"Elijah, wait." Rebekah called, following her brother out of the room where he laid Elena; she'd passed out again, and was being left in the capable and determined hands of Caroline while Elijah confronted Hayley – something Rebekah was adamant was the wrong course of action. "You're not in the right frame of mind for this, you'll kill her!"
"So what if I do?" Elijah hissed, not pausing in his steps until Rebekah flashed in front of him, palms out.
"She is pregnant." Rebekah reminded him, pressing her hands to his, now-clothed, chest when it looked like he was going to push past her. "What she's done is abhorrent, but she is still pregnant, and with our brother's child nonetheless. You cannot blow in there half-cocked."
Elijah shook his head, staring down at his little sister. "She cannot go unpunished, Rebekah."
"She won't." The blonde agreed forcefully. "But this is not the way, someone calmer needs to take point here, Elijah, you know that."
Grinding his teeth together, Elijah nodded reluctantly, letting out a deep breath. "You're right," he admitted, covering Rebekah's hands with his own, "Niklaus, she's your responsibility."
Rebekah didn't look all too happy about the change, but she nodded after a moment, taking her hands back and stepping out of her brothers' path, watching with Bonnie and Davina as they strode away, power and anger radiating from the pair.
Exchanging a brief glance, the girls followed after the Original brothers, all prepared to intervene if they lost their heads dealing with Hayley.
"Klaus, Elijah." Hayley smiled, looking up from the book she was reading, her brows falling into a frown when she registered the looks on their faces. "What's going on?"
"You tell us." Klaus returned, folding his arms over his chest. "What have you done?"
"I don't-"
"Do not lie to us!" Elijah hissed, his voice steady and even despite the anger her felt; the veins under his eyes writhing to life for a moment before he was able to force them away. "You will tell us the truth."
"She doesn't deserve you." Hayley bit out eventually, recovering from her shock and putting her book aside as she stood from the couch, hand resting on her swollen belly. "She doesn't deserve any of this; she's just a cheap imitation of people before her; manipulative, fake and deceitful. All of you have fallen for her ridiculous lies!"
"So you decided to ruin the sanctity of the bond Elena and Elijah share?" Klaus questioned, a disbelieving scoff escaping him. "Why tie Elena to me?"
"Sanctity?" Hayley scoffed, shaking her head. "She probably manufactured the damn thing herself! Everyone knows soulmates aren't real!"
"Enough." Klaus said firmly, deliberately placing himself slightly in front of Elijah. "You linked Elena to me, why?"
"The spell has to be kept in place by regular infusions of blood from whoever she was being linked to; she already needed your blood to cure the werewolf venom, it just made the most sense to continue it."
"And you cite Elena as the deceitful one." Elijah spat, not entirely sure how he was keeping himself from lunging at Hayley's throat. "Tell us where to find the witch who helped you."
Hayley laughed. "Why on Earth would I do that?"
"Your punishment is undecided as of now," Klaus interjected, sensing his brother's legendary control slipping, "the less reasons you give us to hate you, the better off you may find yourself."
"I'm carrying your child," she reminded him, her voice a harsh sneer, "you can't do anything to me."
"That's where you're wrong, love, you have no idea the pain we can and will inflict on you; it really is in your best interest to help us before you have to find out."
"You like it out here."
"What's wrong with that?" Elena retorted, opening her eyes and allowing her body to sink into the water to stand and face Elijah.
"Nothing." He replied softly, raising an eyebrow at the immediate defence she had slipped into. "I was merely pointing out a fact."
Rolling her eyes, Elena swam to the edge of the pool, leaning her elbows on the side and resting her chin in her hands. "You also seem to like it out here, or do you just like watching me?"
"I find it peaceful." He allowed, laying a towel by the edge of the pool and sitting next to where Elena floated, one leg bent up and the other bent under him. "The sounds and motions are rather calming. I taught Henrik to swim, many years ago, he and Kol were rather similar in that aspect."
Elena tilted her head at him curiously, watching as he loosened his tie. "It's bizarre imagining you all doing normal, human things."
A laugh escaped Elijah. "I suppose it is rather hard to picture someone as anything but how you know them. Henrik was and never will be anything but wonderfully human."
"I didn't realise you wore a necklace." Elena muttered, a leather chain around his neck catching her attention, almost unconsciously slipping out of the pool to tug the necklace out from under Elijah's shirt.
Bending over slightly to look at the tags hanging from the chain, Elena held little regard for the water she was dripping all over Elijah.
"What do they mean?"
"One bears Henrik's name in the old language," Elijah murmured softly, eyes glancing down at where Elena held his necklace, "the other bears the word 'and'."
Frowning, Elena's eyes flicked between the two pendants. "Why?"
"Rebekah had the three of us pendants made, declaring our promise to each other."
"Always and forever." Elena let out a soft scoff. "Why are you 'and'?"
Releasing a soft breath, he met Elena's empty eyes as she looked up at him. "Rebekah said I was the glue that held the three of us together, much like the word that holds our promise together."
She laughed again. "That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard." Deciding that she was bored of the conversation, she dropped the pendants back against Elijah's chest, turning away and sliding back into the pool. "Emotions are so lame."
"Yet you asked about it anyway." Elijah pointed out, tucking his necklace back away. "Why ask if you don't care?"
"Because I can." She shrugged, lying on her back to resume floating on the surface of the water, arms and legs spread wide as she looked at the stars. "Information is useful."
"About my necklace?"
"It could be." Elena sighed. "You never know when I might need to know what your necklace is all about."
"She hasn't woken up since you brought her in, you need to get answers from Hayley."
"Elijah doesn't need to do anything with Hayley; he'll kill her."
Why were the voices always arguing?
Every time she heard them, they were always arguing with each other.
Such a vague familiarity plagued her about the voices and their conversations, yet she couldn't quite understand why or what any of it meant. Or why the name Elijah invoked such a contrasting revulsion and comfort.
Clearing her throat, Elena tried her best not to choke on her own breath, confused as to why she suddenly couldn't breathe. What on Earth was going on?
"Just breathe, you're alright." The soft voice, tinged by worry, but always much calmer than its counterparts. Elena wondered who she was; images of a blonde girl entering her mind.
"Miss Bennett, is there anything you can do?" Her brain still couldn't decide if it loved or despised his voice, torn somewhere between the two.
"I need the witch," came the soft reply, "even if Hayley was forthcoming, this is too complicated without the witch who performed the spell."
Any other words faded away from her understanding as she fell back into unconsciousness, welcoming the calm and the quiet.
The next time she woke up, almost all the buzz had faded from her room, leaving her with only one other person, sat calmly by her bedside. She opened her eyes, turning to look at the man sat next to her.
"Klaus?"
Blinking himself back into the room, Klaus turned his gaze to meet Elena's, offering her a soft smile and sitting up in his chair. "Welcome back, love."
"What's going on?" She mumbled, letting out a soft noise in the back of her throat as she tried to clear the clogged up sensation in her throat. "Where is everyone? Elijah?"
Klaus tilted his head at Elena, raising an eyebrow at her. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"Whatever Hayley's witch has done to you, it's tearing at your bond with Elijah the best it can; you couldn't seem to decide whether or not you hated him last night."
Grimacing, Elena slowly sat upright, leaning against the headboard. "What happened?"
"It's probably best I don't try and summarise that one; I'll leave it for someone more…tactful."
"That bad?"
Klaus only raised an eyebrow, offering a pitying smile when she pulled another face. "I volunteered to keep an eye on you while the others try to get some decent answers out of Hayley, and try to keep Elijah calm, while you're out of commission."
"He's still angry?" Elena asked softly, fiddling with the sheet that covered her legs. "Because of me?"
An abrupt laugh tore from Klaus's lips, taking the pair of them by surprise as he continued to laugh, shaking his head. "Don't be so ridiculous, love, my brother worships the very ground you walk on; he could never be angry at you at all, let alone for something out of your control."
"He's mad at Hayley."
Laughing again, Klaus rolled his eyes. "Mad is probably the understatement of the century."
Not missing the way that Klaus's eyes darted towards the door, Elena frowned at him, tilting her head slightly. "You're scared of him?"
"Of course I am." He agreed easily, lifting his shoulders in a soft shrug. "My brother may be seen as the benevolent one of all of us; the noble elder, but it's that very perception that makes him the most dangerous of us. Elijah will not stand for an act against anyone he cares about. I will be the first to admit that I'm quick to anger, as are my siblings, all but Elijah; ever the strategist."
"Meaning?" Elena prompted as he trailed off.
"Elijah is remarkable at dismantling entire empires. Scores of armies have fallen at a small handful of deliberate words and actions coming from him. Imagine what he can do to one person who wrongs him."
"Is that why you kept him locked in a box for as long as you could?" She returned, some snark seeping into her voice.
Klaus shrugged again. "One of several reasons." He folded his arms over his chest, regarding Elena curiously. "You care about him, don't you?"
"I didn't realise we were still at the point where you were doubting that."
"Ohmygod!" Caroline squealed, rushing into the room. "You're awake!" Before she knew what had hit her, Elena was engulfed in a tight hug, blonde hair smothering her. "You look so much better!"
"What's going on down there, Caroline? Where's Elijah?"
A glance between the two blondes in the room didn't go unnoticed, despite the hug Elena was still grasped tightly in.
"Caroline?" She said, more firmly. "What happened?" Pulling away from her friend, Elena grasped her by the shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes.
"She's not talking…Elijah…he nearly lost it," Caroline murmured eventually, "Rebekah had to step in."
"I need to see him." Elena insisted, throwing the sheet off of her lap and swinging her legs off the edge of the bed, standing in such a quick movement that neither of them could stop her until they were stopping her from hitting the floor.
"You're in no condition to be out of bed, love." Klaus denied, taking all of Elena's weight from Caroline and easing her back onto the bed. "You've been out much longer than you think, even vampires need some time to ease back in to being up and about."
"How long have I been out?" Elena asked, dumbfounded by her body's inability to move the way she wanted to and letting Klaus sit her back on the bed.
Glancing at the clock, Klaus tilted his head for a second before turning back to Elena. "Nearly thirty-six hours, on and off, of course."
"Klaus," Elena said softly, taking hold of his hand before he could move away, "I need to see him, please."
Looking down at where she held his hand, he covered hers with his other hand, squeezing softly before dropping both and nodding. "Who am I to deny my new sister?"
HisSecretLover18: Aha I try my best! Thank you so much! Kol has been gone a while hasn't he...
Elejah88: Finding the right consequence for Hayley is definitely going to be tough, but if there's anything the Mikaelson's excel at it's punishing their enemies! Awh it's totally fine! I love hearing from you when you have the time!
Guest: I try and make sure I update at least every week; I'm so glad you're enjoying it!
Guest: So many choices; so little time... there's absolutely no forgiveness to be had here, although, we do know what Elena's like...
lauramorgenstern: Awhh thank you so much! It's hard to balance cheesiness and realism when writing those sorts of scenes! Yes, it's about damn time Elena looked after Elijah again! I'm so relieved they're coming across well balanced!
Aria Daughter of Chaos: Oh, there's so many options, how can I possibly decide?!
Guest: THESE HANDS ARE A-COMIN! Spicy and fluff are needed in equal measure, of course! Thank you so much, and as always, thank you for the chefs kisses!
midnight-writer97: Ughhhh, thank you so much! I do love when I see your name pop back up in me reviews! I'm just so relieved that I'm at the point where I can write them so organically with the rest of the group. Aha, I'm glad you liked it! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't cackling to myself! A showdown is definitely needed here... You're so welcome! I look forward to it!
Well...Hayley's cover has been blown; Elijah is furious and Klaus is caring, whatever next? Oh, I know! You tell me! What do you guys want to see happen to Hayley? Between the siblings? Elejah? Let me know!
Until next time
~ I x