A different kind of eternity
Alaric got up with a groan, dusting off his clothes. A glance at the Mystic Grill told him that the explosion hadn't done much damage. No-one seemed to have gotten hurt. At least no-one living. Connor Jordan was lying a few feet away. Dead – at least for now. Okay, so he had already been dead before. So more like down for the count.
It seemed that Ric had gotten up much quicker. Obviously being an unkillable original vampire had its perks, even as a ghost. After debating with himself for a second he decided to leave the hunter there. With a little luck he would stay down for a while. Now he had to find the others and make sure they were okay. After that they could make plans on how to get rid of Connor.
His first stop was the boarding house, where he only met Jeremy and Lexi. "Elena and Stefan went to the graduation party with the others." Jeremy let his former guardian know. But Alaric could see that there was something wrong. The boy was keeping something from him. "What happened?" he asked cautiously. "That other hunter... Vaughn, he.. he shot Damon. The bullet was soaked in werwolf-poison." For a second Ric's breath caught in his throat. He knew all too well what werwolf-poison did to a vampire. He had seen it once on Damon. And he also knew that Klaus wasn't in Mystic Falls. There was no way to get his blood, which was the only cure.
"Where is he?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. He needed to find Damon, even if he couldn't help him. He just needed to be with him. This time it was Lexi who answered. "We don't know. He gave the cure to Vaughn and lured him away. He said he would show him where Silas was buried." Ric frowned. "But we had no chance to get rid of Silas, yet." he reminded. "Yeah, that's what Stefan said as well. Damon is just trying to buy us time." Lexi sounded impressed, like she hadn't thought Damon would be capable of being selfless.
But the former teacher knew better. He knew a side of Damon no-one else knew. He knew that the vampire would gladly sacrifice his own life to protect his loved ones. He just hoped it wouldn't come to this. "I need to find him." The two other ghosts only nodded. Ric didn't know for sure where Damon was, but he had an idea. They had talked about ways to get rid of Silas and he had mentioned this old quarry.
"Caroline is trying to reach Klaus. If anyone can get him to come here, it's her. Hey, maybe he's already on his way. It was only one bullet. We've got time." Jeremy tried to cheer him up. Ric only nodded and rushed off towards the quarry.
But he was almost too late. Even from afar he could hear a gunshot, followed by two more. Taking advantage of his vampire speed he rushed to the quarry, where he found Vaughn pointing a gun at Damon, who was kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath. "One more shot and you're dead within minutes." the hunter threatened, but Damon didn't reply. He just stared at him. It looked like the vampire had already given up and was ready to die.
Alaric wouldn't let it happen. He lunged at the hunter, snapped his neck and threw him into the quarry. When he turned towards Damon the dark-haired vampire was still kneeling on the ground. He was breathing heavily and the werwolf-poison had already left its marks on his pale skin. Alaric tried not to let his panic show and forced a smile to his face. "Oops."
Damon looked up at him. "There's a little problem..." his voice sounded rough, showing how weak he was. "You mean this?" Alaric asked, holding up the cure he had taken off Vaughn before throwing him down. Damon nodded. "Yeah, that." Ric dropped to his knees in front of him.
"What were you thinking, Damon?" The other vampire just shrugged. "Not much, I guess." he admitted, trying to smile, but it turned into a grimace. His hand skimmed over his shoulder, from where dark lines criss-crossed over his upper body. It looked like the first shot had hit him there and there was no mistaking how much the wound pained him.
Alaric's throat felt too tight. Despite or maybe because of everything they had faced together Damon had always seemed kinda invincible to him. Like he couldn't really die. But now the threat to his life had become all too real and the former teacher had no idea what to do or say.
He didn't know what they even had been before he had become an unkillable serial-killer, thanks to his evil alter ego and that stupid original witch. They had never defined their relationship. Friends-with-benefits would probably be the most fitting word. But he knew that for him at least it had always been more than that. It had been hard for him to accept the fact that he had fallen in love with the dark-haired vampire, but someday he just hadn't been able to deny it any longer. But he had never told Damon. Why should he? Damon loved Elena. Ric had always known that and yet it hadn't stopped him from sharing his bed with his best friend
He let his eyes roam over the dark-haired vampire, noting the frown on his face, the sweat on his brow and how his slender body rose and fell with each gasping breath, like it was painful. Damon didn't have much time left. It was plain to see. He had to act now.
"You should drink this." Damon opened his eyes and looked at the cure in disgust. "No way. That's for Elena." The former teacher growled in annoyance. "Don't play the hero, Damon. If Klaus doesn't magically show up here within the next five minutes, then..."
He couldn't finish the sentence. The thought was too awful. He felt like saying it aloud would make it all too real. "We don't have time." Ric's voice was shaking, but he didn't care. He could no longer hide his feelings. He didn't even want to. "Damon, please.." But the older vampire stubbornly shook his head.
Ric felt torn, not knowing what to do now. Fighting with Damon would get him nowhere, but he could hardly force him to swallow the cure. Then he got an idea. If Damon didn't want to listen to him, maybe he would listen to someone else. "Give me your phone." The dark-haired vampire gave him a calculating look, but finally handed it over without a word.
Ric dialed Stefan's number with trembling hands. The younger Salvatore answered after the first ring and Alaric quickly told him what had happened. "Damon doesn't want to take the cure. He wants it for Elena." he finished. Stefan let him know that Caroline was still trying to reach Klaus and Ric felt the overwhelming urge to hit him. "It's too late, Stefan. What do you want me to do? Should I just stand here and watch him die or force him to take the cure?" Ric asked in desperation. Stefan didn't answer and seconds later the line went dead.
Ric cursed under his breath, letting go of the phone and looking down on Damon. The dark-haired vampire was sitting with his back against a rock, his eyes closed. His breathing was getting more labored by the second. Time was waning. He opened his eyes when Ric sat down next to him. "Don't even think about it." Damon warned, his voice cracking. He knew exactly what Ric was thinking. "I can't just watch you die. I can't." the former teacher whispered.
He couldn't imagine a world without Damon Salvatore. There had been a time when he had wanted Damon dead. Had even tried to kill him. But now he just wanted Damon to be okay and finally find happiness. He couldn't just let him die. "Yes, that's exactly what you're gonna do." the dark-haired vampire whispered and Ric wondered for a second if he had said the last part aloud.
"I wanted to turn you, remember?" Damon asked suddenly. "But you said no and I respected that. Even if I wanted so much.." his words were cut off by a coughing fit. Ric saw him spitting out blood. "I should have forced my blood down your throat and broke your damn neck. But I didn't. I respected your wish. And now you'll respect mine. You owe me that much." the vampire finished his sentence, gasping for breath, like talking was too much of a strain.
Alaric sighed. He couldn't tell how often Damon had offered to turn him. How often they had fought about it. Damon had threatened a few times to take matters into his own hands. But he hadn't. He had left the decision up to Ric. The teacher had to allow him the same. "Put that away." Damon ordered, looking at the cure in disgust. Ric swallowed hard. "I don't want you to die." he whispered, even as he put the cure into his pocket.
He would not force Damon to take it. No matter how hard it was. "It's better this way." Damon's voice sounded hoarse. He was getting weaker. "No, it's not." the former teacher insisted. "Elena would want you to take it. You know that." he tried to change the vampires mind, while there was still time. Damon looked at him with tired eyes. "I don't want that fucking cure. I never wanted it." he growled, coughing up more blood. He was shaking and clearly in pain. Ric hated seeing him like this.
"Would it be so horrible for you to be human again?" he asked, not even noticing how much it sounded like the question Damon had asked him so many times – Would it be so horrible for you to be a vampire? "I don't want to die in a couple of years, old and withered, regretting all that I've lost." the dark-haired vampire gasped. "So you'd rather die now?" Ric shot back. "Yes. You won't change my mind."
Alaric knew that he was right. When Damon Salvatore had made a decision, nothing and no-one could change his mind. He was too damn stubborn. And he seemed hell-bent on dying. The former teacher gave up, feeling tears pricking his eyes. "There's nothing I can say to change your mind, right?" he noticed sadly. Damon nodded and leaned back against the stone. It was probably too late anyways. It wouldn't be long now. Not even Klaus' blood would help him.
Now that Ric had given in Damon didn't try to be strong anymore. Or maybe he just didn't have the strength to hide his feelings anymore. He looked scared and very young. "Can you.. do me one last favor?" he asked hesitantly. "Anything." Ric replied immediately. Usually Damon would make fun of him now, but nothing was usual about this.
"Hold me." The unexpected request finally broke the dam and Alaric felt the first tears slipping down his face. Wordlessly he pulled Damon into his arms, allowing the older vampire to lean against his chest. With trembling hands he stroked the dark, sweat soaked hair, dropped a kiss onto Damon's temple. "The other side... how is... will I... be alone?" Damon asked haltingly. Talking seemed to cause him pain.
Ric could feel each trembling breath the older vampire took. He wanted to take the pain away, but couldn't. "No, you won't be alone." he promised. Damon tried to say something, but he was shaken by another coughing fit, spitting out more blood. "Don't lie." he gasped, once the coughs had subsided. "I'm not lying."
Ric still didn't know much about the other side, but he knew that he could interact with other ghosts. He had found Jeremy, shortly after the boy's death. Had held him and tried to comfort him, while they had watched Elena breaking down. He had felt guilty, because he had been almost glad about Jeremy's presence. Most of the other ghosts avoided him. At least he thought so, since he seldom saw any. He had talked to Rose once or twice and he'd seen Anna. But only Jeremy had stayed with him the whole time.
"You won't be alone. I promise." he assured. Damon seemed about to say something, but coughed up more blood instead. He was getting steadily weaker and Ric felt totally helpless. He pulled Damon even closer, held him and murmured soothing words. "It's okay. Shh... Everything's gonna be okay." It was stupid and so far from the truth, but he wasn't sure if Damon even heard him. The vampire was shaking like a leaf, breathing with difficulty. He didn't seem aware of his surroundings anymore.
Ric just kept murmuring soft, soothing nonsense words, listening to each painful gasp for air. His hand was resting on Damon's chest, which was rising and falling ever so slowly. Each breath seemed weaker than the last, seemed to take longer than the last, until the body in his arms suddenly went slack. Alaric buried his face in Damon's hair and gave in to his tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Damon was dead.
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Ric was standing at the edge of the quarry, staring off into space, without seeing anything. Absently he wondered how long it would take Vaughn to wake up and climb back up again, but he didn't really care. On the other hand he really felt like ripping the hunter apart, killing him over and over again, slowly and painfully. Making him pay for what he had done.
When he noticed movement behind himself he turned around slowly, glancing at Damon, before letting his eyes stray to the dead body on the ground. Damon followed his line of sight, looking down at himself with a frown. Ric wondered if he had noticed that he had wiped the blood off the corpse. "That's... pretty weird." Damon finally commented, with a hint of the familiar snark in his voice. But it didn't make it any easier for Ric. "I can imagine." It felt weird for him as well.
"Well... I would suggest just..." Damon motioned to his dead and body and then to the quarry, indicating just throwing him down. "... but I guess Elena will insist on a proper funeral, huh?" Ric nodded. "She will. And Stefan, too. We could hide your.. body here." he suggested. "I don't think anyone will find it by accident." The whole conversation was too surreal. Even for Mystic Falls standards. Damon only nodded, so they hid his body between the rocks.
Afterwards they both just stood there, a little lost. Ric looked down and wondered if Vaughn was already on his way up again. "It's better this way." Damon broke the tense silence. "Better for who?" Ric shot back. Damon avoided eye contact. "For everyone. I did many things wrong." He sounded strangely thoughtful.
"You did a lot of things right as well." he pointed out. "You were there for Elena when she needed you. Took care of the kids... They won't understand it. Elena least of all." Finally Damon looked at him again. "Elena belongs to Stefan. She always did. She only dated me because of this stupid sire bond. We all knew that. And it's okay."
Ric looked at him in surprise. "It's okay? Since when? I thought you were in love with Elena." Damon looked away again. "I thought I was. But the truth is, I always want what I can't have. And I only realize that I already had everything I really wanted when I lose it." Ric didn't understand, but Damon didn't give him a chance to question him further. "We should go. We need to say goodbye and time's running out." he reminded. Ric agreed so they made their way back to the boarding house in silence.
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Elena ran up to them as soon as they entered the house. "Damon! Oh thank god. Did Klaus show up after all?" She threw herself into Damon's arms, but he pushed her away gently. "No, he didn't." Elena blinked in surprise. "Oh. So you took ..." she stopped mid-sentence, seemed to see the truth in his eyes. Slowly she stumbled backwards, shaking her head in disbelief. "No. Damon, no." Tears were pooling in her eyes. Damon took a step towards her and gently stroked her cheek. "It's better this way. You belong with Stefan. We both know that. Now that the sire bond is broken, there's nothing more standing between you."
Elena choked back a sob and looked at Alaric accusingly. "How could you let this happen?" she screamed. "Because I wanted it this way." Damon answered. Ric nodded. "It was his decision to make, Elena. I couldn't force him." No matter how much he had wanted to. Damon dropped a kiss onto her forehead. "It's better this way." he repeated, before turning to his brother.
Tears were glistening in Stefan's eyes as well. Damon hesitated only a moment, before pulling his little brother into his arms. "I love you, baby bro. I always did and I always will. Take care of them, okay?" he whispered. Stefan sniffled. "I love you too. I never wanted this to happen. Damon, I..."
"I know. We both made a lot of mistakes." Damon murmured, letting go of Stefan and taking a step back slowly. "Now it's your job to take care of everything around here. Don't let me down." Stefan shook his head. "I won't." He sniffled again, wiping his eyes self-consciously. "I'll miss you."
Damon had a hard time not getting overly emotional as well. "I'll stick around. Someone has to keep an eye on you." He glanced at Ric who nodded in agreement. They would both stick around and watch over their loved ones. Damon's gaze traveled to the window. "It's dark outside. The moon will rise soon." Which meant their time was up.
"Jeremy isn't back yet. He wanted to go looking for Bonnie." Elena sounded close to panic and looked like she would burst into tears again any second. Ric hoped she would be able to cope with this new loss. Without turning off her feelings again. "We'll fetch him." Damon promised.
He hugged Elena one last time. "Do me a favor, yeah? Don't turn off your feelings. Never again. No matter how hard it gets. That's not you. And I'm not worth it." She nodded, blinking back tears. "Okay." The dark-haired vampire smiled and stepped back, motioning for Ric to follow him. The former teacher hugged Elena as well. "He's right, Elena. That's not you. We'll be watching you. That's a promise." He was about to follow Damon when he remembered something. He pulled the cure out of his pocket and handed it to Elena. "This is for you. Use it in whatever way you think best." She took the little flask with trembling hands and nodded. Ric smiled and followed Damon, who had already left the house. Having to part from his brother forever had been hard on him.
The two ghosts made their way to high school silently and met Bonnie and a tearful Jeremy in the old tunnels under the school. "It's okay." Bonnie assured. "The veil is closed again. But I … made sure that Jeremy can stay here. He's alive." Ric and Damon looked at her in surprise. Damon smiled. "Good to know. At least I know who to turn to when Elena fucks things up again." he commented lightly.
Jeremy gave him a questioning look, but Bonnie understood at once. "He's dead. The werwolf-poison killed him." Jeremy seemed shocked by these news. "Not you as well." This time it was Damon who looked questioning, but once again Bonnie explained. "The spell was too much for me." Damon and Ric took a second to understand. Both noticed in surprise that Bonnie's grams had shown up. "Remember your promise. And don't worry. I'll be fine." the younger witch assured, smiling at Jeremy before taking her grandmother's hand and walking away.
"Damon looked at Jeremy. "Go to your sister. She needs you. And tell Stefan they'll find my body at the old quarry, hidden between the rocks. I guess they're gonna insist on a funeral. Tell them I don't want to be buried in that disgusting old family crypt. Maybe they'll get me a grave next to Ric. But no stupid memorial words, yeah?" Jeremy nodded. He seemed about to say something, but then he thought better of it and just left.
Ric turned to Damon. "What did you mean earlier, when you said you only realize you had everything you wanted when you lost it?" He just couldn't get those words out of his head. Damon sighed and fidgeted, but in the end he looked him straight in the eyes. "I had you, right? Somehow. But I only realized how much you really mean to me when I had lost you. When it was too late." The words made Alaric smile. He pulled the older vampire closer and kissed him gently, sighing in relief when Damon returned the kiss immediately.
"It's never too late, Damon." Ric finally murmured, when they had pulled apart. "This isn't the eternity you were hoping for. But it's still eternity, right?" Damon smiled as well and finally there was this gleam in his eyes again that Ric had missed so long. "What are we waiting for then?" Ric laughed, wrapped an arm around Damon's shoulders and led him out of the tunnels. Time to start eternity.