Sorry for the long wait, I had a writer's block and it was very hard to write this chapter.

I started on another story to break it, a crossover between Originals and Lucifer. Check it out, if you are interested!

I hope that the next chapter will be easier to write. As always I am happy about every comment, it keeps me writing.

Thanks to Senema for betaing the chapter, as always it reads much better now. All remaining mistakes are my own.

Chapter 11

Almost 2 hours later, Tajo announced over the loudspeaker that they were about to reach the coordinates.

Elijah rose. "I'll go into the cockpit. I know the area well enough to identify landscape marks and structures to help with the landing."

T'Challa nodded in agreement. He looked after Elijah, who went alone to the cockpit. As agreed, no one but Elijah would enter the cockpit until they landed.

Elijah sat down in the co-pilot's seat again. "What does it look like?"

"We are approaching your coordinates." Tajo concentrated; there was great risk in flying so close to the ground, especially without a flight plan and at night.

"They will light the clearing so we can see it", Elijah said calmly.

Meanwhile, Tajo had reduced the speed so much that the two vampires could see more details on the ground.

Suddenly Elijah straightened up and said. "There, can you see it?"

"Yes, I can see it", said Tajo. The two vampires saw several cars with their headlights on and positioned so that a larger clearing was more than well lit.

"Can you land under these conditions?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, there will be no problems", replied Tajo. The plane was now hovering over the clearing and Tajo initiated the landing manoeuvre. As soon as the plane touched the ground gently, several jeeps, with and without trailers, drove into the clearing.

"We have landed and are already expected", Tajo reported over the loudspeaker before he turned back to Elijah. "It takes me a few minutes to complete the landing procedures, especially since the aircraft's stealth capabilities have to be maintained."

"Just follow us out when you're ready. We'll wait for you." Elijah got up and left the cockpit. All the other passengers were already standing by the tailgate, which was still closed.

"Can we leave the plane?" Steve asked calmly.

"Yes, we can", replied Elijah. "Can I be the first one to get off the plane?" He shrugged. "It might be best if my people see me coming out first."

"Of course", Steve agreed.

Everyone let Elijah pass and at T'Challa's nod, Okoye pushed a button and the tailgate lowered. As soon as it touched the ground, Elijah stepped on it and walked calmly down the ramp.

Shana and his foreman were waiting for him. "Welcome back, sir", she greeted Elijah.

"Thanks, Shana." Elijah smiled at her before turning to his long-time foreman. "Is everything ready, Dave?"

"When dawn comes, the plane will no longer be visible from the air, sir", his foreman replied. After a brief, respectful nod, he turned and walked over to his men, whom he then gave orders. Without delay, they began to swarm out and unload material from the trailers to stack it next to the plane.

In the meantime, all but Tajo had left the plane and stood behind Elijah.

"The pilot is still on board. As soon as he comes out, we can drive to the mansion", Elijah explained calmly.

"The doctor is already waiting for his patients." Shana's gaze wandered from face to face before stopping at Clint, whom she recognized from Laura's descriptions. "Laura is awake and waiting for you." She smiled wryly. "We didn't tell the children anything, they are asleep."

Clint swallowed. "Thank you, Shana."

"You are more than welcome, Clint", Shana replied with a smile.

"Please let me introduce you to our guests, Shana", said Elijah, as always the perfect host. One by one, Elijah introduced Shana to the Avengers. The female warriors were a little surprised that Elijah knew their names as well.

For everyone, Shana had a friendly smile, a handshake and welcoming words. When Tajo came down the ramp, however, she froze and gave Elijah a questioning look.

"May I introduce Tajo Balewa, our pilot, to you", said Elijah with a crooked smile.

"Hello, Tajo", Shana greeted him politely and held out her hand to greet him like the others with a handshake.

When Tajo took the hand, he felt some kind of electric shock. When he stared at Shana in surprise, she smiled at him and he understood. She was a witch and had just given him a warning. "Hello, Shana. Nice to meet you", he said shyly.

Elijah smirked and said. "Well, let's go so that we're no longer in the way." He pointed to the jeeps without trailers. "In addition to the driver, three passengers fit in each jeep. Shana, Clint, you will come with me!"

Without waiting for an answer, Elijah went to the jeep that was closest. After a brief pleading look at Steve, who nodded at him with a smile, Clint followed Elijah. Shana was already sitting in the passenger seat, so Elijah and Clint went into the back seat.

Steve gazed after the jeep. He completely agreed that Clint should get a seat in the first vehicle, after all, Laura was waiting longingly for him. He stood next to Natasha and watched everyone find a place in a jeep. He wanted to be in the last jeep leaving the clearing.

Natasha watched with interest as the workers whizzed around the plane. She couldn't help but notice that they knew what they were doing. "I wonder what they're usually hiding. They are very adept at it", she said quietly to Steve.

"I think it's better not to ask Elijah", Steve said, amused.

Natasha chuckled softly. "I know what you mean!"

One by one, the jeeps left the clearing, leaving the workers to their challenging task of making an airplane disappear.

xxxxx

Shana was unsure whether to address Elijah regarding the vampire with Clint in the car, but he made the decision for her.

"Everything is alright! And I think everyone should be entitled to keeping their secrets", was the only thing Elijah said.

Shana nodded, she would keep quiet and inform the other witches that Tajo was welcome and under control.

Clint frowned but didn't ask what this was about. "Is everything okay with Laura?" He asked instead.

"She was worried about you", Shana replied gently. "And of course she had her hands full reassuring and comforting your children."

Clint looked grim. "I can imagine that." He sighed. "I just wonder what will happen next."

"First recover from your ordeal, Clint. You and Laura can make decisions later on how to proceed but for now you and your family have a safe haven with me", Elijah said seriously.

"What about the others?" Clint asked knowingly.

Elijah smirked. "They are welcome as well, at least until they can safely leave the country. Except for Wanda of course, I grant her the same right of abode and sanctuary as you and your family."

"So only those, who know what you are", said Clint dryly.

Elijah hesitated. "I don't go around telling everyone what I am. Not many can deal with it as well as you and your wife." He got serious. "And in the end I live from other people's blood, I'm a monster, a murderer. Blood bags are a very new development." Elijah smiled wryly and a little sadly. "I just don't think that's going to be something Steve can live with and tolerate."

"Well, I think if Steve can tolerate Stark, he can accept you too. You kill to survive, Stark kills to make money. And I think that Stark's body count from selling his weapons to everyone and neglecting his duties is far higher than yours will ever be." Clint scoffed contemptuously when he mentioned his former colleague. "And let's not talk about all the Enhanced, who will now die because he supported the Accords and thus robbed them of their human rights."

"I'm not so sure about the body count, but thank you for your words." Elijah smiled slightly. "In any case, I prefer not to tell anyone else of your friends what I really am."

"This is your decision and as I promised, I will keep your secret." Clint shrugged.

For the rest of the trip, Shana briefed Elijah on everything that had happened in the meantime and what he needed to know.

Elijah listened attentively, but kept eyeing Clint out of the corner of his eye. For an assassin, whose most important work qualities were patience and stillness, Clint was very restless. His right hand kept tapping a rhythm on his thigh and at the moment there was little that reminded Elijah of the archer he had gotten to know.

When they pulled up in front of the house, Laura was already waiting. Clint barely waited for the car to come to a stop before opening the door and jumping out of the car.

With a smile, Shana and Elijah watched as he hurried up to his wife and took her strongly into his arms.

xxxxx

Rebekah entered the compound with a concerned expression. After Klaus's call, she had left everything behind and hurried back to New Orleans. Klaus and Kol were waiting for her in the courtyard, while Freya glared down at her brothers from the first floor with folded arms.

"Ok, what is the matter with Elijah?" She got straight to the point.

"We don't know where he is or what he's up to", Klaus replied just as bluntly.

"What our brother is remiss to tell you, is that Elijah needed a break from the family drama and doesn't want to be disturbed", Freya called down from above.

Rebekah was startled when she heard this before glaring angrily at her brothers as well. "Is that why you called me back? I thought Elijah had disappeared and was in danger."

"But maybe he is, who knows?" replied Klaus. "Think about it, haven't you found our brother quite close-mouthed and secretive lately?"

Rebekah opened her mouth to say no, but then she hesitated.

"You see, she knows something", Kol said gleefully. "And he doesn't want us to have anything to do with it. He even mentioned Teruel as a warning to us."

Rebekah frowned. "He hasn't done that in centuries."

"Exactly, sister!" Klaus grinned. "Come on, Rebekah, what did Elijah tell you or what did you notice?"

Rebekah looked up at Freya, who was now scowling at her too.

"I'm telling you the same thing I said to these two idiots, leave Elijah alone! If he wants to talk about what he's up to, he'll do it."

"Sister, but when does Elijah ever talk about anything bothering him?" cajoled Kol slyly.

Klaus said nothing. If he opened his mouth now, Rebekah would do just the opposite.

Rebekah sighed. "I'm bored, Freya! And this sounds interesting."

Freya scoffed and disappeared inside the compound.

"Ok, you two, let's go to the library and you will tell me everything." Rebekah fixated her brothers menacingly. "And I want to hear the truth! If I have the impression that you are lying to me or are hiding something from me, I will call Elijah and ask him what happened." She grinned viciously at them. She didn't have to mention to them that the chances were high, she would be on Elijah's side at the end of this conversation.

The three siblings disappeared into the library and there Klaus and Kol took turns telling Rebekah everything. At the end of their story Rebekah frowned.

"Ok, Elijah didn't tell me anything, but I noticed he was quite interested in the coverage of the Avengers. Did you hear that bullshit about the accords?" Rebekah made a disgusted face. "Humans are so stupid, they keep repeating the same mistakes over and over!"

"You can say that again, sister", said Kol disparagingly. Davina had brought him up to date about the history of the last hundred years.

"Did you notice if he was particularly interested in someone?" Klaus asked rapt. Now that Rebekah had mentioned it, he remembered a couple of occasions where Elijah had been very interested in coverage of the Avengers, which was quite atypical of his practical and reasonable brother.

Rebekah thought back to the times, she had watched coverage about the Avengers with her brother. "He was particularly interested in the Archer and that young girl, the witch."

Klaus rubbed his hands. "So let's go to Elijah's room and search around a little for clues. Perhaps he made notes about them and their relationship with him."

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Rebekah asked, uncomfortably about invading her older brother's privacy in this massive way. Snooping after Elijah was one thing but searching through his things was another. "He will be really mad at us if we do that, not to mention that our brother is way too smart to leave any clues." She looked at Klaus. "He knows you, after all!"

"She's right again", Kol said gloomily.

"Yes, she is." Klaus was annoyed as he thought about it. Elijah knew how to keep secrets from him and he was very good at anticipating Klaus's reactions, if things went wrong and his plans got derailed. "We could find a witch, who finds Elijah for us."

"Well, Freya won't help us", said Rebekah dryly. "And we need a very powerful witch, as Elijah, like all of us, is protected from a normal tracking spell."

"Right, completely forgot about that! So we ask either Vincent or Davina." Klaus smirked at Kol.

"We're not going to drag Davina into this", said Kol angrily.

"And Vincent won't help us, especially when it comes to this obviously private matter", said Rebekah pessimistically.

"So we'll wait until Elijah is back", said Klaus reluctantly.

"And we won't take our eyes off him the next time he disappears", said Kol.

"Yes, but first we'll confront him, when he comes back", said Rebekah, equally determined. "Perhaps he will tell us and all this planning is unnecessary."

"We are talking about Elijah", said Klaus and grinned slightly as he remembered how often Elijah said this about him.

Kol and Rebekah chuckled slightly as well but they didn't contradict Klaus. They knew too that it was more than unlikely that Elijah would answer their questions truthfully.

The three younger siblings grinned at each other, their pact was made.