A/N: Huzzah, another summer has begun! Ok, so for me this means hours of volunteer work with my free time, but it also means another fanfiction. This one picks up when Elijah still has the cure, and when Elena has her emotions turned off. It doesn't quite fit in between any particular episode, so it's somewhere in there with those two particulars. Also, it assumes that Damon can be compelled by an Original As usual the title is based off of a poem (which is at the end of the chapter).
Disclaimer: I don't own TVD, though I do often have dreams that it is real.
Elena knew something was wrong the moment she saw him. Elijah, normally so steadfast, so calm and immovable, was striding toward her with fire in his eyes. Before she could register anything more, he seized her and drew her to him, kissing her so intensely it was a wonder she didn't fall back with the force of it. She didn't stop him. It hardly mattered. She didn't belong to anyone, not anymore. Slowly, the ferocity melted away, and his lips slowed to a tender, sorrowful pace. He cupped her cheek in his palm. He held her to him as he kissed her neck, her forehead, her eyelids, and then he inched away, leaving her breathless.
"What was that for?" Elena asked, noticing the faraway look in his eyes and the tears that had begun to pool there.
"If there is any part of you connected to Katarina, I want her to feel how much I love her,"
"Ok," Elena said slowly, "that's one way to do it. Or you could just go find her."
Elijah laughed mirthlessly, "you don't happen to have a white oak stake with you?"
It took Elena a minute to process his words. Katherine Pierce had spent centuries dodging death. She was the master of narrow escapes, impossible death defying feats. Nothing, no one could put a stop to her, "No," Elena shook her head, "you're wrong."
"Even without your emotions you're a hopeless optimist," Elijah marveled, "Damon killed her."
"He wouldn't."
"He was convinced that she was plotting to murder you, that you had become a threat to her. Do you doubt that Damon Salvatore would go any lengths to save you?"
Elena couldn't say that she did. Damon had proven time and time again that he would risk life and limb for her, both his and anyone else's. still, to kill Katherine, the woman who had been the target of his all-consuming love for so many years, seemed unthinkable even for Damon.
Elijah was growing impatient, "I've seen her, Elena, and Damon will pay."
For weeks Elena hadn't cared about anything, not Bonnie or Caroline, not threats to her life, or the death of her brother, but the idea of Elijah killing Damon, of ending an existence which was so electric, was a shock to her system. She felt the sudden urge to fight the Original vampire, to stop him before he could carry out his plans. It was fear that made her move, fear for the man she loved. She loved Damon. The awareness came back to her sharp as a knife. Her heart was filled with it. She didn't try to turn her emotions on, but they clicked. It was as though a spark had ignited and her whole world was set to flame. She lurched toward Elijah, but before she could get anywhere near him, he had vanished.
Damon sat with his back to the door, feet propped, staring at the fireplace. He hadn't touched the drink in his hand, but it comforted him to know that it was there if he needed it. He had killed Katherine Pierce. After years of plotting and scheming, just so that she could duck from his grasp and live to taunt him another day, Damon had actually managed to end her, and he hadn't even planned it.
Without her emotions, Elena was ruthless. She wouldn't hesitate to make Katherine's life a living hell for revenge. As a vampire she was no longer vital. Klaus didn't need her, and even Stefan was starting to waver in his devotion to her. If Elena was gone, the only one who would care seemed to be Damon, and he knew damn well that Katherine didn't give a damn about that. She was in Mystic Falls. Katherine never came back unless she had some dastardly deed up her sleeves. She wanted to put a stop to Elena, and without her usual army to protect her, it was easier than ever. But Damon would always protect Elena, no matter what state she was in. His love of her was one area that didn't waver. So, he killed Katherine. It was eerily simple. She wasn't expecting it.
The moment he'd done it, however, Damon had anticipated that Elijah would show up. Katherine had a way of wrapping men around her finger, men who were so blinded by her charm that they would stop at nothing to avenge her. Elijah was a smart man, but Damon knew that he wasn't immune. The smarter they were the harder they fought for her. Maybe it was a way of compensating for the blindness of their devotion.
"If it makes you feel any better, I feel pretty shitty about it," Damon didn't need to turn around to know that Elijah had finally made his entrance. It was as if the air was sucked out of the room.
"It doesn't," slowly, Elijah stepped around the ornate furniture and faced Damon who offered a weak smirk.
"It was worth a shot. Do me a favor and just rip my heart out, maybe my brother can take it as a keepsake."
Elijah reached into his jacket pocket and slowly produced a vial. It looked like aged blood, but Damon knew that it could only be one thing, "the cure," he whispered darkly.
"You are going to take this," Elijah spoke calmly, with the confidence of someone who had compelled many a vampire, "you will become weak and powerless, a human, and you will die, as all humans are doomed to do."
Elijah handed him the vile. He didn't worry whether Damon would take the cure or not. He had no choice. Just as quietly as he had come in, Elijah left the boarding house, and Damon Salvatore, behind.
It was only moments after Elijah had left that Elena burst through the doors to the boarding house, but it was too late. Damon was slumped against the couch, pale as death, his chest still and lifeless.
Elena crashed to her knees, "No, Damon, c'mon," her hands ghosted over his face, fluttery and unsure. She touched his face, but he made no movement, no sign that he felt her near.
"It'll be alright," she said, more for herself then for him. With shaking fingers she took out her cell phone and dialed Caroline.
"What?" her friend snapped as she answered, weary of the new, darker Elena she assumed was calling to torture her.
"Car, it's Damon. Elijah did something to him. I don't know what to do. He's not breathing. Oh, God, what if he's dead?" her voice broke and it was all she could do not to cry into the phone.
She heard Caroline's breath catch on the other end, "Elena, it's you isn't it? I mean, really?"
"Yes, it's me!" Elena shouted impatiently, eyes darting over Damon's body, looking for some sign of life, some way to help him.
Always a planner, Caroline snapped to attention, "Right. I'll get Klaus. He knows Elijah better than anyone."
"What about Bonnie?
Caroline hesitated, "Bonnie's…a little unpredictable right now. I'll get Klaus."
Elena nodded, but then remembered that Caroline couldn't see her, "hurry," she said, hanging up.
"Ok," Elena steeled herself, "Caroline is coming," she told Damon. She brushed his hair back from his ghostly face. "I know I've been a bitch," she wrung her hands in her lap, casting sidelong glances at him, hoping for a response, "but I'm back now. So, you have to be here. If you don't come back… well, you have to be here, ok?"
Abruptly, she grabbed his face between her hands, shouting, "Damon, I came back for you! Come back for me!" She shook his shoulders, "this isn't funny. It's not a game. Stop it! Stop it, Damon!"
Her composure was slipping with each passing second. She had lost too many people, all of her family. Damon was the only one left, the only person whom she loved with all of her heart. He had always been there, even when she didn't want him. She took his presence for granted. It was as reliable as the sunrise. She had never doubted that he would be there for her, and yet in this moment it looked as though she had lost him forever. What had her last words to him been? Nothing good, surely. She had been rude and cruel to everyone, she had probably threatened him. The thought made her heart leap into her throat. Had he known that the real Elena was lurking just below the surface, that she loved him even as she hurled insults at him?
Elena was shaking. She wanted nothing more than for Damon to reach a hand out and steady her. Instead it was Caroline's hand she felt on her shoulder, "hey," she whispered.
Elena leapt up, finding Klaus with her frantic gaze, "What did Elijah do?"
For once, Klaus didn't taunt her with riddles. He didn't prolong her suffering with that devilish smirk. He bent down and looked at Damon curiously, like a man surveying a strange animal at the zoo. He cocked his head. He didn't touch Damon, but in less than a minute he straightened, and it was obvious that he had come to his conclusion.
"Well?" Caroline asked testily.
"My brother, so incapable of murder."
Elena's breath caught, "he's not dead?"
Klaus shook his head, "No, love, he's not dead. He's taken the cure."
Forget Not Yet: Thomas Wyatt
Forget not yet the tried intent Forget not yet when first began Forget not yet the great assays, Forget not yet, forget not this, Forget not yet thine own approved,
Of such a truth as I have meant
My great travail so gladly spent
Forget not yet.
The weary life ye knew, since whan
The suit, the service, none tell can,
Forget not yet.
The cruel wrongs, the scornful ways,
The painful patience in denays
Forget not yet.
How long ago hath been, and is,
The mind that never means amiss;
Forget not yet.
The which so long hath thee so loved,
Whose steadfast faith yet never moved,
Forget not this.
A/N: Future chapters will be a little longer, but I hope you enjoyed. If you feel so moved, please read and review!