A/N:Happy Holidays I would like to thank my elf (SassyWriter26 ) for all the hard work she does for me I couldn't have done this with out her support. As well as my readers thank you for you support please continue to leave your reviews they help motivate me to write the next scene and then the next chapter. Thank you!
Although she was a fairly young vampire, she still had made a point of learning everything she could from Stefan and, as much as it pained her; she had tried to do the same with the older Salvatore. Which had ultimately turned into a lesson about what not to do as a vampire. However, before Stefan had first taken off with Klaus, then some time later when Klaus made him turn off his humanity, he had been a patient teacher. Unlike Damon, who was always looking for the easiest way to accomplish his aim. Since being turned, she has done everything she could to learn more about her species, even reading the Gilbert Journals and those of her Forbes ancestors. Thanks to her extracurricular reading, she learned that vampires can sense other vampires by scent. It wasn't perfect when considering humans that hung around vampires tended to pick up a weak scent. So the strong scent coming from her friend only added to her list of questions. How long had she been around them to pick it up to be that strong was rather alarming. But who was at the boarding house right now then?
It didn't help Caroline had a million or so questions for her best friend. At first, she had a hard time believing it. The Elena Gilbert she knew as an eighteen-year-old teenage girl, was the same person standing next to her as a college aged woman. It wasn't just that she appeared older. From what she observed first hand so far this Elena just held herself differently.
"Elena, how? I mean seriously, who did Damon and Stefan find in that cave or whatever?"
Elena had so much to tell her, yet the only thing she found herself doing was standing there next to her friend, watching her almost as if she didn't want to miss a single moment in their reunion. Granted, she had spied on her friend from time to time while in Astral form, but being here with her was decidedly a different experience. Shaking herself out of her own stupor, she answered, then hastily asked a question of her own.
"Care, her name is Tatia, Tatia Petrova. She is a Doppelgänger just like I am. Look," Elena sighed looking over at her family, Klaus- as expected- looked like he wanted to kill someone, while Elijah's impassive expression gave away no hint to the urgency he was feeling inside. She felt the same as he did. He just had more experience hiding it.
"I'll explain more about her in just a minute, but this is important. Did she have two small infants with her, a boy and a girl, perhaps?" Elena didn't even bother to hide her growing concern for her children. It was an honest surprise that none of her family hadn't already gone off in search of them.
"Do you mean the two tiny angels with her? Yeah, they are at Stefan and Damon's place. Who are they and why are you with these guys, anyway?"
Elena's undead heart warmed when she heard her friend's rather apt description of her and Elijah's children. She couldn't count how many times she had dreamed about them over the centuries. It sometimes still baffled her that she hadn't flipped her switch; not that she thought it would even be possible considering the previouly dead state her body had been in for the last thousand years.
Before she could ask anything else, Elena heard the distinct sound of a car door opening, followed by Klaus' heavy footsteps coming up behind them.
"Ella, what about Tatia?" Klaus demanded. Elena shot him a pointed look. She understood the reason for his anxiousness, but it was also rather irritating of him that he wouldn't let her handle it. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by her friend, either.
"Ella?"
"I'll explain later, how is Tatia… I mean my Doppelgänger?" Elena sighed, already feeling a twinge of guilt for addressing someone she had grown to care about made even worse considering that she always disliked being called the Doppelgänger herself. Even more so after she had long ago learned from Ayana what that distinction really means. Fortunately, she would be the last. She still hadn't explained that particular facet of her breaking the Petrova curse to Klaus yet. Truth be told, the dark side of her was actually looking forward to the inevitable encounter.
"Um… Okay, I'll take your word for it, but you better keep to your promise or you will regret it," Caroline finally said, and Elena couldn't suppress a grin. That was the Caroline Forbes she remembered.
"She's with the children. We picked up some baby formula and diapers for them. Before leaving, I checked on them and they were all asleep in one of the spare rooms," her friend continued with a slight frown. It took Elena a second to realize that Klaus wasn't behind her any longer, but just as swiftly had returned to his own vehicle and was just about to close his door.
"Klaus don't-" Elena started, but the Original Hybrid's eyes turned bright amber. She knew what he was trying to exert his dominance over her and for now she chose instead to let it go. Probably sensing her mood, Elijah put a reassuring hand on the small of her back. She smiled up at him in thanks for his support.
As Klaus started his SUV, Kol smirked at Elena through the windshield. Damn you Kol, I know you're just going to watch your brother and do nothing, but probably goad him on.
Rebekah flashed next to her and tapped her shoulder, drawing her attention. "Don't fret Ella, Finn and I will go with them. Hopefully all of us will keep our two brothers from doing anything rash," Rebekah said. Elena could only nod in thanks as both Finn and Rebekah climbed into one of the unoccupied seats of Klaus's idling SUV. Elena's heart went out to Finn, who didn't look very comfortable seated in the passenger seat across from his hybrid half brother. If she had to guess, he was about to regret taking that seat. Hopefully, he'd realize the purpose of the chicken handles on the way there. The three of them watched Klaus quickly back up and then swerve around them on their merry way to the boarding house. Watching in silence as its red tail lights faded into the dark, it wasn't long afterwards when Elena felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.
"Owww… What was that for Caroline?!" Elena rubbed her shoulder. She'd obviously forgotten Caroline had a habit of punching people sometimes when she was upset. Elijah tensed next to her, but a reassuring look from her made him relax his protective stance ever so slightly. It wasn't like any permanent damage could be dealt to her, anyway.
"Elena Gilbert, what the hell is going on? I already have enough problems to worry about with my dad!" Caroline shouted.
Elena was about to use her friend's last question concerning her being unaware that Gilbert was no longer her surname when she fixated on the last remark about Caroline's father.
"Wait, hold up! Care? What is wrong with your dad? And don't give me that look. I'm not ducking your questions. Please just tell me what has you so upset?"
At first, her friend didn't respond. Instead, Caroline's gaze shifted from where Klaus's SUV had been and where her own car was, no longer blocked. Elena couldn't understand why Caroline seemed almost ready to bolt. There was no reason she should be driving away from the boarding house. Her home was in the opposite direction. The only reasonable destination was the hospital. .
"Care what happened to your dad? Why is he at the hospital?"
Caroline sagged, some of her tension easing, but Elena didn't miss a weary glance directed at her husband. Which only confused Elena before her journey back in time. Her friend had almost zero contact with Elijah when they had been trying to take down Klaus. Then some of it clicked in Elena's head. Elijah betrayed them when he couldn't bring himself to kill his brother like he told them to, not after Klaus pleaded with his older brother that he hadn't dumped their family into the ocean. Still, she didn't understand the possible connection between Caroline's father and her brother-in-law. Not that she had gotten to the fact that she answered to Elena Mikaelson now, but that could be addressed at a later time.
"Miss Forbes, I understand your apprehension of trusting me considering my actions in the past; but I swear whatever you tell me will not reach my younger brother's ears without your consent," Elijah interjected. Elena surmised that he too had made the connection and her friend's reluctance to speak in front of him.
Caroline popped a quizzical eyebrow at her friend, which brought a smile to Elena's lips. She had missed her friend. It was so refreshing to be able to interact with her instead of by Astral Projection like she had for the last eighteen years.
"You can trust him, Care. I promise you if he breaks his promise I will make him pay." Her statement made Caroline's breath catch and the 'are you insane for threatening an Original Vampire' look she was hitting her with would have made Elena laugh if not for the seriousness of the situation. She hadn't forgotten the plight of her children and whatever was going on with Bill Forbes.
"Do you remember that my dad has conditioned himself to resist vampire compulsion?"
"Yes, but how is that related to your father being in the hospital?" Elena's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Although she could Astral Project herself in places, she tried hard not to spy on her family and friends. It had been bad enough being a witness to her husband's infidelity with women other than herself. Albeit in his defense his memories of her were suppressed at the time. Still, the first time she caught him in bed with another woman she wanted to kill the woman. It was probably fortunate that she hadn't learned how to exert her then limited magical reach into the world.
"Do you remember what happened with your brother just before you disappeared? Jeremy told us that Klaus had used Tyler to get him off the vervain then compelled him to stand in the middle of the road."
Not quite understanding where she was going with this, Elena only nodded her head for Caroline to continue.
"While you were gone Elena, mister big bad wolf hybrid himself told my boyfriend to bite me, which he did despite him refusing to do so. Klaus then leveraged giving me the cure only if my mother allowed entry into our home and even I can see that as the town's sheriff, she owes him a debt for saving my life. Sometime afterwards Tyler called my dad and asked for help in breaking his sire bond."
"How? Breaking a sire bond is all but impossible," Elijah asked. Elena was thankful he had. It would have sounded strange that she would already know how difficult it would be, considering she had more than once witnessed it over the last couple of centuries.
"My dad had Tyler voluntarily shift over and over again until he didn't fear the pain. He believed that once Tyler had overcome the fear of shifting and his feeling of gratitude towards his sire would lessen, thus breaking the sire bond," Caroline stopped, allowing them to consider her explanation.
"Miss Forbes, I've never met your father before, but that does sound reasonable. But how did your father end up in the hospital?"
"That's why I'm on my way there to find out. Look, I know you're an Original and Klaus is your brother, but I just want my boyfriend to be free of the control he has over him. Is there anything wrong with that?" Caroline asked.
Elena was about to agree with her when her husband sighed, which drew both their attention towards him for explanation.
"I've never liked the albeit rare implications of what a sire bond can permit, a sire to abuse it. Although my younger brother would disagree with me, I'm not going to stand in mister Lockwood's desire to be free of it. I would recommend that he leave town until his bond is broken with our family reunited. It will only be a matter of time before Klaus recalls his hybrids. But I digress. I assume that something happened during one of these one-on-one sessions between mister Forbes and mister Lockwood?" Elijah asked. Elena and his brown eyes had sought each other when he mentioned being reunited with his family. She had so much to share with him about various things and she wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.
"Um… Guys… Hello?" Caroline's voice cut in, but it still took Elijah and Elena a second to realize they both near simultaneously had been lost in thought.
"Sorry, Care, it's been a rather long day. I assume you'd agree on that as well," Elena coughed in an attempt to hide her sudden onset embarrassment.
"What is up with you two? It's like you're married or something," Caroline huffed. Fortunately for everyone's sanity, Caroline missed the subtle wink Elijah gave Elena when Caroline looked down at her phone, most likely checking her messages.
"Is everything alright? Did something happen to your dad?" Elena asked immediately when she noticed her friend's tense posture while swiping through her messages. She hated prying, but how Caroline was holding her phone made it impossible for her to read her latest text.
"No… I think Rebekah and her brother are not enough in keeping Klaus from acting rash. He is threatening to kill everyone in town if our friends don't give him what he wants," Caroline explained in a rush. Elena could almost see the inner conflict going on in her friend. She wanted to check on her Dad but she also wanted to help her friends. Fortunately, Elijah, being who he was, came up with a reasonable solution.
"Miss Forbes, we won't hold you any longer. Elena and I can go and keep Niklaus from harming anyone," Elijah suggested. Elena wanted to kiss him for his kind gesture, but Caroline's frantic state worried her that she might cause an accident while driving. As much as she needed to see her children, she knew that her family could take care of whatever was transpiring at the boarding house.
"Elijah, I'm going to drive Caroline to the hospital so she can check on her dad, then afterwards I will meet you all either at Niklaus's mansion or the boarding house."
Elijah's stoic mask slipped momentarily, but it was enough for Elena to put her hand on his check before giving him a soft kiss on the lips as a promissory note that they would be reunited again. Unlike the last time they were together before having his memories once again repressed.
"Go then. I will do what I can to keep everyone safe, but if any harm comes to Eirik or Astrid, I will not be held back," Elijah spoke softly, cupping her face in his hands. Elena blushed and wasn't entirely sure if it was from his display of affection for her or that he had done it in front of Caroline. It wasn't long before Elijah left them standing there in the middle of the street alone.
Elena, bracing herself for the verbal onslaught, turned and found Caroline standing like a statue with her mouth agape.
"Remember when you mentioned something about us looking like a married couple? Well, funny thing about that…" Elena said cryptically, starting the car and already dreading the drive there.
November 1, 2010
En route to Salvatore Boarding House:
Rebekah growled in frustration, mostly directed towards her phone. She both loved and hated this new century with its modern conveniences and amazing technology. Still, when it didn't produce the results she wanted, it annoyed her. She'd tried calling both Stefan and Tyler. Neither of them picked up, and her texts so far has gone unanswered. She had considered contacting Matt, but the last time she had spoken to him was when he called to ask her what color her dress was for the Prom. When her curiosity and suspicion got the better of her, she pressed him to find out why and he surprised her when he bashfully admitted that he wanted to buy a corsage for her that matched the color of her prom dress. For a mortal, he seemed the most normal person in a town filled with the supernatural, and she had found that refreshing. Ever since she had learned about the prom, she had been excited to attend her first school dance. Then Elena Gilbert stabbed her in the back with the one dagger that could neutralize her.
To say that she wanted to exact a degree of retribution against the latest Doppelgänger would be an understatement. Then somehow Elena traveled back in time to when they were still human and now not only is she Original Vampire who apparently can do magic but was her sister-in-law and her best friend.
Sister-in-law or not, Rebekah had already decided that they were going to have a nice little chat when the latest crisis was resolved.
"You're awfully quiet," Kol said from the passenger seat next to her own. Finn was sitting in the passenger seat in front and she was amused to see the ashen complexion of her eldest brother's face as Klaus drove at speeds that might have surely killed them if they happened to crash. Although she hadn't had an opportunity to fly in a modern jet, she was rather curious about how Finn would react to the flying contraption given the opportunity to fly aboard.
"Prying much?" Rebekah snorted in fake annoyance.
She had almost forgotten how annoying he could be. The smirk he was giving almost made her want to punch or kick him in the family jewels. The fact that doing so in a cramped vehicle didn't deter her from at least fantasizing about the act. Both options strangely appealed to her at that given moment. Not even out of his box for a solid day and he was already annoying, she grumbled mentally. Her mind was a conflicted mess if she was going to be honest with herself. The prank war they had when they were human was slightly more understandable thanks to her restored memories. She had always wondered where, or more accurately, who, she'd gotten the jar of hair removing paste from.
"If you must know, I'm still trying to reconcile the memories that I have never had any doubt of their legitimacy versus the restored memories I have of my sister Elena Mikaelson. Tell me I'm not the only one of us having similar issues that are relatable." The look she shared with each of her brothers, including Klaus, who briefly made eye contact in the rear-view mirror before shifting his attention back to the road.
"Since I've only been awake a short while, considering I was put down in the early part of the last century, I don't have any memories of our sister as being anything but Elena Mikaelson nee Petrova. Who are these Gilberts anyway?" Kol asked. To his and everyone else's surprise, it was Klaus who answered.
"The Gilbert family is a founding family of this quaint little town and ironically enough they have a long history of being vampire hunters. Until recently they conducted some rather sinister medical experiments on our kind," Klaus answered then gave a brief rundown of the rescue he, while in possession of Alaric Saltzman's body, and Damon Salvatore had accomplished while he was working to recover their coffins.
"What is so special about this vampire named Lorenzo St. John, which so enticed you to rescue him from this Augustine Society?" Finn asked. Although he hated what their parents had turned them into, he was horrified to learn what humans did in the name of medical science.
"Ella's adoptive father was a member of this now defunct group and he was trying to find a means of weakening our kind by modifying a vampire's genetic structure so their body would produce the chemical component of vervain in their own blood stream." Klaus informed them.
"Why would you help this Damon Salvatore person get his former cellmate back?" Kol asked after Klaus, uncharacteristically, had added that information afterwards of his own volition.
Klaus's lips turned up into an evil grin when he looked directly at Kol through the mirror. "Disturbing as it is that there is now a vampire who is immune to our own ability to compel him, I couldn't miss a chance to find a means of recovering the family Stefan Salvatore stole out from under me. I have yet to mention that Damon Salvatore abandoned his cellmate to his imprisonment over sixty years ago. I don't think this Lorenzo will be all that forgiving." Klaus smirked.
"You might be surprised, dear brother. After all, look at what you have done to us- and over the last ten centuries, no less," Rebekah sighed, looking out at the passing scenery.
Klaus would have responded if he didn't need to get his mind refocused on their mission. They needed to get Elijah and Elena's children back along with his Tatia. While they were both important, they also needed to destroy the evidence of the one thing that can kill them all. He remained impassive as he made the final turn onto the Salvatore Property and stopped well short of the long gravel driveway.
"Why the bloody hell are you parking so far away, brother?" Rebekah asked, reluctantly climbing out of the SUV along with everyone else. She really didn't want to deal with either of the Salvatore brothers. Nor did she care much for Tatia. Her sole reason was to get her niece and nephew safely back into their extended family. Being a newly rediscovered aunt, while it didn't fill the gap of not being able to have her own children, meant Elijah and Elena's children were the closest thing to that feeling now. Rebekah knew in her heart that she would kill anyone who threatened them. Family above all.
Klaus ignored his sister's question, choosing instead to focus on which best intimidation tactic to use against the Mystic Falls Gang. His shoes crunched over the gravel as he considered the pros and cons of which of the Salvatore necks were in dire need of being broken when, to his surprise, his path forward was abruptly blocked by an invisible force. It didn't hold him in place, it just wouldn't permit his advance any further. Glancing around for the cause of his impediment it wasn't until he looked down did he see the possible cause.
"Bloody witches and their accursed boundary spells!" he muttered, eying the thick salt line impeding their path onward. From what little he understood about such spells, witches ward them so if anyone that is not authorized to cross the salt line will alert the caster. Having nothing better to do while they waited, Klaus pulled out his phone to send a terse text to his brother. Then another to his nearest witch and almost as an afterthought to his remaining hybrids. It bothered him that several of them weren't responding to his texts, but he didn't have time to deal with that now. The Salvatore's don't know what sort of hornets nest they had just kicked over. A cruel smile spread over his face when he considered how they would react when they found not five but six Originals facing them down. Even crueler was the fact that whether or not they liked it, their precious Elena Gilbert was a Mikaelson now. They will show them all that, at least for them, family is above all. He rather enjoyed the irony that both Damon and Stefan will be so crushed, he thought, almost absently.
"How much do you want to bet that they'll think we compelled her?" Rebekah asked, coming to stand next to him, watching as the front door of the boarding house opened.
"Hmm… I have a bottle of 1959 Dom Pérignon Rosé. They won't believe a single word we say. I highly doubt they will believe that our brother is married." Klaus whispered. They watched as several figures silhouetted by the light from the open doorway started towards them.
"Mmm… Sounds good. I think I have something comparable, say, a lovely bottle of 1841 Veuve Clicquot that at least one of them heading this way will not. How do you want to play this?" Kol asked, joining them. Finn sighed, but looked wearily back at the SUV with a shudder. Rebekah, taking pity on him, moved to stand next to him purposefully, allowing him to witness her rolling her eyes at their brothers' antics.
"Follow my lead," was all Klaus could get out before they were joined by the infamous Mystic Falls gang minus Caroline Forbes, but they already knew about her whereabouts. Hopefully, she wouldn't return too soon and spoil their fun. Like a chess master, Klaus was still waiting for his pieces to position themselves about the board, so they still had time. They just might have a little time to play with the resident vampires of Mystic Falls.
Mystic Falls Hospital
November 2, 2010
Elena glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Caroline had, ever since she'd gotten her learners' permit, obsessively kept the time displayed as accurate as possible. Her eyes naturally flicked to the display when it officially became the next day, at least according to the time in her friend's Ford Fiesta.
Although she had volunteered to drive Caroline's car considering what Elena had learned happened to her father, she had felt it best that she drive them so it gave her friend a chance to collect herself and Elena the opportunity to give the cliff notes version of everything that actually transpired with her disappearance. From her friends' perspective Elena had been missing for exactly thirty-seven days.
Even though chronologically Elena hadn't been behind a wheel for over a thousand years she was rather pleased with herself, although Caroline had muttered something about her needing to retake driver's safety from the DMV. Elena chose to ignore the comment.
They so far had been sitting in the parking lot of the hospital while Elena finished up the much abridged version of her life about five minutes previously. Now Elena was starting to consider the fifty-fifty chance that she might have actually broken Caroline Forbes.
"Care, can you say something?" Elena asked tentatively, her brown eyes seeking Caroline's blue eyes for the first possible sign of reaction from her friend. Elena knew that she had quite literally dumped a truckload of information on her and it might take her time to comprehend everything. She hoped that despite everything that had happened, Caroline would still know that at the core of her being, she hadn't really changed.
"What do you want me to say, Lena?"
"Care-" Elena started, but Caroline stopped her with a stern look. She wanted to smile at the memories the familiar look from her invoked, but Caroline might think she was being mocked, so she wisely refrained and just waited.
"Let's see, should we discuss the fact that you're married, or that the two sleeping angels back at the Boarding house are, in reality, your and Elijah's children? How about the fact that you somehow traveled back in time to when Klaus and his family were still human and rather than trying to prevent them from becoming the Original family, you joined them and became an Original yourself?" Caroline's voice climbed as she spoke and by the end of her little tirade, Elena's ears were ringing. Truth be told, she really didn't blame her. Surprisingly, Caroline seemed to be taking it better than she thought she would. Although when she had to produce the proof that she was now an Original by letting her vampire visage out, witnessing it only generated more questions. Thankful for her sanity on that particular topic, Caroline had eventually relented.
"Care don't you think I tried?" Elena's voice cracked. "When I learned that I couldn't get back home because the Spirits of Nature call me a Child of Destiny. I tried everything feasible to alter events that led to them, and me as well, from becoming the progenitors of a new species."
"Well, what about afterwards? I know you said that you could do that Astro Projection thingy. Why could you appear before your younger self and told yourself everything?"
Elena smiled at her friend's question. She had often toyed with the notion of doing that, but wasn't entirely sure how her younger self would have handled it.
"It's called Astral Projection. Yes, I did think about it, but in every possible scenario, both before my parents dying or afterwards, I highly doubt people would have trusted my overall sanity. Seriously, if I appeared in front of you before you learned about the vampires and witches, would you have believed me?"
Her friend regarded her solemnly for a minute and turned away, looking towards the hospital entrance. "I guess we will never know Lena. Don't take this wrong. I'm glad you're back, but you know how the others will react."
"I know, Care. I know, and I'm worried about that as well. Please believe me. I've had a lot of time to think; ever since I regained consciousness back in the fifteenth century. I think that changing the past doesn't really change the future. I think being the Child of Destiny was to either end my family curse or to bring about a new species," Elena sighed. The weariness in her tone must have sparked something in her friend. Caroline placed a comforting hand over her own.
"Think about it. If you go into the past, that past becomes your future, and your former present becomes the past, which can't be changed by your new future," Elena tried explaining. The look of mirth in Caroline's eyes brought her up short.
"That almost sounds like a line of dialog from a movie or something. Back to the Future perhaps?" Caroline genuinely smiled at her friend. Bonnie, Caroline and herself loved to watch movies on Friday nights, but that was before the supernatural had invaded their town and lives.
"No, but it probably should be in one. I just hope they give me credit for it," Elena laughed.
"Not a chance, they might just say they did it, anyway."
"Come on, Care. Let's go check on your dad then we can head back to the boarding house," Elena suggested, pulling the keys out of the ignition while opening the door. Caroline, stunned momentarily as if she had almost forgotten their reason for coming, quickly followed suit.
They managed to get his room number from the front desk, although Caroline had to use a little compulsion since they were technically outside regular visiting hours. It did help that she was the daughter of the admitted patent and her mother was the sheriff. Still, something was bothering Elena as they made their way towards Bill Forbes' room. It took longer than she wanted, but it wasn't until they reached the floor and stepped out of the elevator that the all too familiar scent of vervain and the inordinate number of sheriff deputies on the floor alerted Elena to a probable threat.
Somehow they walked unmolested to her dad's room when Elena abruptly diverted to a side corridor before pulling Caroline into an empty patient room, then shut and locked the door.
"What the hell Lena!" Caroline hissed, but Elena silenced her with a finger to her own lips before pointing to her ears. Momentarily perplexed before the telltale sounds of two pairs of shoes could be heard moving closer to their impromptu hideout.
"I'm sorry, Pastor, I thought I saw someone head down this hallway. What was it you were saying?"
"Deputy, we must remain vigilant until dawn. We'll be safe at least during daylight hours. What happened to Bill Forbes can not happen again." Pastor Young stated resolutely.
"Are you sure it was Tyler Lockwood you witnessed carrying him?" the deputy asked. Elena worriedly glanced at her friend, silently praying that Caroline wouldn't do anything that might reveal their hiding spot. She had a really bad feeling that it wouldn't go well for anyone.
"Positive Bill hasn't said anything regarding the confrontation, but I witnessed with my own eyes the speed and ease that Tyler Lockwood moved carrying Bill Forbes from the police station. The mayor is going to be devastated by this revelation."
"Indeed. But why would a vampire drop a human they injured off at the hospital before running off like the monster they are?"
"Who knows? Maybe the creature that was once Tyler somehow is clinging to some shred of his former humanity, but it's only a matter of time before the demon consumes his soul. Do all your men have the proper weapon loadouts for hunting these creatures?" the Pastor asked as they started walking away from Elena and Caroline's hiding spot.
"What are we going to do, Lena, and how did you figure it out, anyway? What clued you in?" Caroline asked once they were sure that they were alone and couldn't be overheard.
"It wasn't one but several Care. The first indication something was amiss was when I picked up the scent of vervain, then it was the fact that too many deputies were on this particular floor." Elena explained, moving to stand closer to the door on the off chance someone slipped by her enhanced senses while she was somewhat distracted by her friend's growing anxiety.
"An Original can smell vervain?" Caroline asked Elena, who gave her a noncommittal shrug before she continued.
"Chances are that every Deputy on this floor either has it on them or they consumed it as well. There is no way we can slip past them and get to your dad without being detected. I wouldn't put it past them to have a guard outside and inside his room, just in case. What?"
"It's nothing."
"Care-"
"Fine, I was thinking that you sound so much older than me and I just realized that you've grown up into the woman you are now. I mean, I knew you didn't want to become a vampire, but even then I missed so much your wedding and then you having kids." Caroline choked, wiping away a tear. Elena moved to the bed and pulled her friend into her lap, cradling her like she was a child.
"I know Care trust me. I wished both you and Bonnie had been there with me Jeremy too, but I'm here now and at least for our sake, we have an eternity to look forward to. Can I tell you something?" Elena said gently, pressing her face into her friend's hair. She missed being this close to her friends.
"Mmm," Caroline murmured as if in response. Elena wasn't sure it was but decided it really didn't matter in the long run. She was going to tell her, anyway. It was something she never wanted to tell anyone, lest word of it had gotten back to Klaus of her past. Things have changed. They both knew it, but still a little frank honesty with her friend felt right, given their circumstances.
"In all honesty, before my little side trip into the past," she paused when Caroline snorted a derisive chuckle before continuing. "As I was saying my life was a complete shambles and with Klaus using me as his personal blood bag for his hybrids. I made myself a promise that if things didn't change before I graduated high school I would take steps not to continue the Petrova bloodline."
Caroline's body tensed. "Lena, are you suggesting that you would've-?"
"No, I wouldn't have gone that far. Back then I'd already died once and after dying for a second time, I never want to try for a third time. My approach was slightly more practicable and I would have needed both your and Bonnie's help to implement it. Preferably without Klaus catching wind of it."
"What was this grand plan of yours and why did it involve both of us?" Caroline asked, now curious. She pulled out of Elena's grasp and moved to sit beside her friend.
"Knowing Klaus, he might have compelled me to get knocked up shortly after our graduation. So my contingency plan was the day of our graduation, after some preparatory work with Bonnie beforehand, she would essentially curse my womb so no fetus could be conceived or brought to term within its confines. Plus, any eggs harvested from my body against my will would have become unviable. After the curse was put in place, I then would ask that you compel me to forget the real reason I couldn't bear any children. That was to keep both you and Bonnie safe from me being compelled on the off chance he began to suspect. At some point, he would have given up on me having kids and moved on, or he just might have drained me of the last drop of my Petrova Doppelgänger blood. Either way, I would be the last."
"Lena! I'm so sorry I… I didn't think. You had always wanted kids, but taking these drastic steps. I-"
"Care! That idea came to me one night as if in a dream, but it doesn't matter now. I know, trust me. There are things I want to talk to you about privately but I think we should go about giving you a chance to see your dad," Elena smiled at her friend's confused expression although it might appear that she was trying to change the topic she did understand why they were there in the first place. No vervained bunch of deputies prowling on the same floor as Caroline's dad's room was going to deter even her.
"How? I was just going to come back during visiting hours in the middle of the day. I thought that it should be obvious to you Missus Original Vampire," Caroline teased. Elena didn't want to dwell on the fact that she manipulated the situation to improve her friend's mood. Besides, her plan for giving Klaus the middle finger had been superseded by her journey into the distant past.
"We could do that or I could show you how I Astral Projected myself and if he is asleep in his room, so much the better for us, even if he has a deputy keeping watch over him."
Caroline didn't even hesitate. She pulled her friend into a hug before pulling back and grinning at her. A hint of nostalgia hit her when she realized the last time they had done something together it had been her eighteenth birthday, back when Klaus and Stefan were still trying to make Klaus's hybrids.
"Where do we start?"
Salvatore Boarding House
November 2, 2010
Elijah pulled his vehicle in behind his brother's. He was annoyed with the status text Klaus had sent him, but he had other, more important matters to contend with. Even though they had just been reunited, he was already missing his wife. Having two sets of memories concerning her was starting to get easier to deal with. He chuckled softly as he pulled the key out of the ignition, then exited the black SUV.
To distract himself from what might be happening with his two infant children, he found himself wondering how did Elena deal with having dual memories of their first encounter together. He already resolved to purchase and have the same abandoned mansion renovated of at least one of these places in time for their one thousand and twelfth wedding anniversary as a gift to his lovely Elena Mikaelson. They could spend their first summer there as a family.
He couldn't help but smile as he walked purposefully towards the boarding house. His smile turned into a concerned frown when he noted two clusters of people with one individual on the ground with a wood stake in his chest.
"Ella is not going to be happy about this," he muttered as he quickened his pace. Just because he was an Original he didn't feel the need to use his powers. To his own stunned eyes, the dark-haired man groaned suddenly and jerked his hand up before reaching down to pull the wood stake free of his chest before tossing it to the side.
"Christ! Well, that bloody well hurt! Mates, how about we all try not to kill each other?" the man groaned as he climbed back to his feet and moved to stand closer to the group, not in any way related to the Mikaelson Family. To say that Elijah's siblings and himself weren't mystified would be an understatement. As far as they knew only an Original like themselves could survive being staked in the heart.
"H… How in bloody hell did you manage that?" Rebekah demanded, already voicing Elijah's same opinion on the matter.
"Enzo, how did you survive being staked!?" Damon demanded.
"Years of practice. And at least you've forgotten you're not even close to being able to call me that Damon. Would you mind putting the blasted crossbow away? It's your fault you shot at them with the damn thing." Enzo grumbled, looking down at the puncture wound in his shirt. Elijah watched as the curious vampire looked at his youngest brother. "And you owe me a new shirt, mate."
"Just step on outside the salt line and come get it, mate," Kol smirked, holding up a black credit card. It was way too soon for him to have that, so, knowing his brother, it was highly likely that he'd swiped it from Niklaus' wallet at some point, Elijah guessed. Based on the vermilion color his brother was turning with this revelation of a theft only confirmed it. Fortunately, they all had more important issues than a stolen credit card to contend with. Besides, it was highly doubtful Kol had any inkling what a mostly exclusive credit card with no credit limit nominally only available to the wealthiest individuals. Not that their family hadn't accumulated enough wealth in the last thousand years. Which only reminded him he needed to get Elena a card of her own in the near future.
"Do I look like I was born yesterday? And the name is Lorenzo St John. Enzo to my friends that have earned the right to call me by that. Damon Salvatore here is on my shit list for abandoning me decades ago," Enzo smirked back at the protests of the older of the two brothers. Elijah had to give the young vampire credit. He seemed brave and unlike Damon Salvatore. He already knew that of the two brothers facing off with them, the eldest was going to be a problem when the truth came out about the identity of his wife. He felt ashamed that a sizable part of him was actually looking forward to it to a certain degree. He ruined Elena's chance of using the elixir he originally acquired for Katerina. He hadn't liked John Gilbert, but when he eventually learned what he had done to insure his daughter survived, he prayed to whatever deity that existed that his soul passed on to the afterlife.
"Enzo, it is then? It's really hard to tell with you younger vampires these days," Kol taunted, as if daring them to cross the line. Elijah sighed. He had no love for Elena's two Salvatore friends, but he also understood his wife in her timeline and their shared one. Just thinking about it would give him a splitting headache if his vampire healing would allow it.
"Ah, there you are brother… We've rather seriously been wondering if you would be joining us considering the circumstances," Klaus' voice turned his attention towards his smiling brother. It didn't help matters that both Kol and his sister had the same smile. Finn's eyes twitched, and he instantly knew that Klaus was up to his old games again.
"Niklaus, I feel somewhat at a disadvantage. Would you care to share what you have disclosed to people not apart of our family?" Elijah asked in as neutral a tone he could manage. He moved to stand next to his half brother.
"Why of course brother. We were just discussing that very topic prior to your arrival. Specifically the importance of family, or more precisely our family in particular," Klaus started pleasantly, but his voice grew harder as he spoke onward, occasionally spearing what he dubbed the Mystic Falls Gang not very long ago with a humorless look. His brother always had a thing for dramatics, Elijah sighed internally.
"Yes, I do agree with my brother that family is important to us, but I'm rather curious as to what else my younger brother might have mentioned recently to people outside of our immediate family?" Elijah said to everyone benefit, but at least his siblings understood who he was addressing.
"Me? I haven't said a word about our most recent reunion. Perhaps you will tell them about her coming back to us?" Klaus said in a tone that made Elijah itch to tear his brother's spleen out of his body. It would grow back but the pain would be excruciating as both of them were already quite well aware of.
"Niklaus," Finn spoke in admonishment.
"You were funner when you were still in your box, Finn," Klaus said, still unrepentant of previous misdeeds with the family. Elijah and Kol both had to hold back their older brother from reaching their recalcitrant half sibling. They ended up with Elijah having to hold back Klaus and Kol blocking Finn from getting near the Original Hybrid.
"You all are the most dysfunctional family I have ever seen. Who is this missing family member wolf boy here mentioned?" Damon asked pointedly. Klaus bristled under Elijah's grasp, but one look from his older brother held him in place. Thankfully, he backed down. Whatever notion of a reprieve they'd had was shattered by his own little sister's words.
"We might be dysfunctional, Damon, but at least none of my brothers are chasing after the same girl. As to who is missing, well, it's my sister-in-law Ella, my brother Elijah's wife!" Rebekah's voice was the only sound that seemed to reverberate against everyone's senses. The still dark morning had suddenly taken on an eerie silence only broken by a mirthless bout of laughter coming from one Damon Salvatore.
"His wife? Was that who was in the locked coffin? Did she lock it from the inside just to stay away from you, oh so Noble Viking? You betrayed us and Elena when you failed to kill that asshole!" Damon's voice seemed to grate on everyone's nerves. As much as Elijah wanted to put this young upstart vampire in his place, it was the strange vampire with them that spoke up in admonishment of his supposed friend. Whoever this other vampire was, he was a far cry better than either Salvatore.
"Damon, why are you such an utter arse? Seriously, do you try to be or does it just come naturally to you?" Enzo said, shaking his head in annoyance. Elijah rather enjoyed the put down this Lorenzo St John person was meting out and based on the surprised but still pleasant reactions of most of his siblings, they did as well.
Elijah didn't say anything as the bickering between the Salvatores and his family picked up where it probably had been prior to his arrival. He did notice that Bonnie Bennett seemed to be holding herself off to the side, occasionally shifting her attention back to the boarding house. The glances she did direct their way were laced with anger and most of them were directed at himself. Not that he really blamed her, but she, as well as her friends, didn't entirely see the whole picture. Elijah and Lorenzo made eye contact, and he oddly felt a sort of kinship with him like they were the only adults in the playground with children. Even Finn was joining in the taunting of the Salvatores, which was surprising at least to Elijah. His brother had always been more guarded than even himself. Part of him wished that his wife were here beside him. Hopefully Miss Forbes' reunion with her father had far less drama associated with it.
He really hated being separated so soon from his newly reunited wife.
Mystic Falls Hospital
November 2, 2010
"Are sure that this is really necessary?" Caroline asked rather dubiously about what Elena had just instructed her to do? She watched nervously as Elena moved to unlock the door to their purloined room before returning to the bed, laying down facing her best friend. Caroline felt oddly self-conscious about the appearance of them laying together in the same bed but Elena had positioned themselves under the covers so it only appeared that one person was sleeping, not two in the same bed. With both of them being vampires, they didn't need any light, so hadn't bothered to turn the room's lights on when they first entered the space.
"It's only a precaution to keep a passerby from looking too closely," Elena said, trying again to reassure her recalcitrant friend from participating. She had her reasons and if needed she would explain, but it was something she didn't want to share unless she had no other choice. Part of her was tempted to compel her friend to just do it, if not for the vervain her enhanced senses could smell on her blood coursing its way through her veins, but they needed to hurry. It was only a matter of time before hospital staff noticed that a previously unoccupied room was being used by someone not admitted to the hospital for treatment.
"Okay, but this still feels strange," Caroline muttered, before slowly sliding into bed on the opposite side of Elena who'd positioned herself so her back was facing the door. "What do I do now?"
"Take my hands and don't let go. After I close my eyes do the same, you should feel a faint pulling sensation. Whatever you do, do not resist. Let it pull you under. I promise there is nothing to fear. I won't let any harm come to you."
"What!?" Caroline hissed, making to sit up, but Elena's hold of her hand kept her place.
"Care I mean it. Nothing will happen, but you have to trust me. I've never Astral Projected with I guess you'd call a passenger, so this might take one or two tries. It will work, though. I can promise you that."
Settling back, Caroline watched as Elena slowed her breathing and closed her eyes. She hesitated before closing her own. At first, she didn't feel the pulling sensation Elena had described, but slowly the feeling started to build. Doing as her friend asked of her, she allowed the feeling to take hold. It was gradual at first, but quickly ramped up until it felt like she was falling. Caroline Forbes had mastered several aspects of her immortality; fear of falling wasn't one of them. She couldn't help herself. She pulled away, trying to save herself, and broke the connection they had, promptly falling on her backside as the result. Caroline had tumbled out of the bed as the result of her panicked reaction.
"Sorry Care, I forgot. I've just grown accustomed to allowing myself to fall into the Astral Plane. I will take it slower for you if you want to try it again that is. If it helps, we were almost there." Elena offered, reaching over the side of the bed pulling her friend upright. Caroline crawled back into bed, taking the same position as before.
"Maybe a little slower this time," she agreed, and without further preamble, they attempted a second time. Fortunately, they didn't need a third try. She wasn't exactly sure how her friend had managed it, but the descent into the Astral Plane was fast but not as jaw dropping as the first time.
"Open your eyes, Care, and take a look around," Elena's voice prompted, and she did as suggested. She frowned when the room appeared to be the same. Elena was smiling at her but her expression changed when she noticed two very familiar bodies laying together on the bed as if asleep. She made to touch herself when Elena snatched her hand before her fingers could touch her duplicate's shoulder.
"Sorry Care, but if you touch yourself in that way, you'll instantly be pulled back into your real body, and I wouldn't be able to control your reintegration. It would make the falling sensation you felt earlier feel like you jumped out a second-story window. For perspective, it would be more akin to descent from orbit if I had to guess," Elena explained.
Caroline almost flinched as she moved away from her still form. Taking a collective breath, she waited until her nervousness settled before regarding her friend. "What now?"
"Follow me, and whatever you do? Don't touch anyone else unless I tell you it's okay?" Elena said in a tone strangely reminiscent of her days leading up to the fateful sacrifice where she died and came back. It felt both right and odd to hear it coming from the older version of her friend.
"Okay. Mind telling why?"
Elena didn't answer at first. Instead, she opened the door wide enough for them to exit the room before closing the door again. The incredulous look Caroline was giving her made Elena wonder why she was doing this for her friend. She could easily come back during the day, but a promise was a promise.
"For starters, if you do something to a physical object in the Astral Plane it may have a direct impact on the real word."
"Seriously?"
"Yep… From personal experience it typically can be tied to intense emotions. Let's just say I've shattered a mirror more than a time or two when I, well-" Elena cut herself off. Caroline gave a puzzled look before it morphed into a more sympathetic one.
"Let me guess, you saw your husband, who unknowingly, because of the memory altering spell placed on himself and his siblings, was in reality cheating on you. I can only imagine how you felt," Caroline said in understanding. They had to side step around a few hospital staff and one too many sheriff deputies.
"You have no idea, Care. I know it wasn't his fault, but damn him, I was angry. I just got in the habit of going somewhere else when he had company in his bed chamber. Although the first time I really lost control was in the early part of the nineteenth century, the family was in New Orleans at the time. There was this bitch, sorry I meant witch, named Céleste Marie Hélène Dubois that he was romantically involved with," Elena grated, her blood starting to boil even at the memory of seeing them in bed together.
"Lena?"
"Sorry. Let's just say that I might have shattered a rather large glass mirror that had been shipped all the way from France. Mind you this was before someone developed the silvered-glass mirror where a thin layer of metallic silver is put onto glass by the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. Before that, mirrors were rare and exorbitantly expensive. What?"
Caroline waited till they passed another guard, taking extra care not to touch him as Elena had warned her not to. It hadn't slipped her mind that she asked about it either, but she was invested too much with Elena's supposed romantic rival.
"Nothing really important. It just occurred to me all the things you've seen in your immortal life so far, Astral Projected as they were ,I haven't even left Mystic Falls," Caroline said trying not to let her feelings show but she must have been a poor job of it when she found herself in her best friend's comforting embrace. It felt so familiar, but it almost felt like Elena was taking the role of her mom. As if sensing Caroline's self realization, Elena backed away but not before giving her friend's hand a squeeze.
"It is important, Care, and believe me, you will get out of this town at some point even if I have to drag you out here. I will if you want me to," Elena stated with all the seriousness she could muster for her friend's benefit.
"Thanks, I… I might hold you to that someday. But getting back on topic, why shouldn't I touch someone while in this place?"
"If it's done to someone that has any ounce of witch blood in them, they will be able to see you even while you're in astral form, to put it simply," Elena warned and there was something in her friend's voice that made Caroline positive that there was more to the story than Elena had let on.
They were outside her dad's room and, not surprisingly, there was indeed a posted deputy sitting in a chair looking at his phone. Elena sighed and opened the door enough to let them both in. Inside, Caroline sagged when she found her father asleep in his assigned bed. Sitting in the corner was an alert sheriff's deputy. But thanks to Elena, they were for all intents and purposes spirits walking among the living.
"Daddy," Caroline sobbed, rushing to her father's bedside and only at the last minute remembering Elena's warning not to touch him. So she was surprised when Elena wordlessly put her hand over hers before placing them both on his shoulder. The effect was immediate, and it left her feeling slightly dazed. That was until someone other than Elena or herself spoke, breaking the silence.
"C… Caroline?" His voice croaked.
"Hi, Daddy!"
