Twisted & Broken

A story of Damon & Elena, and everything and everyone in between.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I just love Vampire Diaries. This is an AU version of the TV series taking place during season 5. Hope you enjoy. Please review. That is all.

Written by SkyeBlue91

The mist in Damon's mind fogged his every thought. Nothing made sense in his dreams, which lately, have been all the same; Stefan, sitting alone in the library. He held a glass of bourbon in one hand, and looked longingly out at the sunlight, as if he'd take them in forever for the risk of never seeing sunlight again was ever looming. To be honest, he looked like a man facing death. He'd actually grown to seem to accept it the last couple of dreams, as if a dream could even evolve. Yeah, Damon was losing it.

Damon took a few steps into the entrance, and squinted through the sunlight at his younger brother's image. "Uhm, so, this seems to be a regular thing for us. You leave town, and we start spending time in dreams. But not just anyone's dreams. Only mine. It's starting to get creepy. Really, you need to stop this." Stefan let a dull chuckle leave him, but it was ended quickly. "I'm just trying to enjoy what time I have left, Damon." Damon squinted his cerulean eyes tightly, and shifted through the light, his brother now much more visible from the shadows. "Oh yeah… well then tell me why you're running out of time?"

Stefan's image turned to look at him, his misty green eyes full of pain. "I'm tired Damon. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of holding my breath." Damon frowned at that, staring down at the floor for a moment. "Is there something I missed? You know… you should be enjoying life somewhere out there in the wilderness… but you're holding your breath instead?" he mimicked, shrugging his shoulders expectantly. "You make no sense, man." He reached for the bottle, pouring himself a drink, but found his wrist encased by the ever clinching fist of Stefan, who looked very scary right now. "Woah. Okay, not drinking yet." He set the bottle down, and looked at his brother, who seemed panicked. "I can't do it, Damon! You have to help me!" Before he could utter another word, his image mystified, and vanished, as if he was due in the morning sun, evaporating. "Stefan?"

Damon stood where he was, confounded beyond belief. Where in the hell had his brother gone? He turned at the sound of feet, a very sleepy, half-dressed Elena striding towards him. He'd never get over this – she was his. He finally won the girl. His confused expression hadn't quite shifted to a smile, and she caught it. Damn, she was quick. "What's wrong, Damon?" she asked, her brows furrowing. He wasn't really the one to worry so much without something dramatic happening, so it made sense for her to be concerned. "Uhm… debating on whether I should start drinking now, or later…" he added, the later drawing out as she inched closer to him, her fingers walking up his chest. He'd already slipped into his usual attire; jeans and a black t-shirt. Smirking, he dove in for a kiss, his lips pressed against hers. "Mmmm, too bad I've got to go to school," she added, "or I'd stay here and enjoy a few more of those kisses, Mr. Salvatore." Damon grinned, and watched her saunter back towards the kitchen. "I'm grabbing a bag, and then I'm off! I have an hour to get to my first class."

Damon sighed. College. It sucked. Especially when it meant that Elena couldn't be wrapped in his arms all day every day. He could only enjoy her so much, which pained him and his never-ending libido. "Well, alright. Just leave me here." He slunk down into the couch, deciding against the bourbon. He needed to talk to someone who might understand these types of dreams. Understand weird stuff like that. But who? Bonnie? Well no one had seen her, except for letters and post cards. And Stefan? Well, Stefan was not here, and Damon couldn't depend on him anymore. Stefan had to do his own thing now, and figure out who he was.

Ever since the summer and graduation, when Bonnie dropped the veil and vanquished Silas, it had been pretty easy going. No one was trying to kill Elena, no one was trying to kill Klaus. No one was trying to get even. Everything was okay. But ironically enough, okay was not okay. Damon frowned, and looked up as Elena pounced on him, her lips meeting his in goodbye. She flittered to the door, and was gone in seconds, off living her life as a teenager. Well, as much as she could do for the likes of living.

After a few minutes, the silence surrounding him became almost deafening. "Oh seriously? Geez. Come on Damon, you're losing your touch." Leaping off from the couch, he shot upstairs and slipped his jacket on. Blending in was a must. Before he could even begin to contemplate what he was going to do for the day, he heard the front door open. Arming himself with the nearest weapon, which happened to be a book, he made his way down the stairs. A familiar scent, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Before he could make a move, she turned the corner, her face smudged and battered. "Holy shit."

Katherine just about burst into tears when she found Damon, falling to the floor in front of him. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked, his eyes wide in confusion. This was just going to be one of those mornings. "ELENA!" she screamed, glaring up at him. "She's what happened to me! Ruining my life. Look at me! I'm HUMAN!" she added, staring at her hands in horror. "Right… lay off the booze, honey." He stood back, starting to wonder if maybe he should start drinking. It'd make this a lot easier to deal with. "And why are you even here?" he asked, his tone dull. He didn't really have much patience for her antics. "Damon, think about this…" she began, climbing off the floor in a rather ungraceful, non-Katherine like way. "Listen! I have blood pumping through my veins." Damon halted half way to his drink, and whipped around, realizing that she was talking about something that may just be true. She did have a heartbeat. And she did smell delicious.

"What the hell?" he asked, his eyes shooting up to her face in shock. They actually seemed to be reacting to this the same. "She didn't tell you? Oh, well…" Katherine began, moving to pace around the room. It was funny now, that he was thinking about it. Elena had force-fed Katherine the cure. "I've been running for my life. Do you even have any idea how many enemies I have? Everyone's trying to kill me!" Well, so much for a totally smooth summer. "I can't hurt anything, not even a tree. And these heels are KILLING me!" she finally gave up pacing, and slunk down onto the nearest chair, tears brimming her eyes. "I hate this! Damon, change me back! Please!" Damon frowned at her, and shook his head. "Oh no, and miss this!? Not a chance." Turning away from her, he took a swig of his newly poured bourbon, and sighed. "This is far too entertaining. You, as a human?! Who would've thought?" he asked, smirking.

Taking a seat in front of her, he laughed. "But, I might be able to entertain you while you await a surely slow and painful death…" Silence filled the room as she stared at him, more tears falling and ruining her usually perfect makeup. He actually felt a pang of pity for her in this state, and sighed. "Okay, you can hide out here. But if someone tries to kill me or Elena, even once, you're dead." It felt empowering to be able to get rid of her if he wanted to. It was about time someone thought about it. He was kind of proud of Elena, but he'd never say that out loud. "And who's trying to kill you now anyways?"

Katherine gave Damon an odd look, and shook her head. "Oh, right, like you don't know." Damon shook his head. "Uh, yeah. I don't know." She paused, and then gave him a shocked expression. "Damon, did you pay attention to anything other than Elena's body this summer?" He shook his head no, and smiled deviously. "OH dear God, Damon. Yuck." He laughed, and then ushered her on in her story. "Do you know where your brother is Damon?" Damon's expression darkened at this. "Or where Silas is?" she added, her tone darker. Damon sat up straight, staring at her. "But I figure you do? So, why don't you tell me?" he asked, speeding across the room to slip his fingers around her throat, pinning her to the chair. Sputtering, she managed "quarry", and Damon let her go.

She gasped for air for a minute, glaring at him, and stood up in anger. "Did you ever hear of the saying 'Don't kill the messenger'?" Damon smirked, and shrugged. He was really fighting the urge to snap her neck. "Who's in the quarry, Katherine?" She paused, and pouted her lip, rubbing at the red marks his fingers had left around her throat. "Stefan. Stefan's at the quarry." It was decided. He'd go and fix this, without Elena around, so he had one less person to worry about protecting. Katherine was trouble enough. "Well, Honey, I guess you should get a coat. We've got work to do." Katherine frowned, and was reluctantly jerked out of her chair and towards the door.

This was definitely going to be an interesting morning.