"Elena," Damon's hand stroked her face. "Wake up, baby."

Her eyes opened and it wasn't just Damon she saw, but his friend, she thought Damon called him Alaric and a woman who was also wearing an FBI jacket.

Damon looked concern. "How are you feeling?"

Elena looked around and realized she was lying on the bed. That was not what she remembered. "What happened?"

He smiled. "You fainted."

She blinked. "Fainted? I don't faint."

"You sure did," Agent Alaric said. "Dropped like a stone. Probably the shock from the situation."

"Thank you for that description, sir." Manoeuvring herself into a sitting position, Damon kept her steady.

"I wish you were dead," Wes spat. "You and your whole family."

Without hesitation, Elena exploded. So much for being in shock. Lunging at her former bodyguard, Damon had to hold her back. "You are a traitor and a murderer," she snapped. "Once you get back to Mystic Falls, our laws will take care of you. You and your kind, Wes, will rot in prison."

The agents led Wes and Luke from the room, but Elena was still furious. "I can't wait to get home and watch them face justice. My brother died because of them."

"They got a lot to answer for." Damon pulled Elena close, but a shot of pain made him wince. "Damn."

"What? What's wrong?" She sat next to him on the bed, her hands trembling before she touched him. Not having time to stop her, Elena slowly tugged at the neck of his shirt and looked inside. He knew right away when she saw the knife wound because she lost her breath.

"It is just a scratch." He tried to reassure her.

"A scratch?" she gasped. "It is not a scratch." Shoving him back on the pillows made him grimace again. "Special Agent Alaric," she called out. "He has been stabbed."

"What happened, buddy?" Alaric asked.

Damon shrugged and the movement made his shoulder burn. "One of the guys in the kitchen had a knife."

"Ah, which one?" Alaric was a detail guy.

"The dead one."

Elena's eyes went wide. "Someone is dead?"

"One dead, one in serious condition, and one with an incredible need to unburden himself. We will be getting a lot of information out of that guy." Alaric was enjoying this way too much.

There was more commotion as paramedics arrived to look at Damon. People were getting around easier because the storm had blown through leaving some damage in its wake, but it hadn't been nearly as bad as it could have been. There was a lot of debate about whether they were going to load him in an arriving chopper to go to the hospital or if they could get a local doctor in to stitch him up and leave it at that. Damon didn't care too much what they would do as long as someone did something. It hurt like hell and it kept on bleeding.

"You should let them take you to hospital," Elena said. "I will be fine."

"I don't want to leave you. There are going to be a lot of questions."

She smiled at him. "I will handle it."

And she would.

Princess Elena had taken down two dangerous insurgents with a hockey stick and a bottle of window cleaner. She had kept her wits about her and had acted in a way he hoped his agents would act in a crisis.

She acted the way a leader should act in a crisis.

And her country needed that more than ever.

"I'm going to tell the truth, Damon," she said. "There is nothing hard about that."

He couldn't argue with her, but over the past few days he had learned that arguing with Elena was usually a pointless exercise.

She took both his hands in hers and he could feel her incredible spirit, her warmth, seep into him. "Please let them take care of you?"

Her eyes were clear, her voice steady. She was beautiful and confident, a living example of the word noble. There was no question about what he had to do. He had to go.

"You were amazing today," he whispered. "I love you. Never forget that."

"Elena," the deep voice from the doorway was the Ambassador from the Embassy of Mystic Falls whom he recently discovered was Elena's uncle.

Elena rose and hugged her uncle, made introductions, and by then, Damon was trying to focus on getting out of there. He had to get out before he broke and asked her to stay with him forever.

Mercifully, the medical helicopter had arrived.

She bent in to kiss him. This was one of those times when doing the right thing made you want to die. When he was with Elena his heart beat stronger, his purpose in life was clear, everything was right. The brush of her lips against his and the back of Elena's hand stroked his cheek. The tenderness of each touch broke his heart. She didn't know it yet, but they were over, and Damon hoped she didn't hate him too much when she realized they wouldn't be together.

Elena had things to do, important things, and Damon wasn't about to hold her back.

He would let her go.