I'm back with another chapter, I hope'll like it :)

„Are you sure you don't mind?" Damon gave her a worried look, while stepping on the gas pedal even harder.

„Yes, yes, I am sure, just go." The beautiful woman replied, sitting back in her seat, trying to relax.

There has been another murder. Although she knew Damon was right, part of her was hoping that Roy had just messed with the wrong people, and this was just one – time thing. Fear had taken over her body, and she couldn't even move. She just wanted the person who did this to be behind the bars, as soon as possible. Otherwise, what if they got to her, to Caroline? She couldn't imagine that, Caroline was her best friend since kindergarten and she couldn't imagine her life without the cheerful blonde she loved like a sister, maybe even more.

„Elena?" She heard Damon's voice coming from next to her, the worried note was still in his voice.

„Yes?" She looked at him, trying to hide the panic in her voice.

„We'll find out who did this. I will find out, I promise you, nothing bad will happen to you and Barbie." He wanted to comfort her somehow, but all his senses were focused on the road, there was no way another Gilbert would die on the road.

„But you haven't found him or her, until now. This has already happened before, how can you be so sure?" Her voice was trembling, and there was nothing she could do about it.

„I am sure, because... This time is different, I am going to catch that sick bastard." It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just kept looking at the road.

After a couple of minutes he hit the breaks, and both of them got out of the car. Elena felt like she was having a deja vu. Officers had surrounded the building, everyone had been evacuated, and they were all waiting, looking terrified. She and Damon moved to the door, just to be stopped by a police officer, like before. Damon just let out an irritated growl, and showed him his badge.

„FBI, now move." His voice was harsh, and the officer moved and let him pass, without even asking for Elena's ID.

They got to the third floor, where the murder was. Elena saw the red tape, surrownding one of the rooms, when she recognized whose room it was, she put her hand on her mouth, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

„No... it can't be her... No." She said, walking towards the door. Damon's hand stopped her, as he pulled her closer to him, and said:

„You don't have to go in there, we can handle it, my team are already here." He told her softly, putting his hand on her back, and moving it up and down, in a soothing manner.

„No, I need to go, please, Damon, I need to see it for myself." She begged him. She wasn't usually crying so much, today was just too overwhelming for her.

„Okay, if that's what you want, come with me." He replied, and they both moved towards the room. When they entered it, Elena needed a little time to realize what was happening. There was no blood this time, people were moving up and down the room, taking stuff, and collecting evidence. Then she saw it. The woman was lying on the floor, her short brown hair was messy, her lips were blue-ish, and her eyes were wide open, full of shock and surprise, just like Caroline had described Roy's.

„Rose... Damon it's Rose, it's really her." She cried, she had never seen a corpse before, and Rose was so young, Elena not only wanted to kill the son of a bitch who did this, she wanted to torture him before that. He didn't deserve a quick death, he deserved slow and painful one. She had known Rose for a very long time, she was one of the first employees in this company, she was here from the very beginning. Unlike Roy, Elena actually knew Rose, she was the sweetest person. If you needed to talk, she was always there, no matter if it was business talk or you just had a lot going on on your mind. She was her friend, and the last person Elena expected to be attacked. Elena couldn't bare to watch her anymore, and she turned around to see Damon standing right behind her, watching her carefully. She sought the comfort of his arms again, and hugged him tight. „She was such an amazing person Damon, you can't even imagine..." She said in his chest, sobbing.

„Agent Salvatore..." A middle-aged woman, in a laboratory suit, appeared, but seeing the sight before her she got distracted for a moment. She shook her head, and regained her focus. „She has been strangled. For now, the work has been impeccable like the last time, there are no evidence leading us to who might have done this. Whoever is behind it, he is a specialist." She concluded.

„What about her phone?" Damon said, not loosening his grip on Elena, she was starting to calm down a little, he could say by how her sobs were becoming less frequent. This probably looked very suspicious, but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was to make her feel happy again, or at least make fer feel secure.

„It was coded. We sent it to the base, and Joey said he could decode it in an hour or so." She responded, and in this moment, the door opened again, and Caroline came, slamming it behind her. She stopped as she saw the sight, and gave Damon a weird look.

„What's going on here?" Caroline's voice made Elena jump slightly in Damon's arms and she pulled away from him, as if she was stung. She wiped the tears off her eyes, and looked at Caroline:

„It's Rose, Care, she's dead." The deja vu moment appeared again, only this time it was Elena who was saying the words. Caroline recognized the pleading in Elena's voice, begging her not to talk about Damon here, and she respected that.

„Rose?" She replied as the words finally downed on her. „But she hadn't done anything, she was such a nice person, and so good at her job, also she was very close to her next promotion, I don't... really..." The beautiful blonde's eyes fixed on the lifeless body on the floor, and the shock instantly appeared on her face. It was one thing talking about it, and a whole other deal seeing it herself. „Oh my God. What happened to her?"

„She's been strangled, and from what I can see, I think it's from behind." Damon got closer to the body and started examining it. „I don't see any signs of struggle, which indicates that she probably knew her killer, and it happened fast." He concluded, his bright blue eyes not moving from the body.

„Yes, it was fast. The larynx is crashed, which can also lead to a male murderer. I am not saying that a woman can't have that kind of force, but in my experience, male is the more likely possibility." The woman in the lab suit explained.

„Okay then, I am going to see what the guys have found from the evidence." Damon said, and headed to the door.

„I'm coming with you!" Elena insisted, and looked at him firmly; there was no way he could leave her here.

„No way." Damon just replied.

„She was my friend, I need to know what had happened to her, and I need to know what I am supposed to say to my employees. Please, Damon I have to come." Her tone was pleading now, and Damon just rolled his eyes. What was it about this woman that could make him say yes to pretty much anything?

„Okay, fine, just..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence, and opened the door for her.

„We'll talk about it later, I promise." She whispered to Caroline, who, for Elena's great surprise just gave her kind of an amused look.

„Go, I'll deal with the mess here."

„You're a lifesaver." Elena smiled at her and got out of the room.

When they got in the car, Elena felt a little bit better, she didn't know if it was because she had Damon by her side or because she was out of that building, which now seemed dark and creepy to her. After they drove for awhile she couldn't help herself and said cockily:

„I thought you said you always win."

„Ooh, don't tease me, little girl, you know I can play that game better." He gave her a flashing smile, and she couldn't help but smile back at him.

„We'll see about that." It was all she said.

After a couple of minutes Damon stopped the car and they got out of it. Elena saw a big building, and from what she could gather it was quite modern, and the only thing indicating FBI was working here, was the little sign on the front door. Damon and Elena moved closer to the door, and Damon showed his badge to the person there, but Elena could say he didn't have to, it was obvious the guy knew who he was.

„What about her?" He asked.

„She's with me." Damon replied, and the guy just let her pass

When they got inside, Elena just couldn't help herself but gasp. Everything was amazing - it was elegant, the interior was black and white, and it looked... classy, Elena thought. She and Damon moved to the elevator and when they got in it, Damon pressed the -3 button, and they both started going down. It soon stopped, the doors opened, and Elena saw the little sign on the big door before them „Security level 4 or higher only." They got closer and she saw how Damon opened a little box next to the door, wrote some kind of code there, and started staring at a little red dot that appeared, while the device was making strange noises.

„Personality confirmed – Agent Damon Salvatore." The device said and the door opened. They entered a spacious place and Elena saw hundreds of huge monitors on the walls, lots and lots of computers, and people moving up and down the room, obviously working on something. There were some other devices Elena couldn't tell what they were though.

„Well, don't you have a lot of toys here?" She smiled at him, and saw with the corner of her eyes, how a little smile appeared on his lips as well.

A rounded man moved closer to them, looking angry.

„What is she doing here? This is a high security facility, she's not supposed to be here, and you know that!" There was no greeting, no anything, the guy just started screaming at Damon, attracting attention to them, and making everyone look at their direction. Elena felt stupid for asking to come with, she hadn't thought for a moment, this could get Damon in trouble.

„She's with me." Damon simply stated, obviously not intimidated by this man at all.

„I don't care if she's with you, you know the rul-" He started again, but Damon cut him off.

„I said she's with me. And if I hear one more word about her being here, I'll make damn sure get back at your previous position. The only reason you're here right now is me, so don't bite the hand which feeds you, or you'll be very sorry." His voice was low and threatening, Elena had never heard him talk like that, and it just now clicked her why he was so good at his job. He was a shark, just like her, when it came to his job, he was ready to do anything to accomplish his goals. And now he was defending Elena fiercly, and she couldn't help but feel the butterflies in her stomach as she watched how he was looking daggers at the other man, who had become beet red.

„I, sure, of course, Damon." He murmured, backing off from the angry looking Damon.

„It's Agent Salvatore to you." He replied coldly and looked at Elena, his expression suddenly softening. „Come on."

They moved to one of the monitors in the middle of the room, where a lot of people had gathered.

„So what do we have?" Damon said, looking at the big screen in front of him, examining every detail there.

„Not much." A red-headed woman said, scanning the document in front of her. „Like the other times, the one who did this hadn't left a trace. No fingerprints, no hairs, nothing. He's a pro."

„And what about the victim?"

„Well, she was strangled from behind, we're almost sure she knew her attacker, the only damage on her body is her crashed larynx." A guy said, but they already knew all of that. „Joey is decoding the phone now, maybe you should check with him, it's taking him more than usual."

Damon moved to the other end of the room, Elena hot on his trails.

„Why would an employee in a real estate agency would have her phone coded in the first place?" Damon was talking more to himself now.

„Maybe she was more of a private person?" Elena suggested.

„Oh, my naive, little silly" he laughed at her. „If it's taking Joey more time than usual to decode a phone it means that it was coded by a professionalist. And a good one." He said when they saw a good-looking young boy, who was staring at a computer screen; a phone was lying next to him, all kind of wires emerging from it.

„What do you have for me, Joey?" Damon asked.

The boy took his eyes off the computer and looked at Damon.

„I'm sorry, Agent, I'll need a little more time, I could decode almost everything, but I have some texts that are very well decoded. I'll be done by the end of the evening."

„Okay, nice work." Damon said, and the boy looked at him, his smile was so huge that it made Elena chuckle. They all really wanted Damon's approval, didn't they?

„Come on" Damon said looking at her.

„Where are we going?" She asked curiously.

„We are not going anywhere. You are going to rest at home, and I am going to stay here and do my job. This is all they can tell you right now." He told her calmly, his ocean-blue eyes were boring into her doe ones.

„But I am not tired." Elena protested, for some reason, she didn't want to leave him, she felt good with him.

„All the make up on the world can't hide the shadows under your eyes, so don't tell me you're not tired. I can always say when you're lying to me, Elena, so don't do that, ever." He told her, not breaking eye contact. „Here, take the keys to my car, you'll need a ride. I'll come and pick it up as soon as I can."

She just looked at him, and smiled warmly.

„Thank you, for everything you did today, I... I really needed to hear some of the things you told me." She said, warmth was shining through her eyes. „You're an amazing guy, Damon Salvatore." She finally said, and kissed him on the cheek, feeling the electricity between their bodies, as her lips touched his skin. When she pulled away, Elena looked at his lips, and felt the urge to kiss them hungrily. She realized she was staring and shook her head. After that, she got out of the room, leaving Damon Salvatore in a complete and utter shock, for the second time.

When she got home, Elena took all of her clothes off, and got straight into the bathroom. She let the hot water relax her muscles, thinking about everything that had happened these past few days. The murders were scaring her out of her mind, and she couldn't understand why would anybody do that? How could someone take a life, who do they think they are? There was absolutely no reason that could justify those kind of behaviour. Elena couldn't miss how everything Damon said was coming true. Rose was standing higher, considerably higher than Roy. She had been very close to becoming vice-president, which, Elena realized in horror was one position below her. She trembled, thinking that this could have been her or Caroline.

Her mind moved from the murders to Damon. What was it about this guy, which was driving her crazy? She wasn't trusting herself when she was with him. Up until now, she thought it was all physical, but the thing that was making it even harder for her not to think about him like that was that he was actually an amazing man. He was the kind of person, who was hiding their feelings and emotions, keeping it all to themselves, never burdening other people with their problems. He had put on a mask that was making him look like a womanizer, and a bad boy, but deep inside he was a very good guy, who was probably hurt at some time in his life, and this was making him act like that. Elena felt anger growing inside of her as she thought about someone hurting him, he didn't deserve that. She looked at her fingers, and as she saw they were slightly wrinkled she decided it was time to get out of the bathroom. She just put on an underwear, and a dressing gown, and reached for her phone, texting Caroline.

„I need to see you, come as soon as you can."

„I'll be there in 10."

Elena didn't expect such a quick answer but she was happy that she got it. She needed her best friend right now, more than ever. After 10 minutes, she heard a key clicking in the lock, and her best friend appeared in the door frame moments later.

„Hey you" Caroline said, sitting next to her on the bed.

„Hey, how are things at work?" Elena replied, removing a wet lock of hair from her face.

„Tense. Everyone is terrified, and who can blame them, Elena? Two murders in one week. It's... awful, I wonder how they are still coming to work for us." She said, and a shiver ran through her body.

„I know. Damon said they are doing everything in their power..." Elena stopped, formulating her next sentence. „Speaking about Damon, Care I have to tell you something."

The blonde didn't say anything, she was just looking at her friend, waiting for her to continue. Elena took a deep breath.

„I think I might be starting to fall for him." She said and quickly looked away, embarrassed from what she had just said. This was the first time she was saying it out loud, but she didn't feel better, as she had expected. She wasn't supposed to feel like that, she was a married woman. After a few moments of silence, Caroline said:

„I get it, Elena."

„You do?" Elena rose her brow to her, surprised by the answer she got.

„Yes, he's good-looking, hell, he's beautiful, and sexy and that little smile of his, even I want to rip his clothes off." She commented .

„No, no, it's not just that. I mean he's all of that, but he's also a very good guy."

„Elena, we've been through this, he's a player, I've told you that. You can't change that, and don't ruin what you have with Stefan."

„And what exactly I have with Stefan? A failing marriage?" Elena lost her temper. „I don't even know where Stefan is all day, he doesn't know where I am, or what I am doing. Sometimes I wonder if he still loves me, Care, or are these words became only... well, words for him. I wonder if we've become so used to saying this to each other, that we actually don't feel it anymore." Tears filled her eyes. „As for Damon, I am sure there is more to his story, I've been spending some time with him, and I can say that he's not as bad as he wants people to think."

„Oh, sweetie," Caroline whispered as she saw Elena's expression. „You're really falling for him, aren't you?"

The tears started rolling down Elena's cheeks as she said:

„I've never felt like that, Care, not even with Stefan, and it scares me, it scares me so much."

Caroline just looked sadly at her friend, and hugged her tight. Seeing her like that was breaking her heart. But she would be there for her friend no matter what, she decided right this second, whatever happened, she would always have her back.

Damon stood at the bar, waiting for Jeremy and Alaric to come. He nervously drummed with his fingers on the bar, until the bartender came and asked him:

„Do you want something?"

„Yes, bourbon, give me the best you've got." He hesitated for a moment, and remembering his car wasn't with him he added. „And make it big."

The boy nodded and placed a glass before him, pouring the liquid inside. Damon took a big sip, wanting to forget about the past few days. He had thought that his desire for Elena would cool off, but it only got stronger with time, he wanted her more and more with every second that passed, and knowing he can't have her, was making her even more irresistible. In the same time, though, he didn't want to hurt her, because he knew exactly what would happen if she got involved with him. She would end up heartbroken and, probably, alone. He had been there, and he had done that. He knew he wasn't boyfriend material, not anymore. He didn't want the same thing that happened to a lot of other women to happen to Elena, especially after their talk today. He had realized she was an amazing and strong woman, who had been through so much, and she was still standing firmly on her feet.

„Hey there!" He heard a voice behind him, and turned around to face Alaric and Jeremy.

„You showed up! For a minute there I thought you stood me up, and you should know I haven't been stood up since high school." He smirked, taking another big sip.

They talked for a while, and Damon realized he really liked those guys, especially Alaric, they were having fun, drinking and talking about Jeremy's college experience and remembering their own college times. He felt that they were entering a dangerous territory when Jeremy started talking about his sister, and he tried to change the subject, but his efforts were in vain. He knew this question was coming from the moment they sat on that bar, but he was still surprised when he heard it.

„So what's the deal with you and my sister?" Jeremy asked, giving Damon an amused look.

„There's no deal between me and Elena." Damon tried, but both Alaric and Jeremy just laughed.

„You know, she and Stefan aren't in a very good place now, I don't think he makes her happy anymore, the last time I saw her happy was when she was pregnant." He commented, talking more to himself than Damon and Alaric. „With you she's got this look in her eyes again, this fire, and I don't know if this is a good thing or not." He concluded, looking straight into Damon's eyes.

„But she is married." Alaric insisted, looking daggers at Jeremy.

„Okay, both of you, stop it. I told you there is nothing going on between me and Elena, we're friends, that's all." He finally said, this conversation was too much for him right now.

„Yeah, that's like saying this girl right there wasn't eyeing Jeremy all night." Alaric told him, and Damon couldn't help but laugh.

„Yeah, Jer, go get her, it's about time." Damon said, still laughing.

Jeremy blushed slightly and got off the table, heading to the beautiful brunette that was standing in the other end of the bar.

„That's my boy!" Alaric said, and in that moment Damon's phone rang.

„I am sorry, it's my boss I have to take this." He said, leaving the bar, so that he could talk in peace. „Yes?"

„Damon, we've got a lead on the phone." A rough, male voice answered on the other line.

„What?"

„One of the decoded texts contained coordinates. This might be the hint we were looking for all along."

„Coordinates..." Damon repeated. „To where?"

„LA. Tomorrow evening. Some kind of a fancy hotel, I think it will be an official dinner."

„So you mean I'll have to..."

„Yes I would have sent someone else to do this job, but this case is important and you know it, I have to sent someone I trust."

„Okay, I don't mind."

„Take one of the girls with you, one of the owners."

„No!" Damon said a little harsher, than he wanted to. „Keep them out of this!"

„I can't and you know it. You need one of them with you, they might recognize someone there, which can lead to us finally making some kind of progress on that damn case."

Damon knew he was right, but he felt like punching him throught the phone. Instead he just hung up, taking deep breaths to relax. The last thing he wanted was to get Elena involved in all of this, but he had no choice now. He dialled her number, and he heard her soft voice saying „Hello.". He took another deep breath and said:

„Pack your bags. We're going undercover."

I think you'll like where I am going with this. The next chapter will be entirely DE centered. I don't know if I am taking this too slow or too fast, it's up to you to decide, feedback will be loved :)