A/N: The Battling Bard: haha, yes I am alive. Just busy. I haven't abandoned any of my stories and I hope to do more updates for all of them really soon

Guest #1: We shall see what happens :)

djeje: Voila! *does a grand gesture*

Guest #2: Double voila! *does an even bigger grand gesture*

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(In a Dungeon)

(Claire's P.O.V.)

As they talked, Klaus looked at me, his smirk still ever present on his face.

"Well, I guess we know what to do then." Klaus said suddenly, loud enough for me to hear, after a minute or two. She will need to get the vervain out of her system. The question is should we let it go out naturally or should we speed up the process?"

Rebekah faces me, looking like she was considering the options.

"Elijah is looking for her." Rebekah said. "I don't think we will have much time."

"Then we'll just speed up the process." Klaus said with too much ease for my liking.

He takes the knife from Rebekah and begins to close the distance between me and him.

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(The Woods)

(Elijah's P.O.V.)

As soon as I get to the woods, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, faintly smelling Claire's shampoo once again.

But I also smelt something else. That something else smelling too much like blood.

My eyes snapped open as fear grips my heart.

I vampire speed into the woods, keeping my ears open to any hint of noise that would help me find Claire.

The faint smell of blood I smelt before got stronger the deeper I went.

I didn't stop until I found the smell of it leading down to the Lockwood's old estate chamber.

I hear someone shout in pain and my heart stopped.

I vampired speed into the dungeon, reaching the bottom quickly and seeing Klaus was running a knife down Claire's upper arm.

Not stopping, I pull him away from her and slammed him against the wall. Snarling at him as my fangs came out and the veins appeared under my eyes.

"Hello, brother." Klaus said,a small smile on his face. "How nice of you to show up."

My grip on him tightens.

"Oh, come now, Elijah." Klaus said. "Put your fangs away and we'll talk about this in a civilized manor."

"I think that point passed when you told me one thing and then did another." I growled out.

Gripping him tight, I move and threw Klaus across the dungeon, him hitting the wall and falling to the ground.

I look at Claire to see she looked relieved but her eyes were showing fear as she looked at me.

Not wanting her to be scared more than what she was, I retracted my fangs, the veins under my eyes disappearing.

"Yes, fine, I did do that." I hear Klaus say a little sternly as he stood up. "But I'm doing this for your own good as well as for our sister's."

I look away from Claire and at Rebekah who looked away as soon as my eyes landed on her.

"I told you she wasn't after you." I said, feeling my anger soaring to new heights along with the feeling of betrayal.

"Believe it or not, everyone lies." Rebekah said, looking back at me. Clearly standing her ground. "She's on vervain. So we don't know the truth."

"Which was a problem we were just now solving before you rudely interrupted." Klaus said. "Now, are you going to help us learn the truth at last or are you going to walk away?"

Klaus holds the knife out to me, clearly expecting me to take it.

I look at my siblings, knowing full well they were looking out for themselves rather than looking out for me.

I then looked at Claire. She was looking at me with a silent plea to help her. A silent plea for me to stop all this.

Klaus, Rebekah, and I - we all agreed 'family: always and forever'. To me, it's still a true statement. I will always be there for them if they need me.

But as I stared at Claire, I couldn't help but trust her. I couldn't help but want to protect her at all cost, no matter what it meant.

I'm not sure what was coming over me, but I knew I had a soft spot for her already and I hadn't even known her for long.

"Here's what's going to happen." I said, looking at Klaus. "I'm going to take Claire home. You're not going to stop me." I then looked at Rebekah. "Neither of you are. And once you two finally come to your senses, let me know, and you can apologize to, not only me, but Claire as well."

"Elijah," Rebekah began, as I walked over to Claire and began to untie her.

"Don't bother, Rebekah." Klaus said with a hint of disgust in his voice. "He's clearly made his choice. So much for family, always and forever."

Once Claire was untied, I scooped her up in my arms and faced them.

"I'd say you two broke that long before I did." I said.

Klaus looked taken back at what I said while Rebekah looked hurt I even said it.

Without another word, I left the dungeon, using my vampire speed to do so.

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(At the House)

(Claire's P.O.V.)

Elijah came into the bedroom with a bowl of water and a wash cloth.

After Elijah saved me from his family, he brought me back to his house.

"You didn't take your shirt off." Elijah said softly as he sat the bowl on the night stand. "I can't tend to your wound through the fabric."

He sits on the bed beside me and I instinctively make a move to put a little distance between us, only stopping with a hiss when I felt pain.

"Claire, please let me help you." Elijah said.

I suddenly felt his hand on my shoulder and flinched.

He took his hand away.

"Claire, there's no need to be afraid of me." He said softly.

I look at him and saw a hint of sadness in his eyes along with worry.

"I'm sorry, I know, I just," I began and took a breath. "I was just surprised to see you-"

"With my vampire look." He finished for me.

"Yeah." I said.

Elijah's eyes softened and a look of understanding came to his face.

"Claire, I promise you I won't hurt you." Elijah said.

"I know." I said. "I know you wouldn't. Like I said, I was just surprised."

He nods.

"Okay." Elijah said. "Can I tend to your wounds now?"

I nod and took my shirt off carefully, revealing my tank top underneath.

Elijah stood and took off his suit jacket, placing it neatly on the end of the bed before rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

He sits down on the other side of me and wets the wash cloth in the bowl and rings it out before turning to inspect the cut on my arm.

A flash of anger shows on his face then he gently presses the wash cloth to the cut.

A moment passes in silence.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue." I said, continuing to watch him.

"You're welcome." Elijah said. "I'm sorry Niklaus and Rebekah mistreated you."

"It's not your fault, Elijah." I said.

His hand stops moving as he brings his eyes up to meet mine.

"All the same." He said. "I'm sorry."

He removes the wash cloth and pats the spot dry with a dry towel before grabbing a bandage and putting it on.

"Now your leg." Elijah said, gesturing to my thigh.

He gets off the bed and kneels down in front of me.

"I'll help you take these off." He said. "Whenever you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, I place my hands on his shoulders and stood up on my good leg.

Elijah moved his hands up and undone the button and zipper to my pants, sliding them off my hips carefully.

I sit back down on the bed, keeping my hands on his shoulders, as he finishes taking my pants off and tosses them out of the way.

Elijah looks at my wound on my thigh a little longer than he did with the one on my arm and clears his throat as he looks away.

"This one might sting." He said, grabbing the wash cloth again.

I let go of one of his shoulders and gripped the edge of the bed instead.

"I can always have you drink my blood." Elijah said, looking at me. "It would be easier and you would be healed instantly."

"I know." I said. "But I already told you I want to do it this way. So, go for it."

"As you wish." Elijah said with a nod.

He places the wash cloth on the wound and I hissed, gripping the bed and his shoulder which didn't seem to have phased him.

Once he was done, Elijah sat the wash cloth in the bowl and gently dried the wound before putting a bandage on it as well.

"You're all set." He said, standing up. "Let me take care of this and I'll be back to get you pajamas."

He grabs the bowl, towel, and leftover bandages and leaves the bedroom again.

I sigh and looked at my thigh.

"I'm glad you're okay." I heard a voice say.

Jumping, I looked at the end of the bed and saw Alaric.

"I didn't know, didn't think, he would have gotten to you in time." Alaric said. "I've been trying to get Bonnie's attention but she was ignoring me and-and-"

"Uncle Alaric, it's okay." I said, reassuring him. "I'm okay, now. I'm safe."

"I know." Alaric said. "I'm glad Elijah got there before things got worse."

Just then, Elijah came back in, giving me a small smile as he made his way to the bureau.

"Can you tell him I said thank you?" Alaric asked.

"My Uncle says thank you." I said. Elijah turns to me. "For saving me tonight."

"It wasn't a problem, Alaric." Elijah said, the small smile still on his face, before facing the bureau again and opening a drawer.

I look at my Uncle to see him smiling a little himself.

When I looked back at Elijah, he was now standing in front of me with some pajamas.

"I'll leave you to get dressed and to get some rest." Elijah said. "If you need me, I won't be far."

I take my clothes from him.

"Thank you, Elijah." I said. "For everything."

"It's my pleasure, Claire." Elijah said. "Good night."

"Good night." I said.

He grabs his suit jacket and leaves the bedroom, closing the door gently on his way out.