A/N; Thank you SO much for all the wonderful reviews, favorites and follows to my story. I love so much that so many of you are enjoying it! Keep them coming they encourage my muse and I love reading what you lovely people are enjoying about each chapter so I know more of what to keep doing.

Enjoy another super long chapter with a nice long flashback too...

Damon's POV

My eyes remained shut as I felt Elena bury herself in my arms against the wall beside the cockpit door. I could hear my best friends grunts and moans as they did God knows what to him.

Enzo had saved her life and I'm sure my life too. There was no doubt in my mind that Kai would have killed me and taken Elena with them off the plane if my buddy had not thrown himself at him. Just reliving the thought of Kai's hand around her throat had terrified me more than I think I had ever been.

I had started getting flashes of when Lexi was tortured and I felt so helpless, so powerless to save her. I still had nightmares so often and all the guilt it brought with it. I felt all my thoughts of that time rushing back up, all the pain in my baby brother's eyes as I told him what happened during those moments when I had stood back watching Kai lick up Elena's cheek and grin so sickeningly at her trembling against him.

I sighed, trying to breath deeper and repeat to myself that she was against me now.

I loved that she felt safe with me. It seems almost unbelievable that she trusted and loved me, when truthfully she didn't know me the way I wanted her too, the real me. She had fallen in love with a prisoner that could not be honest about who I was to her, when truthfully I was the farthest thing from a criminal. Sure I had killed people. I hated that fact, but it was only ever in the line of duty and for the country. I had saved so many lives with the work I did.

I remembered seeing her again later the same day after she had run away from me early that morning...

It was after lunch by then, once Nurse Kelly had checked me out of the infirmary early that morning and I was escorted back to my cell. I had asked her about Elena, or Dr. Gilbert as I had said to her. She was Elena to me already then. I knew what it was that she must have seen in my chart that sent her running. It had to have been what we had done in Bulgaria. The CIA had given me no other fake background arrests or anything that wasn't legit. What happened in Bulgaria was true and I 'had' done it. But it was for the greater good of so many and I knew she would not understand. Not if I couldn't tell her the whole truth about me.

I leaned my head against the fence, my fingers tangled in the steel chain links trapping me, keeping me from running over to her and taking her in my arms and showing her how I felt already after only knowing her for not even a week. My hair was falling in my eyes, hiding the bright afternoon sun behind the curtain of near black. My heart raced every time I saw her, just like it was as I was waiting for her right now.

I was falling hard...and I damn well knew it.

It had never felt so real and yet so fake all at the same time.

I desperately wanted her to know I wasn't a terrorist. That I didn't strap on bombs, blow up embassies or torture and kill civilians in the name of collateral damage or the greater good of certain countries.

My head snapped up at the first sound of her melodious voice on the wind, my fingers gripping the fence tighter in my hands, wishing I could just rip the steel apart with my bare hands to destroy the barrier between us. I wanted to destroy the emotional barrier of the lies too. I wanted to be real with her more than with anyone before in my life. I didn't even understand the pull I felt, the ache to heal the sadness in her and I wondered if she could sense the emptiness in me too. It felt in the few times I had been in her presence that there was an undeniable spark between us, a destined connection.

She was walking slowly down the sidewalk to the main building and was chatting amicably with Nurse Kelly. I found myself just mesmerized by her smile and the faint sound of her laugh from so far away. Her hair was pulled back with a dainty gold clip, her long sleeved tight red top peeked out from under the white doctors coat as her crisp beige dress pants swished against her legs.

She walked past where I was leaning, my head up, my blue eyes seeking, hungry to just catch a glimpse of her warm brown orbs. I was curious if she even noticed me at all, especially after running out of my room this morning. But as my thoughts were consumed with her, she was already halfway across the large expanse of yard, so she might not even see me from so far away. The prison kept us cons as far from staff areas as we could be.

Since that first day I met her I watched her walk this way when we had yard time both after breakfast and after lunch. She always carried a cup of some kind of latte or fancy coffee with her. Strangely today there was no cup. That seemed off. It couldn't be regular coffee either. She had leaned close to me the first day to bandage my cut and I could smell the sweetness on her breath so I knew she liked the fancy coffees and I knew I wanted to know more about what she liked.

I didn't know the next time I would be able to see her. I wanted to somehow explain at least some of the things about me...but short of getting myself injured, how could we talk? I toyed with the idea of pissing off a guard or prisoner so they would beat me, but my stomach still felt like hell from last night and really didn't want more pain right now. So against my better judgment and the possible stares or eyes on me here in the yard I called to her.

"Elena..."

My voice carried softly and I watched her stop where she was standing and slowly turn back to me. She had heard me and I could hardly contain my excitement. I missed her, even just from this morning already. I saw Nurse Kelly look back between me and Elena and the woman winked and tilted her brunette head at me, her eyes alight with something...teasing maybe. Her friend was encouraging her to go to me! I smiled at her politely and she nodded my way before continuing walking.

Elena however just stood there and I wished I knew what she was thinking. I noticed a couple of the cons looking my way, seeing her unmoving on the sidewalk, but after a couple beats they turned away and back to whatever they were doing.

I could barely see her eyes from how far away she was still standing and my hands clenched more on the chain link. I looked pleadingly at her, my eyes wide...just hoping she would give me a chance to explain. I watched her hesitate and then turn from me, her head down, her eyes avoiding mine as she walked away toward the main doors.

No!

My breath rushed out of me in despair and I hung my head closing my eyes, not wanting to focus on the image of her rejecting me. She wasn't going to give me that chance.

I just stayed there, leaning on the hard chains, staring at a patch of discolored grass on the ground once I'd opened my eyes as I felt a tear slip between my dark lashes and down my cheek.

"What do you want from me Damon?"

My head flew up to the sound of her voice so close. In my somber state I had not even heard her walking forward till she was right there in front of me. My eyes darted up locking on hers, my fingers twisting more in the fence as I felt the tear on my cheek. I wiped it away with the back of my hand quickly but I knew she had seen it. I cleared my throat, a lump in it making everything feel very dry right when she wanted me to speak.

Her eyes were hard on mine, her stance rigid and her arms crossed. I knew she was protecting herself from whatever I might say. What could I say? I knew it could not be the truth but I didn't either want her to believe the worst of me like she already must think.

"I want you to understand," I mumbled weakly. With all my heart that was what I wanted.

She shook her head at me and took a slow step closer to the fence, to me. "How can I understand? How would anyone understand you being a..."

"I'm not," I blurted out. I didn't even want her to say it. My eyes were soft against the heat of her angry gaze before she looked away from me.

Now she scoffed at me. I thought I could make it better but it was only getting worse.

"Oh...so you are innocent?" Elena spoke up louder, frustration in her tone. "Just like every other man in here Damon? That is what you are going with? You didn't 'do' what it said on your file? You didn't crash a plane into the wedding reception of the President of Bulgaria's family? His 16 year old daughters wedding?

I was silent at that, my mouth pursed in a tight line. How did she…

"There were casualties Damon! I looked it up. You can Google any news story. Did you and your buddies try assassinate the President of a damn country?"

My mouth fought the urge to fall open at what I was hearing. I thought she had barely gotten a glimpse of the folder with my crimes on it. Obviously I was wrong. Stefan told me that it would be as vague as possible. All it was supposed to say was the crime committed and the date it occurred.

"No. God no Elena. I would never do that," I tried to undo what she had seen and researched. This was not going my way at all. "I was just on the plane. I didn't crash it, or try to kill so many people."

I leaned in more, just wanting to fix this and to my dismay she flinched and took a step back from me, her hands up.

"Just stay away from me Damon."

Every word of that sentence ripped apart my heart that I felt lately beat just for her. I needed to make her see she was so wrong.

"I can't..." she was mumbled as she turned and was ready to walk away.

"Wait Elena please. That isn't what happened, I swear to you. Please trust me," I begged. I saw her stop and turn back around.

"It's Doctor Gilbert, and just let me say this," she corrected me for the first time since she had let me call her Elena before already. That felt like a punch in the gut along with everything else I was feeling.

Her brown eyes were wide and she looked around possibly wondering why she was still here talking to me.

"So you didn't just miss the entire royal family, the wedding party and all the guests by a mere half an hour?" She nodded to me much more knowledgeable in my crimes than I was aware.

"You didn't try to kill the one President that was trying to negotiate peace for his whole region and for the soldiers to stop fighting against the radicals and leaving more and more of his country as widows?"

Of course I just missed them, I thought. That was all me. The only way I could save the whole royal family was to claim the faulty intel and then they would crash the plane early. Yet we still were branded terrorists and wanted for attempted assassination and chased all the way back to the states. We were lucky to have made it all the way back to American soil before being caught. Only our CIA connections and safe houses saved us from being shot on sight in Bulgaria as we ran.

"I promise you Elena I was just on the plane." I totally forgot to call her by her surname again, as I could hardly think straight the way she was looking at me. "I did everything I could to stop the crash. I nearly died."

Well some of that was true. There was no way full disclosure was safe yet. But I could not stand her thinking that I would commit such atrocities.

"It was a commercial flight. I was out there on business and flying back on that flight. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and then before I knew it, it was all over the news and they had my picture and I was being set up. The real terrorists never got caught."

Again partial truths. Our whole team was set up and an anonymous tip put us all over the news as the ones who almost killed the president. Like they were whitewashing us to tie up the loose ends and not pay the team. Without a money trail for the CIA to follow, Stefan couldn't get our tech guys on it to track the source of the hit and in turn learn who the big boss was that had this mystery tech we needed to destroy so badly. That tech had been crashing planes all over already and it was only going to get worse.

I lifted my head again and saw that the guards were starting to round us up. I did what I could but it just felt like I made it worse. I looked back up in her eyes once more, my blue eyes glistening with tears wanting to be let free. But I couldn't cry in here. What if someone saw? I wanted her to understand. I needed her not to be scared of me.

She stepped closer, her body right in front of the fence her arms down at her sides, more relaxed it looked like...was she starting to hear me? "Damon, I still don't know why what 'I' think is so important to you." Her eyes sought out mine again and I moved closer ignoring the guards yelling for us to line up.

"You're important to me," I said without thinking. All I was doing was just feeling what was in my heart.

Elena's eyes widened at my confession. How could that be true? I wondered, after not even knowing her a week? She brushed a stray strand of hair back from her face and put her hands on the chains between us. My hands were still wider apart then hers that were tucked up by her torso as she leaned in closer to me.

"I care Elena. I mean Dr. Gilbert," I tried again but grimaced for a second correcting myself to what she had told me just minutes before. My eyes were wide and pleading on hers as she still kept her own from finding mine. "I care so much that it hurts. I can see how much you are hurting."

Her look was puzzling back at me finally, curious and yet cautious. My eyes were on hers, wide and unrestrained, unlike the rest of me that was still trapped behind these damn fences.

"I care about you. I would never do anything to hurt you, or anyone," I breathed out, feeling my heart pounding. I slowly moved my one hand from where it was so wide apart from my body till it was covering hers, stroking her warm skin against mine. I felt her sharp intake of breath and her gaze was down on our hands as I curled my fingers around hers. "I promise you it is not what it looks like," I repeated, just like in the morning.

She looked back up in my eyes, seemingly torn whether to pull her small hand from mine or not. My expression reflected the little bit of hope I felt as her hand was still twined with mine as neither of us looked away. The intensity of the stare between us sent a rush of warmth all through my body.

"Salvatore!" a voice bellowed and we jumped apart, Elena's head down instantly her eyes avoiding mine. She smoothed her hair back, looking like she was stumbling to say something. "Get your ass on the line convict!" The voice of Cade carried to where we were standing. Reluctantly I stepped back, heading to line up, walking away from her.

I moved backwards slowly, watching her rush away down the sidewalk and out of sight wishing there was more I could have said. But I didn't even know what she all believed and that hurt so much more than I wanted to admit.

Bang Bang Bang! The loudness of what sounded like a weapon smashing against the door that was the only difference between life and death with the cons on the other side, made me nearly jump as I held her. Thank God for that steel door between us and the prisoners. At least for now. The sounds jerked me back from my thoughts as I felt Elena clutch at my waist tighter.

I tried to block out the noise and the yelling and just felt time freeze for a moment as my nose was in her hair. My arms were tight around her, my one hand tangling in the brown tresses, breathing in her scent and enjoying that it had long fallen out of the ponytail. I loved it down. My hands would never get enough. I was amazed I was even thinking of something as simple as how I liked her hair right at this moment.

I knew I needed to focus on getting to Enzo. I could feel the fear and desire even to rip open the door and leap on the cons to get my buddy out of there. But I knew I couldn't risk it without a weapon or a way to keep them from getting to Elena. I needed a plan. But I could hardly think straight for all that we had already been through and I knew I needed a clear head to save him.

So just like before when we were kissing and I could taste her skin against the salt of the water, her scent soothed me and grounded me to think more clearly and not just react and throw myself into danger. Even Enzo had screamed at me to leave him and get Elena safe and I knew he was right. But I couldn't just leave him to die.

I took one more deep inhale of my Elena's soft feminine scent. Her fruit flavored body wash, mixed with the dampness and slightly salty taste of the water as I kissed her hair. I heard her moan against my neck, feeling her lips right against my skin. It helped, I felt more focused and finally turned my head to the others in the small space. So far the cons had not said anything to us through the door other than the distinct voice of Kai just demanding I open the door.

Um, yeah, no chance in hell would I give him the chance to put his hands on her again.

My eyes went back and forth between the middle aged man and a younger looking blonde woman standing beside him, looking as freaked out as I was sure Elena felt. I remembered him and his annoyance of me being in the front in first class as Elena fixed me up. The pilot Ric, I thought was his name didn't want us creeps anywhere near them.

He was eying me obviously very aware that he had just let a convict in the cockpit with them. I was still dressed in blazing bright orange and the cuff was still hanging from my one wrist, leaving no question to who I was. "Thank you," I smiled at him, cuddling Elena closer. The man just nodded slowly to me. "We would have been dead. Elena..." I shut my eyes, kissing the top of her head and blocked out the thoughts trying to push through of what could have happened to her if they hadn't flung the door open.

"Well I knew we couldn't just leave the lady out there with those monsters." He motioned to the woman beside him. "I'm Captain Alaric Saltzman and this is my co captain, Caroline Forbes. The doctor here saved us too. That door was stuck and we could have drowned, so thank you," he finished saying. The woman gave me a small shaky smile as she ran her hand through her long hair.

The pilots eyes were still on me. "Can we trust you? I mean I see that you want to keep her safe. I don't know about you, but I want to live through this too. I sure as hell did not sign up for this when I agreed to the exorbitant amount of money from Maxwell Inc. No money is worth this being stuck on an island with a bunch of criminals."

My eyes widened. "An island?" I was already gently untangling myself from Elena's arms and stepping forward to lean out the window. Sure enough he was right and I could see a few cons swimming and using debris to make their way a short distance in the water toward a large expanse of land. Thank God. At least we weren't stranded the middle of the fucking ocean. I could see cliffs and trees and rolling green hills.

"Do you have any way to call for help? A sat phone, a way to contact anyone? The black box would have a beacon right? I need to get a hold of my brother and tell him where we are. They could have rescue here before anything happens to us and re arrest all these bastards."

Ric shook his head at me again. This guy was just full of good news. I saw Elena's face scrunch up in confusion. She didn't know I had a brother or about anything else we did. Maybe now was the time to tell her.

"I'm sorry man, I looked for the sat phone after the crash and it fell in the water and I cant get any kind of signal from it. At least from this altitude. Maybe if we dry it up enough and get to higher ground something could go through. And I'm pretty sure based on the gauges before they just shorted out and the fucking plane went into a stall that we lost the tail a ways back. Black box included."

That drew a sigh of exasperation from me. Was there anything that was on our side here? "So I'm pretty sure that our black box could be miles away even a hundred or more. And carried in the current it might take days for rescue to track it down, let alone where we are compared to where it will be when they find it. We were close to The Azores islands when everything started shutting down, but there is still hundreds of miles of ocean before Europe."

Shit! That was just a barrel full of more good news. I tried to stay calm thinking that we needed to play hide and seek with a bunch of killers and rapists till Stefan got his ass over here. Hell no. I was not looking forward to that. It could take days! Shit!

Elena moved to stand closer to me again, swishing her legs through the chilly water and I lifted my arm to allow her to curl up at my side, grimacing slightly at the pain in my ribs. Her body felt so good against me. So right.

I looked at the nearly unhurt pilots, seeing mostly cuts and bruises and remembered the plane going nose down at such fast speeds. "How are so many of us still alive? Hell, how did you two survive a head on nose dive? This is likely shallow water right?"

"Yeah I think so," Ric confirmed. "I mean we are still sinking so who knows how shallow but I did some fancy maneuvers and pulled it out of the stall at the last minute managing to get nose up and catch a hard and fast updraft. I think it might have been the only thing that saved our lives because the plane landed almost flat in the water like it hit a cushion. Crazy I know."

Mmm hmm, I couldn't agree more. I wish the crash had killed more of the monsters that were free now but then maybe my baby would not still be alive too or me. The water was rushing almost to my waist by now, telling me time was running out. "Well we need to figure a way out of here with those bastards blocking the door," I said to him. "Is there any other exit from here? A trap door, anything?"

Ric shook his head for the umpteenth time and it was really starting to piss me off that nothing he said was anything positive. "No the nearest airlock to the bottom level is right outside the door in first class. There is nothing in here. All I have is my luggage. The airlines kept losing my shit every flight so I started just keeping in here with me. I have a couple oxygen tanks for the deep sea diving I had planned to do but otherwise I just have my clothes and not even a weapon, nothing."

I sighed looking around. "Well can we break the windows?" My tone was getting more desperate as I tried to think of anything we could do.

I should know all the answers to my questions from my experience with other missions but I just could not wrap my mind around things as well right now. I was struggling to concentrate while feeling Elena snuggle closer to me, her fingers sneaking under the hem of my wet shirt, her warm hand finding the chilled skin of my waist as she held onto me. God I needed her right now. Everything felt fucking hopeless.

"No the windows are way too strong to break. I don't I even have anything in here that could break them," Ric replied dejectedly.

"Well then how the hell can we get Elena out of here and save Enzo?!" I snapped at him expecting him to offer up a magic solution after all the crap he just said wouldn't work.

"Damon, I heard him calling for you to run," Elena's small voice mumbled from against my throat. "Enzo is more than just another guard here...isn't he?"

I drew in a deep breath and pulled her head back gently from my body, cradling her face in my hands, my thumbs stroking her cheeks, as my fingers were digging into her hair by her ears. "Yes baby. He is my best friend. I know I have so much I need to tell you. I just NEED to get you out of here first. But I promise I will tell you everything."

Her eyes narrowed in curiosity but slowly she nodded to me, her hands up around mine on her face. I smiled at her, eager to get the lies gone from whatever we already were to each other. Right now was not the time but soon. "It's not what it looks like," I heard her mumble maybe to herself. And I nodded to her before pressing my lips to hers in a firm but tender kiss. I captured her mouth in mine, just gently, an action full of promise of more time later.

I needed to pull my attention back to my buddy. It had gone way too quiet behind the steel door as the water kept rushing through the cracks and rising around us. They had not just given up on us and left had they? The loud crack of a gunshot had me jumping back from Elena's lips.

"You hear that Pretty?" I heard his nauseating nickname for me again. I looked at back at Ric who again was shaking his head.

"Door is bulletproof," he confirmed.

Well about time at least one thing went our way, I thought. I saw the thick metal that was lodged against the steel seeing it jiggle at bit before Ric jumped back up holding it tight bracing the door closed. "Lock was fried in the crash," he whispered. "But this should hold. There is no doorknob on that side so they can't pull it open."

I was glad to hear it but it still left us in there as the water kept flooding the room. We couldn't stay here forever. And with no trap doors or way to break the glass I had no idea what to do.

"I know he means something to you. I'll shoot him if you don't open the door Pretty!" I heard Kai scream out. No, I couldn't lose him. But what else could I do? Then I heard another loud thud against the door and the weak sound of my best friend calling out to me.

"Damon." His voice sounded so pained and then I heard coughing and him moaning from the likely injuries he had sustained in saving our lives.

I reached out, my hand trembling as I laid my palm on the door. "I'm here buddy. I'm so sorry." I felt a lump in my throat and swallowed it down needing to figure out how to be the hero now when Enzo had been so much on our hero just a few minutes ago.

"You saved us Enz. You saved Elena. And I will never be able to repay you," I choked out feeling a tear in the corner of my eye.

"You can D. Promise me you will take care of Bon and my baby," he pleaded.

I nodded, not realizing that he would not be able to see me. I felt Elena's arms curl around my waist, her body warm against mine as she laid her head in the hollow between my shoulder blades. I reached for her hands tucked up by my stomach and squeezed them in mine, offering her what little comfort I could as she tried to support me.

I heard another bang and then my buddy cry out and I wondered if Kai had slammed his head against the door. Enzo swore quietly as I had my ear still pressed to the steel.

"Say it!" I heard Kai hiss out and then another bang echoed and Enzo groaned.

"Damon, he wants me to tell you there is no way out. Either you and Elena drown in there or.." there was a long pause. "Or he will kill me."

I shut my eyes, my forehead still leaning against the door. Damn it!

Enzo's voice carried again, sounding nearly frantic. "Don't do it Damon! You have to forget about me! You have to keep..." I heard the another loud noise and a moan as Kai must have hit him again silencing his warning to me.

"Last chance Pretty. Your buddy has a gun to his chest. Mikaelson is ready to blow him away. Open the damn door and get your cute ass and the hot doc out here. You are mine! You have 5 seconds!"

I straightened back up turning around and leaning back against the door, my mouth was open wanting to say something, stop him somehow. I wanted to scream, yell, curse and have a gun just magically appear in my hand that I could go all Rambo on his ass.

"5"

I couldn't do it. I knew that. But to willingly let Enzo die? No, he already told me to stay put and keep her safe. I could not let those psychos at her. I just kept seeing Kai with his hand around her throat, his tongue on her cheek and the terror in her eyes as I stood back from them, damn impotent against him. No, I could not give in.

"4"

I started shaking, knowing I had to let it happen. I was breaking my promise to Bonnie in bringing her husband home. I was losing another partner and another friend would be devastated that I had not saved them. The pain on Stefan's face when I told him Lexi had died when neither of us would give in and break down to say who we were working for had been the moment my bond with my brother just shattered beyond repair. I could not bring his fiance, my partner home and that left us broken as brothers ever since. Their wedding had been planned for a week after we were supposed to get back from the Serbian mission. And when I stumbled off that plane alone, all I remember was my brother's knees hitting the tarmac as his heart broke in a million pieces.

And now I was going to do the same thing to Bonnie! God, no.

"3"

I cringed and literally felt as my stomach started spinning. I struggled to stay standing as my knees started buckling and I fell against the door. Warmth pressed into me more and I turned around and looked up, tears slipping down my cheeks and saw Elena' s mournful brown eyes looking up at me as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"2"

I let out a cry as I clung to her, my arms going around her small frame, my tears dripping into her already wet hair. "I can't.." I whimpered, knowing as much as I wanted to I could not open that door. She held me as I broke down. I had not been that raw with anyone but her and this now was the second time I had turned into a crying withering mess in front of her. I remembered what happened that night now. It came back to me in wild flashes as we kissed as the plane crashed.

I buried my head in her shoulder just wishing everything could be different.

"God Damn it Pretty!" I heard Kai yell at me.

"1!"

I had hardly opened my eyes when the gunshot made me feel like I jumped out of my skin. It just shattered the silence and I fell to my knees in the water, my arms clinging to her waist, my head against her smooth stomach. My nose had somehow nuzzled in at the hem of her shirt and could feel her warm skin against my cheek. I just knelt there, the water almost to my neck as I cried.

"No, no Enzo," I sobbed silently my words barely a whisper as I felt Elena running her hands through my hair. I just stayed there, clinging to her belly as I mourned the loss of my best friend.

Then I heard shuffling behind the closed door. Ric was up and moved past us and listened at the door. I could hear arguing between some of the cons but their voices started getting further away. He cocked his head at me as I slowly pulled myself up, gathering what little composure I had left. I sniffled back my hot, salty tears, running the back of my hand over my face.

"I need to bring him back," I murmured aloud. "He needs to go home so Bonnie can say goodbye and have closure."

"Damon I think they are leaving." Ric told me, using my name for the first time. Maybe he saw me as more of an ally than a con?

I moved toward the window and leaned over the control panel. I saw a bunch of the guys swimming away. There was pieces of the airplane wreckage just floating around in the water. I could see Kai dragging himself along on something his arm probably still pretty weak and screwed up. They had given up and left us here to drown!

I nearly jumped as I saw a fin in the water! Holy fuck there was a shark coming right for them!

I was glued to the scene and Ric came over too and joined me as the huge shark was almost on top of Kai. Despite just moments ago crying for my buddy I could not help the smile creeping across my face, thinking that would be a perfect fucking ending to that psychos miserable life!

But in the next second I saw him help another con onto the debris he was floating on, only to literally push them back in the water as the shark lunged at him!

My mouth was hanging open as I watched horrified as the man splashed and fought as blood spurted from his body before the shark ripped him in two and dove back into the red water taking him with him. Oh my God!

By then Kai and a couple others were almost to the beach area not much further away. Kai had raised a gun and shot it multiple times into the water at the shark but I could not tell if it had been hit.

I didn't realize it till it was almost too late when I saw him turn his head and his eyes locked on mine! He could see me in the window and he leveled the gun and started firing at us! I dove down as bullets rained down into the cockpit! The windows were not breaking but the hull seemed to be weaker maybe from the crash already.

I grabbed for Elena, diving behind one of the seats and under the water, my body wrapped around her against the wall. We stayed there as long as I could hold my breath as I felt a bullet graze my leg causing me to cry out and swallow water rapidly before pushing to the surface pulling Elena along with me gasping for air. I heard screaming and more bullets before it was finally quiet, as I curled around her, protecting her with my whole body. Ric too and the other young lady had threw themselves down too and now looked back at me with wide and fearful eyes.

I barely had a chance to turn to Elena when I saw the water just racing from the bullet holes and into the small space. The water quickly rose till past our shoulders and together with Ric seeing him rip off the metal blocking the door, threw we threw our shoulders into it to force it open.

Ric looked shocked. Shouldn't the damn door open? We were the ones holding it closed? He flipped his hair back from his face and looked frantically at me. I just slammed my shoulder against the steel barrier with him again. Damn it!

I turned back seeing Elena leaning over the blonde woman who also looked like had caught a bullet. Her arm was spilling blood and after another slam against the door I saw Elena rip off her long sleeved sheer shirt and tie it around and around the woman's arm.

The water was almost over our heads now and I heard Elena's piercing cry.

"Damon!" she screamed out and waded toward me. I looked sadly back at her before nodding to Ric and throwing both of our weights at the door at the same time again as hard as I could through the heaviness of the water. Finally the door flew back almost off its hinges and we all tumbled with the rushing water into the first class cabin.

I shook my head, this time I knew right where she was and I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled as far I could out of the chilly water. She clung to my neck and I nuzzled my nose in her hair. "We are okay baby," I soothed her, smoothing a lock of her hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. We floated in the water and I was just so grateful to be out of there before we had drowned to death.

Just then more movement caught my eye as I saw Enzo's body just flip over from the rush of the water and spin him onto his stomach. I stood up more and waded toward him and flipped him back over seeing the deathly pallor of his skin. "Oh God, buddy," I gasped out. His uniform was plastered with blood, torn up skin showed me a bullet hole right through his chest. I lifted him up to lay across the floating chairs that had been ripped from the floor.

I recoiled in shock and slowly lifted my hand from his side to put two fingers on his neck…

There was no pulse. Nothing.

I let out a sob as I gathered him in my arms and cried into his neck. No, no, I didn't want to believe it. I laid my head on his chest as his body lay on the chairs. My cheek was met by a sharp pointy object and I pulled my head back. I sniffled as Elena made her way closer and I unhooked what looked like a pen from my best friends uniform.

Holding it up, I studied it for a moment. I knew what this was! To confirm I pushed the plunger down to slide the pen into place and all the came out was some clear liquid. It was! What the hell?! That meant...

"Elena!" I turned around and she was right there and I saw she had found her medical bag and was she was carrying it again. My eyes were bright with hope for the first time in over an hour. "Elena, check his pulse! Please!" I demanded urgently. Could it be? I hadn't seen them on very many missions but I knew my buddy was the total boyscout and was always prepared for anything.

She nodded to me, placing her fingers on his neck and then sadly shook her head. But I wasn't giving up. "No baby, do you have something stronger, a stethoscope?" She nodded to me and ripped open the bag and pulled it out right away. I waited, my heart in my throat as I had my hands on her hips as I watched her work.

Elena spun back around to me. "It's there Damon. I can hear it! It so faint but he has a pulse!"

I let out the breath that had caught in my throat as I saw her rip open his shirt and examine the bullet wound. There was so much blood but the water just washed it away as she felt all over his chest. Her hand went under him too.

"The bullet went right through Damon. I cant explain it but its looks like it didn't hit anything major at all. It went right between his ribs, missed his heart by a bare inch," her fingers kept probing his skin. "It didn't even puncture a lung! I don't what to tell you or how that is even possible but it is!

I watched her grab a handful of gauze pads from her bag and press them to his wound. Then she took medical tape and taped up the gauze. Her fingers went around on his back and I helped hold him so she could pack and tape up the wound on his back too.

"Elena, I think he purposefully used something to slow his heartbeat to make them think he was dead. This pen," I held it up to her. "Has the counter agent to bring him back from looking like he was dead."

Elena's eyes on me were full of surprise. "Do I even want to know how you know that?" she mumbled.

I shook my head slowly back and forth. "Probably not, but as soon as we get safe I will tell you everything. No more secrets Elena I promise." That thought sounded so good to me.

I turned my focus to Ric who was rummaging back in the cockpit and I saw him grab up his large back pack, stuffing the sat phone and the busted radio in it and zipping it back up. He ripped the first aid kit from the wall as well.

He strode closer and handed it to me. "Here, maybe there is more in there that you can use to help him," he said solemnly. I smiled and thanked him. I brought the box to Elena and she wasted no time in pulling handfuls of the supplies into her bigger bag and zipping it back up.

"Is there any tape around, like thick packing type tape? Ric nodded and threw a few thing around in the waist deep water of the cockpit before I saw him twist open a small compartment in the floor and pull out a large tool box. He tossed a roll of tape at me to give to Elena. She took it and started to tear piece after piece off and tightly seal Enzo's wound making it near watertight.

I raced back down through the almost chest deep water closer to the back of the plane and grabbed the fire extinguishers off the walls beside both doors and held them in my hands. I had found her carry on bag too recognizing it as it floated past the doorway of where we were hiding before and flung it on my shoulder.

I walked back up to Ric waving the fire extinguishers at him. "Shark bait," I said simply. I ripped the shirt off one of the dead bodies floating nearby and tied it to the handle and did the same for the other.

I leaned down opened the front outside door and ripped open the valves and tossed them out into the water. They started spinning around in circles, the shirts attached making wide waves in the water. I prayed it was enough to attract any sharks as I ran for the back of the plane.

Elena with the help of the young girl Caroline, had already dragged Enzo almost to the door by the time Ric and I got back. Ric adjusted his bag on his shoulder and passed me an oxygen tank. He nodded to me and put another one in his in his mouth. "We will share," He grabbed onto Caroline's arm pulling her closer and she smiled stiffly clearly nervous."You guys share that one and stay away from the surface as much as you can."

"It's go time beautiful," I nodded to Elena. She nodded back and I lifted my buddy up in my arms and waded us closer to the door. I twisted the lock and it popped open flooding the plane more as the water pulled it down further into the depths of the ocean.

"Are you sure its safe?" the woman spoke finally when I hadn't heard a word from her.

I smiled at her, leaning Enzo against me. "It's our best shot. Follow us and head for the other side of those rocks there."

"You ready?" I looked back at my love, her arms tight around my waist again.

She gave me a weak half smile. "I'm scared Damon. But as long as we are together." I knew what she meant, I was scared too. I pulled her tighter to my side, giving her one more quick kiss before we dove into the water.

I kept Enzo up above the water my grip firm on him hoping that just one person floating would not draw anyone's attention, especially Kai's. I breathed deep and then passed the tank her to and we buddy breathed all the way, seeing the water get shallower and shallower.

I didn't dare look back, fearful of more sharks around us and just prayed that my little MacGyver device would keep them busy long enough for us to get to shore. I pulled Enzo along keeping his head above the surface and finally peeked up out of the water. I could see more people, further away but no one seemed to have seen us. Behind me I heard loud sucking sounds to see that the plane was almost fully submerged and being dragged down into the bright blue water. The signs of how we had gotten here disappearing from sight.

I dragged my buddy up and out of the water, laying him down behind the rock out jutting from the water beside a type of beach as Elena pulled herself from the ocean. The cons seemed to be making themselves at home of the beach so I knew we needed to stay far away from there.

Barely a minute later Ric and Caroline surfaced and scurried over to us. We all stayed hidden behind the rocks away from the beach. I dragged what little supplies I could grab, up into the trees and tucked them behind a bush.

The rest of the afternoon and into the evening was spent exploring the area and keeping a safe distance from the cons. The men were so loud and some of them whooping in happiness that they were free and so it was relatively easy to avoid being spotted. Elena and I left Ric and Caroline with Enzo and to my delight we found a small cave, hidden so well in the foliage around it that I had only found it by mistake.

Panting heavily I had leaned back against what I thought was a hard rock surface only to literally fall and tumble into the small space. There was barely enough for room for two, so once we got back Ric and I decided that Enzo should get to lay there safely and have one person keeping watch over him. All three of us carefully brought Enzo to the cave which thankfully wasn't far up into the dense trees. I watched Elena kneel down beside him and change his bandages and check his pulse again.

I knew if he had in fact taken some kind of drug to slow down his heartbeat then there was still hope. My best friend, Bonnie's precious husband could still come back to us! The pen on his pocket was the drug to pull him back out of the almost coma, but I knew for it to not do any permanent damage to him I needed to wait 24 hours before injecting him.

So we had nothing to do but wait. I watched Elena stand back up and strip her gloves off before looking back at me.

I nodded at her and moved to pull the blanket back up over him. Ric's bag that he had all his stuff in was like he was fucking Mary Poppins and I had no idea how he fit so much in there! He had brought 2 blankets, plus clothes, the oxygen masks, and he somehow managed to fit the sat phone and the busted radio in there too. Crazy amount of space. I was surprised he didn't pull out a damn coat rack!

I moved closer seeing Ric turn his head to me. "Hey Damon, you practically look like you are glowing in the dark man!" he said of my almost neon orange jumpsuit. I knew he was right but right then I had no other choice.

"Yeah I know," I commented back. "But there isn't enough on underneath these for me to be any kind of decent." I made a face at my love, winking at her in my totally sexy way as I watched her struggle for her composure.

"I have to keep them on." I grumbled. But before I could think it over more he tossed me a shirt and jeans. I smiled at him nodding my thanks for his kindness.

Jeans, hell yes. It had been over a month since I had worn jeans. Thank you Captain Saltzman. I wriggled my arms back enough to get the sleeves of the jumpsuit off letting it fall to my waist and saw Elena's eyes on me. She was repacking her bag of supplies back up as I let out a small groan as my body protested my arms being up back in that awkward angle and that caused her to turn back to me.

"Damon, are you sure you are alright?" her soft timid voice asked me. She stood up and walked till she was right in front of me.

I cleared my throat and nodded, putting up my hands. "Me? Yeah babe. Just fabulous. Don't worry about me." I pulled my tight white t shirt up over my head along with the thin wife beater and I felt her fingers proddening my skin and muscles. I looked down where she was focused seeing big ugly bruises already forming.

"Ahh!" Her fingers pushed against my ribs and I glared at her. "Damn it Doctor Gilbert that hurts!" I made a face at her, not impressed that she had gotten me to whimper out like a damn toddler.

"Stop being a baby Salvatore," she scowled back at my stubbornness and I realized her saying my name like that I loved, compared to the guards always call me by my last name. "Then let me fix it. You have some bruised ribs too baby."

I cringed again seeing her clearly enjoying my discomfort as a smile crept on her face. "It's not funny Elena," I drawled at her.

She pushed more on another spot on my ribs and I bit back another painful cry. But from her next touch that cry came out again as I bit my lip. "Ahh, stop that! You are making it worse!"

She laughed, actually laughed at me! "No I'm not. I'm just seeing where it hurts."

I scoffed at her and saw Ric chucking at our banter before turning away and leaving us alone. The woman Caroline was already asleep curled up in the cave partially sharing the blanket draped over Enzo.

"It hurts everywhere Elena! Damn Donovan saw to that even in the space of a few minutes." I groaned again. I loved her hands on me, no doubt there, but not pushing around and manipulating the muscles that were so tender from being beaten.

"Well then just stay still and I'll tape it up around those ribs and it should ease some of the pressure." I nodded numbly to her, just wanting doctor time to be over so I could just hold her in my arms. She made everything better. I had been so focused on getting her safe and Enzo that I had hardly noticed how much my body ached till now.

I lifted my arms and groaned again at the sharp pain it brought as I watched her fingers move on my bare chest. She seemed to be in full doctor mode and if she had checked my heartbeat right then she would have found it was nearly pounding out of my chest.

She pulled a large piece of tape out and fastened it across the bruised ribs as I whimpered again. So much for being tough and manly I thought. A few more pieces of tape across half my chest and I was all doctored up for the night. She gave me a water bottle and more tablets that she said would ease the pain so it would not feel so inflamed. I nodded popping them in my mouth and swishing the water after. I made a mental note that we needed to look for fresh water tomorrow.

Here I was sitting on the ground with her in front of me again needing to get out of my pants in front of her. There was no mistaking the nervous feeling she had around me...half naked me.

But this was not the time to take things further that way. I could see how exhausted she was from the whole day already and I was determined that all I wanted in the whole world was to hold her all night.

I stood up, toeing off my boots and pulled down my pants to slip on the jeans and I swear I could see her eyes widen in the near darkness. I could feel the air crackling with the intensity of our connection. My eyes were on hers as I buttoned up the dark washed dark blue jeans and bent to pick up the black button up shirt Alaric had left me. I slipped into the sleeves and did up the buttons and slipped my boots back on as I heard Ric coming back likely from the bathroom.

He slipped a hoodie on top of his pilots uniform and tossed me a leather jacket. "Here, that should help keep you warm tonight. Its lined and pretty decently warm." He tossed another hoodie at Elena and she slipped it on. She looked adorable all cozy and I watched her pull her hair up into a loose ponytail, exposing her long slender neck, thin tendrils hanging down framing her face.

"Thanks man, for everything," I mumbled. "See you in the morning. Promise me you will let me know if anything changes with him." He nodded to me and then turned to sit at the base of the cave keeping watch over my buddy and his lady friend. I turned to Elena and held out my hand for her and she took it.

"Do you trust me?" I asked her, my eyes seeking hers in the near darkness. I saw her slow nod at me as she squeezed my hand. I pulled her along a few few away and pointed up. She followed my gaze and looked up into the trees.

"I don't want to risk anyone finding us at night and I would stay up all night and protect you like a good little hero should," I laughed. "But can hardly keep my eyes open from everything hurting like hell. So are you up to sleeping like the monkeys?"

Her gaze in my eyes was bemused but she looked open to the idea. I smiled back at her. "Okay then Doc, start climbing." I helped her up to the first branch and then determined not to show her how much it hurt to climb, I bit back more pain. We climbed higher till I found a suitable large branch that we could tuck ourselves beside. I leaned down, resting my back against the one branch and my feet on another one as I motioned for her to come closer.

I saw the confusion in her eyes at where she should possibly sit. "Come 'ere, baby," I opened my arms. "Nothing else has to happen. Can I just hold you?" My eyes were wide and my lip out in a pout and she smiled sweetly at me before climbing into my lap straddling me.

"Mmm, you feel so good," I mumbled. She nuzzled her head in the crook of my neck, her arms tight around my waist. I was ready to settle in and sleep like a baby even being up in a tree with her in my arms.

I could hear shouting however faint and from how high up we were I could see a dull glow on the beach that the cons actually got a fire going. Wow, I was impressed.

But just then the sky opened up above us and the rain fell down in sheets with almost no warning. She curled closer in to me but I could feel her hoodie that Ric had given her was soaked already. I shrugged painfully out of the leather jacket feeling the bark from the tree rough against my back with only the thin shirt as a barrier.

"Here, take it," I offered her. "Get out of that wet hoodie." She nodded silently to me and lifted her arms and I helped her pull it over her head and wrap the jacket around her shoulders. But damn it all to hell, she was still shivering even with the jacket and the warm dry inside of it.

"Hey Elena," I got her attention once more. "Let me keep you warm, please," I pleaded knowing what I needed to do. The rain was running in trails down her face and hair.

"Okay, Damon. I do trust you." I pulled the jacket back off her shoulders and tentatively curled my fingers under the hem of her thin tank top and started to edge it up over her stomach. She slowly lifted her arms for me to fully slip it from her body leaving her in just her bra and pants. My throat was so dry, my eyes dilated so wide in the darkness as I pulled the jacket back over her arms.

Then I sucked in a breath and undid my shirt one button at a time slowly, giving her lots of chances to say no. But she simply stared at me, her eyes darting from the skin I was revealing and back up to my eyes. Once my shirt was hanging open I gently tugged her body closer on my lap and nearly gasped at the feel of her bare skin on mine. I felt her sharp intake of breath too and then she leaned her head on my shoulder and I felt her hands snake around my naked waist.

I kissed the top of her head tenderly. "Just sleep my beauty," and I felt her nod her head still buried against my shoulder. I smiled up into the bright starry sky and could not contain my grin. She felt incredible against me and I pulled the jacket up tighter around us feeling her shivering fade as I closed my eyes...

Aww. I hope you loved it. I loved that last scene SO much.

Please take a minute and tell me what you thought of the chapter. I would love to update more often but it takes a few nights total within my busy life with work and husband and kids so if you guys would prefer shorter chapters sometimes then I can do that too. But to pull off one 10,000 words long then it takes longer to write.

Can't wait to hear what you think! Delena fandom is the best! And don't forget to check out more amazing authors in here. Morvamp, deepwater1978, delenadreams, vitsash, scarlett2112, Mariah april may. Love their stories and I'm reading a really hot one called Love Lessons right now by SW Princess. I know these authors would love your support!

More soon! Can't wait to explore the island more on day 2. :)