Title: Your Honor
Author: StrangeLittleSwirl
Rating: T
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Category: (drama, romance, adventure, etc)
Summary: Elena leaves Mystic Falls to protect those she loves, goes into hiding, and seeks a way to pay for the damage she's caused. Two years later, an unexpected visitor walks into Bree's bar and threatens to destroy the fragile peace she's created. Elena/Elijah, mentions of other ships
Spoilers: Up to and including 3x15
Warnings: Language, violence
Show/Bookverse: Show 'verse, up to and including 3x15
Disclaimer:The Vampire Diaries belongs to its rightful owners and sadly, none of those people or companies are me. I'm only borrowing them, but I promise to return them once I am finished.
Author's Notes: Thanks to midnight_burn for beta duties. Mistakes are all entirely mine.
Chapter title is from "You Need Better" by Lanterns on the Lake.
The Resurrection Spell is even older than the curse placed upon Klaus. It's origins date back to a time before even Ayanna was born. It requires the bones of the deceased upon the anniversary of their death in the location of their birth. It requires enough magic to facilitate all aspects of the spell. It requires the blood of a descendant of the deceased. Initially, Elena thinks that the final component – a bone from the person who seeks to resurrect the deceased – is a little biblical, and then she realizes that the first mention of Adam's rib was written after this spell was created.
It's also a spell of intent, which means you really really need to want it for it to work, so Klaus can't go about pulling a bone from any random person (he's been known to do worse for less).
Because the person Klaus wishes to bring back from the dead is Tatia, and Ayanna was involved, the blood of the Doppelganger must be used in the spell. This creates an ultimatum for Klaus: continue to build his army of hybrids, or bring back the woman that both he and his brother fought over (Elena guesses that he finally listened to Caroline saying 'no' enough to understand she meant it).
She didn't know these things before; she does once Elijah describes it to them. You don't have to be a witch to realize just how much magic must be channeled for something like this; the pair involved will most likely die.
"And so you want me to hand over my daughter and my partner?" Bree asks, incredulous, and Elena pushes Mags into a seat because she's afraid the girl is going to collapse, otherwise. The older witch crosses her arms, defensively. "I know you don't know me, but that is the last thing I will ever do."
"My desire is not to aid my brother in his plan, but to prevent it from reaching completion," Elijah responds, so eerily calm Elena holds her breath. She cannot fathom that he wants Klaus continuing to breed hybrids, and if he doesn't want to resurrect Tatia, then what could he possibly want? Family will always come first, so he can't...
He's planning on killing his brother.
No wonder he seems so disquieted.
The vampire casually withdraws a small book from the pocket of his coat, and holds it up and open for the women to see. "A few centuries ago, in preparation for the birth of the next Doppelganger, he sought out a translation of the spell. This small grimoire contains that translation, as well as my brother's notes from a Bennett witch he consulted at the time. It appears that for this spell to work, he will have to be made vulnerable, made mortal, to remove the bone."
"Klaus has grown far too reckless, and all of my previous attempts to dissuade him from his violent behavior have been unsuccessful. He kills, he maims, he tortures, and all with no remorse," Elijah gravely explains. "He has left me with no choice."
He closes the book, places it on the table, and pushes it towards them. "What I am asking for is your cooperation: initiate the spell, but only to the point in which my brother is rendered mortal. In exchange, I will ensure that no harm comes to either your daughter or your partner."
There is the noise of a chair's legs scraping on the dirty bar floor, and the table wobbles as Maggie pushes down on it as she stands.
"My name is Margaret."
Bree reaches over and takes her daughter's hand. "Baby," she starts to say gently, but is cut off.
"No, no, Mama, don't. I know you and Mom have been trying to protect me but this is...if this guy, this vampire is as bad as you say he is, and he's got her, we need to do something." For the second time since Elena had come to know Maggie, the expression of equal parts determination and fear flits across her features. She knows what it's like; she's felt like this. "I'll do it," the youngest woman says, and extends her hand.
Elijah shakes her offered hand, and rises smoothly from his seat. "The sooner we leave the better. I will have a vehicle sent to your home tomorrow morning to pick you and your belongings up, Margaret."
Like a ventriloquists dummy, like she's been compelled, Elena's lips move. "I'm going with her." She is just as surprised as everyone else that she's said those words out loud. She's purposely kept silent for the duration of the negotiations.
"I am, too," adds Bree.
The vampire dips his head slowly, in acknowledgment. "Of course," he responds, and he places a note of apology in the words. Elena feels a little hope that maybe he hasn't identified her, but quickly realizes that he will, if he hasn't already, if they are going to be spending more than just a few hours together. "The vehicle will be sent to your home for six, tomorrow morning. I will ensure you are kept safe until that time."
And with that, he says his goodbyes, thanks them for their time, and briskly leaves the bar.
In the staggering silence that follows, Maggie slumps back into the chair and stares blankly ahead of her. Bree puts an arm around her shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of her head.
"Can we trust him?" Maggie's mother asks Elena lowly.
"As long as we're all working towards the same goal, yes. It seems like he's sincere in hoping to stop his brother. Lucy will be okay, Bree. Elijah is an honorable man; once he gives his word he will stop at nothing to keep it."
That estimation leaves out so much, but she cannot delve into her past with him, not without betraying the trust between the two of them, she feels.
"I know she will. She's tough, that's why I love her," responds Bree with a wry smile. "And we talked about what we would do if this were to happen. It's been something we've known was a possibility for a very long time."
"What?" Maggie leans back to look up at her mother. "What do you mean?"
She sighs, and runs a hand down her daughter's hair, a grim expression taking over her features. "Mom and I realized how special you were when you were little, Baby. We made Aimee promise to protect you, but we also made a promise to each other: should something happen to one of us, we put you first."
"But Mom is-"
"-We are going to do everything we can to get her back, but we can't have anything happen to you."
Maggie is horrified, but Bree repeats that this is what she promised Lucy, and the girl nods, reluctantly accepting the situation. Elena knows what it's like, to feel that heaviness on your shoulders, to feel as if you are holding someone's life in your hands, and you never asked for it. To know it seems incredibly ungrateful if you go against that person's wishes.
The ride home is quiet and uneventful, but Elena rides with a crossbow on her lap in Bree's SUV.
"Aimee," Maggie says so softly that she almost doesn't hear her. Elena cranes her neck around to see the passenger in the backseat. "I need you to tell me the truth. We're...we're friends, right?"
"Of course," she answers instantly, no hesitation, and this seems to relieve Maggie a little.
"I'm not a burden, am I?"
"Please don't ever think that, Maggie. I know this is hard for you; I can only imagine what you're thinking right now, but I promise, everything is going to be okay."
Maggie's room is beautiful, and features a large, single plate window that looks out on the side of the house. Usually this would be a plus, but tonight it's a hazard. Bree and Elena make the decision while driving that for tonight, the safest place to sleep is the finished room in the basement, where they keep the vervain. The window in that room is miniscule, and hidden in shrubbery
Elijah is standing in the driveway, clothing dark and demeanor serious. "I wanted to ensure that you made it into your home safely," he explains.
The trio of women quickly enter the house. Once inside, Bree requests that Maggie help her collect the pillows and blankets to take to the basement, while Elena seals the home for the night.
The spell is an easy one, or at least the Petrova Fire allows it to be. It requires a short incantation while circling the house and creating a line of salt and certain herbs. Lucy had come up with brilliant plan to actually mix the salt and herbs that was needed into the exterior paint; it cut down time and made the process tactically safer. Now, they simply need to draw fresh connecting lines at the windows and doors.
Elena knows he is still out there. As she goes about her work, she catches sight of him keeping pace with her outside. At first there is a fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach, knowing that when she gets to the front door, she'll have to open it, allowing for them to have a conversation. But soon anxiousness is abated by his presence; when Elijah is around she always feels more calm, more herself. Her sense of purpose is inspired by his, her thoughts become crystal clear.
She's worried sick about Lucy, and the future that is slowly unfolding, but being on the same side as Elijah on this could be beneficial to everyone's chances of walking away from this intact.
And so when she opens the front door, Elijah stands on the other side, calm and collected, as always, utterly out of place when one considers the chaos that is starting to take place.
Her heartbeat is already wild, so if he hears it (she knows he hears it), he might chalk it up to surprise.
"Forgive me," he requests. "I did not mean to startle you."
Elijah is searching for something in her gaze, something to confirm what he suspects, she thinks; there's no attempt to compel her, but she forces herself to look down to the floor, murmuring an apology as she stoops to start drawing the line with the mixture.
She needs to be a stranger to him. Anonymity is crucial for this to work; her status as the Doppelganger is the card up her sleeve, and she has to keep that knowledge as scarce as possible. Reveal it and Klaus would escalate his violence.
"Elena."
It is not a knee-jerk reaction to hearing her name that causes her to bring her head up, to look up at him. It is an involuntary response to the soft, unsure but beseeching note in his voice.
Time stops. She stops breathing. He draws in air through parted lips. Her plans crumble.
She brings her finger to her lips as quickly as she can while she stands, then points behind her. Elena feels herself begging his silence with every molecule of her body, knowing that both inside and possibly outside, there are people who cannot know.
And suddenly, it is as if they are reenacting those first few moments in the Salvatore Mansion after she pulled the dagger from his chest. In an effort to draw closer to talk to her, Elijah leans against the doorway with an arm on each side, as close as the barrier will allow him to without an invitation into their home.
He takes in the glamor, surveying her differently now, looks to the contents of her cupped hand and a small smile forms on his lips.
"I feel there is quite a lot we will have to discuss, when we catch up."
"If there's time," she concedes.
"There will be time," he answers, shifting slightly, appearing to relax. The vampire looks out over their yard. "There will be a flight and a bit of a drive. Tomorrow I intend to gain a slight advantage over my brother with something I've kept hidden." His glance has taken a path that ends with Elena, and he smiles again, ducking his head as he does. "Although I did not count on this, I assure you."
Elijah's smiles, Elena discovers, are infectious, and one presses itself upward and into existence on her own mouth. "That was sort of the plan." She leans against the door frame with her shoulder, since it feels suddenly just a little bit lighter.
They are separated by a little magic, and only a few inches, and as if he is of the same mind, Elijah studies the small amount of space between them for a moment before speaking again.
"Given the manner in which I had left," he says, delicately choosing each word with care that shows in a crease between his brows, "I did not expect our next meeting to transpire in this manner, if there was to be any at all. You always find some way of surprising me." Elijah straightens, his face seeming to close off. "You have three seconds to be doing what you are supposed to be doing," he warns.
Bree appears and finds Elena on her haunches at the tread of the empty doorway, pouring the salt and herbs along the opening. The witch waits until the girl finishes to talk.
"Maggie and I tried a locator spell. No luck. Klaus must have at least one other witch working for him. Lucy would have given us some sort of sign by now, otherwise." She's lost in thought for a moment, but then seems to shake herself out of it. "Finish up and meet us downstairs, okay?"
"Be right there," Elena replies, and as soon as she hears the basement door shut, she turns back around. "Thank you," she says, keeping her voice down.
Elijah appears once more in the doorway after a blur of movement. "You ought to join them."
She pats her hands on her jeans to brush off excess from the salt mixture. "Guess this is goodnight, then." She's reluctant to end their conversation; there is so much they need to talk about, things she's never been able to get out of her mind, topics that have surfaced late at night when she cannot sleep.
But now is not the time.
"Goodnight...Aimee." It's playful and serious all at the same time, and Elena starts to close the door, but stops.
Not hearing the sound of the door shutting, Elijah turns back around to face her.
"How did you know?" she says, the question bursting from her lips, curiosity unable to be quashed. "In the bar, how did you know it was me?"
The vampire hesitates in answering for a moment. "Your eyes," he finally says.
Elena frowns. "They're blue. And rounder. It wasn't my heartbeat?"
Elijah's expression is indiscernible as he speaks again. "No, that seems different to me. It was your eyes: when I looked into your eyes, I knew." Never before has she seen such an elegant, discrete shrug; it's not careless he is at a loss for words and frustrated by it. Shock silences her, and when she cannot respond, he slips his hands into his pockets and takes a step back. "Until tomorrow," he bids, and is gone.
Reflecting on his words, Elena closes and locks the door on autopilot. She descends into the basement and slips into her sleeping bag, but finds that her thoughts keep her awake for some time.
His letter is in her dresser drawer upstairs, but it's at the forefront of her mind until her heavy eyelids finally close for the night.