Chapter 36: Everybody Hates Mikael

September 15, 2010

Danny flattened the paper on the floor, tilting his head to the side and frowning slightly. He then turned the paper around, hoping the instructions etched upon it would make more sense. It, instead, served to confuse him even more. After another minute of staring at the paper blankly, he crumpled it into a ball and tossed it over his shoulder to be forgotten in some corner of his room. He then turned to the pile of differently shaped wooden objects beside him, sighing heavily before pulling over one of the larger pieces and staring at it as though debating something.

"I have no idea where this goes," he finally decided, setting the piece back down and crawling over in the general direction of where he had thrown the ball of paper.

After several seconds of intense searching, he discovered that it had rolled under his bed. He laid flat on his stomach, stretching his arm out as he reached for the ball. It was as he grasped it firmly in his hand that he heard a knock on the door, prompting him to bang his head on the underside of his bed in surprise. With a muttered string of curses, he pulled himself out before getting to his feet and walking to his bedroom door. Opening it revealed Damon, who strolled into the room before staring at the objects on his floor.

"What are you doing?" Damon questioned, picking up one of the planks of wood and turning it around in his hand.

Danny closed and locked the door behind him before answering, "Building a crib/changing table/dresser for the little dude. It's convertible." He expounded at Damon's confused look. "It can eventually turn into a toddler bed and even a full-size bed."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure little Damien will love it," Damon smirked at his joke.

"You're hilarious," Danny rolled his eyes, snatching the plank from his hand. "And his name still isn't Damien. Trust me, I tried. Karen wouldn't have it."

"Well, until you tell me his actual name, I'm gonna keep calling him Damien. Unless...you want to let your favorite brother in on the secret?" Damon informed him, smiling when Danny made the predictable zipper motion over his lips. "Yeah, I thought not."

"Much as I'm enjoying your company, oh brother of mine," Danny replied, tossing the plank back on the pile and crossing his arms over his chest. "May I ask what brings you to my little sanctum of peace, tranquility, and occasional bouts of madness?"

"Well, you see, I know how you've been trying to be more involved in Mystic Falls, so I've come to offer you two options," Damon answered him, walking over to his brother's desk and perusing the papers and books on there. "The first is breaking out Stefan and trying to get his humanity back on."

"And the second is...?" Danny asked when Damon had been silent for too long.

"Helping Ric decode Viking Pictionary. But since it has to do with the Originals, I'm assuming you'd rather help with Stef -"

"You assume correctly. Give me a few minutes to change and I'll meet up with you at that shady bar down the road. You know the one."

"How the hell did we get here before you?"

"Oh, I figured out how some of the pieces fit together, and I wanted to get that done before coming here," Danny replied, sliding into a chair at the little table his brothers had acquired.

Over an hour had passed since Damon's visit to his older brother's room. In that time, Danny had changed in a cerulean long-sleeved shirt and a black sweater, closely followed by black jeans and a backwards black baseball cap. It was as he had put the finishing touches on his ensemble that some things clicked into place and he had rushed over to his project and started putting together the parts to his "Espresso Colored Vista Elite 4-in-1 Convertible Crib and Changer". He had snorted at the unnecessarily long name as he drilled in one of the screws.

Once he had done that, he had hopped onto his newly reacquired motorcycle and raced over to the dingy bar that he had almost been mugged at over the summer. He grinned as the image of breaking the man's hand popped into his mind for a moment before he turned his focus back on the road. He arrived at the bar in no time at all, easily able to locate his brothers playing quarters with a blonde bartender perched on Damon's lap.

"Pieces? For what?" Stefan asked, narrowing his eyes at his oldest brother.

"Oh, I'm preparing a crib for my unborn child. It's going great," Danny grinned widely, allowing sarcasm to drip from every word he spoke.

"Fine, keep your secrets. We all know how much you love them," Stefan bit back in a challenging tone, not believing a word that he was saying.

"I do, I really do," Danny replied, stealing Damon's drink and draining it in one go. "If it makes you feel any better, no one knows everything about me. I keep secrets from everyone, even Elijah."

"Some would call that unhealthy," Stefan informed him, bouncing a quarter into his glass. "Drink up, brother."

"That's rich coming from a humanity-less Ripper with a constant habit of consistently falling off the wagon," Danny shot back as Damon requested another bottle from the bartender.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Damon interjected with, "You've been on this bunny diet for the better part of fifty years. So, how is it that Saint Stefan, of all people, gets good at a drinking game?"

Danny raised an expectant eyebrow at his younger brother, who looked away from him and began to explain, "Well, the bunny diet gave me a lot of time to practice. Wallow in despair." He bounced a quarter into the glass. "Drown in guilt." Another quarter. "Regret my existence." Another quarter. "It's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother."

"That's a very nihilistic point of view, Stef. Not to mention down right depressing," Danny informed the man.

"All that effort wasted trying to tell you how boring you were, and now you finally agree with me?" Damon questioned, drinking down his other glass.

"Inform the media, a miracle has occurred," Danny grinned, clinking his empty glass against Damon's.

"You two are worse than Elena," Stefan told them, ignoring the mildly affronted look on the oldest one's face. "Getting me drunk. Brotherly bonding. What, you think I'll break down and you can pull me back from the edge? Is that it?"

"We happen to like the edge, Stefan," Damon stated.

"It's a fun place – if you don't consistently fall off of it," Danny continued.

"Which is your problem: you have the inability to resist falling over it," Damon finished. "You're all or nothing, man. You can't just...be." He leaned back, allowing the bartender to sit in his lap with a full bottle of whiskey. "Although, who am I to judge?" He bounced a quarter in a glass. "Drink up, brother."

Damon held out the bartender's arm, prompting Danny to grab the bottle off the table and poor himself a glass of whiskey. He ignored the sound of Stefan biting into the girl's arm, suppressing every instinct – which was borne from years of hunting – which told him to protect the girl and kick Stefan's ass. Relax. You're doing this for your brother. We tried Lexi's way, and now we're trying Damon's.

Danny leaned back in his chair, a sour expression on his face as he watched Stefan bury his fangs into the bartender's neck. His gaze switched over to Damon, who was dancing with some brunette on top of the bar. He then looked down at the glass in his hand, draining its contents in one go before slamming it back down on the table and rising from his seat. He was about to walk over to Stefan and drag him away when his phone began to buzz. He answered it, telling Dean to wait a moment before walking over to Damon and hitting his leg to get his attention.

"I need to answer this phone call. You need to handle our brother," Danny informed him, jerking his thumb behind him to where Stefan was.

When Damon had nodded his confirmation, Danny walked away in the direction of the bathrooms. He stepped into the men's room, closing and locking the door behind him and telling Dean to proceed. They spent a few minutes on the phone, wherein the hunter asked him weird questions about shapeshifter babies and what to do with them. After Danny reminded the man that it was strictly against their code to kill babies – shifter or not – he then told him that it was just like taking care of a normal baby. Only more gross because they occasionally shed their skin and left gunk everywhere.

With one fire put out, Danny left the bathroom and proceeded to walk back into the main room. He pulled back abruptly into the shadows as he spotted a familiar figure striding towards his brothers. Fuck my life so hard right now. He groaned internally, peeking around the corner to see Mikael make contact with his brothers. He strained his ears, hoping to hear what they were saying over the loud music.

"...The Salvatore boys, I presume," Mikael was saying, pointing at Damon. "You look remarkably like your older brother."

"Mikael," Stefan stated, slowly turning to face him.

"I believe you were searching for me," the vampire said before turning his gaze back to Damon. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find your brother, would you?"

Danny held his breath as Damon replied convincingly with, "No. What does it matter? You're supposed to be hunting for Klaus."

"Yes, quite right. I suppose I shall have to search for him once I'm done with Niklaus," Mikael nodded before turning back to Stefan. "Has Klaus entered the country?"

Danny slowly released the breath he was holding as Mikael began to play twenty questions with his youngest brother, none of which the vampire was able to answer. The hybrid, however, still remained visibly tense as he covertly observed the Original's interactions with his siblings. For a moment, he debated interfering. Mikael won't kill them, though. As long as he doesn't know where Klaus or I am, he needs them alive. He finally told himself.

However, Danny had to revise that statement when Mikael shoved his hand into Damon's chest, wrapping his fingers around his heart. The Nephilim had to stop himself from springing forward and attacking the man, knowing that he could inadvertently cause the man to rip his brother's heart out. The light above him began to flicker, forcing him to close his eyes and try to relax himself. He tried to keep his breathing steady, using his son's face as a focal point to redirect his emotions.

After a moment, he slowly released a long breath of air and opened his eyes, peeking his head around the corner once more. Thankfully, Mikael had gone, and both his brothers were alright. He looked around, sighing with relief when he noticed the vampire was nowhere in sight. He ran up to his brothers, placing a hand on both their shoulders and scrutinizing them carefully.

"Sorry," he finally stated with a frown. "I wanted to jump in, but I didn't want to risk Mikael yanking your heart out of your chest."

"No worries, it all worked out," Damon shrugged off his apology.

"What happened? I lost the rest of the conversation when Mikael put his hand in your chest."

The two brothers looked at each other before Stefan said, "Mikael said we shouldn't tell you." At Danny's raised eyebrow, he expounded with, "He said you would – and I'm quoting him directly here - 'back the beast'."

"That is not true," Danny placed a hand over his heart in mock indignation. "I have never once backed up Lucifer – Dean can attest to that."

The two looked at him in confusion for a moment before Damon caught on and started chuckling at the joke. Danny grinned at this, his smile widening further when Stefan didn't seem to get it.

September 16, 2010

Danny stood back, hands placed triumphantly on his hips as he looked at the crib he had finally managed to put together. It's missing something... besides the mattress, I mean. After a minute of thought, it finally occurred to him just what was missing. He ran to his desk, grabbing a blank piece of paper and a pencil. He carefully etched the design he wanted on the paper and, when he was done, cut out pieces to make a stencil.

He then opened the drawers of his desk, taking out a paintbrush and two different colors of paint. Moving back to the crib, he placed the stencil on top of the backboard and covered most of the stencil in black paint – with the exception of two spots, which he painted blue. Removing the stencil, he looked proudly on the design on his son's crib. He reached a hand up, lightly touching the amulet upon which the design was based. It'll be our family crest, boy-o. Now, we just need a motto. I would use "Always and Forever", but the Originals stole that. Hmm...something to do with 'savior'? That is what Salvatore means, after all... Nah, that'll put too much on him.

Thankfully, he was interrupted from banging his head against the problem by the ringing of his phone, which he promptly answered with, "Sup, Klaus-dawg?"

"Daniel," the British voice greeted him. "Perhaps you can tell me what your brother has been up to?"

"Not a clue. Don't want to know. Trying very hard not to care – and you're ruining it," Danny replied, walking back over to his desk and scribbling down more ideas.

"So, you have no knowledge of Mikael being daggered?"

"What? He has?" Danny replied in a surprised tone. "Dude, we should throw a party to celebrate. Preferably not at my house since I hate most of Mystic Falls. That, and your new friends probably shed so..."

"I think I might have an idea about that, my dear friend," Klaus replied, an audible smirk in his voice. "I've heard that there's some sort of dance tomorrow perhaps it should be moved to the Lockwood mansion instead?"

"Sounds cool, but how to get everyone there..." Danny frowned, thinking for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I can flood the school."

"Brilliant."

September 17, 2010

Danny carefully pushed his way through the crowd of people, grimacing as he made his way around a few grinding teens. He plucked a full cup of beer from some random person, ignoring their protests as he chugged it down before crushing the cup in his hand and throwing it in some random direction. He snickered lightly when it landed on someone's head, stopping abruptly and looking around innocently as the person looked around for the thrower.

He did this two more times before he finally made it through to the backdoor. Upon exiting, he looked around, hoping to find Klaus but instead spotting several of Elena's friends as well as the departing form of Stefan. For a moment, he debated going after his youngest brother and finding out what was going on with Mikael. He then decided that he didn't want to know. I won't choose between the Mikaelsons and my brothers. Best just to stay out of the whole mess. He nodded to himself, stealing another cup from a broad-shouldered teen that was walking by.

The male took offense to this and got up in Danny's face, yelling at him for his drink back. Danny thought about it for a moment before pouring the rest of the beer in his mouth and then spitting it all over the male's face. The teen looked at him, appalled at his actions before he grabbed the front of the hybrid's suit jacket. He held back a fist, prepared to punch Danny in the face when a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him.

Danny followed the hand, grinning when he spotted Klaus. Klaus pulled the teen away before compelling him to walk away. He then turned to Danny and the two stared at each other for a moment before embracing in a hug and laughing lightly.

"Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance," Klaus remarked, his eyes following the teen he had sent off.

"I try. But it's nowhere near as grand at this," Danny replied, gesturing to the band. "Not who I would've chosen for a band, but I'll give the whole thing a solid nine out of ten."

"Oh? And who would you have chosen?"

"Nickelback," Danny shrugged before a thought occurred to him and he grimaced. "Which, now that I think about it...probably a good idea that they aren't playing. I don't want you and the rest of your friends eating them."

"Yes, I don't think my friends would be able to tolerate the awful music, despite what I may command," Klaus smirked at Danny, who folded his arms over his chest.

"They really aren't that bad. I don't see what everyone's problem is with them," Danny grumbled defensively, receiving a chuckle from Klaus.

The two talked for a bit more, wherein the Original hybrid asked what had happened to Danny's eye. The Nephilim replied in short, curt sentences what had occurred, still not comfortable with talking about it. Even mentioning Raphael these days was liable to set him off and – when that happened – things usually caught fire. Since Danny had no wish to see people spontaneously combust – at least, not yet anyway – he carefully steered the conversation in a much safer direction: his birthday a few days ago.

"I'm just saying, you could have at least called – or even texted. Not acknowledging it is just rude," Danny was telling him.

"I don't see you acknowledging my birthday. I thought it only fair," Klaus replied in an amused tone.

"Dude, you've never even told me when your birthday was -"

"Neither have you."

Danny closed his mouth abruptly before making a 'that's fair' face and turning back to look over the field of people. Klaus left him to go talk to Tyler before walking over to Elena. Wait a damn minute. Danny narrowed his eyes, able to make out the blurred edges around her figure – edges that usually denoted that someone was a vampire. Katherine Pierce. My lucky day. He waited for Klaus to walk away before silently making his way over to stand beside her, his hands folded neatly behind his back.

"I don't know what kind of crazy plans you've got cooked up with my brothers, Katherine," Danny whispered in her ear, suppressing a grin when he noticed her tense up. "And I don't want to know. You better just hope that, whatever it is, it doesn't fail. If either of my brothers die, I will kill you."

"I thought you wanted to torture me," she replied back.

"Oh, I do. But I've come to learn that we don't always get what we want. But if you try real hard, you get what you need," he informed her, chuckling internally at his song reference. "I may want to torture you, but I'm sure their death will throw me into an all-consuming rage that will cause you to spontaneously combust. So, I may not get to torture you, but watching you scream in agony as you burn to death is the next best thing."

"You're insane," she whispered.

"Twelve hundred years in Hell will do that to you," he replied with a bitter smile before patting her head. "Have fun with the rest of the party – while you still can."

With his threat delivered, the hybrid walked off and made his way back to the house – now and again stealing beers from the people he passed by. When they became indignant, he turned on his compulsion and sent them on their merry way, not wanting to get into any sort of fisticuffs with anyone. Getting the male from earlier to almost punch him had only been a way to get Klaus' attention, he had no real reason to piss anyone off, after all. At least, not until Mikael inevitably shows up anyway.

Danny was well aware that Mikael had not been put down – the likelihood of Elena having been able to do it was astronomically low. His fight with the 'Original Dick', as he referred to him – or the 'Original Giuseppe' when he felt like being extra spiteful – had almost cost him his undead life. No way in hell some doppelgänger with no physical training got the jump on a thousand-year-old Viking badass. He told himself firmly, rifling through the Lockwoods' pantry and managing to find an unopened box of Cheez-Its. Jackpot.

He was in the process of opening the box when one of Klaus' hybrids ran into the room, informing him that Klaus had requested his presence in the foyer. When Danny asked why, she replied simply with the name 'Mikael' and ran off. The hybrid looked between his box and the direction Klaus was in before groaning and tossing the box back in the pantry, though not before taking a handful of the delectable little squares with him.

He made his way into the foyer where Klaus stood, popping a cracker in his mouth as Mikael – who was standing just outside the doorway – said, "Hello, Niklaus. Daniel."

"Sup, dick?" Danny replied, popping another square in his mouth.

"Hello, Mikael. Won't you come in? Oh, that's right, I forgot you can't," Klaus greeted his step-father.

"Sick burn, bro," Danny commented, snickering when Klaus flipped him off behind his back.

"Or you can both come outside if you want," Mikael replied in his usual calm manner.

"No thanks, beating your ass once is enough for me," Danny informed him, eating another square.

"Yes, and how did you do that, I wonder?" Mikael responded, a knowing smile playing over his face for a moment. "How is it that a century and a half old vampire managed to beat a thousand-year-old Original?"

"I'm awesome and you suck?" Danny suggested, not liking where this was going even as a stuffed another cracker in his mouth.

"You see, I asked myself that very question the entire time I was incarcerated, and never came upon an adequate answer," Mikael continued, ignoring the Nephilim's response. "That is, until your friend, Katherine, freed me and told me everything I needed to know. Tell me, Daniel, how was Hell?"

The hybrid's face spasmed angrily, the lights above him flickering as he tried to smother his anger. After one of the windows shattered, he managed to calm himself down enough to say, "Brilliant. You should visit sometime – maybe even move there. I'm sure you'd feel right at home."

He dropped the rest of his crackers on the floor, not feeling hungry anymore. He ignored Klaus' curious gaze, kicking the floor as he waited for the hybrid to go back to talking with his step-father. Klaus then threatened Mikael with his hybrids, who surrounded the Original in the front yard. Mikael then reminded Klaus that, because they were part vampire, they could be compelled. He then had one of the hybrids – the female that had retrieved Danny earlier – bring forth 'Elena' and threatened to kill her if Klaus didn't come out and fight him. When the werepire refused and told him to do it, Mikael obliged, stabbing her in the abdomen.

Danny opened his mouth to inform the hybrid that it was Katherine, when he felt hands on his neck and heard a quick snap. After that, everything went dark.

A/N:

Questions, comments, concerns, criticisms, etc. are welcome. Requests for updates are not. (Seriously, gives me really bad anxiety when I see them.)