SophiaChase - Characterization praise is legit my favorite thing ever. I'm such a nitpicker when it comes to that so it's great to hear. Thank you!

KxEfan - Yeah girl!

Wendy - Oh I already have some 'risque' ideas in mind for her career. And Elijah will not be pleased. Oh god no Katherine is my goddess, I love her so freaking much. People just didn't understand her, but she is nowhere near one-dimensional. Ugh. Don't get me started, I could go on for days. But thank you for the love!

Gia - *pulls you out of the ditch* Come back! I have more! :P


Happy New Year, darlings!

Sadly for my KC fans I've been more motivated to write this fic than the KC one, but that's great news for you guys! What can I say? The muse goes where the muse wants. As always I thank you all kindly for reading, commenting, favoriting, following, and basically just surrendering your time to my silly little fic. It thrills me like you have no idea. So this gets a little heavy on the Elijah business side again, but I promise it is relevant. Enjoy!


Chapter 6

The office was silent when Elijah arrived. It was after hours and there were to be no occupants once the day had ended but there were two familiar faces waiting for him when he walked in. Miles looked like he never left, while Cameron was in casual clothes and running a hand through his blond waves in mild distress. That is, until he took in the sight of his boss.

Since circumstances had caused Elijah to rush, his jacket was left unbuttoned and his hair was less coifed than he would have preferred. Under his coat bloody scratches from Katherine's vervain nails were bleeding through his shirt. But he hadn't time to let her bandage them. Ignoring their blatantly curious stares, he got straight to the point.

"What happened?"

Cam looked him over with a lazy smirk. "We wake you up or something, boss?" Elijah cut his eyes to him and his smile broadened. "Or something it is."

"The server has been compromised," Miles quickly informed him.

"How?"

"It seems the entire database was copied but there was no encryption left behind so we can't trace the duplication, or the user in question."

"Was anything deleted or changed?"

"Nothing, as far as I can tell. IT is reconfiguring the system to try to uncover any leads."

"Why would someone want a copy of the company's information?" Cam wondered aloud.

"Sabotage. Exposure. The possibilities are endless."

"They could out us?"

Miles rolled his eyes. "It wasn't just a collection of business proposals and Powerpoints, Cameron. Someone now has an entire interspecies database, including the names and chronological whereabouts of every vampire, witch, and werewolf inhabiting the states. Not to mention family histories, suspected felonies and murder count, and a reference list of blood banks utilized by our staff."

"Shit."

He nodded. "To put it less eloquently."

Elijah squeezed the rim of his nose, his stress levels teetering. "Who is the head of computerized security?"

"Gideon Graham."

"Get him down here." Miles hesitated, infuriating him more. "That was not a request."

"Yes, sir."

He vanished in a hurry while Elijah headed toward his office, pulling his jacket off along the way. As he walked to his desk a little card fell out, thankfully out of Cameron's sight. He laid his jacket over his chair and picked it up astonished to find the picture he had taken of Katherine had been in his pocket. She must have slipped it inside when they were saying their goodbyes, he decided. It eased his nerves and did things to his heart that he couldn't quite articulate. He glanced at Cameron, who raised an inquisitive brow, and slid it into his pants pocket without a word then began to uncuff his sleeves and delicately roll them up.

"How long did you keep Miles from alerting me?"

Cam's brows shot up and he began shaking his head. "You know, that hurts, boss. We've been working together how long, and you're gonna go and insinuate?"

"Answer the question."

He licked his lips, deliberating with a tilt of his head. "About an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes. He kept insisting but you said that once you step foot out of this building not to disturb you. So I was following your orders."

Elijah looked up and pursed his lips, eyes narrowing. "I'm putting you on indefinite probation."

"What?!"

"As of right now, your title is stricken. I have a new task to appoint you with and should you deviate, even once, your employment here will be terminated. As well as your life."

Cameron's eyes widened, all color draining from his face. Before he could react, the door opened again and Miles walked in with Gideon. Elijah stood. Gideon Graham had been one of the first men he employed, and one of the youngest. He was a former information technology specialist for the Federal Government before he died. He was barely thirty in human years, and approaching his fiftieth year as a vampire. Elijah never liked to hire young but his resume and skill set was full of promise. The look on his face right now, however, was anything but.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes." He meandered around his desk, his finger gliding along the wooden edge. "I would like a status update from your department."

"You know everything that we know – somehow somebody attained access to the server while incognito and replicated everything on it. My team is still trying to figure out the details."

Elijah walked forward, looming over him, enraged. "If you had done your job correctly the first time, there would be nothing to figure out, Gideon." He narrowed his eyes. "What I want to know is how you allowed for this to happen."

"I assure you, sir, we have utilized every safety measure to protect against hackers. We've secured the access paths, installed firewalls, user authentication systems, intrusion-prevention, even set parameters with internet browsing. Theoretically, no one should be able to get in."

"And yet they did." Gideon opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Elijah rolled his eyes and turned away to return to his desk. "As the head of the department are you not responsible for ensuring that access to our servers is restricted?"

He blinked rapidly, confused by the sight of Elijah's back and fumbling over his thoughts. "Y-Yes, but - "

"If that one simple task is beyond your jurisdiction then perhaps I should redistribute you." He sat back in his chair with an amused smile. "Or I could simply dispose of you. Technology is constantly advancing. So are its users. There should be at least a few thousand computer experts like you to choose from."

He shook his head vehemently. "Th-that isn't necessary. We are working to find the identity of the intruder, along with any suspicious activity that might allude to this type of breach. But I want you to bear in mind, for now, that the only users with privileges in the past 24 hours have been administrators and several of your employees. If there's a possibility that someone left their station unoccupied while still signed on - "

Elijah held a hand up, silencing him. "I have personally interviewed each and every one of my employees, as well as performed extensive background checks. I put my trust in every person I employ so if you are suggesting that one of my own people is behind this, then you are suggesting that my perception is at fault. Are you certain you want to make that accusation, Gideon?"

Gideon gulped. "I can show you the logs."

"Do that. Miles will retrieve them from you when they are ready." With that he turned toward his computer and began typing his password, bringing the conversation to an end.

As soon as the door was closed, Elijah sat back with a sigh, covering his face with his hand, his thumb and index rubbing his temples. Cameron cleared his throat and Elijah looked up.

"What?" he demanded tiredly.

"You're, uh, getting blood on your chair."


Katherine awoke earlier than usual that morning. Having the bed to herself was more lonesome than luxury, and she missed the usual bustling noises of Elijah getting ready for work. When she realized he still wasn't back, her nerves kicked into high gear. So to avoid facing them, she began to find little things to occupy her time. Cooking breakfast. Picking outfits for her shoot with Will. Rearranging her makeup and hair products. Moving Elijah's ties to the other side of the closet just to see how he'd react. Writing and rewriting her resume, which ultimately led her to the one thing she'd never dreamed she be doing.

As far as resumes went, hers was flawless. Of course it was all completely fabricated bull shit but what the agencies didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Or her chances. The only thing she fell short on were the highly regarded opinions of her peers. She'd gone through her phone book of references and people who owed her favors but turned up nothing.

In the end, she found herself reaching out to the least likely of allies. When in doubt, play the family card.

"Hello?"

At the sound of Rebekah's voice, all of her confidence turned to shame. Here she was about to grovel to the one person who hated her maybe even more than Klaus. What was she supposed to say?

"Whoever it is I don't have time for your petty games."

"Don't hang up."

There was a pause. "Elena?"

"Guess again."

"Katherine... What the bloody hell do you want? How did you get my number?"

"Last I checked, I was living with your brother." She rolled her eyes. "Before you jump down my throat, what do you say we skip the whole prerequisite 'you hate me, I hate you, but we both love Elijah' spiel and get right to the point? I have a proposition."

Rebekah's laugh soured her mood, the little squeak at the end mocking her. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm desperate."

"What makes you think I would ever do something to help you?"

"There are perks involved. In the long run. VIP access to fashion shows, parties, party swag."

"I could just compel those things."

"You could. But wouldn't it be worth it to be treated like a star without the work?"

There was another slight pause, and then, "I'm listening."

"I have this little project and I need a character reference."

"So ask Elijah."

"I don't think my future employers would take my boyfriend's opinions seriously."

"Boyfriend? Oh god, you're labeling yourselves now?"

Katherine rolled her eyes, agitated. "Will you help me or not?"

"What exactly am I being a reference for?"

"What does it matter?"

"You're right. I could just tell them you're a manipulative bitch. Would that suffice?"

She gritted her teeth. "Fine. I'm...taking up modeling." The line was dead silent. "Don't sound too shocked."

"You really are desperate." Katherine scoffed. "Or maybe just stupid. I can't decide. I mean you realize you'll be publicized. What's to stop Klaus from fulfilling his 'lifelong vengeance'?"

"Cute. But we both know you don't really care whether I live or die."

"I don't, but if Klaus kills you then I'm left with a blubbering Elijah and centuries of watching my brothers try to kill each other over another doppelganger. I'd rather avoid the repetition."

"How honorable."

"If that's your proposition then you can bloody well forget it."

"Please. I already have that taken care of."

"How?"

"You're not the first blonde I called."

Another pause. "Caroline."

"Yep."

"She's just a distraction." Rebekah was incredulous.

Katherine laughed. "I think she's a little more than that, but yes." She heard an amazed breath. "You didn't think I would do this without at least covering my bases, did you?"

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any lower."

"Please. She wanted to go. She just needed a little reassuring push out the door."

"And when he finds out you were the one to influence her - "

"He'll want to thank me instead of kill me. Everybody wins." Rebekah made a little sound of disapproval. "Look, we both stand to gain something here. I get to do something I want to do, and you get to reap the benefits. But I'm doing this, with or without your help. I just thought maybe tucked away behind your bitchy exterior you might possibly have a heart."

"Why me? You could compel anyone off the streets. What purpose does it serve you to be in mygood graces?"

"Apart from the obvious?" She sighed heavily at what she was about to admit. "Girl to girl, I haven't had the easiest time making friends. It's hard to trust people when your life is on the line. So yes, I'm asking for you to say just one nice thing about me. And in return, maybe I'll say something nice about you. We can see where it goes from there."

"You're serious," she made it a question.

"Extremely."

Rebekah chuckled once. "Miraculous what a few months with Elijah can do."

"People change. I'm not the girl you think I am."

There was a long, draw out silence before she answered. "I'll make arrangements to fly out this week. I have a few loose ends to tie up here first."

"Great. I'll give Elijah the heads up."

"Please do. The last thing I need is to be accused of showing up unannounced."

Katherine smiled. "Thank you, Rebekah."

"Oh don't get all soppy on me. I'm doing this for my own benefit, not yours."

And with that, the line clicked dead. At least one reference wasn't.


As if everything else weighing on his mind wasn't enough, now Elijah had to worry about reupholstering his chair. It wasn't a massive blood stain, hardly noticeable against the rust colored leather. But he would notice.

After he'd kicked Miles and Cameron out so he could clean up and change shirts, he sat again and took out the photo of Katherine he'd taken hours ago. It was mid-morning now. She'd be awake and probably getting ready to feed her shopping addiction. He had yet to sleep. He'd gone days without sleep before but this intrusion was weighing on him. He needed to look over every file in the system with a fine tooth comb. He needed to be sure there was no trace of Mikaelson or Petrova in there. He had been careful enough not to list any information himself, but if there was already an employee with vindictive intent, that meant there might be more.

A knock on the door broke his concentration and he quickly opened the top drawer of his desk, placing the polaroid delicately in the plastic organizer tray beneath a stack of old letters, then shut it.

"Come in."

The door opened and Miles entered with Cameron looming from behind with a cardboard drink tray in his hands.

"I hope you two have information for me."

"I brought coffee." Cam held up the tray. At his boss' skeptical look, he relented. "Charlotte made it."

Elijah nodded and he walked over to the desk to set it down and begin divvying it out. He took a sip and hummed in approval, silently praising his receptionist's barista skills.

"The logs you requested," Miles announced as he set a packet of papers down in front of him. "And the team's analysis." Elijah scanned the words, flipping page after page with increasing worry. "They say the precautions taken to do this are incredible. The servers were wiped clean. From seven o'clock on we were completely offline. There are no records from the evening."

"So it was an outside job," Cam said suddenly. Both men looked at him as if they'd forgotten he was there.

Miles' face screwed up in confusion. "What makes you say that?"

"Lemme lay it out for you. When you do one of these hacking jobs, the point is to be invisible. To do that, you have to cut all cameras, sensors, anything that can put you physically at the scene. No one here has that capability so they had to have enlisted someone who does. I mean, unless you pull a mafia move and just shoot out all devices but since our stuff's all intact I'm guessing they got professionals." He took another sip of his coffee. "Either way, it's labor intensive."

Elijah frowned, brows deeply furrowed. "How could they get into the system without access?"

"They did say it was likely someone employed here," Miles reminded him.

"They coulda just used a USB to get past the encryptions and firewalls," Cam pointed out.

Miles' eyes narrowed. "You seem to have a lot of intel on this particular situation."

"Well he didn't just hire me for my good looks." Cameron smirked when he frowned.

Elijah sat back, tapping his fingers on the arms of the chair. "Interrogate everyone. I want a list of whereabouts from that time last night. Including the two of you."

"I was home," Cam declared, matter of factly. "Lucy can vouch for that."

His fingers stilled and he directed his full attention to his employee. "I wasn't aware you and Miss Connor had been on such informal terms."

"I wasn't aware I had to report it."

"You don't. I have no issue if the two of you have found happiness in one another. Just be mindful of the consequences if you two become less than amicable. I would hate to have to fire you for breaking her heart."

Cam scowled. "Hey. What if she breaks mine?" Elijah glanced up cynically from beneath raised brows. "It could happen."

"Going back to the analysis," Miles gestured, "the last page lays out an outline of the new security measures Gideon and his team are currently putting into place. They're going to implement a tiered data protection model, with multiple perimeter rings to counter any future threats. The layers of defense can isolate and protect the data should one of the defense perimeters be compromised, internally or externally."

"Fine. Let me know when it's done."

"Yes, sir."

He continued reading and looked up when the two of them were still standing there. "You may leave." Miles hurried to the door and Cameron turned slowly. "Cameron. Stay."

Miles spared his colleague a glance then shut the door behind him. Cam straightened his shoulders and turned back. "Boss?"

Elijah opened a drawer to pull out a manila folder and slid it to the edge of his desk. "Your new assignment. You start tomorrow."

Cam picked up the folder and thumbed through it, his eyes widening. He looked up, dreadfully. "You can't be serious."

Elijah continued reading through the logs. "I am."

"Come on, boss. You know I'm way overqualified for this. It's like child's play."

"Then it should be familiar territory for you."

"But shouldn't you get someone, you know, more...tolerant?" Elijah let the papers drop and looked up with a hard stare. "You know what? I'm good. This is good." Cam nodded continuously as he backed toward the door. "You can count on me, boss."

With a half-cocked salute, Cameron slipped out the door and let it shut. Elijah rolled his eyes, sighing in relief to be alone again. He scanned the IT documents once more before pushing them aside and picking up his phone. A few swipes later he was leaning back in his chair, waiting. Katherine picked up after three rings.

"I was about to give up on you."

He smiled at the sound of her voice, his worries immediately subsiding. "I miss you."

"It's only been a few hours."

"How did you sleep?"

"With my head on the pillow."

"You had no one to hog the blankets from."

"I know. It was pretty amazing." He smiled. "So is everything okay over there?"

He heaved a sigh. "Someone hacked into the server and gained access to classified information."

"What kind of information?"

"Our preternatural database. I've been going through it all morning making sure that your name never appeared on it."

"Why would someone want that?"

"I have no idea. They must be looking for someone. Until we find them, there's no telling what their intentions are."

"Elijah, should I be worried?"

"No. I promised I would protect you and I'm a man of my word."

"What about you? You didn't slip and put anything in there about your family that could lead back to you?"

"No, I did not. And I'll try not to take that vote of confidence too personally."

"Ha ha."

"What have you been up to? Anything productive?"

"Just been sitting here twirling my hair around my finger. I'm thinking of cutting it."

"Katerina."

"You know, just chop it all off. What do you think?"

"I think I'm hanging up now."

She laughed. "All right I won't cut it."

"Good."

"I'll just dye it blonde." He huffed in annoyance and she laughed again. "You're so easy."

"I'm glad you find my irritation so amusing. Have you made any progress with your modeling endeavor?"

"Not really."

"Why is that?"

"Turns out, all of my 'references' are dead. So that's a bummer."

He paused and smiled wryly then shook his head. "I do not understand why you are putting yourself through all of this unnecessary stress when you could simply get a head start."

"You're cheapening my dream, honey buns."

"Don't call me that."

"Well your buns are pretty sweet."

"Now, I'm hanging up."

"Because I said you have a great ass?"

"Because you're being annoying."

"Fine. Try not to work too hard. And be home in time for dinner."

He raised a brow. "You're going to cook?"

"Well one of us has to. And since I can do so without burning anything..."

"I told you when I met you that I was a man of limited talents."

"Cooking is a skill, not a talent."

"And I'm beginning to suspect so is your badgering."

"You called me, bossman."

"I did. For reassurance, not to be berated."

"Then you called the wrong person. Hey, do you think I could list cooking on my resume?"

He grinned, sitting back and closing his eyes, drawing a deep, calming breath. "You can do whatever you set your mind to, kotka."

"Thanks, Dr. Phil." He smiled and she sighed. "I better go. Once this thing is done I have to send it to Will. He's going to look it over for me before the shoot Saturday. You can come if you want."

"Hm?"

"To the photoshoot. It'll be fun. You can watch me pose."

"That does sound fun. But until the intruder is identified, things are going to be erratic around here. Everyone is on high alert and very few know why."

"The less who know, the better."

"Precisely."

"Well like I said, be home for dinner. Or else."

"You have my word."

"Bye, honey buns."

He pressed his lips together. "Katerina, do not - "

But she had already hung up.