I do not own TVD or TO.

Sorry for the delay guys, but Christmas is a busy time or year. I've got the whole story planned out though.

His fingers tapped the spine of the book in his hands. He had returned to the house after a night of searching when his reason had caught up with him. He didn't have a reason to look for her; she had made it perfectly clear she didn't care about anything.

Part of him was hoping he would find her at the house, but the place was deserted. Her things were still there which he took as a good sign.

His eyes shifted from the novel on his knee to the bedspread. He had carried the grimoire back with him from the falls after finding he couldn't leave it behind.

Now that he was trying to relax and give her the space she obviously wanted he was nervous. The glow of the full moon had all but diminished and most, if not all, of the wolves in the area had been turned while Elena was human, but in the back of his mind a tiny voice was whispering: 'what if'.

What if Klaus had missed a few wolves? What if she was in trouble somewhere in the woods?

Dawn broke over the horizon as phantom growls set off in the back of his mind. The thought that she was hurt or even bitten sent him running down the stairs. He was at the front door before the book hit the ground.

His pounding heart stuttered and stopped when he wrenched the door open. There on his doorstep was a shivering brunette and for a moment all he could do was stare at her, but then he jumped into action.

A line appeared between her brows.

Kol took hold of her elbow and pulled her into the house. A deep frown marred his normally amused features and made him look far older than the nineteen mortal years he had been.

"Are you alright?"

His hands explored her skin, shifted her wet clothes and held the sides of her neck.

"You're as cold as ice," his hands slid back down her arms and curled around her frozen fingers.

"I'm cold because you dragged me through a waterfall and I spent the night in wet clothes," she shivered. The places where his hands had ghosted over her bare skin tingled; the whispers of heat and longing crept down her spine.

"You weren't bitten?" His eyes sought out her gaze.

"Careful," Elena looked down slowly to where he was still holding her hands. "Someone might start to think you care."

She slid her hands free and pivoted on her heel to stride into the house. The sudden sense of eyes watching made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Kol slammed the door shut before following her up the winding staircase. He moved her shoes out of his path and stepped into the ensuite attached to her room.

"I understand that you're without emotions darling," he struggled to keep his voice level, "but have you also abandoned your common sense? Do you have any sense of self-preservation left?"

Elena glanced over her shoulder while peeling off her wet t-shirt.

"You could have died, Elena," his hands shook with fury.

"I didn't," she shrugged. Her fingers popped the button of her jeans.

"What are you doing?"

His eyes narrowed when she stood before him in her midnight blue underwear. He tore his gaze from her curves and met her eyes.

"I'm cold," she tilted her head. Her hands snaked around her back.

"And stripping is going to help?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"No," she gave up with the clasp. Her frozen fingers were useless at the moment so she busied them turning the knobs of the shower. "Hot water is going to help."

She left the water to warm up and turned to face him. Her bare feet slowly crossed the path to stand in front of Kol.

"Now you are welcome to continue your tirade," her hand splayed over his heart, "but you'll have to join me."

He didn't have time to be impressed with her speed before she planted her lips on his in a sound kiss. Sparks erupted into a flame as her tongue swept into his mouth.

Her breath hitched. His warm hand spread over the small of her back to pull her flush against him; the heat from his palm seeped into her skin.

Her lips moved against his with an almost desperate hunger. She could feel something fluttering in her chest again. There was something missing from the kiss; something she hadn't noticed until he slowed things down and backed her into the shower wall.

She realized what it was when he broke away to breathe and looked down into her eyes. He had said he cared, but it wasn't until then that she realized just how much.

Her hands shifted from his hair to his chest in order to push him a few inches back. She needed to turn around. She needed to break the eye contact before the fluttering in her heart mutated into a full blown emotion.

Somewhere over the pounding of the water she heard the unmistakable sound of someone moving about downstairs. She tilted her head and peeked over her shoulder while finally unhooking her bra.

"It sounds like you've got company," she dropped the wet fabric and stepped into the spray while shimmying out of the last of her clothes.

He was contemplating following her into the shower when he heard glass tinkling. The split second he looked away was enough time for her to step behind the frosted glass and leave her lacy undergarments on the floor.

"How deeply have you really buried things Elena?"

She turned her face up into the spray and closed her eyes. It was there right under the surface; she knew it. Part of her was relieved when she heard the door close.

Separating sex and feelings had been easy before, so why was it so much harder with him?

Why did she want to feel every emotion behind his kiss?

To say he was puzzled by his early morning guest would have been an understatement. Maybe in other families it was common to pop around on your siblings but he and Klaus had never been like that.

They were either the most chaotic of mates or the vilest of enemies, but always… always there was a layer of animosity between them. He liked to blame it all on Klaus; they might have had a wonderful relationship if not for the daggers of the five.

Well, not wonderful, but perhaps normal. There certainly would have been less bloodshed brought on by their hands.

"Did you raid my stash?" Klaus glanced up from the bottle in his hands. It was a rare bottle of Chateau Lafite from 1869. "Correct me if I'm wrong but were you not asleep this year?"

"I believe there are only a dozen bottles left in existence," Klaus set the wine on a low table and stood from the armchair.

"And I've purchased two," Kol's smirk was tight. The feigned amusement didn't reach his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"It's come to my attention that you've been harbouring my doppelganger," Klaus tilted his head.

"She's not yours Nik!" Too late Kol caught the heat behind his voice.

"Oh…" Klaus chuckled. He glanced to the tick in his brother's jaw. "You care about her."

Kol opened his mouth but before he could say anything Klaus cut in. His blue eyes flashed with dark amusement.

"Don't bother denying it," Klaus smirked, "I heard you from the street. It's not like you to care about anyone else."

Kol gritted his teeth and strode across the living room. Snatching up the bottle of wine he moved to replace it on the shelf. He kept his back to Klaus; he wasn't sure he would be able to refrain from wiping the smug smirk from his brother's face.

"It's very foolish of you," Klaus stood from the chair and reached into his jacket. "Caring, I mean; since she'll be human again soon."

"That's her decision," Kol exhaled slowly.

"No," Klaus clapped him on the shoulder, "it's not."

Kol's mouth popped open as his eyes darted to his chest. A choking sound rose in his throat which Klaus had no problem interpreting.

How occupied had his mind been not to notice Klaus in the house sooner? How long had it taken him to locate the daggers and the ash?

"You've grown distracted little brother. That works out well for me," he drove the blade deeper and watched the grey spread. "I don't want you interfering. Don't worry," he met Kol's eyes as the light faded, "it's only until the end of Elena's natural life."

Klaus lowered his brother to the ground and looked to the door.

Elena slipped from the shower and began towel drying her hair. She was pulling on a pair of sweats and a tank top when she heard the tail end of a conversation involving her name.

Her feet made next to no sound on the stairs, but she knew from Klaus' smirk that he had seen her.

It took a second for the full image to take shape because for a moment all she saw were flashes of colour: a glint of silver, a spread of grey, a malicious red grin, a bottle of black ash, and a prone body.

She was barely able to breathe as Klaus placed his brother on the floor, but when the hybrid stood and she saw Kol incapacitated her body began to warm. It was less than a minute before her blood was boiling. Her voice shook with her suppressed rage.

"What did you do?" Her stomach trembled. She curled her fingers into fists.

"I put him down," Klaus stood back up. "He would have gotten in the way of my plans."

"What plans?" Elena gritted her teeth. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized her body's reaction as anger, but she made no attempt to stamp it back down.

"My plans for you," he sighed. "In making you human again."

Elena was certain she heard her tooth crack from clenching her jaw.

"I don't want to be human, Klaus!"

He shook his head and gave a humourless laugh.

"You don't get a say in this."

"Yes I do!"

Her eyes darted around the room once before she ran at vampire speed. Her hand closed around the dagger and yanked it free. She snatched up the bottle of ashes and raced into the kitchen.

He stole centuries of my life.

He wouldn't steal them again.

She poured the ashes into the sink and just managed to turn on the water when a hand closed around her throat. Her heart leapt into her throat as she was slammed onto the counter.

"Are you going to kill me Klaus?" She wheezed through her crushed windpipe. There was another doppelganger out there so she wasn't necessarily needed. "Go ahead," she gasped, "but Jeremy will never help you."

Klaus' narrow eyes darted to the ashes being washed away in a steady stream of water. He knew she was right; Jeremy Gilbert would never consent to aiding his plight if he were to turn his attention to Katerina after killing his sister.

"Maybe I'll just torture you," he tightened his fingers around her throat. "I need you alive, but you don't require all of your limbs."

"All because I poured out the ashes?" Elena tried to pull his hand free. "Sorry Klaus; you'll just have to learn to live with your siblings."

Her eyes widened when Klaus neck twisted at an unnatural angle. She rolled over and gasped for breath as her windpipe slowly healed.

She straightened in time to see Kol look from the empty bottle of ashes to the dagger in her fingers.

"Careful, darling," he took the blade from her hand, "someone might start to think you care."

Smooth jazz floated through the air and around the bodies of dozens of patrons in the upscale restaurant. People were dressed to the nines and dining on absurdly small portions.

Lawyers worked out business deals over pate, arranged shady deals and planned underhanded acquittals.

Amidst the dark dealings and glittering couples sat a beautiful brunette in a little black dress. Her cunning eyes observed every backhanded deal and hidden argument. Her lips lifted when a man slid into the seat across from her.

"You're late," she tilted her head. "I was told you're the best, and I expect the best to be punctual."

"Sorry babes," he adjusted his tie, "but I had to find something to wear." His eyes darted around the restaurant. "This isn't my typical scene."

"I don't do dive bars," she opened her napkin and spread it over her lap.

She crossed her legs and looked up in time to see his eyes roaming over her slowly. He took in everything from her chestnut curls to her designer shoes.

She was his typical client: bored trophy wife, or spoiled heiress.

"Shall we get down to it?" He wondered who had driven her to call him: her husband or her lover.

"Let's," she smiled brightly and pulled a file from her handbag.

He flipped open the plain file and viewed the first image. It was a young man getting out of a car.

The lover then, he glanced up at her while closing the folder.

"What did he do: break your heart?"

"Something like that," she leaned forward. Under the table the toe of her shoe trailed up his calve. "You'll only get one shot at this. There are people who will stand in the way." She tilted her head and reached out to run her fingers over the man's wrist.

His eyes dropped to her hand as her foot made it passed his knee. He lifted his gaze to her face.

"There's the matter of my fee," he cocked an eyebrow.

"You're going to wave it." She hummed.

"Now why would I do a thing like that?" His eyes fell to her chest.

"Because," her smile was sickeningly sweet, "I'm telling you to." With a flick of her wrist she dug her nails into his skin and brought his eyes back to hers in time to see her dilating pupils.

I got this idea on the way home last night for another story where Klaus found Elena as a child and wasn't going to leave her behind while he hunted down the remaining ingredients for the spell; except he knows next to nothing about children so he wakes Rebekah thinking giving her charge of the young girl, but Rebekah grows attached and eventually figures out exactly what Elena is. She takes the toddler and runs eventually they make their way back to Mystic Falls. I thought it would be something relatively short, but it's looking like 20+ chapters.