Elijah straightened as he reached his hand for the doorknob. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to back away when he heard Elena talking behind the door, but the pull was too strong.

He turned the doorknob and entered and immediately was met with Elena in the doorway, her eyes wet with tears.

"I knew you were outside the door…" Elena said softly as she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his chest and laid her head on his shoulder as he brought his arms around her, "I felt you."

"Are you alright?" Elijah whispered, looking over to the casket on the bed in which Stefan Salvatore lay, then around the room, "I thought I heard you talking to someone."

"I'm fine…" Elena said, sniffing as she pulled back to face him, wiping under her eyes, then looked back over her shoulder and followed Elijah's gaze to the casket.

"I just needed some time alone to sort my thoughts…" Elena said, laying her hands on Elijah's chest and turning back to look up at him, "And Stefan always was a good listener."

Elijah smirked and Elena took in a breath, "I just needed to say goodbye. He was such a big part of my life—"

"I know," Elijah said softly, then after a moment's pause, "And they both still are…Damon too."

Their eyes met for a short moment before Elena took a step back and sighed, shaking her head before she re-focused her gaze on Elijah

"You…saw us…Damon and me…out on the drive…" Elena breathed, "Didn't you?"

Elijah could feel Elena's eyes on him as he turned his back on her and closed the door, then leaning back on the wood, turned to face her again.

He wanted to say something, but all he could do is nod, his face solemn.

Elena closed her eyes in shame as she moved blindly over to the bed and sat down on the end.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down to her hands, "I don't know what happened… And after everything told you on the way here about how not to be afraid of Damon's feelings for me-"

"I know what happened…" Elijah said, trying to keep his feelings in check, "From the conversation I heard, Damon kissed you and …and you kissed him back, Elena, proving that it was never his feelings I was ever really afraid of."

"Elijah..." Elena swallowed then started babbling nervously, "It was nothing...I just arrived here—I was emotional over Stefan and to be honest, sometimes I think that that is the only way Damon can communicate with someone of the opposite sex is by lashing out in a very passionate, Damon-like way—"

"No," Elijah said, giving a sad smile, "It's never been 'nothing' between the two of you."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, curiously, "I-I certainly haven't."

"He loves you," Elijah replied immediately, "The only question worth asking is…do you love him?"

Elena sucked in a breath and shook her head turning away, seemingly avoiding the question

"I—I don't—I –"

"Elena…" Elijah interrupted before pushing off of the door and walking stealthily over to where she sat on the bed, "It's alright. Somewhere deep down inside, I knew this would happen, even after everything you said. And, as for that, I don't hold you to any promises you made in the moments we spent together. You've always been free—"

"What?" Elena immediately questioned, her voice rising in panic, turning to him as he took a seat on the bed next to her, "Elijah, no—"

"Okay...Okay...We won't talk about it right now," Elijah said, taking hold of her hand and squeezing reassuringly as he met her gaze, "It's almost time for the ritual anyway and we can't—we shouldn't let any emotions cloud our thoughts, actions or judgements tonight or else we'll all be at risk. We'll talk about it tomorrow, after we all come out of this night in one piece."

"But, then you'll probably kill, Damon," Elena chided in a teasing voice, then it lowered, "And leave me."

"I sort of like the killing Damon part…" Elijah chuckled, then leaned forward and let his eyes focus on her as he ran them over her features for a moment, "But, leave you? Never. Not until you tell me to go. Besides, right now, I just want to look at you…"

There was a moment's pause as Elena watched the original bring his other hand up to caress her face as their foreheads came together and he whispered, "You give me strength, Elena, and faith and courage…I just hope you know how much I love you."

"Elijah…" Elena whispered as he leaned closer, bringing her lips in to kiss him

But, Elijah pulled back slightly and Elena opened her eyes, meeting the uncertainty in the Original's for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the cheek.

She gave a sad smile then watched as Elijah sat back.

""So, what's the plan?" Elena asked, watching him intently and trying to bring her mind to focus on the task ahead as she could tell he wanted to change the subject from Damon.

"Well," Elijah said, looking down to his watch, "The moon should soon be at its complete apex. Chogun and Misha, Kol and Rebekah are on their way out to the woods now, we'll soon follow. The plan is that Chogun, Misha and Bonnie are going to try to reverse the spell on the Gilbert compass to release Luka's souls and put them in Dominic while he's still immobilized. So, they'll need me with them."

"Right…"Elena breathed, "Doppelgangers…They need to channel your magic."

"The ritual will most likely weaken me—I won't have enough strength to face Dominic if it comes to a fight or protect you from Dominic or his demon—so Damon, Rebekah and Kol will be responsible for keeping Jeremy occupied until we are ready and, when the time comes, make sure that Dominic and his souls keep their date with the portal."

"Wait. You're speaking like the demon that possesses him can be released from Dominic's body." Elena suddenly said, "But, if that's true, how come it's never left it before now?"

"Misha and Chogun believed the demon that possesses him can only be released when there is a close human vessel for it to jump in to and probably only when it suits its interests," Elijah replied, "As none of us were human when Dominic encountered us, we probably weren't targets—"

"But, Bonnie and Jeremy are human…" Elena suddenly realized, her voice rising as she straightened and pulled her hand from Elijah's, "And Dominic is tied up…"

"Bonnie will be fine," Elijah reassured her, "The ancestral magic that flows in her veins protects her."

"And Jeremy?" Elena asked, her eyes slowly widening when Elijah's poker face start to slowly collapse.

""Elena…" Elijah said, slowly and carefully, "In order for us to re-ensoul Dominic, his demonic soul has to be 'displaced'…just temporarily—"

"Oh…" Elena whispered under her breath in disbelief, her eyes narrowing in confusion, then sudden realization as she got to her feet, "Oh, my God!"

"Elena," Elijah said, coming quickly to his feet to face her and taking hold of her arm gently, "Jeremy doesn't have vampire strength and speed, nor does he possess magic, but he's clever, strong and capable and he wanted to help in the fight, so he, Bonnie, Misha and Chogun came up with a plan before we left the town line…"

# # # # # # # #

"Bonnie! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Jeremy's new sadistic voice called into the quickly darkening woods as Bonnie's back hit the trunk of a large maple hard and she reached into her pocket, retrieving her cell as she caught her breath, immediately dialing Misha's number.

# # # # # # # #

"Go on ahead…" Misha said, waiving Rebekah on to the Jeep as he paused on the drive and pulled his cell phone from his pocket and brought it to his ear, "Bonnie?"

"None other!" came Bonnie's voice sarcastically happy and breathless, but at a whisper, on the other end of the line, "Dominic fell for it. Jeremy should have won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a typically dumb teenage boy."

"What's your status?" Misha asked as he got into the Jeep and shut the front passenger door, just as Chogun and Kol piled in the back seat behind him and Chogun's lead warrior jumped on top of the roof as the car started down the driveway.

"Uh…Hiding? Jeremy and the warriors are all now possessed and in pursuit. I'm almost to the rendezvous point—If I keep moving, I should be there in about five-ten minutes?"

"Perfect timing Bonnie," Misha replied, signaling Rebekah to drive and closing the door behind them, "We're just now leaving."

"I hope like Hell you know what you're doing!" Bonnie responded, "Oh, by the way...watch out for the Wendigo when you arrive. Jeremy—well, demonic Jeremy destroyed the drum and the Wendigo is sort of free range now. Ta!"

# # # # # # # #

"I can't believe you agreed to this!" Elena cried as turned from where she had angrily paced toward the wall

"Elena—"

"He's my little brother, Elijah!" Elena interrupted, "Not some pawn in your family's game!"

"He's not so little anymore," Elijah calmly responded, "He's nearly grown and it was his decision—"

"Oh! That's rich!" Elena shot back, "Coming from 'Big Brother' Elijah who still sees his younger siblings as his little brothers and sisters and smothers them within an inch of their life! You know you never mentioned Klaus in this whole big plan of yours! The brother who is apparently now human and vulnerable—"

"How do you know about that?" Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes

"Please! There are no secrets in a house where ninety percent of its occupants have vampire hearing!" Elena cried and Elijah couldn't help but give a chuckle as he placed his hands on his waist, then scoffed when she continued, "But, I don't see you rushing him to the front lines to be the human needed in the sacrifice like he wants or guinea pig to hold the demonic soul during the ritual!"

Elijah suddenly took a step back, when Elena moved forward with vampire speed and pushed him hard against his chest, shoving him, "And why should you?! When you have my brother fit for that task!"

"My brother is sick, Elena!" Elijah cried, his voice rising in a way that almost shocked the younger vampire and she back away, but he made no motion to move forward, "He's still weak and he is in no condition to put up a fight like Jeremy will—"

"He's a werewolf, isn't he?" Elena countered, "Misha said that he turned—"

"The moon's past its cycle and he's no longer a hybrid," Elijah said, checking his anger, "He can't change at will any more, and besides, he's not able to be a true human vessel."

"Why not?" Elena asked, her anger slowly faded as she stepped forward and studied Elijah

"Because, Niklaus apparently inherited more from his biological father than just the werewolf gene—it seems he's also some sort of magician or warlock…I'm not sure what."

"He has magic?" Elena asked, raising a curious eyebrow

Elijah nodded, then stepped forward as well, closing the distance between them, "Feel better?"

"What?" Elena asked breathless, then stopped in thought, realizing suddenly what Elijah was saying.

I was her fault. This whole fight.

She had picked a fight with him over something other than what was really corrupting her thoughts and emotions. And Jeremy was her touchstone, which is why her anger was triggered so easily.

"Yeah…" she replied then shook her head in disbelief as she brought her hand to her forehead, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean the things I said—"

"I know. And I hope you truly know that this was Jeremy's choice Elena. And Bonnie wouldn't have let it happen if she didn't think we could exercise him," Elijah said softly, "I'm not planning on sacrificing anybody…"

"But, I heard Vivienne," Elena countered, pulling her hand away and looking up, "There has to be a human sacrifice for the ritual to be completed."

"Don't worry, I've taken care of that and Jeremy will be fine…" Elijah replied reassuringly, then took a breath and smiled, shaking his head as he stood there in amazement of the young, passionate woman before him.

Elena felt his gaze and looked away shyly, "Why do you always have to be so sweet and so understanding and so charming and so right…all the time? It's annoying…"

"It's a curse," Elijah shrugged with a smiled again, "But, you know, I think I actually enjoyed that argument just a little bit. For a moment, I saw your fire return to you and I liked it. I often forget that you are one to trifle with on occasion—I saw more of it in the human Elena, but not so much in the vampire one."

Elena smirked a little, "The 'Petrova Fire'. Not my best feature, I have to say."

"I don't know," Elijah replied, stepping closer, "Katerina and Liliya both had it. And they were intelligent, determined and strong-willed women—but the fire is what I think I loved most about both of them."

"And now they are both dead." Elena replied solemnly

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and after a moment, Damon opened it.

"Everything alright in here?" he asked, shrugging on his leather jacket as he peered inside, "I heard raised voices."

"We're fine," Elena said, turning toward him and giving a reassuring smile

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as all three of them looked at each other before Damon zipped up his jacket with an "Okaaay…"

Then turned to Elena, "Then, you ready to go?"

"Go?" Elena asked, confused

"Yeah…I'm your chaperone this evening. Elijah asked me to look out for you while he's being channeled during the ritual—"

"What?!" Elena cried, turning on Elijah

"Told you she'd take it well…" Damon said out of the corner of his mouth with a small chuckle

"No. I'm staying with you, Elijah," Elena said adamantly as Elijah sighed and took her face gently in his hands, "You need me…" then she lowered her voice, "If this is about before—"

"It's not, Elena," Elijah said, giving a quick glance toward Damon and saw the older Salvatore brother look away, before he looked back to her, "It's about me needing you safe, Elena…or I won't be able to go through with this whole thing. I'll be worried about you the entire time and as I said before, the ritual could weaken me and I won't be able to protect you."

"I can protect myself—"

"Oh, really?" Damon rolling his eyes as he pushed open the door and stepped inside, "You can handle yourself, Miss Girl Power."

"Yes," Elena countered, whirling back toward him, "I've had lessons with you and Alaric and with Elijah. I'm not some weak human anymore. I don't need anyone to protect me—"

"Alright then, Vampire Princess," Damon teased, raising an eyebrow, "Let's see it."

"Damon," Elijah interjected from behind Elena, "Now isn't the time for your posturing—"

But Damon had already moved forward, swinging at Elena, who quickly dodged each blow with vampire speed and moving behind Elijah, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back with her as Damon punched out toward him to get to her.

When Elijah came back up, he quickly captured Damon's arm in his grasp and growled his disapproval, giving Elena enough time to disappear with vampire speed.

When he released Damon, the older Salvatore immediately turned on his heal looking for Elena, but she was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly he heard her whistle to get his attention and when he finally looked up to the ceiling corner, where she was now perched above the doorway, she was on top of him within moments and snapped his neck.

As his body fell to the bedroom floor at her feet, Elena smirked, taking in a breath before saying adamantly, "I'm coming with you."

Elijah smiled and nodded