A/N: So this is the continuation to the story 'Love'. Any new readers should probably check that out first before getting into this story. Please review!

Disclaimer: parts of this story and lines are owned by Vampire Diaries/CW.


The one thing Rebekah hated more than clean-up duty, was clean-up duty after a party which she didn't attend.

"You're late," Rebekah barked when Caroline came strolling into the school cafeteria.

"Where's Matt?" Caroline asked, ignoring the elder blonde's snark.

"He bailed. Got called into work at the last minute."

"Are you kidding me? So, it's just us?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes, keeping her back to the child. Grabbing a few more bits of trash, she went to wipe her hands. "Yes, and you're late. Clean-up committee started at 8:00."

Caroline glanced down at her phone. "It's like 8:02."

Rebekah held herself back from snapping the baby vampire's neck. Settling on giving her a glare, she turned to face Caroline. "Exactly. I managed to turn up on time and I didn't get to attend the dance that I organized."

Then walking away, Rebekah resumed cleaning up trash from around the room. Dumping her bin into the large street size container, she sighed. It would have been really nice to finally attend a school dance she had planned.

"I'm sorry about your mom," Caroline said coming over to her sympathetically. "I mean, I know you, like, hated her and everything. But still. I'm sorry."

It was a surprising to hear the 'I'm sorry' phrase from someone she least expected. Glancing to Caroline, Rebekah reciprocated the comfort. "Sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy."

"Yeah. He was," Caroline answered, looking as if she was trying not to tear up.

While Rebekah was all for the 'I'm sorry' and condolences Nik's love interest was handing out, she was not there for the tears. Rebekah was in no mood to deal with any crying girl unless it happened to be Elena, and even then, it would be a bit much, but at least she'd get the honor of being the confidant Elena decided to confide in. "I'm going to get started on the gym," Rebekah announced.

Leaving the room, Rebekah felt as though something was off. Whether it was her heightened vampire senses or the eerily empty school, something seemed different.

And then she came face to face with what it was. "You're supposed to be dead," she told a cold and callous looking Alaric Saltzman.

"I am," he replied in a dark tone.

Instinct to kill took over and she ran towards him at vampire speed, only to gasp when he maneuvered around her and threw her against a locker by her neck. Just as he was about to raise a dagger to her heart, Caroline rushed over and together they turned the tables, slamming him against the lockers and plunging the dagger he held in his hands straight into his chest. It felt relieving at first. But upon stepping back, they watched in horror as he slowly began to pull the weapon from his body.

And so, they ran.

If it hadn't been for Caroline saving her in the hall, Rebekah wouldn't have felt half as bad as she did when she watched from afar as Caroline's lifeless body was dragged back into the school. Even skin burning from the sun, Alaric Saltzman took his time hauling the blonde from the parking lot back inside the high school.

Once Alaric was out of sight, Rebekah kept a distance from the building and pulled out her phone. Dialing the familiar number, she waited until he picked up the line. "Nik, we have a problem."


Elena poured a dark green paint into the roller tray and glanced around the room. Late last night after Elijah had left, she woke, plagued by dreams of Finn and Esther. Not being able to fall asleep, she sought comfort by venturing into Jeremy's room to see if he was asleep. Wide awake as well, the two talked for hours before deciding to repaint Alaric's room.

"Going darker by the look of it" a familiar voice noted with his hands in his pockets from the doorway of the bedroom.

"It's the only color we had," Elena answered, turning to Elijah.

"That's what happens when you decide to paint your dead guardian's room in the middle of the night," Jeremy noted. Shaking his head, the Gilbert boy glanced to Elena and back to Elijah. It was as if to signal Elijah Elena was not handling things well.

"We have to keep moving," she told them both, putting more paint on the roller. "Otherwise we'll start thinking, and we don't want that."

That idea made Elijah frown. Looking around the room he figured they had at least a day worth of work left to go. "Care for some help?"

"Look man," Jeremy said to Elijah, setting his spackling stuff down. "We appreciate the offer and all, but if you really are this noble guy that Elena says you are, why don't you do us a favor and give us one day. Just one day without any vampires in it."

Elijah tried hard not to frown, but nodded in understanding at the young Gilbert's tone. Jeremy was angry and he had every right to be. It was Elijah's mother that had killed their guardian and put them in this position afterall. Once Jeremy stormed out of the room from the pointed look on his sister's face, Elena set down her own supplies. "He's having a hard time."

"And you're not?" Elijah wondered, stepping towards her. Elena hesitated to answer.

"We just need today. We need to be together and just…get through the day – without the drama and problems and…chaos this world brings."

While Elijah felt wounded for being wrapped in that, part of him understood. The supernatural world had taken a great deal from Elena without giving much back. He was surprised she was holding it together and could get up some days. He too, was a part of the world that took from her, and continued to do so.

"I'll make sure that my family and the Salvatores stay away from you both to give you some space. Do you need anything else before I leave?"

Elena sighed and wrapped her arms around him. She enjoyed feeling his embrace. It made all the hurt that was trying to gnaw its way to her heart lessen. "I'm sorry, we just-"

"-You have nothing to be sorry for, Elena. You need a day. It's okay," he said kissing the top of her head. It worried Elijah, on occasion, that maybe Elena would have enough of him and his family and all of their drama and enemies they created over the years and end their relationship. He wouldn't blame her if he would, but he certainly hoped he was worth it to stay.

"I think we're good here," Elena sighed, pulling back from him. Hearing the doorbell ring, she gave a soft smile. "That would be Matt with our groceries."

Elijah nodded and once again tried not to let jealousy and disappointment get to him. The high school boy had something he didn't – humanity, and unfortunately for him, it was exactly what she and Jeremy needed right now.

"Then I best be going. Call me tomorrow?"

Leaning in for a kiss, she lingered after they parted. Anxiety crept back in her chest at the thought of him leaving. Maybe Jeremy wrong. Maybe it wasn't all vampires they needed out from their lives right now, just a fair few.

If it weren't for the clutches Elena had on his shirt, Elijah would have left by now to respect her wishes. "You're sure you'll be okay?" he asked sensing her hesitancy. Raising a soft hand to her face, he pulled some hair back and tucked it behind her ear.

They listened as Jeremy answered the door, waving Matt inside and helping him with the groceries.

"Will you come by tonight, instead?" she asked Elijah in a small voice. While she would admit to no one, not even herself, that she wasn't fine, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hold it together until tomorrow. It felt like forever.

Elijah was elatedly surprised to hear Elena's question. He would do just about anything for her, even moreso now. While it was a simple question she was asking him, he knew to her, seemed like a great toll. "Of course, I will. I'll have my cell on me as well if you need me before that."

Kissing her softly once more, Elijah held her close before pulling back. He could hear Matt and Jeremy finish unloading the groceries, and he was sure the pair would come seeking Elena soon.

Walking down to the front door with Elena in tow, Elijah gave her hand once last squeeze. She kissed him once more, and he enjoyed the display of affection that she granted him, even knowing her brother and friend stood a few feet behind her.

Once the Gilbert door shut behind him, Elijah adjusted his coat and sped off, making sure to fulfill his promise of no vampire interruptions.


It was peaceful for a while. Matt had helped Jeremy with the spackle and then together the three of them finished painting. It wasn't until another ring of their doorbell that there was trouble.

Bonnie stood on their front porch, bleeding with two small puncture wounds in her neck. "We have a problem," she told the three of them as they let her inside.

"What do you mean he turned?" Matt asked as Elena brought over a kitchen towel for her neck wound.

"Jeremy, go get the first aid kit from under our bathroom sink," Elena instructed. Nodding, Jeremy rushed off.

"I thought Damon was supposed to be standing guard?" Matt said watching as Bonnie's wounds were attended to.

Bonnie tried to think it through but she couldn't remember. It was all hazy. "I don't know, I had no idea what was happening. The witches led me there. They wanted him to feed so he'd turn. I had no control."

Elena put her hand on her friend's arm. "It's okay. It's not your fault, Bon."

Matt sighed in frustration and Jeremy came down with the first aid kit. They watched as Elena helped clean the two puncture marks on Bonnie's neck.

"So, who has the stake?" Jeremy asked the three of them.

Bonnie, Matt, and Jeremy all looked at one another while Elena kept focus on caring for her friend. "I do," she sighed. "After Alaric stabbed Esther with it, I took it from him. I have it hidden."

"Does Elijah know you have it?" Bonnie wondered in surprise.

Elena shrugged, attempting to ignore the growing elephant in the room. "I'm not sure honestly. I just… couldn't last night. So much had gone on and I just…"

Matt got up and put a hand on Elena's shoulder. She was in no mood and that was alright. He needed to let her know she could forgive herself for that.

"Anyway," she said pulling back after bandaging Bonnie. "I have it. So, it's safe."

As soon as she said that, Bonnie, Matt and Jeremy began speaking. The three of them talked and talked at her like she was listening, but when in reality, she was doing anything but. Instead, her body went through the motions of putting things away in the first aid kit while her mind was reliving last night with Alaric – remembering how she had gently taken the stake from his hands as she had to explain to him what had happened. The look on his face after he drank from the bowl with her and Finn's blood in it. Remembering how it felt when she hugged him for the very last time.

"Lena," Jeremy said in a soft voice. The loud chattering and arguing had died down and all eyes were on Elena.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sniffle, shifting uncomfortably at all the stares. "I'm just-…I'll put this away upstairs," she said getting up and pushing her way past her brother. Putting the first aid kit back under their sink, she wandered back towards Alaric's room. Memories haunted her as she walked down the hall, remembering when she had caught Alaric practically naked with Jenna sneaking through the house. She was going to miss his presence around here dearly.

Hearing her phone ring, Elena walked back to her old guardian's room and picked up her phone. Alaric. It read. She stared at it for a bit, letting it ring in her hand.

"Whoever this is, it's not funny," she told the person on the other line.

Her heart practically stopped when she heard the familiar voice.

"Who else would it be?"

"Ric?" The air in Elena's lungs vanished. She wanted to shed tears of joy even though the back of her mind knew what this really meant.

Somehow, he was okay. Somehow Kol or somebody must have found a way to make him okay. Elena thought. It didn't matter what had happened downstairs, or what she had known. Her mind tried to shove the reality away. Maybe somehow, it was the same old Ric.

"Listen closely," his voice said. "I'm at the school. I have Caroline. And if you want to keep her alive, I need you to get in your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill her. Oh, and Elena… bring the stake."

Ric ended the line, leaving Elena's world crashing down. Waves of reality hit her and the warm comfort of denial vanished. The truth lied there cold, taunting her with the certainty that her guardian was now turned. He was now someone else – a perfectly pieced cold killing vampire hunter like Esther had wanted. And he demanded his ultimate weapon.

Panic flooded her and she wasn't sure what to do. Did she go against what Ric commanded and tell someone? Bonnie maybe? Matt or Jeremy? Maybe call Elijah or Klaus. They'd know what to do, right?

Elena stood there with her phone in her hands, battling herself. But was it worth the risk of Caroline's life? Elena was also back to being human and defenseless. What could she do to save Caroline without being able to match the strength and speed of Ric's?

"Just because you don't have our abilities any more doesn't mean you don't know how to fight Elena. You're the one who taught me more than plenty. While you may not have the strength, we can work on the stamina and find ways to use what you have to protect yourself" Kol said.

Taking in a deep breath, Elena rushed off to her room.


A ring of the doorbell, made Jeremy groan. Getting up from his seat at the table, he answered the door only to find the Mikaelson family.

"Where is she?" Elijah asked running with vampire speed upstairs to Alaric's room and then down and throughout the rest of the house.

"Where is who?" Jeremy asked confused.

"Let me in, mate," Klaus said, trying to push through the house barrier.

"Not a chance," Jeremy said before turning back to Elijah. "Who?"

"Elena!" Elijah said. "Where is Elena?!" he turned to Bonnie, Matt, and back to Jeremy, impatiently waiting for answers.

"She should be upstairs. She needed a minute," Matt answered, trying to understand what was going on.

Elijah's jaw clenched with impatience. "She's not there."

"What's happening?" Jeremy asked, wondering what Elijah and his family were doing here. Were they trying to take Elena away again? Were they here to hurt her?

"Your teacher friend transitioned," Klaus growled.

"We know," Matt said bravely.

"I fed him," Bonnie answered, stepping in front of Matt in case any undue harm was to try to come to him. "The spirits led me there. I had no choice."

Klaus growled while some of his other family members sighed.

"Where is the stake? And where is Elena then?" Elijah asked them again, as if he were to get better answers the second time.

Bonnie, Matt and Jeremy all glanced at one another.

"Well! Out with it!" Rebekah demanded from the entryway.

"We don't know where the stake is," Jeremy replied. "All Elena said was that she had it and it was hidden in a safe place."

Another loud frustrated groan came from Klaus. The white oak stake had come back into play.


Alaric waited patiently with a whimpering Caroline in front of him. The minutes of the clocked ticked by, irritating his nerves, but he waited, sitting patiently with a nice wooden dagger in his hands. Within seconds of Elena stepping into the school, Alaric was aware of her presence. He knew with his vampire abilities exactly where she was, and just how nervous she was feeling. "Ah, right on time," he said to Caroline with a smile.

He waited for Elena to enter his classroom. He enjoyed the way she peered to him and Caroline and tried to calculate the scene.

"Caroline," Elena said staring sorrowfully at her friend. "Let her go, Alaric."

The determination in her voice amused Alaric. He enjoyed the tensions of cat and mouse game that they were playing. Motioning to her, he shrugged and waited. "Free her yourself."

Elena carefully and cautiously went over to her friend.

Wrong move one, he told himself, watching as she bent down to the blonde.

Wrong move number two, he chided once more when she kept her back turned to him.

As Elena slowly and carefully tried to pull the wooden pencils from Caroline's hands, he thought to himself one last time, wrong move three. And with that, Alaric sped over and shove the pencil back hard into Caroline's hand, enjoying the way she screamed out in pain.

"You said that you would let her go!" Elena yelled at him, clear with distraught for her friend's pain.

Her empathy is what made her weak. It was what nagged him and boiled his skin like the sun. "How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? Stop trusting vampires!"

Hurt was deep in her eyes. He could tell tears were about to fall down her face, but with strength, made sure not to let them show.


A call to Jeremy's cell flashed Alaric. "Uh, guys!" Jeremy called to the loud group in their entryway as they not only tried to calm Elijah down, but also stop the bickering between Mikaelson siblings as well. Klaus was holding a flaming rolled up newspaper and gas can, threatening to burn the house down if he was not let in.

"Alaric?" Jeremy answered as everyone go quiet.

"Jeremy," Alaric greeted with a cold and calm voice. "I want Klaus".

Glancing at the hybrid, knowing him and his family were listening, Jeremy took in a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was about to cover for this asshole. "Okay, but he isn't here."

"Jeremy," Alaric said with a now more scolding tone. After a long pause, Alaric then sighed. "Fine. Then we will play it this way. I have Caroline and Elena at the school. If Klaus does not come and give himself up, I will kill them both."

The idea of his sister dying made Jeremy queasy.

"Go ahead and pass that along for me," Alaric said before hanging up.

Klaus threw down the flaming newspaper and chucked the gas can away with a clang. Pouting like a young boy, he huffed in frustration. When he glanced back up, he was met with multiple pairs of expectant eyes. "Now I know no one is asking me to walk into a certain death," he clarified in a tone that meant 'that won't happen'. The young Gilbert was especially looking at him with saddened eyes.

"We need to figure out a way to put Alaric down" Jeremy concluded. And so the Mikaelson family paced the front porch for ideas.

Elijah ground his teeth together, after almost a half hour of thinking, impatiently waiting for plans that could actually work. He hoped that Elena was alright. He needed her.

"I got it," Bonnie said after coming back down from a shower and borrowing some of Elena's clothes. "We can use a dissection spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over 15 years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric."

"If and might. Your words inspire such confidence, darling," Kol sassed with his arms crossed.

"I'll get it," Bonnie said frustrated. "But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down." Turning to Klaus with narrowed eyes, she crossed her arms. "Including yours."


Elena watched and begged Alaric to stop as he soaked a rag in vervain and then put it back around Caroline's mouth.

"This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath."

The imagery made Elena squirm, wanting so badly to be able to do something to stop him as her friend cried out in pain.

"Isn't this what you once wanted, Elena?" Alaric asked her, holding the enhanced white oak dagger in his hands. "To learn how to kill vampires? Well, here's a vampire, Elena."

Elena glanced at the stake and then to Caroline. "That isn't what I meant."

"Of course it is," the sadistic Alaric said to her. "All those hours you spent training, getting stronger while you were gone. You could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart yet."

Elena weighed her options, thinking that maybe with the stake he was offering her, she could use it somehow. But from what Esther had shared, he could not get hurt like them, so staking him would doubtfully be an effective option. Staking Caroline wasn't an option either.

She had to get her friend out of those binds and gags somehow.

"You need me," Ric said pacing the front of the classroom. "You are an 18-year-old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore."

"And you think you're right for the job?" Elena asked incredulous. "Look at you! How is this right?" She asked pointing to Caroline.

"She's a murderer," Alaric answered. "She told me she killed someone and liked it."

Elena swallowed hard and Alaric knew he was getting to her. "Now how is that right?" Calming himself down, he tried a different tactic. "Listen, Elena. Your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."

"You don't know anything about them," Elena snapped.

"Why, am I wrong?" he asked her. "Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you? Dating an original vampire, letting Jenna die, befriending a hybrid vampire, and letting Jeremy down time and time again…"

Elena was taken aback. It was as if her faults were on spotlight and she couldn't say anything to refute them. No, her parents may not have been proud of her, but they were no longer here to guide her either.

Elena watched as he crouched down to her level. "If you don't side with the humans…you're just as bad as them." Glancing at Caroline, he looked back at Elena. "Now kill her. Or I will, and I'll make it hurt." Shoving the stake in her hands, Elena struggled with Ric as he forcefully pulled her up to stand next to Caroline.

Elena stared down at her friend who had tears falling from her face. Even if her parents thought of her as an utter disappointment, she couldn't kill one of her friends. Going for Alaric instead, he caught her move like she thought he would.

"I thought I taught you better than that," he growled at her.

"You did," she responded. Grabbing the glass jar of vervain with her other hand, she smacked it against his face and then stabbed him with one of the arm cuff stakes he once showed her how to use. Quickly going over and pulling out the pencils from Caroline's hands, she then untied the gag. "Run! Get help!" she yelled as Alaric's groans began to fade.

Caroline ran off by the doors of the school only to stop and listen closely. Something was near. Before she knew it, a hand was placed over her mouth and she was being pulled backwards. "Shh. It's okay. It's okay. It's me. It's okay. You're safe," Klaus whispered slowly in her ear taking his hand off of her mouth. Caroline looked around to find the Mikaelson family around her. "We'll save Elena," He told her, glancing back to where she had come from. "You go straight home, you stay inside, you understand?"

He turned her around quickly, and he said it to her face this time. His face showed a fierce concern. "Do you understand me?"

Caroline looked to each sibling and back at Klaus. All she felt was relief. "Thank you" she croaked out while nodding that she understood. He and his family then disappeared.


Elena's body slammed hard against the lockers. She had been tossed around by vampires long enough to know she bruised a few ribs. "I should kill you," Alaric spat at her, taking a hand to her throat and holding it tight. "I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart. You're the worst offender of them all, Elena. You don't deserve to live."

"So then why am I still alive?" She asked fighting against Ric's tight grasp. "There's obviously no humanity left in you, so what's stopping you, Alaric?" Elena glanced over Ric's shoulder and found both Kol and Rebekah with fingers to their lips. Looking back at Alaric to not draw suspicion she challenged his self-control. They needed a distraction, a perfect opportunity to get to him. "If you want me dead then kill me. Do it! Kill me!" Elena felt his hold on her get tighter so that she could barely get a breath in. Watching as the veins around his eyes became pronounced and his teeth turn to fangs, she waited.

And then he let go of her, backing away. The once constricting grasp around her throat was gone, leaving her gasping and groaning against the lockers. Why did he stop? She wondered. Before she could ask him, Rebekah and Kol had held either of his arms while Elena was whisked backwards with Elijah. When Kol fell to the ground, Elijah went to take his place, only to have his neck snapped, with Rebekah's soon after. And then from nowhere came Klaus. Speeding forward he stuck his hands in Alaric's chest and waited.

Waiting for something to happen, Elena watched as Alaric regained the upper hand on Klaus and slammed him to the ground. Pulling out the white oak stake, Alaric moved to bear all his weight down on the weapon to stab the hybrid, as Klaus laid with two hands above him attempting to hold him back.

"Stop!" Elena cried. She had grabbed a scalpel from the anatomy classroom and put it to her throat. She'd have no choice now but to test out her theory. "Let him go or I will kill myself."

She defiantly stared at Ric who was assessing her threat. "Put it down Elena," Alaric said calling her bluff and refocusing his efforts on Klaus. Alaric pressed further down on the stake.

Klaus met Elena's eyes. He knew she was serious. In the time he got to know Elena, he learned she was never one to back down when challenged. It was something he enjoyed about her (and sometimes how he'd get her to do things for him).

"Why? Because you still need me alive?" she wondered to Alaric, making Klaus shift his gaze back to his mother's killer creation. "There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal."

Her assumptions became the truth when she saw Ric glance up at her. It verified all she needed to know about the 'right time' that Esther was referring to back in the mausoleum. "She tied your life to a human one-mine. That way, you have only one lifespan to kill all vampires, and the you'll be gone."

Klaus looked to her and up to Alaric. Could that be?

"So when I die, you die, too. That's it! It has to be!"

Ric looked back down at a struggling Klaus. He could win this. He could vanquish this hybrid for once and for all. "You're wrong."

Hearing groans, Ric looked past Elena to see the Mikaelson siblings slowly start to reanimate and get up. Attempting to think quick on his feet, his eyes returned to Elena's who stared back at him, determination in her face.

"Am I?" She questioned stepping forward. Elijah had slowly gotten up, along with Rebekah and now Kol, all groggy and trying to get a sense of things. But it didn't deter her. Pressing the scalpel harder against her neck, she began slicing the skin, biting back a cry of pain.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Alaric cried getting up from Klaus.

Elijah became fully alert, panicked at what was occurring. With Klaus now getting the upper hand on a distracted Alaric, Elijah grabbed Elena and sped her outside to the parking lot. Klaus and their siblings were not far behind.

"Are you hurt?" Elijah asked Elena, looking over the rest of her body, before pulling out a handkerchief to press against her wound.

"Did you get it?" Rebekah interrupted, before Elena could answer Elijah. Looking to Klaus, Rebekah scanned him for the weapon.

Klaus held up the enhanced white oak stake with a smile. "Indeed, I did."

"Let's get out of here then," Kol said clapping Elijah on the back as he nodded over to Alaric who was standing at the doorway of the school looking mighty angry.

Gathering Elena in his arms, Elijah and his siblings ran home.