Okay, so I'm not entirely sure which episode this was, I think it was 2x05, Kill or be Killed, when Liz found out Damon was a vampire thanks to Mason Lockwood. So, this happens during the time Liz is kept locked by Caroline and the others. Damon shows a side Caroline, Elena and Stefan didn't know existed. Well, in Stefan's case still existed. Read on to know more. It's not entirely Defan, just an idea that wouldn't leave me alone, so here it is. I couldn't help thinking of this every time I watched the episode. Review if you like it, haters will be ignored. No offense, but if you don't actually describe what you don't like and give a reasonable reason, then I don't have to listen to your complaints. Adios!

Damon Salvatore was NOT in a good mood. No matter what Stefan said, that werewolf was dead. Damon was going to kill him slowly and painfully, and he was going to enjoy every bit of it. He had always preferred sooner rather than later. No matter what the others thought, he did care about his friendship, if you could call it that, with Liz. He did not appreciate getting exposed to the blond sheriff and he did NOT appreciate getting shot with wooden bullets. He growled at the memory of Liz shooting Stefan in order to get the answers out of him. That was the first time that Damon had wanted to truly hurt the blond sheriff.

He was currently in the basement with Caroline and Liz, the latter not having taken very well the fact that her daughter was a vampire. Damon had no idea what they were talking about, having been too caught up in his thoughts and not paying attention, but he did notice Blondie leaving the room while trying to keep her tears in. He vaguely saw Elena and Stefan try to comfort her, but he had already turned to Liz, words leaving his mouth sooner than he could stop himself.

"She's your daughter, you know." Even Damon didn't know why he said that. It was just something he felt compelled (no pun intended) to point out.

Liz stared at him in the eye, for a second seeing the friend who had helped her many times, before mentally slapping herself. This was not her friend, this was just a manipulative vampire. Taking a deep breath, she said.

"She's not my daughter anymore." No matter how strong she made herself out to be, she couldn't help her voice cracking at the end. Damon wasn't surprised by the answer. Truly, he wasn't. He knew first hand how humans, stressing out the council of Mystic Falls, felt about vampires. Still though, he couldn't stop himself from outright laughin. The sound echoed loudly in the empty basement. It wasn't humorous, it was empty and bitter and with a hint of irony that was almost hurtful.

Liz glared at Damon, not finding the situation a laughing matter. "And, pray tell, what's so funny?" She asked with an edge on her voice.

Damon shook his head, his lips pulled into his usual smirk. "Oh, nothing Liz, really. This situation just serves as a reminder of something I discovered long ago."

Liz furrowed her eyebrows and, no matter how betrayed she felt by the ravenette, her curiosity got the best of her and she asked.

"Reminder?"

Damon started pacing the room back and forth, slowly, as the smirk stayed on his face. "Yeah. You know, for vampires it's easy to turn your feeling off, just like a switch. That way you can't feel anything. No pain. No remorse. No guilt. Amazing, don't you think? There was a time I lived just like that, did everything I wanted without a care. But there is a catch. With the switch off, you can't feel anything else either, like caring or loving."

Liz didn't know why, but she was listening to Damon with interest and she didn't think he was lying. Plus, she was getting new information regarding vampires.

"Even as a vampire, even with my emotions off, I still believed in some feelings. Positive ones, if you can call them that." Seeing the look of surprise on the blonde's face he chuckled, looking around as if reliving those moments. "Yeah, I did. Though even if I knew the feelings of friendship, sibling love or even romantic love existed,-" he paused here and locked gazes with Liz, whose breath hitched at the look on Damon's face. His eyes were narrowed into slits, ice cold, while his lips, previously smirking, had turned into a thin line. After a moment, Damon continued in a steel-like voice.

"-parental love was something I never believed in."

There was a beat of silence after the vampire's cold words. "Parents pretend to love their children equally and unconditionally. But of course that's not true. They will always have a favorite. The brilliant child. The one who listens to them, the one who makes them 'proud'. The one who doesn't 'bring shame to the family.' That's how it has always been." Liz could almost feel the hatred drip from his words, which left her to wonder if the matter ran deeper than what Damon's nonchalance made it out to be. Damon continued, staring at Liz dead in the eye.

"How easily that changes. The moment the child does something they don't like. The moment the child 'disappoints' them. Parental love is no more of an illusion than werewolves and witches. Isn't that right Liz?" Liz's mind caught up with what Damon had meant before when he said it was a reminder and her eyes widened. Before she could stop herself, Liz shot up and glared fiercely at Damon, who, had he not been a vampire, maybe might have flinched at the intensity of the glare.

"If you're implying that I do not care about my daughter, then-"

"Oh, I'm not!" Damon cut her off with a dismissive hand. "I do know that you care about your daughter. I might even say you love her. But that didn't stop you from turning your back on her the moment you found out about her pointy teeth, did it?"

"I didn't turn my back on her!" The blond sheriff protested.

"Really?" Damon said in mock surprise. "Then I must have heard you wrong, is that it? Because I'm pretty sure your words were 'She's not my daughter anymore' right?"

Liz spluttered. "That-That's different!" She insisted.

"How is it any different?!" Damon persisted.

"She's a vampire!"

"And? What's so wrong about that that you can't accept her?"

Liz stared at him, as if Damon not understanding what she meant was completely insane. Damon, of course, knew what she was talking about. He just wanted to hear Liz say it.

"Because she is-she is..." Liz hesitated before finally saying. "She's a monster with a thirst for human blood."

A tense silence fell in the cell, both staring at each other, neither willing to back down. Damon was too angry inside to actually take notice of the footsteps nearing the cell's door. Caroline was trying to assure Elena that she was feeling good enough to visit her mother, while Stefan tailed a few steps behind them. In his opinion, leaving Damon alone with the sheriff hadn't been the best idea, so he wanted to check what his older brother was up to. They stopped short when they heard Damon and Liz arguing. Curious, they kept quiet and listened.

Damon was fuming. He had always had a temper and this conversation had taken a rather frustrating turn. "So that's your problem? Figures you'd say that, considering you're food." He said cruelly. Caroline gaped behind them and was ready to barge in and give Damon a piece of her mind, but Stefan's sudden tight grip on her arm stopped her. He made a shushing gesture and she nodded begrudgingly, going back to witness the conversation.

"I'll tell you a story, Liz, and then you can convince me who's the real monster here. Let's begin, shall we?" Damon went back to pacing the room, never once turning his back to Liz. "Once upon a time." He began in a mocking voice. "There were two brothers who adored each other. Who always put each other first, who'd die for each other. Nothing seemed to break their bond." A reminiscing look and glazed over his eyes and Liz couldn't help paying attention to the story. Stefan stood frozen as he realized what Damon was talking about.

"Until something did. And their bond would forever bear the scars of that mistake." Suddenly though, the reminiscing glint turned to hurt and regret and Liz felt so amazed at being able to pick up on Damon's emotions so easily, her eyes widened. Damon was clearly so absorbed into the memories he wasn't being all that careful with his mask. Stefan was equally surprised, he hadn't thought that what had happened back then had affected Damon that much. Anxious he listened.

"The two brothers fell in love with a very beautiful girl. Soon enough, they were fighting and competing for her attention. What even war hadn't been able to break, was destroyed by a pretty face and nice words. The girl was a vampire, while the brothers' father hunted vampires. The older brother loved her too much, while the younger brother didn't love her enough. Both of them had drunk her blood, while she enjoyed playing them, probaby wondering who'd crack first and kill the other. The younger brother, a softie as he was," Here Stefan couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Asked his father if there was a possibility that vampires weren't all evil. That maybe they can be good, too. The father wasn't stupid. He put two and two together and arrested the vampire, organising her death."

"Both brothers, foolish as they were, went to save her. They were risking everything for what they believed to be true love." Here, Damon stopped and took a deep breath, while Stefan steeled himself to hear the words fall from his brother's lips. "While they were letting her out of the cage...they were shot to death, mericlessly. They were killed for trying to save what they believed was a harmless, loving girl who happened to be a vampire. Humor me, Liz, who do you think shot them?"

Liz was bewildered. She had worked out that Damon was talking about his story, too much emotion showed in his eyes and voice for it to not be, but she couldn't believe...As a parent she couldn't comprehend...

She stood up and looked at Damon. "N-No. He couldn't have." She said simply, her voice shaking while Damon smiled. A smile bitter and devoid of humor. "Bingo, applaud for the winner. So tell me, aren't parents supposed to love their children? Aren't they supposed to protect them and put them first?! How does one get called father, when he kills both his sons, who were merely blinded by love?! Who kills his youngest son, barely even seventeen, while the other day he had been bragging about him?! Just because now he's apparently ashamed of him?! Tell me Liz, who's the monster here?!"

Liz just trembled in shock while Caroline felt tears on her eyes. She turned towards Stefan, whose gaze seemed to be glued to the stone cold floor.

Damon leaned in a bit towards Liz, who sat down again on the bed, if only to create as much distance between them as possible.

"You've got a lot of nerve," Damon started with a scowl. "To call her a monster when you have no idea what she went through. When the likes of you hunt us down like we are animals. Killing and torturing us simply for being what we are. Simply for existing and surviving." Damon's eyes flashed as memories of his time in the Augustine's prison popped up in his mind. "Do you think she chose this life? Living in constant hunger, constant fear that her mother would find out and stake her? Do you think any of us did? Do you think getting turned into a vampire is as easy as getting a bite and then get it over with? No. Let me tell you Liz, what your daughter had to endure. Just like we did, she had to die."

Liz, who had turned paler and paler with every word that left Damon's mouth, now looked ashen and thoroughly shocked. "W-What?...She d-died? How? When?!"

Damon smirked, not his usual cocky one, but a mocking, merciless smirk. "Yes, Liz. She died. She was suffocated while in her hospital room, the night she was in an accident with the Lockwood boy. She would have died, had she not ingested my blood. It has...curing abilities, shall we say, but if you die with a vampire's blood in your system, you'll be one by the time you wake up."

At Liz's tear-filled eyes and trembling bottom lip, Damon sneered. "Be grateful she was out cold and calm before she died, some of us weren't that lucky." Stefan swallowed at that, while Caroline was biting her lip in order to distract herself from the memory of her death. That and the fact that, a part of her, was grateful for Damon telling her mother all that. For him saying what she didn't have the courage to and for, in a way, trying to open her eyes. Elena put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

Liz cleared her throat and locked eyes with Damon, pleading. "I don't have a choice. It's my job to protect this city and its citizens. They have put their trust in me to protect them and their families. Their children. Caroline is a danger to all of them, just like everyone else like her."

Damon didn't know if he should be more incredulous at her words or her pleading for him to understand. He chose the latter.

"You're willing to choose strangers over your last family, your own flesh and blood. I can't understand that." He said coldly and felt satisfaction when he saw Liz flinch. "Because for everything that I have ever been accused of being...heartless, selfish, cold and cruel...I wouldn't put anything or anyone in the world over my little brother. Hell, I would let the world and everyone in it burn in front of my eyes, sit back and watch it, if it meant Stefan would be safe. I would hunt down and murder anyone who hurt him. And you know why? Because last time I did, it nearly destroyed me. Because without him, I'd be nothing. Because he, is all I have left."

Elena's eyebrows shot up at that, disbelief clear on her face, while Caroline put a hand on her mouth to cover her gasp. Both of them simultaneously turned to look at the brown haired vampire next to them. Stefan had his back to the wall, eyes wide and staring aimlessly as his mouth gaped mutely. He was in shock, yet a warm bubbling feeling burst in his chest. A part of him, however small, had in a way...always thought...always known...that Damon cared. Maybe just because they had been a constant in each other's lives, or just because it was the way it had always been...But Stefan never thought his brother would love him the same way he did when they were human. When Stefan's entire world orbited around his older brother. He certainly never though he'd hear Damon admit to it either.

Damon eyes were screaming murder, his fists clenching and unclenching in fury. "And you were ready to kill him. You were going to hurt him, in order to get the information you wanted out of me. You would have killed him, if (and after) I had told you how we could walk in the sun, under the excuse that he is dangerous. Stefan, who has not drunk a drip of human blood in decades. Who goes against his very nature, surviving in animal blood, in order not to hurt innocent people. Who wakes up in the morning, knowing he'll have to fight against his growing hunger for blood for the rest of his existence, who hears the blood rushing in his friends bodies and literally has to restrain himself, knowing he won't be able to stop."

The more Damon talked, the more it seemed to fuel his anger and resentment, because he knew how much his little brother suffered. Stefan's chest constricted with every word of Damon's, swallowing him whole while Caroline winced and looked at him sympathetically.

Suddenly, it seemed that Damon's rage got the best of his self control, and a hand shot to grab Liz's throat in a tight grip, hard enough to stop her from breathing. Caroline almost shot into the room again, but stopped herself. After everything that she had witnessed she knew that Damon wouldn't really hurt her mother.

"Had you been anyone else, Liz, I would have killed you long ago. But I won't." He said dangerously, while Liz gasped for much needed air. "Maybe I should turn you into a vampire, then we'll see how keen you are in killing us, when you realize for real the horrors we go through."

Elena couldn't stop herself and her natural protective nature, so she bolted into the room and yelled. "Damon, stop! What are you doing?" Damon immediately let Liz go while Caroline rushed at her mother. Stefan went in and stood behind Elena. Damon though, hadn't spared her a second loo, his eyes were glued to Stefan's.

"I wasn't going to hurt her." He said simply and strode past them in vamp speed. Stefan walked out the door and looked at the direction his brother had disappeared to.

Silently, a tear ran down his cheek as he said softly. "I know." I've always known.

Done! Oh God, maybe that wasn't the best I've ever written, but it was hard as hell! Tell me what you think, though it didn't turn out exactly as I had imagined. I imagine that maybe I'll do mikaelson one shots too, if I have the inspiration. For now, bye bye!