That evening, Lucy and Damon curled up together on the couch. She was laying against him with his arm wrapped around her chest and their fingers linked together while they sipped their drinks. They were simply enjoying the quiet of an empty house as their roommates were on a date.

"Need a refill?" Lucy asked as she swung her legs off the couch.

Damon drained what was left in his glass before handing it over. "Thanks."

Once she'd poured them new drinks, she carried them back over. She sat hers on the table and handed Damon's to him. "I just realized I don't have my phone. I'm going to find it. Be right back." She leaned down and gave him a kiss with a smile. "Love you, baby," she said as she pulled back.

"Love you, too." He slapped her ass as she turned to walk from the room. He leaned his head against the back of the couch and waited for her to return. A loud crash from the other room had him jerking upright. "Lucy?" he called even as he hurried in that direction.

He rounded the corner to find the love of his life crumpled on the floor. Wide, lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling. He sucked in a painful breath. No. Not his Lucy. He dropped to the floor beside her, tearing open his wrist as he did so. He lifted her head and pressed the wound against her mouth, begging her silently to drink. To not leave him alone in this world.

Quiet laughter caught his attention and he glanced up through the tears that flooded his eyes. Some asshole he'd never seen smirked down at them. "Assumed she was a bloodsucker, too," the stranger said with a shrug. "Oops."

Damon launched himself at the man responsible for ending his world. He dodged and jumped on Damon's back, jabbing a needle into his neck. Fuck. Vervain. No. Not now. He threw himself backward and shoved the man into the wall. Pictures broke and fell to the floor with a crash.

Damon's eyes darted over to Lucy as he struggled to free himself from her killer's hold. Please, just let her breathe. Blink. Anything, he pleaded with a universe that wasn't listening. That had quit listening to him a century and a half ago. Another needle, another shot of vervain and Damon fell to the floor, weak and desperate. His gaze never left his girl.

"Damn, you're strong," the asshole said as more walked into the house. "Check that one."

Another man bent down to check Lucy's pulse. "She's gone."

His breath stuttered in pain. He didn't know what they wanted but they might as well kill him. Lucy was gone. There was no reason for him to live. The last thing he saw before the world went dark was Jules the bitch walk in with a shotgun on her shoulder.

***

When Damon came to, he was chained to a chair with some sort of collar around his neck. Lucy lay on the floor in front of him, her eyes still open and empty. Even in her death they disturbed her, used her to torment him. He turned his head away from the sight only to come face to face with her killer.

"Morning, sunshine."

"I'm going to make sure you piss yourself before you die," Damon responded. "I'll give you the freedom of death after you beg for it." Destroying those that hurt his girl was his only reason to live at the moment. Once he'd repaid them he could move on, but not until then.

The wolf jerked the chains he was holding and the collar around Damon's neck shifted, driving the wooden shards embedded in the collar into his neck. He grunted in pain.

"I hear you have the moonstone, Damon," Jules said as she walked into the room.

The moonstone? That's why Lucy had been killed? For a rock they didn't even have? "Do what you want to me. I'm not telling you shit. And I'll laugh when someone rips your heart out just like I did to Mason."

The blonde bitch gave a tight smile. "This time it will be you that loses their heart." With a nod of her head, the asshole pulled on the chains for the collar again. "Of course, then there's buckshot," she said showing him her gun. "It scatters throughout the body. Maximum damage. Where's the moonstone?"

"Fuck you."

"You looking for this?" a voice said. Jules spun and Damon's gaze shifted to the doorway to find Elijah leaning against it. He stepped into the room, moonstone in hand, and placed it on the table. "Go ahead. Take it."

One of the wolves charged and Elijah ripped his heart out, dropping it to the floor. Two more tried and met the same fate. Jules ran off and the only one that remained was the one holding Damon's chains. Elijah approached slowly. "What about you, sweetheart? Wanna take a shot?"

The wolf whimpered and coward, trying to hide in his jacket. "Please."

Damon cleared his throat. "He killed Lucy."

Elijah's head jerked to the side and followed Damon's gaze to Lucy's body. His jaw tightened as he turned back to his prey. "Where's the girl? I'm certain this was her doing."

"I don't know," Damon answered.

"Doesn't matter," Elijah said. He drove his hand into the wolf's abdomen and jerked it out. He glanced at what was in his hand. "Pretty sure that's a kidney. You only need one of those. Should I try for the spleen next?"

The man whimpered and the acrid aroma of piss filled the air. Elijah glanced down at the mess with a raised brow. "How unsanitary." He pulled back and punched the wolf, breaking his neck. Fitting.

Elijah grabbed the chains holding Damon to the chair and snapped them. He knelt beside Lucy and closed her eyes. "How long ago did she die?" he asked, his voice tight.

"I can't be sure. I passed out. An hour. Maybe more." He shoved the chains off and tore the collar from his neck. What difference did it make? She was gone. "You have a necromancer on speed dial?"

"Not exactly." Elijah glanced at his watch then picked Lucy up and laid her on the couch.

Damon leaned forward, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes as he tried to process that his love was dead. His chest ached and he found it hard to breathe.

"Given the amount of blood I fed her this morning, I suspect she will be waking shortly," Elijah said as he sat at her feet.

Damon jerked his head up. "What?" He needed to her the elder vampire say it again. Needed to be certain he wasn't hallucinating before he got his hopes up.

"I added it to the cup when I refilled her coffee. I intended to speak with you about doing the same until she made up her mind to turn though it is now a moot point."

He leaned back in his chair in stunned disbelief.

"Now we just wait for her to awaken."

***

Lucy woke suddenly and sat up with a gasp, her hand flying to her neck. It didn't hurt. Why didn't it hurt? She should be dead. And if she wasn't dead, she should at least be hurting.

She was pulled against a hard chest and hands threaded into her hair to hold her close. "I thought I told you to stop getting hurt. You were gone and I was ready to follow. You can't leave me, Lucy. I won't survive it." Damon's voice flowed through her, relaxing her.

She snuggled against him. "What happened?"

"That bitch Jules showed up looking for the moonstone. One of them snapped your neck."

"I remember that vividly. How am I still alive?"

"That would be my doing," Elijah said and Lucy pulled back to look at him.

"I don't understand. Did you heal me?"

He pursed his lips and looked between her and the vampire holding her in his arms. "You're in transition, Lucy."

Surprise shot through her. "What?"

Damon pushed her hair behind her ear. "Elijah slipped blood into your coffee this morning."

Her gaze darted back to Elijah. "I should be furious with you for taking the choice away from me."

He shrugged. "I have taken nothing from you. It is your choice whether you complete the transition or not."

She narrowed her eyes. After a moment her lips twitched into a smile and she shook her head. "You're lying. If I don't drink willingly, you'll pour it down my throat."

Damon's brows arched in surprise and he looked between the two of them before settling on his girlfriend. "Would he really?"

"You bet your ass he would," she said with a chuckle. "Thank you, Elijah. While I'm not sure I'm ready to be a vampire, I am 100% certain I'm not ready to die."

The corner of Elijah's mouth curled into a smile. "I am going to make a suggestion to the two of you. It is up to you whether you take the advice or not. Your emotions will be heightened, little one, and though I don't think it will take you long, you will need to learn control. Go away for a few days, take Stefan and the lovely Caroline with you. I will take care of things here."

Damon ran a hand down her arm. "That's actually not a bad idea. What do you say, beautiful?"

"Stay in Mystic Falls or get the hell out for a few days? Hmm, tough call. When are we leaving?"