Chapter 1

"Anna…Vicky?" Jeremy stood in shock, unable to believe what was standing right in front of him. Vicky and Anna were dead, and had been dead for some time, yet here they were staring right at him. He immediately thought he must be dreaming, some reaction to everything that had gone down that night. But it didn't feel like a dream, it was far too clear and he was far too alert. Ignoring that feeling he finally let out a "This isn't real."

"It is real", Anna replied. "And we have a message for you, a very important one that you must hear", Vicky added, moving from behind him to stand right next to Anna. Still confused at the very scene that was unfolding around him, Jeremy curiously asked, "What kind of message?" Wasting no time in responding, Anna started "It's about Klaus…and how you must stop hi…" but was interrupted before finishing by the sound of the front door opening. Jeremy turned around and saw Elena enter the house. When he turned back Vicky and Anna were gone, seemingly vanishing into thin air.

"Hey Jer, what are you doing up? I thought you said you were going to sleep?" Elena said, alluding to the brief phone conversation the two had to check in on everything (Jeremy had purposely left out the whole getting shot and killed part). "Uhm, just getting something to drink", replied Jeremy quickly fumbling for an explanation. Elena moved closer to him, stopping when she noticed Alaric sleeping on the couch and gave Jeremy a puzzled look. "He decided just to crash here tonight", he responded. Elena gave a small smile; glad Alaric had stayed with Jeremy given what the both of them had been through of late. The smile quickly faded though as she noticed Jeremy with a very confused look on his face. "Is everything ok?" she asked in a worried tone. "Yeah, it's just been a rough few days", Jeremy replied not wanting to add to his sister's already huge list of things to worry about. "How's Damon by the way?" he questioned trying to change the subject. "He's better, the cure seems to be working", Elena replied still unsure if Jeremy was really ok or not. "Are you sure you're ok Jer?" she asked putting a comforting hand on his arm. "I'm fine Elena. I'm gonna go back to bed, see you in the morning". And with that Jeremy headed back upstairs but not before giving Elena a quick hug. He hoped that what he saw tonight was just his mind playing tricks on him, that all the stress of the past few days had simply caught up to him. But he couldn't shake the feeling that when the witches brought him back something changed in him. And what about that message, was he really supposed to stop Klaus? Him, a 16-year old kid with only a ring that couldn't even protect him from a gunshot against an unkillable, super-powerful, vampire/werewolf hybrid? Those thoughts occupied his mind as he returned to bed and fell back to sleep.

Bonnie awoke to the sound of the front door opening. She might have been alarmed at the sound of someone entering her house very early in the morning, but it had become an all too common occurrence. She knew it was just her father, back from another late night at the office, which ever since Bonnie's mother left had become more of a home to him than their house. The office in this case was the same university that her Grams taught at. Their stark different views on magic were even reflected in their work, her Grams taught about the Occult while her father taught science. Bonnie knew her father knew about witches and magic and such, but he never talked about it and would quickly change the subject whenever she brought it up. She even remembers her father and Grams arguing on occasion about the subject. Magic had drove her apart from her father, even more so than her mother leaving did, and the more she became involved in all the supernatural in her life the more they drifted apart. On one hand she was thankful for it, him not being involved in her life kept him safe. On the other, she missed her father, as close as Elena and the gang were to her, he was the only real family she had. Not wanting to dwell on the matter much longer she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, only to be awoken a couple hours later by a text from Damon, "meeting, boarding house, 1 hour". Letting out a sigh, she got up, fully aware that the message meant there was some new threat or problem for everyone to overcome.

"So what's this whole meeting thing about?" Bonnie asked as she walked into the living room of the boarding house noticing Elena, Damon, and Caroline already there. "I'll explain everything once Ric and your little boyfriend get here", Damon responded, the smirk on his face slowly fading when he saw Bonnie glaring him down. "How's Tyler?" she asked turning to Caroline. "Him? I'm the one who got bit and nearly died", Damon interrupted. "He's fine", Caroline started, ignoring Damon's objections. "But I think something's going on with our moms. His called mine last night and was all angry at how she handled things last night. At least she doesn't know what happened with Jeremy; that would have been hard to explai..." Bonnie motioned to get her to stop, but it was too late. Elena stood up and with a half confused, half worried look on her face and forced out a "What happened with Jeremy?" "He didn't tell you? Or Bonnie or Alaric or Damon?" Caroline replied. "Tell me what?" Elena said, her voice raising slightly, looking at both Bonnie and Damon. "Don't ask me, I barely remember anything from last night", Damon said with a shrug. "Bonnie?" Elena questioned accusingly. Bonnie knew Elena wouldn't be satisfied until she knew exactly what went down.

"First, Jeremy is completely fine", she said, hoping it would brace the impact of what she would say next. "Last night after we found out that Damon was on the loose, Jeremy went out looking for you to make sure you were alright. He found Damon instead in pretty bad shape and led him into the Grille before calling us. Sheriff Forbes showed up before we did though, she tried to shoot Damon but he sped out of the way. Unfortunately Jeremy was standing right behind him and the bullet hit him. His ring didn't work and Caroline tried to feed him her blood but it was too late. Alaric and me brought him to the witch house and I asked them to help. They refused at first but eventually agreed and brought him back." Elena put a hand to her head, a stunned look on her face. A look that was mirrored on Damon, completely unaware that any of that had happened the night before. "My brother nearly died…did die, and nobody thought to tell me?" Elena finally responded with anger mounting in her voice. "We didn't want to add another thing for you to worry about, like I said Jeremy is totally fine", Bonnie shot back. As if on cue Jeremy and Alaric walked in, totally oblivious to what was going on.

Elena was still angry at the whole situation, but upon seeing Jeremy that washed away as she ran over and hugged him, tears starting to form in her eyes. Jeremy realized that from her reaction and the looks on everyone's faces that she must have found out about what happened to him. He offered up some consolation as he hugged her back, "Elena, I'm perfectly fine, fully alive and all". There was no way he was going to bring up the whole seeing ghosts thing right now, especially since he wasn't even sure how real it was. "I know", Elena followed with, the tears pouring down her face now "but just the thought of almost losing you… I can't lose you. You're all I've got left". That last remark wasn't a dig at everyone else in the room, and they all knew what she meant by it. As close as they all were to her, Jeremy was her only actual family left. "You aren't going to lose me… now let's get this meeting thing started", Jeremy answered with a chuckle, hoping to change the subject and avoid the tears starting to develop in his own eyes. Elena seemed to agree, letting go of her brother with a smile.

"So that's where we stand. Stefan has become Klaus's little minion, Elijah's dead…again, and we have no clue how to stop Klaus from taking over the world with whatever his diabolical master plan is", Damon summed up the explanation he had given everyone. "I don't think Emily and the witches will be much help, they seemed pretty clear on me not stepping foot in that house again after last night", Bonnie replied, giving a small smile to Jeremy who returned one of his own. Even if it meant never being able to go to them for help again, bringing Jeremy back was completely worth it. "Typical judgey witches", Damon smirked. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go find Stefan and Klaus and try and get my baby bro off whatever blood-spree he's on and back to his Bambi-diet. You all are going to use every resource we have: the Gilbert journals, Isobel's research, the grimoires, Bing", he targeted that last one specifically towards Jeremy who couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Find a way to kill Klaus, there has to be some way to stop him". Jeremy's smirk shifted into a much more serious look, remembering what Vicky and Anna had told him.

Everyone was on board with Damon's plan, except Elena who was adamant about joining Damon on his search for Stefan. She eventually convinced him to bring her along on the condition that when they closed in on them, she'd stay back and let Damon handle everything. As hard as it was for her to leave her friends and especially her brother, Elena knew that she had to find Stefan. And Jeremy would have Bonnie; it had become clear to her how much they cared about each other. Alaric would be there too, continuing to take on a fatherly role for Jeremy. And Caroline would keep everyone's spirits up. So her and Damon would set out the following day, spending days and probably weeks alone with him would be awkward no doubt, but it was necessary to find Stefan and bring him back. Meanwhile, Jeremy and Bonnie would go over all the grimoires and journals, Alaric would try to get his hands on Isobel's research, and Caroline would watch over everyone and try and keep the peace between her mom and the Mayor and rest of the Council.

As everyone was heading out to hang at the Grille together on the last night before Elena and Damon would be leaving, Damon held Jeremy up, "Hey Gilbert, we gotta talk". "About what?" Jeremy replied not sure what Damon needed to say to him. "Look, I don't really do the whole gratitude thing, but you did literally take a bullet because of me last night. So thanks, and sorry for, you know, moving." Jeremy grabbed the vampire's extended hand and shook it, "Well you really weren't in your right mind, so it's not really your fault. But I guess you do kind of owe me, so there's something you can do for me". "And what would that be? Let me guess, you want me to compel all your teachers to give you straight A's?" Damon quipped. "No, I mean that would be great, but what I want is for you to just keep her safe", Jeremy replied, his expression turning entirely serious. Damon thought about replying but instead just gave a nod, letting Jeremy know he wouldn't let anything happen to Elena on their little rescue mission, before the two walked out; he was quite impressed seeing how far the kid had come in just a few months, from not wanting anything to do with his sister to caring more about her than anything. It also made him even more resolute in rescuing his own sibling.