When the Mercedes came to a halt in the parking space outside the rest stop, Elijah opened the door and got out of the car.
A few moments later, the passenger side door opened and Vivienne followed, watching as Elijah walked to the open back passenger window and looked through toward the solemn and steady face of Elena Gilbert.
"Elena, can I get you anything?" he asked in a kind voice
"No," Elena replied, her eyes looking straight ahead as she leaned back against the head rest, then turned toward him slightly and gave a half smile, "Thank you, though."
Then, after a moment's pause, she turned away from him slowly to face forward again and Elijah pulled back from the window.
He placed the car keys in his trouser pocket as he stepped up onto the sidewalk and met Vivienne as she rounded the front of the car toward him.
They had been on the road back to Mystic Falls for about an hour, but with Vivienne's doom hanging over him and Elena's silence, coupled with her vacant stares from the back seat, it felt more like an eternity to Elijah.
But, then again, what is an eternity when you've already lived a thousand years.
Vivienne took his arm as they up the sidewalk toward the park near the rest stop facility building.
"She'll be alright…" Vivienne whispered, leaning in toward him and Elijah thought he felt her body tremble
"Are you alright?" he asked leaning back to look down at her face
"Me?" she smirked, waving him off, "I'm fine."
Then she continued, "Just be patient. Elena needs time with her thoughts—time to process her pain and grief."
"Believe me," he sighed as he led her to a nearby picnic table and they took a seat, "After a thousand years and losing so many people close to me, I understand that better than anyone. But, what worries me—and it selfish of me, I know— is the 'time with her thoughts' part of it all."
There was a silence as Vivienne watched Elijah lean back on the bench and put his elbows on the table, before a realization came to her.
"I see…" she smiled sadly as she eyed the original, "You're worried that Elena's grief will make her re-examine her feelings for you?"
Elijah didn't say anything, he just looked down
"Elijah, Elena loves you—"
"It's always every day implied, but never truly tested or even said between us—" Elijah pointed out
"Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that when confronted with so many paths at her feet, she chose the path that led to you, Elijah. Do not forget that she became a vampire for you, she left her friends and her family and even the Salvatore brothers behind to be with you."
"But, she still has a history with them—"
"Don't give me that 'history' nonsense," Vivienne scoffed, "If this is a contest over who has the most history with that girl, you would win hands down. You two are soul mates. The fates created you as doppelgangers thousands of years ago— meant to find each other throughout the centuries, across space and time. So listen to me when I tell you that I don't think you need to fear taking her back to Mystic Falls."
"I know she has feelings for him," Elijah said softly, looking up to the witch
"Who?" Vivienne inquired
"Damon Salvatore," Elijah replied, "I've seen it—Hell, I've even encouraged it in the past, but that was before—"
"I've heard enough," Vivienne suddenly said raising her hand and slowly standing as she closed her eyes, "All of this babbling is giving me a terrible headache. I've had enough fresh air. I'm heading back to the car."
"Vivienne, I'm sorry—" Elijah said, immediately rising as he watched her touch her hand to her forehead, "I had no idea you felt unwell or I would not have gone on like that—"
"Please, don't worry about me" Vivienne whispered, waving him off as he reached out to help her, "Besides, this will give the two of you plenty of time to hash out everything you need to before we reach the Mystic Falls town limits. I'll just be in the way anyhow and I don't want to intrude on a such a private moment since you obviously need to talk—"
"Talk?" Elijah quirked an eyebrow, "To whom?"
Suddenly, a presence nearby drew his attention and he turned to face Elena now standing on the path in front of him.
"Elena," Vivienne smirked, touching his shoulder as she passed him, heading back toward the car, "Who heard everything you just said. Vampire hearing, remember?"
# # # # # # # #
"Yes!" Jeremy cried triumphantly as he watched his racecar, driven by Luigi cross the Mario Kart finish line first.
"I don't understand…" Kol grimaced as he squinted toward the television screen in the front parlor, then threw down his controller on the coffee table, "I had those green shell bomb thingies until the flying ghost took them away! I should have won! What sort of corrupted race is this?!"
"My kind," Rebekah smirked as she plucked up the dropped controller, ready to pick up the next race before looking over her shoulder to Caroline standing at the window.
"Elijah and Elena are still hours away, so staring out the window intensely won't bring them here any sooner" she said as she nodded to Jeremy and he set up the next racing course for them.
"Kol are sure that Dominic didn't catch sight of you, Rebekah and Misha in the woods? That he didn't follow you here? Klaus is still weak—" Caroline replied, her tone worried as she turned back from the window, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He didn't follow us," Kol assured her as he leaned back onto the couch cushions between Rebekah and Jeremy, watching the television, "We were sure. Besides, he won't make a move again until he sees Elijah return to Mystic Falls. And don't worry about Klaus, he's a hybrid, remember? Once Misha and Bonnie cure him fully, he'll be able to fend for himself."
# # # # # # # #
"This isn't right," Bonnie whispered as she kneeled on the king size bed and closely examined the veining pattern that still ran up and down Klaus' back even after she had spent the last few minutes willing a healing spell over the flesh,"You should be healing faster than this."
"Sorry to disappoint, Love," Klaus smirked in a weak voice as Misha, who had been holding him steady on his side while Bonnie worked her magic, gently rolled him over onto his back and pulled the sheets of the bed up around his legs and torso.
"You have fed since we did the last healing ritual, right?" Bonnie inquired
"Of—Of course," Klaus said, looking from the witch to Misha, his eyes tired, "Nosy..."
"Well, then I'm officially stumped. The healing rituals should be having more of an effect than they are..." Bonnie shrugged, then looked over to Misha, who had moved his eyes to Klaus and fixed them on the original intensely, "Misha?"
"Hmmm?" Misha suddenly looked up, the question seemingly pulling him out of his thoughts
"Are you alright?" Bonnie asked, narrowing her eyes
"Fine," Misha lied, then put on a fake smile as he walked around the end of the bed to the witch, "Bonnie, I saw some healing poultices and herbs down the hall in the rooms that used to be Esther's chambers. Would you mind going up there and retrieving them? It was a very high dose of wolfsbane that he ingested, perhaps a more aggressive treatment is what's needed to jump start his healing abilities."
"Alright," Bonnie agreed, somewhat weary of the request, then with one last look toward an exhausted Klaus, turned and left the room
As soon as she was gone, Misha walked quickly back over to the original's bedside and took a seat on the edge of the matress.
"You lied to Bonnie, didn't you?" He asked pointedly, an eyebrow raised
"I don't know what your talking about," Klaus replied haughtily
"Do not lie to me Niklaus Haakon Mikaleson. I've known you too long for that..." Misha said in a stern voice, "Where are they?"
"Where are what?" Klaus replied, smoothing the bed sheet over his legs nervously with the palms of his hands.
"Look, we don't have much time before Bonnie returns. Tell me where the blood bags are." Misha replied
Klaus flared his nostrils and looked away
There was a moment of tense silence
"How long have you known?" the original finally asked in a low voice
"I think part of me knew when you threw up the blood in the Salvatore mausoleum the morning after Dominic attacked you…" Misha replied, "But, it wasn't confirmed until Bonnie asked you about your feeding habits just now."
Klaus just let out a measured breath
"In fact," Misha continued, "As I was listening to her, the pieces started to come together in my mind. We were so busy fighting Dominic, dealing with the deaths of our friends and loved ones and keeping ourselves from being killed that I never truly noticed before…"
"Noticed what, exactly?" Klaus inquired, casting a look at Misha out of the corner of his eyes
"That you haven't actually had a drop of blood since you rose out of that coffin in your brother's body. You've asked for blood, yes—but it's an automatic response—a habit, isn't it? And I've seen people hand you blood…but you never drank it."
Klaus closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke, "Caroline brought me some blood while you were gone, but..."
"You couldn't drink it," Misha finished
"No," Klaus affirmed
"Because it makes you sick—you can't keep it down can you?" Misha inquired, "Your body is rejecting it. It's not what it wants or needs anymore."
"Yes," Klaus replied sheepishly, "I told her that I drank it, but the truth is that I hid it under the loose floorboards at the end of the bed so she wouldn't find it."
Misha lowered his head and nodded for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet Klaus' once more. This time his voice was more familiar.
"We'll take care of it later," Misha said softly, then leaned forward, "How long have you known, Nik?"
"I started to notice little things over time since I came back in Ioan's body. There were days when I found myself unable to use my vampire abilities… but I think I've felt it so much more since my powers were awakened in the mausoleum," Klaus admitted, his eyes pained as he trailed off, overwhelmed with emotion
"I could tell you I'm sorry for you, but the truth is that I'm not," Misha said, giving a small smile
"How do you think this could have happened?" Klaus choked out
"I don't know…A side effect of the magic Esther used to preserve Ioan's body, perhaps, or the fact that he was killed while in his werewolf form?" Misha whispered, shaking his head in disbelief as he reached a tentative hand forward toward Klaus' arm lying on the bed and gently taking hold of his wrist reassuringly, "That could explain why it's taken so long for things to progress to this point, why you slowly watched your abilities disappear and why we've never noticed that it was happening before now. It's old magic that takes time to awaken. But, it definitely explains why you aren't healing as fast as you should from you ordeal with Dominic…"
"I'm not a vampire…" Klaus affirmed, looking down to Misha's hand on his arm and watching the warlocks' eyes suddenly widen as he felt the slight warmth of the original's skin and faint pulse now beating under it.
"No," Misha smirked, "You're becoming human."