Me-writer, Peachie X-Beta, you-lucky reader...

Vampire Mafia Boss

Elena wanted to talk to Damon alone for a little while, but the others followed her as she pulled him away. She was not happy when she looked at Damon again and saw he was just glaring at Sarah.

"Don't think this changes anything." It was more growl than statement.

"Damon!" Elena cried, her relief at his recovery changing into annoyance.

The witch stared back at Damon. "It changed you being immobilized and writhing in pain." She moved to stand next to Elena muttering "I could change it back…"

"No!" Elena whispered to Sarah as the witch stood next to her on the side opposite of Damon.

The vampire looked back to the human. "We need to get you home."

His brother stood near Damon. "She should talk to Bonnie,"

"She's going home," Damon countered, turning his attention to the other vampire.

"We can't leave it like this. She needs to know." Elena's ex said.

"She needs to be where it's safe. She's going home." Damon was still glaring at Stefan, but took hold of Elena's arm a little tighter that she liked.

"She is right here." Elena interrupted, giving Damon a shove that startled him enough that he dropped his hand. "You don't get to decide. Either of you."

When she moved her hand to point at them she realized she still held the washcloth with her blood. She turned her back to both of them, facing Sarah, and passed her the cloth. She had to use some saliva to clean her palm before she was ready to turn back to them.

But she didn't turn to them. She just looked at Bonnie's door, thinking.

"Do you know a Heather?" Damon had to look around Elena as he spoke to Sarah.

Elena turned to look at the witch. Sarah hesitated, but nodded. "Cousin. Little older than me, jet-black hair." She laughed to herself as she moved her eyes from Damon to Elena. "I used to be envious of it. I thought it suited witches – I even tried to dye my hair that color once."

Damon turned to his brother. "Black hair, blah blah. Do you see? She could come back. We need to get Elena out of here."

Stefan's eyes remained fixed on Damon as he argued "We need to know what Bonnie is thinking, what she will do."

"Why do you ask about Heather." the witch asked Damon, interrupting their argument.

Damon's glare remained on Stefan as he answered her. "She was here – badmouthing Elena to Bonnie."

"Did you even hear it all?" Stefan challenged.

"I heard enough." Damon spat.

"What did she say?" Elena asked, turning to him, grabbing his arm to try draw his eyes from Stefan to her.

"You couldn't come into Bonnie's house," Stefan told his brother, "or you would have taken a bite out of her."

"I tried to take a bite out of her." Damon growled.

"Damon. What did she say?" Elena repeated, pulling on his arm again.

They stopped arguing, though still glared at each other. She waited for one of them to answer her, then turned to Stefan.

"He can go in, Stefan. Bonnie invited him once."

Stefan's glare disappeared as his eyes moved to Elena, then back to Damon. "You could go in but you didn't?"

Damon wasn't about to explain himself to Stefan, and he was interrupted by another tug on his arm. "What did she say, Damon?"

When neither spoke, she started to walk towards the door. "Bonnie will tell me."

Damon was immediately in front of her. "No, Elena. I'll tell you – while I take you home."

She thought she saw real concern on his face, but wasn't convinced. "Right now I'm not so sure that you will tell me."

Damon took her face between his hands gently and pulled her eyes back to his. He spoke softly as if just to her. "Let me take you home. You need to be away from here. She might come back."

"What did Heather want?" Sarah asked moving next to Elena again.

Damon turned to the witch his face returning to a hard look. "She talked about you. She said she doesn't trust you."

"She said she doesn't know Sarah anymore, Damon." Stefan corrected.

"It's the same thing." Damon interrupted sharply, still looking at Sarah. "She doesn't trust you, which means I have to trust you."

Sarah had gotten used to the glares of Elena's vampires, and didn't flinch. "Trust me with what?" She asked calmly.

Damon didn't answer the question directly. "She talked about Elena, too – said she didn't deserve to live."

This startled Sarah who broke eye contact with him to look at Elena's reaction.

It startled Elena as well. She turned to Stefan. "St...Stefan?" She asked, her voice breaking.

Stefan just looked sad as he nodded.

The human turned back to the witch, who was biting her lip.

"I don't know, but I think we need to get you to where we have more help."

Elena was really speaking to herself as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Two vampires and two witches aren't enough?"

"One witch," Damon said flatly.

"We don't know that." Stefan argued.

"Don't we?" The brothers were glaring at each other again.

"She saved you just a few minutes ago." Stefan contended.

"Stop." Elena said it so softly Sarah barely heard her, but the vampires responded – both just looked at Elena.

The girl looked at the blonde witch. "Heather?"

Sarah shook her head slightly and spoke as softly as Elena. "I don't know why she would be here."

"She was here to convince Bonnie that you're some kind of evil vampire mafia boss, and I think it worked." Damon told Elena in a strained voice.

Elena looked at him briefly, then back to Sarah. "She wasn't the witch that tried to get to me earlier?"

"No. I didn't recognize that one, and she was too old anyway."

Elena released a breath and nodded. "I'll go home. Damon can drive me. Will you drive my car there Sarah?"

"OK," the witch replied with a whisper, accepting the keys Elena had pulled out of her pocket.

"What about Bonnie, Elena?" Stefan asked as his ex turned and started walking towards the cars. "We need to talk to her, see what she thinks."

Elena felt very tired when she turned to him. "One of Katherine's vampires is here, right? Will you talk to her, keep her safe? Then have her call me when she's willing to talk to me?"

Stefan didn't argue as she walked away this time. Instead he found the other vampire with his eyes before going to Bonnie's doorstep.

In?

It was pretty late for him to be at the school, but Isobel tried there first. She found his car in the school parking lot, and was ready to turn to enter the school when she heard his approach.

Alaric wasn't paying enough attention to see her before he reached his car.

"There's hostile vampires around, Rick." Isobel's voice was mildly icy. "You should be more careful."

"Do you mean you?" He asked, trying to hide that he was startled. "Or your friends."

Her tone changed slightly, but not much – still at least distant. "Not my friends, not Elena's either. We're going after them. You in?"

"Will Elena be there?"

"Not the plan." Isobel smirked. "You will be surrounded by Vampires."

"Like usual." The teacher muttered.

"That a yes?" Isobel asked sweetly. "I promise you can take out a few."

Alaric glared and nodded as he opened his trunk and pulled out the bag with his supplies. "Do I have to know who's who this time?"

"We'll tell you. Got anything in there for witches?"

Alaric gave a questioning look in response to his ex-wife.

Not Making Him Do It as Well...

"You look tired." Damon offered as they drove to her home.

Elena nodded. She was tired, but she intended to get the full truth out of him. "What else did Heather say?"

"Stefan's right. I didn't hear it all, but she did say you were on the side of vampires and that you were born to die."

The words made Elena cringe, but she tried to hide it as she nodded. "He's right about you going in if you heard that. Why didn't you?"

Damon's eyes remained on the road as he responded. "Two witches were in there but you weren't. I'm not that big a fool. If you had been in there, I'd have tried to just carry you away."

"I wasn't outside either, Damon, but you still attacked the witch."

"She was alone and I had surprise on my side." Damon sighed as he drove. " Not that it helped."

"Vampires aren't that good one on one against witches." Elena noted, closing her eyes and leaning back against the seat.

"I think I could take Bonnie." Damon smirked. "I've gotten to her neck more than once."

"Just don't." Elena sighed, not even bothering to look at him this time. She could tell that things were getting worse. She felt an even more urgent need to move, to get this over with.

"No promises, Elena, not when it's you."

She barely heard him, so it took a minute to respond. "She's my best friend, Damon."

They had stopped in front of Elena's house now.

"May she is, maybe she was. Either way, she stays away from you."

She wasn't going to argue with him this time. She just looked at him briefly before saying, "I'm going to my room to rest."

She let Damon hug her and kiss her cheek before she left the car without asking him where he was going, though she suspected the worst. It didn't matter, not tonight. She was already lying – she wasn't going to make him do it as well.

The Adjustment

Katherine was mildly surprised when the vampire following Elena's attacker suddenly appeared in front of her.

"No farther – it's not safe."

She trusted him enough that she stopped. The vampires with her stopped as well.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Witches and vampires, a few hundred yards away." The other vampire pointed. "This is as close as we can safely be."

She followed his pointing hand only briefly before turning back to his eyes. "Do we know the vampires?"

"No. I don't at least."

Katherine was obviously thinking as she asked "How many?"

"I don't know that, either. They come and go."

Katherine nodded as he spoke again. "They're adjusting to something. They were going out alone, or maybe a witch with a vampire. Now it's always in pairs."

"Always one of each?"

"No. Always two of each. They know she has witches with her now."

Katherine nodded, pulling out her phone.

Can't Watch It Go Down

Jeremy stood behind the blonde witch as he watched her and his sister. He had to remind himself that the girl just in front of him, who was a little smaller than his sister, wasn't what she appeared. She was a powerful witch who, if she wanted, could hurt him, but who instead had helped him.

The brother watched as the witch looked at Elena's expression. She held the knife in one hand, the human's uncut hand, palm up, in the other.

Sarah was speaking very softly. "It wasn't enough last time Elena. I don't know it'll be enough this time. I can't keep cutting you."

Elena looked tired and desperate. "You have to. Please, we have to find them. I'm sure Damon's going after them, we have to get there first."

"I'm not an expert at this." Sarah argued.

Elena could tell the witch was looking at the palm she had cut before. The girl closed it and moved it behind her back.

The witch gritted her teeth and moved the blade close to the skin of Elena's palm. Still she hesitated.

"Just do it," Elena said, grimacing herself as she waited for the cut.

They were interrupted as Jenna opened the door from Elena's room. "Do not cut her!"

Elena pulled her hand away from Sarah, actually causing the palm to get a small slice as the witch pulled the knife away.

The niece closed her fist and put it behind her with the other as she turned to face Jenna. Her aunt was not alone, but Jenna's angry words kept Elena's eyes on her.

"I come up here and you're gone – without telling me you were leaving. I don't know you're back until I hear her enter." Jenna nodded towards Isobel, angry eyes remaining fixed on her niece. "You said you wouldn't keep anything from me!"

Elena wasn't sure, but thought she might have made a soft noise as her eyes moved back and forth between her mother and her aunt. She had no idea what to say to either.

"As much as I'd like to watch this go down, we need to move," Isobel said. "Now. We think they're coming for you again."

Elena looked at Jenna's upset expression as Sarah spoke from behind them. "We stopped them last time."

Isobel's response was urgent. "Now they know you're here. Now they'll be ready to take you out as well."

"Why? Why again?" Jenna asked in frustration as Elena pushed past her to follow Isobel.

"We're going to Katherine, right?" Elena asked, her fists still balled as Jenna finally followed Jeremy and Sarah out of the bathroom.

Isobel didn't turn back as she replied. "Not to Katherine, not to the Bennett house, not to the Salvatore house. There's more than one group of them. If they find you, they'll all come to you. We're leaving town."