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All I Need Chapter 19: Plan B (part 3)

Damon whistles to himself as he rolls Mason's body up in the bloody sheet on the floor, treating it as nothing more than a simple chore that needs to be taken care of.

Truth be told, Damon feels a little guilty; Mason probably didn't deserve to die, even if he was a dick. But it was either that or risk him running back to Katherine with his tail tucked between his legs, and frankly Damon just wasn't willing to take that chance.

The only trouble now is how to make Mason's disappearance less suspicious.

Ordinarily he wouldn't have cared; he'd disposed of more than one dead body over the years, but this was Mason Lockwood, and Carol might just wonder why her brother-in-law was nowhere to be found.

Not to mention the trouble it might cause him; he had gone to great lengths to convince her and the rest of the council that the vampire problem had been taken care of. The last thing he needed was for them to question if that was still the case, and with everything else going on he really didn't feel like leading a fake vampire hunt.

Although...he could always pin the murder on Katherine; no doubt she would have done it anyway, if Damon had let her boy toy live long enough.

He could probably deal with the council though, if they found out that Mason was dead. The real trouble was what to tell Elena.

Obviously Jeremy wouldn't know to keep his big mouth shut, and he couldn't really lie to her even if he wanted to. She would know, and she'd be even angrier with him than if he just admitted to killing Mason in the first place.

But if he told her the truth, she might not be able to handle it.

Elena had expressed such relief when he'd told her earlier that torturing (and killing) Mason might not be necessary; he knew she didn't want him to do it.

In fact, Damon had no doubt that had she been standing in Jeremy's place earlier, she would have pleaded with him not to kill Mason. She'd have insisted he was better than that, and that it wasn't necessary (even though Mason would have killed him if given half a chance).

It was one of the things he loved about her; she saw the good in people even when they didn't have any redeeming qualities.

Case in point, him.

How she'd ever fallen for him, after all he'd done, was still a mystery; and one he didn't care to explore too closely.

If he did, it would reveal one of two things: Elena was either deluding herself into believing he wasn't the monster everyone else (including his own brother) said he was, or she did know he was a monster but was willing to compromise everything she stood for because she happened to be in love with him.

He wasn't sure if he liked either of those two choices, and if he was completely honest with himself-which he tried very hard NOT to do, because the answers always sucked-Things had been so much easier when Elena hated his guts.

True, he had been miserable without her in his life, but it had been easy to be miserable.

Miserable Damon could kill Mason Lockwood without having to answer for it, because Miserable Damon was a soulless monster who killed people for no reason other than the fact that he liked killing people.

He picks up the cell phone lying near the victim and shoots off a quick text.

"Carol" he mutters, typing out the message. "Big opportunity in Florida. I'm gonna be gone for a long time. Will send for my things once I get settled. Much love, Mason... and sent!"

"I see you exercised your usual level of restraint," Stefan deadpans as he enters the room.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Had to be done, and you of all people should know that, Brother."

"Really?" comes a much more irritating voice.

"Blondie!"

Damon had forgotten that Caroline had been staying at the boarding house while he'd been off with Elena the past few days.

"Perfect! Why don't you make yourself useful and help Stefan dispose of the body?"

Caroline looks down at the rolled up carpet in disgust.

"I can't believe you killed him!" she exclaims. "Well, actually I CAN believe it because you're a psychopath and that's what you do, but considering you're obviously with Elena now I thought you would at least try to control yourself!"

"That's amusing coming from you, Blondie, but I suppose I should be thanking you, since your lack of control is the very reason why I am 'with'Elena!"

Stefan, ever the peacemaker, steps between the two vampires before they decide to attack.

"This isn't helping anything," he says.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Ever the white night," he scoffs. "Why are you even here?"

"I live here," Stefan says pointedly.

"I mean, why are you here and not making sure MY girlfriend, YOUR ex, isn't getting herself into trouble?"

He frowns. "Where IS she, anyway? I thought she would be back by now?"

Caroline bites her lip and Stefan looks away, refusing to meet his gaze.

Damon is reminded of all the times Stefan had gotten into trouble growing up. He practically looks like he had just stolen cookies from the kitchen and is now trying to avoid a beating from their father. What had he done?

Damon can smell something in the air, something coppery.

Blood, yes, but not Mason's.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Stefan says hurriedly.

He was fast, but Damon is still faster and he catches him at the door.

"What's the hurry, Brother?"

"No hurry," Stefan tries to sound nonchalant, but he still isn't meeting his eyes. "Just want to wash the well water off me."

Damon's eyes narrow suspiciously. What was that scent? It's familiar...he growls dangerously as he recognizes it.

"I'm going to ask you again," he hisses. "And don't lie. Where is Elena?"

"I took her home," he mumbles.

Damon can definitely hear the guilty tone now.

"Why would you do that when she's safer here?"

"She...she was a little weak after...and she was worried you would be upset, so Caroline and I took her home to rest."

"Weak after WHAT?" Damon demands.

Stefan can barely look at him; it feels like his heart has just been plunged into freezing water.

"You didn't," he's almost pleading, hoping that he's wrong.

"There was vervain in the water, Damon. I had to..."

"The fuck you had to!"

He resists the urge to punch his brother, balling his fists at his sides instead.

"You just couldn't help taking what's mine"

"She was mine first, before you..." Stefan sighs and shakes his head.

"You know what? It's not worth fighting with you about it. You won, okay? She's YOUR girlfriend now, so take it up with her."

Stefan tries again to move past him, but Damon isn't having it.

SLAM!

The wall visibly cracks as Stefan is shoved bodily into it. Damon grips him by the arms, lifting him a few inches off the floor.

"DAMON!" Caroline screams, rushing up to them and trying to pry Damon off Stefan.

"Stay out of this, Blondie," Damon growls.

He narrows his eyes, glaring at Stefan. "WHY?" he demands. "Why did you have to feed off her? Were there no squirrels or bunnies around?"

"Damon," Stefan says calmly, wincing. "I know you're upset…"

"No, Stefan, I'm not upset!" Damon spits. "I'm hurt! Because I thought that you got it. I thought we were going to get past this…and then you…"

"It wasn't like that," Stefan says. "I swear to you, it wasn't. She's yours, Damon. You won."

Damon lets him go, his head still reeling.

"No," he cries in anguish. "No she's not. She still cares about you enough to let you…"

"She doesn't know, Damon," Caroline pipes up. "When she did it…she didn't know."

Damon stares incredulously.

"Didn't know? Really? Is that the best you can come up with? Of course she knew! She had to, because…" he glances at Stefan.

Stefan looks away, and he has a guilty expression.

"Anyway, I can't deal with this right now," Damon mutters. "I have a werewolf to get rid of."

He moves to grab Mason again when a thought occurs to him.

"Last number dialed…" he mutters to himself, picking up Mason's phone again. "Wonder who that could possibly be…"

Stefan's eyes widen in horror.

"No…No, don't provoke her!"

But of course, Damon isn't listening. He needs an outlet for his rage, after all, and taunting Katherine seems like the perfect place for it.

"Mason," Katherine purrs. "You should have been here an hour ago…"

"Wrong boy toy!" Damon taunts her.

Stefan tries to grab the phone, but Damon shoves him off.

"Damon."

Katherine does not sound amused. "For once you've surprised me. I assume Mason's with you?"

"He's right beside me," Damon says cheerfully. "Although his heart's across the room."

Damon can practically hear the steam coming from her ears. Yes, this was exactly what he needed! Pissing off Katherine and derailing her plans is making him feel a little better about this horribly stupid day.

"You shouldn't have," she fumes.

"I've had a very busy day today…" Damon says casually. "Killed a werewolf, found a moonstone…hey, did you know that he hid the moonstone in the bottom of a well filled with vervain? Guess he didn't trust you very much."

Katherine doesn't say a word, but Damon can tell he's getting to her.

"Although he did love you…poor guy. Hey, where are you? Because you know, I can bring him over. Last goodbyes and all that…"

"You have no idea what you've just done," Katherine replies cooly.

"Awww," Damon taunts. "Did I put a kink in your master plan? I'm so sorry."

"Do you honestly believe that I don't have a Plan B? And if that fails a Plan C, and a Plan D and…you know how the alphabet works, don't you?" Katherine replies unfazed.

Shit.

No, Damon hadn't thought of that. His smirk fades.

"Send my love to Stefan," she purrs.

The phone goes dead in his hands.

Damon stares at Stefan, and his brother has a grim expression.

Caroline is the first to break the silence.

"Well, I hope you're happy," she snaps irritably. "Because now Katherine knows about Mason, and she's pissed, and Katherine pissed is never good!"

Damon groans. He's just fucked up, and he has no idea what's going to happen now…

Elena sighs as she makes her way downstairs. She's exhausted from the blood Stefan took from her earlier, but there's something else, too.

Caroline and Stefan had dropped her off an hour ago and Caroline had pulled her aside.

Her words still echoed in her mind.

Don't talk to Damon about what happened yet.

Elena had been confused, but something about the way Caroline said it…she had frowned.

Why wouldn't I tell him?

She had wanted to know, and Caroline had bit her lip.

Look…Damon isn't who I thought you would end up with, but obviously you and he share a special bond so I'm learning to accept it. But trust me…it's better if Stefan and I break it to him first, so he can calm down.

Elena had only been more confused. Why would Damon need to calm down?

Elena had given her blood to Stefan before, and Damon hadn't been upset…so why would this be any different? After all, it wasn't like it was pleasurable or anything to have her ex drinking from her. Even when he'd been her boyfriend...it was just something she had done in the past to heal him.

She supposed maybe Damon might take it the wrong way if she hadn't already proven back in North Carolina how much she loves him. But she has said the words. It's real.

Still, she had heeded Caroline's advice and agreed to go home, rather than run straight to Damon as she had wanted to.

Alaric is downstairs with Jenna. She's on the phone, and she seems engrossed in the call.

Elena walks over to him.

"Where's Jeremy?" she asks as she helps him set the table.

"Oh, he went up to his room," Alaric replies. "Said he wasn't hungry."

Elena glances over at Jenna, who is still on the phone nodding her head. She seems very calm, lucid even. Very un-Jenna-like…

"Who is she talking to?" Elena asks curiously.

Alaric shrugs. "I don't know," he replies. "Everything go okay today?"

"There were a few hiccups," Elena says. "But, yeah."

"Of course. I understand." Jenna walks over, the phone in her hand. She holds it out to Elena, still with that blank look on her face.

"Elena, it's for you," she says.

"Who is it?" Elena asks, curious.

Jenna doesn't say anything. She simply walks away.

Puzzled, Elena puts the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Elena," Katherine's voice purrs on the other end.

Elena's heart stops. She feels a sudden knot in her stomach and her breath catches. Katherine sounds menacingly calm, and that's never a good sign.

Alaric catches her eye, and Elena gives him a worried look before moving away so that Jenna can't hear what's going on.

"Katherine," Elena says quietly.

"Did you enjoy your little rendezvous with Damon yesterday?" she asks casually.

"I will always know, Elena," Katherine adds, answering the question before she could ask how she knew.

"I will always be one step ahead of you. When are you going to figure that out?"

"Why do you even care?" Elena asks, trying to stay calm. "I thought you wanted Stefan. Well, I'm not with him anymore. You should be happy."

"True," Katherine says. "Although…I would much rather have them both. Besides…Damon sort of derailed my plans today, so now I'm paying him back."

Elena swallows hard. "Then why are you…"

"Do you know how easy it was for me to get inside your house?" Katherine continues, as if Elena hadn't said anything at all.

Alaric looks at Elena questioningly. She holds up her hand to tell him wordlessly to hold on for a second.

"To replace Aunt Jenna's vervain perfume…to convince her to stop drinking her special tea?" Katherine taunts.

Elena's heart pounds in her chest. Jenna. No…

"That's right, Elena…Jenna's been my little spy for days now. And…unlike you…Jenna actually listens to me…"

She turns to look at Alaric in alarm, and then she watches as Jenna picks up the knife she was using to prepare dinner earlier, realization hitting her.

"So when I suggested that the world would be a better place if she just…" Katherine's voice sounds far away as the blood pounds in her temples.

Elena screams.

"Jenna, NO!"

Jenna raises the knife high, then stabs it into her stomach.

She crumples to the floor and Alaric rushes to her side, frantically calling her name.

"Well," Katherine says smugly on the other end. "You get the idea."