Chapter Eleven

They had arrived at the dance a little late, but that didn't seem to matter to Elena who was enjoying showing off her new engagement ring. Stefan had thought of calling Bonnie to have her help him with cornering Damon, but he spotted someone else who might be a better partner in crime when all was done. Damon had enough animosity toward the witch and suspected she was responsible for the poison used in the attack on Alexandra. He would over react to anything from her at the moment.

He excused himself from Elena and Caroline , and made a bee line for Rebecca. "Hey, I need your help."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Why on earth should I help you. The two of you tried to kill Elijah last night."

"If we had wanted him dead, he'd be dead. You should know me better than that."

"I don't know you at all anymore. You've changed. I don't trust you." Rebecca told him. The truth was she wanted to trust him, wanted to have him back in her life as he had been before. But that was never going to happen.

"I need help wrangling Damon." He told her bluntly, watching as his brother made his entrance and walked straight to Elena as expected.

Rebecca laughed. "So I'm a wrangler now."

"No, you are an old friend who has the ability to compel a vampire. " He pointed out. Damon hadn't taken his dose of anything since the day before because he wanted to be able to be leeched from by his supposed girlfriend.

"I'm listening." She said.

"I need you to make him tell me the truth. I think someone is controlling him. Please Rebecca. "

She sighed. "Fine. I'll meet you in the history room." Rebecca turned to go.

Stefan joined the others. "I need to borrow my brother for a few minutes." He said and leaned in to kiss Elena again. "We shouldn't be long."

Elena nodded, knowing what Stefan was up to, but she knew better than to say so in front of Caroline. Her best friends were at completely opposite sides of the spectrum when it came to their French teacher.

Damon was a little stiff as he walked away with Stefan.

"You alright?" Stefan asked.

"You gave her mother's ring." Damon said.

"Is that a problem?"

"Don't you think you should have at least talked to me about it, I am the eldest." Damon said, managing to contain how much that actually upset him.

"I didn't think you would be using it. Is it a problem? Do I need to find another ring?"

Damon gave him a long suffering glare. "Sure, make me the villain." He said. "I don't want you to take it from her. She loves it. I just wish you'd had the respect to ask me if I minded. "

"I apologize. " Stefan said. "Honestly I wasn't thinking about anything but her when I retrieved it from the safe. "

"Well… I guess it doesn't matter now. " Damon said, although it still rankled a little. He'd have probably told him to go ahead and give it to her, but the thought that he didn't think to ask really bugged him. One of many things that bugged him about his brother recently. Something was off between them and he didn't know what."So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked as Stefan opened the door to the classroom and they went inside.

Stefan closed and leaned against the door, waiting.

"Rebecca, what are you doing in here?" He asked looking between the girl and his brother. "Are you off the vervain?" Damon asked Stefan worriedly.

"No, but you are." Stefan answered. "And I need to know the truth."

"Maybe you should try asking. What's going on here? You know what, I don't want to know. I'm going home." Where he should have stayed in the first place instead of falling into the same old must protect Elena lock step with his brother. He started toward the door, having every intention of tossing his brother out of the way.

Rebecca instead grabbed him from behind and pinned him to the wall. "While normally I wouldn't mind if you played a little rough, I happen to be very fond of this dress. So *don't struggle*. She compelled.

"When this is done I am going to kill you." He told her but he did as he was told.

"Unlikely." She said and looked over to Stefan. "What is it you want me to do now?"

"Stefan." Damon growled. Why had he let himself trust his brother again? Why had he let his guard down?

"It's alright Damon. It's for your own good." He said. "I need you to tell him to answer me truthfully."

"I've heard that line before. It never ends well for us."

Rebecca shrugged and looked once more in Damon's eyes. "You heard the man *answer him truthfully,*" she again compelled.

"You asked an original to get into my head. You want to know the truth? When she lets me go I'm going to hand you your ass and if you're lucky I'll stop there." The girl had just tortured him not that long ago and his brother in his infinite wisdom saw fit to tell her that he was off the vervain. After what they had attempted to do to Alexandra how could he do that? Didn't he see that had been an attack on him through her? Where was his brother's head?

"Damon. Relax. I just need you to tell me about Alex." Stefan told him.

Fortunately that wasn't phrased as a question and Damon didn't have to answer. "Make her leave first." His brother was going to make him betray Alex? To an Original? To say Damon was horrified was an understatement.

"I'm not going anywhere. The dance is lame and I need the entertainment. So if I leave you get to answer everything he asks truthfully for the rest of my life." Rebecca said and went to sit on the teacher's desk.

"Stefan, don't do this. They've tried to kill her once already. " Damon insisted.

"I want you to tell me why you never mentioned her before." He said. Damon had never answered that one when he'd asked casually.

"Because it was never about you and I wanted one thing in my life that you couldn't steal. But that's what you're trying now isn't it."

"I'm not taking anything away from you. I'm trying to give it back." Stefan insisted. "When did you meet her?"

"Right after New Orleans. You remember New Orleans, don't you brother?" Damon hissed. "All the fun we had. You and Lexi, me in a cage tied up with all that vervain soaked rope. But hey you got what you wanted then too didn't you? Good times."

"I was trying to save you." Stefan insisted.

Damon rolled his eyes. " Is that why you rammed a stake into my gut instead of tearing them apart with me to get away. It looked to me like you were trying to save the girl. Was I ever wrong." Bitter sarcasm dripped from his words. " I have to admit, that even after all these years, I can still remember the girl clearly. Her blood was amazing. She tasted like strawberries. I don't think you had the hang of this saving people thing yet. " Damon laughed when Stefan struck him. "you're the one that wanted truth. YOU crossed the line this time. Again. Remember that."

Stefan swallowed hard. "Go on… with what happened after."

(1864,

Damon hadn't gone far from New Orleans after he'd killed Callie Gallagher and made his brother watch. The girl Stefan had plunged a stake into his gut for, the daughter of the man who had ordered his torture for weeks. That actually hurt more than Stefan forcing him to drink and become a vampire.

He had gotten as far as Baton Rouge before deciding to settle in for a time. He was tired, filthy and in desperate need of something to alleviate the endless thoughts of Stefan and Katherine. He haunted the train stations, people traveling were the easiest prey and unlikely to be reported missing for quite some time if at all.

His chosen prey was usually women, but today he was going to make an exception. He needed clothing and money. It wasn't as if he could go home and collect his inheritance after all. Tonight the dinner special was a gentleman who stood imperiously by watching as the porters hauled his luggage (three steamer trunks and several boxes) onto a cart.

"Take it to the Atherton hotel. I will be there shortly to claim it and my room, "He said. "I have business to attend to first."

Damon looked him over, estimating the man looked to be of a height with him, broad shouldered, leanly built. He would do. He smiled as the man walked toward the darkened side streets. Now what business did a well appointed man have in the back streets of Baton Rouge.

He followed far enough that he wouldn't be seen and moved in for the kill, much as he had since his escape from Gallagher, swift and deadly. He switched out clothing with his meal, looked over his identification and smiled at the money in the man's billfold.

"Well… I think a bath is in order." He said dragging the body to the side and dumping him into the ditch. A bath and two hours later he checked into the Atherton hotel under the name of Charles Dunham. They showed him to a suite of rooms and his new belongings.

"Shall I have dinner sent up ?" The innkeeper asked as he handed Damon the key.

"No, thank you. I've already eaten." Damon said and closed the door, locking it. He went to the bedroom and lay down. It was the first comfortable bed he had been in since the night before he had died. Sleep came no easier there than it had in the Quarry and only marginally better than the nights he had spent bound in vervain soaked ropes.

He awoke to the sound of pounding on the outer door and he rolled out of bed, running his hands through his hair. "I'm coming, hang on." He said. He had the fleeting thought that he had been found out. That someone had found the body and recognized him and now the police were here to arrest him. Another cage… But he beat those thoughts back and opened the door. "Yes?

"Good." Damon said aloud. "now be still don't be afraid ." he uttered that one aloud before sinking his fangs into the man's neck. He took his fill, leaving only the faintest of wounds. He erased his mind of the conversation and the feeding. "Here, you wished to see my identification."

"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to go vacant on you." He said as he looked over the official document and smiled. "This is yours, then. " He handed over the envelope.

Damon opened it and found within an invitation to join them for dinner and a ball that night. He came from an old aristocratic family of his own. He knew how to respond appropriately and found Dunham's stationary. He scrawled out an RSVP and a thank you, and gave it to the messenger.

Once the man had left he set about opening the trunks and looking through Charles Dunham's belongings. He hung up the suits and shirts, and was relieved to find something fit to wear to a ball. The fit was less than perfect so he draped it across the bed and went down to the front desk and asked that a tailor be sent for. )

"She was at the dinner and ball I had been invited to. " He told his brother, his anger growing with every second.

"How is she that old?" Stefan asked and winced as his brother growled with the effort he put into fighting the compulsion. He hated doing this to him. "Rebecca…" He said looking at her.

She sighed. "Damon… stop fighting it. " She commanded. "ooh that might have been a mistake." Rebecca said, watching as the look in Damon's eyes shifted from anger to absolute hatred. "And here I thought Elena would be the end of you two. My evening is looking up already."

Stefan glared at her then turned his attention back to his brother. "How is she human and that old."

Damon rested his head against the wall. If they hurt her because of this he would kill his brother. There would be no summer wedding to Elena there would just be death. Maybe he'd kill Elena first. Maybe he'd just kill everyone. "Necromancers can halt their aging by drawing energy from the dead. "

"Like with her healing?"

Damon nodded. "Yes. " he couldn't fight it anylonger. "And it feels good. No pain, no mess, no body to put back together like an over sized jigsaw puzzle. You know you should sell one of those diaries of yours to Hollywood. Oh the slasher flick they could make off of your life story. It would make a fortune. Vampires are in I hear."

"Damon that's enough." Stefan said.

"She said I had to be truthful. She didn't say to be nice ." Damon answered.

"Don't look at me." Rebecca said. "you're on your own where that's concerned. "

"Did she bond you to her… enthrall or whatever it's called?" Stefan asked.

"Yes. Of course to be fair I had just tried to have her for dinner. All that dancing had gone to my head until I couldn't hear anything but her heart beat and I went for the kill. She was on vervain and I was out like a light. "

(1864

Damon came around and groaned. He was still weakened from the vervain and could barely lift his head but he did it anyway. At least this time the ropes weren't soaked in it. She wasn't torturing him… yet. "you can't keep me drugged forever. " He said quietly, as he watched what she was doing.

He assumed he was in the guest house. They had said she was staying with them. He could still hear the party going on.

"I don't plan to. I really wish you hadn't done that though. I'm not here for vampires. I don't care about vampires." She said mixing the herbs.

"Then let me go. I wasn't going to kill you. Just… make your blood stop rushing in my ears." He said glaring at her.

"Hmmm, because that doesn't sound like killing me at all." She rolled her eyes, before turning to look at him. "Was anything you told me about yourself true at all?"

"What does it matter?" He said looking away from her. He had just escaped one hell, now he was plunged back into another one. Why couldn't all this be happening to Stefan?

"It matters a great deal." She told him, reaching out to make him look at her. "Was anything true?" She asked.

"Not Charles Dunham, retired Captain Damon Salvatore, apparently at your service." He said with as much sarcasm as he could manage with that much vervain in his system. Strangely he preferred it inside than outside. It hurt less. He still had nightmares about the ropes… the stakes…

"Well, Captain, your life is about to change. Again." Alexandra told him.

She took the blade she had stabbed him with out of its pocket, and removed the end, a small glass vial dropped into her hand she poured the contents into the bowl of herbs and powders she had been mixing.

He recognized the scent as blood. Given where it came from it had to be his own. "Great another witch." He said.

"I'm no witch." She said lighting the contents on fire and chanting as the flames grew higher then dampened just as quickly.

"hmmm, because that doesn't look like magic at all." He said mocking her words from earlier.

She stirred the ashes and placed her finger in the bowl gathering some on the tip. "I am no witch. " Alexandra said. "I'm a necromancer." She said as she touched the ashen finger to his brow.

Damon's world exploded in bright white light and his head lolled back hard enough that he nearly toppled the chair he was in. He opened his eyes and tried to focus. There were images moving around them both, specters of people he didn't recognize from times he couldn't place. When the world righted itself his head throbbed and he looked up at her. "What did you do to me?" he asked.

"Remember when you said you were at my service? Now you truly are."

"Go to hell" He told her.

Alexandra laughed softly. "I have yet to decide if I believe in such things." She said as she fitted him with a make shift gag then drug his chair over into a corner where it wouldn't be seen by any passersby or be touched by the morning sun. "I will make your excuses to … your… family" She told him. "And when I return I will explain things more clearly. I have a reputation to uphold and disappearing with a strange man into the garden and not coming back is a bad way to go about it. Don't worry. I won't be long.")

He laughed then. "But hey, the sex was incredible. You have no idea what its like with a necromancer. All that skin on skin contact, energy going back and forth. I hear there's another one in town. You should look him up, " He said looking to Rebecca. "His name's Timon. Sacha says he's Greek and good looking enough. " he watched her reaction. "Ah but you already know that don't you. Have fun. I highly recommend it."

"Damon, leave her alone." Stefan said.

"Did you already know she was tied in with the other necromancer?" Damon asked. "Is that what this is all about. Please tell me this is another save Elena move. I'll still kick your ass but I might get over it if that's what this is."

"I'm doing this to save you, Damon. No one but you."

Stefan hadn't answered his question.

"I don't need saving!" He yelled "Except maybe from you, God, always from you." Damon accused. "Did you resent me that much when we were alive? I thought maybe, just maybe you'd grown up. I thought we could be brothers again."

"We are brothers again." Stefan insisted.

"Well, I guess Cain and Able are going to have to step aside. Here come the Salvatores. "

"How long were you bound to her?" Stefan asked.

"Which time?" Damon countered. "The first time a few years. But to be completely honest I didn't mind after the first couple . I didn't have to think about you or Katherine when I was with her. It was worth it to be free of the two of you." He told his brother.

Stefan was horrified, and hurt. He should have gone looking for Damon after New Orleans but he had been so devastated by it all that he'd given up on his brother. He'd thought he was free, but he'd just gone from one cage to another. "How often?" he asked quietly.

"Three total. The last two I asked her to do it." Damon said honestly.

Stefan opened his mouth to speak but Damon spoke first. "Do not ask me why. Not in front of her."

Stefan sighed. "Was it because of something Alexandra did to you? Are you addicted to her feeding? Why would you give up your own will?"

"No. No. And I didn't. It's not the mind rape that being compelled is, Stefan. " Damon told him pointedly, although, the fact that his brother couldn't look him in the eye wasn't as satisfying as he had hoped. "I was never a mindless drone."

"Did she bind you when she got here?" Stefan asked.

"Yes." He said carefully "But after our fight she did the ritual to break it."

"Why?" Stefan asked.

"You would have to ask her, but I wouldn't advise it. You go near her and I will end you." Damon said. "And thanks to Rebecca you know that's not an empty threat. "

"Are you two done now?" Rebecca asked. "It's getting boring and I have a dance to attend."

"Oh we're done." Damon said locking gazes with Stefan.

"Don't, alright. I did this to try and help you."

"Let me go." Damon said, looking to Rebecca.

She shrugged "Fine. You can move and you don't have to answer him truthfully anymore." She told him, breaking the compulsion.

Damon knew that Stefan would want to try and explain, again, so he took the time to take out his cell phone and called Meredith. "I need you to get Alex out of there and take her home. She'll know what to do with the rowan and angelica. I need you to do it now. Trust no one but me." He didn't hang up until he got the affirmative response. He put his phone away.

"I'm not going to hurt her." Stefan said, and found himself sudden flying across the room and hitting the wall on the far side.

"Not good enough." Damon said picking up the teacher's pointer stick as he advanced on Stefan. "What is it about me that you hate so much that you can't stand to see me happy." He said picking his brother up off of the floor with one hand and ramming the stick into his stomach with the other.

Stefan groaned. "I don't hate you." He said breathing around the pain. He cried out again as Damon removed the stick only to plunge it in again, a little higher this time.

"I don't believe you." Damon said. "What do you know about the attack last night."

"Nothing." Stefan said, stunned that his brother could ask that of him.

"See, honesty. There's more than one way to go about things. I asked a question you answered and I figure out if you're telling the truth or not. If you'd done it this way I might have forgiven you. But you let her into my head. You told her I'm vulnerable." He adjusted the stick and Stefan cried out as it neared his heart.

"Damon no!"

"one last question, and if you lie I will know." Damon said, holding Stefan in place by the throat. From the moment he had started drinking blood, Damon had been the stronger of the two. "Did you know about Emily Bennett being on my property?"

Stefan nodded "I knew. I didn't know she would go after you though I swear. Damon, I didn't do any of this to hurt you. I've been trying to help you."

"Help me? Is that like when Klaus fixed you?" He asked removing the stick once more. " go to hell, brother. " He moved to plunge the stake in once more, but suddenly collapsed with a loud snapping sound.

"He was going for the kill shot. " Rebecca said as she stepped back from Damon's limp body on the floor. "You should go change shirts. He'll calm down."

"You don't know my brother." Stefan said staring at Damon, wondering how he had gotten so far off base with this. He had been sure Bonnie was right.

"Apparently neither do you." Rebecca said laughing a little. "Go on before he wakes up and tries to finish the job. You're going to want him to calm down before you see him again. Give him a couple days. Trust me I know a thing or two about hot headed brothers."

Stefan laughed a little, although there was no humor in it."I guess you do." He said, but he let Rebecca push him out into the hallway. "Thanks for your help. Sorry if it puts you on his hit list."

"I can handle Damon. I have before." She said.

Stefan winced. That entire exchange had slipped his mind. It seemed a hundred years ago even though it had only been a few short months. "I- " He started but didn't know what to say.

"He'll get over it but your date wont if you don't go change and go back to dancing with her. It's valentines day for pities sake. Don't go abandoning your precious Elena. "

"You're right… thank you." He said and hurried home to change his blood soaked clothing. He should be back before Damon woke up and could reason with him. He wasn't going to ask Rebecca to erase his memory of the conversation, although it was tempting. He might have just lost his brother forever this time.

Rebecca walked back into the class room. She took out her cell phone and placed a call. "Remember when you said you needed a vampire for your necromancer's ritual? Say thank you. Now come pick him up at the school. I'll have him out back waiting." The best part of it all was that Damon would wake and believe that his brother had given him over.