Elena paced her cell anxiously as she listened to the chatter upstairs, which mostly consisted of Caroline, Bonnie and Stefan. She'd been fighting Katherine's presence for the better part of an hour, trying to get her out of her head, but every minute that passed, it was impossibly harder. She wanted Damon; just to be close to him and talk to him. He kept her grounded. She headed to the bars, mumbling his name, surprised to find him sitting outside her cell. "She's getting stronger," she said whimpered. "It's getting harder Damon." If they didn't hurry, she knew she was going to lose herself all together. Katherine was persistent, determined to destroy all their lives and Elena couldn't let that happen. Under no circumstances. She couldn't lose Damon forever, especially not now. After everything they had gone through; Stefan leaving, her turning, Damon being her sire; they had gotten through it all. But this… she had never betrayed Damon. This wasn't even her fault, but it was killing her. She felt responsible.
He got to his feet to face her. "You're strong Elena," he said. He was always trying to reassure her, always looking out for her well being. "Much stronger than Katherine ever was. Much stronger than all of us Elena. Bonnie will fix this." The fact that he used Bonnie's real name was a red flag. Even in the shadows of the basement, she could see the sadness in his eyes. He was losing hope. They were the glue for the group, even if the group didn't support them as a couple. They were the strong ones. Because they had each other. That's how they always pulled through. How were they going to pull through this? She could only imagine what was going through his head.
"She won't fix us," Elena said sadly, leaning against the door suddenly tired. "You'll never look at me the same again." Tears stung her eyes as she stared at the ground beneath her feet. She was trying to be strong, she really was. But every minute away from him, the tension grew, the distance grew. She would never do what Katherine had done; she would never sleep with Stefan. That wasn't the worst part… Damon had heard. He had been in the house. She was sure the majority of her pain was Damon's pain, and she'd gladly take all of it if it spared him.
"Elena…" He reached out to comfort her but she lifted her head, her eyes cold and unforgiving.
"Damon," she purred, Katherine's essence seeping through her skin. "I guess my secret's out."
"I'm going to kill you," he said, folding his arms as he stepped away from the bars. "For real this time."
A dark chuckle escaped her lips. "You should know by now Damon that you can never get rid of me," she said, wiping her cheeks. "Tears a sign of weakness. She doesn't deserve you Damon. You're a killer. You're dark, dangerous, and lethal. You could slaughter this whole town and be done with it. I know who you really are. Elena will never accept your true nature. Yours or Stefan's. Just come back to me. We can be a family, just the three of us. We'll be unstoppable."
"You think Stefan was really going to love you in Elena's body?" Damon growled. "That's not love Katherine. That isn't a family. We were never anything to you. He's never going to love you. You're really delusion honey and you are never going to come between me and Elena again."
"I already did," Katherine said. "She'll never see past you killing people. And you'll never get over the fact that she slept with Stefan. See me and Elena… we're not so different Damon. We have a lot more in common than you think. It was only a matter of time before she realized that you were nothing to her. She just wanted to take you for a test drive. Even as a vampire, she couldn't replace me. You will never love her like you love me. And the sooner you realize that, they happier we will all be."
"So you say," Damon said as Bonnie came down the stairs. "Well?"
"I'm going to correct their essences," Bonnie said firmly, her burning eyes piercing through Katherine. "It should tether Elena to her own body."
"Should?" Damon asked, angrily.
"Without Katherine's corpse to put her in; it might not work. But I didn't see another way Damon. Elena is trapped… her soul is at stake," Bonnie said, as her eyes closed, she began to chant.
"Stop!" Katherine howled, trying to squeeze her head. "Please!" Her body convulsed as she collapsed to the floor. Her eyes rolled up into her head and Damon clenched his fists to keep from going to her. Katherine's back bent at a painful angle before dropping in a crumpled heap as Bonnie finished the spell.
"How do we know if it worked?" Damon asked.
"We won't until she wakes up," Bonnie said. "And that could be awhile. If at all." She wiped her face, her magic still taking some toll on her, but not enough to falter her. "She's my best friend Damon. I wouldn't have risked losing her if I didn't see another way."
"I won't let anything happen to her." Damon growled as he opened the cell, carefully scooping her up to lay her on the bed. He kissed her forehead softly. "I love you," he whispered. "And I promise you I'll make this right somehow." With a heavy heart he locked the cell behind him, resuming his perch next to her cell.
Elena's eyes fluttered open, her vision sharp, her hearing picking up every noise the old house made. She sat up, rubbing her face, feeling more like her normal self. Her dirty self and hungry self, but she was feeling much better. She made her way toward the door, smiling a little seeing Damon waiting, as usual with a sad look on his face. She officially hated that look and she was going to do everything in her power to make him smile again.
"You're awake," he said in relief coming to the bars.
"Did it work?" Elena asked. Things definitely felt different, but they couldn't put anything past Katherine. She was capable of anything, and she always seemed to be one stop ahead of them. She wanted a break, even for a little bit.
"We weren't sure you were ever going to wake up," he said. "It's been three days… So I hope you're okay." His muscles were bunched and tense, ready for a fight, ready to run from her. Ready to protect himself from anymore emotional damage that might come to him. He had been through a lot, and all she wanted to do was to put her arms around him and never let him go.
"I feel more like myself," she said nodding. "My disdain for pickles is still quite strong." That was their first real moment together and she would never forget that trip. They saved each other's lives and he had earned her trust by not compelling her.
The barest of smiles graced his lips, but only for a second. "Not even the all mighty Stefan knew that?" he asked.
She frowned as she leaned against the bars. "I shared a lot of things with you Damon," she whispered. "And only you. Only you know about that special spot right on the back of my neck. Only you know how much I hate pickles. Only you know how my heart skips a beat when you look at me, when you touch me. The way you're looking at me right now… you must be able to tell the difference at this point."
Damon unlocked the door, but neither of them seemed to know what to say. "Guess we should talk," he said.
Her throat tightened but she nodded. "I guess we should," she agreed, moving around him to go upstairs. She felt closed in downstairs. There were so many horrible memories down there, and she had spent more than her fair share of time in that cell. Even though she didn't need to breathe, she felt like she was being suffocated and it was instant relief to come upstairs. "Anyone else here?"
"No," he said, following close to her, but not close enough. "Caroline thought it would be a good idea for us to be alone."
"She knows us well," Elena said, facing him as he stood on the other side of the room. They couldn't talk about this with an audience. It was no one's business and she did not want any judgments. Everyone would expect her to lecture him, or penalize him for his actions. This was about her and Damon and she was going to have to be the strong one somehow this time. "I don't know where to start Damon."
"Neither do I," he said, collapsing in the arm chair. "I was just so angry Elena. Stefan told me to get you back then slept with you… right under my nose. Or I thought it was you." Stefan was more than a little dense sometimes. She had been blind to it for a long time. But she couldn't understand how he would think its okay to have sex with her. Knowing what she had with Damon, how much his brother loved her… how could he be so thick?
"I should have told you she was doing a spell," she said, wrapping her arms around her middle. She had been selfish and so focused on how she was feeling, she didn't even think of the immanent danger she was in. "I was just so happy to see you and I missed you so much… I just… was so happy to be in your arms. Could have stopped her sooner." She wanted them to be together so badly, to work out what had gone wrong. They had been apart for longer than she could stand and she had lost sight of what was really important.
"She was compelling Matt," he said. "To get information about you so we wouldn't know. How to dress, talk, and act. She got all of it from him."
Matt really didn't know her as well as Damon did. But clearly her childhood friend had given Katherine enough information to fool them for a short time. She wondered what other damage control was going to come up after all this. "I'm sorry Damon," she said taking a step toward him. "I want to undo what happened. God help me I do. And I don't blame you for… anything. You have always been a good man Damon. You have always done what's right, to keep me safe. Without me here… I would never blame you for losing control. You thought I was gone."
"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" he asked sadly.
Elena slowly sat on the coffee table in front of him. "It's okay to feel everything you're feeling Damon," she said. "Good people feel guilty… and we'll get through it together. Like we always do." He was the best man she had ever known. She knew he had complete control, when he had something worth protecting. Without her… what reason did he have not to shut everything off? She felt the same way. If she lost him… her humanity would be gone forever.
Damon stared at his hands for a long minute. "Elena," he started. "We've been through a lot together since you became a vampire…"
Elena leaned away from him. "You're doing it again," she whispered. "Pushing me away for my own good." She couldn't take her heart being broken by him again, not for her own good. He couldn't walk away from her this time. As bad as things were… they had to fix it. There just was no other way.
"That's not what I'm doing," he said, grabbing her hands. Her skin sizzled where he touched her, but it was anything but painful. "I love you Elena. More than anything. I just…"
She squeezed his hands. "I love you too Damon," she said tenderly. "I never stopped." She wanted to touch him everywhere, feel his muscles beneath her hands, and feel his reaction to her. He was hard and soft all at the same time, and she wanted to feel every part of him against her while she showed him how amazing he was to her. How special he was.
"I wanted to kill those people," he said, getting up away from her. "I liked it. I knew what I was doing… even blinded by grief. I would do it again if you left." It was in their nature to kill. The vampire side of them relished in the bloodshed, she knew the rush that came from the kill. The only thing better was love and theirs was tainted right now. Katherine had done the ultimate betrayal between them, out of both of their controls. And Elena couldn't figure out how to keep him from leaving her forever.
"Well I don't plan on going anywhere," she said, watching him pace around the room.
"I don't think we should stay together just to keep me on the rails Elena," he said with a raise of his eyebrow. "If we ever have a fight again… forever is a long time to babysit me. And I'm going to make mistakes. So are you. This will happen again… more innocent people will die because I get mad."
The real side of Damon wasn't a killer. They were going to have to try harder to solidify their love, and she would spend eternity showing that to him. He would never do this again if he had her. She knew that with 100% certainty. She stared at him with a sad expression, but made her way toward him. "I think we should stay together forever because we love each other Damon," she said, firmly. "I've never loved anyone like I love you and I would never want to be away from you. We have forever to work things out Damon and I will always be yours. I will never belong to anyone else and I will spend the rest of time convincing you, if you let me." She chewed on her lip. "I'm going to get something to eat then shower. Think about what I said." She headed upstairs, leaving Damon with his thoughts.