There you go, chapter 2! No Kate/Katherine in this one but you see the reactions of Damon, Elena and Stefan. For now not much is different from Canon but things will change very soon. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

Damon was still standing in the kitchen bewildered and shocked about what had just happened when Elena entered the house.

He heard her calling out for Jeremy and that was when Damon noticed Jeremy's heartbeat was a little slower than normal. Maybe he was sleeping.

John chose that moment to groan and Damon came closer to him, undecided if he should feed him his blood or not. John had after all tried to kill him not even an hour ago. And, like Katherine said, it wasn't like if he died, his death would be permanent.

Before he could decide what to do Elena entered the kitchen and gasped.

"Damon? What…?" She looked at John gasping on the floor, a pool of blood all around him.

Then her eyes turned angry. "What did you do?"

Damon rolled his eyes, though he felt hurt. Of course Elena would think he was the one who did this. Something goes wrong? Something bad happens? Let's blame Damon.

"I didn't do this Elena." He replied in a flat voice.

Elena ignored him and went to kneel at John's side. She put her hand on his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding and then turned towards him. "Can you do something?"

"Like feeding him my blood? Do you think that's a good idea? You know that if he dies, he'll come back."

Elena looked at the ring still on his finger then and nodded. She called 911 then.

"911, what's your emergency?" the voice on the other line answered.

"Hi, I-I need an ambulance to 2104 Maple Street." Elena replied in a panicked voice.

"The ambulance will be with you in about ten minutes. Have a good day!"

Elena hung up and turned towards him. "What happened? Who did this?"

"Katherine happened."

Elena widened her eyes and Damon could feel the fear radiating from her, her heart accelerating even more in her chest.

"Katherine?" She sounded on the verge of a panic attack. Then she widened her eyes even more, so much so that Damon was worried they were going to pop out, and she gasped, "Jeremy!"

Before Damon could tell her that Katherine hadn't touched Jeremy, she sprinted up the stairs. Damon followed her with a sigh.

"Jeremy! Jeremy!" She called to him, finding him unconscious. She tried to shake him awake. "Please, Jeremy, wake up!"

Jeremy woke with a gasp and Damon listened, finding his heart was beating strongly in his chest. He was fine. Whatever had happened that had slowed his heart-rate it appeared to have passed. "He's fine, Elena. He's okay."

Elena breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

Damon heard the ambulance arriving and they went downstairs to open the door. John was taken away on a stretcher and that was when Stefan arrived at the house. The officer tried to keep Stefan from entering but Elena said it was okay. "He's my boyfriend."

The officer nodded and left.

Stefan followed Elena upstairs to Jeremy's room but Damon decided to remain downstairs, feeling as usual like a third wheel.

He entered the kitchen again and rummaged in the cupboards for some bourbon, knowing Rick kept some in the house.

He poured himself a glass and sighed, leaning on the kitchen counter. He still couldn't believe all that happened tonight. Though the thing foremost in his mind should have been the fact that he almost died that night, all he could think about was Katherine.

Katherine was back, had told him she loved him – she had mouthed it to him if he wanted to be technical – and that there was an explanation for why she had faked her death in 1864, why she had never told him that she was alive and free. Damon didn't want to believe her, he wanted to keep thinking that she was a bitch who never cared about him, that she had only toyed with him and his brother. It would be much easier this way. He could simply keep on hating her and avoid those pesky feelings he still harbored for her.

But he couldn't. He had loved her for so long that he didn't know how to stop. If there was some kind of explanation for what she did, he needed to hear it. Maybe if she'd say to his face that she had never loved him, he would finally be able to move on. Or, if she actually had a good reason for making him believe she was trapped in a tomb all those years, then maybe they could start over. Together. Though he couldn't imagine what reason would be able to justify such a thing.

She had looked so sincere when she told him that she wanted to contact him many times over the years but that she couldn't because she had wanted to protect him. Protect him for what though? Damon didn't know what to think.

He knew one thing though. If she had come back only to mess with him, Elena and his brother, she could have killed both Jenna and Jeremy and Damon would have been unable to stop her. Instead she didn't. She had gone straight for John. John who had just tried to kill him. What was that she said, 'I warned you that Damon and Stefan were off-limits'? Was it possible that she stabbed John – without meaning to kill him because she obviously knew about the ring – simply because John had tried to hurt both him and his brother? Katherine wasn't trying to kill John, she was only trying to warn him that if she had tried one more time to hurt him and Stefan, that there would be more severe consequences for him.

And what about Stefan? What did Katherine feel for Stefan? Was she in love with him as well? Because Damon couldn't stand to share her affections with his brother, not again.

Damon was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ringing. It was a message from Liz. Caroline was in the hospital.

Damon cursed. What else was going to happen this damn night?

He ran to his car using his vampire speed and drove to the hospital. Inside he found Liz pacing up and down the waiting room and walked to her.

"Liz, I came as soon as I got the message. Is she okay?"

Liz was in tears, though she was trying to appear strong.

"She's in surgery, it's...they're doing everything they can. I need your help Damon."

"Sure, anything Liz." Damon immediately said. He didn't particularly care for Caroline but Liz was his friend, one of the few friends he had.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead. They thought he was a vampire. They put him in the basement."

Damon tried to look shocked. "Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

Liz shook her head. "No, no. A mistake was made, they said he dropped like the others when John's device went off but he...he couldn't have been a vampire, I've known the man my whole life and now Carol Lockwood is gonna want answers and all I can think of right now is Caroline and..." She burst down in tears and Damon hugged her to his chest.

"It's okay. It's okay." He tried to reassure her, feeling awkward. He wasn't good at consoling people. Usually he never even tried to.

About ten minutes later Liz went downstairs to take a coffee at the machine while Damon stayed out of the way, waiting for news. He noticed Elena walking towards Bonnie and decided to follow her, listening in on their conversation.

"Bonnie. How's Caroline?"

"She's weak." Bonnie replied. "They don't know if she's going to make it."

Elena widened her eyes in fear. "What?"

Bonnie nodded, tears in her eyes and moved to embrace Elena.

"Is there something that you can do?" Elena asked then, after the two of them had separated. "Like a spell or something?"

"She doesn't know how, do you?" Damon chose that moment to intervene, walking towards them.

Bonnie glared at him and Damon tried to restrain himself from killing her. It was because of her lie that Damon had almost died that night.

"No, I don't." She said coldly.

"No, you don't because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that." He mocked her.

"Well, I can take down a vampire, that spell was easy to learn." Bonnie replied, trying to appear threatening.

Damon ignored her and turned towards Elena. "I can give Caroline some blood."

"No, no way." Elena immediately shook her head.

"No, just enough to heal her. She will be safe in the hospital and it will be out of her system in a day, she will be better Elena." He pleaded with her, trying to convince her.

"It's too risky, I can't agree to that."

"Do it." Bonnie said. At Elena's expression Bonnie added, "This is Caroline. We can't let her die." She turned towards Damon. "Do it."

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?"

Bonnie smirked at him. "No. But you'll do it anyway. For Elena."

Damon glared at her but didn't contradict her. Though he was once again twisted up in knots over Katherine, his feelings towards Elena were still there, though sometimes he couldn't say if there were romantic feelings, friendly feelings or simply a way for him to deal with his love for Katherine by shifting his feelings to Elena.

Damon tried to ignore these questions for the moment and turned towards Elena as soon as Bonnie left.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now but we should talk about what happened tonight."

Elena sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Can you tell me what happened with Katherine then?"

Damon decided to skip the part about him trying to kiss Katherine because he thought she was Elena and simply told her, "She pretended to be you. I was at the house to talk to Jeremy, to tell him what happened to Anna. I was leaving the house when she showed up. We talked for a little while and I thanked her for saving my life, thinking I was talking to you and then…"

"And then what?"

"And then I guess she got tired of the pretending game because she revealed herself to me, told me who she was, that she was disappointed I didn't recognize her. I was just about to attack her when your aunt opened the door and told her that it was time to get back inside."

"So that's how she got an invitation into the house."

Damon nodded. "Yup. I wanted to do something but in front of Jenna, I couldn't. Anyway, Jenna got back inside and that's when Katherine snapped my neck and went inside to stab John."

Elena shook her head. "Why would she stab John?"

"I think they were working together to get rid of the tomb vampires."

Elena looked more and more confused. "But if they were working together…"

"John tried to kill me and Stefan tonight. I think Katherine was pissed about that and attacked John to make sure he would not do it again."

"She knew about the ring, didn't she?"

Damon nodded. "Katherine knew both Isobel and John and was working with both of them so yes, she certainly knew about the ring."

"So she wasn't really trying to kill him? I mean, she knew that he would come back to life even if she did kill him but she kept the ring on his finger anyway."

"Yes. And she didn't try to attack Jenna or Jeremy."

Elena shook her head. "What does she want then? Why is she back? Did she tell you something else?"

"She told me that there's a reason why she stayed hidden all these years, that she was trying to protect me – Stefan as well I imagine. Though I can't say If I believe her or not. Maybe she's simply lying, trying to mess with our heads."

Elena frowned. "You don't believe that though, do you?"

"I think that the best way to mess with you would have been to kill your brother and your aunt but she didn't. Why is that?"

Elena shuddered at the thought of the last remaining members of her family dying. "So what are you going to do?"

Damon shrugged. "I don't know. Wait for her to show up again. See if she's forthcoming with answers for once."

"And if she's not?" Elena asked him, looking deadly serious. "She has an invitation into my house Damon."

"I know. But right now we don't know if she's actually a threat to you or not."

Elena nodded, though she didn't look reassured in the slightest. Damon couldn't really blame her, Katherine was both very dangerous and very unpredictable.

Jeremy was sleeping. Stefan kept pacing in front of his bed, feeling restless. When he heard the front door opening he went downstairs.

Damon and Elena entered the house, obviously coming back from the hospital.

"Hey, how's Caroline?" Stefan immediately asked. Elena smiled at him but she looked tired and worried.

"Damon gave her his blood. She was in bad shape, Stefan." She sobbed and Stefan immediately embraced her.

"I'm so sorry this happened Elena." Elena nodded and let him go.

She took a deep breath and exchanged a look with Damon.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked immediately.

"You know John was attacked tonight." Elena started, avoiding his eyes.

Stefan frowned. "Yes. I thought one of the tomb vampires escaped and wanted to get revenge."

Damon smirked. "Not a tomb vampire brother. But someone who should have been in that tomb."

Stefan widened his eyes. "You don't mean…"

Damon smirked again. "Oh yes. Our ex-girlfriend is back."

A few minutes later, after Damon had recounted what had happened with Katherine that night, both Stefan and his brother were standing in the kitchen in silent contemplation while Elena was checking on Jeremy upstairs – there was still a pool of John's blood on the floor but they tried to ignore it for the moment.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Stefan finally asked. "Why is she back?"

Damon huffed and widened his arms in a 'I have no idea' gesture. "She only said that she would explain everything soon. Whatever 'everything' means."

Elena entered the kitchen in that moment. "I told Jeremy, I can't lie to him anymore."

Stefan nodded. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better."

"I know. We all did."

"Katherine was in this house. She's been invited in, what are we gonna do?"

Damon snorted. "Move?"

Elena glared at Damon. "Very helpful, thank you."

Elena sat down on one of the chairs around the dining room table. Damon turned serious and looked at her.

"I told you Elena. If Katherine wanted you dead, you would be dead. And so would the rest of your family. But you're not. Hell, she didn't kill me either and she could have, easily. That means she has other plans that don't involve killing you."

"Right and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process." Stefan said, sending a warning look towards Damon. "What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

"To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead. I…I tried to kiss her, thinking she was Elena."

"What do you mean you tried to kiss me?" Elena asked, at the same time Stefan asked, "What do you mean you tried to kiss her?"

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go," Damon puckered his lips and made kissing noises. Stefan was sure he was only trying to irritate them.

"Don't worry though." Damon added before Stefan could attack him. "She stopped me. I guess she didn't like that I was trying to kiss her thinking she was someone else. Especially if that someone is her doppelganger."

"We don't have time for this guys." Elena intervened. "John must know something. They were working together after all."

Damon snorted. "She's Katherine. She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."

"No, actually Elena's right, John could know something through Isobel. Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine so maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk." Stefan said but Damon ignored him.

"I've got a better idea."

"What's that?" Elena asked immediately.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch." Damon said before walking towards the door that led to the hallway, obviously feeling the conversation was over. "See you." He waved at them and was about to walk away when Elena's voice stopped him.

"Is that smart?"

"If Katherine thinks she's been ignored it will lure her out, she'll make a move."

"Yeah? And then what?" Stefan asked sarcastically.

"Stake her, rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see." Damon replied with nonchalance but Stefan wasn't fooled. He could see perfectly the conflict in his brother's eyes. Katherine's return had rattled him more that he was letting on.

In answer to a review: Theresa chapter 3 . 3m ago

The canon end doesn't really fit well...

I think it does. Damon is in denial right now. When it comes to feelings, especially now that it's the beginning of season2, he answers with violence when he doesn't know how to deal with them. Right now he's angry at Katherine and confused about his own feelings. He doesn't know how to feel therefore he thinks the best answer to that is to ignore them. He thinks that if he kills her - even if he doesn't really want to kill her - his problems will go away (like what happened with Lexi). In canon season2 he went from wanting to start over with Katherine to - when Katherine said she never loved him - wanting to kill her. That's just how he rolls. So I think the canon line is perfect in this case.