Walking Wounded – Inspired by episode 3x18 – Murder of One.
Damon, Stefan and their friends help each other deal with the physical and emotional consequences of the recent events in their lives. Damon/Stefan/Elena/Caroline/Bonnie/Matt/Alaric.
CHAPTER 10. DAMON, ELENA
Elena sat by Damon for over an hour watching him sleep. For a long while he lay immobile, exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes pronounced against his pale skin. He began to toss and turn becoming more and more agitated finally crying out in pain and calling her name.
"I'm here Damon." Elena said taking his hand.
"Get out of here Elena." He cried out in distress, his eyes still closed. "She'll kill you."
"I'm here Damon. I'm not going anywhere." Elena repeated.
Damon's eyes finally flickered open. "Elena." He said with immense relief his voice raspy.
"Shh. Don't try to talk" Elena said handing him a mug. "You need to drink this."
Damon propped himself up on one elbow and accepted the mug. Elena supported him with one hand behind his shoulder as he drank. The blood vessels under his eyes became fully engorged as he drank, evidence of his extreme hunger. Elena refilled the mug and offered it to him again. He drained it and returned it to Elena. When she offered him a third he shook his head 'no' and sank back against the pillows.
"Caroline says you're not drinking enough. You need a lot more than usual to just replace the blood you lost. She brought this up a little while ago." She said indicating the large teapot. "And made sure it would stay warm for you."
"Not quite feeling the floral tea cozy and napkins." Damon frowned.
"It's Caroline. What do you expect?" Elena smiled offering the mug again. "She said you need to finish this whole pot."
Damon sat up against the head board and accepted the cup. He quickly drained a couple more mugs.
"Good to the last drop." He said with a forced smile then handed the mug back to Elena.
"You okay?" Elena asked.
"Was having the best dream." Damon said with a cheerful voice, but his eyes teared up as if he was grieving a loss.
"Didn't sound like it to me. " Elena looked at him skeptically.
"I dreamt that you rescued me." Damon grinned. "Could write a novel, it was so perfect."
"Tell me about it." Elena said her voice kind.
"You freed me from the traps. You supported my weight when I could barely walk. You fed me your blood when I was out of strength. And of course we kissed. It was epic." Damon smiled but the smile quickly faded.
"Why so sad?" Elena asked sympathetically.
"I'm the proverbial man who drank in his sleep, but in the morning he awoke and thirsted still." Damon explained with a melancholy tone.
Elena's features softened with empathy as she read the longing in Damon's face. She rolled up her sleeve and offered him her arm.
"I'm here now." She said softly. Damon looked at her his brow furrowed not comprehending at first, then when he realized what she was offering his expression changed to one of intense gratitude and humility.
"I don't really need it Elena." Damon protested in surprise.
"I think you do." Elena coaxed him tenderly. She gave Damon such a look of love that he couldn't help but accept it. The veins under Damon's eyes barely registered as he bit as this was not an act of hunger or lust but the receipt of a gift. Their eyes never left each other as he drank making the moment poignant, intimate.
"I'm not going to ask you to kiss me." Damon said when he released her wrist. "It wouldn't be fair right now." He pulled Elena close to him, wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head.
"Thank you for not pushing." Elena said gratefully.
Damon looked at her intensely. "I can't afford to do anything to lose you or Stefan, especially now that he is just beginning to regain possession of himself."
"You won't lose us Damon." Elena reassured him covering his hands with her own.
"If I lose him it will all be for nothing. I learned that much this year." Damon fell quiet for a moment, then began to sob, agonized full body sobs.
"Hey. What's wrong?" Elena asked. She turned around and pulled Damon into a hug holding him close. He sank into her his head on her shoulder as he continued to cry with an anguish that Elena could barely comprehend. Damon finally pulled back and looked at Elena.
"It was bad Elena." Damon said his voice measured, controlled in contrast to his tormented expression. "The pain was like nothing I've ever felt before, but worse than that was the fear. You know what he did to Stefan." He stopped for a moment. "I can't be that." He said desperately.
Elena reached out a hand and placed it on his cheek in a wordless expression of support, her eyes never leaving Damon's, her expression mirroring the pain in his.
"She would cut and cut then leave me hanging for hours. I couldn't be there. I had to go somewhere safe, disappear inside my own head. You were it Elena. You were my safe place." Damon placed a hand on Elena's cheek as well, his countenance softening, calming as he revelled in the comfort of her presence. They eventually lowered their hands and Damon gave Elena a small relieved smile.
"You're looking better." Elena said lightly touching the hollows under his eyes. The dark circles were much less pronounced. "You hungry? Want some more to drink?" Elena asked.
"Don't let Stefan hear you shoving blood down my throat." Damon flashed her an ironic smile. "Or he'll go out and get himself tortured just so he can have an unlimited supply of guilt free blood."
"I heard that." Stefan's voice called from the hallway. Stefan toed open the door and walked in carrying another tray. "Don't worry I didn't pilfer any." He said with mock annoyance.
"Sun and moon tea cozy." Damon rolled his eyes.
"Caroline's orders. You have to finish this off. Or you're not allowed to take a step downstairs."
"Who died and made her queen?" Damon asked. "Wait! Don't answer that."
Stefan unceremoniously laid the tray on the bedside table grabbed the empties and left with an amused. "I'll leave you to it."
Damon climbed out of the bed and poured himself another cup of blood. "Mind sticking around while I clean up?" He asked Elena as he headed into the bathroom.
"Go ahead. Take your time." Elena said casually. She stretched out on the bed her hands behind her head.
"Feel free to take the bed." Damon's teasing voice carried from the bathroom just as the shower turned on.
Elena got up when she heard the water turn off and poured another cup. When a freshly washed up Damon stepped out of the bathroom a towel wrapped around his waist she was ready for him, placing the cup in his hand.
"I'll help you with those." Elena indicated the dressings. Damon drank while she retrieved the supplies from the bathroom.
"Where shall we do this?" Elena asked.
Damon took a seat in the wing back chair by the bed. "I'm all yours." He teased with a characteristic smirk but the sexual innuendo was wholly absent from his eyes. He relaxed back in the chair closing his eyes as Elena worked on the dressings. She paused for a moment, taking in his form. His facade of bravura gone his inner strength and vulnerability were much easier to see, a majesty that surpassed the beauty of his physical body alone. Damon opened his eyes at the unexpected stillness.
"Something wrong?" He asked searching Elena's eyes.
"You really are beautiful." Elena said. The sincerity in her expression capturing his gaze with an indescribable warmth.
"What happened to sexy, studly and irresistible?" Damon asked when the intensity of the look finally became too much for him.
Elena frowned good naturedly. "Don't push it." She warned and began working on the other wrist. Damon rotated his hands and massaged his wrists, testing the new bandages.
"Too tight?" Elena asked.
"No. Good job, feels secure." Damon got up and headed over to the dresser. He unceremoniously pulled on a pair of boxer briefs before tossing the towel aside. Frowning he touched his neck with his fingertips and discovering a little blood headed back into the bathroom. He pulled out the first aid supplies and dressed the wound himself.
"How's the neck?" Elena asked when he returned.
"Not nearly as bad as the wrists." Damon took a swig from the cup and rolled his shoulders feeling the muscles relax.
"Sore?"
"Surprisingly not." Damon smiled. "Bonnie did her thing earlier." He explained flickering his hands with a quirky grin. He finished off the cup and poured another then headed back to the closet. He pulled on jeans and a crew neck shirt that effectively hid any sign of the bandage on his neck. He finished the final cup of blood and slipped on socks and his favorite pair of motorcycle boots.
"Can't believe how well this is working." He said draining the cup."Feel almost human again." They both laughed at the incongruity of that statement. Damon retrieved a pair of fingerless leather gloves from a drawer and pulled them on over the bandages.
"You don't have to hide your injuries." Elena said giving him a look of compassion.
"Don't need to make it obvious either. Draws too much attention." Damon said simply.
Elena looked at him strangely. "Since when did you shy away from attention?"
"There's attention and then there's attention." Damon explained with a grin. He threw an arm around Elena's shoulders and guided her toward the door. Elena instantly noticed a change in Damon. He stood a little taller and a slight swagger entered his walk.
"How many switches do you have?" Elena asked.
Damon looked at her perplexed.
"You just turned something on." Elena studied him carefully.
"Perceptive." Damon said impressed. "Open and vulnerable one moment, cocky and charming the next?" His expression took on each characteristic as he named it. Elena nodded at his forthright self-assessment.
"I'm a multifaceted individual." Damon preened causing Elena to laugh.
"Now enough with the character study. I'm much more interested in bloodlines." Damon said his tone businesslike. He waved one hand forward leading her out of the room.
A/N I very much appreciate your feedback especially if you can describe one specific thing that you liked or perhaps didn't like or raised a question for you. It helps me to know if what I am trying to do is actually working.