Elena sat with Jeremy and Alaric around the dining room table. She hadn't spoken yet. She wasn't sure where to start. Of course, thanks to Bonnie, they already knew the facts. Elena was still seething over that. She couldn't believe her friend would go behind her back like that. She had no right to speak to anyone about Elena's life. It wasn't her secret to tell.

"Elena, Bonnie's wrong, isn't she? She must have misunderstood something. You're not related to Klaus, right?" Jeremy asked.

Elena sighed. "I was going to tell you myself. Bonnie had no right talking to you about it. You should've heard it from me."

"Tell us what? How is this possible?" Alaric asked.

"It turns out that John Gilbert was not the only person that Isobel had slept with around the time that I was conceived. Apparently, she met Mikael, Klaus and Rebekah's father, my father, in a bar. I think you can imagine what happened," Elena explained.

Alaric appeared in deep thought for a minute. "Isobel told me once about a mistake she made when she was young with an older guy. She said she lied about her age and got into bed with him. She seemed to regret it."

Elena flinched a little at the word mistake. It was hard to hear that her mother had called her that, even if she never really cared about Isobel. Although, it was also possible that Isobel didn't know Mikael was her father. She might have assumed John was.

"But Elena, that doesn't mean he's your father. Don't you think it's much more likely that John Gilbert was?" Alaric asked.

"Yeah, vampires can't even have kids," Jeremy said.

"I've already been down this road, guys. And, yes, I did think it was more likely that John was my father, so did Mikael. That's why he obtained proof. He got some of my blood and had a witch run a spell on it. It proved that I was genetically part vampire and also that I was his daughter," Elena explained.

"He could be lying," Jeremy immediately tried.

"He's not. I was already sure he wasn't lying. He had no reason to. However, after last night, I'm certain of it. Damon stabbed me with a stake," Elena said.

"He what?!" Alaric asked in alarm.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked almost simultaneously.

"Yes, I'm fine, but not because a vampire healed me. My own blood healed me before anyone else could. That's how I know a hundred percent that Mikael is telling the truth." Elena said.

They were all silent for a few moments as they took in the information. Then Alaric spoke. "Bonnie said that Klaus kidnapped you last night after this all came out."

Elena rolled her eyes. "He didn't kidnap me. Granted, he may have if he'd needed to, but I went with him willingly."

"Why? Why would you go anywhere with Klaus?" Jeremy asked.

"It's a really complicated situation, Jeremy. I've barely had any time to process all of this because it has been one drama after another for the past twenty-four hours, and the dramatics are still coming. Damon tried to kill Klaus last night. That's how I got stabbed. I tried to stop him," Elena said.

"Why? Why would you try to save Klaus? He killed Jenna," Alaric reminded her.

"I know that, Ric, but he's my brother. That's a fact I can't ignore," she said.

Jeremy flinched at her words. Elena had called Klaus her brother, but he wasn't her brother, not the way it mattered. Jeremy was her brother. Ironically, it wasn't even the fact that it was Klaus that bothered him. It would bother him no matter who it was. He was supposed to be her only brother.

Elena grabbed her little brother's hand. "You're always going to be my brother, Jeremy. I've never cared that we weren't blood brother and sister. I certainly don't care now. You're my brother. But so is Klaus and Elijah, and two others. Rebekah is my sister. Those are the facts. I couldn't kill Klaus. I didn't want to kill him before I found out the truth. I certainly couldn't do it afterwards."

"I can understand that much, but why would you go with him?" Alaric asked.

"Like I said, it's complicated, and a lot of it, I can't explain. It isn't my place," Elena said. She would not do what Bonnie did. She would not divulge personal details about Klaus' life that she knew he wouldn't want anyone else to know. "What I can tell you is that Klaus felt that I wasn't safe around Mikael. He wanted me to go with him, and under the circumstances, I thought it was best to give him what he wanted."

"What aren't you saying?" Alaric asked.

"There's a lot I'm not saying. Like I said, it isn't my place. It's Klaus and Mikael's business," Elena said.

"You're keeping his confidences?" Alaric asked. He was trying not to judge her, but it was a little hard after what Klaus had done. This man had murdered Jenna for a damned ritual. Elena should hate him.

"Ric, I know you don't understand, but everything between Klaus and I has changed," Elena said.

"He murdered you and Jenna. That hasn't changed. You can really just forgive him so easily?" he asked.

"Who said anything about forgiveness? I haven't forgiven anything. I don't know that I'll ever forgive him, but like it or not, he's a part of my life. I have to deal with him," Elena said. Honestly, she hoped that one day she could forgive him because hating her own brother was not the way she wanted to spend the rest of her life, but that day was a long way away, if it ever happened," Elena said.

"You said that Klaus was trying to keep you away from Mikael. Is he dangerous?" Jeremy asked concerned.

"Oh, Mikael is definitely dangerous. He nearly killed Damon last night. But he's not a danger to me. Klaus is wrong. If only I could convince him of that," Elena said.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Elena said before getting up and heading to the door. She found Mikael there when she opened it. "Hi."

"Hello. How are you doing today?"

"I've been better. How'd you know I was back?" Elena asked.

"I've been keeping a close eye on the place. I wasn't trying to spy on your family, but it was the only way I knew to contact you," Mikael said.

"It's okay. Come in," Elena said before stepping aside.

"Thank you, dear," Mikael said before walking inside. "How is Niklaus doing?"

"Not well. There's a lot we need to talk about, but Klaus didn't believe us," Elena said.

Mikael nodded. "I expected that it would take time for him to believe it. What about you? I've put a lot on you, which I am very sorry about."

"It's okay. Most of it wasn't your fault," Elena said before leading Mikael to the dining room.

Alaric stood up as soon as he saw Elena enter the room again. He didn't who the man was with her, but he could take a guess. "Elena?"

"Guys, this is Mikael, my father," Elena told them.

"You invited him in?" Alaric asked in a horrified tone.

"I invited him in yesterday. It's fine. He's not going to hurt anyone," Elena said. Well, he wouldn't hurt anyone in the house anyway. Stefan and Damon were another matter.

"I mean none of you any harm," Mikael assured them.

"Mikael, this is Alaric and Jeremy," Elena said.

Jeremy stood up and offered his hand to Mikael while glaring at him. "I'm Elena's brother."

Mikael did not miss the forceful tone with which the boy spoke. He was making a point, which Mikael could respect. He shook the boy's hand. "Hello, young man. I have a son who is not my blood. I know there are bonds that go beyond DNA."

Jeremy relaxed some at his words.

"Alaric has been acting as my guardian since my aunt died," Elena said as she pointed towards Alaric.

"Killed by your son," Alaric said coldly.

"Ric," Elena said in a tired tone.

"I am sorry for that. It was partially my fault. That spell should never have been used on Niklaus in the first place. I was not in my right mind when I saw it done. I appreciate all you've done for my daughter," Mikael said.

"Uh, Mikael, you should sit down. There are some things I need to tell you," Elena said.

Mikael nodded before taking a seat. The others all sat back down as well. "Is this about Niklaus?"

"Yes and no. Klaus wanted to flee, but Rebekah and I were resistant. As I said, he didn't believe anything we said. He was convinced you'd tricked us. He wanted Elijah," Elena said.

Mikael nodded. "Elijah is very protective of his siblings. I can see why he'd want to involve him. It will probably be harder for me convince Elijah to trust me than any of the others."

"Why wouldn't your own son trust you?" Jeremy asked.

"Jer," Elena started.

"It's alright, Elena. I think he's just concerned for you," Mikael said before turning to the young man. "I wasn't very kind to my children for most of their lives. There was some sort of spell placed on me to be harsh with them." He was obviously downplaying the entire situation. It was not just his history he was telling. His children were entitled to their privacy if that was what they wanted.

"Why would someone do that?" Alaric asked.

"I'm not sure," he said.

Elena decided to get on with her story. Mikael needed to know about the others. "Anyway, Klaus had Elijah and the others daggered. When he went to get Elijah, they were all gone."

"Gone?!" Mikael asked in alarm.

Elena nodded. "Klaus was sure the Salvatores' took their coffins, which I confirmed a little while ago."

"Those two idiots don't seem to learn! Elena, I know that we are nowhere near the point where I can tell you who to be friends with, but I feel as though you can do better than those two," Mikael said.

Elena sighed. "They weren't always this stupid, I don't think."

Jeremy snorted. "Damon definitely was. I'm not sure about Stefan, but I think you were a little blinded by how you felt about them."

"Why would they even do this? What's the point?" Alaric asked.

"I'm not even sure they have one, other than to piss Klaus off," Elena said.

"Niklaus is the least of their worries," Mikael stated in a lethal tone.

"Yes, I mentioned that. They didn't seem too bothered. They think you can't do anything to them as long as they have the others, and they're not wrong about that," Elena said.

Mikael huffed angrily. His daughter was right though. He couldn't kill the two imbeciles while they had his children. He had no idea where they were. However, once Elijah, Finn, and Kol were safe, those two would forfeit their lives.

"I'm sorry," Elena said.

"For what? You haven't done anything wrong," Mikael told her.

"I asked you to spare Damon's life and then this happened," Elena said. She didn't want Damon dead even now, but she also felt kind of responsible for what happened to her older brothers. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if she'd done something different. Of course, then Damon would be dead because of her and she didn't think she could live with that either.

"It's not your fault, my dear. Never apologize for being a kindhearted person. Your siblings will be fine. They're immortal. I will get them back. However, your friends will not survive this stunt," Mikael warned her. If they were willing to do this after seeing firsthand what he'd been willing to do to Damon after he hurt Elena, there was no end to their audacity. He couldn't allow them to remain a threat to his children.

"Can't you get them to tell you where they are, Elena? Damon would do anything for you," Jeremy said.

"I've already tried. They're too far gone to see reason. They both declared me the enemy. Damon told me that if I chose my siblings over him, I was his enemy," Elena explained.

"And you did choose them," Alaric said slightly bitterly.

Elena glared at him a little. "I didn't choose anything. Damon did. I'm not going to respond to an ultimatum. I real friend never would've asked me to make that choice."

"I'm glad to know you understand that," Mikael said.

Just then, Elena's phone started ringing. She didn't even bother to look at it. "That's probably Klaus or Rebekah. I've been gone for hours."

"We should go to them. I know that Niklaus doesn't want to see me, but we need to figure this out as a family," Mikael said before standing up.

Elena nodded. "Jeremy, pack some things. You're coming too."

"What? No, this is a bad idea," Alaric asked. He didn't want either of them going off with a bunch of original vampires.

"Why do I have to go?" Jeremy asked.

"Stefan and Damon declared me their enemy. I'm not going to put it past them to do something to you. Damon broke your neck when we were still friends. Stefan grabbed me earlier with the intention of using me as another hostage. I'm not taking chances. They can get in this house and Ric isn't a match for them both," Elena told him.

"He what?! Are you alright?" Mikael asked his daughter. Oh, yes, these two men were definitely too stupid to be allowed to continue to live. He honestly wondered how they'd survived this long.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It turns out I'm stronger than them now. By the way, I know now isn't the time, but I do have some questions for you later," Elena said. One of those questions was how she had gotten so strong so soon.

Mikael nodded. "I will answer all of your questions as soon as we have the time."

Elena turned back to her brother. "Jeremy, go pack. We're going to the lake house. You're not safe here."

Jeremy snorted as he stood up. "And yet, I'm supposed to be safer around Klaus. What universe did I step into?"

"Welcome to my world," Elena said as she watched him head out of the room.