Something Came Up
DG32173

Sarah: the title for this popped in my head a split-second before a nearly full plotline. I hope everyone enjoys what my mind gave me nearly instantaneously. Now to just get it all down and worded properly.

CREDIT
Credit goes to my outstanding beta for his remarkable patience with the extended dry spell my muse went through. I'm hoping this will be ample reward for all that patience, Cameron!

DISCLAIMER
Vampire Diaries and the cast belong to L.J. Smith. Mystic Falls and the setting belongs to the CW. Any references to music, movies, TV shows, books, TV stations, etc, are most likely references to things found in the real world and as such belong to their respective copyright holders. If I use something that I made up personally or was suggested to me by my beta or a reviewer, I will put a section like the above and say what belongs to who before the chapter it appears in. There's you're disclaimer. You're not getting another.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, PLEASE READ!
This fanfic takes place between 1x07 "Haunted" and 1x08 "162 Candles". So post dead Vicki and pre dead Lexi. Lexi does not die in this universe, by the way. Damon has his own plans for getting the secret council to settle down that do not involve Lexi.

WARNINGS
Other than the alternate universe stuff listed above, rated with a big fat M for thoroughly mature content in the future. Alternating Damon and Elena viewpoints. Starts with Damon's view.

SUMMARY
After the death of Vicki, Damon realizes that Elena is the doppelganger he truly wants, and devises a plan to subtly win her away from Stefan. Will Elena figure out what he's up to before it's too late? And how will Stefan deal with how Elena is spending her free time? Damon/Elena

Chapter 1
The Plan

I sip at my glass of blood as Elena's words from two nights ago race circles around my mind as well as every reaction I've had towards the human since our true first meeting.

"It matters and you know it!"

I have to agree that she's right in that there is something that has come to matter to me. Something that matters even more than the goal I've had for nearly a century and a half now. And that something is the human who bears a remarkable resemblance to my sire. Every time I get within inches of her, sparks of electricity fly between us, and I know damn well she feels it to. But when I touch her, even if it's just through her clothes… well, the sparks of electricity turn to raging flames consisting of the desire to get even closer. Again, I know damn well she feels that as well. She's always been just as reluctant as I am about pulling away from each other.

Two nights ago, I was filled with raging bloodlust to sate the Craving and Elena had been covered in her own blood when I showed up. What should have been going on within me was a raging war to keep from sinking my fangs into her to drain her dry. What was going on within me was a far different war, the war to keep from pulling her into my arms and showing her everything she's been missing out on while dating my brother. She would not have appreciated that in the least, though she would have enjoyed it just as much as I would have.

She fights this bond that has somehow kicked up between us. Her head has an entirely different opinion of me than her heart does. I can tell that much by what I've read in her journal. She may claim to hate me. But every journal entry she has written since my little game with her the first time she came to the boarding house was more about me than everything else combined, even on the days I didn't make a blip on her radar.

And as much as I have tried to fight it, I'm finding that our bond is something that I can't just shove on the back burner. It's grown too damn powerful and it's still growing stronger by the day, whether I let her see me that day or not. I have never had a bond like this with anyone in my life, not even my brother before Katherine entered our lives.

I sigh when my brother walks in the front door. "What are you doing here, Damon?" he asks. "Don't you have some diabolical plan or other to work on?"

I smirk, keeping my back to him as I stare into the flames. "Maybe I'm just considering my options of what to do next," I reply, the most honest I've been with him in more than a century. "After all, every diabolical plan can meet a stumbling block even the maker doesn't expect. Mine has and I'm considering what I should do about it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stefan demands.

"Stefan, you're my little brother. You know damn well I don't have to explain anything to you that I don't want to. And I don't want to reveal my hand to anyone right now. So run along. I'm sure you have homework or something to do. After all, you're in high school. Again. Just don't forget what happened the last twelve times you attended high school."

I proceed to ignore him completely. I take another sip from my glass of blood. I vaguely make out that he's saying something but since I'm ignoring him completely, I only make out the hum of his voice. When he finally gets the hint that I'm ignoring him, he leaves the living room. Just as I'm about to fall back into my thoughts, a very familiar car engine pulls into the boarding house driveway. I suppose I should have paid at least a little attention to baby bro. He was probably making threats about what he'll do to me if I tried something against Elena when she showed up.

No way I'm letting him know that I could never bring myself to do anything to hurt her physically. I decide to take a seat in my favorite chair and wait for her to come waltzing in like she owns the place. Which she does right on cue, not even bothering to knock. "Elena, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I ask with a smirk.

Rather than ignoring me and heading to the library where Stefan is, she comes straight for me. The scowl on her face tells me that this is not a pleasure visit. "What did you say when you compelled my brother the other night?" she demands.

I take a sip of my blood. I had been wondering when she'd get up the nerve to confront me about that. "I did what you asked of me, Elena. I took away his pain," I tell her.

"That shouldn't … he is …," she stammers, aggravation causing her train of thought to stumble rather than flow smoothly. She sighs angrily, running a hand through her hair. She glares at me. "He has been acting very differently since you messed with his mind, Damon," she snaps. "I want to know what your compulsion on him was, exactly."

No way in hell I'm giving her that. Not with Stefan in the house oh-so-obviously listening in. I frown at her. "You wanted his pain to be taken away, Elena," I remind her. "You wanted him to forget that night happened. I did that. If he's acting differently now, well, did you ever stop to think what the side-effects of taking his pain away would be?"

"Side-effects?" she asks in confusion.

"Newton's third law of motion applies to more than just physical actions and physical motion. 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.' Every action we take, whether it's physical or not, puts into motion a reaction to that action. I acted to take away Jeremy's pain through compulsion. He is now exhibiting the reaction to that."

She licks her lips as she thinks about what I told her and my eyes fall to her perfect mouth. Everything in me is demanding that I pull her in my arms and kiss her senseless. But I can't. For one, she's infatuated with my brother and he just so happens to be right down the hall. That's when my new diabolical plan hatches: Elena Gilbert will be mine. I have never had the reactions I have to her with anyone else, not even Katherine. And I know just what to do to win her into my arms.

"You know, St. Stefan's right down the hall in the library," I tell her, though I would rather eat my favorite jacket than watch her walk down there. She nods but hesitates. "Whatever you want to say, you can just spit it out."

She purses her lips briefly before speaking. "Thank you for taking care of my brother, Damon," she says.

"No problem. Now you should get moving. Your darling boyfriend is grinding his teeth over how cozy we seem to be getting," I tell her, sipping at my blood. It literally pains me to watch her walk down the hall towards the library but I know damn well she'll soon be mine. I won't let this one slip through my fingers.