Midnight Rising

Rescue Mission

Her chest rises and falls, the strap of her black tank top falling down over her shoulder. A veil of dark hair covers the side of her face not smashed into the fluffy pillows. My hand hovers over her hidden cheek, the fingers twitching as they long to brush the hair away. If Stefan wants to steal Diana, I'll steal Elena. I'll make her fall so in love with me that even when he comes crawling back, begging to be in her life she'll want nothing to do with him. Two can play his game. I'm just better at it.

Elena twitches, eyes moving rapidly behind tightly closed lids. She's hanging onto the last little bit of a dream. Time to ruin her day, "Rise and shine sleepy head."

Chocolate brown eyes fly open. For a few seconds, Elena looks confused. Her brain connects, a sharp scream escaping her lips as she throws her arms forward, trying to push me off the bed. "What are you doing? Get out!"

"You know you were dreaming about me. Explains the drool," I taunt back, giving her a grin. Pushing Elena's buttons has always been a favorite past time. She's just got so many to choose from. With no one around to give me a stern talking to, I'm free to run rampant over Elena's switchboard.

Elena scrunches up her nose, the tip of her pink tongue sticking out through grimacing lips, "Ugh." She rolls over in bed, snatching the clock off her bedside table. The grimace turns into a harsh frown as Elena lets out a sleepy groan. "Oh my God. 6 AM, seriously? Do you really having nothing better to do at 6 AM?"

"Well, I used to, but Diana's gone. I guess if you don't want to come with me to bring Stefan home you could just stay in bed." I tip to the side, letting my feet hit the floor. "See ya."

Elena scrambles into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "Wait. Wait. What? What are you talking about? Where is he?"

"Windy City."

"He's in Chicago? Well, how do you know?"

Rolling my eyes, I begin to pull the dresser drawers open, grabbing out various items I know Elena will need for our trip. Despite the early morning wake up call, there's no way she's going to let me go alone. This is what she's been waiting for all summer. "It came to me in a dream. I was naked. You would have loved it." I shoot Elena a wink before returning to my task.

"Diana?"

Elena is a bigger idiot than I've been giving her credit for. Sure, I've got this little game going on, but I'd never pass up a chance to spend the day in bed with Diana. We're way too good at it, "Obviously not or I wouldn't be here at 6 AM. Honestly, Elena, do you ever listen when I talk? Start packing."

"Is he okay?"

"Well, let's just say he's not there to meet Oprah." Red lace catches my attention. Snatching the fabric from the drawer I turn to face Elena who is still tucked in bed. It looks like she needs some incentive. "Put these in the yes pile."

This gets her moving. Elena storms across the room, snatching the lacey underwear away from me. She quickly shoves them into the back of the drawer, almost shutting it on my fingers. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Jeremy lounges on the couch, eyes glued to the television, fingers working rapidly over a controller. I plop down next to him, digging around in my pocket for my wallet. Flipping open the leather, I pull out a few hundred-dollar bills. I don't know what the financial situation is around here but with Elena and I going on a trip I want to be sure Jeremy has money to eat.

Little Gilbert pauses his game as I slap the money down on the coffee table, "What's that for?"

"Elena and I are going on a trip, figured this should cover a few pizzas."

Jeremy pockets the money, "Are you going after Diana?"

I stay quiet. He doesn't need to get involved in all of this. I'm sure she saw him. Diana has a soft spot for Elena's little brother. She'll have wanted to let him know she's alive and doing okay.

"I'll come with you."

"No way," I shake my head as Elena comes down the stairs, lugging a black duffel bag behind her. "It's best you leave this mission to the adults."

Jeremy lets out a snort, "The adults? Diana's my friend. I'm just as much a part of this as you two."

"She's not a good person, Jeremy," Elena butts in, her hands resting on her hips as she gives her kid brother a disappointing frown. "Diana seems to have a knack for bringing out the worst in people. You don't need to get caught up in her world."

Turning his attention back to the game, Jeremy rolls his eyes, "Maybe you just don't know her well enough. She cares, Elena, she just doesn't show it like you do. She stays where she's needed most."

I can see how Jeremy's words cut Elena. Her face falls, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Gently, I press my hand to the small of her back, leading the girl through the front door and into the car.

She sits in silence; fingers working over the necklace my brother gave her. I silently search out state license plates, going through them in alphabetical order. I get through Connecticut before glancing over at Elena. She should be happy. We're about to go collect Stefan. Her life will go back to the same pretend perfect as before. "I sure hope we find him. It would suck if the last memento of Stefan was that crappy old necklace."

"It's an antique, Damon," the dusting of a smile flashes over Elena's thin lips. "Like you."

Rolling my eyes, I reach into the back of the car, feeling around for one of Stefan's diaries I brought along. While I want Elena to be happy about finding Stefan, I also want her to accept what we may be walking into. If Stefan has turned off his humanity there will be no getting him back. If he hasn't turned it off we'll still have to navigate ripper Stefan. That honestly might be worse. Elena can't expect some magical, romantic reunion. "Read this. Paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago."

"Its Stefan's diary," Elena pushes the leather-bound notebook I'm offering her back toward me. "I'm not going to invade his private thoughts."

"You need to be prepared for what you're about to see."

Elena crosses her arm stubbornly over her chest. I have to give it to her, despite all the evidence; she's remained firmly in my brother's corner. That may work out well for us as we try and curb the killer instincts that I'm sure have arisen within Stefan over these past months, "I've seen Stefan in his darkest periods. I can handle it."

"Here's one," I flip the diary open across the steering wheel, flicking my eyes between the pages and the road. "March 12th, 1922. 'I've blacked out days. I wake up in stranger's blood, in places I don't recognize with women I don't remember.' Ahh!" I flip the book shut, turning to look at Elena with a smirk. "I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin."

Elena doesn't look amused, snatching the book away from me, "Eyes on the road, grandpa." Despite her previous objects, she flips the diary open, eyes scanning over the thin, scrawling cursive.

"Fine. Back to my game," I spot a Delaware license plate on a black pick-up truck in the traveling lane. "Tell me if you see a Florida plate."