Chapter One

Damon heard the approach and quickly went to answer the door. Everyone was meeting at the Salvatore mansion tonight to discuss their next plan of action in getting Stefan back. He could hear only one heartbeat on the other side of the door, but he knew there were two people out there.

Must be Caroline and Tyler, Damon thought as he opened the door.

For the first time in a long time, Damon was speechless.

"Help me," Stefan pleaded. He looked like he had been in a fight. His clothes were torn and ripped in places and he had blood stains and dirt scattered all over him. He was cradling an unconscious woman in his arms that looked to be in the same state he was, only human. This explained why she was unconscious. Her face was hidden in Stefan's chest.

Damon backed out of the doorway, letting Stefan step inside the mansion. The younger brother was obviously injured and struggling to hold onto the woman. Damon moved to take the woman from Stefan, but Stefan backed away into the parlor. Slowly and gently, he set the woman on the couch and stood protectively in front of her.

"What happened to you?" Damon asked quietly, his eyes running over his brother. Without waiting for an answer he was gone in the blink of an eye, only to return a second later with a few blood bags.

"Thanks," Stefan choked out as he took the bags from Damon and tore into them without thinking. The blood worked its way through his system fast, already making him look and feel better. "Don't freak out, Damon. She's okay; we've just been through a lot." He said as he backed up towards the couch, shielding the woman from Damon's sight.

Damon's eyes narrowed and he gave Stefan a confused look. What did he care about Stefan's latest victim? Curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself at the back of the couch instantly.

"Who is she?" Damon asked in a bored tone, wanting the answer to his earlier question more than this one. Looking down at the woman he noticed she had dark blonde hair that looked to fall just passed her shoulders. Part of her hair was covering her face. Damon tilted his head slightly and his eyebrows furrowed. Why did she look familiar? His hand moved towards her head, about to move her hair away from her face when he noticed Stefan stiffen and then move back a few steps.

Once he was able to see the young woman's face, Damon gasped and his eyes went immediately to Stefan's. There was anger in the older brother's eyes and before Stefan knew it, Damon had him pinned to the wall, his hand around Stefan's throat.

"What? I killed Lexi, so now you want to make it even by hurting Olivia?"Damon's voice was dark and angry. Unfortunately, he had temporarily forgotten about his younger brother's recent feeding habits and soon found himself in Stefan's former position with his little brother's hand around his throat.

"Why would I do that, Damon? I'm NOT like you! I told you, she's fine." Stefan's eyes bore down into Damon's. "I'm going to let you go, so calm down," he stepped back and Damon rushed to Olivia's side.

"What happened" He asked Stefan, his voice full of concern for the young woman.

"It's a long story, but we were both stuck with Klaus," Stefan started as he moved a bit closer to the couch.

Damon's eyes immediately swung to his brother at the mention of Klaus, but only for a moment. "And where is Klaus?" His hand reached out and lovingly stroked Olivia's hair. It had been almost twenty years since he had seen her. The hair color was different, but other than that she hadn't changed a bit.

Stefan shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "We don't know. He took off a week ago. Olivia seems to think he ran into trouble."

That wasn't good. When Klaus came back to find them gone, he would not be pleased. "Why come here then? This will be the first place he looks."

Stefan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know! I'm barely in control, and the only reason I am is because of her," he said, waving his hand toward Olivia, frustration evident in his voice.

"Is she…" Damon trailed off, a thoughtful expression covering his face. He didn't need to finish the question; just looking at her answered it for him. He opened his mouth to ask the younger Salvatore something else when he was interrupted.

"Stefan?" Elena's voice rang out from behind the brothers. Her voice was full of emotion at seeing the vampire she loved back home. There was a gasp as Elena was soon joined by Caroline, Tyler and Bonnie.

The four of them stood staring at the vampire that they had been searching for all summer. Stefan turned around and stared at Elena, emotion pouring off of him in waves. He didn't know how he could have left her. He knew he did what he had to do to save his brother and keep Elena safe, but it still hurt every day. His only comfort had been knowing that Klaus thought Elena was dead, and he wanted desperately to keep it that way. His eyes traveled all over her face, as if memorizing it in case he had to disappear again.

They all stared at each other for a few minutes, all overcome with shock and relief.

Nobody noticed when Damon scooped up Olivia and used his vampire speed to take her to his room, leaving everybody else behind and no longer caring how this situation would play itself out.

Once she got over the initial shock, Elena surged forward eager to be back in Stefan's arms. She halted a frown on her face when Stefan began backing away from her. She didn't understand. This was supposed to be their happy reunion, so why was he keeping his distance.

"Please, Elena. Stay where you are." The pain was evident in his voice, and he backed up a few more steps as a precaution. He had meant what he said to Damon – he was barely in control of himself. His eyes left Elena's to look at Damon, but he was gone. His brow furrowed. Had he been so captivated by Elena's appearance that he didn't even notice Damon leave the room with Olivia? He knew he was upstairs, he could hear him moving around up there.

"Why, Stefan?" Elena asked, tears threatening to fall at his distance.

It was Caroline that decided a change of subject was in order. It made Stefan wonder if she knew – if she knew he had been killing again. "Why don't we all just…" She trailed off and looked all around the room. "Hey, where did Damon go?" Her eyes finally settled on Stefan, as if questioning him personally.

Stefan cleared his throat and motioned everyone into the room. "We have a lot to talk about, why doesn't everybody take a seat?" He asked his eyes purposely avoiding Elena's as he moved as far from her and Bonnie as he could get.

Bonnie and Elena sat on the couch that Olivia had occupied only moments before. Caroline sat in an armchair, with Tyler opting to stand behind her chair. Stefan chose to stand by the bar on the other side of the room, far away from the two humans in the room. They all looked at each other in silence, except Elena. She was too busy staring at her lap trying hard not to cry. She couldn't even get Stefan to look at her. She had no idea what had happened with Klaus, but she didn't even think she could sit here and listen to it. There was a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that told her Damon was right when he had said Stefan was gone. She didn't even feel like Stefan had come home, at least not her Stefan.

"Well, what the hell happened?" Tyler said with a breathy laugh at the end of the question to lighten the mood a bit.

Stefan decided it best to start with Caroline's question first. "Damon's upstairs. I brought a woman we both knew a long time ago home with me. She's injured and Damon took her upstairs to rest." His eyes then flew to Bonnie's "She's a witch, like you. Her name is Olivia, and she is Damon's best friend; Well, his only friend really." His voice sounded distant, far away. As if none of this really mattered at all to him.

"What happened with Klaus?" Elena asked, forcing herself to look at Stefan.

"He took off a week ago and never came back. Olivia and I decided to run." They others looked a bit shocked. "Don't worry, as soon as she's better, we'll leave. I don't want to lead Klaus back here." He took a deep unnecessary breath and finally looked Elena in the eye. "I don't want him knowing you're alive."