Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Chapter One

The morgue had been the last straw. Walking into the sterile death room and seeing Elena lying on that cold hard slab almost killed him. She'd woken up by that point and Stefan was standing there comforting her. The worthless piece of shit LET her die and he had the gall to stand there and cry with her at the cruelty of the world. Something inside Damon snapped. As it turns out, Damon had only thought he'd wanted to kill Stefan over his betrayal of Katherine all those years ago. The feeling paled in comparison to the pure molten rage that pumped through his veins in the morgue. He'd have done it too. He would have killed Stefan with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, but of course Elena had to get involved. Damon stood there and listened to her defend her one true love, her soulmate, her choice.

Damon stood frozen, stunned at how pathetic his life had become as his baby brother and Elena declared their undying love for each other. Letting her die, respecting her wishes and saving Donovan instead, that was what made Stefan the better man, the man that Elena loved. Stefan was the right choice. Stefan was what she needed.

When Elena started her tortured dialogue of 'will she, won't she' transition-style, Damon was just done. He was disgusted, sick to his very core, and as far as he was concerned they fucking deserved each other. Right before he walked out the door and out of their metaphorical lives, he told them so. He headed straight to the nearest liquor store, bought every bottle of bourbon they had in stock, and drove to the cemetery to bury the body of the best friend he ever had. All the fighting, all the death and all the sacrifices for what? An ignorant teenage girl who throws it all away and willingly gives up.

He'd spent the rest of the night and all the next day toasting Ric and debating taking off his ring and taking a sunlight walk. His phone rang so many times and from so many different callers he thought about smashing the fucker to pieces. Stefan, Jeremy, Caroline, Meredith, Liz, Carol, the Boarding House, the Gilbert House, even fucking BONNIE called him and he ignored them all. It was only the last call that got his attention.

The final call was from Katherine. She told him to pack his shit and meet her two towns over. Somehow or another she'd heard the news and she said it was time for him to come home. The fight was over. One final trip to the boarding house, one final massive blowout with the Mystic Misfits about everything from Elena's now fully-transitioned status, to the super-stake, to his leaving town and Damon blew out the front door and out of Mystic Falls for good. Good riddance.

The first few months he'd been miserable and mean as a fucking snake. Damon had done his best to revert back to days past. He'd drank and whored his way through every town they passed. The one line he wouldn't cross was killing his prey. He'd come close a few times, been tempted, and he'd almost beat a couple of drunk assholes to death with his bare hands in a bar fight, but something held him back. Damon refused to focus too close on what that something was. He told himself he didn't want to prove them right. That's what they thought of him…what they expected and as Damon had told Elena on one oh-so-fateful night, he didn't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations…or well down in this case but whatever.

Eventually somehow Damon had found himself calming down again. He drank less, stopped fucking everything that moved, and even went back to feeding mostly on blood bags. He almost fell out in shock the day he realized Katherine was sustaining herself the same way. When he called her on it she just shrugged and explained that less feeding meant less moving and she was tired of running. Besides, she'd smirked, after five hundred years killing really wasn't that big of a thrill anymore. She killed when she had to, when it was necessary, or when she was pissed off, but there was no point in going around killing off the food supply.

After that discussion, they'd stopped hopping every town after two weeks and hung around as long as they liked. They'd spent the last three months solid in a small town located outside of Birmingham, Alabama. They were close enough to the city to feed and party if they wanted, but far enough out that the noise didn't drive them insane. It didn't hurt that Birmingham had about six major hospitals located in its metropolitan area. They'd even talked about buying a place to live and settling there semi-permanently.

Life had been pretty good…until his damn phone rang. Now he was throwing his things into the Camaro and willingly heading back to Mystic Falls. He regretted it already.

"You're not going to try to turn this little rescue mission into a permanent relocation back to Mystic Hell, are you?" the stunning brunette drawled from the passenger seat. She turned her head to face him and tipped her sunglasses down so she could make eye contact when she glared at him. "I will beat the shit out of you, snap your neck, throw you in the trunk, and drive us back to Alabama myself."

Damon's eyes danced and the corners of his mouth tipped upward, "Promise?"

"Count on it."

Rolling his shoulders restlessly, Damon tried to focus on the road and ignore her glare burning through him. "We find the stake, hopefully removing any witches after Saint Stefan in the process, and then we wave at them in the rearview mirror on our way back out of town."

"You wave," Katherine said, "I'll flip them off." She looked back forward just in time to groan as they passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. "Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE this fucking town?"

Damon couldn't help but feel his own mood sour along with his sire's. He was really back. He couldn't believe it. Fucking hell. "If I didn't love the Camaro so much, I'd take that damn sign out on our way back out of town. Welcome, my ass."

The two fell silent as Damon followed the familiar roads toward the boarding house and brought the last leg of their journey to a close. He was somewhat relieved not to see any cars parked out front as they pulled to a stop. It wasn't a guarantee no one was home, they did have a garage, but in the past Elena and her annoying friends had always parked out front. Damon knew he would have to face them all eventually, but he would prefer to get settled before dealing with anyone except maybe Stefan who should be expecting him.

"Let the fun begin," Katherine grumbled as she opened the car door and slowly climbed out stretching like a cat and showing off an impressive amount of skin in her tiny crimson halter top and painted on jeans. Damon watched as her long brown curls bounced when she strutted to the back of the car and leaned back against it waiting for him to open the trunk. He climbed out of his own door and walked around to accommodate her. When she grabbed both their luggage, Damon gave her a questioning look. She smirked. "I'll deal with this. You deal with your brother."

Damon made a face. "In what world is that a fair trade?" She grinned as she strutted away dragging the suitcases across the gravel. Damon took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was to come. He didn't want to drag this out. He didn't want to get involved in any immature petty drama. He was here to find the stake and then he was gone. In and out, that was it. This was a mission, not a damn reunion. Straightening his leather jacket and running his hands through his hair, Damon followed after his sire.

Katherine had stopped to wait for him at the front door. She made a show of playing with her nail, but Damon knew she was avoiding knocking and facing Steffy alone. Damon wondered if Stefan already knew someone was here or if he was back on the bunnies and his senses really were that bad. God, he hoped his idiot brother had at least continued working on his control over the last year. All they needed was to be facing down the super-stake and a bunch of witches with the bunny brigade for backup. He and Katherine might as well go solo.

Throwing Katherine a mocking look, Damon reached up and knocked on the front door. It opened before his hand even dropped back to his side. Damon was momentarily relieved as he stared at is brother. At least his senses weren't dull. Then Damon remembered that the last time he'd seen his darling brother he'd buried a stake through his guts for kicks and he hoped Steffy wasn't holding a grudge. "Hello, little brother."

Stefan looked at the two new arrivals stunned. He frowned confused at his sire. "Elena?"

Katherine's lips curled in disgust and she turned to Damon. "And that is why YOU are my favorite Salvatore." Blowing Damon a kiss, she stepped forward and shoved past Stefan knocking him sideways with her hip as she drug the luggage behind her. She tossed her curls over her shoulder and glanced back at the brothers on her way to the stairs. "I'll just be getting us settled into your room, Damon. Join me when you're finished catching up with Romeo. We could both use a shower after the drive and you know I love to conserve water."

The last jab was classic Katherine and Damon smiled in appreciation. He also took his time watching that curvy backside sway as she strutted away. When she started climbing the stairs, Damon shook his head and looked back to Steffy. Baby brother was still stunned speechless at the unexpected turn of events. "What, you thought Gilbert decided to curl her hair?"

Stefan tried to pull himself together. He glared at Damon. "You invited Katherine, Damon? What were you thinking?"

"Invited is a word," Damon mused, then he shook his head again as he stepped forward over the threshold to the boarding house and past his brother, "look it's a long story, Steffy, but she was with me when you called and we can use all the help we can get. She wants that stake back just as much as we do. "

"You know how Elena feels about her, Damon."

Damon sneered in disgust. "Gilbert will just have to go put on her big girl panties then, Stefan, because we are dealing with more important things than her immature inferiority complex because Katherine tapped that first."

The woman in question laughed from up the steps. Stefan glared after the sound. "We don't need Katherine."

Gritting his teeth, Damon faced off with his saintly brother. "We're a package deal. Get over it." He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath as he told himself to calm down. Stefan looked exactly the same. He was all angst, teenage drama, and hair gel brooding away his forever in his eternal seventeen-year-old glory. Well fuck that, this wasn't why he was here. No immature drama bullshit, he was here for the stake and then he was gone. He was above this, he was over it. "You can fill me in later, Stefan. I'm going to save my closet from Katherine."

Before Damon could take more than two steps, Stefan awkwardly cleared his throat. "About your room…"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Katherine's outraged voice filled the air as she came flying back down the stairs and next to Damon. Her eyes flashing fire and voice dripping venom, she turned to her companion. "Give me your wallet."

Damon felt his mood head even further south. "Why?"

She smiled and cocked her head to the side, but Damon could see the veins trying to raise themselves through the flawless olive skin around her eyes. "Because, darling, I'm going to buy us some new furniture and bedding."

Once again, Damon told himself to take a deep breath and stay calm. He looked back at his brother for some reasonable explanation even as he reached into his back pocket and pulled his wallet free to hand to Katherine. "You were saying?"

Stefan clenched his jaw and glared at his brother defensively. "You know as well as I do how volatile newborns can be. She wasn't thinking clearly."

Damon looked helplessly at Katherine trying to gage just how bad the damage was. He'd loved his room. He'd set it up perfectly to match is tastes and preferences. The veins around Katherine's eyes darkened even further but she wouldn't answer his look. She flashed Stefan a fang as she stormed past him. "Stupid fucking little doppelbitch!"

After a few more minutes of struggling for control of his famously bad temper, Damon was finally able to look at his brother again without seeing red. Stefan was still prepared for battle and nervous as hell. Damon had no desire to set him at ease, but the standoff couldn't last forever.

He wouldn't even let himself look toward the stairs as he walked into the parlor and toward the sidebar. If his exceptional eyesight wasn't betraying him, the crystal decanters and glasses also looked different than he remembered. Taking in Stefan's rueful expression, Damon decided he didn't want to ask. It didn't matter. Get in, get the stake, and get the fuck out…that was all that mattered. He poured himself a drink and lifted it slowly to his lips for a sip. "I believe you were going to fill me in?"

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