When Elijah made it to Elena's side, he immediately was drawn to the pool of blood originating from her wrist. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was the source of the blood he'd found by his side. She'd used her blood to feed him, and it was killing her now.
Elijah wasted no time biting into his wrist. He then used one hand to hold Elena's mouth open while he placed his other wrist to her mouth for her to drink from. "Come on, Dear. Drink for me."
Seconds later, Elena began to regain consciousness slowly. Her eyes began to flutter open a few seconds later. "Elijah."
Elijah sighed in relief at the sound of her voice. He looked down at her arm to see that it had healed. "You should be alright now, Elena."
"Thank you," she said.
"Elena, what you did was very reckless. You almost killed yourself," Elijah lectured lightly.
"I had to. I knew you'd need blood, and I was afraid you wouldn't be able to stop if you drank straight from my body," Elena said.
"The entire thing was reckless. You were better off leaving me daggered," Elijah said. While he was certainly grateful to not be daggered, he wouldn't want his return to the world to come at the cost of Elena's life.
"No, I wasn't. You were my only hope to get out of here," Elena said.
Elijah stood up and helped Elena to her feet. Then, he looked around the room and for the first time, registered that he was in a barely livable room with his siblings' coffins. "Am I to assume my brother is responsible for our accommodations?"
Elena laughed bitterly in response. "No. For once, Klaus isn't responsible for what's happened. Well, except for maybe indirectly. It was Stefan. He locked us in here."
Elijah frowned. "Stefan? The young vampire that seemed so taken with you? He was devoted to you. Why would he hold you against your will?"
"Because your brother has been forcing him to do his bidding for months. He compelled him to turn off his humanity and to do whatever he says, which included killing a lot of people. Now, all Stefan seems to feel is hatred for Klaus.
Elijah considered her words for a few moments. "Then his humanity is not off. He couldn't feel even hatred if his humanity was off. He must have turned it back on. It appears he's dimmed it instead. I've seen other vampires do the same after flipping the switch back on. It is a way to hold the guilt back."
Elena nodded. She figured it was something like that. "I thought so. That only makes it worse though."
"Yes, I imagine it does. He chose to hurt you, knowing deep down that he was wrong to do it. He calculatingly chose to disregard his history with you and your feelings for him. I'm sorry, Elena. He shouldn't have done this to you. However, I don't understand why he has. You said his only emotion is hatred for Niklaus, but why has he chosen to take it out on you? I understand why he has me and my siblings here? He clearly wants to use us as leverage, but why you?" Elijah asked.
"For the same reason," she said.
"What does he hope to gain? Does he believe you are of some use to Niklaus even now that his curse is broken?" Elijah asked.
"I am still of use to Klaus. It turns out he needs my blood to create more hybrids. But that's not why Stefan did this," Elena said. She was going to have to come clean with Elijah. There was no point in hiding it. He'd find out. Klaus already knew, and if she didn't tell Elijah, he certainly would. "My blood is not my only importance to Klaus anymore. I'm important to him in another way. You see, my biological mother traced our family back to a woman named, Tatia. I'm pretty sure you knew her."
"Yes, I knew Tatia," Elijah said. He then waited for her to continue. Whatever she had to say had left him intrigued.
"You were involved with her. You and Klaus both were," Elena said. Her tone made it clear it was not a question, but a fact.
"How do you know that?" Elijah asked. Only his siblings were alive to give Elena that information, and neither Niklaus or Rebekah would have any reason to share that information.
"I confirmed the information with Isobel before she died. She was an expert with research. She didn't tell me how she found out, but she learned that Tatia had a child conceived by either you or Klaus. I'm sure you can figure out that that child continued your line until it ended with me," Elena said.
Elijah shook his head. "No. Tatia already had her child when we met. The child belonged to her late husband."
"She had two children. Isobel followed her line back quite a bit. Tatia bore two kids, one from her husband and one from either you or Klaus. I can't really prove it, but Isobel was sure. She said she confirmed it, which means she had to have been given some kind of proof. She was a researcher. She dealt in concrete facts. I suppose she could've lied, but I don't know what she'd gain from that," Elena said.
Elijah thought back. He had to admit that this was very feasible. Tatia had begun to act strangely not long after they'd been together the first time. "Tatia disappeared for almost a year after we were together. She didn't return with a child, but a friend of hers did show up with a baby girl. I admit, I didn't give it much thought, especially considering that we were turned not long afterwards."
"I'm sorry, Elijah. This probably isn't the best way to learn you may have been a father," Elena said.
"How long have you known about this?" he asked.
Elena sighed. She knew he might be upset with her for how long she'd kept this a secret. "Since right after I learned about Klaus and what he wanted from me."
"So, not long after we met the first time," Elijah surmised. "I can understand why you didn't say anything when I came to you at your house. You knew very little about me and I know you didn't trust me, but why did you hide it from me after we made the plan to save your life? Did you truly think it wouldn't matter to me?"
"I was almost certain it would. I didn't tell you because we did have a plan and I was afraid you wouldn't allow the sacrifice to happen if you knew," Elena told him.
"You were right. I would not have," Elijah said. There was no way he'd allow a member of his family to be sacrificed, even just briefly. He was fairly certain Niklaus would've even stopped it if he knew. Family was everything for both of them. Even his curse would not have been worth Niklaus risking the life of a family member.
"I was afraid if you tried to stop it, Klaus would kill my family, like he did Katherine's. And he ended up killing members of my family anyway. If I had told you or Klaus, maybe I could've prevented it. Stefan says that Klaus did care when he found out I was his descendent," Elena said.
"That does not surprise me. I know all you know from Niklaus is cruelty, but his best quality is his love for his family," Elijah said.
"He daggered you," Elena pointed out. She supposed she had no room to judge, as she had once as well, but it bore bringing up under the circumstances.
"Yes, but it would not kill me, and he knows that. And believe it or not, he does so to protect us, at least in his mind, mainly from our father," Elijah said. He was far from happy about the fact that his brother daggered him and planned to pay him back with at least a punch, but he had no doubt that his brother loved him and their siblings.
"So, you think that knowing about me would've changed his mind about the sacrifice? I could've saved my aunt and uncle's lives if I'd been honest about it?" Elena asked.
"If Niklaus had believed you, yes, but there's every reason to believe he wouldn't have. It might have just made things worse," Elijah told her.
"Are you saying that to make me feel better?" she asked.
"No. One thing I will promise you now, Elena, is that I will never lie to you, even just to be kind. Niklaus more than likely wouldn't have believed you. The only reason I believe you now is because it came from you and because you have no reason to lie. At the time, Niklaus would've believed you were lying to save your own life. I'm not even sure I could've convinced him if I had known. I do still wish you had told me, but what's done is done, and I understand why you chose not to," Elijah said.
"Thank you," Elena said.
"Before we go any further, I owe you an apology, Elena. We made a deal, and I broke it. I promised to kill my brother. I shouldn't have done that," Elijah said.
Elena noticed that he was apologizing for making that promise, not for actually breaking it and not killing Klaus. She could understand it. She would never be able to hurt her brother either, no matter what he did. And given that she wrestled with the latest plan to kill Klaus, how could she fault his brother for not being able to do it. "I understand. I have a brother too. I could never hurt him. Besides, I have no room to judge you. I went back on our deal the first time. I daggered you. I am really sorry for that. I can't tell you how guilty I felt."
"You don't need to. I've already forgiven you for it. You were put in a difficult position. Besides, you would not be the first family member to dagger me," Elijah said with a slight smile.
Elena smiled back. Maybe being related to Klaus wasn't so bad after all when someone like Elijah came with him. "Like you said, what's done is done. I do need to ask you a favor though."
"If I can grant it to you, I will," Elijah told her. He wouldn't agree until he heard the favor, but there was very little he wouldn't give to her.
"Don't hurt Stefan, and don't let Klaus hurt him," Elena pleaded.
Elijah sighed and his eyes darkened. Of course, the one thing she asked of him was something he wasn't sure he could give her. He didn't allow people to get away with harming his family. "Elena, you ask something of me that is not in my nature. Stefan Salvatore kidnapped you and my siblings and I and left you in this unsuitable place. I do not allow those who harm my family to live to regret it. Not once in a thousand yours have I allowed that."
"He didn't really hurt anyone," Elena said. Well, he hadn't hurt anyone physically. He'd done a lot of damage to her emotionally. She wasn't sure if the hurt and betrayal she felt would ever go away. He'd used her as a pawn, as though she was never anything to him. That hurt deeply.
Elijah raised an eyebrow incredulously. "We are standing inches away from a pool of your blood, the loss of which you nearly died from."
"I did that, not Stefan," Elena said.
"You acted out of desperation to get out of the situation he forced you into. That makes him responsible. And I know the emotional damage he's done to you is much worse. He is not worthy of your forgiveness, Elena, and he will certainly not receive mine," Elijah stated firmly.
"I don't forgive him," Elena said in a hard tone. She meant that. She hated Stefan right now for what he'd done, and she hated that she also still loved him. She wanted Elijah to know that in no way was this a declaration of forgiveness. She was asking for mercy, but that didn't mean she absolved Stefan. "You're right. What Stefan did hurts so badly. I never thought he could do something like this to me, no matter how angry he's been over what Klaus did to him. I don't know that I'll ever forgive him for this, but I don't want him dead. Please, Elijah."
Elijah sighed. He couldn't deny her, no matter how much he wanted the Salvatore boy to pay with his life. "I will not end his life, and I will do my best to stop Niklaus from doing so, but I do not promise that he will walk away in one piece. You are a part of my family now, Elena, and he has hurt you immensely. I will not allow that to go unpunished."
Elena could tell by his tone that that was as much as he would agree to. She was actually moved by the way he regarded her. All it took was the knowledge that she was of his bloodline for him to see her as his family. "Okay, I can accept that. Thank you. Should we go now?"
"Not yet. If Stefan is allowed to live, he continues to be a threat to you, and he would not be the only one. Now, I've agreed to spare him, but I must ensure your protection, both from him and the plethora of enemies that you have inherited just by being a Mikaelson. So, you and I need to discuss what is going to happen when we leave this place," Elijah said. His voice was kind, but firm. He needed her to understand that what he was about to say was not a request or a deal. It was the way things would be. He also wanted to do this here and now because he didn't want anyone around to interfere and possibly make the situation even harder for Elena.
Elena took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for what Elijah was about to say, because from his tone, she knew she would hate what she was about to hear, and she also could tell she would not be given a say in the matter.