This story is canon up through until the last scene of Episode 4.8, "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street," and is completely AU from there.
Disclaimer: I do not own this material and my astronomical student loan payments are further proof I'm not making a cent from it.
Chapter 1
It's late afternoon. Elena is moving about the Salvatore house, cleaning up the mess from the night before. As she picks up the champagne glasses she contemplates her fight with Caroline. They might have made up on the surface but deep down she wonders if their friendship can ever really recover from this, from Damon. There is so much ugliness stretching between the two of them, more than she thinks is in Caroline's capacity to forgive. Sighing, she wonders why everything involving Damon has to be complicated. Why they can't just…be.
She stiffens as the front door opens and closes; she can hear a pair of quiet footsteps pad towards her. She can't see him but she knows it is Damon who hovers in the doorway, watching her. She lets him stay that way for a moment, pretending she doesn't notice. Just basking in the feeling of knowing he is there.
"Hey," she finally says after a moment.
A smile twinges at his lips. "Hey back."
"How was your night?" She asks, finally turning to face him. She knows the moment she looks at his face that he has no good news for her. He looks defeated. Exhausted.
"Awful." He replies. He looks at her like he is trying to drink her in. As if he isn't expecting she will be there for long. "Yours?"
"Same."
He moves towards her like he is gearing himself up to say something awful. "Elena…um. We need to talk."
"I know that I'm sired to you Damon," she interrupts. Damon raises his eyebrows but she continues, determined to say her piece. "Caroline told me. That's what you and Stefan were doing, isn't it? Is there a way to break it?"
"Not exactly. Which is why we need to talk."
"Tyler told me the bond doesn't affect the way I feel just the way I act." Elena insists. "My feelings for you haven't changed. Damon nothing has changed." She utters it as if by saying it with conviction she can make it the truth.
"Everything has changed Elena." Damon moves towards her, his eyes are insistent, forceful.
"Okay fine yeah I mean I've changed," She admits quickly, shrugging off the fact that the bond is obviously affecting her. "So have you, Damon, and I'm happy just like you were yesterday morning before we knew any of this."
"You know what would make me happy?" He raises his voice slightly in frustration, "is to know that this entire time that I've been completely in love with you that what you actually felt for me was real." He takes a deep breath, as if realizing he has mis-directed his anger.
"It is real Damon," Elena insists. "I know that it is. Damon I know what you're about to do please don't do this to me," she begs moving closer to him. He only backs away from her.
"I don't want to do this Elena. I'm not the good guy, remember? I'm the selfish one. I take what I want. I do what I want. I lie to my brother. I fall in love with his girl. I don't do the right thing." His voice softens, "But I have to do the right thing by you."
Elena makes another move towards him, grabbing his hand and holding it to her heart. "Does this feel wrong?" She asks, moving her other hand to his cheek, "does this feel wrong?"
He leans his hand into her cheek. "I have to do this Elena. It's what is right for you…and for Stefan."
"Damon please." She pleads. "Don't do this."
Damon grasps her chin and tilts her head towards his. "I love you Elena. But I'm setting you free. This is what I want. This is what will make me happy. You're going to trade places with Stefan okay? You can stay at Caroline's and Stefan will come home. " Elena takes a breath, waiting to see if she feels any different. She doesn't feel anything strange, anything different about herself. She still feels as drawn to him as she is to the blood.
"I don't feel any different." She confesses.
"I don't think it works like that Elena. We're still bonded. I've just…set you free. If this is going to work we're going to have to stay away from each other."
"I don't want this Damon," she says, her eyes are watering. "I really don't want this."
He reaches for one of her hands. "It's not forever okay? Just until…until we find the cure." He squeezes her hand gently and lets it drop. "You should go."
Elena wipes her eyes. "Fine." She states with resolve. She brushes past him and walks out the door. Damon lingers in the room, listening as she packs her things and walks out the front door quietly.
Elena puts her things in the car and turns the key but as she turns the wheel and heads out of the Salvatore driveway she knows she can't go straight to Caroline's. Her head is throbbing, her eyes are stinging, and deep in her belly she can feel grief, her constant companion, beginning to clench around her heart. She isn't sure where she is driving until she pulls off the road and finds herself facing the ruins of what was once the Salvatore plantation. She stares at it for a moment as the sobs begin to work their way out of her throat. She wants to go home. She wants to sleep in her own bed and wake up in the morning to Jeremy's god awful music. She wants her mother to fuss over her breakfast and her father to complain about her cheerleading outfit. She wants her brother to be a normal pain in the ass, not trying to kill her. For Caroline and Bonnie to not look at her as if she's a ticking time bomb. And most of all she wants this constant thirst to go away. She cries and cries and cries because she has never felt so alone in her life.
As dusk begins to fall she finally looks up from where she is bent over the steering wheel. Night has fallen, the moon casts an eerie glow over the ruins of the plantation. Looking at the rubble of what has long been lost Elena remembers the first time Stefan ever brought her here, how she stood in this very place filled with such a human sense of awe. It is funny, coming back her now. Now that she is different. Now that he is different. What she wonders now is what he thought on that day. Whether he felt the same grief looking at what was once his home, thinking about what was lost. But the time for asking such things is long past. Elena shrugs her shoulders, fixes her make-up, and puts her car into reverse. There are no answers here.
"Are you okay?" Caroline asks as soon as she throws open the door. "I've been so worried. Damon said you left hours ago!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to worry. You talked to Damon?"
Caroline nods and moves aside so Elena can come into the house. "He wanted me to make sure you were okay. He said he'd released you from the sire bond and you were pretty cut up about it. Are you alright?"
Elena shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about it."
Caroline smiles grimly, trying to put on her good attitude pep squad face. "That's okay. I've planned a whole evening of distraction. I've got movies and popcorn. And there's some blood bags in the fridge. Oh and I found those sour Skiddles you like!"
"Caroline I really…I just want to go to sleep."
Caroline's eyes are filled with pity. "Okay. Why don't you change clothes and I'll grab the blankets and stuff for you okay?"
Elena quickly puts on her pajamas and brushes her teeth. Caroline has spread more blankets on the couch than any one person could possibly need, as if she is trying to compensate in any way she can manage. She sits perched on the edge of her chair as if waiting to pounce on any problem that dares present itself.
"Do you need anything else?" She asks as if she is a small child.
"No thank you Caroline. I really just want to go to sleep." Elena says, crawling under the blankets.
Caroline hovers for a moment as if she wants to say something. "Ok, good night then," she finally says, flicking off the light and treading down the hall to her bedroom. Elena collapses onto the pillow with relief but finds it only momentarily; Stefan's scent lingers on it from the night before like a punch in the gut tugging at her conscience. She stares at it for a moment and throws it on the floor, cradling her head in her hands instead.
The following morning, Elena is haphazardly walking through the town square, trying to immerse herself in something other than her problems. Around her children are playing in the snow, enjoying their Saturday afternoon and going about their day with no inkling of the danger that lurks about them daily. An errant snowball leaves the hands of a small child, narrowly missing her. Jumping to the side, Elena's attention is drawn briefly across the street. A girl, dark haired, in a red jacket, leans casually against the wall. She lingers for a moment, making sure Elena sees her and ducks into the burned out building that caught fire two years ago, nearly taking Damon with it. Elena glances quickly from side to side, making sure no one else notices, and starts to cross the street. With all her senses on alert Elena slips into the building and closes the door behind her, her eyes flicking from one corner to the other. It takes her seconds to spot Katherine leaning casually against the wall. In moments she has her up against the wall, her arm against her throat, fangs out and snarling.
"So it's true then?" Katherine says laughing. She twists and in mere seconds she has freed herself from Elena and thrown her up against the opposite wall, her arm buried in her larynx, cutting off her air supply. "Did you really think you could take me? I have five hundred years on you." She lets Elena go, gasping.
"What are you doing here?" Elena rasps, bent over and gasping for air.
"Is that any way to greet your doppelganger? Manners, Elena." She brushes some non-existent dirt from her coat. "I heard a rumor you'd been turned. I had to see it for myself."
"Klaus is still here. You really risked that much just to see if I'd been turned?" Elena asks, incredulous.
Katherine shrugs. "Maybe there is more to it."
"I'm listening."
"Well I'm not going to tell you. What do you take me for? I need to talk to Stefan."
"So talk to him," Elena's eyes flash. "He's at the Grill right now. And he's drunk. So he may or may not kill you in public."
"Trouble in paradise?" Katherine asks, her head cocked maniacally.
"Actually, we broke up." Elena responds, ducking her head. "He's all yours. Go for it. Good luck."
"He couldn't love you this way could he?" Katherine taunts, her voice honeyed. "Now that you're like me, all he sees when he looks at you is me, isn't it?"
"What exactly do you want Katherine?" Elena spits out. "I have things to do."
"I'm sure you do. This will only take a few minutes." Before Elena can so much as blink Katherine has grabbed her, snapping her neck like a twig. Katherine pulls Elena's jacket off her and dons it quickly. She lowers Elena to the floor and darts out the door.
It's lunchtime and the Grill is packed. Perfect, it will be harder for people to overhear them. For once her plan is going ahead of schedule. She hadn't expected them to already be broken up, for it to be this easy to get to Stefan alone.
He's sitting at a table by himself, a glass half full of Scotch in front of him. She scans the room looking for anyone who might be a threat. Elena's friend Matt is bussing tables towards the back but she doesn't see anyone else she recognizes. No Jeremy or Damon and definitely no Klaus. She makes her way towards him and plops down at the seat across from him.
"What do you want Elena?" He spits out.
"Try again." Katherine says, pulling the bottle towards herself. "So sorry to interrupt what I am sure is a quality pity party but I have a proposition for you."
"Katherine." He states, sighting heavily.
"Just be quiet and act like I'm her ok?"
"Fine," he says, crossing his arms. "I stand by my original statement. What do you want?" He sits back in his seat, regarding her with a sense of irritation.
"I'm offering you a way out of here. I have a plan but I need some company. Interested?"
"And you picked me? Gee, I'm flattered." He downs the rest of his drink. "Thanks but I've already served out my sentence as your minion." He sets down his glass and gets up. Katherine remains in her seat, the bottle of Scotch now dangling between two fingers.
"So you don't want to kill Klaus?" She teases.
"If we kill Klaus, we kill all of us." Stefan replies rudely, grabbing his coat.
"Maybe I know of a witch who can get around that," Katherine offers noncommittally.
Stefan pauses for a moment and sits back down. "Okay I'm listening."
"Do you remember a vampire called Spike?" She whispers.
Stefan props his elbows on the table, leaning towards her. "What on earth do you want with Spike?"
"I hear he's associated with a witch. A witch so powerful she nearly brought on an apocalypse." Katherine leans back, knowing she has piqued his interest.
"And you think you can find the witch if you find Spike?" He whispers.
"Exactly."
Stefan leans back, laughing. "That's not a plan, Katherine, that's a wild goose chase."
"Call it what you want," she sighs. "I'm tired of running and watching you fail to kill Klaus over and over again. I suppose I should thank you for the fact you didn't manage it though."
Stefan reaches for the bottle and pours himself another drink. He knocks it back before he responds. "I don't know where Spike is Katherine. And if I did, I would not go all the way to California with you just to confirm that he doesn't know anything."
Katherine catches his drunken slip up instantly. "So he's in California?" She asks eagerly.
Stefan hesitates. "He was possibly…years ago."
"And?" She asks, propping her feet and stretching herself out over the rest of the bench seat.
"Look, all I know is that Lexie mentioned to me once that she heard he was going to the Hellmouth to take on the Slayer. That's all I've got."
"Idiot." Katherine grumbles. She reaches for the bottle and takes a swig, contemplating this.
"Yes. So he's probably dead."
"When was this?" She asks.
"I don't know. Late ninety's maybe?"
"Want to help me find him?" She asks flippantly.
Stefan leans forward unto his elbows. "Why would I travel all the way across the country on a dead end mission with you?" He says slowly. "Have you forgotten that I hate you?"
Katherine smirks, her eyes flickering with amusement. "You're so hot when you're drunk."
Stefan rolls his eyes. "And you always start flirting when you're getting desperate. Tell me when has that ever worked?"
Katherine ignores his question. "Think about it Stefan. There's nothing left for you here." She stands and reaches for Elena's coat and stands, pulling it on. She leans closer to Stefan, bringing her mouth close to his. "You know you miss me," she whispers against his mouth.
Stefan smiles against her lips, "Go to hell." He says and shoves her away from him. Katherine recovers quickly.
"One of these days you're going to realize how much you love me," she calls back as she walks away. Stefan just pours himself another drink.
Outside it is beginning to snow. Katherine heads back towards the building where she left Elena.
"Elena!" Caroline comes barreling towards her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. You snuck out before I could talk to you this morning."
Katherine changes her expression to the morose pout she associates with Elena. "Right I'm sorry. I had to talk to Stefan about…things."
"You told him about you and Damon?" Caroline asks, her eyes wide.
"Yes, yes I did," Katherine says evenly, hiding her excitement at this newfound information.
"I'm so sorry. Did he take it very badly?" Caroline asks, hiding her curiosity with a concerned expression. Katherine doesn't answer, knowing Caroline's proneness to revealing more information. "It's not his fault Elena," Caroline continues. "I mean this sire bond thing is throwing all of us. And I know you said Damon didn't take advantage of you and I totally believe you but you have to think about how this looks to Stefan."
"Yeah he wasn't very…" Katherine tries to answer but she is saved by Caroline's phone ringing.
"Ugh, I have to go deal with Tyler. Hybrid issues," she whispers. "We'll talk later okay?"
"Sure." Katherine says, she smiles widely at Caroline's retreating back and marches straight to the building.
Elena is sitting on the floor, just starting to recover.
"I have a proposition for you," Katherine exclaims. Elena rubs her neck and flexes it a few times, testing.
"Yeah I really want to help you after you broke my neck," she mutters.
"I had to see Stefan without Klaus getting suspicious." Katherine protests.
"You couldn't have just asked me? I could have told you that Klaus isn't even in town today. He went to Europe determined to get Caroline the 'right' kind of Christmas baubles for the event next week."
Katherine jumps right in. "Speaking of Caroline. I hear you're sire bonded to Damon."
Damn her big mouth, Elena thinks. "Word travels fast I guess," she snipes.
"I can help you break the sire bond," Katherine offers. "I just need a small favor from you."
"Damon and Stefan said it can't be broken," Elena says, still sitting on the floor. "Can I have my coat back please? That thing cost a fortune." Katherine shrugs it off and throws it at her, picking up her own off the floor.
"Who did Damon and Stefan ask, a witch?"
"Yeah I guess so." Elena responds, standing up and pulling her coat back on.
Katherine rolls her eyes. "Men are such linear thinkers. A witch can't break it. Only you can break it."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not that different from the werewolf sire bond. They break it by turning. You can break yours too, you just have to through a different process, a more inward looking one."
"How do you know this?"
"I've been around a whole lot longer than Damon and Stefan have Elena. I've seen a thing or two. I'm willing to offer you a deal. You come with me to help me find someone and I will help you break the bond."
Elena begins to think this through. "How do I know this isn't a ploy to lure me somewhere and kill me?"
"Well for starters if I wanted to kill you I'd just do it now. But I'm not. Partially because I know if I do Damon and Stefan will finally bring themselves to kill me but mostly because you may be of some use to me."
"Doing what?"
"I need help finding a vampire. And while I would prefer the company of someone who knows what they're doing, you'll do."
"And in exchange you'll help me break the sire bond?"
"Yes."
"Why do you want this vampire?"
Katherine smirks. "Let's just say I need a favor."
Elena thinks for a moment. The proposition isn't entirely unwelcome given she doesn't currently have a home, her brother is trying to kill her, she can't see Damon and her friends think she's losing her mind. If Katherine could help her break the sire bond she and Damon could be together. She could prove her feelings once and for all. It wouldn't solve all her problems but it would certainly ameliorate a few of them. And she could get of Mystic Falls for awhile.
"I'm in." She says after a moment.
Katherine's eyes flash with excitement. "I need to get out of here before Klaus returns. Meet me in Washington Square Park in two days."
Elena nods in agreement.
"See you in two days," Katherine says, ducking out the door before Elena can say anything else.
Back at Caroline's Elena gathers her things together. She's decided to take an evening train from Richmond that arrives in New York early in the morning. She can't bear this town any more. She feels suffocated, constrained. The looks she gets from Caroline, from Bonnie, everyone, they're filled with pity. They assume she can't do anything for herself anymore, like she's some kind of slave to Damon's whims. And as for Jeremy, she convinces herself that removing herself from the equation is at least temporarily the best thing for him. Shrugging her bag over her shoulder she surveys the room one last time and walks out the door.
"Going somewhere?" Damon asks, leaning against her car. He is trying to appear nonchalant but he is obviously agitated.
"How did you—?" Elena asks, glancing from the front door to Damon and back again.
"Ran into Stefan," Damon responds, moving towards her. "He was pretty drunk but still had lots of interesting things to tell me. I pretty much put two and two together from there."
"What did he tell you?" Elena asks defensively.
"That Katherine was here." Damon takes her bag from her and opens the door to the passenger side. "Get in the car Elena."
Elena just regards the open door with her arms crossed. "Where are we going?"
"Elena. Get in the car." Damon says evenly, stepping close to her and holding her gaze. Elena meets his gaze for a moment, glaring, but she marches past him and climbs into the passenger seat. Damon throws her bag in the back and follows.
"Now what?" She asks as she buckles her seatbelt.
"Music?" Damon asks, switching on the radio as he pulls the car onto the main road.
"What did Stefan tell you?" Elena asks, ignoring him.
Damon pulls the car onto the highway, heading in the opposite direction from Richmond. "He said Katherine thinks she can find a vampire who knows a witch who can take down Klaus without killing us all."
Elena's eyes widen. "She didn't tell me that. But if there's a way to take down Klaus we have to try!"
"Oh c'mon Elena, she's lying." Damon says gesturing wildly, "She's always lying. She's a selfish manipulative little bitch who will say anything, do anything to get people to do what she wants. Case and point. She somehow got you to go along with this entire thing without even telling you about Klaus."
"I don't think she's lying Damon." Elena protests.
"You don't know her like I do."
"Well thank god for that right?"
Damon rolls his eyes. "You know as well as I do that there's more to this. And it's going to involve you getting hurt or killed or who knows what else."
"I can take care of myself Damon." Elena says, exasperatedly. "She told me she could help me break the sire bond."
Damon regards her, unsurprised. "Oh please. She made it up because she knew you'd be desperate enough to go along with her. Listen to me, Elena, if there is another way to break the sire bond I will find it. There is no reason for you to run off with Katherine of all people."
"Maybe this isn't something you can do for me. Maybe this is something I have to do for myself." Elena insists.
"If you go with Katherine all you're going to do for yourself is wind up dead." Damon says, hitting the steering wheel in frustration.
"Well at least I'll be doing something! I can't live like this anymore Damon!" Elena pleads.
"We're going to find you a cure, Elena." Damon says softly.
"No. This! This whole letting you and Stefan take care of everything. I have to learn how to take care of myself. I have to break this on my own. The same way Tyler broke his."
"Elena there's no way to do that. In case you hadn't noticed, you're not a werewolf."
"We don't know for sure there isn't a way. All you did was ask one witch. You don't even know for sure that there is a cure either. It's all legends and myths. But I won't ever know if I can break the sire bond if I just sit here in Mystic Falls waiting for my own brother to kill me. I can do this Damon. I know I can."
"Elena..." Damon sighs wearily.
Elena shifts in her seat, facing him. "Damon, either I go or you invoke the sire bond." She insists levelly. Damon flicks on his turn signal and pulls off to the side of the road.
"Don't do this Elena." He says, cutting the engine. He stares ahead at the headlights coming towards them on the other side of the road. They throw light across his face only to plunge it back into darkness seconds later.
Elena watches him for a moment in silence. "If you really loved me you'd believe in me enough to let me go," she says softly.
Damon finally turns towards her with the full intensity of his gaze. "And then you'd be dead. What happens then Elena?" He asks.
"Then at least I tried!"
"Yeah well I don't accept those odds." He says, moving to turning the car back on. Elena grabs the keys and yanks them out of the ignition before he can do it.
"What will you accept then?" She yells, frustrated. "You've made it abundantly clear we can't be together. What am I supposed to do? Wait around Mystic Falls for you to find the cure?"
"Yes exactly. We are going to find a way to make you human again Elena. And when that happens the less your life has been disrupted the better. You should finish high school, go to college."
"Yeah and maybe I can join the pep squad and help Rebekah plan dances and go to football games." She mutters sarcastically.
"You should have those things Elena. I know I didn't get that before but now that you're a vampire, I do. And if you go off with Katherine you're not to get to do any of it and you're going to regret that someday. And what about Jeremy? Are you just going to abandon him?"
"There's nothing I can do for Jeremy right now. He's a danger to me and frankly I'm a danger to him. It's just better for him if I'm not around." She twirls the keys absently in her hands.
"Is that what you really think Elena? That it would be better if you weren't around?" Damon asks, covering her hand with his and easing the keys into his own.
"Look around Damon, look at my life. Everything I touch now just falls apart.
My friends can't stand me anymore, I'm flunking chemistry, my brother is trying to kill me. And then of course there's you. Falling in love with you is the only thing in my life that makes any sense anymore and you and everyone else is ruining it with this stupid sire bond!"
"You're flunking chemistry?" He says flippantly.
"Damon!" She screams in frustration.
"Hey," he says quietly, bringing a hand up under her chin. "Did you mean it?" He asks, his voice just above a whisper.
"Mean what?"
He hesitates, as if he is afraid of what she might say. "That you're in love with me."
"Of course I mean it," she says tenderly. "And I am going to break this sire bond and prove it to you."
Damon holds her gaze for a moment longer and then breaks it off, moving his hand back to rest on the steering wheel. "Elena. I am going to tell you something." She opens her mouth to interrupt but he raises a hand in silence. "You are going to hear me out and when I'm done if you still want to go, I'll drive you to the train station myself."
"Are you serious?" She asks dubiously, wondering if he has some secret plan up his sleeve.
"I am. But you have to hear me out first. Deal?"
Elena nods eagerly. "Okay."
Damon takes a deep breath, as if gearing himself up for what he has to tell her. "Did Katherine tell you anything about the vampire she is looking for?" He asks.
"No she didn't tell me anything. Why?"
"Because I'm pretty sure she came just to ask Stefan where to find him. And this guy she's searching for is…he's not like any vampire you've ever seen before, Elena. Stefan knew him, I've heard stories about him. He makes Ripper Stefan, hell he makes Klaus look like Bambi."
"I thought Klaus was the meanest vampire there was?" Elena says skeptically.
"Well there are things you don't know. Things that…we've never told you. Mostly because I'm not really up on the details myself and Stefan is not one for talking about it. This vampire, Spike …he's a different kind of vampire."
Elena's brow furrows in confusion. "What do you mean a different kind of vampire?"
"Like I said, I'm not sure on the details but essentially he comes from a different bloodline."
"What so he was sired by one of the other Originals? So what?"
"Well not exactly. He's essentially a different breed. I don't know where they come from but they're not like us. They don't have their humanity when they're turned, it's not even an option. No guilt, no conscience, nothing. They live for the feed and nothing else. They torture, they rape, they kill, and they get nothing but pleasure from it. They're just…pure demons."
"How do you know all this?"
"Stefan used to run with him back in his ripper days. I think he had some role in the Monterey massacre. But mostly what I know is from stories."
"Oh."
"If you're going to do this Elena, you should know who you're getting into bed with because Katherine is just the tip of the iceberg."
"I'm a vampire now Damon."
"That is only going to protect you so far, Elena. He could still easily kill you if he felt like it."
"Or maybe he doesn't." She says optimistically, taking his arm. "Maybe he does point us towards the witch we need. Maybe we'll be rid of Klaus. I was willing to go just to break the sire bond but if there's a chance we can take down Klaus too…"
Damon shakes his head. "It's too dangerous Elena."
"So what? I'm in danger wherever I go. I always have been. Does it really matter if I'm danger here in Mystic Falls or somewhere else?"
"Here in Mystic Falls Stefan and I can protect you. We can't go with you Elena, we can't keep you safe if you leave." Damon's voice breaks with emotion.
"I know that. But I have to learn how to protect myself, Damon. Katherine's managed to survive this long she can't be too bad of a teacher. I can't rely on you two forever. And once Stefan finds out about us I'm pretty sure protecting me is going to be the last thing on his mind anyways."
"He's going to be hurt and angry but I don't believe that. And I don't think you do either."
"Will you tell him?" Elena asks, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.
"You're really going to go aren't you?" Damon says, resigned.
"The only way to keep me here is to force me not to. And you're going to have to invoke the sire bond to do that. This is bigger than I thought it was. It's about so much more than you and me. Getting rid of Klaus…it's about all of us."
Damon puts the keys into the ignition and starts the car. "I am so going to regret this." He says as he maneuvers the car onto the next exit and turns around, heading toward Richmond.
"Thank you. Damon, for trusting me." Elena says with a half smile. She can't think of a time that he has ever done this.
"Don't get yourself killed Elena. I'm dead serious. If you die, I am coming after you."
"Pun intended?"
Damon just narrows his eyes. "I'll tell Klaus that you left town for a few weeks to clear your head. He's distracted with the cure, he probably won't come looking for awhile but he will come looking and we both know if he wants to find you, he will."
"What if it takes longer than a few weeks?" she asks.
"Don't." Damon says curtly.
"How long do you think it'll be before he starts to get close to finding the cure?"
"Depends on Jeremy. And whether Stefan is willing to stall him."
Elena's eyes flash. "Don't stall him. Jeremy shouldn't even be involved in this at all. The sooner he's out of it, the better."
"You haven't got much time then. Once they get him deprogrammed to stop trying to kill us Klaus isn't going to stop at anything to get that map finished."
Damon pulls onto the exit for Richmond. "Are you sure about this Elena? Because I can just drive us back to Mystic Falls right now and we can pretend this never happened."
"Damon, I'm going."
He flicks on his turn signal glancing absently out the window as they wait for a light to change. "I hate this."
"I know you do." She says gently.
"I love that you want to try though. It's been so long since I've seen you want to try."
The light changes and he pulls into the train station. He cuts the engine and they sit for a moment.
"You'll call?" He finally asks, trying not to look at her. "You don't have to tell me where you are, just…let me know you're okay."
"Of course." She touches his arm. "Hey. Look me Damon. I'm coming back. I promise you. I am coming back." Damon finally meets her gaze.
"Be safe Elena. Please." He pleads.
Elena leans forward, resting her forehead against his. "I love you." She says, smiling. She brings her lips to his and then, a moment later, in a whirl of vampire speed, she is gone.
A/N: This story is kind of an experiment, it came to me one day in one of those full, Technicolor bursts of inspiration. Since those so rarely happen, I decided to honor it. I've been watching The Vampire Diaries for awhile now and lately I've been starting to get a little bit fed up with Elena's behavior so this is my attempt to do something about it. While this is technically a Buffy crossover, it is mostly Vampire Diaries. There's just a few elements of Buffy thrown in. If anyone is interested in being a beta please let me know. I'm open to any comments/concerns/bursts of outrage if you feel to urge to leave them. Or not leave them. I refuse to pander. Either way, thanks for reading!