Elena led the way to the front door of the lake house. She paused before opening it. She knew Klaus was going to be pissed and she wasn't looking forward to dealing with it. At the same time, she couldn't really blame Klaus for how he felt about Mikael. He'd been given good reason to distrust him.
Reluctantly, Elena opened the door and stepped inside. Jeremy was right behind her. "Rebekah, Klaus."
Klaus appeared moments later with Rebekah behind him. "Where have you…?" Klaus trailed off as he spotted his father in the doorway. He then glared back at Elena. "What have you done?!"
Elena sighed. "It's fine, Klaus. Mikael showed up not long after I got home. I told him about the others."
"You were supposed to come right back after dealing with the Salvatores'," Klaus said with a glare.
"I never promised that. I needed to speak to my brother," Elena said before turning back to Mikael, who was still stuck outside. "Mikael, promise Klaus that you won't hurt him." She knew that he wouldn't, but Klaus didn't. The least she could do was try to make him feel safe before inviting their father inside.
Mikael nodded. "I will not lay a finger on you, Niklaus. I will never hurt you again."
Klaus scoffed at his father's words. "As if I'd believe anything you said."
"Son, no matter what else, I have never lied to you," Mikael said.
Klaus did a double take on the way his father addressed him. He'd never called him 'son' before. He'd called all of his brothers that, but never him. Not that that one word was going to sway him. "Oh, you're laying it on thick, aren't you?"
Elena sighed. "Mikael, come in."
After watching his father step inside, Klaus grabbed Elena by the arm and pulled her to him.
"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Jeremy yelled.
"Jer, it's okay," Elena said before turning to her other brother. "Klaus, even if you're right that Mikael is trying to trick you, he's certainly going to do anything right now. Let me go. We all have to work together if we're going to get our brothers back. Let go."
Reluctantly, Klaus released his grip, but he positioned himself in front of her. "I assume your attempt at persuading your two boyfriends to see reason failed, as I knew it would."
Elena glared at his attempt to mock her. "I confirmed it was them."
"I already knew that, love. Well, it's my turn now. I'll force it out of them," Klaus said.
"Klaus, it's not going to be that simple. Stefan may be under your control, but I'm sure he's already found a way around that. And Damon's on vervain and he won't respond to torture either. You can't kill them because you'll never find what you're looking for if you do. We need to brainstorm another way, which means we all need to put the family drama aside for the moment," Elena said.
"She's right," Rebekah said.
Klaus glared at Rebekah. "So, it seems you're going to be siding with her now."
"When she's right, yes. Nik, I know that you're worried. I know you don't believe Father, but it doesn't matter right now. Right now, we need to focus on getting our brothers back, and we need to do it together," Rebekah said.
"Fine, but nothing has changed. Once this is done, we are leaving the bloody town," Klaus said before glaring at his father. "You may have convinced these two that you're not responsible for your own brutality, but the rest of won't be convinced!"
"I never said I wasn't responsible," Mikael said. He took responsibility for his own actions. Spell or not, he did those things. He harmed his children. He did not absolve himself of that. Her merely wanted his children to know that he hadn't chosen it. "You were my children. Not only did I fail to protect you, but I became what you needed protection from. I don't expect your forgiveness, or do I delude myself into believing that I deserve it. All I want is for you to understand the truth. I want you to know that in charge of my own free will, I never would've laid a hand on you. I never would've said any of the hateful things you've been forced to listen to. Most of all, Niklaus, I want you to know how much I love you."
"Shut up!" Klaus shouted. He couldn't stand to listen to these lies. He had to admit his father was a better actor than he would've ever believed, but it wasn't real, and Klaus couldn't bear to hear it. His father telling him he loved him was worse than all the times he told him how worthless he was, because Klaus knew this wasn't real.
Mikael shook his head. "No, son. I will keep telling you until you believe me. If you want nothing to do with me once that happens, so be it, but I will not rest until you understand the truth."
"This is for her benefit, isn't it?" Klaus asked as he pointed to Elena. "You want your long-lost daughter to see you as a good guy. You want her to love you, so you made up some story about there being a spell that changed you. The problem is that you're not a good guy, and you may want her to believe that you won't hurt her now, hell you may even believe it yourself, but you will. If given the chance, you will destroy her like you did the rest of us. I won't let you."
"Good for you. It's an older brother's job to protect his younger siblings. I'm glad you wish to protect Elena. I would expect nothing less from you. But I won't hurt her or you. I know you don't believe that now, but I will keep saying it until you do," Mikael told him.
Jeremy watched the scene unfold in both worry and disbelief. He was worried because he was essentially hearing that Mikael had abused his kids, and he feared that he might hurt Elena, just like Klaus seemed to believe. And he was shocked by how human Klaus seemed. He pictured Klaus as a remorseless psychopath, who didn't give a damn about anyone. However, he spoke as though he cared about Elena. He wanted to protect her.
"Can we stop this please? The personal drama can wait. We have problems to solve. We have to stop Stefan and Damon, and it's not going to be as simple as just torturing them. It won't work," Elena said.
"Wait, I thought Stefan was compelled to do whatever Klaus wants," Jeremy said. It seemed simple to him. Klaus could just order Stefan to give up his siblings' whereabouts.
"Yeah, but he's found a way around that by now. He probably doesn't know where the coffins are anymore. He probably had Damon take care of that anymore, and Damon is on vervain. Stefan probably is at this point too," Elena said.
"Okay, but Stefan's only like this because his humanity is off. Can't Klaus just make him turn it back on? I know you said that Stefan's probably taking vervain, Elena, but the original compulsion to do whatever Klaus wants would still work, wouldn't it?" Jeremy asked.
"Jeremy has a point. It could work. Once his humanity is back on, Elena could probably appeal to him and he can talk sense into his brother," Rebekah said.
"One problem with that, Rebekah. The boy's humanity is already on," Mikael said.
"Why would you think that?" Elena asked.
"Because of how he reacted when I nearly killed his brother last night. He was afraid. Fear is an emotion. He has his humanity back on, although I'd guess he dimmed it," Mikael said.
"Dimmed it?" Elena asked.
"Yes. When a vampire turns their humanity back on after it being off, they're capable of turning certain emotions down and magnifying others. My guess is that he is focusing on hate and anger. He isn't allowing himself to feel much else. It's a way of keeping the guilt away," Mikael explained.
"So, then we're back to torture," Klaus said with a smirk. It was his favorite option after all.
"Klaus torturing them won't work. They're too stubborn. Besides, there are other ways to deal with people," Elena said.
Klaus rolled his eyes. "We've already tried your approach to appeal to their humanity and better sense, the latter of which they apparently don't have. What more could you possibly have in mind."
"They took what's ours, so we take what's theirs," Elena said.
"You have a plan?" Mikael asked.
"The beginning of one. I have a plan to begin making their lives uncomfortable. It's not going to achieve results right away. You'll have to be patient," Elena said.
Rebekah laughed. "Elena, the only member of this family with an ounce of patience is Elijah, and unfortunately, he's not here."
"Then the three of you had better work on your best Elijah impressions. Until there's a better plan, this is all we've got," Elena said.
"What do you have in mind, my dear?" Mikael asked.
"First, I make a phone call," Elena said before taking out her phone and heading out of the room. She waited for the person she was calling to pick up before speaking. "Hey, Caroline, I need a favor. I need some help from your mom."