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"I think he's conscious, but I wouldn't go in there yet."

"He's my son! He needs me!"

Damon's head lay limp and his eyes suddenly snapped open. He found himself on a bed, a glass of blood on the bedside table. He looked around in confusion, thinking that he must've woken up from a bad dream, but suddenly his gaze fell on the vervain burns on his arms, burns that were neatly bandaged but slightly visible as the bandage was quite thin. Realization settled in Damon's features and the door swung open, his mother running towards him to hug him. There was no need for words-Damon had already understood everything.

Elena was gone.

"I'm so, so sorry, Damon," Elizabeth wept as Damon rested his face on her shoulder, tears streaming from his eyes.

"She can't be gone, mom…" He whispered, trying to wake up from the nightmare he was in. "She…she just can't!"

"The wound was so severe, Damon. She couldn't ever survive it." She pulled back, wiping her tears away. "There was nothing that any of us could do for her. I'm so sorry!"

Damon opened his mouth only to let out a strangled sob, collapsing back on to the bed. It felt as if someone had driven a stake through his chest, the pain spreading through his body. Thinking that he would never see her again…it drove him to the edge. This pain he felt right now was the worse he had ever felt. He could barely breathe, choking on his cries as he thought of the girl he had just lost.

"This is all my fault…I should've protected her!"

"No, it's not your fault," Elizabeth cried out loud, "It's not your fault. Elena wanted you to save her baby-your baby, Damon. Your son. She died for your son…"

Damon froze. The child…his son. The pain of losing the love of his life had blinded him to the events that led to her death.

"Yes, Damon…the baby," Elizabeth continued, wiping a tear from her cheek. "When we finally found you, you were holding on to your son for dear life. You wouldn't even let us take him away from you. He's a beautiful baby, Damon…Very young but Elijah's witches are doing whatever they can to make sure that the baby's fine. He needs you, Damon. He needs his father."

"No," Damon said all of a sudden. "I don't want to see it."

Elizabeth gasped, stepping back. "Damon, you don't mean that!"

"Yes I do, mom. The baby killed Elena. I don't want to see it."

"Damon, this is your son you're talking about! Elena died for him!"

"Exactly!" Damon roared, "She died! She's gone! Because of that…that thing, I'll never see her again!"

"Damon, please…" Elizabeth begged him. "Don't do this. You'll regret it."

"I don't care, mom. Just leave me alone. How am I not dead, anyway? I thought the vervain got me infected."

"Elijah got you some medicine for that, we weren't too late to save you," Elizabeth replied.

"You shouldn't have. I'm dead anyway." Another tear slipped down his cheek, truning away from his mother and staring at the wall. "Please…please, just leave me alone."

"He doesn't want to see the baby," Elizabeth held the baby closer to her chest as the infant cried out of hunger.

After Damon and Elena were missing for hours, Elijah had freed her to help them in their search, and he was allowing her and Claire to take care of the baby until Damon was ready to do so himself. But now, after everything that happened, they had no idea what to do with Damon or the child.

"I am sorry about Elena," Elijah admitted. "She seemed to have a heart of gold. This baby is proof enough."

"Where have you taken her? What have you done with the body?"

"I'll see to it that Elena has a proper burial," Elijah replied. "My brothers have been taking care of planning the necessary arrangements."

Elizabeth nodded, another tear streaming down her cheek. Claire was sat on a chair, her face buried in her hands. "Elena was a good friend," She said, sobbing. "This is all my mother's fault."

It didn't take Claire too long to realise that it was her own mother that had turned them in to the authorities, and Claire hadn't spoken to her mother since, especially since after Elena died, which was already three days before. Damon had been slipping in and out of consciousness ever since, and Claire just wanted to break down and sob. She couldn't believe that her friend was gone.

"I want to see her before we bury her."

Their heads turned around to find Damon standing there, weakly. His arm was still severely wounded and he held it to try and ease the pain. His mother turned around, the baby in her hands, but Damon quickly turned around so that he wouldn't face him. He didn't want to look at the child and see her in his eyes. It would be too painful for him, knowing that she died for him.

"You're still too weak, Damon," Elijah protested. "The vervain was still in your blood. You have to rest or you'll collapse and-"

"I don't care," Damon snapped. "My life has no purpose anymore. I want to see Elena before we bury her."

Elijah looked at Elizabeth and then at Damon. "If you really want to, then I'll show you where Elena is."

Damon nodded, following him without as much as glancing at the baby in his mother's arms. After a long walk and a lot of turns, Elijah stopped in front of an iron door, typed a code in and walked until they were standing next to an open casket. Elena was there, her eyes closed, dressed in a pink outfit, her hair falling down in waves. Even in death, she looked beautiful, a smile plastered on her face just like the second Damon agreed to kill her to save their baby. It was a selfless smile, a genuine one.

Damon didn't even realise that he was crying until he tasted the salty tears.

"May I have a moment alone with her?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course."

He disappeared, and as soon as Damon heard the door close shut, he allowed himself to cry freely. The wounds on Elena's body were stitched up, and she looked at peace. But he wasn't. His heart was shattered in a million pieces and he cried and screamed next to the casket, kissing her ice cold hand, her face pale.

She was the only one he ever loved. She was everything to him. Flashes of her and the memories together resurfaced, making him only cry harder. Thinking of the future they could have had together and the family they would've build did nothing to ease his pain. It was all over now. Once again, he was alone. The painful dread that filled his heart didn't settle. He thought coming to see the body would help, but it only made things worse.

Feeling her icy skin under his finger tips and her lifeless body made everything real. There was no trick or magic…she was truly gone. Nothing could bring her back to him. No matter how much he cried and begged, there was nothing that could be done.

"Please…" He cried. "Please come back to me…Elena please come back."

He knew it was no use; that there was no greater force or higher power that would listen to him. Everything they'd done together was for nothing and now his life meant nothing. Without her, he didn't want to go on in his now pointless existence.

"I-I love y-you," Damon sobbed, holding her stone-like hand in his own. "I'll always love y-you…only you."

His gaze fell on the wooden pencil that lay on the table in the room, and at that moment, Damon felt compelled to take it and drive it through his heart so that the pain and torture could end.

Maybe then he could be with her, in another life. A life without pain or worry. It sounded better that the lifetime of misery and loss he would feel without her here with him.

"Don't even think about it."

Damon turned around to see Klaus standing next to him, his eyes locked with Damon's. The vampire narrowed his eyes, taking the pencil in his hands and out of Damon's reach. The sobbing man ignored him, turning back to Elena and gently stroking her face.

"You are blessed enough to be given a child. This woman gave you a child, and you just want to give up?"

"Leave me alone, Niklaus."

"It hurts, doesn't it? Losing someone you love?"

Damon didn't reply, he just looked at Elena. He didn't want to listen anymore. He just wanted to curl up by her side and never let go again.

"I can help you, Damon." Klaus said after a while, chewing on his bottom lip as if in deep thought.

"No one can help me." He replied absently. "She's gone. There's nothing you can do."

"I can," Klaus said, reaching forward towards Damon. "If you let me."

"H-How?"

"You seemed to have forgotten that I have a lot of humans held captive, Damon," Klaus said. "My relationship with my siblings is not the best, having chosen my werewolf nature over the vampire one. Wars will continue, and I know that you know that. Right now, however, our true enemy is Kayla and the travelers. This is just temporary, because as soon as we get rid of Kayla, the wars between the vampires and the werewolves are going to get worse."

Klaus looked at Damon, a grin on his face. "I can help you get Elena back. Being around humans, I have learnt a thing or two. One of the things that I've learnt is that if a human dies with vampire blood in his system, the human transitions…into a vampire."

"What?" Damon gasped, slowly getting to his feet again. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes, Damon…a human has the ability to transition into a vampire."

"Elena didn't have vampire blood in her system!"

"Yes, she did," Klaus smirked. "I put a few drops of my blood in her drink before she left to talk to Kayla. I wasn't going to let Elena die, not when she is so valuable to me. Elena is not dead, she's in transition. She's unconscious right now because I'm keeping her in a comatose state thanks to my witchy friends, until you make a choice. In order for Elena to transition, a final step has to occur. I can turn Elena into a vampire, however I want something in return."

"What do you want? I'll give you anything!" Damon pleaded.

He would do anything. If it meant that Elena came back to him, alive and healthy, he would do anything. He would sell his soul to the devil if that was what was needed. Elena meant everything to him and he would make any scarifies to bring her back.

"I will turn Elena into a vampire, if you agree that you will all help me in this war with my brothers, against the vampires. Your baby is a loophole of nature, Damon. I'm sure it'll be interesting to study what exactly happened. I believe that with Elena and the baby by my side, I have power. As a bonus, you can stay too."

"No. You can't do this…Elena would never agree to such a deal. She hates violence!"

"I'm not forcing you to do it," Klaus motioned no with his finger. "It's your choice. If you want me to save Elena, that's my deal. Take a day or two and let me know, however you should know that Elena doesn't have more than two days left. If I don't receive an answer in two days, I'll tell my witches to let Elena rest in peace. It's your choice, Damon, but my siblings can never know about this deal."

"Please, Klaus…" Damon begged him. "If you can save her, please do so."

"I will," Klaus promised, "If you agree with my conditions."

"We have to bury Elena soon," Elijah spoke slowly later on that day. "We can't keep her in there for too long. She deserves more than that and you know it."

"I just need a day or two." Damon replied, his hands shaking. "I'll see to it that Elena has a proper funeral. She died saving our son."

Elijah nodded. "How about the wound, Damon? Is it healed?"

"Yes," Damon sighed. "I'm fine."

"You were lucky."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"Damon, Elena…"

"No," Damon raised his hand to stop him. "You don't deserve to speak her name. All of you…you are not fit to speak her name. All you wanted to do was experiment on her and hurt her. Kol even threatened to rape her…"

"Damon, you knew that you broke the law when you refused to hand Elena over."

"I knew that, but I also knew that Elena wasn't dangerous!" He yelled, throwing a fist at a nearby wall, cracking the brick.

"Yeah, just like you did with Katherine. Katherine was dangerous, you know. She wasn't a saint. You know that your brother is still in jail because of her, and because of you. I'm not cruel, Damon, but I don't take law-breaking lightly."

"Elena was innocent."

"You didn't know that for sure. You had no idea of what a human is. You let your love for her convince you that she's innocent. It's true, she is, but you still risked your own race."

"I don't care about fucking races and species!" Damon cried out. "Elena was my soulmate. Elena was everything to me and I was stupid enough to kill her to save someone else."

"That 'someone else' is your son, Damon."

"Why do you even care?"

"I wasn't lying when I said that I'm sorry for what happened to you, Damon. As I said, I don't appreciate the fact that you broke the law, but it doesn't make me heartless. Your son needs a father. He needs you right now. But it's your choice."

Elijah gave Damon a brief pat on the back and disappeared, leaving Damon alone with his thoughts. What kind of person would he be if he agrees to turn Elena into a vampire and then condemn her and their baby to years full of war? To get them both in the middle in all of this?

On the other hand…what kind of person would he be if he let Elena die when he could save her, when he could have her back and they could both start a new life together once the war was over? And even if the war took ages to end, living with Elena during war was better than living alone for the rest of eternity. He loved her. He couldn't survive without her.

Which was why he knew he had to be selfish. He had to make the choice for her. Damon would do anything for her because that was what she deserved. She didn't deserve to be buried in a hole in the ground when there was a chance to save her. They could be a family and they could have forever together. That was what he wanted. It was selfish, but being alone for the rest of time was too much for him to bear. It was selfish, but it was what he wanted…what he needed.

He couldn't lose her.