Title: i founded my own cross
Fandom: tvd
Rating: teen
Length: ~2500 words
Author notes: canon au, title from zola jesus' skin



“He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, so strange as it may seem, I’m your best bet.”

Elena chews her lip. She wants to slam the door in his face after all he’s done- but he has a point. No one really stands a chance against an Original besides another Original. (And a selfish part of her wants Klaus’ help for herself.)

“As long as I get to be there.”

Klaus grins, “By all means love.”

“And we’re not turning any more humans to kill.”

“Then pack your bags, we’re going to New Orleans.”

.

“Are you sure about this?” Jeremy asks, and Klaus is lurking outside, doubtlessly listening. “He killed-”

“You don’t have to remind me what he did,” Elena snaps before she can help it. She sighs, doesn’t pack her journal, “I am.”

“Family vacation it is then,” Jer jokes. “Are we uh, telling everyone else?”

“Not until we’re there. We can’t be stopped.”

And just in case Damon finds a way to escape, he doesn’t need to know where her brother is.

.

“Welcome to New Orleans,” Klaus says, and Elena blinks her eyes open. They must be on the outskirts, a warm suburbia littered with oversized houses.

She looks around confused, the answer coming slow. “You compelled me!”

“You should be on vervain love.”

Jeremy appears in the doorway of the nearest house, a big orange one. She rushes up to him, blocked by the threshold. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Come in Elena.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll be back this evening, some presents may appear in the yard,” Klaus says, driving away.

Elena notices her duffle is already inside, and the house’s inside is just as decadent as the Mikaelson house back in Mystic Falls. Elena shakes the thoughts away, turning back to Jeremy.

He scratches the back of his neck, “We were only talking logistics. How safe you are living with me, stuff like that.”

Elena’s pretty sure there’s more to it, especially with Klaus involved, but she lets it go. “Just tell me if you want to stop at any point.”

“What? I’m not-”

“Jer,” she interrupts firmly, “if it becomes too much, I’ll get you out of here okay?”

“It won’t.”

“Jeremy.”

“Fine, I will. Your room’s the third floor.”

Her eyebrows come together, “You don’t want the top floor? You love being high up.”

He looks away. “It’s been warded against me, in case I go full hunter. And it’s soundproofed, so party central is down here.”

“Ha-ha,” Elena says, rolling her eyes, but sure enough, some of the tension leaves her shoulders. This might really work.

.

The room is gorgeous, has an incredible view out a bay window, and a piece of abstract art that probably costs more than their house hanging above the bed. But what Elena really notices is the blessed silence. It feels like she hasn’t known quiet since she turned, always hearing too much.

There’s a bottle of vervain water on the dresser, and Elena chokes a sip down. She needs to know her mind is hers, at least mostly. Unpacking is quick and easy, all clothing. She didn’t want to bring anything irreplaceable, the closest thing her cellphone.

She shoots off a quick text to Bonnie and Caroline, saying that she’s fine and her and Jeremy are out of town working on his tattoo. Elena plugs her charger in, leaving before either of them can text back. Jeremy’s downstairs and it’s been ages since they had some good old fashioned sibling bonding without anything bloody or supernatural involved.

(It turns out there’s a foosball table and a six pack. She pauses before handing him the Corona, ‘Only because- not once you’re back at school okay?’ Jeremy clinks her bottle with a grin, and proceeded to kick her ass at the stupid game.)

.

Elena takes a bath because she can. There’s nothing urgent to deal with, and soaking in lavender-scented water is exactly what she needs right now. She loses track of time, stays in until the water is uncomfortably cold.

Then she’s chilly enough to dress quickly, darting around the room. She settles at the windowsill, brushing the tangles out of her damp hair. Usually she would be writing in a spot like this, looking out to the yard-

Her breath catches as she sees rows upon rows of people lined up. Jeremy walks up to the first one, plunging a stake through her heart, and the corpse falls.

Vampires. Of course.

Klaus sits off to the side, drinking wine or blood, relaxed. She looks back at Jer, and he’s on his second row already, methodically staking the compelled vampires. Her stomach twists; it’s sick, it’s wrong, it’s-

Klaus meets her eyes, lips shining red. He raises his eyebrows, looking to the seat beside him, and Elena scrambles back from the window.

It’s better than Klaus turning humans to be killed, she reminds herself. It’s better than them fighting back and Jeremy possibly getting hurt. The back of her mind whispers: is the cure even worth this?

Elena drinks another mouthful of vervain water, stays away from the large window.

.

When Elena checks the window again, Jer and Klaus are gone. The calming silence from before has been replaced with endless what-ifs and anxiety.

She steps on the stairs and sound comes back, Jeremy’s easy breath of sleep reaching her ears. Elena goes down to the kitchen anyways, could go for a bite, when she spots Klaus sitting in their living room. It shouldn’t surprise her that Jeremy invited him in, it is Klaus’s house after all, and yet- she is. She hesitates at the bottom of the stairs, and Klaus looks up at her over his glass.

“The fair maiden returns. Here to check on the youngest Gilbert? I promise he didn’t get a speck of blood on him.”

Elena sits across from him, crossing her ankles and toes. “Will you tell me how to break sire bonds?”

Klaus laughs, “And here I thought this was about the compulsion my brother placed on Damon.”

Her cheeks heat up, “That too.”

His lips twitch, “How lucky for you that their solution is the same.”

Elena blinks, hope rising in her chest. “Really?”

“I will compel your problems away; I can compel Damon to never kill Jeremy and tweak the sire bond.”

“Tweak?” Elena echoes, eyes narrowing.

“Such mistrust love. Once I see how you interact together, I’ll know how to fix it.”

It sounds too good to be true, but so did Klaus keeping them safe from his brother. She swallows, “Why are you helping us? Helping me?”

“A Petrova shouldn’t be shackled to a commoner. This face,” he pauses, fingers skirting over the edge of her jaw, “this face will always be entangled with my family.”

“But Katherine-” she starts, can’t finish the sentence.

Klaus’ fingers drop away, a playful and cruel smile on his face. “Katerina chose my brother. You did not make such a foolish mistake.”

Chills dance down her arms, pulse pounding in her ears, “I didn’t- I didn’t choose you either.”

His grin widens. “No? What was it, ah yes, ‘The doppelganger is alive, and ready to surrender.’”

“You shouldn’t know that,” she murmurs.

He stands up, stepping into her space and leaning in, over her chair to whisper at her ear, “Or perhaps when you threatened to kill yourself to save me from your guardian? Very touching.”

Elena jumps up, and Klaus has already backed away. “I have a witch to see, don’t leave the house.”

She didn’t even want to leave until he said that, spite thickening in her throat. But there’s far more at stake here, and she listens to Jeremy’s steady breathing to calm down.

They made it through the first day. She can’t think about the rest.

.

Their new life sets into a pattern easily enough. Klaus is out with the sun, compelling all the vampires he can find to go to their backyard once night falls. Elena and Jeremy hang out during the day- games, movies, they even try cooking. (The kitchen smells like burnt sugar for two days, and they get take out for nearly every meal after.)

New Orleans tempts them, but Elena isn’t putting her little brother’s life at risk like that. It’s only a matter of time before the wrong person figures out where all of the vampires are disappearing to.

Jeremy spends a few hours each night staking all the compelled vampires, burning the pile after. Elena can’t watch- the fear in their eyes as they are forced to stand perfectly still, waiting for the death blow. It’s horrible and she doesn’t even want the cure anymore, not with its trail of blood. (Would it be worse to stop now or keep going?)

Klaus sits with her as Jeremy takes a shower. “You should tell your friends to let Damon come here.”

“Just like that?”

“I do have one question.”

Elena nearly rolls her eyes, this tone is far more familiar. “Yeah?”

“Which one did you pick? Before you turned.”

She glares, but getting Damon better matters too much to not answer. “Stefan.”

Klaus claps his hands together with glee, “I thought so. Wonderful! And now you don’t trust all these new evil vampire feelings for his brother.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Oh?”

Elena flounders, and Klaus pats her knee. “Call up your cave man and tell him to be vervain free for the visit.”

“He won’t be staying?”

Klaus barks out a laugh. “Young Jeremy has been murdered by him. If you wish to test his hunter’s resolve very well-”

“Visiting, got it.”

His lips curl up into a smile, “Now, shall we have Thai or Indian for dinner?”

.

They’re finishing up dessert- Klaus had his favorite bakery produce a four layer fruit tart because of course he did- when there’s a knock on the door.

“Elena let me in, I’ve missed you.”

Her heart jumps, and she’s already standing even though she knows she doesn’t want Damon near Jeremy. She’s opening the door, her mind recoiling at the action.

Damon smiles at her, kicking the threshold, “Who needs to let me in?”

“Jer!”

“Come on in Damon,” her brother says, and the next moment is a blur.

Jeremy has his crossbow out, a click, Klaus has flashed her into the library, and there’s a dull thunk when the stake meets its target.

Her mind clears, she hadn’t known how very hazy it had been, until that moment. A horrifying clarity emerges as she slaps a hand over her mouth and chokes.

“There, there,” Klaus says, petting her hair. “I told you I’d get rid of that pesky sire bond, didn’t I?”

“W-with compulsion,” Elena spits out, hands landing in weak fists on his chest.

Klaus laughs lightly, “I had the wording ready and everything. I did not count on young Jeremy being quite so bloodthirsty.”

“Oh god, oh god I killed someone. And I fed from people, and I-”

Klaus covers her mouth with his hand, shushing her. “Easy. Is it truly anything the others haven’t done in your name? Calm yourself.”

Elena’s teeth sink into his palm, and Klaus laughs, taking his hand away.

“Careful little vampire, I’ll bite you back.”

She licks the blood off her lips, and there’s something feral in his eyes-

“Elena,” the new voice is a splash of cold water. Her eyes flick over to the doorway, and Jeremy is there. She shoves Klaus away from her, shouldn’t have let him stay so close.

“I’m burning him outside with the others if you want to say goodbye.”

Her stomach heaves, and all she can remember is the things he made her do. It feels like it wasn’t even her, some other person walking around in her skin devoid of solid thought or memory. Or maybe she’s just trying to distance herself from it because he’s dead. Because she wouldn’t do or say those things now.

He’s dead, and all she feels is a queasy relief.

Her mind is her own again.

.

They call it Jeremy’s training accident.

Elena doesn’t know if the others believe them or not.

She doesn’t particularly care.

.

Jeremy says that his tattoo now reaches the middle of his chest, and they’re guessing that’s the halfway point. He wants pizza for dinner, is cleaning up outside when Elena finally asks Klaus the question that’s been bugging her.

“Why New Orleans?”

“Hm?”

“There are vampires all over the world. Why did you bring Jeremy to New Orleans? Who are you fighting?”

Klaus grins, “Not so much a fight now is it sweetheart? More wholesale slaughter.”

She waits, and sure enough, Klaus settles back into his chair, his storytelling face on. “Once I ruled this city. Mikael saw an end to that, and my protege decided to pick up where I left off.”

Elena nearly sighs, not nearly surprised enough at that. “And here I thought you were killing enemies.”

“Imposer to the throne aside, they’re all useless. They’ve been very naughty, Jeremy is doing a service.”

Bits and pieces of conversations click together, and the conclusion pours out of her mouth. “You struck a deal with the witches.”

Klaus is pleased, runs a finger down her face. “I did.”

“And their king?”

“Their prince,” he corrects, “has his hands full of my sister and Stefan. We ought to send a fruit basket back to Mystic Falls.”

“How many more vampires are in New Orleans?”

“Now, now love. You’ll hurt my feelings.”

Elena looks up at him, knows instantly what the right thing to say is. She wonders if that’s part of the doppelganger heritage, or the Petrova survival skills, or the assurance for once that her family is safe. (When did it stop feeling like a gamble, and more like a promise?)

“I want to see your family house. Isn’t that where we’re moving once Jeremy finishes?”

He presses a kiss to her knuckles, and she doesn’t have to fake her heartbeat speeding up.

.

Patterns are easy to slip into, and Klaus starts sleeping at her side. There’s only one question remaining, and Elena’s almost positive of the answer. She still asks, a little after midnight when they’re both lounging in bed naked. They still smell like sex, and any minute now Klaus is going to make a suggestion to take this to the bath.

“Are you going to use the cure on me or Katherine?”

Klaus pinches her side, “You devious little thing, I daresay I’ve been rubbing off on you.”

She leans up on her elbow, tracing an eight into his chest over and over. “I know you aren’t going to destroy it.”

“Oh do you?”

“You would have helped Kol kill Bonnie to stop it.”

He smiles, “You know me too well love.”

She waits a beat, and he presses a kiss to her wrist. “Do you want to watch her suffer? Watch her claim the fate she tried to push onto you?”

And once upon a time, Elena would have recoiled. Once upon a time, she may have even meant the action.

“I do.”