DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries characters Damon, Stefan and Mason

This just randomly popped into my head when watching this episode - The scene where Mason says "Now you've made an enemy" was so intense, I wanted to alter the ending, to make this a Damon/Stefan oneshot, where Damon wants to protect Stefan ;)
RECAP:Damon's attempt to kill Mason by stabbing him with silver failed. Oops.

Part 1: Damon and Mason, Part 2: Damon and Stefan.

Please read, enjoy and review!

Part One (Damon's POV):

"Now you've made an enemy."

The stare Mason was giving Damon would have freaking had him scared - if he ever felt that emotion, that is.

Nope, that was for the nicer Salvatore brother.

As Mason began to back away, Damon caught up to him and grabbed his arm. "You tried to kill my brother. That is unforgettable."

Mason tensed his arm, trying to make Damon let go.

When his attempts ended in failure, he sighed "Look, I told you, that was an accident! I can't control myself as a wolf. I tune into a vampire's aura, then BAM, I'm a hunter."

Mason had said the last line menacingly, but Damon didn't care. "There are more than amateur hunters around here, there are killers."

A few seconds of tense silence ensued while they tried to stare each other down.

Then Damon let go of his arm and shook his head. He was about to walk away when he suddenly thought of his brother.

Stefan would be disappointed that he'd tried to kill Mason in the first place.

Now he hadn't just put himself in danger, he'd put his brother in it too.

And let's just say Stefan wasn't as good at survival as he was.

So that's why Damon faced Mason again and made a very un-Damonlike proposal. For his brother.

"Okay, listen...Why don't you just leave town? No bodies will need to be buried and we can keep Liz out of the know on who's a vampire and who's a werewolf. No harm done!"

Mason stared at him, uncomprehending. "Just like that, huh?"

"Ye-eah."

I'm doing this for Stefan...I'm doing this for Stefan... Stefan had better be grateful!

"Why would you let me go...just like that? I thought Damon Salvatore never used to let his quarry escape. Is your brother making you soft?"

Red hot anger was building up inside of Damon.

Think of Stefan...he told himself...Think of Stefan.

"Think of it as a get-out-of-jail-free card. But in your case, you only get one. I suggest you don't waste it."

"Wow, Damon Salvatore letting me go. From what I know, you're not very good at that."

Damon sighed, deciding to humour him, but instantly intrigued. "And why is that?"

Mason smirked, knowing he had caught Damon's attention unwillingly. "Oh, I don't know, maybe waiting for someone who doesn't even love you for 145 years is a bit much, don't ya think?"

Damon tensed. How the hell did he know about Katherine?

"Oh don't look so surprised. What - did you think you and your brother were the only ones Katherine wants to spend time with? I've been with her for almost a year now."

Right, this guy definitely needed to die. Whatever Katherine wanted him for, it wouldn't be good news.

"Really. What is she using you for? It must be important, if she's overlooking the fact that you're a werewolf."

"She's not using me...She loves me."

Oh sweet Jesus...While Damon had been edging closer towards Mason to rip his head off, this made him abruptly stop.

This man was being played and he didn't even know it.

Werewolves really were dumb creatures.

For some reason though, Damon didn't have the heart to murder him anymore.

He was just a pawn in Katherine's twisted game.

"Look, take this from me: Stay away form Katherine - and the only way to do that is to stay away from this town."

"But I love her!" Mason's eyes were glistening.

"Aww how pathetically sweet. You know, you remind me of myself - a less dashing and intelligent version. I'm not saying this for you, I'm saying it to put a kink in her master plan: Stay away from here, it won't end well for you."

Mason hesitated, but Damon knew that he saw the truth in his words. Finally, he nodded.

Satisfied, Damon turned away from Mason for the final time and made his way back to the Boarding House.

Part Two:

"So how did the party go, Damon?"

Damon looked up from his thoughts at his brother.

"Spectacular. How did your date with Katherine go? Elena filled me in."

Stefan sighed "Spectacular."

Damon nodded and watched Stefan's back leaving the room.

He raised his voice "Want to join me for a drink?"

Stefan swivelled round and stared intensely at his brother.

Damon smirked, this was the first - and last - time Stefan would be allowed to use his private stock.

"Err sure. Okay."

Damon got up from the sofa and went across to his glass cabinet. Opening it, he started to get out a brand new bottle of bourbon.

Except... It was already opened, and half full.

Damon noticed Stefan immediately look anywhere but at him.

"Stefan..."

"Mhmm?"

"You have 5 seconds to tell me what happened to my liquor."

"I don't know what - "

"One..."

"All right look, don't get mad or anything, but when Katherine was here I had to lull her to a false sense of security so I could vervain jab her and I gave her some of your drink. Sorry."

Damon should have been pissed off, but today seemed to be the day of doing kind things for Stefan.

"Ah well, this stuff doesn't taste as nice as fresh blood anyway."

Stefan's expression was priceless. "Wha - You're just going to let it go?"

Damon frowned. Wasn't he always nice like this?

"Would you rather I break a limb?"

"Uh no no it's great."

If his brother acted like this just because he wasn't going to lose it over some cheap wine, Damon wasn't going to tell him what he did for Mason.

He didn't want Stefan to feel that his status as a hero was being threatened.

Because it definitely wasn't.

Please review :)