I swear on my life that my reviewers are the NICEST people on earth! You guys are just so supportive and amazing! For the first time in my life, I have decided to have my most loved/appreciated beta, This Is My Escape aka Kate, to go over this chapter. I'm so excited! Thanks so much, Kate!

Thank you all for helping me to hit the 1000th number of reviews mark! If I could, I would hug each and every one of you to show my appreciation. This story has given me so much joy to write and also to share with you. If you like this story and decided to put it on alert or favourite it, then please spend some time to review it. It'll mean a lot to me to know if you've enjoyed it.

DISCLAIMER: The author (that's me!) does not condone killing off people (on purpose) no matter how evil they may be. Therefore, I'm surprised and tickled by the number of comments for Damon to commit murder on Katherine. Let me tell you right here: I will not have Damon reduced to being a common criminal even if he had the right motivations to do it. He's too pretty to be stuck in jail; he also shouldn't bend down while showering. So, for the sake of Damon's peace of mind when showering, he's not killing anyone.

Chapter 37: Aftermath

(continuation of the previous chapter – flashback to 4 days before the funeral)

"Wait, where are you going?" Jeremy called out in alarm, taking a few steps towards his retreating brother-in-law.

"To kill Katherine Pierce!" came the sinister reply.

Both Stefan and Jeremy stared at each other in horror before finally coming to the same conclusion at precisely the same time; Jeremy would stay back with Elena while Stefan went after his brother to stop him from committing a crime he would probably regret after all was said and done.

"Wait, Damon! I'll come with you," Stefan called out as he ran to catch up with his impulsive and perhaps slightly insane brother suffering through a massive amount of grief.

"Yeah, great idea. You hold her down while I tear her apart!" Damon bit out angrily as he got into his car and started the engine. Peeling out of the hospital grounds as soon as Stefan settled in next to him, after just barely slamming the door shut behind him, they made their way to the woman who'd cause so much pain and loss.

"Whoa, slow down, brother! You're not actually planning on killing her, are you?" the younger Salvatore voiced out as he hastily clipped on his seatbelt.

"Yup, I've had about enough of that bitch! She ruined my life, as well as Elena's! Katherine's a cold-hearted snake who deserves to rot in hell for killing an innocent life. Stefan, she killed Little Purple! Now, I'm just returning the favor," Damon sped up even more as he made his way to his old apartment.

"And what are you going to kill her with, Damon? Your penetrating pretty blue eyes? Are you going to blink her to death? You don't even have a weapon!" Stefan pointed out as he gripped the side handle above his side of the door, struggling to stay in his seat while his brother, the maniacal driver, took a sharp turn at a junction. They were almost at the apartment by now; he was running out of time and ideas to distract his brother from the obvious anger he was feeling.

"Who needs a weapon when I can tear her to pieces with my bare hands?" the reply was made with a dangerous and menacing tone. Hatred was looming behind every word, and it seemed to Stefan that at that moment, his brother was perfectly capable of committing the crime he was speaking of. It was probably his way of coping with his frustrations at being helpless about Elena. Speaking of...

"And what's going to happen to Elena when you're locked up in prison for the rest of your life, huh? Remember her? Not only did she lose the baby, you're actually going to leave her alone while you're spending the rest of your life behind bars? Or maybe you don't think that she's suffered enough, is that it? Damon, she's a nineteen year-old girl who lost her parents, got pregnant and then got married to the father of her child. She fell in love, lost a baby, and now she's about to lose her husband on top of it because he can't control his emotions!"

When his brother didn't respond, Stefan felt like his last resort was a wasted effort. Letting out a long, defeated breath, he said quietly. "Wow. Way to go, Damon. Your wife's story might be a best-seller someday; it's that tragic," he shook his head sadly at his own summary of the situation. It really was tragic.

"Then, please, enlighten me, brother. What would you have me do, hmm? Tell me, if you were in my shoes, what would you do when you know that a woman you hate more than life itself caused you to lose everything you've ever wanted in life? I'd be willing to bet that you're not going to sit down in a Starbucks with her and reminisce about the time when she caused your wife to have a full-blown haemorrhage! Oh, remember the time when I sabotaged your career and made your wife miscarry?" Damon imitated Katherine's husky and teasing tone of voice to perfection as he pulled up to a curb in front of his old apartment building.

Without another word, he killed the engine and got out of the car, leaving Stefan scrambling to keep up. They both made their way inside the building and soon, they were standing in front of the front door to Damon's unit, the doorbell ringing incessantly as Damon kept pressing on the buzzer. After a moment, it became clear that there was nobody home.

"Why is it when you decide to kill someone, they're never home?" he exclaimed with a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know the answer to that, seeing as I've never commited murder before, but hey, maybe this is a good thing. We should go back to the hospital and see how Elena's doing," Stefan answered hopefully, grabbing Damon's arm, hoping and wondering if that was all it took to stop his brother's insane spur-of-the-moment decision; the fact that the intended victim wasn't home.

"No, I can't stand being there and not being able to see her. It's obvious she doesn't want me around, I can't just wait around for her to forgive me; I'll go mad if I don't do something, Stefan." And with that, Damon made his way back to his car with a flabbergasted Stefan trailing close behind him, wondering what he was up to now.

"There's nothing to forgive, Damon. What happened was not your fault! First degree murder, on the other hand..." Stefan trailed off as he got in the car again, sliding a worried sideways glance at his brother who seemed to be heading to the other side of town, away from the hospital. Damon was clearly trapped in his own head, so he sat there silently as his brother drove around from one house to the next until he finally spotted a familiar car parked on the driveway of a massive house located in an exclusive country club.

Without even bothering to turn off the engine this time around, Damon flew out of the seat in his haste to get his hands on the woman who had managed to evade him for hours so far. His temper flared as soon as her face appeared through the glass of the front doors, peering at him with a puzzled frown as soon as she took in the crazed look in his eyes.

"Damon, what are you-" she started to ask when she opened the door open a few inches, but the gap was all Damon needed and he kicked the door hard enough to cause a dent on the surface, sending her stumbling backwards in fright.

"What did you do, Katherine?" he screamed. "What the fuck did you do? What did you say to her?" He was practically snarling as he stalked her deeper into the house, trapping her into a corner with a murderous expression that sent chills down her spine. For as long as she'd known him, he had never displayed such anger or resentment in her direction; not even when he discovered her in bed with Mason Lockwood.

"W-what happened? ?" she stammered helplessly. "I just talked to her, Damon, she was fine. I apologized for what happened at your house and then I dropped off a box of your stuff and then I left," she rambled, her words nearly blending together in confusion and terror. "She was fine when I left her!" she glanced nervously at Stefan who just came in through the doors to plant himself next to him.

"Well, she's not fine, Kat! I went home to an empty house with a bed full of blood-soaked sheets and a pool of blood on the floor! We lost the baby."

Katherine shook her head in denial, horrified at hearing the news. Eyes welling with tears, she opened her mouth to speak but her ex cut her off.

"And I almost lost Elena in the process! She's now in the hospital, hating my guts and it's all because of the stupid divorce documents that you gave to her!" he yelled in an accusing tone, his eyes blazing with all the hurt and rage he'd been feeling the past few days. Now that the true villain was in front of him, he didn't want to waste the opportunity to give her the verbal trashing that she deserved, and more.

"I didn't give her any-oh my God!" she explained, clamping a hand over her forehead, his words finally making sense. "The box...there were letters and documents in there! I didn't do it on purpose, Damon! I would never...oh God, the baby! I already felt guilty enough about the accident last week, but now the baby...I'm so, so sorry, Damon."

To the brothers' surprise, she started sobbing uncontrollably, burying her face in her hands as guilt racked through her; she may not have cared about Elena or about the temporary truce between them, but she certainly cared that an innocent baby was harmed whether directly or indirectly caused by her. The thoughts of Elena losing her child brought back painful memories of the emotions she felt when she was told that she wasn't able to conceive after having an abortion.

Damon and Stefan exchanged a quick, puzzled look when they saw how distraught she was by the news. Doing so quickly and effectively dampened Damon's eagerness at making her suffer by his own hands. His pity only enraged him more, wishing that she'd been her typically conniving, horrid self. It would be better than feeling like he's kicking someone when they were already down. Her evident anguish totally ruined his mood to rearrange her face. Damn the bitch!

Katherine was quick to cry, "I-I-I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear! Elena - she didn't deserve to have that happened to her, not like that. No one deserves to hurt like that, Damon. I-I'll help you, okay?With Mason and the whole thing, I'll help with it all. I just...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she shook her head dejectedly as her entire body shook with sobs.

It was the first time Damon had seen her react with compassion for someone else, and genuinely so. Hell, it was the first time he'd seen her cry and it disturbed him that his own compassion made him almost want to reach out to give her a reassuring pat on the back until he remembered what a bitch she'd been to Elena before.

He remembered his and Elena's wedding night and the stupid black dildo wedding gift... not to mention the reason those fake divorce papers existed in the first place.

No, Katherine Pierce did not deserve compassion, nor did she deserve anymore of his time.

"Just...stay away from Elena, please. She doesn't deserve anything you've done to her; she doesn't deserve the things I've done to her! But I love her and she's always been the one for me, Kat. I'll tell you right now; I never wanted to leave her for you, not ever. I fell in love with her the second I met her." He started to back away from the shaken woman, and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "The divorce papers were fake. I only led you to believe that I'd come back to you for my father's sake. The truth is...I was never yours to begin with. It's always been Elena. I love my wife and she's all I'll ever want, so..please. I'm so damn tired of your games and your efforts to tear us apart because they just won't work. Just stay away from her or else I'll get a restraining order against you," he warned, but all the previous resentment and spite were drained from his voice, his shoulders now slumped in defeat as he turned on his heel. Before he left, with his hand on the latch and one foot out the door he said, "I never wanted to hurt you, but you've hurt us and I'm done." With that, he closed the door, his brother right behind him, and went back to the car.

"I've gotta tell you, Damon. That was…that was awesome. I'm proud of you, brother," Stefan gripped Damon's shoulder and gave it a firm, reassuring squeeze as he said, "I know how hard it must have been for you to see her again after all she's done...Elena would be proud of you, too," he said softly with relief.

Gritting his teeth to the point he felt they might shatter, Damon choked out, "I couldn't do it to Elena, Stef. I couldn't leave her alone after losing the baby and coming so close to death herself. I should be at her side, supporting her and instead I was contemplating the pros and cons of eighty-sixing Katherine Pierce. I owe her that much, at least. It's not in me to kill someone, but I do wish Katherine would suffer a horrible death or at the very least, break her neck or something... something equally as painful," he admitted with a weary sigh.

"Spoken like a true Salvatore, brother," Stefan nodded in approval.

(Present day – after the funeral) **A/N: ARE YOU CONFUSED YET?

Left reeling from the revelation of the identity of the third party involved in his company's case, Damon trailed behind Detective Fielding into the police station. He was honestly in a daze. The detective had stopped by the church after baby Elizabeth's funeral to disclose the name of the man who had collaborated with Katherine and Mason in an attempt to ruin the Salvatore's corporation.

And so, Damon was left with an overwhelming amount of unanswered questions, questions that he was now on the way to get some answers to.

"Mr. Salvatore, you have ten minutes with him. After that, he goes right back to his cell until someone posts bail for him, alright?" the detective asked as they stopped in front of a half-glassed door.

Damon nodded, signalling his understanding and then asked, "What about Lockwood?"

"That bastard was granted bail last night because he appealed to a judge who knows his father. It's all about connections in this place, and between you and me, the Chief of Department doesn't agree to bail because of his influence; he's likely to obstruct justice by destroying evidence or tamper with the witness just because he can. It's wrong, but because of his reputation and extensive reach, we had no choice but to allow bail. However, bear in mind that we have eyes and ears on him at all times, so if he tried to pull any moves, we would know," Detective Fielding clarified in a low voice, looking around him for fear of being overheard. Apparently, he wasn't a very trusting person when it came to high-profile criminals.

"Detective, would you also make sure to include Katherine Pierce under your surveillance? Well, she being our only witness, and like you said, Lockwood has extensive reach not to mention the means..." Damon left the last part unsaid, but his insinuation was crystal clear to the astute man beside him.

"Done," was all Detective Fielding said before he gestured towards the closed door labelled as 'Interrogation Room'.

Turning his attention to the door, Damon inhaled deeply before he stepped inside the room to face the unexpected accomplice of Katherine and Mason.

"I should've known it'd be you to walk through that door when they put me in here. If I'm a betting man, and I've gotta say, I like taking my chances…I'd say you're not here to post bail." As a cruel grin spread over his face, the man raised an eyebrow and asked, "Am I wrong?" He then leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he regarded him.

Damon pursed his lips indignantly into a tight, white line as he stood there with his blue eyes scrutinizing the man seated on the other side of the table. Without bothering to respond, he made a show out of unbuttoning his coat and then taking a seat on the opposite chair, pausing to cross his leg before he leaned forward to utter a single word. "Why?"

"Why?" the man scoffed in disbelief. "Why didn't I expect you to post bail or why did I collaborate with Lockwood to steal your projects under your nose?" he asked sarcastically, snickering after seeing Damon's jaw clench.

"You're that arrogant that you're not even denying it? Are you as stupid as you look or do you actually and naively believe that you'll be protected by Lockwood?"

"If I had to choose between Team Salvatore and Team Lockwood, I'd stick with Lockwood. No offense, you know, with your being my 'son-in-law' and everything," John Gilbert lifted his fingers in an air-quote gesture and then returned to his previous position.

"You seem awfully confident, John, for a man who spent the night in a jail cell when Lockwood posted bail, and yet here you are, still foolish enough to fucking smirk at me," Damon tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to figure out the man in front of him. "You do know that we already have sufficient evidence against Lockwood and Katherine, don't you? In fact, we even have an audio recording of a self-admission explaining their involvement." He paused to let his words sink in before continuing with, "Lockwood's going down, John. And when he does, he'll drag everyone involved down with him, including you and Katherine. So, why don't you just do yourself a favour and start talking? Let's start with the why, although I can safely guess that it was for two things; revenge and money," he leaned forward in his chair as he spoke, pinning John with his penetrating blue eyes. "Am I wrong?" he quipped darkly, repeating the exact words his father-in-law had spewed a few minutes before.

"This has nothing to do with money; in fact, I didn't make a single cent out of it!" John insisted defensively.

"Really?"he questioned incredulously. "Your bank account in Zurich says otherwise. Unless you just coincidently happen to have over ten million US Dollars deposited into your account a week after the tenders were awarded?"

This time it was Damon who lifted an eyebrow in a challenge as he watched John paled at the mention of the foreign bank account that he wasn't supposed to know about. Thank goodness for Damon's investigators' quick work after his call to them earlier.

"I told you I was going to get back at you and your snobbish little family if you made an enemy out of me after knocking my daughter up and then refusing to pay me a single cent for what you did! And then you had the nerve to embarrass me by kicking me out of my own daughter's wedding! What did you think I would do then, Damon?" John snapped. "You're damn right! I went to Lockwood because I knew that he'd agree to anything to ruin the Salvatore empire! Anybody out on the street can tell you that much! It wasn't long after that I could finally play my part in making sure that you lost most of your contracts to Lockwood," he said through gritted teeth as he glared at him. The jig was up; might as well lay all his contempt out in the open.

"How did you manage that, by the way? I handled the entire tender documents myself until I took a leave of absence for my honeymoon, during which I passed them over to only one person in the company. Is Nicholas Mikaelson involved in this as well?" he asked in a moment of genuine curiosity.

That was the only thing that Damon couldn't quite work out in his head. It would make perfect sense if Nicholas was the culprit since he had access to the documents. Perhaps that was why he didn't even suspect John in the first place. The guy didn't have access, hadn't been seen in the building before and there was no other way he could get his hands on the documents.

"That ass-hat of a man your father calls MD? Please! He's too straightforward of a guy to be useful. Sometimes, the most obvious way in is the most simple one; ergo, bribe the dispatcher," the elder Gilbert shrugged casually as he leaned back in his chair, his cocky smile right back on his face, looking mighty please with himself for his ingenuity. Even Damon had to admit, he was impressed.

"Smart," the raven-haired man nodded in agreement. "Instead of trying to infiltrate from the inside, you just...intercepted the documents when it's on the way to the drop-off. Easy enough. And I'm guessing that the latest one failed because the dispatcher was hired by me and he wasn't even going to the drop-off; it was me that personally handled the delivery that time - hence, success for the Salvatores," Damon accurately summarized, his own smirk now proudly in place.

In a way, he felt relieved that Nicholas wasn't involved in the whole thing for the sake of his new friend, Elijah. He wouldn't have known how to break the news to him if it turned out his brother was in fact, the culprit. He was happy to be wrong this time around.

"Yes, but that's all water under the bridge now, isn't it? I finally got my revenge and if indicted, in a couple of years, I'll be out of prison anyway. But you, Damon. Remember when I told you that you'd lose everything? Let me refresh your memory. It was at night, we were right outside a bar, we had a very pleasant conversation about Elena's birthday...ring any bells? No?" John chuckled, and snapped his finger as if he finally understood the lost expression on Damon's face. "Oh that's right, I'd just swung a bat at your head so maybe the entire night's a little hazy. Well, I said that death and destruction followed Elena. And guess what? I was right. Surprise, surprise! But you'd know that already, wouldn't you? I mean, you did just come from a funeral, didn't you? You've lost your baby, your company just lost a lot of fucking money, you may or may not have lost your father's trust, and soon, you'll lose your wife as well. I'll tell you again what I told her; she's cursed. Everyone around her either dies or suffers and now you know that better than anybody," John sighed dramatically as if he was feeling sorry for him, except that his ever-present smirk spoiled that effect. "You should hope that she leaves you."

But it wasn't his smirk that sent Damon to his feet, knocking the chair off its legs, sending it tumbling away from him. It was his words. "You talked to Elena? When?" he growled in fury.

"At the hospital. And the fact that you were not around her twenty-four seven meant that you're already halfway there - to losing her, I mean. That just proves that I was right," John gloated and then winced when Damon launched himself over the table to land a punch on his face, his jaw now aching as his lips split open.

The door burst open and then Detective Fielding and a couple of officers ran into the room to subdue the furious Damon who struggled against the restraints as he shouted, "You bastard! How dare you tell your own daughter something like that! You're a monster! You're not fit to even breathe the same air as her! I'll sue you for fraud and attempted murder for choking Elena the last time you were at the mansion! I'll make sure that you rot in hell so that the earth can be rid of you, you piece of shit!"

"That's enough, Mr. Salvatore! Your ten minutes is up! Please escort Mr. Salvatore to his car and make sure he leaves the compound," the detective instructed the officers who held the enraged man back. They nodded and forcibly dragged him out of the station.

A minute later, Damon found himself in his car, panting with anger at the thought of that foul man being in the same room as Elena, leaving her vulnerable to his devastating words.

When did John even have the opportunity to sneak into her hospital room, undetected, when Jenna and the other girls were supposedly with her the whole time? He was literally trembling with wrath that John had even spoken to her about his outrageous beliefs that she was cursed and that she brought death and destruction to everyone around her. It was heartbreaking to think that she was subject to the filth that must have sprouted from his mouth.

At the sound of a couple of impatient knocks on his window, he turned to see the officers waving him away as they waited for him to go on his way. Reluctantly, he got a grip over himself and reined in his temper in as he put the car in gear and exited the car park. He didn't know where he was headed to next. However, feeling his pocket buzz, he pulled out his phone and there was the answer to that question. It was from Jeremy.

Jeremy Gilbert: Go home. She's there now. Thank me later.

Thank God, Jeremy had finally came through for him. Damon owed his brother-in-law a huge favour. His heart lightened up considerably at the prospect of seeing his wife again after a week apart, and it was the longest week of his life. With a racing heart, he headed towards the house that had been a happy home right up until the night everything fell apart.

Damon could tell that the air was different the moment he stepped into the house. It was heavier somehow, like some kind of pressure that would set off a ticking bomb at any moment. Tension...the tension was unbelievable. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. In the week that Elena had been in the hospital, he'd returned home only once, and that was to get cleaners in to clean up the bloody mess in the master bedroom. Besides the cleaning crew, he couldn't bring himself to return to the house without Elena; the sickening memories of seeing all the blood on the floor and on the sheets were traumatising enough for him. He couldn't help but wonder how she felt coming back here.

Without bothering to check downstairs first, he hurried up the stairs and ignored the feeling of dread as he passed the spot where she had laid on the floor, unmoving and unconscious after hitting her head on the wall after the fall. The visual memory appeared in his mind at that moment, and he hastily pushed the image aside. Now was not the time to dwell on the past; they had so much they needed to work through.

He felt, rather than saw her as he passed the landing upstairs. Just as he suspected, there she was. Standing motionless in the nursery room, leaning over the assembled Corsican Cow-Jumped-Over-the-Moon Rocking Cradle, her back was towards him as he walked in silently through the open door. He fought the impulse to go to her as soon as he saw her, knowing that she needed space to deal with whatever it was she came home to deal with. So, he just watched her, still unnoticed as he leaned back against the wall next to the door.

Suddenly, she stiffened as if she sensed another presence in the room with her. Without turning around, she spoke for the first time in a week, "They told you I was here, didn't they?" Her voice was low and quivering, as if she was trying to stifle back her tears.

"Jeremy did," he replied honestly, still watching her intently. Though the desire was great, he did not move a muscle as he spoke those words.

"So, what are you doing here?" she breathed after a long pause. She must have been mentally cursing her brother for being a tattle-tale.

I missed you. I want to hug you. I want to kiss you. I want to make everything better again. I'm here to beg for forgiveness. I came to explain myself so that you'd stop hating me. These thoughts were running across his mind at the same time and then his mouth opened to say the words. "I'm worried about you," he said instead.

"I'm fine. I'm alive, aren't I?" her voice took on a detached, yet bitter tone again and Damon knew that she had her walls up sky high and thick as bricks this time. He took two steps nearer to her and she immediately went rigid, already feeling his closeness.

"Don't do that, Elena. Don't try to hide behind your walls just to keep yourself from feeling. You and I both know that you're not fine. Neither one of us are!" his voice sounded even closer now. She could feel the warmth of his body against her skin now, and it burned her.

"Why can't you just let me be?" she cried. "I don't need you to psychoanalyse me right now," Damon could tell that her guard was up, but he was not about to give in, not when he finally had a moment alone with her.

"Elena, I...I need to explain some things to you. The divorce papers, they're not-"

"Don't!" she snapped upon hearing those words, cutting him off. "This is not the time to talk about that."

"Okay, then can we talk about John Gilbert?" When his wife's brow creased, he saw his opportunity and knew this could be his only chance to get her talking.

"What about him?"

"I just came from the police station. He's in custody because he's the one who was working with Katherine and Mason Lockwood! He was behind everything, Elena," he said, hoping that he would get some response that didn't sound like it was spoken by a robot. "It was all him."

"Figures," she finally sighed with angry eyes. "Apparently, it's the story of my life. I cause harm to people around me. People come near me, and they either die or they suffer. I'm like misery personified!" Elena then let out a humourless chuckle as if she was musing over that statement. And just like that, Damon fully understood the damage inflicted by that pathetic excuse for a father.

"That cannot be farther from the truth, Elena. Look at me," he said softly as he finally came near enough to touch her, ignoring her stiff body as he turned her around to face him. His hand under her chin as he tilted her head up to meet his eyes, he finally looked into her brown depths, and was able to see all the emotions that were so desperately fighting to get free, but he could also see her willpower to fight them back, to keep them at bay. She wouldn't allow them to get free. Elena had spent all her energy suppressing every single feeling, every emotion, just so that she wouldn't have to face them. She didn't want to feel that hurt again.

"Whatever John said to you, he was wrong and he's an idiot. What happened to your birth mother was a complication during birth that probably happens to a lot of women in the world. Death during childbirth is not unheard of, you know? As for your parents? Well, people die from a car accident every single day! It's heartbreaking and upsetting, but I can probably get you some statistics on that, too."

He saw her lower lip quiver and knew he had to choose his next words wisely. "And as for Little Purple – Elizabeth, as you've named her – you fell down a flight of stairs because of Katherine. One week later, you had a miscarriage," his own voice was now shaking as he stared down at her, his eyes were imploring her to understand that all that devastation she'd gone through in her life was something that was out of her control, and that she couldn't have prevented it.

"All of these things are the way they are, because they...they just are!" He blinked and then admitted, "Okay, that sounded better and less confusing in my head, but Elena, what I meant to say was that you are not the reason why such things happened in your life. In fact, you've brought nothing but joy into mine and also all our friends' lives by just being yourself. There's nothing cursed or sinister about you at all," he finished softly as his fingers stroked her cheek.

"Don't," she begged with a trembling voice that was so close to breaking completely. "Don't try to make me feel better. I deserve this!" she tore herself away from him as she turned away to grab hold of the cradle, her fists clenched tightly around the white poles. "I should feel like this because I deserve to be punished!"

"Well, do you? Do you even feel anything now, Elena? Because Caroline and Jenna told me that you haven't even cried."

Elena's head turned fractionally in his direction and he kept going. She was close. She was so close and Damon knew he just had to press a bit more. "You haven't cried once since you woke up in the hospital. You're supposed to grieve, but you're not allowing yourself to do that," he placed his hands on her shoulder, feeling her body trembling uncontrollably. Good.

"I cried at the funeral," she said defensively.

Damon shook his head. "Elena, that wasn't grieving…well, it was, but you fought it every step of the way, even then. Our unborn baby just died, Elena, and you only allowed yourself to shed some tears for her? You're supposed to bawl your eyes out until you can't breathe; you're supposed to shout, and scream at the injustice for an innocent baby girl; you're supposed to lash out in despair because a part of you is gone and she will never come back again! Do you feel any of that?" he shook her shoulders roughly as he stepped in front of her to face her again, watching her face start to crumple at his harsh words. "Do you feel anything at all?"

"Stop it, stop it, stop it! I can't listen anymore! Don't make me listen anymore!" she sobbed, her hands covering over her ears childishly to block out his attempts for her to open up, to block out the harsh truth. Damon continued to persevere, even though it hurt like hell to cause her pain. He held her tight against him even as she struggled to escape his vice-like embrace.

He knew that there was a chance that she'd hate him later, but he had to do it. He had to break her in order to fix her. She would never heal otherwise. "Listen to me, Elena! Elizabeth is gone! She's gone! We will never be parents to that little girl and you will never be able to hold her in your arms or wake up in the middle of the night to check if she's hungry or not. We will never get to see her grow up to be the amazing young woman we know she would have been. We will never be over-protective parents, watching her go on her first date with a boy neither of us would deem to be good enough for our little girl. We will never be able to tell her how much we love her and she will never know what cool parents we would have been," his voice softened drastically towards the end as he himself got teary-eyed, his words affecting him as much as they were affecting her.

Falling into him and letting all of her sorrows and agony fall into him, she begged. "Please don't say anymore, please." With tears streaming down her face, her dam finally burst as her mind reacted to his brutal, but necessary wake-up call. Elena was gripping him tightly now, no longer struggling to get away.

Damon stroked her hair as her tears soaked his shirt, and whispered. "She would have been the most beautiful baby girl in the world. She would have had your luscious brown hair, your doe-like eyes, your long lashes and your heart-shaped face. I wanted her to look just like you, Elena." His voice almost sounded dreamy as he imagined what his baby girl would have looked like if she'd survived. The image of a mini Elena appeared in his mind, and his heart broke all over again as he watched a mini scene of the three of them as a happy family having a family picnic in the backyard.

"Your eyes," Elena suddenly whispered brokenly in between sobs. "She'd have your mesmerizing blue eyes, and your fair complexion. Your height, too. She'd have your patience, your temperament and ability to forgive even the worst of sins. She'd have your manners, too," she said into the crook of his neck, letting herself be surrounded by his strength, his warmth and the safety he provided.

"And if she had your stubbornness, we'd both be in a lot of trouble!" he teased, trying to lighten the mood a little. The front of his shirt was now drenched with not only her sadness, but his too, he suspected. In the last few minutes, they'd made great strides so far, and she was responding to him, at last.

And she was in his arms. That in itself, even if they hadn't spoken a word…it meant everything.

"It hurts, Damon!" she wailed suddenly, and the floodgates opened again as all her suppressed feelings released at once. His betrayal, the divorce papers, Katherine, the baby, the loss, the hopelessness, her father, the idea that she should have died at birth so that her parents would live; it all came crushing down on her in that instant. Her knees buckled under the weight of it all, and then she was on the floor, with Damon's arms wrapped around her tightly.

"I've got you. I've got you, babe. Let it out. Let it all out. Whatever you're feeling, just let it out so that it can't hurt you anymore. I'm right here, Elena. I promise I'll never let you go again. I'll do anything you want me to do, just let me be here. Just let me be here for you," his whispered words washed over her and for that moment in time, she let herself believe him; she let herself believe that they could work through everything, that everything would go back to normal, that their lives were not as bleak and desolate as she felt.

In that moment, she left herself need him, probably as much as he needed her.

Throughout that night, they held each other, wrapped in each other's arms on the floor of the nursery as they cried until there were no more tears, leaving them exhausted and emotionally drained.

And so, they slowly drifted into the consolation and protection that only sleep could provide, transporting them into a realm where their minds could create a world without pain, guilt and anger as a form of escape. They dreamed. And it was this dream-like world that Damon woke up from, his mind still drowsy from the peace he left behind. Slowly awakening, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that prompted his alertness as he realized what it was. Shaking the cobwebs of slumber from his mind, he felt cold, even though he was lying on the carpeted floor.

And he was alone.

He lurched up suddenly, rubbing his hands over his face before he stood up and stretched his aching body. There was a heavy feeling in his chest, but he smothered it before it turned into a full-fledged panic mode. There was a perfectly valid reason for her not being beside him when he awoke; she was in the bathroom, or maybe she just was in the kitchen preparing a drink. Yes, that was probably it.

Damon walked out of the nursery and then paused at the landing; undecided if he should check their bedroom first or to go downstairs. He decided to check the rest of the upper floor first and if he failed to locate her, then he'd go downstairs to find her.

Hesitantly, he walked over to the master bedroom and braced himself for the onslaught of emotions he was prepared to feel the moment the door opened. He half-expected to see traces of blood on the floor, but luckily, everything looked in order. It was a little too clean, in fact. Looking around, he noticed that there weren't that many personal items around the room. The bear was – oh yes, the bear was no longer on its usual spot on the bed.

His eyes narrowed when he spotted something that was out of place. It was an envelope and a small box on top of it. He approached the bed cautiously, preparing for it to somehow come to life and attacked him, but everything was calm as usual. Ignoring the small box for the moment, he picked up the envelope first and proceeded to remove the contents out. He frowned when he saw that it was the fake divorce papers that he never got a chance to talk to Elena about. He read his name and then hers on the cover page with a sigh.

It was a good replica of a real divorce document, and if you didn't know what to look for, it could easily pass for the real thing. That was why it hurt so much that Elena had seen it and immediately assumed the worst. He flipped the pages until he got to the end, where the signatures were. Ha felt a pang of guilt when he saw his signature, but it was what he saw beside it that made him sick to the pit of his stomach. She had signed her name on the dotted line right beside his own.

She wanted to leave him? Elena wanted a divorce?

He immediately grabbed the small box and opened it; and it was exactly what he expected it to be; her wedding ring. With a frustrated cry, he ran into the walk-in wardrobe expecting to see her clothes, but by the looks of it, she'd had a very busy morning. Or maybe she'd already packed the day before, but he didn't notice because he never entered the bedroom. Whenever she'd done it, it was done and all her clothes were gone.

Shaking his head disbelievingly at this unexpected turn of events, Damon quickly pulled out his phone and dialled her number. It immediately went to voice mail. Expelling an exasperated sigh, he scrolled down his contacts until he found the one he had been looking for and pressed 'Dial'. He waited impatiently as it continued to ring until at last, a female voice greeted him.

"Where is she?" he asked without further delay.

"She's gone, Damon. She told me not to tell you," Jenna replied sadly.

"Jenna, please! We talked about the baby last night and she finally had a breakthrough. And then this morning, I woke up alone to find her wedding ring and a signed divorce papers on our bed. Granted, the documents may be fake, but it doesn't matter. In her mind, it is real. I never had a chance to say everything I needed to say, so please, Jenna. Just tell me where she is so that I can explain everything to her. We've already lost our daughter; I can't lose my wife, too. We're talking divorce here, Jenna!" he implored desperately.

He heard a sigh and then Ric's voice in the background. "She's at the Penn Station, headed for Richmond. Hurry, Damon," was all Jenna said.

Thank you, God for Ric! Pausing long enough to express a quick thank you, he disconnected the phone and ran for his life to the car.

If there was ever a time for him to pray, this was it. He muttered a silent prayer under his breath for second chances and no traffic jams. He prayed for green lights all the way and for time to go slower. Lastly, upon reaching the train station, Damon prayed with everything he had in him that he could find Elena in the massive sea of people. And if and when he finally found her, he prayed that he could still see some hope left in her eyes.

Do you guys think that he'd get to her in time? Leave me your thoughts!

Like it, love it, hate it, don't much care for it: just review because you're a supportive reader and because you're nice! Don't make me believe otherwise!

My twitter: cgsa_cher

Thanks again to my wonderful, hard-working and all around amazing beta: Kate!