"Forgive me, Elena…" Elijah said softly, shifting his stance as he watched Elena approach him on the sidewalk when Vivienne had left, "What I said to Vivienne was said in the haste of the moment—it was incredibly self-serving and weak and I shouldn't have said it, especially with all that you're going through right now-"
"I've told you before, that you never have to apologize to me for your humanity," Elena replied, closing the distance between them as she tried to meet Elijah's eyes, but he looked away in shame, "And it doesn't make you weak—don't say that—"
"But, it's true and Klaus was right," Elijah said, shaking his head in disbelief, "It is a weakness…."
Then, suddenly, he lifted his eyes to meet hers and Elena felt a jolt go through her as their connection ignited and he said, "You are my weakness, Elena…You bring out my humanity. Every time I look at you—every time I touch you—when I'm with you, I can't help but have all of these thoughts and feelings for you that I can't control…"
Elena reached out and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together as he whispered, "Even jealously—especially jealousy."
"Elijah, you have the right to feel what you feel…always. And know that I will never judge you for that," Elena encouraged, a small sympathetic smile crossing her lips as she studied his face, "With that being said, I should tell you that the fears you expressed to Vivienne are not justified. Yes, I've been preoccupied since I learned of Stefan's death and my grief for him has caused my mind to wander… But, my heart?"
She brought their entwined hands to her chest,"That is a fixed point and your insecurities won't shake it. You should know that since the moment we met, I have felt everything for you and because of you, Elijah—terror, guilt, sadness, fear, anger, grief, hope, joy and …love."
She closed her eyes and smiled again, clasping their hands tighter as she whispered, "Especially, love. And I can't tell you how grateful I am for it."
"But, what about Damon?" Elijah asked softly, his eyes narrowing as he stepped closer to her until no space existed between them, bringing his free hand to stroke her cheek, "I know that you two –"
The actions caused Elena's eyes to open and focus on him steadily.
"What about him?" she asked, un-phased, "He's my friend and Stefan's brother… and I care for him deeply. I won't deny that if I had remained human and stayed in Mystic Falls, our relationship could have grown into something more than what it was, but I didn't stay in Mystic Falls and I didn't stay human…"
Suddenly, she trailed off and swallowed, her eyes softening on Elijah as she released their hands from her chest and brought both hands to rest on either side of the original's face.
"I made a choice and I don't regret it…" she whispered softly, then moved forward and brought their foreheads together, "But, I know that I would regret if I didn't tell you at least once that…I love you, Elijah."
Elena gave a small smile as she felt Elijah's breath hitch in surprise and wonder at her words and so she spoke them again as she brought her cheek to rest against his.
"I love you…" she said again softly, "And, it's because I love you that I'll be returning to Mystic Falls with you and when this is all over, I will be leaving Mystic Falls with you—"
Suddenly, Elijah cut her off as he brought her swiftly into his embrace, kissing her passionately.
After a few moments, when their lips finally released, Elijah and Elena shared a small smile, their noses resting against one another, before he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "And I love you, Elena Gilbert."
It was then that a panicked voice sounded nearby.
"Oh, my God! We need help over here!"
Elijah and Elena immediately turned to see a handful of people running through the rest area parking lot from all directions to where Elijah's Mercedes was parked.
The two shared a brief look before Elijah sprinted off and Elena followed on his heels.
As he rounded the hood of the car, he saw the group circled around a collapsed figure on the ground.
It was Vivienne.
"I'll call an ambulance," the rest stop attendant said and quickly left the circle, leaving an opening for Elijah to get through and fall to his knees at the witch's side.
# # # # # #
"Hey Bon-Bon," Damon called out as he approached Bonnie in the upstairs hall as she exited the bedroom that once belonged to Esther Mikaelson and eyed the stash in her hands before teasing her, "What's with the witchy ingredients? Cooking up a demise for our hunter friend? If so, do me a favor and throw in a little extra dark revenge for me, kay?"
Bonnie smirked
"I wish it was that simple," she said, "But, unfortunately for us, Dominic is still not that easy to kill or subdue. Misha just asked me to raid Mama Original's room. It was the one place he knew we could find 'witchy ingredients' as you so eloquently put it. Klaus isn't healing the way he's supposed to from the wolfsbane and Misha thinks that he might be able to concoct something to help get his vampire healing juices flowing again."
"I see," Damon said, his eyes narrowing in thought for a moment before Bonnie's voice broke him from his trance.
"What are you doing up here?" she asked, eying him up and down and taking notice of the pile of coins in his fist.
"Me? I'm on patrol," Damon replied, "Dominic hasn't found us yet, but Misha has charged Kol and I with look-out duties while we are holed up here. Something about how we are the strongest fighters with Klaus out of commission—we've been trading shifts."
"And the coins?" Bonnie asked, intrigued
"A little trick we picked up a while back to counter-act Dominic's vampire hearing," Damon replied, "We've been keeping them in hand just in case he ever comes within distance of the house and we decided that we needed to keep him in the dark regarding our plans if we eventually want to get a jump on him."
"He's a demonically powered, mindless, soulless vampire hunter…." Bonnie countered with a quirked eyebrow, "What 'jump'?"
"Touché," Damon smirked as he watched Bonnie turn on her heel and walk back down the hallway toward Klaus' bedroom.
Damon looked after her for a moment before he picked up a noise with his vampire hearing—it was a distant sound—a car approaching outside.
He closed his fist tightly around the coins and, with vampire speed moved immediately to the opposite end of the hall to peer outside the large stain glass window there, his green eyes widening in surprise when he saw a dark blue pick-up pull into the circle drive of the Mikaelson Mansion.
Damon watched for a moment as two young men jumped out of the back of the truck and the driver and passenger side door opened simultaneously.
# # # # # # #
Rebekah and Kol sensed the visitors about the same time as Damon Salvatore had and, when the front doorbell rang a few moments later, Jeremy immediately hit pause on the video game they were playing and watched as the two vampires quickly moved to the front hall, just as Caroline came through the swinging kitchen doors.
"I thought I heard a car," she said, still wiping her hands on a dishtowel before throwing it over her shoulder, "Who could be here?" she shifted her eyes to Rebekah, "You said Elijah and Elena were hours away still."
"They are…" Rebekah replied, narrowing her eyes in curiosity, "Who else would know that we are here?"
Kol peeked out through one of the stain glass side window panels on either side of the front door and smirked as he said in a low voice, "You've got to be kidding…"
"What is it?" Rebekah asked, touching her brother's shoulder as Kol pulled back, throwing the lock and opening the door.
Rebekah and Caroline both let out a surprised gasp when they saw the sight on the other side of the threshold—three tall, young Native American men dressed in t-shirts, worn jeans, and boots. They looked to be in their early to mid-twenties, with stern, yet non-threatening expressions.
"Algonquins…" Rebekah whispered as she eyed the natives whom she immediately recognized as those whose ancestors were among three of the tribes her family first knew when they lived to the new world a thousand years before.
The two parties stood silently eying one another before Kol stepped forward.
"Washtay…" the original said, greeting men in their native tongue and a raising hand in salute.
The natives seemed quietly stunned by the action until one of them stepped forward
"Washtay," the young man in the center of the group replied, returning the greeting and raising his own hand in a respectful salute, then once standing in the threshold, lowered his hand and spoke in a kind tone, "Is Kaspar here?"
"Kaspar?" Kol asked softly, then cast a glance over his shoulder to his sister and Caroline before looking back to the young men before them, shifting his gaze to their leader, "I'm afraid he's dead."
The leader absorbed this information for a moment before he replied, "Then, we are here to serve his brother, Misha—"
"Misha!" Damon's voice suddenly sounded nearby and everyone turned to watch the vampire descending the stairway toward them as he called back over his shoulder, "The wolf boys from Twilight are here for you!"
Caroline and Jeremy tried hard not to laugh at Damon's jab.
"We are not wolves," the leader spoke up in a steady voice, studying Damon haughtily as the vampire reached the bottom of the steps, "But, we are spirit warriors like our fathers before us. We work in service of Chogan White Feather, Shaman of our people—speaker of the dead."
Suddenly, the group parted and bowed their heads solemnly as a tall, thin man, who looked to be in his mid to late seventies, dressed in a blue dress shirt, stone washed jeans, cowboy boots and carried a long stick walking cane approached slowly up the front steps and came to the threshold where the vampires all stood in awe.
"Washtay," the old man smiled, tipping the woven Panama straw hat upon his gray head
To Caroline and Damon's surprise, Kol and Rebekah immediately bowed respectfully, closing their eyes in reverence to the man standing before them.
"Arise, my friends, Please," The older man bade them, touching Kol on the shoulder, "That is not necessary."
When Kol and Rebekah arose, the old man looked upon the faces of all present, his eyes dilating as he pulled forth a vision.
"Much grief and pain has touched you all within a short amount of time. From your thoughts I gather that our enemy is both demonic and devoid of a human soul and human emotions—you fear him greatly. He hunts you…" the old man said in a soft tone, then continued, "You have a plan to destroy him, but you do not know how to trap him so that you can perform your work…"
"No," a voice sounded nearby and Misha appeared on the steps, Bonnie close behind him, "No we don't. He's dangerous and possesses all the skill and strength of a vampire himself. We don't have the physical or magical strength to stop him or even trap him. I'm guessing that is why my brother sent for you."
The old man blinked, returning his eyes to normal.
"Misha Devaraux, I presume?" he asked as the warlock made his way through the crowd of vampires in the entry way to face the shaman at the threshold
Misha nodded then spoke reverently, "And you are Chogan White Feather, Speaker of the Dead. Your legend precedes you, Great one. My brother spoke of you often, though I had no idea he had called upon you to assist us in this matter…but, I must tell you that I am relieved beyond words that he did so."
"I received word from him last week," Chogan said, "He phoned me as he was boarding the plane to come here. He said that his family was facing a great threat from their past. That you were facing a demonic hunter made by dark magics that could only be brought down by dark magics. He didn't give many details beyond that, but, seeing as he was the only practitioner among you, he asked me to do him this great favor. Forgive the late timing; it was a long drive from Manitoba. I don't like to fly."
"Of course. Won't you come in?" Misha suddenly said, remembering his manners and stepping back from the door, before giving Kol a light shove out of the way to make a path for their guest.
"Thank you," Chogun acknowleged, then looked over his shoulder to his young companions who immediately turned and left the porch where they had been standing behind him, stepping down onto the lawn and one by one transforming themselves into a bear, a bobcat and an elk before scattering in different directions to guard the house.
"Whoa…" Damon whispered as he and the others watched the events unfold in amazement, then the older Salvatore brother's gaze shifted to the shaman and he asked, "So how is it that you knew Kaspar, exactly?"
The shaman smirked as he removed his hat and handed it and his stick to Caroline, who took it graciously from him.
"Well, Damon Salvatore," Chogun replied calmly, watching as Damon's eyes widened at the realization that the shaman knew who he was, "Many centuries ago, when Kaspar was banished from his village, his escorts encountered our people in the woods as they took him to his new home in exile. A fight broke out and the escorts were killed. When they learned of his abilities upon that first meeting, the warriors of our tribe recognized a kindred spirit who also had magic in his veins. They brought him before my grandfather, who claimed him as his apprentice."
"Apprentice…" Damon replied, "Of what?"
"Necromancy," Chogun answered solemnly
"Wait..." Caroline chimed in, causing the old shaman to turn back toward her, "Your grandfather? Exactly how old are you?"
"I was born in 1014 AD." Chogun replied without hesitation
"Guess he wins the age pool..." Damon quipped out of the side of his mouth and Bonnie chuckled