Chapter 9

"I'm pretty sure this is breaking records for the worst pillow talk conversation ever." Mara grumbled, rolling away and sitting up, giving Damon a tantalizing flash of shapely bare back.

"Aww, c'mon." Damon laughed, reaching for her, but missing as she stood and started to pull on her jeans.

"Are you completely crazy?" She asked without turning around.

Damon, now sprawled naked and face down on his bed, propped his chin on his fist and pondered the question for a second as she turned on him.

"Have you met me?" He finally said with a crooked smile. "Of course I am. That's not the point."

"The point, then, is no." She said firmly as she pulled a black t-shirt over her head, her gestures sharp and angry. "I will not be going to Klaus and Milla's wedding. I'm the last person he'd want to see there. You know that." Crossing her arms over her chest, she raised a dark brow. That pointed chin was jutted out a bit and her jaw set, her mind clearly made up.

"You can't just let me go alone. What will people say?" Damon was working the sympathy card for all he was worth and decided he'd try a pout. It ended up being a grin instead.

He smiled even when they argued these days. Pretending wasn't even an option. He was too happy.

Her face softened and she crouched at the edge of the bed, so they were eye to eye. Something in those swirling mercury colored eyes made his chest ache, in a good way.

"You don't give a damn what anyone thinks." Mara leaned close and kissed him. It was then he knew he'd already won. His lips pulled to a smile as he kissed her back.

Pulling her back onto the bed and rolling over, he brought her up to his chest and held her there. Mara was right. He didn't really care what anyone thought. Having her at his side just felt right. Going without her wasn't even an option, which was why he was so determined.

"You just get me, don't you?" He wove his fingers into her silky hair, his eyes moving slowly over her face.

He saw a flash of something warm in her eyes. "I see you." She corrected as she brushed his hair back with one hand.

"Please." He whispered, eye to eye again and determined to press his advantage.

Mara's face flushed and he fought not to smile again. "But I haven't been invited."

"You have. Milla asked me to bring you. Make sure you come. And she's the bride. We have to do what she wants on her day, right? Isn't that how that stuff works?"

Mara looked away. "I don't have a clue how mating customs work here." She muttered, her voice sounding pained. Damon wrapped her a little closer as she started to nod against him. "You win. I'll go. But I still get a bad feeling about this."

Damon kissed her forehead to thank her and stood to get dressed himself.

"You're the best. And no worries. I'll protect you from Klaus." That last comment was flung slyly over a shoulder as he hid a grin.

Mara made a harumph sound from behind him. "I'm not afraid of him. And I don't need you to protect me."

"And now you know how I feel." It still annoyed him that she insisted on hanging around to "protect" him from anyone that might come trying to collect his bounty. Things had been quiet on that front, though. But he liked having her in his home, so he didn't argue about it...much.

He grinned, reaching for her hand as they headed to the kitchen to get something for dinner.

"So, I've been thinking about this Naaman problem. Considering we can't kill him we may have a few other options." He told her as he wove their fingers together. He turned and found her silvery eyes moving over him while she waited for him to explain.

"A- We could try to weaken him somehow. Separate him from his power if possible. Two- Maybe a memory spell to make him forget all about Klaus. Therefore, all about us. That would be a Bonnie question, I guess. C- Find a way to keep him from being able to be here. Not everyone in the Dreamscape can come here, right? So we trap him in the Dreamscape. Four- We just capture and lock him up permanently. But the details of how we would manage that are beyond me for now."

When Damon was done ticking their options off on one hand he looked up to find Mara grinning at him.

"What?"

Her sweet tinkling laugh flowed over him. "I'm supposed to believe you're clever enough to come up with all of that, but you struggle with counting?"

He grinned wryly. He had been doing that for decades, listing things with an incorrect count, alternating between letters and numbers. It was almost a habit and his private joke; his quiet way of making fun of himself and anyone else that might be listening. No one else ever noticed.

Not Mara. She absorbed every word he said, turning it over carefully in her mind, with the same care she did everything else. But she didn't just notice. She laughed.

A hot rush filled him as he smiled down at her, his free hand coming up automatically to the center of his chest at the sensation.

I haven't felt anything like that since….The stray thought made his eyes go wide. Elena. He hadn't had that rush of feeling since the early years with Elena. Oh, damn it. I'm in love with Mara. Dread cast a shadow over him like a dark cloud stealing any joy he might've found in the moment.

A lightning bolt of insight illuminated the truth. He'd been following a familiar pattern. Two centuries ago, with that fateful meeting with Katherine, he'd been immediately fascinated with her. He'd accepted every word from her lips as absolute truth. Because he loved her. That mistake cost him his life.

Then, years later, the exact same thing happened with Elena. He realized he'd accepted every word, every moment - trusting there was a future for the two of them. Somehow. Some way. He loved Elena and had invested all of himself in her. That mistake cost him a shattered heart when she first ran off with and then later married the Old Man.

Meeting Mara, he'd done exactly the same thing, giving her his complete trust from the word "go". Two hundred years worth of experience and wisdom were undone with just a twinkle of silver eyes.

He loved Mara. Had loved her from the beginning. He'd just been slow in realizing what was happening, believing he was too smart for there to be any risk of losing his heart.

If love made fools of men, Damon saw that he was King of the Morons. Mara's love was already given. She made that clear, being up front with him the night she admitted what she was. Her heart belonged to some disloyal jackass named Cole who also happened to be dead.

How do you compete with a dead guy? He wondered without acknowledging the irony of the fact that the title "dead guy" also applied to him.

Mara liked him. Damon knew all about the colossal difference between like and love. He lived that lesson out decades ago. The last time he was an imbecile.

Katherine was selfish and dishonest to her core. Elena was clueless and thoughtless. But Mara...he couldn't even lay any blame at her feet. True to her word, she'd given him the whole truth.

Mara was watching while reality crashed in around him. Her attentive eyes had evidently noticed his face fall as he began to fathom the breadth and depth personal hell he was facing.

"Are you okay?" She asked, reaching to lay a warm hand on his arm. Her eyes had narrowed, with a shallow furrow of worry between them.

Damon couldn't force himself to fake a smile as he dropped her hand. "I need a drink. Maybe a damned bottle." He muttered as he withdrew, turning away. Even through his shirt, her hand on his arm had the power to make his blood surge in his veins.

Hell! Who am I kidding? Everything about her does that. He made his way quickly to the bar in the living room, leaving her standing in the hallway.

Damn it. I don't think I can do this again, he thought as his hand shook just trying to pour from the decanter.

He turned around with a drink in his hand and found Mara leaned against the doorframe. She'd followed him quietly from the hall.

"I'd really like to be alone, if you don't mind." He told her quietly, a muscle working in his jaw. He wasn't angry with her. It was himself he blamed, for being a drooling halfwit.

Her light colored eyes only moved over him and she didn't acknowledge what he'd said. Damon moved to the couch and she sat down without a word in a chair across the room.

"Mara?" Just her name was a weary appeal. For pity. For peace of mind. For solitude.

She only raised a dark brow at him from across the room.

"Please." He wanted to sink into a bottle and didn't relish the thought of doing it while the reason he drank watched.

Mara shook her dark head, squaring her shoulders. "You're angry. Anger is just pain on steroids." She told him firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't even have to tell me why you're angry. Everyone else leaves you alone when you get like this. But I can't do that. You're hurting. And that matters to me." She leaned back pointedly in the large leather chair. "So, I'm not going anywhere."

Damon's chest expanded on a deep breath, his throat working. She didn't love him. Couldn't love him. But she understood him better than probably anyone.

Without a word, he leaned back in the couch cushion and opened his arms wide. Mara rushed to fill them, until they were heart to heart, her legs stretched out over the couch beside him and her arms wrapped loosely around him.

"You are so annoying." He muttered into her hair, his voice thick and blinking his eyes furiously. Stubborn, opinionated, sweet woman.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Mara said pertly against his shoulder.

He couldn't help but laugh. As he did, the dark cloud of dread he'd been dealing with moved away to hopefully trouble someone else for now. He knew it would be back, but for the moment he'd try not to think about it.

A few hours later, when Mara returned to the stables, Damon made a call.

"Hi. I know you have your hands full. But...I need you. Will you come?" He spoke the words slowly into the phone and waited. It went against his instincts to even ask, but she had information he needed. And he knew she'd be painfully honest if it came to that.

Twenty minutes later his doorbell rang.

He found Milla standing on his doorstep, her eyes narrowed and her lips turned down in a frown. He made the mistake of meeting her eyes and she let out a gasp. Stepping in without a word, thin brown arms wrapped automatically wrapped around him. Damon closed his eyes, accepting the comfort with a sad smile.

Milla didn't move, she just stood there for a long time.

"Tell me." She whispered finally.

He slowly withdrew from the embrace and wove an arm around her shoulders, turning them both to the foyer. Because he already had a glass waiting for both of them.

Her golden eyes were moving over his profile, but she waited. God bless Milla.

"It's Mara." He admitted, as he met her gaze and forced a half smile. "We've…I've…" For some reason the words wouldn't come out.

Milla smiled slowly. "If you're about to admit that the two of you have been banging like a screen door in a hurricane, don't worry about it. I've heard."

Damon was in the process of sitting down and froze, mid crouch. "Heard?" His question came out high and uneven. His face felt hot.

Milla laughed. "Not actually in person. But Stefan complains about it. Evidently you guys are pretty….um….loud."

Damon sank to the couch with a sigh. Stefan had a big mouth. Always had. And people accused him of talking too much.

He shook his head, slowly. The words rolled up in him like a tide. He couldn't have stopped them if he tried. Somehow, he needed to say it, out loud and hadn't even known it until this moment.

"I'm in love with her, Mills." He admitted with a whisper, clasping his hands carefully between his knees.

Milla gasped and sunk down beside him.

"Why do you make that sound like a tragedy?" She scooted close and laid an arm over his hunched shoulders.

"It is." He met her eyes and drew a ragged breath. "She said from the beginning that she loves someone else. He's dead. But she still loves him."

"But...if that's true, why would she become involved with you?" Milla asked him, her tone breaking down the question like he was a slow witted four year old.

"Because she thinks I'm still in love with Elena." He whispered, unable to give volume to the words.

Milla's golden eyes went wide. "And you're not?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped, struggling to put what he was feeling into words. Finally, he took the plunge.

"Do I love Elena? Yes. I'd still kill anyone who tried to hurt her. I'll protect her with my last breath and be there for her whenever she'll let me be…." His voice trailed off for a second.

"But.." He tapped his chest absently with a fingertip. "My chest doesn't burn for Elena anymore."

"And it does for Mara?"

He nodded. "I didn't realize it was missing until it happened again."

"Maybe it's heartburn. Have you tried an antacid?" Milla asked helpfully, with a smile.

"Bite me, wolf girl."

"I bet you taste like chicken." Milla decided with a cocky grin and Damon saw the taunt for what it was, one brow rising as he scowled at her. Being an empath, she'd picked his fear from the tangle of emotions he was wrapped in. Being Milla, she'd decided to poke at it. With a stick.

"Thanks for your loving support." He grumbled sarcastically.

"You'll just have to tell her." She managed to make it sound so simple. When it was anything but.

He negated her advice with a swift shake of his head. "If I do that, she'll be gone before I can finish a sentence. She's careful with people's feelings. I've had to work to convince her to come to the wedding. She was even worried about Klaus if she came."

Milla stilled, her eyes focused over his left shoulder and he watched her face go pale.

"What?"

Milla's chest expanded on a deep breath. "You're not supposed to know this, but Elena saw this coming with you. She confronted Mara."

Damon dropped his head to his hands, covering his eyes with both palms. Damn it, Elena, he thought. "And what did Mara say?"

"She said her goal was to make sure you were safe and she would go. She had no intention of hurting you."

"I am so screwed." Damon covered his eyes with one hand.

The initial reason he asked Milla to come occurred to him.

"She said that you "read" her, or whatever it is that you do. That you saw into her." He uncovered his eyes to look at Milla and found his friend's face had grown serious at his words. "What?" He asked, beginning to feel real alarm at the look in her eyes.

"I saw grief and hopelessness, Damon. As deep and wide as the Grand Canyon. I think she's just gotten good at covering it over a very long time."

Damon stood and made himself another drink. His throat worked as he tried to swallow. The idea that she was walking around in that kind of pain made his bones ache. How did someone function that way? Still be able to walk and talk, let alone be considerate of others? Mara was a walking wonder and he was just now understanding her. It didn't really matter that she was hurting because she loved someone else. His focus was that someone he loved was in pain and had been for ages probably.

He thought of how she'd been so adamant about not leaving him alone when she knew he was hurting. Maybe her care for others stemmed from her own pain.

"I know this doesn't look great. But I honestly can't see how someone could help but love you." Milla told him as she closed the distance and hugged him from behind. Damon closed his eyes, tipping his face up slowly.

"But you're prejudiced, Mills. You already love me."

She nodded slowly against his shoulder. "Yeah, but I'm still right. You don't see how great you really are."

"I'm an ass. Always have been." He muttered.

"But the best kind." Milla offered, rather than arguing that point and hugged him a little harder.

A day later Milla stood looking at her image in the display screen fighting tears. She understood now what Klaus was doing with the wedding arrangements and why they'd been so important to him. Her throat worked and she closed her eyes at the wonder of what he'd done. The thoughtful care he'd taken had paid off. She could see that with a single glance.

All the mirrors were covered because they were wary of Naaman's interference in their day. That had made the process of getting ready for her wedding day both difficult and convenient. Klaus arranged for a professional to come in to arrange her hair and do her makeup at Elena's house. So that her dress, her hair and makeup were all still a wonderful surprise. He didn't want her to see herself until just before she walked down the aisle to him. That moment was just seconds away.

The dress was a white silk with strands of silver thread woven into the fabric. The effect reminded her of clouds on a sunny day, backlit by the sun. The bodice clung close to her skin and left her shoulders bare with a draping hint of a sleeve that started just below each shoulder to disappear into folds of soft silk. The edges of the sleeves were purposely ragged and hung long down the sides of her dress to also trail along the floor. The dress' hem pooled around her feet and was designed to be ragged as well, but the edges were embroidered with tiny pops of color, a pastel display of tree leaves and branches in light shades of greens, browns, pinks, blues and yellows. Tiny flowers, leaves, tree branches all colored the edges of her dress and the edges of her sleeves that reached the ground as if they were reaching upward to embrace her from the earth. Her hair was arranged in soft ringlet curls with bits of flowers and leaves woven there as well.

On the crown of her head was a silver circlet that tapered to a V in the center just below her hair line. A simple crown. Rather than a veil, she wore a loosely woven diaphanous silver cloak that held the pattern of a spider's web and draped over her hair, to lay open around her face. As she moved, it moved around her, wrapping lovingly around her arms and closely resembled a set of folded wings.

Milla told Klaus she didn't believe in fairytales and he'd announced that he would believe enough for the both of them. That this was his fairytale as well. So Klaus had transformed her. Into a Fairy Queen who had risen from Nature's embrace to meet and marry her prince.

Her makeup was simple and gave her tanned skin a silvery sheen. A sparkle of silver eyeshadow and shiny lip gloss highlighted her features.

Milla smiled at herself thinking how much she loved Klaus and how very much he loved her in return. It was all right there, in the reflection. The painstaking care he'd taken with every detail shined back at her and made her eyes glow with love for him.

She made her way carefully to the door where she knew the others were gathered and heard music begin to play. It was a simple quartet of players and sweet violin music filled the air. As Milla stepped through the door, the way Elijah's gardens had been transformed made her breath stop in her chest. The wedding was set for dusk and candlelight lit up the grounds. Flowers of every imaginable color filled the space and were sprinkled with the same silvery spider web that floated around her as a cloak. Flickering light from the candles moved over the edges of the webs, sparkling back at her.

A soft blanket of white flower petals led to Klaus as she turned a corner. The guests were standing, dressed in formal wear and everyone was smiling. She couldn't focus on them, or even hear the gasps of wonder all around, because all she could see was him.

Her vision honed in and she couldn't help but see the strain in his handsome face. His features were drawn tight, denim blue eyes moving restlessly over her.

He wore an old world tuxedo coat the exact color of his eyes. The edges of it were embossed with the same silver thread that was woven through her dress. Under it he wore a stark white shirt-blouse with a ruffled collar and a silver vest. His legs were encased in tight breeches the same color as his coat and tucked into very light tan leather boots that covered his calves. He looked like he'd stepped right out of the seventeenth century. He looked every bit the son of an Earl, come to claim his bride. Because that's exactly what he was.

Milla walked alone because her father was gone. Replacing him wasn't an option.

Fighting tears, with a shining smile on her face, she finally reached her goal and Klaus took her hand. She wanted to take the time to run her fingers over the creases near his eyes, comfort the worry lines from his face.

He leaned close as he took her hand and she realized his hand was trembling ever so slightly.

"First you steal my heart and now my breath. But please tell me those are not tears of humiliation. That you do not hate it." He whispered raggedly.

"Hate it? Of course not! This is perfect. You are perfect." She whispered back, just as raggedly.

Klaus closed his eyes and drew a deep calming breath. "This all seemed like a great plan until you came here to stay last night, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Then the worries set in."

"I love you. My lord." Milla whispered and cupped his cheek with her hand.

His denim eyes snapped open at her words and a beautiful smile lit his face. He caressed the hand she touched him with. "You are everything." he breathed. "So...shall we do this thing then, my lady?"

Her eyes filled again and she smiled, nodding.

Damon should've been watching the ceremony, but his eyes kept straying to Mara. Since it was an evening wedding she was wearing her customary black. It was a form fitting lace dress that came high on one shoulder and encased her arm in lace while leaving the other shoulder and arm bare. A high split opened over her knee and the dress reached the floor. She looked classy and beautiful. He'd watched her shift several times, trying to decide what to wear. Smoke would gather around her and when it moved away she'd be wearing a differently designed dress.

"Can you do that with anything?" He'd asked, gesturing to the boring black tuxedo he wore with a grin and she'd smiled and shook her head.

"My power here only affects me. So, no, sorry."

Damon's attention returned to the ceremony as the clergyman Elijah had brought in turned the newly married couple around to the audience and announced, "May I present Mr. and Mrs. Niklaus Mikaelson."

A moment later, as Milla and Klaus headed back down the aisle smiling and holding hands a high pitched scream split the night, severing the joy of the moment like a meat cleaver.

The pastor dropped like a stone behind the altar.

Damon rushed forward and crouched beside the middle aged man, Elena meeting him there. The man's face was starkly white, a wound open at his throat.

"Oh my god." Elena gasped as Klaus joined them.

Another scream found that three of the four musicians had also toppled without warning. Milla stood over them, her hands shaking and Klaus joined her. They were in the same condition.

"What could do this?" Milla asked, her face pale.

Damon watched Klaus rise slowly, turning to look around at the group in the gathering darkness.

"Where's Elijah?" Elena asked from the altar. With her question, Klaus froze. His eyes scanned the crowd.

"Gather the humans." Klaus whispered to Damon. "Here, close to me. We have to protect them."

Damon rushed around grabbing John and Stephanie, the human couple that Milla counted among her friends, and led them to stand near Klaus. Milla joined them and Damon heard the two of them whispering together. Elena, Bonnie, Stefan and Neyla came close as well.

"Elijah. Centuries ago he could kill this way. Moving so fast he couldn't be seen during battles. Humans dropping before they even knew they were under attack." Klaus closed his eyes as he pulled Milla close. Elena's face was a mask of horror.

Elena was whispering to herself. "Why? Why would Elijah suddenly start killing? And at your wedding…"

Klaus jerked upright abruptly and Damon saw him search the crowd and focus on Mara standing among the chairs several feet away. He sent chairs flying as he rushed her.

"What did you do to him?" Klaus bellowed at Mara. His eyes were a furious red, the veins around them pulsing.

She didn't get a chance to answer.

"Show them!" He roared as he confronted her, nearly nose to nose. Klaus' fangs glistened in the meager light. "Show them what you really are, damn you!" He lifted her by her upper arms, trapping them against her sides and shook her hard above his head like a child with a rag doll.

Damon rushed forward, both hands on one of Klaus', trying to pry his grip loose from her arms. It didn't work. It was like steel girders were wrapped around her. Klaus just ignored him while Damon began to roar as well.

"Stop, Klaus. Calm down. It wasn't her!"

The sheer horror of the moment made his hands shake. Damon would gladly die to protect her, but it was already too late for that. Klaus would tear her apart with his bare hands in a fit of rage. And Damon didn't know how to stop him.

Everyone else was standing, seeming to be frozen in shock and horror.

Mara's body, still suspended in Klaus' grip, folded abruptly as she brought her knees up. She braced her feet against his chest and broke his hold in a burst of strength like nothing Damon had ever seen. Since he was standing so close, he heard the sharp crunch of Klaus' nose breaking as her foot made deliberate and solid contact with it on her way up and out of his hands. She seamlessly flew up into a backflip that sent her vaulting away. Klaus took two steps back, his eyes wide and focused on where she'd landed, facing them, in a half crouch ten feet away.

Damon's eyes went as wide as Klaus' as they moved over her.

Mara's eyes had turned a solid black, even the whites disappearing. The shadows all around them swept across the space, rushing toward her like sinister moths drawn to a dark flame as she straightened, her shoulders going wide. Her features, all of her in fact, had become a jet black, highlighted with the same pearlescent sheen her skin always had. Like a black painted car with a pearl coat. Behind her the darkness pulsed and roiled like a gathering storm. forming a dark halo around her. Gone was the dress she'd so carefully chosen as her wedding attire. In its place was the black leather armor Damon had seen her wear once before. Her dark hair folded itself into a braid down her back on its own while he watched. This was Mara, pissed off and battle ready. But, she had no weapons like the swords he'd seen fill her hands that night in his bedroom. So she was pissed off -yes. But lethal? No. Not yet.

"Is this what you want?" Her voice had deepened, with an otherworldly echo. She spread her empty black hands wide. "The monster, in the flesh? Will this justify your accusations? Your hatred?"

Klaus was watching her warily, his chest heaving with fury. His hands were at his sides, balled to fists and he wasn't even trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

She moved so fast Damon didn't understand where she came from when she was nose to nose with Klaus again.

"I didn't do anything to Elijah." She made the statement slowly, emphasizing each word. "I like and respect your brother. I would never…" Her voice trailed away as her black eyes moved over Klaus' face. "But you already know that."

She turned her back on him abruptly and started to walk away. "Don't mistake kindness for weakness. I gave you credit for being smarter than that. And don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again. Or your head and your shoulders might suddenly part company." The stern warning echoed with an even deeper tone in that otherworldly voice as she began to move away.

As she passed the others, who all stood in stunned silence, she turned to Milla and said, "I'm sorry, Milla. It was beautiful. Thank you for letting me be here." The echoing voice caught with the last sentence and she turned away, heading for the trees and darkness. Milla appeared to be speechless and only nodded, reaching out a hand to touch Mara but allowing it to drop slowly away. Mara had already turned and didn't see.

"Mara!" He called after her.

"Not now, Damon." Her strange voice said dismissively and he noticed a small dark hand making a sweeping gesture as if to say she was officially done.

Screw that, he thought as he went after her.

He caught up with her at the edge of the trees. Reaching out, he took her hand, hoping to slow her down. She pulled her hand away like he'd burned her and spun.

"Please." She whispered the plea raggedly in her echoey voice.

"Anger is just pain." He reminded her of what she'd said the last time she saw him really pissed off. Her face crumpled as she stared at the ground and he moved in close, wrapping both arms around her while he had the chance.

"You don't really think you have a monopoly on the "monster" title in our little company of freaks, do you?" He ran a gentle hand along her back.

"I'm probably hideous to all of you." She whispered against his chest.

Leaning back, he let his eyes move over her slowly, shaking his head.

"You're wrong." He kissed her. Her appearance had changed, but she was still her, still beautiful and smelling of sweet lavender.

"You're beautiful. Perfect." He whispered against her full black lips. They even tasted the same.

Her arms came around him and he watched the darkness of her skin fade away. He felt a soft sigh escape her. He ached to tell her, right then and there, how much he loved her. That he'd probably always love her, considering his track record with that sort of thing. But he couldn't, the words were caught behind the lump in his throat.

He knew the moment he spoke it would be the beginning of the end. She'd pull away, distance herself, in an effort to save his feelings and minimize the damage her rejection would bring. Damon wasn't ready for the end yet. He wanted as much time with her as he could get. So he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue along with the lump in his throat.

Mara fought to try to keep the trembling to herself. Her body was actually physically shaking, not from anger or even shock. It was relief that shook her. She thought seeing her would send Damon packing, if he saw the very stark truth of who and what she was. Instead, he was here, holding her and kissing her. Saying sweet words rather than the string of insults and accusations she expected.

"Are you cold?" He asked in a surprised whisper, pulling her more closely against him.

"No. You're being nice to me. It freaks me out." Her quiet snipe was met with his laughter. She snuggled closer even though she didn't need warmth and he didn't really have much to offer in that area anyway. "I thought everyone would hate me."

He folded her completely against him as he said, "I couldn't hate you if I wanted to. And I couldn't care less what anyone else thinks."

"I was afraid for you back there." He admitted as his arms drew her tighter against him. "But...you can basically kick Klaus' ass, can't you?" His voice was thick with his quiet laughter.

"Natural defenses. Remember?"

He laughed a little louder. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

"You really hate him?" She asked, searching his face with her now silver eyes.

Damon stopped and thought about the question for a second before he shook his head. "I did. But Milla turned me around on that. She loves him too much for him to still be who he used to be. But I still dislike him enough that seeing him get his nose broken just made my whole night. Maybe my week."

Mara just held on, thunderstruck by the warmth in his eyes.

"So...that's your angry face?" He asked her with a smile.

"Bordering on murderous. Pretty much."

"Note to self - don't seriously piss off the pretty girl." He pretended to check something off in the air with a finger.

In the very next breath the sky behind her lit up with a column of fire.

"What the hell?" Damon gasped as Mara spun in his arms.

A loud roar split the night, echoing from more than a mile away. The sound, the fire, all coming from Elena's home. They both turned to run, hand in hand toward the sounds as the ground beneath their feet shook. Damon stumbled and slowed down in the process, stopping to try to understand what was happening.

"Was that an earthquake?" He asked as he glanced at Mara. "What could light up the sky like that and cause an earthquake at the same time?"

"Oh, god." Mara's small hand covered her mouth. "We have to get to them!"

"What is it, honey?" He asked.

She didn't take the time to answer, breaking into speeds that he had difficulty matching.

When they reached the yard where they'd left the others, Damon noticed that they had taken on a battle formation. It was an arc, with Klaus and Elena on point. The others were scattered around them, equally spaced, with the humans in the middle, behind them. Bonnie's eyes were golden and her hair was flowing out around her. Stefan was crouched and looked ready for anything. Neyla stood beside him, her eyes glowing blue. All of them looked ready for a full fledged battle royale.

The thing had already done serious damage. Trees and bushes all around them were already in flames. Even the monster's steps were burning the grass behind it like a flaming bigfoot trail.

Klaus was facing off against what Damon first thought was a very high column of fire, until it spoke. Arms engulfed by fire crossed over the chest of what, on closer inspection, turned out to be a humanoid form made of flames, standing some twenty feet tall.

"Salvatooooorrrreeeee!" The overgrown dumpster fire bellowed, the deep male voice echoing hollowly.

Damon left Mara near a tree, where she seemed to have slowed. He strolled up casually to stand beside Klaus.

"Sparkling personality. I'll just bet he just lights up a room." Damon muttered sarcastically with a grin.

The fiery giant put both hands together and a column of fire came from them like a blast. Klaus disappeared while Damon ducked and rolled. It barely missed both of them and the ground where they were standing was left in cinders.

"No one has a sense of humor anymore." Damon muttered to himself.

Mara rushed forward, putting herself between the fire giant and everyone else as she yelled, "Brax! No!"

Damon realized she sounded desperate. And scared. He'd never seen her truly afraid before. She was still wearing her armour and now wielding an ax taller than she was with a diamond blade that sparkled in the light from the fire. And it sounded like she was calling this monster by name.

Her words stopped the giant in his tracks.

"Mara?" The deep echoey voice sounded pained and uncertain as he spoke the name.

She took a wary step toward the giant and Damon's stomach clenched.

The fire around the giant sputtered, burning high and hot for a second before it seemed to ripple and condense. A moment later a man stood where the fire had been. He was still a giant, standing easily seven feet tall. He had the same black armour that Mara wore and dark red hair that tapered in an intricate series of Viking battle braids, down to his waist.

He swept suddenly at Mara and Damon surged forward instinctively. The giant lifted her by her upper arms, much as Klaus had a few moments ago, suspending her in mid air. Her massive diamond ax fell, forgotten, to the grass. He also shook her as Klaus had done, but gently, before pulling her roughly to a very broad chest.

"I thought you were dead. You ridiculous woman." The deep voice wasn't echoing anymore, but still managed to sound unnaturally deep. It was also thick with pain. "I mourned, damn you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. The Assembly knows I'm still here. I don't understand." Her head was tucked under his chin, resting a cheek against him, like a toddler finding comfort.

Damon had moved close when the giant picked her up, so he was only a few steps away for the whole thing.

"Mara?" He asked uncertainly and she stiffened in the other man's arms. The stranger turned very bright green eyes on Damon as he set Mara carefully on the ground again.

She reached to take Damon's hand and smiled at him before turning to her friend.

"Brax, this is Damon." The other man's green eyes lingered over their hands folded together for a second before he smiled. "Damon, Abraxis is the oldest and strongest of our team. He's sort of our nuclear button."

Damon decided that fun fact explained Mara's obvious fear before.

"Salvatore?" He asked, turning to examine Damon carefully.

Mara nodded. "The charges are a mistake. I made an appeal. Why would they send you, of all people, after that?"

Brax shrugged a tree stump sized shoulder. "They didn't. Not directly. I came to annihilate whoever hurt you. It was natural to assume since your last assignment still lived, he must be responsible." The very bright green eyes turned thoughtful as they moved slowly over Mara. "I think someone important wants your new friend very, very dead. And I suppose I am undeniably predictable. Damn it."

Elena came closer, carefully watching and listening. But Bonnie, who had been standing close as well, hesitated.

Her tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of her mouth. It was glued there, in fact. Her eyes were fixed on the single most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Dear Mother Earth. So. Damned. Big. She'd have to tip her head completely up if she was close to him, just to see his face. He had a very wide set of shoulders, and black armour that molded a well muscled abdomen and thick arms. He was as big as a mountain. A massive, monstrous, beautiful mountain. A glittering green gaze, high cheekbones and a sharp squared jawline covered by a spray of reddish whiskers. His hair was a rich mahogany, pulled back in complicated braids that should've seemed feminine considering modern styles, but were fierce instead.

Fierce. That was the word she was looking for. Everything about him was fierce.

But it wasn't just his appearance that astounded her. Power. Raw and unequalled in her experience glittered around him. His glowing red aura filled the space, sending off a heat blast like a furnace. She was surprised her hair wasn't actually lifting from her shoulders in the onslaught.

Bonnie swallowed hard as those electric green eyes fixed on her. In what seemed like two steps he was standing close and looking down at her thoughtfully. As she'd expected, her neck strained to meet his gaze. This close she noticed a silvery scar on his chin where his whiskers didn't grow, just to one side of the cleft in it. It just made him look more dangerous rather than being a flaw.

"Who and what, may I ask, are you?" His manner was somehow both formal and flirtatious. The tone was entirely different from the one she'd just heard him use with Mara, when he'd sounded like an exasperated uncle with an unruly teen.

She opened her mouth, and, to her horror, nothing came out at first. Floundering, she cleared her throat and recovered as best she could.

"Bonnie." Before she could congratulate herself, she realized she'd only half answered him.

"Bonnie, I am Abraxis." A very large hand extended and she took it with a half smile. "I think perhaps you're a witch. An elemental witch. All five, if I'm not mistaken?" His lips quirked to a warm, crooked smile.

Being able to pluck that bit of information out of what seemed like midair seemed odd to her.

"Strangely specific guess, don't you think?" She asked him as she managed a saucy smile, one brow up.

He released her hand and rose to his full height, purposely drawing in her scent as he did.

"Not a guess. Your power tickles my nose, like champagne bubbles." He told her with a grin that made her pulse pound.

Damon was watching this exchange, his eyes wide as he turned them on Mara.

"What's happening?" He asked with a whisper.

Mara grinned, her eyes moving to the pair as they smiled at one another. "Abraxis is an elemental. Fire, to be exact. Get him drunk enough and he'll tell you stories about hearing the echo of the Big Bang."

"Which is why you were so upset when you realized what was happening?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer.

"I've seen him level a village when he was angry like that. It was a solid sheet of glistening rock when he was done."

"So…..we're okay?" Elena asked, pointedly, interrupting everyone at once. "Because if this fire is out, we have a half dozen more to deal with."

Damon knew from her strained tone that she meant Elijah and the damage he could do if he really was lacking his humanity. Because that was the only reason Damon could come up with for why Captain No Kill would suddenly start dropping human bodies. No one had the courage to say it yet, but it seemed pretty clear. The why wasn't so obvious, though.

Abraxis turned his eyes on Elena. "Yes. If Mara is alive no one here needs to die today."

"Well thank god she was here, then." Bonnie muttered and Damon grinned, thinking he very much liked the sound of that, since he was the one who persuaded her to come.