Damon's in a foul mood by the time he makes bail. Once he gets his car out of impound, he thoroughly examines every square inch to make sure there's no scratches or scrapes on his beloved, classic blue Camaro. Breathing a sigh of relief to find her in pristine condition, he slides in and shifts into drive, stopping only at a liquor store for a bottle of bourbon on his way home.
Both worried about Ric and frustrated about possibly losing his story, he takes a long pull from the bottle, savoring the burn as it goes down. He relaxes on the couch, legs spread then takes a second chug before replacing the cap. Sighing, he peels off his clothes to shower after spending several hours in the city's dirty jail cell.
With a towel cinched around his waist, he tosses an empty duffle bag onto his bed and starts to fill it with clothes and a few essentials.
"Why not," he tosses his bourbon in too. He doesn't know what happened to Ric but he needs to be prepared in case he's targeted too.
Damon stares at his collection then zips up the bag and sets it by the door. After throwing on some clothes, he runs outside to toss the duffle in the back seat.
"Son of a bitch," he blurts aloud upon realizing he left his phone laying on the counter.
After going back inside, he considers it for a minute - the police can probably track him with the GPS - he leaves it, locks up his apartment then climbs behind the wheel and pulls out into the flow of traffic, his goal is to check out Ric's hangouts in hopes of finding him.
Present:
Noticing the needle on her fuel tank is hovering above the E, Elena stops at a convenience store to fill up. She takes a moment to look over his file again. As she peruses the bond contract; she already knows it mentions Damon's last known address. Although she's all but certain she won't find him there, she really has nothing to lose by beginning her search at the apartment complex.
Setting the file aside, she turns the key in the ignition. A half hour later, she pulls into Damon's parking lot. The buildings are upscale, fancy brownstone, ten stories. There are swimming pools scattered throughout the complex too.
She cuts the engine and sits there for a while feeling inept. She's never done this before, what if she makes a complete fool of herself? Suppose Damon is home? What will she do? It's not like he's up for murder or anything, it's a simple bench warrant for missing his court appearance.
Taking a deep breath to fortify her resolve, Elena gets out of her car, marches across the blacktop, and walks up the stairs and into his building.
She knows his apartment, contemplating a moment whether she should take the fire escape or the elevator. Gritting her lips in determination, she goes up four flights of stairs, two at a time then steps out into the hallway, stopping when she reaches his place. Taking a breath, she knocks on his door, not at all surprised when no one answers. She does it again, this time a little more forcefully.
Nothing.
Seeing no sign of him, and finding his door locked, she goes back to her car and considers her next move.
A red Porsche pulls up next to hers, she knows that car, it belongs to Stefan Salvatore. Elena ducks low so he won't see her. If she plays her cards right, maybe he can lead her to his older brother.
Several minutes later Stefan reappears, gets into his car, and takes off. As soon as he's out of the lot and on the street, she pulls out too, keeping her vintage VW a couple car lengths behind him. She watches as he pulls into a private drive. Elena circles the block, parks several houses down and just as she reaches the place on foot, Stefan exits the house alone. Shaking her head, she's about to go back into her car when she hears her name.
"Elena Gilbert, is that you?" Stefan approaches her.
"Yeah, small world and all," she forces a smile. "Look, I'm just going to get right to it... Do you know where I can find Damon?"
"Why do you ask?" he begins to circle her.
"Well, I have something to talk to him about."
"You pregnant?"
"What?" her eyes drop to her flat belly. "I look pregnant?" she looks at him in disbelief.
"No but what other reason would you have for tracking him down?"
"I have my reasons, Stefan, now are you going to help me or not?" Elena puts her hands on her hips.
"No can do, see ya, Elena," he smirks, slides into his expensive little piece of shit car and drives off, disappearing when he turns at the corner.
She sucks in some air while canvassing the area. Seeing no one, she strides purposefully down the sidewalk, talking to herself as she approaches. Reaching the house, Elena decides she has nothing to lose...By the time she walks up the steps and arrives at the door, her heart is pounding, not from exhaustion but from a burst of a adrenaline.
Taking a few deep breaths, she raises her hand to knock.
Sensing movement behind the door, she steps to the window to try to peak in through the gap in the curtain. Air sticks in her lungs, and her pulse throbs painfully in her throat. Why is she doing this? She mixed drinks and tended bar for a living, what does she know about catching fugitives?
Don't think of him as one, she reasons, gnawing on her lower lip.
Another moment passes, and she waves her finger over the peep hole and then she hears the sound of the dead bolt sliding before the door is yanked open and she finds herself face to face with Damon Salvatore.
His stance is passive-aggressive, his voice laced with impatience. "What?"
"So that's the way you greet me after all this time? I would think you'd be happy to see me," she runs the pad of her finger along his lower lip.
"What are you doing here, Elena?" he furrows his brows and steps aside to let her in.
She takes a moment to steady her voice, "I'm looking for you actually…"
His expression narrows. He leans beyond the doorjamb and looks the length of the hallway. "So, what are you really doing here? You read about me in the papers and decided my life wasn't fucked up enough?"
"Well you see it's like this Damon, I'm broke. I needed a job and well, I talked Jeremy into giving me one...It seems you skipped out on your bail."
"Oh, don't tell me, you're here to take me in?" his face contorts with amusement.
Elena gives him a sarcastic smile. "You think I can't do it?" she moves to face him.
"No," he scoffs, his eyes raking over her perfect body.
"You've had your shits and giggles, now let's go," she crosses her arms over her chest.
"I don't think so," he bursts into guffaws of laughter again.
"You're an ass," she spits out, pushes him against the wall, turns him around and slaps a pair of flex cuffs on him. "I'm not helpless, Damon, you of all people should know that. Now let's go." She starts to lead him out of the apartment towards her car. When they reach it, she opens the passenger side and nudges him inside.
"You're still driving this clown car? Jesus Christ, Elena, let me loose."
"No can do, I get 10% of your bond, I need the money."
"Look, I'm working on a big story, my contact was kidnapped, I have to find Ric."
"Ric's missing?" Elena's eyes snap to his.
"Yes, so let me loose, so I can go back to finding him."
"No way," she shakes her head. "And if you're so worried about him, why were you in there instead of looking for him?"
"Come on, Elena, give a guy a break would ya?"
"Negative," she drags out the word.
"Ahh, Elena, remember when we hooked up in here?" he tries changing tactics to flatter her.
Yeah, she remembers...
Just get in," His voice is calm but firm as he nudges her backside.
She pauses, and stares directly into his eyes. They are dark, and full of fire. Shrugging, she does as he asks.
Damon follows, pulls the door shut and hits the locks. He leans over the front seat and tosses the keys in the drink holder.
"Damon, what's going on?"
"Turn around."
"What?"
"Turn around," He gently guides her shoulders so her back is to him. Lifting her hair, he presses his lips to her neck. "You smell incredible." Damon moans and drags his tongue to her ear and nibbles the lobe. He continues his passionate exploration of her neck and shoulders before taking her mouth in a succulent kiss.
Elena releases a moan that vibrates against his lips. Damon skims his hands down her arms, leaving a trail of heat everywhere his fingers touch. Grasping the hem of her dress, he slowly raises it, exposing her soft skin… inch by magnificent inch. A rush of endorphins surges through her veins, making her heart beat double time and an all over tingling flush suffuses her body.
He kisses her spine as he pushes the fabric up and when he has it bunched at her neck; he slides his hands around her chest to stroke her breasts.
"God, Damon."
He gathers her into his chest, lifts the dress over her head while continuing to ravish her neck and shoulders with his mouth as his hands tantalize her nipples first and then travel slowly downwards to her already moist center.
"You're incredible."
Elena moans as he reaches a particularly sensitive spot between her legs. "People will…hear…us... oh God, don't stop."
Nibbling on her ear, he whispers with a husky lilt, "Never."
Elena rises to her knees, and Damon swivels her body to face the rear window. He slips off her panties, positions his body behind hers while seamlessly shrugging off his shirt and loosening his pants.
With her arms and hands firmly splayed on the back dash, Damon enters her from behind. The intimate contact makes Elena gasp in pleasure, and she lifts her face sharply toward the rear windshield.
She's never been so grateful for the fact that their vehicle is parked by itself under a great big Oak tree, practically hidden by it powerful branches. His hold on her body is unyielding… and she loves it.
Damon whispers into her ear, "You have to pay for your seductive exploits," he gives her gorgeous ass a pinch.
As the tightness heightens inside her, Elena arches back onto his shoulder. He aggressively kisses her neck and increases the intensity of his rhythm. His hands command the flex of her hips. The weight of his chest against her spine intensifies the fire that's searing through her with every beat of her heart. Even deep within her core, it's him that controls her powerful release, and then she feels his own. When her short-winded gasps lengthen into full breaths, Elena turns towards him with a rosy glow of satisfaction.
"You do remember," he smirks as her face fills with a rosy hue.
"Shut up," she glowers at him, shifts into reverse and speeds out of the parking lot.
"So tell me, what's the story with Ric?" She gives him a quick glance.
"I told you I was working on it. According to him, there's some malfeasance at city hall. Funds are being diverted for someone's personal use. He isn't sure yet who's doing it."
"So, someone who has access is embezzling?"
"That's what Ric suspects... I'd bet money that his disappearance has something to do with it."
Elena's face clouds over. "Have you checked out both of his places or his office?"
"I was going to till you showed up," he deadpans.
"Fine we'll go on one condition..."
"Which is?"
"You won't try to give me the slip or God help me Damon, you won't know what hits you."
"Feisty! I like it," he waggles his brows playfully.
Rolling her eyes, she follows Damon's directions to the one room efficiency apartment above a pub, it'll be easier for him to get into than his other place. Ric stays there on nights he helps Kai out by occasionally bartending when he's short of help.
"Damon?" Kai Parker asks when he walks in. "Where's Ric? He promised to fill in last night?"
"That's why we're here, someone grabbed him. Mind if we have a look around his place?"
"No, go ahead. He's a pain in my ass but I don't want him dead."
Damon opens a door and extends his arm for Elena to go first. Not about to let him slam the door on her and run off, she shakes her head back and forth. "I'm not a fool."
He sighs and starts up the stairs. Opening the apartment door, he senses something wrong while exploring each room.
Lying on the floor of the bathroom is a pair of pants, Elena goes through the pockets and finds a note that says Audit Evidence Depository. "What is he doing with police evidence?" Elena holds it up for Damon to see.
"I don't know," he starts when they hear a noise outside the window. Damon puts his fingers to his mouth indicating for Elena to be quiet. Ducking down, he softly moves over to it.
Elena darts away from it and Damon steps back. He waits several second then ventures a look just as a black SUV careens out of the alley, screeching its tires as it quickly disappears into traffic, puzzling him.
"Come on, let's go," he urges her out, locking the door behind him as he snaps it shut.
"What do you know?" Mason Lockwood glares menacingly at Ric while playing with a small revolver.
Ric looks around, hoping to see some means of escape but unless he can free his bindings, he's stuck here. When Mason puts the gun to his leg, Ric spits out that he told a reporter about the missing money, keeping the other information to himself.
"Here you go, call him..."
Ric takes a phone from him and purposely dials the wrong number. "It's me Ric, nothing suspicious is going on, I have everything figured out...you need to drop the story." Mason hangs up as soon as the words are out of his mouth.
"You don't know him very well if you think that will make him drop it." Ric glares at him.
"Well maybe he'll be more amenable if we send him this," Mason pulls a pocket knife out and reaches for Ric's ear.
"You son of a bitch."
Mason laughs and rather than cut off a hunk of it, he slices it just deep enough to draw blood and watches as it slowly runs down his ear then along his jaw before pocketing it and leaving Ric to think about his next move.
When they reach her car, Elena happens to look up as a shadowy figure pulls back from a filthy third-floor window across the street from the bar, his movement catching her attention.
"Damon look," she uses her head to gesture towards the guy. Someone has been watching them.
"What the hell kind of people is Ric involved with?"
"People who don't want to be sent to prison."
"Prison!? This must be some serious crap he's gotten himself into," Elena looks at him, her hand reaching forward to put the key in the ignition.
"You ask a lot of questions," Damon raises an eyebrow.
The echo of the ear-splitting bang suddenly rips through her. The front window of the car parked next to her VW shatters.
"Jesus Christ, first day on the job and I get shot at!" Her eyes flash with anger, much like lightning on a pitch black night.
"For crissake, don't just sit here, haul ass! That's meant to be a warning."
The tires squeal when she pulls into the street, turns the first corner, cuts through an alley and onto the next block, a run-down narrow road carved out between buildings. She drives like a maniac till finally they catch a break with a semi stalls in an intersection. The wail of police sirens fills the air.
"In there, in there," Damon points to an empty garage. She slams on the brakes, sending her car into a spin. Quickly shifting, she pulls in, the door open just enough for her to drive in.
Damon jumps out, pulls the garage door down then pulls her out. The floor is packed dirt, and the air is musty.
She can see the anger on his face, hardening of his eyes and pinching at the corners of his mouth. Suddenly he has her pinned against the wall.
And then his mouth is on hers...
Eva and I can't begin to thank you all enough. I'm actually working on our 2020 holiday story. It's called 'Waiting For A Star To Fall'.
Thank you Eva. I wouldn't be here without your constant support and big shoulders.
Thank you Denise for your kind words.
Chapter title: 'Still The Same' by Bob Seger.
Have a wonderful day and a terrific week ahead. Until next time.