If I Had Possession

After Klaus leaves their bed to shower, Elena rushes to throw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. She sends a quick text and laces up her running shoes. When she hears the shower start, she carefully and slowly walks down the stairs. As soon as she shuts the front door behind her, she sprints to Elijah's car.

The dreams have her feeling anxious and she drives into town to meet her brother. She just needs to talk to someone about what's going on and she trusts him to hear her out. It's the way the dreams feel more like memories that are so unsettling, especially the last one.

She can't bring herself to talk to Klaus about it yet. With the revelation of the doppelgängers being part of a set, she has a theory and she desperately doesn't want it to be true. The worst part of it is how much sense it makes.

"Hey, are you sure this is a good idea?" She meets Jeremy at the town center by the fountain. He hands her a latte as she sits on the edge.

"I needed to talk to someone about this, Jer. I'm kind of freaked out. At first, I thought I was just dreaming about Stefan because we were spending so much time together. Like one of those weird subconscious things that don't actually mean anything."

"Not anymore?"

"No, last night it felt like I was remembering something that never happened. At least not to me. I saw Stefan, but it wasn't him. He looked like someone straight out of Clash of the Titans."

"What if they are memories?"

"How is it possible to remember things that didn't happen to me?"

"Weirder things than experiencing residual memories of the women who share your face have happened."

"Okay, but the first time I dreamt about him it wasn't like that. It was like a memory of something that couldn't be true. Stefan was human and we actually went to school together."

"Maybe something got messed up and you were seeing what was meant to be? I don't know the answers, Elena. You are clearly freaked out about it though. I think you should tell someone who has more experience than I do."

"Like who?"

"Bonnie is my first pick. Why haven't you told Klaus? Elijah and he have been around forever. They might know something."

"I don't want him to think that it means anything about us."

"Doesn't it?"

Before she can answer, a freckled man with long red hair approaches them. He's built out like her brother and he keeps looking over his shoulder at a dark haired woman whispering in a group of four or five others.

"Jeremy."

"Oh hey. Elena. This is Simon, another Hunter."

He nods at her, but continues. "Something weird just happened. That woman over there was flirting with me…"

"That is weird." Jeremy smirks.

"…and then she reached out to grab my head. She said something in a language that sounded Slavic to me. Or adjacent at least."

"What?"

"She looked confused and annoyed. She pined me for a Hunter then even without seeing the tattoo." He rolled up his sleeve to show Elena.

"That sounds like the Passenger spell."

"We must have an immunity against it."

"Travelers are here. In Mystic Falls." Elena spoke slowly, processing it all.

"Did she say anything important to you while she was flirting?"

"Just her name. Sloan."

"We have to get you out of here, Elena. If anything happens to you out here, Klaus will kill me."

"Jer, wait. Look." She hid behind her brother and Simon as they turned and watched Matt Donovan approach Sloan and the group of presumed Passengers. She found herself wishing that Klaus was here, frustrated that she couldn't hear what Matt and Sloan were talking about. They did seem friendly though and that worried her especially when her friend reached out to shake hands with a woman who likely wanted to kill her. "Do you think he knows who they are?"

"I don't know Elena. We should be careful though. Matt has hated vampires and the supernatural as long as he's known about it all. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he was on board with a spell that would remove all of it from his life." When Matt and Sloan walk away together, Jeremy turns around to look at his sister. "Elena?"

"Jer?" she asks, worried that he seems to be looking right through her.

"Why do you insist on being so difficult? Your boyfriend has built you a huge mansion and you have friends that would visit or bring anything you need. All you have to do is stay put. It's literally the easiest thing in the world and for some reason you can't even manage that." Liv's glare is enough to make Elena feel like she's a teenager again, getting in trouble for partying in the woods with her friends.

"What did you do, Liv?"

"Cloaked you, obviously. If I saw you then they can see you. Come on. I'm driving you back to the Mikaelson's."

"I'm fine, Liv. I took Elijah's car here."

"Then he can come get it later. Forgive me for not exactly trusting you to take care of yourself." Liv leads her to a beat-up truck and gestures for her to get in. Both women are quiet on the way home and Elena is surprised when Liv finally breaks the silence. She'd pegged her for a person who didn't mind an awkward quiet. "What was so important for you to meet your brother in the middle of the town square anyway?"

"I just needed to talk to someone who wouldn't make a big deal of it." She stared out the window and when she looked back at Liv, her raised eyebrow begged her to continue. "I've been having these weird dreams about Stefan. Like hyper realistic ones where we are together. I obviously don't want to talk to Stefan or Damon about them. I feel like Bonnie and Caroline would both make a deal out of it."

"What about Klaus?"

"Would you feel comfortable talking to Tyler about recurring intimate dreams about your ex?"

"Point made. So you felt comfortable talking to your brother?"

"Not with details. But yeah, in general. I know he has my back and he won't read too much into it. We've been through so much together. I trust him."

"I get that." Liv gets quiet and Elena is tempted to ask her what she's thinking about when they pull into the driveway. Liv parks and they sit outside for a moment, Elena fully preparing herself to listen to Klaus yell at her for leaving. "Look, I know it isn't really my place and I haven't been the easiest person to get along with. It's not really my nature to reach out like this, but maybe you should just be honest with him? Tell him what's happening and how you feel about it."

"I just don't want him to doubt me."

"All you can really do is be honest and hope for the best. You can't expect to control how someone reacts. You can only control your own actions."

"That's…actually really good advice."

"It's not mine, but thanks anyway."

She walks up to the house, rehearsing how she will tell Klaus in her head, but she isn't at all ready for what she does walk in on. Klaus is sitting at granite island in the kitchen with Stefan, sharing what she assumes is not tea but bourbon. He seems amused, which she's come to realize is just a simmering warning of how angry he really is.

"Elena! You're back. Out running errands love?"

"I just went to go see my brother, that's all."

"How interesting. See, I had thought we decided that you'd stay inside for the time being. What with a group out there hell bent on killing you and stripping the world of all magic but their own. Was I mistaken?"

"That's what other people decided, but as you've been kind enough to point out I have a problem about letting other people decide things for me. I needed to see my brother and so I did."

"Now is not exactly the time to throw my words back at me, Elena." His amusement was dissipating already.

"I was with my brother. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. I'm back home, safe and in one piece. Can we drop it?"

"I won't. We'll continue this later. Meanwhile, perhaps Stefan would like to finally divulge what he's doing here so early and so alone. I've been dying to know."

"I was hoping that Elena and I could talk alone?"

"Out of the question. Talk."

Stefan starts massaging his neck, a nervous gesture that Elena's familiar with. She feels bad for him and is hoping that what he came to talk about has nothing to do with the dreams, but she knows she isn't that lucky. She just wishes she had the time to talk to Klaus first, before it all comes tumbling out.

"Are you having…dreams?"

"What sort of nonsense is this?" Klaus asks as Elena nods her head ever so slightly.

"Weird dreams about us?" He pushes her, needs to hear her clarify.

"Some of them feel like memories," she confirms. Klaus just stares at her, for the first time since she's met him he is at a loss for words.

"Last night, were you in…"

"A garden?"

"So, we are dreaming about the same things and the same time."

"Seems like it." She has her arms locked together in a tight grip, slowly rocking back and forth on her feet. This is the last place she wants to be and the last conversation she wants to be having.

"Will either of you care to share what the hell is going on?"

"We are dreaming about each other." She thinks she sees a hint of a smile in Stefan's face, but she can't be sure.

"In what way?" He's stood up, hands gripping the back of the chair.

"It's not important, Klaus."

"Tell me! Are you having sex with him in these dreams?"

"Not intentionally! And not always."

"But we are together in all the dreams."

"Not helping, Stefan."

"Exactly how long have you been having sex dreams of your ex?"

"I'm not making them happen! I don't want to be having them, Klaus. It's freaking me out."

"Then why not tell me?" His rage licks at her skin and she can imagine that it burns.

"I didn't want you to freak out too! I didn't want you to think it means anything."

"How can it not? If doppelgängers were created out of a love so great that they conned immortality out a witch so that even death wouldn't part them, then how can you two sharing dreams not mean something?"

"Because it doesn't. I get to decide what it means."

"Do you? Seems to me like destiny would have something to say about that. Obviously Stefan is your other half."

"It's possible that he is the other doppelgänger, but that doesn't make him my other half."

"If you don't believe that then why hide it from me?"

"Not everything is about hiding something from you. Sometimes I just need to process what I'm feeling first. I was going to tell you."

"Were you?"

"Yes! Of course I was. I just panicked about it. I wanted to ignore them and hope that they went away on their own. I had a weak moment. Can't you allow me that?"

"I can't allow anyone around me to be weak, Elena."

"I'm only human, Klaus."

"For now," he replied before walking out of the kitchen into the recesses of the mansion. Elena is too stunned to follow him. It's one of the only times she's ever felt threatened by him.

"Elena…"

She can hear the stool scoot against the tile as Stefan stands up. "Why did you come here?" she asks, turning back to him.

"I had to see if you were dreaming about us too."

"Please don't say it like that."

"We're together in the dreams, every time. I don't understand the one from last night, but the other ones have been everything I've ever wanted."

"They're not true, Stefan. They are impossible."

"Don't they make you at least a little happy?"

"Wow, it's like words form in my brain and I think they are coming out of my mouth one way, but clearly they aren't because how could you ask me that question after seeing what just happened with Klaus?"

"I didn't mean to make you two fight."

"You didn't?" she asks and they look at each other for a moment without saying anything before she sighs and says, "Just tell the others that we aren't researching anything today. I need a day off. I need to go talk to him and make this right."

But she can't find Klaus anywhere. Not in their bedroom or his studio. She calls and texts him but it all goes unanswered. The mansion is so big that he could be there and she wouldn't know. She falls asleep in the library waiting for him.

She cradles her stomach as she watches her husband engulfed in the flames. The looks from the other villagers speak plainly to her that they are disgusted she isn't with him on the boat. But she has a child to worry about and it isn't fair for her to decide their death when they haven't had a chance at life.

The only person who doesn't look at her like she's crazy is her best friend, her childhood friend that grew into a handsome, good man. She loves his green eyes and the way his brows always furrow in concern for her.

She loves him in the same way she loves her brothers. She feels safe with him. Another woman might consider marrying him in her same shoes, but that's not her. Theirs is a companionship based on deep friendship and over a decade of scrapped knees, arguments, and playful teasing.

When she tells him that her brother is leaving on the next boat to look for a new land to conquer, he encourages her to go with him.

"You should leave this place, Tatia. Your child needs you and you need to start fresh somewhere new where no one knows your history. Give yourself a new life. You deserve it."

She puts up a fight, but knows he's right. He's the only one who has made her feel hopeful after her husband's death. She promises to live and he asks her to love as well.

"Maybe, if I can manage to fall in love again." He assures her she will.

A/N: Halfway there! It's been forever, but I updated my old tumblr info if you want to find me there at sevensistersofsussex. Not a lot there and I'm definitely having to re-learn how to use it. Anyway, thanks for reading!