Beta by Peachie X. Here's hoping Katherine does not hire her away - we still need her here...

The Aunt

Elena knew dinnertime was approaching. She knew she would have to face Jenna then, it couldn't be put off any longer. Even facing Jeremy was going to be hard.

Elena was sitting on her bed, trying to concentrate on her homework when she heard the knock. Damon was gone, she was glad for that. Still, she hesitated – long enough that the knock was repeated with an "Elena." added.

The wait was over. It was Jenna.

"Come in." Elena said, her voice a little weaker than she would have liked.

Elena looked at Jenna as she entered, wondering what her expression would be. It was hard to read, maybe concerned. At least it wasn't anger.

Elena tried to keep eye contact, but couldn't. Jenna just stood at the edge of the bed and looked at her.

"I'm doing homework," Elena said after looking down at the book in front of her. Jenna still had not spoken.

"I know. Dinner will be on soon and we need to talk before then."

Elena looked up at her. She was still standing at the foot of the bed. "I'm told you already know everything."

"I'd like to hear it from you." Jenna's expression had not changed.

"It's true. I was hurt," Elena admitted.

"You were killed." Jenna's expression did harden this time.

"I'm here. I'm…"

"Do not say you're fine, Elena."

"But I am." Elena claimed.

"Well, I'm not."

Elena waited for Jenna to say more, but she stayed silent..

"You're upset at me because of something that happened to me? I didn't do anything wrong and I wasn't alone. The people with me kept me safe and brought me back to you."

"You should never have gone, Elena. Nobody can do that to you."

"I had to go. I wanted to go. It's just as dangerous here – my parents died here. Others have died recently, you know that."

Jenna closed her eyes. She wasn't sure why she was putting herself through this after her earlier discussion with Damon, Stefan and Alaric - probably because she was not happy with the way it had turned out that time.

"Would your mother have wanted this for you?" Jenna asked, knowing it was a low blow even though Elena had brought up the subject of her parents.

"I don't want this for me." Elena said. "I do want my mother, both of my parents, here. Sometimes you can't have what you want, and you have to do what you may not want to do."

"Elena," Jenna's voice was soft now, the hardness in her expression gone, "Stefan and Damon said you do this, you help Katherine, to protect me. Is that true?"

Elena nodded slightly. "Yes, but not just you. Jeremy, too. Also Bonnie and Mystic Falls."

"Are you that afraid of her, Elena? Is she as bad as they say?"

Elena knew she couldn't really explain Katherine to Jenna. Katherine acted normal around Jenna. She was making an effort and was doing so for Elena.

Jenna noticed Elena's hesitation.

"You know she was here this morning," Jenna said. "if I had known then what happened to you…"

"No!" Elena interrupted her. "Please. You can never, ever confront her or, I don't know, be anything but nice to her."

Jenna was a little taken aback by the change in Elena's expression. It really was fear.

"You are afraid of her. Damon said you have a bond with her, that she protects you."

Elena nodded. "She does – me. But if you confront her, I don't know what she'll do to you. Please, I'll do anything you ask, but I have to go when she needs me, and you have to be nice to her."

Jenna just looked at her niece, trying to process what she was saying.

Elena spoke again. "Katherine didn't know it would happen, that someone would try to hurt me. She was just as upset about it as you are, it was just as hard for me to face her as it is for me to face you." Elena closed her eyes and shook her head. "In some ways you're exactly alike – you both do everything you can to protect me and I don't want to do anything to worry or disappoint either of you."

Elena looked at Jenna again, "But I do. I'm sorry."

Jenna quickly shook her head. "No. Not disappoint, but I worry about you. How can I not?"

"I worry about you too." Elena said. "Whatever wants to hurt me is here as much as anywhere else. It scares me Jenna. No one's safe around me."

Jenna move to the side of the bed next to Elena and pulled her into an awkward hug. "They told me I could help protect you. They said I need to be careful about inviting people into the house. It's not enough."

"It is, Jenna. They're right, you need to be careful - we all do. But it is enough with all of the help we have – at least it has been so far. We have a lot of help, but most of it is because I help Katherine when she asks. I've promised her I will always help her and she promised me she will always protect me. For me, she protects all of you as well."

Elena stopped, she thought she might be rambling, and Jenna's expression was not even close to anger, perhaps resignation.

"I feel like I'm letting your mother down."

"No! You're not. You've done everything anyone could have asked. You couldn't have done any better."

Jenna stared at Elena, not quite convinced. She could not believe she had lost the argument on this subject a second time.

"Just don't keep anything from me, Elena. Don't make me hear it from others. I know you were tired, but you should have told me. The worry will be worse now, please, don't keep anything like this from me again."

"I promise," Elena said, her discomfort obvious. "It'll be hard, but I promise."

Jenna stood, saying "OK" as she moved towards the door. "Be down in ten minutes."

Elena nodded and put her book aside. Homework would be a lost cause, for a little while anyway.

After Dinner

Jenna was starting to act normal again, Jeremy wasn't. All through dinner Sunday evening, he was looking at her. Maybe not quite staring, but he wasn't hiding his concerned looks. Elena knew she looked better than when he had seen her before – she had checked before coming down.

It took conscious effort for her to not get up and go to the mirror again, just to make sure.

Actually, Elena was afraid of another confrontation with her brother. She was tired of justifying her actions to the people she was trying to protect. She was glad when, just as dinner was ending, the doorbell rang.

"Bonnie," Elena greeted opening the door and motioning for Bonnie to enter. Elena was annoyed when Jenna was standing behind her as she turned around.

Jenna looked at Bonnie briefly, then turned to her niece. "Anything I should know, Elena?"

Elena was starting to shake her head when Bonnie saved her.

"It's homework. Elena said she would help me with homework."

Elena turned to Bonnie. "I have it upstairs." She tried to not give Jenna a clue that Bonnie may not have been truthful. "Homework" she repeated to Jenna as she started upstairs without looking to make sure Bonnie was following.

"What was that about?" the witch asked as soon as they entered Elena's room.

"Jenna found out I died." Elena replied softly. "She thinks I kept it from her."

"You did. I wish I had someone who cared that much."

"Your dad cares." Elena said.

"About me, not about this stuff."

"Jenna mostly wants to keep this 'stuff' away from me. But she knows it's too late, so now she wants me to tell her everything."

"And you have a problem with that," Bonnie said, matter-of-factly.

"Some things, yeah." Elena was getting uncomfortable again. Bonnie noticed and decided to get to the point.

"Elena, what's going on?"

Elena looked a little confused. "I told you. Jenna found out and is upset. We both are."

"No, Elena, not here. What else is going on? Isobel was at my house today telling me there's a vampire near me, 'protecting' me." Bonnie's tone made it obvious that she was unhappy with the idea.

Now Elena's surprise was obvious. "Bonnie, I didn't know. Damon didn't say anything and I haven't seen anyone else. I've just been sleeping and doing homework."

"You haven't talked to Isobel or Katherine?"

"No."

Bonnie was scowling. "I don't want it, Elena. Would you call Katherine and tell her that?"

Elena looked uncomfortable. "Bonnie, you know I can't."

"Elena…"

Elena interrupted her. "If something's going on, they'll tell me. When I see someone, I'll let them know you don't want their help."

"Promise?" Bonnie demanded.

"Promise. There's really a vampire near you?"

"Yeah. They can't do that to me. I'm not hers like you…" Bonnie tried to cut herself off when she realized what she was saying.

Elena had closed her eyes. Bonnie could tell that what she had said stung. She took a breath to calm herself.

"But you'll tell Katherine or Isobel or someone? And you'll let me know when you do?"

Elena nodded, a little concerned about what could have happened to cause such a drastic action on Katherine's part. "I will."

The Package

The package arrived fairly early Monday morning. Luckily, the Proctors were early risers.

Sarah was at the table with Natalie, relieved that her mother seemed to be sleeping better. She was looking better, too.

Arrangements for two funerals had been made and entered onto the Proctor calendar. Sarah almost felt guilty that she didn't think her life would change much without Sylvia. Actually, she thought it would be better. If only she had known what Sylvia was doing behind her back while giving her the silent treatment as she and her mother described what they were doing – the good they were trying to do. It made sense now.

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. "I'll get it." she said, rising and going to the door.

She gasped when she saw who was there. She would have described his look as surly. She almost called her mother to the door when she remembered who she was. Vampires could not enter – regardless of their speed. A spell could easily stop a human, and this was no witch, that much she knew.

It was only when she pulled the door open that she remembered that Sylvia had invited vampires into her house and she did not know if it was more than just the six that had already been dealt with.

She made sure to keep all of herself in the house as she looked through the open door. "Yes?"

He wasted no time. She assumed he was a vampire when he spoke. "From Katherine." was all he said.

Sarah nodded. Without waiting for further response, he placed a small package on the doorstep and left.

Sarah waited until he was out of sight before kneeling down and reaching through the door to pick up the package. She had expected that Katherine would simply call her when she wanted something. She really did not expect to get a package.

Sarah was opening the package in the living room, still facing the outside through an open door, when she heard Natalie behind her.

"Who was it, Sarah?"

"Package…from Katherine." Sarah was reading a note that she had pulled from the package. "There's a ring in here." Sara added, reaching back into the package.

"A ring?"

"From one of the vampires that attacked Elena while we were driving." Sarah said as she found it and pulled it out. She looked at it briefly before turning to face her mother. "They want to know if we might be able to tell who made it – from your research into the families of witches."

"You know I'm mostly looking for someone to help us," Natalie said as she took the ring from Sarah, "but maybe…"

Sarah was still looking at the ring when she heard Natalie's gasp. She looked at her mother's face, startled at her expression.

"Mom?" Sarah asked tentatively.

The older witch's eyes were closed. Sarah was trying to read her mother's expression when Natalie spoke.

"Our family. It's a Proctor ring."