Elena made her way into the house and into the living room. Finn was sitting on the couch with a book in his hand. It had been a couple of weeks since Finn showed up. Things were slightly less tense with him in the house now, but only slightly. There was still a lot of bad blood. Elena had not yet forgiven him. She would, but it would take time. Most of the tension was between Finn and the others though. Finn was angry about being daggered for so long and the others were angry about everything that happened in Mystic Falls. Freya had to play referee quite often. "Hey."

"Hey. How was your walk?" Finn asked.

"It was okay. I kept looking back to make sure one of you wasn't following me," Elena said. Since they found out about Mikael, most of them had been hovering over her. They were afraid she'd be alone for Mikael or Esther to get their hands on. She was afraid too, but she refused to let that fear control the rest of her life. She'd already let Esther have enough of her life. She'd finally had enough of the hovering and made it clear that her siblings were not to follow her around like she was a child.

"We mean well," Finn said.

"I know. Where are the others anyway?" Elena asked.

"I'm not sure. Freya has a meeting with the witches today, but I don't know where the others are, just that they're not here," Finn said.

Elena nodded. So, she was alone with Finn. When she thought about it, she was pretty sure this was the first time she'd truly been alone with Finn. She'd been alone in a room with him for a few minutes or so, but she'd never been alone in the house with him. "I guess it's just you and me then."

Finn nodded. "First time, huh?"

Elena nodded before taking a seat in a chair across from him. "On the plus side, I get a reprieve on the training since Freya's not here."

"Or you could practice your spells until she returns," Finn suggested.

"Hey, I've already got one slave driving sibling. I don't need another," Elena said. Freya had really stepped things up in regard to training since they found out about Mikael. Elena knew she asked for that, but that didn't mean she couldn't complain about it.

Finn chuckled. "How did you all find Freya anyway?"

"Purely by accident, or fate, depending on how you look at it. I was in bar one night. Some drunk jackass got a little inappropriate. I accidentally exploded the beer in his hand," Elena told him.

Finn frowned. "Someone put their hands on you?"

Elena rolled her eyes. She got the feeling that now that Finn had admitted his wrongdoing, he was going to be just as bad as the others. "It was fine. He got his just desserts, and I'd appreciate if you didn't mention this to the others. I may have omitted that detail when I finally told them what happened. Anyway, Marcel saw me use magic and cornered me outside. Freya showed up moments later and told him to get lost. She's protective of the witches in this town," Elena explained.

"And even more so of you," Finn added. He'd witnessed that protection firsthand. Actually, witnessed was the wrong word. He experienced it firsthand.

Elena nodded. "She wasn't pleased with me either though. She took me back to her place and told me that she would be training me, which I wasn't happy about. I wanted nothing to do with witchcraft. I've seen what it can do to people."

"You're not like Mother, Elena. Even when we were living in that house, and I was treating you poorly, I knew enough about you to know that you're nothing like her," Finn said.

"Even after I set you up to face her wrath. I am sorry about that," Elena said. She hadn't been sorry about it when she did it, but since Finn came to live with them, she started to regret it a bit. She'd had to take steps to protect herself, but she shouldn't have provoked him to face their mother's wrath. He was her victim too. Making the recording was one thing, but she'd intentionally provoked him."

"Don't be. It was nothing less than I deserved. I never should've told that lie to get you in trouble. I shouldn't have even threatened to. I want you to know that I originally had no intention of going through with that threat. I was angry because you threatened to interfere with my relationship with the only ally I seemed to have. I wasn't planning to do it until I heard you and Kol talking about me. That's not an excuse, I know, but I wanted you to know. I'm sorry, Elena," Finn said.

Elena chuckled. It was amazing how a couple of weeks had changed everything. Actually, one conversation between Finn and Freya had changed everything. "You know, Freya has superpowers that have nothing to do with her being a witch."

Finn grinned. "Yes, she does."

"I haven't forgiven you yet, but I will. I know that you're sorry and that you're trying to make an effort. If I can forgive Nik, I can forgive you," Elena said.

"Thank you," Finn said. Just then, his phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was his mother. He sighed before placing it on the table without answering it. She'd called him many times over the last few weeks. He ignored her calls every time.

"Why do you even bother keeping that phone when you know you're not going to answer her calls? You could just get rid of it and get a new phone," Elena said.

Finn shrugged. "Maybe because once she stops calling, I'll know to be worried. It will mean that she has likely discovered out location."

Elena nodded. That made sense. However, she had an idea that might make things better or worse. "Maybe you should answer it. Maybe talking to her would give us a better idea of how close she is to finding us, or if she's resurrected Mikael yet."

Finn almost rejected the idea immediately, but then he thought about it for a second. It might not be a terrible idea. He might be able to convince his mother he was still on her side. It could buy them time. It was a long shot, but it was possible. Finn answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Mother."

"Finn, where on earth have you been. I have been trying to get in touch with you for weeks," Esther said in an aggravated tone.

Elena stiffened at the sound of Esther's voice. She couldn't stand the sound of her voice. She couldn't stand anything about the woman. Her voice had haunted her for months even after they'd all escaped her.

"I apologize, Mother. I was following a lead on the others and I didn't want to get your hopes up," Finn said.

"So, you left without a word?" Esther asked.

"Yes. I realize it wasn't the best course of action. I apologize. I just wanted to find them for you without incident. I'm sorry if I worried you, but I was afraid my lead wouldn't pan out and I'd get your hopes up for nothing if I told you," Finn said.

"I see. And where exactly did this lead take you?" Esther asked. The tone in her voice made it clear that she was more than a little skeptical about Finn's story.

"To England. I thought that they may have gone back to one of the first places we ran to when we fled from Father, but it didn't pan out. I'm still chasing leads though," Finn told her.

"Do you take me for a fool, Finn? You have been unreachable for several weeks," Esther said.

Finn sighed. This seemed to be a mistake. His mother wasn't buying it. He wasn't ready to give up though. "I told you, I didn't want…"

"Enough! I know you're with them. I knew this was possible when you learned my plan to keep your siblings in line. I had hoped better of you though. Put Elena on the phone," Esther demanded.

Elena shook her head at Finn. There was no way she was talking to Esther. She didn't even like sitting there and listening to her talk to Finn. She certainly wasn't going to entertain a conversation with the evil bitch.

"No," Finn said after pausing for a few seconds. He gave up the pretense. It wasn't working. He might as well admit what his mother already knew.

"Excuse me? That was not a request, Finn," Esther said in a hard tone.

"I'm aware of that. The answer is still no," Finn said firmly.

"I am very disappointed in you, Finn."

There was a part of Finn that wanted to crumble at her words, the part of him still craved his mother's approval, but he wouldn't let her manipulate him any longer. He wouldn't falter in his resolve. "Yes, I imagine you are. To be quite honest, Mother, I'm not too happy with you either."

"Are you questioning me, Finn?" Esther asked coolly.

"Yes. When you bring that beast back to unleash him on us yet again, I question everything about you," he said.

"You are letting your siblings manipulate you. I told you that I can control your father," Esther said.

"You're a fool if you believe that. The last time you thought you had him under control, he murdered Elena," Finn said.

Esther could be heard sighing on the other end of the line. "Do you really wish to discuss that again, darling? It will not end well for you, and you know it. You knew how angry Mikael was, and you left him along with her. Had you done as instructed, it wouldn't have happened."

Elena's eyes flashed angrily and she snatched the phone from the table. She hadn't wanted to speak to Esther, but she wouldn't sit there and listen to her manipulate Finn.

"Elena, no," Finn whispered to her.

Elena ignored him. She was livid. "Stop blaming him for your damned failures! You brought another kid into that monster's life knowing how much he'd hate me! What happened was your fault!"

"Hello, Elena. It's good to hear your voice, darling. I wondered if you were listening. I'm going to ignore that outburst because I know that you have been negatively influenced by your siblings, but it's time to end this foolish charade. Tell me where you are," Esther demanded.

"Go to hell!" Elena said angrily.

"You will not speak to me that way."

Unbeknownst to Finn or Elena, Freya and Elijah had just entered the room, having arrived home at around the same time.

"I'll speak anyway I please! You don't control what I say or what I do anymore!" Elena yelled.

"Elena, you are digging yourself into a bigger hole every day you keep this up. Now, you can still crawl out of it. Tell me where you are. I will still have to punish you, but I'm prepared to show you leniency should you correct this mistake now. As I said, I know you are under the influence of your siblings. Think it though rationally, darling," Esther said.

"No, this is done," Freya said before walking towards Elena and taking the phone from her hand. She then spoke into the phone. "You're done with them, you twisted old woman! You will not manipulate any of them for another minute!"

"Who is this? Put my daughter back on the phone," Esther demanded.

Freya laughed bitterly. "The fact that you have to ask that question speaks volumes," she said before hanging up the phone and putting it on the table. She then looked at her two siblings in disbelief. "What possessed the two of you to talk to her?"

"It was my idea. I thought Finn might be able to figure out how much she knew about where we were if he spoke to her," Elena said.

"I was hoping I could convince her I was still on her side, but it didn't work," Finn said.

"Then she tried to blame Finn for my death again and I got pissed," Elena said.

"I understand why you did it, but I think it was counterproductive," Elijah said.

"I don't know. I kind of enjoyed telling her to go to hell. I haven't been able to tell her how I really feel since that first night. It felt good to let her know how I really feel about her," Elena said.

"I get it. You have no idea how much I'd love to tell Dahlia how much I hate her. But talking to Esther is not going to help in the long run," Freya said.

Finn nodded before picking up his phone and crushing it with his hands. "Problem solved."

"Alright, well, now that that unpleasantness is over, you and I need to get to work," Freya told Elena.

Elena groaned before standing up. "Yeah, let's get over unpleasantness with more unpleasantness.

Freya chuckled and put an arm around her sister's shoulders. "You can't fool me, kiddo. I know you've come to like practicing magic," she said as she led her sister from the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Esther was not pleased with the conversation with her children. She was even less pleased by the interloper that had intervened. She didn't know who the woman was, but she would not like the consequences of interfering with Esther's affairs.

"Who was the woman?" A male voice asked.

Esther looked at her recently resurrected ex-husband. "I don't know. Some ally that our children have made, no doubt. It doesn't matter. It's a problem we can easily handle. We will continue as planned."

Mikael nodded and smirked. "I'll find them. I've done enough times by now."

"Just remember the rules," Esther said firmly.

"Yes, I'm not allowed to murder or permanently injure abominations," Mikael said. He wouldn't normally agree to that, but he had a healthy fear of Esther. He knew that if she wanted to, she could kill him again, and he'd never rid the world of those abominations. He would bide his time and finally kill them both when the time was right.

"You will not lay a finger on my daughter at all. She's human. I won't have you 'accidently' killing her in your rage. I will keep her in line myself. Treat the others as you must to keep them in line, but no permanent damage," Esther said.

"Fine. Shall we get to work?" Mikael asked with a smirk. He was going to thoroughly enjoy putting those little bastards in their places.

Esther nodded. She was tired of the chase. It was time to end it, and to make sure her children never defied her again.