Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries is the property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

~ x ~

It was bound to happen. Even with the whole wide world as their playground sooner or later they would meet again. Damon just didn't expect it would be so soon. Two years since he had left and serendipity decided to wade in now and play her little trick.

Of course, to be fair, it was the type of event that attracted vampires. When Sin City – Las Vegas, Nevada opened a new, hot club the beautiful people flocked to it. And there was no denying that many of the beautiful people were vampires.

The place was so crowded and noisy that even a hundred and fifty plus year old vampire couldn't be blamed for being distracted. The DJ was famous for his running commentary. Strobe lights swirled, cocktail waitresses were everywhere. The music was loud and the chatter from the beautiful people almost louder than the music as they postured and exaggerated their movements and laughter hoping to attract attention to themselves.

It had been barely two minutes since they had compelled their way to the front of the line and then inside, when Damon felt that tiny niggling in his brain that jerked his head up and had him craning his neck until he spotted his quarry. Damon idly wondered if it was a baby bro specific proximity alarm or if would extend to other members of his family, if he had any that was. It certainly didn't extend to Caroline or Elena or any other vampire that he knew or sired.

He had his arm casually wrapped around Elena's waist, unconsciously moving his body to the rhythm of the music, so he felt the sudden stiffening that betrayed her knowledge as she followed his gaze.

Damon whistled silently, watching Stefan in action. He was dancing, if you could call it that, with two women. Their movements looked more like a sexual pantomime than dancing, and even their laughing, mischievous expressions couldn't mask how sensuous and provocative they were.

He eyed the blonde appreciatively, but it was the redhead that captured and held his attention. Her hair was a beautiful fiery red and provided a perfect contrast for her milky white skin. If she had the bane of most redheads, freckles, it might have toned down her beauty making her more girl-next-store, but as it was she was simply stunning.

Stefan did himself good. Damon risked a sideways glance at Elena. She stood as still as a statue, breathing suspended, eyes focused on him. Her usually full plump lips were compressed to a narrow pale line. He could feel the tension in her body through the arm that was still wrapped around her waist.

"Let's go," he whispered, starting to edge away, but she was as unyielding as a concrete slab. Damon dropped his arm and moved slightly away and in front of her, angling his body so he could watch both Elena and Stefan. Her eyes were snapping and a furious scowl was now plastered across her face, marring her usual placid beauty. He was surprised his brother wasn't aware of them yet, because if the proverbial looks could kill then he should have been skewered like a pig on a spit.

Apparently even Stefan wasn't immune to the venom in that glare, because Damon caught the moment when his head jerked around. His stiffened for a split second, and then gave a cool nod, acknowledging them briefly. He quickly resumed dancing; ignoring them, but the women seemed to realize something was wrong. They peered at the two standing on the edge of the dance floor and then exchanged knowing looks.

The blonde jerked her head in the opposite direction, and they simultaneously stopped dancing. They latched onto Stefan's upper arms, effectively bookending him, and weaved their way through the writhing bodies and off the dance floor.

"Get me a drink," Elena demanded.

"Ah . . let . . ," Whatever Damon was going to say was stopped cold by the expression on Elena's face. "Come with me then," he insisted. No way was he going to leave Elena on her own when she was in this type of mood.

As she walked, her mind thrummed over and over again with the refrain. Hypocrite! You wouldn't let me have you and your brother. You made me choose and send you away. But you have two girls. How dare you! How dare you!

Elena's beauty quickly caught the attention of one of the bartenders, and she compelled him to ignore the claims of earlier customers. Complaints from the various patrons who up to that point had been patiently waiting were ignored as he quickly filled their orders.

As they edged away from the bar, Elena compelled a waitress to keep an eye out for them. "Make sure you check with us frequently."

Damon tried to steer her in the opposite direction from that taken by the three vampires, but gave up when she knocked his hand away. She smiled widely at him, but there was something off in her expression. "Let's go find your brother and catch up on old times."

Damon pleaded, "Elena, please don't do this."

"Backing down from a confrontation?" Elena quirked an eyebrow, taunting him. "Doesn't sound like the Damon I know."

He grinned suddenly, never one to resist a challenge, and held out an arm. "Let the games begin." Damon laughed silently to himself. "This is going to be quite the confrontation."

She looped her arm through his and began zigzagging through the crowd, Damon dancing as he moved.

They quickly found the trio clustered together at a booth table. Damon compelled two nearby people to stand as he appropriated their chairs, pushing them over to the table. Stefan, sandwiched between the two women, sighed deeply and said, "I really have nothing to say to you."

"Now that's just plain not nice," Damon responded as he seated Elena, then turned his chair, back to the table, so he could straddle it.

The blonde leaned back. "Let me guess! You—" she pointed a finger at Damon "—must be Damon Salvatore. I've never seen you before, but those eyes have been described to me."

Damon's sexiest smile answered her. "You've never been described to me, but I'm certain we could be friends."

The blonde smiled in kind. "Oh, I don't think so. The Salvatores are well known, and it's pretty much a given that other than her—" she jerked her head at Elena "—and the other doppelganger every other woman, especially Stefan's girlfriends, have died. Even the Original sister disappeared."

Damon's smile hardened and he straightened up. "Does the rumor mill also mention that he killed my last girlfriend."

The redhead answered this time. "Wasn't she your compelled girlfriend?"

"Low blow," Damon responded. Elena paid no attention to the conversation. Her attention was fixated on Stefan.

"By the way, I'm currently Liz, short for Elizabella," the blonde explained, "and she's Drew, a much more contemporary version of Drusilla." The redhead held up a hand in acknowledgement.

Elena stood, pushing her chair back. "Dance with me, Stefan."

He sighed again and made eye contact with her for the first time. "No."

The redhead put a hand on his shoulder and breath whispered something in his ear, too low for the other vampires to pick up on. He was silent for a moment before looking at her and shrugging, apparently surrendering.

Drew slid over and stood next to Elena for a moment, eying her with amusement. Stefan reluctantly got out and brushed past Elena's outstretched hand. Her eyes narrowed murderously, but she said nothing, simply following him out to the dance floor. He turned and held his right hand up. She clasped it and his left hand hovered on her waist barely making contact, as if the touch would be painful.

Back at the table Damon's expression was unreadable, but the two vampires quickly picked up the tension in his body.

"He won't hurt her," Liz assured him.

"I'm more worried she might hurt him," Damon countered.

Both girls laughed out loud, Drew agreeing, "She is so not happy."

Damon drained his glass and signaled for a waitress. "Bring a couple of bottles."

The waitress started to object, but the command was repeated with dilated pupils, and she just nodded and went to fill the order.

"Good idea," Drew commended him. "I have a feeling this is going to be a very painful evening."

Damon shook his head, exhaling heavily through his nose. "You have no idea."

"Yeah, we do." Drew spoke. "Stefan was pretty messed up when I found him."

Damon looked between the two of them. "So what's the story?"

Liz piped up. "Drew has first dibs, but we've been close over the years. We have no problem sharing on occasion."

Elena's hand slid up from Stefan's upper arm to rest on his shoulder. "When did you hook up with those women?"

"How do you know I didn't just meet them here?" Stefan gazed over her shoulder.

Elena glanced at his rigid jaw line. That's how he used to look when Katherine was near him popped unbidden into her mind. Again that sense of unfairness swept through her.

"You're too comfortable with them and them with you." Elena pointed out. "You don't get that cozy with new people. You're not like your brother."

Stefan's abrupt harsh laugh was cynical. "Yeah, if anyone should know the difference between us, it's you."

"So, are you going to answer my question?" she demanded.

"I ran into Drew after I left Mystic Falls. Liz joined us a year ago. Been with them ever since."

"Both of them?" Her tone was snarky. "Seems to me that was my big sin. I wanted you both."

"It's different."

"How? Enlighten me, Stefan. How is it different? Is it because you're a guy?"

He clenched his jaw and refused to explain. She tried another tactic.

"So, it didn't take you long to get over your never ending love for me, did it?" She felt rage boiling inside her. Felt like she would explode like the lid on a boiling pot with no escape for the steam. "I thought I was the love of your life." She couldn't keep the resentment out of her voice. "Do you have any idea how I've felt for the last two years?" Her voice broke slightly. "I thought you loved me. Why did you lie to me?"

"I did. That's the sad part. I loved you more than my life, but the problem was I loved my brother just as much, and you were killing us. I died so many little deaths watching you and him. And I thought you told me that you wanted me to do well. That you wanted me to get over you and move on with my life? Was that a lie?" Stefan counter attacked now.

Damon's eyes were straight ahead. He made no effort to pretend that he wasn't listening. The muscles in his face twitched as he listened to the agony in his brother's voice. The two women had their heads tilted as they also concentrated on the conversation.

Elena gnawed her lower lip for a moment. "No. I never wanted to hurt you. Or him." One hand flailed helplessly. "I needed you, Stefan. I needed you for the part of you that was anchored into a human existence. For your moral guidance."

"You had Caroline. She helped you." Stefan's voice was so matter-of-fact that Elena went cold with suspicion.

"You've been in touch with Caroline!" She made it an accusation. "You told her you were okay, but you let me suffer? What happened to I'll always be there for you? Do you remember saying that?" Elena demanded, her nails digging through Stefan's jacket and shirt to leave crescent shaped red cuts on the skin underneath.

He didn't flinch, understanding and accepting the anger, the feeling of betrayal behind her questions. "I was there as long as you wanted me, Elena. You told me you no longer needed me. Do you remember saying that?" His hands still barely touched her.

Her voice was shaky. "You know how hard it was for me. The guilt. The heightened emotions. I needed Damon too. He was okay with it? Why couldn't you be?"

Stefan stopped, his cheek flinching in and out with an uncontrollable tic. "Because he wasn't okay with it, Elena. We were killing him. Not just killing him. That at least would have been merciful. We were slicing him into pieces, letting him sting and bleed. Death with a thousand cuts, but he never died; he just suffered, and I had enough."

At the table Damon's face was frozen into a bland mask, his blue eyes shining way too bright. The set of his head indicated his full attention was on the conversation on the dance floor. Drew politely looked away giving him space.

Stefan began moving again and Elena's body automatically followed. "It was time for me to stop hurting my brother, Elena. Time to get out. I did love you. With my whole heart, but I wasn't what you needed. I couldn't help you. He could. He could teach you."

Elena swallowed painfully. "I never wanted to hurt anyone."

Stefan finally met her eyes. "I know you didn't. But you did, and so did I. I couldn't do it again. Katherine all over again."

Elena stiffened at those words. "I am NOT Katherine. You were never toys to me."

Stefan nodded slowly. "I agree, but the result was the same. Fighting . . hurting . . pain . . . always pain. Once I knew the hunters were gone and both of you were safe . . well . . When you gave me the go ahead to leave. I jumped at it."

Elena abruptly stopped moving. "Let's sit." She turned and wove her way through the crowd. After a moment Stefan followed.

Drew got up as he approached and gestured for him to sit in the middle again. He quickly slid in, and she sat next to him.

Damon looked up as Elena gracefully sat, running her hand reassuringly down the side of his face.

Drew eyed her closely, toying with her drink. "He's under control, Elena. No rippers allowed." Her attempt to reassure Elena did not meet with success.

"We were meant to be together." A mulish expression settled on Elena's face. "He was mine."

"No. They're not property. You can't claim them." Drew spoke carefully, as if she was correcting a child.

"He'll never love you like he loved me." Elena used her voice like a weapon, trying to hurt.

Drew stunned Elena by replying, "You're right. He won't, but I don't need that kind of love. Obsession was never my thing."

Elena's head snapped up. "Don't try to twist his love for me into something bad."

"Well, what do you call a love that brings nothing but anguish to everyone?" Drew still spoke in that careful, reasonable tone.

Damon spoke up, addressing his brother. "You didn't have to leave on my account."

"Yeah, yeah I did. If we were ever going to break the cycle of hating and hurting. I did. I had to go." Stefan put both hands on his almost empty glass and rolled the trace of liquor at the bottom of the glass around, watching the bead roll and form and break up again as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. "I had a choice. Brother or girlfriend. I chose brother."

Elena faster than the eye could follow stood and swiped her nails across his face, leaving bloody tracks that quickly healed. "You lied," she accused. "You never loved me the way you said you did. If you had, you could never have left me. Never found someone new so fast."

Damon tensed, ready to fight, but the two vampire women didn't react. Liz studied her nails while Drew simply looked amused. "Really, do you think I'm going to attack a vampire that hasn't even shed her milk teeth yet?"

Damon relaxed, feeling slightly foolish.

Stefan just sighed deeply. "I did love you . . still do . . but I love him more."

A tear threatened to spill, but Elena refused to shed it in front of them. "Let's go." She quickly exited, but Damon stayed behind for a moment.

His mouth opened, but before he could get any words out his brother spoke. "Keep her safe while she grows up." Stefan met his brother's eyes. "But I know you will."

Damon slowly nodded. "Maybe, maybe when some more time has passed . . " He didn't finish the sentence, but Stefan sadly bobbed his head in agreement.

She stormed out, pushing anyone in her path aside. He followed in her wake. She strode silently, one foot in front of the other, until they finally reached the wide sidewalk in front of the club. It was late, but the strip was lit up like daylight with crowds of people passing arm in arm. She stopped and turned to face him. "She lied." Her voice was bitter.

Damon's eyes searched her now tear streaked face. He gently reached out to wipe the tears. "Who lied?" he tenderly asked.

"She did. My mother." Elena's lips trembled.

"What? What did she lie about?" He used his voice to soothe and calm.

Elena drew deep shaky breaths. "When I ended it with Matt she told me that I wasn't losing him. I was setting him free." She swallowed harshly. "It was a lie. You don't set them free." She clenched her fists tightly. "You lose them, Damon." Her anguished look broke his heart. "I didn't set Stefan free. I lost him." She clasped a hand over her mouth to suppress a sob.

He quickly reached out to cradle her in his arms and comfort her. "We didn't lose him forever. " As he gently stroked her back he murmured into her hair, "We'll get him back. It's just a matter of time."

"I'll get you anything you want," he promised.

~ FIN ~