A/N: Thank you all as ever for the reviews – they make me so happy! And thanks to the guest(s) who review since I can't thank you personally. I do not own TVD, wish I owned me some Damon though.

Know Thy Enemy

"It's enough just to find love
I was close to a fault line, heaven knows you showed up in time
Now I feel like I'm never coming down"

Busy day, busy day and Stefan has just informed me that Elena had a surprise visitor turn up at her house after we left last night. Isobel. "...just showed up at the front door" – "what's she doing here?" – "I don't know that's what I'm gonna find out" yeah, good luck with that brother.

Katherine says she doesn't want Isobel to know she's here, "it's better if she and John not know that I stayed in town after I got out of the tomb" well that makes...no sense. "You made a deal with John that almost got me killed" and I thought part of that deal was that she stay in town to help Elena?

"What do you know?" – "I know that I want Klaus dead which puts me squarely on Team You" yeah I still don't believe her. "Why don't you call Alaric and let him know that his wife's just showed up on his girlfriends doorstep" hmm o-kay, I'll get right on that Stefan. I call Ric but Elena's already beaten me to it and he's on his way over there so I get to continue on with my plans for the day.

Sabrina the teenage witch, Baby Gilbert and I are taking a field trip today. Our first stop, the dearly departed Martin witches house. "Ye-ep. Everybody's dead" meaning I can get in the house, ooh...nasty burnt body. "You know we could just get another match and cremate him" – "Don't be disrespectful. Not to him" oh fine then Bonnie, I'll bury him. What's another body to add to my continually growing list?

Bonnie wants to collect the cookbooks and she's looking for...something when I tune into her conversation "...If I can find the spot in town where the old Salem witches were burned I can harness their energy to use when I need it" oh well I can help out in that department. "Great, well we'll put that on our list of things to do today: harness ancient dead witch power" – "You know where the witches were burned?" ooh did I forget to mention that part? Silly ol' me, yes indeed I do. I wonder what's going on with Elena and Isobel; it'd be nice if my brother could keep me in the loop occasionally.

After I've buried the body Stefan finally messages me saying to meet him and Elena at the house, which I do. "Do you really think Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelganger?" Elena asks when she's filled me in on her meeting with Isobel. I certainly hope not and I don't exactly trust Isobel but as Stefan says "we'd be stupid to ignore the warning."

"You know you should just stay here" I tell Elena, so much safer, "It's better for us to keep an eye on you" and honestly? I just feel...better when she's around.

"What? In the house that any vampire can enter?" hmm well Stef does have a point there. That could be an issue. "No. Her house is safer" – Well then we'll stay there" – "So it that the plan? Neither of you let me out of your sight again?" uh-huh, it seems as good a plan to me as any! "Let me know when you come up with a better one" that doesn't involve you killing yourself.

"Fine. Then one of you bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood luncheon" while I take huge amounts of pleasure in the fact that she's staring right at me as if she wants me to do it, and she doesn't automatically assume that it'll be Stefan...I can't.

"That'd be me" uh-huh, the boyfriend bodyguard. Fuck.

"Not me. I have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie" – "Does that mean that you're taking her to the-"I put my fingers to my lips to shush her as I hear Katherine come in.

"Don't get quiet on my account; if you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom please do tell" Nope, no plan. Nothing to see here. "Right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me" – "No we have it" I have it. "Where is it?" wouldn't you like to know "It's in a very safe place" – "I've been honest with you. Time to return the favour" why does she suddenly want to know now? "Let me be honest with you. Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust" well that did the trick, got rid of her at least and I got a smile out of Elena, that girl desperately needs some fun. How I wish I could take her for a 5 minute time out to Georgia again.

Well it's time for phase 2 of my field trip "Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed too?" Baby Gilbert asks. Why is he even here again? "Founders thought it was poetic, burning her where the other witches burned" – "How do you know where the witches were burned?" well Bonnie because "I tried to save her" I failed. I was too late.

"Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I discovered what a nasty little bitch Katherine was" I lead them up to the house that was built on the ground, henceforth known as the witches house, it's all ruined and dusty and creaky and Baby Gilbert gets a fright at something which is ironic given that he's here with...well...me.

And, I'm stuck. As in. Can't move.

"Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny" – "I'm not doing anything" – "I can't move" and now I'm burning. Fuckery. "My rings not working" shit it hurts. "Do something" dammit! Oh thank god.

"I don't think the witches like you being here" huh you coulda fooled me! At least we know it's the right place. "I'm gonna go...wait outside" damned judgy little things. After a while of pacing outside I try to go back in but the door slams shut in my face well, "Screw you too, Emily" I'll just leave them to it then, I don't suppose I really have to stand around here all day. Maybe Ric's free for a drink and we can bitch about his ex-wife.

Never mind, apparently I'm needed at the Lockwood's; Papa John is dead, if only that were actually true. "He'll be fine in a couple of hours" unfortunately, I tell Carol and Liz when I arrive. Why couldn't whoever killed him have taken the damn ring off first?

"Damon he's dead" well...only technically. I tell them as much as I can about the ring and then advise them to come up with a cover story while I take John away. I may as well just put him in the house and, great, now I have John blood on me. Lovely.

I'm cleaning up when I decide that something is not...right. And then Stefan calls me "How'd I beat you and Elena home?" fucking. Katherine. Bitch vervained Stefan and now Elena's missing and...so is the damn moonstone. FUCK! No! I knew something was wrong, and she was asking about the moonstone. Jesus.

How could Stefan have let this happen? Elena being taken I mean. Wasn't that, like, his sole purpose? The point of playing bodyguard? To prevent Elena from being taken again? And now we have no idea where she is, although I do have some idea of where to start looking so that's a plus I suppose.

I go and collect Stefan and we pull up outside the nicest foreclosure in town "swear to god if she's not here" – "Don't be such a pessimist" hah, keep dreaming Damon. We're definitely in the right place but there's no sign of Elena or Katherine or Isobel. "Where are they?" fucking...how should I know? She's your girlfriend. You were supposed to keep her safe. Idiot.

We drive around in circles for what feels like forever until eventually Elena calls and we go to collect her and then she fills us in as I drive home. I guess Isobel was compelled to kill herself by Klaus. I'm not exactly sad that she's dead but I wish it hadn't happened in front of Elena. Poor girl has lost every parent she's ever had...apart from Papa John and he doesn't count for shit.

"He knows I'm not gonna run" Elena says to Stefan back at the house, she's talking about Klaus, yeah...unfortunately she's not gonna run. I can't tell you how many times I've considered just grabbing her and disappearing off the face of the earth. Hiding somewhere far, far away where Klaus can never find us, I'm sure she'd forgive me...eventually. I can be ve-ry persuasive. Sometimes I don't know why I don't just do it, but then I remember my brother, and her brother, and her friends and family and I know I can't.

"Which is why we need to take some precautions 'cause we got played. All of us" and I put the deed to our house in Elena's lap. We need a human for the house, Elena's human. She needs a safe place to live and with her owning the house there's no safer place, ironically enough, than with two vampires who will die to protect her.

"What's this?" – "It's the deed to our house" – "you're giving me your house?" yep, kinda hopeful she'll just move in forever, even if it is with my brother. "Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out" especially considering I'm the only who cleans the damn place.

Ooh goody, John's been resurrected, maybe not for long though. I grab him by the neck and haul him up off of the floor "I had no idea what she was gonna do. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry" – "Damon...let him go" aw but 'Lena. Do I have to?

"He and I need to talk" oh well fine then. But seriously this guy better watch out, just 'cause he's Elena's last remaining parent doesn't mean I won't kill him if he makes one more wrong move.

Stefan and I give Elena and John some time alone and I tell Stefan that Bonnie said the spell worked. I guess she's extra powerful now, might wanna be...careful around her. "At least somethin' went right today" yeah...it's not been...a great day, which explains why even Stefan is drinking.

"Hm. Katherine has no idea that Bonnie's got her powers back...and Isobel has no idea what you and Jeremy took Bonnie to do today" I like the way this is going, Stefan hands me a drink. Thanks Stef. "We're the only ones who know" I knew I liked where this was going. "That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon" well. Cheers to that brother.

Dear Diary,
Isobel turned up at the house last night trying to get in and I slammed the door in her face but Jenna was the one who opened the door and then she wouldn't let me explain. Alaric came by this morning so we could try and talk to her but she wouldn't listen to us and she left. Then Alaric punched John which was...so cool.

Stefan came round and he was on the phone with Caroline who told Matt about being a vampire which blew up in her face and then she lost him. And then John came to see me and he let Isobel into my house!

She claimed to be here to protect me...yeah, get in line, not that I believed her either. But she said there are rumours that the doppelganger exists and that she could take me to a safe house. I told her to get the hell out of my house.

Stefan and I went to the lunch at the Lockwood house to accept the donation for Jenna but while we were there Isobel killed John, I mean he was wearing the ring, but she did it to cause a distraction so that Katherine could steal my clothes and Isobel could steal...well, me. Honestly I was kind of pissed at Stefan, I thought the whole point of him and Damon being my new 'bodyguards' was to stop me from getting taken or hurt but somehow I still managed it anyway.

Logically I know it's not Stefan's fault, but if he hadn't gone rushing off to see dead John then it would never have happened. It's not like I can overpower Katherine myself.

Anyway Isobel took me to where her parents, my grandparents had erected a tombstone for her. She said that the 'human' part of her was buried there, and that she used to dream about meeting me. Then she took a phone call and apologised for being a disappointment and then she just...died. She took her necklace off and...burned to death. I couldn't do anything to stop it, but I don't think I'll ever get that image out of my head.

Damon and Stefan are giving me their house, it's going to be my new safe house, sometimes I wish I could just run away and never come back. I'm so tired of being the 'doppelganger', the protected one, the cherished one. And Damon, the way he looks at me, I'm sure sometimes he's just thinking about grabbing me and running, and very occasionally...I wish he would.

But it never lasts long; I would never do that to my friends, my family, the people I love. I know what needs to happen, what's going to happen, it won't be any other way. I told John tonight that maybe I can learn not to hate him, he is the only parent I have left and for whatever time I have left, I just want to enjoy it, or try to anyway. I need to get on with my life as much as I can while I still can.
Elena