Return To Mystic Falls

Hook. Line. Sinker.

"What does he mean, see you later?" Damon instantly demands.

Klaus throwing our deal in Damon's face is dangerous. The whole point of this is for no one else to know. He promised me neither of the Salvatore's would be hurt. Having to lie to Damon is hurting him. If Klaus isn't careful he may just find himself without one of the key ingredients. "I'm sure he's assuming I'll be at the sacrifice tonight along with everyone else. I can't imagine Stefan is going to sit around and let Elena figure out what do once she comes back to life."

"You're gonna screw it up, aren't you?" Ric speaks the words before I can. I've known Damon for a very long time. When he believes in something he doesn't back down. He knows he screwed up and now has to find a way to fix it. Despite his impulsivity, Damon has a good heart. He cares for people. Damon won't let Elena become a vampire, not until she wants to be one.

The vampire plays with the straw in his drink, "You think if I took his werewolf out of the equation, she might get over the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire?"

"I think it won't matter," Alaric responds, setting his now empty glass back on its napkin. "Because you'll be dead."

Damon isn't going to accept that. "But without the werewolf, he can't perform the ritual tonight, which means I would have bought her one month before the next full moon."

"I don't think she'll care," I say as gently as I can, laying my hand over the top of Damon's. "Elena's whole thing is protecting the people she cares about. Your death would negate the month it bought her. At least in her mind." Not to mention if Klaus even so much lays a finger on Damon he'll have a lot worse than an absent werewolf to deal with.

The vampire brushes away our concerns with a wave of his hand, "Are you two going to help me or what?"

"What do you want us to do?"

We all travel back to Ric's apartment. He swings the door open, stepping inside. Katherine lurks in the back, watching the three of us. "You were dumb enough to come back?"

"Well, someone had to let them in," Alaric answers with a shrug. "Damon, Diana, would you like to come in?"

I give Ric a kind smile, stepping into the teacher's apartment, "I would love to. Hi Katherine."

"Ugh, as if this day couldn't get any worse," Katherine hoists herself up onto the kitchen counter. "Are you three trying to get me killed?"

Damon shoots her a sideways glance as he enters Alaric's apartment, "We could only get so lucky." He looks to his friend, "We've got it from here, Ric."

"You sure?"

I nod, gently ushering him towards the door. It's best not to get him too wrapped up in this. Besides, he has his own important role to play. Hopefully, unlike the mascaraed incident, he'll be able to complete it this time. "Yeah, you don't need to get blamed for this. Go back to the house, keep Elena from turning herself over."

"Get blamed for what?" Katherine questions as Ric leaves. Of course her curiosity is peaked. Katherine always needs to know everything. We've got her right where we want her.

Damon turns his attention to the vampire, "I need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf."

"Why? What are you going to do?" Katherine stands in the middle of the living room, her eyes following Damon as he begins to pace.

Flopping down on the leather couch, I prop my feet up on the coffee table, "Kill it."

"No," Katherine spins, looking between Damon and myself, one finger pointing out at us. "You can't interfere."

Making a buzzer noise, I shake my head, "Wrong answer."

"Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met," For a second I think Katherine may actually be worried about us getting hurt.

Damon waves away her warning, "I just need to delay this thing."

"No," Katherine shakes her head, "No way."

Not willing to take no as an answer, Damon keeps prodding. It's only a matter of time before Katherine gets tangled up in her own web of lies and slips up with the sliver of information we need. "You should like this. It's gonna buy another month of your pathetic life."

"Right, except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing."

Damon's face drops, the smug smile sliding down onto the floor. Neither one of us was expecting that. It seems just like Klaus to use both Elena and Katherine in this ritual, a little bit of dramatic irony. "What?"

"Yeah, he's got Tyler Lockwood," Katherine looks to me, grinning evilly, that familiar mischievous glint coming into her snake eyes. "I'll three guesses on who the vampire is."

Ocean blue eyes flash, as the events of the past few hours wash back over him. He's falling into her trap. Damon wheels around, horror a thick mask over his chiseled features, "You wouldn't."

"Oh yes she would," Katherine cackles. "That's the only reason he agreed to turn her in the first place."

His heart has broken, words coming out in a desperate plea, "Diana."

"Yeah, Diana," The evil shines through, all of Katherine's hatred towards me spilling out. She's using Damon as a leveraging tool. She'll do whatever she can to hurt him, to drive a wedge of doubt between us. I won't stand for this. No matter what Klaus offered me, I would never be a part of his ritual. I wouldn't do that to Damon. "Why don't you go ahead and tell Damon the truth."

Snarling, I stand from the couch, backing Katherine up against the brick wall of Alaric's apartment, "I would, except for the fact that what you're saying is a steaming pile of bullshit." Stepping away from Katherine, I gather Damon's face in my hands, catching his gaze. "I would never do that to you, Damon. I'm not going anywhere." I wait for the fear to dissipate. He nods, holding me close to this chest. "Now," I look back at Katherine, "stop trying to get us to fight, and tell us where Klaus is keeping Tyler Lockwood. Unless, of course, you'd like to cash in your one-way ticket to hell early."

Damon continues to hold me, fingers tugging through the ends of my hair, "What if I told you Elena had vampire blood in her system?"

"What?" Katherine's eyes grow wide, a tone of anguish in her voice. Elena being a vampire is her worst fear.

Damon mirrors the evil smirk Katherine gave me earlier, "Imagine how much fun that will be, competing with Elena for Stefan's love for, I don't know, forever."

"The tomb," Katherine spits out. "He's got Tyler Lockwood in the tomb."

Hook. Line. Sinker.