Elena and Damon entered the church in the same clothes as they had when they did their little photoshoot for the Doctor. Only this time, they were pretending to be from this era. Where bathrooms were less sanitary, and there were still witch hunts. Lovely. Damon and Elena had agreed to go along with everyone else until they figured out when to search for those people they were going to save or die trying. Every so often, they looked at each other much like they had before driving into The Grill. 'I love you', over and over. They sat together in one of the middle pews on the left side, looking as antsy as one afraid to be spotted. Soon they realized it and just gripped each other's hands to comfort each other through their fear and panic. Then the sermon started. Redemption. Faith. Reverence. Prayer, Communion. The mass was coming to the priest, one by one, when someone uttered a cry and they knew it was starting.
A flame licked up the side of the wall, and some men tried taking their jackets off and pushing the flames out of existence, but it just made the flames bigger. People started screaming at the mass emptied the room quickly; quickly enough that it was a stampede, trampling three people under their feet. Elena rushed to the aid of one man and his sister, who thanked her, looked at her strangely, and ran out. She looked after them, not knowing what that was about, until a beam hit her head that had fallen from the flames.
"Elena!" Damon yelled, and ran to her, throwing the beam away before the fire could reach her. She stared at him and they embraced quickly.
"You're not supposed to use my real name right now." She huffed with her face buried in his neck.
"Sue me, we might be about to die, time for following the damn rules is gone out the window." Damon muttered in reply. He pulled away slowly and they kissed one more time before going to help others who needed aid getting away from the church. A little girl had gotten trapped under a pew when a large beam fell and blocked her exit. Damon kicked it away and tenderly helped the girl from the pew, kneeling before her to check to see if she'd been burned. The girl stared at him as she stood before him.
"Are your parents out there, sweetie?" Damon asked her gently. She continued to stare at him.
"Your wife helped my parents out already." The girl mumbled. Damon knew what that meant. They hadn't looked for her. They hadn't tried to save anyone but themselves.
"If you want my opinion, you're better off without them." Damon told her and she nodded, a tear running down her cheek. He brushed it off. "Although quite honestly I don't know how you'd fend for yourself." Damon added. The girl hugged him and he froze, and then hugged her back, patting her back and brushing her hair slightly. He stood up and led the girl to the exit that was surprisingly still clear. He pushed the girl toward it and she looked back for him, as he did for her. He nodded that she should go, and smiled slightly in reassurance. The girl disappeared and he went off to rescue two more people from the flames, and did so. When he could find no one else who needed help, he looked back at Elena, who stared at him with shining eyes and a smile. She'd just helped free a woman from another falling beam, and so they came to meet, the woman joining them.
"Is that everybody?" He yelled over the flames.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't think anybody would be in the cellar or the attic." Elena yelled a reply. Damon looked at her in surprise and the woman fled the flames before she could offer thanks.
"Look at you trying to blend in." He said with a smile. Elena smiled in return. They looked around. "We should check and see if anyone went to the cellar or attic, we don't want to end up doing this again." Damon added. Elena nodded and they sped to the attic quickly, found no one, and went to the basement, finding the water the Doctor had been talking about. Damon took the holy water and they went upstairs to meet the exit being blocked. Damon and Elena looked at each other and he flung the water at the flames, hearing it sizzle and leaving the exit open. Elena flung the door open, crying out at the burning sensation but as Damon went to help her she pulled him out of the door with her before another beam came crashing down. They walked away from the church, panting and staring at the flames, and a few of the survivors that had stayed, other they'd helped, cheered for them. They turned around and looked at each other, smiling. The little girl Damon had helped came up to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. When he let go the girl stayed standing before him.
"What was your name?" Damon asked.
"Elisabeth." The girl replied. He held out his hand.
"Damon." He replied. The girl looked at him strangely but took his hand.
"Do we not greet people with shaking hands in the 1700s?" Damon muttered to Elena.
"No, it's just that your name's from Rome, and we're in Sweden." She replied, and then smiled at the girl, not noticing that Damon was smiling at her. Elisabeth smiled back at Elena. The girl looked at the both of them.
"My parents left after you saved them from the fire, they're not here." Elisabeth told Elena.
"Would they be at your house?" Elena asked. The girl looked away.
"They left her in there to die, Elena; she doesn't want to go look for them." Damon muttered to her. Elena looked at the girl.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Elena apologized profusely and the girl shrugged.
"Where do you live?" The girl asked. Damon and Elena stared at the girl and then at eachother.
"We can't take her with us." Elena said.
"Why not? She's got no family that wants her and her staying with us is possibly the safest thing for her." Damon replied.
"The Doctor told us we can't bring anyone back." Elena said.
"And since when have we listened to stupid rules when it came to doing the right thing?" Damon asked. Elena sighed. She looked at Elisabeth, who stared back at her with big dark eyes.
"We'll take you with us, Elisabeth. But you have to swear, you won't go wandering off. Stick to us, okay?" Elena said. Damon smiled and Elisabeth nodded. Damon offered his hand to the girl and Elena led them back to the Tardis.
The Doctor was there waiting for them with a cloudy look in his eye. But when he saw Elena and Damon looked alright, he grinned, and hugged them both. Elena hugged him back and Damon slapped his shoulder appreciatively.
"Job well done I must say." The Doctor said with a grin. Elena smiled and then showed a little girl had been hiding behind them. The Doctor looked at her, his grin fading.
"What have you done?" The Doctor asked, and then pointed his screwdriver right at the girl's face. Elena and Damon looked at him incredulously and shielded her from the sonic buzz.
"What is your problem?" Damon demanded, the Doctor looked at him briefly and then stared at where Elisabeth stood, staring at him with blank dark eyes. "She just almost died in a church fire, her parents left her in there to die, and then you're pointing that stupid screwdriver in her face?" Damon asked.
"She's been through enough." Elena agreed with a snarl. The Doctor looked at her.
"Not until I say so." He replied, and Elena looked at him with suspicion.
"This is the thing that tried to kill you two." The Doctor told them. Elena gaped and Damon stared at him with wide eyes.
Elena turned around and looked at the girl who stared up at her with the same dark eyes, her expression unchanged despite just being called a 'thing'. She looked at Damon who was staring at the girl's face as well.
"Elisabeth," Damon began. "how did you get under that pew?" He asked. Elisabeth looked at Damon and suddenly her expression clouded. Elena gripped his arm protectively.
"I wasn't counting on you noticing me under that pew so quickly." The girl said. Damon stared incredulously at her. "Much less wanting to come and save me." She added.
"Why did you want to kill us." Damon croaked.
"You doppelgangers are so clueless." Elisabeth hissed. Damon looked at Elena and back at the girl. "The longer you copies are around, the more time it takes for us wasps, to go through our generation. The more time it takes for a generation of wasps on Earth to complete that circle of life, the less power we have next time."
"Doppelgangers have power just by existing and therefore drain the wasps' power." The Doctor muttered. He pulled Elena and Damon into the Tardis and Elisabeth started smiling, buzzing, and had transformed into a giant wasp. Damon stared through the door's window and Elena stood by his side, gripping his arm. They watched Elisabeth the giant wasp duel with the Doctor, her stinger pointed right at him. Damon stared out the window and cursed under his breath, Elena staring at the wasp as well.
"Screw it." He muttered, and unlocked the door, Elena followed him. The Doctor looked behind him and stared at the two with fright.
"I pushed you into the Tardis for a reason!" The Doctor protested.
"Yeah and you aren't getting anywhere, what can we do to get her out of here?" Damon asked. Elena went off towards a tree, luckily without Elisabeth seeing her. Damon looked at the Doctor still.
"Water, but there's no water around. That and her stinger's too close for me to do much." The Doctor replied.
"You didn't think this out too well did you." Damon criticized.
"Well if you have an idea I'm all for it." The Doctor cried. They stood there and watched as Elena ran up with a wooden bucket in her hands and splashed Elisabeth, who glared at her with its dark eyes
"Hey" The Doctor yelled, Elisabeth looked at him. "That's what you get for trying to hurt me and my friends. If you don't want to get splashed again, fly away." He commanded. Elisabeth looked at Elena, then the Doctor, and flew away, water dripping from its abdomen. Damon stared at Elena, who stared back at him.
"Well that was good." Damon noted and Elena smiled, dropping the bucket. They embraced and The Doctor led them into the Tardis.
The Doctor knew they needed a minute alone and so when he got the Tardis started he offered to leave the room, but Elena just asked where another good one would be. After, they went to the library.
Damon turned and Elena helped him land on another wall. She stood there, watching his wounded face, and rubbed his arm.
"That's what I get for caring about someone for no real reason." Damon muttered. He looked around.
"You did a good thing, saving Elisabeth; it's not your fault you didn't know what she was." Elena soothed. Damon nodded and she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you still." She added.
"For getting emotionally invested in a giant bug?" Damon asked.
"For wanting to take her in." Elena replied. Damon looked at her. "I didn't think you liked kids that much." She said. Damon shrugged.
"When I rescued her, and she told me her parents left her there to die, I sorta saw myself in her." Damon replied. Elena took his face in her hand, confused.
"I don't understand, your parents never left you alone. You had Stefan, too." Elena replied.
"Not for a while." Damon said. "But that's not what I meant." He added. Elena cocked her head to the side, ready for him to explain. "I saw the person I was when I was in love with Katherine, in her eyes. Loving someone who didn't want me, only to find out when I needed her the most." He replied.
"I thought you'd gotten over her." Elena muttered. Damon laughed lightly.
"Of course I have, babe, I wouldn't have asked you to be my wife if I was still hung up on dead-doppelganger Katherine." Damon replied.
"Then why was Elisabeth so important to you?" Elena asked.
"Because I wanted to be able to help someone who went through what I did. I thought I was doing some good." Damon replied. Elena studied him as he looked away and she gave him a look.
"You did, Damon. If Elisabeth actually had been abandoned by her parents, and was a normal child who'd nearly died, you would've helped someone. Just because it turned out to be a lie doesn't mean your actions were too." Elena replied. Damon smiled appreciatively at her and she put her head on his shoulder again. He kissed her head and she hugged him. Soon after the Doctor came to tell them they'd arrived back home.