Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries isn't mine. Though I do have a secret plan to change that and make Damon my very own… *cackles evilly*

A/N: Thanks so much for reviewing, everybody! Here's the new chapter! :D

Chapter Two

Damon tried his very best not to move. He knew that in his weakened state, getting his throat sliced open definitely had the potential to sting a little. "I've gotten similar reactions from women everywhere, but I never expected one from you, Elena," he cracked, bracing himself on the counter with both hands.

Elena's already angry expression contorted with thunderous rage. "Shut up," she snapped. "I'll cut your head off, Damon, don't think I won't. I'm not the weak little girl you saw on your last trip through."

He blinked several times, wondering if he was actually still buried in the tomb. Maybe this was all some crazy dream. Or nightmare, really. If it had been a dream of his, there would be a lot less clothing and much more spilled blood. "Don't get your knickers in a twist. What did I ever do to you? Recently, anyway."

"Don't pretend you don't know," she growled.

The conversation was beginning to go around in circles. Damon eased out from under the blade in a blur of movement, throwing the knife across the room and pinning Elena's arms to her sides. He held her close, and both went still, staring into the other's eyes. Elena's chest heaved up and down, and her eyes were wide. Damon's eyelids lowered minutely as he stared at her lips.

"What are you going to do to me?" she whispered.

He abruptly let her go, stung at the accusation and apprehension in her voice, and stepped away. "Don't worry, darling. Your womanly virtues aren't in any danger from me. No more than normal." Noticing from the corner of his gaze that her virtues were actually much more womanly than before, Damon folded his arms. "I just want you to tell me what the hell is going on. And why you've suddenly gone and pulled a Rip Van Winkle on me."

Elena stepped uncertainly away from him, slowly sagging against the counter behind her. Her hands were shaking. "You're not Rip Van Winkle. And it's been five years since you've seen me, so of course I'm older." Her tone indicated that she didn't believe his mental health to be in a very good state.

Damon felt, for the second time that day, as though he'd been punched in the gut. "Five years? Since…since what?" he demanded.

She stared at him, a question looming in her eyes. "Since you turned...since you turned Stefan over to Katherine." Her mouth trembled.

His jaw sagged. "I what?"

She sighed loudly, still defensive. "Is some new game of yours, Damon? Something you've come up with to keep yourself entertained? Did you get bored taunting Stefan and murdering innocent people with Katherine?"

Starting to get angry, Damon suppressed the wild urge to break everything he could get his hands on. "Why do you keep mentioning Katherine? I thought you were over little Stefan keeping her a secret from you all this time."

Her eyes were like shards of ice. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You and Mr. Broody got all hot and heavy, and you apparently found some incriminating bit of evidence about his ex. This prompted you to go and get yourself in a nasty little car accident. We went to Georgia."

Elena just stared. "I haven't thought about that in years."

"Don't you get it? It hasn't been years, Elena! I don't know if you've hit your head or what, but that was only a couple of months ago. A while before your witchy little friend let the tomb collapse on top of me." Damon compellingly waggled both eyebrows. "Ringing a bell, Ms. Gilbert?"

She gaped at him, and seemed to be having some trouble breathing. "But, Damon–"

"The last thing that happened to me was the tomb," Damon said. "I've been in there all this time, apparently for five years, waiting for Stefan to get me out. But he was too busy, I guess." He couldn't keep the bitter tone from his voice.

"Are…are you telling me that you've been there all this time?" Elena gasped, the fight visibly going out off her. Her shoulders slumped. "Five years?"

He shrugged, attempting nonchalance even when he couldn't believe that five years of his undead life had already gone by. He'd undoubtedly missed dozens of new soap opera-like twists and turns. But he'd always thought Stefan would turn into his beloved an immortal long before now. Was he mental? "Where else would I have been?" he said, answering her dazed question.

Elena reached out, as though to touch her battered cheek, but hastily dropped her hand again. "Then…you didn't really do it. Everything she said was a lie," she said, realization dawning on her face. "I should have known. That bitch!"

Damon couldn't stop his eyes from widening. "Who, Bonnie?" The witch popped into his mind at the most inopportune moments. And he could just see her poisoning Elena's mind against him, especially since he'd drank her blood for revenge against Emily that time.

"No. Katherine," Elena snarled.

For a minute, he thought she was crazy. Then he realized that he needed to let her explain things. The wrinkles under her eyes and the scar on her temple told him that what she said about five years passing was undeniably true. Something weird was going on. "Just tell me your side of the story, Elena. I'll listen."

Elena exhaled unevenly, and sank into a kitchen chair. She didn't take her eyes from Damon, swallowing hard. "After the tomb collapsed, Stefan tried to get you out. He really did. But there was too much debris; I practically dragged him away. He took Bonnie and her grandmother home, and I went inside with her. I stayed for a few minutes, but…she died. Bonnie's grandmother. I guess it was the strain of trying to keep the tomb open for so long, but she couldn't survive–"

Damon impatiently waved a hand, using the other to rub the healing wound on his throat. "I don't particularly care about the witch and her grandmother. If the story could move along a bit faster, now?"

She glared at him. "You said you'd listen," she said.

He immediately realized his mistake. "And I will. Just…keep going," he said. His throat had started burning again, and his legs were aching. He needed to sit down, but his pride wouldn't let him.

Taking another deep breath, Elena cleared her throat and kept going. "It all started about a week later. Stefan was attacked by several vampires, and almost couldn't fend them off. They were too strong. Bonnie and I tried to help, but Stefan accidentally flung her away and broke her arm. Bonnie was angry, understandably so, and nothing I said could calm her down. After we took her to the hospital, she wouldn't answer my calls and IMs, and totally ignored me at school. She thought it was Stefan's fault she broke her arm."

"It was," Damon said helpfully.

Elena went on like she hadn't even heard him. "She's barely spoken to me since that day, and has been incredibly distant. Then Katherine came, and everything changed."

Damon went still. "K…Katherine?" he stuttered, completely floored.

"She took Stefan, and came to meet me. She said you had freed yourself from the tomb and gone to her. She said you'd decided to team up with her and take down Mystic Falls. We fought, and she gave me this." Elena gestured to her scar. "Jeremy and Jenna came to help me, but…but Jenna was killed. Katherine drained all her blood."

She was shaking now, and Damon didn't feel much better. He could hardly believe what she was saying. Katherine had come back to Mystic Falls? Told Elena that he was working with her?

"Katherine brought a bunch of new vampires she'd turned with her, and took over the whole town. She told everyone about the existence of vampires, and threatened them with death if they told anyone. She got Mayor Lockwood and his cronies on her side, and took several people hostage. She's been holding them all this time. Other than that, everything's still going on as normal. As normal as possible. We've…we've adapted."

"Took over the town? How this that even possible?" Damon demanded.

"Katherine did it, and more." Elena hesitated, swallowing hard. "Damon, you wouldn't believe how cold she is. How ruthless. She's ruling this town with an iron fist, and there's no room for slipping up."

Damon's head was spinning, and he steadied himself on the counter. "How is she keeping the townspeople from attacking her?"

"I don't know. But she has something Jonathon Gilbert invented, something that puts a perception filter around the town. Anyone who tries to leave forgets everything about her and the vampires until they come back within the official city limits. It...happened to me, about four years ago."

He was silent for several moments, trying to process everything he'd been told. "Stefan? Where is he?"

She bowed her head. "I haven't seen him since Katherine took him. She's told me he's still alive, but…"

Damon's legs finally gave out on him, and he toppled involuntarily to the floor. He ignored Elena's startled cry, staring hazily into nothing. There was a loud pounding in his ears. Katherine was here in Mystic Falls, and she had taken his brother hostage. There was no way of knowing if he was even still alive. Or as alive as an undead bloodsucker could be, anyway.

"Damon?" A hand that was blissfully warm brushed against his cheek, and he flinched. Looking up slowly, he met Elena's eyes. "You saved my life that night. In the tomb. If you'd escaped and left me there, I'd be dead right now."

"If I'd escaped, Katherine probably would have done what was good for her and stayed away," he said forebodingly, shoving himself into a sitting position.

Elena was crouched before him, and her provoking throat was much too close. "I still can't believe you've been in that tomb for five years," she said.

"Neither can I," he said.

"And your neck…it still hasn't healed all the way." She was leaning even closer, blushing faintly as she peered with fascination at his throat. "I'm…really sorry for that, by the way. I thought..." She trailed off, then spontaneously wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug.

The vampire relaxed into her affectionate embrace, closing his eyes. Several moments passed, then his gums started to ache, alerting him to the danger of their situation. "Elena, don't," he said quickly, pushing her away. She fell backwards with a muted thud, expression shocked. "I'm still…I was in that tomb for five years, okay? I only fed a little before I came here, and I don't think it's a good idea for you to get very close to me right now."

She frowned. "Damon, you need to get your strength back. Then maybe…"

"What?" he asked, trying valiantly not to think about how delicious her blood smelled.

"Well…I thought we could rescue Stefan. Get him out and bring him back here. Stop Katherine…"

"I'm not some fabled knight in shining armor, Elena. I'm a vampire. All I care about is blood, sex, and violence. Why should I care if my ex has kidnapped your boyfriend?"

Elena reacted as though she'd been slapped, reeling backwards away from him. "I know you don't really feel like that, Damon," she said quietly.

"Do you?" He bared his teeth, and her expression told him that the gesture had the frightening effect he'd hoped for. "How do you know I'm not going to grab you and drink your blood right now?"

"You won't."

"I could kill you."

"You won't." Her voice was firmer now, and she moved closer to him once again. "I know you, Damon. You won't kill me. And you do care about Stefan, otherwise you wouldn't have haunted him all this time."

Unable to think of a suitable retort, he settled for scowling instead. "I'll think about it. But I'm not Superman, and I need to regain my strength before taking down some bizarre vampire regime." And before seeing Katherine again, he added silently.

Her unexpected smile was like the sun breaking out from behind a cloud. She held out her wrist and pulled the sleeve back, obviously an impromptu gesture. "Here. Take some of my blood. It'll make you strong again."

Damon was shocked, unable to look away. "...I can't..." he said. He'd dreamed about tasting her blood for months, and the chance had finally presented itself. The only problem was…he couldn't do it. He didn't want to take advantage of her that way. She was Stefan's, even if he was currently missing in action. He'd claimed her first.

"What are you talking about?" Elena impatiently scooted closer, still brandishing her wrist. "Don't be stupid. You help me, I help you. End of story."

But before he could reply, the doorbell rang.

Elena and Damon both went still, staring in the direction of the front door. Damon slowly got to his feet, bracing himself on the counter, and Elena followed suit. "Your brother?" he asked edgily.

"Jere? No way. He's at a friend's tonight." Elena's gaze flitted towards his, then she hurried across the room and picked up her knife from earlier. Staring at the glistening blade for a moment, she then slipped it into the back of her jeans.

"You're not expecting anyone?"

"Not tonight," she said in a hard voice. She started across the room, towards the front door. The bell rang again, insistently.

"Don't, Elena. It could be…" His voice trailed off. He didn't know who he expected to be waiting at the door when Elena opened it, but he didn't have a very good feeling.

"It'll only look suspicious if I don't answer it," Elena insisted, pausing to glance over her shoulder at him. "Stay in here and don't be seen." She disappeared out into the hallway.

Damon took a deep breath, tensing as he prepared to defend Elena as best he could. He listened as she reached the door, and opened it.

*For any of you who don't know, Rip Van Winkle is a story published in 1819, about a man who falls asleep and doesn't wake up for twenty years.* And I would really appreciate some reviews! :D