She wrestles her tank top and jeans back onto her body, pulls on a bra for decency's sake even though Stefan will probably know the second he sees Elena, god, she just had sex with Klaus, she – she can't think about it. She can hear Klaus speaking, and she shoves open the bedroom door and rushes out after him –

– and there's Stefan, god, Stefan's there, and his eyes meet hers and she thinks she's going to cry but she refuses to, Stefan, he says her name like a prayer and she blinks back tears, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan.

"You're alive," he says, and the words sound like they've been mutilated in his throat.

"Yeah," she says back, voice barely louder than a whisper. He looks at her like she's the only person in the world, like he's forgotten everything else around them, and she feels like a terrible person because she hasn't forgotten for a second that Klaus is right there, watching. It feels like severing off a part of her soul, but she wrenches her gaze away from Stefan and looks to Klaus.

She wraps her arms around herself, and doesn't look away from Klaus, not for a second. He still doesn't look pleased, but she doesn't think he looks angry at her, not anymore, and that has to be for the best.

"Stefan," Klaus says, at long last. "You were saying something about needing my help."

Elena looks back at Stefan, but Stefan, at last, has turned his attention away from her, is looking at Klaus.

"It's my brother," Stefan says, after a long moment.

"Ah, yes, Damon," Klaus says, and his mouth spreads into a grin. "The other Salvatore." He offers Elena a significant look, and she swallows, thinking about their conversation the other day, after Klaus had met Damon for the first time. "What kind of trouble has he concocted for himself now?"

"He was… he thought that you planned to use Tyler and Caroline for the sacrifice, and he tried to rescue them, and… he was bitten," Stefan says. Elena hears herself say "no" before she's even decided to speak. Klaus looks over at her, gaze searching, and then turns back to Stefan.

"And?" he asks. "What would you have me do about it?"

Stefan looks pained. "The witches… they said you had a cure."

In the blink of an eye, Klaus has Stefan pinned against the wall, and Stefan is groaning, and – Elena sees a stake in Klaus's hand, buried in Stefan's chest.

"Klaus, please!" If Klaus kills Stefan, it's not her fault because Klaus kills everyone, but then, it is her fault, if he's jealous – "Klaus, you promised. Stefan was on my list, please just help him."

"Ah, that's right," Klaus says. "Your list."

He pulls away, pulling the stake out, too, and Stefan collapses to the ground, breathing heavily, face pained, and alive, already healing. She breathes out in relief.

"Of course, Damon was on your list too, wasn't he?" Klaus says. There's something dangerous in his tone. "Does that mean I'm obliged to save his life, if I do indeed possess the means to do so?"

Elena swallows. "You didn't bite him," she says. "It's not your obligation."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Klaus says, and looks back to Stefan, a grin on his face. "I do so enjoy your girlfriend," he says. The sentence is laced with meaning; she knows Stefan will have picked up on it, may have already picked up on what happened, but refuses to look at his face. She doesn't think she could handle it.

"It's not your obligation," Elena says, "but Damon's my friend, and I don't want him to die." She swallows, and waits for Klaus's gaze to lock with hers. "Please. Are the witches right? Do you have a cure?"

Klaus stares at her for a long moment, and then grabs Stefan's arm and bites into his wrist. Stefan cries out, and Elena forces herself to stay still, to say calm, though she can't help her heart rate from rising. The bite spreads across Stefan's skin like something out of a horror movie, and Elena looks at Klaus. She knows he has a plan.

A moment later, Klaus bites into his own wrist and then shoves it against Stefan's mouth. Stefan gags for a moment and then drinks it, and just like that, the bite fades.

"Your blood is the cure," Stefan says, and Elena is annoyed, just for a moment; after a month of living with Klaus, Stefan's inclination to speak the obvious grates on her mind.

"What do you want for it?" Elena asks, because she can't stand wasting time on this mindless conversation.

Klaus smirks at her. "Who says I'm offering it?"

"You wouldn't have let on that you had a cure if you weren't proposing a trade," she returns. "What do you want for it?"

Klaus looks at her for a long moment, and then grins. "Would you grab me a drink, sweetheart?"

"Blood or bourbon?" she asks.

"O Negative," he replies. She gets a tumbler from the cupboard and pours him a glass, keeping a watchful eye on Stefan all the while. She sees Stefan's face twitch, just a little, and takes a deep breath. She pours herself a glass of water, and comes over to stand next to Klaus.

"Thank you, love," he says, taking the proffered glass. He doesn't sip from it, though. He just kneels down next to Stefan.

"See, I've no need for anything material," he says. "I can obtain anything I need with ease. Elena can attest to that. However, I am on the lookout for talent, and I've heard some truly marvelous tales about yours."

It takes Elena a moment, and then she catches onto what he's saying, what talent Klaus could be referring to, and then her blood runs cold.

Klaus had known who Stefan was when she'd first mentioned him. He's said she was well connected. She doubts Stefan's famous for being one of Katherine's dalliances, or for being Lexi's best friend, or for sticking to an animal diet.

She's seen Stefan off the wagon before, and that was only for a moment, only just on the edge of what he could be, and he couldn't stop drinking from that girl until Bonnie forced him to. She can imagine how much he'd have to be capable of to capture Klaus's interest – she can imagine it, and it terrifies her.

"Stefan isn't like that anymore," she says, because Stefan still hasn't caught on – god, was everyone in Mystic Falls always this slow?

"But he could be," Klaus says, and takes a long sip from his glass. "Elena, sweetheart, have you ever heard the stories about the Ripper of Monterrey?"

Elena swallows. "No," she says, and looks away.

"Ah," says Klaus, and she can hear the grin in his voice. "Well, then, allow me to fill you in. In 1917, your darling Stefan here waltzed into the migrant village of Monterrey and slaughtered everyone therein. Men, women, children, he drank every drop of human blood to be found in that town, and then he burned the village to the ground. Rumor has it, he feeds so hard he blacks out, and rips his victims to pieces, then puts their bodies back together out of some misguided sense of regret."

Elena thinks she's going to vomit. Klaus looks up at her, grinning, then crosses to the kitchen. She wants nothing more than to kneel at Stefan's side, but she follows Klaus. He grabs a vial from a cupboard, and then a knife from a drawer, and slices open his hand, letting blood stream out.

"That's what I want, Stefan," Klaus says. "I want you to come with me when I leave this town, and go on a good long bender with me. I want your service; I have quite the workload ahead of me, and I could use a right-hand man with gifts like yours."

Stefan is already shaking his head. "I don't–" he says, and then Klaus moves to pour the vial down the sink and Elena places a hand over his.

"Wait," she says. Klaus looks at her, and then looks back at Stefan.

"Well?" he asks.

She doesn't know what Stefan does, but it has to be something agreeable, because Klaus opens the fridge and pulls out a blood bag.

"I'd like you to join me for a drink, mate," he says, and tosses the bag at Stefan. Elena looks back, and sees Stefan take a sip.

"Finish it," Klaus says. "All of it. That's the deal; you do everything I say, and I save your brother."

It takes forever for Stefan to lift the bag back up to his mouth, but he does, and veins crawl down his face as he drinks, crushing the bag in his hand.

He drops the bag on the ground, and Klaus throws him another bag, and says "again," and on, and on.

Elena's been afraid before, been disgusted before, but she'd forgotten the singular horror of seeing Stefan reduced to… to this animal, to this creature, veins a permanent fixture beneath his eyes, blood spilling down his face, his neck, his clothes, speaking only in grunts and moans. Klaus walks too close to him to bring him his fourth blood bag, and Stefan lurches towards Klaus's open glass of blood.

"Stefan!" Elena exclaims, and Stefan advances on her, growling, and then Klaus is between them, his free hand holding Stefan back, and then Stefan's veins recede and guilt takes their place, and then Klaus gives him another blood bag and tells him to drink and he does, and Elena stands behind Klaus as they watch, gut twisting. Klaus has a hand around Elena's elbow; his grip isn't tight, but he could pull her away in an instant if Stefan loses control again.

She hates that the knowledge reassures her.

"So, mate," Klaus says, when Stefan's finished his fifth blood bag. He heads over and crouches next to him, holding a sixth. "Do we have a deal? I save your brother, and you leave town with me, committed to embracing your true nature to its fullest extent."

Stefan swallows.

"Or you could let Damon die," Klaus says.

Stefan takes the blood back, tears it open, and drinks greedily from it. Klaus steps back and grins. "That's the spirit."

Elena doesn't know what this means, whether they're all leaving town together, what Klaus has planned for her, if she's staying or leaving, but then Klaus looks at her and leans over to pick up the vial of his blood.

"Well," he says. "Sweetheart."

Elena meets his eyes, and wishes she knew what the hell he has in mind.

"I want you to bring this to Damon," he tells her. No compulsion.

Elena swallows, heart pounding in her chest. "You mean–"

Klaus smirks, and shoots a glance at the door. "I'd hurry, if I were you."

She takes the vial and walks to the door, forcing herself not to break out into a run. She shoots one last glance over her shoulder at Stefan, then at Klaus, before stepping out into the hallway.

She stumbles to the elevator, almost unable to walk, and makes her way down to the lobby. She manages to nod at the man at the front desk, and then rushes out into the cool night air.

She takes a deep shuddering gasp, wrapping her arms around herself, and starts to cry. She allows herself three shaking sobs, and then swallows, her throat sore, and makes her way to the nearest payphone, presses 0, and waits.

"Hi," she says, trying to keep her voice solid. "I'd like to place a collect call…"

After a few moments, she gets Alaric on the phone.

"Who is this?" he asks, sounding exhausted, and she presses her hand to her mouth upon hearing his voice.

"Ric?" she asks.

"Elena?" he says. He sounds fully alert now. "Elena, oh my god, how – "

"Can you come pick me up?" she asks.

Alaric is silent for a moment. "What do you–"

"He let me go," she says, trying not to choke on the words. "I survived, and he let me go, and I have a – a cure for Damon. Can you please come?"

Alaric is quiet another moment, then asks: "Where are you?" She gives him the intersection, and he promises to be there as soon as possible.

She doesn't know where he was coming from, but he's there so quick she assumes he broke half a dozen traffic laws to get to her. He jumps out of the car and crosses to where she's standing in three long strides, and she falls into his open arms, shivering.

"Elena," he says, his voice soothing, and he smells like alcohol, he shouldn't be driving if he's been drinking, but it's not like she's in any state to drive either, and they have to get to Damon, "Elena, you're okay, you're safe."

She nods, then pulls back and wipes a few tears off her face. "We have to get to Damon," she says. "The cure – the cure is Klaus's blood."

Alaric raises an eyebrow. "Why did he give it to you?"

Elena swallows. "Stefan exchanged… his service, himself, I don't–" A sob rises in her throat. "We don't have time for this," she says.

They drive in silence to the Salvatore boarding house, and Elena feels sick with relief at seeing it. Elena jumps out of the car before Alaric's turned off the engine, and she runs straight into the house.

"Damon?" she calls. There's no response.

"He was upstairs when I left," says Alaric, appearing behind her. Elena sprints up the stairs to Damon's room and throws open the door.

Damon's there, lying on a bed. He gives her a lazy grin. "Hello there," he says.

Elena shakes her head. "Damon, what–?"

Damon raises his eyebrows at Alaric. "Looks like my subconscious decided to cut me a break," he says, slurring his words like he's drunk. He points a weak finger at Elena. "Or are you… here to blame me, too? 'Cause that would suck."

"Damon, it's really me, I'm really here," she says, and walks over, climbing up on the bed next to him.

Damon hums. "Oh, this is nice."

"Damon," she says, voice sharp. "I have a cure."

Damon's gaze snaps up to hers, and there's clarity in his eyes. "What?"

She holds up the vial, and carefully unscrews the cork. "It's Klaus's blood. Stefan–"

Damon's hand grasps her elbow, and were it not for his weakened state he would have knocked the vial out of her hand. "Elena?" he whispers, sounding like a drowned man gasping for air. "You're really here? You're alive?" He turns to Alaric. "Ric, am I–"

"You're not hallucinating, man," Alaric says. "Now drink the damn cure."

Damon's eyes are wider than she's ever seen them, but when she pours the blood down into his mouth he complies, and swallows every drop. Then he pulls himself to a sitting position – either the shock of seeing her has given him an adrenaline rush or this blood really is working, and fast – and he reaches a hand up to touch her cheek.

"How are you alive?" he asks.

Elena swallows, and leans into his touch, just a little. "Elijah's elixir," she tells him.

Damon lets out an amazed little laugh. "That actually worked?"

She puts her hand over his, lacing their fingers together. "Oh, ye of little faith," she says, and he laughs again.

"Elena," says Alaric, and she turns around to see him holding out his phone. "Elena, you have to call your family. They don't know. It's been days, we all figured you'd dead, that the serum had failed–"

"Oh my god," says Elena, and clambers over to grab the phone. He already has the display at her home number; she hits call, and waits, breathless.

"Hello?" says Jenna's voice.

Elena starts to cry. "Jenna?" she says, and then hiccups out something between a laugh and a sob. "Jenna, oh my god–"

"Elena?" Jenna asks.

Elena nods, and then remembers that Jenna can't see her. "Yeah, it's me," she says, and holds a hand to her mouth to still the quivering of her lips. "It's me, I'm here, I'm okay."

"Oh my god," says Jenna, and then she hears some noise before Jeremy is calling "Elena?" into the phone and she hears John say "put it on speaker!"

"I'm with Ric," she says, when everything's settled down, even though it's obvious because she's calling from his phone. "I–I'm on my way home."

"He let you go?" John asks.

Elena swallows. "Yeah," she says, and doesn't say for now, even though she knows that her days are numbered before he realizes he can't make hybrids and comes looking for answers.

She doesn't say that, though. She doesn't have to think about it, not yet, not after everything.

She's going home. She's with Damon and Alaric, and she's going to see Jeremy and Jenna and John, and Caroline and Bonnie and Matt and Tyler, too, later, and she doesn't have forever, and she doesn't have Stefan anymore – god, Stefan – but she has this, now, and she'd never let herself believe it was possible.

Damon insists on coming with them, even though he's still looking pretty sick, because he refuses to let her out of his sight until he's sure she's real, and when Alaric pulls up in front of Elena's house Jeremy is already bounding down the stairs, and she throws herself into his arms and weeps into his shoulder, holding on for dear life. After an eternity of Jeremy, holding him, smelling him, Jeremy, she steps back and Jenna wraps her arms around her and holds her tight, squeezing hard enough to hurt, and Elena squeezes back.

"I'm so sorry," Jenna says, "I was supposed to protect you–"

"Jenna, I'm fine, I'm okay," she says, through her own tears. "It's all over." That part is a lie, but she keeps that information to herself.

John is standing next to her, but he looks lost, staring at her while holding himself completely still.

She looks at him for a long moment, and then steps towards him and hugs him. She's hugged him before, but as a kid, when her parents would tell her to go say goodbye to her Uncle John. This is different; after a moment, his arms reach up and fasten around her back in a death grip, like if he lets go for a second it will turn out that none of this is real.

Later, once they're in the living room and Elena's wrapped in a blanket and Jeremy's on the couch next to her and Jenna is crying across the room and John is still looking at her with amazement, and Damon is lying on the floor, still recovering from his brush with death, and Alaric is in the kitchen making tea, Jeremy thinks to start calling everyone. He calls Bonnie first – Elena thinks there's something there, but doesn't ask – and then he calls Caroline, and then Matt and Tyler, and Elena is on the phone with everyone laughing and crying, and it isn't long before everyone's piled into her house with sleepover bags. A few times, someone starts to ask a question, but Jeremy shushes them all, and Elena loves him so, so much.

She sleeps on the couch that night, surrounded by people who love her, and refuses to think about where Stefan is right now. She doesn't let herself feel guilty for pushing that grief from her mind; she's earned one night of this.

. . .

The next morning, Elena asks Alaric what he did with Isobel's body.

"I buried her," he tells her, and looks a little ashamed. "At – her parents had an empty grave for her. I buried her in it."

"Will you take me?" she asks.

Isobel died for her. She didn't die willingly, of course, and she didn't care about Elena for a second, but she died because of Elena nonetheless; she died because Klaus wanted to give Elena a gift, and had decided that Elena's mother's death was a worthy boon.

Elena thinks about Klaus's mother. Esther, Tatia had called her. Did Klaus wish Esther had died? Did he hate her? Did he kill her? Or did he wish he had, and had killed Elena's mother in some sort of wish-fulfilling act? Either way, it doesn't matter. Elena's mother is dead because she was Elena's mother, because she'd made a mistake as a teenager.

"If Isobel had kept me, do you think you still would have married her?" Elena asks Alaric.

Alaric looks over at her from the driver's seat for a moment, then looks back at the road. "I'd like to think so," he says. "I mean, I was an adult when I fell in love with her, not a scared kid. I'd have loved her no matter what."

It hurts Elena, to think of a world where Isobel had kept her and Alaric had become her father. She wouldn't take either of them over her parents, because they were her parents and they loved her, and because she wouldn't have known Jeremy; but then, when Isobel had left to become a vampire, she still would have had one parent.

Or maybe it all would have gone differently. Maybe, if she'd raised her, Isobel would have loved her enough to stay. Maybe Alaric would never have had his heart broken by the murder of his wife. Maybe her parents would never have died because she called them to pick her up from a stupid party on a bad night to be on the roads, and Jeremy would never have been orphaned at fourteen.

It all could have been worse, or it all could have been better, but it is what it is.

Elena stands over her mother's grave and reads her tombstone. In Loving Memory. Elena has no loving memories of her mother, no affection, nothing but the hollow shame at the fact that she's relieved that Isobel is dead.

"What was she like?" she asks Alaric. Alaric seems startled, as though until she

spoke to him he had been in a stupor. "When she was human, I mean," she says. "When you loved her. What was she like?"

Alaric swallows. "She was… curious," he says. "So curious, and inquisitive, and determined. She was smart, so smart." He hesitates. "She… she would have loved you. I don't… I don't know if she would have been a good mom, but she would have wanted to be."

"She never told you about me, though, right?" Elena asks.

"No," Alaric says. "She didn't." He looks over to her. "But… when she was human, she wasn't like she was when you knew her. She was… she could be distant, in her own world, but she was warm, and loving, and… I wish you could have known her."

"But I didn't," Elena says. "I never will." She looks down at the grave, at the dirt piled above her mother's dead body.

"I'm sorry," Alaric tells her.

Elena shakes her head. "No, I – Ric, I'm so sorry. I know you loved her, and now she's dead because of me–"

"She's been dead for years, Elena," Alaric says. "And it's been years since she was the woman I married." He sighs. "But yeah, I'm sorry too."

Elena stares at her mother's grave, and stays there long after Alaric mutters something about needing to get out of there and waiting at the car. She and her mother had both died the same night, under the same full moon, at the hand of the same man.

Isobel might be the same place Tatia was, Elena realizes, that purgatory for the supernatural. She might be watching. Elena swallows.

"I'm sorry," she says, out loud, feeling a little silly. "I don't know if you're listening, or if you care. But I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that death. You didn't deserve to die for a daughter you never wanted, and I'm sorry."

She stays there until she feels mosquitos nipping at her skin, coming with the setting of the sun, and then she heads back to Alaric's car. She doesn't look back.

She doesn't think she'll ever visit again.