N: Sorry for the wait guys. I come with a sort-of-longer chapter and hope you'll forgive me. This chapter is a bit of a step in the right direction, but more drama on the way for the next one, so brace yourselves! Oh and this in not beta, all the mistakes are mine and I am sorry for each and every one of them.

Please review! Your words mean a lot to me and thank you for all your amazing comments, they keep me going at times.

Not a bright idea

"Are you insane?" Jeremy exploded. They were in Alaric Saltzman's living room. Elena was seated on the couch, protectively hugging her knees to her chest. "On a second thought, don't answer that."

"Just listen to what she has to say before you start throwing insults at her," Alaric said from the other side of the couch.

"You were in on it?" Jeremy asked and Alaric just nodded. "And you let her go through with this crazy charade?"

"Let wouldn't be the exact term."

"That's why you made me run after the Salvatore family all over the place and stay close to them?"

"I just though…" Alaric passed his hand through his hair letting out a soft sigh. Just then Elena realized just how tired he looked. She wandered if her new found mission had anything to do with that; she guessed it had. "I wanted her to have someone close in case something went wrong and she needed help."

"But there is so much shit that can go wrong," Jeremy almost yelled as she stood up from his chair and started walking around the living room.

"Don't you think I know that? I tried talking her out of it. She is so stubborn –"

"And she is standing right here!" Elena snapped. They were talking about her as if she wasn't there. Elena thought that allowing them to do so for half an hour was more than enough. She wasn't about to sit there and just take all the insults and all the drama they were creating. Yes, what she was doing was not the brightest idea, yes it was dangerous and yes she knew all these things, but she was prepared to assume any risk and fight any battle, because she knew that if anything was to happen to Damon or to Anna she would not be able to live with herself.

"Yes, Jeremy, Ric knew, but he found out just recently. You two should stop trying to change my mind and try to help me instead."

"Does Salvatore suspect anything?"

"No," Elena answered immediately.

"So, let me get this straight. This guy has no clue that the woman he fucking married and the one that's been by his side for the past couple of months are not one and the same?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. "What kind of guy cannot differentiate his wife from another woman?"

"He is not looking for it, I guess. I do look exactly like Katherine now and the two of them had not been intimate in a long time before the accident, so he is not picking on the little things," Elena offered.

"Any new clues on this traitor, or he gave up already?" Alaric asked.

"No such luck. Whoever he is, he is still planning on doing it. I received another note."

"What did it say?" Alaric asked and Elena remembered the white piece of paper with the words: you slept with him, good job! He is hooked, written on it. The idea that someone knew what had happened between her and Damon that night was giving her a nauseous feeling. She wondered if Damon had confessed it to the killer, if he had someone else from the family in or he was just close enough to know it himself. After receiving the note, Elena had not been able to sleep properly for days.

"Basically the same thing."

"Still typed, nothing hand written?" he asked and Elena nodded to let him know that the note had been typed in the same way the first one had been.

"Did you bring the tapes Jer?" she asked turning to face the young man who was just carefully listening to their conversation, trying to make sense of it.

"Yeah," Jeremy pulled out a few tapes from a way-too-big plastic bag and handed them to her.

After putting the first tape in the VCR, Elena took her seat back on the couch. "Jer, do you see that man in the yellow sweater?"

"White hair, sort of detached? Yeah, what about him?"

"He was everywhere. In every city we were in, he was there."

"A big Salvatore fan?" Jeremy asked.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, he never approached us and he is not one of the volunteers. I have been at the headquarters almost every day since we got back, looking for him. He was definitely not there."

"Well, that doesn't make him a killer either, Elena."

When they finally finished watching all the tapes, they were all sure that something was going on with the man Elena spotted.

"He is lurking," Elena murmured to Alaric.

"I don't know about 'lurking' but he does seem awfully observant of Damon, but still it's like he doesn't want to be seen."

"He is not the only one who can't seem to keep his eyes off Mr. Salvatore," Jeremy commented, his eyes going straight to Elena. She returned the look, letting Jeremy know, with no words, that they will not be talking about it.

"Does he seem familiar to any of you?" she asked. "Maybe he is just a reporter playing the role of the undercover detective."

"Never seen him before in my life," Alaric said. "But I'll ask around, do a check up on him see if he is part of any network I am in contact with. If he ever worked in the filled, it will turn out sooner or later. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."

"Thank you Ric," Elena grabbed her purse as she stood up. "I have to get home, it's late. I will see you soon, ok?"

"Take care of yourself, Elena."

"I will."

"From the informations I have, you might be going away again in a week or two. I will send Jeremy with you."

"I really appreciate it," Elena said smiling warmly at Alaric.

***Lucky 13***

"This is becoming a thing now," Damon said even before Elena got the time to take off her jacket. She turned around and saw Damon standing in the doorway. Judging by the look on his face, he was mad. The thing was that, Elena knew she did nothing wrong, but she also understood Damon's point of view. Considering the fact that he was a cheated husband, she knew that his reaction was normal and she had reason to suspect the worst. A part of her still wished he would trust her and she couldn't help but feel a little hurt every time he would point a finger at her.

"What is?" Elena asked. She knew she was playing dumb, but it was the only way she could think of to handle the situation.

"You coming home at these hours and me waiting for you, pacing the room, wondering where you are," he explained. By the time he finished the sentence, he was a few steps away from her. "Where have you been?" he asked and Elena had suddenly found all sorts of things to rearrange in her closet, trying to put as much space as possible between Damon and her.

"I told you I am going to change my phone. You were the one insisting I get one of these new things," she said pointing at the new android she got.

"And it took you five fucking hours to do that?" he snapped.

Elena slipped beside him and snuck into Anna's bedroom to kiss her good night. Plus, the child's room was always a neutral territory. She knew he would never raise his voice at her in Anna's room.

"She had another nightmare. We heard her screams from the study. We were in the middle of a meeting."

"Oh," Elena kneeled by the edge of the bed, smoothing the sleeping girl's hair. "Did she remember anything?" she asked and Damon started shaking his head.

"No, her own screams woke her up."

"Poor baby, I should've been here."

"Yes, you should've."

"I am sorry, Damon. I just…I lost track of time talking to the sales man, I didn't realize it was this late. By the time I was done, I was starving; I stopped for a salad and then came straight home."

"Why did you eat out, we have food in the house Katherine."

"I know that. I haven't been eating since breakfast and I had to take my pills."

"Do they still make you shaky?" he asked. The concern in his voice let Elena know that it was now safe for her to get out of the room so she did. She closed the door behind them with as little noise as possible and made her way back to her room. She didn't realize how close Damon had followed behind until she turned around and practically bumped into him.

"No, the new ones don't make me shaky," she asked just as a shiver went through her.

"You are shaking," he observed.

"It's not because of the pills," she whispered. It was him. His scent and his presence, so close to her that she could feel his body heat made her tremble. Just being so close to him had that sort of effect on her. Everything about him consumed her and no matter how many times it happened, she couldn't get used to his touch, her body was just automatically responding to his.

Damon took a deep breath, inhaling her perfume. He adored the way she smelled. Everything about her fascinated him even since the accident and Damon thought he might just go insane because of it. He wanted to just lock her in a room for a few months and just explore everything that changed since she came back from the most traumatic experience of both their lives. Her skin felt different, her scent, her voice…every little detail would take him days to fully explore and experience. Most of all, he just wanted to let his guard down and lose himself in her, but after everything she had put him through, he found it still too difficult to just forgive and forget. There was still a tiny part of him that couldn't trust her. Any moment he was expecting her act to come to an end and go back to the way she was before the accident. Just the thought of it was enough to make his skin burn, his hair go up on his arms and his heart ache in his chest. Damon was sure of one thing: if he allowed himself to let all his walls down again and love her again he wouldn't survive another character swap.

He took a step back, doing his best to resist the urge to just take her in his arms, grateful that she was back. Like a loyal dog, he was just glad to have her back safe and sound because only he knew how many time he expected her to go and simply never return. Yeah, he was pathetic that way and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it but pretend she didn't affect him as much as she did.

"I have a meeting to get back to; the two guys we hired are here. We are talking about a new strategy, there might be a new tour in a week or so," he said. Elena already knew about the new tour, Alaric warned her about it.

"For how long?" she asked.

"A week, two tops."

"I thought you didn't like those guys."

"I don't, but they come highly recommended and Elijah and Stefan trust them."

"Shouldn't you be the ne deciding this?"

"Elijah is my campaign manager, Kat. I trust his judgment."

"Ok, as long as this is your decision."

"Good night, Kat."

Before Damon got the change to leave the room, Elena called after him, "Damon, wait." He slowly turned around, waiting for her to say what she had to say. "I didn't do anything… I mean, I wouldn't… not anymore. I just need you to believe me."

"I believe you," his voice was nothing more than a soft whisper, but Elena heard him and those simple words made her happy. She smiled at him and he smiled back than turned on his heels and left Elena alone.

At least he believed her, that was a start.