Endless, Nameless

As if the rain had washed away her unplumbed heartache, Elena wakes up in the morning intent on returning to her old self. She deep cleans her bedroom and lights several candles, fruity scents she prefers that Klaus never did. She moves through the house on a mission, chipper and effervescent. In the afternoon, she comes home with shopping bags straining and threatening to break as she clutches too many in both hands. With new bedding, white with a watercolor motif, and some cute decorations she's spread over her dresser, Elena feels at home again in her newly reclaimed space.

A majority of her shopping bags are splayed out in the hallway and Kol has to navigate between them to get close to her. She pulls out four large, bright backpacking bags and starts methodically fitting her purchases in the bags taking time to consider what should go in each pack.

"And here I thought your behavior couldn't get more bizarre, darling." Kol hovers over her, hands in his pocket.

"I've put this off long enough. Jeremy said Galen found Silas's tomb on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia. It's not like I can actually do much to help them, so I'm doing this," she gestures over the bags. "Preparing for the trip. Organizing." Nesting.

"You've lost it."

"You heard Finn. If we all go together, then there's nothing to worry about it. Silas won't stand a chance against the Brotherhood and the Originals. And for added measure, my friends are coming."

"Have you heard the phrase 'let sleeping dogs lie'?

"Have you heard of being proactive instead of reactive? Come on, Kol! Where's your sense of adventure and purpose?"

"Hiding behind my sense of self-preservation."

"The important word in that statement is hiding," Finn's voice is even and sometimes hard to hear, but this strikes Kol silent. "Would you stay behind when not even Elena has considered that option?"

"Are you accusing me of cowardice?"

"No one is accusing you of anything, Kol," she attempts to walk back Finn's accusation the best she can. "I understand if you'd rather not come, but I would feel safer if you did join us. With your knowledge and expertise? It would more than make up for Ric not coming."

Elijah watches from down the hallway as Elena caters to Kol's ego, smirking at the way his younger brother preens under her flattery. Her tactics are so different from Klaus, but he can see how they've danced around each other like different cogs in the same machine. She's subtle in ways Klaus could never be, but equal in his duplicity.

"Careful, Elijah. If you keep admiring her like this, even she may become suspicious." Rebekah's cheeks are prominent in her grin.

"I'm merely pleased that her mood has shifted so drastically. We were all beginning to worry about her."

"Did you have anything to do with that?"

"I just told her to wait and hope for Niklaus to come back. That there wasn't anything else for her to do."

"You really are hopeless," she sighs and when he looks back to her with a question in his brow, she's already gone.

Jeremy stays over that night, huddled up with his sister on the couch while they watch a movie on her laptop. She's excited the same way she used to get the night before their parents took them up to the lake cabin. Jeremy tries to wriggle a promise out of her to stay in Maine while they take the ferry up to Nova Scotia, but she is unrelenting and they finally come to a compromise that she will stay in camp on the beach with Rebekah protecting her.

"You have a baby to consider now. You can't be hiking through the wilderness on an expedition to not only find, but kill an immortal. It's too dangerous."

"Jer!"

"No, Elena. I know I asked for your help, but it's enough that you've organized all this. Do you have any idea how I'd feel if something happened to you and my niece or nephew? I'd like to be their favorite uncle and I've got a lot of competition with all of Klaus's brothers. At least Rebekah is secure knowing she'll be the favorite aunt. Stay on the beach with her and try to relax. Think of it like a vacation."

She punches him playfully and settles back into his side. Even though they have to wake up early to caravan the three cars the group is driving up to Maine, her and Jeremy stay up late talking about the future. His excitement over being an uncle is infectious and makes her all the more excited for motherhood.

"What do you want to do after you kill Silas?"

"I dunno. Do you think I'm too old for art school?"

"There's no such thing as too old. Promise me you'll help me paint the nursery when the time comes? I'm thinking a mural. Huge. Lots of details. Really complicated," she says it with teasing smile.

The morning is a rough start like most mornings of a big trip. Elena had thought Rebekah would have been the sibling to drag their feet, but she's surprisingly thrown herself into packing the car. It's Finn who is difficult to get out of bed, but once he realizes its Elena trying to wake him up he's mortified enough to push her out of his room, muttering promises that he'll be down in a minute.

The drive to Maine takes several hours longer than they'd anticipated, each unplanned stop annoys Caroline's exponentially. Luckily, she's in the car with Bonnie and the Salvatores so they get to bear the brunt of her venting frustrations. Jeremy and the rest of the Brotherhood are in their own car, opting not to stop with the vampires but continue on ahead stopping more sparingly.

The reason for the many stops is the sole human in a car full of Originals – a pregnant, hungry Elena. She apologizes each time she requests a stop, shrinking a little when she gets out of the car and can practically see the word "seriously" etched into Caroline's forehead.

It's late when they finally make it to the hotel and Elena is more exhausted than she's letting on. She hides it as best she can when Bonnie comes knocking on her door in a room she's sharing with Rebekah.

"Hey, so what kind of spell are you thinking?"

"I was hoping you could probe my memories. Just in case. I mean, what if Klaus was right? What if something happened with the Travelers that I don't remember because they took my memories away?"

"Do you think it's possible?"

"I'd like to rule it out. But I don't want to ask Elijah or any of the others."

"In case he was right?"

"Yeah, but mostly if he was, then I wanted you to be here with me when I found out."

Elena lays on the bed, head at the wrong end, while Bonnie pulls up one of the rolling office chairs until her friend's head is in her lap. She brings out a bag and fishes around inside, glass clinking against glass, until she finds a small jar. The ointment she rubs against Elena's temples smells like sage and lavender. Bonnie begins chanting as she applies pressure to Elena's head with two fingers on either side.

Terror and anxiety flash in memories that feel more like pictures jumbled in a box than a cohesive movie. Still, it's enough for them both to understand that Klaus's insecure accusations were built on false grounds. Elena clings to Bonnie's forearms, shaking and sweating with the relived horror and the images are overwhelming enough that even Bonnie stifles a scream. A cool presence pulls her off Bonnie, cradling her in his arms and they feel so familiar. For a moment, she wonders if it is Klaus.

"What are you doing to her?" Elijah's normally practiced cadence spikes with urgency.

"Relax. I asked her to do this," her assurance is muffled by Elijah's suit jacket.

"I just probed her memories. That's all. We didn't find anything though. Well, not anything she didn't already know." Bonnie reaches out to Elena, holding her hand even as Elijah holds her closer to his chest.

"Good news then. Were you expecting to find out otherwise?"

"No, just wanting to cover all the bases. Ruling out what I already know to be untrue."

"Once the baby gets bigger, I can do a spell to confirm more information about the child," Bonnie gives Elena's hand one last squeeze before she drops it. "I should go."

"Tell Caroline I said sorry for all the rest stops?"

"Oh no! You can grovel for forgiveness directly at the source. We are the ones who had to listen to her start up every time we stopped for you. You're going to have to say sorry yourself." Elijah lets Elena up and she walks Bonnie to the door, leaving her with a hug.

"Why did you feel the need to drudge up such terrible memories? Some things are best left alone."

"I needed to know. I needed to have a rebuttal for Klaus the next time we talked about this. The next time he tried to pretend this baby was a product of anyone else but him, I wanted to have a defense lined up."

"Indeed. Listen, Elena. Tomorrow, I think it best if you don't join us. You are with child now and putting you in unnecessary danger is foolhardy at best. Now, I know you don't like being told what to do and I get no enjoyment out of having this conversation now."

"Elijah."

"I know, Elena. You promised, Jeremy. So have I. Allow me to honor both of our promises tomorrow. You've got him this far and with my siblings, I can take him the rest of the way. Stay here and enjoy Maine. We will be back before you even have time to enjoy the Pine Tree State."

"Elijah."

"Elena! Please? Do this for me. Stay behind and trust me to help."

"I am," she smiles at his raising voice, desperate to get her to listen to the reason that Jeremy already convinced her of.

"You are?"

"Jeremy already talked to me about it last night and I agreed. Rebekah and I will come with to Nova Scotia but we are staying on the beach. Away from the action. I promise."

"So, you had agreed. He had forgotten to mention that to me." Elijah looks almost embarrassed, focusing on anything but her face.

"Do you still want to help?"

"In any way I can."

"Good," she answers, digging in her backpack for her laptop. "I have been researching different doctors and I can't decide between three. I want your opinion. Also, I was thinking about signing up for this prenatal yoga class in Petersburg. It's supposed to be for both parents, but I don't think I'll mind going alone. Birthing class can wait, but I'm thinking that maybe I'll find the right one if I can make some friends at the yoga. It will be good to make some friends that I can talk to about this. Well, not the supernatural part, but the baby part."

"Slow down. First problem, please. Show me the three you've been reviewing?"

They lean against the cheap headboard of the hotel bed and she toggles between different windows for him. Giving him the pros and cons of each doctor. They read the reviews together and consider things like experience and proximity. Ultimately, they chose a young doctor whose website reviews are glowing. She likes that he seems close in age and hopes that means an open mind, but she can't help wonder if the reviews are skewed because of how traditionally handsome the doctor looks.

"I do think it isn't too early to start looking up those birthing classes. For what it's worth."

"Thank you, Elijah. For doing this with me. I really appreciate it. You've been so much help and…I'm just grateful."

"Of course, Elena. For you, always." He lingers on her face, his closing the gap infinitesimally so that she hardly notices. He's startled away from her when the door swings open, slamming hard against the wall.

"He remembers me. He remembers it all and he is still choosing that poor imitation of me instead. I can't believe it. We had a bond in Chicago! We loved each other. We were going to run away together. Shouldn't that mean something? Why is a man's loyalty so shallow? It's embarrassing honestly." Rebekah was pacing violently though the room, seeking out something to destroy. She stops when she catches Elijah scooting away from Elena. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No, she's all yours."

Elijah leaves Elena with a parting glance and Rebekah jumps into bed to bemoan the injustices of a world in which Stefan no longer loves her. She's careful not to bring up Elijah too much out of a fear that being pushy would cause Elena to throw up a wall. She loves her brother, but if Klaus never came back for Elena then she wanted a failsafe. A reason for Elena to stay with their family forever. She was beginning to trust Elena's devotion to her family, but she trusted in the strength of love even more.

In the end, there isn't anything Rebekah wouldn't do to make sure that Elena and the new baby would be with them forever.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I had meant to get this chapter out sooner, but I had my second shot this week and I was more tired afterwards than I had anticipated. Hope you enjoy this chapter!