NB : So this is the last chapter. I tried to give it as close as a happy ending as I could considering the circumstances ;o) I might come back to it after S3 has started to give it a real one.

Thanks to all who read it and mostly to those who took the time to review it, it was greatly appreciated ;o)

Post 2x22

"This is crazy. You're crazy."

Stefan was pacing in his hotel room, a bemused Caroline sitting on the bed, watching him.

It had been easier to find him than she had thought. First because Stefan had keep his cellphone. So when she had decide one day to send him a text, she had not really expected an answer, and had been really surprised to get one back.

I'm ok. Tell D&E not to look for me. Too dangerous.

Ok, so technically he hadn't tell her not to look for him. So after reassuring Damon & Elena that Stefan was still alive, and after a few more text, he finally let slip that he was in New York.

He stopped answering after that.

The next day Caroline was in Manhattan, beginning her search with just a picture and a strong will driven by love and desperation. She finally found them in a luxurious hotel on the 6th Avenue. She observed them for a few days, trying not to burst into tears each time she saw Stefan, the way he was following Klaus obviously reluctantly, his face not betraying any emotion. She knew in her heart that if she were to look in his green eyes she would see a world of pain and sorrow.

And she was right. When he opened his hotel room door that night, that's exactly what she saw. But she hadn't expect to find him so broken.

As he was staying there too stunned to move, she entered the room and closed the door. She had make sure that Klaus was gone for a few hours.

"Caroline..." Stefan said, seemingly believing he was hallucinating.

She walked to him and put her arms around his waist, her head between his neck and shoulder. After a few seconds, his arms closed around her body and he suddenly pressed her strongly against his, almost crushing her.

"How...I mean...is Damon with you? How did you find me?"

"I came on my own. I didn't tell Damon and Elena before I arrived here."

With an exclamation he let go of her, walking to the door, opening it and looking outside, before closing and locking it.

"How did you find me?" he asked again.

She shrugged and sat on the bed. "I just looked."

"This is crazy. You're crazy."

It stunned her how terrified he looked. When she had pictured all the way Klaus could be torturing him, she hadn't imagine that so much damage would have been done already.

God she was so glad she had come !

'I might be crazy but I love you. And I'm not leaving you here with Klaus one more minute."

He turned to her, looking at her as if she had professed an enormity. Which she had, actually, from his point of view.

"Because you think Klaus will let me leave like that?"

"Well I wasn't planning on asking him," she told him with a smile.

"He will kill you ! Don't you realize what you've done?"

She knew he was fearing for her life, but still it didn't give him the right to yell at her. "Yes I know perfectly well, and you're welcome by the way ! Do you really think we were going to stay in Mystic Falls doing nothing ? I decided to come before Damon was well enough to do it himself, because we both know he would have rush here without thinking and get himself killed, which would make the whole purpose of that stupid sacrifice of yours completely useless in the first place !"

He suddenly started to laugh, and she was about to get angry again when he kneeled before her, putting his arms around her waist and his head in her lap. "God, I missed you so much. I love you so much," he whispered. She put a caressing hand on his hair and kissed his forehead. He raised his face to catch her lips in a fiery kiss.

"Good," she said after a while. "For a moment there I thought you were not happy to see me."

"Care, I'm furious with you. You risked your life."

"You would have done the same for me. Besides, how long do you think this was going to last before Klaus got bored and decide to kill you, then come finish the job in Mystic Falls?"

"I know, but I was ready to do it as long as you were all safe. It was all that mattered to me. Klaus is invulnerable Caroline. I don't see how we can win this time."

"I don't know either. I just knew I had to do something."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her again reverently. And contrary to the last time his kisses were full of hope.

He hadn't know it was possible to love her even more than he already did. Since his departure the memory of Caroline had been the one thing helping him to keep a semblance of sanity. He knew – he dreaded, actually – that Damon and the gang would do everything to get him back. And the tiny chance there was for him to see his brother and Elena again, to kiss Caroline one more time, had been the only reason he hadn't drive a stake through his heart yet.

And it was probably insane, but now that she was with him, he felt confident that they would beat the odds once again. Even though they had a long, long way to go. Especially him...

"Care, there's something you need to know..." he started hesitantly.

She caressed his cheek tenderly. "I know. You're not on the bunny diet anymore."

"It's worse than that." He plunged his eyes into hers, not wanting to hide anything. "I killed people. I lost count how many. Klaus...he was trying to make sure I couldn't get back from this," he finished, his voice breaking, his confidence faltering anew.

She embraced him, in a comforting way this time, even if she knew it was ridiculously useless compared to what they were going to face in the following weeks. The worst was yet to come, and he was going to go through Hell.

And she would be with him every step of the way.

"Damon! Wake up!"

Elena shook the sleeping body beside her, her eyes not leaving the computer screen.

"Hmm...?" Damon opened one blue eye and looked at her, alerted by her urgent tone.

He was almost completely cured but was not yet 100 %, so Elena was forcing him to rest and sleep a lot.

As long as she was lying beside him, he was completely ok with that.

"She found him. Caroline found Stefan."

Wide awake this time, he sat up straight and took the computer Elena was handing him. He rapidly read the mail before putting the computer away.

"Wow. I had no idea that Blondie had it in her."

"And I hadn't realized until now how much she loved him," Elena said pensively, before asking, "I didn't read the entire mail. What else did she say?"

"That her and Stefan were leaving and would stay hidden for a while."

He sat back against the pillow, and Elena joined him, putting her head on his chest. His hand came to caress her hair absentmindedly. All his thoughts were with his brother.

"They shouldn't go through this alone," Elena said.

"Well they obviously can't come back right now, as there's a big fat chance that Klaus will come visit very soon. And try to kill us all," he sighed. "I'm going to call Ric and Bonnie. We'd better be prepared for this."

She laughed despite the circumstances. "Prepared for Klaus the invincible super vampire/werewolf hybrid?"

He kissed her forehead. "Hey, no mocking. And we can also ask Jeremy, and his merry band of ghosts. They might have a plan."

She raised herself slightly, putting her cheek on her hand so she could be face to face with him. "You know what? I'm glad they were able to escape, no matter the consequences. It was killing me to imagine what Stefan was probably enduring everyday...and I know it was killing you not being able to do something about it."

He didn't answer but nodded slightly, putting a strand of hair behind her hair, looking at her lovingly, just because he could.

Elena had thought she knew, but she hadn't be prepared for the amount of love he was capable of giving. Now that she knew, she was embracing it – and him- with all her heart.

They had been a constant support for each other the last few weeks, when they didn't know what was happening with Stefan, and Damon was still too sick to do anything that wouldn't resemble a suicide mission. And it had rendered him furious and frustrated. And each and every time Elena was the only one capable of bringing him back to reason, either with words or kisses...or more.

He had been ready to go search for Stefan when Caroline had send them a first mail, telling them she was going and not to do anything until they heard from her. Every fiber in his body had been screaming against that idea. But Elena had asked him – no, begged him – not to go and he had conceded. After losing Jenna, John and Stefan, she couldn't bear to lose him too. So he had buried himself in researches, working at getting better, because he needed to feel like he was at least doing something to save his brother.

He would go mad otherwise.

Now that he was feeling better and the he knew that Stefan had escaped Klaus' clutches, it was the perfect moment to prepare to fight back.

But right now, at least for another hour or so, he wanted to focus on the sweet girl lying in his arms.

Elena. His girl. Finally.

He kissed her softly first, then more passionately. She put her arms around his neck and smiled.

"We'll get our happy ending," she said confidently.

He smiled back, doing that eye thing that she loved so much. For the moment he had another kind of happy ending in mind.

And Elena was completely ok with that.