Fic: A Vampire's Policy [Vampire Diaries | PG13 | Elena/Damon | 14/?]
Title A Vampire's Policy
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters/Pairings: Damon /Elena, ensemble.
Rating: PG13
Category: Drama
Spoilers: Up to 1x19
Warnings: It has vampires?
Show/Bookverse: Show
Summary:Stefan reignites his hunger for human blood, Elena tries to hold on, and Damon ensures he gets his own way...
Author's Notes: This story basically went AU from the end of 1X18, but I shall be incorporating elements of subsequent episodes, like John's machinations, Bonnie distrust and anger, Stefan's struggle with his new thirst for human blood, and general plot points that I feel wouldn't be changed by Elena's Vampirism - needless to say, Elena won't be a part of the Miss Mystic falls competition, although it will feature in this story! Anyways, on with the show!
Previous parts: PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX | PART SEVEN | PART EIGHT | PART NINE | PART TEN | PART ELEVEN | PART TWELVE | PART THIRTEEN
---------------------
PART FOURTEEN
Elena sat on the couch, and waited for Damon to return from the front door, where he was talking to the jeweller, who had arrived at last. Stefan was leaning against the fireplace, his hands in his pockets and his eyes studying the floor, and she was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable, and guilty, as her mind ran over recent events.
The truth was, she had gotten very close to Damon over the last few days and, until Stefan had arrived back, she had barely given him a fleeting thought. A week ago - hell, even three days ago - she would have thought that impossible. Stefan had practically filled every moment of her life...although, if she were honest with herself, Damon had been doing a very good job of shoring up the edges over the last few weeks, and what had started out as an uneasy truce, had become a sort of reluctant friendship. One that stumbled along a very rocky path, but it was there, nonetheless.
She also had a sneaking suspicion it was turning into something more.
“You can't trust him, Elena,” Stefan said quietly. “You must know that. He'll let you down.”
Elena looked at him sharply, wondering if it had been something on her face that had given her away. “And I can trust you?” she asked, suddenly angry.”Where were you when I needed you, Stefan? You ran out of this house and didn't look back. How can I trust you not to do the same again?”
“It wasn't like that,” Stefan said. “I was confused, and overwhelmed by the blood lust. I didn't mean to hurt you.”
“But you did, Stefan, you did”
”I swear, I leave you two kids alone for a minute, and it's all with the Drama,” Damon drawled, as strolled back into the room. Elena looked at Stefan, who just looked away.
“I guess we're finished,” she said harshly.
Stefan flinched but didn't say anything.
“As entertaining as I usually find this, you two really need to kiss and make up,” Damon said finally. “We all know you're going to, anyway. Treat it like...ripping off a band aid.”
Elena gave Damon a long look; the words were very Damon, but there was a rawness to them that she couldn't quite identify.
Stefan raised an eyebrow at Damon. “I'm curious,” he said. “Do you think I can't smell her scent on you?
Damon smirked. “I'm not sleeping with her, Stefan.”
“But you haven't been exactly platonic either, have you?” Stefan countered. Silence reigned in the room, as Stefan's eyes roamed from Damon to Elena. “That's what I thought,” he said.
“Christ, Stefan, what did you think would happen - it hasn't been that long since you've been turned. You know how it works,” Damon said. “It's not my fault you decided that Elena was too much of a precious snowflake as a human, that you couldn't stand to see her as a Vampire.”
“Damon,” Elena said quietly. “Stop it.”
Anger struggled on Damon's face. “Whatever,” he said. “The jeweller said that he'd have the stone set by tomorrow morning, so we should be good to go - literally, if needs be, and then-”
There was a loud insistent knock on the door, and Elena raised her head. It took her a few moments to recognise the scent. It was Anna.
“Stay here,” Damon said. “Stefan, check around the house. Make sure she didn't bring any friends.”
“I thought she said the others were gone,” Elena said.
Damon gave her mocking look. “Right, and she wouldn't lie, of course.”
Stefan nodded, and blurred out of the house, and Damon dawdled on his way to the door. Elena listened as he opened the door.
“Two visits in one week, I feel honoured...not,” he said, as he pulled open the door. “So what...” For a moment, there was silence, and then Damon's voice changed. “What happened?”
“Mama is dead,” Anna said, and even from where Elena sat, she sounded broken. “Someone staked her. They got Harper, too. I need help, Damon. I want to find out who killed her.”
Before she could stop herself, Elena stood up and called out. “Let her in, Damon.”
She heard Damon sigh. “And here I was thinking we had enough going on without starting a pity party”
“Damon!”
“All right, all right”
Anna looked as if she were walking on eggshells when she walked into the room. Not counting their aborted phone conversation, a couple of nights before, the last time they'd met, Anna had fed Elena's blood to Pearl in the tomb. Elena knew she should still be angry about that, but there was such a loss in Anna's eyes that Elena couldn't bring herself to feel it. It hadn't been that long since Elena had lost her own mother.
“There's nobody else, she came alone,” Stefan announced as he stalked back into the room.
“Pearl has been killed,” Damon said flatly.
Stefan stopped, mid stride. “How?”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” Damon said.
“Uncle John,” Elena said. “That's what you're thinking, isn't it?”
“It makes sense,” Damon said. “He definitely was hot to find her.”
Elena shuddered. “We could be next,” she said.
“Not if I rip off his head first,” Damon said, turning to Anna. “He was here a few days ago, trying to track down something Pearl had taken from the original John Gilbert.”
Anna scowled. “And you told him where to find my mother?”
“Don't be an idiot. I wouldn't put him out, if he were on fire,” Damon said shortly. “He must have found out where she lived some other way - did he get it?”
“Get what?”
“Get whatever he killed your mother for,” Damon said.
Anna blinked. “If it is what I think it is, then no,” she admitted. “Mother kept it in a safety deposit box in town. She wasn't going to empty it until today.”
“Then you'd better go and get it,” Damon said.
“Isn't it safer where it is?” Elena asked.
“With Gilbert so cosy with the council?” Damon answered. “Do you really want to risk that? Your uncle is holding too much of the pack as it stands, we need to grab a few cards of our own - have I mentioned how very inconvenient it is, that he's related to you. Usually, I'd go after the family.”
“Oh, I'm so sorry I inconvenience you,” Elena said sarcastically.
Damon scowled. “First things first; we need to get that ring off him. Hopefully, It'll make him feel a bit more vulnerable, and vulnerable people make mistakes - is there anyone here who doesn't think Uncle John is hip deep in it with Isobel?”
“Ring?” Anna enquired
“That big, ugly thing he wears on his finger. Makes him unkillable while he's wearing it,” Damon said.
“You sure about that?”
“Oh yes. I got the empirical evidence,” Damon said.
“I'll go with Anna to the bank,” Stefan volunteered, changing the subject. “If John is in the mood to kill Vampires, Anna might be next on his list.”
Damon gave him a hard look. “I don't have to tell you that stopping for lunch would be a bad idea, do I?”
“I know how to restrain myself, Damon,” Stefan said coldly.
“Now, where have I heard before?” asked Damon. “Hmm, wait, give me moment...”
Elena rolled her eyes. “Damon, stop being such an ass,” she said.
For the first time since she'd entered the room, Anna smirked. “Easy to see who wears the pants in this house,” she said, as she helped herself to an easy chair. “But we still haven't discussed what we'll do after we collect the artefact. A plan would be nice. Not that snapping necks first and asking questions later doesn't have it's attractions, but I want to do more than stop John Gilbert - I want to make him pay.”
Elena bit her lip, conflicted. Uncle John wasn't her favourite person in the world, but he was still family. “Maybe we could get Jeremy to talk to him,” she said. “Uncle John is big into family, maybe Jer could reason with him.”
“No,” Anna said evenly.
Elena raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” she said.
“Jer has been through enough” Anna said.”He doesn't need to deal with this, too.”
Damon caught Elena's eyes, and waggled his eyebrows. Elena sighed, she knew what he was getting at. Anna hadn't rescued Jeremy for purely altruistic reasons the other night, there was definitely something going on between them. She risked a glance at Stefan. Did he know she knew about his attack on Jeremy?
And when had her life got this confusing?
“Yes,” she said aloud. “You're probably right. We'll leave him out of it.” She turned to Damon. “But I still think we need to make Uncle John talk. You should call him, tell him to come over. I want to see him.”
“Elena, are you sure about this?” Damon asked, sounding serious for once.
She nodded. “I know Uncle John, I know how he thinks,” she said. “And I heard what he said to you the other day - so, you see, I know you're wrong about one thing. We can make him talk, because while Uncle John may not be afraid of dying, he is terrified of being turned.”
Damon stared at her. “Shit,” he said. “You may be right.”
“Oh, he's a hater all right,” Anna muttered. “The idea of being turned probably terrifies him.”
“You realise that once he knows you 're a Vampire, we're going to have to keep him here until we've figured out what he and Isobel want - that, or we turn him, or kill him.”
Elena sighed again. “I guess we'll have to deal with that when the time comes. Make the call.”
Damon took out his phone, nodding at Anna and Stefan. “You two get going to the bank,” he said. “We'll keep him occupied until you get back.”
“We shouldn't be long,” Anna said. “It won't take much to compel the bank's night security.”
Stefan looked suddenly reluctant, but retrieved his coat. At the door, he hesitated. “I can stay,” he said to Elena. “If you want me to.”
Elena looked at him. “No, you go with Anna,” she said.
Stefan looked over her shoulder, and Elena could hear Damon move behind her. She silently prayed he wouldn't say something and, for once, her prayers were answered.
“Right,” Stefan eventually said. “I'll see you later.” The door closed behind him, and Elena turned to Damon, who still had the phone open in his hand.
“You understand this is going to be messy, right?” he asked.
She nodded silently.
“Do you trust me, Elena,” he asked suddenly.
She caught his eyes, ignoring the thrill of attraction that ran though her as they bored into her. She couldn't afford to be distracted right now. She was about to threaten her uncle's life. “I haven't made up my mind yet,” she said. “Is that a problem?”
He gave her a grim smile. “I guess I haven't made up my mind, either,” he said. “What's the number?”
She gave it to him.
PART FIFTEEN
Author: jinxed_wood
Characters/Pairings: Damon /Elena, ensemble.
Rating: PG13
Category: Drama
Spoilers: Up to 1x19
Warnings: It has vampires?
Show/Bookverse: Show
Summary:Stefan reignites his hunger for human blood, Elena tries to hold on, and Damon ensures he gets his own way...
Author's Notes: This story basically went AU from the end of 1X18, but I shall be incorporating elements of subsequent episodes, like John's machinations, Bonnie distrust and anger, Stefan's struggle with his new thirst for human blood, and general plot points that I feel wouldn't be changed by Elena's Vampirism - needless to say, Elena won't be a part of the Miss Mystic falls competition, although it will feature in this story! Anyways, on with the show!
Previous parts: PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX | PART SEVEN | PART EIGHT | PART NINE | PART TEN | PART ELEVEN | PART TWELVE | PART THIRTEEN
---------------------
PART FOURTEEN
Elena sat on the couch, and waited for Damon to return from the front door, where he was talking to the jeweller, who had arrived at last. Stefan was leaning against the fireplace, his hands in his pockets and his eyes studying the floor, and she was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable, and guilty, as her mind ran over recent events.
The truth was, she had gotten very close to Damon over the last few days and, until Stefan had arrived back, she had barely given him a fleeting thought. A week ago - hell, even three days ago - she would have thought that impossible. Stefan had practically filled every moment of her life...although, if she were honest with herself, Damon had been doing a very good job of shoring up the edges over the last few weeks, and what had started out as an uneasy truce, had become a sort of reluctant friendship. One that stumbled along a very rocky path, but it was there, nonetheless.
She also had a sneaking suspicion it was turning into something more.
“You can't trust him, Elena,” Stefan said quietly. “You must know that. He'll let you down.”
Elena looked at him sharply, wondering if it had been something on her face that had given her away. “And I can trust you?” she asked, suddenly angry.”Where were you when I needed you, Stefan? You ran out of this house and didn't look back. How can I trust you not to do the same again?”
“It wasn't like that,” Stefan said. “I was confused, and overwhelmed by the blood lust. I didn't mean to hurt you.”
“But you did, Stefan, you did”
”I swear, I leave you two kids alone for a minute, and it's all with the Drama,” Damon drawled, as strolled back into the room. Elena looked at Stefan, who just looked away.
“I guess we're finished,” she said harshly.
Stefan flinched but didn't say anything.
“As entertaining as I usually find this, you two really need to kiss and make up,” Damon said finally. “We all know you're going to, anyway. Treat it like...ripping off a band aid.”
Elena gave Damon a long look; the words were very Damon, but there was a rawness to them that she couldn't quite identify.
Stefan raised an eyebrow at Damon. “I'm curious,” he said. “Do you think I can't smell her scent on you?
Damon smirked. “I'm not sleeping with her, Stefan.”
“But you haven't been exactly platonic either, have you?” Stefan countered. Silence reigned in the room, as Stefan's eyes roamed from Damon to Elena. “That's what I thought,” he said.
“Christ, Stefan, what did you think would happen - it hasn't been that long since you've been turned. You know how it works,” Damon said. “It's not my fault you decided that Elena was too much of a precious snowflake as a human, that you couldn't stand to see her as a Vampire.”
“Damon,” Elena said quietly. “Stop it.”
Anger struggled on Damon's face. “Whatever,” he said. “The jeweller said that he'd have the stone set by tomorrow morning, so we should be good to go - literally, if needs be, and then-”
There was a loud insistent knock on the door, and Elena raised her head. It took her a few moments to recognise the scent. It was Anna.
“Stay here,” Damon said. “Stefan, check around the house. Make sure she didn't bring any friends.”
“I thought she said the others were gone,” Elena said.
Damon gave her mocking look. “Right, and she wouldn't lie, of course.”
Stefan nodded, and blurred out of the house, and Damon dawdled on his way to the door. Elena listened as he opened the door.
“Two visits in one week, I feel honoured...not,” he said, as he pulled open the door. “So what...” For a moment, there was silence, and then Damon's voice changed. “What happened?”
“Mama is dead,” Anna said, and even from where Elena sat, she sounded broken. “Someone staked her. They got Harper, too. I need help, Damon. I want to find out who killed her.”
Before she could stop herself, Elena stood up and called out. “Let her in, Damon.”
She heard Damon sigh. “And here I was thinking we had enough going on without starting a pity party”
“Damon!”
“All right, all right”
Anna looked as if she were walking on eggshells when she walked into the room. Not counting their aborted phone conversation, a couple of nights before, the last time they'd met, Anna had fed Elena's blood to Pearl in the tomb. Elena knew she should still be angry about that, but there was such a loss in Anna's eyes that Elena couldn't bring herself to feel it. It hadn't been that long since Elena had lost her own mother.
“There's nobody else, she came alone,” Stefan announced as he stalked back into the room.
“Pearl has been killed,” Damon said flatly.
Stefan stopped, mid stride. “How?”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” Damon said.
“Uncle John,” Elena said. “That's what you're thinking, isn't it?”
“It makes sense,” Damon said. “He definitely was hot to find her.”
Elena shuddered. “We could be next,” she said.
“Not if I rip off his head first,” Damon said, turning to Anna. “He was here a few days ago, trying to track down something Pearl had taken from the original John Gilbert.”
Anna scowled. “And you told him where to find my mother?”
“Don't be an idiot. I wouldn't put him out, if he were on fire,” Damon said shortly. “He must have found out where she lived some other way - did he get it?”
“Get what?”
“Get whatever he killed your mother for,” Damon said.
Anna blinked. “If it is what I think it is, then no,” she admitted. “Mother kept it in a safety deposit box in town. She wasn't going to empty it until today.”
“Then you'd better go and get it,” Damon said.
“Isn't it safer where it is?” Elena asked.
“With Gilbert so cosy with the council?” Damon answered. “Do you really want to risk that? Your uncle is holding too much of the pack as it stands, we need to grab a few cards of our own - have I mentioned how very inconvenient it is, that he's related to you. Usually, I'd go after the family.”
“Oh, I'm so sorry I inconvenience you,” Elena said sarcastically.
Damon scowled. “First things first; we need to get that ring off him. Hopefully, It'll make him feel a bit more vulnerable, and vulnerable people make mistakes - is there anyone here who doesn't think Uncle John is hip deep in it with Isobel?”
“Ring?” Anna enquired
“That big, ugly thing he wears on his finger. Makes him unkillable while he's wearing it,” Damon said.
“You sure about that?”
“Oh yes. I got the empirical evidence,” Damon said.
“I'll go with Anna to the bank,” Stefan volunteered, changing the subject. “If John is in the mood to kill Vampires, Anna might be next on his list.”
Damon gave him a hard look. “I don't have to tell you that stopping for lunch would be a bad idea, do I?”
“I know how to restrain myself, Damon,” Stefan said coldly.
“Now, where have I heard before?” asked Damon. “Hmm, wait, give me moment...”
Elena rolled her eyes. “Damon, stop being such an ass,” she said.
For the first time since she'd entered the room, Anna smirked. “Easy to see who wears the pants in this house,” she said, as she helped herself to an easy chair. “But we still haven't discussed what we'll do after we collect the artefact. A plan would be nice. Not that snapping necks first and asking questions later doesn't have it's attractions, but I want to do more than stop John Gilbert - I want to make him pay.”
Elena bit her lip, conflicted. Uncle John wasn't her favourite person in the world, but he was still family. “Maybe we could get Jeremy to talk to him,” she said. “Uncle John is big into family, maybe Jer could reason with him.”
“No,” Anna said evenly.
Elena raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” she said.
“Jer has been through enough” Anna said.”He doesn't need to deal with this, too.”
Damon caught Elena's eyes, and waggled his eyebrows. Elena sighed, she knew what he was getting at. Anna hadn't rescued Jeremy for purely altruistic reasons the other night, there was definitely something going on between them. She risked a glance at Stefan. Did he know she knew about his attack on Jeremy?
And when had her life got this confusing?
“Yes,” she said aloud. “You're probably right. We'll leave him out of it.” She turned to Damon. “But I still think we need to make Uncle John talk. You should call him, tell him to come over. I want to see him.”
“Elena, are you sure about this?” Damon asked, sounding serious for once.
She nodded. “I know Uncle John, I know how he thinks,” she said. “And I heard what he said to you the other day - so, you see, I know you're wrong about one thing. We can make him talk, because while Uncle John may not be afraid of dying, he is terrified of being turned.”
Damon stared at her. “Shit,” he said. “You may be right.”
“Oh, he's a hater all right,” Anna muttered. “The idea of being turned probably terrifies him.”
“You realise that once he knows you 're a Vampire, we're going to have to keep him here until we've figured out what he and Isobel want - that, or we turn him, or kill him.”
Elena sighed again. “I guess we'll have to deal with that when the time comes. Make the call.”
Damon took out his phone, nodding at Anna and Stefan. “You two get going to the bank,” he said. “We'll keep him occupied until you get back.”
“We shouldn't be long,” Anna said. “It won't take much to compel the bank's night security.”
Stefan looked suddenly reluctant, but retrieved his coat. At the door, he hesitated. “I can stay,” he said to Elena. “If you want me to.”
Elena looked at him. “No, you go with Anna,” she said.
Stefan looked over her shoulder, and Elena could hear Damon move behind her. She silently prayed he wouldn't say something and, for once, her prayers were answered.
“Right,” Stefan eventually said. “I'll see you later.” The door closed behind him, and Elena turned to Damon, who still had the phone open in his hand.
“You understand this is going to be messy, right?” he asked.
She nodded silently.
“Do you trust me, Elena,” he asked suddenly.
She caught his eyes, ignoring the thrill of attraction that ran though her as they bored into her. She couldn't afford to be distracted right now. She was about to threaten her uncle's life. “I haven't made up my mind yet,” she said. “Is that a problem?”
He gave her a grim smile. “I guess I haven't made up my mind, either,” he said. “What's the number?”
She gave it to him.
PART FIFTEEN