Chapter 4: Brain-dead morons.

Jeremy woke up with a huge headache. He rubbed his head and moaned, his limbs felt heavy, mind was still clouded from sleep, the sunlight hurt his sensitive eyes. He spotted two pills of Advil on the shelf and a glass of water and took them thankfully.

The memories of the past evening were slowly coming back to him and he sank back in his bed, covering his head with a blanket. He could still feel his backside sting slightly in contact with the bed but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle so he just ignored it. He felt good and bad at the same time. Physically, he was still exhausted despite getting many hours of sleep but mentally, he felt… okay.

Once the headache went away he felt somehow lighter than he felt in a long while, less troubled, he felt more like himself. He could still feel loss but was no longer crippled by it.

He thought carefully over the events of the last night and decided to forget it ever happened for the fear that he would die of embarrassment. He hoped Damon will have enough decency to keep things private and to never mention it again. He felt foolish for even thinking Damon could show something so far from his nature as decency but then again, he was acting so different, all reasonable and all, so maybe… Jeremy groaned. He didn't like what happened in a least bit but he could see some logic behind it. He wished he could avoid enduring it again though, for the rest of eternity.

He dragged his ass to the shower and let the water clean him of bad memories. And sweat. But mostly memories.

Once clean and looking quite normal he went down and stopped in the spot speechless when Damon handed him a plate with tasty looking breakfast. He mumbled thanks and ate in silence trying to avoid having to look at the vampire. He couldn't help but notice that he missed half of his lessons since it was Friday. He figured out Damon must have taken pity on him and grinned internally at the impossibility of this thought.

The rest of the day went smoothly as they exchanged barely a few words during the move out. Neither of them really knew what to say. He was preparing to get to bed for the night when he got a text from Tyler asking to meet up. He figured out the hybrid must have just gotten back to Mystic Falls.

He dressed up quickly and approached the living room, hoping Damon hasn't left. Thankfully, he found him in there reading some papers.

'Umm, Damon?'

Damon's eyes shoot up and he raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

'Umm, I just got a text from Tyler,' he started feeling slightly stupid for asking, 'he wants to meet at the Grill. Is it okay if I go?' Damon eyed him up and seemed to consider it for a minute before he spoke up.

'Be back at 11. Stay out of trouble,' he threw emotionlessly and returned to his activity.

Jeremy didn't have to be told twice, he was behind the door in no time. Damon sighed. He felt particularly soft today.

He looked at the copy of the Hunter's mark that was keeping him occupied all day. He promised Stefan he'll help find the cure but he felt clueless. There was no information in any of the books that Salvatores owned. He even dug up a myth book created about the time Hunters were brought to life in hopes it will shed some light.

He was half through the book when his sight caught a glimpse of the clock. 11:18. He gritted his teeth. Give the child a finger and he'll… As if summoned, the door opened and Jeremy walked in. He entered the room Damon occupied at the moment and looked at him nervously.

'When I say be back at 11, I expect you to be back at 11 sharp,' Damon announced calmly but firmly.

'Yeaah, sorry Damon, I lost the track of time.'

Damon narrowed his eyes. 'If you can't keep track on something as trivial as time, how do you expect me to trust you with something bigger?'

Jeremy rolled his eyes at the obvious exaggeration. 'Jeez, Damon, it's only 18 minutes.'

'I don't CARE if it's 18 minutes or a single MINUTE! If I can't count on you to listen to me and be at home at the exact time I tell you to, you won't be going out at all!'

'C'mon! You can't keep me in the house!' challenged Jeremy.

'Watch me!'

'Damon…' Stefan cut in, entering the room alarmed by the screams. 'Let him be.'

'I will not let him be, Stefan when he doesn't listen to me!' Stefan wanted to say something but Damon silenced him with a hard glare and brought his attention back to Jeremy. 'You are grounded till the end of the week.'

'You can't be serious! It was ONLY 18 minutes! Don't be such a d-!' He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Damon's eyes flashed with anger.

'And that's why it is ONLY 2 days. Now keep it up and I will not only ground your ass!' he grunted. Jeremy didn't miss the clear warning and gulped. He quickly decided that it wasn't worth getting his ass blistered so soon.

He threw his hands up in defeat. 'You're right, I'm sorry, I won't be late again.'

Damon snapped, 'See that you don't. Get yourself to bed.'

'Don't you think you're a little too hard on him?' Stefan asked when Jeremy disappeared upstairs.

'No,' snickered Damon without any explanation.

Stefan appeared in front of him and sighed. 'You can't expect him to follow all the rules immediately.'

'Sure I can, Stef.'

Stefan sighed in exasperation. Damon didn't bother with listening to the rest of his speech and indulged in the book beside him. The younger Salvatore quickly realized he won't get through Damon tonight and he stormed out of the room.

'I'm surrounded by idiots,' Damon acknowledged out loud and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at Stefan's and Jeremy's similar sulky behavior. He wondered if they realized how alike they were in their teenage, overly emotional responses. Stefan might have been over 160 years old and have memories and experiences of a 160 year old vampire but his emotional development stopped the day he was turned and since then he didn't age a day over 17 which meant that for eternity he was stuck with a 17 years old mentality.

And then it hit him. The witches and the Hunters could grow old which meant as the cure was hidden they were probably mere teenagers which means that they were naive, driven by their emotions and hearts creatures. Which means he didn't have to find the cure… he just had to find the one who hid it. And he happened to know someone who could tell them.

'Witch trip,' Damon sneered and stretched himself. He quickly checked Jeremy's room and smiled seeing the kid was fast asleep. He sped down the stairs and closed the door behind him, disappearing into the night.

Jeremy opened his eyes when he heard Damon leave his room. He silently congratulated himself learning how to fake sleeping. He jumped out of the bed quickly, completely clothed and gathered his stuff. Earlier he made sure to steal some of Alaric's tools before they cleaned it up. He also took some of the weapons that the Hunter that Elena killed owned. He didn't have time yet to figure how most of them work but he decided he had enough to take on a vampire.

When he met Tyler the two of them got into an argument about hybrids. Tyler thought he could unsire all of them. Jeremy however was sure that hybrids were a huge threat and the faster they got rid of them, the better. Since no one was willing to do that, he felt he should take care of the problem. He pretended to agree with Tyler while planning the attack. He spotted the occasion when Tyler mentioned they were planning on meeting in the woods tonight. He quickly said goodbye afterwards and ran towards the woods. Unfortunately, no one was there yet and he had to go home or Damon would kill him. He thought about sharing his plans with Damon since he was the one who seemed to hate hybrids and had no problem with killing them but then the vampire jumped on him and treated him like a child so he decided he will deal with it alone.

He figured out Damon must have gone sleep for the night so he sneaked out trying to not make a single sound. He reached the knob and-

'Where do you think you're going?' Jeremy jumped frightened but then relaxed when he saw Stefan in front of him.

'You know, there is kind of a party in the Grill and I thought I could hang out with Tyler some more.'

Stefan folded his arms and moved his head to the side watching him with curiosity. 'You're lying. Why are you lying?'

'I'm not!'

'Well, I know for sure that Tyler is with Caroline at the moment and there isn't any party in Grill as I was there a while ago,' Stefan stated. 'I also know that you weren't there.'

'I was there, I just left earlier…' Jeremy admitted blushing a little at being caught on a lie.

'But you were late; if you left before I even got there it must have been much before 11!'

Jeremy just shrugged and looked at the wall, refusing to answer.

'I'm not Damon, you don't have to lie to me.' Stefan offered, looking a little hurt.

'Look, Stefan, I really need to go,' sighed Jeremy exasperated.

'Fine. If you're not going to tell me then I can just call Damon instead,' Stefan threatened though feeling a little guilty about blackmailing Elena's brother.

Jeremy cursed, he was sure Damon went to sleep. He quickly recovered and shot him an angry look, 'You're a dick.'

'Or I have a better idea!' said Stefan, handing up the phone to Jeremy, 'YOU will call him.' Stefan smirked and leaned down to him, 'See, NOW I'm a dick.'

'Fine! I'm going to Bonnie to have sex with her, would you like to join or do you need more details to fuck off?' spat Jeremy, pissed.

Stefan blinked in surprise, 'I didn't know you two were back together. Aren't you like, too young for her?'

'Well, I don't know, you tell me. As a guy who's older than my grandfather and slept with my 17 year old sister… Am I too young for her?' Jeremy sent him a deadly look.

'Geez, Jeremy,' winced Stefan seeming slightly offended. 'Just go.'

Jeremy gladly obeyed and got out, hoping to get away as quickly as possible and not bump into Damon by accident. He was surprised Stefan let go so easily but he wasn't going to push his luck.

As soon as he reached the woods he spotted a young, dark-haired girl. He didn't know how but he immediately sensed she was a hybrid. His heart started beating faster.

'Hey, excuse me,' he yelled swallowing nervously. The girl turned around and looked at him, 'Yeah?'

'I might have got lost, could you show me how to get to the Lockwood mansion?' he smiled and the girl visibly relaxed. He walked up to her.

'Yeah sure, you just have to go this way and turn right and then when you see the tree with letters carved on it, it's the sign to turn right again and you're there,' she answered looking at him shyly. She was petite and if he had to guess, a year or two younger than him and when she smiled at him he almost felt bad for what he was about to do. 'Is Tyler Lockwood your friend?' she asked tentatively.

'Yeah, he kind of is,' he nodded.

'He is very nice to me. He helped me a lot,' she admitted and moved closer.

'What did he help you with?'

'I can't really talk about it,' she whispered, avoiding looking at him.

'Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope to see you around!' he answered and she beamed at him. 'You do?' she looked at him hopefully from under her eyelashes. Too hopefully.

'Yeah, sure! Thanks for directions tho!' said Jeremy, taking a deep breath and just as he was about to walk past her, in one swift move he shoved a wooden stick into her heart.

Or what he thought was the heart.

She screamed and pushed him away forcefully. He hit his head hard on the tree and his eyes watered. He moaned painfully. He watched as she took out the stake from her body. Her eyes landed on him, narrowed and angry. He couldn't recognize the shy girl in her anymore, only a growling vampire with bared fangs that was about to rip his head off. His heart was racing, he felt the adrenaline rushing in. She launched herself at him and he shouted when she grabbed him like a rag doll and sunk her teeth in his neck.

The next few things happened so fast that he didn't have time to register it. The girl was pulled off him and thrown on the ground where she was staked fast by Stefan Salvatore, this time for good. They caught each other glances but before any of them had time to say anything there was a fast movement and Stefan was shoved into a tree with Klaus' hand firmly grabbing his throat.

'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now,' Klaus roared with his British accent. Few feet from him stood Damon looking as furious as ever.

'Ughhh,' answered Stefan before Damon pushed Klaus away from him. 'She attacked him!' he hissed, looking at Jeremy who was still half-sitting on the ground. Klaus was flaming with anger. Klaus' look fixed on Jeremy and before the boy could blink Damon was there, standing between them like a shield.

'Don't you dare touch him,' he fumed, his voice hard as stone. Jeremy was unpleasantly surprised with how intimidating he seemed.

Klaus' eyes narrowed and his hand thrust in Damon's body resulting with a low howl escaping Damon's lips when the Original squeezed his heart.

He leaned towards him and whispered into his ear, 'I could rip your heart right now and then kill both of these wastes of space without breaking a sweat. Do. Not. Tempt. Me.' He took out his hand of Damon and wiped it with his shirt. 'If any of you touches my hybrids again, you will not live to see another day,' he growled and disappeared into the thin air. Damon yelped and coughed. All three of them took few minutes to recover.

'Let's get out of here,' Damon said finally, walking up to Jeremy and grabbing his head in a strong grip. He checked him for injures, not bothering with acknowledging Jeremy's protests.

'Are you hurt?' he asked concerned, spotting blood on his neck.

'I might have a bruise on my head but I'm fine, Damon,' Jeremy tried to brush his hands away from him but Damon just swatted them and continued his investigation. Satisfied with the results he eventually pulled away and grabbed Jeremy's collar firmly hissing 'You better have a good explanation!' He started dragging Jeremy towards the house, when he walked past Stefan he grabbed his collar with his other hand and started dragging him as well.

'Damon!' Stefan tried to wiggle away but Damon's furious look silenced him. He let himself be led. He hasn't seen Damon that angry since he got himself locked in a tomb with Katherine. After Elijah let him out Damon gave him a tongue-lashing of the century, literally. That was the first time since they became vampires that Damon actually exercised brotherly authority. He used to do that a lot when they were humans but then they grew apart and that part of their relationship was gone. They became close again last year and Damon was reminding his older brother more and more every day. For which Stefan was generally glad but at the moment he wished he cared less.

Jeremy dared to open his mouth few times during the way but after he was told to shut up and threatened with a spanking in the middle of the street he didn't let out another word.

Damon walked the boys inside the house. He felt so angry that he could barely speak. He had a strong urge to take a strap to both of their asses so that the brain-dead morons would learn some self-perseverance. The thought of what could have happened if he wasn't with Klaus that night was keeping his fury fuming. He let go of Stefan's collar and walked Gilbert to the closest corner.

'Nose to the wall. Not a single word or I'll light such a fire to your ass that you won't sit comfortably for a week.' Jeremy gulped and blushed at being treated like a child but stood still where Damon left him. He was so dead.

''Sit!' he ordered Stefan who quickly obliged. 'What the fuck happened?' Stefan just sighed.

'You have three second to explain to me what the fuck is going on or you can join Jeremy in the corner and then tell me anyway!' Damon roared. Stefan flinched and visibly sunk further into the sofa.

Damon seeing it closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to regain his composure. When he opened them he felt significantly calmer.

'Jeremy is a Hunter,' started Stefan, 'and as you probably well know by now, his mark grows every time he kills a vampire.'

'I have a weird impression I know where it's going…' Damon narrowed his eyes.

Stefan gulped. 'So I've been making him kill vampires.'

Jeremy's eyes widened and he moved slightly. He wasn't sure what Stefan was doing.

'You've been making him WHAT?'

'K-kill vampires,' whispered Stefan. Damon massaged his temples. This was getting worse and worse.

'You know perfectly well that every time he kills a vampire his urges to kill become harder to control! Do you wish to get us all killed?!'

Stefan just looked at the wall. He felt guilty. He didn't mean to lie but he also didn't want to turn on Jeremy although he probably deserved it. And it wasn't a full lie… He was making Jeremy kill vampires, just not this particular time. But he wanted to. And he would have if Klaus and Damon didn't appear… The truth is it didn't take him long to figure out where Jeremy was really going. And he went there with every intention to help.

'Answer me!' Damon yelled.

'First I didn't know and then… I didn't really care,' he admitted. Damon growled. He glanced at Jeremy and his voice softened a little bit.

'Jeremy. You can come out now. I want you to go to bed and this time stay there. We'll have a talk tomorrow.' Jeremy turned around and nodded. Walking past Stefan he mouthed 'thank you' and left.

'As for you…' He leaned over Stefan and grabbed his face between his hands firmly. He looked him forcefully in the eyes.

'Listen to me and listen close because I'm never going to repeat it. YOU are my BROTHER. If something was to happen to you, I wouldn't SURVIVE it! Don't EVER do that again. Don't EVER go after Klaus' hybrids again. And don't EVER bring Jeremy with you. Do you understand me?'

'Yes, Damon.'

'I am trying to find the cure. But what good will it do if you get killed in the meantime?! I have an idea, that's why I was with Klaus today. We need to attack a bunch of really asshole witches and I need your help! I can't do this alone! And you can't be going behind my back!' scolded Damon. Stefan nodded, surprised with the affection his older brother was showing.

'Good. You can go now,' said Damon, walking off to pour himself a drink he so needed. He was thrown off guard when guilty looking Stefan came up to him and hugged him, 'I'm really sorry, Damon.'

'Stefan…' Damon sighed wrapping his arm around his little brother. He held him for a few moments, relaxing, letting all the fear, worry and anger out of his system. He never could have stayed mad for long, not with Stefan. 'You're forgiven. But don't you ever go behind my back again, is that clear, young man?' Demon demanded, grabbing Stefan's chin gently between his fingers. Stefan trembled at being called with such a paternal term.

'Yes, sir.'

'Remember that,' finished Damon, pulling away gently. 'You should get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.'

Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, drop me a line in reviews so that I know I have someone to write for! Thanks!

I've got more coming on soon. :)

Constructive criticism always welcome!