A/N; Thanks so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites. This story is almost at 850 reviews and I am in awe!
You guys are the best and this is all for you. We are almost at the end of this story and I have ideas and plotlines for a sequel so you will get more of this Delena and their family and friends.
Enjoy the standoff and all the action and intensity, and I even weaved in a little romance too! You all wanted to know Stefan's plan...well here it is.
Rated M..lots of language in this one...
Stefan's POV
I studied everything in front of me feeling like I was part of a final scene in a movie. There was tension and fear and the threat of death and blood and even cheering for the romantic leads. I could see my brother's pained looks toward the girl he loved as the 'villain' dragged her closer to me.
Elena looked bruised and beaten...god I could not imagine what Damon had already lived through seeing her like this. Her eyes looked empty and dead and I cringed to think of what she had endured as I had merely been a fly on the wall to this psycho torturing her before.
The corners of my mouth curled up just the slightest as I saw her find my eyes. Her dark hair was matted to her face, her skin peppered with blood. I offered her that small smile of understanding, of strength, that someone was going to do their damnedest to save her and the man she loved. My brother deserved for me to fight as hard as he did to save my girl.
I nodded to her, replying to her small nod at me, struggling not to think that this could be how my Lexi died; tortured and empty with nothing left in her.
Shutting my eyes I willed the horrific images away, the pictures that tormented my dreams. I needed to be here now, not taken away in the memory of my own loss.
I was here... And in every way I could, I would fight to get them out of this alive, together and not more damaged than they already looked.
This time it was not just a mission I was viewing on the massive screens back at the CIA rotunda.
This time I didn't just have a head set on and was barking orders to the men in the field as they risked their lives for their country.
This time I was right there...unarmed and vulnerable and at the front lines...to save the only family I had left in the world.
I was not a field agent, even though I had the training to be and was top of my class, even stronger and faster than Damon, much to his chagrin. We used to spar all the time to stay alert and ready for anything.
But I pulled back from everything and didn't do anything remotely resembling fun or spent time with anyone since Lexi's death.
Everything was too hard and I just distanced myself from the emotional aspect of any connections. Getting involved even in my own brother's life was too hard even though I knew he lost her too.
I had spiraled into depression from losing her...spiraled bad.
Despite that I fought like hell to find my girl's killers I did it without emotion, without any feelings at all. I closed that box of despair and agony in order to pull myself up from the ground at her grave, the day as we buried her.
There wasn't even a body there.
Damon had been taken from the compound and brought to me in trade and all he had left of my baby was the khaki green shirt she had worn the day they had been taken months before...the day I said good bye to her at the airport and kissed her for the last time.
Shaking my head I needed to stop or I would not be able to do this. I had to not connect what my brother's girl looked like to my Lexi's suffering.
My fingers moved slowly, caressing the fabric of that exact shirt tied around my waist. I had brought it along, to bring her with me. I had taken it many places over the last months and now this way, she was here, with me to save Damon and his love.
Kai Parker, the man, the fucker responsible for the pain in my brother's girls eyes was scanning the team I brought. I was not wanting to give away who I was just yet.
We all stepped off the boat and onto the beach our hands up and two of the presumed escaped cons searched my team for weapons as I waited to see what the boss here would do. He was in charge and I agreed to show up with no weapons on us and I honored that deal.
Hell I felt naked without my ankle holster and didn't even bring a knife. Nothing to dishonor our agreement and risk that poor girl getting hurt more.
I was warned he wasn't just a stupid con wanting to escape. I read up on him for most of flight over; every detail, every kill, every crazy trip to the whack shack and time in solitary before he was put back into general population in the prison and then decided to be shipped overseas. When I realized this was the same monster that burned my brother in prison then I was even more furious. I had called in lots of favors to protect Damon in there and yet Parker still went after him.
It had been me that had even petitioned the DOC to get Parker transferred, out of the country and away from Damon after he had burned him so badly that night in the prison.
However I never dreamed the bastard's transfer would be on the same plane as my brother's whole team was sent back to Bulgaria. And when I saw him on the flight manifest my superiors said it was too late to change things by then, no matter how hard I tried.
Digging deeper now, I even read the reports by the guards about what happened in the riot. Seeing that even without the doctors testimony it sounded like hell that day. The lady had been committed to a mental hospital since then and was now living a nonexistent life of endless drugs to numb the pain. Not even the public knew that.
He had destroyed her and he knew how to do it. Kai was not stupid at all. This ass had brains in his head and had managed to avoid the police and FBI for months after horrifically murdering of his family. He kept wreaking more havoc as the manhunt dragged on.
There was never even a motive discovered in all the investigating.
This man did not deserve to live and yet here he was...standing right in front of me and my team as he held a gun to Elena's head.
He looked well protected too and had several other cons around him like he was the damn president with a shield around him in standard triangle formation.
Two other cons had stripped my team and me from our bullet proof vests, donning them themselves and tossing them to the other prisoners and I felt even more exposed without it in this hostile standoff. Kai strangely did not take a vest and looked far too cocky like he didn't even need it.
The sky was dark and the clouds thick as more rain fell lightly on my face and I could see the water jumping up at the drops falling in the ocean nearby. The sand looked sprinkled with darker brown as each drop darkened the expanse of the long beach.
I glanced back at Damon again as my brother stood back from the main confrontation here. I saw him find some life in the weariness I saw in his face as he saw me. He trusted me and I could not let him down.
My big brother looked exhausted. I could see blood streaking his shirt and shoulder and some bruises on his face, around his neck and a fading black eye. He looked relatively okay physically, at least on the outside. But I knew as well as he did how much damage could be hidden, how many beatings invisible from a mere glance at the look of someone.
It was his eyes that looked beaten down...like he had been though hell...without even being touched. The monster had tortured Elena to get to Damon; to hurt him. I could see it in the sadness and defeat on both their faces. Hope flickered in his blue orbs now, a brightness that looked so dim barely a minute ago, as his eyes were locked on mine.
Kai's voice pulled me from my thoughts as he was standing right in front of me, staring in my own green eyes before darting his hard gaze to the man beside me. I had matched his stare before looking down, trying to settle my pounding heart, or mask my ache for the woman he was holding so tightly against him as she fought his grip and tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Who is Special Agent Salvatore?" the creep's voice rang out as he looked back and forth between all the men and me.
I kept quiet. What would he do? I didn't have to wonder long.
"Eeeny, meeney, miney..." Kai was counting us as he sang the juvenile poem and pointing the gun at each of us as he counted. "And you…" he had it at me as his eyes darted up to mine and I froze… "Are not it..."
There was silence. I knew I should say something. I was risking all their lives...but I froze when that never happened before and could not move.
I needed to stay alive. I was my brother and his girls only hope.
There was a crack and the man on the end Jonas, I heard was his name, fell as Kai had raised his gun and blood splattered from his now open skull!
I cringed and had never reacted like that, not since I had blocked out my feelings months ago.
But seeing the young lady in front of me almost fall in the mans grip as he killed my team member I flashed back to Lexi and the hundreds of ways my dreams had let her die and the fear in her eyes every moment.
I saw that same fear reflected in Elena's eyes right now.
She screamed and tried to cover her face as Kai wrestled her back into submission with the gun to her body again. I heard my brother curse and call out her name too but he was held too tight, his back against the tall freestanding rock and a gun to his head too.
Turning to Jonas I realized that Kai had chosen to kill a darker skinned man, which meant he knew it hadn't been me. He knew we were brothers and I wasn't him.
But as I was drawing in a shaky breath, he started doing it again...counting off slowly and as he leveled the gun again. This time he walked up to each of us and pressed it to our heads one by one as he dragged Elena along with him. She was whimpering and crying out now and I was sure she knew he was going to kill again.
The men knew what they signed up for with this mission and were prepared to die. But if I could stop it I had to. He looked to be killing to find me, meaning he wanted me alive…
Just as he got to the last few words of that now horrible scarring childrens rhyme again, I stepped forward and raised my hands in surrender.
"Stop! I'm here! Just stop." I cried out. I looked hard in his eyes and he grinned a Cheshire cat fucking grin back at me that made me shiver.
"I'm who you want. Just leave my team alone. Let my brother and Elena go. You wanted to deal Parker, then lets deal and I'll get you out of here safe and free and clear… You have me, so let them go."
Kai smiled wider. "Indeed I do...I've been waiting to meet you Stefan...But this needs to be a private meeting."
He gives a nod and before I could even open my mouth, the two cons standing beside the rest of my team within seconds had shot and killed all five other men on both sides of me!
Their bodies crumpled to the sand in an instant, bathing the sparkling granules in more and more blood.
"There," he chuckled. "Much. More. Private."
I was scared, truly scared he would just kill me too and then I would be leaving Damon and Elena to face him alone.
There was the sound of gurgling and I felt a hand on my leg as I saw the man beside me fighting for his next breath as blood flooded from his carotid, soaking the sand in more crimson liquid.
I knelt down, mouthing I was so sorry to him as I clutched his hand and he became still, his eyes wide and glassy. Softly I brushed my hand over his wide dead eyes to close them before standing back up.
I could feel the death around me, the darkness, the despair as the precious woman in front of me was gasping and trying to take her next breath as Kai held her so tight against his chest. The gun was pressed against her side, as she looked like she was wearing nothing more than Damon's shirt ripped apart and a bloody tank top, with more blood on her bare legs. I saw the horror in her eyes at so much death and I wished I could hold her and comfort her or better yet give her back to my brother she kept looking back at and crying for.
"So loyal," Kai indicated of the men that had just killed for him.
Damn I knew it had been a risk and I had gotten the go ahead from my sniper team that we were good before I even stepped foot onto the beach. But now six men were dead because the damn snipers could not do their job. I couldn't even ask what happened without arousing suspicion of what I was planning. We were mainly a decoy so that the real players could take out Kai.
I didn't have to wait long again and the voice in my ear bud was a hushed whisper saying that both of them had never had a shot cause Kai had moved from where they could take him out. Then they took a risk to climb other trees to get another vantage point and still Kai was out of their eye line. Besides Elena so close to him, the men around Parker were tall enough that they still didn't have any way to get a clean shot.
Damn it, of course things wouldn't go our way, I thought as I listened.
Kai stepped closer, so close that I could almost touch Elena in front of him but I kept my hands up in surrender. He looked damn possessive of her that I did not dare piss him off more by trying to offer any comfort when I longed to do just that, seeing how raw and real the fear in her eyes was.
"Are you sneaking more people into the party Agent? What did I tell about how I like my privacy?" Kai was clicking his tongue chiding me. Had he heard the man on my com?
"If anything happens to me... the man beside your precious brother has orders to kill him. So stop trying to outsmart me...you won't win. Tell your snipers to back the fuck off!"
I shut my eyes slowly and lifted my hand to my ear. "Stand down and get out here. You are putting both Salvatore and Gilbert at risk. Do Not Shoot!" I demanded through my ear piece. How did this creep know so much? Who was feeding him our plans?
Turning back I studied him, choosing my words carefully. "You wouldn't just kill him Kai. You need us, all of us."
"Ah ah ah. Maybe, maybe not... I need Doctor Delicious to bend your brother to my will and I need Pretty to force you to get me the hell off this rock" Kai says thoughtfully. He shrugged at me, his voice raising again, the light raindrops sliding down his face. He could be calm and cool, then laughing with glee and then raging angry within a blink of an eye. That massive shift in emotions so quickly made him so damn unpredictable.
"Hmmm," Kai said, his voice an octave higher. "I could just use her and skip the middle man. Hell, it saves me looking over my shoulder forever knowing Salvatore is coming for me because of her...so maybe I should just kill him now and get it over with?"
Elena cried out at that and struggled more in his firm grasp on her as I saw him aiming the gun at Damon in the next second.
"No, please. Please don't..." Elena begged. I could see so clearly how much she loved him and the pain in his eyes then too showed me he loved her back, just as madly.
Just as I thought he might actually shoot my brother, Kai turned his attention back to me…. "You look like you are flooded with memories there Stefan." He cocked a brow at me looking devious. "Tell me Special Agent Salvatore...Did Damon ever tell you how your girl died?"
There was silence...absolute dead silence, as my mouth felt like it hit the ground. My brain slowed to a damn crawl as I tried to process what he just said to me...
Fuck, what the hell was he trying to do? He knew? Something that dark and something I thought only my brother knew and I had refused to let him try to tell me in the name of closure...this freak show knew?!
Damon wanted to starve off the wickedness of my imagination, my nightmares...that was why he wanted to tell me but I refused to let him. I couldn't bear to think of my baby in any way but beautifully strong and beaming with happiness in my arms.
Sure I knew missions were tough and they gutted me every time I had to let her leave and risk her life, but she was so brave and never looked weak to anyone, even when taking down criminals. She had fire and even I was scared to cross her.
No! I couldn't hear her in any other way. I just couldn't.
I stayed silent and saw Damon looking at me too with such sadness in his eyes.
He knew.
He had lived those last few moments with her, and I saw what it did to him and how much he drank and hid away into himself from losing his partner before he buried himself in work to likely not have think about it.
Kai looked almost sad as he regarded me, no doubt studying what he said had just done to me. "I do need you Stefan, more even than them. So I am counting on you to back the fuck down...knowing I have your only brother's life in the palm of my hand. And I want you focused and here right now, so telling you how she died would not do that.
But just know that I have the power to rip open that wound if you don't cooperate." He said that so smoothly, with such a peaceful tone like he had not just threatened me with the worst news in the world.
I didn't know if I was relieved or not that he had chosen to leave it alone. He revelation shook me to my core and I admit it was really messing with my ability to function as an agent. I hadn't let any emotion in in so long.
Again I heard the snipers voice in my ear. Didn't I tell them already to stand down? Was someone else giving them orders too? "I have a shot. Its close and might graze the head of the girl but I can kill him," the man whispered, waiting for my go ahead.
Oh man did I want to just let him blast apart Kai Parker's skull.
The satisfaction I would feel and I knew my brother would feel would be second to none.
But I couldn't give the order, not with my brother's girl so close.
"No" I said firmly, bringing my hand to my ear again. "I told you to stand down! You are not going to risk her life! And if you kill Parker, the guy with a gun to my brother's head will kill him too! Is that clear enough this time? Jesus!" I let out a sigh, remembering why I hated being out in the field.
I saw Damon's eyes wide and dilated, hearing what I said, fear washing over his already dark features. Elena whimpered his name then too.
Damn it, I had to get them out of this.
Damon had never found anyone to love and now I could see so clearly how desperately he needed the crying woman in front of me and she needed him too. He was rapidly shaking his head at me and I knew he felt so helpless being so far away from her. I needed to get closer to him too, that was part of the plan.
Kai angled himself and Elena so he could see Damon too and flashed him a smile, nodding to him. I wished I could shoot that smirk all the way back down his throat! He was getting off on their pain. It was the worst kind of sick!
Pointing his gun my way, he gave me a whistle till I looked back at him away from my focus on Damon. "I assume you have a way to talk to your superiors? Someone at HQ or some such place."
I nodded knowing this was coming and pulled out the satt phone from my back pocket. We had been searched for weapons but nothing else and I was surprised no one had taken the phone from me yet.
"Call them now and get this done as discreetly as possible. No extra ears. No paper trail nothing!" Kai demanded.
I nodded again and dialed. I knew I needed to speak to Elijah Mikaelson but I wasn't sure if he was reachable yet. He had been stuck in a meeting and waiting for weather to clear up before flying from M1 6 Headquarters when he contacted me on the plane. The weather had been messing with all signals and communication.
I gave all the right codes and ended up getting connected to Captain Fell saying that he would get someone to call me back right away and that Mikaelson wasn't there yet.
Kai motioned me to give the phone to the con beside him and I watched him tuck it in the swat vest.
He still had Elena tight in his arms in front of him and now brightened, refocused on her. I cringed inwardly as he nuzzled his nose in her hair and breathed in deeply.
"Ahhh, that fear...so fucking delicious," he crooned, as I saw him trail the gun down her throat and across her breast and down her side more before digging it in at her belly as she whimpered before uttering a sharper cry.
I swallowed hard, hating seeing him hurt her.
"Oh right!" he spoke up in a surprised tone, like her crying made him remember something. "You only got to listen before when I was playing with her... but I'll bet you had no idea what I did."
I was already shaking my head at him that I did not want to know at all and from the corner of my eye I saw Damon struggling more against the man holding him as he cursed at Kai.
But the dark haired sociopath acted like he didn't even hear my brothers threats and kept his focus on me. "You may not care...but I'd love a little show and tell time while we wait? Wouldn't you darling?" Kai grabbed her chin, turning her head around more to face him and she spit in his face!
"Fucking! Bitch!" he snarled out and hit her on the side of the head with the gun!
I jumped forward and tried to cover her with my body. She was already reaching for me to protect her as I heard her cry out for Damon again. I felt her nails on my bare arms as the men behind me pulled me back roughly and I felt the barrel of the gun again at my temple.
Instead of Kai ripping her away from me, he grabbed her and threw her in my arms tumbling us both to the ground. Kai stood over me blocking the faint sliver of sunlight with his body, the rain dripping all down his torso, making him look even more menacing.
What the hell was he doing? I wanted to stop him as he pushed the fabric of her tank top up over to her chest as she lay curled up in my lap. The gun held by the con beside me dug in my temple more as I heard him click the safety off, warning me not to move.
Another cry from my brother and I met his eyes wishing so badly that he could trade places with me.
Damon's broken voice carried on the wind toward me. "Help her Stef...protect her please."
I felt her face turn to tuck her head into the crook of my neck. She needed my brother. She needed to feel safe. My heart hurt for her so much.
I carefully put my palm on her head, trying to offer her some kind of reassurance as Kai was looking down at bandages on her belly before cursing and ripped them off causing Elena cry out in pain, her head buried against my shoulder.
Looking down, my breath rushed from my lungs as I took in the bloody cuts in her skin, seeing the psychos name carved into her body!
Oh my God! That was what Damon had been watching as he whispered to me that he thought he was dying! Christ!
I would not have believed it if I wasn't staring right at her scars. No wonder she looked so empty and broken.
"God, Elena..." I mumbled not even knowing her at all, as she sought comfort in me while whimpering for my brother. How the hell could I get her to him? She was shattering to nothing right in my arms and I didn't have what she wanted.
She needed Damon.
My focus turned back to Kai as I glared so much hate at him. He was sick and he fucking looked like he was enjoying her pain. I saw him look closer at her exposed body and I could see another bandage on her thigh...
He was looking at it like it had bit him.
His fingers gripped her thighs and her head flew up at the rough touch. I tried to pull her back, away from him but his hands only pulled her back toward him harder. I didn't want to hurt her more but I didn't know what to do.
"Stop it Parker. Just leave her alone!" I hissed at him. But he ignored me and she started shaking her head as he ripped the bandage off her thigh too and knelt to examine the mark, spreading her bare legs more, his fingers gripping her thighs so tight I knew there would be bruises.
I was holding the emotional and scarred woman my brother loved in my arms as the creep manhandled her and I couldn't do a damn thing! I could hear Damon fighting the man with a gun on him as she cried out.
"Leave her alone Kai! Come after me!" My brother snarled out as Kai whirled to face him.
"You like what I did?" Damon looked wicked, his blue eyes as ice cold as I had ever seen them. "That was my mouth, my teeth sinking into her skin as she cried out my name in pleasure. You will never have that!" he spat at him.
So he had bit her, on her inner thigh in such an intimate spot?
Shit what the hell had all happened here?
Damon was fuming, his expression daring Kai to come after him…what the fuck was he thinking? And the creep stood up fast and stalked toward him, rage rolling off him in waves.
Elena literally jumped from my arms to her feet, seeing Kai zeroing in on her love. Kai strode rapidly toward Damon, the cons still positioned around him, protecting that piece of shit from all sides.
He stood in front of Damon glaring at him and my brother's fury grew. "Go ahead Kai. What are you going to do? I told you before to hurt me and leave her the hell alone. I did that to her to mark her. She's mine! She will always be mine! So punish me for marking up what you think is yours when she never will be. I deserve it! It was me! I did it and I'm not One. Bit. Sorry!"
Shit, was my brother trying to get himself killed?!
Kai was breathing hard, I could see that from here as I held her back and Elena now struggled to free herself from me. Parker's gun was shaking in his hand as he raised it to Damon's head pressing it between his eyes.
Oh god no! I wanted to shut my eyes, but I couldn't. I couldn't.
Then there was a shuffling in the bushes nearby and the two men in full tactical gear came out of the forest with sniper rifles...
I saw it happen almost like it was slow motion...that Kai came out from behind the rock Damon was being held against and buried one shot in both mens heads before either of them could react! Then he kept firing till his clip was emptied into both bodies and they were still.
I raced forward to stop it, yelling to warn them and my mouth fell wide in shock at the sight of their bodies riddled with bullets!
My unarmed team was taken out and they had no chance to fight back. I had hoped that Kai would merely keep them hostage. But these two had weapons but had barely lifted their guns before they were bombarded with a hail of bullets!
Parker drew in a huge breath turning back around, as the silence enveloped the whole area. "What part of privacy isn't making sense?!" he screamed out.
I saw him turn to face Damon again gun raised and I gasped out to see Elena standing in front of my brother, as Damon fought to pull her behind him! What the…?
I had let go of her to run toward the men getting shot, trying to stop him. I at least had to try...but at the same time not realizing that she would have run right into Damon's arms.
I was dragged back almost instantly by the con with the gun on me and kicked to my knees.
Damon's POV
I could not believe it...I finally had that psycho's focus on me and away from my baby and she runs right back into the middle of things!
I had thought he was actually going to kill me. And I wasn't thinking about me at all. I knew that.
All I saw was him rip her bandages off, him gripping her thighs so tight, and seeing that I had bit her. He was livid and I wanted all that rage focused on me, whether I died or not.
I could not bear one more second of Kai's anger against my Elena.
So I challenged him, taunted him and made it look like I loved giving her my mark. That biting her was hot and a rush and he would never have her like that.
I knew that would set him off. I was counting on it. Any fucking thing to get him away from her.
And it worked just like I thought.
Except once I felt the gun between my eyes then I heard her cry out again and I realized I was hurting her now too.
No matter what I did...it was hurting her.
In that moment I wanted to take it back...seeing the terror in her face for me I wanted to find anything to sooth her. So I knew exactly why she ran into my arms, nearly knocking me over and falling us back more against the rock.
She was hanging by a thread herself, just like I was, at all the psychological and physical torture.
But I wanted her safe...away from the gun pointed at me and the madness I saw in Kai's eyes at me marking her.
"Damn it Elena!" I hissed at her, my fingers wrapped around her bare arms as she was buried in my embrace, her arms so tight around my waist I couldn't pull her off of me. I was sure I was leaving more bruises on her soft skin as I tried desperately to pull her behind me.
But she stubbornly locked her arms around me and I could not move her without hurting her more. She already had more blood dripping from another cut on her forehead.
Kai stepped forward fast and I backed right up into the rock behind me. He was so close there wasn't even room between our bodies for me to put myself in front of her. Elena then let go of my waist and turned around, still tight against me, blocking the gun Kai was leveling at me till it was pressed against her chest and not mine. No!
Kai was right in my face, his sick smirk curling from his lips again. "My my Pretty, she wants more pain. She doesn't want me to hurt her precious boy toy, does she? Maybe she wants me to give you a matching scar. I can claim you both..."
No way in hell, I thought as I kept pulling at my baby. "Elena stop," I begged her and gripped her hips trying to pull her around behind him as she fought my grip to stay protecting me.
If I ever doubted my girls bravery she showed her ferocity right now, more than I had ever seen her.
Kai pushed the gun even closer till it rested right on her chest above her breast and she held tight to my arms, her nails digging in my skin. He cocked it right against her chest and a strangled cry came from my lips.
God no! Please, I begged silently.
Just then there was a loud ringing echoing around the beach and Kai spun back around to see one of the cons holding Stefan's phone out to him, the light flashing on it. He nodded, looking pleased.
"About time. Put it on speaker Agent," and the con tossed it at my brother's feet and he picked it up and answered right away.
I didn't catch the full name but I heard Mikaelson. Was the boss Stefan was talking to related to Klaus and Kol? But I missed the next things they said, my focus in front of us.
Kai moved closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my face, making me taste bile in my throat. "Saved by the bell. Aren't you lucky."
He looked back and forth at both of us as I glared at him as his gun slowly pulled the fabric of Elena's thin tank top down more and more on her breast, looking like he was actually stroking her with the metal of the fucking gun on top of her lace bra!
His movements were making me see red...
White, hot, liquid heat flared in my eyes when I couldn't do a damn thing about how he was touching her!
Her fingers were curling tighter around my arms, drawing blood as she squeezed them and keeping them prone at my sides. I was clenching my fists and wanted so badly to knock his fucking teeth in.
But Elena held me back, protecting me from myself, from him hurting either of us more. How could she be so brave after everything?
"They," Kai pointed to the dead marines, leaning closer to my ear, "absorbed my anger at you for what you did biting her. You should be damn grateful!" Then he pulled his gun back from her breast without a word and spun on his heel toward Stefan.
In the same instant Elena and my breath just raced from our lungs and she sunk down in my arms.
I could not imagine the strength it had taken my baby to face him down like that and as furious as I was at her for putting herself at risk again, I was damn proud of her too for how much she loved me.
No one had ever stood in front of a gun at me before. Not even Lexi or Enzo and they were agents and trained for this kind of danger. My girl would have died for me and I was in awe of how deep her feelings for me ran.
She turned more in my arms again and dug her head in at the crook of my neck. I heard her breath my name as I felt my knees nearly give out as I slipped down the side of the large rock, still seeing the one con leveling his gun at me. But I ignored him and cradled my Beauty in my arms again.
I thought Kai had torn me away from her for good the last time and I was going to treasure every fucking second of her in my arms again.
I reached down, wiping more blood from her face and threaded my fingers in her hair as she lifted her head and found my eyes. "You are crazy baby," I murmured against her forehead and pressed a kiss there, stroking her cheeks and gazing into her wide chocolate eyes as trails of raindrops slid down her cheeks like tears. "What the hell were you thinking?"
She straightened up more, looking upset at my words. "I was thinking...that you were going to get yourself killed and I couldn't lose you!"
Her voice was barely a whisper against my neck before she burrowed back down in the warmth of my embrace. I kissed her head and was so grateful that the asshole Kai had guarding me was actually letting me comfort her.
I could still hear Stefan as he spoke quickly telling Mikaelson that Parker was demanding a helicopter. A helicopter? Oh god he was really going to take her away from me? I held her closer having no idea what else to do.
This could not have been it for Stefan's plan. The man did not piss without a plan. There had to be more. Two snipers that couldn't take a shot on Kai and a dead marine team? No, I knew my brother better than that.
The man on the phone must have been connected to the Mikaelson's somehow because I heard him telling Stefan about Klaus. He was being rushed by helicopter to the closest hospital on the mainland. The girl went with him. Caroline was with him? What about the others? Ric and Enzo?
Stefan looked like he read my mind and asked just that, only to hear back that Elijah hadn't seen them yet and he had only just arrived on the air craft carrier a few minutes ago and might have missed anyone else who was brought on board. Only the young blonde woman and his brother he had seen so far and the other woman.
Mikaelson asked him about his other brother Kol. Was he okay? He was told he didn't come aboard with the others rescued either.
I let out a deep breath. Shit where was Kol? I hadn't heard anything about him other than Klaus saying he needed to go back for him after rescuing Caroline. Klaus told me he had been shot before too.
But Klaus never made it back to the beach to rescue Kol...he went to the cave to try to save my baby and ended up almost getting killed.
No one had gone back for Kol...
The man was firm that he wanted to know where Kol was before he sent the chopper and as I nuzzled my head more in my baby's hair I saw Kai snatch the phone back from my brother.
"You get me that chopper and I will make sure the whiny baby Mikaelson is on the flight. Okay?!" He looked pissed and impatient and it only made me more nervous.
"You just make sure this is off radar..off record and you Mikaelson and Agent Stefan here will both get their families back. Me? Free and clear with the rest of the inmates here and you not following us at all. Then this can all be over."
I looked around at the few cons left that were obeying him blindly. He was taking them with him? Of course he would say that to get their loyalty now. I was sure he would kill them first chance he got if they got in the way of anything he wanted. They meant nothing and were simply a means to an end. How they didn't see that was surprising.
I saw the look in Kai's eyes as he said he would let us all go. He looked back and forth between Stefan and I smirking again and I knew without a fucking doubt he was not giving anyone up.
Mikaelson had to know that too right? There was nothing we could do from here to warn them of Kai's impending double cross except trust Stefan and that the bosses in CIA and M1 6 were smarter than this dick. They had to be.
I heard Elijah it sounded like his name was, agree and then tried to say more but Kai slammed the phone closed making Elena jump in my arms as I soothed her more rubbing my arms back and forth over her legs to try to keep her warm, pressing more kisses to her face and hair. It felt like this damn day had gone on forever and yet it probably wasn't even noon.
Kai turned to stare at us and I glared at him, begging with my eyes for more time.
The helicopter was coming...time was slipping through my fingers like the sand beneath us. I could not let her go again. It was too hard the last time and I thought I would shatter like glass then already.
No. He would have to kill me to make me let her go again.
To my relief he did turn away from us at least for now. I saw Stefan who looked like he was speaking hushed to someone on his com and damn it, it seemed like Kai had seen him too!
"What are you doing Agent?" Kai hissed out at him standing over him. Stefan said nothing and Kai back handed him with the gun across his head and blood dripped down his face.
"Who are you talking to? What are you up to? You try anything and its your brother and his girl that will pay for it," he warned him. "I've killed everyone that you brought to rescue them and Damon is next if you screw with me!
Just ask your brother how that goes...I promised him I would screw her if he screwed me before..."
Shit, I did not want to be reminded of that at all. Stroking her skin anywhere I could to sooth her, I could see the bloody cuts through the thin tank and I shuddered at the memory of her screams as he destroyed her body right in front of me.
It felt like it was right out of a horror movie and I didn't know if either of us would ever forget and be able to move past it even if we managed to survive here.
My brother nodded his compliance at Kai and grimaced as he wiping the blood from his cheek.
And then Kai was grabbing Stefan by the collar and pushed him with a gun to his back toward us. I sat up fast at seeing them heading this way.
What was happening? But he merely threw my brother toward the rock I was leaning against and then another con stood guard to Stefan's side like the man above Elena and I.
Kai shot me another daring look as my eyes were steeled ice blue back at him.
"Aren't you even a little bit grateful that I didn't screw her? Kept your precious girl all pure for just you...I know you want to kill me, I can see it in your eyes. But I didn't even get one thank you Damon... And I'm sure you want to know more too. I have information..."
My breath caught in my throat. I was seething at his sick words. I was supposed to be grateful!? Grateful that he didn't rape her when he cut her up like an animal!
But I was curious, hearing him remind me of his abundance of knowledge again. "What Kai? What could you possibly know? You have been in prison for years already. Totally away from the outside world. And you are damn right I want to kill you! I want to tear your skin off your body a strip at a time!"
Kai laughed. "Well the feeling is mutual. I'm dying to put a bullet in your brain Pretty. But as of now they want you alive? How is that for a turn of events. I'm not supposed to kill you now."
"They? Who the hell are you talking about?" I snapped at him. Shit was he talking about the mission? How he knew how Stefan's fiancé died? My brain hurt from too many unanswered questions.
I looked between him and Stefan but my brother looked as confused as I was.
Before I could ask more Kai stalked away again, his annoying posse following him.
Elena was sitting up more in my arms and Kai had actually left her with me. Maybe he was so focused on the helicopter coming.
It was then that I realized how close my brother was. For the first time in months we were in the same room, or so to speak. We had mended a lot between us already just from my time on the side of the cliff.
Elena was nudging me forward and I was again in awe of how well she could read me. I felt her tracing my tattoo on my back, her fingers running in the shape of the Celtic knot and felt a sob in my throat.
I looked up, my eyes finding my brothers and we studied each other for a few silent moments. Stefan smiled weakly and opened his arms first and I felt the knot growing in my throat as I leaned closer to hug my brother for the first time since I left him that night in Serbia.
Stefan held me as I felt more tears at my lashes and I shut my eyes, just happy to be able to fix things between us. I clapped him on the back and saw Elena smiling widely through her tears at me and I smiled back at my love.
She knew how much this meant to me. I had cried in her arms in the cave as I told her how Lexi's death destroyed our bond.
And now that the bond had been mended. Even if we died here in the next hour, at least we had been given a chance to hug and feel like brothers again after so long.
Baby bro pulled me closer, his hand on my head and I felt his posture straighten suddenly. He leaned still closer.
Stefan's voice was low. "15 words or less brother...Go time when Angels above, take 3, I've got 9. Parker's cover handled."
My eyes were saucers when he pulled back. Holy…
Stefan nodded to me just before he got slammed on the back with the butt of the cons gun. "No talking," the con guarding him said. "And stay put."
We put our hands up almost in synch as I saw Stefan nod to me. Wow these guys were much better at being cons than guards, big and burly like guards but they sure were not thinking. They had no clue how to keep us secured. The guns could keep us immobilized but it would not stop us talking, planning, using code, anything.
Stefan must have just been waiting till he could get close enough to tell me the plan.
Elena curled back up in my arms and I held her close as I felt her fingers on the bare skin under my shirt and I rubbed up and down her back. I was doing what I could to help comfort her while my eyes were riveted to my brother with the hero hair.
He bent his head, his deep green eyes wide and focused as he used two fingers to point to his eyes and then the trees behind us past the rocks.
"Eyes in the trees?" I barely breathed, and he nodded. More snipers? Then he ran his hands along by his neck and looked to be twining a make believe chain between his fingers before pointing to his ring finger. A chain…a chain with a ring...
I nearly gasped. "Enzo?! Enzo's up there?" I mouthed out and then bent to focus on Elena as I saw Kai turn back around toward us. I bent my head, my eyes down avoiding any eye contact from him and breathed out when he turned back around to the sounds of a whirring in the air.
It was almost time.
Despite how my body felt from all the pain I had lived through the last few days, hell the last few months even, I felt adrenaline rushing through me right then. Enzo was one of the best long range snipers I knew and Stefan said too that Kai's triangle was getting taken down. I didn't know how or by whom but I trusted him that he knew what he was doing.
The sky was brightening more and more, clouds fading away as the sunlight was poking through and the rain lessening. It felt symbolic of the hope I felt at that moment. There was hope and could not be happier.
I looked down at the dead marines around us and further by the edge of the water. I had thought they were the plan.
Stefan's eyes took on a mournful tone as he mouthed back at me "Diversion."
Oh shit. These men knew they were sitting ducks and it was just made to look like they were the CIA's rescue? Had they known they would be killed? Stefan could have thought that Kai would just hold them hostage till he got away. My brother could not have thought he had led those men to their deaths.
The sounds of the chopper blades were getting closer...and I was so ready to jump into action. I had been fucking helpless for far too long already, watching the most unimaginable things happen to my baby and I. Was. Done.
Stefan was signaling me again after the guards and Kai looked away and put one finger between three on his other hand all linked in the shape of a triangle. Then he moved them back and apart reminding me of curling and taking out the guards to get to the stone at the button.
Kai was the stone on the fucking bullseye and he was going down…
I looked back up at him, ready but so scared of what could happen. He pointed to her. "Protect Elena," he mumbled and I nodded smiling at him. I loved how much he was caring for her. He was so strong and I hadn't seen Stefan like this in a long time.
I bend my head to my baby's ear as I shifted her more or less off my lap and held her still staying near the ground but kneeling in front of me. I saw the con watching me as I kissed her cheek and moved my head closer to her hair. The guy actually looked like he was enjoying watching me kiss her so I figured I would take that and use it.
The whirring sound was getting louder and I opened my mouth wider, turning more away from Kai still watching the sky in front of us and licked a path across her cheek to the lobe of her ear, sucking it between my lips.
The con was watching alright but he wasn't trying anything either to stop me, hurt her or take her away from me. I chuckled against her skin as I saw him adjusting his pants. Oh yeah, this would work out just fine.
Elena's eyes fluttered closed and the man swallowed hard as his eyes were locked on her reactions to my kisses.
"Baby," I breathed against her ear, kneeling beside her. "You need to stay close." I dug my fingers in her hair and tugged her lips to mine. She parted her own, welcoming me as her fingers gripped my arms. I snuck my hands under her tank top and ran them along the smooth skin of her back as I lazily curled my tongue around hers.
I pulled back till my mouth wasn't touching her lips. "Just react, look aroused, bite your lip, anything. He likes to watch and it will help me take him down." This felt as crazy as I felt when Elena stood in front of the gun on me but in a totally different way.
This could be as simple as him getting turned on watching us or he could shoot me, take her for himself, I had no idea. But I was sure all the cons knew that Kai wanted my girl, so I was trusting that all he would do was get himself nice and distracted so I could take him out.
I heard her mumble okay against my mouth. My hands slid up her back under the thin material before I ran them back down her sides and hid us behind her hair. I turned her more toward the con watching us and away from Kai as I licked down her throat as she arched into me. I struggled to stifle a groan, whispering more. "The second the helicopter flies overhead...I'm jumping him and you need to stay close." I tilted her head, angling it to kiss down her collarbone, still hiding behind her hair.
She was already breathing heavier and I saw Stefan get his feet under him, braced and ready. He winked at me and he knew me and that I was using the kisses to my advantage. I was a master of deception in the field. Being ridiculously hot as Lex had said she over heard a woman say about me, was all in my favor and came in handy more times than I could count.
Kai's protection was handled and knew Stefan meant that they had to take out the ones guarding him to get a clear shot at him. I didn't even know where Enzo was but I had never given up trusting my brother, even when he had given up on me. He had pulled off miracles before and he could do it again.
My eyes searched the trees around us for any kind of clue where he was hiding as I kissed back up the side of her neck, reveling in the taste of her soft skin and proud of how well I was multitasking right now.
"If you have to run then do it. As fast as you can. Promise me you will be safe." I begged her my eyes pleading.
She nuzzled her mouth against my own ear, her breath shaky as my forehead fell to hers. "I promise. Be careful Damon, I'm right here. I'll stay as close as I can." I kissed across to her neck, pulling her tank top more off her shoulder as I sought more kissable skin.
I heard the sounds of the helicopter even louder. Anytime now. Damn my heart was racing in anticipation.
"Damon, I'm scared," Elena whispered as I had started pulling the tank top lower down her chest, my hand slipping the shirt and her bra strap down off her shoulder. My chin was curled in the neckline of her tank, tugging it down as I saw the cons eyes grow wide. He was enraptured by what I was doing as my tongue trailed along her shoulder to suck the skin in my mouth.
"I'm right here. I'm not leaving you," I said firmly, my eyes boring into hers. "I promised remember? Never again." She nodded at me as her eyelashes fluttered again as I heard her swallow a low moan.
"I love you Damon," my baby breathed out, her fingers clenched in my hair. I heard the worry in her voice for me, for all of us to survive this.
I looked back up at her from beneath my dark lashes, my blue eyes wide and dilated, my voice full of emotion. "I love you too Beauty." She smiled down at me kissing down her chest and bit her lip. She looked so fucking hot doing that.
My tongue swirled along the valley between her breasts and I shifted, feeling really uncomfortable myself crouched on the sand ready to leap up. "It will be okay baby," I mumbled against her chest. "The second its overhead, move so I can jump up and you hide by the rock."
Her chest was heaving and my eyes were wide, keeping the con in my sights but also being aware of Kai starting to come closer again.
My heart was pounding as I ran the flat part of my tongue along the top swell of her breast just above her lace bra. Hearing a moan from her lips as her fingers pulled harder at the damp strands of my hair made me wish we were alone so damn badly right now. I wanted so much more than I could have of her in this moment.
Then the roaring sound of the chopper raced above us from the ocean, followed by two fast near silent whizzes as one con went down and Kai whirled to see what happened as another one falls on his other side!
Elena backed away and I jumped up and bracing my upper body, swept the cons legs out from under him and he went crashing to the ground!
More shots echoed as I dove for his arm to get his gun. I saw Stefan wrestling with the other one as he spun him down hard to the sand. My brother was punching him in the stomach as the cons hands grabbed for his throat!
I slammed my marks hand down, but the sand was too soft and it wasn't dislodging the gun as I held his other hand down with my one leg. I heard more yelling as there was more shooting out to my left and more bullets whizzed from further past the beach.
Squeezing his wrist, I tried to force the weapon from his grip while I kneed him in the stomach, my other hand holding him down by his throat. I watched him kicking and fighting my grip as I kept his gun arm down.
I heard two bullets discharge and Elena scream as there were sparks against the rock and the bastard almost shot her!
His other hand twisted free from under my leg and he grabbed a handful of sand and hurled it at my eyes!
I screamed and blinked wildly, trying to get the sting out of them as they burned so badly. I forced them open and felt the con spin me so he was now pressing me down in the sand, trapping my one arm under me, his hand wrenching my jaw back. The cuff on my hand under my back dug more into my skin and I could feel the skin break as I cried out.
I grunted and growled and saw Elena still cowering by the rock. She looked like she was ready to jump this creep and I glared at her.
"Don't baby!" I snarled and she stayed back as I reached up with my other hand and push back with equal pressure on this man jaw. He groans from the unnatural angle in the same excruciating pain I am feeling.
But then I hear my brother and can feel the panic in his voice, his voice sounds so hoarse. "Enzo take him out, he's coming for Elena! B Team go now!" There was another near silent whiz close to me and I could see Kai and Julian, the last man of his cover, running toward us. "Damon, 5 minutes ETA!"
I nod fast at him.
5 minutes. I could do this.
I tried to flip the burly man up and over me like my training said in this position but he was too fucking heavy. I could see Elena trapped between where the cons were fighting us and the rock she was pressed against.
"Elena run!" I screamed, seeing Kai so close and I felt a blow to my head and I saw stars. I completely underestimated how much muscle this guy had.
I felt wildly around in the sand for anything to help me and my fingers connected to rock! Curling my palm around it I slammed it hard into his head and I saw him waver.
He tipped more off me and I wriggled out from under him and slammed the rock at his head again. Blood spurted from the wound and he looked more disoriented. I was ready to hit him one more time but he jerked his body around, kicking out at my hand and the rock went soaring away from me.
I grabbed his head between my knees and spun my body around again, trapping his head down as he screamed.
Stefan had his arms around the whole body of the con, his hand locked together as he jerked the man up and back down hard as the man struggled. He was going to break his back! Go Stef!
Elena was running down the beach as I growled out, fighting to snap the cons thick neck. I could see Kai close behind her as she sprinted away from all of us. Maybe she could make it to the helicopter and more marines. God Elena, run!
But my focus was yanked back to the con fighting to get out of my leg hold. I knew all the painful wrestling submission moves and this was one of them and he was already writhing in pain. C'mon damn it!
Coughing from the sand tickling my throat and how much it ached from being choked so much already I spun around again, knowing I was nearly breaking his neck. Just a little further...
I gritted my teeth and heard my baby scream and I looked up and see to my horror that Kai was wrestling her to the ground before hauling her to her feet! NO!
In no time her arms are trapped between them as he pulled her up and was dragging her further down the beach toward the helicopter!
I looked back to my right and the con Stefan was fighting was in a crumpled heap on the ground. But where the hell was my brother? He needed to stop the damn chopper from landing! I couldn't see him anywhere nearby.
"Damon!" she screamed and I squeezed the mans throat harder.
Finally I feltl the bones breaking and I twisted my ankles and snapped his neck with a loud crack. I untangled my legs from him and turned toward her piercing cries. Everything in my body should be hurting right now but all I felt was the rush of the fear of losing her.
Kai is pulling her toward the helicopter as I watched it start sinking down from the sky to land. I grab up the gun from the cons dead grip and aimed it at Kai, squinting against the sun. But he was too far away and using my baby as a shield, so I didn't have a shot that would not risk her! Damn it!
I sprinted up the beach toward her as Julian who was protecting Kai just blocked my path preventing me from getting past him He was buying time for Kai to get to the copter.
Fuck!
At least it was still hovering in the air and I wondered if by seeing what was happening on the ground the pilot was refusing to land.
Julian raised his own gun as I level mine at him. We circled each other, neither moving first. Another scream from my baby caused him to turn his head and I aimed at him firing instantly...only to hear a click.
Empty.
Shit!
I run at him, throwing my gun in his face, as I spin kick his gun from his hand and land back in the sand. I tackle him and he dodges and reaches down and pulls out a knife from his boot!
Damn I'm too close and feel the knife rake across my cheek as I throw myself back as he slashes at me again and I can taste the blood running down to my lips.
He lunges forward as I try to dodge him again and this time I feel the knife tear a thin stripe in my t shirt on my bicep drawing out more blood.
He jumps at me again as I fall back, trying to regain my balance and I block the knife by grabbing onto the extra cuff hanging from my wrist and the blade crashes against the metal!
Julian growled at me as he swung the knife again. This time it connects...hard and I feel it buried in my leg and I let out a sharp cry!
"I'm not going to miss my chance to get the hell out of here because of you Salvatore!" he spit at me.. He pulled the knife back out and I scream again. My eyes are wide as I grab for his hand as he fought to get the knife closer and closer to my head!
I hold him back with everything I have as I feel my strength fading...The knife hovers over my eye getting closer as I start feeling dizzy.
Where were the damn marines?!
A shot rings out just as I thought I was dead and he falls, blood pouring from his head. I see nothing from the direction the shot came from. Nothing but trees...
Enzo...oh god...my buddy saved my life!
I pushed the body off me and groaned, stumbled to my feet. Finally more marines flood the beach area, coming from the interior of the island and they surround and take down any cons left.
B team was here. About damn time!
Running forward, limping from the wound in my leg I see Kai in a standoff farther up the beach. His gun was against Elena's side again and he kept backing away from the marines coming as he made his way to the helicopter.
I finally see Stefan and he's yelling at the men to stand down and that it is too dangerous and risks hitting her.
They lower their guns and Kai moved back more. I didn't care what anyone said. I was not letting him take off with my baby!
I ran, feeling each slam of my leg down in the sand spurt more blood from my thigh and bit my lip from the pain. I raced past Stefan and the marines as I started climbing the hill to the clearing where I could see the blades spinning. It had landed! No!
Ignoring Stefan yelling at me, and racing after me. I made it to the clearing, scrambling up the hill at inhuman speed.
This could not be happening! I could not be so close and lose her.
I stayed behind a tree and could hear her crying as Kai pushes her up onto the chopper. He was yelling and wildly pointing the gun at the pilot to take off. The chopper started hovering and lifting off the ground as the blades spun faster and faster.
I didn't even think of anything but her.
Taking off limping more across the field, I tried to stay low and under Kai's view from the helicopter. "Elena!" I gasped out. "I'm coming!" and I jumped and grabbed onto one of the skids, wrapping my arms around it, just as the ground fell away from my feet and we were racing up into the sky!
Oh my God and I thought she was crazy!?
A/N; So sorry for leaving it there. The last fight scenes are really long so I needed to end it here. I do have everything outlined for the next chapter already so if you want it soon...then tell me in your response to this chapter.
I'm really nervous about how this one worked and I hope it made sense and flowed well. I hadn't balance that many characters in one chapter and knowing where everyone was and who fought who.
I needed the marines to be back enough to not be spotted but close enough to get there quick and yet Stefan was trying his best to lull Kai into thinking he had won already before the real attack came.
Elena would have been more in the crossfire if more marines were there too soon since she was so close to Kai for most of the chapter and the pilot thought that it was safe to land once the second team raced out to the rescue and subdue anyone left. So if you liked it please put my mind at ease that it worked and made sense. LOL
Just the fight to the death left...