Everyone's Looking


"I see your sister's sense of style hasn't changed," Katherine remarked haughtily as she leaned against the brick storefront across the street from the boutique his brother and sister were currently occupying -his baby brother's boredom and his little sister's juxtaposing glee remarkably apparent to his well-trained eye- crossing her legs at the ankle, face puckered with a scowl of distain.

"Come now, Katerina, you hardly ever said five words to my sister, let alone had time to survey her wardrobe. And, as I recall, weren't you the one that stole her mother of pearl hairbrush while she was away in Europe?" Elijah intoned smoothly, standing as far away from her as he could without putting himself at risk of disrupting traffic. He must be truly desperate if he'd agreed to such a meeting with her. Once upon a time, he might have been jealous, envied even the way she looked at Stefan with such intent he was surprised the glass window didn't evaporate under her laser-focus...but not now. Now, all Elijah could think about was the woman he wished he was standing next to, the one that shared her face yet none of her personality. Katherine had mentioned Elena's excursion to Chicago had ended in "tears and tragedy," and that did not sit well with him. He knew he'd been too harsh with her, too aloof, but he did not know how else to be; it was his preferred mask when he was feeling too much at once but didn't want anyone to be privy to his torment.

She'd scared him. He'd seen the blazing conviction in her eyes, the same conviction he'd seen in Katerina when she'd fled the castle that fateful night. Whereas hers had been solely born of protecting herself... Elena's was the polar opposite. And maybe, just maybe, he was jealous of Stefan Salvatore, of the love Elena had so freely given him, which he now chose to squander. It was for her own safety, of course, but Elijah had to admit that if given the same option...he wouldn't have let her go, he would have found another way, whatever it took.

He would not have broken her heart.

"Your memory is awfully selective, isn't it? You remember every minor slight, and yet you seem to have forgotten how much fun you and I had together."

Elijah cocked his head, hands deep in his trouser pockets as he clipped out shortly, "Yes, it was indeed 'fun' to watch you parade around with my brother whilst stringing me along, despite my genuine care for you, which you proceeded to twist to your own ends. If it was any funnier, I'd be dying of laughter."

Katherine raised a perfectly manicured brow. "Was that a joke? Are you making jokes now? When did that happen? The Elijah I knew would never dare to insult a lady," she pouted, no doubt trying to look tempting yet only putting him off further.

"I am no longer the Elijah you knew," he replied simply, "and you have not been a lady for a long time, Katerina. If ever," the Original couldn't help but add.

"Oh, how you wound me." Crossing her arms, she twirled a curl of hair around her finger as she spat, "If I'm so disreputable, then why the did you agree to meet me here, Elijah?"

"For one reason, and one reason only."

The doppelgänger huffed. "Which is what, exactly?"

With an elegant tip of his wrist, he indicated the trio at the other end of the street. "If it comes to it, you'll make an excellent distraction for Niklaus when I remove your beloved Salvatore from his clutches."

"Yeah, like I believe that, Elijah. You don't help people for nothing; that's not who you are, it's not in your nature. You put your family first, always and forever. It was one of the things I liked about you, your sense of loyalty and honor, even though Klaus treated you like dirt."

"Like you treated me any better," Elijah argued placidly, with no particular amount of malice, let she screeched as if he's burned her.

"Oh, my God, get over it already!" Katherine sighed dramatically before seizing his tie and dragging his face down to hers. "If I tell you I'm sorry, will you start treating me like I'm worth more than the gum stuck to your thousand dollar shoes?"

With lightening speed, Elijah grasped her wrist, exerting enough pressure to break the bones if she were anything but a vampire. "First, don't ever dare to think I would welcome your touch, Katerina. Second, I love my brother and always will, no matter how he treats me. And thirdly...these shoes are two thousand dollars, yet I'd trek through the Thames in them if it meant I didn't have to spend another minute in your company."

"Having a lover's spat, are we?"

Ever so slowly, Elijah tilted his head in Stefan's direction, straightening his tie with immaculate patience as he regained his composure. Unfortunately, he had to watch as Katherine fluffed her hair and fixed poor Stefan with what, he had to admit, was her most winning smile. "Apologies, Elijah and I were having a disagreement, that's all. Certainly nothing I can't put on hold for you."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"You two look chummy," Katherine sniped, bypassing his words, an undercurrent of jealousy simmering in her tone. "Klaus your new bestie?" She'd never been one for friendship, it was true, although he was sure at least one poor soul had probably tried, and suffered the consequences.

"You know if he finds you in Chicago, you're dead," Stefan reminded stonily before turning to Elijah and reprimanding, "both of you."

"I'm happy to know you still care. I was so sorry to hear about you and Elena. Oh, wait, I'm not. I've always said you could do much better. Both of you could, in fact."

"Speaking off...what are you doing here, too, Elijah? With her? I thought you and Elena were..." Stefan waved a hand, seemingly at a loss for words, "whatever you were."

"Not that it's any business of yours, of course, but Miss Gilbert and I are currently not on speaking terms."

"Why?" the young vampire asked confusedly. "I know she's always trusted you."

As he had her.

"Because her plan all along was to trade your freedom for her blood, Stefan," he explained harshly, "so that Niklaus could make his hybrids, which she did not inform any of us about."

"Well, it's a good thing she's back in Mystic Falls then, isn't it? Look, I don't know whatever game you're playing at, but I don't want any part in it. I'm having enough trouble as it is with Klaus and Rebekah, who are know obsessed with-"

"Finding the necklace you gave to Elena," Katerina interrupted him disinterestedly. "Yeah, I know."

Elijah certainly didn't know, and didn't shy away from voicing his concern. "Why is this the first time I'm hearing such a thing, Katerina?"

Katherine shrugged, a deceptively demure smile curving her lips. "What can I say? Keeping secrets is a Petrova trait. Besides, its just a dumb necklace, anyway! What's the big deal?"

"The big deal, Katherine, is that Gloria can use it to contact the Original Witch and found out why Klaus can't make his hybrids!"

Dear Lord, he was surrounded by idiots. Didn't Stefan see what he'd just done? Now Katerina would go after the necklace and bring it to Klaus, likely with Elena still attached to it.

"Good to know," Katherine purred through her thinly-veiled smile. "And I suppose you have a plan to make sure they don't get their hands on it?"

"They don't know where the necklace is," Stefan pointed out feebly. "I just have to keep them from figuring it out. I have it under control."

Like Elijah was going to out his faith -and Elena's safety- in Stefan Salvatore. The idea was laughable at best, utter lunacy at worst.

Katherine tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Please tell me you have a better plan than that? You do. Come on, Stefan, you're not the diabolical type," Katerina needled him, but anyone could see the young vampire would not be moved, and certainly not by her of all people. "Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work."

"Well, if the most diabolical women I know can't figure it out, I must be doing something right."

Elijah let the faint etchings of a crooked smile linger on his face. "Touché, Mr Salvatore. Touché."

"Hush, Elijah. As for you...I forgot; you're bad now. But don't get too cocky. Klaus is smarter than you, he's smarter than everyone."

Elijah cleared his throat pointedly.

"Present company excluded, of course," she amended, saccharine-sweet.

Stefan raised a brow, but replied simply, "I'll keep that in mind," before turning his back on a put-upon Katerina, who of course had to have the last word, "I've heard about that sister. Be careful: she'll ruin you."

"Happy to know you still care," the vampire tossed behind him carelessly as he strode away.

"That was rather desperate, Katerina, even for you."

"Come now, Elijah, like you know anything about true love," she snapped venomously, and, a year ago, he might have been inclined to agree with her. But now...

"If you come after Elena, I will descend upon you, Katerina, and end your miserable excuse of a life myself," Elijah threatened, tipping up her chin so that she was forced to beat witness to the utter conviction and malevolent savagery storming in his eyes.

"Alright, alright, I get the picture. I promise, I won't harm everyone's precious Elena, not even a hair. But that wing stop Klaus from getting to her, you know that, don't you? It doesn't matter if you feel... whatever it is you so clearly feel for her. And, now that we're on the subject," Katerina purred coyly, lips grazing the shell of his ear, "she's never going to feel anything for you, my dear, dear Lord. Take it from someone who knows: once a Salvatore girl, always a Salvatore girl."

"Katerina?" he murmured, just as close to her as she was to him.

She batted her lashes. "Yes?"

"What I feel for her, I feel because she is nothing like you. And she never will be. It's why you hate her so much, isn't it? Because, despite losing her family as you have, despite being the doppelgänger and going through hell and back, she still has the most beautiful and purest soul I have ever known, while yours is a blackened husk lurking somewhere in that ocean of cruelty you're currently submerged in."

"Well, maybe your beautiful Elena should come and take a swim in it, see if she's so pure afterwards."

Elijah vowed solemnly, "Not while I'm alive."

"That can be arranged, though, can't it? You're a toy out of their box, Elijah, and one word from me, you can go straight back in. I'm the one that can change the game here, can flip it so you're on the losing team. I can make sure you do lose everything, starting with her. I can get Stefan to turn on Klaus and go home, or I can make Damon swoop in and sweep her off her feet until she forgets all about you. Because you're right, Elijah, I am nothing like Elena Gilbert: I'll go all the way, do whatever it takes, hurt whoever or whatever I want...so long as I win."

Pulling away, she patted his chest mockingly with a light, "Be seeing you, 'Lijah," and then vanished down the street.

Well, that went well, didn't it? said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like that of Elena Gilbert. Elijah told the voice that sarcasm didn't become it, then went in search of his car. And a new suit: he was most certainly going to burn this one -Katerina was a particular stain that never came out, not even with thousand-dollar dry-cleaning- and a drink so he could try and erase the last five minutes...

or the last five hundred years, in general.


The next morning -well, technically that morning, since no one has gone to bed before two am- Elena was the first one up, feeling tired beyond belief yet safe and content in the tangle of her friends. Speaking of tangle...how the hell was she going to get up without waking anyone?

Tyler and Care were on the floor, cuddled up together, while Elena had been sharing the couch with Bonnie and Jer, who was now pining her into the corner with his legs. Mind harking back to the many games of Jenga she'd played as a kid -and lost- she manoeuvered out from under her brother and her best friend, stepping around Matt's sleeping form in the armchair and padding barefoot into the Forbes' bright kitchen, delighted to see Ric, Damon and Liz trying to out-do each other on the cooking.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Damon greeted her warmly from his place by the stove. "How you feeling after that crazy girls party of yours?"

"Exhausted, but better," Elena said around a mouthful of hair as she tied the silken mass into a rough ponytail. "I think we all needed that."

"You mean to watch you cry when Chris O'Donnell got killed after being in the film like five minutes? You know, I don't think I've ever seen you cry so much," his laugh was punctuated with the slap of tye frying pan as he turned over what looked like pancakes. God, she was starving. Oh, wait, and annoyed!

"It's upsetting, okay!" She went to Caroline's mom for aid. "Liz, back me up."

"Even I found it hard to watch, Damon," the Sheriff admitted, much to Elena's glee and Damon's chagrin.

"Yes! See, it's bad."

Damon rolled his eyes at her before inquiring, "Then why did you watch it, you silly goose?"

"Because it's a beautiful story about love and friendship and accepting who you are and-"

"Okay, okay, watching it was enough, I don't need to relive the experience. You can repay me by telling Mr Burnt Batter over here," he indicated a frowning Alaric, "that my pancakes are better."

"Hey, Elena's still half-asleep, her judgement can not be a hundred percent trusted," Alaric teased, handing her a cup of coffee out of the coffee maker which she downed like water.

Damon scoffed theatrically. "A half-assed excuse if I ever heard one."

"It's true, though: everyone knows Elena's pretty much a zombie until her second cup of coffee at least," Matt said as he joined them in the kitchen, immediately rootling in drawers for cutlery and setting the table.

Elena mock-pouted. "Look what's happened to us. One day, we're madly in love. The next, he's dobbing me in to the Caffeine Police. Such a tragedy...yet also so true," she admitted with a grin.

"What are friends for?" Matt asked her as he scanned the table growing more crowded by the second. "Yes, bacon. Gotta get in there before Ty otherwise there'll be none left."

Diving in, Elena realized just how much food there was. "Oh, God, Liz, I'm so sorry, we've completely raided your kitchen," she apologized, knowingly that the Sheriff didn't always have time for shopping and that she wasn't one to usually go all out when it came to breakfast, but the woman waved her concerns away.

"No, it's fine, it's nice to see it going to use," she assured her before admitting quietly, "I've missed having you guys all over like this."

"I know, me too," Elena agreed, "I'm surprised they all came, what with the whole Tyler/Caroline/Matt thing still going on."

"They're your best friends: of course they dropped everything for you," Damon insisted, dishing up a plate of pancakes for her. "And all that stuff will blow over. After what WolfBoy did for Blondie, I think Donovan will be able to accept everything and let them be."

"How are you so wise so early in the morning?" the brunette cocked a brow, taking the fork he so graciously offered her.

"Because I didn't sit for two hours staring at Chris Pine's hair like I wanted to reach through the screen and touch it, that's why," Damon retorted, drawing a laugh from her.

"Oi, leave Chris alone! He is gorgeous and should be protected at all costs," Bonnie exclaimed, the next to join their motley breakfast crew, Jeremy hit on her heels.

"Hello, your boyfriend can hear you!"

"Sorry, Jer, fictional crushes before real men, you know the deal," Elena joked, handing Bonnie a plate.

"Thanks. I know we spent the whole night eating junk food, but I'm weirdly starved."

Elena pointed out, "Crying burns calories, Bon. Besides, no one can resist Damon's pancakes, it's true."

"Yes! Take that, Buddy! I am the Culinary King."

Liz raised a brow. "Remind me how old you are again?"

Damon confessed sheepishly, his reply more of a question rather than a statement of fact "A hundred and seventy one this October?"

"And yet you still feel the need to make fun of Alaric for his lack of cooking skills?"

"Yes?"

The woman smiled warmly. "Just checking."

"That reminds. Ric, what time do you want to go to the Lockwood party?" she asked as she passed Jeremy the orange juice that was just slightly out of his reach.

"Oh, those Founders Party's aren't really my thing," Alaric attempted to weasel himself out, but was interrupted by Caroline's bold exclamation of, "Please tell me you aren't going with chili again this year, Elena? You do it every year!"

Damon narrowed his blue eyes at her. "You're bringing chili? Why are you bringing chili? Everyone brings chili!"

Elena studiously ignored him. "Jer, do you want some pancakes?"

"Sure, why not? I've been practically living off them in the mornings since you know Ric and I can't cook to save our lives..." which felt like a stab to the gut, but Elena knew he didn't mean anything by it, so she let it go.

Ric frowned sadly. "Is today 'Gang Up On Ric' day or something and you just forgot to tell me?"

"There will be nine other people who brought chili," Damon argued as he slid her yet another plate. "Careful, it's hot. Not as hot as me, but a close second."

"It's an old family recipe!" Elena burst out, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Jeremy, back me up on the importance of the Gilbert Family Chili."

"We do it every year, 'Lena."

Damon, of course, couldn't help but add, "Yeah, and I knew your old family, and they made sucky chili."

"I feel so attacked right now."

"And I feel so hungry with you guys harping on about chili," Caroline grumbled as she took a seat at the table across from Elena, looking perfectly put together despite her rumpled pajamas sporting several sticky ice cream stains, but Caroline wore them likes badges of honour. Her mom went into the fridge before handing her a glass that wasn't exactly filled with orange juice. "Thanks, mom. Wait, something's wrong here." She squinted at Elena, eyes going wide after several seconds of intense scrutiny. "Your necklace. You're not wearing your necklace. Why aren't you wearing your necklace?"

Six interested heads turned to look at her, and Elena wanted to shrink away at their intensity, but decided to just get it over with. "I'm still wearing it, but that's only because of the vervain." She held up her wrist, indicating the necklace she'd turned into a bracelet instead. "I just...it didn't feel right, wearing it anymore."

"So, you're not in denial, then? You've accepted that the Stefan Salvatore Redemption Train has left the station and isn't making any stops at the station, like, ever again?"

"Damon!" Caroline yelled, shooting a stray strawberry in his direction. "Have some tact, why don't you?" She fixed Elena with a sympathetic smile. "Look, after what I just went through with my dad, I'd totally understand if you were feeling upset and confused after everything that happened in Chicago."

"Absolutely," Bonnie agreed readily. "We all know how much you loved him."

"Loved," Elena emphasized forcefully. "Past tense. I'm not going to break, okay? I'm not going to think about how I just wanted the whole summer trying to find someone who didn't want to be found, and who doesn't want to come home, or be with me. Stefan's made his choice, he's moving on, and I have to respect that. I can't live in the past, hence me taking off the necklace he gave me."

"Wow, that's pretty big," Matt exclaimed proudly. "That must have taken some guts to finally realize."

Elena shook her head sadly. "It didn't, actually. As I sat there last night, watching as Mia Thermopolis put her own feelings aside for her country, it reminded me of the fact that I still have things I want to do in my own life, and I refuse be the kind of person who can't face up to the harshness of reality simply because they're scared and want to cling to what's familiar and safe. Besides, I have all of you, and that's more than most will ever have. What's there to complain about?"

"How about that someone stole all the bacon?" Tyler offered, the last to join them in the kitchen. "Dudes, seriously, that is not cool."

"Oh, no, missing food! We better put my mom on the case," Caroline teased her boyfriend lightly.

"I'll be sure to put in an official report," Liz played along. "You got any suspects, Tyler?"

"I'd start with the biggest pig I know, which would be..." he narrowed his gaze at Damon. "You."

"Hey, man, I'm totally innocent on this one, I just cooked the damn stuff."

"Okay, okay. It must have been you, then, Mr Donovan. How do you plead?"

"With waffles?"

Tyler grinned happily. "Case closed. Hand 'em over."

As everyone dug into their food, Elena watched as Liz pulled Damon into the hallway. Going to the sink under the premise of cleaning her plate, Elena listened in on their conversation, the two just visibly through the half-open door.

"So, Mayor Lockwood called your gay ex-husband to torture your vampire daughter?"

He really didn't have any tact, did he?

"I've been keeping him detained until the vervain's out of his system so that you can do the," Liz did the universal gesture of, 'I'll be watching you,' which Elena guessed was her interpretation of compulsion.

"Why don't we just kill him?"

Liz sighed wearily. Elena had to admit, she wasn't Bill Forbes' biggest fan at the moment, either, but even so...

"He's Caroline's father, Damon. Just because you and I are on good terms doesn't mean I'm an advocate for your... lifestyle."

That was putting it mildly.

"I'll be more than happy to help get that bastard out of here as soon as possible; I'll compel him to think he took Caroline back to school shopping and he'll be none the wiser. It's just, if there's anyone who doesn't need help in the vampire-urge department, it's your annoying control-freak of a daughter."

"Hey, I'm not annoying!" Caroline yelled loudly, before turning beet red. "Crap, I just broadcasted the fact I was listening in to their conversation, didn't I?"

Tyler patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Yeah, you did."

"I meant it as a compliment, Care Bear," Damon said through the half-open door. "Memorize it, frame it: I don't give them out often."

Elena couldn't help but think that wasn't true, at least not recently. Sure, she wasn't an idiot, she knew at the beginning he'd only been nice to her to make Stefan feel jealous and insecure but now, she knew they had a solid friendship, and she was really going to need that.

Yes, she wasn't going to break, at least, not over Stefan. But she couldn't stop thinking about Elijah, about calling him and telling him how she wasn't going to hand herself over to Klaus, not now; there'd be no point. Stefan wouldn't come home, not for anything, and she couldn't put her loved ones in the next room in jeopardy, not for that.

She wanted to call him, so she did. Standing in the bathroom, in the shower with the door closed, Elena listed the ingredients off of Caroline's shampoo bottle in her mind as she listened to the phone ring, and ring: Aqua, cetyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine... but it went straight to voicemail, so she kept her message short and brief, yet it didn't lack feeling.

"Hi, Elijah, it's me. I'm calling because I thought you should know that I found Stefan, but he uh, he doesn't want to come home. Therefore, you don't have to worry about me doing anything crazy like handing myself over to Klaus. Im not going to go after him, either. I have a life here, and it's about time I started living it and appreciating it. Also, I wanted you to know that Klaus woke up Rebekah. I'm not quite sure why, and I'd guess she's pretty mad at him...but I'm sure she'd love to see her big brother. Anyway, that's it...Actually, you know what? That's not it. I was stupid and I'm sorry, bit I don't know how long we can go around avoiding each other like us! I miss you, okay? Caroline just spent the past two days getting tortured by her dad because he thinks he can fix her vampirism, like she isn't perfect already, and I'm pretty sure something's going on with Jeremy and all I want is to hear your voice, sans anger at me.

"You and I, we had something. We have something. And we can't fix it if you avoid me forever. Okay, I've said all I wanted to say. Be safe, Elijah. No matter where we stand, you're still such a big part of my heart."


"You left us." Pouting from her perch up at the bar, Rebekah surveyed Stefan from under her lashes, a look he knew she expected to lower his defenses to little more than cobwebs, bit he refused to give her the satisfaction.

"Yeah, retail therapy was making my head explode."

"Tell me about it," Klaus commiserated, attention fixed predatorially on Gloria as she set up her table with witchy paraphernalia.

"What's she doing?" Stefan asked mildly, trying to make heads or tails of everything, but admittedly he was lacking in the magic department. He'd known a few witches over the years, but not many, since most didn't trust him, not with his reputation as a Ripper, and while he'd usually been present when Bonnie was doing her magic -usually to help him or his brother put with something- it wasn't like she'd taken him through it step by step.

"She's failing," the hybrid accused darkly, blue eyes alight with blazing anger. He really could benefit from some anger management classes or those yoga DVDs Caroline liked so much.

"It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on," Gloria accused, patience visibly frayed under the Originals' sharp claws.

"So use me," Rebekah proclaimed, hopping down from the bar in a graceful jump. "I only wore it for a thousand years."

"See? Now this one offers a solution. Alright, give me your hand, sweetheart."

Klaus bristled at that -he was the only one Stefan knew of to call her that, and he must have preferred it that way- as Rebekah extended her palm. Which could only mean one thing...

"She's looking for the necklace, huh?"

Even when he tried to keep Elena out of it, it seemed something always pulled her right back in. Damn. This was not good. If they found her...

Stefan could do nothing but watch as Gloria started her spell, a leaden weight seeming to settle in his stomach when she announced, "I can sense something," her chanting taking on a more frenzied tone.

"I've found it."


"Hey, Bonnie, could you pass me that spoon over there?"

"Sure." Handing her the giant wooden spoon, Bonnie watched on in amusement as Elena began adding ingredients seemingly at random. "Do you want a hand with that?"

Elena shook her head, being careful not to get her hair in the pot. "I'm good. I'm *Miss Independent, remember?"

"Right, and I was Little Miss Sunshine," Caroline chimed in, eating more chili's than she put in the actual chili.

"That you were. And hands off my jalapenos, Forbes, otherwise there won't be anything left for the rest of us to eat."

"Good. Damon's right, Elena: you're really bad at cooking."

Elena gasped dramatically. "You take that back! You know what, I texted him the recipe and he actually gave me some pointers on how to make it non-sucky -which is so totally not a word- so I expect it to be a roaring success at the Lockwood party."

"I guess that makes sense," Caroline acknowledged, "what with the whole Italian thing and all."

Bonnie added in, "And the whole living for over a hundred years thing: it'd be pretty lame if he couldn't handle himself in the cooking department."

"Hey, don't stereotype: I'm sure not even the Originals can all cook, mainly because some of them have been asleep before the invention of the oven. Or the cookbook."

"But we all know Elijah can cook, if those pictures you sent me are anything to go by," Bonnie teased her, and instead of seeing Elena laugh as she'd been expecting, she saw her friend flinch visibly. Caroline's eyes went wide, the sleeves of her pink cardigan flapping about as she waved her hands wildly in an effort to get Bonnie to stop. "Wait, what did I say?"

"Elena and Elijah had a fight," Caroline supplied immediately, no doubt wishing to spare their mutual best friend the pain of saying it herself.

"You did? How bad?"

"You know the little dish by the front door we use for spare change?" Elena puzzled, stirring the pot with more gusto than was likely healthy. Bonnie nodded. "I threw it at his head."

"He's lucky. I totally would have been aiming for somewhere else, if you know what I mean," the blonde muttered darkly, and Bonnie didn't doubt her for a second.

"Why did you guys get into a fight in the first place? When we talked on the phone, you sounded pretty solid."

Setting the spoon down on the chopping board -and turning off the heat, because Elena was a walking health and safety advert- the brunette slumped forward, almost landing her hair in a bowl of leftover kidney beans. "Because he found out about my plan to hand myself over to Klaus in exchange for Stefan since my blood is the only thing that can stop a hybrid from dying in the transition."

Bonnie felt her heart stop. Stop, then restart.

"What?"

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had been left in the dark about this, of Caroline's reaction was anything to go by.

"When I died, I went somewhere. I was here, but not here. Like another side or plane of existence or whatever. Jenna was there, and she told me she'd found this is out -I'm assuming from the Original Witch herself, but I can't be sure- and wanted me to know, to prepare."

"And you used it for the opposite," the witch thought aloud, putting the pieces together.

Elena nodded ashamedly. "I did. I was going to, but not now. Now, all I want is to be here, with you guys. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, I didn't even know for sure my blood was the key until Damon, Ric, Elijah and I went up into the Smokey Mountains and tested it on one of the werewolves Klaus had just turned, and Caroline, with everything going on with your dad... you didn't need my drama on top of yours. And Bonnie, I know your summer was boring and normal, but that's exactly what I wanted for you. You deserved to have time away from all this."

"I'll admit, it was nice to get away for a little while, especially after everything that happened with Jeremy and being cut off from my ancestors after using all that power for something personal rather than restoring the balance, but if I had to do it all over again, I think I'd have rather stayed, and been here for the both of you. Or at the very least, gone with you, Elena, when you went after Stefan. Things might have gone differently if you'd had a witch in your back pocket."

"Maybe," Elena remarked noncommittally, pain flashing in her brown eyes.

"While I know we're all on team Angry At Stefan, I gotta say, after listening to my dad for two days while he tried to make me deny my basic vampire nature and I couldn't, I feel kinda bad for him. He didn't ask to be a Ripper or whatever, just like I didn't ask to be vampire and have my dad not be okay with it," Caroline said slowly, likely gauging Elena's reaction to her confession, which luckily wasn't all that major, simply a sigh of grief and a heavy heart.

"I know, Caroline. Don't you think I feel the same? It's Stefan. But I asked him to come home, practically begged him on my hands and knees. And I would have, it would have changed his mind. But it didn't. He could be here, right now, but he's not: he's off being Klaus' right hand man and no doubt complying to Rebekah's every whim."

"How do you know that?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Elijah told me about her over the summer. From what I could gather, she's pretty... spirited."

"Poor guy," Caroline murmured sympathetically. "Having to deal with not one Original, but two."

"Definitely," Elena agreed. "It must be a real...Ow!" Elena's hand went to her wrist, where Bonnie could see an angry red welts appearing.

"Are you okay? Did the pot splash you?"

"No, Caroline, it didn't. It was my necklace. It burned me."

"Let me see it."

Elena complied, gently unclasping the necklace she'd wound around her wrist and handing it to Bonnie. As soon as her skin made contact with the metal, the witch felt an instant electric charge, bit purely magical in origin. Sparks flew about in all directions, and all three girls backed away in apprehension.

Caroline was the first to voice their collective thought. "Okay, what the heck was that?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I have no idea."


"So where is it?" Klaus growled impatiently, wanting to run a hand through his hair or tear up the place -or someone's throat- or just do something. He hated waiting. That had been the worst thing to endure, in his opinion, when his family had been in the run from Mikael, their father: the waiting. Knowing he was on his way, but knowing they could do nothing to stop it, so they just had to wait around until people started dying or he confronted them head-on.

Niklaus Mikaelson was not known for his patience, not with anybody.

"It doesn't work Iike that," Gloria insisted as if she were talking to a small child. The nerve. "I get images. There's a girl, with her friends-"

"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends," his sister interjected vehemently, "if I don't get my necklace back."

"I'll have to dive back in to get details."

"So dive," Klaus instructed with a tone of finality, crossing over to her worktable and dominating her presence.

"I need time," she protested. "And space. You're harshing my juju."

The hybrid raised a brow. "We can wait."

"I'm sure you can," Gloria remarked coolly, "but that's not what I asked."

It seemed this version of Stefan was quite the peacemaker, for the Ripper stepped in and offered, "Hey, why don't we just...just come back later?" He leaned in close, whispering conspiratorially, "I'm hungry anyway." He even went so far as to sweeten the deal, "I'll let you pick who we eat."

Well, that settled it, then.

Unanimously, the hybrid and his sidekick left the bar, his sister following excitedly. It was high time for a bit of fun. Or, should he say bite?


Seated on one of the benches dotting the Lockwood property, Caroline sat with Elena as the girl fiddled with her phone, glancing at the screen what seemed like every ten seconds.

"Expecting a call from somebody?" the blonde vampire couldn't help but ask.

Elena nodded, tapping the phone against her palm nervously. "I called Elijah this morning, and told him the Cliff-Notes version of what happened in Chicago, and that I'm not going to do anything stupid like hand myself over to Klaus. And that's Rebekah's awake, since I thought he deserved to know."

"Hey, I got it!" Bonnie interrupted before Caroline could say the words brewing on her tongue. She waved a grimoire about triumphantly, opening it to a seemingly random page, but it obviously head great significance to her. "I have an Identification spell that might be able to tell me what magic affected the necklace."

Elena handed the offending item in question over, and Bonnie took it warily. "It's going to take a while," she warned them beforehand. "Just tell me if anyone's coming, okay?"

The two nodded, and as Bonnie got to work, Caroline finally blurted, "So are you like, swapping Stefan out for a Mikaelson now?"

"Caroline!" Elena huffed exasperatedly. "Now is not the time to be interrogating me about my love life!"

"Look, as your friend, who worries for you daily, I just don't want you to jump into anything too soon after breaking up with Stefan."

"*He broke up with me, Caroline," the brunette reminded her pointedly.

"Yes, but, you and I both know you would have ended it eventually. You're different, Elena. You came back this summer different, and that's okay. I'm happy for you, okay? If Elijah really makes you happy, then it want that for you. But honey, in the last few days alone, you got into a major fight with him, stormed off like a toddler and now he hasn't called you back despite you only contacting him out of concern of his best interests, and we'll..you just don't deserve to be treated like that!"

Elena rested her head on Caroline's shoulder, gripping her hand in an affectionate embrace. "I know, Care. I know. And I do feel guilty, even though me and Elijah haven't, you know, or anything, and Stefan's been so alone and fighting to keep hold if himself...Bonnie? Is the necklace supposed to be doing that?"

"Are you doing that?" Caroline asked worriedly, gripping Elena's hand tighter.

"I'm not doing anything," their witchy best friend assured them. "I think it has its own magic."


Standing at the long tables laid out with examples of the fine cooking capabilities of their fair town, Damon couldn't help but roll his eyes when he encountered yet another pot of chili. He really had been right earlier. "Let me let you in on a little secret," Damon said to Ric conversationally as his friend picked his way through the table. "These parties are just an excuse for the Council to gather in back rooms and plot against vampires."

Fiddling with a plastic cup of lemonade in his hands, Alaric brought it to his lips, thought better of it, put it down on the table, then picked it back up again.

Okay...that was weird.

Then, in a rush, as if he just wanted to get this all over and done with and go eat some pie, his best friend announced, "I, uh, I think you should take a beat from Elena."

Damon stopped in his tracks. "Excuse me?"

Was he going deaf -or crazy?- in his old vampire age? Was he going to have to start going for vamp check-ups or something?

"She's vulnerable right now, Damon, and after everything that happened with Elijah, and then everything that happened with Stefan... She's gonna lean on you, look up to you. But, as your friend, I also don't want to see you get hurt, either. You're always going to care about her, we both know that, but Elena's also going to have her heart tangled up with someone else, elsewhere, and I don't think that's something you should be around."

Shaking his head, Damon finished off Ric's untouched lemonade, if only for something to do (to keep him from exploding).

"Thanks, but no thanks," Damon snarked dryly. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, well, she's not," was Alaric's stoic reply, "and I'm supposed to look after her. I want to look after her."

Damon couldn't help but ground out, brimming with hurt, "What, and I don't?"

The History teacher raised his hands in surrender, obviously recognizing a losing battle when he saw one. "Just think about it, okay?"

"Damon?" Liz appeared by his shoulder. "The Council have called a meeting."

"I'll be right there." With a tight smile at Ric, Damon followed Liz through the crowd, catching sight if Elena sitting with Caroline, her head on the blonde's shoulder. Stay away from Elena. He made it sound so easy.

But it wasn't. To be honest, he didn't know how Stefan had done it, had stayed in Chicago with Klaus when Elena had been right in front of him, begging him to come back to them. Damon knew if it had been him in that position, she wouldn't have even had to say a single word: he would have gone with her, Klaus and his promises be damned, because he was selfish, and he couldn't go without the one glimmer of good he had left in his life.

If only his baby brother felt the same.


"What should we do?"

"I don't know, Caroline! It's not like these things come with an Index or anything!"

"Well, they totally should!"

Standing up, Elena whistled loudly. "Finally. I didn't think that was gonna work: I haven't whistled since my cheer squad days."

Caroline sighed heavily. "Yeah, and you sucked at it, which is why I got made Captain. I'm sorry, I'm just a little freaked. Floating necklaces? New territory for me."

"It's new territory for all of us," she said gently, taking her seat back on the bench. "Alright, Bon, what's the plan?"

Bonnie nodded sagely, "Do what any teenager in a difficult and uncertain situation would do: get a grown-up."

"My mom just dragged Damon off to a Council meeting -not that I'd even class him as a grown-up anyways- so I guess that just leaves Alaric."

Elena headed for the mansion, Caroline and Bonnie on either side, her necklace hidden safely between the pages of Bonnie's grimoire. She found him in conversation with one of the parents on the PTA, the poor guy looking hopelessly out of his depth as the woman bombarded him with questions -no doubt about the curriculum for the next academic year and what teachers were going to do to prevent Senior Prank Night which was just on the horizon.

Pasting in her best Founding Family smile, Elena greeted sweetly, "Good afternoon, Mrs Johnson! How lovely to see you here. I'm so sorry to interrupt what I'm sure is no doubt an incredibly stimulating and riveting conversation, as it always is with you, but I really must borrow Mr Saltzman for just a moment, if that's alright with you?"

Her charm...worked like a charm.

"Of course, dear, I'm sure he'd be happy to hear about whatever homework or summer project you want to bend his ear about. Alaric, I'll be wanting to hear all about these new safety measures you'll be implementing!"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world, Mrs Johnson." As soon as the woman was out of sight, Ric pulled her into a fierce hug. "You're a gift from God, you know that? Two more minutes with her and I was pretty sure my will to live was going to crawl outta my head and perch in her birds-nest of a hat. Why do people wear stuff like that?" he mused distractedly. "They must know they're not pleasing on the eye in any way, shape or form."

Pulling out of his embrace slightly, Elena whispered, "Something really weird just happened, and we don't know what to do."

Alaric was instantly alert. "Okay, just how weird are we talking here?"

"Earlier today, Elena's necklace burned her, and now it's floating and apparently has it's own magic," Caroline summarized helpfully.

"You're right, that is weird. Okay, I'll go grab Jeremy and we'll head home. Bonnie, why don't you bring over some of your grimoires and stuff, see if there's anything in there? Where's the necklace now?"

"I gave it to Bonnie," Elena told him, "since if anything else magical happens, she's the one best-equipped to handle it."

"Smart thinking." Ric wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked to Elena's car, Caroline veering off in the hopes of finding Tyler. "Thanks for telling me right away," her guardian murmured as the crowd thinned out near the throng of parked cars. "If anything like this happens that threatens your safety, I always want to be the first to know."

"I know you do, and I really appreciate it, Ric. I probably don't say it enough, but you really do take such great care of me and Jer, and we both love you a lot for it."

A blush stained Alaric's cheeks. "Jeez, Elena, you're gonna make me cry! And we're too far away from Mrs Lockwood's rosebushes for me to blame it on allergies!"

Elena laughed, feeling better about the situation already. She knew she could handle it, so long as she had the people she loved by her side.

"Okay, I'll go and find baby Gilbert. If anything else happens, let me know."

Ric had only been gone for a few seconds when he doubled-back and called out to her softly, "Elena?"

"What's wrong?" Elena asked. "Did you forget something?"

"Yeah, I did. I forgot to say I love you, too. You and Jer, you're the most important thing to me."

Elena smiled, her grin almost splitting her face. "Now looks who's crying?"


She was there, but he couldn't see her. They'd had a brief moment together this morning, a moment when she'd finally been able to get Jeremy to hear her after days and days of her crying and begging for him to hear her, just once, and to find that it had worked because he'd been dreaming about her...it all seemed so impossible. It was impossible, the idea of him and her being together again: he had a girlfriend, she was a ghost. What kind of future could possibly come from that? Still, it didn't stop her from seeking him out whenever she could, stealing his time like her life had been stolen from her.

"Anna, where are you?" Jeremy called out the to empty dining room -one of many, Anna knew- in the Lockwood mansion. "We don't have much time."

"We have all the time in the world," she joked, watching as he spun around to face her, features impossibly contrite.

He apologized earnestly, "I'm sorry, about before. I got kinda distracted."

"It's fine, I get it," Anna replied easily. And maybe she was a masochist, or maybe because she knew how she'd feel if their roles were reversed, but she had to ask him, "Why haven't you told her?"

Her being Bonnie, of course.

"Well, she's been gone all summer," Jeremy defended weakly, but it fell flat and lifeless to both their ears.

Anna huffed exasperatedly. "I know that. Now, why haven't you told her really?" she interrogated him bluntly.

Jeremy evaded the question masterfully, "I don't even know how any of this is possible."

Fine: she could play the ling game. She'd get it out of him eventually. "It's kind of a push and pull," Anna explained slowly, since most of what she was telling was pure speculation on her part, based more on gut feeling than anything particularly concrete. "I'm pushing from the Other Side, trying to contact you. And sometimes, like just now, when you pull..." Anna trailed of with a self-explanatory shrug.

"Wait, the Other Side? Is that what it's called?" asked Jeremy, the softest hint of excitement creeping into his voice. Once a nerd, always a nerd, Anna mused fondly.

"It's what I call it. I'm all by myself here. It's like I'm a part of your world, only no one can see me cause I'm on the Other Side?"

"And what about Vicki?"

Of course, Jeremy wouldn't be Jeremy if he didn't ask about Vicki Donovan.

"Whenever you say you've seen her, I feel something," Anna confessed, unsure how he would react to this particular revelation. "A darkness. I've tried to tell you about it, and then something crazy happens, like she's trying to push me out."

Jeremy listened to her explanation intently, but in her heart Anna knew he wasn't entirely convinced, especially since his reply was only a confused, "Weird." Maybe he just didn't want to believe that someone he loved was capable of something like that, or maybe he was trying to hold on to the Vicki he remembered, the one he'd given a chance to, believed in, like so few had, Anna couldn't say for sure.

"Just be careful," the former vampire, now ghost, warned him seriously. "Try not to let her in." Which, in all fairness, was kinda hypocritical, but what did she care? She was dead, and like she'd said, all alone on the Other Side: Jeremy was all she had to cling on to. "She can't get through if you're not open to it."

Reaching towards him, she felt her coldness seeping into him, yet it didn't stop her from telling him, "You don't understand how amazing it is to be able to talk to you. I'm all by myself here, I don't have anyone."

Ever so slightly, she let her hand brush against his, fingers tracing over his Gilbert ring lightly. But he wasn't hers to touch, and she shouldn't forget that. Instantly, she pulled away,murmuring sadly, "I'm sorry. I know you can't feel anything."

"Do it again," he urged her, and so she did, letting his hand entwine with hers midair, two halves searching, yet never feeling whole.


"There you are."

Ducking out on Rebekah and Klaus had been surprisingly easy. His whole Ripper tradition of writing his victims' name on his walk had been the perfect cover he needed to return back to Gloria's, where the witch it was named after was looking none too surprised at his sudden appearance, sans Mikaelsons.

"I thought you were resting," Stefan commented cordially, but Gloria just shrugged and pinned him with her heavy stare.

"Well, now we both have a secret," was her dubious reply. Okay then, straight to business.

"What did you see?"

"It's what I heard that's interesting," Gloria corrected him, dark eyes alight with an age-old cunning. "You know, the girls with the necklace, they were taking about you."

Stefan had suspected as much, had known that something, somehow, was going to trip him up or tip Klaus off. He'd been a fool to think he could stall them forever.

"And yet you haven't told Klaus," he pointed out interestedly. "Why?"

"Because I wouldn't help that hybrid with anything," Gloria spat disgustedly, which Stefan took as reason enough. Klaus really wasn't very good at endearing himself to people; he was proof of that. "The necklace is a talisman from the Original Witch herself" the witch continued, something sharp and greedy resonating in her voice. "I want it."

"Well, sorry," I can't help you, Stefan snarked disinterestedly, ready to call this whole thing a day and maybe just go back to his apartment and stay there forever when Gloria threatened him, "Don't be difficult. I'd hate to tell Klaus what a liar his sidekick is."

God, did Stefan hate being blackmailed. This was why he'd always been such a loner, why he didn't make friends and share secrets: secrets were weapons, and would only ever be turned against you in the end.

It was why it had been so wonderful to have Elena, who he'd trusted more than anyone. It was her on his mind when Gloria raised her hand and began to burst the blood vessels in his brain, bringing the vampire almost to his knees.

The witch let out a sigh of resignation. "Guess I gotta get it outta you the hard way, huh?

Stefan awoke to a blinding headache, suddenly stripped of his shirt and tied to a table, none if which was a good sign, especially when there was a witch involved. Like anyone held captive against their will be a powerful witch who could hurt the one thing he loved most in this world, he tried to struggled, only to find his whole body was a slab of immovable muscle.

"What is this?" the vampire ground out through clenched teeth, jaw ticking in rage. "Why can't I move?"

"Relax, it's just a little paralysis spell, nothing major," Gloria informed as her small frame came into view, a knife clutched languidly in her hand. Stefan wasn't stupid: he knew what it was for, and he couldn't even fight her off when Gloria sliced into his flesh, a cut on each arm, as he was forced to hear the dripping of his own blood for endless seconds.

Drip, drip, drip.

"Just gotta get that information out of your pretty little head."

NO! His heart, his head, his body screamed the word, every instinct urging him to resist whatever Gloria was about to do to her. Not Elena, he cried out silently, please, not her. Hasn't she been through enough? I've hurt her so much already, please don't let me be the reason she gets hurt again, or worse.

Elena, with her sunshine smile and her generous heart and her will of iron and her miles of kindness and her grace for forgiveness that could rival any saint. Please, please, please, not her.

Gloria was talking, but he was only half listening, too much of himself wrapped up in thoughts of the love of his life. "You know, witches these days are into all that New Age stuff; I'm a little more old-school voodoo. Now to stop that pesky healing."

She did something, Stefan couldn't see what, but he felt the flesh of his arms being forced apart, the skin unable to fuse back together, agony racing through his veins, but it was secondary, would always be secondary, not when he was the only thing standing between Elena being alive and Klaus hunting her down and killing her.

"I won't tell you anything," he swore, but Gloria was unmoved by his words.

"You don't have to. Hear that?" She paused for effect. "That's your essence, your spirit. It allows me to make a connection. Herbs help too." The witch began listing off names of herbs, but his mind was blank, trying to ready him for whatever was going to come, because it was going to be bad, there was no doubt about it.

He did, however, hear the last word, right before she slammed her hands in his bare chest and the world erupted in fire: "Vervain."


Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Got a long one for you. I was originally going to leave it at the scene with Anna, then I figured I'd just stick the Stefan and Gloria bit in anyway since it ties into the whole necklace thing. Yes, to anyone wondering, Katherine's "dear, dear Lord" line was taken from Enola Holmes 2. Did I really take a romantic line Enola says and flip it into a sarcastic remark from Katherine Pierce? Yes. Am I ashamed? Not at all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, everything's starting to come together, I promise. Reviews are always welcome!

All my love, Temperance Cain.