Disclaimer – I still do not own The Vampires or any of its characters.
Damon led Elena through the crowd of people jammed into The Grill and found a tiny table in the back. She had been strangely quiet since their confrontation with Bonnie, her eyes downcast and her face pensive. She sat across from him holding a menu, but she was lost in her own thoughts and paid no attention to the paper in her hand. Damon wanted to crush the witch's throat for making her look so downtrodden.
"Elena?" He waved his hand in front of her face until she looked up. "Stop wasting your time thinking about Sabrina the Teenage Bitch."
She gave him a half-smile. "I can't help it. She's been my best friend since I was five, Damon. I knew that telling people about," she gestured between them, "this would be hard, but…" She trailed off and turned her gaze to the table, not really seeing it.
His back stiffened at her words, defenses sliding into place automatically. "But what?" he prompted, his voice icy.
Looking into his eyes, Elena was instantly remorseful about her careless choice of words. Despite all of his bravado, she knew that some part of Damon was still worried that he'd lose her; that she would change her mind about him. She smiled at him and leaned across the table to place a warm, lingering kiss on his lips. "But you're worth it."
He softened at the contact and chuckled against her lips, "You only say that because you've seen me naked."
She pulled back with a smile and picked up her menu, actually reading it this time.
Damon scanned the crowd, hoping luck would be on his side for once and John would be here. Nope. However, he did spot Jeremy sulking at a table by himself. Nodding in his direction, Damon said, "You brother's here. Looks like he's been taking brooding lessons from Stefan."
Elena followed Damon's gaze and located Jeremy. "I should go talk to him. He's still furious with me for having you compel him." She stood up with a heavy sigh.
Damon grabbed her hand as she started toward him. "Do you want me to try to talk to him? Maybe I can make him understand."
"No, this was my mistake. I have to fix it." She smiled and kissed his lips softly. "But thank you for offering."
She left and the waitress appeared. Damon ordered a burger for Elena and a stiff drink for himself. He tried to watch Elena through the crush of people but the waitress kept blocking his view as she tried to strike up a conversation. He politely deflected her attempts to flirt before finally waving her off with a murderous glare. Her inane chatter was making it difficult to eavesdrop on Elena and Jeremy's conversation.
"You're my brother Jer, and I love you. I have to try and fix this," she pleaded with him.
The little shit had the nerve to roll his eyes at her before dismissing her with, "Go to hell, Elena."
Elena came back to their table and sat down, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She'd been through enough emotional upheaval for one day and Damon suppressed the urge to throttle her bratty brother.
"He's not ready to forgive me yet." She took a deep breath to fight back the surge of tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. "He just needs more time. We'll work it out."
The waitress returned with their drinks and set them down timidly before retreating hastily, being sure to keep her eyes away from Damon.
In his peripheral vision he saw Jeremy got up to leave and Damon seized the opportunity. "I'll be back in a second. Oh, and I ordered for you."
Elena graced him with a grateful, if somewhat sad smile and he turned, following Jeremy out the door. In his best whiny Jeremy imitation, Damon mocked him, "It's so hard being a teenager. I have all these emotions and I just don't know what to do with them."
With barely a glance over his shoulder, Jeremy responded tersely. "Dick"
Catching up to him, Damon was done playing. "You do not talk to me like that. And from now on, you don't talk to your sister like that either."
Jeremy regarded him contemptuously and huffed out a sigh. "What? So you're gonna kill me just cause I hurt Elena's feelings?"
"Cut her some slack."
"She erased my memories."
Irritated by his obstinacy, Damon was losing what little patience he had. "No. I did. She was trying to protect you."
Not willing to listen, Jeremy turned to leave and was stopped by the iron grip Damon had on his arm. "Let me go before I make a scene."
Tightening his grip further Damon responded, "You'd be unconscious before you got a word out." Squeezing even tighter, Jeremy winced and he released him. "Quit being such a little punk Jeremy. You should be grateful to have a sister who loves you as much Elena does." He left him there, not knowing if his words had any effect, and returned to the restaurant. Elena was eating her burger and he sat down, casting a skeptical eye at his drink, which was now only half full.
Seeing his eyes fixed on his glass, she swallowed and sipped at her soda delicately. Her cheeks flushed pink under his questioning gaze. "I just took a couple of sips." Motioning to the area where she and Jeremy had argued, she continued defensively, "That wasn't exactly a pleasant conversation and with telling Caroline and Bonnie about us, today was…." She trailed off and finally looked at him, becoming annoyed when she saw his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Balling up her napkin, she threw it at him.
He deflected it with a careless flick of his wrist. "Such hostility! And here I thought you were a happy drunk."
"I'm not drunk!" Several heads swiveled their way and Damon burst out laughing. Modulating her volume, she repeated, "I'm not drunk. I just had two sips." As she watched him smile, her anger evaporated. "Besides, I should think you'd like to get me drunk." Smiling wickedly, she put her elbows on the table and leaned across. Face close to his, she whispered, "I'd be so…..compliant."
He cupped his hand around her neck and pulled her close enough to kiss her, nipping at her bottom lip before capturing it between his own. Elena opened her mouth and Damon tilted his head and allowed her to deepen the kiss. Her soft tongue slid into his mouth and he groaned, not caring that they were in a crowded room, surrounded by curious onlookers. His hand moved from her neck, caressing her arm as his fingertips barely brushed the side of her breast. She moaned into his mouth at the action and planted her hands on the table to steady herself, allowing her to kiss him more firmly.
Damon wanted nothing more than to drag her to some secluded spot – a bathroom, the alley, he didn't care - and fuck her till she screamed his name. He had been ready to go since Jenna had interrupted their escapades in Elena's room and he was left unsatisfied. Unfortunately, he had business to attend to and he pulled away from her reluctantly.
Elena sat back in her seat, stunned at her own disregard for propriety. She had never been one for public displays of affection, but where Damon was concerned her rules seemed to go right out the window. She met his gorgeous aquamarine eyes and tried not to smile as he watched her, cocky smirk firmly in place. "What?" she asked with a grin, losing the battle.
He sat back and raked his eyes over her in an obvious and lascivious fashion. She was flushed and her nipples were hard. She was also slightly embarrassed and Damon thought she had never looked lovelier as she watched him with that goofy smile on her face, the earlier troubles of the day forgotten for the moment. "Nothing. Just thinking of all the things I'm going to do to you later."
Her eyes widened at his promise and tracked down his body of their own volition, as if imagining the possibilities. "Oh…"
Damon threw a wad of money on the table and finished the remnants of his drink. "Are you done?" he asked, looking at her half-eaten dinner.
"Uh-huh." Clearing her head of sex-filled daydreams, she tried to remember what needed to be done. "Um, I still need to pick up my dress."
"Okay." He offered her a hand. "Where are we headed?"
Sliding her hand into his and standing up, she told him. "The school. They had set aside a couple of classrooms so we could change and store our stuff."
The light had faded outside and they made their way down the street and through the square slowly. Couples and young families were settled on blankets in the grass, chatting or playing games, waiting for the fireworks show to begin. Damon's eyes swung constantly, searching for any sign of Elena's uncle. He knew John would be close to the action and the urge to find him was eating away at him.
They turned a corner and saw Anna striding purposefully in their direction, her expression guarded. Stopping in front of them she offered up a quiet greeting while glancing around cautiously. "Hi."
"You're still around?" Damon scoffed dismissively.
Ignoring his indifference, Anna led them to dark corner. "There's something you need to know. The vampires from the tomb are planning an attack tonight."
He felt Elena tense beside him as she dug her hand into the fabric of his jacket. Disbelief colored his tone as he asked, "How do you know this?"
"I went to them. They think I'm with them, but I'm not" She shook her head. "They want the founding families dead."
Elena gasped and Damon slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side instinctively at the mention of a threat. "When is this supposed to happen?"
"When the fireworks start."
Damon paled, putting the pieces together. "John Gilbert wants to use that invention on them."
Anna became fidgety. "Then we can't be here."
Panicked now, Elena's voice was high and thin. "It doesn't work though. Bonnie deactivated it." Her head snapped back and forth, wide eyes frantic. "We need to find Jeremy!"
He hadn't wanted to tell her about Bonnie's deception, but now he had no choice. Placing his hands over her cheeks, he forced her to meet his gaze. "Elena." She looked at him, confused; he was wasting valuable seconds. Shaking her gently to get her to focus on him, he started again, "Elena! Bonnie didn't deactivate the device. She lied to us. It still works – the tomb vampires won't be able to get to Jeremy."
Jerking slightly at his words, she shook her head within the confines of his hands. "No…we saw her-," she stopped short, thinking about what exactly they'd seen Bonnie do. Nothing, really. Thinking about her reaction to Damon earlier, Elena realized he was right. The focus of her fear shifted from Jeremy to him. "Damon you need to get out of here."
"I know." What he wanted to do was tear this town apart brick by brick until he found John, and pry the device from the bloody stump that had formerly been his arm. If he was going to use the device tonight, he had to be somewhere close to the town square. The fireworks would be starting soon. He still had some time to locate him…. He couldn't risk it though. If he was incapacitated, it would leave Elena vulnerable and that was out of the question. "Anna, you need to get somewhere safe."
Overwhelmed with the events of the last few days, Anna broke down crying. "I have no where to go. My mother's dead – someone killed her. And Harper. I think it was John Gilbert." The stress made her voice rise. "I don't know what to do."
Taking control of the situation, Damon handed her a key. "Go to the boarding house. You can stay there until you figure out your next move." His hand landed on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your mother." She nodded, accepting his offer and his sympathy and disappeared in a blur of motion.
By this time, they were right in front of the school and Damon followed Elena inside to the room where she had left her dress. It was pretty much empty and she walked over to the table she had laid it on. It was gone. "I left it right here," she said, hand tapping the bare tabletop.
Damon glanced around, but didn't see it. "We'll find it later. Let's get out of here."
They got back in the car and Damon raced out of the parking lot, tires smoking in his wake. His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, frowning at a number he didn't recognize. "Hello?"
"Damon, it's Anna. I made it to your house and Jeremy came with me, I hope that's okay?" She sounded out of breath.
Elena would be relieved to hear that. "That's fine. We'll be there in a few minutes."
"Okay. I don't think Stefan's here. Should we be worried?"
"No. He went out of town for a few days - he's going to miss all the fun. Don't touch anything and stay out of my room." He snapped the phone shut. "Jeremy's at the boarding house with Anna. He's fine." Elena released a relieved sigh at his words.
As they were turning onto the road that led to Damon and Stefan's home, they heard the crack of fireworks in the distance. Damon winced and pulled over abruptly, clapping his hands over his ears.
"Damon?" Elena scooted across the seat to get a better look at him. "What's wrong?"
"I think your uncle activated the device," he gritted out as his eyes squeezed shut.
He dropped his head to her lap and Elena ran her fingers through his hair. She felt utterly helpless and concentrated on doing her best to soothe him as he writhed in pain, murmuring comforting words into his ear.
Damon struggled and groaned against the onslaught of agony rioting in his brain for about five minutes, until just as suddenly as it had started the screeching in his head mercifully cut off and his body went limp. The pain vanished as if someone had simply flipped a switch. He laid there for another minute to collect himself and looked up into Elena's worried eyes. He sat up gingerly, but was relieved to find that he felt completely normal, the device's spell leaving him with no adverse effects.
Elena was watching him carefully and laid her hand against his cool cheek. "Are you okay?"
The concern and fear in her voice clutched at his heart. "I'm fine, Elena." He started the ignition and smirked at her. "I'm sure the same can't be said for the vampires that were in he square." Shrugging, he added under his breath, "One less thing to worry about." He pulled back onto the road. "Remind me to beat the shit out of your uncle the next time I see him."
She relaxed against the seat and smiled. He was fine. "Since you're feeling better, would you mind stopping by my house. I'd like to pick up some clothes and things so I can stay with you tonight."
He made a u-turn and headed for her house. "Mmmm..clothes and things? What kinds of things? Handcuffs? Whips? Chains?" Leaning close to her he whispered seductively, "Edible underwear?"
She laughed at that, glad that he was feeling well enough to tease her. "No pervert. I was thinking more along the lines of my toothbrush and blow dryer."
"Ohhh…that sounds even kinkier."
He teased her for the rest of the drive, enjoying the simple pleasure of making her laugh. Pulling up in front of her house, Damon sped to the passenger side and opened her door. They started up the stairs to the porch and Damon froze, yanking Elena behind him. His eyes grew dark and his fangs lengthened. Someone inside was bleeding heavily – possibly dying or already dead.
"What's wrong?"
He couldn't tell her what he smelled; he knew she would run inside looking for her aunt, completely disregarding her own safety. Making a snap decision, he whirled around and, ignoring her gasp, yanked her necklace off, breaking the chain. Staring into her eyes, his pupils dilated and he compelled her. "Elena, get into the car and drive to the boarding house. Wait for me in my room. Do you understand?"
Her expression was blank as she responded, "I understand."
He handed her the keys and kissed her quickly. "Go." He knew there would be hell to pay later, but he'd rather face her wrath than the possibility of her getting hurt.
She nodded and moved back to the car mechanically. Getting inside she revved the engine and took off down the street
Satisfied that she was out of immediate danger, he opened her front door and slipped inside silently. The air was drenched with the mouth-watering scent of blood and he followed the smell through the house to the kitchen where his eyes landed on the crumpled body of John Gilbert. He had been eviscerated, split wide open from groin to neck, his face now twisted in a permanent mask of shock and horror. He absorbed the carnage for a fraction of a second before ascertaining he was not alone. Katherine was standing at the sink calmly washing the blood from her hands. Shutting the water off, she reached for a dish towel and dried her hands carefully.
"Hello, Damon, "she greeted him without looking up from her task.
The world tilted on its axis when he saw her and he stepped back, trying to get his bearings. "Katherine..?"
She turned and favored him with a cold smile. "Hello lover." Sauntering over to him she put her hands on his chest. She leaned up and kissed his unmoving lips. "Did you miss me?"