A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. They are very much appreciated. :)

Elena left Damon behind on the porch and tore through Bonnie's house, shouting her name. But she already knew that her friend was gone. She'd known it the moment she found the front door unlocked, and spotting Bonnie's still active cellphone on her bed only confirmed her fears.

Clutching the phone in both hands, she took in slow, deep breaths. It was all too much. First Jenna, now Stefan and Bonnie. She could feel her heart fluttering like a caged hummingbird, and a part of her just wanted to curl up into a ball and sob. All that stopped her from doing just that was the steadily increasing desire to hunt down Klaus and rip him into tiny, tiny pieces.

"Elena!"

She glanced round the room, taking in the unmade bed and scattered clothing, then she turned and made her way back down the stairs. "She's gone."

"Damn it!" Damon slammed his fist against the invisible barrier, and started pacing furiously. "That two-faced, Machiavellian son of a bitch."

Elena sank onto the last step, watching him move back and forth. "What are we going to do?"

"We go after them, that's what we do."

"How? We have no idea where they're going."

"We have..." He trailed off, stopping to stare at her. Realisation dawned in his eyes. Not only had they lost Stefan, but they'd lost the one person who could find him.

"We have nothing." Closing her eyes, Elena massaged her brow. Her life lately seemed to be one long endurance test. After several minutes of silence, she opened her eyes to find Damon staring into the distance.

"Damon?"

His gaze darted towards her. "We'll find another witch. Make them do a locator spell."

"You mean ask them to do a locator spell."

Damon twisted his mouth. "Yeah, that's what I meant."

"Damon, we're not going to hurt anyone else just bec-"

"Look, we tried it your way, okay. And look where it got us."

She drew a sharp breath. That hurt. Which was exactly why he'd said it. So she pushed down the pain and the grief and got to her feet. With one hand gripping the bannister, she looked him in the eye.

"You blame me for this. For Stefan."

"No." Damon moved towards her, but was thwarted by the barrier. He grimaced and settled for placing his hand against the invisible wall. "I don't blame you, Elena."

"You could have fooled me."

"I blame myself. For being careless with Tyler Lockwood, for trying to save him instead of just snapping his damn neck."

Elena instinctively stepped towards him. "You did the right thing, Damon."

"And now Stefan's paying the price."

"So we'll get him back."

Damon gave her a sharp look. "We're not going anywhere. I'll find Klaus and I'll get Stefan and Bonnie back."

"How are you going to stop me?" she said calmly.

"I...you..." Sighing, Damon rubbed his jaw. "Stefan's going to kill me." He slapped the door frame with both hands, making her jump. "All right. If we're going to do this, I need to make some phone calls."

"Okay. I need to check in on Jeremy so I'll grab some things and meet you back at the mansion."

Damon grunted his acquiescence. "One of us should call Caroline - tell her to keep an eye on things while we're gone. I nominate you."

A weary chuckle escaped her. "Fine."

With a sarcastic smile, he gave her a salute. As he started to turn away, she called, "Damon?"

He paused and looked at her.

"If Klaus took them with him, that means they're alive, right?"

"Yeah." He hesitated before adding, "For now."

She really wished he hadn't said that.

"It's too dangerous."

Caroline didn't look up from the duffle bag she was stuffing with clothes. Just because she had to fight an evil vampire...werewolf...whatever the hell Klaus was, didn't mean she couldn't look fabulous doing it.

"Caroline, are you listening to me?" Liz hovered in the doorway as if reluctant to enter. Despite their recent reconciliation, it hadn't escaped Caroline's notice that her mother was still wary about getting too close.

She sighed and straightened. "Mom, it's Bonnie."

"Who's a superpowered witch. I mean, she brought Jeremy back from the dead. Can't she take care of herself?"

"We already underestimated Klaus once and Jenna ended up dead. I won't let that happen to Bonnie." Caroline grabbed a red blouse and shoved it into the bag.

"But you said Damon and Elena are-"

"Damon doesn't care about Bonnie. He's only going for Stefan."

"Then Elena-"

"Elena's human, Mom. She can't do what I can."

Liz fell silent. After a moment Caroline looked up to find her mom staring at her with tears in her eyes.

"I thought I'd lost you once." Liz swallowed. "I can't go through that again."

All her irritation melted away in an instant. "Oh, Mom." She zipped over to hug her mother. "I'm sorry. I know it's hard, but I have to do this. You get that, right?"

Liz's arms tightened around her with almost vampiric strength, but she whispered, "Yes, of course I do." She pulled back and held Caroline's face, smiling through her tears. "This is who you are now."

Caroline felt like a little girl again, when she could curl up in her mother's arms and feel safe and loved. Like nothing in the world could hurt her. It took everything she had to pull away and walk back to her bed. She crammed one last t-shirt into the duffle and closed the zip.

"I should come with you," Liz said, wiping her cheeks.

"No, someone needs to watch over the town." She hauled the bag over her shoulder. "But if you need help, ask Tyler."

"Tyler? But he's a were-"

"Only one night a month."

"But-"

"Oh, like you don't get cranky at least once a month."

Liz's mouth twitched.

"You can trust him, Mom. I promise."

"Okay."

They stood for an awkward moment, just looking at each other.

Caroline cleared her throat. "Well, seeya."

Liz nodded. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I will." She readjusted the bag on her shoulder and walked to the door, brushing past her mom.

"Caro?"

She paused to glance back.

"I'm proud of you."

Caroline smiled. "Thanks, Mom." And she zipped away before Liz could see her cry.

Elena knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. She stopped dead, her hand still on the handle. She'd expected to find Jeremy lying in bed. Instead he was perched on the end of it, staring at the...wall. His absolute stillness was unnerving.

"Jer?"

He didn't answer.

She circled the bed, moving round so she could see his face. "Jer?"

He started. "Oh, hey, Elena."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm feeling a bit off, that's all." He hesitated. "Something happened last night."

"Yeah, Alaric told me. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

"It's okay. I know you had other stuff going on." His gaze drifted to the wall.

"Yeah, about that." Elena sat beside him and took his hand in hers. "We need to talk."

Watching him closely, she told him about Bonnie and Stefan, carefully emphasising that they were both alive. But Jeremy didn't react the way she expected him to. She thought he'd spring into action, that he'd want to go after Bonnie immediately, but though his face fell at the news, he didn't even try to rise. She was beyond perplexed when his gaze slid back to the wall.

"Jer, I need you to stay here while Damon and I go after them. I need you to be safe."

He chuckled. "Safe. Right."

Something was wrong. She felt it in her gut. She felt it in the chill that permeated the room despite the bright sunshine pouring through the window. And she felt torn. She loved Stefan and Bonnie, but Jeremy was all the family she had left in the world. She had to take care of him.

Fighting back tears, Elena let go of Jeremy's hand and got up to leave the room. She'd call Damon and tell him she couldn't go. Maybe Alaric could-

"It's okay, Elena."

"What?"

"You should go with Damon." Jeremy cocked his head, as if listening to something. "No, you need to go with Damon."

"Why would you say that?"

He offered her a half-smile. "Trust me?"

"You know I do."

"Then go. Head south. Florida, I think."

She stared at him. "Jeremy, how could you possibly know that?"

"I have friends in strange places," he said, with an all too brief flash of humour.

Elena scrutinised her brother. Physically, he looked fine. In fact she saw no sign that he'd died the previous night, until she looked at his eyes. An image flashed in her mind, of the empty sockets in a human skull, and she shuddered.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "I think I'm needed here."

"I'll still be here when you get back. And Bonnie's going to need you."

Panic clawed at her insides. "And Stefan? What about Stefan? He's still alive, isn't he?"

Jeremy was silent for a long moment. "Yeah, he's still alive. But there are worse things than being dead, Elena."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You should prepare yourself."

Crouching before him, she grabbed at his hands. "Jeremy, if you know something, tell me!"

He blinked, and for the first time since she'd entered the room, he seemed to really see her. "I've told you as much as I can."

"You still haven't told me how you know all this."

His gaze slid away from her. "I can't, Elena. Not yet."

She squeezed his hands gently. "What happened to you last night?"

Jeremy shook his head, looking scared and vulnerable. Her throat tightened. She was reminded of the night their parents died. She'd woken up in the hospital to find him watching her with that same look on his face. Letting go of his hands, she stood.

"I can't leave you like this," she said.

"I told you, you have to."

"Jer, I'm not going to choose them over you. I can't."

"I know. That's why I'm making the choice for you. Go. Bring them home." He gave her a rueful smile. "Bonnie's probably the only one who can help me anyway."

Elena forced a smile. She knew he was right and it hurt that she couldn't help him, that she couldn't fix this. Blinking back tears, she stroked his hair.

"I'm going to call you every day, okay?"

"Sure," he said, wearing a smile that seemed to belong to a stranger.

She nodded and walked to the open door, pausing for a moment to look back at Jeremy's motionless figure. Then she closed the door and walked away.

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