(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninety-Three

Cassandra sits with Damon and Stefan as Stefan calls Elena, she is more likely to pick up for him than Cassandra and Damon. They just want to double-check that Elena is the one that has Elijah, because knowing their luck now might be the time that another big bad pops up and tries to screw with them. Cassandra is pretty sure that it is Elena though. She's stupid enough to go there. Damon touches her knee and the two of them share a look, she shakes her head and shrugs a little.

"Where are you? Are you okay?" Stefan asks, Damon and Cassandra turn to look at him, he sets the phone on speaker to listen, mostly for Cassandra.

"Yes, I'm fine" Elena answers.

"Where's Elijah?" Stefan continues.

"He's right here"

"Where? I'm on my way."

"No, Stefan, Elijah and I need some time alone"

"Listen to me. He can't be trusted he'll use you to get to Klaus" Stefan points out.

"Elijah is a noble man, Stefan. He lives by a code of honor. I can trust him. He knows that I'd be incredibly stupid to betray him again. By removing the dagger, I have proven myself"

"You can't do this alone"

"It's my decision, Stefan. Please respect it. And make sure that Cas doesn't do anything stupid." Cassandra makes a face and looks at Damon. "I'll be in touch" She then hangs up.

"Did she just hang up on you?" Damon asks, Stefan nods.

"She did"

"It's official...She's lost it" Cassandra comments.

"If anyone can get him to help us kill Klaus, it's her"

"Bonnie's the way to kill Klaus, Stefan" Cassandra argues. "He thinks she's dead. We have a chance with her"

"She'll kill herself in the process. Elena's looking for another way." Stefan defends.

"Her way's going to get her and me killed. So we need to find her and stop her" Cassandra gets up. Stefan gets up too.

"No, you need to back off," Stefan tells her.

"Don't talk to her like that" Damon warns him as he steps between the two of them, placing Cassandra behind him.

"This isn't just Elena's life on the line, Stefan. It's mine too" Cassandra reminds him. "I hate that Bonnie might die to save me, I really do...but if she does, then I know that Bonnie chose that. It's her magic. Her life. Her choice. End of. Elena needs to be stopped before she gets us all killed because she wanted to do things her way...And her way is not the smart way" Stefan looks at Damon for help here.

"Bonnie made her choice" Damon offers instead. "She would do anything for them. Even die. And I'm all behind that"

"She wants to do this, Stefan" Cassandra adds. " And I am not about to take her free will away from her, Elena has done this to me my entire life, whatever she wants. Where ever she wants to go. Whatever she wants to do....just go along with it." Cassandra shakes her head. "Dying is a line I will not cross for her, especially if there is another way. Elena needs to get it into her head that this isn't just about her....this is about all of us, and we're not her pawns and playthings"

"I don't like this any more than you do" Stefan admits. "But we need to trust her. We gotta just let her do her thing" Cassandra shakes her head.

"You and her can do whatever the hell you want, but I make my own choices...." She argues and then walks away.

"Snap at her again" Damon threatens. "See what happens" He purposely bumps into Stefan's shoulder as he follows after Cassandra.

........

Later, Stefan picks up his phone as it ring. His eyes drifting to Cassandra who is in the living room too, flicking through a magazine.

"Hello?" Stefan answers.

"Hey, Stefan. It's Jenna" Stefan's eyes flicker to Cassandra.

"Jenna, hey" He greets.

"Where's Elena? And Cassandra? And Jeremy? No one's answering their phones"

"Ah, Elena's not here at the moment" He gives Cassandra a look but she just ignores him. "Is, uh, is everything okay?"

"The girls left me all these weird messages telling me to stay away from Rick. What's going on?"

"It's really hard to explain over the phone, but, um, they were hoping that you could stay on campus for a little while longer" Stefan explains quickly and as best he can. This should be Cassandra's job, but she seems not to be interested in helping him.

"Oh, that's kinda hard to do from my kitchen"

"Wait, you're home?"

"Yeah. What's going on? Where're the twins? I'm supposed to meet Ric at the Grill for lunch, to talk."

"Jenna, listen to me carefully. Whatever you do, do not meet Alaric at the Grill. I'm going to come over right now and I'll explain everything" He hangs up and looks at Cassandra as Damon walks into the room.

"Wow, I'd love to lend you a hand, but you wouldn't want me doing anything stupid" Cassandra comments as she aggressively flicks her magazine page.

"It's seriously going to be like this?" He asks her.

"You and your girlfriend are calling the shots. I'm just backing off, Stefan" She mumbles, he shakes his head and then leaves. Cassandra stands and joins Damon as he moves closer to her.

"Hi" He whispers with a smirk. Cassandra raises an eyebrow at him.

"Hi"

"Let's go" He nods towards the door, she frowns at him.

"Where are we going?" She asks him.

"Splitting from the team. Going rogue" He teases and winks at her. "You in?" She smirks at him.

"You know I am" She whispers in agreement. He threads his fingers with hers. "But I don't....want to go out" She admits. "I think it's best I stay here...." He frowns at her. "My powers, Damon, I...I can't do anything without them, I'm...useless"

"No" He argues and shifts closer to her. "Hey, come on, you can do anything, with or without your powers....but if you want to stay here, then....you can do that" She nods a little. She wants to stay here. Safe. He reaches up and cups her cheek before he kisses her. "I'll be back later" He whispers against her lips. "I'll tell you everything"

"I know" She assures him softly. He hums and pokes her nose before leaving. Cassandra lets out a breath, sits back down and pulls her knees to her chest, resting her chin on the top.