For a moment, Elena was worried that she'd dreamt her rescue; the weight around each of her hands made her recall the chains tied around her wrists, and she nearly screamed, panicking that the vindictive witch had made her blind. Before the sound could escape her, she remembered that she should at least try opening her eyes, relieved when she could see a soft light.

Slightly calmer, she took in her surroundings. Each of her hands was encased in two others, Elijah on her right and Kol on her left, both of them were asleep, heads resting in small spaces on the mattress next to Elena's hands. Their faces were both turned towards her, as if she might disappear if they looked away.

Rebekah slept in an armchair next to Kol, legs pulled up and arms wrapped around herself. She looked younger in her sleep, Elena thought, more vulnerable; they all did.

Klaus was stood a short distance away from the foot of Elena's bed, staring out the window, his hands in his pockets. He turned to face her at a near silent whisper of his name, smiling when he saw she was awake.

"How do you feel?" Klaus asked, just as softly as Elena, both of them all too aware of how little noise it would take to wake the other occupants of the room.

Elena nodded slightly. "I'm okay, I think. My head hurts." She muttered as an afterthought, going to bring a hand up to her head, but quickly reminded of the brothers holding her hands tightly.

Klaus's eyes darkened at the mention of her pain, grounding his teeth together to keep from letting out a low growl. "The witch got what was coming to her." He muttered, coming to stand closer to Elena. "She won't hurt you again."

"What about…" Elena trailed off, the name of the man who'd started all of this still evading her.

"He won't be bothering you again."

Elena nodded slowly, reassured by the certainty that punctuated his voice.

"Klaus," she started, unsure exactly what she was trying to say, "he said that the Originals compelled me to forget…what did he mean?"

"This is probably a conversation you should have with Elijah." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. A pointed look from Elena had him smothering a laugh, and he tipped an imaginary hat at her, she could be as stubborn as he when she wanted. "He told you about our history?"

Neither of them needed to specify who, Caroline and Elijah had been the main two people to split up explaining some of the key history Elena needed to know until she could remember it herself. Naturally, Caroline had been the one to tell Elena more about her family and friends, her social life at the time, while Elijah had taken a more factual approach, teaching Elena about her abilities as a vampire, and those of the people around her.

"Some of it." Elena nodded. "I know you're the first family, and you're a hybrid." She swallowed, trying to assess her own thoughts. "Does that mean you're the Originals?" She asked, letting out a light sigh at Klaus's nod; that wasn't exactly news to her. "Wait, I thought vampires couldn't compel other vampires? Why was he so sure that you compelled me?"

"We're the Originals, love." Klaus rebutted, like that explained it all. "That makes us a little bit different." He sighed when she raised an eyebrow at him, he was sure one of the reasons his stick-in-the-mud brother and Elena got on so well, before they fell in love, was their desire to learn more. "We have slightly different abilities to that of someone like you, or Caroline. Most notably, normal wooden stakes can't kill us, the only way any of my siblings can be truly immobilised is through special daggers, dipped in the ash of the only tree that can kill us-"

"White oak." Elena murmured, meeting Klaus's eyes in surprise as the words rolled off her tongue.

Klaus only raised an eyebrow for a moment before nodding. "Indeed, as long as the daggers remain in their hearts, they're, for all intents and purposes, dead."

"What about you?" Elena asked, not missing his careful wording.

"The daggers have no effect on me, other than to piss me off," he added, eyes twinkling as Elena rolled hers, "I can only be killed by the wood from a white oak tree, same goes for my siblings."

Elena nodded slowly, taking in the new information. "The compulsion?"

"We can compel other vampires, unless they're ingesting vervain to protect themselves."

That was the first bit of information that truly startled Elena. "Vampires can ingest vervain? Without dying?"

Klaus nodded. "It's not pleasant, but with time and small doses, immunity can be built."

"Wow." Elena murmured, laying back the small distance she'd been able to sit up without disturbing Elijah and Kol.

"I'll get you some blood." Klaus whispered, moving to leave the room, a call of his name halting him.

"What's happening to me?" Elena asked, doe eyes wide and vulnerable.

"I think you know, Elena." He smiled, mischief quickly replacing the sympathy in his eyes. "Fret not, your secret is safe with me."

Elena smiled to herself as he left the bedroom, wondering what he knew that she didn't, but relieved that he didn't seem at all worried about it.

Elijah was the first one to wake up, he did so with a jolt, his eyes darting to the window where Klaus should've been. Panic etched his face when he turned to check on Elena, but it quickly fled, replaced by relief.

"Hey." He sighed, the word escaping his lips of its own accord.

"Hey yourself." Elena grinned, squeezing his hand and watching as some of the tension that he didn't seem to realise he carried bled from his shoulders.

"You're okay." Elijah smiled, taking one of his hands from where it was wrapped around Elena's and brushing a piece of hair from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek when Elena turned into it with a smile.

"Thanks to you and Kol." Elena murmured, closing her eyes for a moment and taking in a breath before looking back at Elijah.

He smiled at her again. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long," Elena shrugged, "Klaus has gone to get me some blood."

Elijah nodded in approval. "Elena, I-"

"Don't." She muttered, pulling her hand from his and putting her index finger over his lips. "Don't you dare apologise to me, this wasn't your fault."

With the hand that wasn't still on Elena's face, Elijah took hold of her hand, moving it to his cheek like his was on hers.

"I should have warned you about the dangers out there, I should have known the Salvatores would act out if they found out about your condition."

"Stop it." Elena breathed, horrified at Elijah's train of thought. How on Earth could he think like that? "I don't blame you, Elijah, you've done more to help me than I could ever ask of anyone. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Elijah."

Letting out a breathy laugh, Elijah closed his eyes, leaning into Elena's touch.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

Klaus's voice broke them from their bubble and they both turned to face him, hands falling from each other. He grinned at the pair of them, waggling Elena's glass of blood at her, making her roll her eyes at his need for theatrics.

Kol and Rebekah both woke to the sound of a pillow hitting Klaus on the chest, Elena's retaliation for his ruffling Elijah's hair as he passed her drink over. Kol released Elena's hand with a soft squeeze, smiling at the girl in front of him as she sat herself up properly. Elena smiled back, a quick fleeting thing before she downed the drink in her hand.

"Thanks, Klaus." She sighed when she was done, putting the empty glass down on the nightstand next to her. "You didn't all have to stay in here with me you know."

Four sets of raised eyebrows gave Elena all the answer she needed to that, and she found herself wondering, not for the first time, what she'd done to have the whole family care for her so much.

•••

"How are you feeling?"

Elena smiled at Elijah warmly, squeezing her wet hair in the towel in her hands. "I feel much better." She said, unable to wipe the smile from her face. "I just thought I'd come check on this little guy," she sighed, grinning at the baby in Elijah's arms, "but I see he's in good hands."

Elijah smiled back at the brunette across from him, but she barely noticed, entranced by the child he held.

"By all means…" Elijah murmured, offering Theo to Elena.

"Oh, I couldn't take him away from his dad." Elena denied, shaking her head slightly.

"He's your child too." Elijah reminded her gently, meeting her startled eyes when she looked up at him. "I won't push you, Elena, but if you want to…"

Elijah trailed off, leaving the decision to Elena. She worried her lip for a moment, her gaze alternating between Elijah and Theo, before nodding slowly.

With a reassuring smile, Elijah passed Theo over to Elena, smoothing taking the damp towel out of her hands at the same time. He regarded the scene in front of him with a heavy heart, as he did every time Elena was with Theodore; the life he longed for was so close and yet so far.

"I think you might find yourself suddenly short of a baby when I get my memories back." Elena laughed, wiggling the finger that Theo now held in his tiny fist. "I don't think she'll surrender him very easily."

The implications of Elena's wording didn't go unnoticed by Elijah she was sure, she'd barely realised what she was saying until the words were already out.

"Elena…" Elijah started, drawing her gaze up to him for a moment as his tongue flitted out to wet his lips. "What you said, when I found you…"

"Which part?" Elena laughed, vaguely recalling her interaction with Elijah.

"You said I had a twin." He trailed off, his question clear in his words.

"I heard something, that morning, with Theo." Elena sighed, focussing her attention back on the child in her arms rather than look at Elijah. "A voice. It scared me," she scoffed, "that's why I knocked over the chair."

"That's why you went for a walk." Elijah supplied, his hands finding their way into the pockets of his slacks, Elena's towel slung over his shoulder.

Elena nodded, not wanting to get into what she'd let slip to Klaus.

"When you found me, I swear, I saw two of you." She whispered, almost embarrassed to be recounting what she'd seen. "You, the other you, looked different. You looked hurt, and your hair was longer."

Elena shook her head, dismissing the image of Elijah that her brain had conjured. "It's probably nothing though, I mean, I wasn't exactly with it." She laughed, earning herself a small smile from Elijah when she looked up at him.

•••

This is a bit of a filler chapter, but I kinda wanted to cover the aftermath of Elena being taken, I kinda wanna go over a few bits in this note as well. I feel like Damon taking Elena was resolved quite quickly, but that's just how I see Damon being; he's impulsive and arrogant, so I think he really wouldn't've put much more thought behind taking Elena than just taking her to the boarding house.

I also wanted to apologise if any of the scenes involving Theo feel a bit flat, I'm very much not a maternal person, so I find them harder to write than anything else.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed this! I wonder if anyone knows what's happening to Elena?

Until next time,

~ I x