Beautiful Disaster ~ Chapter XXVI

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"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

~ Albert Einstein

Bonnie watched as the eclipse occurred once again for the hundredth time these last four months. Every day it was the same thing, get up, watch the eclipse, eat Damon's blueberry pancakes and try in vain to teach herself magic. Oh, and agonize over this stupid crossword puzzle she had been attempting since their first day here. When the eclipse moved out of the reveal the bright sun, Bonnie looked away. Damon was behind the counter flipping the blueberry pancakes.

"What's a seven letter word for kill me now?" She asked him as she did every morning.

"That joke got old six weeks ago," Damon pointed out.

"And so did this crossword puzzle," Bonnie said, tossing the paper down and looking at it with a scowl. "Every day for two months I've done this stupid thing and I still can't figure out 27 across. Old tongue twister, Eddie turned top 40?"

Damon placed two pancakes on a plate and circled it with whipped cream. He placed it in front of Bonnie, who grabbed her pencil and stabbed angrily at her breakfast.

"I hate pancakes!"

"Whoa, don't take it out on the pancakes. Those pancakes, like myself, are waiting for you to be witchy to get us the hell out of here." Damon said as he sat down with his own plate of pancakes.

Bonnie stood abruptly. "You know I've been trying!" These days, her patience with Damon had been even thinner than usual. His snarky remarks didn't help either.

"And failing. Further evidence, we're in hell. Not only am I stuck with you, I'm stuck with the useless version of you."

Bonnie was appalled with a slack-jawed. How dare he say that to her? At least she was trying to escape! She opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it again as she thought she heard a car. "Did you hear that?"

Damon, clearly frustrated as he picked at his own pancakes, said, "What would I have heard, Bonnie? We're the only two people here, we were the only two people here two months ago and the only two people here now!"

"Well I swear I heard something!"

"Maybe it's the sound of existential despair. I hear that's what hell sounds like." Damon took a huge bite of his pancakes and gave her a grimace.

"You know what? You think we're trapped in your hell? I have to spend every day on repeat with the person I like least on this Earth! Maybe we're trapped in mine." With that, Bonnie snatched her teddy bear, Mr. Cuddles, and stormed out of the house.

Just as she began to head to her home, she was stopped by the sight in the driveway. It was a car that wasn't there before, with a girl that she thought she would never see again.

Andrea Gilbert.

In the courtyard, Hayley sat at the table. When she came downstairs this morning, she had found an array of fruit and other breakfast items. She was unable to resist and began eating. Soon she found herself joined by Klaus.

"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?" She questioned as she took a bite out of a piece of toast.

Klaus stopped walking and looked at the food in confusion. "It's certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this..." He gestured for the food for emphasis, glancing over at her.

"Hmm. Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?"

"This wasn't my doing..." Speak of the devil. Hayley turned to look at him with a frown.

"Then, where did this all come from?"

The silver lid on the platter suddenly began to rattle, which startled Hayley and Elijah that they both jumped in fright for a moment. Klaus glanced at them again, clearly uneasy, before he lifted the platter. Two starlings were released and flew up toward the ceiling, causing the three to reflexively duck to avoid being hit. They all look puzzled and nervous at one another.

"What the hell was that?" Hayley demanded, standing from her seat.

Klaus reached for the invitation and opened it. "An invitation from our mother." Hayley watched as Klaus and Elijah stared at each other in concern. She put the piece of toast down, wanting nothing from the Original Witch.

"Andy?"

"Bonnie?" Andy looked up at the voice to see the Bennett witch just outside of the doorway to the Salvatore Boarding House. Before they could even utter another word to one another, they both rushed towards one another and embraced.

"How—?" Bonnie began to ask after a moment.

"It's a long story. You?" Andy questioned, nearly wanting to cry. This had been the first time she had seen someone in such a long time.

"Same," Bonnie said, a bittersweet smile on her face as they squeezed hands.

"Well, Bon-Bon, looks like you aren't as crazy as I once thought."

Andy looked up to see Damon and a grin spread across her face as she let go of Bonnie to hug him also. To her surprise he instantly hugged her back. "It's good to see you, Damon." She murmured to him.

"Same goes for you. If I had spent another day in Bonnie's company she would've been dead."

Andy pulled back, giving him a playful hit. "I mean, I get you though. I nearly feel the same about my time with Emmy," She turned to see if Emmeline had gotten out of the car yet only to find she was nowhere to be seen. Bonnie had walked back over to them. "Emmy?" She called out.

No answer.

"Wait, Emmeline's in here with you?" Bonnie questioned.

"Yeah, but where did she go?" Andy walked a few steps away. "This doesn't make sense. Our number one rule was to stick together, never let one another out of your sight."

"Maybe she ran off when she saw us," Damon commented. "After all, she detested me. Though she had a particular warmth for Bonnie here."

"I have to find her," Andy decided and nearly began to walk off until Damon grabbed her wrist.

"Whoa, hold on just a minute. I just made blueberry pancakes. Why don't you come in and have a bite to eat, then we go on a doppel-hunt?"

Blueberry pancakes sounded tempting even if Andy didn't need to eat food since she was a vampire. Emmeline and she had been living off of ramen noodles, various frozen dinners, Chef Boyardee's, and Campbell soup because it was easy to make. Emmeline couldn't have gone too far anyways. What could a few pancakes hurt?

Elijah walked into Andy's room, his eyes on her body. She looked as if she were still sleeping. Walking over he sat next to it again and gently touched her face. Klaus revealed the reason why her body hadn't begun decomposing was because of a certain witch casting a spell on it.

"Elijah?"

Elijah didn't look back as he heard Hayley enter the room. He kept his eyes on Andy's flat hair and her pale face.

"I was thinking… I mean, if Esther, Finn, and Mikael were able to jump back over… Is there a possibility so did Andy?" She questioned him.

He didn't respond at first, knowing he had those same hopes. The hopes that Andy was alive, that she didn't hate him, that she would just wake up and this would all be a nightmare.

"I find it unlikely," He finally responded, not wanting to give her a false hope. "Esther was the one to order Andy dead. If she planned on bringing her back it would render her original death pointless. You heard what Genevieve said after all."

"Maybe a way was—"

"As much as I appreciate your attempt of comforting me, Hayley, this is not something that can be healed with words. I would prefer to be alone."

Hayley left the room within the next moment and Elijah let out a breath of relief. He would get his chance to question his mother tonight on the subject of Andrea.

"So start from the very beginning," Damon said as they sat down together and began eating the blueberry pancakes he had fixed. "I don't wanna miss one dirty detail."

"Well, my heart was ripped out of my chest because of none other than the Original Witch," Andy said, glancing in between the two as she spoke between bites of food. "After that, I woke up in Portland… I guess because I loved it so much there and because that's where I had planned to go before… well, before Klaus changed my mind and I went to New Orleans." It was so weird saying his name aloud to Andy. She hadn't let his name or Elijah's even grace her lips in the time she was here.

"Damn," Damon commented through a mouthful of pancakes.

"But how did you make it to this world? Damon and I ended up here because my Grams helped us." Bonnie questioned, her brows furrowed.

Andy looked down at her neck where the black agate necklace Emmeline gifted her hung. "Before I died, Emmeline sent this package to me… before she died too, I guess. She told me to wear it always and never take it off so I didn't. She explained to me when she found me in here that it had traveler magic in it and it brought me here. Guess she heard that Esther had declared a man-hunt for all the doppelgangers of Anastasia, another piece of information she dropped on me only after I got here."

"But why?" Bonnie questioned. "Why would Esther still want you dead? You're a vampire. Was your connection to the Originals not broken when you transitioned?"

Andy shook her head. "No, it was only stronger, if anything. Even now I feel like there's a huge hole in me. It's like they're there but they're not at the same time."

"That's weird, Andy."

The doppelganger rolled her eyes at the Salvatore. "Anyways, after Emmeline explained that to me, we stayed in Portland for a week before she decided it was best if we searched to see if there were any others… After all this is a pre-existing world. It can't be just us, right?"

The witch and Salvatore were quiet, giving each other uncertain looks. Were there others here?

Klaus fixed his tie, slightly annoyed at Elijah's insistence that they dress up for the dinner with their mother. "Are these outfits really necessary?" Klaus asked his brother as Elijah finished placing the silverware on the table.

"Appearance is a way of showing respect, Niklaus. Mother will be more likely to surrender her true intentions." Elijah responded.

With a roll of his eyes, Klaus took a seat at the table. "Well, I doubt her guard will drop just 'cause I'm dressed like a bloody lawyer."

Elijah went around the table lighting the candles. "We need every advantage we can get, Niklaus."

"You always did excel in diplomacy. Just know, if she tries anything, I'll tear her new body to pieces," Klaus commented, a smirk forming on his face. A dramatic laugh came from the doorway. Klaus stood to his feet to see an unfamiliar African American male with a shaved head and a clean cut face.

The man spoke as he took a few steps further into the room. "You two haven't changed a bit!" He looked over at Elijah. "Linens and silk to disguise your pathetic self-loathing." He then turned to Klaus. "And you—despite the arrogant facade, you're still the same paranoid little boy, full of hate and fear."

Klaus' expression quickly turned from amused to offended. From the corner of his eye, Klaus saw Elijah looking at him in confusion before turning to the stranger and walking toward him. Better he did, if Klaus were to even take a step it would be to behead the fool.

"Forgive me, I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

The stranger feigned offense. "Oh, you mean you don't recognize me? So much for the unbreakable bonds of family, huh? Always and forever indeed."

Klaus couldn't help the scowl that formed on his face now. His father, his mother, and now his eldest brother? This was to truly be a family reunion. "It's been a long time, Finn." Klaus said, an angry note in his voice.

Finn smirked and spread his arms out to the side. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's eat!"

Klaus watched as his newly resurrected brother walked over to the table and took a seat. Klaus and Elijah looked at one another for a moment before they both began to move. Elijah went to pour the wine while Klaus sat back in his seat, his gaze on Finn.

"Bring in the food." Klaus said to the servers who immediately began to bring the food in. Elijah handed the glass of wine to Finn who wafted it under his nose.

"What an aromatic bordot," Finn commented politely, a smile on his face.

"Well, it was a challenge to find a good pairing. What wine goes well with treachery?" Klaus responded snidely.

"Don't pout, brother. Tonight is meant to be a happy occasion!" Klaus watched as Finn whispered something in one of the servers' ears, causing him to narrow his eyes. He hadn't been able to hear what it was.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" Elijah asked his older brother before Klaus could call Finn out.

Finn took a sip of the wine before sitting it aside. "Why, my return, of course! Remember, I spent nine hundred years—" He looked at Klaus for confirmation. "—right?—lying daggered in a box. Then, I was staked within a week by your friends in Mystic Falls. I'm rather enjoying this new body. Strolling about your lovely city that, uh, you've made your home. But, do tell me—what'd I miss? Regale me with your contributions to society! Medicine? Philosophy? Art?" Klaus couldn't help the roll of his eyes. He was already tired of Finn, ever the bore. "Or, have you two merely cut a path of destruction across time?"

"The last time we met, you were helping our mother try to annihilate the lot of us! Let's not throw stones in glass houses." Klaus said, pointing at his brother as he began eating his good. Klaus glanced to see that the caterers are placing another two plates, glasses, and sets of silverware at the table.

"Are we expecting another guest?" Elijah questioned in confusion.

Finn gestured at the other end of the table. "Mother will sit at the head. And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan. Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?"

Klaus and Elijah looked to one another, both knowing who he was referring to. Kol. They hadn't heard anything from him in months. Elijah had tried tracking spells but it was as if he was concealed. Davina also said she hadn't heard anything from him. But what Finn was saying… Klaus knew that Kol would never side with his mother, not after what she did to them.

"Well, there's no way Kol would listen to anything other than his ego." Klaus said, his gaze returning to Finn.

"And yet, our mother has made such a compelling argument that even he, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways and accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear brothers, is inevitable." Finn relaxed in his seat, bringing his glass to his lips.

"You would dare face us as a mortal? The only thing inevitable is your death." Klaus threatened, growing angrier with each moment. Before he could stop himself, Klaus flung a knife at Finn, but he easily deflected it with magic, causing the knife to instead embed itself into the chair at the head of the table.

"Oh!" Finn leaned over and removed the knife from the chair, holding it aloft. "I suppose the honor of carving should go to the oldest. We have much to discuss."

"Oh, Emmy!" Damon called out as they walked down the street together looking for the Petrova.

"She's not going to respond if you call her that," Andy pointed out as she looked around. "I'm the only one who is allowed to."

"You and Stefan."

Andy looked over at the eldest Salvatore. "What happened between them by the way? Emmeline made a few cheeky comments here and there but nothing to let me know what actually happened."

"If I recall correctly, they tumbled between the sheets a few times. She kind of replaced you once you left… Except she slept with Stefan and actually cared for her sister."

Andy shoved him to the side. "You're an asshole." She folded her arms over her chest and glared over at him.

Sighing, Bonnie shook her head at the two. "Can we just get along for a few minutes? I mean I've been stuck here with you, Damon, and the first person we find you instantly have to be your sarcastic self."

"Fine…" Damon rolled his eyes before looking back over at Andy. "So, Andy, before it killed you, how was New Orleans treating you? I remember Emmy mentioning that a friend of yours died when you came to visit us last."

"Did she tell you guys anything about me?"

"Mostly just to let us know whether or not you were okay since you hardly called."

"Well, it wasn't without reason."

"Oh, come on. You're still bitter over stuff that happened years ago? Wasn't moving to New Orleans supposed to make you forget all that? Or did the stick just get shoved farther up your ass? Don't tell me those pesky Mikaelsons finally dumped you—"

Andy punched Damon, sending him to the ground. She kicked him in the gut a few times before leaned down and grabbed his chin in her hand. "If I ever hear those words or their names cross your lips even one more time, Salvatore, I will tear your heart out and hand deliver it to Elena myself." With that, Andy shoved him back down and stalked off on her own.

"I'm rather enjoying my evening." Finn commented as the three eldest Mikaelson brothers continued to eat. They had yet to see even a hint of their mother and Elijah was growing impatient.

Klaus, clearly frustrated, cut harshly at his stake. "Well, I'd rather enjoy you getting to the point."

"I had nine hundred years to learn to be patient…" Finn paused for a short moment. "Although, I am curious why you kept me daggered in a box for so long."

"You were daggered for being an ever-simpering sycophant. Did Mother bring you back from the dead so you could wash her knickers?" Klaus taunted Finn. Elijah watched as Finn's fists clenched up and his entire demeanor become hostile.

"She raised me because I was treated unfairly! Cheated of all but the smallest portion of my life!" Finn yelled before turning to Elijah, looking upset. "Elijah, I can understand such cruelty coming from him," He pointed to Klaus almost venomously. "But I always thought of you as being the compassionate one! What did I do to deserve you turning your back on me? Were you afraid of Niklaus? Are you still?" Elijah simply stared back unamused by Finn's words, refusing to speak until Finn let it all out. Finn was clearly upset and in Elijah's experience, there is no way Finn couldn't at least a little information out. "Or perhaps jealousy is what kept me locked in a box? You coveted the duties of the eldest brother, in which case you had near-on a millennium to fix the problems of this family, and instead, produced nine centuries of failure."

As soon as Finn stopped speaking, it was as if he finally realized his anger had gotten the best of him. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and stopped himself from further exposing his feelings to his brothers. After a moment, Elijah broke his silence.

"You might reside—somewhat parasitically, I might add—in another body, but I assure you, in nine hundred years, your tedious sentiments remain quite the same," Elijah brushed his suit off, his eyes flickering back to meet Finn's gaze. "You see, Finn, like Father, you've always despised our supernatural existence. Father, of course, slaughtered and consumed his own, whereas you became pretentious and dull... much like this meal. I will not ask you again—where is Mother?"

Elijah saw from the corner of his eye that Klaus was giggling at the insults he had thrown at Finn. Before another word could be uttered, a new, young girl entered the room.

"Oh, my darling son."

Esther. Elijah immediately recognized her, even if she wasn't in her own body. Even if he didn't know it was her, the burning hatred in his body would have let him know of Esther's presence. For Hope. For Andy.

Finn rose to his feet to greet their mother as Esther spoke, "I've missed you, too."

Andy walked through the very woods she had been with Elijah in so long ago. She had been reading a book when she stumbled upon Jenna giving him a historical tour of the grounds. That was before all of this had happened, back when she was human, back when she didn't have to worry about Klaus screwing everyone over… Well, she did have to worry about that even then, but she wasn't in love with him.

Was she now? She couldn't be sure. They had taken a break and he had spent his time with Genevieve, the very woman who ended her life. There was the time when they had been watching Netflix together and his touch was warm and familiar, giving her these feelings she thought she had buried deep… And yet, looking back at it now, she only saw it in red. All the shitty things he did. Taking the Quarter from Marcel, killing Davina's friend Tim, and conspiring behind Elijah's back with the wolves. The hybrid had fought so hard for the Quarter and didn't even have it two weeks before he threw the reigns to his brother. Killing Jenna and taking Elena's life, in return forcing John to die. He even killed Isobel.

Then, of course, there was the one thing Andy did she would never be able to forget. That she couldn't protect Hayley and the baby. Hayley had become a hybrid and the baby lost to the witches. Andy wasn't sure what ended up happening after she died, but she hoped more than anything that they had saved that child.

All Andy could see when she closed her eyes was Elijah's face.

"All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your miserable life— what results did you expect? That your child would be born into a happy life? That the mother would be alive to know her daughter? That I could live with seeing you in a relationship with the woman I love? That we could live and thrive as some – as some sort of family?"

The woman I love… Those were his words. However, she was sure he no longer felt that way, not after her failure. Not that she wanted him to feel that way. Loving her had only brought Elijah misery. He deserved to be happy and the moment she began a relationship with Klaus she had had to cut any more romantic possibilities with him. Klaus would lose his shit if they even tried.

What are you thinking, Andy? She chastised herself. You don't deserve them. You fucked up. It wasn't Klaus this time, it was you.

"Well, this is gloomy."

Andy was pulled from her thoughts by Emmeline. The Petrova was staring up at the sky with a forlorn expression on her face.

"We looked everywhere for you, you know. I looked everywhere," Andy said, her tone harsh and unforgiving. "Why the hell would you just drop off the face of the Earth like that?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you were alone," Emmeline said gently, her soft gaze moving to Andy. Andy began to yell back at her but her anger quickly simmered down. With a sigh she sat down on the park bench with Emmeline soon joining her. "I'm sorry. I know these past few months haven't been easy on you, especially with what happened with Klaus' baby."

Instead of bursting out in anger again like Andy thought she would've, she simply leaned her head back and stared at the sky. "We aren't ever getting out of this world, are we, Emmeline?" Her voice was quiet and broke slightly at the end.

"Before today… Honestly, I didn't even think Bonnie and Damon would've been the ones in this world. But since they are, you're getting home. I just know it. Bonnie might have lost her magic in coming over but she'll relearn in no time, just you see."

Andy nodded, closing her eyes. She let her mind wonder for a moment. Emmeline's words were comforting in a strange way… However, something bugged her. She had never told Emmeline about what happened with Klaus' baby and Emmeline had said she died before Andy.

"Emmeline?" Andy asked, keeping her eyes closed. She waited for a response from the Petrova, but after a moment when there was nothing, she turned towards where she had been with open eyes. The seat was empty, Emmeline nowhere in sight.

As the Mikalesons sat down to dine with one another, Klaus and Elijah both glared at their mother for the same reason. "Why don't you say what you came here to say, so this wretched night can end?" Klaus commented bitterly.

"It pains me that you and Elijah look at me with such disdain. I wish you could see that my every action has been to protect you!" Esther argued. Elijah had to admit, it was odd to see this young girl with the same mannerisms as their mother.

Klaus, almost incredulously, stated, "You actually believe that, don't you? I knew you were a liar, but now I see you're utterly delusional."

"If you can forget the hatred that you cling to and remember all the times I've mended and healed you," Esther insisted but merely got a sarcastic laugh from Klaus in response. She turned to Elijah, hoping for more sympathy from him. She was going to be surprised. "Elijah, do you recall the day Niklaus challenged your father to a duel? Did I leave your brother to die alone? What did I say, when you came to me and asked me to help him?"

Elijah sighed, remembering the day more than he wished he did. "That you would rather die than to see any of your children suffer." His gaze dropped momentarily before he brought it up to meet her gaze. "Tell me, mother, where does Andrea Gilbert factor into that? Or Niklaus' child? Did you believe what you did to them would not make your children suffer?"

Before Esther could even speak a syllable, Klaus had spoken. "The necklace." Elijah looked over to see Klaus glaring at Esther furiously. Elijah looked on curiously. Necklace? "It wasn't spelled to protect me. It made me weak."

"I sought to protect you from yourself! If you had killed your father in that duel, or anyone else in the course of your life, you would have activated your curse!"

Klaus angrily slammed his hand down on the table. "You ruined me! You left me to suffer at the hands of a father who valued only strength!"

"I kept you from becoming a beast for as long as I possibly could!" Esther flinched slightly, a guilty expression her face.

Klaus' voice raised to a shout, and he slammed his hand against the table once again before he rose to his feet. "Oh, you lied to me! To hide your own transgressions because of your own fear! My whole life, I sought the approval I was denied by the man I thought was my father! You turned me into the weakling he hated."

Elijah rose to his feet and paced anxiously, while Esther gulps and looked guilty under Klaus' furious glare, unable to look him in the eyes.

"Look at me! You rant and you rave about the monster I have become, but you, Mother—you are the author of everything I am."

Esther was flustered, and suddenly began gasping for breath. Elijah looked over at Finn to see if this was a trick but Finn looked mildly alarmed. Just as Elijah looked back over, Esther fainted and slumped over in her seat. Elijah managed to catch her before her head hits the table, and he looked at his brothers in shock. What the hell just happened?

Andy walked back into the Salvatore Boarding House, her shoulders and head hanging low. After Emmeline's mysterious and abrupt disappearance, Andy knew it was best to go back to the two people that she knew were her best chance of getting out of this prison world. She knew she didn't exactly want to go back to the land of living and face what she had done, but anything was better than this hellhole.

"I miss them too, you know." She heard Bonnie say as she made her way closer. When she walked in, both Bonnie and Damon were seated at the table eating.

"Hey," Andy said in a small voice, causing them to look over at her. Damon and Bonnie's smile made her realize she had made the right choice in coming back. "So, uh, Emmeline showed up… then ran right back off. I'm sure we'll be seeing her around sooner or later."

Bonnie nodded slowly. "Well, the food is on the stove. Would you like me to fix you a bowl?"

"Nah, I got it. Thanks, though," Andy gave a smile in return and walked over to the food.

"Look who got 27 across." Damon said, almost sounding impressed. Andy glanced up from fixing her food to see him holding a newspaper.

Bonnie smirked back at him. "I wish, 27 across is a rock I am pushing up an endless mountain."

"It's an old tongue twister Eddie turned top 40, Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam. Yellow Ledbetter," He sat the newspaper down. Andy's gaze flickered over to Bonnie who just looked confused. Then she grabbed the newspaper, her expression quickly turning to worry.

Bonnie, looking up at Damon, demanded, "Are you messing with me?"

Damon clearly took it as a joke and scoffed. "No, you messing with me?"

"I didn't finish this."

"Well, neither did I." Bonnie and Damon both looked over at Andy.

"Hey, don't look at me," Andy walked over and looked at the handwriting. "That's not mine or Emmeline's writing."

Bonnie looked around now, suspicion over her face. "There's someone else here."

Elijah stood with his brother and Hayley in the courtyard, processing all that they've learned this evening from Esther. After Esther passed out, Finn had attacked them before he fled. Once Klaus and Elijah came back to, Finn had gone and they learned Esther was targeting Hayley. When they got there, it was just in time to hear Esther offer Hayley the chance to begin again.

"Of course she used those damn birds to make her offer!" Klaus exclaimed, his fists clenched and his expression contorted.

Elijah quickly cut him off. "Besides the offer of rebirth, what else did she say?" He asked, looking at Hayley.

"I don't know. She rambled a lot. She blamed the two of you for what happened to Hope, to me..." Hayley trailed off and Klaus stood pacing to look Hayley in the eyes. Elijah saw how appalled he was by Hayley's response.

"Well, hope you're not thinking of taking her offer?" Klaus said, his tone treading on threatening. Hayley, looking guilty, couldn't bring herself to look at either of them. Elijah sighed and looked away from her. "Hayley! I'm talking to you!"

Finally, overwhelmed and feeling defensive, Hayley stood to her feet and stared Klaus in the eyes. "What do you want me to say, Klaus? I lost my daughter. So, yeah, when your mother offers to wipe the slate clean, excuse me if I'm tempted." She turned to Elijah. "By the way, thanks for your help tonight, Elijah. I'm sorry that it takes me being in danger for you to even talk to me."

Hayley then stormed off. Elijah knew he needed to talk to her, he owed her that much… How could he even begin to apologize? "Sorry I kissed you and nearly began a relationship with you only to shut you out the moment Andrea died"? He didn't think that was the way to say it, but she deserved something. Just as Elijah went to go after her, but Klaus called out to him.

"Leave her. I need you with me," Klaus paused for a moment as Elijah turned to face him. "Our mother, Elijah—the woman who brought us into the world, made us what we are—and the whole time, she lied to me! She made me weak."

Elijah stared back at his brother sadly. "You were never weak, Niklaus. You are—you have always been—the fiercest of us all. In a thousand years, I have never seen anyone successfully stand against you. Not even our wicked father. Not one of the countless devoted to your destruction. You'll protect our home, even in the face of an adversary such as our mother, because that, brother... that is what you do."

Klaus seemed both surprised and grateful for Elijah's response. He walked over and he gripped Elijah's shoulder in a gesture of thanks. "You remain ever the wise counsel, brother. The rest of the family could learn something from you."

Elijah watched Klaus in shock at the kindness as Klaus left the courtyard. Slowly, Elijah made his way to Andrea's room to check on her body and make sure it hadn't begun to decompose.

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The End of Chapter XXVI