A/N - Thanks for all the reviews! I really like this chapter and I hope you do, too. Thanks as always to my beta Traciaknows for her patience and knowledge.

It was inevitable.

Damon didn't know how or why he found himself drifting towards Katherine on a daily basis, but he did. He tried to fight it at first. After all these years, after all the lies and the betrayal, he really tried to fight it. But a part of him pitied her, all cooped up in Klaus' apartment with nothing to entertain her. She ran from the guy for hundreds of years; seducing and/or eating anyone who got in her way, and now she was stuck at his place until he got bored of leading Elijah around the world and returned to Mystic Falls.

Damon's first visit to Katherine was a few days after Stefan and Elena had escaped to France. He'd been so consumed with missing Elena and everything Elena that he forgot about Katherine. That was odd for him; even though she broke his heart after he spent so many decades trying to find her, he still thought about her often. She was, after all, Katherine.

When he finally found his way over to Klaus' abandoned apartment, he found Katherine staring blankly into space.

"You look beautiful," he said, sitting next to her on the sofa. She did not look beautiful. She looked like death, actually.

"I'm hungry," she said softly.

"Yes, I gathered that," Damon said, feeling a strange pang of empathy. "I didn't bring any young males for you to feast on, but here's this." He handed her a blood bag, which she took without even looking at him. The sound of her slurping up blood was not particularly
attractive to him.

When she was finished, she threw the bag on the floor, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said, "Thank you, Damon. That was surprisingly...kind of you."

"And there's more where that came from," he said. "I put some in the refrigerator for you. How rude of Klaus to leave you without any food."

"Isn't it?" She said, looking bored already. "Where's Stefan? He hasn't visited for days. God, I wouldn't even mind seeing Elena if it meant Stefan would just get his ass over here for once."

"Awkward..." Damon said. Katherine glanced at him curiously. "I thought he told you before he left, but I guess not."

"Tell me what? Damon, where the hell is he?"

Damon sighed for dramatic effect. He cherished the moments when he had more information than she did.

"He and Elena went on a little adventure together. He saddled the white horse and took her away."

"Where. The. Hell. Did. They. Go?"

"Ooh, are we getting angry? I'll give you three guesses. A hint: let's just say...they're going to be eating a lot of cheese."

Katherine considered this for a moment. As recognition dawned on her, Damon thought he could actually feel her getting angrier by the second.

"France. That son of a bitch took her to France? He took her to see Gabriel? He's with the Vlachs right now?"

"Gee, and I thought you wouldn't guess. My next hint would have been 'rhymes with pants'."

Katherine shook her head. "I can't believe it. That was our place, Damon. Our place. I used to tell him about it in the middle of the night when he'd wake up freaking out about our future together. It would calm him down; give him peace. We were supposed to live there together one day. And that bastard took her. And-wait, 'pants' doesn't rhyme with 'France'. You're an idiot."

"Well, he took her there so she could take a break from all the death around here. Remember when you sent Jenna directly to Klaus? Yeah."

"Remember when you fed her your blood and then her father had to kill himself just so she wouldn't turn into a vampire? Yeah."

Damon sighed. He'd be paying for that one for a while.

"She's alive, isn't she? If I hadn't done that, John would still be alive and Elena would be dead."

"Well...whatever. I can't believe he took her to Rennes. What is she even going to do there?
They won't take her Ms. Goody Two Shoes crap there, Damon. She's going to have to find a way to fit in."

"I know." Damon knew. He'd been thinking about it nonstop ever since Elena left. He hoped she was okay. That she was protecting herself. That Stefan wasn't getting the two of them involved in something dangerous and/or stupid.

Damon left Klaus' place soon after but he found himself returning on nearly a daily basis. He and Katherine were brought together by similar feelings of boredom, frustration and anger. Plus, he didn't really have anything else to do. Sure, he was on Klaus watch, but he thought, what better place to be than Klaus' place? He figured he was killing two birds with one stone. Also on his list of things to do was to have a little chat with Liz, but now that she knew Caroline was a vampire, she was a little busy coming to terms with that at the moment. Liz could be put on the back burner. Klaus could not.

The air around Damon and Katherine whenever they were together was intense with sexual tension, as things tended to be whenever she was...anywhere. She didn't help matters by prancing around the apartment in her underwear. Damon did his best to ignore this show she was putting on for him-not that it was easy. She looked like Elena. And he missed Elena. He wanted to know what Elena looked like in her underwear. And he was pretty sure that if he was placed in the same room with Elena at this point, he wouldn't be able to stop kissing her, even if Stefan was staring right at them. So if he was tempted to play with Katherine out of boredom; what (or who) would it hurt, really?

"Come on, Damon, I'm bored!" She whispered in his ear. On this particular afternoon, they were playing Go Fish with a deck of cards Damon found in a kitchen drawer. Of course, neither of them cared about the game that much, but at least it was a way to pass the time.

"I'm bored, too, Katherine," Damon whispered. "But get off me before I shove your tongue so far down your throat you'll be pissing spit."

Katherine actually had the decency to look hurt. "Well, that's not very nice."

"Neither of use are 'nice', Katherine," Damon said. "'Nice' is reserved for people like Elena. Not evil, blood-sucking vampires."

"I know you, Damon. I know why you're here," Katherine said, licking his ear, trying to unzip his pants. "I know you miss her; I know she broke your heart. And I know I'm not her...but you could pretend I am. I can be pure like she is. I can be sweet. Just let me, Damon. Just let me be her for you." He almost let her. Maybe if he trusted her in the slightest; maybe if he thought she even felt a shred of anything for him, he would have let her seduce him. But he wasn't so sad and desperate that he forgot who she was and what she was about. So he shoved her off him as nicely as possible.

"Katherine...let's call a spade a spade. I'm not Stefan. You're not Elena. It's okay to miss him. It's okay to feel vulnerable. I know you're not used to it, but it's okay."

Katherine frowned. He knew what was coming. She was going to deny everything and try to get into his head and turn the situation back on him until he was so confused that he questioned even coming to see her at all. But in that moment, she was vulnerable. She couldn't comprehend Stefan leaving without telling her. Damon's instinct was always to be weary of Katherine, but at that moment, he just felt sorry for her.

In one of the rare moments that Damon was actually home, Bonnie came by for an impromptu visit. He opened the door and actually smiled when he saw her scowling, angry face. She was a pain in the ass but he had a fondness for her anyway. She was always useful in a pinch. And he had some questions that only she could answer.

"Bonnie, hello, always nice to see you. Where's your shadow today?"

"Asleep," she said. "I may have...made him that way."

"Wow, remind me to never date a witch. What can I do for you?"

Bonnie pulled a journal out of her purse. It looked like yet another grimoire.

"I've been reading these just to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time we went through them. I found something you're going to want to see."

"Just tell me, Bonnie, I don't feel like reading all this ancient crap today."

"I know how to kill Klaus." Bonnie said, staring at him with her fierce brown eyes.

"Well...now you have my attention," he said, intrigued.

"Basically Elena has to do it. With her bare hands, actually. During a full moon-while he's in transition from vampire to werewolf, just like last time. She has to snap his neck and then stake him."

"How is that possible? Klaus still thinks Elena is dead."

"Can't you see? That's why it's the perfect plan. If, and I guess that's a big If, Klaus returns toMystic Falls, you have to find a way to get him to France. You won't believe this, but apparently he and Elijah are from the Vlach Clan of vampires. Elena emailed me all about them. Gabriel and Olivia are their leaders or something, but Klaus is the oldest surviving member of the clan. So it says here that the doppelganger, if they somehow survived the first sacrifice, has to snap the neck of the hybrid while he's in transition during a full moon. I know it all sounds so perfect, but I have a reason to believe that everything that's happened so far has all been leading up to this. The stars have aligned just so Elena can kill Klaus. And once Klaus dies...every member of the Vlach Clan ceases to exist as vampires. They don't die. They just become human again. And that clan? Well, they've done some pretty messed up, evil stuff over the years. If they all become human, it's like nature's way of restoring peace with the universe." Bonnie exhaled.

"Okay, okay. That is amazing how it all fits together like that." His mind was moving at a hundred miles per second and he wasn't sure how to process it all. What he really wanted to do was take the first flight to Rennes, scoop Elena up and take her some place far, far away where there were no vampires or werewolves or any combination thereof.

"And what about the other thing I asked you to check on?"

"Oh, I found that info, too. For a vampire...to become human, they have to drink human blood and then be staked. A witch would then have to bring them back to life, but there's only like a twenty percent chance that it'll work. And, Damon, I keep finding conflicting information about what happens after. Some people heard voices for the rest of their lives. Some people came down with terrible diseases within days of becoming human. But almost all the vampires who became human never lived past the age of 50. So it's a huge risk."

Damon nodded. He expected to hear something to that effect. It didn't change his mind about what he wanted, though. He was pretty sure nothing would at this point.

"Thank you, Bonnie. You did good."

Bonnie gave him a concerned smile. "Are you thinking about..."

"I'm not sure what I'm thinking yet. I'll let you know."

"Okay. Okay, do let me know. I'll be there for you when you need me."

"You always are."

It happened sooner than Damon thought it would. He was getting nervous about Klaus' return, and if, in fact, he would ever return. But if Bonnie was right and everything was leading up to the moment of Klaus' death, Damon was pretty sure somehow everything would work out the way it should. The only thing he forgot to take into consideration was Katherine messing up the entire operation.

It was the third week Damon had been gravitating toward Katherine. They had just shared a gigantic, rare cheeseburger and were tired and bloated. Katherine wanted to reminisce about the good old days and Damon just wanted to close his eyes for a second and let the cheeseburger coma take him into the darkness.

"You and Stefan were such handsome young things back in the 1800s," Katherine was babbling on. "Mmm, such delicious young specimens. It's too bad we didn't have more time together."

"You mean before you turned us both into vampires, or before you made us believe you died in that fire?" Damon muttered. Katherine ignored him.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could go back to any time we wanted and just observe," she asked, ignoring him. "I met a guy once who claimed to have a time machine. If I could just find him-"

The door was opening. Katherine stopped chattering and Damon's head snapped up in attention. What was happening?

Klaus and Elijah, both looking weary and tired and annoyed, made their grand reappearance. Neither of them were surprised to see Damon. They probably expected him.

"Katerina, what a sight for sore eyes," Klaus said. "Come give daddy a kiss."

Katherine obediently rose from the sofa and gave Klaus a kiss on the cheek. "It's nice to see you. Where have you been?" She turned to Elijah and offered her hand, and he kissed it formally. Old habits died hard.

"Out and about," Klaus said. "Elijah and I have been participating in some brotherly bonding. Speaking of which, Damon, where is your brother? I have some business I'd like to discuss with him."

"My brother is in France," Damon said. "Rennes, to be exact."

Klaus stared at Damon in disbelief.

"You're kidding? Well, I guess your little brother decided to embrace his inner dark side after he lost his doppelganger love. That's fascinating. Now get out, please. I have something to discuss with Katerina."

Damon thought about saying no, but figured Klaus wasn't in the mood for witty banter. Elijah escorted him out and shut the door in his face. Damon lingered for a moment, thinking it would be in his best interests to listen.

The door opened again and Elijah stepped out. "Good-bye, Damon," he said, and waved.

Damon laughed. "You're lucky I haven't killed you already," he said. "Stefan and I have been thinking hard over the past couple of weeks about ways to kill you and your brother. The most painful ways."

Elijah didn't seem too concerned. "That's nice, Damon, but if you figured it out, I'm sure I'd be rotting away peacefully somewhere by now. I have to get back to my brother now, so run along. I'm sure Katherine will update you on all the relevant details later."

As Damon reluctantly left Klaus' place, it occurred to him that Katherine could spoil everything with just a few words. She could tell Klaus that Elena was still alive. And it would all be over. He was sure Klaus had minions in Rennes, and practically with the wave of his hand, he could have any number of terrible things happen to her. But when Katherine called him a few hours later, he found out she proved him wrong for once.

"Klaus wants me to go to France. He didn't mention not taking you, so you're free to join me. I know you have a vested interest in the company there."

"Why does he want you to go to France? And why aren't you there yet? I figured you'd find the first available plane, boat, truck, time machine…"

"He has to make the appropriate plans first. I leave in two days. And he will join us during the next full moon. He…he wants me to, well, talk to Stefan. About some things. You know I can't tell you the exact reasons. But let me assure you, you and I? We both have the same goal."

Damon hesitated to ask this question. He knew Katherine well, and was afraid of how she'd answer. But he needed to know. So he asked her why she didn't tell Klaus about Elena. She had every opportunity to do so, and yet she didn't.

"What would I have gotten out of it?" Katherine said. "Nothing would benefit me from telling Klaus that information."

"You hate Elena. And you love drama. And you know if he knew Elena was alive, he'd stop at nothing to have her killed as soon as possible. And then you'd have nothing in the way of finally being with your white knight Stefan."

Katherine sighed. "There you go trying to make me into someone who cares again, Damon. Don't look for hidden meaning or signs that I'm really a nice girl hidden underneath a tough shell. I did it because I wanted out of there, and I wanted Stefan. Don't tell me you wouldn't
do the same thing for Elena."

He thought about that as they took the journey to France. He thought about what exactly he'd do for Elena when it really came down to it. And Damon decided he couldn't think of a single thing he wouldn't do. It was unsettling, but it made him feel more alive than ever. Soon he would be in France. Soon, he'd be with her again.