Chapter 56: All My Children

October 23, 2010

When Ellie woke, she had a sick feeling in her stomach. She'd had nightmares of Esther all night. The thought that Elijah was in the house with Esther made her skin crawl. She'd never seen anyone that radiated such darkness. Not even Klaus had a signature that felt like that. Hell, even Mikael hadn't felt so dark. It was like Esther had been touched by something so dark that it tainted her very soul.

Of course, being dead and on the other side for a thousand year was bound to have ramifications on a person. She could have just been paranoid, but Elijah being suspicious of his mother was reason enough for Ellie not to trust her. She wished they were both wrong though. Rebekah clearly wanted everything to be ok. She wanted it badly enough that she was willing to look past anything that might have been suspicious.

None of the Mikaelsons, save for Klaus and the sacrifice thing, had done anything to hurt anyone that she cared about, not counting Kol crushing Matt's hand. There was no way she could let anything happen to them. She meant it when she said Rebekah was her friend. Klaus was sort of her friend. Elijah was… well she didn't know what to call him. After last night, her thoughts got all jumbled up and her heart started racing when she thought of him. She'd never danced with anyone like that, and it didn't help that everyone was making sly comments about something going on between the two of them.

Caroline had continued making remarks about the way Ellie and Elijah had danced, at least until Ellie had caught sight of the drawing Klaus had done for the blonde. It was a stunning drawing of Caroline and a horse, though Caroline refused to tell her why he had drawn that specifically. At the bottom he'd written her a small note and thanked her for her honesty. Caroline hadn't wanted to talk about what that meant either. She'd even gone so far as to throw one of her boots at Ellie when she'd told the blonde that she thought that they'd make a cute couple.

Ellie had ended up going back to the apartment. She'd told Caroline that she needed to clear her head. It was true, but she'd also managed to keep where she was staying a secret for this long and she wanted to keep it that way. The apartment had become a sort of safe haven for her. No one except for Elijah knew about it, and she had realized a good while ago that she trusted him a great deal.

It didn't even feel right to be at home anymore. Without Jenna and Jeremy there, Ellie honestly couldn't deal with being there. She and Elena seemed to be at odds over literally everything lately. With her desperately needing to let off some steam, she found herself once more in the woods with Katherine and Jenna. "I heard someone was nice and cozy with a certain Original last night. Too bad I couldn't have been there." Katherine said slyly as they stretched.

Her head snapped up and she glared at her aunt. "Jenna!" She whined, but both Jenna and Katherine looked entirely pleased. "Come on, Katherine. Not you too."

"Oh, who else is there?" Katherine asked curiously.

"Too many of you." Ellie huffed.

Katherine quirked up a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Like who?" She pried.

"You, Jenna, Caroline, Rebekah, hell even Kol is making comments." Ellie huffed in frustration. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. Nothing is going on with me and Elijah." Ellie insisted.

Katherine didn't look like she believed her in the slightest. She crouched down to Ellie's level and pointed out, "Just because you say it's true, doesn't mean it's actually true. Plus, just because you might have convinced yourself nothing is happening doesn't mean that the rest of us are blind. And you can't lie to me. I know just how appealing Elijah Mikaelson can be. It's not hard to imagine you falling for him."

Ellie was surprised to hear Katherine mention anything about her past connections with Elijah. Other than Stefan, Katherine never really said anything about anyone else that she'd had any kind of romantic relationship with. "I'm not falling for him." Ellie denied.

"Of course not, you're already smitten." Katherine said with a shrug. "Now come on, we have jogging to do." Both Ellie and Jenna had improved on their speed and their endurance since they'd started working out more and Jenna was no longer gasping for breath when they stopped. "Now, what else is bugging you?"

"You mean other than the fact that Klaus and Elijah's mom gives me the creeps and I think Caroline hit the nail on the head calling her the evil witch?" Ellie asked.

"Yes."

Ellie frowned. She knew what was bugging her, but she also knew that it would make Katherine mad as well as cause her to hate Elena even more. But she was really frustrated by the situation, so she confessed, "Elena made out with Damon while she was still dating Stefan."

Katherine's reaction was immediate. Her back went ramrod straight and she had a dark look on her face. "Elena did what?" She asked it at the exact same time Jenna did.

"She and Damon made out. And she doesn't get why I'm so upset about it, and maybe I'm overreacting a bit but… I spent the entire summer with Stefan and Klaus and there were times that I thought Stefan had really given in to the Ripper and then the moment Klaus was gone I'd watch as Stefan tried his best not to fall apart." Ellie told them as she twirled a thin arrow between her fingers. "Stefan did everything for her, to keep her safe, and then she goes and does that… I just don't think it was right."

"Of course it's not right." Jenna, surprisingly, was the first one to speak. "She cheated on him, with his brother no less. No matter what he did to her, she knew that he loved her and she cheated anyways."

"She tried to bring up the whole thing where he nearly drove her over the bridge, which, admittedly, was a very shitty thing for him to do. He was the one that saved us from that bridge, he should have known how badly that was going to affect her. But I still don't think he's done any worse than Damon. And like you said, she shouldn't have cheated on him either way." Ellie explained.

Katherine looked pissed. "Does Stefan know?"

Ellie shrugged. "With everything going on, I haven't talked to him much lately, but I'm assuming so. I really should check in on him."

Katherine nodded. "One of us should at least. His emotions are back on, I know they are. He's just got them dialed to hatred and anger towards Klaus. Her little stunt probably didn't help anything. It's better to be angry than hurt and if she did that, he's probably more hurt than he's letting on." Both Jenna and Ellie were watching the vampire with interest. "What?"

"You still love him." It was Jenna that said it. Since she'd been spending more time with the vampire that looked like her nieces, she found that Katherine was really nothing like Elena had described. Elena had described Katherine as someone vicious and cold. She made Katherine out as someone with no soul and who cared for no one. But that wasn't true. Katherine clearly still loved Stefan and she absolutely cared about Ellie. In the few times that Katherine's family had been brought up, she saw the same longing in Katherine's eyes that she saw in Ellie's and Elena's when they talked about their parents.

Katherine Pierce was no monster. Bitchy, maybe, but that didn't make her any more a monster than any other teenaged girl. Neither Jenna nor Ellie ever seemed scared of being honest with their opinions, and Katherine finally dropped down into the dirt next to Ellie. "It doesn't matter that I do. He loves Elena."

The others were startled to hear Katherine confess her emotions. It was always something they all knew to be true, but Katherine never admitted it until now. "They broke up though, and now Elena's hurting him because of whatever's going on with Damon." Ellie told her.

"So what, pray tell, am I supposed to do?" Katherine asked a bit helplessly. Stefan was her weakness, she could admit that to herself, but she was out of her comfort zone with knowing how to get him back.

"Be there for him. Be yourself. He fell in love with you one for you, right? I mean the version of you that you pretended to be when you first met him can't be that different from who you really are right? Plus, he's a little short on people who aren't mad at him right now. He could use someone. I'm having to toe the line on a lot of stuff, you don't have to do that." Ellie said. "You're Katherine Pierce, you can do whatever you want."

Ellie seemed oddly sure that Katherine could win Stefan back, and it planted a small, dangerous seed of hope. She'd been hurt too many times to be so foolish as to think she'd actually get him back. Life had never been that kind to her. But who knew what could happen. She never thought she'd befriend her descendant. And she definitely never thought she'd have anything that she could even come close to calling family, but Jenna and Ellie were the closest thing she'd had to it in an incredibly long time. "You're very optimistic." Katherine replied.

"Well, I know you and I like you, so I don't see why Stefan wouldn't." Ellie told her with a small shrug. "I'm just tired of being so angry at Elena. It's exhausting."

"Well, if she stopped acting like an idiot then you wouldn't have to be mad at her all the time." Katherine said. "But you know what will make you feel better? Punching stuff." She grinned and stood before holding out a hand to the other two. "Up and at 'em." She instructed as she pulled them both to their feet. "Jenna, try again to stake the dummy. Ellie clearly has enough rage to do it. Do you?"

Jenna shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not typically an angry person." Jenna confessed.

Obviously, that didn't seem like a good enough reason for Katherine. "Really? You've got no rage stored up inside of you from all the bullshit that's happened to you and your family?" Katherine's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Come on, Jenna. Not even a little? Damon killed Mason. He was your friend, right? Or what about poor Ellie who was left alone after she'd been kidnapped because all they cared about was Elena? Come on Jenna… not even your boyfriend standing aside as Elena had Damon compel Jeremy away? Do you even know where Jeremy is right now?"

A shocking scream of anger ripped through Jenna's throat before her fist shot forward and hit the dummy heavily. Jenna was breathing heavily as she pulled her hand away, but the stake stayed stuck in place. "Holy shit." Ellie said in surprise. "You did it!"

"So much for not having any pent up anger Jenna." Katherine replied with a pleased smirk. "Question is can you do it again?" Jenna rose to the challenge and once again shot her fist out and Ellie let out a pleased cheer when the stake stayed in the dummy. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Katherine praised.


They spent hours in the woods working out before Ellie finally came back to the apartment. It was only after she was alone that she realized that being with Katherine and Jenna had pushed away the dark feeling that was eating away at her. Now that she was alone, it was back with a vengeance. She had buried herself in a grimoire, looking for spells or rituals that would help her should Esther's return turn out to be a threat.

It wasn't incredibly surprising that she lost herself in her research, and only jolted to attention when the door opened abruptly. Elijah walked into the apartment looking furious. "You were right. Elena was lying." He told her.

She pushed the grimoire to the side and rose from her seat. "Wait, what happened? When did you talk with Elena?" She asked him.

"Not long ago. She confessed my mother's plan to me." Elijah explained. "In the champagne at the ball last night, my mother laced it with Elena's blood, just like she did when she fed us Tatia's blood. We've been linked."

Ellie's heart dropped with understanding. "All of you?" She asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Klaus cannot be killed, but we can." Elijah told her as he scowled. "It's not just Niklaus that my mother wants to kill."

"She wants to kill all of you."

He nodded as he ran a hand through his hair. "She wants to undo the evil that she created." He scoffed.

"No. No way in hell." Ellie denied. "There has to be a way. There's no way that she has that much power. That would be an insane amount of magic to undo a spell like that."

"She isn't doing it alone." Elijah confessed as he walked over to pour them both a drink. "Your sister confessed that my mother has gone to your other witch friend, Bonnie, and her mother. The witch Ayana was an ancestor of the Bennett line. She was the one who helped preserve my mother's body. From what I've been told, my mother is channeling the Bennett bloodline, every witch both living and dead."

"Oh shit." Ellie's eyes had gone wide. That had to be thousands of witches that she was channeling. She saw what Bonnie could do with a hundred witches backing her. What the hell was Esther capable of with that many witches behind her. He passed her a drink as she asked, "What are we going to do?"

"We?" Elijah asked in surprise.

"Obviously we! Do you think that I'd just let you die?" She asked him as she crossed her arms defensively.

He quickly seemed to realize that it was the wrong thing to say so he replied, "It's just that your sister and her friends seem quite content to sign my family's death sentence, though I should have known better than to assume you'd go along with it."

"Yes, you should have." She agreed, though she wasn't really angry with him. "I don't know what the hell has happened to Elena. Never in a million years did I think that she would be ok with murdering people who have literally done nothing to her. Yet here we are, with her actively helping your mother's murder plot."

Elijah watched as her chest rose and fell rapidly as her breathing picked up the pace. She looked sick all of a sudden. "Eleanor, are you alright?" He asked worriedly as he placed his glass down and stepped towards her.

Her eyes had gone wide with fear. "What do we do?" She repeated. "You can't die. You can't. You and Rebekah… Hell, even Klaus. I don't want you guys to die, you can't die." Her hands were starting to shake as the panic set in. "Jesus Christ, Kol and Finn haven't even done anything to us and she doesn't even care. Oh my god."

She looked down as Elijah took her hands in his. What happened to the glass she'd been holding? Had he taken it? When had he taken it? His grip was strong and sure and he didn't even flinch when her nails dug painfully into his flesh. "It's going to be alright. I have no intention of dying today." He told her with certainty. "Now, I want you to think, Eleanor. You are the witch I trust the most. What would it take to sever the connection between my mother and the Bennett witches?"

Ellie tried to focus on the steady thumping of a heartbeat in her hands. Was it his heartbeat or hers? Probably his. It was too calm to be hers. "Everyone in that bloodline had the magic of a witch in them, even the ones that didn't have access to that magic. You have to cut off someone's access to magic to sever the connection. I don't know if just blocking someone's magic is enough though." Ellie explained. Had she not been so panicked, she would have been incredibly touched to be the witch he trusted the most.

"Could you block their magic and try? Tonight is the full moon." Elijah told her.

"She's going to do it tonight then. Spells are almost always strongest during a full moon." Ellie cursed. "Of course I'll try, but if it doesn't work how else could we break the…" Her voice trailed off as realization dawned upon her.

"What is it?"

Her voice was quiet as she spoke. "There's only one sure fire way to break the bond." Ellie confessed. "Elijah… you can't be a witch and a vampire."

"I know. I have… taken measures to ensure my family's survival." He admitted.

She frowned at his careful tone. "What did you do?"

"Elena is currently with Rebekah, in the tunnels under Mystic Falls." Elijah explained. "I'll never be able to get close enough to get my hands on one of them but-"

"But Damon and Stefan can." Ellie said in understanding. "Elena's bait."

He nodded, surprised that she wasn't more upset. "They'd both do anything for her, even if it meant hurting someone else. I'm surprised you aren't more opposed."

"Is she hurt?" Ellie questioned.

"Not at the current moment. Rebekah's under strict orders not to harm her, but should Damon and Stefan fail to break the link, she'll kill Elena." He already sounded like he regretted that decision.

"It won't come to that." Ellie said with confidence, despite her still shaking hands. "Like you said, they'd do anything to save Elena. But I have to try and save Bonnie and her mom. She just got her back, it's not fair for her to lose her again. When is the moon full?"

"The moon will be full seven minutes past nine tonight." Elijah supplied.

She pulled her hands from his and reached for her grimoires. When had she started thinking of the grimoires he'd given her access to as hers? "That means I have until just before that to break the link before Damon and Stefan have to do… you know." Ellie said.

"I need to inform Damon and Stefan of the situation. I'll be back as soon as I can." Elijah promised her.

He started to leave when she called for him. When he turned back, she had a pleading look on her face. "Please be careful."

"I will." With that he was gone.

The sick feeling had gotten worse with Elijah's departure as she realized her previous fear had been justified. The woman actually wanted to murder her children. Ellie no longer felt the need to justify her desire to keep the Mikaelsons safe. If Elena thought that it was ok to murder people who had done literally nothing to her, then why couldn't Ellie want to keep them safe? It was worrisome how easily Elena had agreed to let them all die. What would their mother have said?

A lot of things that Elena had done since everything started was worrisome in all honesty. People were dying left and right, and on more than one occasion it had been to save Elena. The anger she felt at Elena's treatment of Stefan was still fresh in her mind, but she blocked it out. How could Elena act like she was so much better than Katherine, when she was now doing the exact same thing that Katherine had done? Katherine had had some form of a relationship with both Damon and Stefan, but she was honest about it. Elena hadn't even owned up to making out with Damon. She just tried to make excuses.

Now wasn't the time to get angry over the things Elena had done. No, she had a limited amount of time to try and find an alternate solution to breaking the link between Esther and the Bennett witches, or either Bonnie or her mom was going to die. She went through the grimoires with alarming speed and she cursed the longer she went without finding anything. It seemed like no one had ever had to deal with a witch channeling someone's entire lineage.

She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. It wasn't like this was a common situation. How often did one have to stop a witch that had been dead for a thousand years from killing her children? It probably wasn't a common occurrence. Nothing she could find seemed to be anything helpful in severing the connection between the Bennett witches and Esther. There were several things that could mute magic. Spells and herbs could do the trick. They could make the magic of a witch inaccessible, but it didn't take the magic away from the witch. It was like muting a tv, you couldn't hear the sound, but that didn't mean that it had disappeared entirely.

Her worry only got worse as she searched, still finding nothing. Bonnie didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to lose her mom. It wasn't fair that the people she loved were losing people left and right. First Caroline lost her dad, and now Bonnie was either going to lose her magic or lose her mom. It made her want to scream. She wanted to call Katherine. Maybe the other girl would know what to do, or at least know how to keep Ellie sane.

But she couldn't call Katherine, not when Elijah could be back any minute. She definitely couldn't tell Katherine where she was. She couldn't even tell Jenna. Instead, she forced her panic to the backburner and dove into research.


The hours passed quickly, far too quickly for Ellie's liking. Elijah had returned and had set out to help her. He'd picked up a grimoire she'd yet to go through and began reading. A frustrated groan escaped her, catching Elijah's attention. "What is it?" He asked.

She looked desperate. "There's not enough time." She confessed. "There's not enough time and we're so close to there being no time left and I don't want anything bad to happen to Bonnie or her mom but I don't want anything bad to happen to you or Rebekah or Klaus or anyone. I hate your mom. I hate her so much. What kind of mother does this type of shit to her kids? What excuse could she possibly have for this? I want to make it all stop but I don't know how to make it stop and I'm way out of my league here and I don't know what I'm doing and-"

Ellie had fallen into a full on rant. Had his hearing not been as enhanced as it was, he probably wouldn't have been able to understand her. She'd lost her color again and had risen from her seat as she spoke and paced. He rose to meet her, catching her arms and forcing her to stop. "Eleanor, you have to calm down." He spoke slowly, forcing her to meet his eye. "Fixing this isn't your responsibility."

"But Elena's the one that gave Esther the blood to-"

"You are not responsible for Elena's actions. Her actions were her own. No one forced her hand into helping my mother. Do not blame yourself for something that was out of your control." Elijah insisted. "Everything is going to be alright. My family and I have survived a thousand years. We have survived lifetime after lifetime of our father hunting us down. We will survive this as well."

She reached up to grab a hold of his wrists, to anchor herself. "I'm scared, Elijah." She confessed it so quietly, it was barely a whisper. "I'm so scared."

His heart constricted painfully in his chest. It was a sensation that he hadn't felt in such a long time. This incredible witch stood before him, terrified of something happening to him or his siblings. "It's going to be fine." He assured her as he tried his best to sound sincere. In truth, he had no clue how this was going to turn out. It was doubtful that Stefan and Damon would risk Elena's life, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't try to rescue her instead of doing as he'd told them. He wouldn't tell her that though, she didn't need to hear it.

"How can you be sure?" Ellie asked him skeptically. He'd opened his mouth to reply, but he made a choked noise instead. "Elijah?" She asked worriedly. "No! Elijah! Elijah!" His skin turned a familiar shade of grey as his eyes rolled back. Ellie reached out, wrapping her arms around him and going down as well as he fell. "No, no, no, no…" She repeated it as she stared at him. "Elijah, no, please wake up." She begged.

When he remained unresponsive, she sent Klaus a frantic text asking where he was. He replied almost immediately, telling her that he and Kol were at The Grill before asking what was wrong. It must have been the fact that he was a hybrid that kept him from desiccating like Elijah had. But who had been daggered? It didn't matter. She didn't have time to care. She had to get Elijah to Klaus, at least then she might be able to protect him. How the hell did she get him out without it looking like she had a dead body?

An idea struck her as she used her magic to get both her and Elijah back on their feet. No one would question anything if they couldn't see anything. "Invisique." She said softly and watched as her reflection and Elijah's disappeared from the window. She kept him close to her as she rushed them out to the car before carefully placing him in the passenger's seat. She dropped the spell as she pulled out of the drive. Someone would notice a car driving down the road with no people inside it way before they realized that something was wrong with Elijah.

Her heart was racing as she drove and she kept shooting glances at Elijah. She was flying down the road, when Elijah started choking and gasping. Ellie barely slowed as she looked over at him. "Eleanor?" He asked. His voice was rough.

"You're awake. Thank god." She replied.

"Where are we going?"

"To Klaus. If you're together, you're safer. I don't know what the hell happened. If one of your other siblings got daggered, I guess you all got daggered, but it didn't work on Klaus. He was still awake." She told him. He didn't protest and kept his eyes trained on the road. "Do you think it was-"

"The handiwork of none other than Stefan and Damon Salvatore? Absolutely. There is no one else that could have done it." Elijah replied. It wasn't but a minute more before they reached the town square and she hastily pulled into a parking spot.

"Where are they?" She asked as she stayed close to him.

He nodded his head to the alley next to The Grill. "There."

"Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do." Damon was saying as they approached.

Klaus had lunged forward, but stopped at the sound of Elijah's voice. "Leave him!" He called. Klaus turned slowly to stare at Elijah and Ellie. "We still need him, Niklaus."

"What did mother do?" Klaus asked as Ellie took in the scene before her. Kol and Alaric were both crumpled against the wall while Stefan laid motionless on the steps. It was obvious that Kol had somehow been the one to get daggered. When Elijah didn't reply right away, Klaus asked again. "What did she do, Elijah?"

Ellie followed Elijah as he made his way down the stairs, pulling his phone from his pocket as he did so. He walked past Klaus, going straight to Damon. "You tell me where the witches are, or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now." He threatened.

"There's no way Sabrina is going to let Elena die." Damon dismissed. "Besides, you told me we had until after nine."

"I'm sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early." Elijah replied.

"Sabrina, you can't be serious right now."

Ellie gave him a look as she replied, "I don't want Elena to die, but I don't want them to die either."

Damon looked conflicted before he sighed. "Stefan and I will take care of it." He said finally.

"You'd better." Klaus warned. "Or it won't just be Elena dying."

Stefan rose and dusted himself off but before he and Damon could leave, Elijah asked again, "Where are they?"

"The most likely place will be at the house where the witches were burned." Damon told them.

"What about him?" Ellie asked as she nodded her head toward Alaric.

"I'll have the pretty doctor lady take him home." Damon said, sending a text to whoever he was talking about.

Elijah nodded and Stefan and Damon headed up the steps. "Bloody hell." Kol groaned as he woke.

"Come on, brother. Chop, chop, we haven't much time." Klaus said.

"Much time for what?" Kol asked as he took the hand that Ellie offered and she helped pull him to his feet. "Many thanks, love."

"You're welcome. Your mom is trying to kill you. We don't have much time. We have to stop her before she does." Ellie told him. "Let's go. We can follow Damon and Stefan to make sure they follow through with their end of the deal."

Klaus shot her a grin as they headed for the car. "You seem quite sure of yourself." Klaus told her.

"I do love a woman that knows how to take charge." Kol flirted and she rolled her eyes at both of them. She slid into the passenger's seat, letting Elijah take the wheel. "What? Don't want to come back here with me? Are you scared of me falling head over heels for me, love?"

"How are you able to flirt when we're literally trying to keep you from dying?" She asked him.

"Ah, it's a special gift of mine." He shot back cheekily.

Ellie just scoffed at him. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was a bit grateful for his witty banter. It was a good distraction from her worry. "Lovely for you, but I think I'll have to pass." She sassed.

He and Klaus burst into laughter, clearly amused by her. "How you wound me! A hundred years I've been locked away and the prettiest girl around rejects me. How shall I ever recover?"

"Oh that line might've worked a bit better had I not been a twin and had you not met at least two girls other than Elena and I that looked exactly like me." She replied.

Kol snapped his fingers dramatically, "Drats, I suppose you're right, but somehow you've still managed to surpass them all." He told her.

"Still a no, but A for effort though."

The conversation died down the closer they got to their destination. They parked next to where Stefan and Damon had parked. Like they had during the summer, Ellie and Stefan shared a significant look. No matter what happened, this wasn't going to be easy. Stefan and Damon disappeared in a blur. "Let's get to it then." Klaus said.

Now that they were here, Ellie could feel the energy that was Esther's magic. It was the strongest thing she'd ever felt, though she was sure it was amplified by the magic of the witches she was channeling. "This way." Ellie told them. They stayed close together and she remained carefully placed between Elijah and Klaus as they walked.

She just barely caught a glimpse of Bonnie as they moved inside the house, though she didn't think that Bonnie saw her. "My sons, come forward." Esther called. Kol was walking just a bit faster than the other three, putting himself front and center.

"Stand beside me." Finn called, holding a hand out to his mother for her to take.

"It's ok." Esther said calmly, looking unbothered by their presence. "They can't enter." A large circle of salt had been drawn with a star made of salt was done inside it. At each point of the star, a torch was lit. A torch for each of the Mikaelson siblings.

Kol strolled forward, but the torches shot up in response, keeping him out. "That's lovely." Kol said sarcastically. His humor from the car ride long gone. "We're stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn."

"Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine." Esther retorted and Ellie felt a fire race through her veins. She really hated Elijah's parents.

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children would be an atrocity." Elijah told her calmly.

"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago." Esther replied.

Ellie was unable to hold her tongue, and asked, "Really? That's your only regret?" All three of the Mikaelsons outside of the circle turned to look at her in surprise. "You don't even regret letting Mikael mistreat your children so badly that he was their greatest fear for a thousand years? Being a vampire only amplifies traits you already have, which means Mikael was a piece of shit long before he was a vampire."

"You dare speak to me?" Esther asked.

"I dare." Ellie shot back, her anger making her more confident than she normally would have been. "You turned Mikael into a monster with the sole intention of killing your children."

"He was doing what was right."

"No, he hated Klaus because you cheated on him. Because you just had to go and sleep with another man. That wasn't Klaus' fault but you let him get punished for it anyways. You locked away his werewolf side. It was your fault he even had a werewolf side." Ellie said angrily.

Esther's eyes narrowed dangerously and all three of the Mikaelsons stepped closer towards Ellie. "I suggest watching your tone." Esther hissed. "I do not take kindly to being disrespected."

"You don't deserve respect. You failed completely as a mother and you don't even have the capability of apologizing to your children for how badly you failed. You don't even seem to care. Christ, they've been fighting for a thousand years and yet I don't doubt in the slightest that Klaus loves his siblings more than you ever loved them."

Before Esther could do something to Ellie for her attitude, Klaus cut across, breaking the staring contest that the two witches had been locked in. "Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, mother, or I'll send you back to hell."

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you, felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better." Esther told them. Ellie reached out, taking a hold of Elijah's arm as she tried to make him understand that Esther was a liar. "All of you, you're a curse on this earth, stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life. I'm sorry. You've wasted your time."

Her eyes were watery, but Ellie didn't buy it for a second. You don't do something as awful as this to your children and then pretend to love them. She didn't know how long it would be before the connection broke but she didn't know how to stall Esther. "If you were sorry, you wouldn't do this to them." She said angrily.

In an instant, Esther's eyes dried and she gave Ellie a dark look. "It has to be done. It is what is right. You're nothing but a foolish child. I was right to go to Elena, you are obviously deluded, you poor thing." Ellie glared at the woman and was terribly tempted to set the woman on fire. There was a shift in the magic in the air. "No… Sisters! Do not abandon me!"

The flames shot higher than they had when Kol had approached. "Mother!" Finn called.

Ellie couldn't see what was happening. The flames were burning so bright and so hot that Elijah brought his arm up to shield her as they both looked away. It wasn't long before the fire went out, but it had felt like ages. She couldn't see the Original Witch and let her magic search the area, coming up empty. Esther and Finn were gone. "They're gone." She told the brothers softly.

Kol recovered the quickest. "Well, what do you say Nik, fancy another drink?" He asked with a grin.

"Sounds delightful." Klaus replied and the duo disappeared in a flash.

The energies of Stefan and Damon were gone, as well as Bonnie's and her mothers. Ellie and Elijah were alone. As the relief of Elijah living to see another day set in, she threw her arms around him, pulling him close. He didn't return the gesture. His arms remained at his sides, and she pulled back. "Elijah what is it?"

"I should go." Elijah said without looking at her. "I shouldn't be here."

"What? What are you talking about? Here as in this house?"

"Here as in Mystic Falls." Elijah told her as he backed away from her slightly. "You shouldn't be around me."

Ellie's eyes were wide with confusion. "What are you talking about?" She asked again. "Why shouldn't I?"

Something in Elijah seemed to snap at her question. "I just held your sister hostage, Eleanor! Rebekah would have killed her the moment I gave her the chance. I knew that. I wielded my own sister like I would a sword. I used her as a weapon." He said angrily.

"This is Esther getting to you!"

"Esther was right!" He nearly shouted, but forced himself to calm when she flinched back. "All my talk of virtue, Eleanor, but when it suits my needs I kill, maim, and torture without hesitation. I am no better than Klaus or Esther. You do not benefit from my staying here. I only put you at risk. I'll go."

He started to turn, but she jolted forward, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn. "No!" She said with more force than she'd ever used with him before. "Not a chance in hell. You don't get to make that kind of decision for me, Elijah. You don't. I know what kind of risk I'm taking by associating with you. I've seen what you're capable of one more than one occasion."

"Then you should know that I'm right."

"Well, for once, you're dead wrong. I make the same risk by being friends with Rebekah, or being comrades with Klaus. My life could be in danger already just because I'm the doppelgänger. Do you know what I've noticed?" She asked. Her voice had gone up in pitch as her fear of him leaving right after he nearly died started to rise.

"What is that?" He questioned. His voice was carefully controlled.

"Ever since I've met you, the bad stuff, the worst stuff, it happens when you aren't around. We meet, you get daggered the first time, my mom dies in front of me. You wake up, you get daggered again, I nearly get mauled by a wolf pack gone rabid before watching them die after being a part of who knows how many deaths throughout the summer. Besides, if you leave you'd break your word."

He tried to keep his resolve, but he was struggling to say no to her when she had that look on her face. "I do try to be a man of my word." He agreed.

Ellie, seeing the crack in his arm, putting on the most pleading expression she could manage. "Elijah, please, I'm begging you." She said as she reached out to take a hold of his hands. "Please stay. Give me your word that you'll stay."

She could see him give in before he ever said anything. "Alright." He caved. "I'll stay. I give you my word."

When she threw her arms around him this time, he returned the hug. "The hell were you thinking? As if I'd let you do some stupid shit like that." She muttered it into his shoulder and he couldn't help but laugh. Obviously, her panic had made her far more casual with him than she usually was. Despite being comfortable with him, she was still often mindful of what she said, though not nearly as much as she'd been when they first met.

"I think it's time we got out of these woods." He suggested.

Ellie drew back quickly. "I need you to take me to Bonnie's mom's house. Her mom is in transition. I need to be there for her. I don't know if she'll want me there, but I have to offer."

"Of course." They made their way back to the car and set off.

When they arrived, Caroline's car was already in the drive. She left Elijah in the driveway and knocked on the front door. "Ellie?"

"Can I come in? I know what happened. Does she… is it alright with her if I come in?" There was a sudden nervousness. What if Bonnie rejected her?

"I don't know if…"

"Come in." Bonnie's voice came from behind Caroline.

Caroline let Ellie in immediately and as the door shut, they could just barely hear as Elijah's car pulled out of the drive. "Bon… Bonnie are you ok?"

The blank expression that Bonnie had dropped, and as she started to cry, Caroline and Ellie wrapped themselves around her. "Shh, let it out." Caroline encouraged. They stood there until Bonnie's tears slowed. "We're right here, Bon. We aren't going anywhere."

"Thank you guys for being here with me. I don't want to be alone." Bonnie confessed.

"We're your best friends, Bonnie. Of course we're here." Caroline told her.

"We aren't going anywhere." Ellie added.

Bonnie sniffed. "I'm gonna go sit with her, wait for her to wake up."

"Would you like us to come sit with you?" Ellie asked softly.

"That would be nice." Bonnie agreed. The three girls went into the bedroom where Bonnie's mom was lying on the bed. Bonnie sat down first and as the tears rolled down her cheeks. It was hard for both Ellie and Caroline to watch. They both knew what it was like to go through the pain of losing a parent. Bonnie didn't deserve this.

They sat with her for a while before a knock came from the front door. "I'll get it. Ellie, you stay with Bonnie." Caroline instructed.

Ellie stood and rested against the doorframe. "Elena, I don't know if it's a good idea that you're here right now." Clearly, Elijah and Rebekah had kept their word and let Elena go once they were safe.

"But I…"

"She doesn't want to see you." Caroline told her, though it wasn't meant to be unkind.

"Please just let me talk to her." Elena pleaded.

"Abby's in transition. It's gonna be really hard over the next few days, and if Bonnie needs some time to deal, then I think you should give it to her."

"She's always been there for me, Caroline." Elena said. "Please let me just be there for her, too." Bonnie rose from her spot on the bed, listening in on their conversation.

Caroline sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Elena. I know that you want to help, but put yourself in her shoes. Everything that happened tonight was to save you. And that's ok, because she loves you so much. But somehow, she's always the one who gets hurt."

"Yeah, you're right." Elena said and even though she couldn't see her twin, Ellie knew she was on the verge of tears. "I just… just tell her that I love her, ok?"

"Of course, I will." Bonnie had started to cry again as Caroline and Elena spoke. Ellie reached out for Bonnie. She didn't even bother to say anything. She just moved forward and held the other witch, trying to offer any comfort she could. This was going to be hard, but at least they had each other.


Author's Note:

Happy Valentine's Day you guys! I hope you all have an amazing day! As always please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To MarnieBarnes: The ball is also one of my favorite episodes! I'm so glad I did it well! I do still plan on doing a Kol/Ellie story, but I'm currently in college and also working so I'm mainly focusing on writing this fic and then doing research for a Marvel Bucky fic. But yes, at some point I will definitely do a Kol/Ellie story which will be really interesting to see how that affects TO since he and Davina were a thing.

To RiaChan: Oh Ellie doing Elijah's tie will definitely be something that happens at some point. It's too good to not. I'm literally honored for you to call my fic a classic thank you so much! Also on the thing about the grimoires, if you're talking about the ones from Luka and Dr. Martin's apartment, Ellie has some of them and Bonnie has some of them. Same goes for the grimoires that Bonnie's Grams owned. But some are probably still in the apartment.

To Rose1414: Thank you so so much that means so much to me!

To xenocanaan: Don't worry, I still love the idea of Kol and Ellie together to, but you get a bit of Kol flirting with her this chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To Mimi: Right? Mama Forbes definitely sees Ellie as a second daughter. The noble ship is a good name! I'm honestly not sure what the ship name is lol. I'm not even sure that Elena has paid enough attention to realize that Elijah is important to Ellie. Don't worry, Stefan's not going to ruin their friendship. He's definitely smitten.

To brigitm28: Yes, it was fun to give insight as to why they're so close. They definitely brushed off Elena's unfaithfulness because Saint Elena can do no wrong I guess. I'm so glad you enjoyed her interactions with the Mikaelson siblings. We deserved a bit of fluff. I've watched the show several times so that probably helped my understanding of the characters, but thank you so much!

To flawsome4ever: Thank you so much that means the world to me.

To Traveler Lovegood: I can definitely see Ellie taking care of baby Hope. She's definitely going to be very protective of Hope! Thank you so much for enjoying my story!

To IrisTurner: Yes! I wanted Ellie to let loose with Rebekah and just have some fun for once. She really is oblivious when it comes to understanding her feelings, but she's also never felt like this for someone before. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

To skyellebaby: Discounted chocolate is always amazing! Oh yes! Ellie and Elijah danced together for SEVERAL songs. It wasn't just two lol. Esther would definitely be the imposter. I can't stand Elena, she causes problems and then somehow manages to find someone else to blame. It doesn't make any sense to me. She really is a hypocrite. Did you like the turn of events between Ellie and Esther?

To lolistarkiller: Esther definitely doesn't like Ellie. I'd originally thought about her going after Ellie but I didn't want Bonnie to blame Ellie for what Damon did.

To carlys. love: I agree that maybe had Elijah influenced Elena more she wouldn't have turned out like she did. Klaroline is also one of my favorite ships. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To AdiraBraelynn: This was also a pretty long chapter, but it's Valentine's Day so you guys deserve to be a bit spoiled. You're absolutely right. Everyone's looking out for Elena, but who is Elena looking out for? Caroline tries to deny her feelings just like Ellie does. Klaus definitely has his work cut out for him. Yes Ellie and Elijah fluff we love it! Did you enjoy Ellie and Kol this chapter? No, Kol doesn't know she's a witch yet just because it hasn't come up yet. Lol yes Ellie is so flustered with the comments everyone's making. Esther is definitely dangerous.

To Guest: I'm so glad!

To Oz: Our main couple really are so cute. Yes, we love the start of a friendship. You're absolutely right. No humanity Stefan did still care about Ellie. Hopefully we will get more Ellie and Stefan interactions. I will go ahead and tell you that Hayley and Klaus are still going to sleep together because the birth of Hope is really what gave Klaus the chance and desire to change and be better than what he was. But just because they sleep together doesn't mean that anything more is going to go down between them. I ship Klaroline too so don't worry too much about that.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 2/14/21