Opposites Attract

I met up with Damon at 8 the next morning. It was a Friday so the Mystic Grill was pretty empty except a few students picking up food before class started. “So apparently to break this curse Elena has to die. If she does anything to jeopardize that, Klaus will kill everyone that she cares about,” I explained.
“Yeah, according to Katherine,” he scoffed.
I sighed. “Yes, according to Katherine. But you didn’t see Elena when she said it, Damon. Elena would rather die in some fucked-up ritual than have anyone else in danger. I’m just worried that she’ll do something really stupid.”
“Well I heard that there’s a way to take the curse away from the moonstone. No curse, no ritual.”
“Okay. So what do you need?”
Damon hesitated for a moment. “We need the moonstone but Katherine has it.”
I shrugged easily and stood up, pulling my long hair into a messy bun as I did so. “Okay, then let me get it. I can get into the tomb and back out.”
He grabbed my arm before I could bounce away. “Nope. Too dangerous.”
“Aw, Damon, I didn’t know you cared,” I said sarcastically.
“If you die, Elena will be pissed. Probably at me,” he retorted, blue eyes hard.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Whatever. Do whatever you want, Damon, and I’ll do what I want.”
“Oh no,” he said once again grabbing my arm. “You’re staying where I can see you. Let’s go.”
I growled under my breath and rolled my eyes. “And where exactly do you think that you’re taking me? I will not be held hostage by you, Damon.”
I could tell that he was already getting fed up with me. “To see Katherine. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? You’re going with me to get it out of you system while I can keep an eye on you. But you’re not going into the Tomb.”
I was grouchy through the ride to the old church where we met up with Stefan. The three of us descended into the basement then the boys moved the large slab that was used as her cell door. That random part of my mind smirked at the fact that Caroline had been able to move it on her own but that’s beside the point.
“Please, come on in,” Katherine said probably trying to play some game with the boys.
“I’d rather poke my eyes out,” Damon replied.
“But they’re such pretty eyes.” I couldn’t help but agree with the vampire bitch on that one. Stupid.
“We’re here for the moonstone,” Stefan said getting straight to the point.
“Feel like tossing it out?”
“Tell you what. You get your little witch to hocus pocus me out of here and I’ll give you whatever you want,” she bargained. Wait, what? The last time I’d been there she was totally fine staying locked away where she felt safest. What was she playing at now?
“I’m bored,” she answered when Stefan called her on her change of heart. “At least running from Klaus wasn’t boring. So here’s the deal: get me out of here and you get the moonstone and I’ll disappear from Mystic Falls forever. Let me know what you decide.”
“We’re not letting her out,” I spat. “That bitch can rot in there. If we really need that stupid rock just let me go in and get it.”
“No,” Damon snapped yet again.
“Try and stop me,” I challenged.
“No, Maggie, Damon’s right. It’s too dangerous. You could get hurt.”
Ugh, stupid Stefan always had to be so freaking caring for everyone. “I’ll be fine. She’s weak and I’m actually a pretty good Hunter. I don’t see the problem with it. Besides, I've been looking to pick a fight with her for years.”
Damon tugged on my arm and we went back up the stone steps. “We’ve already got it covered, Margaret. The little witch is going to open the Tomb seal just long enough for us to go in and get the moonstone.”
I snorted. “Yeah ‘cause that’s so much better. You said the reason you won’t let me go in is because of what Elena would think. Well how do you think she’ll react to your plan? You’re risking getting trapped in there for who knows how long. Let’s see what my cousin thinks of this.”
When we got to Elena’s we explained the whole situation. “Wow, sounds like you have it all planned,” she muttered. I could already tell that she was against this idea.
“Yep. We’re awesome.”
I shot Damon a glare. “Humble as ever I see,” I mumbled at him.
“Except for one thing; I don’t want you to do it.”
Stefan and Damon were speechless for a moment as they shot each other shocked looks. “What are you talking about? Elena, we don’t have a choice,” the younger Salvatore practically begged.
“What about Klaus?”
I sighed. “Elena, don’t worry about that right now. Whether Bonnie de-spells the moonstone or not, we need to get it from Katherine. If you don’t want them to go in or for Bonnie to be involved, that’s fine but you can’t argue that it’s better out of her hands. I can get it easily and then no one has to worry about anything.”
“We’ll find him right after we get the moonstone.”
“Is that before or after he kills everyone I care about including the three of you?”
“Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone we can save your life.”
“I know. Everybody keeps saying that.”
She stood up and quickly walked away. I huffed and flopped down in her vacant seat. Elena and Katherine may have been identical but they couldn’t have been more different. Katherine was selfish and didn’t let anyone stand in her way but my cousin was completely self-sacrificing. I wasn’t sure which one was worse at the moment because Elena was on the path to getting herself killed and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
“You two go work with Bonnie to get the moonstone. I’m going with Elena and we’ll meet up with you later.”
Damon’s eyes narrowed. “How do I know you aren’t trying to sneak off to the Tomb?”
I shook my head in disbelief and some of my red curls tumbled from the elastic. “You don’t but you did move that boulder back so it’d be nearly impossible for me to get in. If I tried, you’d probably catch me before I succeeded. And just so you know, this protective crap is getting old if you’re doing it just for Elena’s sake.”
I got up and followed the path Elena had recently taken. I found her in her bedroom going through her brown shoulder bag. I leaned against the doorframe and watched for a moment. She was trying to be sneaky about whatever she was doing but stealth was a game that I’d long ago perfected and she was still new. “I know you’re up to something,” I said from my post, making her jump and spin around.
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms getting that defiant look on her face. “Like what, Maggie?”
I dropped my hands from my hips and went to sit on her perfectly-made bed. “I’m not sure. I know that you want to protect everyone even if the cost is your own life. I can respect that because that’s how we Hunters are. You’re a Gilbert, a member of a founding family, and it’s in your blood to protect just like it’s in mine. Whatever you’re doing, I want in.”
“No,” she said quickly.
“I’m not giving you a choice, Elena. I’m not like the others who are grasping at straws for something that is most likely impossible. I’m more of a realist and as a vampire Hunter I know how to make those tough decisions to save as many lives as possible.”
“A tough decision like letting me do whatever needs to be done?”
My stomach tightened and it was hard to keep my cool façade as I said my next words. “Let’s face it: no matter what happens you’re probably going to lose. At least this way we’re not just on the defensive.”
She nodded. “Okay. We need to find more about Klaus and for that we’re going to need Rose. Let’s go to the boardinghouse while Stefan and Damon are busy.”
The ride in Elena’s car was quick and we went right in without even knocking. Bad idea. Rose entered the foyer from the parlor and was busily tying the rope on her purple silk robe. “It’s not nice to leave a girl naked so early in the morning,” she said with a flirtatious lithe in her voice. She looked up and saw that we most certainly weren’t Damon and quickly apologized. Elena looked away in embarrassment but my eyes narrowed at the woman although I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly angry with this stranger. “There’s no one else here.”
“Actually we came to talk to you,” Elena said.
“Then I should probably get dressed.”
“Yeah, probably,” I practically snarled. Elena shot me a confused look but I widened my eyes innocently and shrugged. I was pretty confused with my feelings as well.
Elena’s plan was to go to Rose’s friend Slater to dig up more information on Klaus. Considering the destructive path she was headed toward, this was actually a pretty reasonable request in my opinion. The vampire, however, didn’t think so. She argued that it was a bad idea because of what had happened at the coffee shop in Richmond when she and Damon and gone looking for answers. But Elena was adamant about going and even offered to get Bonnie to make her a daylight ring if she helped. Damn, my cousin could negotiate.
The ride to Richmond was long and somewhat awkward and I stayed silent through all of it. Elena and I followed Rose up the stairs to an apartment where she knocked on the door. There was no answer but Elena wasn’t leaving empty-handed. Rose pushed the door in and we entered, looking for the vampire know-it-all.
“I don’t think he’s going to be much help,” Rose said suddenly. Her eyes were wide and scared as she stared at something on the ground. Elena and I rushed over and saw a man with blue-grey skin staring blankly at the ceiling with a stake sticking up from his chest.
Even without help, Elena wasn’t giving up. She immediately when to Slater’s set of computers and started rifling through the papers scattered there. I looked too but nothing really caught my attention; although I didn’t know what we were looking for exactly. I tried one of the computers but even with my hacking skills I doubted I’d be able to get in without the password if this guy was as good as they were saying.
“Let’s just go,” Rose sighed just as a noise caught all of our attentions.
The brunette vampire opened a door to the room where the noise had originated and I pulled a stake from its holster under my black leather jacket. I didn’t sense another vampire but I wasn’t taking any chances. The door opened and out rushed a pale girl with dark hair and a short black dress that immediately hugged Rose. She was human but that didn’t make me any less wary.
The girl was in hysterics for like all of two seconds. Rose quietly explained that Alice, Slater’s girlfriend, was more interested in being turned than the vampire that had recently been staked. I shivered. How any human would want to be a vampire was beyond me.
When Elena asked for Alice’s help, she played the bullshit grieving girlfriend card. My cousin once again put her deal making skills to work and offered to get Rose to change her in exchange for her help getting into the computers. Only Alice was unaware of what a complete lie that was.
“Someone’s been here. The hard drive’s been completely wiped out. Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything’s backed up on our main server,” Alice said as she typed away. She entered the password and a page with dozens of names popped up. “Kristen Stewart. God was he obvious.”
“These are all leads to vampires?” Elena asked in shock as she looked over Alice’s shoulder.
“What about that one? Cody Webber? They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah.”
“I could call him,” the girl offered. Wow she really wanted Rose’s blood.
Elena handed her the phone. “Tell him that we’re trying to send a message to Klaus. The doppelgänger is alive and she’s ready to surrender.”
“What?” Rose snapped.
I felt the blood drain from my face but didn’t let myself show how freaked I suddenly was. Elena was taking this way further than I thought she would. I mean, I knew that she was pretty much on a kamikaze mission to keep everyone else safe but I didn’t think she was ready to actually hand herself over. Elena may have been ready to let herself die but I most certainly wasn’t. The wheels in my head began working furiously as I thought of the best way out of here and the most necessary in a worst-case scenario.
“Elena, are you absolutely sure about this?” I asked while Alice went to wait for Cody and Rose was off doing something else. “I know you want to protect everyone but is this really the best way? I think we need more leverage than just having you as bait.”
“Whatever needs to be done, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. It’s your life and your decision.”
She blinked in shock. “Thank you, Maggie.”
I sat on the couch to wait while Elena stood staring out the plate-glass window. After a while we both started to get antsy but I made myself stay calm. I wouldn’t be any good if I was panicking. Elena went into the kitchen to get herself some water and my skin started to crawl. My head snapped in her direction just as Damon appeared. He was pissed and Elena was angry at Rose for evidently calling him.
They started fighting but Elena wasn’t backing down. Damon grabbed her and she tried to land a punch but he easily caught her fist.
“Damon, stop. You’ll hurt her,” I demanded.
He glowered at me. “How could you let her come get herself killed? I thought you were supposed to save people from vampires.”
My eyes flickered to Elena then back. “I know my duty. This was her decision. How many of us would you have die saving her from something she doesn’t want to be saved from? Elena and I both know what we’re doing.”
I could tell that he was losing patience but he didn’t have time to say anything as three vampires walked in. “We’re here to meet the doppelgänger,” the stocky one in the middle said.
“Thank you for coming.” Elena took a step forward but Damon quickly grabbed onto her threatening to break her arm if she went any further. I was seriously pissed for that comment and wanted to scream at him for such a threat but an overwhelming sense of nausea hit me. I sucked in a breath and my knees felt weak. I would have fallen to the ground if Damon hadn’t hooked his free arm around my waist to keep me steady. One of the vampires collapsed to reveal a man with a buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up and slacks and with brown hair that flopped to the side. He looked totally threatening even to me. Rose was gone in a heartbeat.
“I killed you,” Damon remarked and I knew I was looking at an original. Just his name frightened the other two vampires. I nearly shrieked as he tore out their hearts. Damon took a step forward but Elijah ran, leaving me feeling much better but beyond confused.
The car ride with Damon back to Mystic Falls was long and silent and you could cut the tension with a knife. I was dropped off first but I knew Damon’d be back to chew me out for going along with Elena’s suicidal plan. I was laying on the hood of my dad’s old busted Camaro when he arrived back an hour later.
“I knew you’d be back,” I said without looking away from the stars. “I know you’re pissed about what happened today but I wasn’t going to let her get hurt.”
“Sure fooled me,” he barked.
I sat up and narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m good at deception and in my line of work I can sort of relate to how she feels. I just let her think I was playing along so I could keep an eye on her. I didn’t tell you because then you’d try to stop us both and she’d go behind everyone’s backs. Elena needed a babysitter and it was easier to just go along with it than trying to spy on her from a distance.”
“And what would you have done if I hadn’t come along?” he demanded.
“I had a few ideas,” I said vaguely. “Elena was going to come home no matter what I had to do. Given the choice, she would have made it back.”
He growled as he got my meaning. He climbed onto the hood of the car with me . “Everyone’s so damn self-sacrificing today.”
I cocked my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“My dear, idiot brother is locked in the Tomb with Katherine because he was trying to get Jeremy out. Jeremy went in so that Bonnie wouldn’t have to do any magic.”
I glared at him and locked my jaw. “You wouldn’t let me try to go in but you let Jeremy? Dammit, Damon! How does that make sense?” I fumed.
“Hey, we told him no and I wasn’t even there when it happened. I was too busy saving your asses.”
I gritted my teeth. “You heard Jeremy suggest he go into the Tomb but didn’t think to make sure he wouldn’t follow through with his idea? We both know that he does impulsive crap like that, just like I do. You wouldn’t let me out of your sight but he was just free to walk right in. Why were you so overbearing with me but not him?”
“Sorry I care just a little bit too much about you,” he snapped. “I wasn’t going to let you get yourself killed but apparently you and Elena have a suicide wish wherever you go.”
I was shocked. He cared about me? Impossible. I let that comment slide. “Elena isn’t going to die. I’m going to make sure of it. Goodnight, Damon,” I said tartly. I went inside and up to my room. Tomorrow I’d deal with Damon and Elena and Stefan. Tomorrow I’d check on Jeremy and Bonnie. Tomorrow I’d see how Caroline and Tyler were and what they were doing to get ready for Tyler’s first full moon. Tomorrow life would be just as crazy as ever but for tonight I was just going to sleep. A crow cawed outside my window and I flipped it off. It was my night and I wasn’t going to let Damon bug me. Although after his little slip I was somewhat flattered he was keeping an eye out for me.