Author's Note:

So sorry for the delay in this chapter! Life gets in the way sometimes and I was also working on non fanfiction related projects. This is the final chapter! I'm thinking of maybe doing an Epilogue depending on the response. An idea came to me as I was wrapping this up, but I knew if I started it, I wasn't going to stop with this chapter. Lol I hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think.

I don't like predictable endings so I hope you're surprised.

-V

Chapter 40: At the End of the Rope

Caroline was running out of energy trying to put and end to the violent brawling. "Bonnie!" She called out finally catching a glimpse of her friend in the sea of people. "Have you seen Elena?"

"No! What the hell is going on? What started this?" Bonnie exclaimed staring at the riot currently taking place in the Salvatore living room.

The blonde threw her arms up. "Nothing! It just happened…their compelled Bonnie! I can't make them stop."

Within moments everyone got quiet and collected themselves. As if programmed, they all filtered out one after the other leaving nothing but a mess in their wake.

"Tell me what the hell just happened." Bonnie blinked in surprise.

Caroline was still weary. "Whatever they were meant to distract us from just happened. Let's find Elena." The vampire sped from room to room calling out her name while Bonnie in a very human like speed, covered the ground floor. As she was walking pass the back door, she saw a blur vanish into the night, but she couldn't make out who it was. She sped after it, searching the forest behind the Boarding House, looking for any sign of the vampire. It Damon was here; she was going to find him.

Feeling helpless without her magic, Bonnie resorted to the old school way of finding her friend. "Elena!" She called out, as she moved around the many rooms of the house. As she was walking past the door to the basement, a ripple of dread flushed over her, and immediately she knew what they had always feared.

Throwing the heavy door open, she rushed her way down the steps and fell to a pool of tears at the sight before her. "no, no, no, no, no, no, no…" she sobbed painfully, crawling over to her friend, pulling her into her lap. "Elena!" Bonnie's voice became raw with her cries of anguish. She rocked her gently, looking around for whoever did this to her, her eyes darting to every crevasse of the dank basement. Despite what her grandmother had told her, the witch murmured incantations; anything she could think of that could reverse this.

"Don't waste your breath." The hollow voice came from the darkness. "It's over…it's been too long."

Bonnie shot to her feet, startled, her hand resting on the stake she had tucked into the back of her jeans. It was her only plan of defense now. "Damon." She nearly snarled. "You did this."

"It wasn't my hands that broke her neck," His tone held no infliction, no emotion. "but I might as well have." He blurred passed her and out the door within the next breath, and she hoped it was the last time she'd ever see him.

Despite all the odds being stacked against him, she had hoped that Damon would have come back from this. But not now…not after this. With Elena gone, so was the last of his humanity. If he could let her die, then he was dead too.

Caroline made her way back to the boarding house annoyed. She was being led in circles by whoever she followed, and surmised that it wasn't worth wasting time. She found Bonnie stone faced staring at the wall, tear tracks down her cheeks, redness in her eyes. "What happened?" Bonnie said nothing. She didn't even acknowledge her. "Where's Elena?" Caroline regretted asking the question the second she saw her friend's face twist in agony, and she knew. "Where is she?" this time her voice held a different tone; sorrow and understanding; knowing now that her best friend was just a lifeless body. Knowing that everything they had done tonight was for nothing, and that they would never be the same. She immediately tried to sort through her head how she was going to tell Jeremy and Jenna. Should she just make them forget about her? How could they possibly move on after losing so much already? Her thoughts raced uncontrollably. One thought took her to another until she sank into the couch beside her and wept in her hands.

It was a long moment before anyone said anything; both of them trying to process in their own ways. "She's in the basement." Bonnie voice was horse and low, as if speaking too loudly would break the air.

Caroline struggled with the urge to investigate. She didn't know if she was ready to see for herself, but the other part of Caroline had to know. She forced herself to her feet and sped into the basement…to find it empty. The only thing left behind was Elena's shattered phone.

…

Elijah sat patiently in the chair across from the sleeping figure. He had wasted valuable time losing the blonde in the woods, and now he was short on time. Damon would be getting close now. He had texted him his location, shortly after leaving the Boarding House.

The figure started to stir in the chair, struggling against restrains. "Wakey, Wakey…" He leaned forward slightly with a smirk, trying to catch the gaze of the yellow eyes before him. "You've been sleeping a long time…you must be hungry." Rising to his feet fluidly, he reached for the bundle of dried wolfsbane sitting on the small table beside him, where a few bloody surgical instruments sat. He crossed the short path to stand in front of the hybrid and shoved a fistful in his mouth. "There we go…" Tyler's skin sizzled and boiled on contact, and screams tore out his burning throat. "All better." He sat back down, and interlaced his fingers, while Tyler coughed up blood and pieces of flesh. "Now…do you recall where we left off? We don't have much time, see, I've bargained for you life. Someone will be here shortly, so we best rush this along."

Tyler tried to laugh. "Klaus is coming for me." He looked the elder vampire dead in the eyes. "It won't be long."

Elijah smiled. "And I hope he does…he's my family after all; we have some catching up to do, but now..." He fixated his gaze on him. "I need you to tell me where he keeps Elena's blood." For a moment, the Original wasn't sure if it would take. He'd been bleeding him for days trying to compel the Hybrid to confess, but the sire bond was holding strong.

"New Orleans. Somewhere in the French Quarter, he won't tell anyone where." Tyler was enraged at his uncontrollable compliance. "Just kill me…before he does. Please." He begged, feeling defeated.

Elijah glanced at his watch. "Unfortunately, that's not for me to decide." The door downstairs slammed loudly. "Right on time."

With a whoosh of air, Damon stood in the doorway. "Guess you are a man of your word…except when it comes to trusting little human girls." Damon moved around the vast room, eyeballing Tyler, deciding his fate.

Elijah shrugged carelessly. "A small price to pay in the scheme of things. She was a pawn in a larger game. Her sacrifice was necessary to the cause."

Damon's lips pursed. "Hm." The muscle in his jaw tensed tightly. "What about his sacrifice?"

The elder vampire extended an arm out in invitation. "By all means…you've kept you're end of the bargain." He studied the younger vampire as he took slow measured steps around the perimeter of the room. "Looking for something, Damon…" he drawled, sensing Damon's apprehension.

"Did she really mean that little to you?" His question seemed to rise out of nowhere, but Elijah didn't seem surprised.

"About as little as she meant to you, I suppose." His phone buzzed in his breast pocket. Pulling it out he saw the text. It's done.

Tyler looked on in confusion, trying to put the pieces together.

Damon laughed, but there was no humor in it. "She used to mean something to me, I remember it; can't feel it though…I guess that died when she did."

Tyler struggled in his restrains. "You killed Elena?" His emotions were torn between heartbreak for his childhood friend and terror for what Klaus would do when he found out that not only did Elijah know where his hybrid blood supply was, but the tap was cut off forever. The Hybrid species would be over. "How could you do that?" his anger was directed at Damon. "S-she did everything for you! She loved you." He trailed off, shaking his head. "She made a deal with Klaus…he needed her!"

Damon sped right up to Tyler and yanked his head back by his hair, so he could look down on him. "Well Klaus didn't keep his deal did he!" He snarled in his face. "He was supposed to save my brother, but he was too busy draining the blood out of my girlfriend to make it in time. So, the way I see it we're square." He cocked his head to the side. "Or I guess we will be." Damon drove his hand through Tyler's chest, pulling out his heart, and tossing it carelessly across the room.

Elijah raised an impressed brow. "Feel better?"

Damon sauntered out of the room without looking back. "I don't feel anything."

…

Elijah sped from behind one tree to the next, watching the flash of blonde hair follow his trail. She was persistent. He lost her about 30 minutes into the woods, and he looped back to the boarding house out of site. He soundless made his way into the basement, hearing the strangled sobs of the witch from the parlour room.

With a sorrowful sigh, he scooped up the young lady and cradled her in his arms gently. He was gone within seconds, careful to avoid being spotted by Caroline, who was surely making her way back by now.

It didn't take him long to arrive at his dwelling here in Mystic Falls. It wasn't as grand as Klaus would have chosen nor was it small by any means. It was simple; inconspicuous. The owner had fled on account of Elijah's compulsion and now this place was as good as his. Not that he'd be here long. He was only here until he could free his brothers and sister…then he would leave this town, hopefully never to return.

He wanted to go back to a simpler time; before daggering each other was a solution to their problems, when they valued each others existence; 'Always, Forever. Family above all' This was the Mikaelson way once.…in retrospect it was always Niklaus that complicated their lives. Elijah was constantly cleaning up his messes and taming the rage he unleashed for all that got in his way. He'd hoped that once he completed his work here, he might finally be able to settle in one place. He thought of the place he called home; the one place he stayed long enough to build connections, the one place he was accepted, and it bought a nostalgic smile to his face.

The Original vampire climbed the porch steps and was greeted at the door by an old friend. "You're late."

"I'm aware." Elijah pushed passed the tall dark man and made his way into the dining area to the left of the staircase. He lay Elena's body down delicately, stepping away to let Jonas commence his work.

"You really cut it close." The Warlock opened his books and brushed crushed herbs across Elena's forehead. "I told you how crucial it was to bring her back within 12 hours of taking the serum, any longer than that…" He trailed off knowing he need not say more.

"I needed him to believe it. If I left with her it would have raised suspicion." He started to make his way out of the room. "I'll be upstairs."

…

Damon stormed down the hallway, stalking down the staircase, leaving a bloody trail from his hand on the wall. He was passed the porch before he felt a shift in the air, bringing with it a familiar scent that tickled his nostrils, one that he'd never forget as long as he walked this earth.

He turned his head slowly to look over his shoulder, and in an instant, he felt the bubble around him shatter. It was like the walls around him crumbled leaving him bare and vulnerable.

"Damon…" his name was just a whisper on her lips; apprehensive and wary as if she wasn't sure who she was looking at right now.

His eyes welled tears, making them more blue than usual, and he closed the distance back to her in a few long strides. He cringed at how she seemed to flinch as he raised a hand to touch her bare arm; his fingers trailing from shoulder to wrist. "It's me." He couldn't look her in the face.

Elena wasted no time, and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as if she could just crawl inside. She sobbed her relief, muffled by his black shirt, now stained and wet with her tears. He held her close, breathing her in. The emotions were rising within him like a tidal wave, and he felt like he was about to drown.

Pulling away from her slightly, Damon rested his forehead on hers. "I'm so sorry…" He choked on the words, knowing they were never going to be enough. "I thought I'd lost you."

She pressed her lips to his. "I know the feeling." She kissed over and over again, pulling him closer, but he resisted. "What's wrong?" her heart raced, fearing the worst.

Damon swallowed painfully, catching her eyes briefly. "I need some time, Elena. I love you…but the things that I did," he sighed as a ripple of disgust rolled through him as he recalled his actions only moments before. "I need time to process it all." He cradled her face as he gave her one last kiss to her forehead. "I'll come find you."

By the time she opened her eyes, he was gone, and she was alone on the porch. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill roll over her.

"Come inside, Elena." Elijah's soft voice drew her out of her thoughts. "I'm sure you have some questions."

He led her back into the living room of his temporary home, and directed her to the single seat sofa. "Tea?" When she nodded, he poured a cup from the tea pot sitting on the coffee table. "You may feel a little unfocused or detached," he handed her the cup, and she sipped it eagerly. "it's normal. You'll feel more like yourself in a couple days."

She glared up at him. "You snapped my neck…how am I alive right now?"

Elijah slid into the chair across from her. "It was part of the plan I couldn't share with you. I'm sorry about that. If you knew what I was planning Damon would have compelled you tell him the truth and it would have only driven him farther away."

"What did you do to me?" Her hand instinctively went to her shoulder.

"I injected you with a serum mixed with warlock blood. The serum is designed to bring someone back from the brink of death. It pulls those back who have crossed over to the other side, however, only those with supernatural attributes are susceptible to it. Your death has also rendered your blood completely useless to Niklaus' cause." Elijah explained, watching the gears shift in her head as she nodded her understanding.

"How did you know if would work?" Elena's voice was raspy and hollow. She felt as if she was dreaming.

"Damon has seen a lot of death in his time. He's learned to accept that, as we all have." Elijah explained speaking for himself as well as his siblings. "When someone we love dies…its easier to bury that love along with them. But relief, life…that can inspire emotions that one doesn't even know are there."

Elijah's thoughts went to his family, and the siblings he'd lost along the way. Freya, his eldest sister, taken by the plague while he was only a child, his mother said. Henrik, his youngest brother; murdered by the werewolf in their village over a thousand years ago, where it all began. Their lives would be forever changed after that day. And lastly Finn, his older brother, murdered in cold blood by Niklaus. What he would do to have his family as one again…although those three were gone, two more lay in coffins.

"Damon will come around once the floodgates close, he may need time; however, I am very short on it. Elena, I know this may not be the best time for you, but I will need you to uphold your word." He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and produced her necklace.

She held out her hand and Elijah leaned over the coffee table to drop it gently in her palm. "Your family." She nodded. "They are where we found you." She had the decency to blush at her deceit. "Bonnie cloaked them…she has to remove-"

Elijah gracefully stood. "No need, I have my own means. Thank you, Elena. It's been a pleasure." Elena stood along with him, placing her cup on the table. "I'd offer for you to stay as long as you'd like…" he cast a glance upstairs. "But it's best you didn't. Can I offer you a ride?"

She shook her head. "I think I'm going to walk. I could use the fresh air." they both walked towards the door. "If Klaus comes for me…"

Elijah placed a hand on the small of her back as he led her out the front door. "I'll see to it that he doesn't. I intend to keep him occupied." He smirked to himself.

…

Elena was both mentally and physical exhausted by the time she reached the boarding house. Everything was heightened; the sound of the door closing behind her nearly made her jump and the creaking of the floorboards sounds like cracks of thunder.

"They have to know Caroline!"

Bonnies voice echoed from the parlour room.

"I know that! I just-what do we say? I mean, her body is gone, Bonnie! Gone! How exactly do we explain that?"

Moving gingerly towards the sound of their voices, Elena leaned against the doorway, suddenly feeling too weak to stand.

"Hi." Was all she had the effort to say.

She was immediately enveloped by her friends, tears of joy from all three streaked their cheeks. Caroline was the first to pull away. "Are you-?" she looked her up and down.

Elena shook her head. "No…Still human. Just really tired." She tried to joke. "I'll tell you guys everything…but right now, I just want to crawl into bed for like a week."

Caroline opened her mouth as if she was ready to ask a slew of questions, but a hard glance from Bonnie stopped her swiftly. "Go rest." Bonnie interjected. We'll be here when you wake up."

Elena nodded with a weary smile, as she squeezed both of their ands in hers affectionately. "Thanks." She headed for the stairs and stopped on the third step. "I love you guys."

"We love you too Elena." Caroline responded through tears.

…

New Orleans, LA

One Week Later:

He could not contain his rage. Furniture flew around the room, smashing against the brick walls of the atrium, glass shattering into thousands of pieces on the floor. He let out a roar of anger to the room, while those around him stood still and quiet, too afraid to stop him or say a word.

"How could it be gone!" Klaus bellowed to his closest disciples, with an accusatory tone. "Which one of you has betrayed me?"

There was a slight whoosh of air that filled the room. "Oh, be easy on them Niklaus…I'm sure no one would dare betray you." The familiar voice, made Klaus' face tense with fury. He turned his head to catch his brother leaning in the doorway, wiping his bloody hands on a handkerchief. "Expect yours truly of course."

"You…" He stormed towards Elijah. "You'd go behind my back and steal from me what I hold dear? My own brother." He chastised. "Where is my hybrid blood, Elijah." The demand was tight through his gritted teeth.

Elijah pushed off the doorway and waved his brother off flippantly. "It's been disposed of brother…I couldn't let you have such a dangerous tool in your possession. You're perilous and reckless."

Klaus' eyes darkened and his fangs descended. "You're about to find out just how reckless I can be." He growled.

Elijah seemed unimpressed. "What…will you dagger me like you did before? Or perhaps as you did Rebekah and Kol." His eyes shifted past Klaus to the figures that entered to the other end of the atrium.

Klaus followed his gaze and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Leave us." He uttered to his followers. "Isaid LEAVE!" The young vampires disappeared quickly out of site. "What a surprise."

"I'm sure it is, considering the last time you saw us you locked us in a box." Rebekah bit out in distain as she strolled towards him. "Nothing says family like a dagger in the back does it." She canted her head to the side and glared at him. "How could you Niklaus…what happened to 'Always and Forever'?"

Kol followed behind her, backing her up. "Oh, you know family was never his thing, darling." The younger original vampire smirked. "No one matters more to our brother than himself. We have a thousand years of evidence to support that. "

Klaus smirked back, and raised his chin with confidence. "How could I rely on those that constantly defy me. I tried to trust you..." he waved his finger between them. "I hoped you would fall in line and follow my vision-"

Rebekah cut him off. "We're not your minions Klaus! You can't just order us around as you please."

Elijah came to stand beside her, placing a hand in his pocket. "We're giving you one last chance brother…join us. Let us start over, be a family and put all of this animosity and mistrust aside." He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an old tattered piece of parchment, handing it to Klaus, who took it apprehensively.

His jaw ticked, his eyes ghosting over the portrait drawing of his brothers and sister from before they ever made it to America. The presence of his youngest brother Henrik told him this was from before they became vampires. When family was everything. Klaus' thumb grazed over the calligraphy at the bottom.

'Family Above All Else'

…

Mystic Falls, VA

Elena walked in the door of the Boarding House, taking off her coat and kicking off her black pumps. The weather was complimentary of the dreary day; rain poured down on them as they buried their friend in the cemetery next to his mother.

Although Tyler had betrayed them and was working for their enemy, in their heart of hearts they knew that he had no choice. Klaus' sire bond was too strong to break; but it didn't make losing him any less devastating. They had all been friends since kindergarten, and now he was gone.

Elena made her way up the stairs to change out of her damp dress. Jenna had offered to host the memorial at their place as the Lockwood mansion was locked down and under foreclosure. She wasn't in the mood to be around people right now. Even though she was starting to come back to herself, and starting to feel more grounded since her brief departure from this plane, this whole experience had changed her; for better or worse she wasn't sure. She felt stronger, more aware and sharper…but also felt the need to seclude herself from those around her.

All she knew was that she missed Damon.

Walking into the room she once shared with him, she halted in the doorway seeing his lean figure staring out the window, his back to her. Elena was silent; afraid that even a breath would erase him from her sight. She'd had imagined this before: nearly every day since she last saw him, she would come here in the middle of the night hoping that maybe he'd come home.

"Are you really here?" Elena asked hesitantly. Her voice was merely a whisper. His silence almost convinced her that this was all an illusion.

"I'm sorry it took me so long." He never turned to face her, but she could see this light from the moon illuminate the profile of his face as she stepped closer to him. "I had a lot of things to thing about."

"It's okay…I understand."

A sardonic laugh left his lips. "No, I don't think you do."

She was standing beside him now, watching as he continued to gaze out the window in front of him as if it held all the answers. "Why don't you tell me?"

Finally, he looked at her, and the torment in his eyes nearly made her stumble. He grabbed her face in his hand and kissed her softly, resting his forehead on her. "I love you Elena…always know that."

"I do…" she knew something was coming, and she knew she wasn't going to like it.

"It was me, Elena…I killed Tyler." There was a short moment between his admission and her ripping his hands off her face.

"No…you didn't…tell me you didn't Damon." She had been crying all day; she had thought she couldn't cry anymore but now they flowed freely down her face. "I thought…but I hoped- oh my God." She couldn't complete her thoughts.

"I'm sorry…but he signed my brother's death sentence when he bit him, Elena! I couldn't let him live!" His eyes followed her as she paced back and forth, her hands tunneling into her hair.

"He was my friend, Damon! I just put him in the ground today, did you know that!"

"I'm sorry…I thought you were dead; I didn't care about anything else!" Elena just shook her head and turned away from him, muffling her sobs in her hands. "I regret everything I did since I flipped it off." He wrapped his arms around her from behind, burying his face in the waves of her hair. "It eats me up in inside."

Elena pulled away to look at him, taking a moment to compose herself. "That wasn't you in there, part of me knows that. A part of me wants to just forget everything you just said and pretend like these last few weeks never happened." There was a hopefulness in his eyes, and it broke her to have to shatter it. "But I can't…" She closed the distance between them and held his hands in hers. "I promise you we will get through this, but it's not going to be easy. I can't absolve you of this Damon, and I can't forgive you for killing Tyler…but I will be here and I won't give up on you."

…

New Orleans, LA

Klaus ripped the parchment in half, letting it fall carelessly to the ground. "I already have a family here…" he spread his arms out wide. "A loyal family." Klaus linked his hands behind his back as he circled them. "A little birdy told me, Elijah, that you have been plotting against me again. Not only did you allow Damon Salvatore to kill my Sired Hybrid, but you killed Elena Gilbert…effectively putting an end to the Hybrid line forever." He stood in from of Elijah, eye to eye. "And for that my dear brother, I could never forgive you for." He pulled a dagger from the inside of his jacket pocket, and thrust it into his brother's heart.

Klaus' cold eyes stayed locked on Elijah's as he fell to the floor in front of him; his skin turning ashen and grey as it travelled up his neck to his face. Rebekah rushed to his side, with the intention of pulling the dagger out. "Get him out of here. If any of you step foot in my town again, rest assured it will be the White Oak stake I use."

His siblings spared only a glaring moment before grabbing Elijah's body and speeding out of Klaus' house.

Family made him weak and vulnerable…Niklaus had vowed to never let anyone have the upper hand on him, no matter the cost. He smiled to himself. Elijah may have rendered Elena's blood useless, but he had eyes and eyes all over, and he knew she was still alive. He had waited centuries after Katherina Petrova turned herself to avoid him, and he could wait a couple more if he had to.

Niklaus Mikaelson always got what he wanted.