Restrictor Plate: A device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power; limits top speed and increases safety

Here we go. My second AU/AH Damon/Elena story. For those of you who read Settle Down, this one will be a bit more - dramatic? I've been writing away and there is quite the story taking shape.

My first job out of college, I worked for in social media for a major U.S. retailer which also sponsors a NASCAR team. I did the social media for the team, which taught me a TON about the inner workings of a NASCAR operation. While I personally think the sport is a bit boring, it is pretty exciting all the same, especially when the "start your engines" command is given. So, while I'll take creative liberties, I do have some background in NASCAR. :)

And so... Restrictor Plate.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The sun hung low on the horizon, the sky a soft pink as she passed the faded sign welcoming her to Mystic Falls. A wave of anxiety washed over her as she entered the town, but a quick glance in her review mirror calmed her, if only momentarily. She blew out a breath as she slowed to the reduced speed limit, her eyes taking in the once familiar scenery. There was probably something poetic about how everything had changed and yet, still looked the same, still familiar, but she would have to think on that later, when her mind wasn't so full of other things.

She wasn't sure she was making the right decision, coming back here. But life had a way of slamming a door to open a window, at least in her case. Just out of college, her life falling apart around her, her father had taken a job at a hospital in San Bernardino and she had jumped at the chance to move to the opposite coast. Now, more than three years later, with her parents retiring to a small coastal town in South Carolina, an opportunity to return home had presented itself and, eventually, she had taken it, trusting the feeling down deep in her gut that this is what she needed to do.

In what seemed like mere minutes, she was turning onto the street she had grown up on. Some of her best and worst memories had taken place on these sidewalks and they flashed before her in rapid succession as she approached the big white house near the end of the row. She was playing with fire as she turned into the drive, knowing her carefully guarded secrets would become public knowledge sooner rather than later. It would be a relief, maybe, to get everything out in the open.

She pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. The house could use a fresh coat of paint and come spring, she would have her work cut out for her on the landscaping front, but it was home, now as much as it was back then. She was taking in the faded brass numbers on the porch post when the front door opened. She sucked in a gasp and smiled as a pretty, petite woman, her dark hair stringed with strands of gray, her skin just starting to show signs of aging although she was well into middle age, appeared on the doorstep. Elena pushed open her door and climbed from her car.

"Ginny," she breathed. The woman gave her a smile that fell somewhere between happiness and sorrow.

"Elena," she replied, holding her arms open. "Come here, my girl." Elena didn't hesitate. Ginny wrapped her in a tight hug. Even more than the house before her, she felt at home in the arms of the woman who had been like a second mother to her. It took several long moments for her to pull away and even when she did, Ginny held her at arm's length, studying her.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Elena told her, conscious of Ginny's critical eye. "I'm thrilled, but I thought I would see you in the morning. I knew there was no way you would stay away longer than that."

"Someone had to make sure the house was up to standards," Ginny said with a slight shake of her head as though asking Elena where else would she be at that very moment. "Your renters have been gone a month. They took good care of the home, but a fine coat of dust had settled between their departure and your arrival." Elena shook her head fondly, the smallest of smiles on her lips.

"You didn't have to clean," she said.

"But I did," Ginny said dismissively. She looked past Elena then. "Is she…?" Elena glanced over her shoulder, then back at Ginny. She nodded.

"She's asleep," she said. "We left Memphis before dawn, drove all day. She's been asleep since we drove into Lynchburg."

"A nice little cat nap, then," Ginny said with approval, calculating that it had taken Elena about an hour to drive from Lynchburg to Mystic Falls. "May I?" she inclined her head towards the door of the SUV's backseat.

"Of course," Elena said. It was only then that Ginny let her go. Almost tentatively, she opened car door. Her hand flew to her chest as she took in the small toddler sleeping soundly in her car seat.

"Sweet girl," Ginny muttered. She let out a sad sigh. "She really does look just like him, doesn't she?" Elena nodded.

"She does," she agreed. "She got his stubbornness too. The temper tantrum she threw at the last gas station we stopped at because I wouldn't buy her two lollipops instead of the one she didn't need in the first place was impressive." Ginny didn't reply, staring at her granddaughter for several more moments, quietly thanking God that she – and Elena – were back in Mystic Falls, right where they belonged. Finally, she turned back to Elena.

"Thank you, for coming home," she told her. She reached out and squeezed Elena's hand. Elena nodded once.

"The jury is out on whether it was the right thing to do," she said. "But, here we are."

"Here you are," Ginny repeated, glancing once more at the toddler.

"He's going to find out," Elena said, putting into words what they were both thinking. Ginny nodded.

"Eventually," she agreed. "Giuseppe and I, Stefan, Caroline, we are on your side."

"There aren't sides to talk," Elena said gently but pointedly.

"But there is," Ginny replied in a similar tone, leaving no room for argument.

"How is he?" Elena asked. She had a good idea, based on what she read and what the Salvatore family told her, but she wanted to hear it from the person she knew would be the most direct. Ginny sighed.

"He's a wreck," she said bluntly. "Giuseppe is taking a huge risk, giving him a ride this season. How he found sponsorship is beyond me, must have called in every favor he had owed to him. But, Giuseppe seems to think this is the right thing to do. If I had my way, he wouldn't be in a car at all, not after what happened at Talladega. I said my peace about it all, now I have to see how the pieces fall. But, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I suspect I will put my oldest son in the grave before I bury my husband if he keeps up the way he's going."

"I don't know what happened to him," Elena said, sadness thick in her voice.

"I do," Ginny said bluntly. "He lost his damn mind." Elena couldn't help but grin. She had missed Ginny's bluntness, her no-nonsense Southern mannerisms, so different from those of her strong, Italian husband.

"I'll agree to that," she said, stifling a yawn. Ginny didn't miss a beat.

"You said you left Memphis before sunrise?" Elena nodded. "That's a 12 hour drive, not counting stops. There's a warm casserole in the oven and a few groceries in the pantry to get you through until you can get to the grocery store. You get that baby out of her seat and into the house. You've been driving for days. Get yourselves something warm to eat and then get some rest. Of course, I don't think much of the two of you sleeping on an air mattress."

"My furniture will be here in a few days," Elena answered. "We'll be fine until then."

"Our offer still stands," Ginny replied. "We have a number of spare bedrooms."

"Caroline and Stefan's offer still stands as well," Elena said, again pointedly but politely. She appreciated their willingness to open their homes to her and her daughter until the moving truck arrived from California, but she wanted to do things on her own terms now that she was back. That included sleeping in her own home from night one. "Thank you, Ginny. You and Giuseppe have already done so much."

"You, that little girl, you're family," Ginny said. "I love my son, but frankly, I like you a hell of a lot more than I like him these days." Elena laughed. The backseat, the toddler stirred.

"Mama?" she said sleepily.

"Hi, baby girl," Elena said, turning to her daughter. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"We're home."

Ginny used her hip to push open the door to her husband's study, just like she did at the same time nearly every evening, with a tray in her hands. Giuseppe was bent over his desk, studying a diagram of a car.

"Just in time," he said as Ginny entered. He sat back in his chair and smiled adoringly at his wife.

"At eight o'clock, just like always," Ginny replied. She sat the tray down on Giuseppe's desk.

"You are too good to me, Tesoro," he told her. He picked up one of the cookies on his tray and dunked it into a steaming mug of coffee. "She's here?"

"She's here," Ginny confirmed. She settled into her usual arm chair. "She drove straight through from Memphis. Can you believe that? Twelve hours with that baby. I told her to eat some dinner and then go straight to bed. She was exhausted from all that driving. She should have never driven across the country in the first place. Not by herself, with that little girl."

"You made sure she had a few groceries, yes?" Giuseppe asked patiently, well-versed on his wife's feelings about Elena opting to drive from coast-to-coast, despite their offer of sending their private jet to fetch her. He sipped his coffee.

"Of course," Ginny said dismissively. She sipped from her own mug of coffee. "I wish she would just stay here until her things arrive. Those two, sleeping on an air mattress. That's just plain silly."

"We have to let her do this on her own terms, just like she asked," Giuseppe reminded his wife. "We got her here, Tesoro. Let's give her some space to find her feet." Ginny sighed heavily.

"Are we doing the right thing?" she asked. The worry was clear in her voice. Giuseppe nodded with an air of confidence.

"She's Damon's last hope," he said. "If anyone can save him from himself, it will be her."

"I know you are a hopeless romantic, but Giuseppe, darling, don't you remember how they left things? Damon doesn't have a clue about Molly and we both know he is in no position to be a father."

"I remember well how they left things," Giuseppe confirmed. "And I still believe that keeping Molly from him has been for the best. He certainly hasn't been the best influence in recent years. But you remember them, Tesoro. Damon thought Elena hung the moon. He loved her almost as much as I love you." Ginny smiled affectionately at her husband.

"They did love one another," she agreed. "But, Elena has been a single mother for the better part of three years. Damon… Well, Damon has spent three years making one bad decision after another. They are different people now. Very different."

"Elena is here," Giuseppe said simply. "Damon is here. We've done our part. Now, we let it play out as it may." Ginny pondered the mug in her hands thoughtfully for a few minutes.

"He's going to be angry when he finds out we kept Molly from him," she said.

"As he should be," Giuseppe replied as though he wasn't concerned about his eldest son's fiery temper. "It will get much worse, before it gets better. But, at some point, Damon will have to stop and think about why we kept Molly from him. He won't be able to deny that we, Elena included, did what was best for that little girl."

"What if it sends him running off again?" Ginny asked. The heartbreak in her voice caused her husband to feel a pang of pain of his own.

"He won't go anywhere," he assured her, his voice portraying the confidence he lacked deep down. "He loves to race. Racing is as essential to him as breathing. I'm the only one who will give him a ride. He won't take off again." Ginny shook her head, but didn't say anything. Giuseppe had a master plan and she trusted him completely. Still, she had her doubts.

"I'm going to finish tidying up the kitchen, and then go upstairs for the night," she said, standing, her now empty coffee mug in her hand. "Don't stay up too late."

"Everything will be fine, Tesoro," Giuseppe said in a soothing tone.

"I hope so," Ginny replied. Giuseppe took another sip of his coffee. He eyed his wife.

"Are you sure this isn't decaf?" Ginny made a face and scoffed.

"Of course not!"

She waited until she turned and walked away to smirk.

Restrictor plates are used at Daytona and Talladega to keep speeds down, thereby making the race safer overall. Without one, cars reach speeds of more than 200mph. Both tracks are notorious for big, scary crashes. Talladega, however, is known for the "Big One." "Restrictor Plate" is the perfect title for this story which ultimately has nothing to do with racing. And Talladega is pretty important too.

Damon as a NASCAR driver. What could be hotter? He's a hot head in this story, full of bad decisions and debauchery.

The back story will unfold, but to recap: Elena and Damon were together - until they weren't. She has his daughter, which he knows nothing about. And obviously, his family does know about the little one.

I have always imagined Mama Salvatore as a strong, Southern woman, like Tammy Taylor or Leanne Touhy (or, my mom, grandma, aunts...), which offers up a unique contrast to the Italian Giuseppe. She's a force, Ginny Salvatore. She may well be my favorite character throughout this story.

So, this is the first update. It's not much, but hopefully it has piqued your curiosity. Let me me know what you think!