AN: I'm not doing Elejah here, not really. Caroline is totally fine and I'm not messing with anyone but those already mentioned.
By the time she's done, it's been a long time. She doesn't bother checking her phone for the time.
"And they're coming for me?" Elena asks. Katherine nods. They're both sitting on the ground, leaning against tree trunks.
"And you have a way out of this?" The human carefully presses, and Katherine nods again. Her eyes are full of something Elena can't put a name to because she's never seen it in eyes that looked like hers.
"You basically have four options." Katherine begins, looking at Elena for a sign that she's listening. The human's eyes widen. She'll take it.
"One. Neither of us want this, but it is an option. Elijah or Klaus come and you die to break the curse. The end."
Katherine is blunt and Elena finds herself shaking her head. She doesn't want that.
"Two." Katherine continues.
"You and I talk to a few witches, and get spelled to look like different people. It won't help us if we run into Originals, however. They know how I smell. You can't hide that from any vampire. We'd have to run. I don't think you want that either." The vampire says, and Elena thinks it could be okay. But leaving everyone behind and unprotected isn't a good idea. There are records of her, pictures. She'd have to fake her own death for that, she thinks. She doesn't know Katherine. But she is being genuine. She can't explain it. But Katherine sounds like she does when she's telling the truth and trying to convince someone she is. It's bizarre to think a curse, involving the Original vampires is why she looks like Katherine.
"Three?" Elena asks.
"Three. You become a vampire like me. Either you run like I did, or you go through the sacrifice and wake up wanting blood." Her options are not looking good at all.
"Four. You find someone to give their life for you. They'll die but you will live. Human. Or, if you play Elijah well enough, I'm sure he'll find some way for you to live. If he fell for two of us with the same face, I'm sure he'll fall for you too."
"That one. I'll go with number four." Elena hears herself say.
Katherine nods with approval.
"Why are you doing this? You could just let me die." Elena says, regretting the words, but she has to know. She has so much trust in this person who barely looks any different than she does.
Katherine stands up, and Elena has the odd urge to mirror her, so she does too. Katherine takes her hands and puts them on her shoulders. She stares into young eyes.
"You're a Petrova." She says, her accent thick with the name she hasn't said in years. Elena's only known her for a few hours, but she has a feeling no one has seen Katherine's eyes this vulnerable in years. Maybe centuries.
"I have to protect you." She says firmly.
"No one protected me. And I have the oldest vampires in the world hunting me for it. I refuse to let this happen to you. I've watched my line for centuries hoping they would stop before five hundred years, but your mother had you. So here I am. It's not duty. It's not honor. This is family. You are my family, through five hundred years of history and I am going to protect you because there is no one else more qualified." Katherine tells her and Elena begins to understand the vampire. Tears burn her eyes for a second, and she moves to hug Katherine.