A/N: I was hoping to get this chapter posted a couple of days ago, but life kept getting in the way. For any new comers, this story is AU, but I'll be using info from the show up to Season 4 Episode 9. In the next few chapters we are going to be meeting some new people, not introduced in the show, like Damon & Stefan's mother, and a few other surprises.
Like any author I like reviews, but I've also come to realize that most people do not leave them. So I try to take comfort in the number of people who follow my stories or just follow my writing. I try to leave a thank you for any one who does leave a review, and I do so love insight and comments left by others. So please, if you can leave a review, long, short, positive or negative. Thanks.
Chapter Three: All I Need Is A Miracle
Elena Gilbert was in pain. There was simply no other way to put it. The last year of her life could be summed up in a litany of obituaries, punctuated by very brief moments of utter happiness, and long moments of utter despair. Right now, she was firmly planted in desolation, the ache in her heart an unrelenting source of that desolation. She had grieved for all the people she'd lost, the pain of their loss healing slowly, but healing none the less. All of that ended when Damon had "set her free," simply because Stefan had asked him to. Neither of them had thought to ask her what she wanted, after all they both believed that because of the sire bond, she wasn't capable of knowing her own mind, or heart.
"You doing OK?" Bonnie asked, taking a quick peak at her friend.
"I don't even know what OK is anymore," Elena replied on heavy sigh.
"That is a sentiment we both share," Bonnie chuckled. "I barely remember the simple things that would have us on the phone with each other for hours. And that was after we spent all day together in school."
"Do you wish we could turn back time?" Elena asked, turning slightly in her seat so that she see Bonnie's face. "Go back to where life made sense, and we didn't start the day by wondering who might die, or who we will have to kill?"
"Hell yes," Bonnie said fervently. "But then reality would sink in and I would have to say no. Going back to those days doesn't erase all the things that go bump in the night. It would just make us unaware, and unprepared to deal with them. At least this way we stand a fighting chance."
"I hate to say it, but if this is our fighting chance, we'd be better off sticking our collective heads in the sand, and hoping the bad shit would just pass us by," Elena said wryly.
"Not with our luck!" Bonnie exclaimed with a smile. "I think it says a lot that Matt is the only complete human left in our little circle. Probably means he's out saving grace."
"Still," Elena continued on a sigh. "I'd still love to go back to that part of our lives where the only things that mattered were, what college to apply to, and what to wear to Senior Prom."
"I never thought uncomplicated, and boring would hold so much appeal," Bonnie said, as she quickly glanced over at her best friend. She had noticed Elena rubbing her chest, her face slightly drawn, as if she was in pain, but before Bonnie could ask her what was bothering her, Elena's phone broke the silence.
"Hey Care," Elena answered. A lengthy pause ensued, and Bonnie damn near wrecked the car, when Elena let loose with a loud exclamation, and grabbed her arm.
"We have to go back to the lake...," she began, but something Caroline said made her stop mid sentence, and Bonnie took the opportunity to pull over before they ended up crashing, or going off Wickery Bridge. She was pretty sure neither of them were up for a late night swim.
"He's headed to the boardinghouse?" Elena asked her voice puzzled, and strained.
Bonnie watched Elena's face, and she could discern from her expressions that something bad was happening, something very bad. They had planned to drive straight to Elena's from the lake house, but decided to stop to get something to eat, and to give them some time to talk. It had been a long time since they had given themselves that luxury, and they were long over due. Bonnie had decided not push her friend about her relationship with the older Salvatore, so they had ended up talking about her and Jeremy.
It had felt good to just sit, talk, pick at french fries, and just be friends. As they were heading to the car, Elena asked Bonnie to take her to the boardinghouse instead of to her own house. She was already missing Damon, and since he was staying at the lake house with Jeremy, she didn't think he would care if she crashed there instead of home. Bonnie knew that Elena planned to not just crash at the boardinghouse, but to crash in the bed of one Damon Salvatore. She had fervently hoped that Stefan wasn't in residence tonight, knowing Elena was nowhere near ready to deal with the whole situation.
"Car," Elena said in an attempt to get in a word. "What..., how..."
"Damn it Caroline, shut up for a damn second!" Elena exclaimed. Bonnie watched as her friend began to rub her chest in earnest.
"Why is Stefan heading to the boardinghouse?" Elena hit the speaker button, and Caroline's voice filled the interior of the darkened car.
"He tried calling both you, and Damon," Caroline explained. "When neither of you answered, he called Jeremy."
"Which one of them was Stefan trying to get in touch with?" Bonnie asked as foreboding began to tighten in her stomach. The two friends glanced at each other as the silence stretched a beat too long.
"I'm pretty sure he wants to talk to Damon," Caroline replied her voice trailing off at the end.
"Caroline," Elena started as panic began to fill her chest. "Why do I get the feeling you're leaving out something?"
"Well," Caroline hedge.
"Spill it Car," Bonnie said, her nerves beginning to fray.
"He knows."
"Stefan knows that Damon and I...,"
"Yes," Caroline interrupted her. "He knows that the two of you have been...,that you and Damon..."
"Stefan knows that Damon and I slept together," Elena finished for her.
"Yes," her friend replied. "But..."
"But what Caroline?" Bonnie asked in exasperation.
She was growing alarmed as Elena continued rubbing at her chest, but it was the short, shallow breaths that were really beginning to frighten her. Her friend had gone very pale, the pupils of her eyes widening, almost obliterating out the irises. Bonnie wasn't sure what was happening to Elena, but she can tell it wasn't good, and it was rapidly going downhill.
"Stefan thinks Damon took advantage of the sire bond," Caroline answered in as sheepish voice. "He said he was an idiot for believing that Damon would let you go, and that killing his brother was the least he could do to right this particular wrong."
"He won't kill Damon," Elena said. "He's wanted to in the past, but he never has. He won't kill his brother."
"Elena," Caroline said quietly. "I think you might be wrong this time. I've never seen Stefan like this, and God knows Damon has driven him to the brink of insanity on more than once occasion, but this time, this time I think he really means to do it."
"OK," Bonnie starts. "Let's say Stefan is serious this time; but Damon is at the lake house. We'll call him, or Jeremy, and let them know that they have a potentially out of control Stefan heading their way. Damon can clear out and give his brother some time to calm down."
"Damon is not at the lake house," Caroline interjected. "Jeremy said he left about fifteen minutes after the two of you. That he wanted to be alone for a little while at the boardinghouse, and he would head back up to the lake in the morning."
"OH GOD!" Elena exclaimed as she nearly ripped the car door of its hinges in her haste to get out of the vehicle.
"Are you guys pulled over on the side of the road by Wickery Bridge?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah," Bonnie answered as she scrambled to get out of the car. "There's something really wrong with Elena."
"Well duh," Caroline replied, stopping behind Bonnie's car. "She's basically throwing away the love of her life, because she's sired to a psychopath."
"No Caroline, something is seriously wrong with her," Bonnie retorted as the blond vampire stopped at her side. "She seems like she's in pain, or at the very least uncomfortable. She's been rubbing her chest for awhile, and now she's breathing in short, shallow pants."
"Elena," Caroline called, as she moved around the car, and stepped into her friend's path. "Honey what's wrong?"
Caroline was shocked when Elena stopped and looked at her. Her friend was pale, paler than normal, almost as if no blood was beneath the skin to give it a rosy hue. Her eyes were huge, the pupils completely obscuring the irises, and when those eyes locked onto her, Caroline felt as if Elena was looking straight into her soul. It scared the shit right out of her, and she took a small step back away from Elena, as her fight or flight instinct kicked in. Caroline noticed that she wasn't the only one freaked out, Bonnie had also taken a step away from Elena.
"We need to get her home," states Bonnie, as she moves closer to her friend, only to draw away again when Elena's gaze locks onto her.
"Damn it," Caroline exclaims as powerful tremors seize Elena. "What the hell is happening here, what's wrong with her?"
"Nothing is really wrong with her." Bonnie, and Caroline jump as a man separates himself from the shadows, and strides towards them.
"But if we don't get her to the boardinghouse quickly, she will die," he tells them, blurring to Elena's side, and catching the unconscious vampire before she could hit the ground.
Damon opened his eyes very slowly, and still the room titled crazily, and his stomach threatened to empty itself of any blood that he had taken in, but he refused to give Stefan the satisfaction of seeing him so weakened. He grabbed his brother's wrist in a death grip, and placed it right over the spot where his heart was thundering in his chest.
"Wouldn't want you to miss," he rasped, his blue eyes locking with his brother's. He wasn't going to make it easy for him, if Stefan wanted to kill him, then by God, Damon was going to make him watch as his life slipped away from him.
"I wasn't planning on missing," Stefan replied, righteous fury still burning through him, fueling his actions. "You deserve this; more than anyone else, you deserve to die."
As the stake entered Damon's chest, Stefan felt some one grab him by his shirt, and hurtle him through the air. The couch he landed on splintered into several pieces from the force of the impact, and a jagged piece ripped through his shoulder causing him to cry out at the pain. He felt warm, sticky blood seep through his shirt, and he reached up, pulling the wood from his shoulder. Stefan looked over to where Damon was still sprawled out on the floor, the stake protruding from his chest. He pushed himself off the floor, needing to see if it was done, needing to see if his brother was dead.
"You can't kill him," Katherine said blocking his path. "I know you want to, but you can't Stefan; you just can't. More importantly, I can't let you."
"Why not?" Stephan asked, anger, and hurt making him sound desperate. "He's hurt every person who comes into his life. He's destructive, self centered and only cares about himself. He takes advantage of every opportunity handed to him, we'd all be better, we'd all do better without him in our lives."
Katherine moved to kneel at Damon's side, her small hands gliding over his body, checking to see if Stefan had indeed managed to drive the stake into Damon's heart. She swore succinctly in her native language as she took stock of the situation. He had lost a staggering amount of blood, and the vervain on the bullets, and stake were keeping him from healing any of his injuries. The stake was embedded deeply in his chest cavity, so not a good sign. They were going to need a miracle, but they had always known it was going to come down to one person, and they would be unable to control or manipulate the odds in their favor.
"We are running out of time."
"I know, trust me I know. I have her, and we are making our way to you post haste."
"Hurry, please hurry. He's going to need your blood."
"I will be there in but a moments time,сърцето ми."
She dug the bullets out of him, but left the stake where it was. She wasn't the one who had the right to remove it. Katherine bit her wrist, forcing her blood into Damon. She was old, and her vampiric bloodline was ancient, so she was hoping that her blood would buy them some time, and right now they needed all the time that they could buy, beg or borrow.
"Stefan," Katherine said, her voice weary and strained. "There is so much more here than you, or any of us for that matter, really know. There are things you don't know, secrets that have been buried for an eternity, and a reckoning of global proportions taking shape. If Damon Salvatore dies, none of us stand a snow ball's chance in hell of seeing the dawn of a new century."
As her words trailed off, the door to the boardinghouse exploded open, and Stefan watched Bonnie, and Caroline hurry into the room, followed by Elijah, who was carrying an unconscious Elena in his arms. Stefan wanted to step forward, take Elena from him, but a look from Elijah held him in place. He watched mutely as Katherine propped Damon's back against the wall, and Elijah settled Elena into Damon's arms. No one moved, or said anything for a few moments, until the little white wolf pup scampered across the floor to snuggle into Elena's lap.
"If you believe in God, any God, a higher power, or even a lower power, now would be the time to beg them for help, because we are going to need it, we are going to need one hell of a miracle tonight," Elijah said as all eyes were riveted to the couple on the floor, a couple that looked closer to death with each passing second.
A/N: Looks like things are still up in the air for our boy Damon. Chapter four will be a very emotional journey (if I can pull it off) for Damon and Elena. Let me know what you think, and thanks for taking the time read!
