A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries

Ryssa groaned as she came to, her head was pounding. She bolted upright as her memories came back, "Elijah!"

"He's dead," said a new voice and she turned in the direction of it to see a guy with black hair and dressed in a black shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were a piercing blue as he appraised her, his mouth set in a flirty smirk. "Who might you be sweetheart?"

"Ryssa," she answered. She wasn't about to tell him that Elijah couldn't be killed which meant that he would come for her. To buy time, she glanced around the well furnished room to see another person watching from his place against the wall. "Where am I?"

"Mystic Falls," the other guy said and she looked at him. "I'm Stefan and this is my brother, Damon." Stefan's tone and expression were nicer than the first guy who still stared at her.

"Why were you with Elijah?" Damon demanded.

"I'm a witch, he asked for my help. Am I a prisoner?" she asked. The two answered at the same time, Stefan saying "No," while Damon said "Yes." The two glared at each other a moment before Stefan looked back at her.

"What did he want help with Ryssa?"

She shut up, she wasn't about to tell them Elijah's secrets or plans. They could do whatever they wanted but she would never disrespect the Original. She looked down to see that her necklace was gone and searched around.

"Looking for this?" Damon held up her pendant and she scowled.

"Give it back. I won't tell you anything."

Damon twisted his lips into a smile, "we'll see." He had her pressed against the wall by the neck before she could move, staring into her eyes with his cold ones. "What were you doing with Elijah?"

"He's my friend," she spat.

"Has he compelled you?" Damon tried next.

"Never," she answered. He released her and slid the necklace into his pocket when Stefan said his name in his warning voice.

"She's innocent Damon, let her go." Ryssa cupped her sore throat and coughed, glaring daggers at Damon. "We just want to know why he wanted Elena, Ryssa. Did he say anything to you?"

Her eyes darted between the two, but she kept quiet. "For god's sake Stefan, can we kill her already?" She lashed out with her magic as the image of Emma alone flashed into her head and forcibly pinned Damon to the opposite wall. "Kitten's got claws eh?" Damon chuckled at her and tried to break her hold but couldn't.

"No one's killing anybody." Stefan held up his hands to stop their fighting and looked at her. "Let's all just calm down."

Ryssa narrowed her eyes and let go, and Damon snarled and took a step toward her only to groan holding his head. "Ryssa stop, please!" Stefan demanded as he went to his brother's side. "I will not betray Elijah so either let me go or I will hurt both of you," she said to him and he frowned. She pressed harder on the part of Damon's brain that she was crushing. Damon let out a cry of pain and dropped to the floor holding his head and writhed.

"Alright, you can go!" Stefan snapped and she ran from the room. She didn't release him until she was out the door however, in case he tried to come after her. She burst out into the sun and looked around, then ran for where she hoped the town was. She didn't make it more than a few feet before something struck her and she fell, seeing spots.

"Well that was a bad idea," Damon commented to Stefan as he looked down at the fallen witch. His head still hurt like hell but no way was he letting her go if she had information. He would just have to change tactics; perhaps the Bennett witch could give it a try. He lifted Ryssa into his arm's bridal style and carried her to the cellar, locking her in.

"Are we sure this is a better one?" Stefan asked.

"Not really. But Elijah is probably who Katherine's spent 500 years running from so if Ryssa's his friend then she probably knows why and what his plans for Elena were. We can't just let her go," Damon looked in through the slot in the door. "I'll see if Bonnie will talk to her, maybe she'll have better luck."

Stefan watched his brother leave and turned when he heard the sound of Ryssa waking, and watched her look around the small room. Her eyes met his and he faltered at the tears in her eyes. "If I come in, will you promise not to hurt me?" he asked and she nodded. He slowly opened the door but when she didn't try to escape or hurt him he entered and sat down against the wall.

"I'm sorry for hurting Damon," she told him, pulling her legs close to her chest. "It's just that I have a daughter out there and when he said he was going to kill me—"

"You panicked," Stefan realized and she nodded again. "I meant it when I said that all we want to know is why he wanted Elena. Damon's just…Damon. He has a temper."

"I can't, I'm sorry." Ryssa shook her head at Stefan.

"But you do know something?" he prompted.

"I know what he went there for but he didn't even know Elena existed until today. I don't know what he planned to do next. It kind of threw us both for a loop and then you guys staked him." She struggled to contain her anger at this. She wasn't going to tell him about the ritual or Klaus but just telling him about today seemed harmless.

"Why did he go to the house?" Stefan asked.

"The vampire that took her and the one that ran have been running from him for years, he said they wanted to talk." Ryssa fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "He asked me to come with him today and said he'd explain it all later, he just had to take care of business first."

"What happened before we showed up?" Stefan studied the woman in front of him. She seemed sincere when she said that Elijah didn't know about Elena but the whole thing still struck him as too coincidental.

"Rose said something about the doppelganger except he told me before that she didn't exist, that the line had ended with Katerina. He saw her and she tried to bargain with him but I don't really understand what about. Something about a moonstone?" She glanced up at Stefan then back down. "He pardoned Rose for giving him the doppelganger and killed Trevor, the one who kidnapped her."

"Then we came," he finished and she nodded. He thought about it while she waited, "you said you're his friend?"

"Yes," her reply very soft in remembrance. "He saved my life."

Stefan's phone rang and he checked it to see that it was Damon calling and answered.

"Has she talked?" Damon said and Stefan glanced at Ryssa.

"A little, did you get Bonnie?"

"Yup." Damon popped the 'p' and looked over at the dark skinned girl. "What'd she say?"

"I'll fill you in when you get here," Stefan said and decided to show a sign of good faith. "I'm letting her back into a room."

"What? Don't do that," Damon complained.

"Damon she's not our prisoner. Or didn't you notice that she said more to me than you?"

Damon scowled, "Fine but compel her not to leave the house. We don't know if we can trust her."

Damon hung up with a click and Stefan stood, holding a hand out to Ryssa who took it hesitantly. He caught her chin and gazed into her eyes. "You are not to leave the house until we tell you, or try to hurt us," he compelled.

"I'm not to leave the house or hurt you," she repeated. He let go and led her upstairs into an empty bedroom, then sat down to wait.