Damon sat in an armchair in front of the fireplace, Katherine's lifeless body spread out at his feet. He was contemplating the flames crackling in the hearth with thinking eyes, holding a glass of Bourbon and occasionally taking a sip from it.
Fire. This one natural element that could kill him so easily, yet wasn't dangerous at all in this situation. It melted the wood - another possible anti-vampire weapon if it was carved into a stake – and warmed the living room just like he liked it. Right now, fire and wood had never been as meaningless and harmless. Danger didn't come from them anymore – it came from Mystic Falls itself. It came from Hellfire. It came, once more, from Katherine Pierce.
His gaze drifted to the Petrova doppelganger lying on his living-room floor like a helpless puppet. He snorted to himself – the contrast was appealing, really. Katerina Petrova; the endless Survivor, the Baddest Bitch of all time, the manipulative, fearless, tantalizer – rendered weak as ever, completely innocent and powerless at the feet of the one she had so greedily tortured and hurt for centuries. Damon's mouth curled – how satisfyingly pleasant and liberating it would be to just throw her old, wrinkled bitchy ass into the fire! Alas, only the dagger could guarantee that Miss Public Nuisance stayed dead for a reasonable amount of time.
Right on cue, the brown-eyed brunette opened her eyes in a gasp, coming back from the dead. Damon groaned disappointingly. He should have expected it, it had already been half an hour without her annoying, shrieking voice ringing in his sensitive ears. Dead or alive, she always seemed to find the exact right time to come back and annoy him.
"Why hello there, Cruella Devil," Damon smirked, sipping from his bourbon and waving his free hand at her glaring face.
"Oh gosh. It's like being forced to listen to a grandpa trying to make funny jokes – except none of them are actually laughable," Katherine rolled her eyes as she sat up on the floor, not missing Damon's subtle pun on the word "Devil".
The vampire shrugged carelessly, watching her closely as he twisted the Traveler's Dagger in his hands, enjoying the satisfaction and pleasure he felt from owning it. Katherine eyed it with a hateful look – the eternal, selfish survivor that she was loathed anything that could hurt her and make her vulnerable in the slightest.
"Where's Steffy?" Katherine asked in a kitty-like voice, standing up and leaning against the fireplace as she rested her feline eyes on her ex-lover.
"Searching for Elena, obviously," Damon answered with a smirk, looking up at her. "You know - your dear, kind, loveable twin that everyone would choose over your rusted self," he added with cruel, twinkling eyes, knowing it would infuriate her.
Katherine's devilish smirk immediately fell, and her face twisted into an angry expression, her eyes shooting daggers at him. Damon merely smiled at her, enjoying the fact he had hurt her. But the implacable temptress quickly picked herself up and started playing with a strand of her hair.
"Well, good luck with that. He may be able to find her, but as for getting her out of wherever she is…," Katherine tempted, smirking as Damon stopped playing with the dagger and glared at her.
"What do you mean, Katherine? What did you do?" he spat, menacing as he stood up to walk toward her.
"Well, let's see," she said, looking at the ceiling before raising one finger. "I met Kai Parker in Hell. Nice, crazy, little munchkin with a very appreciable twisted mind," she winked, watching as Damon's eyes widened at the mention of the Gemini siphon. "I made a deal with him," she raised another finger under Damon's hateful stare. "He got out from hell," she raised a third finger in front of him. "He performed a handy spell which would trap Elena in the place I'd choose to hide her in," another finger, "Kai got stuck again in a Prison World by little Bon-Bon. Thanks to her I didn't have to complete my part of the deal," she poked her fourth-finger in his chest, earning a threatening grunt from Damon as he violently pulled it off him. Katherine smirked. "And then Kelly and Vicki freed me from Hell, and I came back to hide little Elena where I had planned since the beginning," she finished, her whole hand now raised in front of him as she added the last finger.
In a second, Damon had her pinned against a wall, hand around her throat.
"You have no idea the things I'm about to do to you with that dagger, Kitty Kat," he growled, tightening his hold around her.
"Oh, but I do –I taught you well, didn't I?" Katherine chocked, but it didn't seem to bother her as she smirked knowingly.
Just as Damon was about to reply, his cellphone rang. He snarled at Katherine, and safely keeping a firm hold around her throat, pulled it out of his jeans pocket. The caller ID read "Feisty Bon Bon".
"Bon Bon," he answered in a suddenly cheerful tone, grinning. "Miss me?" he teased her, pressing his hand harder on Katherine's throat as she rolled her eyes in a bored way.
"I have a plan," Bonnie told him straightforwardly, ignoring his teasing.
Damon's face turned paler than usual – he had specifically told her that he refused her help. He didn't want her to put herself in danger. He had told her not to try and find a way to help him. And knowing his stubborn best friend, she had done it anyway. Damon sighed deeply, still immobilizing Katherine's annoying, squirming figure as he swallowed the scared lump which had formed in his throat at Bonnie's words.
"No, listen Bon, I told you not to – "but the Bennett beauty interrupted him before he could try to persuade her to abandon the idea of her plan.
"No, you listen, Damon," she replied feistily. "I told you I'm not letting you die in there," Bonnie stated sharply, sounding determined. "Besides, you didn't let me finish. My plan won't need me to come back to Mystic Falls," she said.
Katherine stopped squirming and frowned worryingly – what was the useless Bennett witch talking about? She watched with sudden fearful eyes as Damon raised his eyebrows, interested.
"That deserves discussing," the eldest Salvatore answered after a few silent seconds of hesitation. "Wait a minute," he told Bonnie, carefully placing his phone between his ear and shoulder.
He tried to keep it as steady as possible as he used his now free hand to grab the dagger hanging from his belt, still holding Katherine in place with the other one. The latter coughed loudly, unable to speak as she watched him with suspicious eyes.
"Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie wondered curiously on the other side of the phone, as she picked up Katherine's muffled choking.
"I need to get rid of undesirable, nasty, little bitchy ears before we continue that conversation," Damon answered sarcastically, and Katherine's eyes widened in comprehension as he thrust the dagger into her stomach.
She fell loudly onto the cold floor, once more unconscious. But only for about half an hour. Damon looked at her dead frame, before bending down to clean up the dagger with the sleeve of her jacket. He picked up the phone and pressed it back against his ear, admiring his work with a joyful expression.
"What was that?" Bonnie asked suspiciously, having heard the loud "thump" of Katherine's body hitting the floor.
"Oh. Nothing important – just an ancient, once valuable fossil of Stefan's that fell from the shelf," Damon shrugged, even though Bonnie couldn't see him. She snorted. "Now, tell me about that plan, Bon Bon," he insisted, throwing himself in the same previous armchair, so he could still keep an eye on Katherine while listening to his best friend.
Something was wrong. Caroline could tell. Ric was uselessly and nervously checking several times in the outside rear-view mirrors as they drove on the highway, even though they were the only ones on the road at this moment. They had agreed to go back to Dallas, find a nice hotel to stay in once they'd have arrived, and then go from there according to how things went in Mystic Falls.
The girls were fast asleep in the back, holding their teddy bear close to their chest. Ric hadn't told her what all this thing with Bonnie was about yet. They had been driving for about twenty minutes, and he hadn't mentioned it. Something told her he was avoiding talking about it on purpose, which didn't soothe Caroline's worries at all. It meant this "change of plan" Ric and Bonnie had rapidly told her about, without bothering to explain it to her, wasn't harmless. But again, she hadn't asked him what it exactly consisted in either.
Unable to wonder any longer, Caroline took a deep breath and turned to Ric:
"Tell me what's the new plan, Ric," she demanded in a firm tone. "I want to know why Bonnie didn't come with us, and why we didn't need to make a quick stop at Mystic Fall's boundary to pick up Stefan and Elena," the blue-eyed girl continued.
Ric sighed deeply, his eyes not leaving the road ahead of him as Caroline kept staring at him with a worried face. He reached for his pocket and held out his phone to her, still not looking at her. She could tell he was afraid of her reaction. He didn't want to see the pain in her usually cheerful eyes once she heard the news.
"I think it's best if you call Stefan. He should be the one to tell you," Ric told her gravely, quickly glancing at her from the corner of his eyes as he watched her frown and take the phone.
Hesitantly, Caroline scrolled up the list of numbers and hit the young Salvatore's one. Stefan answered after a few seconds. Ric could make out his surprised tone through the phone when Caroline's voice spoke to him.
"Caroline? Why are you calling, is everything okay?" Stefan asked her worryingly, and Ric couldn't help thinking how good he was at hiding things.
"I don't know, you tell me," the blond retorted, raising an angry eyebrow. "Are you hiding something from me, Stefan? Because I know the plan has changed, but I don't know what it consists in exactly – and Ric seems to think that you should be the one explaining it to me," she exploded, losing her nerves from the anxiety and worry she was feeling ever since she had left The Armory.
"Care…," Stefan sighed, and it was easy for Caroline to picture him rubbing his forehead uncertainly, lost in what he was supposed to do. "I'm so sorry," her boyfriend whispered weakly, thinking it was the best way to start.
Noticing the desperate, guilty, sad tone in his voice, Caroline's heartbeat quickened. Something was really wrong. She was starting to realize how bad it seemed all of a sudden…
"Stefan –What. Is. The. Plan?" Caroline asked for the umpteenth time, it seemed to her, in an unusual, striking, cold voice.
There was a dreadful silence from the other side of the phone for a long moment. But finally, after taking a deep breath to gather enough courage for what was to come, Stefan started relating the plan Bonnie had explained to him through the phone.
"Well, basically – I'm going to draw hellfire away from the town using the tunnels. And then I'll send it straight back to Hell, which will destroy it for good," Bonnie summarized the plan to her best friend, matter-of-factly.
Damon's eyes bulged. He gaped for several seconds, processing what his little Bennett witch had just told him. It seemed utterly and completely crazy to him, but most of all – damn right impossible to do. Once his brain functioned again and his senses had come back to him, Damon closed his mouth and proceeded to scold his best friend for even thinking a second that it was a safe plan:
"Bon – have you lost your damn mind ?!" the vampire let out a throaty laugh. "How the hell do you think you can possibly do that? We're talking about Hellfire – so intense it can obliterate anything within miles!" he exclaimed, shaking his head as his mind pictured Bonnie struggling with it.
There was no way he was letting her do it – it was way too risky. She was too important to him to overlook the consequences of such a plan. She would definitely be able to live without him if he died – but he wouldn't be able to live without her. He was too far gone in selfishness and impulsivity to be able to control the amount of grief, guilt, and pain he would feel if she was to die.
"I know," Bonne said in a calm tone. "Except there's a way around that. Did you know that the tunnels go from The Armory straight to the heart of downtown Mystic Falls?" she asked proudly, and Damon could actually hear her smirk.
"No, I didn't," the sarcastic Salvatore admitted, raising a surprised eyebrow at the information. "But I still don't see how – "
"Let me finish, will you?" Bonnie interrupted him, annoyed.
Damon knew she had just rolled her eyes at him in this exasperated way he loved so much. He smirked knowingly, and kept his mouth shut. Once she was sure he wouldn't interrupt her again, Bonnie continued.
"Katherine will have to be taken to the crypt, where you'll make sure she gets sent back to Hell by throwing her in Hellfire the minute it appears. Meanwhile, I'll be performing a spell to draw it to the tunnels of The Armory – you'll have exactly ten seconds to send her through Hellfire once it blows up, before it gets sucked back to The Armory. And then you speed away," Bonnie explained carefully, purposely avoiding a few important details that she obviously didn't want Damon to know about.
He had to think he'd be the one to stay with Katherine and that there was no risk as long as she performed the spell on time – it was better this way. Otherwise, he would never accept the plan. She could tell he was already more than doubtful and wasn't really buying it.
"It seems sketchy, Bon. What if we're not synchronized on time and Hellfire kills both me and Katherine before you draw it back to The Armory?" Damon retorted, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think about every single thing that could go wrong in that plan.
Unfortunately, there were too many. And he felt like Bonnie wasn't telling him everything. It seemed extremely unlikely to him that Bonnie would be able to draw hellfire back to The Armory right before it killed him too.
He heard Bonnie swallowing hard before she formed an answer:
"Trust me, Damon. I told you – I've got my powers back, and I feel like I'm way more powerful than before. More than I've ever been," she stated passionately, causing a feeling of pride to overwhelm him.
"It's not about your powers, Bon. Hell, I know you're powerful enough! You're actually the most powerful Bennett witch I've met in my entire life, even better than Emily," Damon told her sincerely, his voice full of admiration and acknowledgement.
Bonnie grinned like a kid discovering their Easter chocolates hidden in the garden at his words. It felt good to hear someone say that, especially Damon. Her best friend – the one who kept telling her she would never be as powerful as Emily Bennett a long time ago.
"But thing is – no witch whatsoever has ever been able to fight something this huge alone," he stated in a desperate, fearful tone. "And I'm not risking losing you," Damon added lovingly, almost as a whisper.
"Well I'll be risking losing you if I don't try anything to stop it. And this isn't an option for me either – so we've got a problem here," Bonnie mirrored his words, just as passionately.
This tingling sensation which kept appearing whenever Bonnie spoke highly of or affectionately about him crept inside his being, sending waves of warmth and love throughout his entire body and soul, ricocheting on his cold, dead heart.
Damon contemplated the idea for several seconds, clutching the phone to his ear as he listened to Bonnie's calming breath , who was waiting patiently for his reply on the other hand of the phone. Finally, judging that they didn't have anything more to lose after all; and that the situation was critical enough to call for drastic measures, Damon sighed deeply.
"Fine," he breathed out reluctantly. "But I need you to promise me something before," Damon insisted, not backing away from his protective behavior toward Bonnie.
"What?" Bonnie asked softly, relieved to hear that he had accepted her plan.
At least, she knew he would be safe and sound. Even though he didn't know that – yet.
"I want you to promise me that you'll stop performing the spell the minute one drop of blood falls from your nose. I want you to swear you won't keep performing it if you feel like you're losing strength and won't be able to make it out alive," Damon declared solemnly, listening closely as Bonnie bit her lip.
"Okay. I promise," she swore after a few seconds.
"Good. I'll see you soon, then. And I'll be haunting you every second of your life if I die and learn you broke your promise, Bon Bon," Damon smirked, trying to lighten the mood after this serious conversation.
"I'll just send your ass back to Hell," Bonnie deadpanned fiercely, and he could feel her smirking too.
Just as she was about to hang up, Damon half-yelled to her:
"Wait! Just – be careful, Bon. I mean it," he told her, frowning deeply, voice full of concern.
"I will. And you too," Bonnie returned with the same tone. "See you soon, Damon," she told him before hanging up.
Bonnie let out a long, trembling breath after hanging up from her phone call with Damon.
She hated lying to him – it felt wrong and incredibly unpleasant. But she had no choice. He had to believe that he would be the one to carry out the plan, so he wouldn't get suspicious of anything. Plus, she couldn't be the one to tell him the truth, especially about Stefan. She wouldn't bear witnessing Damon's soul and heart break at the revelation of Stefan's role in their plan. It was too much for her.
The young witch's heart clenched at the thought of Stefan. She wondered whether Caroline was aware of their plan now, whether Ric had found the courage to tell her what it really consisted in. She felt greatly sorry and grief-stricken for Caroline – and for Stefan. She knew her best friend would be devastated, and she couldn't help feeling guilty. She was responsible, in some way, for Caroline's future grief. She had been the one to call Stefan, and she hadn't told Caroline any of it. But again, she had given Stefan the choice to refuse – and he hadn't.
But she couldn't think about that right now – she had to get ready. She hoped Caroline and Damon wouldn't be mad at her for the rest of her life, though they would have rightful reasons to be. After all, she had sacrificed so many things for them herself, and they knew she wouldn't have done such a thing if there was another option. But there wasn't. Mystic Falls was hit by the apocalypse, and she had to act as fast as possible, by protecting the people she loved most. If anyone could understand her motive, it was them. Caroline had chosen to run away with her kids and ex-fiancé to protect her family – and she had been right, the girls needed their mother and father; Matt had chosen to stay at Mystic Falls to make sure the inhabitants all got to safety, and Damon had chosen to stay too and fight for all of them even though it meant dying by Katherine's sides.
Well, she had chosen not to flee, and save the people she loved – and Stefan had chosen to join her.
Bonnie reached for her bag, and fumbled through it. Her hands closed on a familiar, ancient book which she pulled out carefully. Her Grams' grimoire. The most precious object she possessed – along with Damon's letter, that she had put back into his favorite book after he had recited it to her.
The brunette softly brushed her fingers against the fragile cover of the grimoire, smiling to herself as she remembered the first time Sheila Bennett had shown it to her. Then, she closed her eyes, emptied her spirit and proceeded to fill her mind with memories of her grandmother.
"I need you to help me, Grams," Bonnie whispered gently, keeping her eyes closed as the face of Sheila Bennett invaded them.
After a few silent seconds, the grimoire suddenly flew open, and Bonnie felt its pages turning by themselves under her small fingers. She opened her eyes, and saw that it had stopped on a specific page, on which a spell she had never used before was written in ancient, Latin letters.
"Thank you," she breathed out, grinning to the air.
Not wasting a single second, Bonnie read it once, very carefully, and started to recite it several times. As she repeated the spell again and again, she felt a warm, reassuring presence embrace her – and it had never seemed so easy to learn a spell.
Sheila Bennett would always watch over her granddaughter - apocalypse or not.
Tears cascaded down Caroline's pale face as Stefan explained the plan to her.
Everything around her did not matter anymore – she could barely see the road in front of her, her eyes blurry from the tears inside them; nor hear her daughters worryingly calling her name as they woke up to see their mother crying. She wasn't even listening to Stefan's words anymore – he sounded like a distant voice already, a voice she would never get to hear ever again if he carried out the plan.
All she could feel was pain, anger, helplessness – and abandon. He was leaving her. He was purposefully leaving her. He had willingly chosen to abandon her.
"Caroline, please – say something," Stefan's cracked voice pleaded on the other side of the phone.
But she couldn't. She had lost her voice. She didn't know how to speak anymore. All she knew now was suffering and madness.
The girls behind her kept yelling her name, and Ric was trying to get them to calm down. She knew it because she saw them in the rear-view mirror – not because she heard them. She couldn't hear them.
"I'm so sorry, Care – please, talk to me. I love you," her husband's desperate, tearful voice rang into her ear, breaking her heart with each syllable he pronounced.
It was the only thing she could hear – his voice. It had come back now. As if her brain knew it was the most urgent thing she needed to hear right now, because she wouldn't get to hear it again in the future.
After a long, silent moment, Caroline came back to her senses. She had to say something. She needed to. It was the last time she would talk to him – she couldn't let him go like this. She wouldn't bear it. She couldn't be mad at him the last time they talked.
"I understand," her broken voice told him weakly.
The girls had stopped screaming her name. Ric was still looking at the road, stubbornly resolute to avoid her heart-breaking gaze. She knew it was because he felt guilty – he had known about the plan ever since Bonnie had told him. Bonnie – she might also lose her, her best friend…
"You do?" Stefan asked doubtfully, his voice still trembling from emotion. "I don't want to – I don't want to leave you, Caroline. I'm not abandoning you, but – but I have to do this," he continued, and the vampire mom closed her eyes.
"I know, I – I get it," she whispered, panting as her cries shook her. "Family first," she let out in a quavering voice.
"Family first," Stefan repeated softly, heartbroken. "You're an amazing mother, Care. And a – a wonderful wife," he forced his voice to stay steady as tears ran down his cheeks.
Caroline nodded to herself, crying uncontrollably while trying to contain herself for the sake of her daughters, who were looking at her back with tears in their eyes, confused.
"I just – I – I never wanted – "the blond sobbed, unable to form a coherent sentence as images of a dead Stefan overwhelmed her. "I never thought it would end like this. I thought we'd get to spend a lifetime together – and – and I would have found a way to age with you, and – and we would watch our children, and gr-grandchildren growing up, bef-before dying together surrounded by our fr-friends and family," she mumbled, shaken, tears rolling and rolling along her cheeks, dropping on her jeans and creating wet holes on them.
"I know, and I would have loved that, baby –" he stopped, swallowing the lump in his throat. He took several seconds to pull himself together. "But I need to do this – I owe it to Bonnie and Enzo. And to Mystic Falls. I – I'm so sorry," he repeated.
"Don't be. At least we got our June wedding," Caroline forced herself to smile through her tearful blue yes, her dry throat hurting from crying so much, and her heart feeling like it weighed the whole misery of the world.
Stefan managed a broken laugh. She could feel that it was the end – they would part forever.
"And what a wonderful wedding," Stefan breathed out in a calming voice. "You're the best thing that happened to me, Caroline. And I'll always be grateful to be your husband. Remember that, please," he confessed in a soothing tone, as if he had to make sure she knew that before leaving this world for good.
Caroline sniffed, trying to wipe the tears off herself but it was no use – they were unstoppable. They were eternal. Just like her love for him. He needed to know that.
"I will," her voice broke once more. It was getting harder and harder to talk now. "I will always love you, Stefan," she said in a last, desperate whisper.
"I will always love you too – for eternity," Stefan returned passionately, and she could hear his breathing. One last time.
She enjoyed the sound of his lungs sucking the air in and out, thanked her vampirism a thousand times in her head for this, and listened lovingly, and heartbreakingly to his heartbeat. One last time.
"For eternity," her reply came weakly, and Stefan almost didn't hear it.
And then he hung up. Caroline clutched the phone to her ear, hoping to hear his calming voice again. But she knew it was over. She stayed like that for a long, silent moment, before finally lowering her arm. The phone fell from her hand, onto the floor - and she embraced her pain.
And she cried. She wept hysterically, shaking uncontrollably as the absence of Stefan hit her like a slap in the face. Like a wave of misery. She cried her eyes out, aware of the sound of her heart hammering against her ribcage, as if reaching for Stefan's – except it couldn't find it. It wouldn't find it anymore.
Ric did not move. He listened to her crying, to her mourning, his eyes planted on the road. He knew she needed that – she needed to let her emotions out, everything she felt.
And they drove on - Ric as silent as a tomb, the twins silently crying in the backseats though they didn't know why, Caroline shaking and weeping like she never did before, getting further and further away from Mystic Falls – away from Stefan.
Stefan stood in front of the entrance of the familiar crypt. He was thinking. Reflecting on what he was about to do, what was waiting for him behind these walls – what he was leaving behind, unaware of what was waiting for him after death.
He thought about Caroline. He recalled their heartbreaking conversation on the phone, the sound of her crying. He had pictured her broken face as they cried and said their final goodbye to each other. But he had to focus on his mission.
Taking a deep, unsure breath, Stefan stepped inside the crypt. He could hear Katherine's voice echoing through the walls, meaning she was awake again. But he assumed she couldn't move or flee, otherwise she would already be standing in front of him with her famous, signature smirk.
Now close to where they were, Stefan picked up Damon's sarcastic laugh. And within a few seconds, he was in front of him.
"Stefan?" Katherine's scowling face fell off, now twisting into a surprised frown.
"Hello again, Katherine," Stefan nodded to her impassively.
Damon stared at him, flabbergasted. He looked him up and down, confused, before saying:
"What the hell are you doing here, Stefan?!" he exclaimed, eyes widening. "I got this handled, bro! You need to get out of these tunnels!" Damon's panicked voice resonated into the silent vault.
"I'm not the one who's going to get out of here, Damon," Stefan retorted determinedly, shoulders held high as if daring his older brother to try and stop him. "You are," he pressed.
"Bad time to be a martyr, Stefan," Damon replied sarcastically, eyebrows quirked in worry as he threw his hands in the air in fake annoyance.
"Say the martyr," Stefan deadpanned, serious. He put his hands into his pockets.
Katherine, who was between the two brothers, frowned before looking at each of them.
"I'm going to let you two figure this out," she nodded to herself, winking. "Amongst yourselves," the doppelgänger added, turning to walk toward the exit. This confusing situation was her only chance to escape.
But Damon threw the dagger in her direction, hitting her in the middle of the back before she could even reach Stefan. Katherine gulped, sucked her lip in resignation and fell to the ground - in the less gracious way she had managed so far. She had felt this one coming, though...
"Now – we can discuss," Damon carelessly stepped over Katherine's body to stand in front of his little brother. His hands were clenched into fists – a sign of anger and nervosity.
"There's nothing to discuss – I'm staying," Stefan cut him before he could say anything else. The fact Stefan was standing there, nonchalantly, unnerved him even more.
"Don't start playing this game with me, Stefan!" Damon raised his voice, anxiety making its way through his heart – he knew something was wrong. "What are you really doing here?" he demanded, almost growling.
"I'm saving you. I'm sacrificing myself, because that's what I need to do – and because I don't want to lose you," Stefan answered, keeping a straight face as he did so.
He knew his brother wouldn't accept this. But he wouldn't have a choice, this time.
"And you think I want to lose you?!" Damon yelled back, his face contorting into anger and fear. "No way, Stefan. Do you hear me? No. Way," he paced in front of his brother, stopping so close to him Stefan could feel his breath on his face.
Stefan knew he was trying to intimidate him – but it wasn't working. Not anymore. No one could make him change his opinion. His decision was taken. There was no going back.
"I need to do this, Damon," Stefan ignored his menacing attitude, not backing away from him one inch. "I owe it to Bonnie and Enzo – I owe it to a lot of people," he said, looking down for a second before lifting his head back up.
Damon blinked at him. There was something he wasn't understanding. Something he felt we had hidden from him.
"I'm not going to live you to die here, Stefan," he hissed, fury in his eyes. His hands were trembling from the intensity of the moment.
"You have people to stay alive for, Damon," Stefan told him, planting his bright green eyes into his stubborn brother's blue ones. "Elena, Ric – Bonnie…" he enumerated, watching as the sarcastic vampire softened at the last one.
Damon didn't miss the way Stefan emphasized on the latter. But now was not the time to question that. There was no way he would let his little brother die – not after he had spent his whole life trying to protect him from harm, no matter how fucked up their relationship was.
"You have people to stay alive for too, Stefan – Caroline should be the first person to come to your mind, right now," Damon roared, intentionally using Caroline to cause a reaction from his brother. It was low, but it could work.
"Caroline knows what I'm doing," Stefan swallowed hard. "And after all the things I've done – I deserve it," he added, ashamed.
"Are you serious right now?! Are you really going to stand here and argue with me about who deserves redemption more than the other one?!" Damon screamed in disbelief, starting to lose his nerves. His arms were flying everywhere, not knowing what to do to make his brother change his mind.
He wasn't controlling anything anymore and he loathed it. Why was Stefan here in the first place? Something was not right. Something was not right with the plan.
"Why are you even here? How do you know about the plan?" Damon yelled furiously, slowly understanding that his little brother was gaining time and hiding something important from him.
"Because I'm part of the plan," Stefan revealed, watching as Damon gaped at him.
"You – what?" Damon stumbled, frowning as he backed away from his brother in surprise.
And then it hit him. Bonnie – she hadn't told him the truth. She hadn't told him the true plan. He should've known it couldn't be that easy. He should've known something had to go wrong.
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no" he shook his head hysterically.
Stefan looked at him, silent. He didn't really have anything to say. Except these words:
"I'm sorry, Damon. But I have to do it. I love you, brother," Stefan confessed in a cracked voice, tears forming in his eyes.
Damon was still shaking his head in denial, but he stopped at Stefan's powerful words. His throat was as dry as a desert. He had never found it hard to breathe in his entire vampire existence – but right now it seemed like he had no lungs. It felt like his heart was actually breaking – he was certain he would find it smashed into pieces if he thrust his hand inside his ribcage.
"Don't. Say. That," Damon growled. "I've watched you suffer for my whole life, before you finally found happiness. I've made it my life goal to protect you at all cost, because I'm your big brother and that's my job," he started passionately, his eyes flickering with different emotions as Stefan listened carefully. "I'm not going to stop now. I've got countless things to make up for, and hurting you is on top of my list. So, no. I'm not abandoning you here tonight, brother. Because I love you too," he returned, fixing him with a heartbroken, genuine look.
Damon swallowed, panting, holding back his tears. Stefan nodded, a tear rolling on his cheek. He opened his arms, and hugged Damon as tightly as he could. Damon stayed still for a few seconds, uncertain of how to react, before bringing his own arms around his brother and squeezing him. They stayed like that for a long minute.
And then:
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, brother," Stefan whispered sadly, before jabbing a vervained needle into Damon's neck.
He watched, sorry, as his brother fell to the ground. He hadn't been able to see his reaction – but he didn't want to imagine it. It was already hard enough.
Stefan stood there, eyes planted on his brother's momentarily lifeless body. Tears were running down his cheeks. But he knew he had made the right choice. And he didn't regret it. Now, it was Bonnie's turn – and he hoped she'd be alright. Everything depended on her now – the fate of an entire city and more.
And suddenly, Damon's body had disappeared. The ground was empty – it was time.
Bonnie sat cross-legged on the edge of one of the beds in The Armory's protected cells. She was focused, eyes closed and hands joined together as she whispered Latin words over and over again.
Then, out of nowhere, Damon's body materialized behind her – and Bonnie's green eyes jerked open. She turned her head, and saw Damon's lifeless body lying, safe and sound, on the bed. She smiled to herself – she had succeeded in this one, at least.
Bonnie untangled her legs, and climbed down the bed. She walked toward an ancient-like chest of drawers on the left side, from which she pulled out a grey blanket. Still not sparing Damon a glance, the Bennett witch crossed the room and stopped in front of a wooden desk. She hung the blanket on the chair.
She picked up the knife and glass that were placed on top of the desk, and took a deep breath. Holding the glass in her right hand, Bonnie slashed her wrist open with her left hand. She winced, and set the knife back down. She passed the glass in her left hand, and held up her right, cut wrist above it. Once she was satisfied with the quantity of blood that had dropped in it, the young woman placed the glass on the desk again. She opened a drawer, took out a roll of bandage and wrapped it around her wounded wrist, before cutting the extra band off and putting it back inside the drawer.
Then, the brunette beauty brought everything back with her as she crossed the room to stand beside Damon's bed. She put the glass of blood down on the bedside table next to him, and covered her best friend with the blanket. She knew it was completely unnecessary – vampires were never cold. But it was a way of making it up to him, because she felt guilty for what she had done with Stefan. At least, when he'd wake up, he'd see she took care of him.
Sighing, Bonnie stepped back and observed him lovingly. He was momentarily dead – she knew that. But right now, it seemed more like he was deeply asleep. The baby blue eyes that she loved so much and found mesmerizing were closed on his soft, pale face, hidden behind his eyelids. His long, dark eyelashes were immobile. She didn't seem to realize what she was doing as she kept contemplating Damon.
Her eyes scanned his silent, sleeping face with an affectionate look as she told herself that he appeared very peaceful for a vampire who had just been vervained. She found herself wanting to touch his skin, longing to feel it against her own, knowing for a fact that it was as smooth as a baby's. She had witnessed it from the many times Damon had thrust his wrist on her mouth to heal her, or when his lips had kissed her forehead fondly, or when he had gently stroked her face and held her hand as they talked and danced. And still, it had taken her several years, and Enzo's death, to realize that she was in love with him. That she had been in love with him ever since he had come back from the Phoenix Stone.
The first time her feelings had hit her like a powerful hurricane was when she had learnt that Damon had abandoned her to desiccate, and that she had confronted him in person about his selfish choice. She had been so devastated, so heartbroken and angry, that it was clear it was more than friendship. Except that, back then, she was in complete denial. And after that, Enzo had come along – and she had jumped on the occasion to forget about Damon. She had loved Enzo, of course – but not as much as she now knew she loved Damon. Enzo had been her cure, her medicine – Damon was her soulmate.
Smiling at her unconscious best friend, Bonnie chewed on her lips. She was in love with him and she didn't feel ashamed or scared. It felt right. And though she should feel unsure, because it might only be one-sided, she mysteriously didn't. She didn't know why, but the uncertainty and the fear to be rejected were nonexistent. Maybe Elena was to thank for that.
Slowly, Bonnie bent over Damon and placed her brown hands on each side of his face. She took a close look at him, her heart missing beats as she did so, before softly kissing his forehead. Then, without a look, she walked out of the room, closed the door behind her, and headed to the "living-room" of The Armory.
Now that she had made sure Damon was safe from any harm – if she did her part correctly, she had a spell to keep practicing. Approximation wouldn't be enough to control hellfire – she had to be perfect.
Matt stood next to his father, completely powerless, as he watched Mystic Falls' famous clock hit 10:00 p.m. The apocalypse was officially on.
And as on cue, Peter Maxwell wrapped a trembling arm around his son's shoulders, squeezing it tightly as a silent final goodbye - just as hellfire burst out from the high clock.
At least, the inhabitants were safe – was Matt's last thought as he shut his eyes tightly, already thinking about the moment he would get to see Tyler again. And Penny. Death had never seemed so tragically friendly to him.
Stefan turned to face Katherine. She was still unconscious, but he knew she would wake up in a few seconds. With a resigned expression, he walked toward his ex-girlfriend's lifeless form. The young Salvatore bent down, and with a harsh pull, removed the dagger from Katherine's back.
Holding it in one hand, he grabbed the Petrova's body from under, and carried her bridal style. Panting slightly, he managed to walk them both right in front of the tunnels' opening. Carefully, Stefan let her slide a little from his arms, so she was standing with her back pressed against his front, still unconscious. He slipped his arms around her waist, and brought them up, holding her as tightly as he could to keep her from moving. The dagger was clutched between his two hands, the blade pointed at Katherine's heart, ready to be thrusted when time came.
And he waited. He waited for what felt like centuries. But then Katherine opened her eyes, moaning in pain, and her gaze settled onto the dark tunnels standing right in front of her.
"No," she whispered, eyes widening in fear as she understood what was about to happen to her. She couldn't die like that – not her, not Katherine Pierce. "NO!" she screamed, squirming to try and free herself from Stefan's powerful hold.
But the ex-vampire was impassive. He may have been human right then, but his determination gave him the strength he needed to accomplish his mission. So, Stefan tightened his arms around her even more, gripping the dagger with all his might. His face was pressed against Katherine's hair, his green eyes focused on the empty tunnels. They would soon be filled with Hellfire – the cause of his upcoming death.
And just as Katherine let out an umpteenth, devastating cry in vain, light appeared at the end of the tunnels. A strong, powerful, warm light. Stefan felt intense heat invading the place, and drops of sweat fell from his forehead. Katherine was still moving in every direction, hoping that Stefan's human grip would eventually loosen up. And within a second, Hellfire broke before their eyes.
They had never seen such a fire. It was supernatural. A supernatural fire. So big, and so powerful that they already felt like they were burning, despite being a meter away from it. They watched the red flames burning, mixed with orange, yellow, and bluish ones. The flames danced in the tunnel, flickered dangerously, winding in the air, interlacing wildly, forming what seemed like a giant ball of deadly fire.
"Stefan – please," Katherine panted in a last attempt, but there was no use. Stefan was mute and deaf, indifferent to her distress.
She had stopped squirming, hypnotized, just like Stefan, by Hellfire's ballet. But she soon came back to her senses, and started moving again. Death had never seemed so frightening to her.
"Please, Stefan, don't do this -," she whispered desperately, the fire reflecting in her scared, brown eyes.
"Burn in hell," was Stefan's answer as he planted the dagger into her heart.
Katherine gulped, choked, and fought to keep her eyes open. As if she could defeat Death again. Stefan clenched the dagger, refusing to let go of it till' they had both died. They watched, eyes wide open, as Death creeped closer and closer. Together, they stayed still, heads held high, and stubbornly looked straight ahead to face their end.
And then Hellfire wrapped around their silhouettes, and engulfed them like vulgar bread crumbs.
Bonnie stood in the middle of the room. The Armory was a huge building, but she had chosen to draw Hellfire in its giant study. The last place she had seen Caroline, Ric, and the twins. Maybe the last place she'll have lived in.
Candles were placed on every single table of the room. They created a spiritual, fatal atmosphere. Just like what she was about to do. Bonnie lit the last candle, blew on the match, and stepped away.
She admired her work with teary eyes. She thought about Damon, Caroline, Stefan, Ric, the girls, Matt, Elena, and Enzo. And she nodded to herself, almost as if she was motivating herself. This was the right decision. This was the right thing to do.
The brunette sighed and checked her watch – 10:00 p.m. It was time. She shook her head and shoulders, rubbed her hands together, and faced the greatness of the room. Let the battle begin.
"Okay, Grams," the young woman's soft voice echoed around her. "If I ever needed you to hear me – hear me now," she swallowed, exhaling deeply as she prepared herself for the ultimate battle of her existence.
Bonnie took a deep breath, and raised her brown hands into the air, in front of her. The witch closed her eyes, focusing, thinking about all the people she had to save. She felt the flow of her magic invading her, the power of the Bennett line from which she descended overwhelming her - and she struck.
"Phasmatos incendia movet. Phasmatos incendia moveto. Ego es vos. Vos es unos," Bonnie recited, closing her eyes and fists as she did so.
I can do this. I can do this. I'm powerful enough. I have to do this. I will succeed.
And she repeated the spell, again and again, her voice raising as she felt her magic starting to take effect. It was like a strong call. She was drawn to her power and she knew she had to keep going for it to work. She wouldn't abandon. Not before Hellfire had been destroyed before her eyes.
Her fists clenched even tighter, the tables and chairs started trembling, and a strong wind hit Bonnie's face. Her hair flew behind her, her feet moved slightly as she lost her balance – but she was stronger. She was determined. The Bennett beauty squinted through the blasts of wind hammering against her face, and planted her feet in the ground, refusing to let herself be blown away. Her mouth kept moving, reciting the spell over and over again.
And Bonnie drew her fists even closer to her stomach, as if physically summoning Hellfire toward her. Battle's on.
The bell rang. The class was over.
Sounds of feet stamping on the high school floor. People walking in every direction. Foreign voices echoing in the corridors; screaming, laughing, randomly talking.
A final whistle. A bossy, bubbly voice counting down the rhythm.
Up and down! And back! Five, six, seven, eight!
And three girls giggling. A tall, blond, blue-eyed girl; an equally tall, brown-eyed other girl; and a smaller, brown-skinned brunette.
I can't believe it! We are all in here, together!
And then – a deeper, masculine, yet gentle voice.
Is this the mans' room? Yeah, huh – it's a long story.
Elena was standing in the middle of the long, high school corridor, staring at a large showcase. It was filled with memories – pictures, diplomas, articles, trophies, medals… And weirdly, the young Gilbert could remember each of them. She remembered the circumstances in which they had been won – some of them by herself, others with Caroline and Bonnie.
But her eyes were fixed upon one picture. The Cheerleaders' Team picture. There she was, in the middle, Caroline and Bonnie respectively posing on her left and right. And the rest of the girls behind them. They were all wearing their black and red uniforms, striped with white lines.
The corners of her lips lifted into a small smile.
So many things had happened in this corridor, in this high school. Her memories kept invading her mind, sometimes making her think she was going crazy. She could make out her friends' voices ringing in her head. She could hear their laughs. She recognized the tone of their voices. It was like every single conversation she had had within these walls were coming back to her in a flash. It was overwhelming. Positively surprising.
She had been the happiest girl alive, back then. Her parents had died, but she was surrounded by her friends. And her friends were her family. Jenna, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, Ric, Stefan and Damon – they were her family. And she missed them terribly.
Elena stepped away from the showcase, and decided to wander somewhere else in the high school. She walked slowly, taking in everything she could – the classrooms, the lockers, the bathrooms, even the colors of the walls. They were all memories she would cherish until her last breath, and even after.
She didn't know why she was there. One minute she had been with Bonnie, the other Bonnie had disappeared – and then it seemed she had blacked out. She had woken up in the high school's boiler room, spread out on the cold floor. Scared and surprised at first, she had then shrugged and decided to visit.
She was curious, intrigued by the reason why she was here. It was the first time Elena found herself in a place she hadn't wished to be. Usually, the brunette only had to think about wherever she wanted to go, and she was – just like she had explained to Bonnie earlier. But never had she been drawn somewhere without wanting to. She didn't know how she had ended up in Mystic Falls' high school, but one thing was sure – an external force had put her in there. And the doppelganger didn't know whether to take it as a good, or a bad thing.
Pensive, Elena turned a corner, and –
A muscular chest collided with her, and strong arms caught her in time to keep her from falling backward. Elena raised her head – it was Stefan. Her eyes widened in shock, and she gaped.
"Hi," Stefan breathed out, offering her a warm smile.
"Hi," Elena returned quietly, after regaining her composure.
The brunette grinned widely to her ex-boyfriend, happy to see him. Happy to see someone she knew and loved in this familiar, yet lonely place. She was so caught up in her relief that she didn't pay attention to the fact that this was supposed to be a place between life and death. But then something occurred to her, as Stefan smiled again – how could he be here with her?
"What happened?" she asked, slowly stepping away from him. Something was wrong – she felt it. "Why am I here right now? Why are you here?" Elena frowned, meeting Stefan's nervous gaze.
"I don't know about Bonnie, but – Damon wanted to sacrifice everything," Stefan started calmly, watching as Elena's eyebrows raised even more in confusion. "To save all of us. To save this town," he added, gulping.
"I-I – I don't understand, Stefan," the Gilbert girl stammered, not taking her eyes off him.
Fear was starting to make its way into her body, right through her heart. She didn't like Stefan's expression as she watched him closely. He seemed – paler than usual. Out. Like there was no life inside him anymore. She shivered at the thought.
"Katherine came back from Hell. She brought you here – in the boiler room," Stefan explained in the most casual voice he could manage, though he was feeling a thousand different emotions right now. "She met Kai and she asked him to cast a spell on you – I tried to get you out of here but I couldn't, because your body was trapped inside the room by the spell," the ex-vampire continued, but it was getting harder and harder to talk because of the moment he dreaded – the moment he would tell her what he'd done with Bonnie.
"So, that was her," Elena interrupted him, frowning again. "I should've known," she whispered absentmindedly.
Her evil twin would never let go of the past, even in Hell. That's how bad she hated Elena. It made sense now that she thought about it. The only way she could've ended up somewhere she hadn't wished to be was for someone to have put her body in there. And who better than Katherine Pierce, her sworn enemy, to do just that?
Stefan nodded. Her reflection had given him some time to regain emotional strength. He had to tell her the rest. All of it. Before it was time for him to go.
"But that's not all," the young Salvatore sighed, and Elena's head jerked upwards. What more could there be? "Katherine found a way to destroy Mystic Falls. She used Matt's mother, and Vicki, as her minions. She made them ring the bell, so that Hellfire would burst out of it – and then burn the town down," he revealed to her, lowering his gaze to the ground.
"Oh, my god," Elena whispered, shocked and frightened. Her eyes widened, her hands started trembling, and she found it hard to breath. "Is everyone okay? Bonnie? Caroline? Damon? Matt?" she enumerated hastily, her eyes not leaving Stefan though he was trying to avoid her stare.
"Caroline is fine – she left the town in time with Ric and the twins," Stefan said. "As for Matt, I'm not sure yet," he bit his lip, hoping to find enough courage to keep telling her everything. He took a long, deep breath. "But for Bonnie and Damon – "he stopped, lifting his head back up to meet Elena's horrified expression.
"What about them? What happened, Stefan?! Tell me what's going on, please," the brunette lost her nerves, her voice raising anxiously as she pleaded Stefan to answer with demanding brown eyes.
"Damon is safe – we made sure of it," Stefan told her, talking mostly to himself. "Bonnie and I had a plan, Elena," he informed her, watching closely as Elena's face seemed to relax at the mention of Damon being safe, but hardened almost as instantly when he mentioned himself and Bonnie.
"What - what plan, Stefan?" Elena pressed him, her tone scared and uncertain.
She didn't like this at all. She hated where it was going. It smelled like pain – and she had had enough of it, already.
Stefan swallowed hard. There it was – the moment he dreaded.
"Bonnie's powers came back and she – she decided to perform a spell which would draw hellfire to where she was. Meaning, to The Armory," he started, now refusing to meet his ex-lover's worried eyes. "Then she had to gather enough strength to send it right back in the bell – it would destroy Hell once for all. But someone had to stay with Katherine – to throw her in hellfire at the right moment, so she would be taken away with it," he paused, cautious to find the right words. "Damon was supposed to be the one to stay with Katherine and make sure she was dead for good. But I wouldn't let him do that, I couldn't let him die – and neither did Bonnie," Stefan looked at her, and he couldn't help thinking it would be the last time he would do that.
"What did you do?" Elena whispered with panic, almost panting. She stared at him – his eyes were teary now, and his face as white as a sheet of paper. Why was he so pale?
"I made a deal with Bonnie," Stefan's voice cracked a little, but he held on. "We made him believe that he would be the one to stay with Katherine. We lied to him about the plan," he continued, the tears threatening to fall from his emotional eyes. "I took his place, Elena," he finally let out in a pained tone, his eyes shining with unshed tears and staring at her brown, shocked ones.
"No," Elena murmured unbelievingly. "No, no, no," she repeated, tearing her eyes away from Stefan's as she understood what it meant.
Stefan looked at her, helpless. He had never imagined it would be this hard.
"Are you -?" she croaked, throat dry, still unable to say the word out loud.
"Yes, Elena. I'm dead. I died with Katherine," Stefan confirmed her worst nightmare, and watched as tears rolled down her cheeks like a fountain.
Now, she knew – he was as pale as Death.
Damon opened his eyes. Groaning in pain, he swore before pushing on his arms and legs to sit up. The blanket in which he was covered fell to the ground, but he didn't seem to notice. It was not long before he realized he was in a room. On a bed. It looked familiar, but his brain was still deeply affected by the vervain he had received to recognize it.
The dark-haired vampire turned his head to look around – blue walls, a desk on his left, a big glass window in front of him. Damon frowned – what the hell?!
He noticed the bedside table on his right, and spotted the glass of blood upon it. Shrugging, and without wondering where or whom it came from, Damon grabbed it and gulped it down at once. Its taste was very familiar and delicious. There – he felt much better now. He smirked, thinking that whoever his enemy was, they hadn't chosen the right time – or the right person.
But then it came back to him. Stefan. Katherine. The crypt. Hellfire. Bonnie. And his amused face fell.
He stared at the room once more and his eyes widened in understanding – The Armory.
*** TO BE CONTINUED***
Hello there ! So here's part 2 - sorry for the long waiting, but it's not over yet ! ;)
I'm curious to know if you have any idea how I intend to end this Finale 2.0 ? Something tells me you're far from the actual truth, but do write your hypothesis if you're interested ! Anyway, I hope you like the turn events are taking - I tried to make it as logical as possible, but not sure everything's clear so tell me what you think about that.
Now about ships - I'm obviously much more used to writing Bonnie and Damon scenes, so I hope I did good on the Steroline, Defan, and Stelena ones. I wanted to respect each character's personnality. Don't scream at me because I made Steroline say goodbye to each other on the phone * hides behind a bush* ! I just didn't see their scene at The Armory (in the TV show finale) as very relevant and I would've had to find a way to explain why Caroline would come back there and bla bla bla...Too much thinking already to add this one !
I promised you more Bamon - but I never said physically ! ;D Don't hate me. I tried my best to make their phone call and the little scene in The Armory as cute as possible. I'm sure you understand I couldn't make them physically interact YET for the sake of the storyline I'm developping for this rewriting. But don't worry, the best of the best is coming in the 3rd part !
The 3rd part will be the final one of my TVD Rewriting, so be ready for the end I've imagined ! I hope you'll love it, and that you'll be surprised !
But for now, I'm looking forward to your thoughts, suggestions, opinions and whatever you want on this 2nd part ! So, pen in hands !
*** REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS MUCH APPRECIATED***
Kisses,
KatemonLazuli