Mystic Falls, VA~ Late January 2010

Abigail was perched tensely on the seat beside Damon, looking as comfortable as if she'd been seated on a pincushion or a ticking time bomb.

"Relax, Abigail," he said, reaching over to take her hand. "Car travel isn't that different from horse drawn."

She allowed him her hand, but shot him an incredulous look. "Not much different?!" Her voice was strained. "We're traveling at breakneck speeds, in a roaring box on wheels, with no discernable means to explain our movement. I find your logic extremely faulty, Damon."

"Then let's take your mind off of it." He offered, as he drove toward the spot where her home had once stood. "Ask me all those questions you're burning to ask."

Her hand's grip tightened on his as he made a sharp turn. "OK, I've been away for over one hundred years. Aside from the clothes and the transportation, what else has changed?"

He smiled and launched into an explanation about air travel, cell phones, computers, and all the things she would be most interested in learning about. He handed her his cellphone, and watched as she played with the screen, learning the ins and outs of at least one technological marvel. She was a fast learner, and mastered the apps one by one, finding the photo gallery app finally. She was swiping through his photos when she came to one that made her gasp.

Closing his eyes and swallowing a curse, he'd forgotten the selfie with Elena in Atlanta. "Abigail, it isn't what you think."

"Then explain, Damon." She whispered, handing his phone back and fighting tears. "Katherine's alive then?"

Shit, he'd wanted more time to prepare her, but here she was going straight for the most uncomfortable truths first. "Yes, but that photo isn't her."

He could feel her staring at him and knew she expected more information. "Her name is Elena Gilbert. She's Stefan's girlfriend, Abigail." The dark chuckle that ripped from her throat warned him, but knowing she could see through any deception kept him talking. "She is, Abigail. They're happy, even after she learned what he is."

"Why are you here, Damon?" She asked, knowing he would understand she meant Mystic Falls, now. "If you aren't lying about the year, and we both know I'd know if you were, then you spent nearly 150 years away. What brought you back?" She felt the darkness, pressing down, choking her with certainty that pain was coming.

He swallowed hard and took a long, deep breath. Steeling himself, knowing he was about to hurt them both. "I came back to free Katherine from the tomb under Fells' Church." He said it in a rush, hoping the purge would make it easier, faster. "Emily didn't just save you, she saved Katherine."

Silently she allowed her tears to fall. She still needed more, a deeper cut, perhaps to finally cleave them in two. "And did you? Free Katherine, I mean." She was pleased that her voice had regained steadiness at least.

"She wasn't inside." He confessed. "She had made another plan, with the mayor's son. She was never inside."

And so, Abigail concluded, he'd transferred those feelings to Elena. Once again brothers obsessed with the same woman, terrifyingly identical to the first. And she was left an afterthought, again.

"How long have you known I was still trapped?" She asked, guessing that he'd made an assumption about her freedom.

"Almost five months," his voice was barely audible, but was clearly confirmation.

"Stop the car, Damon." She demanded, not raising her voice, not needing to. "Now."

He slowed down and pulled over to the safety of the shoulder of the road. He noticed that her cheeks were damp and knew he was the cause. "Abigail," he tried, but with one hand she silenced him.

"No," she said, sounding frighteningly reasonable. "Don't, Damon, I need to have my say, and then I'll continue on to my errand, alone."

His heart clenched, she was finished. He'd finally done it, ruined every single chance at real happiness.

"I was trapped, alone except for shadows of everyone I'd lost. For 146 years I dealt with my grief, pain, guilt, frustration, fear, and anger without distraction, without visitors, without you." She glanced up and captured his gaze. "I assume you thought I had freed myself long ago, but I don't know if that's the truth or a prayer that you didn't completely forget me. I'm lying to myself, aren't I?" She smiled sadly at the tightening of his eyes. "If I learned anything from dealing with all that emotional baggage, it's that those lies do nothing and don't end well." She opened the passenger door, but before she stepped out, she cut off his final hope for the two of them. "I've been in this story before, Damon. You and Stefan absolutely obsessed with Katherine or Elena. I'm not the heroine of this tale, I'm the victim. I won't allow it to happen to me again." She stepped out of the car. "Thank you, for the short guide to my new reality and for the clothes. Goodbye, Damon, and consider the invitation to my home rescinded."

She turned and walked regally across the field they were parked beside. Her former homestead wasn't far, and he knew she'd be safe. As he watched her leave him behind he had to wonder if he was a self fulfilling prophecy of what his father always believed about him. Because he clearly ruined the one good thing left for him.