Okay, SO after over a month's break (though the chapter has been done for a while now) this is chapter ten to Of Monsters and Men. I want to first apologize profusely for taking so much time off from this, I got entirely pulled into the roleplay world and my brain just became somewhat blocked here. Secondly-you have two options here (because this was going to take a lot longer) you can either thank Siberia21-who deserves full dedication for this chapter ha ha- for pushing me (though she won't admit it, I caught the subtly lol) to get this done, OR you can hate her because while I am not *hating* it, this is not my favorite chapter so far. I really was beginning to feel like there was a sign coming from above not to post this since I lost my entire document once, having to start over-then after retyping most (if not all) of it, Microsoft Word crashed entirely on my computer so I was unable to use it. Oh well, here it is anyway-try to put the pitchforks away and not come after me if you hate it okay?
On that note, this chapter and the next were supposed to be one big chapter, but I decided to cut it in half so I could give you guys something. As always, thank you so so much for all of your reviews and your continuing inspiration. I love this story so much and it really holds a special place in my heart, so for that-I thank you guys.
Anyway, enough clamoring on my part, enjoy and please review-it is really what keeps me going here.

Chapter Ten

"I'm just saying Elena, if it wasn't for that family, he could be quite the catch!"

"Stop, Caroline. Elijah was just trying to keep me away from his brother." Elena snapped, stepping out onto the icy city sidewalk from the cab. "He's not an idiot." At least, that she knew of.

"Smart and good looking is a double plus you know." Her friend laughed, stepping to her side. Together, the pair entered the apartment building that Elena had spent so much time in before, her partner's. "How is Damon, by the way? Planning on taking advantage of his days off?" the blonde asked, in what seemed like a snotty tone-but Elena knew how she could be.

Caroline would make a comment like that, working in the fashion industry had turned her into a workaholic and the thought of taking a day off was completely foreign to her, even if she was missing both legs she would do everything she could to get in.

"He's fine, more upset that he is missing Klaus Mikaelson's walk of shame today, but he will get over it." She gave a friendly nod to the superintendent as they walked past, heading towards the elevator to the Salvatore's apartment floor.

"Yeah, Tyler is being really cryptic about this deal that you guys have with him, apparently he had to sign a whole bunch of extra paperwork to keep quiet and won't even tell me."
Elena knew very well why he didn't say anything, and personally she was glad he hadn't told his girlfriend. Not only would Caroline most likely spill the plan to the wrong people, but Alaric had made a side agreement that they would treat Klaus as if he were going into Witness Protection, a way to keep his identity a secret-a true deal with the devil, and the detective couldn't help but wonder who the devil was in the equation.
Elena hated it-the detective side of her screaming for real vengeance-but understood the reasoning. This is the only way, she had herself convinced by now repeating the mantra in her mind.

The elevator doors opened to the near empty space besides one lonely man standing inside the bleach smelling box, the smell alone was enough to knock both girls off their feet.
Exchanging glances (knowing that their conversation about the case was over) they stepped in, Caroline, brushing her shoulders down in discomfort.

"You know, you didn't seem too bothered with him by your side." Caroline returned to the initial subject as she smiled with her eyes, "You know…for someone like you who was being taken away from her job."
The hint was there-layered in what could have been jealousy, or possible warning depending on what Caroline knew about this family, though Elena was quick to brush it off.

The brunette groaned, rolling narrowed eyes towards her friend. "He isn't that bad for conversation." She defended her motives instantly. Had she been enjoying herself? "He has a lot to say." She lied. In fact, Elijah Mikaelson never said much at all actually, he was much more expressive in his reactions to what was happening around him.

"Right." Caroline scoffed, shoving past the man to step out of the elevator as the door opened, "Whatever you say."

Before even knocking, Damon's apartment door swung open to reveal Elena's disheveled partner, his arm wrapped up in a sling and he was still wearing only his flannel pajama pants-though it was already twelve in the afternoon.

"Damon, you sure look ready to go back to work." Elena smiled, patting him on his good shoulder as she slid past with Caroline close behind.

"Yeah, we figured we would bring you something to pass the time." The blonde searched the room with curiosity, having only been there a couple of times and pulled a bottle of bourbon from her large leopard print bag.

"Aw, thanks Barbie." Damon took the bottle gratefully, his blue eyes reflecting the dark liquid as he moved it to the counter. "So, what brings you two ladies here? Stefan isn't home." He knew that they didn't come to see Stefan, but Damon still seemed confused by their visit.

"We figure you may have wanted some company Damon." Elena teased, throwing herself onto the couch with a smug grin.

"What? Before you head into work and put handcuffs on the Mikaelson?" her partner's hand curled inwards in jealousy, he wanted to have him behind bars more than Elena now since he got shot protecting the serial killer they both wanted dead.

"Well yeah, I figured you would want me to give him a message." The brunette returned, relaxing into the sofa. "Besides, Ric had me sticking around to make sure everything was in order last night which is why I didn't get to stop by." She explained, still feeling bad and equally as annoyed that her captain had left her holding the bag after everything that had happened.

"Oh right, he was pretty pissed off about that." Damon was trying to defend Alaric, but was failing. "You've seen how he gets about that family, no one hates them more than he does."

That was something Elena did understand, but she wasn't sure how to answer his next question.

"Listen…Elena," Damon's eyes shifted around to hear Caroline still poking around in the kitchen. "How did you get those tickets anyway? Caroline told me she didn't give them to you last night…"

Looking up, the brunette was unsure what to say. She had made such an effort to keep Damon hidden from all of this, so him questioning her had caught her off guard. "Oh…uhm…" she toyed with her thumbs trying to come up with a good lie, then decided the half-truth would be the best way to go. "I was collaborating with the FBI, they gave me the invitation for us."

From the corner of her eye, Elena saw Caroline round the corner into the living room and raise her eyebrow. She knew very well that it was a lie, even if Elena had been shady on the details herself.

"Oh…" Damon stared at his partner in wonder, "I didn't know the FBI was involved."

"Yeah, when they found out that I was talking to Elijah in the viewing room, they wanted any information they could." She felt horrible for lying to her partner-and one of her best friends-but she had no choice. She promised Alaric she wouldn't say anything, even if she hated keeping it from him. "So I figured why not? Since you rudely got Caroline involved." Narrowing her eyes to him playfully, Elena tossed the throw pillow to her partner, who barely dodged it.

Elena's playful laugh was cut short by the irritating buzzing on her phone. It was expected since she was already late for work, but nonetheless annoying.

"Not already Elena." Caroline whined from the kitchen, she could still hear her friend taking out pots and pans to make lunch…or she was just reorganizing Damon's kitchen…she was never sure what went through her friend's mind.

"Is it time?" Damon queried, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the wall. He looked jealous, but Elena had to ignore it, she needed him here so he could get better.

"Looks like it Care, I'll just catch my own cab. Maybe you can keep this one-" she directed her thumb towards her injured partner. "from going insane?"
Caroline poked her head around the wall only to roll her eyes at her and disappear again with half of a wave and gave Damon a one-armed hug before running out the door, her heart pounding in excitement.
Today was the day; Niklaus Mikaelson would be taken off the streets.

The entire precinct was buzzing, sounds of papers being pushed, the pumped up chattering of fellow officers and the angry yelling of some pissed off suspects for other crimes. The place was a zoo, but Elena knew that pretty soon it would turn into a celebration.
Right now, only Elena knew that this was the eye of the storm however.

"Gilbert." Alaric's voice rose above the rest from his office before the detective could reach her desk. With her head feeling heavy from exhaustion, Elena looked to him as he waved frantically. "Come on Detective, you're late."

Muscles dragging along, Elena shuffled into her captain's office, not expecting to see Rose sitting in the chair before her.

"Agent." Elena sneered through her teeth, moving so that Alaric could shut the door behind her, "Why am I not surprised to see you here?"
Rose smiled, motioning for her to sit down in the opposite chair, but Elena shook her head. "No, that's all right, I would rather stand."

She knew why Rose was in the precinct; after all, Elena was her spy and had just spent most of her evening with the man she swore to take down. There was only so much avoiding that she could without it becoming obvious-which would probably result in jail time, but no matter what it would end up with her fired- she just hated that it would be so…soon. She's desperate. Elena reasoned as she shook her head in frustration.

"Have it your way, Detective." Rose let out a short sigh, giving up on her only semi-cooperative spy. The choppy-haired brunette looked to Ric, who only threw his hands up in the air. He was goal oriented, but he also knew his team and could see it as clear as day that she was unhappy. "Listen…Elena, I'm not the bad guy here you know. You want this, you may not like the means to get there, but this is what you wanted. We have the exact same goals.

In theory, Rose was right. Elena did want to take them down, but not so…maliciously. Not by gaining Elijah's trust, using him and then striking him when he was at his weakest, and not doing it to a man that she had grown to trust herself, and what was even more frightening…respect.
That was not the kind of justice she was looking for. "I think you need to look up the definition of 'goal'. " Elena smirked with her eyebrow arched to push the woman's mood just a little bit, to force her off that horse down to her level. "But, what do you need from me now?"

There was a brief moment's pause, Rose began to sift through her mind, and Elena could practically smell the gears grinding in her brain as she picked which way to word what was coming next. "Well…I was informed that you spent a lot of time with Elijah last night." Rose's green eyes were smiling, and full of a deeper implication, the look making Elena want to vomit. "Did anything interesting come up"

You mean, other than his trained, possibly illegal assassin of a guard? Elena thought with pure driven irritation. What was there even to tell? That Elijah had saved her life, and then after that upon Alaric's request she stuck around following nearly getting shot at, his intention most likely to plant her right with him at the bar?
She hated to disappoint, but all her captain did was make her truly see Elijah Mikaelson as a human being, as more than what his family was, and no longer as a monster.
He wasn't all that bad once you saw him with his guard down (or around the rest of his family) in fact-as she had told him-they could have been friends under lighter circumstances.

"Elena?" Alaric showed a shred of concern as he cocked his head to look at her, studying her facial expression.
She hadn't realized that she had been smiling.

"Nothing." She quickly shrugged, "We just talked."

"Talked?" Rose sounded disappointed.

"Yup, that's it."

Not seeming pleased with Elena's report, the FBI agent stood from her chair and approached her with eyes now narrowed in suspicion.

"So…will this be a daily thing?" Elena asked, shifting on her feet. "Because I can just give you my number."

Standing before her now, Rose chuckled as her upper lip twitched in amusement. "No Detective, I already have it."

Sauntering past, Rose nodded goodbye to Alaric and ignored Elena who was only studying her back. "Shame." The detective grumbled as Ric closed the door. "I was sure we would make such great friends."

It was an hour later and Elena's desk was cluttered with catch up work that had been long overdue-all pushed to the side in order to focus solely on hunting down Klaus Mikaelson-when suddenly the desk began to buzz. Searching frantically for the source she moved the papers around like a madwoman until finally finding what she was looking for.

"Damon." Elena snatched her cell phone from under her purple binder and answered it quickly.

"Is he there yet?" her partner sounded bored to tears, the sounds of music from a video game playing in the background. There was no hello, how are you…hey, but that was the typical Damon Salvatore charm, Elena had become numb to it by now.

"Any minute." She replied, lost in thought as she gathered the paperwork that had drifted to the floor. The front desk had called hardly a minute before to tell them that Klaus, Finn, Elijah and Tyler would all be coming up momentarily.

"Listen…you make sure that you get a picture of him in an orange jumpsuit for me all right?" Damon's laugh on the other end had caught Elena's attention again. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise that her partner had been shot only the day before, she didn't want to imagine his reaction if he found out about their 'deal' with the Mikaelsons. Not only was she ordered to keep it from him (though not given a reason why) but she wasn't ready to see that look of betrayal on his face. He would tell her they were 'selling out' or worse…end up taking matters into his own way (another part of the Damon Salvatore charm).

"Yeah, I'll make sure to get right on that." She joked before shutting her phone with hardly a goodbye, the less she spoke to him…the less she would have to lie.
It was only moments later when from her desk, Elena could hear the elevator doors open, and low chatter bringing her focus from the mess towards the hallway.

Klaus she smiled with pride, seeing now for herself that Elijah had come through for her after all. Of course deep down she knew he would, but she had constantly been expecting the worst-a betrayal of sorts-so had been waiting to see the serial killer in custody before believing it was actually happening.

Standing up to her feet instantly, Elena's breath caught in her lungs from the anxiety as she saw them, her eyes following him, flanked by his oldest brother and Tyler, while Finn was not to be seen.

"Detective." An unfamiliar voice caught her attention and she dropped her gaze from her suspect to turn back.

"Yes?" Elena's eyes dropped a moment, shifting to lock with the gentle looking Finn, the lawyer of the family, with the deep colored eyes that seemed to pierce right through her.

With smooth features somewhat skewed, Finn looked back to his two brothers, nodding for them to continue on towards the interrogation room. Following the direction he was motioning, Elena met Elijah's gaze and followed him closely as he gave her a soft-yet subtle-smile as he walked passed.

"Finn Mikaelson." The other brother interrupted her thoughts, "I don't believe we have met." Elena's eyes drifted down towards his outstretched hand and she met his look again with a smile.

"No, not officially, Detective Elena Gilbert. I met your wife, Sage."

Grinning fondly at the mention of his wife's name Finn shook her hand. "Yes, she mentioned such." He spoke formally, like his brother however minus the arrogant undertone (because even unintentionally, Elijah Mikaelson spoke with a powerful force that made him seem overpowering).

"So, what can I help you with Finn?" She asked, mindlessly fixing the paperwork on her desk. "Shouldn't you be with your family?" Unless things had changed and he was about to take everything back?
No she told herself, Elijah would have warned me. She felt odd placing so much trust in the brother of a man she was prepared to nail to the cross, but she was confident in her decision.

"Well…" Finn seemed to have a lot on his mind (expected, since he was about to get his own brother institutionalized for the rest of his life) but his eyes were focused on her paperwork, "Two things, actually. One, I need the transfer paperwork to ensure my brother's proper placement…" He arched a brow towards the desk, most of the mess was case related-including the gruesome crime scene photos- and he glanced back to her unsure of what belonged where. "Also, my brother speaks very highly of you, so I wanted to personally thank you for making this happen."

His words took her by surprise, at first her mind wondering which brother-though she already knew-and then being taken aback by the gratitude. In a way, he was right, she didn't have to do what she did, but then again…she did. They had no evidence against him, in fact all they had was a confession so really…Elijah had helped her more than she helped him.
Sitting down before responding, Elena searched for the paperwork she needed to give him as her thoughts continued to bounce around in her mind.

Assuming it was Elijah who had spoken highly of her, she was…partially comfortable with the idea, and was ultimately happy with the result. "You're welcome." Though she wanted to put his brother in jail-with the death penalty-, Elijah's offer really was the only thing she had to get him off the streets. It was only natural that she would take it. "Oh, here you go." Elena passed the two papers to the lawyer who bowed his head in thanks, without saying another word. Watching him as he walked away from her, she quickly cleared her desk-tossing the papers into the drawer-and followed him, wanting to see the negotiations finally come to a close.

Her captain, Rose, Tyler and lastly, D.A Martin were already in the conference room, leaving Elena the odd (wo)man out as Finn joined them, now with an extra folder in his hand. Watching from the window, Elena worked on perfecting her lip-reading skills as she set herself on top of the nearest desk, but with Klaus, Tyler and Finn facing away from her, all she managed to receive were hard glances from Alaric while Rose wore a smug grin pointed directly at her.
God, she hated Rose.

"Here." A rough, familiar aroma passed over her nose, "You look like you could use this."

Looking up to the white styrofoam cup, Elena smiled to the expecting Elijah who was dipping a tea bag into his own. "I'll ignore the insulting undertones." She returned lightly as she took the cup. "Thank you."
She wasn't sure when she was beginning to accept things from Elijah Mikaelson, but being as his brother was about to be put away for life…this seemed as good a time as any.

Bringing the cup to her lips, Elena savored the taste of the black coffee…as if he knew that she wouldn't want anything added to it, and she was that worn down. This case had taken its toll on her, more than most others.

"Of course," Elijah returned, toying with his tea bag carelessly and leaned against the desk she was sitting on before nodding to her.

"So, why aren't you in there supporting your little brother?" she questioned, not intending to sound as teasing as she did, but she still smirked over the rim of her cup.

The oldest Mikaelson chuckled, sipping from his own. "Too crowded. Besides, I prefer watching from the sidelines…you tend to pick up on things that others tend to miss." He looked up to meet her gaze in the reflection of the glass and his words trailed off. "I see the FBI has dipped their grubby little paws into this." He motioned with his finger and a smirk.

"Yeah…" Elena could feel her heart rate quicken, knowing why the Special Agent was there in the first place. "Strange isn't it?"
She watched closely as Klaus filled out the paperwork, his two lawyers and the D.A hovering over expectantly as Elena tried everything she could to not give herself away, push her pending betrayal into the back of her mind. She found humor in how Finn seemed to be tearing into each word, looking for a loophole, a way out, but between her and Jonas Martin, they knew how to do their jobs so she wasn't worried.

"Elena," her companion brought her attention back over to him, drawing her eyes over, though he didn't continue until she spoke up as if waiting patiently for her to reply.

"What's up Elijah?"

She could see him hesitate as concern and some form of indecision crossed in his eyes. It was different, seeing him so…out of place. It was almost discomforting, as if he were a rock in the water that was not meant to move.

"I want to thank you again for doing this Elena." She realized he didn't call her Detective Gilbert, this wasn't a professional thanks…this was personal (and before she knew it, she had become a professional at dissecting his words). "I would like to celebrate…I guess."

"Celebrate your brother being locked away for life in a psych ward? That doesn't sound very…honorable? I'm pretty sure that's the word you used."

Elijah's lip twitched up into a smile as he turned to face her better. Something different gleamed in his eyes, amusement-she assumed, but his demeanor seemed to change a little bit more. "More that this horror show is finally over." Looking back to the conference room, he nodded towards Finn, who was packing up his paperwork while two officers entered to talk to Klaus. "I wanted to offer to take you out…dinner maybe?"

Dinner the word shot her attention away from Klaus and the conference room, back to the coy Mikaelson. Her mind raced for a moment, trying to put her words into sentences from her absolute surprise, but she only stared back at him with her mouth agape. Dinner? She thought again, wondering if he was speaking in another language. Did he just ask me to dinner?

"Elijah…I…" she began, but he put his hand up to silence her.

"I'm not saying for a date, Elena." He returned casually, maybe all too casually, "I'm just suggesting as friends…or colleagues, allies?"

She still wasn't sure what else to say-two different sets of voices were running through her mind. Alaric's directive speaking "You need to go out and find yourself a date" and then Rose's irritating tone, "You need to get close to him." It didn't take much for Elena to find herself torn.
She wanted to, she wanted to get to know him, having meant her words when she said they could have been good friends…possibly more as Caroline would push.

What she didn't want was for that friendship to be mistaken for her job. She didn't want to be stuck between the FBI, Elijah Mikaelson, and her own interests. That was one love triangle she would fight like hell to avoid.

Yet…she cursed herself for not being able to say no to him. Maybe they already were friends-subtly so-and she just didn't want to admit it.

"All right Elijah." She gave him credit for his boldness, something that she was not expecting from him. "I would like that. When?"

Elijah smiled, his sense of pride seemingly returning and shrugged. "I know this may seem a bit soon, but is tonight all right?" Watching him closely, she could see how from the corner of his eyes he was witnessing his brother being taken away, a look of sadness and regret overcoming him. He had used her for a distraction from his own betrayal to his family. "I am expected to be out of town for a while by the end of the week."

Slightly curving her neck, Elena was prepared to ask more in detail, but decided to save that for a later time. "That sounds perfect to me." She stood, wearing a powerful grin on her face. "But remember Elijah, this is not a date. I owe you the company though…since you did accidentally save my life and all."

Elijah laughed now, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If that is what helps you sleep at night, I will pick you up at seven then?"

So casual and careless, like it wasn't weird that the man who was being investigated as the head of a crime family (which Elena still didn't know the details of), was going to take the lead detective-former lead detective of his brother's case out to dinner. "Sounds like a plan," she smiled, nodding slightly as he turned to walk away from her.

"Elena." Alaric called out to her form the conference room, and she watched as Klaus and his lawyers left the room from the other door, escorted by the officers.

It was over, but she still wasn't done with that family.

"Yeah, Captain?" she questioned, slipping into the now empty room.

"You are going to have to fill out this paperwork before you leave tonight." He directed with a boring tone of voice, but when her gaze shifted over to Rose…she could tell that wasn't all that he wanted.

"Okay…and?" Elena pried, crossing her arms. Her irritated tone clearly pleased the Special Agent, who smirked knowingly before stepping closer.

"I saw you talking with Elijah." She pointed out like she had just found the treasure at the end of the rainbow and watched the detective's expression closely though she was already familiar with this song and dance.

Keeping her features cold and limited, Elena replied quickly. "Did you decode our secret language?" she asked, pushing forward. Not today she convinced herself, I will not let you get to me today. "I know it is difficult to understand." She finished, keeping her thoughts to herself.

Rose only found amusement in this, and scrunched her nose like she smelled something vile. "Very cute, Detective. " she paused with a roll of her eyes. "Is there anything that we should know about?"

Rolling her eyes, Elena groaned at her attitude, not wanting to deal with her. She hoped that now that Klaus was dealt with she would sort of…fade into the background, but Elena knew better than that. "No Agent, nothing that you need to worry about." She lied…kind of anyway. "He was just thanking me for helping his family."

Knowingly, Rose and Alaric both exchanged glances before turning to face Elena again. It was as if they were exchanging thoughts, reminding Elena that they were a team.
"You will be required to cooperate Elena." Her captain directed sternly. "You don't need to play games with us, we are on your side here."

Are you? She wondered, because she sure felt like she was trapped in a corner. "Of course you are." She decided to reply instead, her sarcasm directed entirely to Rose. "Now, if you will excuse me…I have paperwork to do so that I can go home." Because I have a date tonight. She recalled, no..not a date, just friends. She had to remind herself.

The paperwork took hours to finish, so many fine points to make sure were taken care of with such tedious writing that Elena's eyes were crossing by the time she had finished.
"Leaving so soon?" Alaric called to her as she rushed to gather all of her papers together.

"Yup," she replied quickly, tossing her hair up into a messy bun. "I have plans tonight."
She could hear the captain mumble something under his breath as she approached him, with files ready and in hand. "You are the one that said I need to go out and meet someone." She shot at him not even hearing what he had said. "I'm just taking your advice Ric."
She loved-what he called-'sassing him'/ In a way, it kept her ground during the work hours, knowing that Alaric actually cared about her and during this case it was most important since she trusted him not to intentionally put her in harm's way (unnecessarily at least, she was a cop after all).

"Oh, so you're going on a date?" he questioned while going through the papers she handed him, his eyes glancing up at her like a concerned father's would.

"No, but I am going out." Elena instantly replied, "Maybe I will meet someone along the way." Waving off to her captain, Elena turned her heel to grab her coat and prepare to head out the door, a new feeling of enlightenment taking over.

"Just be safe okay" Alaric bellowed to her and the detective laughed, all in the while she was re-holstering her gun, causing her to turn around and give a halfhearted chuckle.
"Ric, I'm a blackbelt in taekwondo and I carry a gun…I'm sure I will be okay."
Quickly throwing on her coat, Elena ran towards the elevator, catching it just in time with a deep breath. In a way, she hoped that she wasn't making a mistake (job-wise, or personal) by going to dinner with Elijah but her curiosity was getting the best of her…she needed to know him.