Rebekah would never understand why time was such a difficult concept for Philippe. It must be a European thing. Her husband could have picked the beans and made the coffee himself in the time he'd been gone. Didn't he know they had a flight to catch…eventually?

Where the bloody hell was he?

Dragging her hands off her hips she checked her phone again. His text had said 'across from Gate 12' which was about as vague as his follow-up message: and I have a surprise for you.

Maybe he had finally learned to tell time.

She took off down the walkway once again, rolling her eyes and chiding herself for overreacting. Philippe was clearly fine, she needed to stop worrying he was going to blink off the face of the earth any second. Klaus was a thousand miles away and she was never going to let him come anywhere near her husband again.

Rebekah sighed in relief when finally saw it, the stupid peasant pastry-shop across from Gate 12. Bloody brilliant - and there was Philippe drowning his coffee in milk and chatting it up with some stranger in a suit.

She threw her hair over her shoulder in a huff as she glided through the entrance.

"Of course I find you holed away in some hovel, Philippe. What is it with you and – Elijah?"

He spun around at the sound of her voice, the most genuine smile on his face in weeks.

"Rebekah."

He chuckled her name as she threw her arms around him.

There were tears on Rebekah's lashes that she didn't try to hide. Resting his head atop the crown of her curls, her brother held her close. His embrace was tight, protective - possessive - but she couldn't care to mind after so many weeks of uncertainty.

It was not enough to say that either sibling had missed the other; they might have been in an airport but this moment felt like home.

"It's good to see you again, Elijah."

"Am I supposed to be your surprise because you're certainly mine," he smiled.

"We've been set up, isn't it obvious? This has Philippe written all over it. He thinks he's hilarious."

"Just a fan of happy endings," Philippe toasted with his coffee cup.

Elijah nodded appreciatively toward him and Rebekah watched them with a delirious smile on her face.

"I can't believe the three of us are all together again," she sighed happily.

"Perhaps our luck is turning around," Elijah let himself hope.

"Hmpf, luck," she scoffed, growing suddenly serious. "There was nothing lucky about what happened to Philippe. That was all Klaus, and since the very moment Philippe turned up alive on my doorstep I vowed never to trust our brother again."

"Your doorstep?" Elijah questioned her sternly. "All this time I worried...and you were simply home?"

"Of course not," she snapped, hurt by his suggestion, "but I couldn't well just sit around in that stupid motel if there was even the slightest possibility Philippe was still alive. When I went back to the cabin and couldn't find any signs of him, that's when I flew back to Paris, but only to convince his coven to help me try to find him."

"So you left us at that motel on a hunch."

"I left to look for my husband."

"You abandoned your family. You just took off in the middle of the night, told no one..."

"Philippe is our family, Elijah, you can't have possibly forgotten that."

"No, I have not...but perhaps I am simply tired of dealing with the ramifications of your departure."

"Oh please," she crossed her arms angrily. "The world didn't end because I left."

"No, in fact, it ended when our father found us and our niece died."

Rebekah's face crumbled.

"You don't think I know about Hope?" she hissed at him in tears. "About what happened after I left that motel? That wasn't my fault! If Klaus had just told us Philippe was alive none of that would have happened!"

Elijah immediately bit his tongue before both feet ended up in his mouth. He was barely able to believe what he'd just said. What was happening to him? He was never so thoughtless. Since when did he blame his own sister for such a terrible tragedy?

He slowly sat back on a stool, overcome by a nauseating sense of déjà vu. Clearly he hadn't learned a thing since this very same conversation with Leah.

"You're right," he whispered tiredly, unable to even look at her. "My dear Rebekah, forgive me, I don't know what's come over me."

"I'll tell you what's wrong with you - you're a hypocrite, Elijah. How dare you chastise me for leaving to search for my husband when you've made a career of running after Leah when your family needs you most."

"Rebekah, darling," Philippe swooped in. "We've all had early mornings, let's remember everyone is tense and tired - we're in an airport after all. Here, let me order you something... a nice, calming cup of tea perhaps?"

"Nonsense," she muttered, waving him off. "If I wanted a tasteless cup of water I'd simply ask for one. Elijah, on the other hand, could probably use a pick me up – he looks absolutely dreadful. Tell me, brother, did you sleep in that suit?"

It was such a perfect insult and Rebekah knew it. It was also true – her brother looked wretched; he'd either forgotten how to shave or he was mourning for something.

"I'll be right back," Philippe bowed out, wisely deciding to give the siblings some time. He gave Rebekah a quick peck on the cheek before leaving her alone with her brother.

She hovered over him, her expression softened, her anger replaced with concern.

"Are you alright, Elijah? Despite your recent tactlessness you know I hate to see you suffer."

"I manage nonetheless," he smiled weakly.

"Which is your way of saying your life is in pieces. Let me guess - Leah."

"That obvious?"

"It was impossible not to notice something was going on after that week in the cabin. I could offer you my opinion on what I saw but I doubt you want my advice. Leah certainly didn't."

Elijah's eyes narrowed as his temper swelled again.

"Please tell me you didn't try to talk to her, Rebekah."

"What? We were stuck in a motel room, there wasn't much else to do."

"I'm sure," he leveled harshly. "And what exactly did you say to Leah, if I may?"

"Well...you must remember I was rather distraught…and when you're upset things come out that you don't necessarily mean…"

"Rebekah…what did you say?"

"I may have implied that you would choose our brother over her…I mean, leave her for our brother…no, that still sounds weird…"

"Do you find this amusing? Undermining my relationships? Rebekah, you had no right to inflict your opinions on Leah."

"I don't see what the big deal is. I was only speaking the truth. It will happen, Elijah. A thousand years says so. Look, if you want I can talk to her again –"

"You've done enough," he cut her off rudely.

"Oh, typical! Our brother turns my husband into a vampire and nothing, but I say one thing about your darling precious Leah and you call down the bloody cavalry in her defense!"

"Niklaus had Philippe's consent. What has happened is unfortunate but hardly exploitation."

"Unbelievable – you're taking his side!"

"There are no sides in this, sister. We simply do what we have to do."

"Then I'll do what I have to do and protect Philippe. I've found him, now I'm sending him home – I won't let Klaus get him killed again. If you were smart, Elijah, you'd do the same with Leah."

"Leah has been given the choice to return home. She chose to stay."

"Of course she did – she doesn't know any better."

"I do not wish to argue with you, Rebekah. I am tired and have a long journey ahead of me."

"Yes, have fun in Australia running circles around our father. I can't believe you let Nik talk you into this stupid plan. Don't you think if it was working we'd know where Mikael was by now?"

"It's worked so far. It's given Niklaus the time to cloak the others successfully."

"You mean the time to work his dastardly deeds in secret. You idiot, haven't you yet realized Klaus is using Leah to manipulate you into this ridiculous ruse?"

"He's protecting her."

"Odd…since when has our brother voluntarily offered to protect any of our lovers in the past? Oh, that's right – he hasn't. He's simply killed them. Shall I list them? Where shall I start? Emil, Celeste -"

"Rebekah, that is enough."

"No use talking to a brick wall anyway."

Philippe had been keeping an eye on the conversation from across the shop and realized it was past time to step in. He appeared at Rebekah's side completely fearless and ready to play mediator between the warring siblings.

"Is everything alright... or should I pretend to fetch coffee again?"

"Philippe," Elijah suddenly stood, "when you were in New York did you see Leah?"

"Actually... no," he admitted slowly, thrown by the non sequitur, "but Klaus assured me that -"

All Elijah needed was to hear his brother's name. He took off from his stool, pulling out his phone. As he sped from the shop, panicked suspicion drove him to recall every single conversation he'd had with his brother each day for the last four weeks.

"Yes, what?" Niklaus would grumble. "I'm busy. You should be too."

"How is she today?"

"I'm lovely by the way, thanks for asking."

"Leah, Niklaus. How is she?"

"Fine. Still - like yesterday and the day before – oh, and this morning too, how could I forget? You can see why I don't answer your calls anymore."

"Is she…happy?"

"What kind of inane question is that?"

"Niklaus…"

"Well, how the bloody hell am I supposed to know? We certainly don't spend our evenings chatting over tea and pouring our bleeding hearts all over the pastries. Here's a novel idea, brother – you could simply ask her yourself."

But that's when he would get quiet and change the subject, ask about Hope or simply make up some excuse and say he had to go. Through no fault but his own, it had been twenty-nine days, eleven hours and fifty-four seconds since Elijah had last heard Leah's voice.

He had never once considered that she might not be alive.

He immediately pressed send. The phone automatically redialed.

It only rang once before Klaus picked up.

"Again, Elijah? I didn't realize you could make calls from 30,000 feet."

"Put Leah on."

"Now?"

"I won't ask again."

"Ah, don't tell me... you came down with a case of cold feet and just happened to miss your flight."

"Either you put Leah on right now or you can expect me in New York tonight."

There was a moment of silence before Klaus' nervous chuckle echoed down the line.

"Now, now, brother, let's be reasonable. We can't have weeks of careful planning down the drain because you have separation anxiety."

"Niklaus - put her on the phone."

"Can't this wait? I'm assuming she's busy right now."

"Then wherever she is, take the phone in your hand, walk it over to her, and tell her I want to speak with her."

"Now that is a problem, isn't it? I don't actually know where she is."

"What have you done to her?"

"Ouch, brother. I'm wounded. You're the one going back on your deal and yet you accuse me of treachery? Leah is fine, just out with Hope, safely accompanied by Hayley."

Elijah closed his eyes and sighed, lowering the phone in relief.

"All sorted?" Klaus continued sprightly, "then if we're done here I suggest you be on that next flight to Australia. It you want to ensure that Leah remains safe you must focus and do what needs to be done. Can you do that for me... or are we going to have a problem?"

Clutching the phone in his hand, Elijah lifted it slowly back to his ear.

"There's no problem," he answered definitely. "Expect my call when I reach my destination."