Chapter 63: The Departed
November 6, 2010
When she arrived at the Mikaelson mansion, she let out a small sigh of relief when she could feel the energy of both Rebekah and Elijah. She let herself in, but yelped out in surprise when she was suddenly pinned to a wall. "Did you know?" Rebekah all but shouted in her face. "Did you know what they were going to do to Nik?"
"Rebekah!" Ellie gasped slightly as Rebekah's arm pressed into her neck.
She gasped violently when Rebekah was forcibly removed. "Enough, Rebekah." Elijah's voice was cold and sharp as he placed himself between Ellie and Rebekah.
"They took him, Elijah!" She shouted and Ellie could see the tears she was trying to stop from falling. "They took him!"
"I know." Elijah replied.
"I didn't know, Bekah. I swear." Ellie promised. "And don't go after Bonnie, when it happened, she didn't know it was Klaus she was taking down."
"How am I to believe you?" Rebekah asked.
Ellie didn't conceal her hurt and Rebekah not trusting her, but a part of her understood that they'd likely been screwed over countless times in the past millennium and they didn't trust easily. "Rebekah, I didn't want that to happen to Klaus. It leaves him defenseless if Alaric finds him. I literally just got into it with Elena because I think she made the wrong choice." When Rebekah still looked unconvinced, Ellie moved past Elijah, ignoring the protective hand on her lower back. "Look at the memory yourself. Besides, didn't you say you wanted to see the next time that me and Elena got into it?"
Rebekah still looked a bit skeptical, and Ellie could feel it when Rebekah got into her head. It was a strange sensation, and it was one that she didn't think she'd be able to describe even if her life depended on it. It didn't take long before the sensation faded and the tension drained out of Rebekah's shoulders. "I'm sorry." She apologized quietly. "I should have trusted you."
Ellie reached out for Rebekah's hands, squeezing them to get the other girl to look at her. "Listen, I get it. People have made you guys think that they were trustworthy and then they screwed you over. Some people just suck like that. I don't take offense to it, but I hope you know now that I'm on your side. I care about you guys."
The blonde seemed touched at Ellie's sentiment. "Thank you. I just wish your friends were more like you." A dark look crossed over Rebekah's face at the mention of the others.
"I get you kind of hate them, but they're not our biggest problem right now. Alaric is." Ellie said.
"We can't leave Nik. If the teacher finds him, he will kill him." Rebekah replied.
"I know, but we have to stay safe as well." Ellie told her.
Elijah stepped closer to them, having stepped back to give them a moment. "What exactly are you suggesting, Eleanor?" Elijah asked.
"If I had to take a guess, I would say that Klaus doesn't have any living person on the deed to this house, since everyone could just walk in without being invited for the ball, which means that unless I do something, we're vulnerable here." Ellie told them. "I need to do a boundary spell on the house to keep vampires out, to really keep everyone out but us."
Rebekah seemed to have pulled herself together and asked, "What do you need?"
"Just a moment, I've never spelled anything this big before." Ellie said. She walked into the room where she'd had the dinner party with Klaus and Elijah as they had tried to discuss a deal with Stefan and Damon. With a wave of her hand, the fireplace shot to life along with all the candles in the room. "Phasmatos veras nos ex malom. Terra mora vantis quo incandis per vasa qua errum signos." She chanted. The flames shot dangerous high before they settled again.
"Did it work?" Rebekah asked curiously.
Ellie took a moment to feel for the magic. It was strong and it felt like the air was almost vibrating around them. "It worked. The fire and the candles will help feed the spell to keep it steady. I don't know how much magic it'll take out of me to keep the barrier up, but it's better safe than sorry."
"It's a wise course of action." Elijah agreed.
She rolled her neck then let her head fall back. The witch sighed tiredly. "Is it just me, or has this day just gone on forever?" She asked.
"You should sleep." Elijah told her. "Will the spell hold while you sleep?"
"It should, but I don't know. I've never tried it before." Ellie admitted.
"Then at least get some sleep before sunset. I'll wake you up so that we can make sure that the spell is still holding and then if you're still tired, you can go back to sleep." Elijah replied.
It was like as soon as he suggested it, her body was already starting to shut down from exhaustion. "That sounds like a good idea." She agreed. When he picked her up unexpectedly, she half heartedly replied, "I can walk myself to the bedroom."
"I know." He told her gently. Despite her comment, her eyes were already closing without her permission. As he made it to the stairs, her head dropped onto his shoulders and she shifted slightly to get comfortable. He brought her to her room and placed her carefully in the bed. He carefully took off her shoes and set them next to the bed before he pulled the covers up around her.
She looked ethereal even in sleep. All the tension drained away, leaving her undisturbed by the problems of the world and the problems in her life. He wished that she would always look this peaceful. Unable to help himself, he leaned down and carefully placed a kiss on her forehead before brushing the hair out of her face. "You really are hopelessly smitten with her, aren't you?" Rebekah asked quietly from where she stood in the doorway.
Elijah smiled softly at her. "She's different." He replied.
"That she is. At least I like this one." Rebekah confessed. "Sorry about attacking her when she got here… I just assumed…"
"You already apologized to her, and she forgave you. It's not my place to be mad at you for that. But please refrain from doing something like that again." He warned. He took one last look at Ellie before he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them as they let her rest.
She wasn't sure how long she'd slept, but she woke to the sound of her phone ringing. "Hello?" Ellie asked groggily.
"Ellie, where are you?" Jeremy asked. Something was wrong, judging by the tone of his voice, and it helped wake her almost instantly.
"I'm at the Mikaelson mansion. What's going on? What's wrong?" She asked as she sat up.
"Elena, she collapsed and hit her head. There was blood but Dr. Fell said that it wasn't as bad as I thought and I called Stefan when I couldn't reach you and him and Damon told me to get Elena home because it's night and Alaric could get to her and-"
"Jeremy, breathe. Where are you right now?" Ellie asked.
"I'm running back to Elena's room to get her out." He replied.
"Good. Listen, I'm going to head to the house. Get there as fast as you can. I'm going to call the others so that you have backup." She instructed.
"Alright."
Once Jeremy hung up, she texted Caroline and Jenna to let them know what was happening. Caroline quickly replied saying that she, along with Matt and Tyler, were headed to meet up with Jeremy to keep him and Elena safe and that they would be back at the house as soon as possible. She all but ran through the house trying to get out of the door. In her haste, she didn't see Elijah turning the corner until she slammed into him. He caught her with ease and looked at her in confusion. "Eleanor, what's wrong?"
"I have to go. Elena got hurt and she was at the hospital but it's night now which means if she's not at home then Alaric has a chance to get to her and I have to go right now." Ellie said in a rush.
"It's ok, it's ok, breathe." He assured her. Once she took a shaky breath, he asked, "Would you like for me to come with you?"
She shook her head as she allowed herself to step into him. "No, with everything that they did to Klaus, if they saw you, they'd probably think you were a threat and I don't want to deal with that right now." He wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to relax for a moment.
"Are you sure you're alright to go?" Elijah asked worriedly.
"I don't really have a choice." She replied.
He sighed before saying, "Let me know when you get there."
"I will." She confirmed before tilting her head up to kiss him softly. When they separated, she told him, "Make sure to keep the fireplace going and keep the candles up as long as you can, replace them with new ones if you have to. I can feel the magic so my spell is still holding."
"Of course." He agreed.
She was out the door and to her car as fast as she could and quickly pulled out of the drive. When she got caught at a light she texted Jenna to tell her what had happened before putting her phone back down. When she arrived, Jeremy was pulling out of the drive. He stopped long enough to roll down his window. "I'm going to get food. I'll be back as soon as I can." Jeremy told her.
"Be safe." She told him. Once she was parked, she sent a message to Elijah letting him know that she had arrived safely.
"Doctor says rest, you rest." Caroline was saying as Ellie walked in. "Now what can I get you?"
Elena turned at the sound of the door opening and closing. "Ellie." She said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Jeremy texted me. He said you were hurt. Your decisions might piss me off but you're still my sister, Elena. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Ellie replied. Had it not been for Elena getting hurt enough for Jeremy to take her to the hospital, Ellie was sure that they wouldn't be speaking to each other, but as it was, she wasn't so heartless as to not care.
"Do you want some tea?" Caroline suggested. "Maybe some vodka? Both will help you sleep." She joked. "I know. I'm being smothering. It's what I do."
Elena, once she realized that Ellie wasn't there to fight, chuckled and said, "No. It's… it's nice." It also seemed that with her being hurt, Elena wasn't in the mood to fight either.
"I'm thinking… maybe tea with vodka." Caroline replied.
When she stood, Ellie followed her into the kitchen. "You get the vodka, I'll get the tea." Ellie instructed her. "I told Jenna. So she's probably on her way." Ellie made the tea on instinct and made a cup for herself and Caroline. "Don't go easy on the vodka. She could use the rest."
She watched as Caroline heavily spiked the cup and snorted softly. "What? You said don't go easy."
"Fair enough." Ellie replied.
She let Caroline take the cup to Elena before the blonde returned to sit at the kitchen counter with her. They were drinking in peace before Caroline said, "Ellie, I'm so sorry about earlier. I was just thinking about Tyler and him being free, but I knew about you and Elijah and I should have considered how you would feel about everything."
"Care, it's ok. I get where you're coming from, I do. I don't like it, but I get it." Ellie admitted.
"How were Rebekah and Elijah?" Caroline asked.
"Bekah… she's really upset. She thought I'd betrayed them and she wasn't happy with me."
"She didn't hurt you did she?"
Ellie shook her head. "Of course not, Elijah wouldn't have let her and once I explained she apologized for jumping to conclusions."
"They're not gonna let anything happen to Klaus, not when he sired our line." Caroline said in an attempt to make her feel better.
"I know that, but if it were Jeremy that they took, I wouldn't hesitate to rip them apart to get him back." Ellie told her. The duo fell into silence as they drank their tea. Matt and Tyler returned from searching the house at the same time Jenna arrived.
Jenna hesitated when she walked in and the two other girls turned to see that Elena had already fallen asleep on the couch. "I guess she was more exhausted than she thought." Caroline said quietly.
"Is she ok?" Jenna asked.
"Dr. Fell just said that she needs to rest, and that's what she's doing now. So it probably wasn't that bad of an injury. If it was, Dr. Fell would have said so. She should be fine." Caroline assured her. "Really, she'll be ok."
The group had split once they were sure Elena was asleep. They'd been doing their own things until both Tyler and Caroline got calls from their moms, which was strange, but Ellie didn't question it as she let them go. Matt had agreed to sit with Elena until she woke and Ellie and Jenna moved upstairs. Ellie had been reading through one of her grimoires when she sat up. "What's up?" Jenna asked. "Is Elena ok?"
"Yeah, I think so. It's just that Stefan is here." Ellie replied as she quickly made her way to open the door for him. When she opened the door, she saw his worried expression and gestured behind her. "She's in the living room."
"Stefan." Elena said as she stood.
He pulled her into a tight hug and asked, "You ok?"
"Yeah." Elena assured him.
Ellie wasn't sure if she felt angry at the sight before her or not. Stefan was clearly still in love with Elena, but it just felt like Elena was stringing him along. When they broke apart, Ellie said, "Jeremy went to get food. He should be back soon."
"I'll help get ready for food then." Stefan replied. "You sit back down, Elena. We'll take care of it."
Elena sat back down on the couch as the four others made their way into the kitchen. Matt and Jenna were setting the table as Stefan and Ellie prepared some extra snacks to go with what Jeremy got. "I'm over being coddled." Elena complained. "I feel completely fine."
"You're on house arrest. You're supposed to be coddled." Stefan replied with a small smile.
"Wouldn't it be smarter if we just got you the hell out of town?" Matt asked.
"And do what?" Elena questioned. "Go on the run for the rest of my life? No, thank you." Ellie thought of Katherine and the way she'd run from Klaus. "And I'm not an invalid." Elena added as she pulled the blanket off and stood up. "I'm done with the couch."
She walked off with the blanket bundled up in her arms. Matt turned to look at the three of them and asked, "So you guys are just going to let her call the shots?"
"I'm letting her make her own decisions." Stefan replied.
"Even if they're wrong?"
"Nothing wrong with free will, Matt. Trust me. You don't realize that till you lose it." Stefan told him and Ellie felt her heart twist in her chest.
Ellie reached out and squeezed his hand to try and comfort him before Elena called, "Stefan…"
"Elijah." Stefan said warily.
"Hello again." Elijah greeted, though Ellie caught the way he glanced at her hand in Stefan's.
She moved away from Stefan and towards Elijah. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.
"May I come in?" He asked her, though they all knew it was just out of politeness rather than necessity.
"Of course." She replied.
He stepped inside before he explained, "I've talked with Kol and Rebekah, and so I've come to offer a deal. Why don't we sit so that we can talk?" Everyone moved to sit at the kitchen table. Elena sat on the opposite side of Elijah and Ellie while Stefan stood behind her. Both Jenna and Matt had moved to lean against the kitchen counter.
"We should call Damon so he knows what's going on." Elena said as they got situated. "Hey, Damon, I'm going to put you on speakerphone. Elijah's here and he's offering us a deal." Ellie could hear muffled shouting from where she sat. "Damon, please, just listen to him." There was a small grumble before she set the phone down.
"So what is this deal?" Stefan asked.
"We can neutralize Alaric without any harm coming to Elena." Elijah explained. "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."
"And you'll just… run?" Stefan questioned as he moved to sit down.
"We've done it before." Elijah replied. "Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life?"
"We finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back." Elena told him. Ellie couldn't help but roll her eyes, though she held her tongue when she felt Elijah's hand on her knee.
"I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours, nor even within your children's lifetimes." Elijah promised. Ellie could see he was almost desperate, though she didn't think that the others saw it. He leaned back in his chair as he added, "Perhaps it will finally teach him some manners."
"Why should she trust you?" Matt asked protectively. "All you've done is screw her over."
"And for that, I'm deeply ashamed." Elijah confessed. "But know this, she could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight."
"I trust him, Matt." Ellie replied immediately. "And if you want to get real honest with it, Elena has screwed him over more than he ever broke his word to her. Honestly what has he done other than not kill Klaus? Because that's the only thing that I can think of where he broke his word." Elena looked embarrassed at Ellie's comment, but it was true and Ellie didn't feel bad about it in the slightest.
She laced her hand through Elijah's under the table as he added, "Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."
"Not! Hello!" Damon called from where he was on speakerphone. "Did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!"
"I don't think Rebekah would like you calling her a lunatic after you've already pissed her off as much as you have." Ellie replied.
She caught the way Elijah's lip quirked up in amusement before he schooled his expression and squeezed her hand. "Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms if you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm. Do we have a deal?" He asked.
"No! No, no, no, no. Did I mention, no?" Damon complained.
Stefan looked pained but said, "Elena, it's up to you."
"Oh, come on!" Damon shouted.
"Why do you want Klaus' body?" Elena asked curiously.
Elijah, clearly knowing how Ellie would react, once again squeezed her hand in warning. "He's my brother." Elijah said simply. "We remain together."
Elena sighed heavily before replying, "We have a deal." She quickly picked up the phone to deal with whatever Damon's response was as Ellie relaxed slightly in her seat.
When she spotted the amused expression on Jenna's face, she sent her aunt a dark look of warning. "Here's your food." Jeremy said as he entered the kitchen, passing a bag from The Grill to Elena.
"Thank you." Elena replied.
Jeremy gave her a small smile before looking at Matt. "Hey, dude, can you come with me for a minute?"
Matt frowned but nodded. "Yeah, of course." Ellie watched as the two of them made their exit as Elena started to eat.
It felt weird to have Elijah in the room with Stefan and Elena in the near awkward silence, so Ellie asked him softly. "Will you come with me?" Elijah nodded and released her hand as they stood. He followed her into her bedroom before she asked, "What do you mean you're going to run?"
That clearly wasn't what he was expecting her to say from the look of surprise on his face. "Eleanor…"
"What exactly was I supposed to do, just stay behind?" Ellie asked as she felt panic start to build in her gut.
"He will chase us, weapon or not. He won't stop until he kills us or he dies." Elijah said as he closed the space between the cupping her face in his hands. "I'm trying to keep you and your sister safe."
"You don't get to decide how to keep me safe." She said sharply. "Or have you forgotten how well that went when you tried to leave before?"
He couldn't help the small smile at her stubbornness. "Eleanor."
"No. When we get Klaus back, I will do the spell that Bonnie did. I'll take Alaric down myself and then we'll be safe." She insisted.
"It's black magic, Eleanor. It's dangerous." He warned.
"If it keeps you safe it's worth it." She replied. "Have you ever considered that I want to keep you safe as much as you want to keep me safe?"
Sensing that she wasn't going to back down, he nodded. "We will figure something out, I promise." He tilted her head up and kissed her soundly. It was only when he heard the sound of her brother calling that he pulled away. "Your brother is calling for you."
She leaned forward to kiss him once more before nodding. "Let's go."
When they came back down stairs, Jeremy said, "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Jenna asked.
"Alaric was at The Grill. He wants me to tell him where Klaus is. But if I do that, a lot of people we care about die." He said.
"So what are you suggesting?" Elena asked as she stepped closer towards Stefan.
"If we want to take Alaric out of the equation, we could give him a fake location to ambush him while getting Klaus somewhere safe." Matt replied.
Elijah nodded in agreement. "It's a solid plan. Especially with Eleanor, she could subdue him from a distance and the rest of us could secure him once he's down." Ellie took the seat next to Elena and took comfort in Elijah's hand resting on her shoulder.
It didn't take long for them to work out the small details before Jeremy called him back. "I know where Klaus' body is. Damon's on his way to bury him in the woods off route twelve. I'll text you with the specifics." He was silent for a moment before he replied, "I know." Once he hung up, he told them, "He bought it."
Jeremy went to load up on supplies as Ellie turned to Jenna. "Jen, you stay here with Elena in case Alaric stops by here. Grab a crossbow or something to protect yourself."
"Do you even know how to use a crossbow?" Elena asked in confusion.
Jenna snorted as she gave Ellie an amused you. "I've seen enough Buffy to be able to figure it out." Jenna replied as Ellie grinned at her.
Elena just seemed to go with it before she and Stefan headed upstairs and Matt went to help Jeremy. Jenna eyed Elijah as his hand continued to rest on Ellie's shoulder with an amused smile. "I was wondering how long it was going to take for one of you to make a move." Jenna commented casually.
"Jenna!" Ellie whined as her face burned.
Elijah, forever calm and collected, didn't seem fazed by her comment. "Eleanor means a great deal to me." He admitted. "She also means a great deal to my family. I'm honored for her to return my affections."
"You really are so prim and proper aren't you?" Jenna said as she grinned at Ellie's discomfort. Ellie watched as Jenna got incredibly serious. "I know that you saved Ellie's life. You've done it repeatedly now. I trust Ellie's judgement, and she trusts you. So all I have to say is that, if you hurt her, it doesn't matter that you're an Original, I'll have no choice but to kill you."
Ellie couldn't help the unladylike snort that escaped her. "That's true love right there, Jen. Giving shovel talk to someone a thousand years old and threatening their murder when they're pretty much unkillable. Ten out of ten for the dedication."
Jenna threw a hand towel at the young witch. "Don't put it past me. I'd do it if I needed to." Jenna replied though she had started to grin.
Elijah watched their interaction with interest, a smile tugging at his mouth. "I assure you, Jenna, I have no intentions of hurting her. Though if I did, I'm pretty sure she could handle herself."
"Fair enough. She's scary when she wants to be." Jenna agreed.
Stefan came back down at that moment. "Hey, Caroline is going to meet you guys at the spot. I'll be there soon, but you can go ahead."
She figured that it had something to do with him wanting to be able to have a goodbye with Elena just in case something happened and nodded. "We'll see you soon, Stef." She told him.
"Be safe." Jenna said as she pulled Ellie into a tight hug. When she let go, she turned to Elijah. "Don't let anything happen to her."
"I wouldn't dream of it." He replied honestly. They went to his car and she smiled softly as he held her door open for her. As they drove, he asked her, "Are you ok?"
"It's weird." She confessed. "He looks like Alaric, but that can't be him. It's like Esther somehow managed to take only his dark parts and turn that into an Original. He would want us to stop him. It's just the thought of actually hurting him isn't an easy pill to swallow."
"You won't have to do anything to him that will really cause him damage, we just need to subdue him long enough for us to take care of him." Elijah assured her.
She reached over and laced her fingers through his. "It makes me feel better knowing that you'll be there." She confessed. The rest of the drive was quiet and Ellie was grateful that Elijah didn't comment about her erratic heartbeat.
Caroline had already been there when they arrived and the three of them had spent a good while waiting in the woods. Ellie had told them when she felt the arrival of Stefan's energy, but other than that there had been nothing. She'd been standing close to Elijah, keeping a lookout for a shift in the energy around her, even though it was something more focused on how she felt than what she saw, when she felt Elijah tense. "What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.
"I don't know." He replied. He turned sharply and walked away leaving both Ellie and Caroline confused. The two girls followed after him and as they came across Stefan and Jeremy he asked, "What happened?"
Stefan looked pained and Ellie felt her stomach drop to her feet. "Stefan?" She asked quietly as her voice shook.
"Klaus is dead." He confessed.
Ellie reached out for Elijah and he gripped her hand tightly. "Oh my god, Tyler." Caroline said as her eyes watered. "I have to… I have to go. Oh my god, I'm gonna die."
She threw her arms around Ellie, and Ellie felt her chest constrict painfully. "I love you, Care. I love you so much."
"I love you too." Caroline sobbed. "But I have to go. I have to go to Tyler."
"Go, Care it's ok." She replied, though her hand had started to shake in Elijah's. Caroline disappeared in an instant. Ellie looked over to Stefan. He looked pale. "Stefan." He walked over to her wordlessly and held her tightly. She held onto him as tightly as she could without letting go of Elijah. Both Jeremy and Stefan seemed to feel the need to give Ellie and Elijah space and when they were gone, she turned and stepped into him. His arms wrapped around her and from the way he was barely shaking told her that he was desperately trying to keep his composure. She'd never felt him shake before now.
When she'd gotten a call from Elena, she couldn't stop the choked sob that escaped her when Elena explained that Tyler was gone. It felt like something inside her had broken at the loss of both Klaus and Tyler. She wasn't sure if she could survive the loss of Caroline, Stefan, and Katherine as well. Just as her panic was about to consume her, she got a text from Caroline and Stefan, both of them confirming that they felt fine and as far as they knew, no one else was dead. Elijah had wrapped her in his arms to try and ease her pain. They stood there together until they heard the sound of someone arriving. They turned to see Rebekah with tears running down her face. "He's gone, Elijah. There was nothing I could do to stop it."
It seemed that hearing it from his little sister was enough to cause Elijah's eyes to water. He strode forward and held her close. Ellie hesitated for only a moment before she moved to the two siblings, wrapping her arms around them both to try and comfort them as best as she could. When the three of them separated, Elijah explained, "Tyler Lockwood is dead, but the rest survived. You said that Niklaus turned their bloodline."
"I thought he did." Rebekah replied.
"It wasn't me. It wasn't Kol." Elijah told her.
"It wasn't me, Elijah. It was Niklaus, I'm sure of it." Rebekah told him.
"Then how are they still alive?" He asked. Ellie felt a dangerous seed of hope plant itself inside of her. Had something happened that prevented their line from dying? What could have happened to cause something like that? She didn't voice her questions, not in the middle of their grief. It didn't make any sense though. How had Tyler died but the rest didn't if they came from the same bloodline? "We need to run, Rebekah. If Alaric finds us…"
He trailed off. There was no need to finish the statement. "I need to… I need to go." Rebekah said suddenly as she schooled her emotions. "I will meet you back at the house and if we must run, then we will run."
Elijah let her go without protest. Once they were alone, Ellie turned to him. "Elijah, are you ok?" She asked. "Elijah, please look at me." She begged.
When he finally let himself look at her, he was on the verge of tears. "I have just barely gotten my family back and in the blink of an eye, I've lost two more brothers." He said softly. "I've spent a thousand years looking out for Klaus. A thousand years of cleaning up his messes and fighting with him. Even when I wanted him dead, I couldn't imagine a world without him. I couldn't imagine my life without him. We're family. We're supposed to look out for one another, always and forever. I failed him in that promise. I failed to protect Finn and I failed to protect Klaus."
He was more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him. She cupped his face softly. "No, Elijah. Don't do that. This is not your fault." She told him, but he didn't seem to believe her. "Elijah, look at me." She insisted. "This is not your fault. This is Esther's fault and Esther alone." She said forcefully. "She did this, not you."
"I was supposed to keep him safe." He repeated.
Her heart broke as the first tears rolled down his face. "It's ok." She told him gently as she hugged him. "It's ok, Elijah. It's ok." He was shaking as he let out a pained sound. She could feel the wetness of his tears sinking into the too thin fabric of her sweater. Her own eyes watered as she held onto him. The loss of both Klaus and Tyler had broken a part of her, but if she had to decide, she would say that watching Elijah suffer hurt the worst.
He was always so put together. He was always the one keeping her sane. He always helped her pull herself back together when she was struggling. This time she needed to keep it together for him. Losing a friend was hard, but losing a sibling was unimaginable. She'd never expected to see him cry and now that she had, all that she wanted was to make the pain go away. She held onto him until he was ready to let go, and when he did, he ran a hand over his face as he seemed to will himself to stop crying. It was then that he noticed that she was crying as well. "Thank you." He whispered softly as he ran his thumb over her cheek.
"For what?" She asked in confusion.
"For staying." He replied. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped her eyes carefully. She didn't stop him, though she was admittedly a bit confused as to why he was focused on her when he'd just lost Klaus. She supposed that it made sense that he would focus on her because it helped him push his emotions to the side.
She didn't blame him. Distractions were sometimes a gift from god. There were times where dealing with emotions in the moment just wasn't an option and this seemed like one of those times. "I'm not going anywhere." She promised him. "You couldn't make me even if you tried." He smiled sadly at her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. "I won't leave you." She told him. "There's nothing in the world that could make me. Not even God himself."
"That's a very large promise to make." Elijah replied so quietly that had they not been as close as they were, she doubted that she would have been able to hear him.
"It's not hard to make a promise that large when it's a promise to someone as good as you." She replied just as quietly. He didn't seem to believe her, so she kissed him again. It was clear he wanted a distraction, and if she were honest with herself, she didn't want to deal with the trauma of losing Klaus and Tyler. She'd rather be distracted as well. The kiss quickly became a confusion mix of hard and soft. It wasn't what she would call a make out session, but it felt like he was trying to drown them both in the kiss.
He backed her against a large tree carefully, though the rough bark scratched the exposed skin of her back where her sweater had risen. He felt like he was on fire, and she could feel the uneven beat of his heart thumping against her fingertips. The kiss was still something slow, a desperate grab for comfort, but it seemed that even a kiss wasn't enough to ease the ache in either of their chests. He pulled away sharply, and she felt pain twist in her gut at his grief-stricken expression.
"Elijah…" She whispered his name, afraid of somehow making his pain worse. She'd never seen him so vulnerable. Losing Finn had been rough, but losing Klaus seemed to break something in Elijah. "Elijah." She repeated as her hands moved to cup his face. His tears escaped and as they hit her hand, she prayed to anyone that would listen to undo what had been done, to bring Klaus back somehow. She'd give anything to ease his pain. Ellie could practically see something in him crumble and she reached forward, pulling him into her and holding on as tightly as she could manage.
They stood there, wrapped in one another, as they both cried silently. She was crying more freely than he was, she could only feel a few tears make their way onto her clothes, but it was more grief than he'd ever displayed. The thought of Klaus hurt. She didn't get to say goodbye, none of them did. Part of her wondered if she should care as much as she did. Klaus had done some awful things, people had died because of him. But people had died in the crusade to keep Elena alive and human. A woman had died because of Ellie's actions to keep Jenna alive. How was she any better than Klaus? He simply had a thousand years to become more willing to do what he thought was necessary.
But Klaus had also kept her safe. He protected her from the wolf pack in the mountains when she couldn't make herself hurt them. He'd scared off the strange men in bars that made her feel unsafe. There had been moments of vulnerability, moments where he'd been so human that she couldn't ignore it. After watching the way his parents treated him, it was no surprise that he had a cruel streak. It was born out of his need to protect himself. With him being both a vampire and werewolf, that would have only amplified his anger. If she combined everything that he was and everything that he went through, it made perfect sense that he was the way he was.
The thoughts of Klaus and everything he'd gone through had her feeling emotional and shaky all over again. She took in a shuddering breath as her grief threatened to overwhelm her. Nature responded to her pain, the wind howling around them and she tried to anchor herself. Her phone ringing broke the moment and Elijah released her from the tight hug he'd been holding her in. He kissed her gently once more before resting his forehead against hers. She took a moment to catch her breath before pulling her phone out of her pocket. There was a sense of dread that she couldn't explain at the sight of Jeremy's name on her screen. She answered it immediately. "Ellie…"
"Jeremy, what's wrong?" She asked as Elijah took a step back to give her space.
"Ellie… I think Elena's dead."
Author's Note:
I feel like I should clarify that Ellie and Elijah's kiss was not a makeout session lol. It was just a hard kiss as Elijah tried to get a grip on his emotions. Also, Ellie didn't do anything to heal Elena because from the way Dr. Fell had talked, it was a minor injury and even if she had, it wouldn't have gotten Damon's blood out of Elena's system and wouldn't have affected Elena's transition. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.
To xenocanaan: Would it make you feel better if that's eventually going to be what happens? And that all of this is leading up to Ellie's departure from Mystic Falls so that it's understandable why she leaves. And I guess between the two it's more she can't stop them, because they intentionally leave her out of plans so that she doesn't get in the way. And if by further you mean like hurting them or something, no at the moment she isn't willing to do something like that right now. But really, all of this bullshit that they're doing that Ellie feels like she hasn't been able to prevent is literally just a build up for her to really leave, so honestly what you feel about wanting her gone is what I wanted you to feel.
To brigitm28: Yes more caring Kat! That scene was fun to write because of how annoyed Ellie was with Klaus. Honestly the comfort between Ellie and Elijah is always fun to write. Let's be real though, it was mostly Elena that was acting all entitled. Klaus and Kol are definitely the annoying little brothers.
To flawsome4ever: There will definitely be Kat and Stefan bonding eventually. Thank you for enjoying this chapter.
To Qewbix: Agreed, it was both Ellie's frustrations reaching their limit and mine lol. Thank you for enjoying my story so much. Bonnie and Ellie definitely need to stick together. Honestly, I should reread the books too.
To sumaiyahc06: You're right. I do plan on including that at some point, most likely in the form of Kat and Ellie talking about it. She should take responsibility for it. It hasn't have yet, but it will. Bonnie definitely deserves more appreciation, she's a baddie.
To RiRi: Lol, she really is. Like Elena, maybe stop for a second and think about why your sister is so mad? Exactly! That line specifically was one I wanted to use to kind of point out how much of a hypocrite Elena was. She didn't agree to it but doesn't care that Caroline didn't agree to it either. I definitely plan for at least some of them to get it together. Though you could probably guess which ones. Matt really has no reason to be involved in any of this. It's true that the hate to Klaus makes no sense compared to Damon, but that's how it was in canon, though I do have a few ideas on changing it up a bit on who hates Klaus versus who doesn't.
To smilin steph: Ellie's rant was so much fun to write.
To Guest: Exactly. It's not up to her to make everyone else like him. That's exactly the point that I wanted to bring up because the show literally never addressed that. Exactly! Like out of their friend group, Klaus hasn't actually killed anyone but Damon has killed several. I mean Elena does the same to Katherine. Other than turning Caroline (because Elena and the boys wouldn't listen) and making Jenna stab herself (also because they wouldn't listen), Katherine didn't really do anything but Elena wanted her dead. Yeah, Caroline and Tyler not being particularly fond of Klaus at least makes sense.
To LuaMinguante: Thank you so so much! I'm glad you like this fanfic it means so much to me!
To Gwenaria1: It was definitely a rollercoaster. Yeah, I didn't want her to be a bitch, but I did want her to be blunt when she needed to be. Yeah, brushing the bad stuff under the rug seemed to be a common thing for Julie, but I never really liked it. Kind of ironic that Elena went from wanting Damon dead for killing Jeremy to screwing him the day after she broke up with Stefan.
To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: It was definitely a long time coming. It is true. I think it shows the difference in between how vicious the twins are. Elena wants Klaus dead for the few things he's done. But Ellie doesn't want to kill Damon for the laundry list of things he's done. She's very scared of Bonnie suffering the same fate of Miss Sheila. To be fair, Klaus wasn't in Tyler's body very long. Only like an episode. Agreed. If they kill Kol I don't know how Ellie is going to handle that. Exactly. Like Elena has no issues hurting the Mikaelsons, how is she supposed to be sure she won't hurt Elijah. She's definitely in a tight spot.
To AdiraBraelynn: Yes, Ellie cuddling up to Kat was too cute to not put in. Klaus' temper tantrum at not being able to get in was definitely one of the funniest scenes. Klaus is such a drama queen. He lives for teen drama I swear. I didn't even think about putting in a proper date scene! I absolutely have to. They do hate each other, but they both love Ellie, so at least trying to play nice is reasonable. They really should have thought it through. I definitely wanted Elena's callousness to be shown. She really didn't care what the cost was to have one of them do the spell again. I know but I'm still nervous lol.
-Madame Magic
Posted: 4/3/21