(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Thirteen

Damon closes the apartment door behind them as they leave, Elena and Daphne waiting just up ahead for him. Smiling together. It's been a while since Elena smiled for anything, so he guesses it's a good thing she's got her sister back. They both turn to Damon as he reaches them and straightens his jacket.

"Ready?" Damon asks them. Elena shrugs a little but then nods. She has to be ready. This is their one chance to get Stefan to come back with them. Daphne doesn't know him from Adam, but she knows that he means a lot to Elena so she'll help, she'll do her part to make her sister happy. That's what family does. It's what family is supposed to do.

"Born ready" Daphne teases, he hums and gives her a smirk. He has no doubt about that. Daphne walks at Damon's side, adjusting her bag strap slightly and then her jacket. Damon glances at his watch. He blinks and then suddenly instead of Daphne at his side, there is a dog at his side. A shepherd. It barks, almost laughing when it looks at Damon and notices his look.

"Daph?" Elena asks, the dog barks again and trots away, Pad sat on its back, clutching at the fur. Damon looks at Elena who is just as surprised as he is.

"Did you know she could do that?" Elena shakes her head in answer. She barely knows anything about what her sister can do.

"I...I just found out about the witch thing...." Elena draws off as the dog turns to look at them. It nods away from them to leave, that they don't have time to deal with the questions and the surprises, and Damon hums a little.

"We can talk about this later" Damon offers, reading into the nod. They should deal with Stefan and Klaus first and then talk about the dog thing on the way home.

.........

Damon paces outside of Gloria's bar after having shown himself to Stefan, just Stefan. Just a glimpse. Just to show that he is here and he wants to talk to him. He rubs his hands together a little looking from side to side. Nervous in case Klaus has seen him but he is sure he'd be dead already if that was the case. Stefan suddenly flies at him at super-speed and pushes him against a car, holds him up by the collar. He does not look pleased to see him here.

"What is wrong with you?!" Stefan scolds him. Damon shoves him off of him.

"What is wrong with you?" He counters. "You kill Andie one day....then you save my life the next. What are you good, bad? Pick one!" Damon snaps at him back.

"Klaus almost saw Elena today. You have to get her out of Chicago" Stefan warns.

"She's not going anywhere until she's got you checked into vampire rehab and on the mend. Trust me. I've tried" Damon complains.

"She is the key to everything. Klaus can't know that she's alive" Stefan points out.

"Right, because Klaus can't create any new hybrids because Elena didn't die" Damon already knows this. Daphne already figured it out with her little science slash magic kit. Stefan frowns at him. "Oh" Damon draws out. "Elena's sister...back in town, turns out, she's a little bit of a mad genius....and a witch" Stefan shakes his head.

"Look, whatever, just tell Elena to go home and forget about me" Stefan argues. Damon pauses a few moments then looks to his left.

"Tell her yourself" Stefan looks and sees Elena standing in the parking lot with a canine sat at her side. The dog nudges the back of Elena's legs to push her towards Stefan as Damon leaves. Elena looks down at the dog who nods in reassurance.

"You shouldn't be here" Stefan scolds Elena as she walks closer to him.

"Where else would I be?" Elena asks.

"What do you want? Damon won't be able to distract Klaus for long" Stefan points out. She touches his face.

"Come home" She embraces him and is about to stake him in the back with a vervain dart but suddenly spins around and grabs her arm hard.

"How much clearer can I make it?" Elena drops the dart. "I don't want to come home" The dog suddenly snaps its teeth around his leg and growls. Stefan hisses and releases Elena before glaring down at the dog who growls back at him, it's whole body dropped into attack mode.

"No, it's okay" Elena moves to the dog. "It's okay, Daph" She touches the dog withers and scratches slightly to calm her down.

"Klaus is obsessed with siring these hybrids. The second he knows you're alive, he'll figure out why it's not working" Stefan warns Elena.

"Look, I know you're trying to protect me, but I can't let you do it" Elena scolds. "Come with me, Stefan, please"

"And what do you expect if I do? Huh? It's never going to be the same, Elena"

"I know that."

"I don't think you do" Stefan counters "I've left bodies scattered from Florida to Tennessee. Innocent people. Humans"

"Lexi found you like this before. In the twenties, and...and she saved you"

"And you know what I did after that?" Stefan asks. "I spent thirty years trying to pull myself together. To a vampire, that's nothing. To you? That's half your life"

"I can't give up on you, Stefan" Elena argues.

"Yes, you can" Stefan counters. "It's done. That part of my life is done. I don't want to see you. I don't want to be with you. I just want you to go" Stefan turns around and walks away. Elena's eyes well with tears as she watches him go. The dog nudges her hand and presses its head up into Elena's palm before it vanishes, and Daphne is stood in her place. She touches Elena's shoulder before hugging her. Elena hugs her back tightly.

"It's okay" Daphne whispers softly. "We'll figure something else out"

......

Daphne leans against Damon's car waiting on him, Elena sits inside of it, crying to herself. Daphne wanted to give her her space to do that in peace without the awkwardness of someone else being there. Stefan is a bit of a drama queen but she gets it. He's trying to protect Elena. Which she, of course, wants to do as well. Perhaps there is something else she can do. A spell or something. She could get into his head but she was taught that doing so without permission was something only bad witches do. There is possibly something in an old book she remembers. But she needs special permission to access it given its power level. She leans up when Damon walks towards her. He raises an eyebrow at her and she shakes her head. He closes his eyes and hangs his head before he lets out an annoyed breath.

"She tried" Daphne defends. "But he's scared"

"And you know that how?" Damon asks her, folding his arms over his chest. Daphne snorts.

"I can feel emotions" She offers. "It's part of my deal....it's not that he doesn't want to be with her or to come back, he's just terrified of..."

"Klaus" Damon finishes, she hums and nods. "Any big ideas?" She smirks at him and gives a side shrug.

"A few" She answers. "But can't do anything until we get back....my trunk of tricks is at home" Damon makes his way around the car. "Plus I need a book, a very specific book that I don't have, going to have to write to Hermione at the Ministry for that...." Daphne mumbles to herself as she climbs into the car. "Need permission to use that sort of magic..."

"You okay?" Damon asks Elena who stares out the window, her tears under control but her eyes all red and puffy. Her fingers toying with her necklace.

"Just drive" Elena whispers. "Please" She adds. Daphne and Damon share a look, she shrugs back and sets Pad onto the dash. The niffler sniffs around before curling up to take a nap.