Something Great

Tyler can't remember the last time he was alone with Elena. It was a long time ago it seems. Were they talking about Caroline? About Klaus? Was it when he was helping her get away from Klaus? He can't recall.

They've been going for awhile, through the dark. They don't speak to each other. Since he gave her the blood awhile ago, they haven't found anything else to chat about. They go at vampire speed. He thinks they should have found something by now, but these woods are bigger than he realized. Tyler listens for any movement. He can only hear the occasional animal, the rustle of leaves in the wind, a water source somewhere nearby. No human heartbeats, no voices, nothing.

"This isn't working," Elena says. "This island is too big. We're not gonna find them like this."

Tyler spins around. "Do you have a better idea?"

She doesn't. He doesn't. This is all they've got. Neither of them is just going to sit at camp and hope Bonnie and Jeremy wander back with Shane when they're finished.

They start walking again.

Bonnie and Jeremy watch as Shane lowers himself into the hole behind them. The witch went first to keep an eye on Bonnie and Jeremy. He now stands along the wall, staring at them with cold eyes, like he expects them to try something while Shane's coming down. Around them there's nothing but darkness. The hole is just that: a hole. Walls surround them on every side. Bonnie slipped a little on the descent only for Jeremy to help her to her feet. She hasn't let go of his hand since.

We'll be fine, she assures him. I promise.

Jeremy gives her a smile and squeezes her hand reassuringly. I know.

"Ready?" Shane says cheerily as he detaches himself from the rope. He looks to Bonnie eagerly. She locks her gaze on Jeremy instead.

"I'll take that as a yes," Shane says, clapping his hands together. "Shirt off, Jeremy."

Jeremy releases her hand to pull off his jacket and shirt, throwing them onto the ground.

"You'll need to touch him," Shane says.

Bonnie does. She feels Jeremy's heart pounding against his chest, warm and solid beneath her hands. It helps her breathe better, makes it easier to think. She can get them out of this. They'll do this like they intended, without Shane and his witch accomplice there. If they have their way, Silas will be walking out of here with them.

"Let your instincts guide you, Bonnie," Shane says. "Focus on finding the tomb. Focus on what you want. The Mark will do the rest. Everything you need is right here with you. All you-"

"Shut up, Shane," Bonnie says. Jeremy's lips quirk upward into a smile. She flattens her palms against his chest. So many times she's done this, felt Jeremy's body pliant and willing beneath her hands. Those times she felt safe, they were always safe. It was just her and Jeremy.

It's like that now.

Shane doesn't matter, this witch doesn't matter.

There's a growing warmth at the tips of her fingers, an electricity that hugs her fingertips and shoots up and down her fingers, to her arms, to her chest. She feels magic flaring in her chest and it is just as comforting as Jeremy's skin against hers. She knows magic, it knows her. It won't hurt her. She's the one who will open Silas' tomb, who will take the cure. Not Shane, not this other witch. It's her.

Bonnie hears stone breaking. She's never heard that sound before, similar to shattering glass but worse. Louder, harsher. Stone crumbles and falls somewhere around them, but she doesn't look where. Her eyes are closed, and she keeps them that way. Seeing will only distract her. She has to focus, on her and Jeremy, on the cure, on Shane and the witch, on making sure neither of them leaves this island happy.

Even if that means they don't leave this island at all.

"We'll be okay," she hears Jeremy say. He has to lean closer to her, yell into her ear.

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees, opening her eyes. His brown ones are locked on hers. "We will."

She holds his gaze as she feels out with her magic, lets it find the witch. He's the only one who could stop her, the only power Shane has. He's distracted now, looking toward the wall where it is breaking open. Bonnie works quickly, breaking his neck as she's broken so many vampires'. She doesn't watch him fall, but looks at Shane instead. He draws away from her slightly, mouth gaping open.

"You'll be next," she warns him.

"This isn't working."

Tyler closes his eyes but doesn't break his stride, reminding himself that he and Elena are both stressed out, worried and are playing a bad game of hide-and-seek on a secluded island. They both want to go home. He tells himself he's probably annoying Elena just as much as she's annoying him though he's not sure how he'd be annoying her considering he hasn't opened his mouth for miles.

"I heard you the first time," he says, reigning in his impatience. Don't be a dick, he tells himself.

They're not gonna find Bonnie and Jeremy if they're standing still so it's better to keep moving, even if he doesn't know what they're headed toward or if it's the right direction. For all they know Bonnie and Jeremy are the opposite way and every step takes them further and further away from them. Now would be an excellent time for Bonnie to work some magic and let him know where they are.

"We shouldn't even be here," Elena grumbles from behind him.

"Why's that?"

Elena doesn't answer.

"Why's that?" Tyler repeats. He really wants to know. Why shouldn't they be here? Why shouldn't they be on this island going after the one thing that may free them from Klaus for good? Why shouldn't they be finding this cure that will set them all on a path to something normal?

"I don't know," Elena says, in the tone of a person who definitely knows. "Is finding this cure really worth something happening to Bonnie and Jeremy?"

"If keeping Stefan and Damon around was worth it despite all the things that did happen to Bonnie and Jeremy," Tyler says, "then so is this."

Elena stops in place even as he turns and resumes his walk.

If Bonnie was here she would have given him a very dark look.

"And here I thought we were going to get through this whole trip without bringing that up," Elena says. "Silly me."

Jeremy's voice rings in Tyler's ear. There you go again, being a dick. He should stop now, before it gets worse, but he can't. He's tired and he's thirsty, but he doesn't want to stop walking to drink. Bonnie and Jeremy are missing, Rebekah may find them first, Klaus is alive back in Mystic Falls and the only way to change that is on this island somewhere, and Tyler's alone with Elena. Don't be a dick, he reminds himself again. The reminder slams against the wall of his brain, over and over. It slides off each time, refusing to stick.

"I'm just saying," Tyler says. "We're not the only ones who are gonna benefit from this cure. You should be happy. Here's another thing that's going to help you. Isn't that what you like? If it'll help you, why shouldn't be do it? Why shouldn't we be here if it'll help you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Such a dick, Jeremy's voice says.

"Forget it," Tyler says. "Let's just keep moving."

Bonnie and Jeremy are their priority. They have to find Bonnie and Jeremy.

Elena picks up the pace to reach his side. "Answer me. What's that supposed to mean?" She grabs his arm. "Tyler." He shakes her off, but stops walking. She looks up at him with expectant annoyance, waiting for his reply. She's already decided she won't like what he'll say, and she's right to feel that way. She won't like it.

"I'm not the only one this cure is helping," she snaps when he remains silent. "We all want Klaus out of our lives. So what did you mean?"

"I meant," Tyler says finally, "that you've never been opposed to doing things if they'll benefit you, no matter the risk. I don't see why now is any different."

He watches Elena's face contort with anger. It's strangely satisfying to see.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Tyler says. "I mean, you're blackmailing Jeremy into moving back in with you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's just another Elena-ism," Tyler says. "You get what you want, the rest of us be damned. Sometimes literally. " She presses her lips together into a line that quivers with anger. Then she brushes past him, marching through the trees.

"That's why you kept Damon and Stefan around, isn't it?" Tyler calls after her. "Because you loved them? Because you wanted them?"

Elena whirls around and she's in his face in seconds, enraged. "Yes," she says. "I loved Stefan. Damon was always there for me when I needed him. They-"

"Yeah, you loved Stefan. Damon was always there for you," Tyler says. "They were good for you. It's exactly what I said, Elena: If it's for you, screw the rest of us."

He thinks she may take a swing at him.

They'll have fun explaining that one to Bonnie and Jeremy.

She doesn't try to hit him. Instead she shakes her head from side to side, backing away from him. "You killed them, and you didn't care what it would do to anyone else. I heard it was your idea. Did you think about Caroline before you came up with that plan, Tyler? Did you think of Caroline, who you claimed to love, while you were plotting to kill her friend?"

Yes.

"Maybe Stefan and Damon were terrible," Elena says.

Maybe? Definitely.

"But how were you any better? You don't think you stooped to their level?"

"Are you admitting they actually had a level to stoop to?" Tyler asks. "That's real progress for you, Elena."

"You don't get it," she says, turning away. She starts walking again. He follows her steps along the wooded path, leaves and branches cracking as they walk. He'd think she was trying to outrun him, but if she was she would have sped out of here already.

"No, I get it," Tyler says conversationally. "You think I should feel bad because I killed them? You think I should have been better than Stefan and Damon? Right? But why's it up to us to be better? Why is it the victims who have to be better? I didn't owe them anything more than what I gave them: stakes to the heart. We've all gotten screwed," he says. "You, me, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, Matt. All of us. But you're the only one that matters. Your pain, your suffering it all matters more than ours."

Elena stops walking long enough to respond. "No, it doesn't." She turns around completely. "I've never thought that."

"You keep wondering how we could have done it. How could we have done that to you? What kind of people are we that we could kill Damon and Stefan so easily and without any remorse? And that's a good question," he admits, "but you're looking at it from the wrong angle."

Elena folds her arms, rolls her eyes. "I am?"

"You are," he confirms. "How could we have done that? What was it about Stefan and Damon that made it so easy to kill them? Is it possible that they deserved it? Is it possible that after all this time we just got fed up with being their punching bags and their sacrificial lambs and their afterthoughts? Is that at all possible?"

He doesn't know if she's hearing him, but it feels good to say it. For all he knows it's just them in these woods. Out here she's not Elena, Bonnie's best friend. Or Elena, Jeremy's older sister. Here she's just Elena and she loved Damon and Stefan, who made all their lives hell.

"You're right," he says. "It was my idea. I went to Bonnie. The only person I thought about was Caroline, not you. You never thought about me so why should I think about you? I'm not your brother. If we're being honest, I'm not even your friend. You're just a girl I've known for my entire life. After this year we never have to see each other again, but you want to see Jeremy. Bonnie, too. You say you're trying. Jeremy moved back in with you, even though he didn't want to, because you say you're trying. You're not."

Elena steps toward him, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. "I'm not trying? That's all I've been doing? Ever since that night with Bonnie I've been trying, but it's not easy. It's-"

"You're not trying," Tyler repeats. "You still want Jeremy to say he's sorry. You want him to admit he did something wrong. He's not going to apologize, and he shouldn't. We did something great when we killed them. They deserved it. That's what you're not getting, that's what you're not trying to get: They deserved it."

Finally he drops his bag onto the ground and unzips it, rifling around for a bloodbag. "You're not gonna be able to forgive them. You think Jeremy and Bonnie agreeing to do this was because they stopped caring about you. That's not what it was. They just started caring about themselves more than you." He finds one, rips it open and sucks down the blood. "Is that why you're mad, Elena? Because in the end what you would think didn't matter?"

Elena huffs out an embittered, "Fuck you", and speeds out of sight.

Bonnie breaks Shane's legs. Both of them bend at awkward ankles, the crack sharp in the air. Since the wall fell to pieces, the tomb is eerily silent, a silence shattered by Shane's breaking bones and his cry of pain as he falls to the floor. She doesn't look back at him as she tells Jeremy to follow her through the wall, now split open with its jagged edges leading into more yawning darkness. Jeremy barely has time to grab his shirt and put it back on.

Bonnie walks like she knows where she's going. She uses Shane's flashlight to illuminate the way, the beam bouncing over the sharp, uneven edges of the walls, the ground beneath their feet.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asks.

Bonnie's head bobs as she nods. "Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah."

The Mark feels different somehow though he can't articulate, even to himself how different it feels. It feels as though it has lost something vital, something that made it what it was. He feels for Bonnie's hand in the dim light.

"We'll be fine," she says. "We'll be out of here soon." Is she trying to convince Jeremy or herself?

"I know."

They walk onward. The tunnel goes on and on and on. He wonders how the others are faring without them. It's probably an interesting experience they're having just Tyler, Elena and Rebekah. If they find them fast when they're done they may be able to reunite with them before the three of them end up killing each other.

Finally the beam of light falls on another wall ahead of them. Bonnie lowers the light so it falls on a raised altar. It extends across the wall with the hulking mass on top of it graying and covered in thick webs. Bonnie rushes forward, shining the flashlight onto it. "It's him," she says as Jeremy steps closer.

Silas.

There's a mask over the face, made of stone with holes where they eyes should be through all Jeremy can see is blackness. After all this time it appears that Silas has been reduced to something a little more than a mummy. His body is thin and his limbs look brittle.

"And our cure," Bonnie says, nodding down to Silas' hand. It's blackened and ancient looking. The stone vial he grasps seems to blend in with his frail fingers. "We did it. We found it."

Jeremy is grinning as he leans in to plant a quick kiss on her lips. "We did it," he echoes.

"I'll get Tyler here," she says. "He should be here." She closes her eyes, murmurs to a spell, and Jeremy reaches to touch the bottle.

Elena didn't go far. Tyler's not walking for five minutes when he finds her again, waiting up ahead with her arms crossed and her back against a tree. Her face remains impassive when she sees him, but she waits for him to catch up before she starts walking again.

When they take a break so Elena can drink some of her own blood, Tyler sits on the ground. He leans his head back against a tree, closes his eyes and breathes. He never thought he would miss Mystic Falls, but he misses it now. At least there they know what they're dealing with. Now all he knows for sure is that he's lost in the forest with Elena, Rebekah hasn't made an appearance, and Bonnie and Jeremy are only God knows where doing only God knows what with Shane.

Elena pretends he's not even there. He does the same with her.

They're playing the same useless game, wandering the forest without any point of reference. Now neither of them complains. He wonders if they should split up. They'd cover more ground that way, and they wouldn't have to stare at the other after their argument. But their group is fractured enough.

Elena sits down across from him to drink her blood, and he makes an effort not to look at her. She finishes the bag, and Tyler knows he should get up and start walking again but he can't make himself. He doesn't know where to go. He hasn't known this whole time but now it feels so much more disorienting. They have no idea where they are. At this point they may not be able to find their way back to camp. Maybe Rebekah has fared better.

"When I told Jeremy I was adopted, he didn't care," Elena says suddenly. The only reason he hears her is because he hears everything. She's speaking so quietly a human may not notice she's talking. "That should have been the thing that would turn our lives upside down, but when you compare it to vampires and werewolves and all this other stuff, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. It didn't change anything between us. When my birth mom was here, when she was awful, Bonnie wanted to help me through it even though she didn't want anything to do with Stefan and Damon then."

Tyler wants to tell her he doesn't want to hear it, but he can't tell if they're about to fight again or not. If they're not, he doesn't want to force it. He's doesn't have the energy. He doesn't have the energy to do anything. All he can do is cross his fingers and hope Bonnie and Jeremy come out of this in one piece, together and in near perfect condition. All he can do is listen to Elena talk.

"Then one day," she goes on. "I woke up, and this is where I was. Stefan and Damon were dead, and you, Bonnie and Jeremy had killed them. I don't know how to go back, but I really want to. I want us to be what we were."

"You can't," Tyler says, finally looking at her. She's trying not to cry, but he can see that she's close. "You can only be what you are, whatever that is."

"I do love Jeremy," Elena says. "And Bonnie. I do."

"That doesn't mean anything to me," Tyler says. "Tell them."

Elena wipes her eyes. "There you go again," she says, sniffing. "Being a dick."

She's surprised when Tyler starts laughing. She's definitely Jeremy's sister.

"What's so...?" Her attention is drawn by something behind him, and she cranes her neck to see. "What's that?"

Tyler turns. There are leaves behind them, blowing in the wind. They move strangely, in a very specific movement, to form themselves into a line. He sees more of them stirring, placing themselves carefully several feet ahead. Pushing himself to his feet, he moves closer. He's right next to them, one of the leaves brushing against the toe of his shoe, when they burst into flames.

"Shit." He jumps backward in surprise, and Elena hurries to his side to see.

The leaves ignite, the flames spreading from one to the other until a fiery line extends through the dark woods. It goes even further than he realized. The glow fills the darkness, makes it shine.

Tyler grabs his bag. "Come on."

"What's going on?" Elena asks as she picks hers up, too.

Isn't it obvious? "It's Bonnie."

"He's got a good grip," Jeremy says as he pulls at Silas' fingers. They looked weak at first glance, but all this time down there has made Silas' grip unbreakable. "I can't get it."

"Let me try," Bonnie says, and Jeremy steps backward so she can take his place. She could sever Silas' hand if need be. It's not like he'll be needing it down here. She rests a hand on the cold line of his hand and jumps when there's a voice in the doorway.

"I've been looking everywhere for you two," Rebekah says. Bonnie pauses, looking toward her as flips her hair over her shoulder. Even in the darkness, it shines.

"Where are Tyler and Elena?" Bonnie asks. The spell worked, that she knows, but she's surprised Rebekah's there so fast unless they were closer than they anticipated.

"We split up," Rebekah says, "but I saw your signal. And I see you've found our cure. Not as extensive in number as we'd hoped, is it?" She steps closer to Bonnie, looking down at Silas calmly. She raises her eyebrows at his tight grip. "Do you need help with that?"

She doesn't wait for an answer before she reaches to snap Silas' fingers. Jeremy had been pulling at his hand for at least ten minutes and had no luck, but Rebekah breaks them with ease. Once his fingers are splayed in awkward positions, she plucks the cure from his hand.

"Rebekah-" Bonnie begins, glancing toward Jeremy who looks at the cure in Rebekah's hand warily.

"I think we're done here," Rebekah says. "I'm quite comfortable with sharing, Bonnie, but I doubt it will be as effective if not taken as a full dose. See you at home?"

She looks at Bonnie like she's waiting for her to do something, to snap her spine to attempt an aneurysm. Something. She looks surprised when Bonnie does nothing. It doesn't have to be like this. They want the same thing. She can let Rebekah run off with it right now, and they'll still get what they want in the end.

"Lost your mojo, Bonnie?" Rebekah questions with a cool smirk. "Or have you-"

She stops short, her smirk slipping from her face. Bonnie looks at her confusedly. "Rebekah?"

The Original's eyes widen as she raises her empty hand to her chest. She seems to be having trouble breathing, if vampires could breathe. Blood spits from her mouth, and she falls to her knees. It's not until she's fallen at her feet does Bonnie notice the shape in the entryway, a woman with dark, curly hair and brown skin, dressed like she's been hiking.

Bonnie knows instantly she's a witch. The magic comes off of her in waves.

Jeremy looks to Bonnie, comes closer to her. "What-"

Bonnie tenses, scrolling through a list of spells she knows. The witch must realize what she's doing because she holds up a hand. "You don't want to do that," the witch says. "I've been practicing much longer than you."

Jeremy is lifted into the air, hovering inches off of the ground. He claws at his neck, where his veins are protruding. He gasps for air, kicking his feet, pulling at binds that aren't there.

"Don't," Bonnie says.

"You don't," the witch says. "Cooperate and he'll live."

"Okay," Bonnie says. "Just let him go."

As soon as she lets Jeremy go, as soon as Jeremy's safe, she'll do with this witch what she did with the last.

The witch smiles in satisfaction and lets Jeremy fall to the ground where he coughs and sputters, sucking down breath. She touches his shoulder and he falls unconscious, slumping onto the stone floor and becoming still.

"He's only asleep," the witch assures Bonnie. "He'll awaken when we're done." She steps over Rebekah, still spitting up blood but awake. She kicks the vampire with her boot, nudging her out of the way so she can stand closer to Bonnie.

"When we're done what?" Bonnie demands.

"Awakening Silas," the witch says.

"No."

Rebekah moves on the floor, pushing herself to her feet. Blood covers her chin. She still looks unsteady but maintains her hold on the cure. Without a word or another glance in Bonnie's direction, she's gone, her blond hair a brief glimmer in the dark.

Don't stick around to help or anything, Bonnie thinks bitterly. Not that Rebekah would have been helpful against a witch. If Bonnie could dispatch her easily, this one could, too. At least Rebekah escaped with the cure.

The witch is unconcerned with Rebekah's departure. If she was Bonnie could have used the distraction to kill her. She'll have to find another way. "Don't be stupid, Bonnie," the witch says as if she hears her thinking. Maybe she does. "You don't want your friend to die. Or the others, the vampire and the hybrid. They're on their way here, but we can make sure they don't make it."

"Who are you?" Bonnie questions. "How do you know us?"

"I only know you," the witch says, fixing her large, brown eyes on Bonnie. "I know all about you. So I know about your friends."

"If anything happens here that I don't want to happen, you will leave this island with the corpses of your loved ones," the witch says. "And that cure won't make it off this island. Understand?"

Bonnie nods.

"Don't test me," she says. "That witch you killed was a dear friend of mine."

"I said I understood," Bonnie snaps.

"Good," the witch says, her lips curving upward into a smile. "My name is Aja." She looks down at Silas with something akin to affection, running a gentle hand along his arm. When she takes her hand away, she curls her fingers into a fist.

"Are you one of his...followers?" Bonnie asks. She remembers Shane mentioning them once.

"I believe in Silas," Aja says. "I believe in what he can do." She smiles and nods to his body, lightly touching the mask on his face. "Only a Bennett witch can awaken him."

"I don't know how."

Aja takes hold of Bonnie's hand, interlacing their fingers. Hers are cool and dry. "I'll show you." Bonnie's eyes flit to Jeremy, unmoving and vulnerable. She sees his chest rising and falling and remembers the feel of Jeremy's chest beneath her hands. If she focuses on that now, she'll be able to think of a way out of this.

But Jeremy lets out a choking breath. His body seizes.

Bonnie turns her gaze back to Aja. "You said you wouldn't hurt him."

"I won't," Aja says. "But I need your full attention. You're about to do something great."

Thanks for reading and reviewing.