The day everything changed.

Elena sat on the edge of the bed in the musty motel where she was being held captive and felt a pang of sadness for the younger vampire, or technically older, as she talked about how Katherine was the reason her mother was trapped in the tomb under the church. "I'm sorry" She breathed out as she nervously pulled her sleeve over her hand, gripping it tightly with her fingers.

"You really mean that, don't you?" Anna asked with a hint of surprise in the tone of her voice. She clearly knew that Elena and Katherine were completely different, but it was weird hearing it. She watched as Elena tilted her head to the side inquisitively, nodding in agreeance, and then chuckled lowly, "Yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding, so, you can start serving a purpose."

Elena squinted her eyes and scoffed as she lightly shook her head, "Which is what?"

"Leverage." Anna quickly responded as she reached behind her, grabbing something off a small dining table. "This belong to you?" She asked as she tauntingly waved Elenas cell phone around. Elena jumped up and eagerly reached for it, but Anna pulled it a way with a smirk, "Ah-ah." Elena frowned and let out a deep breath as she glared at her. Anna flipped the phone open and spun around, facing the window, while she dialed a number.

"Elena, are you okay?" Stefan answered the call in less than 3 seconds, he was pacing around the living room of the boarding house, panicking, as Damon secretly listened from the other room.

Anna smiled to herself as she spun back around to face Elena, "She's fine. For now. Tell me you have the grimoire, and she'll stay fine."

Damons ears perked up at the mention of the grimoire, and he stepped into the doorway of the living room. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame as he watched Stefan lean over the railing. Oh, this should be fun. He thought to himself, knowing that Stefan was clearly about to have a panic attack.

Stefan swallowed nervously and took a silent deep breath, "I can get it."

Anna let out a knowing sigh, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, before responding, "Which means your brother has it. And I have the witch. So, one of you had better meet me in the very public town square in 30 minutes, so we can safely discuss how fun it's gonna be to work together." She hung up before Stefan had an opportunity to say anything else and shoved the phone into her back pocket.

Stefan slowly lowered the phone; his thoughts were whirling around his head. He knew Damon was standing there, he sensed him when he walked into the room. He slowly turned his head to look over at him, pleading silently with his eyes. Damons eyebrows shot up to his hair line as he shrugged his shoulders, "Go ahead. Grovel again. Oh, wait, no." He paused dramatically, "I don't care." He smirked at his younger brother before pushing himself off the wall and walking away.

Damon wasn't going to be fooled again. Stefan and Elena actually managed to trick him into believing they would help him rescue Katherine, and, in the process, ended up hurting him; he wasn't about to let that happen twice. He was so close to getting Katherine out of that tomb, and he couldn't afford any more mistakes. He had been dreaming about this day for 140 years. But, he had to admit, he did care about Elena, they sort of, bonded when they were in Georgia, and he hated that he allowed himself to feel anything towards her. Stefan would find a way to save her, he had no doubt about that, but, a part of him wanted to be the one that did. He wanted to be the white knight for once instead of the villain that everyone painted him to be. He growled lowly under his breath as he vamped over to his liquor cart and grabbed the bottle of bourbon, not even bothering to pour it into a glass. "Fuck." He mumbled as he took a few sips. "God, damnit." He slammed the bottle back down onto the table before vamping up into his room, his mind made up, he was going to be the one to save Elena, not Stefan.

..:..TVD..:..TVD..:..TVD..:..TVD

Anna stormed around the motel room, knocking on the bathroom door to alert Ben, "I'm leaving." She sternly said as she briskly walked over towards the motel room door. Ben came walking out of the bathroom with his hand gripping onto Bonnies arm, dragging her along with him. Anna took a deep breath as she looked at him, "Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work, just use violence." She commanded as she squinted at him; reminding him of his stupid accident earlier when he tried to compel Elena.

Ben rolled his eyes as he walked Bonnie over to the bed, "Right, I got that." Anna walked out the door without another word, slamming it behind her, as Ben tossed Bonnie down, "Sit. Behave." He honestly wasn't even sure how he got roped into this situation. He could care less about this tomb, or the vampires stuck inside it. He was embarrassed and felt like an idiot for ever caring about Anna to begin with; She clearly didn't care about him. He angrily ripped his jacket off and threw it over the back of a chair as he put on a smile, masking his emotions, "So, you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door. Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" He sat down on the chair in front of them, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and directed his attention towards Bonnie. He genuinely did think she was stunning, and the fact that she was a witch was absolutely amazing to him. Before he met Anna and was forced to turn into a vampire, he never even knew the supernatural world existed.

Bonnie couldn't help but feel repulsed by him after the way he tricked her and then trapped her in this disgusting motel room; She scoffed at the fact that he would ever think she would be charmed by him again and rolled her eyes, "Does it matter? You don't care about who I am. You just, used me. And I was, an idiot." She sighed as she broke eye contact and looked over at the window, willing her tears to go away.

Elena watched as Ben frowned and then swallowed nervously before standing up to walk over towards her best friend, "I, Bonnie, I wasn't lying. I think you're incredible. I really am sorry." He said softly as he tentatively latched his finger under her chin, pulling her eyes towards him.

Bonnie stared up at him for a few seconds, her eyebrows scrunched together, as he brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, "Ben, um-"

But their moment was abruptly interrupted when the door to the motel suddenly broke apart as someone kicked it in. Ben screamed in pain from the sunlight and scurried between the two beds, throwing his hood over his head. Elena and Bonnie both jumped up and huddled together until they realized who it was, "D-Damon?" Elena stuttered as she watched him march over towards Ben with what looked like the grimoire securely tucked under his arm. He came to save me. She smiled to herself as her heart swelled at the thought of him caring.

He angrily pulled Ben off the ground by the collar of his shirt, dangling him in the air as he glared at him, "Leave town tonight. If I see you again, I won't hesitate to kill you. Got it?" He snarled while his eyes darkened, before tossing him back onto the floor. He let out a deep breath to settle his rage, adjusted his jacket and tightened his arm around the book before turning around to face Elena and Bonnie, "Let's go." He demanded, his voice completely void of any emotion and his eyes were trained blankly ahead.

Elena was staring at him with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open, "Damon, I, I tho-"

Damon quickly walked forward, grabbing Elenas arm and dragging her out of the motel room with Bonnie following behind, silencing any thoughts that Elena had.

All 3 of them silently got into Damons car, and hastily sped out of the parking lot, "Where are we going?" Bonnie basically whispered as she buckled her seat belt and rested her head back against the seat, allowing her body a moment to relax.

Damon didn't respond, he didn't know how. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he just went to rescue not only Katherines double, but a freaking Bennet witch, who have both tried hurting him in their own ways. He grumbled under his breath and peaked over at Elena who was already looking in his direction, her eyes full of admiration. His lips pulled up into a tiny smile and he instinctually reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear. Her eyes followed his movements, but she didn't pull away, which genuinely surprised him. He gazed into her eyes for a second, listening as her heart started to race, before shaking himself from her gaze and dropping his hand from her face; his eyes darting back towards the road.

Elena let out a shaky deep breath before reaching over and tentatively placing her hand on his knee, "Hey, Damon?" She softly said while gently squeezing him.

He couldn't suppress the slight gasp that escaped his lips as her fingers dug into his knee, "What?" He growled, unintentionally. He was not okay with the way he was being affected by this girl, especially with how close he was to finally being reunited with Katherine.

Elenas lips parted but her thoughts were so jumbled that no words came out. She sighed and pulled her hand away from his leg; her heart was beating a mile a minute, "N-nothing, I'm sorry." She stuttered as she tucked her legs up under her chin, hugging them with both of her arms.

Damon grunted and his eyes slightly darkened while he pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal; He couldn't stand the way her voice sounded, the emotion behind it and the unspoken question of why it was him that saved them and not Stefan. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as anger bubbled up inside his chest and a low growl vibrated in his throat, "Fuck." He mumbled under his breath while he continued driving towards the old church where the tomb was located. Why is she affecting me like this? Why do I even care what she thinks of me!? He peered at Bonnie through the rear-view mirror and forced a smile when he saw her staring back at him, "Bonnie, do you think maybe you could convince your grandmother to help lift the spell that is locking Katherine in the tomb? I promise, she is all I need. I will personally kill every other vampire in there." He paused as he took a settling deep breath, "Please, Bonnie. I, I really." He growled lowly as his nails ripped into the leather cover of the steering wheel, his emotions were on a roller coaster today, he hated being vulnerable. Elena noticed how distraught he was while trying to express himself and softly placed her hand on his knee again, giving it a gentle, reassuring, squeeze. Damons eyes shot down and watched as her tiny fingers gripped onto his leg and he instantly felt his body calm down. She lightly started moving her thumb back and forth in a soothing motion and he couldn't suppress the soft moan that escaped his lips. Elena watched as he released his death grip from around the steering wheel and then placed his hand over hers, hesitantly linking their fingers together. She tightly squeezed them as she glanced up into his emotional blue eyes and he couldn't stop himself from chuckling nervously, "Thank you." He whispered before slowly bringing her fingers up to his lips and gently kissing her knuckles.

Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows, confused as hell about what was happening, and loudly cleared her throat; whatever was going on between them was making her extremely uncomfortable, "Uh, Elena?"

Damon instantly snapped back into reality at the judgmental tone in her voice, dropping her hand from his and slapping himself internally for letting his guard down, "So" He started, clearing his throat while he adjusted himself in his seat, "What do you say, Bon-Bon? Think she would meet us over at the tomb? I promise, after I get her out of there, I'll leave town for good. Really, it's a win, win." He smirked as he wiggled his eyebrows, erasing all emotion from his face. He caught Elenas eyes as she turned around to glance back at her best friend, and he was certain she seemed upset by his promise to leave. He smiled to himself as he noticed Bonnies resolve start to crumble while Elena silently pleaded with her; he knew Bonnie hated him and Sheila hated him even more but was hoping they would still help him.

Bonnie dramatically rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh before reaching out her hand, "Fine. Give me your phone."

..:TVD:…:TVD:…:TVD:…

Stefan came walking up from the tomb, carrying only a shovel, "Cleared the debris away, set the torches like you asked. We can get down now." His voice was stern and empty of emotion which was unlike him. Elena stood next to Bonnie and Sheila, watching as he put the shovel down next to a few cans of gasoline.

Damon was gripping onto the grimoire so tight that his hand was starting to cramp up, he was feeling so many emotions and was trying so hard to keep them from showing. He couldn't wait to wrap his arms around Katherine and feel her body against his, he missed her so damn much.

"Damon, you coming?" Damon rapidly blinked his eyes, clearing the daydream from his mind; He didn't even realize they were all down in the tomb already, waiting on him.

Bonnie and Sheila were holding hands and standing across from each other in a circle surrounded by torches, right in front of the entrance to the tomb. Elena and Stefan were standing on the steps next to Damon, watching intently while they began the spell.

Damon reached into his jacket and pulled out a blood bag, his hands were starting to shake as adrenaline and excitement raced through his veins.

"What's that?" Stefan asked while obnoxiously shining a flashlight at the bag of blood in his hands. Elena rolled her eyes because it was obviously for Katherine, but of course Stefan had to ask. She had been observing Damon from the moment they arrived and caught him smiling to himself a few times, which made her happy. She was excited for him, she honestly wanted him to finally get Katherine back, she hated seeing him so miserable all the damn time.

Damon refused to let Stefan, or anyone else ruin this moment for him or sour his mood, so he smiled and looked up at his brother, "It's for Katherine. I gotta have something to get her going." He smiled mischievously as he looked past Stefan into Elenas eyes, "Unless your girl's offering up a vein to tap." Elena silently chuckled and shook her head and Stefan clenched his jaw. Damon smirked, happy with the reaction he got out of him, before turning his attention back towards the witches. "Admit it. You can't wait to get rid of me." He whispered sarcastically.

Stefan chuckled dryly and shook his head before looking over at his older brother, "I can't wait to get rid of you." He said seriously with a cold look in his eyes. Damon kept up his look of indifference, but he honestly was a bit hurt by that comment.

Suddenly the flames on the torches grew bigger and brighter, and a gust of wind seemed to blow around them. Damon could barely contain himself; he was standing next to the door to the tomb now, waiting for his chance to bolt inside. And then he finally heard it, the cement around the tomb door cracked as it pushed open. "Katherine." He whispered shakily.

Elena smiled to herself as she pictured his face when he finally found Katherine in the tomb, she genuinely was happy for him.

"I'll be right outside." Stefan announced before running up the steps to get everything ready to kill the other vampires.

Damon was still standing by the entrance to the tomb, he nervously looked back at Bonnie and Sheila, before reaching out for Elena, "You ready?"

Elena shook her head in confusion, checking behind her to see who he was talking to, "W-what?"

Damon impatiently walked over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to his side, "You think I'm going in there alone so they can seal me in? Stefan has to get the fire ready to kill the rest of the vampires in there, and you are the only person here that I trust." He frantically whispered, while his eyes darted over towards Bonnie and Sheila.

Sheila angrily stepped forward with a cold look in her eyes, ready to do whatever she had to in order to stop him from bringing her in with him, but Elena grabbed onto his arm and nodded in understanding, "It's okay, he needs to know that you're not gonna shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I trust him." Elena quickly reassured her; she just wanted to get this over with.

Damon looked down into her eyes and smiled in appreciation before grabbing one of the torches and leading them inside.

As they ventured into the tomb, Stefan was running around outside trying to set up the flame thrower to kill the rest of them once Damon got Katherine out.

"I knew he would figure it out!" Anna exclaimed as she vamped over to him.

Stefan growled under his breath as he whipped around to face her, "Anna, what are you doing here?"

Anna rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You obviously know I'm here to get my mother out. That's all I care about." And before Stefan had a chance to respond, she vamped down into the tomb. Sheila jumped back and stood protectively in front of Bonnie as Anna came running down, "I just want my mother." Anna said softly as she grabbed one of the other torches and quickly made her way inside.

Elena was clinging to Damons side as they walked further into the tomb, she could hear what sounded like whispering and it was really creeping her out, "What is that?" she nervously asked as her grip tightened on his jacket.

Damon was so focused on finding Katherine that he almost forgot Elena was with him, "They can sense you." He whispered before vamping away, not able to think about anything or anyone other than Katherine.

Elena gasped as he disappeared and instantly froze, panic rising in her chest, "Damon!" She whisper yelled while straining her eyes to find him in the dark.

Sheila and Bonnie were waiting outside the entrance to the tomb and Bonnie was anxiously pacing back and forth, "Why would you let Anna go in there?" She frantically cried out as her eyes started to fill with tears. "She is the vampire that Damon literally saved me and Elena from at the motel!"

Sheila's eyes widened at that statement, and she let out a strangled deep breath, "Damon? He's the one that rescued you?"

Bonnie groaned as she raked her fingers through her hair and took a few steps closer to her Gran, "Yes but why does that matter!? Anna is the issue. Not Damon!"

Sheila tightly pressed her eyes shut as she took a settling deep breath before looking back into her granddaughters eyes, "Okay well then, we have to start up another spell. I, I didn't tell you this before but, when we did the spell, all we did was open the door, we never removed the seal that holds them inside."

Bonnie audibly gasped and ran towards the entrance to the tomb, staring inside with tears streaming down her cheeks, "Gran! No! We can't leave him in there! I, I know he's done a lot of awful things, but Elena really cares for him and he's Stefans brother."

Sheila nodded her head and grabbed Bonnies hands, pulling her back into the circle they made earlier, "I understand baby. It's a very powerful spell, but we can do it together."

..:..TVD..:..TVD..:..TVD..:..TVD..:..

Elena remembered she had a tiny flashlight in her jacket pocket and urgently turned it on, shinning it in every direction, trying to figure out where to go. She was breathing heavy, and her body was trembling as she cautiously made her way forward, "Damon?" She whispered again, desperately hoping that he was nearby. She slowly made her way down the narrow tunnel and then tripped over something, falling to the ground. She quickly caught her bearings and spun around, only to come face to face with a completely desiccated vampire. "Oh my God!" She gasped as the vampires eyes sprung open and instantly turned red. She scurried backwards on her hands and feet, trying to get herself off the ground, and then bumped into another desiccated vampire, "Damon!" She screamed loudly this time, her heart felt like it was about to break through her chest.

Damon faintly heard her voice, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment, he was trying to find Katherine and failing miserably, "Where is she?! I don't understand!" He cried out as he tossed a few desiccated vampires out of the way, desperately searching for her.

Elena finally got herself off the ground and started running from the pit of vampires she fell into, when she bumped into Anna, "Wow, didn't this work out perfectly?" Anna smiled as she aggressively grabbed Elenas hair, yanking her towards her mother that was lying on the ground. "I made a decision long ago that Gilbert blood was going to be the one that brought my mother back to life, being that your ancestor is the reason she is locked in here, so I absolutely love the fact that you just happened to be here at this moment."

"Please, no. Don't. Anna. Please!" Elena begged as Anna violently bit into Elenas wrist and shoved it into her mother's mouth.

"Mother, drink, I'm getting you out of here." Anna softly whispered as she tilted her mothers head back with Elenas wrist held against her mouth.

"Damon!" Elena screamed at the top of her lungs as Annas mom, Pearl, sunk her fangs down into her wrist.

Damon was hysterically searching for Katherine, his vision blurred with hot tears and his body was trembling, "I don't understand, how can she not be in here?!" He cried out while angrily throwing the blood bag he brought with him at the wall. He couldn't deal with what he was feeling right now, and then he heard Elena scream for him through the fog in his mind. "Oh God. Elena!" He frantically bolted towards the sound of her voice, wiping away his tears while he ran.

"Damon! Please!" Elena felt her body getting weaker and was beginning to lose hope when she suddenly was ripped away from Pearl; cradled in strong arms.

"I got you." Damon shakily whispered as he bit into his wrist and put it up to her mouth, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Elena eagerly swallowed down his blood while staring up into his eyes, noticing how swollen and red they were. She dropped his wrist from her mouth after making sure the wound on her wrist had healed, and licked her lips as she tenderly trailed her fingers down the side of his face, "What happened?" she softly asked him.

Damon swallowed nervously and let out a defeated sigh as his hold tightened around Elena. His bottom lip started to quiver and hot tears unwillingly fell from his eyes, "Katherine..." he paused and took a strangled deep breath. Elena gently shook her head, already guessing what he was about to say, and wiped the trail of tears from his cheek. He pressed his eyes tightly shut and growled deep in his chest, angry that she once again was able to break down his walls, before vamping them to the entrance of the tomb. Right before they crossed the opening, Stefan came running over, his eyes turning black when he noticed Elena in Damons arms.

"Elena, what, where the hell is Katherine?" Stefan growled as he glared into his brothers eyes. Damons fingers dug into her side before gently placing her on the ground, ushering her towards Stefan. Elena sadly looked back at him with tears in her eyes while Stefan wrapped his arms around her, "Are you okay?" He whispered sweetly as he stroked his hand down her back.

Damon let out a humorless laugh while attempting to leave the tomb but bounced back when he hit an invisible barrier. His eyes widened as he looked over at the witches, who he just realized were chanting something in Latin, and he began to panic, "I can't get out. What the hell is going on!?"

Elena untangled herself from Stefans embrace and ran up to where Bonnie and Sheila were chanting, "Hey! You, I promised him! You can't leave him in there!" She cried out as she noticed the torches starting to flicker, "Bonnie!"

Sheila opened her eyes and glared over at Elena. The only reason she was helping him get out of the tomb was because he saved her granddaughter. "The seal is almost down."

Elena wiped the tears from her eyes before they had a chance to fall and sprinted over to the tomb entrance, standing directly in front of Damon, "I won't leave you in there." She whispered shakily.

Damon stared into her eyes, searching for any sign that she was lying, but all he saw was genuine concern. He nodded his head and forced a smile, "I trust you."

Stefan squinted his eyes as he watched the interaction between his girlfriend and his brother, "Where is Katherine?" He growled as he stalked towards them.

Elena frowned when the mention of Katherine instantly made Damons face contort in pain. She angrily whipped around to face Stefan, standing protectively between the two of them, "Will you stop?!" She yelled as her hands balled into fists as her side, "Just drop it for now."

"It's lifted, hurry, we can't hold it for long!" Shiela called out as all the torches flames started to go out.

Damon didn't have to be told twice; he quickly glanced at Elena with a devastated look on his face before vamping out of the tomb and into the night. Elena glared at Stefan and angrily shook her head, "He needed you to be there for him just now and instead you scared him off."

Stefan scoffed and watched Elena briskly walk away from him. She helped Sheila and Bonnie gather their things before leaving the tomb all together. He dropped his head and let out a heavy sigh, he was so confused. This was supposed to be a great day for Damon; He was finally getting Katherine back after fighting so hard to rescue her; what happened? He turned to follow behind Elena, leaving the tomb behind, when he faintly heard a noise. He looked back down the dark tunnel and saw Anna walking slowly with her mother towards the entrance. "Stefan?" Anna called out when she noticed him.

Stefans eyes widened as he watched Anna and Pearl walk right through where the seal was supposed to be. He swallowed nervously before cautiously walking over to them. Pearl wearily looked up into his eyes and frowned, "Tell Damon that Katherine...she was never in there. The guard at the church was obsessed with her...he let her go."

Stefans lips parted while he tried to think of a way to respond, but nothing came out. Pearl forced a sad smile before leaving the tomb for good with her daughter. He let out a defeated sigh as tears gathered in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Damon." He whispered under his breath and then vamped outside into the woods, he needed to find his brother.