Chapter 74: Catch Me If You Can

January 31, 2011

Ellie had spent the vast majority of the past two days hidden away with Kol in the apartment that he was staying in. She'd gathered a few of Esther's grimoires and brought them to him. When he'd questioned why she didn't bring them all, she pointed out that if all of them were to disappear from the apartment, that might make Elijah suspicious. If they wanted to do this without anyone knowing, they had to be careful.

They'd gotten to work, and she'd discovered that she actually rather enjoyed working with him. He was a hilarious flirt, but it felt harmless enough. They had countless sheets of papers filled with notes and potential solutions. She'd made sure to bring the grimoire that had the vampire creation spell when she brought the others. She had no doubt that Esther would be rolling over in her grave with rage at the thought of Ellie and Kol using her grimoires. The thought of that made Ellie smile.

Currently, Ellie was laying in one of his armchairs upside down. She's been reading the grimoire for so long the words were starting to blur together. It didn't help that it was in a foreign language. Kol was sitting on the floor next to her, reading the grimoire that she'd put down. "Ok, so, we'll need my blood, that we know. What else?" Ellie asked.

"When mother created the spell, nature turned against us. Specifically the nature around us, the sun we relied on burned. The white oak tree was a tree that we believed protected our tribe because it was ancient and because it had survived so long. We believed as long as it survived, so would our tribe. The vervain was what grew at the base and was considered part of the sacred tree, which was why we always made sure to take care of it. It was the most important parts of nature within our tribe that changed against us." Kol explained as he jotted it down on the paper so that she wouldn't forget.

"So, if we were trying to work it backwards, wouldn't we need pieces of all of those ingredients to work into the cure?" Ellie asked.

"I would assume so, but the white oak stake is currently indestructible." Kol replied.

"I mean, but could we draw power from it? With it being indestructible, doesn't that make it a limitless power source for us?" She suggested. "If it wouldn't work with the stake, would it work with some of the white oak ash? Or does it even have to be from the exact same tree? Could it be from any white oak? Or white oak from the same line? I mean, it's not the same doppelgänger that's been used but the blood works just the same."

Kol was nodding his head as he listened to her. "I feel like if it wasn't the same exact white oak tree for it to work, it would, at the very least, have to be from the same line of trees, like a sapling of a sapling or something. But the white oak ash might work, it just depends on how much we would need."

"Not to mention we're going to need a shit ton of power that we're going to need to pull this off." Ellie reminded him. "We're going to need all the help we can get. Once we've got this figured out, what if we brought Bonnie in for extra power. You can't cast the spell yourself, I can only channel you unless you pulled a Klaus special and body jumped into a witch. Hey, if you did that, do you think we could use this body as a thing to channel?"

He looked up at her, and she grinned at how ridiculous he looked upside. "You sound a bit too excited to use my body for your own purposes, love. If you want to use me, all you have to do is ask." The innuendo was incredibly clear, but she just gave him an unimpressed look.

"Don't let Elijah hear you say that, he'd have your head." She shot back.

Kol grinned at her relaxed state. He had to admit, she was by far his favorite doppelgänger. She wasn't like Tatia, who had manipulated both Klaus and Elijah. And she was nothing like her sister, who had murdered Finn in an attempt to kill them all. He hadn't really been around when Katerina was human, so he didn't really have an opinion on her. Well, she pissed off Nik, so she was alright in his books. "You can take a joke, I still appreciate that." He replied easily.

"You didn't answer the question though. I mean, when Esther was trying to kill all of you, or whatever, just to kill you she'd needed the power of the entire Bennett line when she was already a thousand years old." Ellie reminded him. "If nothing else, we'll need Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah to let me draw power from them as well."

"You're right. We will need a significant amount of power to pull this off. Bonnie will most likely be of use as well as my siblings, that is only if they agree to it." Kol told her.

She gave him a look. "Kol, Rebekah wants the cure for herself. Bonnie and Klaus want the cure for Elena. And Elijah will do it because I ask if nothing else. They will help us when we're ready to bring them in." She ran her hands over her face as she tried to slow her racing thoughts. "But next question, would it be easier on the power required to make a big batch or a small batch? Are we doing a cure like a potion or whatever or is it a spell?"

He moved to pour himself a drink, and she twisted around to sit properly as he said, "You really do ask an awful lot of questions." At her expression he added, "Oh don't mistake that as a bad thing. I quite prefer it, honestly. Never liked when the witches I ran with didn't have any ambition or initiative of their own. As for the method of the cure, I'm not sure. If the cure is with Silas, then it must be a physical thing so that's clearly a possibility. I'm sure mother would have tried a spell."

"So it could go either way?"

"Most likely." He confirmed. "Now, it would be best if we could tie it to a celestial event, or something big."

"But if we wanted to be able to recreate it more often, then we don't need to bind it to a celestial event. I mean, Damon had to wait nearly a hundred and fifty years just to get into the tomb to try and find Katherine when she wasn't even there. I mean, I guess we could, but then we would need to make a big batch so that we could use it for whatever, or whoever, we needed it for. And then that would also make it harder for people to be able to recreate the spell."

Kol offered her a drink, which she took gratefully. "That's a good point. Maybe we really should tie it to a celestial event."

"Only if there's an upcoming celestial event. We have to keep in mind that we only have until they can figure out how to get to Silas' version of the cure." Ellie reminded him.

He had learned rather quickly that she was absolutely fascinating to work with, especially when it came to magic. She was the type to always ask questions and throw out suggestions. She also listened a lot better than some of the witches he'd run with. Well, more like she listened better than some of the witches in the covens he worked with. If he was really hanging around specific witches, they'd done something to catch his attention. He didn't just give his time to any old witch. And even so, it had been quite a while since he'd had a student so dedicated. "You're not wrong." He agreed.

As she finished her drink, she stood to go over to where he'd been organizing all of their notes. In two days' time, with a lot of help from Esther's grimoires, they'd managed to figure out more than either of them expected to. "Well, we could wait until the next full moon, but that's not for another couple of weeks. And as far as I know, there's no major celestial event coming up, but I suppose I could be wrong."

Kol was adding in something for extra power to a mortar bowl before he ground it up. "Well, we should have time given how long it'll take for that brother of yours to complete his hunter's mark."

"I guess that all depends on how much Klaus intervenes." Ellie remarked as she chopped up a strange flower for him to add to the mortar.

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

Ellie shrugged and said, "Apparently, Klaus turned a town, well at least a bar full of people, for Jeremy to kill since he didn't like how long Jeremy had gone without killing anyone."

"A whole bar full? Sounds like Klaus. But surely he wasn't so stupid to turn all of those people in Mystic Falls. I can't say I know her well, but I know the sheriff would have protested that." Kol replied.

"Of course she would have. No, Damon has had Jeremy up at our lake house training him so that he doesn't get himself killed. I mean, I doubt that he actually gives a damn about Jeremy since he's killed him before without thinking twice about it. He just cares about the map to the cure." Ellie made a face of disgust.

Kol grinned as he poured them both another drink. "You don't seem to particularly like Damon."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "No, he's kind of a dick with pretty rare moments of decency. I mean Elena's stuck with a sire bond to him and yet he refuses to send her away. I mean, we're not really talking right now either, but god I'm not such a horrible person that the sire bond doesn't piss me off. It's why Damon wants the cure so damn bad. He doesn't really want Elena human, he just wants her free of the sire bond so he knows if she actually has feelings for him or not."

"Fair enough, I don't particularly care for him either. Something about him has always just rubbed me the wrong way." Kol replied. "Never liked his attitude. It reminds me of the worst of Klaus sometimes."

Ellie made a face. "Yeah, I know what you mean." As she passed the chopped up flower to him, she said, "You know, I have no idea why you don't like Klaus. I mean, yeah he daggers you, but he does that to Bekah and Elijah plenty of times and they still stick with him."

Kol scoffed. "That's because of their stupid little pact, 'always and forever', what a load of shit, honestly. They stick by him, pretending to be family and what does that get them? Dead lovers and nothing but trouble. I'd prefer to spend the time he allows my freedom to do things far more enjoyable."

She could hear his anger at the thought of being daggered again. "Well, if you'd rather do things more enjoyable, why are you still here?" She questioned.

"Truth be told, Rebekah very rarely comes calling and she sounded vengeful, which makes for a fun mix. Plus, now I'm here to just make sure that we prevent Silas from being risen." He added. "You're also not the worst company in the world."

"Always the charmer." She joked.

"And don't you forget it." He shot back. "But, as much as I genuinely adore your company, I have a few errands that I have to take care of."

Ellie nodded, "Alright, fair enough. I'll see you later. I should check in with Elijah anyways. I left early this morning." She gathered the grimoires to pack into her bag. It was one thing that he'd agreed on at her insistence. They hadn't exactly established a solid form of trust yet. There was a very big difference between liking him as a person and then trusting him with her grimoires.

"You know, those aren't even technically your grimoires. Yet you insist on taking them home with you." He reminded her.

"You're right, they were your mothers, but since Elijah was the one to keep up with them, and since he's the oldest that's still alive, they're his. Plus, he gave them to me… so they're mine just as much as his." She shot back with a grin.

He looked unimpressed. "Ownership by a technicality at best."

"Hate to break it to you but ownership by a technicality is still ownership. They're mine, and when it comes to leaving these with you, well we don't have that kind of relationship yet." She replied.

"Oh I can't wait to have that kind of a relationship with you." She rolled her eyes at yet another innuendo. "Though, quite frankly I don't know what I could have possibly done to make you trust me so little."

"Do I actually need to explain? Or did you forget that you tried to kill Matt? And let's be honest, you would take the first chance you got to use something in here if it meant making sure that Silas was never risen, even if it means hurting the people I care about. Maybe I took a note from Klaus' book when it comes to paranoia, or maybe I'm justifiably cautious, but either way, I won't be taking that risk any time soon."

"Fair enough."

"I'll see you later, Kol." She grinned at him. He closed the door behind her, and she found herself curious as to where he had to go all of a sudden.

When she arrived back at the apartment complex, the receptionist smiled warmly at her. "You look like you're feeling better!" She said brightly.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better." Ellie confirmed.

"I suppose that boyfriend of yours took care of you properly then?"

Ellie grinned. "Yeah, he's always been good at taking care of me. I feel much better now."

"That's good. Still, if you need anything, the offer still stands though. Please feel free to call me if you ever need anything." The receptionist reminded her.

"Thank you so much. I will!" Ellie replied brightly. Just as Ellie walked into the apartment and closed the door, she let out a choked gasp, as hands shot out and grabbed her. One wrapped around the back of her throat while the other grabbed her waist. Her bag fell out of her hand, the grimoires tumbling out. Her magic erupted from her, flinging her attacker away from her. In an instant they were back, shoving her into the wall. "Elijah?" She asked breathlessly.

"Hello, my love." He was grinning victoriously.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She laughed as she stared at him bewildered.

His arm was pressed against her throat lightly, not enough to hurt her but enough to feel him. "I've been thinking. As much as your magic is a wonderful gift, I feel like there's too many chances for your magic to be muted and the last thing I want is for you to be harmed."

"And that relates to giving me a heart attack… how?"

"I want to teach you how to fight." He explained. When she still looked bewildered he replied, "Lesson one, always be on your guard."

She watched with fascination as he ran his tongue along his lower lip. "What was lesson one?" Ellie asked distractedly as she watched his mouth.

He moved forward and nipped her lower lip and grinned at the way her heart was beating so fast that he could feel it where his arm was against her throat. "Always be on your guard." He repeated.

Ellie hadn't taken her eyes off his mouth. "That's probably a good lesson."

"Eleanor, I can't teach you if you're distracted." He scolded gently.

"It's not my fault you're so distracting." She replied. Feeling mischievous, Ellie used her magic to switch their positions, and she pinned him to the wall with her hand wrapped around his throat. He looked entirely too pleased with her. She moved forward, kissing him harshly as her free hand tangled itself into his hair. He responded in kind, his hands digging into her hips. "This seems like a very good lesson."

Once again her back hit the wall and her legs locked around his waist instinctively. "There might be another lesson that I need to teach you if you keep this up." His voice was low and dripping with seduction as he whispered it softly into her ear before he pressed heated kisses down her throat.

"I'm not entirely sure this wasn't your plan all along." She replied gently as she tried to catch her breath.

"If it had been, I must admit it was one of my more brilliant plans." His comment startled a laugh out of her, and he paused his assault on her neck to watch her throw her head back in wild laughter. In truth, things getting so heated so fast hadn't been his plan, but even after a thousand years he was still just a man. And what kind of man would deny themselves when a goddess was before them, offering them everything they could ever want?

"It was your best plan." She replied. Her eyes were darker than normal from the intensity of it all. "Elijah…"

"Yes, my love?"

"Bedroom… right now." She instructed.

"Right now?" He repeated, the small smirk of his giving away his teasing.

"Right now." She confirmed. "I think I do need to be taught that lesson you were talking about."

"What about your bag?"

She gave him an unimpressed look. He could hear the door lock itself with her magic as her bag shot over to the chair, perfectly put together. "The bag is just fine. Bedroom."

He liked it when she was confident like this. "Your wish is my command." He assured her before he swung her in his arms to carry her bridal style and headed straight for their room.


After they'd redressed, Elijah brought Ellie back into the living room. "So, what exactly are we doing?"

"When it comes to fighting, specifically against vampires, you have two options to take them down permanently. The head or the heart. Remove one and they're dead. My concern is that you have so much empathy, that in the moment, you won't be able to deal the final blow. Not that your empathy is a bad thing. No, it is one of the things I adore the most about you. But I have to be certain that you can defend yourself." Elijah explained.

"And without magic, how exactly am I supposed to take off a vampire's head or rip out their hearts?" Ellie questioned.

"Ripping out their hearts or ripping off their heads most likely won't be an option that's true, but staking them is. It doesn't have to be much wood, a pencil will do, but I need you to be able to do it."

She could see how worried he was for her safety, and it was something she found incredibly endearing to her. It was also entertaining to her since he had no clue that she'd been training with Katherine and Jenna for a while now. But he wasn't wrong, she almost always had a pencil in reach, though she'd never had to use it. "So where do we need to start?" Ellie asked innocently. It wouldn't hurt to play a little trick on him.

Plus, the whole ordeal had managed to get Elijah in sweatpants and it was a magnificent sight. "Like I said, you always need to be on your guard and if I were to-" His hand shot out, but this time she was prepared. Her hand caught his wrist, twisting it behind him and using his momentum to flip him. In an instant, she had him on his back and straddled him by the waist. The pencil was directly above his heart, just barely pressing down.

It was possibly the one the first time she'd ever seen him look truly bewildered. "Where in the world did you learn that?"

"Alaric taught Elena to fight. A friend taught me. I still have a few secrets to myself." She replied.

He didn't question her secrets, which she was grateful for since she didn't want to reveal that Katherine was still in Mystic Falls yet. "You didn't go through with it, though." He pointed out.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You can't hurt me, not really and you know it."

He flipped them over, moving so fast that the pencil slipped out of her hand. "And because of your hesitation, you're dead." Elijah seemed to be enjoying their new position. "As nice as this is, if I were anyone else, you'd have a problem right now."

To emphasize his point of her potential danger, he wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. It wasn't enough to actually hurt her, but enough to cut off some of the airflow. It wasn't long before her instincts took over. Her legs locked around the back of his and she forced him back over as she knocked his hand from her throat. The part of her brain that sensed the danger overrode her rational side and in an instant the pencil was jammed in his heart.

"Holy shit." The surprise set in as he let out a groan of pain. "Oh god, Elijah!" She ripped it out as he started to grey. "I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that." She was muttering to herself as she watched him. "No… why did you make me do that?" She wasn't sure how long it would take for him to recover. "Elijah, this was a horrible plan."

She ran her hand through his hair as she waited. It wasn't as long as she feared, just a few minutes before he came to life with a ragged gasp. "Oh my god." He was trying to catch his breath as he tried to reorient himself.

"That was awful. I'm not doing that again." Ellie told him with a serious look.

As he calmed down, he reached up to cup her face in his hand. "I'm proud of you." He told her.

She just looked at him with a baffled expression. "Proud of me? I just staked you! Why would you be proud of me?"

"Because you didn't want to do it and you did it anyway. If you can fight back against me, even when you don't want to hurt me, you can defend yourself against someone that actually wants to hurt you." Elijah explained.

"That is some twisted logic, I hope you realize that." Ellie informed him.

He just grinned as he let his head fall back. "I'm still proud of you, but keep up with moves like that and I might just have to question where you learned them."

"Oh, some secrets aren't mine to tell." She teased. She knew that it would probably only make Elijah more intrigued, but she knew he respected her enough to not push. "I'm not doing that again, I hope you know. Not with wood anyways."

"Alright, I won't make you use wood again." He promised. "I give you my word." He lifted her with ease as he stood. He brought them over to the couch and sat down with her in his lap. "How did you sleep? You didn't wake up last night, at least not that I heard."

Ellie shrugged slightly. "I didn't have the best dreams, but they weren't the worst either. I'm tired of having nightmares though."

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, love. I wish I could make it better."

"Just being with you helps." She confirms. It was true, in the times that she hadn't been with him since their relationship had progressed, she had ended up having violent nightmares. Both Katherine and Jenna had been incredibly worried.

Elijah looked like he was about to say something else, but her phone going off cut him off. "You should get that." He suggested.

Reluctantly, she moved off of him to go get her phone. "It's Stefan." When she answered she said, "Hey Stefan, what's up?"

"Hey, Ellie. Some stuff happened and I just didn't know if anyone had told you."

Ellie moved to sit down beside Elijah and asked, "What happened? What are you talking about?"

"I know you were in the room when Kol killed Shane." Stefan started and after a second, he added, "Ellie, Shane isn't dead."

Her jaw dropped in surprise. "Wait, Stefan, that's not possible. I watched Kol ram that rod through his stomach myself. There's no way that he survived that."

Even Elijah looked confused. "It was Bonnie. Apparently, she did some Expression magic, some sort of spell that kept him alive even when he should have died."

"Why do you sound like that's somehow a bad thing?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"Because, when Bonnie cast the spell, she didn't know that she bound April to Shane…"

"Oh my god… Kol was trying to drown Shane." Ellie said in horror.

"Bonnie didn't even know that she'd done it until April was already starting to bleed from Kol stabbing Shane."

"Wait, is April ok?"

"She's fine, I gave her some of my blood, don't worry. But, knowing you I figured that you would probably blame yourself for not being able to save him and I wanted to let you know that he was fine and that we still have a chance of finding the cure." Stefan told her.

Kol was going to be pissed. "Thank you, Stefan. It really does help to know that he's ok." Ellie replied. "Is everything else going ok?"

"Yeah, no crisis that I'm aware of. I just wanted to fill you in if someone else hadn't already."

"And it's very much appreciated." Ellie assured him. It wasn't long before the call ended and Ellie relaxed back on the couch to think about what he'd just told her. Shane was alive and Bonnie was so far into believing in him that she nearly killed April to do it. Kol was going to be more than pissed now that she thought about it. He was going to be downright murderous. This could be a problem.

"What's going on in that mind of yours?" He asked gently as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm glad that Shane's alive. Maybe it'll be enough to stop at least that part of the nightmares." She wasn't lying. She really was glad he was alive if that meant she wouldn't feel so guilty. But that didn't mean that Kol wasn't right. Shane was a threat to people that she loved. And if he could manipulate both her and Kol with as much ease as he had, there was no telling what he'd been able to do to Bonnie with all the time that she had spent with him.

"What else?" He pried. "I know you, Eleanor. Something's bothering you."

"I don't trust Shane." She admitted. "He can't be compelled, and he's figured out a way to manipulate supernatural beings."

Elijah frowned as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"While Kol and I were interrogating him, there were a few moments where it was like I was in a trance and all I wanted to do was to protect him from Kol. He was in my head, all he'd needed was a little bit of eye contact and a few persuasive words and if it weren't for Kol breaking that eye contact and snapping me out of it, I have no idea what he could have made me do." Elijah didn't seem to like the thought of that at all. "And to make matters worse, he nearly did the same thing to Kol."

That really got Elijah's attention. "What do you mean he almost did the same to Kol?"

"I mean, there was a moment where Kol just… stopped. Shane just kept talking and then suddenly Kol was listening. That's why he pissed Kol off so much because somehow, he'd managed to find a way to manipulate an Original of all people. And it makes me worried for Bonnie. What if he's done something to her and none of us know it?"

"We will keep her safe." He assured her. "I gave you my word to protect your friends didn't I? As long as we're here, that is a promise I intend to keep."

Her thoughts were racing as she tried to manage her concern for Bonnie. "Come on, let's keep going. I need a distraction."

Elijah complied with her request, and the two spent the next couple of hours progressively working through her ability to defend herself, with the use of metal weapons as opposed to wooden ones. It was fascinating for Ellie to see Elijah like this. He was somehow more relaxed with the physicality of it all. She could only imagine that it was, at least in part, still muscle memory from when he was human and he'd needed to be as fit as possible to survive.

He didn't coddle her. Quite the opposite. He was doing this to make sure that she would stay alive. If he coddled her, she would never learn what she needed to. He pointed out weaknesses in her abilities that even Katherine hadn't noticed. As they were taking a break, Ellie's phone went off once more. "Klaus?" She asked as she answered the phone.

"Hello love, it's been a bit since we've gotten to chat." He said cheerfully.

"You sound like you're in a good mood. Is someone getting murdered?

He laughed brightly before explaining, "Your sister has just called me, requesting an emergency meeting. Seeing as the two of you are on the outs, I figured I would be the devil this town thinks me to be and ask for you to accompany me for this meeting. And if you were to see fit, I would deny her query at your request."

"But I mean, she hates you. So if she's calling an emergency meeting, maybe it's something important." Ellie said gently.

"All the more reason for you to be here then isn't it?" He replied.

She sighed before she told him, "Let me get changed and then I'll be on my way."

"And what could you have possibly been doing to ruin your clothes? Especially if you're with Elijah." The insinuation was impossible to miss.

"You're disgusting." She scoffed, but grinned at his unsurprising antics. "I was working out, you jerk."

"Mmhmm, sure you were." Klaus said disbelievingly.

"Gross. Goodbye." She hung up abruptly and noticed Elijah's amused grin. "Oh what?"

"Nothing, nothing. It just never fails to entertain me to watch the two of you interact." He explained. "You should get dressed. Knowing your sister, if she's going to Klaus something catastrophic has surely happened."

Ellie scrunched up her nose in distaste. "You're probably right, sadly." It didn't take long for her to change clothes before she headed for Klaus' mansion.

When she arrived, Klaus was waiting for her with a grin. "Lovely of you to join me. She should be here soon. Would you like a drink?"

"I feel like I'm going to need one at this rate." She was tired of being mad at him, so she figured that she would at least attempt to offer an olive branch.

He looked pleased with her answer, "Come along." As she followed him, he asked, "How have you been? Still with the nightmares?"

Quite frankly, she was surprised that he even remembered. She'd had nightmares during the summer, but it had always been Stefan that comforted her, she wasn't even aware that Klaus had known. "Yeah, I'm still having nightmares. Some aren't as bad as others though."

"I'm sure Elijah helps with that." He replied casually. As he poured her drink he replied, "Don't think I'm not aware that you're never home. You had to be somewhere and that was the only place I could imagine you going."

She took the drink gratefully. "Yeah, he helps with that." She confirmed. The mansion seemed so empty without the other Mikaelsons and the hybrids around. "How have you been?" She asked gently.

"I've spent some time working on my art, and making sure your brother actually kills some vampires so that we can get this bloody cure." Klaus replied casually.

"Yeah I heard about that little stunt. Don't know why you thought that was a good idea."

He chuckled and replied, "Well, it seemed that Damon needed a little… motivation to get things moving along, so I happily provided it." He turned his head and replied, "It seems our company has arrived. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Let's get this show on the road."

"Take a seat. I'll bring her in." She did as she was told, and a moment later Klaus returned with Elena in tow. They both took a seat before Klaus said, "A bit ironic, you coming to me for help. Weren't your friends just trying to bury me in a cement tomb?"

"This is your fault." Elena told him. "You started this when you forced Jeremy to kill those vampires." Ellie couldn't help but roll her eyes. There was always someone else to blame, wasn't there? She wasn't going to talk about the fact that the only reason everyone wanted the damn cure was to fix her.

"And now my little brat of a brother has gone and made things worse." Klaus added. "Well, he never did like Damon."

He was talking about Kol then. "Wait, what happened? What did Kol do?"

"He went after Jeremy and Damon. He's trying to stop us from finding the cure." Elena told her. Ellie was going to murder him later.

"I suppose I should do something, shouldn't I?" Klaus asked her.

"Call him off, Klaus."

Unsurprisingly, Klaus didn't like that. "You are in no position to make demands, love. Whilst I'd like to cure you to make more hybrids, I do have other reasons for finding the cure, not the least of which is destroying it so you lot can't use it against me." He explained.

"Whatever our differences, we want the same thing. Please, Klaus. I'm begging you."

He looked over to Ellie. "What do you think I should do, darling?"

Ellie gave him a look. "You should know me well enough to know what I'd tell you, Klaus."

"Fine, fine." He replied with a small smile. He produced his phone and quickly said, "Little brother. Just two days home, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess. Those vampires were for my hunter. Where's Damon Salvatore? Yes. Well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box. On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me." Klaus looked a bit more annoyed than he was letting on by the sound of his voice. "Listen closely, Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?

As the call disconnected, Ellie and Elena both gave him an expectant look. "What did he say?" Ellie asked.

"He gave his word that he wouldn't touch him. He should keep his word. He very rarely breaks it." Klaus assured her.

"Thank you." Elena said sincerely.

Klaus laughed openly at her. "I assure you, I didn't do it for you. You may go now. I doubt we have anything else to discuss." Elena looked offended, but she just gave a look to Ellie before standing up and walking off. "Well, I know awkwardness between siblings when I see it. Still not speaking are we?"

"Not in the slightest." Ellie replied. "We've fought a few times growing up, but I don't think we've ever gone so long without speaking."

"Come on now. Do you even miss her? Sometimes it helps to have some time away from siblings. Mine can attest to that." Klaus told her.

Ellie sighed slightly. "Well it kind of happens when your siblings make shitty decisions."

"Well, at least I'm consistent." Klaus shrugged.

She smiled softly at him. "That's true I suppose. You know, I've missed talking to you."

"Have you now?"

"Keep being a jerk and I'll take it back." She warned, but she gave a small grin to let him know it was a joke.


She'd ended up chatting and joking with Klaus for the first time in ages. It felt familiar in the best way. He'd shown her the art that he was working on, and she pretended to think that it was awful to get a rise out of him. He was lonely. It wasn't hard to tell with the way he kept engaging her in something else to give her reasons not to leave. After having spent so long not speaking to him, and since he'd just gotten Kol's word that he wouldn't hurt Jeremy, she thought it was only fair that she indulged him a bit.

Her favorite piece that he'd done was a wolf howling at the moon. She wasn't an expert at art, but she was sure it had a much more significant meaning to him than a simple wolf howl or even just a reference to his wolf nature. He didn't elaborate on why he felt the desire to paint that particular piece. She'd even indulged him to the point of letting him show her how to paint because, in his ever so humble opinion, she didn't know anything in terms of painting. "You are doing this all wrong." Klaus scolded.

"Oh fine, ever so wise one, how the hell am I supposed to do it?" She scoffed.

"I am so glad you asked. Honestly you're atrocious with a brush. I think it could be considered a federal offense in some countries." He plucked the brush from her hand and said, "You shouldn't press down so hard on the brush, it's bad for the bristles. Though I must admit it is a tad therapeutic when you've had a bad day."

"Are you actually saying you know how to do something to relax other than murdering people?" She teased.

He looked up at her with an amused grin. "Someone is in a good mood. You're making jokes. I must admit I missed your witty banter."

His honesty was touching. "Well, Kol promised to not try and kill my brother, and I must admit I missed your know it all attitude about art."

"Is it really a know it all attitude if I really do know it all?" He shot back.

"Prat." They'd painted for a while longer before her phone started to go off. "Today is a busy day isn't it?" She answered and said, "Hey Jeremy, is everything ok. I heard tried to come after you earlier but Klaus called him off."

"Yeah, except he compelled Damon to kill me instead."

"What?" Ellie yelped. "Jeremy, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I was at The Grill and I saw Damon and when he saw me something just seemed off about him. I'm in the tunnels now and I can hear him yelling that Kol's compelled him. He's telling me to run but I have no clue where the hell I am." Jeremy's voice was shaking as she noticed his heavy breathing as he ran through the tunnels.

"Son of a bitch, I'm gonna kick Kol's ass I swear to god. Jeremy, listen to me alright. You keep running ok. You do not stop. I'm at Klaus' now ok, I'm coming and I will find you and get you out of there. As long as Damon can at least manage to fight the compulsion enough to slow himself down, you should be fine until I get there. Under no circumstances do you stop, am I clear?" She asked frantically.

"Yeah, you're clear. But Ellie, hurry. I only have one gun on me and I'm not sure how many bullets I've got left."

"Shit, shit. Yeah, I'm on my way. Just hang in there, Jer." As she hung up, she turned to Klaus, who clearly realized their fun was over. "Find Kol, maybe kick his ass for me until I can do it myself."

He nodded. "Will do. Go save your brother. I'll deal with mine."

Ellie took off in a run to her car. She let her magic lead her, and she ended up finding an entrance to the tunnels underneath the old courthouse that no one really used anymore. Her magic was on overdrive as she ran at full force through the tunnels. She wasn't even watching where she was going; she was just focusing on the pull of Jeremy's energy signature since he was a hunter now. She could hear odd echoes through the tunnels. As she got closer, she could make out Damon's voice. "Seriously? You're being hunted by a vampire and now you're bleeding?"

"He's bleeding? Son of a bitch Jeremy." She was almost there when she felt Damon's presence reach Jeremy's. His scream reached her ears a second later. "No! Jeremy!" Two gunshots rang out as Ellie pushed her legs so fast it felt like she was flying. Just as the third shot rang out, she rounded the corner to see Damon collapsing. "Jeremy?"

"Ellie?"

"Oh thank god you're ok!" She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Why the hell are you bleeding?"

"I needed to lure him to me. I can only run for so long before he catches me. I needed to buy myself some time." Jeremy explained.

"Listen, start running, I'm going to try and buy us a little more time before he wakes up. I'll be able to find you, just go. I'll heal your wounds once we're safe." She told him. He didn't wait to be told twice before he took off. As he ran, she turned back to the problem at hand. She needed Damon to stay down longer than that bullet would keep him. As she looked at their surroundings, she noticed that the ground, while mostly rocky, had areas that were just dirt.

An idea struck her and she focused in on the earth and reached deep, far below where they were. Her magic willed the dirt up, and the deeper she pulled it from, the wetter it was. If there was anything she'd learned, it was that the type of dirt around them, when it dried it was like trying to get off concrete. She watched as the mud crept over Damon, like twisting vines. When it looked like his arms and legs were wrapped pretty firmly, her magic sucked out the water, drying it instantly. Ellie walked over and knocked on the dirt encasing him. It felt like she was hitting hard clay which was exactly what she wanted.

"Sorry Damon, but I can't exactly let you get him." She apologized to his unconscious form. She knew he would eventually be able to get out of it, but all she needed was to get Jeremy somewhere Damon hadn't been invited in, like Bonnie's house, and he would be safe until they could break the compulsion. Once she was certain he was secured, she took off after Jeremy to try and find him.

There were drops of blood across the floor, which meant that until she healed Jeremy, they were leaving the easiest trail of breadcrumbs in the world for Damon to follow. He wasn't really running anymore, so she tried to move as quickly as possible to find him. As she was starting to get closer to Jeremy, a shout from behind her caught her attention. "Sabrina!" Damon's voice bounced off the walls of the tunnels.

"How the hell did he wake up so fast?" She muttered to herself as she started to move faster. She had to get Jeremy out of the tunnels and to her car before Damon caught up. "Jeremy?" He was staggering as she reached him. "Are you ok?"

He looked sick. "My arm…" Damon had gotten him good.

"It's ok. Come on, listen, we just need to get out of the tunnels and into open space and then I'll heal you. If we stop now, we risk backing ourselves into a corner. Damon's already awake, we have to go. I might have stalled him a little longer but we don't have much time." Ellie knew that if they ran into Damon before they were out of the tunnels, there was every chance in the world that they would hit a dead end and they would either have to kill Damon, or he was going to kill them. Stefan wouldn't like it if she killed Damon.

She had no idea where they were. They'd run so far so fast that she couldn't remember what entrance she'd used to get into the caves in the first place. "Where do we go?" He panted.

"I don't know, keep going, I'll get us out of here." Instead of using her magic like she normally did to focus on the supernaturals around her, she focused on what she wanted to find. It took a moment, but then it was there. A pull in her gut telling her which way to go. "Come on, this way." A minute later they were miraculously out of the tunnels. "Come on, come over here and let me heal you."

She started with the bite on his arm. As soon as she started, she saw the immediate relief wash over him as his skin stitched itself back together. It took a moment before it was fully healed before she moved on to heal the cut on his hand. "Thank you." He told her gratefully.

"You're my baby brother, Jer. I'm always gonna protect you." She said gently. They continued moving, trying to figure out where exactly in the woods they were. Damon's energy hit her magic and hit it fast. "Jeremy, get behind me." She shoved him back just as Damon appeared.

"Jeremy… Sabrina… you've got to." Damon was breathing heavily. Ellie's magic was on overdrive as Jeremy drew his gun.

He fired his gun just as someone knocked Damon out of the way. "Hey brother, long time, no see." Stefan snapped his neck as Elena arrived. "You're welcome."

"Stefan!" Ellie said in relief. He turned to face her with a grin. "Your timing is impeccable." She moved over and hugged him tightly.

"Hey. You guys ok?" He asked her as he held onto her arms.

"Yeah, we're fine. I'm glad you came. I should have thought to call you in the first place."

"It's fine. It took a while for me to get here anyways. I'm just glad you're alright." He told her.

She smiled softly at him. All it took was a half a glance at Elena to know that she wasn't comfortable or pleased with how close the two of them were. The spiteful part of her, the one that was overprotective of Stefan, enjoyed watching her be uncomfortable. "You, as always, are a lifesaver." She grinned at him.

"I try." He joked.

"What are you going to do with him? Until we can get Kol to undo his compulsion, he's a threat to Jeremy." Ellie asked.

"I'm going to take him home, lock him up. It's the only thing I can do to keep everyone safe." Stefan replied.

Ellie nodded in understanding. "Let me know when you've got him locked up so I know Jer is safe."

"I will." He hugged her once more before grabbing Damon and tossing him carelessly over his shoulder. "Glad you're ok, Jer." They were gone in the blink of an eye.

"Jer, are you ok?" Elena asked worriedly.

"Ellie took care of me. I'm fine." Jeremy replied. He sounded so tired. "Did Matt at least get home safe after you took him and left?"

"Yeah he did." Somehow, Ellie wasn't surprised that Elena would make such a stupid decision as to leave Jeremy with Damon after he let Klaus turn an entire bar. She adored Klaus, but not enough to willingly leave her baby brother with him.

"Let's just get you home, Jer. Jenna's missed you. Said taco night isn't the same without you." Ellie said. The two siblings laughed lightly as Ellie moved to give him support to walk to the car. While he was physically healed, he was mentally exhausted from everything that had happened. "I'm sure you could use a good nap."

Jeremy chuckled softly. "Yeah, probably. Give me the chance and I'll sleep for a week." They didn't acknowledge Elena's expression. Once again, Jeremy had been put into danger by Elena's decisions, and Ellie wasn't really in the mood to deal with her. She just wanted to get Jeremy home safely. Elena and her drama was a problem for another day.


Author's Note:

Ellie and Klaus are talking again! I've missed them being buddies. But now Ellie's going to have to kick Kol's ass for going after Jeremy. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and as always, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

To xenocanaan: Lol, I know you will, which is why I had to spoil you a little with Kol and Ellie content this chapter. I might have a plan or two when it comes to her fighting back and being mad. But, at least on the Bonnie front for some things she won't be as mad, because lets be real Shane has literally got Bonnie brainwashed right now. There's definitely something planned. Don't worry though, we'll get to NOLA eventually and then we won't have to deal with their BS.

To Blu3b3rryT3a: She really is. Yeah, being cautious is definitely the smart thing to do. Kol and Ellie was actually the original plan, but then Elijah wiggled his way in and took Ellie for himself lol. I make no promises on what will happen to Kol. All I will say is that I do plan for there to be changes to what happens to him at least some point, if everything goes to plan. And yes, she's definitely listening to him.

To smilin steph: He really is the sweetest isn't he?

To Guest: Her bonding with the Mikaelsons is so much fun. Kol will definitely be able to help her with her magic with everything that he knows. Oh yes, I could definitely see Kol getting wildly protective over her. And yeah, the scene with Bekah and Ellie when she told Bekah that she and Elijah tried so hard to find her was sweet. Exactly! Like the fact that they didn't remove Elena from Damon to keep Elena safe when they knew that Elena did whatever he said was a little weird. And yeah, I never did forgive her for what she did to Stefan. There will definitely be consequences at one point or another.

To Qewbix: I'm glad she's ok too. It's ok, I get distracted easily as well and forget stuff constantly. If I didn't set an alarm on my phone, there's every chance in the world I would forget to update sometimes lol. I know she shouldn't blame herself, but she's such a good person that their deaths hit her hard. But yes, Elijah is all about making her feel better and he's definitely a big source of comfort for her.

To skyellebaby: I've missed her too! A day where all of them just get to hang out with one another and everything be ok would be really nice. If anything, I'll try and make a one shot out of it, I just haven't had a chance to work on the one shots yet. There is a world of possibilities for what we could do in NOLA, so maybe! I know, I want the Ellie and Kol version to. I wonder how much his influence would affect her personality. Elijah is definitely that type of person. But, we did get Klaus and Ellie together again this chapter. So, your wish is my command, because they're talking again. But yes, we won't be rushing his redemption at all because I like realistic sometimes. I don't know where April went all that time, but she did end up with Bonnie at one point, she's ok though.

To brightm28: I missed her too! But yeah, to be fair she held them hostage but didn't actually hurt them. She just threatened them a bit lol. Kol was definitely a bit protective. I guess I wanted a chance to throw in little things that make it clear that he's not 100% bad, he's just complicated like the rest of them. Them being a team is definitely fun to write though.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 6/19/21