Thank you for the lovely comments, and sorry for the dramatic last chapter. This one is less intense. Maybe.

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As her breathing calmed, Elena began to notice how deeply her ribs ached, the thumb softly

stroking her back and his voice. He was singing to her, softly, words she couldn't discern but the vibration of his chest sent soothing waves through her slowing her heart.

"Is he dead?" She whispered; her eyes still firmly closed; a scene of building snowmen in her backyard playing in her mind. What she would give to go back to those memories, to not sneak out that night. She could make a thousand different choices, none of them leading to this moment. Which choice would have kept him safe?

The song stopped abruptly, her heart almost going with it as it rose into her throat. "I'm so sorry, Elena," he whispered, "I know you loved him."

She found herself shaking her head, her body moving before her brain had caught up. She had loved Zach, once upon a time. The fairytale had ended long before she'd stumbled into him bleeding out on the floor. Not that her life could ever be described as a fairytale, more like a Shakespearean tragedy.

"We should make the call, Damon." A girl's voice broke through their bubble, causing her shield to move, his arms lifting her from his lap to a spot beside him.

She pulled herself up to standing as his grip released her, wincing at the thought of blood on his upholstery. Both vampires raised an eyebrow at her, abiding a comment as Damon pulled his phone from his jeans.

"Sheriff," he said a moment later, "I need your help at the boarding house. It's…" he paused, winking at Elena before adding, "...I think you'd call it council business."

Squaring his shoulders, he cast his gaze to Anna, "You sure you want to be here for this? They will all be taking vervain; you can't compel them if they decide you must be a teenage runaway."

Anna simply rolled her eyes at him, turning to their captive stalker, "His name was Noah, one of Katherine's many conquests from her time in Mystic Falls. I brought him to town, thinking he could help. I wasn't aware he'd gone so… off the rails." She finished quietly, reaching down to stroke his mottled face.

Elena reached for Damon's hand, squeezing it at her words. She knew Katherine had played the brothers, but neither of the Salvatores had ever mentioned a third lover to her.

Damon waited for the blow to hit, for the words to finish processing in his heart and sucker punch him. He knew they would, every emotion he could name had come to take swings at him in the past week. However hard he tried; he couldn't hold them back. There was no way to flick the switch now, as if it had become too worn from half a century of use. The warmth of her fingers filled him with joy just as he expected the pain to come.

After going over their story for what Elena assumed must be the second or third time, she'd clearly missed the first iteration, the room fell silent. She watched the clock tick away another five minutes before a knock came to the door.

Gesturing for them to follow behind him, Damon walked slowly to the door and opened it to reveal a very worried Sheriff. Liz's frown lines deepened when she saw the girls behind him, both covered heavily in blood.

They brought Liz through to what could be only described as the scene of the crime before Elena and Anna were ushered off to sit in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Elena thought to say after they'd both settled at the counter. "If that, that guy, was your friend." She offered a little smile to the vampire. She had promised to work together, after all.

Anna scoffed, "You just lost your boyfriend and you're the one expressing condolences? That's pretty twisted." She broke into a grin, "I like it."

Elena couldn't help but laugh back, "Everything about today is strange." She sighed, "He wasn't my boyfriend."

Anna nodded, "Damon said he had proposed."

Liz cleared her throat from the doorway, "Sorry Elena, I need to take your statement now. Anna, this is Officer Donovan. He's going to sit with you."

Matt appeared behind her, offering Elena a sympathetic nod as he made his way into the kitchen.

Liz stepped into the library ahead of her, not noticing how Elena paused at the doorway. The last time she had been in the room had been arguing with Zach. Had he meant what he had said that day, or had jealousy got the better of him? She had slept with another, the same night she had walked out on him. Zach had been entitled to some emotions, to some feeling. Perhaps calling her those names had been forgivable.

Had she wasted weeks hating him for nothing?

Bracing herself and pushing the memories away, she took a seat. Remembering the plan, she explained that she had come over and found the bodies that way. She told the Sheriff that Anna had already been there, having presumably arrived only moments before. Elena was aware that Zach had been mentoring Anna, the way she herself had been mentored years ago.

"You were coming over to see Damon, because he proposed?" Liz asked, her voice layered with a finality, as if this was simply a box-ticking exercise.

Elena frowned, "No." She sighed, thinking how much easier life would be if that were the case. "I was coming to see Zach. It was Zach who proposed."

She could see Liz freeze, tense and then stutter as she repeated. "Zach Salvatore?"

Elena winced. The plan had been for her to tell Ric and Jenna tomorrow. Then she could let Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler and Matt know. That plan was shot to hell now.

"Yes. He proposed earlier in the week, and I didn't give him an answer. I was coming to speak to him."

Liz nodded slowly, "How long have… erm, how long have you been together?" She whispered, almost white as a sheet.

"Ever since I returned to Mystic Falls. Though we, we'd broken up and then…" The tears returned then, the humiliation of having to admit how badly she had screwed up tipping her over the edge as she tried to complete her sentence.

The sheriff's arms wrapped around her, much as Damon's had earlier. This time the effect was claustrophobic, letting hysteria creep into her sobs instead of soothing them.

It has taken her longer to calm down from the second round of tears, Liz insisting on returning her to Jenna's instead of her apartment. Matt had been left to return Anna to the house she was staying in, the woman there previously compelled to say she was being fostered there. She even had paperwork to prove it if necessary. Damon had been left with the deputy and the bodies for the time being.

Elena was surprised that he wasn't grinning from ear to ear when he saw her in Liz's car. After all, Zach had been planning to kill him and Damon had now been invited to have a seat on the council. That would make his short stay in Mystic Falls significantly easier.

Facing Jenna and Ric on her own terms has been daunting enough; knowing she would have the kids there and Jeremy as a buffer. Now she was about to face them having stepped out of a cop car, her clothes still stained and her heart beating at a million miles per hour.

Jenna opened the door to them slowly, Mimi propped on her hip and strands of hair straying out of her bun and framing her face. She was the quintessential picture of motherhood, and it sent Elena's stomach down to her boots. How could she ever hope to do it?

"Good afternoon Mrs Saltzmann, Elena's had a bit of a shock and I thought it best if I brought her here for tonight." Jenna nodded, looking quizzically as she stepped back and held the door open for them. Jenna knew better than to ever invite someone verbally in, even if it was your niece and the sheriff.

"I'm going to go shower." Elena spluttered, rushing up the stairs before she could be interrogated. It would just make it worse in the long run she knew, letting Liz give half a story.

The warm water was needed though, to cleanse her of his blood, of the image of him lying next to her stalked. She needed it to wash away the thoughts of Damon, his caress and his song as he held her. The feel of his lips against hers, his broken voice as he said he cared about her.

Turning the water to cold, she finished her shower with determination. There'd been enough lying, enough deception and enough pain.

The father of her child was dead, but its mother was alive and well and was about to pull herself together and sort this mess out. She'd get Anna's mother and Katherine out of the tomb, the vampires out of Mystic Falls, and then she'd live happily ever after.

By the time she'd talked herself into almost believing it and pulled on some old clothes left behind in the house, Ric and Jeremy had arrived home. Liz must have left, for there was no sign of her as the others sat in the kitchen. The kids were likely engrossed in the sing-song voices coming from the TV in the front room.

Reluctantly, she took a seat. "So," she began, "I'm pregnant."

She hadn't expected the silence, the depth of it causing her to flinch. When it began to get to much, she opened her mouth to continue. In the absence of questions, she might as well blurt her entire life story out.

Jeremy saved her, interrupting. "I'm so sorry that Zach died, 'Lena. You don't need to tell them the full story now if you don't want to."

Elena frowned. What better time was there than now?

"No. I do. I'm sick of secrets. I was sleeping with Zach. I broke up with Peter because I slept with Zach, and I was sleeping with him all summer. I stopped about a month ago, around when Damon came to town. They don't, they didn't, get on and it showed me another side to Zach. I reflected on a few things, and we broke up. A couple of weeks later, I found I was pregnant." She gulped, her eyes finally rising from the bracelet she had been fiddling with.

"Oh, you could have told us." Jenna cried as she engulfed her into a big embrace, finally breaking her stony silence.

A door slammed in the distance as Jenna pulled back to reveal Jeremy reaching over, a hesitant grin on her face.

"So, I get to be an uncle and I don't even have to kill him myself." He grinned, but Elena couldn't hide her wince.

"He didn't deserve it, Jer." She said softly, as Jeremy slapped the back of Jeremy's head softly.

"Elena," Jeremy said firmly, "He made you stop speaking to me and Bonnie. He made you keep him secret for months. I might not have wished the guy dead, but I can't say I'm not happy he's no longer in your life."

Why did these damned tears keep reappearing at ridiculous times?

"I loved him," Elena tried to explain, but it came out as more of a whine than an intelligible statement.

Jenna interrupted, guiding Jeremy out of the room, "Jeremy, why don't you go and see if Ric is ready to chat?"

Returning, her aunt tentatively took Elena's hand in hers. "We love you, Elena. We've all been worried about you, all summer. I'm so glad that you've finally told us, and I'm so, so sorry that it has ended this way." She placed a soft kiss on Elena's forehead. "We are all going to be here, every step of the way, from now on."

Elena closed her eyes, nodding slowly before letting herself rest her head against her aunt's shoulder. She was in the same spot on the sofa when she woke up hours later.

Ric was standing in the kitchen, a glass of bourbon in his hand as he stood watching her. If it had been anyone else, the effect would have been creepy. With Ric, she felt safe. He'd taken on the role of uncle admirably, being more of a father than John Gilbert had ever been.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," She said, "I hope you forgive me."

He nodded slowly, "I pray you'll forgive me."

Lifting a duffel bag from the floor with a huff, he brought it around to her feet, slowly unzipping it before sitting next to her on the sofa.

Frowning, Elena reached down into the bag, a quick glance telling her everything she needed to know, "You're a vampire hunter?"

Of course, Elena had warned them all about vampires. When she'd learned the full truth from John, of her parentage, it had seemed too much of a risk for them not to know. Jeremy was already in on the secret of course. She hadn't told them about Stefan, or his brother, just that they needed to take a couple of precautions.

Ric had acted shocked, just as Jenna had been. He'd promised not to go looking for trouble.

"Since I told you?" Elena asked, wondering how he could possibly risk his life like that. He had two small children to worry about. He had her and Jeremy to look after.

He shook his head, slowly. "No. I came to Mystic Falls looking for a specific vampire. Meeting Jenna, meeting you all, was a happy accident. Honestly, I hadn't had these out in years. I'd moved on."

Elena tried to connect the dots in her head, something was missing.

"Why are you showing them to me now?" She asked.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes as he placed his head in his hands. "The vampire I was looking for turned up on my doorstep, dropping you off."

"Damon?" She gasped. "Ric, you can't tell anyone."

He rolled his eyes, a low growl rumbling from his throat as he chuckled to himself.

"If only you knew the full story, 'Lena. I'd vowed to kill that bastard, and there he was. The next chance I got; I went over to the Salvatore boarding house. I told Zach, I told him my story. We came up with a plan."

"He was already trying to kill him." She whispered.

Ric nodded, "I know. He couldn't get to him, and he wouldn't let me try. He reminded me that I needed to be here for Edward and Mimi, for you. He said he had a vampire trapped, captive. He was going to release him, allow him to get Damon."

She nodded, putting the pieces together.

"What did Damon do?" She asked, softly.

"He killed your mother." He bit, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and retrieving the familiar picture.

She remembered the first time she'd seen it, only months after John had shown her a similar one and explained her parentage. Neither of her father figures had mentioned that it had been Damon Salvatore who had killed her. Turned her.

Elena barely made it to the toilet before she lost the contents of her stomach.

This was another council meeting she was missing, but after demanding Jeremy take her back to the apartment and crying herself to sleep, Elena couldn't stand the idea of having to stand in a room and have the death of Zach discussed and analysed.

She couldn't stand in a room and celebrate the fact that the vampire had been caught, not when that room would contain the vampire who turned her birth mother.

Sure, she knew that Isobel had sought out a vampire. She knew the change had been consensual, but that fact that his hands, no, his fangs had been the one to do the deed was too much.

She needed Damon Salvatore to be out of town.

"Morning," she greeted, having dialled a number she'd been longing to press for weeks. "Welcome back to town, Jer said you got in last night. Can you come around?"

It was only half an hour later that Elena was awkwardly letting her best friend in and offering her coffee.

"Vervain free?" Bonnie commented after a sip, a brow raised in question.

Elena nodded, "Vervain triggers my morning sickness."

Bonnie spluttered, sending coffee splashing out onto the floor. "What!" She screeched, slamming her cup down and rushing to embrace her friend.

"Congratulations!" She squeaked, as she hugged her. "Does Jer know?"

When Elena nodded, Bonnie squealed some more. "The sneaky devil didn't say a thing." After a few more squeals, another hug and another congratulations, Bonnie stiffened.

"Wait." She said abruptly, "Are you happy about it?"

Elena smiled softly, "It's a long story, but yes. I think so."

Bonnie gestured to the couch, "I'm here all weekend."

They spent the morning reliving the past few months from Elena's perspective, with Bonnie chipping in whenever a fact confirmed her previously held suspicions. Along the way, she'd decided Zach was an utter and complete bastard and only changed her opinion when Elena eventually revealed his death. How had that been only a day ago?

The pain, whilst still raw, wasn't as consuming as she'd expected it to be. She had something else to focus on.

"So, you're going to be a mom, and to make it all go smoothly, I have to use an amulet of my ancestor to rid the town of vampires?" Bonnie succinctly summarised when they'd finished their coffee and the following snacks.

"Pretty much." Elena agreed.

"You know this isn't just going to be a walk in the park, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Which part? Motherhood or the resurrection of living undead?" Elena teased, laughing freely for what felt like the first time. Bonnie laughed with her, the giggles enveloping them.

They decided to get it over with quickly. Damon had the amulet, and Elena didn't wish to prolong seeing him any longer than necessary. It was best if he left now, he could leave happy with Katherine, and she could hate him for what he did to her mother. That way, she could focus on her family and not on what could have been.

It was sunset by the time they met at Fell's church. Jeremy had refused to let them come alone, wanting to keep an eye on the love of his life and his sister, or so he proclaimed. He'd come equipped with half a dozen stakes and a vervain syringe for each of them.

"Are you sure you can do this, Sabrina?" Damon teased as he entered the ruins, Anna in tow behind him.

"I'm sorry, did you just call me a teenage witch?" Bonnie asked, before causing both vampires to fall to their knees. "I think you'll find I'm actually a fully grown bitch." She spat, before releasing her hold on their minds.

"Okay." Damon nodded, brushing his leather jacket off before pulling the amulet out of his jacket and handing it to her, "witch-bitch it is."

Elena suppressed her chuckle at the sight of Bonnie's stare, watching her friend as she ran her fingers over the amulet, gasping.

"Jeremy," she said, "once I put this on, if I change you must knock me out. Okay?"

Elena watched as her brother's face flickered with concern before settling on a steely resolve. He reached into his bag for a small bottle and cloth and nodded. Apparently, her brother and best friend had been able to prepare far more adequately than she had. What kind of trouble did they get up to in Denver?

Silently slipping the locket over her head, Bonnie lifted her hands up and immediately ignited small fires all around them.

Elena knew Bonnie's power had grown over the years, but at every demonstration she was awed.

"Emily!" Bonnie gasped, clutching at her chest. "Emily, I can do this. Trust me." Bonnie muttered, doubling over as she spoke. Jeremy crept forward but she shook her head at him.

Suddenly, she was up and chanting. Her feet no longer touching the ground as she hovered, her focus entirely on the opening being revealed behind a large boulder.

As soon as they could fit, both vampires ran inside.

The wait was tortuous. Bonnie's chanting continues as Jeremy stood on, watching his love for a moment of hesitation.

Elena watched the opening, willing Damon to appear. Bonnie was strong, but if he took too long, he could be trapped there beside Katherine. He needed to hurry up. How long did it take to find one pesky desiccated vampire?

When Anna reappeared, a taller version of herself wrapped around her, Elena's heart quickened. She didn't hear the thank you or watch as Anna set her mother down. She could only see behind them down the tunnel, into the darkness where he must still be.

"Elena, he needs to come out quickly." Jeremy said, gesturing to Bonnie, whose hands were beginning to shake.

"Damon!" She tried shouting at the opening, her voice echoing back at her.

"He's not coming." Anna's voice came from behind her, somehow Elena had walked so far towards the opening that she had passed them.

"Damon!" She shouted again.

Anna was in front of her, "He's not coming Elena. Katherine isn't in there; he's going mad looking for her but she never was there." The girl paused before adding, "Thank you for your help, you've redeemed the Gilbert name. You should get your friend home safe."

Elena barely caught the last few words; she was too far down the tunnel.

"Damon!"

The air in the tunnel was mustier than she had encountered before, her temperamental stomach lurching at the putrid nature of it. She could see grey lumps in some of the alcoves, but none were dark enough to be Damon. They were corpses, covered in dust. No, not corpses, vampires.

There were so many of them.

"Damon!" She shouted again, before walking into his back. He had stopped at the dead-end and was stood perfectly still.

"Elena." He whispered, "I can't find Katherine."

"I know," she said, walking around him and taking his face in her hands, pulling him to look at her. "She's not here Damon. Anna said she never was."

"What do I do now?" He asked, sounding as young as she felt. What did they do now?

"We get out of here, we go home, and we figure it out in the morning." She whispered.

Taking his hand, she led him back out of the tunnel. They watched the stone seal behind them as Bonnie screamed. They watched her fall to the floor, Jeremy scooping her up in his arms, ripping the amulet off her neck.

"Jer?" Elena risked asking, her lips quivering.

"She's okay." He finally answered, "She'll probably sleep through lunch tomorrow."

Standing up, he carried her to the exit. "Anna took off. Are you all right to take that?" He tilted his head to the bag.

She nodded, "Do you need help?"

When did her brother get so strong, so old? Why did she feel like she was a decade younger than this man in front of her, remaining so calm as he cared for the powerful woman that would soon become his wife.

Shaking his head, "This isn't my first rodeo, 'Lena. You get him home; I'll call you tomorrow."

She nodded again, feeling useless as she followed his instructions, yanking Damon's hand to drag him out of the clearing. He stayed silent for the journey, refusing to let go of her even as they reached the car. His hand held her knee firmly as she drove them back.

It was only when they were both tucked in, laid staring at the constellations of the fairy lights, that she realised Jeremy might not have meant her home.