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She's Come Undone

Elena rolled her eyes; the ropes dug into her skin, the burns on her face itched. Matt lay on the floor before her half-unconscious and bleeding. His blood pooled on the ground, blue bruises were emerging on his skin and his hand lay limp before him, all the bones in his fingers broken.

She didn't care.

The look on Damon's face was pained. His brow creased, and his jaw taunt. He hated this. He hated what he'd done to Matt, hated what he'd done to Elena, and he hated that the girl he loved was in there somewhere and he still hadn't reached her. He told himself that he would do whatever it took to get her back, but he was starting to wonder if there was any coming back from this for Elena. He was starting to think that she was really gone. Desperation seeped into his very core and he lunged for Matt.

If she didn't believe that he would kill the boy, well then maybe seeing his lifeless corpse at her feet would be enough to snap her out of it. She would hate him for it of course. Damon knew that this was something she could never forgive him for, but that didn't matter so long as he brought her back to herself. Damon dragged Matt up to his feet and stood before her, but just as he brought his hands up to the football player's neck Stefan had his grip around his wrist.

His baby brother had been watching him knowing that Damon would stop at nothing to snap her out of this, but he couldn't let him kill Matt. Elena wouldn't want that, and Stefan couldn't stand the idea of only getting her back because he allowed Damon to do the things that he wouldn't do himself. For as much as Elena deserved better, better than both of them, Damon deserved better too. He deserved to not have to be the bad guy for once, to not have to make her hate him because he was doing what had to be done. They would find another way.

"Stop it, Stefan," Damon ground out as Matt fell to the floor again and Stefan held tighter around his wrist.

"I can't let you do that," Stefan said.

"I'm doing what has to be done."

"This isn't working," Stefan said letting go of Damon's hand and taking a step toward Elena.

She rolled her eyes up to look at him, and let out a low laugh. They'd been at this all day and they hadn't seen even a glimmer of emotion in her. They'd tortured her in every way imaginable, but she had known that they wouldn't kill her.

"We've gone over this," Elena said, her voice raspy. "Damon's not going to let you kill me. He'll always choose me." Her voice had a sing-song-y tone that mocked Damon's affections. "And you're not going to let him kill Matt. So you might as well give up. You can't fix me."

A loud creak sounded as the door was flung open. The clicking of heels echoed through the room, and the three vampires turned to eye up their new visitors.

"That's why I'm here," Katherine said as she strode into the room. Her hair bounced around her face and her arms were crossed.

Bonnie walked in behind her. The Salvatore brothers looked to the witch with confused stares.

"Trust me," Bonnie said in a whispered voice.

"What is she doing here?" Damon demanded. After the day he'd had the last thing he needed was to deal with Katherine.

"Oh please," Katherine said, "Calm down, I'm here to help you. Your precious little Elena isn't going to turn her emotions back on if she doesn't believe you'd really hurt her."

"I think we've hurt her plenty," Damon snarled.

"Apparently not bad enough." Katherine smiled a smug smile and then in a flash she was before Elena with her nails digging into her shoulder. Elena winced in pain. "I on the other hand could care less about what happens to her."

Katherine flung Elena's chair across the room, breaking off one of its legs and causing Elena to moan in pain and her head connected with the ground. Damon rushed forward stepping between Katherine and Elena, pushing Katherine back a step. Elena watched on as her head ached. Stefan stepped forward to intervene, but Bonnie grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Always her protector," Katherine said. "No wonder you haven't gotten anywhere."

"Katherine, you need to leave."

Katherine's eyes narrowed and she took a step forward until she was inches from Damon's face. "You love her too much to do what you need to do. At the end of the day Damon, you're still too selfish."

Damon's expression twisted into hatred as he stared at the vampire before him, hating how she looked so much like the woman he loved. "I will do whatever I have to, to get her back."

Katherine smiled as if that was exactly what she'd wanted him to say. "Anything?"

"Anything," Damon said with spite.

"Good," Katherine said and then in a blink she was before Elena again.

Damon turned around and saw her smile at Elena as she grabbed the broken chair leg off the ground. "No!" he yelled watching Elena's eyes widen in fear.

"You won't do it," Elena said, but a part of her wondered if just maybe she would.

"Watch me."

Katherine's hand gripped the makeshift stake, and then she moved with precision and speed. Damon didn't have a chance to stop her. Stefan didn't make it there in time. Damon rushed for Elena, but Katherine turned and plunged the stake through his heart. The wood sliced through flesh and his eyes went wide as he felt it tear into his heart.

"No!" Stefan yelled and ran to his brother's side.

Damon looked down at the stake that protruded from his chest. There was yelling and shouting, confusion and pain. He hadn't understood, but now he did. They were never going to trick Elena into believing that they'd kill her, or Matt. They were never going to reach her emotions through fear for her own survival because Elena knew that everything they were doing was to get her back. The only way they were going to reach her was to make her feel loss, no, not just loss – heartbreak.

Katherine knew that deep down there was a part of Elena that loved Damon. She'd known it for a long time, known it so well she wondered why the girl had ever bothered with Stefan. But then again she understood how it was so easy to fall in love with Stefan, and even more so why it was so hard to fall out of love with him. Elena had loved Damon so strongly a sire bond was created between them. Katherine knew how rare that was. That kind of love was hard to ignore, even when you turn your emotions off. And, she knew that regardless of if Elena was letting herself feel love or not, she would feel the deep ripping sensation of having that love taken away from her.

Bonnie's eyes tear up but she held strong and looked to Elena. Her best friend screamed out as she lied on the floor. The sound was so primal, so pained and deep that it shook Bonnie. Damon fell to his knees and Elena thrashed at her restraints, splintering the wood of the chair and digging the ropes deeper into her already bruised and broken skin.

"Sorry lover," Katherine said and for a split second Damon thought he saw a wave of guilt pass over her. "It had to be done." And then she was gone.

"Damon, no," Stefan said as his brother choked for air.

"Damon!" Elena screamed. Tears rolled down her face and she kicked out.

Damon tried to speak but there were no words. He was fading. This was it. He fell forward into Stefan's arms and the last thing he saw before the darkness came for him was the tears that spilled from Elena's eyes. She was looking at him and all he saw was pain. With his dying breath Damon smiled knowing that they'd gotten through to her.

xxx

Stefan stared down at his brother's lifeless body with wide, watery eyes. The world had never felt so distant and surreal. This couldn't be real. His hands were shaking and his lip quivered. He looked away from Damon's corpse and saw Bonnie walk across the room. Silence filled the space for one long moment as Elena's cries were held, trapped within her. Then she caught her breath and let out a loud wail to slice through the air. Bonnie made her way over to Elena and that was when Stefan looked to her and saw the heartbreak on Elena's face.

Bonnie untied Elena and she slumped to the floor sobbing. Muffled cried begged and pleaded for this not to be real. Bonnie pulled her to her and Elena cried in her arms.

"Oh God no," she sobbed.

Bonnie glanced over at Stefan and saw the betrayal that was etched into his eyes as he looked at her. Damon was dead, and Bonnie had been the puppet master behind the scenes. She choked back her guilt and squeezed her best friend tighter, trying to calm her shaking, inconsolable form. Elena had her humanity back on.

"What did you do," Elena said looking to Bonnie for the first time.

"What I had to."

Elena shook her head. This was too much. All of it was rushing back at her, all the pain and loss. Everyone she'd lost, her parents, Jenna, Alaric, Jeremy…Damon. It couldn't be real. Memories and feelings swirled around inside her and the tears kept coming. They were all dead, all of them.

"Oh God, she killed him. Bonnie, she killed him."

Bonnie's lips thinned. "I know."

Elena shook her head, how could Bonnie have done this to her. She pushed away from her best friend, pushed hard and Bonnie fell back. Tears filled Bonnie's eyes, and then Stefan was at Elena's side pulling her to him. She was frantic in his grasp pulling to get to Damon, but he held her tight.

"No," she wailed again and then slumped into him and he picked her up. They stood hovering over Bonnie.

"I think you need to leave now," Stefan said then carried Elena from the room.

Numb, Bonnie sat there for another minute. Damon would have done anything for Elena. He would have killed anyone, he would have died. He never hid how he felt about her. This is what he would have wanted, and yet Bonnie couldn't help but feel that she'd done something terribly wrong. Then she heard a groan and looked to where Matt lied broken and forgotten on the floor. She was crying as she went to him, and pushed the thoughts that asked if she'd done the right thing away. Bonnie went to Matt's side and used her magic to help heal him.

xxx

Elena sat at the edge of Damon's bed and when Stefan walked back in from the bathroom with a wet cloth in is hand he wondered if she'd gone completely catatonic. Maybe taking her to Damon's room hadn't been the best idea, but he didn't feel right taking her into his. Inside Stefan was breaking at the thought of Damon being dead. The brothers may have had their quarrels, but at the end of the day they were still brothers. Stefan had had Damon there for him all of his life, and now after over a hundred and fifty years he was just gone. He honestly didn't know how he would cope, but right then, in that moment he was able to just focus on Elena.

Sitting beside her on the bed Stefan wiped at the smeared blood on her face and she looked up at him with pain in her eyes. The look of her broke his heart.

"He's dead," Elena said and Stefan's lips thinned. All he could do was nod.

"I know, but this is really important Elena." He set the wash cloth aside and held her hands, then he felt the wetness of her tears hit his skin. "No matter how much it hurts you can't turn it off again. Do you understand?"

Elena nodded.

"Damon's dead, we can't let it be for nothing."

Another sob escaped her lips and Stefan was angry at himself for saying such a thing, but he couldn't afford for her to lose her emotions again. It'd cost him too much this time. He pulled her to him then and she cried against his chest for a long while. Stefan shut his eyes and tears rolled down his cheeks as well.

Finally exhaustion set in and Elena's sobs began to ebb. Stefan felt her fall heavy against his chest and he pulled away to lie her down in bed. He pulled the covers back and slid Elena into Damon's bed.

Stefan left her there to rest and walked into the hall. A vase sat on a small table against the wall, blue with gold. He picked it up in one hand as if it were a football and heaved it against the wall. It shattered raining down broken pieces of blue and gold, and then Stefan went to his room.

AN: I know I killed Damon, but I promise this will be a Delena story. I'll probaby upload another chapter tonight and one more tomorrow. This will be a short fic and I will have it all out before this episode airs.