The next day was spent gathering as much information as they could about The Order; Bonnie was studying the grimoires, Elijah had gotten in touch with a few of his old contacts that he had turned when he was a young vampire and Klaus and Elena went to visit Marcel and Davina, it had been a while since they had saw each other, it was time to see if they learnt anything.
They had just arrived at the compound, Marcel and Davina where waiting at the gate; Elena was excited to see them, she had grew close to them since having been in a few life threatening situations together, Klaus still held onto wanting to reclaim the quarter from Marcel but he was holding it back, Elena wasn't even sure if she wanted to stay in New Orleans anymore, not since the offer of travelling with Klaus became an option.
"It's good to see you both," Elena pulled them both into a small group hug, all smiles all around, "how are you doing?"
"We've been doing alright, there's been very little activity around here," Marcel spoke, a small smile curled up on his lips.
"That's why we came here, we need to talk," Elena spoke, her phone turning serious.
"We?" Marcel asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Klaus is here, he's parking the car somewhere else so no-one knows we're here, don't worry, he'll behave," a small smile appeared on her lips, an attempt to reassure them.
"Of course I will," Klaus appeared beside Elena with a sinister smirk spread across his lips, he slipped his arm around her waist and he spoke sarcastically, "I'll be good, I swear."
"Stop it," she nudged him slightly, rolling her eyes, "ignore him, we're just here to talk but we need to get inside before someone spots us."
"Come on in," Marcel held his arm towards the compound, gesturing for them to enter and invited them into his home, they all quickly walked inside and he sealed the gate behind them; they all went into the main building to the seating area, the courtyard was still quite exposed, once they had all sat down, Elena started.
"The reason it's been so quiet is I made a deal with The Order, there was to be no attacking any of my friends or loved ones, in return, on the night of the full moon, we have to go willingly and complete this ritual to basically kill all supernatural beings," Elena explained.
She went on to further delve into the entire situation and give all the information they had, it took a short while but they where completely caught up and understanding, Davina was surprised the most, she was only young, her biggest fight had been Esther but she was only a witch, something she was used to but not an entire group of ancient supernaturals.
"What have you learnt since the kidnapping?" Elena asked, her attention on both Davina and Marcel.
"Only that there power has been growing, I've been sensing magic coming from the old farmhouse, I think that's what they call the building they took us to; anyway, there has been some smaller rituals and spells but nothing off the charts, a few vampires have gone missing in the last few days and there isn't even a trace of them in the quarter," Davina spoke.
"They took vampires?" Klaus reiterated and turned his attention to Elena, "now why would they do that?"
"They hate vampires," Elena's brow furrowed out of confusion, before she turned her gaze back to them, "who where they?"
"They where recently turned, I needed more night walkers but every time I turn someone, they vanish," Marcel responded.
"How strange," Klaus muttered under his breath.
"We might need your help before the night of the full moon, there's 13 of them and only 5 of us, we could use all the help we can get," Elena spoke.
"Of course, anything you need," Marcel responded, his voice filled with confidence.
"Anything, Elena, I owe you," Davina spoke causing Elena to smile at her words, she admired her bravery.
"Thank you," she reached out with both hands and placed them on one of each of there hands, "if anything happens, call me, got it?"
"I will," Davina smiled kindly towards her, "be careful, Elena."
Klaus and Elena stood from there chairs and turned around to head out the door, Marcel and Davina followed closely behind and saw them out.
"Oh, wait," Elena quickly spoke and turned her attention back to Marcel, "I should let you know, I have a friend in town, she's a witch, she's helping us with The Order."
"Thanks for letting me know," he responded.
"Bye, guys," Elena gave them both another hug before she joined Klaus once more, she took his hand and they started walking down the street, "where did you park?"
"Just up the street."
-w-
Once they had located the car and drove back, they met everyone in the mansion; Elijah had no luck with any of his contacts, they had only ever heard of The Order and there wasn't too much information circulating about them, Kol and Rebekah had been helping Bonnie with the grimoires, there wasn't much else they could do, everything about the order was shroud in mystery.
Elena and Klaus joined them in Elijah's study, there was books everywhere and notebooks full of Bonnie's research, Elena was shocked by how much she had accomplished in one morning; she found Bonnie with her head buried in another book, this collection of grimoires looked the oldest, they where tattered and torn and full of symbols and spells Elena couldn't fathom.
"Should I ask?" She spoke, a small smile on her face filled with amusement.
Bonnie chuckled slightly at her confusion, all of this was normal to her now, the things she couldn't translate, Kol and Rebekah could, they where quite the team, "most of these are just some of her spells, there's some interesting combinations of ingredients like herbs and natural items, she was quite the witch."
"She was incredible with her magic, she done things no other witch would dream off, she had an edge about her," Rebekah commented, she enjoyed going through her mothers things, it reminded her of a time before vampirism, when they where children and everything was perfect.
"Yet even our all powerful mother couldn't resist the temptation of dark magic," Klaus responded, his voice filled with regret, "if she had never delved into such evil, none of this would be occurring right now."
"Then there would be no vampires and I would never have met you, you would have died approximately 900 years ago," Elena smiled, walking towards him and placing a soft kiss on his cheek, "everything happens for a reason."
"You're my reason," a small grin appeared on his lips and he pulled her into him, landing his lips on hers.
"Are they always like this?" Bonnie questioned, her face scrunching up in disgust.
"This isn't even the half of it, it's nauseating," Rebekah shook her head slightly, averting her gaze back onto the books.
"Gross," Bonnie muttered under her breath, the two girls laughing away at them but they had learnt to tune it out at this point.
"We should help them," Elena spoke, briefly breaking there kiss, much to her dismay.
"You're right," he cupped her face with his hands, his eyes locked onto hers, "but I'm taking you out tonight, we should get away from all this for one night so I can actually spend time with you."
"We can't do that, everyone here will need our help," she said half-heartedly, she wanted to spend time with him more than anything, there relationship had been tested lately and she missed him.
"Please, go," Rebekah stated, "give us a break from the constant affection."
"We'll be fine here for a couple of hours, I can call you if anything turns up," Bonnie suggested, she wanted nothing more than to see her friend happy.
"Are you sure?" She looked between her friends and none objected, a small grin appeared on her lips as she turned her gaze back to Klaus.
"It's a date, then," he brought her back into him and placed his lips on hers once again, everyone in the room scoffed and made noises of disapproval, Rebekah went as far as throwing cushions at them and the room filled with laughter.
"Okay, I get it, let's help," Elena laughed coyly before releasing Klaus from her embrace and standing beside Bonnie, she picked up her nearest book and opened it to the first page, "what can I do?"
-w-
After hours spent combing through every book, diary and grimoire, Bonnie finally came to a solution, she had everything wrote down and ready; the whole family went into the living room and sat down, Bonnie placed the notebook onto the table and opened it to the first page.
"The Order isn't 13 people, the additional members are only for the purpose of the ritual, the vampires mainly, only two of the werewolves are important because there bloodline stretches as far as back as pre-vampire, only the witches have the power to bring forth this utopia, the number 13 is a powerful one in witchcraft," Bonnie started to explain, she had learnt a lot.
"So, if we kill the vampires we can stop the ritual?" Elijah sat with a straight back and an eager to learn expression on his face.
"Yes, in theory but there would be nothing stopping them from completing the ritual next month, all they'd need is a couple of vampires from the quarter," she answered, "The Order is just the witches and the kicker, they can't be killed permanently, magic never dies, it just goes back into the earth, if they complete the spell they did the first time to come back, they'd return when the person that killed them died."
"Mother knew this but she couldn't kill them in time," Elijah spoke.
"Yes and if they're smart enough, they will complete that spell within plenty of time before the ritual."
"What if we can contain there magic when they die? Instead of it being released into the earth, ready for them to take once they're resurrected?" Elena pondered a thought.
"That would stop them from coming back but how do we channel there magic?" Bonnie continued.
"Like the harvest.." Elena trailed off, her gaze averting to Klaus, "the spell used during the harvest transferred the magic of the 3 girls into Davina, what if we do the same? Just find something or someone to harvest the magic into."
"That could work!" Bonnie exclaimed, rather excitedly, "all you would have to do done then is kill them and once they're dead because they won't have access to there magic anymore, they'll never return."
"One point, we can't put the magic in Davina, she can barely control the power she's got now, we'll kill her," Elena stated, her mind made up, "there has to be someone else."
"Anyone can harvest the magic," Bonnie spoke, "well, except vampires, they can't have magic."
"Isn't there something besides a human or a witch we can channel the magic into? A mystical item or anything?" Rebekah interjected.
"I'll think of something," Bonnie concluded.
"We have a plan," Klaus exclaimed, he was starting to feel hope for actually winning this battle, "we'll go to the farmhouse as agreed to in our deal, we'll play along long enough for Bonnie to complete the harvest spell, then we kill them all."
"All we need now is the harvest spell," Bonnie responded.
"Leave that to me, I'll talk to Davina and Marcel," Elena suggested, a small smile curling up on her lips, she liked how she was finally involved in the battle, usually she's left in the dark.
"I'll come with you," Klaus spoke, his eyes locked on Elena's, "just in case."
"We'll do everything tomorrow," Bonnie spoke, turning her attention to Elena, "tonight, you two are going out, we'll stay here and finalise a few details and you both get to enjoy each other's company."
"We can't go now, Bon, there's too much to do," Elena protested.
"There isn't anything you can do until tomorrow, so please go and have fun," Her best friend pleaded with her, she could see how much it hurt her having to deal with the vampire drama constantly, especially when all she wants to do is live a normal life with Klaus.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, she's sure," Klaus interjected, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, "it's only a few hours, we need this."
"I feel gu-"
"Stop," Bonnie cut her sentence short, "don't feel guilty, now go and get ready, that's an order."
Elena just chuckled slightly and rolled her eyes, "fine, I'm going."
"Finally, a night without constant affection rubbed in our faces," Rebekah mused, a small smirk curled up on her lip.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do before we leave?" Elena spoke as she walked towards the living room door.
"Go!" They all exclaimed,chasing Elena from the room.
"Fine, I'm going," she smiled out of amusement and scurried out of the room, straight up the stairs and into her room; she rummaged through all of her clothes, most of her stuff was new but nothing seemed good enough.
She was throwing clothes onto the bed and trying to mix and match outfits, she was uninspired by most of the options she had;in the end, she had to settle with a dress, this one was a skin tight bodycon dress that accentuated all of her curves and features, it was strapless and black.
She slipped into it quickly and grabbed her black, strappy heels out of the closet, tucking her feet into them and adjusting herself in the mirror; she let her hair fall down her back like a blanket that hugged at her skin and touched her makeup up slightly.
All ready to go, she grabbed her black clutch from the dressing table and filled it with the essentials; her cell phone, lipgloss and purse, before heading out of the bedroom and joining the others in the living room. Klaus was ready, he had been 30 minutes ago, it doesn't take long him for him to throw a suit on.
"You look beautiful," he spoke, his voice mesmerised by her beauty, he offered her his arm and she took it, a wide grin spread across her face, "as always."
"You look handsome yourself," she followed him out of the living room and towards the front door, he opened it and she walked outside; he was a true gentlemen, he opened the car door, helped her slide into the passengers seat and closed the door once again, he used his speed to appear next to her in the drivers seat and he drove off.
The drive hadn't been as long as she expected, they engaged In a casual conversation and both agreed not to talk about The Order or end of world topics during there evening together; at night, the French quarter was lit up beautifully, it was lively and everyone was happy, Klaus had took them to a quieter part of town and stopped in front of a restaurant called 'Orleans grapevine wine bar and bistro'.
He opened the car door for her and took her hand, leading her inside the restaurant, it was definitely fancier than she was used too and a part of her felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb; Klaus had handled the reservations and they where being taken to there seats by the waiter, once seated, he handed over two food menus and a drinks menu.
Elena was admiring the restaurant, it was very open and quaint, flowers in every table and the cleanest she'd seen a bar since moving here, there was plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed a fresh feel, she was very happy with his choice of restaurant.
"Bottle of your finest red," Klaus spoke, his voice was firm and sophisticated, he took a 50 note out of his pocket and handed it to the waiter, he always tipped generously.
"Of course," he scurried away, leaving only the two of them for a few brief few minutes.
"I'm happy we're doing this," Elena spoke coyly, her voice soft and her eyes locked on his, "I've missed spending time with you."
"As do I," Klaus spoke, a small smile spread on his lips; Elena watched as he averted his eyes to his surroundings, trying to keep watch presumably in case something bad was to happen, she simply placed her hand on top of his in attempt to reassure him.
"You don't have to worry, I'm sure we'll be safe here," her voice was calm and soothing but he didn't seem to be reassured.
"I'm sure you're right-"
"Here's your wine, sir," the waiter interrupted him mid-sentence, causing Klaus to sit back in his chair and fake a smile as he poured the two glasses to the top.
"Thank you," Elena spoke, shooting him a courteous smile.
"Can I take your food order now?" He was polite and well spoken, clearly worked hard and loved his job.
"I'll have the lamb," Elena closed the menu and passed it to him.
"Good choice," he took the menu and slid it into the gap between his arm and his chest before jotting down her order, "you, sir?"
"I'll just have the steak, rare," after handing the waiter his menu back and watching him walk to the kitchen, he turned his attention back on Elena, he tried to push his concern for her safety to the back of his mind but it always present.
"Are you sure everything's alright?" Elena asked, her hand resting on his once again.
"Of course, I actually have the chance to spent the night with you," his lips curled up into a smile and he took her hand, "I've missed this and as foolish as it may seem considering I see you everyday, I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," her cheeks began to feel warm as they changed to a light red shade, his words and kindness still made her heart flutter.
"Things between us haven't felt the same since The Order attacked," he felt slightly nervous bringing up this topic, it was hard for him to be so open about his feelings in general, never mind one's so close to his heart.
"We promised we weren't going to talk about them tonight or anything that could potentially spoil our date night," she brought his glass to her lips and took a large sip.
"We're not talking about them, we're talking about us," his gaze locked onto hers, the grip he had of her hand became tighter, "I think our biggest fault is that we don't address our issues and the distance between us lately has to be something we can discuss."
His words took her by surprise, they had previously spoke about there relationship in the past but never so easily, "of course we can talk but I'm not sure what you mean by the distance between us lately, we see each other everyday."
"You know what I mean, Elena, I think you're still troubled by what happened," he couldn't mix words or tread on egg shells any longer, he was straight to the point.
"I'm not," her eyes flickered away from his for a long moment, her voice was softening and she could feel a wave of emotion wash over her, "everything is fine, Nik."
"Look me in the eyes and tell me everything is fine and that I'm just being paranoid," he reached for her other hand, holding them both as she moved her gaze back onto his, she could feel herself become overwhelmed and she couldn't say the words, something was physically stopping her from speaking, "Elena?"
"I can't," she snapped herself back to the moment and forced herself to talk, she appreciated how open he was being and she should be able to do the same but she was struggling.
"Tell me what it is," his tone of voice was soft and all he wanted to do was fix things, he could tell she was harbouring something, whether she knew it or not.
"It's not that simple," she became slightly defensive, "I didn't think there was anything wrong until now, I'm trying to forget about it all and move on but I can't, I keep being reminded of it and I don't know how talking can help."
"It will help, I need to know how I can fix this."
"I don't know how," she tried to relax herself and stop being so defensive but she couldn't, she was ambushed with this conversation when she was expecting a quiet date night, "all I do know is I'm not giving up on us and I love you, no matter what."
"I'll always love you, more than anything on this earth but I need you to be happy."
"I don't know how to get back to the way we where, Nik, you acted like a jerk for weeks, avoided me, pushed me away and then you took me again and put me in those tunnels, even though it was against your will, it still reminded me of a side of you that I haven't seen in a long time, it brought everything back and then when we escaped The Order, it was breakfast in bed and long walks through the park, big talks and promises of travel and a whole new life, yet we still talk about staying here and how we have a big apocalyptic fight in a couple of days and it's all just too much,"
"Elena, I-"
"I can't hear you say you're sorry again," she shook her head slightly and a small sigh escaped her lips, "because I do forgive you, I'm not angry, I love you and I could never give up on us, it'll just take time to be like we where."
"What can I do to fix this?" He asked, a glimmer of desperation sparkling in his eyes; he moved his chair so he was beside her instead of opposite and took her hands in his once more, "how can I show you that side of me is long dead?"
She brought her hand to his face, her fingers tracing up his cheekbone and into his hair, "just keep doing this, show me we can be normal, even when there's a huge battle and it feels like the whole world is against us, we'll still go out and we'll still talk, we'll make real plans for our future and I won't need to worry about what mood you're in on any given day, I need to feel normal again."
"That's all I want," he felt his entire body relax at her words, he was convinced this would be the last of them.
"Then let's just enjoy the rest of our night together," she smiled kindly towards him before placing her lips on his briefly and indulging a soft and passion fuelled kiss?
They where interrupted by the arrival of there food, the waiter placed both plates down on either side of the table; Elena had momentarily felt awkward and embarrassed until he left, it wasn't often she was caught in the middle of public displays of affection.
They enjoyed there meal, engaged in casual conversation and cleared there first bottle of wine; Elena hadn't laughed so much in a while and she definitely hadn't enjoyed his company in even longer but she managed to get out of her head for a while and see what was right in front of her, amidst all the heartache and threats of war, she remembered why he took her heart in the first place.
Once the waiter had cleared there dishes and brought them a second bottle of wine at there request, Elena was ready to fully immerse herself into Klaus, she felt the weight of every bad thing in her life lift from her shoulders and she felt somewhat normal; she saw how they where just two people enjoying dinner in a restaurant, not a thousand year old hybrid and a doppelgänger trying to fake a relationship.
'You know, it's amazing how far we've come, it wasn't that long ago I was sat in that awful car with you, headed straight out of Mystic Falls and the whole time I was planning how I was going to kill you," Elena chuckled lightly, taking another large sip of wine.
"And now look at you, I bet you only plot my death at least twice a week?" He mused, followed by laughter.
"Depends on the week," she grinned out of amusement, the tip of her tongue peaking out between her teeth.
"You're very funny," he spoke, a small smirk curling up on his lip, "I always said you'd be the death of me."
"And don't you forget it," she raised her glass slightly, a small chuckle escaping her lips before she took another sip.
Klaus sat and gazed at her for a long moment, admiring her beauty, the red flush of her cheeks and the curve of her smile, he knew in this moment, she was the only one that could ever appeal to his heart, the only one that could subdue the monster within him and the only one he wanted to spent the rest of his life with.
"Everything okay?" Elena asked, breaking his train of thought and bringing him back to reality.
"Sorry," he shook his head slightly, pushing all of those thoughts to the back of his mind, "what where we talking about?"
"Where did your mind go to?" She tilted her head slightly, the everlasting smile still present on her lips.
"Honestly?" He smirked slightly.
"You can tell me anything."
"Just how lucky I am to have you and how I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," he admitted, allowing all of his emotions to pour into his voice.
Her heart raced at his words, just like it used to every time he would speak, she was practically melting, "and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
He reached for her hand, taking it in his and stroke her skin with his thumb, "shall we head home? It's been longer than a couple of hours."
She glanced around the room and the entire restaurant was empty, all that was left was them and a few waiters cleaning around; she chuckled lightly and nodded her head, "let's go."
He stood from his chair and reached inside his jacket pocket, taking another two 50 notes from his pocket and dropping them on the table; he took Elena by the waist and they walked through the restaurant.
"We hope you had a wonderful evening, please come again soon," the waiter was still kind to them, even though they where late leaving.
"It was perfect, thank you," a half drunk Elena spoke before they exited the restaurant, she was all giggles and a little clumsy on her feet but she was happy, that's all she cared about in that moment.
They jumped into the car and they drove home, Elena put some quiet music on in the background and they talked the whole drive home.