AU: Much to my dismay, I own none of these characters.

Imarifirst inspired this story and I'm not really sure where it's going…but I'm a go where the wind takes you kind of girl. It's a bit out of my comfort zone but I couldn't get the notion out of my head. TVD lore (i.e. vampire powers, doppelgangers, etc.) is the same but I messed with the timeline a bit. We're starting in Elena's senior year. So far this is mostly Damon's POV but I'll jump to Elena, too. As with my other fics, perspective changes are indicated by a bold first letter. I'm so nervous about this story and I really, really hope you all enjoy reading it! Reviews are love and I do so love to be loved ;)

Xoxo

Chapter 1 – Strangers in the Road

1864

Emily Bennett's unrecognizably charred body felt feather light in his arms as he carried her to the graveyard near his childhood home. Damon Salvatore was trying very hard to pretend he didn't care that the witch he planned to bury near his mother was dead. He figured he was probably failing. Barely contained rage flowed through him as he stormed through the woods. Katherine was lost to him and the one person who could help him bring her back was burnt to a crisp. The Town Council was entirely to blame and they were going to pay. Still, he was a man of his word and Emily's children were safe at his home. He swore if it was the last thing he did he would ensure that they, and all future Bennett's, would never have to worry about being burned alive. To hell with the Founding Families, his own included. The ones who had done this, the ones who had ruined his life, they were going to die and he was going to be the one to kill them. If his very hungry little brother didn't get to them first. After he'd finished burying her, he made his way back to his house and whatever was left of his humanity steeled itself for what he had to say to her children. When he walked through the front door a young girl with solemn brown eyes was sitting at the bottom of his stairs.

"Is my Mama gone?" she asked him.

"Yes, she is"

A tear slid down her coffee colored cheek and she nodded.

"You're Damon Salvatore?"

"I am"

"She told me to ask you if you plan to fulfill your promise"

"Yes. She did her best to hold up her end so I'll hold up mine"

"Where…where is she?" the girl's voice wavered.

"Buried in my family's cemetery. I'll commission her a headstone so that you can visit her" he said gently.

She eyed him for a long moment before reaching into her coat pocket and producing an envelope.

"She said to give you this" she handed him the envelope.

Damon Salvatore was scrawled across the front and he looked at it curiously before opening it.

Mr. Salvatore,

If you're reading this then I am surely dead and my daughter has decided that you are trustworthy enough to deserve this letter. I am sorry I couldn't help you get Katherine back but she was not who you thought she was. I will find peace knowing that my children are safe and for that I have a parting gift. Burn this letter in the flame of a white candle and when the moment is right, for one day you will have what you want most in the world. If the moment comes, you will know what it is. I wish I could give you more but please do not forget, the gift is for one day only. My eternal thanks are with you and bear in mind that there is always redemption. Even for the damned.

Regards,

Emily Bennett

He'd done as she'd instructed but nothing had happened and as the years went by, he forgot about Emily's supposed 'gift'. It took him a decade or two but eventually he learned to give in to what he was and enjoy it. Damon spent years happily seducing, feeding and killing his way through every town and city he passed through. His brother, Stefan, after a stint as the ripper of Monterey and realizing his complete inability to control his bloodlust, had decided to switch to the bunny diet. Their paths crossed once or twice over the eras and while he had momentary lapses in sanity when he decided to seek Stefan out to spend time with him on purpose, they mostly led completely separate lives. At the moment Damon was having one of those lapses in sanity and he was headed back to his hometown to see his brother. He'd heard Stefan was in Mystic Falls and he decided it was time for a visit. The rest of the world was fascinating but if he was honest with himself, when he was lonely he sought out home and his brother. It had been nearly ten years since he'd last been to Virginia and the familiar dark pavement before him made him smile. He saw her figure in the road long before the headlights of his Camaro hit her. Fast Food he thought and pulled up beside her.

He rolled down his window and almost choked at the sight of the doe eyed girl.

"Katherine?"

She looked around and then back at him, her expression confused.

"No, I'm Elena"

He put the car in park and got out to look at her. It was impossible. The resemblance was uncanny but he could smell the human blood moving steadily through her veins.

"I'm sorry. You just really look like someone I used to know. I'm Damon" he told her and gave her a friendly smile.

"Are you ok? I saw you standing in the road"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was at a party and I had a fight with my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend now" she told him.

"He wasn't the one?"

"No, he wasn't the one" she said with a smile

"Why not? If you don't mind my asking"

"I don't know. There was just something…missing."

"Let me guess, it wasn't that all-consuming passionate love, the kind of love that's adventurous, wild, and even a little dangerous?" he asked her seriously.

She looked surprised

"Yeah, something like that"

He nodded and smiled. Maybe he wasn't going to have her for a midnight snack. She was interesting and her face was one he'd longed to see for more than a century.

"Well Elena, I hope you get you want"

"So what is it that you want, Damon?"

"That's a good question. I'll keep you posted. I'm not going to offer you a ride home. You seem too smart for that. But I hope I see you again."

"You're right I am too smart for that. My parents are on their way to come pick me up anyway. But I hope I see you again too, Damon"

It had been months and the man she'd met the night her parents died had never left her mind. Even through the crippling sorrow, her mind sometimes wandered to the blue eyed stranger who seemed to know exactly what she'd been thinking that night. She looked for him everywhere she went in town but she'd yet to see him. School was starting in a couple of days and she was still hoping he would pop up somewhere. She walked into the grill and swung around to look for Bonnie before crashing into a hard male chest.

"Oh!" she cried and spun around to see who she'd hit.

When she looked up, she saw a pair of warm forest green eyes and gorgeous hair that looked like it had been meticulously sculpted. She felt the strange urge to mess it up and see if he would get angry.

"Hi" he said down at her.

"Uh, hi. I'm so sorry. I wasn't even paying attention" she said with an apologetic smile.

"It's no problem" he told her and smiled.

"I'm Elena"

"I'm Stefan"

"Are you new in town? I don't think I've seen you before"

"I was born here but I moved away a long time ago" he explained.

"Well, welcome home" she said and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Thank you"

She was supposed to be meeting Bonnie but she didn't see her in the dining room yet and she decided to take a chance. She'd promised herself she would try to put herself out there, be happy, and this seemed like a great opportunity.

"It looks like my friend is late. Do you want to sit with me for a few minutes?" she asked.

He looked pleasantly surprised

"Yeah, sure. I mean, you wouldn't want to look weird sitting by yourself right?"

"Definitely not" Elena replied happily.

They took a table in the center of the dining room and ordered coffee. She quickly discovered he was a Salvatore staying with his uncle Zach in the Salvatore boarding house. He was going to finish high school at Mystic Falls high in the coming year. After a few minutes they discovered their mutual love of classic novels and rock music. Bonnie turned out to be a half an hour late and seemed thrilled to find her friend talking to a cute guy.

"Bonnie, this is Stefan Salvatore. Stefan, this is Bonnie Bennett"

"It's nice to meet you, Stefan."

"It's nice to meet you too, Bonnie"

"Elena, we can totally reschedule" Bonnie offered.

"No. We have to talk decade dance or Caroline will murder us"

"Right" she said and sat down at one of the empty chairs.

"Well I guess I should be going" Stefan said, sounding less than happy about it.

"I'll see you later?" Elena asked.

"Definitely" he promised.

Damon had watched the entire encounter from across the street with an inexplicable sense of jealousy and anger. He'd been too late to help her when the car went over the bridge that night but Stefan had appeared from nowhere to dive in and save her. Obviously he knew about the girl and now he had officially introduced himself to her. Damon had kept his distance. At first he'd wanted to be sure she wasn't Katherine somehow masquerading as a teenage girl. It didn't take him long to determine that the only thing this girl had in common with Katherine was her face. It irked him that he couldn't get her out of his head so he drove down to Virginia Beach for a few weeks but something drew him back and he'd taken to observing her from afar. He'd been waiting for the right opportunity to 'run into' her but the moment hadn't presented itself. Or at least that's what he'd been telling himself. Now it seemed that Stefan might be forcing his hand. No way was he going to let his baby brother get to her first. After the Bennett witch left, he'd watched her fight with herself for ten minutes in the parking lot before he heard her mumble "just go see him, Elena" to herself. She'd jumped in her car and he'd zipped his way back to the boarding house to greet her. He arrived two minutes before her car pulled into the driveway and he stood in the parlor expectantly. Stefan had yet to make it home and he was glad to have a chance to talk to her alone.

He answered the door moments after she rang the bell and heard her tiny gasp when she saw him.

"Damon" she almost whispered it.

"Hello, Elena" he said with a lopsided grin.

"I…I was looking for Stefan…but I'm glad to see you"

"Stefan is my brother. Would you like to come in?" he stood back and held his arm out to welcome her inside.

She stepped into the foyer and looked around

"Nice place" she commented.

"It's a little kitsch-y for my taste, but its home"

"So Stefan is your brother?" she asked quizzically

"Yep"

"That would make you a Salvatore, too?" she asked.

"It would indeed" he told her "and I hear you're a Gilbert"

"I am" she said and gave him an odd little smile.

"What?" he asked her coyly.

"I was afraid I was never going to see you again" she confessed.

Damon smiled at her and found himself even more intrigued by the girl with the warm brown eyes. There was a noise in the driveway and he frowned. He heard his brother attempt a stealthy entrance through the front door, probably having seen the Camaro in front of the house.

"Hello, Stefan" he called.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" Stefan eyed Elena warily as he walked into the living room.

"Last I checked this was our house. Elena stopped by to see you"

The girl lifted her hand and waved at Stefan awkwardly.

"Hi" she said hopefully

"Hello, Elena. Why don't you let me show you out?" Stefan said in a tight voice.

"Oh. Um, ok" she said sadly as he ushered her out the door

"Bye, Damon"

"Goodbye, Elena"

He was officially enchanted. She was afraid she would never see him again? That meant she had been hoping he would make an appearance. Maybe when he'd seen her checking faces in a crowd, she'd been looking for him.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked when he had Elena safely in her car.

"I missed home" Damon said and poured himself a drink.

"Bullshit"

"Swear on our mother's good name. I got bored out on the road alone, Stef. You know how I am."

"Look, about Elena…"

"I saw her that night, before you saved her. I have to say I'm glad you got there in time. She's definitely not Katherine but she's…she's something"

"Stay away from her" Stefan growled.

"Why should I?" he asked, annoyed that his brother thought he could order him around.

"Because she's…special."

"Special how?" he asked, skeptically.

"I don't know but her face should be enough to tell you she's no ordinary girl"

"You're right about that. She's definitely not ordinary" he smiled as he said it, imagining the sweet open face he couldn't seem to stop thinking about.

"You can't just show up and start feeding on the townspeople. They haven't had a vampire problem in a while but the Founding Families still have their meetings"

He narrowed his eyes at his brother and finally understood. Stefan was trying to talk him into leaving because he wanted the girl for himself. Not a chance he thought.

"Don't worry about it. There's a fridge full of blood bags in the basement and if I'm in the mood for the fresh stuff, I'll go two towns over."

Stefan looked unhappy.

"I don't want you around Elena"

"Well that is just too damn bad, little brother" he said and stalked out the front door.

Damon spent the rest of the afternoon driving around and blowing off steam. He disliked being told what to do and Stefan's pathetic attempt to get him out of town had pissed him off. The sun had just set when he realized he was almost out of gas and headed back toward town to fill up. He was on the outskirts of Mystic Falls when he saw the whole thing happen from two miles away. A man in a black hoodie was standing in the middle of the road and the SUV that was going just a hair too fast didn't see him in time. The car hit the guy, swerved, and rolled off to the side of the road, landing on its roof. The guy got up, his limbs falling awkwardly back into place and he heard a shriek come from the SUV as the man in the hoodie advanced on the car. It was the oldest trick in the book and he knew the man was a vampire looking to snatch a quick meal off the road. He also recognized the car that had rolled off the road. It was Elena's. Slamming down on the accelerator, he skidded to a stop several feet beyond where she'd wrecked and sped out of his door. The other vampire saw him and zipped away before Damon could catch him. He made sure the guy was gone before flashing to the overturned SUV.

"Hey" he said crouching down to peer at her through the window.

She gave a tiny scream before she saw it was him.

"Damon! Thank god. I don't know what happened. I hit someone but he just got up and it looked like…" she paused and a panicked expression came over her face.

"Calm down, you're ok. I'm going to get you out of here. Can you move?"

She tried the seatbelt but nothing happened.

"No, I think I'm stuck"

"Put your hands on the roof and brace yourself"

Gingerly, she put her arms over her head and placed her palms flat on the roof. He reached inside the car and yanked down hard on the seatbelt. With a yelp, she started to fall but he put his arm under her and pulled her gently out of the car. He set her on her feet but held her up in case she wasn't steady.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"I look just like her…" she mumbled and collapsed in his arms.

"Elena? Hey, can you hear me?" he tried to shake her awake but she just murmured incoherently and passed out.

Puzzled, he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to his car. After dragging her SUV out of the street, he took her back to the boarding house. He didn't want to show up on her doorstep with her unconscious and since nothing was broken or bleeding, he didn't see the need to take her to a hospital. Setting her carefully on the couch, he went in search of Stefan but didn't find him. He did however, find an old photo of Katherine sitting on the kitchen counter. Suddenly her comment made perfect sense. Clearly, she'd come back to the house looking for either him or Stefan and found the photo lying around. Stefan had probably dug it out and forgotten to stash it back in his room. Pretty careless, Stef he thought and put the photo in his pocket. He heard Elena stirring in the living room and went to check on her. She was trying to sit up and he rushed to the couch.

"Easy there. Nothing's broken but you hit your head pretty badly" he told her.

"Where's my car? What am I doing here?" she sat up very slowly and looked around.

"I moved your car and I brought you here because I couldn't think of anywhere else to take you."

"Uh, my house?" she said dubiously.

"I don't know where you live" he lied.

"Oh. Right" she said and placed her palm on her forehead.

"Does your head hurt?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little" she said wearily.

"Do you want some aspirin? Maybe a glass of water?"

She nodded and he left to retrieve them. He handed them to her and she swallowed the pills gratefully.

"I came back here this evening to see if you were home and Stefan let me in. He was going to take me to dinner. I was just going to get some water and I saw the picture on the counter. Do you know who that woman is? Katherine?"

He eyed her carefully,

"Yes, I know who she is"

"How does she have my face? That photo says 1864 on it. How is that possible?"

"I'm honestly not sure" he told her.

"That's who you thought I was the night I met you on the road. You called me Katherine."

"Yes, I did"

"Why would you think I was her? She must've died a long time ago if that picture is from 1864. How would you even know her?"

He said nothing and debated the pros and cons of telling her the truth.

"Damon?" she prodded.

"This…is a delicate subject and I'm not quite sure you're ready for it"

"I can handle it" she said confidently

He chuckled and stared into her eyes.

"You came by this afternoon and no one was here" he started to compel her.

"What are you talking about? Stefan was here"

Fucking vervain he thought.

"Ah…never mind. So you think you can handle it, huh?"

"Absolutely"

Well if worse comes to worst and she completely freaks out, I'll just have to lock her in the basement until the vervain is gone he thought.

"Have you ever heard the legends about this town?" he asked her.

"You mean about the vampires?" she said with a half laugh.

"I take it you're not a believer?"

"Vampires in Mystic Falls? I mean, come on. This is Mystic Falls. Nothing interesting ever happens here"

"I'd like to show you something but you have to remember that you said you could handle it. You can't freak out on me"

"Okay…." she said, looking nervous.

He went to Stefan's room and dug around for a few minutes before he found what he wanted. Returning to the living room with both a photo of him and Stefan from before they'd turned and a register of townspeople from 1864, he sat back down next to her. First he handed her the photo, then the book. He turned to the S page and pushed it around so she could see where he was pointing. Elena looked at the photo and then up at him and then down at the page he'd opened for her. Three lines down were two names:

Damon Salvatore

Stefan Salvatore

Her eyes were wide and confused.

"I don't understand" she said.

"What would you say is the coolest thing about vampires?" he knew if he gave her all the pieces, she would put it together on her own.

"They live forever and never grow old?" she asked.

"Uh-huh…" he gave her a long look and waited for it to click.

"No…that's…that's not possible" she kept looking at the photo and then back up at him

"This is a joke right? You guys are just like, reenactment enthusiasts or something"