Title: everyone knows there is no going home
Ships: jerbekah
Rating: T
Spoilers: through the third season
Author's Note: I've gotten hardcore into Jerbekah recently, and I plan on writing/posting a multi-chapter fic in the next few weeks. In the mean time, here! Enjoy.

"-And then we'll kill her."

That was the first thing Jeremy heard as he walked into the boarding house, letting the door fall closed behind him. He could smell burning flesh, which lead him to find Damon, Elena and Stefan standing around a mostly unconscious Rebekah; she was tied to a chair with what had to be vervain soaked ropes, gagged and slumped forward. Elena was shaking her head as Jeremy walked up behind her, nodding once to Stefan in greeting before turning his eyes back onto the blonde vampire.

"Killing her won't make me human again."

Damon sneered at her, leaning in too close and narrowing his eyes down at her. "Well, it makes me feel better."

Stefan lifted two fingers in Jeremy's direction, raising an eyebrow pointedly. "Hey, Jeremy."

Elena and Damon looked around at him, startled by his unannounced presence. Elena pulled away from Damon, moving to stand by her brother while Damon frowned at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I invited him," explained Elena, folding her arms over her chest and staring down her nose at Damon. "Because of you two I haven't seen him in three days."

"Your irritation's noted," said Damon condescendingly. He started forward, grabbing Elena's wrist, which she silently protested again. "We're leaving anyways," Damon glanced at Jeremy, quirking an eyebrow. "Sorry, vampires only."

"Jeremy can stay here," suggested Stefan, earning an 'are-you-stupid?' look from Damon. Stefan shrugged moving around Rebekah. "Someone needs to watch her."

"Fine," drawled Damon, releasing Elena's wrist and heading for the door.

"If she wakes up just dose her with vervain. We'll be back in an hour," said Stefan, clapping Jeremy on the shoulder as he passed by. Elena spared him a small, regretful smile before she turned and headed after the Salvatore's. Jeremy didn't watch them go, he kept his eyes on the vampire tied to the chair in front of him. He was reminded of what Alaric had done to Caroline only a few days ago.

"Oh," Jeremy looked up as Damon's head popped back around the corner. "Feel free to poke her with something sharp if you get bored." With that, Damon smirked at him one last time; Jeremy stood stalk still, waiting for the sound of the door to close, before he pivoted forward and rushed to Rebekah's side. He pulled the gag from her mouth, tossing it across the room with disgust.

He kneeled down between Rebekah's legs, his hands falling to the ropes tied around her wrists. Jeremy felt the familiar pressure of a ghost appearing from the other side, and he looked up to see Alaric staring down at him with a frown.

"What are you doing?"

Jeremy looked away, scoffing, his fingers fumbling with the knots in the rope. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving my girlfriend."

He looked back up just in time to see Alaric's face twist in surprise. "Dude, since when?"

"Calling me dude makes me feel like I'm in an episode of Scooby-Doo."

Alaric moved to his side, squatting down next to him and raising an eyebrow. "Jinkies, Jeremy, since when have you been dating an Original vampire?"

Jeremy didn't answer, pulling the rope free of Rebekah's wrist as he finally loosened the knotting. Rebekah was stirring by that point, blinking at Jeremy through her hair with hooded, watery eyes. "Jeremy?"

"It's gonna be okay, Bekah," said Jeremy assuredly, loosening the rope around her other wrist and sliding them off her, hissing at the burns on her skin. He reached out to touched the fabric across her stomach and chest, his face pulling in concern. "I guess Damon ran out of rope."

"There's a knife on the table," said Alaric, nodding to the coffee table beside Jeremy. He stood, stretching boredly and flopped backward onto the couch. Jeremy glanced at him, leaning over to grab the knife, avoiding the stakes and the bottles of vervain.

"You helping me now?"

"Not much else to do," Alaric sighed, crossing his ankles. Jeremy's lip quirked, working the knife into the twisted fabric around Rebekah.

He cut through it easily, reaching up to push Rebekah's hair out of her face; he stood, swallowing the bile rising up in his throat. "She needs blood."

"The Salvatore's moved their stash to your house," said Alaric helpfully. Jeremy swore.

"They think Elena's gonna eat me," he sneered, shaking his head. Flipping the knife around in his hand, Jeremy pressed the blade to his wrist and cut himself open, wincing slightly at the sting. Rebekah nose twitched at the scent of fresh blood, and Jeremy bent close to her, pressing his wrist against her mouth. "Drink."

Rebekah made a muffled sound in the back of her throat, turning her head away from his bleeding wrist even as she licked her lips. "No," she mumbled, shaking her head. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You know how much I hate begging you to bite me," joked Jeremy lightly, grimacing as he felt his blood slide down his arm. He turned his wrist over, holding it under Rebekah's mouth. "Please drink."

Her lip twitched in want, and Jeremy could see how hard she was fighting to resist him. She gave out though, her lips parting and allowing him to give her his blood. Jeremy's heart skipped as she tongued the jagged wound in his skin before he felt his blood being sucked into her mouth; Jeremy tossed the knife onto the ground and moved his fingers through her hair soothingly, watching her drink from him.

He could feel Alaric staring at him, his cheek twitching as he looked up at his dead guardian. "What?"

Alaric shook his head, looking almost disappointed with him. "You need to stop falling in love with vampires, Jer."

Jeremy ignored him once again, looking back at Rebekah as she suddenly pulled away from him. Her skin had started to heal, but it wasn't enough; breathing hard, Rebekah shook her head, refusing to take his wrist again. "No….I can't…"

"Okay, okay," shushed Jeremy, reaching out to cup Rebekah's face, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "You don't have to take anymore, babe."

"Ew, pet names."

"Really?" snapped Jeremy, glaring up at Alaric; he was flipped off in return. Shaking his head, Jeremy ran his hand down Rebekah's arm, frowning when he didn't see her daylight ring on her. "What did Stefan and Damon do with your ring?"

"It's by the door," said Alaric, gesturing to the foyer. Jeremy pulled away from Rebekah carefully, making sure she didn't fall out of her chair, and headed to the front of the house to find her daylight ring.

"You are being so helpful," said Jeremy, grinning over his shoulder at Alaric.

"What else am I going to do? It's not like I can haunt anyone else."

It was sitting on the side table up against the wall between two vases filled with flowers. Jeremy's eyebrow twitched at the sight of them, reaching for the ring and holding it up to look at more closely. Right at that moment, the door swung open; eyes widening, Jeremy stuck his bloodied arm behind his back just as Damon walked in. The vampire paused at finding Jeremy standing so close to the door; Jeremy's heart stuttered in his chest.

"What are you doing back?" asked Jeremy, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Rebekah couldn't be seen from where they were. Damon's eyebrows pulled together.

"I forgot my coat," he said, giving Jeremy a suspicious once over as he reached for the coat rack by the door. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Uh."

"I think I stuffed one of Meredith's bra's in the umbrella stand," piped up Alaric. "If that helps your lie at all." Jeremy turned his head slowly to look back at him, his eyes wide and horrified; Alaric only grinned back. Rolling his eyes, Jeremy turned back to Damon's expectant face.

"What he said."

Damon's eyes narrowed. "What who said?"

"Alaric."

"Alaric's dead."

"No, Alaric's a ghost," corrected Jeremy, gesturing to the couch. "Which you would have known, if anybody bothered to talk to me."

"Huh," said Damon curiously, his eyes sweeping across the room trying to pick up on Alaric's form. The ghost waved at him from the couch. "That's new."

"Surprise dick."

"He can't hear you," said Jeremy, glancing back at Alaric with narrowed eyes. Damon's gaze snapped onto him.

"He called me a dick didn't he?" Jeremy shrugged and Damon sighed, shrugging his jacket on and turned toward the door. "I should go," he said slowly, taking one last, lingering look out at his front room before he walked out and shut the door behind him.

Jeremy waited all of three seconds before he whirled around and darted back to Rebekah's side. She jerked at his sudden reappearance as he took her hand, slipping her ring onto her finger. He bent down, moving his arms around her back and under her knees, lifting her from the chair and holding her tightly against his chest. Rebekah's face nuzzled against his neck, her fingers curling in the front of his shirt.

"I'm getting you out of here," he murmured against her hair. He turned, spotting Alaric still lounging against the couch staring at him. Jeremy sighed. "Now what?"

"Are you sure you're thinking this through?" asked Alaric seriously, all trace of humor gone. Jeremy looked away. "You take her home, and Damon will come after you. Stefan and Bonnie too."

Jeremy didn't want to think about what Bonnie would do when she found out he'd been seeing Rebekah. They were over, she'd made that clear, and despite the moment they'd had together in the woods after they'd desiccated Klaus, they weren't getting back together. He was kind of into dead people, to be honest; the living just didn't do it for him anymore. Stefan was a different story. Sure, he'd be pissed that they didn't have leverage over Elijah and Kol anymore, but if Elena really didn't want him to care about it, he would let it go. And he would understand Jeremy's actions.

Smirking, Jeremy tilted his head in the direction of the front door. "Dude, can you get the door for me?"

.

Jeremy hadn't been to the Mikaelson mansion since Rebekah had gone missing three days ago. At first he had thought she had just packed up her things and left with her brothers, but when Kol called him out of the blue and told him to stop fucking his sister long enough to let her call home and let them know that she was alive, he realized something was wrong. He promised Kol that he'd find her; it just figured that Elena would be the one to tell him where she was.

Pulling up in front of the mansion, Jeremy pulled Rebekah into his arms once again. The lesions on her skin were healing, slowly, and she seemed more alert at least, but Jeremy wasn't taking any chances with her. Leaving his car door hanging open, Jeremy shifted Rebekah in his arms so he could ring the bell. Elijah answered almost immediately, something Jeremy had gotten used to over the last few weeks – vampires and their instant gratification, even Elijah had zero patience. The older man's eyes widened when he recognized Rebekah. "My God, what did they do to her?"

"You really want to know?" asked Jeremy, raising an eyebrow. Elijah pursed his lips, stepping back so Jeremy could come in. Kol walked in at that moment, his face going dark when he spotted Rebekah in Jeremy's arms.

"I'll kill them."

Elijah gestured for Jeremy to follow him, his unspoken agreement hanging in the air as he passed by Kol. Jeremy nodded to him in greeting. "She needs blood. You guys have a stash somewhere?"

Kol hn'd and disappeared, leaving Jeremy to follow Elijah into the living room (or parlor or whatever it was called. There were too many damn rooms in the house). He stopped near the couch, glancing back at Jeremy. "Put her here. It'll be easier to keep an eye on her downstairs than in her room."

Jeremy nodded, laying Rebekah obediently on the couch. She reached for him as he straightened back up, staring up at him pleadingly. "Please don't go."

"He's not going anywhere," said Elijah before Jeremy had a chance to say anything. Jeremy glanced at him oddly as he sunk into the couch next to Rebekah. She nodded tiredly, her hand falling down Jeremy's body and into his lap, curling her legs against his body. Elijah reached out to brush her hair from her face.

"Are you keeping me hostage?" asked Jeremy worriedly, flicking his eyes across Elijah's face.

"My sister loves you," said Elijah bluntly. "You saved her life; the least I can do is protect you from the Salvatore's."

"You think they'd-"

"It's better if you stayed here," interrupted Elijah pointedly. His fingers curled around Rebekah ear for a moment before he pulled away, running his hand through his hair; worrying over his sister. Jeremy stared at him for another moment, before Kol walked in jauntily, earning a dry look from Elijah.

"Why didn't you just give her your blood?" asked Kol curiously, tossing the blood bag at Jeremy. He caught it easily, his eyes flicking over to Rebekah, who was sitting up carefully with Elijah's help. "I'm sure she's fed from you before."

"I tried," Jeremy said, defending himself, handing over the blood to Rebekah, watching as she tore into it hungrily. "She refused."

"It's different when it's during sex," mumbled Rebekah around the drainage tube. Elijah and Kol both reacted with immediate disgust, Elijah going as far as to shut his eyes and turn away from them while Kol ran his hand over his face.

"Honestly, Rebekah…"

"Keep your personal life to yourself, little sister."

Jeremy would have made a comment and hopefully scar her brothers a little more, if he hadn't noticed Alaric's spiritual pressure appear in the room. He looked around with a frown, starting slightly when Alaric blinked into view. Alaric nodded to him, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here? I wasn't thinking about you was I?" Kol sent him a look.

"Who are you talking you?"

Jeremy ignored him as Alaric jerked his head in the direction of the front. "Damon's here."

"Oh fuck," muttered Jeremy, his heart stuttering in his chest. Rebekah looked over at him, noticing the change in his heartbeat, her lower lip poking out adorably. He always thought she was cute when she was tired.

"Do you have a new ghost?" she asked him, running her fingertips over his thigh lightly. Jeremy reached down to take her hand, linking their fingers.

"Alaric." She winced. Jeremy's eyes darted to Elijah. "Damon's here."

On cue, the front door opened with a bang; Kol rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head lazily to the side while Elijah leaned his hip against the couch. Jeremy could hear Damon's snarling as he stalked in their direction, his face dark when he finally did appear. He stopped abruptly in surprise when his eyes landed on Jeremy.

"Gilbert?" the surprise vanished almost immediately and he scoffed, rolling his eyes onto the two standing Originals. "Figures. Which one of you compelled him?"

"I wish he was compelled," muttered Kol, glancing over his shoulder to grimace and Jeremy and Rebekah's clasped hands. "You have no idea how uncomfortable it is to see your sister walk around in nothing but her knickers and another man's shirt."

Rebekah shrugged at him, her eyes wide and innocent. But Damon wasn't paying any attention to him, he had turned his gaze back onto Jeremy, his lip pulling upward in distaste. "She killed your sister, Jeremy."

Jeremy felt like he was going to explode. "Elena's a vampire," snapped Jeremy tightly, ignoring the sickening clench of his stomach at the thought of his sister being dead. "Just like she would have been last year after you forced your blood down her throat before Klaus' ritual." Damon blinked, looking startled, but no less angry.

"That was different."

"Why? Because it was on your terms?" Jeremy's upper lip twitched as he held back a snarl, tightening his grip on Rebekah's hand. "Screw you; Elena's dead, get over it."

Damon tensing was all the warning they got before he flashed across the room toward Jeremy, his teeth bared, but Kol was quicker; forcing Damon to a stop before he bowled the taller vampire over. Kol's narrowed eyes were the only proof of his irritation as he settled back against his heels.

"You've already killed two of my brothers," said Kol steadily, his eyes flicking over Damon's face. "And now you want to kill my little sister. Haven't you done enough?"

Damon sneered, glancing over Kol's shoulder at Jeremy. "You're actually protecting him?"

"We protect our family," injected Elijah, earning Damon's attention. "After today I believe Jeremy's earned the right to be protected as family."

Kol cocked his head to the side, smirking at Damon's suddenly dangerously blank face. "Agreed."

There was a tense moment between Kol and Damon, their eyes locked in a battle of dominance. Of course Kol won, Damon stepping back with an irritated twist of his lips. "Fine," he drawled, spreading his hands as he backed away. Alaric appeared at his shoulder, staring at the side of Damon's face as he stopped moving to glare at Jeremy. "Do you have any idea what this will do to Elena?"

"She's my sister, and I love her," said Jeremy softly, his thumb brushing against the back of Rebekah's hand, feeling her eyes on him. "But being with Rebekah doesn't change that, Damon. It hasn't."

"What is with this town and all this sibling love," commented Alaric, looping his arm around Damon's neck; Jeremy's eyes fluttered closed exasperatedly, shaking his head slightly as his dead mentor continued. "Is there something in the water? Because my sister used to make me eat dirt after I would trip her in public."

Jeremy wasn't touching that subject. He grimaced as Damon spun on his heel and moved through Alaric in his quest to get out of the mansion, leaving without another word to Jeremy or the Mikaelson's. They watched him go, silence hanging in the air with Damon's absence, before Kol turned his brightly smiling back onto his siblings.

"That was fun," he snickered. He stepped toward the couch, bending down to press his lips against Rebekah's forehead quickly. "Feel better, sister."

Rebekah frowned, watching him straighten. "You're leaving?"

"I'm starving," excused Kol, quirking his eyebrows suggestively and heading off. Elijah's lips pursed after him.

"Try not to get yourself killed."

Kol spun around, still grinning as he backed out of the room. "No promises."

Rebekah let her head fall back against the couch with a groan, tossing her empty blood bag to the ground. Elijah shook his head in disappointment. "Good riddance. He's been a nightmare cooped up in here for the last three days." Elijah smiled fondly down at his sister for a moment, and to Jeremy he looked almost sad; he clucked his tongue and tapped the leather armrest beside him. "Though food sounds like an excellent plan. I'm assuming you're staying, Jeremy?"

Jeremy nodded. No use going back home, not with Damon out there. He wouldn't have told Elena about him and Rebekah, probably saving that for him to do, but it was still dangerous enough for him. Elijah left as well, with one last lingering smile down at Rebekah before he did.

"Alone at last," said Rebekah softly, propping herself against the armrest, drinking him in. Jeremy set his hand on her thigh, his eyes running over her exposed flesh to make sure she was completely healed. She leaned forward, her eyes soft, trapping his arm between her legs and her chest, wrapping her hands around his bicep. "I'm fine, Jeremy."

"You didn't see what they did to you."

"Oh, I can imagine."

"Bex," said Jeremy seriously. She smirked back at him, her head dropping slightly and staring at him from under her eyebrows.

"Jer," she mocked him, her eyes narrowing a fraction. He leaned forward, kissing her hard, running his hand over the side of her neck. Rebekah made a surprised noise in the back of her throat opening her mouth for him as he scraped his teeth across her bottom lip.

"I've lost too many people I love," he murmured against her lips, cradling the back of her head, sliding his mouth away and over her jaw, pressing the flat of his teeth against the bone. He inhaled deeply, the feel of Rebekah's fingers trailing down his side making him shiver. Pulling away, Jeremy caught her chin in his hand, tilting her head up and kissing her again. "I wont loose you too."

Rebekah slid closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and touching her forehead to his. "Jeremy, you wont loose me," she promised, curling her hand around the base of his neck. She squeezed gently when he tried to turn away, forcing him back to meet her eyes; the hand he had on her face fell to her shoulder, entwining his fingers into her hair. "I mean it, love. I am not going to die on you. Understand?"

Jeremy nodded once; Rebekah smiled up at him sweetly. "Say 'I understand'."

Jeremy couldn't help the smile that twitched onto his face and he nodded again, more surely. "I understand."

"Well," came the slow drawl of Alaric's voice, making Jeremy pause and swing his eyes around to stare at the ghost. "Not that I don't appreciate falling into the category of 'people you love who kicked the bucket', but I'm gonna go. See ya, Jer."

"Bye, Ric."

Rebekah made a face, looking over her shoulder in the completely wrong direction. "Was he here the whole time?"

"Yup. It's gonna be so awkward."