I'm super sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with finishing up classes and my internet has been bipolar lately, so I haven't had the chance to update. There aren't too many chapters left and then we'll be done! R and R.

Elena should have realized sooner that Damon had been up to something while the baby shower had been in progress two weeks ago. He was damn good at hiding his emotions, but she'd something in his eyes- and Alaric's- that made her suspicious. But then Damon had side tracked her with the nursery and the last two weeks had been so busy getting every last minute little thing together in preparation for the arrival of Ivaney, she'd forgotten all about that day.

At least, until now. Now she knew Damon had been up to something, because standing in front of her right outside the entrance of the Salvatore Boarding House, was Elijah.

Of course, Elijah could also be here to take her to Klaus, but she just didn't think that was the case.

"Elijah," Elena said, sounding breathless from surprise.

"Elena," Elijah said, giving her a nod and a small smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, suspicion giving way to surprise.

He sighed. "I'm here to talk to you about the curse," he said. "Among other things."

"Oh," she said, not sure whether or not to invite him in. No, the whole point of this arrangement was so no one could get in. Instead of inviting him inside, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"Is Damon here?" he asked.

"No," she said. Damon had left with an explanation of "Alaric" and she hadn't questioned him. Whatever it was they were doing, she didn't want to know about. "He's out."

Elijah's eyebrows furrowed. "Call him home," he said, his words sounding more like a command rather than a request. "He'll want to be here."

"Is everything okay?" Elena asked, a horrible feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Was there something wrong with their plan? Was Klaus close by? Could Elijah stop him?

"It will be," Elijah said, carefully choosing his words. "But now that the time has grown closer, I need you to understand some things."

"Close by?" Elena asked, swallowing.

Elijah nodded. "We have a trail on Klaus," he explained. "If things go as we suspect them too, Klaus will arrive on the next full moon.

Elena's eyes widened and her head spun. The next full moon? That was three weeks away. Ivaney would barely have been born by then and Elena would be ripped away from her. She knew that her daughter would have Damon- no matter how many times Damon said "you're going to leave her alone" or "you're daughter," Elena knew that Damon wouldn't leave Ivaney alone. He said those things to try and scare her into changing the deal. Damon loved Ivaney just as much as she did, and would raise her like she was his own. And in both of their eyes, Ivaney was his. But this was too soon. Elena didn't want to leave Ivaney so soon.

She felt tears fill her eyes. "The next full moon?" she repeated.

Elijah nodded. "Call Damon," he said. "We have things to discuss."

Ten minutes later, Damon was pulling up in the driveway. On the outside, he appeared calm but Elena knew he was freaking out just as much as she was in the inside. His blue eyes held knowing though, and unless she was seeing something, a little hope.

"Elijah," Damon said, nodding at the Original vampire.

"Damon," Elijah said, a hint of displeasure in his tone. "I wish I could say it was nice to see you again."

Damon simply smirked in response.

"Again?" Elena asked, looking between the two vampires.

Elijah looked at Damon to explain and Damon frowned. "You're going to be upset," Damon warned her.

Elena's eyes narrowed. "What'd you do?"

"I… called him here a couple of weeks ago," Damon explained, "to discuss the terms of the deal."

Her hands went to her hips. "What do you mean called?"

Damon sighed, clearly not wanting to explain this. "I had Alaric try to stake me so Elijah would have to come," he explained. "Since I'm on your list of people, I have to be protected."

Elena's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. "You. Did. What?" she hissed. She was going to kill them both. How stupid could they be? Alaric, she could almost understand. He was friends with Damon and therefore wanted to help him, but Damon was old enough to know that was dangerous and stupid.

"I didn't know how else to get his attention," Damon said. "And anyways, it worked."

"So what did you two talk about?" she asked still seething from the little fact of Alaric trying to stake Damon on his will.

"Damon wanted me to find a way to keep you alive," Elijah explained.

Elena's eyes widened and she stopped breathing. Had he? Had Elijah found a way to keep her alive? No, she couldn't think like that; she couldn't hope. It would only hurt when she found out he couldn't.

"Did you?" Damon asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice and eyes.

He pursued his lips. "Centuries ago when Katerina was to be sacrificed as the human doppelganger, I did not want her to have to die, so I had a witch make something for me; an elixir."

"Well, what does it do?" Damon asked, impatiently.

"If Elena were to drink it before the sacrifice, it should allow her to live. She would die, but this elixir restores life."

Elena still couldn't breath. Maybe this elixir would work. Maybe she would live and get to see her daughter grow up, and be with Damon. Maybe she could still have her life. She was dangerously close to hoping.

Damon clearly didn't have her same view on this. "Should?" Damon snapped. "It should keep her alive?"

"Damon," Elijah said, sounding annoyed and tired. "There are no guarantees with this. This is the best I can do."

Damon shook his head, not accepting this. "No, we have more time," he said. "We can find something else, something with guarantees."

Elena swallowed.

Elijah remained silent, looking at Elena, allowing her to explain.

"What is it?" Damon asked, noticing this awkward exchange. "What's going on?"

"Elijah thinks that Klaus will be coming here on the next full moon," Elena said. "To perform the sacrifice."

Damon's face went completely blank. He was like a statue: beautiful, hard, frozen.

"Damon," she said, touching his arm.

He still didn't move.

"We need to discuss things," Elijah explained. "Now that the time is so close, you need to be aware of some things."

"Things?" Elena asked, half listening and half worrying about Damon, who was yet to move.

"I have not been completely honest with you," Elijah admitted.

Damon snapped back into focus at that. "What?" he hissed.

Elena stared at Elijah, speechless. What had he lied about? Was he working with Klaus?

"About w-what?" Elena asked.

Elijah sighed. "The Sun and the Moon curse does not exist."

Elena's mouth dropped to the floor.

"What do you mean it doesn't exist?" Damon asked, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"It does not exist," Elijah said simply.

"Then why is Elena going to be sacrificed in three weeks?" Damon asked. He sounded like he was about to murder someone. Elena knew that voice all too well, so she grabbed Damon's hand, holding it tightly in hers.

"There is a curse," Elijah explained. "It's simply not the Sun and the Moon curse."

"Would you please explain what's going on?" Elena asked, her voice tight with stress.

"Klaus is my brother," Elijah said.

Elena stopped breathing and Damon's hand tightened around her own, staring at Elijah.

Elijah gave them a moment to digest this new information before continuing.

"Many, many centuries ago when my family and I were still human, my father found out that my mother had an affair with another man. Klaus is my half brother. My father always suspected this. Klaus was rebellious, stubborn and uncooperative. He was nothing like my father."

"I don't understand," Elena said, her eyebrows furrowing. "What's the curse?"

"Klaus's real father was part of a werewolf bloodline."

Elena eyes widened and she heard Damon's quick intake of breath.

"My father had the man's entire family slaughtered," Elijah said. "Klaus found out and killed my father. Klaus found out about this gene before we became vampires."

"So he's… a werewolf and a vampire?" Elena asked, confused.

Elijah shook his head. "No," he said. "That is where the curse comes in. Witches are responsible for keeping the balance of nature. A vampire with a werewolf gene would disturb the balance, so they put a curse on him that would keep the werewolf gene dormant."

"That's where I come in," Elena whispered.

"The sacrifice of a werewolf, a vampire and the human doppelganger on a full moon will break the curse."

"And Klaus will awaken his werewolf gene," Damon said, speaking for the first time. "He'll become a werewolf and a vampire. A hybrid."

"And a thousand times stronger than both," Elijah said bitterly.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Elena asked. "Klaus is your brother. How do we know this isn't just a ploy to get me to trust you so it will be easier to get me for the sacrifice? How do we know you aren't working with him?"

"I give you my word I am not working with Klaus."

"You lied to us once," Damon said, surprisingly calm. For Damon, at least. "Why should we believe you?"

"I had a family," Elijah said, sounding wistful. "I had brothers and sisters. And over the centuries, one by one, Klaus has taken them away from me. He has hunted them down, ripped them apart and scattered them across the world, so I can not help them."

"So its not about keeping the balance," Damon said.

Elijah shook his head.

"It's about revenge," Elena realized.

"Yes," Elijah said. "You don't have to believe a word I am saying, but either way, Klaus will come here, take you away and perform the sacrifice. If you trust me, you may survive."

Elena ran a hand through her hair, feeling overwhelmed.

"This elixir," Damon began, "do you think it will work?"

"Yes."

"If… if I were to give Elena my blood before the sacrifice, would it somehow counteract the elixir?" Damon asked, intensely.

Elena gaped at Damon and Elijah seemed to think that over. Finally he said, "I don't see why it would. It restores life. I think it will still perform as it should."

Damon nodded. "How exactly do you plan on killing Klaus? I think we deserve to know that."

"Luca and Jonah will obtain a rather large amount of power," Elijah explained. "After the sacrifice, during the transformation, Klaus will be weak. Luca and Jonah can use enough power to weaken Klaus and I'll finish him off."

"How will they get all of that power?" Damon asked suspiciously.

"When witches die a violent death, their powers are left behind, floating if you will," Elijah explained. "Live witches can harness this power."

"But where are you going to get that kind of power?" Elena asked.

"The witch's burial ground," Damon said, flatly.

Elena turned to him. "The what?"

"The Gilbert's, the Fell's, the Salvatore's and the Lockwood's weren't the founding families," Damon explained. "The town already had been founded, by Salem witches. When the 'founding families' found out about these witches, they burned them all at the stake on a field out in the woods."

"And Luca and Jonah can harness this power," Elijah said.

"Andyou're sure it will be enough?" Elena asked, swallowing.

Elijah nodded. "When the time comes, I will arrive and give you the elixir. Klaus will come for you. You must let him take you."

Damon's eyes turned murderous at this but he remained quiet.

"I'll see you soon, Elena," Elijah said, nodding at her. "Damon."

And with that, he was gone.

Later that night, Damon and Elena were laying in bed, his arms wrapped tightly around her. He was absentmindedly running a finger over her bloated belly. Ivaney was kicking like crazy tonight.

They had told everyone about the newest developments, and everyone was less than thrilled. Especially Bonnie. She said they shouldn't trust Elijah, not completely, but Elena had pointed out that they had no other choice. What could they do? Run? She wasn't putting Ivaney in danger. If they ran and Klaus found them, they would all die. And she couldn't allow that.

"Before the sacrifice, you have to drink my blood," Damon said, quietly.

"Damon," she said.

"No, Elena, listen to me. For once, just listen to me." He sat up, a serious expression on his face- more serious than she'd ever seen. "In a few weeks, you're going to be a mom. We're going to have a child to raise. I can't do that by myself. You promised me a family remember? If you die, I won't have a family."

"What if the elixir works?" she asked. "And what if your blood somehow counteracts it?"

"What if it doesn't?" he asked. "And you die? At least if you have my blood in your system, you'll come back."

She bit her lip, thinking. If the elixir worked, she would come back regardless of whether Damon gave him her blood. At least, Elijah believed that. But if she didn't take his blood and the elixir didn't work, she would die. She would leave her family.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay."

He closed his eyes, relief written all over his face. "Thank you, Elena. I-"

"Damon," she said, suddenly, her eyes wide.

"What?"

"My water just broke," she said, her voice raising an octave.

His eyes shot open, as wide as golf balls. "What?"