I do not own TVD or TO

Thank you to everyone who left a review telling me how excited they are for this story. I'm really excited for it too and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.

Elena shifted from one foot to the other, eyeing the busy street. There were people everywhere which she found strange, given the hour. She had reset her watch to the correct time with Kol's help so a glance at her wrist that it was nearing three in the morning.

"Does this city ever sleep?" She leaned back from the gate until she was concealed in the cemetery shadows. A shiver raced down her spine, but sheer will power kept her from trembling; she had dressed for a mild afternoon in late autumn with a light winter coat, not for a freezing winter night.

"The city was built around the supernatural," Astrid stepped into the light that poured through the gates from a nearby lamppost. There were shadows under her heavy eyes. "Witches, vampires, and werewolves conduct most of their business at night."

"Embracing the cliché," Elena exhaled. She glanced back through the gates, crossing her arms.

"What's a cliché?" Mary Alice frowned. "It sounds French."

Elena wished that she had her cell phone – and that it worked – so she could look up common phrases for the year. She was going to have to watch everything she said so she didn't draw unwanted attention to herself, but these three knew she was not from their time.

"A cliché is what we call something that's overused like uh…" Elena's eyes narrowed as she thought. "Vampires sleep in coffins, or all witches have warts. It could also refer to a phrase like 'only time will tell', or 'actions speak louder than words'."

Mary Alice nodded once before running her eyes over Elena from head to toe and motioning to the street.

"You are going to stick out like a sore thumb."

A giggle bubbled up in her throat. She caught their questioning looks and swallowed her laughter.

"Sorry," she cleared her throat, "another cliché, but," she looked down at her clothes, "right in this case."

"You'll need proper clothes if you're going to blend in and remain off of Klaus' 'radar'," Mary Alice ran her eyes over Elena again. Her mouth twisted around the unfamiliar word. "I understood your meaning, but I'm afraid the word is unknown to me. What is radar?"

"It's a radio system used to detect ships, and airplanes and other stuff," she explained, waving her hand in a small circle close to her body, "by sending out pulses of electromagnetic waves that reflect back off the object to the source of the pulse. It was developed during the Second World War, but where I'm from we use 'radar' to talk about avoiding someone's attention; like right now I need to avoid everyone's radar."

"I've a way to avoid detection," Kol slipped his heavy coat off, draping it over Elena's shoulders. His hand lingered on her arm for a moment longer than necessary.

"I don't think a coat is going to help," Astrid clicked her tongue.

"Of course it won't," he released a deep sigh, "the coat is because she is freezing." His eyes flickered over her pale features and lips that were nearly blue.

Elena shifted on her heels to follow the retreat of his hand and the warmth that came from his body heat; she had been certain her discomfort was well hidden.

"Thank you," she cleared her throat. She caught a look from Mary Alice and took a small step away from him. "What's your plan, Kol?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered the fact that she was meant to wait for leave before calling someone by their given name, but he hadn't corrected her once over the last few hours, and besides if he was going to call her 'darling' and 'love' and 'Elena' then she would call him 'Kol'.

"Do you suffer from motion sickness, darling?"

Elena shook her head. "I'll be fine."

"Good," he turned towards the witches, "until tomorrow evening, ladies."

Elena knew it was coming but she still gasped when he swept her up with an arm behind her back and one under her knees. Her hands were around his neck instinctively. She hid her face under his jaw, squeezing her eyes shut when he moved and the wind rushed around them both.

She counted to forty-seven before the air stopped racing around her. She was used to being moved at vampire speed, but she was pretty sure he had left a few internal organs behind in the cemetery.

Astrid bent at the waist and picked up the silver coin that had fallen from Elena's pocket when Kol had lifted her. She squinted at the fine print etched into the metal that intoned the year as 1987. She only looked up when Mary Alice whispered the question.

"Did she say 'Second World War'?"

"That's what I heard," she murmured.

"When was the first?"

Elena drew in a deep breath in the hopes that it would prepare her body to support her weight again and found her senses washed in his cologne. The intoxicating smell made her head swim.

"Are you alright, darling?" He placed her on her feet, steadying her with his hands on her hips. "Are you going to be ill?"

She gripped his arms, sucking in another breath; she could still smell him but the space between them meant the air she breathed cleared her head.

"I'm okay, promise," she smiled. "I'm just cold."

"A hot shower will do wonders," he motioned toward the stairs. "They're not overly common so if you need help to start it…"

Kol trailed off when he caught sight of her shaking shoulders. "What is so funny, darling?"

Elena followed him into a guest bedroom and watched him light a kerosene lamp.

"Showers are pretty common in the future," she took off his coat and handed it over, "I should be able to work it just fine."

"Okay," he nodded, "I'll fetch you something to sleep in."

"Thank you, Kol," she started towards the attached bathroom but paused. "Am I going to run into any of your siblings?"

"No, darling," he smirked. "I find it's better for family relations when I don't live with them."

She nodded and slipped into the bathroom. There was a closet along a wall where she found everything she would need. She set her towel on the counter and placed the toiletries in the shower before stripping down and stepping inside.

Metal pipes curved over the porcelain that curled around her body. She stared at the knobs for a few minutes until her entire body trembled before finally starting the shower.

There was a sharp hiss and a sudden spray.

She yelped. The water was cold. It began to heat up when the door burst open.

"Are you alright?"

She poked her head out from the curtain and found Kol's concerned face a few inches from her. She swallowed and adjusted the curtain an inch so only her face was visible.

"Fine," steam rose behind her, "the water was really cold, but it's warming up now."

He left once he was sure she was fine and she stepped back into the shower. Slowly the shivers stopped. The hot water was better than anything she could have imagined so she stayed under its spray until it became cold.

When she was back in the bedroom she found a neatly folded white shirt, so after drying off she located her underwear and let the shirt fall over her body. The material shifted around her knees as she slipped between the sheets.

She had the foresight to run the comb he had left through her hair before turning off the lamp, burrowing into the blankets and succumbing to sleep.

His hand flew over the page leaving behind a series of symbols and complex equations. He needed to find the right balance of elements so the spell would work. The plan was ingenious, but for it to succeed everything needed to be perfect; he had never missed his magic more.

He leaned back in his chair and observed the sunlight as it danced over the back of his hand, warming the skin. Nine hundred years earlier he could have drawn on its power to fuel his own and enact his vengeance on his brother, but that was then. Nine hundred years ago he had held no ill will towards his brother.

The sound of bare feet on the stairs drew his eyes up. He could hear the heart as she drew closer to the study.

It was possible that she was the key to winning the war and creating a safe city for the future generations of magic; that was the argument he planned on giving to Mary Alice anyway. He got the strong sense that she disliked the young doppelganger, but he knew Elena could be useful. Just as he knew she was hiding something; it had not escaped his notice when she skirted around certain topics.

She was distrustful of him, but he chose to believe that she would reveal her secrets in time; it wasn't as if she was going to vanish into thin air.

He had every intention of asking her further questions about the future, but the words flew from his head when she leaned in the door frame.

"Good morning," she blinked, looking at him sleepily.

His heart skipped a beat. "I think you mean afternoon, darling," he smirked.

Kol tilted his head when she bit her lower lip. He couldn't stop his eyes from sliding down the length of her body. A dark green shirt clung to the soft curves of her torso with a few open buttons revealing the shadow between the swell of her breasts. The undershirt covered the top portion of an even darker material that wrapped around her thighs and calves before flaring open to hand over the tops of her bare feet.

He was no stranger to the female figure, but seeing the clear shape of a woman outside the context of the bedroom was a little jarring.

"Is this," he nodded to her legs, "common attire where you come from?"

"Fairly normal," her left eyebrow shot up, 'it's actually really conservative. I could have vanished in a crowd wearing this, and now I can't go outside."

He carefully capped his fountain pen and placed it on the table before standing up and sauntering towards her. He stopped a few inches in front of her, dragging his eyes from her painted toes to her eyes.

"If you wish to blend in," he smirked, "you'll do better without the trousers, darling."

"Less than twenty-four hours and you're already trying to get me out of my pants," she smirked, tilting her head. A flush stained her cheeks a moment later. "I'm sorry, that was so inappropriate."

"You need not censor your words around me, darling," his mouth twitched up, "I know where you've come from, and I'm beginning to sense that whatever time it was is far more… open than this one."

He backed up a step when she nodded and lifted a small bundle from a leather chair.

"I left this morning and stole a few things from my sister," he placed the stack in her hands. "Why don't you put these on and I'll fix you a late breakfast? Then we'll go out and get you some clothes of your own."

"I won't be in 1914 that long," her forehead creased. "Why can't I just wear these?"

"Aside from the fact that Rebekah will notice the theft?" He lowered his eyes to her hands. "The fit will be off. You are taller that her and your figure is different."

He cleared his throat and lifted his eyes, biting down the desire he felt to tuck the loose curls behind her ears.

"Even if the dress was a perfect fit, and she was unlikely to notice we would still need to go out because you require shoes," he cocked an eyebrow. "Don't woman love shopping?"

"Kind of loses the appeal when it's a necessity," she gave him a small grin.

His heart skipped a beat.

"I'll go and change. Will my own shoes work for now?"

"They'll have to do," he teased. "I'll meet you in the kitchen."

Elena tilted her head and examined her appearance in the fold out mirrors, starting at her feet. There was a slight curve to the low heeled shoe before the grey stockings that covered her legs. She could only see the first inch above her ankles before the bell of a violet skirt that flared out before tapering in at her waist. A gold cloth belt separated the top of the dress from the bottom. The sleeves were a sheer purple that revealed a hint of skin without baring her arms to the public.

"This doesn't seem right," she chewed her bottom lip. Her voice was low, but she knew Kol had no problem hearing her on the other side of the curtain.

"Are you decent, love?"

Her lips curled up in a slow smile. The first time she had uttered those words he had stepped inside and found her holding the sides of the white corset that was starting to slip. She'd had the great pleasure of watching his cheeks colour at the knowledge that she had not been speaking to him, but the attendant who had been trying to adjust the laces. He had left pretty quickly after that and then it had been her turn to blush when Valerie had whispered in her ear.

"Your husband embarrasses easily."

She nearly chocked on her tongue. Valerie's next words had Elena blushing.

"If you wish to truly shock him you should try the newest lingerie from Paris," her breath was hot on Elena's neck, "I assure you the brassiere is quite scandalous in addition to being comfortable."

"I'm not in the market for scandal," Elena looked down, "but you had me at comfort. I'm willing to try anything that doesn't permanently alter the shape of my body."

She wasn't sure how to react to Valerie's assumption since to her it seemed the only reasonable explanation for why he would burst into her dressing room.

"I promise all of my undergarments are covered," she stifled her giggle when she caught Valerie's smirk in the mirror.

"What doesn't seem right then, darling?" He stepped into the large dressing room. His dark eyes danced over the purple dress. "You don't like it?"

"It's not that," Elena met his eyes in the mirror, "it's just so different than what I've seen everyone else wearing… almost everyone else," she glanced at Valerie; her grey skirt was cut in a similar style.

"I assure you darling," he moved closer and reached out to smooth the white collar, "everyone else lacks a sense of high fashion."

"Flared skirts are the newest thing," Valerie added with a grin. "I hear overseas they are calling it the war crinoline."

Kol read the confusion in Elena's eyes before a flicker of realization took over. He cleared his threat and turned to Valerie giving her a charming smile.

"I trust you have my wife's measurements on file now."

"Yes, sir," she smiled.

"Wonderful," he smirked, "would you be kind enough to gather everything up? She'll need an assortment of skirts, blouses, dresses, and underthings. Would you prefer to wear this one out, darling? You do look ravishing."

Elena managed a small nod and Kol turned his attention back to Valerie.

"All of the required accessories and shoes to match as well thank you Valerie."

"Right away."

Valerie left them alone and Elena turned around with her hands on her hips. The small podium and curved heels made her a few inches taller than him, so she cocked an eyebrow and look down into his laughing eyes.

"Your wife?"

"You let that one go first," he teased. "Did you select the newest hosiery from Paris? Is it as comfortable as Valerie claimed?"

"Extremely," she smiled.

"And scandalous?" He grinned suggestively, eyes flickering to her chest. The look was just long enough that she noticed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She smirked, rolling her shoulders back. "Could you help me down, I'm scared I'll trip over the edge."

She was hoping for a steadying hand, but he surprised her by taking her waist and lifting her from her perch. Her skirt swayed around her calves when she was on the ground.

"Where can I find Valerie?" She lowered her hands from his shoulders.

"She is packaging our purchases and sending them to the address I gave her lovely co-worker, why?"

"Because I don't need that much stuff."

"You should have a selection," Kol kept his hands on her hips to stop her from racing off. "And it's already done."

Elena shook her head and sighed. She spoke slowly, making sure her words were perfectly chosen; the last thing she wanted to do was offend an Original.

"While that's very kind, and generous, it's too much. I won't be here that long, right? I don't need that much stuff, and I don't want you wasting your money on me."

"Elena," he saw the surprise when he used her name, "I have been accumulating wealth for nine centuries with no reason to spend it, so I assure you I am not wasting anything. Now come with me."

She let him tuck her hand into the crook of his elbow and lead her back onto the sales floor. Her features twisted into a frown when he brought her to a stop in front of a rack of heavy wool.

"Don't argue with me on this one, darling," he patted her hand. "It's December and you need a coat. Which do you like?"

She wanted to argue, but as far as the coat went he had a point and her eyes were drawn to a bright red material.

"That's a lovely choice," he followed her gaze. Reaching out he took the jacket from the hanger and held it out so she could slide her arms in the sleeves.

Elena admired her reflection in a nearby mirror for a moment, but then shook her head.

"It's beautiful, but too bright. Somebody might notice and recognize me."

"It would be impossible not to notice you, darling," he heard her heart skip a beat and smiled, "but I promise that nobody will recognize you."

Her brows lowered in confusion.

"Look at your hand," he murmured, coming up behind her.

She was confused but complied. Her right hand was bare, but there was a ring on her left hand with a small piece of pyrite on the band.

"As long as you wear that nobody will remember your face, except for me," he held out his hand to reveal a matching ring. "I wouldn't want to lose you in a crowd."

"Mary Alice?"

"Somebody else," he shook his head. "I have several witches in the city. The rings were spelled by Freya."

"Oh, okay," she nodded as if she knew who that was so supposed to be. "When did you put this on me?"

"When we walked in the store," he smirked. "You're not unobservant darling; you've just been surrounded by yards of fabric."

Elena spun the gold band around her index finger; the pyrite had long since lost the power it had once held, but she had never been able to let the trinket go. It had been the first step towards trust between them; the first time she had believed he would really hide her from Klaus.

"Okay."

Elena pressed her lips together to hide her smirk; it was no easy feat since the person to break the silence was Caroline. She turned on her heel to face her friend.

"You gotta tell us something," Caroline grabbed Elena's arms. There was no need since she had stopped her quick walk down the street. "How'd you get inside that tomb? Why are your clothes so shabby? Where'd you get the ring and necklace? Who the heck is this guy?"

Elena wrapped her hands around Caroline's elbows and met her friend's eyes.

"Caroline, I will tell you everything, I promise," she took a deep breath, "but first I have to go in here and talk to Marcel, okay?"

Caroline followed her nod to the building. There was an ornate 'm' above a curled serpent encased in a shield. She licked her lips and moved to follow, but stopped and narrowed her eyes.

"Did you just compel me?" She tilted her head.

Elena sighed and turned back around to face the blonde again.

"I may possess the ability to compel you Caroline, but I swear to you that I did not and that I never will. Do you believe me?"

"I do," Bonnie breathed. She saw Caroline nod and glanced at Thierry before focusing on Elena. "Let's get this done and then we can go home. Ten hours in a car should be lots of time to talk over everything."

Elena nodded in agreement and turned to the gates. She pushed the iron open and moved inside with fire in her eyes. Thunder rumbled in the distance in time with the click of her heels.

Two dozen vampires turned to look at her when she entered with varying degrees of surprise, but only one of them registered recognition when he saw her face.

"Well, well, well," he leaned over the balcony with his hands on the railing, "Elena Gilbert. I was starting to think I'd never see you again."

"Clearly," she glared up at him. "What's this I hear about witches being attacked for their practice?"

"What's this I hear about you compelling me boy, here?" He tilted his head towards Diego.

"Your boy attacked my friend," Elena cocked an eyebrow. "Now Marcel," she smiled, "I'm starting to think you're not happy to see me."

"You're one of my oldest friends," he grinned, "I'm overjoyed to see you."

"Yet you outlawed magic despite knowing I would be waking soon through the aid of magic," Elena stepped closer and tipped her head back. Marcel was a floor above her and wearing a cocky grin, but she didn't feel small.

"I've been busy running my city," his smile fell slightly.

"We've got to talk," she rolled her shoulders back, "about the Harvest, the witches and the future of our city."

She heard the whispers behind her between Caroline and Bonnie along with Thierry's quiet assurance that all would be explained in due time. From the balcony another whisper stared; it was hot and angry, and directed at her friends.

"Perhaps we should talk somewhere more private," Marcel cleared his throat.

Elena nodded, but stood her ground when he descended the stairs. She could feel the tension rolling from the courtyard in waves so thick it would have knocked a lesser person over. Her eyes flitted from unknown face to unknown face before addressing the room as a whole.

"I don't know who you are, where you came from, or what you are doing in my home, and I get the sense that none of you know of me," she saw a few quick nods and smiled the sweetest smile she had, "and that is fine. Right now I don't care to know about you, and there is only one thing you need to know about me."

Her smile morphed before their eyes into a dark expression that had every vampire with the exception of Caroline and Thierry tugging at collars that were suddenly too constricting. She pointed to her friends and spoke slowly to ensure each syllable sank in.

"If either of my friends, or my son, is harmed while I'm gone I will redecorate my home with the offenders and made Klaus Mikaelson look like a golden retriever."

Marcel tried to speak but found his throat dry. He swallowed and tried again.

"They – uh… they don't know who Klaus is."

Elena's eyes narrowed as she turned to face him.

"Let me see if I've got this straight? You made a gang out of infants who have never heard of the Originals, who pretty much built New Orleans from the mud." She leaned closer and whispered in a voice that was meant to carry. "Do you call yourselves the lollipop guild?"

"I'm sure T, or one of your friends can explain," he reached for her elbow.

"I remember the way."