Damon's brakes squealed as he pulled erratically into the car park at the Grill. It was past closing time but he could see the lights on and Caroline's car. He took a quick look around and vampire sped inside, startling the occupants. Sitting around a table, all with matching worried expressions on their faces was Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and surprisingly Klaus, who had not so much of a worried look on his face as an amused one.

"Damon! What's going on? I've been trying to call you." Caroline reprimanded, getting up from her seat beside Klaus.

"Stefan's got Elena." Damon announced.

"I know, you texted me that part. What else?" Caroline questioned.

"He's gone crazy. Completely mad. He kidnapped her. I know it. She wouldn't…I heard her. In the background." Damon mumbled.

He paced back and forth trying to think up a plan. A plan to kill his brother but first of all a plan to find her. He had no idea where Stefan could be. For all Damon knew he could be out of the country by now. Stefan wouldn't be stupid enough to stick around Mystic Falls, that was for sure. But nearby towns were a possibility, but there were so many to cover. There wasn't enough time for all of that. As much as he wanted to pretend like Stefan would never hurt Elena Damon couldn't be sure anymore. Lately he had been unpredictable and Damon knew how Elena could sometimes push buttons that she shouldn't. Hell, there had been occasions where Damon had wanted to strangle her.

"You heard what?" Bonnie asked.

"I…I don't know. Screams? Her voice? I'm not sure. But I know it was her." Damon replied.

"Stefan won't hurt her." Matt said.

Damon laughed at Matts irrelevant input. The kid once again had no use in this situation. If Stefan had gone as crazy as Damon had thought and he needed to be taken down, Caroline, Bonnie, hell even Klaus could help. Stefan could rip Matt's head off in an instant. He was once again the most useless person in the room.

"What is you're point in being here? You bring nothing to the table unless you can tell me where Stefan has Elena? No. Didn't think so." Damon snapped.

Caroline gave Matt an apologetic look that Damon managed to catch as he turned to face the windows. He had to think. But every time he tried he kept imagining Elena and the things Stefan might be doing to her.

"Look, let's all try and think here. Where could he have taken her?" Bonnie asked.

Damon once again, tired of the stupid questions turned to face Bonnie. "If I knew I wouldn't be here." Damon growled.

"I'm going to call my mom, maybe she can give us a list of places up for sale." Caroline interrupted.

"Don't forget foreclosures!" Klaus yelled as Caroline walked to the other side of the room.

"What are you even doing here?" Damon snarled, gesturing to Klaus.

"I am offering my assistance." Klaus replied.

"Like you even care what happens to her!" Damon yelled.

Klaus stood up, his teeth showing. It didn't take much to get Klaus angry and Damon knew yelling at an Original hybrid probably wasn't the best idea in the world.

"Stefan came to me a few weeks ago asking me to compel Elena from your mind. I thought maybe I could offer my help as an apology for not telling you, when I seen the warning signs mate." Klaus informed Damon.

As angry as Damon was about Klaus not revealing this piece of information weeks ago when this all could have been avoided he had to admit another person helping out wouldn't be so bad.

"My mom is emailing me a list right now of all the properties up for sale and foreclosure within a hundred mile radius." Caroline informed everyone as she returned to the group.

"Who's to say he hasn't taken her somewhere else? Another state? Out of the country?" Bonnie said.

"I doubt it." Klaus interrupted. "You should check the places with the least amount of exposure. Farms and isolated properties. If he's keeping her against her will he'll want it to be as far away from civilisation as possible."

Damon went to the bar and poured himself a shot of bourbon as he waited for Caroline to get the list of properties.

"Okay I got it. Klaus and I will check the ones in the next town over, Bonnie and Matt can do the town over from that and Damon, you can do the ones further out okay?" Caroline ordered.

Caroline handed everyone a list of addresses. Damon waited less than a second after he snatched the list from Caroline's hand to get back to his car. He sped out of the car park and drove at a rapid speed out of Mystic Falls. He was glad he was going this alone, he didn't need someone playing on his morals when he ripped Stefan's heart right out of his chest. Anger was coursing so fiercely through Damon's body the steering wheel was about to snap. If he didn't find…if he never found her he wouldn't know what to do. He couldn't go on with his life knowing she was unsafe or being held against her will.

The thought made Damon physically ill. As much as he loved Elena and at points wanted nothing more than to tie her up in the cellar (and possibly ravish her in as many ways as possible) he could never do something like that against her will. He couldn't fathom the idea of Stefan doing something like that either. He had always been more considerate of how Elena felt, much more than Damon. How is it that Damon became the good Salvatore sibling and Stefan had become the bad? They had totally switched personalities somewhere in between the bond breaking and Damon returning. Not that Damon would have ever gone this far to get the girl. What was the point? If Elena didn't love him back why would he want to listen to her continuously reject him? It was bad enough just once.

Then the thought dawned on Damon. Maybe she wasn't rejecting him. But the screams…that he thought he heard. If he got there and this had all been some horrible mistake Damon wasn't sure what he would do.

Damon frantically pulled into a deserted driveway in the middle of nowhere. There were no lights on and the house was fairly modest. Damon suspected this probably wasn't the place but none the less sped out of the car and to the front door. He knocked a few times and poked his foot through the threshold. The house was empty, no owner. Damon had a quick look around, the place was dusty and old and if Stefan was here or had been here he hadn't bothered to clean. This was a dead end. Damon ran back to his car and continued to his next destination.

As he continued to drive along deserted roads he got a text from Bonnie and Matt. They had already checked out three properties with no luck. Damon was kind of glad. He wanted to be the one to find Stefan. He wanted to be the one to inflict as much misery and pain on his brother before anyone could stop him. He wanted to be the one to find Elena and bring her home. Not because he wanted her to thank him or to love him but because he wanted to know she was safe.

His car swerved into another driveway. A small farmhouse. The lights were once again off and when Damon entered the unoccupied house it was dusty and falling to pieces. Another dead end. He punched the wall, shattering the old wood with ease. His phone beeped with an indication of another text.

Found nothing. We're coming to help you look. Caroline.

Don't bother. I'm fine on my own. Damon replied.

He threw his cell into the passenger seat as he drove off down the road. He had several more houses to look through and he was growing more worried by the minute. He spotted a house about twenty miles down the road that wasn't on his list. A house with lights on. Damon had a feeling. He pulled slowly into the driveway and carefully and quietly opened the front door. Immediately he spotted a familiar jacket in the entryway. Stefan's. He entered the house with ease.

"Stefan!?" Damon yelled.

Damon made his way down the entryway. "Stefan!?"

He walked into the parlour, facing the entryway.

"Hello brother." Stefan greeted.

Damon's back was to Stefan but he quickly turned around at the sound of his voice to face his brother.

"Where's Elena?" Damon asked.

"Elena? She's fine. Sleeping." Stefan replied.

Damon couldn't take it. He charged at Stefan and took him by surprise. Stefan's back hit the ground with a loud thud. But Damon didn't stop there he threw punches to Stefan's face.

"Where is she!?" Damon yelled.

Stefan quickly gained the upper hand, throwing Damon across the room. Damon smashed a couple of end tables in the process but he barely felt it.

"She's not your concern. She picked me." Stefan told his brother.

"Is that what you call kidnapping these days?" Damon growled as he threw a lamp at Stefan's head.

"Kidnapping? Elena is upstairs happily asleep. We've been making love for days." Stefan announced.

Damon's heart sank. Was he wrong? He couldn't be. Surely Elena would have heard him yelling and come down to see what it was all about. He quickly dismissed Stefan's statement. He knew what he heard on the phone.

"Stefan I'm giving you one chance to let her go or I'll kill you." Damon said.

Before Damon got a reply Stefan threw himself at Damon, a fist pressed against his chest.

"She's mine!" Stefan yelled.

Damon could feel the pressure as Stefan's hand pushed inside his chest. He no longer felt like he could breathe as Stefan's hand wrapped around Damon's heart. Usually Damon would have easily over powered Stefan but with his hand around his heart any slight movement could kill him. Not only that but the not being able to breathe thing was keeping him at bay. Damon stared up into his baby brother's eyes, Stefan wasn't there. Not the brother he knew at least. Maybe ripper Stefan but Stefan had not turned his humanity off.

Just as Damon could feel the tugging of his arteries being pulled with Stefan's hand, Stefan was ripped from him, leaving his heart behind. Damon clutched his chest at the feeling of being able to breathe again and took a moment to take in what had just happened. Klaus was standing over Damon and Stefan was now slumped against the wall next to the fireplace. Damon was suddenly very thankful for Klaus' help. It took him a second but he stood up.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you. Where is Elena?" Damon asked.

Damon's ears twitched at a very familiar sound. Elena gasping for air. He sped in the direction of her gasps, bypassing Stefan and hoping that Klaus would keep him there until he knew Elena was safe. He raced down a set of stairs and into a concrete basement. There she was, lying on the floor, clutching her neck and gasping for air.


A/N: Sorry it's been awhile. I don't know, I've been a bit busy but I also kind of didn't feel like uploading. Don't worry, the rest is coming soon. Just four chapters to go.

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