You know the drill – story mine, major improvements via Beta by Peachie X, flaws mine. Let's get it on...

Angry Vampires

Sarah opened the door with her free hand, her other continued to be held firmly by Elena.

"Mom? Would you come to the door?"

Natalie came, breathing a sigh of relief. "Sarah, I was so worried."

"Don't come through." Sarah said quickly. "Stay inside."

"Then you…" Natalie said and nodded inside. She was afraid to say the words with vampires there.

"I can't, Mom. I have to go talk to the vampires."

Natalie looked at Elena, her face stern. "Are you hurt? You look fine."

Elena hesitated. She did not want Natalie to think everything was fine. Nor did she want her to do anything rash trying to protect Sarah.

Damon, who had been glaring at Natalie, spoke before Elena answered. "What? Upset that you didn't get her? Even though she can't bite back – like me?"

Elena tuned to him and spoke sharply, though softly. "Damon, don't! It wasn't her." She took a calming breath and spoke to Natalie.

"Sylvia attacked me." Elena tried to keep her face blank and her voice steady. "I nearly died – I would have if not for my friends."

"But you didn't." Natalie said, her face still stern. "Sarah helped you, and now you threaten her with vampires?"

"They're here to protect me from another attack," Elena replied. "I won't let them hurt Sarah."

"Not yet, anyway." Damon said. Elena glared and jabbed him with her elbow. Natalie glanced at him before looking back at Elena.

"You think you can control them? Let her come back in where it's safe." Natalie's expression had changed, maybe a little desperate.

Isobel spoke now, glaring at Natalie "It's not safe in there - not after you tried to kill my daughter."

"It wasn't her!" both Elena and Sarah claimed at the same time, turning to Isobel.

Isobel continued to glare at Natalie. "Wasn't it?"

"No." Natalie said quickly, shaking her head.

"Then tell whoever it was that because they hurt Elena Gilbert, they now have two armies of vampires that will do anything it takes to hunt them down and destroy them."

Elena could tell that Isobel's words startled Natalie. "Threats? We can defend ourselves." Natalie said, though Elena could see she was shaken.

"I'm sure you can," Isobel said icily. "The only one here who couldn't was Elena, but she was attacked. She's not alone and defenseless anymore. Now you'll see who is protecting her."

"She didn't know." Elena said to Isobel. She was trying to stay calm, thinking there was too much emotion being displayed.

"What did she need to know, Elena?" Damon asked, turning to her. "That they shouldn't lie or that they shouldn't kill? Even I know that. She knew. She needed to care."

Elena had barely turned to look at Damon when Isobel spoke.

"You did not come here as a sacrifice," Isobel told Elena with the same icy expression. "we kept our promises."

"Sarah, don't go. Please." Natalie said desperately nodding towards the inside again.

Sarah turned to Elena. "Will they be left alone while we're gone, Elena? They will defend themselves."

"Don't threaten us." Isobel said to Sarah. "If anyone else is attacked, this house will burn at sundown."

"Long before then." Damon said angrily. "They don't deserve to see the night again."

Elena thought Natalie began saying something under her breath.

"Mom, don't!" Sarah said sharply to Natalie. When Natalie stopped and looked at her, she added "We don't need it now, and they don't need to know what we can do."

Elena turned to Isobel. "No more threats." Then back to Damon. "No more."

Then she turned to Natalie, "Some vampires will have to stay here, but you know they cannot enter your house uninvited. They will have to be where they can be seen by you, but I promise they will keep their distance. They will just be waiting for me to come back. Please leave them alone. Sarah will be safe with us. We will be back long before noon. OK?"

Natalie looked at Sarah.

"I have to try to make it right." Sarah said. "She's right, they kept their promises. I trust Elena to do what she says she will."

Natalie's expression changed as she turned to Elena, it hardened. "I'm trusting you, Elena Gilbert. If Sarah is hurt, nothing will keep us from you."

"Mom!" Sarah said. "Get a clue! Do you think she's afraid of threats? Aunt Sylvia already tried to kill her, but here she is again. She's protected by vampires. Quit trying to intimidate her. Let's just try working with her."

Natalie closed her eyes and forced herself to nod. She still looked strained when she opened her eyes and spoke to Elena.

"Back before noon. We'll do as you ask as long as you're back before noon."

Caring Vampire

"She's just worried about me Elena." Sarah said as they left the porch. "She won't do anything to cause trouble. But when she says she and my aunt can defend themselves, she's right. They would take a lot of vampires with them – if not all."

Elena stopped and looked at Sarah, surprised at what almost sounded like a threat. Then Elena looked to where Isobel should have been. Isobel and Damon were a few yards in front of them whispering to each other. It looked like they were arguing.

"I'll take your word for it, Sarah," Elena said finally turning away from the whisperers and towards Sarah. "I'll do everything I can to keep anyone from having to defend themselves."

Damon and Isobel returned to them. Isobel stopped next to Sarah, Damon scooped Elena up and carried her quickly to an isolated corner of the yard. It was so quick that Sarah gasped.

"Don't be alarmed," Isobel said to Sarah. "they just need to talk. Look." she added pointing to where Damon was setting Elena down.

"Let's go wait with Bonnie and Rick," Isobel added, pointing to where Bonnie and Alaric waited.

Sarah noticed that Isobel's tone was not hostile or icy - hardly warm, but much nicer than before. After one more quick glance back to where Elena was, she started walking towards Bonnie. As Isobel walked next to her, Sarah was glad that Isobel did not touch her.

"Damon, please. I need to stay with Sarah," Elena said, trying to get around him. "I don't want her to be alone with Isobel."

Damon held on to her arm and pointed to where they were walking. "She's fine. She'll be with Bonnie and Rick in a minute."

Elena remained tense. "Then we need to go to the cars. We can't stop here."

"Elena," Damon said, pulling her to face him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Let me go." Elena was struggling, but Damon had a firm grip on both of her arms.

"I know you're 'fine'. I asked if you are all right. Are you still hurting?"

"Damon, I got zapped by a witch and almost died. And it hurt a lot more then I would have ever thought. How do you think I'm doing?" Elena had stopped struggling but was still agitated. She turned her head to break eye contact.

"I know exactly how you're doing Elena," Damon said soothingly. "that's exactly what happened to me, except that you did die."

Elena looked at him now, but did not speak. She still couldn't relax.

"What did you do when it happened to me, Elena? Do you remember?"

Elena saw the concern on his face and realized something. He was right, the same thing had happened to him. He had been through it. He did know what she was going through. His words weren't empty attempts to comfort her, they meant something.

She still felt a little tense, but she took the question seriously. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried to remember.

"I sent everyone away." Elena said, her eyes still closed, her voice calm. "I gave you blood and waited for you to get strong enough to go home with me and wait for Katherine."

"That's right," Damon said, releasing her arms and pulling her chin to draw her eyes to his. "You need to stop and rest for a few minutes."

She was still tense as she looked back into his eyes. "But we don't have time." she said softly.

"We have enough, Elena. It's barely 8:30 - we have hours." Damon paused and pulled her into a hug. "You need to rest and get yourself together."

It took a minute, but Elena finally let herself relax in his arms. When he felt it, he pulled her face to him and kissed her. "Let's sit for a minute."

Elena could feel herself relaxing now. She sat down and drew her knees to her chest. She laid her head on her knees, turning it to watch as Damon sat next to her. He rubbed her back with one hand.

"Does that hurt?" he asked.

"No. Don't stop."

"You let me rest until I was stronger," Damon said softly, almost in a whisper. "until I was able to go with you. You need to rest until you feel better and calm down." Damon continued to rub her back as he leaned over and gave her another kiss.

"I didn't kiss you then," Elena said.

"You would have, if I had asked, wouldn't you?"

Elena laughed as she sat up and leaned her head against his shoulder. The mini-back rub had helped – she was feeling better.

"Probably. I was about to give you my blood. I would have done anything you asked of me, anything to help you get better."

Damon had his arm around her, rubbing her arm. "But I didn't ask for it. I was a fool."

"You were hurt, Damon. You asked for what you needed. I'm glad I could help."

"And you, Elena? Does it still hurt?"

The thought of the previous pain made her wince a little before answering. "It's not sharp pain, not anymore. But I'm still sore."

"I've never been so scared," Damon said softly.

Elena turned her head to look at him. "Scared? You're not afraid of anything."

Damon shook his head. "I didn't used to be. There was nothing for me to be afraid of, no one for me to be afraid for until you showed up. Now I know what I'm afraid of - I'm afraid of losing you."

Elena managed to slip her arm around his waist as she spoke again, "You didn't lose me Damon."

Damon's eyes were closed now. "Yes I did. You were gone and I wanted to be gone as well."

"Don't say that Damon." Elena said, almost in a whisper.

"Aren't we still telling the truth to each other?" Damon asked, looking at her intently now. "I need to know if the truth between us is on vacation."

Elena held his eyes. "It's not. But, what you're saying is scaring me."

Damon turned his head to face forward, but kept his arm around her. "You're not afraid of anything either, Elena, especially not the truth and the truth is that wherever you go, if I am not right next to you, I'll follow as quickly as I can." He dropped his arm and turned to face her again. "You're not going to have to face anything alone. Not again."

Elena held his eyes. "I wasn't alone, Damon and you can't go everywhere with me."

"But I can be close, Elena. I can follow. I won't lose you again."

Elena closed her eyes and let out a breath, wondering why she felt desperate to make him understand. "Damon, you didn't lose me. Alaric kept me alive. He and I are both alive because of Emily Bennett. A witch is a good thing to have on your side."

She almost felt guilty for mentioning witches to him. She glanced at his eyes briefly to make sure his expression had not changed. It hadn't. She leaned over to place her head on Damon's lap. He immediately began stroking her hair as he spoke again.

"Emily Bennett was not a normal witch," Damon said.

Elena was relieved that he didn't seem upset. "She wasn't so different from these, Damon."

"She protected you, Elena. These hurt you." Damon said as pulled the hair behind her ear and let his fingers continue to move under her chin.

"Neither knew what they were doing, Damon. Emily didn't know who she was protecting. These didn't know who they were hurting."

Damon's fingers stopped. Elena though she could feel a slight tension in them, but it was immediately gone.

"How could they not know what they were doing, Elena?" Damon asked. "Are they idiot witches?"

Elena bristled, but forced it away. She pulled at Damon's hand until he started stroking her face again. "Maybe one. But we can't lose the others because of one."

"I don't care who loses who because of whom, Elena. Whatever happens, I'm not losing you again."

Elena was whispering now. She felt tears starting to form. "Damon, I'm here. You haven't lost me. No one's lost anyone. I'm going to keep it that way."

Damon wanted to say more about the frustration he was feeling, but he could tell that it was upsetting her. She was supposed to be relaxing.

"All right, no one's lost anyone." he said softly. "We're both here now, and I will not leave your side until this is over."

Elena exhaled. "That I can agree with. I'll get Sarah to invite you in, after I get Katherine to let her live."

Elena sighed. Her head still on his lap, she tried to turn to see into his eyes. "You'll help me with Katherine, right? Help her see that I have to go back into their house – that we can't let this be the end."

"I'll help you with anything, Elena," Damon whispered, pushing her head back into what he thought would be a more comfortable position for her. "for as long as you let me stay next to you. No one's getting through me to hurt you again. Now, close your eyes and try to rest."

She closed her eyes and placed her hand on his, which had move to her neck, to hold it in place.

"OK, but just for a minute. We'll have to face Katherine soon."