Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).

Thank you all for your kind reviews. They are always appreciated.

Not an action-packed chapter, but it is setting the scene for future events.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Laura woke the next morning expecting to find herself in her own bed. Unfortunately, when she opened her eyes, she discovered she was still in the spare room she'd chosen to sleep in the previous night. Damon had kindly offered to let her stay in his room, but Laura had decided she wasn't ready for any idea of romance. Instead, she needed to learn how to feed and how to deal with the looming threat of Atticus Shane.

Now Laura had a bigger problem; she had to contemplate that maybe what she was being told might have some truth to it. She remembered going to bed with a huge headache. Bonnie had explained that Laura had had a magical aneurysm, except as it was on the Plane of Preparation, it had been forced, so that she could merge with Elena. Laura still didn't buy the doppelganger part, but the thought she might have had an aneurysm or stroke, wasn't beyond the realms of insanity. That meant she might be in a coma and could be there for a while. So, for the time being, she decided to play the part, until she woke up, as it would make her dream far more interesting.

After showering and getting dressed, Laura made her way to the kitchen for some coffee and blood. Even though she'd had a blood bag the night before, to restore the energy she'd used in carrying both Bonnie and Meredith, she was still tired from what she'd done. What surprised her the most, was that she also felt hungry in the normal human sense. She desperately craved some pancakes, which was fortunate, as when she walked into the kitchen, it was exactly what Damon was cooking.

"Coffee?" Damon asked.

"Sure." Laura nodded as Damon handed her a cup before she got to tell him how she liked it, however, Damon clearly already knew. "How did you know how I liked my coffee?" Laura raised an eyebrow.

"According to Bonnie, you and Elena are the same person." Damon explained. "If that's right, then you'll like your coffee exactly the same way as Elena does." He shrugged. "Was I right?" he asked.

Laura frowned. "Yeah." She said. "And how did you know I like pancakes?" she asked.

"Same reason." Damon replied. "Oh, there's blood in the refrigerator. I figured you'd be hungry." He said.

"Thanks." Laura said as she went to the refrigerator and retrieved a couple of bags. When she returned to the kitchen table, there was a plate with a pancake on it, her coffee and a glass for her blood.

"Bon appetite." Damon grinned as he sat down to his own pancake, reminding Laura of the time Damon and Elena went back to the Prison World to find Bonnie.

As they were alone, Laura decided she needed to discuss a few matters with Damon, and now seemed like a good time to start.

"So, it appears I haven't returned to my body yet…" Laura started.

"So, it appears." Damon nodded as he took a bite of his pancake.

"Which means, I'm probably stuck in a coma for that time being…" she tried to continue, however, Damon interrupted her once more.

"Or this is real." He said.

"I guess it is a small possibility." Laura agreed. "But as far as I'm concerned, I'm stuck in a TV show. I don't see how that can be reality." She shrugged.

"Bonnie explained it pretty well yesterday." Damon nodded.

"But what if I don't believe it?" Laura asked.

Damon put down his fork. "Look, for the time being, I'm happy to play along with this strange notion of yours that you are living in some kind of TV dreamworld." He said. "If Bonnie is right, you will gradually begin to turn into Elena. Your memories of your life as Laura will disappear. I'm a patient guy." He smiled. "I waited a hundred and forty-five years for Katherine. What's a few weeks or months for you to get back to being yourself?" he asked.

"You're really certain that's going to happen?" Laura asked.

"I'm alive… ish." Damon nodded. "I'm not worried about who's right and wrong. You'll soon find out as you lose your memory." He said.

"How do you know it'll happen?" Laura asked.

"What happened to Ric in the show?" Damon frowned.

"He died." Laura shrugged.

"So, that means the future has changed." Damon explained. "Every little change means you lose your Laura memories. And as you mentioned something about Pastor Young and Elijah said he was tailing a hunter called Connor Jordan, I'm assuming that is also something that didn't happen in the show. Am I right?" he asked.

"That didn't happen." Laura agreed.

"And apparently you made sure you weren't sired to me by getting Klaus to turn you." Damon added.

"True…" Laura started.

"Good." Damon smiled.

"But I'm not sure if the sire-bond affected Elena's feelings for you." Laura told him hesitantly.

"They didn't." Damon sat back and sipped on his glass of blood. "I have faith that things will get back to the way they were, even if I really should be mad at you for not telling me. But you can't remember anything, so there's no point." He looked at Laura's half-eaten pancake. "I suggest you eat up, Elijah is on his way here, and we need to get out of here before Pastor Young starts to do his rounds." He said.

"Shit!" Laura said. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

"We're going to stop Pastor Young from taking out the council." Damon told her as he rolled her eyes.

"How?" Laura asked.

"All will be explained, as soon as you've finished breakfast." Damon told her, as Laura quickly ate up.

"I'm done!" Laura said, before drinking the blood down.

"And Elijah has just arrived." Damon smirked. "Let's go talk to him." He said, as they headed to the parlor.

"Good morning." Elijah smiled as Damon and Elena joined him in the parlor.

"Good morning." Damon nodded.

"Hi Elijah." Laura smiled.

"I have had my people working on tracking Connor Jordan." He told them.

"Who's Connor Jordan?" Damon asked.

"He's a supernatural vampire hunter." Laura told him.

"And not a person a vampire would want to kill." Elijah added.

"Why?" Damon frowned. "I'm willing."

"When you kill a hunter, they haunt your subconscious." Laura explained. "They aim to take at least one more life, so the killer is cursed until they kill themselves."

"And how do you get rid of it?" Damon asked.

"You either kill yourself or find another hunter." Laura told him. "Unless you can survive until another hunter triggers their curse, or skills, or whatever you want to call it."

"Just find another hunter." Damon shrugged.

"The problem is that there are only ever five hunters in existence at any one given time." Elijah explained.

"And most don't know why they are getting the urges, let alone what to do." Laura added. "It could be decades before another is found." She said, deliberately keeping the information about Jeremy to herself. She didn't know what she'd told Bonnie and Elijah, but Jeremy irritated Laura, so she was quite happy him not being around to annoy her.

"Exactly." Elijah agreed, suggesting he was either hiding the fact Jeremy was a hunter, or Laura hadn't told him.

"What about Pastor Young?" Laura asked. "He's going to be doing the rounds in a few minutes. He'll be coming after us and Ric." She said.

"Don't worry, last night after you went to bed, I took him from the basement and put him somewhere very safe." Damon smirked. "I've also got a plan, to get us out of here." He added as Stefan, Caroline, and Sheriff Forbes walked through the door.

"Have you seen Pastor Young yet?" Damon asked.

"Not yet." Liz shook her head. "But he's already paid a trip to the hospital and threatened to have Dr. Fell's medical license revoked." she told them.

"Are you all packed?" Damon asked.

"Yeah." Stefan nodded.

"Where are we going?" Laura asked.

"The Lake House." Damon told her. "You, me, Stefan and Caroline are all going up to Caroline's Lake House." he said.

"You're all invited to go in." Liz smiled. "Oh, and Damon, Caroline has the town supply of vervain in her car." She added.

"Liz Forbes, have I ever told you how much I love you." Damon grinned as Liz smiled and blushed.

"What are you going to do?" Laura asked. "They'll take your badge." She said.

"I'm coming with you of course." Liz grinned, as everyone looked at each other nervously. "Just kidding." She shook her head. "Don't worry. I'm going to my sister's house to get out of the way, and I'm taking Carol Lockwood." She told them.

"What about Tyler?" Caroline looked at everyone.

"He is going with Klaus." Elijah told them. "We have a retreat outside New Orleans." He said. "They will be safe there. I on the other hand will be joining you a little later."

"I've told the council not to meet with Pastor Young, and to get out of town." Liz told them. "I've said he's dangerous and delusional and possibly suicidal. I just hope they all listen." She sighed. "Look, I gotta go, I don't want people to get suspicious." She said, turning to Caroline. "Be safe." She told her daughter as she kissed her on the cheek.

"Goodbye mom." Caroline said sadly as Liz left.

"I should be leaving." Elijah told them. "We'll talk when we get to our locations." He said, and with that he also left.

"What about Bonnie?" Laura asked.

"She's recovering." Caroline told her. "She can't help right now."

"Well I guess I ought to pack." Laura frowned.

"Your clothes were in my closet." Damon reminded her. "So, I took the liberty of packing for you. Everything is already in the trunk of my car." He smiled. "We just need to get going."

Laura wanted to go with Caroline, however, Damon and Stefan insisted each of them travel with one brother as they were both stronger than Caroline and Laura due to their age. As show lore was fairly consistent regarding this aspect; apart from the time Caroline beat Damon up, Laura had to agree it was the most logical plan. Therefore, she got in Damon's car and they set off to Caroline's Lake House.

It took six hours for them to arrive at the Lake House. fortunately, they'd managed to outrun Pastor Young and all of his cronies, she just hoped the Originals had also gotten away safely in time. Damon had purposely stuck to the speed limit, to make sure they weren't stopped by police, which could have alerted Pastor Young to their destination. However, they'd still gotten there much quicker than Stefan and Caroline, who had taken a slightly different route, stopping of at a blood bank on their way there.

The Lake House had four bedrooms, much to Laura's relief. She didn't want to sleep in the same room as anyone else just yet as she was adjusting to Elena's body, and although Laura knew them from the show, realistically, these people were in some respects, strangers to her.

Laura unpacked her things in her room, before opting to take a bath. The dream was lasting too long for her liking, and she was starting to get a little concerned as to whether any of Bonnie's words could be true. As she immersed herself into the hot bubbles, she closed her eyes and tried to think about her home. Except she found she couldn't exactly picture what her rooms looked like. Every time she tried to conjure up an image, she came up with the interior of Elena Gilbert's house.

"Fuck!" she swore to herself, annoyed that she was starting to lose her memories.

Angrily, she got out of the bath, dried herself and put on some fluffy pajamas. As winter was approaching, and the Lake House wasn't exactly in a warm area of the country, she appreciated the warmth of the material. Just as she was brushing her hair, there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Laura asked.

"It's me, Damon." Came Damon's voice from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure." Laura replied as Damon walked in with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He closed the door behind him and sat on the bed.

"What's wrong? You can't hide in here forever." he asked, pouring a drink and handing it to Laura, who decided now was a good time to attack some strong alcohol.

"Let me see." Laura sighed. "I've been ripped away from my life, I find out that I'm a vampire, I'm in mortal peril, again." She rolled her eyes. "I'm now confined to a house with three people who know me, but I only know them from a TV show. Maybe I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed and lonely at the same time." She shrugged. "And to make matters worse, the only person I seem to be able to connect with, is my least favorite character from said TV show." She threw the contents of her glass down her throat, which burned and caused her to cough and splutter.

"I'm your least favorite character?" Damon said sadly. "Ouch!" he sighed.

"Were." Laughed shook her head. "I don't know, I'm all confused. Which is making matters worse. And then, while I was in the tub, I tried to think about home, and I couldn't even remember what my kitchen looked like." She told him as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Damon moved over to her and tenderly put his arm around her shoulder, giving her some kind of comforting support.

"Are you missing your family?" he asked.

Laura nodded. "Yes." She swallowed. "My dad died last year, but I miss my mom and my dog called…" she stopped, trying to remember the name of her dog, but try as she might, her mind came up blank.

"I'm here if you need me." Damon put his hand on her leg, as Laura looked up into his eyes. All she could see was a look of love staring back at her, which seemed odd, because she didn't believe she was the same person he loved. Instead it was the same body, but she appreciated the gesture, and it was nice to feel loved.

"Thank you Damon." Laura smiled, however, she then frowned before looking him straight in the eyes. "I don't mean this the wrong way." She started. "But in the show, I wanted Stefan and Elena to be together." She told him. "Stefan was my favorite." She admitted.

"And you still feel the same?" Damon asked, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.

"I don't know how I feel yet." Laura shrugged. "I'm too overwhelmed to know that right now. Relationships are the last thing I want to deal with. But I know I won't be able to put it off forever, especially if this world does turn out to be real." She sighed. "I… I…"

"If you choose Stefan, that doesn't mean we can't be friends." Damon smiled. "I will accept whatever is fated to happen between us." He swallowed. "And although you might not see it, I can tell you are the same person. So, I would expect you to eventually make the same choices. But I could be wrong. It doesn't stop me from being here for you." He said.

Laura nodded. "I know." She said.

"Don't you think you ought to try and get to know us all?" Damon asked. "We could play games in the living room. It might help." He suggested.

Laura frowned. "Did Caroline send you?" she asked as Damon suddenly laughed.

"You say you don't know us, but you suspect Blondie sent me." He shook his head. "No, but it is a very Caroline thing to do." He smiled. "You coming?" he asked, holding his hand out. Laura hesitated for a minute before taking it and following him to the living room, where Caroline and Stefan were sat with a collection of bottles of alcohol.

"Good, you're here." Caroline smiled. "We're playing I have never." She told her. "We need to know what you know about us, and you answer the questions as Laura. That way we can get to know each other." She grinned. "The idea is, we pick a card, we say I have never; then we read the card. If we have done what is on the card, we have to take a shot." She explained.

Laura rolled her eyes. "This is not going to end well." She shook her head. "Okay, fine." She agreed as she sat next to Stefan on the couch.

Laura took in the vast array of bottles of alcohol. There was whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, four bottles of wine and twelve bottles of beer.

"You think we'll get through that?" Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Pft! I could get through that in an afternoon and still be standing." Damon grinned.

"I've got an extra two bottles of vodka and four bottles of bourbon, just in case we run out." Caroline shrugged.

"I'm so going to regret this." Laura shook her head.

"Vampires don't get hangovers." Damon told her. "We also require a lot of alcohol to get drunk." He added.

"I'll take your word for it." Laura sighed. "Who's first?" she asked.

"I will!" Caroline held her hand up and picked up a card. "I have never slept with a Salvatore." She said. "Hmm, unfortunately I have." She shuddered as she drank her drink down. "Laura, what about you?" she asked.

"I can't remember sleeping with anyone called Salvatore." Laura said. "But apparently I did." She admitted, drinking her shot of vodka straight down. Oddly, it didn't have quite as much effect as she expected. She felt more like she'd had a sip of low alcohol beer. "Now I get why you guys can drink so much." She said, as the other three laughed.

"Don't worry, we've got enough to get a slight buzz." Stefan told her.

"Speak for yourself brother." Damon laughed.

"Who's next?" Caroline asked.

"I'll go." Stefan offered as he picked out a card. The moment he read it he shook his head in disbelief. "Caroline; is this a sex version?" he asked.

"Apparently, according to Bonnie, Laura's version of our world is through a teen show." Caroline explained. "I thought maybe we should try the adult version." She grinned.

"Disclaimer!" Laura held up her hand. "If I've done anything kinky with either of you two, I can't remember it so I can't own up to it." She announced.

"Just let us know Laura's life." Caroline said, turning to Stefan. "What does it say?" she asked.

"I have never had a threesome." Stefan shook his head as he poured out some tequila in his glass and drank it. Damon took the bottle from him and did the same. Laura took a deep breath and filled her own glass up and downed it, much to the shock of the other three in the room.

"What, I'm forty, I had a wild time at college." She smirked as the others still looked shocked. "And you thought I was like Elena?" she laughed.

"Actually, if Elena's parents hadn't died, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd gone wild at college." Caroline admitted.

"We are talking about the same Elena Gilbert." Stefan frowned.

"No." Caroline shook her head. "Elena was very different to the person you met." She said.

"I can imagine." Laura told them. "There is a wild streak in Elena. I could see her getting high and letting go." She frowned, remembering the time Damon and Elena went to Whitmore college. "She doesn't let many people see that side of her. Only those who don't judge her and let her be who she really wants to be…" she tailed off as she looked at Damon and suddenly realized why Elena couldn't be with Stefan. He must have made her feel stifled, while Damon allowed her to be free. Although she suspected a threesome would be out of the question, even for Damon.

Laura got up. "I need some air." She said, as she went to stand outside.

Moments later, she heard footsteps behind her. Laura turned and was surprised to see Stefan.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk." Stefan said awkwardly.

"I always thought you and Elena should be together." Laura told him. "But its not my business."

"It is your business." Stefan disagreed. "But do you still think that? You've been Elena for forty-eight hours. Okay, you were her before that, but, um.. I mean, since Esther did what she did."

Laura looked at Stefan, she felt a warm feeling in her stomach, it was the feeling of love she had when she saw she loved dearly, yet something was missing. Laura tenderly pressed her hand against Stefan's cheek.

"I can feel Elena's emotions." Laura told him. "And I know she loves you dearly." She said.

"But I need to know Laura." Stefan pleaded. "I need to know where I stand. Am I competing with my brother's affections?" he asked as Laura looked at him in shock.

"I'm not sure if this is the right conversation to be having." Laura frowned.

"You know me." Stefan insisted. "You said it yourself you prefer Elena with me. And you are Elena. You can make that right." He smiled sweetly.

"Look Stefan, I need time." Laura sighed. "I need to learn how to feed…" she started.

"I'll take you out into the woods tomorrow." Stefan interrupted, his eyes lighting up. "I can show you how to hunt. You don't need to feed from humans." He said excitedly.

"And why would I want to feed on animals?" Laura asked.

"Because you don't have to hurt or kill humans." Stefan smiled. "It's much better."

"But I can just use blood bags." Laura frowned. "I want to be able to know how to resist the urge." She said.

"If you only feed from animals, you'll forget what human blood tastes like and you'll be able to resist. Its easier and better." Stefan said enthusiastically.

"I'd like to try all of the options first before I make my mind up, even though I'm pretty much decided on blood bags." Laura told him.

"Is that because of Damon?" Stefan spat. "Has he already been telling you what to do?"

"No." Laura shook her head.

"Well, it sounds like it." Stefan said angrily.

"I want to make sure I can hunt without killing." Laura insisted.

"And what if you're a ripper?" Stefan folded his arms. "You'll kill someone, and it will destroy you. You'll flip the switch because you can't cope with the guilt. I know, I've been there." He told her softly.

"Elena isn't a ripper." Laura frowned.

"You keep saying it yourself, you're not Elena." Stefan argued back.

"If you don't think I'm Elena, then why do you even care?" Laura raised her voice, not knowing why Stefan was making her so angry. "Is it because I look like Katherine?" she spat.

Stefan looked at her completely shocked by her comment, however, suddenly, Laura felt a wave of dizziness come over her and she stumbled. Stefan caught her and helped her sit.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me." She shook her head.

"Maybe you need to feed." Stefan suggested.

Laura nodded. "Maybe." She agreed as Caroline suddenly appeared, Damon following her.

"Pastor Young has been shot, he's seriously wounded in hospital, but still alive. The council are alive." Caroline cried happily.

"That means Professor Shane is going to need someone…" Laura felt dizzy again.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked as he rushed to Laura's side.

"I'm not sure." Laura shook her head.

"Events are changing." Damon said. "You're memories are fading as they do. Bonnie said this would happen." He shook his head. "I wonder if the significance of the change affects how much you react to it." He frowned.

"Maybe." Laura nodded.

"Caroline, bring Laura a blood bag." Damon instructed as Caroline rushed into the house.

Laura looked up at Damon gratefully; as she did, she got that same warm feeling she had with Stefan; she knew Elena loved Damon dearly, however, there was another sensation she felt, something that didn't happen with Stefan. Damon gave Laura butterflies in her stomach.

"Thank you." Laura said to Damon as Caroline appeared with the blood bag.

"What is your job?" Damon asked.

"I'm a teacher." Laura frowned, not understanding the question.

"What do you teach?" Damon narrowed his eyes.

"I teach…" Laura stopped. "I… I can't remember." She whispered. "Oh my god. This is real." She looked at Damon, Stefan and Caroline and burst into tears.

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Mandzipop.