Derrick had a map splayed out before him on a pile of pallets, his cell phone proving useless with the lack of service in the old, rundown building. He had showed up early to get a head start on figuring out where he and Elena were headed to. It only made sense to head West. He had an aunt in Kansas that he figured they could stay with for a little bit until they could take off for Alaska. He had a cousin there who could get him a job on a boat. As he mapped out their destinations, he felt a surge of success course through him. He had done it. After all of these years, he had gotten Elena back. And he intended on keeping her.
A car door slamming shut distracted him from his plans. He tossed his pen down and checked his watch. 4:30 PM. Elena was thirty minutes early. That was alright with him. It would give them a little bit of a head start. Derrick leaned back against the stack of pallets, crossing his arms, and waiting for Elena to come inside. He knew that she was still upset with him. He also knew that it would pass because she really did love him underneath all that anger. When her figure appeared just inside the doorway, dark enough to not be seen, he smiled. "You're early. That will give us time to stop for dinner" he said.
As the figure emerged towards him and into the light, Derrick's face hardened. "You must be Derrick" the person said, continuing to walk towards him.
Derrick stood straight up and looked over this person walking towards him. Derrick was angry and he could feel his frustration beginning to get the better of him. He felt deceived. But he had to remain calm if his plan was to work out. "Where's Elena?" he asked, figuring that since this person knew who he was, it was a safe bet to ask.
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Elena dotted the last sentence in her letter before signing her name and folding the paper in half. She left her letter to Stefan right beside the one she had written for Jeremy and Bonnie and Lily. Elena had asked Stefan to give them her letters, hoping that after his anger and hurt had subsided, he would do it. She had to rewrite Stefan's a few times, either because her shaky hands messed something up or her tears made the ink run down the paper.
She looked around her room one last time, telling herself that she was not going to miss this place all that much, but knowing it was a complete lie. She loved this old house and everything in it. From the antique furniture to the memories she had made. Then, she grabbed her bag and headed on down the stairs.
She was going to have to hurry if she wanted to catch the bus. Elena placed her key on the table by the doorway and took a deep breath before opening the door to head out.
A small gasp escaped her as she stopped dead in her tracks. "Going somewhere?" the person asked.
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"Elena?" Stefan said, letting each syllable in her name ring in the air. Stefan looked around and even behind him. "Well, I uh ... I don't see her. Do you?" he asked, finishing his question with a smile.
Derrick was not amused. At. All. "Will I be expecting Elena tonight?" Derrick asked, tired of beating around the bush.
Stefan's smile disappeared instantly. "No. Elena will not be present tonight" he answered. "I thought tonight might be better spent with the two of us having ourselves a little chat" he explained.
Derrick laughed at how ridiculous that sounded. "I don't have time to, chat, with you, Stefan, is it?" he asked. "You see, Elena and I have a long drive ahead of ourselves" he told Stefan.
Stefan took a step closer to Derrick. "Well, unfortunately, Elena will not be joining you on your road trip" Stefan informed. "She is married to me" he said, smiling once again. "And she has school to finish. That leaves little time for a road trip right now, wouldn't you agree?"
Derrick could feel his teeth grinding. The nerve of this guy. "You can't keep her away from me" Derrick warned, his tone turning threatening. He would be with Elena because he loved her. "I love her. And she loves me."
"Love" Stefan said, letting it fall off of his lips. "I think you and I have a very different definition of that word" Stefan said. "As for not being able to keep Elena away from you?" Stefan asked. "I have the means to take Elena away so you will never see her again" he said, taking another step towards Derrick, who watched him closely. "Something tells me you can't do that" Stefan said, nodding towards the map spread out behind Derrick.
"What do you want with her, huh?" Derrick asked, taking a step towards Stefan. "Once you get your money, then what? You're just going to toss her out. Do I have to wait until then before you're willing to let me have her?" Derrick asked.
Stefan finally closed the dangerous gap between them, making sure to look Derrick square in the eye. "Elena is not a thing to have. She is a person, perfectly capable of making her own decisions when she is not being threatened by an incompetent bastard like you." Stefan could see the anger begin to build in Derrick. It was only a matter of time before he exploded.
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"What are you doing here?" Elena asked, cursing the shakiness in her voice.
Damon smiled. "I believe I asked you a question first" he told her.
"I'm just ... going out. For a little bit" she said as casually as she could, though by the way he looked at her, he could see clearly that she was lying. But maybe, just maybe, Damon would let it go. Let her go. But no, that was too much to ask for.
"For a bit?" Damon asked. "As in, going to get a beer or going on a road trip?" Elena's face fell. She felt it and she felt his eyes on her, knowing that he had caught her. But how did he know? She racked her pounding, hung-over head for the answer. Damon decided to put her out of her misery. "If there is one thing you should know, it's that Katherine can't keep her mouth shut" he explained. The recognition showed across Elena's face. "You should never, ever tell her something you don't want repeated" he winked.
Panic set it. Her heart began to race. Her skin felt warm. "He'll kill him" she whispered, her eyes doing more talking than her words.
"Empty threats" Damon said, not impressed with Derrick's little letter that Stefan had told him about.
But Elena shook her head. She looked around behind Damon, scanning the property. "He's having this place watched. He has someone posted somewhere so he can shoot Stefan" she said, her voice quiet but still panicky.
Damon narrowed his eyes at her before pushing her back inside and locking the door. "Do you think he is serious?" Damon asked. Elena didn't answer, but stared blankly at him. "Elena is he serious?" he asked, shaking her some. Elena finally nodded. Damon grabbed her arm and ran towards the other side of the house to the safe in the wall Elena had noticed about a month ago. She watched Damon quickly open it and pull out a handgun. He checked to make sure it was loaded before locking the safe again. "Let's hope this supposed hit man has a better aim than me" Damon said.
Elena wrenched her arm free from his grasp. "There won't be any need for that because I'm doing exactly what Derrick wants" Elena told Damon.
"No, you're not" Damon told her. "I've got strict orders to not let you leave this house" he added.
"From who?" Elena spat at him. She could not understand why Damon was not understanding the seriousness of the situation.
Damon checked the safety on the gun before looking back up at her. "Stefan" he answered. Elena's eyes grew wide when she heard Damon's answer. Stefan was already in danger. "Katherine ran straight to Stefan with everything word you told her last night. Stefan called me and told me to keep you here while he ..." he began, watching the panic increase in her with every word he spoke.
"He what?" Elena asked, needing Damon to finish his sentence. When he remained silent, Elena stepped forward and pushed him. "He what?" she said angrily.
Damon sighed. "While he met with Derrick at the warehouse instead" he answered.
Elena backed up once again, holding her head as she tried to convince herself that what she was hearing was all wrong. "No. No no" Elena said. "Derrick will kill Stefan. Don't you understand that?" she asked. "He'll kill him!" she yelled.
"Stefan can handle himself" Damon assured her. He took out his phone and before Elena knew it, he was making a call. "This is Damon Salvatore. I need you to do a security sweet of my brother's property. How soon can you be here?" he asked. "Uh huh. Okay. Thank you" he said before hanging up. He looked pointedly at Elena. "My job is to make sure you stay safe until Stefan gets back."
"No. I'm not going to stay here and wait for Stefan to be killed" she told Damon angrily. When she tried to walk away, Damon grabbed her arm. "Let go of me Damon" Elena warned.
"You're not going anywhere" Damon told her in a tone that let her know he was in no mood for her to be difficult.
Elena attempted to tug her arm away, but he held on. "Let. Me. Go" she warned again.
Damon set the gun down, knowing he was in for a bit of a struggle. Stefan had told him as much. "No" Damon told her, looking her directly in the eye. Damon ducked just before Elena's free hand, balled into a fist, came swinging at his face. He grabbed her and spun her around, securing her arms as he pushed her forward.
"Stop it, Damon!" she yelled. "He'll hurt him! Please, let me go!" she continued to yell as they descended down a set of stairs. Elena was fairly certain she knew where Damon was taking her. The cellar. It wasn't until the door had slammed shut on her that the reality of this situation sunk in.
Damon stared at her through the metal bars on the door. "It didn't have to be this way" Damon said, slowly leaving her sight.
Elena threw herself to the door, beating on the hard wood mercilessly. "Damon!" she screamed. "Please don't do this! He'll hurt Stefan! I have to leave! I have to!" she continued to scream. It wasn't until she felt her cheeks wet that she realized she was crying. Her hands began to throb from beating on the door.
A few more minutes and she had exhausted her. She sunk to the floor feeling defeated.
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"Is this you letting Elena make her own decisions?" Derrick asked. "Showing up here without her?" he asked.
"It wasn't her decision to show up here" Stefan told him. "It was yours. After you threatened her. Or me" he reminded.
Derrick's face tensed. "You've done nothing but put ideas into her head. Turning her against me" he said, disgusted with the thought of it. "But what I can't figure out it is, why you chose her. She's nothing compared to all those girls from the city" he added.
Stefan found it amusing that Derrick was trying to figure him out. "You're right" Stefan agreed. "She's nothing like those city girls I used to hang out with" he said. "She's so much more than them. She's amazing. She's got the biggest heart out of anyone I know. She's smart and beautiful" he explained. "And I'll be damned if I ever watch her throw herself away for you" he concluded.
Derrick's eyes glimmered with hostility. "I should have killed you when I had the chance" he told Stefan.
"But you couldn't" Stefan reminded him. "How else would you try and control Elena if you killed me?" he asked. "You've lost Elena now. So hey, go ahead. Kill me" Stefan said, coming face to face with him now. "It might make you feel better" he smirked.
Stefan felt himself forced backwards as Derrick shoved him. "Maybe I will kill you" he said, anger flashing in his eyes still. "And then I will watch Elena hate herself and blame herself for the rest of her miserable, sad, pathetic life" he said in such a hateful tone that it made Stefan want to kill him right then and there.
Stefan's face hardened, but he kept his composure. "Even if you kill me, my family will make sure you never see Elena again. And then, they will hunt you down and make you regret every single thing you did to cause Elena pain" he explained.
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Elena could hear footsteps as she lay on the floor of the cellar, her cheek pressed against the cool cement. "Elena?" Damon asked, pushing the heavy door open. He appeared with a plate and a glass of water. "I brought you something to eat" he said, setting the plate and glass on a nearby table.
"When I first met him" Elena said quietly, still remaining where she was. "I hated him."
Damon sat down on the simple cot and looked at her lying helpless on the floor. He could tell that she had tired herself out. "Derrick?" he asked.
"Stefan" she said. "I gave him hell for so long. Because I thought he was just some stuck up, playboy who didn't care about anyone but himself" she added quietly. "I didn't know he would care about me" she said, feeling her eyes begin to burn. "I didn't know he would be everything I was looking for." Elena forced her arm to move so she could wipe at her tears with her sleeve.
Damon nodded. "Stefan is a good guy" Damon said. "Far better than me."
"Why did you do it?" Elena asked. "Katherine. Why did you do that to your brother?"
Damon sighed. "I loved her. And she made me believe that she loved me too" he said. "I didn't do it to hurt him. I did it because I thought Katherine was the girl I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with." He noticed Elena looking at him now. "I regret everything that happened with the three of us" he told her. "Except Lily. I don't regret her for one second." Then he smiled. "That's what makes Stefan so great. After everything Katherine and I put him through, he stuck around for Lily."
"He loves Lily" Elena said.
"I know" Damon said. He stood up and walked back towards the door. "He'll be okay" Damon told her as he stopped just before the door.
"Can you promise me that?" she asked Damon, hope filling her voice.
Damon could only look at her sadly, though. "You should eat something" he told her, shutting the door before he could watch her begin to cry.
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"I don't like being threatened" Derrick warned. "I've given you an opportunity to back off. To let me take Elena and get out of this town. But you just can't seem to take a hint" he said.
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "And what hint would that be?" he asked.
Derrick backed up a few steps and reached into the back of his pants. "That I always get what I want" Derrick said, bringing the gun into view. He held it up and pointed it at Stefan. "Anything you would like to say before I kill you?" he asked, cocking the gun.
Stefan swallowed. He hadn't really thought about Derrick having a gun. He actually hadn't thought much at all as he drove to meet him. All Stefan knew was that Elena couldn't be the one to show up here tonight. Because, he feared, if she had, he might never see her again. But it was okay now. Strangely, he was not scared. Because Elena would be taken care of. Damon had promised him. And he knew that Elena would be there for Lily. She had made a promise to Stefan too that night they were lying in bed together. Everything would be okay after his family got rid of Derrick. "I love her more than you ever could. Just know that" Stefan told him, closing his eyes. The last thing he wanted to see, just one more time, was Elena's face, smiling brightly as she laughed. It would take the pain away.
This last statement of course only angered Derrick more. "You're only mistake then, was loving her" Derrick said, pulling the trigger.
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Damon took pity on her. It was almost midnight now and he knew she couldn't sleep on the floor. She hadn't moved during the last five times he had checked on her. To be honest, Damon was beginning to get worried. Stefan and he had agreed, no calling one another. Not until it was over. Until Stefan had gotten Derrick to back down. No distractions. But it was late and Stefan should have been back by now.
"Come on" Damon said, knowing Elena wasn't going to run now. But Elena remained where she was. "Elena" he said.
"He's not back yet" Elena said, her voice weaker than it had been the last time they talked. Every minute, she gave up another little sliver of hope that he would be okay. That Derrick wouldn't hurt him or kill him.
"You can't stay down here" Damon sighed. "Come on" he said, holding his hand out to her. Surprisingly, she took it and accepted his help up.
Elena climbed the stairs slowly, her legs feeling wobbly with each step. When she made it to the living room, she went to the couch, ready to lay down. But a knock at the door stopped her. She and Damon both looked at one another. Then, Damon walked to the door to answer it. Elena followed, though she remained a few feet behind him. She held her breath as Damon opened the door, not sure what to expect. "Good evening" the police officer said. "I'm looking for Mrs. Salvatore" he said. Elena was sure that her heart had stopped. Why would an officer show up at someone's house at midnight if it wasn't to give bad news?
"She's right here" Damon answered for her. "I'm Damon Salvatore" he introduced.
The officer nodded and looked past him to Elena. She was pale, shaking, and he was pretty sure she was going to collapse. "Mrs. Salvatore" the officer said, stepping into the house. "You're husband, Stefan, has been shot" he said.
Elena's hand went straight to her chest, feeling her heart began to race. Because she knew it. She knew this wouldn't end well. "Oh God" she said, beginning to panic. "Oh God" she said, beginning to cry. "No" she said, shaking her head.
The officer jumped in quickly. "The bullet grazed his shoulder. He's okay" the officer said, stepping to the side to reveal Stefan slowly making his way towards the door. "I'll be in touch" he said before walking back to his car.
Elena's eyes got wide at the sight of Stefan. He looked tired and in pain. But he was alive. "Thank God" Damon said, hugging his brother and ignoring Stefan's complaints about his shoulder hurting from Damon's hug. Damon didn't care. "You're an idiot, you know that?" Damon asked. "A damn lucky idiot."
Stefan nodded. "I know, but it's done" he said.
Damon pulled away from Stefan. "What happened?" Damon asked.
For the first time since he stepped into the house, Stefan looked at Elena. Took in her exhausted, broken form. As angry as he was with her, it broke is heart to see her like that. "He's dead, Elena" Stefan said, taking a few small steps towards her. "Derrick can't hurt you anymore" he said slowly.
"What happened?" Damon repeated from behind him.
But Stefan ignored him as he walked the last few steps to Elena. She forced herself to look up at him, to look into his eyes and face him. "He's really dead?" she whispered.
Stefan nodded. The look on her face brought tears to his eyes. The relief he saw. The freedom that lingered in her eyes. She didn't have to live her life in fear anymore. Elena was sobbing by the time Stefan pulled her into his arms, holding her so tight that he feared she might stop breathing. "It's okay" he whispered into her hair, feeling her fingers dig into his shirt in an attempt to hold on to him.
But Elena shook her head. No. It wasn't okay. He could have been killed instead. Elena pushed him away from her and Stefan noticed a whole new expression on her face. Anger. Betrayal. "It's not okay!" she yelled at him. "You were shot! You could have been killed!" she screamed.
"I was protecting you" he told her calmly. He hadn't expected her to be so angry with him this soon. He was the angry one. She had tried to put herself in danger.
"I didn't want you to protect me!" she cried. "I had made my decision. I was doing what I needed to do and you kept me from doing that!" she continued angrily.
Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe it was the pain he was starting to feel from the medication wearing off for his shoulder. Whatever it was, he felt himself become angry, which is what he did not want. "He's dead, Elena!" he yelled at her, catching both her and Damon off guard. "I did what I had to do!" he yelled once more.
He regretted the yelling though after the fact. Elena looked hurt. Scared even. She didn't say anything. But her tears continued to talk for her. After a few moments, when the silence had become too much and the tears too little, Elena turned and ran up the stairs.
Stefan regretfully watched her leave. "She's overwhelmed" Damon said, coming up behind him. "We all are" he said quietly.
"Yeah" Stefan said, moving slowly to sit down on the couch. He looked at the bandage on his shoulder.
"So how did he end up dead and you shot?" Damon asked, grabbing a bottle of bourbon and pouring Stefan a glass.
Stefan took the glass without hesitating. "Right before he pulled the trigger, the officer shot him. That's why the bullet only grazed me" Stefan said, swirling the liquid in the glass before taking a drink. "The officer said he stopped by to check things out when he saw our cars parked."
"So you wouldn't be here right now if the officer hadn't shown up at the right moment" Damon said, thinking about that for a minute.
"Pretty much" Stefan concluded. He had had a few hours to think about that while he was waiting to get his shoulder looked at. "And you know what the crazy part is?" he asked. "I'd do it again, even knowing that the outcome could be far worse than it was tonight" Stefan said. Damon wanted to say something, but he didn't really know what to say to that. "I'm tired" Stefan said. "I'll call you tomorrow" he said, struggling to stand.
"Hey Stefan?" Damon said. "I'm glad you're alright."
Stefan nodded. "Thank you for taking care of her tonight" Stefan nodded before making his way slowly to his room.