I do not own TVD or TO.

Part two of the ball and the aftermath. A couple of you called this earlier, but I don't think anyone saw the twist coming, or if you did it hasn't been mentioned yet.

First chapter with no smut... although technically the last one and this one were together. I just find anything over 5000 words a little hard to follow when reading unless it's a oneshot.

"You were on the Other Side for a thousand years?" Elena swallowed. A thousand years in purgatory before being released back into the world by Bonnie and her mother.

"It was nature's way of punishing me for turning my family into vampires," Esther blew a stream of sage scented smoke around the room, "but there is a way for me to undo the evil I created."

She felt her insides tremble and had to fight down a sudden desire to be sick. In that moment she knew Elijah was right to distrust his mother, but she couldn't be entirely sure what the Original witch was planning until she came out and said it. So as much as she wanted to run from the room and find Klaus, consequences be damned, she sat stock still and held her gloved hands. She needed to hear what Esther had to say because nobody else in the whole of the damn mansion could hear their conversation.

She sat in silence and listened as Esther filled in the blank pieces that Elijah had left out all those months ago when they had spoken at the Lockwood Estate.

"I used the balance of nature to turn my children into vampires so I could protect them from the werewolves, but in no time at all they began to feed on human blood." Esther's eyes took on a far off look as she lost herself in the memory. "They ravaged the town with no remorse and eventually Niklaus turned against me."

The dread prickled at the base of her spine. There was something dark in Esther's gaze when she spoke of her children; no maternal love shone through.

"What are you going to do?" She squeezed the fingers of her left hand to keep from shaking.

Esther leaned forward and lit some candles on the table. Elena watched as the flickering light hit the runes etched into a thick piece of parchment.

"My children believe that I am holding this ball to celebrate our reunion, but in truth I have gathered them together to perform a ritual." She picked up a long thin knife from the table. "The first step requires the blood of the doppelganger; only a drop," she assured Elena, misreading the horror in her eyes. "Its essence will be in the champagne toast later on this evening. Will you do it, or will I?"

Elena resisted the urge to scoot away from the ancient witch and met her eyes.

"What will it do? What are you going to do?"

"I have to undo the evil I created Elena," Esther lowered the knife. Her voice was soothing which instantly put the brunette on edge. "The spell tonight will link my children together as one, so that if one of them goes, they all go?"

An alarm bell rang in the back of her mind. She didn't need Esther to clarify anything else; she understood perfectly, but try as she might she couldn't get inside the woman's head. Sure, she had made the Originals into vampires and they had done terrible things but they were still her children and she had seen good in them, not so much Rebekah but she hadn't spent much time with the sister yet.

"You're gonna kill them," she shook her head.

"I love my family, Elena," Esther smiled sadly, "but they are an abomination. I betrayed nature when I created them, and now it is my duty to kill them."

She shook her head again and stood up.

"You can't kill them," her heart thumped, "they're immortal."

"I can," Esther assured her, "it will take time and magic, but it can be done. And there is a failsafe; I believe that is what you call it in this century, in the spell that will link my children to you, so even if I fail they will die when you do."

Elena stood on aching feet and backed around the edge of the coffee table, shaking her head all the way.

"I'm not going to kill you Elena," Esther stood up, once more misreading her actions, "you can live out your human life, for my children will be tied to you and not the other way around; their deaths will not affect you."

"I won't help you," she shook her head. Turning on her heel she reached for the handle of the door; it rattled but refused to open.

"I had hoped to have your assistance," Esther sighed. She held up her hand.

Elena's muscles froze. She was not in charge of her limbs when they turned her back around. She gritted her teeth but no amount of will power let her lower her hand.

Esther pulled the long glove from Elena's hand. The silk whispered over her skin and left behind goosebumps. There was a sting as her finger was pricked with the knife.

Esther tipped her finger over a chalice filled with liquid and squeezed out a single drop of blood.

Elena could do nothing but watch as she lowered the chalice and chanted. For the first time she noticed a name written in English in the center of the page: Elena.

The crimson liquid was poured in a puddle on the page and branched out as Esther chanted. It circled and crawled until it speared every runic name on the page, but something was wrong. Elena could tell by the way her name was clean of liquid, and from the confused expression on Esther's face.

"Your life is tied to another," she lifted her head, scrutinizing the brunette.

It was a second before Elena realized that Esther wasn't looking at her, but at the air around her body. She seemed to find what she was looking for because she met Elena's eyes with a look of disbelief.

"You're with child." She looked over Elena in a new light.

Elena found her tongue free once more.

"I can't be…"

"You can't be pregnant because you've been sleeping with my son and my son is a vampire?" Esther guessed.

Elena didn't bother lying. It was clear Esther already knew; she might have known before returning to the land of the living.

"Niklaus is not just a vampire, my dear," Esther shook her head, "he's a werewolf as well, and you…" she trailed off, examining the aura around Elena again, "… you are his mate."

Her stomach knotted.

"How long have you been sleeping with my son, Elena?" She followed the brunette's backward path until she was pinned against the heavy wood door. Her hand landed on the flat expanse of Elena's stomach. "You're probably already feeling the effects: nausea, exhaustion, perhaps even a fever."

Elena paled.

"You're not drinking vervain, are you?" The look in Elena's eyes confirmed the question. "Your body rejects it to protect the baby."

Elena was certain she was going to faint. Any moment now she was going to keel over and be at the complete mercy of Esther Mikaelson, the woman who wanted to murder her children. What would she do to the child of the son that had killed her? What would she do to Elena – because she wasn't entirely convinced Esther was right?

Her voice trembled as she looked into the older woman's eyes.

"What… what are… what are you going to… to… going to do to me?"

"For now," Esther lowered her hand, "I'm going to do nothing to you. I still need your help. I might not be able to bind my children to you, Elena, but I have succeeded in binding them to each other. I need you to ease Elijah's suspicions because they must all drink at the toast in order to finish the spell."

"Even if I wanted to help you…" Elena pulled on her glove with shaking hands, "… I couldn't convince anyone of anything right now."

"You'll help me whether you want to or not, Elena," Esther crossed the room and opened a door leading out to the balcony.

Her heart leapt into her throat when Finn stepped back into the room. She recognized her mistake in fingering her charm bracelet when Finn tore the delicate metal from her wrist.

Elena stood with her shoulders back and looked down at the bracelet in her hand. Her mother had given it to her when she was twelve years old. Every year she had added a new charm to it until the accident. The silver had rested in her jewelry box until she stopped drinking vervain and had a small sprig of it placed inside a heart shaped charm; oddly enough the charm had been a gift from Klaus: an apology after the incident with Caroline. It had shown up in her mailbox with a letter that promised he would never harm her friends again because he would never break her heart.

Her heart was definitely broken, at least the silver one was. Her actual heart seemed to be beating just fine.

She would have jumped when Elijah sidled up beside her, but she had been compelled to remain calm; plus she had seen him from the corner of her eye.

"So, how was my mother?" Elijah plucked two champagne flutes from a passing waiter.

Oh fuck, she turned to face him, tell him the truth.

"Intense," her eyes narrowed for a second. It's a start… now out with the rest of it.

"And for what reason did she need to speak to you in private?" He offered her one.

Tell him the truth. Tell him the truth. Tell him the truth. She didn't think before taking it. Your mom wants to kill you. Your mom wants to kill all of you. She should get a fucking Oscar for her performance because she wants to kill you all.

Her eyes found Esther on the staircase looking at her coldly. Finn was beside her; his words echoed in her mind.

… You will reassure him and not interfere in the ritual …

"Elena?" Elijah grabbed her attention. There was something distant in her eyes, but it faded when she looked at him. "Should I be concerned about my mother's intentions?"

Tell the truth Elena.

"She just wanted to apologize for trying to have me killed," she smiled. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth she wanted to share.

"So it's true then?" Elijah frowned. There was a furtive look in Elena's eyes; like she wanted to say something, but the words were stuck on her tongue. "She's forgiven Klaus?"

Tell the fucking truth.

"It's true," her heart skipped a beat.

Elijah didn't get a chance to address the obvious lie before they were interrupted. Crystal rang, cutting off the low chatter of the assembled townsfolk and drawing their attention to the stairs where Esther stood with a glass of red-tinted champagne in her hand. He was too busy watching his mother to notice that Elena's eyes were at the foot of the staircase.

She stared at Klaus as Esther spoke about the joys of a family reunited. She willed him to turn around and look at her. To read the panic she hoped was shining in her eyes and rush out of the mansion after her to find out what was wrong, but he was listening to his mother.

He was listening to his mother and she was panicking. Thanks to Finn she wasn't allowed to freak out over the ritual while she was in the presence of Elijah, but that didn't stop her from trembling on the inside because there was more for her to freak out about then Klaus and his siblings dying at the hands of their mother; there was a potential mass of cells swirling deep inside her creating a human being, or something resembling a human being.

Eighteen years old and potentially pregnant by her vampire-werewolf mate while said mate's mother wanted to kill him was something to freak out about; she had also done some quick math on her way down the stairs that had her head spinning.

More than anything she wanted someone to see her anxiety and hopefully misinterpret it, but Klaus still hadn't turned around.

"Cheers," Esther lifted her glass with a tight lipped smile.

She turned back around when she sensed Elijah moving and clinked her glass with his when he said 'cheers'. She wanted him to see her anxiety, but her body was calm when she looked at him; a by-product of Finn's compulsion.

She lifted the glass to her lips when Elijah hesitated and pressed her mouth firmly to the glass. She tipped the flute up but no liquid passed through her lips.

In that moment she was torn. On the one hand she didn't want him to drink and complete the ritual, but on the other hand if he didn't Esther might take it out on her and there was a really good chance she was right about the baby. Nobody was going to hurt her baby and that included her, so she couldn't drink.

He didn't notice and sipped his own champagne.

Damn it, she dropped the flute on a passing tray.

"Excuse me," she cleared her throat, "I think I need some air… I feel a little light headed." She didn't wait for his reply before slipping out into the night.

She sucked in greedy mouthfuls of the cold air and shivered; the goosebumps lifted on her skin, forming tiny bumps. Her black shawl was draped over her shoulders.

She relaxed for a beat. Her charm bracelet slipped from her palm as she tugged the material closed, but her sense of ease evaporated a moment later because it wasn't Klaus who had broken the rules of the evening and followed her outside.

"Come on," Damon took her elbow, "we're leaving. You can tell me all about what Esther wanted on the drive home."

"Let go of me," she tried to pull her arm back but he was too strong for her. Her eyes looked back over the crushed rock but she couldn't see her bracelet; it was even harder when Damon guided her into the seat.

He hopped in the other side of the Camaro and turned over the engine.

"I can walk on my own Damon," she sighed, "I've been doing it successfully for seventeen years now."

"You didn't look like you could have taken a step without keeling over," Damon scoffed.

From the corner of her eye she spotted Elijah on the steps.

Damon was peeling out of the driveway when Klaus knelt on the gravel and picked up a length of silver. Several charms hung from the chain, but the one that caught his eyes was a broken heart.

They were passing through town when she saw the glowing sign indicating an all-night convenience store.

"Pull in here," she pointed.

"Why?" Damon cocked an eyebrow. "You taking up smoking now? That's bad for your health."

"I need to pick something up," she reached for her seatbelt before he'd even put the car in park.

"What do you need that can't possibly wait until morning?" He stopped the car and turned to look at her, eyes roaming over the sparkling bodice of her dress and full skirt.

"Just… stuff," she pushed open the door and got to her feet. She made it three steps before she stopped and groaned.

"There it is," Damon called through the window. "You don't have a purse Elena."

She knew exactly where her wallet sat on her nightstand, but if she went home and then back out she'd have to answer Jenna's questions.

"Damon," she turned back with what she hoped was a smile, "may I borrow twenty dollars, and I will pay you back when you drop me off."

"Tell me what you need," he got out of the car.

She panicked and said the first thing, it probably the only thing that would keep him from following her inside, that came to her mind.

"I'm out of tampons, okay?" She snapped. "Is that alright with you?" She recognized that her tone did not suit the situation and added it to the list of symptoms that she needed to confirm, but Damon took it as a sign of PMS and handed her a crisp twenty.

"I'll just wait in the car."

She kicked off her heels the second she stepped through the door and nearly sobbed in relief. She bent slightly, lifted the hem of her skirt and started up the stairs.

Normally she would have been ticked off that Damon was hovering, but her light head and shaking legs made her grateful; especially when she stumbled on the stairs and he caught her under the arms.

"Thanks," she murmured, clenching the paper bag tightly in her hand; it crinkled between her fingers. He followed her up the stairs with a look of concern on his face.

She stepped into her bedroom and placed the paper bag on the bed and got out a ten to replace the money she had borrowed.

"Are you alright?" He frowned when she nodded absentmindedly.

"I just wanna get out of this dress," she reached behind her for the zipper. It was awkward because she had picked up the bag again.

She moved around him into the bathroom and shut the door. Her fingers found the zipper and the material pooled around her feet. Her strapless bra followed the dress. She knew she should shower and wash the hairspray out but she just reached for the grey Henley in the drawer. It fell to the middle of her thighs.

She tore into the cardboard box she had purchased and ripped off the plastic wrap. She uncapped the lid and shimmied out of her panties: a black lace thong she had donned when she had fantasized about him catching her in some private room of the mansion during the party.

She was washing her hands when Damon called through the door, effectively distracting her from the ticking seconds.

"What did Esther want?"

It was over. It was done, and even if it wasn't she knew Damon wouldn't try to stop it.

"She wants to kill them all," she choked on the words, tears forming in her eyes. "She used my blood to link them together as one."

"Great." She could hear the grin in his voice; it fell away as he kept speaking. "Why do you sound like you just watched someone shoot a panda?"

She knew she had to tell him. She had sworn to herself that she was done lying. She had only planned to continue keeping the secret from Jenna; at least until she left for college when it would have been less strange to see her dating an older guy.

She had to tell Damon though. She suspected Caroline already knew; her friend played dumb at times, but she was one of the most perceptive people Elena had ever met.

"I don't want them to die," she whispered, knowing he could hear her. "Klaus and I…" the closed door gave her the courage to say the words because she knew there was a barrier between her and Damon which she would need because he was likely going to break something; probably the bathroom door. "Klaus and I are together."

"Come again?" She heard the confusion in his voice and suspected he thought he had heard wrong no matter how impossible the scenario was. "I think I must have had too much to drink tonight. You're together… together as in…?"

She chewed her bottom lip and stared at her reflection as she wiped off her light makeup. Dating wasn't the right word. Committed came closer to the truth, but she didn't want to lie anymore. She had lied enough that night.

"I'm his… mate…"

It was the first time she had said it out loud, and it felt good; it felt right.

"We've been together for the last month," she dropped her eyes to the counter. The dual lines in the tiny screen meant she nearly missed Damon's reaction, but it was impossible not to notice a bathroom door being pushed off its hinges.

"You're sleeping with Klaus?" He shrieked.

Elena counted her blessings that Jeremy wasn't home and Jenna was out with Alaric.

She nodded.

"You're sleeping with the enemy?" His eyes narrowed in an icy glare.

"He's not my enemy Damon," she shook her head.

"He killed you," he scoffed. "He killed you and used your blood to make hybrids. He's probably just compelled you to believe whatever crap he told you about being his mate so you wouldn't fight back or run."

"He hasn't made a hybrid in months," Elena shook her head. Her fingers curled around the thin stick, "and Klaus hasn't compelled me."

Damon noticed.

"I might not be an expert on the matter but I'm pretty sure that's not a tampon," he snatched the box from the counter, reading the label. He then grabbed the stick from her hand and read the results before she could protest. "Who else are you sleeping with?"

"Nobody," she took the stick back. "I've only been with Klaus."

"There's gotta be someone else," Damon followed her into the bedroom. "Otherwise he inseminated you while you were sleeping."

"Not that this is any of your business Damon," she sat on the edge of the bed, "but the baby is his. His mother confirmed it tonight before she had Finn compel me not to interfere with her ritual: vampires can't procreate but wolves can."

Elena wanted to sink back on her bed and call Klaus. She wanted him to come in through her front door and tell him everything because now that the ritual was over she could. She wanted to find a way to stop Esther because she couldn't lose him. He and his siblings, who were by no means innocent, didn't deserve to die.

"I…" the words were on the tip of her tongue, but it felt wrong saying them to Damon, or anyone, before she said them to him. "He's important to me, and I can't let him die. I don't want to hurt his siblings either. Esther's spell will kill them all."

"You don't know what you're saying," he shook his head.

"I know that even if you hate Klaus you'll want to protect Rebekah." Elena pushed her hands through her hair. She felt her frustration grow with his disdainful tone; it was clear he couldn't have cared less about the Original sister. "There's got to be a way to stop it."

"Stefan will get over her if her death means killing Klaus," Damon scoffed. "You're forgetting how much he hates Klaus. Why the hell would you want to stop it?"

And because she was tired, and cranky, and scared she got to her feet and said it; her teeth clenched together and her fingers curled into fists.

"Because I love him!"

"No you don't," Damon shook his head. He grabbed her arms and used his body to pin her to the nightstand.

"I do," she glared up at him.

"No you don't," he growled. "You don't love him. You've never loved him, and you've never been 'involved' with him because you hate him. Klaus Mikaelson is a monster Elena, and that's exactly how you see him." He pushed a hand through his hair; exasperation shone in his eyes. "Just get some rest and forget I was here."

She exhaled in a rush when he let her go and dropped onto the bed. When she looked up Damon was gone.

Her eyes fell to the thin stick in her hand before darting to the vibrating phone on her nightstand. She read the caller ID and felt her stomach knot.

Ignoring the call she crossed to her window and turned the lock, pulling the curtains shut. Her phone was still vibrating when she layed back down. It continued, pausing for a few seconds between calls, for an hour.

She just stared at it and fingered the soft material of her large t-shirt, inhaling the comforting scent; for the life of her she couldn't remember where the Henley had come from.

Jeremy groped blindly for the phone and nearly fell out of bed. He righted himself and answered the call.

"'lo?" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes; he floated on the edge of consciousness until the brisk accent brought him awake. "How'd'ya ge' my number?"

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, padding silently down the hall and pushing open Elena's bedroom door. The voice on the other side of the line making him confident stepping inside was safe.

"She's not answering cause she's sleeping," Jeremy rolled his eyes. He tilted his head and listened to the voice, only getting about half of the words. "She probly jus' fell 'sleep when she go' home," he tried to stifle his yawn. When he could speak again he rubbed the back of his head. "She was sick earlier; she'll call back tomorrow."

"No I'm not gonna wake her up. Last time I woke her up for you I nearly lost a limb. She'll call back tomorrow."

He hung up after the grudging agreement and stood there a moment longer, staring down at his sister in a daze until she moved. One eye cracked open enough to see who was watching her. She sleepily patted the side of the bed and he did something he hadn't done since they were kids; he walked around and stretched out on the other side of his sister.

He was going to ask if she was feeling any better, but he drifted off before he could open his mouth.

Every instinct told him to break open her window and tear back the curtains, but common decency said no. She had shut him out for the night, and even though it killed him to not see her he respected her decision.

It helped that he could hear Jeremy's heart beat coming from her room and knew that someone was watching over her. They could talk about his mother in the morning.

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