The Witch

Elena was nervous as she knocked on Bonnie's door. The walk to her house had not helped. She still wasn't sure how to approach the witch.

"Elena."

"Hi Bonnie. Can we talk for a minute?"

Bonnie stared at her best friend briefly before answering. "If this is about Damon or Stefan, I'm not interested."

"Bonnie, please."

"Elena, no."

"It's about me OK? Please." Elena said quickly before the door was completely shut in her face.

Bonnie hesitated then opened the door, though she didn't look convinced. A nod of the head told Elena she was allowed to enter.

"Have you been OK lately?" Elena asked as they sat at the kitchen table. She really was concerned about Bonnie since Grams died.

"I'm getting by."

Bonnie's face hadn't softened from the harshness it held at the door. Elena was getting concerned. She nodded slightly and decided to start what she had come to do.

"I wanted to thank you for saving Stefan and Damon."

"You said this wasn't about them." The witch's face had turned hard.

"I did. But I haven't seen you since then, and I had to tell you."

Bonnie only nodded.

"Bonnie, I'm scared. Everything is falling apart around me and I don't know what to do."

Elena's best friend did not answer. She didn't even soften. Elena made the decision then. She wasn't going to mention Katherine or her threats. It would only make things worse.

"You've been my best friend for years. We can't let this tear us apart."

"How can you say that, Elena? You know what he's done." Bonnie's expression was close to a glare.

"Damon?" Elena noticed that the appeal to friendship was ignored. "I know. Some of it he did to me."

"And I am not going to let him do it to anyone else."

"Bonnie, he's changed. You know he's been helping." Elena was almost pleading now.

"The Founder's Day celebration was full of vampires, vampires about to feed on us. Emily's spell stopped it."

"That wasn't Damon's fault. He was trying to stop them."

The witch's glare remained. "I did stop them. And Damon and Stefan still live, or whatever it is vampires do." The words were more spat than spoken.

"They trusted me. I need their trust." Elena said softly.

"What do you want from me Elena?" Bonnie asked, her voice still hard.

"They are under control. I want you to leave them alone."

Bonnie stared at Elena. "They're under whose control?"

"They are controlling themselves. You know they are. You know they worked to protect the town."

"I know they worked to protect you. And you protect them no matter what happens."

"Bonnie…"

"Look around Elena," Bonnie interrupted. "What do you see? You have an aunt, a brother, vampires, and friends that care about you, that love you. All I have is a heritage, a responsibility and a 'best friend' who is asking me to turn my back on that. Why? To protect someone who has done nothing but hurt her – and a lot of other people."

This had not turned out well. Elena played her last card. "Bonnie please, I'll die if anything happens to Damon - or Stefan."

She did not respond, her expression remained unchanged.

"Will you at least talk to me before you do anything to one of them?" Elena knew it was a long shot, but she had to ask.

"I'll make you a deal, Elena. If you tell me if Damon hurts anyone, I'll tell you before I destroy him."

It was over, Elena had lost. She stood up and started to leave.

"I'm sorry Bonnie." She was not sure why she said it. It just kind of came out.

Bonnie stayed seated. "Tell Damon I know he's out there. He's only making it easier for me."

Elena didn't know what Bonnie meant but she didn't think about it. She left and quickly walked to where she had seen Damon before entering. He wasn't there.

"Damon" she said – afraid to speak too loudly. She had to repeat the call several times before he appeared.

He could see she was upset. "Didn't go well?"

"You need to go somewhere else. It's not safe for you here."

Damon laughed. "Katherine's back. Who's safe anywhere around here?"

He had walked around a bit while Elena was inside, and knew she was on foot. "Need a ride? Where's your car?"

The Reason

Elena asked Damon to take her to the boarding house where she tried to find comfort in Stefan's arms, though without telling him what had happened. Damon was in another room.

"I can tell you're upset Elena. You know you can talk to me about anything, anything at all."

Elena was amazed at what she was keeping from him – things like Katherine – when he had, she thought, been opening up to her lately. Like when he told her of Bonnie's threat – or warning as he had called it. However, she felt had to work it out for herself, though she wondered if she was still afraid of his reaction to Katherine's visits. She also wondered why Damon had not told him about Katherine.

"Elena…"

"Oh, sorry. Did you say something?"

He didn't have time to respond. With a loud noise, the door flew open and Bonnie walked in, murder in her eyes.

Stefan quickly rose to face her.

"Where's Damon? I know he's here."

Elena rose to face her as well. "What's wrong?"

The witched turned her glare to the human. "John Gilbert. He was missing so I started using my power to try to find him - and I did. I saw a vision of Damon burying his bloody body."

Damon had appeared behind Stefan and Elena.

Stefan held out his hand to hold the witch back.

"Bonnie, it's not what you think…" Elena started. Her power must have flung Stefan aside – he was suddenly gone.

Damon was suddenly off the ground, and Elena could see he was in pain.

"Bonnie, no! It wasn't him." Elena screamed as she started to put herself between Bonnie and Damon.

Without warning, Elena found herself hitting a wall. She felt pain as she landed on the floor with her wrist in an awkward position.

She let out an "Ow!" as she tried to recover and orient herself. 'Katherine was right. I can't believe it,' she thought.

"She was right." Elena said out loud this time. Then she saw Damon again.

"Bonnie!" She screamed as loud as she could – somewhere between shrieking and crying. "It wasn't Damon! It was Katherine! Bonnie! It was Katherine!"

That drew Bonnie's attention. Damon slipped to the floor.

"It was Katherine," Elena repeated softly as she rubbed her wrist and tried to stand. "Damon was just cleaning up after her."

The witch glared at Elena. "You knew Katherine was here and did this, and you didn't tell me?"

Stefan was standing against the wall he had hit. "Katherine is here?"

Elena ignored Stefan. She would have to deal with him later. Bonnie was still a threat. "It's not what you think."

"How could it not be what I think? You just said she killed John Gilbert. I've got to find her, I've got to…"

"Bonnie no!" Elena interrupted, "She was protecting me." Not the complete truth, but close enough.

"Did she tell you that?" Stefan asked. "Everything she wants, everything she is, is a threat to you, a threat to us."

"No. She was protecting me," Elena repeated.

"And now you're protecting her?" Bonnie angrily retorted. "She's a monster Elena. She kills people to stay alive. Do the math."

"Math?" Elena was getting stronger and had moved to kneel next to Damon, but she scowled at Bonnie now. "Katherine saved Emily, who then lived long enough to have a daughter, who had a daughter and on down to you. You do the math. You are only alive because of Katherine. We all are."

Bonnie was stunned. Elena wasn't finished. "You don't know what you've done. God I hope she doesn't find out about this."

Bonnie could see how upset Elena was. She wasn't sure how to react.

Stefan began moving. "Katherine was here and you didn't tell me? Elena…"

"Later Stefan," Elena cut him off. "Please, not now. I need you to take Bonnie home and keep her safe there."

"Elena…"

She didn't have time for this. "Please Stefan. If you have ever trusted me about anything, trust me about this. She needs to go home and you need to make sure she is safe. Stay with her there until I go there. Please!"

Stefan could see worry in his girlfriend's eyes. His remained angry, hurt – she was not sure. Finally he turned to the witch. "Bonnie? Will you come with me?"

Bonnie had watched Elena in stunned silence. "OK, but this isn't over Elena."

Elena did not respond as they left. She turned back to Damon thinking 'you don't know how right you are.'

Damon was sitting up now, eyes open, though she could tell he was weak, maybe still in pain. She tried to control her tone after the confrontation that had just happened.

"What do you need Damon?"

"Blood" he said weakly, pointing at her neck.

She froze. Should she? She had done it for Stefan, and it had almost ruined him. It took Damon's help, his willing help, to set things straight.

"Not you," the vampire said moving his hand slightly to point behind her. "The fridge."

Elena was up immediately. She found and brought back two packets of blood.

As he drank them she unintentionally voiced a question she had in her mind. "Is refrigerated blood as good as good as fresh?"

Damon was getting stronger. "It tastes much better if the heart is beating when you drink it."

Elena only then realized she had spoken. "I didn't mean that. I mean, is it as good for you as fresh human blood? Does it keep you as strong?"

Damon was standing now, looking much better. "I don't know of any studies. What just happened here?" he asked, glaring at Elena.

Elena was caught off guard by his expression and glared right back at him. "I just saved your life – again."

"You know what I mean. Have you seen Katherine again?

Her expression turned to worry as she remembered the problem. "Yes. But we need to get moving Damon."

"Where?"

"My house. I don't know if she'll come here, but maybe she'll go there. If she does, I – we – need to be there."