[locked to Damon, Caroline, and Jeremy; backdated to the arrivals]
[ Elena Gilbert doesn't wallow. And while this is pretty much soul-destroying and nothing she ever saw coming, she is not going to be focusing on that. Or trying not to. ]
Katherine and Stefan are here.
They arrived together.
I don't know exactly what's going on, but it can't be good and I wanted to give everyone a head's up.
Katherine and Stefan are here.
They arrived together.
I don't know exactly what's going on, but it can't be good and I wanted to give everyone a head's up.
Whatever he says, Elena knows Damon loves his brother and vice-versa.
The trepidation coils in her belly, and she's grateful when he steps toward her and away from the stake.
They've talked about it, and it shows how she's not in the best frame of mind as she doesn't get on his case like she would've any other time, though she's clearly not thrilled with it, either. ]
They fell through together.
[ Elena tightens her hold on him too, not wanting him to see her face in the exact moment it nearly crumples. For over a year, she hadn't seen him, had wondered about him, and--and she hadn't crossed off the possibility of his ending up here, but she'd never dreamed it would be like this.
Why would she have expected any different? ]
They're a lot farther along than us, than you. I don't know everything yet.
[ Key word here is yet. ]
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He didn't run into Stefan, but he knows it is not the same Stefan that he knew, the one his sister fell for. He's different. Katherine said he'd done 'bad things'. Because of Klaus. Jeremy can guess from what little he knew before he fell through, from what Caroline mentioned.
No, Jeremy didn't think she'd be thrilled about it, and he doesn't really want her to know his plans, his need to be a hunter instead of just a self defensive sort.
Not right now in the face of all this. It's less important.]
That's what... Katherine mentioned. They were in her car.
[It's said quietly and carefully. He didn't see Stefan, but he knows already before he saw Elena that he wasn't the same, that everything's changed.
Jeremy swallows, breathing in and resting his chin on top of her head. He's taller than her even though she's older than him.]
...I know he's done bad things because of Klaus. She said that. It was... probably part of saving Damon.
[But it doesn't explain everything.] She can't lie but she was already figuring out how to omit answering or vague it up, but... at least she can't lie.
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Elena acutely felt how different Stefan was. They were standing in front of each other, and there was nothing. There was no affection, there was no feeling. There was no love. She'd never had Stefan look at her the way he looked at her today.
Like he was seeing right through her.
Elena will be terrified and totally against this once she finds out, okay. ;;
Because it's her bb brother. 8( ]
Did she mention anything else?
... I know, that's one possibility that came to mind. I can't know for sure until I talk to either one of them, but Damon isn't answering his phone, and I don't know where Stefan went.
[ The look in his eye, the balled up fist--it scared her. Worries her. She doesn't know where this is going, but she knows it's bad.
Elena clutches him a little bit more tightly before she draws back to look at his face. She releases a heavy breath and nods. ] That's something.
It's a lot, considering she's the only one with any kind of answers.
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Jeremy never saw Stefan, and Katherine was acting like Katherine. She was a little less violent than usual because she has nothing to run from here, not in the way she did back home. There's no angle to be played. It's something too. He's trying to look at the silver linings. It's not really his strong suit.
He can only imagine how painful it was though for her if his sister isnt' with Stefan now, it means that it was... bad, terrible even.
FWAH, Elena. ;; He doesn't want her terrified. ;;
It's just what he has to do. 8(]
No, not really. I asked her what she'd do here and she said try to make the best of it. She was pretending to be you again, but... I figured it out after a second. [And she'll likely try to do that again and again so they have to prepare.]
If he's not answering, I bet... he's found one of them.
[Jeremy pauses, pulling back and looking down at her. He nods. It's more than they could have hoped for when ever considering the possibility that she could fall through.]
Yeah, that's... what I was thinking. I didn't want to ask too much considering... [She's physically stronger than him and unless he had that edge of surprise, there was no way he would have gotten information from her.]
...what was he like? [There's concern in his voice and in his gaze and it's entirely for her, for Elena.
He liked Stefan just fine, but didn't have... any kind of connection with him like he knows Elena did and has.]
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Elena doesn't like Katherine, that much has been made obvious. What she did to Jenna is still fresh in her mind, only exacerbated by what she finds out later from Jeremy himself. But there's a part of her that also sympathizes with her--that knows once upon a time, Katherine was just a girl.
Who lost her family too young.
And she also knows Katherine cares, in her own way, about Stefan.
Elena can't help it. She wants a better life for Jeremy, more for him, and she always will. :'(]
Katherine trying to make the best of things isn't necessarily reassuring for the rest of us, but... no Klaus. She wants him out of the picture as much as any of us. For longer than any of us. [ And Elena shakes her head at Katherine pretending to be her again.
When will that get old? ]
... Probably. It all happened too fast, and most wanderers fall through at the Park. It'd be easy to bump into them.
[ Elena draws in another heavy breath and then places either of her hands on his shoulders. ]
I wouldn't want you asking too much, either. I meant what I said, Jeremy. I don't want you caught in this crossfire. [ Whatever Stefan and Katherine were up to, Elena has no doubts it was lethal, and digging into it, testing her patience, it'd only get Katherine striking back.
Elena sits down on one of the stools in the kitchen, quiet for a moment after the question. ]
... Unfeeling. Detached, for the most part. Angry. [ And Elena knows what that could mean, except he wasn't completely unemotional. Except for his anger, which he still tried keeping under wraps, but she could tell. ]
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Jeremy doesn't like her, largely because of what she's done to their family, the fact that she drank some of his blood, and how all of this affects Elena. He realizes it's actually not Katherine's fault that she looks exactly like Elena and that the Salvatore brothers were drawn to his sister for that.
But he hates it and he wants more for her.
Like Elena will always want more and better for him, it's helpless. It's part of being family, the only family that they have left, and that would be true in Chicago or in Mystic Falls.]
No, it's not, but I was thinking that... yeah, without Klaus here, it takes away the motivation she had to do a lot of what she... did to us. she's helped before too, but... [But she can't really be trusted in the end and she makes everything more complicated because of it.
It'll never get old, Elena. ;; Sadly. Though it's old for them. >>]
So now, it's... just waiting to hear from him, I guess.
[It's all they really can do. Jeremy glances down at her when she places her hands on his shoulders.]
Elena... [It's said softly at first before he shakes his head. It's not really the time. It's so far from the time so he just swallows and shakes his head.]
I'm smart about it. I'm not looking to... get caught in another tomb. [Metaphorical for not looking to put himself in a position that need saving.
Again. Especially at someone else's expense.
Jeremy turn to look at her, leaning against the counter as she sits on the stool. He looks at her, mixture of concern and confusion on his face as he does so.] Do...
You think he flipped the switch?
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Elena does believe more of him now, but she can't help that worry, knowing if Damon sees her, Katherine will know which buttons to push if she's bored.
It's going to hurt whether Damon acknowledges that it does or it doesn't.
It hurts now, just thinking about it, thrown back to that moment when she saw them walking towards the car together, partners-in-crime.
Different. Completely different to what she left behind. ]
But Katherine will always look out for Katherine first. That means we can't trust her, and I don't want her help.
[ Katherine will choose her own survival above all. If there's anything she cares about, it's Stefan, and the rest of them are not on her radar unless they can be of use.
Elena turns to him when he says her name, so softly, watching him as he shakes his head, brows furrowed with confusion--and concern. ]
What is it, Jeremy?
[ Another deep breath, and then another, and she squeezes his arm as they pull back, nodding. ] Things are different here. She'll learn that soon enough.
[ They're all wanderers. There are other things to fight against.
Swallowing thickly, she looks up at him from her spot on the stool. Her expression says it all. ]
I'm not sure. I don't have the whole story yet. I'm hoping Damon has more luck.
[ It's pretty clear she's the last person he wants to see, and he's not interested. ]
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It'll still affect him, and he isn't naive enough to not recognize that at this point, but he's trying to bring in some hope to a situation that seems fairly hopeless. Given that there's Stefan and Katherine and that they're working together.
Jeremy doesn't really doubt that Damon will still be able to be hurt by Katherine even after all this time. He spent a hundred years trying to get her out of a tomb.
That doesn't go away in a day.]
Yeah, that's the... thing. She always looks out for herself first, and we can't afford to get help from someone we can't trust.
[especially given everything that's going on, they literally cannot afford to do it, to get her help unless they can fully trust her.
And they can't, they never can.
Jeremy lets out a breath at the question, shaking his head again.]
Just- I'll be careful. You shouldn't worry so much. There's enough going on right now, Elena.
[That he's not about to worry her with something else.] Yeah, she will. It's-- it puts us all on the same team when we're wanderers, not that I want to be on a team with her... it's just-- it's good to know.
[That she'll have the same enemies so maybe she won't worry so much about them for once and focus more on staying alive herself.
It's what she does best.
Jeremy look at her with concern, with uncertainty, feeling it all swirl in his stomach.]
...Elena. You don't know what happened back home. I know that doesn't help right now at all, and I know you're--
I know that it's breaking you. [And it hurts HIM to know it, because she's his sister and he wants to protect her too.] Just- it doesn't take away what... you had.
Before.
Things like that they're-- they're not meant to last forever.
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They made a deal.
... Caroline says Damon had newspaper clippings of their killing sprees. [ She swallows again after that, looking down at the counter. She tries picturing it, Stefan as the ripper, and she can't explain what it feels like. Everything he said made so much more sense.
But it doesn't change how sick it makes her to her stomach. ]
That's not the only thing I'm concerned about. She's Katherine. Now that she knows Damon's here too, that the two of us have been here long enough to make ties, she's going to start poking around.
[ Katherine always wants to have that ace up her sleeve.
She's going to feel at a loss in a city like Chicago where she doesn't have that edge with them. She knows Damon's covered his tracks, but that doesn't mean she won't still be looking.
Elena will never fully trust her. A part of her sympathizes with Katherine. A part of her recognizes if they took the Salvatores out of the equation, their own dynamic might be very different. She recognizes despite everything Katherine has done, she was once just a girl, like Elena was, who lost her whole family.
It doesn't change what's happened, and where they stand now. ]
Jeremy, you're my brother. I'm going to worry about you most, especially with what's going on. But... okay. I believe you'll be careful.
[ She knows after his fight with Carter, he felt bad, and he's been doing a lot better since.
Elena shakes her head, tears stinging at her eyes. She looks up at Jeremy, and what he says hurts for so many reasons. She knows exactly why he'd say something like that, what he's gone through that would let him learn such a thing, and she flinches inwardly.
Because it hurts.
Because she'd never had to face it before so definitively. ]
That doesn't mean I wanted it to be like this.
[ Stefan, falling off the wagon again. Compelled from his choice and his feelings. A ripper.
Just...everything over, like that. ]
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[It always is so it shouldn't ever be surprising when things only manage to get worse, and Jeremy looks over at her, shaking his head.
He doesn't know what to say, because he's understanding it all as Elena says it, but how-- what can he say to that? How can he make that better? He can't. There's no way.]
...you'd make the same deal for me. [It's what he says instead. It doesn't help. It doesn't change things. It doesn't make them better, but...
He'd make that deal for her too, and it still makes it all terrible, completely terrible. Why are choices like that ever given at all?]
It means we have to tell everyone what-- that she's here and that she looks like your twin and that she can't be trusted. If people know to ask her directly whether she's you or not, she can't lie. So they could figure it out and make a... swift exit.
[It won't stop her from meddling but it's better than having nothing at all, and he's secretly grateful to the Rift for that one thing.
Because it gives them what they need to have the advantage along with knowing all they do about the city, along with Damon being in such a position of power and possession.
There's still lot that's worrying and concerning about this, but they'll fight against it. They won't take it sitting down, and she won't do to one of Elena's friends, one of their friends what she did to Jenna or to anyone else. The motivation is gone here, and she'll get bored and want to mess with things, but...
He believes they're going to be able to fight back.]
...I know, but you should... try to worry less is all. There's kind of enough going on without adding excess worry about me to the pile.
[But he has been much more careful even as he's been learning to fight, learning how to defend himself and how to fight offensively too. It's something he needs.
At the sight of those tear, Jeremy moves to her side, resting a hand against her arm. It hurts so much to see them, because he loves his sister. He loves her more than he can put to words, and they're all each other has had. They're the only family that they have left, and he hates-- he hates that this happened at all.
This never should have happened to her.
Not when she was finally getting a normal life back or something like it, not when she finally got an escape from all of that. And he looks at her, concern in his gaze.]
I know.
I know you didn't, Elena. You wouldn't ever want it to be like this. No one would, and it doesn't make it okay or make it hurt less.
[Nothing makes it okay.]
Just let yourself feel it. [It's worse if she doesn't, and he knows that she doesn't. She pastes on a smile and says she's okay when she's not.
And it's okay to not be okay. But he gets why that's hard for her. It's hard for him too. He'll get angry and lash out before he lets himself feel what he's really feeling, and he knows it's not easy, but he has to try... to try to help, because she always helps him and takes care of him, because he loves her and she's his sister.
And he wants more for her too.]
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[ Katherine falling through. More people from their world falling through, in general. There was a lull there and for a while, it was only Damon, Jeremy, and Elena, but over the past couple of months there have been many more people to fall through.
They knew it could only be a matter of time, but it doesn't make it any less difficult. ]
... I would. [ There is no doubt in her mind Elena would do absolutely anything for Jeremy. She'd make what bargain she had to, to spare him.
She went so far to betray his trust to take away his pain, because she couldn't bear it.
Family comes first. Jeremy is always her priority, and she expected Stefan to make his own brother a priority, too. If Stefan can be reached... if Stefan, the Stefan they knew, can be pulled back from the brink, it won't be because of Elena.
It'll be because of Damon. ]
I know. I've been planning on it. I didn't want to make a journal entry. They're hardly reliable and I don't know if everyone keeps up with them, but--they'll be notified, one way or another. I'm not risking it.
[ Not with how Katherine already tried to play the game of I'm Elena Gilbert.
Those from their world might be used to it, but Martha, Connor? Ethan?
Elena presses her lips together and regards him thoughtfully. Worrying about Jeremy comes like second nature to her, but she's also self-aware enough to realize he's the one more put-together at the moment, and that also brings her back from the emotional edge. ]
As long as you're okay. I know this is going to ... change things.
[ Things changing for Elena means they change for Jeremy, too. She hates that, but he is always affected by the turmoils of her own life.
She hates it more than she can say. ]
No, Jeremy, it doesn't. It's not okay and yeah, it hurts, but that doesn't mean I'm going to fall apart. Stefan made his choices and now...
Now I have to make mine.
[ Elena blinks back the tears, but she also falls into the embrace when he moves to her side. She grows quiet once he speaks again, and finally slips her hands around his middle, hugging him tightly. She takes the comfort she rarely does, resting her face against his shoulder blade.
She lets herself take it, and holds on tighter.
They have each other, and as long as that's true, Elena will pull through anything. For him...and for herself, too.
So she can be the sister she's always been, and he can still say that he has her. ]
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They have to think about Klaus falling through, and the thought is one he doesn't really want to entertain, but it increases his desire to train, to be able to fight.
...and then another thought occurs to him entirely from almost nowhere. What if their parents fell through? The thought of it makes his throat tighten.]
Doesn't have to be all bad, but I guess... it's always complicated.
[People falling through, and then there's also that brief moment where he's afraid and he doesn't know if it would be good or bad. If his parents came through, thy'd have to deal with this world, they could ask them, they could get more... from them. They could have a maybe... a better life here.
But then the fear of losing them again and-- He shuts the thought up before he can run away with it.]
I know. I would too. [And he absolutely means that as well. He'd make any deal to keep her safe, and this is Chicago, this is their lives. It's not completely out of question that it might come up one day, that it might be something that they have to do.
The other would obviously hate it.
But they would do whatever they could to keep the other one safe, it's what they do.]
No, it might be better and harder to do it in person for a lot... of reasons, but I can help or whatever. I mean, I can be there to answer things.
[Because he knows how upset she is right now and she might forget to mention something or might lose track of everything that she needs to say, Jeremy would want to at least be there as support but he gets if she wants to do it alone too.
He has no idea that none of it will work out like they have planned anyway, but he's going to make the offer especially when it comes to Martha and those that live here, because he has a feeling that he already knows what they'll have to do.]
I'm okay. [Slight pause.] We're... going to move out, right?
[And he doesn't leave it to her to decide it, Jeremy makes the decision himself, because he knows how she hates when her life affects his. However, he's already thought about what they'll have to do.]
I guess you do.
I... know you won't, Elena. You don't ever stop long enough to feel it to fall apart.
[Jeremy wraps an arm around her, tightening his hold on her as she actually hugs him back, when she takes that comfort. It's reassuring, because he knows how she pastes on a smile.
She pasted on a smile, pretend, retreated, and he got into drugs and anger. They both have had bad dealing methods in the past, bu it means something that they're trying.
They still have each other.
That's still true.]
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[ They could've prepared as much as possible for the potential arrivals, but you are never quite prepared for those moments. Elena knows she certainly wasn't, but the moments--they come anyway.
She has to deal with them whether she is ready to or not, since she alternative isn't one she's willing to contemplate, either.
Elena got too comfortable with it herself.
She slipped. She forgot for one moment what she was, what it all entailed, what they left behind in the world before them. A year is a very long time to be away, and while she never once forgot the people she left behind--
She settled into the life she'd built for herself here.
And now she gets the reminder she can't get too comfortable. Ever. ]
I think it'll have to be. The Rift's been messing with the journals too much for me to trust contact anyone about this through them, but I'm aware they need to... know.
[ She doesn't want anything bad happening to anyone they care about and more vampires from their world could fall through, vampires that are different to the ones they're used to.
Vampires in this world are rare as it is.
We're ... going to move out, right?
Elena looks up at him at that, a heaviness settling in her chest. She remembers bringing Jeremy here, how he'd immediately liked it, how he'd wanted to move in.
But the decision is one they have to make anyway. ]
We'll have to, Jer.
[ And she won't not be sorry about that, be she instinctively knows he doesn't want an apology. Elena shakes her head again and hugs him back tightly. Life doesn't ever stop long enough. It's not just her. It's not, and all these things, they don't stop happening whether Elena decides to bring herself to a halt.
She can't afford that, but she holds on tightly.
A reminder to Jeremy and a reminder to herself.
They'll try and they'll pick themselves back up, and they'll work with what's been left.
More importantly, they will always have each other. ]
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