A/N: a few throwbacks to episodes 2x21 & 2x22 in this chapter! thanks again for everyone's wonderful reviews :) enjoy!
"And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind."
-Skinny Love
Elena stood at the kitchen counter, her shoulders hunched over as she made herself a cup of tea. Her motions were mechanical, and she didn't even pause to think before raising the scalding hot water to her lips. It burned her tongue and singed her throat, but it did nothing to penetrate the numbness spreading through her body. The silence rang heavily in her ears, and she clenched her hand around the teacup even more tightly. The living room behind her had gone oddly quiet, and she couldn't hear the sound of anything besides her own heartbeat.
Still, she knew the moment that she was no longer alone.
"I just need a second to myself," she heard herself say, "I'll join you guys in the living room in a few minutes."
This time, she heard his footsteps walk closer to her—but she still didn't turn around. "I said I wanted to be alone."
"I heard you," Damon answered, and she guessed from his voice that he was standing directly behind her. His hand came up to rest on her shoulder, but she jerked away from his touch. As she twisted around to sidestep him, she caught the flash of vulnerability on his expression before it became smooth and unreadable once more.
She wasn't aware of taking a seat at the kitchen table, so she blinked in some confusion when Damon slid into the chair across from her. His gaze searched hers questioningly, "Talk to me, Elena. What are you thinking?"
Elena scrunched her eyebrows together as she tried to make sense of the question. What was she thinking? She ran through the thoughts in her mind methodically before settling on the main point. "I should've allowed him to take more blood," she said finally, in a concluding tone. "Then none of this would have happened."
To say that Damon looked confused would've been an understatement. "Excuse me?"
"We were building up his tolerance to human blood," Elena explained, avoiding eye contact. "I let Stefan drink a small amount of my blood everyday because I had hoped..." she sighed moodily, "But I should've let him drink more. If I hadn't been so scared of giving him too much—"
"Wait," Damon interrupted, looking incredulous. "Are you seriously blaming yourself for this? Elena, it's no one's fault—it's not like any of us could have predicted that any of this would happen!"
"I know we couldn't have predicted it," Elena snapped, some emotion finally returning to her voice, "But we could have prepared for the possibility." Her fingers tightened around the cup in her hand until her knuckles turned white. "What if I had given him more blood from the beginning? What if he had truly learned to control the blood lust?"
Damon didn't respond immediately, and it was clear he was choosing his words carefully. "We can never fully appreciate the consequences of our actions, Elena," he said slowly. "Yes, you could have force-fed Stefan more of your blood...but what's to say that he wouldn't have gone off the deep end back then?"
"But even if he had...at least he would've been surrounded by people who care about him," she whispered, "We could've helped him get back on the right track."
"And we still can," Damon said in a low voice, "He hasn't completely forsaken his humanity yet, Elena."
She stared at him for a few moments before standing up abruptly and moving to look out the window. She rested her hands against the sink before speaking again, "You heard what Bonnie said...th-that Stefan looked at all those people he had killed and felt proud."
"Yes," Damon acknowledged, "But what she sensed was his vampiric side." There was a scrape against the floor as he pushed his chair back to join her. In an instant, he had blurred across the room to where she was standing. "Any ripper would feel proud looking over a pile of human corpses that he had slaughtered."
Elena shivered.
Damon instinctively raised his arm to slide around her shoulders, but thought better of it and let his arm fall back to his side silently. "There is still some human left in him," he said quietly, "He did fight against the Compulsion to help Bonnie...he wanted to save her from Klaus."
She took a deep breath, and eventually nodded her head. "You're right. Stefan did try to help Bonnie." Elena turned around to meet Damon's gaze, and he felt his unbeating heart twist when he saw the unshed tears she was struggling to rein in. "That means he can be saved, right?"
Damon cupped her chin and forced her to look at him, "Listen to me. I will get Stefan back, understand? Klaus doesn't get to win; not this time, not ever." He hesitated, but gave up the pretense and pulled her into his arms. He half expected her to pull away, but she only buried her face into his chest. For the first time, there was no tension between them -the embrace was simply a means to give comfort, and Damon soothingly ran his fingers through her hair as she relaxed against him.
'We've kept Elena human, right? We found a way when there was no way...'
"We'll find a way," Damon echoed Stefan's last sentiments, "We always do."
"Thank you," Elena murmured, so quietly that he almost didn't hear it. "Thank you for doing this."
'Hey,' Stefan said seriously. The pain in his gaze was unmistakable, but his voice was strong with determination. 'I will do this.'
Damon snapped back to reality when there was suddenly a loud thud from the living room. He broke apart from Elena just in time to hear Jeremy roar, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Elena's eyes were wide as she ran into the living room and she looked around wildly, "What is it? What's happened?"
Jeremy and Bonnie were the only two on their feet, standing on opposite sides of the room. Bonnie's arms were crossed, but Jeremy looked furious. "Tell them!" he ordered, "Go ahead and tell them what you just told us!"
Bonnie's eyes flashed at his tone, but she turned to face Damon and Elena instead. "Look," she began, "We've been talking about what Stefan said..."
"Yeah, we've been discussing that too," Elena stepped forward, sending a confused look at her brother. "Damon was saying that Stefan must have some humanity left in him because he had the sense to try and save you from Klaus."
"I agree," Bonnie nodded, but she looked hesitant. "But I was talking more about what Stefan said about Elijah." She glanced briefly at Damon, "Don't you think Stefan was dropping a hint about Elijah's location?"
Damon's eyes narrowed, "And why would we care about Elijah's location? The son of a bitch double-crossed us, in case you've forgotten."
"I know," Bonnie said quickly, "And I hate him for that just as much as you do...but there had to be a reason that Stefan mentioned his name! What if Elijah is our only way to save Stefan?"
"I don't understand," Elena shook her head, "What are you saying? I know that you thought Elijah's body must've been near to wherever Klaus and Stefan were...and I guess they could be carting the body around somehow—but I don't see how that could help us. I mean, well, Elijah is dead."
"He's only dead because he's been staked with the dagger," Bonnie corrected.
"No," Damon suddenly growled, "I forbid you to do this."
If Bonnie was surprised, she didn't show it. "Careful," she said warningly, "You don't control me, Damon."
"You'll only get yourself killed," Damon hissed, "And I won't allow it!" He took a step towards her, perhaps to stop her from leaving—but within the next second, his face contorted and he doubled over in pain.
There was an instant uproar.
"Bonnie!" Caroline exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing?"
"Is that really necessary?" Alaric demanded, "He was only trying to—"
"Hey!" Tyler suddenly moved so he was standing in between Bonnie and Damon. He looked apprehensive as turned to face Bonnie, but his face was set. "Just stop it, alright? NOW!"
"Fine," Bonnie said evenly, but she kept her gaze focused on Damon even as she released her hold on him. "Stay where you are," she said in a low voice, "Unless you want another little migraine."
Damon was on his feet again almost immediately, but he didn't move towards her. He glared at her, looking murderous, "If you ever do that again—"
"Don't stand in my way, and I won't have to."
"Could someone please tell me what's going on here?" Elena interrupted loudly, turning to frown at Bonnie. "What is it that you're planning on doing, exactly?"
"I need to get the dagger out of Elijah's body," Bonnie said firmly, "He is our only chance at killing Klaus."
"Bonnie, you still don't know where Klaus and Stefan even are," Elena explained patiently. "I understand why you think Elijah would help—especially since Klaus betrayed him...but they could be anywhere!"
Alaric cleared his throat, "Bonnie seems to think that she doesn't need to, ah, actually be there to bring Elijah back to life."
"I don't understand," Elena said slowly, "What spell would let you do that?"
"It's not a spell I can do on my own," Bonnie answered, for the first time looking uncomfortable. "I would need to go back to the witches' burial ground...They could use their powers to lift the dagger out of Elijah's heart even if we don't know his exact location."
"No," Elena said, understanding immediately why both Jeremy and Damon had been so against the idea. "The witches are already upset with you for using their magic to bring Jeremy back to life. There is no way that I'm letting you go back to them for another favor!"
"They would want Klaus dead just as much as we do," Bonnie argued, "He defies the balance of nature!"
"No," Elena insisted, "You can't predict what their reaction will be!"
Bonnie fell silent and her gaze drifted around the room before landing on Damon. "I thought you of all people would understand the need to do anything necessary to get Stefan back," she said coldly, "I guess I was wrong."
Damon's voice lowered dangerously, "I will do anything to get my brother back, Bonnie."
"I thought Emily Bennett and the rest of them hated vampires," Caroline pointed out in a reasonable voice, "What if they ask you for some kind of sacrifice or something?"
"Then, I'll deal with it." Bonnie said shortly. "If I don't do this, then we'll all be in danger. Klaus already knows that we're trying to get Stefan back, and he's already threatened us once. I won't let him get away with what he's done." She paused then, "I'm sorry."
"Bonnie..." Damon snarled, but he never even had the chance to stop her. She raised one hand, and her eyes flashed. Almost instantly, Damon, Caroline, and Tyler shouted out as they fell to the ground simultaneously, completely incapacitated.
Elena looked at them in horror before shrieking at Bonnie, "What are you doing!"
"I'm sorry," Bonnie repeated calmly, "But I have to do this." Before Elena could respond, Bonnie raised her other hand. Elena screamed as she went flying backwards, along with both Jeremy and Alaric.
"Y-you can't be serious!" Jeremy shouted as he found himself pinned to the wall, unable to move a muscle. "BONNIE!"
"Don't do this!" Elena writhed unsuccessfully against the wall. "Please!" she pleaded, "You'll get yourself killed!"
Bonnie ignored them and moved towards the door. "Wait!" Jeremy yelled, "You promised! You promised me you wouldn't do any more of these spells, remember?"
"Yes," Bonnie responded quietly, "I said I wouldn't do anything unless the people I cared about were in danger." Jeremy gaped at her, and she gave him a small smile before blowing him a kiss. "I love you," she said clearly, "Don't forget that."
Then she left.
"And now all your love is wasted
Then who the hell was I?
'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines."
