"There's an actual….devil. Supernatural devil, and we defeated its cronies." Damon spoke out loud to himself, pacing while processing the information.
"My cousin said when the possession happens, it's irreversible." Bonnie added
"What about those hunters? Katherine's daughter found a way to keep her alive in Elena for those few weeks." Caroline protested
"Yeah, but the devil is this fixed creature. Like the anchor to the other side, except no one can become him. He dies but he is born again somewhere else. He doesn't have control over it, his victims never find out until it's too late, and his followers are good at staying under the radar." Bonnie said. Caroline stayed silent and kept hold of Stefan's hand, stubbornly unbelieving.
"I'm sorry Caroline. We could find a way to get him out of Stefan, but there's no guarantee that it'll work, or that Stefan would survive the possession."
"We're just gonna have to try, aren't we?" Damon demanded. He turned to Caroline. "Have you gotten in his head at all?" She shook her head.
"He seems completely shut down. Except you're way better at doing that than me." Caroline replied. Damon gulped nervously and shuffled towards his little brother. Elena came to Caroline's side and held onto her while Damon hesitantly laid a hand on Stefan's and closed his eyes.
"Hello, brother." Stefan's voice echoed.
"Oh, boy." Damon replied in caution. "That sounds like humanity-less Stefan."
"Nope, I'm fine."
"Then where the hell are you?" Damon demanded.
The darkness surrounding the brothers cleared, revealing a tiny sun-soaked apartment. Damon blinked and took in his scenery.
"Again I ask, where the hell are we?" Damon asked in annoyance.
"One of the places my possessor used to live a few decades ago. He ended up getting hit by a train and been in limbo all this time. But thanks to you, he's got me now."
"Stefan, he's destroying you," Damon replied, putting his hands on his brother's shoulders "if you don't fight him, he's going to wipe your ass from existence. And I don't know a way to track you down." Stefan's face went from happy to regretful, looking away. Then he looked back at Damon with peace.
"It's time, Damon." Stefan said. Damon dropped his hands in shock
"What the hell do you mean, it's time. We just won against another bad guy, you've got a girlfriend..."
"That's what I mean. There's nothing else to fight. We're safe."
"You're not, Stefan!" Damon demanded "Wake your ass up before I make you."
"Damon, it's okay!" Stefan yelled in reply. Damon panted and Stefan put his hands on Damon's shoulders. "I don't feel any pain. I feel at peace, for once. That hasn't been the case for a hundred years, brother. I want to keep this feeling, and if I wake up, I don't know how to find it again."
"We could always sign you up with a therapist." Damon said. Stefan breathed a laugh.
"You have Elena. You're happy. Caroline's better off without me. I didn't expect to die this soon, but the time's come." Stefan replied. Damon stared at him.
"You really aren't gonna fight." Damon breathed in shock. "I need you, brother."
Stefan smiled. "No you don't. Not anymore. I was always the one that needed you more." Stefan turned away and walked off towards the rest of the apartment.
"Do me a favor, Damon" Stefan said, turning back. "It's the only thing I'm gonna let you do anyway." Damon stared at his little brother. "You're happy with Elena, and you're making her happy. Promise me you're going to have an amazing life with her."
Damon backed up, blinked, and in a second he was back in his house. Stefan's eyes were peacefully shut, his skin beginning to turn a light gray.
"What did he say?" Caroline asked as Damon stood up. He met Elena's eyes with Caroline.
"He's not going to fight this. He's prepared to die." Damon mumbled. The blonde vampire's face full of hope crumpled in seconds.
"What? No he's not just giving up that easily!?" Caroline protested. She stomped over to Stefan. "I'm getting in his head and knocking some sense into him."
"You said you weren't able to get in his head." Damon stated numbly. Caroline landed on her knees by Stefan's side. Elena walked to Damon and stared at him. Damon turned around to look at his brother, and Elena put her arms around his neck.
"I'm going to try, dammit" Caroline cried, then grabbed his hand and squeezed her eyes shut.
Caroline tried for hours to enter Stefan's mind. Elena and Damon stayed hovering on the seats not far from her, looking at each other from time to time, texting Bonnie any updates which were rare.
Elena nearly dozed off on Damon's shoulder, until she heard Caroline's startled cry.
"Look!" She demanded, practically tugging the two over. Stefan had begun to turn grey, the vampiric veins spreading visibly along his bare arms. His hands were completely covered, forearms, up to the shoulders. It had climbed to his collarbone. Elena gasped and Damon stared dumbfounded, hardly able to comprehend what was happening.
Slowly, the veins crept up past Stefan's chin, to his cheekbones, past his nose. When the veins reached his hairline, Caroline screamed with a cry, grabbing his hand again as useless as the action was. She sniffled and looked back at her best friend.
"He didn't even let me say goodbye." Caroline sobbed.
A long moment passed, Elena hugging Damon, Caroline sobbing into Stefan's rigid shoulder.
"Who didn't let you say goodbye?" A voice sounded. Caroline gasped, as did Damon and Elena. They hovered over Stefan's body, and his eyes popped open quickly. Stefan looked at Caroline. "There's nobody to say goodbye to." He added playfully. She slowly began to smile and then hugged him tightly, crying again with happy tears. Stefan looked up at Damon and the eldest Salvatore grinned at his little brother.
"Good to have you back, brother. For the five minutes you were gone, things were dull." Damon greeted. Stefan breathed a laugh and hugged Caroline back. He nodded to Elena.
"We were worried you were dead, what happened?" Elena asked
"The Devil just…let me go." Stefan said simply.
"Let you go." Damon repeated skeptically. His brother nodded, a look in his eye telling them all he was hiding a lot more. "Well, we'll make up a bedroom for you here until you're alright again."
"I'm alright now." Stefan replied. "I'd rather go back to Caroline's, if that's alright with you guys." Elena and Damon looked at each other uncertainly, then to Caroline. The blonde vampire smiled back at them with such mirth they complied. They knew Caroline would be hovering over Stefan until she was 100% sure he was just fine again.