Just Enough Rope, Chapter 2

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What is it with Elijah and public restrooms?

Here's the fanfiction.net link:  http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6910203/2/Just_Enough_Rope

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CHAPTER 2

Elijah gave a perfunctory knock on the Gilbert door and let himself in, as had become his custom over the past couple of weeks, when he could make some time to come over at all. A quick listen told him that Elena and Jeremy were both upstairs, Jenna in the kitchen. She poked her head around the corner as he walked down the hall. "Hey. I was just about to start dinner. Coffee?"

"Always." He caught her with a hand under her chin before she turned to get it, and brought his lips down to hers for a soft kiss. "Hello," he murmured against them.

He felt her smile. "Hi."

Indulging himself for a moment, he slid his hands down her sides and pulled her against him, kissing her more firmly. All other matters aside, he was going to have to fully indulge this particular distraction soon, before it drove him mad. The sound of a door opening and closing upstairs made her pull away. "The kids are home," she said, skirting around the counter to dig a mug out of the cupboard and pour some coffee. "For some reason, they both said they had a lot of homework to do for history class."

Elijah winced. "Yeah... I didn't get a chance to speak with you about that. It came together very quickly; Carol called yesterday afternoon, on behalf of the school board, to offer me the position. I had dinner with them last evening, and we concurred that I should start immediately." He took the coffee she handed to him. "I hope it isn't too... awkward."

"It's a little weird. What made you want to do it, anyway?" she asked, pouring herself some more coffee as well. She seemed jittery; he wondered how much she'd had already today.

"It affords me an opportunity to keep an eye on things, without arousing suspicions as to why I would be seen rather frequently in the company of teenagers. And, I've always enjoyed instructing. Besides," he said with a quick grin, "I think I'm uniquely suited to teach the subject matter."

"I suppose there's that." She pulled the cream out of the refrigerator, added a liberal dose to her cup. "So, I guess you'll be staying in town for a little while," she said, trying to sound nonchalant, and failing miserably.

He zipped around the counter so that he was right there when she turned around from putting the cream back in the fridge. She let out a little squeak as her caught her in his arms again. "Does that please you?" he asked, nuzzling her ear.

Jenna giggled. "That tickles! And yes, I guess I could stand having you around for a bit."

"Good." He moved his mouth down to nibble at her neck, making her giggle more.

"You're in a good mood," she observed, squirming under the onslaught.

He was, actually. "Klaus is no longer a threat; I have a new endeavor to sink my teeth into," he said, eliciting a pained groan from her, "and I have a beautiful woman, blushing and giggling in my arms. Why would I not be in a good mood?"

A door opened upstairs again, and heavy footsteps came pounding down the steps. Jenna disengaged and picked her coffee up to sip at, covering her blush. Jeremy came into the kitchen. When he saw Elijah, he pulled the earbuds out of his ears. "Hey!"

"Hello, Jeremy."

"What happened to the dining room?" he asked Jenna. "It looks like something exploded in there."

"Uh, that would be my academic career that exploded. The abstract for my thesis is due to my advisor in two weeks. My new advisor, who is an asshole, and hates me."

Elijah lifted a brow at her and sipped his coffee. Jeremy gave her an "alrighty, then!" and got a soda out of the refrigerator.

"Sorry. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. To be followed by two more weeks of such days until I get that abstract written and turned in. Not to mention that many of those days will be all-nighters." Elijah did a mental face-palm. This was not sounding conducive to indulging his distraction.

Reaching into the freezer, Jenna pulled out a large yellow bag that said 'Pizza Rolls' and tossed it onto the counter while she pulled a cookie sheet out of the drawer beneath the stove.

Elijah picked up the bag and looked it over. "This is not food."

Jenna snatched the bag out of his fingers and held it protectively against her chest. "Shh, it's okay, babies, he didn't mean it," she crooned, petting the bag and earning a laugh from Jeremy.

"Hey, she's actually cooking tonight," he told Elijah.

Elijah lifted the bag out of her arms and put it back into the freezer. "Go get your sister. I'm taking you all out. For actual food."

"Sweet!" Jeremy went to do as he was told.

Jenna crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. Elijah cupped her elbows in his hands, kissed her forehead, and slid her aside so he could put the pan away. "If you're going to stay up until all hours working, you can at least have a proper meal first." He gestured toward the freezer. "If you'd like, we can maintain the general theme and go to that little Italian restaurant over by the Falls." He went for his charming smile and held a hand out to her.

"You're making it kinda hard to be mad at you right now."

"That was the basic strategy."

Upstairs, he heard Jeremy knock on Elena's door. "Hey, let's go. Elijah's taking us to dinner. What? I don't know. Who cares? It's real food. Move!"

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"Seriously? She had them both in the chamber at once?! And no one figured out what was going on?" Elena asked him, running the last of her ravioli through the thick tomato sauce. It had taken all of the appetizer course and half of the entree, but she was finally starting to loosen up. He wasn't certain whether her mood was a lingering effect of her earlier visit to the hospital, or a feeling of awkwardness more directly related to him.

"Bess was one hell of a clever woman," he confirmed. "She didn't remain queen for as long as she was by being stupid. She knew how to handle her affairs."

"So, not so much 'The Virgin Queen,' then," Jenna said, taking a sip of her wine.

"Hardly."

Jeremy snagged the last bread stick from the basket. "Can I use this in my report?"

"Certainly," Elijah told him, drawing a hissed 'yesss' from the boy. "As long as you can cite a reputable historical account of it and include that in your bibliography," he added, smiling as Jeremy made a face. “I’m afraid ‘a vampire told me’ doesn’t quite cut it in academic circles.”

Elijah pushed his plate away, leaving part of his steak uneaten. Elena pointed at the bloody, rare meat with a grimace. "The cow might want that back, if you're not going to eat it."

"So, Henry the Eighth," Jeremy said. "Was he as unhinged as that TV show made him look, or did he..."

Sitting in a corner, facing the dining room, Elijah recognized the vampire when he left the bar and walked back toward the rest room: Justin, one of Sebastian’s little toadies. He had last seen this particular troll when he was throwing him bodily out of Klaus’s compound after Sebastian’s last row with Klaus, 300 years or so hence. As he recalled, it had taken him staking and killing Sebastian six times that day before his fellow Original could be persuaded to try his fortunes elsewhere. Justin’s presence here, now, could only mean one thing -- word of Klaus’s defeat was spreading to the other Originals, probably on the wings of a little bird by the name of one Katerina Petrova, who had been conspicuous in her absence of late. Let the games begin.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he said, laying his napkin on the table and rising.

The other vampire was waiting for him, leaning with one arm on the paper towel dispenser. Elijah had expected as much; he was of such nondescript appearance that if the vampire hadn’t wanted to be seen, Elijah wouldn’t have spotted him, not without being on the lookout for him. Elijah made a pretense of washing his hands while he waited for another gentleman to leave one of the stalls. The man cast an odd glance at the two of them standing there while he washed his hands. Once he’d left, Elijah stood in front of the door. “Justin.”

“Elijah. Family dinner? How cozy and quaint. Unless, of course, you actually are planning to have them for dinner.”

“Why are you here, Justin?”

“You know,” he said conversationally, moving away from the wall a step, “there are the strangest rumors flying around.”

“Do tell.”

“For instance, Sebastian heard this crazy story that you had somehow managed to kill Klaus. Which, of course, we all know is impossible.”

“Well, if such is his ‘knowledge,’ it would appear that he has sent you on a fool’s errand. I’m sure the restaurant will validate your parking on the way out.” He turned to leave.

The other vampire zipped across the room and put a hand on the door before he could open it. “Is it true? Or is this all some ruse of Klaus’s to lure Sebastian here?”

“Your lover thinks too highly of himself; Klaus never gave Sebastian a second thought once he was rid of him. Out of sight, out of mind.”

Justin took a step into his personal space. “Cut the crap, Elijah. Is he dead or not?”

In the blink of an eye, Elijah had him up against the opposite wall, hand around his throat, feet dangling. “You appear to have forgotten how to speak to your betters. Sebastian may enjoy your lip,” he said, his tone emphasizing the double entendre, “but I do not. However, in the interest of ending this little dance, I’ll tell you, yes – Klaus is dead.”

“Then Sebastian demands an audience with you,” he gritted out.

“Does he, now?” Elijah leaned in close and lowered his voice. “You tell your master that I’ll be happy to lend him an ear anytime he’d like. In fact,” he said, setting him on the floor, “why don’t I send him yours?” Moving his hand up from Justin’s neck, he grabbed the younger vampire’s ear and ripped it off.

Justin let out a howl and clapped a hand over the wound. Elijah shoved his head down over one of the sinks so the blood would run into the basin and not all over the floor. “I suggest you stay there until that closes.” Moving over to the other sink, he rinsed the blood off of his hands, then grabbed a paper towel to dry them.

As he was doing so, the door opened and a young male walked in, stopping cold when he saw Justin hanging over the sink, blood dripping into it. Elijah had his hand on the back of the man’s neck before he could utter a word. Catching his eyes, he rolled his mind. “You saw nothing. You don’t need to use the rest room after all.”

“I don’t need to go,” the guy droned.

Elijah turned him toward the door; the youth exited and left. By the time Elijah turned back around, Justin’s wound had closed, leaving a jagged scar where the ear had been. Given a couple of weeks, it would regenerate, with no permanent harm done. But perhaps the vampire would think twice about not showing the proper respect the next time.

Picking the ear up off of the sink, Elijah nudged one of the stall doors open. He tossed the ear into the toilet, flushing it. “The next time Sebastian wants to ask me a question, tell him to come do it himself.” Tugging his jacket straight, he left the bathroom and returned to the table, picking up his napkin and draping it over his lap as he sat back down, smiling. “Who’s ready for dessert?”

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Elijah kept his senses trained on the surroundings as they exited the restaurant, wondering if there were any other comers waiting to jump him and try their luck. He held Jenna’s door open for her and closed it before going around to the driver’s side, taking the opportunity to scan the parking lot. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

“Jeremy,” he said, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot, “how would you like to continue the hand-to-hand training?”

“Yeah, I’d love to! Unless you’re going to make me disembowel you again, or something.”

Jenna’s eyebrows threatened to climb off of her head. “Do what, now?”

“Nevermind,” both Jeremy and Elijah said in unison.

“On a more serious note,” Elijah began, catching Elena’s eye in the rearview mirror, “How much does Bonnie’s father know about her extracurricular activities?”

“Not… not really anything. He made it pretty plain early on that he didn’t want to know about any of the witch stuff.”

“So he has no inkling of what is going on with her other than the non-answers the doctors have been giving him?” Elijah could well imagine just how frustrating that must be.

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Jeremy answered.

“Is he on vervain?”

“I don’t think so,” Elena answered. “No. Bonnie thought, given everything that was going on, that it would be better for him to compellable, just in case a situation came up where she needed to have Stefan or Damon compel him.”

Jenna turned sideways, as much as the seatbelt would allow. “What?”

“Why?” Elena asked him, ignoring her aunt.

“Maya, the witch I told you about? She and a cohort of hers should arrive in Mystic Falls sometime tomorrow to evaluate Bonnie and see if there is any sort of a magical intervention they can render. The problem,” he said, gunning it through a yellow light, “is that she’ll need to be removed from the hospital.”

“Wait, Bonnie can’t leave the hospital!” Jeremy said, sitting forward

Elijah frowned. “I was under the impression that she didn’t require any life-sustaining equipment.

“Well, no, she’s not on a respirator or anything, but she has IVs and stuff.”

“Those can be administered in the home.”

“Why can’t the witches just go see her at the hospital?” he asked, agitated.

“Because at the hospital, there are people who require life-sustaining equipment, and they can’t chance causing a disruption to those. If they start throwing power around, that becomes a very real risk.” Elijah had seen the phenomenon enough to know that sensitive electronic equipment and magic did not mix.

“What does that have to do with her father taking vervain?” Jenna asked.

“I may need to compel him to take her home.”

“Okay, wait,” Jenna said.

Elena interrupted her. “Once she’s home, what if they can’t do anything to help her?”

“I guess we’ll cross that bridge when – if – we come to it,” Elijah answered grimly. He turned onto their street and slowed, signaling to turn into the driveway.

“You can’t just – ”

“So when do you want to talk to her dad?” Jeremy cut in.

“Maybe tomorrow after school, once I’ve had a chance to speak with Maya in person.” He turned into the driveway and parked, killing the engine.

Jenna had her seatbelt off and was reaching for the door handle before the car had even finished rolling. She was up and out of the car in a hurry, picking up a good head of steam on the way to the door. Jeremy and Elena followed a little more cautiously, while Elijah brought up the rear.

“Jenna,” Elena began, as they went inside.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?!” Jenna said, then turned and stormed toward the kitchen.

Elena and Jeremy looked at one another, and then at him. Elena nodded toward the kitchen and looked at him questioningly, pointing toward herself. Elijah shook his head and gestured them toward the stairs. They both shrugged, and retreated to their rooms. Elijah went down the hall to the kitchen, where Jenna was noisily and forcefully loading the dishwasher.

“Jenna – ”

She whirled on him. “Don’t you ‘Jenna’ me!”

He held his hands up in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture. “Okay.”

“And just because you all are talking with your hands, it’s still talking behind my back!”

He leaned back against the refrigerator. “Do you want to tell me why you’re upset?”

“The three of you are talking about scrambling a man’s brain to make him take his daughter – his comatose, teenage daughter – out of a medical hospital and take her home so some witches can mumble some magical, mumbo-jumbo juju over her!”

“There isn’t anything that the medical profession can do for her. Her problem isn’t medical.”

“SO not the point!”

“Then what is the point?”

“You all act so fucking cavalier about compelling people to do things. You heard them: these kids thought it best to leave the option to compel Bonnie's father open ‘in case’?! He is her father! Her parent! Who the fuck are you – are all of you – to brainwash him so you can mess with his kid?” Jenna kicked the dishwasher door, which closed with a slam and the rattle of glass, as the top shelf wasn’t pushed all the way in. “I mean, why bother to tell him what’s going on with his daughter? Why bother to ask for his input – let alone his opinion – when it’s just so goddamn simple to fuck with his head and do whatever you want to?”

So that's what this was about. “Why do I think we’re not talking about Bonnie’s father anymore?”

“Maybe we’re not! Do you have any idea what it feels like to be lied to, and played with, like that? Well hell, how could you? You’re the big, mighty, all-powerful vampire. You have no clue what it’s like to be jerked around like a puppet, toyed with, controlled, overlooked and discounted. Just like you have no fucking idea what it’s like to be a parent!!”

Jenna stormed out of the kitchen into the dining room, and started tossing books off of the chair in front of her laptop, where she had piled them earlier. Elijah leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets and watched her, letting her expend some of her anger on the inanimate objects. She finally cleared the seat off and dropped into it, blowing out a sigh as she put her elbows on the table and ran her hands over her face.

“Five,” he said softly.

She looked up, confused and irritated. “What?”

“Children. I had five children, before I turned,” he told her, wondering why, even as he did so.

Jenna opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. “I… oh.”

Elijah took a bag off of the chair around the corner of the table from Jenna and sat. “I do understand what you’re saying about Bonnie’s father. I do,” he said, to forestall whatever she had been about to say. “But you heard what Elena said. He didn’t want to know. About her being a witch, or any of that. Most people don’t, Jenna. For the most part, it’s better that they not know. It’s safer that way.”

“Until it’s not.”

“Until it’s not,” he agreed. “And then, when it wasn’t anymore, I told you the truth.”

Jenna looked down at her hands. “I know you did.”

“Then let me ask you this: Do you think that Bonnie’s father is in any sort of mental or emotional place right now to hear this, let alone be asked to make an informed decision about it?”

She shook her head and whispered, “No.”

Elijah reached across the corner of the table and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it in a soothing gesture. "I'm going to do whatever I can to help that girl, Jenna. I owe her that. Right now, that means letting the experts – by whom I mean Maya and her partner – do what they can for her. If I have to deceive and/or compel her father to do that, then I will. It may be her only chance."

"I get it," she said, squeezing his hand back. "I don't like it, but I get it."

He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. "I should go and let you get some work done."

Jenna groaned. "You had to say the 'w' word."

He suddenly had an idea. A wonderful idea. "Tell you what: after you hand in your abstract, let's go somewhere for the weekend and celebrate."

She gave him a sidelong look. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

"Something like that," he grinned.

She considered for a moment. "Okay. It's a date," she decided, blushing.

"Good." He kissed her hand again and stood. Jenna rose with him and walked him to the door. He pulled her to him for a lingering kiss before opening the door.

"I'm sorry," she said, when he released her mouth. "For what I said, before. It was stupid."

"No apology is necessary."

"Yes, it is. I guess, since I found out what you are, I haven't really stopped to think about the fact that you were human once, and what all that means."

Perhaps one day he'd tell her about it. Elijah kissed the tip of her nose and stepped away from her. "I'll call you tomorrow." He reached for the doorknob, stopped. "You know not to invite anyone you don't know into the house, yes?"

"Uh, yeah. Would have been handy to know a long time ago. Like when I invited you in, for instance."

"Well, I think that particular instance turned out okay," he told her, tucking her hair back. "Seriously, though, there will be those who want a shot at me, now that I've taken Klaus out of the picture. I don't want them to hurt you to get to me. Don't invite anyone in, no matter how innocuous they seem. And be careful when you're away from the house. Keep your eyes open, and if anything seems off, tell me. All right?"

"All right."

He leaned in for one more kiss. Which turned into two, then three, and so on, so that by the time he left he was distinctly uncomfortable, and counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds until he could finally – finally! – be fully distracted.