Stone Cold

Break On Through

Chapter Forty-Three

*~*~*~*

"Were you just with--" Elena started when she spotted Damon heading towards the exit of the court house. Having received a call from Sheriff Forbes that Alaric had been arrested, accused with the recent Founding Family murders.

"Ric's fine," Damon assured her. "Sheriff wants me to stay out of it."

"But you're not going to, are you?" Elena guessed. Not liking the idea of them just abandoning Alaric when he was facing charges that they knew he wasn't responsible for.

"Seems just as good a plan as any," Damon shrugged.

"Your friend's in jail for murder," Elena reminded him. "You have to do something."

"Well, I guess I could rip out Dr. False Accusation's throat or maybe her tongue. You know, I could chew it up in little, tiny pieces and feed it to the squirrels." Damon mused, a grin worming its way onto his face.

"Stop it, Damon," Elena narrowed her eyes at his jokes.

"Guess me staying out of it suddenly sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?" Damon smirked. "I saved your life last night. You're welcome."

"You know, you could show a little compassion about Bonnie," she suggested.

"I know. You're right," he sighed. "Her and her mom must be really hurting right now. Should I send lasagna?"

"Okay, now you're just being mean," she shook her head.

"I mean. You hate me. The earth is back on its axis," he shrugged, not letting her words bother him. "Tell me, how's our little Brigsy doing? She forgive you for trying to sign her death sentence yet?"

"You know what? If you keep pushing people away, you're gonna end up alone." She chose to ignore his jab about Brigs, pushing down the guilt she'd been feeling since she made that deal with Esther.

"Right back at you!" Damon called after the doppelgänger as she headed back outside.

*~*~*~*

After the last twenty-four hours, Brigs wasn't particularly thrilled to find herself sitting at the Grill. Yet there she was, sitting alongside Rebekah as they waited for Carol Lockwood to join them. The blonde having insisted on meeting with the mayor as discovering that there'd been another White Oak tree in Mystic Falls at one point. Their family having burned the original tree a thousand years earlier having not been as permanent as they'd thought.

"You don't look murderous in the slightest." Sarcasm coated Rebekah's words, watching as her sister-in-law eyed the other customers filling the restaurant.

"You're one to to talk," Brigs scoffed.

"Yes, but people expect that from me," Rebekah gave a small shrug of her shoulders. Not taking any offense in the brunette's words, well aware of how true they were. "With you it's new. I like it."

"Laides," Carol greeted the pair of women as she took a seat across from them.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Mayor," Rebekah offered the woman a polite smile. "I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community."

"A long line of Lockwood women used to keep those records back before any of them had actual jobs," Carol recalled.

"Carol, we've been to the founders archive, but we can't seem to find any record of the tree we're looking for." Brigs spoke up, finally turning her gaze to the Lockwood woman.