A/N: Hey there guys, here again with an added chapter for all of you eager followers. :) So, as always, hope you enjoy and review fro us. :)

Chapter 22: A Salvatore's Heart Is Gold

"SHE DID WHAT?" Damon shrieked trying to process everything that Stefan just said through his head.

Romeo was awake and in Ric's bedroom playing with Bonnie. Stefan once again, felt even guiltier. It was his fault she'd gone.

Damon was raging. "We have to go! Find her! Find Elena!"

Stefan nodded. "I know."

Ric decided to speak as well. "Coming with you."

Damon shook his head. "No, Ric. You're staying. You've done enough plus I need you and Bonnie to look after Romeo." Ric nodded, but something was bugging him. "Can you call Bonnie here for a second? Without Romeo. "

Ric nodded once again, and disappeared into another room. Stefan needed one look from Damon to understand what he was about to do. He gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Ric came back with Bonnie.

"Sit down." They did.

Damon took a deep breath. "Let's face the truth. Katherine is stronger than me and.. Stefan. We will try our best to bring Elena home in one piece. If we fail to do so..." Damon looked at Stefan, pleadingly.

Stefan continued for him. "We want you to take care of Romeo."

Ric and Bonnie sat in silence, but the witch, soon spoke. "Don't even say that! You'll come back!"

Ric was reasonable. "I .. will do my best if I have to."

Bonnie looked at her boyfriend, before sighing. "Me too."

Damon nodded. "That's that sorted then. I want to say goodbye to him, before I go."

Bonnie without any further ado brought Romeo into the room. The boy rubbed his eyes and looked up at the brothers before smiling.

"Daddy! And.. Daddy!" He exclaimed before running up to them, and hugging their legs.

Damon looked away. God, no. He bent down and put his hands on Romeo's shoulders, but before he could speak, Romeo did.

"Daddy, where's Mummy.? I miss Mummy."

Damon opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Stefan spoke.

"She'll be back soon." He didn't look at Romeo, for he knew that this might as well be a lie.

The boy started crying. "I want mummy!" He pouted, tears running down his cheeks.

Damon hugged him. "See you later, big boy." He said, before letting Stefan say his goodbyes.

Stefan took Romeo in his arms, before giving him a teddy. "I brought you Dominico."

Romeo smiled slightly and hugged the teddy.

"I'll see you later, Romeo." Stefan said a hint of sadness in his voice as he put the boy down.

Damon and Stefan moved towards the door, while Romeo was distracted by his teddy, when the door was shut, however, Romeo looked up to see either of his daddies.

"Daddy?" He cried, Bonnie by his side immediately trying to calm him down.

"They will be back, sweetie." Romeo sat on the ground, helplessly. "I want my daddy!" And he started to sob.

And for the first time in their lifetime both the Salvatore brothers cursed their super sensitive hearing.

'Just sorting stuff out with Elena. Don't miss me too much. K. '

Was the note Katherine had left for Stefan and for well all of them. She'd show them now, she'd show them all that Katherine Pierce wasn't someone to be f*cked with. If Stefan and Damon didn't realise what they were missing, then she would force them to. She'd make them realise that life without her, without Katherine Pierce wasn't worth living. Though Katherine was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the entire world, she had a funny suspicion that neither of the Salvatore brothers would realise that. Unless... Unless Katherine did something big. Very big in fact. When Katherine had first arrived back in Mystic Falls, her reasons were fairly genuine. She'd just come back to claim her two boys. And then, she'd narrowed it down to one. Really, it'd always been Stefan. But Damon, Damon was so besotted by her, she couldn't say no. Besides, she liked two men wanting her, craving her; it was what Katherine thrived on. And last night was just a.. Well, a pastime should she say?

But she knew that the Elena slut did in fact love Damon. Maybe even more then she loved Stefan. And if her suspicion was true, then what would be the harm in her having the other brother? Of course, Katherine wouldn't have minded having a repeat of 1864, but if she had to choose, she knew she'd always pick Stefan. Stefan had something that Damon didn't. But, Elena obviously didn't see that. She'd had a child with both Salvatore? no, no, that wasn't right. Only one man and one woman could produce a baby.. And as it turned out, the little Romeo child, nor Elena, Stefan or Damon knew who the baby's biological father was. Well, that was another surprise Katherine was hoping to reveal. Oh, this was going to be so much fun. Despite how pissed she was, Katherine grinned wildly. She knew which one of the Salvatore's had fathered Elena's baby boy; and she wasn't even bluffing. Katherine glanced up at the scene in front of her. The Gilbert household was but a few paces away. That only made her smile more, and not just because she was here.

Finally here and she knew that Elena was alone, but because she didn't even have the inconvenience of not being allowed to enter the house; for Katherine had already been invited in. Katherine had been planning this for a while now, and without the use of compulsion, she had been invited in by Elena's adoptive teenage brother. He was actually quite a sweet guy; it was obvious he wasn't related to that Elena bitch. She didn't want to hurt him; in fact, she had a mind to change him. Aha. That'd really piss Elena off big time. Katherine painted a smirk across her lips and reached for the handle to the Gilbert residence. She pulled it open and entered. Now it was time for her to truly begin her game.

Elena was still sitting on the bed curled up in her room. Jeremy was out of town with Jenna, they'd left this morning and if she went to do what she'd planned, then she wouldn't be in this mess. She'd had to stay here because Katherine was back? But would she really come after her? Would she.. Could she? Well, of course she would; she knew the way to get to both Damon and Stefan was either through hurting her, or hurting Romeo. But she had a feeling that Romeo was in safe hands. That was good; at least her baby was safe anyway. She wanted to meet Katherine, mainly to tell her how much she hated her and have her rot in hell or something like that; but, the more sensible side to her knew that if they'd ever met they'd be more than a little blood lost. She was pretty sure Katherine hated her, and sure enough, Elena hated her right back. And then, she heard that voice, and she knew exactly who it was, she didn't have time to wonder how the hell she'd gotten into the house, or anything else, she was just frozen for a few moments, completely and utterly frozen into place.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine murmured in a perfectly composed voice.

Elena's window was firmly shut and Katherine was blocking the door way. There was nowhere to run.. Nowhere to hide. This made Katherine smile more than ever.

Slowly, Elena turned around to finally lay eyes upon the only woman she'd ever hated. She was soon off of the bed, but she'd been pushed down again. Katherine held her down on the double bed, grabbed some of her belts and tied her to it, making sure it was tight it chaffed. Elena's screams and fights didn't even phase Katherine, it was as if she hadn't complained at all. Elena looked up at Katherine through a haze of despair and spoke.

"Why, Katherine?"

Katherine smiled that awful, awful smile.

"Because I loved him and he loves you."

Both Salvatore brothers were quiet. What could they say? There was nothing. Actually.. Strike that.. Damon sighed, before looking up at Stefan.

"..Stefan.?" He started, his voice quiet.

His little brother looked at him, and raised his eyebrow slightly, ushering Damon to speak his mind out . He did.

"If we don't .. survive.. I want you to know that.. I missed my brother. And.. Stefan, tell me .. why does it happen to us? I feel like you, like the weak brother that you always were. What's wrong with me.?" He asked desperation clear in his voice.

Stefan smiled weakly. "You care about someone so much that having them in danger breaks all you walls. And I missed you too."

Damon pondered over what Stefan had said for a while. "I never thought I would have a son." Damon admitted, while Stefan watched him closely. He wondered what was going on in his older brother's mind. "And Romeo came. And now.. I WANT TO WATCH HIM GROW UP STEFAN!" He screamed the last bit; Stefan kept quiet for a second, before nodding.

"I know, Damon. Me too." They came to a halt on the doorstep of Elena's family home.

They both looked at each other, for a moment.

"Whatever happens tonight..." Damon let the rest of the sentence linger in the air, Stefan repeated with a nod. "Whatever happens tonight."

They both knew how the sentence was to be finished off, they didn't need to say it out loud. And after that, they both looked away from each other and opened the door that would lead them into the Gilbert's house. Into their doom.

Romeo had been crying for over an hour, clinging onto the teddy, he'd been calling Dominico. Bonnie put him into her and Alaric's bed, and sang him a song her grandmother used to sing to her before she went to sleep. The boy drifted into the land of dreams, tired of crying. She wiped away the tears from his wet cheeks, and sighed. Poor child. And then she heard Alaric calling her from the living room. She covered Romeo with the quilt and left the lamp from the bedside table on, before walking into the living room.

"What is it, Ric?" She asked, eyebrow curiously rose.

"Damon left something." Bonnie walked up to him, and took the note he had been holding from him, before scanning it, then reading it again, carefully, out loud.

"Ric, Bonnie,
I cannot express how grateful I am for what you have done for me, for my brother, for Elena and for Romeo. It wasn't fair to ask such a favour of you, but you agreed to it nevertheless. In the event of the worst case scenario unfolding, the boarding house will be left empty. You can use it for your purposes if you wish. Also, Ric... There's lots of vervain stored in Stefan's room. Under the floorboards, beside the wardrobe. You'll find it alright. Protect Romeo, please. If not for me, for Elena. I leave my leather jacket, I want him to get it when he grows up. Also, there are two photos in the pockets of the jacket I left. One is of Elena, and the other one of Elena, me and Stefan. If you decide to give it to him, fine, if not, fine too. Tell him, whatever you decide upon, and let him know daddy, daddy Stefan and mummy love him more than anything in this world.
Damon. "

Bonnie covered her mouth, letting Ric hug her. The black leather jacket, was hanging on the back of the seat Damon had been sitting in. She didn't know how he managed to write the note without them noticing, but right now she couldn't care less. He sounded.. well, not like Damon. Like someone who cared . HE cared, and loved. Loved Elena, and Romeo and even his brother.

"God, Ric... " She turned to face him, helpless look in her eyes, she choked back the tears.

"I know, Bonnie..." He answered, understanding before pulling her into a tight hug.

Danny+Jackie x3