On a seemingly unimportant night a certain raven haired Salvatore walks through a crowded Mystic Grill.
"What can I get you?" A bored voice with a undertone of caution asks when Damon reaches the bar.
"Bourbon." He says with a smirk taking a seat on a bar stool as the bartender nods and turns around.
"Alright, anything else?" The bartender asks setting his drink down.
"Well, Ben is it? I'd really like the location of Annabelle." Damon says nonchalantly sipping his drink, making Ben's heart race and eyes go wide.
"I- uh, don't- uh-" he stutters our before Damon interrupts.
"Listen, this is really simple. Either you take me to Anna or I rip out your heart." He shrugs, Ben stiffly nods and walks around the bar.
"What do you want with Anna?" He asks as Damon guides him out the back.
"Personally? Nothing. Now, stop talking. Your voice is really giving me the urge to remove your vocal cords." Damon says.
"This is the place?" Damon asks looking around the motel in slight disgust taking out his phone.
"Yes." Ben answers through clenched teeth.
"Hello." Stefan answers the phone.
"Hey, she's staying at the motel off main. Room 218." He says hanging up.
"Call Anna. Get her here." Damon demands impatiently.
"How'd you know?" Anna asks the Salvatore brothers and the doppelganger as she walks into the motel room.
"All of your questions will be answered once the bus boy leaves." Elena states commandingly surprising Anna.
"I'm a bartender." Ben says annoyed walking towards Elena.
"Impressive." She mocks making the Salvatores smile and Ben take a threatening step forward.
"Enough!" Anna yells pulling him back.
"Ben, leave. I'll fill you in later." She says making narrowing her eyes when Elena smirks.
"No, I should be here-" Elena interrupts.
"Isn't there a bar that needs kept? Begone." She shoos him causing him to roll his eyes and leave.
"Your parties always sucked by the way!" She yells as he slams the door.
"He's gone. How'd you know?" Anna asks impatiently making Elena raise a brow.
"Brave aren't we? I might buy it if you weren't nervously pacing, Annakin." Elena teases making Anna clench her jaw and huff.
"What? Not into Star Wars? I thought you'd like it. All nerdy and cute like." Elena leans forward.
"Or was that just your ploy to seduce my little brother." She asks some how managing to intimidate to much older vampire.
"How did you-" Anna asks Elena cautiously.
"Doesn't matter. What does matters is what's happening tomorrow. We're opening the tomb! Yay!" Elena cheers making the brothers laugh and Anna eyes go wide.
"Then why are you here? You don't need me." Anna says before realizing they have no reason to keep her alive.
"Well you see, dear Anna. I recently lost my mother. Very tragic. So murdering your mother along with the rest of the tomb vamps, and delaying your reunion indefinitely, might weigh a little too heavy on my nonexistent conscious." She shrugs.
"That's it? That's why you're here? Because you feel bad for me?" She asks suspiciously.
"Eh, more or less. But, I am a Petrova. We're very selfish. So I'm gonna need something from you in return." She smirks.
"Alright, boys. Welcome to my Batcave." Elena says lifting up the storage unit door and turning on the light.
"Holy shit, Ellie. What is all this?" Damon asks shocked looking around at all the weapons.
"Oh, you've found my toys. These are my favorite." Elena says picking up and spinning her twin karambits around her fingers.
"Can you really use all these?" Stefan asks picking up a crossbow.
"Hmm hm. I have been training since I was 8." She shrugs walking over to the cabinet at the back.
"Ellie, this might me the coolest thing about you." Damon says taking off the brass knuckles he put on.
"You ain't seen nothing yet, Ocean eyes." She winks turning back to the drawers.
"Ah ha! Found it." She says says turning around holding up Emily's talisman.
"El, why do you have all these freezers filled with blood bags?" Stefan asks making Damon walk over to him.
"I'm holding it for a friend." She shrugs, when they look at her with twin raised brows she rolls her eyes and continues,
"Relax, it's mine." She says simply.
"You understand that makes it SO much weirder, right?" Damon asks amused.
"To quote myself "some shit is going down." And I'll need my doppelblood when next season's big bad comes to town." She says smiling when they don't understand her reference.
Infront of the old Fell's church Elena flanked by the Salvatore brother greets the two Bennet witches.
"Bon Bon. Grams." She says hugging them.
"Have you got it, dear?" Grams asks Elena causing her to hold up Emily's talisman.
"Yep." She drops it into the older witches hands.
"Elena." Anna greets cautiously walking towards them.
"Annakin. Did you do what I asked?" Elena asks with a raised brow.
"Yes. Ben's dead and I vervained, tied up, and handed Noah over to the Salvatore's uncle or I guess, nephew." She's says holding up her phone displaying a picture of the bartender's corpse.
"Perfect! Thank you, Anna. I know it couldn't have been easy. You and Noah have been friends since 1864." She says with fake sincerity shaking her head, Anna just walks away making Elena smirk and turn to the brothers.
"That was little cruel, Ellie." Damon reprimands teasingly.
"She's was planning to let her mother slurp down Remy like a go-gurt. Forgive me for my insensitivity. She's getting her mother back. That's as far as my courtesy extends." Elena shrugs following the witches under the church.
"Grams, just so we're clear, you're not gonna keep the tomb sealed are you?" Elena asks making grams smile.
"No, I know what they mean to you." She says softly nodding her head towards the brothers.
"Those jokers? Nah, I just keep 'em around for the view." Elena jokes winking at them making Bonnie laugh quietly.
"Air. Earth. Fire." Sheila lights the torches.
"Water." Bonnie hands her the bottle.
"Hey, Stef go get the gasoline." Elena whispers to him, watching the witches in fascination, he nods and walks up the stairs.
The witches channel the talisman changing the ritual slightly.
"Incredible." Elena breaths out when the door opens.
"The seal is lifted. I promise." Shelia assures Elena when she grabs Damon's hand stopping him from entering.
"You guys ready?" Stefan asks holding the can of gasoline.
"Yep." Elena digs into the bag on her shoulder containing blood bags and tosses one to Anna making her look to her with confusion.
"I know about your little Gilbert blood thing. I'm normally into biting but your mom's not really my type. Well, actually she is, but this doesn't seem like the appropriate setting." She smirks as Anna's mouth drops.
"El." Stefan says nudging her ribs with a smile.
"What? She's a total MILF." She says to him making Damon snort and Stefan groan.
Walking into the tomb Elena hear ominous whispering and laughs.
"Creepy." She sings making Stefan laugh.
"Let's start at the back. I'm looking for someone." She says pulling a confused Stefan behind her.
"Who? I thought we just wanted Pearl."
"This guy named Harper. He's totally adorable and doesn't deserve to die. Not like the rest of these assholes." She says looking around at the desiccated vampires.
When Elena finds him she pulls out a blood bag and cuts it open putting it to his mouth, he immediately begins to drink it, his hands moving to bring it closer.
Stefan hands Elena the gas can and helps Harper stand.
Elena starts at the back pouring the gasoline on the ground walking backwards.
On the other side of the tomb Damon realizes Katherine's not there and starts yelling.
"She's not here!" Elena and Stefan hear him and make their way to him.
Damon is still yelling and punching the wall. Exhausted, he slids down the wallk with his head in his hands.
Elena nods for Stefan to take Harper out of the tomb and tosses him the bag with the blood bags.
"She's not here. She was never here, Ellie." He whispers when she kneels infront of him taking his face in her hands.
"It's okay. You're gonna be okay. But we gotta go." She kisses the top of his head lightly, pulling him to his feet.
"She's not here." He whispers one last time as Elena nudges him towards Stefan, turning back to tomb pouring more gas.
Elena lights the match and watches the fire spread throughout the tomb.
"Your mother wants to stay in town, Anna." Elena says making Anna turn to her surprised.
"And she can. No interference from me or the Salvatores, as long as you do something for me." She says making Anna roll her eyes and Pearl put down the blood bag.
"What would you like for us to do?" Pearl rasps out.
"I need you to give Katherine a message for me. I know you can find her, Annakin." She says.
"What do you want me to say?" She asks reluctantly.
Elena looks over to the brothers seeing Damon's heartbroken face.
"Tell her, game on." She says with a smirk reminding the duo of Katherine and walks away towards the Salvatores.
"Come on. Let's go home." Elena grabs both their hands walking with them towards her car.
Once they get to the boarding house Elena immediately walks over to the bar and pours three drinks.
Damon silently drops down onto the couch and takes the drink Elena offers him.
Stefan sits down on the other side of the couch and Elena sits in between them handing Stefan his drink.
"Damon, I know you're going through something, but this is the longest you've ever gone without talking." Elena says making him turn to her.
"She wasn't there, Ellie. What more is there to say?" He asks rhetorically in a quiet tone.
"I don't know what to do. Okay? How do I fix this?" She asks standing up and pacing, making Stefan smile at her concern for his brother.
"I don't either." Damom says with heavy emotion in his voice making Elena whimper.
"Look, the emotions thing doesn't really come easily to me, but the caring about you thing does." She says making him look to her with sad eyes.
"So, tell me what to do and I'll do it. You want to lay in the road together and eat a stranger? Done. Wanna party with some compelled Kappa Kappa Gammas? I'm there. Make fun of Stef's hero hair? Already doing it." She says making Stefan say,
"Hey." And run a hand through his hair with furrowed brows, she sends him an apologetic smile.
Damon smiles a little a grabs her hand gently pulling her to his lap.
"His hair is stupid." He mutters childish into her shoulder making her laugh and Stefan roll his eyes with a smile.
"I knew she wasn't there." Damon says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
Elena and Stefan look to him confused.
"I believed you, Ellie. Honestly I think I believed you from the start. I trusted you more in that cemetery when we first met then I ever trusted her." He scoffs as Elena pulls him to her tighter.
"I have an idea!" She exclaims pushing Damon off her and jumping up.
"What?" Stefan asks her amused.
"New York! Let's go this weekend. And it's Halloween. This is perfect!" She says getting excited bouncing a little.
"El, are you sure? What about your aunt Jenna-" Damon interrupts him.
"Yes. Let's do it. Let's go to New York." He agrees making Elena squeal and bring them both into a hug.
"Oh my god! This is gonna be so much fun! I'm gonna go call my Care bear, she'll find the best hotel and bars and everything." Elena says walking towards the door only for Damon to grab her arm and pull her to him.
"Ellie, it's 2 a.m. I'm sure she's asleep. Come on, let's go to bed." He says pulling her to the stairs.
"Why, Mr. Salvatore. What kinda woman do you take me for?" She asks in a southern belle accent making the brothers laugh.
"The kind that's gonna cuddle me 'cause I'm sad." He says teasing pout making her laugh as they walk up the stairs.