A/N: Hi all, this is my first story! No ships here (yet!), but some plot twists involving lots of double crosses and going to unlikely characters for help. I see this as a continuation of Stefan and Damon's conversation at the end of "Know Thy Enemy." Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

"We're the only ones who know." Stefan shot his brother an intense stare, silent conveying all the possibilities of that information.

Never slow on the uptake, Damon nodded back. "That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon." Momentarily sure that one thing had indeed gone right that day, the brothers clinked their glasses together and sat back to go through all the betrayals and double crosses of the day.

"I wish there was some way to know how long Isobel was under Klaus's compulsion," Stefan mused.

"Well, she's a pile of ash now. Wishing won't get you any answers." Damon wasn't exactly in mourning; even if it mattered to him that he was the one who turned Isobel, any emotion he might have felt for her was erased by the sheer annoyance she had brought into his life. He hadn't forgotten the events of Founder's Day, how she was the one who ransomed the Gilbert device and sent Katherine back to Mystic Falls.

Stefan was far too used to Damon's flippant attitude to bother commenting on it. "No, but it would help us figure out when we were being manipulated. Did we do something because it was a good idea, or because Klaus thought it was a good idea?"

Damon thought about it for a minute, clearly unhappy with being reminded of their recent fight to keep Elena alive. Different images came to his mind: the warlocks chasing the werewolves out of town, Elijah killing the rest; getting the moonstone out of the tomb, only for Katherine to steal it back – who knew where it was now. Finding out the warlocks wanted to kill Klaus with magic, which would only work after the sacrifice, making it not viable as an option; and finally, a bleeding Elena eliminating their second-biggest threat as she stabbed Elijah through the heart with a dagger dipped in white oak ash.

Stefan made to pour them each another drink. He could see in his brother's eyes that Damon was taking his words seriously, and he was pleased beyond words that they were actually working together. Of course, if he ever did put that thought into words, Damon would brush it off and change the subject, so he just kept those thoughts to himself.

When Damon finally spoke, it was in a measured voice. "Ok, so we're down one magical moonstone, thanks to Katherine – knew I couldn't trust that bitch! But she was terrified of Klaus; she definitely wasn't working for him."

"No, but Isobel was. I know it's hard to think that Katherine could be tricked by anybody, but Isobel learned from the best. Whatever she was involved in, we have to assume was compromised."

"Well, at least we killed Elijah before Isobel showed up to make a mess of things. Her and Uncle Daddy over there. I don't care if Elena wants to give him a chance, I still don't trust him." Stefan glanced sharply up at Damon, as a thought struck him. He waited while Damon kept ranting about John before deciding to interrupt, as Damon was only building up more steam. "And now the Council knows that we've been holding out on them, since I told them about his ring-"

"Damon-"

"There is serious damage control to be done, you're not gonna give him a pass on all-"

"No, but-"

"Oh, don't you 'No, but!' me, Stefan! Stop with those, what are you, five?"

"Damon, listen to me! How did we kill Elijah? With the dagger that John gave you!" Stunned silence followed Stefan's revelation as the implications started to sink in. Seeing he had at last gotten through, Stefan raised an eyebrow, willing his brother to consider that this could change everything.

However, Damon wouldn't get worked up so easily over something he considered over and done with. Elijah was dead, because of them. "What are you saying? If there's one thing you and Elena want me to believe about him, it's that he wants to protect her. Guess what? Us killing the big bad Original did exactly that!"

Realizing Damon had a point, Stefan wandered over to the fireplace to give himself time to come up with an explanation, a rebuttal, anything to shake the nagging feeling that he was still missing something. Yes, Elijah had helped them all out of some pretty tough spots, but what really mattered was that Elena wasn't included in that protection. If Bonnie and Jeremy hadn't gotten the truth from Luka, Elena could easily be dead by now.

He thought back to when he finally got the details of their little negotiations out of her, and still felt a pang that she would rather die than let them fight for her and, worse still, tried so hard to keep this a secret from him. He went through a stage of denial at first, trying to convince himself that the Original had compelled her, or coerced her in some way. Failing that, he resorted to thinking Elena had been deceived, but she was adamant that the words he'd spoken had been the truth. Cunning he may be, but even Stefan grudgingly had to admit that he had never caught Elijah in a lie, showing some honor as well.

Just like that, he was back to square one. Damon seemed to feel some of the frustration coming off him in waves, so he said, "What's on you mind, little brother?"

At a loss for anything else to say, Stefan decided this one time on the simple truth. "I feel like we're back to square one. I thought we had an opening, but just like that, it's gone."

Just like that… Something Elena had told him was prickling the back of his mind, begging to be brought forth to be examined. They had dissected every word and phrase Elijah had uttered, trying to think of all the possible double meanings and half-truths, so his exact words were etched into Stefan's brain. And then I kill him. Just like that? Just like that.

"He wanted to kill Klaus." The nagging feeling had turned to triumph, now that the missing piece had fallen into place, bringing with it sudden clarity and a big-picture view of the situation.

"Of course he does, I just said that the one thing he seems to be telling the truth about is protecting his daughter-"

"Not John, Elijah! Elena said that he wanted to draw Klaus out to get the chance to kill him."

"So?" Damon interjected, "We know all that already! How is this helping?"

"Just bear with me a minute." Stefan felt he was on a roll. "John helps us kill Elijah, thinking it'll protect Elena. It still leaves Klaus wanting to sacrifice Elena, so it's not exactly the best plan, and John should know that."

"Yea, but with Elijah's plan, he was still going to sacrifice Elena, since that would weaken Klaus." Damon seemed determined to poke hole through Stefan's plan, but he didn't mind. Having his brother serve as Devil's advocate would make sure he didn't miss anything.

"According to Luka. If Jonas had found the burial ground, he would have been as powerful as Bonnie, and she can kill him with magic. And that's assuming Elijah told them his entire plan, which, come on. You expect the guy to share his plan with a teenage boy?"

Damon had that glint of hope back in his eyes, which prompted Stefan to continue, "And come to think of it, do we really think John happened to find found this lost and centuries-old dagger just when we need it? You know damn well that Klaus would want to keep track of it."

"Hell yea, I know I would. And if Isobel's been working for Klaus, it makes her the link between him and John." Damon was finally starting to wish that Isobel wasn't dead, if only so that he could be the one to murder her for her actions. Compelled or not, she was still an annoyance, meddling where no one wanted her.

With a surge of anger, Damon bit out, "He wouldn't just let a newbie vampire make off with such a powerful weapon and give it to us to kill him! He can't be that stupid!" If there's one thing Damon could understand, even admire in an opponent, it was self-preservation. He couldn't reconcile the Klaus they had been hearing about with someone who could make careless mistakes.

Stefan had a thought, but it was almost to frightening to voice aloud. He forced himself to spit it out, wishing he was wrong; wishing all of his logic didn't point him directly to this conclusion. "Unless he did it on purpose…"

"Why would Klaus want us to have the only weapon that can be used against him?"

"Because now we can't use it against him! Don't you see? If this was all planned, then the only 'weapon that can be used against him' is useless, because it's keeping Elijah dead! And what if Elijah was telling the truth when he said he was going to kill Klaus? Then-"

"Then it means that we did Klaus' dirty work for him: get rid of his two biggest threats and make ourselves vulnerable," Damon said darkly. Self-preservation, indeed.

"We got played."