Later that evening, when Elena and Jeremy pulled up in front of the house, Stefan was waiting for her on the porch. Elena had managed to convince Katherine that the best thing she could do for all of them was to discover where Klaus was hiding out and get as much inside information as she could. It paid to be prepared and while Katherine might have not been too happy to cooperate at first, Elena had made her see the light. It might have involved a teensy weensy threat of hog-tying the vampire and sending her to Klaus as a gift, complete with a red bow, but it had been quite effective. While she did need information, she still didn't trust Katherine and that meant she wasn't going to be seeing her ship anytime soon.

"What do you want Stefan?" she asked.

"Can I talk to you for a bit? I know I've been a dick and I'm so sorry for everything I've done," he replied, the pain on his face indicating that he had switched his emotions back on.

"I'll leave you to it," Jeremy said as he walked into the house.

"Stefan, there's nothing to forgive. It wasn't you and I understand, really I do," she said softly.

"There's nothing I can do to atone for what I've done," he said, guilt lacing his tone. "I just wanted you to know that I love you and I always will."

"Stefan," she hesitated.

"I know you can't love me after what I've done to you," he said.

"So, you actually believe I'm me and not a pod person?" she asked with a soft chuckle.

Stefan laughed. "I know it's you Elena. I can feel it in my blood and in my heart. It's you."

"Thank you, Stefan."

"And I know you don't need me anymore. If what I heard is true, then you can protect yourself quite easily from Klaus."

"It's true and Klaus is no threat to me. Not anymore."

"Do you think you could ever love me again?" he asked with a small whisper. She looked at him sadly and wished she could. He deserved it but someone else owned her heart and always would.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," she said softly.

"It's okay," he replied, his eyes filling with pain. "I kind of expected it after everything."

Elena looked at him and couldn't let him blame himself for this. "Stefan, it's not you. I'm nearly four thousand years old, Stefan," she told him and his face fell in shock. "I've fought for most of my life and I have too many obligations to simply forget everything because I've been in hiding for twenty years."

"You're four thousand years old?" he asked.

"Yes."

"But that isn't it, is it? You're in love with someone else, aren't you? I guess you probably have a husband back home, right?"

Elena laughed softly. "Not quite like that. And no, I have no one at home waiting for me, other than some very close friends."

"It's Damon, isn't it?" Stefan said suddenly, his voice bitter.

"What do you mean?"

"You're in love with Damon."

"No, Stefan, I'm not. I can't afford to love anyone."

Stefan just shook his head, knowing she was lying. "You're either lying to me or yourself because I can see it," he said softly. Elena wondered when she had become such an open book to everyone around her.

"Stefan, even if I did love him, it doesn't matter. He thinks I'm some weird pod person who's taken over the real Elena and I also hurt him pretty badly yesterday. And I refuse to put any of you in danger. My life isn't easy and until the Emperor dies, my life is not my own. I cannot afford any weaknesses."

"Have you told Damon?"

"No, he doesn't know and I would prefer to keep it that way," she warned him. "It's better for everyone involved that he hates me."

"Are you sure, Elena? You know how much Katherine made him suffer. Are you willing to do that to him too?"

"Stefan, I'm going to be leaving in a few days, what then? I can't stay. And this war is mine and not yours. So, what should I do? Go to him and tell him I love him more than my own life and then abandon him?"

"Take him with you," Stefan repeated the words Jer had said to her the evening before.

"I can't Stefan. Believe me, I can't."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"I can't and anyway, you're taking this all kind of well," she said looking at him curiously.

Stefan shrugged. "I realized that you and I aren't meant to be. And Damon is my brother and I want him to be happy for once. He's suffered enough."

"I'm not the one who can make him happy Stefan. My life is a mess. I'm constantly involved in one battle or another, running for my life when I'm not and trying to bring down an Empire that has kept the Galaxy in terror for ten thousand years. That's not the life I want for Damon."

"But what about what he wants? Do you remember how you hated every time Damon made a decision regarding your safety and didn't ask your opinion?" When she nodded, he continued. "Well, you're making a decision regarding Damon's future without asking him. That's even worse."

"But what if I didn't love him? Would it be any different?"

"Yes it would. Just knowing you loved him would make Damon happy. And he'd take you any way he could get you, even if that meant living in a world where you were constantly in danger. He stayed to protect you Elena because he loves you."

"Stefan, I don't need his protection and I refuse to put him in the kind of danger my world is. Klaus is nothing compared to what I deal with and I won't have Damon involved when he could stay here, happy and safe."

Stefan shrugged. "It's your decision Elena. But don't fool yourself into thinking Damon will ever be happy without you," he said softly as he turned and left.

"That's two of us that have told you the same thing," Jeremy said when she walked in.

She snorted. "Two stubborn idiots who have no idea what I have to face every day," she stated.

"Make that three," she heard Ric chime in.

"Et tu Brute?" she asked with a small laugh.

"Elena, I thought Damon was all wrong for you because you were too young but after what Jeremy's told me, I really think you made the wrong call on this one. I know you're older than us and I know you live a harsh life, but isn't this what you're really fighting for? Aren't you fighting for people to have the right to make their own decisions?"

Elena felt her anger grow. "What do you think? Don't you think I'd love to be able to take my one chance at happiness? Do you think I want to leave him behind? To leave my hearts and soul behind on this dump of a planet and go save trillions of others while I'm in agony because I left the only man I have ever loved behind!" she snapped, her voice increasing in volume.

"Well, let me tell you something. My father, the Emperor, gave me a gift on my seventh birthday. It was a frindian youngling, something like a puppy. I loved that frindian and I thought my father was the best person in the world. I never understood my mother's fear of him. Until I turned eight. I was taken to see my father and told to bring Max with me. I was so happy! But when I entered the room, I saw they had my best friend strung up in chains. She was naked and she was being beaten with laser whips. Her body was covered in cuts and gashes and she was screaming as the blood poured down her body. My father made me watch as they beat and raped her over and over again while she pleaded for mercy. Three hours later, she was begging to die and she was fucking eight!" she screamed at their horrified faces.

"The following week, I was summoned again and there, another of my friends stood, in the same position and so it went for the next year until I had no friends left. All I had was Max. But that didn't last. On my ninth birthday, I had to choose, kill Max and eat his heart or let them rape and kill my mother. So, I killed Max. He looked up at me and he told me he understood and he loved me. He knew I had to do it and he told me that he would see me again someday and that it wasn't my fault. So I killed him, Ric. I killed him and ate his heart. But the bastard still killed my mother. And until my eighteenth birthday, anyone I even shared a kind hello with would be strung up and tortured until I learned the lesson my father wanted me to learn. I was to never get attached to anything or anyone!"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Elena," Ric whispered, horrified at the stories she told.

"Don't you pity me! Pity the poor fools who dared speak to me because they were the ones who died. But that's not the end of the story. Once I turned eighteen and my body's regenerative powers kicked in allowing me to heal quickly without scarring, it was time to learn my next lesson. Pain. I would be taken and tortured, my skin cut off my body, flesh-eaters placed on my open wounds while I was pumped with drugs that would maximize the pain and make sure I couldn't pass out. I was tied up and couldn't move while the flesh-eaters ate me almost to the bone. It would take days. Days of sheer agony. Then, I'd be cut down, thrown into a cell until my body healed, which would only take hours and it would start all over again. And those were the nice parts."

Elena's voice had become cold and distant as she dispassionately related her story. "It went on for years, the same cycle over and over again until I stopped screaming. Until I could shut off the pain at will. My next lesson was meant to harden my heart. They stopped feeding me. I hadn't had any sustenance in weeks and even though it wouldn't kill me, it made me weak. I didn't have the strength to stop the pain without feeding. One day, they threw me into a different cell where a bowl of food waited for me. The only problem was, if I removed the bowl, it would trigger a mechanism that would open the gates in the cell next to me and allow a Zarinthian lizard in. Zarinthian lizards feed by spraying their pray with acid, which digests the creature slowly while they suck up the remains. A five year old girl was in the cell next to me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't. But the torture continued until I became a monster and could only listen to my own instincts. And three weeks later they threw me in the cell and I grabbed the bowl and ate while I watched the girl being eaten, her screams filling my ears."

"It took another two years for my father to be satisfied that I had learned my lesson well. Two years of being fed once a week, and every week a child would die in agony. And I no longer cared. I had to survive and that was all that mattered to me," she continued coldly. Ric and Jeremy were close to throwing up at what they were hearing. No one could go through that and come out intact.

"When I was thirty, they upped the torture. My father didn't want a weakling for a daughter so he decided he needed to teach me to torture others as well as he did. He took over my training personally and used a laser knife to slice pieces off me, while they dripped Zarinthian acid on me. I had to watch as my flesh and bone liquefied. I can't even begin to describe the agony. But again, I couldn't pass out. He made damn sure of that. After a month of no sleep, no food and constant torture, I was given a choice. Kill and torture and receive a three-day reprieve or face the acid again. They brought in a fifteen year old girl. Do you know what I did?" she snarled at them. They shook their heads.

"I did the same thing to her that had been done to me. I didn't even hesitate. And so, I began to enjoy hurting others because it was the only time I was free of pain. I became like him and he was so proud of me," she said with a bitter laugh. "He named me Admiral of the Imperial Fleet and I became the most feared being in the Galaxy. The evil, psychotic princess who was worse than her father."

Ric swallowed hard. He didn't know what to say. He found it hard to believe that anyone could do that to their own child but one look at Elena told him she spoke the truth. No one could make up such horror stories.

"How did you get away?" Jeremy asked, his voice hoarse. He had been living Elena's memories along with her and his face was covered in tears. He couldn't blame her for what she had done. How could he when he had only felt a microscopic amount of what she had been through and he knew he wouldn't have lasted as long as she had? Not by far.

"I didn't get away Jer. I ruled the Galaxy alongside him for half a millennium. I was worse than he was. I had no compassion, no mercy for anyone. I am a product of my father and he taught me well. Too well. I became everything he wanted me to be but it turns out he failed in one thing. He couldn't break my spirit completely. I stood beside him but I managed to stop him killing children. I used logic, for fear I would give myself away, and I told him it was better to brainwash them to join the Imperial armies than waste them. He agreed. You might think it was harsh but it was better than death or torture. And as imperial recruits, they at least had full bellies and were treated respectfully."

"One day, we learned of a small group of rebels who were banding together to try and assassinate the Emperor. I was sent to squash them. Unfortunately, my illustrious father underestimated their need for revenge and so I was sent in with a force that was much too small. They decimated us but when they realized who I was, they decided I would make for some good leverage. Sadly, they didn't know my father. So, when they tried to trade me for their freedom, he sent in three legions to decimate every living thing on the planet they were holed up on. I tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen, of course. Everyone died, except for me. I was a damn Dirilian and my father knew I would come out unscathed. But that short time I spent with them showed me things could be different. I returned to my father, but I began to work against him from the inside. I had hope. Seeing those poor people ready to fight, even though I held more power in my pinky than their entire army, changed me. It showed me that if they could do it, then so could I."

"Then, a few years later, I heard a legend of a Dirilian ancient who was supposedly the most powerful of our kind. I began to research him and discovered that he was not a legend but quite real. I became obsessed with finding him because I was convinced he was the only one who could help me. And I was right. Eventually I found Ramsjehin Valdran and the rest is history. We've been fighting together for more than two and a half millennia and he still tries to show me that I'm not the monster my father is, though I still have my doubts," she said softly as she looked up at them.

"Understand this, if anyone hurts Damon, I will become worse than my father and I will destroy everyone who lays a hand on him, as well as their families and their entire systems in retribution. Do you understand now why I can't afford to take Damon with me?" she asked them.

"No because I know you, Lenny, and I know you would never be like him," Jeremy whispered softly. She smiled at him.

"I wish you were right Jer, but there's too much of my father in me for me to take that chance. I was so close before. So very close."

"I can't even imagine what you lived through and I suspect you've only scratched the surface of what happened to you, but there is one thing I am certain of. If you lived through that and still did the right thing, I have no doubt you will never be like your father," Ric said. "And on that note, I'm going to get us a drink, because I think we all could really use one," he continued as he stood.

"I think that's the best idea I've heard all day," Elena said with a small smile, trying to lock her memories away, to push back the pain and agony.

Ric walked into the kitchen and rounded the island to grab three glasses and the bottle of bourbon from the cupboard.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The figure that huddled behind the island was shaking. Ice blue eyes stared up at him from a pale face.

"Every last word," came the hoarse reply.

"Then I suggest you quit being an ass. I don't know by what miracle the universe delivered her to you but you'd be a damned fool to let her go, Damon," he said softly. "She needs you, even if she doesn't believe it."

"I need her," Damon choked out.

"Don't fuck this up, Damon," Ric felt the need to reinforce the concept. "You've been given something most of us only dream of. Don't fuck it up or by God, I'll take her myself," Ric growled.

"You even think of touching her and you will fucking die," Damon snarled. "She's mine and I'm never going to give her up!"

Ric grinned. "I'm glad to see you've woken up. Now get out of here before she figures out you listened in. I don't want to see what she's like when she's pissed." Damon nodded and disappeared, the back door closing quietly behind him.

Ric picked up the bottle and glasses and made his way back to the living room, where he found Elena curled up against Jeremy.

"By the way," Elena said, when Ric sat down. "I suspect Jeremy really is my brother."

Ric stared in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Well, Dirilians that are related by blood can communicate telepathically with each other and sense each other's emotions. Last night, we figured out we could read each other's minds and feel each other's emotions."

"Okay, that's pretty cool," Ric said with a grin. "So, tell me what else you can do."

"She's a battle-class Dirilian," Jeremy said proudly.

"Huh?"

"Yup, she was born to be a fighter. And she can do a million and one cool things, including pilot a spaceship, kick serious ass and she has all these cool weapons," Jeremy said with a grin as he pulled Elena closer.

"So you guys have classes? Like the middle-class here?" Ric asked curiously as he took a gulp of his drink. It all sounded so amazing but hey, in for a penny in for a pound, right?

"No, with us it's genetic," Elena said and began to explain the class system as she had to Jeremy.

"That is fricking amazing. No wonder your society functions so well. So, are all aliens so long-lived or is it just you lot?"

"It's just Dirilians, really. Other species have varied lifespans. For example, the Wolfrans, which are ancestors to the werewolves on Earth, can live a few hundred years. The only other species that has comparable life spans are the Belathorians and we believe they are actually an offshoot of Dirilians."

"What are Belathorians?"

"They're much like the vampires of Earth, which is why I suspect they might have a hand in the creation of vampires," she said slowly as she thought about it. It was logical. Malik had said Klaus was a Belathorian - Wolfran hybrid.

"So, you're saying that vampires and werewolves are basically alien human hybrids and not supernatural?"

"Yeah, I believe so. It makes a lot more sense than this supernatural crap you all believe in," Elena said with a small snort.

"Fine, what about witches?" Ric said, sure he had caught her.

But then Jeremy began to explain what Elena had told him earlier about molecular shaping and he just stared, mouth agape. "Okay, enough with the history lessons. I still have work to do on the ship but the databanks are intact and you can read all about it tomorrow," Elena said.

"Ship? What ship?" Ric asked in surprise.

"The transport that's been hiding under the Lockwood property for the past two decades and the one I'm going to be flying out of here on in the next few days," Elena said.

"There's a spaceship under the Lockwood property?" Ric choked out.

"Yeah and it's fucking cool!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Can we go see it now? Please?"

"Let's leave it for tomorrow," Elena said though she had a feeling she was going to lose this argument.

"You can't possibly tell me you have a ship to show me and expect me to sleep through the night. Either we go now or I wake you up at four in the morning," he threatened with a grin.

"We've been drinking," Elena pointed out, trying to buy some time, though it might be a good idea for her to check up on the ship and maybe find out a little more of the imperial scout that had followed her. Plus, there was that message from Ramsjehin she still had to watch.

"You're a three thousand year old alien. I'm sure you can deal with a cop if we get pulled over," Jeremy added his two cents to the conversation.

"Traitor," she huffed at him, poking her tongue out. When Jeremy responded in kind she laughed. It felt good to let go. She hadn't realized how worried she'd been that Jeremy would hate her when he learned the truth and seeing him so accepting of her made her hearts pulse warmly. "Fine, you win. But I'm finishing my drink first."

Damon walked into the boarding house and headed straight for the bourbon. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten home because his mind had been busy trying to process everything he had heard. Ric had come up with the idea for him to hide in the house while he pumped Elena and Jeremy for information and Damon had gone along with it out of curiosity.

He had found it hard to believe that the person Jeremy spoke of was really Elena but he could hear in the boy's voice that he didn't have a doubt. And he had to grudgingly admit that Jeremy's story made sense in a weird sort of way. He had almost gasped aloud, though, when he had heard that Elena was three thousand years old. Suddenly, he felt a pathetic fool. How could she possibly care for him? She probably had someone back home. Or, at the very least, he was probably an annoyance to her and nothing more.

But then she had come in and started speaking and his emotions had gone on a rollercoaster ride. He had been ecstatic to learn she cared so deeply for him but he was terrified that she wanted to abandon him. And then the story of her childhood had begun and he had listened in agony. He had felt tears run down his cheeks at what she had endured and he had crumpled to the floor when she had called herself a monster. It had taken every last ounce of strength and the knowledge that she might hate him if she knew he had been listening in secretly not to run to her, pick her up, hold her close and tell her he loved her more than life itself and he would never leave her.

When she had finished her story, he had sworn that he would find her father and destroy him for what he had done to her, if it was the last thing he ever did. When Ric had come in and told him that he had been handed a miracle, he had realized the man was right. She was a miracle. His miracle and he would fight for her and against her if that's what was needed to keep her. They needed each other. We are meant to be together. Together, we are strong, apart we are weak. His inner vampire apparently agreed with his assessment. Of course I agree, jackass. She is our mate.

Damon's eyes widened a bit but he wasn't too surprised that he was having a conversation with himself. Especially not after the day he had had.

"She loves you, you know," the soft voice of his brother intruded on his thoughts. He looked at Stefan guiltily. "It's not your fault Damon. Just don't be an ass. This is the real Elena. All of her."

"I know, Stefan."

"You'll have to fight her. She's strong and she thinks she's protecting you. She won't give in easily but she's worth it," Stefan continued. "I'll be heading out soon but you have to promise me you won't leave her alone."

Damon's eyes narrowed suspiciously, old habits dying hard. "She loves you Stefan, so why are you leaving?"

"Damon, she cares for me but it's you she truly loves. I'm not strong enough for her and I never will be. Deep down, she's always known it but now she sees it. The only problem is that she's been on her own for so long, she doesn't know how to let someone in," his brother said wistfully. "I wish I was in your place. But I'm not. This time, you won Damon."

"Stefan, it's not a matter of winning or losing," Damon said softly.

Stefan laughed bitterly. "You know what she said to me? She said that none of what I had done mattered. That it hadn't affected her feelings for me. It's always been you Damon, but she wasn't whole before and she didn't understand it. Now, she knows and if I had someone love me as much as she loves you for even a moment in time, I would die happily," he said softly.

Damon's eyes widened at Stefan's admission. Suddenly the future looked bright. Yes, it was going to be hard, especially since he had a feeling Elena was going to be stubborn as hell about it all but it didn't matter. He would do anything for her and for once, he felt strong and powerful. She hadn't chosen him on the rebound. She really wanted him, Stefan or no Stefan.

He thanked his lucky stars for all the agony he had been through. He now realized that he would have gladly suffered a million times worse if Elena was his reward. "I'm sorry Stefan but I promise I'll never let her go."

"Take care of her Damon. She's strong but she still needs you. Don't ever forget that. And if you hurt her, I'll kick your ass," his brother snarled. But then he winked and the brothers grinned at each other, comfortable in each other's presence for the first time in more than a century and a half.