It took longer because I had to rewrite the chapter a few times but now I am finally satisfied with it.
Chapter 17
Elijah was content with the current mood in the room, everyone showed themselves from their best side. The conversation he and Klaus had with Kol and Davina before they came downstairs had also gone well. However, he would talk to Kol about the fact that he had concealed his problems with the Bloods from his family.
Klaus and Caroline sat close together and paid no attention to anything else as they whispered to one another. Elijah did his best not to have to hear what the two of them were saying to each other.
Freya and Bonnie were also sitting next to each other, beside them Jimmy and Desmond, who listened raptly to their shop talk and kept asking questions.
Damon, Alaric, and Michael also talked. Alaric listened as Damon and Michael spoke about that what had happened to them in the meantime. He still felt a little reserved about the Blood but in the end the transformation hadn't been Michael's fault or choice. He assumed that a part of Damon thought about his own turning.
Marcel and Rebekah sat down with Josh, Marcel wanted to make up with him. However, this time Josh didn't want make it too easy for Marcel, this uncaring disregard of his free will had hurt him deeply.
As for Elijah, he primarily listened to what was happening in the basement, which turned out to be a good idea. The witches and werewolves had turned up to attend the interrogations. Although Elijah had informed the vampires that this had been so decided, some of the vampires denied access to the interrogations.
Elijah scowled when he heard one familiar voice, apparently some people were just plain unteachable. He sighed and got up. It looked like he was going to ruin two of his suits in one day. "Please excuse me, there are a few misunderstandings that have come up downstairs and I have to clear them up."
Klaus looked up. "Perhaps it would be best if you remove these misunderstandings permanently."
"That was my intention, Niklaus."
"Do you want my company?" Klaus looked a little dejected that he had to break up his conversation with Caroline.
"No, I think I can do that on my own. Please continue to dedicate yourself to your guests." Elijah smirked, his brother was sometimes so transparent. And as long as Caroline was in the room, he had no qualms about leaving Klaus alone with the others.
Alaric got up. "If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you." He was curious what the exchange of Elijah and Klaus was about and he also wanted to make sure that the Originals weren't planning an unpleasant surprise for them.
"I have no objections." If Alaric went with him, the biggest likely cause of a dispute was no longer in the kitchen. Elijah looked at Rebekah, who nodded slightly, she would make sure that everything remained peaceful between Marcel and Klaus.
As soon as the two men were out of the kitchen, Alaric asked. "What kind of trouble I'm getting into?"
"Oh, this trouble is for me. A few vampires relatively new to town are having trouble following my commands. They don't view me as a capable leader or a serious threat", explained Elijah.
Alaric stopped in surprise, then began to laugh until he coughed. "Oh man, but they know you're an Original, right?"
"Somehow they don't seem to get it." Elijah was equally amused. "I gave the ringleader a chance to adjust his attitude, perhaps I was too kind to him. He didn't use his chance, now I have to make an example out of him."
Alaric rolled his eyes. He knew the kind of examples Elijah usually delivered. "So it's going to be bloody." Elijah just smiled inscrutable. "You're still a scary dude."
Alaric had to admit to himself that it felt strange to go voluntarily down the basement of the Originals. As soon as they were in the basement, Alaric could hear loud and angry voices.
Elijah, who heard a little more than Alaric, growled slightly. Alaric looked at Elijah from the side and decided to fell a few steps back. It was always better to keep a safe distance when an Original got annoyed with someone.
When Elijah turned the last corner, he already saw what he expected. Witches, humans and werewolves faced vampires and it looked like the argument could escalate any second in something more serious.
"Silence", he ordered sharply. His voice was quieter than the arguing voices, but it got easily through the noise. The arguing parties fell quiet and when they recognized Elijah, they all moved apart to make place for him.
Elijah didn't stop walking until he was standing between the two antagonistic parties. "What is the problem here?"
"You promised that we would be allowed to join the interrogations", snarled a big werewolf, who was already in the middle of the transformation.
"And I keep my word", answered Elijah coolly. "It seems that some of my vampires misunderstood my orders, but now I'm here to make my orders explicitly clear to them."
Alaric, who had stopped on the edge of the crowd, winced. Those vampires had actually been stupid enough to defy Elijah after he had given his word?
The witches, humans and the werewolves, who hadn't changed yet, looked uncertain at each other. They heard the dark promise in Elijah's voice but they didn't know who it was meant for.
The now completely transformed werewolf growled and jumped at Elijah, who reflexively threw up his arm. When the wolf struck its teeth in Elijah's arm, the only sound Elijah made was a grunt of pain.
With his free hand Elijah grabbed cruelly into the neck fur of the wolf until the wolf howled in pain and opened his jaw. Elijah then threw him with full force against the next free wall, the wolf fell to the ground, where he remained unconscious and motionless.
"Is anyone else here who wants to attack me?" Elijah asked with a smile. Everyone shook their heads unanimous and slightly frightened. In such close quarters had the Original every advantage. "Very good."
Elijah now turned his back on the witches, humans and werewolves and looked coolly at the vampires who stood in front of him. His gaze stayed on the vampire, whose voice he had recognized as the spokesman. "You, come to me!"
The vampire, now commanded for the second time within a few hours to come to Elijah, obeyed even more reluctantly than the first time.
"What is your name?"
"Jack", the vampire replied reticent.
"What orders did I give you regarding the presence of witches, humans and werewolves?" Elijah asked further.
"That they can be present at the interrogations, but I think that's a mistake", Jack replied hostilely.
"Hm, and why?" Elijah eyed the vampire curiously, his voice extremely mild.
"Because they should be content with what we give them. They don't have to know everything!"
Elijah heard the grumbling behind him but ignored it for the moment. "Niklaus and I have a different opinion to that than you; when we want to be victorious we have to face this threat together. This means that everyone gets the same access to each information!"
"Everyone knows that you talked Klaus into it." Jack stared at him with hatred and contempt. "Without you, he would never have agreed to this. You are a coward, too afraid to fight alone."
The other vampires who until now had stood in Jack's vicinity, backed now away from him.
"Nobody can persuade my brother to do something he doesn't want to do or when he doesn't understand the reason for it. Or do you want me to say to him that you think of him as spineless?" Elijah smiled gently when he asked this question. Jack turned pale.
"You don't need to answer this question. And Niklaus is not the brother you should fear." With a loose hand movement Elijah hit off the head of the vampire in a way that it ended up on the ground in front of the witches, humans and werewolves.
"I promised the other factions that they would be present at all interrogations. Does someone else have objections to the tactical decisions made by me and my brother?"
Like the witches, humans and werewolves before them, the vampires shook fearful their heads.
"Then I would suggest you start with the interrogations immediately. After all, we have to prevent an invasion." Elijah's voice was deeply sarcastic.
Alaric watched with amusement as all these powerful supernatural beings ducked their heads like scolded children and then hurried on their way. You could say what you wanted about Elijah, but he knew how to manage people. No wonder, after all he had plenty of practice with Klaus.
Finally only Elijah, Alaric and the still unconscious werewolf, who had meanwhile turned back into a human, remained.
Elijah went to the werewolf and crouched down next to him. He tore his wrist open with his teeth and gave the werewolf his blood. The injuries healed and the werewolf woke up dazed. When he saw the Original above him, he backed away in fear. "You don't have to be afraid, but it is better for you to go and leave New Orleans for a while. Perhaps you should go on an extended vacation or visit your family if you have any, who lives out of town."
Elijah got up and looked at Alaric. "Let us go back upstairs."
The werewolf got up and stumbled towards the exit.
After they had walked a few steps, Alaric asked. "Why did you first heal him and then send him away?"
"He bit me but I can't afford to be incapacitated through the effects of a werewolf bite. So I have to ask Niklaus for his blood", Elijah explained patiently. "He will want to know what happened to me and we both know how my brother reacts when someone from his family gets hurt in situations like this."
"Good point." Alaric knew Klaus's reactions in cases like this only too well. He noticed that Elijah took his time in returning to the others.
When Elijah entered the kitchen, all vampires and Michael began to sniff, the smell of fresh blood too strong so as not to notice him.
When Klaus's eyes fell on Elijah's bloody arm, he got up and asked furiously. "What happened?"
"A misunderstanding that was resolved satisfactorily for all parties", Elijah replied calmly and allowed Klaus to take his arm. However, he scowled when Klaus tore off the sleeve of his suit and shirt.
When Klaus examined the injury, he growled angrily, his eyes turned yellow and his fangs protruded. "This is a werewolf bite! Who dared to attack you?"
Desmond watched with wide eyes. That was the first time he'd seen what a vampire looked like when he transformed.
Elijah noticed Desmond's reaction. "Please, Niklaus, let it be! It was an understandable overreaction."
Klaus snarled again and his eyes fell on Alaric. "I suppose you won't tell me either who did this, right?"
"I'm on Vervain, sorry, Klaus." Alaric smirked at Klaus.
Klaus grumbled, but when his gaze fell on Desmond, he pulled himself together and put on his human facade. "Let's go upstairs, Elijah, so I can heal you!"
"Thank you, brother." Elijah knew that Klaus just didn't want Desmond and their visitors to hear them argue. He had a few hours of persuasion ahead of him before Klaus would give in to him and forget this incident.
The two vampires left the kitchen and Caroline asked worriedly. "What happened down there, Alaric?"
Alaric told them what had happened in the basement.
"Is such a forgiving behaviour normal for Elijah?" Jimmy asked curiously.
Rebekah and Freya exchanged looks and Damon snorted. "If it serves a higher purpose for him, then yes. But I would never count on it that he will held back a second time."
"Vampires triggered this incident through their provocations, so Elijah was lenient this time", agreed Rebekah.
"In addition, Elijah still has a soft spot for werewolves", Freya said with a sad smile.
The mood grew sombre as anyone who had known Hayley remembered her.
"Elijah will need a few hours to talk Klaus down from murdering the guilty werewolf", said Marcel. "What do we do in the meantime?"
"Come on, Desmond, Jimmy, I'll show you our house", Rebekah suggested. And I want to show you also a couple of good hiding spots and secret passages where you can hide in case of an emergency, she added in her thoughts.
"I think, it's time to thoroughly examine Ava", Freya said.
"Why?" Bonnie asked and Freya explained that a witch had told Elijah and Damon that there was something wrong with the Bloods. Interested in this riddle, Bonnie joined Freya.
"I'm going to look at the hard drives brought from the base of the Bloods", Josh said, rubbing his hands together. He had far too seldom opportunities to use his computer skills he had so long studied for.
"Then I'll clean up the mess here." Damon started collecting the dirty dishes.
"Let me do this, Damon. You cooked, I will take care of the dirty dishes. Michael, you will help me!" ordered Caroline.
Damon shrugged his shoulders. "Thank you, Caroline. I'm tired so I will lie down for a couple of hours."
"I'll call the school to see if everything is okay", said Alaric, before Caroline got the idea to demand his help.
"You can help me too", Caroline said quite bossy to Marcel.
"One of us should monitor the interrogations while Klaus and Elijah are busy with each other", Marcel replied hastily. As soon as he had fled the kitchen, Damon and Caroline grinned mischievously at each other.
"Nice manoeuvre, Caroline. I am proud of you!" praised Damon.
"I learned from the best", said Caroline. "And you really should lie down."
"I was up all night to watch over Desmond", Damon replied with a shrug and yawned. "I'll see you in a couple of hours." Damon left the kitchen too.
"Can I also come up with an excuse?" Michael asked hopefully.
"No", answered Caroline with a smile.
"Damn it." With a resigned sigh, Michael gave in and began to help Caroline.
"Now we have time that you can tell me all about yourself. Start with how you met Damon! Just consider it a test run for later when either Klaus or Elijah ask you their questions. I am kinder than them!"
"I'm not so sure about that." Michael granted her wish and began to talk.
BC = Thank you. I don't know if you have seen it or are interested in it but I wrote a crossover of the Originals with Avengers and Agents of Shield.