What's At Stake, Part Thirteen

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Oh my @#$%ing GOD, you guys. Writing this scene was pure hell. I started out all “I hope this kicks ass!” and ended at “Gee, I hope it doesn’t totally SUCK ass.” The hardest part is being able to see the scene completely – facial expressions, hearing the line delivery – and not being able to quite describe that. You may have to fill in with your imagination to hear how the actors would read the lines.


Another difficulty is with the Curse. As “explained” on the show, it makes no damn sense whatsoever. Consequently, warning: full-scale fanwankery ahead.


Damn. I need a drink. And some chocolate. And maybe some therapeutic re-viewing of all the Elijah scenes…

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When Elijah let himself in the back door, he could hear the heated discussion taking place in the next room.

"This is bullshit, Elena!"

"We're trying this my way. Whether anyone likes it or not, we all need to work together if we're going to have any chance against Klaus."

"We can at least hear him out, Damon," Stefan said, his tone going reasonable, in direct proportion to Damon's outrage.

"First Katherine, and now you want to trust Elijah? Yes, Stefan. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Speaking of Katerina," Elijah said from the doorway, "She will need a little care and feeding before joining us in conversation." All three turned to look at him, various stages of puzzlement on their faces.

"Uh, why, exactly?" Damon asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I snapped her spine earlier."

Damon gave him a surprised and approving look, much like when he'd been ripping out werewolf hearts. "Nice!"

"Without feeding, it will be a few hours yet before she's mobile. I hate to have to repeat myself,” he said, in a bored, off-hand way. “I assume you have a supply somewhere?"

"I've got it." Stefan flashed his brother a look of consternation, then headed for the basement door. Elena watched him go, her expression unreadable. Interesting, he thought.

Any further conversation was forestalled by a perfunctory knock on the door, followed by voices in the foyer. The three of them moved into the big living room, where Alaric had just been joined by three youngsters: Elena's brother Jeremy, Bonnie Bennett, and a young, blonde vampire by the name of Caroline Forbes, whom Elijah hadn't met yet. The first two froze when they saw Elijah. Jeremy moved a step ahead of the Bennett girl, who was starting to look terrified. Elijah realized he was glaring at her and looked away.

The blonde looked from them to Damon and Elena, a finger pointing at Elijah. "Wasn't he...?"

"He got over it," Elena non-explained.

"Hey, is someone throwing me a surprise party?” Damon asked, looking around at everyone. “Because I’m surprised. Why is everyone here?"

Bonnie looked puzzled. "You sent a message saying to meet you here."

"No, I didn't."

The three of them looked at one another in confusion. "Actually," Alaric broke in, "I got the same message. I assumed you had found something you wanted to share."

Just then, the front door opened again, and Andie came through carrying four large pizzas and a bag containing soda, chips, plates and whatnot. "Good, looks like everyone is here. Little help!" she called.

Alaric shot Damon a 'what the hell?' look, which was answered by a "no freaking clue!' look. Alaric stepped forward to take the pizzas.

Damon went over and took the bag from her, setting it on the floor. "Andie! I didn’t know you were coming over," he said, with false cheer, which he dropped immediately. "Why are you here?"

Andie gave him a peck on the cheek and took off her coat. "I called a meeting."

Damon looked at her like she'd sprouted tits on her forehead. Elijah saw him try and catch her eyes to compel her as he grabbed her arm. "Why are you here?"

"I just told you." Andie pulled her arm free and carried the bag in to set beside the pizzas. "Better eat up, guys. It's going to be a long night." She opened each of the boxes to display the topping options. When she glanced up and noticed Damon's look of irritated confusion, she rolled her eyes and sighed. "'Cliff's Notes' version?" She began ticking each point off on her fingers. "Witch, spy for Klaus, defected, gave Elijah a daggerectomy, big planning pow-wow, then we go kick Klaus's ass. All caught up now?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and gaped. The blonde vampire tilted her head to the side. "So… if you’re a witch, then you can’t be compelled, right?" she asked.

With a snarl, Damon leapt at Andie at vamp-speed, only to draw up short a few inches away from her, yelling and clutching at his head as he doubled over in pain. Andie smoothed a hand over his hair. "Not tonight, sweetie. You have a headache." With that, she moved away to let him collect himself, and gestured toward the food. "Dig in, everyone."

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Reasonably assured that Andie could handle herself with regard to Damon, Elijah retreated to the library while they ate. Food wasn't an option at this point; the blood he'd taken upon reviving had been the barest minimum to get him going. He toyed with the idea of helping himself to the blood cache, foul as it was, but rejected the idea. He could wait a few hours yet, and stop for a drink when he left.

Edgy, he paced the room, giving each shelf only a cursory glance before moving on to the next, fidgeting with knick-knacks tucked here and there amongst the old books. Removing himself from the living room had allowed the others the illusion that he was unaware of their conversation. From the gist of some of those discussions, it was clear that he would have his work cut out for him if this ragtag bunch of clashing agendas were to coalesce into a cohesive unit, focused on one common goal.

It was not by accident that Elijah had become Klaus's right hand through the centuries. General to Klaus's king, he had demonstrated a marked talent for strategy and for choosing the right people to put in any given situation, with a couple of notable exceptions; Trevor sprang immediately to mind. But though the planning and execution of battle strategies and schemes had been his bailiwick, it had always been Klaus who had fired the men's spirits and imagination, who had rallied the troops and pointed all of their heads in the right direction to begin with. Klaus had that electric charisma that made him the natural and de facto leader. It was power, and it was very personal, having naught to do with any vampiric abilities and everything to do with the sheer force of his personality. Lacking that, Elijah needed to find some other way to harness the people in the other room and get them moving in step.

Elijah looked up as Damon sulked into the room, pulling up short when he realized it was already occupied. The discovery didn’t appear to improve his mood at all. “Girlfriend trouble?” Elijah asked, innocently.

“Yeah. She’s a real ‘witch’,” he shot back. Opening the liquor cabinet, he removed a decanter of something, whiskey judging by the scent. He seemed to debate the use of a tumbler, then opted to drink straight from the bottle. Elijah couldn’t say he blamed him.

“So, do you use an accountant, or should I send the bill for my new car directly to you?”

Damon held his arms out in a ‘bring it’ gesture, the decanter gripped in one hand. “Absolutely! Send it. I’ll be sure to file it appropriately.” He tapped his foot against the small trash can placed discreetly next to the cabinet. “Cost of doing business. If you can’t pay, don’t play.” He raised the decanter in a mock salute and took another long drink.

“You know, Damon,” he said, running his fingers idly over the banister as he paced, “You have potential. It would be a shame to see it quashed prematurely because you don’t know when to stop playing the inveterate smart-ass.”

“Who’s playing?” he asked, his smile cocky. “Is that a threat?”

“Merely an observation. Assuming that we’re both still alive, we should explore this topic further, after… Well, after.”

Damon snorted. “You’ve got the wrong brother, man. The “Good One” is in the other room. I’m the screw-up.”

Elijah leaned back against one of the bookcases, crossing his arms and his ankles, and studied the younger vampire. “Yes, the two of you do seem to have an inordinate amount of energy invested in playing those roles,” he said at length. “It makes one wonder what you might accomplish if you stepped out of them.” He heard stirring and the sounds of dishes being collected in the other room. “I guess it’s time.” He stepped out of the library, leaving Damon looking perplexed and suspicious. And thoughtful.

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By the time everyone who was so inclined had finished eating, Katerina and Stefan had made their way downstairs, the former looking just a bit unsteady but otherwise none the worse for wear. She met Elijah’s smile with a glare, but wisely remained silent, settling herself into one of the overstuffed chairs. Damon followed him in and joined Stefan and Elena on one of the couches. Elena's brother, the Bennett witch, and the blonde sat on the other. Alaric and Andie had pulled in a couple of leather chairs from another room in the house.

Someone, probably Andie, had set up a white board on an easel in front of the fireplace, complete with eraser and markers. He took a moment to appreciate the absurdity of it. What was he to do, create a flowchart of actions they might take, culminating in a pictograph of a dagger stabbing a fanged stick-person?

Nevertheless, he took center stage and looked everyone into silence. “I think we all know why we’re here,” he began. “But to summarize, Klaus, the first and most powerful of the Originals, is on his way to Mystic Falls, if he's not here already. He knows about the doppelganger and will try to sacrifice her to break the Sun and Moon curse.”

"That Mayan curse that makes werewolves turn at the full moon and keeps vampires out of the sun?" the blonde asked.

“Only the stupid ones,” Damon scoffed.

Elijah shook his head. "I don't know how the notion that the curse was of Mayan origin came into being. Someone clearly mistranslated something along the way. Someone with an exceedingly poor grasp on geography. Anyhow, since we all share a common desire to destroy Klaus, it would seem that we should stop working at cross purposes and..." he glanced over at Andie, who gave him an encouraging look. "Collaborate."

Jeremy sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Look, not to be rude, but I just want my sister to be safe. I don't really care about this Klaus guy."

"You should," Andie interjected. "Because if he has his way, no one is going to be safe."

"You mean if he breaks the curse?" Bonnie asked.

"That would make it worse, yes, but he's doing enough damage as it is even with the curse in place," Elijah answered.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.

Andie answered. "The stock market? New Orleans? Haiti? New Zealand? Japan?"

"Wait, what? Those were natural disasters. Well, not the stock market, but the other stuff," Caroline said.

"'Natural' in that they involved elements of nature, but 'nature' got a little helping hand, courtesy of the witches Klaus has chained to his service," Elijah followed up.

"You're saying a witch can cause a hurricane, or an earthquake? Is that even possible?" Bonnie looked doubtful.

"Not one witch by him or herself, no. But lots of witches, working in tandem? Yeah. It's more than possible, it's what happened,” Andie confirmed. “I know a lot of the people involved. None of them did it willingly.”

"Then why are they working for Klaus? Why were you?" Damon asked. "For that matter, why should we trust anything you say now? How do we know you’re not still spying for him?"

"Klaus can always find leverage to use against people. Don't do what he says, someone you love dies. How creatively depends on his particular mood that day.” Andie leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “Trust me, none of us wanted to be there."

"Klaus would like nothing better than to plunge the world back into the Dark Ages," Elijah warned. "When I say that there is more at stake here than Elena's safety, I mean that everything is at stake."

Stefan cleared his throat. "You Originals seem pretty hard to kill. Is it even possible to kill Klaus?"

Caroline raised her hand momentarily. As though remembering suddenly that she wasn't in school, she dropped it with a little blush. "Um, this 'Original' thing. What exactly does that mean? Were you, like, born a vampire or something?"

Damon shot her a perturbed look. "Your mouth is moving, sound is coming out... Not good." He turned back to Elijah. "Ignore Vampire Barbie. We all do."

Elena smacked him across the arm. "Don't be an ass."

"No, it's a valid question," Alaric said, nodding toward Caroline, who shot Damon a "so there!" look.

"One which would take some time to answer in full," Elijah warned.

Damon shrugged, looking around the room. "Anyone have a hot date?"

Andie looked over at him. "Not you."

Rather than waste time arguing about it, Elijah plowed ahead. "Short version, the Originals became vampires through a magical ritual. They weren’t turned by other vampires."

"Why?" Caroline asked, her tone implying that she couldn't imagine anyone wanting to be a vampire.

Elijah sighed. "How well do you know your world history?" He asked, then glanced over at Alaric. “I’ll surmise not very well. Okay." He took a moment to figure out how much detail to go into. "During the latter part of the 6th and through the 7th centuries, Britain and northern Europe were plagued by warfare, both amongst ourselves and at the hands of Viking marauders. For – ”

Andie cut in with a stage-whisper, gesturing toward the whiteboard. “Ooh, you should… there are markers there. Why don’t you…” She trailed off as Elijah stared at her, nonplused. “You know what? Nevermind. Just…” She rolled her hands in a ‘please continue’ gesture.

Elijah cleared his throat. “For the first half of the 7th century, the Viking attacks came mostly in the form of individual raids, where they would strike and withdraw. But in 860, they mounted a full-scale invasion into England. By 865 they had an enlarged army that became entrenched, rather than withdrawing after battle. In 867 they toppled the kingdom of Northumbria. East Anglia fell to them in 869, and by 877 we had lost Mercia as well. Those of us who survived and escaped enslavement were pushed into the Kingdom of Wessex. That's where I met Klaus.”

Caroline piped up. “You’re English? I wondered, but the accent’s kind of off – ”

Damon glowered at her. “Stop talking.”

Elijah ignored the exchange. “Christianity had more of less taken hold in England well before then, but there were still underground pockets of the older religions and practices. Though a nobleman in King Alfred’s court, Klaus belonged to one of those sects. And when the Norse army turned toward Wessex, he proposed the wild idea of transforming some of our soldiers into what I suppose you would call super-soldiers, through some kind of quasi-religious, magical ritual. We dismissed the idea as madness. Until he went away, and came back transformed.

“The change was unfathomable. His strength and speed had been multiplied by a hundred-fold. Heightened senses… the ability to bend the mind of others to his will… he was the ultimate warrior. After that demonstration, some of us were persuaded to undergo the same ritual.”

“Is that why he is stronger than you? Because he was first?” Caroline asked, then shrugged at Damon when he gave her The Look. “What?”

“No, not precisely. He was the only one to undergo the ritual the first time. The second time, there were twelve of us. The ritual was the same, and produced the same output of power, but this time it was siphoned into twelve people rather than just one. So though we all received the same abilities, each of us on our own had only about a twelfth of the power and strength that Klaus had." Damon and Stefan exchanged a look that Elijah translated roughly as 'fuck!'

"If it made you so powerful, why didn't more people do the same thing?" Jeremy asked.

“When we were no longer in the heat of battle, when we returned home to our families, it started to become clear just what we had become. Bloodlust was understandable during battle, natural even. But it didn't subside once we were back home. If anything, it grew worse. We became as much of a scourge on our own people as the raiders had been. The very people whom we had fought to protect were terrified of us, and rightly so. Many of us killed members of our own families; some killed their entire families in a fit of bloodlust.” He pushed certain memories that rose unbidden back down, into the past, where they belonged. “Convinced that we had been possessed by demons, they tried to destroy us. We fled. Not to preserve our own lives. To preserve theirs.”

“So you left and started making other vampires?” Bonnie asked.

“That was an accidental discovery. One of our ranks was bitten by his victim as he fought. With the ingestion of the blood, his wounds quickly healed. We realized that we could heal as well as kill. Then one of those who had been healed died through some misfortune, but awoke, thirsting for blood. Once he fed that thirst, he turned. Some started turning their own little cadres of vampires; the new ones weren’t as strong, and they could be killed by the methods you’re all familiar with, unlike us. But they were useful, all the same.”

“So… what you’re saying is, we can’t kill Klaus. He can’t die.” Stefan pointed out, boiling it down and bringing the discussion back on point.

"Jonas and I theorized that it might be possible to kill him if he were to be weakened first. The thought was to strike during the course of the sacrifice, as that would weaken him, but with the power available at the burial ground, we may be able to draw enough power for a magical assault that will do the same. If we can achieve such a weakened state, it's possible that he can be killed via the same methods that would kill a normal vampire."

“But you don’t know that for sure,” Alaric pointed out.

“No,” Elijah conceded, reluctantly. “Not for sure.”

"If we have the dagger, why wait and take a chance on a ritual gathering? Why not just attack him before then, take him out?" Damon asked.

Elijah shook his head. "The dagger will kill any vampire who uses it, and no human is going to be able to attack and kill him with it. It won't work."

"It worked on you. Twice. In one day," Alaric said, looking just a little bit smug.

Elijah narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes, an interesting point, ‘Ric.’ Perhaps we should get together for a drink afterward and discuss it."

"What about using the dagger during the ritual?" Elena asked.

"Best to keep it as a back-up plan,” he decided. “Any human who tries to get close enough to wield it will be in very grave danger."

"I can do it," Jeremy volunteered.

"No!" Elena shook her head vehemently.

"I've got the ring. If I fail the first time, I get a do-over."

"No, Jeremy. I don't want you anywhere near there if we go through with this."

"I'm not some little kid, Elena! You don't need to protect me."

"Jer – "

"Wait. What are you talking about?" Elijah asked, not following.

Jeremy held up his hand. "This ring. It protects whoever is wearing it from dying because of something supernatural." He stopped and thought a moment. "Could... Could Elena wear it, to keep from being sacrificed?"

Elijah thought a moment. "Doubtful. Klaus would no doubt remove any jewelry if given the opportunity, on the off chance that it might interfere with his success."

"So I go in wearing it then."

"Forget it, Jeremy!"

"Elena, his suggestion has some merit. It’s worth considering." Elijah looked the boy over, taking his measure. He was strong and fit, at least. There wasn't much time, but he could be taught some basic moves…

"No. No, no, no! I don't want anyone else dragged into this! He’s just a kid." Elena crossed her arms, stubborn.

"I'm less than two years younger than you!"

"You know," Elijah interjected, "this notion of prolonged adolescence is rather a modern conceit. At his age, I was already a seasoned warrior.”

“I’m assuming we don’t want to actually break the curse, right? That's not on the table?” Bonnie broke in, changing the subject.

“No.”

“But if we don’t break it, won’t someone else just try? Won’t they keep coming for Elena?” Stefan asked. “What if we can destroy the moonstone? That way no one else can break the curse either.”

"Andie?" Elijah turned the floor over to her.

“This kind of magic isn’t really my forte, but basically, there are two ways it could go, depending on how the original ritual was constructed when it set the curse in place. The first possibility is that when the stone that binds the curse is destroyed, the curse is destroyed along with it, since there is nothing left to bind it. The other possibility is that by destroying the stone, the curse becomes permanent.”

"How do we figure out which?" Caroline asked.

"I'm not sure we really can." Andie looked at Elijah. "How much do you know about the ritual?"

"Not enough."

Katerina leaned forward in her chair, entering the conversation for the first time. "There may be even more to it than that. Some of us have a theory that Klaus was the one that set the ritual in motion."

"A theory for which you have no substantiation," Elijah said shortly, wondering where exactly he had lost all semblance of control over this meeting.

"I'm working on that. Anyway, if that's the case, then there has to be something else that happens if the curse is broken, something we're not seeing. The curse isn't a problem for Klaus, nor for most of us with half a clue. There has to be some other reason he wants to break it, something that dates back to what happened, or what didn't happen, the first time." She looked from Bonnie to Andie. "Witches. So tricky."

"Why do you think there's more to it?" Elena asked, frowning.

Katerina shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"That's pure conjecture," Elijah snapped, impatient to get on with it.

"That you don't want to entertain because of Irina Petrova. Do you really think Klaus would hesitate to use her because of her connection to you? We're talking about Klaus. He may have engineered her use just because she was yours."

Elena's eyes snapped up to meet his with a start, as the implication of what Katerina had just said set in. Katerina noticed. "What, you didn't know?" she asked Elena, with a wicked sidelong glance at Elijah, daring him to repeat his earlier handling of her in front of the whole group. "We're copies of his dead girlfriend. You more than me, apparently." She put on a fake scandalized look. "She wasn't all slutty like me."

"Jenna Jameson isn't all slutty like you," Damon cut in.

"I didn't hear you complaining when I was being slutty with you," she purred at him.

Caroline raised her eyebrows, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. “Well this took an awkward turn.”

"Enough." Elijah didn't raise his voice, but the one word cracked through the room like a whip, silencing the discussion. "There was no logical reason to use Irina."

"Actually," a voice drifted in from the foyer, and another woman entered the room. He searched his memory… Isobel Fleming, if he recalled correctly from photos he’d seen. “There was a reason. Irina Petrova was Klaus's..." she counted out on her fingers as she spoke. "Great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter."