Chapter 15 – To the Rescue
Finn searched above ground, covering the ground as quickly as he dared. He didn't want to miss a clue to where Elena was, there was just so much land to cover.
As he searched above ground his wife search below. It was slower going for her, because the tunnel system was so vast. She had to explore each branch off, often coming to dead ends and having to turn around.
Both Finn and Sage were relieved when Niklaus informed them, through their connection that he was joining in on the search. They had found Kol and Elijah had taken him back to the mansion. Elijah was going to ask the witch to do the spell again, to try and get a better picture of where she was.
Elijah soon joined them sharing the little information he had managed to glean. Turns out the witch had depleted her energy, Finn was surprised as he saw through their link what Elijah had seen. Apparently Kol had been very concerned about the witch, who knew his immature brother actually had the capacity to be concerned about someone.
"I found her," Niklaus broke into Finn's thoughts. "The ground caved in, she's unconscious. The ground must have been weakened over the years, it just collapsed."
Niklaus quickly examined the scene in front of him. There was a gaping hole in the ground, he had tried calling to Elena but quickly surmised that she was still unconscious. He was afraid to get too close for fear of sending more dirt and debris down on top of her.
"Sage, I can hear you." He sent to her, turn to your left. Be careful, I don't know how safe it is."
"Ok," Sage sent back, a little surprised that Niklaus had addressed her specifically. She knew quite well that Niklaus was not her biggest fan, that none of the family really liked her. She pretended like she didn't care, but it did bother her quite a bit.
Sage followed Niklaus' directions until she came to the cave in. Then she carefully picked her way through it until she came to Elena. "I found her, Klaus I think you can approach safely from the right side of the cave in. We're at the left side, so even if part of it caves in, it won't hurt us." She called out to Niklaus.
Niklaus did as she suggested, being very careful as he dropped down into the tunnels on the side she indicated. He soon spotted Sage and Elena, Sage had taken off her jacket and wrapped it around Elena.
"She's freezing, her clothes are damp." Sage told him. "But I didn't want to move her until you could examine her."
"Guess medical school will come in handy." Niklaus murmured.
Sage stared at Niklaus incredulously, "You went to medical school?"
"I was bored in the 60's." Niklaus said. "I found that not having my siblings around left me too much time on my hands. I even found my art boring for a while so I picked medical school."
Sage shook her head as Niklaus moved to examine Elena. "Well, I never."
"She doesn't have any broken bones, but she hit her head. I am, however worried about how long she has been unconscious. I'm going to give her some blood and then we can move her." Niklaus told Sage.
Sage nodded as Niklaus bit his wrist and held it to Elena's mouth. He let his blood trickle down her throat, gently rubbing her throat in a downward manner to stimulate her to swallow the blood. He waited a few minutes for the blood to begin to work its way through her system.
"We'll go back through the tunnels, it'll be easier on our sister than jumping up." Niklaus said.
Sage nodded, "You'll have to lead the way, I don't know the tunnels."
Niklaus nodded, "You take our sister. What did you use for a light?"
Sage gently picked up Elena, "My phone. It's in my back pocket of my jeans, the right side."
Niklaus reached over and slipped it out of her pocket. "This way," He said. He turned the phone's flash light on and held it so both of them could see, and led the way out of the tunnels.
"Let the others know we found her," Sage said, as they picked their way carefully through the tunnels.
"Oh yes," Niklaus said, "We must let the others know, but first..." He stopped and turned to Sage, "I want to say thank you for helping us today."
"She's family, Klaus. I could do nothing less."
"Still, thank you for everything you have done for our family, for Elena, for Finn. You make my brother happy, happier than I've ever seen him."
Sage didn't know what to say, this was completely unexpected. "I...uh... thank you, Klaus," was all she could get out.
"Nik that sounded really sappy." Elena choked out, surprising both of them.
"Elena!" They both said at the same time.
"Are you all right?" Sage asked.
"How are you feeling?" Niklaus asked.
"Like I had the ground under me collapse." She groaned out.
"Well, that is what happened, love." Niklaus said.
"And now he states the obvious." Elena chuckled and then groaned. "Head hurts."
"You've been unconscious for a while, love. I gave you some blood, the headache will go away soon. Now I need to let the others know we found you." Niklaus said with a smirk. "We found Elena, she's safe." Niklaus sent out to the rest of the family mentally. "We'll be at the house soon, coming out of the tunnels now."
Elena lay her head on Sage's shoulder and Sage and Niklaus started walking again. Soon they exited the tunnels and ran into Elijah and Finn. Finn took Elena from Sage and started to the house with Sage following. Niklaus and Elijah decided to go and get a better look at the cave in, wanting to know why it had happened.