Disclaimer - I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters

Author's Note - A big thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing. I love hearing what you have to say - hate it ir love it. Also a question - Does anyone know if there any prompt tables out there for Damon/Elena stories?

Elena was pacing Damon's room like a caged animal. Which is exactly what she felt like at the moment. After Damon had compelled her, she had driven to his house robotically. She wanted to turn around and go back to her house, but her body simply would not comply with her brain's orders. When she arrived at the boarding house, she had gone straight to Damon's room where she had been pacing for over an hour. She had even tried to open the door a couple of times. It had been a pathetic attempt to defy him, but her hand refused to turn the knob. Being under Damon's control was infuriating.

The door to his bedroom slammed open unexpectedly and Damon rushed in. Relief was evident in his gaze when he saw her standing there and he moved to embrace her, momentarily forgetting that she would be angry with him.

Elena squirmed out of his grasp. "Stop!" she yelled, slapping his arms away. "I can't believe that you would do that to me! That you would compel me," she hissed at him. "That was a complete violation of my trust."

Damon took a hard stance before biting back at her. "You left me no choice Elena, or have you forgotten the last time I asked you stay put?"

A flicker of chagrin washed over her face as she remembered his firm warning to stay in the car when they had gone to rescue Stefan. "Regardless, that doesn't give you the right -"

"You wouldn't have listened to me!" he exploded. "I know you, Elena. You would have marched right into a bloodbath." He paused and calmed himself before continuing. "I'm sorry that I compelled you. But I'm not sorry that it kept you safe."

Ice water flooded through her veins and her heart pounded in her chest. "What was happening in my house?"

He went to his closet and pulled out a small suitcase, throwing it on the bed. "When we got to your porch, I could smell blood. A lot of blood." He heard her small intake of breath and he strode over to her and cupped her cheeks. "Katherine was inside. She killed your uncle John."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "What?" It was only a couple of days ago that Damon had told her about his suspicions; that he thought John was her biological father. She hadn't gotten around to confronting him with Damon's theory yet. Now she would never get the chance. She choked out a sob before her stomach dropped. "Oh God! Where's Jenna?"

"She wasn't there, Elena. She's fine." He hugged her close, tightening his arms when she shuddered.

Elena pulled back to see his eyes. "Katherine? What is she doing here? How did she get into my house?"

Damon led her to his bed and sat her down. Kneeling in front of her he tried to be as delicate as possible. "She stole your dress from the school. Jenna must have assumed that she was you…,"he trailed off letting her fill in the blanks.

Elena nodded stiffly and asked hesitantly. "What does she want, Damon?" The initial shock of his revelation had subsided a bit and doubt began to creep into her heart. Katherine was back, the woman whom Damon had loved for over a century. Where did that leave her?

"Isobel told her about you. And about how I feel about you." He stood up and went to his closet, yanking clothes off of hangers randomly. "She wants you out of the picture. That vindictive bitch actually thinks I'll come crawling back to her." As he spoke, he gave his favorite shirt a brutal tug and it ripped at the seams, leaving it in tatters. "Shit! That was a limited edition," he muttered under his breath as he gathered up the pile he had amassed and threw it into the open suitcase.

"Out of the picture?" Elena stood and resumed her pacing. "What does that mean?" She cast a look at Damon who was zipping the suitcase closed. "And why are you packing?" Her eyes widened and tears pooled in her eyes again. "Are you leaving?"

He paused to look at her and was thunderstruck by the heartbroken look in her soft brown eyes. Horrified that she would even consider that, his voice was choked with emotion as he reassured her, "I would never leave you, Elena." He kissed her firmly to emphasize his point. "Never. We're leaving. I already packed some of your stuff; the bag's in my car." Resuming his frantic movements, he pulled what looked like financial documents from a drawer and carefully stowed them in the zippered compartment of his leather suitcase. He cast his eyes around his room one last time, before taking hold of her hand and pulling her towards the door.

"Damon! Wait!" she yelped, digging her heels in. "I can't just leave!"

Whirling on her angrily, he snapped, "Yes, you can! You have no idea what Katherine is capable of. She wants you out of my life, Elena. If she doesn't get what she wants, she'll kill you." He snapped his fingers in front of her terrified face. "It only takes one second. One second that I'm not watching for her to get to you. We have to leave."

"There has to be some other way."

He could see the wheels turning in her head and he stifled a groan. "I really don't want to have to compel you again, but you're not leaving me much choice."

She slammed her eyes shut and whipped her head to the side, blocking his penetrating gaze. "No! Just stop. Let's think about this for a minute." She kept her head down to avoid his eyes and flopped into one of the over-stuffed chairs in his room. "What if she just thinks we're broken up? That's all she wants right?"

Damon sighed heavily and dropped his bag. It landed at his feet with a loud thud and he sat down in the chair opposite her. "'Thinks we're broken up?' And no, that wasn't all she wanted. There was also something about Bonnie."

"Bonnie?" Her eyes flipped to his at the mention of her friend's name. "What does she want with Bonnie?

"Something about needing a witch," he gestured vaguely. "She needs help finding the vampire that turned her."

Elena sat back and gaped at him. "When you were planning on telling me that little tidbit? When we were halfway to Vegas?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Bonnie isn't very high on my list of priorities. Threatening to kill me hasn't won her any favors," he said dryly.

"She's still my friend, Damon."

"Is she?" he asked curtly.

Elena's conviction wavered a bit. "Well… I'm her friend. I can't just leave her for Katherine to use. We have to warn her."

"Fine. We'll do that. Then we'll leave."

"No," she huffed angrily. "What about my family? What do you think she'd do to them if we just disappeared? She can get into my house, Damon."

Damon bit back his instinctual response. He didn't give a shit about her family; she was his only concern. "Okay, than what do you propose, Elena?" He was only humoring her. They were going whether she liked it or not.

"Let her think we broke up…"

"And?"

A gust of wind ruffled Damon's black drapes and Elena turned to the window. Katherine had arrived. Elena stared at her, entranced. Looking at a carbon copy of herself was a surreal experience. They were perfectly matched in every way but one. Katherine's eyes were dark and empty. They produced no warmth. Elena's eyes slid to other chair and was taken aback to find it empty. Damon was now by his door and his suitcase had disappeared from its place on the floor.

Katherine favored Damon with a sharp glance before turning her attention to Elena. She placed her hands on the arms of the chair and lowered her face until they were eye to eye. Elena's senses were going haywire. Menace rolled off Katherine in black waves and blanketed Elena in terror. She pressed her back further into the chair, desperate to create some space between them.

"Hello, Elena,"

God, even their voices were identical. Elena said nothing and tried to control her panicked breaths.

Katherine kept her eyes fixed on her target as she addressed Damon. "What is she doing here?"

Damon nudged his suitcase further under his bed with a tap of his foot before making his way to Katherine and sliding his arms around her waist. "She was just leaving. Weren't you, Elena?" His voice was icy and emotionless. "Don't get me wrong – it's been fun, but I won't be needing your services anymore," he finished cruelly. The pleading look her gave her as his eyes bored into hers didn't match his tone.

Logically, Elena knew what he doing, but it didn't make his words any less painful. Her face flushed red and fresh tears filled her eyes.

Katherine chuckled at the change in her expression and righted herself. Damon quickly shifted his expression as she turned in his arms and favored him with a nasty smile. "She looks so…broken. I think she really loves you," she cooed mockingly.

"That's her cross to bear," he smirked before kissing her.

Elena watched one of his hands clutch her hip and haul her closer as the other tangled in Katherine's hair. When Katherine moaned, Elena's stomach rolled violently. She was going to be sick. She bolted for the door and was halfway down the stairs before she heard Katherine's laughter. Bursting through the front door she fell to her knees and vomited into the shrubbery that framed the house. She cursed herself briefly for not listening to Damon. They would have been on the road by now if she had. Her thoughts drifted to Jeremy and Jenna and she felt a stab of guilt for even entertaining the notion.

After emptying her stomach, she scrambled to her feet. She needed to get to Bonnie. Starting down the driveway, she began the long walk back to town.