Ok guys, loving all the ideas you sent me. Think I've got something…

"Previously on the vampire diaries…" etc hahaha.

CHAPTER 27

It had been six months since he and Stefan had decided to stay in Mystic Falls and live out their lives here together. They had had such good intentions, such hope despite the fact that Elena was clearly something mystical in origin so was bound to attract trouble of the supernatural persuasion (given her identical resemblance to Katherine) and the knowledge that a few feet below ground, behind walls of stone, lay a group of famished and vengeful vampires waiting to get out. Had they been stupid to think that they could protect their friends here? Perhaps. Everything had gotten so out of control quite soon after. Bonnie's grandmother had died after suffering a long period of lethargy after Logan Fell's little coup out in the woods. As Stefan and Damon had been so occupied with each other and life and death as usual, they had missed it all. Once Damon had come back into his body fully, Stefan whisked him away for a few weeks to New York to revitalise and check in with Anne and Michael. It had been just what they'd needed. They hadn't had to worry about protecting their secret and they could talk about it freely and swap information.

Anne had heralded their continuing survival as nothing short of miraculous. Although they were both fine now and strong again, it hadn't stopped Stefan's paranoia and determination that they should prepare for something like this again. As far as Damon had been concerned, something was eventually going to separate them – that was life and they shouldn't stop living simply because they feared death or separation. Anne had agreed with both of them on the matter and had disclosed that she and Michael kept supplies of each other's blood for every eventuality too. They had been regularly storing their blood for so long now that should something happen to one of them, the other would be able to live a long time before it would be a problem. Now that they knew that drinking from another mated pair would break the bond without causing death to the person consuming the new blood, they had began to discuss setting up a network with the others they were in touch with. Changing times called for harder measures and the topic of sharing blood samples to protect the bonds was a volatile topic. Some of their friends had vehemently denied any discussion of sharing their blood with others due to fear of breaking their own bond and killing their mate in the process.

Anne had begun to discuss an agreement of trust and procedure in an occasion where someone's mate was dying because of separation. If someone would donate their mated blood to this vampire they must be in full contact at that time to ensure that as their blood was being consumed, they could consummate their bond at that moment also to ensure that their own mate wouldn't become ill. It had been complicated and confusing at times and there had been a lot of arguments as Stefan and Damon had listened on. It had felt so strange to be the youngsters of the conversation. They had met only two other couples with Anne and Michael, one of which had also known Marcela and Erica – which made Stefan feel connected to them. Even amongst others of their 'kind' they had felt the enormity of their story affecting the others. They were the only ones to have survived a broken bond almost twice. Anne had discussed with them the likely hood that Damon had indeed been ripped in two by Bonnie's spell. She was amazed that they'd found their way back to each other.

After two weeks of learning and being welcomed into their small community, they decided to head home. Before they left, Anne had pulled them both aside and had given them something they were only to use if it became absolutely necessary for their survival – a small bottle of her blood. They had both been awed by her confidence in them. The fact that she trusted them enough to allow them to take this from her and risk her own bond again, was earth shattering to them both. In return they had given her some of theirs too, unable to think of a better way to thank her. If things worked out as she planned there would be a get out for those whose mates were killed someday. At the moment this was the only way and she wanted to encourage that trust in others by being an example.

Damon sighed thinking on all of it as he closed his eyes and breathed in the cool air and smell of the freshly cut flowers at the cemetery. It seemed so long ago that all of their life and death experiences had happened. The shit had hit the fan again when they got back. The tomb hadn't been properly closed down by Bonnie and Sheila and had in fact had a small area within that had been released so everyone in the tomb got out anyway and had gone on killing sprees and rampages. After all the years of waiting for Katherine she hadn't even been there after all. He'd not known how to reconcile his feelings about that and Stefan had been more attentive during that time, making love more often and reaffirming his devotion. People had died despite their efforts to protect everyone. Tyler Lockwood had become a werewolf, Caroline a vampire – as she had been in a car accident caused by Tyler and Elena had begged Damon to feed her some of his blood. Katherine had rolled into town and killed Caroline while his blood was still in her. Stefan had taken on the duty of caring for her and helping her control her urges, which was so ironic as to be hilarious. Relationships were good though. He and Rick had become firm friends and regularly got together. Then Klaus arrived and everything went to hell.

Klaus. A name Damon was so tired of hearing spoken in fear that he could tear his own hair out. Klaus had changed everything. Everything…

"We're going to head back to the house." Stefan said coming up behind him as Damon stared off into the distance. This cemetery was so vast, so full of loss. Funny how Damon had never thought of how macabre it was really, all these markers of people who were gone, lost to their loved ones. It was like being in the middle of an ocean of death. Apt that he should be here right now, as he felt the throbbing in his arm swell. He'd been doing well to hide it from Stefan today. Stefan had been so wrapped up in helping Elena after everything that'd happened.

"I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes." He said seriously, feeling empty. Stefan touched his shoulder, feeling some of the emotion Damon was trying so hard to block.

"Damon she needs us right now. She'll forgive you, you just have to give her time."

"That's not our main problem Stefan. We need to get a plan together and fast." Klaus was still out there somewhere and he could come back and happen upon Elena anytime. They had to have a plan. He winced in pain as his arm throbbed and Stefan raised his eyebrows quizzically.

"I'm not going to let her lose anyone else."

"I wouldn't make any promises Stefan."

"What does that mean?"

"Tyler Lockwood bit me." He finally admitted and rolled his shirt sleeve up as Stefan grabbed him and looked down in shock and dismay.

"We'll find something…a cure." Stefan stumbled holding his arm tight and Damon smiled and shook his head.

"There is no cure, we know that."

"There has to be. I'll talk to Bonnie…"

"Stefan." Damon cupped his cheek and kissed him as Stefan grabbed him closer in grief. "There's a cure for you." He whispered as he rubbed their noses together. Stefan pulled back from him abruptly.

"No!"

"It's the only way to protect you. There's no cure for this. I am going to die. You need to take Anne's blood and sever your connection to me." Damon was so calm as he spoke. Stefan fell to pieces in front of him, full of emotion and anger. Damon sent him thoughts of strength for Elena and flicked his eyes towards the crowd of their friends mourning around her. Stefan had to be strong for her today and not fall apart. Damon squeezed his shoulders and Stefan nodded with difficulty. Damon left him there and headed home.

The whole next day Damon spent locked in the cellar as Stefan fretted and Damon tried to end it. The pain and confusion was making it difficult to think. He just wanted it to be over. Stefan had stayed in the cellar with him under Elena's watchful eye as Stefan had fed him, hoping their blood might help, but Damon couldn't keep anything down.

"Drink!" Stefan cried and Damon tried his best but knew it was hopeless. He groaned and coughed violently, spitting up some of his own blood. "Damon we said we weren't going to die anymore remember? You can't die, you promised me!"

"We had an agreement." Damon said tired and Stefan pressed their foreheads together. "You made me promise if you died I would live…"

"No…" Stefan began to argue as tears rolled down his face.

"It was your rule." Damon pointed out and Stefan shook his head and lay them both down as Stefan climbed on top of him and began to scent him.

"Elena?" Damon called and she came to the window, teary eyed. "Back there behind you is a safe…" Stefan shot up in protest.

"No!"

"Go in and type in 1,8,6,4." Damon continued as Stefan shook his head. "Bring the bottle to me."

"I'm not going to take it, do you hear me?!" Stefan stood up angrily and shook his head at Elena. She looked at Damon grieved as she realised that it must be Anne's blood. Damon wanted Stefan to drink it and separate them so he could die and Stefan could live.

"Elena no!" Stefan said firmly and she felt torn. Damon groaned and coughed violently, curling into himself and Stefan forgot his anger and lay down with him again, licking his neck and throat to comfort him. Damon was sweating so much as pain rolled through him. Stefan could barely keep up with cleansing him. He pulled Damon's arm away to inspect it and made a sound of anguish as it grew angrily before his eyes. Damon shook and cried out as it grew and Stefan lowered his mouth to it and began to lick there. Damon was so sensitive to the touch that he pulled a little to retrieve his arm but Stefan held him firmly and began to scent it, hoping that it would help. Damon began to weep as the pain shook him again and Elena began to cry, opening the cellar bolt and stepping inside. She couldn't stand out there and watch any longer. Damon was in no fit state to escape now. She knelt down and tried to comfort him as Stefan battled on against the infection spreading, pouring some of his blood onto it to see if it would retreat.

"Elena…" A tear rolled down Damon's face as she stroked his cheek. "Don't let him die. Make him take it, please."

"I promise." She said and he nodded and closed his eyes. He seemed to calm for a minute and she stroked his face lovingly. He opened his eyes again and squinted?

"Katherine?" He asked confused and both she and Stefan looked at him in worry. "Wait for me…Katherine!" He said full of emotion and reached out his hands towards her as she moved backwards in shock.

"Damon it's me, it's Elena." She said looking towards Stefan. Stefan held Damon's face and turned it back towards him to look into his eyes and Damon gazed up at him.

"Brother, why aren't you in the stables at this hour?" Damon asked him and Stefan choked and leaned down to hold Damon to him. Damon was confused and pushed back at him as he tried to rub their noses together.

"What are you doing?" Damon said and Stefan bowed his head and let out a sob as Elena came behind him and pulled him away. Damon closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately and Elena guided Stefan out into the hallway. He was distraught.

"Stefan, I think you should take Anne's blood, before the pain starts." She soothed, stroking through his hair. He shook his head.

"I'm not giving up yet. Bonnie's looking for something, anything." He replied.

"Stefan…" She began but he gave her a look of finality and she shut her mouth again. Damon was hallucinating. He might not have much time. Stefan's cell wrang and he pulled it out immediately.

"Bonnie?" He answered and listened as Elena's heart beat loudly in her ears. He nodded and shut the phone. "She's going to the house where the witches were killed. She's thinks they could help. I'm going with her. Stay with him. Tell him there's still hope." He said and she nodded, watching him run up the stairs. She walked back into the cellar to look at Damon. He already looked practically dead. She held herself shivering and turned to look at the door behind her. She opened it, surprised to find it unlocked and entered. There were shelves lining the room full of bottles of blood, some with white caps and some with red. The room was refrigerated and her teeth chattered as she looked around. She had no idea what they were until she opened one and sniffed it. It smelled like Bergamot. This was their blood she realised and she put the lid back on and placed it back. She shook her head in grief. They had prepared for a lot of problems separating them but not for a wolf bite. Nothing could be done about that. She spied the safe and approached it, typing in the number. It opened easily and revealed a small bottle about the size of a coke can. She lifted it up and opened it. It smelled a little like oranges too. She carefully replaced it in the safe and locked it again secure. If the time came and Stefan still refused, she had to make sure she could pour it into him. She'd probably need Rick's help to hold him. She wasn't going to let Stefan die, not after everything they'd been through, not after everything Damon had been through to keep them alive.

She went back to Damon and pulled him into her lap, dabbing his forehead of sweat with her handkerchief as he groaned and mumbled incoherently. She'd grown so close to Damon. She couldn't bear to think of him really dying. She sobbed silently as she held him and waited for Stefan and Bonnie to find help.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal and I'll do whatever you want." Stefan gasped as Klaus scraped against his heart with a dagger inside of his ribcage in merriment. Stefan gagged and clung to his arms to stay upright. Klaus tilted his head and smiled in amusement as he pulled the dagger out from him again and let Stefan crumple to the floor groaning in pain and holding himself.

He leaned against the countertop smiling as Stefan pulled himself together gasping. He began to detail all about Stefan's old ripper nature and how impressed he'd been at the activities as Stefan hung his head in torment.

"I haven't been that person for a very long time." Stefan rasped and Klaus chuckled.

"Well that's a pity, because that's exactly the kind of vampire I could use. One that I might spare." Klaus's eyes gleamed and Stefan looked up at him. "That's the kind of talent I could use when I leave this town. Katerina come here."

Katherine approached apprehensively and Stefan looked to her as Klaus bit into her wrist savagely making her cry out and hold arm in fear as the venom entered her bloodstream.

"No!" She cried in disbelief and Stefan gulped. Klaus looked at Stefan pointedly and bit into his own wrist, thrusting it to her mouth as she struggled. Stefan watched in amazement as her wrist healed completely. He gasped as he and Katherine looked to each other.

"Your blood is the cure." Stefan said and Klaus smiled knowingly.

"What do you want from me?" He asked with foreboding.

"A decade of your time, by my side on my travels."

"You want me to come with you?"

"I'm tiring of this little town and I want to find more werewolves. It's time I started to make my own family." Stefan looked towards where Elijah had been slumped a few minutes before and Klaus's smile widened.

"Sometimes blood is thinner than water Stefan and I intended to cross a lot of ocean to make my new family. You are going to help me find them." Klaus said confidently. He put his arm around Stefan's shoulder. "You wanna save your brother…oops sorry…husband?" Klaus joked. Stefan tightened his expression and looked to Katherine again. She had told him about their real relation. Of course she had.

"How about a decade long bender?" Klaus smiled, his teeth flashing at them. Stefan tensed. He couldn't. Without Damon he couldn't feed. Klaus took in his reticence and shook his head in disappointment. "You sure? I hear the pain of a werewolf bite is enough to drive someone mad. Poor darling Damon."

Stefan gulped and squeezed his eyes closed. Elena knew where Anne's blood was now. If Stefan left with Klaus, Damon could be cured of the bite and then Elena could give him Anne's blood to drink to sever their connection. Without Damon's blood he would starve and desiccate but at least if Damon drank Anne's blood then he would break the bond to him and survive. Stefan exhaled and looked at Klaus nodding. Klaus would probably stake him soon enough when he realised Stefan was ailing. It could work out ok. He would die but Klaus would lose his partner in crime and Damon would get to live.

"Excellent!" Klaus chimed, moving to a drawer and removing a knife. He grabbed an empty jar and cut his wrist over it, filling it with his precious blood. Stefan watched with baited breath until it was full. Klaus looked over at him and raised his eyebrows.

"Ready?"

Stefan nodded and reached out for the jar but Klaus tutted and shook his head.

"Katerina, take this to Damon will you and come right back?" Klaus turned and gave her the bottle. She perked up immediately and took it as Stefan looked to her in anguish. She was on vervain now and he knew she couldn't be compelled. She'd leave and never come back. She didn't care about anyone but herself. She blurred out of the apartment and Stefan panicked.

"She's on vervain! She'll never take it to him!" He cried and Klaus shrugged and smiled. Stefan panted in fear and tried to move towards the door when Klaus grabbed him and threw him to the floor.

"We had a deal."

"Please, let me make sure…" Stefan started.

"No. We are leaving now dear Stefan. I have every faith that Katerina will save your…hmmmmn. I just keep forgetting which one it is. Do you actually think of him as a brother and your lover?"

"Please…" Stefan begged.

"Doesn't it feel strange when he's inside you, that you are brothers? Or was it only when you'd turned that you looked at his body differently? I'm genuinely intrigued." Klaus was enjoying every moment of this as Stefan sweated and pulled at his hair.

"Does his blood taste the same as yours? You have Katherine in you as well as the blood of your parents so it must taste similar."

"Stop it!" Stefan fumed and Klaus smiled and closed his mouth. "Just let me go to him, just for an hour then I'll come back and leave with you." Klaus hummed and rubbed his chin thinking on it as Stefan sweated.

"One hour. If you don't come back I will kill Damon in front of you." Klaus turned serious and Stefan knew he meant it. He nodded in agreement and blurred out back towards the boarding house. He ran as fast as he could and got to the front door as Katherine was leaving smirking.

"You gave it to him?" He panted in disbelief and she smiled sweetly.

"I owed him one. If I were you I'd get down there quickly and reassert my role. Looks like Elena has a little crush there. I'd be concerned if I were you. They looked pretty cosy when I went in."

"What?" Stefan frowned and she made a kissing simulation. His eyes widened and she nodded in affirmation.

"You best kiss those pretty lips of his and get rid of her scent on him." She raised her eyebrows and he shook his head. "I've seen gayer men turn straight for girls like her."

Stefan pushed past her in disgust and ran down to the basement. He could hear Elena cooing at Damon as he entered the cellar and looked in. Damon was in her lap, his head against her chest as she stroked his forehead. His eyes were open and his colour was returning. Damon looked over at him and sighed and Elena smiled in relief.

"You did it!" She cried happily and Stefan frowned at the way she was holding Damon. He shook himself out of it and knelt down to him.

Pain?

It's getting better.

I love you.

Damon smiled and reached out for him and Stefan leaned in and gathered him in his arms from Elena and carried him up to their bed. He lay him down gently and began to remove Damon's clothes. Elena followed and he turned to look at her suspiciously. She stopped in her tracks at his strange expression.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Yeah. Could you give us a moment?"

"Yeah, of course." She said feeling odd and looked to Damon again as Damon looked to her with raised eyebrows. Stefan growled under his breath surprising them both and she turned and left the room feeling a little rejected and confused. He turned to Damon and Damon shot him a quizzical look.

What the hell was that?

Nothing.

"Stefan…?" Damon said but Stefan resumed removing Damon's clothing until he was naked.

"I'm too tired for a bath." Damon sighed and Stefan stroked his face.

No bath.

Stefan channelled to him and climbed onto the bed next to him. Damon realised he wanted to cleanse him and he turned towards him happily as Stefan began to lick at his neck and throat. It was always so wonderfully intimate to be scented and Damon felt his health returning as Stefan licked his skin and kissed him tenderly. Stefan made it his mission to comfort Damon and mark him for the last time in the precious time they had left before he had to return to Klaus. As he licked he could smell Elena on him, around his mouth and it made him all the more urgent in his scenting. Katherine was right, Elena had kissed him. Stefan kissed his mouth, pushing his tongue inside desperately.

What did you do?

I went to Klaus. His blood was the cure.

And he just gave it to you?

I have to run some errands for him out of state. It'll only take a week.

"What?!" Damon's sprang open and he sat up breaking the kiss.

"It was the only way. It's ok, I'll be fine."

"What are you talking about? You can't leave!" Damon became emotional and Stefan held him in an embrace.

"I'll be back in a week. I'll take some bottles with me. There are plenty for you. Don't worry." Stefan pulled back and kissed around Damon's cheeks and mouth again to reassure him. Damon shook his head. "It's only a week." Stefan cooed, stroking Damon's hair from his face.

"That's all?" Damon breathed.

"Yes."

Damon calmed a little and Stefan resumed scenting his body, enjoying every curve and ripple of his muscles. Damon hummed and tilted into his mouth as he relaxed. Once Stefan was satisfied and Damon was flushed with love and desire, he sat up and leaned over him.

"You need to feed." Stefan said gently and Damon parted his lips. Stefan guided him up to his neck and Damon bit down and drank. Stefan kept the switch off in fear of letting Damon into his mind. He couldn't know that they were never going to see each other again. Damon moaned in pleasure and Stefan squeezed him tightly, placing a kiss on his shoulder and stroking his skin.

My Damon.

Hmmmmn.

Once Damon was full and healthy looking from the feed Stefan lay him back down again.

"Sleep."

"When are you leaving?" Damon yawned and Stefan rose from the bed and covered him with a blanket.

"Soon. The sooner I go the quicker I'll be back." Stefan replied tight lipped. Damon frowned.

"I'll call you." Stefan assured and walked towards the door. He turned back and looked towards Damon again as Damon let out an unhappy sound. "I love you."