Chapter 25

Stefan's eyes flew open and he gasped as though a hole had been punched through his chest. There was so much screaming.

"Stefan!" Elena cried and Alaric shot the other vampire through the heart in one go killing him. Bonnie and Sheila looked over in remorse as Stefan's eyes began to droop. Damon stared up at him in terror and he rolled them over.

"Stefan?!" Damon screamed as Stefan took a weak breath and felt his body start to shut down. Stefan couldn't think, couldn't speak as his vision started to darken.

Dam…

"No!" Elena screamed and ran over to them. They both screamed and cried as Stefan's skin began to grey slowly, veins appearing and climbing up to his neck as he folded into Damon's arms limply.

"Help! Help!" Elena screamed towards Bonnie and Sheila but they stared on helpless to intercede. No magic could bring a vampire back to life. Damon crumpled in agony and cupped Stefan's face as his eyes closed.

Stefan don't leave me! Stefan!

Damon begged.

"No! No!" He roared and ripped into his wrist so violently that Elena fell back in shock as he tried to feed Stefan. His face was beginning to turn grey now. It was hopeless. Elena fell over and began to weep in grief as Alaric came to her, then she noticed Jeremy and crawled to him urgently. She checked his pulse and wept again in relief that he was ok. She looked over to Alaric. His eyes were filling with tears as he watched Damon desperately trying to get Stefan to drink from him. He'd never seen a man so broken, so completely broken.

"I'm so sorry." Bonnie cried and Sheila squeezed her shoulders and began to lead them back up to ground level. "He knew we wouldn't do it unless we had someone to protect. I couldn't let him kill Jeremy."

"The tomb is still closed, we weren't enough." Sheila said in reassurance but no one took any comfort despite the fact that it meant they were all safe from whatever remained behind the walls down here. All anyone could focus on was Damon's grief as they watched.

Stefan? Stefan?! Please no!

Damon cried unashamedly as he took some of his blood into his own mouth and passed it down Stefan's throat in a kiss. He worked the muscles in Stefan's throat with his fingertips to encourage the blood to go down. He stayed there doing that for what seemed like hours as Elena stood by. Alaric carried Jeremy back to the car to get a reprieve from the emotion. After fifteen minutes he returned to find Damon much in the same position. They knew it was time to stop him. Elena approached him gently as he passed blood into Stefan again and wept. She touched his shoulder and he flinched.

"No!" He cried, his face raw from tears and she squeezed his arm.

"Damon he's gone." She croaked as fresh tears filled her eyes. Damon looked at her devastated and she cupped his face. "He's gone." Damon looked down at Stefan again and squeezed his eyes closed as he rocked him. There were no words for the pain tearing through him. He couldn't take it! He lay Stefan down and blurred over to Alaric grabbing him aggressively.

"You wanted your chance, now take it!"

"Damon!" Elena shouted in fear as Alaric gasped.

"Kill me!" Damon growled.

"Damon stop!" Elena begged and Alaric shook his head.

"I can't." Alaric gritted his teeth. Oh he still wanted to. He probably always would want to kill Damon for everything that he'd done, but not like this. This was wrong. Damon growled in anger and dropped him, bearing his fangs and hissing, getting into a fighting stance.

"Turned chicken all of a sudden? What's wrong with you? I killed your wife!" Damon roared and Elena crawled over to Stefan and held his lifeless body as she cried. Damon was out of control. Alaric stood defensively with his crossbow in hand.

"Damon…" Elena cried.

"Stop this Damon!" Alaric shouted.

"Afraid you can't take me? I'll give you one shot and then I'm going to tear your arms and legs off!"

"No, you won't!" Alaric shouted back.

"Oh no?!" Damon smiled flashing his teeth. He had nothing to live for, he couldn't bear to go through the pain Stefan had when their bond had been severed and there was no point trying to get to Anne in time. Without Stefan there was nothing. He wanted it over quickly and he'd make sure Alaric was scared enough to do it. Damon ran at him and Alaric shot him through the chest in warning. He doubled over and ripped it from his chest growling. Alaric panted in exertion and put another arrow in as Damon righted himself and ran at him again. Alaric aimed for his heart in fear and went to press the trigger when Damon suddenly grabbed his head and screamed, falling over. He screamed on and on and Alaric and Elena looked around wildly in confusion. Bonnie descended the stairs with her hand held out towards Damon until he passed out and lay still.

"Bonnie!" Elena cried and Bonnie took a deep breath, leaning on the wall for support as Alaric laid his weapon down and sat down to breathe. Bonnie approached Damon and looked down at him.

"He's out. Don't worry he's not dead, I just gave him an embolism." Bonnie explained as she went to Elena. Elena looked up at her, tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"Isn't there anything you can do? A spell…something?" Elena begged. "I still love him so much."

"I don't have that kind of power." Bonnie said sadly, biting back tears of her own.

"Damon will die too." Elena closed her eyes in pain and Alaric stood up and approached.

"What do you mean?"

"They aren't normal vampires, they are connected." Elena sobbed.

"Stefan told me that they only fed on each other." Bonnie confirmed.

"They are mated." Elena sniffed and Bonnie frowned. "I don't know how or what that means exactly, neither do they, but they know that they will die without each other. It's happened to them before."

"Before?" Alaric asked. Elena nodded.

"They've been through so much. They were experimented on horribly, almost died and then they separated. Stefan came back here to live. That's all he wanted." She stroked Stefan's face as she spoke. "All Damon wanted was to make Stefan happy, so he came back. They just wanted to live."

Alaric looked behind him to Damon's body and sighed unhappily. This wasn't what he'd wanted. He thought he was getting revenge on the monster who'd killed his wife, not on a broken man whose only focus was on loving his partner. Damon stirred, groaning and Bonnie and Alaric turned towards him. Damon opened his eyes and saw Stefan in Elena arms. He made a sound of such agony that even Bonnie gulped down grief for him.

Stefan…

"Please kill me." He cried, squeezing his eyes closed and Bonnie frowned. They were all so absorbed in Damon's distress that no one heard the footsteps of someone approaching.

"If you insist." A voice sounded and they all looked over to see Logan Fell descend the stairs in a blur. Bonnie held her hand out to stop him in his tracks with pain but his sights were set on Rick and he dove for him, biting into Alaric's neck before he could pick up his weapon. Damon shot up suddenly and ripped Logan's' heart out. Alaric fell back against the wall holding his neck as Logan fell to the ground dead and Damon panted, throwing his heart on top of him.

"Thank you." Alaric panted looking towards Damon. No one spoke as Damon looked down at Logan's body blankly.

"You didn't have to save him." Bonnie eventually said and Damon looked to her. He shrugged.

"Stefan wouldn't have wanted anyone to get hurt." He said quietly and looked over to Stefan forlorn. He went over to him and Elena moved aside to let him hold Stefan again.

I will see you soon little blood machine.

Damon closed his eyes and exhaled. He knew it was coming. He held his breath as he felt a cramp shake him. He groaned and grimaced.

"What's happening?" Elena whispered as she saw his pain. He looked up at her, eyes full of tears.

"It's starting." He said by way of explanation and she put her hand over her mouth in grief.

"How can he die if his heart isn't touched, his head…" Rick queried, still reeling from all of this new information.

"He can't feed on anyone else but Stefan so he'll starve and then mummify." Bonnie said and Elena held herself.

"Elena…" Damon whined and she knelt down to him. He grimaced and implored her. "Finish it please." She felt herself well up under his gaze.

"I can't. Damon, I can't." She sobbed and he reached out shakily and squeezed her hand.

"You can do this." He reassured, closing his eyes and groaning as a wave of nausea settled on him. He let her go and lay back against the wall, trying to fight the bile. Rick looked to his crossbow behind his shoulder and pondered. If there was nothing to be done, should he show some mercy?

"What about your friends? The ones who saved you last time?" Elena asked and Damon shook his head.

"No." He groaned, laying his head into Stefan's neck and shivering. Bonnie let out a small sniffle and Elena looked up at her. Even Bonnie couldn't hate Damon right now.

"Damon please. I can't lose both of you." Elena reached out and stroked his arm and he pulled back from Stefan's neck enough to stare at her.

"It's too late Elena. Don't make me go through this."

"Can't you do anything Bonnie?" Rick stepped next to her. Both Rick and Elena looked to her desperately and she chewed her lip. Damon groaned in pain and curled into himself. He had done a lot of terrible things, things she would never be able to forgive him for, but she couldn't watch him suffer and die like this. Not when he had saved them from Logan, saved Jeremy from the other vampires by jumping in front of the stake meant for Jeremy when they had refused to do the spell. He had acted just in time as the leader of the other vampires had realised that the spell they were doing wasn't going to work and thought he could force them by maiming Jeremy. Damon had tossed Jeremy aside, knocking him out and giving them time to close down the spell before it opened the tomb. As far as anyone was to know, they were too weak to handle the spell but in truth, it had started to work before Damon had given them their chance to halt it. They owed Damon their lives. Alaric owed Damon his life certainly.

"I'm sorry." She said aggrieved. Despite her new willingness to help him, she knew of nothing that could resurrect someone once they had died, let alone a spell to enable Damon to feed normally again. She didn't even understand how their bond was even possible. There just wasn't enough information or time.

"We should get out of here, in case there are any others interested in the tomb." Rick said gravely, feeling guilty for steering such a serious conversation away, but he couldn't ignore the compulsion to get to a place of safety. He didn't know what lay between the stone walls of the inside of the tomb and them, but he could feel them, almost hear them. It was unnerving and it had his adrenaline spiking. Elena shook her head, unable to think about anything other than Stefan and Damon.

"Damon." Rick said gently and Damon looked towards him. "It isn't safe to stay here." Rick looked to Elena and Damon got his message. He nodded in agreement. Rick would help end his life surely. It made sense that it should go down that way, but he couldn't kill him in front of Elena. That was why he was suggesting they all move. Damon drew in a deep breath and lifted Stefan into his arms, struggling to get to his feet. Elena helped him up and he stood shakily and looked to Rick again.

He silently walked past them as they all turned and climbed back up to ground level. Bonnie was still shaky on her feet too and Elena hooked their arms together and guided her. Elena waited with Bonnie as Rick helped Damon into the car. Jeremy was still unconscious in the back too. Bonnie turned to her and squeezed her arm.

"Elena, there may be something I can do, but it's very dangerous. If they are as connected as they say they are part of Damon's life force flowed through Stefan and Stefan's through him. If it's still in him there's a chance I can restore him, but it might not work."

"If there's a chance..." Elena said excitedly but Bonnie gave her a serious look.

"If it doesn't work it will kill him slowly. It will cause unbearable pain." Elena frowned and gulped back bile as she cast a glance over to them and Rick started the ignition, raised his eyebrows at them. "Trying to split a life force like that and put it into another body is serious stuff. If it doesn't work he'll be a vegetable."

"He'll die if we don't try it anyway."

"This would be worse than the death he's facing Elena. When I saw it in the grimoire I asked Grams about it and she wouldn't talk about it, it's so horrible." Rick drove off, taking Damon back to the boarding house and Elena chewed her lip. Would Damon risk it? He was pretty suicidal seeming right now, not thinking clearly. She didn't know how much time he actually had left before he dried up.

"We need to let him decide." Elena decided and Bonnie nodded and pulled her back towards her car.

"I'll need your help to prepare and keep Grams distracted while I look over it again."

As they left the woods and vanished from sight Anna watched from the safety of a tree. They had killed everyone but her. She looked towards the tomb entrance and clenched her teeth. That spell would have worked had it not been for all the drama, she was sure of it. She wasn't going to stop until she got her mother back. She'd just have to retire for a while and come up with another plan.

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The drive back to the Boarding house was awful. Damon said nothing, simply held Stefan to him and stared out of the window as he winced from cramps as Rick watched in the mirror. He wished there was something he could say to help Damon. Something he could do, but what? As they arrived at the Boarding House Rick got out of the car to help him carry Stefan but Damon growled, so he stood back. So much of vampire nature was still animal-like and it was easy to forget that. With effort Damon managed to get out of the car and walked towards the door. He pushed it open with his foot and Rick shook his head at how lax everyone's sense of privacy was around here. Not that many people locked their doors and he couldn't fathom it. Mind you, what did a vampire have to worry about? He followed him inside and gazed around in wonder at the interior. The Salvatore's were as rich as he'd heard. He was entranced by the ceiling until he heard Damon grunt and he looked over. Damon was struggling to get up the stairs as he shivered from pain.

"Please, let me help you." Rick offered and Damon turned to look at him as he winced. There was a moment of silence as Damon thought on it. He didn't want Stefan to leave his arms but he couldn't get them upstairs without help. He hated this. He frustratingly nodded his head and Rick approached slowly and took Stefan from him, straining a bit under the weight. Damon smiled a little at that, forgetting how much weaker a human would be trying to lift another muscular man upstairs. Still, despite the weight Rick managed it and didn't comment as Damon followed him, holding onto the banister tiredly. Rick paused in the landing and Damon guided him into his bedroom. He lay Stefan's body gently down onto their bed and backed away as Damon climbed onto it and held Stefan to him, curling around him like a cat. More awkward silence followed as Rick was unsure what to do. He made to leave the room when Damon called him back. He walked back over and sighed when he saw Damon shaking and looking up at him.

"An eye for an eye." Damon said and Rick gulped. "I deserve to die."

"Yes you do." Rick agreed and Damon actually smiled. "Not like this though."

"I know I don't deserve any kindness from you, but please…make it quick." Damon turned serious and Rick rubbed his eyes. Damon's gaze burned into him and he frowned. "Tell Elena you had no choice. I came at you again and you had to."

Rick sighed again, thinking on how upset she'd be. He didn't want to be part of this anymore. This whole experience had been an eye opener. Damon hadn't murdered Isobel strictly speaking - she had gone to him and begged to be turned, so she must still be out there somewhere as a vampire. He couldn't begin to fathom how or why she'd wanted that but she had and Damon had simply granted her wish. What did that mean for all of the vengeance and hatred he had channelled into looking for him all year? Damon crumpled in on his himself, breaking eye contact as he groaned and panted in pain and lay his head into Stefan's neck. Everything in Rick's body shouted at him to reach out and help him but he couldn't. Damon breathed and raised his head to look up at him again and Rick nodded grimly. Damon let out an exhalation of relief and Rick pulled a stake from his pocket and looked at it in his hands.

"Thank you." Damon choked.

He climbed on top of Stefan to give Rick direct access to his heart and kissed Stefan's lips gently for a moment, before wrapping his limbs around him and laying his head into Stefan's neck, closing his eyes.

"Sorry Elena." Rick mumbled as he raised the stake.