Book One: Panacea (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Forty-Four

Diana loads Derek's unconscious body into the back of a car, she closes the trunk and turns to find Elena behind her. Elena gives her a sad smile. Diana worries her lip and steps closer to her.

"I promise to explain everything," Diana tells Elena who nods a little. "I just need to deal with Derek first" Elena nods again, she knows they need to deal with everything else first. Their talk can wait. Diana moves along the car.

"Just...answer one question" Elena starts, Diana stops with her hand on the driver's side door. "Before or after he was our teacher?" Elena asks her, Diana closes her eyes and lets out a breath before she turns to her.

"Before" She answers. "I didn't know...." Elena nods a little.

"Okay...we'll deal with this" Elena promises her. "Whatever needs to be done, I won't let anything happen to you" Diana softens a little as she gets upset, tears welling in her eyes. "You've protected me, now it's my turn to protect you" Elena admits, she would do anything for Diana, considering all she's done for her. 

"Just make sure Jenna gets home" Diana whispers, Elena nods. "I'll call you later" Diana pulls back and climbs into Damon's car, she needed a ride with Derek and her jeep is back at the house, so Damon actually loaned her his car, she's not looking too deeply into that, right now. 

.............

Alaric sits on the end of his bed, his cell phone pressed to his ear as he calls Diana, he just needs to talk to her, to make sure she's okay. He lets out a breath when her voicemail picks up instead of her.

"It's me" He states. "Just...will you call me? Let me know you're okay" He hangs up and lets out a breath. It's over. X is revealed, and so is their relationship. But he knows it's not just going to go back to how it was. There is damage done. To him. To her. To them. And for that betrayal to come from someone so close, her friend, someone she trusted. Someone she loved. This might be worse than it being some stranger, this is worse than some stranger.

..............

Diana leans on her knees and stares at Derek as he wakes on the floor of a spare room at the lake house. She holds her gun in her hand, just in case, she honestly doesn't even know what she is going to do with him. But she knows she has to do something. He holds the secrets. He can ruin Alaric's career. And she won't let that happen. He likes being a teacher. She doesn't want anything to ruin that. To ruin him. Derek groans and turns on the floor. His eyes looking straight at her.

"Diana?" he asks her. "When did you get back from Athens?" She frowns at him as he sits up and touches his jaw. "Did someone punch me?" She stares at him. "Why do you have a gun?"

"What the hell?" she whispers before she knocks Derek out again. She crouches and stares at him, her fingers reaching out to touch his head.

..............

Diana closes the bedroom door and sets her cell phone to her ear. She only has one person she can call right now to deal with this. To deal with why Derek seems to have no memory of anything that's happened since she came back to town. Since she came back from Greece. She checked. She went into his head but there was nothing. It was empty. She's never seen anything like that before. The line picks up and she lets out a breath.

"Damon" She states and cringes. "Urgh...I need your help"

"Did you just die a little? Lose a piece of your soul?" he teases, she lets out a breath.

"Yep" She comments. "Can you just....I....we have a problem with Derek"

"Where's the body?" he asks her.

"What?" She snaps at him.

"Figured you got angry and killed him" He points out. "Need some help burying him"

"I didn't kill him....it's worse. I'll text you the location" She then hangs up and frowns at her phone. Damon was just willing to help her bury a body, she's not sure how to feel about that. She glances at her phone, sees all the missed calls from Jenna, from Elena, John, Alaric. She lets out a breath and shakes her head. She quickly sends off the location text to Damon before opening her messages. She types out: 'I'm fine. Dealing with Derek. Talk later'. She then sends it to Elena and Alaric, not wanting to have to write it out twice. She then opens a new one to John: 'Training at lake house, be back later'. She sets her phone on the side and shakes her head. Her life is so screwed up. The door to the bedroom opens and Derek leans out to look at her.

"Hey, I'm really hungry, you got any food in?" Derek asks her, she nods and takes a breath.

"Yeah" she answers. "I can make something"

"And maybe you can tell me why the hell it's February 7th, 2010?" he asks her and holds up his cell phone, which she should have probably taken off him. "When the last time I checked it was September 4th, 2009?" She looks at him, he raises an eyebrow at her.

..................

Alaric knocks at the Gilbert house door and waits. He hasn't heard from Diana in 24 hours. He's worried about her. Elena opens the door and looks at him with a sigh.

"Mr. Saltzman" She greets giving him a look.

"You hear from Diana?" Alaric asks Elena who gives him a look.

"She text me, she's fine" Elena answers and goes to close the door on him.

"Elena" He pleads, she sighs and looks at him. "It's not sex" he whispers, assures her. Because it is not just sex between him and Diana. It's so much more than that. He knows it is. "What I feel for her...It's not about sex" She opens the door a little. Alaric lets out a breath and closes his eyes before he nods and looks at her. "I care for your sister" He admits. Elena softens slightly. "For the first time in a long time, I have found someone that makes me happy, that makes me feel something more than anger and rage. I know that...being her teacher I should have...But it's not..."

"She called Damon" Elena admits, stopping him. "There's something going on with Derek at the lake house"

"What?" He asks her.

"I don't know" She answers. "He wouldn't tell me" Alaric lets out a breath. "Here" Elena moves to grab a notepad and jots down an address. She rips the sheet free and returns to him. "Just.....Don't hurt her" Elena begs. "She's been through enough" Alaric nods and takes the address from her. He has no plans to hurt Diana if he can help it. he's done everything he can to protect her.

...........

Alaric's car pulls to a stop at the Gilbert lake house and he lets out a breath as he stares at the building. He knows that if Diana wanted him here, she would have asked for him. But he's too worried about what the complication is to care right now. He's worried about her, especially if she's turning to Damon for help. He climbs out of his car and approaches the front door. He knocks at the door and Damon opens the door, seems unsurprised to see him there. He glances behind him and then steps outside with Alaric.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asks Alaric, Damon closing the door behind him.

"Elena told me something was going on with Derek" Alaric admits. "She okay?"

"Your watchdog is fine" Damon answers with a shrug.

"So why are you here?" Alaric counters.

"She called me" Damon answers. "You know....for sex" He whispers and wiggles his eyebrows at him. Alaric shoots him a look, he doesn't believe that one little bit. He knows Diana, he knows she would never turn to Damon for sex, he knows she would never turn to a vampire.

"Damon" Diana scolds from inside the lake house, Damon lets out a breath and nods.

"You better come in," Damon tells Alaric and then lets them both into the cabin. Diana stands in the living room waiting for them, she smiles softly at Alaric and raises her hand to wave, they share a look, she shrugs back at him. Derek stands from the couch behind her and smiles in greeting, warm and soft. The real Derek.

"Hey, Derek Lockwood, nice to meet you" Derek holds out his hand to Alaric who stares at him and then looks at Diana and Damon.

"Yeah, he....doesn't remember anything" Diana admits quietly.