The air is thick with anticipation as Damon shifts in his seat to face her, he can see how she's struggling internally, flushed cheeks, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead and the way she's knotting her hands. Listening with rapt attention, he's barely able to take a breath as the story of a little girl and her big brother unfolds bringing Elena's memories to life. It could easily be his own story, an unwanted sister that ruined his life. Although with the distance of time, he understands Katherine was just as much of a victim as he was, their parents failing spectacularly at their most important job.
He doesn't interrupt, only giving her silent support when she seems to need it. He observes the haunted look in her eyes when she tells him about her nightmares, always involving water, looking up at her brother through the surface, his cold and impassive face when he just stood there, watching her drown. The pieces fall into place and he realizes how much this seminal event influenced her whole circle of friends and family. For the first time he understands their loyalty and the protective stance they all share, he himself would gladly kill... It hits him like a ton of bricks, his own mind reeling at how close he came to turning dark himself because of what he believed about his own little sister?
He can't tell her now that he figured out most of the story on his own after reading the brief article he found pertaining to her birthday party. Despite having his suspicions confirmed, the details as told by Elena are terrifying nonetheless.
"Say something...," Elena interrupts his train of thought when she finishes her story, at least the part she wanted him to know and can see the distracted look in his eyes.
There's so much on his mind but nothing Elena should hear right now. A myriad of emotions threaten to pull him under, most of all he's incredibly grateful she finally trusted him enough to reveal her secret. Now he wants nothing more than to hide her in his embrace and never let go. There's also frustration, anger, and a flood of energy that threatens to burst... But the only emotion he feels above everything, the one that overshadows them all, is...
"You have no idea how much I love you...," he fiercely pulls her in his arms and if she wasn't returning the embrace with just as much force, he'd probably crush her. She's no fragile flower though and he admires her even more for it. She lets out a sob, allows herself a moment to draw the strength he radiates, then loosens her hold on him so she can look him in the eyes.
"I love you too... I don't know if it's going to be enough when all is said and done but God knows I do."
Damon would grow a pair of wings and fly if it was physically possible at this moment. He studies her face and knows it's not heartlessness or lack of feelings that keeps her tears at bay. At this very second he believes they can make it.
"I'm so, so sorry that...," he starts but she silences him shaking her head 'no'.
"... but you have to be a cop right now and deal with everything. It's alright," she assures him calmly. He wonders where her composure comes from, the profound strength of character is something he admires deeply. "Damon, I told you for a reason, I trust you. It's been over a decade since I last said these things out loud and no matter how good it feels to finally get it off my chest, you have a job to do." She straightens her posture and steels herself for what comes next. "Go ahead, ask."
Damon sighs mentally, unfortunately she's right. He's aware there must be much more to tell to fully grasp the family dynamics and her relationship with Jeremy, she hasn't told him everything, but it will have to wait.
"Elena, you have a complex network of protectors, do you remember which ones were present at your birthday party?"
She shudders, knowing exactly why he's asking this question. But he has to know anyway. "The Mikaelsons, of course. Our families have always been close. Related by a marriage or two."
"Elijah?"
"Yes, he sat nearby, watching us play. He was too cool at that time to play with us kids. But he's a kind person by nature, he looked after us and cheered us on. Rebekah, Nick and Kol played along, Finn was too old and full of himself, I'm not sure if he was with their parents or if he wasn't there at all. It was a long time ago... My childhood friend Mary, Enzo was also present, he was Jeremy's friend and our cousin, Kai..."
The one who did what Jeremy didn't... he saved her life.
"A few other kids with or without their parents, I don't remember every detail but we haven't been in touch for a long time." She watches him processing the information. "Look, Damon. I think you overestimate the meaning of the party. It explains why Jeremy and I... didn't get along. And why the people in my circle as you call it are also my closest friends, family, I'd say. But we were kids, you can't think that it has anything to do with my brother's murder."
Damon shakes his head and gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. "I don't know. I'll be careful. But you of all people should know that being a kid doesn't mean it's any less intense. Any less serious." And sometimes fatal.
He doesn't ask her the one question that has been lurking in the back of his mind since the beginning. Does she have an idea of who might have killed her brother?
"What's going on here?" Kol steps in front of them when they leave their shelter and descend the stairs to return to the main hall. "Weren't you leaving?" he turns to Damon with accusation.
Damon's in no mood to deal with the challenging Mikaelson, not now. He's about to put him in his place when he notices Katherine standing behind him, Kol holding her hand tenderly, he almost forgot they were dancing. Weird. Before he can rephrase a snappy response that's burning in the back of his throat, Elena steps up to defend his honor.
"Kol?" she says firmly, giving him one of her patented looks.
Kol however isn't scared and doesn't back down in the least, his posture is stiff and imposing. Damon shouldn't be surprised, Elena might be the boss at the club but it's obvious that outside of it, there's strict democracy in her circle. "I just want to know what's happening here? He ran off, you go after him, then I see you two slip into a room, a fair amount of time passes before you appear again, looking rather..."
"Kol!" Elena's about to rinse his mouth out to shut him up. "Not that it's any of your business but Damon and I needed to talk. And what he's going to do now is up to him. First of all, he's a guest here and you need to treat him with respect. There's also the fact he's a police officer, he can be anywhere he wants to."
"Oh, thanks for reminder... but you're wrong, he can't go anywhere he wants, but not without a warrant," Kol's flippant tone is back in place, he's clearly in a mood too. "So it's not true that the detective here is close to solving the case, maybe he was on his way to a judge to do just that?" he turns back to Damon.
"Where did you hear?" Damon can hardly suppress his amused tone.
Kol's suspicious look reminds Damon that the head of The Jungle's security has a sharp intellect but considers his surly attitude may just be bluster.
"For a man who's holding his sister's hand you're being rather bold, don't you think?" Elena points out. To Kol's credit he just squeezes Katherine's hand in reassurance but doesn't let go of it. Katherine looks rather embarrassed, surprised how she's suddenly the center of attention.
"You're not going to distract me," Kol points at Elena and Damon's stunned that the two look like they're joking. And then to his shock, Elena actually laughs.
"All right, Kol, you can chill now. Let's allow Detective Salvatore do his work while the rest of us go back to celebrating your father's birthday," Elena suggests.
"Only if he lets me keep her?" Kol lifts Katherine's hand, still firmly in his and gives Damon another challenging look.
"It's up to the lady...," Damon shrugs, although he's not exactly happy with this arrangement. What is Kol up to?
Katherine nods but before they can leave...
"Now, which one of you cares to explain why it looks like a war zone here?"
Just like his esteemed father, Elijah is a commanding presence and everyone in the small group has a different reaction to his arrival. Elena, as usual, feels relieved, to her, Elijah means safety, assurance, reason and security. Katherine trusts this man, he kept his promise to reunite her with her brother. Damon recognizes a familiar rise of annoyance at Elena's attorney, friend, confidant and yes, there's respect too. His younger brother just rolls his eyes.
"Well?" the elder Mikaelson looks from one person to another.
"Nothing's the matter, Elijah," Damon decides to contribute. "Your brother was just demanding answers about my schedule."
"And as usual, I didn't get any," Kol grimaces.
"We might as well have stayed at The Jungle if we were going to have a meeting," Elena hisses seeing they created an island at the foot of the elegant staircase and moves to the nearest exit so they can return to the party shortly. Damon notices her exchanging looks with Elijah, a display of some private conversation. He needs to move on with his case.
"Look," he offers, "you all have been incredibly helpful..."
"That wasn't sarcasm, was it detective?" Kol earns several disapproving looks, including one from Katherine, however Damon continues as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"I'll be on my way." He glances at Elena, he'd gladly let everyone and everything disappear and finish their all too short conversation from earlier. She returns his gaze calmly, so close and yet so far at the same time.
"I don't get it, what is it that can't wait till tomorrow, I thought you came to annoy us or put us on alert, I don't know?" Kol just can't keep his mouth shut.
"I think," he focuses on the younger Mikaelson, "a lot can be accomplished tonight. Where would your other buddies happen to be... Kai? Enzo?"
"Someone had to stay at the club," Elena explains, "they volunteered, as their connection to the family is not as personal."
"Oh," Damon's voice trails off.
"Are you going to pay them a visit?"
Kol would actually make a good officer... if he was less impulsive that is. Damon's in no hurry to answer, letting him come to his own conclusions.
"You are, aren't you? You want to catch them off guard!"
"Kol...," Elijah's warning tone is not enough to stop his brother's crusade.
"You're just going to do the same thing to them that you did here, drop a bombshell or two about how close you are to ending this and all the other bullshit and then wait for their reaction."
Damon's face is unreadable and he turns to leave which is the last straw for Elena's loyal friend.
"You know what, detective? You're too late, I'm one step ahead of you, I already warned them that you were coming," he smiles, clearly proud of himself. He's rather perplexed, when Damon gives him a wink.
"Congratulations brother, Detective Salvatore may just offer you a job as his bloodhound... you played right into his hands," Elijah comments drily.
The evening's not going as smoothly as he expected. First there was an accident in the kitchen, the kid overestimated his strength and dropped the big soup pot, resulting in serious burns on his and another employee's body. Because it's was a work related incident, he had to sit down and file the necessary forms for a workmen's comp claim. The only positive in the whole clusterfuck is that Tyler was still on duty. The man's golden and always manages to put out the fires.
If all that wasn't bad enough, he had to fill in for one of the bartender's who'd been involved in a fender bender on the way to work and had to be taken to the hospital. All of his problems tonight can be traced to the Mikaelson soiree. Unbelievable that one man's birthday can cause so much chaos.
When the guy finally arrived after being given the okay by the emergency room doctor, Kai thought he could finally take a five minute smoke break. But low and behold if Kol doesn't call right in the middle of the whole sordid evening to warn him that Detective Salvatore's about to storm the club and start making arrests. If Kol is correct and he's on his way over, he should take some precautions but what exactly can he do to stop or even slow them down?
What might the good detective know that he picks tonight of all nights to give him a grilling? Does Salvatore really think that he can just waltz right in here and make him spill his guts? If he's naïve enough to believe that then he's got another thing coming. Kai's certainly no pushover.
A fierce knock on the door jerks him out of his thoughts and he feels the annoyance rising. "Come in."
"Oliver has a massive headache, I'm about to send him home. I need someone to help wait tables for at least two hours till the rush subsides, then we should be able to manage the rest of the night..." It's Aidan from the restaurant, he's always forced to make decisions like this when a crisis happens.
"For god's sake can't you use someone from the bar? Trevor?"
"He's not available, Elena sent him and several others to help out at the Mikaelson party. I have no one to call in," Aidan makes a disapproving face.
"Well, what do you want... me to wear an apron, a shining smile and do his job?"
"Of course not," he doesn't look too convincing. "We... we'll manage." He backs off and Kai thinks it's a wise decision, he's losing his patience quickly with such incompetence. He has enough problems without having to worry about one missing waiter.
Namely one nosy cop who refuses to die.
"What do you mean I played into his hands?"
"It means, he wanted to spread the word that he's on the cusp of making an arrest. And you did just that by giving The Jungle a head's up, Kol," Elena rolls her eyes in exasperation.
"Son of a...," Kol curses, hating the lenient look on detective Salvatore's face.
"Put it this way, if you find yourself on the other side of an interrogation table, cooperating with law enforcement will only work in your favor," Damon gives him a tight smile.
"Whatever. I don't appreciate the detective here playing games with us. I'm out of here," he turns away, tugging at Katherine's hand.
"Not so fast, Mr. Mikaelson. Tell me who you called and what exactly you said to that person?"
"Now you're questioning me? Can't we just celebrate father's birthday?" Kol turns to his brother for support.
Elijah looks thoughtful for a moment, then shares a look with Elena before replying. "I think you should answer, Kol. It's clear Mr. Salvatore is determined to close this case despite our father's birthday, besides you're the one who opened Pandora's box."
Must be a thing between the brothers as Kol surrenders without so much as batting an eyelash. "I talked to Kai, told him you're coming, possibly armed with an arrest warrant."
"How did he react?"
Kol laughs shortly. "He chewed me out, telling me he has like a million problems without me and my paranoia adding to it. Called me a drama queen."
"What exactly is happening at The Jungle?!" Elena picks up on the important fact that Kai's stressed.
Elijah shakes his head, "Let's let Kai handle it, he's more than capable."
"You only called Parker?" Damon turns to the younger Mikaelson. "You're absolutely sure?"
"Yeah. I mean no, I called Enzo first but he wasn't picking up."
"Enzo wasn't answering his phone?" Elena asks dubiously.
"Chill, Elena, it's no big deal. I just don't seem to have any luck catching him on the phone lately. As a matter of fact, it's actually not one-sided, he's had trouble reaching me too... Like the night you couldn't get in touch with me... you remember it, it was the night I was being grilled by Detective Salvatore?" Just like you, I had to get back to him later."
A warning bell clinks in the back of Damon's mind. "What did you just say?"
Standing by the window, Enzo stares at the endless expanse of glimmering lights down North Virginia Street, Reno's equivalent of the Vegas strip. Sighing, he steps away, letting the curtain fall closed and walks over to the bar. Pouring himself a pinch of bourbon, he throws it back and then goes back to his desk. Dropping his head into his hands, he closes his eyes for a few seconds and then turns back to his computer screen. He makes use of the extra time to take care of some work, sorting the mail and such. He knows Kai will call if he needs assistance should anything pop up so he's biding his time doing the mundane work of keeping the club afloat.
"Enz? I'm done here but I need to check on the yesterday's delivery."
For some reason Bonnie stayed behind to keep him company or maybe she needed some extra time to catch up as well, perhaps he could also have a word with her. "Can we have a minute?"
Bonnie hesitates a second, then nods and takes a seat at the coffee table. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I would really like to set things right between you and me. I want to believe there's still a chance for us... What did I do, is it just my schedule or is it that I'm not sufficiently understanding or...?" He trails off, not exactly sure what else he needs to repair.
Bonnie has to remind herself she doesn't want this to evolve into a fight. Every time she's confronted with this, Enzo's full of willingness and remorse, but the only thing it accomplishes is making her irritation burn hotter inside of her. How can a grown up man be a slave to a woman who takes him for granted? Yes, they could have had a chance, they could be so much more if it wasn't for Elena Gilbert. But now, it's too late for the two of them. It doesn't even matter to her anymore, she's met someone who could be the one. Yet, the anger's still there.
"Enzo, lets not get into it. I don't think we'll ever agree on how you handle your schedule and perhaps I'm not the right person for you...," she doesn't want to finish, he should take the hint by now.
"So, you're telling me we are through and there's absolutely no chance for us?"
"Enzo, you're a smart man, I thought my intentions were pretty obvious when I moved back to my apartment."
"Yes, but you never actually said the words... You clearly needed space and I wanted to give you that but I also wanted to give you the opportunity to tell me about your other boyfriend. I thought, I was hoping that you wanted me to be jealous."
God, he looks so sad. Like a school boy lost. "Damn it, Enzo, were you? At least you'd know how I felt when you always, always make Elena your top priority. We can have plans, we can be busy, hell, we can be having sex but the moment she calls, I'm second best all over again. You can deny it all you want but it's quite obvious to me that your precious Elena is the only person that matters to you?"
"Bon," Enzo's horrified, "what are you talking about? That's not true! Elena...she's my friend, I'm loyal to her interests, it's my job and yes it's also personal but I'd never..."
Bonnie's like a statue for a long while. She's inclined to believe him. That's what he believes. But she knows better. "This isn't right." She stands up and Enzo jumps at his feet to stop her? Or just keep up with her?
"Bon, tell me what you mean?"
"I don't blame you, Enz, it's not your fault." It's hers. "It's too late for the two of us, but for your sake, you should sever the twisted bond you have with her." Or, I will do it for you.
"You don't understand, it's not... I owe her. And we've been friends since... forever. There's nothing twisted about it," he hisses the last few words, she has no idea what she's talking about.
"Doesn't matter," Bonnie walks around him, already feeling the anger rising again.
She shuts the door.
She's going to put an end to it, even if it's the last thing she ever does at The Jungle.
Damon feels an inexplicable urge to hurry. He quickly pulls out the key and starts the car. He's about to take off when the door yanks open and Elijah invites himself inside.
"I believe it's appropriate that I'm coming with you."
Damon snorts but waits till Elena's attorney settles on the front seat. Without another word he backs out and pulls onto the street.
"You seem on edge, detective...," Elijah starts when Damon seems to be tightlipped. "And no fight to leave me behind?"
Damon thinks a moment about what's Elijah asking. "It may sound strange to you but I have no interest in harming anyone. That's not what I do but I think what I'm about to do may possibly concern your clients and maybe even your family... your presence might be beneficial. For everyone."
Elijah gives it a thought, then nods in acceptance. "Thank you for trusting me, although I'm quite sure it's for Elena. I don't have any interest in throwing a wrench into your investigation either, believe it or not."
"I do," Damon responds quickly without trying to analyze anything. When exactly did he change his opinion about Elijah fucking Mikaelson?
The traffic's heavy, at this rate, they won't arrive at The Jungle anytime soon. His thoughts go back to Elena and the unfortunate birthday party. He could imagine that Jeremy, feeling threatened by the shadow of his sister, no matter how misguided his belief was would let her drown. But why didn't their parents make sure that this unfortunate event wouldn't become a recurring nightmare for Elena?
Their extreme efforts to keep the incident buried ultimately harmed the siblings' relationship for good, they never found the way back to each other. He shivers mentally when he realizes this could have been Katherine and himself. Or would it? Not everything felt right with this picture. Their parents were lousy people, they got rid of him although he didn't do anything wrong. Despite what he knows in his head, there's still this numbing ache in his chest remembering how his small self clung to the naïve belief that his mother would come back for him, maybe even take him away from the father and make everything alright. Where was his little sister during all of that? he doesn't remember. Maybe he wished, hell he knows he did, she'd just disappear...
"You're awfully quiet, detective." Elijah's back to 'detective', "Mr. Salvatore" was just a formality for the Mikaelson birthday gala.
"Elena told me," he blurts out without thinking about it first.
Elijah shakes his head understandingly. "And was it what you expected to hear?"
"Sort of...," Damon admits. "I found a small article in an old newspaper about the accident at the party. I thought something must have gone wrong between the siblings. What I don't understand... their parents made sure Jeremy couldn't touch their legacy, except the small stipend, well not really that small for a guy like me... Why wouldn't they ensure their daughter's nightmares were treated properly?" He asks even though he's certain of the answer.
'The Founders Code of Silence'. They would never allow the world to know that something was very wrong in their ranks.
Elijah waits till everything locks into position in Damon's head.
Well, almost everything.
"Detective, what did Elena tell you about the incident?"
"She described, very vividly I might add, her persisting nightmares. I was mesmerized as she took me back to that day with her. How she slipped and fell into water. The feel of the weeds around her limbs, pulling her down. Jeremy's face staring down at her from above the surface...," he almost feels nauseous thinking about the sheer terror she must have felt on that day all those years ago.
Elijah sighs and looks straight at him.
"Except, it wasn't an accident. Jeremy deliberately pushed her into the water, he wanted her dead."
Eva and I want to thank you all so very much. You're the most incredible group of people. We are truly grateful for all of your support and friendship and the neverending love we all feel for Damon and Elena.
Thank you to my sister Eva. I love you to pieces. Thank you for always going the extra mile to co-write these stories with me.
My husband and I are going to Las Vegas next week for a short getaway. I can't promise but I will try to get the updates in somehow.
Chapter title: 'Alone in a Room' by Asking Alexandria.
Have a safe and wonderful day, thank you all again. Take care and we'll see you next time with SIMM.