Author's note: Thanks for the review, follow, and favorites! Since this is a shorter story, I hadn't really announced it. I'm so excited so many of y'all found it already.

I still don't own TVD. Since I'm borrowing more heavily from an episode, I can't really say that the plot is mine this time. I will deviate from the plot of BTLOTM, but I'm also following it at some points.

"We appear to have some idle time on our hands, Stefan. Whatever shall we do?" Katherine reverted back to the Southern belle Stefan had once known. She fluttered her long eyelashes in his direction.

He glared at her and turned away. "Leave me alone."

"You know I don't do bored." Katherine's voice took on a hard edge as she walked to Stefan's side. She stood next to him and ruffled his hair. "So noble..." Her lips tilted in a crooked grin. "You won't even look at me. Keeping yourself pure for your lovely Elena." She fingered the collar of his shirt. "We're not so different, you know."

"She's nothing like you." Stefan spat as he stood and walked away.

"Isn't she?" Katherine laughed. "You're seriously deluding yourself, Stefan. Don't you remember?" Her voice once again took on its Southern drawl.

"I remember it as if it were yesterday. Of course, for me, it almost was. Pearl and Anna had settled in Mystic Falls first. They told me it was the perfect place - quiet and remote - brimming with Southern hospitality. The war had largely overlooked the town except for all the young men who were away fighting. Even Emily even thought settling in the town for a time was a good idea. She looked forward to returning to her family's home."

Katherine took a few steps in Stefan's direction. "When I arrived, cloaked in the sadness of my family's recent death, I hardly expected to be greeted by such an earnest young man. Your father had prepared you with the story of my loss, and you were there to greet me. Immediately taking me into your protection, such the Southern gentleman. An orphaned young girl - no one left in the world - I felt quite sheltered in your care. It was...quite pleasant."

"In all my travels, so many men had lusted after me, but none had wanted to know me. You were different, Stefan. You were the first one who truly cared about me. That was before Damon arrived and truly muddled things up - as always." She frowned and rolled her eyes. "But that's beside the point." She leaned over his shoulder and whispered into his ear. "A sad, young, orphaned girl. She needed someone to protect her...help her feel something again." Her eyes flashed. "Sound familiar?"

"But for Elena, the story was true." He didn't turn to look at her.

"It was for me as well."

"So, now we need to decide what to do with Death Wish up there." Damon looked between Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy. He still couldn't believe this was the team he'd ended up working with - definitely not his group of choice.

"I don't think Elena was really trying to get herself killed." Bonnie winced at the thought.

Damon leaned forward and shook his head. "She sent a message saying she wanted to surrender to Klaus. Same difference." He massaged his temples. If he hadn't gotten there in time...he wasn't sure what would have happened.

"We have one more problem." Caroline stopped pacing and leaned against the back of the couch. "Tonight's the full moon."

"Tyler." Jeremy muttered under his breath.

"I can't let him do this alone." Caroline's eyes sparkled with tears. "You didn't see that video Mason made. It was..." She might have been scared out of her mind the night she turned, but watching how painful the werewolf transformation had been made her very thankful she was at the other end of the supernatural spectrum.

"Then you have Puppy Patrol." Damon sighed in exasperation. Now he was losing the one member he'd been most depending on to help keep Elena safe. "That leaves me with the two of you."

"What if I did a spell?"

"You know an anti-psychotic spell?" Damon looked impressed.

Bonnie shook her head. "No, but I could put a spell similar to the tomb spell on the house. I could make it Elena-specific. Everyone else can come and go, but she'd have to stay in the house."

Damon gave her an impressed grin. "That's actually a good idea."

"Is that really such a surprise?"

"But what if she needs to leave?" Jeremy didn't look convinced. "I mean, it's hard enough keeping Jenna out of all this. She's going to think something's a little off if Elena can't get out the door to go to school."

Bonnie thought for a minute. "I could modify the spell so that she can leave as long as she's with someone. If one of us walks out the door with her, she can get out. If she's by herself, she can't."

Damon nodded. "Do it." He listened - everything was still quiet upstairs. Either Elena was really tired or he'd overestimated her alcohol tolerance. "You two have Elena-sitting duty first. I need to go check in on Stefan."

Jeremy looked at the clock while Bonnie turned the moonstone over and over in her fingers. That white stone had been obtained at too high a price. He wondered if Elena would ever forgive him if they were unable to free Stefan from the tomb.

Bonnie seemed to be able to read Jeremy's mind. "We'll get Stefan out. You can stop beating yourself up about it. It happened. It's over. We have to move on."

"It's not like we didn't already have enough to deal with."

"That's true." Bonnie realized breaking the moonstone curse now battled for priority with unlocking the tomb and freeing the person who had killed Caroline and almost succeeded in killing Jenna. "I've already tried to get a message to Lucy. My aunt may be able to reach her." Bonnie's attention stayed focused on the stone. "I don't know if she'll help, though. She's not Katherine's biggest fan."

"Is anyone?"

"Damon used to be." Bonnie smirked as she finally looked directly at Jeremy.

"But I think even he's over her now." Jeremy sat back in his chair and looked around the living room. Jenna had come home a few hours earlier, taken a shower, and rushed out muttering some surprising words about what Carol Lockwood could do with the visiting author. He didn't really have anything else to do this afternoon, but sitting in the living room with Bonnie was becoming increasingly awkward. "Do you think we should go check on her or something?"

The clock in the hall chimed one o'clock. "I'll go up." Bonnie was more than relieved to leave the room for a few minutes. She climbed the stairs and paused hesitantly in front of Elena's door. Tapping softly, she waited for a reply.

"I'm awake."

Bonnie pushed the door open and found Elena lying in bed - her pillow over her face.

"Don't try to tell me everything's going to be okay." Elena pulled the pillow down and held it over her stomach.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Bonnie perched on the side of the bed. She looked at the array of pictures on Elena's dresser and spied a picture of the pair of them at summer camp five years ago. Things had been so much simpler then. "I tell my friends the truth." She gazed sadly down at her friend. "Why'd you do it, Elena?"

Elena blinked at the ceiling. A crack snaked above her head. How long had that been there? She pulled her flowered blanket up to her chest. "Damon told you."

"He's worried about you." Bonnie found herself in the very unexpected position of being on Damon's side at the moment.

Elena fought back tears. She'd already melted into a blubbering mess on Stefan's, and, even surprising herself, Damon's shoulders. She was done with her tears. Now she was just angry. "I'm tired of not being in control. If I'm the center of all this." She waved her arms in a circle. "I want a say in when I die and who dies with me. Which," she fixed a determined expression on her face as she looked at Bonnie, "will be none of the rest of you."

"Elena." Bonnie scooted closer to her friend. "None of us blame you."

"You should." Elena shifted onto her side and pushed herself up on one elbow. "I'm going to go take a shower." Effectively ending the conversation, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Jeremy stepped into the doorway.

"How much of that did you hear?" Bonnie flashed him a look of concern.

"Enough." Jeremy's severe expression showed the gravity of the situation hadn't escaped him. With Jenna out of the loop, the job of protecting his sister rested soundly on his shoulders.

"She's not going to stop trying." Bonnie stared at the closed bathroom door. She'd always admired her friend's tenacity - until now. Today, Elena's determination could likely cost her friend her life.

Jeremy drew himself up to his full height. "Then we just have to make sure she can't."

"Knock, knock." Damon lowered a knapsack to the dirt floor. "Stefan!" He wasn't going to leave the supplies he'd brought without seeing Stefan first. Katherine may have said she was there for Stefan, but he wanted to assure himself that she hadn't hurt his brother.

Stefan came to the tomb opening, and Damon was happy to see he only looked a little worse for wear. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought you'd like a few comforts from home." He tossed the knapsack in Stefan's direction as Katherine appeared in the shadows.

Stefan opened the bag and peered inside - curious to see what Damon regarded as an essential. He was pleasantly surprised at Damon's packing ability. Not only did he now possess a lantern and a couple of changes of clothes, Damon had retrieved the book Stefan had been reading from his nightstand.

"I'll be right back." Damon nodded to Stefan and headed back up the stone stairwell. Moments later, he appeared with two folding cots and a bundle of blankets. As he tossed them through the invisible barrier, he shrugged. "I'm not sure how long you're going to have to be down here. The little witch is working on getting you out."

"Thanks." Stefan gave his brother a surprised smile. "Don't worry about it. Make sure Bonnie's working on the moonstone - not trying to get me out."

"Oh, that'll go over well with Klaus." Damon had almost forgotten about Katherine's presence. "Damon, tell me you're really not trying to destroy the moonstone."

Damon glared in her direction. "That would be a lie."

"You're signing your death sentence."

"No, you did that many years ago." Damon turned his attention to a small cooler he'd carried in on his shoulder. He opened it and pulled out a bottle. "Stefan-diet approved." He shook it in his brother's direction.

Stefan's eyes burned with hunger, but he shook his head. "I can't."

"Come on, Stefan. We're not going through this again, are we?" For the past few weeks, Stefan had been markedly less martyr-like, and Damon had been happy with the change in his brother.

"If I take it, she'll have a chance to feed as well. I won't risk letting her get stronger."

"You're sure?" Damon zipped the bottle back into the bag.

Stefan nodded. He stood there and stared at Damon, an unasked question hanging in the air.

"She's fine, Stefan." Damon volunteered the answer. "Bonnie and Jeremy are with her right now. I might prefer to have a different team to work with, but I couldn't ask for two people more determined to keep her safe. Bonnie even spelled the house to keep her from leaving."

"She what?" Stefan's eyes widened with surprise.

Damon cringed. He'd momentarily forgotten he hadn't told Stefan about Elena's little adventure with Rose.

"Why did you do that, Damon?"

Damon pursed his lips. He didn't want to add to Stefan's worries by telling him what his currently-on-a-break girlfriend had been up to, but he wasn't sure how to avoid the discussion now.

"Damon!" Stefan glared daggers at his brother.

"You were probably wondering why I disappeared yesterday."

"That was on my list of things to discuss with you later, yes."

"Rose called me. It seems Elena tried to contact Klaus. She wanted to surrender. She was hoping to make a deal with him."

Whatever Stefan had been expecting - that wasn't it. He'd known Elena had taken all this personally, and she had every right to, since she was the sacrifice. His voice cracked. "She did what?"

"I got there in time." Damon thought he'd leave the part about Elijah showing up out of the story. "But I can't be sure she's not going to try again. That's why she's locked in her house."

Stefan's last reserve of strength faded. He leaned against the wall, a shadow of doubt coming over his face. He'd willingly taken Jeremy's place, but he hadn't thought about the implications of no longer being able to protect Elena.

"Stefan." Damon read the despair on his brother's face. "I promise you. I won't let anything hurt her - not even herself."

Elena finished blowdrying her hair and listened carefully. She could hear the unmistakable sounds of Jeremy's favorite video game downstairs. Peeking into her bedroom, she saw with relief that Bonnie had finally left her alone for a few minutes.

Ever since she'd woken up that afternoon, one or the other of them had been with her. She wasn't sure what they thought she was going to do - jump out the window...although, that would probably be easier than sneaking out the front door.

She snatched her purse off her floor and pulled it onto her shoulder. At the last second, she threaded a needle through a scarf and stuffed it into her purse. Scurrying down the stairs, she glanced into the living room and was pleased to see Bonnie and Jeremy both occupied by the game.

Taking a deep breath, she ran across the foyer, threw open the front door, and promptly found herself bouncing backwards into the bannister at the base at the stairwell. She looked at her purse, checking to see if the shoulder strap had looped over something, but it didn't seem to be caught. She stood up massaging her back. Slowly, she walked to the still-open front door and attempted to walk out again - only to be met by an invisible barrier.

"I told you she'd try to sneak out." Jeremy stood in the entry hall with his arms crossed in front of him. "Dad threatened her with putting an alarm system on the house to keep her in back in April."

"What did you do?" Elena rounded on her brother.

"Technically, I did it." Bonnie came and took her place at Jeremy's side. "We can't let you leave."

"You locked me in here?" Elena's face fell. "I thought we were friends."

"Stefan doesn't want to see you, Elena." Bonnie's voice was full of compassion.

"But he needs me." Elena choked on the words.

Bonnie walked to her friend's side and wrapped her in her arms. "Elena, don't make this any harder on him. He asked Damon to keep you away for now."

"I never thought I'd see the day you took Damon's side." Angry tears spilled down Elena's face.

"Trust me - no one's more surprised than I am." She wiped Elena's tears from her face. "But right now, he's right."

Elena sat stiffly on the couch. The television was on, but if someone asked her what she was watching, she wouldn't have been able to tell them. Night had fallen, and Bonnie had been gone for over an hour. Convinced that Elena was safely stuck inside the house, Jeremy was upstairs listening to music at a volume so loud she could feel it vibrating the floor vibrating downstairs.

"You're sure you don't want anything?" Jenna came out of the kitchen. She stared at her niece as she dried the last of the dinner dishes.

"I'm not hungry." Elena jumped at the knock on the door.

"That better not be that author. On the phone, he told me he wouldn't be coming by till tomorrow. I can't believe Carol Lockwood talked me into doing this..." Jenna walked to the front door. "Oh, it's you."

"And a pleasure to see you as always." Damon's voice carried into the foyer. "Elena home?"

Jenna sounded suspicious as she answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just something Stefan said. I wanted to come by and check on her."

Jenna stepped back from the door and motioned toward the living room. She didn't understand the odd connection the three of them shared; but Alaric seemed to like Damon, so she decided to let him in. "Can you see if you can get her to eat something? I don't think she's eaten all day."

The irony of the statement wasn't lost on Damon. He'd just come from trying to convince Stefan to do that very thing. "How are you holding up?"

"How do you think?" Elena narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine on this unusually pleasant evening?"

"I wouldn't know. Someone had my friend lock me in my house."

Damon wasn't convinced that Jenna hadn't heard that last not-so-whispered whisper. "No reason for you not to enjoy the evening." He extended his arm to her and inclined his head toward the front door.

"Damon, I'm locked in the house."

Damon had to stifle a laugh. Bonnie hadn't told Elena about the loophole. She and Jeremy were probably afraid to let Elena walk outside, though. She'd texted him about Elena's little escape attempt. "Not as long as I'm with you."

Relief evident on her face, she cautiously approached Damon's side.

"It isn't a joke. You can leave as long as you're with me, Jeremy, or Bonnie." Damon placed her hand in the crook of his arm and escorted her through the front door. "This is probably far enough." He motioned to the porch swing.

Elena sat down and pulled the pillow onto her lap. A fraction of the tension she'd felt today leaked from her since she no longer felt like a caged animal. "It is nice out."

Damon took a seat next to her, pleasantly surprised when she didn't slide away.

"If you were so afraid I was going to leave, where have you been all day?"

He hesitated for a minute - not wanting to bring up a sensitive subject. "I was making sure Stefan was alright."

"You saw Stefan?" Her eyes lit with excitement but they were quickly clouded by anger. "Why won't you let me see him?"

"First, yes, I saw Stefan. I took him a few supplies." He was rewarded by watching Elena relax for the first time of the evening. "Since we're not sure how long he'll be there, I wanted to make sure he's ok. He now has blankets, a cot, his favorite book...you'd be impressed by what I carried down there." He did his eye thing in her direction.

She twisted in her seat and used her doe eyes for their full effect. "But why won't you let me see him?"

Because he told me not to... Because in a few more days you won't want to see what he's become... He struggled for the right thing to say. He lightly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Trust me, it's easier for both of you this way."