Damon is sitting in the chair on the other side of Chief Jordan's desk, his first two fingers of each hand rubbing his temples to try to soothe away his headache. He's frustrated and antsy and now the man is giving him no choice in the matter at all. Whether he wants it or not, he's been told in no uncertain terms that he has to take Saturday and Sunday off.
"Look chief, we can probably get our work wrapped up this weekend if you'll just reconsider..."
"Damon, I've made up my mind. You need to take a break. By the time Monday rolls around, maybe you can look at the case with fresh eyes. You're burning the midnight oil and it needs to end. You're obsessed with this case and if you refuse to take the weekend off, I'll take it out of your hands. Are we clear?"
"Monday?" Damon looks at him incredulously. "That's two days lost."
"Be reasonable, Damon," Jordan displays an out of character amount of patience. "The forensics team needs to finish their work in that passageway and you... need to clear your head."
So... one of her cohorts leveled a complaint about his constant presence at the club... or was it her smarmy lawyer?
"Get some rest, do something enjoyable... You're always telling me you don't see your family often enough."
Damon pauses for a second. Dad. Dropping his head in frustration, he chastises himself silently. He's been so completely wrapped up in this case and her that he almost forgot his dad's birthday. Perhaps he called Chief Jordan... No, dad would never do that.
"I can see it written all over your face! And the answer is no, your father didn't call me. Your partner mentioned it because he knew you wouldn't ask for the day off. And since you have nothing to do in the deepest recesses of The Jungle for a couple of days..." Jordan drives his point home.
Alright, alright. Damon, nods his thanks. Knowing it's futile to object any further, he reluctantly accepts the mandatory time off and backs out of the chief's office.
"Thanks, Ric," he mumbles under his breath when he passes his desk.
Ric cringes and pats his backside which earns them a weird look from Luka.
"Hey, Romeo, not everyone hits on girls at crime scenes! Guys have to help out each other," Ric teases him earning an eye roll from the young man in return.
"Well, boys," Damon announces, "Since I unexpectedly have the weekend off, you two enjoy yours here at work. The chief said that I'm supposed to clear my head so forget about calling me. And just in case you have any doubts, let me reassure you that I won't spend even a millisecond thinking about the two of you."
"You're going now?" Ric asks incredulously.
"Yep. There's no reason for me to sit around here staring at your sad faces. It seems I'm not allowed to go anywhere near her club this weekend either."
Ric and Luka exchange looks but wisely don't utter a peep.
"So the big boys just disappeared for the weekend and left their 'archeological' team here? Just wonderful," Elena huffs and plops on her office couch. Of course he wants to avoid her and let his little minions do all of his dirty word. Coward...
Kol shrugs. "The only one I saw today was Bonnie's little bobby, said they'll be back first thing Monday morning but the forensic team's staying."
Elena rolls her eyes, quickly losing patience with the youngest Mikaelson.
"What's with the face? A bobby is a cop" Kol retorts and bursts into a fit of laughter.
Elena looks ready to pounce but settles for throwing a crumpled piece of paper at him. "What am I going to do with you? You're incorrigible..."
"Okay okay. I'm not here to get a rise out of you, although it's so easy and so much fun..."
"Kol!"
"...aaand... that's my cue to leave," he gets up, pausing only when he reaches the door. Turning back he gives her a wink which gets her dander up even more. Just as she launches a pillow at him, he ducks just in time. " Rebekah said to tell you to give her a call, said the two of you need to catch up."
"Thank you," Elena delivers with a strong dose of sarcasm. "You're hilarious!" she calls after him, Kol sends her a big grin over his shoulder before darting out the door when another pillow comes sailing at him.
Maybe that's just what the doctor ordered?
A girls night out.
After pulling a bottle of Coke out of the refrigerator, Damon walks outside and into the backyard. As rattled as he is, he can't not smile when his little brother waves excitedly at him. Damon nods and then takes a long pull from his soda. The party's going well, there's several guests, friends, distant relatives and neighbors. Jenna decided to let Stefan host his own party for the kids which was a brilliant idea as are most of his step mom's. The little ones have their own party place set up in the gazebo, she laid out games and rented a ball tent for the weekend. They're close enough to keep an eye on and the adults aren't stumbling over them as they run in and out of the house.
Damon himself or any of the other adults check on them every now and then. He takes a walk through the garden to try to clear his mind as he was ordered to do so. But despite Chief Jordan's edict, it's not something that he can just wish for and make it happen, there is no magic switch. His thoughts refuse to settle. The case is bugging the shit out of him. It used to be so easy to focus only on catching the bad guy but now... the fact that the bad guy may be a woman... is that what's turning his mind inside out?
"Damon!" Stefan runs to him when he spots him among the trees. Can you open another bottle of 'champagne' for us?"
"Of course," Damon smiles and goes to open a new bottle of the favorite kids' sparkling apple juice. "Be careful, you don't want to have frogs in your bellies."
Stefan and a few kids chuckle and run away to continue their games. He watches them with a small smile.
"Feeling nostalgic?"
Damon turns his head and nods at Rose. "A bit, yes. I bet Stefan will remember this day well into adulthood. Sometimes I recall these exciting surprises too. We, Stefan and I have the best parents. I... I just wish I had been able to realize, enjoy it more when I was his age."
"I think you did in some respects more than others. You still remember right? You are enjoying it now, vicariously I suppose through your little brother and it brings good memories for you, it's a good thing, Damon. One day you'll do the same for your own children."
Damon tenses, not sure if she's not trying to turn the conversation to them. Rose seems to be able to read him.
"Chill," Rose laughs. "I know that's something that won't happen for some time to come. You're too involved in your cases, that's where your attention is. Clearly, you're not ready for that yet. And I also know that I'm not the one. Still it was nice to toy with the idea that you and me," she gestures between them with her index finger. She looks at him, seeking his eyes. "But I'd really hate for you to avoid me because you're afraid I might expect more from you than you're willing to give. I don't, Damon. I know where we stand, we're friends and besides that, I'm not so desperate that I'd try to change your mind."
Damon returns her gaze calmly, but he still feels a little weird about this conversation with her. Rose is a fine woman, she deserves to be treated as one and by a man who loves her passionately. "I know. I won't turn my back on you, Rose. If you need a date for another fun event, I'm your guy."
Rose laughs in earnest. "I don't think so. Although I can't say your verbal duel with Elijah Mikaelson wasn't fun to watch... I think however that it was maybe just a little too much excitement for a black tie event."
Damon chuckles. "Maybe." Without his consent his mind goes right back to Miss Elena Gilbert.
"Are you coming?" Rose turns on her heels to go back into the house.
"Mmm no. I'll keep watching them for awhile. I won't be long."
She nods and soon disappears among the trees.
Elena feels good to be dressed down in her Levi's, 'Queen' sweatshirt and her Birkenstocks. Picking up her tumbler, she swallows what's left in her glass then refills both. "Cheers," she says, raising hers to clink with her friends.
"Well, from what you've told me, he's crazy about you," Rebekah sips from her glass of bourbon, it's the finest available and well, Elena's bar is always stocked with only the finest brands.
"What are you talking about? I told you, he's playing games with me. He thinks I killed Jeremy or at least gave the order to have him killed. What he's trying to do is get under my skin." She shudders. "And it's working."
Rebekah shakes her head with disbelief. "No, Elena, trust me when I tell you that he's in it just as much as you are," one corner of her mouth lifts up to mock Elena's apparent weakness for a certain member of Reno's finest.
"How do you know? You haven't even met him," Elena disagrees.
"I did meet him, he came to the house to question my father. Question my father can you believe his stupidity? Clearly he was poorly informed about who my father is and what he's capable of. But your cop does have balls, I'll give him that."
"He did? And...?"
"And what? Father knows how to play with these people. He never reveals anything he doesn't want to, he's very precise and meticulous as you already know. And if you want my opinion about your detective..."
"He's not mine but yes, what did you think of him?"
Rebekah takes a sip and several moments to think about it. "From what both my father and Elijah say, he's focused, incorruptible and loyal to a fault. He's earned his good reputation. He's from one of the founding families," she points out for Elena, who just rolls her eyes at that piece of obvious information.
"He's hot," she gives Elena a look. "I'd say passionate, probably very good in the sack."
Elena almost spits out her bourbon. "And that you know from seeing him once?"
Rebekah chuckles. "Call it intuition."
Elena grimaces. "I could use some of that."
"That, dear Elena, comes with experience."
"And you don't think I have any? At my age? With the job I do?"
Rebekah's expression is rather lenient. "Elena, a job doesn't make you experienced, guys do. And if you don't count the feeble attempts with my brother and..."
"Shhh," Elena shushes her briskly and claps her hand over Rebekah's mouth but Rebekah's still able to detect the sad undertone of her panic and insecurities.
"E le na," she gives her a big bear hug. "You know we love you, you can have any of my brothers, well, not sure about Finn but with a bit of effort..." Elena giggles and smacks her friend's back lightly, "and you always have me. And let's not forget Kai and Enzo. Don't do this to yourself. You know, pretend you're a bad ass while keeping your gentle heart under lock and key, never letting anyone even have a peek."
"Alright, you're forgiven. But never ever remind me of the feeble attempts thing, alright?"
Rebekah laughs. "You know I can't do that. It's too much fun... Okay okay, I'll quit... for now."
They have a couple more drinks and talk about other things, all the while trying to avoid the awkwardness at The Jungle. Before they part, Rebekah comes up with a solution.
"Hear me Elena, no matter what you think, the cop is hot for you. He's the kind of guy who never plays games in the course of an investigation, he's too diligent about his job. Personally I think he's losing it. You make him lose it. Mistakes were made, ones he never meant to make. If you play your cards right, you'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand and he'll bend over backwards to make sure you're never proven guilty of anything... ever."
Elena looks rather doubtful. "You don't know him Bekah. He's too much of a cop to let anyone get away with anything, let alone murder. I can imagine him imprisoning his own mother."
Rebekah shrugs. "He's a guy, isn't he?"
Elena chuckles. Yes, a girls night is exactly what she needed.
Stepping out of the house through the sliding glass doors, Giuseppe looks around. The yard is dark now and all the youngsters are in the basement rec room watching a Disney movie. When he can't find his oldest in the house, he asks Jenna who points outside. Walking through the grass, he finally finds his boy sitting in the gazebo, the moon's glow casting an eerie light on him.
"Here you are." Giuseppe emerges from the darkness.
Damon gives him a smile. "Tired of your lively party already?"
"Needed a break. And I wanted to have a chat with my son, we haven't had even a minute yet."
"I'll still be here tomorrow. At least till the noon."
"How come?"
"Chief Jordan thought I needed a few days off, Ric provided the inspiration by telling him about your birthday."
"And was he right? Do you?" his father frowns.
"Need a few days off? Maybe? It's been tiresome, this case is so damn complicated."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"They found a tunnel between the two buildings. Which means the body could have been placed there from either side... or not at all."
"It should be easy to tell. The brick wall, the building materials, how old is it?"
"A year."
"One year?"
"Yes, according to the plans provided by Miss Gilbert, the building permit to have the cellar restored was issued a year ago. Our forensics team is top of the line, eventually they'll find the answers but it's going to be a lot of laboratory work."
"So you're waiting for the results?"
"Sort of. We're still questioning the concerned parties and going through old reports but there's not much to latch onto... Dad?" he asks after a moment, Giuseppe looks at him expectantly. "Why would the Mikaelsons be so tight with the Gilberts?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? Both are founding families and they were close friends, bound also by a marriage or two. Mikael was their lawyer and as you said, Elijah's their daughter's attorney."
"Yes, but... that was the older generation, I mean, why are Elijah and Kol so loyal to Elena? St. John and Parker too, there are several men around her that treat her like royalty. It's crazy, the deference they pay her as if she was a mob boss or something. They all have a part to play in the day to day operations of her business but they all act like close friends. They can't be all her lovers, can they?"
Giuseppe looks amused. "That's what's bothering you? Her love life?"
Damon frowns. "No, dad, that's not it. But it feels... unnatural the relationship they all have. Wouldn't it be more logical if they were Jeremy's friends or at least some of them?"
Giuseppe shrugs. "Maybe that's what you should ask? Trust your instincts son, they're usually right."
"I know and that's what concerns me. "
"Because she could be actually guilty?"
Damon slowly looks at his dad unable to decipher what he's asking. He decides to take the question in the literal sense. "I don't want to be right."
Giuseppe nods. "Maybe you aren't. Maybe you're just too deep in your head to see your way out."
"I know, dad..."
Don't let your past blind you.
From the moment the darkness takes root in his mind, no matter how hard he tries, he can't shake it. She's not even his real sister, her father tries to look like he cares but he never looks too close, he's not interested. It's obvious. He's only interested... in her. He spends all of his time with her. Time that used to be his alone. He watches her, with her father, with their mother, alone in the garden, playing in her room.
She watches him too, he can tell. Sometimes when he turns his eyes elsewhere, he can suddenly feel hers on him. They're like laser beams that burn into his body. Is she plotting to take his life, end his bothersome presence? She's small, yes but she's smarter than their parents think she is.
Oh, she can trick them, pretending to be helpless and scared. She's cunning, she's used that trick to get him into trouble more than once. Soon, she will be ready and nothing will stop her from taking over everything. The toys, their parents, his friends, his room... his very existence.
The red hot, visceral anger rises again. He's scared too, but the anger always triumphs. He's right to be angry. Because one shouldn't be privileged just because they were born a girl.
You're all the best, there are really no words to THANK YOU all enough. This is really a slow moving story but things will start to heat up a little more soon.
Thank you, Eva. You're my best friend... Can't you just hear Freddy crooning it ;)
Chapter title: 'Road to Nowhere' by Ozzy.
We did post the first chapter of "Ripples of Fear". It's a period piece set in 1916. I posted another story tease and a collage for Ripples on my FB page if you're interested.
Many dear friends have DE stories in progress: They're all very talented writers: Justinia Korax: the mesmerizing The Things She Felt When He Was Gone'. Salvatoreboys4ever: the alluring Captive of Her Beauty is nearly complete. Tamilnadu09 has 'Once Upon a Nightmare'. It's brilliant.
VitsAsh: Stumbling Upon. Starlight So: All Through the Night and Northern Star. TheLittle MissVixen: Just Another Girl and What Might Have Been. Amazing Aisha: Marriage Built on Lies and Changing Fate. Copperfishy has one based on Nicolas Sparks "Safe Haven". It's called Silver Linings. It's her first DE story. These wonderful ladies are among many others who are keeping our legendary Damon and Elena alive and prospering.
I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend and thanks again. We'll see you next week.