Chapter Fifteen

Elijah drove faster than he ever had, and he had been making good time, his mind was only on his daughter. When his phone rung, he almost forgot to look at the number but once he did, he cursed under his breath before slamming his brakes and pulling to the side of the road, turning off the car and silencing any evidence that he had been driving he answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Brother, how nice to hear your voice after so very long." Klaus Mikaelson sounded happy, and it made Elijah flinch. He knew what this meant, and it felt like his heart was ripping in half with what he would have to do because of it.

"I'm not sure that I can say the same." Elijah responded, his voice strong as steel.

"Well, I have decided that it is time to come out of hiding, I assume you have done the same with how little it took for me to track you down."

"What do you want, Niklaus?"

"I was just going to let you know that I am headed back to America, I have a whole group of people that are coming with me, and are willing to do anything I ask. I think it's time we renew our search for the moonstone." Klaus' voice sounded as playful as ever, and yet Elijah's trained ear could hear the subtle threat behind his words.

"I haven't stopped looking, I assure you it won't be a problem for me to keep doing so. As I have always done, I will inform you when I have something."

"Very well, I shall be in touch soon." With that, Elijah heard Klaus hang up before his phone went silent. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked back at the road.

"Damn it!" He yelled, slamming his hand into the top of the steering wheel. He couldn't risk going to his daughter now, he had no idea how close Klaus was or if he was being tracked. He had to return to New York. He wanted to scream, to grab whatever being controlled this world and threaten them until they let him have happiness for once. Cursing under his breath once more, he turned back to his car and headed back towards the city, he would find a payphone and at least call, but as of now Elijah wouldn't see his daughter until Klaus found Elena.

Bonnie sat next to Caroline waiting for Elijah to show up, it had been hours and while she knew he was in New York when she had called she had expected him to be here by now. When Caroline's phone rang with an unknown number, she immediately picked it up, standing to move away from her still crying friend.

"Hello?"

"Bonnie? It's Elijah."

"Where are you?"

"New York. Klaus called me, I think he might be tracking me or at least he will be soon so that he knows where I am. I can't come." Elijah explained. To Bonnie, his voice sounded so much weaker than she had ever heard it.

"Calling is better than nothing." Bonnie assured him.

"Will you let me talk to her, please?"

"Sure." Bonnie then handed the phone to her friend.

"Hello?" Caroline's voice was still weak and broken, her tears making it break every now and then.

"Hey baby. I am so sorry I can't be there, if there was any way at all you know that I would."

"Dad." Caroline's tears started fresh with her father's voice.

"Caroline, it's not your fault, and it's not you. Nothing is wrong with you, you are not a monster, you are the kindest most caring person I have ever known, and nothing Elizabeth said is true. You are not a monster, and what she believes about vampires or the Salvatore brothers, or even you have no weight, they are not true, and they never will be."

"She disowned me."

"Well then, it's a good thing she isn't your actual family, isn't it? You have a father that loves you more than anything in this world, and an uncle who has been counting down the days for a millennium until he can meet you. Maybe, your other uncles and aunt are not as great of people,, but you are not alone, and you never will be."

"I wish you were here."

"I do too, baby, I do too."

Bonnie watched from the other side of the room as Caroline talked to her father. She was beginning to understand what had been going on since they were thirteen, and she was beginning to understand just who the girl in front of her really was. Bonnie wasn't quite sure how she had missed it for so long. How she had thought that Caroline was just a mean girl who thought she was better than everyone else. She realized just how wrong she had gotten it. How Caroline had simply been a girl without parents, without anyone that actually saw the real her. Bonnie saw for the first time the way that Caroline seemed to hold the world on her shoulders, and the way she seemed to always be concerned about others first. She finally realized that the reason was because since she was thirteen she had been sacrificing to keep Elena safe. That she had been sacrificing her time with her only family member to protect the people of this town. Elijah was the same way, he had sacrificed his entire life with his daughter, with happiness, just to protect the people of Mystic Falls from his brother. Bonnie finally realized the truth, that after everything, after all the insults that she blatantly said, after all the hurtful comments and times she had tried to avoid her at all cost, that Caroline had been the one protecting her and Elena since the beginning.

Elijah hung up with his daughter after calming her down, trying his best not to give in and go to her. Tears fell down his face as he returned to his car and finished the drive back to his loft. He hated his brother, more than ever, at this moment. He hated that this was his life, that his parents had done this to him, that he couldn't even be near his daughter when she needed him. It made him want to kill his brother more than before. The longer Elijah spent living in the world with Klaus alive, the longer he tried to hold true to the vow of always and forever that his brother broke on a whim, the more he wished he had never been turned, the more he wished he and Caroline had either been left out of the whole thing or maybe even that both of them had not survived without Regina. Elijah had been waiting for the day when he was allowed to be with his daughter without fear or without hiding since the day he had been turned. Klaus would be dealt with soon, though, and if Elijah failed, he would just do what he had forced himself not to do since the beginning. He would call Mikael. Elijah knew he could handle his father, and if he let Mikael deal with Klaus, he would be able to be with his daughter. Yet, to do that would be betraying his brother and breaking his word. It was against everything he claimed to be, but if it had to happen to protect Caroline,, he would break every promise he ever made to Klaus. Elijah made it back to his loft and headed upstairs, locking the door and closing all the blinds, he finally let himself break for the first time in years. Tears falling down his face and his jacket left on the other side of the room with his tie he fell to the floor next to his bed. Unbeknownst to Elijah he looked like how his daughter did in that moment, sitting broken on the floor, tears pouring down his face and his hand clenching the only photo he had of her close to him. If anyone had seen him they would never guess that it was the same man that had been sitting in that café a few hours ago. Elijah never allowed anyone to see him this way, the broken man that hid on the inside was something no one ever would see, the world knew the powerful man that could be your worst nightmare at the drop of a bucket, and a very few knew the man that would do anything for his family and who loved his daughter more than the world. Yet, no one knew the man who was sitting on the floor of his loft, broken and grasping for any form of humanity that was left in the world around him.

Caroline mirrored her father while she sat holding on to her phone, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Caroline, I am sure that everything will be alright. Your father is the smartest man I have ever met, and I am sure he will fix everything." Bonnie said, bringing a glass of water to her friend before sitting beside her on the floor.

"I wish his plan was faster."

"Me too."

"You didn't have to come." Caroline said, her tears finally slowing.

"I know. But, you would have done it for me, matter of fact you have done it for me."

"I think I am going to kill my uncle when I finally meet him."

"I think I might too." Bonnie replied with a smile.

"Why does he hate me so much?"

"Your uncle?"

"Yeah."

"I get the feeling he hates anyone that people care about more than him. Your dad clearly would choose you."

"Dad said that he cares about family more than anything, why don't I count?"

"If you were a really powerful original vampire that could do anything he wanted to and had a small group of people he would do anything to save, and one of them had someone they would put above you, would you add them to your list of people to protect?" Bonnie asked, pulling a blanket over their legs.

"If that person was my niece, then yeah, I would."

"Okay, if you weren't exactly like your father?"

"I don't know, I guess if I only wanted power, it would make sense." Caroline replied.

"Well, I suppose that's how your uncle thinks." Bonnie said with a smile.

"Why does my life have to be so complicated?"

"No idea, but I have a feeling your dad isn't going to let it stay that way for long. He seems to be very done with not being allowed to be with you."

"I am too."

"Well, at least you have your own house, that is a plus."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Although, I'll be alone for the first time ever." Caroline replied, looking around the room she was in.

"I would say you could host parties, but I feel like that would defeat the point of this place." Bonnie slightly nodded at the room, Caroline let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, I think they might think I'm crazy if I invite them to a home that is a replica of one from a thousand years ago."

"Just maybe." After that they sat in silence, Caroline's tears drying on her cheeks. The day could not have been worse, and yet each of the girls knew that more was coming. In a few days, Klaus Mikaelson would make his move and the war between Elijah and Klaus would begin. The night seemed to darken a bit more as thunder rolled outside. The girls didn't move as the hours flew by, rain pouring outside, the night faded into day and the world moved on, and the girls sat still never moving and never speaking.

Klaus stood on the runway, men moving around him carrying the boxes of things he had with him. A very few of them were unloading the four coffins of his family, and the one empty one that was waiting for his brother's body. He hoped he wasn't forced to place him there, it would be a shame. He had heard that his father had gone completely off the grid, which meant he could once again begin to find the things he needed to break his curse. He was ready to be free. He was finally back, and now that he was, Elijah would have no excuse to take his sweet time to find the stone. Which meant before long he would find the stone and Klaus would be free. Klaus just hoped that the skills of his brother would not be rusty. Here was the turning of the century, before long he would have everything he wanted. Klaus smiled at the car pulling up for him, he had been waiting for this for quite a while, and finally here he was, making his plan, once again, come to fruition.