Early the next morning found them on their way to the island where Silas's body lay.
"I forgot to ask how you slept," Elena commented.
"I managed to get a little, though I probably would have gotten more if the person sleeping next to me didn't snore."
"I do not snore!" Elena smacked him lightly.
"There's just so much going on, I couldn't get my mind to shut down much."
"Are you okay to drive?" Elena studied his face for any sign of exhaustion.
"I'm fine, Elena. I promise." He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles.
Something about the look in his eyes suggested that it was more than the uphill battle they were engaging in that kept him awake. But to question him about it would be treading on dangerous ground, ground they couldn't afford to touch until she turned eighteen.
To keep herself from pushing their conversation into dangerous territory, Elena allowed herself to sink into her thoughts, chasing the trail that was Ryan Clarke. Sometimes, whenever she'd get close to him, she felt and heard an angry roar thrumming through her and her mind would smack into what felt like a brick wall.
Whenever she tried to work around the wall, the word Mine echoing in her ears. Malivore was furious with her for trying to reach the son he didn't want, but didn't want anyone else to have and she'd be damned if he got the better of her.
Enraged, Elena tried again and after hours of failed attempts, she found herself face to face with Ryan.
"You're back!" He smiled when he saw her.
Holding her finger to her lips, Elena murmured a spell to keep herself and their conversation hidden from Malivore.
"Daddy dearest isn't happy that I've found a way to talk to you."
"Yeah, I know. I felt it." Ryan looked around. "It was like an earthquake there for a while until you broke through."
"I'm sorry," Elena apologized.
"Don't apologize. It was nice, knowing the bastard was getting his ass handed to him."
"Once we get this current situation resolved, Elijah and I are going to devote as much of our time as we can to freeing you. But I will visit as often as I can so you're not alone."
"If I'd ever been given the gift of a mother, I'd have wanted her to be like you." He turned away to hide his face, as if ashamed of admitting that he had feelings of any kind.
"Hey." Elena caught his shirt sleeve, then wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay to be sad about being dealt a crap hand and it's also perfectly understandable to want something more than you were given."
"If you're not careful, I'm going to start thinking of you as my mother," he confessed against her hair.
"I wouldn't hate that. And you have my permission to do so. I've already told Elijah that you're a part of the family."
"Are you serious?" Ryan choked out.
"Absolutely."
Elena rubbed his back, her heart twisting at a memory of hugging her son in her other life. But this was now and Ryan needed her focused on him. This broken boy deserved all the love she could give him, not to be the replacement for a boy who might never exist.
"You actually want me as a part of your family?"
"I do." Elena started feeling lightheaded and she swayed on her feet.
"Are you okay?" Ryan pulled back, concerned.
"It's time for me to go."
"Don't push yourself on my account."
"What sort of mother would I be if I left my son to rot in prison for something he didn't deserve?" Elena cupped his cheek, a softly teasing smile on her face when she called him her son. "I'll visit as often as I can until you're free. I can't make any promises as to how often, but I won't leave you alone in the dark."
"Thank you."
"You're not alone, Ryan. No matter how dark and lonely it is in here, you've got people fighting for you, people Malivore can't touch. So hold onto that." Elena waved in farewell and then allowed herself to be pulled back into her own body.
Elena blinked and found the car door open and Elijah kneeling on the ground beside her with a tissue to her face. When he pulled it away, Hope saw red on it and realized that she'd pushed herself so far that her nose started bleeding.
"You went to visit Ryan, didn't you?" Elijah dabbed her face gently gently.
"I needed to see if I could do it without the spirits of nature being the ones to bring me to him."
"I know you wanna help him, honey," Shelia said. "But you won't do one any good if you spread yourself so thin. Focus on one fight at a time and you'll be able to do more for everyone, including this boy you're trying to save."
"I just needed him to know that I meant what I said, that I'm going to get him out however I can."
"What's so special about this guy?" Bonnie asked.
"He's just a kid who never had a chance. Who's never known kindness of any sort, at least not in any real way, and if I can give him the family he's never had, I don't see why I shouldn't do it." Elena leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
"And you, being you, you wanna help him."
Elena opened her eyes and glanced at Bonnie, a wry grin on her face.
"She's got her heart set on adopting him and I don't see the issue," Elijah said. Then raised an eyebrow in Elena's direction when he continued, "As long as you're not pushing yourself to visit him. He knows you're fighting for him and if he's smart, he'll understand that you're trying to save your strength to set him free."
"I'd like to be able to visit him once a week."
"For a few hours, and you can channel me."
"I don't think it'll be so difficult now that I know how to reach him. But maybe I can figure out how to bring you with me?"
"We'll see." Elijah stood up. "I'm not overly keen on risking getting trapped in the darkness myself."
"If everything's alright, we need to get going," Sheila reminded them.
"Of course."
With a final glance at Elena, Sheila headed towards her car, Bonnie on her heels.
When they were back on the road again, Elena asked, "Are you okay with me wanting to bring Ryan into the family?"
"He reminds me of Niklaus and if I can't turn my back on my brother, it wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to turn your back on this boy, especially since he's as powerless as a human and is almost as vulnerable."
Elena picked up his hand, linking their fingers together, and they continued on in a comfortable silence. Every once in a while, Elena found herself glancing over at Elijah, admiring his profile. He was stunning, with his sharply angled features that softened when he smiled that shockingly boyish smile of his and his dark eyes warmed.
"You're staring," he commented after a while.
"Just admiring the view." Elena smiled and made a show of getting more comfortable in her seat so she could watch him better.
Instead of replying, he leaned over and switched on the radio so that classical music flowed through the speakers. When he gripped the steering wheel again, his knuckles went white and he swallowed thickly.
When he did that, Elena bit her lower lip to hide her smirk. Was it cruel of her to tease him like this? Possibly. But they were closing in on her birthday, just two more months until June, so she didn't feel too terrible about it.
Then again, these last few months were going to be the hardest, all the puns in the world intended. Since they were getting close to the time when she'd be legally considered an adult, the anticipation would be mounting. Hell, she could already feel it simmering in her veins, this aching need to make love to Elijah threatening to boil over.
Elena shifted so that she was sitting correctly in her seat once more. If she kept staring at him, she was in grave danger of launching herself across the console and tearing his shirt off— Okay. She really needed to stop thinking about how much she wanted him.
"What does he look like, this son of ours?" Elijah asked, his lips curling into a grin as he sought to change the subject and distract from the tension between them.
"He's taller than you, I think, with dark, curly hair, brown eyes, and very pretty." Elena's heart swelled at his acceptance of Ryan being a part of their lives. If she couldn't give birth to her own children in this life, at least she could provide a mother's love to the lost and the discarded.
"So, believably related to us."
"I think so."
Elijah's face pulled into a contemplative frown.
"What are you thinking?"
"That he knows Malivore better than anyone. So who better to hunt down the artifacts required to free the bastard? He finds them and we figure out how to stop the creature, while keeping anyone else from being able to raise him."
"We're not using him," Elena said decidedly.
"All things considered, if asked to do it, I don't think he'll think of it as being used, but as being useful because he wants Malivore gone just as much as you and I do."
"It'll be his choice. I won't make him do something he doesn't want to do."
"Of course. From the sound of it, he's been through enough of having his free will stripped away to last a hundred lifetimes." Elijah caught her hand in his once more and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.
Elena brought his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
"Once Silas and Amara are dealt with and you're recovered, I wouldn't be opposed to you trying to introduce me to Ryan," Elijah said finally. "I want to meet him."
"I thought you didn't want to risk getting stuck in the dark." Elena studied him, wondering at the change in him.
"You already love this boy, so I want to get to know him too." Elijah's mouth curled into a sad smile. "I want to care about him as much as you do and to make him feel like he truly belongs with us and isn't there because you feel sorry for him."
Elena found herself blinking back tears. Elijah's love and desire to be a good father would not go to waste this time around, because a young man who'd never known that sort of love would be able to experience it.
"Why are you crying?" Elijah asked as he wiped a tear off her cheek.
"Just thinking about being a parent, only in a different way than was expected." Elena glanced over at him. "You're taking this in stride, and I can't help but think you were always meant to be a father and how lucky anyone who gets to have you in their life that way is."
Elijah squeezed her fingers and smiled at her.
"We'll need to figure out where he's going to live. I'm not sure if Jenna would like me bringing my adopted son who's centuries older than I am home with me."
"He can live with me. I'll start setting up a room when we get back."
"Setting up a room for our son," Elena joked, but her smile faded quickly.
She was painfully reminded of setting up a nursery for her babies in her other life and she ached for them. Once she and Elijah took their relationship to the next level, she'd start thinking about broaching the subject of in vitro fertilization. She loved Ryan so much already, but she wanted to have the chance to bring her own children into the world in this life too. Besides, most children wanted and needed siblings.