Beta by Peachie X, blood and gore by me (what there is of it...do I need more blood and gore?)

Evasion

Elena breathed a sigh of relief when Damon took her straight home. Jenna and Alaric were up as soon as Elena arrived.

Elena found herself being approached tentatively by Jenna. Elena hesitated briefly, then closed the distance, pulling Jenna into a hug.

"You're home finally. Are you all right" Jenna asked, leaning back to get a good look at Elena.

"I'm fine." Elena said, though she grimaced a little as Jenna accidentally touched an elbow.

Jenna noticed and looked at the arm more carefully – pulling Elena's sleeve up to reveal the bandage on her elbow and a few scrapes and scratches.

"Elena, your arm."

"I'm fine," Elena said, quickly pulling the arm away. "I just …fell. I'm just a little scraped up."

Jenna looked back at Alaric. He tried to keep his face blank. She also looked briefly at Stefan, who was next to Alaric now, and then at Damon.

"What aren't you guys telling me?" Jenna asked looking back at Elena.

"Nothing." Elena said quickly. "Well, we haven't told you anything. I'll tell you everything, but I just need to rest for a little bit first."

"We'll tell her everything while you rest." Stefan said.

Elena stared at him. "You don't know everything." she said coolly.

"Elena," Alaric said, "She needs to know."

Elena looked back at Jenna, who was getting more upset. "You're scaring her. I'm fine. That's what she needs to know."

"I know you say that, Elena, but you look hurt to me. What happened?" Jenna asked.

Elena closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.

"Elena needs to go upstairs and rest." Damon said. "I'll tell you what happened."

Elena looked at him. He showed no emotion. "Damon…"

Damon put a finger to her lips to stop her. "She's not your enemy," he told Elena softly. "neither am I. Trust me."

Elena stared into his eyes and finally nodded before heading up the stairs.

Revelation

"She died?" Jenna yelled in disbelief. She couldn't believe what Damon was telling her, but then it was confirmed by Alaric.

"Technically, yes. So did I."

Jenna stared at him. "That's supposed to make it all right?"

"He's saying he kept her alive." Damon said, his face showing no emotion. "We all did."

Jenna glared at Damon now. "No. It's not all right. She can't just go away on someone's whim and come back hurt with stories of being raised from the dead. You can't put her through this – none of you."

"We didn't 'put her through' this," Alaric said soothingly. "We kept her safe while she did what she was sent to do."

"She did what she had to do for Katherine." Damon added. "We did what we had to do to bring her back."

"She was sent by Katherine," Jenna said harshly. "I'm going to talk to her. She can't do this to Elena, or me."

Alaric knew it would only get him in trouble, but the thought of Jenna trying to convince Katherine that she must leave Elena alone scared him more. "It's her choice, Jenna. She goes willingly." he said. "I haven't been able to talk her out of it."

"Me either," Stefan added. "I wish she wouldn't, but she's not really listening to me right now."

"Why does she do it? Why does she 'work for' Katherine?" Jenna asked, her voice still hard. "Elena has never told me, though I've asked."

Damon, Stefan and Alaric looked at each other. None spoke.

"Why Damon?" Jenna asked again, thinking that, since he had done most of the talking, he would tell her.

"For you," Damon said flatly. "she does it to protect you. Katherine is dangerous,"

"Dangerous? I was hugging her this morning. She spoke to me very civilly – she has every time I've seen her."

"Because of Elena," Damon countered. "She's nice to you because of Elena. Don't think there's any other reason. She's a vampire that has no use for the Gilbert family or Mystic Falls. She leaves your family and the town alone because of her deal with Elena."

Jenna tried to process what she was being told. "Deal? I mean I know Elena does things for Katherine, works for her, as she calls it. But deal? What kind of deal?"

"Elena helps her in return for her leaving you, Jeremy, Bonnie and Mystic Falls alone." Damon said. His face remained expressionless, his voice almost bland. "At least that's how it started. They have a strong connection now. They protect each other and they help each other. Katherine thinks that being nice to you helps Elena."

Jenna wasn't buying. "She puts Elena in danger."

"Elena has been in danger for a long time. Katherine protects Elena."

Stefan interrupted now. "I can't believe you're saying that. The danger came with Katherine."

"The danger came with you…and me," Damon retorted. "Elena works for Katherine because it's the only way she knows to protect the people she loves."

Jenna stared at him briefly, then shook her head. "This can't stand. We have to change it."

Damon looked intently at Jenna, his face almost hard. "Elena will do it as long as she thinks it protects you and the others."

"She died!" Jenna argued. "What if Rick hadn't been there? I can't live with myself if I let her go again."

"I was there." Alaric said, trying to calm her. "I will always be there with her when she asks. I know it helps protect you."

"It's not about me. It's about Elena." Jenna knew she was losing this fight. "How can I let her do anything for Katherine knowing she is in danger?"

Damon spoke again, the hardness gone from his expression. "Do you know how much she appreciates you? She knows what you gave up to come here and take care of her and Jeremy. She knows it and loves you for it. She'll do anything she thinks she has to to protect you."

"She'll do anything to protect anyone," Stefan added, "including Katherine."

"Yes," Damon agreed. "They are both still alive because they protect each other." He turned to Jenna. "You are alive because Elena does what she can to protect you. Now she has Katherine protecting you as well."

Jenna scowled. "I don't need Elena's protection." she said softly, unable to voice it normally because she knew it wasn't true.

"You do – you know it and I know it," Alaric said. "You need it, and you have it."

Damon looked at Jenna intently as he said "Elena needs your protection as well."

Jenna pulled her eyes from Alaric to Damon,. "What do you mean?"

"Wherever she goes she has people watching over her. But if she is not home, no one is watching over her home. You need to be careful about who you invite in. Anyone could be a threat to Elena."

Jenna continued to look into his eyes. "Sometimes it's the polite thing to do."

"Elena trumps polite." Damon said.

Jenna turned to Alaric, desperate for him to make her feel better.

"He's right. If Elena is home, it's not likely anything dangerous will get as far as your door, but if she's not, you need to be careful."

Jenna closed her eyes and shook her head. "Elena shouldn't be involved in this at all."

"But she is involved." Damon was still looking at her intently. "She'll do whatever she can to protect you. Will you do what you need to to protect her?"

Aversion

"I don't want it," Bonnie said again, louder this time.

"You were with us." Isobel was on Bonnie's doorstep, trying to get her to understand. "Whoever is after Elena knows you now and is a threat to you. I would think you would be happy to have some help."

"I don't need the help of any vampire," the witch gritted her teeth, "and I sure will not trust any vampire enough to ask for their help."

"It's not about trust." Isobel was frustrated but keeping control of herself. "It's about Elena. You are close to her, somebody knows that. If someone attacks you, it will mean they are a threat to her too. You just need to know that there will be a vampire keeping an eye on you."

"I don't want it!" Bonnie repeated, louder this time.

Isobel's phone rang – she moved off the porch to answer it, but kept eye contact with Bonnie.

When Isobel returned to the doorstep, Bonnie asked, "What?"

"Marcus is back," the vampire replied.

"Marcus?"

Isobel shook herself, remembering that Bonnie did not know he was missing – might not even know who he was.

"It's not an order and it's not a request," Isobel said. "It's information. Know that when you feel a vampire near you, he is not your enemy. He is there to protect you. He will do what he needs to do to protect you. Don't get in his way."

"Elena will hear about this!" Bonnie yelled through the door as Isobel left.

"Yes she will," the vampire muttered to herself as she climbed into her car.

Detection

Elena took a good look at herself in a mirror for the first time in hours. No wonder Jenna knew she had been hurt - it showed on her face. She was tired, too.

She had showered and changed her clothes, eager to get out of the same outfit Katherine was wearing. She had to decide whether to dress for sleep or the day – she chose the day, though she planned to lie down, hopefully sleep for awhile. She had no idea how much sleep she had managed to get the last couple of nights.

She was done changing and preparing – she just couldn't pull her eyes away from her reflection. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door – the door to Jeremy's room.

"Elena? You're back?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah," Elena moved to the door and opened it for him. "I'm done in here."

She stood and looked at him briefly, wondering if it would freak him out if she hugged him. Again, he interrupted her thoughts.

"Elena, what happened to you?"

She heard the concern in his voice, but immediately turned around and walked towards her door. "Nothing."

Jeremy caught her before she reached the door. "Nothing? Your arms, your elbow?"

Elena turned around, chiding herself for short sleeves. She was glad her legs were covered.

"I fell, I got scraped up, but I'm fine." She said, not meeting his eyes.

"It's more than that," her brother countered, "you're not fine."

"I'm fine, just tired." Elena claimed, turning around and walking towards her bedroom again. "I want to rest now."

"Elena, tell me who hurt you," Jeremy demanded.

"Nobody. Stay out of this. I don't want you involved in any of this." Elena said as she went through the door. She tried to close it but he stopped the door.

"Somebody hurt my sister. I'm involved."

Elena had moved to her bed and looked back at him. "Jeremy, I'm fine. Please, I need to rest."

Jeremy shook his head and said "I'm not as naive as you think" as he closed the door.

He thought he heard something hit the door behind him as he walked away from it.