The current Vampire Diaries hiatus (or break or whatever) is annoying, and things have fallen into place, so this story will continue.

Thanks to EtherealDemon and aj81writing who added their magic to this, and to Peachie X, who has agreed (despite the abuse I have inflicted on her in the past) to Beta this story.

With any luck, this will be pretty well done when the show returns, so...lets get it on!

Damon didn't go through the front door of the Gilbert house. He rarely did and Elena never asked him to. He just assumed she had worked out whatever issues Jenna had with him, but he didn't ask. Frankly, he didn't want to know as long as it was sorted.

She was expecting him, she had asked him to come. When she asked him to come over in the past, she was usually sitting in a chair or on the bed waiting for him. She might be reading or writing in her journal, but somehow she always heard him, turned immediately to him upon his arrival and always greeted him. Warmly.

Not tonight. She was staring into a mirror, brushing the long, dark hair he loved so much. She appeared completely lost in thought. He wasn't early, but she was obviously distracted. She didn't notice him.

She was absolutely breathtaking, so Damon didn't disturb her, didn't make his presence known. He just watched, breathing her in. Actually, watching Elena doing normal things was something he really enjoyed. Whether she was sleeping, brushing her hair, eating, reading – just about anything she did when she was alone. Maybe it was the silence. If she was talking, he felt he had to give her his full attention. But if she wasn't paying attention to him, if she was lost in her thoughts – aware of him or not – she was just so perfect, he could watch her forever; for eternity.

It had been weeks since their encounter with the Proctor witches and a number of strong vampires. Elena had settled back into her normal routine – as normal as her routine ever was. For her, he was trying to be nicer to her friends. He would try anything she asked him to, just glad that, whatever his past sins were, she was sticking with him. It was still hard for him to believe that this gorgeous creature let him stay with her.

She was in her routine, he was able to be with her far more than he had ever dared hope, but she wasn't herself – at least not the Elena he had imagined her to be, known her to be before the Proctors came into her life. Not that they were her problem – certainly not Sarah. Elena had been right about that, the blonde witch did nothing but help her, and once he realized that, he would be forever grateful that Sarah had been with Elena, had protected her when the girl he loved was most at risk.

It wasn't Sarah's fault, but something had changed in Elena since then. As far as he knew, she hadn't spoken to Sarah since they had parted several weeks ago, the witch being determined to learn the truth about her family. As far as he knew, Elena hadn't given her a second thought. She hadn't mentioned that family of witches at all.

Actually, as far as he knew, she had barely spoken to Bonnie. She saw her best friend at school, but school was almost over. Damon wondered if they had resolved the complications that Heather had brought into the Bennett witch's life. He had stopped bringing it up with Elena, she just said she was letting Bonnie work it out. He had considered asking the witch himself, but he knew where that would go, and he really was trying to be nicer to the people around Elena.

He watched her brush her hair, still staring into the mirror, still lost in thought. Still as beautiful as ever.

Nicer to the people around her. It really wasn't much to ask of him, he was absolutely willing to do anything for her. It helped that no one seemed to be trying to kill her lately, kill or abduct her. Even Katherine had left her alone for more than a week.

Elena had been able to lose herself in the activities that came with the end of school, she was busy doing the things she loved to do. Or the things she used to love to do. She just wasn't herself.

She was still brushing her hair. Really, how long could she do that before it fell out? He decided to make himself known.

Before he did, she put the brush down, rose and turned to face him.

"Am I that repulsive to you, Damon? Am I untouchable now?"

She was teasing, it wasn't the first time she had caught him just watching her. Still, she did it with such a straight face…

He was instantly in front of her, arms wrapped around her and lifting her a few inches off of the floor. It usually made her laugh, not this time though .

He put her down quickly – not that he wanted to, but he knew her arms were pinned in an uncomfortable position. She willingly gave him all the hugs, kisses, love he could handle. She would do it again, he didn't have to try to take it from her.

"How long did you know I was there?" He was smiling a little, ineffectively trying to get the somber look off her face.

"As long as you've been there. Maybe it does nothing to you when I'm nearby, but I still feel a tingle when you're within a hundred feet of me."

Her expression didn't change. His heart began to sink. This was not Elena, not his Elena. Not even close. Is this what she acted like around Stefan before she dumped him?

He pushed that worry immediately from his mind and met her eyes. She was concentrating on him, though he had no idea what was going on behind the eyes he loved.

"You wanted to see me. Here I am."

She cracked the slightest hint of a smile and pointed to the bed. Then she laid on the covers and waited for him to lay beside her, before turning to face him.

Her eyes closed as she whispered, "Damon, I need your help."

He began to think this was serious now. He wasn't going to close the distance between them, she had chosen it, but he reached his arm to hers, gave it a gentle squeeze, and left it in place as he whispered his reply. "Elena, I'll help you with anything. You know that."

She felt bad. He had given her everything she asked of him, been there time after time. She knew he would do anything for her, but that didn't make it easy to ask. "I know. I've asked so much, and now this."

Her eyes were still closed. He gave her a few seconds before whispering to her again. "What, Elena?"

She opened her eyes now and he could see that she was upset. Her dark eyes met his blue eyes for a few seconds before she spoke in a soft voice. "I can't let it happen again Damon. Jeremy was hurt, Bonnie was threatened, Jenna at risk. And you..." She released a breath before closing her eyes again. "If Sarah hadn't been here…"

He wanted to say 'we would have worked it out.' He absolutely believed that. He said what he thought she wanted to hear "I know." It wasn't a lie, he did know. He owed the witch.

"No one would let me help, Damon." He was grateful her eyes were open again, grateful to be able to look into them, even though he was afraid they showed pain. "No one would let me help, even though they were here because of me."

Her thoughts were a little disjointed as she spoke them, but he understood. As much as he wanted to protect her, to keep her from having to face any danger, she wasn't willing to let others fight for her while she stood idly by. It just wasn't her.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked her after she seemed lost in though again, though still looking into his eyes.

"We need to go, get away from here. We need to find whoever came after me and deal with them."

'We'. He was glad for that, that she wouldn't try to do this on her own, though he thought she might if he didn't prove that he was with her. He chose his words carefully. "Jenna?"

"I'll tell her I need to do something for Katherine. She hasn't even tried to interfere lately."

He nodded and tried again. "Bonnie?"

She didn't hesitate. "Has been in enough danger because of me. Just you and me, Damon."

He felt relieved. She wasn't herself because she was worried about those she loved. She was his Elena after all, worried about loved ones, and willing to put herself into his hands. Willing to trust him completely to help her with what she thought she needed to do.

"There'll be witches and vampires around whoever we're going after."

She sat up, a little uncomfortable in her position on the bed. "Well duh," came out before she could stop it. This wasn't how she asked for help, how she treated him.

She let out a breath and closed her eyes as he sat up as well. "Sorry. I mean we'll deal, Damon, We'll work it out – you and me. They'll think I have vampires and witches around me, we'll be able to surprise them."

Damon let a laugh escape through his nose, wondering what Isobel would think of this scheme of Elena's. He immediately fought it off. "You remember that Katherine has you surrounded with her vampires."

She had been scowling at his laugh, but softened and nodded. "The hardest part. But tell me you'll help me, take me wherever we need to go. Tell me you'll come with me and we'll figure out a way to ditch the idiots."

He managed to smile without laughing this time. She had reverted to her old nickname for Katherine's protection, the nickname she had stopped using recently. This was definitely a good sign that her fire was back.

"The 'anything' I'll do for your includes that, Elena, but I would have hoped you already knew that."

She nodded and hugged him, relieved at his response, expected as it was. She still had no idea what she was asking of him, no idea what they would have to do to put an end to the threat looming over her friends and family.

Stefan noticed it first. School was over, Damon was with Elena at her house, probably doing things with her that he didn't want to imagine. Well, this time they would be interrupted.

He tried to keep his frustration from her. She was nice enough when she asked him favors and he always complied. She always promised to find a way to repay him, he always said he didn't expect it. She never did, and it was getting old.

Not that it was hard to hide his frustrations from her. She was rarely around him. He tried to live the life he lived before she came into his, but he was starting to realize he could not do that in Mystic Falls. Whether he saw her or not, everywhere in town held some kind of memory of her. But leaving would mean giving up on her, and that was impossible.

He approached the Gilbert house, just wanting to be near her for a little bit, when he noticed something unusual.

He had to check and verify. He knew some of the places her protectors usually were, places where they would be unseen from the house, but would be able to watch the house and the area around it.

He looked in all of them. They were nowhere to be found. But he was sure she was home, he had heard her and Damon inside.

It was no longer his habit, she would have killed him if he had done it since the damned bracelet appeared, but he skipped the door and went straight to her room.

The sight that he found could have been much worse – he had almost expected it. But she was just sitting at her desk, writing in her journal, speaking occasionally to Damon who was lying on her bed, playing with her Teddy bear.

"What?" The older brother's challenge and glare were expected under the circumstance. She turned to look at him as well. He expected annoyance, but only saw curiosity in her gaze.

"There's no one here."

"What?" Damon's tone was different this time, though he was still annoyed. Stefan kept his eyes on Elena.

"There are no vampires outside. No one is around your house, Elena."

The girl looked quickly to Damon, a concerned expression on her face. He had barely noticed it before he was up and out the window, leaving his girlfriend with her ex.

He was back before Stefan even considered moving or saying anything else. "He's right."

"Wha…Why?" She knew immediately that the question made no sense, they wouldn't know.

She had never thought that the absence of her Katherine-imposed protection would upset her, but it did. They had, from time to time, proven that they would protect her, which, from time to time, she unfortunately needed. If nothing else, something had changed and she didn't know what.

She sat down on the bed, worried expression on her face easily seen by both vampires. Neither knew exactly what to do.

Damon moved to sit next to her and started to speak, his eyes only meeting a single finger, shaking from side to side, telling him to be quiet.

She tried not think too much as she pulled the Katherine phone out. It had gotten her in trouble every time she had used it in the past. But even if Katherine just yelled at her again, at least it would be contact. At least she would know what had changed.