Elena was outside on the porch with her phone in her hand. After a year of having to isolate herself from everyone she loved in Mystic Falls, she would finally be able to speak to her little brother. There was no reason not to contact him anymore. Esther knew where they were now. She couldn't see Jeremy yet, but she could talk to him now.

Elena dialed the familiar number and placed the phone to her ear. She could only hope her brother's number hadn't changed.

"Hello," a voice called out from the other end of the line.

Elena smiled at hearing her brother's voice for the first time in more than a year. "Hey, Jer."

"Elena?! Is it really you? Are you okay? Wait, how can you be calling me? Is that safe?" Jeremy asked quickly.

Elena chuckled. "Slow down, Jeremy. Yeah, it's me, and I'm okay. Yes, it's safe for me to talk to you now."

"Good. You know when you said they something big was going to happen the last time we spoke, I didn't think that meant that you were going to disappear off the face of the earth. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised though. Caroline told me everything after you disappeared. Are you sure this is safe?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah. I still can't see you, but there's no reason we can't talk anymore. Esther found us," Elena said. She still couldn't see Jeremy because if he came to New Orleans, Esther and Mikael might use him against her, but she could at least talk to him now.

"What?!" Jeremy exclaimed in an alarmed voice.

"No, it's alright. Right now, I think we have the upper hand," Elena said before telling him about Freya and how much she'd been helping them. She also told him about being a witch.

"Damn. Another sister? How many long-lost family members are going to reveal themselves to you?" Jeremy asked in a joking tone.

"Possibly one more," Elena said before telling him about Dahlia and about the fact that she might very well be coming for her and Freya. "I'm okay though, Jer."

"This doesn't seem okay. It seems like you have enemies coming at you in every direction. I don't suppose you'll tell me where you are," Jeremy said.

"I can't. You'll come and that will put you in danger," Elena said.

"Yeah, I could try to say I wouldn't come, but it would be too tempting. Can I tell the others we've talked?" Jeremy asked.

"Uh, I was planning to call Alaric and Caroline soon, but I don't want Stefan and Damon knowing. My life might be complicated, but it got better without them in it. I don't want to have to deal with them," Elena said.

"Trust me, I get it. That's actually not a problem. They left Mystic Falls shortly after you disappeared. I think they're searching for you," Jeremy said.

Elena chuckled. "I wish them good luck with that. How are you doing? Are you still in Denver?"

"Yeah. You asked me to go back, so I did. I figured it was the least I could do for you. Things have been good, but I've missed you," Jeremy said.

"I've missed you too. I'm glad you're doing well. It's the only thing I could hope for during all of this," Elena said.

"Am I ever going to see you again?" he asked.

"I don't know, but there's a better shot now than there was before. I have to go, but I'm going to call you soon, okay?" Elena asked. She would love to spend all night talking to him, but she and her siblings had to discuss their next moves. She would definitely call her brother again soon.

"You'd better. I love you, Elena."

"I love you too, Jer. I'll talk to you soon. Bye," Elena said before hanging up. She then went back inside and headed into the living room, where her siblings were waiting, other than Freya.

"How did it go, sweetheart?" Elijah asked from his place on the couch.

"Good. It was really good to hear his voice. I missed him even more than I realized," Elena said.

"You will see him again one day," Elijah promised. Now that their situation had changed, he was determined to make sure his sister got to see her little brother again. He would do whatever it took.

"I hope so," Elena said before going over and sitting between him and Rebekah.

Just then, Freya walked into the room. She was on her phone. "Okay, thanks, Davina. I'll talk to you soon," she said before hanging up.

"I assume the witches are on board," Klaus said as he leaned against the arm of the couch.

"Yes. I spoke to Marcel as well. He's ready to bring his army to battle, if need be," Freya said. Marcel wasn't exactly thrilled about being in the middle of their family drama, but he would do what was necessary to protect New Orleans, and he knew that Esther and Mikael posed a huge risk to the city.

"It is very likely that we will need it. The last time he was here, Father left a lot of carnage in his wake," Elijah said.

"Not to mention the countless other cities he destroyed," Kol said.

"And now Esther is controlling him. I'm not sure if that will make things better or worse," Elena said.

"Listen, we knew this was going to happen. We're as prepared as we can be. We'll get through this," Freya said.

Elena smiled. "I have to admit that it was satisfying seeing you bring Mikael to his knees and rattle Esther like that."

Freya smiled back at her little sister. "You didn't do so bad yourself. You held your own."

"I was terrified, but I didn't want Mikael to see that. I didn't want to give him that satisfaction, even though I'm sure he could tell by my heartbeat," Elena said.

"I hope you didn't listen to anything he had to say. Everything he said about you was garbage. It was nothing more than a jealous, overgrown child lashing out because his wife cheated on him. Don't pay any attention to him," Freya said. She knew how devastating words could be. She didn't want her sister feeling badly about herself because of the things that man said about her.

Elena smiled at her sister. "I'll tell you what I told him. I don't take much stock in the opinions of a baby killer."

"Good. I'm sure the things Esther said are in your head though. She's a really good manipulator. She was trying to scare you about Dahlia," Freya said.

"I know, but she isn't wrong, is she?" she asked.

"No," Freya said after a few moments.

"I meant what I said to Esther. I'd rather fend for myself than accept any help from her. That doesn't mean I'm not worried about it though, for all our sakes," Elena said.

"I won't tell you you shouldn't be. Dahlia is dangerous and fighting her would be much harder than fighting Mikael and Esther. I won't sugarcoat that. I would only do a disservice to you in the end if I did. But I promise that I will do everything in my power to stop her if she comes," Freya said.

"We all will. We won't let her touch either of you," Klaus promised.

"What if Mother happens to be right about this though? What if we need her to stop Dahlia?" Rebekah asked.

"Mother can't stop Dahlia. If she could've, she would've done it a thousand years ago," Finn said.

"Besides, Mother's help would not come without a price, and we all know what that price would be," Elijah said.

"We do not need to resort to trusting Esther right now. For now, let's just handle things the way we planned," Freya said.

"Agreed," Elijah said.

Elena nodded before standing up. "I think I'm going to go get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to do the same," Freya said.

The others nodded and they all got up and went their own ways for the night.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Mikael was furious as he followed Esther into the hotel room they were sharing. Not only did their plan go to hell, but he'd just found out that his daughter had been alive this entire time. She'd been kept from him for more than a thousand years by his wife's treachery and now she hated him. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was a setback. I wasn't expecting Freya to be here. No matter, it's only a temporary snag in our plan," Esther said.

"You weren't expecting her? You told me she was dead!" Mikael snarled.

"I had no choice. Dahlia would've come for the rest of our children if I'd told you the truth," Esther said.

"So be it! I would've traded every one of them for Freya, especially your abominations," Mikael said.

"Yes, that comment will win you father of the year," Esther said sarcastically.

"Why would you make a bargain with your retched sister in the first place?" Mikael asked.

"We wanted a family. It was the only way it could happen. After Freya was born, Dahlia didn't come right away. I thought we were safe. I convinced myself that Dahlia other forgot about her or had no way of finding us. I was wrong. It merely took Freya tapping into her witch powers to find us. I tried to stop her, but I hadn't practiced magic in years, and she was more powerful than me even when I did practice. I had to protect our other children. None of this matters anymore anyway," Esther said.

"None of it matters?!" Mikael asked in a rage before lunging at Esther.

Esther raised her hand and watched as her husband screamed and doubled over, grabbing the sides of his head. "I would've thought that you'd had your fill of aneurisms for the day. Never forget who is in charge here. Calm yourself so that we can talk strategy.

Mikael screamed and glared at her for a few moments before relenting. "Alright!"

Esther ended the aneurism and gave him a moment to collect himself before speaking again. "As I was saying, today was a setback, but it's far from over."

"I want my daughter back," Mikael said.

"So do I. I want all of them back, but brute force is no longer the best option. Freya is more powerful than me, especially after so long learning from Dahlia. We need another tactic. We need them to see that coming with us is the best option."

"Well, that's an interesting plan seeing as they all hate us. Because of you even Freya hates me," Mikael said as she glared at her.

Esther chuckled. "Freya hates you because of you. Because in a fit of rage, you smothered the life out of my infant daughter."

"If you had not lain with that animal in the first place…"

"Enough! This is getting us nowhere. Retrieving our children is our priority right now. Freya and Elena are the priority. We need to convince them that it's for the best. The others will follow suit. Dahlia actually serves a purpose here. She's a threat to both of them. We need to convince both of them that it is in their best interests to be under our protection," Esther said.

"I refer you back to the fact that they both hate us," Mikael said.

"Perhaps, but they love each other. That was clear after today. Freya wants what's best for Elena. She's just clouded on what that is. You need to convince her that it's best for Elena to have me around to protect her. She may not want anything to do with you know, but a part of her still remembers the loving father you once were. I will do the same with Elena," Esther told him.

"And if it fails?" Mikael asked.

"Then we wait for the inevitable. The threat Dahlia poses is real. She will come. Our children will have no choice, but to seek my help when that happens," Esther said.

"Just so we're clear, that woman is not taking my daughter again," Mikael said.

"Agreed. Things are different now. I'm more equipped to handle Dahlia. We will stop her," Esther said.

"Fine. I'm going to feed," Mikael said before heading out of the room.