Chapter title from 'On Powdered Ground' by Agnes Obel
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Caroline and Bonnie are standing directly at the bottom of the stairs, impeding the path of anyone who wishes to board the plane. They both wear their defiance in their own distinct ways, but it's unified.
Their vehicle slows to a stop. "Sir?" The driver's hand starts to slide underneath the lapel of his jacket but Elijah leans forward and tells him to stop.
"No, they are acquaintances," he explains, and as he settles back in his seat, he looks to Elena out of the corner of his eye. "Unexpected acquaintances, but allies, none the less. Please collect our luggage while I speak with them."
The vehicles stops, and the driver promptly sets about his work after opening the doors on the other side of SUV. Aside from Elijah, the passengers, legs stiff from the drive, are a little slower in exiting the vehicle.
Elijah, ever the gentleman, helps them down. Elena is the last to get out, and he sways slightly to stand before her, asking her with his frame to stand still without caging her.
"Please accept my apology – another one," he says so quietly that she can barely hear him, but the self deprecation is evident in the shape of his mouth and the way he holds himself. "I had no way of knowing."
She nods, briskly, closing her eyes as she does so. The surprise on his face before was genuine. "I know."
"I will handle this," he promises, taking a step back, and proceeds to walk around the vehicle to greet the unanticipated witch and vampire.
"Ladies," he acknowledges, but before he can continue, Caroline cuts him off.
"Is she here or not, Elijah?"
"We just wanted to see her," interjects Bonnie apologetically, trying to soothe the gruff demands of the blond young woman next to her. "We haven't seen her in two years and-"
"-And your sister said you'd both probably be together."
Bonnie glares at Caroline for a moment before hoisting the bag on her shoulder. "We just wanted to know if she was okay. No word from her in two years, and what with your brother's plans-"
"I tipped you off, you know," Caroline interrupts once more, on a mission and hell-bent to see it to its end. "You at least owe us an answer."
Elena holds her breath, frozen in her spot next to Bree and Maggie; their trip has gone unnoticed until now.
Elijah evenly replies "Do you see her here?"
"No," responds Caroline, suddenly aware. "No, I don't." Her shoulders sag, and Elena's chest hurt when she sees the hurt in her friend's eyes.
Bonnie is quick to mollify the situation. "We're really sorry for bothering you, Elijah...and for tracking you, and for compelling your guards to let us in, but if this concerns Elena, it concerns us."
"Please correct me if I am wrong, Miss Bennett," Elijah says dryly, and beside Elena, Maggie perks up, her curiosity increased, "but I do believe that Caroline explained to me on the phone that you were all given letters from Elena stating that she left to keep you out of danger."
"She's our friend, our best friend, and we love her too much to let this happen." Bonnie's chin rises slightly as she starts to stand her ground. "Besides, you'll need a witch, and we-"
Elijah gestures to the three women behind him. "I appreciate the offer, but that is already taken care of."
Bonnie stares at them, and seems to zero in on Elena. She swears she's going to puke by the time this is over.
Why can't they just leave? As much as she's missed them (missed them all so much it's hurt) this was exactly the sort of thing she was trying to avoid when she left.
"We want to help you, if it means helping Elena," Caroline insists.
"She's family to us...surely you understand that?"
His wince is so quick it appears like a twitch of his brow, but Elena sees it. Bonnie has just played the card that will have him agreeing to their requests.
"You're a Bennett?" Maggie speaks up. She's been slightly lethargic since they roused her; a side-effect that's left Elena feeling more than a little guilty. Now, however, she's wide awake, and keen to find out more about the two newcomers.
Bonnie nods. "I'm Bonnie Bennett."
Maggie's face brightens. "Really? My Mom is Lucy Bennett." And then the moment of happiness dissipates. "He's got her, that Klaus guy. That's why I agreed to help."
Bonnie immediately looks frightened, but the look dissolves into determination. Elijah looks more than slightly displeased with where this is going, but before Elena can try to say anything, Caroline finds her voice again.
"Oh, see now? Now, this is family business, and since this concerns both Bonnie and Elena, we have to come."
Half an hour later they're all sitting on various chairs and sofas in the jet and airborne. The five women are all seated on sofas facing one another at the back of the cabin, and the younger ones are introducing themselves. Elijah is somewhere in the front, where there is an entertainment center behind soundproofing curtain; he's watching the news in a foreign language.
It's obvious that Bonnie and Caroline are closer, now. There were times when they were younger, when Elena had to force them to sit down and discuss whatever it was they were squabbling over...Barbies, boys, bands...it seemed they were the most important topics in the world, then.
Abby's transition was difficult, and even back when Elena left, she could see that Caroline was trying to be supportive, to be a friend in the truest sense. It was through the bubbly blond's help alone that Abby maintained her humanity, learned to deal with the hunger for blood. With control now possible, she had been given time with her daughter once more, to finally try to piece their relationship back together. To make up for lost time.
From Facebook, and the messages left for her, Elena knew that Bonnie and Caroline are enrolled in different colleges, but try to get together with Matt and Stefan and a few other people on the weekends. Normal things people do, trying to keep up friendships started in high school.
"So," Caroline says slowly, starting to frown slightly, and beside her, Bonnie stiffens just as Elena steels herself for some ridiculously personal question, Caroline-style. "You're not a Bennett, are you? I mean you don't look-"
Bonnie's eyes widen and she shakes her head frantically.
"It's okay," Elena says. "No, I'm not a Bennett," she affirms, and after a sideways glance at the person beside her on the couch, continues. "But I'm Maggie's best friend, and Lucy and Bree are like parents to me, so I guess that I'm here for the same reasons you are, Caroline."
"You're a witch," Bonnie says suddenly, surprised. "I can feel your magic, but you're not..."
Caroline elbows her in the side. "Now look who's being rude."
Exasperated, Bonnie sighs but finishes speaking. "That's not what I meant, at all. I just mean," she squints, and cocks her head. "You've got magic, it's definitely there, but it's not...it feels different."
"Aimee's magic is a little different," Maggie offers, taking over for her friend.
"My abilities are really, really limited," Elena adds with a shrug.
The subtle movement of Bree's head lifting from her grimoire (she's held onto her family's copy, and even from the other side of the sofa, its musty odor can be detected) catches her eye, and she witnesses Bree's wary, watchful glance; it's protective, and Elena is very touched to see her concern.
At the same moment she goes to respond with an appreciative smile, she feels it. There's a little niggling tendril of someone else's magic, and it's strong. It tries to push at her glamor and see what lies behind-
Elena reacts without thinking. "Get out of my head!" she yelps, rising from the sofa.
Shocked, Bonnie looks up at her. "I didn't-I was only trying to-"
"You can't just pry like that, curiosity or not, that's just...please, don't do that."
"I'm sorry," the embarrassed witch says, and means it. "Other witches don't normally feel it when I do that."
Elijah's hand comes to rest for only a second at the small of Elena's back before he starts to speak, but it's enough to keep her from jumping when he's suddenly that close and speaking. "Perhaps, Miss Bennett, you should focus your energy on acquainting yourself with your cousin. From previous experience, I've found that having pre-existent knowledge of your partners in magic can help strengthen your work, and you will need it." He gestures towards the front of the cabin graciously. "Miss Hawkins, a word please."
She travels the distance between the sofas in the back, through the curtains to the entertainment center in the front and sets herself in one of the leather captain chairs facing the televisions, allowing herself to sink into the seat and take a deep breath with her eyes closed.
"Are you alright?" he asks lowly, now seated next to her. He's angled his seat towards hers.
"That's never happened before," she responds, upset with how shaken her own voice sounds. "That didn't even feel like it was me talking, it was like being compelled."
He tilts his head slightly, a silent prompt for her to elaborate, but she shakes her head. "This isn't the place...still."
The noise on the television gets louder during a commercial, and it draws her attention to the screen.
"It's a Bulgarian news program," he explains. "Trying to see if Klaus has beat us there; bizarre animal attacks, tragic mass accidents...over the years I have been able to pick up on the signs of his presence, and they have only escalated since the Sun and Moon Curse was broken." The dark tone to his voice speaks volumes.
She instinctively reaches for his hand where it sits on the plush armrest, but falters when she reconsiders and thinks that it's perhaps too forward of a gesture.
"I'm sorry," she mouths. Despite the soundproofing curtains, Caroline can probably hear their conversation and they'll have no idea who Aimee Hawkins is to Elijah Mikaelson. The less they know, the better.
"Hopefully, I've taken action this time soon enough to give us the advantage; he'll be using a witch – not Lucy, Lucy will be treated with kid gloves until the actual Resurrection – to search for Tatia's remains in Mystic Falls."
"They're not there?"
He shakes his head. "I had them removed centuries ago. All that is left is dust, but they will suffice for his purposes. When my brother finds evidence that someone has removed her remains, as well as made off with the second necessary Bennett, he will immediately assume that I have played a part. While giving him what he wants in this situation sound like a way to quiet him, it will only lead to him bringing back others, and there aren't enough witches in existence to help with all that he wants."
And Elijah will also have the Doppelganger with him, but there are only four people in existence who know that, and she's going to keep it that way until that last possible second.
"It's like a chess game," Elena huffs.
"The analogy is not entirely incorrect." He brings his hands together, steepled, as he watches the screen, reading the ticker tape on the bottom with its scrolling news breaks in Bulgarian. "And I am fully prepared to play."
Elena pulls her legs up and tucks them underneath her. "I never learned," she says after a moment where the silence stretches out. It's not an impulsive thing to say, to fill the quiet between them; she feels comfortable enough in his presence to speak whatever comes to mind.
Klaus is going to be looking for her. She's sort of let that part of the situation slide until now, but now it's starting to hit her full force and while she's been focusing on Maggie, with the sudden appearance of her two friends it's starting to creep up on her. There it is in her gut: an old, familiar feeling of fear.
No matter what she's told everyone, she is still afraid of dying, of death. It is a fear that is marrow-deep, an icy cold thing she hates to feel and hasn't for some time. It's back with horrific familiarity.
"I'll teach you" is his easy reply, muffled slightly by his fingers on his lips. "When this is all behind us."
She wants to be there for that. Truly, she does. But between her promise to Bree and Lucy, and Klaus requiring her blood, she's not sure if she'll be there for that.
The smile she gives him his a little bittersweet; she makes no efforts to hide what she's feeling. "I'd like that."
They both turn their attention back to the television screen, but their silence is companionable.