"What did Adrian want?" Elijah asked Klaus once he took the phone away.

Klaus sighed. "He wants to avenge Selina. After today, I can't say that I blame him, really."

"You mean you're really going to try to go against Mother?" Elijah asked. "I don't know if that's foolish or not."

Klaus shrugged. "Well, based on what's been happening to her, we wouldn't be the only ones who want her dead and gone."

"But we still don't know who's threatening her, do we?" Elijah asked.

"Actually," Klaus told her, "I do. Enid has problems with Mother. Says that she's the one who ruined her life."

Elijah frowned. "And who is Enid, exactly? I don't think I've ever met her."

Klaus grinned slightly. "Well, I don't see why you'd have any reason to," he said. "Enid is Vanessa's twin sister, the witch who created werewolves."

"And what does she want with Mother?" Elijah asked.

Klaus shook his head. "I don't think I can tell you that," he said. "But I do have to leave if I want to accomplish anything." He paused and looked at Selina. "Would you watch her for me?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course I will," he said. "You can trust me."

Klaus nodded. "I know." He looked down at Selina who was sleeping and gently roused her. "I'm leaving," he said. "Elijah will take care of you while I'm gone."

Selina smiled drowsily. "Okay," she said. "Goodbye, Nicky. And good luck."

After Klaus got on his way, Elijah went back to Selina's room and wondered what to do with her. He couldn't take care of her properly all by himself. No.

He got on the phone and called Astrid. "Could you come by?" He asked her. "I have a favor I need to ask you."

"What is it?" Astrid asked when she arrived. "Is everything all right?"

Elijah nodded. "Well, sort of. There was an incident at Lucy's birthday party. Selina and Mother got into a fight about who killed Susan. Selina took the blame for Niklaus and now she's badly hurt. Could you do something for her? Stop her pain?"

"What happened to her?" Astrid asked. "What are her wounds?"

"All of her limbs are broken," Elijah said, leading her to the room where Selina lay. "Oh my god," Astrid said quietly. "Your mother really fought her, didn't she?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes."

Selina roused again, moaning. "I brought Astrid," Elijah told her. "She says she can do something for your pain."

"Yay," Selina said with a weak laugh.

"I can do more than I used to be able to," Astrid said. "I had a strange dream several nights ago where I was visited by Vanessa's sister Hazel, the head of the witches. She gave me back my powers. Told me I'd be needing them soon and to use them well."

She made Selina a potion and told her to drink it.

"Will this cure me completely?" Selina asked.

"It will take away your pain, but it will make you very weak," Astrid said. "You will have to learn how to walk all over again. It will take time and patience."

Selina groaned, but drank it anyway.

The next afternoon, Selina woke up pain free. She stretched out, smiled, and called out her open door, "Hey, Elijah! Astrid was wrong. I'm perfectly fine!" But when she sat up and tried to get out of bed, her legs gave out and she landed in a heap next to her bed. "Never mind," she called. "Astrid was right. Help me!"

Just then, Elijah came in, carrying Lucy. "Oh, here." He put Lucy down, picked Selina up and put her back on the bed. "Astrid's decided to stay," he said. "To bathe you and dress you and whatnot."

"Aw," Selina said. "And I was so hoping youwould."

Then, before Elijah could respond, they saw something astonishing: Lucy was struggling to get to her feet. She stood up on wobbly legs, took three steps, and then fell down. This process repeated three more times until she was able to stay on her feet long enough to toddle out of the room.

"Wow," Selina sighed. "My one year old daughter is more independent than I am." Then, she looked at Elijah and grinned. "Actually, I don't think that'll be so bad."

He rolled his eyes and put her back on the bed. "I better go catch Lucy before she hurts herself." He ran out of the room, leaving Selina alone. She was beginng to doze off when her door burst open. She sat up and gasped. Damon was standing on the other side of the door. He strode in and gazed worriedly at her. "Stefan told me what happened," he said. "Why did you do it? I mean, look at yourself!"

Selina looked down at her body. "I don't think I look so bad, considering," she said.

"Why did you let yourself get hurt?" He asked. "It was a stupid thing to do."

Selina shook her head. "It wasn't stupid. I was protecting somebody I love. You'd do the same thing."

Damon scoffed. "You can't love Klaus. I refuse to believe that you do."

"And why is that?" Selina asked.

"Because," Damon said, "He doesn't love you back. He doesn't care about you at all. He's done horrible things to you that I had to hear about every day of the year that you lived with me."

"So things can't change?" Selina asked. "You know, Aleksandr always says the same thing about you. He wanted me to bring you as my date to Lucy's party so he could give you the flailing of your life. But I told him no. I told him that you and I were friends now and that he should mind his own damn business and leave you alone."

"I could have taken him," Damon said. "I didn't need you to protect me."

"Yeah, well as hard as it may be for you to believe, I don't need you to protect me either. I can manage just fine by myself, so why don't you just go home to Sam and let me get through this on my own." Selina said.

Damon scoffed again and threw his hands up. "Fine," he said. "You do what you feel is right. But I think you're making a big mistake."

"Well, you're entitled to your opinion," she said. "But before you leave, did you only come here to berate me, or did you have something else you wanted to say?"

Damon paused. "Just that Sam's walking now. I thought you'd want to know."

Selina nodded. "Lucy is too. Thanks for letting me know."

Damon gave her a long look and shut the door softly behind him.

Almost as soon as it closed, Elijah opened it again. "Is everything all right?" He asked. "I could bring you out of here if you want a change of scenery."

She nodded. "I'd like that. If it's not too much trouble."

He shook his head. "Of course not." He picked her up and carried her to the living room, laying her down on the sofa. "So what was all the yelling about?"

Selina sighed. "Oh, nothing. Damon's just upset about what happened to me and is showing it by acting like a total ass."

Elijah frowned. "And what does that mean, exactly?"

"He asked me why I took the blame for Susan's death," she said.

Elijah leaned forward. "I'm curious. And just what did you tell him?"

She swallowed. "I told him that I saved Nicky because...because I love him and even though I know he would have come out of whatever your mother had in mind all right, much better than me, in fact, I couldn't stand to see him hurt. That's why I took the bullet. Stupid, I know, but...what's happend has happened. And when I told Damon that I saved Nicky because I loved him, Damon was shocked. Said I couldn't possibly love Nicky because of all the problems we've had in the past, problems that I complained to Damon about constantly after Nicky's incident with Vanessa."

"But you do love Niklaus?" Elijah said quietly.

Selina nodded. "I do. And I love Damon too, in my way. Not romantically of course, anymore, but he's a part of my life. A very important one. And today, he sounded like Aleksandr always does when he berates me for still keeping Damon in my life. But there's nothing wrong with that, is there? Keeping people you once loved in your life as friends because they've touched some part of you deeply and you don't want to let them go? Damon and Aleksandr always make it seem like you can only love one person your entire life and that's all, but I think if people were only allowed to love one other person their whole lives, then everyone's lives would be terribly lonely, wouldn't they? I know it's wrong, I know it's sick, even. But I just..."

"You know what it feels like to be lonely, don't you?" He replied.

She nodded. "I do. I knew Aleksandr had left because I was all alone in our big house. And that was before cell phones or the internet, so I couldn't call him or email him asking 'where the hell are you?' All I could do was pace around wondering if I'd done anything to drive him away. Now I know the answer, and it doesn't make me feel any better."

"So Aleksandr is the one man you can't forgive?" Elijah asked. "You can forgive Damon and Niklaus for any number of infractions, but you can't ever forgive Aleksandr."

"He left me so that Nicky could kill me!" Selina cried. "He knew I was in danger and like a coward, he ran away!"

"But nothing happened to you, did it?" Elijah asked. "You were able to move on and live your life. And when Niklaus actually did come to you, it wasn't as bad as you feared, was it?"

"No," Selina huffed. "I guess not. I just...I'm sick of people acting like they love me and just leaving me alone. I don't like it!"

"Nobody does," Elijah said. "And you've been through more then most people in a lifetime. But now, I think you're just making excuses for yourself. You've been abandoned so many times that you're really afraid to trust any man completely. That's why you keep others in the wings, so that if one does leave, you have someone to fall back on. Is that really fair to them?"

"Well is it wrong of me to expect a commitment out of somebody when they say they love me?" Selina asked. "It used to be that those words meant something when somebody said them to you!"

"This is why I'm glad Niklaus went away," Elijah said. "You have a lot of anger in you. Bad things have happened to you, but instead of letting yourself work through them and heal, you carry your hurt around with you. It's poisoned every relationship that you've ever had. Don't you just want to be able to let it go?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. It sounds like a good idea, but...I don't know. There might not ever be someone I trust that much."

Elijah stood up. "Astrid called," he said. "She told me that once you woke up today, I should try and get some walking out of you. Just so we can be sure your muscles don't forget how."

"What?" Selina cried.

Elijah grinned. "Not much. Just a little. Like Lucy." He held out his hand. "Do you trust me?"

Selina stared into his earnest eyes for a moment, then slowly reached out her hand. He grasped it tightly and pulled her to her feet. She wobbled a little, then her legs gave out and she fell forward. He helped her stand again and put one firm hand on her waist, with his other hand firmly placed in her right one. "There," he said. "Now try and take a step."

"Okay," Selina said. She slid her right foot forward and then firmly placed it on the carpet. "I did it!" She crowed. "I moved my foot!"

Elijah grinned. "Now try the other one."

Selina made another step with her left foot, wincing. "It hurts when my feet touch the floor," she said.

"You know," Elijah told her, "In The Little Mermaid, the fable of course, not the movie, part of the maid's deal with the sea witch when she gets her legs is that every time the maid's feet touch ground, it feels as if she's walking on several sharp swords."

Selina winced again as she took another step. "I know how that feels."

"Take one more," he said. "Then we'll let you rest."

Just then, Lucy came toddling into the living room. She was moving quite easily. Selina watched her with narrowed eyes and as Lucy reached them, Selina muttered under her breath, "Little show-off."

"Now be nice," Elijah whispered very close to her ear.

Lucy was clutching a bear firmly in her grasp and she sat down just right in front of Selina, causing Selina to lose what little balance she had and fall back into Elijah's arms again. "Can we be done for today?" Selina asked.

Elijah looked at the clock. "Astrid will be here to help you get ready any minute now," he said. He sat her back down on the sofa just as the phone rang. He went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Elijah, Hi." It was Astrid. "I just thought I'd let you know that Alistair is having a problem and I don't think I'll be able to make it to your house today like I promised. I'm really sorry, but do you think you can manage Selina for today? It'll only be this once, I promise."

"If it's absolutely necessary, then I suppose I can manage today," he said. "Take care of yourself, Astrid." He hung up the phone and went back into the living room.

"What did Astrid have to say?" Selina asked, grinning a little. "Will she not be able to come?"

Elijah shook his head. "Apparently, something is happening with Alistair that requires she stay home. I'll be taking care of you, but just for today."

"Well, thank you," Selina said. "Lucky me."

Elijah put Lucy in her playpen and then carried Selina to the bathroom, turning the bath water on and sitting Selina down on the stool next to the tub. Then, he just looked at her.

"Well?" Selina said. "I can't really bathe in my clothes, now can I?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, of course not." He took a hesitant step toward her, closed his eyes and pulled off one sleeve of her nightgown at a time. Once it was off and beside the tub, he opened his eyes again. She was wearing lace panties.

"It's okay to look, you know," she said. "I mean, it's not like you have any other choice, but..."

His head snapped up and he found himself looking at a very bemused Selina. She was positioned so that her entire body was visible to him. He tried to look away, but he couldn't.

"Look," Selina said. Suddenly, she fell forward and landed on her knees on the bathroom floor.

He got down on his knees next to her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I meant to do that. Now get me on my back. We have to get my panties off."

He shut his eyes, breathing deeply. He got her onto her back. Then he froze up again.

"Oh, come on," Selina said. "If we keep on delaying like this, the bath water will get cold. Now is there anything I can do to help you? If you need to touch me to get in the proper clothing removal frame of mind, that's okay. I don't mind."

Elijah shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he said through his teeth. He stood up and turned to face her. "I'll be back in a minute."

He strode out of the bathroom and returned a few minutes later, clad only in a pair of navy blue trunks. He got down on his knees again. "Now where we?"

Selina looked up. "We have to get my panties off," she reminded him.

He sighed. "Oh, yes." He'd decided while changing that touching her would be the best way to handle this. He wouldn't do too much, and besides, she had given him permission. He placed his finger at the base of her throat and slowly brought it down her body, hooking it just under the waistband of her panties, allowing himself to touch her warm skin just below her belly button. Ignoring her gasp, he slowly pulled her panties down took them off her, and threw them beside the tub. She was lying completely naked before him now, a spark of mischief in her eyes. "You want to look for a little while?" She asked. "Or touch?"

He began shaking his head, reaching for her to pull her up so he could put her in the tub, but then he said, "I suppose. Just so I know where it hurts. I wouldn't want to get you in any more pain than you already are."

"Oh, sure," Selina nodded earnestly. "Of course."

He started on her right shoulder and slowly worked his hand down her arm, applying gentle pressure to check for soreness. She winced a couple of times, sucking in her breath. When he was done with her right, he did the same process with her left, which wasn't as bad as her right had been. Then, he checked her legs, starting at the hip joint and moving slowly downward. This time, though, the gentle pressure was accompanied by gentle massages, beginning with her inner thighs and working down toward her feet She gasped several times, whether from pain or pleasure, he wasn't sure. Finally, he picked her up and placed her in the tub. Then, he got in with her so he could grab her in case she fell under the water.

"The sponges are over by the soap," she said quietly. "And you didn't have to wear trunks."

"Yes," he nodded. "I did."

He looked around the tub and found some of Susan's shampoo still sitting on the edge. He took the bottle and squeezed some of it out, slowly working it through Selina's long hair with both hands. Then, he rinsed it off with the sprayhead of the shower and repeated the process one more time. Then, he took a loofah from around the faucet and looked at Selina, indicating Susan's collection of body washes. "Which one do you like?" He asked.

"That vanilla rose one," she replied, nodding toward a pink bottle on the far right of the tub. He took it, opened the bottle, and put some gel on the loofah. "Now are you sure you're going to be comfortable with this?" Selina asked.

He looked up at her. "Oh, please," he said. "This has to be done. There's no other way. And it's not like I've never done it before. I mean, not with you of course, but..."

"Yeah, yeah," Selina nodded. "I get it."

He lathered up the loofah and slowly began working down her neck and collarbone and over her arms. Then, he stopped again. She rolled her eyes and took his hand with the loofah still in it and rubbed it on her breasts and stomach. Then, just as she was about to ask him to bring up one of her legs to wash that off, he let the loofah go into the water and pulled her to him. He stared at her for a moment, anger and desire competing in his gaze. Before she could open her mouth to ask what the matter was, he captured her mouth in his and kissed her deeply. But as soon as the kiss began, it ended. He pushed her away from himself. Then, he seemed to change his mind and pulled her to him again. This time, the kiss was a little longer. His hands were going down her back and her fingers were in his hair. When they pulled apart a second time, he said, "We should get out now. I think we're done."

She cleared her throat and nodded. "I think so."

He boosted himself out of the tub and then lifted her out, and quickly but thoroughly toweled her off. Then he helped her dress and sat her down at his sink to dry her hair. Once her hair was dry, he brushed it, with gentle strokes over and over again. She had such nice hair.

"Where would you like me to put you now?" He asked her when he'd finished.

"Back in the living room, I think," Selina said.

"Would you like to try and walk there?" He asked.

She sighed. "Sure, why not?"

He took her hand and slowly but surely they made it to the living room where he lay her down on the sofa. "I wonder how Nicky and Adrian are doing," she said.

"Why are we stopping at Alistair and Astrid's first?" Adrian asked Klaus. "If what you told me about Enid is true, we'll have plenty of magical assistance."

"Well, I just thought you'd want to check with Helene and ask if she wants to come along," Klaus said. "But if you don't..."

"No," Adrian said quickly, "I do." They went into the house and the first person they saw was Alistair. "Mind if we borrow your daughter for awhile?" Klaus asked him.

Alistair said nothing, but his face twisted into a smug grin that was very unlike him. "I know you," he said. "You're the one who took away the little upstart who dared to dethrone me. I thank you."

"What are you talking about?" Adrian asked. "Are you all right, Alistair? Where's Helene?"

"Who?" He asked. "Oh, the pretty girl. Take her. It doesn't matter one way or the other."

He headed upstairs and a few minutes later, they heard grunting and groaning as Alistair dragged Helene down the stairs. "Here," he said, throwing her at Adrian. "With what she's got coming to her, she could use an ally."

He strode away from them and they hurried Helene out of the house and into the car in case he decided to come back.

"What's wrong with your dad?" Adrian asked her.

Helene shrugged. "I don't know. He's been like this ever since he got his magic taken away. At first he was just, you know, moody and staying in his room all the time, but now he's not talking like himself. He's so angry. And he's taking it out on me."

Adrian looked at his father. "At least whoever Alistair is seems to like you."

Klaus nodded. "Seems like it."

"He's the man who was the head of Daddy's tribe, obviously," Helene said. "The one Daddy killed."

"And he waited five-hundred years to take revenge?" Adrian asked. "I wonder why?"

"I don't know," Helene said. "He's always saying that I have something coming to me and it scares me. A lot. But I guess it's time for me to pay the piper for wanting to come back after I died. That's no small favor, is it?"

"Don't worry about it," Adrian said. "We'll deal with it, whatever it is."

Once they arrived at their hotel room, they could think of nothing but bed. They had a two room suite; Klaus took one room, and Adrian and Helene took the other.

"Do you really think that whatever it is that's going to happen to you has to do with you wanting to come back?" Adrian asked as they unpacked.

"Well, yeah," Helene nodded. "What else would it be? That Tessa girl is probably going to be allowed to kill me and take her body back. But if that's the case, you'll still fight for me, right?"

"Yeah," Adrian said, a beat too late. "Of course I would."

Helene narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "No, you wouldn't," she said. "You told me that you wanted me to go into the light so you could be with her! If I hadn't taken her body, you'd still feel the same way!"

"Have I told you how sorry I am about that?" Adrian asked. "If I haven't, then I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"I don't believe you," Helene said. "I think you're lying. And don't try to weasel out of this by kissing me either!"

"I'm not lying," Adrian said. "What do I have to do to convince you of that? Throw myself under a bus? Not that that would hurt me for long, but..."

"Oh, shut up!" Helene said. "Just shut up!"

"Hey," Adrian said, "You died, okay? And when you were a ghost, I couldn't be with you anyway, so what was the point of us even being with each other?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Helene yelled back. "Companionship? Good conversation? Everything doesn't have to be about sex, you know! But that's why Miss Tessa was so appealing, right?" Helene continued to rage. "Cause you could screw her? Did she charge by the hour or what?"

Adrian pushed Helene hard against the wall. "Don't talk about Tessa like that," he said dangerously.

"Oh, my god," Helene said when he let her go. "You loved her, didn't you?" She said. "You would have been happy in a relationship that was no better than the one your parents have. Not that we can't sympathize with them. I died trying to save your from Anthony, your mom took the bullet for your dad at Lucy's birthday party...and neither of us have men who are willing to return the favor."

"I don't have to put up with this," Adrian said. "And I'm not going to. You can be as mad as you want, but what Tessa and I had is something that you will never understand. You're an important part of my life, but so was she and if she comes back, I'm not going to let her go just because you are a jealous, insecure witch."

He strode out of the room, leaving Helene alone.

"What was going on in there?" Klaus asked.

Adrian grabbed a small bottle of vodka out of the mini fridge and downed it. "Helene's just freaked out that her punishment for taking Tessa's body will be that Tessa will be allowed to come back and kill her. That and she's all mad just because I told her that if Tessa ever did come back, I'd still want to have her in my life. Is that wrong?"

"It depends," Klaus said. "Would you sleep with her? Tessa, I mean?"

"Well she was my mate, Dad," Adrian said. "Does it make you jealous that Mom still keeps in touch with the guys she used to be with?"

"The only one that would really worry me is your uncle Aleksandr, but she hates him, so I have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, yeah," Adrian grinned. "I remember that time that she and Uncle Aleksandr and I went out to a restaurant together cause you wanted me to spy on them and I totally wrecked their date!"

Klaus nodded. "Yeah, you wore a suit for me. You're a good son."

"Well, thank you," Adrian said in surprise. Just then, their happy family reveries were broken by a piercing shriek. They ran into the bedroom. Helene was pale and her eyes were wide. "No," she said. "No, go away! Leave me alone!" They looked around, but saw nothing.

Helene was sweating profusely now and clawing at her face. Adrian held her down on the bed, yelling, "Helene, calm down. It's okay!"

Presently, she whimpered quietly and slowly relaxed, her eyes closing slowly, her breathing steadying.

Klaus and Adrian looked at one another. "I don't care how mad she is at me," Adrian said. "I'm staying in here tonight."