A/N: An update! I know I know I've been slacking. And I'm so sorry. I was focusing on "Second Chances". But I felt inspired for this again, so here you go :) Thank you all so much for sticking with me and for your encouraging words. They're really greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The sixth chapter in which the defenses are going up

Elena had made a decision. She had thought about it long and hard, had weighed the pros and cons and had decided to overcome her fears and just go for it. She was a woman on a mission, as she was walking down the stairs. It was early morning. Vicki was still in bed, knocked out from her sleeping pills, and she could hear her kids and their nanny getting ready next door. But she was sure that the person she was looking for would already be up. Probably working out, as always. She stopped on the porch and watched the strong legs sprint across the sandy beach, watched the muscles tighten with every leap, watched the person whose determination and strength both intrigued and intimidated her. But the time to be timid was over. She had prepared her speech and she was ready to give it.

"Miss Bennett?" she called out and waved the trainer over. The other woman stopped in her tracks and then jogged up to the house, her chest still heaving from the exertion.

"Yes, Mrs. Lockwood?" she asked, a little out of breath, but looking unfairly perfect for the workout she had probably already been through. Elena hesitated for a moment, but pushed on, determined to be strong this once.

"I was wondering if… I could take lessons. From you." Elena stammered, her well-planned speech completely forgotten.

"Lessons in what?" Bonnie asked, surprised.

"Well, what you did with Mr. Salvatore the other day, how you threw him over your shoulder, I want to learn that," Elena tried to explain.

"You want me to teach you martial arts?" Bonnie's eyes widened.

"Well, self-defense, I guess." Elena hesitated a bit and looked at the woman standing in front of her, hoping she would relieve her from this awkward situation. But no such luck. "Look, I know I don't seem like the hands-on type…" Bonnie had to suppress an agreeing huff. "But I've been attacked. And I couldn't do anything. I have never felt so weak and helpless in my life. And there is nothing I hate more than feeling helpless." She had to take a deep breath. She was highly uncomfortable, baring her soul to a stranger like this. But she wanted, she needed, those lessons. And she was willing to go to great lengths to get the trainer to agree to her demand. "I do trust you and Mr. Salvatore to protect us. But I don't want to feel this helpless." She looked at the trainer, who was simply staring at her. "Please," Elena added.

"Of course," came the hurried reply. "Sure. No problem. When do you want to start?"

"Uhm… I don't know. Whenever you are free." Elena replied eagerly.

"Well, I'm always free, we're all stuck in this house together," the young woman replied with a merry laugh. "Do you want to get started right away?" she then asked.

"Yeah, sure. Okay," Elena answered, suddenly nervous. "Like here? Or do we go somewhere?"

"Well, I guess on the beach would be best. But maybe you want to go change?"

"Sure. Yes. I'll be right back," Elena confirmed quickly and sprinted back up to her room. She was experiencing a rush. She felt braver and stronger already. She had quarreled with her decision for a long time, not sure if she would actually be capable of what she wanted to do. But now that she had taken the step to share her plan and ask for someone's help, she felt exhilarated and elated. She was being proactive for once, was going to defend herself for once and not rely on someone else for once. The simple fact of having made the decision made her heart flutter and her stomach clench at the same time. As much as the plan excited her, it frightened her in equal measure. She could fail. She could make a fool of herself or get hurt or simply not learn and be taken by the kidnapper despite her efforts. She recognized that feeling of despair and anxiety that was creeping up her spine. She knew it because she succumbed to it every time, retreating, physically and mentally shutting down, depending on someone else to save her, like the snail that hoped its house would save it against the foot that was about to trample on it. But not this time, she told herself. This time she would at least try. She would not let her fear incapacitate her, she would fight until the very last minute. This time it wasn't just about her, it was about her children as well and she would not let them get hurt because she had been too afraid to do what was necessary. Also this time it was obvious that her husband would not be able to save her with his money and his influence. She needed real, actual protection. And even though Damon and Bonnie were doing a good enough job, Elena had reached the point where she didn't want to rely on them completely. She would not be able to live with herself if she went through this relying on other people entirely and loosing because of it. If she was going down, she would at least be going down fighting.

She was in her workout clothes and back on the beach in no time. "Let's get started," Bonnie exclaimed as she jogged back up to her newest client. "I want to evaluate your strength and fitness before we get started on actual training. So we'll start with a run on the beach okay? You want to get your endurance up as well, not only your muscle power."

Elena nodded and the two women started jogging down the beach. Elena did go to the gym frequently, if only because she was bored, so she wasn't too worried about her endurance. Running in the sand, however, was more strenuous than on the cross-trainer. Her feet sank into the soft sand with each step and she had to use additional force to push herself forward. Her legs were starting to get heavier faster than she thought and after a few times up and down the beach she was starting to get windy. Bonnie looked at her and smiled. "How about a little sprint?" she asked, jogging easily alongside her tired boss.

"A sprint?" Elena turned her head and looked at her bewildered.

"Just to the rocks at the end of the beach. About 500 feet. To get the blood pumping a little."

Elena thought that was a horrible idea but nodded nonetheless. Bonnie smiled and took off, leaving an annoyed Elena behind. This was a stupid plan, she chided herself before dropping her head and straining the muscles in her legs to increase the speed. When she reached the rocks she was ready to tell Bonnie she had changed her mind about training with her.

"Not bad," the trainer said with an acknowledging smile. "Do you work out often?"

Elena eyed the trainer suspiciously, not sure if she was actually paying her a compliment or mocking her. She felt her blood pump through her veins violently, making her head burn red and sweat breaking out all over her body. It was obvious that she was in far inferior shape than the bodyguard. Not sure which angle the other woman was playing, she replied reluctantly: "I try to go to the gym three times a week. Sometimes I'm too busy though."

"Yeah no, I can tell. You're quite fit," Bonnie replied with an honest smile. "Running on the beach is not like running at the gym though, is it?" Elena only shook her head, breathing heavily, which made Bonnie smile. "Don't worry about it," said the dark skinned beauty. "Here you have the time to really work out. You should try and run every day and then we'll do actual training sessions three times a week. You'll be as fit as a fiddle in no time."

Elena smiled but still didn't speak as the girls went back up to the house. When they reached the porch, Bonnie handed her a water bottle and both women drank greedily. Once she had quenched her thirst and felt like her breathing and heart rate were slowly returning back to normal, she finally started to speak again.

"Really? You think I'm in ok shape? I feel like I'm dying. It doesn't even seem like I ran very far and I'm totally spent."

"Oh no, you did great," Bonnie reassured her. "It's normal to be exhausted. I work out every day and I have done so for the past five years. Don't fret. You'll see, you'll make progress quickly."

Elena couldn't help but smile at her gratefully. She liked this girl. She had been unfriendly to her from the very beginning and still the other woman had remained warm and helpful the entire time. She had a calm inner strength that Elena found very appealing and a seemingly incredibly good-hearted nature. Elena didn't know many people like her and she found herself wishing she did. It must be great to have a friend like her, she thought to herself before her rambling thoughts were interrupted by the other woman's voice.

"So, are you ready for your first lesson in self-defense?" she asked, sounding cheerful.

"Uhm, sure," Elena replied, trying to push her worries away. The idea of throwing a grown man over her shoulder scared her and sounded ridiculous at the same time. But she had faith that if her trainer thought she could do it, then she could.

"Alright, we'll start with the basics. All the fun and exciting Judo and Karate moves are for later. Right now I will teach you a few simple strategies. Some very elementary maneuvers, okay?"

Elena wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed but nodded anyways.

"Alright. The thing about Judo, for example, is that you want to defend yourself without actually hurting the other person. It's not aggressive. It really is pure self-defense. The other person might get hurt in the process, but not because you attacked them."

"Yeah, okay," Elena agreed. She could definitely agree to use non-violent methods.

"That's not what we're gonna be doing right now," Bonnie said determinedly.

"What?"

"Right now what you want to learn is how to get out of being attacked, ok? We can deal with the niceties and the style of it all later. Right now we want to make sure that if someone ever comes at you again, you can get away from them. And right now you're not stronger than… probably anybody. So you have to know how to exploit their weaknesses, alright?"

"Uhm yeah. Ok."

"Good." The girl smiled. "So your attacker is probably not going to be someone like me. It's probably going to be a man. And a strong one. I'll get Damon so he can help us."

"What?" Elena felt a surge of panic run through her body. Asking Bonnie for help had been one thing. She was a woman. Asking Damon was something entirely different. "I don't think that's necessary. You can just show me. I don't need an actual attacker right now. We can do that later."

"Don't worry. He'll be glad to help," Bonnie smiled and disappeared inside the house. A minute later she came back, the male bodyguard following close behind, a smile playing on his lips. At least he's wearing a shirt, Elena thought, eyeing the black cloth draping tightly over his muscular shoulders.

"So you want to learn how to defend yourself against me?" he said, smirking playfully.

"Well, how to defend myself in general," she corrected, pushing her fists into her sides to seem determined but not able to hold his gaze. Her eyes drifted to the porch beneath her feet. He probably thought she was ridiculous, trying to defend herself.

"I think that's a good idea," he said. Her eyes shot up to his uncertainly, but his face looked sincere. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just stand there," Bonnie instructed before moving over to Elena. "Alright, Mrs. Lockwood, you're with your back against the wall. This man is threatening you. You can't run. What do you do?"

"I don't know," Elena answered nervously. Her back was pressed against the house wall now; Damon was standing only a short distance away from her, his arms casually at his sides, not moving an inch. He was eyeing her as if he was curious what she would do next. Run, it screamed in Elena's mind. But Bonnie had told her that she couldn't and looking at the man standing in front of her, despite his currently immobile state, she was sure that she didn't stand a chance if she tried. "Push him away?"

"Don't tell me what you do, do it," Bonnie instructed.

Elena eyed Damon uncertainly for a second, pretty sure that trying to push him away was going to backfire badly. But right now it was the only idea she could come up with. She leaned forward quickly and shoved at his chest, assuming that, should he stumble backwards, she could possibly try and make a run for it. She didn't even get to try though. Before she was even able to draw her hands back, he had gripped her wrists in a vise grip. She gasped from the shock and instinctively tried to pull her arms back but didn't stand a chance. He only pulled her in closer. Slowly he pushed her back against the wall and when her back was firmly pressed against the wood again, he gripped her wrists with one hand and brought the other to her throat, holding her head in place. He was being gentle, only holding her fast enough to make sure she couldn't move away but not enough to cause her pain, but Elena felt the familiar anxiety rise up inside her. She didn't stand a chance. He was pinning her against the wall without even trying and she had no way of escaping. If he meant to actually harm her, the hand around her throat would simply tighten and she would be gone. She felt tears well up in her eyes. She was nothing but vulnerable. She had known it all along. For a fleeting moment she had believed she could change that but it was obvious she couldn't.

"Mrs. Lockwood," Bonnie called, getting her attention. "What do you do now?"

"What do you mean?" Elena looked at her, shocked. "I can't do anything. He'll kill me."

"Okay, Damon, let go for a second." Elena felt his hand leave her throat at Bonnie's words and his other arm release her wrists. He stepped back and shot her an encouraging smile. What was that smile supposed to mean? They were done, she had lost, and there was nothing that could encourage her in this situation. "So why did that fail?" Bonnie asked her, looking at her expectantly.

"Because he's stronger," Elena said, slowly regaining her bearings.

"Right," Bonnie nodded. "But also because you chose the wrong part of him to attack." She lifted her fist and hit it hard against Damon's chest who didn't even flinch. "His ribcage is solid bone and muscle. Like you said, you're not very strong. You can't hope to hurt him by hitting him there." Elena nodded, a little embarrassed. "So, chest is not an option, where else could you hit him to hurt him?"

Elena eyed her trainers warily and uncertainly inspected Damon's body on display in front of her. Where would it hurt if someone hit her? A wave of panic hit her quickly and she let her head hang for a second, trying to fight against the onslaught of images in her mind. She swallowed them back down and raised her head again. "The stomach?" she proposed.

"Try it," Bonnie urged her on, to Elena's utter astonishment.

"What am I? A punching bag?" Damon complained, not seeming overly concerned however.

"Stop whining you baby," Bonnie chided playfully, before motioning to Elena to go on. The latter looked at Damon wide-eyed, not really sure what to do. Resigned, he heaved a small sigh before nodding for her to hit him. She hesitated for another second but when he made a motion with his hand, encouraging her to hit him, she leaned back slightly, drew her right arm backwards, balled her hand into a fist and let it shoot forward to collide with his abdomen. Again he barely flinched, caught her hand in one swift move before she could pull back and pushed her back against the wall. This time, however, Elena was too shocked to be frightened. Instead a small laugh escaped her.

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed, looking at Bonnie stunned.

The other woman chuckled lightly. "Most people will be hurt if you punch them in the stomach," she conceded. "But when you're trained enough, your abs will protect your intestines. If you want to hit someone in the torso and be sure to hurt him, you want to hit the solar plexus." The woman indicated a point under her own chest. "Damon, show her."

Suddenly he moved her hand that he had been holding firmly only seconds before, pried open her fingers and laid them flat against his chest. "That's the sternum," he said, pressing her hand against a solid plate of bone. "Where it ends, you can feel it dip. That's the end of the ribcage." He was pushing her hand down his chest until her fingers slipped off the hard bone and sank into soft flesh. He kept pushing until she felt his hard abs, only a few inches further down. She stared at her hand, swallowing drily. "When you punch too low, you'll only reach my abdominal muscles. You have to hit just the right spot." He pulled her hand back up again. "This is the solar plexus. It's a complex network of nerves. If you hit me there hard enough, you can incapacitate me. No matter how much I work out." She nodded slowly, her eyes still transfixed on her fingers gliding over his chest. "That's why we're not gonna actually try that one," he said in a jovial tone, releasing her hand. For a second she wanted to let it linger, but then she realized what she was doing and snapped her hand back quickly, holding both her hands against her chest tightly as if to stop them from moving. Her eyes shot over to where Bonnie was standing, as if waiting on her next instruction.

"Okay, back against the wall," Bonnie said smilingly and before Elena could properly process what was happening, Damon had her shoved against the wall again, her hands pinned up against her chest by one of his and his and his other palm closing around her throat again. This time she didn't panic though, she only let out a resigned huff and looked to Bonnie. "So, what do you do now?"

Elena gauged her situation carefully and tried to see if she could move her arms at all. But it didn't look good. His bodyweight pressed against her, squashing her arms into her chest. When she tried to move them, she only hurt her wrists and made his hand tighten around her throat. She wanted so badly to ask Bonnie for advice but at the same time she wanted to do it on her own. Fine, her arms were out of the game. She had no chance of reaching his solar plexus now. But there had to be another solution. She struggled again and felt her foot slip slightly. That's when she realized it: her legs were free. And she could think of at least one other place where men were vulnerable. Her eyes dropped for a second and then shot over to Bonnie. The other woman must have realized what she was thinking because a proud smirk crept across her face. Elena still hesitated but when Bonnie gave her a quick nod she took a little breath and pulled her knee up swiftly to crash it into his groin.

Before she knew what happened to her, the hand around her neck released her while the other one pulled her hands higher to under her chin, thus effectively incapacitating her arms and her head with one of his hands. The now free hand dropped and warded off her knee-attack quickly, throwing her a little off balance. He used her bout of disorientation and quickly stepped closer, leaning fully against the length of her body now, pushing his knee between her legs to thwart further attacks from her in that area.

She breathed heavily. Her plan had failed again. And she was now entirely incapacitated physically. Any rapid movement only resulted in friction in odd places. She was disappointed at the failure, but more than that, she was disconcerted at his sudden closeness. His lean body was firmly pressed against hers, her chest pushed against his with every breath she took, his face was only inches away from hers, his eyes boring into hers intensely.

"Mommy?" she suddenly heard a small voice from behind Bonnie. He hastily stepped away from her and released her hands. Her head shot around and she caught sight of Jeremy, who was standing in the doorway, looking at them with fear in his eyes.

"Oh hey Jeremy," she said, almost stunned into silence herself. "What are you doing here?"

He held onto the doorway, swaying back and forth uncertainly while his eyes were skipping from one adult to the next. "Are you okay, mommy?" the look of worry on her son's face broke her heart.

"Yes. I'm okay. Don't worry. Miss Bennett and Mr. Salvatore are just helping me train. It's just exercise, okay?" she tried to reassure him but he still looked uncertain.

"Hey, buddy," she heard Damon say next to her. When she turned her head she saw him hunker down so he was on eye level with her son. "I would never hurt your mom, okay? I promise." Jeremy nodded slowly, not fully convinced yet. "You want to protect your mom and that's very good. You're very brave. But you can't always protect her. And I can't always protect her either. I wish I could but I can't. So I'm trying to help her out so she can protect herself, okay?" Jeremy nodded again, this time a little more certain. "You wanna give her a hug to make sure she's okay?" He asked with an encouraging smile on his face.

A smile spread across the little boy's face and he nodded vigorously now. Damon got back up and smiled in Elena's direction, who smiled back and then looked at her son. He looked up at her, his enthusiasm wavering slightly, unsure of whether he could hug her now or not. Truthfully, she wasn't sure herself but she felt that she wanted it as well, so she slowly bent down a little and opened her arms only slightly. Before she could say the word, the little boy had pushed himself away from the doorframe and stumblingly run across the porch to fling himself into her arms. His arms went around her neck instantly and held her tight. She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at the feeling of his little body clinging to hers. She wrapped her arms around him and straightened herself back up, lifting him with her. His legs encircled her waist and his face was buried in her neck, holding her as fast as he could.

"See, I'm okay," she said soothingly into his ear to which he only nodded, not loosening his grip. "Why did you come outside?" she asked.

At this he pulled away slightly, his worries forgotten and with a proud smile on his lips he announced: "Miss Caroline, Jenna and I made breakfast."

"Oh well we should go eat then," she said, chuckling. He nodded energetically, which made her chuckle even more. "Alright, go on inside. I'll just freshen up and then I will come and check out that amazing breakfast of yours, alright?" With that she put her son back down and watched him run off on his tiny legs, closely followed by Bonnie.

As she moved towards the house herself, she was startled by Damon's voice. "It was your eyes," he said, walking up next to her.

"Excuse me?" she asked, not sure what he was referring to.

"If you plan on kicking a guy in the balls, don't look at them first," he winked and with that he disappeared into the house as well. She waited a second for the furious blush to leave her cheeks before she followed.

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