XI.

Katherine woke up just as the sun started peeking in the windows of the cabin. Elijah lay next to her in a fevered sleep, muttering in an unknown language. She pressed her hand to his forehead, pulling it away when she noticed how hot it was. Fuck. She had to get him back to civilization, and soon.

She gingerly extricated herself from Elijah's form, careful not to wake him, and got off the cot. Charlemagne jumped up from where he'd been lying pressed against Elijah's other side, but Katherine raised her hand.

"No," she said quietly, so as not to wake Elijah. "Stay, Charlie. Guard Elijah."

To her surprise, Charlemagne merely wagged his tail and then plopped down next to Elijah again, his ears at attention as he turned back to his master, his eyes fixed on Elijah's face. Katherine shook her head and then headed out the door and down the dirt road.

When she reached the barrier where she parked the truck, she snorted in surprise. Next to the pick-up were the cars she'd seen following them on the highway the day before—the Dodge, the Ford—and her SUV. She threw herself on the hood of her car, arms outstretched, glad that Elijah wasn't there to see her press a kiss to the metal, and then she looked over at the old, forlorn pick-up, looking much the worse for wear, obviously the work of the werewolves. All four tires were flat and the hood was open, bits and pieces of the engine lying on the ground, and the windshield had been smashed in. She pushed herself up and walked over to the pick-up, giving it a pat, and then she set about moving their stuff back into the SUV. When she was done, she examined the cars of the werewolves, bashing open the back window of the minivan with her elbow when she saw a couple of canisters of gasoline that were about to come in very handy. She walked over to the barrier and ripped off the bar, casually tossing it into the bushes, and then she grabbed the keys from her purse, letting out a sigh of relief as the engine purred into life.

When she reached the clearing where they'd encountered the wolves, she cut the engine and grabbed the canisters. She let out low whistle when she saw the extent of the damage, blood and body parts strewn across the clearing. She gathered them up and piled them in a fire ring she'd overlooked in the dark the night before. She had problems finding the head of the wolf Elijah had decapitated, but she finally discovered it lying a short distance away in the bushes, half-eaten, its eyeballs already gone. Despite being relatively inured to dead bodies after having disposed of more than her share over the centuries, she still held the head at arm's length by the hair as she carried it to the pile. Since the bodies were still covered in dew, she doused them in gasoline and then lit the fire, watching it burn for a few minutes to make sure it couldn't escape the confines of the fire ring. She was pretty sure Elijah would never stop nagging if she started a forest fire in addition to all her other criminal activities of the past few days.

When she reached the cabin, Elijah was already awake. She'd managed to find a small brook nearby and she brought him some water and some fresh clothes from their luggage so that he could clean up. Finally they were ready to go.

"Charlemagne was staring at me when I awoke," he said, leaning heavily on Katherine as she started to lead him across the floor. "It was creepy."

"He was just watching over you," Katherine said. "He's a good dog. We need to get him a treat when this is all over."

Elijah murmured his agreement as she helped him into the car and then placed Charlemagne on his lap. She had room to put him in the back now, but she couldn't bear the thought of letting him out of her sight.

"You found her," he said as she reclined his seat. "Your car."

"Or she found me," Katherine said. "Now hush. Try to get some sleep; we have a long drive ahead of us."

He was already asleep in the time it took her to go around to the other side and get in.

oOoOo

Elijah jerked awake and then leaned forward to peer at the dash clock.

"Shouldn't we be in Seattle by now?" he asked. His voice was raw and barely audible and Katherine's chest tightened. He'd been sleeping fitfully, in and out of delirium almost all day, and she was at the end of her wits. Not to mention it had started to rain the second they entered Washington.

"I took a little detour," she said. "How do you feel?"

Elijah frowned. "I'll be fine," he said, waving his hand dismissively as she opened her mouth to point out that he wasn't fine now and apparently wasn't getting any better. "Detour to where?"

"Portland," she said.

He turned his head to look at her.

"Portland?" he asked. "To Niklaus?"

"Yes," she said.

"But you hate him."

"He's your brother," Katherine said. She took a deep breath. "You need him right now."

Elijah gave her a long look and then nodded.

"Okay," he said, and then he drifted off to sleep again.

oOoOo

"Jeans?" was the first word out of Klaus's mouth when he opened the door.

Elijah shot Katherine a sidelong glare. "You said no one would know," he said with a plaintive tone.

"Oh, hush," Katherine said. Her stomach twisted in fear as she met Klaus's eyes, but she kept her gaze even. "We need your help."

Just then, a coughing fit shook Elijah's body, throwing Katherine off balance a little as she tried to keep him upright. Klaus's face grew stony as he became aware of Elijah's condition.

"What happened?" he asked, holding out his arms.

Katherine hesitated, not wanting to hand Elijah over, but then she let Klaus take him.

"Werewolf bite," she said, following him into a sunken living room as he laid Elijah on the couch. Stefan got to his feet as they entered from where he was sitting on a chair in front of the fire, a book and a pen in his hand, and she gave him a wan smile. "You have to cure him."

"I'll be fine," Elijah said with a dismissive wave. "It can't kill me."

"No, but it has made you sick," Katherine said, her voice rising in frustration. "There's no need for you to suffer." She turned to Klaus. "Talk some sense into him."

"Right." Klaus bit into his wrist and held it out towards Elijah, who made a face and turned his head away.

"Ew," he said. "I'm not drinking your blood. I said I'll be fine"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Now is not the time, 'lijah," he said. He glanced at Stefan and nodded towards the bar and Stefan fetched him a shot glass. Klaus held his wrist over the glass, just managing to fill it before the wound on his wrist healed. He held the glass out to Elijah, who shook his head.

"Consider it medicine," Klaus cajoled. He made a buzzing noise as he moved the glass towards Elijah's mouth. "Now open the hanger, here comes the aeroplane…"

"Oh, for fuck's—gimme that!" With a sudden burst of energy, Elijah snatched the shot glass out of Klaus's hand and tossed back the blood. He handed it back to Klaus, who set it on the coffee table next to a sketch pad and a glass of whiskey.

Klaus mustered him, his face thoughtful.

"You're wearing jeans," he said finally, raising a brow. "You really are sick."

"Dog ate m'other pants," Elijah said. He tried to push himself into a sitting position and then fell back against the cushions of the sofa.

"Steady," Klaus said, putting his hand on Elijah's shoulder, pulling it away as Elijah grimaced in pain. He looked up at Katherine. "He needs to rest. You're welcome to stay here."

She narrowed her eyes as she returned his look, but he seemed sincere. She glanced over at Stefan and he nodded.

"All right," she said. "I think I've had my fill of motels at the moment, to be honest."

"Well, that's settled then," Klaus said. "C'mon, big brother, let's get you to bed."

Ignoring Elijah's indignant protests, Klaus hoisted his brother into his arms and headed out of the room, Katherine and Stefan following close behind.

"'Blue Jean'," Klaus sang as he carried Elijah down the hall. "'I just met me a girl named Blue Jean—'"

"Shut up!"

When he reached the guest room, Klaus waited as Katherine pulled down the covers and arranged the pillows and then he laid Elijah on the bed and tugged off Elijah's shoes before grabbing the comforter and pulling it over him.

"Stop it!" Elijah snapped, slapping at Klaus's fingers. "You're worse than Rebekah."

"Well, someone's cranky," Klaus said. "We'll leave you now." He turned to Katherine, the humor in his eyes suddenly replaced with suspicion. "We have another guest room—"

"No," Elijah said quickly. "She's staying here with me. And the dog, too." He fixed Stefan with a glare. "And Charlemagne is not a snack."

At the sound of his name, Charlemagne rushed to the bed and started wagging his tail and barking. Katherine bent down and picked him up, placing him on the bed next to Elijah.

"We're fine," she said to Klaus. "Good night. And… thanks."

Klaus stared at her for a long moment and then he nodded.

"You're welcome," he said. "Good night."

"Help me with my jeans," Elijah said, once Klaus was gone. "I think I'm stuck in them."

"You are not," Katherine said with a laugh as she helped him pull down his pants. She tossed them on the floor of the bathroom and then returned to the bedroom, pulling off her jacket and then her own jeans before crawling into bed with him.

"You know, when you came out of the bathroom at the motel," he said, turning to look at her, "I was expecting you to be wearing a sexy negligée."

"I wasn't expecting to have to seduce anyone on this trip, least of all you."

"You'd be surprised at how seductive a t-shirt can be."

"Are you saying you think I'm hot?"

"I'm delirious, remember?"

Katherine poked his side and he groaned.

"All right," he said. "Not a word I would generally use, but yes. Hot. Steaming even."

Katherine grinned and leaned forward, intent on kissing Elijah, when Charlemagne scooted up and plopped his head between their pillows with a whistling sigh of content.

"I think he wants to protect our chastity," Elijah said with a laugh.

"Well, he's doing a good job of it," Katherine said. "Good night, Elijah. Good night, Charlie." She leaned down and pressed a kiss to Charlemagne's nose and then lay back. She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard Elijah mutter, "His name's Charlemagne, not Charlie..."

oOoOo

Elijah was still asleep when she woke up the next morning, breathing deeply and evenly with a healthy color in his face. She dressed quickly and headed out to the car to get some fresh clothes and toiletries, as well as a couple of blood bags out of the cooler in the back of the car, and then she headed back to their room.

As Katherine neared the door, she saw that it was open a crack and she could hear Klaus and Elijah talking. She stood still and held her breath, concentrating on their voices through the crack in the door. Elijah said something in that language he'd been speaking earlier, when he was delirious, and Klaus snorted a laugh.

"Are you sure about this?" Klaus asked, switching to English. His tone was nagging, but Katherine was surprised to detect a note of concern.

"Positive," Elijah said firmly, exasperation evident in his voice, like they'd already had this conversation several times before with similar results. "Now drop it, please, I don't wish to discuss this right now. Not here, when she…"

"All right," Klaus said petulantly. "But, for the record, I still think you're barmy."

"Hey."

Katherine started and whirled around, her eyes widening when she saw Stefan standing behind her.

"Oh, uh, hey," she said, hoping that Stefan hadn't noticed that she was eavesdropping.

She moved away from the bedroom door, and he motioned for her to follow. They headed down the hall and into the large living room. When they reached the double French doors of the terrace, he held them open for her and then followed her into a well-cultivated garden. The rain had stopped, for the moment, but patches of mist floated about and the air held a bone-penetrating cold.

"So, you and Klaus," she said, leaning against an arch that doubled as a rose trellis. She raised a brow.

"So, you and Elijah," he countered.

She frowned at his words. "I don't know if I'd say there's an 'us'," she said. Yet. "It's… complicated."

"It always is," Stefan said. "Do you love him?"

Yes. "I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Maybe. I guess we'll see what happens." She frowned. "He saved me from the werewolves."

Stefan nodded.

"He's a good guy. You could probably do worse. Elena always liked him, so he can't be that bad."

Katherine resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment about Elena's abilities to read people, but bit it back. When it came to Elijah, Katherine happened to agree with Elena's assessment, she realized.

"I have five centuries of doing worse behind me," she said. "Present company excepted."

Stefan grinned.

"And Damon?" he asked. "Not him, right?"

Katherine snorted. "It's never going to stop, this sibling rivalry, is it?"

"Nope," Stefan said. "Thank God he isn't gay. Though Klaus can't stand him anyway."

Katherine laughed and then started as she heard someone clear his throat behind them. She whirled around to find Klaus watching them, his eyes wary and guarded as he gazed at her.

"Our guest is clamoring for some breakfast, Stefan," he said. "Why don't you go oblige him while I… entertain Katherine?"

"Sure," Stefan said, giving Klaus a warning look as he passed by him and entered the house.

Katherine turned to face Klaus, her stomach churning as she tried not to show her fear. He wouldn't dare hurt her with Elijah right there with them in the house, right?

"So, Katherine…"

"Klaus." She gave him a wary look.

"Stefan says I have to be nice to you," he said, "and give you my blessing." He held up his hand when she rolled her eyes. "And I do. But know this—if you ever hurt my brother, I'll hunt you down and, when I'm done with you, you'll be begging me to kill you."

You'd have to catch me first, she thought, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Firstly," she said, raising a brow. "I'll tell you what I told Stefan—I have no idea where this is going—if anywhere. And secondly…" She hesitated for a moment and then held out her hand. "I don't intend to hurt him. Okay?"

Klaus stared at her at narrowed eyes for a moment and then reached out and took her hand.

"Fair enough," he said, squeezing it just a little too hard. "For the moment."