Elena sat down on a bench just outside the Lockwood mansion. This had been the longest and strangest day of her life. She had found out for the second time that her parents weren't who she thought they were, that she had a brother that had literally murdered her, and then she was hurt by someone she considered a friend. It was so crazy that she was still waiting to wake up from this crazy dream.

Elena watched as Bonnie and Caroline approached her. Stefan stayed back, but he was staring at her as her friends approached. "Guys, it's been a hell of a day, and it's not even over yet."

"Are you okay, Elena? Did Damon really stab you?" Caroline asked. She normally wouldn't put anything past Damon, but that seemed even unlike him. He loved Elena. He wouldn't physically hurt her.

"Yeah. He didn't mean to. We were fighting over the stake. His hand slipped," Elena said. Honestly, it was her fault too. She should've known better than to wrestle a vampire for pointy object, but she was trying to save both Damon and Klaus. One way or another, she saw one or both of them getting killed. It would've ended in one of two ways. The most likely scenario was that Klaus would've overpowered Damon and gotten the stake away from him before killing him. The less likely scenario was Damon somehow overpowering Klaus and killing him with the stake. If that happened, Mikael definitely would've killed him. Then they would both be dead. Elena didn't want either of them dead.

"Why were you fighting him? No, forget that for a second. You called that other vampire your father," Bonnie said.

"Yeah," Elena said without elaborating.

"Elena, that's not possible. He's a vampire. Vampires can't have children," Bonnie said.

Elena laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Vampires used to be impossible in our world, Bonnie. Witches and werewolves too. I've had to adjust my definition of impossible. Today I had to do it again."

"That was Mikael, right? Klaus' stepfather?" Bonnie asked.

"His father. Our father," Elena corrected.

Bonnie shuddered at the very implication of that statement. She didn't even want to go there, and she wouldn't because it wasn't possible. Those people were trying to mess with Elena's head. "Elena, he's obviously lying to you. You're not his daughter. John was your father."

Elena shook her head. "I'm past the denial stage, Bonnie. I'm past even the ability to be in the denial stage." Even if she had wanted to still deny the truth, that ability went away the moment her shoulder healed without any medical or supernatural intervention.

"Why are you so sure, Elena? You don't even know this man. How can you be sure he's telling the truth?" Caroline asked gently. She decided that just trying to force Elena to believe it was a lie wasn't the right tactic. She needed to figure out why Elena was so sure it wasn't.

Elena's hand moved to the shoulder that she'd been stabbed in. "This is where Damon stabbed me. It's healed now. Mikael went to give me his blood the moment he arrived, but he didn't need to. It just healed right in front of all of us. Tell me how that's possible unless I'm not human."

Both girls stared at her in disbelief. Neither had an answer for her. They just looked at her in bewilderment.

"I already believed Mikael, but there was no denying it then," Elena said.

"When did you find out?" Caroline asked.

"This morning," Elena said.

"That's why you ducked my calls most of the day. It's why you showed up with Rebekah and headed straight for the bar when you got here," Caroline realized.

Elena nodded. "I just wanted to forget about it for a few hours. That worked out great. Damon showed up not long afterwards and I had to stop him from killing Klaus."

"Why would you want to stop him? Killing Klaus was the plan," Bonnie said.

Elena laughed bitterly. "The plan went to hell this morning. I didn't want to kill Klaus in the first place. It was an act of self-defense. But he's my brother. I couldn't kill him. I couldn't let Damon kill him.

Bonnie cringed at Elena calling Klaus her brother. How could she call him that? He was a monster. He'd tormented them for months. She shouldn't care what happened to him. "He's not your brother. If he's anything, he's your stepbrother."

"It doesn't make a difference. Mikael calls him his son. We share the same father," Elena said.

Bonnie shook her head. "No. Even if this is all true, Grayson Gilbert was your father."

"Bonnie, I can't do this right now. It has literally been mere hours since I learned all of this. I've barely begun to process it. I can't argue with you about semantics.

Just then, Rebekah made her way over to her sister. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Is everyone compelled?" Elena asked.

"Most of them. Nik and I got a few that saw what happened from inside while Mikael took care of those out here," Rebekah said.

Elena watched as Klaus walked out of the house almost in a daze. "He looks worse than I was when Mikael told me everything."

Rebekah followed her sister's gaze to their brother. Nik still looked absolutely bewildered. He'd basically compelled the humans inside on autopilot. "He's in shock. Once it wears off, he's going to rage worse than he ever has before. He won't believe Mikael very easily."

"I'm sure. I can't imagine what it must be like to think your father hates you your entire life," Elena said with sympathy. She hated Klaus for what he did to her, but no one deserved what he went through.

"Elena, are you actually feeling sorry for Klaus?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

"Bonnie, I think we should leave Elena and Rebekah alone," Caroline said. She understood that this whole thing was throwing Bonnie for a loop. It was for her too, but it was nothing compared to what it was doing to Elena. The last thing she needed right now was to be judged by her friends for whatever feelings she might have over it.

"What?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

"Let's go make sure everyone else is okay," Caroline said before forcibly pulling her friend away.

Elena mouthed a thank you to Caroline as she left. "What now?"

"I don't know. Father will want to talk to Nik, but I don't see it going very well," Rebekah said.

"I'm not even sure he could comprehend any of it right now," Elena said as she looked at Klaus. He was standing several feet away just staring off into space.

"Yeah. Out of all of us, he got it the worst. I don't understand who would do this or why. Whoever it was clearly wanted to hurt Nik. He's had no shortage of enemies over the centuries, but this was a thousand years ago. He would've been a child when it happened. Who could possibly hate him so much?" Rebekah asked in disbelief. That might be the biggest reason she had been so skeptical of Mikael's story. She couldn't think of any reason someone would want to do something like that.

"You're probably never going to know," Elena said sadly. Like Rebekah said, this was a thousand years ago. Anyone involved would be long dead.

Mikael soon made his way over to his daughters. He looked at Elena. "Hey. Are you alright?"

Elena sighed. She was going to get sick of hearing that question real soon. "Yeah. I've had better days, but I'll be fine. Klaus is not okay though."

Mikael looked at his son and then back at his daughters. "No. I need to get him somewhere to talk in private. I'd like you two to be with me if you wouldn't mind. I think he'll feel less afraid that way. I know I've put a lot on you, Elena. I promise it's almost over," he said before raising his hand to touch her shoulder.

What happened next happened quickly for Elena. Before Mikael could touch her, she felt a wave of wind, followed by a hand gripping her arm. She had also been moved a few feet back. By the time she got her bearings, she noticed that Klaus was holding her by the arm and had her positioned somewhat behind him.

Klaus growled and glared daggers at his father. He had one hand on Elena while the other was gripping the white oak stake for dear life. He had been unable to comprehend anything for a while. His head felt like it was floating or something. Then he watched as his father tried to touch Elena. That was the moment he came to his senses and saw red. "You will not touch her!"

"Niklaus, she's my daughter. I'm not going to hurt her," Mikael promised. He knew that meant next to nothing to his son, but he had to try at least.

Klaus laughed bitterly. "Yes, because that means anything. Let's ask Rebekah what happened when she pissed you off! I believe she was six the first time you struck her. Of course, she lasted longer than the rest of us!"

Rebekah flinched at the reminder. She remembered that day clearly. You never forgot the day your father smacked you across the face for the first time. Knowing that it wasn't really his doing didn't make those scars go away.

Mikael closed his eyes sadly as he remembered that incident and countless others. He would never stop hating himself for what he had done. He would have to live with it for the rest of eternity. "Son, there are so many things I need to tell you. I know they won't make things better instantly, but there are things you don't understand."

"I know enough! I don't know what game you're playing, but I know you're playing one! Maybe you're putting on a show for your long-lost daughter. I don't know. The only thing I know is that it won't last! Elena has not yet been touched by your violence, and she never will be!" Klaus snarled. He didn't understand much, but he knew Elena was family. She might not be his blood, but she was blood to his siblings. Also, he wouldn't wish his father's rage on a complete stranger.

"Klaus, he wasn't going to hurt me," Elena tried to assure him.

Klaus turned to her and laughed. "Oh, don't be naïve, love. He would eventually. It's who he is! He's a monster. You're coming with me. Rebekah, let's go."

"Nik, no. You don't…"

"No, it's okay, Rebekah. Maybe that's for the best tonight. Maybe the three of us should just go somewhere for the night and try to calm down. We can figure things out tomorrow," Elena said. She wasn't exactly comfortable leaving with Klaus, but she knew he was not going to let up. He was scared, for himself and for her and Rebekah. He needed to process, and he needed to do that away from Mikael. It also might be best if he heard the truth from them instead of Mikael, at least at first.

Mikael reluctantly nodded. He could see his daughter's point. Niklaus was at his limit. He couldn't handle anything else tonight. He didn't think Elena could handle much more either. As much as he didn't want to let them go off, he had to trust his children to take care of each other. Aside from Elena, they'd all done so for more than a thousand years. "Go."

Klaus was taken aback yet again. His father wasn't going to stop him? He'd expected a fight. He had every intention of using the white oak stake if it came to that, but Mikael wasn't even attempting to stop him.

Mikael saw the shock on his son's face and decided to explain. "I don't mean any of you any harm. To prove it, I will not stop you from taking your sister with you, so long as you promise not to hurt her."

"I'm not the one she needs to be afraid of. Rebekah, let's go!" Klaus ordered with a snarl.

Rebekah reluctantly nodded before following her brother and sister away from the Lockwood house.