A/N: I'd like to apologize for my crappy Gaelic. It probably has nothing to do with reality but there aren't all that many good translators available online. Ugh. I really need to get back to learning Gaelic.

Elena sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. She hadn't slept at all and had been crying all day. She sighed as she threw herself on the bed. One day without Damon and she was a complete wreck. She wished she could hate him. She really did. She wanted to hate him for walking out on her but she couldn't.

A knock on her door broke her reverie and she called out, "Come in."

"Sweetie, someone's here to see you," Jenna said, a compassionate look on her face. Elena jackknifed out of bet, a part of her hoping to see Damon. Her hopes were dashed when she Caroline and Bonnie walk in.

"We're here for a slumber party. We haven't done it in years, and it's about time we do, don't you think?" Bonnie asked. Elena smiled and then broke down crying as her friends hugged her.

They sat on the bed and Caroline pulled out a bottle of bourbon.

"We need some reinforcement," she said with a smile and Elena nodded. They each took a hefty swig out of the bottle and then Elena started to cry, the alcohol removing any control she might have had.

"How could he?" she asked, sniffling.

"Sweetie, Damon's had a really fucked up life. With Katherine screwing him over and being in love with you for ages, he's obviously a bit unstable. Can't you understand that he's afraid of losing you?" Bonnie said, shocking the other two with her defense of Damon.

"Okay, where's the real Bonnie and what have you done with her?" Caroline quipped. " But she really does have a point. You know Damon loves you."

"Do I?" Elena asked. "As soon as the going gets tough he runs."

"Sweetie, he's trying to protect you the only way he knows how," Caroline exclaimed. "He'd die to keep you safe."

"I know," Elena said, crying even harder. "But he doesn't want to understand that soon I'll be the one who can protect him and that's all I'm trying to do."

"We know, hunny," Bonnie said, hugging Elena. "But Damon is Damon and he will always do anything he can to keep you safe, even if it means blackmailing you."

"You think?" Elena said, sniffling again.

"Are you blind?" Caroline practically yelled at her. "He wants to keep you safe and he played the only card he had. OF course, he could have locked you up in the cellar in the boarding house, so that does show he's changed a little," she said, drawing a laugh from Elena.

"I'm actually surprised I'm not chained to the wall down there right now. Mind you, that might not be such a bad idea, after all," Elena said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"Ewwww, so gross. I don't want to hear about all the kinky shit you and Damon get up to," Bonnie squealed.

"Ha," Elena snorted, "what you and Jeremy are completely vanilla?"

"Uhm, well…."

"Ugh, no. I don't want to know. There's just something inherently wrong about discussing my younger brother's sex life. But I can give you some pointers if you want," she said with a wink.

"Oooh, me too," Caroline piped in with a laugh. And that's how the rest of the night went. They laughed, they joked, they spoke of things that mattered little in the overall scheme of things but it made them all feel better.

Elena opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Caroline and Bonnie had left earlier on so that Bonnie could prepare. It was the night she was to become a Solus Deamhan, a living vampire. It was the night that was about to change her whole life. No longer would she be the weak one. No longer would she need to be protected. For once, she would be able to protect the people she loved.

Another tear rolled down her cheek. She had been crying for two days straight, ever since Damon had walked out. A part of her understood it was his way of protecting himself. Pulling away and shutting down his emotions was his self-defense mechanism but he had left her alone. Left her alone to go through one of the most important moments of her life and a part of her hated him for it. If only she didn't love him so much, things would be much easier. Maybe if she hadn't been so afraid to tell him how she felt. It reminded her of what Rose had once said to her.

"When you live long enough everything disappears. So much time wasted. I wish I hadn't been so afraid," Rose had said on her deathbed. So what was she doing? Would she spend her time running from her own feelings? In a few hours she would become something that others would fear. So, why was she afraid?

It was so foolish, but she was afraid of rejection. Damon wasn't like Stefan. He was strong. He was dangerous. He would survive without her. Stefan was weak. And it was that weakness that had attracted her, if she were to be honest. She felt the need to protect him, even if it was only emotionally. And that had been the reason she had clung to him. She felt as if she had some sort of control and when you were 17 and there was nothing in your life you could control, you tended to grow attached to even the smallest things that offered you that control.

Damon didn't let her control anything. And that was what frightened her. She was always out of control around him. And it scared her beyond measure. But if they were to have a future together, she would have to overcome her own fears. She would have to step up and be the strong one because Damon needed her to be strong.

He had been abandoned by everyone in his life and she wouldn't be the one to completely crush him. No, she would be the one who would be there for him, even when he didn't want it.

Oh, she would still go through with her plan to hand herself over to Klaus. They still needed to find out what Klaus was up to and she needed to find the other Guardians to restore some semblance of order to the supernatural world. But it would be on her terms, not the Original's. And he wouldn't know what fucking hit him after she was finished with him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ric shouted at a very drunk Damon as he stormed into the boarding house. Damon opened an eye and looked at him. What the hell did he want now? He had just managed to get Elena out of his head for a few minutes and now Ric was here to fuck up his evening. Life was just so damn fucked up. Whoever had said 'life's a bitch and then you die' had it fucking right. Too bad he couldn't fucking die like normal people.

Shit, he had broken up with Elena two days ago and it felt as if someone was sticking a red-hot poker through his heart every minute of the day. Every second he wanted to crawl back to her and beg her to forgive him, to beg her not to leave. But he was more afraid of watching her die than of seeing her with someone else. He loved her so much he would rather see her alive and with someone else than dead.

Her excuse that she would become some amazing super-being that couldn't die didn't really fly with him. He wasn't quite that trusting. Elena may have placed all her trust in Adam but he couldn't. He had been through too much to simply trust another Original.

"Ric, get the fuck out of here if you don't want to be dinner."

"Would you stop fucking moping like a moron! Elena is going through a tough time and she needs you, jackass," Ric shouted at the stupid vampire who couldn't seem to see further than his nose.

"She doesn't need me," Damon snorted. "She doesn't need anyone. She made that perfectly clear." How could he have been so stupid? He put his heart in her hands and she crushed it. She didn't care about him. After all, she was ready to sacrifice herself and leave him on his own. Again.

"You really are an idiot! She did what she did to keep you safe. Can't you fucking see that?"

"What a joke!" Damon growled, standing, ready to kill the idiot in front of him that wouldn't let him grieve in peace. It didn't help that his demon was growling and telling him he was being an ass and that his mate needed him. No, he wouldn't listen to his demon. He couldn't go through another century and a half of Katherine. Not again. "She clearly showed that she's only interested in herself. She couldn't give a shit about me. She just wants Jenna and the rest of you safe, even if it means killing herself in the process. Even if it means leaving me on my own."

The last sentence came out as a whisper that Ric almost couldn't hear. It was then that he understood. Damon was trying to protect himself the only way he knew how. Unfortunately, that meant that Elena would be on her own during the spell. It wasn't right. But there wasn't much he could do about it. Unless…

"You know what? You're a fucking coward. I'm getting out of here because Elena needs me. You know, maybe she should have stuck with Stefan. He would have been there for her," Ric needled the vampire, knowing he was probably signing his own death warrant.

"What the fuck did you say?" Damon growled, speeding over to Ric and slamming him against the closest wall he could find.

"Can't handle the truth? Put me down. I need to go and help Elena. After all, you can't fucking be bothered to be there, can you!" Ric growled back at Damon. He really hoped his needling was sufficient to convince Damon to put in an appearance.

Damon let him go and as he walked out, Ric threw out his parting words, "The spell is going down tonight, in the old mansion where the witches were burned."

"Why the fuck should I care?" Damon growled, yet his mind was already making plans to ensure he was there on time. Even if she didn't know it, he would make sure she was safe. He couldn't leave her. She was his heart, his soul, his life.

"Because it could be the last time you see her," Ric said quietly, watching Damon pale.

"Are you ready?" Adam asked Elena as they stood in the clearing in front of the mansion. She nodded in response. This was it. This was the moment her whole life would change and the person who mattered most to her wasn't there. But she wouldn't cry over it. She would fight for him. She wouldn't give him up. Never.

"Ladies," Adam said to Bonnie and the other two witches surrounding Elena.

"Elena, it might be best if you lie down," said Hannah, one of Adam's friends and part of the triumvirate getting ready to perform one of the hardest spells ever seen.

"Has she drunk the blood of an Original?" questioned another voice belonging to Drusilla, another of Adam's close friends.

"Not yet," Adam admitted.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the witch snapped impatiently. "Would you like an invitation signed in blood? Get on with it!"

Adam bit his wrist and held it out to Elena who immediately latched onto his wound. This was the moment she had been waiting for. The moment she would become more. The moment she could stand on equal footing with Damon. The moment she would no longer have to fear for her life.

"Stand back Adam, we have to raise the circle of protection. Are you ready Bonnie?" Hannah asked the younger witch.

"Yes," she whispered. When Adam stood back they began to chant. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then the wind started to pick up slowly. The rustle of a leaf here, the crack of a twig there. Then it became a full on storm, the wind whipping everything into the air. The witches chant rose in volume and Elena started to arch her back, a scream piercing the night. It was so damn painful. No one had told her there would be so much pain.

Elena screamed, her body jerking as the spell continued. Suddenly, lightening streaked from the sky, hitting Elena full on. Another scream. Her body jerked again. Then she was being lifted up into the night sky, her body being hit by lightning bolt after lightning bolt. She arched her back, screaming in pain.

"Elena!" another scream broke through, a clearly masculine voice that was trying to break through the circle. Adam tackled Damon.

"Fucking stop it. If you distract them she will die!" he shouted at the vampire who was trying to protect his mate. All he could hope for was that he would understand.

Another scream was heard as Elena's body was being pummeled with lightning. And then, suddenly, everything was quiet. Elena hit the ground with a thud and lay unmoving.

"Did it work?" Adam asked in a hushed tone. And at that moment Elena jumped to her feet in a move that was hard to follow for the human eye. Her eyes blazed gold, her whites disappearing behind the gold color. A mark appeared on her face. It looked like a tribal tattoo that encompassed her left eye and swept down across her cheek and back to her ear.

She stood and surveyed her surroundings. A laugh bubbled up, out of her chest. She flexed her fingers, razor sharp claws extending from her fingertips.

"Ta se go maith bheith dubh ar ais!" Elena said, her voice sounding strange. It was as if there were hundreds of voices hidden under one. It sounded almost as if someone was running her voice through an electronic device.

Damon couldn't breathe. She was fine. She had survived. He had no idea what she was saying but he didn't care. She was alive.

"She's speaking Gaelic," Adam whispered. "She said 'it's good to be back' and by the looks of it, she's a warrior caste. Thank God for that," he breathed. He looked at the amazing woman who stood in the centre of the clearing. Her hair whipped around her head, her eyes smoldered gold, no whites visible, and that tattoo gave her a dangerous air that was extremely sexy. She tossed her head back and laughed. It was a throaty laugh that was filled with menace. Her eyes whipped to stare at Damon and a smile curled her lips.

"Can you handle me, boy?" she asked, her eyes flashing.