's voice of praise, the man's steadily clenched jaw would twitch in disagreement, disappointment and most of all, knowing much more. It was something that Elena had been searching for on the stone faced man since they met, a tell. He seemed to be a man who's each movement was well thought out, making him slow yet graceful and Elena had to force herself to remember that he was as dangerous as a burning building-and just like the fire, Elena could not look away. The layers were there, veiled by doubt and deception although there was so much left to uncover before Elena decided what to do about her newest assignment. She had to know if he was the demon Alaric and Rose made him out to be, tied to his family by shackles.
She didn't understand it, (nor did she want to) why her mind was drawn to him. What was so tantalizing about a man who should have made her sick? It could easily have been their underlying similar ideals of protecting those they loved. Whatever it was, it drove Elena's thoughts to the wall in curiosity before she noticed that Esther's speech was done, her guests all clapping in unison as they toasted.
Elijah was nowhere to be seen as she had stopped gawking at him in her own self-reflection.
Searching around to avoid drawing attention, Elena slid towards the stairs, the hall formed underneath it's gallant structure was dimmer than the rest making it easy to duck in to.
"I can't have the rest of my family knowing about our negotiations yet." Elijah leaned casually against the wall, his tuxedo seemingly untouched and straight, a block of ice. "Thank you for meeting me."
"Did I have much choice?"
"No, I guess not."
Taking a deep breath, Elena moved to stand in front of him, leaning her back against the colum on his other side "Did you talk to your brother?"
"I did."
"And?"
Pushing himself off of the wall, Elijah stepped towards the detective, though keeping a foot apart. "And…" he paused, taking some time to consider his words, "I may have deceived him slightly, telling him there is more evidence against him than he realizes, and this is the only way."
There was something strange in his eyes, a heavy regret to his betrayal to his brother, Elena pitied him, knowing and understanding how he felt. "So, now what?" she hadn't spoken much of what would happen after speaking with Elijah about Klaus, but he seemed to have everything laid out for them.
"Now," he took half a step closer, and Elena caught the breath lodged in her throat, "We wait. You will speak to my brother by the end of the evening, and tomorrow I will bring him in."
"And he knows the terms?" she couldn't imagine Klaus agreeing to be permanently institutionalized, but anything would be better than death row.
"He does." Elijah's eyes locked onto hers, "Which is the only reason he has agreed."
This may not have been the penance Elena needed to sleep at night, but it wasn't her that needed sleep. Women like Agnes were the ones who deserved it more than she. For that, Elena intended to suffer for their closure.
"Elijah, I-" the air in her lungs came out ragged, unsure of the coming words, and was cut short by a shrill of gasps and screams, causing the detective to step forward, bumping into Elijah's chest, the sounds of a gun being fired erupted, echoing against the walls, drumming onto Elena's heart.
With a gasp, from the gunfire and her collision with the man before her, Elena moved to shove past him, ready to find out what had happened, hearing screams of a man being shot but before being able to make a bolt for it the detective found her back slammed against the wall and Elijah's hand covering her mouth to quiet her.
Squirming against him, his body, now dangerously pressed against hers, tightened protectively as another shot was fired. The echo in the hall rumbling through as the bullet lodged itself into the arch, right where Elena would have been had she run out.
"Are you armed?" he murmured quietly, his free hand resting on her hip to stop her from fighting him, where her holster should have been.
Elena nodded strongly, lifting her dress just slight enough to where her sidearm was kept-something she was glad to have brought- since it was never apart from her and took out the gun.
"Sir," the man from outside of the limo the week before rounded the opposite corner, "We need to get you out of here."
Elijah gave a shallow nod, and released the detective, apology in his eyes now. "Elijah…" the man warned, "Now. Her partner is down."
The words were sudden, a quick stab to the bottom of her heart as it plummeted to her stomach
"The police are on their way."
But Elena was already gone, her gun drawn to her side, both hands closing it close as she peered around the corner.
The ballroom had cleared, the guests all having fled outside, or under the archway such as a smaller group where Elena could see Damon clearly against the wall in a heap.
"Damon!" she cried out, her voice raspy in distress as she ran to him, nearly forgetting to clear the area.
"I'm okay." He groaned, lifting his head to look at her, "It's just a flesh would, through and through." His hand told a different story however, as blood seeped through his fingers. "The shooter is up there."
He nodded towards the upstairs corner and Elena stood sharply seeing a blonde head over the balcony wall. Hearing the sirens sound, though knowing it would still be time before they got inside, Elena moved, hugging the wall as she climbed the stairs to hear muffled voices near the top.
"Drop your gun." The female voice was strong, also resilient and Elena could see her clearly when she peered around the corner at the top of the stairs. The tall, leggy woman with supermodel legs Elena recognized instantly as Ella, the woman Elijah had told her was his head of security.
Now, in a black pantsuit and her hair in a tight bun, Ella looked overwhelmingly lethal and her gun aimed at yet another familiar face.
Agnes-the sick older woman whom Elena kept in her thoughts daily-her husband stood with a shot gun in his shaky hand, stepping back to aim it at his potential killer.
"Frank!" Elena struggled to remember the man's name, still not sure if she was correct, "Drop the gun."
Tears of anguish streamed down the man's face as he shook his head, "You…you were supposed to help us!" he choked out, "You have had him this entire time and you've done nothing! I had to do something if you won't!" Can't she wanted to correct him, they cannot do anything.
He knows about Klaus she quickly realized, stepping closer and holding her gun upwards to show she wouldn't shoot.
"This is not the way." She tried to soothe him, but Ella was inching forward with vigorous content and not saying a word. "Ella, you have to back off."
Elena didn't know who to aim at, the distraught husband pulled by his grief? Or the seemingly trained assassin?
"My wife is dead because of these people!" he cried out, his hand shivering sporadically and Elena gasped. Having been so caught up in making deals and gross negotiations with serial killers, the detective had abandoned all of what was important.
"Frank, your wife had cancer…" Elena's eyes wanted to tear, but with Ella so close, most likely ready to shoot and kill, she couldn't find the heart.
"No, Detective, her heart stopped from being broken."
In a moment of sadness, the elderly man faltered, his aim giving the guard (with Elena not far behind) to tackle him down to the ground just in time for his gun to go off out of the control of it's holder.
"Ella don't!" she cried out, the bullet hitting the wall, and kicked the gun away as it crashed next to the crumpled man.
It was in a flash, Elena working with Elijah's head of security, holding down the man to his stomach as he screamed tears of anguish, mourning the death of his late wife-a friend of Elena's in a sense- all over again. The police had stormed the ballroom just in time with paramedics running in to take Damon away, Elena was done.
Agnes was dead. Her shining light to give right and reason for what she was doing, her motive to fight had passed on. Watching the police take the widower away in handcuffs, Elena's heart was heavy. Ella had disappeared, most likely to check in on Elijah, and it was just her surrounded by police.
"Detective Gilbert." Some time had passed, and during times like these, Alaric's authoritative tone was a relief to her troubled mind, a guidance of logic she would need when it passed forgotten. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine Captain." She lied. Agnes, the woman who died of a broken heart, weighed pounds into her mind and own heart. "Can I go to the hospital?"
She wanted to see Damon, though the paramedics said he would be fine.
"Damon went home already; he is sleeping off a painkiller high right now." This was supposed to be comforting, though it wasn't. Damon's quick visit to the hospital was good news however. "He said he will call you in the morning, which is what I will be doing also. Will you be all right sticking around and doing some damage control?"
As if Elena had not had a long enough day, but Damon was supposed to be her way home (two cab fares being too expensive) so she nodded in stagnant agreement. "Sure thing." She replied looking at the disaster area around her. Gathering evidence, the crime scene unit had torn apart the ballroom, finally finding the two bullets, one upstairs and the other in the hallway entrance wall.
The bullet from a distressed man (they labeled as crazed, but Elena preferred severe mourning) that could have hit her, had Elijah not stopped her from running out so blindly.
Without the intention (so she was assuming) of doing so, Elijah Mikaelson had saved her. She could thank him for that, but preferred not to further stroke his ego.
Needing a breath of fresh air, Elena walked towards the fire escape, left open for the CSU, and stopped as she walked past the bar to see Elijah sitting in its stool-alone.
Tempted to continue walking, Elena fought with herself, but the social drinker (and every night she came home drinker) called out stronger than her reserve, so she found herself joining him.
"I thought that y our security team whisked you away to some secure location?" she teased, feeling strangely comfortable with him and pulled up a chair next to his.
Her voice startled the man, who had a small glass of dark liquor set in front of him, and he glanced up from it in confusion. "They tried." his voice was duller than before, a sense of sadness carrying through it's tone. "I wanted to make sure you and Ella were all right."
Elena and Ella were too easy to confuse, he even seemed tongue tied to say one over the other. "I heard the gunshots."
"Didn't you talk to Ella?" His head of security should have gone right to her charged side.
"No. She spoke to the other guard. She prefers to…avoid police matters." Most likely because she is some foreign assassin, Elena concluded. "How is your partner?"
He seemed genuinely concerned, finally taking a sip of his drink. "I heard he protected Nickaus."
Elena hadn't gotten the entire story, but "protect" was probably a word Damon would spit on, since he had only pushed Klaus out of the way most likely not even realizing who he had saved.
"He is home, my captain asked me to stick around for a while longer." She was staring at his drink, wondering why Alaric wanted her to stay, since it would have made sense to send her home to rest, but then realized he may have seen Elijah here still, forcing them to interact. Her own reflection grimaced back at her with the realization. She was being played, and this time by someone much closer to her. "I guess I should thank Ella as well," she pulled her eyes upward to look at him.
Making an agreement sound, Elijah nodded. "I hate to inform you that Gavin took Nicklaus away for his temporary safety. I am sure you understand." They would not be meeting tonight.
Listlessly, Elena nodded as she bit her lips. She had assumed as much, "But don't worry. I will still bring him in tomorrow like we agreed."
"I do." She could feel her throat tighten.
"Do what, Elena?"
"Worry."
Leaning back slightly to view Elena better, Elijah nodded curtly. "I would have thought you would trust me more than that Elena, have I not done as I have said otherwise?"
"You have." She was ignoring him, other thoughts of Frank, a desperate need for revenge in his eyes as he had accused her of betrayal played in her mind. Her ideals had been shattered.
"Elena…you do not seem happy." The man pointed, sipping his drink. "Besides our missed meeting, your partner will be fine, he is home and safe, you will have my brother on his hands and knees before you tomorrow, he will be off of the streets. That is good news, don't you agree?"
"Of course." Her lips were dry and cracked from chewing them and she motioned to the bartender for a drink.
"Then I misunderstand the problem."
Elena had to look away, her face turning hot from anger, each surging emotion becoming too much to control. "The problem?" she snapped trying to keep her voice even but failing. "The problem is that that man came in here with a gun and shot my partner nearly shooting me too because he was devastated from his wife's death. Her heart stopped, and I can only assume from the stress caused by your brother killing her daughter."
The bartender, trying to avoid a pending argument, gently placed the glass in front of the detective and walked away. Elena grabbed it quickly, facing Elijah again with her eyes glaring into his. When he said nothing, she shot again, "Are you a robot? Do you not feel the pain your brother has caused innocent people?"
Elijah's lips parted in protest and true offense to her words as though he was taking them similar to a dagger to the heart. "Elena…"he began slowly, "Of course I feel. I am only human. Each life my brother has taken I regret as if by my own hand, but you need to understand that I have done everything in my power to not allow my families misgivings effect my personal feelings if at all possible."
Mouth forming a think line, Elena could feel her teeth grind into his words. She, since the day they met, had made him into a scapegoat. Never once did she think of what he had gone through, but still she refused to call him innocent, whether it be out of her own stubborn nature or a feeling she wasn't sure.
"What can I say?" she began, biting back her built in resentment, "I clearly care too much, call it a weakness."
Shaking his head, Elijah's gaze faded again. "I would be inclined to disagree Elena, your compassion is your strength, and with that…a powerful part of you. Had you denied my offer knowing the cards I had, you would have been a fool, not caring for those families who suffer. "
"Elijah, don't patronize me. You and I both know you will defend your brother to the grave and you are only doing this for your benefit and your families."
There was a powerful, bleeding passion in her tone, and she could see it in his face as she looked up to him, the hair falling over her face from the loosened braid as her neck bent slightly. He said nothing, no words of disagreement, nothing to disprove otherwise, and Elena found that more painful.
"I'm sorry." Unintentionally, the words slipped out with more emotion than needed, as a tear slid down her cheek. All of her anger once again misdirected, covering up the paw prints of sadness from Agnes' death like snow coming down.
"Don't be." Elena could feel the moment of tension and self-revelation between the two of them. Emotions were high, the knowledge of Agnes' untimely passing, his brother's near attempted murder only to be saved by her partner. "None of this is your fault; this should only fall on my brother."
Tears turned to dust the instant her skin felt his brush against her knuckle, causing her to look up to his darkened solemn eyes.
"I-" she strained, his hand instantly retracting to his glass, but she was lost in him for a moment, but feeling the loss of his touch, the comfort from a hand. He was no friend, she had to tell herself again, but no enemy would comfort her.
"You lost a friend, I am sorry for your loss."
Shaken alive by his words, his intent seemed pure, though his actions were relentless and crude to protect his family, Elena straightened herself again.
"Don't be." She found herself smirking, paralleling his words, "You are losing a brother." She could hear Elijah sigh, regretfully. "I guess it should be some consolation to see you hate yourself for deceiving Klaus." She decided, "What kind of a man would love himself for throwing his brother under the bus?"
"Elijah chuckled, raising his glass to toast, "To the misgivings of others, like a rock becoming a boulder." In comparison to her personal feelings, it seemed, heading at warp speed down the hill, building rapidly for no reason and beyond anyone else's control.
There was no logic to this.
It seemed each day she changed her opinion of Elijah, now it was flat lined, stuck in the middle of hatred and a much clearer and preferred understanding. This was not a position she wanted to be in. She had to leave.
"I should go…" she looked at the clock; it was getting late, and so she slipped off the bar stool, inwardly groaning as Elijah followed her movement.
"Please, allow my driver to take you home." He walked next to her as she headed out the side exit, where a line of cars were already parked.
"No, that's not necessary." She smiled, not faking her gratitude for his oddly placed generosity as she slid past him, holding open the door.
"I insist, it is the least I can do. He is otherwise useless since I will not be leaving just yet."
For a reason unbeknownst to Elena, knowing Elijah would not be with her put the burning under her skin at ease. For something it wasn't, their touch had left a mark on her hand under the flesh. It was wrong to be close to him, it felt so at least, but the moment the cool breeze trailed over her, everything remained forgotten.
"Fine." She finally agreed, Elijah waving his driver over while they stood in the entrance.
"Goodnight then Elena." He bid her goodbye with a gentle and curious smile, "As usual, your company was a pleasure even with all of the dramatics involved." Tainted as it was, covered in blood, gun fire and guilt.
"As pleasurable as the plague." She joked, mocking him as he opened the car door for her so she could climb in with ease, and instantly she felt bad for being crass with him. He didn't fire the gun after all.
"Elijah…" she grabbed his arm, feeling empathetic to his own loses, stopping him from closing the door.
"Elena?"
"Under different circumstances, we would have made good friends." Both having such similar ideals, though hidden among lies and deceit, they could have been.
It was an apology of sorts, but only she knew the reason why she was truly sorry.
"I am confident we still can grow with what is handed to us." His eyes brightened in honesty as he closed the door and as she watched him walk away through the tinted window, Elena found herself left with a feeling of age and confusion.
I hope you enjoyed and as always please review :)
