Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Sorry for the wait on this one guys. I've been really busy. I haven't had much time to read, much less write anything. Hope you guys are still out there.

Chapter Twelve

He was pulling even further away. Elena could feel it. After watching him last night with Katherine, the whole dramatic break up with Stefan, and the supernatural hijinks this morning, Elena was quickly reaching her breaking point. She couldn't handle much more. What had him running now? She'd broken up with Stefan, dammit. She'd finally cut the cord. And yes, maybe she should have done it a long time ago, but she could at least try to explain that if he'd give her the chance. She couldn't explain anything if he ran every time she entered the room.

Elena hadn't missed his strange behavior this morning. He wouldn't even look at her again. He'd been edging away from her when Katherine had decided to make her dramatic entrance and caged him in. Then he'd looked so uncomfortable it was painful to watch. He obviously wanted away from both of them. And what was up with that? Did they have a fight? Or, oh god, what if they spent the night having sex and he didn't want Elena to know? What if he smelled like Katherine and he knew she would pick it up with her vampire nose?

Elena's lips twisted into a snarl. She was going to have to kill that bitch. How dare she play with Damon's heart again? Hadn't she done enough damage? Katherine didn't love Damon. Hell, she didn't even love Stefan. Katarina Petrova found her soulmate long before either Salvatore was born. The bitch fell madly in love the first time she looked in a mirror.

"What did the desk do to you?" Damon drawled.

Elena snapped out of her thoughts and back to the present. They were sitting in Sheriff Forbes office waiting for her to make an appearance. Damon was slouched in the chair beside her with his right foot propped on his left knee. He was wearing a dark blue button-down shirt, dark jeans, and his standard black boots. He looked good enough to eat and the idea of Katherine getting a taste made Elena's blood boil. Turning her glare on the unsuspecting Salvatore, Elena leaned toward him and sniffed before she could think better of it. She didn't smell Katherine, but she did catch a hint of her Herbal Essences shampoo so maybe he'd showered.

Damon's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

Elena played dumb, "Nothing."

Now he was looking at her like she was crazy. "Are you okay? Blondie said the shade thing never got to you two."

Elena winced. Oh right, the shade. The horrific moving and wailing example of her not-so-squeaky-clean vampire past that had literally come back to bite her this morning. They were here to find out who was behind all this. She needed to focus on the evil witchcraft and vengeful dead. Instead she was lusting after Damon and coming up with creative ideas for how to drench him in her scent before he met back up with Katherine. Oh god, she was a horrible person.

"Elena?" he questioned.

"I'm fine," she smiled stiffly. Then her mouth opened without conscious thought. "So what did you do last night?"

Damon's eyebrows lifted. "You mean after I stuck around while Liz and her people processed the Lockwood crime scene?"

"Yep," Elena said, "what did you do after that?"

"I went to bed."

"What bed? You don't have a bed." It was like she had no filter. The words just kept coming out and she couldn't seem to stop them.

Damon glared at her. "Yea, I've been meaning to thank you for that. I liked that bed."

"So did half the women in Mystic Falls," Elena snapped. Her eyes widened in horror and she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. Pretend I didn't say that." She tried to look as repentant as she felt. "I feel really bad about your bed, Damon. I was planning to replace it."

He relaxed slightly but his expression was still dubious. "Don't worry about it. Katherine bought a new one. She's having it delivered today." He rolled his eyes. "No telling how much that cost me."

The mention of Katherine and his bed in the same sentence made Elena see red. "And where did SHE sleep last night?" Elena growled.

Damon cocked his head to the side and examined her closely. "Are you on drugs?"

Elena gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "NO! They wouldn't do me any good because I'm a fucking vampire!" She hated having no control over her emotions and today she was bouncing around like a ping pong ball.

"Oh there are a few that'll still rock your world," Damon assured her.

Elena snorted despite herself and smiled at him ruefully. "I meant prescription anti-depressants."

"I know what you meant."

"I'm sorry," she told him again. "I'm all over the place."

Damon shrugged. "Just don't be surprised if Liz asks you to pee in a cup." He pushed himself to his feet and turned toward the door just as it opened and Caroline's mom walked in. He nodded to the Sheriff, "Liz."

"Damon," the Sheriff smiled back at him. Her eyes were tired, but they showed genuine warmth for the vampire. Elena had always thought it was a little weird how well those two got along considering Damon's past relationship with Sheriff Forbes' daughter.

When the Sheriff noticed Elena's presence her expression turned wary. She kept careful distance between them and stayed closer to Damon. It was all Elena could do not to stomp her foot and yell. What exactly had Caroline been telling her mother?

Damon chuckled at Elena's expression before addressing Liz. "Stefan said you made an arrest?"

The Sheriff got down to business. "Not quite, but we're working on it. We have a suspect." She walked around to take a seat in her chair and flipped open the file sitting on her desk. "After you left last night one of the dogs led his handler back into the woods behind the Lockwood Estate. They found a gas can and some dirty rags covered in gasoline. The rags were a dead end, but we lifted some fingerprints off the can and ran them through the system. They came back as a match for a Jennifer Thorton, a twenty-two-year-old college drop out with a short record of minor drug possession charges. Thorton was picked up this morning at a bar rehearsing with a country band she sings for."

"Have you questioned her yet?" Damon asked.

"Of course," Sheriff Forbes answered. "She says she has no idea how her fingerprints got on the can. She was nowhere near the Lockwood Estate last night and two members of her band can vouch for her whereabouts at the time of the crime."

"They could be lying," Elena said. "Friends will cover for friends."

"Or they could be involved," Damon's take was more cynical.

"We're looking into both options on our end," Sheriff Forbes nodded. "We also found out that Thorton is the cousin of a Bradley Lewis who died eight months ago from a vampire attack. It seems a little too coincidental for her to not be involved with everything going down. I'm holding her as long as I can, but if we don't get something solid soon I'm going to have to cut her loose."

She sat back in her chair and looked at them solemnly. "I know about the earth marks and the missing stake, so I figured you guys might want a heads up so you can check her out using less conventional means. Normally I'd tell you to stay the hell out of my investigation, but whoever these witches are, they're targeting my daughter and I'm not going to stand by and let anything happen to Caroline."

The Sheriff's expression was conflicted as she leaned forward over her desk and held out a piece of paper to Damon. Elena could see writing down the page and a small picture of a brunette girl clipped to the top right corner.

Damon took the paper, but didn't bother to look at it yet. "Did you put the circle down around your house?" he asked instead.

Elena's eyes widened in surprise and she felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't even thought about protecting Caroline's mom.

"I did," the Sheriff said. "I also got to listen to our dear Mayor raise hell about replacing her grass this morning when she heard about the one at her house."

Damon smirked. "Tell Carol her son provided the salt. She can take it out of Dogboy's allowance."

The Sheriff smiled back. "I'm sure she'll love that." She pushed herself to her feet and walked back around her desk and to the door. "Come on. I'll walk you out."

"I don't suppose there's any way you would let us talk to the girl?" Damon asked as they stood up to follow her.

The Sheriff cocked her head to the side. "I'd rather not be a witness to you compelling my suspect, Damon. I don't want to have to testify against you later."

Damon just grinned. "Who said I'd have to compel her? She is female."

Elena rolled her eyes at his antics. "If she's a witch she can't be compelled anyway."

The Sheriff shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm bending the rules enough by telling you what I am. The council's still watching every step I take. "

Damon shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

The Sheriff opened the door but blocked it with her arm. She looked at Damon seriously. "I'm glad you're back, Damon. We can definitely use your help cleaning up this mess. But do me a favor and don't do anything stupid."

A fire sparked to life in Damon's eyes and a bitter smile curved his lips. "These bitches sent a vengeful spirit after Elena and your daughter this morning, Liz. They're not playing nice. I'll do exactly what I always do; what no one else is willing to."

Sheriff Forbes ushered Damon and Elena through the department and to the front doors. She was about to tell them goodbye when something caught her eye. She pulled open the door and froze in horror at the scene in the parking lot. "My god, do you see that?" She reached for her firearm on instinct.

Damon and Elena shared a glance then moved forward as one to nudge the Sheriff out of the way and step outside. The familiar feeling of wrongness immediately hit Elena in the face. She flinched but shook it off and prepared herself for attack. She focused on the two figures stumbling their way slowly toward them.

It was the morning all over again, but this time there were two and Elena recognized them both. The first was another slip, a man in his early twenties, black messy hair, wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were solid liquid black, his throat torn to shreds. Nasty muddy water was dripping from his hair and clothes to the ground. His malevolent gaze was focused straight on her.

The second was…

"Is that William Tanner?" Sheriff Forbes shuddered in disgust as she took a shaky step forward aiming her sidearm at the phantom.

Damon threw out his arm to bar her way and pushed her back. "Get back inside, Liz."

It was Tanner. He was wearing a suit and unlike the other shades he was clean and the wound on his neck was covered by his clothing. Elena imagined he looked like he'd simply gotten up and climbed out of his coffin, but his eyes bore the distinctive inky black mark of the witchcraft used to raise him.

"What are they?" the Sheriff asked.

"More presents from our friendly neighborhood witches," Damon said. "They're shades and we can't fight them."

"We have to fight them! I've got innocent people in here, Damon."

Damon pushed the Sheriff back further with his arm. "Your people will be fine, Liz. They're not here for you. Get back inside and stay there until we're gone."

"How do you know they'll follow you?" she asked.

Damon smirked as the former history teacher took another step toward him. "I'm pretty sure Tanner's here for me. I think he took exception to our last meeting."

Sheriff Forbes glared hard at Damon. "I always wondered who killed him."

"Ehh," Damon shrugged, "I was having a bad night."

"And that means," the Sheriff looked from Elena to the other shade and back again. Her expression was shadowed with disappointment in the little girl she'd watched grow up.

Elena jerked her eyes away from her best friend's mom and focused on the shade again. "I can hate myself later, okay? Right now we have to lead these things away from town. Bonnie said we can't fight them with physical means. They don't actually have a body."

"Where will you go?" the Sheriff asked.

"The closest house with a protective circle," Damon said.

"That's my place," she told them. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. "Here," she tossed them to Damon, "I'll call the boarding house and let them know what's going on." She looked at each of them one more time. "Good luck."

Damon nodded and then barked a command at Elena. "Go!"

Elena sped away trusting blindly that Damon was right behind her.

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