Who: Elena and Damon (briefly ft. Nick) What: Elena arrives When: Wednesday Jan 31 Where: Outside Verdant after closing Rating: low
Being stuck in a car in the bottom of the river for a second time was more peaceful than Elena Gilbert had anticipated. Memories flooded back to her while the water engulfed her. She’d been here before. It was happening again. For a brief moment she had the thought that maybe it should have happened the first time. Maybe all this would have been avoided. And then there was Stefan and she told him to save Matt. Matt didn’t deserve this. He wanted to live a normal life and he kept getting swept up in all the supernatural drama. It wasn’t fair.
Then things went dark.
Elena didn’t feel the cold as she lay on the snow covered sidewalk in front of Verdant in the middle of the night, but maybe that was because she was technically dead. Eyes closed and unconscious, she was unaware of anything at the moment.
Damon had been inside, helping Nick clear up the glasses patrons left laying around the bar. Rather, he cleared while Nick washed, because Damon did not plan on ever washing dishes if he could fucking avoid it. He heard a thump and Nick looked at him, as if to say drunk people lying outside the door are your domain.
He moved to the door, ready to tell the person to try to not die while he called a cab or uber. Shockingly his boss preferred he not leave people to freeze.
But then he saw the brunette hair and he ended up exclaiming, “Elena!” Damon had already picked her up and brought her into the bar, not caring who saw or what they thought. He ripped open his wrist and started stroking his girlfriend’s hair as blood fell into her mouth. “Elena! Wake up. Come on. You’ve got to wake up.” He had no idea from which she point she came.
There had been blankness. Nothing. And then suddenly Elena’s eyes burst open and she tried to gasp, but there was a wrist against her mouth and she suddenly started to panic. She was confused. Where was she? What happened? Why did she taste copper?
In her panic she pushed away at whoever was holding her. It took her a second to register as she pushed at Damon’s arm. “What the hell Damon?!” Her voice was raspy and she seemed out of breath. Hastily she wiped at her mouth to try to get the blood off. Suddenly memories came back and she tried to get up, despite being weak. She didn’t actually get anywhere, she just made a feeble attempt to stand. “Matt - where’s Matt? Is he okay?”
Well, apparently Damon didn’t have to wonder any longer how far in the timeline Elena was. Fuck. Also fuck Matt Donavan and his cockroachesque way of living. And not staying dead. Her panic worried Damon. “I need you to breathe. I found you unconscious.”
Given Damon’s concern, he did not comment about Matt’s inability to remain dead. “He’s back home. You need to sit. One sec.” Nick actually looked concerned, but handed Damon a bottle of bourbon. “Do I need to call my wife?” Damon flipped off Nick and handed Elena a bottle of bourbon.
“You’re okay.” And then …the welcoming committee appeared.
It took a second to even register someone else. She sat and looked over at a man she’d never seen before then brought her hand to her head. She had a terrible headache. Brow furrowed, she tried to process everything. “Back home?” She noticed he didn’t say he was alive, which worried her. Even in her confused state, Elena knew that Damon had a habit of leaving out information if it didn’t suit him.
Not that she had a moment to think since there were two people and they were talking to her about credit cards and a place called Madison. Her head was pounding and she gave a less-than-believable nod and said something to appease them. They walked away and Elena deposited the new phone and card on the counter. The bottle of bourbon went there too.
Her hand went to her forehead again. Her fingers touched her hair and she realized her hair was wet. She was wet. The people who came to talk to them had been in coats. She frowned. “Why don’t I feel cold?” She should be freezing.
“Matt’s safe.” Matt was like a fucking cockroach after all and didn’t die. And, based on Elena she was…shit. Transitioning. Of fucking course she was. Why not. The Dome hated to make things easy.
He said nothing when the Welcoming Committee appeared and left. When Elena set everything on the bar, Nick raised an eyebrow, but Damon ignored him for now.
“Elena, you need blood.” Given he was further in the future, he knew exactly what was happening. “You’re transitioning.” Nick finally spoke up. “K, I’m going to the back to organize shit and give you two space, but Damon, I swear to God if you get blood everywhere, Mia will kill you.” She had fantastic aim, after all.
Damon started thinking of people in town who could offer blood and not die. Although he supposed he could…go get blood bags, which sounded sort of awful for a first meal. Before Nick moved, Damon was in front of him using compulsion. “You will let Elena drink a little of your blood.” He’d be able to tell Elena when to stop and give a little blood to Nick to feel better.
To say it was a lot to process in one moment was an understatement. Her mind was struggling to catch up and make sense of it all, especially since she was starting to feel kind of terrible. “Damon.” His name came out as a question but also her chiding him, though maybe it was because she was used to saying his name like that.
Transition.
Then she realized Stefan didn’t save her. He’d gone for Matt like she asked and she had died and now… she was transitioning? She bit back the ‘what did you do’ question and instead went with. “Can you just - - give me a minute?” Her eyes moved to the man she didn’t know before back to Damon. “I died. I’m in some other world -” This she still wasn’t really sure what it meant. Elena believed in a lot of things since meeting the Salvatore brothers, but another world? “ - and now I’m transitioning? I -” She stopped herself. She had felt guilty as it was telling Stefan she didn’t want to be a vampire, but telling Damon?
“It’s just a lot, okay?”
Her hand went to her head again. She wasn’t sure she’d ever had a headache like this before.
To say Damon felt overwhelmed might be an understatement. He truly wished for Rik or Bonnie in this moment, if only to talk sense into him. He rolled his eyes when Elena spoke his name in that manner. She’s shown up before they’d become a couple which didn’t sit terribly well with Damon.
Instead, he watched as Nick walked over to Elena. This time when he spoke, he softened and lowered his voice, stroking Elena’s hair trying to help soothe her. “You need blood, Elena. Here drink a little from Nick and we’ll go get you some blood bags when you feel ready, but the blood should help your headache.” Damon hadn’t missed Care until this very moment. She or BonBon would know the right words.
Elena felt the knee jerk reaction just to say no and run away, but what good would that do? She wanted to say no and not to turn. Did she even want to complete the transition? She knew the alternative. Why did she have to make the decision so quickly? She knew why.
Overwhelmed, Elena shut her eyes tightly for a moment, a tear escaping and running down her cheek before she opened her eyes again. She was staring at Nick’s neck, a mix of emotions swirling inside of her, and softly said. “I don’t think I can do this, Damon.” Whether that meant transition or feed from Nick wasn’t explicitly said, but she was still staring at Nick’s neck. Was she really just supposed to stand up and bite some man she didn’t even know. Elena was asking for Damon’s help.
Damon realized the problem. While in his timeline, Elena had adjusted to being a vampire, this version wasn’t a vampire. Not technically. Not while she transitioned.
He looked at Nick. “Sorry.” And used his own fangs to puncture holes in the werewolf’s wrist. Damon cupped Elena’s face, eyes looking into hers. Speaking softly he said, “I’m so sorry, Elena. If you drink a little from his wrist, you’ll feel…better. I’ll make sure he feels whatever you would like him to feel.” Regardless of the fact that Damon actually kind of liked Nick (and Mia), Elena almost always came first in his mind (with a few exceptions where Bon Bon was concerned).
“I’m here, Elena. You won’t go through this by yourself. I promise.”
The smell of blood suddenly overwhelmed her. Had she always been this hungry? It felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. Her gaze seemed to zero-in on the blood on Nick’s wrist. Normally the sight of blood would turn her of, but suddenly she couldn’t stop looking at it. The draw to the blood was so strong. Elena inhaled sharply and her lips opened, but there was still a moment of hesitation. But the smell of blood was so strong and Damon was there, encouraging her, and the other confusing aspects of simply being - wherever they said they were. Elena gave in. She pushed away the doubts and questions and leaned forward.
The blood tasted better than she suspected. In fact, once she pressed her mouth against his wrist, she started to drink his blood. Her hand wrapped around Nick’s arm and she seemed to get lost in the hunger of it.
Damon watched Elena. He could tell her logic and feelings warred with the instinct to drink blood. Thankfully, she seemed mesmerized and finally leaned down to drink blood. Of course he worried she might not be able to stop, but they’d cross that bridge in a moment.
When it became clear she’d taken enough blood from Nick, Damon told Elena, “Stop, Elena, or you’ll take too much.” His hand rested in her hair, keeping track of the werewolf’s heartbeat. Damon didn’t want to hurt Elena, so hopefully she could stop herself. He forgot momentarily about the whole sire bond, since it had been a while ago.
While Elena understood the driving force of blood on a theoretical level - both Stefan and Caroline often talked about the need for it - it was only at this moment that Elena realized just how much of a draw blood could have. The need for more was a tough one to ignore, but Damon’s voice cut through the fog of need and she remembered herself. She pulled back with a gasp, her chest raising up and down as she tried to re-focus. Then reality set in and she wiped at her mouth, only for it to make more of a mess.
“I’m sorry.” She spoke to Nick, her expression pained. Though Damon was right - her headache was gone now. In fact, Elena felt like her head was completely clear again. At the moment she felt like herself. Which meant then the guilt came in.
She brought her hand to her forehead which didn’t help the whole blood situation, but she didn’t care. “God, what did I do? How did this even happen?” How’d she turn into a vampire? This was all messed up.
Elena closed herself and took a deep breath, then exhaled before she opened her eyes. Panic wasn’t going to solve anything. She looked at Damon. “I still don’t understand what’s happening exactly, but can we - “ She looked around. They were in a bar or something. Somewhere public, despite there not being people around. “Go somewhere private?” Maybe then she could figure everything else without being distracted by the man named Nick or a variety of other things.
Damon watched as Elena stopped drinking from Nick. Now came the next lesson. After she took a moment to breathe. All new vampires reacted differently to needing blood and Damon, even if he hadn’t already lived through this, knew that Elena would feel guilt. She wouldn’t be her if she didn’t.
He ripped out his own wrist and held it to Nick. “Drink and then forget this happened and return to the bar.” Nick followed his compulsion and within thirty seconds returned to the bar.
“We can. We’ll go to your new apartment. Which seems next to mine so at least I’ll be close.” Damon didn’t particularly look forward to having to pretend the pair weren’t a couple in the future, but right now she had enough happening.
He called a cab, ushered her in, and finally got her into her apartment. “This happened because you wanted Stefan to save Matt,” he stopped himself from saying cock roach. “And you arrived here…and I’m not about to let you die, Elena. Not at home and not here.”
Being somewhere that was private, even if it was weird that it was apparently herplace, already felt ten times better. She’d have to check in on that Nick person later because she wasn’t sure she could just let him be fed and have him forget. Compulsion still bothered her, though she suddenly realized she’d be able to do that now too.
She went in search of the bathroom, ran the water, and then stared at herself covered in blood. It took Elena twenty minutes in the bathroom. She cleaned herself up and had a momentary breakdown where she cried and then cleaned herself up again. Taking a deep breath, she walked back out into the living room looking mostly like herself again. Then she sat down on the coach apparently provided to her.
“Okay. So This place isn’t home. Madison.” She’d figure out what that really meant later. “And you said Matt isn’t here so that means not everyone from home is here. But some people are because you’re here.” It seemed logical. “And now I’m -” She wasn’t sure how to answer that. Dead? A Vampire? She looked at Damon and dead seemed to be the harsher of the two to say out loud so she said, “ - a vampire.” Trying to be logical at least kept a lot of other feelings at bay at the moment. “Who else is here?” A paused, the furrowed brow. “How long have you been here?”
Damon, of course, allowed Elena her privacy, though hearing her cry lodged in his mostly cold and dead heart. He couldn’t help her, not really, other than being here for her. Probably she’d want to talk to Nick, but Damon hoped she wouldn’t. Mostly because he was married to her boss and didn’t think Mia would appreciate what happened. Though he wouldn’t stop Elena and would actually offer an apology if necessary. (Even if a part of him thought that Nick not taking vervain really was a poor decision on his part and who could fault Damon?)
He sat on the couch and waited for Elena. When she finally emerged, she looked better. The blood had helped, thankfully. “No, this place isn’t home. It grabs random people from different worlds…and times. And then just sends them home.” He hadn’t seen Stefan and even found himself missing Caroline.
“You’re a vampire, yes. Like fuck we’d let you die.” Especially not for fucking Matty Blue Eyes Donovan. “I have blood bags in my fridge, but I’ll bring some over to you.” With being new, she’d have less control than Damon.
“Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah Mikaelson. Rebekah’s fiancée Marcel. Plus Caroline’s one daughter, Josie, and Klaus’s daughter and her boyfriend. Caroline and her other daughter were here, but they got sent home. I showed up a couple months ago.” Without Bonnie, which worried him a lot still. “None of our friends.”
She sat up straight as Damon listed off people with apparently disregard - though that wasn’t necessarily out of character for Damon.
“Kol and Rebekah are here?!” This alarmed her because Kol was unhinged from what she knew of him (though their interactions had been minimal) and Rebekah, of course, would want her dead. Not that Elena technically blamed her since Elena had been the one to dagger her in the literal back.
Then the rest of Damon’s sentence kicked in and she looked utterly confused. For a moment the fear of the originals was bruised aside for. “Caroline has a daughter? Is that - is that even possible?” But then - “Klaus has a daughter too?” What the hell was happening here?
Damon held up his hands. “Rebekah seems to have mellowed out. She’s running the art museum with some woman not from our world.” And Damon didn’t bother to even learn the redhead’s name. “She hasn’t bothered me and I’m happy to keep it that way.” He considered how to explain Kol. “Kol…hasn’t hurt anyone as far as I know. Rumour has it he’s adopting a young woman.” Who looked like his future wife, but Damon decided to not mention that point. “He hasn’t tried to hurt me. And in turn, I let his underaged adopted sister into the bar. She’s…a lot like Caroline actually. Very outgoing.”
He reached over and laid a hand on her arm. “They don’t want to make enemies in a place they can’t leave and I heard they already don’t like a pair of vampires from another world. Avoid Damien and Bran Duval. Please.”
Oh fuck. He’d just forgotten for a moment she didn’t have his memories. Of course, some of it was…a lot.
“Do you remember Hayley? Somehow she ended up pregnant with Klaus’s child.” He sighed. “I’m not sure how Caroline ended up a mom. That’s ahead of my timeline too. This place will bring in people from various timelines. Exhibit A. You and me.” Damon stopped talking and how the hell did he wind up in this role? A role at which he sucked.
Elena hadn’t met Hayley yet, but she wasn’t sure that was going to help her make sense in any way. Now Elena had a headache, but it had nothing to do with having died and come back as a vampire. She brought her hand to her head and rubbed the front of her forehead for a moment. Later, maybe, she’d see this news as a positive - that she’d maybe be able to have a family after all - but right now it just added to the confusion.
“Okay.” She didn’t sound very confident, but she had decided to compartmentalize the confusion at the moment.
She looked back at Damon, deciding to settle on a sentence he said that she could understand without doing mental gymnastics. Probably. “You and me. You’re from further on than I am.” Obviously. “How much more?
Oh right. Elena wouldn’t have met Hayley yet. Fuck. At least she knew Klaus. Though this also meant she was still with Stefan which…fucked with his brain. Fucking hell. Damon really didn’t want to go through this…again. One thing at a time. At least he thought she might have feelings for him at this point, but Elena probably wouldn’t act on any feelings.
“It’s a lot.” Damon didn’t mention that he had a headache upon his arrival. “Far enough that you were in college and I’m friends with Bonnie.” Helped by the fact they were in a Prison World together and now Damon hated being separated from his witchy bestie. “A few years.” The vampire didn’t really want to tell Elena too much, but he wouldn’t lie to her. Then he remembered that all the compulsion he used on her vanished when she’d become a vampire, but couldn’t remember how long it took. Which meant she’d remember meeting Damon first and what he told her in her bedroom before compelling her to forget.
She processed that in a moment of silence. “I go to college.” A statement that both sounded surprised and relieved. Elena wasn’t sure why she was so surprised, but maybe with all the stuff going on and the fact she’d been okay with dying - and now that she was a vampire - she had let herself stop thinking about college half of the time. To hear her and Bonnie go to college was actually pretty relieving even if it hadn’t happened yet.
There was another pause and more processing before she added. “I’m glad you’re friends with Bonnie.” She really was. It had always been a tension in her life and while it wasn’t happening right now, it seemed like maybe at some point, their lives started to make sense. Even if it might take a few years.
Elena obviously had more questions. It was probably evident on her face. However, she knew that knowing too much wasn’t probably good for her and so despite wanting to know everything, Elena was choosing to withhold the questions. Maybe she’d give in at some point and ask more, but she had a feeling there were things she wasn’t going to like to hear. It was one of the reasons why she hadn’t asked about Stefan - she wasn’t sure where they stood anymore. He came to save her and had saved Matt, yes, but they weren’t in a good space at the moment and she’d been struggling to figure out how she felt about both the brothers. It felt too dangerous to ask right now.
She looked at him quietly, a bunch of things she wanted to say, but somehow her mouth remained closed. Then the corner of her lips turned down a little, her expression fell, and before she felt herself lose control completely, she leaned against Damon in a hug. Maybe it wasn’t fair for her to do that, but she needed comfort and despite the fact Damon liked to pretend he was bad and uncaring, she knew differently.
Damon offered her one of his rare genuine smiles. “Yes. You manage a triple with Caroline and BonBon.” Even if she spent time with him away from the dorm. God, he missed Bonnie who had somehow become his best friend over the last few months of being trapped together. The vampire suddenly worried about Bonnie showing up from an earlier time than him. From before they became friends.
“Me too.” Damon didn’t want to get into the details of how he and Bonnie became friends. Everything that led up to it would tell Elena way too much and honestly? This version of Elena didn’t deserve to know how Stefan felt about her becoming a vampire or anything else which led to his and Bonnie’s entrapment in the Prison World. And she sure shouldn’t hear about Caroline and Stefan marrying in the future.
“You have questions, but I’m not sure tonight is the time for them.” Her face told Damon a lot, and maybe he’d answer in the future. But the selfish part of him wanted Elena to fall in love with him again without feeling like she had to because future her did. “I do know my brother was here, but I missed seeing him too.”
Damon wrapped her in his arms. “Hey. We’ll get through this together, Elena Gilbert,” he said into her hair. The vampire would worry about his own feelings later, because Elena always came first.
Elena knew there was a lot she didn't know and a lot she was going to find out, but it was all so overwhelming that she found herself simply taking comfort at the moment who was familiar. She cries silently for a bit, letting all the emotions of dying and becoming a vampire and all the unknowns wash over her before eventually she ended up falling asleep.