A/N: this chapter goes through the events that happened during the one week period between when chapter 1 began, and when episode 3x22 ended.

Elijah walked back into the living room and eyed Stefan for a minute, "Walk me through that day."

"Excuse me?"

"Last week, when Elena became a vampire. I want you to tell me everything that happened that day. And everything that has happened since."

Stefan frowned and glanced from Elijah to the basement door, "Weren't you about to go downstairs and get Elena?"

"Yes, I was," he sounded mildly irritated, "But she appears to be otherwise occupied."

"With Damon."

"Yes," Elijah took another sip of wine, "I assume that means you have given up on fighting for her?"

"I love her," Stefan corrected, "But it's her choice. Always has been."

"Of course," Elijah paused before asking again, "So what happened that day?"

"I thought you said Rebekah already told you."

"She told me what she had done to protect our family, yes. But I would like to hear the full story from you."

Stefan sighed, "Matt had decided that Elena needed to get out of town to be safe, but he knew she would never agree to it. So he drugged her, loaded her up in his car and started driving."

"I imagine she wasn't too pleased when she woke up," Elijah surmised, "Especially when she learned that Klaus had been staked and that everyone from his bloodline would soon be meeting their death."

"Tyler, Caroline, and myself were here in Mystic Falls," Stefan explained, "Damon was not."

"I see."

"Apparently she told Matt to turn the car around and head back home."

Elijah's expression flickered with surprise, "To you?"

"Home," Stefan repeated, "To her friends." Then his eyes narrowed, "Except she never got here, of course. Because of Rebekah." When Elijah didn't respond, Stefan continued, "Matt said he swerved the car on instinct and it went over the bridge. When I found them, Elena was still conscious. She..." He trailed off and then cleared his throat, "She told me to save Matt first."

"And you respected her wishes," Elijah said thoughtfully, "I wouldn't have expected anything less."

"Would you have done the same thing?" Stefan asked suddenly, "If it had been you who had found her?"

Elijah didn't hesitate, "Yes. I would have chosen to save Matt if she has asked me to. But Klaus would've chosen to save Elena. He's always been similar to Damon in that aspect, wouldn't you agree?"

"No, I wouldn't agree," Stefan replied shortly, "See, the difference is that Klaus would've saved Elena just because he sees her as his personal human blood bag. Damon would've saved Elena because..."

"Because he loves her."

Stefan nodded silently.

"Alright, so what happened after you saved Matt?"

"I went back down to get Elena," his voice grew hoarse, "And I knew she was already dead, but I took her to the hospital anyway." He swallowed, "Damon showed up about an hour later. That's when Meredith told us that she had given Elena vampire blood earlier...that it would still be in her system."

"What did Elena say when she woke up?"

Stefan gave a small smile, "The first words out of her mouth were 'How is Matt? Is he alive?'"

"Sounds like Elena."

"She was pretty quiet while we explained what had happened," Stefan went on, his expression becoming glazed. "She was calmer than I expected her to be. There were a few tears of course, and she kept apologizing for something..."

"Apologizing to Damon?"

Stefan frowned, "I don't know."

"When did she make the decision to complete the transition?"

"She almost didn't have to think about it...said that she was all Jeremy had left, and she couldn't be selfish and not transition."

Elijah smiled faintly, "Again, sounds like Elena."

"The next morning, Bonnie made her a daylight ring. Then she stuck around for Alaric's funeral in the afternoon before leaving town. Caroline and Tyler watched from woods...Alaric outed their true identities to the Founder's Council, so now they're being hunted—"

"Excuse me?" Elijah looked up sharply, "You let your witch leave town? How could you let that happen?"

"She's not 'our' witch," Stefan retorted, "It was her choice to leave. And after everything that has happened to the people around her, I completely understand her decision." He shook his head, "Anyway, later that night, we went to visit Matt in the hospital. That...went pretty badly, on the whole. He was devastated that his plan to save her almost resulted in both of their deaths. He left town a couple days later."

Elijah raised an eyebrow, "Elena is doing remarkably well for someone whose entire support network has been turned upside down."

"For the rest of the week Damon and I trained her. He's been teaching her how use her new abilities, and I taught her how to hunt in the woods. Today was the first time she attempted to immerse herself in a crowd of other people. After all, that's pretty much the only way she can learn how to control the bloodlust. I think she's been doing well. All things considering."

"Not exactly true," Elena's voice came from behind them, and they both turned around in surprise. She smiled slightly at Stefan, "But thank you for saying it."

"Where's Damon?"

"He's...cleaning up downstairs," she admitted, "I kinda went a little crazy with the blood packets."

Elijah stood up, "Don't worry, Elena. I have complete faith in your ability to gain control of the bloodlust. And if you ever need any other guidance, please, do not hesitate to ask."

She stared at him blankly as he moved towards the door. "Wait," she blurted, "Where are you going? I thought you said you had found a cure to help me!"

"Since my mother spoke of it, I'm nearly certain the cure for the doppelganger exists. However, I must go and do extensive research to find out more about what needs to be done."

"Then why did you come back to Mystic Falls without any information?" Stefan snapped, "You can't just come here and get her hopes up without—"

"I merely returned to see if Elena would indeed be interested in the cure...and also to see with my own eyes that the rumors were true." He opened the door but then turned back around, "And I will pay a visit to my sister and find out why she is still in Mystic Falls. If it is any consolation, I will attempt to get her to leave." Then he held his hand out to Elena, "You have my word that I will return when I have concrete information." He paused and then added, "In the meantime, good luck. And stay strong."

She smiled tightly before reaching out to shake his hand, "I will. Goodbye Elijah."

He nodded at them both, and then he blurred out the door and was gone.

.

"Hey," Elena said to Stefan softly, "You okay? I know you and Damon are worried that I'm going to get my hopes up and then be disappointed if it doesn't work, but this is Elijah we're talking about...he wouldn't lie about something like this."

"I know," Stefan answered carefully, "I believe that he has always tried to help you, and I believe that he values human life. But that still doesn't mean that whatever he finds will be a guarantee."

"You believed that the elixir would work when Klaus did the sacrifice," Elena pointed out, "This isn't any different."

"Sure," he shrugged and stood up, "Come on, let's go practice more hunting. Later tonight, Damon and I will take you out for a test run in the town center and you can practice being around more people. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great," Elena responded distractedly, and she quickly moved to block Stefan's path. "Wait," she insisted, "There's something I have to tell you...about Damon."

"It's okay," Stefan shook his head, "You don't have to tell me until you're ready. You've gone through a lot recently. I'm not going to force you to make any decisions right now, alright?"

.

Damon, who had been standing just out of sight on the basement steps, waited to see if Elena would say anything. When she didn't, he loudly clambered up the remaining stairs and made his presence known in the living room. "Hey," he said to them, and held up a large black garbage bag. "We're going to have to make a blood-bank trip pretty soon." He tilted his head, "Or do you think Meredith would be a doll and get some for us?"

"Let's not get Meredith fired from her job," Stefan replied pointedly as he walked over to Damon and took the bag out of his hands. "I'll take this outside. Elena can fill you in on what Elijah said."

Elena waited till Stefan had gone out the back door before she turned apologetically towards Damon, "I tried to tell him..."

"What? That we kissed?" Damon asked nonchalantly, "Or that you chose to kiss me this time?"

"Both," she answered, looking flustered. "But he told me—"

"I heard," he interrupted. When she bit her lip and looked down at the ground, Damon sighed and walked over to her. "Elena, listen to me. You know that I love you, right?"

She nodded mutely.

"Then I'll wait," he said simply, cupping her face and gently pressing a kiss to her forehead. As he pulled away, however, Elena's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Elena?" he asked in alarm when he caught sight of her bewildered expression, "What is it? What's wrong?" She raised a hand to her forehead, to the spot where he had just kissed her. Then, just as suddenly, she let her hand drop back down to her side. "Elena?" he asked again, growing concerned, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Coming, coming," Rebekah muttered under her breath as someone incessantly rang the doorbell. With an annoyed scowl, she flung the door open, "What is the—"

"Ah, dear sister," Kol drawled from the doorstep, "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Kol?" she sputtered in disbelief as he brushed past her, "What are you doing back in Mystic Falls?"

"Well, I heard that you were planning on settling down," Kol turned to look at her, a dangerous smile playing on his lips, "And I just had to come back myself and see if it was true."

"As you can see," she replied through gritted teeth, "It is very much true. I'm tired of running, and I'm tired of being dragged around where people tell me to go. First it was father, then it was Klaus." Her voice took on a false bravado, "I'm not tied to either of them anymore. I'm free to do what I want."

"Yes, I'm sure Klaus' death opened up quite a few opportunities for you," Kol sneered, "Tell me, which Salvatore are you sniffing around these days?"

"Don't take that tone with me," Rebekah warned, "Just because Elijah tolerates your idiotic comments doesn't mean that I have to as well."

"Speaking of our last remaining brother, I wouldn't suppose you know why he's in Mystic Falls, would you?"

"Elijah? No, he left town a week ago."

"When you killed the doppelganger," Kol mused, "I didn't think you had it in you, Bex." He wandered over to the fireplace and examined the pictures on the mantlepiece for a moment before turning back around, "I'm surprised the Salvatores don't have your head on a stick yet."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder, "I haven't seen either of them since Elena became a vampire."

"I'm sure they have their hands full," Kol walked casually towards the door, "And you're wrong. Elijah is, in fact, back in town."

"And how would you know that?" Rebekah crossed her arms, "You only just got back yourself."

"Well I might've run into an acquaintance or two on my way here," Kol smirked. Then he opened the door and called out loudly, "Come on in now, don't be shy."

"You've got to be kidding me," Rebekah swore under her breath as Caroline and Tyler entered the house a second later. "Kol, these two are on the run from the Council—they're not supposed to be in Mystic Falls at all."

"Don't worry, we took the path through the woods to get here," Klaus began to say assertively, but he took a step back when Kol glared at him. "I mean..."

"You're scared of the Council?" Caroline spat, "Pathetic." She stepped forward, her hands on her hips, "You killed my best friend, you bitch."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes, "You forget who you're speaking to, Caroline. I could break your neck into a thousand little pieces if I wanted to. Klaus and his silly little infatuation aren't here to protect you any longer."

Her eyes flashed, "In what world do you think I would ever need Klaus' protection? I can take care of myself!"

"That's where you're wrong, Caroline," Kol smiled at her charmingly and suddenly blurred towards her. She let out a startled gasp as he stopped an inch away from her and raised a hand to stroke her cheek.

"Hey—" Klaus growled, his hand flashing out to grab Kol's wrist, "Don't you dare touch her."

Kol pushed him off easily, and Klaus stumbled backwards several feet. "Your sire isn't here to protect you anymore either," he informed Klaus, "And I think he would've wanted to make sure that his...interests...were looked after properly." He turned to look at Caroline as he spoke, making the meaning behind his words perfectly clear. "What do you say, love?" he leered at her, "Choose the winning team and we'll make sure that nothing happens to you."

Caroline shoved against him, looking disgusted. "Ugh, you Mikealsens are all the same! Overconfident, arrogant, cocky—well, guess what?" She moved towards Klaus and wrapped an arm around his waist, "Tyler broke every bone in his body a thousand times just so we could be together. He loves me, and I love him. I'm choosing him—always will." She turned on her heel to leave, but then she paused and smirked at Kol, "Oh, and don't take it personally. If Klaus was still alive, he wouldn't stand a chance either." She smiled triumphantly and held her hand out, "Come on Tyler, let's get out of here."

Kol immediately moved to block their exit, his expression abruptly becoming less amused. "This meeting could've gone in a very different direction," he hissed at her before grabbing Klaus' arm and harshly bending it behind his back.

Caroline screamed when she heard the bone snap, and Klaus winced in pain. "Oh my god," she shrieked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Sit," Kol demanded coldly, "And tell Rebekah and I everything that you overheard Elijah telling the Salvatores in the woods." When Caroline didn't move, he shrugged carelessly and pressed harder against Klaus' arm.

Another bone cracked, echoing loudly in the silence.

"Okay, okay!" Caroline shot a worried glance in Klaus' direction as she hurried over to the sofa to comply with Kol's orders. "I'll tell you what you want to know! Just don't hurt him!"

"Go on then," Rebekah tapped her foot impatiently, "We don't have all day."

"Tyler and I were on our way to our hideout—one of Klaus' secret houses in the woods—when we heard a bunch of voices arguing," Caroline spoke quickly, glancing every so often at Tyler to make sure that Kol wasn't hurting him further. "From what we heard, it sounded like Stefan and Damon were training Elena when suddenly Elijah showed up to tell them about..."

The door swung open and everyone froze.

Elijah stepped over the threshold, his eyes darting around the room as he took in the scene. "Well," he said pleasantly, "This is interesting." He turned to look at his sister with a smile, "Bex, I came to find out what you're still doing in Mystic Falls...and it looks like I've found my answer."

"We all know why any of us are still here," Kol interjected, "Isn't that right, Elijah?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're insinuating, Kol."

"The stake," he snapped, "Where is it?"