Disclaimer: As you know by now, I don't TVD. If I did, a great many things would be different. Any recognizable characters, plots, and dialogue belong to L.J. Smith and the CW.

A/N: Thank you for your patience in waiting for my updates. And as always, thank you for your kind reviews. They continue to mean the world to me. This chapter is kind of filler-y, but there is much drama to come! I finally worked out how exactly I am going to end this, so that's pretty darn exciting!

Stefan

A text from Alaric was the only clue Stefan had to finding Damon after he found that the dagger and ash were missing. He read the words Mystic Grill and Klaus and was in his car in a flash.

When he pulled up in front of the restaurant, he paid no mind to where he was parking, only hoping that he would find Damon still alive. He wanted to be able to smack him himself for the risk he took with Elena's life. Stefan ran down the alley, and found Damon tossed into a pile of trash bags. However, he took comfort in the fact that there wasn't much blood in the alley. If Klaus had been in one of his truly sadistic moods, things could have been worse.

Stefan moved Damon to the ground in the alley and waited for him to wake up, trying not to notice too keenly the hole in Damon's shirt. Said hole had blood drying on the edges, but the skin beneath was whole and not desiccated, so Stefan knew Damon would be okay.

He waited only a few minutes before Damon sat bolt upright gasping for breath.

"That asshole broke my neck!" he exclaimed. Damon massaged his neck as he glanced around for his attacker. When he realized Stefan was the only one there, he focused on him.

"You're lucky that's all he did," Stefan said. "When I was traveling with Klaus-"

"Klaus?" Damon asked. "Who said anything about Klaus? Elijah's the one who broke my neck. Snapped it like a twig."

"Elijah?" Stefan asked. He cocked his head to the side, contemplating that information. While he knew it was true that the two didn't get along, usually Elijah reserved his demonstrations of violence for situations where he felt Damon needed to be taken down a peg or two.

"Yeah. Got all pissed - not at the fact that I got Meredith to dagger him-"

"You did what?" Stefan exclaimed. "Don't you remember that he said Elena was linked with them?"

"Well, he coulda been lying about that. You know, try to keep us in line."

"Uh-huh, so Elijah was pissed that you hurt Elena?"

"Yeah, but there's more. And don't worry, apparently, she's fine. Rebekah, of all people, saved her."

"Since there aren't any dead Originals here, yeah, I figured that she was fine. What more could there possibly be?"

"Do you want the bad but funny news first or the just awful news?" Damon asked as he clambered to his feet.

"Just tell me," Stefan said. "I don't feel like playing any more of your games tonight. We need to go see what we can do to keep everyone alive."

"Yeah, that's a funny thing, but I've decided I no longer care about that."

"Not even about Elena?" Stefan asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's quite a change."

Damon scowled. "It turns out we were right to decide neither of us gets her. We've got even less of a shot than we thought. Their diabolical mother cursed Elena and Elijah, but apparently that curse can only be cast on soulmates, which he seemed to derive particular pleasure from telling me."

"Soul- Elena and Elijah are-?" Stefan couldn't put together a whole sentence. What Damon was saying made absolutely no sense. But at the same time… "Wait, what?"

"I felt that way, too," Damon said. "Barbie Klaus was pretty shocked too, but the Original Hybrid took it all in stride, smirking while his brother shared this information with me."

"Are you sure?" Stefan asked.

"What, now you want to start doubting Elijah?" Damon said. "Nah. I've decided I've had enough. No more saving a girl who thinks my caring is a liability. Her life is his problem now. I say we leave the Originals to their family drama and get the hell out of dodge. Whaddya say, Stef, you coming?"

"I can't just leave her or the rest of them," Stefan said.

Damon shrugged. "Suit yourself. Look me up if you ever figure out that our lives are better without a doppelgänger in them."

Then, without a glance back, Damon took off. Stefan watched him go and wondered if he should have gone too…

Kol

They had been powerless to stop Esther from taking Bonnie, and the only bright spot for Kol's companions had been seeing Elena sneak off after the pair of witches. Kol had to admit - only to himself and never out loud - that he was glad to see her too. He was becoming more and more certain that she was a perfect match for his brother, which is why he had derived so much pleasure from dropping that truth into her lap.

"Elena says they're at an old witch house," Kol said. "Which is super non-specific."

"I know where they are," Jeremy said, "and Elijah will too. Esther's probably gone there to draw even more power." He quickly told Kol about the massacre that happened there and how Bonnie had used that power in the past.

"Alright," Kol said. "Well, since we can't go, I need to call in the cavalry. Any chance you have any of my siblings' numbers in your phone, mate?"

"I've got Elijah's," Jeremy said. When Caroline gave him a questioning look, he explained, "Elena made me enter it way back when they had their deal to protect all of us. Didn't she make you save it too?"

"Elena doesn't make me do things," Caroline said. Jeremy raised a brow, and she conceded, "Often."

"Well, if his is the only one we have, I'll just tell him to collect the others," Kol said. "Maybe we'll luck out and they're all together by now anyway."

He started to compose the text when there was a long sigh from the chair where Caroline had collapsed after she finished pacing following Bonnie's kidnapping.

Two sets of eyes rose to look at her, and Caroline said in a rush, "I have Klaus' number. You know, just in case they're not together. Two knowing is better than one."

"I'm sorry," Jeremy said. "Did you say you had Klaus' number? Why?"

While Jeremy looked incredulous, Kol was trying to hide his knowing smirk. It would appear that Klaus was not nurturing a completely unrequited affection for the blonde. Kol would file that information away for later use.

"It's just- He texted me first!" Caroline defended. "Sometimes he text me poems, and they're not awf- Anyway, does it matter why I have it?" She glared at Jeremy before turning back to Kol, who was no longer hiding his grin.

Nik texting poetry to a girl who seemingly wouldn't give him the time of day was providing one of the best mental images Kol had ever had. There was no way he was letting his brother live this down, but the threat that if he died he wouldn't get the chance made Kol focus on the matter at hand.

"Are there any of your other friends we should inform?" Kol asked as he put the finishing touches on the messages he wanted to send.

"Damon and Stefan," Caroline said.

"Maybe not Damon if he's the one who planned the dagger stunt," Jeremy pointed out. "If they haven't already killed him for it."

"He should still know," Caroline said. "You know I hate him, but he would do anything to save Elena. He should be there."

"The Salvatore wonder duo is on the list," Kol said.

"Alaric," Jeremy said. "He'd want to help. And Matt."

"We're leaving Matt out of this," Caroline said forcefully. "He won't let us heal what you've already done to him." She glowered at Kol as she spoke, and he shrugged. "He doesn't need to be anywhere near this fight when it goes down."

"He won't like being left out," Jeremy pointed out. "But, you're probably right." He seemed uncertain, but Kol agreed that someone who was rejecting healing for a simple broken hand had no place between a thousand-year old witch, her pissed off children, and their bloodline descendants.

"Okay, so two Salvatores and a frequently drunk vampire hunter slash history teacher?" Kol asked. "Well, at least my siblings will be there too. So, Caroline, darling, Klaus' number, if you please."

Caroline recited it from memory, which earned her another smirk from Kol and a suspicious look from Jeremy.

Not long after Kol's message went out, he got one from Elena that made him chuckle.

"Looks like we won't be left out after all," he said. "Bonnie's going to try to get us out."

The three moved to the doorway, and Caroline stood with her hand pressed against the barrier as Kol waited for a confirmation from Elena.

"You should stay here, Jer," Caroline said. "That's what Elena would want."

"No way," he said. "I'm not staying out of it when her life is on the line like this."

"You could be killed, mate" Kol said.

In response, Jeremy held up a hand bearing a garish ring set with a large dark blue stone and a silver crest. "That's harder to do than you might think," he said. "Supernatural deaths don't mean much to a Gilbert."

Kol looked carefully at his new friend. He wanted to believe what he was hearing, but he was skeptical. Then, he wondered how he had come to care about this boy so quickly. Twelve hours ago, he probably would have killed him just for the thrill of it, and while he didn't feel the same compunction as Caroline to make Jeremy stay, he didn't want Jeremy to get hurt.

"Compromise," he said. "You come, but Caroline takes you to your sister and Bonnie while my siblings and I do what we can to distract Esther."

"Deal," Jeremy said.

"It's down," Caroline said as the phone in Kol's hand chirped. He nodded and typed out a quick reply. She turned to Jeremy. "You wanna piggyback or should I carry you?" she asked with a cheeky grin on her face.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You're getting too much enjoyment out of this," he said, but when she offered his back, he climbed up. "This is weird," he muttered.

"Probably not the strangest thing to happen today though," Caroline said. "No, definitely not. Think you can keep up, Kol?"

"Darling, if I didn't need directions, I would run circles around you," Kol said, laughing. He quickly sobered. "Let's go stop my mother."

He followed Caroline over the threshold, savoring the breeze on his face for a moment. Then, Caroline faded away in a blur, and he took off after her and Jeremy's exhilarated shouts.

A/N 2: I know my updates are starting to drop off a little, and I am sorry about that. Life gets crazy when summer sets it. But, I want to assure you that neither this story or Doppelganger Kerfuffle are being abandoned. Every moment I have that isn't claimed by something else, I am writing away. I will probably disappear in July for Camp NaNoWriMo, but I'm going to be using it to write Doppelganger Kerfuffle, so that's a win really.

Thank you again for bearing with me. 3