No regrets...
That's what they wordlessly agreed on when they parted in the morning, going their separate ways when Elena dropped him off at police headquarters. Upon her insistence, not that he put up any kind of a fuss, he spent the night beside her in a magnificent four poster bed. He would never have imagined the antique-looking piece of furniture in her otherwise very modern house. Strangely enough, it fits perfectly in her large and airy bedroom and it was heavenly to spread out on. She must have spent big bucks on that mattress and the no doubt high thread count sheets. Despite the continued body aches, he would have slept like a baby if he hadn't kept himself busy, mesmerized by the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.
Although he wanted nothing more than to wrap her protectively in his arms, he carefully maintained a slight distance between their bodies... Having her palm laying almost protectively on his meant everything. He was afraid to even move in fear of interrupting her peaceful slumber. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that she hasn't had one for a very long time.
And now this...
"Are you absolutely sure, Luka, that she said she's seen documents with Jeremy's name on them? And she thought they had been taken from his possession?"
"That's what she said," Luka nods. "I mentioned the case... it just dawned on her. How lucky is that?"
Lucky? Damon has his own idea how accidental her information actually is, but he can't ignore it either. He hates the fact that every time he and Elena make a little progress, it gets smashed to bits by another infringement on her privacy, one he'll have to make.
"I'm only going to say this once, Luka but you have to be more discreet. Bonnie says she thinks the documents might have been taken from Jeremy? That's pure supposition on her part, it would never hold up in court. And most importantly, Miss Gilbert has a right to expect some confidentiality."
"I'll be more careful after this, sorry boss."
"Make sure of it. But now we have to deal with it. I'll run it by the chief. If Bonnie's willing to swear she saw those documents, it might be enough to get a search warrant but the part about them having been taken from Jeremy, that's heresay and inadmissible in court..." his voice trails off.
"Damon?"
Shaking it off, he blows out a breath in frustration, knowing he'll have to be the bad guy yet again. "We'll get the warrant but I would prefer to ask Miss Gilbert to unlock the safe without having to serve her with it. I suspect you don't want to get your girlfriend in trouble either."
Luka nods, clearly unaware of Damon's hidden sarcasm, he receives a sharp look from Ric though. He returns it with more confidence than he actually feels. "Alright, lets get this over with." He gets up and without looking at either of them again, he heads for Chief Jordan's office.
Elena manages to get a good portion of work done while Sherlock is napping on the couch. Now and then she gives him a look, a smile playing on her lips. He's too cute for his own good. The kitten.
Detective Salvatore is not far from her mind either. Last night, after he took care of her as he promised, giving her the most erotic experience like... ever, he refused to let her do the same for him.
"It was for me just as much as for you, Elena." She loves how he says her name, 'Elena'... "I don't want to keep hurting you all the time. I needed a moment... And tonight was all about you. You decide, when, if you want to do this properly when all of the madness is behind us..."
Then he just kept talking quietly about everything and nothing, the last thing she remembers is him telling her about his baby brother crawling up the steps so he could play with him. With a reminiscent smile on his face, he told her how he encouraged him to finally stand up and walk, then her eyes fell closed and in her final glimmers of consciousness she extended her hand laying it on his to maintain contact.
She doesn't remember the last time she slept without nightmares.
Could it be that Detective Salvatore is the answer?
A knock at the door pulls her out of her daydreams, while Sherlock doesn't even move.
"Come in?"
Enzo, with a dark look appears in the doorway. "The detectives are here, if you're free?"
Why is it not a surprise?
"Stay here," Damon tells Luka and follows Alaric into the office. Once he's inside, he seeks Elena's eyes. She's not trying to avoid his gaze, but he's not able to decipher what she thinks about their unexpected visit either.
"Gentlemen, please sit..." She waits until they do. "I keep wondering when the day going to arrive. You know... the one where you read me my rights and then snap the cuffs on my wrists. What can I do for you today?" Damon bites his lower lip to stop his grimace.
"We're well aware our demands must feel endless to you these days, but we're hoping you would allow us to look at some documentation that you may have in your possession?" Damon certainly sounds calmer than he feels, he's getting better.
"Why?" Just the one-syllable word passes her lips, her face still unreadable.
"Ehm," Ric takes the lead and Elena turns to him politely. "We're hoping that we can find something, anything helpful about the reconstruction or some documents relating from the time your brother was here? We know and appreciate that you've been more than helpful with the schematics and plans for the building foundations and the reconstruction but it's possible that even you could have missed something that could be useful."
"It's just a polite request," Damon quickly continues as he's aware Ric's tone was just a bit too formal and Elena might not respond well.
"In other words you want to search my office with my consent as you have no evidence to come with a search warrant," she states drily. "Enzo's office too? Or others? Or is it just mine?"
"It'd be much easier to do it with your consent, yes," he adds. "But we can obtain a search warrant if you insist." He tries not to waver but she's a formidable opponent.
Elena considers the detectives and the wheels turn in her head. What are they be up to?
"Miss Gilbert?" Alaric interjects, his gaze shifting to her.
Deep in thought, she doesn't acknowledge him. Is there anything in the room they shouldn't see? She thinks of calling Elijah, he wouldn't let them off easy, she shouldn't either... Does she really have a choice though? Eventually she sighs and nods her agreement. "Go ahead. Can I stay or do you insist that I leave?"
"No," Damon says quickly. "You stay, if we do anything you don't agree with, you can stop us."
"Sure I can," her sarcasm is just the tip of the iceberg, he's confident she's boiling inside. Not that he blames her.
They get up to start working but Elena beats them to it, taking the sleepy cat from the couch. Walking to the door, she gently hands him to Enzo. "Sherlock doesn't need to see this."
Damon would gladly crawl under some rock if he just could call this off.
They've been working, going over her office for about an hour now. It would be the most boring afternoon ever if not for that fact that Elena's been flashing daggers at them nearly the entire time. She actually gives him shivers, and not the good ones. Ric slowly moves to the safe on the wall, partially hidden behind some furniture, feeling the moment's now to get to the point of the day's activities without being too obvious that it's why they came here in the first place.
"Is this a safe, Miss Gilbert?" he asks, keeping his back turned to her.
Elena doesn't answer immediately and Damon looks at her. She gives him a glance, realizing she should have answered quicker. "Yes... I have some important contracts, cash and a few pieces of jewelry that I like to have on hand. If I have to attend some unexpected event and don't have the time to run home to shower and primp, I have what I need here, it's for convenience more than anything else."
Ric turns to her questioningly as if it's of no importance. "May we?"
Damon notices her reluctance but she finally moves to unlock it. "It's not even encoded, detective, not during the day." She steps back and looks aside, not bothering to watch what they're doing. Or she may just be hiding what she knows he can read in her eyes?
They both move to carefully inspect the inside, eagerly flicking through the documents. Elena's back is facing them, Damon can see the tension in her shoulders as she's looking out of the window.
He's pretty sure they carefully scanned every piece of paper in the safe, twice actually as they exchanged them during the process but there's nothing, nothing with Jeremy's name on it. Its contents exactly as she said, contracts, some personal correspondence, a small jewelry box, but no mention of the decedent.
But it isn't right, something must be there, it seemed a slam dunk given Elena's hesitation and her pretend indifference.
Finally, admitting defeat, they give up and put everything back into the safe in the same order they pulled it out.
"Thank you, Miss Gilbert, we appreciate your cooperation," he admits sincerely. Damon swears she looks relieved when he metaphorically waves the white flag.
She turns to them and nods. "Is there anything else?"
Something in her tone stops him in his tracks, as they're walking towards the door. It's almost... chipper?
For a millisecond he recognizes a glimpse in her eyes of something that wasn't there just a moment ago.
Triumph.
She knew, or at least had a very good idea of what they came here for, knowing all along that there was nothing to be found in her safe.
She had them pegged the whole time, playing them like a puppeteer pulling the marionette strings.
Never in his life has Damon regretted his decision to become a cop until this day... He always believed in what he does and bringing justice to families who lost a child, a husband, a spouse, partner, friend, it's always been black and white to him and now he's learning there's a gray area too.
Good should always win and evil should always be punished, he's starting to think his world's a fairytale, good and evil can either be glaring or subjective, depending on the crime.
No, he's not going to be able to face her tonight, he can't and he hates that too. He's never been a coward, he's always been a straight shooter and he never wavered in his duties as an officer of the law. But then again, he's never mixed his job with his personal life before either. He's never had any reason to... until her. No wonder Ric's been questioning his sanity and his ability to do his job. Or perhaps he was just ribbing him. Dropping his face in his hands, he blows out a puff of air in frustration. Does he even know up from down anymore?
Instead of being a good example to Luka and telling him that dating a witness isn't really the wisest move, he goes and falls in love with the suspect!
Falls in love?
He takes a deep breath to swallow this hard truth.
Because it is the truth.
He walks to his home bar and pours himself a double bourbon. Old habits die hard and he desperately needs one tonight. Because she's not here to calm his frazzled mind. He settles comfortably on the couch and reaches for his phone, he's not that gutless.
It takes a few minutes and he considers hanging up, certain she's ignoring him. Then he hears the tone cut off, replaced by her sweet voice. She sounds tired...
"Hello?"
"Hey, Elena, I... I just need to..." What does he want to tell her really?
There's silence on Elena's side.
"Elena?"
"Yes Damon?" Her voice doesn't waver. How is it that he feels like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar?
"I just want, no... that's not it, I need to know if you're alright... after today."
"Why wouldn't I be? You were just doing your job... Is that why you're calling?" She sounds almost normal but he can sense she's bottling it all up inside.
"What do you mean? Why would you say that?"
"Because, Damon... I understand now. No matter how much we wish things could be different, they aren't. Cops and nightclub owners, people like me, are sort of natural enemies which puts us on opposite sides of the fence, most if not all of the time. The stolen moments... are just that. Stolen, fleeting, moments. Just when you make me start to believe... something inevitably pops up and you have to be a cop again. You start doubting me and..."
"It's not about doubting you, Elena," he back hands his drink so vigorously that it nearly falls on the floor. "I know you didn't kill your brother but I also know you're not being completely honest with me. You're hiding something important, maybe more than one something. I told you I respect your need for privacy but if you can't help me, I have to look for information wherever the trail may lead. What was it in the safe that you didn't want us to see?" The question is out before he even realizes the words left his mouth.
"There was nothing there, you saw so yourself." Is she laughing at him?
"Sure. But had something been there before?"
"Many things... You'd have to be more specific."
He can feel his temper rising, she's trying to provoke him but he's still well aware she's just as affected as he is. So he takes another deep breath to try to rein in his burgeoning frustration and keep his tone normal. "I don't want to fight, Elena. I was really just worried about you. I can come... if that's what you want?"
"No," the answer is quicker than he expected. "You aren't here now... You, Damon, made the choice to pick up that phone instead of dropping on my doorstep again. That's the answer to both of our questions. This is where we stand."
He'd like to tell her it wasn't his decision to search her office, but he knows it makes no difference. He made her a solemn promise to finish this case. And by God, that's what he's going to do. He won't burden her with anymore details or empty promises, at least not till he's able to live up to them. Still, he doesn't want to leave things the way they are right now in this moment. "Can we at least talk... tomorrow? Dinner?" He's pretty sure it's not a good idea, he can't not try though.
"I can't, I already have plans."
Is she making things up just to be able to turn him down? She seems to know what he's thinking because she continues right away.
"One would think the police department's acquainted with Reno's social events?"
Damon's breath hitches when it dawns on him, "You're going to Mikael Mikaelson's birthday party..."
"I am... I wouldn't dream of skipping it, he's a dear family friend. Besides, Elijah asked me to be his date."
Rationally Damon sort of knows that he doesn't have to worry about that man but it's not outside the realm of probability either. What if Elijah's patience pays off and she comes to realize he's the man she really wants?
"All right then, have fun," his answer is more curt than he intended. He waits for her taken aback 'good night' and ends the call.
He needs to think.
Almost immediately he reaches for his phone again and dials his sister's number.
"Katherine? Do you still keep in touch with Elijah Mikaelson?"
"Yes, he has repeatedly told me to call if I needed anything."
"Do you think you could ask him a favor?"
This has definitely nothing to do with being 'rational'.
Shorter chapter but the remaining ones in the story are all longer. The final 2 chapters are the longest in the story but we're not quite there yet.
Eva and I want to thank you all so very much.
Thank you Eva for bending over backwards and your dedication to be here with me.
Chapter title: 'Show and Tell' by Al Wilson.
I hope you all have a safe and wonderful day. Thank you all again, we'll see you next time..