Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing.

Note: Previously, in "Losing Your Memory," Damon gets a call from Klaus saying that he has Stefan in his clutches.

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Shortly After Klaus' Call...

Damon searched frantically through the closet. He wanted to be prepared for when he went to face Klaus, so he was looking for his trusty .38 Smith and Wesson, which he acquired two years ago in case he needed to protect himself. He even went to the firing range to keep his skills sharp. He wasn't going to take any chances, that was for sure, especially not when Stefan's life and safety rested on his shoulders.

While Damon continued to look for his gun, Rebekah came into the room, tears streaming down her face. She had just heard about what was going on and she was beyond worried about Stefan. In fact, she feared the worst, given how insane Klaus truly was.

"Damon, I hope you don't get yourself killed."

Damon kept his focus on his search as he replied, "Oh, I intend to stay alive. It's Klaus that's going to be the one who dies when all this is over. He's threatened my family too many times, Rebekah, and he deserves to feel every ounce of my revenge."

Rebekah didn't respond to that at first, just nodded and sniffled. She stood in the doorway and watched as Damon filtered through the closet until he found the little black tin that contained his gun. Once he found it, he took out the holster, as well as two boxes that contained two magazines of bullets. He doubted he would need that much ammo, but one couldn't be too careful when dealing with an insane terrorist bent on seizing control of the company he worked so hard to build.

It was here that Rebekah said, "I'll come with you."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I can't let you come along," said Damon. "I need you to stay here with Elena. She just got her memory back and she's pregnant, so I don't want her to be alone. I'd feel better knowing that she had someone here to keep her company. Plus, if anything happened to you, Stefan would never let me hear the end of it."

Rebekah shook her head, remembering that she wasn't the only woman in the house. "You're right, I was being selfish and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Rebekah," said Damon. "You weren't thinking clearly, it happens to the best of us." He sighed. "But, I was serious about not wanting Elena to be alone."

Rebekah nodded. "I know. And I was serious about you making sure you stay alive. Both Elena and the baby need you to come back to them in one piece."

Damon nodded and, after making sure he had everything he needed, he walked out of the room, Rebekah following along at his heels. He then came downstairs, where Elena was waiting for them. Part of her wished that she could accompany her husband, but she knew that he wouldn't allow her to, especially not in her condition.

When Damon got to the bottom flight, she embraced him and kissed him passionately, running her fingers through his hair. Damon returned the kiss and pulled her close, moaning against her mouth as their tongues collided. God, he hated leaving her like this, but he also couldn't abandon Stefan, not when he was counting on his brother to come to his aid.

Elena pulled away after a few minutes and whispered against his lips, "Come back to me, my love."

"I will, angel, I promise," he replied. "On the same token, I want you to promise me that you'll be brave, for me, Rebekah, and for the baby. Can you do that for me, amore mia?"

"I'll be brave," said Elena. "You have my word."

Damon smiled and kissed her again. "I love you."

Elena kissed him one more time before releasing him from her embrace and watching as he walked out the door, blowing him a kiss as the door closed behind him. Once he was gone, Elena felt hot tears stinging her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, not when she had a promise to keep.

Salvatore Industries Corporate Headquarters – Later...

Damon pulled the Jag into the parking lot and, after killing the engine, carefully loaded his gun. Once he gotten it fully loaded, he closed his eyes, taking some careful breaths as he placed the gun into its holster, which he then placed on his belt.

Please, God, let my brother still be alive, he thought. Rebekah will be even more devastated than she is already if I got here, only to find out that Klaus killed him while waiting for me.

After completing that thought, Damon opened his eyes and got out of the car, ignoring the chill in the air as he walked toward the main entrance of the building. The cold was of no concern to him, the only feeling he was focusing on was his adrenaline, which was at its maximum. He also ignored his pounding heart as he made his way down the hall leading to the master computer.

Upon reaching his destination, Damon used his key card and walked in, finding Stefan bound and gagged in a swivel chair. He heard him breathing, which meant he was alive, making him breath a silent sigh of relief.

Looking around to make sure that it was safe to approach his brother, Damon walked over to the chair and removed the duct tape from Stefan's mouth, after which the younger Salvatore opened his eyes.

"Damon?"

Damon quickly placed his index finger on his lips. "Yeah, it's me. I'm going to get you out of here." He went around behind him to undo the ropes. "You have no idea how worried that girlfriend of yours is right now. When I told her what happened, she was inconsolable."

Stefan bit his lip. "I'll bet. She's not here, is she?"

"No, I discouraged her from tagging along," said Damon. "I told her that I didn't want Elena to be alone, especially not in her condition."

"Does Elena still have amnesia?"

Damon shook his head. "No, she got her memory back. Oh, and she's pregnant."

Stefan blinked. He had no idea that Elena had gotten her memory back since the last time he saw her, or that she was pregnant. Still, he was happy for his brother in that moment, and he made a mental note to congratulate them once this whole thing was over. Right now, they had more pressing matters at hand, such as how they were going to deal with Klaus and save Salvatore Industries from being taken over.

Speaking of Klaus, he approached from out of the shadows just as soon as Damon freed Stefan from his bonds. He had an evil smirk on his face, having overheard their conversation without their knowledge.

"Well now, isn't this cozy?" he said. "The three of us all together in the same room."

Damon growled at him. "There's no way in hell that I'm going to let you destroy what I have worked so hard to build, Klaus."

"That's what I thought you'd say," said Klaus. "But, I really don't give a shit one way or the other. I've had this all planned out from the beginning, and it all started the night I had Stefan kill that boy for me. It's a pity he had to die the way he did, but at least I got to see just how effective Stefan was with a weapon."

"That still doesn't excuse what you've done, or what you plan to do," said Damon. "You made one mistake, Klaus, you threatened my family, and I intend to make you pay for that mistake." He took out his gun and aimed it at him. "And I don't care how many bullets it takes to do it."

Klaus wasn't the least bit scared when he saw Damon's gun being aimed at him. Instead, he just laughed. "You foolish boy, do you honestly think that I'd be intimidated by your little squirt gun?"

Damon's earlier growl then turned into a smirk that was almost as evil as the one Klaus had sported when he showed himself. "Oh, I don't want you to be intimidated by my gun, Klaus, I want you to die by my gun."

He cocked the gun and Klaus growled at him, lunging toward him. However, he never got to touch him, because Damon opened fire and the bullet hit him in the head, sending him to the ground. The impact of the bullet killed him instantaneously and Damon twirled the gun around, blowing the smoke that was coming out of the barrel, not noticing that he had Klaus' blood on him, or even caring.

Stefan blinked at this. He had Klaus' blood on him as well, but like Damon, he didn't notice or care. "Shit, Damon, I knew you were good, but I never imagined you were that good."

"You're not the only one who is effective with a weapon, brother," said Damon. "But, that's not what's important here. What's important is that we saved our company from a hostile takeover, and we managed to come out of this in one pieces, which should make our women happy."

Stefan bowed his head in shame. "I'm so sorry, Damon. All this shit happened because of me. I proved to you that I'm not trustworthy enough to run things in your stead, so if you want to fire me and get someone else, I completely understand."

Damon listened to what Stefan was saying and shook his head. After placing his gun back into his holster, he placed one hand on his brother's shoulder and lifted his chin with his finger, green eyes meeting blue.

"I don't ever want to hear that out of you again, Stef, do you understand me?"

"But, it's the truth," said Stefan. "You and Elena wouldn't have gotten into that accident if..."

"Will you shut the hell up and listen to me?" said Damon. "Look, I know what I said to you earlier, but I only said it because I was angry. I do trust you, Stefan, more than anyone in this company. Now that Klaus has been dealt with, we can move forward and let bygones be bygones."

Stefan blinked. "You mean you forgive me?"

"I wouldn't be a good brother if I didn't," said Damon. "That and I know Rebekah would want me to."

Stefan said nothing to that. Instead, he hugged his brother, again not giving a shit about the blood that covered them.

Note: Yeah, thought I'd update this bad boy, since it's been a while since I last touched it. Stay tuned!