A/N: Welcome back to A Thousand Years. Thanks for keeping up with this story so far. I really appreciate that you're enjoying this.

My apologies for the lateness. I've been a little busy. But I promise to be more prompt in the future :)

You know the drill: please review, and no flaming!

I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) belong to author L.J. Smith.

Enjoy ;)

SWEET REVENGE

"And just in time, in the right place. Suddenly I will play my ace…"
~Blue Foundation: 'Eyes on Fire' (Life Of A Ghost [2007])

~:MEMORY/DREAM:~

Warmth surrounded me.

I relished in the feeling as I slowly opened my eyes and glimpsed a clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds being pushed along by the wind.

What?

I sat up and took stock of my surroundings. I was sitting in a beautiful rolling green meadow with wildflowers as far as the eye could see. All beautiful sprays of blues, pinks, purples, yellows and orange. The meadow itself was surrounded by large fragrant pine trees stretching high to the skies. Part of a large sprawling forest. Birds fluttered from tree-branch to tree-branch, calling out to each other with different calls, and the odd wild creature darted here and there in search of food.

Feeling mildly incredulous, I got to my feet and decided to do some exploring to find out where I had mysteriously found myself. Something brushes against my ankles and I glanced down to see yards of light brown fabric swirling around me. I realised that I was wearing a very conservative cotton medieval dress with long sleeves and a simple brown leather belt strung about my hips. It had a slight V-neck and covered my shoulders.

I remember this...

I smiled, realising that I had stumbled into another dream and stretched out my arms, feeling like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music spinning around on top of a grassy mountainside. I take a slight step backwards and trip over something, landing with an 'oof' on the grass. Groping around me, I pick up a pair of well-worn, and slightly scuffed brown traveling boots. Acting on a hunch, I pulled my dress up slightly and I saw my bare feet. I sheepishly giggled when I realised that Gráinne must've taken off her boots to walk barefoot through the soft grass.

Typical …

I grinned slightly when I realised that I had inherited this particular habit from my ancestor. It was an odd habit that I had, and I proceeded to pull my boots back on before exploring. It would be my luck that I'd somehow step on a snake and get bitten ... then I would be in all sorts of strife.

I set off on an easy stroll down the hill and found a nearby babbling brook with the clearest, cleanest water I had ever seen. I reached in and scooped up a handful of water and caught a glimpse of myself for the first time. My eyes widened in astonishment. My normally wavy dark brown hair, which was usually cut just below my shoulders, was now ridiculously long and in one long thick plait over my left shoulder. My bangs had been pinned back and I was wearing a daisy coronet.

I looked like a well-groomed hippie.

"There you are sister, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Startled, I turned towards the voice and saw a young blonde girl no older than probably sixteen walking towards me. I got to my feet as she approached, all smiles, and examined her from head to toe. She was very beautiful and about my height, thin and dressed similarly to me in a blue cotton dress with a dark brown leather belt. Her extremely long platinum blonde hair was loosely knotted back into an old-fashioned pony-tail, and she had woven wildflowers through it. I instantly realised that this was Henrik's sister, and therefore mine, because her face was blurred to me… again; otherwise why she would be calling me 'sister'?

I opened my mouth to correct her and ask what the hell her name was; but apparently, my mouth had other ideas.

"I'm not your sister yet, Bekah." 'Gráinne' reminded her, using the familiar cultured European accent I've heard so many times by now, but never thought I'd hear coming from my own lips.

Say what?

I guess I was just an observer in this dream this time.

Good to know!

'Bekah', short for Rebekah I assumed, rolled her eyes and walked closer to me, grabbing my left hand pulling it up to eye-level.

"I beg to differ. This tells me otherwise." She insisted, fiddling with a ring I hadn't noticed on a very important finger. I blinked down at it in astonishment. Rebekah pouted playfully as she continued to admire my engagement ring. It was made of pure silver with a heart shaped jewel that I recognised as lapis lazuli, fashioned on top of the band. Decorating the band itself were Viking runes. "I'm almost jealous." Rebekah admitted as I removed the ring to examine it more closely. "My brother has excellent taste. I almost wish I could catch someone's eye and receive one of my own." We giggled as I took back my hand, put the ring back on, and linked arms with her.

"Good things come to those who wait, my dear. And anyway, I shouldn't expect anything less from your brother ... he does have an affinity for the arts." I reminded her. Rebekah sighed.

"I just wish father could see that. He's always so cruel to him." I was silenced by the sadness in her voice, and I bit my lip. I remember this vividly. Rebekah had always kept a straight face, but I knew that she really feared Mikael, and had visited the desire to kill him. There was silence for several minutes before I realised that we had made our way back to what looked like a village. My eyes widened in awe as I took in the village I had long since forgotten in my waking state in 2010.

Rebekah and I walked deeper into the village. Destination: unknown, or not remembered. As she and I walked along, I glanced about in wonder. The men in the village were dressed exactly as I had pictured they probably would've looked like in the 11th century: in tunics and loose-fitting trousers, leather here and there, and they were either sleeveless or wore loose cotton shirts underneath their tunic tops. All of them had shoulder-length or longer hair. The villagers went about their business, not paying Rebekah nor me any attention except for the younger men, who eyed us up with interest.

I rolled my eyes; some things never change in a thousand years.

Eventually, Rebekah and I came across a group of young men and boys practicing their sword fighting. She grinned brightly and immediately tugged me over to them, obviously intending on observing. My eyes widened when I realised Henrik was standing there at a distance, watching the mock sword fighting. Rebekah approached her little brother and I caught his attention, curious to know if this was a 'memory' Henrik, or my 'ghostly companion' Henrik; presumably remembering this along with me. But when I looked into his eyes, I noted that they were very innocent and young. Not a hint of anything ancient in them. This was definitely a memory version of him; nothing more. The swordfight behind us was growing intense. I glanced over at the two competitors.

"C'mon. You can do better than that!"

It was Niklaus!

He didn't look older than perhaps twenty-one or twenty-two; and his face was STILL blurred to me. He was taunting his older brother – a dark-haired man in his mid to late twenties – playfully. I grinned happily. It was Elijah! Niklaus gave an overly cocky grin and sliced down abruptly with his sword, managing to slice off Elijah's leather belt. This earned him a look of fond exasperation from Elijah, before he got back into his stance.

Then I realised what was going on. This was a memory that I held close to my heart because it had all the people I loved the most in the world in it.

"Come on, Henrik, Gráinne; they're about to start fighting again. Let's get a closer look." Rebekah suggested excitedly. Henrik only smiled shyly and nodded, following his sister. I laughed and ran to catch up. Elijah was starting to get a little nervous, and kept glancing around for something or someone.

"Careful, Niklaus. You're getting a little too cocky. You don't want to suffer father's wrath." He warned.

I casually observed Niklaus with a keen eye, and grinned. He really was handsome guy; tall, lean and muscular, with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair. He was dressed in a dark grey tunic and wore a simple, white cotton shirt with leather wrist cuffs. Elijah was muscular also – due to the hard life we all endured back then - and wore a tan coloured tunic, dark loose trousers and was sleeveless. His long dark brown hair hung freely behind him.

I watched Niklaus wave a dismissive hand in the air.

"You're just saying that because you know you're gonna lose." He taunted, and got into his stance.

Typical, cocky male. But I love him…

Elijah merely sighed and waited for the signal to begin before both of them immediately started whaling on each other with some very impressive swordsmanship skills. Niklaus won. He crowed loudly, acting like a typical young man high on adrenaline and gestured for the accolades while both Rebekah and I rolled our eyes and giggled drawing both of their attention.

I blushed. I remembered this.

Niklaus instantly brightened and abandoned Elijah, who had an equally warm smile on his face when he saw Rebekah and me, and made his way over to us. I scowled in annoyance at my sister who elbowed me playfully in the ribs as Niklaus finally came to a stop and gave Rebekah a brilliant smile.

"Hello, Rebekah." He greeted her with a sweet kiss on her cheek. "Did you have a pleasant walk?" He inquired warmly.

"Yes, and I found your intended along the way." Rebekah reported, brightly. She draped an arm around Henrik's shoulders. Niklaus fixed me with a loving look that made my cheeks flame out. He speared the sword into the dirt and circled his strong arms around my waist, pulling me towards him. I received a tender kiss on the forehead in greeting as he buried his nose into my hair. I instantly relaxed into his arms, tucking my head underneath his chin.

"If you are quite finished, Niklaus. I know that your intended is very distracting." We both glanced over at Elijah with different reactions: Niklaus was possessive, and I was amused. "But we are still in the middle of practice." Elijah stated, feigning impatience. He winked at me, and I grinned back causing Niklaus narrowed his eyes warningly at his brother and tightened his grip around my waist, before he eventually gave a much exaggerated sigh and released me from our hug, only holding my hand instead.

"If I must." Niklaus teased and kissed my hand before walking back over to Elijah. "Who's next? Who shall challenge me next?" He announced, loudly. His voice echoing like a bullhorn.

"I will!" All the men froze, and turned to look at me with shock. Rebekah tugged insistently on my arm.

"What are you doing, Gráinne?"

Henrik had paled at the mere idea.

Fucking 11th century rules…

"You know women aren't allow to wield swords. Besides, you could get hurt!" She whisper-shouted at me. I definitely agree, of course. I was probably likely to accidentally chop off my own leg before I even got started. But still, at the time I didn't see the harm in having a go, even if it was just once. I glanced over at Elijah and Niklaus, and saw their equally concerned expressions on their faces mirroring Rebekah's. I wonder if Gráinne felt as annoyed as I feel right now.

"I don't think that's a good idea, love." Niklaus eventually responded. Elijah agreed, nodding and approaching me.

"Sword fighting can be very dangerous at the best of times." He insisted. I snorted and walked over to the large pile of swords and picked one up, staggering underneath its weight. Niklaus rushed over to assist me.

"You see?" He pointed out, smiling warmly at me. I took a step back from him, adjusting my grip on the sword and smirked at him.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to be beaten by a woman." I teased, offering him a flirty smile and Niklaus scowled warningly at me.

"Love…"

"Come on, Niklaus. Where's the harm?" I asked, beseechingly. Niklaus glanced over at Elijah, who shrugged, before he sighed and reluctantly got into position. I squealed in excitement and moved to stand opposite him, holding my sword in the defensive position.

"Just be careful." Niklaus pleaded, and waited for me to make the first move. Elijah walked over to where Rebekah and Henrik were standing, watching both of us with worry and concern. The fight began, and after a few tense minutes; both Niklaus and I were actually having fun.

"See, Niklaus? There's nothing to be worried about." I reassured him, and he grinned happily at me.

These were my famous last words.

"NIKLAUS!" We all flinched violently and turned towards the loud, angry voice and I felt the anger rise as an intimidating, older blonde-haired man with large muscles advanced towards us.

It was Mikael.

Son of a bitch!

I obviously couldn't see, because his face was blurred to me like the rest of the siblings, but I could tell that his eyes were flashing menacingly when he saw the sword in my hands. Part of me wished that I could move my arms, so I could run him through with the sword like he did to me; or in this case would do to me. But because I was just observing my memories, this was impossible.

"What is the meaning of this, boy!?" Mikael growled, practically spitting in Niklaus' face.

"We were just practicing our sword-fighting, Father." Niklaus replied, nervously, trying to shield me from his aggressive father.

"Is that so? So why is this young woman holding a sword?" He demanded, violently snatching the sword from my hands and causing me to jerk back in fright and stumble backwards onto my arse. Niklaus immediately moved to help me to my feet. Elijah waded in to assist with the explanation.

"Please, Father. We were just having a bit of fun." Elijah insisted, trying to placate him. Mikael turned and looked at them all, before levelling his gaze upon Niklaus, who looked back with what I recognised as dread.

Uh oh…

My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. This was the part of my memory that I hated so very much. Even more so that I couldn't change what I was about to relive. It was like watching an American Pitbull taking down a Chihuahua, without remorse, and without the ability to pull them apart.

"Fun, Niklaus? Is that what you were having?" He asked, surprisingly calm. But I knew better. Mikael wasn't at all calm, there was a cold fury radiating from him and I knew that nothing good could come of it. My suspicions were confirmed when he turned and walked over to stand across from Niklaus and executed some fancy sword-twirling techniques with his hand. "Well, come on, boy. Show me this 'fun' you've been having." He demanded harshly, before charging over to Niklaus and attacking without warning. My fiancé barely had time to shove me out of the way into Rebekah's awaiting arms, to block his father's attack.

But it didn't stop there.

Oh, no. The attacks continued coming without pause, and they grew increasingly violent with every blow.

"Tell me, Niklaus. Are we having fun yet!?" Mikael snarled. Rebekah shook from fear and worry for her brother.

"Father, please!" Niklaus begged, completely terrified. Elijah went to his brother's aid.

"Stop this, Father!" Elijah yelled, attempting to grab the sword from Mikael, but he was deliberately blocked.

"Stay out of this, boy!" Mikael roared.

Elijah persisted, defying Mikael to help Niklaus, while Rebekah and I watched helplessly from the sidelines. Rebekah was clutching me and Henrik fearfully, while I glared at Mikael with cold fury. I was both surprised and glad that Gráinne apparently felt the same emotion as I am just reliving this. Tears were streaming down Rebekah's flawless face.

"Stop it, please!" She yelled, desperately. Niklaus was just barely hanging on, already showing signs of fatigue and bleeding a little from where his father had managed to cut him with his blows.

"Enough, Mikael!"

I turned and saw an older woman with long light brown hair and a slightly careworn face approach. My heart clenched. It was Esther, whose face was all blurred from my sight. She had a stern, 'don't-mess-with-me' expression on her face that caused Mikael to pause, glaring at his wife, who stood her ground glaring back. Then he snarled angrily and tossed away the sword in his hand aside, storming off. Niklaus sighed with relief, and almost collapsed to the ground.

Alarmed, both Rebekah and I rushed to his side to assist him.

"Niklaus, are you alright?" I asked with concern. He didn't respond, except to roughly jerk his arm out of my grip and got to his feet. He then turned and left without a word, presumably off to 'lick his wounds'. Hurt, I turned to Esther and was surprised to see a look of pity in her eyes, directed towards me.

She turned towards Rebekah.

"Come, Rebekah. There's chores to be done." Esther requested, firmly. Rebekah nodded, sadly.

"Yes, mother." She responded before turning and giving me a quick hug and moving to follow her. I watched as Rebekah and her mother disappeared around a corner before turning to where Niklaus had fled. I went to follow him, but a hand descended onto my shoulder, stopping me from moving and I didn't have to turn to see Elijah standing behind me with sorrow and deep concern on his face, due to the amount of pain, embarrassment and shame we had seen on Niklaus' face as he hastily departed from the scene.

"Leave him be, Gráinne. I do not think Niklaus would appreciate anyone's company right now. The best thing we can do is to give him the space he needs." Elijah advised me. I nodded sadly, and found myself engulfed in muscular arms. My eyes widened in recognition and I clung to him tightly.

I miss this…

Elijah gently pulled away and grazed my cheek with his knuckles like he did when we reunited, before smiling and returning back to the group of boys still sword fighting.

"Wow…" My eyes widened in shock when I heard that familiar voice, and I spun to face him. "That Mikael guy is a dick."

"Damon?" I breathed. He smirked, striding towards me in his usual black attire combo. None of the villagers seemed to notice him. He stood before me and smoothed my hair behind my ear.

"Hello, cutie."

~:REALITY:~

My eyes snapped open and I registered the stillness of the unfamiliar bedroom. Brilliant sunshine filtered in from a nearby open window which was admitting a refreshingly cool breeze from the outside. I moaned softly, and sat up; cupping my face and sweeping away any traces of sleep from my eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, sleeping beauty." I jerked my head towards where Damon was sitting in a nearby armchair, flipping once again through my sketchbook and stopping on the 'family portrait' sketch. I glared at him, a little.

"Damon…" I mumbled and flipped my legs over the side of the bed, getting up from it. He frowned curiously at the picture.

"I must say you were surprisingly fetching a thousand years ago. I can see why this 'Klaus' guy fell for you." Damon observed, tapping at the drawing of Niklaus. I wondered over and took the book from him.

"That was private. You shouldn't have been eavesdropping." I reprimanded him. Damon clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

"I was curious." He confessed, looking at me curiously.

"Well, curiosity killed the cat." I reminded him, heading for the bathroom to wash my slightly sweaty face. Damon got to his feet and followed.

"But satisfaction brought it back." He retorted automatically. Then he became serious. "Do you care to elaborate on what I just saw?" He asked, and I fixed him with a look as I tied back my long hair into a pony tail.

"What do you plan to achieve from what I might tell you?" I questioned as I turned on the cold tap and cupped my hands underneath the spray to collect the water. Damon shrugged, leaning against the door frame.

"Why you chose that specific memory for starters." He elaborated. I paused, thinking over my answer as I reached for a white fluffy face towel to pat dry my face.

"It was one of my fonder memories that contained both Elijah and Niklaus in it. I miss them both." I told him, tossing the used towel into the laundry hamper and pulling my hair out of its ponytail. "Plus, they remind me of two people that I know in the here and now." I added, smiling. Damon frowned.

"Who are those unfortunates?" Damon wanted to know, as he followed me from the bathroom and over to where my boots – which I had removed hours before in the parlour – had been put.

"You and Stefan." I replied simply, causing Damon to stand there looking rigid. I sat down on the armchair he had vacated and slipped on my boots.

"Really? Could you be more specific?" He sounded sceptical.

"If you like. You're very much like Niklaus, and Stefan is very similar to Elijah." I replied, confidently. Damon's eyes widened in horror.

"I'm not a raging psychopath." Damon protested. I just stood there and looked at him. "Oh, wait…"

"The point is Damon, you and Stefan are a lot like Niklaus and Elijah simply by the fact that you are first and foremost brothers who love each other very much. I've observed this." I told him, matter-of-factly.

Damon snorted.

"Then you observed incorrectly. I hate Stefan's guts." He corrected me, looking at me with hard eyes.

"You didn't at first." I reminded him.

"Yeah, well. That's ancient history. I'd rather not rehash that with him or with you to be honest." Damon insisted, dismissively. I sighed. Niklaus would've reacted the exact same way.

"Look. You might have vowed to Stefan's face that day on the quarry, an eternity of misery; but deep, deep, deep, deep down you would do anything to protect your baby brother." I told him. "Believe it or not, both Niklaus and Elijah would absolutely defend each other to the death, even if they were in the middle of a bitter feud with each other, if it meant they could save their lives. Family meant everything back in the 11th century. The same way that love and family means everything to you." I reminded him. "No matter how much of a stubborn arse, you are at times." I muttered. Damon was silent, taking in my words before he headed for the bedroom door.

"You've got a vivid imagination." Damon said, dismissing what I said completely before disappearing out of the room. I sighed with frustration and made to follow him downstairs when I heard the sound of somebody crying. "Alright Rosebud." My eyes widened and I hurried down the staircase. "I need some answers." I came to the bottom and saw Rose standing across from Damon, wiping away some tears from her eyes and scowling at him. Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh please don't tell me you're crying 'cause your buddy Trevor lost his head." He groaned with exasperation.

"Damon! Where's your tact?" I growled. Damon rolled his eyes at me, as I walked passed and approached Rose who looked at me warily.

"Has he always been this sensitive?" She asked me. I smiled a little at her.

"Yeah, this is classic Damon." I told her. He nodded in agreement.

"Full vampire switch for this very reason." Damon said, indicating to Rose's weepy state. "Takes the emotion out of it." Rose rolled her eyes, still wiping at her eyes.

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine." She challenged him. I walked towards the kitchen.

"Preferably when I'm not here, in immediate danger. I'm not in the mood to become an unemotional vampire's chew toy." I reminded them. Damon smirked. It was convenient that the Salvatore's kitchen happened to be within earshot of Rose and Damon's conversation. So I listened in.

"Was that a dig?" He questioned.

"It's an observation." Rose corrected him. "Must be difficult being in love with somebody out of reach." Damon immediately shut down.

"I'm not in love with anyone." He tells her, with a serious no-nonsense tone. Rose scoffed, disbelievingly.

"Want to try that again?"

"Don't get on my bad side." He warned, walking towards her angrily.

"Then show me your good side." Rose challenged, getting into his face and rising to her full level; sounding not at all intimidated. Damon paused for a moment, before backing off.

"How do I find Klaus?" He asked her, getting straight to the point. I chose that moment to walk back into the room; confused about why Damon was getting so defensive about being in love with Elena. Damon instantly brightened and relaxed when I re-entered the room. I noticed Rose raise a sceptical eyebrow at this abrupt change in mood; and so did I.

"You don't find Klaus." Rose told him. "He finds you."

"How interesting." I mumbled, sitting on an armrest and smoothing my hair behind my ear. Damon wasn't satisfied with this answer.

"Come on. Somebody's got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?" Damon said exasperatedly, walking over to fix himself a drink. Typical Damon move. Rose shook her head.

"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close." She told us. I was surprised. Was Niklaus really that elusive? Damon took a generous sip of his bourbon.

"Humour me. You got in touch with Elijah, how did you do it?" He insisted. Rose huffed tiredly.

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole. A guy named Slater in Richmond." She said. Damon immediately knocked back his drink, and placed down his glass next to the collection of crystal decanters half filled with expensive liquor.

"Perfect. I'll drive." Damon declared and grabbed my hand as he went by, tugging me along with him. I was startled by this move and just barely managed to grab my purse and jacket as we went. However, Rose flashed in front of us.

"No." She shut him down immediately. Damon looked annoyed and opened his mouth to protest. "You forget not all of us can do sun." She reminded him. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Then you drive. Come on." Damon indicated for Rose to lead the way. She reluctantly complied.

That's how I found myself travelling in a car with specially tinted windows to prevent Rose from spontaneously combusting in the sunlight. It was an hour and a half, maybe two hours trip from Mystic Falls to Richmond; and I was dead curious about what we were about to discover from this Slater guy. Rose drove Damon and me to an underground parking lot. It turned out that we were meeting Slater at a very public coffee shop. Something that Damon was amused about.

"Back entrance. How convenient." He drawled sarcastically. Rose ignored the tone, as she stepped out of the car.

"That's the point. We can't all have little daylight rings." She told him, as I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. I was started to become irritated with Damon's deliberate attempts to get a rise out of Rose.

"How do you know this Slater guy is even here?" Damon asked.

"I called him. He's here. He's always here." Rose replied. Damon nodded.

"Good." He approved, and made me jump when he pushes Rose against the wall at top speed. I followed them, feeling slightly panicked.

"Damon! Seriously!" I grumbled at him, earning a warning glare before he turned back to Rose, who was looking at him with boredom.

"Just one thing. If you're setting us up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat." He promised, threateningly. "It's something I'm very good at." He smirked.

"Is that so?" Rose asked casually before she suddenly shoves him away and then turns and grabs me, holding me in a choke hold. I grabbed her arms in attempt to lessen the pressure on my throat, as Damon froze looking slightly concerned. "What's stopping me from doing that to Grace?" My eyes widened in alarm. "I'm older than you and stronger. Don't get on my bad side." Rose warned him, before she released me and I backed away from her in horror, massaging my throat. Damon immediately flashed to my side, examining my throat for bruising.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worriedly. I nodded, still looking at Rose with fear. The older vampire sighed.

"You can trust me." She reassured us, before turning and entering the coffee shop. Damon took a hold of my hand again, planting me firmly by his side. "Stay by me. You'll be safe." He promised, eying Rose with mistrust. We walked in and Damon immediately froze when he sees the sunlight filtering in from the large store window. "Woah. What about the sunlight?" He questioned Rose.

"Double paned and tempered. UV rays can't penetrate." She explained to us both. "You see the appeal now?"

"That and the free Wi-Fi." A guy dressed in very casual street clothes, who didn't look any older than at least his mid-twenties, sidled up to us with a friendly grin on his face. He was carrying a large silver laptop under his arm. This must be Slater. Rose turns to him and embraces him warmly.

"Hey, how are you?" She greets him. Slater shrugged and leads us towards a nearby table.

"Good. I saw you come." We all took a seat. "What are you doing here?" He enquired cheerfully. Damon raised an eyebrow at his perky attitude, while I tried to smother my laughter.

"It's a long story but I want you to meet…"

"Damon Salvatore. Turned 1864 in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova." Slater jumped in and answered before Rose could finish her sentence. My mouth dropped open in surprise. "So I take it I was right, what I told you about the tomb under the church was true?" He directed this question towards Rose.

"Yes, it was right. Thank you for the tip." She said, graciously. Slater nodded before looking over at Damon and me, curiously.

"It's nice to meet you, maybe." Slater said to Damon, but looked at me with interest. "But I don't know who you are." I gave Slater a painfully polite smile.

"Grace Williams." I replied.

"Charmed. What's going on Rose?" Slater asked, before looking around the café. "Where's Trevor?" He asked, sounding hopeful. Immediately both Rose and I went quiet; although for different reasons. Slater's pleasant smile dropped. "I see." He said, understanding what happened from our silence, while Damon looked a combination of confused and impatient. "Who killed him?" He asked, solemnly.

"Elijah, of course." Rose responded, bitterly. Slater looked like he didn't need to know more. I smiled tightly.

"Yeah, my brother always did have a bit of a temper." I supplied casually, as I sat back and looked out of the window; observing the passers-by. Slater blinked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right. Did you say that Elijah Mikaelson is your brother?" He sounded incredulous. I nodded.

"Correction: he was her brother." Damon interjected. I narrowed my eyes at him, still not entirely over the fact that Damon had temporarily put Elijah out of commission. I kicked his shin underneath the table. He jumped in surprise.

"And whose fault was that?" I griped at him. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? Just let it go, Grace…" He responded tiredly. Slater looked at me disbelieving.

"But you're not an Original vampire." He pointed out. I smirked at the observation.

"Well-spotted." I said, feeling cheeky. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Grace is the reincarnation of his sister-in-law who was killed a thousand years ago." Rose explained. Slater's eyes widened in shock, visibly irritating Damon I noticed out the corner out of my eye.

"You mean she is…"

"Uh-huh." Rose confirmed. Slater looked at me with sympathy and I frowned in confusion.

"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater asked Rose, doubtfully. That got my attention. Damon nodded firmly, obviously wanting to get this over and done with so we could go back to Mystic Falls.

"Beyond dead." Damon confirmed. Slater nodded, looking a little sad.

"Trevor was a good man; he helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was schooling for my psych PhD." He must have noticed the confused look on both Damon and my face, because we both really couldn't care less. Should've tried harder to look disinterested.

"Slater's been in college since '74." Rose explained.

"When I was turned. I have 18 degrees, 3 master's and 4 PhDs." He explained to us proudly. Damon and I exchanged bored looks.

"The point?" Damon demanded. Slater nodded.

"Exactly. I mean what is the point? What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, please enlighten me." Slater agreed.

"Uh, that's not what Damon meant…" I pointed out.

"We need your help. If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?" Rose asked him, obviously sensing Damon's irritation, noticing how painfully polite I was trying to be, or getting impatient with him herself.

"Craigslist." Slater replied, succinctly. I blinked at him in astonishment.

"Really?" Damon looked and sounded dubious.

"You're having us on." I added.

"Seriously." Slater insisted. "I respond to a personal ad to get sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah, who's dead and that's where my connection ends." He tells us. Damon and I looked at him blankly.

"You get any of that?" I turned to Damon, who frowned at Slater.

"Not a clue." Damon responded, then he sat forward. "Here's what I don't get: Elijah moved around during the day, which means the originals knew the secret of the day ring." Slater nodded, letting him know he understood and to continue. "Now why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and moon?" Damon wanted to know.

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa." Slater explained.

Wrong.

I rolled my eyes at this false information and shook my head sitting back in my chair.

"But werewolves are extinct." Rose argued.

Wrong.

Slater hummed underneath his breath. "True. I've never seen one but rumour has it…"

"Not such a rumour." Damon confirmed.

"Mystic Falls? God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome." Slater exclaimed, sounding excited. I snorted.

Wrong.

Damon snorted at Slater's misguided enthusiasm for our hometown.

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it." He faked excitement before pushing on ahead with his questioning. "Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asked, just barely hanging on to a shred of his patience. Slater frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if we make the moonstone useless, would it stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asked. Slater shrugged.

"Well, yeah, probably, but why would you want to do that?" He asked.

"That's not important. Could you just tell him how?" I asked, trying to avoid Damon's temper flaring up. Slater looked afraid.

"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss off an original? And keep them from walking in the sun?" Damon smirked.

"You want to walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us." He promised.

But before Slater could say anything, all the windows in the café imploded causing customers to scream and scatter, and for Damon to dive over me, shielding me protectively from broken glass raining down on us. Rose and Slater's skin started burning from exposure from the dangerous VU rays now flooding the room, and Rose starts to scream; forcing Damon to abandon my side and attend to her. I looked outside and freeze, before a relieved and overjoyed smile spreads across my face.

"Elijah…" I whispered, and I saw him smile back at me a little and raise his hand in greeting. I got to my feet and moved to walk towards him to give him a proper greeting, but Rose's terrified screaming distracted me, and I turned to see Damon quickly shrugging off his jacket and putting it over her face.

Slater had disappeared.

"You're gonna be okay." Damon reassures Rose, who nodded frantically.

"I know." She replied, tears of pain streaming down her cheeks. Damon scoops Rose up into his arms and immediately runs for the back of the coffee shop. I take another glance outside the shattered window to look at Elijah, but he had disappeared. I sagged in disappointment.

"C'mon, Grace!" Damon shouts back to me, and I immediately rush after him. Once we were in the safety of the underground car park, Damon started firing off questions. "Who's behind that?" He demanded.

"I don't know." Rose cried, as the skin on her burnt face started healing up. "Where is Slater?"

"He ran for it. I don't know where he went." I replied feeling worried, and a little afraid. Elijah was obviously behind this, and the ferocity of the damage he had inflicted indicated that he was very angry, and this was his way of sending a warning to Damon and Rose.

"He's not behind this, he's a good guy. He wouldn't betray me." Rose insisted, before either Damon or I had the chance to even accuse Slater. Damon gave her a hard look.

"Then who did it?" He asked, urgently.

"It's Klaus, don't you understand?" Rose insisted, and I frowned at her. "You don't know this man, we're dead, we're all dead." She sobbed, obviously very scared. I bit my lip, feeling helpless and a little resentful that Niklaus was being accused when it was Elijah who was the culprit.

We drove the two hour drive back to Mystic Falls with Damon at the wheel, as Rose was still weakened from the sun exposure. I kept to myself in the backseat; just staring absently out of the window and reading my novel. All while reflecting on the bittersweet knowledge that Elijah was indeed alive, but also plotting a sophisticated revenge on both Damon and Rose for their apparent betrayal and Damon's misguided attempt to kill him. It was no coincidence that Elijah had been there at the right moment. He had probably been tracking us down, since Damon and Stefan had rescued Elena and me from that abandoned house, and probably overheard everything that we had said in the café. My best guess was, that the next time we saw him – and we would definitely be seeing him again – it would not be a particularly pleasant reunion.

A couple of times, I noticed Damon looking over at Rose with concern when he thought neither Rose nor I were looking. I smiled approvingly. It was rare to see a genuinely concerned Damon looking out for a vulnerable person without having a secret agenda in place that benefited him. I decided that once we got back to Mystic Falls that I would go and find out what Elena and Stefan had gotten up to during our absence to Richmond. It would give Damon the opportunity to get to know Rose a little better, and it was a good opportunity as well to do a little matchmaking, even if the relationship was only temporary. Damon pulled up Rose's car as close to the front door as he could, so Rose could get out and into the house safely. I got out and turned towards Damon.

"I'm gonna head off." I told him. Damon frowned.

"Why?"

"Rose needs someone to talk to about this, and that person is not going to be me." I explained to him, before frowning. "In fact, I think I'm probably the last person she'd want to talk to considering my connection with the person she's spent 500 years avoiding like the plague." I told him.

Damon looked like he'd rather walk into direct sunlight without his ring.

"Why me, though? What the hell would I say?" He complained. I shrugged.

"Wing it. You're a vampire, she's a vampire. Something will come up eventually." I reassured him. "Just use your natural charm." I told him, with a saucy little wink. Damon smirked.

"I'll talk to you later then." He said. I grinned.

"You better." I walked over to my car and immediately got into it and drove away. Had I looked back for any reason, I would've probably caught a glimpse of Damon looking at me with frustration and confusion before turning and following Rose inside.

A/N: Until next time, ladies and germs! :P

TTFN :)