A/N: It's time for Elijah to make a real appearance in this story. I've never written him before, but I think it went okay. As always, thanks for reading and reviews are much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters. I do own Rebecca, since she is not the same as the character on the show ;)

Chapter 6

Damon didn't see Stefan that day, and he wasn't exactly enthusiastic enough about the idea of that conversation to hunt his brother down. And that afternoon Becca got a call from Elijah that he would be in town the next day and needed to talk to everyone, and Damon put aside his promise to talk to Stefan to speculate and make plans for the Original's visit. He vetoed the idea of dinner, not wanting to remind anyone about the last dinner party that he had held for Elijah (and Elena and Ric would be the only humans in attendance anyway, so what would be the point of food?), but the occasion provided a good excuse to restock his liquor supply, not that Damon needed much of an excuse for that.

So now Damon and Becca sat together on one couch, Stefan and Elena on another with Ric, Caroline, and Elijah forming the other points of their little circle as they drank and talked. So far Damon could identify nothing of importance that had been said, although he had noted that Elena was drinking uncharacteristically heavily and kept shooting cryptic looks his way.

Finally Elijah filled a silence with a statement of significance. "I have found a witch who is willing to relocate to Mystic Falls." The silence only deepened after those words. Damon guessed he wasn't the only one thinking of Bonnie. He took another long drink of his bourbon and watched Elena do the same with whatever she was drinking now. "With all the mystical activity that has taken place here recently, if you'll pardon the pun, it has become noticeable as something of a supernatural hot spot, and I thought it best for the town to have a resident witch. She is, in fact, a descendant of Emily Bennett."

Damon broke the ensuing silence. "What's her name?" He had attempted to keep track of the Bennett bloodline, after all.

"Amaya Patterson." Damon frowned, trying to remember the intricacies of the Bennett family tree. Human families became complicated in a hundred and fifty years, and he was by no means certain that he knew about all of the branches these days. Elijah looked at him speculatively. "She is a distant cousin of Bonnie's," he clarified.

Elena sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "She can never replace Bonnie." Her voice was stubborn. And she sounded rather drunk to Damon's ears. "We don't need her."

Ric spoke reasonably. "Elijah has a point."

Elijah nodded at him. "Ric, would you be available to show Amaya around town on Thursday? Perhaps you could help her identify a place to live."

As Ric nodded, Caroline piped up. "Why couldn't she just stay here? It's a boarding house, isn't it?"

Stefan spoke then. "Of course she is welcome to stay here until she finds a place, but there is a reason this place hasn't been a functioning boarding house in decades."

Damon snorted. "Yeah, because I had a habit of eating the guests."

Beside him, Becca giggled as eyes turned to Damon from all over the room. Elena got out the first condemnation. "Damon, you don't mean that."

He couldn't resist. "All you can eat buffet." Then he raised his hands in supplication. "Kidding, mostly. Seriously, Stefan's right. She can stay here in the short term, but she should find her own place." He and Becca needed some privacy after all.

"It is technically my house," Elena said. She just had to bring that up. It had certainly seemed like a good idea at the time.

"You just let me know when you want to start paying the property taxes on this place," Damon countered.

Elijah had been following the conversation with some amusement. "So it is decided that Ric will show Amaya around on Thursday." And Damon wondered at Elijah's choice of points of emphasis, but he didn't say anything.

After that, the conversation turned back to topics of, in Damon's opinion, little importance. Elena kept drinking, but Damon noted with a touch of worry that she remained a safe distance away from Stefan on the couch, in sharp contrast to the way he and Becca had moved closer and closer as the evening wore on. It was after midnight when Stefan declared that Elena had had enough to drink and he was taking her up to bed. Caroline took that as her cue to leave as well, and Ric asked if he could crash upstairs since he too had had a lot to drink. Damon refrained from pointing out that this was why the house was feeling downright crowded lately, especially since Ric was his best friend and actually was welcome to stay any time.

That left Damon, Becca, and Elijah. Becca now sat curled against Damon's side. He had his arm possessively around her, and he noticed that her body fit against his just as perfectly here as they fit together in the bedroom. In truth, he was a bit surprised (but very pleased) that she was willing to make their new relationship so public so soon. He wasn't, after all, the kind of guy that women usually wanted to introduce to their family and friends. And the fact that Elijah already knew him didn't seem likely to help the odds of winning his approval.

And Damon knew he was about to demonstrate exactly why he was generally kept away from respectable company. "So why do I get the impression you're trying to play matchmaker with Ric and the new witch?" he asked Elijah.

Elijah shrugged. "Jenna's death was unfortunate. She was a good woman."

"Well, if you hadn't . . ." Damon was halfway into reviving an old argument about who was at fault for Jenna's death when Becca brought her finger up to his lips to silence him. He obeyed, only because his response had been more reflexive than anything else – he was sick of that argument, too. He did, however, open his mouth and run his tongue teasingly along Becca's finger. Next he slipped his hand up through her hair to caress her neck, and he heard her breathing change and felt her body shiver against his. Damon stifled a grin at that and looked at Becca with eyes that sparkled with false innocence. He shifted their positions slightly and kissed her, mouth open and demanding.

"I believe the saying is 'get a room.'" Elijah's voice was dry, but he looked amused.

"For once, we're in agreement." Damon looked questioningly at Becca and she nodded.

Becca stood up, her hand locked in Damon's. "Good night, Elijah," she said.

Damon had to add his two cents. "Make yourself at home. Everyone else does."

•••••

A few hours later, Becca reluctantly climbed out of bed, leaving behind a sleeping Damon. She pulled on one of his black t-shirts and her own fitted yoga pants (not that she had tried yoga yet, but she wanted to some day – and the clothes were comfortable). Damon's shirt was huge on her, but she liked being surrounded by his scent. With a glance back at Damon, she reluctantly padded to the door and slipped out of the room. She knew Elijah would also be awake, and she had a feeling that he had more to discuss with her.

•••••

Elijah put aside the book he had been reading as he heard Rebecca slip almost silently down the stairs. He knew she was being careful not to wake Damon or Stefan.

In truth, Elijah didn't disapprove of Rebecca's relationship with Damon. He had seen the connection between the two of them almost from the minute Rebecca woke up from death, and he had in fact been a bit surprised that it had taken them this long to acknowledge that they were kindred spirits. He hadn't missed how much time they had spent together during the campaign against Klaus or the way Rebecca had hardly left Damon's bedside when the younger vampire lay in a coma afterwards. Moreover, Elijah had seen Damon bring out a side of his sister that he had not seen for many, many years even before Klaus had killed her. Rebecca had again shown signs of the free-spirited woman who had loved life and sought out new experiences, who had an impish sense of humor and a ready smile. Elijah was very glad to see that sister resurface.

And he considered Damon suitable enough as a companion for Rebecca. Damon might be young, reckless, and impulsive, but he had never evinced any desire for more power or wealth than he already possessed or sought any variety of world domination – and it was the vampires with those sorts of ambitions who worried Elijah. In the time he had known Damon and from what he had learned of the younger vampire's history, Damon's motivation had usually been to aid and protect the people he loved, so while Elijah might often disagree with Damon's methods, he approved of the younger vampire's priorities. And after being dead for so long, his siblings needed any connections that they could form to this new world in which they found themselves. Rebecca was, in fact, the one who worried him the least right now. Which was why he needed her help.

He greeted her with a quiet word and a nod. "Rebecca." After she had sat down, he added. "So, you and Damon are together now?"

•••••

Becca's voice was also quiet as she answered Elijah. "Yes." She hesitated, wondering how much to tell him. "We have formed a blood bond."

Elijah looked up sharply at that. Becca felt a bit gratified that she had managed to surprise her older brother. "Was that wise?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It just happened."

"Rebecca, a blood bond does not just happen."

"He offered me his blood. I reciprocated, and the bond formed from that."

If she hadn't known Elijah, she would have thought that look might be shock. "It takes time to develop a blood bond."

"Not in this case. It was a full bond immediately. I do not understand it either," she admitted. "But I am not complaining. We make each other happy, I think."

Elijah nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, I think that you do. It is odd to see Damon happy, in fact."

They both fell silent then, and after a few minutes of companionable silence (something you got used to when you were as old as they were), Becca brought up the other subject that had not been discussed while the others were awake. "Do you have news of our siblings?"

Elijah sighed. "I do, but it is not all good."

•••••

Becca slipped quietly back into Damon's room. She was pleased that Elijah seemingly had no objections to her relationship with Damon. She would not give Damon up for anything, but she was happy not to have to fight her brother on the subject. Elijah and Damon had often clashed during their search for Klaus and Stefan, so she had not been sure how her brother would react. With a small smile on her face, she stripped out of her clothes to rejoin Damon in bed and turned around only to find him watching her. Even in the dark, she could see the combination of amusement and desire in his eyes. Becca had often been isolated because of her power as an Original, and she had sometimes been sought out for that power, but she had rarely been wanted as a woman – as everything that she was – the way she knew that Damon wanted her. It was intoxicating. "Did you enjoy the show?" she asked him teasingly. In truth, she would have put on more of a show if she had realized Damon was awake.

"Very much." His beautiful blue eyes stayed locked on her as she settled back into bed, lying facing him. "What did Elijah say?"

"I will tell you in the morning." Right now she wanted to forget the potential problems with her siblings that Elijah had raised. "Go back to sleep."

"What if I'm not tired?"

Becca looked at him. If he wasn't tired, she had a question to ask him. "Damon, have you ever felt anything like this, like the bond between us?"

Damon looked puzzled at her serious tone of voice. "No," he admitted after a moment. He sounded a bit reluctant to Becca.

"You know it is a blood bond? And it happened much . . . faster than most."

Damon had caught her serious mood now. "I guessed as much." But the seriousness only lasted a second before his voice sounded teasing again. "I like it."

She matched his teasing, sexy tone. "Do you?"

Damon brought his hand up and stroked through her hair and down her neck and shoulder. "Mmm hmm. But you know, it hurts my ego that I can't even tire you out."

She snorted. "Your ego is perfectly healthy." But she couldn't resist softening her response. "As it should be. I just do not sleep. But you should. It is late, and all of your guests will be waking up soon."

"What if I would rather do something else other than sleep?" He slid closer to her and kissed her. As his mouth plundered hers and his hands danced across her body, Becca was more than happy to go along with Damon's version of "something else."

Later Becca lay in Damon's arms, her body relaxed in the aftermath of pleasure. Damon had fallen back asleep, and he had instinctively drawn her close to him. She luxuriated in the feeling of his hard muscled body surrounding hers, his breath fluttering her hair as he slept. She envied Damon sleep just then, but she quieted the whirring of her mind by focusing on the peace she could feel through him.