Ace of Hearts

22

I sit on the couch of the Gilbert's living room with a small smirk on my face. Elena stands in the kitchen with Jeremy and Damon in front of her. "What were you thinking, Damon?" Was her immediate reaction when Jeremy carried me in the door. Now, she's been shouting for the past five minutes and is showing no signs of stopping. Not that I mind, it's quite amusing.

"Honestly, this is probably the stupidest thing you've ever done, Damon." She glares at him before turning on her brother. "How could you let him do this, Jeremy? The Mikaelsons will be pissed when they find out we've taken her, much less that Damon broke her arm."

"And wrist." I chime in, which makes Damon scowl at me. No one else bothers to look at me though.

"Exactly. So tell me. What possessed either of you to think this could end well?" Elena questions. The front door opens up and Stefan and Bonnie come in with terrified expressions once they notice me.

"What is she doing here?" Stefan questions with a pointed glare at his brother.

Damon rolls his eyes and leans against the breakfast bar and feigns harm. "Why is it that everyone just assumes this is my doing."

"Because you're always causing trouble and making impulsive decisions." Bonnie offers with a terse grin. "Although my question is why did no one bother to do anything with her arm?"

Jeremy refuses to answer the question, but begins to search through the cupboards for something while the others speak. "Okay, fine. Maybe this is all my fault, but think of it this way for a second. Now that we have her, we can use her to either lure one of them here or tell us what we need to know."

"You really think they'll tell you which one of them is your sire to trade for me?" I scoff, which turns into a bubbling laugh. "And here I was thinking I had seen the pinnacle of your idiocy when you took me."

"The Mikaelsons betray each other all the time. What makes this any different?" Damon snaps, clearly losing his small amount of self control.

"Well," I lean back and hold onto my right arm to keep the pain down. "for one, this is their lives you're talking about. Second, they don't hate each other. Of course there's arguments and upsets, but at the end of everyday they're a family that will band together against anyone who crosses one of them. 'Always and Forever' is their millennial old vow. Trust me, they won't give that up for anything."

"Are you saying they would let you die instead?" Stefan questions. I know the argument he's going to start. I count the seconds in my head to see how long it will take for him to start. "How can you stand by them if you know they'll just give you up one day." Five seconds. "Is your life really worth protecting people who will just turn their back on you, who will leave you to die?"

I don't bother to look up at the group. Let them think they're making me question things. It will buy Kol and the others time to find me. I tune their voices out as Jeremy sits beside me. He gives me some medicine before gingerly taking my wrist. As the conversation topic turns away from me, and how to prepare for the possibility of an Original breaking down the door, Jeremy. whispers, "I'm sorry about everything."

My eyes turn to him. There's guilt in his expression. It's the kind that you can see has settled into a person's bone and has left nothing except hollowness in its wake. I know that look and feeling all too well. It first came when I found out about my parents separation, took hold that night with the vampire in the alleyway, and has only grown with every decision since. "I am too."

There's a long pause before either of us dares to speak up. Jeremy wraps my arm tightly in bandages. It's the best he can manage under the circumstances. I've refused any kind of vampire blood, which only leaves me with a hospital visit. How I would explain a spiral fracture in my arm and a broken wrist is beyond me, but it's the least of my worries at the moment.