Chapter Text
When she woke up the next morning, it had been to the sound of Jeremy in the bathroom. Her mouth felt dry and despite the cold of the morning, she felt a little hot. She threw the blankets, because there were two extras, covering her, to see that she was still in the same clothes she had worm the previous day. She licked her dry lips, her mouth feeling as if it was full of cotton and got out of bed, trying to remember everything that had happened the last evening. She knew her and Klaus had a fight, and then they’d been talking, and of course, she had been unnecessarily jealous about some werewolf. Her eyes narrowed when she saw her copy of Fairytales on her bedside table, a note tucked in it. She opened the book to where the note was and rolled her eyes when she saw the title. Little Red Riding Hood.
She ran her tongue over the back of her teeth as she picked it out, looking at the cursive handwriting.
Elena,
You seemed exhausted and I didn’t want to wake you up before I left. You look peaceful, and beautiful, when you sleep.
Klaus
She felt her cheeks heat as she read the small note and walked to where her bag was, where she hadn’t kept it the last night. She stuffed the note into the envelope with the sonogram and straightened as she heard light scratches at her door.
Picking up her phone, she saw the white ball of energy and fur at her door, and led Bear outside for a walk. While a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, telling Klaus had been one of her biggest concerns, there was still the stifling load of telling everyone else, and preparing herself for the reactions her news would bring. She could already picture Jeremy looking sad and disappointed, Damon being angry and the hurt that would spread across Stefan’s face. Caroline would likely rant at her, but she hoped that the blonde might accept her news.
She had no control over it now, she had no idea when Bonnie might tell everyone else. A half an hour later, and feeling a little more tired than before, she was back at her house. Jeremy had sent a text saying he had left and she did after a while as well.
The day was almost like every other day, except Caroline kept throwing weary glances between her and Bonnie, while the latter steadfastly ignored her. After lunch, both Bonnie and Caroline had disappeared, and she later found out it was for Shane’s exhibit. She stared at the room covered in ancient artefacts with some shock, they had gone to the professors class two days back, and now he was in their town. Something about the timing didn’t sit right with her. She wondered why the man had suddenly responded to Bonnie’s requests now, when her grams had passed away over a year ago, and why he was doing an exhibit at their school.
She went off in search for one of her friends, finding Caroline and Bonnie harshly whispering things to each other in a corner classroom.
“What’s going on?” She could hear the suspicion in her own voice as she rounded the doorway and stepped inside. Her friends shared a look which meant they were definitely keeping something from her and while she understood the hypocrisy of it, she still felt a little miffed that they were.
The look Bonnie threw her was enough to make her feel bad for it though. She felt her phone vibrate, but ignored it in favour of fixing her gaze on Caroline, who seemed to be trying to shrink under it.
“Damon got away late last night.” It was the blonde who spoke, and Elena felt her lips part, remembering Klaus’ words. “He’s affected by some sort of curse that makes him want to kill himself, because he killed the hunter. Anyway, we figured out a way to end it,” she blinked at that, “and Stefan is gone to find Damon.”
“How?” Caroline bit her lip and even Bonnie was avoiding her eyes. “Care?”
“Once a new hunter takes place of the one who died, the curse is broken.”
“Oh,” that was the last thing she had expected, she had thought there might have been some spell for it, “so, what new hunter did you find?” The silence between them stretched for a while and Elena could feel something crawling beneath her skin, a sensation of familiar dread. She had a feeling that whatever it was would affect her in some way. “How can you even tell who can become a new hunter? And how?”
“Elena….” Caroline trailed off as if she was attempting to placate her even before she could get angry.
“It’s someone human, obviously.” She licked the back of her teeth, feeling as if she knew the answer, she knew who the new hunter would be. The crawling sensation right underneath her skin was back as she remembered Jonathan Gilbert’s journals, and the wooden weapons in her lake house. “Jeremy could see that hunters tattoo when no one else could,” she could feel her heart beating faster, and she knew she was right when no one said anything. “Please Caroline, tell me he didn’t…”
“It’s his choice Elena,” Bonnie said, finally talking to her, making Caroline’s gaze jump from one person to the next, “you of all people should respect that.” She bit back a harsh retort as Bonnie walked past her.
No one ever respected her choices.
“Where is he?” She asked Caroline who looked sympathetic.
“He’s at the Lockwood house, Tyler’s with him.” She frowned at that, wondering what that had to do with anything. “Jeremy needs to kill a vampire to become a hunter.”
“Why - no, tell me he’s not killing a hybrid.”
“He is, we sort of made a deal with Klaus.”
“What?”
“Yeah, one of his hybrids in exchange for well, a date.”
“A date?”
“With you.”
She could feel her hands shaking as she got in her car, forgetting all about the exhibit in school. Her friends were still in there, sighing in relief because Damon’s curse had been lifted and they had another hunter, but her trembling had gotten so bad she almost dropped her phone twice. She saw the missed calls from Klaus, and called back immediately, her teeth worrying at one of her nails as she did so.
“Hello, love. Called to ask about that date, have you?” His voice sounded light over the phone and she felt her anxiety get worse.
“Why would you - agree?” She wasn’t sure she made any sense at all, but she knew he’d at least be able to catch on to where she was going with this.
“Stefan said he had a potential hunter, and I’m quite sure he would’ve found a vampire somewhere for the hunter to kill. This is about his brother after all.” He sounded a little too casual about the conversation, but she knew that tone. If there was another hunter, he was going to after the cure. He hadn’t sought one out, but that didn’t mean he had forgotten about it.
“Yeah well, he’s turned my brother into a hunter.” There was silence for a few seconds, and she realised that he hadn’t known who the new hunter would be. Alaric was desiccating somewhere because he had been a threat to Klaus and his family, and to all vampires by extension, which meant Jeremy was going to have become a full fledged hunter until he completed his mark and Klaus could destroy the cure, which he considered a threat against himself.
“That is unfortunate,” she knew that tone, and while it may not have been as genuine as she would’ve wanted it to be, it was still something. “Is it already done?” He sounded as if he may actually recede on his deal if it wasn’t already, but he knew her friends and their strategies pretty well. Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter because they would keep looking for the cure, and as long as they did Klaus would too.
She wondered if the thing was even real, and suddenly, selfishly, hoped that it wasn’t, because she had a feeling she’d be caught in the middle, again.
“Yeah, it is.”
“I see.” She swallowed, trying to wet her dry throat, because the acceptance was clear in his tone. This wasn’t something he would give up on, and part of her wondered why everything was so unfair in her life. It was a childish thought though, and it was useless, so she shoved it aside wondering on what to do next.
“I’m going to go home,” she said finally, toes curling against the fraying sole of her converse reminding her that she needed new shows, “and talk to Jeremy. See what got into him that he suddenly wants to become a hunter.”
“It’s quite obvious though, isn’t it love?” He seemed determined to put the earlier awkwardness out of their conversation, his tone sounding a little too light for the way the situation was weighing on her. “He’s been surrounded by vampires for almost two years. He’s simply tired of being powerless.”
“But he’s-“
“Important to you.” He said it in a hesitant tone, almost like he didn’t want to admit it out loud, “but no one gives up the chance to grasp true power.” She knew that he thought it was true, but wondered if it was really true. She wondered if she would've grasped at the kind of power Jeremy had if it had been offered to her.
“Maybe. Why would you ask for a date?” She asked as she tried to distract herself from the new point of contention between them, and from her own thoughts.
“Why wouldn’t I? Is it bad if I want to meet you somewhere other than my house? Or yours?”
“No, but you could’ve told me…”
“Yes, and now that you’ve brought up the topic of telling you things,” she frowned at his tone “Derek has been able to locate some werewolves for me.”
“And you’re leaving, again?” She couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice, wondering if he was hiding something else, or planning something.
“It’s the last time love, you have my word. It’s just more important than the others.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back.” She sighed at that, she knew that if she fought enough, she could get him to tell her, but she had to worry about Jeremy first.
“Klaus, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you have to stop leaving me in the dark like this.”
“It’s just potential hybrid business. Only that these werewolves are slightly different. It isn’t that I don’t want to tell you, just that I’d rather tell you in person. And I have a feeling you’d rather spend the day talking to your brother.”
“Yeah, fine, for now.” She hung up after saying goodbye and leaned back against her seat.
She wished everything wasn’t always a constant struggle.
She reached home a little later, and walked into the living room to see that Jeremy was on the phone with someone.
“Jeremy….” She tried not to think of how much she sounded like her mom, disappointment colouring her voice and her brother looked up at her, getting up as she neared him, hanging up. “What were you thinking?”
“Hey, so I guess someone told you about what happened.”
“Yeah, why didn’t you?”
“I knew you would be against me becoming a hunter.”
“Yes, and with good reason. Look what happened to Alaric, Conner didn’t seem as if he was in his right mind either. Stabbing a teenage girl just to draw out the vampires in a church with a funeral going on.”
“I know but I had to. I was always gonna be a hunter Elena, it’s why I could see Connor’s tattoo.”
“But Jer-“
“No, this is perfect.”
“How?” She couldn’t keep the desperation out of her voice, “everyone who wants the cure will try to use you-“
“I want the cure.” She stared up at him, it was still jarring how he had grown so much taller than her despite being her younger brother.
“What? Why?”
“Don’t you get it Elena? We can give it to Alaric.” She froze at that, staring at her little brother, who had grown up far more than she had ever imagined.
“What?”
“Yeah, look he’s only desiccated because he’s an original right? We can give him the cure, that way he can come back home, and we already have all that stuff you got to help him. It can work Elena, he can come back and so can Jenna.” There was a light in his eyes she hadn’t seen for weeks, one that she had been yearning to see.
“But-“
“Stefan told me about the cure, Klaus wants to find it too right? For some reason. So make a deal with him, we’ll help him find it, as long as he lets Alaric go. Give him the cure and then Klaus and Stefan and the rest can do whatever they want with it.”
“What about you though?” She could feel some of her resolve and anger subsiding now, he wasn’t entirely wrong, she knew her friends already had a deal with him, but she had a feeling he'd rather make one with her. “You’ll have to kill vampires.”
“I can do it.” He sounded a little too enthusiastic for her taste.
“Jeremy, you could die.”
“No, not if we do this right. Come on Elena, let me do this for us. We can get Ric back. We can’t get anyone else back, but we can get him.” He was giving her an imploring look and she couldn’t deny that she was tempted, but the doubts were still swirling within her.
“What if you descend into the same madness though?”
“I won’t. It only happened to Alaric because of the ring, and I doubt that will work on me now that I’m a hunter,” she closed her eyes at that, knowing that her fears and insecurities would only get worse now. “And Conner was just ruthless, that isn’t me Elena, you know that.” She did know that but she also knew that magic had a way of messing with even the best people. “Besides, it’s done now. I can’t exactly give it up, and I’m not going to either.”
She saw the stubborn set of his shoulders and felt her own fall as she nodded. He was right after all, now that he had already done it there was no going back. She hoped that most vampires would think that the cure was nothing more than distant fairytale, one that didn’t exist.
“I don’t like this.” She said at last and he gave her a wry smile.
“Now you know how I feel when you go around making deals with Originals.” She pursed her lips to keep a smile of her own at bay, the teasing in his voice evident. She thought about the other thing she had to tell him, and figured this would be as good a time as any.
“Jeremy.” Her voice was equal parts warning and a plea for attention and he looked at her questioningly. “I have to tell you something.”
“About your boyfriend?” The teasing was obvious now and she froze. “There were dinner plates in the sink and there’s cooked dinner in the fridge. I may have sneaked some of it for lunch, what, are you dating a chef or something?” She felt a blush covering a cheeks and bit her lip as she thought of the fact that he had cooked for her again. It wasn’t fair, she thought, that he talked to her about making hybrids with her blood just half an hour ago and she could still be touched by the fact that he cooked for her.
“Um, I guess he can cook pretty well.”
“And clean. Are you uh dating Stefan again?” She shook her head again, preparing herself to say it, to tell him who she was actually….dating. It didn’t really feel like dating with him though, sometimes, in the beginning, it had felt like it was less than that, others it felt like it was a lot more than just dating. “Who is it then? Just tell me it isn’t another vampire, please. Tell me it’s not Damon.”
“It’s not Damon.” She had a feeling Jeremy might prefer Damon when he found out the truth.
“Great!” Elena grimaced at how happy he sounded about it and she bit her lip.
“Jer-“
“Jenna’s coming home tomorrow.”
“She is?” She could feel her hope growing, filling her chest. Jenna could get better if Alaric came back, they could all be together again, maybe even be a family again, a real one this time. Without walking on egg shells and actually talking about the stuff they hid. She hid.
“Yeah, so what were you saying?”
“We can have dinner together, all three of us. I have an announcement to make.” He gave her a questioning look, but eventually just shrugged. She felt hope blossoming within her, she’d tell Caroline the next day at school, and then Jenna and Jeremy over dinner. She didn’t think they’d accept it, but as long as they accepted her pregnancy, it would, could be enough for her.
“Sure. Maybe get your boyfriend to cook it.”
“Jeremy….” He shrugged innocently at that, and she wondered, cautiously, trying not to put too much stock into it, if maybe after a few months, or a year, it would be possible for her to get Klaus to a family dinner. The thought made something warm settle in her chest.
Elena stole a glance at her friend as she walked around the room, cleaning the place the exhibit had taken place at just the previous day. Everything was mostly cleared out, so it was just her and Caroline left.
“Bonnie’s meeting with that professor you know.” Caroline said, her voice a little conspiratory, “I think she likes him.”
“I’m pretty sure she does.” She looked at the box she was supposed to pick up and bit her lip. It was just a box, she thought, with books, and she left it there.
“So, what is going on between the two of you?”
“Caroline.”
“Cause I’ve literally never seen her this mad, ever. She said I wasn’t even supposed to mention you in front of her.” The words stabbed at her heart and she tried to hold her tears. She had really lost Bonnie, and she would lose Caroline too if she wasn’t careful.
“She found out that I’ve been lying to her.” Caroline frowned at that and she looked down at her feet. This was it, she had to tell her best friend how she’s betrayed all of them. “Caroline, I’ve been keeping a secret.” The blonde didn’t say anything and she closed her eyes, trying to find the right words. “I’ve been….sleeping with Klaus, but it’s more than that-“
“Of course you have darling,” she looked up suddenly as she heard the accented voice, with her friend no where in sight, “I know that. It’s not important right now though, it’s about time you and I and the rest of your little friends had a chat about this elusive cure, don’t you think?”
She could feel her heart race as she looked up at Kol, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he stared at her.
“Kol.”