Damon opened his mouth, but just then there was the sound of a voice that was as furious and accusing as Elena had been, and which didn't care about the consequences. Elena remembered the other person she'd forgotten.
"DAMON, YOU BASTARD, BRING HER DOWN!"
Matt.
Elena and Damon came to a twirling, elegant stop, right beside the Jaguar. Matt immediately ran to Elena and snatched her away, examining her as if she had been in an accident, with particular attention to her neck. Once again Elena was uncomfortably aware of being dressed in a lacy white nightgown in the presence of two boys.
"I'm fine, honestly," she said to Matt. "I'm just a little bit dizzy. I'll be better in a few minutes."
Matt let out a breath of relief. He might not still be in love with her as he once had been, but Elena knew he cared deeply about her and always would. He cared about her as his friend Stefan's girlfriend, and also on her own merits. She knew he would never forget the time they had been together.
More, he believed in her. So right now, when she promised that she was all right, he believed that. He was even willing to give Damon a look that wasn't completely hostile.
And then both of the boys headed for the driver's side door of the Jag.
"Oh, no," Matt said. "You drove yesterday - and look what happened! You said it yourself - there are vampires trailing us!"
"You're saying it's my fault? Vampires are tracing this fire-engine-red-paint-job giant and it's somehow my doing?"
Matt simply looked stubborn: his jaw clenched, his tanned skin flushed. "I'm saying we should take turns. You've had your turn."
"I don't recall anything ever being said about 'taking turns.'" Damon managed to give the word an inflection that made it sound like some rather wicked activity. "And if I go in a car, I drive the car."
Elena cleared her throat. Neither of them even noticed her.
"I'm not getting into a car if you're driving!" Matt said furiously.
"I'm not getting into a car if you're driving!" Damon said laconically.
Elena cleared her throat more loudly, and Matt finally remembered her existence.
"Well, Elena can't be expected to drive us all the way to wherever we're going," he said, before she could even suggest the possibility. "Unless we're going to get there today," he added, looking at Damon sharply.
Damon shook his dark head. "No. I'm taking the scenic route. And the fewer people who know where we're going the safer we're going to be. You can't tell if you don't know."
Elena felt as if someone had just lightly touched the hairs on the back of her neck with an ice cube. The way Damon said those words...
"But they'll already know where we're going, won't they?" she asked, shaking herself back to practicality. "They know we want to rescue Stefan, and they know where Stefan is."
"Oh, yes. They'll know we're trying to get into the Dark Dimension. But by what gate? And when? If we can lose them the only thing we need to worry about is Stefan and the prison guards."
Matt looked around. "How many gates are there?"
"Thousands. Wherever three ley lines cross, there's the potential for a gate. But since the Europeans drove the Native Americans out of their homes, most of the gates aren't used or maintained as they were in the old days." Damon shrugged.
But Elena was tingling all over with excitement, with anxiety. "Why don't we just find the nearest gate and go through it, then?"
"Travel all the way to the prison underground? Look, you don't understand at all. First of all, you need me with you to get you into a gate - and even then it isn't going to be pleasant."
"Not pleasant for who? Us or you?" Matt asked grimly.
Damon gave him a long, blank look. "If you tried on your own it would be briefly and terminally unpleasant for you. With me, it should be uncomfortable but a matter of routine. And as for what it's like traveling for even a few days down there - well, you'll see for yourselves, eventually," Damon said, with an odd smile. "And it would take much, much longer than going by a main gate."
"Why?" Matt demanded - always ready to ask questions that Elena really, really didn't want to know the answers to.
"Because it's either jungle, where five-foot leeches dropping from the trees are going to be the least of your worries, or wasteland, where any enemy can spot you - and everyone is your enemy."
There was a pause while Elena thought hard. Damon looked serious. Clearly, he really didn't want to do it - and not many things bothered Damon. He liked fighting. More, if it would only waste time...