Chapter 62: Before Sunset

November 6, 2010

It hadn't taken long for both Ellie and Jenna to pass out. Being exhausted from overwhelming emotions was a whole other kind of sleep. Katherine had moved Jenna first. She'd been the easiest, given that she'd been in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Clearly, the girl had been locked up in her dorm room. Katherine had carefully put her in the guest bed before going to help Ellie. It hadn't taken her long to get Ellie's hair out of the careful updo she'd put it in, though she was impressed with how well she'd done it. The makeup was removed next before Katherine changed her clothes into pajamas.

She'd intended to put her in the bed with Jenna, but when she'd moved to set Ellie down, the younger girl whined and held on like a child. In the end, she'd ended up in Katherine's bed and once they got settled, Katherine slept heavily. She woke before either of them, though it wasn't long before Ellie was scrambling about. "What's wrong?" Katherine asked.

"I need to borrow clothes… and a toothbrush."

"Of course, take whatever." Katherine said as she frowned. "What's got you in such a hurry?"

"Dance clean up is at eight. I have to hurry if I don't want to be late." Ellie explained.

"Dance… clean up?" Katherine repeated. "You really wanna go to dance clean up right now?"

Ellie stopped suddenly and looked at Katherine with a serious expression. "Cleaning doesn't require thinking. If I do nothing and I'm left with my thoughts, I'm gonna have a breakdown. Cleaning sounds so much better than that."

Katherine simply nodded. "Fair enough." She followed Ellie into the bedroom where Ellie was digging through her closet.

"When Jenna wakes up, can you drive her wherever she needs to go if she even wants to leave? I drove us here last night."

"Yeah, I'll make sure she's ok." Katherine agreed.

Ellie pulled out an outfit and gave Katherine a grateful smile. "You're really amazing, I hope you know that." Ellie told her.

Katherine's eyes went wide. Clearly, the vampire wasn't used to receiving praise. "It's not a big deal." Katherine replied. "Do you want to come back here later?"

"I might, I'm not really sure what my plans are yet." Ellie informed her. "But I should be going, Caroline will kill me if I'm late." Ellie spared a worried glance towards the room Jenna was still asleep in. "Let me know when she wakes up and how she is, please."

"I will."

Ellie walked over to the vampire and hugged her tightly. "Really, thank you for everything."

"No problem." Katherine told her, but Ellie could see the shock she was trying to hide. Ellie had casually told Katherine she loved her before, but her sincerity was still surprising. "You should get going, like you said, Caroline will kill you if you're late."

"See you later, Kat." Ellie replied. She was out the door before she noticed Katherine's baffled expression. No one really ever called her by a nickname. The drive to the school wasn't a long one and when she entered the cafeteria, a familiar blonde was already there, though not the one she was expected. "Rebekah!" Ellie yelped, startling the Original. "Are you ok? Esther she…"

"Possessed my body and tried to kill me and my family? I heard." Rebekah replied. She softened slightly and added, "I'm fine, really. I just feel foolish that I tried to give her even the slightest chance to die in peace."

Ellie's throat tightened at the mention of death. "I'm sorry you lost her, I know you loved her even if you had issues."

"I heard about the teacher, I know you were close with him. I'm sorry that it happened." Rebekah said. Ellie sniffled but nodded. "Are you alright?"

"I could be worse." Ellie told her honestly. "It never gets easier, does it?"

Rebekah gave her a sad smile. "I wish that I could say it does, I really do. But it doesn't. If you love them, and you lose them, they take a part of you with them." Ellie watched as Rebekah straightened herself before the blonde said, "Elijah and Nik were worried about you."

"I just stayed with Jenna. She was really upset and I couldn't leave her alone." Ellie explained.

"Understandable." Rebekah replied. "Where the bloody hell is everyone else?"

Ellie glanced up at the clock on the wall that told her it was exactly eight in the morning. She started picking up plastic cups and tossing them into a recycling bin as they fell into a comfortable silence. "Where's Matt?" Caroline asked as she walked into the room.

"He bailed." Rebekah explained. "He got called into work at the last minute."

"Are you kidding me? So it's just us?"

"Yes, and you're late." Rebekah replied. "Clean up committee started at eight o'clock."

"It's like 8:02." Caroline said in confusion.

"Exactly. I managed to turn up on time and I didn't even get to attend the dance that I organized." Rebekah informed her.

She moved to dump the contents of her bin into a larger one as Ellie gave Caroline a pleading look. The message to be nice was clear. "I'm sorry about your mom." Caroline said and Ellie smiled gratefully at her. "I mean, I know you, like, hated her and everything, but still. I'm sorry."

"Sorry about your teacher." Rebekah replied. "He seemed like a nice guy."

Ellie swallowed hard at the mention of Alaric. "Yeah, he was." Caroline agreed.

There was an awkward, almost painful pause as the three of them tried to not let their grief consume them. They'd all lost someone yesterday, and it was hard to know how to act. "I'm going to get started on the gym." Rebekah finally said.

She'd hadn't gotten far before Ellie's head snapped up. "Who is that?"

Caroline looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone's out there with Rebekah, but I don't know who." Ellie explained. When Rebekah let out a shout, the two of them ran into the hall and her heart stopped at the sight of Alaric pinning Rebekah to the lockers. The two vampires managed to flip Alaric around and drove the white oak stake through his heart, but when nothing happened, Ellie felt her stomach fill with dread. The two blondes backed away and Ellie didn't even have time to scream before Rebekah had picked Ellie up and they rushed from the room.

Rebekah and Ellie had run one way, with Caroline running the other. They'd made it outside and put some distance between them and the school before they stopped. Ellie turned when she heard the jingling of keys. When Ellie turned to see Alaric standing behind Caroline, she'd tried to scream, but Rebekah's hand over her mouth muffled the sound. He snapped Caroline's neck with ease and Ellie couldn't help her panicked cry. Alaric dragged Caroline's body back towards the school and both Ellie and Rebekah watched in horror as smoke came off his clearly burning body. "Ellie stop struggling!" Rebekah insisted in a forceful whisper.

"He took Caroline!" Ellie cried.

"I know! I know! But the white oak didn't kill him! I don't know what to do!" Rebekah replied. "We need to tell Klaus and Elijah. We need to go!"

"I need to warn the others." Ellie told her. "If Esther's plan worked, then he's out for blood."

Rebekah looked terrified, "We need to run!"

"Like you did from Mikael?" Ellie asked. "He will hunt us down and he won't stop until you're all dead. Go warn Elijah and Klaus, I will go warn Stefan and the others."

"It's dangerous." Rebekah tried.

"It is. But Caroline has been my best friend my entire life and he will kill her. I can't let that happen without a fight." Ellie said fiercely.

Rebekah finally seemed to cave. "I'll make sure you get out of here safely, but then go straight to Stefan." Ellie nodded in agreement and the two of them rushed to Ellie's car. Ellie was once again amazed at how she never managed to get stopped for reckless driving when she was flying down the street, but she was in a panic and it made her a little less cautious.

When she arrived at her house, she frowned at the sight of Bonnie, still in her dress from the dance, with a towel to her neck. "Oh my god, what happened?" Ellie asked as she rushed over to Bonnie.

"Just Bonnie being an oh so helpful blood bag." Damon said irritably.

Ellie looked over to Stefan in confusion. "The witches led Bonnie back to Alaric last night, he fed on her. He's an Original now." Stefan explained.

"I know."

"What do you mean you know?" Damon asked.

"I mean, Alaric just tried to kill Rebekah at dance clean up." She replied. "He's trapped there without a daylight ring but… but the white oak stake didn't work on him."

Stefan tensed. "What do you mean it didn't work?"

"I mean Rebekah shoved it in his chest and nothing happened." Ellie explained. "We have to do something."

They all turned at the sound of the doorbell ringing. "What the hell do you want?" Jeremy asked.

Ellie and the two Salvatores quickly moved to the front door to see Klaus standing just outside with a casual grin. "Now is that any way to treat a guest?"

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Stefan asked as he stepped in front of Jeremy.

"Well, for starters, young Jeremy here could show some manners and invite me inside." Klaus said.

"Why don't you go up to your room?" Stefan suggested, though they were all aware it wasn't really a suggestion.

"Now." Damon insisted. Jeremy gave her a look before he sighed and did as he was told.

"Hmm, poor lad. Loses one questionable father figure only to be replaced by the likes of the two of you." Klaus sassed.

"Yeah, about that. Something happened." Damon said.

Klaus looked over at him before replying, "Oh, I know all about my mother's invulnerable little creation. That's why I'm here. I'm leaving town. I just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, witch… doppelgänger."

"Can't help you there." Damon replied as he pulled Stefan back and slammed the door in Klaus' face.

"Elena!" Stefan called as Damon rushed upstairs. "Don't invite him in."

"Friends or not, I wasn't going to." Ellie admitted.

She was admittedly concerned by the fact that Klaus wasn't making some type of sarcastic remark or a threat. "Where is she?" Damon asked.

"She's not here."

"What do you mean, she's not here?" Damon demanded. "Where did she go?"

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked as she walked over to them.

"Klaus wants in." Damon informed her. "We have to keep him out." Suddenly Damon let out a shout and yelled, "Duck!"

Stefan wrapped his arm around both Ellie and Bonnie and dragged them to the ground, covering them as much as he could as something crashed through the window. "Klaus you son of a bitch!" Ellie screamed as the glass shattered around them.

"I think you're probably going to want to let me in!" He called back. The four of them carefully stood as Jeremy ran down the stairs.

"What's happening?" Jeremy asked as he checked both Ellie and Bonnie for injuries.

"Klaus is throwing a fucking temper tantrum because we won't let him in." Ellie hissed as they moved to the kitchen. "And we can't find Elena."

"Elena's car is gone." Stefan told them as he looked out the window.

Bonnie asked, "Why wouldn't she tell anyone where she was going?" There was a crash as the door flung open as a soccer ball hit the plates on the table before hitting Damon.

A large piece of wood, clearly part of someone's fence, lodged itself in the wall behind Damon's head. "Get down!" Stefan shouted as he pushed them down.

"Missed me!" Damon taunted before breaking off a piece of the fence and throwing it back at Klaus. He threw another piece, and it shattered against the table. "Missed me again!"

Stefan's phone started to ring and Ellie's focus shifted to him as he said, "Alaric." The phone call didn't last before he told Ellie, "Alaric has Elena and Caroline."

"I was trying to tell you guys he had Caroline but how the fuck did he get Elena?"

"I don't know." Stefan replied. "We need Klaus to stop."

She nodded and leaned over to see out the front door where Klaus had raised his arm to throw another fence piece. "Enough!" She shouted and she watched with satisfaction as Klaus was thrown off the porch. Klaus was glaring at her as she walked towards him. "Fucking asshole! I hope you know you're paying to have all of this fixed."

"Well, if you had simply invited me inside, this wouldn't be a problem." Klaus replied.

The two of them stepped onto the porch while Klaus eyed them suspiciously. "Elena's not here." Stefan told him. "Alaric has her and Caroline. He's going to kill them both unless you turn yourself over to him."

Something in Klaus' expression changed. "Didn't Rebekah tell you and Elijah that he took Caroline?"

"No. She did not. She only told us that Alaric was alive and that we needed to go." Klaus replied before he looked to Stefan. "Now, I know you're not asking me to walk into a certain death."

Stefan chuckled slightly. "I really wish we could. But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you, there's a one in four chance that we die, too."

"I'll take those odds." Damon replied as he stepped out onto the porch as well with a piece of fence slung over his shoulder like a bat.

"And a hundred percent chance that Tyler dies." Stefan added.

"I'm good with that, too." Damon sassed.

"Well I'm not." Ellie replied.

"Good thing I don't care."

"You might want to care when I start breaking bones." Ellie warned. "Or I might start removing body parts you find vital."

She shot a warning look down to his crotch. He eyed her suspiciously as he took a half step back. "Why don't we just figure out a way to put Alaric down, hmm?" Stefan suggested.

Both Klaus and Damon seemed to ease up as they took a moment to try and think of a plan. It wasn't long before Klaus suggested, "Ok, how about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety."

"Oh, that's a great idea. What's to stop me from getting killed instantly?" Damon asked.

"Nothing." Klaus confirmed and Ellie snorted in amusement despite the situation.

"Caroline's in there. Don't you have a thing for her? Or did she just reject you too many times?" Damon asked.

"This isn't really, uh, helping too much." Stefan said tiredly.

Bonnie stepped out onto the porch and Ellie wondered idly when she'd had time to change. "I might have an idea." She told them. "My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over fifteen years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric."

"If and might? Your words inspire such confidence." Klaus sassed.

"Unless you have a better plan, dial back on the sarcasm." Ellie warned. "It's a good plan. The only reason the spell didn't last longer than that was because someone went and woke him up."

Bonnie nodded. "I'll get it. But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours." She told Klaus.

Klaus sighed heavily before he said, "Just so we're clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, Ellie and I will be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves."

Ellie sent a warning text to Katherine and Jenna to let them know what was happening. "What are you doing?" Damon asked as he eyed her on her phone.

"Texting Elijah. We're going to need all hands on deck." Ellie replied as she sent a text to Elijah as well.

"Speaking of, what the hell's going on between you two?" Damon asked.

"Not the time. Bonnie, text Abby, have her meet you at Stefan and Damon's house. Damon, go with her."

"Who the hell put you in charge?"

Stefan held up a hand. "She's right. Just go, we need the spell sooner rather than later. We can go to the school to keep an eye out. When we have what we need, everyone can meet there."

"Fine." Damon said irritably, but he headed for his car.

"Let me fill Jeremy in on the plan, and then we can go." Ellie told the two vampires as she reentered her house. "Jer!"

"Yeah?" He asked as he walked in from the kitchen.

"Listen, Bonnie and Damon are going to his house to meet Abby to get the spell so that we can desiccate Alaric." Ellie informed him.

He gave her a worried look and asked, "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"Stay here. I texted Jenna to let her know what's happening. She'll probably be here soon. I don't know how she's going to react, so if she's freaking out I'm gonna need you to calm her down, ok?"

Thankfully, Jeremy didn't seem upset at the thought of being left at home. "Alright. But you'll call me when you find out something, right?"

"Of course I will, but right now, the safest place for you to be is here with Jenna until we know something." Ellie replied.

"Well, what are you going to be doing?" He asked.

"Klaus, Stefan, and I are going to go to the school, just to keep a lookout just in case Alaric tries something before the sun goes down." Ellie explained.

Jeremy pulled her into a hug. "Be careful."

"I will. Same for you." Ellie made her way back onto the front porch where Stefan and Klaus were waiting. "Let's go." The three of them moved to Klaus' SUV and slipped inside. The ride to the school was silent and Ellie felt like she could hear her heart racing with anxiety.

Stefan's phone buzzed as they got out of the car. "Abby just showed up." He told them.

"Good. Perhaps this plan won't be an epic failure after all." Klaus replied as the three of them settled against the SUV. "You know, if this does go off, and we drop the history teacher in the Atlantic, I'm still leaving with Ellie and Elena."

"I'll go with you." Stefan said as he scanned the school building.

"Really?" Klaus asked in surprise. "What's the catch?"

Stefan turned towards him and said, "There's no catch. I'd turn my back on everything here to make sure Ellie and Elena were safe."

"And that is what makes you Elena's better option." Klaus replied. "It's a shame it's not easier for Elena to see that. I mean, personally, I think she's wasting her time with Damon."

Ellie snorted slightly at his comment. He wasn't wrong. "You know, all this time and energy you spend trying to get me and my brother to hate each other… it's actually had the opposite effect." Stefan explained.

Klaus laughed before he asked, "Has it? Has it really? Well, then perhaps I should let Elena decide which Salvatore joins us. I mean, if you and Damon are so close."

"Ah, go for it." Stefan told him. "Damon and I have been through a hell of a lot worse than you." Stefan walked off, and Ellie simply assumed that he was going to take a walk around the school.

She let him go without protest. "You know, if you actually want to be his friend, it would probably help to not be a dick all the time." She commented.

"Am I wrong?" Klaus asked.

"Maybe not, but it doesn't make it help anything to point it out. He's going to let Elena make her decision, even if it's the wrong one."


Elijah had arrived at the school not long after Stefan had walked off. He hadn't mentioned where Rebekah was. Stefan had come back when Bonnie had called him to let them know that she had the spell. She'd been concerned when Stefan had told them that to stop Alaric that she would have to stop a human heart, but they didn't have any other options. When they noticed Bonnie, Damon, Jenna, and Jeremy standing at one of the outdoor tables, they made their way over. "Look at this." Klaus said. "One big happy family."

Bonnie ignored him and passed a bottle to Damon. "Drink this. It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his blood stream, a vein, artery, something connected to his heart."

Damon passed the bottle to Stefan as the younger Salvatore said, "One of us gets a clean shot, take it, the other three hold him down."

Klaus took the bottle next and said, "Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we? I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives. And Tyler's life, Caroline's life, and, of course, Abby's life. Should anything go wrong. Though, while we're at it, should you be responsible for the death of yet another one of my siblings, I make no promises that you will remain living."

"Or you're just lying to save your ass." Damon suggested.

"I'm not lying, but go ahead, call my bluff. Let the teacher kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter." Klaus replied.

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Stefan asked as Elijah finished the last bit of blood in the bottle.

"Wait, Ellie, what will you be doing?" Jenna asked worriedly.

"I'm going with them. A bit of witchy back up can't hurt anything." Ellie replied.

Both Jeremy and Jenna looked concerned. "Ellie are you sure that's a good idea?" Jeremy asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, Jer. Super powers, remember?" She assured him. "Plus, they'll be looking out for me. But we need to get this show on the road."

He pulled Ellie into a hug. "Be careful."

"You too. You better not die on me jerk." Ellie warned him.

"I won't."

The five of them headed for the south entrance of the school as Klaus said, "Damon, Stefan, the two of you come in from the cafeteria side. Ellie, Elijah, and I will come from the gym side. It may give us a better chance to corner him. Ellie will get Caroline and Elena out and then we end the teacher."

No one protested his order as they stepped inside, Ellie squeezed Stefan's hand to reassure him. "Let's do this." She whispered softly. Damon and Stefan disappeared as Ellie and the Mikaelsons moved silently through the hall.

She tensed at the sound of Alaric's pained yell. Elijah held Ellie back as Klaus disappeared down the hall slightly before she spotted him pulling Caroline back. "It's ok. It's ok. It's me. It's ok. You're safe." Klaus said as Ellie and Elijah approached. "We'll save Elena. You go straight home, you stay inside, do you understand?" When Caroline didn't respond fast enough, he spun her to face him. "Do you understand me?"

Caroline was wide eyed with shock. "Thank you."

She eyed Ellie with confusion. "Go home, Care. I'll come see you as soon as this is done." Ellie told her. She allowed Elijah to whisk her down the hallway. When they'd slowed, they heard the sounds of a fight and Ellie flinched when she saw Damon's neck get snapped. Klaus was there a moment later, shoving his hand into Alaric's chest.

He flung Klaus away from him unexpectedly and Ellie shot her hand out and watched as Alaric dropped to his knees in pain. Alaric shot her a dark look as Elijah slammed into him. She'd been worried about him trying to stake Elijah, but she hadn't thought that he would push past the pain and sling Elijah off of him only to plunge the stake into her stomach. Her magic faltered as the pain blossomed in her stomach, blood gushing as he ripped the stake out. "Eleanor!" Elijah shouted.

Elijah ripped Alaric away from her, slamming the newly turned Original into the lockers. When she choked on her blood, Alaric used it as his opportunity to lunge for Klaus, trying desperately to stake him. "Stop! Let him go or I'll kill myself!" Elena screamed as she appeared, a letter opener pressed firmly to her throat.

"Put it down, Elena." Alaric warned as Elijah caught Ellie.

Elena turned to her sister fearfully as she noticed all the blood. "Why?" Elena demanded. "Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal. So she tied your life to a human one… mine." Elena said confidently. "That way, you have only one lifespan to kill all vampires, and then you'll be gone. So when I die, you die, too. That's it! It has to be."

"You're wrong." Alaric denied. As Ellie shook, Elijah tore into his wrist before bringing it to her mouth carefully. She drank quickly, entirely aware of how little time they had.

"Am I?" Elena questioned.

Elena started to drag the blade across her throat and Ellie cried out weakly, "Elena, no." The words were muffled as her blood and Elijah's got caught in her throat. She was shaking in Elijah's hold as they watched the scene before them.

She'd gotten almost halfway across her throat before Alaric started to scream, "Stop! Stop, stop, stop!"

At Alaric's distraction, Klaus shouted a sharp order at Elijah in the same language that they'd used at Finn's funeral. The air whipped around them as Elijah rushed them out and when they were safely in the parking lot, Elijah scanned her body to make sure she was healing like she needed to. Choking on her own blood had probably been a bad sign. "Where's Elena and Klaus?" She asked as she looked around for their siblings.

"He said he would get her out, and for me to take you." Elijah replied. She nodded as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"I'm tired of getting stabbed in the stomach." She whined tiredly.

He chuckled at her comment. "It's understandable. I won't let it happen again."

"Thanks." She replied. She tilted her head up and kissed him softly. "Can we go check on Caroline?"

"Absolutely." He agreed as he helped her move towards his car.

"Wait, what about Stefan and Damon?" She asked worriedly. "Do you think he's going to kill them?"

Elijah gave her a regretful look. "If he is, there's nothing we can do about it now. I will not let him hurt you again." He admitted. She wanted to protest, to save Stefan and even Damon, but she knew that if Esther had given Alaric enough strength to overpower both Elijah and Klaus, that she'd die before she managed to save them.

He could see her worry eating away at her, and reached out to take a hold of her hand. It caught her by surprise, but as he started rubbing soothing patterns into her skin, she relaxed.

When they arrived at Caroline's house, the blonde was already opening the door. "Oh my god, Ellie what happened?" She was next to Ellie in an instant, checking her stomach for the source of the blood.

"Alaric stabbed me… again. It's fine, Elijah healed me." Ellie assured her. "Though, I could use a change of shirts."

"Of course." Caroline started to pull her inside when both of their phones vibrated. They'd both gotten texts from Stefan. "Oh my god."

"Shit." Ellie swore.

"What is it?" Elijah asked.

"Stefan and Damon are headed for Klaus. He's going to kill Elena. Shit, I should have known." Ellie said. Had she not been so disoriented from her blood loss, she probably would have realized it sooner. "Elijah, I can't let him kill her. We just need to desiccate Alaric and then it won't matter. I can't let her die."

He nodded, "It's alright. I'll handle it. You stay here with Caroline, it might not be pretty." Ellie looked incredibly skeptical. Stepping forward, he cupped her face and told her, "I give you my word that I will not let Klaus kill her."

His word was good enough for her and she tilted up her head to kiss him. "Go, please hurry." He swiftly moved back to his car, pulling out and driving off hastily.

"You weren't kidding about the two of you being a thing." Caroline said proudly. She waved her hand before saying, "Nevermind that, come inside and change your shirt before someone sees you." Ellie and Caroline quickly went inside before Caroline asked, "He will save her right? Like he's not going to let her die?"

"He gave me his word. He doesn't break his word." Ellie replied. Despite Elijah wanting Alaric dead, understandably so, she had enough trust in him to believe him. Caroline could hear Ellie's honesty and nodded. As Ellie went to change shirts, Caroline got a text from Stefan. They'd taken Klaus down. Tyler was safe. She hastily sent text messages to the others to gather at Ellie and Elena's house. "What's got you so excited?" Ellie asked.

"We have stuff we have to do. Come on." Caroline said excitedly.

Ellie, confused as to what was happening, allowed the blonde to drag her out of the house and to Caroline's car. Caroline was buzzing with excitement, and Ellie couldn't figure out what the reason was no matter how hard she tried. "Why are we at my house?" Ellie asked in confusion.

"Come on, you'll see." Caroline replied.

When they went inside, Tyler, Matt, Jeremy, and Bonnie were already gathered in the kitchen. "Really, what's going on?" Ellie asked in confusion. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood but she have no idea as to why

"I have no idea. They won't tell me anything either." Jenna replied as she walked into the room.

"Elena will be here soon. We'll tell you then." Matt promised. Jenna and Ellie both stood there in confusion as they watched the others pull out supplies for drinks and snacks.

She wanted to be excited with them, but something in her gut wasn't letting it happen. Ellie felt the presence of Stefan and Damon before she heard the door open. Caroline and Tyler both tilted their heads slightly when they heard it before Tyler went back to what he was doing. Caroline was clearly listening and from the expressions she was making, Ellie would need to ask her about it later. Ellie and Jenna were leaning against the kitchen counter when Elena walked in. "What are you guys doing here?" Elena asked the group.

"Welcome to our victory party!" Caroline said excitedly.

"What victory?" Ellie asked as she frowned slightly. Had they managed to take down Alaric?

"We failed. Alaric's still out there." Elena added in confusion.

"We know. But we've been trying to get rid of Klaus forever and Caroline's convinced us to enjoy it for a night." Bonnie replied.

Ellie looked over to Jenna in confusion. "Got to be honest, I'm a little pissed none of you let me take down Original brother number two." Matt joked as he slung his arm over Tyler's shoulder.

"Yeah… he would have taken you right down to the hospital, bro." Tyler replied.

"Please, I'm more stealth than that. I'm like a ninja." Matt shot back.

Jeremy scoffed. "You wish."

"Here. You need this." Caroline said as she passed a shot to Elena. When Elena made a face, Caroline replied, "I heard. And you know that sooner or later, you're going to have to choose, right?"

"I know." Elena told her.

Tyler seemed to be in the best mood of them all, and happily went over to Elena, holding out his hand. "Hey, give me your hand." He instructed.

As he poured salt on her hand, Elena said, "Thank you for standing up to Klaus like that."

Tyler looked a bit more serious as he replied, "Let's just say it's been a long time coming."

"Way too long." Caroline agreed. "All right, let's drink."

"I do not condone this, by the way." Elena told Jeremy.

"You survived Klaus. All right, make an exception. You can go back to being responsible tomorrow." He replied. "Besides, Jenna and Ellie didn't say anything about it."

Ellie was looking over at Jenna as she tried to process what she was feeling when Tyler asked, "Hang on, do you guys here that?" The others started to look around anxiously before he grinned and said, "That is the sound of a Klaus free life."

"To a Klaus free life." Elena said as she held up her shot glass. "And to all of you, my family."

"Cheers!" The others replied as they toasted and drank. "Ellie, aren't you gonna drink?" Bonnie asked.

The others turned to look at her, but she couldn't shake the sick feeling in her gut. "Ellie?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"What exactly happened?" Ellie asked slowly, her voice carefully measured. "What happened to Klaus?"

Caroline hesitated, but Elena replied, "Stefan and Damon stopped Klaus the way we were going to stop Alaric. They used their link to Bonnie."

"Then what are we going to do about Alaric, exactly?" Ellie asked. She tried to push the images of an undoubtedly enraged Rebekah and Elijah out of her mind.

"We'll just do the same spell again to stop Alaric." Elena said with a shrug. "Klaus was going to kill me, they did what they had to do."

"They could have snapped his neck before taking you and running." Ellie replied.

"Ellie, we've wanted Klaus gone for so long. He's had a chokehold on all of our lives." Elena told her. "It's better this way."

The witch's eyes went wide with disbelief. "Oh, so it's just no biggie, Bonnie can do the spell again or maybe I could do the spell and we'll just do the same thing to Alaric and tada problem solved everything's great, right?"

"Why are you so upset?" Elena asked. "Ellie, he had control of your life. You had to go wherever he went."

Ellie felt the anger inside of her as she looked at her twin. "Elena… do you have any idea how dangerous it is for Bonnie to do that spell again? Or for me to do it?" Ellie asked.

"Bonnie's fine." Elena replied. "Right, Bonnie?"

The Bennett witch looked uncomfortable to be called on in the middle of the almost fight, but she nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. Yeah, I feel ok." Bonnie replied.

"See, she's ok."

"Elena, she stopped a human heart, Jeremy's heart mind you. That is incredibly dark magic. If Bonnie were to do that again, there is no guarantee in the slightest that she would be ok, or that she could handle it again." Ellie asked, "Have you even asked her if she could handle doing it again?"

Elena flushed slightly. "Well, no, I just got here."

"So you just assumed?" Ellie deduced. "And if she wouldn't be ok with doing it again, what then?"

"Well, you're a witch. Can't you do it?" Elena frowned.

Both Caroline and Jenna winced. "So you just assumed that I would do it. Do I even get a say in this or am I just the backup witch at your beck and call?" Ellie asked.

"That's not what I meant." Elena tried.

"Well, that's what you said." Ellie shot back. "Are you forgetting the fact that when Bonnie's mom did that spell on Mikael, she lost her magic for fifteen years? It's dangerous, Elena."

"I get that."

"No, you don't. Because you don't know the first thing about magic because you are not a witch and you have never seemed particularly inclined to learn anything about it. There are limits Elena, and it really doesn't seem like you care." Matt opened his mouth to try and help but Jeremy shot his hand out. It wouldn't do anyone any good to try and intervene. "Did Bonnie even know it was Klaus she was taking down?"

Elena hesitated and Ellie turned to Bonnie. "Um…" Bonnie looked incredibly awkward and if Ellie wasn't past her limit of insane plans that weren't thought out, she'd have felt bad about putting on the spot again.

"Did you know it was Klaus, Bonnie?" Ellie asked. "It's a simple yes or no."

Bonnie sighed before she confessed, "No, I didn't know."

"It was the right thing to do!" Elena replied.

"Was it the right thing to do to kill Finn, who had done nothing to you? Had I not unlinked them when I did, half the people we cared about would be dead. Because you couldn't just let it go." Ellie snapped.

"Let it go?" Elena scoffed. "Let it go? He killed me!"

"And Bonnie and John brought you back! Let's not forget you would have come back either way with that vampire blood in your system Elena. And had it not been for Damon's blood, there was an elixir for you to take that Elijah had brought to you. But everything Elijah has done for you obviously doesn't matter since you didn't seem to care about him dying either! So what is it that makes Klaus so worthy of this warpath you're on to kill him?"

"He's a monster." Elena replied confidently. "He's hurt the people that we care about and he doesn't care. He made Tyler do whatever he wanted, he was going to kill Tyler and Caroline in the sacrifice too. He's got you bound in that deal because he was going to kill Jenna! How can you not see that he's dangerous? He wants me to be his human blood bag!"

Ellie scoffed. "I'm entirely aware that he's dangerous, Elena. But if we're measuring out how bad someone's crimes are, what's your excuse for Damon?"

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.

The group, who had been watching the fight in relative silence, all winced this time. "What am I talking about?" Ellie repeated. "Are you fucking insane Elena? He's done more to the people I care about than Klaus ever thought about doing. After Klaus figured out he needed your blood, all he wanted was enough to turn his hybrids. He was going to let you live your life normally. He was settling in Mystic Falls, he built a home here. Him taking your blood could have been as easy as donating blood to the hospital. He wasn't trying to kill anyone anymore. Him coming after us in the first place never even had anything to do with us he was trying to break the curse that Esther forced upon him. If it hadn't been for her, none of this would have even been necessary!"

"That doesn't make it ok for him to treat me like a blood bag! I never agreed to that!" Elena shot back.

"No it doesn't! But it could have been a hell of a lot worse than what he wanted from you. You couldn't just take the very generous deal he was offering you, no you had to go wake Mikael, who's a piece of shit and if the most powerful vampires in the world are scared of him, maybe that should have been a warning. And when Mikael failed, you got Bonnie and her mom to release Esther, who promptly used them as a power source. You didn't agree to be a blood bag, but did Bonnie and Abby get a chance to say no to being a battery? No, they didn't."

"None of that has anything to do with Damon." Elena told her.

"Oh, oh you want me to say my piece about Damon? Alright. Let's go back to the beginning, he used Caroline, compelled her, fed on her, treated her like garbage. You knew about that. You confronted him about that. He hurt her and you knew it. Tell me, Care, did you forgive Damon for that?"

"Nope, not in the slightest." Caroline admitted.

Ellie turned back to Elena. "Then he kissed Katherine thinking she was you, so he intentionally tried to sabotage your relationship with Stefan, and you didn't think that that was a red flag? But let's get to the really good stuff like oh, I don't know, him killing Isobel, you remember her right? Or, how about killing Jeremy in front of you, over a stupid fucking temper tantrum." Ellie said. "Hey, Jer, I'm curious, do you actually like Damon?"

Jeremy looked between his sisters before confessing, "No, not particularly."

"Do you like him being here constantly?"

"Not really."

"And did Elena, ever, even once, ask you how you felt about Damon after he killed you?"

"No…"

Ellie was clearly on a roll, because she added, "And while we're on the subject, how were you with the whole, compelling you to leave town while she tried to kill Klaus thing?"

Jeremy paused and turned to Elena. "You had me compelled?"

"You didn't even tell him?" Ellie asked as looked at Elena.

Elena looked caught off guard and she stuttered as she said, "It's… it's what was best for you, Jer. It wasn't safe here."

"Except it wasn't safe where he was either, because Kol found him with ease. But let's keep going. Damon killed Mason because Mason was helping Katherine because Mason was in love with her. Tyler, did you ever really forgive Damon for that?" Ellie asked.

"No." Tyler confessed.

"Oh, yeah, Damon turned Vicki for what? Because he was fucking bored? She's dead because of him. Matt, did you ever forgive Damon for that?"

"No." Matt replied.

"I get your point." Elena sighed.

"From that tone, I doubt it. Bonnie, tell me, did you ever forgive Damon for forcing you and Miss Sheila to open the tomb that overworked her? Or how about for what he did to Abby? I specifically remember you wanting him dead and I doubt you've forgiven him."

"No, I haven't." Bonnie admitted.

"Hey, Jen, did you ever forgive Damon for what he did to Jeremy and for killing Alaric a couple of times?"

"No, I didn't." Jenna told her.

Ellie turned back to Elena and said, "So, basically everyone here except you apparently has an issue with him, and yet you still bring him around? Did you ever wonder that maybe Caroline wanted you to be with Stefan because he didn't treat her like crap? By your logic, there would be nothing you could do if I went and staked Damon, because he's done way worse than Klaus and he deserves it right?"

The more rational part of Ellie, the part that could think through the rage, felt a bit bad at dragging everyone into the fight, but the other part felt that Elena needed to hear it come from them. As for the others, none of them had ever seen her so angry, and not responding or lying probably would have just made it worse. "Where is all of this coming from?" Elena asked in confusion.

"All of this is coming from all the bullshit you've pulled since all of this started happening! Why is it that you get to make all of the decisions when the ones you've made have gotten people killed?"

"Oh shit…" Tyler said softly under his breath.

Elena looked like Ellie had slapped her. "Ellie how could you say that?" She asked as her eyes watered. It felt like the argument they'd had at the dance prep, but for once, Elena's expression looked like what Ellie was saying actually had an affect on her.

"Because you make decisions without thinking anything through, Elena, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of people getting hurt because you can't let something go and now we have a murderous Alaric running around that wants to kill like half the people we love." Ellie replied. "I genuinely don't understand how you see in such extreme shades of black and white. The Mikaelsons are people too. Finn, Rebekah, even Kol have done nothing to you. If the worst you can say about Elijah is that he broke his word when he didn't kill Klaus, might I remind you that Stefan was also unable to kill Damon after Damon killed his literal best friend that had looked out for him basically since he became a vampire? Klaus wanting to complete the ritual had nothing to do with you personally, and after that if you're instigating a problem, then how is it his fault that he reacts, when you knew he would react violently?"

"Ellie!" Elena nearly shouted.

The witch took a moment to reel herself in when she noticed the way Bonnie shifted. Bonnie might not have been as good as Ellie at picking up on energies, but she could pick up on flares of magic, and Ellie's was on the verge of slipping out of her control. "All I'm saying Elena, is that you can't want one dead but excuse the actions of another."

"But you're doing the same thing."

"I don't want Damon dead. I've certainly thought about it, but do you see me going out of my way to kill him?" Ellie asked. "You know what… maybe I should just go. Get somewhere safe before it's dark since Alaric will be running free."

She hastily exited the room with Jenna right behind her. She could hear the group start to talk as she all but darted for the stairs. To her surprise, it was Bonnie that followed her and Jenna. "Ellie…" Bonnie called. "Ellie, wait."

"What, Bon?" Ellie asked. She took a shaky breath before sighing. "I'm sorry. I just got really frustrated in there and I figured I should leave before I did something I really regretted, like setting the house on fire."

Bonnie laughed lightly. "Don't apologize, it seemed like you really needed to get that off your chest. I just wanted to ask if you were ok."

"No, I'm not. Bon, I don't like fighting with Elena, I really don't, but I can't sit by anymore while the decisions she makes get people hurt. I mean, can you honestly look at me and tell me you hate Klaus more than Damon?" Ellie asked.

Bonnie hesitated, but she understood that Ellie wanted her genuine answer. "Not really. Everything's just complicated."

"I think one of the big things that just really upset me was the fact that you did the spell and you didn't know that it was Klaus that you were taking down and not Alaric." Ellie admitted.

The other witch linked her arm through Ellie's as they headed for her room. Jenna followed them inside, and Ellie wasn't surprised when Caroline poked her head through the door. "Hey, can I come in?" Caroline asked carefully.

"Of course." Ellie replied. "How pissed is Elena?"

"More shocked at what happened than pissed at the moment." Caroline replied honestly.

"Listen, I'm really sorry for ruining your celebration, it just doesn't feel right for me to celebrate." Ellie apologized. "With everything… with Elijah and Rebekah, I'm just not in the mood."

Caroline looked apologetic. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about the whole Elijah thing."

"What whole Elijah thing?" Jenna and Bonnie asked simultaneously. It was a bit hilarious how quickly they could go from being tense over the blowout with Elena to be nosy about Ellie's relationship with Elijah.

Ellie blushed before admitting, "We're sort of… something. We haven't exactly put a label on it and boyfriend doesn't feel like it fits him."

"Wait, when did this happen?" Jenna asked with wide eyes.

"When Alaric stabbed me and Meredith." Ellie replied. Seeing the questions coming before they could even ask, she explained, "We haven't done anything more than kissing, he's a perfect gentleman and he's now saved my life repeatedly, which only makes this whole Klaus thing worse because I care about Rebekah and Elijah and if I'm honest I care about Klaus. I just don't want to argue about it, and honestly, I don't want to be here and deal with anything else today. Too much has been going on and I'm tired."

"Do you want to go to my dorm?" Jenna offered.

"No, I think I should go check in on Rebekah if she's still and Elijah. Hopefully Rebekah won't be pissed at me." Ellie replied. She turned to Bonnie and Caroline. "I get why you did it, and I get why you want to celebrate, just please understand why I don't."

"Of course we understand. We're your best friends." Caroline assured her. It was times like these, outside of Elena's influence, that Ellie was so incredibly grateful for how considerate her friends were. "Go on, we'll make sure everything is ok with Elena."

Nodding, Ellie replied, "Ok, I'll see you guys later." She was out the door before Elena could stop her and as she pulled out of the drive, she could only hope that Rebekah and Elijah knew that she hadn't been a part of the plan to take down Klaus.


Author's Note:

So, Ellie was a bit pissed off and honestly had she not been so angry, she never would have dragged the others into the fight like that. But, I have an important question for you guys. What would you think if later on in the plot, there was a plot line that was kind of a common trope but done a bit differently? Honestly, it was kind of one of the original things that I planned out for this story but I don't want you guys to hate it lol. As always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

To xenocanaan: Man don't feel guilty, I'm rooting for Katherine too lol. I love her. I hope you liked this chapter.

To Guest: I do hope to add more Klaroline moments, it's just whenever the story will allow it. Ellie's always getting caught up in the drama so it doesn't leave a whole lot of room for her to play matchmaker lol. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!

To brigitm28: Honestly same, I couldn't imagine Care reacting in any other way. Ellie is definitely the captain of the Klaroline ship. Agreed, had it not been for the incredibly shitty treatment of Stefan, I probably wouldn't have as much of an issue with Delena, but Stefan deserved way better. You would think with it hurting Damon to have Katherine choose Stefan that he wouldn't want to do the same thing to Stefan. If you like Ellie going off on Elena, did you like it in this chapter? Klaus always has to ruin it lol, he wouldn't be the annoying younger brother if he didn't lol. Ric dying was hard to write man, I teared up at how emotional Jenna and Ellie were. Comforting Kat is something near and dear to my heart.

To Qewbix: Definitely not sad that you want them back together because I lowkey want it for the same reason. I'll definitely try to write more of Ellie and Elijah without interruption, but it will probably be a bit into season four because that's where I'm at in my writing right now and I can't remember if they get any good uninterrupted scenes before then lol.

To zombie-hunt: Katherine is definitely right. Elena clearly doesn't seem to realize or care about the damage that's been done to Ellie or the others. I love the Ellie and Elijah scenes too!

To flawsome4ever: It's ok, I cried while writing it. It's definitely important for the plot. Klaus is so fun to write when he's screwing with Ellie and Elijah.

To Guest(2): I hope for Klaroline and Steferine to happen too lol. They're just so perfect for each other.

To Daddy's LiL HeartBreaker: Speaking of Ellie calling Elena out, did you enjoy it in this chapter? Stefan and Ellie's friendship is honestly something I didn't even plan originally but now I couldn't imagine them not being so close lol. Ellie and Bonnie definitely need to spend more time together. Yeah, Jenna having to go through losing Ric was a really emotional thing to write, but I couldn't imagine them going anywhere else but to Katherine. Stefan would definitely be much happier with Katherine.

To lolistarkiller: I definitely want Jenna to end up in NOLA, but if she and Bekah got together, it might cause a bit of tension where Marcel was involved lol. But I can't imagine her staying in Mystic Falls without Ellie either.

To AdiraBraelynn: He's definitely a very good kisser lol. I definitely need to work on a witchy reunion, maybe Ellie could go to them for help when Bonnie goes off the rails with Expression magic or something. Honestly, while Damon is curious as to what's going on, I don't think he cares enough to get pissed off by it. Ellie definitely would want Elena to just choose, because she knows that even Damon deserves better than that. Klaus is a definite cock block lol. Kat taking care of them when they needed her was so much fun for me to write.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 3/27/21