02|THE NIGHT OF THE COMET

Gemma walks into the parlor, her eyebrows raising at the sight of Elena Gilbert standing in the entryway of her home.

"Stefan?" The girl calls out, not turning around. "Stefan?"

A crow flies into the house and Elena spins on her heel, coming face to face with the female Salvatore. Her eyes go wide and she gives Gemma a once over before smiling shakily, "I...I'm sorry for barging in. The door was..." she trails off as she sees the closed door. "—open."

"Mm," Gemma hums as she folds her arms. Her eyes flick around Elena's face before she nods slowly. "You must be Elena,"

"Yeah," the said girl's smile widens.

"I'm Gemma," the Salvatore tells her. "Stefan's sister."

"He didn't tell me he had a sister," Elena frowns.

Gemma nods with a wry smile, "we haven't seen each other in quite a few decades."

Elena chuckles, assuming Gemma's kidding. Her eyes skim the inside of the house, awe gracing her features. "It's just as pretty inside as it is outside,"

"Mhm," Gemma hums. "Come in, I'm sure Stefan will be home any second."

"Wow," Elena marvels. "This is your living room?"

Damon rounds the corner, his arms folded across his chest and a smirk rising on his lips. "Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste,"

Elena stares at the man with raised eyebrows, blushing when he looks her up and down.

"I see why my brother's so smitten," the oldest Salvatore says. "It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him,"

"The last one?" Elena wonders, glancing at Gemma who's observing quietly.

"Yeah," Damon practically chirps. "Katherine, his girlfriend?" Elena shakes her head, a thick blanket of awkwardness falling over them. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"You have more than enough of those, Damon," Gemma pipes up. "I'm sure you can entertain yourself."

Damon squints at his sister, his eyes flicking between she and Elena before he nods once. "I see when I'm not wanted,"

"Yes, you're very observant," Gemma snarks.

Elena muffles a laugh with her palm, watching the siblings bicker in amusement.

"Fine, fine," Damon relents. "I'm leaving,"

He spares Elena a glance over his shoulder as he saunters out of the room, whistling an unfamiliar tune under his breath.

"Sorry about him," Gemma mutters as she sits on the arm on the couch. "Us Salvatore siblings aren't too optimistic when it comes to relationships. Hasn't worked out too well for us,"

"You say that like every relationship you're ever going to have is doomed to end," Elena arches an eyebrow, shuffling closer to the vampire.

Gemma drums her fingers against her thigh, "I've yet to be proven wrong," she looks over Elena's shoulder and catches her younger brothers eyes. "Hello, Stefan."

"Elena," he ignores his sister. "I didn't know you were coming over,"

"I know," she turns on her heel and approaches the boy. "I should have called, I just..."

Gemma snorts under her breath when Damon trots back into the room, hellbent on antagonizing his brother. "Oh, don't be silly," he waves off the girl. "You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But...I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

Stefan and Damon level their stares, a challenging gaze in their eyes. "Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you."

The Gilbert girl clears her throat awkwardly, "Yeah, I should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Gemma."

Gemma looks up, surprised. "Yeah, uh, nice to meet you too."

Elena perks up the slightest bit, cocking her head as she gazes at the female Salvatore. "Maybe we can meet up, have lunch sometime? You can tell me about that tragic relationship story you're dying to talk about."

Gemma scoffs, a grim pulling at her lips. "Goodbye, Elena."

Elena hums happily, her cheerful expression dropping when she's confronted with Stefan in the way of her leaving. "Stefan...." she trails off. "Stefan?" He moves without looking at her, his stare aimed over her head. The girl leaves without another word.

"Great gal," Damon drawls. "She's got spunk. You, on the other hand, look pooped. Did you over-exert yourself today?" He smiles smugly, "Let me guess...hospital."

"Someone had to clean up your mess," Stefan grumbles.

"Well, were you successful? Did the powers of persuasion work? Remember, if you don't feed properly, none of those little tricks work right."

Stefan looks away from his brother, taking a few large steps toward Gemma. "How long was Elena here?"

"Not long," she replies.

"Were you worried, Stefan?" Damon continues his efforts. "Scared we may be doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little game, I'm a high school stufent?"

"I'm not playing any game," Stefan growls.

"Of course you are," Damon exclaims. "We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it."

Gemma grimaces, wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

"What kind of game are you playing, Damon?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Stefan watches his brother go, his lips turning into a deep frown when Gemma straightens up and goes to follow. "Why do you follow him so blindly? He's hellbent on ruining my life and you're just letting him!"

"I don't let Damon do anything," she argues.

"But you don't stop him either, do you?"

"Since when can I force him to do anything, Stefan? He's his own person!"

"Don't give me that," he snaps. "You and Damon have been wrapped around each other's fingers since before we were turned. You two could talk each other into anything,"

"Things have changed since then," Gemma reminds him.

"Like what?" Stefan asks boredly, giving the girl a blank stare.

"Like the fact that he was there for me when you weren't!" Gemma bursts. "Even when we were human, you always had something better to do! You always had someone better to entertain yourself."

"You didn't need me," Stefan grits out. "You had him!"

"I needed my brothers!" She throws her arms up in frustration. "Mom died and Dad expected me to take her place. Do you know how much I sacrificed? Do you know how hard I had it?"

"You were fine," Stefan mutters. "You has it easier than Damon and I."

Gemma's eyes widen and her face morph into disbelief. "You actually believe that, don't you? Oh my—"

"Gemma," Damon calls for the girl as he enters the room. "That's enough. Come on," he nods for her to follow him.

Gemma clenches her jaw and gives Stefan one last look, "you and I remember things very differently, little brother."

•••

The next day, while Gemma tries to nurse her sorrows at the bar in The Grill, luck appears not to be on her side. With Damon disappearing in the middle of their conversation, and then Stefan dragging her out of the restaurant by her upper arm, it seems as if fate is trying to say a very big "screw you" to the female Salvatore.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Gemma spits. "First, you insult me by insinuating I have nothing to be upset over and then you have the audacity to—"

"Vicki Donovan is missing," Stefan tells her as he drags her along.

"Okay," Gemma shrugs out of his grip. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Hey," Matt calls out from a few feet in front of them. His eyes flick between Gemma and Stefan, his eyes narrowing.

"Hey," Stefan greets, shuffling away from Gemma.

"Have you seen my sister?" Matt asks.

"No, sorry." Stefan replies.

Matt glances at Gemma, raising his eyebrows in question.

"No," Gemma shakes her head.

"I can't find her," he tells them. "She's missing."

"We'll keep an eye out for her," Stefan reassures the boy.

Matt stops them once again when they try to leave. "Hey," he addresses Stefan. "I saw you at the hospital yesterday."

"Did you?" Stefan plays it off.

"What were you doing there?"

"What do you usually do at hospitals?" Gemma snaps, "you visit."

"Visiting?" Matt questions, skeptical. "You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."

"Might wanna watch your back, Matt." Gemma blinks innocently. "That almost sounds like a threat."

Stefan nudges her and shakes his head, pressing a hand against her back to urge her forward. "We have to go,"

Gemma looks over her shoulder at the blue eyed boy as they trudge away. "Hope you find your sister, Matt."

•••

Gemma Salvatore's at a loss as she watches Vicki Donovan struggle within her brother's clutches.

"No!" The girl shrieks, "No!"

"Shh, I'm not gonna drop you." He whispers to her. He glances up at Stefan, impressed with how quickly he found him. "Not bad. Have you been eating bunnies?"

"Let her go," Stefan demands.

"Shh," Damon hushes the girl. His eyes brighten and he hums, "Really? Okay," he pulls her to the edge of the roof and silently threatens to shove her off.

"No!" Vicki screams.

"No, no, no!" Stefan rushes out.

Damon rolls his eyes and shoves the girl toward Stefan, a groan escaping his lips. "Relax,"

"What's happening?" Vicki questions drowsily.

Gemma squats down in front of her, eyes flicking around the girl's face. "You're being held captive, sweetheart."

Damon grins and looks at his brother, "I don't need her to be dead, but...you might." He gets Vicki's attention, "What attacked you the other night?"

"I don't know," she struggles to answer. "An animal."

"Are you sure about that?" Damon pushes. "Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?"

Vicki hesitates before her mouth gapes open, "A vampire."

"Who did this to you?"

"You did!" She cries.

"Wrong!" Damon sings.

"Don't," Stefan practically begs.

"It was Stefan," Damon breathes.

"Don't," Stefan pleads.

"Come here," Damon grabs Vicki on both sides of her head. "Stefan Salvatore did this to you," he compels her.

"Stefan Salvatore did this to me," she repeats monotonously.

"He's a vampire. A vicious, murderous monster."

"Please, Damon." Stefan shuffles forward. "Gemma, stop him. Please don't do this."

"If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." Damon shrugs and rips off her bandage, shoving her into Stefan's arms. "Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."

"No!" The Donovan continues to struggle.

"You have two choices," Damon says. "You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming vampire through the town square."

"That's what this is about?" Stefan deadpans. "You want to expose me?"

"No! I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill?" His face morphs with disgust for his brother. "So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you."

Gemma makes a sound in the back of her throat, her lips pulling into a smirk. "Harsh, Stef."

"Huh," Damon nods. "Huh. Wow. Come here, sweetheart." He pulls Vicki into his arms.

"No!"

"It's okay," he says softly. He leans forward and whispers something into her ear, patting her shoulders when she relaxes with a lazy smile.

"What happened?" She slurs, "Where am I?" She cringes back, cupping her neck with a whimper. "Oh, I ripped my stitches open."

"You okay." Stefan checks.

"I took some pills, man." She laughs, "I'm good."

"It's good to be home," Damon says after Vicki leaves. "Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?"

"What are you up to, Damon?"

"That's for me to know and for you to...dot dot dot. Give Elena my best,"

Gemma settles on the ground, pulling her knees into her chest and leaning against the brick ledge.

"You must really hate me, huh?" Stefan sits beside her, staring up at the stars.

"I don't hate you," she responds. "You've just always dismissed the idea of anything that has to do with me and I could never figure out why. I started treating you like you treated me,"

Stefan sighs, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," she whispers, pulling at the threads in her jeans.

"Will you ever be ready to talk about it?"

"Probably not," she replies.

Stefan glances at her for a second before nodding, "okay."

•••

NOT EDITED