14. Not a Rescue

It was funny how no longer being a prisoner could make a place seem so much nicer. Elena spent the morning chatting with Irene and tried to assure the woman that they would not be relying on her hospitality for much longer. She'd make it up to her somehow, Elena thought. After this was over... Elijah might wipe her memory, but that wouldn't undo what had actually happened.

She was questioning Irene on what kind of flowers she liked, thinking that she could buy some as a gift, when somebody kicked in the door. Elena jumped violently, knocking over her coffee. Irene stared at her, face white, and stood up, but Elena beat her to it.

"Stay here," she said. "I'll – I'll go see what happened."

"Elena!"

She recognized the voice calling her. It was Damon. At once a rush of emotions swept over her; she felt hot and cold at once; her limbs trembled and for a moment she couldn't move. Even her mind felt frozen, too overwhelmed by conflicting thoughts and feelings. Damon was here. Of course, he was here to rescue her and only yesterday she would have rejoiced, but today...

Irene clutched her arm with trembling fingers. "He knows you? Who is it?"

"Stay here," Elena repeated. "I'll handle it."

She retreated, leaving Irene staring after her as she hurried across to the hallway, where she almost bumped into Alaric.

"Ric!"

He smiled at her, and she felt tears splinter her eyes at the sheer relief on his face. "Elena! You're okay. Damon's outside, c'mon, let's get you outta here..."

He beckoned her forward, and even started walking until he realized that she wasn't moving. She stood in the doorway, shifting awkwardly.

"Ric... I can't leave."

"What?" He stared at her. "Did he compel you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not compelled. It's complicated, but things have changed. Elijah's on my side now. He agreed to spare your lives and he knows a way to save mine. We're working together..."

She trailed off, the conviction in her voice fading. Alaric was staring at her in disbelief, and then she heard Damon call from the entrance.

"She's compelled, Ric! Get her over here."

Her jaw clenched. There he was, talking about her like she wasn't there again. Elena gave Alaric a hard look, then walked down the hallway until she could see Damon at the door, unable to enter. Alaric followed, and she guessed that he was hoping she'd walk out without any trouble, but Elena stopped a good five feet away from Damon and folded her arms.

"I'm not compelled. Look, I'm wearing my necklace."

He was looking at her with a suppressed kind of longing; for a moment he looked very young. Then his eyes flicked to her necklace and his face became a mask.

"Whatever he did to you can't be undone," said Damon. "But we can make sure he doesn't do it again."

Alaric touched her shoulder. "We're here to rescue you, Elena."

She shook her head. "I don't want to be rescued. You don't get it–"

"Ric," said Damon, nodding his head at him.

Alaric held up his hands. "I can't..."

"She's compelled," said Damon. "Get her over here. Now."

Elena backed away, still shaking her head. Alaric had turned to her and she could tell that he didn't want to do this, didn't want to use force, but with Damon outside thinking that she had been compelled... He took a step forward.

"I'm sorry, Elena."

"No," she said, "no! I'm telling the truth, I have to stay just for a little while longer, Elijah and I have a plan–" He made a grab for her and she dodged; and for the next few seconds they played a strange game of cat and mouse where Elena couldn't bring herself to fight Ric and he was clearly reluctant to get a proper hold of her. "You're making a mistake!" she cried. "Don't listen to him, I'm not compelled – I'm staying because Isobel was here!"

She was cut off with a cry as Alaric finally grabbed her arm, hard, and pulled her to him, but at the mention of Isobel he froze.

"Isobel?"

"She was here," said Elena, breathless. "Two days ago."

"Ric!" Damon's voice was fraying with impatience. "Let's have this conversation outside. Or better still, somewhere else completely."

Alaric stared at her, still too shocked to move, and Elena wasn't sure whether he was about to listen to her or not, but unfortunately Irene chose that moment to make the decision for her. She appeared behind them brandishing a frying pan; a warning yell from Damon alerted Alaric and he shifted faster than she expected, shoving Elena into Damon's arms while she cried out, "Don't hurt her!"

Damon had her in a far stronger grip than Alaric. She fought him anyway, because she was furious, and terrified for the welfare of the poor woman who owned the house. Alaric escaped beyond the threshold, and Damon immediately blocked the way, still holding her. If Irene took a single step outside...

"Let go of me!"

But his grip only tightened, and he pressed his cheek against hers and hissed at her. "You are being rescued whether you like it or not."

Elena hated him in that moment. Why couldn't he ever respect her decisions?

"Let her go!" said Irene, surprising Elena with the strength of her voice.

"Don't," Elena managed. "Don't come outside, he'll kill you!"

"Trust me," said Alaric, raising a hand at Irene while she trembled, still holding the frying pan. "You don't want to step outside, believe me."

"We're taking her with us," said Damon. "Go back inside the house. Forget that this happened."

Elena caught her breath. She had forgotten that Irene was vulnerable to compulsion. It worked; the moment Damon caught her eyes, she had stopped, and now she was turning back as though nothing had happened. She disappeared into the living room and Elena sagged with relief. Damon took advantage of her more compliant state to drag her to his car and shove her in the back. He climbed in after her, leaving it to Alaric to take the driver's seat.

Elena refused to look at him as Damon placed a possessive arm around her shoulder. "Don't think of jumping out," he said. "We've got you, Elena."

"Is she okay?" Alaric asked, glancing through the rear view mirror. They were setting off already; the car pulled away from the farmhouse and into the countryside surrounding Mystic Falls.

"No, I'm not," Elena answered pointedly. "And if you want to ask about my welfare again, ask me directly, Ric."

Alaric at least did her the courtesy of looking uncomfortable.

Damon was unrepentant. "She won't be okay until I get rid of this bullshit story Elijah fed her."

Elena looked at him then. "So what are you going to do, compel me? Rip my necklace off and force me to do as you say?" She was blazing with anger; her hands shook. She wanted to hit him.

"You know, you are being very ungrateful given that we just saved your life," said Damon, reverting back to his usual uncaring drawl. "I'll forgive you since Elijah messed with your head, but I'll admit that I'm a little hurt."

She swallowed back a retort and made her best effort to be reasonable. "I get that you wanted to save me, Damon, but believe me, taking me away right now is not helping. Klaus is coming; he sent Isobel to find me."

"It's a right turn here, Ric," said Damon, completely ignoring everything that she was saying.

Alaric took the right turn, but his eyes also met Elena's in the mirror again. His brow creased. "Isobel's working for Klaus?"

"She's the one who gave John the dagger. She's in town somewhere. Haven't you seen her?"

"No, I haven't," Alaric muttered.

"Then she's in hiding," said Elena. "Which means you'll probably never find her until she kidnaps me and takes me to Klaus."

Damon gave a humourless smile. "I won't let that happen."

"You won't let that happen?" She folded her arms. "What about Stefan? Where is he?"

"Meeting Elijah. With Katherine."

Of course... Elijah had told her about the meeting at the Lockwood mansion. But he'd seemed to indicate that he would be talking to both Salvatore brothers. Katherine had set up the meeting so that they could negotiate a truce. Elijah wanted the moonstone back, and he was going to promise that he wouldn't harm them in exchange. It was a promise that he had already made, but Elena was familiar with Elijah's tricks by now. He wouldn't offer any more than he had already committed to. She could picture it now: Elijah would simply forget to mention that he had a similar deal with Elena, and his wording would be vague enough that Stefan and Katherine would be none the wiser.

He liked to bend the rules; they simply had to play him at his own game.

But Damon had ruined it, again. She thought quickly. "Please tell me he's not planning to kill Elijah."

Even Elijah's patience would not extend to a third murder attempt, she thought.

Damon sighed. "No, he's not."

"Ric?"

"He's not," said Alaric. "We couldn't take him out even if we wanted to. We wanted to get you out. Talking to Elijah is just a distraction."

"He'll come for me," she said.

"We know that," said Damon. "That's why we're taking you somewhere he can't reach."

"Where's that?" Elena looked outside the window. They had reached the town by now and the streets were all familiar, every landmark rich with memories. A street corner where she had almost walked into a lamp, drunk and laughing with Matt. The park where she had played as a child, her favourite swing empty. The Grill, which had been a regular haunt of hers for as long as she had been a teenager.

They passed the school, and it was Alaric who answered. "My apartment. It's only temporary," he added, looking embarrassed at the incredulous look on her face. "I'll move out, stay in a motel for a few days... This doesn't need to be any more awkward than it already is."

"Don't worry about it, Ric," said Damon cheerfully. "We won't tell anyone that you're shacking up with one of your history students."

It wasn't the prospect of staying with Alaric that bothered Elena. She was used to him being around when he stayed over with Jenna anyway. But if she understood them properly... "So, basically, what you're saying is that you rescued me from one house only to trap me in another? I won't be a prisoner, Damon. I've had enough of that already."

Damon didn't even look at her. He was watching the road as Alaric slowed down. "You do not get a say in this."

She felt the anger flare up again. "This isn't a rescue! This is kidnapping. How many times do I have to tell you – I don't want this."

The car stopped outside an apartment block. Elena knew this area, but she'd never actually visited Alaric's apartment before. While Ric turned off the engine and fumbled for his keys, Damon turned and leaned right over her, invading her personal space. His hand went to her neck, grasping the chain of her necklace though he made sure not to touch the locket part, which she knew would burn him. He hadn't threatened her like this since Stefan had gotten trapped in the tomb with Katherine, and Elena felt much the same now as she had done then: furious, scared, helpless. Her heart was racing and her breath quickened as Damon stared at her.

"It'd take me less than a second to remove this and compel you to do exactly as I say. Don't think I won't do it, Elena. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

"There's one thing you won't do," she retorted, and that puzzled him enough to make him pause.

"What's that?"

"Listen."

He rolled his eyes, laughed softly, bitterly, and to her relief Alaric chose that moment to open the car door. Elena almost fell out when he did, because she had been leaning right back against it, but Alaric caught her.

"Lay off her, Damon. C'mon."

She allowed Alaric to help her out of the car and show her up to the apartment with Damon only because she knew she didn't have a choice. Just when she thought she had regained control of her life, they had taken it away from her. And Damon would never apologize, she knew, because he thought his actions were entirely justified. She wished desperately that Stefan could be here.

She wished that Elijah would come back.

Jenna was thinking of resorting to texting. That was normal, right? Texting someone she didn't really know to ask them out on a date. That wouldn't seem weird or out of the blue at all.

Because it didn't seem like she was going to get a chance to talk to Elijah. Katherine had gone over to him first and then they'd disappeared somewhere and she had Jeremy following her like a lost puppy. She couldn't go anywhere near Elijah while Jeremy was in the room. He kept asking her weird questions too, like he suspected something. All in all, she was glad when she could shake him off and go receive the damn cheque for Miranda's foundation.

He even stuck around with her afterwards, to the point that she asked, "Jeremy, don't you have somewhere else you could be?"

As his parent, she couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. But she didn't do hand holding, and Jeremy had never been one to seek it out. Yet today for some reason he wouldn't take a hint. That was when she took out her phone and considered texting. Or mission abort. That was more tempting.

Then, almost as if the heavens heard her thoughts, Stefan appeared, steered Jeremy out of the way, and the two of them left. She breathed a sigh of relief. Finally.

Elijah was talking to an elderly couple across the room. He was directly in her line of sight: target locked, laser-guided missile (i.e. her) primed and ready.

Right. Okay, Jenna. Be a laser.

Okay, that was a terrible metaphor. But she steadied herself, cocktail in hand, and the moment Elijah finished his conversation with the elderly couple, Jenna found the courage to swoop in. And by 'swoop in', she meant 'totter over, feeling somewhat light-headed'. Actually, she nearly stumbled into him, righting herself at the last moment as Elijah turned and caught her arm, smiling.

"Jenna!" he said. "Close call."

"Oh, God," she said. "Sorry, I almost had you then – I mean, I would have been horizontal. This is what drinking before 4pm does to you. What do they put in these things?"

She held up the glass, which was almost empty – evidence of her alcoholic tendencies – feeling absolutely ridiculous and terrified. Afraid that her babbling mouth was going to betray her, Jenna drained the last of the cocktail in one gulp to shut herself up. She needed some Dutch courage for this.

If Elijah thought she was an idiot, he didn't show it. "No harm done. It's a pleasure to see you again. You look absolutely ravishing."

Haha. Yes.

She managed to take the compliment without seeming like a total fool. "Thank you. I was hoping to see you again."

He smiled. "I feel that I should apologize for the last time we met. It wasn't my intention to be abrupt with you."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. You were in a hurry. I know how that feels, deadlines looming and all that." She bit her lip, decided to go for it. "But if you feel like making it up to me..."

His gaze seemed to sharpen. She would have interpreted that as interest, though since he was a vampire he might have all sorts of other unpleasant things in mind.

"And how might I do that, Miss Sommers?" he asked.

Jenna really hoped that she wasn't shaking right now. "Well, you could take me home. Continue this conversation over a bottle of wine. Seeing as I've already broken the 'no alcohol before 4pm' rule."

He seemed to appreciate the joke; at any rate, he looked amused, and he was now looking at her appraisingly. "What about your family?"

"Jeremy's gone off with Stefan somewhere and – um, I think Elena's with Caroline." Jesus, she'd almost said Katherine then. She gave him what she hoped was a flirtatious smile to make up for it. "They're teenagers; they like to do their own thing. We'd have the house to ourselves."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, since you are almost certainly inebriated, I would be very happy to escort you home. However – would you excuse me for just one moment? There's one more person I need to speak to. I won't be long."

She froze. He'd said yes. Maybe it was the adrenaline making her score so highly in the flirting department today – or the alcohol – or the dress. Probably the dress. Jenna licked her lips and nodded. "Sure! I'll wait outside, okay?"

He nodded back before walking off and she stood frozen for several more seconds, still stunned. Maybe vampires were just easy. They wouldn't turn down the opportunity of an easy snack. Oh, God. What if he tried to bite her in the car? She'd have no defence against him then. Or he could turn on her the moment she walked through the door of her house – she'd just told him that they'd be alone. No matter how charming he seemed in public, she couldn't forget that he was lying to her face all the time, because he had Elena. And now she had to hope that he wanted to sleep with her before any of that vampire stuff, since that was her best chance.

This was so incredibly messed up.

Jenna grabbed another cocktail and finished it off in a single gulp before heading for her car.

"I don't know who did it!" Caroline insisted, pathetically transparent.

Katherine gave her a scornful look. She didn't think that this was Caroline's or the Salvatores' doing – even they wouldn't be stupid enough to poison themselves in public – but she was well aware of the existence of the council, still going strong after all these years. Carol Lockwood was one of them. So was Caroline's mother. Katherine knew how to keep a low profile. Someone had been leaking information.

"You have no idea why the Lockwoods would spike all their drinks with vervain in broad daylight when as far as they should know there are no vampires in town?"

"Maybe they were trying to protect everyone. Dose the guests up on vervain–"

Katherine cut her off. "Your mother saw you. Whatever she was trying to do, your secret is out."

Caroline sobbed.

"Which means the council knows that some vampires can walk in the sun. Our security rested in them not knowing that. You haven't just outed yourself, you've endangered all of us. Have the Salvatores told you nothing about what happened in 1864?"

The back of her neck prickled, some sense telling her that they weren't alone. Katherine leapt up at once, vampire-fast, to face the intruder, and swallowed when she saw who it was.

"Elijah," she breathed, dropping her eyes submissively. Caroline let out a whimper.

The Original strolled into the room, pausing to regard the two female vampires: Caroline still on the couch, looking small and frightened, Katherine standing behind her warily. He didn't look in the least bit confused. Perhaps he'd heard everything.

"Your mother has called off the ambush," said Elijah, speaking to Caroline. "She's claiming that her information was incorrect."

It took Caroline a second or so to reply, and when she did her voice was barely a whisper. "Why would she do that?"

"Shock. She doesn't know what to do right now."

"She knows about Caroline," said Katherine, folding her arms. "What else does she know?"

"She was acting on a tip-off," Elijah replied. He held out a hand to Caroline, beckoning her. "Come here."

Caroline was trembling, but Katherine saw her control it, squaring her shoulders as she stood up to face Elijah.

"Do you know what that tip-off was?" Elijah asked softly.

Caroline shook her head.

He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger, and Katherine slinked her way around behind Elijah's shoulder so that she could properly appreciate the look of terror on Caroline's face. With the pair of them facing her, she was surprised that Caroline wasn't practically shrivelling up.

"There are two ways we could go about this," said Elijah pleasantly. "Katerina and I could kill your mother and anyone associated with the council, and thus nip this little problem in the bud – or, you could be more truthful with me and I won't remove your head from your shoulders."

Caroline's eyes flicked over to Katherine. "I know what the tip-off was," she whispered. "Please don't kill my mom. Please..."

"How do you know?"

Her expression became defiant. "Because I was the one who told her."

"Ah," Elijah murmured, understanding, but Katherine stirred, confused.

"What did she tell her?"

"I can fix this," said Caroline quickly. "Let me talk to my mom. I'll make her forget."

Her eyes narrowed as Elijah released Caroline and the blonde vampire staggered back, wringing her hands. Katherine advanced on her. "What did you tell her?"

It was Elijah who replied. "She told the sheriff that you are a vampire."

Katherine twisted her mouth. "You exposed me?"

Right after she'd just dragged Caroline into a private room to save her from the council as well. Now both their secrets were out, and while Katherine could have lived with the sheriff being out for Caroline's blood, she would not stand for anyone trying to hunt her down. And this was all Caroline's fault. She had betrayed Katherine one too many times.

Cold fury blazed through her. She raised her hand and slapped Caroline with such force that her neck snapped back and the younger vampire fell, twisting with a cry as her head hit the hard wooden arm of the couch. Katherine was on her at once: she was going to break Caroline's spine for this, cripple her–

"Katerina."

Katherine turned back from her prey, hissing at Elijah, fangs out.

"Release her."

His tone was firm, commanding. Katherine trembled with the effort of not ripping Caroline limb from limb, but controlled herself. She stood up and placed her hand on her hip in one fluid movement. Caroline was whimpering in pain behind her, but she ignored it, acting nonchalant.

"Now what?"

"Find Carol Lockwood," said Elijah. "Convince her that there has been a mistake. She saw you drinking vervain; therefore, you cannot be a vampire."

"But she's on vervain."

"No, she isn't." He sounded so certain that the protest died on her lips. "You can compel her. Which reminds me: have you been compelling Jenna?"

She'd been expecting this question, but at this particular moment, straight after all the revelations about the sheriff, it took her by surprise. Katherine took a breath, recovered quickly. "Alaric Saltzman was trying to warn her about me." She shrugged. "I took care of it. I don't like too many people knowing my secret." She glanced back to give Caroline a pointed look, and that seemed to carry enough weight for Elijah.

He nodded. "I suggest that you two kiss and make up. Let's keep the backstabbing to a minimum."

She kept a straight face. He disappeared, and Katherine allowed herself a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how suspicious he was. Even if he wasn't suspicious at all, her plan was fraught with risks. She had a back-up, of course: she and Isobel knew where Elena was, which meant that they could snatch her at any point. If all else failed, she would run. She'd been doing that for five hundred years; it came as naturally to her as drinking blood.

She heard Caroline get up, but Katherine stopped her escape attempt, blurring in front of the glass doors that led outside and blocking Caroline's way. She laid a hand on Caroline's arm – not a tight grip, but a firm one. Caroline's hair was dishevelled and her eyes were puffy, but all her injuries had healed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Caroline bit her lip. "Aren't you going to do as he says?"

"I'm not literally going to kiss you, Caroline – unless you'd like that." Her joke went unappreciated by Caroline, who remained tight-lipped. Katherine sighed and tossed her hair. "Yes, I'm going to do as he says. And you are going to do as I say. If your mother comes after me, she won't last two seconds. Fix it."

"I will," Caroline whispered, and Katherine smiled tightly at her before sauntering back to the party. Somewhere in this mansion, Carol Lockwood was vulnerable to compulsion and that gave her another idea...