Chapter 76: American Gothic

"This better be it, Slater. It's been more than two weeks and we still haven't found her," said Phoebe. She stepped out of the driver side door of the car.

Slater exited the passenger side. "Katherine hid from Klaus Mikaelson for 500 years. It's going to take time for us to find her."

Phoebe shook her head. Klaus could have found her at any time, he just chose not to. The not knowing if or when he'd find her, and what he'd do to her once he did, was better torture than anything else.

"Where do you wanna start?" Slater asked.

"With lunch." Phoebe's eyes fell on a red headed woman a few feet from them. "We've hit 3 towns in the past 20 hours. I'm hungry."

Slater watched her walk over to the woman – her lunch. She was just about to compel the woman to follow her somewhere more private, so no one would see her in broad daylight, but something strange happened.

"Katherine! You scared me," the woman gasped in surprise.

Phoebe and Slater shared a look, as he walked over to join the two women.

"You know me?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course! Everybody here does. Love the new do, by the way."

"Thanks."

Slater leaned in towards Phoebe. "Why would she be so reckless? To let the entire town know who she is?"

They both thought for a moment, then said together, "Food."

"Compelling an entire town to let you feed off of them would be less conspicuous than running out of town to feed all the time," said Phoebe.

"It would take time, but it'd be worth it in the long run," Slater agreed. He turned to the red head now. "How do you know Katherine?"

The woman looked at Slater. "How do I know who?"

"Me. How do you know me?" Phoebe asked.

The woman shrugged and smiled. "Small town. Everybody knows everybody."

Slater already knew the answer, but he needed to test a theory. "So everybody knows Katherine?"

The woman looked at Slater again. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about."

Slater smiled. "Clever girl."

"She compelled the entire town to forget her, unless they were talking to her," Phoebe noted.

Since Phoebe was the only one who could ask, she tried asking the woman all about Katherine. Where did she live? Where did she work? Who did she spend time with? Did she have any friends?

"You said we could all be your friends, as long as we kept your secret," said the woman.

"What secret?"

Phoebe and Slater held their breaths in anticipation for the answer.

The woman looked like she was struggling to remember something. "I don't know."

In the two weeks since Hayley and the Salvatore brothers last saw Phoebe, a lot had happened in Mystic Falls. Bonnie's mother had gone to a coven of witches to ask for their help in purifying Bonnie of her expression magic. When Bonnie's friends found out, they knew they had to stop it.

The others had researched the expression triangle, and pinpointed two possible locations that the final point might be. With Bonnie's talk of completing the triangle to bring back the dead, they could only assume that she'd use the opportunity to complete the triangle that night. And having found Shane's body, long dead, they knew it had to be Silas that was convincing her to do it, not Shane.

They tried to warn the witches of Bonnie's brainwashing by Silas, but the witches would rather kill Bonnie than let that happen. Caroline, of course, wasn't going to let that happen. She killed the witch closest to Bonnie, that was already holding a knife, but that witch was linked to the other eleven present. Caroline's attempt to help her friend resulted in completing the expression triangle.

The good thing that came from that night was that Bonnie's brainwashing was undone. The downside was that she didn't remember anything that had happened since the island. Not even Matt's death.

While they had been dealing with all of that, Hayley and the Salvatore brothers were focused on finding Katherine and the cure. The rest of Phoebe's family worked from home to find Phoebe, looking for any lead possible on where she might be. The problem was, there wasn't a trace of her. She either wasn't being as carefree with her victims as most vampires without their humanity, or she was very good at cleaning up behind herself.

Klaus believed there was no way to find Phoebe unless she wanted to be found again, and as such made no attempts to find Phoebe. They'd all tried asking for his help, knowing he had many resources and means with which to find her, but he always declined.

Jenna finally had enough of it, and went to see him one last time. But what she found was not what she was expecting. When she found Klaus, he was slumped over his fireplace mantle for support, sweating profusely, and in pain.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked.

"Silas, he attacked me," said Klaus. "He stabbed me with the white oak stake, and broke a piece of it off inside."

Jenna became concerned. Not because she cared one bit about Klaus, but because he was the head of their line. If he died, they all died.

"Why-Why would he do that? What did you do to piss him off?"

"He came to me the night the expression triangle was complete, and ordered me to get him the cure," said Klaus.

"Which you haven't lifted a finger to find, so now he's pissed," Jenna guessed.

Jenna sighed in frustration. She'd come here to demand he find Phoebe, but now it seemed she'd have to save his life and then let him find the cure first.

"Come on. Let's get that thing out of you."

"So, where do we start?" Slater asked.

The woman they'd been talking to before didn't know where Katherine was, nor had she seen her today – other than thinking Phoebe was her. And when they'd asked where Katherine lived, she had no idea.

"We could try the post office. If she has any mail-"

"It'll have her address on it," Slater finished for her. "Let's go."

When the two arrived at the post office, they asked one of the mail carriers for Katherine's mail. He told them that she didn't have any, because she had just grabbed it from her PO Box moments ago. He was also quite confused as to how Phoebe had managed to cut her hair in the two minutes since he last saw her.

"If she was here two minutes ago, she can't be far," said Phoebe. "You check inside, I'll look in the parking lot."

"Got it."

The two had hardly separated, when Katherine showed herself to Phoebe. She pinned her against a mail truck by her throat.

"I'm impressed, I never thought anyone would find me here," said Katherine. "Oh well, it's a beautiful place to die."

A blonde streak came out of nowhere, and tore Katherine away from Phoebe.

"Rebekah? How did you..." Phoebe started looking all around for any others that might have come with her.

"Relax, I'm alone, love."

"How did you find me?" Phoebe asked.

"I didn't, Nik did," said Rebekah. "He wanted to make sure you weren't leaving a trail of bodies or making decisions you might regret once you're back to your old self again."

Katherine took advantage of their lack of attention on her, and made a run for it. Rebekah, however, had been expecting this and thus reacted faster. Katherine had barely gotten to her feet, when Rebekah grabbed her by the hair to stop her escape.

"Nice try, but after what you've done, you're not going anywhere," said Rebekah. "Once you've given us the cure, Phoebe will send you straight to hell."

Slater came walking out of the post office. He was fully prepared to inform Phoebe of his failure to find Katherine, but he was in no way prepared to find Phoebe already with her and a blonde vampire.

"Who's your friend?" Slater asked.

Rebekah gave Phoebe a look that asked the same.

"Slater, this is Rebekah Mikaelson. Rebekah, this is my friend Slater."

"Pleasure," Rebekah greeted.

Slater's face lit up. He'd just met a member of the Original family.

Phoebe returned her attention to Rebekah and Katherine. "Let's take her somewhere more difficult for her to get away."

Slater and Rebekah followed Phoebe, with Katherine in tow, to the local diner. They took a seat at one of the larger, U-shaped tables, wedging Katherine in between them. If she was going to try and run, she'd have to climb over or under the table, and she'd still be covered on either side.

"Where's the cure," Phoebe asked her.

"What, no 'I'm here to avenge my best friend' speech?" Katherine taunted. She was hoping to get under Phoebe's skin, but the reaction she received was a reaction she hadn't expected.

Phoebe calmly took a sip of her coffee. "People die, we move on."

Thought Slater had grown used to hearing her talk like that, Rebekah had not. It made her uncomfortable to hear.

Katherine's eyes studied Phoebe's for a moment, before declaring, "You've turned off your humanity switch."

Phoebe said nothing.

"So sad for the boys, though. Their special snowflake of human frailty...gone."

Phoebe grabbed a fork and pinned Katherine's hand to the table with it. "We're not here to talk about 'the boys', we're here to talk about the cure."

Katherine glared at her doppelganger's twin.

Rebekah grabbed her face and made her look into her eyes. "Where's the cure?"

"I'm sorry, I'm on vervain," Katherine beamed.

"Oh, I get to torture it out of you. Fun."

"Why do you two want it, anyway?" Katherine asked.

"The question is, why do you want it?" Slater asked. "To kill Klaus?"

"I've spent the last 500 years running from him. I have no intention to even be within sniffing distance of him," said Katherine. "But, since it can be used against him, I'm sure he's just itching to get his hands on it."

"You give him the cure, and he gives you your freedom," Slater guessed.

Katherine's face confirmed this.

Rebekah reached over and began searching Katherine's pockets.

"I don't have it on me," said Katherine, trying to fend her off.

Rebekah tossed her phone to Phoebe. "I didn't think you did, but I'm sure there's something in that, that can help us find it."

Katherine looked worried, as Phoebe and Slater looked through her phone. They found an appointment for this afternoon.

"Who's EM?" Slater asked.

"...A friend."

"I guess I'll just have to meet Em, and find out for myself," said Phoebe.

Katherine shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Those who knew Katherine less would have taken her discomfort as genuine, but Phoebe knew better. She knew this was an act to lure them into some sort of trap, but she also knew she had to go to this meeting if they were going to get answers.

Hayley stepped out of the little, red Porsche and stretched her entire body. "This better be the place, because I don't know how many trips I can take in that car."

Stefan wanted to defend his car, but couldn't. Hayley was right, this car wasn't meant for multiple, long distance travel. It was small, and cramped, and uncomfortable for long periods. But he still loved it. Damon's car was much better suited to for this kind of travel, but they were all getting tired of not finding the cure or Katherine, that they decided to split up to addresses ago.

As Stefan walked around the car to join Hayley on the sidewalk, he felt something strange. Hayley took notice of his expression and asked about it.

"I don't know, I feel...something. It's hard to describe, it's like...like hearing faint music in the distance; but it's so quiet, you don't know what song it is or where it's coming from," said Stefan.

"Yeah, I feel that, too," said Hayley. "And there's only one person that I ever feel that way around."

"Phoebe."

"Phoebe."

Stefan started scanning the town with his eyes and ears. Katherine may or may not be here, but Phoebe certainly was. The question was: Where?

"Do you think she knows we're here?" Hayley asked.

"No, I doubt it," said Stefan. "She didn't leave a trail for us to follow her here, so this wasn't planned. As long as we're careful, she shouldn't know we're here."

"This can't be a coincidence," said Hayley.

"Agreed. But what would bring her here? Why even stay in the states? When I had my humanity off and we ran away from Mystic Falls, we went to Italy," said Stefan.

"Maybe she's looking for Katherine, too."

"Yeah, but how would she know where to look? Katherine's just as good at covering her tracks as Phoebe, and Damon's friend was the only one who knew all of her addresses," Stefan argued.

Hayley took in and let out a long, deep breath. "So where do we start? And what do we do when we find her?"

"Well, this time, surprise actually is on our side. So when we find her, we can't hesitate. We need to vervain her, or snap her neck, or something. Anything to get her back home."

Hayley nodded in agreement. The question still remained: Where to look?

Phoebe felt gross and in desperate need of a hazmat shower. She'd have rather gone to this meeting in her own clothes; but jeans, converse, and a t-shirt weren't exactly Katherine's style. With Rebekah's help, Phoebe had swapped clothes with Katherine.

The only things that hadn't been swapped were their daylight jewelry and the hamsa bracelet Phoebe still wore from Elijah. She fiddled with it, the way she always did when she was anxious, while she waited for EM to arrive.

Phoebe looked down at her bracelet, and it clicked. EM, it wasn't short for something like Emily or Emilio, it was initials. Sure, Katherine could know someone else with those initials, but there was only one who could help her acquire the freedom she so desperately wanted from Klaus.

"Katarina."

Phoebe's body tensed. She slowly turned around to the origin of the voice, hoping she was hearing things. She wasn't.

Elijah studied the woman before him. The first thing he noticed was her hair. It brought him back to another time he'd gone too long without seeing her.

"Nice haircut," Phoebe finally said.

Elijah reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I could say the same to you."

Elijah smiled at the memory. Then he noticed the bracelet on her wrist, though she tried to cover it with her other hand.

Phoebe cleared her throat. "You're late."

"You cut your hair." Elijah walked up to her, and tucked one side of it behind her ear the way he had before. "I like it."

Phoebe's body betrayed her, as it broke out in goosebumps at his touch. Elijah pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. Phoebe's heart came to life in her chest, and she turned to putty in his hands.

Elijah tore his lips away from hers, and looked into her brown eyes. "I missed you."

That's when Phoebe snapped out of her daze. He wasn't talking to her, he was talking to Katherine – or so he thought. He'd missed Katherine, not her; which meant that when he left Mystic Falls, he ran straight to Katherine.

Phoebe pushed him back in anger. "So this is where you've been for the past five months? With her?"

"Well, I'm glad to see you're not pretending anymore," said Elijah. "Where's Katherine?"

Phoebe glared at him.

"Phoebe, you wouldn't have even know about this meeting without her, now tell me where she is," Elijah commanded.

Phoebe felt his words pull at her, in a way she'd never experienced. She imagined this was what it felt like for someone to try and fight a vampire's compulsion.

"She's with Rebekah and Slater," Phoebe blurted out.

Now it made sense how Phoebe had found Katherine. She'd found Slater, and he had helped her find Katherine. But where was everyone else? Why was she only here with Rebekah?

After following in Phoebe and Slater's footsteps to the post office, the found themselves walking past the dinner. Glancing inside, they saw Rebekah with Phoebe and another man. It was curious why Rebekah hadn't called any of them to tell them she'd found Phoebe, but if she was already sitting on her, then there wasn't need for stealth with an original on your side.

"Ladies," Stefan greeted, approaching their table. He turned to greet the man next, but paused. "...Slater?"

"Stefan Salvatore," said Slater with his usual smile.

Hayley looked confused. "Wait, Slater as in the genius vampire guy that Phoebe liked?"

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a genius," said Slater.

"But you died," Stefan argued. "I saw your body."

"Yeah, it's a long story," said Slater.

After a brief pause to process, Hayley looked to Rebekah. "So when were you gonna call us to tell us you found Phoebe?"

"As soon as we got the cure from Katherine here." Rebekah looked at Katherine to let them know that this wasn't Phoebe.

Stefan and Hayley took another look at the woman wearing Phoebe's clothes. This was indeed Katherine Pierce and not Phoebe.

"Where's Phoebe?" Stefan asked.

"She went to a meeting Katherine had scheduled in her phone for today," said Slater.

"Who was she meeting?" Hayley asked.

"She went to meet up with an old friend of mine." Katherine's face held a wicked grin that made them all uncomfortable. "You may know him. An original brother, impeccable taste."

Hayley and Rebekah both looked shocked. "Elijah?"

"Elijah's here?"

"Well, you certainly have to question Elijah's impeccable taste, if he's friends with you," Stefan shot at her.

"Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend," said Katherine.

"You're lying," said Hayley. "Elijah wouldn't do that to Phoebe."

"Oh no? She did it to him when she fell in love with his brother," said Katherine.

A light bulb turned on for Slater. "You're using him to broker that deal for you."

"What deal?"

"Earlier, she mentioned Klaus wanting the cure, but she's too afraid to get close enough to make a deal with him," said Slater.

"So she's using Elijah to make the deal for her," Hayley finished.

Stefan let out a sharp laugh. "Some things never change, Katherine."

Hayley leaned across the table, speaking more to Katherine than anyone else. "Alright, here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell us where Phoebe went to meet Elijah; and then while Stefan and I go talk to them, you're going to take Rebekah and Slater to the cure."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because the longer Phoebe's alone with Elijah, the more likely it is that she tells him what you did to Matt; and since he's here with you and didn't come running back to Mystic Falls to be with Phoebe, I'm guessing he doesn't know that and you don't want him to know that," Hayley explained. "So, the sooner you get us the cure, the sooner we can get Phoebe and go home."

Katherine made a face. "Fine."

Klaus' grip on the piano tightened, as Jenna continued to search his backside for the piece of white oak that was supposedly inside of him. He'd experienced a lot of pain in his life, and he'd developed a higher tolerance of it, but it didn't mean he was immune to it.

"Oh, my god," Jenna gasped.

"What is it?"

"You do have a heart," she joked.

"I'm glad you find my suffering so amusing."

"Actually, I don't. Because, unlike you, I don't enjoy seeing people suffer," said Jenna.

"Even someone you hate?" Klaus asked.

Jenna stopped digging around in Klaus' back and sighed. "There's nothing in here, Klaus. Not even splinters."

"But I can feel them moving towards my heart," he argued.

She threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't know what to tell you, then. There's nothing there, Klaus. Are you sure he didn't just pretend to do, and your paranoid mind is...That's it."

"What is?"

"Silas, he's a telepath. He can make us see things that aren't there, he can make us believe he's someone he isn't," said Jenna.

"You think he's in my head, making me think I'm dying?"

"I think he was in your head, making you think he staked you, and your fear has continued it," she said.

Klaus didn't look convinced.

"Look, I get you only trust one person, but she isn't here right now. So you can either believe that I wouldn't let you die, because my life along with several of my friends' are linked to you, or you can sit here and suffer. You're choice."

"I already know that you wouldn't let me die, but what I don't know is whether or not you are who you say you are," Klaus challenged.

Jenna walked a few steps away, as she thought of what she could say to prove to him that she as who she said she was.

"You're right, I do hate you. I hate you for turning me into a monster. I hate you for breaking Jeremy's heart when you killed Anna. I hate you for everything you've done to this town, but most of all, I hate you for what you did to Phoebe. You killed both of her parents, you took Elijah and Stefan away from her, you broke her, you drowned her; and to top it all off, you made her fall in love with you. Yet, when she needed you to help her handle her grief, you told her to turn off her emotions. She's an empath, she needs her emotions. And now, when we need your help in finding her, you won't lift a finger to help."

Jenna took a breath to regain control of her anger. "But as much as I hate you, I"m learning to respect the fact that Phoebe cares for you. I don't like it, and I would appreciate it if you didn't try to work your way back into her heart...right now. She needs you to be her friend, not her boyfriend. And when she is ready to date again, if she doesn't choose you, you need to respect that. Don't treat her like she means nothing to you, and don't throw a tantrum. If you can support her decisions and be there for her no matter what...then you'll already be better than Damon. And she'll love you all the more for it."

Klaus hung on her every word, as she spoke. It wasn't the most convincing speech, but her words were important to him. So important, that his focus became entirely hers long enough to forget about the pain in his back. Before he knew it, the pain was gone, and he could feel the wound healing. She'd distracted him enough to prove she was right about this all being in his head.

"You're right, I do love your niece, which is why I went to Mr. Donovan's house that night. The moment I heard, I wanted to be there for her, to help her through this. My intention was never to suggest turning her humanity off, it was actually to dissuade her of the idea, but when I saw how upset she was..."

"What do you mean dissuade? Phoebe never would have considered it, if you hadn't put the idea in her head," Jenna argued.

"Wouldn't she? You've said it yourself, Phoebe is an empath – and empath with vampire emotions. That loss was so crippling to her, she'd have done more than consider it on her own. She may not have been as hasty in her decision, but make no mistake she would have done it," he defended.

Jenna wanted to insist that Phoebe wouldn't have done it, but she didn't get the chance.

"Furthermore, I do respect Phoebe's wishes. You might have noticed that I haven't thrown a single tantrum about her being sired to my brother, nor have I done anything to coax her back into my arms."

Jenna said nothing, as she replayed the last few months in her head.

"My intentions towards her have been nothing short of pure, and simple friendship," Klaus went on. "I love her more than I have loved anyone in the nearly 900 years. But if she wishes to be with my brother or someone else, then I'll accept that. I can wait for her to want me again. Because she is worth the wait."

"If you love her so much, then why won't you help us get her home, before she does something she'll regret, if she hasn't already?" Jenna asked.

"Phoebe ran away from this town for a reason, and as we've discussed, I am respecting that wish. But that doesn't mean I haven't known where she was, since she left Richmond." Klaus' lips turned up into a slight smile.

Jenna's eyes narrowed, then she realized, "Rebekah. That's where she disappeared to."

Klaus nodded. "I promise you, Phoebe has done nothing to cause herself to be wracked with guilt, like Stefan."

"But you're still not gonna tell us where she is," Jenna guessed.

Klaus shook his head. Jenna didn't look happy at his answer, but he wasn't going to change it. He did, however, remember his manners.

"Thank you. For distracting me from the pain."

"No, thank you," Jenna forced herself to say. "For caring enough to look out for Phoebe."

When Stefan and Hayley had arrived at the gazebo where Phoebe was supposed to meet Elijah, they were no longer there. Hayley pulled out her phone and called Elijah.

"Hayley," he greeted.

"Elijah."

"I see you did join Phoebe in coming for Katarina and the cure."

"Well, that is what drew us here, but we didn't come with Phoebe," Hayley replied. "Speaking of, where did you two go?"

"We're still in town, if that's what you're asking," said Elijah. "Where is Katarina?"

"She's still alive, if that's what you're asking," said Stefan.

Hayley waved him off. "She's with a friend and your sister. She's supposedly taking them to get the cure."

Elijah tensed up. "I don't think you realize just how much my sister despises Katarina."

"Oh, probably not as much as Phoebe does," Stefan shot back.

"If any harm should come to Katarina, I can promise you, you will sorely regret it."

Elijah hung up the phone, and turned back towards Phoebe. She had already kicked off Katherine's heels, removed the jacket, and was now tossing down the excessive jewelry.

"You're an idiot," she mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

Phoebe looked down the alley at her sire. "I said you're an idiot, for falling back into bed with Katherine."

"That isn't what happened," said Elijah. "She contacted me a few weeks ago, and said she'd found the cure. She wanted me to broker a deal between her and Niklaus. Her freedom in exchange for the cure."

"Oh, please. You fell for her trap, just like every other idiot who's ever said they love Katherine Pierce."

Elijah smiled at her. "You underestimate me. I know who she is, and I know what she's done."

Phoebe was surprised. If Katherine had told him everything, then why was he still here, instead of helping the others look for her? The better question would be, why would Katherine even tell him? Phoebe doubted she did.

"And you still trust her? You believe she's changed?"

"You're one to judge," Elijah noted. "My brother is responsible for countless atrocities, several of them against you and your loved ones. And yet, you still care for him."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because Klaus has shown he's worth forgiving. He's shown that he can change. Katherine is still the same scared little girl, who only cares about herself," Phoebe argued.

"You don't think I know that?"

"If you did, you wouldn't be with her again."

"I told you, I am only here to help her make a deal with Niklaus," Elijah maintained.

"It's interesting that you're so eager to help her, after what she did to obtain that cure," said Phoebe. Her tone was indifferent and uncaring, simply making a point.

"What are you talking about?"

Phoebe's face contorted into a look of confusion and sarcasm. "You mean she didn't tell you? I thought you knew what she did."

"Phoebe." Elijah's tone was commanding and stern.

"You're girlfriend killed Matt," said Phoebe.

Elijah was in disbelief. "She couldn't have. The Hunter's Curse..."

"Yeah, her little loophole with that was to feed him to Silas and let him do the dirty work."

"...She lied."

"I hate to say I told you so, but...duh!"

Elijah found it odd how calm and uncaring she seemed at telling him this. Then his stomach churned at the thought. "You've turned off your humanity."

Phoebe gave him a look that confirmed his worst fear.

Since Elijah and Phoebe were no longer at the gazebo, Hayley and Stefan agreed they'd be of more use helping Rebekah and Slater with Katherine. Even though they hadn't told him, they knew Elijah wouldn't let Phoebe take off, so she was in good hands.

When they arrived at Katherine's house, Slater was on the floor, soaking wet, and Rebekah was standing in the doorway holding the cure.

"What the hell happened? Where's Katherine?" Stefan asked.

Hayley grabbed a blanket and ran over to help Slater dry off. Whatever he was drenched in was burning him.

"She took off," said Slater.

"You let her get away?" Stefan asked.

"She tossed the cure in the air," Rebekah defended. "It was either I catch it before it shatters on the ground, or I stop her."

"What happened to you?" Hayley asked Slater.

"Rebekah went upstairs to search for the cure, after Katherine pretended that someone broke in and stole it from her safe," he began. "That's when I noticed her fish tank didn't have any fish."

"Looks like it was filled with vervain water," Hayley guessed.

Slater nodded. "She dunked my head in it, before I could grab it, and ran for the door."

Stefan made a face.

"What's that face?"

"It sounds too easy. This is Katherine Pierce, and this was her only way to be pardoned by Klaus," said Stefan. "After everything she went through to get it, she wouldn't just give it up that easily."

"What are you saying, it's a fake?" said Hayley.

"There's only one way to find out." Rebekah opened the tube and shot back the liquid inside, before anyone could argue. A few seconds later, she was unconscious.

She wasn't out for long, but when she woke up, everyone was gathered around staring at her.

"How do you feel?" Stefan asked her.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"We need to test her," said Hayley.

"How?"

Slater grabbed a knickknack off a nearby shelf, and threw it at Rebekah. "Think fast."

Rebekah caught the object inches from her head. She still had her vampire reflexes, which meant she was still a vampire. But where was the real cure?

Elijah had taken a moment to process the bombshell Phoebe had dropped on him. Katherine's actions, and Phoebe's reaction. Both were tragedies.

"I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose a brother."

Matt wasn't her brother, but he might as well have been – he was family.

"I'm sorry for your pain," he went on. "And I give you my word, I'm going to help you find your way back to yourself."

"Just like you hope Katherine will find her way back?" Phoebe asked. "You still think that innocent girl you saved from Klaus, ages ago, is still in there somewhere."

"I'd like to think so, yes."

"She's not. She's a monster now, Elijah. The sweet peasant girl you fell in love with way back when is dead, and she's not coming back," said Phoebe.

"I'm not a fool, Phoebe. Of course this has occurred to me, but what kind of man would I be if I didn't try to find my Katarina beneath this Katherine facade?"

Phoebe's irritation flared once more. "Your Katarina...Fine, you really believe she's in there, then test her."

"Test her how?"

"When she inevitably escapes from the others, she's going to come find you. When she does, confront her on her lies and push her way. She'll try to plead with you, and it's those pleas that you need to listen to. If she begs for you to stay with her because she loves you, then you know she really cares about you, and maybe she really is savable. But my money is on her other reaction."

"The deal," he guessed.

"If she begs for you to stay because she needs you to help her with her deal with Klaus, then I'm right and she only cares about herself," said Phoebe.

As if on queue, Phoebe's neck was snapped, and her body fell to the ground.

"Was that necessary?" Elijah asked in shock.

"Oh, come on, she could use a nap. Must be exhausting trying to be me," she teased.

"You killed Matt Donovan."

The smile faded from Katherine's face. Of course Phoebe would have told him that, even without having her humanity to care about it anymore.

"Yes," she admitted. "I killed Matt Donovan, a bombshell I'm sure she just couldn't wait to drop on you. Ironic, since she supposedly doesn't care about anything."

"Well, I care," said Elijah. "Do you honestly feel nothing for this girl? A girl fated to lose her entire family some day as it is – a fate you seem keen to speed along."

"Why are you looking at me as though I enjoyed it? Matt was collateral damage, I was doing what I needed to survive," she argued.

"Is that what I am to you? A means of survival?"

"Don't let your sweet little progeny get to you," said Katherine. "She hates me, and she'll do anything to turn you against me, so she can have you for herself."

"I asked you a question." Elijah's tone was just as stern and commanding as it had been with Phoebe earlier.

"No."

Elijah was unconvinced, yet he was still hopeful.

"Of course you're not a means of survival. You looked out for me, when I had no one. You're giving me a second chance now, when no one else will." She reached out to touch his face tenderly. "I love you."

Elijah looked at Phoebe's body on the ground. He'd done what she suggested, and Katherine's first instinct was to confess her love for him. Still, this wasn't the same as her asking him to stay with her out of love, merely trying to convince him not to listen to Phoebe.

He shrugged her off, and took a step back.

"You don't believe me."

"I want to," he admitted. "It's my disease. I just keep wanting to believe you. But how can I , when at every turn, you give me reason to doubt you? I don't know you. And I doubt that I ever will."

Elijah walked past her towards Phoebe's body. He could have done it and been gone in a flash with his vampire speed, but he was giving Katherine time to prove either himself or Phoebe right.

He was bending down to pick her up, when Katherine grabbed his shoulder. "Wait."

Elijah stood back up, waiting for her response. Was she going to beg him to stay because she loved him, or was she going to beg for his help?

Katherine struggled with her words for a moment. "You gave me your word that you would talk to Klaus. I-I can't make a deal without you."

And there it was. Phoebe had been right, as much as he hated for it to be true – as much as it hurt for it to be true.

"Goodbye, Katherine."

And in a flash, he had grabbed Phoebe and disappeared, leaving Katherine all alone.

When Phoebe woke up, she was sitting back in the diner with everyone but Elijah standing guard. Elijah was outside talking to Katherine again, while nearly everyone watched. Katherine handed Elijah the cure, willingly, and claimed it was because she loved him and wanted him to trust her again. After that, she walked away, and Elijah re-entered the diner.

Phoebe watched Elijah as he approached her, cure in hand.

"I hope you're not planning to force me to take that, just to get me back to normal," said Phoebe.

"No. I plan to see about having it replicated, just like you wanted," he said. "But I am taking you back to Mystic Falls, and I am going to stay and help you get your humanity back on."

"And how are you going to do that? The sirebond was broken the moment I flipped that switch," said Phoebe.

"I'm sure your friends and family would be more than willing to lend a hand in figuring that out."

Phoebe gave a snort of laughter. "Oh, no doubt."

"We will get you back, Phoebe. None of us will rest until we do."

Phoebe gave him a slightly unnerving, challenging look. "We'll see."

Okay, so next week we have the senior prom, then one more chapter after that, and then the start of the Originals. So only a couple more chapters before the big reveal of who Hope's mother will be!

How are you guys liking no humanity Phoebe? What do you think her emotional trigger is going to be? Did Elijah just do it when he kissed her, or was that just her disgust at the situation? How do you think things are going to be different with Phoebe in New Orleans part time, if not most of the time?

I hope you're all having a good Valentine's Day, whether you have someone to share it with or not. =^_^=