Warnings and Author note: This story will have major character death. It is also a sequel to my other TVD fic, Second Chances. You probably don't have to read it to follow this one, but it may help or you may like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Gwen shut the door tightly behind her, muttering a spell to keep it locked as she hurried down the narrow hotel hallway. She didn't have a lot of time, maybe a few hours at most. He'd wake up and break out of the room, and Gwen needed to be miles away when he did.
The stairs helped her escape unnoticed by the staff and any night-owl guests that might have been roaming the halls. The cab she'd called was waiting for her just outside the main entrance. Wrenching open door, she quickly slid into the back seat and asked the driver to take her to the airport.
Gwen dug through her bag for her cell phone, which had annoyingly fallen to the bottom of the bag. Praying her friend answered quickly, she impatiently bounced her legs as she listened to the shrill, electric tone. Her call was answered after the sixth ring.
"Gwen?" a confused voice asked from the other end.
"Hi, Caroline," Gwen answered, trying to sound calm and not draw the driver's attention. She really didn't want him to remember her, and a freaked out girl at two in the morning could be on just the wrong side of memorable. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Uh, no," Caroline said, still sounding confused. "Is everything all right? Isn't it the middle of the night in London?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way to the airport because no," she paused, taking a moment to collect herself, "no, everything is not all right."
"What happened? Tell me everything."
Gwen felt a small smile break out despite her panic. Caroline was such the mother hen. It was amazing how quickly she'd gone from sounding confused and cautious to concerned and ready to act.
"I can't say too much right now, but Katherine and Elena have teamed up…. They want their boyfriends back."
After a few seconds of silence Caroline said, in a very un-Caroline manner, "Are you fucking kidding me?! It's been — what? — six years? I'm planning a wedding to Stefan. Plus, you and Damon have been, technically, married for the last two years! Even if you were both drunk and no one was invited," she added in a grumble.
Gwen rolled her eyes. She and Caroline had become good friends over the years, and Caroline had yet to let go that Gwen and Damon hadn't had a proper wedding.
"Focus."
"Right. When do you get here?"
"I have a connecting flight in New York, and should get to Richmond around noon. I can be in Mystic Falls by two."
"Gwen," Caroline started hesitantly after picking up on Gwen's exclusive use of "I." "Where's Damon?"
Gwen's breath caught as she remembered what she'd done only a few minutes ago. She knew she shouldn't, but she felt beyond guilty. She had promised to never use her magic like that; but then, he'd made and broken some promises too.
"He's, uh, incapacitated for the next few hours," Gwen said, choosing her words carefully. However, the cab driver was much more interested in his conversation than hers. Still, she dropped her voice as she continued. "I don't know how, but Katherine and Elena were able to compel him. He…he tried to kill me."
"Oh, Gwen," Caroline said sympathetically.
"It's ok. Well, it's not, but I am," Gwen said quickly, fighting off the urge to cry. It was just shock and she didn't have time for that right now. "Anyway, I wanted to warn you. I'm sure they'll be on their way to Mystic Falls next. I don't think they'd leave without Damon so you have some time to prepare."
"Right," Caroline muttered, sounding far away. After a few minutes of dead silence, Gwen thought the call had dropped when Caroline suddenly said, "Change of plans."
"What?"
"Stefan and I will get you in Richmond. They'll expect us all to be here and we shouldn't be. I think I know of a place we can go that they won't think of, at least not right away. Is there anything I can pick up for you?"
"Not that I can think of," Gwen said, relaxing now that someone else was involved and taking control.
"Text me if you think of anything," Caroline instructed, already in full planning mode. "I'll call Bonnie and see if she's heard of anything like this before — outside of Klaus and his family of course."
"Thanks, Caroline," Gwen said quietly.
"It'll be ok," Caroline reassured gently. "We've dealt with crazier things before. Hell, we've dealt with our friends turning on us. It'll all work out."
"I hope so," Gwen sighed. "I have to go, I'm almost at the airport. See you in a bit."
"Bye, and get some rest."
"I guess I should start packing then?" Stefan asked, already pushing himself out of bed.
"Yep," Caroline sighed as she followed. "God, I can't believe they're really doing this. I know Elena's not been a great friend these last few years, but this is a new low — even for her."
Stefan remained quiet as he got their suitcases and allowed Caroline to vent. Their lives had been quiet for years. There hadn't been anything coming after them or out to destroy the town. Everyone had moved on and was leading happy, healthy lives. The worst thing that had happened was Liz Forbes dying during Caroline's sophomore year at Whitmore. Not that Liz's death hadn't been awful, it had been. It just hadn't been an apocalypse-level disaster. Katherine was always up to something, but Stefan was just as confused as Caroline concerning Elena's role. Last he'd heard (from Caroline) was that she was enjoying medical school in southern California.
"We should pack as much of our wedding stuff as possible," Caroline said, breaking through Stefan's thoughts. "I do not want to leave any of that behind. Who knows what Katherine and Elena might do."
Stefan nodded and went to grab another suitcase. When he came back, Caroline was standing still and staring blankly out the window.
"Caroline?" he prompted, setting the suitcase down and going over to her. She turned to him, worry etched in her face.
"He tried to kill her, Stefan," Caroline all but whispered. He pulled her to him in a comforting hug. Caroline and Gwen had become close. Losing her would've been like losing Bonnie.
"She's ok, she's tough," Stefan said, not sure if he was reassuring himself or Caroline. "Damon was compelled he'd never —"
Caroline pushed him away and wiped her eyes. "Don't. Not now."
"What?" Stefan asked, sincerely confused.
"Don't defend him. I know he's your brother, but you didn't hear her," Caroline explained, her hands clenching into fists as she tried to keep any tone of accusation out of her voice. "She was scared of him."
"I understand that," Stefan said slowly, making the effort to not be defensive. Damon remained a sensitive subject in their relationship. It was something they were working on, but they both had their biases that made it difficult. "But he wouldn't have done that if he'd been forced. He loves here."
Caroline bit her lip and looked away as she resumed packing. Realizing she was attempting to hide something, Stefan's brows furrowed. He had a brief internal debate over if he really wanted to know what that something was before finally asking.
"Caroline," he started hesitantly. "Has he done something like this before?"
"He hasn't tried to kill her," Caroline evaded.
"Caroline."
Sighing, she turned to look at him. "They've had their ups and downs. She's left a few times."
"What?" Stefan was completely taken aback. He and Damon talked fairly regularly, but Damon had never mentioned so much as fight between him and Gwen, let alone her leaving.
"It was usually only ever for a day or so, enough time for them to cool off," Caroline continued, a slight hint of disapproval was evident in her tone. "I'm not saying she was innocent, but Damon's Damon."
"Meaning?"
"He selfish, you know that; but he's also controlling."
"Has he hurt her before?" Stefan asked, his throat tight with anger.
"Emotionally? Many times. Physically?" Caroline shrugged. "I don't know. Gwen's never said."
"Fuck," Stefan muttered, running his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner. "How could I not know any of this?"
This time, Caroline came over to him and wrapped him in a comforting hug. "Damon doesn't like to admit things aren't perfect, especially if everything is going well for someone else. Plus, Gwen didn't want anyone else to know. She — and I — didn't want to cause a rift between you two."
"I appreciate that," Stefan said. "I just wish I'd have known. Maybe I could've talked to him."
"Maybe you'll get that chance," Caroline said as she pulled away again. "Now, we really need to pack. Besides clothes and the wedding stuff, we'll need to bring some of the weapons with us — just to be safe."
"We're only taking one car," Stefan pointed out.
"It'll fit," Caroline said confidently. "Trust me."
Several hours later, they were sitting in the pick up lane at the Richmond airport. Stefan and Caroline should look exhausted, considering they'd been up most of the night packing, but they looked perfect thanks to their vampire stamina and an extra blood bag each. Stefan was still shocked by how much Caroline was able to get in the back of her SUV. In addition to a suitcase that held regular clothes, she had one that held their wedding clothes, another that held all her paperwork and receipts, and a third for weapons. Amazingly, there was room left over and he could see out the rear window.
Stefan nervously drummed on the steering while as Caroline chewed her thumbnail thoughtfully. They'd just finished talking to Bonnie about how Katherine and Elena could have compelled Damon. Bonnie had no idea how they'd done it. She'd even called Elijah, who swore neither he nor his siblings had seen or spoken to Katherine or Elena in years. The phone rang just as Stefan saw Gwen step through the sliding glass doors. Caroline picked up the phone while Stefan got out of the car, waving to get Gwen's attention.
Stefan felt a pang of guilt as approached the car. She was clearly exhausted, and Stefan could see hints of stress in her body language. He could also see faint bruising around her neck even though she'd tried to hide it with a scarf. Stefan pulled Gwen into a hug when she reached him, which she accepted without protest.
"It's going to be ok," Stefan soothed as he felt her sob once into his chest. "We'll fix this."
She nodded, pulling away in order to wipe her eyes. "Thanks for coming to get me."
"No problem," he said, offering a small smile. "How was your flight?"
Gwen shrugged. "Long, uncomfortable, the usual."
She climbed into the backseat as he got in the front, where Caroline was still on the phone. Caroline mouthed "hi" to Gwen as she slid in the car.
"Ok, thanks Ric. We really do appreciate your help," Caroline said sincerely. "We'll see you in a few hours."
"All good?" Stefan asked once Caroline had ended the call.
"Yep. Ric said he'd help us. Understandably, he's sending his wife and kids out of town while we're there." Handing her phone to Stefan, she said, "Here's the address. How are you doing Gwen?"
Gwen shrugged again. "About as good as expected, I guess."
Caroline nodded sympathetically.
"We'll figure it," Caroline said, echoing Stefan. Teasingly, she suggested, "You should get some sleep, you look awful."
Gwen smiled weakly, but she knew she looked awful. She felt grimy and her clothes were wrinkled and torn in places, though most people probably assumed it was "a look." Plus, there were the bruise marks on her neck that weren't so discreetly covered by a fashion scarf. She slumped down in the seat and immediately felt her eyes grow heavy. Gwen knew she should stay awake and help come up with a plan, but they really didn't know anything. She'd be more helpful if she had some rest, Gwen reasoned.
Within seconds, she'd fallen asleep.
They'd been holed up at Ric's place for almost a week and had yet to find anything helpful. Bonnie had appeared on day three with a pile of grimoires and occult books. The most she and Gwen had been able to deduce was that Katherine and Elena had a potion that enhanced their compulsion ability. However, they'd yet to find anything on how to make such a potion.
"How do think they got Damon to drink the potion?" Stefan asked over dinner.
Bonnie, Gwen, Caroline, and Stefan were crowded around Ric's kitchen table, quietly picking over their Chinese takeout after a fruitless day of research. Ric had left the day before to check on his family, but had said he'd back in a day or two. The four didn't mind. They felt bad enough for imposing on him and putting him in the middle of this when he'd worked so hard to put this life behind him.
"Easy," Bonnie said with a hint of a smile. "They slipped it into whatever he was drinking when he wasn't looking."
The others laughed in agreement. Damon's overconfidence had a habit of making him oblivious and more vulnerable than he'd ever admit.
"Maybe we don't need to know how they did it," Gwen mused.
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked between bites.
"What they're doing is basically just some form of super-compulsion, right? So really, we just need to focus on counteracting that," Gwen explained.
"The only defense against compulsion is vervain, which most vampires can't take in high doses," Bonnie pointed out.
"What if it could be worn instead of ingested? Like a charm?"
"Maybe…." Bonnie nodded thoughtfully.
"The vervain would still burn us though," Caroline said cautiously. This was their first breakthrough and she didn't want squash their hopes, but they needed to consider everything before they got too attached to an idea.
"We can work around that, I think," Bonnie said, glancing at Gwen for confirmation.
"Yeah, we can." Gwen nodded. "A charm just has to be worn, it doesn't have to have direct contact with the skin."
"Ok," Stefan said slowly, setting down his glass. "So what would you need for this to work?"
Gwen and Bonnie shared a look and then shrugged.
"Probably a bunch of herbs and we'll need to write a spell," Gwen supplied. Clearing her food containers, she continued, "But that's for tomorrow."
"But now that we have plan shouldn't we —"
"No," all three women said simultaneously.
"Bonnie and I are exhausted and need a break. And while you two aren't human, you both could use a break, too."
Stefan looked like he was about to protest, but Caroline reached out and took his hand. "One night off will be ok," she reassured him. "He's ok. We know they don't want to hurt him."
Conceding defeat, Stefan nodded. "I guess getting out of this house would be nice."
After they'd cleaned up dinner, which consisted of throwing their empty food containers in the trash and putting their glasses in the dishwasher, they all went their own ways. Caroline dragged Stefan to the movies, while Bonnie went to her room to do yoga and check in with work. Gwen decided to go for a run; it'd be a good stress relief and, hopefully, help her sleep better.
She hadn't been sleeping well on account of worrying about Damon's wellbeing and Katherine's betrayal. They may not have been "friends" exactly, but she and Katherine had helped each other out over the last few years. It stung a bit that she'd decided to work with Elena.
Needing to be aware of her surroundings, Gwen opted out of using her headphones. She still took her phone with her, but the sounds of nature and suburbia would have to be her music tonight. Gwen knew it wouldn't matter much because she'd never actually hear a vampire coming, but it helped her to feel like she was doing something.
It was a cool spring night, making her run fairly comfortable. She had been running for about ten minutes, enjoy the calmness of the night, when a figure suddenly appeared in front of her. Gwen stopped abruptly. Even in the fading light she could tell it was Damon. Her confusion over how he'd found her and what she should do, caused her to hesitate a second too long. He'd closed the space between them and pinned her arms to her sides before she could make a decision.
"Let go of me, Damon," she demanded, futilely struggling against his grip. He ignored her, pulling her into a hug instead.
"It's ok, Gwen," he said. "It's me."
"That's kind of the problem," she snapped, pushing against his chest. He released her, looking hurt.
Glaring, Gwen took a step back from him. It was obvious that whatever they'd given him had worn off: He was clearly in control whereas he'd been a mindless, expressionless zombie when he'd attacked her. Even if it was it was irrational, she was still mad he'd tried to kill her. Plus, they'd been fighting before that.
"You know that wasn't me," he defended. "I'd never —"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Gwen interrupted. "You may not have tried to kill me intentionally, but you were in full control before that. And what were you doing that had you so distracted you didn't notice them drug you?"
"Nothing happened," Damon insisted, though she saw the flash of guilt in his eyes.
Shaking her head, Gwen scoffed. "Seducing other women to feed on counts as "something," Damon."
"Seriously? We're going to have this fight again? Now?" Damon asked, his tone a mix of humor and disbelief.
Gwen felt that familiar ache in heart every time he disregarded her feelings. Apparently, he wasn't even going to pretend placate her now. She felt her eyes begin to water — from frustration or hurt or both she wasn't sure — and looked away from him. In a whisper she asked, "Did you even try to fight it?"
"Yes, of course I did!" Damon said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "I was relieved when I woke up after you'd used your magic. I understood why you left, I just wish you hadn't."
"How could I stay? You'd just tried to kill me — on Elena's orders! Clearly she knew where I was, and I had no way to know the potion would wear off."
"I know, I know," he sighed. "I was worried. Elena and Katherine were there when I woke up, so I had to play along until I could lose them. When you weren't in Mystic Falls…. I almost lost it. I thought I'd lost you."
"How'd you figure out where we were anyway?" she asked, refusing to look at his distraught face. He was probably just playing her anyway.
"Process of elimination," he said, sounding bored. Normally he would have bragged about how intelligent and clever he was. Maybe he really was sorry. Ticking off on his fingers, she continued, "You weren't at the boardinghouse, you weren't at my cabin, and you weren't at the beach house. After that, I made a list of everyone I knew you, Caroline, and my brother knew who was close by. Ric was the only option."
"So Elena and Katherine won't be far behind," Gwen sighed. She and Bonnie better get started on the charms.
"Probably, but not until they realize I've sent them on a wild goose chase."
Gwen turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question.
"I, uh, gave them some false info about where you would go. I slipped off the plane at the last minute and came to find you. I also left some "clues" at the boardinghouse. Gwen, I am sorry about everything."
"Let's just go back to the house." Gwen couldn't forgive him — not right now at least. There was so much they had to work through, but they had to focus on Katherine and Elena and their annoying obsession with the Salvatore brothers.
"No, wait," he said, stopping her movement by lightly grabbing wrist. "I mean it. I'm sorry for all the fights, for being insensitive and controlling, for feeding, for almost killing you…. I'm just sorry."
Sighing, she pulled her arm from his grasp and said, "The house is this way."
Towel-drying her hair, Gwen walked into her bedroom to find Damon sprawled across the bed. She was already regretting calling Ric and having him invite Damon into the house. Gwen was pretty sure Ric was regretting it, too.
"Caroline said she and Stefan will be home soon," she said, walking past him to sit on the desk chair.
"You could've let them finish their date," Damon said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Well they can have more dates as soon as we figure out this Elena-Katherine mess."
Angling himself in her direction, he asked, "Will we?"
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, becoming very interested in her phone.
"You know what I mean."
Sighing, she placed her phone facedown on the desk. He just never knew when to let things go. "I don't know. It's one thing for you to say you're sorry, but it's another for you to actually change. And a lot would have to change. Things haven't been good between us in a while."
Damon clenched his jaw and looked away from her — at least he wasn't denying it. Gwen chanced looking at him. She never thought she'd be in this situation. In fact, Gwen had always claimed she would leave if a guy every treated her the way Damon had over the last few years. But she'd stayed and, even after everything, still wasn't able to walk away from him.
"I want to make this work," Damon said resolutely. He scooted across the bed, so that they were face-to-face. "Do you?"
Gwen was taken aback. She hadn't been expecting him to ask what she wanted. Their conversations were usually framed by what he wanted. Hesitantly, Gwen nodded her head. "I want this to work, too."
Relief spread across his features, leaving a hint of a smile across his face. Gwen wanted to reach out to him, but they heard the door open downstairs and the moment was gone.
"We're back!" Caroline shouted up the stairs.
"Coming!" Gwen called back, dropping her gaze.
She lead the way downstairs and to the living room where the others were waiting. The conversation trailed off when they entered the room, the other three warily eying Damon.
"Well don't everyone rush to welcome me," Damon quipped.
"Hello, Damon. Try to kill anyone lately?" Caroline asked bitingly. Under the influence or not, Caroline wasn't going to forgive him so easily.
Damon, for his credit, looked ashamed. Stefan shot her pleading look before hugging his brother. Bonnie followed Stefan's actions, managing to give Damon the warmest welcome from any of them.
"So," he said, releasing Bonnie and taking Gwen's hand. "What's the plan?"
A few days later, Gwen, Stefan, and Damon were on a grocery run. Ric had returned yesterday and Caroline wanted to repay him with a home-cooked meal. Damon and Stefan were sporting the magically amped vervain charms she and Bonnie had made the day before. They had no idea if they charms would work and hadn't had any signs of Katherine or Elena, but the girls had decided they should where them anyway.
"Are you sure we got everything?" Damon grumbled. "There's still half a store left."
"Shut up," Gwen said. "At least you'll have something besides take out for dinner."
"This is just an excuse for Caroline to try to poison me."
"Nah," Stefan chimed in, placing the few bags in the trunk. "She'd never try to kill you when there'd be witnesses."
"He has a point." Gwen smirked, opening the driver's side door. "Though if you so much as pretend to try to ruin her wedding, all bets are off and you're on your own."
Pouting, Damon shut the trunk and walked to the passenger's side. As he got in, Gwen joked, "Just don't piss her off and you have nothing to worry about."
"I'll do my best," he sighed, sounding as if it was the most difficult task in the world. Gwen supposed that, for him, it actually was. Stefan got in the backseat and they drove out of the parking lot.
Despite the looming cloud of the doppelgangers, things had been good for the last couple of days. Damon seemed to be making an actual effort to not antagonize every person that happened to be in his orbit. That made everything easier considering they were living in pretty tight quarters, but it also made Gwen hopeful. If they could get through this, then maybe she and Damon had a chance of making things better.
They considered going through a drive-through for some ice cream, but ultimately decided to just head back to Ric's. Caroline had the food would take a bit of prep time and they didn't want to inadvertently delay her plans.
As they pulled up to the house, Gwen noticed couple of black sedans parked out front. Ric wasn't expecting anyone and she didn't remember seeing them before. She shrugged it off. One of Ric's neighbors probably had guests over, nothing to be suspicious about.
The feeling returned as soon as Gwen got out of the car. She hadn't noticed from the road, but the front door was hanging from its hinges and the front window was smashed, shards of glass scattering the ground. Before she could say anything, she felt something crash into her. Her head made contact with the side of the car and she slid to the ground unconscious.
Stefan, who was closest and had seen the blur of Elena, reacted first. However, his split attention between checking on Gwen and eying Elena left him vulnerable, and Katherine was able to inject him with a syringe of vervain. He seized in pain and collapsed on the ground next to Gwen, conscious but powerless.
Damon stood a few feet away from his wife and brother and their attackers, weighing his options. He saw the destruction of the front entrance and wondered where the others were and how none of the neighbors had heard the noise.
"It's nice to see you, Damon," Elena said sweetly. "I was worried when you disappeared off the plane and weren't in Mystic Falls."
"I'm great," he said sarcastically. "Or I would be if you two didn't keep showing up."
"That's not fair. We're only trying to help you, you and Stefan," Elena defended, looking hurt. She truly was deranged. Damon briefly wondered what happened to make her snap, but pushed it away. He needed to figure out how he could out-maneuver Elena and Katherine. Two against one was what wasn't fair.
The two had closed in on him during his brief distraction. He saw they were each holding a syringe full of vervain. Grimly, he readied himself for an attack.
"It really doesn't have to be this way, Damon," Elena pleaded in her sickly sweet tone. "It'd be so much easier if you just cooperate."
"You have truly lost your mind, Elena."
She looked as if she'd been slapped, but quickly recovered. She lunged at him, and a second later Katherine came from the side. When he noticed Katherine's movement, he knew there was nothing he could do. He was using both hands to fend off Elena and her syringe. He felt the sharp prick of the needle as it pierced his side, followed by an intense burning as the vervain flooded his system. The last thing he was aware of was being thrown into the back of car.
Bonnie, Caroline, and Ric had decided to run to the liquor to get a nice bottle or two of wine for dinner. It had been a stressful few days, and they'd decided to take the night and relax.
Bonnie pulled up to the house just as Elena and Katherine got into separate black sedans and sped off in separate directions. She parked haphazardly behind Caroline's SUV, which had two open doors and a dent in the driver's side. Bonnie took in the sight of the door and window, her heart sinking. How could Elena do this?
Caroline froze while Ric went to inspect the house and make sure they hadn't done any more damage or set a trap. After allowing herself a moment of panic, she pulled out her phone and accessed the app that would let her track Stefan's phone's location. They'd set it up just for this kind of situation. She sighed in relief when the app showed his location moving north of them.
"I can track Stefan," she said triumphantly to Bonnie.
"What about Damon or Gwen?"
"Let me check." Caroline added their contact information to the app, but Stefan's dot remained the only on the screen. "No, it's not finding them."
"Let's go get Stefan then," Bonnie said decisively. "If we move fast, we may be able to find them all."
Caroline nodded in agreement, following Bonnie into the house to update Ric and grab supplies. If they were really lucky, they'd be to keep everyone alive too.