Elena was becoming more and more annoyed as Damon wouldn't leave her alone. All she wanted to do was get drunk and forget about her seriously screwed up life, but Damon refused to let her do that. He wouldn't drop the matter of the ball, no matter how many times she refused to tell him about it. She would leave, but she knew he'd just follow her, and the alcohol was here, so that was a reason to stay. Also, she was too drunk to drive, possibly even to walk.

"Elena, tell me what happened. I can't fix it if I don't know what you did," Damon prodded.

Elena slammed her glass down on the table and glared at Damon. "What I did?"

"Yeah. You obviously screwed something up when you went to talk to the Original mommy or you wouldn't be like this. Tell me what happened so I can fix the problem," Damon said.

"The biggest problem I have at the moment is you. Just go away," Elena said.

"Someone's a little mean when she's drunk. Come on, I'm taking you home. Once you're sober, you're going to tell me everything," Damon said before standing up and making a move to grab her arm.

Elena pushed him away. "Don't touch me."

Damon grabbed her arm. "Enough of this! Let's go!"

"Hey, stop!" Matt protested as he watched Damon get handsy. He hoped Rebekah got there soon to put a stop to this.

"I said get off me!" Elena screamed. The next thing she knew Damon went flying across the restaurant. She didn't really have much time to register what happened because she began to feel lightheaded and then fell to the floor.

Matt looked over at Damon in shock. Damon had gone flying without any sign of anyone touching him. Elena hadn't even pushed him away yet.

Elena soon felt a strong hand on her arm pulling her to her feet. She thought it was Damon again, but one looked across the room, and she found that he was still on the ground looking shocked. When she looked next to her at the person who helped her up, she saw Elijah.

"I have you, sweetheart. It's okay," Elijah said before bringing her over to a table and sitting her down.

"Did I do that?" Elena asked as she continued to look at Damon, who was just getting up.

"It's nothing to worry about. We can figure it out later," Elijah assured her. He looked and saw a bunch of the patrons looking around in shock. "Rebekah, will you please relieve these people of their memories of this night?"

Rebekah nodded before walking away to start compelling people.

"How'd you know where to find me?" Elena asked Elijah.

"Young Matthew contacted Rebekah," Elijah told her as he took a seat next to her.

Elena gave Matt an annoyed look, but she really couldn't be that angry with him. He was trying to help.

Damon made his way over. "What the hell is going on? What did you people do to her?"

"Damon, I suggest you leave. This matter doesn't concern you," Elijah said in a dangerous tone. He'd walked in as Damon had his hands on his niece's arm. If Elena's power hadn't pushed him away, he would've pulled him off of her himself, and would've done so much more violently. The only reason his limbs were still attached to his body was because he was more concerned with Elena's state at the moment than punishing Damon.

"The hell it doesn't! Everything about Elena concerns me!" Damon snapped.

Elijah stood up and got into his personal space. "Not anymore it doesn't. Let me make something very clear to you. You are not welcome around this young girl any longer. You will not call her or show up at her home. You will not talk to her or her family. If you see her somewhere, you will walk away. You will not even speak her name. Do you understand me?" He knew he was not Elena's father, but he felt comfortable enough to speak for Sage and Finn in this matter. He didn't believe for a moment that his brother would allow a man like this around his daughter after he'd just put his hands on her, and he'd heard Sage say that she didn't want Damon around her daughter."

"Screw you, you son of…"

"My question required a yes or no response, nothing more. You will stay away," Elijah said.

"Or what?" Damon challenged.

"Or you will not live to be a nuisance to her much longer," Elijah warned.

"Elijah," Elena said.

"Leave," Elijah ordered again whilst ignoring his niece's protests. He'd talk to her in moment.

"I'm not leaving her with you," Damon said.

"One way or another, you will leave," Rebekah said from behind him. She'd finished compelling everyone. Although, if Damon didn't leave soon, she had a feeling she'd have to do it again. "Now, if you choose to fight, you'll leave in a way that's more fun for me."

Damon looked over at Elena, who wasn't moving or saying anything. She wasn't even trying to fight whatever the hell was going on here. "This isn't over."

"Just go, Damon," Elena slurred.

Damon glared at them all before walking away.

Elijah sat back down next to Elena. "I apologize for that, Elena."

"You can't tell me who I can see," Elena said.

"And normally I wouldn't dream of it, but that man is volatile. He put his hands on you. I will not allow that," Elijah said firmly.

"He was trying to help in his own way," Elena said. She obviously wasn't okay with the way Damon acted, but she'd gotten used to it by now. He only did it to help her.

Elijah wanted to argue that point, but he recognized that now was not the time. Elena was not in a state where she could hear him. Besides, it might be a better conversation for her to have with her mother or father. "Elena, why did you come here tonight?"

"To forget. I just wanted to forget everything. Damon wouldn't let me do that. I should've just gotten drunk at home," Elena said.

"I would prefer you not get drunk at all, but I can understand the temptation. I think we've all been guilty of it at one time or another. I know that last night was difficult for you," Elijah said.

"I don't know what I am anymore," Elena said quietly.

"You're a Mikaelson. You're part of us," Elijah said.

Elena flinched in response. She knew he probably didn't mean to, but that only made it worse.

"I know that that probably doesn't make you feel better right now. This family has not been kind to you, but that all ended last night. We are going to do everything we can for you. We will love and protect you no matter what," Elijah promised.

Elena looked over at Rebekah. "Does that go for you too."

Rebekah sighed. "Well, I'm still not thrilled with the fact that you daggered me, but you're my niece. I will forgive you. I've forgiven Nik over and over again.

"For what it's worth, I didn't feel good about it. I don't feel good about what I did last night either. I didn't know your mother was planning to kill all of you. I just wanted to protect myself from Klaus," Elena said.

"We understand. Nothing that happened last night was your fault. You were manipulated into every action you took. My mother will be dealt with in time. For the moment, you are our concern. I'd like to take you home now," Elijah said.

"Your home or mine?" Elena asked.

"Our home. Our home is your home. I want you to come to the mansion with us. You should not be alone tonight, and, no, I do not count Alaric Saltzman," Elijah said.

"I…I can't…"

"No one is going to make you talk tonight, and none of us will ever hurt you. I just want to know that you're safe and that you will not drink anymore tonight. At least for the night, Elena, please," Elijah pleaded. He would insist if she forced him to, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted it to be her choice.

"If I say no, you're going to make me anyway, aren't you?" Elena said. She knew Elijah. Even in the state she was in, she could figure out what he would do it she said no.

"I would rather not, but, yes, if it comes to that, for your own safety. If you want to leave in the morning, no one is going to stop you," Elijah promised.

"Alright," Elena finally relented before standing up. She stumbled a little as she tried to walk.

Elijah put an arm around her. "I have you, sweetheart," he said as he helped her out of the restaurant.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Finn and Sage returned home just as Elijah was coming downstairs from getting Elena settled in a room. She was asleep by the time he and Rebekah got her home.

"What's going on?" Finn asked as he held up his phone. "Sage informs me that your name on this contraption means you tried to contact me."

Sage couldn't help but smile at her lover's lack of understanding about technology.

"Elena is upstairs sleeping," Elijah said.

"What happened?" Sage asked. She had a hard time believing that Elena had shown up on her own so soon.

"She went out to a bar and got drunk. A friend of hers called Rebekah after she'd gotten quite drunk and when Damon Salvatore showed up to make the situation worse," Elijah told them.

"Oh, God," Sage said. She should've known there was a chance Elena wouldn't handle things well. Maybe she should've gone to talk to her today instead of waiting, but she wanted to give her space.

"I must confess something. I warned the Salvatore boy to stay away from her. I walked in on him putting an unwanted hand on her. She activated her witch powers to get him away from her," Elijah said.

There was a dangerous glint in Finn's eyes as he turned to Sage. "I can kill him now, right?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting closer," Sage said through gritted teeth. She was very tempted to let him do it, but she wanted to speak to Elena before anyone did anything. "Thank you for bringing her here, Elijah. Maybe we should've insisted she stay last night, but I thought that would just make it worse."

"No, I think you made the right decision. I think it just became too much. She's had a lot to deal with in her life. It overwhelmed her and she needed a way to cope," Elijah said.

"I'm going to go check on her," Sage said before heading for the stairs.

Elijah turned to Finn. "I know you don't trust me, Finn. You may even blame me for not knowing your daughter. Perhaps if things had been different and Sage had a chance to speak to you about Elena nine hundred years ago…"

"I doubt it would've changed much. She still needed to be protected from Dahlia. But, no, I don't trust you. I don't trust any of you. I don't like the idea of you being alone with my daughter," Finn said.

Elijah nodded after a moment. He couldn't deny that his brother was right to feel that way. He would never harm Elena, but Finn had no reason to believe that. "Then I won't be until you say."

Finn nodded back at him. "Perhaps tonight was the beginning of me being able to trust you again though," he said before going upstairs to find Sage and his daughter.