Title: Wreck of Our Hearts

Summary: Elena's awake but everything has changed. Damon is being controlled by something evil and no one has any idea on how to save him, including her. Plus, Kai may have had one more trick up his sleeve when he cast the Sleeping Beauty spell and no one expected it. (Post Season 7; Continued AU)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

"The woman who shot Elena when she was holding the fork is Sybil's sister, Seline. I'm using the term loosely. Their only connection is abandonment issues and luring people to their deaths."

Bonnie, Enzo, Stefan, Caroline, and I all stare at him as he finishes telling the story of his time with Sybil and everything she made him do. We've heard pieces of it from Enzo but Damon was closer and has more details since he let her have full control. From how she lured her victims to what the endgame was, Damon reveals it all.

"She's setting up for something big and I think it involves Mystic Falls."

"It's because of the Ley Lines," Enzo butts in. "And something to do with Donovan's family history."

Damon nods. "The tuning fork is part of a bell. Something Officer Do-Right's ancestors created to kill sirens. It was then changed to bring on Hellfire. And guess where that bell is today?"

"Hanging in the bell tower," I blurt out, clutching my necklace. "If Hellfire comes to Mystic Falls everything will be destroyed."

"And that's what Cade wants—what Sybil and Seline are helping him do. He wants more souls to torture. He wants to walk this Earth and claim it as his own."

Bonnie stands up. "Then we have to stop him!"

Enzo walks towards her and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "We will. We know their plan and we can stop it."

"It requires Bonnie's help," Damon says, solemnly.

Enzo's eyes go wide. "Excuse me?"

With a deep sigh, Damon strolls over towards me and relaxes against the arm of the couch I'm sitting on. "It was a Bennett witch who spelled the tuning fork to kill sirens. Those witches who adore me at that house? That big horrific death that killed them was their attempt at stopping Sybil the first time. They're the ones who cursed her to remain in those tunnels."

"So I need to get the hellfire away from Mystic Falls and revert it back to Hell," Bonnie says as if she's taking down a recipe.

"And that should in turn destroy it."

Enzo's eyes go wide. "And are you not concerned for your wellbeing, love?"

Bonnie's face is stern when she says, "It's my responsibility. I have to."

"There has to be another way!"

Damon's eyes drop to the floor as he says, "There isn't."

"When is this happening?" Stefan asks.

"Soon. They're preparing for it as we speak."

Caroline stands up. "Then we need to be prepared to stop them."

The front door bursts open and Alaric comes bolting in completely distraught. "They took the girls."

An audible gasp reverberates in the room. It's Caroline who steps forward, shaking her head. "How is that possible? Bonnie spelled the house."

"She took them," Ric says, falling to his knees. It's then that I notice the blood trailing from his hairline, smell the thick scent of it in the air. "We trusted her and she took them."

"The nanny? Ric…" Caroline's eyes go wide. "Seline! Oh, my God. Seline."

"Seline was your nanny?" I ask.

Caroline quickly pulls out her phone and slides through pictures and holds it up for Damon to see. "Is that Sybil's sister?"

Damon nods. "They must need their syphoning magic for the spell to bring Cade here. It's happening today."

"Oh, no…" Caroline cries. "She messed with the wrong vampires kids."

I place my hand on her shoulder. "We'll stop them, Care. We'll get your girls."

"So," Stefan says stepping forward. "What's the plan?"

"First things first," Damon announces. "We get Matt Donovan here."

"I feel like we should be there with Bonnie."

Damon wraps his arms around me. "It's not safe for us. This is something she has to do alone."

"Plus," Stefan adds, "we need to take care of the Devil himself."

"And you don't want to be with Caroline?" I ask.

Stefan sighs. "I want to but Caroline, Enzo, and Ric have the sirens handled. This needs to be precise. We all have a job to do."

"And you've come to defeat me," a voice says in the darkness.

I step out of Damon's arms and we all steady ourselves. We need to prolong this fight until precisely the exact moment when he'll be at his most vulnerable: when Bonnie defeats the Hellfire and when Caroline and Ric get their kids back.

"Who knew the Devil would be afraid to show his face?" Damon taunts.

I feel a breath at my ear and then a voice that makes me want to crawl out of my skin. "Boo!"

As I move to jump away, Cade grabs me and Stefan and Damon instantly freeze. I can sense Damon's fear as he stares at the devils arms on my body. But there's one thing neither of them expected, I came prepared. The stake slides free from my forearm and I jam it into Cade's thigh. The unexpected pain halts whatever monologue he was about to spit out and he releases me. With a hard shove against him, I propel myself towards Stefan and Damon.

"I underestimated you," Cade says, through the pain.

My eyes narrow. "You wouldn't be the first."

He pulls the stake free with a grunt and reaches into his breast pocket for a handkerchief and begins to clean off his blood meticulously. "No, I wouldn't. I've been waiting for the elusive Elena Gilbert for a long time but you keep escaping me."

"Elena's soul isn't damned," Damon grunts through gritted teeth.

"Oh, is it not? Have we forgotten that though small, Elena has her own little trail of bodies to atone for? Connor? Kol? Jesse? The victims you've fed on?"

"Because Connor and Kol are examples of innocent victims," Damon's says, incredulously.

"She still killed them. It's still a death at her hands."

Cade discards the handkerchief and plays with the stake in his hands, smirking. He's dressed elegantly in a grey suit and if he wasn't trying to bring Hell on Earth, I'd think Cade and Elijah would get along pretty well.

Stefan puts his hand out, trying to settle the tension. "She was protecting her brother and mine. None of those kills were unjustified."

"Unlike yours, Stefan Salvatore. You enjoy the kill and toy with your victims."

"Are you here to bore us to death?" Damon says, drawing Cade's attention. "We're all perfectly aware of our crimes."

"And you would think the Great Damon Salvatore would be a little more careful considering the little taste of Hell he felt."

"If protecting this town and the people I love means an eternity of misery for me than so be it."

My eyes snap to Damon and I see the resolve on his face. Gone is the fear I felt in his bed when he confessed how absolutely terrified he was to return back to Hell. This Damon is in protective mode and he'll do anything in his power to make sure Cade doesn't win.

"Then let us begin."

Cade opens up his arms in a sweeping gesture and Stefan and Damon waste no time in flashing towards him. I follow suit and make it my only goal to remove the stake from his hand. It's chaotic and confusing and despite the three of us teaming up to take Cade down he's somehow continuing to have the upper hand. It's to his advantage that we can't kill him just yet.

At some point during the fight, Cade manages to take advantage of me and pierces the stake into my abdomen. Stefan quickly pushes me aside as Damon roars in anger and manages to press him back against the ground. The piercing pain of the wood in my stomach takes my focus and I slowly pull it free. I give myself a moment to regain my strength but without blood it's not going to be as it was before.

As I'm about to jump back in, Cade suddenly screams out in agony and at the tail end of his cry my phone begins to ring. It's Bonnie's ringtone and I quickly grab it, looking as Stefan and Damon have Cade right where we want him.

"Bonnie?"

"It's done, Elena! The Hellfire has wiped out whatever world Cade existed in. Sybil and Seline are dead! Do it now!"

"We're on it!" I scream, and slide the phone back into my pocket.

As I quickly stand, I reach for the stake and stalk towards Cade. Damon and Stefan have him on his back, completely vulnerable and it's now or never. He's weakened and his reign on my town has come to an end. I poise the stake over his heart and whisper the words, "I hope you never find peace" as I drive the stake home.

Cade cries out as thunder and lightning roll overhead. Fire begins to burst from inside of him and Damon quickly grabs hold of me to pull me back as he and Stefan flash backwards. The Devil's body is engulfed in flames until he is nothing but ashes on Earth.

"Is he really gone?" I ask.

Stefan nods. "I better call Caroline."

He pulls up his phone and puts Caroline on speaker. My best friend's voice fills the space. "Stefan? Are you okay?"

"We all are. Cade's gone. Are the girls safe?"

"Yes! Sybil and Seline we're using them to bring Cade's power up from Hell. Ric was concerned he would become too powerful for you."

"Thanks for the faith in our abilities, Blondie," Damon chides.

Stefan ignores him. "We took advantage of him just as Bonnie defeated the Hellfire. We couldn't have done it without her."

"We're catching up with her now. Do you want to meet back at the Boarding House?"

"We'll see you there."

He hangs up and we all start heading towards the car. Damon grabs my hand then and halts my steps, pulling me towards him. He stands mesmerized by the patterns his thumb is drawing on my hand. "Do you think things will ever quiet down? That it won't always be life or death with us?"

I give him a smile. "There was that one summer."

The corners of his mouth lift. "You mean when my brother was drowning?"

Frowning, I wrap my arms around him. "You know what I meant. This is our life, Damon; full of adventure and danger, but also happiness and love. It's a balance and I can handle the bad stuff as long as you're by my side."

Damon brings his forehead to mine. "How could I ever forget you?"

"You didn't. Deep down you still remembered me."

He sighs. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Elena."

I shake my head at him and bring my mouth to his. "It wasn't you, Damon. I know it wasn't you."

"Are you two coming?" Stefan interrupts.

Damon just stares at his brother. "Can I have a moment to appreciate that we're not dead?"

I let out a laugh and kiss his cheek. "Let's go home, Damon."

And we did. To enjoy this happiness while it lasted.

Over a century later…

"I never thought this day would come."

I squeeze Damon's hand and wrap my arm tighter around his. "Really?"

He sighs, fixing his tie. "Nope. You just can't keep a Bennett down." Damon kisses my temple. "How are you doing?"

I give a little sniffle as I stare down at the tombstone with my best friends name written on it. We had to mess with the birth year a little—seeing as she lived longer than any human should, but seeing her name carved into the stone is one of the most painful things I've had to experience. "It still hurts but I know she lived a good life. She found love and had adventures. She couldn't let magic keep her alive forever. It was time."

He nods, bending down to brush off dirt from Enzo's name. Bonnie stayed alive as long as she could for Enzo and they had a wonderful life but the moment the magic caught up with her we all knew it wouldn't be long before Enzo went too. The moment Bonnie's heart stopped beating Enzo removed his ring and let the sun take him. Damon made sure to take his ashes and lay them to rest beside the woman he loved.

"Do you think she found peace?"

Damon's arm wraps around me. "Peace?"

"Yeah, Anna once said that's where Jenna was. She said that those who didn't make it to the Other Side found peace and well we destroyed the Other Side."

Squeezing my shoulder, he says, "I'm sure of it."

"I just need to know she's somewhere good and not in a void all alone."

Damon turns me towards him. "She lived a good life, Elena. She went peacefully in her sleep. She had no more regrets. Believe me."

"I know. I'm just feeling anxious."

Tucking my hair behind my ear, he asks, "Why?"

"Because this overwhelming sense of forever just hit me. When Matt, Ric, and Tyler died it was hard, and Jeremy's death was excruciating, but Bonnie was my last real connection to my human life. She's gone and now there's nothing to measure time by. It's just stretching out before me; endless and never-ending."

He cradles my face and moves to meet my eyes. I can feel the tears streaming down my face and I move my hands to wipe them harshly away. I have no idea where this fear and pain is coming from. It isn't like I'm alone in this world. I have Caroline, Stefan, and most of all Damon. We've built up a strong camaraderie over the century stronger than it was in those first few years of navigating eternity.

"This isn't cutting ties to your human life. I've been a little busy over the past century and when this is all over I have a little surprise for you."

I cock my head at him but he tells me to be patient as we see Caroline and Stefan walking towards us. We gather together and say goodbye to our friends.

"Are your eyes still closed?"

"Yes," I smile, tugging on the scarf he's wrapped around my head.

"No peeking!"

With a laugh, I promise, "Okay, okay."

I feel Damon pull me over a curb and I hear the sound of our feet hitting the sidewalk. Damon's heartbeat quickens as he takes a breath and says, "Ready?"

"I've been ready for hours," I tease, my fingers twisted in the skirt of my floral dress.

"Here goes nothing," he whispers as he pulls the scarf free.

My eyes adjust to the bright light and suddenly the last thing I ever expected to see is suddenly in my view. It's just how I remembered it before it lit up in flames. The wrap around porch, the creaky swing, the black painted shutters and door. There's fresh flowers planted in the garden surrounding the baskets of plants hanging from the porch. Damon has spent the past century rebuilding my family home.

"How did you…? When did you…? Damon, I'm in shock!"

I feel his smile as he comes up from behind me and wraps his arms around me, crushing his body to mine. "Every time we've visited Bonnie and Caroline at the school I worked on it a little here and there."

"You did all this yourself?"

Damon shrugs. "I wanted to build something for you with my bare hands."

"This is amazing," I say in awe. "I can't believe you did this!"

"I'm sorry it took so long. I'm not as crafty as I thought." He laughs, this light carefree sounds that tickles my heart and has me smiling wide. The past decade has been the happiest I've ever seen Damon in my entire time knowing him. "Stefan was right. I barely knew how to whittle. What was I thinking attempting this?"

I turn around and I press my mouth to his and kiss him hard, wrapping my arms around his neck and making my body melt against his. I lose myself in the happiness of this moment and the kindness of this man's heart. He used to be considered a villain and cruel but I always saw the love he had inside of him. The things he could be capable of if someone just believed in him.

Like I do.

"Can we go inside?" I ask, pulling away.

"Of course! But there's a catch…"

I cock my head at him and he sweeps me up in his arms to carry me over the threshold. When we step inside I see it's completely vacant save for a candlelit dinner for two on a foldout table and chairs and an air mattress set up in front of the TV that's hooked up to a laptop that has Netflix set up and ready to go.

"You're all prepared."

"Always," he smiles, placing me on my feet.

Taking his hand, I guide him towards the air mattress and pull him down on to the bed with me. "Do you mind if we skip dinner to christen the place first?"

"Elena Gilbert, you are my complete match in every possible way."

I slap his chest as I slide free the buttons of his shirt. "It's Elena Salvatore now."

Laughing, he says, "Pardon me, Mrs. Salvatore, I'm just remembering a different time on a familiar porch with a human girl and a kiss that changed everything."

"What do you say we role play?" I whisper, kissing down his chest as he slides me out of my dress. "Human and vampire."

"I'm always up for role playing." He winks, positioning himself between my legs and sliding off his jeans.

With a smirk, I shake my head. The moment he's completely as bare for me as I am for him, I turn him on his back in one quick flash so I'm straddling him. My fangs expose themselves as I pin him down and bring my face close to his neck. "But this time you're the confused frail human and I'm the cocky tormented vampire."

I nip at his neck, exposing drops of blood that roll down the column of his neck. My tongue laps it up as I position myself over him. With Damon's help, I slide over him and we begin moving together as one. I can tell he's holding back, relinquishing control to me and playing his role as the weak human perfectly.

But with each movement it's becoming too much and I need to feel him with me. I want the two of us as we are now: equals. "I want you, Damon. Be you."

"As you wish," he teases, flipping our bodies so he's hovered over me, moving inside of me and driving me wild with every thrust. My hands dig into his back, pushing his body closer to mine until I have no idea where our bodies become our own. For this moment or forever we're one.

We come together with muffled gasps and promises, a screaming of names and vows.

For a while after we just lay there in the aftermath still kissing and tangled together. I'm not sure I ever want this to end. And now I know why the concept of forever isn't so scary for me. Because forever means an eternity with the one I love.

Despite all the pain and wreckage to our hearts we finally found our way back to each other just like we always will.

A/N: And that's it! The final chapter. I had planned to take this further and delve into this world longer but then the final few episodes aired and the inspiration for this just went out the window. That's why this four chapter fic took for-freaking-ever! It's short but sweet and I hope you enjoyed it despite the quick ending.

I have a few story ideas I'm working on so you should see something new soon ;) Be on the lookout!