Sorry for the lack of updates. Work is keeping me busy. To make up for it I´ll post 2 chapters today.

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The day turned out to be a tough and hectic one. Damon wished himself back to the quiet moments that morning in bed with Ric more than once. They parted ways shortly after leaving the hospital. While Alaric went to the Gilbert`s with Jenna for a late breakfast and maybe a talk with John, Damon talked to a few of Liz' deputies about last night to make sure no-one had seen him go down thanks to the Gilbert device. As far as he remembered only John had been there at the time, but that dick had injected him with vervain and Damon had been unconscious for a while.

Lucky for him there had been so much chaos that nobody seemed to have paid much attention. After a short stop at the boarding house to change clothes and get some blood, the vampire paid a visit to Carol Lockwood, who demanded to know exactly who was responsible for killing her husband. The vampire had a hard time calming her down, even more so when Liz joined them a while later and the two women started blaming each other for what had happened.

In Damon`s opinion Carol should be happy to finally be rid of that dick of a husband, but he wisely kept that thought to himself. In the end both women agreed to let him handle the investigation and Carol busied herself with greeting guests again. It seemed like the whole town had decided to stop by and pay their condolences. Liz used the chance to tell Damon of Caroline`s quick recovery. "I`m glad to hear that, Liz." the vampire said with a smile.

Looking around he spotted Mrs Lockwood talking to some guy he didn´t know and asked the sheriff about him. "It's the mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood." Liz let him know. Damon stifled a curse. Just what they needed – another Lockwood. "Is he on the council? Like John Gilbert was when he rolled in?" The sheriff shook her head and assured him that Mason was nothing like John. She explained that he was actually a nice guy, who didn`t believe in the whole supernatural stuff and wanted nothing to do with the council. Well, at least some good news.

But there was still the puzzling fact that the Gilbert device had taken the Mayor down. Damon had seen him in the basement. Had even talked to him. The vervain hadn`t affected him, so he clearly was no vampire. The tricky question was: What was he then? Damon had no idea, but he wanted to find out.

Strolling outside he was surprised when Bonnie walked up to him. The witch really had some nerve. "Did you know the Gilbert device affected Tyler Lockwood?" she asked. Okay, this was interesting. She certainly had his attention now. "I know it took the mayor down." the vampire answered. If Tyler had been affected as well, that meant there had to be something special about the Lockwoods. Or rather – something supernatural. "Don't you want to know why?"

Damon rolled his eyes at the stupid question. "Yes Bonnie, I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by the vampire torture device that you let John Gilbert use against us. Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?" She actually flinched at his accusation, but didn`t back down. "Much better." Damon smirked. "You're welcome." Which was obviously the wrong thing to say, because the witch narrowed her eyes at him. "Doesn't undo the bad. I know what you are Damon. What you`ve done. You might have Elena, Alaric and the sheriff and everybody else fooled, but not me. One wrong move and I'm gonna take you out."

"Oh stop the empty threats, judgy." the vampire muttered. Bonnie just continued staring at him and seconds later a searing pain exploded in his head, so excruciating that it almost brought him to his knees. It was a lot like the pain last night, when the device had been activated. Just not as intense. After a few moments the witch smiled and walked away and the pain ebbed. Damon watched her go, taking deep breath, trying his hardest to control the rage, the desire to snap her neck right then and there. He felt a presence behind himself and spoke without taking his eyes off Bonnie. "I should have killed her when I had the chance."

"But you didn`t. And I guess you had your reasons for that." Alaric answered. Finally Damon turned to face him. "I did try." Ric raised his eyebrows at that, but didn`t comment. "You came with the Gilberts?" Damon asked, glancing to the side where he could see Elena and Jenna talking to Carol. "Yes, I drove Jeremy and Anna. She´s going to stay with them. I think Elena isn´t all too happy about the idea and Anna`s a little uncertain as well, but Jenna insisted and she can be quite stubborn." he told the vampire.

Well, that was a surprising turn of events. "What does John think about that?" Damon wanted to know. Ric shrugged. "I don`t think anyone really cares. From what I gathered your brother threatened him and Jeremy had words with him as well. He was packing when we left. So I guess we`re finally rid of him." That sounded too good to be true. Especially when Stefan had done the threatening.

"No-one leaves town because my brother threatened him." Damon remarked. Alaric shrugged. "I might have done some threatening as well." he admitted sheepishly and Damon couldn`t help but grin. Yes, he could imagine that Ric`s threats were a lot more effective. The guy had a tendency to defend Damon and John had felt the force of his wrath more than once now. "He`s given his ring to Jeremy, by the way. I have no idea how the boy managed that." Ric quickly changed the subject. Before the vampire could comment on that, Elena joined them, wanting to talk to Damon in private, so Ric clapped him on the back and left. Really helpful.

The vampire turned to Elena, who was giving him her concerned look again and asked how he was doing. "Great Elena. Walking on sunshine. Thanks for asking." He turned to leave, not wanting to deal with her right now, but she was persistent and held him back. "We should be able to talk about this, Damon. We're close enough now. I really want to know how you are doing. I mean, you thought I kissed you and then you found out that Katherine`s back and … I think that you're hurt."

"I don't get hurt, Elena." he claimed. "No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and cover it up and then you do something stupid." Okay, she might know him a little better than he´d thought. And she seemed genuinely worried. Which would be almost nice, if she weren`t so damn annoying. "I`m fine, Elena." Damon insisted, actually glad when Bonnie showed up and interrupted them. Who would`ve thought he`d ever be glad to see the witch?

She had bad news. Of course she had. Obviously Katherine had shown up at the Lockwood`s, pretending once again to be Elena. Stefan was taking a walk with her now, which scared Elena who wanted to go in search of them. Damon warned her not do that, since she was no match for Katherine, but as always she wouldn`t listen. Rolling his eyes, the vampire finally complied and went with her.

They found Stefan on a bench, bleeding from a wound to his stomach, which sent Elena into another hysteric fit. It took the younger Salvatore a few minutes to convince her that he wasn`t badly hurt and calm her down. Damon watched them, warring between amusement and annoyance. "What did Katherine want?" he interrupted after a while. Stefan hesitated. "She said she came for .. for me." he said finally, shooting Damon an apologetic look and quickly continuing: "But I don`t believe her. She`s just trying to play us against each other. You do know that right?"

Damon snorted. "Brother, don't you worry. Our bond is unbreakable." he joked. Which only served to worry Stefan even further. "We need to stay united against her. She will try to break you, she will try to break us and how we respond to that will define us. It's our choice. So, I'm not gonna fight you. Even if you thought you kissed my girlfriend. I know that you feel something for her, because you actually care and I'm not gonna let Katherine come in here and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all this time, willing to feel something again."

Okay, so it had been him kissing the girl now, not the other way around. Interesting. It was rather amusing to see Stefan try so desperately not to let his anger and insecurity show. He still believed Damon was in love with Elena and he clearly had no idea what to do about it. His little speech was just further prove of that. Well, Damon wouldn`t make it easier for him. Because, although Stefan was right about one thing and he did feel again, old habits die hard and the older Salvatore just had too much fun torturing his little brother. So he only smirked and murmured: "Whatever you say, Stefan.", before returning to the house.

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It was much later when Damon finally returned home. Alaric was playing chauffeur for the Gilberts again and would return to his apartment afterwards, since tomorrow was a school day and life just went on in Mystic Falls. A burned down building and the tragic death of the town´s mayor didn`t change that. So the vampire had resigned himself to spending the night alone. He strolled into the living room and poured himself a drink, stopping dead in his tracks when he spied the woman on the couch. "Very brave of you to come here." he commented, turning to face her. "I came to say goodbye. I know where I'm not wanted." Katherine pouted.

Damon simply shrugged and walked away, but she sped in front of him. "What, no goodbye kiss?" she asked, giving him her best, sultry smile. The one that had always made his knees feel weak in the past. It didn`t work on him now. "Why don't I kill you instead?" the Salvatore asked conversationally. "You wouldn`t do that, would you? Come on. Kiss me, Damon. We both know that you want to." Katherine whispered, inching closer, backing him against the wall. "My sweet, innocent Damon." she whispered against his lips.

She was so close and he had yearned for this for so long. But those times were over. He had once made a big mistake because of her. Had lost Alaric once because of her. He wouldn`t make the same mistake twice. "Wait, brief pause." She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "I have a question. Answer it and maybe I'll forget how much I loved you, how much you hurt me. I just need the truth, just this once."

Katherine stepped back and held up her hand. "Stop. I already know your question and its answer. The truth is ... I've never loved you. It was always Stefan." Damon blinked, surprised at her honesty. And she was honest this time. He didn`t doubt that. It hurt. He would be kidding himself if he said it didn`t. After all this time his feelings for her wouldn`t suddenly vanish from one day to the other. But it didn`t hurt nearly as much as it should. He mostly felt angry at himself now, for wasting 145 years pining after a manipulative bitch. For leaving Alaric to chase after her. At least now he was free. Now he could move on.

"So you only played with me? Why? Was it amusing to have us both worship you?" he wanted to know, his anger at her growing. He knew he should just let it go, but his wounded ego wouldn`t let him. Katherine shrugged. "Yes, it was. You know, I love Stefan. I always did. From the very first second. You on the other hand … you were more of a diversion. So sweet and innocent. So willing to do anything for me. I enjoyed it."

Damon didn`t know what to say. It wasn`t like he hadn`t known. But hearing her admitting it so openly, so nonchalantly… He watched her leave, surprised to find Stefan standing in the doorway. He had been so preoccupied with Katherine that he hadn´t even heard his brother enter. The younger one took a hesitant step forward, his eyes shining with pity. Damon hated that look. Hated seeing it directed at himself. He didn`t want Stefan´s pity. He didn`t need it. "Damon…"

Whatever Stefan was going to say, he didn`t want to hear it. Ignoring his brother, Damon sped out of the house. He didn`t bother with a car. His vampire-speed brought him to his destination way faster than a car ever could.

Alaric opened the door, already dressed for bed, but he didn`t look at all surprised about his nightly visitor. "You`re late." he remarked softly. Damon just stared at him for a moment, drinking in the sight, feeling his heart skip a beat when Ric smiled at him. He didn`t need Katherine. He had everything he needed right here. Returning the smile he stepped through the door and into the teacher`s waiting arms.