AN: PLEASE READ

Okay, so this story is after the events in season one, minus the tomb vampires' death. John Gilbert tried to set off the machine, but the town only managed to capture several vampires, including the mayor. Caroline is now a vampire, and Katherine is back in town. No one is even concerned with the Lockwoods right now. Oh, and Damon and Stefan are struggling to be brothers again.

Chapter 1: I'm Here

"Okay, tell me what happened again." Bonnie says as she sits back in her seat. She tries as hard as she can to hold back a giggle.

"Bonnie, please this is serious." Stefan urges.

"Where is he?" Bonnie asks.

"I asked Ric to stay with him." Stefan answers, "So, he's at the boarding house right now."

"Huh," Bonnie swallows her laugh, and addresses Stefan seriously, "Okay, look Stefan. I've read through and reread Emily's Grimoire, and I've also looked through my Gram's books too, and none of them even mention anything like this. Are you sure it was a spell?" Even as Bonnie was asking it she realized how stupid of a question that was.

Stefan looks at her with an exasperated expression, "Really, Bonnie?" Stefan sighs.

Bonnie rolls her eyes, "Okay, I didn't mean it like that…Do you know who did this?"

"Um…I don't know, I mean knowing my brother, he has made countless enemies over the years, it was just bound to come back on him, but honestly, I don't know." Stefan admits tiredly.

"I'll call do some more research and find out what I can, but I can't promise anything, Stefan." Bonnie says.

"Okay, thank you, Bonnie, it means a lot." Stefan gives her a weak smile and stands up, just as he's getting a call. "Excuse me." He says. Stefan answers it and is suddenly bombarded by screaming. Stefan rolls his eyes, "What's going on?"

"Put it on speaker, please." Bonnie asks.

Stefan sighs, but he complies, "Hang on, Ric." He says, and he presses a button and sets the phone down, "You're on speaker, Ric, it's just Bonnie and me." Stefan says.

"Listen, Stefan, I think your brother wants you home, he's restless and won't settle down." Ric sort of shouts over the phone.

"Don't you dare call my brother!" A second voice is heard screaming over the line.

"He's already on the phone, shut up!" Ric bellows back.

"Ric, what happened?" Stefan asks.

"He just…" Ric suddenly is not talking to Stefan, but to Damon, "Settle down or your going to hurt yourself. Stop, get down from there!"

"I'll be right there." Stefan says quickly as he stands up.

"How bad is it?" Bonnie quickly asks.

"He's going nuts, I can't control him…" Ric suddenly addresses, Damon, "Damon?" Ric asks worriedly. "Stefan, get here now!" Ric suddenly exclaims, before a gunshot is heard and the line goes dead.

"I've got to go." Stefan says suddenly.

"Take me with you, so that way I can see him, maybe I can figure this out." Bonnie says.

Stefan nods quickly, and he picks her up in his arms. She squeals as he carries her off to his house. He stops just outside of it and sets Bonnie down. The glass windows at the foot of the house are shattered inward. Stefan rushes to the door, and Bonnie trails behind him.

"Damon? Alaric?" Stefan calls as he and Bonnie rush into the house.

"Oh, look who decided to show up, Bethann." Fredrick says as comes into view.

"Looks like your babysitter is of no use anymore." Bethann says as she drops Ric's body to the ground.

Stefan quickly looks down and sees that Ric has his ring on and then refocuses his attention to Fredrick. "Where's Damon." Stefan growls.

Fredrick smiles, villainously and he pulls a stumbling, half-alive boy out of the shadows, "You know, I thought your brother was much older?"

Stefan swallows hard and steps forward, but stops when Fredrick tightens his grip on his brother's throat.

"I wouldn't." Fredrick says as he quickly tosses Damon to Bethann and she starts to rip into what's left of Damon's throat. Damon's young voice squeals in horror and his feeble attempts at fighting back, quickly fade, as Bethann sucks more and more life from Damon.

"Stop!" Stefan exclaims as he rushes at Fredrick. They get into a brutal fight, and Fredrick seems to have the upper hand, but suddenly both tomb vampires sink to the floor in pain. Stefan quickly grabs a chair breaks off the leg and stakes Bethann, and just when he turns to do the same to Fredrick he notices that he's gone.

"Bonnie, are you alright?" Stefan asks, quickly as he sees her nose bleeding, but quickly realizes the severity of the situation when Bonnie nods, but points to the limp body lying on the ground behind Stefan. She wipes her nose as Stefan turns and rushes over to his brother's side.

Stefan's eyes grow large as he takes in the severity of Damon's wounds. "Damon?" Stefan asks; as he reaches his fingers down to hopefully feel a pulse. He feels a faint one and quickly bites his wrist as another set of hands open up Damon's mouth. Stefan puts his bleeding wrist to Damon's open mouth and lets the blood drip in.

"Damon, you need to drink." Bonnie steals the words right from Stefan, but as Damon remains unresponsive, and Stefan starts to choke on sobs. She realizes that she has to do something with what energy she has left, so she starts to mutter a spell under her breath.

Stefan bites his wrist again and offers it to Damon and this time Stefan feels a small response, Damon's starting to drink. Bonnie breathes and Stefan pulls away when Damon's eyes slowly flutter open.

"Stef?" Damon asks weakly.

"I'm here, Buddy." Stefan says.

"You weren't kidding when you said Damon got turned into a seven year old." Bonnie says.

Stefan frowns in response, and Bonnie sighs as she sits back against the wall.

"Damon, you need to rest, okay, you've lost a lot of blood." Stefan says as he picks Damon up in his arms and speeds up to his brother's room. He moves the comforter out of the way and gently lays his brother down in the bed. He pulls the blankets back up and tucks them around his brother's shoulders. Stefan sits down next to his brother, as he struggles to stay awake.

"I'm sorry, Stef?" Damon says weakly.

Stefan sighs and smiles, solemnly, "It's okay, Damon, it wasn't your fault. I'm just glad your okay." Stefan says, "We'll find out who did this to you and fix it okay." Stefan says as he puts his hand to his brother's pale face and gently brushes raven hair out of the way of his brother's eyes.

Stefan stands up just as his brother's eyes flutter closed and turns to the door.

"Stefan, stay with him for tonight okay, I'll take care of things down stairs and I'll stay here too, okay." Bonnie says quickly.

Stefan nods, and he can't hold back his tears any longer. He starts to sob, and he stumbles back unknowingly into a chair.

"Stefan, Stefan?" Bonnie says as she approaches him, "Don't worry, I'll fix this, I'll find the spell to undo this and you're brother will be his old annoying, snarky self again, okay." Bonnie says, "He's weak and he needs you now, okay. You stay here with him and watch over him for tonight." Bonnie says.

Stefan nods and Bonnie stands up and smiles at him and then walks out of the room. Stefan turns to his brother and puts his hand on his brother's arm.