Elena was bored. All her homework was done, including all the makeup work that had piled up. Normally, she'd call her friends or go out if she were bored, but she wasn't allowed to do either of those things at the moment. Instead, she decided to go off in search of her little brother. She found Jeremy in his room. The door was open, so she peeked inside. She found him at his desk with one of his schoolbooks out. "Hey. You busy?"
"Kind of. I'm studying for a test I have in Ric's class tomorrow. Why?" Jeremy asked.
"Do you wanna take a break? I thought maybe we could play one of your video games or something," Elena said.
Jeremy laughed. "Being grounded really sucks, doesn't it? I don't remember the last time you offered to play video games with me. In fact, I think I had to twist your arm the last time I got you to play with me."
"Alright, I'm bored," Elena admitted.
"Yeah, well, I've gotta pass this test otherwise I'm going to be grounded with you. The last time I bombed a test because I didn't want to study, Jenna took my phone for a week. My guess is that Elijah won't be any more lenient," Jeremy said.
Elena chuckled. "No, definitely not. If it was your best, you wouldn't get in trouble, but otherwise, yeah, he won't be happy. Are you planning on talking to him anytime soon?"
"About what?" Jeremy asked, although he knew exactly what his sister meant.
"Don't play dumb, Jer. You know what," Elena said. To her knowledge, Jeremy had still not spoken to her dad about how he felt about him. Elena was coming close to having that conversation with her father herself. The only reason she hadn't so far was because things had been hectic. First, she'd broken up with Stefan and then the whole Dahlia thing had come up.
Jeremy sighed and looked at his sister. "There's nothing to talk about. Elijah's not my dad. I accept that fact. It's not his job to be."
"It wasn't mom's job to be my mom, but she loved me as a mom anyway," Elena pointed out.
"That's different," Jeremy said.
"No, it's not. Mom didn't care that I wasn't her flesh and blood. She loved me anyway. And I promise you, the same is true for Dad. He loves you the way he loves me. He loves you as a son. I wish you could see that," Elena said.
Just then, they both heard a crash and a thud.
"What was that?" Jeremy asked.
"Aunt Rebekah?" Elena called out. Rebekah was the only other one home. Her Uncle Kol and Uncle Nik had dragged her dad and Uncle Finn out of the house to relax for a couple of hours. It hadn't been easy, but her father finally agreed when Rebekah promised to call if anything happened.
"Rebekah!" Jeremy called when Elena got no response.
"Stay here," Elena told her brother.
"What? No!" Jeremy immediately exclaimed.
"Jeremy, I have no idea what going on. You need to stay here in case anything has happened," Elena said. Jeremy was completely human. He couldn't protect himself. She could. Whatever was happening downstairs, she at least had a fighting chance of fighting back.
"What if it's Dahlia? She wants you, Elena," Jeremy said.
"If she is here then nothing is going to stop her from getting to me. I can at least try to protect myself. Stay here and be safe. If you don't hear from me within five minutes, or if you hear anything else concerning, call Dad," Elena said before leaving the room and closing the door. She went downstairs quietly and made her way through each room. She found her aunt in the kitchen on the ground. She was unconscious.
"Aunt Rebekah!" Elena exclaimed before running to her aunt's side and bending down to see to her.
"She's fine," A voice called out.
Elena looked up to see a man she'd never met before. She didn't know who he was, but she knew enough to know he wasn't human. He was probably a vampire. The house was in her dad's name, so technically, any vampire could enter whenever they wanted. Most just usually weren't stupid enough to break into an original's home.
"A broken neck can't kill a vampire, as I'm sure you know," the man said.
Elena stood up and glared at the man. "Who are you?"
"All in good time, my dear. Let's take a ride," he said.
"Are you out of your mind?" Elena asked. This guy was crazy if he thought she was going anywhere with him.
He laughed. "I've been accused of it in the past, but I assure you, I'm completely sane. Now, you're going to take a ride with me now, or I may have to explore this house and find the young human you just left upstairs."
"Don't threaten me," Elena said as she raised her hand.
"Now, none of that, Elena. I'm sure you're a very talented witch, but I'm much more powerful than you're used to. Maybe you could still take me on, maybe you couldn't. Do you truly want to risk it?" he asked. He almost wanted her to. He wanted to see exactly what she could do, but there would be time for that later.
Elena chuckled. "I've brought an original to his knees. What makes you think you stand a chance?"
"You tell me. You've met almost all the originals, I'm sure. Almost all. What do you think that makes me if I'm stronger than them?"
Elena thought about it for a minute. She'd met all the originals but one. Their father, her grandfather. The man they'd been running from for a thousand years, and now he was in her home. "You're Mikael.
Mikael grinned at her. "Good girl. You're smart. Now, shall we go?"
Elena was still contemplating fighting, but Mikael was a wild card. She didn't know if she had the power to take him out or incapacitate him. She might, and if she were alone in the house, she'd probably give it a shot, but her aunt was unconscious at her feet and Jeremy was upstairs. It was a risk she wasn't willing to take. What little she knew about this man was that he was an abusive asshole. She didn't want to think about what he might do to her loved ones if she failed to subdue him. "I go with you, you don't touch my brother or Rebekah."
"You have your father's pension for bargains. Deal. Come," Mikael said as he extended his hand.
Elena ignored the offered hand before heading for the back door. She might have to go with him, but she wasn't going to pretend this was anything other than what it was. She was being kidnapped by her grandfather.
Mikael chuckled as he followed the girl. He liked her. She radiated bravery and strength, just as a Mikaelson should. He walked ahead of her and led her to the car he'd recently stolen. He opened the passenger door for her and motioned for her to get in.
Elena reluctantly got into the car and buckled up. She watched as Mikael got into the driver's seat and drove away. "Where are you taking me?"
"Nowhere in particular just yet. I figured we'd just drive for a while," Mikael said.
"What do you want from me? If you were going to kill me, you could've done that at my house, or at least tried," Elena said.
Mikael chuckled. "Like, I said, you're a smart girl. I can see you've been told about me."
"I've been told enough anyway. How'd you know about me?" Elena asked.
"Oh, your boyfriend told me," he said.
"What?!" Elena asked in a slightly raised tone. Stefan was responsible for this? Stefan had been acting like a stupid ass lately, but this was a little much even for him. What had he even been thinking? What did he think would happen if he brought Mikael here? How on earth did he think that would help him?
"Yes, he is quite the imbecile. I'm a bit disappointed. You could do better," Mikael said. That arrogant little idiot was nowhere near worthy enough for a Mikaelson. He would not allow such a relationship to continue.
"Yeah, that's why I broke it off with him," Elena said in a furious tone.
"Did you? Huh. He must be quite delusional to call you his girlfriend under compulsion then," Mikael commented.
"Clearly. I don't know why he would do this. What the hell does he have to gain by bringing you into my life?" Elena asked.
"Oh, he didn't intend to tell me about you. I had to pry that out of him. He wanted me to kill your father and Niklaus to 'save' you," Mikael said.
"Son of a bitch! I'll kill him!" Elena snapped before slamming her hand on the dashboard. She was more pissed off than she'd ever been. Stefan had literally conspired to murder her family. She would never forgive for that. She had been angry when she broke up with him, but she didn't hate him. Now she did. She was literally ready to kill him for it.
Mikael laughed. He liked this girl so much. Her strength and fury impressed him. "Relax. I have no intention of hurting your father, so long as he stays out of my way."
"Oh, that's great. It's just my uncle you want to murder," Elena said sarcastically.
"He's not your uncle. He's nothing but a weak little abomination! He never should've been a part of this family!" Mikael snarled.
"Oh, spare me spiel on genetics. I don't care. I have a brother that is no more my blood than the last stranger I passed on the street. The woman who raised me was more of a mother to me than the bitch who gave birth to me could ever be. Klaus didn't ask to be brought into this world. He didn't ask to be the result of an affair. You wanna blame somebody? Blame your wife," Elena said. She had no sympathy for this man. He was holding a grudge against someone who did nothing to him. Her uncle didn't betray him. He was just a child who was forced into a terrible situation by his mother.
"Well, you certainly do have guts, don't you?" Mikael commented.
"I defend my family. My Uncle Nik is my family. You're not. You're just a brutal son of a bitch that completely failed as a parent. You want to see a real father? Go look at your son," Elena said.
"I did what was necessary to make my children strong! Strength is the only way you survive in this world! You ought to know that by now," Mikael said.
"If you need to beat your kids to teach them strength, you've failed. Look, I don't know what you want from me, but if you're looking for someone to help you sympathize with you, you're talking to the wrong person. My loyalty lies with my family, and that includes my uncle. I'll do whatever I have to do to help him," Elena said firmly.
"You would help a murderer? Niklaus murdered his mother and blamed me for it! My children think I destroyed our family and that I want them dead!" Mikael yelled.
Elena blinked a couple of times in surprise, but she quickly covered it up. "If he killed Esther, I don't blame him. She deserved everything she got."
Mikael turned and glared at her for a second before turning back to the road. "How dare you? You know nothing of my wife!"
"I know everything I need to. She made Uncle Nik's life hell. She didn't make yours much better. You hate him because he's not yours, but Esther was responsible for that, not him. All he ever did was exist in the world she forced him into. She cursed him on your orders! She forced him to live centuries without a piece of himself. And now of it compares to what she did to Freya. She was a horrible mother," Elena said.
Mikael looked at her sharply before pulling the car to the side of the road. "What are you talking about? What do you know of my Freya?"
"You don't know? Well, I guess Esther lied to all of you about what really happened to her."
"Speak!" Mikael demanded.
Elena sighed before she began explaining to Mikael everything her father told her about Freya and Dahlia.