Hey, everyone. Okay, so for those of you who read my fanfiction "As I Lay Dying Withd a Friend" you'll probably recognize some of the stuff in here. For those of you who haven't, it's okay. You don't really need to know exactly how that went in order to be able to understand this. Everything will be explained. Brief summary of my last fanfiction that this follows: Alaric knew about the bite in the very beginning and basically helped Damon through it all. It wasn't a slash fic and this won't be either. But just so you guys know, my last fanficion pretty much didn't have anything to do with the actual season two finale. I pretty much rewrote the whole episode out of complete boredom and because in my opinion, it didn't have enough Alaric/Damon friendship scenes in it. So, basically that's all you need to know. I'm actually making this sequel though only because I love torturing Damon and making Alaric be there for him. Haha. Disclaimer: TVD is obviously not mine. So please, don't sue me. One last thing, this is pretty much changing up the beginning of season three. You guys probably assumed that by now. Alaric's Point of View
"All we know is that Stefan is with Klaus," Damon said. "We don't know who else is there and we don't know where. All we have is a why."
Alaric looked at Damon sympathetically. Both he and Elena were well aware that Damon had been feeling guilty since Stefan was with Klaus so he could get a cure for Damon.
"Well, it can't be too difficult," Elena said. "I mean, how many places could Klaus honestly be?"
"Do you even know him at all?" Damon asked. "He's an original. Who knows what he's up to?"
"Why would he want Stefan though?" Elena asked him.
"If we knew that, we wouldn't have to stand here over a map, trying to figure out what Klaus is up to."
"Well we gotta start somewhere," Alaric said quietly to himself.
"I would assume step one would be getting out of the house," Damon answered.
"Then lets figure out a step two," Elena said.
"Step two: getting into the car," Damon put in unhelpfully.
"You're not used to actually coming up with a plan are you?" Alaric asked. "Do you just wing it every time?" Damon ignored him, telling Alaric that he was right, and Damon was just to proud to admit it.
"Well there has to be something we can do," Elena said. "I don't know what Klaus is doing to Stefan or how long he's been doing it."
"I'm well aware of that, Elena," Damon said, apparently impatient. "But as I said, Klaus is unpredictable. It's nearly impossible to know what he's doing."
Alaric looked at Damon. For some reason, he was beginning to feel concerned for the vampire. It was more than likely left over paranoia from last night and earlier today. Last night, Alaric was there when Katherine brought Damon the cure and told them that they shouldn't expect Stefan anytime soon. Damon, after being cured had fallen straight into an exhausted sleep and was out of it until around one in the afternoon the next day. When he finally woke up, he was still weak so Elena came over and waited for him to regain his strength before they went to find Stefan. That was only nine hours ago. Just by looking at him, Alaric could tell he still hadn't gained all his strength.
"Elena, can I talk to you in private?" Alaric asked her. He knew it sounded suspicious, but Damon was going to have to get over it.
Elena tilted her head, giving him a puzzled look before agreeing. "Yeah, okay." Alaric took her out of the room and made sure they were out of Damon's earshot.
"We've got to take a break," Alaric said gently.
"Ric-"Elena began.
"I know you want to find Stefan," he said gently. "But Damon's falling asleep on his feet. It'll just take even longer to find him if he doesn't rest."
Elena nodded. "Okay."
Alaric put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for being patient. I know this is hard for you."
Elena pulled him into a hug and Alaric put his hand on her head. "Thanks, Ric," she said into his shoulder. They broke apart and Alaric nodded in response.
"Now for the hard part," Alaric said sighing. "Getting Damon to actually take a break and rest."
"What was that all about?" Damon asked, once they got back into the living room.
Alaric went up to him, pretending that he was being secretive. "I could tell Elena was really worried. I was just trying to set her mind at ease."
"Did it work?" Damon asked quietly.
Alaric shook his head. After a moment of hesitation, he said gently, "I can see right through you, Damon. You look like you're about to collapse. Besides, we don't even know what our first move is."
"Easy for you to say," Damon said to him. "You're not the reason he's out there in the first place."
Alaric looked at him sympathetically. "This isn't your fault Damon."
"Try telling Stefan that." And with that, Damon left the room.
Alaric glanced at Elena. "I told him he wouldn't take it well."
Elena nodded. "We just need to think of what-" she stopped as the sound of glass shattering came from upstairs. Without even glancing at Elena, Alaric sprinted out of the room and stood at the bottom of the stairs. Not knowing what he would see, he rushed back into the living room, grabbed a stake, and then headed back to the stairs. He ran up the steps and was instantly greeted by the sight of shattered glass everywhere. Blood drops were trailing down the hall, and out the window. Alaric ran over to the window and looked out only to be disappointed. Whoever was in the house earlier was long gone.
"Damon!" Alaric called, becoming worried. He heard footsteps behind him, and out of instinct he turned around quickly, staked raised.
"RIC!" Elena shouted.
"Sorry, Elena," he said. "I didn't know who you were."
Elena looked past Alaric at the mess. "What happened? Where's Damon."
"To answer both of your questions: I have no idea"