(E) TEN; KNEW BETTER (S2E10)
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Elena and Estella poured tea into cups—hoping the hot drink would calm the shaken up human in the living room. Estella watched as Rose walked into the kitchen with an indifferent look on her face.
"She found him a few minutes before we did," Rose informed a took a seat next to Elena.
"How is she?" Elena asked, obviously concerned for the girl.
"Overreacting, big time." Estella snorted and Elena made a disapproving face.
"Her boyfriend just died. There's no such thing as overreacting," Elena scolded the vampires. Estella rolled her eyes at Elena's blind faith in people.
"Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater," Rose stated, an amused look on her face from Elena's reaction. "She was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her."
Elena's face turned from disapproval to disbelief after what Rose said, which made Estella's lips quirk up slightly. The girls picked up the tea saucers and brought them over to the coffee table in the living room. Alice murmured a quiet "thank you," to the two girls.
Alice looked over Elena's features and said, "You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?"
"Not personally, no. I just knew that he kept detailed records of all his vampire contacts, and I was hoping he could point me towards Klaus," Elena told her, getting straight to business.
"Doubtful. Klaus doesn't want to be pointed out," Alice responded.
"See, what did I tell you?" questioned Estella, looking at Elena.
"Do you know Slater's computer password?" Elena asked, ignoring the remark from the Salvatore.
"Are you seriously asking me that right now?" Alice questioned the doppelgänger harshly. "I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."
"Right, like you totally cared about him," Estella drawled sarcastically.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice asked the girl, glaring at her next.
Estella raised an eyebrow in her direction, but said nothing. Instead, she sipped her tea and sat back in the sofa.
"Look, do you know his password?" Elena asked again, hoping to get an answer out of the girl.
"Who do you think you are?" Alice muttered hotly, shaking her head.
Elena, realizing asking politely was getting no where, decided a different approach.
"What if I could get Estella, or Rose, to turn you?" Elena bargained, pretending not to know of the heated glare Estella was giving her.
"Estella, as in Estella Salvatore?" Alice asked, glancing at the blonde.
"No, as in Estella mind-your-own-fucking-business," Estella retorted, moving her cold eyes on Alice. She flinched but accepted Elena's deal, and soon enough Alice was on Slater's computer and typing in various passwords. Finally, Alice was able to figure out Slater's password but then to see a completely blank slate. All files gone; deleted.
"Someone's been here. The hard-drive's completely wiped out," Alice noted.
Estella let out an annoyed sigh. This was such a waste of her time.
"Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's backed up on our remote server," Alice told the girls. Estella blinked, surprised someone would take such precautions.
Rose leaned over to Elena and whispered, "You know she's not going anywhere near mine or Estella's blood, right?"
"Yeah, mine too," Estella muttered. "The worst vampires are the ones who wanted to be one in the first place."
Elena nodded and spoke, "I know. She doesn't."
Estella pursed her lips, now seeing how alike Elena and Katherine were. This annoyed Estella, because her brothers would consistently preach how Elena was different from Katherine. But to Estella, the two were more alike than they'd care to admit.
A sound of approval binged from the computer, meaning that Alice had successfully entered into the back-up server.
"Kristen Stewart. God was he obvious," Alice murmured to herself.
Elena's doe eyes scanned the computer screen, her tone disbelieving as she questioned Alice, "These are all links to vampires?"
"Slater was obsessed, almost as much as me," Alice added the last comment like an afterthought. Estella was weary of her.
"What about that one? Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah," Rose mentioned, moving her face closer towards the screen. Estella, who felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of the Original she so happened to 'kill', looked closer at the screen to see that Rose was, indeed, correct.
"I could call him?" Alice suggested. Estella swallowed thickly; she knew she would have to face Elijah sometime, but not this soon.
Elena handed Alice the phone and told her the message, "Tell him that we're trying to send a message to Klaus: The doppelgänger is alive, and she's ready to surrender."
"What?!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes widening.
Estella rubbed her face and let out a tired sigh. She had a gut feeling Elena would pull some bullshit move like this. And now it was up to her to fix her brothers' messes...again.
Estella walked over to Elena, who looked worn out. The blonde stood next to Rose, but instead of a frown like the red head, wearing an annoyed look.
Rose was the first to speak, "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting Klaus' attention," Elena replied, looking at the two females.
"You're such an idiot," Estella muttered under her breath. She glared at Elena. "Do you realize the risk you've put Rose and I under? Klaus' minions, or whoever they are, know who we both are. I, for one, am not about to be dragged back to him because you felt like being Supergirl!"
"If Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you," Rose said in a hushed voice, as if people were hearing into the three girls conversation.
Elena's face showed no emotion, nothing showed that she was scared. She only swallowed thickly, processing their words.
"Which is exactly what you wanted all along," Rose confirmed, a look of horror crossing her face.
"It's either me or my family," Elena stated firmly.
"So this whole charade was a suicide mission so that you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else?" Estella asked, her tone growing frustrated.
Elena glanced away, not being able to answer her. Estella's stomach dropped at this. She knew Elena wouldn't give this up, meaning she would be stuck with Elena. Estella's thoughts began to churn as she thought of different possibilities to get out of this mess alive. She only came to one conclusion: call her brothers.
"Cody is on his way. And he really wants to meet you two."
"Two?" Estella questioned. A lump rose in her throat. "Did you tell this guy about me, Alice?"
"Uh, yeah?" Alice replied with a confused look. "Don't you want to go back to Klaus or something?"
Estella narrowed her eyes before she said, "How about that vampire transaction, huh?"
Alice beamed and Estella sarcastically smiled. She bit her wrist, but before she fed Alice the blood, Estella snapped the human's neck.
"Whoops, forgot the blood," Estella muttered with a bitter tone. She glanced up at the doppelgänger, who looked disappointed at Estella's actions.
Elena sighed and walked out the door, walking past a shocked Rose.
"What was that for?" the red-head yelled.
"She was a loose end for when Damon comes here to pick us up," Estella said, her voice low. She made sure Elena was out of hearing range.
"W—loose end?" Rose spoke, this time her voice quieter. Estella rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Yes, now call Damon and tell him to come here and tell him Elena is going to die and won't leave," Estella demanded quietly, but still forcefully. Rose scoffed and took out her phone while Estella walked over to Elena, the two girls sitting on the sofa together in silence.
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Estella walked into the living room to see that her older brother, Damon, was standing right behind Elena without her knowing. Elena was confused to see Estella's glance behind her and gasped when she turned around to see Damon there, piercing blue eyes glaring.
"What are you doing here?" Elena questioned, her voice shaking as she realized that she was caught.
"What are you doing here?" Damon asked Elena, his tone harsh.
Rose walked forward and Elena turned to her and asked, "You called him?"
"I'm sorry, Elena."
"You said that you understood!" Elena exclaimed, looking angry and betrayed.
"In all honesty, it wasn't my idea. It was Estella's," Rose told her with a small shrug, glancing at the now annoyed blond.
"What the hell, Estella?" Elena questioned furiously.
"I'm not going to be handed over to Klaus because you want to be the hero, Elena," Estella remarked with a frustrated tone. "There are other options to save your family other than selling yourself to Klaus."
Elena let out a scoff, her brown eyes glaring at her. Estella rolled her own eyes at Elena's attempt to be angry.
Damon looked back to Elena and said, "Come on. We're leaving."
"No," Elena denied with a shake of her head.
"I said we're leaving," Damon pushed, glaring at the brunette.
"I'm not going with you," Elena stated firmly, her voice leaving no arguments.
"You do not get to make decisions anymore," Damon argued, his blue eyes now growing annoyed at Elena's refusal.
"When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me. Now this, this is my decision," Elena sneered, her face coming closer to Damon's.
"Who's gonna save your life when you're out making 'decisions'?" Damon questioned fiercely. "Estella will clearly drop you the moment someone threatens her safety, so you can't rely on her."
"You're not listening to me, Damon. I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love," Elena stated clearly. Damon narrowed his eyes at the girl, not fully understanding why the doppelgänger was so persistent to let him live, while she suffered.
"Get your ass out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself," Damon demanded, ignoring what Elena said.
When Elena didn't respond immediately, Damon grabbed Elena's arm. She resisted and tried to throw a punch, but Damon (ever the skillful) was able to catch her first before it could hit anything. Instead, he used Elena's hand to drag her closer to him—so close that they were almost kissing. Estella rolled her eyes and turned her head away.
"Don't ever do that again," Damon said quietly, but firmly.
"Alright Damon, she has a boyfriend that, surprisingly, isn't you," Estella said, her voice holding sarcasm.
Without a word, Damon left and picked up Alice's dead body to bury her somewhere. When he was gone and out of hearing range, Estella remarked, "Elena, if you're going to lead my brother on, you could at least do it a lot nicer instead of punching him."
Elena sighed, her breath uneven from the close encounter with Damon. She was confused as to why Damon had such an affect on her, why she was pulled towards him. Yet she disregarded those thoughts and went to sit down, ignoring Estella's words swarming through her mind.
Was it true? Was Elena Gilbert, the ever-so innocent Elena Gilbert leading Damon on?
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"Time to go. Alice's body has been buried in a nearby forest, and we can move on and forget this horribly, stupid day," Damon said, stopping in front of Elena and Estella.
But before they could leave, the door slammed open to reveal three blonde vampires. Estella winced, irked that they hadn't left before the vampire minions showed up.
"We're here to meet the doppelgänger and the Salvatore," one of them spoke loudly and clearly.
"Thank you for coming," Elena announced, walking forward to greet the three. However, Damon stopped her with his hand and grabbed onto Estella's arm. Elena struggled against Damon, but he threatened to break her arm which then caused Elena to cease her efforts.
"There's nothing here for you," Damon told them with a sarcastic smile.
The man in the back suddenly dropped, a sickening crunch sounding in the silent apartment.
Estella's eyes widened when she saw the man behind the vampire, Elijah Mikaelson. A flicker of fear passed through Estella's veins before she swallowed and calmed herself. A gasp came from Elena, not expecting Elijah to be alive. Estella suddenly remembered she wasn't supposed to know about Elijah, and plastered a faux surprised look.
Elijah emotionlessly glanced at the remaining two vampires. Rose rushed out of the building, not wanting to deal with Elijah. He let her go, considering the two would meet soon.
"Estella killed you. You were dead," Damon stated in a confused tone.
"For centuries now," Elijah remarked, his eyes moving towards Estella's before coming back to Damon's.
"Who are you?" Elijah asked the first vampire, the one who demanded to "see the doppelgänger."
"Who are you?" The vampire asked, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm Elijah," responded the vampire, his eyebrows quirking up.
The first vampire's face grew scared as he stuttered out a response, "We were going to bring her to you. For Klaus. She's the doppelgänger, she's the girl. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her, the both of them."
A flicker of annoyance shot through Estella. It irked her that, even now, she was still known as "Klaus' wife."
"Does anyone else know you're here?" Elijah asked him.
"No."
"Well then, you have been incredibly helpful," was all Elijah said before he killed the both of the vampires; their bodies dropping to the ground with a thud. Elena gasped while the two Salvatores watched the bodies drop to the ground.
Damon stopped forward, ready to attack Elijah, when he disappeared. Damon was annoyed, confused, and disappointed, but swallowed his emotions down as he led Elena and Estella out of the apartment.
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ok quick update that i have officially started school aka updates are going to be weird and sporadic. you've been warned.
but yay I updated!!
-holly