Within seconds, Damon has Katherine up against a tree, his left hand wrapped tightly around her neck, and his right arm digging forcefully into her hip, to keep her from wriggling out of his grasp. "What are you doing here?" Damon growls menacingly, his face, just inches away from the woman, who, over the course of 140 plus years, has transitioned from the Love of his Life, to his Sworn Enemy, to his Tentative Ally.

Watching Damon attack Katherine, churns up a myriad of complicated emotions in Elena, not all of which, she will allow herself to recognize. Katherine looks SO MUCH like Elena in this moment, clad in her favorite blue shirt and most comfortable pair of jeans, her long straight hair, splayed not-at-all unattractively across her face. It is impossible to watch this exchange take place, and NOT be reminded of what Damon and Elena were doing with one another, just moments before . . . back when Elena too been pinned up against a tree by the elder Salvatore Brother.

Elena can still feel Damon's touch on her skin, his lips on her mouth, the way his torso pressed up against hers, in an intense moment of passion between them. Her hair now smells undeniably of his cologne, her neck and chest, of his natural musk.

Elena's skin tingles at the memory of Damon's body. And her heart still burns from the realization of her cruel unfaithfulness to Stefan, and the knowledge that this unfaithfulness was more than just an impulsive action brought on by extreme circumstance. Elena's mind and heart have been unfaithful as well . . . and continue to be unfaithful, with each passing moment.

But what frustrates and shocks Elena the most is her jealousy. She is jealous of Katherine, for being able to feel Damon's hot breath on her face, while Elena waits alone in the darkness. And the fact that her doppelganger is so obviously enjoying herself right now certainly doesn't help matters.

Elena wraps her arms around her chest, and shivers exaggeratedly, in an attempt to exorcise these complicated, undoubtedly sexual, thoughts from her mind, and focus on the matter at hand. What IS Katherine doing here? Why isn't she with Klaus, pretending to be HER, and preparing for The Sacrifice? And where is Stefan, during all this?

For a moment, Katherine appears genuinely frightened, but not of Damon . . . of something else . . . something far more sinister. Still pinned to the tree, Katherine looks back over her shoulder, as if waiting for someone or something to arrive. Then, in a flash, the fear in her eyes disappears. She is Katherine again. And Katherine is going to have some fun . . .

"Mmmmm, you smell different Damon," Katherine coos seductively, leaning into Damon's chest and inhaling. "You smell good enough to eat. Almost . . . human" she winked. "But there is something else I smell . . . something familiar. Damon Salvatore, are YOU wearing my perfume?"

Elena blushes furiously at the obvious insinuation of that last statement. Earlier in the evening, she had generously applied Katherine's perfume to her neck and chest, in an effort to mask her human scent, and inhabit the ROLE of the Manipulative Vamp more fully. If Katherine can genuinely smell "human" on Damon, just from the few . . . moments he and Elena had spent together, than Klaus would be able to smell "human" on Elena, for sure. And then there was the issue of Stefan's olfactory senses . . .

Damon feels his heart throb painfully in his chest. Katherine's "disguise" is having a major effect on him, which is inconvenient, to say the least. While his mind and his heart know full well that this is not Elena he is attacking, his body is clearly confused. Damon felt pangs of arousal course through his muscles, and reverberate across his body.

Get a hold of yourself Damon! This is Katherine. And she is a THREAT to Elena. You HAVE to protect Elena. He tells himself, trying to channel his raw sexual energy into the ferocity and intensity he will need now to do what was necessary to get the woman he loves out of danger.

"You didn't answer my question, Katherine. What are you DOING HERE?" Damon repeats, more forcefully this time, his fangs protruding from the sides of his mouth, in anticipation of a fight.

"Oh, I was just out getting some late night exercise . . . Not the same kind of exercise you two have been getting, of course," Katherine replies breathily, casually extending her foot outward, and using it to pointedly rub Damon's upper inner thigh, which, aside from his neck, just so happens to be the Elder Salvatore's SECOND favorite erogenous zone, as Katherine knows quite well.

Dammit Katherine! Damon closes his eyes for a moment, in grudging ecstasy, before returning to himself. Thinking fast, he throws Katherine from the tree, and tackles her, as she crashes to floor. Katherine doesn't even try to fight back, which frustrates Damon, and frightens him a bit. What is she hiding? He wonders.

Removing a small dagger from his back pocket, Damon straddles Katherine, holding the pointed object just inches above her heart. His hands are shaking from the effort. Could he really do this? Could he kill the woman he had once vowed to love for all eternity? He thinks to himself. If it means saving Elena . . . YES . . . Yes, he could. His heart replies.

Katherine chuckles maddeningly, clearly not at all frightened by this most recent attempt made on her life. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she sing-songs.

"Why not, when I would get SO much joy out of watching you die a slow and painful death?" Damon responds with a smile, allowing the dagger to tear into the fabric of Elena's favorite shirt, and touch Katherine's skin.

"Well, for starters - in case you've been so busy boning your brother's girlfriend that you've forgotten - you NEED me to continue to impersonate Elena during The Sacrifice, in order to carry out your plan to have her stake Klaus," Katherine answers calmly.

"Silly, Katherine. You aren't the only one who always has a Plan B," Damon bluffs, knowing full well that, despite the "Secret Weapon," he already has waiting for him at the Sacrifice Site, Katherine is still very much an integral part of his plans.

"Also, do you REALLY think that someone as evilly brilliant as Klaus would be dumb enough to let Elena go wandering in the woods, without putting a few protections in place first," Katherine offers, thrusting her body upward ever so slightly into Damon's groin, as the dagger nicks her skin, causing blood to trickle out from the hole in her shirt. "I've been compelled not to leave these forests, except to travel back to the Site. I've also been compelled to KILL anyone who tries to forcibly remove me from the premises, especially one DAMON SALVATORE."

Elena's eyes widen at the implications of Katherine's most recent admission. Having been silent throughout this entire exchange, the Petrova Doppelganger finally finds her voice. "Klaus compelled ME to kill Damon? How would I even manage to do that?"

Katherine smiles. "It's true. You are kind of puny, not to mention ridiculously weak. But Klaus thinks of everything, I assure you. Hey Damon, would you mind reaching into my bra, and extracting the objects hidden in there? I'd do it myself, but, you're sitting on my hands."

Damon rolls his eyes, and leans forward onto Katherine, as he reluctantly slides his left hand down the vixen vampire's shirt. Katherine moans lightly, as Damon's hand brushes across her chest, causing a furious Elena to recognize that she COULD definitely kill a vampire . . . if sufficiently provoked.

Damon removes two weapons from Katherine's . . . well Elena's . . . lacy bra, and wonders how he never noticed them there before. In his hands now rest a small dagger, and an object that looks like a small gun, only it is a bit flatter in shape than most guns are. "It shoots wooden stakes," Katherine explains, upon noting the confused expression on Damon's face. "This can be particularly helpful when attempting to kill vampire attackers, who AREN'T sitting right on top of you."

Damon slowly rises, dropping the weapons to the floor. Once free from his weight, Katherine too pushes herself up off the ground. Dusting herself off, and combing the grass and bits of tree out of her hair, she moves toward Elena.

Elena instinctively takes a step backward from her evil identical "twin." "Why did Klaus let you enter the forest, in the first place? Wouldn't it have been easier to just keep you tied up until the Sacrifice?" She inquires cautiously.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm on Death Row, Elena. And the opportunity to take a walk in the same woods my parents used to take me hiking in, when I was a child, for one last time, was my second dying request," Katherine explains in her almost nauseatingly innocent 'Elena' voice.

Elena shakes her head involuntarily at Katherine's mention of her parents. How did SHE know Mom and Dad used to take me hiking in these woods? She wonders to herself.

"What was your FIRST dying request?" Damon asks suspiciously, his eyes wide and intense, Katherine's unique choice of words having not gone unnoticed by him.

Katherine grins widely, as if she's been waiting for this question, all night long. "Well, I requested one final Conjugal Visit with Stefan, of course."

Elena's whole body tenses up at the mention of Stefan's name, "He wouldn't," she says, though there is uncertainty beneath her words that wouldn't have been there, had this conversation happened an hour earlier.

"No, you're right, Elena, HE wouldn't. Because HE actually cares about you, not that you deserve it," Katherine remarks icily.

Katherine's words make Elena feel as though SHE has been shot with a stake gun. Katherine is right. I don't deserve Stefan. I don't deserve either of them. "Is he OK?" Elena whispers.

"Who, Stefan? Oh, he's fine . . . for NOW," Katherine answers menacingly.

"Are you going to tell him . . . about this?" Elena asks, with a mixture of fear and guilt

Katherine approaches Elena, cupping the latter's hand in her cheek. On the surface, the gesture seems loving and affectionate. But Elena knows all too well the venom that lies beneath. "And use up the best piece of blackmail I have on you two, without getting something in return? You should know, by now, that's not how I work."

Damon looks at Elena, and is pained by the fear in her eyes and the sadness in her voice. Though there's a part of him that would love for Stefan to dump Elena, so that he could have her all to himself, he knows that ending the relationship in this way would destroy Elena. And that's not something he could bear. "What do you want us to do, Katherine? What will it take for you to keep quiet about what you saw here tonight?" Damon asks reluctantly.

Elena meets Damon's eyes now, for first time, since Katherine has arrived. The look they share with one another only lasts seconds, but it speaks volumes. Realizing the extent of what Damon is willing to sacrifice for her happiness, makes Elena feel incredibly guilty, for all that she has put him through since they met. But it also makes her fall even more deeply in love with him than ever before.

Katherine silently circles back toward Damon, until she is just inches away from him. She places her pointer finger on his chest and trails it town his bare stomach. "Dumb Damon . . . always falling for the wrong girl. Don't you realize she's going to go back to Stefan, as soon as she's done with you?"

"It's always going to be Stefan for her, Damon, just like it was for me. She's exactly like me, Damon. And the sooner you accept that, the better off you'll be."

Damon cringes silently at Katherine's words. Is she right? Could Elena just be using him, like Katherine did, all those years ago? Was his tragic history doomed to repeat itself again, century after century?

"I'm nothing like YOU, Katherine," Elena hisses, as if in answer to Damon's silent inquiries. "I'd rather DIE, than be anything like you."

Katherine laughs. "Well, THAT could certainly be arranged," She threatens, moving away from Damon, and lifting her weapons from the floor. "Speaking of Klaus, I really should be going. I have a Sacrifice to attend. It's been swell catching up with you two. And as for that question you asked me earlier, Damon, I'll definitely keep you posted."

In a flash, Katherine disappears from the forest, almost as if she was never there . . .

Damon turns toward Elena, who is now just staring at the ground, trying to process what just happened. Upon seeing Damon watching her, Elena attempts to act brave and nonchalant. "Well, THAT was disturbing," she manages to remark.

Damon smiles sadly at Elena, and nods. "Yes . . . yes it was."

Elena laughs at the sheer ridiculousness of their current circumstances. Damon observes her quietly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sure enough, it does. Elena's laughter quickly turns to tears.

Leaning down, Damon gently strokes at Elena's closed eyes with his index finger, wiping the salty wetness away. "We're going to get through this, you know. It may not seem like it now, but we will," he whispers to her, with more confidence than he feels.

Elena then surprises Damon, by throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace, her head lodged comfortably in his chest. Damon closes his eyes, and wraps his left arm around Elena's waist. Then, with his right arm, he begins gently stroking her hair. They stand together like that for a few moments, finding comfort in the closeness of one another.

It is Damon who, reluctantly, pulls away first. Kissing Elena gently on the forehead, and grabbing her warm hands in both of his, he speaks to her softly. "We have to go now," he tells her.

Elena gives his hands a tight squeeze, before letting go, "I know," she says, turning away from Damon , to retrieve the articles of clothing they both had left on the floor earlier. "Oooh, you got some grass stains on your . . ."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Elena is startled by the sound of Damon's earth-shattering scream. She turns to find him lying on the floor writhing in pain, his hands both clasping at his head. "DAMON," she yells, rushing quickly to his side.

Leaning over his body, Elena begins to stroke Damon's forehead, and press down on his chest, in an attempt to, somehow, take his pain away. But it is of no use. Damon's face, which had been pinched together in anguish, suddenly goes slack, as he falls into unconsciousness.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Elena cries.

Suddenly, Elena feels an acrid smelling rag being placed over her nose and mouth, and her body being pulled forcibly off Damon. She struggles violently, trying to pry the hand holding the rag off of her face. But the more she struggles, the more lightheaded she begins to feel. And then, everything goes black . . .