Chapter 67: The Five

November 23, 2010

Apparently, Klaus and Damon had teamed up and killed the mysterious vampire hunter. It was strange, given that Ellie thought that Klaus hated Damon, but to each their own. She was a bit annoyed by the fact that they'd blown up part of the hospital to do so. Dr. Fell had also been pissed off by the fact, especially since she'd helped them lure the hunter in the trap to begin with. Elijah had assured her that he would pay for the damages and then some.

It had been a part of her plans for the day to swing by Stefan's to get one of the bullets so that she could ask Elijah about it, but Rebekah had needed her help. She'd wanted to apologize to Matt for nearly killing him and had gotten him a new truck at an attempt for an apology. Ellie warned her that it might not go well, but Rebekah was insistent that she had to do something. So now, they were at The Grill and Rebekah walked straight over to where Matt was working. The blonde placed down the keys onto the bar with a smile. "What's that?" Matt asked skeptically.

"The key to your new truck." Rebekah replied. "It's parked outside, paid for, insured, everything but a big red bow."

"If that's your idea of an apology you should probably give it to Elena. She's the one you killed." Matt retorted. He walked away, leaving the key where Rebekah had placed it.

She sighed heavily as he walked away. "You're trying too hard." Klaus commented from his spot a few seats away.

"Last I heard, you were leaving town, forever." Rebekah replied.

Klaus rose from his seat to walk over toward them. "Well, I was. But then I thought to myself, how can I when my sister, clearly so desperate for love and affection, is left here… bribing the help?"

"What do you want, Nik?" Rebekah asked without looking at him. "I thought I was dead to you." Ellie reached out to hold her friend's hand. They were still in the complicated aftermath of Rebekah killing Elena, but she wasn't so heartless as to not be there for Rebekah when Klaus was making her feel bad.

"Things change, Rebekah. I've stumbled upon something I think might be of interest to you." Klaus confessed.

"Doubt that." She shot back.

"No?" He asked. "Well, what if I told you The Brotherhood of The Five still existed?"

"What?" She asked quietly.

"You see? And like that, bygones." Klaus replied.

Ellie frowned. "Wait, what's The Brotherhood of The Five?"

"Don't worry little witch, we'll get to that. But come on now, love. We've got work to do."

"We don't have anything to do. There is no 'we'. I don't care about The Five, and I don't care about you." She was holding tightly onto Ellie's hand as she spoke, and Ellie returned the gesture to try and give Rebekah something to anchor herself to.

"As you wish." Klaus sighed before walking off.

Rebekah's eyes were red and Ellie quickly pulled the vampire out the side door. "Bekah, breathe." Ellie insisted. "Come on, you're ok."

"He's a bastard." Rebekah hissed. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself! What did I do to deserve this?"

"Nothing!" Ellie shot back. "Rebekah you've done nothing wrong. What he did, what he said, he was wrong. You're beautiful and wonderful and you deserve happiness and love and anything you want because you're good."

"But Matt hates me! And Klaus hates me. And why are you here being nice to me when I killed your sister?" Rebekah asked in confusion.

"You killed Elena because Alaric was going to kill you and your siblings and you thought that Klaus was already dead. You did it to protect your family in your grief." Ellie reminded her.

"How can you be so pragmatic about it?"

Ellie gave her a look. "You killed someone you hold no affection for to save your family. Klaus killed a woman I didn't know because I saved Jenna. I'm no better than you because if someone had to die to save my family, I can't say that I wouldn't do it. I might not have been the one to directly kill that woman but her death is still my fault. I guess being able to see it like that helps me not hate you or something."

"But I hate Elena."

"I know you do, but you've hated her since you met her and save for the occasional threat, you never actually hurt her. That's not why you killed her and we both know it."

"She won't like it."

"She can get the hell over it. How is me being friends with you after you killed her any different from her being friends with Damon after Damon killed Jeremy? At least you had a reason for why you did it. He didn't." Ellie reminded her. "You were just a kid when everything went to shit and you were stuck going through something you didn't know how to handle. It's fair that you struggled. It's fair that you sometimes still struggle."

"But Elijah doesn't. Everyone knows he's always in control." Rebekah whined.

"Elijah was also an adult when he was turned. He wasn't dealing with raging hormones that come with being a teenager or the struggles that come with being a girl." Ellie replied. "Besides, look at Klaus, he's a dick and he wasn't a kid when he was turned. In comparison, you have yourself under much better control than he does."

Rebekah sniffled. "You think?"

"I know." Ellie assured her. "Besides, before I knew that it was only werewolf venom that would pass out of your system, when you collapsed, I got really scared. I was terrified that something awful was happening to you. Even with stuff being complicated, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Plus, I did miss you."

"You did?" Rebekah asked softly.

"I did." Ellie confirmed. "Now come on, I thought you were supposed to be meeting April?"

The vampire wiped her nose and Ellie watched as the blonde adjusted her expression with a perfected ease. Had she not seen Rebekah's distress with her own eyes, she would have never believed that the blonde had been so upset just seconds ago. Ellie gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before they headed back inside. They spotted Matt talking with April and as they approached, the younger girl was saying, "I'm not just sitting here alone like the loser new girl. I'm with my friends. They just…"

"Sorry. Family drama." Rebekah apologized as she and Ellie slid into the booth.

"You're friends with Rebekah?" Matt asked skeptically.

"Is it so hard to believe that I would have one?" Rebekah questioned.

"Yeah. It is." He confirmed. "And I'm keeping the truck."

As he walked away, Rebekah spotted the look April was giving Matt. "Hey, off limits! I have dibs." She warned.

"Well you're going to have some sweet talking to do to get him to be not pissed at you." Ellie reminded Rebekah gently. She turned to April and said, "They had a bit of a disagreement, I guess you could say. So he's kind of mad at her right now."

April nodded in understanding though she looked a bit confused. Stefan slid into the empty spot next to April. "You won't remember any of this." He compelled her. He looked to Rebekah and told her, "Klaus wants me to fake peace with you so you'll talk about The Five."

"Wait, you know about The Five? What the hell is it?" Ellie huffed. Had she gotten left out of the loop again? Surely after everything Stefan wouldn't leave her out of the loop on purpose.

As if he read her mind, he glanced over at her. "I just found out about them. It's a long story."

Rebekah looked unimpressed. "Yeah, I bet. Don't help him. He'll just betray you. It's what he does."

"Alright. Well, forget him. Help me instead." Stefan suggested.

"Why? You hate me more than he does."

"Because I'm going to figure out what he's up to." Stefan replied. "And plus, I can give you the one thing that he won't."

"And what's that?" Rebekah inquired.

"A clean slate." Ellie's eyes shot wide at his offer. "I'm not saying that I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to Elena, but I'm willing to set it aside and start over."

"Why would you do that?" Rebekah asked cautiously.

"Because you're obviously not leaving town any time soon, and I'm just looking for a way we can all get along." Stefan told her. "Plus, you can't be too happy wandering around school with no friends, I mean it's not like Ellie's really been talking to you since what you did to Elena. So you've been left all alone. It must be sad for you."

"Stefan." Ellie warned.

Rebekah, clearly a bit defensive, asked, "Well, what if I don't care what you or anyone else thinks?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that you care what, uh, Matt over there thinks." He said as he spared a glance to Matt as the other boy bussed a table. "So maybe I can talk to him about a clean slate, too."

"Stefan." Ellie repeated. She could see that the chance of redemption with Matt was incredibly tempting to Rebekah. "Don't lie to her."

"I'm not lying." He promised. He offered his hand to her. "Ellie, I swear it. I'll talk to him about a clean slate. I just want to know what Klaus is up to."

When Rebekah looked like she had no intentions of protesting. Ellie reached out and took a hold of his hand. "If you're screwing with her as much as I love you, I'll have to kick your ass." Ellie informed him.

He snorted softly. "Fair enough." He agreed. "Listen the sooner we can go see Klaus the sooner we can all go back to ignoring him."

Ellie shared a look with Rebekah. "Fine." The blonde huffed. "Let's get this over with. But I want Elijah there."

Stefan nodded. "Deal." He looked over at April and told her, "Rebekah had to go home and help her brother, you guys had a great time even though she and Ellie had to leave early."

"It was a really fun time." April agreed.

"I'll go get Elijah and meet you at Klaus' mansion." Ellie told them.

Rebekah nodded. "Let's get this over with then."

Ellie slid out of the booth and headed for her car. Elijah, as far as she was aware, was still at the apartment. At times she was curious what he did with all of his time. Klaus was always plotting something. Rebekah was currently playing the role of the school girl. What was it that Elijah did? Or what about Damon? The thoughts of immortality with absolutely nothing to do sounded incredibly boring. When she arrived, Elijah was sitting at the kitchen counter, focused on a book. "Elijah." She called.

He turned immediately, smiling warmly at her as she entered. "I thought you were with Rebekah." He said.

"I was." She confirmed. "But I think we have a problem."

Elijah sighed as he closed the book. "What's happened?"

"Klaus, unsurprisingly." She replied. "He sent Stefan to fake peace with Rebekah."

"And why would he do a thing like that?" Elijah inquired.

"Something about The Five." She replied.

"What did you say?"

Ellie frowned at his reaction. "Elijah what is The Five? Why is it such a big thing? Klaus wants Rebekah to come over to talk about The Five. He said they still exist. Rebekah agreed to the meeting but wanted you there as well."

"When is this meeting?" Elijah asked tensely.

"As soon as we can get there. Is something bad going on?" Ellie asked worriedly as she reached out for him.

Elijah seemed to regain his composure after his initial shock. "Eleanor, the Brotherhood of The Five was a highly skilled group of vampire hunters that we haven't seen in over nine hundred years. We thought that they were extinct." He explained.

"What does that have to do with Rebekah?"

"When we first encountered them, Rebekah was taken by one of them. She loved him and thought he loved her, despite my warning that she was playing with fire."

She made a face. "I feel like there's more to this, but I'm sure Klaus will bring it up. We should go anyways, the longer we wait, the more time Rebekah is stuck with Klaus without backup and the more likely it is that one of them attacks the other."

He smiled softly. "That is quite true." He agreed. "Let's go." As they walked her heart raced as his hand rested low on her back, close to her hip, leading her as they walked. They still hadn't done anything more than kissing, though it did on occasion get a little heated. She wasn't sure she was ready for much more than that, though the thought of it being with Elijah somehow eased her worries while also making her heart race at the mere idea.

As always, he opened the car door for her and once she was seated, he moved to the driver's side. As he drove, Elijah's hand reached out to take a hold of Ellie's and she felt her heart racing at the innocent contact. When they arrived at Klaus' mansion, the hybrid in mention was waiting for them at the door. "About time you two arrived. I was beginning to think that you'd gotten lost, or managed to distract yourselves."

Elijah gave him a look of warning. "Niklaus."

"Relax, brother, I was only teasing. Come along, the food is ready. I figured I would spare innocent Ellie here the sight of the man that I've strung up in the other room, though she did do quite well when it was Damon." Klaus commented. She glared at him before he smiled placatingly at her. "Don't give me that look. You'll get wrinkles."

They entered the room to see Rebekah and Stefan walking towards a table set for five. Stefan and Ellie shared a look of understanding before they placed themselves on either side of Rebekah, leaving Elijah to sit at Ellie's right hand side and Klaus to take the place between Stefan and Elijah. "Brother, if you could be so kind as to get Klaus to explain how it is that he knows that man to be one of The Five, I would be rather grateful." Rebekah said to Elijah.

He frowned slightly "Surely, you should know from his tattoo…"

"Of course, I would recognize his tattoo, if he had one that was anywhere to be seen." Rebekah complained.

"Niklaus?" Elijah asked.

"As it turns out, the marks on these hunters can't be seen. Though they still seem to have the habit of carving that little mark of theirs into their weapons, if you must know. You can thank Stefan here for that revelation." Klaus explained. Ellie shared a wary look with Stefan. When Klaus was in such a good mood, that usually meant that someone was going to end up hurt. It wasn't long before a pretty blonde was sitting something else down in front of Klaus. "Thank you, my lovely." As she walked away, he continued, "I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town. They made my life so much easier. Rebekah, love, eat your veggies."

"I'm not eating till you apologize." Rebekah told him.

"For which indiscretion? There have been so many." Klaus asked.

"You tried to break my neck."

"You threw away Elena's blood. Which means there's a chance I can't make any more hybrids. You also put Ellie in the position where I might require her blood to make more and none of us wanted that now did we?" Klaus replied.

"Because you took me for granted and don't use Ellie against me!" Rebekah shot back.

"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart!" Klaus retorted.

"You're not making a very compelling argument as to why Rebekah should do anything for you, Klaus." Ellie warned him.

Stefan interrupted before Klaus could reply. "Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now." He said tiredly. Ellie snorted in amusement at his expression.

"Alright, fine. I'm sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?" He asked.

"I'll take it into consideration." Rebekah replied.

"Ok, good." Stefan said. "Now, why don't you tell Ellie and I about Rebekah's hunter?"

"Right. Alexander." Klaus started. "Nice chap, forgoing the obvious issues. He was looking for creatures of the night, which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings. We had him over for a meal, which was quite easy to accomplish with how taken he was with our dear Rebekah."

When Rebekah gripped her fork a little tighter, Elijah took over and continued to explain. "Alexander told my siblings and I that he, along with four others, had been given their ability as well as their particular tattoo by a dying witch. Their goal was the destruction of all vampires. He told us that they were in possession of a weapon that no vampire could survive."

"So, that's what this is about?" Stefan asked. "A weapon?"

"Not just any weapon." Rebekah corrected.

"Rebekah, love, don't get ahead of the story." Klaus warned.

"How is a weapon the answer to all of my prayers?" Stefan asked in confusion. He sighed heavily when none of the Originals answered. "Ok, why don't we just skip the theatrics and get straight to the point?"

"Not quite yet." Klaus denied. "Because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle. Which seems to have disappeared."

"What puzzle?" Ellie asked. Understanding washed over her. "The tattoo."

"What is it?" Stefan asked.

"A map, leading us to its treasure." Klaus explained.

"Fat lot of good a tattoo's going to do if we can't see it." Rebekah huffed.

"We can't, but someone else can." Klaus turned to Ellie. "This is where I'm going to need your help, love."

Ellie frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He grinned at her. "You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of the mystery tattoos that he mentioned that there was only one other person who could see them. That just happens to be your little brother and lucky for us, he seems to be a bit of an artist. Now, I, of course, could have simply kidnapped him but since I seem to be in the dog house with you I figured I'd ask for your assistance instead."

"What do you want with him?" She asked cautiously.

"Relax, love. I simply want him to draw the tattoo. All we need is to be able to use the map. Trust me, little witch. It is in your best interest to have your dear brother to come and help us."

"I might be a little more inclined to have him come and help if it weren't for the fact that you've literally tried to kill him." She snapped.

Ellie took in a deep breath as Elijah's hand came to rest carefully on her knee. Klaus looked frustrated but replied, "I give you my word that I just want him to draw the tattoo. We need it or this is all for nothing."

She hesitated but at the expression on both Elijah's face and Rebekah's she nodded tensely. "If you hurt him, I promise you, you will regret it." She warned.

"Your threats are duly noted." He confirmed.

Ellie sighed and stood up, walking away from the vampires to make the call. "Hey, Ellie, what's up?" Jeremy asked as he answered the phone.

"Hey, Jer. Um, ok so I need you to do me a big favor and you're not gonna like it." Ellie said carefully.

She could practically see the look of confusion on his face. "What do you need?" He asked.

"I need you to come to the Mikaelson mansion." She admitted.

"What? Ellie, look I get you and the Mikaelsons are sort of friend or whatever, but Klaus tried to have me run over. He ran over Alaric! And Rebekah's the reason that he's dead now and Elena's a vampire."

"Jeremy, listen to me, I won't let them touch you. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, especially when I know where you stand when it comes to them." She said softly, entirely aware of the fact that all four vampires could hear everything they were saying. "Would I have even asked if it weren't?"

There was a brief pause before he sighed. "I'll be there soon, but I make no promises of acting nice towards that dick."

She snorted softly. "I promise I won't make you. I'd be delusional to think you'd want to. Really, it means a lot that you'll come even though you don't want to."

"How could I say no to you?" He teased. "Besides, you never ask for anything, I guess it's the least I can do."

She grinned. "I'll see you soon, Jer."

"Yeah, yeah, see you soon."

As the call ended, she made her way back to the table. "How touching to see someone getting along with their siblings." Klaus commented.

"Well maybe if you didn't routinely backstab yours and put them in boxes, you'd get along a bit better." Ellie shot back. Elijah's hand made its way back to her knee and squeezed in warning. She put her hand on top of his and squeezed back as she forced the tension out of her shoulders. Stefan, understandably so, looked uneasy about the situation. In truth, Ellie didn't trust Klaus anywhere near any of her family at the moment, but she had to play her cards right. "But are you going to tell us why it's so important that Jeremy draw this map?"

"All in good time, I assure you." Klaus replied. They went back to eating, though Ellie had lost most of her appetite. It wasn't long before Klaus turned his head and grinned. "Looks like our guest has arrived." Jeremy was led into the room by a hybrid as Klaus rose from his seat. "So glad you could help us out, mate."

"I'm not helping you with anything." Jeremy shot back darkly as Ellie and Stefan both rose from their seats, just in case.

The hybrid moved instantly, pulling Jeremy's hand up, but before he could pull off Jeremy's ring, there was an ungodly cracking sound that came from the hybrid's hand. He let out a strangled cry and dropped to his knees. Klaus turned to see Ellie glaring darkly at both him and the other hybrid. "The hand that touches my brother is the hand that breaks." She informed them. "You do not touch him."

"Little witch." Klaus warned.

"For all your talk of the importance of family, are you really surprised? I mean, we all know what happened the last time you tried to put your hands on someone I care about." Ellie said as she spared a glance back at Rebekah.

She and Klaus seemed to be locked in a stare off and she was only brought back to the moment at the pressure of Elijah's hand against her back. "Fine, fine, just stop bloody torturing the hybrid." Klaus huffed.

In an instant, she released the hybrid. In truth, she hadn't been doing much to him after the initial attack. She'd just been keeping his hand from healing. The moment she let go, his hand was healed and he was fine. She walked over to Jeremy and gave him a pleading look. "I'll keep him in check, I promise."

"What exactly is it that you need me to do?" Jeremy asked her.

"I need you to draw that tattoo, the one on the hunter. It's important." She replied.

"The tattoo? All of this is about that stupid tattoo?" He asked in confusion.

She nodded. "I'm still getting all the details, but you're the only one that can see that tattoo and we need it. All you have to do is draw it, that's it."

"I'm only doing this for Ellie, dick." Jeremy told Klaus as he glared at the hybrid.

Klaus looked like he was going to make some sort of retort, but held his tongue at Ellie's expression. "Thank you for your help either way." Klaus replied. "The lovely lady here will get you some supplies and take you to our guest."

The pretty blonde smiled kindly at Jeremy. "Right this way, please." She told him and Jeremy followed after her.

Once Jeremy was gone, everyone took their seats once more. "So, tell us more about this tattoo." Stefan said.

"My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything. Rebekah, however, was more than willing to... investigate. Isn't that right?" Klaus asked.

When Rebekah remained silent, Elijah took over. "On one of the nights that Rebekah was spending her time with her suitor, she managed to learn that the swords carried by the original five were the keys to the maps they wore on their bodies. He also explained to her that the daggers they owned were meant to stop a… special kind of vampire until they had their ultimate weapon."

"Daggers?" Ellie asked, though the pained looked on Rebekah's face confirmed that the daggers owned by The Five were the exact daggers she was thinking of.

"Yes." Klaus confirmed. "My sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn, and me."

"How was I supposed to know?" Rebekah asked.

"Cheers. To my sister's uncanny ability to choose men." Klaus toasted.

Stefan frowned in confusion. "I thought the daggers don't work on you because of your werewolf side?"

Klaus started to grin. "They don't." He confirmed. "But of course, none of us knew that at the time. When I woke, I found all my siblings grey and unmoving, a funny little dagger buried in all of their chests. In my rage, I slaughtered all of them, saving Rebekah's boyfriend for last. When I undaggered Rebekah, I demanded that she tell me what he promised her that gave him the confidence to take us all out. So go ahead, Rebekah, tell them. Tell them what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to. What's this great weapon that could bring upon the end of the vampire species?"

Ellie turned to her friend in curiosity. "A cure." Rebekah confessed. "He said there was a cure."

Klaus rose from his seat and walked away from the table. Stefan was quick to follow after him. "There is no cure for vampirism." He insisted.

"I'm telling the truth, Stefan." Rebekah replied as she stood as well.

"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it, found it?" Stefan asked.

"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body. The map was gone, the Brotherhood of The Five extinct. For nine hundred years there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town." Klaus explained as Ellie and Elijah moved to stand next to Rebekah.

"Well, now we have the map, what do we do next?" Rebekah asked.

"We don't do anything. You can't be trusted, little sister. You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty." Klaus replied. "I mean, it's pathetic, really, isn't it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception!"

"But I haven't! Instead I stay with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life." Rebekah shot back. "You know, at least I faired better than Finn. Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgement."

"No, Finn was a dullard." Klaus said as he stalked towards her. "He's more interesting lying in a box."

"You want the cure for Elena, don't you? So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That's why you brought Stefan and Ellie in, cause you knew they'd help you even though they hate your guts. You know what, you can shove your cure."

Rebekah stormed off angrily, and Ellie frowned at the odd smile on Klaus' face. "Well, I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off."

"She never would have told me what I needed to know. But she'll tell you." Klaus said as he looked over to Ellie. "You're the closest thing to a best friend that she's ever had."

"Yeah, which means I'm not double crossing that trust, you ass." Ellie snapped. "I'm not doing it."

"Must you be so difficult?" Klaus asked. "Do you not want the cure for your sister? So that she can go back to a blissful human life? We all know she doesn't want to be a vampire."

"You're not going to manipulate me into doing it." Ellie said tightly.

Klaus sighed dramatically and turned to Stefan. "That leaves you then, mate."

Stefan made a face before asking, "What do you need me to find out?"

"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it." Klaus explained.

"The sword."

"She knows where it is and you're going to get her to tell you." Klaus told him. Ellie felt a strange twisting in her gut as Klaus stepped closer to him, saying, "You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that's going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the devil if you like. But you know you won't walk away from it."

It wasn't long before Stefan was gone and Klaus had disappeared into another room. Elijah moved to where she stood and cupped her cheek in his hand. "What's on your mind?" He asked gently. "Are you worried about this plan?"

"About finding the cure? No. He just… I don't like the way he treats Rebekah. Why is he so cruel to her? He intentionally does things that he knows will hurt her." Ellie admitted. Elijah moved to sit on the edge of the back of the couch.

She followed as he took one of her hands in his. "Niklaus is… a complicated man. He wasn't always. When we were children, he adored Rebekah. I still remember him comforting her when she was scared of the storms that raged outside, or when he protected her from our father's anger. He loves her, truly, despite how he acts. But I think the years of his paranoia, along with the treatment from our parents, corrupted part of him. I think he would rather be alone because he pushed her away than because she chose to leave. He does not always think before he speaks, and he's never really been one to apologize." He explained.

Ellie moved forward between his legs and wrapped her arms around him, sighing heavily as she dropped her head onto his shoulder. "Why do we have to have such complicated families?"

"Unfortunately, that is one thing I don't have the answer to." He admitted as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

They lingered there for a few moments of comfortable bliss before they spotted Klaus walking towards where Jeremy was. Ellie groaned heavily before saying, "I should probably be in there for that." Elijah nodded as she reluctantly pulled away.

"I'm done." Jeremy was saying as he rose from his seat. The hunter was chained up and looked over at Ellie in surprise and confusion.

Klaus snatched the pad out of Jeremy's hands to inspect it. "What is this?" He asked.

"It's the tattoo." Jeremy replied.

"I've seen the tattoo, you repugnant punk." Klaus snapped as he grabbed Jeremy by the neck. A horrible series of cracks echoed throughout the room as Klaus cried out. "Knock it off!" He screamed angrily.

Ellie released her magic but replied, "How many times do I have to tell you that no one touches my brother?" They glared at one another. "I know whatever I do won't kill you, Klaus. It makes me a little less reserved on using magic on you."

"There's more to that tattoo." Klaus said through gritted teeth as the bones in his hand shifted back to their proper place.

"That's all of it." Jeremy insisted. "He said every time he kills a vampire, it spreads."

Klaus finally seemed to calm down with that revelation. "Go home, Jeremy. That's all I need from you." He said. "Nate!" A young hybrid came into the room. Klaus gestured towards the hunter as he instructed, "Keep this one alive at all costs."

They exited the room once Klaus had gone. "Ellie what the hell is going on?" Jeremy asked as he glanced over to Elijah who was lingering close by.

"I promise I will explain it all to you soon, Jer. Listen, you know that I more than anyone else knows how much it sucks to be left out of the loop. Give me time to make sure that what this is isn't a dead end, that Klaus is telling the truth and then I'll tell you everything. Is that fair?" She asked worriedly. She didn't want to keep secrets from him, but she didn't want to tell him and give him hope if it wasn't something that they could actually get their hands on.

"Promise me you're being careful. At least throw me a bone and then yes, it's fair until you know more." Jeremy replied.

"I promise you, Jer. If what Klaus is saying is true, then we might be able to help Elena." Ellie explained. She couldn't tell him any more than that, not when Klaus was already in a mood.

Jeremy nodded. "If there's anyone that I trust, I trust you."

"Go on home, Jer." Ellie nodded encouragingly. Once he was gone, she looked over to Elijah. "Why do I feel like showing my magic to the hunter was a bad idea?"

"He won't touch you." Elijah assured her.

Ellie smiled softly at the confidence in his tone. She leaned forward to kiss him softly. "Of course not. How could he when I have you looking out for me?" She asked. "I just hope Rebekah is ok."

"She has dealt with Klaus and his callousness for a thousand years, she is much stronger than she looks." Elijah reminded her. "It means a great deal to me that you are so protective of her. I'm glad she has you." He smiled at her before saying, "Come on, I think after all of that, we deserve some peace and quiet."

She let him lead her upstairs and into one of the rooms that had been deemed his. It wasn't quite a study, but it definitely wasn't his bedroom. It had a couple of filled bookcases, but there was a large couch with a tv set up before it. "That's a nice tv." She commented.

"Would you have any suggestions on what you'd like to watch?" He asked her.

"Have you ever watched Harry Potter?" She asked curiously.

He thought for a moment before replying, "No, I don't think I have."

Her eyes lit up with excitement at the opportunity to introduce him to it. She looked so excited that he couldn't even bring himself to be concerned about what it was. "Let me go get the movies from my room!"

They'd gotten through a good part of the first movie before Klaus let himself in. He found Ellie curled into Elijah's side, both of them watching the movie intently. "Well, I'm glad you two have such free time to be relaxed while I am trying to find a cure for Elena."

Ellie, focused on some scene with what looked to be a three headed dog, tossed a pillow at Klaus. "Shh, be quiet." She scolded. It wasn't her fault that the movies always pulled her in so much.

"Oh bloody hell." Klaus huffed as he grabbed the remote and paused the movie. Ellie threw another pillow at him in protest. "Real mature." He retorted. "Anyways, while you two are doing this… I shall be going to meet Stefan to get the information we need. I've already prepared a plane, so if I don't come back, assume I got the location and I'm already on a plane." He warned.

Ellie sighed as she sat up slightly. "Do I need to come babysit so that you don't upset Rebekah again?" She asked.

"Worry not, little witch. She won't even know I'm there. We both know she won't tell me anything anyways. I'm just going to make sure Stefan at least tries to get the information out of her. She'll be speaking to him not me." Klaus assured her. "Honestly, she's just going to be talking to Stefan."

Elijah gave Klaus a skeptical look before he finally seemed to deem what he said as honest. He nodded to Ellie and she finally relaxed. "You better be telling the truth." She warned him. He nodded before she asked, "Can you turn the movie back on please? I'd like to ignore our never ending problems for a little while longer, ok?" Klaus rolled his eyes, but he grinned nonetheless. Despite their fighting, which he could admit to himself that he was the cause of, there still seemed to be moments where the witch forgot she was mad at him. She might not completely loathe him after all.

He turned on the movie and left without another word. Ellie was going to be furious with him for what he had planned, so it was better for her to be distracted anyways. He grimaced slightly at the thought and flexed his hand. She was getting better at using her magic offensively, though he didn't much enjoy her using her powers on him.

Ellie and Elijah remained absorbed in their movie until it ended, and she turned to him with a hopeful expression. "What did you think?" She asked curiously.

"I think that what movies and television can do today are incredibly impressive. I've never really watched anything like this. I enjoyed it, honestly." He admitted. It was clearly the right response with the way she looked overjoyed.

"I'm so glad. I've watched these movies since I was little, I've always liked them." She explained. Her phone ringing interrupted her before she could say more about the movie. "Hang on." She told him. "Hello?"

"Ellie?" Bonnie asked shakily. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm uh, I'm at the Mikaelson mansion. Why? Bonnie are you ok? You sound like you're about to pass out." Ellie asked worriedly as she heard how unsteadily Bonnie was breathing.

"Can you… can you come over? My dad isn't here and I just… can you please come over?" Bonnie practically sounded like she was begging, and Ellie immediately felt her worry rise.

"Of course, Bon. I'll be there soon. Do I need to stay on the phone with you? Are you ok? Are you safe?"

"I'm safe." Bonnie assured her. "You don't have to stay on the phone. Just please, please get here as soon as you can."

"I'm leaving now. Bon, are you sure you don't want me to stay on the phone?"

"I'm sure. Just please hurry." Bonnie begged in a small voice.

"I'm coming, Bon. I'll be there soon, just hang on, ok?"

"Ok."

Ellie hung up the phone as hurriedly stood. "I don't know what's going on but she sounded really scared. I have to go." She apologized.

"Don't apologize, your friend needs you." He assured her as he passed her the keys and kissed her quickly. "It's really alright, go."

At his confirmation, she all but ran down the stairs and to the car. When she arrived at Bonnie's house, Bonnie was already waiting at the door for her. The other witch had lost her color and looked like she was on the verge of being sick. "Bonnie, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Ellie asked as Bonnie let her inside.

She led the other witch to the couch and helped her sit down. "I'm sorry for calling late like this, it's just that my dad is out of town and Elena had a weird night and I just… I don't know I just wanted to call you." Bonnie apologized.

"Bon, it's ok. I'm here whenever you need me. Can you tell me what's going on?" Ellie asked gently.

"It's so stupid." Bonnie criticized. "It was just some stupid bad dream and I let it get the best of me."

"What was the dream?" Ellie questioned.

Bonnie shook her head before confessing. "In the dream, I'm at Grams and it's like… it's like she's dying all over again. But instead of me finding her after she's already gone, she's crying and begging for my help. She keeps telling me that it's my fault and the same black lines that were all over her before are there and she's screaming and it's just so…" Bonnie drew in a shaky breath. "It's so bad. It's so so bad."

"Oh Bon…" Ellie said softly.

"And when I woke up, it was like her face was burned into my mind and I couldn't make it go away and it felt like I couldn't breathe. I just wanted it to go away." Bonnie cried. "God, I'm sorry. I just… I keep seeing her face."

Ellie took her hands and squeezed to get Bonnie to look at her. "Bonnie, focus on me. Ok? Your Grams is ok. She's not hurt. What you saw was just a nightmare ok, just your fears trying to screw with you." She told her. "You are safe and nothing is happening to your Grams, I promise. Come on, why don't we go make some tea, yeah? Tea is always good for calming down."

"Ok." Bonnie said shakily.

Ellie led her into the kitchen, lighting the candles and turning on the stove with a wave of her hand. "Here, take a seat, I'll make us some chamomile tea." Ellie instructed. Bonnie moved to sit at her kitchen table. She curled up into a small ball on her seat. It was fascinating to watch Ellie. Somehow, since everything started, there was a difference in the way Ellie was. Her magic seemed like it was another limb to her. As she finished preparing the tea, she passed it over to Bonnie before moving to sit next to her.

"Thank you." Bonnie replied. As she took a sip of her tea, Bonnie admitted, "I always felt like my magic was a curse. That I was always going to get dragged into the middle of something to fix someone else's mess. There were times that I wished I didn't have it, you know. But now that it's gone… I just feel like a shell of myself if that makes any sense. And Elena won't understand and I don't even know how to talk to her about it."

"It's ok Bonnie. I'm glad you called me, I really am. But is it ok if I asked what caused you to have the nightmare? I mean you haven't been having them a lot have you?" Ellie asked.

"No, this hasn't happened before. I just went to Whitmore with Elena and Damon and I met the professor that took over her class and he had this book that had a picture of us together and I… it just brought it all back."

Ellie felt her heart twist at the mention. It was still a hard subject for them both. "Would you like for me to stay tonight? In case you have another bad dream?" Ellie offered.

Bonnie gave her a small smile of appreciation. "I would like that."

Author's Note:

Sorry for running a bit late you guys! I just have a lot going on today. But at least we got a bit of Bonnie and Ellie together! As always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To xenocanaan: I don't know if she will get killed off, but I do have certain plans for some things that will happen to Elena. But don't worry, at some point we'll be in NOLA and we won't have to deal with Elena for quite a while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To Gwenaria1: Thank you so much lol! And I literally live for positive reinforcement so I thoroughly enjoy your support. Her confession hit me in the feels too. I'm working on more Ellie and Elijah time, so it's coming, just be a bit patient. Hopefully the payoff will be worth the wait. I love when you guys pick up the subtle shifts! Bro, Elijah going off on Elena and Damon would be everything. Don't apologize for the paragraph I love it lol!

To SJES246018: I'm so glad you love their relationship, that means a lot to me!

To Bronzelove: Lol, that's fair. I can't remember what he said exactly at the moment, so I can't really give you a response as to why she didn't react. Sorry, there's just a lot of plot in my brain that isn't on paper yet, so I sometimes forget what I've written down.

To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: She really is a brat. But her being that selfish really isn't surprising given how she acted with Stefan and Damon, never considering how they were feeling. I'd like to imagine that that was something Elijah filled Klaus in on, but he didn't exactly stick around after he healed Elena. Oh she's definitely going to throw a fit over them being close with Katherine, but she can get over it. Kat really does need to get her man lol.

To Qewbix: Oof, same! Working and packing must have been awful. Hopefully you've gotten it all done now. That's definitely the pattern for the Scooby Gang, though honestly the majority of the time they go crying to Bonnie or Klaus either because Elena's in danger or she's the one asking. No, I'd have definitely killed the MF Gang if I was in their shoes. How they didn't die after killing both Kol and Finn is beyond me.

To brigitm28: Katherine really does deserve a family. But let's be real, has Katherine ever really been wrong. The girl's got a pretty good sense of judgement as to what's going on around her. I mean, the first time she caught wind of what Klaus was planning, she got the hell out of dodge. I don't think Ellie knows how into magic Kol is, but she was mostly just assuming that he'd know more than the others since he's been alive so long. Steroline really is cute.

To Charlie0925: It's an honor being your favorite fic! Thank you so much! Binge read twenty chapters? That's such an honor oh my gosh. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

To AdiraBraelynn: I am literally so relieved to hear from you! I was really starting to get worried. Had you not reviewed, I was going to PM you trying to make sure you were ok lol. But I'm glad you're back and I'm glad you're ok! Honestly, I can't remember how she wore her hair, wait are you talking about when Bonnie figured out that she wasn't Elena? If that's what you mean I think those were curls, think more beach waves. It's definitely going to blow up sooner or later. The blood sharing and the sire bond were definitely a weird af subplot, it's also weird that they literally like never mentioned blood sharing again. Care and Stefan are starting to lean towards Ellie's side honestly. I love the trio too!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 5/1/21