~1 Week Later~

"Remind me...again, how...is this...helping?" I grunted out between ducking blows and landing my own, "Because, love, my older brother, has disappeared for times unknown, to dissuade your brother and friends, from attempting an attack on us, to retrieve you. Because you decided you'd rather stay here." Klaus landed a kick on the back of my knees and they buckled under me, I fell to the mats and huffed, "For now." Klaus smirked and offered a hand to help me up, I frowned at him and ignored his extended hand, choosing instead, to climb to my feet by myself. He rolled his eyes and nodded, conceding to my earlier point, "True. Still Elijah is gone for a while, so you are agitated and irritable." Klaus attacked again, the second I was on my feet, "I find this, beating the hell out of someone, rather relaxing."

"Are you sure...you're not the...agitated one here. 'Cause you're definitely...the one beating...the hell out of...someone." I was slammed, face first, into the far wall and Klaus was behind me in an instant with my arm twisted behind my back, as leverage to hold me still. I found myself, yet again, grateful for the complete padding of the room. All the walls and the floor were covered in at least a foot thick of soft padding, even the ceiling had been covered with black padding.

Klaus pressed me more firmly into the wall before stepping away and releasing my arm, "That's because you're not trying." A snarl ripped its way free of my throat and I span to attack the hybrid. I landed a blow to his face and tried to kick his feet out from under him. Instead he pulled his foot round and swept my feet out from under me and I fell onto my back. His calloused hand was around my throat and his knees either side of my hips to pin me in place.

I threw all my weight and strength into twisting us, so I was above Klaus and he was led on his back on the padding, "Sorry if I don't feel like having the crap beaten out of me by a hybrid that has at least ten times the strength and training I do." We were flipped again and rolled for a while, each of us trying to gain the upper hand, before Klaus won and I was pinned under him yet again, "You're still not trying properly, how do you expect to learn if you don't put in the effort?" My mind wandered to the conversation we'd had after Elijah left.

"Why so glum love?" I groaned and turned away from the window to face the smug Original, "I'm bored, being stuck in a house with two Originals that despise me, isn't exactly a picnic." Klaus smirked and walked over to the alcohol cabinet, he pulled out a decanter and two glasses. I watched him pour two and take one for himself before holding the other out for me, I took it and swallowed some of the liquid, relishing in the burn that the bourbon brought as it slid down my throat, "I could help with that." I raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Klaus, "With your boredom I mean."

"How?" He grinned and downed the rest of his drink before turning and walking out the room, calling behind him for me to follow him, I downed my drink and followed Klaus.

We went down to their basement and came down to a padded room, I pursed my lips to stop myself from laughing when Klaus looked round at me. He saw straight through me and rolled his eyes, "It's a vampire training room, love. We're not exactly gentle when we sparr. If you want to learn, go get changed."

I'd had no idea just how true that was, until we started sparring.

Klaus was on his feet above me in one fluid motion and held out a hand to help me to my feet again. This time, I took it and let Klaus haul me to my feet, "Let's get a drink, then we can start again." I knew right away that he wasn't talking about anything like water or coke. I nodded and followed Klaus to a back corner of the room, where a door was hidden away in the padding.

It was a plain concrete room with a large fridge that, when opened, was shown to hold all manner of blood bags. I grabbed an AB positive out and turned away to gulp down the refreshing liquid. It instantly soothed the subtle burn that had started to appear in my throat and I sighed in relief. The empty blood bag went in the bin and I walked back out to the training room, to find Klaus gone and the room empty.

The cellars door shut behind me with a loud bang and I spun towards it, only to find no one there. I felt a gush of wind and realised Klaus was circling me, using his hybrid speed. My eyes closed and I took a deep breath to focus myself, letting my instincts guide me, I span and my arm shot out. My hand clasped around Klaus's wrist and I flipped him over my shoulder before spinning to straddle his hips. My hands closed around his wrists and I held them in a steel grip above his head.

I finally opened my eyes to see Klaus staring at me with a look of incredulity written clearly across his features, "How the bloody hell did you do that?" My brow furrowed and I shook my head, "I-I don't know." I released his wrists and shot to my feet upon hearing the door at the top of the training room stairs open and someone descend. I pulled Klaus to his feet as well and groaned when he thanked me by spinning into an attack again.

I jumped the leg that had tried to sweep my feet out from under me and spun, letting my foot come up to attempt a blow to the side of his face, his hand grabbed my ankle and I jumped up, kicking out with my other foot as my body turned in his grasp. My foot landed against the side of his face and Klaus released my ankle. We landed on opposite sides of the room, our postures mirroring each others. We were crouched on the balls of our feet, with a hand on the floor in front of us to hold ourselves steady.

A low, steady clapping came from the door and our head whipped round to see the new addition to the room, "Congratulations, you can fight like a pair of ravenous animals. Elijah just called, the Salvatores took more persuasion than he originally thought, they're both fine Elena," Rebekah sneered my name, like it was a curse falling off her tongue, when I opened my mouth to ask, "Keep your hat on. He'll be back in a minute." We both nodded and Klaus sighed, "Thank you, Rebekah. He'd probably have my head on a spike if he knew I'd been doing this with you." His last comment was directed at me and my lips curved into a smirk. Rebekah huffed and left, disappearing up the stairs.

Both our defensive postures relaxed and we straightened into a normal standing position. I headed for the stairs and span just in time to block the hybrids attack, he grinned at me and clapped me on the back, "Nice, c'mon. I like my head just the way it is." I sniggered and gestured in front of me, shaking my head, "There's no way I trust you walking behind me."

"And I should trust you behind me?" I pursed my lips and let out a little laugh, "Fair enough, but the stairs aren't big enough for us to go up at the same time." Klaus grinned and gave me a little shove, "Go on then." I scoffed and shook my head, "No way! You're the one who came at me from behind!" He let out another laugh and shook his head slightly, "You're asking for it." I frowned and shook my head, eyes wide when I realised what he was going to do, "Klaus, no! Don't you-" I cut off squealing when I was thrown over his shoulder and he started the walk up the stairs.

I beat on his back playfully, giggling and squealing as I did so, "Put me down, Klaus! Seriously! Put me down!" My last word extended to another squeal as I was thrown down on the couch, back upstairs. Klaus grinned at me and I stood up to launch myself at him, "You're such a-a caveman!" He laughed and shook his head, "Really, Elena? Caveman? That's the best you've got?" I folded my arms across my chest and frowned at him, before my gaze fixed on his decanter of, what I knew to be, a rare 1912 bottle of bourbon.

I sped to it and grabbed the decanter, taking out the stopper as I did so, "Maybe I'll just drink all your special bourbon." Rebekah scoffed from her place on the love seat in the corner, where I assumed she'd been sat all along. Klaus's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he shook his head quickly, "Elena, don't you dare." I took a sip, smirking as he rushed me and sped to the other side of the room, "It is nice, I get why you wanna hold onto it."

"Elena, c'mon, that's my best!" I smirked again and nodded, "Oh, I know." Klaus's rush as interrupted by Elijah's arrival. He planted himself between me and Klaus and frowned at the later, "What's going on here?" Rebekah scoffed again and shook her head, "Klaus threw her over his shoulder to get her here, so she stole his best bourbon." I coughed to cover up the laugh that threatened to escape me, and smiled innocently when Elijah turned to look at me, mirth and amusement dancing in his eyes. He held his hand out just as innocently and grinned at me, "The bourbon, lovely Elena." I frowned and shook my head, "You must be mistaken, I don't have any bourbon." His eyes flashed down to my empty hands, as did Klaus and Rebekah's and I saw all of their eyes widen in surprise.

Klaus actually sputtered, trying to figure out how I'd hidden his bourbon and it took everything in me not to crack a smile, or let out a laugh, "My 1912, Elena, where is it?" Klaus spoke through clenched teeth and some of the amusement from Elijah's eyes had died down. I frowned again and walked over to his alcohol cabinet taking out the decanter of 1912 bourbon. I held it out to him and shrugged, "You mean this?" The Originals' eyes widened even more, it was comical. Klaus took the bottle and sniffed it, "What-but how-what-what?"

"It's been there the whole time Klaus, are you okay?" Klaus fell back onto the sofa and started muttering to himself, about how he was sure I'd had the bourbon. I couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, so hard I was doubled over with a hand clutching my stomach, "Oh God, your faces." I wiped a tear from my eye and continued to laugh hysterically, managing to pause, only long enough to tell then what I'd done, "I put the decanter back when you were distracted by Rebekah explaining what was going on." Rebekah and Elijah also burst out laughing and I saw Klaus's lips purse in an effort not to laugh.

Eventually he gave in and laughed with the rest of us. For the first time in a while, things were looking up, and I loved it.

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Quick update, 'cause I'm awesome ;)

Bit fluffier in this chapter, I skipped some time 'cause I didn't feel like working the whole re-emotions Elena, if you guys want that process I can try and work in some flashbacks :)

I don't know a thing about bourbon so sorry if that's completely wrong :/

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~ Iz Mikaelson xx