A/N: I know... It's been a long time coming. I've got no excuses, but I hope this extra long chapter will help...

~enjoy

Rebekah Mikealson

Yesterday had not gone quite how I pictured it would. I threw my arm over my face to block out the offending morning sunlight. I thought I would come to town, kill my bloodthirsty brother and take the next flight back. Home in time for tea. Apparently that was a little to optimistic. Elijah didn't stay around long after my little outburst. He didn't want Nik to come looking for him.

Last night, I was so sure that Stefan or Damon had decided to turn Elena. It was the only way that I could imagine that would change Bell's future so turned out that Elena had decided to sacrifice herself for whatever plan my brother had concocted. It left only one option. Nik already knew about Bell and had decided to use her if his plan went awry tonight. I shuddered at the thought. I couldn't let him live through the night.

I rubbed my eyes and threw off the covers. Today was going to be a very long day and I was already off to a late start. I grabbed some clothes from my bag and headed for my bathroom. Tonight was the full moon and knowing Nik the way I do, he wouldn't be presuaded to wait another month, no matter who was asking. That was my brother's brillant plan A. Even their backup plan was risky. Most of it depended on the skills of a witch I had never met. To say it all made me a bit uneasy would be a serious understatement. I was going rogue.

"Room service."

I stuck my head out of the bathroom door to find Damon, with his characteristic smirk plastered on his face, standing in my room. I wasn't surprised.

"I didn't realize it was that kind of boarding house." I flashed him a grin and ducked my head back into the bathroom to throw my T-shirt over my jeans. I gathered up my p.j.s and tossed them on the bed

"Well, we do offer all sorts of things here, but I only have blood this morning." He handed me one of his glasses. "So...What'd you think of the plan last night?" He took a sip from his glass.

He had hated it and wasn't afraid to let everyone know, loudly. I really hadn't expected much less from him though, since their backup plan called for Elena's death. Anyone with half a brain could see that he was in love with his brother's girl. I could even see that she had feelings for them both. It was Stefan I couldn't read.

"It's the worst plan I've heard in a very long time." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"What do you propose we do about it?" He continued to sip his drink.

I could see the wheels turning in his head, plans forming and disipating, quickly replaced by others, but I couldn't include him in my scheming. Our end goals were not the same. He would do anything to protect Elena, including kill Nik, but I had to kill him reguardless of who got in the way.

"We aren't going to do anything." I gave him my best go to hell look.

He took a step forward and thrust his glass at me threateningly. "I won't let her die." Determination. That was what I saw in his eyes.

Slowly, a plan began to form in my head. He would make a nice distraction for the others. Once I disappeared, they would assume we were working together and watch him.

"Alright, how's this for a plan? You keep Elena safe and I'll kill Nik." I grabbed my bag and tried to leave, but he blocked my path.

"Great, but how?"

I looked up at him. "I honestly don't care how, or even if, you accomplish your end of things." I moved to leave again, but ran into his rather solid chest.

"That's not what I meant."

He must have a death wish or something. I shot him a look that caused him to take a step back. "Block my way again and I'll be wearing your pretty little fangs as earrings." I shoved my way through the door and snuck down the stairs and out the door.

I took me a little longer than I remembered to find the cave entrance, even traveling at vampire speed. I hadn't been here in over half a millennia. The landmarks I normally used were scarcely recognizable. I was able to pick up the pace again once I made it to the entrance. At least the caves hadn't changed much.

I'd hidden the arrow here almost a thousand years ago with my bow. If it was still undiscovered, this was going to be easy. Not very satisfying, but quick and easy. Before my family managed to burn the white oak to the ground, I managed to smuggle away a piece of it which I then fashioned into an arrow with Nik's death in mind. I'd never forgiven him for my little brother's death.

I wiped away a tear as I reached into a crevasse and pulled out the bundle I had hidden here so many years ago. I retraced my steps to mouth of the tunnel then unwrapped my prize. I pulled out my bow first. It had been a present from Elijah for my 14th birthday. He'd told me a man would never marry a woman who couldn't fend for herself. I smiled as I traced my hands along the intricate cravings on the handle, before stringing it and pulling it taunt. The witch had done a good job. One of mother's friends had helped me to bespell it so it would last through the years. I quickly put the quiver on my back and looked around. It was twilight already. I had to move fast if I wanted to get into positon unseen.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out and cringed. I must have lost signal in the caves. 14 calls and 10 new text messages. I quikly scrolled through them. They all had the same theme: Where are you? What are you doing? Albiet they got a bit more forcefull the longer they went unanswered. I dropped it back into my bag and deposited it into the cave. I couldn't chance it giving away my location.

Before he left last night, Elijah told us that Nik was planning to perfprm the ritual at the rock quarry so I bolted off in that direction. I circled the quarry hoping to find a vantage point that would give me a clear shot, but allow me to remain hidden from both of my brothers. I couldn't find one on the ground so I began searching the trees. I spotted one and quickly scaled the tree and settled into my perch.

Damon Salvatore

"Why are you so eager to place your trust in an elixir that's past its expiration date? You're gunna die Elena." I grabbed both of her arms, willing her to understand.

"I'll come back and even if I don't at least everybody will be safe." She brushed me off.

"Why are you so quick to martyr yourself? You don't know what's going to happen. What if you die and you don't come back and we can't stop Klaus? What if this horrible plan doesn't work? You'll have died for nothing. I can't lose you Elena."

She took a step back. "I'm with Stefan, Damon."

I ran a hand through my hair. "And I'll never understand why. His feelings for you aren't love, Elena."

Her mouth was drawn in a tight line. I'd touched a nerve.

"Stefan does love me, Damon." She took a step closer, but she crossed her arms over her chest. "And I love him."

"What would you do Elena, if Stefan started drinking human blood again; if he turned into the Ripper again? I know you. I know you wouldn't be able to stand idly by and let him destroy his life." I started to close the distance between us. "You would fight him tooth and nail every step of the way. Hell, you'd lock him in a cell and starve him until he was clean again, because you know that no matter what he says to you its what he needs." I looked down into her eyes and they were filling with tears. "You wouldn't let him choose to destroy everything Elena, no matter how much he might hate you for it."

I lifted my hand to her face and caught a tear. "You deserve someone who feels the same way about you."

She spun around and headed for the door. I panicked. I moved infront of her quickly, blocking her way out.

"I know how to make sure you'll come back. How to make sure you can protect your family Elena, all on your own without having to trust Klaus." I felted the blood pool around my face as my fangs dropped. I quickly bit into my wrist. Her eyes widened in realization.

I grabbed the back of her head and pressed my wrist to her mouth. I saw her swallow as Stefan grabbed me from behind. I released her before he managed to throw me across the room. What was he trying to do snap her neck?

"How could you do this to her?" Stefan stood between us. I watched Elena. Her eyes were still wide, but she wipped her mouth with the back of her hand before hastlily leaving the room.

Rebekah Mikealson

Nik crested the hill for a second time and forced a vampire into the containment circle beside the werewolf. We didn't have to wait long for Elema to show up. Nik didn't hesitate before shoving her into the last circle. I quickly drew my arrow, notched and sighted it. Before I could loose it, he stepped behind his witch, effectively blocking my shot. I would have to wait for another opening.

Elena was looking around frantically. She must be searching for the others. I heard a twig snap to my right and I froze, at least I was downwind. I chanced a glance in the direction. It was Elijah and a human, maybe Elena's witch friend. A scream pulled my attention back to the quarry. Nik stood over the werewolf with her heart in his hand. I sighted my bow once more as the flames died around the vampire. I expected her to run, but not in the direction she chose. She attacked the witch and Nik plunged the stake through her heart. I glanced back at Elijah. They still hadn't moved. I really hoped they wouldn't wait till the ritual was finished, but it looked like my brother was going to stick to his plan and attack as Nik shifted. I couldn't let him get that far.

Nik had Elena in front of him now. If I shot now I would kill them both, but if I didn't Nik would break the curse and unleash his werewolf side. My arrow would have to pass through Elena's heart before it could hit Nik. I barely hesitated before drawing the arrow harder to account for Elena then I let it fly. The whistle of the arrow drew Elijah's attention, but before he could turn his head I shifted and flew off into the night.

I was drinking a blood on the couch, with my bag beside me when they returned. Damon walked in ad stood in front of me, while Stefan carried a very dead Elena up to his room. Elijah joined Damon in front of me. Both men wore stern looks on their faces and had their arms crossed.

"Everything go according to plan?" I tried to be the picture of innocence. Damon frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but my brother beat him to it.

"How many more do you have?" I frowned, faking confusion.

"There's plenty on the side bar behind you." There was no way he could know it was me.

"There are no birds in this area even remotely the size of a golden eagle, Rebekah. Do not do me the dishonor of continuing to lie." His gaze held firm, while Damon's faltered. Apparently, this was the first time he had heard this tidbit. I dropped my head in defeat.

"I only had one." I felt the tension in the room lessen slightly. I looked back up at him. "I made it for Nik before we burned down the tree."

He nodded, only now understanding how far I was willing to go to avenge my little brother. Damon merely glanced back and forth between us not understanding our silent communication.

"Very well sister. I will see you in the morning." He left with a quick bow of his head, ever the gentleman.

I moved to get up but Damon blocked my way.

"Not so fast." He quickly took a step back at the sight of my raised eyebrow, remembering our conversation from earlier in the morning. "You killed her."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "That was your part of the plan." I poked him hard enough in the chest that he stumbled backwards. "I figured that if you let her get that close to Nik in the first place then you had done something to make sure she wouldn't stay dead."

He seemed to accept my answer even thougn I knew it would be a long time before he would forgive me for it. My phone started buzzing in my bag and I held up a finger to Damon.

"Is everything alright Bells?" I watched Damon raise his eyebrows.

"No Beks, its not." Her voice was trembling, she sounded on the brink of tears. "I don't know what to do. This is the first time I could get alone to call you. Victoria heard the Cullens had returned and she's bringing a newborn army to kill me."

I cursed. Damn mutts couldn't take care of one stupid vampire.

"I'm scared Bekah."

I grabbed my bag a ran to my room to throw things together. "Don't be Bell. I'm coming." I pinned the phone between my shoulder and my ear, while I zipped the bag. "Do you feel safe right now? Cause if you don't you should call Jacob."

"Just get here, please." I hated to hear her beg.

"I'm leaving right now." I hung up the phone amd faced Damon.

"No. You're not coming."

I glanced out the plane window into the night as we taxied out onto the run way. I couldn't believe it. He tattled. As soon as the words left my mouth, he pulled out his phone and called my brother. Now I was stuck with two tag alongs. My brother I didn't mind so much, but I could definitely do without Damon.

Once we got to cruising altitude, I pulled out my phone and started launching birds. Damon lean across the asile.

"Can you at least turn the sound off? If I keep hearing wheeeeee, I'm going to smash your phone."

I ignored him and launched another bird. He slumped back into his chair with an exasperated sigh.

"Put the game away, Rebekah. You haven't spoke to us since we left the house. Won't you at least tell us what is happening in Washington that requres you to rush back so urgently."

I glanced up at my brother. I guess they weren't going anywhere. I dropped my phone into my bag.

"My friend from Forks, Bella, has gotten herself into a situation and if I hadn't needed to come here and save you all, then she wouldn't need my help right now."

"I take it that this isn't a normal sort of problem then." Damon took his drink from the flight attendant and waved her on.

I nodded and handed Elijah his drink. "No it isn't.i wasn't her first encounter with our world. She ran into some of ...our cousins, last year. I think you might know the eldest, brother. He goes by Carlisle."

Elijah's brow furrowed as he followed my story. Damon just sipped his drink.

"She started dating one of them-"

"She did WHAT?!" Damon spewed his drink all over the chair in front of him.

"She got along great with the rest of his family too, but they ran into some trouble with another group. He ended up dumping her for her safety, or at least that was what he said.

"Now the last member of that group is coming for her with..." I looked around to make sure we didn't have any unwanted listeners. "Newborns."

Elijah's eyes darkened. He remembered them.

Our kind stayed out of the Southern Newborn Wars. One on one we were pretty evenly matched. In small groups, it depended on our skill. In large groups, they were just to strong. We avoided the Wars, and the the Cold Ones in general, because of it. In the end, Nik and Elijah were able to force the end of the wars politically. Of course that meant that Nik did the talking and Elijah did the killing and torturing. I'm willing to bet no one around even remembers what he looks like. Whatever happened left them terrified of my family. Now they police their own in fear of us.

Six hours later we were on the road to Bella's house. I'd spent the time on my phone, after telling them about the Cullen's seer. We agreed to guard our decisions so we could keep the upper hand. By the time we pulled up in the driveway, I realized that I'd left out the most important part.

I climbed out of the car door and grabbed their attention. "By the way, she's a doppelgänger."

Elijah stopped walking around the car and turned to face me. "Why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"Yeah, like maybe yesterday?" Damon crossed his arms behind me. I spun around to face him.

"Why? so you could send Nik after her to save your precious Elena?" I took care to make sure my voice was low so we couldn't be overheard.

"You don't know I'd do that."

"Don't I?"

"Rebekah, Damon, we can discuss this later. Have you told her yet?"

I shook my head. "She's still recovering from her last experience with the supernatural." Elijah sighed and shook his head as he walked over to me.

"That's no reason to keep something this important for her. It is never going to be easy to hear. You should tell her soon. Now, do you think we can stop standing around out here and make our way to the door?"

I walked up the stairs and was about to knock, when it opened in front of me. Bella quickly swallowed me in a hug.

"Missed you, Beks."

I glanced over her shoulder and noticed a girl in her late teens with a black pixie haircut standing just inside the door. Bella squeezed me tighter. When she pulled away I noticed the blush on her cheeks. She must have spotted the men behind me.

"Bella, this is my brother Elijah and my friend Damon." I paused for the retort I knew was coming.

"The Friend Zone? Really? We'll see about that." I glanced back at the smirk that covered his face and narrowed my eyes at him.

"No we won't." I looked back to Bella.

"Alice, this is Rebekah."

She bounded forward and gave me a hug. I couldn't help but tense.

"We are going to be great friends."

I seriously doubted that. She must've cracked her crystal ball. She and I were not going to be friends. Then again, she never mentioned when we were going to be friends. Maybe even I can't hold a grudge forever.

"Sorry, we can't stay and chat right now." She gave Elijah and equally awkward hug. "But we were just leaving." Damon returned her hug while eyeing me. Like I would be jealous of her. She motioned for Bella to follow her to her car, but Bella hesitated.

"Surely, you won't mind if we tag along. We'll follow you." Normally, I would never invite myself along, but in this case, I made an exception.

Their house was gorgeous. It reminded me of a house I built in Aspen a few years ago. As soon as I got out of the car, I felt something nudging my mind. I looked at Elijah and Damon.

"Tell me that's one of you."

Bella told me they had gifts, but she only mentioned Alice. Our kind were able to manipulate minds because of the Power we could tap into, so the feeling wasn't unfamiliar, just unexpected. I felt both of their shields snap into place around their minds and immediately brought mine up and frowned. Apparently they had a mind reader, a very rude one.

We were welcomed into the house, but all six of them seemed to be on edge. I hoped it was because they were trying not to attack us and not because our acting skills needed improvement. It had been a very long time since I'd run into a Cold One. I couldn't recall if we smelled tasty or not. We did have blood and a pulse. It was a great deal weaker than a human's of course, but it was still there.

Alice did the honor of introductions. Rosalie was the pretty blonde. Emmett must be the muscle of the group. She introduced Carlisle and Esme as their father and mother. Recognition was wiped from my brother's face almost as fast as it appeared. I almost missed it. Next she introduced Jasper and I couldn't help but be surprised because my brother stepped forward effectively placing himself between Jasper and Bella.

"I'm Elijah Smith." Bella looked little confused, but didn't correct him. He held his had out for Carlisle to shake, then indicated Damon and myself.

"This is my sister Rebekah and Damon Salvatore. I apologize for coming unannounced, but we just got into town and Rebekah wanted to catch up with Bella. I hope you don't mind the intrusion."

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"A scotch, if you don't mind." Everyone's attention snapped to Damon. "What? It was a long flight." I rolled my eyes and looked back at my brother.

"He'll be fine with water, Mr. Cullen." Damon shrugged off my brother's comment, but accepted the water when it was offered.

Bella grabbed my hand and led me to the couch to sit down. My brother followed, always remaining between her and Jasper. It was very curious. I'd never seen him act that way with a human since we were turned. Then again, I haven't been around him very long in the last few centuries. When he sat down on the couch beside Bella, I caught her blushing. Huh, things just got curiouser and curiouser. I filed that away for later. What I really wanted to know was where Bella's ex was.

I opened my mouth to ask, but closed it when I spotted him coming into the room. I couldn't help the anger and loathing that bubbled to the surface, but I allowed none of it to show. I could wait. I could wait a long time.

I noticed a confused look on Jasper's face as he glanced between Edward and myself. My anger slowly started to subside. I looked at my brother who shook his head.

"Hello, Bella." He actually had the audacity to speak to her. My anger flared earning me a worried look from Jasper. Maybe he was the mind reader. Bella wouldn't look at Edward. She didn't look like she was going to answer him either. Good for her.

"Hello, Edward." I glared at him for her.

It was like he just noticed me. He didn't say anything in return, so I waited. I felt something poking at my shield. So he was the mind reader, not Jasper. Fine, if he wanted in my head, I'd let him in. I'd been around Bella long enough to have plenty of things he wouldn't want to see. I was careful when I cracked my shield so that he only saw what I wanted to show him. Slowly, I felt him step into my trap and I couldn't help but grin sadistically as it snapped shut.

My brother continued the conversation attempting to keep attention away from me. He knew what I was doing. Jasper was the first to notice something off. Edward clenched his fists at his sides and walked over to the window. Someone had to be helping him keep his emotions in check unless he really never cared about her in the first place. Looking at Jasper again, I realized he must helping Edward stay in control. He was completely focused on him. I guess it was time to remove the kid gloves. I heard Elijah make some excuse for he and Bella to move to the other side of the room. He must have realized what was coming.

I made Edward watch the Moonstone Ritual. I knew it was Elena, but he would think he was seeing Bella. When Nik grabbed her, Edward clutched the chair beside him hard enough to shatter the back of it. The very last thing I showed Edward was my arrow piercing her heart.

He attacked before anyone could respond. I almost wasn't quick enough. I had to fight to keep my fangs back, but my years of practice were paying off. Edward had me pinned to the ground with the couch in pieces all around us. We were evenly matched, but I had experience on my side. I needed to end this fight fast before I killed him. That would be to quick and not nearly satisfying enough.

I glanced around the room while dodging Edward's teeth. Elijah was standing protectively in front of Bella while Damon stood sipping his water, watching the show. The others seemed to be in shock. Edward finally found an opening and latched onto my neck. I let him take one good drag before launching him across the room. Carlisle was immediately crouching defensively in front of Edward along with the rest of the Cullens. I leap up from the ground just as my blood began to take its hold.

"Stand down, Rebekah." I did not advance on them.

"It would seem we have a lot to talk about." Elijah stepped in front of me to face Carlisle.

I waited, listening. Carlisle rose slowly.

"It would seem, so."

Edward suddenly gasped for air as another human heart beat filled the room. Slowly, the Cullens turned to him, disbelief and horror covering their faces. My fun was just beginning.

A/N: Did you love it? Hate it? Let me know with that pesky little review button down below.