Elena was lost.

Somehow, she didn't recognise any of the once familiar streets in Mystic Falls; she must have gotten super turned around after her conversation with Elijah. He'd revealed so much about Klaus's history, and the truth of the sun and the moon curse, it was no wonder she'd been distracted enough to get lost. She just needed to find her way to a road she knew.

Letting out a soft gasp, Elena found herself coming to a swift halt when the sound of her name being called came from behind her.

"Elijah," she smiled softly, turning around, "you startled me."

Elijah returned her smile, one of his hands comfortably in the pocket of his slacks. "My apologies, it was not intentional."

"What are you doing out here?" Elena asked lightly, tilting her head at him.

"I could ask you the same thing." Elijah pointed out softly, mimicking Elena's head tilt. "I wanted to ensure you had returned home safely, but I found you hadn't."

Elena laughed slightly, shrugging and looking around her. "I think I got a bit lost, there was a lot to think about."

"I can imagine." Elijah inclined his head slightly, letting out a soft breath as he looked around. "Have you come to a decision about the elixir?"

Scoffing, Elena's eyes darted to her feet as she shook her head softly. "Everyone has an opinion, Stefan and Damon aren't happy about it."

"From where I stand, it only matters what you think; what you desire."

"I don't know what I want." Elena shrugged lightly, looking up at Elijah. "I don't want to become a vampire, and I don't want to die…"

"But?" He prompted softly.

"But this elixir could have so many side effects, none of us know." Elena sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Why do you care about what happens to me, Elijah?"

The man in question let out a soft sigh, stepping closer to her. "You have not been given any choice in the path your life has taken, you deserve a choice now, and you deserve someone who will be in your corner for you; not someone who only has their interests at heart."

"You're talking about Stefan and Damon." Elena sighed, biting the inside of her lip. "They care about me." She denied, shaking her head.

"Then why did their names enter your mind now, I didn't refer to either of them."

"I-I-" Elena's stuttering was halted by another presence joining their conversation, both of them turning to face the newcomer.

"Elena," Elijah said softly, a soft undercurrent of concern in his voice, "come over here."

Her eyebrows drew into a frown at Elijah's words, her eyes flitting between Elijah and the blonde in front of her.

"Oh, come now, Elijah," the blonde drawled, rolling his eyes, "don't be like that."

"Now is not the time, Niklaus."

"Klaus?" Elena frowned, turning back to look at the blonde. "You're Klaus?"

"Of course, I am." Klaus shrugged, grinning at Elena. "Who else would I be?"

Rolling her eyes slightly, Elena shook her head. "I was hoping for someone who didn't want to kill me and my family." She quipped, rousing a laugh from Klaus.

"Cute." He smirked, lips tilting down for a moment. "Didn't peg you for the sarcastic type."

"I don't take kindly to people who want me dead." Elena muttered, glaring at him, confused when all he did was laugh.

"Unfortunately, it's a necessity." Klaus shrugged, tilting his head at Elena.

"So is getting you out of the picture." Elena bit back, lunging at Klaus in a confusing and uncharacteristic movement, her fangs sinking into the side of his neck. Too soon, she found herself being dragged away from his neck, and coming face-to-face with Elijah.

"Elena, you need to stop." Elijah said firmly, holding her by the shoulders.

"Get off of me, Elijah! You know what he's done!"

"What who's done?" Elijah asked, not releasing his grip on Elena. "You're sick, Elena, you're seeing things."

Elena shook her head. "No, I-I'm not, I…" She trailed off, confused when the polished Elijah in front of her suddenly had shorter hair and was wearing a different suit. "Elijah?" She whimpered, sagging against his hold. "I don't know what's going on."

"It's alright, Elena." He reassured her softly, rubbing her shoulders gently. "It's not your fault."

"I-I don't understand." She muttered, her eyes flitting the stranger on the floor, even more confusion filtering through her at the sight of Caroline crouched over him. "Caroline?"

"Miss Forbes, is he alright?" Elijah asked softly, glancing at the pair, satisfied when the blonde nodded.

"I'll get him somewhere a bit more public," Caroline said, her type-A personality kicking into action, "you should get Elena back to the plantation, I'll meet you there."

Elijah replied, a soft confirmation before Caroline disappeared, the man over her shoulder. "Elena," he whispered, prompting her focus back onto him, "it's alright, you just need to breathe."

"Elijah, I'm scared," Elena whimpered, barely able to look him in the eye, "really, properly scared."

"You're going to be alright, Elena, I promise."

Elena let out a soft whimper, tossing in the bed she was asleep in…well…maybe sleeping wasn't the right word for it. She was slipping in and out of consciousness, both states haunted by nightmares or hallucinations.

Gently dabbing Elena's forehead with a damp cloth, Elijah released a pained breath; the more he looked, the more Elena's skin was taking on a slightly grey tinge. Rebekah still hadn't called him back about Niklaus, and, even with Bonnie and Caroline now involved, he, Marcel and Davina had found no viable solutions.

Klaus's blood seemed like the most simple and obvious explanation, and right now, it was all he had. Elijah could see Elena slipping away in front of him, and he was powerless to stop it.

He dropped the cloth back into the basin of water beside him and took hold of Elena's hand squeezing gently for a moment as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Elijah? Where are we?"

Smiling, Elijah opened his eyes, turning to face the brunette sat beside him. "A memory."

"You're in my head?" Elena asked, tilting her head at him.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion." Elijah murmured, suddenly feeling rather chagrined by Elena's words. "You were in a lot of pain, I thought this may help to ease it some."

Elena smiled, taking his hand as she looked around them, admiring the horses around them. "It's okay, Elijah, I'm not upset." Glancing around again, she turned to look at him, understanding on her face. "This is the place you told me about, isn't it? Where wild horses used to graze…" She quoted, grinning at Elijah when she saw surprise colouring his features.

"I must confess, I didn't think you'd remember."

"Of course I do." Elena shrugged, clambering to her feet and offering her hand to Elijah. "You know, I always wanted to ride a horse, never did get round to it…teach me?"

Elijah smiled, accepting Elena's hand and standing in front of her. "You have plenty of time to learn, Elena, don't talk like you're out of time."

"We wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Elena whispered, looking down at their joint hands.

"You are going to be fine, Elena," Elijah said firmly, a hand on her cheek making her look up at him, "Rebekah will find Niklaus."

"What if his blood isn't the cure?" Elena pointed out, shaking her head when Elijah went to argue with her. "I don't have much time, Elijah, we both know that, so, while I do, will you please teach me?"

"You stupid, foolish, conniving, idiotic boy!" Rebekah hissed, thrusting a tree branch into the object of her rage. "When will you learn not to get involved where things don't concern you?"

"Elena's concerns me; she's clearly been compelled by your psychotic family!"

"Elena is dying, and she needs Klaus's blood!" Rebekah snapped, pulling the branch from his stomach, smirking at his pained grunt. "So, I will ask you again, what the hell have you done with my brother?"

Elena smiled to herself, her arms squeezing around Elijah's waist as her cheek pressed into his back, the soft movement of the horse's walk lulling her into a nice calm. She allowed her eyes to drift closed, taking in a deep breath as she enjoyed the fresh air on her face.

"This is nice." She murmured, nuzzling her face into Elijah's back. "Thank you, Elijah."

"You're very welcome, Elena." Elijah replied softly, thankful that the fact they were in his memories allowed him not to have to focus on what he was doing.

"I'm glad we got to do this." Elena sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be what you deserved, Elijah."

Drawing the horse to a halt, Elijah frowned. "What are you talking about, Elena?"

Elena opened her eyes, disorientated at the sudden stop of movement. "We're destined to be each other's forever, you deserved that, and I'm so sorry I couldn't be that for you, Elijah."

"Stop talking like you're already dead." Elijah snapped, sliding off the horse's back and looking up at Elena. "We still have forever, Elena!"

Smiling sadly, Elena shook her head. "We don't, Elijah, I'm dying, I can feel it."

"No! You're not!" Elijah shouted, snatching his hand away when Elena slid down from the horse and reached for it.

"Elijah, look at my hand." She said softly, keeping her hand extended until Elijah looked down at it, taking in a sharp breath when he saw the grey skin, marred with veins. "I'm dying."

"No." Elijah argued, shaking his head. "I won't let you."

"You don't have a choice." Elena sighed, taking hold of Elijah's hand.

Elijah shook his head, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I won't lose you. I don't care what I have to do."

"That's not how this works, Elijah, I've already had so many chances; it's okay." She smiled, leaning forward and pulling Elijah into a warm hug. "You need to let people look after you for a change, you don't have to keep everyone safe."

"I've failed rather spectacularly at that it would seem." Elijah muttered, bitterness seeping into his tone, even as he hugged Elena back.

"Don't you dare blame yourself." Elena returned quickly, pulling back to look at Elijah. "This is not your fault."

"How can it not be?"

Elena let out a long sigh, swallowing as she collected her thoughts. "You're not responsible for the actions of other people, Elijah, not at all." She placed both hands on either side of his face, looking into his eyes. "You cannot blame yourself."

Elijah opened his mouth to respond, pausing for a moment then quickly placing a kiss on Elena's forehead. "Time to wake up."

A pained gasp escaped Elena's throat as she returned to consciousness, the noise quickly turning into a spluttering cough until someone helped her sit up slightly, placing a straw in her mouth. Gratefully, Elena took in some of the offered blood, lying back down with a wheeze when the straw was taken away.

"It's alright, Elena, just breathe."

"What's going on?" She gasped, chest heaving as she fought for breath, trying to ignore the sheets stuck to her sweat-clad body. "Why are we back here?"

"Rebekah's been trying to get hold of me," Elijah explained softly, "I need to talk to her."

"And you had to wake me up because?"

"I didn't want to damage your consciousness by retreating while you were still asleep," Elijah explained lamely, gently dabbing some sweat from Elena's forehead, "and you hadn't eaten for some time."

Elena smiled, letting out a soft scoff that turned into a wheezy cough, waving Elijah away when he went to offer her more blood. "It's okay…" she gasped softly, taking hold of Elijah's hand, "…to admit you care, Elijah." Squeezing his hand weakly, Elena smiled at him as she saw his jaw twitch. "Go and see what Rebekah needs…I'll be fine."

Elijah returned a soft squeeze, enveloping her hand in both of his as he brought it to his lips, closing his eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to the skin there. "I won't be long."

Nodding, Elena offered another light smile, hand falling to her side as Elijah left the room, leaving a slowly decaying doppelganger led on a borrow bed.

"You look like crap."

Groaning, Elena rolled away from the all too familiar voice, tempted to pull the sheets over her head, if not for the fire burning her skin.

"Don't be like that, I thought we were friends." The voice sneered, laughing slightly. "I did give you my jewellery after all."

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Elena muttered, studiously keeping her back to her doppelganger. "How did you get past Elijah?"

"Our darling Elijah." Katherine sighed wistfully, moving forward and perching on the edge of Elena's bed. "He loved me first, and you know he always will, why would he want to keep me out?"

Elena shook her head. "He doesn't love you, you manipulated him, just like you always have…like our face always has."

Giggling, Katherine swiftly moved to crouch in front of Elena, holding her chin in hand when her younger doppelganger tried to turn away. "Poor, little Elena, so troubled and naïve; too worried about poor Elijah too look after yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Elena wheezed, squinting at Katherine, growing more frustrated when she couldn't pull her face from her grip.

"You're so consumed in your own guilt about manipulating Elijah that you won't just take the opportunity for what it is."

Elena scoffed. "And what, exactly, is it?"

"He's the most powerful vampire in the world, Elena." Katherine tilted her head, rolling her eyes at her doppelganger's obtuseness. "With him on your arm, you'd be untouchable; he'd kill anyone who even thought about looking at you wrong."

Shaking her head, Elena wrenched her jaw from Katherine's hold, finally able to summon the strength to move. "I won't use him; I could never be like you, Katherine."

Katherine laughed again, standing from where she was crouched beside Elena and flipping her hair over one shoulder. "You already are, do you not see that?"

"Stop it."

"He's already willing to tear apart New Orleans for you, and you haven't even done anything yet! Just imagine how easy it will be to control him when you get in his pants…" Katherine trailed off, smirking to herself. "The possibilities, you could rule the world, Elena, and he would fell anyone who dares cross you; the perfect pawn."

"Stop it!" Elena shouted, throwing her doppelganger against the wall. "Stop talking about him like that!"

Despite the hand around her throat, Katherine laughed. "Don't tell me you were stupid enough to fall in love with him? You're supposed to be the one controlling him, Elena, not the other way around."

"No one is controlling anyone!" Elena shouted, slamming Katherine against the wall again. "He deserves so much better than I can offer him! He should never have met any of us!" Tightening her grip on Katherine's throat, Elena grinned when she finally started looking uncomfortable. "If you ever try to hurt him again, I will kill you." She seethed. "I won't hesitate, Katherine."

"Why wait?" Katherine gasped. "Do it, see what your precious Elijah thinks of you then."

Elena snarled, fangs lengthening and lashing out in anger when she felt someone drag her away from her mirror image, furious with whoever had decided to get involved. "Get off of me!" She screamed, kicking her feet and swinging her arms, furious and desperate to get out of their grasp.

Barely able to process what was happening, Elena found herself spluttering as a bloody wrist was forced into her mouth. Positively enraged at whoever was trying to forcibly calm her down, Elena tore into the appendage, satisfied when she heard a hiss of pain and laboriously throwing them over her shoulder to the floor.

With a snarl, she launched at Katherine, frustrated when Elijah blocked her, holding her firmly still with hands on her upper arms. Bringing her hands up to sweep Elijah's away, she attempted to twirl around him, growling when Elijah caught her; her back now to his chest and his arms in a vice grip around her that she knew was impossible to escape.

Disorientated from the quick movements, Elena frowned as Katherine disappeared, replaced by Hayley grasping at her throat and Rebekah stood beside her protectively.

"Hayley?" Elena muttered, confusion clouding her tone as she passed out in Elijah's arms.

HisSecretLover18: I'm sorry! But here I go again! Thank you so much! Hayley always seems suspish to me!

brattneyforever93: Awhh, I'm so glad! You and me both! I'm not sure anyone knows for definite yet...

wazman: Ooooh, interesting theory... thank you!

midnight-writer97: Interesting in a good way?! It's not going to be as simple as everyone hopes, of course... It's so horrible how they turned him into something to be idolized after everything he did, it's so, so gross! You're so welcome, and I will try my best!

Guest: They found Elena! Still no idea who hurt Mr. You Can't Kill Me though... Hope you enjoyed!

Well, this story is seriously running itself now, and let me just say, y'all are in for a craaazy time! I can hardly believe a scene I just wrote, and I so can't wait for your reactions! And speaking of reactions...I would love to you hear what you all thought of this chapter! I've got a twelve hour shift ahead of me tomorrow, so getting to read nice reviews will make me really happy...

As always, until next time

~ I x