A beeping sound penetrates Damon's dreams and the sharp odor of disinfectant hits his nostrils. He feels a familiar, calloused hand squeezing his own... Now he knows where he is and who's with him.

"Dad?" he croaks as he struggles to open his eyes.

"Shhh, son, don't try to talk, give it a few minutes, you're only now waking up after trying to head-butt a moving bus. Don't you ever try that again."

He can hear the relief in his father's voice and knows it can't be that bad.. "Did the doctor say...?"

"You're going to be alright, Damon. You have a concussion, five fractured ribs, significant cuts, bruises and a rather nasty laceration along your orbital bone. That one is complimented by a nice shiny black eye. The doctor was already here, he wants you to stay another day."

"Work?"

"No absolutely not, you need to rest so your ribs and the rest of your body can heal."

He grips the side rails so hard that his fingertips turn white. With all the strength he can muster, he tries to sit up but the pain is even worse than the first time when he was half unconscious. Searing fiery bursts pulsate in his side, intensifying with each dragging breath, jarring and brutal.

"Fuck that hurts." He's never felt such agony before. Pain like an icy wind chokes the breath from his lungs and makes a noose around his neck. It's savage blasts cut right to his bones and grip his brain in it's freezing claws. His heart constricts in it's wake as if not sure if it should go on beating.

Groaning, he falls back onto the mattress, clutches his side and looks at his father with desperation. "Tell them to give me some morphine, I need to get back to work, dad."

"Calm down, Damon, you'll tear your stitches. How could you have been so careless, not noticing a bus? You're damn lucky you're not dead. And what were you even doing there without your car?"

"I left the car at the office, it wouldn't start. I was tired and didn't want to wait for a tow so I started to walk home, you know mix in with the crowd." Even the simple act of speaking is torture to his already throbbing head.

"Ah, the Superhero Crawl. I understand now. You can never be careful enough in a crowd that size. A little shift here and elbow there and you end up in front of moving bus."

"Yeah, someone pushed me alright... But it wasn't any accident."

"What are you saying, son?" Giuseppe's visibly shaken.

"I'm saying that someone disabled my car, followed me and when the opportunity presented itself, he or she pushed me right into the path of that bus. Can you please get Alaric on the phone?"

Elena wakes up well rested. She slowly slips into consciousness and takes a while to explore how is she feeling after her girls' night and her late, late one with Kol. It feels like yesterday was weeks ago already and surprisingly she has no remnants of the morning after. She turns her head and shifts slightly but she already knows she's alone. After falling asleep during their movie, Kol half carried her to the bedroom. As nice as her couch is, it's not exactly built for two people to sleep on.

She remembers him tucking her in before crawling in beside her. She remembers squeezing his hand just before drifting off for good. And for once, no nightmares were awaiting her and she didn't awaken even once till now.

She gets up and does her morning ritual, showering, brushing her teeth and putting on a light makeup. She didn't bother to go look for Kol, who no doubt's been up for a few hours already since he's always been a morning person. She's certain he's downstairs when she smells freshly brewed coffee. While brushing her hair, the long sound of the doorbell interrupts her musing. Maybe Kai? She quickly finishes up and goes downstairs.

Given the heated voices she's hearing, she wonders who it could be, no one on her team would be talking such rancor in their tone.

"What's going on?" she asks, looking at the two detectives, neither of whom is Damon. Kol immediately steps in next to her for support when he notices Detective Saltzman's piercing her with a dark, clouded look.

"We need you at the station Miss Gilbert, and as luck would have it...," he turns his eyes to Kol, "we need you there as well. Can you both get ready please?"

Elena doesn't like the way the young cop, Martin she remembers his name, is watching her.

"Where's Detective Salvatore?" she asks impulsively.

"Later," Saltzman answers shortly and turns away from them. "We'll wait outside."

Elena and Kol share a look but then decide it's not worth the fight. Kol excuses himself to go into the kitchen. He quickly turns off the stove, slips into his shoes and then follows Elena outside to join the cops.

"Can they do this?" she whispers to Kol on the way to the station. She's a little unnerved when she notices Detective Saltzman eyeing her through the rearview mirror.

"Wrong brother, darling, but I bet they don't have an order, it's on our good will and cooperation. Well... at least for now. They can't question us without Elijah if you insist on him being there, which is probably a wise move considering..."

"Okay," Elena nods, trying to calm down her nerves. Kol reaches out and squeezes her hand. It works like a charm, as it always does. She can do this. These two bullies don't scare her, she's not a doll, she's a business woman. And she'll be damned if she'll give them the satisfaction of seeing her frightened.

Kol gives her a grin, bows his head in approval and both of them turn their heads to the window.

It doesn't take long for them to arrive at police headquarters and without further delay they take Elena into one interrogation room while Kol is taken into another. Elena takes the seat they point to, takes a deep breath and looks expectantly at the two men staring down at her.

"Where is Detective Salvatore?"

"Miss Gilbert," Alaric starts. "Will you answer a few questions?"

"I don't know," Elena gives it a thought. "I think I should call my lawyer." She can see the effect her words have and admits it feels satisfying not to give them what they want. "I will listen to what you have to say and then I'll decide whether or not to answer?"

Alaric knows if he tries to push her, she won't hesitate to shut them out completely. "Okay Miss Gilbert, where were you last night?"

"What kind of question is that? I was at home obviously, you found me there."

"I mean, can you describe your evening, since... lets say...6 pm?"

"Well, I was at the Jungle's restaurant, then the bar..."

"With...?"

"First Rebekah Mikaelson, later Caroline Forbes joined us, when you let her go," she adds in a biting tone.

Ric ignores it and motions for her to continue.

"Then Kai, I mean Mr. Parker escorted me home."

"At what time?"

"Nine, nine thirty, I think. It wasn't real late."

"He didn't stay?"

"No, he... was busy, so he dropped me off, made sure I was safely inside than he went home."

"Are you sure he went home?"

"Of course I am... Well, he didn't say so specifically but that's the impression I got..."

"Right," Ric nods. "And Mr Mikaelson?"

"I called Kol later, I wasn't feeling well and wanted some company."

"At what time did you make the call?"

"It must have been about ten? No, ten thirty, I believe."

"And when did he arrive?"

"I have no idea, detective, because I was sleeping by the time he got there and I didn't wake up enough to look. You will have to ask him."

"We will, Miss Gilbert, certainly..."

Why does that sound like a threat?

Everything she's heard about police interrogations is true, the officers ask their questions over and over and over again, each time with slightly different wording or innuendo in an effort to trip up the person they're questioning. Elena's not even sure how many times she's already described her evening and tried to set the time line for first Detective Saltzman, then the diligent Detective Martin, who God knows why, looks at her like she's an insect. Her guess is that Alaric, the name Damon called him, went to try his luck with Kol, leaving the boy to practice on a tamer suspect, or is it simply an idiotic game of good cop / bad cop?

"Miss Gilbert, can you answer the question for me?"

That tone of his... "Listen detective," Elena lets herself be heard more sharply, "I have answered your questions like a million times already. What's your purpose here? Are you trying to make me slip up so you can say gotcha or what? I'm not going to play this game anymore. I take it Detective Salvatore is somehow behind this so either you tell me where he is or I'm leaving right now!"

"Listen lady," the young man doesn't budge, "I don't know who you think you are but this is an official investigation and you..."

"I'd stop you right here, detective! Don't forget who are you talking to. I suggest you either call your superior right now or I'll have Chief Jordan here before you can blink. And you can bet it won't be pleasant!"

Oh, Elijah... What a glorious moment watching him stride inside without invitation and make mincemeat out of them.

Elena can't help the ear to ear smile spreading on her face.

Alaric's not happy.

"I will gladly inform you myself, Elena..., since these gentlemen clearly aren't going to. Detective Salvatore has been in an accident."

Alaric's not happy at all. Elena's lawyer just stormed into her room and interrupted the questioning, worse it wasn't just Elena he was after. He similarly intervened for his brother, breaking up that interrogation too.

"What?" Elena's visibly shaken, which doesn't escape Alaric's attention. Either she's a very good actress or she truly had no idea.

"Yes, he's in the hospital but I'm sure he'll be back in our hair making a nuisance of himself soon enough."

Alaric fights the urge to grind his teeth. How does he find out everything so quickly? Damn him.

"So...," Elena puts two and two together, "that's why you dragged us down here, you suspect us of having a hand in whatever accident he had?" she turns to Alaric.

"We needed to check alibis first," he tells her defiantly.

"All right," Elijah steps in one more time. "If you're done, we're out of here." When no actual protest comes from the detectives, Elijah holds the door for Elena to walk through. "Gentlemen, we'll wait outside for my brother."

When the door shuts behind them, Ric and Luka share a look.

No words are necessary.

"You didn't come here in police car, did you?" Elijah teases while opening the door of his Mercedes sedan for Elena. She slips into the passenger seat and makes a funny face at him just as he pushes it shut. As soon as he climbs behind the driver's seat, she reaches around to buckle her seat belt then turns her head to face him.

"Almost, I had to convince them that Kol didn't need to be cuffed and perp walked."

The brothers share a look, joking Elena isn't a broken one and both are kind of grateful for that. God knows she can't catch a break.

"Not true," Kol lets himself be heard. "They're detectives, not a team of WWF brawlers. It would take more than the two of them to slap the cuffs on me, let alone throw me in the back of a squad car."

Elena chuckles at the image and relaxes back against the smooth leather. It's all they get though because almost immediately she immerses herself in thought. She leans her head back against the seat rest as Elijah turns on the street, leaving police headquarters behind them.

"How do you know he's going to be alright?"

Elijah certainly doesn't need to ask who she means. "Katherine." I called her this morning... she was upset and worried, Damon's father called her to tell her about his accident."

"What happened?" Elena inquires quietly, her eyes still focused on the outside world.

"I know a few people, they tell me things. Apparently his car broke down so he set out on foot to walk home. From what I understand, he was in his neighborhood, waiting to cross a street when someone shoved him in front of a moving bus. Lucky for him, he didn't roll under its wheels but it did send him flying. The impact was pretty harsh, he has some lacerations, broken ribs and a concussion but I was assured baring anything unforeseen, he will live."

Elena nods, but doesn't answer and the rest of the way to their destination is mostly silent. Soon Elijah parks in the front of The Jungle but he's in no hurry to get out of the car. Elena looks at him questioningly. "What?"

Elijah shakes his head. "You two should know, the detectives were here early. They arrived first thing this morning. You two weren't the only ones they wanted to question, they also took Kai and Enzo, Bonnie, a few security guys downtown.

Elena doesn't react, she just stares at him, willing him to take it back.

"Enzo called me right away but Saltzman bitingly asked if all of your people are my clients too and if I really want to go there. He used the words obstruction of and impeding an investigation. After I got them off Enzo's back, I decided to focus on you two. And Kai," he pauses, chuckling, "he can hold his own."

Elena fidgets with her fingers, then sighs. "You know, I really don't feel like working today, I don't see the point. I'm not in the mood to go inside and try to clean their messes. Take me home, please..."

Kol and Elijah once again share a worried look, then Kol opens the door and says casually, "I should go with you to get my car but I'll catch a ride over there later. I'm going to find out what those fuckers were up to while we were gone." He nods at the two of them before disappearing inside the club.

Elijah starts the car and heads back to Elena's. He knows he can't push her but he certainly hopes she starts talking soon. He has to wait until they are almost there.

"Elijah? Did they question you too?"

"No, but I have no doubt they'll think about it, sooner or later. Or at least the erstwhile Detective Salvatore will."

"Do you... Do you think that it was one of us...?"

Elijah considers her, how much more can this girl take?

"I think you don't need me to answer that..."

By the afternoon, Damon feels like he's on pins and needles. His father went home but only after he promised he wouldn't leave the hospital until the doctor gives him the okay. He hates the hospital bed with a passion, it's uncomfortable but he can't get up without the room spinning. It's embarrassing to have to ask someone to help him to the bathroom and even more embarrassing to piss in a jug. When Alaric arrives Damon's ready to rescind his promise to his dad even if he has to drop onto all fours and crawl away. However, his friend's arrival is a welcome distraction.

"How are you feeling?" Ric starts with small talk. Damon just waves him off.

"I'll live. Did you bring the file? I need to look over parts of it. How did the interrogations go?"

"Not great. I won't bore you by repeating for the umpteenth time that Elijah Mikaelson is a pain in my ass. I don't know how he always manages to show up just before we can make any headway. I swear he either has spider senses or he isn't human."

Damon's looking at him expectantly, so he sighs and answers a little more seriously. Apparently, Mikaelson called Enzo to tell him about your visit and where you were going. St. John tried to inform Parker but couldn't track him down so he called Kol. Then Miss Gilbert happened to show up with Parker in tow and that's when St John told them. Anyone else at The Jungle could have overheard. As for alibis, they have none, not for the time of your accident. Miss Gilbert claims she stayed home after Parker dropped her off but she didn't know where he went after he left her. Kol spent the night at Miss Gilbert's but he didn't show up till sometime later. St. John was at work then went home. Which once again no one can confirm. It's a mind fuck."

"Well," Damon starts, taking the files that Ric hands him, while trying valiantly to suppress the unpleasant idea of Kol spending the night with Elena. "There are a few options, bring me the report when you're done?"

"Could you be anymore cryptic?!" Ric chuckles.

"I have a theory or two."

"Care to share?"

"Not yet."

"Alright then, I'm going to head home. I'll see you tomorrow, if you're still here, otherwise I'll stop at your..."

Damon's already going through the documents. "Yeah, thanks buddy..."

He doesn't raise his eyes when Ric leaves the room.

Where was it? He knows he's seen it before...

He's opening a copy of the Gilbert's last will and testament, his eyes immediately flipping through the pages to look at the signature date. It was... twenty years ago. He saw it, the first time he read it but he believed it to be outdated considering when it was signed. Surely as their properties got more valuable, they would have updated it to reflect such important matters but apparently not?

Grayson and Miranda Gilbert being of sound mind made the decision to disinherit Jeremy twenty years ago. Elena was only a seven year old child at that time. She was hardly in a position to plot against her 12 year old brother. He's looking at the signatures of Elena's parents, next to Mikael Mikaelson's embossed notarization, willing the page to speak to him, to reveal its secrets.

He stares at it for some time before opening his lap top to do some more research. But before he can do much of any digging, his father walks into the room with a stern look on his face. Being the dutiful son that he is, he closes it up and plops back onto the pillow. He won't get anything done while his dad is guarding the hen house.

It's going to be a long night.

Elijah deliberately pointed Damon in the direction of the will, what are your theories?

Thank you all, you're the best.

Eva, you're the very best. I love you dearly.

Chapter title: 'Master of the Pendulum' by Avantasia.

Have a terrific day and thanks again.