title: She Saved Him
fandom: vampire diaries
genre: angst/romance
ship: stefan/oc ,one sided stefan/caroline
rating: high-teen possibly m
word count: 5,043
full summary: "She had always been the light to his darkness. Somehow managing to keep a vicious monster inside him in check, even when she had been human. She was what kept Stefan grounded and she challenged him to fight to be something more then that monster that gives into the blood"-Damon Salvatore.
When Stefan dies, Caroline is confronted by her feelings for him and struggles with how to deal with them and come to terms with them, whilst trying to find a way to bring Stefan back, she can only hope he feels the same way. After he dies Stefan hopes that they can kill many birds with one stone. They can bring Enzo back. Alaric. Luke. But what he really hopes is to get his girl back. The girl that had come along with her deep brown eyes and her gorgeous smile and changed everything. season 5 au. Stefan/OC
AN: Juliet is played by a brunette Aimee Teegarden.I'm testing this out if no one likes it. I will continue
(Flashback scenes in Italics) starts 5x11. Damon explains why Stefan can't be with Katherine. Then flashes forward
Preface
"Her name was Juliet. Juliet Fairchild. In case you were wondering" Damon said to Katherine
"I don't understand." the words slip out of her mouth without even trying
"When Stefan and I were reunited in a place where we were tortured by witches and curious doctors, tortured for amusement and punishment. It also helps that he was a doppelganger. And in 1947 Juliet showed up."
"Welcome." Damon heard a familiar voice from the cell next to him. "These witches and doctors never get tired of watching us heal, but they give us just enough blood to keep us alive. Pick yourself up." The man said and crawled toward the bared window between cells. He held out his hand in greeting. "Hello brother. It's nice to
see you again."
Damon looked Katherine in the eye. "Like Enzo, He was a soldier in Europe during World War II."
"How did he end up there?" Katherine asked
"Some witches were working in a battlefield hospital when they discovered Stefan the vampire doppelgänger, so they did some spell to put us to sleep, locked us up and shipped us to their coven in Louisiana. He'd been here for 5 years by the time I joined…"
"You're living for the moment. You need to live for the future."
"The future? You're kidding what future?" Damon asked.
"The one where you get you escape, maybe even get revenge." Stefan explained. "Go on. Picture your revenge. Use your imagination."
"I can see it." Damon says and starts to carve on the wall with a rock.
"You've never been much of a sports fan, huh Brother?" Stefan asked standing at the bars in his cell. When Damon didn't answer, he continued. " Neither am I. Do you have other interests – fine wines, travels, cars? I'm partial to convertibles, or at least the kind you take to impress a pretty girl. You've done that right ?"
"Once or twice." Damon pushed himself to speak.
"Well, it was Katherine" Damon groaned in pain, "a horse and carriage type girl."
"What, just one girl? Haven't you met others?" Stefan asked.
"Never met another one like her."
"Well, fair enough." Stefan conceded.
"What about you? Any pretty girls?" Damon asked back.
"A few. But I've never met that special someone. The one you'd do anything for. The one you'd die for. The epic love." Stefan explained.
"What about your.. other family? Are they still running around?" Damon asked
"You bet."
"You said 'at first.'" Katherine told Damon. "What changed?"
"It was a year after I had been in there. I had been scared: I didn't know what to expect, what would happen to me, if I was ever gonna get out. Stefan didn't tell me anything. He just said 'boy are you in for it'. Every thing changed that day…"
It had been a day or two since Stefan and Damon had been experimented on. Someone still came in and shot them with vervain every once in a while to keep them weak, but it was a nice change, one that certainly wouldn't last too long, but still a change.
The two heard the door open and saw a witch dragging someone with long, brown hair towards the cells. A girl?
There had only been two cells in the basement, so Dr. Robinson opened Stefan's cell and tossed her in carelessly then he closed the cell. She had landed in perfect view of the barred window from Damon's cell and Stefan just watched on confused.
Her hair was covering her face until her head rolled to the side towards Damon's cell. What he saw shocked him to his core.
Stefan had not been able to look away from the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He didn't mention this to Damon but she lived in Mystic Falls when Damon and him were human. he was obvio
"See if you can wake her up." Damon said to Stefan trying to think of a way to wake her up.
Stefan moved toward Juliet carefully. He moved a few strands of hair away from her face before gently grabbing her face and turning it towards him. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was and she hadn't even opened her eyes yet.
"Hey. Sweetheart. Come on wake up." Stefan said a couple times. He could tell from how easy her head turned that her neck had been broken, but knew she would wake up soon. Damon just continued to sit there and watch her.
Juliet sat up quickly, gasping for air, and slightly scaring the other two vampires. Juliet looked around frantically and noticed she was in a cement and barred cell. Freaking out, not knowing where she was, she started ramming her body towards the bars and walls trying to break out. It didn't last long though because she was still weak from being injected with vervain.
She noticed another presence in the cell and froze. She turned to look at the attractive man in the cell with fear.
Before Stefan had a chance to Damon spoke
"You've been captured by a coven of witches. It's a curious group of doctors and witches, even travelers who… experiment… on vampires trying to figure out what makes them tick."
"Experiment? You mean like…" Juliet trailed off too frightened to even say the word.
"Yeah." Damon said and looked down.
"She is smart."Stefan said drawing Juliet's attention back to him.
" let me reintroduce myself. Stefan And this is My brother. Damon." He said and kissed the back of Juliet's hand. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you. But under the given circumstances, I really wish I didn't."
"So what happens now?" Juliet asked after she had calmed down a bit, but not much. Stefan and Damon tried to explain as much as possible, but she wouldn't really know until she was taken for 'experimenting.'
"Well sweetheart, unfortunately, now you get to spend who knows how long in this cell." Stefan said to her. He couldn't take his gaze away from her. He thought she was beautiful with her eyes closed, but now that she was looking at him, he could see her magnificent eyes and she instantly became gorgeous. He could barely imagine what a smile from her would do.
"Hey Juliet, look at me." Damon said drawing her attention away from Stefan. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. He had golden wheat hair, a nice chiseled jaw, and emerald eyes that showed hints of gold flecks in the light.
The three vampires turned their head towards the sound of the door of the basement opening.
"Alright. You are a special treat to our organization. The first ever female vampire. It's going to be wonderful to figure out the differences in molecular biology and in witchcraft. Come on. It's time for your first session." Doctor Robinson said opening the cell door with a twisted smile on his face.
"Wait, please don't do this. Just let her go." Damon begged.
"Oh, I can't do that." He said and gestured Juliet with his head to walk out the cell.
"Oh come on. I've always had a bit of a feminine side. Use me. What difference could it be?" Stefan tried to keep the from taking her. Juliet whipped her head to the side, surprised that the strangers were trying to take her torture for himself.
"No. Now come on." The Doctor said starting to get frustrated.
Juliet started walked out of the cell knowing there was no way out of this. But before she left, she cast a thankful look to the Salvatores for their attempt at saving her. She couldn't believe they would do that for her.
The two vampires were forced to listen for hours to Juliet's constant screams.
Both vampires' head's perked up when the screams finally stopped and the basement door opened. The Dr. dragged an unconscious Juliet back to her cell and threw her in.
Stefan crawled over to her to assess the damage. Blood was staining her shirt over her torso and there was more blood running down the side of her neck.
"How is she?" Damon asked from his cell.
Stefan just looked over at Damon and the two shared a look. They both knew that whenever they were 'studied' it was never simply mild.
Stefan lifted Juliet's head and cradled it in his lap, hoping that the gesture would give her even the smallest form of comfort.
Damon watched on from his cell. He had noticed the looks the two were sending each other before she was taken. He noticed when Stefan had tried to take Juliet's treatment for himself like he had done for Damon on a few occasions. He even noticed the tears that had leaked down his face when they first heard her cries.
"Juliet had suffered the most during our times with the coven. Whereas they had a choice between me and Stefan, Juliet was their only option for female studies." Damon explained.
"Wait, is that why Stefan would stare off into space when he was here? Is that what his breakdown was about before he left?" Katherine asked.
"Well, that was part of the reason…"
Damon was pretending to be asleep in his cell while Juliet and Stefan had one of their first conversations.
"So, Stefan, tell me about yourself. Talking can help pass the time." Juliet asked Stefan, sitting against one wall of the cell. It had been a few weeks since Juliet had been there and the two hadn't really talked much.
"Not much to tell really." Stefan said sitting against the opposite wall.
"Well tell me about your life. What have you been up to? Where have you been?" Juliet asked trying to get him to tell her about himself.
"Oh here and there. I was usually on my own, but every year or two I'd hunt down damon my... brother? Foster Brother?.. and blood sister and see what they were up to. This Katherine girl turned everything upside down."" Stefan said bitterly.
"I sense some hostility." Juliet commented.
"Oh you have no idea. If the bitch hadn't died the night the council rounded up the vampires, I would have killed her myself." Stefan said remembering the suffering Katherine put his family through.
"You hated her that much?" Juliet asked.
"She destroyed my family. We were happy. I mean we had problems you know, what family doesn't? But we were together and she tore it apart. Specifically Damon and I, we were like ...a tag team. Until Katherine showed up and turned us against each other.."
"What about you? " Stefan asked her curiously.
"I was engaged to be married." Juliet stated.
"Really?" Stefan asked surprised
"Yep. I was set to be married to the son of the richest man ." Juliet explained.
"What do you mean 'set to be?' Did you not approve of this courtship?"Stefan asked.
"Hell no."
"So you didn't love him?" Stefan asked even more curious about her past relationship.
"Oh no. My marriage was arranged. While my father made good money and was one of the leaders of the town, he was still a very greedy man and tried to get his paws on every cent he could. After all I didn't think there was anything more for me. I was a small town girl, with a small town life, and a small town future. My dream back then was to get away from there: away from father's control, away from the marriage agreement. I wanted someone who loved me for me, not because they had to or agreed to. I wanted a love so... strong and sure I could be myself around them. I didn't want to have to sensor my thoughts and feelings because it was what a 'proper gentlemen' would do. I wanted something more, something bigger than what I had. I wanted a life of my own, where the decisions weren't made for me. Who knew it would take dying to achieve that?" Juliet joked.
Stefan couldn't help but admire the woman before him. She wanted better things for herself. She knew what she wanted, but wasn't able to fight for it. Back then, women's lives were basically chosen for them, but she wanted away from that. She wanted to see the world, discover new things… she wanted to live. Stefan found himself wanting to show her what she had been missing.
"Did you ever find it?" Stefan asked her.
"Find what?" Juliet asked coming out of her train of thought.
"Did you ever find what you were looking for? Did you ever find the life you wanted? Did you ever find love?" Stefan asked hoping she would tell him she found all that she was looking for and she was happy all these years.
"I did find the life I wanted. I was finally in control of my decisions. No one chose what I did, or where I went next. I was finally my own person, out from underneath my parents rule. But I never found love. There was never that one special person. The one I'd do anything for. The one I'd die for. I never found my epic love." Juliet said to him.
Stefan realized she had basically repeated what he said and wanted word for word. He wanted that special someone he'd do anything for and in turn who would do anything for him. He wanted his epic love. He couldn't help the feeling of hope in his chest that maybe, just maybe, she could be that special person.
"What about you? Is there a special someone waiting for you to come back?" Juliet asked Stefan.
"I'm still looking." Stefan said staring into her eyes.
Whether they knew it or not, Stefan and Juliet had a connection. They were two souls and personalities that fit together like puzzle pieces.
It had been a year since Juliet had been brought in. She and Damon were close friends, he was like a second brother, sharing in their experience of torment. And she and Stefan grew closer every day.
There was one particular day that stood out from all the others. One of the best days they could have while in captivity.
Juliet had just been brought back from being 'studied' and today was brutal. She had bruises and cuts all over her torso and arms. It looked like a few ribs were broken or possible even removed. Blood was trailing down her face from where her eyes had healed over. It was the worst state she'd been in since arriving.
She was tossed back into her cell and Stefan was by her side immediately. This time she was still conscious, which was rare. She was usually knocked out from the pain or the vervain they injected her with.
"Juliet?" Damon asked from his cell seeing her battered state.
"Hey, sweetheart, come on talk to me." Stefan encouraged. Her head kept falling to the side, too weak to keep it in one place.
"I can't." Juliet muttered, barely audible to the two vampires.
"You can't what?" Damon asked but she didn't answer.
"You have to talk to me beautiful…" Stefan said, his worry growing even further when she was unresponsive.
"I can't anymore…" Juliet trailed off.
Damon sat back and watched as his brother comforted his friend.
"Hey, listen to me." Stefan said and looked her in the eye. "You have to fight this. There's so much left you haven't seen. Fight for Damon, for your brother Ivan, for the life you've always wanted… you can't leave me." Stefan whispered the last part under his breath. He of all people knew what the coven were capable of doing. They took vampires and broke them down until there was nothing left. But he refused to let them tear her down. The world would be lost without a soul like hers… he would be lost.
"It won't go away." Juliet said still barely conscious. "The pain won't go away."
Stefan's face scrunched up in pain at hearing her voice. It held so much fear and agony it could bring a grown man to his knees.
"I can't take the pain away Juliet… but I can try and take your mind off it." Stefan said trying to get her attention.
At the thought of forgetting the pain, she focused on Stefan the best she could and asked, "How?"
Stefan didn't answer. Instead he slowly lowered his head down to hers and placed a small kiss on her lips not sure of how she would respond. When she didn't object, he did it again, and again, each kiss gaining more confidence than the last. Then she started kissing back and it was the most incredible feeling he'd ever felt in his existence.
Juliet used all her strength to bring her hand up to his cheek. When her body couldn't stay awake any longer she broke away, but before she lost consciousness she said, "I like that distraction." And for the first time since she'd been there, she had a deep, dreamless sleep.
Stefan smiled and stared at the brunette beauty before him, still shocked at what just happened. He couldn't believe he did that. He didn't know what her reaction would be, but he couldn't be happier that she responded the way she did. Maybe she felt for him what he felt for her.
Stefan completely forgot of the other presence that saw everything that just happened: not only a presence, but Juliet's close protective friend.
Stefan glanced shyly over to Damon, unaware of how he was going to react to him kissing her. But when he finally met Damon's gaze he was shocked at what he saw.
Damon sat there, arm propped up on his knee, and a smirk on his face. What?
"I knew it." Damon said.
"Knew what?" Stefan asked surprised and confused at Damon's reaction. He figured Damon would yell at him, to leave her alone, that she deserved better than some tortured-hostage, which she did in his opinion but he couldn't help his feelings for her.
"I knew you liked her." Damon said. Stefan looked away from him, hoping to hide the emotions running across his face. What Damon saw made the smirk drop from his face. "You love her don't you?"
"I can't help it." Stefan said not tearing his gaze away from Juliet's finally peaceful face. "She's beautiful, optimistic, strong. She's a caring and compassionate person, but at the same time she embraces who she is as a vampire and she won't settle for less than what she wants and deserves. She's… perfect. Yes, I love . Even after 1864"
"He fell in love with her?" Katherine asked surprised.
"And she fell in love with him, too, a little later." Damon said remembering Stefan's first real love..
"I gave them my blessing. They were perfect for each other. If you saw them together you would understand. It was like they were made for each other. Stefan searched her whole life for that someone, it's just shame he had to find it captivity with no freedom. It was the worst, but best situation I think they could have been in. He held her and comforted her after her 'study' sessions, she made him smile after his. She would always sing and hum this song his mother sang to him when he was little. They gave each other hope that one day they would be able to be together. Seeing Stefan find love was what made me hold on to my humanity. It pushed me to get her out of there so he could finally be happy with the love of his life." Damon explained.
"Yeah, but you did escape. How did you do it?"Katherine asked.
"But you have to know Stefan didn't get out til' 1969. I got out in 51'. I just woke up in the middle of nowhere.."
"They let us out of the basement once a year. Every New Year's Eve, the Coven and Doctors had a celebration with a vampire witch buffet. They kept us in cages, just like in the Augustine. That was the one time a year I was able to hug Stefan, I guess they were feeling generous. They put Stefan and I in a cage together. We were weak from vervain injections, half-starved from living on a half glass of blood a day, chained up and caged like animals. This little annual shindig is where Dr. Robinson got to show all of his doctor friends what he'd found in his research. He let his guests drink from us to demonstrate the healing power of vampire blood. But on the plus side, that's how I stole Enzo's plan"
Juliet was asleep with her head in Stefan's lap and he was running his fingers through her hair. It seemed like every time they turned around she was either coming or going for experiments. Stefan sat with his back to the wall next to the window to Damon's cell with Damon matching his position on the other side.
Stefan held up his glass of blood with his other hand. "I have A plan" Damon said"
"I'm listening"
Well, the thing about our daily dose of blood is that it's barely enough to survive on, but if one vampire were to drink two every day for the next year, he'd be able to build up his strength so that by the time New Year's Eve comes round again, that one vampire will be ready to fight."
"Are you sure that will work?" Stefan asked.
"I'm sure I can only try with your help. We've just got to choose between us." Damon explained. Juliet already had more blood than they had daily. That's only because she went through twice the torment and her body would desiccate without it.
Stefan agreed and the two set down their glasses of blood. "Alright, Damon. We're gonna play scissor, paper, stone to decide."
They tied the first two rounds until Damon won. "Paper covers rock."
"Alright." Stefan conceded. "A win's a win. You'll lead the way. Here's my ration. Now we've got 364 days to get you ready for the party. Cheers." Stefan passed his glass to Damon.
"Cheers."
"So, did it work?" Katherine asked.
"More or less."
"How did you get out?"
"It doesn't matter, Katherine. It wasn't pretty. All you need to know." Damon said blowing off the subject. She didn't need to know.
"Alright." Damon agreed. "Alright, the next party was in 1969. I'd been drinking Stefan's doses for an entire year. I mean, he kept a few drops here and there and Juliet made him drink some of hers every now and then so he wouldn't desiccate, and as he starved himself, I got stronger from all the extra blood just like he said I would. The weird thing is there were no witches at this party."
Juliet was in one cage while Damon and Stefan were in the other right beside it. Damon had a look of determination on his face. The three shared looks between each other in anticipation.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Dr. Robinson said walking towards the cages. "As it is almost midnight, I think it fitting that we toast the New Year with a glass of vampire blood, wouldn't you agree? And let's add to that, not only will we toast vampire blood, a few of you will have the treat of toasting the blood of the first female vampire the organization and coven has had." He said gloating. He opened Damon and Stefan's cage allowing the two to step out.
While Dr. Robinson was closing the cage, Damon forced one of his hands through his cuffs, breaking the bones in his hand to get it off. The doctors look at him and notices his hand free. Damon holds up his hand to allow Dr. Robinson to see the bones healing with a threatening look in his eye, all the while Juliet and Stefan watched on smirking.
"Now you see it..."" Damon said before shoving his thumbs into the Dr.'s eye sockets.
Stefan broke his cuffs apart and started attacking those nearby as Damon sunk his fangs into Dr. Robinson's neck. The two were too busy destroying and killing they didn't notice a fire had started.
After Stefan had killed a few people she noticed the fire. He ran to Juliet's cage with and the two smiled at each other, finally about to have their freedom. Stefan grabbed the key that was used to open their cage and put it in the lock on Juliet's cage, however, the fate defying 'click' of the lock they were expecting to hear never happened.
"It's a different key." Stefan said under his breath. "Damon!" he yelled back toward his brother.
Damon heard Stefan yell for him and raced toward him.
"It's a different key, it won't open." Stefan said.
The three of them frantically pulled on the bars, only they were covered in vervain and they couldn't hold on long enough. They tried and tried, but no matter what they did the bars wouldn't give.
Damon noticed the fire spreading. Juliet and Stefan never stopped trying to open the bars but Damon knew it was no use.
"Juliet trusted me with her life. The fire was getting out of control. Stefan and I would have burned up, or they would have captured us again. There's no way I would have ever gotten the chance to get Stefan out of there. There was no way for us to escape again." Damon said sadly.
"Stefan was getting weaker by the second. So I chose to save my brother."
Damon gave up trying to open the bars, there was too much vervain, the fire was getting out of control... they were out of time.
Damon backed away from the cage shaking his head in defeat. He looked back towards his Brother and Stefan.
"Damon? What are you doing, we have to get her out of here!" Stefan said wondering why his brother wasn't helping.
"Damon." Juliet said worried at what Damon was thinking.
"I'm sorry Jules." Damon said sadly.
"Damon, please." Juliet begged, her voice cracking
"Damon, we can't just leave her here." Stefan told him, the brim of his eyes filling with tears.
"I knew if I was going to save myself and my brother that I had to stop caring. Like with Enzo. And there was no way Stefan was going to leave her. Like Charlie He was going to die trying. So I snapped his neck, and I turned off my emotions."
"Stefan, I'm sorry." Damon said. Before anyone could blink Damon snapped Stefan's neck.
"Damon! What are you doing? Please you can't leave!" Juliet begged.
Damon shut his eyes, flipped the switch, and suddenly he just didn't care.
He looked down towards his Brother, threw her over his shoulder, and left without a second thought, all while Juliet begged him not to walk away and leave her there.
Funny. He thought. History does tend to repeat itself.
"And Stefan Forgave you?" Katherine asked
"I honestly don't know and to be honest... I'm terrified of the answer. If it was no then I was apart of something that robbed something very precious from my him. Juliet had always been the light to Stefan's darkness. Somehow managing to keep a vicious monster inside him in check, even when she had been human. Juliet was what kept Stefan grounded and she challenged him to fight to be something more then that monster that gives into the blood. And then flash to where Stefan lost that girl who saved him every day they were together. Then he found out what happened. That the special girl who had meant so much to him was now.. gone."
end of chapter (TBC possibly)
AN:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I might continue this but who knows I am just testing it out.. if you find any spelling mistakes please let me know. especially with this crappy keyboard