[3x22; The Departed]

Lucy beamed at Stefan as he sang along to the Britney Spears song on her playlist. She couldn't believe that he knew the song, let alone the lyrics. She was constantly surprising her even when she thought she knew most things about him.

"My loneliness is killing me!"

"And I!" Stefan sang back to her.

"I must confess, I still believe!"

"Still believe!"

Lucy practically cackled from amusement when Stefan held his fist up toward his mouth, mimicking a microphone.

"Stop, stop," she pleaded, holding her stomach. "It hurts to laugh."

"Good, that means I'm doing my job," Stefan paused from singing to remark with a grin. He would do anything to make her smile—if it meant revealing his embarrassing knowledge of Britney Spears music to get her mind off the night before and what they were heading to do, he would do that for her. "What's next on the nineties playlist?"

"Nsync," Lucy grinned and playfully sung, "It's gonna be may!"

"Dirty Pop is better."

Lucy gasped loudly. "Blasphemy!"

Stefan rolled his eyes at her as he turned up the music, the opening beats of It's Gonna be Me starting. As Justin Timberlake and his backup singers started crooning, Lucy smiled out of the passenger window.

She was so grateful that she went with Stefan to bring Klaus to the Smokey Mountains. It wasn't that she was glad they were doing what they were doing, it was just the fact that she had Stefan with her. With everything that was going on, Stefan was the best person—other than Caroline, honestly—she could be around.

Lucy loved Stefan. He was one of the only people who could calm her down and make her feel safe. He cheered her up and she needed a little happiness in her life at the moment. Being with Stefan was a cause for celebration even when it felt like her world was crumbling around her

And, yeah, him singing cheesy pop lyrics at her made her love him all the more.

"Did you know that Justin Timberlake was my—"

"Your first concert," Stefan finished for Lucy, glancing at her with a grin.

Lucy gaped at him. "How'd you know that?"

"I do listen when you talk, you know," Stefan reached over and poked her dimpled cheek.

"I never told you that."

"Fine," he admitted. "Caroline told me. It may have been the only thing I remember from one of her particularly long rambling sessions."

Lucy grinned and pointed out, "You listen when I ramble."

"Well, yeah but you're you and Caroline is Caroline."

"Nothing's wrong with Caroline, Broody," Lucy pinched the back of his hand before kissing it and intertwining their fingers.

"Caroline's great but I don't love her like I love you," Stefan smiled toothily at her.

"Stefan," Lucy almost cooed. "That was so sweet. Where did that come from? Who knew you could be such a flirt?"

"That wasn't flirting, babe, that was honesty. You'll know when I'm flirting."

Lucy gaped at him when he winked at her, almost shocked at how he was acting. Stefan had told her she was beautiful many times but he never really flirted with her before—excluding the times he was drunk at the Founder's Party and when his humanity was off. She liked this side of him, but then again, she liked every part of him—even his dark parts.

But this flirty part of Stefan? He was hot. Like, take-off-your-shirt-and-lets-make-out hot. And he said he wasn't even flirting with her. When he did, was she gonna have a heart attack?

Before Lucy could even think of a response, the ring of her phone blared through the speakers and cut off the harmonization of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, and the other two guys she couldn't remember the names of.

Stefan pressed the button on the radio that answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Damon's voice came through the speakers. "You almost there?"

"No," Stefan glanced at Lucy, who bit her lip. "Why? What's up?"

"Elena collapsed," Damon informed them. "Apparently she hit her head at Klaus' house."

"Is she all right?" Lucy spoke up, concerned.

"Well, your stupid little brother wanted us to take her to the hospital but she would be a target for the remaining Originals."

"Jeremy's not stupid," Lucy would be glaring at him if he was there. "Again, is Elena okay?"

"She's fine, sheesh," Damon scoffed. "I got some vampire blood up in her. Meredith said it was probably an aneurysm. She's all healed up and good as new."

Lucy sighed in relief, glad that Elena was okay. "Good," she muttered, exchanging a grateful look with Stefan. "Is she awake? Can I talk to her?"

"She should be awake by now but I'm not at the house," Damon replied. "Joel and Jeremy watching over her right now while I pick up some food at the Grill."

"Oh, okay."

"Let me know when you get close."

"We will," Stefan promised. "See you later."

"See ya."

Stefan pressed the button on the radio again, ending the call, and glanced at Lucy. "We're gone for two hours and everything's gone to hell."

Lucy shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Kids."

"All we need is to take that stake away from him. Once he's been disarmed, the weapon in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth," Lucy listened as Elijah spoke to Elena, Damon, Joel, and Matt. "Alaric will follow us."

It was only twenty minutes after Damon's last call that Joel called. Elijah had shown up at the house and wanted to make a deal to take Klaus' body and run so that Alaric would follow him, Rebekah, and Kol. Lucy thought it was a fair deal, but she was a little biased so it wasn't surprising that it wasn't up to her.

"And you'll just run?" Stefan raised his voice so they could hear him through the phone.

"We've done it before," Elijah answered. "Klaus and Rebekah spent the better part of a thousand years evading my father. What's another half-century while Elena's able to live out the rest of her natural life?"

"We finally stopped him, Elijah," it was Elena who spoke this time and Lucy was relieved to hear that she was doing better with her own ears. "After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back."

"I give you my word, Elena, I will not revive Klaus within yours, nor even within your children's lifetimes," Elijah promised; Lucy looked over at Stefan with raised eyebrows and he nodded back, impressed. "Perhaps it will finally teach him some manners."

"Why should we trust you?" Joel asked him. "All you've done is screw us over."

"And for that, I'm deeply ashamed. But know this, Elena could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight," Elijah declared. "So, Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not."

"Don't be ridiculous, Elena," Damon spoke up and Lucy imagined that he was giving Elena a look that meant she was out of her mind. "Hello, did that concussion give you brain damage? His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get."

"Rebekah and Kol will honor the terms," Elijah stated. "If you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm. Do we have a deal?"

"Lucy," Elena addressed Lucy now, making her perk up. "What do you think?"

"Oh, come on!" Damon groaned. "As if she isn't biased."

"Shut up, Damon."

"I think we should give Elijah Nik's body," Lucy answered honestly, her mind whirrling. "Family's important. Always and forever, right, Lijah?"

"Always and forever, Luciana," Elijah confirmed; Lucy smiled.

"It's up to you, Lena," Lucy gave the option back to her sister. Elena—and Stefan, too, really—had been terrorized by Klaus more than most. It was her decision if she wanted to give Klaus to Elijah.

"Why do you want Klaus' body?" Elena asked Elijah.

"He's my brother. We remain together."

Elena sighed heavily before agreeing, "We have a deal."

"Are you kidding?" Damon asked angrily.

"Excellent," Lucy heard Elijah say. "I will give Rebekah your location and she will meet you."

Lucy nodded at Stefan; he sighed, "There's a storage unit just on the other side of the Tennessee border."

"I'm gonna call Bonnie," Lucy spoke up. "She'll give me a spell to block Nik's location from Alaric."

"Good idea."

"Wait," Damon said, his tone hardening. "Why are you driving west, Stefan?"

"Oh, there was a change of plans—"

"A change of plans, are you kidding?"

"Damon, you better watch your blood pressure," Lucy clicked her tongue mockingly. "Elijah, we'll contact you soon."

"Thank you, Luciana."

Lucy bit her lip and ended the call. She sighed and turned toward Stefan. "Just another day in Mystic Falls."

Stefan chuckled weakly. "No kidding."

Lucy disconnected her phone from the Bluetooth and dialed Bonnie's number. Bonnie was hesitant about giving Lucy a spell to block Klaus' location but after she was assured that Elena knew what was going on, she gave in. She recited the spell to Lucy while she typed it in her phone's notebook, making sure everything was spelled correctly so she wouldn't cast it wrong. That would mess everything up.

While she was on the phone with Bonnie, Stefan's phone rang twice. The first call was Joel with a makeshift plan where Jeremy gave Alaric the wrong location of where they were burying Klaus, so they could get the white oak stake off of him. The second call was Caroline and she sounded pretty upset.

She was so hysterical that Lucy had to give her phone to Stefan so he could talk to Bonnie while she calmed down Caroline.

"Caroline, what's wrong?"

"Alaric outed us all to the counsel," Caroline cried into the phone. "They know about us."

Lucy's heart skipped nervously. "All of us?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "They know about Tyler, me, Stefan, Damon, and Joel. They know about you and Bonnie, too."

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose; as if they didn't have enough to deal with. "A witch and vampire hunt, huh?"

"No kidding," Caroline agreed. "Listen, after Rebekah has Klaus' body, Tyler and I are leaving. I don't think I'll get to say goodbye, Luce."

"Don't say goodbye, Care," tears stung Lucy's eyes. "I can't handle another goodbye."

"Lucy, if anything happens—"

"Seriously, Care, don't…"

"I love you, Lucy Eleanora Gilbert," Caroline ignored her pleads. "You're the best platonic soul mate ever."

"Caroline Elizabeth Forbes," Lucy choked down a sob that was threatening to come out of her mouth. "I love you, too. I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too," Caroline sobbed. "Give Stefan my love. Be careful, Luce."

"You too, Care."

Lucy locked Stefan's phone and inhaled sharply, ignoring Stefan's sympathetic look. She pulled herself together and promised to cry later. Right now, she had to get the rest of the spell from Bonnie and hide Klaus.

Stefan held her phone out to her and she grabbed. "Bonnie, you still there?"

"I'm here, Luce."

An hour later, Stefan had bought a storage locker at the border of Tennessee and had already put Klaus in place. Lucy stayed in the car and kept an eye out in case Alaric knew what was actually going on and somehow showed up to kill Klaus. She repeated the spell over and over in her head until Stefan retrieved her from the SUV.

"He's hidden for now," Stefan informed her as they walked through the storage building. "I'm sure he'll be comfortable until Rebekah shows up for him."

"Why does this feel like a custody exchange," Lucy muttered, shaking his head. "What locker is he in? As long as he's unspelled, Alaric is one witch away from finding him."

"This way," Stefan grabbed her elbow and turned down a long aisle. The numbers on the storage units were climbing through the thousands. "I took a page out of Damon's playbook."

"What?" Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "666? 420? 6969?"

"No, but that's what anyone would think because it's pretty obvious," Stefan pointed at her as they slowed down and stopped in front of an unassuming unit. "So…I picked 1020."

Lucy nodded, impressed, as he opened the locker. Klaus' casket was settled inside by itself. "I don't want to say this, but I think Damon's playbook has good ideas."

"I read most of them," Stefan joked. "It's mostly drinking games and costume ideas."

"Costumes?"

"You don't want to know."

Lucy grimaced, catching the hidden meaning in his words and walked over to the coffin. She pulled open the top and, while she expected Klaus' eyes to open, Stefan did not. He jerked as Klaus blinked at them, a grimace on his gorgeous face.

"That's creepy," he muttered.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "Can you give me a minute? I want to say goodbye to him. Just in case."

"Sure," Stefan agreed easily. "I'll go take a lap."

"Thanks, Broody," Lucy smiled sweetly as Stefan as he left the unit, closing the door behind him.

She turned back to Klaus, ready to tell him what really was going on. "I'm supposed to block you from locater spells," she informed him. "but Bonnie and I don't think that will be enough."

"If you die, everyone else dies and that can't happen," she continued with a sigh. "Not to mention, I'm kind of fond of you, so I don't exactly want my vampire father to stab you in the heart. So, here's what we're gonna do," she braced her arms on the coffin. "I'm gonna protect you, so if Alaric gets to you, you won't die."

"Well, your spirit won't," she corrected herself. "Bonnie said you have to be a body like your own, so, you'll be catching a ride in Tyler's head if anything happens. Sound good?"

Klaus just blinked at her.

"Great," Lucy smiled down at him. "Let's get going, all right?"

Lucy siphoned magic from her necklace and started casting the spells that she and Bonnie discussed. She and Bonnie were the only people who knew about the extra spell she was putting on Klaus but it needed to be kept secret in case Alaric went around asking questions. If anything happened, Klaus would be safe and so would all the vampires she knew and loved.

She finished the spells and left the unit, walking out of the aisle to find Stefan. She found him in the garage where they parked the SUV, talking to Damon on the phone.

"Lucy just finished," he spoke into the phone. "Rebekah should be here soon to pick up the body."

Lucy couldn't hear what Damon replied with but Stefan replied, "Will do," he paused, perking up when he heard something on the other side of the building. "I have to go, Rebekah's here."

Stefan pocketed his phone and turned toward Lucy before freezing, his eyes widening in horror. Before Lucy could even ask what as wrong, an arm slipped around her neck and started tightening.

Lucy choked from the pressure against her throat and inhaled, stiffening when she recognized Alaric's cologne.

"Let her go," Stefan said cautiously, glaring at Alaric. "How'd you even find us?"

"You'd be amazed at how competent law enforcement is when it's not corrupted by vampires," Alaric hissed at him. "Now, where is Klaus?"

"He's in a storage locker," Lucy wheezed. "Have fun finding him."

Alaric unwrapped his arm from her neck and threw her at the wall. As Stefan leapt toward him, he easily snapped his neck. Lucy screamed in shock but before she could even think about protecting herself, Alaric grabbed her head and slammed it against the wall, knocking her out.

When his neck healed, Stefan woke up. His eyes immediately went to Lucy, who was still knocked out, but he could hear someone calling his name. Someone who was a woman, had a weird accent, and was definitely not Alaric.

Reluctant to leave Lucy by herself, Stefan sped out of the garage and to Rebekah's side. When he saw her, he hurriedly pressed his finger against his lips, urging her to be quiet. Rebekah nodded, immediately understanding the situation.

They sped through the building, locating the unit Stefan put Klaus' coffin in. They unlocked it and rushed him back through the aisles and to the garage. They were just about to put the coffin in the SUV when Alaric sped in front of them.

Rebekah was taken out first; Alaric grabbed her and slammed her against the SUV before throwing her at the wall next to Lucy. Stefan lunged for him but was easily kicked out of the way, landing in a heap next to both of the sisters.

Alaric opened up Klaus' coffin and pulled out the white oak stake. Stefan got to his feet and Rebekah was only able to scream in terror as Alaric plunged the stake past the steel chains into Klaus' heart.

As Klaus' body lit up in flames, Stefan grabbed Rebekah as she tried to get to her brother.

"Go!" he urged her. "Run! Go now!"

Alaric took the stake out of Klaus' body and slammed the coffin shut, turning to face Stefan and Rebekah. "Next?"

"Rebekah, go!"

Rebekah ran out of the storage building in a blur while Stefan ran toward Alaric, hoping to buy her some time. Alaric simply threw him out of the way before speeding after the blonde Original.

When Lucy woke up, the first thing she saw was forest-green. Stefan peered down at her worriedly as she winced and held the back of her aching head, sitting up to look around the garage.

"What happened?" she asked quietly. "Where's Alaric?"

"He went after Rebekah," Stefan answered her quietly. "Luce, he killed Klaus."

"What?" Lucy hurried to her feet and rushed over to the coffin.

The fire that had struck up when Alaric staked Klaus had burned out from lack of oxygen but it wasn't hard to see that Klaus was supposed to be dead. She sighed and pressed her forehead against the ridge of the coffin; she just hoped that her spell worked.

"Lucy…"

Lucy sobered up when she realized that Stefan thought he was going to die. Lucy wasn't exactly sure that the spell worked but she hoped it would—Bonnie said that it would. She turned toward Stefan, noticing the lost look on his face.

"You're gonna be fine," Lucy assured him, taking his hands.

"No, Luce, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," she insisted. "I promise, Stefan. I'm not gonna lose you."

Stefan clearly thought that she was in denial; she was about to lose him, her brother, and her best friend all in one go. He shook his head, his eyes blurring with tears. If he was gonna go, he didn't want her to watch.

"You should go," he requested, pressing his forehead to hers. "Take the car and go, Luce. Please."

"Stefan, you're not gonna die," Lucy said firmly. "Everything's gonna be okay. You're fine and you're gonna stay that way."

"Lucy."

She could see that he wasn't believing her, so she elaborated. "I did a spell on Nik," she admitted; Stefan's eyes widened in shock. "He's fine."

"You did what?" he breathed.

"Bonnie and I had to protect you guys," Lucy reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "Everyone is gonna be okay. Nik should be in Tyler's body right about now."

"Wait, what?"

Lucy closed her eyes and shook her head; clearly Stefan was still in shock. She pulled away from her place against Stefan and gasped when she saw that Alaric had doubled back. Apparently he hadn't caught Rebekah, which was good news, but now his angry sights were on Stefan.

"Alaric," she breathed, reaching up for her necklace.

Alaric blurred toward her, pushing her away from Stefan. Stefan quickly jumped into action, but it wasn't much of a fight. Despite Stefan giving it his all, Alaric was much, much stronger.

Lucy slowly got to her feet, her whole body aching, and siphoned from her necklace. She held out her glowing-red hand toward Alaric and gritted her teeth, trying to cast the strongest pain-inflicting spell she had ever tried. Alaric grimaced but was barely affected; if anything, now his attention was on her.

Lucy stumbled back when he took slow steps toward her, working through the spell she was casting on him.

"Dad, if any part of you is in there, you'll stop," Lucy pleaded, hoping that she could just break through to him.

"I'm not your father," Alaric spat at her. "Not anymore. You're an abomination, Lucy. Just like the rest of the vampires and witches."

Lucy flinched, never expecting to hear those words come out of Alaric's mouth. She knew it wasn't really Alaric but it was his voice and his mouth spitting at her. She resolved herself, straightening up.

She twisted the hand she held out toward him and clenched it into a fist, muttering a quick incantation. Alaric stopped in his tracks and coughed, blood dripping out of his mouth and onto the concrete floor. Lucy grunted with the effort she was putting into the spell, glancing behind him to see that Stefan was still out from his back being snapped in half.

Alaric chuckled bitterly and spat more blood onto the floor. "You're weak," he sneered at her. "and I'm gonna kill you."

Blood dripped from her nose as Lucy shook her head. "No, you're not."

She held out her other hand toward him, using the large amount of magic she siphoned to twist his arm. The bone snapped, his arm twisting awkwardly, and he winced but started walking toward her again.

The bones in his leg snapped but he popped back up. His left arm snapped but he just shook it out, unbothered. Everything that she was throwing at him, he resisted—she set his legs on fire and he quickly stomped them out, she tried to break his back and the bones didn't move. Nothing was working.

She was going to die. She was going to be killed by her own father.

And then, Alaric's head twisted sharply, the bones in his neck breaking and then quickly healing. He jerked in surprise and shook his head, looking down at his hands.

"What's happening?"

"Alaric?" Lucy lowered her hands and rushed forward, seeing that his hands were starting to desiccate. "Ric?"

Alaric choked as he fell to his knees, his neck starting to gray.

Elena's dying—that was the only thought in her head. Her eyesight blurred as she grabbed Alaric's body, holding him to her chest as the rest of him desiccated.

"You're not dead, Dad," Lucy sobbed, shaking him. "You can't be dead. Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

But Alaric didn't wake up and it made it hard for Lucy to catch her breath. Alaric was dead and so was Elena. Her sister was dead.

"No…" Lucy sobbed, resting her head on Alaric's cheek.

Her heart was breaking and her chest ached so bad she thought she was having a heart attack. She thought that she'd known grief and she did—but not like this. Alaric and Elena dying at once threatened to drown her like driving off Wickery Bridge didn't.

Elena was gone. She was just gone and there was nothing Lucy could do about it. The sister that she argued half of her life with, the sister that protected her, the sister that loved her so much, the sister that she loved unconditionally. Her sister was gone.

When was the last time she even spoke to Elena? She couldn't even remember. Lucy hadn't said goodbye to her when she left with Stefan to hide Klaus' body and before that, they weren't speaking much. She didn't even know if Elena knew how much she loved her.

"Lucy…Lucy…Lucy…"

Lucy could barely hear Stefan through her grief. She heard hints of his voice but nothing that stuck with her. She couldn't recall if he said anything important or if he was telling her complete nonsense.

"Lucy."

"They're dead," she mumbled, her cries starting to subside. She was numb and she didn't want to cry anymore. "They're dead. Elena's dead."

"Lucy, Damon gave her his blood," Stefan reminded her as he sat next to her on the floor, his own heart heavy.

"…what?" Lucy opened her eyes to look at him.

"Damon gave her his blood," he repeated patiently, stroking her wet cheek with his thumb. "She's gonna be okay. Elena will wake up."

Relief spread through Lucy, making her limbs tingle and her lungs relax. She leaned away from Alaric and slumped into Stefan's side, unable to keep her eyes open. There was still grief lingering inside but now that she knew Elena was going to be okay, it was better.

Elena would be a vampire but at least she would be alive.