Disclaimer: The characters of the Vampire Diaries do not belong to me. It is the property of L.J Smith and the CW. Suing is futile.
Damon groaned and tried to burrow further into the pillow. He drew the covers over his head until only the crown of his raven hair showed.
"Master Damon, you have to get him up. He's going to be late"
The incessant pulling was back and Damon groaned again. "Give him a few more minutes Martha. Wake him after you're done with breakfast, and..."
"I am done with breakfast, and if he doesn't get up soon, he won't be able to eat. I even had time to iron his clothes and arrange his backpack. Does that tell you anything, young master?" When all she got were soft snores, she pulled the blankets off him with a huff. "I don't get paid enough for this job" she stated amidst Damon's sharp yelp
"I don't pay you Martha" Damon grunted when he felt his body lift itself into a sitting position on the bed without his consent. "And I don't like it when you use magic on me"
"I wouldn't have to if you listened. Now go make sure your brother is ready for school. If he can be done in less than fifteen minutes, he'll have time for breakfast"
Damon trudged to Stefan's room and shook him awake. "Come on Stef, you're gonna be late. Up and at 'em"
"I don't feel good Damon. Something's wrong"
"Yea right. Of course, you're sick. What was that the doctor said again? Some type of vampire flu? Here, let me take your temperature. Oh my! You're burning up. Somebody, dial 911"
Stefan slapped his hands away from his face. "I'm serious Damon. Something doesn't feel right"
"Get over yourself Stefan. You're going to school. Now come on, I gotta drop you off and catch up on some sleep"
Stefan scoffed. "You're never going back to sleep" he said as he headed to the bathroom.
"Probably right. But I still got stuff to do so... Try and be fast, will ya" Damon shouted after him
After a lot of grumbles, and classic Stefan broodiness, Damon had him tucked away at the High School it still took him at least twenty minutes to get to no matter how many speed limits he broke. Then he drove back home, eager to finish that new game he had been playing the day before.
"Niklaus, if you can't be still maybe you should go to your room, and do something productive instead of distracting me"
"I'm not some naughty child you can send to his room Elijah. Besides, what you're doing is rather boring"
"What I'm doing is trying to find a good school for Kol. If you're bored, go draw something, or maybe you can take Kol out, have some fun. Either way, stop whining"
"Look around Elijah. We live in Montana. We are surrounded by good schools. All you need to do..." he gave an exaggerated sigh as he moved off the couch to Elijah's side "is choose one" he added as he clicked on one of the private schools his older brother had been researching on his laptop. "There, I just found a school for our baby brother. You're welcome. Now, if you don't mind handing me your credit card, I can finally relieve my boredom and go shopping for school supplies for Kol" Klaus ended, swiping Elijah's card off the table and walking out the door, the prospect of doing something remotely fun boosting his steps.
"I thought you didn't like Stefan's video games"
"This one's not so bad. I actually like it a bit" Damon said, taking another swig of bourbon
"Really? I hadn't noticed" Martha answered snidely. "And that is not a substitute for breakfast. There's some leftover pizza in the fridge. I'll heat that up for you while I go about making an actual meal"
"Leftover pizza? Who ordered?"
"That spoilt brat who always makes googly eyes at Stefan was here yesterday. Some lame excuse about homework or so. She has no creativity, that one"
Damon chuckled. "Every child and teenager in the neighborhood is a spoilt brat Martha, including Stefan. We live in Beverly Hills. You'll have to be more specific"
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, young master" Martha sneered while bustling around in the kitchen. "I don't like her. She's too bouncy… and loud."
"Bouncy? You should meet Caroline" Damon said, reaching for the bourbon again, only to have Martha magically move it to the sink. He groaned loudly. "Martha" he whined. "You know the alcohol won't hurt me. I don't stand a risk of some liver or kidney disease from too much alcohol. Why won't you just…" he trailed off as he saw the look on her face. "Fine. Pizza it is" he grumbled
Martha smiled patronizingly. "I knew you would see reason" she said to Damon, before placing two slices of pizza before him, staring at him pointedly until he dropped the console and took a slice, albeit an exaggerated one. It was Martha's turn to roll her eyes this time, amused by the antics of her charge. Only Damon Salvatore could turn something as simple as eating pizza into a battle of wills. Seriously, he was so childish sometimes, Martha thought, as she waited patiently for him to pout his way through the pizza. She was glad though that he had backed down so quickly. Damon may have inherited his mother's blue eyes and dark hair but his stubbornness and rather impressive temper he got from his father. And Giuseppe was a very stubborn man. "Drink the juice, young master" she commanded quietly. It was a testament to how far they had come that she could order Damon around like that and not expect to have her heart flung across the room. Martha had come into the Salvatore household as a young woman shortly after Giuseppe Salvatore's marriage. She had a quiet majesty around her that not even Damon's father could overlook, and had never been treated as a slave. She had been around for all of Lily Salvatore's miscarriages, and had rejoiced with the family when Damon had lived. She had both celebrated and mourned with them after Stefan had been born and Lily died. She had been there for all of Damon's tantrums and illnesses and nightmares. She had been there for all of it. Which was why she had readily cast the spell that would slow down her aging significantly so she could still look after and protect her boys - and somebody up there must have either really liked her or the Salvatore boys because she had practically stopped aging since she cast the spell - and which was also why, she could stay calm under that famous Damon glare when she asked him to drink the juice.
"You must have mistaken me for Stefan, Martha. I'm not some snot nosed teenager who has to drink milk and juice to keep up appearances. I'm legal, Martha. In every way. And as the legal adult that I am, I am not drinking orange juice. I am going to pour myself a nice glass of bourbon and…"
The phone ringing put an end to his tirade. After a pointed look thrown in his direction, Martha went to answer, leaving Damon to try and drink as much bourbon as he like before she returned and they had to start all over. Except immediately Damon started to pour the drink, she called to him. "Master Damon, it's from the school. It seems young master Stefan…"
"How many times have I told you Martha, people don't say master and young master anymore? They just say Sir or call them by their last names"
"Well, Master Damon" he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It concerns the young master and the school would like to talk to you"
Damon frowned and blurred to the phone, sharing a worried look with Martha before speaking. "Damon Salvatore…. What? ... No, he was okay. He didn't say…. where is he? … Them? What do you mean them? … Broth… I'm sorry. He's supposed to be in boarding school up north… Yes, I'll be there soon…. No, you don't have to call the ambulance. I've already texted the family doctor… yes, thanks for calling…bye"
"An ambulance? What's going on Master Damon? Is the young master okay? And who else are they talking about?"
"I don't know Martha. Apparently, Stefan fainted in school and is not waking up. I signed something about calling me first if anything happened so they haven't called an ambulance yet. How did this happen, Martha? Vampires don't just faint" Damon looked at her confusedly. "They said his brother arrived a few minutes ago"
"Brother?" Martha returned the confused look. "How…"
"I don't know Martha" Damon practically growled at her. "I don't know anything. They said he wasn't looking too good but he was conscious, unlike Stefan. I had to tell them that he was in another school and wasn't supposed to be there or they would call the police and I don't even know what this mystery brother looks like or what his connection is to all this weirdness. I thought we left this behind when we left Mystic Falls" he breathed deeply, the worried look immediately turning to guilt. "He said this morning that he didn't feel good. That something didn't feel right. How could I have ignored him Martha?"
"It's not your fault, young master" she soothed. "Go get him. I'll get the grimoires. We'll figure this out"
Kol sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time as his biology teacher droned on and on about something he couldn't even remember. He had taken off his cardigan and tie and folded up his sleeves, which meant there was nothing more he could do to deface the expensive uniform he was wearing. At least, Elijah had put him in one of those spoiled rich kid's schools, and that meant he could get away with a lot, like not paying attention in class and not dressed appropriately to the school standards. It also meant the strongest punishment he could receive for his shoddy attire was a glare from his teachers and maybe detention. He didn't even have to compel his way out of trouble. The teachers in the school were paid almost four times what their counterparts in public schools were being paid, and that sum came with being able to keep your eyes and mouth shut about some situations. He sighed again as he whipped out his phone. It was times like these that he missed Rebekah a lot. He could only imagine the kind of trouble they could get away with in this kind of environment. His throat tightened as nostalgia overcame him. This happened every time he thought about his sister.
"Excuse me, Mr. Rivers, but I need to take Mr. Mikaelson out of class for a few minutes. His father wants to see him"
Kol's head snapped up at the name. Even though the petite lady who had come in with the information was whispering, he could hear it clear as day. Perks of being a vampire with super hearing. He stood up so quickly his chair fell back, and without giving a backward glance at the gossiping teenagers behind him run out the door. For a split second, his eyes met with someone's who should be long dead. His eyes widened and his heart jumped in fear at the sight before he blurred out of there at top speed, never minding there were human teachers right behind him.
It took him about ten seconds to cover a distance that took Elijah almost thirty minutes to cover by car as he drove him to school every day. He opened the front door with such force one of the hinges flew right off, putting Elijah into a defensive stance and bringing Klaus flying down the stairs in panic.
"Kol" Elijah relaxed his defensive pose a little bit. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school for a few more hours?"
"H-He's back Elijah. He's back" Kol ranted in a distraught voice. "I d-don't know how but he's back. He was at m-my school"
The older originals took note of their baby brother's quivering voice and shaking shoulders. They moved closer to him. "Who's back Kol?"
"Father"
Damon was out of the screeching car before it came to a full halt. He marched into the school and tried to remember which direction was the infirmary when he was given a tour of the school while it was being considered for his little brother. Luckily, a teacher met him just a few steps in and led Damon to where he needed to go. He made a beeline for Stefan's bed as soon as he went through the door, only to stop short at the other patient in the room. He wondered why he didn't think about it when the school said his brother had arrived. It was so clear now as he looked at the identical eternally frozen teenage face opposite Stefan.
"Silas?" LINE BREAK
