50 Shades of Grayson: Part 2
Rated T
Author's Note: I pretty much wrote this because I was frustrated by the mid-season finale of season 5. Here's how I think it should of went, and we'll see if I continue it. Also, this takes place before Katherine falls down the stairs, while she's having her conversation with Stefan. If you enjoy my style, please check out my other fics, especially "blood sharing".
Damon was gone, leaving her sitting alone crying on the couch. Elena looked up in frustration around the empty room. After all they'd gone through to be together, Damon would give it all up because he was scared of demons from his past. He'd been angry she defended him, and fearful there would come a time she learned something about him she wouldn't be able to forgive or reconcile.
She had tried to explain to him how she felt about her dad, and he took it the wrong way. She wasn't defending his actions; she was just relieved that at the result of those actions put some good into the world. It was like a silver lining to finding out the truth of what he'd done. But Damon was a negative thinker. He always took the worst, assumed the worst, and believed the worst. He always believed he wasn't worthy of love so he self-sabotaged his own happiness.
…and her father. This man she loved so much but was constantly uncovering secrets about him since he died. Elena stood up and paced the floor, clutching the file she'd obtained to her chest, and contemplating everything that had happened since she'd became a vampire. Her father was dead now. She couldn't let his past have a hold on her; define her, or her relationship with others. She'd been happy to see what he'd done for Meghan, but in the end it didn't matter- Meghan was dead. Elena knew: she had to let go. So she walked to the fire, and tossed the file in, standing momentarily watching it burn. Tears threatened to spill over, but she didn't let them. "Goodbye Dad." She whispered.
She wanted to think her Dad had the best intentions. It's not like he knew his little girl would end up as a vampire. Given some of the vampires she'd known in her short life, she could see why someone would label them all as dangerous and needing to be wiped out. How many vampire deaths was she accountable for now? And how many attempts? The pot couldn't call the kettle black, and Damon would have to see that. As Elena paced and thought, she grew angrier. How dare Damon just give up? How dare he just walk away from her after everything she'd just been through, and everything they'd been through together? She was tired of the Salvatore boys trying to take the higher road. Because it wasn't the higher road really. It was avoidance. Avoiding the real issues.
In that moment Elena made up her mind. She wasn't giving up on Damon even if he was giving up on them, and she was going to hit the problem straight on. She steered herself around and marched up the winding staircase toward his bedroom. She knew he was still here, but given Damon's flight risk she knew he wouldn't be for long. Sure enough when she pushed open the door, Damon was standing over a suitcase packing. "You need to leave." Damon said, using a stern voice. "I don't want to see you."
"I don't believe that, and I don't care." She shot back, finding a resolve inside herself. She wasn't shaking, she wasn't crying. She was Elena Gilbert. She'd faced worse. She could do this. "I'm not letting you run off with your tail between your legs."
That caught Damon off guard. He looked up with a judgemental expression and his eyebrow raised. "Seriously?" He asked sarcastically. "I'm doing this to protect you."
"No, you're not. You're doing it to protect you. This is what you do Damon, things get rough and you take off instead of facing them." She explained, moving her body to block the doorway.
Damon dropped the clothing he had in his hands, slumped, gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes. "This isn't a discussion."
"Fine then, just listen." Instructed Elena. "I am a positive person. You're not. You're negative. You've been around a long time and done a lot of stupid selfish things Damon. And at the end of the day, you're negative. You're always going to be negative. The cup is half empty, the rug is going to be pulled out from underneath you, the other shoe is going to drop type of negative."
He watched her curiously. Normally, he'd have just brushed right passed her and taken off, but the very fact she'd followed him up here surprised him. "You're clingy." He said cruelly, knowing it was mean. "You follow Stefan and I around like a lost puppy and think you can annoy us into coming back to you." It wasn't how he really felt, but if he was going to get Elena to let him go he'd have to fight dirty.
"No. I'm positive." She said matter-o-factly. "Not all of us lived our lives with the ability to turn our emotions and humanity off Damon, when things got bad. That's how you've dealt with things for 150 years. I didn't have that luxury when my parents died." She explained. "I learned to be positive. I'm not making excuses for you, or my dad. And I'm not defending you either. I've taught myself to always look for the good things because that's the only way I've been able to survive until I became a vampire. " She stared at him, hard. His facial expression didn't change, but inside Damon was considering what she said. He'd never thought of it like that.
"You need to be free to be positive Elena." Damon said moving toward her. "I can't change myself. No self-help book is going to teach me to think and act better." He put his hands on her shoulders. If intimidation didn't work, maybe good old fashion tenderness and charm would? "I'm dragging you down. And sooner or later some secret is going to be revealed somewhere that is going to be too much for you. Not only could I not stand the disappointment you'd experience, your judgement, but I don't want you to have to compromise who you are for what I am. We already did that... with Jesse. It's not okay."
A-ha. Elena had thought Damon's recent change of heart had been the result of seeing Enzo. She knew he was a bundle of nerves inside, and it wasn't hard to set him off with the doubts he already harboured. But he'd actually put some thought into the fact she had to kill Jesse. And like Caroline had told her, the old Elena would have found another way.
"I love you too much to turn you into someone like me." Added Damon, stroking her cheek. He was being sincere, but he was also trying to be manipulative in order to get her to accept what he was saying so he could take off. Her reply caught him off guard.
"Then don't." she spat putting her own hands on his shoulders. He was surprised by the strength of her grip. "I'm my own person. Don't make my decisions for me." She pushed him a little, which also surprised him. "After everything we've gone through Damon you owe me this. You owe me the right to make my own decisions. You who had the power of the sire bond over me. You who took my choices away so many times when I was a human through compulsion. You owe me this." And at that she pushed him again, a little more aggressively.
Damon really couldn't think of any response to her argument. She was making valid points, but he still felt the need to run. They'd been trying hard all ready… and he'd done worse things than what he'd done to the Whitmore family, and to Enzo. Damon was pure evil. The only reason he was trying to be good was for Elena's sake. And Enzo was right. He ruined everything he touched. He didn't want to ruin Elena. "I need to let you go." He said. "And right now, you need to let me go." He tried to move her hands from his shoulders but they were like stone. He looked down at them puzzled. "Elena, do you really want to do this?" he asked looking at her. She raised an eyebrow in response with a very Damon-like expression. "I am older than you." It was a warning, not a threat.
When she made no attempt to move, he moved against her and tried to push her out of the way. She only lost her footing momentarily before regaining it and slamming him back. He went flying onto the floor and stared up at her in shock. She didn't seem to register how shocking it was that she'd overpowered him. The little lines were trickling their way down her face as her vampire nature began to show. Something was different, and a bit too familiar. But Damon didn't have time to react because she'd leapt through the air and was now on top of him and had him pinned. "You don't get to run away." She growled, her eyes blacking over, and her teeth extending.
"Elena…" he sputtered out, genuine shock and fear registering on his face. It wasn't because he saw the slap to the face coming that he was afraid. It was because he recognized that look in her eyes from when Jesse had attacked him. He wanted to say something but her hand collided with his face sending his head reeling and his eyes seeing stars.
"I'm not giving up Damon and you're going to have to live with that. If it means giving up all your dirty little secrets so I can face them with you one by one then so be it-" she was trying to keep getting her point across but something primal and new was starting to take over Elena. Her voice was becoming more animal, her strength more intense, and there was blood dripping from Damon's lip. A little droplet that had distracted her from what she was trying to say. She became enamoured with it like a kitten following a spec through the air. She didn't even hear Damon's words anymore. He was repeating them over and over.
"What did Wes do? What did he inject you with?!" but it was too late, Elena fangs latched around Damon's throat in more violence than Damon had seen in years. She went hard and deep, narrowly missing his wind pipe and vocal chords. His eyes went wide and white. "E-Elena…" he tried to get out from under her but her strength was over powering. He could feel the floor boards crunching and giving out beneath him. "E-elena you're going to k-kill me…" It was just like Jesse all over again. It was like Elena wasn't even present. She couldn't hear him. Wes must of injected her with the same thing he did to Jesse but this version had to have been different. She was stronger. Jesse was turning vampires into vampire killers. "E-elna…" he wanted to say something compelling. Like she did. Reach out to her human side buried under the blood lust and snap her out of this, but everything was getting blurry. He was feeling weak.
There was a whirring sound like something moving through the air, and then something collided with Elena's back and made a thump as it pierced her skin. Elena let go of Damon's throat- temporarily disoriented. Her eyes went back to normal and her face melted into an expression of fear and regret at what she realized she'd done, before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell slumped on Damon.
Damon lay there a moment, coming to as his body began to heal, staring at the ceiling confused. "It's a vervein dart. She'll be out for a few hours." Came a voice he'd never heard before. The voice belonged to a man who was now pulling Elena off Damon. He held her for a moment, silently, looking at her. He lifted her up and put her on Damon's bed, and then extended a hand to Damon to help him up. Damon was regaining his strength by the second, and while he accepted the hand he regarded the man with caution.
"…You." Damon remarked, startled at the familiarity of the face, but having trouble believing what his vampire senses were telling him. "You're… alive?" he managed to ask.
"In a manner of speaking." The man said when he'd helped Damon back to standing. He took a step back creating a large space between them. "I'm-" he started.
"Grayson Gilbert. Elena's Father." Finished Damon. "…and you're a vampire." Might as well point out the obvious right away. "Isn't that Karma for you." Spat Damon with a frown. "Torture us for decades and then become one. How'd that work out anyway? Elena said you died on the bridge. She buried you."
"I died on the bridge in the same manner my daughter did. With vampire blood in my system." Explained Grayson.
"How do you know that?" demanded Damon.
"I've always been watching from afar." Said Grayson with a grim face.
"Don't you think your daughter deserved to know that?!" yelled Damon feeling protective of Elena, and feeling his rage begin to boil. "After everything that's happened to her, don't you thinks he could of used you in her life?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Weren't you about to walk out that door?" asked Grayson calmly.
"I'm the dead beat boyfriend, I'm trying to do what's right. You're the dad." Shot Damon.
"Well, I'm trying to do what's right too. Don't presume to know everything about me." Replied Grayson.
"Oh no, no worries there. You're just full of secrets and fun." Said Damon rolling his eyes.
"Double standard much? Why don't you offer me a drink and we'll let Elena sleep this off and I'll explain." Instructed Grayson.
Damon stood observing him. If Grayson had wanted Damon dead he'd probably be dead right now. So he shrugged and led the way down to the kitchen. Soon the two men were sitting at the bar with a drink in hand. "Wes injected her with a formula the Whitmore family was working on." Explained Grayson. "The Whitmores and I started out with similar goals, but I was focused on healing sickness and chronic illness. The Whitmores wanted the ability to wipe out the vampires. I disagreed…."
"Aww. The guy who tears vampires apart for science has a sense of morality?" Damon quipped.
"I disagreed because if there were no more vampires, we'd have no more access to vampire blood. I was never able to synthesise and replicate it." Grayson explained. Damon stared at him judgingly.
"Elena tried to defend you torturing vampires." He said.
"The way vampires have done to humans for all of time?" grinned Grayson. "Damon, I sliced up your kind- now my kind- because I wanted to make the world a better place. You have done far worse things if what I've learned about you is true, out of sheer boredom. Don't be a hypocrite."
Damon sat silently. "What's important now is Elena." He pointed to the ceiling referencing his sleeping daughter. "I didn't find out Wes had her until after Stefan had broken her free. Aaron had already been there too so the vile she'd been injected with was gone. Wes didn't know I was still alive, and for the time being things need to stay that way so I kept him and compelled him. I know he was only able to give Elena half a dose. All I know was the intention. After that I came here. I was going to be forced to reveal myself to Elena in hopes of catching her before she smelled vampire blood."
Damon frowned. "Elena can be strong… "
"But this thirst can be stronger. We can only hope that if it's satiated for long enough that she regains some semblance of control. Maybe because of the half a dose it won't be permanent. I won't know until I can get a blood test." Explained Grayson.
"A blood test?" asked Damon.
"I need to take it to a lab. Then I can find out exactly what Wes did, and figure out if I can make an anti-serum. When you were bit by Jesse- did it makes you want to feed on other vampires?" he asked.
"No." Damon answered quickly. "Why?"
"Because Wes planned for this serum to spread through bites. Elena feeds on a vampire, and that vampire needs to feed on vampire blood too. It spread like an illness." Explained Grayson.
Damon was momentarily stunned. "I… I don't know. I don't feel any different."
"Because it's vampire to vampire, there will be an incubation phase. It could be anywhere from a day to two weeks typically. Hard to know because of the excelled properties of vampire blood. From then it may not be triggered until you are exposed to another vampire's blood." Mused Grayson. "It might be transferable from vampire to human to vampire too. I won't know until I get a sample."
This sounded like a vampire's worst nightmare. Damon was suddenly hyper conscious of his body- mentally taking inventory of any changes. He still felt no different. "What happens if I am infected?" he asked.
"Well, we have to minimize your exposure to other healthy vampires. It might mean both you and Elena need to be restrained and isolated until I can create the anti –serum." Theorized Grayson. "There's really no way to tell until I get to the lab."
"Then what are we waiting for let's go get that blood sample." Sighed Damon standing up and leading the way back to the room. As the two men walked they continued talking. "Elena said Jesse was still able to drink bagged human blood, it just didn't have the same affect. Do you think Elena will be?"
"You'll have to test it. She might need bagged vampire blood from now on." Admitted Grayson. "I actually thought of that on the way over. So I have some in my car."
"Do I even want to know why you have bags of vampire blood hanging around? Still doing experiments?" probed Damon as they neared the bedroom.
"All the time." Replied Grayson. "On myself." He smiled. "It's my blood."
Well, that shut up Damon. He had nothing to say to that. They entered the room and Elena was still sleeping on Damon's bed. She looked more like herself. Grayson went to her side and quickly drew a blood sample. "Damon, I was ready to reveal myself to my daughter because I felt I had no other choice. Now that I know she's been infected I think it's more important now than ever that she doesn't know I'm alive."
"Why?" asked Damon.
"It will destroy her." Grayson stood up and stared down at his daughter. "She won't be able to cope with what I've done and who I am when she learns the truth. She can't be tempted to turn off her humanity when she's in this state. She'll be uncontrollable…"
"Yeah, no emotions Elena sort of sucks." Admitted Damon.
"…and obviously you can't just go taking off. If you love my daughter you'll stay by her side through this." Insisted Grayson in a tense tone. "I don't approve of her choice in men," he looked Damon up and down "But she needs you."
Damon was silent. "I'm bad news, Dad." He sighed. "You think your demons will make her flip my switch? I know mine are worse." Damon felt ashamed in this moment. He needed to help Elena, and he wasn't sure he could. "… with Enzo on the loose… they're all coming out soon. Every damn skeleton."
"Yes but, Elena has already told you she's willing to face that. I heard every word she said. I was right outside with my tranq gun." Grayson pointed to the door. "She's not ready to face mine. But she's willing to face yours." He looked at Damon then, with the first sign of approval in his face that he'd ever shown since he arrived.
"Okay." Damon said solemnly. "You better get out of here, looks like your estimates for how long she'd be out wasn't accurate." Elena was starting to stir. Grayson looked worried.
"That might be the effect of the serum." He said nervously. "Please take care of my daughter Damon. I'll be in touch." He leaned over as Damon sat next to Elena on the bed, and kissed her forehead, then squeezed Damon's shoulder. And then, he was gone.
"So many questions left unanswered…" sighed Damon looking down at Elena. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Damon?" she mumbled. "What happened?"
"Oh you know…" he began nonchalantly. "A lover's spat." He flashed her that 100 kilowatt smile.
Elena was still disoriented and things were still coming back to her. "Please don't leave me." She murmured.
He looked down at her then, this beautiful woman he'd loved since the instant she appeared in his life. He both loved her but was terrified of her at the same time. Terrified of what he could do to her. How easily she might break. He used to be afraid of that when she was a human. Damon had always thought her being a vampire would cancel it out. Now he realized it was just another part of being in love. "Not a chance." He said pushing her hair out of her eyes and smiling down at her. "I promise, I won't be going anywhere."