The Game

A fic by: Jenna

Rating: M for smut and bad language.

Disclaimer: I own none of TVD characters. I wish I owned Damon, but alas…I do not. I do like to take him out—play with him and then put him away happy though. :) :)

Part 1

Salvatore Boarding House:

Damon stepped into the entry way of the boarding house just in time to hear Stefan threaten Elena. For all of a heartbeat, he was sure he'd misunderstood because no way-no how could his brooding, self flagellating little bro honestly be telling Elena 'if she tried to leave Mystic Falls, he'd hunt her down, drain her, gut her and then cut her into tiny pieces!'

"Not even Damon could put you back together again, Elena. So I suggest you stay put until Klaus sends for you," he all but purred in a voice that instantly reminded Damon that they weren't dealing with the Stefan that was on a 'Thumper-diet' anymore. Klaus had put a 'whammy' on little bro and Stefan was once again in full 'Ripper' mode. He'd sent Elena home last night after Stefan had let them know he planned on sticking around.

God dammit! Damon thought. What the hell is she doing back here? The last thing he needed was for Elena to end up as another name on Stefan's 'wall of shame'!

Damon blurred into the house and across the parlor before neither Elena nor Stefan knew he was there. He pulled Stefan away from her and shoved him back. Elena was pressed up against the wall so tight; it was as if she were trying to melt into it. She was pale, chest heaving and obviously shaken up, but it was the look of absolute horror on her face that Damon couldn't forgive. Stefan had just scared the shit out of her and Damon was more than pissed off. He was livid—enraged and just about ready to kill! He snarled at Stefan and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "You son of a bitch!" he growled and sent the younger Salvatore flying across the room. Stefan crashed into the wall, but was back on his feet in an instant, (huge daily doses of human blood really helps with the recuperative powers) his eyes darkening to a gruesome red as his fangs extended.

Damon was on him again in an instant (he'd been eating his 'Wheaties' too) and he grabbed Stefan by the neck, pinning him against the wall. "If I ever hear you threaten her like that again, I'm going to forget you're my brother. Are we clear?" he snapped, giving Stefan a little shake for good measure.

Stefan chuckled darkly. One heavy brow quirked and he shook his head as if saddened. "Still trying to be the hero, huh?"

For just a second, Damon loosened his grip. It was so damned creepy to hear Stefan talk like that; it kind of freaked him out. Stefan was supposed to be the good one. For nearly a century, he had been the good brother, but seeing Stef like this was like some twisted sense of déjà-vu, reliving the time right after they'd turned. Stefan had been out of fucking control and it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize it was as bad now as it was then—maybe worse.

The younger sibling took advantage of his brother's momentary lack of concentration and shoved Damon off him. "Give it up—you're the anti-hero in this drama. Haven't you got that yet?" Stefan leaned in, giving Damon a smirk that was eerily reminiscent of his own. "You're pathetic," Stefan sneered, his words cutting deep, like a knife in Damon's gut. "No one loves you. Not Katherine. Not Elena. Hell, even our own father loved me more than you." He smiled cruelly and twisted the blade. "You'll never be the first choice so why do you keep trying so-damned-hard?"

Damon wanted to give a sarcastic, flippant reply, he really did, but couldn't because Stefan's words echoed his own thoughts—making his worst fear a reality by bringing it into the open and saying it out loud. Damon's jaw clenched and he slammed Stefan back against the wall again. "It doesn't matter," the eldest Salvatore growled, planting a hand on his brother's chest and holding him still. "I'll still protect her." He let Stefan go and took a step back, keeping himself between Elena and Stefan, "even if that means protecting her from you."

Elena was still pressed against the wall, her hand over her mouth, stifling her sobs as her worst nightmare unfolded before her very eyes. Seeing Stefan like this was worse than any nightmare though. He was acting far worse than Damon ever had—even on a bad night! And while hearing him say such heartless, ugly words made her sick, it was Damon's response that struck a chord within her and finally snapped her out of her terrified stupor.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

Damon spun around and stared at her, wide eyed. "Elena, you've got to be kidding me! He was threatening to—"

"No. Not you, Damon. I didn't mean you," she said, giving him an apologetic glance that told him without words how much she appreciated him coming to her rescue—yet again. "I meant you," she almost growled to Stefan, her voice lowering to that husky octave she got when she was protecting someone she loved.

It was a voice Damon recognized, but it wasn't one he'd ever had her use for him and certainly not one he'd ever seen her use against Stefan! He watched her defend him, rounding on his baby-bro like a lioness.

"I know you've been compelled to 'flip-the-switch' but how can you sit there and say those things to him?" Elena stalked across the room until she was right in front of Stefan. She poked him in the chest. "Don't you dare sit there and tell him what I feel for him! You have no idea what I feel anymore!"

Damon blinked several times, as if not believing what he was seeing, but when she told Stefan that she did indeed 'love' him, his jaw literally dropped and for once; Damon Salvatore was stunned absolutely speechless!

Stefan, on the other hand wasn't. He gave a soft, malicious little laugh. "So…you really are Katherine's doppelganger," he said ruthlessly. His eyes went to Damon and then back to Elena before giving them both a smile that was so dead, so cold, it was beyond creepy. It was downright scary. "Hmm, even down to loving both of us, huh?" Stefan crossed his arms across his chest and leveled his dead green eyes on Elena. "Have you fucked him yet?"

Stefan asked that so casually, both Elena and Damon gaped at him. It was as if he was asking what the temperature was!

Elena paled considerably, cringing at the Katherine comparison. "I—How can you ask me that?" she breathed.

Stefan shrugged. "How can I not? According to Kat—Damon was the best 'fuck' she'd ever had and since she's over five hundred years old—that says a lot." He turned to Damon and before Damon could even process that statement, he smirked again. "But that was all you ever were—a great fuck! She loved me."

Again—Damon's normally quick wit deserted him. This was a Stefan he was unprepared for. This brutal kind of twisted honesty was usually his thing and it took him less than a nanosecond to realize he didn't like being on the receiving end of it.

Stefan turned back to Elena. "So…have you taken my brother's cock out for a test drive yet?" he asked with a kind of detached curiosity that had both Damon and Elena staring at him with open mouthed shock. "Or are you just saying you love him because you feel sorry for him?"

Elena flushed bright red at Stefan's crude words and Damon had heard enough. Thankfully at that moment his tongue finally decided to re-join the dysfunctional little party. "Stefan, shut the fuck up!" he snarled. Lame as far as comebacks, yes, but at that point, Damon simply wanted Stefan to shut-his-fucking-mouth! Damon decided to try the 'Ambassador of Goodwill' approach. "Look, I think Elena's heard all she needs to about our sordid little past with the Queen of all Bitches," he said softly. "How about we leave it in the past where it belongs?"

"Really?" Stefan retorted, raising a dubious brow, "because it seems to me that she's following in Katherine's footsteps. So maybe she needs to hear more—maybe she should hear everything."

Damon's jaw tightened. "Leave it alone, Stefan."

"No," Stefan went on, warming to the topic. "Come on, Elena; tell me…do you want to ride me while Damon fucks you in the ass or vice versa?" His playful wink belied the cruelty stamped across his face. "Katherine usually preferred me in the back door, but then again…" He shrugged. "Damon is a little bigger. Not that it mattered in the long run, right brother?" he said to Damon, snickering. "She still preferred me over you."

Elena couldn't quite stifle her gasp and her tear filled eyes flew to Damon's face as if seeking conformation. Damon looked away, refusing to meet her eyes and Elena knew it was true. She made a face. Ugh! They'd shared more than Katherine's love apparently. They'd literally *shared* Katherine—simultaneously. She didn't dwell too long on the *ick* factor in that revelation, there would be time for that later, but what did strike her hardest was how disgustingly blasé Stefan appeared when saying those vile words. It was like he was made of stone and everything that she'd cared for and loved about him was just gone. She'd known this would happen—had literally seen it happen, yet she still was so stunned at this side of him that she honestly couldn't have been more shocked had he sprouted horns and professed to be the devil himself at this point!

Stefan laughed outright at Elena's expression. "Oh come on, Elena, surely you suspected me and Damon had been with her at the same time? She was a vampire—we were young, testosterone filled guys…" Stefan's eyes never left Elena's face as he said, "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. I saw the way you were looking at my brother last night. If I hadn't come in…" He left the sentence hanging there like a large elephant in the room.

Damon growled, not at all willing to get into this conversation right now. "Quit being a dick!" he gritted out; teeth clenched tight. "You've proved your point. Gotten your pound of flesh and all that. Give it a rest already."

Stefan shrugged, ignoring Elena's pained expression. "Whatever. I'm just saying…"

Stefan's callousness chilled him. Damon was used to shutting off his emotions. Hell, he'd flipped the switch so often in the last hundred years, he could almost do it by rote, but this—this was different. Stefan wasn't just shutting off his emotions. It was almost as he simply didn't have them anymore. It was in that instant that Damon actually got scared; scared that he'd truly lost his brother because this creature standing before him bore no resemblance to Stefan in any way, shape or form. Not even in his worst days had Damon ever seen Stefan this…indifferent and once again, Damon wondered 'what the fuck had Klaus done to him?'

"I thought you'd be happy, bro. I know you love her. I'm giving you my blessing."

"She's not a present you can re-gift and hand off," Damon bit out, torn between hope that maybe Stefan was seeing something he hadn't and anger at Stefan for talking about Elena as if she was an old shirt he was tired of.

It was simply too much. Elena was sick and tired of being a victim and a spectator in the drama her life had become. Damon was right. Stefan was gone and right now she didn't really care. He was an ass!

"She's right here," Elena snapped, "and now she's leaving so you can stop!" Elena glanced to Damon and her eyes softened. "Can you take me home? Caroline dropped me off here earlier and I don't have my car."

Damon nodded, ignoring Stefan's amused expression as he brushed past him.

Stefan made an *unh-unh* sound and blurred past them to block the door. "Nope. Sorry, but Elena stays here."

"Why?" Damon asked, pausing, keys in hand.

"Because Klaus wants her to."

"Wrong answer, little brother," Damon shot back and proceeded to head for the door with Elena in tow.

Stefan slammed the door shut when Damon opened it. He blocked their exit with his body. "I said. She. Stays. Here."

It was pretty obvious Stefan was itching for a fight and Damon was all too happy to give it to him.

"No, she doesn't," the older sibling said softly. "She's going home. Now, get out of my way or I'll move you, Stefan."

Stefan was up in Damon's face in a heartbeat and rushed him backwards, slamming his back against the wall. "I'm not hunting down Bambi anymore, Damon. If this gets physical...you may lose," he said quietly.

Damon scoffed and gripped his brother's wrists, forcing him to let go of his John Vervatos Tee-shirt. "And so may you and then where would you be? Beaten up with your Master all pissed off. Is that what you want?" he quipped, forcing Stefan back a step or two.

Stefan paused, but he didn't give up. "Either she stays here or I follow her home. Take your pick."

Elena glanced from one brother to another. Her heart lodged in her throat as Damon's jaw clenched so tightly, a muscle ticked in his cheek. She could almost see his muscles flex in anticipation for a fight. She may be utterly disgusted with Stefan right now, but she didn't want him hurt-or worse and the thought of Stefan actually getting the better of Damon did things to her stomach that she simply couldn't (or wouldn't) put a name to, so she stepped forward to head off the confrontation she could see brewing.

"I'll stay," she said, putting a hand on Damon's arm to stop him from going after Stefan and forcibly removing him from their path.

Damon rounded on her. "Are you insane? You can't stay here with Jack 'The Ripper-Vamp'!"

"Damon..." she began, but Stefan cut her off.

"But if she's here then you can protect her, right brother?"

Again Damon's jaw went hard as he debated the pros and cons of sending Elena home where Stefan could walk right into her house and do God knows what, or keeping her here in the boarding house where he could at least keep an eye on her. It was a no brainer. "Fine," he growled, coming to his decision, "but you stay the hell away from her."

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Stefan asked, far too cheerful for Damon's piece of mind.

"Damon, I can handle this," Elena said.

"Yeah, Damon, she can handle this," his 'suddenly-psycho' brother parroted, still sporting that disturbingly happy smirk.

Damon scowled at them both, but remained silent. This was getting ridiculously bizarre and too 'Jerry Springer' for his taste and he couldn't help but think that letting Stefan walk around free as a bird was a very bad idea. And since when did he become the voice of reason? Again—too bizarre!

Elena squared her shoulders and faced the man she loved (used to love?). "Stefan, I'll stay here, but that doesn't mean I want to go round and round with you and listen to all the ways you've abandoned your humanity or how you and Damon shared Katherine." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Right now you obviously don't care what I think about you, so I don't really care to hear what you think. Just leave me alone."

"But Elena, I thought you weren't giving up on me?" he retorted.

"I'm not. I'm just…" Her eyes met Damon's and she knew he'd protect her—violently if necessary. "Look, I'll stay, okay? But only if you agree to stay away from me."

"Again…" Stefan replied, without a hint of remorse or guilt. "Where'd the fun be in that?" He leaned down into Elena's face. "I know…how about we play a game?"

Damon did not like the sound of that and finally spoke up. "How about we don't."

Stefan slung an arm around Damon's shoulder. "Oh, come on, bro," he said, cajoling. Damon simply rolled his eyes and shrugged Stefan off. Stefan snorted. "Jeez, you were so much more fun before you fell in love with my girlfriend…" He made an *oops* sound and the laughter that followed was devoid of all warmth or humor. It was cutting—meant to hurt. "Or I guess I should say *ex* girlfriend, now, shouldn't I?"

Elena had had enough. She wasn't going to give this new Stefan the satisfaction of seeing her squirm and run away. He was being worse of a dick than Damon had ever dreamed of being and she used to stand up to him all the time. Elena wasn't a coward and it was time to make a stand.

"What kind of game?" she asked, warily. Really sitting around a table playing anything with Stefan was the very last thing she wanted to do, but it was better than having him and Damon go at it all night.

As if sensing she would do anything to avoid him and Damon fighting, Stefan chuckled darkly. "Nothing too bad, Elena. Don't look so worried," he said reaching out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Elena flinched away. "Don't."

Damon gave a small growl. "Tell her about this damned game you're proposing or let's take this outside because if you touch her again...I will put something wooden and pointy in your chest, brother."

Stefan stared into Elena's eyes for a long moment, but when she simply stared abck, unflinching, he shrugged. "It's a drinking game. Kind of like Truth or Dare, only without the whole 'Junior-High-making out in a closet for ten minutes' kind of aspect."

Damon gave her a look that clearly said, 'You've got to be kidding me-no way in hell should we do this', but Elena ignored it. She was taking back the reigns of her life and while Damon might not like it, he'd stand beside her. Of that she had no doubts. She nodded. Let him ask his questions. Let him play his game. Maybe if they got him drunk-they could vervain his ass and lock him up! She didn't have any other options anymore. Elena was tired of running away from what he'd become. She glanced to Damon, begging him with her eyes to let her go with this. He gave her a small, imperceptible nod.

"Okay, we'll play," she said, trying to decide how to let Damon know about her plan 'without' letting Stefan know. "But first we have to set some ground rules…" she said, a determined tilt to her stubborn chin.

"Now there's the spirit," Stefan said. He motioned for Elena to precede him into the parlor and with a small, furtive glance at Damon; she did.

Elena had that look on her face that Damon recognized well. She was up to something and determined to see it through. He sighed. He'd get it from her, but he wasn't really looking forward to this little 'game' of his brothers'. Too many things could go wrong here. Stefan was a loose cannon right now and Damon hated going into any situation without knowing the odds. but he wasn't about to leave Elena down here, alone, with only his brother as company. With another sigh, he followed after them, despite his gut feeling that this wasn't going to end well...

*Okay guys...so here's my first foray back into DElena territory in a while. I know this chappie had no smut (and you all know how I *love* my smut) but I can promise you lots of DElena goodness in this fic. Now if you'd be so kind to click that little blue button and tell the Musie Beast what you think-she'll be very happy. :) :)

Reviews are like comfort food people... :) :)

Jenna