Disclaimer: I do not own TVD. I'm just borrowing the characters.

AN: Spoilers for the season 2 finale. Written for softly_me's TVD comment ficathon part 2 over on LJ.

Prompt: Jenna/Alaric - if I only could make a deal with god and get him to swap our places

tie the clock's hands

He's lost track of how many times they've gone around. Four? Five? A hundred? Maybe they've been doing this for lifetimes and they're both too stubborn to quit. All he knows is that this time he's the one wearing the amulet, heavy on his chest as he lies here beside her. It was in the bottom of a file in Isabel's old office, labeled "for emergencies." Who knew his ex-wife could turn back time? Sure did her a lot of good. That should have been his first clue, that despite everything she never once used it.

Jenna rolls over beside him, tucks her chin into his shoulder. He watches her delicate fingers rise up to touch the surface of the stone. He's not sure how much she remembers, if anything, but he thinks she might be memorizing the look of it. It'll be her turn next to hunt it down and come back. Then she'll die again and he'll hunt down the stone and they'll be right back here.

Her hand glides up his chest, pushing aside the cloth of his shirt to run over skin. He takes in a shuddering breath and she smiles into his eyes.

"I love you," she says quietly.

It sounds too much like goodbye and he can't return it. He rolls, pinning her beneath him and captures her lips with his. She writhes under him and makes a sound that starts out a moan and becomes a giggle. She starts to pull his shirt up but the phone ringing cuts them off.

"Oh no," she sighs while he kisses along her neck. "Ric, I need the phone and there is no way-" She can't find the words as he sucks on the flesh above her collarbone. When he stops she moans, "The world could be ending and now is when your libido kicks back in? What are you-? Ric!" He's tied her wrist to the bedpost and rolled off the bed. "Ric! What are you doing?"

He puts a finger to his lips before answering the phone. She loves him. She trusts him. She doesn't say a word.

"Is he already here?" he asks without preamble. Katherine is a bit stunned but is quick enough on the uptake to answer in the positive. "Good." He hangs up on her and tosses the phone to the end of the bed. It's just out of Jenna's easy reach but if she can't undo his knots she can pull the sheets up. "Don't move, don't say a word. When I walk out that door count to a hundred then get the phone and call Stefan."

"Ric?" she asks, her voice hollow.

He buttons up his shirt, pausing to meet her eyes just before he covers up the amulet.

"I love you," he says and leaves her.

They're selfish, he thinks, as he heads to the front door where he knows Klaus is waiting. They won't let the world keep spinning unless they can be together. Maybe somehow, someway time is moving forward and they're just stuck in this circle of sacrifice and heartbreak. He doesn't want to know for sure though. He'd rather have this broken timeline with Jenna than imagine any world where he's without her.

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