N: In this story, Elena didn't pull the dagger out of Elijah's chest, actually it picks up after Damon told her 'I will always choose you. You're going to figure it out the rest. Hope you'll enjoy!

Thank you Emily (midnightwings96) for beta-reading this!

A blast from the past

Damon was satisfied with how things turned out, for now at least. Klaus thought Bonnie was dead, Elena found out she wasn't…everything had worked as planned. Elena was safe; he could hear her heartbeat from Stefan's bedroom…the only sound that had the ability to warm him up inside.

"Elena it's not a good idea…" he heard Stefan yell. Before he got the chance to wonder what was going on, Elena busted inside his room, followed closely by Stefan.

"If that's an intervention, I'm not in the mood," he said moody.

"She wants to go see Bonnie," Stefan filled Damon in.

"That's…not a good idea!"

"I know, I told her that."

"I want to go, I need to talk to her, see she's ok. I will go either you like it or not," Elena said determined. "Klaus thinks he's wining, he won't attack me of follow me," she explained, seeing the expression on Damon's face.

"Fine, but we go with you. And, no more than ten minutes."

"Ok, let's go!" Elena agreed enthusiastically.

Damon, Stefan, and Elena were just getting out from the Boarding House when a girl appeared out of nowhere. She looked about 20 to 24 years old with dark curly hair, full red lips and emerald green eyes. She had a sparkle in her eyes that made Damon and Stefan step in front of Elena protectively.

She smiled in amusement, "Well, well, well…if it isn't the famous Salvatore brothers. It feels like I've traveled back in time…only with a better fashion sense and the girl has a heartbeat." She smiled at the brothers. "Now that there's two of them, you guys can share, isn't that perfect? Each brother can have his own doppelganger."

The girl took a few steps forward and Damon and Stefan did the same. The girl smiled and raised an eyebrow. "It amuses me how you guys think you can stop me if I want to get to her." She said.

"Who are you?" Damon asked, voice hard and menacing.

"Oh, where did my manners go? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carina; it is a pleasure to finally meet you," the girl said, taking a bow.

"You aren't a vampire…" Damon said.

"Two points for the pretty boy," she said. Damon scowled in response.

Carina approached Stefan and took a long inspective look at him. "What is it about you?" she asked. "They both felt for you. Personally, I don't get it. I would've totally gone for the other one" she said looking at Elena while motioning towards Damon. "No offense, though," she mumbled apologetically at Stefan. "I'm a sucker for the bad boys." That mischievous glint was back in her green eyes. "Although…we both know you can be very bad if you want too, Stefan…even worse than your brother."

"Oh, that's it," Damon growled, speeding towards the girl, but stopped harshly, just a few inches away from Carina.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" she said, a smug smile on her face as she watched Damon's struggling with amusement.

"What the…? Damn, I can't move! Why can't I move?" From the sound of his voice, Damon seemed to be getting in a worse mood as time went by.

"You're a witch?" Stefan asked.

She contemplated that for a moment. "You can say that…for now. I think it would be better if we took this inside," she suggested and Damon immediately started to make his way inside.

"What are you doing? You're just going to let her in?" Stefan asked, obviously pissed—and slightly shocked—at his brother.

"I…can't stop…" Damon complained as he continued to walk in the house.

"He does what I want him to do," Carina simply said, a big bright smile on her face.

"Just let him go; we can all get inside!" Elena said, talking for the first time.

"Oh, so she's not a mute. Good to know." She then looked torn as she looked at the still controlled Damon. She sighed, "Fine, I'll let him go…you guys just don't have a sense of humor," Carina said rolling her eyes.

They all went inside. Elena and Stefan took a seat on the couch, Carina did the same on a chair in front of them and Damon remained standing, leather clad arms crossed over his chest.

"Take a seat Damon; make yourself comfortable!" Carina said in a sweet voice.

He sneered at her. "No thanks, I'm good. So, who are you?" he asked.

"I thought we established that when I told you my name."

"What do you want?"

"Well, I don't want any of you dead, or you would've been already but…."

"Then why are you here? How do you know us?" Damon asked, ready to get some questions answered.

Carina crossed her legs and leaned back into the chair. "You're quiet popular, you know. I found out about the two of you 80, maybe 90 years ago."

"But…"

"Why am I still alive? I'm a…special witch," she said, winking at Damon.

"Are you here for me too?" Elena asked weakly.

"Don't worry honey, I'm the good guy. I'm here to make sure you live." She redirected her attention to the Salvatore brothers. "And about the two of you, I learned about you from Katerina's journal."

"Katherine?"

"Oh, that's what she calls herself these days, I forgot. Yeah, the one and only. Do you, by any chance, know where she is?"

"Klaus has her," Stefan answered.

Carina grimaced, the corners of her lips turning down. "That's no good…Klaus being here already is not good at all…"

"Well, he's not really here. He's using someone else's body, a friend of ours, actually."

She didn't look surprised. "That figures why she's still here. I can't kill him in someone else's body."

"You can't kill Klaus," Damon said.

"I assure you I can. I just need him to be in his own body and his witches to be away from him."

"Cause that's easy," Damon said sarcastically.

"We also need to take Katerina back. And you," she said looking pointedly at Damon, "are going to help me!"

"Why would I help you?"He asked, his usual rude tone evident in his voice.

"Because you love her and you want her to live," she pointed at Elena, "isn't that a good enough reason? I think we all know the answer to that question. We're doing it tomorrow."

Damon looked at Elena and for a moment there were just the two of them, staring at each other. The only thing going through Elena's mind was He loves me…he won't let me die, he will protect me, while I protect the people I love. She wanted that. She didn't want to die, but she wanted the people she loved to be safe, too.

Damon let out a deep breath that he didn't even knew he had held. He knew that his big secret— that wasn't really a secret— was out. Again. That's it, she knows, the cat's out of the bag. She looked at him with those eyes of hers that could make him do anything, be anything, and he knew that she knew that he will be the one keeping her alive, keeping her safe. Even if that meant getting himself killed in the process.

"Was there something about how to kill Klaus in Katherine's journal?" Stefan asked, oblivious to everything that had just happened between his girlfriend and his brother.

She shook her head. "Nope. Nothing about Klaus in that one. The whole thing is about you actually; her journal is practically a book about you. It begins with the day she got in Mystic Falls, the day she first saw you. She wrote that you had the most beautiful smile she ever saw. I followed her you know, hoping she'll lead me to the doppelganger. Rome, Berlin, Menuhin…"

Elena felt Stefan tense up at Carina's words.

"Later I realized she was following you," she said, referring to Stefan. "She kept tracing you until about 3 years ago when she moved to Florida. When she came back to Mystic Falls, I finally figured out her plan. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here. Don't worry, as long as you are with me, he won't get near you," Carina said and Elena nodded.

"Who or what exactly are you?" Damon asked.

Carina sighed, like she had been asked this question before. "I'm the doppelganger's protector. I was specially created for this specific propose. Once she dies, I disappear. Each doppelganger has her own protector. Katherine had one too, but she died…even if she's living as a vampire, she's still dead. Her protector disappeared and I took her place."

"So that makes you…five hundred years old," Stefan concluded.

"Five hundred and twenty-three actually," Carina replied and winked at Stefan. "Do you want to know what I think?" She asked, knowing that he probably didn't. But that wasn't going to stop her from saying it. "I think you still love Katerina...She wrote about the day you took her to the ball. You know, I'm not generally a romantic person, but the way she described you just got to me. You brought her home and you escorted her to her room, like a perfect gentleman. Remember what you told her?" Carina asked.

Stefan just stared at her for a moment. He could feel Elena's gaze on him. He remembered—of course he remembered—like it had been yesterday, but for Elena's sake (the usual excuse) he lied.

"It happened a long time ago; I don't remember."

"You're lying; you do remember. You told her that when you looked at her, you see an angel. What a cliché…since she turned out to be the opposite of an angel and all. You told her you were falling in love with her…so sweet. And then you kissed her. I don't know what you did but she never forgot that kiss. She described it in more words then I'll use to describe my whole life. And a long one that is."

"Yes and after I left, she went to her room, and my brother was expecting her…" Stefan said. Only a few moments later he realized that he used the wrong tone.

"Yeah, but then she kicked him out."

Stefan's eyes widened and found his brother's. Damon looked away.

"So…you and her…never spent that night together?"

"No…" Damon answered, "I didn't know it then; she compelled me to leave."

"Oops, guess you guys didn't have this conversation before. Well, at least one of them fell for you, Damon."

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked, intrigued.

"I'm talking about our little human here."

Damon's eyes flashed to Elena, Elena looked at Stefan, and Stefan flared menacingly at Damon, than back at Elena, going in full circles.

"Oh, come on; don't look at me like I'm crazy! You're attracted to him and it takes all your strength to fight it."

"You don't know what're you're talking about," Elena said in a defiant voice.

"Oh, actually, I very much do. See, as your protector, we have a special bond. I can feel what you feel. Every. Single. Emotion. So Elena, I'm the only person in the world you can't possibly lie to. You love Stefan, I know you do, I feel it. But your love for him is pure, childish and easy, it comes so easy. But him…" she turned to face Damon, "…with him it's different. For instance, it's not easy, and there's definitely nothing pure about it. You feel yourself drown to him in ways you never felt before and it scares the hell out of you. There's electricity between you and just the thought about him consumes you. You're scared, all of it scares you and you ignore it, because you don't know how to deal with it. I know…I feel it too…"

They were all speechless.

N: So there is the first chapter. Review and tell me if you like the idea and I will go on! Also if you have questions, don't hesitate, just go for it!