Elena poured herself a drink from Damon's bourbon. After the last twenty-four hours, she needed a damned drink. Not to mention that things didn't threaten to get much better anytime soon. She got away from Stefan, but now she was gonna have to deal with Klaus on a permanent basis. "You want one, Jeremy?"

"You're offering me a drink? I'm starting to get a little scared now," Jeremy told her. That wasn't sarcasm either. He really was a little worried.

"Yeah, well, life is gonna suck for the foreseeable future. Letting my little brother have a shot of bourbon seems trivial," Elena said before pouring a second glass. She then walked over to Jeremy and handed him his drink.

"Tell me you're not about to hand yourself over to a bunch of originals," Jeremy said.

"What choice do I have Jeremy? Even if they weren't gonna force the issue, Stefan left me no choice. I can't go home. He can get into the house. He can whisk me away in the middle of the night if he wants. He can kill me to send a message to Klaus. I can no longer trust that he won't. For that matter, you can't go home either. He could use you to get to me," Elena said bitterly. She didn't think she was ever gonna forgive Stefan for this. Not only had he betrayed her by kidnapping her, but he put her in an awful situation. He forced her to put her life in the hands of three originals, only one of which she trusted. He was forcing both her and her brother out of their home.

"Then let them kill him!" Jeremy snapped.

"I can't. Even after all he's done, I can't stand the thought of his death. I can't forgive him, but I can't let him die. Besides, he's only part of the problem. I'm related to three vampires, all of whom have many enemies. Their enemies will use me to get to them," Elena said. She'd already had this conversation with Elijah. Even without Stefan, she had enemies because they had enemies. It didn't matter anyway. Elijah wasn't giving her a choice, and now neither was Klaus. And she didn't have it in her to fight them, especially considering the fact that she'd lose.

"Why didn't you tell me, Elena? You found out you were related to the most dangerous vampires in history and you said nothing. Why wouldn't you trust me with that information?" Jeremy asked.

Elena took a sip of her drink before going over to the couch and sitting down. She motioned for her brother to do the same. She waited for him to sit before she answered him. "It wasn't about trust, Jeremy. I didn't want anyone to know. Bonnie and Caroline only know because they were there when I found out. I found out shortly after I first found out Klaus was trying to murder me. After that he'd killed Jenna. I wanted to forget all about it. I wanted to pretend it wasn't real. I didn't want to face the fact that I was related to someone like that, or that I could have saved Jenna and John if I had opened my mouth."

"Elena, their deaths aren't your fault. You couldn't have known Klaus would give a damn if he knew about you. I still find it hard to believe he gives a damn. I would have supported you, you know. I want you to know that I don't care that he's your family. You're still mine," Jeremy said firmly.

Elena took his hand and squeezed it. "I always knew that, but thank you for saying it."

"When Mom and Dad died, you were the one that had my back. No matter how deep I sunk you pulled me out. Jenna tried, but it was always you. You never give up on me. I'm not gonna leave you alone with a bunch of vampires, Elena. If you're going with them, I'm coming too," Jeremy said. He hated the idea of living with people who were responsible for his aunt's death and who hurt his sister. But he wasn't about to leave Elena alone with them. Where she went, he went.

"Don't be mad, but I already made that agreement with Elijah. Like I said, you can't go home either. Too many people would use you to get to me. Your only other option was to leave town, and I knew you would never agree to that," Elena explained. She hated bringing her brother into all this, but she didn't see any other option. If she was in danger, so was Jeremy.

Jeremy shook his head and drank his bourbon in one gulp. "I can't believe what our lives have become. Things are so screwed up that we have to hand ourselves over to the mercy of original vampires. We should call Alaric."

"I'm actually surprised he's not already here. Everyone else seems to be."

"I may have called him an hour or so ago and lied. I told him you were okay. I didn't see the point of him sitting here and worrying while we tortured Stefan," Jeremy told her.

Just then, Caroline and Bonnie came into the room. "Hey. We're sorry to interrupt, but we wanted to see how you were. Are you okay, Elena?" Caroline asked.

Elena nodded. "I guess if you forget the fact that my ex-boyfriend just betrayed me. or the fact that one of my biggest allies is a vampire that tried to murder me six months ago."

"We're really sorry about Stefan, Elena. What he did to you was unforgivable," Bonnie said.

"Yeah," Elena agreed. She then turned to Caroline. "Caroline, we need a favor. Go to my house and pack some things for the two of us. At least enough for a few days. We can get the rest later."

"Elena, no!" Bonnie exclaimed. "We are not gonna let those bastards take you away. We will fight them."

"Bonnie, I don't have the energy for a losing battle. The last day has been hell. I'm so tired. And even if I could fight them, what would I do then? Their enemies will still come after me to get to them. One of those enemies has access to my house. Even if I was willing to risk myself, I won't risk Jeremy," Elena said firmly.

"We can handle Stefan. As for any other enemies the originals have, no one else has to know about this. We can keep it quiet," Bonnie told her.

"That is the same thing I've been telling myself for months. I told myself no one would ever find out that I was related to Klaus. Look how that worked out. I was kidding myself, Bonnie. It was always gonna come out. Look, I don't wanna fight with you guys. I don't wanna fight with them. All I really want is for tonight to be over. Caroline, please go get some things for us. It'll be faster if you go," Elena said.

"Guys, this isn't a decision we're making lightly. Elena's right. Things don't stay secret. We have to do it. We have to protect ourselves. This is the best way," Jeremy said. He hated this, but he understood Elena's logic. They couldn't fight the originals, and they probably shouldn't if they could.

"Of course. I'll get your things," Caroline said, a bit reluctantly, before leaving.

just then all three originals came into the room. "Ready to go, love?" Klaus? asked Elena.

"She's not going anywhere with you!" Damon snapped as he entered the room.

"Damon, don't. I knew this was gonna happen before I even got here. I agreed to it," Elena told him.

"You did what you had to do to get Elijah to free you. That doesn't mean you're obligated to honor whatever you agreed to," Damon told her.

Elena shook her head. "That's not what happened. There was no quid pro quo here. Elijah told me what was gonna happen, but it was never a stipulation to get me out of there. I agreed, in part because I wasn't given an option. I also agreed because Elijah was right. I'm not gonna fight them."

"Glad to hear it. Shall we go?" Klaus asked.

Elena shook her head. "Not yet. Sit down, we all need to talk."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, but did as the young human asked. Elijah and Rebekah sat down as well.

"First of all, Rebekah, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry for daggering you. I felt guilty about it from the moment it happened," Elena told her.

"Well, I was certainly annoyed, but we can forget about it. You are not the first family member to dagger me, but you are the first to apologize for it," Rebekah said before glaring over at Klaus. "We're family. All is forgiven."

"Yes, about that. It was not the best idea to hide that from me, Elena," Klaus lectured a bit.

"I didn't think you'd care," Elena told him.

"Well, you were wrong, love," Klaus told her.

"Yeah, I realize that now," Elena said. It was hard to deny that he cared when he was willing to torture Stefan to find her. The fact that he cared only made her feel worse, though. It only made her think about how much of their history she could have stopped.

"What's done is done, Niklaus. Let us move on," Elijah told his brother.

Klaus sighed. He supposed his brother was right. He didn't appreciate being kept in the dark, but Elena had already been forced to deal with more consequences than she should have. Still, he would ensure this would not happen again. "Fine. However, you will not hide things like this from me in the future."

"Hey, don't lecture her! You may be a long lost ancestor that refuses to go away, but you're not her family," Damon said.

Klaus smirked at him. "I beg to differ. She's my blood. That makes her my family. You, however, are nothing. So how about you mind your own business?"

"Damon, please. Like it or not, I have to deal with him and I'd like for it to be as peaceful as possible," Elena said. She certainly didn't like being lectured by Klaus, of all people, but she was not up to fighting with him. She just wanted to get through this conversation and go somewhere where she could sleep. She certainly hadn't done much sleeping in that dump Stefan left her in.

Reluctantly, Damon kept quiet. He didn't like it, but he could tell it was only making things more difficult for her.

Elena turned back to the originals. "Like I said, I'm not gonna fight you. There are things we need to discuss though. A lot of this I've already spoken to Elijah about."

"And I have agreed to her requests," Elijah said.

"And what requests are those?" Klaus asked, unsure yet whether he was willing to agree to them.

"I'll go with you tonight, but Jeremy's coming with me. If I'm in danger because of you, he's in danger because of me. They'll use him to hurt me," Elena said.

Klaus nodded after a second. "I agree. He comes to."

"No one touches him. No one feeds off of him for any reason," Elena said firmly. That was something she'd fight tooth and nail for if she had to. No one was snacking on her little brother.

"Her either," Jeremy said.

"I will not touch so much as another drop of her blood," Klaus said firmly. His desire to create hybrids no longer mattered. He would not use a member of his family as a human blood bank. "No one will touch either of you."

Elena nodded. So far, things were going pretty good. Maybe this whole thing wouldn't be quite as awful as she thought. "No compulsion either. You say I'm your family. Family doesn't compel each other. If you want me to do something, ask."

"Well, that won't be a problem since you'll both be consuming vervain on a daily basis. The advantage of getting you to do as I ask without complaint isn't worth every other vampire being able to do it. So far, all your terms are acceptable. Anything else?" Klaus asked.

"Yes. I don't wanna leave Mystic Falls right now. We both have a life here," Elena said. This much she hadn't gotten to discuss with Elijah. She figured it was better to speak to all three of them at once about it.

"Elena, you have to understand that we cannot stay here forever," Elijah told her.

"I understand that. I'm only asking that we stay until the both of us have graduated. Give us a chance to finish high school where we started," Elena said.

"I was already considering staying for a while. I suppose that's reasonable," Klaus said. He'd even found a spot of land that he was planning to build a new home on.

"That brings me to the next thing. We understand that we have no choice but to live with you, but we're not your prisoners. We will still go to school and see our friends. We will keep our lives as they were," Elena said firmly.

"You may return to school. Rebekah will be there to make sure you're safe."

"What? I never agreed to that," Rebekah protested. Truthfully, she wasn't opposed to the idea, but she didn't like being ordered.

"Rebekah, let's not pretend it would be a hardship. I know you enjoy doing all the things you never got to do at that age," Elijah said.

"Not the point. But fine, I'll do it," Rebekah said.

Klaus continued his conversation with Elena. "As for your friends, you will see them at our home for the time being. I will not have anyone trying anything, especially him. We can revisit the issue at a later date," he said as he pointed to Damon. "There will also be no magic performed in my home without my permission."

Elena glanced at Bonnie, who reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, that's reasonable."

"This is all ridiculous," Damon said.

Klaus stood up from his seat. "Fortunately, you have no say in the matter. Well, it's time to go, I believe."

"Elena don't do this," Damon said.

"It's done, Damon. They're not giving me a choice, and even if they were, this is the best way for me to protect myself and my brother. We're going with them. Just do me one more favor, Damon. Don't release Stefan until the morning. That way Klaus and Elijah can get the other coffins," Elena said before standing up.

Just then Caroline came back carrying two bags. "There's enough here for both of you for three days."

Jeremy stood up and took his bag from her. "I'm going to go call Alaric. I don't imagine this will be a quick conversation."

Elena took her bag from Caroline. "Thanks, Caroline. I know you didn't wanna do it. Look, you guys don't have to worry. We're gonna be okay. We'll probably be safer than we've ever been before."

"That is a given, sweetheart. We will make sure no harm comes to you again," Klaus said protectively.

Jeremy came back a minute later. "That actually went quicker than I thought. Mainly because I left him a message. He'll be blowing up my phone as soon as he gets it."

"Well, let's go now," Klaus said.

Elena started to walk, but suddenly felt lightheaded and stumbled.

Elijah caught her. "Easy, dear. You are exhausted. Will you allow me to help you?"

Elena nodded and allowed him to pick her up. She closed her eyes and fell asleep moments after her head hit his shoulder.