Elena looked up to find Klaus leaning against the door frame, a smirk on his face. She hadn't seen him since he left for New Orleans after Hayley had gotten pregnant and now here he was, set to kill her all over again.
"Hello, brother. Won't you join us for dessert and a drink?" Elijah gestured to one of the servers to bring up another chair and the offered item.
Klaus took the chair and leaned against the back as he stared at Elena.
"So, you're Klaus," Jenna coldly.
"I am. And judging by your reaction, you've heard about me." Klaus looked at her from under his lashes, his smirk fully in place.
"I've heard enough."
"Your family, do they know what you've offered to do?"
"Getting right to the point, aren't we?" Elena snorted. Why was she trying to save this man again? Oh, right, his daughter. His little girl needed him as her father and not as a ghost that would haunt her for her entire life.
"I don't see the point in wasting time being polite."
"Fair enough, and they know, which is why Jenna doesn't like you. And if you don't follow my rules, too bad so sad, you're not breaking your curse for another five hundred years."
"So, what does a powerful witch, such as yourself have to gain by helping me?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.
"That's my business. Just know that I have no plans on screwing you over, provided you only kill the people I say you may in the sacrifice."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because I know where Mikael is and I think it'd be fitting that he die to break the curse he forced your mother to put on you, provided you release your siblings from their confinements."
Klaus laughed then, "I'll have to think over your terms, but I do like you. What about the werewolf?"
"I've got one in mind," Elijah said. "A disgusting creature with a taste for children in every way."
"So, you already have my werewolf, my vampire, my doppelganger, and I'm assuming you know where the moonstone is."
"We have it too," Elena confirmed.
Klaus leaned back in his seat, studying her carefully.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Perhaps a turn about the gardens, if you don't mind." Klaus stood up. Glancing at his brother, he added, "Alone."
"Niklaus."
At the same time, Ryan and Jeremy protested, "Elena!"
"He's got no use for me dead until he's ready to break the curse and harming me now means I won't cooperate later." Elena rubbed Elijah's arm and gave her brother, son, and aunt a reassuring smile.
"I really do like her, Elijah. She's much smarter than Katerina." Klaus pulled out Elena's chair and gestured for her to head towards the door.
They walked in silence until they reached the fountain, the bubbling water the only sound in the garden besides their shoes and the night animals scurrying about.
"Why?" Klaus asked finally.
"Why what?"
"Why help me? Why cooperate?"
"For Elijah. He wants his family whole and the best way to do that is to help you break your curse." While it wasn't the whole truth, it was enough of the truth that he wouldn't be able to detect any deceit in her words.
"What is my brother to you?"
"I love him."
"Why? We're monsters, Elena. Make no mistake, beneath that suit, my brother is as much of a beast as I am."
"I know. I've been behind the red door."
"Is it because you thought he could save you from me?"
"No." Elena snorted at the notion. "He didn't find me. I looked for him once I found out about you, your family, and the curse with the full intention of facing you because I knew that if anyone could help make sure this goes off without a hitch, it's him."
"So why fall for him?"
Elena thought back over her relationship with Elijah, trying to pinpoint the moment she'd fallen in love with him, then said, "Because he was there for me when I was at my most vulnerable and broken. He caught me when I was falling into myself and thought I might never stop. Then, he helped me put the pieces of me back together. He never once asked me to be more than I am and even at my lowest, I've always been enough for him."
"So nothing mysterious, no magical reasoning? No, 'he's my soulmate' crap?" Klaus snickered.
"You've been reading too many young adult romances, Klaus."
"I was insulted that she thought vampires sparkle."
"Yet you still read the books?" Elena raised an eyebrow at him.
Klaus laughed, then his expression turned serious once more as he said, "I know what my brother sees in you because you're everything he's admired his entire life, starting back when we were human. You're courageous, loyal to family, intelligent, and compassionate. But what was it about my big brother that caught your eye?"
"He is my safe harbor in the storm I've found myself in and as I got to know him, I fell in love with the man he tries to hide from everyone, even his own family at times. He's like me in all the ways I want and different from me in all the ways I need him to be. No, we're not perfect, and we will probably fight over something or other, namely him being so ashamed of the monster he can be that he make himself forget what he's done, but that's just what love is. It's growing together and helping the other person become better versions of themselves."
"Hmm." Klaus stared at the fountain for a long time, his brows furrowed.
"I love your brother, Klaus. And because I love him, I'll do whatever I can to help you, because he loves you and you being happy makes him happy."
"He means to give you the resuscitation potion, doesn't he?"
"Yes."
Klaus considered this for a long moment, then said, "I won't stop him or fight him on this."
"Return your siblings to him and I'll believe you."
"I'll return Rebekah. Kol and Finn stay down until I'm no longer cursed, though as soon as Mikael is dead, I promise to free them."
"I can live with that." Elena agreed. "Once she is released, I'll give you Mikael's location."
"You really do love him." Klaus snickered suddenly. "My stoic, big brother tripping over himself in a way I haven't seen him do, not even with his most intense affairs."
"Just you wait, Niklaus Mikaelson, one day, some woman is gonna send you spinning and you won't know up from down." Elena honestly couldn't wait for Klaus to meet Caroline, but the matter of Hayley and Hope might complicate that situation, though hopefully not too much.
Klaus laughed, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Have you ever met anyone like that? Someone who's knocked you for six?"
"Honestly, they've all blurred together over the years, I can hardly tell one from another, and certainly none that I was willing to change my ways for, at least in any measure that would create lasting affects." He grinned devilishly
"None of them stand out in your mind? At all?" Elena raised an eyebrow.
"If any of them mattered, I'd have taken steps to ensure they remained by my side. Those that are alive proved to be either annoying little chits, or madder than a hatter on a hot summer day. And if they died, I don't care enough to mourn them."
"So there's not one woman who managed to make the great Klaus Mikaelson's heart beat a little faster?"
"None that had anything to do with love since I was newly turned."
"No wife, no girlfriend?"
"I'm a free agent and proud to be." Klaus tilted his head. "Why this curiosity in my personal affairs? You're not thinking of adding me to your stable of lovers, are you?"
"No, I'm not Katherine. I don't like being shared, nor do I have a stable."
"And yet, you allow yourself to be shared between my brother and another man."
"Are you talking about Ryan?" Elena raised an eyebrow. Maybe she'd pushed too far in trying to get Klaus to reveal his past, but she needed to be sure that she was encouraging Caroline towards a man who was truly free to give his heart, once he remembered he still had one.
"A pretty young man I've never met before and I know isn't a part of your family sitting beside you, acting like you mean the world to him? Who else would I be talking about?"
"It's complicated and a story Ryan's not willing to share just yet, but what I can tell you is that to free him from a father who reminded Elijah very much of Mikael, I severed their connection and bound him to me with my blood, making him my son. So yes, he is a part of my family."
"You severed a parental connection? How is that even possible?" Klaus asked, confused.
"Ryan had an unconventional beginning," Elena replied cryptically. "If you want to know more, you're going to have to ask him about it. But no, Elijah doesn't feel like he's sharing me because what I feel for Ryan is the love of a mother for her son and Ryan returns that sentiment, and Elijah's taken to viewing him as a son as well."
"Elijah always wanted to be a father," Klaus mused more to himself than to Elena.
"I think you did too. You just let yourself forget that."
"Shall we?" He gestured towards the house, his expression thoughtful. "Before Elijah worries himself sick over what I'm doing to you."
"Elijah knows that you want to break your curse enough to keep from harming me before it's time to kill me and he knows I can handle myself. While that won't keep him from being concerned, he won't be biting his nails in worry when we get back."
When they returned to the table, everyone except for Elijah exhaled in relief. Just like Elena had said, he wasn't overly concerned that she'd been alone with his brother.
"I've agreed to release Rebekah," Klaus said as he sat down. "Once she is settled here, Elena will give me Mikael's location on the promise that once my curse is lifted, I return my brothers to the land of the living."
"Which should be this next full moon."
"No," Jenna cut in. "Not until she's eighteen."
"Eighteen. Why eighteen?"
"So I can keep my promise to her parents, that I would raise her and Jeremy to the best of my ability. Once she turns eighteen, then she's free to do as she likes. But until then, she's still under my authority and I say she has to wait."
"You're telling me what to do?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.
"I am. Elena waits until she's eighteen to die."
Klaus gave a long suffering sigh.
"Niklaus, you've waited this long. What's another few weeks just to make sure the plan goes off without a hitch?"
"Very well. I can wait."
"And Elena will survive?" Jenna confirmed.
"She will. It would be a waste to allow a witch as powerful as she is to remain dead."
When Jenna's face darkened and she opened her mouth to speak again, Elena caught her eye and shook her head. Klaus needed to still feel in charge and by allowing him to present everything like he controlled the situation completely would make him less likely to act out.
Klaus pulled out his phone and sent a text, then waited.
"Greta will be bringing Rebekah here this evening and you'll give her Mikael's location," Klaus said.
"Alright," Elena agreed.
"Perhaps Rebekah would like to accompany Caroline on her next trip to Roanoke," Elijah suggested. "Caroline was asking me when I thought it would be safe for her to take a day trip and with Rebekah needing a new wardrobe, it won't feel so much like she's being babysat."
"She'd like that."
"I haven't even brought her in and you've already planned out the next few weeks of her life." Klaus chuckled.
"She's a teenage girl who's ninety years behind on the fashions. I think she'd appreciate having someone lend her a hand." Elijah raised an eyebrow at his brother and Klaus had the audacity to smile at him.
"So, Jer, got any plans this weekend?" Elena asked, desperate to change the subject in an effort to keep the brothers from going at it with humans around.
"Um, Matt, Tyler, and I were planning on going target practicing with Matt's new rifle." Jeremy glanced over at the two vampires staring each other down then at Elena.
Elena sighed and rolled her eyes, then tilted her head towards Ryan just enough that her son wouldn't pick up on what she was trying to do. She just hoped that Jeremy understood what she wanted without her having to spell it out.
Fortunately, Jeremy caught on to what she wanted and asked, "Hey, Ryan, you wanna come along?"
"Who would you say that I am if I did go with you and your friends?"
"He could be one of my cousins, recently come to live with me." Elijah leaned back in his chair so he could see Elena and Ryan both without turning his head.
"No," Elena shook her head. "Ryan will be presented as my family. We'll say he's a cousin from my biological mother's side of the family. My bio parents will go along with it if we tell them that he's actually my son."
"And it would make sense why he'd be out with Jeremy so soon after only just coming into town," Jenna agreed.
"So, will you come? It'll just be me, Matt, and Tyler. Matt's human and Tyler's a werewolf, but Matt doesn't know about everything so you can just be my human cousin, if you want."
Ryan glanced at Elena, his expression nervous.
"If something happens or you need to leave, you or Jeremy can text me." She wanted her son to be able to experience more of life than she could show him in her present state of 'teenage girl,' though she knew that pushing him would result in him recoiling back in on himself.
"Okay. I'll go."
"Awesome." Jeremy grinned.
"Tell Tyler that I said he'd better behave. I know, Ryan, you can take care of yourself, but Tyler can be an ass sometimes."
Elena rubbed his back lightly, wishing she could do something to ease the tension there. Maybe once he saw that he could have friends who might actually like him he'd learn to relax a little once in a while. At least she hoped so.
"I'll pass the word."
Klaus pulled out his phone again, his brows furrowing.
"Is something the matter, Niklaus?"
"Greta has informed me that several werewolves have heard that there will be a way to no longer be a slave to the full moon and they want in. One is actually here now and wants to meet."
No sooner had the words left his mouth that someone knocked on the door and Elijah gestured for one of the catering staff.
"Would you mind escorting them in?" he asked, his request laced with a mild compulsion.
"Of course not."
While they waited for their newest guests, Elena headed over to the sideboard and pulled out a pen and piece of paper. On it, she wrote down the location for Mikael's current resting place and handed it to Klaus.
"As promised," she said.
"Thank you, Elena." Klaus took the paper, a sadistic grin forming as he read the slip.
Before he could say anything though, Greta entered the room followed by Rebekah, who raced over to Elijah and flung her arms around his neck as he held her close.
"Greta says you bargained for my freedom."
"It wasn't me. It was Elena. Niklaus let you out early as a show of good faith, but she's negotiated for all of you to be released." Elijah nodded towards her and Rebekah gave her a wobbly smile.
But Elena's attention was fixated on the person who'd come in with the witch and the vampire, someone Elena wasn't expecting to see for another few months at least. Hayley Marshall.