The next chapter, enjoy! Tell me, how you like it.

A Thank you to Senema for her quick beta otherwise you would have had to wait until next week for the update.

Chapter 8

Chloe sat at her desk and yawned tiredly from time to time. She had been able to sleep for two hours but for her that was nowhere near enough.

She began sifting through the evidence that forensics had secured at the scene and frowned. There was no evidence for Elijah's innocence but they hadn't found more proof against him either. It really wasn't looking good for Elijah at the moment.

Chloe sighed and got up. It was time to speak with Ella. When she entered the laboratory, Ella sat at her microscope and gazed intently down at the sample below it. "Good morning, Ella."

Ella looked up and smiled at her cheerfully. "Good morning, Chloe."

Nothing about her indicated that she had been up all night, securing evidence at the crime scene. Chloe was so jealous.

"Can you tell me something new?"

Ella frowned. "You said the anonymous caller only spoke of two men who fought, right?"

"Yes, he reported that a man in a grey suit attacked another man with a knife", Chloe replied.

"Well, I've found vague evidence that there were more than two people at the crime scene", Ella explained quietly. She picked up a file. "And the autopsy revealed bruises on both upper arms, like how they occur when someone is held from behind. The bruises were clearly caused shortly before his death. Moreover, his bruises indicate for me that he wasn't fighting as much as being beaten up." She shook her head. "But it's not something that can be used as evidence."

"A shame. What about the traces on Elijah's clothes? And does he have injuries from a fight?" Chloe asked next.

"Elijah clearly had the dead man's blood on his hands, but otherwise he doesn't show any injuries that would inevitably have resulted if he had struck the victim or fought with him", answered Ella promptly.

"Perhaps Elijah wore gloves?" Chloe suggested thoughtfully.

"We checked his coat and his suit, no gloves. And I didn't find gloves at the crime scene either", Ella replied immediately. "Elijah's clothes are smeared with blood but undamaged, no tears, no holes, nothing. For me, the distribution of the blood on his clothing also indicates that it came more from pulling out the knife than from pushing it in, the blood patterns of these actions are too different."

"So for you this means that Elijah wasn't involved in a fight?" Chloe made sure.

Ella sighed. "The evidence is too vague and inconclusive to proof Elijah's innocence. Both scenarios are possible but at the moment everything speaks more for Elijah's guilt."

Chloe sighed. "I have a strange feeling about this case. A question, how clear is it that three men were on the scene?"

"Not clear enough." Ella hesitated for a moment. "I doubt the prosecutor will share my view."

"What about the injuries?" Chloe asked.

"I asked the pathologist to give me his opinion on the injuries." Ella shrugged. "He is less clear in his report, but under four eyes he told me that for him the victim was attacked by at least two people."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. Thank you, Ella."

She left the lab and returned to her desk. There she came across Dan, who looked just as tired as she did.

"What is Ella saying?" Dan asked calmly.

"That something is wrong here, but it's not enough that it could help prove Elijah's innocence." Chloe frowned. "We should ask Elijah if he has any enemies who have a reason to lure him into such a trap."

"As if he would truthfully answer this question", Dan said cynically. "In case you didn't notice, he was pretty closed off about his personal life. That being said, for me he's a more self-controlled, polite, and reserved version of Lucifer."

Chloe had to admit that Dan had a good point. She sighed. "Let's see what we can find out about Elijah's personal life."

Dan nodded in agreement. They still had a few hours before they could finally interrogate Elijah. "By the way, where is Lucifer? I wonder a little why he's not here yet."

Chloe frowned. "Now that you say it, I wonder about that too." She shrugged. "I will enjoy the peace while it lasts. But I also believe that he has a good reason why he's not here."

Dan sighed. "I am curious with what surprises he will come up."

Chloe laughed and the two cops set out to find out more about Elijah's past.

xxxxx

It was shortly before noon when the plane started to land in Los Angeles.

After Freya and Klaus had brought Rebekah up to date, they discussed how to proceed. They decided they would go straight to the law office to meet Elijah's lawyer and learn more about the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Then they spent the rest of the flight arguing, which of them would be allowed to accompany the lawyer and see Elijah. It was unlikely that the police would allow all three of them to visit Elijah.

In the end, however, Freya prevailed. "I'm the most sensible of us, I'm going! You two are so unrestrained and we don't want a massacre in the police station if things don't go the way you want them. And do you really want to bother with human bureaucracy?"

Klaus grimaced and remained tellingly silent.

"And what shall we do?" Rebekah pouted a little.

"Perhaps one of you can go to Elijah's hotel and get him a fresh suit", suggested Freya. "You know how he gets when he has to wear the same suit two days in a row."

"Well, he gets kind of cranky", said Rebekah thoughtfully. "And a cranky Elijah can be even less fun than Nik in one of his moods."

"And I'll take a look at the crime scene", said Klaus and grinned slightly. "I have different methods than the police to find clues."

"So we agree." Freya rubbed her hands. "I rented a limousine that will be available to us for the duration of our stay in Los Angeles."

"Very good, sister", said Rebekah, who always enjoyed luxury.

"You will need it more than us anyway, Freya", agreed Klaus. "After all, Rebekah and I don't need a car to get quickly from one place to another."

After landing, they got through customs in record time thanks to Klaus's and Rebekah's persuasive skills.

The limousine driver was waiting in the hall with a sign that said 'Mikaelson'.

Klaus went straight to him. "I am Klaus Mikaelson." He handed him a sheet of paper and a hundred-dollar bill. "We have to get to this address as fast as possible."

The driver grinned. "You hired the right man."

The siblings followed him to his car. He packed the suitcases in the trunk and everyone got in. The driver drove off with screeching tires.

It was maybe one o'clock in the afternoon when they got to the law office.

"Just follow my lead", said Klaus and grinned manically.

Rebekah and Freya exchanged meaningful looks. They just hoped that nobody would get in Klaus' way. In the mood he was in it would get very bloody very fast.

Klaus marched past the reception without paying attention to the receptionist calling after him. He got into the elevator, waited for his sisters, and then hit the top button. The elevator door closed in front of the harried looking receptionist.

When they got to the top floor, a guard was waiting for them with a drawn gun.

Klaus looked him in the eye. "Put your gun down, forget that you saw us and return to your post!"

The guard obeyed with wooden movements and left.

With a grin, Klaus started moving again. He still knew where Dennis Radern's office was and as soon as he got there, he threw the door open. Surprised by the disturbance, a man and woman who were sitting at a desk across from each other, turned around quite startled.

When Dennis Radern recognized Klaus, he turned pale. "Klaus, I wasn't expecting you so quickly", he stammered.

Klaus smirked. "What can I say, if someone threatens my family, I can react very quickly."

"Don't we all know that, and thoughtless too", Freya muttered, rolling her eyes. She pushed past Klaus and gave the man a friendly smile. "Hello, since it is in vain to expect courtesy from Klaus, I would like to introduce myself. I'm Freya Mikaelson, Elijah's older sister and this is my younger sister Rebekah." She held out her hand.

The man took it in astonishment, clearly surprised about the way, she treated Klaus and how he tolerated it. "I am Dennis Radern. Nice to meet you, Miss Mikaelson."

"Please call me Freya." Next, Freya turned to the woman. "Hello! You must be Elijah's lawyer?"

The woman smiled in amusement. "Hello, I'm Charlotte Richards. And yes I am."

Meanwhile Klaus had closed the door so that there were no witnesses to their conversation. "What does she know?" He asked with a nod to Charlotte.

"I know Elijah is a vampire", Charlotte replied frankly. "I guess you're vampires too?"

"Klaus and Rebekah are, yes, but I'm a witch", Freya replied friendly.

Charlotte looked at her curiously. "Elijah doesn't think much of witches."

Freya chuckled softly. "For me, he makes an exception." She held out her hand again.

Charlotte took it as if she was expecting an unpleasant surprise but then she relaxed when nothing happened. "That's good to know."

"Enough with the pleasantries!" Klaus said harshly. "What happened to my brother?"

"Usually, it's Elijah who apologizes for Klaus, but since he's not here..." Freya sighed. "Please forgive Klaus for his bad behaviour, but he's really worried about Elijah, as are we all. What can you tell us?"

"Please take a seat first", Dennis Radern mumbled softly.

As soon as everyone was seated, it was Charlotte who spoke up and reported what they learned so far.

xxxxx

Charlotte knocked.

"Come in, Charlotte", Dennis called out. When she entered the office, he was sitting at his desk. "Take a seat! How far are you with your preparations for the interrogation by the police?"

"I'm prepared as well as possible." Charlotte sighed. "However, I won't be able to spare Mr. Mikaelson another night in jail since its Sunday."

Dennis hesitated. "There are ways around that and Judge Sharon Cosby is on duty today, which suits us very well." He looked at her carefully. "What have you found out by now?"

Charlotte smirked. "That Elijah is a vampire and quite old."

Dennis snorted. "Quite old? Try ancient and very dangerous! It is not a good thing to keep someone like him in human custody. In Los Angeles several influential people know about the supernatural, and there are procedures for situations like this." He sighed, picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"This is Dennis Radern, I have a code SV-VO-K1-Ultraviolet! I need a hearing with a bail bond today. Give me Sharon! Yes I will wait." He waited a few seconds. "Hello Sharon, sorry for this ambush. Your assistant gave you the code?" He laughed grimly. "Yes, unfortunately it is that serious!" Dennis Radern listened. "Thank you!" He hung up.

"What is the meaning of this?" Charlotte asked, fascinated.

"You have a bail hearing in court for today at 7 p.m." Dennis hesitated. "Sharon will grant the bail but you will have to give a convincing performance for the prosecutor and the public."

"I can do that." Charlotte hesitated. "What does the code mean?"

"SV = Species Vampire, VO = very old, K1 = highest urgency, ultraviolet = highest danger level." Dennis hesitated. "There are only a handful of vampires or supernatural beings at all with this rating in the world."

"Why does Elijah have this classification?" Charlotte asked curiously. "Only because he is so old?"

"It's better if you don't know everything", said Dennis Radern in a hoarse voice. "If Elijah tells you more himself it's okay but I can't say more."

"I understand." Charlotte was thoughtful. Before they could continue talking, somebody threw open the door and a blond man and two blond women stormed into the room.

As soon as Dennis recognized the man, he turned pale and as he stammered out his greeting, Charlotte knew who she was looking at. With a certain fascination, she took a closer look at the three intruders. Were they all vampires?

Klaus was young in appearance, even younger than Elijah, but his eyes were colder than Elijah's and there was something dangerous and wild about his whole aura. It reminded her a little of Lucifer's dark side when his devil came out to play.

Freya made a far calmer and more harmless impression. She even managed to get Dennis to relax a little while talking to him.

Rebekah didn't take part in the conversation, she looked even younger than Klaus but the expression in her eyes was just as wild as Klaus's.

Klaus's bluntness amused Charlotte and she answered his question just as directly. As a benefit, it also answered her question if they were all vampires.

When Freya revealed that she was a witch and offered her a hand, Charlotte only hoped that the same thing would not happen like with Elijah, but she was lucky.

The way Freya then apologized for Klaus's rudeness wistfully reminded her of Amenadiel and Lucifer. The next time she saw him, she had to ask him what he knew about vampires, he had to know more than Lucifer.

After everyone had sat down at Dennis's request, Charlotte shared what she had learned from Elijah so far.

"Nik, it sounds like this time your paranoia is justified", Rebekah spoke up for the first time.

"Yes, it all sounds very suspicious", Freya agreed with her sister.

Klaus gave Charlotte a penetrating look. "Is there something else Elijah told you?"

Charlotte grinned slightly, very curious for Klaus's reaction. "I'm supposed to give you a message." She recalled Elijah's intonation and way of speaking as she repeated his words to Klaus. "Behave yourself, little brother, or I will make you regret it."

It must have been very convincing, apparently, because Freya and Rebekah started laughing uproariously. Klaus's face, on the other hand, was a mixture of bewilderment at her accuracy in imitating his brother and slight annoyance that Elijah, even while in custody, managed to keep him in check.

"Oh, I like you", said Rebekah, still grinning.

"What are your suggestions for further proceedings?" Freya asked with a smile.

Charlotte looked at her watch. "The blood for Elijah should come soon, then I'll drive to the police station."

"Can you get us all into the interrogation room so that we can see Elijah?" Rebekah asked uncertainly.

"No, unfortunately not. I think I can bring Chloe to the point where at least one of you can see, perhaps even stay during the interrogation."

"I'll come with you", said Freya. "Rebekah will get Elijah a fresh suit for the hearing, while Klaus wants to visit the crime scene."

"In this case he should go to the LUX and contact Lucifer, the club owner. He and Elijah have become friends, he will help him", Charlotte explained.

Klaus looked thoughtful. "Good to know. What is the address?"

Charlotte told him.

Klaus smiled at her. "You are very useful. Get my brother out of jail and I will owe you one."

"I will do my best. I like Elijah and want to get him out of this mess as much as you do." Charlotte looked Klaus straight in the eyes and whatever he saw in her eyes seemed to convince him of her words.

"My brother has always had a knack for making friends", Klaus said, amused.

The phone rang and Radern picked up the receiver. After a brief thank you, he hung up again. "The blood is there."

Freya got up. "Then let's go!"

The group set out, everyone determined to do their part so that Elijah got free quickly.