Chapter 13

"I brought a set of clothes for you, but I think I left them in the kitchen," Elena says with a sheepish shrug.

"No worries, I'll find them." Vampire Elena jumps up from the oversized couch to set her glass on a nearby table. She shuffles out of the room, opting to go through the foyer and the hall so as to avoid moving too close to her counterpart.

"Seriously, why is she wearing Damon's clothes?" Stefan asks. Elena purses her lips and shakes her head, which doesn't help Stefan.

"Just be thankful that she's wearing clothes at all," Caroline says with a dismissive hand gesture. She steps into the living room to inspects the damage and frowns when she recognizes the pattern of destruction. "Was this lightening? Did you two get too close?"

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" Elena asks. She's not certain if she should be offended by Caroline's insult or worried that she's going to grow up to be a nudist.

"Well, I'm assuming there wasn't a thunderstorm in the living room…"

"No, I meant the comment about her clothes," Elena says.

"Let's just say, I've spent way too much time as your roommate over the years. Keeping your sex life confined to your bedroom is not one of your greatest skills."

"Oh." Elena's face burns red as she leans into Stefan to hide against his broad shoulders. "Sorry."

Stefan chuckles at Elena's embarrassment and squeezes her tighter. Elena is a passionate lover, but she's never expressed a desire for anything too adventurous. He's not sure how he should feel about this change. It seems disjointed from the Elena he knows. Stefan glances up at Caroline in time to see her sour expression darken before she looks away. Intrigued, Stefan watches the blonde take a deep, calming breath while looking anywhere in the room other than Elena and him.

"Like you're one to talk!" The other Elena says from the kitchen. "If I remember correctly, Friends-giving 2020 was ruined because you and your new husband broke the oven."

Caroline's eyes grow big. "Oh, and who nearly ruined Alaric's wedding because you and the best man just had to go for a roll in the hay instead of lining up to walk down the aisle?"

Stefan quirks his head. He wouldn't really consider Alaric Sultzman a friend at this point, more of an acquaintance. It's an interesting note that they'll grow close enough for Alaric to ask Stefan to be his best man.

It's strange how many things can change over the years, Stefan muses to himself.

"Yeah," Elena says with a big smile as she appears in front of the foyer dressed in the new outfit. "That was definitely fun. I mean, I feel bad for slowing down your perfectly scheduled wedding, but we were celebrating."

Caroline rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but the hint of a smile on her lips tells Elena she understands. During the months leading up to Ric's wedding, Damon and Elena struggled to find the love and passion that she'd thrown away after his death. Damon kept expecting more from Elena and constantly tried to reminder her of memories she'd lost. This frustrated Elena because she couldn't give him what he needed. She'd grown to care for him quicker than she expected given the horrible things she remembered, but Elena felt disconnected from the person everyone claimed she was before the compulsion. It was at the wedding, greeting all the guests, that Damon and Elena had a breakthrough.

Elena expressed her feelings of inadequacy regarding her memories and emotions, and Damon promised to move past the loss of their memories. Instead, he vowed to make new ones with her that would rival anything they'd lost. That was when Elena fell for Damon again. He understood that his desire to recapture something they'd lost was harming Elena, so he stopped. He walked away from the memories that he cherished in order to make her happy. True to his word, he never tried to instigate another lost memory. Of course, Damon being Damon, he never hesitated to use her poor decision to wipe him from her mind to his advantage. Even two hundred years later, she's not surprised when a smart ass remark referring to her colossal mistake slips out. But that's just Damon and one of the many reasons why she loves him.

"I know," Caroline says with bitter-sweet sigh. "It was a beautiful day for everyone."

Elena's grin shrinks as she remembers her loved ones in attendance that day, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt, Ric, Jo, and Tyler. They're all gone now, and Elena aches at the reminder of everyone she's lost throughout the years. She spies a similar sadness is Caroline's eyes and knows that her sister-in-law is reliving her mother's death. Only weeks before Ric's weeding, it was one of the hardest deaths the group of friends had to endure because, at that point, Liz Forbes was the only parent left to the three girls, Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline. Worse, there was nothing anyone could have done to save her from her fate, short of turning her before the cancer ever appeared.

But maybe that's the answer. Maybe Caroline can save this world's Liz Forbes. Elena considers the idea and decides to discuss it with Caroline in private at their first opportunity.

"What were you celebrating?" Stefan asks, pulling Elena and Caroline from their thoughts.

The thought of a passion-filled roll in the hay with his girlfriend puts a sparkle in Stefan's eye, but Caroline's alarm bells rip through her mind. She runs through everything she and Elena just revealed. Did she call Damon by name? No, Stefan wouldn't be smiling if that were the case. But this Stefan is still in love with Elena, so he wouldn't be smiling about Elena having celebratory sex with anyone.

Unless, he thinks he's the one having barn sex. Caroline's eyes widen, and she glances at vampire Elena in warning, but too late.

"We were celebrating our decision to move on from the whole memory-wipe issue. We decided to focus on making new memories rather than wallowing about the ones we lost," Elena says. She swells with affection for her husband as she remembers his selflessness that day.

Her counterpart, still standing at Stefan's side, slips her hand into his and flashes him a shy smile that Stefan returns. "That's beautiful," she says.

Vampire Elena frowns at the exchange as she realizes that the happy couple think her memory is about her relationship with Stefan and not his brother. She turns away from the epic lovers to find Caroline shooting her a clear warning to shut up.

"You haven't told them?" Elena says. "You've been here for almost 24 hours, and it never came up?"

Caroline growls at Elena to shut up and then smiles at the other Elena and Stefan when they look up in confusion. "Don't worry, we're just having a little difference of opinion."

Damon starts to stir, and Caroline uses the opportunity to shuffle Elena to the kitchen. "Oh, look. Damon's awake!"

Away from the others, Caroline turns on the faucet and the blender to mask their conversation while Elena demands answers. "What is wrong with you? Why wouldn't you tell them that Stefan and I broke up?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Don't tell me it hasn't come up, Caroline. Any conversation about the future is going to center around your relationship with Stefan, not to mention your kids."

Caroline bites her lip and offers a guilty shrug. "I've just avoided discussing the future in general. Any mention of my husband has been causal and nondescript."

"That's not going to work for Damon." Elena throws her hands up. "I've promised to answer all his questions, and what I've already explained was unfiltered. I've probably already spilled the beans without realizing it."

"Think, Elena. Have you said anything to confirm that you and Stefan are not together anymore?" Caroline grabs Elena's hands and stares at her with big imploring eyes.

Over the last half-century, Elena's relationship with Caroline had suffered, and Elena knew that it was her fault. She hadn't been there for Caroline, and the blonde held a grudge. Asking Elena for help is a big step, and she doesn't want to lose the opportunity to repair their fractured relationship.

Elena furls her brow, considering everything she'd said since arriving in this time line. "No, I don't think so. But I haven't made any attempts to hide my fondness for Damon either. That's probably why the other me was freaking out so much about forgiving him. She doesn't know that I fell in love with him, that we are married. Why don't you want to tell them?"

"I know we have to tell them," Caroline says. She pulls away from Elena and paces across the kitchen. "I was going to do it. But, this Stefan is so in love with that Elena. How can I tell him that his epic love ends in about a year? Especially now that they think they'll be together for another 200 years?"

Elena places a comforting hand on Caroline's arm to stop her anxious movement. "By explaining to Stefan that he gets to spend the next 200 years with the love of his life and that the love you guys share is a hundred times more epic than anything he and I had together."

Flashing a grateful smile, Caroline nods. She's missed her friend and sister over the past few decades. She wishes Elena would finally come home, so everything can go back to the way it was when everyone was happy.

"I'll tell him. Just not right now. I can't bare to break his heart yet."

"You have to tell him before our Stefan and Damon arrive because there is no way I'll be able to pretend not to be in love with Damon. I haven't seen him in six weeks, Caroline." Elena eye's loose focus as though she's only seeing her imagination. "I've got so many dirty, dirty things planned for him. I don't even know where to start."

"Oh, my God."

"Seriously, I don't even think I can wait until we're alone. I'm just going to rip his pants off, and we are going to go at in on the ground where ever we happen to be. You guys are just going to have clear out or risk being scarred for life."

"Okay, that's enough. I take it phone sex isn't as satisfying as the real thing?"

"Phone sex? I wish we were having phone sex. Damon is extremely good at it. He's good at every kind of sex, but he's totally cut me off," Elena says with a frustrated sigh. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"Why?"

"Because he's just as horny as I am. That man has never denied me sex. I mean, not that I'm any better, but…"

"No, why has he cut you off? I thought you guys talk every day?" Caroline interrupts as she leans against the counter next to the sink. Elena is glad that she slipped the cupcakes back into their hidden spot above the fridge when she was changing her clothes earlier. If Caroline finds out that Elena raided her stash of cupcakes, there will be hell to pay. But those cupcakes were so worth it.

"He wants me to move back to Mystic Falls," Elena says. "He refuses to come home, claiming that he is home and it's me that needs to come home."

"But you haven't caved yet?"

"No, and I'm not going to. I'm sorry, Caroline, but I have no desire to move back to Mystic Falls."

Elena expects the blonde to argue; instead Caroline nods with a confused brow.

"Okay."

Elena narrows her eyes at Caroline. "What's that look?"

"What look?"

"You have a have weird look on your face, like you know something that I don't. So what is it, Caroline?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. We'll circle back to this later," she says, motioning to the kitchen door. "We've got more concerning matters to deal with. Remember, don't let anything slip about you and Stefan. I will deal with that later, but before our Stefan and Damon arrive."

"Fine."

"And stay away from this Damon. I know you. You gravitate toward him like a moth to a flame. If you act all lovey-dovey with him in front of Stefan, he's going to figure it out."

"This isn't my Damon. I wouldn't cheat on him," Elena says.

"I know that. I'm not suggesting you would. I'm saying that he is Damon, and you enjoy Damon's company. You have fun with him, but this Elena doesn't. She still denies feeling anything for him. And I know you. Just standing next to Damon, you'll touch his arm or lean against him or do something totally inappropriate without even realizing it. I'll end up doing the same thing with Stefan if we spend too much time together or stand too close. For this ruse to work, we have to keep our distance."

With a resigned sigh, Elena consents and follows her sister-in-law out the door after turning off the faucet and blender. The girls hustle into the living room, and the two Elenas are careful to maintain a 10-foot distance from each other.

"Where's Damon?" Vampire Elena asks, looking around for him.

"He went to change his clothes since they were damaged by the lightening strike," human Elena says.

"So you two did get too close." Caroline flashes an admonishing glance at vampire Elena. "You know better than that."

"They were experimenting." Damon steps into to the living room through the foyer, wearing a fresh outfit. Unfortunately, the electrical shock has some unexpected side effects on his hair. Try as he might, Damon can't get rid of the static charge standing his hair on end. Every time he runs a hand or brush through it, his mane lies flat for only a moment before ascending into madness again. Elena laughs, attempting to step closer to Damon to touch his outrageous hairdo, but Caroline snatches her arm. While stifling her own giggles, Caroline tugs her sister-in-law as far from the older Salvatore as the room will allow.

"Experimenting with what, Einstein?" Stefan doesn't hide his grin as he watches Damon's hair dance. Damon sneers at his brother before turning his blue gaze to the vampire girls.

"I'm more interested in hearing what you two where talking about in the kitchen. It seemed like you where rushing off to discuss what secrets to keep from us."

Elena and Caroline stand in front of the large window with the moon at their back. They glance at each other in search of a plausible explanation until Elena shrugs and offers the truth.

"You're right, we were."

Caroline scoffs at her bluntness, but Elena continues. "There are just some things we are not comfortable discussing with you guys yet."

"Why not?" Human Elena asks from Stefan's side. Her tone is offended, but Caroline can tell she's trying to understand.

"Because there are some things that we don't want to talk about or relive," Caroline says.

"Bullshit," Damon says. "You guys have the luxury of knowing every twist and turn in the road ahead, so you don't get to keep secrets because something's not fun to talk about."

Elena frowns at Damon's response and bites her cheek as she considers it. She's not use to him disregarding her feelings on a topic, but this isn't her Damon. No, this Damon is focused on protecting his Elena at all costs. And that means getting every bit of relevant information about the future as possible.

"I thought you, of all people, would understand that there are certain things in our past that we don't want to discuss." Caroline's snide tone and pointed glare doesn't dissuade Damon.

He swings his arms wide, causing an odd shift in his statically charged hair. "Nope, I'm an open book."

"Why don't you tell us about the 1950s, Damon?" Elena says, then grimaces at the stillness that descends upon him. It's like she slapped him, but he recovers and offers a masked smirk. Elena watches him consider calling her bluff, and he even opens his mouth to speak. But Elena's next comment stops him in his tracks.

"What about your visit to Mystic Falls in 1995? Do you want talk about that?"

Damon's mouth slams shut, and he steps back like she really did slap him. After a moment, he gathers himself and sticks a brooding sneer on his face like he just doesn't care anymore. He runs his hand through his aggravatingly untamed hair before shuffling over to the liquor cabinet to pour a double.

"What happened in 1995?" Human Elena whispers in Stefan's ear, but he shakes his head with a meaningful look to drop the subject.

"Oh, just another day in the life of psychopath with no redeeming qualities," Damon says. He flashes her a mocking smirk, but she can see the guilt hiding under his cold expression. She glances at her older version to find the vampire watching Damon through her own veil of remorse.

"So what can you tell us about the future?" Stefan asks, changing the subject.

Flaunting a faux smile in an effort to calm the tension, Caroline says, "What do you want to know?"

"How about hybrids?"

"Oh, right," The blonde jumps as she remembers the reason she and Stefan rushed over from the Grill. "Mason Lockwood is a hybrid, or he was. He's dead now."

"What?" Vampire Elena says. "That's not possible. Klaus can't make any more hybrids."

"Woah, Klaus can make hybrids? When were you planning on sharing that juicy tidbit?" Damon says, jiggling his glass at Elena.

"It doesn't matter because he can't do it anymore," Elena says, but Caroline shakes her head.

"Obviously he can because he turned Mason Lockwood last night before leaving town."

Stefan steps free of his girlfriend to participate in the discussion. "You're assuming it was the Klaus from your time that turned him. How do you know it wasn't the Klaus from this time that did it?"

"Because your Klaus hasn't broken the curse yet," Caroline says. "He's just an Original vampire until he breaks the curse."

"You mean the curse that requires Elena as a blood sacrifice?" Damon asks.

"That's the one!" Elena responds with a sarcastic smile, and he frowns at her flippant response, but his expression looks odd under his wild hair. Elena's smile drops when she sees Damon isn't amused, and she shrugs at him.

"How about you explain this curse that Klaus wants to break, or has broken, or whatever," human Elena says.

Caroline sighs and wraps her arms around her waist before explaining. "The Originals were a family of Vikings back in the day…"

"That lived here, of all places," Elena says. She attempts to shift closer to Damon and his liquor cabinet, but Caroline tugs her back in place at her side.

"Yeah, they lived here along with a bunch of werewolves. Klaus, his four siblings, and his 'father'," Caroline says with quotation marks, "were turned into the first vampires by Klaus' mother and Original witch. Eventually, Klaus killed someone and triggered the werewolf gene, which revealed his mother's indiscretions with a local werewolf."

"Ohh, scandalous," Damon says. Both Elenas shake their heads at his antics, but only one finds him adorably amusing.

Caroline rolls her eyes and continues. "The Original witch used their generation's doppelgänger blood to bind a spell that repressed his werewolf nature. Klaus killed his mother in a rage and then spent 500 years looking for another doppelgänger…"

"Wait, what happened to the doppelgänger used to make the spell? Did it kill her?" Human Elena asks. "That's awful."

"I think Elijah killed her or something, didn't he?" The other Elena turns to Caroline for confirmation.

"Yeah, that's one of Klaus' brothers. I think they had a love triangle go wrong. That must be a doppelgänger thing."

Vampire Elena shrugs at the observation like it's old news, but her younger version squirms at the mention of Damon's feelings, and Stefan stiffens.

Damon sucks on his cheeks in annoyance. "What does it have to do with Elena?"

"Klaus had to sacrifice me in the ritual to break the curse."

"Along with a vampire and a werewolf," Caroline says, but it doesn't calm the tension that seeps into room.

"That's how I die? I'm murdered on an alter?" Elena bends over to fill her suddenly vacant lungs, and Stefan dashes to her side.

"It's okay, Elena. We're not going to let that happen."

"Well, that's one way I died," future Elena says with a shrug, and everyone looks at her in confusion. "I've died a few times, and once I don't even remember."

"Is that some kind of joke?" Stefan snaps.

"No, I've been drained, drowned, and blown up. You can thank Klaus for the first one, and I'm kinda glad I don't remember the last one."

"And the second one? The one were you drowned?" Elena asks. "Like my...our parents?"

Vampire Elena nods "That one stuck. Sort of."

"I'm going to ask the obvious question of how you managed to die so many times," Damon tips his glass at her, "and still look as good as you do?"

"Bonnie magic," both Elena and Caroline say.

"Note to self, don't piss off Sabrina, the teenage witch."

"If the curse was broken, why can't the Klaus from your time make any hybrids?" Stefan asks, getting things back on track.

"He needs blood from a living doppelgänger to turn a werewolf into a hybrid. So after I died, no more hybrids."

"Why didn't he go after Katherine? He could've broken that curse 500 years ago and saved us all a lot of trouble," Damon says. He runs his hand through his hair, which lies a little flatter than before.

"He did," Caroline says. "The night before she was scheduled to be sacrificed, Katherine stole some vampire's blood and killed herself. She didn't realize how long Klaus could hold a grudge. That man is what we call obsessive…"

"You should know." Elena flaunts a teasing smile that earns a glare from her blonde friend and a few raised eyebrows.

"Anyway, Katherine spent the next 500 years running from Klaus…"

"I bet that's why she faked her death in 1864," Stefan says

Caroline nods. "Yeah, and that's why she's here now. That's why she brought a werewolf with her and turned me into a vampire. Once she finds the moon stone, Katherine will have everything your Klaus needs to break the curse."

"She's going to barter for her freedom, that sneaky slut," Damon says.

"I told you, she wasn't her for me," Stefan says to his brother.

"Oh, she's definitely here for you too. Katherine's greedy like that," Elena says with a snicker.

Caroline waves her hand to re-capture everyone's attention. "It doesn't really matter either way because, before I killed him, Mason claimed to have bitten Katherine earlier today."

"Hah! Problem solved. The bitch is dead or soon to be." Elena's vengeful grin makes her younger counterpart uncomfortable.

"You're happy that someone is going to die?" Stefan asks. He creases his brow at the darkness in the vampire version of his girlfriend.

"I'm happy that Katherine is going to die."

"It needs to be done," human Elena agrees, and everyone looks at her in shock. "She kills Jeremy."

"What?" Damon asks. "Like I killed Jeremy, or for real?"

"For real," Caroline says. "At least, it was a few months before Bonnie was able to bring him back, and the fact that she did was a complete surprise. For a while, Jeremy was dead, and he wasn't coming back."

Stefan rubs Elena's shoulders, and she leans against him for comfort as everyone takes in the announcement. Damon watches the odd expressions flittering across the younger doppelgänger's face, and she actively avoids his gaze. Not until he's about to look away does she finally glance at him. To his surprise, it's gratitude in her eyes, not the blame and hatred he expects. Of course, she quickly clamps down on the gentle expression and reinstates her cold shoulder.

Annoyed and confused, Damon opts to return to the topic at hand. "Two questions: how did Klaus turn Mason into a vampire-werewolf freak show if he's not supposed to be able to do it? And is there any chance Katherine is going to find a cure for a werewolf bite? Let's face it; if anyone is wily enough to find one, it's going to be Katherine."

"She's definitely a cockroach like that, but not this time," Caroline says with a small smile. "There's only two known cures for werewolf venom…"

"Wait." Vampire Elena holds her hands up, and her eyes widen in alarm. "Klaus needs human doppelgänger blood to make hybrids."

"Yes, but you're dead," Damon says in a tone reserved for children. "So how did he do it?"

"But she's not the only doppelgänger." Stefan echoes vampire Elena's thoughts as he shifts to face his human girlfriend with a concerned expression. "Could he have gotten your blood somehow?"

"No." Human Elena tugs the end of her sweater sleeves down over her palms. "I think I'd know if someone stole my blood."

"Are you sure?" Caroline asks. "Do you have vervain in your system?"

"I have my necklace," Elena says as she places a defensive hand on the chained jewel.

"A necklace that I lost too many times to count," vampire Elena says.

"I haven't lost it."

"Yet."

Damon tries to steer the conversation back on track. "Okay, let's assume Klaus didn't pay Elena a midnight visit..."

"He didn't. When would he have had time? I've been with Stefan or someone else 95% of the last 24 yours."

"He could've compelled Stefan too. Getting an invitation into your house would've been easy if Jenna is still around and clueless about vampires," Caroline says.

"No." Elena rubs at her sweater covered arms. "No, I'd know if something like that happened."

Vampire Elena and Caroline glance at each other, acknowledging the human doppelgänger's odd behavior and the sweater hiding her arms.

"What else could allow Klaus to make hybrids? What about his freaky daughter, Hope?" Damon asks, running a hand through his statically charged hair.

"What about her?" Vampire Elena says.

"Well, she's the daughter of a hybrid. There has to be something magical and freaky about her, unless she's an adoptive daughter like Caroline's murderous angels."

"No, she's his bio daughter," Caroline says. "There was a time when she could make hybrids, but she lost that ability when she chose to bind her werewolf curse. She's already immortal, so there was no reason for her to consider dying to turn into a true vampire or hybrid. And she didn't want to have to suffer through the change every month after she killed someone for the first time. So she just repeated the same curse on herself that her grandmother inflicted on her father 1200 years ago."

"So Hope is a witch slash vampire slash werewolf, but her werewolf side is bound, and she isn't dead like other vampires?" Stefan asks with a confused sigh.

"Exactly, and she doesn't have to drink blood. Really, it's the best of each world. I'm only slightly jealous," Caroline says.

"So," Elena says, turning back to her human version, then clasps her hands together. "That means there's only one explanation for Mason. I'm going to need you to take that sweater off."

"What? Why?" Elena grasps at her sweater sleeves as though they are life lines.

Stefan slips a comforting hand onto her should and speaks in a calming tone. "Because your acting oddly attached to the sweater, Elena."

"Don't!" Elena shoves his hand away and jerks back.

"Elena," Damon says, steeping forward in concern.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

Both Salvatore brothers freeze and glance at each other. Together, they turn back to the two female vampires and shrug.

"Really?" Elena complains at their pitiful attempt to subdue the woman they both love.

"Good God, you two are hopeless." Caroline rolls her eyes before vamp speeding to human Elena's side and snatching the sweater off of her shoulders. The blonde gently pins her friend against the wall and yanks her arm out for all to see. Elena stops fighting Caroline's strong grip as soon as she reveals the band-aids in the crook of each arm.

"Oh my God." She blinks as the fog lifts from her mind. "How did this happen?"

"Compulsion." Caroline releases Elena. "He probably made a bee-line for you last night. If Stefan was with you, he was compelled to forget."

Elena tugs the band-aids off to find small bruises on each arm. A wave of vulnerability and fear slams into her, and her brown eyes search for Stefan. He pulls her into his arms, but for once, his tight embrace does nothing to ease her anxiety.

Watching Elena cuddle with her husband, Caroline stiffens but bites her tongue. She spies the guilt and blame Stefan inflicts upon himself for failing to protect Elena from the 1200-year-old hybrid. It's written all over his handsomely-broody face, and again, Caroline is reminded of why she loves this man so much. Or the older version of him, at least.

Damon watches Elena lean into Stefan, lying her face against his shoulder and showing the room her anxiety and fear. He frowns at his little brother's inability to protect the woman they both love. Damon would've torn that house apart to protect Elena, no matter the odds. His jaw works back and forth as he considers the damage he would've wrought on this 'Klaus' for daring to set his sights on his Elena. His fury boils up from deep within, pulling with it the urge to kill someone, to rip out someone's throat and drain them dry. He wants to bathe in human blood and revel in the power of his conquest. Damon gulps the last of his drink before slamming down the empty glass. Just as he's about to leave, vampire Elena captures his attention.

"Werewolf venom," she says, and everyone turns to her in surprise. Elena had watched Damon's anger surge to the forefront. She could see it in his stance and expression. Every inch of him screamed for murder and mayhem. While her husband is far more stable than this current version, he's still Damon and prone to homicidal fits. Elena learned early on that the best way to soothe her husband was to distract him with kisses and gentle caresses. Given the right circumstances, their bloodlust would twist into to forceful kisses and rough sex that leaves both participants intertwined in blissful release.

Unfortunately, this Damon is not her husband, and much to Elena's frustration, she cannot calm his bloodlust the fun way. Instead, she tries to distract him in a different manner, with knowledge she knows he won't pass up.

"You asked about a cure for Katherine."

"To keep her from it, yes." Damon eyes vampire Elena. Her sudden outburst almost seemed like a ploy to keep him from leaving. Does she know what he intended to do? He narrows his eyes at her, and she flashes him a playful half-smile. Damon swallows when his bloodlust disappears in a flutter of butterflies.

Meanwhile, Caroline slips away from the happy couple to rejoin Elena on the opposite side of the room. Elena's smile falters, and Caroline waves a dismissive hand at Damon.

"Don't worry. Katherine is the last person in the world that can get her hands on a cure for werewolf venom."

"Well, just for kicks and giggles, why don't you share with us what the cure is," Damon says as he pours another drink.

"It's not going to do you any good," Caroline says, but her sister-in-law jumps to Damon's defense.

"Yeah, but if anyone needs to know the cure, it's Damon."

"What does that mean?" Stefan asks with his girlfriend still wrapped in his arms.

"Yeah, why me?"

"Because for some reason, you're werewolf bait. You've been infected like a hundred times," Caroline says.

"Six times," Elena says. "Infected three times by laced bullets, once by spiked bourbon, and twice by actual bites."

Damon eyes the glass of bourbon in his hand and smells it. With a shrug, he sips it.

"So what's the cure?" Human Elena asks after stepping out of Stefan's arms.

"Well, one cure is Klaus' blood," Caroline says. "That's why there's no way Katherine's getting her hands on it. He'd gladly watch here die and dance on her grave afterwards."

"He can join the club," Damon says with a smirk, and Elena smiles at him. The younger doppelgänger catches the small movement and frowns. She agrees that Katherine needs to die, if only to save Jeremy, but her counterpart's ease with Damon is growing bothersome.

"And the other?" Stefan asks, oblivious to the exchange between his brother and vampire Elena. He's more bothered by Katherine's impending death than he'd like to admit.

"The other is my girls. And since they want Katherine dead, too…"

"Why do they want Katherine dead?" Elena asks, having not heard that tidbit, yet.

"We don't know," Stefan says.

"What do you mean, they are the cure? Is it a spell? Can they teach it to Bonnie?" The younger Elena says.

"No, it's not a spell. It's a…skill that they have," Caroline says. When she feels Elena stiffen at her side, she turns her head to find the brunette seething with anger.

Elena steps toward the alcohol, ripping her arm from Caroline's grasp when she tries to stop her. Vampire Elena steps in close to Damon to pour a drink, then she holds her full glass up toward Caroline and toasts Jo and Lizzie unkindly.

"They're special."

Stefan is surprised by the venom in the older doppelgänger's words. He's never seen either Elena harbor that match bitterness and hatred for anyone, except for Katherine. Although his Elena doesn't seem to feel that way, even knowing her part in Jeremy's death. He looks at his girlfriend to find her frowning at her counterpart's behavior, too. Without taking his eyes from her, Stefan wonders again at the changes vampirism seems to have caused within his epic Love.

Damon sees right through Elena's show of anger and bitterness. He watches the pain and sorrow hidden underneath and wonders who she's mourning, and what that loss has to do with Caroline's kids. He wants to hold her and reassure her that everything she's feeling will pass, but this isn't his Elena. Hell, he can't even do that with his Elena. But he has to do something, so he glances at Caroline.

The blonde seems resigned to Elena's emotions but less sympathetic. In fact, she seems impatient and on the verge of yelling. Maybe this has something to do with why they've been fighting. But Damon doesn't want another cat fight to break out and, honestly, he doesn't want Elena sulking. He'd much rather see her smile again.

"Elena, what exactly did you do my car?"

With her glass to her lips, Elena chokes on the bourbon and grimaces from her burning throat and nose. She isn't sure what's worse, the bourbon or the burning guilt that washes away her anger.

"Wait, what? Your car? What happened to your car?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah, Elena, tell him what you did to his precious Camaro." Caroline is thrilled with the chance to dig at Elena. While not as satisfying as one of their screaming matches, it's much more entertaining for her. Caroline reigns supreme as the queen of catty in any century.

Elena sputters as she fidgets with her glass before setting it on the table. She looks up to face Damon with an apologetic grimace and opens her mouth to explain, but she notices the less-than-tame appearance of his hair. Out of habit, she reaches up and runs her hands through Damon's his wild mane in an attempt to calm the last bit of static charge.

"You know, it's just not important in the long term of things," Elena says. Her gentle fingers calm the hair framing his eyes then drop to his shoulders and run down his arms.

Caroline realizes her mistake the moment Elena reaches for Damon. It's a classic calming technique that Elena uses when her husband is angry, and she probably doesn't realize she's doing it yet. Glancing at Stefan and human Elena, Caroline can see the frowns forming and suspicion growing, so she attempts to discount the display of affection.

"Don't try to distract him, Elena." Caroline offers a meaningful glare at her sister-in-law, but Elena refuses to look away from Damon.

Elena's guilt tugs at her heart, and she hates it when Damon's mad at her. The loss of his car was a real issue between them, and she still carries the weight of her guilt. He loved that car. That's why she destroyed. At the time, she wanted Damon to hate her and stop chasing after her. And it worked for a little while.

"I'd switched off my humanity, and you and Stefan wouldn't leave me alone about it. So I stole your car and dropped it off a freight liner in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I did it to make you mad, so you'd leave me alone. I'm sorry." Elena slips her hands onto Damon's chest. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time, and I'm so sorry."

Caroline rubs her face in exasperation. With a bracing sigh, she glances at Stefan and Elena expecting to find nothing good. To her surprise, they aren't watching Damon and the other Elena anymore. They are staring at each with worry. Elena is gripping Stefan's arm, and he's looking at her with an equally concerned expression.

"My humanity?" she hears Elena whisper to her boyfriend, and Caroline sighs in relief. Obviously, this Stefan and Elena are still way too focused on the vampire aspect of future Elena, and the possibility of living without her humanity has distracted them both from the inappropriate touching. Caroline rolls her eyes at the younger version of her husband and his 'epic' love. She'd almost forgotten the level of denial in which those two lived.

Meanwhile, Damon is in heaven. If he had known one question would've earned this kind of attention from vampire Elena, he would've pressed harder for information when she was still wearing his shirt and boxers. When she runs her fingers through his hair, Damon is stunned like a deer in headlights. He stares at her as she fidgets and tries to explain. He's not even listening when he realizes that she isn't nervous because of the touching, but because she has to explain herself. She's worried that he's going to be mad at her. That's why she's touching him, caressing him, running her fingers over his chest, like it's something she does every day.

When she stops speaking, Damon has no idea. All he knows is that Elena's hands are on his chest, and she's gazing up into his eyes like he's her whole world. Damon has no idea what expression is on his face. He has no idea what planet he's on. He can still feel the warmth of Elena's fingers in his hair, but he can't for the life of him feel what the muscles of his face are doing. That may be why Elena suddenly jerks her hands from Damon's chest and straightens. Her face flushes red, and she vamp speeds into the kitchen. His chest feels cold without her hands against him, and Damon sucks in a breath. He only now realizes that he'd stopped breathing because his lungs burn for oxygen.

Elena reappears with a tasty treat from the kitchen as reparation. "Cupcake?"

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