AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sooo I kept you guys waiting quite some time. I apologize for that, life has a funny way of throwing you for a loop occasionally or in my case a lot hehe. After seeing where the show is going... There's going to be changes abound. I LOVE the fact that the Original family is getting their own show, but the events of everyone's lives are bugging me relentlessly so I'm going to modify those events here. Haven't decided how far I'll let the story go out yet, but I like to think it's better. ;-) On with the show!

DISCLAIMER: No I don't own Elijah, Elena, or anything to do with that which is The Vampire Diaries series. This is just my version of it. ;-)

Bound By Blood

~Previously in Bound By Blood~

Taking a deep breath, Elijah looked over his brothers. "Good luck. Stay alive."

"We will," Kol agreed, with Klaus saying, "You do the same."

When they vanished around the corner, Elijah turned and ran as fast as possible through the town towards the forest and the tunnels. Rebekah needed him. Elena needed him. He couldn't let her down again.

"Please let her be alright," he whispered in a prayer to whoever was listening.

Chapter 10 - The Cost

As the blackness started to lift from her, Elena slowly became aware of voices arguing nearby. Her body wouldn't cooperate on moving just yet, so she had no choice but to lay there and listen.

"How could you do this? You've put us all at risk, Rebekah. Especially her." Furrowing her eyebrows, Elena tried to think why that voice sounded so familiar. It was a man, that much she knew. He sounded... Scared and... Concerned? For who?

"I didn't have a choice! Would you rather that I had left her to die because I can assure you that's what would have happened. She had the same injury we did! Somehow that bloody spell linked her to us completely. If we're hurt, stabbed, killed, she'll meet the same end. Would you really have wanted me to let her slip away? Would you really have wanted me to let Elena die?" Mind reeling, the pieces started coming together again. Elena knew the second voice was Rebekah. The last thing she remembered was the blonde girl collapsing and then... Oh god.

"I almost died?" It slipped out before she could stop it, effectively halting the argument. The next thing she felt was a hand gripping her own tightly as someone stroked her hair.

"Elena? How are you feeling?" The voice came from behind her head and Elena realized she was leaning against Rebekah. She struggled to respond, her body not wanting to cooperate.

Feeling the blackness still pulling at her body, she fought it off as best as she could. "Tired... I can't.. Move. So tired." There was a pause and Elena felt the hand gripping her left one convulsively tighten around hers.

"Elena, open your eyes." The man spoke again and Elena felt everything return. The familiarity, the safeness. Trust.

"Elijah." When the hand flexed around hers, Elena knew it was him. Elijah was there with her. He came back for me... After everything that's happened. Feeling her throat tighten, Elena subconsciously squeezed his hand back.

"I'm here. Open your eyes, Elena." She wanted to do that. She wanted to so badly. Elena needed to see his face. To see that he was alright.

Trying to push the darkness away, Elena felt it gradually start to let go of her body, but it wasn't enough. She was too weak. "I want to... Just... I... I can't."

When Elijah's hand slipped out of her grasp, she felt hurt, but that only lasted a moment. The touch of his hands on her face made Elena's heart skip a beat. His fingers stroking the sides of her face was putting her emotions in overdrive. "Listen to me, Elena. Open your eyes."

"I can't, Elijah."

Caressing Elena's face, Elijah wasn't going to give up. Elena wouldn't perish this way. Not trapped inside her own body. The side effects of Rebekah's blood, of their blood, were still mostly unknown to them. Kol had only been able to tell them what he'd experienced himself. Looking at Rebekah, she sighed and nodded her head. They only had one option left. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to center himself. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to Elena's forehead before resting his forehead against hers. "You can, Elena. Open. Your. Eyes. Please."

Feeling the compulsion working its way through her body, Elena was stunned. He'd never done that to her. She was angry that he would compel her to do anything, but right now it was necessary. She felt panic start to rise when it wasn't working. Something was canceling out the compulsion. At that moment his last word rang in her head. Elijah pleading for anything scared the hell out of her and as that thought processed, she felt a jolt go through her body. Flexing her fingers, she exhaled as a hand gripped hers once more. Even before she opened her eyes, Elena just knew it was him. She couldn't figure out how she knew it, but it was like some connection was there. She could... Sense him?

When her eyes fluttered open, she was met with Elijah's face hovering above her own. Studying his face for a moment, she saw his eyes soften briefly. Until a second later when he put the wall back in place causing her to frown in disappointment. Elena realized something wasn't right. He'd wiped his expression clean, but she could feel his anxiety, his fear... His relief. All of it was directed at her, but looking at his face she couldn't see anything. Creasing her eyebrows, she went to ask him how it was possible, but didn't get the chance.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Gilbert. Or well in my case, undead living." Rebekah's attempt at humor caused a weak smile to form on Elena's face.

Tipping her head back to see the blonde, Elena was again struck with a strange feeling of a connection between them. Rebekah was smirking at her, but Elena could feel the fear coming off her in waves. "Thanks... I think." Groaning slightly, she sat up with Rebekah's help. "What happened? You said I almost died, because of the bond?"

Seeing the look they shared, Elena felt dread well up in her, and yet part of it was coming from them. "What the hell is going on?" When Elijah and Rebekah both jumped at her question before looking away, she felt even more confused.

"Elena... How do you feel right now?" Elijah asked carefully, his face paling slightly when his gaze once more went to the reminder of what had happened.

Watching his face and seeing his reaction, Elena followed his gaze. Looking down at her shirt covered in blood, she jerked in realization as the memory hit her once more. Rebekah collapsed and then the pain hit. Everything after that was darkness. Shaking, she lifted her eyes to look at Elijah. "What. Happened?"

"Elena, it's going to be ok-" Rebekah tried to calm her, but that only made Elena laugh.

"It's going to be okay? Really, Rebekah? I almost died, once again unwillingly, by a freak loophole in this god forsaken ritual and it's going to be okay?!" When Elijah opened his mouth, Elena held up her hand to stop him. "On top of that, you might want to think twice about trying to soothe me when I know both of you are freaking terrified right now. So tell me, how is anything going to be okay when I have the oldest vampire in existence and his sister sitting in front of me with both of you being anything but calm?!"

"Enough!" Elijah hissed, making Elena flinch back from him in fear.

"Elijah!" Rebekah scolded when Elena curled in on herself against her. The bond was running both ways for Rebekah. She knew now what Kol meant when he warned them about giving a human their blood. She could feel Elena's emotions as surely as her own and knew that the girl must be experiencing the same shift. The difference being that Rebekah had around a thousand years to learn relative control over such occurrences. Elena had never dealt with anything supernatural before two years ago. She knew all Elena was feeling right now was terror.

The other... Side effect, was a bit strange, but the important thing right now was getting Elena to relax. Pursing her lips together, Rebekah sighed at the guilt she saw in Elijah's eyes. He hadn't meant to snap. The situation they'd all been dropped into was pushing them to their limits. "She needs you, Elijah. She needs us." When she saw that he'd collected himself once more, she cursed Esther for ever putting any of them through this. Out of all of them, Elijah deserved this mess the least. They truly were orphans.

Oblivious to their conversation, Elena was trying to sort everything out. Something was wrong. Her mind was flying all over the place unable to relax enough to find out what was causing the emotional overload she was experiencing. Trapped in her thoughts, she jerked backwards when she saw a hand reach out to her, and slipped out of Rebekah's grasp, scuttling backwards until she hit the opposite tunnel wall. Curling her arms around herself, she brought her knees up to her chest. It felt like she was being mentally ripped at the seams.

Sighing sadly, Elijah paused before slowly stepping forward and crouching down in front of Elena gently resting his hand on her forearm. She still flinched, but she didn't retreat again. "Elena... Look at me."

Trembling, she shook her head. She couldn't look at him after feeling the rage running through his body. Elena didn't know what caused that much anger, but she couldn't convince herself that it wasn't directed at her after what she'd done.

Closing his eyes, Elijah mentally berated himself for this one. He was trying to save Elena, save everyone, and all he was doing was pushing her just that much closer to the edge. Sliding his right hand down her arm, he grasped her hand gently before reaching out with his left and turning her head up to face him. Seeing the fear so plainly on her face, Elijah shook his head in denial. Pulling her against him, he protectively wrapped his arms around her back and shoulders, resting his head on top of hers. "I won't hurt you, Elena. You have my word," he whispered, knowing that was the one thing that could get through to her. Gradually, he felt the shaking stop as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face in his jacket.

"Elijah, what's happening to me? I feel like I'm losing it," she whispered weakly, feeling somewhat in control again being in his arms.

Stroking her hair, Elijah took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I assure you that you're not. I wish I could explain it myself, Elena, but Rebeckah and I only know so much as we were told. Our brother, Kol, can tell you more than either of us would be able to. I swear to you that as soon as Esther is dealt with, you will get all the answers that we can provide, but right now I need you to trust me and be patient."

When he said Esther's name, Elena jumped as if shocked. He only had but a second to react and move backwards when she lifted her head to avoid a rather painful collision. "What time is it?" She demanded, and looking in her eyes, Elijah was amazed to see some of the fire returning. It was weak, but there all the same. Whatever was happening, it was bringing her back. "Elijah, what time is it?!" She snapped and then turned to Rebekah when he failed to respond fast enough. "Rebekah. Time."

Understanding dawning on the blonde, she ripped her phone out of her pocket and cursed, snapping Elijah out of his stupor. "Elijah, we have to go. Now."

Glancing at his watch, his face hardened momentarily. They only had ten minutes left. Looking Elena over, he debated his next question. "Are you able to walk?"

Smiling slightly, she shrugged as a response. "Help me up and we'll find out." Grasping her upper arms, he let Elena tighten her grip on his shoulders before he carefully pulled her to her feet. Slowly removing his hands at her nod, Elijah backed up a step and watched. Taking a deep breath, Elena carefully moved her left foot forward, but when she went to shift her weight and walk, her legs gave out from under her. Elijah was there to catch her before she hit the ground and let her lean against him to catch her breath. Tiredly meeting his gaze, she weakly laughed. "I guess the answer is no then."

Expression warming slightly, Elijah wordlessly asked her with his eyes. When she bit her lip and nodded, he carefully slid his left arm under her knees and his right across her back before standing to his full height. She was shaking again, but this time from exhaustion. Noting the physical strain on her face, he gently gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Rest while you can. We'll be there soon." Leaning her head against his shoulder, she let her eyes close briefly before unknowingly drifting off to sleep. Turning to Rebekah, he tilted his head slightly to signal her to move with him.

Observing the interaction between her brother and Elena, Rebekah knew the two were smitten with each other, but neither of them seemed to realize it. If they did, they sure as hell wouldn't admit it to each other or even to themselves. Deciding to let it slide for now she simply settled for what she knew to be true above all else. What she knew she might never get to say again if things didn't go in their favor tonight. "You're a good man, Elijah. I'm proud to have you as my brother."

Smiling briefly, Elijah nodded his head in acknowledgement and glanced sideways at his sister. The only sister he'd ever had. "Likewise, Rebeckah. Life would've been quite dull without you in it, dear sister." When he saw the stunned amusement on her face he smirked and waited for her to catch up.

Childishly sticking her tongue out at him, she grinned and shook her head as they moved. "You continue to impress, brother." Sharing a look, growing serious once more they both nodded, and tightening his hold on Elena, Elijah broke into a sprint the speed of which only his siblings and himself were capable of achieving. He let Rebekah take the lead, being mindful to watch out for anything coming in his path, not wanting to disturb Elena's brief rest.

Jaw clenching, Elijah prepared himself for whatever it was they would face when they met up with their siblings at the ritual circle. It'd be easy for them to get to the location, but there was only so much they could do on their end. Elijah hoped the Salvatore's pulled through on their orders, otherwise they were all as good as permanently dead.

Looking down at the girl, no, young woman, in his arms, he couldn't let his mind go to what he would have to do if they failed. There were many things Elijah had done in his life that he regretted doing, that he felt guilt and sadness over. He wouldn't add taking Elena's life to that list. Even if he'd only be around minutes longer than she, the guilt of such an act would kill him before the spell ever had a chance. The only way to ensure that they'd all be coming out of this alive was to not lose this fight. The cost was too great.

They could not fail.