Chapter Text
She'd been in New York for barely a day and she was already wishing she'd never come. Why she had let Caroline send her on some surprise trip was beyond her, but she did need a break. She knew Caroline was probably hoping she'd bump into some random guy and fall in love so everyone would stop worrying about her all alone on the Oregon coast. But what her friends didn't seem to understand was that she was perfectly happy in her little house by the beach in Newport. Plus, she wasn't actually alone; Jenna was there.
Walking down the busy city streets was not what she considered fun, especially when she knew very well what lurked in the shadows more often than not. She was only a few minutes from her hotel, then she could relax and maybe order some room service, take a long bubble bath. Just as she was walking past an alley two buildings away from her hotel, the sound of a scuffle caught her attention. For a moment, she closed her eyes and told herself to ignore it. This was New York, it was probably just some mugging that she couldn't do anything about. In the end, something made her look and her eyes widened at a familiar sight of a vampire feeding. To anyone who didn't know about the supernatural, it probably looked like a couple of idiots who couldn't be bothered to find some privacy.
Taking a quick glance around, it was easy to tell no one was paying her or the vampire any mind. Again, it was New York City, everybody stuck to their own business in places like this. The weight of her vervain ring was comforting as she moved towards the vampire and his victim, murmuring a few choice words that would give the vamp quite a headache.
But then the vampire sprang away and cried out and Elena was fairly certain her soul left her body for a moment. The bleeding guy took a backseat in her mind as she stared at the vampire who had turned to look at his attacker. "Elijah??" Elena exclaimed, eyes wide in horror at the sight of Elijah Mikaelson covered in his victim's blood like he was either of his younger brothers.
"Me?" Elijah asked, surprise and curiosity in his voice making Elena jolt slightly. What the hell?
"What do you mean? Yes you! What the hell is going on?" Elena motioned to the bleeding guy who had collapsed against the wall of the building Elijah had had him pinned to. "This isn't you! What…what happened??" She asked as she moved closer, confusion, worry and just a little bit of fear creeping into her. Her gaze flickered to Elijah's victim again and she cursed under her breath, shooting a glare at Elijah. "Stay there," she hissed as she turned and knelt beside the bleeding guy. Her memory spells were a bit rusty, but healing him was easy. Then she touched two fingers to the guy's temple and channeled her Traveller magic.
After implanting a memory of getting violently mugged and narrowly escaping into the guy's mind, she practically shoved him out of the alley. Then she turned back to Elijah. The ever-composed king of control, Elijah Mikaelson, whom she had just found feeding on some guy in an alley like a baby vampire. "What the hell, Elijah?! What happened to you?" Elena hissed as she stalked back towards him with a scowl.
"Who are you? How do you know me?" Elijah asked her in a curious voice tinged in worry and all she could do was stare at him in shock.
"What do you mean, how do I know you? I've known you since I was seventeen, Elijah," she replied, worry crawling up her spine as he stared at her with a lost expression she was certain she'd never seen on his face before. "Seriously. What happened?"
"I..I woke up on a bus, uh, maybe uh, five days ago? I don't.. I don't remember…I can't…I can't remember anything…" she listened to Elijah ramble, the panic in his voice sending a chill down her spine as he spoke. "You say you know me -my name! You said my name is Elijah?" suddenly he was very close and she was staring up at him. "Do you..do you know what I am? Please, can you help me?" Elena sucked in a sharp breath at the desperation with which Elijah pleaded for her help. Do you know what I am, he'd asked, as if he didn't…wait, he didn't even remember his name? Elena let her breath out very slowly and looked back out towards the street for a second before refocusing on the man in front of her. He looked like a lost puppy; a very old, very dangerous, apparently amnesiac lost puppy, but a lost puppy all the same.
"Come with me," she murmured, grabbing his arm and moving back towards the street, only to pause and turn back to him. Stifling another heavy sigh, she removed the scarf from her neck and reached up, wiping the blood from his face. Elena was slightly surprised when he actually allowed her to, simply standing there, looking at her. The Elijah she knew would have taken her scarf and done it himself, she was fairly certain. Then again, the Elijah she knew wouldn't have been feeding on some random guy in a dirty New York City alley where he could be seen.
She dragged him down the street and into her hotel, ignoring the concierge's greeting as she hurried for the elevator. "You're not afraid of me?" Elijah asked as they stepped into the elevator -alone, thank the gods. Elena looked at him with a scowl.
"I haven't been afraid of you for a long time, Elijah. Plus, I'm a witch now, so I'm really not worried about vampires these days," she explained quietly.
"Vampires? Witches??" Elijah's voice was filled with confusion and disbelief. "Such creatures truly exist?" The elevator dinged and she led him down the hall to her suite, making sure to lock the deadbolt and the security chain. Then, she murmured a privacy spell -there was no way she was chancing anyone finding out that one of the Originals was…incapacitated.
"You really don't remember anything?" Elena asked as she turned to face him. It struck her suddenly that he was in jeans and a tee shirt with a simple jacket thrown over it. She had been so focused on the fact that she had discovered Elijah Mikaelson in some dirty alley with no memory that she hadn't even really noticed his clothes.
"Just…the bus. I woke up and I…I was starving," he murmured and she watched horror and shame crawl across his expression. "I was forced to feed. I… you said vampires, as in, more than one? There are more of us? Where?" Elijah returned to asking questions and Elena moved further into the room, pulling a little bottle of whiskey from the mini bar and taking a drink of it.
"There are vampires everywhere, Elijah. I'm surprised you haven't run into another one if you've been wandering around for five whole days," she told him, passing him the bottle. "Here, drink this. It helps with the cravings."
"How do you know?" He asked, though he finished off the small bottle quickly. Elena blinked at him and sighed.
"I was a vampire for a few years," she replied softly, not keen on reliving those years of her life.
"Was? There's a cure then??" Elijah's desperation for a cure caught her so off guard all she could do was stare for a long minute.
"You want a cure?" Elena asked quietly in confusion. It was such an absurd thought, Elijah taking the cure, but at the same time, it made sense. After knowing the old Elijah, there was actually a large part of her that wasn't surprised that he didn't want to be a vampire if he couldn't remember anything else.
"Why wouldn't I?" He replied as if there was no other acceptable answer. Elena lifted a hand and ran it through her hair as she tried to figure out what the hell she was going to do. Technically, she was fairly certain she could create a cure that would work for Elijah, but it would take some time. But she also wasn't sure that Elijah really wanted it. What if he got his memories back and then regretted becoming human? She couldn't recall ever hearing from Elijah before that he would rather be human. Chewing on her lip, Elena let her hand drop back to her side.
"There isn't a cure anymore," she watched Elijah's expression fall and hurried to continue, "but, I might be able to make one. I… I have to look into it, and it might take a while, but it's possible," she told him slowly and his despair shifted into hope as he suddenly came to be only inches away.
"Thank you…?" Elijah's head tilted to the side just slightly and Elena blinked in surprise when she realized he was waiting for her name.
"Elena," she murmured, still reeling from the entire situation.
"Thank you, Elena," he replied with a hesitant little smile she'd never seen before. The way he said her name now felt..wrong, but she did her best to ignore that. Shaking her head slightly, she forced herself to take a step back and moved around him to sit on the edge of the bed. He turned as she moved, but didn't move any further into the room. Letting her gaze roam over him slowly, she frowned.
"How often have you been feeding?" She asked curiously, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer. The dark expression that took over Elijah's face told her she was correct before he even spoke.
"Only when I absolutely have to," he said quietly and she nodded. Great. Not only did she have a thousand years old vampire with amnesia, but he was also starving himself. Not a good combination. Rubbing a hand over her face, she groaned softly.
"That has to change. You need to actually feed if you're going to retain any sort of control, Elijah," she told him firmly, silently cursing the day. There was no way she was letting a starving amnesiac Original vampire run around the city by himself. Which only left her one option. There goes whatever vacation I was supposed to be having.
"I don't… I don't want to hurt them," Elijah told her slowly and Elena gave him a tight smile as she stood and made her way back over to him. Reaching out, she squeezed his hand.
"I know, Elijah," she replied, watching him frown at her. "I'll make sure you don't. But you can't starve yourself. It's dangerous. For both of us," she explained gently, mentally preparing herself for what she would have to do. A slightly bitter laugh bubbled out of her throat and Elijah looked at her in worry, but she shook her head. "I'm sorry. This is just… you're a thousand years old, so it's taking me a minute to wrap my brain around the idea of me having to teach you. I'd really like to know what the hell happened to you. Who the fuck has enough power to erase your memory?? Originals can't be compelled like the rest of us can, so it has to be witches, but I don't know of any witches that powerful," Elena rambled on for a minute before she realized Elijah was staring at her with those wide, shocked eyes again.
"A thousand years?" He whispered and she nodded slowly.
"You're an Original, Elijah. One of the first vampires ever created," she explained, not sure whether she should bring up his siblings or not. Really, she wasn't even sure she should have mentioned how old he was, but it was too late now. "Look, I promise that I will tell you everything, but right now my biggest concern is making sure you feed properly. You nearly drained that guy in the alley, so…" she paused and took a deep breath. Elena couldn't believe she was about to do this, but the only other option was taking Elijah out and risking things getting out of control. There in her hotel room, she could control the situation. "Come here and sit," the brunette murmured, tugging him towards the couch on the far side of the suite.
When he sat down beside her, she took another deep breath and released his hand so she could turn her wrist and hold it out to him. If she figured out how to get his memories back, they were going to have one hell of a conversation, but that was something for another day. He looked at her in confusion at first, and then concern. "I don't want to-"
"You won't. Remember that little headache in the alley? If you go too far, I'll stop you," she told him firmly and he nodded hesitantly. "I want you to focus on my heartbeat. Feel it as you feed. Listen for the moment it starts to slow down. That's when you stop," she explained slowly. The last time she had had any vampire feed from her had been years ago, when Enzo had taken the cure from her veins so that he could live a human life with Bonnie.
Elena watched silently as Elijah hesitantly lifted her wrist, his hold on her delicate, as if he was afraid he might break her. When the veins around his eyes darkened Elena found herself staring. In all the time she'd known him, Elijah had always been so perfectly controlled, never letting the monster underneath rise to the surface. It was a bit surreal to see his vampiric features after all this time.
When he finally brought her wrist to his lips and his fangs pierced her skin, Elena inhaled sharply at the sting. Elijah's grip on her wrist tightened and she bit her lip. "Focus, Elijah," she told him firmly, watching as his eyes closed. "Listen," she added and his eyes opened again, meeting her gaze. Elena held his gaze and thoroughly ignored the feelings tightening in her chest and pushed away all the dangerous thoughts that danced at the edges of her mind. "Feel my pulse, Elijah," the brunette murmured as she started to feel a bit weakened by the blood loss. Almost immediately, Elijah pulled his mouth from her wrist and she tiredly murmured a healing spell before she could bleed all over her hotel room. Then she smiled. "That was good," Elena murmured as she tried to stand.
When she wavered, she felt Elijah's hands on her, steadying her. "Are you alright?" He asked, the honest concern for her well-being making her smile a little wider.
"Just tired," she answered. "Comes with the blood loss," she added with a small sigh. "I'll be fine after a while. Unfortunately I can't use magic to replenish my blood supply," Elena chuckled softly and then tried to take a step towards the bathroom. If Elijah hadn't been holding onto her, she surely would have fallen.
"I can help," he offered and when she looked up at him, he was giving her a charming little smile, despite the smudge of her blood at the corner of his mouth. "It's only fair," he added and she found herself nodding, letting him lead her carefully over to the bathroom where she leaned against the counter and washed the drying blood from her wrist. Then she continued to lean against the counter for a long moment. Her original plan for the night had been to order room service and take a bubble bath. She supposed she could still order room service, but she didn't really want to risk falling asleep in the tub.
"Okay, now it's my turn for dinner," she murmured with a tired smile, meeting Elijah's eyes in the mirror. "Thankfully, this hotel has room service," Elena continued, pushing away from the counter slowly and allowing herself to lean into Elijah when he reached out to keep her upright. "Thank you," she told him as she settled down on the bed.
"It's the least I can do," he replied warmly as he watched her.
Elena glanced around in search of the booklet that would tell her what was on the menu. Spotting it over on the table next to the couch, she pointed at it. "Would you mind handing that to me?"
"Not at all, lovely Elena," he smiled at her and moved across the room to grab the booklet, handing it over. Her heart skipped at the endearment, eyes widening slightly in shock. For just a breath, he had sounded like the old Elijah. But then she met his gaze again as she took the booklet from him and was still met with the strange new version of him; no recognition at all in his dark brown eyes.
"Thank you," she said softly, dropping her gaze to scan over the room service menu. He remained standing there beside the bed and Elena looked back up with a slightly amused expression. "You can sit, you know," she told him with a nod towards the foot of the bed. This is so weird, she thought silently as she watched him sit near her feet with a hesitant smile.
After she had eaten something, Elena felt a little better, but was still exhausted. She stifled a yawn and sighed. Elijah was still perched at the foot of the bed, having only gotten up to answer the door when her dinner arrived. "You should rest," he told her softly and she blinked tiredly at him. Would she be able to sleep with a potentially deadly roommate? All of her instincts told her yes, because even in as bizarre a situation as this was, something inside her just instinctively trusted Elijah. He hadn't lost control over her blood earlier, and even without his memories, he was still Elijah, whether he knew it or not.
"I probably should," she finally agreed. Elijah nodded and stood, then proceeded to look a bit lost again. Elena chuckled softly. "You can stay, Elijah. Tomorrow I'll book us a flight home," she murmured.
"Home?"
"Well, my home. Then we can start trying to figure out what happened to you," Elena explained, watching sleepily as he moved through the hotel room and located the extra bedding. As he carried it over to the couch, Elena couldn't help but think about how weird it was to see Elijah attempting to sleep on a hotel couch. It was obvious that there was no way in hell he would be comfortable there, and Elena silently cursed herself for what might be yet another crazy item on the list of crazy for the day. "There's no way that's going to be comfortable, Elijah," she frowned and patted the bed beside her. "The bed is plenty big enough," Elena had her eyes open just enough to watch Elijah's eyebrows go up in surprise as he regarded her from across the room.
"Are you sure?" Elijah's voice was uncertain, but she didn't think her offer had made him too uncomfortable.
"Mhmm. Just don't eat me in my sleep, okay?" Elena murmured around a yawn as her eyes closed. She heard Elijah walk across the room to the other side of the bed.
"Of course. I do believe that would be a terrible way to show my gratitude," came Elijah's voice after a moment, light and seemingly playful. Elena found herself smiling, rolling so that she faced Elijah but not opening her eyes. A moment later she felt the other side of the bed dip under Elijah's weight. Prying her eyes open once more, she found him lying on his back with one arm tucked under his head. He'd shed his jacket, leaving him in just his jeans and tee shirt.
"Goodnight, Elijah," she murmured and he turned his head slightly to look at her.
"Goodnight, Elena," he replied with a tentative smile. "And thank you," he added softly. Elena couldn't stop herself from reaching out to touch his hand.
"Always," she told him. You would do the same for me, she thought silently. He had done the same for her; years ago, under a little white gazebo in a sleepy little town. She had lost herself and he'd brought her back from the edge. As Elena drifted off into sleep, she could feel the ghost of his lips on hers in a memory she would hold close to her heart for eternity. Elijah had saved her back then. Now, it was her turn.