Disclaimer: I still do not own The Vampire Diaries. *sobs*

Sorry for the wait, hope you all think it was worth it! Here we go!

I'm still on the phone with Damon, half an hour after he first called when suddenly my cell phone rings. When I check the caller ID, it's the home phone.

"Damon, hang on. Stefan's calling me. He must have contacted his superiors." I tell him.

"Sure."

I put the receiver of my desk phone down and pick up my cell. "Stefan?"

"Elena. You okay?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you manage to get in touch with anyone?"

He sighs. "Yes, I did. Elena, we need to talk when I get home. The situation is pretty serious and there's a lot of stuff that needs to be sorted out. When do you think you'll get back? Do they need you there for much longer?"

"I… don't know," I reply hesitantly. I don't want to get off the phone with Damon but what Stefan's saying sounds important. "I'll ask Carol if I can leave early," I say, trying to buy some more time.

"Okay. I'll see you when you get back then. And Elena? Be careful."

Oh, the irony of that comment.

"Of course. I'll see you later, Stefan."

"I love you."

"I, uh, me too."

I hang up the phone and talk to Damon again.

"Damon? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. Everything alright?"

I sigh. "Stefan says he needs to talk to me and that the situation, whatever that is, is serious. How's everything on your end?"

"Well… It's still pretty chaotic. There's still a lot of smoke around here and I don't think it'll clear any time soon. Both towers have now collapsed and people are still trying to find their families."

I drop my head into my hand and shake it slowly. I don't think the full extent of the situation will sink in any time soon.

And you still need to speak to Stefan.

I bring my head back up and lean it on the back of my chair. "Damon, I should probably go and speak to Stefan. He'll know more about what's going on than I will."

There's a moment of silence over the phone before his voice comes back on. "You're right. But Lena?"

"Yes?"

"If… If you need to talk or if something happens, call me?"

He sounds hesitant, as if he's scared I'll say no. Which I'd never even have considered.

"Of course I will. Can you give me your number and I'll save it to my cell phone?"

"Yes, no problem," he gives me his number and then continues, "Thank you Elena. I'm sorry I took up so much of your time."

I gasp. "No, thank you! You were very helpful and honestly, it was good to hear your voice. I'm just… I don't know how… I can't process what's going on and it's so confusing and I just… It was good to hear from you."

I hear him exhale over the phone. "It's fine, Elena. It helped talking to you too."

A silence comes over the phone, one neither of us seem to want to break. Eventually, I speak up, "I really do need to go, I'm sorry. I'll… talk to you soon, maybe?"

"Yes, sure. Talk to you later, Elena."

"Bye, Damon," I hang up. I don't move for a bit then get up and head to Carol's office.

When I get there, I knock on the open door. She's sitting at the desk, looking a lot more in control than she did earlier. She looks up and mutters in agreement to whoever she's on the phone with before quickly hanging up and moving towards me.

"Elena, did you get in touch with anyone?"

"I—" I volunteer before closing my mouth. For some reason, I'm unsure if I'd like to tell her about my conversation with Damon. After a second or two, I start again and explain what Damon told me, "I heard from someone who's over there. He explained that there's a lot of people trying to find their families and that there' a lot of chaos over there. There's dust and everything's just… disorganised. Which is probably the understatement of the millennium."

She nods slowly. "And did you hear from Stefan? Does he know any more about the situation?"

"That's why I'm here. He says we need to talk at home, he's just spoken to his superiors. I can't tell you whatever he tells me, I'm afraid, but I can tell you it seems pretty serious."

She heads back to her seat before dropping back into it. "You can leave Elena, that's understandable. Do you think you'll be able to be back in tomorrow, early if at all? After all this, we'll need everyone we can here to finish the front page. I have to say, this is one time I'm not happy about a massive front page story."

"I can see why. But I'm not sure. I'll call you later and let you know, if that's okay?"

"That's fine. Thank you, Elena. If you have any time, email me whatever you heard and feel could be printed."

"Will do. Bye, Carol."

"Goodbye. See you later."

I walk back to my desk and put the stuff I need into my bag, making sure my phone is in there before going to the elevator to go down to the parking levels and getting into my car.

I usually put music on in the car on the drive to and from work but today the car is silent. I spend the whole drive thinking about the events of today, from the towers collapsing after the planes flying into them to the conversation I had with Damon and the one I'm going to have with Stefan. I honestly don't know what to expect.

He'll probably have to leave and talk to some people back in Nevada.

I drive up the driveway and get out of the car before heading into the house. As I walk in, Stefan comes out of the kitchen and heads towards me, wrapping his arms around me. He pulls away quickly and puts his hands on my cheeks, cupping my face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you? How did your talk go?" I enquire, dismissing his concerns. There were more important things. And honestly, I'm fine.

Yeah, talking to Damon will do that to you. And the voice is back.

Stefan's jaw clenches and he collapses on the sofa. I sit on the armchair in front of him.

"Stefan? What is it?"

He rubs his hand against his face and after a bit, he starts speaking. "It's bad. Really bad. The attacks were premeditated, we're pretty sure. This is really serious and it'll take a while to get back from it."

I nod slowly, I'd guessed as much.

"Well, what's going to happen now?"

He looks up at me. "Well, the Marines will be sending soldiers out and…" he trails off.

I start to worry. "Stefan?"

He opens and closes his mouth a few times before launching off the sofa. "They want me to train the soldiers and go with them," he says quickly.

My eyes widen, "What?! They're asking you to train soldiers and go to war?"

"Yes."

I sit in silence for a while. "And if you say yes, how long would you be gone?"

"An indefinite amount of time. But it would be for at least 6 to 9 months. Probably a year. And that might be extended depending on the situation out there."

He sits back down the sofa as he speaks.

"How long did they give you to think about it? I mean, they did give you time to think about it, right?"

"Yes, they did. They gave me a month."

"Right. Well, what do you think you'll do? I mean, I'd prefer you stayed here where it's safe but I know you take things as a Marine very seriously. So what do you think you'll do? I know you have a month to decide but right now, what do you want?"

He hesitates.

"Stefan? Tell me." I demand.

"Elena, I've already decided."

"And?"

"I'm going," he says firmly.

"Okay, well you might change your mind in a month. You don't have to agree right this minute. There's still time. We can talk about it more and you can discuss this with your family."

His eyes close tightly before opening and staring at me. "Elena, I already agreed. I'm heading out in three days."

Sorry it took so long! I know I said it wouldn't be so long before the next update but it was the anniversary of the death of someone I knew a while ago and it was my birthday recently so I've been a bit busy. BUT HERE IT IS, FINALLY! And with the first proper cliffhanger as well!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and YES I am continuing this, updates will just be a bit odd until end of January. That's when I finish exams. I hope to update once again before mid January so stay tuned! Please, please, please review! Every review makes me so happy and helps the creative process! Teasers for whoever reviews

Love you all and thanks again for favoriting, following and reviewing! It means the world to me!

Happy holidays!