Lucy felt like a little kid waiting for her dad to come home. She darted to the window at every little noise hoping it was Elijah. It had been far too long since she'd seen him. She missed her family. The boys simply watched with amusement not used to seeing her quite so hyper. When the knock finally came, Lucy hopped on her feet before hurrying to the door. Damon chuckled but remained in his spot as he wanted to give her some time alone to greet her uncle.

She swung the door open to find Elijah on the other side. As always, he was dressed impeccably in a tailored suit. He smiled when he saw her and ran his gaze over her taking in the changes since he saw her last. "Lucy," he said by way of greeting.

She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He laughed as he returned the hug. "I missed you, 'Lijah."

"It is good to see you, little one." He stepped back and took one of her hands in his own. "Come. I wish to speak with you before I meet your friends."

A brief thought of protesting crossed her mind but she dismissed it. It didn't really matter when he met them and she wanted to spend time with Elijah without the boys around anyway. "We'll be back," she yelled as she walked out the door, not bothering to wait for a response.

Elijah drove them to a park and pulled into the spot furthest from the road. Dark was approaching and they were the only ones present.

He turned in his seat so he was angled toward her and licked his lips. "Now, Lucille, however did you end up in Mystic Falls of all places?"

She wrinkled her nose at the use of her full name. "I hate it when you call me that. And would you believe I threw a dart at a map?"

He laughed. "With you? Absolutely." He leaned against the door behind him. "I had considered asking you to accompany me when I left. It has been some time since we traveled together."

"I've expanded my family, Elijah. I don't want to leave them," she responded with a shake of her head. "To put it bluntly, I'm in love with the town and the people here. It's home."

His eyes narrowed and his lips twitched. "Any person in particular?"

"Perhaps. We're friends and we flirt. That's all. I don't think he's really the relationship type."

"Then he's a fool."

The way he said it so matter-of-factly made Lucy smile. Leave it to Elijah to think anyone that wasn't interested in her was an idiot.

"Fine. Tell me about the vampires you are residing with." He pursed his lips and it was easy to see he wasn't thrilled with her current living arrangements.

"The Salvatore brothers. Damon and Stefan. Turned toward the end of the Civil War. They're good people and they treat me like family. The feeling's mutual." She wanted Elijah to approve of her friends though she supposed it wouldn't change much if he didn't. The boys were already too tightly intwined with her life.

"And which one is the fool?"

She sighed. There was no way she could get out of answering. "Damon."

He nodded in thought. "And were these brothers the ones that saved you from your kidnappers?"

"Yep."

"And they failed to kill them all?" Anger threaded through his words.

"They were a little preoccupied with taking care of me, Elijah," she said. "You'd be furious if they hadn't."

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile. "Forgive me. I get a little blood thirsty when it comes to protecting you, little one."

"I remember."

The conversation turned to more mundane topics as they caught each other up on their lives. Finally, Elijah determined it was time to return to the boarding house. He followed her inside and the brothers came to meet them. "Elijah Mikaelson, this is Damon and Stefan Salvatore."

"Did you say Mikaelson?" Stefan asked.

Lucy's brows shot up. "Yeah. Do you know each other?"

"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure," Elijah interjected before Stefan could respond. "Perhaps we have mutual acquaintances. We'll discuss it while we see to our task." He gestured toward the door. "Shall we gentlemen?"

Damon's gaze flicked from Elijah to Lucy and back again. "Yeah. Let's go." The brothers each kissed a different temple as they passed her to follow Elijah into the dark.

Lucy watched them leave and tried to shake the feeling that she'd just missed something very important.

***

The bell rang after they'd been gone about an hour. Lucy answered the door to find her favorite blonde with her least favorite brunette. "Caroline. Elena. What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Lucy," Caroline greeted in her usual chipper manner. "We were out running around and I thought I'd stop by to see Stefan. Elena wanted to visit, too."

Of course, she did. "They aren't here right now."

The pure disappointment on her friend's face tugged at Lucy's heart. "They should be back before long if you want to wait," she offered before she could think better of it.

"That would be great. Thanks."

Lucy stepped back to let them in the house. Elena said nothing, merely offering a nod as she passed by. Lucy rolled her eyes at the teenager as she shut the door. "Make yourselves at home. I have a couple of things I need to finish up."

Caroline waved her hand in dismissal. "No problem. We'll be fine."

In truth, there was absolutely nothing that needed to be done, but spending time with Elena seemed a special kind of torture. Lucy would rather scrub the floor by hand then spend more time than necessary in the girl's presence. How a sweetheart like Caroline could be so close to someone so different from her blew Lucy's mind. She supposed the fact they'd known each other for years had something to do with it, but she'd never cared for the way Elena and Bonnie treated Caroline.

Lucy had tried to broach the subject once and Caroline got pissed. It hadn't been brought up again. Not with her anyway. Damon had heard far more on the subject than he cared to. The girls settled in the living room and put on a movie. Lucy sat in a chair in the front hall and read while she waited for her men to get home.

When they walked in, she was immediately on her feet. Elijah kissed her forehead. "They are taken care of, little one. Only Pearl and Anna remain as they helped us locate the others. If you wish it, I will dispatch them as well."

She shook her head. "It's fine, 'Lijah. I trust you did what you thought best." She glanced at Stefan. "Caroline is in the living room with Elena."

He lifted his chin in thanks and headed in that direction, dragging Damon with him.

Elijah's lips twitched in amusement. "Is there somewhere I can get cleaned up?"

It was only then that Lucy noticed the dried blood covering his hands and forearms. "Sure," she said instead of commenting on his current appearance. She led him upstairs and showed him to a bathroom and a bedroom he could use if he wished.

He kissed her cheek. "Thank you. I'll be down shortly."

Lucy went back downstairs and found the others. Stefan sat in one of the oversized chairs with Caroline on his lap. Damon was pressed against one of the arms of the sofa with Elena beside him. There was barely room for a piece of paper between them. Damon grasped her shoulders and pushed her back trying to put some space between them.

As soon as he realized Lucy had entered the room, he hopped up and made his way to her. "I need to talk to you." He grabbed her elbow to steer her into the front hall.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend time with Elena?" she asked with a gesture toward the other room.

"You're not funny, Williams."

She grinned. "What can I do for you, Salvatore?"

He licked his lips and cleared his throat. "Tell me again how you know Elijah."

Why would he want to know that? What did it matter? She shrugged it off. "When my father was a teenager, he risked his life to save Elijah. Of course, Elijah hadn't actually been in any danger, but dad had no way of knowing that. They became friends. When my mom died in childbirth, they became closer. He helped dad raise me, really. Why?"

Damon shook his head. "I was just curious. He's...intense."

"He always has been. Even when he was soft with me, he was still intense. It's part of what makes him Elijah."

"I believe that."

"And what are you two discussing?" Elijah asked as he came down the stairs. "Not telling secrets I hope." His gaze moved between Lucy and Damon before settling on the latter.

"No secrets here," Damon said and Elijah gave a nod.

Lucy shot her uncle a narrow-eyed gaze. What secrets was he talking about? She hated it when he kept things from her. Maybe she could get it out of Damon later. "We should see what everyone else is up to," she said, leaving the men to trail behind her as she rejoined the others.

She jerked to a stop as her uncle spoke up behind her.

"Katherine?"