Finn woke up the next morning with Sage in his arms. He'd asked her to stay, and she'd agreed. He hadn't been as happy as he was right now in nine hundred years. The only thing that could make him happier was if things were better with Elena. He wanted his daughter in the house with them. He wanted to be a family. He knew that was going to take time though. Elena didn't know either of them, and the only she knew from his family was pain.

Sage shifted and smiled as she turned to Finn. "Morning."

"Good morning, my life. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have you in my arms again," Finn said.

"Me either. I wasn't sure you'd ever want me in your arms again after you heard the truth," Sage said.

"It's not your fault, Sage. You were forced to give our daughter up because of my family. You were protecting her, and you succeeded," Finn said.

"For now, but what did it cost her? What did it cost all of us? I'm afraid she'll never forgive me, Finn," Sage said sadly.

"She will. She will come to understand that everything you did was for her well-being. You kept her safe. We'll make sure she sees that," Finn said.

"Maybe I could've found another way. Maybe if I'd gone to your family, they would've undaggered you and we could've figured things out together," Sage said.

"Assuming you could've found them, that's a big if. I wouldn't have trusted them to make the right decision for you or our child. I barely trust them now. If I had it my way, I'd take you and Elena and get as far away from them as I could," Finn said.

"We can't do that," Sage said.

"I know," Finn said. He wanted to do it, but he knew he couldn't, not right now anyway. That didn't mean he liked it. He didn't trust his siblings. The only one he had even a marginal amount of trust for was Elijah, and it was very marginal. However, as much as he hated to admit it, Finn was going to need them.

"Not only can we not force Elena away from everything she loves, but we're going to need your siblings when we eventually have to deal with Dahlia," Sage said.

"I know," he repeated.

"What's going on with your mother?" Sage asked. Finn had told her last night she'd been dealt with, but not how.

"When you went to retrieve your things last night, Niklaus and Elijah told me they'd chained her up in her room with magic proof chains. They also chained the door shut," Finn said. He hadn't felt right about it when his brothers told him that, but he felt even less right about his mother being left to her own devices now.

"How do you feel about that?" Sage asked.

"It's not going to keep her contained forever. It might buy us a few days, but she'll find a way to get loose," Finn said. They'd spoken of that too last night. Niklaus wanted to kill her, but Elijah had pointed out that she was linked to the Bennett witches. She would only come back.

"That's not what I'm asking. I know how much you love your mother. I can't imagine that treating her like this is easy for you," Sage said.

"I do love her. Until recently, there was no one I had more loyalty to. I would've done anything for her. But you and our daughter come before anyone, even her. I have to make sure Elena is safe. She's not safe with my mother around," Finn said.

"You think she'd try that spell again?" Sage asked. She'd kill the old hag herself if she tried to use Elena like that again. The woman was damned lucky she didn't kill her last night.

"Possibly, but that's not what I meant. Elena is part vampire, and Mother sees all vampires as abominations," Finn said.

"She created vampires," Sage pointed out.

"Yes, and she considers it a mistake. That's why she came back. It's why she wants to kill us all. I fear that her hatred will spill onto Elena if it hasn't already. Hell, she may want to hurt her just to keep Dahlia away," Finn said.

"I'll kill your mother before she gets near Elena. Tell me something though, Finn. How do you feel about it all? You were willing to die for your mother. I know you've had a hard time dealing with what you are," Sage said.

"Yes. I told myself that my mother was right about our kind, that we shouldn't exist. It goes against everything I was taught as a child, and I've hated the things my siblings and I have done. Then you told me I had a daughter, and it changed everything. How am I to believe that my child doesn't belong in this world? How am I to believe she wasn't meant to be. She should be impossible, yet she's here. No other vampire has had a child to my knowledge. How about you? Have you heard of such a thing before?" Finn asked.

"No. As far as I know, it has never happened before. What are you saying? You think it was fate?" Sage asked.

"I don't know, but I feel like it must mean something. All I know is that I can no longer hate what I am. If I am to hate what I am, I'd have to hate her, and I could never do that," Finn said.

"Good. So, no more talk of suicide?" Sage asked.

"No," Finn said before pulling himself out of bed. He went and grabbed some clothes from his dresser. "So, what now? What do we do about Elena?"

"We should give her at least a day or two before we try to talk to her again. Let's give her a chance to process it," Sage said.

"Very well. I'm not the patient one in the family, but I can manage a day or two," Finn said before slipping on his pants.

Sage got up and went to her bag. She grabbed a pair of clothes and started changing herself. "This is something I should probably tell you, because I don't trust him to heed my warning."

"Who's he?" Finn wondered as he put on a long-sleeved black V-neck shirt.

"A vampire in town that has taken an interest in Elena," Sage said as she started getting dressed.

Finn went rigid at her words. He just found out he was a father. He wasn't happy about anyone taking an interest in his daughter in the way that Sage was insinuating.

"Yeah, his name is Damon Salvatore. Elena told me he has more than friendship on the mind with her, and I witnessed that for myself as well," Sage said.

Finn suddenly recalled Elena keeping the company of two young men throughout the night. He hadn't cared at the time, other than to be annoyed that she hadn't come alone as his mother wished, but he certainly cared long. "Absolutely not. She's too young for a boyfriend."

Sage laughed. She should've known Finn would be that kind of father, the kind that wouldn't let his daughter anywhere near anyone interested in dating her. "And when will she be old enough?"

"When I'm dead," Finn said flatly.

"You're immortal," Sage said in an amused tone.

"Then I guess it's not going to happen," he said.

Sage laughed. "You can't keep your daughter from having a love life."

"Watch me."

Sage shook her head at him. "The reason I brought this up is because I told Damon to stay away from Elena. He's not someone I want around her."

"Has he hurt her?" Finn asked in a dangerous tone.

"Not to my knowledge, but he was very disrespectful and controlling with her," Sage said. She decided not to tell him what Elena told her about forcing his blood down her throat just yet. Finn would kill him, and that would not be a great start to his relationship with their daughter.

"I have an easy solution. I'll kill him," Finn said helpfully.

"I'm not completely discounting that idea, but I think we should try another approach first. Killing our daughter's friend is not going to endear her to us. I talked to her a little about it last night, and I want to try again once she's a little more comfortable with it. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation.

"Fine, we can try it that way. I still think the most effective solution would be me killing him though," Finn said.

"Noted. Come on, let's go find some blood. I'm starving," Sage said before heading out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elena made her way to the bar of the Grill. She'd spent most of the day holed up in her room. Her mind had been swimming as she tried to process what happened at the ball. A part of her wanted to believe it was a lie, but she couldn't. Sage's concern for her all night was too real. Plus, what was the point of lying? What did it get either her or Finn?

Elena didn't know how to deal with this. In fact, she didn't know what the hardest part was. Finding out her parents weren't who she thought they were for the second time, finding out she wasn't human, or finding out that she was related to Klaus. It was probably between the last two. Finding out her parents weren't who she thought they were was definitely not an easy thing to deal with, but she'd been down that road before. However, she didn't know how to begin to process what she was. In fact, she didn't know what she was. Was she part vampire? She didn't crave human blood, so far, but she was the child of two vampires. According to what Sage said, she was also part witch. What exactly did that make her?

And then there was Klaus. The man who killed her, the man who killed her aunt. He was apparently her uncle. His blood ran through her veins. She supposed that it could be worse. She could've learned he was her father. That probably would've made her sick. As it was, she didn't know how to accept it.

All of that led to where she was now, in a bar trying to forget for the rest of the night. She went up to the bar and found Matt. "Hey, Matt. Can you get me a bourbon."

Matt was hesitant. He usually served everyone who came in. In fact, the manager was more than a little sleazy and insisted that he not card anyone, regardless of age, but he knew Elena was probably having a hard time. He wasn't sure supplying her with alcohol was the best thing to do. "Hi, Elena. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Matt, it's been a really rough twenty-four hours. Please get me a drink," Elena said in a weary tone.

Reluctantly, Matt nodded and poured her a bourbon. He immediately handed it to her. "What can I do, Elena?"

Elena could tell just from the look on his face that he knew the truth. She had yet to tell anyone, so she figured it had to be Rebekah, who was her aunt.. "You're doing it. How'd you find out? Did Rebekah tell you?"

"Actually, Rebekah and I were there when Finn found out. I'm guessing it's true then," Matt said.

"Yeah, It's true. I'm the daughter of an original. Klaus is my uncle. I never thought I'd wish for the days when I was just a doppelganger whose blood needed to be used in a sacrificial ritual," Elena said before taking a large sip of her drink.

"Have you told anyone?" Matt asked.

"Nope. Not even Ric. Caroline was kind enough to drive me home without asking questions. Damon has been blowing up my phone, but I've been ignoring him," Elena said before finishing off her drink. Well, she mostly avoided Damon's calls. She texted back once to let him know she was alright because she knew if she didn't, he'd show up at the house. She didn't tell him anything though.

"I'm really sorry, Elena. I just want you to know that I'm here for you," Matt said.

Elena slid her glass towards him, indicating that she wanted another. "Thanks."

Matt poured her another drink and then walked away to help other customers.

Elena finished her drink within minutes and ordered another. That continued for another hour. She was fairly drunk by the time she noticed another person next to her.

"Well, look who I found," a voice said.

Elena recognized Damon's voice immediately and immediately finished the rest of her drink in a single gulp. She was drunk, but not enough to deal with Damon.

"Too busy to call me back, but not too busy to get drunk, I see," Damon said.

"Screw you, Damon. I've had a long day," Elena said.

"Yeah? You gonna tell me what the hell happened at the Mikaelsons' last night?" Damon asked.

"Nope. Matt, get me another," Elena called out to her friend.

"Make that two," Damon said before turning back to Elena. "Okay, I'll rephrase. Tell me what happened. I told you not to go up to talk to that crazy old witch, and you had Stefan break my neck so I couldn't stop you."

"I'm not in the mood for this right now. I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Elena said.

Matt soon came over with two drinks. "Elena, maybe you should go home. I can call someone for you."

"She's fine. I'll take her home," Damon said before grabbing his drink.

"I'm fairly certain you were told to stay away from me," Elena said. She didn't know that for sure, but she got the impression that Sage didn't want her around Damon, and she'd probably made that point to Damon. She honestly wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Yeah, well, I've never listened well. Besides, who is Sage to tell me who I can see? Your Mom?" Damon asked.

Elena laughed and took a big gulp of her drink.

Matt, meanwhile, walked to the back and took out his phone. He was very worried about Elena, even more so since Damon arrived. He was calling someone for her, whether she wanted him to or not. He only knew one person to call that could help her right now.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Rebekah was sitting in the living room with Elijah, who was reading a book. Most of the others were out. Finn and Sage had gone for a walk, and Kol was out on the town. Nik was the only other one in the house, aside from their mother, and he was held up in his studio. "Are we ever going to talk about what happened?"

Elijah didn't bother looking up from his book as he spoke. "What would you like to discuss, Rebekah? The fact that Elena Gilbert is our niece, a girl that has been hurt by almost everyone in this family in some way, the fact that our mother just tried to murder us all, or that she sold our own child and placed our niece in grave danger."

"How about all of? How about what we're going to do about it?" Rebekah asked.

"Regarding Elena, the first move has to be made by Finn and Sage. They are her parents," Elijah said.

"Ugh! I can't believe we're going to have to deal with that stupid trollop. I thought we were finally free of her," Rebekah fumed.

"Rebekah, Sage is the mother of your niece. You cannot be calling her names. You need to show her some respect," Elijah said firmly.

Before Rebekah had a chance to respond, her phone rang. She looked and saw that it was Matt before answering. "What?"

"Rebekah, it's Matt."

"Yes, I'm aware. It's not a good time, Matt. I'm sure you realize this, but my family is going through a bit of a crisis," Rebekah said.

"That's why I called. I don't know your brother, Finn's number, or if he even has a number. You're the only one I know how to get in touch with," Matt said.

"Why would you need to reach Finn? Is this about Elena?" she asked.

Elijah shut his book and paid attention to the conversation.

"Yeah. She showed up about an hour ago looking to drink. She was already pretty drunk and then Damon showed up, which didn't help things," Matt said.

Elijah got up and grabbed his blazer, which was draped on the back of his chair. He immediately put it on.

"Bloody hell. We're on our way," Rebekah said before hanging up. "I didn't think Elena was one to drown her sorrows in alcohol. I've seen her drink socially, but not to forget her troubles."

"Yes, well, her troubles are pretty great right now. Everyone has their self-destructive moments. Come. We can try to reach Finn and Sage on the way, but I'm not going to leave Elena alone. Or worse, in the hands of a Salvatore," Elijah said.

Rebekah nodded before standing up and following her brother.