I must apologize. The story so far has been reposting of the original chapters with very small changes. However, the original of this chapter forced me to change the rating of Jenna and the Choice to M, based on my understanding of the ratings here, because of the fairly graphic nature of one paragraph. To avoid that, I have re-written that part of the story so that the result is obvious, but that this story can maintain its current rating.

If you would like to see the chapter in its original form, find the story Jenna and the Choice and go to chapter 5, which has the same name as this chapter.

Oh, by the way, it was very nice to see the return of Isobel in the Vampire Diaries episode tonight. As you may be able to tell from what I do here, I like Isobel and think she can be so much more than what she was in the single episode we saw in season 1. Here's hoping for the best...

Oh yeah, the story. Almost forgot...

The Choice

Elena knew she would hit a wall somewhere. She tried to turn herself so that her back would hit the wall she knew she was approaching. It worked fairly well.

Damon had heard the door open and Isobel speaking. The human guarding him was fairly good, at first, about keeping the stake pushed against his chest. So Damon tested his strength against the ropes. Not good. He was not as strong as he had hoped.

Then he saw Elena coming in and the vampire being pulled out. The human loosened his grip on the stake as he turned around to look. Damon was up, lifting the chair with him, and at the human's neck. He knew he could not spend much time, but the bites were quickly effective and the human was at least disabled, if not more.

Then Damon turned to Elena. She had hit the wall and was struggling to her feet while at the same time trying to pull a stake and a knife from her jacket. The remaining vampire, while starting near the door, was now moving towards her. Damon went, chair and all, to stop him. He did get between them, though he knocked Elena down with the chair before managing to turn it towards the attacking vampire. The chair was demolished in the collision, leaving Damon tangled in a mix of rope and wood splinters. He had kept the vampire from Elena, but he was having a hard time getting out of the mess. And the vampire was in full assault mode against him.

Elena struggled to get up again, watching Damon, relieved she was able to hold onto the stake and the knife.

She glanced away from him for a second to pull herself up. When she looked up, someone else was jumping at her. She raised one hand, not sure what it held. It was the stake – he had jumped right into it.

Elena realized immediately that it wasn't the vampire – it was still fighting Damon. And Damon was losing. The man fell to the floor on his back, struggling to pull the stake out.

Elena saw that Isobel and other vampires were at the door – trying to go through, but unable to enter. She kicked the stake in farther, knelt near his head and spoke to the man.

"Is this your house?"

When he did not answer, she yelled at the man. "Invite them in."

He ignored her and tried to pull the stake out.

Elena put the knife to his neck. "Invite them in now."

The man only shook his head and kept struggling.

Elena risked a glance to Damon again. She knew it wouldn't last much longer.

"Please don't make me do this. Invite them in."

He didn't respond, he just struggled against her.

Sometimes Cold, Sometimes Warm

Isobel pushed against the barrier, her eyes moving back and forth between Damon and Elena. She was frantic to get to her daughter, but it appeared impossible.

Damon was taking a beating, fading fast, and her daughter was threatening a man with a knife to his throat. She had done everything she could for Elena before letting her enter and it had gone better than she hoped, but it looked like it wouldn't matter.

She had quit looking at Damon and was just watching Elena, thinking this might be then end. She still pushed against the barrier though she had nearly given up any hope of entering the house.

But then Elena surprised her. Isobel watched, eyes fixed on the girl as she did the unexpected. She was so focused on her daughter that she fell into the house, hitting the floor before she could catch herself. Two vampires entered behind her and moved to help Damon. Isobel's eyes remained fixed on Elena.

She had to be careful to avoid the mess as she walked to her daughter who was curled up on the floor crying. The vampire lifted Elena and carried her to the couch, placed her in a sitting position, and sat next to her.

Elena's tears were nearly gone now. The girl rested her head on Isobel's lap. When she was done crying, her mother leaned in and whispered to her.

"You saved him Elena. He would have died if you hadn't."

Elena didn't respond.

"He saved Jenna and you saved him. You did what you had to do and he is alive because of it."

"Is he OK?" Elena managed to ask.

Isobel looked at Damon to confirm what she already knew. "He is. A little beat up, but he will be fine."

Elena sat up and looked at Isobel. "I can't believe I did that. Please, no one can know."

Isobel nodded. "I'll have to tell Katherine, and Damon will need to know. But no one else. Not from me."

Elena nodded and hugged her mother.

Beck and Call

"Your phone is vibrating," Isobel told Elena. Elena was standing next to Damon. He claimed to be as strong as ever – though his face did not show that. Still, some time had passed since his ordeal, maybe he was feeling better.

Elena pulled out the phone Katherine had given her.

"Not that one. The one you left in the car," Isobel said.

"Oh. Let it vibrate," Elena said. "Or you could take it for me and tell them to leave me alone."

"Why of course Elena." Isobel said, sarcastically. "I am most happy to assist you in any capacity."

Elena was stunned when Isobel actually did go to the car and answer her phone.

She had told Damon what had happened. He assured her she had only done what she had to do to save him – and herself. Like that helped.

Isobel brought Elena's phone back to her. "They are on their way here."

"Did you tell them where I am?" Elena asked her mother.

"No. A locator spell was performed."

Elena nodded.

"And you should know," Isobel continued, "that your aunt was told everything about you and us."

"What?" Elena asked - shocked.

"They thought they had to, Elena. She had seen so much when they were protecting her – taking her to safety."

Elena shook her head. This was too much. She spoke to Damon.

"Are you up to taking me somewhere? Somewhere we can have some privacy for awhile?"

Damon nodded.

"Will you stay here and tell them to leave me alone for awhile?" Elena asked Isobel. "No spells or calls. I will be home soon, but I need some space for a bit."

"At your beck and call," Isobel said. That was sarcastic – the rest was not. "We have some cleanup anyway. But you will have one unseen escort with you – more when we are done here."

Elena nodded. "OK. Thanks. Damon?"

Promises and Requests

Elena didn't know exactly where she was. Just that they had stopped and she and Damon were lying next to each other, talking. She was outside, it was daytime now. She thought she could do this forever.

"That was the man who shot me Elena, and Rick. He attacked Jenna. She would not have lived if he had his way. Others probably would have died. Others may have already – someone does not do that so easily the first time."

Elena hesitated before asking. "I asked Isobel to not tell anyone else – I mean other than you and Katherine. Would you do that for me as well, unless I ask?"

"Yes, Elena. I keep will keep this and any other secret for you."

Elena was going to tell him it was not a secret, but stopped herself. Actually, it was.

"What were you doing in there alone, Damon?" she asked. "Why didn't you wait for me as I asked. You know I will always go to you."

"And I will always try to be a step ahead of anyone trying to hurt you. That's what I was doing."

Elena shook her head and fingered the bracelet. "We're going to keep doing this forever, aren't we?"

"If you live that long," Damon agreed. "I'm not going to stop interfering with people trying to hurt you, and I hope you won't stop coming to me when I am in trouble."

"I'm not stopping." Elena said. She wanted to turn over and get some sleep, but there was music to be faced.

Elena fingered the bracelet again, thinking. Damon watched her briefly before speaking.

"Getting close to a decision?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Don't press it now though, please."

"Sure. Want to share why?"

"It's leaning so far in your favor, one little push or pull would topple it. But I'll have to think about Stefan before I decide, and I don't want to think about him now."

Damon nodded.

"Will you do one more thing for me Damon?" Elena asked after a brief pause.

"Since you saved me one more time, yes I will. What is it?"

"If I ask, will you use compulsion on Jenna – will you have her forget all of this – if I ask?"

"You have her on vervain, don't you?"

"She wears it, it can be removed. I couldn't get her to eat or drink any. She didn't like the taste."

"Will you give her a choice, Elena?"

"Yes. Will you do it if I ask?"

"Yes."

Music and Choices

Jenna was with Stefan when Damon brought Elena home.

"Elena, are you OK?" Jenna asked. "I was so worried."

"I'm fine Jenna," Elena responded. "Are you?"

"I am, thanks to these guys, and others."

"Yeah. Thank you Stefan," Elena said. "Thank you for keeping her and Jeremy safe. I owe you."

"You know I'd do anything for you, Elena," Stefan said.

"I do." Elena said, purposely keeping eye contact with him – which was broken off by Jenna.

"We need to talk, Elena." Jenna said. "Rick said I should wait until I have formulated questions, and I am not quite ready, but I will be soon."

"I will answer your questions, Jenna." Elena said, "but you need to know that you don't have to remember this."

Jenna did not understand. "What do you mean?"

"You can forget. You can go back to your life as it was a few days ago – no worry about vampires, no danger from them because of me. You can go back to believing they were fables. You can go back to fretting over me, Jeremy and Alaric Saltzman. Wouldn't you rather have that back?"

"Elena, no! I finally understand what you're going through, I can finally try to help you. And I need to protect you."

"I will protect you. And I promise I will let you help me. I will talk more to you, share more with you. Just not about this."

"I don't want that, Elena. I want you as you are." Jenna said, not knowing exactly what was happening, but concerned about it.

"And I want you as you were."

Stefan finally spoke. "Elena, she should have a choice. Why would you even consider this?"

"Because I've lost too much," Elena answered. "My parents are gone, my brother and best friend have been corrupted by this. I've even lost myself to this. She's all I have left of my old life. I'm not losing anymore. And she has a choice. She's just making the wrong one."

Stefan glared at Damon. "You would do this for her?"

Damon responded to Elena. "You said you would let her choose."

"I did. She chose wrong. Will you do it for me?"

"Elena, what is going on. What are you doing?" Jenna asked.

"Tomorrow." Damon said. "Elena, consider this carefully. Remember what happened with Jeremy. If you still want it, I will do it for you tomorrow."

Elena nodded and headed up the stairs, followed by a frantic Jenna

"You'll do anything for her," Stefan said to Damon. "no matter who gets hurt. Just like Katherine."

"Yeah," Damon responded. "Isobel warned me."

"Isobel?"

"Yes. I saw her during the Bonnie incident. She said Elena wanted the same things Katherine wanted at first – everyone happy no one to be upset or to get hurt. But she said that what Elena wants would change – Elena would change. Just like Katherine did. And she was right. And yes, I will do anything Elena asks me to – just like I will do whatever Katherine asks me to."

End of Part VI - Jenna and the Choice. The Epilogue introduces Part VII