A/N: Enjoy! A lot happens, so I hope it all makes sense and doesn't seem rushed. Though, nothing about Derrick should make sense ;)
"Why not this way?" Katherine asked, holding one end of the map while Stefan held the other.
Stefan shook his head. "Because I don't think he'd go that way. There's too many checkpoints with police officers" Stefan explained. They were pulled over on the side of some back road, trying to plan their next move. They hadn't even bothered with Mystic Falls, seeing as how every inch of the town had practically been searched.
"He would have to have a place to stay, right?" Katherine asked, looking for areas where shelter might have been possible. "And I doubt he would stay in a hotel. It would be too risky with …" she said, then hesitated. With Lily.
Stefan grabbed her hand reassuringly. "He wouldn't stay in a hotel I don't think. Or anywhere with a lot of people."
"They could be anywhere Stefan" Katherine said, feeling defeated already. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
Stefan continued to study the map. "There is a small forest about 50 miles this way" he said, showing her. "It rests up against a lake. That probably means fishing cabins and summer rentals" he added. "But it's getting late. Let's find a hotel and try tomorrow" he told her, hating that they had to stop, but knowing that it would be no use without daylight.
Katherine looked at the map again. "Fine" she said, having no better options for them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Elena wrapped Lily up in a dry, scruffy towel as she helped her out of the bathtub. "That was cold" Lily said, scrunching up her face as she said it.
Elena smiled sadly and kissed her forehead. "I know, I'm sorry" she told her. "But we had to get you all clean" she added, grabbing for Lily's clothes.
Once Lily was dressed, Elena ran her fingers through the little girl's hair in an effort to comb it. "I'm tired" Lily said, not bothering to hold back her yawn.
Elena nodded. "Let's get you to bed then" she said, hanging the towel on the side of the tub and picking Lily up. She unlocked the door and went out. Derrick was nowhere to be found. Elena grabbed a blanket off of the couch and put Lily down, covering her up and sitting with her.
"Tell me a bedtime story" Lily said quietly, looking up at Elena with such tired eyes.
Elena moved next to her and smiled. "There once was a brave prince who lived in a castle all by himself" Elena began.
"Was his name Uncle Stefan?" Lily asked, a hint of excitement settling across her eyes.
Elena laughed softly. "Yeah, his name was Uncle Stefan" she told her. "And he had horses. One day he went for a ride down by the river and he came across a beautiful girl sitting on a rock, looking down at the water" she continued.
Lily smiled. "Was the girl's name Elena?" she asked.
Elena nodded. "Yeah, her name was Elena" she said, brushing a strand of hair off of Lily's face.
"Is there a girl named Lily in your story too?" Lily asked.
"There sure is" Elena told her. "The prince asked Elena if she was okay. She looked kind of sad" Elena said.
"Cause she wasn't married to Prince Uncle Stefan" Lily said, taking the story in her own direction. "So, he took her riding on his horse and then he married her. And then his favorite person in the whole wide world, Lily, came over and really liked Elena" she explained. Elena liked that story better than the one she had planned on telling. Lily continued to tell her story until she fell asleep. At one point, there was a dragon and an ice cream shop.
Elena kissed her head lightly before carefully getting up. She went to the door and quietly opened it to find Derrick sitting outside on the front porch step. "Beautiful night out tonight" Derrick said, staring out into the dark woods. Elena sat down next to him. "You remember when we would go for a drive really late at night and park somewhere and just talk?" he asked.
Elena nodded. Those were actually some of their better memories. "Yeah, I do" she told him. "I wish we could have that again" she said softly. And although it made her stomach sick to utter those words, she had to stay focused. "If you could ever forgive me for leaving you, and for marrying Stefan" she said, putting as much guilt behind her words as she could.
Derrick turned slightly to look at her. "All I have ever wanted was for us to be together. You knew that" he told her.
"Let's start over" Elena was quick to say. "You and me" she said, trying to control the desperation that was in her voice.
Derrick looked at her closely for a moment. "You want that? To be with me again?" he asked her. She nodded, trying to evaluate how serious he was about her idea. "You still love me?"
Elena nodded again. "I still love you, Derrick. I want to be with you" she told him, placing her hand over his.
He studied her for a moment. "Prove it" he told her. Elena looked at him cautiously. Before she knew it, his mouth was on hers and he was laying her down on the hard wood porch, forcing his tongue in her mouth and moving his hands up under her shirt.
Elena fought the urge to cry as thoughts of Stefan flashed through her mind. He would never look at her the same again if she slept with Derrick. She would never be able to look at herself again. "Derrick, wait" she said, pushing against his chest. Derrick tore his mouth away from her, looking down at her with such hate and anger. "I want to do things right this time, Derrick" she said, forcing her shaky voice to speak.
"What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up and allowing her to sit up too.
"Marriage" she stated. "I want to wait to have sex until we are married" she told him calmly. "We rushed things last time. Let's … take it slow this time. We have all the time we need."
Derrick's hard gaze turned into a gentle smile as he looked at her. "You want to marry me?" he asked, reaching his hand up to touch her face.
Elena nodded. "I do" she told him.
Derrick smiled even more. "Let's get married tomorrow" he told her with such eagerness.
But Elena shook her head. "I'm married to someone else" she reminded him. His eyes seemed to grow dark at the mention of this. "But, I want to divorce him, and then marry you. If we wait a few months, Stefan will forget all about me and want a divorce. He will do all the work and then we won't ever have to go back to Mystic Falls" she explained. Though she knew it was a lie. Stefan would never file for divorce while she was still missing.
She wasn't so sure that Derrick would agree to this, but she had to hope. "You will leave with me? Go anywhere I want to go and live the rest of your life with me?" he asked. He seemed to be in a daze as he watched her.
"Yes" Elena said, reaching her hand up to touch his face. "I want a life with you. Children, all of it" she added.
Derrick smiled. "We have a kid, in there" he said, nodding his head towards the cabin.
Elena smiled. "She's a great kid" Elena told him. "But, she's not ours. I want one of our own" she said, stroking his cheek with her thumb.
Derrick frowned. "Then what do we do with her?" Derrick asked.
"We give her back. Drop her off at a store or something so she can go back home" Elena told him. "I want our own baby. After we're married" she said, smiling even more.
Derrick smiled too. "Okay. I'll do anything it takes if it means I get to be with you the rest of my life" he told her.
"Tomorrow. Let's find a place to drop her off tomorrow so you and I can get our life started" she told him.
Derrick sighed. "Okay, Elena. But only because I trust you" he said, leaning in and kissing her. Elena accepted his kiss, feeling dirty and lousy at the same time. But, it was going to get Lily home. "Once we drop her off, we're going to West Virginia. The first place we will begin to start our life together" he told her. Elena gave him a fake smile and nodded. She'd never been to West Virginia, though he spent the next half an hour telling her all about it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Is this the best you could do?" Katherine asked, standing in the door of the sleazy motel with her arms crossed.
"Don't start with me Katherine. I'm exhausted and really not in the mood" he told her.
Katherine huffed. "Isn't there a Four Season's around?" she asked. "Fairmont?" she added, thinking of the other expensive hotel she would stay in. "I'm really not that picky, but this?" she asked, waving her hand in disgust. "This is below a cheap hooker's standards" she finished.
"You would know" Stefan mumbled to himself, though, not quiet enough.
"What did you just say?" Katherine asked, walking into the room to make her point clear that she was not happy with him. "I am not cheap!" she said angrily.
Stefan turned around and glared at her. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed" he told her sarcastically. She glared even harder at him. "There are no other hotels around. Do you want to drive another hour to find something else?" he questioned. Katherine didn't argue and he figured he had won. "Sleep out in the car if you can't bring yourself to sleep in here" he added, tossing the covers up on the only bed in the small, dingy room.
"Fine" she said, crossing her arms again.
"And if you so much as think about touching me in this bed, I swear I will throw you out the window" he promised her, climbing in.
"I wouldn't dream of it" she said, tossing her long hair over her shoulder before grabbing a small bag and going into the bathroom.
When she emerged, Stefan had turned the light out on her and was facing away from her side of the bed. "I'm going to need to bathe myself in bleach when we get home to get all the germs off of me from this place" she said harshly, crawling into the bed with him.
Stefan scooted as far away from her as he could and sighed with annoyance. "Keep complaining, Katherine" he told her. "Because the real concern right now is your comfort" he added with a harsh bite to his tone.
Katherine huffed again. "What is your problem?" she asked. "I'm pretty sure you would never drag Elena to something this horrible" she reminded him.
Stefan sat up angrily. "And I'm pretty sure I would be with Elena right now if you had been doing your job and watching Lily!" he snapped at her. His words came out before he could stop them. The mattress moving told him that he had hurt her feelings. Yes, even Katherine had feelings. "Katherine" he said, but it was too late. She had opened the door and walked out. He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. He was officially an ass. Elena would have disapproved of his comment.
Stefan finally pulled himself out of bed and luckily, Katherine hadn't gone too far. She was sitting on the stairs, looking up at the moon. She wondered if Lily was looking at it too, as she often did from her bedroom. Katherine heard the door open and click shut behind her. "Please, continue to tell me what a horrible mother I am" she told him.
Stefan sighed. "I was irritated and I'm exhausted. I didn't mean it" he told her.
Katherine laughed, though he could tell she was still hurt. "We don't say things unless we mean them, Stefan" she said. "I tried though, you know. To stop her. She doesn't listen to me. She never has" she added.
Stefan sat next to Katherine. "She doesn't listen to anyone" Stefan reassured her. Lily had a mind of her own and when she was determined to do something, she did it.
"She listens to you" Katherine said, looking over at Stefan.
"Sometimes" Stefan was quick to reply. "It would have happened to any of us. You, me, Damon" he told her. "Lily thought it was Elena. She was excited. She wouldn't have turned back for anyone" he added. That was the bond that Elena had so effortlessly created with Lily. The little girl idolized her. Elena was cool, even though she stood against everything Lily stood for. Elena didn't wear designer, unless Stefan bought her jewelry. Elena never wore a ton of makeup and her hair was usually in a ponytail. The paint on her nails was usually chipped and she lived in her flip flops. Yet, Lily couldn't get enough of her.
"I want to blame Elena so much for all of this" Katherine whispered. "But I know that she never wanted any of this. She never wanted to get the shit beat out of her and she never wanted Lily to be taken. Hell, she probably didn't even want to find Derrick to be with Lily" she said.
Stefan nodded. "I guarantee she didn't want to find Derrick" Stefan told her. "The night she told me about Derrick, about what he did to her. I've never seen someone so scared" he explained. "I know she blames herself for Derrick taking Lily. I also know she would do anything to protect her, whether Derrick is involved or not" he concluded.
"I want him dead, Stefan" she said, taking no mercy on him in her thoughts. "I want him to suffer first, to pay for everything he has done to this family. And then I want him dead, so he can't hurt us or anyone else again."
Stefan placed his hand on Katherine's back, rubbing it in a comforting manner. "He will pay" Stefan said, his tone full of promise. "When they get home safe, he will pay." Katherine nodded, looking back up at the moon again, wondering what Lily was doing. Wondering if she had gotten her bath and her bedtime story. Wondering if she missed her mom at all.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Derrick had gone out to get breakfast, promising to be right back. Elena took this time to prepare Lily for what was going to happen. Elena kneeled before Lily, tying her shoes quickly so they would be ready when Derrick got back and before he had time to change his mind about letting Lily go. "I have to talk to you about something" Elena said, her tone hushed just in case a pair of ears were listening in from outside.
"Are you taking me to the zoo?" Lily asked as her eyes lit up with excitement. She could go to the zoo every day and still be excited.
Elena shook her head sadly. "No. You're going home" she said.
Lily squealed with delight, jumping in place. "I can make Uncle Stefan take me to the zoo!" she said. Elena did her best to quiet her. "You too" she said. "Uncle Stefan will buy you one of those monkeys with the arms and legs that stick together. I'll tell him too. I always get one. You will love it too" she rambled.
"Lily" Elena said, stopping her. "I'm not going home with you" she told her firmly when really, all she wanted to do was cry. Elena wanted to go home too. She wanted to be swept away in Stefan's arms, have him kiss her and never let her go. But not before the little girl in front of her was safe and out of harm's way.
Lily's face showed her confusion. "Yes you are" Lily told her. "Uncle Stefan loves you. You gotta come home to him" she protested.
"And I will" Elena told her. "Just not right now. I need you to go home first" she began to explain.
But Lily stomped her little foot and shook her head. "No" she said, crossing her arms. "If you don't come with me, I'm not going" she stated. "You can't stay with the mean man by yourself. It's too scary" she insisted.
Elena placed her hands on the little girl's sides, looking her in the eyes. "I will be okay" Elena said, doing her best to reassure her. "The mean man is only going to let you go home. So, I need you to help your Uncle Stefan and your daddy come back and find me after they have you" she said. Lily's eyes locked on hers as they listened. "This is a very, very important task that I need you to do for me" Elena told her. "I only trust you to do it. Do you think you can?" she asked.
Lily's eyes again lit up with excitement. "I know I can" she said, her serious tone making her sound about five years older than she actually was.
"Okay, you have to listen closely" Elena told her. Lily nodded. "We are going to drop you off at a grocery store. You need to go inside and find someone who works there. Only someone with a uniform who works there" she emphasized. Lily nodded again. "You have to tell them your name and that you were kidnapped. They need to call the police so your family can come and get you." Lily again nodded. "Let's practice. Pretend I am someone who works at the store. What are you going to say to me?" Elena asked her.
Lily took a deep breath. "My name is Lily Elizabeth Salvatore and a mean man kidnapped me. I need to call the policeman so my mommy and daddy and Uncle Stefan can come get me" Lily said all in one breath.
Elena smiled nervously. "That's perfect" Elena told her. Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out two items. The first was a folded up piece of paper. "I need you to give this note to your Uncle Stefan for me, okay?" she asked. "But don't tell anyone you have it, especially not the mean man" she told her. Lily nodded as Elena carefully slid the folded up note into the bottom of Lily's shoe. "And I also need you to give your Uncle Stefan this" Elena said, holding up her wedding ring. "Tell him to hold onto it until I come home." Elena slipped the ring into Lily's pocket. Then, she grabbed Lily's face with both hands and kissed her forehead. "I need you to be really brave, okay?" she asked, seeing the tears pool in Lily's eyes.
"But I don't wanna go home without you" Lily told her with a slight sniffle. "I don't want the mean man to hurt you while I'm gone" she added sadly.
"He won't hurt me" Elena lied. She knew all it would take was for one little thing to go wrong and Derrick would come undone. "And the sooner you go home, the sooner your Uncle Stefan and your daddy can find me" she reminded her.
Elena wiped a few tears off of Lily's cheeks. "And then you can come to the zoo with me and get a monkey at the gift shop?" she asked.
Elena smiled. "I will even buy you an ice cream cone" Elena promised her, seeing a hint of a smile on Lily.
"Okay" Lily mumbled, wrapping her arms around Elena's neck. "I'm gonna miss you though" she said.
Elena hugged Lily right back. "I'm gonna miss you too" she told her, holding her own tears back. Elena held her for a little while longer until she heard voices outside. Derrick was back. Elena pulled away from Lily and rid the rest of her face of tears.
Derrick came in through the door with a white bag. "Donuts" he said, holding it up. "Are you ready to drop her off?" he asked.
Elena nodded. "Let's go" she said, grabbing Lily's hand. Derrick offered Lily a donut as she and Elena walked by him, but she just glared at him, refusing to accept it. Lily loved donuts, but not from a man who was going to keep her Aunt Elena.
"Suit yourself" Derrick replied, taking a bite of his donut as he followed them out.
Elena was sure that Derrick had given the man outside the cabin instructions about something or other. She glanced at him momentarily before pulling Lily along. Derrick had to walk quickly to keep up.
Elena noticed that Lily was falling back slightly as Elena continued to walk with her. "Aunt Elena my feet are tired" she began to whine. It was a long walk to the car for a little girl who had been kept in such horrible conditions.
"I can carry her" Derrick offered in his attempt to be a good guy in his newly reformed relationship with Elena.
Lily wasn't going to have it. "No!" she said harshly. Derrick stepped forward, showing her that he would not back down. Lily moved forward too, attempting to kick him right in the crotch and barely missing him. He flinched out of instinct.
"Lily" Elena said harshly, grabbing her and swinging her up on her hip. "Stop it" Elena warned. The last thing she needed was for Lily to ruin her chance at going home. "She didn't mean it" Elena told Derrick apologetically.
"I did too" Lily said, glaring at Derrick as Elena carried her. "You're a mean man" she told him.
"Lily, stop" Elena warned again. "Let's play the silent game. The winner gets ice cream" she whispered into her ear. Lily remained silent but she continued to glare at Derrick.
"She's got spunk" Derrick noted.
"And you just lost, Loser" Lily told him. He glared at her. Elena again told her to be quiet and restarted the game.
Elena remained silent, just wanting to get to the car. Once they were there, Elena buckled Lily into the back seat who had still remained silent since calling Derrick out on losing. The drive to the closest grocery store took half an hour. Once they had parked in the parking lot, way in the back, Elena went to get out of the car. "No. You stay. She goes alone" he told her.
Elena looked back at Lily who looked nervous. "She can't walk across the parking lot by herself" Elena insisted.
"She either goes alone, or she doesn't go at all" Derrick warned.
Elena reached back and squeezed Lily's knee. "Go on Lily" she said, encouraging her. Lily shook her head no. "Brave, remember?" she asked. Lily nodded this time. "Go ahead."
"I love you" Lily said, unbuckling herself and moving forward to hug Elena. "Don't forget about the ice cream at the zoo" she whispered into her ear.
Elena nodded. "I won't" she whispered back, kissing her hair. "Be careful when you walk across the parking lot. Look for cars and make sure they wave you across" she instructed.
"Okay" Lily said, moving away from Elena and opening the door. She looked at Elena one last time before hopping out of the car.
Elena watched Lily quickly walk across the parking lot and finally, enter the store. Lily stopped and waved to Elena as Derrick began to pull away. Elena waved back, feeling both anxious and relieved at the same time.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Katherine cursed. They still had had no luck in finding any clues as to where Lily or Elena were, and they had been searching for four hours that morning already. "There's gotta be something we are missing" she said, looking at the map. The cabins they had looked at were a bust. All were locked up and hadn't been used.
"There's another set of fishing cabins on the other side of the lake" Stefan told her, getting back into his car with her. He pulled off of the dirt road and got back onto the highway. Twenty minutes later, he was parked in another area of woods. When they got out, he looked around, seeing a small road going further into the woods that was inaccessible to vehicles. Katherine got out and looked around too.
"Stefan!" she shrieked. Stefan turned to see her bent down, picking something up. He looked at her questionably. "Lily's earring" she told him, her eyes wide as she held the small gold earring between her fingers. Stefan recognized it. It was the letter L with an S engraved into it. Before Stefan could even react, Katherine was running down the small road leading back towards the woods. "Lily!" she screamed, searching around her. "Lily!"
It took Stefan less than a minute to catch up to her, his arms coming around her waist as he picked her up and put his hand over her mouth. "Shhh" he told her. "We don't want anyone to know we are here" he reminded her. Katherine nodded and Stefan slowly set her back down on her feet. "Come on" he whispered, beginning to walk.
His heartbeat was running wild as he scanned the area. Katherine was hot on his heels, doing the same. It took them almost ten minutes to reach the end of the road and to find a dirty old fishing cabin. Stefan stopped her when he saw someone patrolling around the cabin. It wasn't Derrick, but who the hell would be out there by themselves? Stefan and Katherine were behind a tree a safe distance away. "Distract him" Stefan whispered to her.
She nodded, knowing exactly what she needed to do. She was scared as hell, but the fact that Lily could be in that cabin drove her forward. "Excuse me!" she called out. The man whipped around and faced her. "I'm so sorry to bother you. I was driving and my car broke down. Thank God you're here" she told him in desperation. "Do you have a phone I could borrow by any chance?" she asked.
The man shifted his weight uneasily. "Yeah, sure" he told her, taking out a phone.
Katherine thanked him and grabbed it, scrolling through his contacts quickly as she pretended to make a call. The last name listed was Derrick. Anger ran through her veins as she pretended to place a call. She watched the man turn away from her. As soon as he turned back around, Katherine's foot had come up and kicked him hard in his crotch, sending him down on the ground.
"Crazy bitch" he muttered, attempting to stand.
"Where's my daughter?" Katherine demanded. She kicked him again and he cried out in pain. "Where is she?" he asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about" he cried.
It was then that Stefan had run up, grabbing him and picking him up. "Where's my wife and my niece?" Stefan demanded. If his stare could kill, the man wouldn't have stood a chance.
The man just smirked with what energy he had left. "Got to hell" he told Stefan, resulting in Stefan throwing him hard against the ground. His head bounced off of the dirt and he went out cold. Stefan ran to the cabin and found the door open. Katherine was right behind him. He held a finger up to his lips as they quietly went inside. It appeared empty.
"Lily?" Katherine called out, not being able to contain herself anymore. Her face was stained with tears all of a sudden. They listened and nothing. They searched the entire cabin and nothing. "Where is she?" Katherine cried in desperation.
"Not here" Stefan said, kicking a chair. But it appeared that they had been. "Come on" he said, dragging her back outside. The man was still out cold when Katherine's phone rang out.
"Hello?" she asked, struggling to hear anything over the crackling of her dimming reception. She listened for a moment before she turned to face Stefan, her mouth hanging open wide. She dropped her phone, not bothering to end the call. "They've got her" she said, her tears returning. "Lily is at the police station" she said, a huge smile of relief falling across her face as she placed her hand over her heart, trying to slow down her heartbeat.
She fell into Stefan's arms, continuing to cry. "She's okay. She's okay" Katherine repeated. Then she pulled away suddenly. "We have to go, now" she demanded.
Stefan turned and picked up the unconscious man, slinging him over his shoulder as he tried to keep up with Katherine. The man obviously knew something about Derrick. Stefan wasn't going to let him get away with aiding him.
A/N: So, what are your thoughts?