AUTHOR'S NOTE: This past month has been a whirlwind. The chapter's literally been sitting here waiting to be posted for quite a while. I'm still here guys. Posting is just coming slowly for now.

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~

Running a hand through her hair, Bonnie placed a blanket over Abby before standing up. "I can answer that... The ritual is over."

"As in..." Stefan trailed off, not daring to hope.

Grinning bright enough to light the room, she laughed at the stunned looks on their faces. "Esther failed."

Chapter 13 - Praying For A Better Outcome

Looking at each other sideways, Stefan and Damon grinned. They'd actually done it. They'd stopped Esther. Elena was safe once more.

Bonnie was going to speak when she saw Stefan go rigid, and then Damon jerk his head towards the open window. "Guys? What is it?"

Swallowing hard, Stefan clenched his hands into fists. "Blood. Human blood."

Scrunching her eyebrows, Bonnie was puzzled. "That's not possible... Abby and I were the only ones here... Unless..." Trailing off her eyes went wide, and looking up she saw the thought hit Stefan and Damon as well.

"Elena!"

Stefan flew out of the room before Bonnie could blink. Looking at Damon, she bit her lip before looking down at Abby. She wanted to make sure her friend was okay, but she couldn't leave her mom alone. Jumping slightly when a hand touched her shoulder, Bonnie met her Gram's eyes.

"Go on Bonnie. I'll stay here with Abby. Go with Damon and help your friend." Smiling slightly, Sheila shooed Bonnie off when she went to protest. "We'll be fine, baby. Now go."

Chewing on her lower lip, Bonnie nervously nodded and took Damon's offered hand to pull her up. "Let's go." Running out of the room, they both dreaded what they would find outside.

Groaning and rolling onto his back, Kol was the first one to come to. "Sometimes I really hate magic," he grumbled to himself while pushing up into a sitting position. Looking around, he gulped when he saw the rest of his siblings sprawled out at various places in the field. Breathing easier slightly at the realization they were all still alive, he frowned when he realized one figure wasn't immediately visible. Stumbling to his feet, he turned side to side. "Oh damn it all."

Rushing over to Elena, he threw the branches off her still form. Rolling her on her side and checking her over, he was relieved when there didn't appear to be any new injuries. What bothered him was the old ones. Rebeckah had healed her, but they hadn't been expecting Elena to get hurt again at the time. The girl was far too pale. Please don't kill me for this, Elijah. Slicing his wrist, Kol quickly placed it to Elena's lips and waited for the blood to go down.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kol glanced up in time to see Stefan rushing towards him only to be intercepted by Klaus. "Thanks for that, Nik."

Nodding in answer, Klaus held Stefan firm and kept his eyes on Elena and Kol. "How is she?"

Shrugging, Kol watched some color return to Elena's face. "She'll live, but she's going to need rest somewhere safe." Catching his brother's eye, Kol knew he understood.

"She'll stay at the boarding house. We can protect her there." Stefan acted like it was obvious, but growled when Kol snorted at the concept. "What? You have a better idea?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." Satisfied that Elena had taken enough blood into her system, Kol carefully picked her up in his arms and stood facing Stefan. "Especially since you and your brother are the reason she needed healing in the first place!"

Dumbfounded, Stefan stopped fighting Klaus for a minute. "What? What are you talking about? We didn't do anything to her!"

Glaring at him, Kol wanted to hit the fool hard enough to send him into that old rickety house. "Oh really? You didn't? What do you call stabbing me with a dagger when she is linked to my family?" Seeing the dumbfounded expression, he just shook his head in disgust. "You Salvatore's are a bunch of incompetent imbeciles. Always have been, always will be." When Stefan still just stared at him, Kol turned to Klaus. "Nik, you handle him, please. You've always had more patience for their kind than I seem capable of ever being."

Narrowing his eyes at Kol's light barb, Klaus resigned himself to the task and agreed. "Get Elena to safety so she can rest. Humans can only handle so much strain, brother."

The meaning wasn't lost on Kol and all he could do was shrug. Klaus knew he hadn't really had much of a choice when it came to giving Elena more blood. They would've been putting too much to chance if he'd done nothing. A chance Kol knew the girl wasn't ready for. "When you're finished with him, rouse the others. I'll see you back at the house."

"I don't think you're going anywhere," Damon growled as he popped in front of Kol with Bonnie not far behind.

Dropping his head back, Kol hissed through his teeth. "For the love of all that is holy! Let me pass, Damon, or I will make you."

"I could just stab you aga-" Damon threatened before freezing when he saw Elena's current state. "What did you do to her?!"

Rebekah chose that moment to wake up. "Shut the bloody hell up already, Damon. My brother didn't do a thing to her. None of us did." Stumbling to stand next to Kol, she quickly checked Elena over, before turning the most frigid glare Kol's ever seen her give anyone onto Damon and Stefan. "This is because you two never know when to quit and just do as you're told! You stabbed my brother which stabbed all of us, including Elena!"

Kol growled when he saw Damon lunge for Rebekah. Only to hit a wall in every direction.

Smashing his fist against the barrier, Damon was furious. "Dammit! Bonnie, let me out!"

Snapping his gaze to the Bennett witch, Kol tilted his head sideways in question. Seeing her imperceptible nod, he was impressed she would do that for them. Why would she do such a thing?

Ignoring Damon's shouting, Bonnie crossed her arms and huffed at Kol. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for Elena. If what you said is true, and he'd hurt Rebekah, we would've been back to square one again."

Arching an eyebrow all the way to his hairline, Kol tested a theory. I didn't say a thing, Miss Bennett. Can you hear me? When her eyes widened slightly, Kol simply smirked. Fascinating. Damon's caterwauling pulled him back to the present, and he was sorely tempted to snap his neck if it weren't for the fact that his arms were currently protecting Elena. "Right then, I'll just take Elena home now. Rebekah, you wake up the others. Nik, you deal with this lot. Try not to let Elijah kill me when he wakes up." Hearing a slight snort, Kol quickly glanced at Bonnie. Til next time, Bonnie Bennett. Grinning when her back went rigid at being caught, he decided his work there was done.

Whistling to himself, Kol set off towards home. Feeling movement, he kept his gaze straight ahead. Don't speak just yet. Not unless you want your lovely friends to hear you. When Elena stilled again in his arms, he glanced down slightly and sighed at the betrayal evident on her face. Knowing they were out of sight through the trees, he flashed to the other edge of the forest to be out of range before slowing down once more. What is it?

It's true, isn't it? They tried to kill you and almost killed me in the process. Seeing his expression turn dark was all the answer she needed. Elena's mind was almost in overload again, what with this new revelation and now hearing Kol in her head on top of that, but somehow Kol was keeping it steady. She could feel him in her mind as well as Rebekah now, but there was some sort of barrier preventing it from overwhelming her. "How are you doing that?"

Smirking, Kol wasn't that surprised when she figured it out already. "Doing what, deary?" He could tell she wasn't ready to handle what the Salvatore's had done and the best way to help her was total distraction. Feeling her body shift, he grinned when she huffed at him and crossed her arms. "You and the Bennett girl could pass for twins with your behavior, you know."

"Don't give me that, Kol, and don't avoid the question! You and I both know exactly what you're doing. I want to know how. When I bonded to Rebekah earlier it felt like I was going insane what with her and Elijah's emotions hitting me from all sides." Tilting her head back to see him better, Elena was curious. "How are you stopping it this time? Why do I feel so normal?"

Keeping his face relaxed, Kol kept his reaction to her comment about Elijah to himself. That was something new for him. As far as he was aware only Rebekah had given Elena blood, so for her to be able to feel Elijah was something else entirely. Grunting when she shoved his chest, he sighed and shook his head sadly. "I'm stopping it because I've dealt with this before, Elena."

Eyes widening, Elena was stunned. "What? When? The way Rebekah and Elijah were yelling at each other about it, I thought it was, well, forbidden."

Kol grinned impishly at her and chuckled. "I'm Kol Mikaelson, love. What my family considers forbidden is what I thrive on..." Trailing off, his expression grew solemn. "Most days."

When she felt his emotions coming into her, Elena was stunned. She'd thought Kol was a bit crazy and heartless. Now, after what he'd done for her, and feeling the sadness and guilt creeping into her head, she realized she'd been wrong. Kol was just like his siblings and everyone else on the planet. He'd lost someone before and was just trying to move on by any means possible. Turns out they had a lot more in common than she'd originally thought.

Seeing understanding start to fill Elena's eyes, he realized the barrier was slipping. Shaking it off, he shrugged and kept it simple. "Needless to say, I've learned how to deal with this kind of thing. Rebekah was merely just reacting to the situation when she gave you her blood. She didn't know what all it entailed because she'd never healed a human before. I'd warned them all what could happen, but you don't really believe it until you experience it firsthand."

Sensing the slight warning in his tone, Elena was slightly concerned. "Kol... What can happen if an Original gives someone their blood? I mean, other than whatever this bond is that it created."

Not wanting to scare her, and feeling at a bit of a loss himself, all he could do was be honest. "To tell you the truth, Elena... I don't really know." Feeling her anxiety jump slightly, he quickly explained. "I have healed a human before, yes, but I've never handled a situation where someone's been healed using my siblings blood as well as my own. To heal someone using the blood of two Originals changes things. It mixes the bloodlines and that could mean any number of possibilities."

"I see." Thinking over what he'd said, Elena tried to figure out what was happening.

Having reached the mansion, Kol quickly maneuvered around the door and carefully carried Elena upstairs to Elijah's bedroom. She'll be safest here. Gently lowering her onto the bed, he helped her remove her shoes and pulled the blanket up around her. As he turned to leave, Elena grabbed his wrist and he could feel the fear running through her. Turning back to her, he looked her over. "What is it, Elena?"

Taking a deep breath, Elena had to know. "Kol... Will it kill me?" She was scared again. She was tired of fearing the unknown, but risking having her life taken out of her control again was terrifying to her.

Growing grim at her question, Kol grasped her hand and held her gaze. "No, Elena, it won't kill you. I can promise you that much. Regardless of whether it was just one of us or all of us, it wouldn't matter. Our blood was used to heal you. While I can't say what will happen from here on out, I can honestly tell you it will not kill you." Feeling the tension leave her, he squeezed her hand and stood. "Rest. You're safe here. The others will be back soon. We won't let anything happen." Catching her sleepy nod, he strode to the door.

Knowing it needed to be said after everything he'd done for her, Elena forced herself to stay awake a moment longer. "Kol?"

Leaning back through the doorway, he tilted his head in curiosity. "Yes?"

Smiling slightly, she grew serious and met his stare. "Thank you. Truly."

Bowing his head in reply, he briefly returned her smile. "Anytime, Miss Gilbert. Sleep well." Watching her for a moment to ensure that she would rest, he slowly eased out into the hallway and quietly shut the door behind him.

Making his way to the balcony off his bedroom, he sank down into the chair and buried his head in his hands as his emotions came to the front once more. "Gods above, let this go better than last time." Running his hands through his hair, Kol tipped his head back and watched the starlit sky.

"Let this one have a good outcome. Please," he whispered, a tear running down his face as he remembered what he'd lost.