I don't take advice very often, but it was suggested to me that I repost these chapters as one story. So here we go (I can always pull the plug later if I do not like what this is becoming...)

If you have read all of the Vampires and Witches and Elena group of stories from the beginning, you can skip this - this (should it continue to the end) will just be those chapters reposted in order, perhaps with a few improvements (spelling or whatever) and different chapter names, but no real changes to the actual story.

Like anything I do, play if you want. When this story began, we had almost nothing on Katherine, so she has not turned out exactly the way she did in the show. But I suppose that is the fun in all of this. Still, she is getting more and my like "my" Katherine in the show...

So vamonos or kapshida or (if you prefer American) let's get it on...

The Encounter

This story starts where the last episode of TV season one left off...

Elena heard the noise in the kitchen and instinctively walked in that direction. Before she reached the door, however, she felt his hand over her mouth and heard a brief "Shh". He didn't try to hide himself. She knew it was Damon.

She froze. She felt some fear rise in her, even though she had come to trust him recently. She did not know what he was doing or what the noise was - she had only heard a thump. Now there was a voice – her voice it seemed –from the kitchen.

"You know I know you're there. Both of you. Bring her in Damon."

Damon was sure now that it was Katherine he had talked to and kissed just minutes before. Maybe he had known before. Maybe that was why he had stayed nearby when she went inside with Jenna.

He dropped his hand from Elena's mouth, but made sure she saw his finger raised to his lips. He briefly considered keeping her behind him, but knew it wouldn't matter. He did put his arm around her as they entered side by side. He thought she might pull away from him, but she didn't.

Elena gasped briefly as she saw her Uncle John's body lying on the kitchen floor. She stared at it only for a second before her eyes moved to the vampire standing above him, knife in hand. She was speechless as the realization that it was Katherine set in. Damon held her tightly.

Katherine didn't look up from John's body as she spoke. "Finally we meet, Elena. Pity the circumstance."

Elena was in shock or fear – she wasn't sure. "You killed my father." Her voice was much calmer than she would have expected.

"She knows" Katherine said, finally pulling her eyes from the body and looking at Damon.

Damon nodded slightly, eyes on Katherine. "She knows."

"Am I ... next?" Elena asked, her voice breaking this time.

Damon nudged her, his eyes still fixed on Katherine. "Elena! Don't," he whispered.

Katherine was looking at the body again. She only shook her head and smiled. Finally she turned to Elena, "I didn't come here to hurt you."

"He's my father." Elena repeated. "How could it not hurt me?"

"Don't pretend. We both know he had no redeeming qualities."

"And yet you sent him here." Damon said, finally speaking.

Katherine's eyes moved to Damon. "I did, though I thought you might take care of him. You didn't, so I had to take matters into my own hands."

"And my mother?" Elena asked.

"Isobel still lives, though you might be interested to know that it was she who told John to kill Stefan and Damon along with the others." Katherine's demeanor turned icy cold. "That's where they crossed the line. "

Elena gasped again. Damon, who continued to hold one arm around her, hugged her tightly.

Katherine spoke to Damon again. "You trusted a witch because of Elena?"

"You know as well as I do that we're both alive because of Emily Bennett. I thought we could trust her descendent."

Katherine started to walk towards Elena. Damon tensed.

Katherine looked at Damon with exasperation "Damon, you know I'm not here to hurt her. I have had countless chances to kill her, yet she is fine."

Katherine kept moving until she faced Elena, who tried to stay calm. "You trust the witch, but she lied to you. And your boyfriend, both of your boyfriends, almost died."

"Bonnie saved them." Elena retorted, then quickly added "and Damon is not my..."

"You saved them." Katherine interrupted. "She would have let them die. You need to remember that."

Elena defended her friend. "She was trying protect the town."

"At the cost of the Salvatores? Is that a price you're willing to pay? If they die here, there will be nothing between me and the destruction of Mystic Falls."

Elena could only stare into her cold eyes.

"Is it true that you knew where I was and didn't care?" Damon asked into the silence?

"Who told you that?" Katherine asked, turning towards him.

"Pearl's daughter - Anna."

Katherine turned back to Elena. "Another death caused by the witch's treachery. And what was Anna's crime? Being who she was. Who Stefan is. Who I am."

"Katherine, answer my question." Damon insisted.

The other vampire looked at him again. "What does it matter? You've shown me your feelings for Elena."

"I knew it was you." Damon said, though sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

"Oh? And how did you know that?"

"Elena would have hit me. Again," Damon admitted.

"What did you do?" Elena asked Damon.

Katherine didn't let Damon respond. Instead she turned on Elena. "I don't know what game you're playing with Stefan and Damon, but you need to remember that long after you're dead and buried, they will be here. And so will I."

Elena looked back to Damon, but couldn't read his expression. "I'm not playing a…"

Katherine interrupted. "Your aunt is coming. Oh and your brother is upstairs committing suicide."

She started to leave, but turned back and spoke to Damon just before she went through the door. "If Anna told you that, Damon, she was only half right."

Damon turned quickly to Elena, who seemed stunned, her eyes starting to fill with tears. "Get Jenna and take care of Jeremy. I'll clean up after Katherine."

The Promise

Elena found herself looking for Damon a couple of days after the encounter with Katherine. Though he often seemed to just turn up around her, she sought him out this time - she wanted to talk to him on her terms. She found him at the Grill, sitting alone at the bar.

"You come to me without Stefan?" Damon asked her as she sat next to him.

"I have nothing to fear from you." she said.

Damon turned to her. "Finally figure that out?"

"It wasn't always true, Damon."

Damon faced away from her again. "If you think back, Elena, I think you will realize that it has always been true."

Elena didn't want to argue with him. She decided to get her task over with quickly. "Bonnie talked to Stefan. She told him if you killed another innocent person, she would destroy you, even if he gets in the way."

Damon's face turned hard. "Innocent person. Innocent in whose mind? Like the Mayor? Like Anna - who your brother loved? Who did she hurt? Does he know what the witch did?"

It caught her off guard. She could only say "Damon, I'm just passing the warning along."

"And what did my brother tell her?"

Elena let a breath escape. "I don't know. I didn't want to know."

"Do you remember who it was who was last chasing an innocent girl? Could it have been Stefan?"

She knew he was right, but wasn't going to admit it. "Damon…"

Damon turned towards her with a hard expression as he interrupted. "No Elena! You care about Stefan, and so do I. There are not a lot of people I care about, but I can tell you that none of you will be hurt because I trust the witch again."

"I know, Damon. I don't know why she did it. I don't know what to say."

Damon looked at his drink. "Katherine wasn't kidding when she said Bonnie could not be trusted."

This brought another worry to Elena. She hadn't mentioned Katherine's return to Stefan, but did not know if Damon had.

"Where is Katherine? Do I need to worry about her too?" Elena asked.

Damon looked like he was considering his reply. He turned back to face her again, his face showing no emotion.

"I haven't seen her. I don't know. I think you can believe her when she says she doesn't mean you any harm – for now at least. I'm more concerned about Bonnie."

"Damon, she's my friend. She saved you."

Damon's face turned hard again. "Katherine was right. You saved me. She lied and she didn't care who was hurt."

"Damon, she was just trying to protect the town." Elena began.

"Which doesn't include us?"

"Damon…"

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, Elena." Damon interrupted. "But if I didn't trust her before, I absolutely do not trust her now. You've accused me of not caring about who gets hurt. Do you really think she cares?"

"I won't let it come to that point again," Elena promised. "No one will be hurt, even if I'm wrong." She paused briefly before asking, "Could Katherine really destroy the town like she said?"

Damon nodded. "She could and she she would. She doesn't make idle threats. She wasn't lying."

Elena laughed to herself. "Finally. A vampire that doesn't lie."

Damon let out a breath and looked into her eyes. "Doesn't lie? You mean a vampire that doesn't try to protect you? You mean a vampire that doesn't love you."

Elena looked down at her hands. "I love … I love Stefan." But Damon could hear the hesitation.

His next words brought her eyes back to his. "Yes you do. And I love Katherine. But we both know that they aren't the only ones we love."

Damon looked at her intently. Elena finally lowered her eyes again. "I've asked you not to look at me like that."

Damon sighed. "There's a choice to be made, Elena, but we don't have to choose today."

"I choose Stefan," she said softly, barely looking at him.

Damon stared at her a moment, shook his head and said "Honestly Elena, I don't know what you see in him."

When she did not respond, he added "But I know what he sees in you, and if I ever hear of something out there trying to hurt you, I will be between it and you."

Damon turned and walked away. Elena could only stare at him as he left.