I do not own TVD or TO.

This is my first ever Saving Hope Crossover.

A few notes. The cure as the show knew it did not find it's place in this crossover, and Jeremy never became a hunter. That means Kol is alive in New Orleans and Jeremy's ring still works.

Also it's been a while since I've seen Saving Hope and really only remember the first season when Charlie was in the coma so that's where the story picks up and diverges from the canon.

"Make way for Dr. Gilbert," Caroline grinned, "the youngest pediatric surgical fellow to ever grace the halls of … what's the hospital again?"

Elena laughed around the rim of her glass.

"I'm the same age as anyone else who went straight through school, Care," she finished her gin and tonic.

"Yeah," Caroline conceded with a smirk, "but you don't look it. You are thirty-one and don't look a day over twenty. What's your secret?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you," Elena smirked and ran her finger around the rim of her glass.

"Good thing I already know then," Caroline leaned back. She beamed when the waitress brought them their food. "Well tuck in," she popped a fry into her mouth, "this'll be the last Mystic cheeseburger you have in years."

"I think I'll savour it then," she chuckled.

Elena glanced around the Grill while she ate her burger. She could see Matt and Tyler on the other side of the room engaging in a friendly game of pool. They did that every time Tyler came back to town for a visit; it was their tradition. Alaric sat at the bar with Damon who was downing glass after glass of bourbon; that was their tradition. As for Elena it was a meal with Caroline and Bonnie; unfortunately Bonnie was out of town so it was just the two of them.

"So," Caroline reached for her water glass, "how's Damon taking you leaving?"

"About as well as he took the cure," Elena shrugged.

It had taken eight years to find the cure for vampirism only to learn that it was a single dose. He had begged her not to take it. He had pleaded with her to stay a vampire, but Elena couldn't do it. She had never wanted that life. Caroline and Bonnie had supported her decision, but Damon had taken it badly, and by that she meant he had gone on a three day bender that ended with Jeremy's neck being broken. Thankfully he had been wearing his ring, but Elena had not been able to forgive him because he hadn't seen the silver band. Their relationship had fizzled out shortly after, but it was always doomed to.

At least he was being a little more supportive. He had only fought with her for two hours before throwing up his hands and walking away.

Heck even Klaus was supportive of her decision. Although he probably would have forced the cure down her throat if she'd said no.

"How about Klaus?" Caroline's hand darted out to snake a fry from Elena's plate.

"How long have you been dying to ask me that?" She smirked and playfully slapped the thief's fingers.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Caroline ate her stolen food and crossed her arms.

"Sure, you don't," Elena's eyes sparkled. "Klaus is Klaus. He knows my blood is useless after taking the cure, but he also knows eventually another one will come along so I still have his 'protection' should I need it."

"What about you moving to Canada?" Caroline braced her elbows on the table.

"He's pretty chill about that," Elena shrugged. "I think he's more upset that you decided to follow."

"It's time I get out of this town," Caroline shrugged. "People are starting to notice," she waved to her face. Her features were forever frozen at seventeen. "He's seriously okay with the move, though? He's not going to show up on our doorstep is he?"

"I mean…" Elena tilted her head and bit her lip, "… he's kind of madly in love with you, so he might at some point, but he's okay with me going. He figures one of the safest places I can be is a hospital, and understands my desire to get away from the supernatural."

"Hey," Caroline held her hand over her heart. She flashed the most indignant look she could muster and with a scowl leaned forward. "Klaus is not in love with me."

It took less than a second for three voices to echo Elena's 'yeah he is'. Caroline immediately turned to glare at Damon, Tyler and Stefan who had just walked in.

"See," Elena held out her hands, "everyone knows. Just like we all know you've secretly got the hots for him."

"I do not," Caroline snapped. She scowled when the guys snickered.

"Really?" Elena smirked. "So thinking about his hands on your waist, his piercing eyes on your body, and his stubble scraping deliciously over your skin while he whispers sinfully, wicked, things in, your ear does nothing for you?"

She grinned triumphantly when the blonde flushed. She didn't need vampire hearing to know Caroline's heart was thumping wildly.

"You sure you want to be a doctor?" Caroline cleared her throat. "Because you've got a way with words; perhaps you should start writing erotica."

Elena leaned back in the booth and grinned. "Maybe if medicine doesn't pan out."

Elena groaned and brought her hand up to block out the bright sunlight. She squinted at Caroline before yanking the blanket up and over her head.

"Go away," her voice was muffled, but her vampire best friend had no trouble hearing her.

"I can't," Caroline rolled her eyes, "because if you don't get up now you're going to be late. You don't want to be late for your first day do you?"

She reached down and yanked the covers from the bed before throwing them in a ball over a pile of boxes.

"Die," Elena curled in a ball and buried her face in the pillow.

"Already did, sweetie," Caroline chirped and set a steaming mug of coffee just out of reach.

Elena peeked up at her and growled when she couldn't reach the mug.

"Die twice."

Elena rolled her neck back and around while adjusting her purse and turned to look at Caroline. The blonde had woken her two hours before her first shift and it was a good thing. Her friend knew her well. Caroline knew that Elena wasn't a morning person and hated having to get up for work, she loved it when she was there, but she hated waking up and was completely useless until she'd had at least one cup of coffee.

"Alright," Caroline pulled a laminated sheet of paper from her bag, "I think I've got it all worked out now."

"You do, huh?" Elena's boots crunched over the snow. "What do you have figured out?"

"You're ten year plan," Caroline rolled her eyes. "Honestly you should have known that."

"I probably should have," Elena agreed. She could see the hospital up ahead when she reached for the paper. "Uh, Caroline?" Elena looked up through her lashes when she read through the list.

"Yes," Caroline smirked.

"Why have you dated my wedding?" Elena flipped the sheet around to reveal a date set three years in the future. "And the birth of my first child? Did Klaus hire you to organize my life?"

"No, and I haven't organized it," she shook her head. "I'm just getting ahead of the game and giving you a potential plan. You are thirty-one and most women want their first by the time they're thirty-five. That means you need to be pregnant by thirty-four, and it's you so I'm assuming you want to be married first."

"Preferably," Elena shook her head with a small laugh. She'd argue with Caroline later, but for now she was in heavy planning mode.

"Okay," Caroline grinned. "So your fellowship is two years. You'll be done at thirty-three and that leaves me one year to plan the wedding."

"Not giving me much time to find a guy," Elena pointed out.

"I'm giving you two years," Caroline spun around and walked backwards. Her heeled boots sank into the snow as she got closer and closer to the hospital and a group of men in blue scrubs.

"Two years isn't much time when you're doing a fellowship," Elena held up a finger and pointed to the building. "I'll pretty much be living here. My name on the lease is just a formality."

"I know that too," Caroline grinned. "You're not going to get out of the hospital much. This," she waved to the building, "is your dating pool, and I'm going to help you get a date." She gave her friend a wink.

She had never thought she would miss anything about being a vampire, but she would have taken back her enhanced reflexes when Caroline fell backwards with a shriek.

She knelt in the snow and saw a man come running in her direction.

"I'm going to kill you," Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath before kneeling down. She gritted her teeth when the blonde's lips quirked up in a brief smile before she returned to her 'passed out' state.

"What happened?" The man fell to the blonde's other side.

Elena shivered at the man's voice. The smooth accent ran down her spine and had heat curling in her stomach. She'd always been a sucker for an accent. Klaus calling her sweetheart, and Kol referring to her as darling made her experience the same feeling. Although it wasn't as strong as it was with this stranger.

"She's fine," Elena gritted her teeth and kept her eyes on her friend.

"She doesn't look fine," he pressed his fingers to her neck. "Her pulse is erratic."

That happens with vampires, Elena breathed. She resisted the urge to look up. She had the strange feeling if she looked at his face and it was as nice as his voice she would be a goner.

"She is perfectly fine," Elena fingered the laminated paper in her hand. "She's trying to get me a date so she fake blacked out on the sidewalk to draw your attention. She's fine I swear."

"What?" He leaned back a bit and looked at the young woman. His breath caught in his throat; a pretty flush was staining her cheeks and she was refusing to look at him. "Why would she do that?"

"Because," Elena held up the paper, "she's a control freak who's decided to plan out the next ten years of my life. I can prove she's alright."

"Okay," he held in his laugh and waved for her to continue.

"Caroline," Elena addressed her friend, "I know you can hear me. And I know you vividly remember the Halloween you insisted on dressing up as sexy Elmo because you were certain it would be hilarious. Well I've got pictures of you in that costume locked away in a file on my computer. I can access that file from my phone."

She saw Caroline's finger twitch. All of Elena's death threats had been empty but this one was very real.

"If you don't sit up now," she reached for her phone, "then I am going to text those pictures to a certain fella in New Orleans."

Caroline shot up a little too fast to be considered human and snatched the phone.

"Don't you dare," she met Elena's eyes. "If you do I'll plaster your eighth grade photo all over this hospital."

"See," Elena turned to grin at the man, "I told you she was fine."

The air stilled in her lungs when she met his eyes. They were a familiar shade of brown. Everything about him was familiar. She knew his face as well as she knew her own, but Caroline had yet to notice.

Elena couldn't look away from his amused gaze.

"At least it worked," the blonde passed back Elena's phone, "I drew the attention of a cute doctor. And one with an accent at that; I call that a bonus."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He tilted his head and struggled not to laugh at the woman's antics. She couldn't have been more than twenty.

"Oh I'm fine," Caroline stood up with them, "I heal fast. I might not have gotten her a date, but at least she knows someone in the hospital now…" Her voice trailed off when she finally looked at him.

He stood under their scrutiny for a moment as the hair on the back his neck stood on end. They were looking at him like they knew him. It was a beat before the blonde threw up her hands and scoffed in his face.

"Seriously," Caroline shook her head and stormed off down the sidewalk. Elena heard her muttering for a few feet about crazy over-protective hybrids.

"Are you sure she's alright?"

"Believe me," Elena inhaled sharply, "the only medical help she needs is from a trained psychologist."

"Have I offended her?" He met Elena's guarded eyes.

"Oh no," Elena shook her head and managed a small smile. The longer she looked at him the more she was convinced it wasn't him. "She probably thinks you remind her of someone."

"Someone she's not fond of, I take it?" He quirked an eyebrow as they moved towards the hospital and the warmth it promised.

"Not overly," Elena smirked. Her eyes darted to his hands when he crossed his arms to ward off the chill; his fingers were bare and the sun was shining down on them both. If Caroline had stuck around a moment later she probably would have sniffed him out. "Don't worry; she'll get over it..."

It wasn't him. His eyes were more open. The light that danced in them was almost playful. He was too serious to be playful; too burdened with the weight of time.

"Dr. Joel Goran," he offered. "Do you work here? I don't think we've met."

"I'm new," she smiled. "It's my first day actually."

"Nurse? Intern?" He guessed.

"Fellow," Elena smirked. "I'm Elena Gilbert: the new pediatric fellow." She saw his eyes widen as she took his offered hand.

A jolt raced up his arm and warmed his chest. He saw the surprise in her eyes and knew she had felt it too.

"You okay, doc?" Elena arched an eyebrow. He was still holding her hand and she almost regretted speaking when he cleared his throat and let go.

"Fine," he covered with a smile. "I'm sorry for staring. It's just that…"

"I don't look old enough to be a surgical fellow," she guessed.

"Yeah," Joel nodded with a small chuckle.

The movement drew her eyes to the stubble along his sharp jaw. How had she never noticed that jawline before? Maybe she was seeing more now because of the way he looked at her. There was a clear attraction in his eyes. She knew Elijah had felt it too, but he had never acted on it; knowing her predecessors really took a toll on his psyche because they did a real number on him.

"I assure you, doctor," she tipped her head back and smirked up at him, "I'm older than I look."

"And how old would that be?"

"A lady never tells," she teased. "I'd love to stick around and chat, but I've got an appointment with the chief of surgery."

"It was nice meeting you," Joel resisted the urge to take her hand again.

"I'll see you around," she walked backwards before pivoting on her heel. She could feel his eyes on her all the way to the elevator.

He tilted his head and watched her go. There was something about Dr. Gilbert that was undeniably attractive; there was something secret in her gaze. Her teasing smile was still kind, and her touch warm.

He wondered how many times he could possibly run into the new fellow.

"Dad," Hope came into the study with her father's ringing phone, "Caroline Forbes is calling you."

"Thank you sweetheart," Klaus picked up his phone and grinned. "Are you almost ready to head out to the Bayou?"

Hayley and Jackson had built a home out in the swamp surrounded by their pack. It had taken some time to work out a custody arrangement with Elijah acting as a mediator, but eventually they were on civil terms for the sake of their daughter. Hope spent weekends in the Bayou and the rest of the week in the Quarter.

"Almost," Hope skipped out of the room. "I just need to find my book."

He watched her go before lifting the ringing device to his ear.

"Hello, love," he grinned, "how's Toronto?" His eyes widened when she started berating him.

"Are you freaking serious? You couldn't just leave her alone? You had to send your little spy to infiltrate the hospital and watch her."

"Caroline," he sat up; "I have no idea what you're talking about love."

"You didn't send him down here?"

"I didn't send anyone up there," he stood and tapped the desk. "Hold on a second." He lowered the phone a bit and turned towards the door. "Elijah!"

"You bellowed?" His brother poked his head in the room a moment later.

"Did you send someone to spy on Elena and Caroline?" Klaus rolled his eyes.

"No," Elijah shook his head. "Why would I do that?" He didn't wait for an answer before leaving with an exasperated sigh.

"Elijah's there?"

"Yes, sweetheart," Klaus frowned at the confusion in Caroline's voice. "And I assure you neither one of us sent anyone up there. Any vampire Elena may run into is purely coincidental."

I really only intended for this to be a one-shot but I see potential for more.