Elijah's eyes moved over her, studying the smooth skin, the angle of the dark lashes that trailed across her cheeks. He spent many of his nights there, in the silence, watching her breathe while she slept. Something about the rhythm of her chest rising and falling was a comfort in itself.

So many years, so much time and heartache had been spent in bringing him to this peaceful stillness with her. She made him feel like a battle weary soldier, finally home from a very long, very bloody war.

Only his battles had raged for lifetimes, and yes, there had been blood. Rivers of it.

Seeing Klaus had rattled him, right to his foundations. Echoes of the clash of metal, the sound of death cries became louder in his ears on seeing Klaus' face. Much energy was spent by him tamping down the past so that he could lose himself peace. In the quiet, though, if Elijah stayed still too long, the memories overtook him like a flood, reminding him of the fraud he was.

A man of peace. This was how she saw him. This was the man Elena loved. She loved someone who made it possible for others like them to thrive without violence or victims.

She didn't question where he had come from or what he might've been before now, when peace impossible and every meal brought pain at best, death at worst.

Elijah had raged in battles for generations before she was born. He had rained down fire and fury on strongholds, fields, villages and anyone that dared stand in his way. The countless faces of the dead and the dying swirled together in his memory, lost in anonymity and time.

The horrors could be set aside, forgotten, in the peacefulness of their daily life together. The nights, though, brought memories to sometimes steal his rest, but that was all.

Then, along came Klaus to remind him, to bring those horrors to the stark light of day. Nearly twenty years of silence between them. Now Klaus had returned to ring the bells of remembrance for Elijah. The one person who had witnessed it all, every horror and atrocity, had stepped onto that mountain and all that Elijah had built felt like it tumbled like a house of cards.

A soft sigh from her brought his eyes up to meet warm chocolate depths that studied him. Elena reached a small arm up as she rolled gently into him. One small hand moved across his back, trailing slowly up his spine from his waist to the base of his neck, making his eyes close as sensation spread through him.

"You're not sleeping again?" She asked it against his jaw, the huskiness of her voice only a whisper.

He shook his head, wrapping arms around and drawing her close.

"It doesn't matter." He told her, but he was glad she was awake again. He didn't actually need sleep. Neither of them did. But it was a luxury he would never purposely take from her.

Her hand continued to move over his back and was joined by another one. He sighed in spite of himself. One of her small hands moved up to press his head to her shoulder as she rolled to her back and he relaxed against her. Without another thought, peace prevailed as he draped one arm over her and was swallowed by oblivion.

At sunset the following evening Elena stepped out of her home and felt the weight of eyes on the back of her neck. She walked calmly to her car and the prickling sensation never left her as she drove. It lingered as she closed her car door after navigating it into town and to a space at the public park.

Someone was watching her.

She kept her movements slow and steady as she wandered down a tree lined path and sat on a wood and wrought iron park bench beneath an ancient tree.

Quietly she drew in the scents around her and found nothing alarming, but that could be as simple as staying downwind. She knew because she'd pulled that trick herself a time or two.

Calmly she cast her eyes around her at the deepening shadows.

Without flourish or preamble, Klaus appeared seated at the opposite end of the bench she had chosen. He wore jeans and a chambray shirt. Without looking at her, he leaned back, making himself comfortable. He crossed one leg over the other, hooking clasped hands over a knee.

"I think you're the one who's bored." She said it without looking at him, still gazing into the shadows and showing no sign of surprise at his appearing.

He chuckled, also not turning to look at her.

"I think you see more clearly than your husband." At his reference to Elijah, his voice pitched low and scornful.

"Why do you hate him?" Elena kept her tone low and conversational.

Klaus turned to look at her, his blue eyes wide. "Hate him?" He laughed again. "He is my brother. There is no hate."

"Jealousy, then?" She suggested.

He turned and looked away again, appearing to grow thoughtful.

"Perhaps." Klaus answered.

He sat up, turning to run his eyes over her. Gone was the suggestive expression he had used on the mountain. Elena was beginning to suspect that had all been for Elijah's benefit, to get a rise out of him. She met his gaze and saw speculation there.

"Whatever you want from me, know that I won't betray him. I won't negotiate with you or do anything that would cause him pain." She crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke.

"I assume you love my brother, then." Klaus shifted, turning on the bench to face her, draping one arm over the back of the seat.

"Very much." Was her immediate answer.

"You must tell me. When Elijah and I first came here, years ago, did you love him even then?" Elena turned too, then, shifting in the seat to face him directly at what felt like a strange question, her brows up.

"I only ask because we do not, usually, garner such heartfelt loyalty."

"And you want to know how he pulled that off." She finished his thought. He nodded, his expression genuine.

Elena decided then to be honest, because Klaus at least appeared to be.

She looked away, drawing on the memory of the first time she saw Elijah. Her breathlessness as he appeared, his eyes wide as they moved over her and the feel of the air moving around them because he'd moved so quickly. The way she was drawn to stillness whenever he was near, back then, not from fear, but fascination.

"I did love him. Yes. Although I was too young at the time to understand myself."

He was silent for a few seconds, seeming to absorb that.

"You said you will not negotiate with me." Klaus shifted, searching her face. "Even to protect your friends?"

Elena blinked. Her brown eyes turned instantly to red, the dark spread of veins moved over her brows and cheek bones as swiftly as fury moved over her. In one lithe move, she stood and lifted the bench he sat on with one hand and swung it at the tree behind them.

The crashing sound of breaking boards and groaning tree limbs split the silence.

Klaus had soundlessly vaulted out of the way. He stood a few yards away, blue eyes wide with shock at what she'd done; at her strength and speed.

Through gritted teeth, she answered him. "Those 'friends' you refer to aren't friends at all. They are our family." She closed the distance between them in a blink, furious red eyes meeting widening blue ones. "If you hurt any one of them, we will make you wish you had never been born."

She turned her back to him, knowing he would see it as an insult.

"Because, let's be honest, ending your life, at this point, would be a gift. And I'm not feeling particularly generous." It was her own parting shot, as he had done to them on the mountain. She walked calmly back to her car and it appeared Klaus didn't follow, but she couldn't be sure because she refused to look back.

A few hours later, Elijah drew a deep breath, his mind spinning through what Elena had to say about her confrontation with Klaus in the park as questions and answers slotted into place.

From what she described, and what he knew about his brother, it appeared he was fact finding at the moment – something that had been Elijah's role for a very long time on Klaus' behalf. Right now Klaus was gathering information and forming strategy. This, Elijah felt sure, was how she had walked away unscathed. Klaus now knew something of what she was capable of. Elijah couldn't help but quietly mourn the fact that the element of surprise in that regard, was lost to them.

The conversation she had with Klaus did surprise Elijah, though. Klaus' focus appeared to be on their relationship. Since none of his family had married after the curse until Elijah did, that might be the explanation. But her suggestion that Klaus was unsatisfied hadn't been met with a denial. Elijah found that curious. Klaus' usual arrogance seemed to be absent from the conversation.

Elijah did point out to that, although she had lost her temper when Klaus mentioned her family, he didn't actually threaten them. He only asked if she would be willing to betray Elijah for their benefit. He'd been testing the boundaries of her loyalty and found there were none. Elena's answer had been a violent and a bone chilling threat.

Elijah wouldn't let her see how much her answer for Klaus pleased him for fear she'd do it again. But he would've liked very much to see the look on his brother's face in that moment with his own eyes. Klaus really had no idea who he was dealing with when he'd followed her to the park tonight.

"I do have to ask you a question, Elena." Elijah turned from the fire he'd been staring into so he could see her expressions when he asked it. "Are you purposely trying to get hurt or killed?" The last whisper of Klaus' suggestion that she was 'bored' echoed in his mind.

"Of course not." Her brown eyes had widened at the question, her mouth slack for a second before she answered.

"Then I will need for you not to do anything like that again. He will be stronger than you are, little one. Faster, more calculating, and more unpredictable." In a word, Klaus was deadly.

The memory of what it felt like to lose her drove him to speak. He would not lose her again. Not now. Not ever.

Elena nodded quietly, understanding what he meant and accepting the truth of it. She already knew a little of what Klaus was willing to do to accomplish his goals, whatever they might be. Elijah was right. She always did hate it when he was right.

The sound of Elena's cellphone broke the silence. After a quick glance at the screen, she moved quickly to answer.

"Jack?"

His deep voice sounded strained and tight over the line.

"Elena. There's been an accident." White fingers wrapped around her phone and she put it on speaker so that Elijah could hear.

"Is Milla alright?" Milla was sixteen now and driving the last time Elena had been to New Mexico to celebrate her birthday.

Jack let out a ragged sigh and Elena's stomach twisted. "I wish I knew. We can't find her. I've had every tracker we own on it for hours. She disappeared from the crash site. Her best friend, Emma, is gone." Jack's voice became a strangled gasp over the last word. Elena remembered her. Pretty blonde girl with bright green eyes and glasses. 'Gone.' Milla's best friend was dead.

"Milla was driving."

Elena sat down in a rush, her legs refusing to support her. Oh, honey, she thought, her bright, beautiful god daughter. Her best friend was dead and Milla would blame herself.

Jack gasped for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Something's wrong, Elena. And if we can't track her, you might be the only one who can."

He was referring to her 'hobby' as a tracker that she'd threatened him with the night they met. She'd promised that since she had his scent, she could track him to the ends of the earth if she had to. At the time it had been only a bluff. But things were different now. With Elijah training her with every spare moment between them for the last seven years, she could track a falcon on a cloudy day now.

"Please. Come." Elena could hear the desperation in her friend's voice. Of course she would come.

She promised Jack she'd call him back when her arrangements were made.

Elijah paced back and forth in front of the fire, his hands gesturing rapidly as he talked. Elena wanted to go, but all Elijah could see was risks and danger.

"I understand how important Milla and Jack are, and I agree with you, of course. But with everything else happening, this is a terrible time and a bad idea. They'll find her. A pack of wolves, of course they'll find her. Jack is just in a panic right now." He drew a deep breath and Elena could see he was gathering steam.

"We still have Klaus lurking somewhere, planning. If we leave and something should go wrong, who'll be able to stand against him? Protect our home and our family?"

"You can." Elena pointed out quietly. She was sitting staring into the fire. "I'll go alone. I'll find her, make sure she's ok and be back in a day or two." Or four, she amended silently. Milla would need her right now and she wasn't going to fail her.

"I'm not sending you off all on your own, Elena. It's just too dangerous right now." Elijah crossed his arms, his signal that his mind was officially made up.

"Fine. I won't go alone. I'll take Damon." Elijah's mouth opened and closed again. He drew a deep breath while his mind worked through options that might end this conversation and keep her home where she was safe. The new turn of the conversation was something he should've seen coming. Mostly he was frustrated by how completely he felt he'd just been played.

"That's hardly what I had in mind, Elena."

"Well, you can't come. You've established that. As for Damon, he's the best on offer, right? He's stronger than Stefan, older and stronger than Caroline. He's good in a fight, good back up." In love with you, Elijah added silently, fighting frustration. "And if things go south here, who would you vote most likely to piss Klaus off?"

Twenty minutes later Elena stood in the foyer of the Boarding house watching Damon's expression grow thoughtful as she talked fast until she ran out of steam.

After a long moment of silence, he said, "So, let me get this straight…" He turned and walked away from her down the hallway leaving her standing alone.

Baffled, she turned and followed him.

She heard his voice from the other room as he went on, "you think you can just come here …" Elena turned the corner and found herself standing in the doorway to Damon's bedroom. He rustled around in an open closet. He turned and dropped a duffle bag onto the foot of his bed. "with your best 'helpless female' face and I'm supposed to drop everything to go traipsing across the country…."

He continued her dressing down about her complete lack of common courtesy while he gathered three changes of clothes and stuffed them carelessly into his bag. When he was finished, he turned, flung it over his shoulder and smiled.

His hair blew back as he was folded into a heartfelt hug. Elena had thought she would have another fight on her hands tonight.

"Has anyone told you today how awesome you are?" The question came out as a mumble because her face was tucked against his shirt.

"Yeah, many times, but I guess I can stand hearing it again." She heard the smile in his voice. He grew serious when he asked, "Is he going to be mad at you about this?"

"Yeah. He's pretty worked up."

Damon hugged her again and said was he was thinking, as usual. "Good. You've been entirely too obedient lately. Can't let him get used to that."

"It's Milla." The concern she felt echoing in the name, saying it all.

"I know. I'm worried too." Heading back toward the door, he asked, "So…we taking my car?"

"Nah. We'll take my plane." Elena answered and Damon skidded to a halt, his shoes literally sliding across the floor.

A dazzling smile met her as he turned. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."