Elena was still pretty pissed by lunchtime. It wasn't just her argument with Elijah. She'd also had to sit through the day with Bonnie and Stefan cozying up and whispering to each other. It was like they thought she was stupid or something. It was hard to believe they had the nerve to plot against her and her family right in front of her.

"Elena, are you okay? You've seemed to be in a mood all day," Caroline said. They were sitting at a table in the lunchroom with Rebekah and Jeremy.

"She got into a fight with Elijah this morning," Jeremy said.

"Wait, Elijah's back? Did you guys find the coffins? Why didn't you tell me?" Caroline asked.

"No, our other brothers are still missing. Damon undaggered Elijah," Rebekah said.

"Why would he do that?" Caroline asked.

"Ugh, don't ask us to explain Salvatore logic. Hearing it myself was enough to destroy some of my brain activity. Suffice it to say, Damon apparently thought Elijah would be as stupid as he is. I don't understand how I never saw how idiotic he was. I mean, I always knew he was a little stupid, but I didn't think it was this bad," Elena said.

Jeremy shrugged. "We see what we want to see. I think you just sort of turned a blind eye to it until you couldn't anymore."

"Anyway, Elijah is back, but he doesn't believe the truth about Mikael. He wants to force us to leave town the second we recover the other coffins. I got pissed and stormed out this morning," Elena explained.

"Yes, without me, which I take offense to," Rebekah said.

"Sorry, Rebekah. It was either leave right then or stab Elijah in the face," Elena said.

"I would've liked to see that actually," Rebekah said.

"He can't make you leave," Caroline said.

"Never underestimate an overprotective Elijah. He's going to do everything he can. He thinks our father is a threat to us, especially Elena," Rebekah said.

"He's acting like Klaus," Elena grumbled.

"He's worried. He's seen the damage our father can do, and he's afraid of what he might do now, especially with this new story about a curse," Rebekah said.

"But it's not a story," Elena argued.

"No, but Elijah can't see that right now. He hasn't seen what we have over the last few days. The only thing he's ever seen Mikael be is a monster," Rebekah said.

"He's not like that right now. Elijah is threatening to force us to leave, and Mikael has done nothing against him. He's made no move to hurt any of us. He refuses to even consider that there's any possibility that Mikael is being truthful. It's bordering on paranoia," Elena said.

Rebekah shook her head. She wished it were that simple, but as angry as she was at Elijah for wanting to force them to leave, she understood where he was coming from. "It isn't paranoia when the other party has proven over and over again that he was out to get us. I believe Mikael now, so it changes my perspective on Elijah's actions. To me, he's being a bastard, but that's only because I know he's wrong. If I thought he was right, it would be different."

"You would try to make me leave?" Elena asked.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't fight very hard against it either. It would be my desire to protect you, just as it is Elijah's. Elijah spent his human life unable to protect us very much. He was as terrified of Mikael as the rest of us. He couldn't stand up to him, and that is a guilt that he has carried with him his entire life. That's part of why he is the way he is now. My guess is that Elijah is picturing it happen all over again with you, and that terrifies him," Rebekah explained.

Elena sighed. "I don't mean to make light of what you all went through. I know that I can never understand what it was like for you, but maybe that's why I can see the truth more clearly than Elijah or Klaus. Maybe that's why I could believe him even when you couldn't."

"Yes, probably."

"I do appreciate where Elijah is coming from, but I am damn sick of other people deciding they know what's best for me," Elena said. It wasn't just Elijah or Klaus. It was everyone. That was what most of her friends had been doing for months.

Just then, Bonnie made her way over. "Hey, Elena. Can we talk?"

"Uh, Bonnie, now might not be the best time," Caroline said. Elena was already pissed. A conversation with Bonnie was not going to help matters right now.

"It's fine, Caroline," Elena said before turning to Bonnie. "Go ahead and talk."

"I meant privately," Bonnie said as she glared at Rebekah.

"I'm having lunch with Caroline and my brother and sister. You can say whatever you need to in front of them," Bonnie said.

"I really wish you would stop referring to the Originals as your siblings," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, well, that's what they are, and what does it matter to you anyway? What I call them has nothing to do with you," Elena said.

"I'm your friend, and I'm worried about you. You've been different since finding out you were related to them," Bonnie said.

"Yeah, I've been pissed. I have been trying to deal with finding out that I'm not who I thought I was, as well as trying to unpack centuries of family drama. That is all hard enough for me to deal with without my so-called friends trying to interfere. A real friend would be a sounding board for me the way Caroline has been. She's listened to what I've had to say without judging me or vilifying my family members," Elena said.

"They are villains!" Bonnie snapped.

"And you're not? Last I checked, kidnapping isn't considering heroic behavior," Rebekah said with a glare. She made no apologies for what she was. She was no saint and never would be, but she also never claimed to be.

"I haven't kidnapped anyone!" she said angrily.

"You're holding our brothers' hostage. Agree to disagree. And that's only the tip of the iceberg, right? You went to Jeremy and Alaric behind my back before I even had the chance to figure out how I was going to tell them," Elena said. She was still pissed off about that, and it was made worse by the fact that Bonnie had thus far refused to admit that she'd done something wrong.

"He deserved to know," Bonnie said defensively.

"Not from you! That was for me to tell, not you. I never would've done that to you," Elena said.

"I was worried about you. I was looking for allies. You had gone off with Klaus. I needed people to help me get through to you," Bonnie said.

"Do you have any idea how condescending you sound right now? You needed allies against me? You wanted to ambush me and try to tell me how to feel. That's not friendship," Elena said coldly.

"Come on. You would do the same thing in my shoes. If you found out that Klaus was related to me, and I had chosen to forgive him, you'd do everything in your power to stop me," Bonnie said.

"No, I wouldn't. I would express my concerns for you, but ultimately, I would respect your choice to navigate your family relationships your own way. It's a shame you can't do me the same courtesy. Instead, you've aligned yourself with the Salvatore's. You're aware, if not involved, with them kidnapping my brothers. I would think you would be above using people who can't defend themselves as pawns," Elena said.

"Even if I was involved, I would hardly call them people. They're vampires," Bonnie said as though that made it different.

There was an eerie quiet among them all for a few moments before Elena stood up. "And there it is. You finally said it out loud."

"What?" Bonnie asked, not understanding what the problem was.

Elena shook her head. Bonnie didn't even understand what she'd said wrong. "They're not people to you because of what they are. They're somehow not entitled to the same rights as you because they're different. I guess Caroline and I know where we stand."

Bonnie shook her head. "That's not what I meant. You're not like them."

"Yeah, Bonnie, we are," Elena said before walking away.

"That was super screwed up, Bonnie," Jeremy said before getting up.

"Jeremy…"

"No! Do you not think she has enough problems dealing with the fact that she's different without her best friend looking down at it?" Jeremy asked. He didn't wait for an answer. He just left and went after his sister.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Klaus walked into the living room to find his brother huddled over a map with a marker in his hand. "What are you doing?"

"I am searching for places in or around Mystic Falls that are secluded enough to be used to store our siblings. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can deal with the Salvatore's and get all of our siblings out of here," Elijah said.

"Yes, about that. We need to talk about this idiotic plan of yours," Klaus said.

"I would think you would be the first to agree that getting away from Father is a priority," Eijah said without even looking up from his task.

"Oh, I do. I'm talking about your plans for the daggers," Klaus said.

Elijah finally looked at his brother. "The daggers are being destroyed, end of discussion. I've already retrieved and destroyed the dagger that was taken out of me. When Elena gets back, I have her collect the one she has in her possession."

"We are not destroying them! They're too valuable. How else are we to ensure our siblings don't go too far? What happens the next time Kol decided to slaughter half a city or Finn is Finn?" Klaus asked.

"We will deal with it another way, but there won't be anymore daggers. I allowed you to use them against our siblings for too long," Elijah said firmly.

"Do not act as though you were innocent in that. You held Kol down the last couple of times I daggered him," Klaus said with a glare.

"I never claimed to be innocent. You're right, I am just as guilty, but I will put a stop to it now. I will no longer indulge you at the expense of our other siblings. Look at the damage it has caused. Those daggers are too dangerous," Elijah said.

"Oh, so, it's my fault that our father has come back into our life and started playing mind games?" Klaus asked angrily.

"No, that's not what I said. I was referring to the Salvatore's using our siblings as leverage. That wouldn't be happening if those daggers didn't exist. They need to go," Elijah said.

Just then, Elena walked into the room. As soon as she saw her brothers, she turned right around to walk out. She couldn't deal with another fight right now..

"Elena, wait," Elijah said as he saw her come in and then go to leave again.

"What?" Elena asked in an impatient tone.

"I need the dagger you've been holding onto. I intend to destroy it," Elijah said. He hoped she wouldn't' give him a hard time over this. He knew she was angry at him, but he didn't believe she would use something like that to get back at him.

"Fine. I'll get it to you as soon as I have a chance," Elena said.

Klaus huffed angrily as he left the room.

"I see Klaus is about to have another temper tantrum," Elena commented.

Elijah smiled. "Thank you for not fighting me on this."

"I want the daggers destroyed. Why should I punish our siblings because you're being an ass?" Elena asked. She then went over to where Damon kept the bourbon and poured herself a glass. She didn't usually drink after school, but it had been a bad day. Bonnie's words had hurt more than she wanted to admit, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly surprising to hear Bonnie say out loud how she felt about vampires.

"That isn't a good idea, Elena," Elijah said as he watched her.

"Why? Because I'm underage? It wouldn't be the first time. I can handle one drink," Elena said.

"No, because you don't know what kind of effect it will have on your body now that it's clear you have vampire strength," Elijah said.

"I got drunk a few days ago, right after I found out the truth. It didn't affect my strength. If anything, I was weaker. I wasn't able to fight Damon off," Elena said.

"Then it did affect your strength. You are in a house with three people who have the means to cause you harm. I'm asking you to use good judgement," Elijah said.

Elena turned and glared at him. "Is this an order from the head of the family?"

"No, it's a request from your older brother. I won't stop you, but I'm asking you not to. It's not the best coping technique anyways. Perhaps instead, you would like to tell me what's wrong, because I know it's more than just our fight this morning," Elijah said.

Elena sighed and put the drink down before turning to him. A part of her wanted to do it just to spite him, but he wasn't completely wrong. It was best for her to be at capacity while under the same roof as Stefan and Damon. "I got into a fight with Bonnie. Words were exchanged, and she eventually said that treating Kol and Finn the way they are is okay because they're vampires."

Elijah got up and approached her. "And you are now part vampire."

Elena nodded. "It's not like I didn't know how Bonnie felt. She's always had a prejudice against vampires."

"But now that you are one, you see it as her having a prejudice against you," Elijah said.

"I don't imagine this has been an easy transition for you, and yet, you've handled it better than most people could. You found out your family wasn't who you thought they were, that you were related to people who have tried to hurt, and that you weren't human all at once. That would have most people crumbling. You're a very strong young woman, Elena," Elijah told her.

"Then why do you keep treating me as though I'm some weak child who can't make her own decisions," Elena asked. There was no anger in her voice, just hurt and a need to understand. She felt like Elijah didn't respect her.

"That's not my intention. I don't think you're weak. I have seen with my own eyes how strong you are. I watched you prepare to walk to your death with my courage than grown men would have. But you do not know what Mikael is capable of doing, the ways he's capable of destroying your soul. Niklaus wasn't always the way he is. He was kind. He cared about people. Mikael destroyed that. He destroyed who he was. I can't let that happen to you. I need to prevent that, even if it means you hate me," Elijah said.

"What if you're wrong. You won't even consider that. You know what witches are capable of, but you won't even consider the possibility that a witch did something to Mikael," Elena said. That was the hardest thing for her to accept. The Elijah she knew would've at least listened to reason. He would've heard the facts and considered them. He was acting irrational.

"I can't. I can't take the risk. If I give Mikael a chance, and it really is just a game, the price is too high. He will destroy you. He will at least destroy whatever trust and love you have inside you. He will likely hurt you physically. He may even be a threat to your life, and he's definitely a threat to Niklaus' life. I can't consider it because doing so could cost me a sibling, and that's not a price I'm willing to pay. What would you do it were Jeremy?" Elijah asked her.

"I don't know," Elena said after a moment. She truly didn't know what she'd do if Jeremy had asked her to trust someone with his life that had brutalized her all of hers. She would like to believe that she'd listen to him, but she just didn't know.

"I'm sorry. I know that I'm making a hard situation even harder for you. I wish it could be another way. I'm also sorry about your friend, Bonnie. I wish that kind of prejudice wasn't something you had to face, but unfortunately, it is probably something you will face for the rest of your life. Other species don't typically respond well to our kind, especially witches," Elijah said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Elena asked in a crestfallen tone.

"For one, do not accept that kind of judgement in a friend. Anyone who would look down on you that way isn't a real friend. Second, know that you are not alone," Elijah said before pulling his sister into his arms.

Elena leaned against his shoulder and let him hold her. She knew she should pull away. She wasn't supposed to let him comfort her. They were fighting. But it was nice to be comforted. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had comfort like this. It might have been when her parents were alive. "This isn't fair. I'm supposed to be mad at you.

"Yes, well, you'll learn quickly that older brothers don't always play fair," Elijah said as he held her.

"I'm still not leaving," Elena said in a stubborn tone.

"Noted," Elijah replied with a smile. Now wasn't the time to argue with her. What she needed right now was some comfort from her big brother, and that was exactly what she would get.