Dahlia pulls into a parking spot at the hospital, having promised Damon she'd take him to see Elena.
When they reach the seventh floor, Damon catches a glimpse of her parents sitting the waiting room along with Caroline and Bonnie.
Quickly moving past the window, he follows Dahlia who filched a lab coat and stethoscope making herself appear to be a doctor.
When they reach Elena's room, she nods and steps back. "I'll meet you in the stairwell in fifteen minutes," she leaves, pulling the door closed behind her.
Moving to the bedside, Damon scoots Elena's body over slightly, careful not to disturb the tubes and IV lines and climbs into her bed pulling her into his arms. He nuzzles his lips against her soft hair inhaling her familiar scent and whispers, "You are my life Elena and I don't want to live without you anymore, so please, please come back to me."
Closing his eyes, he soon feels himself being lulled to sleep by the sounds of Elena's rhythmic breathing. He quickly jumps out of bed, knowing he can't be seen with her, at least not now. It occurs to him that he should check with Dahlia, maybe get a guard for her after Mason's threat?
"Elena, I don't want to go...but sweetheart, you need to wake up." Sighing he lays his hand wispily on her stomach feeling the gentle rise and fall of her chest.
She doesn't respond but he bends down, brushing his lips against her ear and murmurs, "I'll be back," he stills for the next few seconds then strokes her cheek. "Goodbye," he kisses her forehead and then slips out of the door, ducking into the stairwell just as Dr. Gilbert looks up after speaking to one of the nurses in the hallway.
He wipes the sweat off his brow, "That was close," he mumbles to himself then hurries down the stairs, taking two at time till he reaches Dahlia who's waiting on the first-floor landing.
"Let's go, we have work to do," she runs her eyes over him. He nods and follows after her...
Damon's lost in thought when the car comes to a stop at a rail yard on the outskirts of town. They get out and he's curious as she crosses over several tracks before skirting in between two trains, both with several cars.
"What's that sound?" Damon asks her, looking around to find the source of the grinding noise.
"It's our ride, green car, with a 43 on it." she scans the cars as they continue in quick pace when the train starts to move. "Let's do it! go, go, go, go!"
"There, forty-three," Damon points it out.
She types in her code and presses enter. She rolls her eyes when the "retinal scan required" comes in a computerized voice. She grabs a hold of two metal bars and pulls herself up. "Agent confirmed."
"Dahlia? Geez, I was wondering where you were," a man shuts the door behind them.
"Damon Salvatore, this is Agent Gerard," she opens a cupboard, pulls out a bottle of Jack Daniels and hastily swallows a mouthful.
"I don't want to sound dumb, but what's going on here? I feel like I'm in an episode of Mission Impossible," Damon's eyes take in the train car and all its electronic equipment and gadgetry.
"Alaric Saltzman is in possession of certain documents that implicate him in a series of subpar building anomalies. Not only here but in New York City too. He's indirectly responsible for a number of deaths related to faulty building materials. A few days ago, one of his associates, Sabine Laurent killed one of our agents in Washington DC."
"Oh my God," Damon can't believe what he's hearing. "What about the mayor, is he involved in any of this?"
"No, he's a fool who's only interested in getting his dick wet. Saltzman's blackmailing him to keep quiet."
"Unreal," Damon sighs and threads his fingers through his hair when he drops his head. After several minutes, he looks up to meet Marcel's gaze, "So what's the plan?"
Damon stares at Marcel, his expression giving no indication of what he's thinking, he isn't yet sure he's not ensnared in some kind of an intense dream.
"And as of this moment any actions are unsanctioned. If you want out," Marcel sizes Damon up, "Speak now."
Damon's jaw clenches in determination. "I'm in."
"Our mission is Saltzman. We're all that's between him and his goal, nothing can be left to chance. We lose him now; we lose him forever."
"So, what's the plan?" Damon's eyes snap to his.
"Isobel Fleming will take delivery from him in 36 hours. We have to intercept the package. We suspect its information about the city, funding, assets etc. He also has some contacts with international arms dealers."
"What!? Ric an arm's dealer too? I swear I must've fallen through the looking glass. Who's this Isobel Fleming? And why are you telling me all of this?"
"We're working on that; the one certainty is that we need Saltzman to lead us to Isobel. Ric's a big fish, she's an even bigger one. You know Saltzman, and frankly, we didn't have a choice but to bring you in after one of his goons went after you and Miss Gilbert," Marcel explains.
"I never dreamed when I started on this story of local government corruption, I'd find myself involved in all this cloak and dagger or that my girlfriend would be laying in a hospital bed with gunshot wound. What do you need me to do?" Damon fists his hand.
"Do you know how to use a gun?" Dahlia asks, her head snapping to his.
"I do." Damon feels a wave of conflicting emotions swamp over him. There is sadness for so many different things - Elena, for the loss of someone he always believed to be his friend. "This is…all just so surreal," he continues, "All this," he waves his hand at the state-of-the-art train car, "is mind boggling."
"You don't have to be a part of this," Marcel hands him a glass of bourbon.
Damon sucks in a breath, hoping to dispel the tightness in his throat. "Yeah, I do..."
Marcel refills his tumbler. His eyes drift from Dahlia and then to Damon. "Okay then, this is what we're going to do..."
Damon scans the area around him before stepping into the payphone cubicle. They're pretty much obsolete these days, Marcel must've found the only one left in the city. He picks up the receiver and dials the number that he's been given.
"Go ahead," comes the voice on the other end of the line.
"I need a cab," Damon says.
"Hang up and turn around," the voice instructs.
Damon does as he's been instructed and a black Sedan pulls up to the curb. The window rolls down as he approaches.
"We didn't think you'd show?" the woman runs her eyes over him.
"When can I see Ric?" Damon asks, fuming on the inside.
"First things first," the woman gestures for him to get into the car.
Damon stares at her for a moment then does as he's told.
It's a good hour or more before the vehicle stops. After the woman gives him instructions, he opens the door, now recognizing that he's at the marina.
As he walks down the wooden planked pier, he catches a glimpse of Dahlia selling nautically themed jewelry in a kiosk. When she gives him a very subtle nod, he returns it and continues, his shoes making a clipping sound as he gets closer to his destination.
Damon keeps his eyes peeled, taking in his surroundings as he continues towards the rendezvous point. He scans his phone en route. He can't deny that he's nervous, his heart is pounding in anticipation, apparently opportunity is going to strike even sooner than he's expecting when Mason Lockwood appears.
"What are you doing here?" he demands to know.
"I've been sorting through documents, I'm here to see Ric...and Isobel," Damon tries to keep a straight face, he's playing a role.
"What do you know about her?" Mason rounds on him.
"That's none of your business. Now, where is he?" Damon gets in his face, his right-hand curling into a fist.
"Don't move," Mason sneers then steps away and pulls a phone out of his pocket.
"He says he knows Isobel," Damon overhears him say before he drops the device back into his pocket. Mason cocks his head to one side as if he suspects something is off but Damon doesn't give him the chance to dwell on it. "You pull anything, you'll won't live to do it a second time," he opens his jacket, letting Damon see the sunlight glint off the metal of his revolver.
Clearly frustrated, he mutters something under his breath then gives him a shove, pushing Damon further down the boardwalk and into a small skiff. Seeing a life jacket laying on the floor, Damon slips it on as Mason sticks the key in and turns the ignition.
The boat bounces through the waves with all the smoothness of a fast car running over a series of speed bumps. Damon's teeth involuntarily chomp down after each one, he keeps his legs braced and his arms stiff as he holds on.
In front of him Mason is pressing the engine ever onward for more speed, his face alight with the sinister zeal that Damon recognizes. With the increase in speed the hull bounces higher and higher, slapping the waves hard with each fall. Damon winces but tries to keep a straight face.
A look of stark terror washes over his face on the very next impact. The boat flips, cartwheeling across the midsummer waves. In the late morning light; the only witnesses are the gulls, swooping over the previous undisturbed water. Then everything's gone; no boat, no engine, no Mason.
And only Damon floats...
Thanks everyone.
Chapter title: 'Head Above Water' by Avril Lavigne
Have an amazing day.