Chapter 64: Growing Pains

November 7, 2010

Dr. Fell had lied. Elena's injuries when she'd gone to the hospital had been far more severe than she'd told Jeremy. It wasn't just a concussion. It was a cerebral hemorrhage. Elena had had bleeding on the brain. Without telling anyone, Dr. Fell did what she did best when her patients were on the verge of dying. She gave Elena vampire blood, Damon's specifically. And Elena had died with it in her system.

Elena was in transition.

Elijah had driven her home as fast as he could. Jenna had been in a full blown panic attack as Jeremy tried to calm her. Elijah had looked guiltier than Ellie had ever seen. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Rebekah was the cause of the wreck that caused Elena and Matt to go over the bridge. He kissed Ellie soundly before he went to find his sister. He'd thought it was appropriate and necessary to give Ellie time alone with her family.

Jeremy and Ellie had stayed close with their aunt as Stefan and Damon brought Elena home. A choked sob had escaped Jenna at the sight of Elena's lifeless body. Ellie, despite her efforts of keeping it together, had hot tears rolling down her face. It was a horrible sight. Not only was she seeing her twin dead before her, they were identical, it was like looking at her own dead body. Stefan and Damon had quickly taken Elena to her room to wait for her to wake up. Ellie couldn't help but feel the shift in Elena's energy. She felt more like the Salvatores now, though she still felt similar to what she had before.

None of them slept that night. It made her think back to the sacrifice when they'd stayed up, plagued by the fear that Elena would come back a vampire, or, if something went wrong, that she wouldn't come back at all. Elena didn't want to be a vampire. She'd never wanted to be a vampire. When Jenna had calmed down enough for Ellie and Jeremy to let her go, Ellie quickly excused herself to the backyard. She only had a minute or two alone before Stefan appeared. "Ellie…" He called softly.

She turned to face him and saw the tears in his eyes. "Stefan…"

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I'm so so so sorry. I should have saved her. I should have gotten her first. I'm so sorry."

Ellie went to him and hugged him. "Stefan, don't do that. It's not your fault." She told him.

"Yes, it is. If it had been Damon that found them he would have pulled her out first, no question about it." Stefan told her as he sniffled.

"And then Matt would be dead." Ellie replied. "Stefan, you did what she told you too. You didn't know that she would be… by the time you got back." She could bring herself to say the word dead. It felt wrong when it came to Elena. "This isn't your fault." She assured him.

"Yes it is." He replied quietly. "This is all my fault." He told her as he pulled away. "I was the one to shove my hand in Klaus' chest. I took him down. If I hadn't done that, Alaric would have never been able to get his hands on Klaus and Rebekah never would have done this. It's my fault." He looked broken and distressed. "It's my fault."

"No." She insisted. "If we're blaming anyone, we're blaming Esther. She turned Alaric into that, not you. The witches on the other side are the ones that forced Bonnie to feed Alaric her blood. Had they not intervened, Alaric would have died the way he wanted and this wouldn't be happening. It's their fault, not yours."

He looked withdrawn and tired as they moved to sit on the back patio. She wasn't sure how long they stayed there. She only knew that Stefan would react each time Elena started to wake up before she would fall back asleep. As time ticked by Ellie could feel exhaustion trying to creep in, but her anxiety wouldn't let her body shut down to rest. Stefan had been pacing when he turned to Ellie. "What if we could stop it?" He asked.

"Stop what?" Ellie asked in confusion.

"The transition." He clarified. "I mean technically she's just partially dead right now. And Bonnie's been able to bring people back from the dead, right? What if we could bring Elena back?" He asked hopefully. "We need to call Bonnie." He said suddenly. He had his phone and was making the call before Ellie had time to process it "Hey, Bonnie, I know it's late, but I have a question. Do you think it's possible to bring Elena back before she has to complete the transition?" He was nodding along to whatever the other witch was telling him.

When he hung up, Ellie frowned and asked, "What did she say?"

"She said she's stronger than ever. She's going to look and see if she can find anything." He replied.

Despite wanting nothing more than an out to this situation, Ellie said softly, "Stefan, you're asking us to pull off something that's never been done in a thousand years. How are we supposed to do that in less than a day?"

"I… I don't know. But Ellie, she never wanted to be a vampire and this is my fault. I have to exhaust every single possible solution before she has to feed." Stefan said desperately. "Please help me." He begged.

"Of course." She agreed. "I'll get my grimoires and see what I can do." He nodded in relief.

He went in first, followed shortly after by Ellie once she could catch her breath. When she came inside, she saw that Jenna was standing in front of the coffee pot, her foot tapping anxiously as she waited for the pot to brew. "Coffee?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, please." Ellie confirmed. If she was going to survive a day like this, she was going to need it. She brought one of her larger grimoires down to the kitchen. Between the five of them that were awake, they'd blown through countless pots of coffee. The sun had risen as Ellie carefully read through everything the grimoire had to offer her. Damon shuffling through the cabinets pulled her from the grimoire and she looked up to see him grabbing a glass and a bottle of whiskey. "Is everything ok?" She asked carefully.

"Elena's awake." He told her.

"Like awake awake?"

"Yes, like 'awake awake'." He said as his pitch rose to mock her.

"How bad did it go?" She questioned worriedly.

"Stefan is putting all of these thoughts of a magical third option in her head." Damon replied.

She sighed as she said, "Well, I haven't found anything yet but…"

"And you're not going to find anything." Damon told her as he cut her off. He turned to face her and said, "There isn't another option Sabrina. She feeds or she dies. We all know this. You're not going to find something in that grimoire of yours to help you when it's never been done before." He said frustratedly. He sighed heavily before turning away from her to pour his drink. "Way to get her hopes up for something that's never happened in the history of vampirism." He said angrily as Stefan walked in.

"You know what? You weren't there the day Elena looked me in the eye and told me she absolutely never wanted this." Stefan shot back as Damon downed the contents of his glass.

"Then you shouldn't have let her die." Damon retorted.

"I never meant for her to die." Stefan snapped. "She asked me to help Matt first and I did."

"And now the world has one more quarterback." Damon drawled as he got in Stefan's face. "Bravo, brother."

"I made a choice that I will regret for the rest of my life. Now let me try to fix it." Stefan said before he walked off.

Once he was gone, Ellie sighed tiredly. "You know how he is, Damon. If he doesn't do everything he possibly can, and even what he can't, he's going to lose it."

"I know that." Damon hissed. "That doesn't mean I give a damn if the stupid quarterback lived to see another day."

"Listen, I get it, I do. But taking it out of Stefan doesn't solve anything."

"You know what exactly?"

"That you're in love with Elena and you're blaming yourself because if you had been the one to come back instead of Stefan, you would have saved her instead. You're blaming yourself the same way he is." Ellie replied as she downed her coffee. She was too tired to even flinch at the scalding sensation that rushed down her throat.

Damon looked like he wanted to break something. "Well, I can't fix that fuck up now, can I?" He asked before he took the bottle and stalked off.

Jenna came back from where she'd been on the porch as Damon brushed past her. "What happened?" She asked.

"Elena's awake. Stefan has Bonnie and I trying to find a way out of Elena completing the transition." Ellie replied. "Damon's pissed because he doesn't think there's a way out."

"Is there?" Jenna questioned.

"Bringing people back from the dead is one thing. That's been done. Bonnie's done it herself and there's plenty of mentions of stuff like that in these grimoires, though there's also several warnings pointing out how dangerous it is. Bringing someone back to keep them from going through the transition of turning into a vampire is something else entirely." Ellie admitted. "But even when Bonnie brought Jeremy back before, that was with the assistance of a hundred witches helping her."

"So what do we do?"

"We keep trying, and we try to keep Elena sane in the meantime. You had been busy at school when Vicki was here and going through this. I didn't know that she was in transition at the time, but I knew that whatever was happening to her, it wasn't good." Ellie admitted. "Should we go check on her?"

Jenna nodded, though she didn't seem entirely certain. "We should. I can't imagine this is easy for her." She confirmed.

When they walked upstairs, they found Elena standing in front of her lamp, staring at the broken shards of the light bulb. "Elena! Is everything ok?" Ellie asked worriedly.

The other girl startled. "Yeah, yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to break it." She apologized. It seemed that in her transition, Elena was more preoccupied with what was happening to her instead of their fight from before.

"It's ok, Elena." Jenna assured her. "How are you feeling?"

Ellie used the distraction to quickly use her magic and put the glass shards into the trash. "I feel fine, really." Elena replied. She said it in the exact same tone she'd used in the beginning of junior year to tell everyone that she was fine after their parents died. She was full of crap.

"Well, why don't you get changed and come downstairs. I'm sure you're hungry." Ellie suggested. In truth, she had no idea whether or not Elena was hungry. Vicki had been starving. But Vicki had also been a drug addict and she'd acted similarly to the way she had when she'd been high. Ellie hadn't really known what it was like for Caroline or even Katherine when they'd gone through transition, so she wasn't really sure what to expect.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Elena agreed. Jenna and Ellie allowed Elena to close them out of the room so that she could change.

They came back down to the kitchen to see Stefan already in the process of making Elena a sandwich. "She probably won't be able to eat much. Are you two hungry?" He asked.

"Not at the moment. I think I had too much coffee." Jenna admitted. "Thank you though."

Stefan halted his movements and cast a wary glance towards the stairs. "How is she?" He asked softly.

"She's shaken, a little out of it I think, but it could be worse." Ellie admitted. Stefan sighed heavily and she squeezed his hand in comfort. "She's gonna be ok, Stefan."

"Have you found anything?" He asked, his voice even quieter than before.

"Not yet, but I haven't spoken to Bonnie either, so maybe she has." She offered hopefully. He squeezed her hand once before he went back to making Elena's food. By the time he finished, Jenna had taken a seat at the table and was taking a turn looking through the grimoire while Ellie gave herself a break.

"Here, you should eat something." Stefan said as he passed the plate to Elena. He'd made it exactly as she liked it.

"Thank you." Elena said gratefully as she sat to eat.

Ellie stood beside Stefan as they watched her take a large bite. Her face immediately shifted as she tried to conceal her reaction. Stefan, of course, caught it. "It's disgusting." He concluded.

"No, it's um…" Elena said through a mouthful of food.

"It's disgusting." He repeated.

"Yeah, I'm gonna puke." Elena admitted as she spit the food into a napkin. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I can't stop thinking about blood."

Stefan looked away before he said, "I should have saved you first. You shouldn't be going through this right now."

"No, if you had saved me, then Matt would be dead. What do you think I'd be going through then?" Elena asked as Stefan poured himself a drink. "Stefan, listen to me. You did the right thing." Elena insisted as she stood from her seat to go to him. "You did what you always do. You respected my choice."

"And what am I supposed to do if Bonnie and Ellie can't figure out a way to help you, huh? Because then you'll have another choice to make either let yourself die, or be a vampire." Stefan replied.

"Well then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Elena shot back. She paused before she chuckled. "Oh my god, did… did I just say, 'cross that bridge'?"

She started giggling before Stefan replied, "You're laughing. I'm pretty sure you don't actually think that's funny."

Ellie shared a worried look with Jenna before Elena told him, "I can't stop, though."

"Your emotions are a bit heightened today." Stefan explained. When she started giggling even more, he added, "A lot heightened." She sobered and it was only a second before she started to sob. "Hey…" Stefan said softly as he pulled her into a hug. "It's ok. It's ok."

"I'm sorry, I…" Elena cried.

"Listen to me. No matter what happens, I'm here for you. I can help you." Stefan promised. Elena winced at the sunlight, so he suggested, "Why don't you go back upstairs where it's dark? I'll clean up."

When she walked away, Ellie reached for Stefan. "She's going to be ok." She told him. He nodded as he dumped the food into the trash, but she knew that he didn't believe her. "Listen, I'm going to go and get some grimoires from Elijah. I'll try Esther's. It's a thousand years old, maybe it could be of some help."

"Do you think he'd actually help?" Stefan asked.

"He never wanted Elena to die. Rebekah did what she did in grief. He'll help." Ellie assured him. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Jenna followed her out. "Are you going somewhere?" She asked curiously.

"I was gonna go let…" Jenna waved a hand towards Ellie's appearance, and it wasn't hard to figure out that she meant Katherine. "I was gonna go let her know what's happened. Jeremy left to go get some air, and I could probably use the same."

Before Jenna walked away, Ellie reached out to stop her. "Jen, are you ok?" She asked softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Ric…" Ellie supplied softly. Everyone had been in such a panic because Elena was in transition, no one had really had a moment for Alaric's death to hit them. Jenna had been the one that was in love with him, she couldn't imagine that her aunt was alright.

Jenna flinched at his name and pain danced across her face. "It's Esther's fault." Jenna said quietly. "But he's gone and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Are you going to be ok?"

"Eventually."

Ellie didn't want to bring up anything else that might hurt Jenna, so she just nodded in agreement. As they headed for their cars, Ellie sent a text message to Elijah asking where Esther's grimoire was. He replied quickly, informing her that he'd placed it back at the apartment. She drove to the apartment and waved to the woman at the front desk before heading up. When she entered, she startled slightly to see Elijah standing at the kitchen counter. "Elijah!" She said in surprise.

"Eleanor." He greeted. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't really expecting you to be here." She admitted. "I figured you would be with Rebekah."

"Eleanor, you have to know that if I had known what she was planning, I would have stopped her." He told her gently.

She closed the door and walked over to him. "Elijah, I know that." She insisted. "Is Rebekah ok?"

He looked baffled. "You're concerned for Rebekah when she…"

"She just lost a brother she has loved for a thousand years. I can't imagine that there's anything worse than losing your sibling while you can do nothing but stand there and watch. She was grieving, Elijah. It doesn't mean that it wasn't a bad thing, but to be fair, Klaus also technically killed Elena and I didn't want him…" She fumbled over her words. "I never wanted anything to happen to him." She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was when she realized that his eyes were red rimmed. "Elijah, are you ok?"

She reached out and ran her thumb over his cheek. "I…" Elijah hesitated and her heart twisted painfully in her chest.

Ellie wrapped her arms around him. "Elijah, I'm so so sorry." She told him. She could feel him practically shaking in her hold as he wrapped his arms around her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

His grip tightened around for a moment before he pulled away. "No, I'll be fine. What brings you here?"

"I needed to look through Esther's grimoire." Ellie replied. "If that's ok."

"Of course. Is there anything in particular that I can try to help you find in the grimoire?" He asked.

"No, Stefan has… he has Bonnie and I on a wild goose chase. He wants us to try and find a way to bring Elena back so that she doesn't have to go through with the transition." Ellie replied.

"He wants the two of you to what?" Elijah asked in surprise.

"I know. I know there's not going to be anything because it's never happened before, but Stefan is verging on losing it and drowning in guilt. I have to at least try." Ellie told him. "Esther made vampires, so maybe something in her grimoire could maybe offer an alternative. Would you like to stay with me for a while? I don't really want to go home right now."

Elijah nodded. "I would like that." He confirmed. Part of her wanted to go check on Rebekah, who she knew without a doubt was struggling, but Elijah needed a break and he was her… he was… she still didn't know what to call him but he deserved to have someone put him first. There was a burden that came with being the oldest sibling, and with Finn in a box for nine hundred years, that responsibility fell to Elijah.

They settled on the couch and despite her nerves, she allowed herself to curl up against his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she could feel him relax slightly as she relaxed against him. She turned and pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder before diving into the grimoire.

They'd been there for hours, and while there had been several things that were absolutely fascinating in it, there was nothing to help with their current problem. Well, with Elena's current problem. Elijah had managed to pull her away long enough to eat something before they returned to the couch and she'd curled back into him. She'd been quickly reading a section that had been devoted to defensive magic when her phone rang. "Caroline? Hey what's up?" She asked as she set the grimoire aside.

"Ellie, where have you been?" Caroline asked.

"I've been with Elijah. I was going through Esther's grimoire to see if there was anything of use." Ellie replied.

"You're with Elijah. You're with him right now?" Caroline questioned.

She could see Elijah frowning in confusion as Ellie replied, "Yeah. Why? Caroline what's going on?"

"Ellie, the Council knows about us. All of us. Alaric outed us all before he… before he died. They ambushed me at my house." Caroline explained.

"Oh my god, are you ok? How did you escape?"

"That's the thing. Tyler saved me."

Ellie shot up from her seat. "Care, what are you talking about? You said he died."

"I know. I know I did, but I was wrong. I did think that he'd died, but apparently he and Klaus and Bonnie made this deal and-"

"Wait what deal?"

"Tyler agreed to let Klaus body jump into him with Bonnie's help to protect us all. And when Klaus heard from Mayor Lockwood that I'd been taken, he came and saved me."

She reached out for Elijah's hand, holding it tightly. "Klaus is alive?"

Caroline's tone softened slightly as she replied, "Yes, he's alive. He's ok. He's just being an ass, as always. So I'm sure he's fine."

Ellie couldn't help her breathless laugh of relief. "I'm gonna kick his ass. He could have told me."

"He made Bonnie swear not to tell anyone."

"Well, why is he being an ass now though?"

"Bonnie's drained. She's done a lot of heavy magic recently as she doesn't really have it in her to put him back in his body right now." Caroline replied.

"Where are you guys? I'll come and help." Ellie told her.

"Uh, we're at that place that's kinda freaky and with all the witch ghosts… spirits… are they offended by me calling them ghosts? I don't want them to mess with my daylight ring like they did to Damon." Caroline said and Ellie could hear the wariness in her tone.

"I'm sure you're fine. I'll be there soon." Ellie said before she hung up. She turned to look over to Elijah. He had the same wide eyed look he'd had the moment Caroline said Klaus was alive. "He's alive."

"He's alive." Elijah repeated breathlessly.

She leaned over and kissed him soundly and she could feel him smile into the kiss. It was a relief to know that he'd been spared the trauma of losing yet another sibling. "Come on, we've got to go help them. Rebekah's going to be so relieved." She told him before he allowed her to pull him off the couch. They quickly exited the building and Ellie let him lead her over to his car. During the drive, she refused to let go of the hold she had on his hand and she was sure if he couldn't hear her heartbeat, he could feel it racing away under her skin.

When they arrived, the first thing they heard was shouting. "She said she's not strong enough." Jeremy said forcefully and Ellie moved a little faster towards the basement.

"You were strong enough to put me in here. Surely you're strong enough to get me out." Tyler, well, Klaus in Tyler's body said.

"I upset the spirits trying to save Elena." Bonnie said as Ellie and Elijah entered. "I can't use that kind of magic again. It's too dangerous."

"Wait, what did you do?" Ellie asked as they all turned at the sound of her voice.

Bonnie winced slightly, but Jeremy replied for her. "She killed herself to try and bring Elena back from the other side with her."

Ellie froze in surprise. "I'm sorry, you what?" She asked.

"Ellie, I didn't have a choice." Bonnie tried.

"We're stronger together, Bonnie. You know that. Why didn't you call me? You could have channeled me." Ellie asked in confusion. "At the very least, we could have worked together instead of you just killing yourself. What if you hadn't been able to come back?"

"We don't have time for this! Bonnie, do the bloody spell!" Klaus shouted.

"She said she can't, ok?" Caroline defended. "We'll just wait a few days until you're strong enough to do it with traditional magic. Right, Bonnie?"

Ellie's eyes shot wide. "Wait, until she can do it with traditional magic? Bonnie, please tell me you didn't use another kind of magic to put him into Tyler." She asked, practically pleading with the other witch.

Bonnie sighed before confessing, "If he died, Caroline and Tyler would have died. I had to save them."

"Bon…" Ellie wasn't mad, at least not at Bonnie. They'd been put in an impossible situation by Esther and there hadn't been time for Ellie to get there to help even if Bonnie had called.

Before Bonnie could respond, Klaus ripped open Tyler's shirt, and shoved his claws inside. "What are you doing?" Caroline shouted.

"Ripping Tyler's heart out. I'll jump into someone else. Maybe you." He threatened Jeremy before digging his claws in deeper.

"Oh my god." Bonnie gasped.

"Oh my god. Stop! Stop!" Caroline shouted.

"He's bluffing! He needs a witch to do that!" Jeremy said.

"What makes you think I don't have one?" Klaus challenged. "Or ten? Pick, Bonnie! You or Tyler!"

"Stop, please! You're killing him!" Caroline cried.

"Klaus stop it!" Ellie shouted and to her relief, Elijah moved and forcibly pulled the hand from Tyler's chest.

Elijah gave him a look of warning and said, "Enough, Niklaus."

"Then you do it, Ellie. We both know you're strong enough." Klaus hissed, obviously agitated.

"I'll do it." Bonnie said, catching his attention. "I'll do it."

"Bonnie…" Ellie said.

"This is my mess. I did this. It's my responsibility to fix it." Bonnie replied.

"Good." Klaus said as he panted. "Let's begin."

Ellie walked over to Bonnie. "At least channel me." She pleaded. "It'll make it easier for you. Bon, we're best friends. Let me help you."

"And you won't technically be doing black magic?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"No. Her channeling me is no different than us using fire to power our spells. It's my power, but not my actions." Ellie explained. "But Bon, after this…"

"I know." Bonnie replied. "I won't be doing black magic again after this." Klaus knelt before Bonnie as Ellie took a hold of her wrist. "Phasmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Raverus En Phasmatos Ex Sonos."

"This is black magic. She shouldn't be doing this." Jeremy said.

"No, she shouldn't be but someone's an asshole that threatened to kill our friend if we waited." Ellie replied and shot a dark look towards where Klaus was kneeling.

"Resistamus Et Veram Vatus. Raverus Phasmatos Ex Sonos." Bonnie chanted.

She kept chanting even after Ellie felt a shift in the magic around them. "Tyler…" Caroline breathed as his head snapped up.

Ellie let go of Bonnie as Tyler said, "Caroline. Hey!"

He swayed before collapsing. "Tyler!" Caroline shouted as she rushed towards him.

But Ellie's attention was drawn back to Bonnie who was still chanting. "Bonnie… what are you doing?" Jeremy asked. She stopped chanting suddenly as Ellie felt another presence in the room, but she couldn't see them. "Bonnie, it worked. Stop."

"What's happening? Let me go!" Bonnie demanded and Ellie watched as her hands flexed as if someone was holding her too tightly. "Let me go!" She panicked.

"Bonnie, what's happening?" Caroline asked worriedly.

Ellie saw the black veins creeping down Bonnie's arms and through her hands as she looked to Ellie and asked, "Why can't I let go?"

"Let go of who?" Ellie asked. "Bonnie, what's happening?"

"Bonnie, stop the spell!" Jeremy shouted.

"Grams, I can't let go of Grams!" Bonnie shouted. She looked absolutely terrified as she cried, "I'm sorry, Grams! They can't do this to you. Please! Don't do this to her!"

"Bonnie, stop!" Caroline yelled.

"No! No! No!" Bonnie screamed. Ellie reached out to try and grab Bonnie, but the witches wouldn't let her. A boundary had been put around Bonnie so strong that it physically forced Ellie away from her, sending her stumbling into Elijah. "Oh my god!" She screamed. Bonnie collapsed to her knees and whatever boundary spell there had been had disappeared as Jeremy reached for her. "What have I done? What did I do?" She cried.

"You're ok. You're ok." Jeremy assured her as he pulled her to him.

"What did I do?" She sobbed. "What did I do?"

Ellie dropped down to her knees beside the other witch. "Bonnie breathe, breathe." Ellie instructed.

"I can't. I can't breathe." Bonnie choked.

She was shaking as Ellie forced her to look up. "Yes, you can." She insisted. "Bonnie, breathe." The Bennett witch took in a trembling breath. "Again." She demanded. Bonnie successfully did it, before her panic got the best of her, sending her right back into her panic attack.

"What did they do to her? I hurt her. It's my fault. It's my fault. Oh my god, it's my fault." Bonnie said in a rush.

"Ellie, please do something." Jeremy pleaded. Ellie, knowing that Bonnie needed help, grabbed the other witch's face and muttered an incantation under her breath. The effect was immediate and Bonnie went limp in Jeremy's arms. "What did you do?" He asked.

"Sleeping spell. Get her out of here. Go back home, or to her home, anywhere but here." Ellie instructed. "Care, you get Tyler and get somewhere safe. If the council knows about you guys, you have to be careful." Ellie said. "Let me know when you get wherever you're going. If you're staying in Mystic Falls I'll figure out some sort of cloaking so that even if they're in the room with you, they won't be able to see you."

Both Caroline and Jeremy nodded before they grabbed the unconscious bodies of Bonnie and Tyler and carried them out. Once they were gone, Elijah reached out for Ellie. "Eleanor."

"What did they do to Miss Sheila?" Ellie asked. "Bonnie was terrified. They did something to her. Can they hurt people on the other side?"

"I don't know." He confessed.

She didn't have long to dwell on it before her phone was ringing. "Oh fuck what's happening now?" She asked warily as she pulled her phone out. "Jenna? What's happening?"

"Hey, I just got off the phone with Stefan. He and Elena are ok." Jenna said.

"They're ok? Why wouldn't they be ok?" Ellie asked in confusion.

"Ellie, the council came to the house earlier. They took her and Stefan while we were gone." Jenna replied.

Despite knowing that Elena was safe now, it didn't make her panic subside. "But wait, Elena hadn't fed we when left. It's been over twenty four hours what…"

"Rebekah helped Stefan kill one of the guards. Elena was able to get some of the blood on her hand and feed." Jenna explained.

"Wait, they had Rebekah? How the hell did they do that?"

"They knew she was an Original so they staked her. It took her down long enough to get her into this insane murder van with vervain ropes to keep her down. They said Rebekah left as soon as she was free."

Elijah looked worried for his sister. "Ok. I'll come home soon. I haven't talked to Rebekah since everything. She probably doesn't even know Klaus is alive."

"Klaus is alive?"

"Yeah, he body jumped into Tyler, a whole lot of crap just went down on this end. I will fill you in as soon as I see you." She quickly hung up and looked to Elijah. "We should go."

"We should." He agreed. It didn't take long for them to get to the mansion.

It seemed like they had arrived just in time. As they walked in, they could hear Rebekah shouting, "How dare you save Caroline over me!"

"Hello brother, I thought you were dead. So pleased you're not." Klaus said sarcastically.

"You left me!" Rebekah said.

"I only had time to save one of you and you can't be killed. Rest assured, I had a worse day than you." Klaus replied. When Elijah and Ellie entered he added, "Ah, good timing. I think it's time for us to move on, find some more werewolves."

"So you can create your hybrid family?" Rebekah asked and she sounded as distressed as she had when she'd yelled at Elena to stop talking when she revealed that Klaus had killed Esther. "You don't know anything about family!"

"Well, I know how easily they can be silenced with a dagger." Klaus said calmly.

"Klaus!" Ellie snapped.

Rebekah, understandably so, didn't react well to his comment. She picked up a bag of Elena's blood and slung it at the wall, breaking it. "No!" Klaus screamed. She picked up two others and backed away from him. "Drop them." He demanded.

"I mourned you! My heart broke thinking I'd never see you again!" Rebekah cried.

"Put the blood down, Rebekah. There's a good girl." He tried to coax.

"It's always been me! Not Finn. Not Elijah. Not Kol. Me. I loved you through everything and you don't even care." She cried.

"Drop it!" He shouted and Ellie felt Elijah tense next to her. Obviously, he didn't like the way Klaus was talking to his little sister.

"You want your family? Here's your family." She said as she dug her nails into the blood bags.

The blood spilled quickly before she threw the bags down. Klaus had his hands wrapped around her throat in an instant. "You know something, Rebekah, you were right. I don't care. From this moment on, you're not my family, you're not my sister. You are nothing." He hissed.

When he moved to snap her throat, Ellie's hand shot out, forcing Klaus to release her as he was thrown into the wall. "No!" Ellie snapped as Rebekah doubled over holding her throat. "Don't talk to her like that."

"Little witch." Klaus growled as he moved towards her. He hadn't been expecting her fist to fly out, colliding with his face so hard he stumbled back and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Both Elijah and Rebekah were watching the scene with surprise. "What is wrong with you?" Ellie snapped. "Who the fuck do you think you are putting your hands on Rebekah like that? She thought you were dead! She grieved you! We all did! And your stupid fucking blood bags are more important to you than her? How can you talk about wanting a family when you actively hurt the family you already have?"

"Do not speak on that which you know nothing about!" He yelled.

"But I do know!" Ellie shouted back as she physically placed herself between Rebekah and Klaus. "I saw the way Mikael talked to you before you killed him! That man fucked you up! Him and Esther both. But Rebekah loves you! So fucking much even after all the horrible things you've done to her. And how do you repay her loyalty? By putting your hands on her? You do not get to complain about having no one when it's not true. They're standing right there. We mourned you Klaus! Your family is right here and somehow it's not enough."

"She is being petty!"

"So are you! She was heartbroken and instead of being a decent person, you threatened to shove her in a box! Did you ever consider that maybe Finn was willing to let Esther kill him because you kept him locked away for the majority of his life and you just didn't care?" Ellie asked. "If you ever, and I mean ever try and put your hands on her again. I swear to god I will make you regret it, Klaus." She warned.

"You do not get to threaten me." He told her.

He took a step towards her and that was enough for Elijah to intervene. "Do not even think about putting your hands on Eleanor." Elijah hissed darkly as he wrapped a hand around Klaus' throat.

Klaus tried to pull Elijah's hand off, but clearly he wasn't as strong since he'd just gotten back inside his body. "And if something happened to Bonnie's Grams because you couldn't wait a couple of days, because you were selfish and uncaring, there's gonna be hell to pay for that too." Ellie told him. "Let him go, Elijah. We're done here." Elijah released Klaus at her request, but kept a careful eye on his brother in case he tried something. "Come on, Rebekah, let's go."

The blonde seemed to be in shock as she let Ellie lead her out of the mansion. "Ellie you didn't have to…" Rebekah started.

"Yes, I did. You deserve better than to be treated like that." Ellie insisted. "You deserve the world, Bekah. You're amazing, and don't ever let anyone tell you that you're nothing. You're not nothing."

"He said I wasn't his family anymore." Rebekah said quietly.

"You're still Elijah's family." Ellie replied. "You have him and Kol, wherever he is. I care about you too."

"Even after what I did to Elena?" Rebekah asked.

Ellie sighed heavily as she turned to face the blonde. "My sister is a vampire now. When she never wanted to be. Listen to me, part of me understands why you did it, I really do, but I also don't know what to say. I need some time, ok? To… deal I guess. Grief is a dangerous thing, and you did what you thought you had to to protect your family. I don't… I'm just not really sure how to be around you right now. I hope you can understand that."

Rebekah looked like a kicked puppy, regret clear on her face. It made it even more complicated. The part of her that was Rebekah's friend wanted to comfort her, but the other part of her was still dealing with the trauma of seeing her sister's dead body. "For what it is worth, I am sorry that what I did hurt you. I was just trying to protect my family." Rebekah replied.

Ellie noted that she didn't apologize for actually killing Elena, just that it hurt Ellie in the process. At least she knew that Rebekah was being honest. "I understand." Ellie replied. "It's just complicated."

"I'll give you space then, after everything I owe you that much. And if I'm lucky, one day we can go back to the way we were." Rebekah said gently. It was more reserved than Ellie had ever seen her. "Take care of yourself, Ellie. I'll go now."

"Go where?" Elijah asked.

"Still in town, just far enough to give her space." Rebekah told him before looking back at Ellie. "For what it's worth, thank you for what you did back there with Klaus. It means a lot that you defended me even when I messed up." Ellie nodded softly. "I'll see you around." With that she was gone, and Ellie was left with a weird feeling of confusion in her gut.

Author's Note:

Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're already in season 4. That's insane. I just wanted to say thank you to you guys for your continued support of this story, it means so much to me. And now we've got Ellie and Klaus going head to head... they probably won't be talking to each other for a bit. But then again, Klaus should have known better than to talk to Rebekah like that in front of Ellie. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

To xenocanaan: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you liked this chapter as well!

To Guest: Well, even if Kol does die, we get him back in the Originals. Don't worry, it's unlikely that Ellie would risk dark magic like that for Elena. She knows how dangerous it is. Exactly, so many people that Ellie loved were in the same position as Elena, but they all got over it and grew. Honestly, I could see Ellie forgiving Jeremy before she forgave Elena. Because when he had the hunter's mark, it was like a compulsion to kill vampires. Plus it was Elena's idea to kill Kol so she could have the cure. They were only able to hurt the originals so much because of Julie Plec. Klaus should have killed them all if we were honest.

To SJES246018: Thanks that means a lot that you prefer my story to cannon! Part of it was so that she would also be a doppelganger, but also to increase the fact that she's Elena's foil character. You have two girls, identical physically and have gone through the same traumas, but they handle it entirely differently. Plus, it's interesting to see how characters like the Mikaelsons react to her looking like the others but being nothing like them.

To Guest(2): Hayley will be in the story, since Hope is really Klaus' true redemption, but no I won't be having a love triangle between the three of them. Hopefully, I can make Hayley into a character you actually like. You'll definitely be getting more of Katherine and Jenna soon. I know I have at least of few scenes with them in it in the upcoming chapters!

To flawsome4ever: It really was wasn't it? I'm glad you enjoyed it!

To lolistarkiller: Elena is absolutely a trash human being and she makes me incredibly angry. Exactly, like Klaus offered her a pretty incredible deal, especially since he's known for being so violent and cruel. He was really ready to let her live out her life in relative peace. Plus he would have protected her. It really is typically Elena's fault, and the fact that that's really how it was in the show and they still tried to portray her as a saint is insane. Elijah breaking down was painful, especially with how hard he tries to keep it together. Ellie isn't necessarily angry with Bekah, because she understands why Bekah did it. She just doesn't know how to be around her right now. But don't worry, it won't be like that forever.

To Gwenaria1: I'm so glad you enjoyed her still coming to Elena when she needed her. I was worried that people would be annoyed since they hate Elena, but honestly if me and my sister got into that kind of fight, I'd still be right there the moment she got hurt. We will be getting more Katherine. Hopefully I can get to a point where Katherine is interacting with some of the other characters and not just Ellie and Jenna even though they're great together.

To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: He's definitely smitten. Ellie adores Stefan, she'd do a lot to keep him safe. They did resolve it maturely. Honestly I think it's important to have little moments like that to keep it realistic, because even in the healthiest relationship it's not always going to be sunshine and daises, especially in a life like theirs. Jeremy doesn't yet, but I'll hopefully write his reaction soon. That's definitely the most vulnerable we've seen Elijah with Ellie so far. You might be onto something with Ellie being the one to free Katherine of Klaus' rage, but who knows lol.

To sumaiyahc06: I was crying too man, its ok lol. Ellie understands why Rebekah did it, but she needs a bit of time to process it. Also, vampire Elena is a lot, but at least at first it's mostly going to be them just trying to get her adjusted.

To brigitm28: They definitely love each other, but like I said to someone a while back, Klaus was eventually going to mess up. So now we've got him and Ellie angry with one another because of what he tried to do to Bekah. I can't remember what happens at the end of season three, but hopefully whatever it is, I can change it lol. Oh she definitely had some things to say lol.

To AdiraBraelynn: It definitely was. Lol, he was like, "I know you want to jump down her throat but maybe not right now." Exactly, like even when she knows it could be for the best, she can't do it. Lol, Jenna did not care at all how powerful he was, she'd definitely come for his ass if he hurt Ellie. You're right! She was supposed to tell Stefan, but I think he's kind of figured it out already. They'll have a moment where they kind of address it. It is kind of strange that they hooked up after he killed Finn, but to be fair, she still have love for Alexander after he daggered all her siblings. Her going off on the gang would be pretty fun lol.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 4/10/21