Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing.

Note: Okay, my lovelies, I'm going to now update "Cat and Mouse." I re-read Chapter 9 so that I know where I left off and how best to continue. Thank you to everyone who sent me feedback. You guys are the best! When we last left everyone, Damon and Elena have a steamy reunion and Damon reveals that he was innocent all along, and that Klaus made him kill those girls. No spoilers, except the action in this chapter takes place the next day.

Office of District Attorney Alaric Saltzman – Next Day

Elena sighed as she walked off the elevator. She was here to see Alaric Saltzman, the District Attorney, about clearing Damon's name. She was thinking about she found out yesterday and that Damon wasn't responsible for the murders at all, that Klaus forced him to do it.

No sooner did she get there than her cell phone rang. Seeing Damon's cell number on the ID, she picked up. "Damon, you really shouldn't be calling me."

"And since when did I care about timing?"

"Good point, but you still shouldn't be calling me here," said Elena. "I'm about to walk into the office of the District Attorney and ask him to drop all the charges against you. Then, I was planning on calling you and telling you the result of my meeting with him."

"You can still call me with the results," said Damon. "Think of this as a call to wish you good luck."

Elena smiled. "Thank you, Damon. I think I'm going to need a lot of good luck right now, because, judging from how long you were Klaus' hostage/accomplice, you probably have a rap sheet that's half a mile long and clearing your name isn't going to be easy."

There was a pause after that until Damon said, "Listen to me, okay? I have faith in you, Elena. If anyone is going to get this resolved, it's you. I know you, you don't give up for anything."

Elena nodded. It was nice to know that he had confidence in her. He truly did love her, or he wouldn't be telling her this right now.

"I appreciate your faith in me, Damon," she said. "I promise you, I will clear your name. I love you and whatever it takes, I'll fight for you, for us. Once you're able to live a normal life again, we can truly be together."

"You have no idea how much I'd like that," said Damon. "I never want to be without you."

"That feeling is mutual," said Elena. "I'd hate to cut this call short, but I don't want to keep Alaric waiting. I'll call you later."

"It's okay, just do what you have to do," said Damon. "I'll keep myself busy." Seeing that she was about to say something further, he added, "Don't worry, I promise that I'll stay out of trouble."

Elena sighed and after telling him she loved him, she hung up and walked into the office. Upon entry, she saw a woman with short, curly blond hair and blue eyes sitting at the front desk. Wasting no time, Elena approached the woman and showed her badge.

"Detective Gilbert here to see Alaric Saltzman."

"I'll let him know you're here, Detective," said the blond. "Just have a seat."

Nodding, Elena took a seat and waited as the woman went about her task. Sighing, she tapped the arm rest on the chair, all the while thinking about the phone call from Damon. She couldn't get over how much faith he had in her to help him. Guess he didn't really have anyone he could truly trust, since he had gone through hell when he was with Klaus, and Elena was the first person he opened up to.

After a few minutes, Alaric himself appeared. "Hello, Elena. This is an unexpected surprise."

"I know that my timing is probably way off, Ric, but this is really important."

"Come on in," said Alaric. "We can discuss the matter in my office. I mean, I would talk about it here, but sometimes, walls have ears." He gave a look to the blond. "I didn't get to be the District Attorney by trusting people fully."

Elena said nothing, just nodded and followed Alaric to his office, where she shut the door behind her and cleared her throat, hoping to cut straight to the chase, having not been one to beat around the bush.

"Ric, I realize that you've got a lot of shit going on right now and this is probably not something you're expecting to hear," she said. "But, like I said, it's important."

"Yeah, you did say that," said Alaric. "What does it pertain to?"

"The Damon Salvatore case."

"Did you catch him yet?"

"I think he's innocent," said Elena. "No, scratch that, I know he's innocent. The real murderer was a man by the name of Klaus. True, Damon's fingerprints were on the throats of those girls, but Klaus is the one you should've been after and not Damon."

"How do you know he's innocent?" said Alaric. "Has he been in contact with you?"

Elena hesitated. She didn't want to tell Alaric that she and Damon had also been having sex. Nodding, she said, "You could say that, yes. He told me that Klaus was using him to commit those crimes. If you don't believe me, have someone go to the docks and they'll find Klaus' body in one of the warehouses."

"Wait, Klaus' body?" said Alaric. "You mean he's dead?"

"Yes," said Elena. "Damon killed him." She gulped. "To save me. Klaus kidnapped me and was about to rape me, but Damon killed him."

She wasn't lying, Klaus really did try to rape her, and because she was tied up, she was defenseless. If Damon hadn't shown up, she also would've been murdered.

When she saw that Alaric was suddenly quiet, she said, "Ric, please say something. I swear to God that I'm not making any of this up. I mean, why would I lie about something as serious as being kidnapped and nearly raped?"

"Oh, I believe you," he replied. "But, what I'm having a hard time believing is the fact that you're telling that Damon Salvatore is innocent."

"Another thing I'm not making up," said Elena. "Ric, please, I'm asking you as a friend to drop the charges against Damon. He's just as much a victim as the girls Klaus made him kill. Instead of punishing him for something that wasn't even his fault, you should be working to help him."

Alaric nodded. "Very well, Elena, I'll see what I can do about dropping the charges." He sighed. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," said Elena. "After what he's been through, Damon deserves to live a normal life."

She didn't give him a chance to answer and walked out of the office, hopeful that things would go her way.

Elena's Apartment – 2 Hours Later...

Elena let out a sigh as she walked into her apartment and no sooner did she walk in than she heard a knock at the window. Seeing that it was Damon, she hurried over and opened it, closing it afterward. She wasn't expecting to see him, since she had been planning to call him.

Regardless, she embraced him and kissed him, her heart pounding. Damon returned her kiss and placed one hand on the small of her back and the other on her chest, feeling how fast her heart was beating. He pulled away then.

"Are you okay, love? Your heart is pounding."

"I'm fine, just anxious to see you," she replied. "It took some convincing, but I got Alaric to drop the charges against you."

"Did you tell him that Klaus made me kill those girls?"

"Yes," said Elena. "I even told him you killed him to save me."

Damon nodded and was about to say something when the door opened and in walked Caroline. When she saw Elena in Damon's arms, she screamed out in panic. Getting out of the embrace, Elena went over to her friend and placed her hand over her mouth to stop the screaming.

"Caroline, listen to me," she said. "Damon wasn't hurting me. He's not the one who killed those girls, Klaus was. He made Damon kill them after threatening him with death. Now, I'm going to take my hand away. Are you going to calm down?"

Caroline looked over at Damon and then back at Elena, nodding. Elena removed her hand and to her surprise (and relief), Caroline didn't scream again. Instead, she looked at her with an incredulous look.

"You really believe that he's innocent, Elena?"

"Yes," she replied. "In fact, I was at Ric's office, convincing him to drop the charges."

"I figured as much when I saw you walking out." She looked at Damon again. "Do you think we can trust him? He isn't going to hurt us, is he?"

"No," said Damon, answering the question for Elena. "I can assure you, Caroline, that I wouldn't dream of harming you. Besides, I don't answer to Klaus anymore."

Caroline said nothing further, just nodded. Although she didn't know what to make of this, she trusted Elena's judgment on this. After all, she had never been wrong about anything, so there was a good chance that she was right a bout Damon being innocent.

Note: Granted, this isn't as long as Chapter 17 of "In Session," but hey, it's an update. :)

ENJOY THE UPDATE AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW!