Linked

*Safety first*

Elijah crept through the darkened mansion. He had all the lights off and the doors locked as to not tip anyone off they were here. Elena needed some privacy, and he intended she got it. He strode into the study. Carrying Elena in his arms still, the vampire carefully put her down on the leather couch as he moved over to the plant next to the bookshelf. At the underside of the third branch on the left, he pierced his finger with a fang and dabbed a drop of blood on the second bump. The bookshelf swung open. Only the blood of his family could unlock the door. The original swished over to Elena and lifted her bridal style through the threshold and down the stairs. When they arrived at the bottom, Elijah flipped the switch, and the shelf closed along with a thick sheet of titanium following behind it.

  This area was magically cloaked. The only people who knew it existed were himself, Rebekah, Niklaus, and the warlock his brother had commissioned. Kol and Finn had remained in the dark. There had been laborers, human ones, but Niklaus left no loose ends he couldn't trust. Elijah carried Elena past the living room and kitchen to the hallway of five doors, two on each side and one at the end. His was the second door on the right. He took Elena to the bed and set her down as tenderly as he could in the middle of his king-sized 4 post bed. He did not want too much light, so he opted for turning on the bedside lamp rather than the bright overhead lights. Elijah reached into the trunk at the foot of his bed for his white feather-down quilt and gently draped it over Elena.

  By his guess, he had maybe another twenty minutes until she woke. He pulled his phone from his pocket and sat down in the leather recliner in the corner. He dialed Rebekah again to no avail and then Dr. Fell, who picked up on the third ring. “Damon and Stefan just left, and they are out for blood, Elijah,” she answers without preamble. Elijah took a steadying breath before he spoke in his normal, aloof, business tone. “What happened to her? Why is does it appear she was soaked” he was hoping against hope it was not what he suspected. Please tell him she had not gone off that bridge again. Meredith inhaled shakily, his hopes were dashed. “Matt said he slammed on the brakes heading back into town over the Wickery Bridge, and they went off...... Elijah, he told me Rebekah was standing in the middle of the road.” He lost all restraint, his cell was dusted instantly. He was careful not to yell. The original wanted to avoid waking the woman on his bed any worse than she would wake already. How dare Rebekah, how could she? He knew his sister wasn't in her right mind any more than he was. Losing Niklaus was a blow larger than either of them have had to handle since Henrik. He could not avenge Elena yet again. Once more, it was his family that had taken everything from her. All that he could do was grovel and offer what petty recompense he could. He needed to rage, Elijah wished to scream and cry and have a proper breakdown, but he could not. He must stand strong, he must maintain control.

  Elijah took a moment to calm down and looked around the suite. Niklaus had set the chambers up much like hotel rooms. The large 4 post bed was placed in the middle of the suite with a trunk at the foot of the solid oak frame. All the furniture was stained dark, almost black. There was a 55inch TV mounted across from the bed, but he hadn't hooked it up still. All the cords and such were in a box in the closet, a walk-in, across from the chair he was sitting in. Elijah had the bare minimum of backup supplies stored in there and a few clothing items for any occasion. On the other side of the room, there was a door that would lead to the bathroom with a small jacuzzi tub shower combo. This place wouldn't hold her interest for long, he mused. He didn't have it set up enough for a lengthy stay. He walked over to the bedside table and located one of his backup burner phones in the drawer and powered it on. Punching in the number, he called Dr. Fell back and reached her voice-mail, “please pass the word along to Elena's friends that she will contact them when she is ready, please allow her space to process this.” He hung up and saw Elena twitch and flashed to the bed beside her. She woke with a gasp. He grabbed her hand and rubbed it with his thumb. “Elena, it's me.” He fumbled a bit with what to do. He was going to say it's alright, but it isn't, so he doesn't. She sits up and right away, “Matt, where's Matt.” Her speech is raspy and panicked. His gut is doing flip-flops, and he realizes he is a fool. He gets up and dials Meredith again. “Elijah, I got your message,” she answers on the initial ring. “Matt” is all he can get out. He is berating himself for his lack of control and his absence of forethought now. “Matt is stable and alive. Elena made Stefan pull him out first. She saved his life.” Meredith rushed out. Elijah gave her his thanks and hung up before looking over at Elena. “Matt is alive and stable, you saved him,” he sighed to her. Elena took a deep breath then and clutched the blanket as she looked around. “Where are we?” This is what he has been dreading. Will she run? Will she even allow him to help? “We are alone at Klaus' Mansion in the panic area, Elena.” Her eyes snapped to him then he heard her sharp intake of breath, and she seems to hold it for a moment before proving she is so much more than what anyone ever gives her credit for, “I'm dead aren't I?”

  Elijah is endlessly surprised by the beautiful soul in front of him, he sits down on the right side of her legs and takes her hand as he says, “in transition, yes.” Elena's eyes glimmer, but she can't cry because her body is shutting down and tears are some of the first to go. Elijah knows the mechanics of how this will work, but he is so vastly unprepared for it to be her having to go through it. “Elena, I'm so sorry” he whispered. His voice comes out raw and shaky, and he realizes he sounds weak, but he can't be bothered with it with her, not anymore. “You were heading back to Mystic Falls, to Stefan with Matt when my sister ran you off the Wickery Bridge… there are no words, no actions, there is nothing I can do to convey how deeply sorry I am.” Elijah was holding his unneeded breath his heart was in his throat, he recognized he sounded pathetic and that's how he felt at this point. Elena squeezed his hand and pulled his attention back to her. “You owe me no apologies Elijah, you did not do this nor did Rebekah, the hunter, do this. He killed Klaus, which negated our deal.” Elena had sounded like she had more to say, but she paused and looked miles away.

  He knew that this pause ment some or all of the compulsions she'd experienced as a human was breaking, and she was regaining all of those memories, he watched as this one flashed across her face. Her eyes sparkled. There was astonishment and affection and sadness he could feel as well as see it. He waited, watching the emotions dance across her eyes. “I met Damon first” she breathed in wonder. She peered at him now, the questions clear in her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to cradle her against him, At this moment she appeared so very lost. He settled for rubbing his thumb against her knuckles as he threaded his fingers through hers. “The initial part of transitioning is receiving previously compelled away memories.” His voice was but a whisper. He could not manage more. Talking about her death was killing him inside. Elijah was doing all he could to hold himself together, but his walls were torn down, and his heart had been ripped from his chest and left dangling on his sleeve. He knew it was coming, the moment in which he would have to ask her choice, but he just couldn't bring himself to inquire to utter the words that had all the power in the world to destroy him. Elijah needed a minute. Gently he let go of her hand, and he stood. “I need a minute to secure our safety, I'll be right back” he mumbled as he rushed out. Closing the door, Elijah went to grab the fake tree-like plant. That was their failsafe. After Elijah snagged the shrub from upstairs, he set it down in the living room. With it downstairs, no one could get in, not even his family. Given what Rebekah had done, he had to take every precaution. He hesitated at the door for another moment, trying to collect himself before returning to Elena.