Chapter 6

Damon did not leave Elena's side the entire time she was dead.

He punched Stefan twice and drank most of a bottle of Maker's Mark, delivered by Alaric about an hour into his vigil. Elijah sat with him for a while. So did Jeremy. Damon didn't speak to either of them. He couldn't. What if it didn't work? He knew it was irrational, but what if she simply died?

The element of the plan they had actually planned for worked perfectly: Bonnie and Lucy did the moisture-sucking spell exactly as it was meant to be done, though no one was prepared for the horrifying squelching sounds as it began. The rest was a free for all. Behind Alaric's back, Jeremy had discovered the stake among Jenna's old things and had entrusted it to Matt, the only person among them with an Original kill record. They were all lucky that he had, because Rebekah was not to be trusted, nor, they were soon relieved to learn, was she the one to originate their bloodline. She grabbed Elena from Elijah's (pathetically light, in Damon's fleeting opinion) grasp and held her as hostage against the witches, threatening to kill her if they didn't stop the spell on Klaus. It occurred to Damon that this had been Elijah's plan all along, to give Rebekah a chance to kill off the hybrid-making machine. Bonnie faltered to see Elena in danger but Lucy was already too deeply into the spell, and that was when the squelching began. Rebekah, enraged and vengeful, twisted Elena's neck like a screw-top.

The roar that came from Damon was primal. As Elena fell in a clump on the ground, Damon launched himself at Rebekah, no thought of his own life or even that of his brother. She was ready for him. Matt, mad with sudden grief at Elena's death, buried the stake in Rebekah's back as her fingers were tearing through Damon's sternum. Damon felt the flames ignite in his chest for a split second until he realized what was happening and pushed her sizzling body off of him.

Elijah watched her burn, expressionless. Damon's eyes narrowed at the irony that the only one of them kind-hearted enough to have comforted Elijah for his loss was dead. Caroline, ever practical and socially fearless, asked Elijah if he knew who began their bloodline. "It wasn't her," Elijah responded coolly, his glance riveted to the flames in front of him. "Your pointless little lives aren't over. Yet." And then he was gone.

Bonnie collapsed on her knees in front of Elena. Matt and Jeremy joined her there. Alaric's hand came to rest on Damon's shoulder, and Damon could hear the tearful hitch in his friend's breath. Caroline wrapped her arms around Bonnie's shoulders and caught Stefan's eye. Damon watched, hollow, as Stefan shook his head so slightly at her that no human could have seen it, but she understood what he meant. A tear fell as she sighed with relief and sadness, and when he motioned toward Jeremy, she nodded her agreement that she'd prepare him for what Elena was about to become.

Matt deserved more praise than he got. Eventually Stefan and Tyler clapped him on the shoulder. Damon should have thanked him for saving his life, but he couldn't think of anything but dead Elena. He didn't care when Elijah left, or Jeremy, who was dragged away by Alaric, Caroline, Tyler, and Matt. Lucy steadied a shaken Bonnie as they walked away.

Stefan and Damon were the last two left. "I'll get the car," the younger brother offered.

"I'm going to carry her home," Damon said.

In the back of his mind, Damon knew what to prepare for when she finally awoke. He expected she would remember the time he declared his love for her, only to compel her to forget it. He had no idea what she'd make of the memory of meeting him first, a memory he himself cherished. He had been so close to telling her, dozens of times, most recently in that hotel room in Nebraska when, once again, her argument for staying faithful to Stefan hinged on having met him first. But he couldn't tell her, couldn't even compel her to remember; it felt like a coward's move. Instead, he held it close to his heart - the gleam of innocence in her eye, the unguarded flirtation she would never again be able to share with him. As the transition took her, his compulsions would drain away. But Damon couldn't guess how she would react. The best he could do was hope for her forgiveness.

Elena awoke on the soft rug in front of the fire, her head cradled in Damon's lap. She gasped and Damon felt like he could finally breathe again. Stefan sighed beside him and leaned toward her.

Her eyes darted wildly between the two brothers. "Damon, Stefan. I'm… oh my god."

Whatever argument Damon had been subconsciously preparing to convince Elena to complete the transition was entirely unnecessary. Once Stefan assured her everyone she cared about was safe and healthy, she was all business.

"Okay, let's get this over with. Blood bag, please." She held her open hand out to Stefan, almost challenging him to suggest taking a walk outside to look for an animal to drain. But they all knew Stefan would always give her what she wanted.

"I'll be right back."

As Stefan left the room, Damon watched her take in the newness of her senses, the sparkle and shadow of ordinary light. But her eyes shot to his when Stefan opened the basement door.

"I can hear him." She shook her head in disbelief. "Perfectly."

"Yup." He listened with her as Stefan took the wooden steps down to the gritty dirt floor. She cringed at the squeak of the cooler, the squish of the blood as Stefan piled four bags in his arms, another, faster creak and slam as the cooler shut, and Stefan's steps, slower and slower, up the stairs.

"It's amazing. That's a floor away, on the… on the other side of the house," Elena stammered.

"Yup."

"You can hear everything that happens here."

He could see that she was putting it together. He raised an eyebrow to drive the point home. "No matter how quiet or muffled."

Elena's hand flew to her mouth. "You could hear us!"

Their eyes were locked. Here came the first wave of real understanding. Now she could begin to fathom what Damon had gone through for her. "Every moan and thrust."

Just that moment, Stefan reluctantly stepped into the room. Elena whirled around at him, unused to her vampire speed. "How could you? You knew how Damon felt about me and you knew he could hear everything! Everything! How could you be so cruel as to… to fuck me just down the hall? What kind of brother are you?"

"Elena," Stefan started weakly, "don't." He glanced at Damon, pleading silently for some sort of support.

Damon smirked back at him, arms folded across his chest. "She's right. It was a dick move. No pun intended."

"Not helping," Elena hissed over her shoulder at him. Then her face changed as she smelled the blood. The veins wormed under her cheeks; the whites of her eyes turned a deep red. "What is that?" she asked, barely keeping herself together.

Damon's hands were on her hips in an instant, reassuring her. "You're just hungry. Here, Stefan," he said, motioning for him to toss over a bag. He caught it easily in mid-air and ripped the stopper out of the tubing with his teeth. "Drink."

She didn't hesitate. Every gulp he watched Elena take sent sympathetic shivers down his spine; he knew Stefan felt them too. She drank all four bags, slowing only slightly with the last one, finally savoring the taste, the feeling. She sat back down on the couch to recover, her eyes closed against the whirlwind of sensory stimulation outside her body, focusing on the changes occurring inside her. Minutes passed, and her eyes slowly opened. She turned toward Damon, her gaze cast down at his knees.

Elena's voice was small, contained. "I need some time to myself. I want to go home."

"It's not a good idea," Stefan volunteered carefully. "You can't trust yourself yet. It takes practice."

She was adamant. "I need to see Jeremy."

Damon's hand settled on her thigh. "You'll eat him."

She shook her head like she was trying to dislodge the image. "No way."

"Are you willing to risk it?"

Elena took a deep, unnecessary breath. "Fine. I just want to… I don't know. I need to lie down."

Simultaneously, each of the two brothers stood as if to offer her his bedroom. Stefan rolled his eyes but Damon laughed sharply. "We are one step away from a TLC reality show."

Stefan shot him a withering look.

"I'll be in Rebekah's room." She was upright in an instant. Damon grinned bemusedly at her disorientation. Watching a baby vampire was at least periodically entertaining. "Shut up," she muttered at him. But as she walked past him toward the stairs, she mouthed the words I remember, and with an intimacy that had been so familiar only a day before, her fingers traced across his lips and along his cheek.