a/n: see if you can spot the tiny Buffy reference in this chapter- included for aj81writing who shares my obsession for BtVS ;)


Elena nervously tapped her fingers on the table in front of her, looking around the Grill impatiently. From the corner of her eye, she could see Alaric seated casually at the bar. She knew that Damon was also sitting somewhere in the restaurant, most likely in a shadowy corner where he wouldn't be seen. Her brother and Matt were both working that night as well—one of the reasons that she had picked this particular night for the meeting.

Just as she pulled out her cell phone to check the time, someone slid a chocolate milkshake in front of her. She looked up, startled, to see Tyler. He gave her a friendly grin, "Matt told me you used to order these like a fiend when you guys were going out, so I took the initiative."

"Thanks," Elena acknowledged as he slid into the booth across from her. She took a sip of the milkshake before saying in an offhand voice, "I thought you might not show up."

"I'm a man of my word," Tyler responded immediately, and Elena inwardly winced. He doesn't even sound like Tyler anymore…

Matt walked over to them at that moment, his expression curious. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"I'm good, thanks," Elena looked over at Tyler, "Feel free to order anything you want. I'm buying."

Tyler shrugged, barely glancing at the menu, "Just a coke would be fine." At Elena's questioning look, he winked, "I already had a bite to eat before I got here, if you catch my drift."

"And on that note…" Matt shook his head as he walked away, leaving Elena to stare at Tyler in disbelief.

"What?"

"We don't joke about eating people in this town," she hissed under her breath, "Have you forgotten the need to be discreet?"

"Relax," Tyler rolled his eyes, "You're just as bad as Caroline…speaking of which, where is she?"

"Not here."

"Yeah, unlike the rest of your little gang," Tyler smirked as he glanced around the Grill, "What are they all here for? Back-up?" When Elena didn't answer, he leaned towards her conspiratorially. "I'm the last person you need to worry about, Elena. With Stefan out of the picture, Klaus has chosen me to be your protector."

Elena nearly choked on her milkshake, "Excuse me?"

Tyler shrugged, "It was Stefan's job to protect you, since your blood is the sole means of creating hybrids. Klaus thought Stefan would continue to protect you even once he was free from compulsion...but clearly he was wrong." He paused, "So now it's my job to make sure that you're safe at all times."

She swallowed, resisting the urge to turn around and see what Damon thought of that statement. "I don't need your protection, Tyler," she said evenly, "I can take care of myself."

He smiled at her, almost indulgently. "I'm just passing along the message. When Klaus gets to town for his revenge, you'll be perfectly safe. It's everyone you care about that will pay the price."

Elena's jaw clenched, "I told you, I don't know where Stefan is!"

"It's been five days since he's taken off," Tyler exclaimed, "Can you honestly tell me that you haven't heard from him at all?"

"We haven't heard anything," she confirmed in a low voice as she leaned back into her seat, "Trust me, we want to stop this mission of his just as much as Klaus does."

Tyler studied her expression through narrowed eyes, "Fine. Let's say I believe you...the real question is, what do you want from me? Why did you ask me to meet you here?"

Elena took a deep breath, meeting his gaze. "Klaus. How much time do we have before he gets here? Where do you think he is? Where do you think Stefan went?"

He stared at her for a minute before counting on his fingers, "I don't know. I don't know. And I don't know." He got to his feet abruptly, "I don't know what you want me to tell you, Elena. Klaus is out there trying to follow Stefan's trail and find out where the coffins are hidden. I don't know where either of them are, but I suggest you find Stefan before Klaus gets tired of looking." With that, he stalked out of the Grill, not looking back once.

"Well, that was supremely unhelpful," Damon said, sliding into the space recently vacated by Tyler. "Though I guess we found out one thing that we didn't know before."

"That Tyler has been appointed as my protector?" Elena muttered gloomily.

"No, I already predicted that," Damon raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, "Did you really think that Klaus was going to let his prized human blood bag go without protection?"

Elena shot him an offended look but reluctantly admitted, "I guess not. What was the one thing you learned, then?"

"That Klaus doesn't trust Tyler enough to tell him anything," Damon answered simply, "Which means he probably doesn't trust any of his hybrids to help him track down Stefan either."

"I don't see how that helps us," Elena crossed her arms, "We have no leads, Stefan hasn't bothered making contact, Katherine isn't answering her phone, we weren't able to find out anything useful on Rebekah's voicemail except that we know Klaus is getting more and more impatient and is probably going to show up in Mystic Falls any day now, and—"

"Elena."

She stopped talking to see Damon looking at her in bemusement, "What?"

He nodded at someone behind her, and she turned to see Bonnie heading towards them. "Good news," she announced, pulling her laptop out of her bag and opening it up to show them what she had found. "I was able to hack into the GPS signal from Katherine's cell phone," she pointed to a red dot flashing on the screen. "According to the map, it looks like she's maybe a four hour drive from here."

Damon frowned, swiveling the screen around so that he could examine it. "How do we even know this is her? What if she ditched the phone on the side of some road and that's why she's not answering?"

"I thought about that," Bonnie pulled up screenshots of earlier grids so that they could compare the location of the signal, "But see how it's moving? That means someone has it with them. We don't know for sure if it's Katherine, but..."

"But it would give us a clue of what direction she was heading in," Damon finished, giving Bonnie a curt nod. "Good work."

"What are we waiting for?" Elena stood up, "Let's go." She grabbed her jacket and stared expectantly at Damon, "Well? Hurry up."

Damon heaved a sigh, "Why is it that I've somehow managed to spend my entire existence searching for Katherine?"

"Well, you really have no one to blame for that one but yourself," Bonnie responded brightly, handing him the laptop and gathering her things. "Good luck," she said as she passed them, purposefully not looking over to where Jeremy was waiting tables. "Call me if you find anything."

"Will do," Elena replied before turning around to see Damon talking to Alaric. After a few moments, during which Alaric looked less than happy, Damon sauntered back over to her. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," Damon gestured for her to follow him, "If we leave now, we can get there before midnight." When they got to his car, he handed her the laptop, "Keep your eye on the GPS signal. Tell me if anything changes."

Elena nodded, settling it on her lap as she slid into the passenger seat. After several minutes of silence, during which time Damon kept throwing suspicious looks in her direction, she finally came clean about what was on her mind. "Do you think..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "I was just thinking about what Katherine did," she began again, but stopped when Damon turned to look at her.

"You mean about how she ruined the plan, much like she inevitably ruins everything?"

"She saved your life, Damon."

"Yes, I'm sure she has my best interests at heart," Damon responded sarcastically. He glanced at Elena in confusion when she didn't reply, "What are you trying to say?"

"That's just it," Elena turned to look at the gathering darkness through the window, "What if she saved your life because she has a heart, after all?"


*thank you as always for all your wonderful reviews! feel free to follow me on twitter (tamilnadu09) if you feel the need to rant about this CRUEL hiatus :) next chapter: DE roadtrip!