Nov 06, 2011 01:41
Impossible
Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.
Chapter 11: Awake
Elena raced up the stairs, slipping and almost losing her balance as she chased after the unrestrained laughter that moved from room to room. With renewed determination, she pulled her self up and took the steps two at a time and followed the muddy footprints that stretched out before her.
She reached the landing when all sound stopped. No pitter-patter of feet, no giggling, just plain silence filled the air. Ice-cold fear coursed through her veins, she opened her mouth to yell when she heard something crash in the linen closet by the hall followed by muffled laughter. Elena shook her head, smiling to herself, as she saw that the footprints had already crisscrossed all over but one set clearly led to the closet.
Silently she crept towards the door, pulling it open with a flourish, "Boo."
The blue eyes that looked up at Elena shone with bright mischief, accentuated by high-pitched laughter that came with another escape attempt. But this time Elena caught the troublemaker by the waist and lifted her up before she could go anywhere.
"You made a very big mess, little lady," Elena said to her daughter, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Small arms suddenly encircled her neck that clung to her tightly, "Wake up, Mommy."
Elena pulled away, startled with what her daughter said. She searched the blue eyes of the toddler for an explanation but all she found were tears that threatened to fall.
"Please, Mommy, wake up," the girl said, a plaintive note in her voice.
Elena shook her head, a sense of dread growing in her belly, realizing that something was wrong. Something about this, her house, her daughter, didn't quite feel right. Her daughter continued to plead with her but her mind was spinning rapidly out of control. Elena couldn't place her finger on it but she knew she was forgetting something.
She looked around her, checking what was out of place. She saw the nursery, mostly in order save for a few toys that they used earlier. Next she looked at her bedroom, which was littered with tiny muddy footprints that her daughter left when she was searching for a place to hide. Then Elena's eyes drifted to the wall of photos that lined the stairs, pictures of her small family. Dazed she set her daughter on the ground and walked to the photo that made her pause. She stopped in front of it mesmerized, the face in the frame was her husband, she knew this but what she could not understand was the overwhelming feeling of loss and worry over this man.
Drawn to it, her fingers traced the familiar face, the glass cold under her touch. She stopped when she reached his eyes, an amazing copy that had looked up at her with so much life just a few seconds ago. Without realizing it, Elena was blinking back tears and reaching out for her daughter. The little girl ran to her arms and whispered in her ear.
"I miss Daddy," she said sadly, tearing at Elena, opening wounds she thought were healed long ago, "Bring him back, Mommy. Please."
"I don't know how, sweetheart, I don't…" Elena said holding her child tightly to her, shutting her eyes as if it would dull the pain.
"Yes you do," the child said, "Wake up, Mommy. Wake up."
But Elena couldn't. Because whenever she tried, there was only darkness.
"Her vitals are stable," the doctor said, pushing up his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "She should recover just fine."
"Provided she wakes up, you mean," Katherine said sharply, her eyes never leaving the seemingly frail patient in the hospital bed.
"The mind has different ways of coping with shock, Ms. Gilbert," the doctor said calmly, "When she's ready, she will wake up. You just have to be patient with your twin."
"She's not my twin," Katherine said correcting the doctor, staring at him fully, her eyes focusing on his until he was held in a trance, "Leave. I was never here. This conversation never happened."
The doctor nodded absently and left without another word, leaving Katherine alone with the patient and the machines that beeped in a synchronized symphony of sounds reminding anyone who could hear that Elena was still alive.
"Wake up, Elena," Katherine said, "I'm not the type to beg but I'm making an exception this time. Please, wake up."
Katherine let out a tired sigh as she turned to look at the other patient who lay still as death in the other bed, "Wake up, Elena, because he's not opening those pretty blue eyes until you do."
She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands, wondering what law of the universe allowed vampires to have massive headaches. It should be impossible but then again she's seen more incredulous things happen in the past few weeks that this is something she could learn to accept.
Katherine knew that she should have left the moment the curse was broken and Klaus finally gone. She no longer had to keep looking over her shoulder, nothing to hold her back so the most logical thing to do was to walk away. Sure, she still wanted Stefan but she was in no hurry. He'd come around because there were a few things that she didn't lie about. She never compelled his love. It was one of the few things real about her life and she knew that Stefan believed it deep down.
But she couldn't bring herself to leave because the other truth in her life was this-she also loved Damon. In a different way but consuming just the same. It was never her intention to love him. And yet now she found herself reduced to staring at him, wishing he would wake up and make her world right again.
Katherine could still recall clearly the day she first heard about Elena. Back then all she knew was a name but its association with Stefan was enough to infuriate her. The face that she discovered later on intrigued her because it meant she could stop running. But it was that moment with Damon on Elena's porch that made her believe this wasn't an ordinary girl. The wreckage her fake death created something that should have been irreparable. She had done it to make both of them pine for her and want her so badly that when she returned as she had always planned, she would own them.
Elena wasn't supposed to put them back together. She wasn't supposed to make them fall in love with her. And she definitely wasn't supposed to pick Damon.
Katherine smiled to herself, finding it amusing that she figured it out before any of them even considered it was possible. Any girl in her right mind would pick Stefan, caring, loyal and irritatingly good that he was. And though many were drawn to Damon and his bad boy charm, it was never something that was destined to last.
Everyone, including Katherine, believed Elena was no different. It was how the world worked, that when all was said and done, she would pick Prince Charming and the Dark Knight will nurse a broken heart-happily ever after, the end. They were all wrong.
She could still hear their voices echo in the tomb, their words rapid and sharp, their argument betraying how much lay under the surface. Katherine knew that though Elena talked about Stefan, the only one that shared that moment with her was Damon. Katherine wanted to roll her eyes listening to them bicker like an old married couple. She knew in that moment that she had lost Damon and that Stefan never really had Elena. If the roles were reversed and Damon was the one trapped, Stefan would not slam Elena against a wall and yell at her for being so reckless. It was likely that Elena wouldn't even pause at the mouth of the cave to give him a chance to try and stop her. She would be inside in five seconds flat, yelling at Damon for being so stupid to get stuck there. Katherine understood then that it was inevitable that Elena would choose and prove she wasn't afraid of the dark.
"Can't you do something, witch?" Katherine said without turning around, sensing the Bonnie even before she entered the room.
"No," Bonnie said, "They have to do this on their own."
"Emily was never this useless," Katherine said facing Bonnie, "Duplicitous but I have to give her a hand for never getting stuck."
Bonnie glared at her, "You shouldn't be here."
"They shouldn't be here," Katherine said standing up, leveling Bonnie with a hard look of her own, "Damon is not supposed to go this way…not when he's so close to happiness."
A look of surprise crossed Bonnie's face, "I thought you love Stefan or do you just want whichever brother Elena is with?"
Katherine laughed bitterly turning back her attention to Damon, running a finger across his forehead, "When you've lived as long as I have, love is a little more complicated than that and especially not with the Salvatore brothers."
Tense silence settled on them until Katherine sat down again, her gaze focused on Elena this time, "The bond holds?"
"Yes," Bonnie answered hesitantly, wary of what Katherine seemed to be planning, "I can sense it. It's strong."
"Good," Katherine said as she took Damon's hand in hers, "When you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
Damon tapped his fingers on the wheel, drumming to the rhythm of the song on the radio, waiting for the light to turn green. Suddenly impatient, he switched radio stations, behaving as if finding the right song to listen to would help him get rid of the feeling that he was forgetting something.
"A minivan?" said an irritated voice next to him, "I guess I can't control your dream but at least I'm here."
"Elena? What..how?" Damon said completely surprised, "How did you get in here? And since when did you curl your hair?"
Katherine rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Even here the first thing you notice is the hair? Earth to Damon, it's me Katherine."
Damon smirked and turned his eyes back on the road, "I know. Just wanted to see if you'd vanish if I pretended you didn't exist. So, what brings you to this side of the world? And what witch do you have wrapped around your finger that you're able to appear just like that?"
"You're in a coma, Damon," Katherine said flatly, "You need to wake up and get out of here before it becomes permanent."
"I'm wide-awake, Katherine," Damon said widening his eyes to make his point, "And I have someone waiting for me at home who will not be pleased to see you. So just beam yourself out of here or something."
"Argh!" Katherine growled in frustration, swatting his hand away from the radio, "Will you stop changing the stations and focus. You. Need. To. Wake. Up."
Damon turned up the volume and ignored her, incensing Katherine even more until she lost control and turned it off completely.
"Do you know what's happening in the life you don't seem to want to get back to?" Katherine prattled on, determined to force him to listen, "Jeremy is just a step away from being a stoner boy again, who wouldn't be if you watched your aunt get killed in front of you, your sister is comatose and no one can tell you when or if she'll wake up. Stefan is doing what he does best-brooding and laying all the guilt in the world on her shoulders. The wolves…well, it's still wait and see what breaking the curse has really done to them."
Damon slammed the brakes so hard that Katherine jerked forward sharply in her seat, "A little warning next time, Damon?"
"Elena is in a coma out there?" Damon said ignoring her.
"You know what this is…you remember," Katherine said accusingly, "Well then what the hell are you trying to pull staying under like this?"
"Elena is in a coma?" Damon repeated through gritted teeth, making it clear that they won't be going anywhere until Katherine answers.
"Yes, yes she is." Katherine said throwing her hands in the air.
Damon leaned back and closed his eyes, "Let me guess, her little foray into witchcraft succeeded and the binding thing worked. And the Elena I have here with me is the real one, so to speak."
Katherine nodded and Damon let out a string of curses, each one stronger than the last.
"I don't get it," Katherine said when he finished, "You've known all this time that, whatever this is, isn't real, and believed that you're not actually with Elena. It's not like you to live with a lie. What gives?"
"You were there, Katherine, you saw what I did to Jenna," Damon said in a tight voice, "I figured this is my only chance to be with her because the real one would never forgive me."
"Okay, one, you're an idiot," Katherine said counting off with her fingers, "That was Klaus. Even I can shoot that one down. Two, really, Damon? You think Elena can't forgive you for this? You snapped Jeremy's neck in front of her and still she got past that. You think she's going to hold this over you, when you were just trying to save everyone else? What is really stopping you?"
"We have a family here, Katherine," Damon said so softly, Katherine thought she imagined the words, "that's something we could never have there. I know, somewhere in my head, I'm fully aware it probably never happened but the memories feel real. I've woken up in the middle of the night to change diapers.
I've rocked Avery to sleep and snuck her sweets when Elena wasn't looking. Real or not, I've gotten used to that little girl running into my arms each time I come home and telling me she loves me. I didn't want to give it up."
"Avery," Katherine said, a hint of longing in her voice.
"Yes, that's what I said," Damon said surprised at how vulnerable Katherine sounded, "She has a name. She's real to me, Katherine. And this is the only place that I'll be able to see her grow up."
The car stopped in front of his house, the one that he shared with Elena. Katherine smiled, a secret dancing on her lips, finally realizing what the key was to get them out of this mess.
"What?" Damon asked warily, recognizing the look on Katherine's face.
"You're in a coma." Katherine said slowly, drawing it out.
"We've established that. I'm not contesting that fact," Damon said raising his eyebrows.
"In a hospital, Damon," Katherine with a cat-like grin, "With an IV drip, machines and tubes stuck under your skin."
Damon looked at her blankly, refusing to acknowledge what Katherine was saying, thinking it too good to be true.
"Don't pretend you can't feel it, Damon," Katherine said as she opened the car door, "It's real. I've been listening to it for days, wondering when it would stop. I don't know how it happened or if anyone knew it would turn out this way. But it is what it is, Damon. Impossible as it seems, you have a heartbeat."
Katherine stepped out of the car and smiled at Damon, "I think Avery deserves a chance at living in the real world and I would love to be her godmother. I think we can all agree on that."
She turned and walked away, leaving Damon staring after her until she disappeared, her last words haunting him long after she left.
"Wake up, Damon. Please."
Elena placed a hand on her chest, startled to see Damon sitting by the window, his head bowed down.
"Damon!" Elena said, "I didn't hear you come home. What's wrong?"
He looked up and gave her a small smile. He stood up and walked towards her. He held out his hand and let a necklace dangle from it, pulling back when she reached for it.
"What's going on? You're scaring me, Damon," Elena said
He simply shook his head and fastened the necklace on her. He cupped her face in his hands and closed his eyes when he kissed her, soft and gentle as a whisper on her lips.
"I'm sorry, for failing to protect Jenna, for hurting you so many times in the past and for turning into the man that let everything else happen, " Damon said, his forehead touching hers, "I still think I don't deserve you but I do love you. And I'm not going to let you waste away your life in this state we're in, no matter how good we have it here. It's not real…but it could be, or so I'm told."
"What are you talking about?" Elena said worriedly
He took her hand and placed it on his chest, "I'm alive, Elena. We both are…we just need to wake up."
"But Avery…" Elena said, pleading with Damon.
"We'll find her again, Elena," Damon said, pulling her to him as close as he could.
"She won't be safe there," Elena said trembling, worried for her child.
"Between you, me, Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, Tyler, Caroline, Alaric and heaven help us, apparently Katherine as well, that kid will be more than safe," Damon pointed out.
Elena raised her eyebrows at the mention of Katherine and Damon just shrugged, "Don't ask. I'm still trying to sort out the conversation I had with her and why she was the one who took it upon herself to tell me I had to wake up."
"Avery said the same thing to me today," Elena said softly, "I spaced out and all I heard from her was wake up, wake up, wake up."
With a sigh, she looked up at Damon, seeing her daughter's blue eyes in his, "I'm not saying it didn't hurt or that I didn't question what you did, especially when it came to Jenna, but I know why you did it. I still love you. Nothing can change that."
Damon nodded, his eyes closed as he kissed the top of her head, letting her words wash over him, cleansing any traces of the monster he still though resided in him.
"So," Elena asked pulling back, "How do we do this? How do we wake up?"
"I think we just have to let her go," Damon said, taking Elena's hand and leading her to the nursery.
Avery looked up when she saw her parents standing by her door, her toys already forgotten as she ran and clung to her father's leg.
"You're leaving me," she said tearfully.
Damon felt his throat tighten, unwilling to let the words spill out. Elena knelt down and reached out to gently pull back Avery's arms.
"We have to, I'm sorry." Elena said gently, wiping the tears from the little girl's eyes, "I'm going to miss you."
Damon crouched down and picked up Avery, "I love you, munchkin. But we have to let you go so that someday you can also meet other people that we love. They're…they're different but they're family, Avery. Mommy and I want you to have the chance to meet all of them and that's not happening if we stay here."
Avery wrapped her arms around him and nodded, letting go when he placed her on the bed and tucked her in.
"Goodnight, sweetheart," Damon said kissing the top of her head, "I'll see you someday soon."
Damon groaned and swatted away the hand that held the flashlight in his eye. "Get that thing away from me. I can see just fine or are you trying to change that?"
"He's fine," Stefan said tiredly, "Thank you, we'll call you if we need anything."
Damon blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the light, making out the blurry shape of his brother frowning at him.
"Wow, Stefan, can you show any less enthusiasm that I'm okay?" Damon said sitting up, flinching when he felt a sharp pain in his back.
In a second, Stefan was next to him and helping him sit up more comfortably, scolding him as he did, "You could have gotten yourself killed, Damon,"
"Not the first time, brother," Damon said rolling his eyes, "Besides, I've gotten into worse trouble than that and I came out just fine, thank you very much."
"That was then." Stefan said patiently, "You're not a vampire anymore, Damon. Get used to it."
"The pounding in my chest is enough of a reminder, Stefan," Damon said, "I know that but I'm also still not easily killed and wasn't the one stupid enough to go out on a full moon with werewolves running about. Which reminds me, did Vampire Barbie get out in time?"
"Yes," Stefan said, "And her name is Caroline. Don't keep testing your limits, Damon. I know you retained some of your abilities but you've got so much more to lose now. Be careful."
Damon waved him off and changed the topic, "Where's Elena? She should be the one giving me this lecture. Now I'm going to have to sit through another round thanks to you."
"She's getting ice cream with-"
"Daddy! You're awake!"
The toddler wiggled away from Elena and ran to the bed, reaching out for her father. Damon reached down to pick her up, and sat her on the bed, "Can you tell me that story again about the princess and the knight? I think I've forgotten it…"
"Nice try, Damon," Elena said shaking her head, "Sweetie, how about I remind your father about that story and you be the one to tell Uncle Stefan all about it."
Stefan's eyes danced with amusement at the look of horror on Damon's face. He picked up his niece and carried her out, nodding along as she launched into her tale, unknowingly weaving into it bits and pieces from her parents' story.
"That was reckless, stupid and completely unnecessary," Elena said, "You could have gotten yourself killed."
"Yeah, Stefan mentioned something like that," Damon said, "And I would have been just fine. Caroline would have been toast but a bite from a werewolf wouldn't kill me, not anymore."
"You really think I'm just worried about a bite?" Elena said pointedly, "I'm talking about you getting trampled or just plain chewed on! I know you miss certain parts of what you were and what you could do. I know you're still strong. I get all of that but please, you have to remember that if you die, I die with you. We can't orphan Avery, not for a second time, Damon. "
He sobered up as her words hit him hard, "I'm sorry, Elena. I messed up. I'll be more careful next time."
Elena's eyebrows shot up and Damon amended his statement, "Okay, okay there will be no next time. You're much better at this than, Stefan. He gave me a similar speech earlier, less guilt, more 'you're an idiot' type of wording though. Not effective."
"Are you done?" Elena said, trying hard not to smile.
Damon nodded and moved to make space for her on the tiny bed. Elena climbed in and placed her hand on his chest, his hand warm on top of hers.
"If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing," Damon said quietly, turning serious, "I'll live through all of the pain a thousand times over if it means I'll always be able to come back to this moment and have you in my arms. No regrets."
"Just kiss me," Elena said smiling up at him, leaning towards him until their lips met and every worry she had was drowned out by the sound of her heart beating in time with his.
11,
damon/elena,
impossible