Here's the next chapter for you guys. Thanks for the reviews, and, as always, enjoy!

"He's after Aunt Jenna, Damon," I exclaimed, pacing around the room. I'd rushed to the Salvatore house as soon as I'd heard from Jenna and was now explaining things to my favorite of the two Salvatore brothers.

"We have to be smart about this, Elena. Klaus wants something from you. If he hasn't killed you by now, it means you're of some value to him. Let's keep it that way."

I frowned, falling into Damon's bed tiredly. I folded my legs over each other and let my eyes trace the wrinkles in the sheets. "Damon, it's her life over mine. If I have to die to save her, I will."

"I will not allow that, and you know it." He sighed, coming over to smooth my hair behind my ears. "It won't come to that," he promised. "I'm going to take care of it...you've just got to give me time to figure this out." He stayed with me for a few more minutes, until I'd calmed down a bit, and then he pulled a cell phone from his back pocket.

"What're you doing?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm going to give the hybrid in question a call."

(DAMON'S POV)

"Ah, Damon," Klaus's voice came from the other line. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I stepped a bit farther into the woods, out of reach of Elena's new hearing. "An explanation."

He chuckled dangerously from the other line, and my hold on the phone tightened reflexively. Klaus was bad, bad news. "Come, now Damon, I would have thought you'd be smart with to put the pieces in place by now."

My eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed melodramatically. "Being in love with the girl has taken your edge off...you used to be a badass."

"I'm still plenty bad, you ass," I retorted. Not my best comeback, and that's when I realized, he was right. Elena had turned me soft.

Someone, stake me now.

"On the contrary, you're all talk now," he went on. "The Damon I knew would have done something by now."

Just because he was right didn't mean I had to give that to him. "Well, you didn't know me well, obviously. You have all the cards here, Klaus. I would be an idiot to come looking for you." What did he think, anyway? That I could kill him when I found him? I didn't have a hope in hell of walking out of that fight alive, which would be fine by me if I didn't know that Elena would follow me there and die with me.

"That's where you're wrong. You have Elena."

"Damn straight, but I don't see how that's supposed to help." She was strong emotionally, definitely, but hand to hand combat wasn't her forte. Not that I'd tell her that; our little 'training practices' wee far too much fun. But, Elena couldn't defend herself against a bunny rabbit. She had too much heart-no will to kill. And that would matter in a fight to the death.

There was a pause. "Oh…Oh, you really don't know, do you?"

I was going to lose it. "Know what?"

"How little you must care for her. And here I thought you were smart, cunning. Let me ask you, Damon, have you forgotten Katherine Pierce's existence completely?"

I blinked. "What does Katherine have to do with this?"

"Fool. You should know more about them, really. And to think there was a time when you loved not just one, but both of them." He sighed as though I were exasperating him. "When two doppelgangers exist as vampires, they each become incredibly powerful. Elena has the potential to be stronger than an original vampire. Really, you should catch up on your studies."

"That's impossible," I argued. "I would know if she had super strength."

"How?" He countered. "She doesn't. She won't come into power until her and Katherine share blood."

I froze. "Share blood?" Something was wrong…that was too easy. "Look, I need to know more about this. Met me at the Grill in an hour...and don't even think about coming within a thousand feet of Elena Gilbert."

Elena didn't understand why she couldn't come with me to meet Klaus. You said it yourself," she argued with me, sweeping her long hair behind her ear."I hold value to Klaus. He won't kill me."

No, but he might snatch you up and make a run for it, I wanted to say. But I didn't, because she couldn't know about Katherine's link with her just yet. She might go and try to be a hero. "I won't risk it."

"How is it fair that you're allowed to risk your life for me, but I can't do the same in return?"

Because I love you more, I whispered to myself. Because I exist to protect you. "Because I'm a lot stronger than you are, and if you tag along you'll just make it more complicated for me. It's easy to defend myself, but." I took that moment to trail my fingers down the pitifully fragile, pillow soft skin if her arms. "You know how you distract me."

Something in her eyes shifted, and a small smile glistened behind the worry in them. She loved me. Maybe not as dangerously as I loved her, but it was enough. "Let me take care of you," I offered pleadingly. I'd learned that she had a difficult time not giving in when I lowered my voice like that.

She closed her eyes slowly and leaned her head against my shoulder. "If you get hurt, I'm going to be so pissed."

I grinned even though she couldn't see it. "As long as you'll play nurse, I'm not too worried."

I stopped to give Stefan a heads up before I left. He promised to keep an eye on Elena. "If I'm not back in an hour, take her and get the hell out of here. Understand?"

He nodded solemnly. "Fine, but don't expect me not to come back for you."

I glared at him. "This is my mess, Little Brother. Let me fix things."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I know you think you can save the girl from our world, but it's too late. She wants in, and you need her help. If you can't realize that, you're going to lose her."

I wanted to punch him for that, but I had to get going. "Clock's ticking….And Stefan? Stay out of it, when it comes to Elena. I'll handle it."

He put his hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say."

With that, I made my way at vampire-speed to the Grill. Sometimes I really liked being immortal. I wasn't vulnerable, or lame like humans. They need cars to get going a fraction of how fast I could move on my feet. I was so free this way, not tied to anyone or anything…besides Elena.

Elena. What I felt for her was simple: I loved her. But everything after that was complicated. Stefan was right; I would lose her if I couldn't let her help just a little. She didn't just belong to me—she belonged to the world of immortal beings now, too. I'd never wanted that, but since there wasn't anything I could do to fix it…well, this blood sharing with Katherine could be her best shot. We just had to find a way to keep Klaus away from it.

Inside, the Grill smelled warm, if that could ever be classified as a smell. Matt, Elena's ex, worked at the counter, scrubbing away spilled nacho cheese and other condiments. "How's it going, Bus Boy?"

He looked up in surprise, which quickly turned into anger. "I've seen him with Caroline," he said through his teeth. I followed his stare to Klaus, who was seated in one of the booths in the back. A silver chain caught the sunlight and glinted brightly. He was so pretty-boy, I almost couldn't believe he was stronger than I was.

I leaned against the bar casually. "The squeaky blonde, right?"

A half smile entered his rough voice. "That's the one. She'd been with him a lot the past few weeks, and now she's just disappeared."

I frowned. I hoped she'd escaped Klaus's wrath that night, and the witch too. Elena cared a lot for them. "Eh, she's probably off getting her nails done or something." Another fabricated answer. If I had a conscience, I'd feel bad for lying to him.

"I don't know. Car and I have been friends for a long time, and she's never been MIA for very long. She's the life of the party, you know? And yesterday, she didn't even show up to the spring fling, which she planned."

My patience was running out. "Look, Mark, is it?"

"Matt."

"Right. I'm really not in a Dr. Phil mood, but as soon as I shake Klaus over there, I'll help you look for your girlfriend. Okay?" I didn't wait for his answer, because Klaus was fidgeting, and I wasn't interested in a bored Klaus. When you're human and you're bored, you make a Twitter for your cat. When you're a thousand-year-old vampire and you're bored, you eat someone.

I took a seat across from the Original, clasping my hands in front of my on the table and leaning forward. Making myself comfortable so he wouldn't think I was intimidated. Because I wasn't—just curious. And very aware of how capable of ripping all the limbs from my body he was.

"Well, well. Damon." His tangy accent grasped onto his words tightly. "This may be the first time we've officially met."

"No, I think that was when you tried to sacrifice both me and my girlfriend for some weird hybrid curse, all because you're lonely. Might I suggest getting a girl for yourself? You seem pretty interested in Caroline Forbes…"

His eyes hardened, and now I was glad I'd talked to Matt first. "How do you know about her?"

"I know a lot of things…like how you turned her. What I'd like to know is why."

He sat back. "I like her company."

"So you decided to damn her to an eternal life of killing and misery? You have a way with the ladies."

He set his jaw. "Leave Caroline out of this. We're here to talk about your girl, remember?"

The thought of Caroline being involved with Klaus put me on edge. He could've been using her to get to 'Lena for a long time, and I'd had no idea… "I'd prefer it if you never even thought Elena's name, but since you're so hung up on my girl, yes, I do want to talk about her. Specifically, what you want with her."

"I've told you that already," he yawned. "I want her to drink from Katherine and complete the link."

"Stop right there," I demanded. "What will that do to her? Will Elena be hurt? Is there any risk for her safety?"

He groaned. "For the love of God, I told you it would make her stronger. Read about it, if you don't believe me."

"I'm just being smart."

"I would have used the word 'annoying.'"

I popped my knuckles. "Alright, enough. Let's get down to the point. Why would you think I'd be okay with you drinking from Elena? Do you think we want you to be even stronger?"

"Watch the way you speak to me, Damon," he warned. "If you're not careful, I'd think you just threatened to try and stop me from getting what I want."

"Don't be sensitive, Klaus...And answer my question."

"You don't have a choice," he said finally. "I am stronger than you all, and I won't hesitate to take any of you out if I need to."

Damn. He was right, and my guess was that he had hold of the werewolf, the witch, and Caroline to ensure that we complied. I could deal with the loss of Caroline and the wolf, but we needed Bonnie. Furthermore, we knew he'd come too close for comfort to Jenna, and that he would go for Jeremy as well. I had no choice but to go along with Klaus. He knew it, and a smug look crossed his face. How badly I wanted to blow that smirk right off his mouth.

I wished my eyes could burn a hole through his chest, right where his ancient heart would be beating if it still could. "Fine, when do you want this to go down?"

"Soon," he answered, still smirking. "You'll get an email."

I ignored his antagonizing. "Listen, Klaus. If you go anywhere near Elena after this, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Whether it takes out you whole sire line or not."

He glowered at me, knowing that if I was serious, there was nothing he could threaten me with. I'd have nothing to lose. "We'll see."