A/N: Hello! Silverfoxpunk & LastDayOfMagic here, with the first chapter of our first collaboration! We started this right after the winter hiatus began, when Stefan had just called Klaus to tell him he had his coffins, so obviously things are a bit different in the TV TVD-verse now, vs where our story starts and goes. It's a four-parter and we hope you enjoy our story of Stefan and Rebekah. Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated! Oh, and feel free to follow us both on Twitter to see what we're up to - Silverfoxpunk & _lastdayofmagic.

Chapter 1 : Half of Us

oOo

"I love you. I think… that I have for a while."

His fingers dug into the steering wheel. He resisted the temptation to slam his foot on the brake and grab her by the arms. He tried to keep a lid on his emotions, but Elena could see the tension in his jaw.

"And when Stefan comes back?" he said warily.

"It's over, Damon. You know it is. The question is, do you still want me?"

That did it. He swerved onto the shoulder and pressed the brake to the floor. A cloud of dust flew into the air as the tires left scorch marks in the dirt. He turned to face her and put his hands onto her shoulders, gripping her more roughly than he intended.

He looked deep into her eyes searchingly. "Are you certain this is what you want?"

She let herself smile, and suddenly all the tension disappeared from his body and he pulled her into his arms.

When he kissed her, it was as though taking the air from her lungs was not enough. He needed her body and soul. And as she melted into his body, she knew the puzzle for them both was complete. There was no going back. She had found the one she had been looking for.

Even after acting without emotions for so long, Stefan still felt the familiar tightness in his throat, in his chest. The one that rose up whenever he thought of Elena with his brother. Except now, as a reality, it was nearly suffocating. It broke into his concentration. He could barely focus on anything else. If he were still human, he'd be out of his mind with grief and betrayal. But as a vampire that still hadn't completely flipped that switch back on, he had some perspective. He wasn't immune, but he could just about refrain from tearing out Damon's heart.

Of course, the pair had put up a feeble protest. They told him that they had long fought their growing feelings. But he wasn't naive. After suffering through months of unrequited love, they surely thought they had waited long enough. At least that would probably be Damon's excuse anyway.

Stefan's lip curled into a snarl, but once again he forced himself to relax. After all, what was the point in saving his anger just for his brother? He knew he hadn't acted alone. Despite Elena's assurances otherwise, he always knew it was only a matter of time before they gave in to each other. It had been obvious all along how they felt.

And as for him, he knew that darkness remained inside him... Klaus' final little gift to him, he supposed. Staying away when his humanity had been returned had left Elena feeling alone and confused. But the evil he felt still dwelled in his heart wasn't exactly conducive to going home and making sweet love. He had suspected what result his hesitation would elicit.

But that didn't mean he could bring himself to give his blessing, nor could he stay and listen to what he knew would come next. He couldn't torture himself that way – his mind was already supplying enough images to drive him mad. He slipped out of the house as stealthily as he'd arrived.

And he didn't leave alone.

His fingers ran over her puckered, ashen skin, and down onto the red satin material. He paused for a moment, knowing that there was no turning back. But maybe it was time for a new chapter.

The dagger clattered to the floor at his side. He sunk down, his back against the wall, exhausted after driving and worrying for so many hours. Now the anxiety was at its pinnacle and he could barely will himself to sit and wait. Wait for her to wake up - wait for her wrath. Only time would tell if this was a mistake. He wasn't capable of stopping her if he couldn't calm her, bring her back from the edge.

Her chilling gasp tore through the silence, a sound that caused Stefan to jump as he'd been lost in his own thoughts. And then he found himself smashed against the far wall of his old apartment, plaster and dust crumbling around him.

"Where is she?" she snarled through clenched teeth. Her fury left little question as to who she was talking about.

"Elena's not here." He fought to keep his voice steady, even. "Rebekah-"

"Don't you dare protect that little bitch!" She rattled him against the wall again. "I'm going to rip out her heart and feed it to her!"

He winced from the way her fists pushed into his collarbones, but he kept his voice low, soothing – partially for his own benefit and partially in hopes that it might calm her as well. "She's not here," he repeated. "We aren't in Mystic Falls."

That was enough to catch her off-guard, to diffuse her tirade. Stefan could tell by the subtle confusion reflected in her knit brow. She glanced around the room slowly, her eyes stopping on the view beyond the windows.

"Chicago…?" Her voice had softened. "But why? What… what's happened? Where's Nik?"

Her sea blue eyes turned back upon him now apprehensively. Despite all of the flaws and betrayal, Klaus was still her brother. Her fingers loosened from around Stefan's neck, instead absently resting on the collar of his shirt as they often had many years ago. He saw that she noticed him spotting that, and she quickly pulled away. And then, as she waited for his answer, her lips parted in a way that definitely and painfully stirred a distant yet familiar longing.

It left him disconcerted that Klaus could erase such powerful emotions when he took away his memory. As soon as Klaus commanded him to remember, he was nearly knocked over by the intensity of his old feelings for Rebekah. Feelings that were never allowed to be resolved. He remained amazed that nothing had triggered her in his mind during the interceding years. Even if Elena had captured his heart now, he was certain Rebekah was his world then.

"He's alive," he said finally, breaking the trance of the moment. "And Mikael is dead. For good."

Her face pinched and she turned away, a wail caught in her throat as she retreated away from him to the other side of the room. He watched her shoulders heave and shake. He softened. He couldn't bear to leave her alone in her despair. He came to stand behind her and let his hands rest on her shoulders, gingerly at first until she made no move to push him away.

"He was my father ..." she said so quietly that even his hearing strained to pick it up. His hands kneaded her shoulders gently. "I want to hate Nik, but I can't." He leaned down and kissed her golden hair that smelled of dust.

She turned to face him, "Oh Stefan!" She pressed her hand against her mouth to stifle the sob that was sure to follow. And when he pulled her into his arms, she seemed to fit there like they had never been apart. He closed his eyes as she trembled against him with quiet sobs.

He couldn't help but wonder if she could see the eerie parallels between himself and Klaus. They had both killed both their parents. Sure, it wasn't intentional when he had killed his mother in childbirth and his father in anger, but he felt just as responsible for both. After living with the self loathing for a century and a half, Stefan was certain it was an internal flaw, the same one that led to his recklessness with human blood and his ripper side.

Rebekah touched his face, bringing him back into the moment.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

The tenderness in her eyes made him uncomfortable. She saw him as her savior for the moment, but he was hesitant because he knew she wouldn't like his answer. But he knew the poison that lies would create, even those told with good intentions. Not to mention that she could always see right through him.

"I didn't want you to harm Elena," he admitted and she stiffened in his arms, "Elijah betrayed her when it came to killing Klaus, and she couldn't take a chance on you doing the same. But in the end, I was the one to let them down."

"You killed my father?" Her eyes flashed with pain as she looked up at him.

He shook his head. "I stopped my brother from killing Klaus, because the hybrids would have murdered him and I couldn't have handled that. I'm sorry, Rebekah, but Klaus killed your father."

Rebekah paused as she absorbed the fact that she was orphaned by her brother's hand. The detail that Klaus murdered Mikael didn't appear to shock her, but a fleeting wounded expression still crossed her face; perhaps at the fact that her brother stole from her the chance to eventually reconcile with her father. She pulled herself from Stefan's embrace and crossed her arms, enveloping herself against the world.

"That still doesn't explain why you brought me here," she pressed and he swallowed, glancing down.

When he didn't answer, she placed her hands on his face, gentle yet firm, so he couldn't look away. He struggled over whether to tell her the truth, which was murky at best considering he himself hadn't yet worked out what he wanted from her. He was operating on instinct now more than anything else, and when Elena's admission to Damon early this morning stabbed somewhere within his chest, his thoughts turned to the blonde vampire before him. He didn't know if he would ever feel for her again as he once had, or if he could ever fully return to his humanity… but he knew he couldn't leave her there.

He sighed at the thought of dragging her into the muddled mess that was his mind, and of giving her hope for something he might never be able to fulfill. He decided it would be easier to give her the surface idea for their journey.

"I brought you here as collateral," he said after a few moments of heavy silence. "And to reunite you with your family."

"Collateral?"

He could see her temper rising but he nodded anyway. "We need to lure Klaus out, take him down once and for all. I'm pretty sure Elijah would be on board."

"And I'm just a token in your plan," she retorted. "All to save that girl," she spat out, "because she's everything to you-"

She left the other words unspoken, but he could hear it in her voice, 'because I mean nothing to you any more'.

"She's in love with Damon," he interrupted, perhaps more vehemently than he'd intended, but she stopped with a shocked look. "We're over," he added sullenly. If he thought saying the words out loud would help him, he was wrong. He frowned.

Her mouth formed a soft "o" and ever-astute, she got what he couldn't bring himself to say. Her eyes fell to the ground and her cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry," she offered just as quietly.

He nodded, running a hand through his hair, trying to temper the distress he was starting to feel - that distress which usually preceded wanton bloodshed to numb the pain. He couldn't afford to lose control now.

They stood in an awkward silence in this city that was never completely quiet - looking everywhere but at each other. He was beginning to worry this was a mistake. He didn't know if he could deal with the awkwardness right now. He needed to be alone and yet the thought was terrifying to him. Maybe it would have been easier to have just compelled tonight's dinner for some companionship before death. But the fakery left him feeling hollow and exhausted, and it served as a reminder of how fucked up his relationship with Elena had been ever since Damon wormed his way between them. Damon had consumed so many of her thoughts from nearly the beginning, thoughts where only Stefan should have been. His brother had careened in her mind from curiosity to flirtation to trust and now love.

And in the meantime Stefan was just Elena's security blanket, the strong arms to wrap around her in those moments of despair. He didn't doubt that she loved him as well, but it wasn't the same. She would never grasp how much he had sacrificed to save his brother. Somehow he knew he had saved Damon as much for her as he had for himself, as though that was the most graceful way to bow out of her life. And if she could have just let it go, instead of holding on and beating their relationship past the point of death, they would have all been better off. Instead she had to give him the deluded hope that despite everything he said, as much as he tried to push her away, she would still be there waiting for him after he found his way back to her, through all the destruction and dozens of bodies. The realization today that it wouldn't be happening killed something inside him, and now he needed with every fiber within him some common understanding, something real.

That was when Rebekah's specter called to him, taking hold in the forefront of his mind until they'd gotten here. But now, he worried that he would be doing the same to her as Elena had done to him. His feelings were dulled with the so-called switch off, and it was too hard to get a read on what he truly wanted. But he didn't dare let everything back in. That would nearly short-circuit him - send him over the edge.

Her voice broke through the quiet almost timidly and Stefan could only imagine how unstable he appeared at the moment when his gaze met hers.

"I'm a bit hungry," she admitted, and she shifted as she waited for his response.

He cursed himself, realizing that was what he had forgotten in his hurry to leave town. But too much vampire activity here would surely pique Klaus's interest, and he wasn't ready for that yet. Not until Elijah and the others were revived and on board with taking the hybrid down. "We need to keep a low profile, but I can get you some blood bags."

She nodded. "I understand. That would be lovely, thank you."

"You promise you won't leave?"

"I promise," she answered.

There were traces of hope gleaming in her eyes now, a familiar look that left him nauseous as it reminded him of himself. He couldn't bring himself to answer it. Instead he headed for the door, lingering for a moment at her soft sigh of disappointment. But he didn't let himself go to her. He just continued outside.