A/N: Don't own TVD or anything related to TVD, but if I did, Damon would definitely be engaged in a LOT more smut :D
A/N2: While I love the idea of Delena and am rooting for them, I sometimes think that Elena isn't strong enough to handle Damon. So, this idea came to me. I know an OC is not everyone's cup of tea but maybe I can entice you to read as it will contain plenty of nekkid Damon. So, be warned, this is only for mature audiences, i.e. rated a complete and total MA since there will be lots of graphic smut and other lovely naughtiness involving our favorite vampire as well as lots of coarse language and so on.
A/N3: I've got a few more chapters already done on this so if I have a good response to this chapter and you all like it, I'll post some more.
"Elena, I'm going to be leaving in the morning," Damon said, his voice low.
"Why? Damon, you can't leave me now! Not you too!" Elena's voice breaking with the pain. Stefan had abandoned her and even though his cause had been noble, she still couldn't seem to stop the pain engulfing her heart. He had left her. Not a single sign in weeks, even though Damon had fully recovered from the werewolf bite. A deep, dark part of her hoped that he was dead because the alternative meant that he simply didn't care anymore.
"I have to find Stefan. He left you, he left his life here to save mine and it's time I repaid the favor," Damon responded, his voice laced with guilt.
"No, Damon. You can't just go barging in like you always do without a second thought. You'll die. And then Stefan's sacrifice would have been for nothing. Stefan could be dead for all you know," and on that note she did break down, her tears flowing freely. She couldn't bear to think of Stefan's death and she couldn't bear to think he had abandoned her. How cruel the world was. Just as they thought their troubles were over and they could be together with no obstacles, fate decided to throw them another curve ball. She didn't know how much longer she could deal with this.
"Shhh," Damon comforted her, pulling her into his arms and letting her weep until she had no more tears left. "I promise I won't die, Elena."
"No!" Elena said more forcefully, wiping at her nose. "We'll do this together. We'll make a plan. A proper plan and we'll get Stefan away from Klaus."
"Elena, there's nothing you can do…" Damon tried reasoning with her.
"Yes, there is Damon. I'm not going to stand here and watch everyone I care about die," Elena reinforced. "I want Stefan back, I miss him desperately but we will do this together." Damon felt his heart break a little more, even though he loved his brother, he still couldn't help feeling as if history was repeating itself. It would always be Stefan. Maybe he really wasn't worthy of being loved. It had taken more than 150 years for him to realize it but it seemed that love wasn't on the agenda for him.
But that didn't mean he'd stand by and watch herself get killed. They'd all fought much too hard to keep her alive and he bloody well wasn't going to let her kill herself. Had they not been in the middle of the park, he would have shown her how easily she could die.
"Elena, are you going to throw away your life and make the sacrifices of everyone who died for you worth nothing," he asked, knowing he was being a jackass and hurting her but it was the only way to get her to see reason. He was the bad one, after all, the guy everyone hated and who felt nothing. Well, it was high time she remembered that.
"Damon, how could you?" she choked out, her face almost crumpling. She looked to the side and then went still, her face draining. "Who's that?" she whispered.
"No, you aren't going to distract me with that. You aren't going anywhere near Klaus and that's final, even if I have to tie you down, feed you vampire blood and turn you, got it?" he hissed at her, annoyed at her attempt to distract him.
"Damon, I'm serious. There's something really strange about that woman and she's staring at us," Elena whispered. Damon looked curiously in the same direction and understood Elena's reaction right away. A woman leaned against a tree, looking quite comfortable, wearing a leather trench coat. He would have thought nothing of it, except that it was the middle of July and it was hotter than hell. And she didn't seem to mind the heat one bit.
Another thing that struck him was how still she was. She hadn't moved a millimeter and that could mean only one thing. A vampire. He tuned in to her heartbeat and his sensitive hearing confirmed his theory. Her heartbeat was too slow for her to be human.
"Elena, get home, now!" he hissed.
"Damon, why, what's wrong?" she stammered.
"Woman, for once in your life, would you just bloody listen to me and get home!" he practically yelled at her.
"Not until you tell me what's going on," she pigheadedly refused to move.
"In fifteen words or less. That is a vampire. I want you safe. Now go!"
"Fine, I'm going, I'm going. Even though I don't know why you're so worried. I'm of no interest anymore, right?"
"Ah, my dear, but you are very, very wrong there. Klaus is still very interested in you," said a soft, husky voice that was decidedly feminine but had a steel edge to it that made Elena's hair stand up. Elena slowly turned and saw the woman standing inches in front of her. She gasped and backed into Damon's arms, who pushed her behind him.
"Get home, I'll deal with… this," he practically spat the last word out. The woman smirked and cocked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
"My, my Damon Salvatore, you are a cocky little shit, aren't you?" the woman said, with a strong accent that he couldn't quite place.
"Stay away from her, bitch," he hissed, his features contorting, his fangs ready to come out.
"Tut, tut," she said, "not in public, darling. We wouldn't want your friends on the Council finding out what you are, would we? They might decide to stake you and I want that pleasure all to myself."
"Damon, stop," Elena hissed. "She's right. We're in the middle of the park. Let's just go, she won't do anything here."
"What does Klaus want with Elena?" Damon asked, as he struggled to get himself under control. "He's broken the curse so what the hell does he want now?"
"Why, he wants Elena dead, of course," the woman said. "He's not happy with her turning and he wants to eliminate the problem," she continued unfazed by their shocked looks.
"But… but I'm not a vampire," Elena whispered.
"Excuse me," the woman asked, her voice low, her tone menacing.
"My father, John Gilbert gave up his soul so that I could live… as a human," Elena finished, the pain clear in her eyes. Even though she hadn't been close to John, he had given his life to save hers and it had brought her closer to him in death than she had ever been when he was alive. The vampire studied her closely, her nostrils flaring.
"Come here," she said in that same tone of voice that raised all of Elena's hackles.
"No," Damon said, pushing Elena back.
"Listen pretty boy, you have two options, you let her come to me or I rip both your hearts out right here, right now. Got it?" she continued. Elena didn't know what was more frightening. The woman's threats or the fact that her tone of voice was so dispassionate, as if she were talking about taking an afternoon stroll.
"It's okay, Damon. I'll be fine," Elena said, not wanting to be the cause of another death, especially not Damon's. She walked around Damon and towards the woman who was watching her intently.
"Elena, no," Damon said, trying to grab her and keep her back. What was wrong with her? Walking into the lion's den all the time. Saving her was becoming a full time occupation and he was starting to get a little annoyed at the whole situation. She didn't want him. She wanted Stefan but he was always supposed to get her out of the shit she seemed to land herself in constantly.
Elena walked up to the woman and Damon was getting ready to pounce. One false move and the woman was going to be toast. Her hand snaked out and pulled Elena closer to her, bending over slightly and sniffing her neck. If he hadn't been so afraid for Elena, the scene would have been quite a turn on. What the hell was wrong with him? Focus, Damon, focus.
"What the hell?" the woman jerked back, pushing Elena hard so she stumbled into Damon. "You really are human. Not a trace of any other species in you. No witch, werewolf or other shifter, fairy, nothing. Hell, not even a slight hint of fae."
"Fae?" Elena mouthed to Damon, as she stared slack jawed at all the species the woman was naming. Damon shrugged since he had no idea what the woman was on about.
"You hold no interest for me. Get on with your life, but beware that I'm not the only one who's coming after you." The woman said, snorting and turning on her heel to leave.
"Wait," Elena cried out.
"Elena, what the hell are you doing?" Damon hissed. She really did have a death wish, didn't she?
"Please, wait," Elena tried again as the woman kept walking away, ignoring her. It seemed that Elena had the same effect on everyone and the woman stopped and turned to stare at her.
"What do you want, child?" the woman asked.
"Hey, you're not much older than me, so don't call me a child," Elena said, before she covered her mouth, realizing that the woman in front of her was a vampire and could very well be centuries old. The crystalline laugh they heard from the woman was so beautiful and pure and so at odds with the previous menace that had been rolling off her in waves, that Damon and Elena both stood there staring, unsure how to react.
"You're actually pretty sweet, in your naivety. But thank you, it's been a while since someone actually saw me as being that young. But no, it's been a very long time since I was your age. Too long to remember now. So what do you want?"
"Who are you? Why didn't you kill me? Are you a vampire?" Elena shot out the questions, one after the other, afraid the woman would leave if she didn't ask fast enough.
"And why would I tell you anything?" the woman asked, looking surprised.
"Please, just tell me," Elena pleaded again, while Damon rolled his eyes.
"I told you she's a vampire," he said.
"No, she isn't. There's something different about her." Elena said, wholly convinced that this woman was no vampire. She didn't know what it was, whether it was the woman's golden skin or the fact that she wasn't eyeing Elena as if she was a meal, but Elena really didn't think this woman was a vampire.
"Don't be ridiculous Elena. You saw her move. I can barely hear her heartbeat and she just admitted she's been around for a while." Damon said, counting off all the reasons that clearly made her a vampire.
"Shall I leave now? Since you've got me all figured out and everything, love," she said with a wink.
"No, please," Elena rushed to her, grabbing her by the arm. "Don't listen to him. He's just being an ass, as usual," she said, frowning at Damon. The woman looked down at Elena's hand on hers and smiled.
"You have fire in you, I have to admit. I like you," she concluded. "It's been a while since I liked anyone," she said, a faraway look in her silver eyes. Silver? Elena thought to herself. No one had silver eyes but this woman did. They were almost molten, swirling and changing, and it was disconcerting to look at. Nope, definitely not a vampire. Well, not any type of vampire she had seen before.
"Please, tell me what's going on," Elena pleaded once again.
"Come on, Elena. She's not going to tell you anything. Let's go. I want you safe." Damon said, his nerves stretched to breaking point. He didn't want Elena anywhere near the strange woman.
"Vampire, you are seriously getting on my last nerve, so if you don't want to end up dead, I suggest you keep your trap shut," the woman growled at him and Damon looked at her with a smirk on his face. He didn't know why he was goading her, but he couldn't seem to help it. "Fine, I'll tell you, even though I think I'm actually losing my mind. But first, let's get something to drink. At least I can blame it on too much alcohol."
"Of course, follow me," Elena said, the ever polite host as she made her way towards the Mystic Grill. Damon sighed and followed in the wake of the two women. It wasn't as if he was going to leave Elena alone with the maniac woman.