THE TRUTH IS DEADLY, THE LIE IS NOT.

Author's note: This story resumes where the last episode of Season 2 was left off. Let's recap, shall we? Stefan traded himself for the wolf bite cure which ultimately prevented Damon's death. Now, here is where I let my wild imaginations loose. Whilst Stefan is still with Klaus, Damon and Elena is set off on a mission to bring him back home. Stefan, who knew there was no such way, decides to leave Elena behind for her own safety. By doing so, Stefan had Bonnie lie to Elena about his very own death. When the truth is deadly, and the lie is not, what will Damon do?

Chapter 1: Please Don't Get Me Rescued

It has been almost a week since Stefan's departure. Extremely worried, was an understatement for Elena.

Elena was overjoyed to see Bonnie. After everything that had happened, Bonnie's safety definitely relieved her.

"I'm glad you're okay, Elena," Bonnie spoke with worrisome eyes, "You too, Damon."

Damon was shocked, "You're happy I'm alive? Now that's surprising."

"Don't push it, Damon. One more word and I'll have you toasted," Bonnie began to flicker flames from her hands to frighten Damon, who then surrendered with a defeated sigh.

"Stefan's in danger," Elena blurted out before they could get any more distracted.

"What? What happened?" Bonnie yelled and was instantly petrified.

"He traded himself to acquire Klaus' blood."

"And why in the world was it so important?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

"It was the only cure to Damon's wolf bite. He had no choice but to give into Klaus' deal," Elena answered.

Bonnie stared at Damon and saw guilt in him. For once in her life, she saw Damon actually feeling something.

Hmm, he's more human than he think he is. Bonnie got lost in her thoughts for a minute.

"Bonnie, you're our one and only hope in retrieving Stefan. Please help us," Elena's teary eyes had both Bonnie and Damon scowl.

"I'll do whatever I can, Elena. But I can make no promises," Bonnie assured.

Bonnie laid out a detailed map on the dining table.

"Damon," she muttered, "Your blood is the closest thing tied to Stefan here. I need it."

Without a pause, Damon unleashed his fangs and penetrated them into his wrist. He permitted the two holes from the bite leak out drops of bloods onto the map.

The drops of the thick, bright red liquid made Elena's face turn sour.

"Done," Damon positively declared.

Elena watched his wound undergo a speedy recovery, much like the rest of the times Damon had been injured. She was always amazed at that particular perk of a vampire.

In just a few moments, Bonnie was ready to go. She began chanting the locating spell and radiating mystical energy out of her.

However, the more she persevered, the more her nose bled. Elena persuaded Bonnie to stop at once but she prevailed.

"It's not working, Elena," Bonnie dismayed, "I don't know what's wrong."

Damon inquired playfully, "Do mental breakdowns affect a witch's magic?"

"No they don't, you fool. Mental breakdowns only stir up rage which ultimately allows even more magic to be cast by a witch," Bonnie reprimanded.

"Oh," Damon sounded new to all of it.

After a few a more tries, Bonnie could not endure much longer.

"I can't find him, Elena," Bonnie spilled the bad news, "I don't think my magic's the problem. Stefan is."

"Are you trying to say that Stefan's dead?" Elena figured out on her own, "Oh my god, Stefan is dead, isn't he?"

Elena could not deal with the words she had just pronounced. They were absolute ridicule to her ears.

"Wait, let's not jump into conclusions here. Bonnie's magic gets screwed up all the time," Damon pointed out, but it was as if he wasn't heard at all.

"I'm sorry, Elena, but that's the only excuse I can think of. He's nowhere to be found. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Bonnie repeated herself like a broken record and hurriedly consoled Elena with a hug after.

"Are you sure it's not some kind of malfunction? Witches go through that too, right?" Damon refused to believe the facts.

"Yeah, amateur witches. I, for one, am no longer one."

Elena had never felt such excruciating pain, not in her entire seventeen years of existence.

It was as if she had lost herself completely in a blink of an eye, because Stefan was undeniably everything to her.

Nothing else seemed to matter after that. Elena was done with the day, let alone the rest of her life. At least, that was what she thought at the time.

"Where's Elena?" Bonnie maundered in distress.

"Upstairs, sleeping," Damon uttered in soft, velvety voice.

"She's going to be alright, you know," Bonnie seemed reassuring. Damon reckoned that was quite suspicious of her.

"I won't be too sure about that."

"She still has you, Damon. And me, of course," Bonnie raised her tone, "We've got our work cut out for us to get Elena back to where she was. You know, before she met Stefan."

"I find it rather fishy that you're not as upset as you should be. What's going on?" Damon placed a finger on his chin and got lost deep in his thoughts as he came into realization.

"N-nothing," Bonnie stuttered.

"For what's worth, I don't believe a single thing you've said today."

"You're unbelievable." Damon disregarded her comment.

"First of all, Klaus needs Stefan. I don't know why, but what I do know is Klaus doesn't want him dead, so there's no reason for him to kill Stefan just yet. If that's not the case, I'm sure Klaus is one step ahead of us. He probably hired some witch to get Stefan untraceable. The hybrid has got brains, no doubt about that."

"You're funny, you know that?" Bonnie was getting onto Damon's nerves.

Anger grew upon Damon and caused him to forcefully thrust Bonnie to the walls behind her.

"Don't play games with me, Bonnie. I know you're lying. For God's sake, Elena deserves to know the truth!" Damon furiously emitted.

Bonnie was near to using that telepathic thing of hers to hurt Damon. But little did she know Damon was all set for a head to head war with a witch at that very point.

He had a stalk of Glendora in his hands. Similar to Vervain, Glendora repels witches instead of vampires.

"Bonnie, meet Glendora. Glendora, meet Bonnie," Damon said rascally with a villain grin, "She's beautiful, isn't she? Well, I expect no less of the sacred flower grown only in the long lost utopian garden of an original vampire."

Damon gazed at the glowing petals in amazement. Bonnie, on the other hand, was more fearful of it than flabbergasted by it.

"How did you get it?" Bonnie hollered as she panted.

"Alaric. He's one cool human being," Damon giggled.

"Now talk before I get these into your trachea," Damon threatened with a menacing glare.

Bonnie eyed Damon's hands as they were slowly reaching her by the second.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell," Bonnie gave in. She finally feared of the much disliked vampire, more than she used to.

"We'll talk outside. I don't want to wake Elena up. She needs all the sleep she can get."

Bonnie nodded as they both headed towards the front door.

"Stefan's still alive, isn't he?"

Bonnie confirmed it with a nod and sigh.

"Just promise me you won't tell Elena. She cannot know about this. Stefan doesn't want her to," Bonnie said in a harsh manner.

"Stefan planned this?" Damon was appalled.

"He's not coming back, Damon. He's with Klaus now, and there's nothing you or Elena can do about it. Saving Stefan is a suicide mission. You know that, don't you?" Bonnie made a good point.

"But it's worth to try," Damon articulated.

"In this case, there is harm in trying. And I won't let anyone take the risk. If you do, there's no doubt you'll end up dead. Period," Bonnie concluded.

"Stefan came back to find you?"

"Yeah, three days ago," Bonnie added, "He told me he won't be coming back here. Klaus has him on human blood and there's no way he could ever turn back to his normal self ever again."

"He's giving up on Elena, just like that?" Damon was stunned.

"You don't understand, Damon. Stefan can never regain enough humanity to even love Elena. All he's capable of now is hurting her. Not to mention, Klaus will never let Stefan go. So I did a thing or two to get him off the maps. I made him impervious to my locating spell."

"I was right about the witch then," Damon hissed, "But I would have never thought you would be the one to put up an act like you did this morning. Well, I should've seen that coming."

"Right now, it's not about me. What Stefan and I did was to protect Elena. At the end of the day, I know you'd do the same."

Damon recalled Stefan's heroic actions that spared his life. At once, he felt all the things he chose not to feel. He felt the longing for his little brother's return, and it was overwhelming him.

"Isn't there anything else we can do? Stefan needs me. He did this to save me, Bonnie. He's the reason why I'm alive. There must be another way!" Damon suddenly became all teary-eyed.

"There isn't. I'm really sorry," Bonnie seemed exhausted. It must've been her fake and failed attempts on her spell this afternoon.

"Go home, Bonnie, please just get out of my sight," Damon was insanely furious. At who? Mostly himself. But he was more torn apart than angry.

"No, wait. Stefan did mention that if you were ever to find out about this, I should give this to you. Here," Bonnie handed over a letter to Damon in distraught.

Stefan knew Damon was going to find out all along, didn't he? Bonnie pondered upon the younger Salvatore brother's wise decisions.

"What's this?" Damon's eyes widened at the sight of it.

Bonnie had already left for her car to her home. Gently, he opened the letter and began to read the contents.

To my brother, Damon Salvatore

I know Elena would never forgive me for this, but I expect you out of all people to understand. Everything I do is for Elena's own good. If she had known that I was alive, she would never give up on me. But you know that I need her to, because if she doesn't, she'll get herself killed in a heartbeat.

I will never let Elena get hurt for my sake, let alone die to rescue me. This applies to you too, Damon. I don't regret saving your life, and I never will, just as long as you don't waste my efforts. Please, for once in your life, don't be stubborn. I'm begging you, don't come after me. More importantly, don't let Elena.

Human blood changes me, Damon, in a way I can't possibly imagine. We all know that for a fact. Klaus needs me to be on it permanently now, and I'm not strong enough to suppress the desire to satisfy my hunger. I can't control what I'm going to become. What I'm trying to say is I'm capable of hurting Elena. If it ever came down to that, you know what to do. Don't keep me alive knowing what I might do to her.

But for the time being, you don't have to worry. I'll be long gone before you know it.

I trust that you won't tell Elena the truth. With that said, I'm giving you my permission to love her, Damon. I want you to be my substitute. I don't care how you do it – compel her if you have to, just make her forget about me. Build a life together, do whatever it takes. If you love her that much, then prove to me what you're worth. Promise me that you'll always keep her safe and happy, because Elena deserves nothing more than that.

I'm counting on you, brother.

- Inserts song lyrics here -

"Don't you think I wish that I could stay? Your lips give you away. When it's quiet, does she hear me? And oh, I can feel her; she's dying just to keep me cold. I'm finally numb, so please, don't get me rescued. She's raising hell to give to me, but she got me warm. And oh, say you'll miss me, one last time. And I'll be strong, but whatever you do, please don't get me rescued." Rescued – Jack's Mannequin

Stefan Salvatore

Damon was in sheer bewilderment. He did not know what to think. He was guilty to have put Stefan in that position but at the same time, he felt blessed to be given a chance to love Elena in a way he was not allowed to before.

But will he take that opportunity, that selfish, unrighteous opportunity?

I'm no good. I haven't been for as long as I could remember. So why should I start now? This is Elena at stake here. I get to be with Elena and Stefan's not in the way anymore. She's up for grabs. Isn't this my dream all along? Isn't it? Damon was never more miserable as he struggled from all the commotion going on in his head.

Standing at the crossroads, Damon was profoundly torn between two options.

Option one: Damon opposes all of Stefan's choices and goes on being the hardheaded vampire he is. He'll seek for Elijah and bring him back to life. An original vampire will certainly do the trick, no doubt about that. Even better, an original vampire family, all of which he had the power to resurrect. They'll behead Klaus and the rest of his army, and he'll come swooping Stefan back home. Elena gets her fairytale ending with Stefan while Damon does nothing but watch them. He is only able to love Elena and imagine the possibilities with her from a distance, for that's all he has known of. Damon has to live with the cruel outcome, forever and ever, often in regret.

Option two: Damon obeys all of Stefan's instructions. He'll let Elena's pain subside as she deals with Stefan's apparent death. He'll stitch her every open wound with his love, which will serve as a replacement for Stefan's. She'll forget the feelings made and maybe even the memories as the years go by. Damon's ultimate dream is fulfilled. Elena's happy living a lie she is unaware of. Stefan is out there meeting Klaus' expectations, being ever tormented.

This time, would his top priority stay loyal to Elena or would Damon defy all to attain his selfish goals?

Damon was unsure of what to do next, yet he inadvertently lived on his second option, blindly convincing himself it was for the better of Elena and not himself...

Could Damon Salvatore, for once, be right? For now, you'll be the judge of that.

P.S. There goes the first chapter. More to come, so don't forget to watch for updates! Each chapter usually comes weekly, but it mostly depends on how busy I am. Oh, and please review, guys! It would really mean a lot to me. Basically, your every review serves as a motivation for me to keep writing. So go on! Click the review button and make my day :)