Questions Asked, Questions Answered

It took awhile for Jenna to build up the courage, but she finally approached Alaric and asked him to talk to her in private. She wasn't sure he would be willing, but he agreed.

Now she had to build up the courage to ask him the hard questions.

She tried to assess his appearance. He look pretty much normal. He had removed and trashed the messy shirt. Bonnie had found a t-shirt he could wear so he would be presentable.

He certainly looked good to Jenna when compared to the way he had come in.

"Jenna?" Alaric asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She looked into his eyes now and said the first thing that came to her mind. "You lied to me."

Alaric wasn't sure exactly what she was referring to and was going to ask when she interrupted him.

"You said you were bringing Elena here, to Bonnie's house. Where is she?"

"I'm not sure."

"How could you leave her then? I trusted you to take her."

"How much did Stefan tell you?" Alaric asked.

"He told me a lot. He said you were dead and came back. He said he is a vampire. And he said Elena is fine even though no one knows where she is or what she is doing. I'm expecting better from you."

Alaric took a breath and decided he would do it. She was her guardian, now she knew. And he was sure she would protect Elena – at least as much as she could.

Seeing his hesitation, Jenna said "Promise me you won't lie to me."

"I promise," Alaric said.

"Where is Elena?"

"I don't know. I took her to a rendezvous point and she went the rest of the way she was going with others."

"With who?"

"I don't know. I was helping her do her job."

"She has a job? Working for who."

'No time wasted getting to the real test' Alaric thought. But he didn't hesitate. "She works for a vampire named Katherine. When Elena asks, I help her – mostly getting to places she needs to be."

"And keeping me in the dark," Jenna said.

Alaric nodded. He couldn't read her expression.

"You're telling me that what the others have said is true. That Stefan Salvatore needs blood to live. That you were dead and came back."

"I am. Yes, it is true."

"And do you believe Elena is safe even though you don't know where she is?"

"I believe it."

"How could you keep this from me? It's about Elena. Why would you not tell me?"

"Because she asked me not to, and I usually end up doing as she asks. She was protecting you, Jenna."

"Why would I need protection?"

"Do you have to ask after tonight? This world of vampires you're in now is dangerous."

"Stefan said one of those that attacked me was a vampire. And you believe him. But how can Elena be safe then?"

He paused for just a second before responding. "She has more people protecting her than you'll ever know. But if I'm being truthful, she's not safe. She is safer than me or you. But nobody's safe here."

The Call

Isobel found Damon and kept her promise – she called Elena.

"Isobel?" Elena said as soon as it rang.

"Found him."

"Is he OK?"

"Yes. He's outside a house, sitting. It looks like he is trying to figure out a way in."

"OK, give me the address. We're about ten minutes out of town now."

Uninvited

Damon had just decided what to do when he heard her approach.

"Careful, there's vampires in that house. You might be heard." Damon said. He looked irritated at the interruption.

"I'm sure you've ruled that out or you wouldn't be so noisy," Isobel said. "How many vampires? I was told you were only following one."

"Three." Damon said.

"Well, when Elena gets here with the others, we'll be able to take them without any problem."

"When Elena gets here? Elena is coming here to the vampires who want to kill her? Do you not get the strategy? In case you were inattentive, your job is to keep her as far away from the 'evil' vampires as possible."

"Try telling her that." Isobel countered.

"Anyway, we can't get into the house. I've tried. I couldn't even break a window."

"Then the owner lives and is probably in there right now. So did you throw a rock through a window?"

Damon shook his head. "Of course not. I'm stealthier than that."

"Do they know you're here, Damon? Are they expecting trouble?"

"They don't know."

Isobel nodded. "Good. Then we can wait for Elena and decide what to do then."

"I'm not waiting for her. I'm going to find out if they were after her before she gets here."

"Damon, she wants you to wait. And what are you going to do, knock on the door?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do." Damon said, moving towards the door. "I've tried everything else."

"Damon, she will be here in less than ten minutes. Wait for her."

"Ten minutes? Then I need to get started."

"Damon, what if they all come out after you?"

"Then I hope she's early. You can take one of them. I can hold off anyone, or any two, for ten minutes."

Damon was knocking on the door now. Isobel hid in a nearby shadow.

The door was not opened by a human. It was a big, ugly vampire.

Damon got in his face – as much as he could with a barrier between them.

"Someone visited the Gilbert house today. Caused some trouble. Hurt people I care about. I'm thinking it was you."

The other vampire wasn't fazed. He glared right back at Damon, not speaking.

"Were you after Elena? Jeremy?"

"Where is she?" The vampire finally spoke, or rather growled. "She can't hide."

"She doesn't hide," Damon shot back. "You want her? You have to start with me."

Damon actually moved forward and hit the barrier – the barrier that kept uninvited vampires from entering.

As he was falling back, the other vampire grabbed Damon and pulled him back into the barrier. He let him go and pulled him back several times until Damon was staggering.

Then the vampire came out after him.

Isobel was immediately on him. She pulled him off of Damon and fought to keep him away. A human and another vampire left the house and pulled Damon into the house, the human saying "come in" at just the right moment. The door closed, leaving Isobel with a vampire to fight while trying to come up with an explanation for Elena.

Invitation Not Required

Elena arrived and was out of the car immediately. One of the vampires with her went immediately to Isobel's aid and destroyed the vampire attacking her.

Elena ran to Isobel as soon as she could. "Are you OK?"

Isobel nodded. She really was.

"Damon?" Elena asked.

"Inside."

"Inside? Then why are you out here fighting alone?"

"He's not a guest Elena, he's a prisoner – if he's anything alive at all. They took him."

Elena didn't take this well. "No. You weren't supposed to let this happen."

"Blame me later if you must, Elena. Right now, let's just get him out of there."

"OK," Elena said thinking. "How many are in there."

"Vampires? Damon said three, so two now. And at least one human – the home owner."

"Then we can take them. We'll all go in and get him."

"Vampires can't go in there Elena. We're not invited."

"Damon's in there!" Elena's emotions were getting the best of her.

"He was invited. No one else. You know this stuff Elena. Calm down. We need a plan."

Elena glared at Isobel, but knew she was right. She paused for a minute.

"I can go in there."

"No, you can't Elena." Isobel retorted in full icy ready-to-kill vampire mode.

"I can and I have to. I'm not leaving him alone."

"Katherine would literally kill me if I let you go in there."

Elena looked at her hard expression for a moment, wondering how to convince her when another idea hit her.

"Katherine," She said almost to herself. "Would they know Katherine?" She asked Isobel, nodding toward the house.

"Maybe. Probably, since they seem to know who you are."

"Then they will see Katherine," Elena said, removing her vervain necklace and offering it to Isobel.

"Elena, they could compel you." The icy tone was gone from Isobel. "They came here to hurt you or take you, and you're going to walk into their lair? We can't go in!"

Elena was desperate for anything now. "Then I'll sneak in and make it possible for you to follow."

"By killing the owner? Could you even do that?"

"Do you think he would live after what's happened anyway? If not me, Damon could do it."

"Damon is in no shape to swat a fly. It can't be him and you aren't up to it."

Elena shook her head. "Then they meet Katherine. Find a way to cover my back," she said, staring icily at Isobel.