Damon scowled as he dialed his friend's number. Holding his cracked phone to his ear, he waited impatiently for Klaus to pick up.

"'Lo?" Klaus' hoarse voice mumbled through the phone.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Damon snapped irritably. "You went back to sleep?" he accused bitterly. "I could have had at least another hour."

Klaus yawned loudly, and Damon could hear rustling on the other end of the phone and a faint murmur from Caroline. "I assumed you'd still be busy with your girl." He told him pacifyingly, sounding rather regretful. Damon snorted mentally, Klaus was lucky to be getting away from an extremely hung over Caroline. "I'm on my way."

Damon sighed, groaning in consent before hanging up, pressing the screen slightly harder than necessary. He sat down, rolling his head back against the soft leather sofas in his apartment, closing his eyes for a moment. He was exhausted; he was not a morning person. Mornings were meant for sleeping in and slouching lazily about his apartment or nursing a hangover, depending on how good his previous night had been. Opening his eyes dejectedly, he yawned loudly, wanting nothing more than to drive back to Elena's empty apartment and stay asleep for several more hours. He resisted the urge to call her just to wake her up and have her yell at him; she'd been through hell, he'd give it a week or so before he started wrecking her sleeping pattern again. An absent smile crept unwillingly onto his face. He shook his head at his own ridiculousness, Damon Salvatore was not the kind of man to want to spend his Sunday mornings curled up in bed cuddling; he usually went about his Sundays largely hung over and avoiding anything that resembled work. Tracking down his Vengeful brother wasn't exactly high on the list of things he'd thought he'd ever do. He rolled over, folding his arms under a cushion and buried his face in the soft fabric. His yawn was largely muffled, his shoulder cracking painfully as he stretched. Damon slowly let his many sleepless nights catch up to him, and his eyes drifted shut, returning him to a world of lazy Sundays and sleepy kisses.

Giuseppe wandered through the clubhouse, running his hand over his weary face. "How long were you and John on the phone for?" he queried loudly, rousing Grayson from his restless sleep on the couch. Grayson's head shot up, and he provided an almost comical sight with his befuddled expression and bleary eyes. Grayson made a questioning noise, rubbing his face to wake himself up. "How long were you and John talking for?" Giuseppe repeated, slightly impatiently.

Grayson scowled and stood up, walking around the large office to wake him up. "All night, on and off. He's got nothing." He snapped restlessly, waving his arms around exaggeratedly. The other man couldn't help but smile. For someone who could pull a trigger in the space of a heartbeat; ending a life by his own hand, he was certainly fretting rather amusingly. "There's nothing." He stressed, groaning loudly.

"Nothing? Not even on the shooting?" Giuseppe asked incredulously. "Not on Stefan, or Elena or anyone?"

"Nope." Grayson said, popping the 'p' obnoxiously, riling Giuseppe up, he had a certain hatred for that sound; it came from raising Damon Salvatore as his son. "Zilch. Zéro. Nada."

"You're useless." Giuseppe griped, scowling at his friend.

"Hey!" Grayson said defensively. "You're the one who's had nearly a fortnight to talk to Damon and get real, solid answers and you haven't."

Giuseppe rolled his eyes disbelievingly. "You've got to be kidding me. He was a mess. He barely slept; he couldn't form coherent sentences, Gray."

"So go find him now." Grayson said dryly, staring down his friend with a persistent gaze. "I know you want answers."

Giuseppe scowled and stood up, letting a small smile slip through his façade. "Fine. I'll go question my son; you go question your daughter. We'll probably end up at the same place." He winked slyly, enjoying his friend's discomfort immensely.

Grayson groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I do not need that image in my head!" he yelled, shuddering disgustedly as a look of horror passed over his features.

"Be realistic Gray." He scoffed smirking amusedly. "They haven't spent a night apart as far as I know, why start now?"

"Giuseppe." he began through gritted teeth. Giuseppe grinned widely, grabbing his car keys from his desk and shoving them into his pocket.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He said dismissively, waking towards the door. Grayson followed him, fishing in his pockets for a set of keys. "I'll call you if I find him."

Grayson raised an eyebrow, steadily looking at his friend. "You make it seem like you won't find him." Giuseppe shrugged, opening his car door and sliding inside.

Just as he reached to close his door, he looked up, his eyes knowing, a depth of knowledge deeper than the ocean itself. "I won't find him if he doesn't want to be found."

"Alaric!" Giuseppe bellowed, pounding loudly on his old friends door. "Wake the hell up!" he thumped his fist on the door handle. Giuseppe Salvatore was not a patient man; he could wait if the occasion desperately called for it but if there was time to wait on something, was it really worth a single moment of his time?

Ric stumbled to the door, his shadowed figure visible through the fogged glass. He opened the door reluctantly, staring at Giuseppe murderously. "Do your family have an unhealthy obsession with waking me up?" he growled, retreating back into his home, motioning for his boss to follow.

Giuseppe smirked, folding his arms and shaking his head at Ric. He was sitting on his worn leather couch, rubbing his eyes in a half-hearted bid to wake himself up. "Where's Damon?" he asked sharply, his ice blue eagle eyes boring into Ric's.

"No idea." He replied, immediately seeming more awake; the fading remnants of sleep faded from his eyes as he met Giuseppe's eyes steadily.

"Don't play dumb, Ric." Giuseppe sighed exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the hair. "You know everything that has ever happened. Literally. You know out history; you know the Vengeful Souls' history, hell, you even know the Rebels' history!"

"The Rebels?" Ric said slowly, contemplating the possibility. "That's over a dozen clubs."

"It was an example."

"A really bad one." He muttered under his breath, standing up and heading to the kitchen to make coffee. Talk about exaggeration; the Rebels were an alliance of thirteen clubs and over a hundred chapters. One man knowing their history, having had to work his way up through the darkest, shadiest corners of their chapters wasn't exactly going to happen. Histories were sacred; they held the dirtiest secrets of the hidden war waging between the clashing chapters.

"Alaric," Giuseppe snarled menacingly. "Tell me what you know."

Ric looked up at Giuseppe resolutely. The older man didn't intimidate him. He had faced worse than one man demanding answers to a mystery bigger than the world itself. "I know nothing." He said through gritted teeth. "I don't know where Damon is."

Giuseppe glared at his friend; the bastard was fearless. "You know. You just won't tell me. Loyal bastard."

Ric raised his coffee mug in salute, smirking slightly. "Until the very end."

"Don't be cheerful now Ric. People might get the wrong idea." Giuseppe bit out sarcastically, a small smirk appearing on his face.

"Come on 'Gus," he answered wearily, his voice penetrated with sadness. "I can't answer your questions."

"Does he know who shot her?" he asked bluntly. "Ric." He added warningly, his tone leaving no room for deflecting. "Does he know?"

Alaric nodded once; a sharp jerk of his head as he looked away. "He's going after him."

"And you won't tell me who the goddamned shooter is?"

He shook his head slowly. "You don't want to know."

Giuseppe looked up in surprise, looking intently at Ric. "Why not?"

"Let Damon tell you. He's the only one who should really." He shrugged, standing up and running a hand through his hair. "I really am sorry you didn't get your answers."

"Loyalty to your president comes before loyalty to your friends doesn't it?" Giuseppe asked ruefully, chuckling lightly.

"Not for me." Ric replied, shrugging absently. He walked with him out into the hallway of his home, opening the door for him and nodding politely. Giuseppe sighed, smirking dryly. Ric shrugged once and shut the door, leaving Giuseppe with nothing but his worries, and a whole new scope of questions.

Elena woke suddenly, blinking groggily to try and readjust her eyes to the bright light streaming into the apartment. A harsh knocking at the door had her wanting to curl up in a ball and not move for at least a year. She groaned, rolling out of bed and fumbled for her jeans, hastily dragging them up her legs and wandering over to the door, running her finger through her hair. She grabbed the door handle, pulling it open as she yawned widely.

"Dad?" she said in surprise, stepping backwards to let her father enter her apartment. "What's up?" she asked nonchalantly; her dad hadn't even attempted to call her since she got discharged from the hospital.

Grayson walked in, looking around suspiciously and glaring at his daughter's questionable attire. "No Damon?" he asked hesitantly, glancing around as if he expected him to jump out at him.

Elena raised her eyebrow and closed her door with a soft thud. She padded barefoot after Grayson and leant against the kitchen island. "He's not here."

Shaking his head, Grayson buried his face in his hands and looked at his daughter. "Are you okay?"

Elena shrugged, slightly put out. She'd been shot and this was the first effort he was making. "Been better. Are you just here to question me about Damon?" she said testily, unable to keep the edge out of her voice.

"You know where he is?" Grayson questioned sharply, his eagle eyes fixing on Elena's. Elena snorted, shaking her head and folding her arms defiantly across her chest. "I thought not."

Elena sighed loudly, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "Why are you so pissed off at him?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "What has he done to piss you off so much that you can't even stand to be around him?"

Grayson laughed ruefully and simply gestured at the black men's shirt Elena was wearing over her jeans and her messy hair. "Why do you think, 'Lena? You're my daughter."

Elena ran her fingers through her hair awkwardly. "You know him better than you know me." She pointed out. "Shouldn't you be worried about him?"

"That's what Giuseppe thinks." Grayson said absently, scanning over Elena protectively.

Elena scoffed, chuckling lightly. "Nice." She said sarcastically. "Why are you really here, Dad?" she added softly, looking away from Grayson's gaze.

"Who shot you, Elena?" Grayson asked desperately. "What happened?"

Elena opened her mouth and closed it quickly. She took a slow steady breath and ran her hands through her hair once more; she wasn't even helping the state of it anymore, she was making it worse the more nervous she became. Damon had told her to lie; to say she knew nothing. She scowled to herself; she would have to yell at him later for that. The only person that truly knew what had happened that night were Damon and Stefan, and she didn't think Stefan's name was a good name to bring up right at this moment. She shrugged flippantly. "I don't know. Don't you think you would know if I knew who shot me?" she lied blatantly.

Grayson studied her intently, his eyes skimming over her irregularly fast heartbeat and the fidgeting of her hands. "No. I don't think I would."

Elena swallowed roughly and forced herself to look into Grayson's eyes. "Then I guess you'll just have to trust me."

Grayson stared her town, his honest brown eyes digging deeper trying to swim through her story. "I guess I will." He sighed finally and pushed off of the wall he had been standing on. He kissed Elena's forehead gently, and wrapped his arms around her, allowing himself one pure, untainted moment with his daughter where there were no complications, no threats. "I love you, kid." He said quietly, almost inaudibly to another's ears.

"Love you too." She muttered, hugging her father's waist. "Bye Dad."

"Wake up." Klaus demanded, shaking Damon's shoulder violently. Just because he hadn't been ready immediately didn't mean Damon could just go and crash out; the man slept like the dead at the best of times – at least the dead didn't wake up and try and kill you when you shook them awake.

Damon groaned and sat up wearily. "Why couldn't you pick me up at Elena's?"

Klaus scowled and grabbed Damon's forearm jerking him up suddenly. "This is closer."

"Why can't we do this later?" Damon moaned, wanting nothing more than to be fast asleep in an empty apartment with nothing but a bed filling up the open space. "I was busy." He griped, running his hands through his hair.

"You were sleeping." Klaus reminded him dryly, stalking out of his friend's apartment with confidence. "Get over it. You didn't get to have morning sex with Elena-"

"You're such a dick." Damon complained, rubbing his hand a long his stubble. It was just at the point where it was still semi-acceptable to go out in public. Klaus shot him a look and opened the car door suddenly, motioning for Damon to get inside. "This really couldn't have waited two more hours?"

"No." he replied shortly, sliding on his sunglasses and leaning back against the cool leather seats as he drove through the streets of his city. "It couldn't. Have morning sex with her tomorrow."

"Who said I slept with her?" Damon asked defensively, resting one foot on the dashboard. Klaus hit his shin sharply.

"Don't mess up my dash." He scolded seriously. Damon smirked and leant both feet on the dashboard. He clasped his hands behind his head and leant against the leather smugly. "And of course you slept with her."

"How can you know that?" he asked incredulously. "You spend too much time with Caroline." He grumbled carelessly.

"Are you saying you didn't?" Klaus probed, grinning knowingly like a Cheshire cat. Damon frowned and folded his arms across his chest, not answering. "Thought so." Klaus said smugly, turning into a side street and driving along a dust track road until he pulled up outside a shady motel. "And here, my dear friend, is your brother."

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you all get extremely spoiled and have an amazing day with your family and loved ones! Love, E x

(10:40 25/12/12 GMT)