Untill Death

So this is just a little one shot I wrote after watching 4x09. It's my take on one of the ways they can continue with the whole 'sire bond' theory. Hope you like it!

It carries on from 4x09 so Damon is still at the Lake House with Jeremy and Professor Shane.

"There is one other way you can break the sire bond completely." I look up next to the fire and freeze my tumbler of whiskey at my lips, watching the flames rise and fall against the wood, my back turned to my small audience behind me.

"Well then come on Professor Creepy, share your latest theory."

"You die."

I stay still for a moment before turning around, noticing the tense and nervous look on Jeremy's face as he stands behind Shane who is looking at me intently.

"Excuse me?" I question him.

"If you want Elena to be unsired from you completely, one hundred percent, then one of you needs to die."

"Brilliant plan Professor! Now why the hell would I want to kill myself?" I glare at him. What part of it does he not understand? I don't want Elena to be sired to me but that doesn't mean I don't want Elena.

"It would only be temporary." Shane takes a step closer to me and I look at him sceptically. "What if I told you I know a way to bring people back from the dead?"

"I'd say you were crazy and have been hanging around with too many witches." I fire back instantly but the serious expression on his face makes me pause for thought. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because I have lost people who I love, who died way before their time and I want them back. Why do you think I want to find Silas? He is the key!"

"Of course he is," I roll my eyes "He is the key to everything, right? Finding Silas leads us to the cure? Elena will be human again and the bond will be broken. Somehow I think this death stuff is just a ploy for you to get rid of me."

"I'm not lying, Damon." He takes another step closer. "How do we even know the cure will be as simple as Elena taking it and becoming human again? We don't know for sure what it will do."

"He's right." Jeremy eventually finds his voice "I kill a dozen vampires to find a cure that my sister might not even want? Then what? She'll still be sired to you, Damon."

"Of course she wants the cure!" I frown at him confused.

"Are you sure about that?" Jeremy asks "Or is that just what everyone else wants for her? Have you even asked her?"

I stay silent because I've realised that no one has actually asked Elena's opinion on this.

Shane takes this moment to continue. "Her feelings for you are real, Damon, I can see that, Jeremy can see that, but you clearly aren't sure which is why you sent her away. What happens if she proves to you that the sire bond doesn't affect the way she feels about you? You believe her and you'll be together but a part of you will always be wondering just how real it really is, you'll always have that element of control over her when you should be in an equal relationship."

"Why do I feel like you want me to do this?" I look at him suspiciously.

"What you do, Damon, doesn't really concern me." Shane shrugs and pours himself a glass of my expensive bourbon "I'm more concerned in seeing how the sire bond theory plays out than your life." He tells me brutally.

"What about you, Gilbert?" I direct my question at Jeremy who is looking thoughtful.

"I have every reason to hate you, Damon. For one, you're a vampire, two, you're a dick, and three, you killed me. But Elena doesn't hate you, and I don't want her to be involved in some kind of one sided controlling relationship, even if you're not doing it on purpose." He looks down at his arm for a moment before looking back up at me. "I haven't wanted to kill you once in the last hour, that must mean something, right? Elena cares about you, and more than you probably know which is why I want to help you break this sire bond."

"By killing me?"

"If that's what it takes," Jeremy shrugs casually "But it's your call."

It is my call. I frown and turn back around to face the fire and think deep in thought.

How do I know that Elena's feelings are real if she is always going to be sired to me?

I want her to live freely and do as she pleases, with or without me. I just want Elena to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted. If she ends up going back to Stefan then so be it, that would be her choice.

That damn C word.

I think about the death part and wonder if this is just a ploy the two of them have cooked up between them to get me out of the way and to add more of the map to Jeremy's arm.

It could be. Maybe.

They seem sincere but you never know.

"So what are the chances of you finding this Silas guy and how long will it take?" I ask seriously.

"We can find him from the map. And for how long? Honestly? It could take months, maybe even years, centuries if we're not lucky, but we will dig him up and you will come back to life, we'll make sure we hide your body somewhere safe to ensure that."

I ponder the thought of spending years looking for the cure with Elena sired to me, how painful that would be to watch her live without really living.

She deserves better than that. She deserves her free will.

I love her, she deserves to be happy, and she deserves to live her life, her undead life anyway, the way she wants too.

I nod my head and place my glass down on the counter before picking up a piece of firewood that is placed next to the fire and twirl it around in my hands for a few moments.

I take a deep breath and turn around to face Jeremy who is watching me nervously.

"Ok." I take a step forward and hand him the stake. "Do it."

Elena's beautiful face is the last thing I picture as I feel the stake drive through my heart and I know I've done the right thing by her.