Mystic Falls Hospital
November 2, 2010

Bill Forbes was tired, but after talking to the Pastor for what felt like hours, he was completely drained from the encounter. He needed to find his phone and either call Tyler or contact his daughter. The disturbing line of questions the priest had peppered him with were alarming. Not that he could contact anyone, anyway. He didn't much care for the older of the Salvatores but Stefan had helped his daughter manage her transition, so with that in mind he decided he needed to warn them that the Founder's Council was going to be enacting their contingency plans the late Grayson Gilbert completed just prior to the accident that claimed him and his lovely wife Miranda.

His thoughts were muddled from whatever injection they'd given him to sleep. Regardless of his intent to warn his daughter and friends, he found himself drifting off to sleep fairly quickly after Pastor Young took his leave, but now he had the oddest sensation that he was being watched. He knew there was a deputy in the room with him, but the man had been instructed to leave him alone.

Cracking an eyelid partially open the first thing he noticed was something he hadn't expected. He frowned when he finally recognized the blonde hair.

"C… Caroline?" he croaked feeling rather annoyed that his throat was dry suddenly. How had she gotten past the two deputies?

"Hi, Daddy!"

"What are you doing here at this hour, sweetheart?" he asked, trying to shake the fogginess from his mind, but it was a struggle for him to think straight. It was an act of sheer will he even asked his daughter a coherent question. Whatever they'd given him was still having some effect with him. How long had he been asleep then?

"I came as soon as I got Mom's message. Are you okay? You do seem kinda out of it."

"Drugs," he managed. It was still dark, but he was able to discern that there were others in the room. He was just about to ask who they were and how did she get past the deputy when a familiar voice of one of her daughter's childhood friends interrupted his attempt to speak.

"I might be able to help with that. If it is okay with both of you?" Elena said and her statement made him frown. He knew that her dad was once a doctor but she didn't have any formal training, or did she? Had Grayson taught her how to administer the proper counter agent? But how would she even know what they'd given him?

"Thanks- but I don't- know what they gave me- and while I appreciate the offer-" Bill coughed dryly into his shoulder. "You don't have the proper training to be a doctor."

He felt a small degree of satisfaction that he could form yet another sentence, but his throat was so dry. It was part of the reason he truly hated medicine; the annoying side effects. Chances were that they also injected him with vervain just to be sure he wasn't one of the undead.

"That won't be a problem, mister Forbes, but I still would like your permission. I promise it won't hurt you otherwise," Elena said. He was still not able to see her clearly. The lighting was poor in his room.

"I don't-"

"Daddy, I think she can help."

He wanted to argue, but he also knew he didn't enjoy feeling this way, so with a still reluctant and skeptical node he watched as Caroline made room for her friend to sit on the edge of his bed. As her shape resolved itself into something he could more easily discern with the given lighting, he frowned when he took in her overall appearance. No doubt it was Elena Gilbert- he would recognize those brown compassionate eyes anywhere- but everything else was different. Her hair was long and braided, and while she looked the same, she looked almost older. There must have been something in his expression because her next statement would have sent his head into a tailspin if not for his own experiences being a vampire hunter.

"It's me, mister Forbes, Elena, just not Gilbert anymore. Actually, it's Mikaelson now and to make a long story short, it was by a quirk of time travel. I'm an Original Vampire and I'm technically over a thousand years old give or take a decade. I mean no harm. I'm here for Caroline because she is my best friend despite my changes," Elena said carefully. Other than his eyebrows shooting up into his forehead he really didn't have any discernible reaction to her declaration.

"You seem to be taking this fairly well Caroline outright smacked me in the arm when I told her. Owww! Was that really necessary?" Elena complained, rubbing her shoulder.

"Yes it was."

"Girls please… I- enough drama- recently. Elena- I've come to expect this- from growing up in- Mystic Falls. But you- still haven't answered my question- how are you going to negate- this drug."

Elena smiled down at him, holding up an empty hand. "Turns out I am a witch or technically a sorceress as well, being a Original Vampire."

"You're a hybrid like Klaus?" He asked stunned.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I would like your permission to help you."

"Okay," Bill coughed. Elena out of respect for Caroline glanced over at her friend who only bobbed her head in silent consent. Bill watched sluggishly as she moved closer to him. He felt so tired he just wanted to go back to sleep, but he needed to warn his daughter and her friends about the threat to them all.

"purgandum hoc medicamento auferet," Elena chanted after placing her open palms on either side of his temples. She had to repeat the Latin incantation several more times before he started to feel anything.

"Whoa! What was that?" Bill asked, sitting up after Elena withdrew enough for him to sit up. The best he could describe the feeling was that it was as if he had drank a full pot of very black coffee in one go.

"Sorry it took longer than I expected it would to flush all of it from your system. If I had to guess, it was a rather potent fast acting sedative, but it was also laced with vervain. Did someone here think you were a vampire?" Elena asked concerned. Caroline's eyes shifted from her friend back to him, as if pleading for one of them to say something.

"I suspected they put vervain in it, but don't worry Caroline, if I had reacted to it they would have staked me for sure," Bill tried to calm his daughter, but the level expression was too much like her mothers.

"What would have even given them cause to suspect anything? I mean it could've been because of Tyler, but why? I thought he brought you here? That was what mom said," Caroline speculated and by her rising voice she was going to draw the attention of someone. Bill frowned when something finally registered. There were four people in his hospital room, not just the three of them. He looked around before finally spotting the Deputy sitting in the chair looking at his phone. At first everything looked normal but even from his bed he didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings. It was almost as if he was compelled, a tiny voice in the back of his head was cautioning him he shouldn't jump to any conclusions but try as he might he couldn't suss out the reasoning for it.

"Care and I guess you as well Elena, did either of you compel the deputy or something?" he asked, not in an accusatory manner, but Caroline reacted just as he worried she would. It was one of the things he didn't like about his daughter becoming a vampire, that a person's qualities and traits could become polarized. Not just a heightened level of emotions.

"Daddy I didn't compel anyone… Well I did with the receptionist at the front desk and I would've done the same to any of the deputies we'd encounter but Lena said- Hold on a minute. Lena, didn't you say you could sense vervain?"

"I did… But I think I might understand what might be a simple miscommunication for which I apologize. It didn't occur to me to fully explain" Elena would have laughed at the dumbfounded look Caroline's dad was giving her right at the moment, but she decided just to let it pass. For Caroline, this experience was so new it might have slipped her mind to think otherwise. Not that Elena could blame her. When she first started to Astral Project herself it had been by accident and it had taken time for her to realize what she had done.

"Actually, in reality, neither Caroline nor I are physically present in your room. We are here in astral form and when we contacted you we, well- in layman's terms we pulled you into the Astral Plane with us. You're still actually asleep."

Instead of answering her directly he took the opportunity to take in his room. It didn't seem any different from before, except for his daughter and her friend. He was still trying to process everything Elena had just told him but for the most part he, for now, decided to accept her explanation. His brows knitted together when he noticed that the deputy was no longer looking down at his phone but instead was looking right at him, but almost seemed to be staring right through him.

"Elena, did he just move?" Caroline asked. Although he didn't show it most of the time, he was rather proud of his daughter, she must have noticed the same thing he had.

"He did, but I wanted to give you enough time to talk to your dad, so I tweaked the spell I used to project us here. Time is moving much faster for us as compared to the real world. I can only hold this state like it is now for so long. Please don't rush but time is a factor," Elena breathed and it took Bill and Caroline another minute to recognize that Elena's features were drawn like she was under a great strain. Noting her growing discomfort Bill explained to his daughter the encounter he had with Pastor Young and his intentions of activating the founders council contingency plans Elena's father had created years ago.

After promising her father that she'd be careful, both she and Elena returned to the hospital room as their earthly bodies waited for them.

"Lena, this has been one of the weirdest experiences in my short eighteen year life, but right now this takes the prize. I never once thought I would be looking down on my body like I am apparition or ghost something."

Elena had been standing patiently next to her friend all the while eager to return to her family and hopefully get her children and Tatia back without too much bloodshed. Her brother Klaus would burn the world down to get her back Elena could only hope that Damon didn't say or do anything stupid.

"Trust me it took me quite awhile to get used to seeing my own body like this. The first time it occurred was a rather disconcerting experience. As much as I want to explain more, I would like-" Elena stopped when her friend hugged her before whispering in Elena's ear.

"Say no more I understand and thank you for giving me a chance to talk to my dad without anyone interrupting us."

Caroline pulled back, giving her friend a wan smile before turning her attention back to their earthly bodies.

"So… How do we get back? I mean it's odd enough to see us laying together as it is. Do we, like, I don't know, climb into ourselves? Don't you dare start laughing. I'm being serious!" Caroline huffed.

Struggling to contain her laughter from bursting forth, Elena held her stomach with one hand while covering her mouth with the other.

"Elena Gil- I mean Elena Mikaelson I mean it!" Caroline hissed. It took a Herculean effort to reign in her emotions, but eventually Elena calmed herself down enough to only chuckle at her friend. Holding her hands up to forestall an epic Caroline Forbes meltdown, Elena started to explain.

"Sorry I'm not really laughing at you I… Well let's just say when I was trying to figure out how to return to my physical body… I might have tried what you suggested. Oh… So it's alright if you laugh at me now?" Elena asked, but with no trace of righteous indignation her friend had earlier.

"Okay, Okay but we are going to talk about this at a later date. Would you care to share how we do it then?" Caroline asked when she finally settled down.

"It's easier than you think. Just touch yourself and clear your thoughts; by doing so you will reintegrate your astral form with your body. Okay, I will let you go first and I'll follow you. Just be aware time is moving in the real world, just not as fast as it is here so there might be a feeling of dissociation. It will pass."

With a reassuring nod to her friend Elena watched as Caroline did as she was instructed and exhaled a sigh of relief when her astral form suddenly vanished. Taking this as her queue to follow, Elena touched her still form, clearing her mind. Perhaps because she had done this for centuries her period of dissociation was far shorter, but Elena knew instantly that when she was back that they were not alone.

"Would you girls care to explain why you're in this room?" Doctor Meredith Fell asked. Caroline's body was tense but Elena, still holding her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze for support and rolled onto her side and sat up to face the music.

"We meant no-" Elena started. But the Doctor cut her off before looking over her shoulder. Elena could have told her that no one was coming but didn't want to give herself away unnecessary. The Doctor's next statement surprised her and considering she was a thousand year old Original Vampire it took an awful lot to surprise her nowadays.

"No time… look I can distract Pastor Young's posse of deputies but you both need to get out of here and warn your vampire friends that trouble is coming."


This time it was Caroline driving her Fiesta. Elena didn't want to regardless of her friend's willingness to consent to her urgency to reach the boarding house. Hopefully without any bloodshed from either group. At some point they would have to deal with what Caroline's father had shared with them as well as what Doctor Meredith Fell had just before creating a diversion to get them safely out of the building.

"Elena… Don't be angry. We were only trying to protect ourselves," Caroline started. She'd been quiet ever since they pulled out of the Hospital parking lot. To Elena's enhanced vampire senses, her friend's increased heart rate only confirmed that her friend was worried about something. She just didn't know at the time what it might have been about.

"I know that you want to see your children, but there might be a slight wrinkle with you getting the chance to see them," Caroline continued only glancing at her friend, however brief, before focusing on the road.

"Caroline, what did you lot do?" Elena asked carefully and for the first time Caroline felt a degree of trepidation she normally never experienced from her childhood friend. Nor did she miss hearing how Elena had addressed her and their friends. Were they even still friends, Caroline was almost to ask.

"Sorry Care… I didn't mean to say it like that. But tell me, what is this supposed 'wrinkle' about me not getting the chance to see them?" Elena apologized.

Caroline's body tension eased. She didn't want to be the one to tell her friend what they had done, but she didn't see that it was even an option not to tell her so she made a point to stress the particular detail that the vampires who had each given Bonnie a sample of their blood were the only ones who could come and go while the humans residing inside the boarding house couldn't even if they wanted to.

"So you're telling me that Bonnie created a boundary spell around the entire Salvatore Boarding House and no vampire not previously included during its casting will be permitted entry?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have to give credit to Bonnie. From your description she sure does know how to craft an impressive sounding spell, and I'll freely admit that making it so none of the humans can leave was a clever idea too. It regrettably upsets my initial plan of simply having you just bring them out when Damon and Stefan were asleep."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that too, but I can see the logic for that. What would've happened if Klaus had managed to capture one of us or even an innocent human to use as his pawn? No offense, but your brother-in-law has a reputation of being a tad ruthless," Caroline said, giving Elena a guarded grin. She still wasn't sure how her old friend would react in light of her most recent admissions about her connection to the Original Family.

"None taken, Care. Just be glad you weren't around when Katerina escaped his clutches the first time. He is going to be so pissed at me when he finds out I helped her get away," Elena answered. Almost immediately she realized that she should have perhaps not revealed that particular detail when the car came to a tire squealing halt. Luckily for them it was still way too early in the morning for traffic to be an issue.

"Um… Care, we are in the middle of the road."

"Oh… No, you're not ducking out on this question with me, you being a badass Original Vampire or not. What the hell do you mean you helped her get away and why, of all people on this planet, her? She killed me, remember?" Caroline demanded, ignoring her friend's attempt to get them moving again.

"The why for now is a complicated story and we just don't have time for it, but I will explain how I managed it and before you ask, Katherine turning herself into a vampire was entirely her doing. I had no part in that. Like it or not my ancestor is a pure survivalist. Even she would make Bear Grylls or Les Stroud look like armatures."

"Sorry, who?" Caroline asked, looking somewhat confused. Wanting to groan inwardly, she almost regretted bringing the matter up. She only knew the two survivalist names from when Damon was trying to distract her from looking for Stefan after they set off on her future brother-in-law's quest to create his hybrid army. Yet another matter she was going to have to address, but fortunately not right then.

"Nobody important, just some TV Shows Damon was trying to distract me with a while ago," Elena said dismissively. The odd expression from her friend made her suddenly feel rather self concisions. "What? Did I say something stupid?"

Caroline regarded her for what felt like an eternity before shaking her head in sad resignation. "No, Lena you didn't. I keep having to remind myself that for all intents and purposes you are more than a thousand years old, notwithstanding your birthday being in the twenty century. Don't think I haven't forgotten what we're talking about either. Now tell me what did you do to help Katerina aka Katherine Pierce run from mister big bad wannabe hybrid?"

"Only if you start driving Care," Elena was just as stubborn as her friend. She didn't start explaining until they were once again on their way to the boarding house.

"It all started in England when a vampire named Trevor brought her to Lord Niklaus' birthday party as a gift he had long sought after from almost the very moment Esther, my mother-in-law, placed the curse that bound his werewolf side."

England:
March 25, 1492

Elena wished she could be physically present to wish her brother a happy birthday. After all, how often did someone reach their five hundred and tenth birthday? Having nothing else to do, she once again looked down at herself. She'd initially been rather pleased with what she'd crafted for herself for the auspicious occasion, but after seeing some of the noble ladies attire she was starting to doubt her selection.

It had become a means of keeping her sanity and in her fashion being an unseen participant in her family's lives was better than nothing. It was strange to believe that she was in Astral Form with her family while her actual body was still in what would become Mystic Falls. It had taken her almost a decade and a half to master the finer points of projecting herself around the world, since awareness had returned rather suddenly a little over eighteen years ago. It helped that although her family didn't remember her, she remembered them and with a little help from a few willing witches from the other side she eventually mastered the necessary magical skills. Although it still took a lot of energy to stay with them almost by sheer accident, she discovered that she could talk to her brother-in-law but even in his daggered state his memories were altered so he didn't recognize her. To him she was a ghost that was helping him pass the time. She had a spell she was working on that would put him into a deeper sleep to help but the spell work was, for now, a little challenging.

Other than talking with Finn, Elena Mikaelson was feeling quite alone. She had to content herself by standing near her husband although they couldn't interact. She wanted to be there with him at least in spirit. In the time she was visiting her family in such a manner she had grudgingly grown used to them walking away from her, so it didn't surprise her when her husband started towards a man and woman who only just arrived at the party. Elena froze the instant her sight wasn't blocked by a quest, she unfortunately was already well acquainted with the two newest guests to Nik's Birthday Celebration. The vampire in question was making his way towards Elijah, leaving his date behind talking with two other guests.

"Ah, good evening, Trevor. I am pleased you could join us," Elijah smiled at the eager vampire. Memories of Elijah beheading him in her own time had once horrified her, but now her reaction had mellowed after everything that had transpired in her former human life.

"I could not miss the birthday celebration," Trevor beamed and even Elena felt a need to behead the hapless man. It bothered her how many vampires fawned over her family.

"No, considering the gift you claim to bear. Where is this mystery girl of which you speak?" Elena eyed her husband, wishing she had been present for that particular conversation; but she'd been recovering from her last visit. Granted she was getting stronger with each passing time she projected herself it was still rather a laborious endeavor even for her.

"Right this way," Trevor preened, holding a hand to show the way. Elijah's expression didn't change until they approached a very recognizable brunette woman, even with her back turned to them. Elena studied her Doppelgänger's dress and wondered what sort of fortune she had spent on it.

"My dear. This is one of the young noblemen I wished to introduce you to."

Hearing her escort's addressing of her, she quickly turned to face her date and, to Elena's own surprise, gave Elijah an authentic smile as a greeting. Elena quickly glanced at her husband for his reaction and her ears were greeted by a flush of blood as he took in every facet of her appearance, starting with her eyes. If it would have elicited an outcome, she would have stomped on his foot with her heel.

November 2, 2010
En route to Salvatore Boarding House:

"You're serious aren't you Elena? You were there when Katherine was literally presented as a gift for your brother-in-law on his frickin' birthday?" Caroline asked, slowing down for a red light ahead of them.

"Does that surprise you? At the time it was for me, but since then I believe there was a reason that I regained my awareness in that time period. I can't entirely be sure, but I believe that the exact date of my consciousness was June twenty second in the year fourteen seventy three."

"Okay… Wait, wouldn't that have been-"

"My birthday if I had been born in that year? Yes, it also coincided with the birth of the next Doppelgänger in that particular case one Katerina Petrova of Bulgaria. I'm not going to go into detail but Klaus's mother Esther had never intended for her son to remain cursed."

"I don't understand… If that was the case, then why did it take you to eventually break it?"

"As much as I want to tell you, there are things I need to tell my family first. Care, I'm sorry but I need to do this. I will tell you that Esther Mikaelson knew what she was doing, but she just made the wrong assumptions based on not having all the particular details."

Taking a turn a little harder than she intended, Elena held on as Caroline sat fuming in the driver seat for another mile before she relented just enough to promise that she would be the first one after telling her family; but Elena still wasn't exactly sure how she was going to bring the matter up to them. They were still adjusting to the fact that their memories had been altered for so long.

"So can you at least tell me how you helped Katherine get away?"

"It was hastily thought out, I can tell you that. I had only regained my strength to Astral Project myself again. My first stop had been to visit Trevor in his dreams."

"Dreams? Oh, you mean like what you did with my dad? What did you do with him?" Caroline asked. Elena smiled at her friend for making the connection. She would have to be a better friend. Everyone always treated the blonde vampire like she wasn't capable of understanding. Never mind that Caroline had straight A's and a four point GPA.

"Well in light of the fact that Katherine has a habit of pretending to be me, I sort of pretended to be a dream version of her in his dreams and I compelled him to first retrieve the moonstone then help save Katerina by any means necessary."

"You didn't?"

"I did, and before you ask while Trevor was busy collecting the moonstone. I was paying a visit to Katherine in her dreams pretending to be her inner voice of reason," Elena smiled at the memory of the visit.

England:
April 6, 1492:
Six Days till the Full Moon:

Elena looked down at herself, mentally altering her appearance to appear as Katherine Pierce as possible minus the twenty-first century accouterments of their style of clothing. What she had to warn her Doppelgänger about would only be more confusing is she appeared wearing trousers. Although before, she admired how the black jeans looked on her before changing into a more period relatable dress. The only way this was going to work was with her dredging up her memories of Katherine. If she could channel those seldom visited memories of her once nemesis it would make her next task all the easier.

Taking a deep breath, not that she really needed to do that with her current form, Elena was just happy that her husband was busy making preparations for their trip to Bulgaria and how to take the werewolf Nik had found for the sacrifice with them. From what she had gathered, Klaus was busy that night in another county stalking the werewolf, learning his habits to better capture him intact.

Knowing she didn't have much time, she peered down at her would-be ancestor. For as long as Elena had known her, the girl before her was hard to believe was the same person she'd grown to hate. Katerina didn't become Katherine until finding her family slaughtered after making her escape. Elena sat down on the large bed and frowned when she noted the troubled expression on her sleeping ancestor. Did she already suspect something? Maybe she could take advantage of that, Elena considered as she readied herself.

Touching Katerina on her trouble brow her world faded before just as quickly appearing in the foyer to the main hall. She found Katerina looking around for something, or maybe someone Elena couldn't quite tell just yet. Taking some measure of control, she shifted the dreamscape to better accommodate the narrative she only just selected.

"Hello Katerina," her voice echoed off the walls of the otherwise empty foyer. Katerina jerked in fright, looking about her for the voice that had just spoken to her mere moments before. Adjusting the temperature in the dreamscape, Elena lowered it enough that Katerina could just start to see her breath with every exhale. Elena tried not to laugh as she watched her double backing away, frantically looking for the source of an eerily similar voice as Katerina's own.

"Who… Are you!"

"You already know who I am, Katerina. But are you really sure you wish to open that door there? You might not like what you find behind those closed doors. I shouldn't be surprised as you've been avoiding the obvious for days now," Elena sighed, hoping that she sounded like Katherine Pierce had the day they first met in the boarding house.

"What… What is in there and what am I avoiding?" Katerina stammered still looking for Elena, but she had already decided to keep herself hidden until the right moment.

"Oh come now, Katerina. You've been asking herself these questions ever since you were invited to stay in Lord Niklaus's home. How his lordship and his brother disappear at the oddest times. Or the one occasion you found blood on Lord Niklaus's clothing that day in the gardens."

"He had been in a brawl in a nearby town," Katherine said defensively. She reached out to open the door but pulled her hand back as if the door had reached out and bitten her.

"How many lords have you heard that get into a fight with no mention of it in the town the day afterwards?" Elena pointed out, walking behind Katerina. "Open the door and find out if you're curious."

As expected, Katerina twisted in alarm, looking for Elena but only finding the chill air.

"You've been asking why do you not see any of the other house guests during the day. And if you happen to stumble upon any of them why do you think they stayed in such darkened rooms rebuffing every offer to open the heavy blinds? Why do you think that might be?"

"It can't be true!" Katerina declared still in denial. Elena felt guilty, but she needed to get Katerina moving away from the castle.

"Open the door then see the truth!"

Elena watched as Katerina held herself stiffly and pushed the door open as hard as she could. The doors swung open with a resounding bang. The resulting scream that assaulted her ears was worth it, but she just wished that Katerina would stop screaming. It might have been a tad overkill but Elena had thought that the glamour of various bloody bodies strewn about the room might suffice. The most horrific scene was the apparition of Klaus standing in the middle of the room draining a woman that almost looked exactly like a Petrova Doppelgänger.

Katerina somehow had enough semblance of sense to slam the doors shut before sprinting for the safety of her room.

"You can run Katerina, but soon enough it will be your turn! Come next full moon you'll be just like her!" Elena's Klaus apparition shouted through the closed door. As Elena followed her counterpart, she absently knew that the sacrifice wouldn't happen on the next full moon, but Katerina didn't need to know that. Now was the next phase of her plan.

Katerina Petrova slammed her bedroom chambers and spun on her heels only to scream, finding Elena in her Katherine Visage waiting for her.

"Who… Who are you?" Katherine pressed herself into the closed door.

"Calm yourself Katerina, who do I look like?" Elena pushed as much compulsion into her voice to help keep Katerina from waking too soon.

"Me…?"

"Yes and no, Katerina. But to save time let's say I'm the part of you that has always survived despite being exiled from our home for having a child out of wedlock. You need to listen to me. If you want to survive you'll need to run tonight. Klaus wishes to sacrifice you as the Petrova Doppelgänger along with a vampire and a werewolf to break something called the Sun and the Moon Curse."

"A Petrova Doppelgänger? Werewolves?" Katerina asked, still uneasy but listening intently to who she assumed was her subconscious.

"Doppelgänger's are supernatural entities; our blood is a highly sought after magical ingredient within the supernatural world. We occur every five hundred years. Klaus has a magical rock called the moonstone that some of your blood will be bled upon," Elena explained.

"How… How do you know so much compared to me?" Katerina demanded. Elena gave Katerina the same smirk she had when she had been explaining the Sun and the Moon curse while trapped in the tomb under the ruins of Fell's Church.

"We don't have time for that Katerina, but you do have the Petrova Fire. You will figure it out. Listen, you need to flee. Take nothing but the clothes on your back. With one last piece of advice: as much as you dislike using others, if you need to, use whoever it takes to survive. Don't hesitate. Unless you want to die, do you?"

"NO!"

"Good, now do ourselves a favor and wake up."

"What?"

"WAKE UP KATERINA!"

November 2, 2010
En route to Salvatore Boarding House:

"And when Katherine woke up just as I had compelled her… Why are you looking at me like that?" Elena asked. Not hiding the obviousness of how given the fact that even as just over a thousand year immortal she could still be intimidated by one of her closest friends with a mere look.

"Caroline? You look worried about something. What is it?"

"I'm worried that you're not the same Elena I grew up with," Caroline finally answered, looking away and not willing to meet those brown eyes of her childhood friend. To cover her discomfort, she by all appearances suddenly found the stone setting in her daylight ring more appealing to preoccupy her time with.

"I'm not, but that's not a bad thing," Elena answered. She had a growing feeling that their conversation would be heading in this general direction. All she really wanted to do was to get to her family and children, but Elijah was there and she trusted him to do what was needed.

Caroline's head snapped up and her gaze quickly sought her friend's concerned expression.

"Is it? You're married to Elijah. No less, the man that killed you and Aunt Jenna is your freaking brother-in-law, and don't get me started about Rebekah. She's been a thorn in my side ever since her arrival in our town. It bothers me that for all intents and purposes one of my best friends died over a thousand years ago alone," Caroline's voice quivered with too much pent up emotion. She thought that she could handle it, but was really starting to doubt her ability to remain calm.

"Care, I know it might be hard to understand but I did live a good normal human life for three amazing years. Back then our biggest concerns were did we harvest enough food for the winter seasons? Yeah, going to the caves for shelter every full moon was annoying, but it was something we just had to deal with. Look I know what Nik is like now, but you have to believe me he was a completely different person before Mikael thrust his sword into each of our hearts and turning us into what we are today."

"He… He killed you with a sword?!" Caroline gasped. Elena reflexively rubbed the final scar that marked the end of her human life.

"That he did Care… Hurt like a sonofabitch too. Come on, I want to get to the boarding house before anything bad happens. This is not how I ever envisioned my family reunion would turn out," Elena sighed as Caroline restarted the car and pulled back onto the road.


Salvatore Boarding House
November 2, 2010

He didn't remember drifting off in the most uncomfortable chair in human history, but whatever the case he inadvertently woke himself when he almost tumbled forward onto his face if he hadn't caught himself in time. Expecting to find his sister wide awake, he was somewhat surprised to find her still fast asleep. Listening for the others, he frowned when he couldn't hear anyone moving around outside of the room.

"Jer, if you're going to leave, maybe you should remove your shoes first," Anna suggested. Still recovering from being half asleep, he struggled with removing his shoes one at a time. Shoe free Jeremy moved as softly as he could. He inched his way towards the door. Every time the floorboards creaked under his foot he froze mid-step with a furtive glance back where Elena was thankfully still asleep.

It felt like it was taking forever even though it was not even a full minute, and eventually he closed the door before heading off in search of his friends. Once on the main floor, he was passing through the study his sister loved to sit in and read. Maybe it would help her to remember if they brought her into a more familiar setting, he wondered.

"Hey Jeremy, where is everyone? I mean I went up upstairs after being with mom just to grab a snack and a soda but couldn't find anyone," Jamie asked, startling Jeremy.

"Damn it Jamie, you could've warned me before sneaking up on me!" Jeremy retorted as he regained control of his breathing.

"You'd think by now you would have gotten used to people sneaking up on you?" Anna said in a matter of fact tone that he normally enjoyed when they were sharing a private joke. Right now wasn't the best time.

"Please, not now," he whispered. But the confused look from his new friend only meant he hadn't been as quiet or subtle as he had hoped.

"Not now, what?" Jamie asked.

"Uh… Just thinking out loud about wherever everyone has disappeared to. Did you check outside maybe?" Jeremy asked while covering the fact that he was talking to the ghost of his former vampire girlfriend. If Bonnie heard about that, it would sour their friendship that was only now starting to mend.

Thankfully, Jamie was as curious about learning where everyone else had ended up as well, and only after checking on his mom did they finally head outside. Almost immediately, they found where their friends had taken off to. The problem was they were not alone.

Jeremy's blood boiled seeing the very immortal that had caused so much harm to his family. It still bothered him that he had actually started to consider the merits of Klaus's proposal. Quickly pushing those troubling thoughts aside he set off with Jamie a few paces behind him. As much as he disliked the Original Hybrid, Jeremy's attention was solely locked on the Original who ultimately betrayed them. Elijah. Jeremy had hidden his reaction when he first learned that Damon had first a meeting then a sit down dinner with the man Elena had once described as honorable. Well, he'd be damned if he was going to let his sister anywhere near the ancient vampire. Especially in her current state, he fumed inwardly.

"What the hell do you want?" He said it to the gathered Original family but his eyes were locked on Elijah; although he had noticed a younger version of the vampire that had an amused smirk plastered on his forever youthful face.

"Hello mister Gilbert," Elijah said once Jeremy and Jamie had joined their little gathering. He might have imagined it but something boarding on regret flashed behind those penetrating brown eyes; but that was impossible. The vampire had betrayed them, breaking his promise to Elena to keep everyone safe.

"Was it you, Damon, that pulled the dagger from his chest? Between you and me, I think you should have just left the damn thing buried in his chest," Jeremy asked, switching his gaze to the other vampire that obsessed over his sister.

"Wasn't me, Little Gilbert. You can apparently blame Katherine for that," Damon drawled, earning him a look from everyone present. "What? I had nothing to do with it, I swear."

"Enough of this I want my Ta… Doppelgänger back. Do that, my family and I will be on our way," Klaus cut in, moving as close to the barrier as he could and pressing his hands into the invisible wall as if he were testing its strength to keep them out.

"Niklaus," Elijah voice admonished his brother, Jeremy couldn't fully decipher the non verbal communication the two brothers were having, but regardless he could plainly see that the older brother looked rather annoyed with his younger sibling.

"You're not getting past my barrier, Klaus. None of you are," Bonnie declared. As if to taunt the Original Hybrid, Bonnie moved to stand in what should have been arms reach of Klaus. Instead, Klaus could only glare menacingly at the Bennett witch. Jeremy and everyone on their side of the barrier were the first to notice the headlights of the approaching vehicle. Jeremy felt his stomach clench when he recognized the make of the vehicle.

He opened his mouth to warn them to leave, but it was already too late. First the driver's door opened quickly followed by the passenger side.

"Caroline run!" Bonnie yelled.

They could all see that Caroline looked nervous, but it was her passenger she continued to switch her attention to before returning it to her friends, who other than her were still safe. There wasn't enough lighting to see who she was but Jeremy could see that whoever she was looked familiar- too familiar. Why would Caroline offer Katherine Pierce a ride, Jeremy was asking himself. Yet it didn't feel like that as he took in more of her appearance. Whoever she was, she appeared to be older than either Katherine or his sister. But did this mean there was a third Doppelgänger? Jeremy was confused. His confusion, and probably for his friends, only increased when Rebekah grinned smugly at the newcomer.

"We were wondering when you'd finally get here, sister. I don't think your husband is too pleased with me, however. I revealed your connection to us, Ella," Rebekah beamed.

"Bekah… This is going to be difficult enough for me," she sighed.

There was just something about her that was too familiar for his peace of mind. Jeremy reached the very edge of the barrier, his eyes intently following the new Doppelgänger as she approached the vampires on the other side. Caroline walked with the woman keeping her between the others but she made no further movement to cross the salt line.

"Caroline, come on, you'll be safe-" Jeremy started, but cut himself off when his sister's friend gave him a look that was hard to decipher. He was about to continue when his sister's Doppelgänger addressed him specifically.

"Hello Jeremy, it's been a long time."