Elena walked around the Salvatore property with Caroline. She'd asked her to come over, and then she'd explained the whole situation to her friend, including the fact that she and the Originals had now taken up residence with the Salvatores.

Caroline burst out laughing when Elena told her about using the law to screw over Stefan and Damon. "Oh my God! That's why you asked my mom about property law. That's just great! I can't believe you didn't call me though. I would've loved to see the look on Damon's face when you handed him the deed that he signed over to you."

Elena chuckled. "I can't say I didn't enjoy it a little, but I hate that it was necessary. I did it because they kidnapped members of my family, and they refuse to release them. Stefan looked me in the eyes and called me an enemy for siding with my own siblings. Damon said the same thing as he gave me an ultimatum. I just can't believe how far things have gone in such a small amount of time."

"They've got a lot of nerve calling you an enemy after everything you've done for them. You literally begged your father not to kill Damon after he stabbed you with a stake. I would've thought Stefan would be smarter than this though. I mean, what exactly is their plan? What are they going to do with three originals? They can't really think they can hide them forever, can they?" Caroline asked.

Elena shook her head. "I have no idea. I've already gone down that road. Stefan is consumed with rage, which I get to an extent, but it seems to have made him a complete idiot."

"What's your plan?" Caroline asked. They were far enough away from the house that Elena could tell her that without anyone overhearing.

"Right now? Make them as uncomfortable as humanly possible until I can figure out something more or until they blink. Hopefully, that happens before one of my family members loses their patience and kills them," Elena said.

"How are you doing with that whole thing? It can't be easy to know that your family isn't who you thought they were, especially when one your family members is now Klaus," Caroline said.

"I don't know. Every time I try to process it, something else happens. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise. It's keeping me from losing my mind over it. I can't say it's not overwhelming though. If the constant idiocy of the Salvatore's wasn't enough, I'm also dealing with the family drama. There's a lot of that with Mikael and my siblings, especially Klaus," Elena said.

"Well, Mikael was brought here to kill Klaus. I assumed there was bad blood there," Caroline said.

"Mikael loves Klaus, but a lot happened in the past. Mikael has hurt him. It was the result of some sort of spell to make him hate Klaus. The spell was broken when Mikael was desiccated. Klaus refuses to believe it though, and I can't really blame him for it," Elena explained.

"Who would cast a spell like that? The Originals were human then, weren't they?" Caroline asked. That was just plain awful. Why would anyone bewitch a father into hating his own son?

"Yeah. Klaus was just a little kid. He doesn't remember Mikael any other way. He wants to run once this is over, and he wants to take me with him," Elena said.

"We won't let that happen," Caroline said firmly.

Elena chuckled. "No offense, Caroline, but I think I have a better chance of stopping him than you do. It seems my strength picked up recently. I knocked Stefan on his ass yesterday. I was also able to fight Damon when we struggled over the stake at the Lockwood's. I think the only reason I wasn't able to overpower him was because I was kind of drunk."

"Wow. That's awesome! Once again something I wished I'd seen. How come it happened all of a sudden though? You weren't more powerful than vampires before," Caroline pointed out.

"I actually have a theory about that. I was planning to ask Mikael about it, but I haven't really had the chance yet. When I was stabbed, it was my own blood that healed me," Elena said.

"Yeah, you mentioned that. That's how you knew for sure that Mikael was your father," Caroline said.

"Which means that vampire blood is in my system the same way it would be if a vampire fed me their blood. I died during the ritual that broke Klaus' curse. The spell that killed John in my place saved me, but I was still dead. And I think that my blood would've healed me if that spell wasn't used, even without Damon's blood also inside of me," Elena explained.

"Because your own blood is healing. You think you would've transitioned?" Caroline asked.

Elena nodded. "And I think that process might have started before the spell ran its course. I'm wondering if it was just enough to activate vampire abilities, like strength and durability."

"That's an interesting theory. I guess there's no way to know. Your abilities would be different than any other vampire's since you were born with them," Caroline said.

"Yeah. That's just another thing I have to figure out how to deal with. I'm not sure how much of me is human and how much of me isn't," Elena said.

"It doesn't matter. You're still who you are," Caroline said firmly.

"I've been thinking about my dad, Grayson. He would've hated this. He might have hated me," Elena said with a shudder.

"You can't think like that," Caroline said.

"I can't seem to stop. Maybe that's why it matters so much for me to have a relationship with my family, even Klaus. Maybe that's why it's so important for me to save Elijah and my other siblings. Why I want to help Mikael and Klaus have relationship," Elena said.

"Well, I can't say I don't have my reservations, especially regarding Klaus, but if that's what you want, I'll support you. You deserve to have a family that loves you. Do they love you?"

"Yeah. Even Klaus only seems to be concerned with making sure I'm not hurt by Mikael the way he was. That's why he wants to force me out of this town. And I really appreciate your support. I need a favor, and it's a really unfair one," Elena said.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it," Caroline said.

"Hold that thought. What I'm going to ask you could pit you against another friend. I'm afraid that Bonnie might be involved in the plot to hide my siblings," Elena said.

"What? No, she wouldn't do that," Caroline immediately said.

"Care, she's made no secret of her feelings regarding my family. She was upset that I didn't let Damon kill Klaus or that I felt bad for him regarding Mikael. She told Jeremy about my paternity before I had the chance to talk to him," Elena said.

"She what?" Caroline asked in disbelief. She hadn't known that Bonnie went to Jeremy, nor did she condone it. That wasn't Bonnie's secret to tell. Friends were not supposed to do things like that.

"Yeah, less than a full day before I found out myself. I was so angry. I kicked her out, and she seemed shocked that I did. She didn't seem to understand that she did anything wrong," Elena said.

"I'm really sorry. She shouldn't have done that, but do you really think she's involved in this mess with the coffins?" Caroline asked.

"I can't be sure. It's not the first time she's plotted with Stefan and Damon behind my back," Elena said. She still remembered how the three of them plotted to kill Klaus before the sacrifice, which would've killed Bonnie. Yes, it was done to protect her, but they all knew she didn't want them doing that for her. If she was involved now, Elena was pretty sure Bonnie was telling herself it was for Elena's own good. She didn't trust Bonnie to let her figure out her own life without interference. "I don't want to believe she'd get involved, but I can't be sure."

"So, you want me to talk to her?" Caroline asked.

"No. I want you to keep an eye on her, see what she does and where she goes. I know that's a big ask. If you can't do it, I understand," Elena said. She knew what she was asking. She was asking her friend to risk her friendship with Bonnie. She knew that wasn't fair, but this was her family.

Caroline sighed. She didn't like the idea of spying on one of her friends. She loathed it, in fact, but she could understand where Elena was coming from. Plus, it could turn into a bloodbath soon if those coffins weren't recovered. "If Bonnie isn't involved, then no harm will be done. If she is, then she has no high ground to stand on. I'll do it."

"Thank you. I really am sorry for the position I'm putting you in," Elena said.

"If Bonnie did this, she's the one that put me in this position. I know it probably wouldn't be this easy, but have you checked the house and property for the coffins?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, we searched from top to bottom as soon as we got here. We didn't expect to find them, but we wanted to be thorough. We also figure that Stefan probably doesn't know where they are now. It would be too easy for Klaus to get the information from him," Elena said.

"Okay. I'll keep an eye on Bonnie and see where she goes. I'll also try to get her to talk to me without alerting her to the fact that you suspect her," Caroline said.

"Thanks. I should get back to the house before my family kills the Salvatores, or each other," Elena said.

Caroline chuckled before following her friend back towards the house.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Elena was walking into the living room in time to see Mikael tear into Stefan's throat with his teeth. He fed from him and then let him fall to the flood unconscious. Elena cringed a bit. Seeing her boyfriend drained of his blood was not a pleasant thing to see. "Was that really necessary?"

Mikael turned to his daughter before wiping the blood off his face with a cloth he'd found on the table. "Yes, actually. It served two purposes. I got to eat, and it satisfied my rage for the moment. It was either that or rip out his heart."

"You remind me of Elijah," Elena said as she watched him clean the blood off of him. That was totally an Elijah move.

Mikael smiled sadly. "I'm fairly certain he wouldn't appreciate the comparison."

"I mean the way you cleaned the blood off of you. I watched him decapitate a vampire with his hand and then wipe the blood off of him right afterwards," Elena said. It was kind of funny how anal Elijah was. He wasn't averse to murder, but he had a thing about neatness.

Mikael chuckled. "Well, I never minded getting a bit bloodied in the past, but times have changed.

Elena looked down at Stefan. "I can't save him, can I? When this is over?"

Mikael's first instinct was to say no. This boy and his brother had done nothing but cause his family harm. He didn't allow people like that to live. However, he also didn't want to hurt his daughter. "Are you in love with him?"

"I'm in love with who he was before his humanity was shut off. I thought that I could bring him back, but I'm beginning to think that that isn't possible. I don't think I could ever be with him after this anyway, but I don't want him dead, Damon either." Elena said.

"Then here is the deal I will make you. If your brothers are not harmed, I will wait for the vervain to leave their systems and compel them to forget you and the rest of us. I will compel them to leave town. However, if any damage is done, I cannot promise anything," Mikael said.

"Thank you," Elena said before tentatively hugging him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Damon made his way into the old, condemned Bennett house, where all the coffins had been stashed and were being cloaked. He'd managed to slip away undetected, using Stefan as a distraction for Mikael. Of course, Stefan didn't know he was being used as a distraction. He didn't know what Damon was about to do. He had different priorities than Damon did. Stefan just wanted to hurt Klaus. Damon wanted Elena back, and he had a plan to get that, through Elijah. He'd waited for Stefan to piss off Mikael to get hungry and go after Stefan before slipping out.

Damon had already had the other coffins moved with Bonnie's help. Just in case this backfired, he wanted to make sure he still had leverage. It could very easily backfire with what he was planning to do, but it could work too. He needed an ally to get Elena away from the Originals, and Elijah was his best bet. Elijah didn't seem to trust Klaus very much before, and from what he'd heard Klaus and Rebekah say to Elena, he hated Mikael. All Damon had to do was convince Elijah to help him take down the others for Elena's sake. Then Damon would find a way to get the dagger back into Elijah once it was done.

Damon opened the coffin that held Elijah's body. He hesitated for a minute before taking ahold of the dagger and pulling it out. Now, he just had to wait and hope this worked in his favor.