Chapter 28 - Detective Salvatore
Before Katherine or Rebekah have chance to ask any questions, Damon is sprinting away, his heart pounding in his chest. There's no time to think or talk, he needs to get to Stefan now. The three of them run the entire way and make it to the street the hotel is on in under ten minutes. Stefan is pacing up and down the street outside the hotel and the minute Damon sets eyes on him he dashes the rest of the way, leaving Katherine and Rebekah behind. He grabs Stefan and pushes him into the hotel lobby.
"Calm down, calm down," Damon tells him. "We need to go back to the room."
"He took Elena." Stefan is shaking uncontrollably, his breathing ragged and his eyes wild.
"Not here," Damon says, scanning around them and noticing suspicious eyes on them. He pushes Stefan towards the stairs, Rebekah and Katherine so far behind that Damon has lost sight of them.
Once they're in the room Damon quickly takes out his phone and texts Rebekah the room number. He's in cop mode, which means he is calm, collected and focused on getting the facts.
"Stef, what happened?"
"What do you think happened? They took Elena!"
"No, I know that, but how did it happen? Who took her did you see their faces?"
"We were walking back from the store and a cab pulled up outside. I didn't even notice anything suspicious until they pulled her into the car. It all happened so fast, I couldn't do anything. One minute she was standing right next to me, the next the car was half way down the street. I caught a glimpse of one guy. He-he was black, with a shaved head and-"
"Marcel."
"Marcel? How do you know his name?"
Damon shakes his head and avoids answering the question, not ready to tell Stefan that Katherine is back yet. "I told you not to leave the room."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was too dangerous to go to the store three minutes away! I thought they thought we were dead."
"Yeah, so did I."
"So how the hell did they find us? And how did they know we were here?"
"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out. We must've messed up somewhere."
"Yeah, well, now we're paying the price because Elena could be dead for all we know."
"He won't kill her. That's not why he wants her."
"How do you know that?"
"Because-because-"
"Because what?"
Damon inhales deeply. He knew it was going to be hard to tell Stefan about finding Katherine, but under these circumstances it's even harder. "Because I found Katherine."
Stefan's eyes go wide. "You-you found her? What? How?"
"She was at the train station waiting for the same train as us to go to Cold Spring."
Stefan shakes his head in disbelief. "Where is she now? Where's Rebekah?"
"They're behind, I ran ahead." As though on cue there's a light rap at the door. "That'll be them."
When Katherine steps into the room Stefan's mouth droops open. It's one thing to see a picture of her but another to see her in the flesh. Damon can still recall the shock he experienced when he first saw Elena. How similar they look yet how different at the same time. Katherine is visibly nervous but holds herself well and stands with her shoulders squared.
"This is why you were coming back to the hotel," Stefan says.
Damon nods. "I didn't want to tell you over text."
Katherine clears her throat and steps forward with her hand extended. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Stefan glares at her and Damon has never seen such venom in his eyes. Katherine retreats back, her hand falling to her side and Damon steps closer to Stefan.
"You're the reason all of this has happened."
"Stefan, stop," Damon says, his voice firm. "It's not her fault. Katherine's told me everything."
"Oh, so she finally stopped lying, huh?" Stefan bites, glaring at her angrily.
"None of this is her fault."
"Yeah, you keep saying that, but Elena's parents are dead and she's been kidnapped by a maniac because they think Elena is her. So how can it not be her fault?"
"Because she didn't do anything to deserve it, Klaus hasn't targeted because of anything she did wrong. Klaus and his family adopted her when she was thirteen. She was just a child when she met him. She was with the family for two weeks but she began to sense something was wrong and overheard them talking about killing her so she fled and that's how she ended up on the run."
"What? What?" Stefan's brow is etched with a deep frown. He shakes his head. "That doesn't make sense. Why would they want to kill her if they didn't even know her? What kind of psychos want to kill a child anyway?"
Rebekah grimaces and Damon thinks on how difficult it must be for her to be part of this conversation, considering it's her family that are committing the crimes against them.
"That's what we need to figure out."
"When I heard them...the night I left, I mean...they were talking about revenge and an eye for an eye. And they-they said I had her eyes."
"Her? Her who?" Stefan asks.
"I don't know. They didn't say a name."
"Knowing Katherine's version of events and what was said that night, I'm starting to think all of this is connected to Katherine and Elena's birth parents."
"What?" Katherine asks.
"It makes sense. What other reason would Klaus have to target you? You overheard them say they'd been waiting for their revenge for what? 18 years? And they said that you had the same eyes as someone they knew...it makes sense."
"They're your family. Surely you can make some sense of this," Stefan says pointing an accusatory finger at Rebekah.
Rebekah sighs. "My family are fiercely loyal and loving, but they're also the most hateful people I've ever known. They will hold a vendetta for a lifetime. In their world it is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, just like Katherine said. Maybe Damon's right. If my family knew Katherine's parents and they did something to piss my brothers off or betrayed them in some way, he'd want revenge. Family is very important to Niklaus and he knows the best way to hurt someone is through their family. I just never thought-I didn't think he would ever be capable of hurting a child." Rebekah chokes up, tears filling her eyes.
"We need to find out who Katherine and Elena's parents are. We find that out, and we're closer to understanding why all of this is happening."
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay here," Stefan says, looking at Rebekah.
"Excuse me?"
"Your family are the ones that have Elena, they're the ones that are targeting all of us. This is too close to home for you."
"Stef, Rebekah is helping us."
"She was, but how can we expect her to go up against her own family?"
"I'm not going up against them. I'm the one in the middle that has both sides of the story. I'm the only one that can make sure this all ends without violence."
"She's right," Damon says, defending Rebekah.
"And what about you?" Stefan says honing in on Katherine. "She betrayed you, didn't she? How do you feel about that?"
"Rebekah and I talked. She didn't betray me. I saw her with Klaus and thought she was working with him, but she didn't know that I even knew him."
"And you believe that? What, it's just just another coincidence I suppose?" Stefan is angry and understandably so, and Damon desperately wants to find a way to calm him down. "And I'm-I'm just trying to figure all this out, because the last time Klaus knew our whereabouts was Grand Lake and now we're over 1000 miles away in New York. Not to mention he thought we were dead because our car went over the edge of a cliff. So exactly how did he know Elena was here? Rebekah is the only one of us with a connection and loyalty to them."
"What exactly are you accusing me of?"
"I'm accusing you of telling your brother that we were here." Stefan says, his jaw clenching.
"What? You're bloody mad," Rebekah protests.
"Am I? Or are you just pissed because I've uncovered your little secret?" Stefan squares up to Rebekah. "You've been on their side from the start. This way you could get insider knowledge and feed it back."
"Whoa," Damon says stepping between them and pushing Stefan away. "Step away. This isn't you, brother."
"Oh, come on, Damon. You're supposed to be the detective here. Use your brain. Klaus didn't just magically find us here, he was told. It's the only option and unless you or I told him, that leaves only one person."
Damon glances over his shoulder at Rebekah, the logic of Stefan's argument arousing his suspicions.
"Oh, no. Not you too," Rebekah exclaims. "Do you know how much I've given to helping out with this bloody mess? I didn't have to, Lexi told me not to, but I did it out of the kindness of my heart and this is how I get repaid? Why would I want to help my brother?"
"Because he's your brother," Stefan replies.
"Maybe you want revenge too," Damon says, examining her reactions and body language.
"Revenge for what? I wasn't born when whatever happened with my family and Katherine's parents went down, and it's not exactly like my siblings tell me anything. I've always been out of the loop. I used to hate that they kept secrets from me, but now I'm glad because I don't want to know any of this. I don't want to know! And anyway, how could I be a spy for my brother when I didn't even know who any of you were until 4 days ago?"
"You could've contacted him after you met us."
"If that's what you think maybe you're right. Maybe it's best that I leave." Tears prick Rebekah's eyes and Damon's suspicions end as quickly as they began. He knows real emotion when he sees it and in spite of his own suspicions of Rebekah, he has a gut feeling that she only wants to help. Seeing her with Katherine today only confirmed that. She said from the beginning she was doing this for Katherine and when he saw them speaking earlier he saw how much she cares for Katherine and how sincere it is. Before Damon has chance to defend her, Katherine steps beside Rebekah and says, "She's telling the truth."
"And what would you know?" Stefan bites.
"Do you really think I'd want her around if I thought she was helping them? I'm the one they want dead. I wouldn't take that risk. Rebekah is my friend, I know when she's telling the truth and I know she wouldn't betray me."
The two exchange a heartfelt smile and Rebekah looks as though she's going to descend into a river of tears, completely moved by Katherine's words.
"Whatever. I'm sick of all this talk, because while we're here Elena is out there with that monster. I'm calling the police like I should've the second Elena's parents were killed."
"No!" Damon and Katherine exclaim in unison.
"We're still wanted by the police and I've told you before, they can't help us. Now that we have Katherine and Rebekah we're closer to ending this than ever before."
"How many more times are you going to say that? I was willing to give it a chance before, but not now. I won't risk Elena's life. Not for anything."
"I understand that, but we'll get her back. I swear it."
"I don't want anymore goddamn empty promises, I want my girlfriend back!"
"We'll go to Cold Spring," Rebekah says. "We'll go now. Today. Niklaus will understand when I explain and he will-"
"Explain what?" Katherine asks.
"That Elena is Elena and you're, well, you."
"And what makes you think that will keep Elena safe? If you're right and all of this is some revenge thing connected to my biological parents, they're going to want Elena as much as me. The only reason she's been safe until now is because he didn't know I was a twin. We didn't even know."
Damon nods. "Katherine's right."
"So then what do we do?"
"We take a breath, recompose ourselves and then we sit down, talk all of this out and make a plan."
"Sit down? Talk? Take a breath?" Stefan scoffs. "We should be out there right now finding Elena!"
"If we rush into it without thinking anything through all we'll be doing is putting Elena in more danger and risking all of our lives. The mistake I've made through all of this is that I've let my feelings get in the way. I need to start treating this like a case."
"So Detective Damon is going to save the day?" Stefan asks, mockingly.
"Maybe."
"We'll do it together," Katherine says, stepping forward beside Damon.
Damon looks to Katherine and she smiles up at him. He can see in that one smile how much faith she has in him and her faith and support makes him feel powerful and assured.
"Katherine's right. We'll get through this together, but first I need to talk to you alone." Damon points at his brother and Stefan sighs, but follows Damon to the bathroom.
"Let me guess, this is where you give me some cheesy ass pep talk that's supposed to inspire me?"
"You're a sarcastic dick, sometimes, you know that? I wanted to check you're alright."
"Alright? Well, my girlfriend has just been kidnapped by a psycho who has already killed her parents. I'm just great."
"I know it's a shock with Elena being taken and now Katherine being here, but you need to get your head back in the game."
"In the game?" Stefan scoffs. "Unbelievable."
"What I mean is that turning on Rebekah is not going to help us."
"You have to admit what I said is true."
"Yeah, but it wasn't Rebekah."
"Then who was it? How did he know where to find Elena?"
Damon frowns, intensely and rubs his chin. "I don't know yet."
"You really have gone into cop mode, haven't you? You're doing your serious contemplative frowning face."
"Look, I know you're in a bad place right now but could you stop with all the goddamn sarcasm?"
"Sorry." Stefan's demeanour changes instantly. His bottom lip begins to tremble and in the next moment he's falling into Damon's arms, crying inconsolably.
Damon doesn't speak, he just holds his brother in his arms knowing that he has been holding all of this emotion inside for ten days.
"I can't lose her, Damon."
"I know, I know."
"We have to get her back."
"We will, but you have to trust me. That's all I've asked of you this entire time. I know you don't believe it and you think I'm just telling you what you want to hear, but we're closer to the truth than we've ever been. Before it's like I was trying to solve a puzzle without having the main pieces, but now I have them all, except Katherine's parents."
"But we can't wait. We don't have time to find them. Every second Elena's there is another second that she's in danger. Katherine said he wanted to kill her before, what if this time he doesn't want to wait and miss his opportunity?"
"That's why we're going to Cold Spring today."
"I thought you said we shouldn't rush."
"And we're not. I've thought all of this through. We don't have time to waste, we have to get Elena back now."
Stefan nods in concurrence, a small smile of relief on his lips.
"So Rebekah will go to the house and pretend she's there for a routine family visit. She'll invite them out to dinner and leave a key in a hidden place so that while they're out we can go in and get Elena."
"What if she's not at the house and he has her somewhere else?"
"Then we'll deal with it when the time comes. Either way, if they're out with Rebekah they can't be with Elena so it'll buy us some time. Finding Katherine has changed everything, she has information we didn't know before and when we have Elena back, we can finally work on solving this whole mess. All we need to do is find their parents, if we do that it means we don't even need Klaus, we can find out everything we need to know from them. They can probably give us more answers because they can explain why they gave up the girls and why all of this is happening better than anyone."
"But how are you going to find them when we have nothing to go off?"
"When Katherine was telling me about the night she ran from the Mikaelson's she said something that stuck in my mind. Her surname is Pierce, but she said that Klaus called her Petrova. Katerina Petrova."
"Petrova," Stefan says, wrapping his tongue around the name. "What does that mean?"
"It means that if Petrova is Katherine's birth name, it might lead us right to her parents."
Stefan exhales deeply and smiles, relief all over his face.
"I told you, we're closer than ever before."
Stefan nods. "I'm-I'm sorry about before. How I spoke to Katherine and breaking down like that."
"Eh, there's nothing to be sorry for," Damon shrugs.
"How are you feeling about all of this?" Stefan asks, still considerate and concerned for Damon despite everything.
"Overwhelmed," Damon admits.
"What about Katherine?"
"What about her?"
"How do you feel now she's told you everything? Do you still trust her?"
Damon sighs and nods. "I trust her completely. I knew, I just knew from the beginning that she was good and that she needed help. Every time you or Elena said something about her, and even before that, I always questioned myself and wonder if I was the stupid fool that had been seduced and manipulated, but hearing her talk about everything she's been through earlier... I realised my instinct about her was right from the start."
"What's her story then?"
Damon summarises everything Katherine told him of her life as quickly as he can, being careful not to divulge too much and reveal intimate details to Stefan that she may not necessarily want him or anyone else to know.
"Whoa," Stefan says, when Damon has finished. "All this time she's been running from him without even knowing why?"
"Yep."
"I don't know how she hasn't gone crazy. I've only been in this a week, and I'm already going crazy."
"Tell me about it."
"I-I feel terrible. What I said to her back there about it being her fault-"
"Just apologise."
"I will. I wish Elena was here. She got it all wrong about her, we both did."
Damon nods. "There'll be plenty of time for it later."
"I hope so. I don't want her to have to carry all that resentment and blame inside her. It's going to swallow her whole. If she finds out the truth about Katherine, maybe she'll be able to let all of that go."
"She still blames Katherine then? For what happened to her mom and dad?"
"Wouldn't you? All she knows is that those men killed her parents because they thought she was Katherine. That's what I thought until 10 minutes ago."
"She blamed me too for a while. When she knows what Katherine has been through, she'll realise she was wrong."
"Maybe. Who knows, this may be a good thing for her. She lost her parents, but she might have a chance to meet her biological family. I don't think she's ready for that yet, but maybe one day she will be and it'll help her heal."
Damon nods. "I think it'll be good for Katherine too. She's never had a family. This might be her one chance."
Stefan nods and returns to their previous topic of conversation. "Are you sure we can trust Rebekah?"
"Lexi trusts her, Katherine trusts her."
"But do you?"
"I've been back and forth, but yeah, I do. I think she's just a normal girl that's trapped in a backwards family and she's done everything she can to not be part of what they are. She went on the run to get away from it and then moved to Chicago."
"She still loves them though."
"Of course she does. They're her family."
"And that's exactly my point. Why would she help us over them?"
"Because she cares about Lexi and Katherine, so by extension she cares about us."
"But not above her family."
"Like she said, this isn't about hurting her family. It's just about helping us get to the truth and make sure no one gets hurt on either side."
Stefan frowns. "Except that's not going to happen, is it? We're not just going to let this go and let the Mikaelson's continue with their merry lives of crime and violence?"
Damon hushes Stefan, worried that Rebekah may be able to hear from the other side of the door. He replies in a quiet voice, "Of course not, but she doesn't know that. Rebekah made me promise that her family wouldn't get hurt in this, but I've gotta do what I've gotta do. He was going to kill a child, he had Elena's parents killed and now he's kidnapped Elena. There's no way I'm letting him stay free where he can hurt Katherine or Elena again or someone else. Either way, when we're done with him he'll be leaving in cuffs or in a body bag."
Damon expects to see shock or horror on his little brother's face, but instead all he sees is fierce determination. He gives Damon a firm nod, letting him know that he is with him in this one hundred percent and Damon squeezes his shoulder.
"You still think we shouldn't involve the police?" Stefan asks.
Damon has been internally battling with himself on this issue non-stop since Elena's parents were killed. He knows it would be safer for the police to handle things from here, but he also knows that they will blow their cover by wading in and asking questions, and he doesn't want to risk Klaus and his family escaping. He feels more assured to know he's the one handling things. "For now, no."
"But what about Elena? Surely it's safer if the police are involved."
"It'll take longer to get Elena back with the police's help than if we do it on our own and we don't have the time. The second we call the police they'll want is in custody and they'll be asking questions - questions we can't answer yet. We can't go to the police until we at least have a full confession from Klaus admitting he was the one that ordered the hit on Elena's parents. Without that there's no way for us to be exonerated."
"How the hell are we going go get a confession?"
"I haven't figured that part out yet, but I will."
"Even if we do get a confession, will it be enough? Even if the police know the truth about why we ran, we still did ran. Haven't we broke some law just by running? Perverting the court of justice or something?"
"It's going to be tricky, but with a confession we'll have a much stronger defence. I ain't gonna lie to you, Stef, there's no simple or easy way out of this."
"Do you really think the Elena's biological parents are the key to all of this?"
"Yeah, I do."
"What if they're dead or out of the country? What will we do then?"
"That's worst case scenario. Chances are they're alive and well somewhere here in America."
"And what if they don't want to help us? They split up their twin daughters and abandoned them. How much can they really care about Elena and Katherine?"
"Ah, that's where you're wrong, brother. They didn't abandon them because they don't care, they did it because they do. Think about it, whatever they did to piss Klaus off must've happened before the girls were born and they knew he would target the girls to get to them, so they gave them up to keep them safe."
"But who would give up their own children rather than go to the police for help?"
"People that have done things just as terrible as the man that wants revenge on them."
"You mean you think they're some kind of criminals?"
"Men like Klaus may be hateful and violent, but they don't commit themselves to acts of revenge like this unless it's something big."
"What do you think it is?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. All I do know is that getting Elena back is just the first hurdle, there's still more to come."
"But we'll be okay. We'll do it."
Damon raises his eyebrows. "That's a positive change from your usual pessimistic doom and gloom world out-look."
"Well, I just realised how much of a damn good detective you are."
"You only just realised?" Damon teases.
"Okay, okay, your head is already too big for your shoulders, don't get used to the compliments."
Damon smirks.
"What I mean is, I know this isn't a case like any other and that this is our life right now and we're trapped in it, but I believe in you and know you can do this with all of our help."
Stefan's words mean more to Damon than he could ever express. Though confidence has never been an issue for him, this last week, he has to admit that his confidence has taken a hit and he's been doubting himself more so than he ever has before. To know that Stefan has faith in him, as well as Katherine, makes all the difference.
"I suppose we best go back out there and tell them the plan. You ready?"
Stefan nods and Damon pats him on the back encouragingly exiting the bathroom, with Stefan on his heel having been instilled with new sense of confidence and determination. Seems Damon's cheesy pep talk did work after all.
"You're sure you still want to do this? You can still back out."
Rebekah inhales deeply and shakes her head. "No. I'm doing this."
"And I'm sorry about before," Stefan says, apologising for a second time. "It's just with Elena and everything I-"
Rebekah holds up her hand to stop him mid-sentence. "It's alright, Stefan, really."
Damon is relieved to see them patching up their differences, because they all need to be on the same page for the plan to work. "Okay, good. Remember, to keep your phone close and on silent. Don't let them see you looking at it or using it because it may arouse suspicion. Best to do it when you're in the bathroom. We'll wait in the car three blocks away until you text the signal to say you're gone."
"Remember the CCTV at the front gates. Leave the car at the bottom of the street and-"
"Don't worry, I know where all the cameras are. I'll have my gun, so I'll disable them all so that none of it is captured. The most important part is that you find where Elena is. If she's not in the house text the agreed signal and-"
"I'll come and meet you the following day at the meeting place."
"You remember where it is?"
"Got the motel address saved on my phone."
Damon nods. "If Elena is in the house-"
"You'll go straight back to New York and I'll stay with my family for a couple of weeks until I go back to Chicago."
"About that," Katherine interjects, "do you think it's a good idea to go back to New York considering they knew we were there? And shouldn't Rebekah come with us?"
Damon shakes his head. "If Elena goes missing the same day Rebekah arrives and then she leaves, it'll be obvious she was involved. This way, her involvement remains unknown. Besides, Rebekah will have done her part."
"I will?" Rebekah questions.
"Yeah, you'll have got Elena back to us safely."
"But before you wanted me to-"
"Now Katherine is here, we have more information than we did before and to get the answers we need we don't need to go directly to Klaus." Although Damon trusts Rebekah, he doesn't want to divulge anymore than that.
"I really hope they're keeping Elena at the house," Stefan says.
"If I know my brother, she won't be far from him. He doesn't have enough trust for it to be any other way." Rebekah's phone starts to ring and she excuses herself, informing them that it's Lexi. Damon tells her to pass on their best wishes, wishing he could grab a couple of minutes to chat with her himself. It would be good to hear her voice.
With Damon finally having Stefan and Katherine alone he leans into them and quietly says, "I've already told Stefan, but once we have Elena all we need to do is to find your parents. They'll be able to tell us why all of this is happening and testify that Klaus has caused all of this and is insane."
Damon sees the anxiety reflected in her eyes. "I know you're scared but we have to do this. You said you were tired of running and hiding, well if you want the truth, this is what we have to do. It's the only way."
Katherine looks him square in the eye and says, "Then we'll do it."
Damon smiles proudly at her. "I know we're all nervous, but this is going to work. Rebekah is in this with us one hundred percent and she's going to help us get Elena back. That's what we need to stay focused on. And with any luck, by the end of the week all of this will be over."
Stefan exhales deeply. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped together so tightly his knuckles are white, his legs rocking restlessly.
"Hey." Damon reaches for Stefan's clenched hands. "Trust me on this, we are going to get her back." He holds his gaze and nods. "The most important thing is that you stay calm and positive. It's not easy, but if you let your emotions take over, it won't work. Okay?"
Stefan nods. "I just want to be there now. I can't stand this."
"They've only got about an hour's head start. He won't have time to do anything. Right? We're in this together and we're all going to do everything we can to make sure Elena comes back home safe."
Damon's words do exactly what they're intended to do and provide Stefan and Katherine with much needed confidence and encouragement.
Stefan gives Damon a small smile. "What?" Damon questions.
"Remember how Mr Branson always used to say you were a natural born leader when we were kids?"
"Wasn't that just his way of saying I was bossy?"
They laugh.
"He was right. You've led us all through this. We couldn't do it without you."
"Stop, you're making me blush," Damon teases.
Stefan smiles. "Well, now your cop mode has been activated Detective Salvatore is definitley gonna save the day." Stefan salutes him.
Damon titters. "I sound like a goddamn Power Ranger when you say that and I'm a cop, not a soldier."
They all laugh and for a moment, just a brief moment, everything feels normal. Happy, even. Damon looks to his left and to his right and sees the smiling faces of his brother and the girl he loves and once again wonders if he's fallen into a dream. It evokes an emotion in him that he cannot explain and knows it will be a memory that he will carry with him for the rest of his life.
Although the train journey to Cold Spring is significantly shorter than the journey's they've been making recently, soon after they've taken their seats Damon and Rebekah are both fast asleep. Stefan is disappointed since he could do with some conversation to distract his mind from thinking about Elena. He replays the moment she was taken over and over again in his mind thinking if he'd been standing just a bit closer or reacted faster she would still be with him. Just as Damon's instinct is to blame himself for everything terrible that happens to those he cares about, it's also Stefan's. Apparently it's a Salvatore trait. Too bad it skipped a generation with their mother and father, who didn't care enough to stick around long enough to see Stefan's tenth birthday. Stefan can feel his mind spiralling into a dark abyss, triggered by Elena's kidnapping and closes his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath in. He silently prays that Elena is unhurt and safe and that by tonight she will be back in his arms.
"I'm sorry about Elena."
Katherine's voice brings Stefan out of his own head.
"Huh?"
Katherine is sitting opposite Stefan, Damon snoozing beside her. She's leaning towards him her hands resting on her thighs. "I'm sorry this has all happened to you and to Elena."
Her apology is humble and sincere and takes Stefan by surprise. "Thanks. I'm sorry too. For-for what happened to you and what I said earlier about this being your fault. I know it's not, I didn't know then and I was angry."
Katherine bows her head and picks at her nail beds uncomfortably. "Oh. Damon-Damon told you about-about me?"
"He told me what you've been through, yeah. He wanted to make sure I knew that the only person whose fault this is is Klaus'."
"I still can't help but think if I'd confronted him sooner and tried to find out what he wanted with me instead of running maybe... Maybe I could've stopped all of this from happening."
Stefan can see the inner turmoil and pain in Katherine's dark eyes and every opinion or feeling he felt for her before meeting her is replaced by a new found respect and empathy.
"We can't change the past."
"No," she states, her voice quiet, her head low.
"You're not at all what I expected," Stefan admits, honestly.
Katherine frowns. "What were you expecting?"
He shrugs, "Honestly, I have no idea what I was expecting."
The atmosphere between them is awkward for a minute or two, but Stefan decides to push on through. There's so much he wants to talk to her about that he doesn't want to let this opportunity pass him by and chatting will distract him from worrying about Elena.
"If you don't mind me saying, you seem to be taking the news that you have a long lost twin pretty well."
She laughs lightly. "As well as I can, I suppose. I take it from that Elena didn't take it so well?"
Stefan stammers. "Um, not really, no."
"After everything that's happened in my life nothing could surprise me anymore. Finding out about Elena's not much of a surprise because I know so little about where I come from."
"It was more of a shock for Elena because finding out about you came with finding out she was adopted. She had no idea."
"She thought her parents were her birth parents?"
Stefan nods.
"How do you think she'll feel about meeting me?"
Stefan hesitates wondering whether he should tell her the truth or not. She looks right at him, her dark brown eyes wide and round and filled with anxiety and uncertainty. For a moment it's as though he's looking at Elena and it catches him off-guard. How is it that she looks so much like her yet so different? Damon said that to him once and he never quite understood what he meant until now.
"Confused, shocked. You know, how you'd expect her to feel. How do you feel about it?"
Katherine shrugs. "Okay, I guess."
Though Katherine attempts to keep her emotions concealed, Stefan can see that there's an excitement in her eyes. She wants to meet Elena and she's looking forward to it. It makes sense given that she's lived her entire life without family. Stefan hopes that Elena will feel the same way about Katherine once she knows that Katherine is as much an innocent victim of Klaus as she is.
Stefan clears his throat. "Elena's going through a lot. You've been in this a lot longer, but she's still trying to make sense of it all. She had a normal life and then in an instant her entire world was turned upside down. She found out she was adopted and that she has a twin and then her parents were killed in front of her. It's gonna take her time to adjust and accept the changes."
"Accept me, you mean."
Stefan doesn't respond, but he doesn't need to. Katherine's entire body deflates with disappointment.
"Give her time. She'll come around when you tell her your side of it."
Katherine shakes her head firmly. "It's not like I'm bothered. I don't know her and she doesn't know me. The fact that we're blood doesn't mean anything. We're strangers. Of course, I'll help get her back but what's important to me is getting to the truth and stopping Klaus from ever being able to hurt me or anyone else."
"And where does Damon fit into that?"
The question catches her off-guard, but along with Elena, Damon is the most important person in his life and he needs to ascertain her intentions with both of them.
"What do you mean?" she asks. She knows what he means, but she's treading carefully.
"I mean, my brother cares about you. He really cares about you and I don't want him to get hurt."
Katherine leans back in her seat, her glare hard and cold.
"When Damon first told me about you I thought you were playing him, using him for a place to stay."
"I wasn't."
"Damon says he trusts you and I trust him."
"But?"
"But I just want to make sure that you're not using him and that you're going to prove me wrong."
Katherine looks across at him sleeping and Stefan immediately sees a softening of her expression and a twinkle in her eyes, and without her even saying anything Stefan already has the answer he wanted.
She turns back to face him and meets Stefan's eyes, confident and firm. "I will never do anything to hurt him. Ever."
Stefan believes her. Just one look at Damon's face has completely broken down her defences and her face is flooded with emotion. He didn't believe it, but she really does love him just as much as he loves her. He wonders if Damon knows that...
"Good." Stefan smiles at her. "Then I guess we have something in common."
"What's that?"
"We both love Damon."
Her eyes widen at hearing the 'L' word. It doesn't come as a surprise to Stefan. Even the bravest of people are afraid of loving others and the vulnerability that goes with it, but for someone like Katherine who has lived such a turbulent life and been treated so horribly by those around her, it's no surprise she's fearful of it.
Katherine tries to play it off by joking, "I thought Damon was supposed to be the detective in the family."
"Don't have to be a detective to see how you feel about him and how he feels about you. I knew he was in love before he even told me about you."
"You did?"
"Are you kidding? Every time we spoke on the phone he was so damn happy all the time. I thought he was just high at first, but then I realised it could only be a girl making him like that."
Katherine can't hide the smile that comes across her face, although she tries.
"At least now I know his instincts were right about you. You're not just using him, you really care."
Katherine blushes. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." She's clearly not used to having such an open conversation with someone she barely knows, but when it comes to love, it's impossible to hide the truth.
Damon stirs and still half asleep asks, "What are you two talking about?"
Katherine reaches over and rubs his arm gently. "Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't, my neck is in agony." Damon reaches his hand behind his neck and groans. "Must be all this sleeping on trains." He sits up and stretches, yawning as he does. "So what were you talking about?"
"None of your business," Katherine teases. Damon rolls his eyes, but cracks a smile.
"Well, I don't need to know, I just hope you two have been getting along."
Stefan and Katherine exchange a smile and both say, "We have."
Despite the circumstances, Stefan feels a calmness come over him. Not only has Katherine reassured him that all of his worst fears about her are untrue and he has nothing to fear from her, but they'll soon they'll be arriving in Cold Spring where they will find Elena and bring her back safely. He believes that with every cell in his body, because what else is there? It doesn't matter what follows, all that matters is that Elena will be with him and out of the clutches of the Mikaelson's. He never knew it was possible to miss a person this much. It's only been a couple of hours since she was taken, but his entire body aches for her and every minute he's apart from her it feels like pieces of his soul are crumbling away. It's only now Stefan understands how Damon must have felt in the days he's been apart from Katherine. Not knowing where she was, whether she was alive or dead. It's a torturous and maddening place to be and Stefan only has the strength to go on because it will soon end and before the night is over, he will be reunited with his Elena.
A/N: Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews on the last chapter, it means so much to me! It gave me so much inspiration to write, which is why this chapter is up sooner than the others have been recently, so thank you for that! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave a review to share your thoughts.
