Chapter 10: Lies My Parents Told Me

Elena tried to ignore the yelling coming from downstairs. Damon had come only a couple hours after the encounter with Klaus and Stefan was trying to keep his brother from going after him in a fit of rage.

"He's a psychopath, Damon! You can't go after him, let the police deal with this!" Stefan pleaded, his eyes following Damon as he stormed around the room.

"Police?! The police have nothing on this guy, Stef! You think someone like him does shit like this not knowing if he can get away with it!?" He clenched his jaw and levelled his gaze on his brother. "I found out some things while I was gone. He's got the US Attorney General in his lap Stefan…" he whispered heatedly. "Literally!"

Shock clouded the younger Salvatore's face. "What…how do you know that?"

He poured himself a drink. "Nothing concrete, but I have a pretty reliable source." He glanced upstairs, tossing back the bourbon greedily. Caroline had told Damon to give Elena some time before going up to see her. The adrenaline of the events earlier tonight combined with the exhaustion of crying forced her to sleep. Damon wanted to give her what little peace he could before telling her what he discovered. Part of him didn't want to tell her at all. "How is she?"

Stefan ran a hand over his face. "Not great…she thinks this whole thing is her fault. What are we going to do?" he suddenly looked like a little boy needing his brother to give him all the answers.

"You are not going to do anything. I'm handling this. You and Caroline have enough going on." He clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Don't worry, brother. Where's dad?" He thought about the devastating in his voice when he heard his voicemail, and it had him rushing right back from his out of town visit.

"Police station with Liz."

Damon nodded. "Let me know if he calls…I'll be upstairs."

He was surprised to see her awake and staring out the window of the guest bedroom. The orange glow of the fire was fading, but the smoke still filled the sky. "I should have listened to him Damon." She mumbled through tears. She looked at him over her shoulder. "I let this happen; I was being selfish and I let this happen!" she cried, and buried her head in his chest when he crossed the floor to her. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey…it's okay. It's okay." He soothed running his hands over her hair.

And theirs blood on the covers

She pulled away. "No-no it's not okay! It's not okay Damon!" her voice cracked through her sobs, tunneling her fingers through her hair. "He's punishing me," she shook her head and tears spilled off her cheeks. "This isn't over…" She paced frantically, her mind shooting off in different directions. "My mom!"

He stopped her pacing by grabbing her hands. "Jeremy is with her now. She's okay." He considered the new information that he received during his trip, and decided she wasn't in the right mind to hear it yet. "None of this is your fault, Elena. Klaus is going to pay for this. I promise." Even though he wasn't sure of it himself, he needed her to believe it.

She ignored it, and sighed deeply. "What did you find out?"

Damon thought carefully about what he wanted to divulge. "You weren't wrong about him being involved with some corrupt people. I think it runs pretty deep."

She swallowed painfully; her voice sore from crying. "In DC?" Damon canted his head curiously. "I saw a note on his calendar with a woman's name and number on it. I thought it was just some side piece, but it's more than that isn't it." Her tears started to slow, and she was starting to calm down.

He dropped his head. "Yeah…I think she's the reason his criminal record is clean. He has her covering for him." She didn't need to know how powerful this woman was.

Elena sat on the edge of the bed and Damon followed suit sitting beside her. "Who did you see?" she was suspicious of who would know all this.

He sighed and averted his eyes. "Elena, now's not-"

She frowned. "Who, Damon?" his evasiveness only made her more anxious.

"I saw your dad." He said on a wince, waiting for the volcano to erupt.

Shooting to her feet she rounded on him. "What! Why would you see my dad, Damon…what could he possibly have to do with this?"

He immediately regretted his decision, and stared at her pleadingly. "Elena…I need you to calm down." he stated softly.

"Calm down!? You know how much I hate him; why would you go behind my back-"

He stood and cut her off. "I didn't go behind your back; I was trying to help. He's the only one that dealt with your mom's medical insurance before Klaus and I needed to know if we had a chance of getting around it. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd stop me." Listening to the rationality of his explanation, released the tension in her shoulders and they dropped. "I'm sorry…"

Elena was silent as she started piecing things together in her head. "How does my dad know about Klaus' business?" her resolve hardened at the look on Damon's face. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I don't think you want to know…"

…

Elijah stormed through the front door of his brother's house. "Niklaus!" he hollered, entering the study where Klaus was drinking and looking out the window as the smoke billowed in the distance. "Have you completely lost your mind? This is too far, brother, even for you!"

"He needed to be punished." He growled sipping his scotch calmly.

Elijah shook his head, staring at his brother's back. "You could have just let her go! Are you so drunk on power, that you have lost all sense of reason? You have put us all at risk by doing this!"

Klaus turned around and smiled innocently. "Oh, I didn't do anything, brother…sure it looks suspicious, but there is not a shred of evidence that will implicate me." He grinned wolfishly. "It helps having friends in high places."

…

Damon pitched the bridge of his nose, preparing himself for the fall out that was sure to come. She continued to insist, and the desperation in her eyes pulled it out of him. "Elena…your dad owed him a lot of money; more than he had. He gambled away most of their savings and when the accident happened your dad had nothing to fall back on." The gears turned in her head, and realization shone in her dark orbs, a shaky hand covered her mouth.

"No…" her face contorted painfully. "No, he wouldn't…" she tried to defend.

He felt her pain. "He did. Klaus promised him that his debt would be settled, and all Isobel's bills would be paid so long as he left town."

Her pain turned to anger. "So he could marry me. So he could put me in a position where I was so desperate that I would!" she was fuming now, her lips set in a thin line as tried to keep from screaming.

"John thought you were happy with him." He offered to calm her down. "He thought that this was what was best for you, for Isobel. He thought you'd be taken care of." Damon felt like he was warding off a raging bull, one wrong step and she would charge.

Her nose scrunched scornfully. "What was best for me? Is this what's best, Damon?" she gestured around them wildly. "Why are you defending him!"

"I'm not…I'm just telling you what he told me. He feels terrible." He'd never seen her this broken up before. She seemed to be crumbling on all sides; full of different emotions.

She nodded tightly. "He should, Damon. He left me with a monster. I never want to see him again." Her eyes swung to him, and he saw a darkness in her that he'd never seen in all the years he'd known her. "He can rot in Hell."

…

The next day, Damon took Elena back to his place as they waited for Liz Forbes to give them an update on the investigation. She listened to them talk from the kitchen, knowing that Damon didn't want her troubled by anything.

"So…what do you got?" he asked impatiently.

She shook her head. "I wish I had some better news, but it's out of my hands. Fed's came in early this morning and took over the case." Her words were full of regret and frustration.

"Fuck!" Damon slammed his fist into the wall, putting a hole in the plaster. "He's going to get away with it isn't he?"

"Probably." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Damon."

Tears filled Elena's eyes and she walked out the back door to the deck, wiping away the wetness with her sweater sleeve. She dropped down to sit on the steps, putting her head in her hands. Everything seemed to be crumbling apart around her; she felt stupid even thinking that things were starting to look up.

There was shift in the gravel at the bottom of the steps; Elena's head shot up, and she stumbled clumsily to her feet. Everything in her was telling her to call for Damon, but her mouth wasn't working as she scrutinised Klaus standing in front of her, hands linked behind his back.

"Hello dear…you look terrible. Trouble sleeping?" he mocked with a merciless smile.

"Get out of here." Her voice wavered, barely able to get the words out.

He pursed his lips, glancing down for a brief moment. "Let us a have a chat first. You see…" he shifted his weight slightly. "Your father didn't take our agreement seriously either. He thought that because of our relationship," he gestured between them with appointed finger. "that he could take advantage of my kindness." He pinned his eyes on her coldly. "So, I had to warn him. Perhaps I should have told him to get his brakes checked."

Elena stomach dropped and her breathing picked up as everything started to make sense. "The accident." She whispered and tears slipped down her cheeks.

Klaus shrugged. "My business is dangerous. He knew what he was getting into when he came to me looking for a bailout. He got off easy, if you ask me." He pulled an envelope out of his inside chest pocket, casually flipping through the pictures inside. "I had hoped you'd be smarter than him. I'd hate for something to happen to your little brother Jeremy…" he flicked one picture at her and when it hit the ground, she saw it was a picture of her brother with his wife walking down a street, hand in hand. She felt a sickness rise in her throat. "or Isobel." He flicked another photo, but she turned her head away before it fell. "or Caroline…wouldn't want her to lose the baby. That would be tragic." He dropped the rest of the photos near her feet.

"Why are you doing this?" she cried. "What do you want from me?"

He took the steps two at a time, to stand in front of her, reaching to tuck her hair behind her ear. "What I want, is what I'm owed." He chuckled to himself when she pulled away from him. "That's you, love. There is only one thing I love more than money…vengeance." Elena stared at him hatefully. "I'm not a very patient man, Elena…so I suggest you make a decision soon, before I start getting vengeful." He smirked, and backed away, skipping down the steps and out of the backyard.

Elena collected the pictures off the deck, and ripped them up into tiny pieces, shoving them into the garbage bin in the kitchen. She felt numb; this couldn't be her life. Is this what she had to look forward to? Being forced to choose between her own happiness or the lives of her friends and family? She wished she never met him; she wished she had taken her mother's advice all those years ago and focused more on school than boys. Now, she was trapped. He had her under his thumb, and everything she held dear was at stake; how quickly things change. Elena thought of the night she and Damon shared on the docks; that moment seemed like a lifetime ago, and in another world.

…