[M*Chapter Thirty-Eight*]

*Strong language and mature content (Violence)*

Darcy paced endlessly around the living room. She fiddled idly with the crescent resting at her neck as her thoughts and limbs became a jumbled mess. The thunder rumbled deep in the angry skies, rain struck harshly against the windowpane, causing the blood in her veins to thrum and enlighten her fight instincts. The invisible rope pulling taught, urging her to bolt out of the door.

"Will you ever stop pacing? You're making me dizzy," Elena said, rubbing her eyes.

"No one said you had to watch," Darcy muttered, running her hands through her tangled locks as once again her feet travelled across the lounge.

"Why don't I make us a drink? Coffee, you love coffee," Elena said, climbing to her feet and making her way into the kitchen, pulling two mugs out of the cupboard, and clicking on the kettle.

"No, I don't want a drink. I can't sit around knowing something could happen tonight," Darcy said, stopping at the window and peering through the curtains.

The storm repeated its banging drums.

"You're paranoid, Darce. Nothing is going to happen," Elena said, pulling hers and Darcy's phones out of her pocket. She winced, glancing at the numerous missed calls on the screen and set them face down on the kitchen island.

"That's where you're wrong," Darcy said, shaking her head. She released the curtains, walked over to Elena, and sat on the stool at the island, gazing at her chipped red nail varnish. "Not after Stefan killed one of the vampires. Tonight would be perfect for them to act on their revenge."

Darcy looked up from her hands and narrowed her eyes at the disapproval on Elena's face. "Don't tell me you're seriously mad about that? I think you forget your boyfriend is a vampire."

"I know that." Elena avoided eye contact, looking down granite table. "Every day, I'm reminded of that fact, but that doesn't make it okay... None of it does."

Darcy reached over and took Elena's hands in hers, inciting Elena to raise her head and meet Darcy's soft gaze. "Do you regret getting involved with Stefan? It's okay if you do. It's a lot to take on. No one would judge you if you did."

The Gilbert girl went silent for a moment. Darcy gave her that. Their situation was not exactly normal. Heck, the supernatural was not supposed to exist; they belonged in bedtime stories. Darcy snorted inwardly; she felt like a character in a book.

"No..." Elena's voice brought her back to the present. Darcy gazed at the girl's face, looking for any negative indication. "No, I don't regret getting involved with Stefan... I love him."

She loves him...

Of course, she does. She wouldn't be with him if she didn't.

Dumbass.

Releasing Elena's hand, Darcy absently rubs at the odd sensation stirring in her stomach. She frowned and shook off the fog penetrating her mind. "That's great... But can you accept him for who he is? The baggage as a vampire?"

"What baggage—"

Darcy's phone on the counter buzzed. Darcy snatched it up and frowned at the number of missed calls on the screen. How did she miss them?

Elena pulled it from her hands and pressed decline. "I'm sorry, you were stressed, and I thought you could do without Damon bothering you."

Darcy's eyes widened in disbelief before jumping up from her seat and backing away. "What the hell, Elena? You can't just take my phone and put it on silent. What if something had happened?"

Elena followed, her face falling remorsefully. "This is why... I didn't want you to worry. Nothing is going to happen."

Darcy scoffed, shoving the phone into Elena's face. "Yeah, says the six missed calls."

Elena opened her mouth just as the door knocked. Darcy ran into the lounge, snatching the crossbow off the table and stealthily walked over to the door. Cocking the device, she opened the door, the tip of the arrowhead pointing at Damon's leather-clad chest.

"Woah! It's just me," Damon exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender.

Darcy let out a breath of relief and lowered the crossbow, standing aside, allowing the vampire to step into the house. Shutting the door, she followed him into the lounge, where he was looking around, seemingly searching for something.

Damon narrowed his eyes on her as she stepped into the room. "You were ignoring me. I hate being ignored."

Darcy rolled her eyes and pointed her thumb at Elena, who was nearer to the kitchen at the other side of the room. "You can blame Pocket thief here."

Damon turned his icy stare onto the brunette. "Where's Stefan?"

A pit grew in Darcy's stomach. She stepped forward. "What do you mean where's Stefan? I thought he was with you?"

Damon sighed, pacing the room. "He went out to hunt earlier. He wanted to be prepared in case something happened tonight."

"And let me guess, he never returned?" Darcy said, re-strapping her thigh harnesses and inserting her throwing knives and stakes.

She caught his head nod out the corner of her eye, and muttered under her breath. "If you had let me stay, none of this would have happened."

Damon threw up his hands. "He was supposed to come back!"

Darcy looked around the room, tilting her head condescendingly. "Oh, would you look at that... he's not here."

Damon mocked her actions, rolling his eyes before sending her a deadpanned look. "Yeah, I can see that, Darcella."

Elena stepped in, causing them to snap their heads in her direction. She stopped holding up her hands. "If Stefan's not here... then where is he?"

Darcy and Damon stared at each other, animosity darkening their faces. "You're not going to like what I'm thinking," Damon said.

"Please tell me you brought the bag...." Darcy said, squeezing her eyes shut, afraid of his response. She groaned and threw her head back upon hearing silence. "Perfect. Just fucking perfect... Right, Damon, I need you to get me some vervain plants out of the box in the closet, and no, I don't give a shit if you burn."

Damon gritted his teeth, sped up the stairs, and was back in seconds, the vervain encased in his leather sleeve. He handed her the herb and watched as she stuffed it into her jeans pocket and then slipped on her leather jacket over her hoody.

"Where are you going, Darcy?" Elena asked worriedly as the raven-haired girl picked up her crossbow and put the quiver already equipped with arrows across her body, resting it on her back.

Darcy stopped, looking at Elena. "I'm going to get Stefan back."

Damon blocked her way and gripped her arm as she started towards the door. "Yeah. No, you aren't. You're staying here with Elena, where I know you're safe."

Darcy cocked her brow and chuckled with mirth. "No offence, but Elena can't do shit." She knocked his arm off, pointing the crossbow at his chest, the tip brushing where his dead heart resided. "Now move before I shove this arrow up your ass."

"You can't be serious, Darcy!" Elena exclaimed. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Still locking her stare on the dark-haired Salvatore, she replied over her shoulder. "I can't let Damon do this alone, Elena. There's one of him and a dozen of them."

'This stupid woman.' The vampire softened his gaze, his icy eyes roaming her face, the panicked sheen glazing her eyes made him take a step back. "You going to get hurt, Darce."

"So be it," Darcy shook her head. "It's all or nothing... What's going to be, Damon?"

Damon closed his eyes and inhaled before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door. "All or nothing."

"What about me?" Elena called out, running out onto the porch as they got into Damon's car.

Darcy rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "Stay here in case Stefan does come back. Don't open the door unless it's Damon or me."

*•*•*•*

Darcy jumped out of the car and sprinted up the front porch just as Damon sped past her and pounded on the door. "Pearl! Open this door. I swear to God, I'll bust through and rip your head off!" he yelled.

Frederick smirks, opening the door. He looks between Damon and Darcy, eyes sharpening on the latter.

"Oh, this is just fantastic." Darcy clapped her hands upon recognising the vampire from the Grill. "Hey, sweetie, how's captivity treating you? I can't imagine you're having adequate treatment. You're looking a little rusty there," Darcy greeted with a grin and a wave.

"You!" Frederick exclaimed, jabbing his finger at her face.

"Me!" Darcy pointed to her chest. "How you are doing, buddy?"

"Oh, fabulous, now you are here," Frederick replied, eyes glinting with wrath.

"You two know each other?" Damon asked, looking between them perplexed.

"Yep, our dear Freddie here has had the pleasure of seeing my beautiful face," Darcy's grin widened, eyes sparkling in elation. "Who knew our next meeting would be so soon?"

Damon pushed her behind him as Frederick took a step forward. "Yeah, yeah, fantastic. Now, where's Pearl?"

"Pearl's not home." He took his stare away from Darcy and gazed behind them. "Hmm, beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's my brother?" Damon asked.

"Billy," Frederick smirked, his glance shifting to Darcy as she strode forward just as two vampires came forward, dragging Stefan into view.

"You shouldn't be here," Stefan groaned, clutching his stomach.

"You're dead!" Damon exclaimed, running into the door, but halted as the barrier in place wouldn't allow him through.

"You forgot about me, Dear Freddie. I'm not a vampire I can get through," Darcy said, about to step over the threshold but stopped as Damon looped his arm around her waist and dragged her into his chest.

"Let me go, Damon! We have to help Stefan!"

"No. There's no way I'm letting you go in there without me," Damon said as she thrashed in his grip.

"I'm gonna kill the bastard!" she yelled, punching Damon's arms and bashing her head into his chin.

"Such a dirty mouth for a pretty thing," Frederick commented, enjoying himself immensely as her eyes darkened into a cobalt storm. "Someone should teach you some manners. I'd have the greatest pleasure of doing such."

"Miss Gibbons?" The Tomb vampire called out, not removing his stare from Darcy's enraged features.

An older woman with brunette hair joined his side. "Yes, Frederick, Honey?"

"Never let these bad people in."

"I'll never let them in," Miss Gibbons said as she looked Damon and Darcy up and down, memorising their features before leaving and going into the kitchen down the hallway.

"Let's see who would be singing when I cut off your dick, you fucking bastard! I'll rip your head off. Damon, let me go!" she yelled, getting pissed. She reared her leg back, her boot connecting between his legs.

Damon groaned, dropping his arms to cup his crotch, as Darcy darted forward, gripping the compacted crossbow. She got to the threshold as Frederick walks over to Stefan and stabs him in the stomach with a stake.

Darcy felt as if her heart fell out of her ass as Stefan's pained stare met hers.

"145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother. First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad... Well, I thought your brother might have wanted to get a taste of that before I kill him. Billy."

Darcy's punched down on the trigger, the arrow whizzed out of the device, striking Frederick below his heart just as he ordered Billy to stab Stefan a second time. Frederick dropped to his knees, gripping his torso in a silent scream. Darcy had the tremendous pleasure of watching as he gasped for breath, his mouth hanging gaped open.

"V-Vervain... Get her."

Frederick's minions rushed forward just as Damon threw Darcy over his shoulder, chucked her into his car and sped away from the house.

"Fuck!" Darcy exclaimed, smacking the dashboard. "What do we do, Damon? We can't leave Stefan there. They will kill him."

"Hey, don't hurt the car! She's precious," Damon said, caressing the cream dash. He fell silent, watching the side of her face; sadness, anger, and frustration that shouldn't be clouding her beautiful aspects. "Why didn't you go in there? You're human. You could have still got into the house."

"I couldn't go in there without you. That's not right. I said it's all or nothing. I meant that. It's either we do this together, or we don't. And what good would it do if I went in there against a dozen vampires? I'll only get myself killed."

Darcy sighed, brushing the hair obstructing her vision and turned to Damon's profile, eyeing the agitation and curiosity lightening his gaze. She watched his hands grip on the steering wheel the further they drove away. "What are we going to do? What's the plan?"

The vampire glanced at the huntress and then back to the road. "We're going to need back up, a little help to get me into the house."

"Back up... who would help us?" A smirk graced her full lips. "Alaric?"

Damon grinned. "Yep, our little hunter friend.l

Darcy laughed, which trailed off to silence when reality hit. "Yeah, sounds awesome and all, but if you haven't forgotten... You tried to kill him."

Damon hummed, fingers drumming the wheel. "That's where the art of blackmail comes into play." He watched as Darcy stared at him in confusion. "What does he want the most?"

"Isobel."

He grinned, pumping his arm. "Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner."

Darcy smirked and leant over the divider, kissing his cheek. "Who knew... you might be smart after all." She leant back in her seat. "Except we might need further assistance."

Damon raised a brow.

"Elena."

*•*•*•*

Alaric was walking down the school's corridor, about to turn into his classroom, when he stopped in the doorway, looking at Darcy sat at his desk, her feet kicked up on his desk, munching on his apple.

"Well, look who it is. It's the man back from the dead."

The teacher slash vampire hunter froze on the spot, feeling warm air blowing down his neck. "Hmm, you do look very much... alive?" Damon said.

"You can't hurt me," Ric said, walking over to his desk. He pointed at the fruit in Darcy's hands. "That was mine."

Darcy glanced from the apple in her hand and up to his squinted eyes. She grinned bashfully, standing up from the seat and tossed the stem into the trashcan next to his desk. "I would say sorry, but I'm not. My gut was about to eat itself," she clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Ricardo!"

"It's Alaric."

"Oh, I know, I prefer Ricardo. No hard feelings, yeah?"

"Oh, I can hurt you all right," Damon said, following Alaric over to his desk and sitting on the edge.

"Mr Saltzman, we need your help," Elena said as she stepped into the classroom. "Stefan's in the house."

Alaric looked between them, stopping on Darcy as she began pacing around the room. "Damon's a vampire, so he can't get in. Frederick compelled the woman who owns the house to forbid Damon's and mine's entry."

"But you're human, so you can still get into the house," Alaric said, shaking his head, packing away the work papers on his desk into his bag.

"Yeah, that's true, but me going against a dozen vampires won't fare very well. I'll be dead as soon as I step a foot through the door."

"Darcy's life is valuable," Damon said. He looked at Ric. "Yours, on the other hand...."

"Stefan and Darcy told me about your ring," Elena interrupted, still standing near the door.

"What about it?" Alaric said, peering up from his desk and over at the Gilbert girl.

"Let me recap," Damon said, sitting in Alaric's chair. "You tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother and Darcy, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss," Alaric said, glaring at the vampire.

"Now, now, boys. There's no need to be grouchy. I'm sure we can act civil for once. You can go back to killing each other another day," Darcy piped, strolling back over to the vampire and hunter duo.

Alaric and Damon scowled at the huntress, visibly expressing their displeasure of acting civil with each other.

"Mr Saltzman. Please, It's Stefan," Elena pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Elena. But it's not my problem," Alaric said, packing up his things and began to leave the room.

Darcy quickened her steps, wrapping an arm around his chest and whipped out a knife, the sharp point brushing the back of his neck.

"Darcy! You can't just threaten people like that." Elena protested, attempting to step forward and stop Darcy from doing something stupid, only for Damon to cut her path.

"You may come back to life if your death was caused by the supernatural. But let's say if me, a human killed you. You wouldn't come back. It would be bye-bye, adios Alaric. Wouldn't that be a shame, huh? Who would miss poor little Alaric? No family. No wife. No friends. No one would wonder if you suddenly disappeared. I could kill you right now, and no one would be the wiser... Now, Damon has a bargain you may want to listen to. Are you going to cooperate?"

Feeling Alaric nod, she released him and stood back. She kept her gaze on him in case he had other ideas. Damon circled his erect frame. "The woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife," he said, an incline of a smirk coating his lips.

"You're lying," Alaric said through gritted teeth.

Damon shrugged. "Am I? Why don't you ask her yourself? Coward. Come on, Darce," he said, edging closer to the door.

"Alright! Wait. I'll go," Alaric exclaimed.

Darcy and Damon shared a smirk and spun on their heels.

The huntress clapped her hands, "Pleasure doing business with you, Ricardo. Let's go and rescue our Dear Steffy!"

"How can you be excited about this?" Elena asked, looking at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"I've been dying to tear that smug bastard a new asshole," Darcy beamed and skipped over to Alaric's desk as he came back with his duffle bag and dumped the contents on the desk.

She let out a whistle. "You have some fancy-schmancy stuff here."

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon said, grinning.

"I've you to thank for that," Ric said, looking up at him.

"What are these?" Elena asked, pointing at vervain darts.

"Those are tranquilliser darts filled with vervain," Ric said.

"Do you have these?" Elena asked Darcy, looking at the arrows encased inside the leather quiver, still strapped across Darcy's back.

Darcy nodded her head. "Yep, the arrows are compressed with vervain."

Alaric looked up at the dark-haired girl. "That's actually smart. Do you add vervain to all your gear?"

"I wish, no. Some aren't compatible unless you make them yourself. Just my arrows and stakes are packed with vervain."

"Vervain stakes? How do you do that?" Ric asked.

Darcy winked and tapped her nose as Damon butted in. "Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out."

"That's your plan? You're just going to take them all on yourself?" Elena asked.

"Nope, I'm going in too," Darcy said.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Alaric asked, looking at Elena as she picked up a dart.

"If Darcy is going. I'm going. I'm not letting her go in there, where she could get hurt."

"No, Elena. You're not going in there. It's too dangerous. I can't protect us both if you get in the way," Darcy protested.

Damon smirked, crossing his arms, and leant against the wall, enjoying the show about to go down. Whilst Alaric rubbed at his face and looked up at the ceiling as if begging God to help him.

"You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out," Elena said adamantly.

"You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there," Darcy commanded.

"So, when you get us in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically be in the way," Damon said, rolling his eyes at Alaric.

"I'm going," Elena opposed.

"For God sake, Elena. Now isn't the time to mess around. We need to get Stefan out before they end up killing him!" Darcy shouted, loud enough to make the others jumps.

"Alright! Let's calm things down before princess here has a cardiac arrest." Darcy glared at him, causing him to step closer to Alaric, who stepped closer to Darcy. "I see whose side you're on... Elena, you can... you can drive the getaway car."

"No, Damon! She's not coming!" Darcy exclaimed, throwing up her hands.

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand," Elena shouted.

"Understand? I don't understand. Oh, but I do. You love him so much; rainbows and roses fart out of your ass. Don't come at me with that crap. You're not going. I'll tie your ass to Alaric's chair if I have to."

"Can you just not joke around for two seconds?"

Damon moved away from the wall and massaged Darcy's shoulders. He fought back the grin as she relaxed in his hold. "We can't protect you, Elena. We don't know how many vampires there are in there. That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. We must be able to get in and out. We can't be distracted with your safety," he said as Darcy moved out of his grip and pulled Elena into her arms.

"I'll never forgive myself if something happened to you in there. Your safety is my priority, including getting Stefan out of there and back to his brother. Where he belongs. I know you love him. I get it. I do," Darcy whispered into her hair.

Alaric smiled as Elena gripped onto Darcy as if she was her lifeline.

He cleared his throat. "If we're gonna go, let's go."

*•*•*•*•*

Next chapter coming up shortly. I'll warn you it's a little angsty....and violent xD