Elena found herself sitting in the kitchen. She needed a few minutes to herself. She was still having trouble with what she did today. She'd used Bonnie's father as leverage to get what she'd wanted from her. She'd threatened his life. The worst part was that she'd do it again. She hated what she did, but these were her brothers, and Bonnie was using them to hurt the rest of her family. Elena had always done whatever was in her power to protect her family. That was why she hadn't fought Klaus when she leaned he wanted to sacrifice her. She wasn't willing to risk the lives of the people she loved to survive. Family came first for her. That was just the way it was. But that didn't mean she liked the means she'd used to protect them.
Elena soon heard a noise from behind her. She turned to see her little brother. "Hi."
"Hey. What are you doing in here? I heard you found your other brothers. I figured you'd be with everyone else waiting for them to wake up," Jeremy said. He'd gotten home about ten minutes ago. Rebekah told him about finding the other coffins."
"I just needed a couple of minutes. Jer, I had to do things that I hate to get Bonnie to let them go. They were under a boundary spell. She wouldn't release them without some pressure. I had to use her dad," Elena told him. She didn't look at him as she spoke, afraid of what she'd see in his eyes. He might never look at her the same way.
Jeremy was less surprised than he should've been. Bonnie had been texting for the last couple of hours about his sister going too far. He ignored them. Things were very tense between Elena and Bonnie, and he refused to let Bonnie use him to get to her. "Did you hurt him?"
"No, but I had Rebekah threaten to. She either took down the spell or Rebekah would compel her dad to hurt himself. The worst part is that I hate that I found myself in that position, but I don't regret the actions I took," Elena said.
Jeremy went over and sat next to her. "Bonnie started this, her and the Salvatores. They used people you cared about to try to control your life. I don't know exactly what they wanted, but they had no trouble using your family for their own means. All you did was return the favor. You fought fire with fire. Sometimes that's all you can do."
Elena nodded. "I know. I said the same to Bonnie when she acted as if what I did was horrible. It was horrible, but she left me no choice. It doesn't mean I don't feel bad about it though."
"I guess your friendship with Bonnie is definitely over," Jeremy commented.
"It was over the moment I was given proof that she was involved. I won't be controlled that way by a friend, and I won't have my family used to do it. It seems that the list of people I can consider friends is dwindling more and more," Elena said. She'd lost Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie now. She couldn't trust any of them.
"The Salvatores were always poor excuses for friends and it's Bonnie's loss if she can't accept you for who you are," Jeremy told her.
Elena smiled at her little brother. "You've been great through all of this, Jer. I know I've put a lot on you."
"It's not as if things have been easy for you. You're the one who found out that the people you thought were your parents weren't for the second time, and that you weren't human. Besides, you've put up with plenty of my crap over the last year," Jeremy said with a slight smile.
Just then, Mikael came in. "Are you alright, Elena?"
"Yeah. I could be better, but I'll be okay. It's just hard to accept what I had to do," Elena said.
"I know. I wish you hadn't been put in that position, but I'm proud of you for what you were willing to do to help your brothers. It's what we do in this family. Or it's what your siblings do anyway. I haven't really had much of a chance to protect any of you," Mikael said sadly.
"You'll get the chance. Although, a naïve part of me hopes it won't be necessary for you to protect any of us," Elena said.
"Elena," a new voice called out.
Elena looked over to see Elijah in the doorway giving her a pointed look. It was then that she realized that she'd sort of broken her deal with Elijah not to be alone with Mikael. "Oh, sorry, Elijah. I didn't mean to break our agreement. Although, technically, we weren't alone."
Elijah gave his sister the older brother, stern look he'd perfected over the centuries. She knew perfectly well that Jeremy did not count as supervision. However, there was no real anger for the breech. He knew she hadn't done it on purpose. She was just upset and had forgotten momentarily.
"What agreement?" Mikael asked.
"Elijah and I made a deal. He will give us a month to prove to him that you're telling the truth. If we fail, I've agreed that we'll leave Mystic Falls without argument. In the meantime, you and I can't be alone together," Elena told Mikael.
"I should've specified this before, but that goes for Jeremy as well. He's even more a danger to him," Elijah said.
"I see. Then I will adhere to that agreement as well," Mikael said. Elijah was at least willing to entertain the possibility that he was telling the truth now. The least he could do was meet his son halfway. It might even go a long way to proving that he was telling the truth.
Elijah gave his father a mixed look. He was both distrustful and surprised. His father would normally not stand for such a thing, but that didn't necessarily mean he was telling the truth. Elijah was far from convinced that this wasn't a ploy. However, he was also no longer a hundred percent certain that it was. "Shall we rejoin the others?"
Elena nodded before standing up and walking with Elijah back to the living room. Mikael and Jeremy followed them.
When they got to the living room, Elijah found his brother to be glaring at him. Obviously, he'd overheard the terms of his agreement with Elena. "It's one month, Niklaus. It won't make much difference, and if he tries anything, we leave."
Klaus merely scowled at his brother in response.
"I've noticed there's no sign of the Salvatores. Anyone else think Bonnie warned them?" Rebekah asked.
"I'd say that's a safe bet, especially since there's still another coffin missing," Elena said as she took a seat on the couch.
"We can deal with all of that later. Kol and Finn are what matters right now," Elijah said.
Elena turned to her father. "Are you sure you want to be here when they wake up? I don't imagine they'll handle it well. Rebekah and I can try to explain."
Mikael shook his head. He wouldn't take the easy way out this time. He wasn't there when Niklaus was told and he'd remained silent while his daughters told Elijah. He couldn't do that again. He was Kol and Finn's father. He was the one who owed them an explanation, even if they didn't accept it. "No. I won't leave this up to the two of you again. It's not your job. I am their father. For better or worse, they need to hear it from me."
Just then, Kol bolted up and gasped.
Everyone got up and began to approach. Elijah put a hand up to everyone, so that they would stay a few feet back. The last thing Kol needed after waking up was to be crowded. Elijah went to his brother and handed him a blood bag. "Drink, brother."
Kol didn't need to be told twice. He was starving. He bit into the thing and began sucking it dry.
Finn woke up in the same state moments later. Klaus went over to him and gave him a blood bag and showed him how to use it, as he wasn't alive when they were invented.
Kol drank a couple of more pints before he was coherent enough to pull himself out of his coffin. They he got a good look at Nik. "You bastard!"
Elijah put his arms around him to stop him. "Kol, no."
Kol was about to wrestle himself out of his brother's arms when he saw someone that made him go completely rigid. His father was standing a few feet to his right next to Rebekah. "What is happening? 'Bekah, get away from him!"
"Kol, it's okay. He's not going to hurt me. He's not going to hurt anyone," Rebekah tried to assure him. She knew it wouldn't do much good, but she had to try.
"Not today anyway," Elijah said before releasing his brother. He might not be convinced that his father was telling the truth, but he did know that he was at least holding himself back for now.
By now, Finn was coherent as well and had noticed his father's presence as well. He pulled himself out of the coffin and stood up. "What is happening? Why are none of you running?"
Mikael took a step forward, but kept a good distance between him and his sons. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten him. His presence alone did that. "Hello, boys. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm not going to hurt you. You have no idea how sorry I am for the pain I've caused all of you."
"Am I still dead?" Kol asked as he stared at his father in shock. Not once in his entire life had he heard his father speak this calmly or this kindly. He would certainly never apologize. He never considered himself to be wrong. Kol almost felt like this had to be some kind of bizarre dream.
"I never wanted to treat you the way that I did. I was horrified when I realized the things I'd done," Mikael said remorsefully.
"Are you trying to claim you were possessed?" Kol asked in an unbelievable tone before taking a small step forward.
Finn reached forward and pulled his brother back. He didn't have a good relationship with his siblings. They'd all left him daggered for centuries. He would almost say that he hated them. But he was still their older brother, and he wouldn't let his father hurt them. He wouldn't' subject them to that monster.
"Not exactly. I believe there was a spell involved. I only know that I woke up one day enraged at every little thing any of you would do wrong, especially Niklaus. I began to believe that I needed to keep you all in line through violence. It got to the point very quickly where I hated my own son," Mikael said as he looked towards Niklaus.
"You expect us to believe that someone forced you to act that way," Kol asked.
"No, not right away, but can you tell me that witches aren't capable of it. You were studying to become a very powerful witch yourself. You'd studied your mother's spells. You know what magic is capable of," Mikael said.
Kol didn't respond. His father wasn't wrong about that. He did know what witchcraft was capable of. He knew there indeed were spells that could turn someone completely against their nature. However, just because it was possible didn't mean it was probable. Spells like that didn't just disappear, and if it was going to, it would've happened with his father's death, unless it was somehow reapplied, but that would still mean it would be in affect now. "And you just miraculously overcame it one day?"
"No. A witch used a spell on me to leave me desiccated. When I woke up, I was the way I am now. I remembered everything I'd done to all of you, and I hated myself for it," Mikael explained.
"Or, more believably, he found out he had another child and decided to play the kind parent to gain her trust," Klaus said.
"Another child?" Finn asked surprised.
Mikael beckoned Elena towards him and put a hand on her shoulder as she came over. "Kol, Finn, this is Elena. She's my daughter. When I found out about her, a witch came to the wrong conclusion and desiccated me in an attempt to protect her. It was a blessing in disguise."
"Hi," Elena said a bit shyly.
Finn stared at her in disbelief, both at the thought of having another sibling, and because she looked identically to a woman they'd all known when they were human. "How is this possible. Our kind can't have children, can we?" He had to admit that he didn't actually know. There weren't a lot of them when he was daggered.
"To our knowledge, this is the only time its actually happened, but we know that it's true. Elena is partially human, but she's also shown signs of vampirism. She's self-healing and incredibly strong," Elijah told him.
"Also incredibly naïve," Klaus added.
Elena turned and gave him a wry smirk. "Yeah, well, you're a paranoid dick, so I think it evens out."
Kol laughed. "Oh, I like you already.
Elena stepped towards her two older brothers. "Hi. It's really nice to meet you both."
"The pleasure it ours. I'm Kol. I'll be your favorite older brother," Kol told her.
Elena smiled and pointed towards both Elijah and Klaus. "Well, you can't be worse than overprotective and asshole over here."
"Excuse me," Elijah said, slightly offended.
"Hey, I'm picking on my big brother. It's part of the job description," Elena told him before turning to Finn. "Hi."
"Hello. It's nice to meet you, although I think we should've met sooner," Finn said before glaring between Elijah and Niklaus.
"It's not their fault. I haven't known about all of you for very long, and right after we all found out, friends of mine thought it would be a good idea to take your coffins as leverage against Klaus," Elena said.
"It sounds like you have stupid friends," Kol said bluntly.
"Kol," Elijah admonished. Their sister did not need to be reminded of her friends' idiocy.
"No, he's right. They've been pretty stupid lately, and I wouldn't exactly call them friends anymore," Elena said.
Kol looked over her shoulder towards their father. "How long have you known him?"
"Not long. Like I said, I just found out about all of this. I believe him though. I'm sure that doesn't mean much to you," Elena said.
"Oh, it means quite a bit, darling. It's a cause for concern," Kol told her.
Elijah cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should table this conversation. The two of you would probably like some more blood. We also have a change of clothes for both of you."
Kol nodded before following his older brother.
Finn looked at his father intently before following. Unlike the others, he had memories of his father before he started abusing them. He remembered a kind father. He was no pushover, but he wasn't how he eventually became. He hadn't understood it when his father suddenly became so angry all the time, when he started mistreating a toddler Niklaus so terribly. None of that meant his father was telling the truth, but it did give Finn pause. It was enough to make him question everything he knew.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Bonnie was standing in her ancestors' old house with Stefan and Damon, and of course the final coffin. She was insanely glad she'd decided to move that coffin back her after Damon stupidly undaggered Elijah. She'd decided it was best to separate this coffin from the other two just in case the Originals found the others. She also figured it was unlikely they'd come back here to look again.
"I can't believe you gave in," Damon said irritably.
"They were going to kill my father!" Bonnie snapped.
"Elena wouldn't have done anything to your dad," Damon said.
"Wake up, Damon. Elena is lost to us. She used my dad as bait for her murderous siblings. She chose them over us. There's nothing left of our friend. But I'm going to make them all pay, starting with whatever is inside this coffin," Bonnie said with a smirk. She'd been busy the last few days. She'd figured out what she needed to open the coffin and she'd gone to retrieve it.
"Yeah, how are you going to do that. You can't even open it," he said.
"Not yet, but I have what I need to get it done," Bonnie said before looking towards the doorway just in time for her mother to appear.