Into the Deep End

Twenty-Two:

A few days into the stay in New Orleans, Elena barely saw Klaus or Elijah, she spent her days either shopping with Rebekah and Chyanne or training self-defence with Derek – apparently Klaus had wanted her to able to somewhat defend herself.

And the nights she was dreaming, Freya was a constant visitor, talking about what she remembered before she was taken, which was not much.

Elena was also a slight frequent visitor to Rousseau's, where the bartender Camille became somewhat of a friend, the blonde explained that she was working at the bar to be closer to her uncle and to investigate her brother's death – something that Elena knew all to well as she began to investigate the accident that killed her parents, but because she was a minor, Sheriff Forbes barely took her serious.

Elena was positive that something or someone was in the middle of the bridge which made her dad swerve the car to avoid hitting.

Camille was also currently studying to become a psychologist; Elena made a small joke that she knew a family that had issues that speaking to a therapist might be beneficial.

And she met Marcel again.

"Miranda."

Camille looked confused. "Miranda? I thought your name was Elena?"

Elena let out a laugh. "It is. My full name is Elena Miranda Gilbert."

Elena stayed in Rousseau's for a full hour, laughing and joking with Cami and having a decent conversation with Marcel, when she stepped outside and not even a few seconds later, she was pinned up against the wall by a random male vampire. "Hello, Katherine."

Elena struggled to breathe, feeling her magic pulse and flair, attacking the vampire. Suddenly the vampire couldn't breathe.

"I'm not Katherine." Elena hissed, rubbing her throat as Marcel rounded the corner, looking surprised.

"You continue to surprise me, Elena."

"Is that a good thing?"

Marcel observed her and the male vampire, before Marcel broke his neck, turning to face Elena fully. "Depends, are you going to tell me the truth? Who's Katherine?"

Elena sighed, nibbling on her bottom lip hard, there was something about Marcel that told her she could trust him, but there was that voice... A nagging sensation that Marcel was hiding something... or Someone.

"Well?" Marcel adds, sounding a little impatient.

"What do you know about Doppelgangers?"
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Marcel listened without questioning as Elena told him about her life, keeping out the parts like Elijah and Klaus being with her in New Orleans.

"So, you have magic that was activated when you protected yourself from another witch that wanted to end all vampires?"

Elena nodded, sipping on her coffee and looked at Marcel, seeing the wheels spin in his head as he connected the dots.

"And this Katherine is a vampire, that looks like you, who is a doppelganger of a woman named Tatia?" Marcel spoke again, earning another nod from Elena. "Tatia... Tatia, where have I heard that name before."

Elena swallowed the lump in her throat as Marcel's mind spun, connections was adding up and then his eyes widened in recognition.

"Mikealson." He whispered, staring back at Elena. "Are you here with a Mikaelson?"

"Actually... I'm here to find information on a Mikaelson."

Marcel arched an eyebrow, Elena knew he believed that she was insane... Why would a human girl, who looks like Tatia Petrova, look for information on the Mikaelson family?

"Which Mikaelson?"

Elena breathed. "Freya."
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Elijah and Klaus were in a mood when Elena returned to the penthouse suite, their search in finding anything about Freya and where she's been for over a thousand years came up empty, Freya wasn't much help in Elena's dreams, just a name... Dahlia.

And the only two people that could have information on Dahlia were dead, Esther and Mikael.

Elijah watched Klaus and Elena interact with each other, both always seemed to be drawn to the other Klaus would be sitting on an armchair and Elena would immediately go and sit on the armrest, or Elena would be sitting at the dining table, and Klaus would immediately claim the seat next or across from her.

Elena was currently in the kitchen, making pancakes and Klaus was helping, when Elijah and Rebekah walked into the kitchen, both Elena and Klaus were covered in flour and some pancake batter.

"What's going on here?"

Elena turned to face them both, giggling softly, she replied in a tone that sounded so obvious. "Making pancakes?"

Elijah arched an eyebrow, Rebekah snorted a laugh, and Klaus was trying to hide a smirk.

"Right," Elijah cleared his throat, glancing at the cooked pancakes. "Pancakes."

Rebekah said nothing, just gave Elena and Klaus a knowing smirk, took a few pancakes and walked out the kitchen.

When they were once again alone, Klaus turned to face Elena and began to clean her face of with a damp tea towel.

"Oh, I forgot to mention..." Elena spoke up, as Klaus was finishing cleaning his face off with the same towel. "A vampire attacked me yester-..."

"What?"

Elena placed a hand on Klaus's arm, eyes narrowing. "Let me finish before you go and scorch earth on all of New Orleans." Klaus scoffed but waited for Elena to continue, she cleared her throat. "As I was saying... A vampire attacked me thinking I was Katherine. But I was saved by another vampire, called Marcel."

Klaus froze, his eyes wide. "Marcel? He... He's alive?"

"So, you know him?"

Klaus smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "His full name is Marcellus Gérard, we adopted him when he was twelve in 1822, he was the illegitimate son of the Governor of Louisiana and a female slave. He was like a son to me... I thought he died in 1918, when Mikael found us in New Orleans. He burnt our family home to the ground, Marcel was thought to be inside at the time. And instead of looking for his body... I fled like a coward."

Elena placed her hand in his, giving him a reassuring smile. "You're not a coward, Klaus, even wolves flee when their home is attacked, you were in survival mode. If Marcel knew about Mikael and how dangerous he was to you and your family, he would have done the same thing."

Klaus let out a small laugh. "You have a natural talent to see the good in people, Elena."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

Klaus thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I guess not."

Klaus then made a mental note to speak to Elijah, New Orleans was once their Kingdom, perhaps they could rule New Orleans again.