Flipside

"Putting aside that fact that you kissed her, are you sure that she compelled you?" Elena asked, looking slightly miffed at the information that Stefan had kissed Damon's fiancé while he was supposed to be courting Katherine.

"Elena, you have no idea how guilty I felt. And then it was just gone, I didn't even think about it until now," Stefan said as he rubbed his hands over his face. "She looked me right in the eyes and told me that nothing was wrong, and then nothing was wrong. Nothing felt wrong."

"Okay, so she was a vampire before she met you guys," Elena said, taking in the information without much thought. There were plenty of people that were vampires before Damon and Stefan, it may make it harder because she's older than they are, but there are also two of them and only one of her. It was much easier when Damon and Stefan were fighting for the same thing. Or, over the same thing.

"But how much older?" Stefan asked cautiously. Elena looked in him in confusion. "We don't know how far back the Originals date and we don't know who the oldest of their vampire descendants are. We already assume that it was Elijah that turned her into a vampire, but we have no idea when he turned her."

"Stefan, she's just like any of the other older vampires you've faced. Katherine's hundreds of years older than you guys and you were able to best her; you even would have killed her if she hadn't used a spell to bind me to her." An involuntary shudder ran through the brunette's body at the memory of the night that she had been stabbed and cut several times without doing a thing.

"That may be true, but Katherine wasn't turned into a vampire through the direct blood of an Original. For all we know, the blood grows weaker with every person that passes it down. We've never met a directly turned descendant of an Original before. We know the first vampires much more powerful and can't be killed like the rest of us can, that might pass down to Astra as well."

Elena squinted her eyes as they began to fill with worry and held her hand up as she thought over what he was implying. "So you're saying that Astra might be almost as strong as an Original, holds a breathtaking hatred for your brother and is in love—and working—for an Original vampire that we can't kill who had planned to kill me."

Stefan decided it was best not to tell Elena that Astra was also in love with the very same Original that his brother was planning on killing.

Walking alongside Elijah, her arm looped through his as he spoke with Jenna about the tour they had, Astra was still on alert. She always kept an ear on the conversation and would add in her own thoughts as well, but for the most part she was seeing, smelling and hearing all that was going on around the conversation. With a deep inhale of the cool, fall air she caught a familiar scent and turned to look to where it was coming from. Luka stood, leaning against the outside of a building, looking frantic.

"Elijah," Astra interrupted while there was a break in conversation. "I need to run some errands while we're in town; I'll catch up with you two at The Grill?"

"Of course, dear. You have your cell phone?" Elijah asked, catching sight of Luka over her shoulder before meeting her eyes. When she nodded he bent down to press a quick kiss against her lips before he let her slip her arm from his own, watching her leave for a moment before he returned his attention to a smiling Jenna.

Walking with brisk strides, Astra was soon standing directly before the distraught teenage warlock, gaining his attention was soon as he saw another pair of feet appear in his line of vision. Inhaling again, she caught the faded scent of drugs wafting off of him, something that made her scowl and repress a growl of irritation.

"What happened?" she asked in a curt voice, not looking to beat around any bushes. Luka looked hesitant, but with one more warning growl he spoke.

"I don't remember; I was playing pool last night with Bonnie and then I blacked out, waking up in a bathroom stall hours later. I don't know what happened," he stressed. Astra's eyes narrowed as she looked away from him, toward where Elijah and Jenna were still walking leisurely, talking. She didn't know if he was listening in on their conversation discretely, but the news wasn't good. Anything that had to do with Bonnie Bennett and Luka could not come out with a positive result.

"Where is the witch?" she finally asked, turning to look back down at Luka.

"She won't tell you anything, I already tried-"

"Let's face it, Luka, you're not as frightening as me," she interrupted, allowing her eyes to begin bleeding red as she flashed fangs in a sadistic smile. He stood frozen before her, not having seen the other side of her in a long time before he quickly spat out 'the Grill'. Schooling her features once more, Astra turned on heel and marched away from him, heading toward the same place that Elijah and Jenna were.

She acted natural as she walked, keeping her pace quick but not as though she was in a rush to get anywhere. People watched her as she passed, knowing that she was the wife of the writer in town. Inside, she was furious. Luka was someone that she had grown to care about, and if that Bennett witch had gone as far as to drug him then she was going to raise hell. The deal that Elena and Elijah had made should have been enough, but no, they decided to persist and harm one of the people meant to protect them.

Slipping into The Grill before Elijah and Jenna, she immediately inhaled and sought out Bonnie Bennett, also detecting Damon's smell inside the bar and grill. The witch was sitting with Jeremy Gilbert, talking and acting as though there was nothing amiss in the world. Plucking a chair from another table casually, she placed it at their table and sat down, shocking the two at the sight of her.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met," she started, looking directly at Bonnie. "I'm here with Elijah and I'm close friends with the warlock you drugged last night." Bonnie tensed as she held eyes with Astra, seeing the hidden rage within them. "You see, he may not know how to detect these things but there are very few things that my nose can miss."

"You're not allowed to hurt us," Bonnie reminded, getting a chuckle from Astra.

"Honey, I'm not the one you've got to worry about. How do you think Jonas, the over protective, powerful warlock father, is going to react when he finds out that you drugged and manipulated his son?" she asked, leaning in close to Bonnie's face. Jeremy moved to separate them, but Astra flashed him a look that promised pain and he sunk back down into his chair. "Listen well, little witch, you and your friends have been given apt warning on crossing Elijah and those he works with to protect all of you. Strike three, Ms. Bennett."

Rising from the chair that she had placed down, she easily moved it back into place as though there had been no discussion at all. Elijah's voice drifted from the other side of the room, but she kept her attention focused on the two sitting at the table. Moving over to Jeremy, she leaned against the back of his chair so that she was whispering in his ear.

"I hope you enjoyed your time playing hero, but the game is over." Spinning on heel, she left the two teens with sinking feelings in their stomachs and a satisfied look on her face.

"Where is that beautiful wife of yours, Elijah?" Andy was asking as she sat next to Damon, his arm thrown over her shoulders. "I hardly ever see you two apart," she added on, giving an innocent smile. Elijah looked away from them as the once polite smile he wore grew, showing his perfectly white teeth.

"There she is," he said, opening his arm to allow her to step into him. "Finish everything you needed to, my dear?" he asked after he had pressed a greeting kiss against her lips. Damon's eyes appeared to darken, going unnoticed by those around him.

"All done, what did I miss?" she asked, looking to Jenna beside Elijah.

"You're going to a dinner party," Jenna answered teasingly. Astra truly did find her company enjoyable; she only wished that they had met under different circumstances and that Jenna's life did not hang in the balance. If she wasn't killed in the crossfire between werewolves, vampires and doppelgängers, then Klaus would surely get his hands on her eventually. It would either be Jenna or Jeremy; the two closest people to Miss. Elena Gilbert.

"Oh, I love dinner parties," Astra said in a false, but believable enthusiasm, looking up to smile at Elijah before turning to look at where Damon was sitting. "I would bet anything that you're the host, aren't you Mr. Salvatore?" It was hard to miss the look in his eyes when she turned her attention to him. It was something like when they had first met, as though he was seeing something unique and all his. She wanted to snarl at the possessive look that he had in his eyes, and Elijah felt just the same.

"I am," Damon answered, smirking at her. Astra simply smiled back, leaning more heavily against Elijah as he slipped one finger into her back belt loop, a discrete claim that went over the heads of the humans. Damon's eye flicked briefly to the digit, but he didn't show that it bothered him as he looked back to the others for confirmation, distracting himself.

It was Elijah that seemed to break first between him and Astra, stating that they had to depart so that they would be able to get some work done before the dinner party. Astra quickly took down Damon's address, just for show in front of Jenna, and then allowed herself to be escorted from the bar by her husband as her ex-fiancé watched with dark eyes.

"I'll walk back with you guys since our cars are together," Jenna said as she turned and waved good-bye to everyone else before moving to follow. Astra smiled and looped an arm through Jenna's while her other was taken by Elijah's, making them a chain. "So, will you guys be bringing anything with you?"

Astra knew that she had to answer the question carefully as she looked over to the other woman. "If I had my kitchen, I would attempt to make something. I don't think that just picking something up at the store would work and my hotel may not be happy if I try to take their things," Astra whispered the end dramatically, getting a laugh from Jenna as the two women leaned against one another like best friends.

"I'm sure Damon will do fine; he needs to work for it," she said in return, getting a snort from Astra.

"I take it you two aren't on the best terms," Astra began, pulling Elijah's hand from his pocket discretely and lacing their fingers together. He squeezed her fingers in comfort, letting her know silently that he was still there for her.

Jenna laughed with less humour and shook her head. "You should have seen us a couple of months ago. When Elena first started dating Damon's younger brother, Stefan, and Damon came into the picture? Oh, god, that was a nightmare."

Astra had to bite her tongue to stop herself from throwing in her own bit and instead circled the conversation back around to the party. "What will you be wearing? I imagine it's not going to be as fancy as the tea party. Jeez, we attend a lot of parties," Astra said, the last part more to herself and causing Jenna to let out a giggle of amusement.

"I'd imagine that it would just be something nice but not fancy; something you'd wear to an important interview, perhaps."

"Oh, I like that. Tell me, can you see Elijah in something less causal?" she asked curiously, looking over at Elijah discretely while he did the same out of the corner of his eye. Jenna looked as though she was about to say something before she remembered who she was speaking to about Elijah and appeared to decide it best not to.

"No," she decided on instead, getting a smirk and nudge from Astra that brought the smile back to her face. Their cars came into view and they soon separated, saying their good-byes quickly before they climbed into their separate vehicles.

"He's up to something," Astra said as soon as the door was closed, turning to face an equally as serious Elijah. "Again," she added on quickly.

"I would rather prefer that you did not accompany me to this dinner, however-"

"You're a smart man and know that I will not stand for that," Astra finished, grinning at him tauntingly as her hand reached out and took the one closest to her and held it tightly, getting an amused shake of the head from Elijah.

His long fingers slid along the back of her hand at the touch as he leisurely drove his truck from Mystic Falls to where Astra's long time home resided. "You are not so cute," he taunted back, getting another laugh from her as she pressed a kiss against the back of his hand. "I do ask that you tread with caution while we are with Damon Salvatore; he appears to believe that you still belong to him."

"I know," she sighed softly, leaning back in her seat as she tried to forget about the possessive aura that had been wrapped around him when she entered the conversation. "I fear that he may know more than we want him to. The Bennett witch was able to get Luka drugged last night and my belief is that she did so to extract information from him using magic. We don't know how much they know about intentions concerning Klaus."

"That was your errand?"

"Yes, and Bonnie Bennett may cause more trouble yet if she is not dealt with soon."

"I see your dislike for witches has not wavered," Elijah added on, getting a snort from Astra before she had a chance to stop herself.

"After all of this is over, can we go to Rome?" Astra asked suddenly, leaning toward Elijah and slipping her hand further into his own. "Sometimes I just wish I could go back to it all, just go home to what I was raised to understand." Elijah briefly glanced at her from the corner of his eye before lifting their laced fingers and pressing a kiss against her knuckles, before doing the same against that back of her hand.

"All will be well again, Astraea, I promise," he whispered, his words still loud and clear in her ears. She smiled softly and shuffled as close to him as she could before moving to lay her head on his shoulder. "After this has finally ended, I will take you wherever you wish to go; whether it be Rome, France, or China."