Elijah drummed his fingers against his desk as he studied a proposal that Freya had left with him last night. While his older sister had an Ivy League education, she had never shown an interest in any of the family's legitimate business ventures. Instead, Freya served on the boards of several charitable foundations. Now she was in the planning stage of forming a non-profit organization. She wanted to provide housing and job training for teenagers that aged out of the state's foster care system. Freya would need a lot of startup capital in order to get the project off the ground. She already had several donors lined up. However, she was angling for a splashy donation from her younger brother.
He really shouldn't have been surprised that she would attempt such an ambitious endeavor. Kol often teased their sister about turning into the old woman who lived in a shoe. She had never married. Nor did she have any biological children. However, Freya had adopted five children and had acted as a foster mother for a dozen more over the years. People often spread rumors claiming that she was either infertile or a lesbian. Those people were wrong on both accounts. Freya chose not to have any biological children because she refused to pass on her family's tainted genes. Unfortunately, his sister failed to consider just how large a role the environment played in shaping young minds. Despite Freya's best efforts, her eldest son, Andrew, was gravitating toward the Mikaelson organization. Elijah was bringing his nephew along slowly to give him time to change his mind. However, he saw the determination that burned deep in the boy's soul. He would one day become the thing Freya had tried so hard to avoid.
There was limitless irony in the fact that the two eldest children of a ruthless mobster had dedicated their lives to the service of others. Freya lived off her trust fund while she worked for charitable organizations. In addition, she often embarked on mission trips to some of the most impoverished corners of the world. Similarly, Finn had rejected his birthright as the eldest son. After high school, he attended seminary college and later became a Roman Catholic priest. Elijah was certain that the paths taken by Freya and Finn had everything to do with the mob war 30 years ago. No one had walked away from that two-year period of bloodshed completely unscathed.
During the war, bitter rivals attacked the Salvatores and Mikaelsons on all sides. The rival organizations were trying to break the stranglehold the two families had on California, Arizona, and Oregon at the time. The Salvatores and Mikaelsons were already allies but the mob war transformed their relationship into something more permanent. Giuseppe and Mikael had ruthlessly defended their territory for months before the first cracks begin to appear. First, they started losing ground in the distant reaches of their territories. Then they found traitors amongst their ranks. These were men that had been unhappy and saw their golden opportunity to stage a coup. Mikael and Giuseppe beat back those attacks successfully.
However, a failed hit on Mikael changed everything for both men. The assassins tried to kill the mob boss while his family was out to dinner. They were celebrating Freya's eighteenth birthday. The teenager nearly bled out after a stray bullet struck her neck. Freya certainly would have died that day if not for the quick thinking of Mikael's second in command, Ansel. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, he loaded Freya into a car and rushed her to a hospital that was only a few blocks away. The bullet left behind a nasty scar. However, Freya would forever be haunted by the blood her father shed to avenge the attack on his family.
After the failed hit, Giuseppe and Mikael decided to send their families to the compound in Milazzo for safety. The two families remained in hiding for nearly 18 months while Mikael and Giuseppe laid waste to everyone that challenged them. During that time, Elijah and Alaric became best friends. They were very close in age and had a thirst for mischief. They were the "men" of the house while Giuseppe, Mikael, and Finn were stateside. However, they also shared a unique bond because of the birth orders in their respective families. Elijah and Alaric were the second born sons. Both boys understood that they were spares just in case something happened to the rightful successor in their families.
At the time, Elijah never could have imagined that his older brother would reject the keys to the kingdom. However, Finn was noticeably different after they won the war. He often lamented that the cost had been too high. He withdrew from his family by spending the majority of his time studying religious literature. Finn started attending church several times a week. He also spent hours talking about theology with Father Kieran whenever he had free time. In the beginning, Mikael and Esther had hoped the changes in their son were little more than a phase. As months turned into a year, it became apparent that Finn no longer wanted to succeed his father as boss. However, the final nail in the coffin was when he announced his plans to attend seminary college.
Mikael had reluctantly turned to his second born son to one-day lead their family. Fortunately, Mikael had raised Elijah as the backup option. He was well versed in how his father had maintained his iron grip on their territory for so many years. However, their territory had more than doubled in size after the war. Giuseppe and Mikael had confiscated and then equitably divided the territories of their fallen enemies. Despite being the only viable heir, Elijah had done unspeakable things to prove himself worthy of succeeding his father. One of those things had been marrying the girl that his younger brother was madly in love with at the time. Elijah knew that there were other ways to settle the dispute with the Labonir family. However, Mikael had wanted to crush Niklaus and Elijah had willingly done his bidding.
After Elijah married Hayley, he permitted her affair with Niklaus to continue. It wasn't as if he was in love with the young woman. Moreover, the move helped alleviate some of his guilt. Unfortunately, the young lovers were careless and Hayley became pregnant. There was the slimmest of chances that Elijah was the father. A DNA test via amniocentesis proved that he was not. However, he and Mikael decided that it was best to lie to Niklaus. Afterwards, he sat Hayley and Niklaus down and explained why the relationship had to end. The family couldn't weather the scandal that would come if there was ever confirmation of the affair. Elijah had then purchased a beach house in Malibu for Niklaus to soften the blow. However, the younger man understood that his brother was subtly telling him to move out of their family home.
It took some time but Niklaus eventually forgave Elijah. He understood that the relationship with Hayley had been courting trouble that they did not need. In hindsight, Elijah knew that he should have been honest with his younger brother about Hope's paternity from the beginning. Despite rumors to the contrary, Niklaus could be reasonable. However, Elijah had listened to his father's dubious advice. The same father that exposed his lies to Niklaus in the heat of an argument a few years later. Niklaus had never felt as betrayed as he did when he learned that Hope was his daughter. Elijah had watched helplessly as the information sent his brother spiraling out of control. Niklaus' five-month descent into madness culminated with him nearly beating a rival to death. The incident just happened to have been captured on camera. Elijah took some ownership over the incident. Therefore, he had burned several favors and threatened a district attorney's family to ensure his brother would receive a relatively light sentence.
When Niklaus first went to prison, he refused to speak with Elijah, Esther, and Hayley. He hated them all for lying to him and for keeping Hope away from him. Fortunately, Rebekah knew the way to her brother's heart and encouraged Elijah to send Niklaus pictures of Hope. The olive branch had worked exactly as planned. The two brothers began building a fragile bridge of trust that had greatly improved over the last five years. Now Elijah and Niklaus were as close as they had been as children. He was the only person that Elijah would trust to be his second in command once Vincent stepped down. He was certain that Mikael was turning in his grave. He had never wanted his bastard stepson to be more than an assassin for the organization.
Niklaus walked into his brother's office after knocking on the door. He hadn't stepped foot in this office since he was a young man. It didn't seem quite as imposing now that it no longer belonged to Mikael. He cleared his throat and asked, "Might I have a word with you, Elijah?"
The older man looked up and lifted an eyebrow. He had assumed that his brother would be preparing for another night of debauchery. He knew that Niklaus wasn't looking forward to the image makeover he was about to undergo. Elijah couldn't exactly blame him for being reluctant. He had just spent five years having his every move controlled in prison. Unfortunately, maintaining the persona of a law-abiding citizen was imperative for the continued success of their legitimate business ventures. Elijah routinely socialized with high-ranking political figures in America and the United Kingdom. Those connections were only possible because of the façade that he had carefully constructed.
"Come in. Did you enjoy yourself last night? I found Kol passed out in the foyer this morning. Hope had helpfully painted his fingernails and was about to start on his toe nails by that point," he explained with a smirk.
He pushed the door closed and then walked over to Elijah's desk. He smiled at the mention of his daughter. Niklaus had soaked up every available minute of her time since his release from prison. He hated being merely 'Uncle Nik' to her. However, it was better than being barred from her life the way that Mikael originally wanted. One day, Hope would be old enough to learn the truth. He only hoped that she wouldn't hate him as much as he hated his own biological father.
He replied, "I can't say that I enjoyed myself as much as I had hoped that I would. Something unexpected happened to me last night. I was hoping that I might be able to pick your brain about it."
Elijah motioned to the chair across from his desk and closed Freya's proposal. It didn't need any further consideration. His sister had done her due diligence as always. Elijah would definitely make a sizable donation to her fledgling non-profit organization. It was a worthy cause and it would be good publicity for the family.
He was curious about Niklaus' peculiar mood. His younger brother had always been infuriatingly stubborn. He rarely sought counsel from anyone. "What seems to be the matter, Niklaus?" he asked.
Klaus sat in the chair and struggled to organize his thoughts. He had been stewing over this all day. He had thought of calling Bonnie several times but couldn't bring himself to do it. The pain he had heard in her voice last night haunted him. He said, "A young woman that I care for very deeply accused me of raping her."
Elijah had come to expect just about anything from his siblings. Yet somehow, Klaus had managed to catch him off guard. His brother was a talented assassin but he had never known him to be a sexual predator. He struggled to maintain his composure. However, he wanted to give Niklaus a good smack to the back of the head.
"Niklaus, tell me that you did not force yourself on a woman less than a week after being released from prison. I understand that a man has certain needs but surely you could have paid a young woman for her services. Kol frequently uses an escort service in which he has invested his money. Perhaps one of your employees would have been willing to accommodate you."
He held up a hand to silence the righteous indignation that was surely brewing. Klaus needed to get his thoughts out before Elijah muddied everything with one of his long winded lectures.
Elijah frowned but acquiesced to his brother's silent request. He sat back in his chair and waited patiently for Niklaus to explain the situation.
"This girl is accusing me of having raped her before I went to prison. She is very special to me. I…I never viewed our relationship in that light. However, she sounded so certain on the phone last night. She seemed so heartbroken about the ways that I had hurt her. It gave me pause. I started to wonder if perhaps I had violated her in some egregious way."
Elijah's eyebrows furrowed in concern. He could tell that the situation was truly distressing to Niklaus. The older man stood from his desk and walked around to sit beside his brother. "What have you done, Niklaus? Tell me and we will fix it together."
He gave humorless laugh. "I do not believe that this is something that even you can fix, Elijah. I care for this woman. I had hoped that we might renew the romance we once shared. Now I have learned that the romance between us never existed at all. I find myself flummoxed and disgusted. I was intimate with this woman several times during the summer before I went to prison. I was never violent with her. Perhaps there were some instances where I was a little rough but she never complained or asked me to stop. Because I would have stopped…."
Elijah struggled to remember that summer. However, it had been such a tumultuous time for his family. Their father had died when he overshot the curve in a winding road. Mikael was killed instantly when the car plummeted twenty feet into a ravine. The police had determined that his blood alcohol level had been twice the legal limit at the time of the crash.
"Who is this woman? I don't remember you being involved with anyone, Niklaus."
Niklaus was tempted to point out that Elijah had exiled him to the beach house in Malibu for two years at the time. However, he had agreed to leave the past where it belonged when Elijah offered him the opportunity to be his second in command.
"Well, that is because I kept it a secret. She was much younger than I was and it was an ill-advised relationship because of her pedigree. Her family wasn't likely to approve of our courtship even if she had been of age at the time."
Elijah felt his blood run cold as he considered the possibilities. Was this girl the daughter of an associate? Or worse could she be the daughter of a rival? "How old was the girl, Niklaus?"
He sighed. "She was 16 years old at the time."
Elijah slapped the back of Klaus's head. "Bloody hell, Niklaus. What were you thinking?"
The younger man scowled at his brother. "I was thinking that I had everything that mattered taken away from me! I lost the woman that I loved, my daughter, and my family-save for Rebekah. She was the only one that took my side when you and Father cast me out. This girl stumbled into my life when I was at my lowest."
Elijah's guilt reared its ugly head. He could have and should have done more to stop Niklaus from spiraling out of control. He shared in the guilt for the violence his brother had doled out to the unlucky souls that had crossed his path that summer. Was he supposed to share a portion of the guilt for this crime, too?
"She was a minor. Any relationship you had with her was statutory rape because she wasn't legally old enough to consent. By the letter of the law, you raped her, Niklaus. You are lucky that this girl didn't come forward or you might have been in prison for a very long time. Who is she?"
The legal ramifications of their age difference had never occurred to him. To his horror, Rebekah had been quite sexually active when she was Bonnie's age. Bonnie had been sixteen years old. It wasn't as if he had wandered into a playground with a packet of sweets hanging from his pocket.
"I will not violate her privacy that way. I have violated her too much already. I can only say that I have been acquainted with the young woman and her family for many years. However, because of our age difference we were not friends. She attended my birthday party that summer and things changed between us. I thought that I had found a kindred spirit in her. The people that by all rights should have loved us discarded us both. She was so smart and well read for her age. We shared a love of prose and poetry. She was positively angelic and compassionate. That night it felt as if the universe had given her to me as a gift."
Elijah tensed because he saw the brokenness that lived inside his brother. Niklaus was a teenager when he learned that Mikael wasn't his biological father. However, Mikael had never been subtle in the way he treated the boy. He punished Niklaus more harshly than he did the other children. Mikael would berate his stepson for even the smallest infraction. However, his treatment grew more vicious when he no longer had to pretend that Niklaus was his son. They had all just stood by and watched it.
"What did you do to this girl?" Elijah asked. He needed to know the damage so he wouldn't be blindsided if it came out later.
"Do I really need to spell it out for you, Elijah? I know that you've been married for a long time now but…"
"No, you don't get to make a joke of this, Niklaus. You carried on a sexual relationship with a girl too young to consent. I am trying to figure out if I should be throttling you because I certainly feel like it. I have tolerated your eccentricities and your tendency towards violence. They are useful skills but I will not shelter a sexual predator under my roof. Speak plainly, brother mine," he hissed.
Klaus swallowed thickly and lowered his gaze. He wasn't used to Elijah getting this furious. It only served to highlight the severity of this situation.
"We fooled around, Elijah. It was mostly oral sex and I fingered her a few times. It never went any further than that. I didn't think that she was ready for more than that. And I promise brother, she never once objected. I assumed that she enjoyed what we were doing."
He sighed, "I know that Father didn't do a very good job of teaching us to respect women but I didn't realize that I had failed you, too. It matters not if this girl didn't object. Consent only comes in the form of a vigorous yes. She might not have felt comfortable saying no to you, Niklaus. You were much older than she was and you have a reputation for being volatile. She might have feared your reaction."
It felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. He sat there and stared at a spot on the wall as he replayed their moments together. The one that stuck out the most was the night of Mikael's funeral. Klaus had been distraught and furious all at once. He hated Mikael and yet he was the only father he had ever known. Klaus had waited patiently to get Bonnie alone. He just wanted to fuck away all the pain he was feeling. His memory of the night was hazy because he had swallowed a handful of Ativan that he washed down with vodka. However, he vaguely remembered Bonnie crying as he forced her to kneel in front of him. When he sobered up the following day, Klaus knew that he had gone too far. He had gone out of his way to apologize to her with original poems that featured hand drawn illustrations. She had forgiven him…or at least Klaus thought that she had at the time.
He shook his head, "It was never my intention to hurt her…"
"And yet here we are. You need to take responsibility for this, Klaus. Make your apologies and then stay away from this woman. Whatever you hoped would happen between the two of you is obviously off the table now."
He nodded in agreement. As much as Klaus wanted Bonnie, pursuing her would invite trouble he didn't need. Something about her was different now. He would even classify that change as being dangerous. That sort of danger would scare away most men but it only turned him on more. However, he understood what was at stake if Bonnie made good on her threat. He wasn't so selfish as to endanger his family's safety for a woman that despised him now.
Elijah stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Know this, if I learn that you have violated another girl I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head myself. Now get out of my office."
Klaus slowly rose from the chair and walked out of the room. He had no doubt that his brother was speaking earnestly.
Elijah walked around his desk and picked up the phone. He snapped, "Bring the car around."
He pulled on his suit jacket after he hung up the phone. Elijah nearly ran into Hayley as he walked out of his office.
Hayley's smile faltered when she saw Elijah's expression. She had just passed Niklaus in the hallway. Hayley hoped that he hadn't done something reckless. "I was just coming to tell you that dinner is ready. Is something wrong?"
He pecked her lips lovingly and shook his head. "No, I just have to go out for a bit. I am afraid that I will have to miss dinner."
She wanted to press him for answers. However, Hayley knew that Elijah would come to her in time. She straightened his tie and said, "I will wait up for you."
"Thank you," he replied. He walked outside and waited impatiently for the SUV to stop in front of the house.
The driver prepared to get out of the car to open Elijah's door.
"That won't be necessary," he said in a brusque tone. He climbed into the backseat and motioned for his driver to go.
"Where would you like to go, sir?"
"The rectory," he replied.
The man nodded in understanding and quickly pulled away from the mansion.
He was grateful for the solitude that the ride provided. His driver understood that speaking now would be unwise. Elijah needed to sit with the information that Niklaus shared with him. He felt that there was something vital about what his brother was leaving out of his tale. He was worried that this girl's identity and her pedigree would come back to bite them all in the arse. However, something about the timeline troubled him deeply as well. He hoped beyond hope that he was wrong.
Elijah stepped out of his chauffeured SUV and buttoned his suit jacket. He walked up the stairs to the modest rectory that his older brother called home. Finn's simple existence was so far removed from the opulence they enjoyed as children.
Normally, Elijah only saw his brother on Wednesday nights after his family attended evening Mass. However, he often sought Finn's counsel when it came to dealing with their misguided younger brother. They all made certain allowances for Niklaus' behavior because of the way Mikael mistreated the boy when he was a child. Unfortunately, his confession this evening left Elijah in a moral and professional quandary.
Finn was shocked to find Elijah standing on his doorstep. He had spent the entirety of the previous day with his family after performing little Erik's christening. On rare occasions, Elijah would stop by to socialize over a glass of brandy. However, the tense expression on his brother's face meant that this was no social call. He stepped back and beckoned Elijah into the house. "Come in, Eli. I was just about to sit down to dinner. You can join me, brother."
Elijah closed the door after he walked into the rectory. "I'm afraid that I am not in the mood to eat anything, brother. However, I will not prevent you from indulging. I am sure you have had scarcely any time to eat today. I know that your schedule can be quite unforgiving."
Finn wanted to object and give Elijah his full attention. Unfortunately, his stomach chose that precise moment to announce his hunger audibly. His brother was right. On Sundays, he didn't have a moment to himself. He performed three Mass services on Sundays—two in English and one in Spanish. He also met with two couples that afternoon for counseling. He hadn't eaten more than a slice of toast with his morning cup of tea. "Come through to the kitchen."
The younger man followed his brother into the kitchen. He took off his suit jacket and had a seat at the antique table in the kitchen. He had to admit the stew simmering in the crock-pot smelled divine.
Finn ladled a healthy portion of beef stew into two bowls. Then he cut two hunks of freshly baked sourdough bread and carried the bowls to the table. He placed one bowl in front of Elijah before taking his seat. "Eat. Whatever has brought you here has you in quite the state. I doubt that you have eaten dinner."
Elijah breathed in the earthy aroma. His brother had obviously used their mother's recipe. His mother rarely cooked these days. Esther spent most of her time traveling the world and enjoying her life. Mikael's death had freed them all. "Thank you."
Finn bowed his head and said, "Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
Elijah did the sign of the cross and said, "Amen."
"What troubles you, Elijah? You were in good spirits just yesterday," Finn said.
"Niklaus," he replied. He tore a hunk of the sourdough bread and dipped it into the stew. "He came to me this evening distressed. He has feelings for a young woman but she has rejected his advances."
The priest slowly chewed his meal while wearing a thoughtful expression. "While I am sorry to hear that Niklaus is unhappy, the travails of his love life hardly seem worthy of your attention, brother. He is young still. He will fall in love with someone else when the time is right."
"On any other day you would be right. However, Nik came to me with a genuine query. This young woman not only spurned his advances but accused him of raping her."
The elder Mikaelson brother nearly choked on his dinner. He quickly washed it down with a glass of water. His mind raced. "When did this occur?"
Elijah thought that was a curious question. However, it only added credence to the theory that brought him to his older brother's door. He wasn't there merely to get counsel on how to handle Niklaus. There was a plot afoot and Elijah couldn't believe that he hadn't recognized it before now.
"According to Niklaus, he was intimate with this young woman before his time in prison. He hoped to rekindle their romance now that he is a free man. However, she informed him that there had not been a romance between them. In fact, she informed Niklaus that their previous interactions were tantamount to rape. When he described the situation to me in detail…I was inclined to agree with the girl. She was not of age to consent to a sexual relationship with Niklaus."
Finn abruptly stood up from the table. "Has Niklaus learned nothing after five years of incarceration? I had hoped that he would mature in his time away. Yet he is still the same selfish boy he was back then."
Seeing Finn upset was a rare occurrence. He had been the mellowest of all the Mikaelson children even before he joined the priesthood. "You already knew of Niklaus' transgressions against this girl?" he asked.
Finn rested his hands on the back of his chair. He nodded slowly "Yes."
"Niklaus told you about this?" he asked.
Finn shook his head.
Elijah's mind raced as he tried to piece together this puzzle. "Then the young woman came to you for help?"
"I cannot violate the seal of confession, Elijah," he answered. His eyebrows were knitted together in concern.
The younger man sighed deeply in realization. "Niklaus raped one of your parishioners and you heard her confession on the matter. The poor thing probably didn't realize that she was confessing to his older brother."
Finn didn't respond to Elijah either way. He had already said too much. His grip on the chair tightened as he stared at the floor.
"It was you," he said.
The priest lifted his eyebrows in question. "What are you talking about, Eli?"
"It was you that turned the surveillance video over to the police. I was never able to understand who would have even known about the incident in the church's parking lot. I should have known it was you but I couldn't imagine a situation where you would send our little brother to prison," Elijah said.
He had bribed the family of the man that Niklaus had nearly beaten to death. The man refused to cooperate with the police's investigation and the State's case fell apart. However, a few weeks later someone broke into the church and stole the surveillance footage showing Klaus savagely beating the man. Days later, someone leaked the footage to the media after turning it over to the police.
The public outcry had been swift. The police arrested Niklaus as soon as the forensic lab was able to authenticate the video. Elijah had called in a mountain of favors to get his little brother a favorable plea deal.
"We could have sent Niklaus away to protect this girl. I believe his behavior was deplorable but he is no predator. He has never behaved this way with another woman to my knowledge. I can't believe you sent our brother to prison, Finn!"
"Do you think I wanted to send my brother to prison? I worried for him every day. I prayed for him every night. However, I was trying to save his life and the lives of many others. His reckless behavior could have proven costly. I waited anxiously for weeks and then months for his crimes to be revealed. Yet this girl, this sweet angel, hid her pain from everyone except for God and me."
Elijah said, "Stop speaking in riddles, Finnegan! Explain your betrayal, brother."
"I cannot. You know that I cannot. I have already said too much. I will not violate my vows," he exclaimed.
"We are your family! You owe…"
He cut off Elijah's rant. "You do not get to sit there and lecture me about family. I have blackened my soul for this family. No matter the good I do for the rest of my life I know that I am condemned. The throne you sit upon was paid for through blood that I helped spill."
Elijah's mouth snapped shut as he studied his brother's furious expression.
"If you want the full story then get it from our brother. He knows what he has done. Make him tell you the identity of his victim. Then you will understand that my actions were necessary! Niklaus put us all in terrible danger. You must make him leave that girl alone or you will find yourself in the middle of a war that you will not win."
"Was there truly no other way?" He asked.
Finn merely sighed and sat down in his chair heavily. "I have said all that I can, Elijah. Anything more will have to come from Niklaus."