"A Journey To Find A Lost Soul"
Chapter 8: Founder's Day (Part 2)
A/N #1: Oh look, I'm updating so soon! Don't worry; I'm just as shocked as you all are since I wrote this all up yesterday. It may not be as long as my usual ones and I may have skimmed over a lot when compared to the last chapter but my muse wanted me to write this chapter this way so I just went with it. The fact that it was also my birthday yesterday seemed like a great motivator as well. ;D
A/N #2: I just want to say thank you so much for everyone that is still reading this story, it truly means a lot to me and I'm excited to see where the changes in this chapter will take these characters next. Once again, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries or Life With Derek. They belong to their respective owners (I thank them for creating them in the first place). Recognizable dialogue comes from VD episode 'Founder's Day'.
Full Summary: Instead of visiting a dear friend alone, Damon takes along Elena just when a rogue vampire flips her car over [1x11]. As time goes on, Damon learns that it might not be Katherine that he needs in order to gain what he's missed most in the world. Will Damon finally get the ending he's been waiting for since he turned or are there just too many obstacles for him to handle? [Crossover yet VD-centric]
Remember: For Vampire Diaries, this is right after the episode where Elena sleeps with Stefan for the first time just before finding out that she's an exact physical replica to Katherine Pierce.
Vampire Diaries Timeline: starts off at the beginning of Episode #1x11 – 'Bloodlines' (with focus only on Damon and Elena)
Life With Derek Timeline: AU (due to specific changes) but it takes place when Casey and Derek (21 – 4th Year) are at Queen's University
LAST TIME:
When the human was out of earshot, the conversation started up again.
"I forgot how much your timing truly sucks Stefan." Casey quipped with an eye roll as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ignoring her comment, Stefan turned to glare at Damon. "What do you think you're doing?" Damon only gave his brother an amused expression (because of Casey's comment) before Stefan turned to Casey. "Or better yet, what the hell are you doing here?" He sneered as he remained between Damon and Casey.
Casey scoffed. "It's a free country Stef, I can go anywhere I please." She wasn't expecting any other reaction from Stefan but a girl could dream couldn't she? She thought that he'd maybe be somewhat nicer to her after not seeing her since before her wedding 151 years ago.
Stefan's eyes narrowed as he slowly closed the distance between him and Casey. "You're supposed to be dead."
Damon growled as he rushed to put himself between them. "Watch it Stefan." He warned his brother as he took a protective stance in front of his sister.
Casey put a grateful hand on Damon's back as she looked to Stefan with a disbelieving expression. "I see you haven't changed; you still want nothing to do with your sister."
"You're not my sister!" Stefan angrily protested back as he tried to rein his anger in. The sudden rage seemed to shock himself since he thought he'd put his issues with Casey behind him but it looks like seeing her again has brought them all back and he didn't like that notion one bit.
Casey released a humorless laugh. "Our blood says otherwise."
Stefan rolled his eyes as he shifted his gaze to Damon, who was watching Stefan like a hawk. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked not as harshly as he tried to calm himself again.
Damon gave his brother an incredulous look. "Why should I? Would it have changed things?" He questioned even though he already knew the answer; Stefan's silence just confirmed it.
When it was clear that the youngest brother wasn't going to refute his brother's assumption, Damon rolled his eyes as he blindly grabbed Casey's hand.
"I didn't think so." Damon stated with a disgusted look before he turned to walk away from Stefan as Casey's hand was still in his.
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Founder's Day (Wednesday February 24, 2010):
After their little run in with Stefan, Damon and Casey spend the rest of the afternoon wandering the town as they talked about anything and everything that's happened over the years they've been separated; anything emotional about Katherine was left out for another day and Damon was grateful for that. At times Damon would point out any differences that were in the town since the last time they were both there and Casey enjoyed it. She would exchange texts with Derek throughout the day and even though she wished she could spend the celebration with her boyfriend and her brother, she knew it was best that he hung out with his cousin (as she did the same with her brother) while they were in town. They could always make up their separation when they got back to Queens.
It wasn't until night fall that things started to pick up as both vampires became tense with each passing second as more ideas started to form in their heads. With Damon's retelling of the events since discovering the tomb vampires' return, they both theorized that if there were a time for them to attack then tonight would be the night since the whole town's population was out on the streets as they enjoyed the celebration. Who needed an invitation during an event like that?
With that thought in mind, Damon and Casey decided to get the hell away from the town square since they knew the device was still activated. Damon wanted to find John but Casey disagreed with the notion that there was a high chance that the Gilbert device would be used if John knew about the attack (which was very likely due to Henry, his tomb source that Alaric recently killed with Damon). After a few more arguments, the vampires split up; Casey went to retrieve Derek while Damon went to search for Stefan and Elena.
Before Damon could make a move to find Stefan, he was approached by Anna. She confirmed that there was going to be an attack on the founding family members when the fireworks start. He wasn't surprised by the news but he was somewhat relieved for the confirmation as his actions would be for nothing. With that thought, Damon told Anna to leave town immediately before he went in search of Alaric. Little did Damon know, Anna wasn't going to leave town without knowing that Jeremy was safe from the attack.
After warning Alaric, Damon found the laughing couple and in less than fifteen words, he burst their happy bubble by telling them to go home immediately. Damon took off before either of them could ask him anymore questions.
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Casey just got to Derek when Mayor Lockwood was walking away from his son. Tyler was confused by his father's request but he, Matt and Caroline left the Grill while Derek relayed the encounter to his girlfriend as they headed for his car.
"Vampires are attacking tonight?" Derek questioned after Casey had given him the short version of what she learned as well as her thoughts on the mayor's actions.
Casey gave him a grim nod as the sounds of the fireworks filled the air. "It's what we came up with. If me or Damon were in their positions, we would attack tonight." She explained before she stumbled in her steps, grateful that the car was close enough for her to grab it without anyone realizing that something was wrong with her.
Derek was instantly by her side when he saw her stumble. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly as he quickly checked her over.
Casey cringed as she could feel needles digging into her brain. To her the experience felt like a human migraine but she knew with the right intensity that it could cause her to immediately drop.
Casey froze at the realization before she whirled her head around to face the crowd where she saw a few officers collecting the few that had fallen.
"It's started." She whispered before she turned to a confused Derek. "It's the Gilbert device. They're using it to round up all the vampires." She concluded as she forced the pain outside of her head now that she knew where the pain was coming from. If she weren't a witch, she wouldn't be able to repel the magical attack like she could. Casey's eyes widened at the thought.
Damon. He wasn't a witch so he would have dropped like all the others no matter where he was in town.
"Der, we need to find Damon!"
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Damon groaned when he finally came to. He could barely move as his body felt heavier than usual. It didn't take long for him to realize that he'd been vervained which led to him cursing himself for even going after John when he told Casey he wouldn't. The plan was for John to use the device to eliminate the tomb vampires while Damon and his siblings experienced the device at the boarding house (away from suspicious eyes) but Damon couldn't in his right mind let John walk away with the device that could be used against him later on. It didn't take a genius to know that John would stop at nothing until all vampires in town were destroyed. The vampire didn't know what he was expecting when John activated the device, he thought maybe his body would become immobilized or something ridiculous like that…he wasn't expecting this blinding amount of pain to start within his skull. He felt the pain increase in his skull before everything went black and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in a basement.
Even in his vervained state, Damon was still coherent enough to know what was happening, which sucked when he witnessed John stake Anna before he lit the room on fire. The vampire couldn't help but feel helpless when that stake was driven into her heart as he felt the need to save her but he'd failed. He failed the girl who helped his sister out during her newborn phase and he knew that the feeling wasn't going to go away any time soon.
As he laid there on the concrete floor as the fire around him grew, Damon couldn't help but wonder if Stefan took his warning and got Elena to safety or if Casey had managed to do the same for Derek. He knew that both vampires weren't in the basement with him because he didn't feel their presence near him so he could only hope that his siblings were safe.
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While Stefan, Elena and Alaric were trying to piece together what was happening, Casey and Derek rushed to get to Damon in time.
The hybrid concentrated on Damon's mind long enough to extract a location out of him and it wasn't long before the couple were racing towards the abandoned building that belonged to the Gilberts. The closer they got to the building, the easier it was for Casey to hear the screams and the crackling of the fire's flames that were both coming from the basement.
Luckily for them, Derek knew of a utility entrance into the building; one he discovered when he was wandering the halls of the doctor's office. During one of his town visits, he had to wait for his parents when they went to see Dr. Gilbert about a sick young Edwin.
Without any argument or hesitation, Casey raced through the door while Derek stood on watch. The human knew he would only slow the hybrid down when in the building so he left the actual rescue mission to the immortal. It didn't stop him from worrying though.
Casey followed the screams until she found the door that stood between her and the flaming basement. She flung the door open only to have the fire flare up even more. She exhaled deeply as she started chanting. In seconds the flames on the stairs diminished and she was able to race down them, grab Damon and race out of there before she released the fire once again, making the flames double in size as it consumed the remaining tomb vampires.
Derek jumped a bit when he saw a blur rush passed him only for him to realize that it was Casey and a very weak Damon. With a more detailed look, Derek could tell that all of Damon's weight was being carried by Casey as she slowly placed him down a few feet from the door as they remained in the shadows.
"How long does it take for vervain to work its way out of the system?" Derek questioned as he moved to Damon's free side.
Damon was refusing all of Casey's attempts to get him to feed. Even in his weakened state, he wouldn't harm his own sister for his own gain.
"Too damn long." Casey growled out before she bit her wrist and placed the bleeding appendage near his mouth.
Damon groaned and pushed it away.
Casey tried again. "C'mon Damon drink." She pleaded when he refused a second time.
"No. I won't hurt you." Damon managed to grunt out as he tried to fight his body. His brain and heart told him not to drink from her but his body's instincts were running haywire as they demanded for him to take the damn blood from her.
Casey's eyes narrowed as she looked her brother straight in the eyes. "Take my blood or I will shove it down your throat Damon! We can't have anyone see you like this." She exclaimed as she moved her wrist to his mouth once again; this time Damon didn't hesitate as his mouth latched onto her semi-healed wound. He had to open it up once again with his own teeth but the hybrid didn't mind; he needed her blood. While Damon could have easily fed from Derek, drinking from Casey would give him more of a power boast.
As she felt her blood being pulled through her wound, Casey moved her body to better fit around Damon; her free hand latched around his neck as her lips descended to his ear before she began to chant out a spell. Not only did Casey need Damon to drink her blood to gain his strength back but she needed them to be physically connected so that she could perform a protection spell on him. She chanted out a spell that would grant his mind protection against any non-Mereana magical attacks. It would give him the ability to feel an attack yet it would cause him no real harm. She never had to give him the protection before since he only associated himself with Mereana witches but that wasn't the case anymore. It seemed like Damon made many enemies while they were apart.
With all of Casey's attention being focused on Damon as he drank to replenish his strength, all Derek could do was keep a look out for the preoccupied vampires. It's only when he saw two figures fast approaching did he nudge Casey's shoulder to warn her. When he realized that it was Stefan and Bonnie, he quickly got to his feet as he blocked the two from getting near them. He could even see another figure in the distance turn the corner before it headed their way. He could only assume that it was Elena coming to join her boyfriend.
"That's close enough." Derek declared harshly as he glared directly at Stefan.
The human had met the youngest Salvatore at the Grill just after Damon and Casey had left (he and Elena ended up dropping a hello to him and Tyler before they took off to enjoy the day together as a couple) but he knew all about Stefan Salvatore and the human didn't like him one bit. His hatred had nothing to do with the fact that Stefan was a former Ripper; it had everything to do with how Stefan had treated Casey when they were human. Derek couldn't fathom how any brother would treat their sister the way Stefan had treated Casey. He would never do such things to his sister (Marti) so this human understood completely why Damon hated Stefan when it came to Casey.
"Derek." Stefan stood his ground even though he knew that he could speed pass Derek in a second but something inside him was telling him not to.
Derek didn't budge an inch. "No." He declared as he crossed his arms over his chest in an intimidating way. While Derek may look older and stronger than Stefan, they both knew that vampire strength would win if it came down to it which was unfortunate for the human.
"Derek?" The third figure questioned, drawing all attention to her. "What are you doing here? Where's Damon?" Elena questioned as she looked between the three people before her. She didn't understand why any of them weren't near Damon when he needed their help.
"I'm making sure that none of you interfere." Derek explained to Elena before he glared at Bonnie and Stefan. "It's not a secret that certain people don't like him." He sneered as he held his ground as his words seemed to have stunned the two in question.
Elena's panic increased the longer Damon wasn't in her sight. "But where's…"
"I'm right here." The velvety voice interrupted before he came out of the shadows with Casey close behind him.
Elena gasped when her eyes landed on Damon, more specifically his blood red lips (it seemed like he missed a spot when it came to erasing all evidence of his feeding) and his insanely blue eyes. While it's been known that Damon's eyes held this intense shade of blue, they seemed to have this silver shading to it and as long as Casey's blood was in his system, the shading would remain in his eyes (but no one, except Damon and Casey, would know that).
Bonnie's eyes narrowed when she noticed that Damon looked as if he were never taken hostage by the counsel. "How'd you get out of the building?"
Damon growled under his breath as he gave a menacing glare to the betraying witch. He really wanted to tear her apart for her lies. "Casey got to me before the fire got too much for her to pass through." He stated before he turned to Derek. "Take Casey back to the boarding house. You can find my stash in my room or the basement; take as many as she needs. I'll be there shortly." The vampire instructed before Derek took action in taking Casey and heading towards their car. He could tell that she was a little weak from the blood loss and while he would have offered his own blood for Damon, he knew that his girlfriend would take the spot as temporary blood bag since she could restore her blood supply a lot faster than a human could.
As Damon watched the couple walk away to complete safety, his missed Stefan's gawked expression at him.
"What?"
Damon turned and glared at Stefan for his reaction. "You will not cause them any problems, do you understand me little brother?" The older brother demanded as he stood toe-to-toe with his little brother with no detectable weakness in his stance. After a few moments of an intense stare down, Stefan broke eye contact first; signaling his submission on the subject. While the encounter surprised Elena and Bonnie, Damon only smirked at the response he wanted. "Good because as long as Elena is welcomed at the boarding house, so is Casey." The vampire declared before he walked off; he had some business he needed to take care of before he returned to the boarding house.
As the vampire disappeared into the shadows, he didn't care that he was leaving three stunned people behind in his wake.
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Derek pulled up to the Salvatore Boarding house after Casey had given him a few easy directions. The human was very worried when the hybrid seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness which only pushed him to move faster as he exited his car and rushed to the passenger side to get Casey out.
After a few moments, Derek was placing Casey on one of the couches in the living room before he raced to find the basement. A few directional mistakes were made before he located the refrigerator that was filled with blood bags. He wasn't stunned by the sight since they had a similar set up back at their place in Kingston so without much thought, he grabbed a couple of bags before he headed upstairs.
He didn't waste any time in opening one up and handing it to Casey as she greedily drank from it. He watched as she drank the substance as he rubbed circles onto her lower back. It was rare for him to see Casey drink as if her life depended on it; usually she'd routinely consume blood as if she was taking some important medication but she always drank enough blood to ward off her cravings. The sight use to make him uncomfortable but he's gotten used to it over the years.
"Feeling better?" He asked after she finished her second blood bag.
Casey sighed. "Yeah. Damon needed more than I thought and with the additional chanting, my body wasn't use to it. That's all." She explained before she slowly started on her third bag. Using magic never really weakened Casey (not since she became a vampire) but performing it while losing blood usually did weaken her. It didn't happen often but it's been awhile since Casey's put her body through that experience.
"Are you sure?" Derek questioned once again. The idea of Casey being weak in any way didn't bode well with him.
Casey nodded her head as she slurped the last of the blood into her mouth. "I'm fine Der. Why don't you get our bags while I freshen up?" She suggested as she motioned to the dry blood around her wrist.
Derek nodded, placed a kiss to her temple before he got up to return to his car. Casey released a happy sigh before she headed towards the downstairs restroom.
It wasn't long before the couple met up at the bottom of the stairs and Casey led them up to her concealed room as Derek carried their two bags. Due to the boarding house's age, no one would doubt that there were many secret hiding spots but what no one knew was that there was an entire hidden room in the boarding house; Casey's bedroom.
At the turn of their first century when the original Salvatore mansion was demolished, Damon and Casey had returned to Mystic Falls to oversee the construction of the boarding house. Its massive size alone didn't have people questioning space inequalities since Damon claimed that to be his secret space and his alone. And since they feared the vampire, they never disobeyed him. Since the immortal duo didn't want any living descendent with the Salvatore name to know of Casey's existence, the hybrid had concealed her bedroom like she'd done with her Mereana safe havens with its door being hidden by a hallway bookcase that was spelled to never be moved (unless Damon and/or Casey were the ones doing the moving). The barrier around her room only differed to the safe havens when it came to who was allowed access inside; only Casey, Damon and her intended soulmate (Derek) were allowed to enter as her room held many possessions that were of a personal and/or witchy use.
Like with the safe haven in Buffalo, Casey and Derek gained quick access into her bedroom which appeared to be just as spacious as Damon's bedroom (which was the closest one to hers). Casey headed straight for her bed as Derek took everything in. He was definitely impressed.
The hybrid smiled as she watched her boyfriend's amazement increase. "Do you need a tour?" She teased as she held herself up by her arms.
Derek smirked. "Maybe in the morning, I have something else in mind." He stated and before the hybrid knew it, his lips crashed onto hers; he needed physical reassurance that she was still with him after they night they had.
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He didn't want to do it; he never really liked being the bearer of bad news but he knew that the kid deserved to know. And that's what he did. He told Jeremy about Anna as well as a bunch of other stuff too which was strange for the vampire but he couldn't help it. Here was a kid who lost not only his parents a little under a year ago but he also lost both women he cared deeply for. Somehow that seemed unfair and he hated to think it but Damon didn't like that he was the reason for some of Jeremy's sadness. He offered to take it away again but he refused and Damon understood that it was his choice. Sometimes it's better to forget things and other times, it's better not to. So after a few words were exchanged about vampirism, Damon left Jeremy to his thoughts...only to be confronted by Elena as he was closing the Gilbert house's front door.
Elena gave him a confused look. "What are you doing here?"
"Failed a feeble attempt of doing the right thing." Damon admitted with a grimace.
Elena's brow furrowed even more. "Which was…?"
"It's not important." Damon said with a shake of his head as he approached her. "Let me take this away." He offered before he transferred her purse and her garment bag to a patio table.
"Thank you." He heard her say before he turned to face her.
"You know, I came into this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight I found myself wanting to protect it." He confessed as he fiddled with his ring before he turned to face a perplexed brunette. "How does that happen?" He questioned as he tried to figure out the answer for himself. He was the type to do what he wanted or when he wanted to without a care in the world. If it had nothing to do with Casey and her descendants, it was safe to say that he was an arrogant ass that only looked after himself.
Why did it take visiting this town to change all that for him? Why now?
Damon exhaled before Elena could say anything. "I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good…it's not in me."
"Maybe it is." Elena piped in with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Damon let loose a small smirk. "No, it's not. Yet no matter how many people are out to kill me, you always managed to get them to stop…" He trailed off as he took a few steps towards her, "…which means that somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving and I wanted to thank you for that." He managed to get out with some difficulty. He remembered through his haze her frantic question for his location when Casey was still feeding him or when she told Stefan not to kill him because of what he had done. Yet for some reason, this teenager, after seeing him at his very worst, thought he deserved to be saved.
"You're welcome." She said with a small smile as he continued to look into her eyes.
Before either of them knew it, the vampire placed a slow and gentle kiss onto the teenager's cheek. As he slowly pulled back from her, all he could think about was doing the same thing to her lips; to know for once if what he's been feeling for Elena over the last few months was something worth pursuing. He may have grown to care for Elena but was there something more brewing between them? Was it possible for him to fall for someone again after what Katherine had done to his heart?
The vampire moved very slowly as he closed the distance between them, giving her enough of a chance to pull away before his lips met hers for the very first time.
It was just gentle caress of the lips before it became something more. To an outsider if may look like things were getting heated up between these two but when in reality, the vampire was desperately kissing her to see if there was a delayed reaction since he felt nothing. He could kiss her all night and yet he'd feel no life-altering spark ignite within him...just like all the others. Yes he felt attracted to her, yes he could lust after her but the kiss only proved that he couldn't love her like that.
Before his theory could be further explored, they were interrupted by the front door opening, revealing a stunned Jenna. His mind was analyzing that moment to a point that he couldn't watch Elena rush to grab her things and get inside before Jenna had shut the door on him.
The vampire could only sigh as he touched his lips before he headed back home; there was his answer, there was nothing more between him and Elena. Somehow that thought saddened him.
Little did he know that the woman he just kissed, the one he felt nothing for, was none other than Katherine Pierce.
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A/N #3: So what did you think? I only focused on Damon or Casey scenes but it should have been made clear which of the canon-scenes were still included (like the Elena/Stefan/Alaric brainstorm by the stairs or the Elena/John confrontation or Tyler/Caroline/Matt leaving together). What do you think of the alterations? How will they affect the story now? Please tell me what you think in a review! Have a great week everyone!
REMINDER: Don't forget that the VD season finale is this Thursday (May 10th) followed by four relaxing yet agonizing months until we get season 4 started up (I don't think I can last 4 months of reruns with all the epic-ness the finale is supposed to leave us off with)!
Originally Published: May 7, 2012
