Oh my, Elijah is fun to write... This chapter has some much needed plot, but more delicious (non-balcony, but still hot) steaminess lies ahead. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

In one motion, Damon swept Elena behind him and stepped in front of her, blocking her from the disturbingly calm Original seated blithely by the window.

"What are you doing here?" Damon growled, one hand reaching behind him to hold Elena's hip.

"Feeling better, Elena?" Elijah cooed over Damon's shoulder.

Damon felt Elena wrap her fingers around his arm and squeeze. He couldn't let anything happen to her, this girl he loved with his entire heart. And here, for all intents and purposes alone in this confined space, he had no back up. He was all she had. What had he been thinking? How could he have made this mistake?

Elena's voice was low and thick behind him. "Are you going to take us back to Klaus?"

Elijah allowed the barest grin, just for a moment, and gazed out the window. "I shouldn't expect you to trust me after everything that's happened, Elena."

"Damn right." Damon shifted aggressively on his feet.

"But you see, I have no intention of handing you over to my brother." Elijah lifted Elena's still full glass of scotch to his nose, swirling and sniffing it. "However, your escape would complicate my plan."

"Good," Damon spat.

"Elena," Elijah continued, ignoring Damon's anger, "why don't you sit down and we can discuss this?" He patted the seat next to him.

"Not a chance." Damon stepped backward, pushing Elena further away down the narrow aisle.

"Damon. It's okay. You'll be right here." Her hand came to rest at the tender spot where his shoulder met his neck, squeezing slightly to reassure him. "Don't worry."

Damon turned slowly toward the stunning girl whose face always threatened to lead him down the rabbit hole into his past. Her eyes were pleading with him to let her trust Elijah. He pursed his lips, willing her to understand how perilous an alliance with this Original would be. He shook his head. She closed her eyes, leaned forward, and kissed his lips lightly. Pulling away, she nodded. He couldn't deny her what she wanted – he was beginning to understand Stefan's weak will where she was concerned – and they were stuck on an airplane, after all. As long as he never let her out of his sight, it wouldn't be so much a matter of trusting Elijah as allowing him limited access. It was, he figured, a small concession, and one he could afford.

Damon sniffed at Elijah, but gave Elena room to slide into the aisle seat. In a flash, he compelled the man seated across the aisle to take an extended pass through the plane, and took his seat. "Okay then, talk."

Elijah smiled indulgently at Damon and then turned subtly toward Elena. "I find myself in a difficult position. We share common enemies in my brother and mother, and while I will always remain devoted to my sister, I acknowledge she can be… unpredictable."

Damon rolled his eyes.

"However, it has become clear that they must not be killed outright, but rather neutralized, such as Mikael was for the last fifteen years. So while you were otherwise engaged, I secured the assistance of another Bennett witch."

Elena head tilted in confusion. "Another Bennett?"

"Lucy," Damon whispered.

Elijah leaned back, peering out the window. "She has everything she needs to do the spell, except you."

"No." Damon was standing in a flash, his hand wrapped gently around Elena's arm.

Elena exhaled slowly. "Of course. Abby did the spell on Mikael when I was a baby. She was my mother's best friend."

"It seems the doppelganger is an essential component of vampire magic. My apologies for the inconvenience," Elijah said, taking a swig of Elena's scotch.

"What do I have to do?" Elena asked.

"Absolutely not," Damon growled, his grip on Elena tightening.

"Damon, let go. It's okay." Her doe brown eyes begged him, and behind their intent was a deep weariness that threatened to break his heart.

He wished he could take this burden from her. For the thousandth time, he envisioned turning her, certain that it was the smartest thing to do, that it was in fact the only way to keep her safe. But all of the reasons why he shouldn't – to protect the lives of all those she loved, to safeguard her human future, and countless other small, important things – restrained him. He sniffed and reluctantly let go of her, clutching the top of the seat instead. "Can't you just take her blood back to Mystic Falls? Why do you need the whole – her?"

Elijah smiled and shook his head. His calm exterior didn't fool Damon for a moment; he knew there was the potential for devastation just under the surface. "Elena must be there. She is the vessel. Klaus has to drink from her."

Damon felt the growl erupt, fierce and primal, as he lunged for Elijah's throat. In a blur he was bent back against the window, Elijah's fingers delicately cupping his heart inside his chest.

"Damon, I suggest you rethink your opposition to my plan."

"Let him go. I'll do whatever you ask. Just please, please! Don't hurt him!" Out of the corner of his eye, Damon could see Elena's face contorting in horror and desperation.

Elijah squeezed. Damon winced and grunted, stifling a full-throated moan.

"Elijah! It's my decision. Not his. I'll do it. Just let him go. Now."

Elijah turned his head skeptically at Elena, an eyebrow raised.

"If he dies, I die, and then you're all fucked."

Damon felt the sickening sensation of Elijah's fingers withdrawing from his ribcage, and then the ache of blood rushing to his cracked sternum, beginning immediately to mend it. He watched Elena heave a deep sigh of relief.

Having extracted Elena's pledge of cooperation, Elijah placed two return tickets, leaving first thing the next morning, in her hand. He left them alone for the rest of the flight.

Damon sat in silence beside her, thinking through their next steps and looking for a way out. He knew Elijah would hold them to this. They would spend the night in some hotel adjoining the Frankfurt airport and be greeted by him first thing in the morning, escorted like criminals to the gate and onto the plane.

He needed details about the spell. He needed the assurance of someone who really knew and cared about Elena that she wouldn't be harmed, at least not beyond being fed on for hopefully only a few seconds. The trust Elena had in Elijah was infuriating, considering he had betrayed all of them at the quarry and used her as a pawn so recently.

Damon licked his lips, wishing he could get a bottle of Bourbon here that was bigger than a toy.

Elena rustled in her seat, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes cast down at her knees, absorbed in her own thoughts. He was lucky she was so trusting. When he thought of how many times he had hurt her, had angered her, had streamrolled her priorities in the name of keeping her safe, and still she trusted him and even loved him… luck didn't begin to capture his good fortune.

And Elijah listened to her. They had something… an understanding. He respected her.

It came back to him in a rush. He had been on the brink of death and hadn't really heard what she had said that had saved him. Now, suddenly, he remembered it.

"If I die, you die?" The words felt raw in his throat.

Elena raised her eyes, meeting his look of astonishment with something soft and loving. "Yup."

"Elena, what were you thinking?"

She blinked, shaking her head. "I wasn't, really. It was just true. I had to stop him."

"That was a pretty serious game of chicken, Elena."

"It wasn't a game. I've been sitting here thinking about it. In that moment, it was suddenly so clear. Seeing you like that, your life – your whole life – literally in his hand, I couldn't face it. I couldn't face a future without you. I just knew."

Damon's face was slack.

Elena continued. "I've been trying to figure out my feelings even as they were changing. I was trying to be faithful to Stefan and not give in, telling myself it was just because you were so gorgeous, or charming, or –" She exhaled a gentle laugh but wouldn't look at him. "But it's definitely not just lust, or gratitude, or infatuation, Damon. I think I didn't know how to recognize it because I haven't felt it before."

"Don't say that. You love Stefan, I know you do."

"I do. So I don't know what to call this. Maybe it's more than love. I just can't imagine my life without you. If you die, I die."

Finally, she raised her eyes to his. They were wide and vulnerable, honest and imploring. Damon lifted his hand and slid his fingers along her jawline to the nape of her neck. He pulled her toward him and placed the softest kiss he could muster on her perfect lips. She deserved nothing less.

His voice was all air and intensity, cool whispered breath in her ear. "I can't live without you either, Elena."