I sat down to write Delijah and then Dalaric came spewing out and I was like damn. So then I updated Dalaric then finally the Delijah came around :')

Disclaimer: I don't own much of anything TBH.

Warnings: A bit of language?

Simmer

Damon's stomach is churning when he wakes up the next morning and no matter how many blood bags he's consumed it just won't let up. He's nervous.

Damon Salvatore doesn't get fucking nervous.

Except he is and he can't stop running over all the possible outcomes of the next few hours. His meeting with Elijah – Elijah doesn't show, Elijah's already told Klaus and they kill him, He ends up so entranced with Elijah that he can't form comprehensible words...

He groans as he exits the boarding house and makes his way out into the sunlight. Why did he want to do this again? Oh yeah, to fix his idiot brother's messes and save his ass because whether he would admit it or not, Stefan was in too deep and he just couldn't win against Klaus.

He conveniently ignored the voice in his head whispering that he would have liked to wake Elijah up anyway. Nope, not gonna listen.

He was grateful when Elena called, her easy conversation pushing him back into his comfort zone because though he would deny it later as he got out of his car his heart was racing like a pre-teen before their first high school dance. Why was this making him such a schmuck?

"So you're the prime suspect huh?" He laughs. Only Elena could be framed for murder, of all the people in Mystic Falls trouble was certainly drawn to her.

"She doesn't think that I did it," Elena replies, "she's just trying to find out why somebody used one of my family's weapons to kill a council member."

Damon rolls his eyes then because to be honest they all know there's something just not right with Meredith Fell and Alaric is definitely getting way too close, way too fast. "Well why don't you just ask Ric if his dirty little doctor had access to the weapons?"

He smirks to himself at that before he hears Alaric snip back loud and clear, "you're on speaker phone dick!" Now he just feels bashful, a little annoyed though too that Ric refuses to see the evidence all points to her. Come on, join the dots.

"I'm just saying, first suspect's usually the right one, don't get so defensive." His jaw ticks but he keeps his voice relaxed knowing it won't do any good to get Ric wound up, he was annoyed enough already that everyone kept doubting his new girlfriend's intentions. Really though, they were all just trying to keep Ric from ending up like her last boyfriend...

He sighs as Elena shoots down his logical conclusion that Meredith killed Brian. He understands what she's doing though, god knows Alaric's had a terrible run with relationships, it would be great for something to work out for him, but this one just wasn't going to, he could smell an evil bitch from a mile away.

If not though..."It was Klaus, had to be." That was the only other explanation.

Elena hesitates before suggesting to the two of them, "what if it was Stefan? He was crazy that night-"

"No." Damon cuts her off, quick to defend his little brother. "It wasn't Stefan."

Elena seems offended that he cut her down that quickly and shoots back, "he was crazy that night Damon! He was trying to piss off Klaus, he was capable of anything!"

Damon's lips thinned. "I know my brother Elena, it wasn't him." He stops his walk through the field, a little startled by Elena's fierce determination to believe it was Stefan. Why? Stefan had never given any indication he'd care to kill a worthless human and her line of reasoning made no sense – why would Klaus give a crap that a human medical examiner died? No, Meredith Fell was a much more logical conclusion.

At that he looked up, opening his mouth in preparation to tell Elena to stop being an idiot where things concerned Stefan and open her eyes, but the words died on his lips. Ten feet away in a dashing, well cut suit and all his elegant glory was Elijah, one hand in his pocket, studying Damon as he spoke.

Something about him was different than the last time he was 'alive'. The hair maybe? He didn't know but whatever it was he liked it.

"Look, I gotta go." He muttered into the phone, preparing to hang up when Ric called out to him quickly.

"Wait! Where are you?"

Damon made sure to keep his voice neutral as he replied. "Tea with an old friend." He hadn't told anyone else his plan of waking up the original and no one besides himself and obviously Klaus knew at the moment, he figured it was better to keep it under wraps, at least until he'd seen the vampire and judged whether or not he would take their side or whether Damon had in fact made a colossal mistake.

Elena was calling out for him to wait but he simply flipped the phone shut. That in itself made him feel out of sorts. Since when would he ever hang up on Elena? Since yesterday, obviously.

"Elijah." He greets, walking forward smoothly and turning on the charm. After the note he left (that he'd been stewing over all night) he decided to take the cocky approach to the whole situation, put himself a little more in his comfort zone and not, under any circumstances let Elijah take control of the situation.

"My favourite original!" He crows, smirking. It's so definitely not a lie either. "Back from the dead." And god was he praying that wasn't a bad decision.

It wasn't even the fact that he was afraid Elijah would go 'dark-side', it was more the fear that he'd take Damon with him. Willingly.

"You clean up nice," he complimented, smirking again when the original remained silent. Damon gave him a proper look up and down at that, not only for show but also because he'd been dying to do so since the vampire had first appeared and now he had a chance to do so without giving himself away.

"You left something in my jacket pocket." Elijah says blandly, pulling out the paper note and Damon feels like wincing but maintains his composure. Would it hurt the original to show some emotion? Maybe give him an idea of where exactly he stood after his little letter?

His heart began beating faster, fight or flight syndrome kicking in as he anticipated the worst. "Dear Elijah," he mutters, repeating the letter to himself, "let's get together about the destruction of your brother." He finally looks back up to meet the original's eyes because despite the fact that he's lost his smirk, he's Damon Salvatore damn it and he faces his shit head on.

"Ex oh, ex oh..."

"Damon." Elijah finished and Damon's eyes nearly flicker shut. He will vehemently deny it later but that slightest hint of accent and the tone of voice...

He sees the older vampires eyes flicker with amusement and wants to snarl at himself for even thinking about such things. "Was I right to un-dagger you?" He continues coldly, "or are we gonna have a problem?"

God he sure hoped not because there was no way they'd be able to put him down again.

Elijah shrugs easily, "I'm here, let's talk."

It's almost becoming too casual and Damon has to force himself not to relax, to keep his cool and for god's sake keep his shit together. Now was not the time to be companionable, who knew what his real intentions were.

"I'll start with an easy question...any idea what kind of Klaus-killing weapon would be sealed in a mystery coffin?"

Elijah smiles at him slowly. "No. My turn. Why is Klaus intent on destroying your brother?"

Damon frowns at the fast turn around but smirks a little, deciding to fall back on humour to put himself at ease. "Nothing much, a little lovers spat."

Elijah looks over at him. "How long has that been going on?"

Damon studies him calculatingly before replying, "Stefan left with Klaus, they came back together a few months later, killed his dad," Elijah raises an eyebrow at that but motions for him to continue, "then my baby brother had the brilliant idea of getting revenge on Klaus," he waves his own hand at that, "long story. So Stefan stole you and your family in the coffins and it's been a little civil war ever since."

Elijah muses over this for a minute before replying, "Klaus asked me to help him destroy Stefan, he seemed terribly distraught."

Damon frowns. "Yeah, the thing is, I don't think Stefan really wants to fight him either, it's some kind of weird little game between them."

Elijah smirked darkly and Damon took a step back, suddenly realising how comfortable he'd become in the conversation, falling into step with Elijah as they walked.

"So. Why me Damon?" Elijah stepped closer then and Damon tensed, holding his ground out of stubbornness but wanting to put some space between them because of the heat that had ignited in his chest. Unfortunately Elijah only took another step closer. "You could have woke up the others." He whispered softly, "or even all of us, but you only un-daggered me." He took another step, bringing them nose to nose. "So why just me?"

Damon drew in a shaky breath, his eyes darting to the side as he lost his composure under the heavy stare of the original. "Like I said," he spat out hastily, "you're my favourite original." He tried to smirk but it might have come out as a grimace, he wasn't really sure.

Elijah only smiled at him knowingly before taking a step back as if nothing had happened, as if he couldn't hear Damon's heart trying to break it's way out of his chest due to their proximity.

"So, are you going to help me, or not?" Damon figured it was way passed his turn to ask a question and he needed some time to get his heart rate back down and put some distance between the two of him, to banish the ridiculous need he had to throw himself across the two feet separating them and sink his fangs into the original's supple neck. That train of thought only brought on vivid images of Elijah's reaction should it be how he wished it to go and he had to cut that off before he became a tomato.

"Klaus promised me my family."

Damon snorted angrily, shaking his head. "He's promised you that before." Pick me.

"What can you offer me?" The original raised an eyebrow in reply and sent a smirk his way. Damon's brow furrowed into a dark glare. The bastard knew the effect he was having on him and he was exploiting the fact. The statement was double-layered and Damon knew exactly what Elijah was implying and damn it if he didn't want to agree.

"I pulled the dagger out of you chest. You already owe me." He settled on, crossing his arms and ignoring the previous implication entirely. Unfortunately for him it seemed Elijah wasn't ready to change to subject and within seconds he was in front of Damon, a mere foot away and a finger was trailing it's way down his pale cheek.

Crystal eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. "Yes and how can I thank you for that, Damon." Damon nearly choked on air at that, remaining stock still, eyes like saucers.

"Um..." Composure completely blown he actually stuttered before pulling himself together. Deciding there was no way he could save face he simply took a step back and a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again Elijah was smiling at him and he growled, wanting to punch the damn original's face in for manipulating him like that. The way he made him feel, how the blood boiled in his veins, it reminded him too much of Katherine and they all knew how that had went. One hundred and fifty years of his life wasted on a lost cause and heartbreak.

He turned on his heel then and began to walk away. If Elijah really wanted to play on their team, he'd come and find him. Until then he really didn't care about the fate of Mystic Falls as long as he wasn't here making a fool out of himself.

"Damon." Elijah called out and he stopped in his tracks against his will. "How about dinner?" Damon's eyes just about bug out of his head and he snaps around to face the brunette, jaw hanging open.

"What?"

Elijah smirked. "You heard me. Let's have dinner. You, me, Stefan and Niklaus." He raised an eyebrow. "We can discuss this like adults."

Damon gaped. "You're serious?"

Elijah levelled him with what was definitely a 'serious' look. "Deadly." He looked down before adding quietly, "I want my family back, Damon."

Damon sighed. He knew the feeling. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly before putting on a cheeky smile, "it's a date." He then walked away without looking back and this time he met no resistance.

He decided to head back to the boarding house instead of checking in with Elena – he had a double date to convince Stefan to go on and he wasn't taking no for an answer. If he even tried Damon would use brute force because he sure as hell wasn't missing this date.

"Get dressed," he commented as Stefan walked out of the bathroom in just his jeans. "We're going out."

Stefan looked at him humorously and threw back offhandedly, "yeah, sorry, not interested."

Damon glared at his little brother icily. "I didn't ask. Elijah and I have organised a little couples counselling for you and Klaus."

Stefan turned around slowly, glaring at him. "Fuck off Damon. Whatever plan you have up your sleeve I'm not interested."

He grinned at that. "You're always into my plans Stefan. And we're going to negotiate a deal."

Stefan stared at him blankly. "Klaus will never take a deal, Damon."

Damon laughed at the know it all tone. "Well, you know him best Stef..." He trailed off with a smirk. "But relax, all we're doing is buying a little time."

Stefan frowned at him. A century and a half apart still couldn't keep Stefan from being able to read him like an open book. The only consolation was it went both ways. "What is this really about Damon?"

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "I told you, we're buying a little time to give our wicked witches a chance to pop the top on the mystery coffin."

"So that's your plan?" Stefan played along, "stall Klaus?"

"No, you're going to stall Klaus, Stefan. I'm going to eat, drink and be merry." He looked at his brother pointedly, sending a subtle dig that he thought this little spat between him and Klaus was nothing more than a game.

"Oh am I? I'm going to stall Klaus, try and keep his mind off things while you've unleashed an original to help him out?" Stefan shook his head at him while pulling on his shirt and Damon pouted.

"Un-daggering Elijah was smart."

Stefan smirked at him through the mirror. "And now we get to the real issue."

Damon spluttered, an raising both eyebrows and throwing his arms up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He crowed.

"You just want to...get chummy...with Elijah." Stefan straightened his collar and sent a dark smirk his way. "How does Elena feel about that?"

Damon snarled, "come on Stefan, we all know you're dying now you're seperated from your 'bro' Klaus." He raised his fingers in air quotes. "So shut up and get dressed. We're going." He resisted the insane urge to invoke elder rights, feeling enough like a chastised child already. Totally caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He was satisfied when Stefan got the vibe of his order and reluctantly toed on his shoes, pouting all the while.

Now to find his best shirt...

A/N: Mmm I still don't know. I fear my Damon isn't consistent, he's more difficult to write than Stefan/Alaric. What do you think? Continue/Can it? :|