Chapter 57: 1912

October 24, 2010

Ellie and Caroline had spent the night at Bonnie's mom's house. Caroline, having been through transition before, was a pretty good option to have around to help Abby through it. Ellie was there in more of a moral support capacity, and to help keep things under control in case something were to happen.

Abby waking up had been hard. Ellie thought it was hard to watch Elijah wake up after he'd been daggered. She'd also thought that watching the werewolves when they were in transition had been bad. Somehow, this was so much worse. It was probably, at least in part, worse because it was Bonnie's mom. Ellie had ended up taking Bonnie outside to calm her down. Her emotions had gotten the best of her.

If there was one thing Caroline and Ellie had gotten good at over the years, it was understanding what they both needed to do without having to really say anything at all. It had been decided that should the need arise, Ellie would take care of Bonnie while Caroline took care of Abby. Bonnie had struggled to breathe. And before Ellie could stop it, Bonnie had turned and vomited into the dirt.

Once she'd calmed down enough, Ellie led her back inside to wash her mouth out and to brush her teeth. Abby had yet to complete the transition, she had time to think it through before she had to go through with it or not. Currently, Caroline and Ellie sat curled up on the couch as Abby and Bonnie talked things through. "Was it like this… for you?" Ellie asked as she drummed a pattern into her thigh.

"What do you mean?" Caroline replied.

"Was it bad? I didn't get to be there for you for one of the biggest things that's ever happened to you. I couldn't help you through it." Ellie told her.

Caroline gave her a soft look, squeezing her hand. "When I first woke up, I was really confused and hungry. I didn't understand why I was so hungry and I didn't understand what it was I was craving so badly. I managed to get my hands on a blood bag. I drank it before I even understood why I wanted it." Caroline explained. "After that, all the times I had been compelled… it was like a veil had been lifted and suddenly I could remember everything. I hadn't really been sure what was happening, but I ended up at the fair. You were still in the hospital at the time."

"What happened at the fair?"

"There was this guy… I ended up feeding on him. I killed him because I didn't know how to stop and once he was dead I just… I just sat there and cried until Damon found me. I didn't realize it at the time, but he had planned on staking me. Elena stopped him, but it was Stefan that saved me. I remember him taking me to the bathroom to clean me up. He was so gentle with me. He calmed me down when I'd worked myself up to a panic attack."

"He did?"

"Yeah. He was amazing." Caroline praised. "He taught me control. He even got Bonnie to make me a daylight ring. I don't know what I would have done had it not been for him. I just… I never want Bonnie's mom to feel that fear that I'd felt before Stefan was helping me. So I wanna do whatever I can to help. Don't feel bad about not being there, you hadn't known anything and I was ok. I'm ok now too."

She might not have expressed the extent of her concern, but it felt better to know that Stefan had looked out for Caroline when Ellie hadn't been able to. Caroline was clearly listening in on the conversation between the mother and daughter in the other room, and Ellie nudged her knee. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"How this is affecting you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Caroline denied.

"Come on, don't lie to me. I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

"Of course you are." Caroline replied immediately.

Ellie turned to face Caroline fully. "Care, Bonnie's mom is in the same situation your dad was only a few days ago. Whatever you're feeling, you've put it on the backburner so that you can be here for Bonnie and her mom, no matter what her decision is. I would have to be totally oblivious to think that that wouldn't affect you in the slightest."

"What do you want me to say, Ellie? That I'm still hurt because my dad hated what I am so much that he let himself die? Or that I'm so scared Bonnie's mom is going to go through the same decision and I'm terrified of how much that would hurt Bonnie? It's not fair and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I'd rather you just talk about your feelings. The way my parents died, and what happened to your dad or Bonnie's mom is all so different, but the pain of losing your parents doesn't change. I think you're a really amazing friend to do what you're doing for Bonnie." Ellie replied. "I'm really proud of you."

Caroline leaned over and hugged Ellie. The two of them stayed like that until Bonnie walked out of the bedroom. They sat up and looked over to Bonnie expectantly. "She's decided to complete the transition."

Ellie wasn't sure if Bonnie looked relieved or not. "A blood bag would probably be the easiest way to feed. It might make her feel a little better." Ellie suggested.

Bonnie nodded. "That would probably be a good idea."

"I can go get her one. Maybe we could get you some clothes and stuff too?"

"Yeah."

The almost awkward silence was disrupted by the ringing of Ellie's phone. "Sorry, it's Jenna." Ellie told them. When they nodded in understanding, she slipped outside. "Hey, Jenna. What's up?"

"Ellie, did you hear about what happened?" Jenna asked.

"Hear about what? I've been at Bonnie's mom's house."

"Wait, Abby? You're at Abby's house? Why are you at Abby's house?"

"You know Abby?" Ellie asked in confusion.

"Ellie, she was your mom's best friend. Of course I know her. I haven't seen her since you guys were so little. I didn't know she and Bonnie were on speaking terms again."

She shook her head at how easily Jenna had gotten distracted. "Jenna, you didn't call me to talk about Abby. What's going on?"

"Ric's in jail."

"What? Why?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"That doctor or whatever shot him."

"What doctor? Wait, that girl? What do you mean she shot him and now he's in jail?"

"Apparently he came at her with a knife? I think she's claiming that he's the one that keeps killing people."

It felt like Ellie's head was spinning. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You didn't know? Ellie people on the Founder's Council have been getting murdered. All the murder weapons have come from Ric's stash of weapons along with the weapons from the Gilbert stash."

"No. I have no idea what you're talking about. People have been getting murdered?" Ellie asked in shock.

"Ellie, Caroline's dad was one of the victims."

"Literally no one has told me anything was going on. But really that shouldn't surprise either of us at this point." Jenna could hear the frustration in Ellie's voice. She wasn't wrong when she said that they often didn't tell her things. "How many people have died?"

"The medical examiner and Bill Forbes, but what I don't get is that Ric nearly died. If it wasn't for Elena, then he would have just been dead."

"Jenna, what the hell are you talking about?" Ellie asked as she leaned against the railing of the porch. "What did Elena do?"

"They didn't know if whoever did it was supernatural or not, and Ric was hurt really badly… so Elena made sure that he died by supernatural hands."

Realization dawned on Ellie. "Are you telling me she killed him? Jesus Christ why does no one ever tell me anything. Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"I know I broke up with him, but is it wrong that I'm still worried about him?"

"No, that just makes you a good person. Do you want me to go check on him?"

"Please."

"Alright. Listen, I'll have Care take me. She has to come back to get some stuff for Bonnie anyways."

"Wait, what's going on with Bonnie and Abby?"

"I'll fill you in when we go to work out." Neither of them had told the others that they were regularly hanging out with Katherine. Especially not with how much they all hated her. The two said their goodbyes as Caroline stepped out of the house.

"Is everything ok?"

Ellie sighed heavily. "When is it ever? Do you think you can take me back to Mystic Falls with you? Stuff has come up and I need to go check on it."

"Yeah, of course. Come on."


After she went to check on Alaric, Ellie found herself in the woods with Jenna and Katherine. They had already been there a while, and Katherine had made several approving comments on their progress. Jenna and Ellie had switched from hitting a punching bag, to hitting mitts that Katherine wore. She used her enhanced speed to make it more difficult for them to hit before she moved. "If you can hit it with me using my speed, you'll stand a much better chance against a vampire. It's not like they're going to go easy on you. Plus, it'll give you the ability to kick any human's ass."

"I think you just like mocking us when we miss." Jenna huffed as she halted her movements. She opted to sling the gloves off her hands and dropped against a fallen tree to drink her water.

"Well, that's fun too." Katherine confessed with a grin. "But really, you've gotten much better."

It was nice to hear, especially when they knew that Katherine was being sincere. Since they'd started working out, there'd been a shift in the dynamics. Ellie had found it fascinating to watch Jenna as she stopped being fearful of Katherine and as she started to treat Katherine like she did Ellie. "Now, are you gonna tell me about what happened?" Jenna asked Ellie curiously.

"With Ric or with Abby?"

"Ric first, then whatever's going on with Abby." Jenna decided.

"Well, Ric's a little on edge. He was a bit agitated. Apparently, Dr. Fell shot him because he came at her with a knife that she'd had hidden in her things. Then she used vampire blood to heal him and Sheriff Forbes has put him in a cell to keep him safe since he has vampire blood in his system. She's not saying it's him that killed the others, she's just trying to keep him safe. That's all I really know."

Jenna nodded, looking conflicted. "I hope they find whoever it is soon."

Katherine had dropped down next to Ellie as she replied, "I'm sure they will."

"What about Abby? I haven't seen her in years."

Ellie wasn't sure how Jenna was going to react, or if she even knew what had gone on yesterday. "Jenna, do you know what was going on yesterday?" Jenna frowned as Ellie explained. "At the ball, Elena let Esther use her blood to link all the Mikaelson's together. Last night was a full moon. Esther was going to use Finn, who was apparently ok with dying and ok with all of his siblings dying as well."

"But what does that have to do with Abby?"

"You know how Bonnie and her Grams are witches?" Ellie asked as Jenna nodded again. "So is Abby. Apparently, a thousand years ago, Esther knew an ancestor of theirs. She was channeling their entire bloodline, living and dead. The only way to break that connection was to break the chain of witches."

Ellie could tell that Jenna was confused. "What does that mean?"

Katherine could see how reluctant Ellie was, so she broke the news for her. "You can't be a witch and a vampire." She said gently.

"Abby's a…"

"Not quite yet, she's in transition. But yes, she's going to be." Ellie replied.

"How is she doing? How's Bonnie doing?" Jenna asked.

"It could be worse. Caroline's going to help them through it. She's gonna teach Abby control and stuff."

Jenna looked conflicted. "How did it happen?"

"Damon I think. They did it to save Elena."

"Save Elena?"

Ellie winced slightly. She wasn't sure how Jenna would take it, but she told her anyways. "Elijah kind of kidnapped Elena. Rebekah held her hostage and if Damon and Stefan didn't find a way to break the connection, Rebekah was going to kill her."

"They didn't hurt her, did they?" Jenna asked worriedly.

Katherine scoffed. "Oh come on now, Jenna. All of us are well aware that Damon and Stefan would move heaven and hell before they let anything happen to her."

Ellie snorted. "To be fair, she is right, but no they didn't hurt her. As soon as they were safe they let her go."

It seemed like today was going to be a busy one when Ellie's phone started to ring. "Oh, speak of the devil." Katherine said slyly.

"Shut up." Ellie told her as she rolled her eyes.

"Tell lover boy we said hello." Katherine teased.

"Shut up." Ellie repeated as she answered her phone. "Hi, Elijah."

The moment she said his name, Jenna made a face and shared a look with Katherine. Ellie ignored them after she flipped them off. "Eleanor, where are you?"

"I'm with Jenna. Why? Is everything ok?"

She could hear Elijah sigh. "I'm sorry to cut into time with your aunt, but can you come to the house? We need to speak with you."

"Klaus' house?" She figured that that was what he meant since he'd said house instead of apartment. The use of 'we' was also a hint.

"Yes. It's important."

His lack of saying anything over the phone was telling, and a bit concerning. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way. I'll be there soon."

"Is something wrong?" Jenna asked as Ellie stood.

"I don't know, but he wouldn't say it was important if it wasn't. I should go."

Katherine gave her a knowing grin. "God, you've got it bad."

"You're delusional, but it's ok I still love you." Ellie sassed.

"It's impossible to not love me."

"I think Elena would readily disagree."

Jenna choked slightly on her water, causing the two girls to grin at her. "I swear. You guys are gonna be the death of me one day."

"As if I'd let you die." Ellie replied. "Anyways, I'll be going. Try not to go too hard on Jenna please."

"No promise. Go before you're late." Katherine replied.

Ellie made her way back to her car and drove out of the woods before heading to the Mikaelson mansion. She'd been more relieved than she'd expected to be when Elijah had called. Even though he'd promised to stay, and he wasn't the type to break his word, she'd still been worried that when she got back to Mystic Falls that he would have disappeared. But what could have happened that he'd called her to ask her to come over? Was it Esther related? The thought of Esther making another move so soon made her feel sick.

She pulled into the drive and had barely knocked on the front door before Elijah opened it. "Thank you for coming so quickly." Elijah greeted as he stepped aside to let her in.

"Of course. What's going on?" Ellie asked as she looked over to Rebekah and Klaus to see both of them looking stressed.

"It seems we've come across a problem and we've collectively decided to trust you enough to tell you about it." Klaus replied as he took a drink.

"Is it Esther?" She questioned.

"No, with Esther in the wind at the moment, she actually isn't the biggest problem." Klaus said before he nodded to Rebekah.

Rebekah passed Ellie her phone and a video played of Elena in the caves from last night. "I don't understand. What am I looking at?"

"Look at the images on the wall behind Elena." Rebekah instructed. "The natives told the story of our family history. Look at the images on the far wall."

Ellie could faintly see the drawings. "What is it? What am I looking at?"

"A native worshipping at the great white oak tree." Rebekah explained.

"When Rebekah showed me this last night. I reminded her that we burned that tree to the ground before we left this place." Klaus told her as he went to refill his glass.

Rebekah pointed to something that Ellie couldn't really make out. "But these markings that precede it are what caught my attention. That's the native calendar." Ellie zoomed in on what Rebekah pointed at. "That date means that that white oak tree is dated three hundred years after our family fled back to the old world. There must have been a sapling, a new tree to replace the old."

Ellie felt panicked. "Are you telling me that there's a tree that could kill you?"

"That's exactly what we're telling you." Klaus confirmed.

"Wait, why are you telling me this?" Ellie asked suddenly. This wasn't information that they'd give lightly.

It was Elijah that explained. "During the time you've known me and my family, you've proven your loyalty to each of us individually. And you've proven yourself on multiple occasions. We've learned from centuries of experience that there are very few people that we can trust. You are one of those few."

She didn't know how to respond. It felt like a very big deal for them to make it clear that they trusted her. They were trusting her with information that could get them killed if she betrayed them. It seemed like they realized she needed a second to process and she was grateful that they gave it to her. "So what do we do?" She asked them finally.

Rebekah grinned at her before she explained, "We need to find that tree. If it's not still standing, we need to find what it was used for and destroy it. We were curious if you could point us in the right direction since you've lived here your whole life."

"Lucky for you, my mom was always big on projects being part of the various communities of the town. The best place to start to look for any kind of records like that would be the Founders Archives. It typically has just about anything and everything to do with the town's history." Ellie explained.

"And this would be located where?" Elijah asked curiously.

"The library. Pretty sure the whole basement of the library is dedicated to the archives."

"Well, that seems like a drag." Klaus commented.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at him. "You've never been good at research." She told him. "I'll do it. Ellie, would you like to come with me?"

"Yeah, sure. I just need to go home and change." Ellie said.

"No need. You can borrow something of mine." Rebekah replied. "Feel free to use the shower too if you want."

"Have you already forgotten that you have a room here?" Klaus asked curiously.

Ellie gave him a look. "It's not like I've exactly picked one."

"Perfect. You can take the room next to mine." Rebekah said excitedly. "Unless there's a reason you shouldn't." Ellie missed the look Rebekah gave Elijah just like she missed the way he glared darkly at his sister.

"I make no guarantees of staying here." Ellie said, even though she was grinning at Rebekah's excitement.

"I'll fix that." Rebekah said confidently. "We'll be seeing you boys." She pulled Ellie up the stairs and led her through the house with ease. "You'll love it. Of course, we'll have to get decorations. As of right now, all that's in it is some basic furniture."

Rebekah led her to a room and when she opened the door, Ellie's jaw dropped at the sight of it. It was easily the biggest bedroom she'd ever seen. It was far bigger than her bedroom at home and bigger than her bedroom at Elijah's apartment. "Jesus Christ, this is huge."

The blonde looked smug. "Hmm, I've had bigger."

"Of course you have." Ellie sassed. "A shower would probably be a good idea. Can I borrow your stuff?"

"Of course you can." Rebekah agreed. "You can just shower in my room and get ready there. Come along."


Once Ellie had gotten dressed, the two girls had made their way to the library. They'd been searching for any kind of information for hours, but came up empty handed. "This is getting us nowhere." Rebekah complained as she closed the folder she'd been reading through. "Now what?"

"I'm so stupid." Ellie groaned as she looked to Rebekah.

"And why is that?"

"Because, if there was anyone that could most likely just give us information off the top of their head, it would be Mayor Lockwood." Ellie replied. "She's the head of like a million committees. I'm pretty sure she's the head of the Preservation Society as well."

"Would she be willing to meet with us?"

"I don't see why not. She's always liked me. Hang on, I'll call her."

Ellie quickly dialed the mayor and waited as it rang. "Hello, this is Mayor Lockwood speaking."

"Hey! Mrs. Lockwood, it's Ellie."

"Ellie, honey, hi, how are you?"

"I'm great. I was actually wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"What can I do for you?"

"Rebekah, one of the Mikaelson's, she's doing some research on the town and she wanted to know if she could speak with you."

"Well, I don't have anything that has to be done right now. Why don't we meet at The Grill?"

Rebekah looked impressed as Ellie replied, "That would be great. Thank you so much."

"See you soon, dear."

Once Ellie hung up, Rebekah started to grin. "You are far more resourceful than I'd originally expected." Rebekah praised. "I'm impressed."

They put the things they'd gotten out back into their places as Ellie replied, "Mrs. Lockwood and I have always gotten along. Tyler's been one of my best friends since I was little. Come on, she might beat us there. Her office is pretty close to The Grill."

"Alright." Rebekah agreed.

Ellie had been right. By the time they got to The Grill, Mayor Lockwood was already seated at a table inside. "Hello girls."

They took their seats before Rebekah said, "Thank you for meeting with me, Mayor. When Ellie told me you were the head of the Preservation Society, I figured that you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community."

"A long line of Lockwood women used to keep those records back before any of them had actual jobs." Mayor Lockwood explained with a small smile. "Plus, I've known Ellie her whole life and she rarely asks for favors. I saw no reason to say no."

"Ellie and I, we've been to the Founders Archive but neither of us seemed to be able to find any record of the tree I'm looking for." Rebekah told her.

"It probably got cut down." Mayor Lockwood replied. "Big old trees built half this town in the 1900s." As Mayor Lockwood took a sip of her coffee, Ellie felt two familiar energies and looked up as Stefan and Damon strolled into The Grill. Damon was, as always, making some sort of sarcastic remark and Ellie nudged Rebekah's foot with her own. The blonde looked up and Ellie watched as Rebekah and Damon had some sort of weird staring contest as the two Salvatores walked by.

Once they had passed them, Rebekah looked back to Mayor Lockwood and asked, "Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledgers during that period?"

"Back then, all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores."

Ellie wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was probably leaning on being not so great, given that they couldn't just compel them to give them the information. Well, they could if it weren't for the fact that the two of them liked to guzzle vervain regularly. "Thank you so much for all your help, Mayor."

"Of course, I needed a good coffee break anyways. If there's anything more I could do to help either of you, just let me know." Her phone beeped and when she read it, she let out a small sigh. "Duty calls, you two have a good day."

Mayor Lockwood put down some money on the table before leaving. "What are we gonna do?" Ellie asked quietly as she prayed that they were quiet enough, and that Damon and Stefan were distracted enough, to not be overheard. Rebekah grinned suddenly as she pulled out her phone and typed something quickly. When she passed it over to Ellie, the message read:

I'll distract them. You go snoop at their house. I'll give you a heads up when time to go.

"I think it's a genius plan, don't you?" Rebekah asked.

"What I wanna know is who do you want to flirt with more? Stefan or Damon?"

"Oh who says I can't do both?" Rebekah shot back. "I'm a woman of many talents. Who says I can't multitask?"

Ellie made a face of disgust. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, but ok. You do that and I'll do the other thing."

"Let me know if you find anything."

"Unlikely with how much crap there's gonna be to go through, but yeah, I'll let you know." Ellie said before they separated. Rebekah headed for the boys and Ellie headed for the door. Once she was in the car, she dialed Elijah's number.

"Hello, Eleanor. Have you and Rebekah found anything?" He asked when he answered the phone.

"Hey. We have a lead. The Founder's Archive was a bust. We couldn't find anything on it, but I managed to get Mayor Lockwood to talk with us. Apparently, as luck would have it, the Salvatores owned all the logging mills. So currently, Rebekah is distracting Stefan and Damon and I'm headed over to break into their house and try to find the records."

"You're breaking into their house?"

"Rebekah's gonna give me a heads up the moment they're headed this way to give me time to get away. Worst comes to worst I'll just cloak myself and my car until I can get away."

"Would you like some help?" He offered and Ellie ignored the way her heart started to race slightly.

"That would be nice. We could get a lot more done together."

"I'll meet you there."


They'd been deep into their research when Ellie's phone rang. "Is it Rebekah?" Elijah asked as he looked up.

"No, actually. It's Sheriff Forbes." Ellie frowned as she answered. "Hello?"

"Ellie, do you know where Jenna is?" Sheriff Forbes asked.

"I'm not sure. I haven't talked to her since earlier. I'm not sure where she is right now, why?"

Sheriff Forbes sighed heavily and Ellie could almost imagine her rubbing her forehead tiredly. "I've got Matt and Elena at the station for breaking into Meredith Fell's apartment. I needed to let Jenna know."

"I'm sorry. Elena and Matt did what?" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"They broke into her apartment to try and find something to clear Alaric."

"Jesus Christ, ok, ok. I'll get in contact with Jenna. What do I need to do?"

"Can you come get them? I just need someone to make sure they actually go home instead of doing something else incredibly reckless."

"I'm on my way." Ellie sent a text before looking over to Elijah helplessly. "Why can't Elena stay out of trouble for five minutes?" She whined as she ran a hand over her face.

He smiled softly at her. "Younger siblings have a way of staying in trouble."

"That's garbage." She replied. "Ok, Jenna's going to meet me at the station to get them. Are you going to stay here or?"

Elijah rose from his spot and books the records away. "Probably best if I don't. We've been here for some time."

Ellie wasn't sure why she felt so awkward to leave, maybe it was just a reluctance to leave. Was it because she didn't want to leave Elijah or because she didn't want to deal with Elena's never ending drama? "I'll see you later then." She said as she headed for her car.

"Good luck with your sister." Elijah replied.

She snorted in amusement. "Thanks, I'll need it. Or maybe she will."

Elijah was grinning softly at her as she pulled out of the Salvatore's drive and had disappeared by the time she was on the road. Once he was gone, she could feel her anger at Elena start to sink in. How had she even managed to rope Matt into it? He was typically the reasonable one. When she arrived at the station, Jenna had whipped into the parking lot. "Where are they?" She asked. Ellie had seen her this annoyed and mad since Alaric and Elena had sent Jeremy away.

"I just got here. I haven't gone in yet." Ellie replied.

Sheriff Forbes was waiting at the entrance. "I still have to speak to them before I let them go." Jenna, in her anger, said nothing. They followed her back to her office and as they entered, Sheriff Forbes asked the two teens, "What were you thinking?"

"I know that we had no right…" Elena started.

Ellie only felt minor relief when it seemed to irritate Jenna and Sheriff Forbes as much as it irritated her. "No right? You broke the law." Sheriff Forbes said bluntly.

"But we found something that clears Alaric. It gives him an alibi in the Brian Walters murder."

"You mean this?" Sheriff Forbes asked as she held up a piece of paper.

"What is that?" Elena asked.

"A letter from the County Coroner's office correcting the error in the time of death of Brian Walters. Meredith Fell received it today. She brought it to me several hours ago, full of apologizes for accusing an innocent man." Sheriff Forbes explained as she tossed the letter down.

Matt spoke finally, asking, "Why would she have a copy hidden in her closet?"

"I can't ask those questions, Matt, because of the very fact that you broke into her home to find it. Do you know how much I'm already protecting both of you?"

"I'm sorry." Elena said.

"You're sorry?" Ellie asked skeptically.

Both Matt and Elena whipped around in surprise. "What are you two doing here?" Elena asked.

Jenna gave her a dark look. "Typically, when someone breaks the law, Elena, their family gets called. You're lucky you're not in a jail cell. If Meredith had wanted to press charges, she could have." She told her. "You got incredibly lucky. I hope you're aware."

"Just get out of my office and go with Jenna and Ellie and go home, please." Sheriff Forbes said tiredly. "Alaric will be released as soon as the letter is authenticated. Go."

"Let's go." Jenna's voice had gone cold as she said it. She was more than a little pissed.

"Jenna-"

"Get up and get moving, right now." Jenna told her. Matt moved first, doing as Jenna instructed before Elena finally moved.

The four of them moved in silence, with Ellie and Matt sharing looks, until they got outside. "I was just trying to help him, Jenna." Elena said.

Both Matt and Ellie sighed. Sometimes, Elena really just needed to keep her mouth shut, "Trying to help? Trying to help are you kidding me? You broke the law, Elena! And on top of that you dragged Matt into it. How many times am I going to say it before you get it into your head that you can't just do whatever you want? You do things and you don't consider the repercussions or how they're going to affect other people." Jenna ranted.

"But Jenna-"

"Stop talking." Jenna said and even Ellie's eyes went wide at how sharp and cold her voice sounded. "We are going to go home, and you're going to stay there and you're not going to do anything else stupid and you're going to count your blessing that that didn't go so much worse do you understand me?" When Elena didn't respond, Jenna asked again. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes." Elena replied.

"Good. Now let's go."

"My, uh, my truck is a little bit down the street. Can I go get it?" Matt asked gently. He clearly didn't want to make Jenna angrier than she already was.

Jenna sighed heavily before she replied, "Fine. You can go get your truck. I expect you two to meet me at the house." She told them. "Make sure they go home. I need a minute."

"Of course." Ellie agreed before Jenna walked off.

"Ellie-"

"Jesus, Elena, for once hold your tongue. Because I'm only slightly less mad than Jenna. So just please shut up and go because I am tired and don't want to deal with this."

Matt held a hand out to stop Elena. "Just, let's just go." He instructed. Ellie smiled gratefully at him as he led Elena ahead.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked as she stopped and stared down an alleyway. Ellie had stopped beside Matt and caught the annoyed expression on Damon's face. Stefan's mouth was covered in blood and Damon was knelt over a blond of the ground. "Stefan?"

He tried to wipe the blood away, but it didn't do much good. "Elena." He said softly. His eyes were wide as he panted. Ellie knew that look. She'd been a summer with him when both of them were on the verge of a breakdown.

"What are you two doing?"

"Relax, Elena. Just a little experiment." Damon replied as he held his hands out as if to prove it was harmless. "There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be."

"Elena, let's just go." Matt insisted. Elena was staring Stefan down with a look that was somewhere between disgust and disapproval. "Elena!" He forced her away, but Ellie stood where she was.

Stefan refused to meet Ellie's gaze as he turned back towards Damon. "So… that's gonna take a little time." Damon said casually. "Stefan, wait, hey. Stefan, wait." Damon called as Stefan brushed past him.

"Let me talk to him." Ellie said, for once she didn't feel annoyed by his presence. Damon nodded as Ellie rushed after Stefan. "Stefan. Stefan, hey!" Ellie called as she let herself fall into a sprint. "Wait!"

"No." He replied.

They'd gotten a bit away from people before she caught up to him. "No! Wait a minute. Look at me." His eyes were wide and if she didn't know any better, she'd say that he looked to be on the verge of tears. "Come on, talk to me."

"Go away, Ellie."

"Hell no." Ellie said as she took a hold of his arm. "Come on, Stefan. After everything. Don't act like I don't know when you're on the verge of falling apart. What happened?"

"Rebekah and Damon they… they wanted me to feed. They said that if I didn't they would and they'd kill her. I would've… Ellie I almost killed her just now. I couldn't stop myself I…" He stuttered over his words.

Ellie took his hands, trying to give him something to concentrate on. "Hey, hey, it's ok. Listen, she's still alive, alright? That girl back there is still alive. Damon gave her his blood and she's fine."

"But Ellie, I couldn't stop myself." Stefan tried to make her understand. "I couldn't. He kept talking and it wasn't working. If he hadn't forced me away I would have killed her."

"But he did, and she's fine. She won't even remember this." Ellie assured him. Stefan looked panicked and Ellie's heart ached a bit as she moved forward to hug him tightly. "It's gonna be ok, Stefan." He hugged her back tightly and she felt him let out a deep sigh.

"I didn't want to kill her." He said softly.

"I know, Stefan. It's ok." She replied. "It's gonna be ok. You didn't kill her. Listen, it'll get better. You just need time."

Stefan scoffed. "I've had a hundred and forty six years of time." He said as he pulled away.

"Come on, let me take you home and you can drink too much and mope." Ellie suggested. "Come on, please?"

"No, Ellie. I should… I should go."

"Stefan…" She gave him a look before he finally sighed.

"Alright, let's just go. Please." He told her as he allowed her to lead him back to her car. Neither of them said anything as she drove them to the boarding house. It was a bit of a relief when she realized that Damon wasn't home. Stefan needed a minute to pull himself back from the edge. "You don't have to stay." He told her quietly as he poured himself a drink.

"Thanks, but I think I will. At least for a while anyways." She replied. She followed him as he went over to the fireplace and started it up. Once he finished it, he took a seat on the edge of the table and just stared into the fire. His expression reminded her of the looks he'd get after Klaus made him kill someone. It was like a pain he didn't know how to deal with. It made her want to fight Elena. He didn't deserve this.

She moved and sat beside him. She gave him a minute to decide if he was going to let her sit there or not and when he didn't move or push her away, she moved closer. Ellie rested her head on his shoulder before looping her arms through his and held his hand. He'd given her so much comfort during the summer and what she had been able to do for him never felt like enough. There were things that she wanted to say, but she held her tongue. Sometimes, people didn't want you to talk. They just wanted you to be there. That you were more of a comfort to them than your words would be. She was certain this was one of those times.

They sat together for a while as she let Stefan mull over his emotions before the door opened. "They let Ric go." Damon announced as he came in. "Sheriff Forbes said she's out of suspects again, but Ric is in the clear." She could hear him walk over, but didn't turn to look. "I know it may not seem like it, but you did really well tonight. I mean before you know it, you're gonna be the king of moderation. Elena will understand."

"It doesn't really matter what Elena thinks." Stefan said flatly.

"Uh-uh. None of that. No more no humanity Stefan. There's a road called recovery, and we are on it." Damon replied.

Stefan shot up and turned to Damon. "Why do you even care, huh? The whole brother bonding thing, getting Elena to hate you. Why, you feel guilty because you kissed her? Is that it, Damon? Because you can stop. Go back to hating me. It was a lot easier."

Ellie rose from her spot but didn't interrupt them. She was fairly certain that this was a conversation that they'd been needing to have. "Can you for one minute actually believe that I'm trying to help you?" Damon asked.

"I don't need your help." Stefan said as he started to walk away.

"Don't need my… are you kidding me? Do you remember what happened last time you said that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"1912, Stefan, the last time I convinced you to drink human blood. I told you that you'd simply forgotten how good it felt to drink human blood. So had I, but Sage, she reminded me. It's worth it. It's all worth it. I got you to feed and you ended up killing the girl. The Founders Council killer had nothing on you. By the decade's end they were calling you the Ripper of Monterey. I let you walk away. I watched you go over the edge and I didn't do anything to stop you." Damon explained. Ellie had never seen him look so guilty.

"You couldn't have." Stefan replied.

"Sure, I could have." Damon told him. "But I just didn't want to. But I want to now. Whenever you go too far, I will be there to pull you back. Every second, every day till you don't need me."

"Why?"

Damon hesitated before he answered, "Cause right now, you're all I got."

Stefan walked away, heading up to his room, leaving Ellie and Damon alone. She walked over and quietly said, "He's on the verge of falling apart Damon. Please don't let him."

He looked over to her, looking more serious than she'd ever seen. "I won't."


Author's Note:

Has the world turned upside down? Did Ellie and Damon actually just interact without one of them being annoyed by the other? Freaky. As always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! I hope you guys enjoyed!

To xenocanaan: Kol flirting with Ellie is much fun to write. To be fair, I kind of want Elena to suffer too. She's done so much to so many people and she just gets away with it? What? That's trash. But we did get to see Jenna actually yell at her this chapter! I hope you enjoyed.

To brigitm28: I can totally agree with you! In canon it really was a one sided thing, but I think so many people like Klaroline because of genuine in his affections Klaus seemed to be and that it really gave another side of him that we didn't get to see with many people. I honestly really love Klaroline, though I like Klamile too. Stefan and Katherine are definitely going to interact again, but it won't be for a while, she's mostly kind of hiding out so that Klaus doesn't, you know, kill her. Speaking of angry Jenna, she was pissed at Elena this chapter. I don't think Ellie and Elijah in the woods counted as a fight, a disagreement yes, but I think a fight would be worse than that. That was just Ellie talking Elijah out of a really stupid decision. Ellie calling out Esther was so good to write. I literally adore Sebastian. Have you been watching WandaVision? It's so so good. I highly recommend. I'm still in the research phase for the Bucky fic, because I intend for it to start during the First Avenger in WW2, whenever I get to writing that one it's going to be something HELLA long. That will definitely be a series instead of a singular story because of how long it'll be.

To Aryabloodlust: She wouldn't just up and leave everybody unless something really really big happened, which is why she was so desperate for him to stay. I haven't thought too much about who Jenna is going to end up with in all honesty. There's going to be a lot going on though.

To flawsome4ever: He will stay! Ellie and Kol are fun to write. I'm glad you enjoyed.

To skyellebaby: You've got to remember that at the time Ellie went off on Esther, Esther had thousands of Bennett Witches that she was drawing power from. Had Ellie gone toe to toe with her at that moment, she could have killed Ellie. And even though Emily and Sheila are on Ellie's side, they couldn't break the connection just like Bonnie and Abby couldn't. Elena pisses me off too. That was the exact purpose of Ellie and Elijah's talk! It was to see that even though he's scared of something happening to her because of him, he can't leave when she's begging him to stay. Kol and Ellie are so fun to write. Her permanently moving in is definitely possible. The day-to-day would be fun! I think Bonnie and Ellie's distance also comes from Elena kind of claiming Bonnie. I'm glad you enjoyed!

To Qewbix: I definitely think he wouldn't have been as volatile had it not been for Elena. I think he fell for her after he was rejected by Katherine and that she was a rebound and it turned into something toxic. Because if you look at the love Damon had for Katherine, it was a pure love from him. It was lustful, yes, but he loved her for 145 years. How could he so easily go from that to someone else? That doesn't make any sense. I also think that Elena manipulating him and his feelings for her as much as she did was a major part of the problem. I want Stefan to start seeing the light about Elena, but that probably won't happen until we get into season four. Though I have plans that will help him see the problems with Elena. Stefan absolutely deserves a good friend, especially after losing Lexi.

To AB0918: I'm really so glad to see people enjoying my version of Katherine. I know a lot of people hate her, but I think that's just because Julie Plec constantly put her in this horrible light instead of showing the side of Katherine that was just a traumatized teenaged mom. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To RiRi: Did Ellie and Jenna getting pissed at Elena this chapter help make up for it? I really do want Bonnie to switch sides, so that's a work in progress. Elijah saying that was something that really scared Ellie too, which is why she kind of freaked out. Yes! If we can't get Ellie and Kol OTP in this version, we at least deserve a Brotp!

To AdiraBraelynn: I think everyone got a bit anxious when he said he was going to leave. We are getting so very close to them confessing, we won't have to wait much longer! More Kat and Jenna teasing this chapter! Lol yes, she and Kol are so fun to write. I think something in Esther was tainted after she used such dark magic, and after what she did to Freya, are we really surprised that she'd tried to kill all of her kids. I think Esther is worse than Mikael. Yes, Ellie wanted nothing more than to be there for Bonnie.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 2/20/21