(1) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Eighty-One

Cassandra is tackled as soon as she enters one of the upstairs rooms. She lands on her back. Her hands pinned down so she can't use her powers. His vampire face appears and he lunges for her neck. Damon is suddenly there shoving his hand into the vampire's chest and rips out his heart. The vampire's body dropping onto Cassandra. Damon kicks the body off of her and pulls her up, his hands touching her neck and shoulders to check on her, to make sure he didn't get her but she's fine. No bites. No wounds. They share a look, his thumb brushing over her cheek. He lets out a relieved breath.

"You okay?" He asks, she nods quickly.

"Where is..." She looks around. "The...leader one....the dude...."

"Gone" He answers as Alaric hurries around the corner.

"Let's get out of here." He tells them. Damon nods in agreement.

.................

Cassandra, Damon and Alaric exit the house to find a lot more vampires approaching them. Damon pulls Cassandra back, placing her slightly behind him. Just in case.

"How many of those vervain darts do you have left?" Damon asks Alaric who checks his stock.

"Urm...One" Alaric answers.

"Not gonna be enough" Damon comments.

"No shit" Cassandra counters and lets out a breath. She then holds out her hands and produces her mist energy in her palms. Damon shakes his head.

"Inside," He tells her. "You can't take all of them"

"No, but I can even the odds" She argues and curls her fingers, drawing them to the left. The eyes of a few of the vampires turn red and they instantly turn against their friends, forming a protective line between Cassandra, Damon, and Alaric, and the other vampires. Alaric lets out an impressed breath. Cassandra tilts her head in concentration, her nose bleeding as she attempts to keep up her control.

"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife. It was a lie, wasn't it?" Alaric asks.

"Yep," Damon answers. Pearl pushes through the vampires only to be stopped by those under Cassandra's control.

"Stop," Pearl tells them. "Release them" She orders Cassandra who lifts her lip in annoyance before she releases them, pulling her mist back. "What's going on here? What did you do?"

"Me?" Damon counters. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother"

"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with" Pearl assures them.

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them" Damon scolds her.

"This wasn't supposed to happen"

"Well, it did. If I had a good side...Not a way to get on it" Damon warns her, and then touches the small of Cassandra's back. "Come on, let's get out of here" He offers and they leave with Alaric trailing behind them.

..........

When clear of the house, Damon pulls Cassandra to a stop and lifts her chin. Her nose has stopped bleeding but is still coating her upper lip. He uses his sleeve to brush away the blood from her nose, raising an eyebrow at her to ask if she's okay, she keeps her eyes away from him, because she can't look at him. She'll slip up. Forgive him for everything.

"I'll get her home" Alaric states and looks at Cassandra. She sighs and nods. Being away from Damon would be preferable for her emotional state. She needs more time. She just needs to spend more time working through it all. Deep down, she pretty much knows she is going to fold, but she's just not ready to admit that to herself yet.

...........

At the Salvatore Boarding House, Elena is staring out Stefan's window, pondering the day's events. Behind her, Stefan walks towards her with a blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"How are you doing?" She asks him.

"I'm okay. The wounds have mostly healed" He answers.

"Good" She whispers warmly.

"Elena..." He starts, she hums and looks at him.

"Yeah?"

"What you did today, coming to help me...You could have been killed" Stefan scolds Elena.

"I know" She agrees with a small nod. She knows all of this. She's already had the earful from Cassandra regarding her safety and disobedience.

"And what I did, I'm sorry that...I'm sorry that you had to see it"

"I've just never...You were like this other person. And it's my fault. I made you..." Elena rushes out.

"What? No. no. no. no. You didn't make me do anything. You were saving my life. And I was saving yours" Stefan caresses her face. "Everything's gonna be okay" He assures her, just in time for Elena's cell phone to ring. She fishes it out of her pocket and answers it.

"Hey, Jer...What--what's going on? Oh, no. Yeah, I'll be right there" Elena assures Jeremy before she hangs up.

"What?" Stefan asks her.

"They found Vicki's body" She answers and then gasps realising. "Cas..." Elena knows that this is going to absolutely bulldoze Cassandra. "She's gonna be an absolute wreck" Stefan pulls his phone out of his pocket and nods.

"It's okay..." He assures her. "I know what to do"

............

Damon pushes open Cassandra's bedroom door to find her sat on her bed crying, her head buried in her hands. He closes the door behind him and moves to sit on the bed with her. His hands touching her knees, she jerks her head up to look at him.

"You okay, Buttercup?" He asks her. Her lip quivers and she looks away from him. His fingers rubbing soothing circles into her knees but it does nothing to help.

"They found her" She whispers, he nods. He knows. Stefan had called him. Told him about Vicki. And Ally suggested that Damon come here and comfort Cassandra. So here he is. And he is going to try his best to do the whole comfort thing. "They found her" She repeats, more alarmed this time. She reaches up and threads her fingers into her hair. He grabs her hands and pulls her closer to him.

"Calm down" He offers. "Just take a breath..."

"I can't" She argues. "I can't..." He cups her face between his hands and she stares up at him. Tears on her cheeks.

"Breath" He offers. "It's okay" He whispers. "I've got you..." He tells her and then presses his lips to her forehead, she closes her eyes. "I've got you" He whispers softer. She takes a shaky breath and nods. He wraps his arms around her, strokes her hair.

"They're going to find out that I killed her" She whispers. "They'll come for me"

"No one is going to come for you" He promises her. She clutches to the back of his jacket as she cries. He holds her closer to him, comforting her. He's not going to let anyone come for her. "You did what you had to" He reminds her.

......

Cassandra eventually wears herself out, cries herself to sleep against Damon, his fingers brushing through her hair. He closes his eyes and curls his arm around her, pulling her closer to him before he shifts and lays her down on her bed. This is his fault too. He didn't bury Vicki well enough. He turned her. He attacked her. He started this. He put this on her. He stands from the bed, intending on leaving, but she grabs his wrist to stop him. He closes his eyes and lets out a breath. Staying is personal. Staying is....him admitting that he feels something for her more than attraction. She's beautiful and sarcastic, of course, he is attracted to her. But staying right now, means more. He opens his eyes and looks at her. Sleeping, she seems so calm and peaceful. He climbs into her bed, wrapping them both in blankets, letting her curl into his side.