No One's POV

"Elskan," Elijah murmurs, leaning against the door frame of their bedroom, the night late and dark, and observing as his mate in her wolf form as she lie rather lethargically on their bed; to be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he felt about a wolf, even if it was his mate, lying on their bed.

Brooklyn merely huffed at him, her tail barely flicking in his direction as she rolled an eye in his direction as if to say "what?"

"We will find my brother, Elskan." Elijah tells his mate walking into their room, his gaze suddenly shifting as he is made aware of another wolf in their room, a two-toned, sandy colored one, which had been lying on its forepaws; one of the Hampton twins, if Elijah remembered correctly.

"We will find him, this I promise, Astin." Elijah promises his mate, his steps measured and even as he makes his way towards the bed, only slightly irritated that there was another in his room with him and his mate, even if he figured that it was some part of the pack's formality to protect their Alpha. "I shall find him for you and bring him back." Elijah promises.

Brooklyn's nose finally finds its way onto his chest, Elijah gently smoothing finger through her fur, enjoying the soft texture under his fingers.

"Just rest now, Astin." Elijah gently hushes. "Rest now. I am here. You need not worry, my love. Everything will be taken care of. My brother will be found and returned. I will assure it." Elijah promises again.

"We will leave Mystic Falls." Elijah tells Brooklyn after some time of quiet peacefulness, Brooklyn nearly asleep next to him, his voice firm and decided. "After I retrieve my brother, we will leave Mystic Falls… There is nothing left for us here…"

"I am leaving now, Elskan." Elijah informs, striding into their room the next morning where his mate is packing boxes for their departure from Mystic Falls; he was hoping to get things finished so they could leave within the next day or two.

"Stay safe, please." Brooklyn murmurs, ducking her head into Elijah's chest.

"Do not worry, Elskan, I will." Elijah promises, pressing a comforting kiss to her temple, arms wrapping Brooklyn into his embrace.

Pressing a hand against his chest, Brooklyn's eyes flash gold, magic surging through her as she places a protective spell on Elijah.

"Astin, what-" Elijah asks, feeling the surge of warmth through his body.

"Protection spell. Just in case." Brooklyn cuts off Elijah's question matter-of-factly, to hide her worry.

Elijah simply presses another kiss to his mate's temple in response, conveying his gratitude, affection, and reassurance without words.

"I love you, Elskan. I plan on returning this afternoon and will keep you informed of any and all developments. So please do not worry or stress yourself, Astin." Elijah reminds, hand gently stroking against Brooklyn's cheek as he places one last lingering kiss to her forehead.

"I'll try not to. I love you too, 'Lijah." Brooklyn promises, the 'I love you' slipping from her lips easily, and although she had been saying it only a day or less, it came as easily as if she had been saying it a thousand times or more.

"It's all I ask." Elijah breathes, and with a lingering touch and flash of wind is gone.

Letting out one last worried sigh, Brooklyn shakes her head as if to dispel any more negative thoughts, returning her focus to the task at hand.

Meanwhile, Elijah reluctantly left the mansion, making his way towards the Gilbert residence where Rebekah had informed him the doppelganger, youngest Salvatore, and Matt could be found.

It pained Elijah to see his mate, who was normally so vibrant and alive and confident, instead listless, anxious, and off-kilter. Even more so, the recent events had made Elijah's protective instincts flare increasingly higher at the threat that the Mystic Falls group posed; fueling an unparalleled, irrational desire to take Brooklyn away and never let her leave his arms ever again.

Clearly he had under estimated the fool-hearted determination, misplaced loyalty, sheer idiocy of the adolescents, and single-minded animosity they held towards Niklaus and his family. And for that, his mate had paid.

He would not make the same mistake again. Even if he had to slaughter the entire town himself. Brooklyn was all that mattered, all that would ever matter to him in his already prolonged and foreseeable eternal life. He would spend her lifetime with the only desire to be by her side protecting her, loving her, and making her happy. And he would spend a thousand more life times after her devoted to her, even in her absence.

Arriving at the door of the Gilbert residence, the football player attempting to fix the door frame that the day previously, Aaron had blasted off, Elijah merely glances at it before unnecessarily straightening his suit, dawning his normal reserved and formal façade before clearing his throat.

"Stefan," Elena calls, shock coloring her features as well as fear.

"Elijah." Stefan says, catching sight of the Original.

"Hello again." Elijah replies almost pleasantly, but his smile was just a tad bit too sharp and a dangerous undercurrent bites in his tone.

There would be no mistakes this time.

"All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth and Alaric will follow us." Elijah explains calmly, after being caught up on the current 'dramas' and 'woes' that always seemed to follow the doppelganger.

Elijah now questioned how he ever saw any redeeming qualities in the Gilbert girl. Her innocence that he once believed he saw merely a smokescreen of a petty, fearful, selfish child who fought blindly for everything, but really stood for nothing.

"And you'll just run?" Stefan questions skeptically.

"We've done it before. Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half century while Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life?" Elijah brushes off inconsequentially.

"We've finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back." Elena explains as if he would see her view.

Niklaus was his brother, and for all of Elijah's wrongs towards his own brother and their own arguments that often set them at odds with one another, they were family and family didn't turn each other's backs on one another; clearly Elena had no concept of this fact and held little loyalty of her own towards anyone, seen in how easily she used the Salvatore brothers against one another or even her so called "best friends" and took very little responsibility for her culpability and responsibility in any matter.

"Well, my brother does tend to ruffle feathers…" Elijah comments mildly. "However, I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours nor even your children's lifetimes." Elijah replies, showing nothing but sincerity in his expression for what he had previously said, though it was far from the truth.

While it did shaft on his morals and honor a little to flat out lie, Elijah didn't exactly feel compelled to be overly compassionate or generous with any of the Mystic Falls clique for the pain they had inadvertently caused his mate and considered it a necessary deception to set things right.

He had no doubt in his mind once Niklaus' body was in his possession and he returned his brother to his mate, Brooklyn had every intention of waking Niklaus. And, he would not stand in her way if that were her desire.

"Why should she trust you? All you've done is screw her over?" Matt asks testily.

"Or, on the other hand," Elijah offer, suddenly moving before any of them can blink. "I can simply murder you all where you stand." Elijah quickly takes Matt by the throat, pinning him to the wall with a growl. "I find myself with my patience growing dangerously thin…" He growls deeply as Elena screams, Stefan attempting to intervene but finding himself thrown several feet away, crashing through the coffee table a few feet away.

"My family and I have played nice with you for too long. And look where that has gotten us? Continually persecuted by the likes of you all… You think of us as the enemy. Well…" Elijah's gaze darkens. "If an enemy is what you wish, an enemy we can be… Make a choice, Elena Gilbert." Elijah's voice has a ring of finality to it.

"I- I-" Elena stutters out.

"What about Brooklyn?" Stefan suddenly questions, having brushed himself off and now walking back into the kitchen, clearly the only intelligent members of the Scooby gang. "She's always been clearly on your side. Where does she come in on this? How do we know she isn't going to retaliate? You've got a lot of power on your side. Why do you even need us?"

"I cannot speak for my mate. You have seen a glimpse of her power. Brooklyn cannot be controlled, nor would I ever wish to. I would have more luck attempting to tame the oceans or a hurricane." Elijah answers, dropping Matt from his grip. "But know this, just as Elena could have been dead the instant I walked through the door, just as easily Brooklyn can raze an entire town and its inhabitants to the ground if she so desires. My mate cares a great deal about my brother, but she values life as well and does not revel in violence and revenge as he does. She has agreed to allow me to negotiate with you, but it would be best to not try her patience and her mercy any longer… Your Bennett Witch does not hold a candle to Brooklyn's magnitude of power and influence as I'm sure you've seen." Elijah warns.

"Elena, it's up to you." Stefan finally replies, looking for a trap in the Mikaelson patriarch's words, but evidentially finding none.

"Why do you want Klaus' body?" Elena questions, clearly clueless.

"He's my brother. We remain together." Elijah replies with a half-truth; they need not know that the entire reason he was doing this was for Brooklyn.

"We have a deal," Elena sighs in resignation.

Thank you NicoleR85 for reviewing every chapter! I can't tell you how much the encouragement means to me!

I know I have my readers out there... So, anyone else want to weigh in on the story? Come one guys!

Polkadot