A/N: This is another long chapter - it actually might be the longest that I've written. Elena may be a bit OOC at times in this chapter (and this story overall). I've tried to keep things as true to character as I can, but I also have to go in a direction that works for this story. (And honestly I'm not sure where the writers are going with her character on the show anyway.) Thanks for reading and double-thanks if you comment let me know what you think! I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!
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Chapter 5
Damon made Elena's house his first stop on his return to Mystic Falls. She opened the door almost before he could knock. "Damon, where the hell have you been? You said you weren't going to be gone long." She was glaring at him furiously, but Damon could also see the telltale evidence of tears in her eyes. He suddenly felt terrible for getting distracted and falling asleep at Aedan's house.
He shrugged and looked away. "Things just took a little longer than I expected," he said vaguely. He was still entirely unwilling to even try to explain to Elena what – let alone who – he had been doing. He changed his tone then, trying to sound like his usual cocky self. "But I'm here now, and the plan is in motion."
Elena shook her head. "It's all falling apart, Damon. Katherine is gone."
"What? Where'd she go?" Damon knew his eyes were wide with surprise even as he realized that he really shouldn't be surprised that Katherine would bail at the last minute and save her own skin.
"I don't know, but she's gone and the plan depended on her."
This time it was Damon who shook his head. "No, it didn't, Elena. It can still work, even without her." He wasn't stupid enough to actually count on Katherine, after all. He had a contingency plan, even if he didn't like it.
Elena looked more than doubtful. "Damon, there's no way you and Caroline can hold off all Klaus's hybrids by yourselves. We need Katherine."
Damon kept his voice casual. "Ric will help, too," he said. He tugged Elena into her house, extending his senses for any sign of listening ears. He was almost certain that they were alone, but he dropped his lips almost to Elena's ear to whisper his next words anyway. "We've spent the past week seeding the woods with anti-hybrid weapons. We'll be able to hold them off." He wasn't sure if he actually believed that, but they were all in on this plan and they wouldn't get a better chance.
Elena shook her head stubbornly. "It doesn't matter. All it takes is one bite, and you'll end up dead. It's a suicide mission."
Damon had always known that, and he was suddenly tired of lying to her. "It's always been a suicide mission, Elena," he said angrily, blue eyes flashing. "I was never walking away from this, and if you thought about it, you'd know that. But the thing about a werewolf bite is, it doesn't kill you instantly." His look reminded Elena that they both knew very well how long and drawn out a death by werewolf bite was for a vampire.
"Even if we get bit, we can still fight," he continued. "We'll manage to hold them off long enough for you and Bonnie and Lucy to do the spell." Damon paused before deciding to offer Elena some hope. "Besides, you're going to save me some of Klaus' blood just in case I get bit, and we'll do the whole cure thing again. Not the dying thing." His mind wandered back to the deathbed kiss that Elena had given him. It was better not to mention that, since he knew it would just make things even more awkward between them. Elena had made it perfectly clear in the months since then that she preferred to forget that kiss, even if she also flirted with him. It had left Damon more than a little confused about where they stood, and he was even more confused after the previous night with Aedan.
"Damon," Elena said. She sounded stricken, and her huge brown eyes were definitely filled with tears now. "We can't go through with it. I can't lose you. You said you'd never leave me."
