I do not own TVD or TO.

Here we go: chapter 3.

music14. 12 - I wrote that first chapter just to see how many people I could trick into thinking the worst of everyone, and I got a few.

ElejahAlwaysNForever - I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

The Present

She really hated Damon, and for the first time in months she knew why. It wasn't the fact that he had cheated on her, but that was part of it.

She hated Damon because he was a jealous, unprofessional ass who couldn't be bothered to pick up his phone. She made a mental note to request a new partner the second all of this was over, but she had more important things to be worried about in that moment because she might have swallowed her words but Elijah had not.

She had to say something before alerted everyone inside to their presence, but the problem was she didn't know what to say; her tongue was tied.

He was clearly annoyed.

She figured it had something to do with the rough ground she had pulled him to kneel on and the dark green dumpster at his back.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist – hard enough that she couldn't pull away, but not so hard as to leave bruises on her olive skin; though she got the sense he easily could have – and pulled her hand from his mouth.

She slapped her free hand over his mouth. The exasperation was clear in his eyes, but he repeated the action, taking her other wrist in hand.

His movement caused his knuckles to collide with the metal behind him and a hollow clang was the result; it reverberated through the alley louder than church bells.

She heard the low voices stop and knew without looking that someone was leaning on the window sill to investigate, but he didn't know that and any hissed words would have confirmed their presence and told the people inside that there was something much bigger than a stray cat beneath their open window, so she did the only thing she could think of to keep sound from escaping his lips.

Surging forward she planted her mouth on his and stole the breath from his lungs with the unexpected kiss. For one long, never-ending moment, he was frozen; a statue pressed against her soft curves: hard and unyielding.

That suited her just fine because it meant he was still and silent, but then everything shifted. His tongue swept over her bottom lip and the world shifted on its axis.

The tips of his fingers skimmed over her sleeves and tangled in the dark curls that hung on either side of her face. Her heart nearly stopped.

It took every ounce of will to pull back and leave a quarter inch between their open mouths. She could feel his nose brushing against her cheek. Her blood rushed through her veins, roaring in her ears.

She felt his lips shift as if he were about to speak and slipped her mouth over his again, gently so she wouldn't risk losing her sense of purpose in his kiss. She would have been lying if she said she hadn't imagined kissing him since meeting him, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

She broke off again and found her voice; it was hoarse and little more than a breath of air.

"Quiet," she swallowed, looking up to meet his eyes. The pupils were blown wide as she suspected hers were.

"What…?"

The tips of her fingers covered his mouth; this time he didn't attempt to pull her away.

She strained her ears until she picked up the low thrum of voices in a renewed conversation; it was too quiet for her to make out the words, but all that meant was they had not been detected and had been dismissed as a stray cat. She poked her head around the side of the dumpster and squinted, catching a glimpse neatly combed brown hair, a crisp white collar and a dark blue vest.

In order to shift so she could see she had to straddle him. She gave no thought to the length of metal in her pocket as it pressed into her hip, but Elijah stiffened.

She gasped when his hand flattened over her spine and pinned her in place. His free hand slipped into her pocket and she knew she was in trouble.

The cold metal and plastic glinted in the dark. It was far from her standard issue Glock; a compact purple and black semi-automatic Taurus 738 TCP that held six rounds.

He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to either reveal a license that allowed her to carry a concealed weapon or to plead ignorance and claim the jacket wasn't hers and belonged to one of the other women from the club; which he knew would be a lie. The navy trench coat she was wearing was the one she had worn for weeks.

She knew better than to lie to a lawyer.

She slipped her hand between them, pulled the ties on her jacket and popped open the buttons. Her coat slid open revealing the violet silk and black lace of her plunging bra; his eyes darted down before returning to her steady gaze. Her hand skimmed over her stomach, fumbling for the hidden zipper; she pulled it aside and reached inside.

She pulled her hand back out, impressed that he didn't flinch away from her and what could have easily been another concealed weapon.

She flipped open the leather case.

The next chapter takes place three weeks in the past and will consist of Elena 'interviewing' for the job. The interview portion and the audition. From what I understand from my very quick internet research there is an audition process with a typical set of three songs. The question is who is she auditioning for. I've got this idea that Rebekah manages the dancers, Kol handles the music and Klaus is in charge of the rest of the club. Elijah handles all legal matters.

Thoughts on that? And this chapter?