Sorry for the break guys, life keeps getting in the way…

Chapter 49 WHN

Elena needed no tapping to awake as she sat bolt upright in the bed panting and sweating. Somehow she managed in her sleep to roll away from Damon so that he was peacefully asleep and undisturbed by her nightmare. She looked around the room wildly, trying to remember where she was when she saw their clothes scattered around the foot of the bed just where they had left them in their fit of passion. The food Stefan had left for Damon was still on the floor on a tray where he had left it. She eyed it, getting up and moving to it to check if Stefan had provided any bourbon. She could really use a drink right now! She smiled in relief when she lifted the glass of amber liquid and inhaled it. Good one Stefan. She put it to her lips and took a sip to calm her nerves.

What was that all about? Kill him? Kill him?! She couldn't be serious! There had to be another way to get the cure out of him – they had managed to get it out of Silas's body in Indiana, why not out of Damon now? Then again, Silas had been technically dead, immortal, incapacitated…Oh god, did that mean that that was the only state in which it could be removed? No, no she couldn't think that way. It wasn't possible. She was not going to kill Damon. Not when they didn't know whether vampire blood in his system would have the same effect as normal. It did seem to heal him like you would expect but they couldn't take the chance. They didn't know anything!

She threw her clothing back on as quietly as she could and crept from the room, checking that she hadn't roused him. He was sleeping soundly, his heart thumping so loud that she knew everyone in the house would have been able to hear the thudding of his heart increase in exertion as they had been making love. She closed the door behind her and walked out to find Stefan. She didn't want Klaus to know what the witch had said. She had no doubt that he would snap Damon's neck right now if he knew that the cure would be exposed through that. She had to keep that information strictly between her and Stefan. Maybe he would know what to do.

She found them all arguing and frustrated in the lounge as Bonnie rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked through her grimoire for any answers.

"Anything?" Stefan asked as he saw he enter.

He stood up to greet her like the gentleman he was and she gave a tight smile and a shake of the head.

"Did you speak to her?" Bonnie asked.

"I couldn't find her, him. Just a normal dream." She lied through her teeth.

It felt so wrong to lie to Bonnie.

"Hmmn." Klaus watched her, evaluating her face carefully.

He must have heard her awake with a start, gasping and then her inevitable grasp for the bourbon. Still, he couldn't know what had been said in her dream. At least he couldn't get inside her head, thanks to daily infusions of tea laced with vervain.

"Do you have anything?" She diverted attention away from herself back to Bonnie and Bonnie shook her head.

"Maybe I can find that girl I met at the Lockwood party. She was a relation to Grams. Maybe someone in the family will know. I know one thing for sure Elena, I can't remove it myself." Bonnie said apologetically and Elena gave her a reassuring nod.

Bonnie didn't like to feel vulnerable, incapable of helping. This was a real struggle for her. It was making her feel like a beginner again, Elena could tell.

"How is he?" Stefan touched her arm in concern and she gave him a more relaxed smile.

Stefan may be back on animal blood but even he would have been able to hear their cries and gasps of pleasure from earlier.

"He's sleeping."

"Did he eat?"

"Not yet."

"He needs to eat something." Stefan sighed and she nodded.

"He will. I promise. This is all new to him. He's struggling with the basics." She informed, unwilling to divulge Damon's experience in the bathroom as a motivator for him refusing to eat.

"Not all of the basics I hear." Klaus smirked knowingly and took a sip from his wine as Stefan tensed, thinking on their carnal activities.

"So what's next?" Stefan changed the subject, saving Elena from turning crimson with simultaneous rage and embarrassment.

"Maybe we should go to New Orleans, try and trace Rebbie from there." Bonnie suggested.

"Sounds sensible. Off you pop Stefan and go hunting. I will stay here and protect human Damon from harm." Klaus smiled smugly.

"I'm not leaving him with you." Stefan almost growled and Elena folded her arms tight around herself.

"You've already proven your inability to keep him alive Stefan and besides, if every vampire who wants to be human again knows where he is and they're coming for him, who else do you want protecting him than an immortal hybrid who can kill an army with ease without breaking into a sweat?" Klaus folded his arm and said defiantly.

"He's right." Elena said, irritated but in acceptance.

Stefan turned to her in surprise and horror and she nodded and sighed.

"He's invincible and they won't stand a chance against him." She affirmed.

"Well said love. Perhaps the distance from you will help Damon relax a little and eat something."

"Don't act like you care about him. You'd kill him the first chance you got if that would get the cure out of him." Stefan snapped in rage and Klaus gave a smile of agreement.

"Undoubtedly."

"We don't have time to argue guys. If there are vampires coming we need to act fast." Bonnie stood up, negating a potential scuffle between them. "We have no idea how many are coming here."

They all whirled around as the door to the manor crashed open. The telltale sound of high heels clicking along the marble indicating their owner to a sufficient enough degree to make Klaus let out a sigh of exasperation and foreboding.

"Nicklaus!"

"Great, just what we need." Elena huffed.

"In here little sister. Do barge right into my house and ruin my door, won't you?" Klaus said irritated but with a small spectre of amusement borne of the worried look on Stefan's face.

"What the bloody hell is going on? Why am I here?" She asked angrily as she looked from one to the other.

Klaus raised his eyebrows in intrigue.

"One minute I was out on the highway, then next minute I couldn't think about anything else but turning back and driving here!" She said irritated.

"Where were you going?" Stefan asked, paling as he spoke and she frowned.

"What?"

"How far did you get before you turned around or felt you needed to turn around?" He specified and she dropped her arms puzzled.

"I was a couple of hours away." She said beginning to sound a little more concerned at their continuing nervousness and discomfort. "What's going on?"

"It would appear little sister that you're one of the first of many who are on their way here to seek the cure." Klaus said simply and she stared at him speechless for a few moments before responding.

"I thought you said the cure was gone."

"We thought it was but by some miracle, or joke of nature, it went inside of Damon and made him mortal."

Rebecca's jaw dropped and she looked from Stefan to Elena and back as she tried to figure out if this was a ruse somehow. It took her a minute to realise that Damon was not in the room with them and she glanced around behind her, feeling a strange tugging sensation telling her to seek him out. She took a few steps towards the room he was in and immediately Stefan and Elena grabbed her fiercely, fangs bared at her. She growled back and pushed them off easily, while Klaus gave a chuckle and shook his head.

"You won't touch him!" Elena growled and Rebecca scoffed at her and looked at Stefan.

"What do you think I'm going to do? Eat him?" She chuckled in disbelief and Stefan calmed himself and looked to her imploringly.

"You wouldn't be the first to try love." Klaus chuckled again and she frowned as Stefan closed his eyes and tightened his jaw.

"You drank from him?" She gasped and he opened his eyes and looked at her, weary and tired of feeling the crippling guilt over it.

"He couldn't help it. It's the cure, it's made Damon's blood taste different. It has a pull on you and you can't think about anything else but drinking it." Elena explained and lay a comforting hand on Stefan's back.

"You stopped." Klaus pointed out and she turned to look at him as her cheeks began to glow in embarrassment. "What does it taste like?"

"Wait, you've both been drinking from him? From Damon? From your own brother, boyfriend…" Rebecca tried to get it straight in her mind. "Isn't that a little creepy?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Elena snapped and Rebecca and Klaus exchanged glances.

"Back to the little triangle I see." She snorted. "So if Damon's blood is such a temptation, one would assume that drinking it would do something special but you two are clearly still vampires."

"Clearly." Stefan said tightly.

"So how do we get the cure?"

"That little sister is the million dollar question. One which Stefan here is just on his way to discover, while we babysit." Klaus smiled happily.

"I told you I'm not leaving him alone with you." Stefan stood his ground.

"I'll go. Maybe I can find her easier with this thing in my head as a guide." Elena volunteered and Klaus nodded.

"I'll go with you." Rebecca folded her arms decidedly. "I want to make sure you don't screw up this time. I want that cure."

"Fine." Elena said gritting her teeth together.

"I'll stay here and try to keep looking for some answers. If others turn up here I can help protect Damon too." Bonnie said and they all nodded in agreement.

Rebecca gestured towards the, now slightly loose hinged front door and looked at Elena with raised eyebrows and Elena huffed and glowered at her. Stefan gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded at him.

"In a minute." Elena said to Rebecca commandingly and moved towards Damon's room as Rebecca watched with interest.

She went into the room and closed the door behind her, locking it from the inside and moving over to him. He was still in a deep sleep. Strange that he hadn't been roused by the crash of the door being thrown open but then again, his hearing was human and dulled and he was recovering from his trauma still. She sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked through his hair gently. He came to and opened his eyes fractionally.

"Hey." She said gently and he grunted in response. "I'm going to New Orleans to find the witch with Rebecca. Stefan and Bonnie are going to stay here with you."

"What?" He frowned, blinking in an attempt to bring himself to a more alert state.

"It's ok, just sleep." She cooed. "I didn't want to leave without letting you know I'm going. Everything's going to be ok."

"It's too dangerous…" He began and she shook her head and cupped his cheek.

"I have Rebecca to back me up. Just rest and please Damon, for me, eat something. Your body needs to heal the human way now." He groaned in frustration and she ran her fingers through his hair again to lull him. "Promise me you'll look after yourself till I get back. I need you strong and healthy."

He closed his eyes and nodded solemnly and she leant down and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I love you." She said and he looked up at her.

"Love you." He said in response and she smiled, stroking his hair until he began to drift off to sleep again.

She remained there for another five minutes until his breathing became heavy and regular again, before she stood up. She hated the thought of leaving him at all, especially when he was this vulnerable and still so obviously upset and angry with Stefan. Still, if she got to Rebbie first hopefully she could keep Rebbie declarations of killing Damon being the way to release the cure, out of the equation. Rebecca's presence would complicate matters but she would just have to figure that out later.

She closed the door behind her as she left and let out a sigh of guilt at leaving him still. Everyone had returned to the lounge and she walked back through.

"Ready?" Rebecca asked and she nodded.

"Look after him." She said to Stefan and he nodded.

They left quickly and jumped into Rebecca's car as Stefan sat down next to Bonnie and looked to Klaus.

"Well this has been a fun filled evening."

"Morning." Bonnie grunted as she looked at her watch. The sun was beginning to rise and she was exhausted after having been awoken by Klaus's text.

"Yes." Klaus pondered on that and looked at his watch too. "Perhaps we should all get some rest. There aren't many vampires with daylight trinkets so I think it would be safe to rest for a few hours. There are some bedrooms on the second floor, help yourselves."

"I'll stay here. Just in case." Stefan said and Klaus rose from his chair and tilted his head as he evaluated him.

"Even vampires need to sleep Stefan. A tired vampire is a clumsy one and you've been clumsy enough around him. My hybrids will alert us if there's any trouble."

"One of your hybrids already took a bite out of him." Stefan pointed out and Klaus nodded silently as he considered that.

"Yes, strange to find one that wanted to be human again and have the curse activate as a result." Klaus pondered and Stefan and Bonnie both snorted.

"Not so strange when the result of not being human means being sired to you." Stefan braved and Klaus chewed his lip in thought.

"He's not safe around them either." Bonnie added and Klaus sighed.

"Perhaps we should move him to a more suitable room, where he can be locked up safe. The room I had prepared for Miss Gilbert when she was under the Hunters curse."

Stefan swallowed bile. He didn't like the thought of having to lock Damon up in a room where he would go stir crazy. Damon was going to hate that idea too, but perhaps it would be for the best under the situation. Stefan nodded in approval.

"Let him sleep for another few hours and then we will move him. I will keep guard until then." Klaus decided and Stefan knew that his mind was made up so there was no point in arguing. At the very least he was confident that Klaus had no desire to drink from Damon. He didn't want mortality, so he wouldn't be drawn to Damon. Stefan and Bonnie both stood up and moved from the room, headed towards the stairs as the tiredness of their limbs kicked in. Klaus sat down and lifted his wine glass, filling it with one of his finest bottles of red. He smiled to himself as he listened to the loud thud of Damon's heartbeat continue.

"And so it begins." He mumbled to himself and relaxed back into his chair.

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"What happened?" Tyler asked as Roz took a swig of vodka straight from the bottle he offered her.

"I couldn't control it. I wanted to drink it all, as though somehow it would break the sire bond."

"Break the sire bond?" He asked in confusion.

"I don't know how to explain it Ty. It was just like, like somehow I knew that if I had enough of his blood it would make me human again. It seemed so simple, it made perfect sense to do it. I knew I had to."

"But Damon isn't human Roz. He's a vampire."

"Not anymore he's not. He's definitely alive." She informed, taking another swig as Tyler's eyes widened in realisation. "What?" She asked and he shook his head and pulled his phone out of his jeans, rapidly typing a text as she watched him.

"Listen, just stay away from him ok? Whatever Klaus's reasoning, he obviously doesn't want any harm to come to Damon. So just keep your head down ok? Don't do anything to agitate him – you know how he can get." He advised and she shook her head and gulped in fear. "I'm going to find out what the hell is going on."

He left her room hurriedly as Caroline answered his text with a phone call.

"Care, we have a situation. One that could either turn out very good or very bad for us." He said as soon as she greeted him and he climbed into his car and sped off towards her house.