AN: I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story! All of these nice reviews give me life; keep them coming!

I'm not so sure about a Caroline/Gemini thing, but I did just come up with a really big plotline for Caroline, which I think all of you are going to enjoy. And I'm known for my slowburns - sorry all. But I think Kalijah take a big leap this chapter...

Serena1854: Yes! Short version, Katherine will definitely start using and practising her magic. However, this is a development, and not something that will just happen straight away. Yeah, she's powerful, but she can't do the impossible. Well... it depends how much time she has to think. But don't worry, she will start using her magic. Maybe not this chapter, but soon.

I used to be very anti-Hayley, but I'm slowly becoming pro-Hayley. Mainly because I liked her for the majority of Season 3, and I think she had a lot of potential, so I'm going to write her with that in mind. Camille, however, never had any potential and was never interesting or fun to watch. Sorry, but there's no chance of me ever liking her.

Warning: This chapter is M-rated.

Enjoy! I love youuuu! -Izzy x


Chapter Four – The Originals 3x05

"They made such a beautifully spacious home in such a small space," the real estate agent – Margaret Dawson – was saying. "Two bedrooms, a large kitchen, two bathrooms. Don't you like it?"

Yes. For the price, it cost, Katherine actually did like the French-Quarter condo. From the outside, it was a pale white colour, with one floor and a triangular roof. It looked tiny from the outside, but was very spacious inside, like Dawson was saying. It had four thin wooden double-doors built into the façade. They were painted purple and were purely decorative. The two doors at the end had steps leading up to them and concealed the two blue front doors to the house. The two doors in the middle lead to windows, covered in lacy curtains.

The whole house was arranged in one row, with no hallways or odd shapes. A straight line of rooms, all leading onto each other. The two front doors were therefore very useful for the privacy of a second habitant, should Katherine ever get a roommate.

The first front door lead into a spacious living room, painted a light cream with dark hardwood floors and a beautiful furnace. To the left of the room was two sliding double doors which lead to the secondary bedroom. Across from that door was another, leading to a large, L-shaped kitchen with an adjoining bathroom and shower. Through the kitchen was another door leading to the master bedroom with an on-suit bathroom and ceiling fan. The second front-door lead to the same master bedroom, in fact.

"The money's in my account," Katherine informed the agent as she paced around the living room, inspecting the furnace. "Let me give you my details. I'll take it."

Dawson grinned. "Fantastic! Let's take a look at the paperwork, shall we?"


"So," Klaus scoffed unhappily, as him and Elijah walked into the compound, "it seems like my first sire wants you dead, and your first sire wants me dead. Makes you almost regret creating any vampires in the first place, doesn't it?"

Elijah opened his mouth to reply, but quickly fell short when they saw the dead body in the centre of their home. A woman with red hair and a blue dress, lying among a collection of blue lavender flowers. Klaus walked forward to inspect the body, instantly recognising the symmetry and hearing the message.

He knelt down and took the letter from the poor girl's hand, ignoring the slit wrists. He scanned over the writing and straightened up, handing the letter to Elijah to read as well.

"Roses are red," Elijah read aloud. "Lavender is blue. Come find me before I find you."

Klaus scowled darkly. Bloody Aurora. "I remember her a better poet," Klaus mused as Elijah knelt down to inspect the body himself.

"Oh, I wouldn't say this is lacking in poetry," his brother mused, thoughtfully. He closed the eyelids of the dead girl respectfully. Klaus, contrastingly, threw the poem back down onto the girl with little care.

"She wants us to find her," he summarised, beginning to walk away, tapping Elijah briefly on the shoulder. "So, lets."

Elijah, however, didn't get to his feet to follow him, but instead, questioned him. "Why so eager, Niklaus? Last time you even said her name was a thousand years ago, when you told me never to speak it again in your presence." He didn't turn to face Klaus as he spoke, to witness his reaction.

Klaus just blinked. "So, I'm to wait until she leaves another calling card in my home?" He demanded. The intrusion itself was vulgar and disturbing, and Klaus would not like to witness another.

Elijah looked down, his mind clearly elsewhere. "There's something you should know," he said. He finally straightened up to face Klaus. "When our mother seized control of my mind, releasing those monstrosities that lived behind the red door, I saw Aurora."

Klaus didn't pause before stepping forward to Elijah. "If you mean to confess a thousand-year-old secret that will divide us after our hard reconciliation, then forget it, brother. There is nothing you could have done involving her, that would be worse than what she did to me."

Elijah shook his head. "Please do not dismiss this Niklaus."

"Whatever it is," Klaus snapped, "it can wait. We have a plate in here, of our problems, and I mean to clear it. If it makes you feel any better," Klaus rested his hand on Elijah's shoulder, "we can kill Aurora together. Then neither of us need play her little mind games ever again. Hm?"

He let go of Elijah and headed towards the exit of the compound, his mind abuzz with whatever it was Elijah had done with Aurora, the thoughts unable to be tamed, but perhaps set aside. They had priorities, after all.

Outside the compound, luckily, was a distraction. Two members of the Strix, a man and woman, were waiting for him, perfectly silent. "You made it!" Klaus exclaimed with fake joy, beaming at the sight of them.

"You compelled us to," the woman said, clearly bitter.

Klaus smirked, nodding. "Indeed," he remembered. "Right, so when you find the wolf pack," he said, handing her a blood bag, "this is the blood you feed them. Then you kill them by simply snapping their necks, understood?"

"We will simply snap their necks," they said in unison.

"Very good." Klaus nodded in approval, handing them another blood bag. "When they resurrect, this is the blood you feed them, understand? Only give them a little bit each, it needs to last throughout the entire pack. Bring a few other humans along, to cater to their thirst. This blood isn't to feed them, but to save them. Understood?"

They both nodded, taking the blood bags and running off.

"Are they for your hybrids?" Elijah asked, joining him. "Shouldn't you be there in person?"

Klaus shrugged. "I gave them my blood, so the hybrids will be sired to me. I'll give them a week or so to get used to immortal life, and this weekend I'll go and meet them. If I have the time."

He had found a pack outside of Louisiana to turn, so no war struck out between himself and Hayley. The last thing he needed was another problem.

"Maybe I'll take Hope with me," Klaus mused. "Show her how it's done."

-0-0-0-0-0-

It only took a minute for Klaus and Elijah to arrive in the heart of the city, where the humans were preparing for Jazz Fest. Klaus spotted Lucien, and overheard Vincent sharing the origin story of Jazz Fest with Camille, telling her all about the axeman. The warlock who didn't kill for one day, in return for the best party New Orleans has ever thrown. But neither brother was interested in the crowd. They were looking around for a certain redhead.

"She could be anywhere," Elijah mused, looking around as well. "How exactly do you intend to find her?"

"She'll leave a mark," Klaus said, positively. "It is, after all, her favourite game." He stopped looking around when he noticed a specific perfume bottle. From afar, Klaus could still smell it. And it bore the very same scent as her long locks.

"This mark that you speak of," Elijah said, as Klaus read the details on the bottle, "I see nothing-"

"Hey Mikaelbitches," came a controversially welcome, interruptive voice. Katherine strolled up to them both and smirked. She was wearing a flowy white tank top with a very low V-neck and leather shorts, leaving her legs bare and her feet clad in black Lita boots. Her curly hair fell simply around her shoulders, but her face was covered in expensive looking sunglasses. Shopping bags dangled from each arm, holding many clothes, as far as either brother could see.

"Katerina," Klaus greeted. "Where have you been this morning?"

"Signing the paperwork on my new place, you'd be happy to know," she informed them. "Five hundred dollars below my budget, as well. But I spent that on my new sunglasses. Anyway, I'm going to take out my furniture fund and take a look around town with Freya. Want to come, Elijah? I would invite you Klaus but, well, I don't like you."

"Oh, the feelings mutual, love," Klaus claimed, smirking. "But as long as you get to your doctor's appointment this afternoon, we should be good."

"What doctor's appointment?" Elijah asked, clearly worried as he stepped forward.

"It's Monday," Klaus answered, simply. "Time for another blood transfusion. I agreed to let Katherine get it done by a doctor, as long as she sticks to her weekly appointments. She knows that if she misses one," he turned to Katherine, grinning, wiggling a finger at her like a naughty girl, "she loses her independence for good."

Katherine scowled at him. "I won't miss it," she claimed, walking past him to continue shopping.

Elijah turned to Klaus. "Do you have this covered?" He asked. "I'd like to make sure Katerina's safe, considering we have a new lunatic psychopath in town."

Klaus smirked. "I have a new lead," he answered, turning to the perfume shop. "Enjoy the day, brother."

Elijah stalked off and Klaus walked into the perfume shop. There was no little bell, or hum of life. Just eerie silence. The smell was intoxicating, in a very bad sense of the word. With his senses heightened, the alcohol stung his nose.

But when a petite redhead walked out from behind the shelves, the smell was the very last thing on his mind. Aurora gushed at the sight of him, grinning like a fool. "I knew you'd find me!" She exclaimed, delighted. "1000 years… could it really have been so long? Looking at you now, it feels like yesterday."

"If yesterday were the apocalypse," Klaus mused.

"Are you saying that leaving me felt like the end of the world?" She teased.

"Leaving you alive," he reasoned, stepping forward.

Aurora laughed and the whip. "I notice Elijah's not with you," she commentated. "Was the reluctant to tag along?"

Klaus's anger grew at the memory of his brother's secret. "He would rather spend the day with his new girlfriend. But, as I understand it, the two of you share some ancient secret. Do enlighten me, if you can."

"Katerina Petrova?" Aurora asked, easily changing the subject. "Hm, I heard all about her. Now she's in New Orleans, right? She will be the complete undoing of you and your brother, you know."

Klaus smirked. "Well, there you are mistaken. We reconciled in a deal for her freedom. Her arrival seems to have bought us together, in fact."

Aurora laughed again. "Oh, Elijah has his secret. But he doesn't know about yours. I do. And he will, by the end of the day, I guarantee it. So, good luck trying to shame him, Nik. And good luck getting him to forgive you."

"I've been waiting for days for my secret to be uncovered, but it has yet to come out," Klaus admitted, placing his hands behind his back. "When it does, I shall be ready to deal with my older brother's temper tantrum. Some say he's the mature one. But I'm guessing our secrets will even each other out."

"He wouldn't want me to tell you," Aurora said, teasing him.

Klaus smirked. They both paced around a little display, narrowly avoiding each other. "Let me guess," Klaus mused. "In the time between being with me and seeking refuge in the arms of your brother, you slept with mine."

Aurora looked taken aback. "Your accusations are so tedious. The truth is, I've never been with your brother. At least, not in the way that you think."

"Why are you here?" Klaus asked.

"The witches here," she mused, "they celebrate the Feast of Gifts. It made me remember that very intimate gift we gave each other so long ago."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You've had a thousand birthdays since. If I forgot to send a card, it's because I forgot about you. Is that why you're here? Is that why you're here? To remind me?"

Aurora scowled, pacing away. "I am here for the same reason Lucien and Tristan are. To protect my sire. Now, if you'd turned me that night like I asked, I would be here to protect you. But since you didn't, I need to know. Where in the hell is Rebekah?!"


When Elijah caught up with Katerina, she handed him half of her shopping bags without a word, the weight clearly weighing her down. He explained who Aurora was and her connection to Klaus. He told her about her arrival in the city and the mayhem she'd caused so far.

"Yeah, I heard stories about her," Katherine told him. "Crazy bitch." Elijah nodded, refusing the dismiss the disrespect. Katherine smirked at him. "Come on, we're meeting Freya at Orleans Furniture and More. I kinda like your sister, you know. She's fun."

The shop was a half hour walk away from the Quarter, during which Katherine talked about her new property and everything she'd bought that afternoon. Elijah listened quietly, watching out for any unusual activity, or any sign of Aurora. Nothing, fortunately.

When they arrived outside the furniture warehouse, on a big empty street, they found Freya waiting outside. She was wearing the same thing she wore the day before, with sunglasses covering her face. There was a hot coffee in one hand and her heels in her other hand. Her feet were bare, and she didn't seem time mind at all.

"Walk of shame?" Katherine asked, laughing as they approached.

Freya turned towards them and smiled vaguely. "Don't you judge me," she scowled, teasingly.

Katherine just laughed and touched Freya's shoulder, comfortingly. "Trust me, I can't. Elijah's tagging along, by the way. Hope you don't mind."

Freya looked over Katherine's shoulder to her younger brother and pointed. "Don't judge me," she ordered, pouting.

"I didn't say anything," Elijah reminded her. They followed Katherine inside and looked around the large warehouse of furniture. Beds and tables, chairs and cupboards. "This place looks cheap."

"Yeah," Katherine agreed. "I'm a human now, and Klaus only gave me a small budget. It's all expensive stuff, just… pawned off."

Katherine and Freya tested out some of the beds and armchairs in the back, while Elijah summarised the best value tables and chairs.

The women collapsed into a pair of back-to-back armchairs as Elijah stood on the other side of the warehouse as they talked. He eavesdropped slightly, but gave them the sense of privacy.

"…he is, isn't he?" Katherine was saying, jokingly. "Do you like him?"

"Oh, god no," Freya groaned, almost laughing. "Do not tell Klaus I said this, though."

"I can't promise it won't come up in our evening tea and gossip," Katherine said, sarcastically. Freya rolled her eyes. "Why don't you say something to him?"

"I literally just said he was hot," Freya said. "Not that I liked him. He's a creep. Anyway, what's going on with you and…" She trailed off and Elijah caught her eye as she looked over to him.

Katherine noticed him eavesdropping and said: "Well, I'm manipulating him into loving me, so I can kill him and run away with one of his siblings. I haven't decided which one yet. Your odds are looking good."

Elijah smirked and looked away, back to the very ugly lamp he was standing by.

He hadn't been aware of Freya and Katerina's budding friendship until just then. He knew they attacked Camille and Vincent once, to talk to Lucien. And he remembered sending Katherine with Hope to Freya.

Neither of them had any friends in New Orleans anyway, so it only made sense if they grew close to each other…

He liked it. It took a lot for Katherine to become friends with someone, and he doubted they were there yet, but if Katherine genuinely liked you then she'd kill for you. And giving Freya a friendship like that would be good for his sister.

The group went around with the shop keeper to give him a list of everything they wanted. He said he'd have it delivered within 72 business hours but Elijah compelled him to put a rush on that, to have it all by that night.

"We still have a lot to talk about," Elijah murmured to Katherine as Freya talked to the shopkeeper about that lamp.

Katherine just shrugged. "Actually, I think I've apologised enough. I have nothing left to say now. It's your turn."

"To apologise?" He asked, clearly confused. Freya returned and Katherine took the opportunity to start a conversation with her and not answer Elijah.


After an afternoon of reciting their relationship, Klaus found himself and Aurora pressed against the wall of the perfume shop, making out aggressively. But Klaus broke away the second his conscious caught up to him and he realised what he was doing. He slammed Aurora against a nearby shelf and held her there as she panted for breath.

"We could have been the greatest love story ever told," he mused, angrily. "Perhaps you've forgotten why we're not?"

Aurora scowled as she spat the answer, angry at him somehow. "Oh, I remember quite well," she replied. "The night you left without me… you didn't even bother to look back."

"You broke my heart that night," Klaus retorted, turning it back on her. He would not be made to feel guilty for her verbal abuse. "You turned against me." He let go of her and walked away, pointing at her angrily. "You should count yourself lucky. No one has spoken to me that way in 1000 years and lived."

"Yes, I was rather cruel, wasn't I?" She snapped, turning towards him bitterly. "Some might say uncharacteristically so."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"I was not the architect of our heartbreak," she informed him, full of lies. "In the moments before you asked me to flee with you, I saw your brother."

Klaus's face fell as he realised what this was. The secret Elijah had hidden behind the red door. The thing he was so ashamed of. The secret he was hiding.

"I chased after him as he told me of your need to leave," Aurora informed him. "I offered to come with you, more than excited. He was angered at the idea. I wasn't family. I told him otherwise. I was your family. You had told me things, trusted me, with things you could never tell him. I told him that I wouldn't betray you and that true love transcends blood, but he wouldn't listen to me. He just had one question. What could I have known about you that he couldn't? He demanded I tell him. Compelled me, even."

Klaus paused, taking a deep breath before she said it. "And so you told him."

Aurora was on the verge of tears, sounding hysterical. "I couldn't stop the words from flying out of my mouth. Words I swore not to tell to another living soul. About how you killed your mother and blamed your father. And you had to lie to them all so they would flee with you. He was so angry with you, that he told me to see you as nothing but the deceitful monster you were. And so, I did. When you came to me, not minutes later, begging me to go with you… I could not say yes. I had been compelled otherwise. I believe it was the first time compulsion was ever used. And when he understood what he did, he did not come and undo it."

Klaus paused, sighing. "So that's it?" He asked. "Elijah's secret?"

Aurora nodded, still about to cry. "Yes. You made him suffer the loss of a mother. And this was his revenge."


Klaus had signed Katherine up to the most expensive doctor in the city, and had compelled the entire staff – even the receptionists and cleaners – to be okay with the regular removals of blood and to not ask any questions. As well at ensuring the delivery of the blood directly to Klaus's hand.

Elijah escorted her there a little early after the furniture shop, and they were forced to wait outside to avoid the stuffy waiting room full of sick people, that he refused to sit in, in distaste.

It was a busy day in New Orleans, with everybody buzzing over the Feast of Gifts, but nobody paid them any attention, which gave them an okay opportunity to talk about what Katerina said earlier, and what had stayed on the front of his mind ever since.

"What did you mean when you said I had an apology to make to you?" Elijah asked, simply, his hands in the pockets of his suit as he studied her.

She looked up, unsure of how to reply instantly. "You really want to talk about this here?" She asked, looking around.

"I think so, yes," he answered, unconcerned with any pedestrian.

Katherine sighed, rolling her eyes at him before explaining. "I did my part, Elijah," she said. "I paid my penance for my fault in the relationship, and I fought for you. But damn, do you owe me."

"I owe you?" He asked, doubtingly and slightly outraged. "You give me too many reasons to mistrust you, and then blame me when I don't hand myself to you completely. You're the woman who betrays every single man she's with, and yet, I don't have the right to be wary? Is that what you want me to apologise for?"

"Are you serious?" She asked. "Because you've never screwed me over in your life?" There was a pause as he gave no reply or sign that he understood what she meant. She sighed, realising she'd have to spell it out for him. "Okay, let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

"The beginning?"

"Yes," she answered, already mad at the lack of his immediate apology. "You may have forgotten, but it wasn't just Klaus who spent centuries hunting me down, Elijah, it was you. You hunted me like an animal. Terrorized me. I didn't let you save me, and you punished me for it. You just can't stop shaming me for everything I've done. Everything I needed to do to survive you and your brother. You made me this way; the way you so hate."

Elijah didn't reply immediately as he thought over what she said. He'd always thought of her hardening up voluntarily to distance herself from any emotional relationship, so she can survive without responsibilities. But he never really thought of her being forced to distance herself, without a say in the matter. And if that was the case, could that really be his fault? He'd done everything possible to protect her, even when it hurt his brother.

"What about the time I killed Jeremy Gilbert?" She asked. This fact was the hardest to hear for sure. Before Katherine even said it, Elijah could feel the blow, the sudden realisation at the simple name she dropped. "The boy who killed your brother," Katherine added, and it was like she'd punched Elijah in the stomach with the strength of all his siblings combined. Jeremy Gilbert. He remembered how horribly he'd treated her for his death. "And somehow, I'm the bad guy? Family above all, Elijah, right? Or only when it comes to Klaus?"

Elijah paused before speaking, ignoring that last remark in favour of the one before. "The Gilbert boy killed Kol?" He translated, barely more than a whisper.

"Bullshit," Katherine exclaimed. "Like you didn't know."

Elijah felt himself struggling for breath. "Niklaus claimed it was our least favourite siblings, I assumed it was the Salvatore brothers, I… Elena helped?"

"Yeah, she's a bitch?!" She reminded him, like it was completely obvious. "It didn't matter that you saved her ass and her family. No, the Salvatores didn't kill Kol, but I'll tell you what Damon did. He tortured me. Abused me on my deathbed, when I was weak and dying. And still, you didn't come to say goodbye. Or to help me? No, Hayley Marshall was more important, right? So you stayed behind to babysit her as your siblings came to torture me some more. I'm not innocent, Elijah. But at least I apologised for what I did. At least I tried. You hurt me, and then played me for a fool. You never had any intention of trying, did you?"

Elijah blinked, confused. "You died?" He asked. He was beginning to feel like the fool with all the information he didn't know. "Excuse me."

He turned around in the street and walked away, leaving her alone with her doctors appointment, and him alone with his thoughts and regret.


"Niklaus," Elijah said, angrily into his phone. "Would you kindly return my call." It wasn't a question, but a demand. He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket, fuming from the news of the evening. But he wouldn't let it show, with company behind him. "Marcellus, what do you want?"

"We got a problem," Marcel's voice came. Elijah turned to face him, unhappily. The last thing he needed was another problem. "I got one of my guys to follow Tristan. They followed him to this place. He goes in. Never comes out."

"Why is this significant?" Elijah asked, rolling his eyes. He couldn't get the image of an suffering, dying Katerina being tortured out of him mind.

"He's obviously using it as a way to get to somewhere else," Marcel explained. "The building has hidden passageways leading out the back. They were used in the twenties to hide booze to get it to a storehouse. And you'll never guess who just bought that storehouse?"

"Tristan?" Elijah guessed.

Marcel shook his head. "Kingmaker Land Development," Marcel answered. "Lucien Castle. Now, that sure as hell isn't a coincidence. Either they're coming up with some kind of truce, or they've been working together this whole time."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah sat alone in the compound, at the mini bar, enjoying a drink of century old scotch. His fourth glass at that. He heard Klaus enter behind him, but didn't turn to face him. He didn't want to look at him. Not yet.

"Aurora told you," he guessed, sighing. "I would suggest letting ancient mistakes die for the sake of keeping our family together when all people want to do is tear us apart. But I realise now, that you've been happily tearing this family apart by yourself. You know what's interesting? Katherine Pierce died. I just called Stefan Salvatore to confirm. She died, you knew, and you didn't let me say goodbye."

There was a pause before Klaus's reply came. "Aurora predicted this secret would not remain hidden for another day. But who are you to judge me?"

"Just last year, only last year, you let the love of my life die, without even telling me," Elijah said, trying to stress the importance of the situation. "Going to extreme lengths to keep it from me. You went to her, to torture her."

Klaus scoffed, disgusted with Elijah's perspective. "She's always been more my enemy than your lover," he claimed, clearly full of lies.

Elijah got to his feet and turned to face his little brother. He was more disappointed than anything else. "I didn't realise you saw me as an enemy too. Otherwise you wouldn't have attempted to hurt me like this."

Klaus laughed at his brother's pain. He must have seen him as such a hypocrite. "Oh please, you can say nothing. I only found out today that you compelled one of the loves on my life to stay far away from me."

Elijah raised an eyebrow, considering the parallel. "Perhaps one would consider us even. A love, for a love. But the situations were very different. I had just found out that you killed our family, and put us all in danger for your selfish gain. And yet you blame me for being angry? Somehow, I am at fault?"

"Don't you-" Klaus started.

"And last year, we were supposed to be at the very height of our good terms," Elijah continued, ignoring the interruption. "Our family finally reunited, and on the path to happiness, and you decided to be the one to tear that down. Again. It's always you, isn't it? You are always the one to destroy this family. I used to think Mikael was the problem. But you're the problem. You're always the problem."

"You're right brother, the situations were very different," Klaus agreed snarling through his teeth. "I fell in love with a beautiful girl that I could trust, and who accepted me. You fell in love with a bitch who betrayed us – betrayed you. I did you a favour."

"That's not your bloody decision! IS IT?! KLAUS?" His voice raised more than it had in a very long time and he didn't recall being this angry at Klaus more than once in his life. The time when Klaus informed him his siblings were at the bottom of the ocean, completely irretrievable. In a thousand years, he'd been this mad twice.

Klaus seemed to notice this, so Elijah was forced to watch the walls go up. His expression flickered for a split second as he realised what he'd done, before resorting back to anger in order to protect himself. "You mentally controlled my love to hate me. Where was the decision there? You are the greatest traitor in my life."

Klaus ran forward and threw Elijah across the bar, destroying the piece of furniture and every piece of glass on it. Elijah jumped up almost instantly, jumping in the air to give the punch he forced Klaus to receive more impact.

Klaus fell to the floor and Elijah picked him up by the skin on the back of his neck, dragging him along the nearby coffee table, breaking it and everything on it, and watching Klaus fall to the floor in a heap.

Klaus got up and growled. "You don't understand why it's so different, do you? Katerina ruined you. But what you did to Aurora. To me? You set my course! You ruined me!"

"I protected you," Elijah corrected, shouting angrily. "I protected this family. Aurora was the sister of a lunatic, and a powerful lunatic at that! Father was in pursuit. What was I supposed to do?! Despite of all your despicable deeds, I alone have stood beside you. Not anymore."

Klaus scoffed. "Your secret betrayal was the course of everything I became," he explained, reminding Elijah of how broken he really was. "You did what you did to punish me. Don't you dare lie. I did what I did to punish her! The woman who tore us apart in the first bloody place! Do you not see the difference between family and foe?"

"How difficult it is when you are both," Elijah mused. "But she's been more family to me than you. I see that now."

Klaus flashed towards Elijah and punched him so hard his neck almost snapped. But it didn't, and Elijah used to force to kick Klaus in the stomach, winding him.

They grabbed each other by the neck and Klaus leaned down to bite his brothers arm. Elijah cried out at the burning sensation and Klaus went behind him, forcing him into a headlock.

When the pain began to subside, Elijah flipped Klaus across the room, watching him slam into the wall and fall to the floor. Only then did Elijah approach him, looking down upon him.

"All this blame?" He asked, coldly. "You blame me for you killing our mother. You blame me for you trying to kill the love of my life. At least I didn't spend five hundred years tormenting yours. At least I didn't kill her family. Look at yourself. I have carried you for centuries when you have done nothing but hurt me. No more. You want to fight?" He leaned forward and spat the last word. "Then so be it."


The furniture to her home arrived that evening, as predicted, and after taking one glace at her tits, the delivery men decided to kindly help her move it all into place.

Within the next two hours, her new home was fully furnished and looking very stylish.

She'd gone all out with the master bedrooms. She bought a luxury red-and-gold rug to match the new sheets on her biggest, most expensive bed the shop had. She piled it up with two mattresses and a whole lot of pillows. It was pushed against the window, facing the furnace. There was a very big wardrobe in one corner, next to the door and two identical bedside tables with matching lamps.

Just after the delivery men left, there was a knock at the second front door and Katherine rolled her eyes, figuring one of them just left something behind. But instead, Elijah stood there with a bag of groceries, looking almost sheepish.

"I didn't get flowers," he told her, holding up the brown paper bag. "But I purchased some stuff for your refrigerator."

Katherine paused before taking the bag and skimming through it, walking into her kitchen and unpacking it. "What do you want, Elijah?" She called.

"You were right," he told her, looking sad. "You are owed an apology. Things I should have owned up to, many years ago. Regrets are long over-due."

She licked her lips, looking unsure. "Why are you just standing there?" She asked, leaning against the worktop.

He blinked. "This is your home, you need to invite me in."

"Oh yeah," she remembered. "I'm never going to get used to that. Come on in."

Elijah stepped inside, closing the door behind him and entering the kitchen. He didn't look into her eyes as he moved, just down at his hands. He looked sad, and completely unsure of himself. It was a look she'd never seen on him before, and not one that she liked.

"Feel free to start apologising any time you like," she mused, crossing her arms and waiting.

He took a deep breath, looking up finally looking up, and she saw the glisten in his eyes, the most surprising thing she had ever seen. "I didn't pay enough attention to Kol when he was alive," he admitted, his voice sounding like he was choking. "I didn't ask enough questions when he died. You did him more justice than I did, and that's not how things are supposed to be. I wasn't supposed to do that. And I'm sorry to him for that too. That's a regret I'll carry with me forever."

Katherine paused, not quite knowing how to answer that. "You're a good brother, Elijah."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not," he contradicted. "And I've never been a good person to you. I'm not noble, or moral. It's a hard truth, but I have a lot to answer for. I'm sorry for treating you as badly as my brother, and then blaming you for your pain. I'm sorry for not keeping an eye on you after I left, and allowing you to die. I'm sorry for blaming you for our problems. I'm sorry for not trusting you, when you gave me reason to. I'm sorry for treating you like property." He hung his head in shame again, and Katherine bit her lip.

"Elijah," she whispered, his own pain burning through her chest.

"But above all," he continued. "I apologise for giving up on us, when you kept fighting."

Katherine took a deep breath, sighing. "Thank you," she whispered.

"I waged a war on Klaus," he informed her. "I confronted him about the information he hid from me. And he was angry at a mistake a made a thousand years ago. You were right. I have lost so much of my life to Klaus. Not anymore."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah made dinner, to thank her for her offer. She told him he could stay with her if he wanted, to allow him a space away from Klaus's reach. So, Elijah found what little ingredients Katherine had in her home, and started boiling some pasta for spaghetti Bolognese. She watched him from the adjoining bedroom, lying across her bed and watching him cook, his back straight, his sleeves rolled up, his tie loosened.

He looked so natural and at ease in her home, and the thought sent a warmth running over her skin, making her hair stand on end. She beamed and got to her feet, joining him in the kitchen and nudging him with her hip. "Need any help?" She asked.

He glanced quickly at her before handing her the wooden spoon and moving over to the chopping board. She turned to the pasta but only managed to focus on it for half a second before Elijah's strong forearms wrapped around her thin waist, pulling her against his hard body. His lips fell to her neck. His kiss was hungry and demanding, fierce in a way he rarely was.

Claiming her as his.

One of his hands slipped up her stomach, pausing on her breast, before reaching to her neck. He brushed her hair away and tilted her head up, giving him lots of space for his tongue to dart out, licking her flesh before two fangs pierce her skin.

The pain subsided as soon as it came and she moaned in the pleasure that replaced it. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he drank and held onto his arm around her waist. "Elijah," she whispered, breathily. She arched her back and pressed herself against him, trying to close the non-existent distance between them. "Oh, Elijah!"

She panted when he pulled away, rubbing herself against him as his tongue darted out again to catch any stray drops of blood. He kept his arm around her waist as she swayed, and he could probably smell her arousal.

He bit into his own wrist and allowed her to drink as he kissed away the ache of her neck. Then he spun her around and picked her up, spreading her legs and placing her down on the worktop.

He caught her in a fierce kiss, dominating her mouth with his tongue. She ran her hands through his hair and he pulled her kimono apart and slid his hands along her leg, reaching up her nightgown and grabbing her panties, ripping them apart he pulled them away. His thumb circled her wet folds, landing on her clit as he slipped on finger inside of her.

She moaned, begging for more as he fingers undid his shirt buttons as quickly as possible, pulling it out of his pants and reaching to his belt. She tugged his pants down, just below his ass.

Elijah's spare hand reached up to the hem of her nightgown and pulled it down, ripping the fabric to expose her breasts. His mouth fell to her nipples, suckling and tracing the areola with his tongue.

As soon as she freed is long, hard member, he pushed her back, straightened up, and slammed into her.

She cried out in surprise and grabbed his shoulders to steady herself as she began grinding against him. Seeming regretful of his sudden entrance, he set a slower, gentle pace inside of her. Katherine rolled her eyes and slapped his ass, glaring. "Harder," she ordered. "Faster."

Elijah sped up his movements, pumping in and out of her harder each time, seeking her climax as selfishly as his own.

She kisses him aggressively, clenching her muscles to bring him closer to his release. Her moans rang out, complimenting his groans.

They unintentionally met their climaxes together, their foreheads resting against each other's as they panted, both seeing stars. She purred in his ear and he lifted her up, carrying her back to the bedroom, allowing the pasta to burn in favour of round two.


I'm really bad at writing smut, so constructive criticism is always welcome. I'm working hard to improve though, I promise.

I'd love a few reviews. -Izzy x