Elena was putting some stuff away in the kitchen of their new home in New Orleans. They'd arrived just under two weeks ago. They'd had to stay in a hotel for a bit while Elijah and Nik procured them a new home. They'd also had to buy all new things since they'd had to leave everything behind in Ireland.

Elena was itching to go explore the city. They hadn't really been able to do much since they arrived, other than a little shopping. Elijah had wanted to keep their presence as quiet as possible until he procured them documentation, so Elena was feeling a little cooped up.

"Everyone in the living room please!" Elijah's voice called out.

Elena stopped what she was doing and headed to the living room, where her older brother was waiting. The others joined them moments later.

Elijah held out four black wallets and started handing them out, each having engravings of his siblings names on them. "Ids and credit cards.

Elena looked inside and saw her new identity. Her first name was the same, but her last name had been changed to Williams.

"I miss the days where we didn't have to fake our identities," Klaus said.

"Yes, well, those days are behind us, brother. This isn't like when we were running from Father. It's too easy for us to be traced by our identities," Elijah said.

Elena frowned a little at Elijah. "You could've at least made me twenty-one."

Elijah only grinned in response.

"How do you think we feel. 'Bekah and I have to compel people to get a drink in a bar most of the time, since we'll never be physically of age," Kol said.

"Yeah, but at least you can compel people," Elena said.

"Does this mean we're finally free to go out?" Rebekah asked.

"Yes, but remember that you need to be careful. We cannot attract too much attention to ourselves," Elijah said before looking pointedly at his brothers.

"Why do you look at me when you say these things?" Klaus asked in an offended tone.

Kol laughed. "Probably because he knows you. He knows you're just itching to make a name for yourself here again."

Klaus glared at him. "I'm not the one who slaughtered half the town out of jealousy."

"I was looking at both of you," Elijah told them.

Rebekah laughed at her brothers' expense before turning to her sister. "Come on, Elena. Let's go shopping. I can't possibly get by with the little we have."

"Nah, you go without me this time. We picked up enough that I can at least go a few more days. I wanna be outside for a while today. I want to explore," Elena said.

"Do be careful, Elena. This town can be quite dangerous for humans," Elijah said. He wouldn't stop her from going, of course. She'd had more than enough of that in the months she was trapped under their mother's rule, but he did want her to be careful.

"I will. I'll be okay, Elijah. Remember, I grew up in Mystic Falls," Elena said.

"Yes, but as you recall, we told there are more dangers here," he said.

"I promise to be careful," Elena told him again before heading for the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elena spent most of the day exploring the city. She'd stopped by a café for some coffee and then spent several hours in the park taking in the sights and doing some writing. At the end of the day, she headed into a bar to try to get a drink before heading home. She just hoped she looked twenty-one enough for the bartender not to card her.

Elena went over to the bar and saw a blond woman behind the bar making drinks.

"Hi. What can I get you?" she asked.

"A bourbon please," Elena said.

The woman gave her a wry smile. "ID."

Elena sighed. She was afraid of that. The woman did not look one to be easily fooled. "It was worth a try. I'll take a club soda."

The woman continued to smile as she went to pour the drink. "I thought so. What are you, nineteen?"

"You're good," Elena said.

She put the club soda in front of her. "You wouldn't believe how many kids your age I get in here trying to fool me. At least you didn't present me with a really bad fake ID."

Elena laughed, mainly because she did have that fake ID in her pocket, though it wasn't a bad one. Elijah didn't employ anyone but the best. If only he'd had the courtesy to age her up a couple of years.

"I'm Cami."

"Elena," she introduced herself before taking a sip of her drink.

"Nice to meet you, Elena. You're new here, aren't you? I know all the locals by now. You a tourist?" Cami asked.

"No, I just moved here with my siblings. We actually just moved in," Elena said.

"Oh. Well, welcome to New Orleans. I think you'll love it," Cami said.

"I already do. I'm from a small town. This is definitely different," Elena said before taking a sip of her drink.

Before she could say anything else, Cami was flagged down by another customer. "Excuse me."

Elena just sat by herself for a few minutes. She took in the crowd. This was definitely different than Mystic Falls, and even most of the other places she'd been to since she'd been on the run. The place was packed and everyone was lively. She really believed she'd like it here.

Elena had just finished her drink when she noticed someone slide onto the stool next to her. It was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.

"Hey there, beautiful. How about I buy you a drink?" the man asked with slurred words.

Elena rolled her eyes. The man was clearly already drunk. "I'm good, thanks."

"Come on, don't be like that. Let me get you a drink. A girl like you shouldn't be drinking alone," he said.

"I'm just leaving anyway," Elena said.

The guy stood up and grabbed her arm with one hand while holding his beer with the other. "Hey, I said don't be like that. Just sit down and have a drink."

Elena tried to pull away, but even with the jerk being drunk, he was strong. She focused on trying to get away from him in any way possible. The next thing she knew the beer bottle in his hand exploded and cut his hand.

"Ah!" he yelled as he let go of Elena and grabbed his bleeding hand.

Cami came over with a towel. "You okay?"

"The thing bottle just exploded out of nowhere in my hands," the man snapped loudly.

"Okay, I think you've had enough," Cami said as she pressed the towel to the man's injured hand.

Elena, meanwhile, quickly put some cash down on the bar before slipping away and headed outside. She couldn't believe that had happened. It wasn't exactly keeping a low profile to accidently use magic in public. She was just lucky that no one suspected anything, other than a drunk asshole that no one would believe.

Not long after she stepped outside, Elena felt a firm hand around her forearm. She turned to see an African American man in his mid-twenties looking none too pleased. There were two other men right behind him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the man asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about? Let me go," Elena said. She tried to get her arm free, but he was even stronger than the man at the bar. That was most likely because he was a vampire. Ever since she got her magic, Elena could tell vampires from humans with physical contact.

"I thought I'd seen most of the stupid things that witches can do, but I've never known one to be stupid enough to use magic so blatantly in public before," he said.

"Let go!" Elena demanded again.

"No! This is my city. You're not going to just…"

"That's enough, Marcel," a new voice said, this one female.

Elena turned to see a blond woman exiting the bar.

Marcel turned to the woman and frowned. "Freya."

Freya walked towards them. "I thought you and I had an understanding. You can do whatever you want with the vampires and werewolves in this town, but witches fall under my purview."

Marcel sighed. He'd met Freya a few months ago. He'd tried to put her on notice as being the ruler of the city, and she'd basically laughed at him for thinking he could control her. She'd made it clear that he couldn't very quickly. She was stronger than him. He'd grudgingly accepted that fact and stepped back from the witches after she promised to keep them under control. He had to admit that it had worked well until now. She kept them in line, with the added bonus that they respected her for the most part. "The girl was blatantly using magic inside a crowed bar!"

"I'm aware of what happened, Marcel. It's my problem. Let her go," Freya demanded. She'd seen the whole thing, including the drunk idiot getting rough with this young girl. She was about to intervene when the beer bottle exploded.

Reluctantly, Marcel let the young witch go before motioning for his guys to leave with him.

"Thank you," Elena said to the woman once the three guys had left.

"Don't thank me yet. Do you know how irresponsible that was? I know that guy was an ass and he definitely needed to be taught a lesson, but there are better ways of doing it," Freya lectured.

"I…I didn't mean to," Elena admitted. She knew she shouldn't have done it. If Elijah knew anything about it, she would receive one hell of a lecture. First, she'd receive a lecture for not telling him she'd tapped into her witch side, and then for not being more careful in public.

"You're new," Freya realized after a minute.

Elena nodded.

"Come with me," Freya said as she began to walk away, expecting the young girl to follow without question.

Elena didn't move. She wasn't sure it was a good idea to go off with a woman she had known less than five minutes. She really just wanted to flee home right now and forget this happened.

Freya stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow at the young witch when she realized she was not following. "That wasn't a request, honey. I'm not going to hurt you, but you and I have to have a chat privately. I won't tell you again."

Elena watched as she started walking. This time, Elena reluctantly followed her. She didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. She did not want to know what would happen if she didn't do what this witch asked.