I'm posting this right before entering that phase where I spend all my free time just listening to one artist, so maybe it takes a while until the next one. It's been silent in the comment section lately. Are you still there, or is this fic too long?

48. NO MATTER WHAT WE BREED, WE'RE STILL MADE OF GREED

"We have a visit!" Caroline exclaims as soon as she opens the door.

Stefan hears the merriness in her voice from the kitchen before he sees the reason behind it, and at that moment his smile falters a bit. Fortunately he doesn't have to admit it to anyone else, but he really hoped not to see Tom Avery ever again.

"What are you doing here?" It's the first question that comes out of his mouth.

Tom just shrugs. "I was under the impression Caroline needed my help in some way. But apparently, it's a trick from our ancestor, that Silas guy?"

"He definitely needs to explain this." Caroline frowns, mirroring his own expression, and walks towards him, cupping his face in her hands. "He hasn't tried to get into your head, right?"

"No, but you are right, he has to explain this. Let me turn off the oven and we'll go find him."

She sniffs and runs her tongue over her upper lip. "Are you making lasagna? I told you I would make dinner today! Not that I'm complaining."

Tom clears his throat, interrupting their conversation.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering… I might need a room at least for the night, do you know any hotels where I can stay?"

Stefan already has two or three suggestions at the tip of his tongue, but Caroline won't have it, of course.

"There's no need for that. We have an extra room, you're welcome to stay for as long as you want to."

The guy smiles at her, then looks at him, and Stefan knows that Tom is smart enough to understand what's good for him, so he shakes his head oh so slightly.

"Thanks, Caroline. But I don't think that's the best idea. Dinner is more than enough, really."

The main door opens again, and this time is someone Stefan dislikes with more justifiably reason.

"Hello, my shadow selves. Good to see we're all reunited at last."

Caroline isn't thrilled with his arrival, either, even if they were talking about paying him a visit just minutes earlier. "Silas, you can't just enter our house without knocking, don't you have any manners?"

Silas smirks.

"You know what, Caroline, pretending you dislike me so much would work much better if there wasn't actual proof that you love this face right here in this room. To be honest, I'm kind of flattered."

Once this is over and they no longer need his help, Stefan swears he's going to kill this man for good. "Can you get to the point and tell us why you made Tom come here?"

"Were you serious about needing my help or is this some kind of trap to put me under the water too?"

The other look-alike is staring at Silas like he's taking in the truth of their origin, but doesn't appear to be nearly as surprised as anyone else in his shoes would be, which means he's seasoned in the whole supernatural thing by now.

"Relax. There's no funny business here, unfortunately. It's just that waiting for the next lunar eclipse is useless. Fortunately, I'm a genius, so I remembered there's this other shadow you've been protecting so hard, and that we don't need a celestial event after all. We have another way to channel that magic, one that's just as rare as having the blood of the last pair of doppelgängers alive."

He points at Tom and him. Three generations of what was supposed to be just one person, or, well, two replicas of Silas, neither of whom should be alive by this point.

Could it work? There's a chance they can finally rescue his brother and Bonnie.

"You're not hurting anyone, right?" Caroline asks.

"There's no need to dry anyone, I'm not some savage like those gipsies. And I've been getting my strength back these months."

If Stefan felt any suspicion to follow Silas idea without suspicion, the look of hope in Caroline's face is enough to make him swallow down his doubts.

She smiles at him brightly.

"We'll get them home!"

They turn towards the door when it opens once more. It's Liz, who's come back early and looks dumbfounded as her eyes go from him to Silas to Tom.

"Do I want to know what's going on here?"

The next morning they are set to go to the limits of the anti-magic barrier. There's a chance, of course, that Damon and Bonnie are not in Mystic Falls in that prison world, but it's a small risk when they consider the bigger picture.

Caroline is having breakfast with Liz, and he is in the garage (he forgot to get the shopping bags out of the car yesterday, but thankfully they had enough in their hands for Caroline to notice) when Tom comes and offers to go with them. Stefan doesn't think his presence is necessary, it's only his blood they need.

"In case something happens, I think I'm the only one here who can cross that barrier and stay the same. Isn't that an advantage?"

"In these cases, being human is not really an advantage."

Tom frowns.

"So let me see if I get this right: you are going to cross to this other dimension to look for your brother and Caroline's friend, and you're going to trust that ancient guy who is obsessed with your girlfriend to bring you back?"

Stefan stiffens after hearing this. It's not that he hasn't noticed, but it would have been the best for everyone if he was wrong. However, Tom has only been here for one day and he has seen it too.

It's always been uncomfortable how he and Tom are too alike in some aspects, even if the latter is of course a better person than himself. But Silas?

Silas is wicked, and Stefan hates him enough that he would deny to his last breath that his existence is linked to that man, but he can still see his reflection in the other's darkness.

So the story goes that Silas fell in love with Amara, so all doppelgängers fell for each other. Stefan did not want to believe it was just a stupid spell casted by Markos. If he fell for Katherine once, it was because of the lies and the deception and the compulsion. And if he fell for Elena, it was because he was who he was, and she was who she was. All in their own free will. Yes, Silas believed it was fate. If they were all just replicas of the first idiots who enraged a crazy witch, then it made sense that similar people would continue falling into the same pattern. But people changed according to their circumstances.

Stefan's circumstance was that he had fallen in love with his best friend.

But Silas' circumstances have changed, too. He is separated from Amara again, and who's to say he really wants to reunite with her? He was the one to kill her, mercy kill or not is something that only he knows.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to starve for two thousand years?"

That bastard locked him in a safe just because he wanted him to suffer the same way he suffered. In that sense, he's just like Katherine, someone who hates that his doppelgänger isn't living the same hell as him.

Katherine wanted to have Elena's life so bad that she possessed the latter's body.

He suspects the only reason Silas isn't killing anyone yet is that he's directing his obsession to a new target. It's not that hard to see. Silas is not the type of person who helps others out of the kindness of his heart, or because he believes in the possibility of peace.

"Well, we need him."

Even if he knows that it might explode on their faces eventually. For the moment, he has to trust she is strong enough to take care of herself if Silas ever tries to harm her (thankfully, the man is no longer immortal).

"Whatever," Tom turns his back on him. "I did my part warning you."

The part that's left unsaid is: 'I don't really care about you, I'm on your side because of her'.

"Here you are," Caroline comes wearing a smile, and then her eyes fall on the supermarket bags, "I knew it. Just leave the shopping to me next time."