AN: Thank you so much for your reviews and alerts. It makes me so happy to know that you guys like the story. Here you go. Have fun reading.

Sincerely,

Mydarkside975

Chapter Five: Lawsuit

Damon

"I'm going to sue her for defamation of character."

Damon just entered his brother's office at Salvatore and Co. It was actually his old office but his brother looked much more at home there than he ever did. This was the first time he entered the company since the day he quit almost three years ago and he was not the least bit happy about being there. Still, he wanted to talk to his brother and he made sure that he would not run into Giuseppe, who was on a two-day business trip out of the city.

"So you read the article? It wasn't true?"

He noticed the hopeful tone in his brother's voice and he almost felt bad about having to burst his bubble. Yes, he had read the article so cleverly named; "The Great Salvatore". He actually liked it. That Gilbert woman was very eloquent. She induced wit and sarcasm into her writing and she managed to make him laugh once or twice. It was a shame really that he had to destroy her future and make her pay so much that she had to work the rest of her life to finish her debt. Not because he needed the money, obviously, but because she was a journalist. She was one of those nosy cockroaches who made their living by ruining other people's lives.

"It's true but she does not have any proof." He flopped into one of the leather chairs facing each other by the desk and put his boots on the coffee table.

"What are you talking about? There were pictures." Stefan was now wearing his usual frown.

"Yes, of some masks and a couple of scantily clad performers hardly the high profile sex orgy, she wrote about," he said with his hands up making air quotes. He reached out, snatched a letter opener from the desk and started playing with it, bringing the pointy end to his index finger and twirling it around.

This article-business was annoying him and he was not sure why he cared. He had been numbing himself for so long that he was not used to dealing with annoyance, or emotions in general yet here he was almost sober and practically seeking more trouble. Thinking about it; he had not had a drink in more than eight hours which was a new record. He suddenly longed for a drink so he got up, put the letter opener in his back pocket then made his way to the bar to pour himself a drink, thankful that his brother had a good taste in alcohol.

"This is a bad idea, Damon. What if one of those escorts testifies? We really don't need more bad-publicity." Stefan leaned back in his office chair watching him intently.

"They won't testify brother. I'm the one who pays them." He took a large swig of his drink and reveled in the calming burn of it. He had thought about this the whole night. Everyone who worked for him would never say a thing because he paid them and they knew he could destroy them. None of the guests would say anything either because then they would implicate themselves. It was her word against his provided that she was at the party alone.

He was sure that she was at the party herself and saw everything with her own eyes because her descriptions were too accurate to be acquired through a third party. He just had to find out if she was there alone or if she had someone to testify with her. Fortunately, he knew exactly how to get the information.

After some more arguing with Stefan, he managed to convince him to help him sue the Gilbert-lady. They were going to do it through the company so they could prove her accusations were "harmful" with cold, hard numbers and to have the company's attorney, Elijah Mikaelson on the case.

Now they were sitting in an SUV with black tinted windows parked at an abandoned supermarket. They were supposed to meet the photographer who took the pictures of the party. His name was Tyler Lockwood and apparently, he had a bad habit of gambling. He owed 50.000 dollars to some people who were recently hounding him for the money. All this information, they found out with some help from their jack of all trades security guy/driver/whatever-they-needed who was actually good at whatever he did. Aksel Agerlund, originally from Denmark which is why he looked like a six foot five, heavily muscled and red-haired Viking. Damon once asked him why he moved to the states and his answer was simply; because they did not allow civilians to carry guns. The guy was obsessed with guns. He always wore one in a holster by the hip but Damon suspected that he had more, hidden underneath his clothes.

Now Aksel was standing outside the car waiting for the photographer, he had contacted for them, to arrive. They were supposed to meet 7:30 pm but 15 minutes had passed and the guy was still a no show. Patience was not one of Damon's strong suits. In fact, he hated waiting. People usually waited for him not the other way around. He was getting more irritated by the second and the fact that Stefan was sitting next to him with his one leg shaking in a blur, was not helping.

"Stop shaking your leg, dammit." He finally burst out unable to ignore it anymore.

"This doesn't feel right, Damon. We should not be doing this." Stefan ignored his outburst but his leg stopped shaking.

"You were the one who insisted on coming along, Stefan." He knew his brother was too soft for this kind of mission. He had tried to make him stay in his glossy office and leave the dirty work to him. He was much more capable of bad-assery anyway but he suspected that Stefan did not really trust him. He was right.

"Yes, to keep you from doing anything you might regret."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, little brother."

Right at that moment, the car door opened and a dark haired guy with shaggy clothes and a face covered in varying shades of blue was shoved onto the opposite seat.

"So, let's cut to the chase. You do whatever I tell you to do and I'll pay your debt. Start by telling me how you got into my house?"

At the promise of getting his tormentors off his back, Lockwood told them everything. They were three people; him, his girlfriend and the Gilbert woman. They were in the party disguised as servants. Lockwood and his girlfriend left when the other caterers were dismissed, but apparently the Gilbert woman had changed to look like one of the guests. That was why, she was the only one who witnessed the second part of the party and it was exactly what Damon wanted to hear.

"Now, Tyler was it? I am going to pay your debt as promised but what do you think about getting the same amount for yourself?"

He could see the guy's face changing from the I-am-being-pressured-to-betray-my-friends-look to the greedy fuck-my-friends-for-money look and he knew he had him even before the guy formed the words in his head.

Elena

He was suing her for "defamation of character". She could not believe his nerve. He did it through their company but she was sure he was the one behind it. She felt really stupid that she actually felt sorry for him, and she regretted her decision not to write about the drugged food. She knew though that he would probably have sued her anyway and she would not have been able to prove anything. She was the only one who witnessed the second part of the party and she was sure, none of the guests or the people he hired would testify against him. It was his word against hers and her lawyer had advised her to try and discuss a settlement.

They were sitting in a conference room at Salvatore and Co. She had her lawyer on one side and Caroline on the other. Her friend wanted to show moral support and Elena thought she probably felt guilty for convincing her to go to the party in the first place.

They had been waiting for at least half an hour before the door finally opened and three men entered the room. The first one was in his early forties. He was carrying a briefcase that he put on the table. He started pulling documents out of it right away. Elena thought he probably was their lawyer. The next one to enter the room was a guy in his twenties with brown perfectly styled hair and green eyes. Both men wore suits and looked very professional when they sat down leaving the middle chair empty for the last man.

When he entered the room, she felt her heart start to beat faster, her hands were sweaty and her breathing was a bit shallow. She had not felt this nervous and on the brink of panic in years and of course it happened in the most unfortunate moment in her life. She needed to keep her calm and appear professional, but seeing him again threw her off and she had no idea why her reaction was so strong.

He was wearing jeans, a button-down and a leather jacket, everything completely black. The second he laid eyes on her, their eyes locked and he froze mid-step. His face was neutral but his eyes were like a storm that was pulling her in and throwing her around at the same time. After a while, he seemed to realize they were all waiting for him to sit down so he pulled out his chair across from her and sat down, looking anywhere but at her.

"I am Elijah Mikaelson, and I'll be representing Salvatore and Co. This is Mr. Damon Salvatore and Mr. Stefan Salvatore." He waved his hands at the brothers respectively.

"I am Amanda Blake, and I'll be representing Miss Elena Gilbert. This is Miss Caroline Forbes who wrote the accompanying peace to the article."

"So, on behalf of Mr. Salvatore and Salvatore and Co. we are requesting a statement that discredits the article, "The Great Salvatore" by Elena Gilbert and a full apology to Mr. Salvatore published on the same website in addition to a retraction of said article. Furthermore, the defendant has to pay an amount of money to compensate for the losses to the company caused by the false information published in her article."

With every new sentence he was uttering, Elena felt herself getting angrier, and at his last words her blood was boiling.

"Everything I wrote was the truth and you know it." She shouted pointing her finger at Damon Salvatore who was forced to look at her. She could not decipher the look he gave her as he stayed silent.

"Miss Gilbert, we were under the impression that you wanted to discuss a settlement." Now their lawyer was looking at her accusingly, like she was some whiney girl wasting his time.

"We are, Mr. Mikaelson, but can I have a moment alone with my client please." Now Amanda was trying to contain the situation. She had told Elena to leave the talking to her and just keep her calm, but she had enough of their arrogance.

"No we are not. You can sue me if you want. I only told the truth." Elena was making a move to get out of her chair when their lawyer cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Now Miss Gilbert, maybe you should reconsider. You do not have anyone to testify with you in court. We, on the other hand, have a witness, who is willing to testify against you." Then he got out of his chair and excused himself for a moment. When he came back moments later, he had someone with him.

"Oh My God! Tyler!" Caroline had been exceptionally quiet throughout the meeting but when she saw her boyfriend following the lawyer with his head cast down, she could not hold back her shock.

"Mr. Lockwood says that you, Miss Gilbert, wanted to further your career by breaking the news about Mr. Salvatore's closed parties, so you disguised yourself as a caterer to gain access to the mansion, and convinced your friends to go with you. When you did not find any scandalous material at the party, you decided to invent your own story and publish it as the truth to get more attention."

It was getting too difficult to breathe. The room was closing in on her and her heart was beating too fast. She was now in full panic mode and she had to get out of that room. She heard herself mumble something about getting some air before she jumped out of her seat and practically ran for the door.

Damon

He could not believe his eyes when he entered the room and saw her. He never asked for her name that night, but thinking about it, it made sense. She practically insulted him at his own party, when he asked for her opinion and her article was just the longer, more detailed version of what she had said to him face to face.

When he locked eyes with her, he was almost knocked down by the force of her stare. She was angry and he was sure that her impression of him got confirmed by his petty lawsuit. He almost laughed when he remembered how he lashed out at her for judging him.

While Elijah was talking, he tried to rearrange his thoughts that got scattered by the sight of her there. He had really wanted to make her pay. Not only for what she did but also for everything other journalists had done to him over the years. Now, he could not seem to find that previously burning desire anymore. Now, he only felt ashamed for not owning up to his actions. How did that happen? How did he go from not caring about anyone's thoughts of him to feeling ashamed of himself when he looked into her eyes?

He could not look into her eyes again though so he looked anywhere else, but when she finally had enough of the bullshit Elijah was spewing, she forced him to look at her. He had no idea what to say to her. Yes, everything she wrote was true and he could not remember why he wanted to sue her in the first place.

Then Elijah went for the kill. He could see her struggling to breathe and he almost reached out to help her but then he remembered that he was the reason for her panic. He was practically strangling her himself. Then she ran out and her lawyer requested a postponement. When they left, he stayed in the conference room staring at the chair she was in moments ago.

Elena, such a beautiful name, he thought. She was a beautiful woman. She was wearing formal clothes but her hair was down unlike the last time he had seen her where she had it up in a tight bun. She had her hair straight and she kept tucking and un-tucking it behind her ear throughout the meeting. He kept asking himself why he was so captivated by this particular woman. He had seen so many beautiful women but none of them managed to monopolize his thoughts like her.

His thoughts kept swirling like that even when he left the company and headed to the mansion. That night he went to bed alone for the first time in a very long time.

AN: Thanks for reading. Please leave a word or two to tell me what you think. It really makes my day.