I have no possible excuse for taking sooo long in posting this. So, I won't excuse myself. You guys made me do it. For you I keep on writing ( and the characters) But inspiration is in a road trip, apparently. And the show is not exactly helping. So, here it is. hope you like it as much as the previous ones.

J.L. Smith owns everything. I'm just a fan. Read, and enjoy! :)

Elena had learned to be around the room and the house in silence. Sharing such a big place with vampires was not easy but she had done it. She got out of the bathroom, gathered her clothes and dressed. Stefan was still sleep and moved in bed when her hair touched his face kissing him good-bye. She did not like this, going behind his back after everything he had done to save her, to prevent her from becoming something none of them wanted. But there was no choice. Klaus has to die. It had to be done, and she was the one.

She silently went downstairs just to find Damon at the entrance, who smirked at her, as usual.

"How come classes are shorter these days? You guys spend less and less time at school."

"Like you care."

"Right. I don´t." He was in the way and she opened her eyes to let him know she wanted to go. "Where's Stefan?"

"Upstairs. Now, can you please step aside?"

"Have you seen Katherine lately?" was his answer. Elena tried to mouth a what but he cut her short. "Don´t try to deny it, we know about your secret meetings. I'm interest in what could you girls be possibly talking about."

"I don't have to explain myself, not to you anyway."

"Then I can assume that you told my brother." Silence. "What are you doing, Elena? You know very well that Katherine is a time bomb; she won't do whatever she promised to do."

"She hasn't asked for anything, Damon. She only wants to end Klaus, just like we do."

"And that's where she got you. Such a good-doer, she knew you will believe her with that save your friends crap, therefore the secret."

"She hasn't killed me."

"Yet."

"Why would she want to kill me now? That doesn't make sense."

"I know, but it doesn't have to."

"I am not going to talk about this anymore, Damon. I know what I'm doing, I'm not a child. I can make my own decisions."

"Perfect! Because we are busting our asses here trying to get rid of Klaus but none of us ever thought about sacrificing you."

"And why not? I am the doppelganger. Everything's because of me. No one else has to die, Damon. It's been enough."

"Yes, Damon. It's been enough," said Stefan from behind her and they both looked at him.

"You know as I do that no good will come of it." Stefan only gazed into his brother's eyes. "Fine. I'll wash my hands."

Damon passed them and went to the bar. Bourbon and whiskey always softening the bad moments. Elena just stood there staring at Stefan. She felt guilt overwhelming her.

"I assume you heard everything".

"Most of it, yes."

"Are we going to talk it right now or… because I have to go back to school."

"No, go ahead, I'll see you later. I thought that maybe you stopped by because you wanted to tell me something really important. Which I know now." She felt hurt for him finding out about this from a fluffy argument with his brother.

"I... made up my mind, Stefan. I'm going to help Katherine."

"I could tell that from your conversation with Damon."

"Stefan..."

"It is all right. You said it yourself, you can make your own decisions, but I thought you will actually care about what I said."

"It's not like that... I care, you know I do, but..." She did not want him to think that she didn't appreciate his opinions. She did. "I am the way out. That's it. I am doing it."

He did not say a word and just stared at her fighting his urges to tell her she was completely wrong, but he was tired of fighting too: fighting Damon, Katherine, Klaus, even her. He knew, more than anyone, what her determination meant. She dying, becoming a vampire—yes, being together and Klaus out of the picture—but the cost was still too high. He just couldn't bear it.

"If that's what you want..." was all he could say.

"That's what I want." She got closer, so near. "But I will never do it without you."

"How is it going to be then? Have you thought about something?" She moved nervously and squeezed her hands, then took a deep breath and so did him. "What?"

"She went to see me this morning. Katherine."

"After I left?" She nodded. "And?"

Another deep breath. It was harder than she thought.

"She took me a bottle with her blood. You know the drill…"

"Yes, you have to have vampire blood in your system when you..." he couldn't even mention the word. "But, why she brought her blood? Why not mine?"

"She said it has to do with us being doppelgangers and that stuff…"

"Hmmm…"

"You think she lied?"

"We must assume that she always lie, Elena. Katherine is not known to be honest, especially if there's something that can harm her. But I can't figure out what it is. Anyway, don't take the blood. It could be a trap."

"Too late. I already drank it." He opened his eyes. "I had to! She was there and she wasn't leaving unless I drank the damn thing. She would have snapped my neck right there if I hadn't."

"Don't think so."

"I am not scared of her, Stefan, but it's wise not to upset her, we want her on our side."

"Katherine doesn't pick a side. It's HER side only." He hugged her. I don't want to lose you. "When is it supposed to happen?"

"I don't know. Are you volunteering to kill me?"

"Sshhh. Don't say that."

"I really have to go back. Don't want to, but I must. I call you when I am out. OK?

She kissed him good-bye—again—and headed for school. Stefan went to have a drink. It was too much information, and not being able to find the hidden purpose in Katherine's plan was driving him crazy. Damon was nowhere in sight. He was behaving well, finally, or at least he thought. He sat in the couch with a scotch and let it roll slowly through his throat. His eyes closed thinking how life would be for him, for them, once Elena actually becomes a vampire.

Would she still care so much about other people? Would she become a ripper like him? His eyes fluttered when he sensed something in the room and opened his eyes to find Katherine staring at him across the room.

"Well, it was such a good day. Until now."

"Don't pout, Stefan. I was just waiting for her to leave. We have to talk."

"Really? You are developing a taste for talking to people when they are alone. Conspiring, to be exact. And so far you've been doing well going behind our backs talking to Elena."

"I will always do what serves my cause, you know that. But…" she comes near him and sits by his side crossing her legs and playing with her curls. "You want to save Elena, don't you?"

"What is your game, Katherine? According to your plan, she has to die, die to return a vampire. How come I can save her from that hell?"

"Never said you would. But I can help to keep her alive once she turned. You should learn to trust me."

"Oh, bite me. You never do anything out of the kindness of your heart. So, really, why are you doing this?"

"I am going to tell you this once more time because clearly you haven't been listening! I love you, Stefan. It was always you. I guess… at some point I understood that your happiness doesn't lie with me, but with Elena. I don't like her, she can't dress properly and her hair is shitty, but you chose her, over me. So, I want you to be happy, that's how much I love you."

"Am I supposed to believe that?"

"Why not? It is the truth."

"You've never told the truth."

"Well, maybe this is one of those rare occasions. And you know what, I don't care if you believe me or not. I am going to help you guys, no strings attached. Truly."

"Right. Whatever."

"We need Bonnie". She informed him after a while.

"I know that."

"I mean, we need Bonnie NOW." Stefan looked at her quizzically. "We have to cast a spell before Elena dies. It is complicated but we need the witch and her grimoires."

"We are not in the best situation with her."

"Meaning?"

"She won't help us like that. Damon just… he turned her mom."

"Who cares? Bring her, or I will and nobody likes my ways."

"Why do you need her anyway? Her grimoires?"

"You don't need to know more about it."

"Are you for real? Of course I need to know more about it!" He stood up. "I have to know more about it!"

"I can't tell you, Stefan. Not now. But trust me, please. This will help us to get rid of that son of a bitch for good."

"Just tell me why you need Bonnie…."

"Arggg... If that's what it takes to convince you… Fine. Elena had a dream the other day, right? I was being bitten by a werewolf in it. I don't want to get rid of Klaus to die of a bite, that's totally ridiculous. So, I thought about Bonnie casting a spell to protect us both, me and Elena."

"When a wolf bites you, you are dead. There is no coming from that. Only Klaus's blood but he won't give it willingly."

"I know that, dummy. But Emily once did some spell back in 1865 to protect vampires from dying of werewolf's bites. It's like an aura of wolfsbane around vampires. They will feel it whenever they try to sink their fangs on us.

"Are you sure? I've never heard of that before."

"Told you. Research. And Remembering. Now, the question is: do you want Elena to live as a vampire or die as such?" Stefan did not have to answer that question. Katherine knew the answer beforehand. "Fine. Now that we are on the same page… Get Bonnie here. Her grimoires probably have something about it. Convince her. Tell her it is about Elena. I'm sure she'll be glad to help."

She stood up and walked herself out of the house. This was supposed to be easier. The witch, the wardrobe and the lion, she laughed to herself. I am the lion, I guess. Just one more step and then she could go live her everlasting life finally free.

Elena was on the couch looking at Bonnie and squeezing her fingers without noticing. Stefan had convinced the witch of her role in getting rid of Klaus and keeping Elena alive. She agreed reluctantly but here she was, going over her ancestor's grimoires looking for a spell to protect a vampire from dying of a werewolf's bite. She was truly her best friend despite all, and suddenly Elena was sure enough that she was about to do the right thing. Caroline and Damon were arguing about something—as usual, she thought. Stefan sat by her side when she let out a sigh, more out of nervous than anything.

"You fine?" He asked.

"No, I guess I'm not. I'm about to be cast on a spell to not die in the future… or else. I have vampire blood in my system so probably I will die today. At least, I am sure I am doing it for the right cause."

"I'm not that sure though." He took her head between his hands and kissed her, slowly, breathing her smell in. He then brushed her lips lightly, feeling her scent, grazing her nose so softly with his perfect lips, caressing her cheeks as he whispered, "But I have to believe everything is going to be alright, that we are going to be alright".

"Ugh... get a room, please", said Katherine when entering the boarding house.

"It's nice to see that you don't knock anymore," said Stefan, his hands on Elena's.

"I feel like I'm at home." She smiled before walking more and registered all those in the room. They were all looking at her, but she went for the witch. "So, Bonnie… has you found that spell yet?" Bonnie looked at her fiercely and after some moments she nod. "Good, we are ready then."

"Not yet, I need some herbs."

"There. I collect them for you. I think that's all you need." Bonnie took them and stood at a table near the sunlight. Katherine went to Elena's side and almost forced her to stand up while Damon and Stefan went on full alert.

"What are you doing? Let go!" she cried.

"I'm not going to hurt you…. I'm not that crazy to do that, not here." She forced her to move to Bonnie's side that was as nervous and alert as the rest. Katherine cut Elena's arm and then herself to pour some blood in the mixture the witch was making. She then intertwined her own fingers with Elena's and looked at Bonnie. "You can start singing now."

It was wild to see the room going dark and buzzy at the sound of Bonnie's voice repeating words in Latin and moving her hand over the preparation she had previously done. Elena and Katherine just stood there, their hands firmly tight, breathing heavy. Stefan, Damon and Caroline were right there, waiting to see what happens next. Bonnie kept repeating words and sentences and the books flew out from some shelves and some bottles crashed and fell down making horrible noises and creating a chaos. Katherine's face went vampire mode when the witch pressed her fingers to her forehead and then to Elena's. Then it was over. And the room was a mess.

"It's done." Elena let go of Katherine's hand, took a deep breath and walked some steps back. Was this supposed to protect her? She trusted Bonnie and what she can do but she couldn't help the feeling of being drawn into a terrible problem. Once again.

"Now what? A drink? Cleaning team?" said Damon.

"No, sweetie. You all know what comes now," said Katherine. They all look at each other and then at Elena. "Oh, c'mon, don't make me look like the bad guy here. She accepted!"

"Yes, but you are not going to kill her. Not here."

"Really?"

In a gush of air Katherine was standing behind Elena holding her head with one arm and pressing into her neck with the other one. This should be fun, she thought. Damon and Stefan moved ahead but she shook her head smiling and forbidding them to come any closer risking to her break Elena's neck like a twit. She warned Bonnie with a look as well. She did not need the witch messing up with her head right now. Elena was fighting her trying to get out of her grip but Katherine was strong.

"We all know you are damn too weak to do what it has to be done."

"Don't do it, Katherine, not yet…" said Stefan, his expression nearly pleading.

"I'm sorry, Stef. But it's getting late for that. "

"You won't do it," said Damon. "You need her." She smirked.

"I need her dead, Damon. Need her a vampire. And apparently I will get the satisfaction to be the one turning her."

"Katherine…."

"Tick tock guys… We are behind schedule."

And she snapped Elena's neck letting her slide and collided to the floor in an unusual and impossible human way.

Reviews are more than welcome. But just the fact of you reading make my time worthy.