"Katherine is in Mystic Falls, along with the moonstone," Elena tells Elijah, as soon as they finish their handshake. He nods, seemingly entirely unsurprised.
"We will get there in about two hours," he tells her, putting his hand on the gearshift to take the car out of park. Before he can, Elena touches the back of his hand to get his attention.
"I'd like to use the restroom before we go," she tells him, when he turns those dark eyes to her. She hates to do anything to slow them down, even for a minute – but if they're still two hours from Mystic Falls, she can't hold it that long.
Elijah blinks, his head titling just slightly – in what seems an awful lot like curiosity. "You need to use the facilities," he says, almost to himself. "What else do you need?"
"Just the restroom," Elena tells him, just before her stomach growls - betraying her hunger. She can feel herself blushing a bit. She's anxious to get back to Mystic Falls, but now that they have a deal in place – handshake and everything – Elena's body is reminding her that she hasn't eaten since lunch yesterday, or drank so much as a sip of water since the night before.
"You're hungry," Elijah says. Elena wouldn't call anything about him tentative, but she gets the sense that he's not entirely sure that he's right. It hits her, suddenly, that Elijah probably hasn't had to deal with basic human needs – like food, and water, and staying warm – for hundreds of years.
"I can wait to eat," she tells him, because even though she's hungry, she won't die if she doesn't eat right away – and she wants to get back on the road as quickly as possible. "But if it's okay, I'm just going to run to the restroom real quick."
"You still do not have any shoes," he points out, looking at her bare feet – her toes curled in the plush carpet directly beneath the heater to stay warm. "Or… pants." His eyes skim over the bare skin of her thighs.
She's definitely not dressed for the late March weather – especially as the temperature sinks with the late afternoon sun. But Tyler's jacket covers her top half well enough, and unless Elijah has spare clothes in his trunk that he's willing to lend her, there really isn't anything she can do about it.
"I'll be careful," she promises, figuring he's worried that she'll step on something and injure herself.
"I will carry you to the restroom," he tells her – and with a blink, the car is off, and Elijah is opening the passenger door. Elena doesn't want to delay them further by arguing, so she lets him pick her up in a bridal carry.
Another blink, and he's placing her down gently in a bathroom stall. She fights back her nausea as she works to get her bearings, trying not to think about the bathroom floor beneath her bare feet.
"I will give you your privacy," Elijah tells her. "Please call my name when you are ready to leave." He waits for her to nod her understanding, and then disappears.
Elena washes her hands, and then wets a paper towel to gently clean the bump on her head and her split lip. She cups some water in her hands and bends her head down to take a few sips, before splashing some water on her face. Some of the other women coming in and out of the bathroom give her odd looks, but nobody comments.
Elena leaves the bathroom with her head held high, refusing to be embarrassed – at her disheveled state, her bare feet, or her lack of pants. None of these people know what she's been through in the past day, and anyways, she doubts she'll see any of them again.
"Elijah," Elena whispers, ignoring a man staring at her from where he loiters on the other side of the hallway outside the bathroom doors. Before Elena can get uncomfortable with his leering, Elijah appears in front of her.
And he's holding clothes? Elena holds in a hysterical giggle as he hands her a "Virginia is for Lovers" sweatshirt – along with matching sweatpants, novelty socks, and flip-flops. "The shop did not have anything suitable," Elijah tells her, a frown on his face, "but at least you will be warm."
Elena isn't going to call this ancient, terrifyingly powerful vampire "sweet."
"Thank you," she tells him, immediately dropping the flip-flops to the ground and toeing them on. "Let me just…" she gestures to the restroom door, not wanting to change in the middle of the hallway. Elijah nods his understanding, and Elena slips back into the bathroom.
One of the stalls has a sink and a changing table for children. Elena puts the clothes down on the changing table and hangs Tyler's jacket on the door. Before she pulls on the sweatshirt and sweatpants, she uses a wet paper towel to quickly wipe under her arms. Elena wipes her feet, too, before she puts on the socks and slips back into the flip-flops. She considers for a moment, and then puts Tyler's jacket back on over the sweatshirt.
She looks iridiculous/i. But she's covered, and warm, and she feels much, much better when she walks back out into the hallway. The staring man is gone, and Elijah is standing there waiting for her – this time, holding a bag with a bottle of water and a pre-packaged salad bowl.
"I was informed that this is a suitable meal," he tells her, almost awkwardly. Elena thanks him again, not calling attention to the way he watches her closely as she opens the water bottle and takes a few sips. She isn't sure what's so fascinating about her drinking water, and she's not comfortable enough to ask him.
"Can I eat in the car?" she asks him instead, ready to get back on the road. He nods, offering his arm like they are at one of the Founders' events and he is her escort.
She takes it.
Elijah stops at the gas station before they leave the rest area. Elena's eyes are drawn to him – pumping gas in his fancy suit. His head turns, and he catches her gaze. Caught, she smiles at him weakly, and then turns to her salad, finishing it quickly. She drains the rest of the water, and puts the garbage back in the bag.
Elena slips her flip-flops back on over her socks, and gets out to throw the bag away. There's a man filling his truck at the next pump – he's in his thirties, maybe, and is built like a college linebacker who has since let himself go. She very intentionally doesn't meet his eyes as she throws the bag in the trashcan between their pumps, doing her best not to draw attention to herself.
"Are you eighteen yet, baby?" he calls out to her. Elena ignores him, turning to walk back to the car. "Don't be like that!" he laughs meanly, taking a step towards her.
And then Elijah is there, a solid presence between them. Elena relaxes for a moment, glad she doesn't have to deal with the jerk anymore – and then tenses again, wondering if Elijah is going to slap his head off, like he did Trevor's. She's stands awkwardly in front of Elijah's car, unsure what to do.
"Are you her sugar daddy?" the guy asks, drawing himself up to his full height. He's a few inches taller and nearly twice as wide as Elijah – and there's no way for him to know that doesn't matter. "She don't know how to take a compliment. You oughta teach her better manners.
"If anyone needs to be taught manners, it is you," Elijah responds calmly. "Apologize." The guy says he's sorry to Elijah, his face expressionless and his tone blank. "Not to me – to iher/i."
She accepts his blank-faced apology, and then quickly ducks inside the car. Elijah says something else, too quietly for Elena to hear, and then the other guy leaves.
"You finished your food and water," Elijah comments when he gets back into the car. "Do you require anything else?" Elena shakes her head, and he pulls the car back onto the highway.
After a few minutes of silence, Elena shifts awkwardly in her seat, and offers: "I can tell you about the moonstone now, if you'd like."
Elijah nods, and Elena spends the next part of the trip telling him everything she knows about the moonstone – how Mason hid it in the well, how Stefan speculated that Katherine used it to barter her deal with George Lockwood in 1864, and anything else she can remember. Elijah listens intently, occasionally asking a question.
Eventually, she gets to the end of her knowledge. "That's it," she tells him. "I'm not sure if it'll still be there, but I think I remember the way to the well, and I can show you."
"Much appreciated," Elijah tells her. "You kept your word, and I'll keep mine. Katherine will not bother you any further."
Elena wants to believe that. But until she sees Katherine dead with her own two eyes, Katherine will continue to bother her.
"Earlier, you said that the Sun and the Moon Curse is fake," Elena says, hesitantly. Elijah nods. "Does Katherine know that?"
Elijah hums thoughtfully. "I'm unsure," he admits. "I don't know what knowledge Katerina has gained over the centuries. At the time of her death, she was aware that there is a ritual that requires Petrova doppelganger blood – human blood – and the moonstone."
"That's why she became a vampire and had the moonstone?" Elena asks.
"Katerina stole the moonstone from my brother," Elijah tells her. "Impressive, really, for a human. She then fled, with Trevor's assistance." He tells her more about Katherine's backstory – how they met in England, how Elijah's brother pretended to court Katherine, and much more.
"If – if you don't mind me asking, what is your brother's curse?" Elena questions hesitantly.
"Klaus and I do not share a father," Elijah tells her. "My mother had an affair with a neighboring man – a werewolf, making Klaus a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse keeps his werewolf aspect from manifesting. If the curse is broken, he'll be a true hybrid – both vampire and werewolf, with the strengths of both, and the weaknesses of neither. He's been trying for over one thousand years to break his curse. And you're his only hope." Elena listens, fascinated.
"So you're doing this all to help your brother," she comments. Her mind flashes to Jeremy – to everything she would be willing to do for him – and then shies away. It's too late now.
"Not exactly," Elijah tells her. "Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals for a reason. Over the years, he has grown increasingly paranoid and willful. He couldn't stand anyone else challenging him. One by one, he killed the rest of our family, until it is just he and I left."
Elena swallows heavily, staring at the side of his face. Elijah's calm tone never changed as he admitted that his brother killed his family. But Elena could still empathize with his pain. His grief. His loneliness.
"I'm sorry about your family," she murmurs softly, holding back the tears. (Tears for him, and tears for her. She can't tell them apart.)
"You mean that," Elijah says, taking his eyes from the road to look at her briefly, as if unable to comprehend her sincerity.
"Of course I do," she tells him. "I know what it's like to lose your family. I wouldn't wish it on anyone – not even Katherine."
They drive in companionable silence for a while. Elena can't help but try to imagine a world where Jeremy – rather than Katherine – killed the rest of her loved ones. She thinks she would hate him, maybe even just as much as she loves him. But she still can't imagine wanting him dead. She can't imagine iworking/i towards his death.
"I can hear your heart racing," Elijah comments, almost idly.
"I'm thinking about my brother Jeremy," she admits.
"Do you wish to add him to our deal?" he asks. "You did not mention him earlier, when we were negotiating for your friend Bonnie's safety."
"N-no. He's dead," Elena whispers, barely able to say the words aloud, blinking back tears at the thought of him – her little brother, staring at her with fear in his eyes, Damon's hand around his throat, and then...
"I am sorry for your loss," Elijah tells her.
Elena swallows back her tears. "I would have done anything for him. I'll never stop loving him, and it'll never stop hurting that he isn't here. And… and if he iwere/i still here, I can't imagine anything I wouldn't forgive him for."
"Even if he murdered your Bonnie?" Elijah asks her, something hard in his tone – something forbidding.
Elena thinks about it – really thinks about it.
"Even if he murdered Bonnie," she confirms, finally. "It would be difficult, but I'd find a way to forgive him. Because I love him – and because without him, I'm alone in the world in a way that nobody else can fix… Not even Bonnie."
A pause. "Klaus must die," Elijah tells her.
"I'm sorry," Elena says softly, not contradicting him. She takes her eyes off Elijah's profile, instead looking out the window into the dark.
She's sorry that Elijah's brother killed the rest of his family.
She's sorry that Elijah is determined to kill his brother in revenge.
Perhaps most of all, she's sorry that Elijah is going to spend the rest of his eternity alone.
Elijah is the most terrifying being she's ever met. But he also oddly thoughtful, and it is clear he loved his family. That he istill/i loves Klaus – no matter what he says. And he doesn't deserve to spend his forever lonely, grieving his family.
