Caroline watched in stunned silence as he coaxed Katherine to drink. Her injuries slowly healed, and she shifted restlessly, her canines sinking deeper into flesh for a split second, before her eyes flew open and she released him with a gasp.
"Relax." Klaus said, standing. "You're welcome."
Katherine sat up, scooting back a little. "I don't understand."
"You did get my note." Klaus stated.
"I did." Katherine eyed his hand with suspicion, but allowed him to pull her to her feet. "I didn't believe it. Even if I did believe it, I wouldn't expect you to actively save my life."
"If Damon found out that I was here and let you die, any hope for a truce vanishes." Klaus pointed out.
"I was trying to keep myself alive." Katherine said softly. "Surely you can understand that."
"I can." Klaus said. "Which is why I'm letting you go. Do not mistake this for weakness, Katerina – cross me again, and it will be the last thing you ever do."
"Wait, what truce?" Caroline asked, before Katherine could respond.
"Elena was offered a truce today." Katherine explained. "We don't hurt them, they don't hurt us."
"I believe it was phrased a little more delicately." Klaus said dryly. "But that is the gist, yes."
"And you actually want this?" Caroline asked sceptically.
"Contrary to what you might think, Caroline, I want peace." Klaus told her. "If that means forming some kind of alliance with your merry band of misfits – no offence – so be it. I'm sure Elena will explain the finer details, so if you'll excuse me …"
"He must really like you." Katherine remarked, when he had disappeared.
"Why do you say that?" Caroline asked sharply.
"You questioned him." Katherine said. "And you didn't seem concerned about doing so." She brushed the dirt from her shirt, examining the bullet holes with a grimace. "I really need to go shopping. Thanks for dealing with the hunter."
"That wasn't me." Caroline admitted. "It was Elena."
"It was …" Katherine stared at the hunter's body for a moment. "Where is she now?"
"I sent her home." Caroline answered. "She was in shock."
"And the boys are still unconscious?" Katherine asked.
Caroline nodded. "They were a few minutes ago. Matt and Jeremy took them. You go. I'll get rid of him."
Katherine hesitated. "Are you sure?"
Caroline nodded again. "I can handle it. I'll call Tyler to give me a hand."
"Alright." Katherine agreed. "I'll get back. They should be alright with blood-bags, but given the damage, it's probably best if Matt and Jeremy aren't on their own." She faltered, fighting an internal battle with herself for a few seconds. "About what happened after you turned … it was nothing personal."
"I know." Caroline said, slightly coolly. "Don't do it again."
Katherine nodded. "I'm not sorry that I killed you."
Caroline tilted her head, thinking for a second. "Honestly, Katherine, neither am I."
Nowadays, Matt would say that he was fairly comfortable with the supernatural world.
That didn't stop him from taking cover when Damon woke up.
The fact that Damon needed blood wasn't an issue – once Jeremy had pried out all of the wooden pieces, he had poured two blood bags down the vampires throat.
But Elena and Katherine were nowhere to be seen, which set Damon's mind racing.
Currently, Matt was watching in horror as Jeremy dangled in mid-air, but the younger boy seemed completely nonplussed by the fact that he'd just been lifted by the throat, with no sign of distress aside from his harsher breathing.
"Let's try this again." Damon said darkly. "Where … are … they?"
Jeremy's eyes slid to the empty space to Damon's right. "Ric says I can't answer if you don't let me breathe soon." He gasped out. "And that he'll come back from the dead and stake you if you don't let go."
"Smooth, Gilbert." Damon muttered, rolling his eyes. "Using my dead best friend against me. Real smooth." He released Jeremy regardless, letting him drop to the floor. "Where are they?"
"If you'd let me talk when you first woke up, rather than jumping straight in with the threats and fangs," Jeremy grumbled, massaging his throat. "Elena's in the shower. And Katherine's still out there with Caroline …" He trailed off in a mumble too quiet for Matt to hear.
Clearly Damon heard though. He stiffened, his eyes narrowing. "And Klaus? You left Katherine with Klaus?!"
"What were we supposed to do?!" Jeremy demanded, not backing down. "Caroline told us to get you two back here and start getting the wood out."
Damon glanced almost unintentionally at his brother, who was still unconscious. Now that Damon had calmed slightly, Matt felt it was safe to return to his previous task of de-splintering Stefan.
"Besides," Jeremy said softly, "and I didn't want to have to tell you this, Damon, but … There's not much more Klaus can do to her."
What little colour there was in Damon's face seemed to drain away completely at Jeremy's words. "She's dead?"
"Not yet." Jeremy said, his voice carefully free of sympathy or pity or anything that could be mistaken as such. "But the bullets she was shot with were laced with werewolf venom."
No one could say that Jeremy Gilbert wasn't brave.
Giving Damon bad news – especially about people he cared for – was about as safe as jumping into a shark-infested swimming pool clutching a toaster after swallowing cyanide.
Maybe with a noose around your neck for good measure.
But Damon did not lash out, as was expected.
He shook his head jerkily. "No." He said blankly. "You're wrong."
"I'm sorry, Damon." Jeremy took a few careful steps back. "Elena recognised the inflammation around the wounds – it wasn't just vervain."
"You're wrong." Damon repeated numbly. Katherine couldn't be dying.
He had faced the possibility of Katherine's death several times over the last year, even convinced himself a few times that he was indifferent to it, but now it was actually imminent.
He was cast back to that horrible night in 1864, when he had woken in transition and run to the church, only to find it burning fiercely, thick smoke billowing into the night sky.
No.
She wasn't going to die.
Even if he had to find Klaus and beg him to save her, Damon was not going to let her die.
Forcing himself not to lash out at Jeremy, Damon gritted his teeth and strode from the room, heading for the front door.
It opened before he could reach it, and he stopped dead, as Katherine stepped into the foyer. Her tense expression softened to something resembling relief, and she blurred into his arms.
He met her kiss desperately as something akin to a sob bubbled up into his throat, his hands gripping her tightly, anchoring her against his body as though he could somehow transfer his life into her, just as long as he didn't let go.
Apparently sensing his distress, Katherine pulled away, startled to see the sheer pain in his eyes. "Damon?"
"You're not going to die, Katherine." Damon said, his voice breaking embarrassingly. He cleared his throat and tried again, more harshly than he intended. "I am not letting you die."
Confusion crossed Katherine's face for a second, before it cleared. "Oh … Damon, I'm not dying."
"I don't care if I have to sell my soul to Klaus, I'm not …" Damon broke off, belatedly registering what she'd said. "What?"
"I'm not dying." Katherine repeated, her brow creasing slightly. "And I don't ever want you to sell your soul to Klaus, got it?"
"But …" Damon glanced back towards the living room. "Jeremy said …"
"Jeremy's right." Katherine said, raising her voice a little so the others could hear her. "But Klaus gave me some blood. I'm fine."
Damon stared at her, not entirely sure he hadn't imagined the words that had just left her mouth. "I … Klaus saved you?"
"Yeah." Katherine gave him a smile that seemed to wobble slightly. "Guess me meant it when he said he was letting me go." She took a deep breath. "In other news, Elena made her first kill today, Caroline's burying the body, and my stomach seems to have disappeared."
"That'll be relief." Damon said hoarsely. "I know the feeling."
If he was being honest, all of his internal organs seemed to have liquefied, but he forced himself to remain in control. Katherine was on the verge of a breakdown, and she wouldn't thank him for letting her do that in public – even semi-public. At the same time, he hadn't missed what she'd said about Elena, and his brother was still unconscious.
Thankfully, at that moment, he heard Jeremy say, "Here, this is labelled squirrel."
"If it's labelled squirrel, it is squirrel." Damon said, not taking his eyes away from Katherine's, silently willing her to hang on for just a bit longer.
He knew that human blood would help Stefan recover faster, but a fast recovery wasn't a necessity anymore, since the hunter was dead (he assumed Katherine had been talking about the hunter), and Stefan wouldn't thank them for giving him human blood.
A few seconds later, Stefan's voice floated out of the living room. "Damon? Elena? Where are they?"
"Out here, brother." Damon answered. "Get your ass up, we have a situation."
Stefan emerged into the hallway, frowning at the sight that greeted him. "Where's Elena?"
"Shower." Damon said, sparing his brother a split-second glance. "Alright?"
Stefan shrugged. "Been better. She okay?"
"She killed a man." Damon told him. "Something tells me she's been better as well. You got this?"
Stefan frowned in concern. "Yeah, I …"
"Good." Damon scooped Katherine into his arms and raced upstairs, into their room, letting the door slam shut.
She was shaking before he'd even set her down, and crying not long after that.
Damon had never seen Katherine cry before, hadn't even been sure she still could, but he reacted instinctively, leading her to the bed so she could sit down.
Immediately, she tugged him down with her, telling him without words what she needed, and he adjusted accordingly, creating a kind of shelter between his body and the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress. If she had been anyone else, she would have been crushed, but as a vampire and as vulnerable as she was letting herself be, the contact was comforting.
"What can I do?" He murmured, almost helplessly.
"This." She whispered back brokenly. "Be here. Hold me."
Damon pressed a kiss to her hair. "I can do that."
The shower was still running when Stefan entered the bathroom, but he could hear Elena's sobs over the running water, and they tore at his heart.
"Elena?"
The water shut off, and a split-second later, she was in his arms, still soaking wet, her face buried in his chest.
Brushing a tender kiss against her forehead, Stefan grabbed a towel and steered her back into his bedroom, releasing her just enough to wrap the towel around her body.
He let her cry, knowing there was nothing he could say right now to make things any better for her, running his hands over the towel, gently drying her olive skin.
When her sobs began to subside, and he felt comfortable releasing her, Stefan found a pair of sleep-shorts Elena had left at some point, along with one of his shirts, and softly slipped them over her body. Usually, she would only fasten one or two of the buttons; now, he fastened them all, knowing that Jeremy and Matt were still waiting downstairs and that they would want to see her, and she them.
When he had finished, he tenderly tugged the hair pins from her slightly damp dark locks, letting them fall over her shoulders, and brushed them back from her face.
"You're going to be okay."
Elena sniffled in response. "I killed a man, Stefan. I shouldn't be okay."
Stefan pulled her into his arms, her head tucking under his chin. He and Elena were very similar, and he knew that she would drown in her guilt if they let her.
Unfortunately, he knew that she knew that he would do the same thing, so he wasn't sure how much weight his words would carry.
"Come on." He said softly, guiding her out of the room. "Let's go downstairs."
Caroline was there as well by now, her face lined with worry. She leapt to her feet when the two entered, hurrying over to envelop Elena in her arms.
Stefan took a step back, watching closely as Matt and Jeremy joined them. Elena tensed at their approach, but relaxed almost immediately.
He was relieved. His first kill had triggered his initial downward spiral into the life of a ripper; with no one to help him carry the burden of guilt, he had practically drowned himself in human blood to help him forget.
He still didn't know how Damon had avoided the same gory temptations – until 1912 and Sage, his brother had managed to master the bloodlust and keep control.
Actually, even after 1912, Damon had kept control; he'd just become another kind of ripper – the kind that killed because he wanted to, not because he couldn't help it.
He supposed Damon's initial grace had come from his time in the army – despite being the gentler of the two as a human, Damon had killed before, and was used to dealing with it.
They were not going to let Elena carry this alone and, by the time Caroline, Matt and Jeremy had been convinced it was alright for them to leave for the night, an idea had formed in Stefan's head, appeared so naturally that it surprised him.
He showed them to the front door, and Caroline hung back to embrace him. "I'm glad you're okay." She whispered.
"The body?" He murmured.
"Tyler and I took it further north." She answered quietly. "There's a wolf pack nearby – real wolves I mean – that should dispose of it for us. Tyler's hanging around just to make sure it isn't found to soon."
Stefan nodded, kissed her forehead, and thanked her again, before she left and he returned to Elena.
She was still in the living room, curled up at the end of one of the couches, gazing into the fire. Stefan poured two drinks and handed one to Elena. She accepted it with a weak smile, but said nothing.
"Do you want me to get Damon?" Stefan asked, crouching down in front of her.
Elena's gaze snapped from the fireplace to Stefan, a faint glimmer of panic in her eyes. "Stefan, I thought we'd got past that …"
Stefan chuckled, taking her hands in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "That's not what I mean, sweetheart. I just mean … Sometimes, you need the person you love. And sometimes, you need your best friend." He sighed. "You and I, Elena … We both feel guilt far too deeply. And you know that. And we both know that whatever I say right now … it's not going to help, because you know that I'd be feeling exactly the same way. Hell, I did feel the same way. But Damon … He was a soldier. He dealt with this guilt as a human as well, and he handled it with far more grace than I ever did. I think he can help you, and I think you think that too."
Elena tugged her lower lip into her mouth, chewing it apprehensively. "I love you."
Stefan smiled, hearing the unspoken agreement in her words. "I love you too." He kissed her forehead and sped upstairs.
It was with slight trepidation that he knocked on Damon's door, given his brother's behaviour earlier, but the walls of the boarding house weren't overly thick, and he couldn't hear anything coming from within.
He received a low grunt that he took as an invitation, and pushed the door open. "Damon?"
There was a low sigh, and Damon got up, gently easing Katherine out of his arms. "What?"
"I can't believe I'm actually going to willingly say these words," Stefan said, "but Elena needs you."
"Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?" Damon asked in response, but followed him anyway.
"I just think that you …"
"I get it, Stefan." Damon interrupted. "I'll talk to her."
Stefan nodded, and Damon blurred downstairs to where Elena was still curled up, nursing her drink. She didn't look up, and he approached her slowly, sitting down at the other end of the couch, watching her closely.
"Did he at least taste good?" He asked finally.
Elena downed the rest of her drink. "That's not funny." She muttered, letting the glass fall to the floor. "I killed a man, Damon."
Damon shrugged. "It's in your nature, Elena. It's instinct."
Elena turned her gaze on him, her expression hurt and almost betrayed. He almost backed down, but he knew that she needed to realise this for herself, and that riling her up was the first step. "I drained him, Damon! I could've …"
"Could have what?" Damon asked, jumping on her words. "Let him stake you? Ripped his heart out? Go ahead, Elena – I'm sure you've run over the scenario a hundred times since it happened – you tell me one thing you could have done that would have saved your life, got us all out of there and left him alive."
Elena held his gaze defiantly for a few seconds, before her eyes dropped with a sigh. "I can't."
"You can't." Damon repeated. "Because there isn't one. Maybe you lost control a bit. Maybe you could have been quicker or cleaner. But he'd still be dead, Elena. Or you would. And honestly, I know which one I prefer." He added, smiling slightly. "You know Stefan could have told you this."
"I know." Elena said. "He was the one who offered to get you, I didn't ask. Whatever he says … even though he means it with everything he is, and even though I know that, he still wouldn't believe it himself, if the roles were reversed." She sighed. "And I still feel crappy."
Damon sighed as well, extending an arm to her. "C'mere."
Wiping her eyes against a fresh onslaught of tears, Elena scooted along the couch and settled into his arms.
"It's okay to feel guilty, Elena." Damon said softly. "I'd be worried if you didn't. Just don't let it drown you." He felt rather than heard her begin to cry, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's okay," he murmured. "We'll help you swim."
He held her while she cried, until her sobs subsided and she drifted off to sleep. Damon didn't move, stroking her hair absently, the way he had during the summer when her façade cracked and she broke down. When her body completely relaxed and her breathing evened out – even dead, her tells remained the same, for which he was grateful (he didn't think he could handle it if she suddenly stopped breathing, even if she didn't need the oxygen) – he loosened his hold and slid one arm under her legs so he could carry her upstairs to his brother's room.
Stefan was pacing – although heaven knew where he found the space, given his hoarding tendencies – but Damon ignored him until he had set Elena down, her head sinking into the pillow.
"Thanks." Stefan said softly.
"Don't mention it." Damon said flatly, fully prepared to make a swift exit.
"How's Katherine?"
The question pulled Damon up short just as he reached the door, and he turned to survey his brother, only to find nothing but mild concern in his expression. "She's fine. The bullets she was shot with had been treated with werewolf venom – Klaus saved her."
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Guess he meant it after all."
"Guess so." Damon conceded. "You know this means she's probably sticking around."
"Yeah, I guessed that." Stefan said.
Damon waited. He would never ask, but Stefan knew that.
"It's going to take me a long time to forgive her." Stefan said finally, looking at Elena rather than his brother. "Even if I ever do. But I think she knows that. And I think she knows that I'm not comfortable around her. But this is your home, as well as mine. And however much I dislike her …"
Damon nodded. "Sounds like the situation's improved though."
Stefan gave him a questioning look.
"You'd have said you hated her a week ago." Damon said. He didn't give Stefan a chance to respond, blurring back to Katherine's side as he heard her begin to stir.
She opened her eyes, just as he dropped down on to the bed beside her, and smiled lazily up at him.
"Where'd you go?"
"To talk to Elena." Damon answered, holding himself above her on one elbow. "Stefan thought I might have a better chance of getting through to her."
"Understandable." Katherine said, stretching. "They're both terrible for guilt trips. You've got more of a relaxed air about it. She okay now?"
"Sleeping." Damon ran a finger up her arm. "Do you still want those plane tickets?"
Katherine shook her head. "Maybe as a vacation. I've never really had a home, Damon. I've always been running."
"You'll need some kind of cover story." Damon cautioned. "You and Elena, I mean."
"Mm, I'll think of something." Katherine said, her eyes fluttering closed again. Her hand found his and closed around it. "I love you."
"I love you too." Damon whispered, dropping a soft kiss on her lips. "Welcome home, angel."
AN: Well, that's the end of Truce; I hope you enjoyed it. The sequel, Traditions, should be up within the next few weeks, in which Caroline and Tyler come to a decision, Katherine and Elena confirm a cover story, and plans have to be made after Stefan asks a very important question ...