It was not frantic and it most definitely didn't feel wrong. It wasn't heated or fast, it was a slow, burning passion that ensnared and filled Elijah's senses as Elena pulled him closer and continued to kiss him deeply, their bodies and their tongues brought together in slow, deliberate movements.

She seemed to be so completely engulfed in him, as he was in her, that she didn't pull away at first when she heard Jeremy's voice calling her name in the hallway outside.

After a few moment, when Elena did pull back slowly, catching her breath, her eyes never left Elijah's.

"I—I should get out there…" she whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers and nodded, then pulled away from her, his heart still pounding in his chest and every nerve in his body on fire—it was a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time and he would be lying if he didn't say that he was reluctant to lose it anytime soon.

But she was right.

It would be better for everyone, especially Elena, if no one found her in a hall closet making out with an original vampire.

"You should go first. I'll come in later so nothing looks suspicious—I really do need to call Rebekah anyway."

But before he could turn and reach for the handle to open the closet door, she grabbed his hand in hers and held it to her chest tightly.

"Elijah, wait—listen—I—"

Elijah shook his head with a small smile and stepped toward her, bringing his lips to her forehead and leaving a soft kiss there.

"Shh…Just go." He said softly, his lips still pressed against his skin for a moment or two before he finally pulled away and slowly brought his hand out of her grasp.

She studied him for a moment before moving toward the door as he opened it for her.

And with one last look over her shoulder, she crossed the threshold.

His heart lept in his throat as his mind clicked in sudden realization.

He had seen that look before when Liliya kissed him a thousand years ago, before Mikael pulled her away to be sacrificed in the ritual.

He had seen it four hundred years later when Niklaus led Katerina away from him that day in the garden.

He had also seen it after the last time Elena had kissed him-when she left his apartment the night of the ritual to be sacrificed by Klaus.

It was the look of unrequited love—but it was also a look that said goodbye.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Elijah waited a few minutes before exiting the closet, quietly shutting the door behind him.

He had just taken a few steps toward the foyer and pulled the phone from his pocket to call his sister, when he heard Stefan's voice behind him on the staircase.

"Elijah, there you are. Where have you been? We're all in the kitchen."

Elijah gave a short nod as Stefan descended the stairs, passing by him and heading down the hallway.

When he crossed into the kitchen behind Stefan moments later, Elijah saw that everyone, indeed had assembled and were waiting for him and Stefan.

Matt was sitting on the edge of the table and Jeremy was standing at the head on the other end. Elena, seated in one of the chairs again, gave Elijah as small smile as he entered the room.

Stefan possessively took a position behind Elena as Elijah came to stand next to her, his eyes fixed on Jeremy.

"What's going on?" Elijah asked coolly

"Earlier tonight when I was at the Grille, Alaric approached me and asked me to help him by spying on all of you. He played on my wanting to free Elena's life from vampires—" Jeremy said, then suddenly shook his head to change his train of thought, "Anyway, long story short, he wanted me to tell him where Klaus' body was."

Stefan instantly reflected, but Jeremy spoke quickly, raising his hands in his defense, "Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything."

Stefan relaxed as Elena reached back and rested her hand on his on the back of the chair.

"But, when Jeremy told me this outside a few moments ago, it got us thinking that we could use this," Matt interjected, looking around the room, "Elijah wants Klaus' body and the silver stake—we don't want Klaus to die because if he dies all our friends die, right? So, we could bait Alaric by having Jeremy give him false information about where he can find Klaus. When he gets there, we could be there waiting and can disarm him while one or both of the originals rendezvous with the Damon in another location with the real body and get the hell out of town."

"It could work," Stefan said, straightening, "What do you think, Elijah? Do you think that you and me could take down a vampire hunter?"

Elijah smirked at Stefan then turned back to Jeremy.

"Make the call," he said.

# # # # # # # # # # # #

Five minutes later, Elijah took a deep breath of fresh air as he stepped out onto the dimly lit front porch of the Gilbert house, pulled out his phone and finally called Rebekah.

After three rings, his sister's voice boomed at the other end.

"Well, it's about bloody time!" she scoffed, "Did you talk to the Scoobies—are they going to give us Nik?"

"Yes. I've made arrangements with Elena, but there has been a little change in plan. I'm going to text you an address. Damon is there with Klaus' body. Instead of the body coming to us, we are going to the body. I want you to meet him and pick it up. Then, I want you to rendezvous with Kol at Misha's house and wait for me there."

"Oh, God…what are you going to do?" Rebekah asked in a worried tone

"I need to make sure that Alaric follows us out of town and the only way to do that is to take both our brother and the stake. Jeremy Gilbert has already called Alaric and pretended to sell his soul to him, giving him a fake location where Damon is supposedly burying Niklaus' body. We'll attack and disarm him there. Be ready to move when I arrive in Suffolk, understand?"

There was a long pause and Elijah knew that Rebekah was silently thinking to herself how crazy her brother was.

Then she said finally in a low voice, "Just be careful and come back to us in one piece, alright?"

Elijah closed his eyes and nodded, "I will."

But just as he was ready to hang up, his sister's voice stopped him.

"Elijah," she said suddenly, "I love you."

"I love you, too..." He whispered with a small smile, "Bye."

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Two hours later, Elijah found himself standing alone in Stevens Woods with Caroline Forbes.

He found it unusual how quiet she was—usually she was quite the chatter box. But, understandably, from what Elijah had heard from Stefan, Caroline and her boyfriend, Tyler were themselves being hunted by another enemy—the townspeople. Alaric had let it slip to the council that the Sheriff's daughter and the Mayor's son were supernatural creatures.

But Elijah thought it noble that Caroline showed up at the Gilbert house, wanting to do all she could to help her friends before she left town.

Elijah didn't get to say goodbye to Elena, she had gone upstairs to rest when Stefan asked him and Caroline to patrol the woods, but he knew that if anything, he would call her later on his way out of town—he at least owed her that.

He had just closed his eyes and was playing back in his mind the feel of her lips and skin on his—the warmth—the softness—the passion—when Caroline's phone buzzed and Elijah opened his eyes to watch her pull it from her jean pocket.

"Stefan is on his way with Jeremy," she announced as she looked down at the lighted screen in the darkness, "He called Damon and filled him in on the plan."

Elijah nodded as he looked down, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

He could feel Caroline's eyes shift toward him as she turned the phone off and placed it back in her pocket.

"I—I'm sorry…about your Mother and your brother," she whispered finally

"Thank You." Elijah said in a low voice, still keeping his eyes on the ground

Caroline turned her eyes away, looking out into the forest as she continued.

"Are you really going to wait so long to awaken Klaus?" she asked, her voice soft, trying to sound indifferent, but failing miserably.

Elijah lifted his head and looked over to her.

"Yes." He said

Caroline took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's a long time to be without someone you love," she whispered

"It is." Elijah said, still studying her to gauge her feelings.

Did she care about Klaus? He dared not think it before, but a sudden realization came to him. She was now turning away from him because she was crying. So, it was possible. Or maybe she was just upset about leaving home and her own Mother behind.

Elijah's suspicions were confirmed when she sniffed and brought a hand to her face.

"I mean—he's your brother—it's going to be hard," she said still trying to sound indifferent again between more sniffs.

"It will be," he said, taking a step closer.

He suddenly felt sorry for Caroline—God, was every teenage girl in Mystic Falls this confused about their love life?

He desperately searched his mind for something to say to comfort her, but he stopped when he felt his own phone vibrate.

He quickly pulled it from his jacket pocket and flipped on the screen.

It was from Rebekah.

At the storage facility. I'll text again when we're on the move.

Elijah had just placed his phone in his pocket when Caroline turned back to him, wiping her eyes.

"I hear car doors. I think Stefan and Jeremy are here."

Elijah opened his hearing.

It was miles away, but he also heard them.

"Let's head that way then," he said, "It won't be long before Alaric gets here,"

They moved silently through the woods.

They would have moved at vampire speed, but Stefan had sent them out there to be vigilant and to scan the woods for signs of Alaric approaching.

So he took point and she followed close behind as they moved stealthily through the forest.

They had walked less than a mile, when Elijah stopped, clutching his chest with a sudden feeling of nausea.

As he leaned on a nearby tree, Caroline came to his side.

"Are you alright?" she asked

"I'm fine," he said trying to ignore the dull pain in his rib cage and waving her off, "Go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

Caroline reluctantly nodded and kept going.

Elijah took a few deep breaths, then willed himself upright again and within moments, was not far behind her.

When they reached the side of the hill near the hollow, Elijah heard Elena's brother's voice at the top.

"Stefan, Elena's not at home," Jeremy said, "Matt and I…we're getting her out of town,"

"It's going to be fine," Stefan said in a low voice, after a moment, a voice that he seemed to be using to reassure Jeremy but sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself, "Klaus was lying. We're all going to be okay."

Something immediately sparked in Elijah and he hurried to crest of the hill with a confused Caroline close behind.

"What happened?" he asked in a concerned voice, his eyes meeting Stefan's as the youngest Salvatore brother turned to face them, but somehow, after what happened a few moments ago back in the woods and seeing the look that now spread across Stefan's face as the sight of the two of them, Elijah somehow knew in his heart what the answer was before Stefan spoke it.

"Stefan?" Caroline prompted, her voice quickly filling with fear and anxiety

Elijah took a step back in shock and disbelief, his mind reeling.

Niklaus...

When Stefan still didn't say anything after a few moments, Elijah turned to Caroline, still dumbstruck

"You should go find Tyler," he whispered absentmindedly, "He shouldn't be alone."

Caroline's face fell and she broke into sobs as she took off with vampire speed into the night.

"I'm sorry, Elijah…" Stefan started

But Elijah raised a hand to silence him.

"No… you're not," he scoffed in a low voice, fighting back the tears as he turned and walked away.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

Elijah walked through the woods aimlessly for what felt like an eternity, unsure where to go or what do next—after centuries, it felt like a weight had been lifted, only to be replaced by the most horrible pain he could possibly imagine and a darkness that didn't seem to want to leave him.

As he wove through the trees absentmindedly, a thousand memories rushed through his brain at once—and even more emotions—love, hate, anger, grief…

When he reached to rock face to the caverns below the woods, Elijah stopped for a moment, taking in the sight with stunned silence.

How ironic that his aimless path led him here—where he and his siblings shared so many good and bad memories?

Elijah took in a deep breath before sitting down against the side of the rock face, reaching into his jacket pocket and dialing Elena's number.

He waited as the phone rang twice, then Elena answered.

"Elena," Elijah said in a low, breaking voice

Elena took in a sharp breath, "Elijah…"

"I'm sure Stefan's told you the grim news."

"I'm sorry, Elijah." Elena lamented sincerely, "I really am. He was still your brother."

"I'm sorry, too...about Stefan and Damon," he said, trying to sound sympathetic, "When they weren't trying to kill my siblings and myself every fifteen minutes, I sort of liked them."

Elena sniffed and Elijah could tell she had already been crying.

His heart ached for her, but he was in pain, too, at the moment and wasn't sure what else to say.

"Thanks," she whispered

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Rebekah and I are honoring our end of the deal. Klaus is dead, but we're still leaving town. My hope is that Alaric will follow us and leave you all to live out your lives... I just wanted to say goodbye."

There was a moment's pause before Elena spoke

"Elijah, about earlier—"

"I've told you before, Elena," Elijah said, standing up off of the rock, trying to deflect her. His feelings were already as crushed as he was going to let them get tonight, "you don't owe me anything. But, I want to thank you. You've given me a priceless gift, Elena. You've been a good and compassionate friend when I've needed one. And you've brought back feelings I've been wanting to feel for over a thousand years—feelings I never thought I would or could feel ever again—feelings and memories of when I was human—"

"You've always been human to me." Elena whispered

Elijah smiled, "Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

"Matt and I will be home soon, could you just wait—"

"It's better for everyone if we leave now," Elijah said, cutting her off gently, "Promise me."

"I promise," Elena replied, then after another pause, asked, "Will I ever see you again?"

"I'll be around if you ever need me," Elijah said softly, then took another breath, "Goodbye, Elena."

Then he closed his eyes in pain as he pulled the phone away from his ear and hit the end button on his touch screen.

After a moment, Elijah placed the cell phone back in his pocket and turned, finding himself face-to-face with Stefan Salvatore.

His mind immediately raced.

If Niklaus turned Rose's bloodline, then why wasn't Stefan dying in the woods somewhere right now or at the very least sick and weakened—it had been nearly two hours since Klaus' death.

"Stefan?" Elijah asked in a confused voice, "You're still alive."

"I'm still alive," Stefan smirked sadly, "I spoke to Caroline though, Tyler Lockwood is dead."

Elijah shook his head, "I'm sorry for her—really I'm sorry for them both. He didn't deserve that, none of you do…How did you find me?"

"I tracked you," Stefan said in a low voice, shoving his hands in his pockets nervously

Elijah nodded before taking a deep breath.

"I just got off the phone with Elena—"

"I heard," Stefan replied, "You're still leaving town."

"Yes." Elijah said, walking past Stefan

"Elijah, wait," Stefan said, turning, "Please."

After a few steps, Elijah willed himself to stop.

He knew why Stefan had tracked him. He also knew what he wanted to say.

And as much as Elijah wanted to keep walking and not listen to Stefan's platitudes, he decided, for Elena's sake, to humor him.

Elijah looked back over his shoulder as Stefan stepped forward.

"You were right earlier. I hated Klaus and I'm not sorry he's dead, but I am sorry… for your sake and for your siblings," Stefan said in a quiet voice, "I know what it's like. Almost two hundred years ago, I watched my brother get shot by our father and die on the side of the road… and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It's hard to watch someone you love slip through your fingers like that and you feel powerless to stop it."

Elijah nodded in acknowledgement, then after a moment, said in a low voice, trying to show some compassion as he turned back to the young vampire.

"I wish you the best, Stefan. Take care."

And with that, Elijah turned and disappeared into the night

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## #

Elijah was just making his way out of Stevens Woods when he sensed a presence behind him.

When he turned, he found himself staring at the tear-stained face of his younger sister.

Elijah hadn't let his emotions regarding Niklaus' death to come yet, but seeing his sister in such pain, finally brought his own to the surface.

"He's gone, Elijah," she said in a voice cracked with emotion, "there was nothing I could do to stop it."

Elijah walked quickly forward as she started to sob, taking her into his arms as he felt his own tears start to come.

He held her tightly for a few moments as she cried on his shoulder.

When he pulled back, he took in his sister's face.

There would be time to grieve, but a question still lingered in his mind.

"Tyler Lockwood is dead, but the rest survived. I thought you said that you were sure that Niklaus turned their bloodline."

"I thought he did." Rebekah replied, stunned

Elijah narrowed his eyes.

Misha was also sure of what he saw in his vision during the reading-that Niklaus was Mary Porter's sire and therefore, by default, Rose's.

Something was not right.

"It wasn't me, it wasn't Kol…" Elijah said, trying to sort his thoughts

"It wasn't me, Elijah," Rebekah added, "It was Niklaus, I'm sure of it."

Elijah turned his head in thought for a moment, before looking back to his sister.

"Then how are they still alive?"

"I don't know." Rebekah shook her head

Elijah took a deep breath, "Well, we can't worry about that right now. I just spoke to Elena. Matt was getting her out of town, but they should be back any minute. Alaric won't harm her because she's his link to the living world, but he will still want us dead, Rebekah. I told Elena we were leaving and we should leave."

Rebekah closed her eyes in thought for a moment then looked to her brother once more.

"Alright. But, I'm going by the mansion first—there is something that I need to do." she said

"Rebekah, we don't have time—"

"Please, Elijah. Just one thing and then we'll go. I'll just be a fifteen minutes and I'll meet you back here."

Elijah studied his sister for a moment before pulling her back into a hug.

Every instinct in his body told him not to let her go, that it might mean losing someone that he loved—God, help him if Alaric went by the mansion and found her there—but he also knew Rebekah was stubborn and that she could take care of herself.

"Be careful," he said when he pulled back

She nodded, then in a moment, was gone.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Elijah was still waiting at the edge of the woods ten minutes later when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He removed it and looked at the lighted screen.

It was Kol.

A wave of anxiety shot through him immediately as he hit the talk button on the touch screen.

"Kol? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Misha's fine…except, well, Niklaus—I hear that he's not fine, Elijah."

Elijah closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, Kol, we couldn't—"

"Elijah, I should tell you something before you keep talking." Kol said, nervously

Elijah straightened, his eyes narrowing in confusion, "What is it?"

"Well, don't freak out…" Kol said gently

"Then you should tell me," Elijah retorted, trying to hold his feelings in check

"Uh…well, the thing is...Bonnie Bennett is here—in Misha's house—standing right in front of me."

Elijah's heart dropped, "What?"

"She brought me Nik's necklace. She said that he told her that you would know what it meant."

Elijah's mind immediately flashed to the dream he had when he was knocked out cold—Niklaus approaching him in the woods—removing his runic necklace—his childhood link to Elijah.

"Find me." He had whispered when he placed it in his brother's hand.

The phone fell slightly from Elijah's ear—he felt like he was going to collapse any moment.

It was then that a beeping sound came from his phone.

He pulled it away from his ear and saw that he had a call waiting from Stefan Salvatore.

He hit 'ignore' and put the phone back to his ear, but before he could continue his conversation with Kol, the beeping noise returned.

It was Stefan, again.

Elijah took a deep breath and scoffed, "Hold on, Kol."

"Hold on?" Kol asked angrily, "Hold on? I'm telling you that Bonnie Bennett, witch extraordinaire, has just told me my brother's dead, handed me his necklace and is standing in front of me with a very scary look on her face and you are telling me to hold on? You're joking, right?"

"I'll be right back, Kol."

"Elijah!"

Elijah shook his head as he hit the button to switch the calls and answered the other line in a frustrated tone.

"What is it Stefan?"

"Elijah, I need you to come to Wickery Bridge right now!" Stefan yelled into the phone.

He sounded out of breath and in the background, Elijah could hear the sound of his feet hitting the pavement in a hard sprint.

Then he heard the sound of Stefan's phone hitting the ground...

Then the splashing of water…

And the line went dead.