Friendly disclaimer: Nope - still don't own Vampire Diaries. It would be awesome if I did, but that's not the case. This is written for entertainment purposes only.

I need to put a short note in here to explain my views on vampire blood's healing properties. Some times, the results are instant. However, as we saw in Caroline's healing in "The Return," it doesn't always work quite that quickly. (Otherwise, she wouldn't have still been sore when Bonnie hugged her too tightly.) The more serious the injury - the longer it takes to heal...even when someone has a little extra help. Just my point of view, but it'll make the chapter easier to understand.

-N.E.P.

Damon slowly pushed himself up until he was leaning against the stone wall. Everything hurt. It had been a long time since he'd felt this badly - definitely not in his vampire life. He probably hadn't been this sore since he was 10, and he'd fallen off Chester but his foot had gotten tangled in the saddle. The horse dragged him the whole length of the pasture until his foot finally slid from his boot. He rubbed his face and neck trying to remember exactly where he was and how he'd gotten into this situation.

Why was it so dark? He looked at the candles flickering in their sconces along the walls. The ones still lit had burned down to nubs. He thought he remembered the candles being much longer when he'd come into this room. He'd been here for a long time.

But why was he here?

Slowly, the room came into focus. Stefan was lying in a heap across the room from him.

Damon started to remember.

Katherine.

A feeling of dread in his stomach, he turned to look at Elena. If he had a heartbeat, the sight before him would have made it stop. He crawled across the ground until he was at her side.

What he saw made his stomach turn. He'd seen a lot in his lifetime...he'd caused most of it, but nothing had affected him like this before. Her normally olive skin had faded to a pale white - marred by the purple echoes Frank's fist had left behind. Her long brown hair fanned into a pool of blood coming from the savage wound at her throat.

"Elena, no..." He begged. He reached out and stroked her cheek.

She flinched and gave a soft moan. That subtle movement and hint of a sound made him forget his pain. She was still here. He carefully scooped her into his arms - not sure exactly what might be broken - and turned back to face Stefan. "I'll be back for you." His brother's diet had improved in recent days, but he still wasn't strong enough.

He knew what Elena needed, but he wasn't willing to do it here - not without knowing if Katherine was still around. He'd been forced to be an unwilling participant in turning Caroline...he wouldn't take the risk with Elena. He'd once joked with Stefan about having a vampire girlfriend, however he wanted to do everything he could to ensure Elena's heart kept beating.

Dawn was breaking over the trees as Damon carefully placed Elena on the floor of the bathroom. Her bathroom. She hadn't wanted to sleep in Stefan's room while he was in dungeon detox, so she'd claimed the guest room farthest from Stefan's room as her own. Her bottles of shampoo and bath gel still sat perched on the edge of the marble bathtub.

Damon knew she had a broken collarbone among her injuries, but she was also so cold. And, if Caroline was going to come into the room, he had to get the blood out of Elena's hair. He started the water running before he turned his attention back to Elena.

He'd listened as her heartbeat had grown weaker as they'd made their way through the woods. He wasn't willing to wait any longer. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and leaned her up against his chest before tore open his wrist and held it to Elena's lips. "Come on, you can do it." He waited for her to swallow. Instead, she coughed and sputtered. "No choking."

One swallow...followed quickly by another. Then, she started to gag.

"You really do like to make these things difficult." He pulled his arm away as she took a final swallow. He lowered her back to the floor as he reached down to pull her shoes off.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Caroline stood wide-eyed in the doorway. She took a step closer to the bathroom.

"Trying to save Elena's life. Whoa!" He held his hand up. "Not one step closer. There's too much blood in here for you." Even he had to fight for control, Caroline wouldn't stand a chance, and he was in no mood to fight with her. Not right now. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Caroline wasn't backing down. "You can stand there and watch. Trust me." He peeled her jeans down and was surprised to feel a lump in her pocket. "Never too far from your phone." He pulled it out and tossed it to Caroline. "Call Bonnie. I need a favor."

He gently tugged one arm from the sleeve of her formerly pink sweater, now stained a deep crimson, and then the other - careful to keep her camisole firmly in place. He didn't want Caroline to have an excuse to come thundering into the room. As he pulled the sweater over her head, he smiled to himself as he noticed the wounds on her neck were mostly healed.

He lowered her into the water and flinched as it took on a light pink shade. "Do you have Bonnie on the phone yet?" He poured shampoo into her hair and washed and rinsed it twice until the foam had no trace of pink.

"Its ringing."

"Toss me that towel." He thought Elena would have woken up by now. Of course, looking at her current state of undress, it was probably better that she hadn't. He lifted her from the bathtub and wrapped her in a fluffy white towel as Caroline handed him the phone.

"Elena?" Damon could hear the panic in Bonnie's voice.

"Sorry. This is just her phone. Wait!" Damon made sure Bonnie was still on the line. "I need a favor. Very long story. No time to explain. I have Elena, but I had to leave Stefan behind. He's really in no shape to be there alone. I need you to go to the tomb and do some kind of witchy-ju-ju to wake him up and get him back home."

Bonnie hesitated for a moment. "I'll bring him as soon as I can." Damon was prepared for an argument. He wasn't prepared for her to agree so quickly. He tossed the phone onto the bed and called out to Caroline. "I think some of Elena's things are still in the dresser. Can I trust you to take it from here?"

He left Caroline alone with Elena as he walked into the hall. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his own phone and dialed Alaric's number. He wasn't surprised when the teacher answered on the first ring. "Alaric, how's Jenna?"

Stefan twirled the ring on Elena's left index finger as he held her hands in his. His attention was fixed on every rise and fall of her chest. The midmorning light was streaming in through the window.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Jeremy voiced thoughts Stefan was afraid to ask.

"Katherine must have come closer to draining her than we thought." Stefan's voice sounded as if he'd been gargling with gravel.

"But you told me the blood can heal someone."

"Sometimes it takes a little longer than others." Damon leaned in the doorframe. "It took Caroline almost the whole night to wake up."

The room lapsed back into silence. Damon finally couldn't stand there waiting any longer and left to go downstairs. He needed a drink...quite possibly two... Who was he kidding? After today, he'd be lucky to have anything left in the bottle after he was finished.

"Mmmmpphh." Elena winced and reached up to rub her forehead.

"Elena." Stefan let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he reached up to stroke her hair. "Elena?"

Elena's eyes opened slowly. "How'd I get here?" She tried to push herself up to a seated position, but quickly decided that wasn't the best idea. "Ouch."

"Jeremy," Stefan turned to face Elena's brother, "can you go downstairs and get some aspirin? There's a bottle above the coffee pot in the kitchen."

Jeremy looked suspicious, but he complied with Stefan's request.

"Elena." Tears welled in Stefan's eyes as he held her hand to his lips. His lower lip shook as he took a deep breath. "I was so worried."

Elena squinted at the unfamiliar ring on her index finger. "What's that?"

"Its why I wasn't at school yesterday. Bonnie was helping me with it. Look closer."

She held her hand closer to her face. The ring was beautiful - silver filigree edging a deep black stone - a tiny Gilbert crest in the center. "This is like Jeremy's ring."

Stefan nodded. "Bonnie spelled it for you." He shook his head. "I was so worried about what Katherine could do to you, and I was almost too late. If I'd been with you, I would have heard her on the phone. You would have never been in danger. I should have..."

"Stop." Elena held a finger to his lips. The night's events were beginning to come back to her. "How's Jenna?"

"She's fine Elena." Jeremy stood in the doorway with a bottle of pain killer and a glass of water. "Alaric's with her."

"I'll let you two talk." Stefan slipped out the door and left his seat for Jeremy.

"She's really alright?" Tears spilled down Elena's cheeks. "Last night, I thought..." She couldn't bring herself to voice what she thought.

"Jenna's just fine. Someone apparently mugged her when she was walking to her car at the college. At least, that's what Alaric told her. She doesn't remember anything, so it really doesn't matter. She has a really bad concussion, but she's going to be ok. They just kept her at the hospital overnight. Alaric's driving her home even as we speak. Here." He awkwardly adjusted the pillows in an attempt to help her sit up. "Take these." He poured two pills into her hand then gave her the glass of water.

"I've only had a headache like this once before." She swallowed the pills while he stared at her in concern.

"Damon gave you his blood." He had to smile at the look of shock on Elena's face. "You're the one we were worried about. You almost died."

"What are you doing down here?" Damon looked at Stefan in surprise. "You should be up there." He gestured with his empty glass.

"No." Stefan shook his head. "I don't have the right to be in her room."

"What are you talking about?"

"After what I did - or didn't do." His face wrinkled in shame.

Damon hadn't wanted to bring this up - not now - not while all their emotions were still so close to the surface; but since Stefan started the conversation, he needed to know. "Why did you hesitate?"

Stefan took hold of the mantle over the fireplace as he stared into the flames. "I wanted to kill her. I meant to. But when I looked at her and our eyes met." He looked over his shoulder at his brother. "I saw Elena. I was looking into Elena's eyes, and it was like I was killing her. I don't understand it, but that's what happened."

"Katherine is a lying, manipulative bitch. She's very good at playing her game. She knew what she was doing tonight, Stefan. She did everything to make sure you wouldn't be able to kill her - the dress, the hair, she was even wearing Elena's perfume." Damon walked to Stefan and took hold of his shoulder. "Why aren't you telling Elena this?"

"Because I don't deserve her forgiveness."

So we were back to that Stefan. "Well, I don't think we should leave her up there with Jeremy. Are you going back up?"

Stefan simply shook his head.

"Ok, then." Damon hesitated as he walked by the liquor bottles and poured a fresh glass before walking up the stairs. He stopped outside the room and watched for a moment as Jeremy finished talking with Elena. "Here." He held the glass out to Jeremy. "Go knock yourself out."

Jeremy took the hint...and the alcohol.

"Did you just give my brother bourbon?"

Damon shook his head. "Scotch. I really thought you'd be better at telling them apart. You do live with Jenna."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Elena." Damon spun the chair around and straddled the chair back. "Your brother spent half the night in the emergency room with Alaric. Then, he's been in this room for the past two hours watching Stefan watch you breathe. I say he's deserved the right to get wasted."

Elena nodded to concede the point. "Where did Stefan go?"

"He's downstairs. Feeling guilty."

"I need to talk to him." Elena swung her feet over the side of the bed and tried to stand up - until the room decided to tilt on its side.

"Not so fast." Damon caught her by the arm and guided her back on the bed. "Give him a few minutes. You know how much he enjoys brooding on occasion." He noticed her hands were shaking as she worried the blanket under her fingers, so he reached out and took her hands in his. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

Elena's voice was so soft Damon had to struggle to hear it. "I remember everything." She suddenly looked much younger than her 18 years. Damon wanted to wrap his arms around her, but that wasn't them - at least not yet. But there was someone who could comfort her...someone she needed right now.

Damon looked at the young woman and did his "eye thing," as Elena liked to call it. "No matter what you remember happening down there, you need to know that my brother loves you. For 150 years, I watched as he simply existed...until he met you. You brought him to back to life." He bent closer to her ear and whispered, "Just like you did for me."

"Sweetheart," he cupped her chin in his hand, "I promise this will be the only time I'll ever do this."

She looked up at him in wide-eyed confusion as he bent lower over her face.

He looked steadily into her eyes and she couldn't look away. "In just a minute, Stefan will come in the room. He's going to tell you he's sorry for what he didn't do; and you're going to listen to him, but this isn't the time for a long drawn out conversation - not today."

"Then, when he's finished talking, you're going to wrap your arms around him, bury your head in his chest, and you're going to go to sleep without any nightmares about what happened while we weren't there to keep you safe." His voice threatened to crack as he spoke the last few words.

"Do you understand?" His piercing blue eyes still stared into her chocolate brown eyes. When she nodded, he brushed her hair back from her face and lightly placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll go get Stefan for you."

Stefan stepped to the side of the bed as he finally broke down in tears. "Elena, I'm so sorry." He saw her trembling shoulders and slid onto the bed next to her. "Last night, I should have killed Katherine when I had the chance. But, I looked into her eyes, and I saw you. I could never hurt you, and I just froze. I can never forgive myself for what almost happened because of my mistake."

Elena looked up at him and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Stefan..." That was as far as she got. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his chest.

He embraced her with one arm as he and stroked her hair with the other. He slid under the covers next to her, stroked her cheek, he kissed the top of her head. "You can go back to sleep. I've got you, and I'm not going anywhere."

Author's note: Thanks for hanging with me till the end of this story. I told all my TVD friends - whether you are SE, DE, or Team Brother (like me) - that you could trust me. I hope y'all are all satisfied with the ending of this story. At this point, Stefan needs Elena as much as she needs him. For now, Damon's just happy to have his friendship with Elena repaired. Where they go from here...only time will tell.

My next journey into the TVD world is tentatively entitled "Bittersweet." I'm taking everyone 6 years into the future. I can't promise daily updates. I really need to get back to Cassie/Tanner/Grayson (whose story is being edited) and Julia/Christian (whose story is outlined but not yet written).

Thanks for the support and lovely reviews! I've really enjoyed my first journey into TVD fanfic!

-N.E.P. (Txvdfan to most of y'all)