Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or TO, I wish I did own Elijah but Fate is cruel.
A/N: I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and followed this story! I'm overjoyed that so many of you liked it so far.
I'd also like to tell you that there will be a Fiorenza one-shot; the itinerary for it is finished now I "only" have to write it down.
Warning: This chapter is dealing with the aftermath of torture and has slightly erotic undertones.
With a huge thank you to Angel of Darkness Forever.
Healing Hands
Elijah was taking the utmost care to jostle his precious girl as little as possible. He decided to run to the house, despite the street crowd because he couldn't place Elena in a car without seriously aggravating one of her many wounds.
The beautiful, white, plantation house was already in sight.
"We are almost there, precious." Elijah breathed to Elena.
This was not how he imagined his reunion with Elena would be. She was supposed to be well and smiling, not tortured into unconsciousness. She was supposed to be in his arms because she wanted him, not because she couldn't move on her own.
He ascended the stairs to the door, when he shifted her a little to open the entrance door, her whimper of pain tore at his heart. Elijah vowed to himself that Marcel would pay generously for every second of pain he caused to his beloved.
He took Elena to his room, gently placing her on his bed with her front to the soft coverlet. As carefully as possible, he started to peel off his jacket from her body, highly aware that her blood caked to the material, gluing it to her skin.
Seeing her mostly naked on his bed brought his fantasies to mind, but they felt bitter in his mouth. She was here because she needed him to heal her, not because she desired him.
Elena's eyes shot open as she felt the new throb of pain. She was very disoriented. It was a moment before she even realized that she wasn't suspended in the air any longer, but she was actually lying on a very high thread count, luxurious comforter and beneath that, a soft mattress. It took another moment for her to become aware of someone running a hand soothingly over her head. Then, she heard a deep, velvet baritone that was somewhat familiar. It took intense concentration for her to be able to understand what he was saying.
"Shhh. It hurts, I know. But I will take care of you." The same voice whispered into Elena's ear, the soothing motion of caressing never stopping for a second.
After a little time, Elena was able to focus her gaze and saw Elijah. She had never seen him like this. His expression was completely open and showed worry, regret, and something that Elena didn't want to dwell on.
"Elijah?" Elena croaked out.
"I'm here, precious." Elijah reassured her with the same soothing tone. "I will take care of you, heal you."
Elena nodded slightly, immediately regretting the action as agony shoot through her whole body because of the movement of the muscles in her back. She bit back a moan.
"Try not to move, precious. It will hurt less if you stay still." Elijah advised, still caressing her head in a gentle, calming manner. "I will go fetch some blood." Elijah started to stand up from his kneeling position beside his bed, but immediately stopped when he heard Elena's panicked whimper.
"No, please don't leave me alone."
The tears in her eyes were stabs of pain to Elijah, but with a small smile, he leaned closer to her, touching her hand lightly. "I will come back. You won't even notice that I was gone from your side. You need the blood to heal, Elena."
Elijah waited for her to give her consent, before he, as fast as he was able to, made a trip to the kitchen and pulled out six blood bags from the secondary hidden fridge. He also took a big silver bowl from one of the cabinets.
He found Elena with tears running down her face, her body extremely tense. He was in his previous position beside her in seconds, placing the items on the floor. "I'm back."
Elena's eyes fluttered open as Elijah's voice reached her. She didn't know how long he was away. In her logical mind, she knew it couldn't have taken him more than a minute to fetch everything and come back, but it seemed much longer to her as she felt the burning pains of her vervain soaked wounds.
She saw as he opened a blood bag and brought it to her lips. The smell of the blood made her ravenous with hunger, but her body protested against the littlest movements, so she waited patiently until the straw was finally in her mouth. She drank with deep gulps, while relishing in the feeling of Elijah gently threading his fingers through the hair on top of her head. Elena pulled so much comfort from his silent presence that it would have astounded her if she was capable of processing her feelings at the moment. She only knew that she felt safe with him around. As she finished with the first bag, there was a second one offered to her immediately.
Elijah made her drink four of the blood bags before he went to his bathroom with the bowl in hand. He returned to her side with the bowl now filled with warm water and a couple of towels. He placed them on a bed side table.
"This will hurt, but we need to know how your wounds are healing." Elijah told her, kneeling back down at her side. He dipped one of the hand towels into the water, letting it soak a little, then rung it out. Elijah, as delicately as possible, ran down the cloth Elena's back. Every time he pulled away the cloth to dip it into the water, he needed to force down the bile of murderous rage rising in his throat. Elena didn't need to hear a tirade describing what he would do to Marcel. What she need was a calm environment, where she felt protected, cared for.
Elena's eyes were half shut in exhaustion and pain; the warm water slowly soothing her stinging wounds as it rinsed away the vervain.
Elijah had a battle inside of him for control, as every time he dipped the rags into the water, he saw the red swirls of her blood staining it. He slowly finished with her back.
Though the blood she consumed started the healing process, it wasn't at the speed that it should be. Elijah could make out the new skin forming under the remaining traces of blood, but he focused on the few very deep gashes that didn't seem to want to close. Furthermore, as he run his hand with a feather light touch over her sides and ribs, he could tell that her bones were mending awfully slowly. Her impeded healing was most likely was the result of vervain still in her system, not just in her wounds.
"Elijah?" Elena immediately gained his intense attention with her call, their eyes locked together in a far too intimate fashion for her comfort. "Could you help me to a bathroom? I want the blood off, I need to get clean, I…"
Elena was halted in her rambling by a finger gently pressing against her lips. "Are you sure? I can draw you a bath but you aren't strong enough to move. You can barely lift your hand without causing yourself further pain."
"Elijah, please." Elena asked, practically begging him with her eyes. The torture left her open and vulnerable. He understood perfectly that she wanted to wash away the stains of her experience and not just in the literal sense.
He sighed, before nodding in compliance.
"Thank you."
Elijah heard her, while he went to his bathroom and the old fashioned, claw footed, white tub he had behind a cream colored divider. Rolling his sleeves up, he started the bath, mixing the warm and cold water to a temperature that wouldn't aggravate her still open wounds so much. He went back to her side, touching her face lightly to get her attention.
"I will have to turn you, so I can carry you to the bath." Elijah saw the protest forming on her lips, so he quickly cut it off. "Precious, this is not time for stubborn pride. Even if you'd be able stand up on your own, your first step would hurt enough that you'd collapse immediately."
Elena felt so embarrassed and humiliated. No one, not even her friends had ever seen her so weak. Though, it gave her a little happiness that she hadn't been able to find any pity in his features. He was still cradling her face, while his eyes beseeched her to let him care for her in the way he thought best.
Slowly, Elena nodded and watched a bit fascinated as he let out a sigh of relief at her permission. As Elijah shifted her to her back, Elena tried to keep the cry of pain from escaping her mouth. She bit down on her lower lip to stifle it, but her eyes welled with tears at the agony in her back and ribs. She hissed when he scooped her up from the blood stained bed to carry her bridal style into the adjoining bathroom.
To ignore the pain, she concentrated on something else. Embarrassingly, the only thoughts coming to her mind was how safe she felt in his strong arms as she leaned into his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. His scent filled her nose, intoxicatingly potent and heady.
There was more than one night she dreamed of the eldest Original since they met, the most vivid one was after he paid her a visit in her house for the first time to negotiate a deal with her.
Her mind drifted a little as he talked. What did he look like under those suits? He was in her bedroom, so it didn't take long for her start picturing him much less clothed.
Her dreams that night had been filled with him above her, her legs around his hips, even as she professed her love to Stefan...
Elena quickly squashed down on the direction of her thoughts. She had Damon, and this was not a situation to fantasize about the man cradling her against him.
Elena opened her eyes and slightly lifted her head from its resting place to be able to look around. They were in a luxurious bathroom, which gave Damon's a run for its money, though this one wasn't modern in décor. In fact, it was the exact opposite. She could only compare it to the ones she saw in the early twentieth century films, with the difference being that this one was obviously renovated to suit the times.
Reluctantly, Elijah placed Elena on the roman style chair he had in the room. Now, came the hard part, if he knew Elena. It surprised him that so far he hadn't heard any complaint concerning her modesty. Even if her long hair tantalizingly covered her breasts as they were matted to her skin with blood.
Elena was gazing longingly at the warm water in the beautiful tub. She looked at Elijah waiting for him to leave her to her privacy. But as she looked into his deep brown eyes, it became clear that Elijah had no intention of leaving her alone. There was no way in hell that she would let Elijah stay while she soaked and cleaned herself.
"Well." Elena said as she made a pointed look toward the door, silently ordering Elijah to leave.
Elijah smiled at her as he kneeled before her, so their eyes would be on the same level. "Precious Elena, you can barely stay upright on your own in this chair. Please, enlighten me, how do you plan on undressing yourself and getting into the water?"
The amused expression on his face with one of his eyebrows arched in question, only managed to irritate Elena. She knew he had a point, but in her opinion he had already seen enough of her body. And what was the deal with his new habit of calling her 'precious'?
Finally, Elena huffed in defeat. She waited for him to move, before realizing that he wanted her to voice that she would allow him to take off her remaining clothes. "Um, would you help me to…"
Elijah was seeing her discomfort, and despite the situation they were in, he found her flustered state endearing. "Allow me."
To her surprise, Elijah didn't make her stand so he could take off her jeans, but just reached to her side and started to tear apart the pant leg along the seam, then he repeated his actions on her other side. Elena felt his gaze lingering on her legs as he took away the front part of her pants, cleanly separated from it back.
It was quite difficult to resist the temptation of inspecting every inch of Elena's body, but Elijah managed it. He lifted his eyes to look deeply into hers. As their gazes locked, he tore off her panties. His eyes had never wavered from her beautiful brown orbs, protecting her modesty as much as the situation allowed it. He gently scooped her back into his arms, then slowly let her soft body sink into the warm bath.
Elena hissed as her many scrapes and wounds were stinging in the warm water. The moment she felt Elijah's touch leave her, her eyes opened in slight panic. She grabbed for his hand, she needed him near her. The only reason she wasn't a sobbing, broken mess was because his presence calmed her. After everything that had recently occurred, the only way she knew she was safe was with him.
Sensing her panic, Elijah knelt down at her side while changing her grip on his arm so he could bring her palm to his lips, laying a kiss on it. Without releasing her hand, he moved so he was behind her. Slowly, he started to trace his hand from her hand up her arms, to her shoulders where he pulled at her dirty, bloody hair to separate it from her skin.
Elena was hyper aware of every move, and sound he made. As his hands brushed lightly against her skin, she smelled that rich scent she had always associated with him. A moment later, she felt water dripping down her head as Elijah cupped water in his hands to wet all of her hair. He gently massaged the shampoo into her hair, making her loosen her tense muscles just a little. His long fingers kneading her scalp lulled her into an almost relaxed state.
He washed out the suds from her hair, the chemical getting into the water, making her open cuts sting mercilessly. Elena bit on her lip to not let the hisses of pain out as Elijah repeated his actions twice more, until he deemed her hair clean.
The water was dirtied so much with blood and grime that Elijah decided to get her out of it and draw another bath. As he moved from her back, he saw the silent tears flowing on Elena's pain stricken face. Sending her an apologetic smile, he got her out of the water and on the chair again. While he waited for the used water to drain, he started to wipe down Elena's body with a heated, fluffy, dark blue towel to dry away the dirty droplets of water clinging to her skin.
As her body was lowered into the newly drawn water, Elena was reeling from how intimate this was. While he didn't touch her in a sexual manner, somehow, as he attended to every muscle and wound on her body, gently removing the evidence of her experience from her skin, Elena felt more connected to him than she had ever been to anybody. Even at the height of her connection to Damon, with the Sire Bond still in full effect, couldn't compare to the intense feelings that wracked through her very soul at the moment.
He cradled her cheek in one hand as he removed the blood from her face. When he came to her eyes, he was especially careful to keep the soap out of them. He seemed to understand that newly formed eyes were much more sensitive than older ones. Of course he would know; he'd lived for a thousand years.
She observed every minute expression in his eyes, on his face. The intense devotion she saw scared Elena. She would have never imagined in her wildest fantasies that a man could look at a woman like he was at her. She thought that she knew what a man's love meant, but if his expression was anything to go by she was dreadfully wrong.
He fished one of her feet out of the water and, as gently as possible, straightened her knee. He gave her an apologetic glance at her gasp of pain. After bending it a few times, he gripped her calf in one hand. Picking up the bathing sponge with his other hand, he ran it down the length of her leg, removing all traces of blood.
Every so often, he would caress her skin lightly as he worked, but it was still so innocent. His touch was comforting, reminding her that she was safe, as her body ached.
He pressed a butterfly soft kiss to her ankle before placing it back in the water and repeating the process with her other leg.
Neither spoke, the silence feeling almost sacred somehow, even with the pain she was in, like a spell had been cast and a single sound from either of them would shatter the moment.
With the same tenderness, he bathed the rest of her battered body. On her more intimate areas, he didn't force her to expose herself, simply dipping the sponge beneath the surface of the water, avoiding any place she would be uncomfortable with him touching.
If his hands on her scalp had been heaven, the way he manipulated her, aside from setting the bones and the pain caused by moving, was downright sinful. He understood exactly how much pressure to use and which way to maneuver her body to cause the least amount of discomfort.
But it wasn't her bringing this gentleness out it him. It was her, the other girl who wore her face. The thought hurt terribly, more than it should really, to know that he was thinking about Katherine while taking care of her.
The memory of the passionate kiss he gave her when he thought she was the evil bitch, stung more than her wounds. When her emotions were turned back on, she longed to be kissed like that again. Though Damon was a very, very good kisser he was never able to pour that kind of emotional intensity into one. Elijah had kissed with his heart, giving every emotion he had into the simplest caress, demanding nothing in return.
"I'm not Katherine. I'm begging you, could you at least hide that you're pretending I am her?" Where he'd kissed her ankle still burned from the brush of his lips.
Elijah heard her broken whisper, snapping his gaze immediately to Elena's sad face. Her tears were still freely flowing down her beautiful face, but now they weren't from just physical pain but emotional too. He couldn't believe that she would think that anything he expressed here tonight was not for her but another.
He was aware that Elena had a few insecurities because of her ancestor but he had never thought that they ran so deeply. Inwardly, he cursed himself, because of his brief relationship with Katerina. He knew that Elena was approached by the Salvatores because of her resemblance to their first love. Even though they had developed a much deeper love for Elena on the way, the initial reason for their attraction couldn't be erased so easily from her mind. Small wonder she believed he was using her as a replacement for the other doppelganger.
"I have never seen Katerina, or Katherine as you call her, when I looked at you." Elijah looked into her brown doe eyes without concealing an ounce of the burning love and desire he felt for the woman in front of him.
Elena's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't detect any kind of dishonesty or deceit from him. She shivered at the intensity of his gaze, while his low, seductive tone, she hadn't heard before sent goose bumps all over her body.
When she tried to turn her head away from him, Elijah gently cradled her face in both of his hands to make her look at him.
"You need to understand something very important, Elena." Elijah continued in a serious tone. He needed to get this through to her stubborn mind. "I never loved Katerina."
Elena snorted in incredulity, trying to look away from him again.
"Elena." Elijah infused his voice a little bit of command. "I'll not deny that my first love was Tatia, but it was more of a teenage love, infatuation really, even though it came rather late in my life. And that experience managed to make me quite bitter towards the notion of ever falling for someone again. What I saw in Katerina five hundred years later was nothing more than my desire of reliving the past, of fixing my mistakes. I held a soft spot for her, yes. But I never loved her. Even back then, I'd understood what kind of woman she was."
A thrill of happiness shot through Elijah as he saw that he managed to capture her attention completely. Not only her attention, but she was actually listening to his words and was contemplating them. So he decided to continue with nothing but the truth.
"When I first met you at that abandoned house, besides my initial shock in discovering the existence of a doppelganger, I saw a brave, innocent, breathtakingly beautiful young woman before me. Not the ones who you resembled in only physical appearance, I saw you. You were always Elena to me." With his right hand, he started to lightly caress her soft cheek, delighted that she slightly relaxed her tense body.
"If you never loved her then why did you have an affair with her?" Elena asked, practically spitting the word affair. She so desperately wanted to believe that at least someone who previously knew Katherine saw her as herself. That someone distinguished between them from the very first moment, and developed feelings for her entirely on their interactions, not some experience with her ancestors.
"Because she was a good distraction and I gladly settled for the fantasy."
"What fantasy?" Elena tilted her head to the side, not understanding what he was telling her.
"You had a Salvatore on each arm. You were in a relationship or on your way into a relationship with one or the other all the time." Elijah explained from the very beginning to make sure that there was no misunderstanding in between them. "Take into account the way we met and the roles we played in each other's lives, and you have your answer, my most precious Elena."
Elijah sighed before he revealed to her his best kept secret. "The fantasy you asked about was nothing less and nothing more than you deciding to leave the brothers and be with me. Do you understand what I am saying? All along, Katerina was the embodiment of my fantasy of having you."
Elena started to shake her head. This couldn't be possible. Elijah had to be lying. Everyone had loved Katherine at some point, and wanted the fantasy of their ideal Katherine even the Salvatores. She was just the replacement doppelganger.
"The way you kissed me at the gazebo tells a different story." Elena stated coldly.
"You think that I didn't know from the moment I laid eyes on you, who you really were that day?" Elijah's lip curled up slightly in wry amusement. "I was merely curious if you would let me kiss you." He lowered his gaze and admitted softly, "I believed it would be the only chance I would ever have to kiss you." He traced her lips with a fingertip. "The woman I had truly fallen in love with never even looked my way."
Elena stared at the man before her with her mouth open in surprise. It was difficult to wrap her mind around that the love, adoration, and devotion he so clearly displayed while taking care of her was for her alone. Yes, she had her own fantasies about Elijah. She wasn't blind to how sinfully attractive he was. But what drew Elena to him was his personality. They had the same values: family above all. Despite the numerous times they betrayed each other, she had always felt a connection to him. She admired his loyalty to his family, and more than once, had fervently wished that she could avenge her fallen family members with the ruthlessness he was able to dole out to those who dared to cross him.
Although, that very same thought brought something to the forefront of Elena's mind she had never understood, and was resolved that she would never find out the answers. But she could no longer hide from it, not from him, not now.
"How can you say this, how can you even look at me without disgust and hate?" Elena asked almost hysterically. "I orchestrated not one, but two of your brothers' deaths."
Elijah would have rolled his eyes if he didn't know that that response wouldn't help in the least. "You are exaggerating, precious Elena. I am completely aware of the circumstances of both Finn and Kol's deaths. Because of my betrayal, you lost your aunt, your father, and the man who you thought of as a parental figure, yet you have never blamed or resented me for their deaths or for your very own, twice."
The struggle in her mind was painfully obvious to Elijah's keen observational skills. She wanted to believe him, but she couldn't overcome her own guilt and insecurities.
Elena tried to shift her body as far away from Elijah as possible but her first bigger motion sent pure agony over her body. She couldn't contain the scream of pain that left her mouth, fresh tears welling in her eyes.
"Shhh." Elijah soothed her, gently shifting her body back into the more comfortable position. "The vervain in your system won't let your body heal properly." His mind already sorting through the possible solutions, but he could only come up with one. Though, this one was greatly appealing as it would prove to her without a shadow of doubt his feelings and intentions to her. But, he wouldn't force it on her.
"I can heal you, but I need your consent for this."
The pain clouding her rational thinking, Elena glared at him for a moment. If he could heal her, why hadn't he already done it? Before she could open her mouth to demand anything of him, she again felt one of Elijah's fingers sealing her lips.
"To heal, you need to drink from me." Elijah said, looking straight at her as the next sentences left his lips. "This will be no ordinary blood sharing either. You aren't even a year old as a vampire, and as an Original, my blood will overwhelm your every sense, you will be high on it. And despite my years, my emotions run so deeply for you that the control I normally have could easily snap from very little. In that heightened state, the slightest indication from you will be enough for me to no longer deny what I've craved for two years now."
Elijah waited patiently for Elena's response. He was certain that she wouldn't accept this. He had heard that Elena had already experienced blood sharing with Damon Salvatore. Despite the fact that he didn't spell it out, he saw the understanding dawn on Elena. A baby vampire did not have the kind of control necessary to restrain their instincts, and drinking from someone always had a sexual undertone to a vampire. He knew that Elena would never go for a one night stand. Furthermore, he wasn't sure if he would be able to let her go come morning.
Even if Elena decided to heal the normal way, he would pursue her after today. He would do everything to seduce her away from her Salvatores, to make her see that she needed more in a man than what they could ever offer to her. Now that she was aware of his affections, it was likely that she would see him as a potential suitor.
At the same time, Elena thought back on everything that happened to her since her parents had died. It had taken her a long time to realize that Stefan would never be right for her, no matter how much her best friends claimed that they'd be perfect for each other. Stefan had fallen in love with a human Elena who hadn't experienced nearly as much as the person she was now. And for her part, she had fallen in love with the man she thought he was before she first offered him her blood. She had needed to learn to love a new aspect of him almost monthly, and in the end she discovered that she hadn't known Stefan at all. With that came the realization that she wasn't in love with him for a long time, even before he returned from his 'humanity switched off' episode.
Then there was Damon. At least with him, she had always known who he was. He never tried to be someone who he wasn't. She was the one who continuously tried to change him, because he didn't fit into the neat categories she had for people. She had fallen in love with him in the end, because he was the one who opened her eyes to the world, who stood beside her no matter what. He was her rock, her safe harbor for so long. She came to trust him more than anyone. The summer they spent together was magical. But under the threat of Silas, they argued more and more. Damon wanted to control every aspect of her actions. While she was well aware of this trait of his, she thought that after the time they spent together he wouldn't revert back to the way he handled things when they didn't agree on something. So, recently she started to think on how much more their relationship could take before it crumbled.
Finally, Elena thought on the man who was kneeling at her side, patiently waiting for her to come to some kind of decision. She couldn't deny that she found Elijah more than attractive. There was something in him that could draw Elena in like a moth to a flame. As she came to know him better, she realized that their basic principals were exactly the same. He understood and respected her like none other, allowing her to make her own decisions, her own mistakes. He also never hid himself from her. And, despite everything, they had built some kind of a connection. Though, she had never let herself entertain the idea of a romantic relationship. To hear that he had fallen in love with her somewhere along the way was astounding. And, he was the first to say that Katherine was the replacement for her, not the other way around.
Elena knew she should feel guilt for even considering his proposal. He made sure that she couldn't claim ignorance. If she accepted, she would cheat on Damon. She should be turning him down, even if her wounds would be healing much more slowly. But more than anything, she wanted to taste the truth in Elijah's blood. Was he serious when he told her all this? And if it was true, maybe she would have a chance at a relationship that didn't end with monumental heartache and disappointment.
Outwardly calm, inside a raging storm, Elijah impatiently waited for her response. He'd love to share himself with Elena on the deepest level, but he could wait until he succeeded in winning her love.
The moment, Elena locked her warm brown eyes on Elijah's, he hadn't needed more of an answer. He was more than elated, he was overjoyed. As he read the expression in her gaze, his mind raced; she was truly going to offer herself to him.
"Then let me see who you really are." Elena breathed her answer that would seal their path.
To my guest reviewers:
emaluv: Thank You!
Guest: Thank You!
Guest: Thank You!
kyle: I'm happy that you liked the others too.
rose: Thanks! I like scary Elijah too. I update this story every Friday.
bellislefan: If you mean that Hayley should get her due, don't worry it's coming.
DarkAngelmi818: Rebekah is very proud. Yes, she should apologize Elena but I don't think she would do so in the near future, even if they start to build a new relationship. I agree on the Klaus front, and this problem will be mentioned only in a later chapter. There will be more Davina/Elena interaction, but first there will be some serious Elena/Elijah chapters. Thanks for the creative energy, it is very well come:)
Guest: I haven't tackled the Marcel part. Thanks!
A/N: This was chapter eight and I hope I didn't disappoint you with it. I'm also aware that both characters behaving differently than 'normal', but I will refer to creative license.
Please tell your thoughts to me. :)