Chapter 37. Fight For Your Right

Let The Flames Begin by Paramore

Paragraphs of endless words and mindboggling sentences took up a four-page packet that required her signature and date at the end. Elena was hunched over at the dining room table of the Salvatore house with Damon hovering next to her side. Impatient and groaning, he tapped his foot. Gripping the pen in her hand, she looked over the last few paragraphs before officially signing her name to the deed of the house.

It was oddly familiar feeling of having the pressure over signing a document again. Elena recalled the beginning of her relationship, if it was even called that then, with Damon. Every bit of him had structure and control. Nothing was off the beaten path. He strived for the power he already held and was willing to grasp more if in his reach. A document stating his requests and needs was what started all of this. Wisely she chose not to sign it understanding Damon was much more than just a hard outer shell. He could be easily cracked and she had done just that. It was almost insane to think of how they use to be compared to now.

"Do you really need to read over every detail?" Damon whined. "I'm not scamming you or anything."

"I know that." Elena said. Her teeth bit down on the pen. "But if I've learned anything it's to always read over everything just in case."

She had too many fair shares of not paying attention to detail in the past. She wasn't about to take the chance again even if she knew Damon wasn't screwing her over in the end. Her decision to do so left him beyond irritated though and ready to shove the deed in her face. Elena knew he was easily annoyed with her stubbornness.

"What's taking so long? I thought all you were doing was signing the deed over." Alaric groaned as he walked in to the dining room.

"I thought so too." Damon moaned.

Skimming the last few sentences, she printed her name. Next came her signature and the date. The point the tip of her pen left the paper and she was met with a gust of wind.

"Done. Happy." She turned in her chair to see only Alaric in the room. Damon was nowhere in sight. "Damon?"

"Out here." He yelled.

Alaric and her shared a glance and made their way to the front door. Wide open and letting in the late afternoon sunlight, Damon stood just past the threshold that led outside. She approached cautiously confused to how he ended up here.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"When a human becomes the rightful owner of a space of living, any vampire within that space is evicted until otherwise invited back in." Alaric answered. It was like it was a well-rehearsed speech. He was knowledgeable in the supernatural field and she was sure he was reciting it from some scripture he had read. "I've never seen it actually happen before until now."

"This is all very funny, but it's hot out and we all know too much sun isn't good for my complexion." Damon mocked him. "Please invite me back in."

Elena tried to hide her amusement. The power she obtained in such short notice made her feel elated. She had the right to this grand place on who could enter and who could not. Watching Damon fidget and sulk was entertaining to say the least. He was growing more agitated by the second.

"Seriously, let me in." He demanded.

"And why should I?" Elena playfully asked.

"Because this is technically my place first and I'm your husband." Damon gave her his reasons. His blue eyes flashed and he leaned as far as he could go on the doorframe. "And if you don't that means I can't do this with my," His tongue darted out of his mouth.

"Come in!" She shouted. Her cheeks were a crimson red.

"That's disgusting." Alaric gagged.

Utterly pleased with his actions, Damon walked past the barrier and kissed her neck. She placed her hands on his sculpted chest and pushed him away with as much force as she could. If she wasn't already preoccupied with learning how to defend herself against vampires with Alaric she would have gladly welcomed him to keep kissing, but not right now.

"Break it up you two." Alaric said shaking his head.

"You just got released from the hospital," Damon breathed on her neck. "You really should be relaxing."

"I told you I feel fine." She pushed against him again.

Her strength had filtered back and only a few minor cuts and bruises were visible upon her skin. For the accident she endured, she should have been worse, but she was lucky. Elena knew no time could be wasted trying to fully recuperate from her injuries. Life wasn't going to give you time outs so you could get back on your feet when ready. It's not how it worked. She needed to prepare herself for the war that was about to erupt. Katherine meant business and so did she. Despite her odds against her, she didn't want to go into this blindly. That's why Alaric was here, to help her be smart and quick. If anything she needed to learn how to survive before taking down any enemy of hers.

"You really should rest though." Damon insisted more.

Elena finally took her chance as his guard was down for a mere instance and she pushed him off. This was something she learned from Alaric. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Damon, for the final time I'm fine. The doctors wouldn't have released me if they didn't think I was." She tried to convince him.

"And they also told you to take it easy." He argued. "Not go through Vampire 101 boot camp."

"We don't have much time." Elena fought back. She wasn't going to rest even if he tried to make her. "Every moment that passes is another second Katherine is plotting something against me. I can't just sit back and do nothing. This is me doing something and I don't care if I get scratched or bruised while doing it. How am I ever going to learn how to live in this world if I don't know how to fight back?"

Her reasons sounded plausible to her and she saw Damon glimpse over at Alaric, who was silent, but clearly on her side. The instant she told him of what she wanted to do he was in his car and flying toward the Salvatore house. Equipped with stakes and all sorts of defense mechanisms, it was the first time she ever saw him not needing alcohol to persuade him to do anything. Alaric was a true hunter and he glorified in knowing he was.

"Please don't make me use you as a test dummy." She joked.

"That actually sounds like not a bad idea." Alaric perked up. "She needs to learn and what better way than on a living and breathing example, you."

"Just because you want to kick my ass and stake it, doesn't mean I should be your test dummy. Nice try." Damon barked.

Elena spoke up. "I wasn't being serious. Anyways, I couldn't actually do anything to you even if it were practice or fake. You're my husband. I don't want to hurt you." She told him. He smiled at her. "Plus, you're too much of a distraction."

"Feisty." He replied. "Maybe you should release this energy elsewhere like the bedroom."

"Okay!" Alaric shouted. "I'll leave if I hear anymore of that. Come on Elena we have work to do."

Rolling her eyes at Damon, she squeezed his arm and followed Alaric back into the living room. The furniture had been relocated off to the sides managing to stay out of their way. Four wooden stakes laid on the table each sharp and ready to puncture. A stuffed dummy was propped up in the middle of the room with plenty of holes already poked in it. Elena readjusted her hair into a ponytail and took a deep breath.

Alaric handed her a stake and she concentrated. They had been working on target areas like the heart or just below it. Below would send just enough shock and pain, but not enough to kill. It was tactic used in order to keep your enemy alive, but wounded. Vervain lathered on the stake was another suggestion, but as they practiced it wasn't practical to have.

The key target area was the heart. One sharp and swift motion stabbing the heart of any vampire with wood created an immediate death. Desecrating into a dried up skeleton with ashy skin was what he told her vampires became. Elena did not like imagining the thought of it unless it was Katherine.

"Just like before," he advised her. "Focus in on the heart."

Her eyes were glued to the dummy's heart. She swung back her arm and jabbed it as hard as she could into it. A few feathers and stuffing fluttered out.

"Better, but you need more force." Alaric commented. "You need to build up more muscle. That's something we will need to work on."

"Okay, what do I need to do? Drop and give you twenty, I will." Elena sighed.

"I meant not today. Even I agree with Damon that you don't need to over work yourself. Lets just learn a few key things and tomorrow we will go from there." He explained.

"What if there isn't a tomorrow? I need to know and do as much as I can before I don't get the chance to."

"Elena," Alaric said putting both his hands on her shoulders. "It took me months to learn how to fight. It took me years to become the hunter I am today. You're not going to be able to know and do everything over night. I hate to break it to you."

Wiping her forehead she threw the stake down. "I know, but I feel good. I feel better than I should. I have so much adrenaline pumping through me right now that I need to release it. I'm willing to be pushed, Ric." She exclaimed.

"You sure that accident didn't mess with your head a little?" He joked.

"The only thing messing with my head is Katherine. I can't let her get to me or anyone else, not anymore." Elena growled. "I want the bitch dead."

It didn't occur to her that her hand was curled up into a ball. The next thing she knew it was hurling at the stuffed dummy and she punched it as hard as she could. It rattled and shook upon impact. Elena shook her wrist as an instant pain came over it.

"That's the kind of emotion you need behind every attack." Alaric told her. He was stunned by what she had done unintentionally.

"Yeah, we'll I think I might have broke my hand." She moaned and held it.

Only disappearing for a few moments, Alaric came back with ice wrapped in a towel. She held it in her palm and winced at the pain.

"This would be so much easier if I was already a vampire." Elena sighed. "Then everyone could stop worrying about me."

"Why do you want to become one so bad?" He asked.

"Because I don't want to have to worry about things like this. I don't want to grow old and have Damon mourn me after I'm gone. I don't want anyone to." She explained.

"And you think becoming a vampire means you don't have to worry about people trying to hurt you or kill you?" Alaric questioned her reasons.

She peered up to find him looking more disapproving then ever. Even when her and Damon had their rift he wasn't happy about them being together, but he got over it. This, this really bothered him. In many ways Ric was like her father. During those weeks she stayed at his place running from her problems, he had done nothing but been there for her. Sometimes he said things that weren't particularly the nicest, but she realized she needed to hear them anyways.

"Being a vampire is like having a permanent target on your back. People are always going to want to hurt you or kill you as long as they know you exist." He said defiantly. "If anything being a vampire will put you in more danger."

"But at least I'll be able to defend myself better being one." She argued.

"That's not an excuse."

"What are you saying, Ric?" Elena snapped. "That the moment I become one and I will because its what I want, that you're going to hunt me? You would really try to hurt or kill me just because I'm one of them."

"Vampires feed on people. You'll feed on people." Alaric gritted through his teeth. "It's not right."

"Feeding and killing are two different things." She barked.

"More like fine line between the two."

Turning away and holding her sprained hand, she tried not to lash out at him. It took every ounce of her not to. She didn't want to fight with him. They had better things to do. Now she wished she hadn't brought up the whole vampire thing at all.

"If the roles were reversed and Damon was human and wanted to turn into a vampire, would you let him?" He asked painfully.

"I don't know. I'm not a vampire. How am I suppose to answer that when I don't know what it's like?" Her pitch was high and she was nearly screaming. It didn't take long for her to understand that she sounded like a hypocrite. "I don't want to fight with you, Ric. Not about this."

"Too bad, you brought it up." He replied harshly.

Elena glared at him over her shoulder.

"Changing who you are doesn't mean people won't stop worrying about you." Alaric lowered his tone.

"I'm becoming a vampire not a whole different person." Elena cried. "I'll still be me, just with fangs."

Shaking his head he took a seat on one of the couches. "You just don't get it." He rubbed his forehead. "It's not that you won't have all the baggage you had before as a human. It's not that your personality is going to change. You will still be Elena Gilbert, but you won't be at the same time."

"I'm doing this, Ric." She stated. "Nothing you say will change that. If you try to stop me, so be it. But you'll have to go through Damon, who is on board with this."

"Really?" Alaric raised an eyebrow.

"Sort of. He isn't keen, but it's not like I'm changing over night." Elena walked toward him and took a seat. She spoke in an almost whisper. "As much as I think changing right now will help, I know that it's not necessary. I do want to live my life as long as humanly possible. No pun intended."

A small smile appeared for a second on his face. She was happy to see she hadn't lost him completely due to her decision.

"One day I'm going to turn and I don't want to go into my new life knowing that you will hate me." She touched his arm. "Please try to at least understand."

"I don't think I could ever hate you Elena." Alaric responded. "More than anything, I'm disappointed. You deserve so much better than that kind of life. Your humanity is a gift. I hate to see you waste it away."

Elena blinked back a tear.

"I love him, Ric." She whispered.

"I know." He nodded his head.

"I have to do this." Her voice quivered. "It's the only way..."

Alaric patted her knee and looked at her. "I know."

They stayed like that for a moment. He had so much more to say, but he bit his tongue. A piece of her crumbled knowing there was no way to salvage this situation. She was set in her ways, while he was set in his beliefs. No matter what the outcome was, Alaric would never be okay with her changing. It made her wish the humanity that he cherished about her so much would turn off. She didn't want to feel like this.

"I need a drink. We'll continue this tomorrow." He said rising from the couch.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow." Alaric repeated. "As long as you're human, I won't give up on you."

His words were tugging at her heart strings. She never realized how emotionally attached she was to him. His friendship meant the world to her and hearing him say that was the icing on the cake. Elena closed her eyes and bowed her head. His footsteps leaving the room and the front door shutting was the last she heard of him.

"You okay?" Damon asked.

She had not heard him come in.

"No." She stood up. This was meant physically and emotionally. "I'm guessing you heard all of that."

"I be lying if I said no." Damon reached out his arms to her and she fell into them. "Don't worry, he can just be an ass sometimes."

"Damon, I want this. I've never been so sure of something in my whole existence." Elena said letting it be muffled into his shirt. "This is the only way. I have to learn to fight. I have to learn how to survive. I have to become just like you because it's the only way."

"If you're so sure then why are you crying?" He brushed her hair with his fingers.

Elena didn't hide her tears any longer. "Because I didn't realize it would be this hard. I'm doing all of this because of you. I love you. I don't want to live in fear. I don't want lose anyone else." Her body was falling downward.

Never once hitting the ground she knew Damon was holding her up. She cried feeling overwhelmed. In the past 24 hours she had been through a lot and yet she never stopped moving or thinking. It was crashing down her now.

"I know why you're doing this. I know why you want this, but maybe you want all of this too fast." He suggested. "We don't know when or where it will happen and we don't need to live in constant fear, at least you don't. Let me handle this. You just focus on learning defense." Damon circled his hand on her back.

Pulling away, she wiped the tears of her face.

"You know I can't do that." Elena spoke firmly. "I can't just sit back and learn how to jab a stake. I want to be in this all the way. I'm want to be ready for her, Damon. I want to see her life leave her eyes knowing that you and I are safe."

Maybe it was terror or maybe it was pure pride in what she said, but Damon stared intensely at her. She tossed the wet towel to the ground and straightened her back.

"What?"

He smirked devilishly and said, "You're going to make one hell of a vampire one day."

AN: Only three chapters to left! My mind went completely in a different direction while writing this. Originally it was going to be focused on Damon and Elena, but throwing Alaric in changed the flow. Their argument was not planned and I just sort of let it fall into place with this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed their intense argument and Damon's banter when he had to be invited in. Please leave a review and thank you for reading. Follow my two Twitter accounts at MystFallsFanfic and at FSOSfansite for more.