The Fairy King and the Saltman

Chapter 1

The Pink Door

Drops of blood ran along the curve of her lip, pooling into an orb before falling towards the concrete. Damon watched it, the call of his hunger and his lust roaring in his ears. His eyes fixed onto hers, as beautiful as they had ever been, now rimmed with dark veins. He saw her fangs, stained crimson, and he groaned. The body fell limp in her arms but Elena clutched it tight, so tight that Damon could not tell if it were a man or a woman. She wanted more. She was looking at him as though she were asking him if it was okay to lose control entirely. He wanted her to have more. He wanted her to have everything. He ached for it.

'NO.'

His lust for blood, his lust for Elena, was smacked aside. Stefan was there, pulling the body out of Elena's grasping hands. She pushed him, crying out but she was only newly born. She had not found her strength. Stefan gripped her, his own shoulders taut with a tension that betrayed his own war. Damon rolled his eyes; it amazed him how Stefan always had to be the hero, even though having a Ripper close by a fresh corpse was just asking for more trouble.

'Get her out of here Stef,' said Damon, not moving from the shadows.

Elena's eyes met his over Stefan's shoulder, her silent plea obvious. Damon simply stared at her until Stefan had bundled her away. She had made her choice. She had chosen Stefan and Damon could not muster the energy to be second best for eternity. For it would be eternity now that Elena had completed the transition. Damon closed his eyes. He had dreamed of this day since he had first met her. The thought of everything Elena had been, but stronger, faster and eternal made Damon's groin ache and his dead heart threaten a few beats. But she would not be his. She would never allow herself to give in and it was time he accepted it.

When Damon opened his eyes again they fell on the body. It was a woman that he vaguely recognised. Her eyes were still wide and her throat had been pricked open delicately. It was an impressive first kill. For a moment, Damon almost felt proud. Even if he could only watch Elena's progress from a distance, he still wanted her to be the good sort of vampire. The fun and classy sort, none of that yanking peoples heads off.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and Damon flipped it open:

Elena too scared to go home. Thought she might hurt Jer. She wants you to check on him?

Damon sighed. She wants? Well, maybe Damon didn't want to give her what she wanted. Maybe Damon wanted to get away from the lot of them and go back to how things had been. Damon shoved his phone back into his pocket and turned his back on the corpse. He took three steps and then he laughed. He laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall. Things had been dark before Elena, dark and lonely. He could never go back there. Muttering under his breath, Damon stomped over to Elena's victim, threw the body over his shoulder and started off towards the Gilbert house. One last time, he would give Elena what she wanted.

Jeremy jumped to his feet when he heard the door slam shut. His eyes were wide and rimmed with red. His hair looked ridiculous. Damon made a face.

'It's 3am, go to bed Jer.'

Jeremy shot him a look but said nothing. He slouched back into the lounge and Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. He had somehow been allocated the job of babysitter and he was not in anywhere close to the right mood for it. He was hurting and he was angry. The last time Jeremy had encountered him at such a time, things had not ended well. Surely that alone was enough to justify turning around and walking straight back out the door?

Damon took a silent step forward and peered around the corner. Jeremy was hunched over the coffee table, his unblinking eyes fixed on his mobile. He was rocking gently, his feet tapping and his fingers drumming on his knees. He looked on the verge of doing something incredibly reckless. Damon was all for reckless behaviour, but he had also begun to learn that there was a time and a place for it. Elena's transition into a vampire was not such a time. Damon sighed. Dredging up memories of snapping Elena's little brothers neck was not going to achieve anything. He knew that something like that would never happen again, just as he knew that he could not leave Jeremy alone; not now.

'Got any drink?' he said, stepping into the lounge proper.

Jer did not look up at him as he said, 'Beer in the fridge.'

Damon frowned. 'Got anything stronger?'

He did not respond for a while. He continued to rock and Damon was about to cuff him around the head when Jer's fingers stopped drumming. He glanced up, blinking as though he had not realised that Damon was there. 'What are you doing here? Where's Elena?'

The image of the blood on Elena's lips flashed in Damon's mind. 'Seriously Jer, you're going to want something stronger.'

Somehow, Jeremy's face turned even paler. His hands clutched the arm of the chair and his voice was little more than a croak. 'She's dead?'

Damon would never admit it out loud, but he actually felt really bad for the kid. 'No, he said quickly, 'the other thing.'

Jeremy swallowed, his adam's apple bobbed and his lips were pressed into a white line. Then he took a breath and nodded, a little colour returning to his cheeks. 'Alaric's stuff is still in his cupboard.'

Alaric. Damon's dark mood turned even darker but he stepped into the kitchen anyway and pulled out one of Alaric's bottles of bourbon. He grabbed two glasses and placed one in front of Jeremy. He poured them both a drink and sank onto the free sofa.

'Cheers,' he said his expression grim. He downed it in one and looked over at Jeremy. To Damon's surprise, Jeremy downed his too. He made a face as it hit the back of his throat and then he relaxed back into his chair and puffed out his cheeks.

Damon was kind of impressed. 'I thought you'd be more upset to hear about your sister's recent transition.'

Jeremy turned his head to face Damon, his brow furrowed in thought. He shrugged, 'Better a vampire than her being gone forever.'

Damon snorted, 'Oh, I get that. I get that completely. He remembered another time when Elena had had blood smeared over her lips; his blood, which he had forced down her throat. Damon had learnt his lesson and he would never force anything like that on her again but he was glad that she was not dead. The world without her would be no world at all.

'So,' said Jeremy, 'what happened?'

Damon shook his head. 'What was always going to happen. Stefan was a fool for ever trying to stop it. She fed, Jeremy. The hunger for blood overcame her and she lost control.'

'Who...'

'I don't know her name.' He pictured the corpse's face. 'A blonde woman. I've seen her in the Grill a few times.'

'Right,' said Jeremy, his voice tight 'And where is Elena now?'

'Oh, she's probably drowning in a pool of self-loathing and guilt. Stefan is probably having the time of his life.'

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. 'Damon.'

'She's at the boarding house. She didn't want to come near you until she got ii back under control.'

A sharp ringing interrupted them and Jeremy was answering his phone before Damon had even realised what the sound was.

'Bonnie?' said the younger Gilbert. Damon sat forward, able to hear Bonnie's voice on the other side of the line.

'Jeremy,' she said, 'I think I've found something.'

Jeremy's shoulders slumped, 'It's too late. She fed Bonnie, it's too late.'

Silence, and then. 'This could still work. It's a cure for vampirism, not for the transition phase. It's a spell. I'm going to try it out. Just keep Elena close, okay?'

'Wait...Bonnie...'

There was a click and the line died. Jeremy stared at his phone and Damon wanted to smash all their stupid heads together.

'There is no cure for vampirism. She's wasting her time.'

The door flew open and Elena staggered in. She looked half-wild and she was still covered in blood. Jeremy threw himself towards her but Elena held up her hands.

'No Jer,' her voice was ragged, 'please don't come too close.'

Jeremy jerked to a halt, his expression like a wounded puppy. Elena tried to smile at him but she hadn't yet mastered her fangs and she whimpered as she covered her mouth. Damon watched them both. He had not moved.

'Where's Stefan?' he said.

'At yours,' something flashed in her eyes when she looked at him.

'What? So I have to babysit the pair of you now?'

Two pairs of Gilbert eyes glared at him. Elena's filled with sudden tears that she swiped away angrily. She opened her mouth, and then clamped it shut before shaking her head and disappearing up stairs.

Jeremy took a step after her, 'Elena...'

Damon pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head and feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt since his own day of transition.

'I'll go,' he said.

Jeremy hesitated. He looked Damon in the eye and then he nodded. 'I think you're the only one that can help her now.'

Damon's eyes widened but Jeremy was already returning to his spot by the coffee table.

'Give me a shout if she wants anything,' said Jeremy, oblivious to the bomb he had just dropped on Damon's head. Damon had imagined many worlds where he was the only one that Elena needed but he knew it would never be reality. Still, he thought, it was good to know that somebody thought it might be possible. Making a mental note to himself to share bourbon with Elena's little brother again, Damon headed up the stairs and stepped into Elena's bedroom.

Elena whirled on him as soon as the first floorboard creaked beneath his boot.

'You,' she cried, 'could try and be a bit more...more...'

'More what, Elena?' Damon snapped. A part of him wanted to be gentle with her, but something held him back. 'More loving? More comforting? That's Stefan's job now.'

She drew in a sharp breath, the coldness of his tone halting her tears. 'That's not fair.'

'It is fair, actually.'

'So, what,' she took a step closer to him and he wished that she wouldn't, 'you're just going to pretend that you don't care for me? Pretend that we're not friends...that we're not connected...'

'I'm here, aren't I? Like you asked.'

'You're not. You're not here. I don't see you in there. I don't see my Damon...'

Damon's eyes narrowed. 'You made your choice, Elena...'

'Because you asked me too...'

'I'm not blaming you for it,' Damon roared. Elena glared at him, her expression very familiar. Damon took a breath. 'I'm not blaming you Elena, but you're the one that said you had to let me go.' She closed her eyes and Damon's voice lowered to a whisper. 'So let me go.'

Elena did not open her eyes for a long time after that but Damon found himself fixated on them anyway. When her eyes were closed he could let his love for her shine from his own. Then she turned away from him and Damon felt numb. He watched her settle herself on her window seat and pull her knees up under her chin. It was hard to believe that she was a vampire when he had seen her sit there so often as a human.

'Why aren't you with Stefan?' said Damon, venturing into the silence.

'I can't do it.'

'What?'

Her eyes drifted towards her mirror and Damon knew that she was looking at the pictures of her parents, and of Jenna. He knew that she was torturing herself.

'I can't do it his way, Damon. All this time I've wanted you to be the better man...but you're a vampire and I think I'm starting to understand it now. This is who you are and I should never have expected you to fight it the way that you have.' She turned brown orbs to him. 'I'm sorry, Damon.'

Damon could not say anything. He feared all his hard work was about to be undone.

'I can't do it...' Fresh tears spilled from Elena's eyes and her shoulders shook, 'I can't do it.'

He was sitting beside her before he could think to stop and his fears were confirmed. He could not leave her, he could not ignore her and he could not punish her. He loved her in that way that made him a fool, he knew, but when he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close it felt right. She was no longer warm and her heart was still, but Damon almost preferred it that way. They were more equal now.

He held her as she cried and Elena pressed into him. One hand was on his chest and her nose brushed his collarbone as she buried her face into his neck. Her hot tears were wet on his skin as were her lips as she kissed him lightly. Her hand ran up his neck and curled into his hair as her lips planted another kiss in the hollow of his throat. Damon felt himself straining against his jeans.

'Elena...' he growled.

She licked his ear and then she pulled herself up onto his lap, pressing her body against his as her lips crashed against his mouth.

'Stop...' he breathed into her mouth.

There was a bang and Elena was thrown backwards.

'What the hell?'

Damon stared in wonder. A door had appeared in the middle of Elena's bedroom. A pink door with nothing on either side. Elena scrambled away from it, her own eyes wide with terror. Then they heard thumping on the stairs and Jeremy burst into the room.

'Bonnie did it,' he cried, before he noticed the door, 'Whoa.'

Damon stood, 'Bonnie did what, exactly? This house has way too many doors as it is.'

'No...' Jeremy was smiling. He stepped closer to the door, and then grinned at Elena, 'the cure is through this.'

Damon felt his head ache. 'What?'

'What cure?' Elena got to her feet and there was hope in her eyes.

'This is ridiculous,' said Damon. 'You,' he pointed at Jeremy, 'tell the witch to stop messing with things she doesn't understand. And you...' Elena looked at him, her lips still swollen from kissing multiple inches of his skin. His eyes narrowed. 'I don't know what I'm going to do with you.'

She smirked at him. Damon blinked and it was gone, but Elena Gilbert had smirked at him in a way that could only be described as suggestive, having only recently been attaching her hip bones to his. Damon ran a hand over his eyes.

'I need to get out of here,' he said.

Jeremy barred the door.

Damon raised an eyebrow, 'Really?'

'What if it works Damon? What if she can be human again?'

'Then whoopee for her.'

'Why don't we find out?'

Damon and Jeremy both looked at her in time to see her pull the door open and step through it. Elena vanished.

'Really?' Damon swore.

Jeremy looked stricken. He gaped at the door before barging past Damon and leaping after his sister so that Damon stood alone. He tried to tell himself that he was grateful to be free of the pair of idiots. He turned away from the stupid door that stupid Bonnie had stupidly made appear. He tried to walk down the stairs and out the normal door but for some reason he had not moved.

The pink monstrosity shimmered before him and the corner began to fade.

'This cannot be happening,' said Damon to himself as he stepped through it too. He felt the world press in around him and then he soared.

AN: Please review. It makes my life.

I'm away until Tuesday so this won't be updated until the end of next week at the earliest. Hope you enjoy?

This is dedicated to Lala because she is awesome.