Rose (Sort Of)

I did what I hope any other seventeen year old girl would do when waking up in the lap of an older man with no memory of how they got there. I took one, horrified look at him, swung my fist into his face in a wild haymaker that resulted in a quite satisfying crunch, and ran like my life depended on it.

Which it did. Depend on it, I mean. And if it hadn't depended on it because I was the doppelganger he was planning to sacrifice on an altar of fire, it depended on it now because I'd decked him and may or may not have run away screeching 'paedophile!' at the top of my lungs. I don't know what was more bizarre; the ridiculous situation in which I found myself, or the utterly gob smacked look on Klaus' face when I hit him.

It wasn't that I had hit him, it seemed, but rather that I had hit him.

"What did I do to deserve that?" Klaus demanded, zipping in front of me and making me come to a crashing stop. I tried to bolt down the hall to my left but his hand shot out and closed around my wrist like a vice. I struggled in his grip.

"Saoirse," he said sharply, and I nearly fell over in shock. That was my middle name. My dumbfounded expression seemed to amuse Klaus for a moment before he seemed to remember that I'd punched him and called him a paedophile. He frowned. "You hit me."

I stared at him.

"One moment I was in a car lot being clubbed over the head by a kidnapper, the next I'm sitting sidey-ways in your lap with my arms around your neck like some sort of, of sex kitten!" I exclaimed, my face no doubt scarlet. "How was I supposed to react?"

His face darkened in anger and I was struck by the picture he made, by the danger saturating every inch of his being.

"Someone hit you?" He demanded, and I took a nervous half-step away from him. He considered me with a predator's eyes, just waiting for a moment of weakness to take advantage of. "Saoirse, love, you're not yourself. Tell me what's happened. What's all this about kidnappers…?"

I looked at him as though he had grown a second head and then had an epiphany. I was dreaming. Like an actual, normal dream. Well, not so normal a dream, but it wasn't the nightmare. It was a dream. Just a normal, bizarre, unbelievable dream.

I laughed.

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about, Klaus," I declared, suddenly in high spirits. No more nightmares. No more running for my life each night with the hound hot on my heels. "Just a pair of vampires that want to get back in Elijah's good graces. They're under the impression that handing me over like a gift basket will buy them forgiveness for betraying him."

He looked like he didn't even know where to start.

"Oh yes," he said, voice thrumming with dark amusement. I shivered at how the words rolled off his tongue, mocking, almost sing-song in a threatening sort of way. A boyish grin stole over his features. "Clubbing you over the head is sure to put my dear brother in a forgiving mood. I'm sure noble Elijah will give them exactlywhat they deserve."

He snickered, and then paused.

"You called me Klaus," he observed suddenly, a little note of accusation in his voice.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion and blew a strand of coppery hair out of my face in irritation when it obscured my view. I reached up to brush it behind my ear when that didn't work and froze. Bright, new penny red hair was caught between my fingers. My hair. My hair, not Elena's. I cleared my throat and glanced up at Klaus' questioning gaze.

"Sorry, Niklaus," I said sarcastically, "Whatever was I thinking? It must be the head injury. Which I have to admit, I hadn't been expecting. I thought they were going to chloroform me or something comparable. But no, my kidnapper just covered my mouth to prevent me from making too much noise and then bam. Out like a light."

I noticed with fascination that he actually seemed rather pleased that I called him Niklaus. I guess dream!Klaus wasn't as fussed about being called by his real name. No complaints here; I'd always rather liked how Niklaus rolled off the tongue. Ni-klaus. Nik-laus. Niiiiiiiiiiklaus. Niklaus. It sounded nice. Kind of sexy, really, if you said it with a hint of an accent. Niklaus. Better than Nik or Santa Klaus, at any rate.

"Niklaus." I said aloud, and cocked my head to the side curiously as I watched his face.

"Yes, love?" He questioned, a little smirk playing about his mouth.

I hadn't actually meant to say anything, and so hurriedly began to inspect my surroundings in hopes of finding something to talk about. What I saw confused me. We were standing in what seemed to be a posh hotel room, but there was something off about it. It looked new and luxurious, of course, but it seemed rather behind-the-times. And not in a stylish, vintage retro sort of way.

"Where on earth are we?" I asked incredulously as I happened to glance towards the window and caught sight of a billboard advertising Vanilla Ice's new album To the Extreme, featuring the new single 'Ice Ice Baby.' I strode forward until my nose was nearly pressed against the glass. I recognized that skyline.

"London," Klaus announced, slipping an arm over my shoulders. I nearly leapt right out of my skin; I hadn't heard him move at all. He grinned and was like the sun. "Welcome to London, Saoirse. London, in the year of our Lord, nineteen-ninety-one."

Pride coloured his tone, lit up his face. Like the year was some sort of accomplishment. I made a funny, strangled noise in the back of my throat as I hastened to smother the sarcastic snort that threatened to reveal exactly how I felt about being in the nineties. Klaus was like a puppy.

"I'm getting closer, aren't I?" He took my hand and twirled me about like a dancer in excitement. "So close I can all but taste it. Closer to finding you and breaking the curse."

"You have no idea," I muttered sarcastically. A swig of a nice, stiff drink would have punctuated the sentence appropriately. He raised an eyebrow at me in inquiry and I shook my head and looked away to hide a little smile. "You'll get there, Niklaus. This probably doesn't mean anything to you right now, but you'll be free. I promise you, you'll be break the curse and be free one day."

A lop-sided grin that almost warmed my heart was my answer; I felt a little tremor run through me unrelated to him, a mounting pressure in my head. A wave of dizziness swept over me and I lurched to the side as though the ground had tilted beneath my feet.

"There's something wrong," I uttered aloud, vaguely aware of a pounding in my head. "I must be waking up…I feel like my skull is going to split open."

Klaus looked both dismayed and alarmed at once.

"You're leaving," he said, and seemed so strikingly lonely that I wanted to wrap him up in my arms until he was the man that admired the hummingbird on the mountain again. "You only just arrived. I haven't seen you in decades."

I felt sorry for him.

"It's alright," I said kindly. "You don't know it, because you're weirdly nice dream world Klaus from the 90s, but we'll be seeing each other again soon. So, do us a wee favour and try not to sacrifice me on an altar of fire when we next meet, alright?"

His confused face was the last thing I saw before I was violently ripped from my dream in a burst of white light.

"Klaus?" I groaned, wondering where he went as I tried to open my eyes. I was in someone's arms and as soon as I had spoken, they had stiffened. No, I was awake. Dream!Klaus was gone. I was awake, so the person holding me was, "Trevor?"

He set me down on a couch and I could tell by the rigid way his shoulders were set that I had spooked him by speaking the name of the Hybrid. My eyes adjusted and I could see him. It was Trevor. I tried to sit up but was still too groggy to do so without the aid of my hands, which were bound. My feet were bound as well.

"Ugh, I don't suppose you have any paracetamol for the pounding headache your compelled thug gave me?" I asked tiredly, peering up at him as he pulled off his cap and sunglasses, slinging his jacket over the couch I was on while fixing me with a cautious look. I sighed. "I suppose not. Well, go fetch Rose so that we can sort out how your negotiation with Elijah will have to go. If I let you two run in half-cocked like you are, you're going to end up with your head on one side of the room and your body on the other."

I heard the sharp, brisk footsteps of a woman approach and turned my head from where I lay to see Rose's green eyes glaring at me. I sighed.

"Look, hen, I know I'm the spitting image of the manipulative bitch that fucked you over," I conceded, and briefly, selfishly wondered if it wouldn't be simpler to just let things happen as they did. But no, I couldn't do that. I had no delusions of self-righteousness, but I wasn't going to just stand by and do nothing when a man's life was at stake. "Get over it. I'm not Katherine. I'm Lena Gilbert and I would like to save Trevor's life, if you could pull your head out of your arse long enough to listen to me."

And so it was that when Elijah Mikaelson approached the abandoned building, he heard…the sound of women laughing. Intrigued, and perhaps a little affronted, he decided to forgo knocking and instead slipped silently inside.

"And he said, 'no, son, it's has nothing to do with you being Jewish. Everybody knows you have to be a complete prick to play for Hearts!" A girl with a vague Scottish brogue to her voice joked, and her laughter was joined with a woman's. "Ah, I've nothing against Hearts, really, but I knew a few Weegies with a wicked sense of humour and I promise you they tell the best jokes. Have you heard the one about the bus full of ten ugly people?"

The woman responded with a no, still chortling. Curious, Elijah waited.

"Right," the girl began, "so there was this bus. There were nine passengers, all of them ugly as sin, three of them were from England, and the other six were from Edinburgh. The driver was uglier than the whole lot of them, and he was frae guid auld Glasgow."

The girl deliberately thickened her accent for effect, much to the apparent amusement of the woman, and Elijah studied it, tried to place its origin.

"Now, the entire bus load of people was killed in a tragic accident when a drunk driver forced them over a bridge into the frozen river below." She said, faux sorrow saturating her voice. She was a very good storyteller, Elijah noted. She continued. "All ten of the people on the bus, passengers, and driver, were good people. And the Lord felt sorry for them, because they had been good people and didn't deserve their fate. So He decided, to make up for their sudden deaths, he would offer them each a gift of what they desired most as they entered heaven."

A dramatic pause; Elijah shifted where he stood.

"The dead people lined up to make their requests in the order that they died. First were the three Englishmen, then the two men from Edinburgh. The women from Edinburgh died after them, as they were uniquely adapted to the frigid temperature, and the last to perish was the driver, who had stubbornly refused to die before a bunch of, well, you know."

A laugh.

"Anyway, so they lined up to make their requests. The Lord asked the Englishmen, 'what is it you want most?' They each answered, 'to be handsome.' The Lord made it so. Next were the men from Edinburgh. The Lord asked them the same question. There was a little bit of debate within them, since one was a fan of Hibs and the other of Hearts and they were tempted to ask for God to make them decent teams, but in the end vanity won out and they decided that they, too, wished to be handsome. The Lord made it so.

"Predictably, the four women from Edinburgh, (proper Morningside matrons, the lot of them), all asked to be made so beautiful that people would be in awe of them wherever they went. The Lord hesitated for a moment but remembered how horribly they died and made it so. All that was left was the Weegie driver. The Lord told him to approach and asked him what gift he desired. The Weegie thought for a moment, and grinned."

The girl's accent was familiar but he couldn't place it. How irritating.

"'Make them a' ugly again,' he said," the girl continued mimicking the gleeful tone of mischief the 'Weegie' would have spoken in. The woman made a funny noise in the back of her throat, as though trying to suppress a snigger. "The Lord considered his request and asked the Weegie if there wasn't anything else he might want instead, like being handsome. The Weegie shook his head and repeated himself."

Elijah deliberately stepped on broken glass to catch their attention, and sure enough, the girl was went silent. He waited.

I was in the middle of a sentence when Rose suddenly stiffened and put a finger up to her lips. I sobered, doing as she asked, and kept very, very still. She stood in a single, noiseless movement, stalking over to the door with feline grace. She paused, listening.

And then turned grave, frightened eyes to me and nodded.

I swallowed, resisting the urge to dig my fingers into the couch. It had all been well and dandy when I'd been sitting around, amusing Rose with little stories I'd picked up here and there, but the reality of the situation I was in had finally struck me, and it had not struck gently. I watched as Rose slipped unobtrusively out the door, and waited.

Hushed murmurs on the other side of the wall, too quiet for someone with my human limitations to make heads or tails of. Footsteps again, two pairs this time. The door swung open and the vampire I had spent the last hour or so with coming through first. She looked nervous, very much so, but there was determination in her expression. I didn't blame her; it must have been hard to turn her back to someone she had been running from for half a millennium while alone, without backup. But freedom was freedom, and the deal we'd struck was too tempting to pass up, so she squared her shoulders and prepared to barter me for her and Trevor's lives.

Elijah came in right after Rose did, and there was something about his presence that cowed me. Perhaps it was the so very obvious terrified reverence he was afforded by Rose and Trevor, perhaps the part of me that dreamed recognized him for what he was, the creature I as a fan of a television series would turn a blind eye to in favour of his nobility.

He caught sight of me and my breath caught in my throat, I took an instinctive step away from him. I could not fight the urge to blink, perhaps because I wanted to close my eyes, to turn away from the creature wrapped in human skin.

But no, I knew him. I knew what drove him. I knew all about him.

My eyes fluttered open to catch him lowering his head to mine, his mouth so very nearly brushing against my own as he angled his face so that he could bury his nose in my neck and breathe me in, feel my very mortal pulse quivering against my throat.

"Human. Impossible." He uttered as if his saying it were so would make it reality. The barest hint of a smile crossed over his face. "Hello there…"

"He lied, he has them all, listen to me, Elijah. He has them, they're safe. All of them. Finn, Kol, Bekah. He has them and I want to help you, all of you. Please listen," I requested, raising my chin a little and gazing gravely into his dark, inscrutable eyes. "I know who you are, who your brother is, and what he wants with me. I know that you want to use me to lure him out to kill him in vengeance for what you believe he has done with your family. But they're alive. Well, they're daggered, but he hasn't chucked them into the ocean at all."

I thought of dream!Klaus and how achingly, desperately lonely he seemed.

"He's capable of many things, I know," I murmured, pity churning in my stomach. "But not that. He might seem beyond redemption, but he's not so lost as that."

For a moment, I was sure Elijah was going to kill me.

"You speak of things you know nothing about," He warned me, and the cold, callous look in his eye as he said it that was more terrifying than shouting or vamping out could ever be.

I kept my gaze on his.

"I know far more about a number of things than most people do," I told him, keeping my expression carefully neutral. "I had a little accident not that long ago. Almost died, really. I started having the dreams after that, and decided to do something about the future I saw. Katerina did have a descendant, just so you know. The illegitimate daughter that got her shipped off to England where she wouldn't bring further shame to her family."

Danger. That what he was all about. Dark eyes and danger.

"I have visions. Of the past, of the future. I don't claim to know everything about you, but I know enough to know that I want you to be reunited with your family. I want Klaus to be free, to finally be whole. I want Rebekah to live her life, to fall in love like she's always wanted to. I want Mikael dead so that the bastard can never terrorize his children again." I didn't say anything about the Original Bitch, but believe me, I had plans for her. "I want Finn to find peace, somehow, and I want Kol…"

The image of Kol bantering with his sister before the Mikaelson ball cut me to the quick, the smirk on his face as he stood with a baseball bat in his hand. The furious desperation with which he tried to reason with his siblings, telling them that Silas could not, must not be raised. Kol Mikaelson, the vampire who ran with witches.

Kol Mikaelson, lying dead on the floor, and Klaus' stricken face.

"I don't want Kol to die," I said at last. "I want him to be happy. I want you to be happy, too. I want your whole family to be happy. You probably don't believe a single word that comes out of my mouth because I have the face of not one, but two traitorous, back-stabbing bitches that have personally betrayed you, but I swear I am being sincere. I shan't pretend that you and your family's happiness is all I want, but it is one of my priorities."

He didn't trust me, obviously, but he seemed willing enough to hear me out.

"And what, exactly, are your other priorities?" he inquired silkily, and I nearly shivered at the tone of his voice. Damn if the man wasn't attractive when he was playing the part of the villain. "I'm not unwilling to believe you are a Seer, but you must know I will require further proof of your abilities if I am to even consider taking your word as truth."

I nodded. I had anticipated worse; his attitude was a pleasant surprise.

"I'm sure you would prefer I present my proof to you in private, since the best proof I can offer is your own past," I offered quietly. "Well, what little I have seen of your own past. It should suffice, I think, to prove my skill."

He glanced in Rose's direction before turning back to me, his expression calculating, like a scientist studying some newly discovered species of insect.

"That could be arranged," he allowed, and I rather marvelled at how he could take complete control of a situation, despite no doubt being knocked for six by what was going on. "But first, there is a small matter of business I must attend to."

I cleared my throat.

"Yes, well, about that. Trevor and Rose worked very hard to abduct me, you know. I mean, they had no way of knowing that I knew all about it and would have come willingly if they'd asked, so they did things the hard way." I explained patiently. "Rose never betrayed you. Rose was loyal to Trevor, who is her family. I'm sure that you, of all people, wouldn't fault her for that. So the issue here is Trevor. Katerina manipulated him into helping her escape, but it was still his hand that betrayed you. I know you've agreed to pardon Rose and Trevor both, but you planned to kill Trevor after forgiving him, didn't you?"

Blank face, irritated eyes. Yes, yes he had. And now Rose knew it.

"They should have worded their request better, I know," I said smoothly, nodding along as though what he had done was perfectly natural. "Rose and Trevor hunted down a doppelganger to serve as a token of their very genuine remorse. Please, Elijah. You have given your word that you will pardon them. You're not at all an unreasonable man. I ask on their behalf that you spare their lives as well. In for a penny, in for a pound, yeah?"

I shifted where I stood, thinking of what Hal had said.

"Also…I was told to tell you that," I began slowly and hoped this would aid rather than hinder me, "the 'Eastern Prince' sends his greetings and requests that my abductors be spared on behalf of his lady."

Elijah laughed. Actually laughed.

"You speak as if you met this 'prince' in person?" He observed, and it amazed me to see that somehow those had been the magic words that had done what I was beginning to think was impossible. They'd made him relax.

I nodded slowly, feeling suddenly out of my depth.

"Yes. Twice now," I admitted, searching his face for some sort of indication of what was going through his mind. I found nothing; a thousand years of practice had certainly perfected his ability to guard his thoughts. "He told me his name was Hal."

Might as well fish for answers while I was at it, right?

"Hal," Elijah murmured, his face briefly twisting into a fairly dissatisfied expression before it cleared. "Fascinating."

Rose was on tenterhooks, on the one hand waiting, hoping he would agree to my request, on the other wanting nothing more than to bolt, to get the hell away from the man that had casually hunted her for half a millennium, to find Trevor, and to run.

"Very well. Rose, you may summon Trevor from wherever he has hidden nearby. I give you my word that both of your lives will be spared and you will receive full pardon for your actions against me." Elijah granted, adjusting his tie and glancing in my direction. "Is this to the satisfaction of all parties involved?"

Rose's face crumpled with relief and for a moment I thought the rest of her would follow. She held herself up, though, and looked Elijah in the eye when she answered.

"It is," she said evenly, and pulled out her phone, dialled for Trevor, and passed it to me.

Elijah raised an eyebrow in question at her actions, but I didn't have an opportunity to explain them as Trevor had picked up on the first ring.

"Rose?" He called hesitantly, and a brilliant smile crossed my face.

"Sorry, it's Lena," I apologized, completely unapologetically. "All is well, my friend. Elijah gave his word to pardon and spare you. Come back."

The phone slipped out of my hand before I got an answer.

"Kill me," I breathed, bringing up my hands to cup his face. "Please, Damon. You're the only one I can ask. You're my partner-in-crime. You're…you know, you really are my best friend. So much has happened…and you've been with me for all of it. You stood by me when even Bonnie and Stefan wouldn't. I can trust you with this. Please."

He drew away from me a little, but didn't stand. I turned so that I was kneeling on the ground next to him instead of dangling my legs over the tomb entrance.

"God, Damon, I'm a monster for asking you to do this," I murmured apologetically, my thumb just barely skimming over his cheek. "I'm a monster and I'm sorry, but…you understand, don't you? What wouldn't you have done to be with Katherine again, when you thought she was in the tomb?"

He took hold of my wrists in a grip that hurt, his blue, blue eyes wild with anger and betrayal.

"You don't know what you're asking for," he told me, and I didn't so much as bat an eye at the feeling of his fingers digging into my skin, the way my bones seemed to creak under the pressure he could exert with his vampire strength. "Why would you ask me that? Why?"

"Because you understand," I pleaded, and his hands fell limply to his sides in dismay. I rested mine on his shoulders, not daring to place them back on his face. "Damon, this could be my only chance to see my brothers again. My brothers, Damon. You know what I would do for them. What they did for me. Please, Damon. Please."

I was trembling with desperation, my fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. I felt sick. Unsteady. It was Damon that was holding me up. His strong shoulders that carried the weight of my burdens. And I was adding the weight of an unspeakable act to that.

"Lena, you can't ask me for this," he begged, his voice hitching in agonized denial. "You can't ask me to kill you. You can't ask me that."

"Damon," I managed to choke out, even though I had a painful, aching lump in my throat and couldn't quite seem to catch my breath. "Damon, please. My brothers, Damon. If killing myself could take me home I would do it in a heartbeat, but I can't. It has to be by someone else's hand. He can take me home now, Damon. I just have to die."

He looked like he was going to be sick.

"Just because he suddenly has the mojo he needs to zap you back home doesn't mean you have to go." It was so strange seeing Damon, my sarcastic, mercurial partner-in-crime, looking so torn. "Don't we mean anything to you? You don't get to come here and make yourself the centre of the universe and just leave. You don't get that, damn it. You don't get to be the sun, and then leave us in the dark. I'm not killing you, Lena. You can't ask me to do that. You can't make me lose you like that."

No, no, no. Damon was the only one that could help me.

"Compel someone to do it then," I begged, and if I hadn't already been kneeling beside him I would have dropped to the ground to plead with him. "Damon, my brothers. I have to get back to them. How could I live with myself, knowing that I had the chance to go back to them and I failed? Please, Damon."

"I'm not killing you, Lena. I can't." His refusal was stark and more agonizing to me than anything else he could have said. "Think about what you're asking me. How could I live with myself, knowing I'd killed you?"

I flinched as if he'd struck me. I was being Elena. I was being Katherine. I was being a ruthless, manipulative bitch and I couldn't bring myself to give a shit because I could go home. I'd waited so long for the opportunity, and I had this one chance. But I couldn't. I couldn't be Elena or Katherine. I couldn't hurt him this way.

"I'm sorry," I cried suddenly, and stood and flung my arms around him. "Oh God, Damon, I'm so sorry. I just…you know why I have to go back."

"No, I'm afraid I just arrived. Please enlighten me," a clipped, furious voice commanded, and I stiffened in Damon's grip. Elijah. I was shaking by the time I turned around, turned to meet those inscrutable dark eyes.

"'Lijah," I began, taking a horrified, selfishly guilty step back. "'Lijah, please."

I was shaken out of my stupor by a frantic looking Rose.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded, echoes of the desperation I had felt in my vision thrumming through my body as though it were my own at this very second. I was going to go home, one day. I was going to go home! I hadn't died! I was still alive, somewhere. I was so close to finding out who the 'he' was that could take me back; I was sure I would have seen myself explaining it to Elijah if Rose hadn't grabbed me by the shoulders and shaken me until I came to.

"What was I doing?" Rose demanded, sneaking a glance at Elijah nervously. "You went blank and started falling over, like you'd broken or something!"

Her accent had grown thicker in her startled worry. Of course. I was her ticket to freedom from Elijah. Wouldn't want to endanger that with a defective doppelganger, right?

"I could have found out how to get home!" I snarled back, torn between wanting to outright scream or break down crying. "I could have found out how to get back to my family! My mum, my brothers! Couldn't you have waited just a minute longer?"

It would be alright, I assured myself, wrapping my arms around my middle as though to hold in the tempest of feeling coursing through me. What I'd seen would come to pass; I would have the opportunity to go back, I just had to be patient. It was nothing to panic about. I'd finally had a vision, just like the creature in my dream said I would.

"What time is it?" I asked suddenly, jolting upright.

It was Elijah that answered, taking a quick glance at the expensive looking watch on his wrist before his scrutinizing gaze moved back to me.

"11:59 precisely," he answered succinctly, and a strangled laugh bubbled out of my mouth.

"You'll have your visions back; I would apologize for taking them but I rather needed the pick-me-up." He winked, and it was a terrible gesture to behold. "They should be back in full force by, oh, tomorrow morning."

He'd told me as much, hadn't he? That I would have my visions back this morning?

I wanted to laugh until I choked on it, wanted to cry until I lost my voice and then keep crying until I couldn't anymore, but it would do no good to appear hysteric in front of Elijah. The breathless laugh that had escaped me was dangerous enough; there was no need to present myself as a nutter just because I was giddy with relief and aching with anguish all at once. I was going to go home one day.

I wasn't alive.

"Forgive me," I said to Elijah demurely, "I can't control when I get my visions. I passed out in a restaurant once, while having dinner with my biological father. And another time at a school dance. I don't always slump over, thankfully. I usually just stare vacantly into space for a few minutes before coming back to myself. I apologize for the inconvenience."

I was pardoned with a dismissive nod, and then Trevor walked into the room, his gait stiff, his eyes darting from side to side as though he would have preferred to be anywhere else on the planet than right here, right now.

I could hardly blame him.

"Elijah," he managed, and I wondered if he had had to bite back the instinct to call him 'my lord,' or something suggesting equal deference. "I have waited so long for this day. I am truly very sorry…"

Elijah strode over to him and I glared at the Original's back with cold determination; he'd given his word, he wouldn't kill Trevor. If he did, I would make him pay for it. I still wanted the Originals to be together, to be happy, but if he broke his word I would make him pay for offering me such insult.

"Oh, no," Elijah said with measured, dangerous ease. "Your apology is not necessary."

I grabbed at my hand, twisting my ring on my finger in dark anxiety.

"Yes, yes it is," Trevor dared to deny, though I noticed he hadn't worked up enough courage to meet Elijah's gaze head on as the ancient vampire circled him like a shark. "You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

The ring got a vicious twist.

"Well yes, you are the guilty one," Elijah conceded, his tone still calm, still deceptively light. I was as taut as a bow string; the conversation was going too much like it had in the show for me to be comfortable. Elijah came to a stop in front of a terrified Trevor. "Rose aided you because she was loyal to you; that, I honour."

Rose's eyes flashed to mine in bubbling panic. My hands stilled.

"Where was your loyalty?" Elijah asked, his voice as smooth as silk and laced with idle, seemingly harmless curiosity.

Trevor was finding it hard to breathe.

"I beg your forgiveness," he said, managing to meet Elijah's gaze just long enough to convey his sincere repentance.

He won't break his word, the creature from my dream murmured sleepily in my head, and I was astounded to realize that it was his voice I had heard calling my name before.

"So granted," Elijah allowed with a nod, and then abandoned all pretence of graciousness. "Know this, Trevor: while I cannot fault Rose for her loyalty, the only reason you have been spared is because the doppelganger you thought to appease me with offered information in exchange for your release…and passed along a message from the Eastern Prince that his lady desired your lives to be spared."

Trevor's eyes widened and he looked to me in surprise. I assumed it was because I hadn't mentioned Hal's message to him and Rose; well, I hadn't known it would turn out to be so significant.

"You mean," he started, and at Elijah's forbidding expression seemed to think the better of it. "Yes. I shall convey my gratitude to…the Eastern Court at first convenience."

"See that you do," Elijah commanded, glacial disdain settling over his features.

I wanted nothing more than to know what on earth they were talking about, but I held my tongue. This 'Eastern Prince' and 'Eastern Court' shite could be filed away for later, like everything else in my bloody existence. Right now, I had other things to worry about. I discreetly removed a slightly folded up piece of paper from the bosom of my dress.

"Does anyone have a pen?" I asked lightly, blinking innocently when the vampires' attention was suddenly laser-focused on me. I waved the little paper around like a miniature white flag. "Sorry, but I would like to let my witch know that I'm alright and there's no need for my vampires to come in guns blazing to rescue me."

It was Elijah, in the end, that handed me a pen, curiosity written all over his features. I smoothed the note from Bonnie out on my palm and quickly scrawled call off the brothers Rambo, all is well in the armpit of civilisation on it, still marvelling at how far Bonnie's magic had come.

In the show, Bonnie had given herself a nosebleed and passed out trying to send Elena the piece of paper. Thanks to her Grams help and possibly the covenant, she'd spelled two pieces of paper and then sent one to me. Whatever was written on one was written on the other. Imagine my surprise when I got her note and saw more writing appear on it. It was incredible, how far she had come. How powerful she was growing.

"Your witch?" Rose asked, at the same time that Trevor said, "your vampires?"

A dark little thrill surged through me at the acknowledgement. Mine. My witch. My vampires. Bonnie. Stefan. Damon. Mine. I shivered at the thought. But it was true. They were mine. I didn't want them to get hurt because of me, especially not when the person I'd have to retaliate against was Elijah, whom I was fond of as a character. I was glad he was being so reasonable, because it prevented the danger of any real conflict.

Elijah's expression was unreadable as his eyes dropped from my face to my hand and back up again. The haze on my mind dissipated.

"That," he said sharply, his gaze boring into mine, "is a very curious ring. May I take a closer look?"

I am suddenly very aware that I am standing at the edge of a precipice there will be no coming back from. This is not Elijah, the man who wants nothing more than for his family to be reunited and whole again. This is Elijah, the Original, that always, always gets what he wants, one way or another. And the ring on my finger had very obviously put me between him and something that he wanted very, very much.

"As long as you promise to give it back," I teased with false, forced lightness, twisting the ring once around my finger before slipping it off. I placed it in his palm carefully, not daring to simply drop it into his hand, but unwilling to allow for any physical contact.

My blood ran cold in my veins when the first thing he did was to deliberately turn the ring in his hands to see the inscription there. Only someone who knew there was something there would think to check for it before anything else.

"Where did you get this?" Elijah asked, his voice so soft, so mild, I was intensely aware that a wrong answer was going to get my heart ripped out, doppelganger or not.

Well, there was only one answer I could give him. Hopefully, it was the right one.

"Hal gave it to me," I informed him evenly studying his face for any sort of clue to who Hal was, who the ring belonged to, why I had it. "The man who called himself the Eastern Prince. That's the name he gave me, though he made it very clear that it's not really his name. He gave me the ring as a hint."

I made the mistake of giving into my body's natural urge to blink and then Elijah was right in me, tilting my face up with a firm grip on my chin. Studying.

"Do you know who this ring belongs to?" He questioned lightly, a hint of curiosity there.

I hesitated; I had no bloody idea who it belonged to, but he obviously did. Maybe Elijah would be the one to give me answers. Not now, of course, but slowly, eventually. He, like everyone else, it seemed, knew more about what was going on with me than I did.

"No," I answered carefully, and then smiled up at him. "But you're welcome to tell me."

Disappointment and a suddenly sharp interest warred in his expression.

"Did this…Hal…say anything specific about the ring?" He pressed, and it was only then that I realized that he was fishing for information not on Hal, but on the owner of the ring. "Think carefully, Miss Gilbert. Did he tell you why he gave it to you?"

I considered telling him that all that I got with the ring was a flower and the note to save Bree, but that had nothing to do with why he gave it to me so I decided it was safe enough to keep it to myself. If he got angry later at the omission, well, he never asked.

"No," I admitted, fed up with being interrogated. "He did not. Do you know what L.M.L. stands for?"

We stared each other down, neither willing to budge, and the corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. That was a good sign, I thought idly; if he was amused he was more likely to toss me some proverbial scraps from the table. I wasn't going to demand he tell me everything, but if he answered even just the one question I would be a step closer to figuring things out. The sooner I figured things out, after all, the sooner my vision would make sense and come to pass. And when it did, I could go home.

Nothing would stop me from figuring all this shit out. As soon as Klaus' curse was broken, getting home was going to be my first priority. And I would do whatever it took to do it. I had to get back. I would only have one opportunity, it seemed, and I sure as anything would not be wasting it.

"Oops," a familiar voice gasped in mock embarrassment. "We didn't mean to interrupt!"

I broke from mine and Elijah's staring contest despite myself, grinning at Damon, who had just arrived with Stefan in tow. They'd strolled in as casual as could be, seemingly unarmed, though I was sure they had some hunter goodies from Alaric no doubt stashed away in pockets and jackets and all that.

"Bonnie contacted you, then?" I asked happily, skipping over to them and hugging them both. I felt like I was soaring suddenly, like I'd been knocking back energy drinks like they were going out of style with a shot of vodka between them. I was nearly dizzy with it; with that giddy feeling of completeness.

"Rambo?" Damon demanded, quirking an eyebrow at me in disdain. "Really?"

"Yes, she did." Stefan said casually, slipping his hands into his pockets in a gesture of nonaggression as he glanced between Rose, Trevor, and Elijah. His eyes narrowed on the latter, taking in his appearance with suspicious consideration and then studying mine.

I was wearing my outfit from the night before and if it just so happened that I looked very nice and almost as though I had planned to look good against Elijah's dark suit, well, it was coincidence. I hadn't chosen the black dress with any such purpose either.

"Lena," Stefan began, and proceeded to ask if Elijah was Dapper-Suit-Man. Well, he would have asked if I hadn't tackled him like a rugby player before he got to the 'per' part of dapper. I'm pretty sure everyone was stunned. Hell, I was stunned, but I would literally die before I allowed Stefan to finish that sentence.

"Say another word, and I will never speak to you again," I vowed, and turned to Damon, who was sniggering and looked a second away from deliberately embarrassing me. "Don't you dare start, Damon, because I promise you I'll be the one that finishes it. I'll tell everyone about the door, for starters, and it'll only go downhill from there."

He smirked.

"You don't have enough on me to go through with that threat, door incident aside," he informed me smugly, radiating challenge, "so what's stopping me?"

I flashed him a pretty smile.

"Seer, yeah?" I reminded him sweetly, and then glanced down at Stefan, whom I was straddling. I flushed blotchy red; I was wearing a dress, which was thankfully long enough to keep me decent, but still. I was straddling Stefan while wearing a dress. "Sorry for tackling you to the floor, Steffy. Good thing you're a vampire, yeah? You can heal from broken ribs and crushed organs in a snap!"

Making light of things was a great way to move on from uncomfortable situations. The proof was in the pudding; Stefan cracked an amused grin and helped me up once I'd rolled off of him. Damon, I noticed hadn't breathed another word, though he was very obviously mimicking me not exactly behind my back. As long as he kept it to miming, I was downright chuffed. Somehow, the idea of letting Elijah know that I called him Dapper-Suit-Man seemed like a horrible, horrible mistake, though for the life of me I couldn't put my finger on why. It wasn't as if it was all that embarrassing a name, anyway.

The nicknames, I decided, were off limits. I wasn't sure why, but they were.

"Mr. Mikaelson," I called, smoothing down the front of my dress demurely. "Do forgive my rudeness in displaying such a lack of decorum in your presence."

Amusement and the briefest flicker of disappointment warred in his expression, but Elijah nodded his head in gracious assent. He straightened.

"Miss Gilbert, you offered earlier to present proof of your abilities to me in private," he prompted smoothly. "I would like to go over your plans for the future in detail with equal insurance of discretion."

I was so, so glad that he didn't start on about 'the sacrifice' and 'the curse.'

"Yes, I believe it would be for the best," I agreed, and decided to extend the olive branch. "As a gesture of good faith, I would be more than willing to host you for dinner at my home. I could guarantee complete privacy for our discussion."

I had surprised him, but not taken him by surprise with my offer. There were no advantages to be gained over Elijah, not without the ridiculous convoluted web of betrayal that constantly surrounded Elena and the Mystic Falls gang. He hadn't expected me to be willing to invite him into the house in which I slept, but I hoped it would encourage some semblance of trust to grow between us.

"Yes, let's invite your kidnapper over for dinner, Lena," Damon drawled derisively, and I winced, wondering what, exactly, Bonnie had told them. "What a great idea."

Elijah was not as amused by his sarcasm as I was. Before he could say anything to object, though, Stefan stepped in. Always the mediator, Saint Stefan was.

"You could discuss what you need to discuss at the boarding house," Stefan suggested calmly. "I'm sure Jenna would worry less if you told her you were coming over to our place for dinner than she would if you asked her and Jeremy to clear out while you meet with a guest, don't you think?"

I hadn't though of Jenna and Jeremy, but they would surely ask questions. And unfortunately, they weren't roommates who would clear off with a wink and a little nudge of the elbow if I claimed to have a date. Damn.

"May I offer an alternative suggestion?" Elijah interrupted, and I was fascinated by how effortlessly he captured the attention of everybody in the room. Elijah's eyes met mine as though he knew what I was thinking as he continued speaking. "It would be no trouble to host you at my home in New York. I could arrange transport for those of your friends that would be willing to serve as an escort."

I glanced at Stefan and Damon in question. They nodded. Bonnie might like to come too, I considered thoughtfully. Maybe Grams would even join us…but no, better not to get Grams too involved. She would surely pick up on things that Bonnie would miss. With my luck, she would end up in the know about the curse and all that, and I would really rather she didn't. So no Grams. Bonnie could come if she liked, otherwise it would just be me and the boys going. It should be safe enough, I decided, peering up at Elijah with a thoughtful expression. To go, or not to go.

Realization struck and my decision was made.

"If you're willing," I agreed hastily. "I very much appreciate your generosity in making such an offer. I could call you once I've confirmed which of my friends shall accompany me so that we can work out the when and where's of how we'll get there?"

I could get Jenna out of the house easily enough. Jeremy too. But John? How was I supposed to word that? Hey, dad, care to clear out so I can have dinner with an Original alone? Yeah. That would go down brilliantly. John might have agreed to work with them to stop Silas, but there was no way he would consent to leaving me alone with Elijah, no matter what reasons I gave him.

Elijah smiled, and it was a paper-thin, knife-sharp expression.

"There appears to be a misunderstanding between us, Miss Gilbert," he informed me mildly. "You seem to be under the impression that you and I shall be parted for any length of time before I receive the answers I desire. I assure you, we shall not. You shall be accompanying me when we leave this place, whether to my home or yours. That I am giving you an opportunity to assemble an escort instead of making the decision for you and taking you away without consent is simply a courtesy."

Damon bristled.

"Lena is going no where with you," he informed Elijah disdainfully, and I hurriedly jabbed him in the side with my elbow to shut him up. He glared at me but I brushed it off.

"Lena will most certainly be going somewhere with you." I corrected him, smiling at Elijah. "If you're not opposed, I would like to contact my witch to see if she would like to accompany us to New York before we go anywhere. Does your generosity extend to picking her up from Mystic Falls?"

A long, scrutinizing look.

"Yes," he said at last. "That could be arranged."

I wondered what it was he was trying to find in my face when he looked at me like that; it wasn't the first time, and I was sure it wouldn't be the last. It was like he looked at me and was seeing Katerina or Tatia, only the other way around, sort of. Like he was seeing behind Elena's doppelganger face, and whatever he saw there reminded him of someone else. That was dangerous. On the one hand, it could be an advantage, if he liked the person I reminded him of. If he didn't, well, I suppose everything else in the world was an uphill struggle for me and mine. Why not this?

"Excellent." I said briskly, and thanked him quite sincerely for being willing to go to all that trouble, whether Bonnie said yes or not.

I wrote Bonnie on the enchanted paper, she said yes, and it was decided that I would ride in Elijah's car (to ensure I didn't try to escape). Stefan and Damon would follow us, and Trevor and Rose would bring up the rear of our little caravan as per our agreement. I wrote Bonnie again, informing her of the rest of my deal with them, and let her know that if she did not wish to make daylight rings for them, I understood and did not expect it of her. I could always ask Bree, after all. She had told me not to hesitate to come to her if I ever needed some magical assistance. Fortunately, I wouldn't need to call in that favour as Bonnie agreed, saying it would be good practice, and all they had to do was supply their own rings. All was well.

Except that all wasn't well, because it occurred to me for the first time as Elijah held open the door to his BMW for me that someone had died at the masquerade last night, and if it wasn't vampire or doppelganger related, I would eat my metaphorical hat.

Well, whatever it was must not have been of all that much significance if Bonnie was agreeing to up and leave town for the weekend with nary another thought. It could be dealt with upon our return, surely.

With that thought in mind, I slid into his car with a murmured thanks and buckled my seatbelt. Elijah took his own seat and started up the car. Music filtered through the speakers, music I vaguely recognized. Some heavy, kind of rock-ish acoustic guitar.

My jaw dropped when the singing started.

"Is that Kurt Cobain?" I asked, turning to the refined, proper vampire beside me in nothing short of disbelief. "As in, the unplugged version of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' that Nirvana did on MTV an age ago?"

Not at all what I had ever expected from Elijah of all people. Klaus, maybe. But Elijah? It was a definite surprise.

"Yes it is," he said lightly, and seemed to sober as he glanced in my direction, his gaze considering. "An old friend of mine once claimed that to hear Kurt Cobain sing and feel nothing was to have no soul. One can only have the virtues of a musical group extolled before him so much before he finds himself noticing and appreciating those virtues."

He was messing about with me, I realized suddenly, catching the glint of suppressed laughter in his eyes. He was messing about with me, and he liked Nirvana.

"That's true," I agreed, a little hint of a smile on my face. "Although I have to agree with your friend. I mean, have you heard his voice? Right there, see how he sang that? 'I will shiver…the whole…night through.' You can just…I don't know. But it's all there in his voice. I know people go on about the emotions in his voice but all I hear is that want. That desperate, nameless want for a completeness beyond anything drugs or sex or love can give you. That's what we are, at the core of our being. Full of that violent, despairing want for something we can never have. The human soul, laid bare in his voice. It's beautiful."

His gaze snapped to mine, dark, scrutinizing.

"Loyaulte me lie," he murmured at last, turning his attention back to the road, much to my combined relief and uncertainty. He cleared his throat and continued speaking with the same, professional briskness I'd come to associate with him. "It means 'loyalty binds me.'"

It took me a moment, but I put it together. Loyaulte me lie. The inscription on the ring. I had been right, it was a motto. I hadn't thought he'd actually tell me, but he did. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but…why?

I asked him as much aloud.

"You…are very well spoken," was all he said, and there was a ringing sense of finality about the words that told me I would get no further along that line of questioning.

Still, I couldn't help think there was more to it than that.

To be continued in Katerina.