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. /vampirediaries/images/4/46/Klaus_ /revision/latest?cb=20140611221016&path-prefix=de

16 February 1850

Niklaus watched calmly as his young charge busied himself with his books; this was the first moment Niklaus had been able to think of more than the Salvatore Patriarch in days.

After leaving Giuseppe in his office, he had managed to find Damon in the stables caring for the horses.

It seemed the boy carried a love for the noble creatures the same as he did.

He hadn't known what to say upon first finding Damon, not that he would ever admit such a thing to anyone.

The words had seemed lost to him; unlike Marcellus, Damon still had a father no matter how much of a miscreant the man was.

Then the boy had glanced at him, not noticeably or for very long at all, but for one second, those ice blue eyes had connected with his sky blue.

That one second had been enough to encourage him to step forward and approach the boy as confidently as he had when it had been Marcellus in front of him instead.

Damon had seemed to close in on himself as he listened to the words leaving Niklaus's lips.

Damon's hands had quickly tangled in the mane of the horse he had been caring for as worry started to encompass him.

Niklaus had just finished informing Damon that he was now in his care when the soft-spoken words that had left Damon's lips made his blood run cold.

"I'll be good, please. I do not wish to…." The words were whispered fervently, breaking the silence that had seemed to encompass the warm afternoon since Niklaus had approached him.

"No, Damon." Niklaus had quickly cut off that line of thought even as he plotted the demise of the elder Salvatore.

"I have no desire to harm you or behave in a manner such as that. When I say that I will be taking you, Damon, I mean that I would be taking you as my ward. No harm, physical or otherwise, will come to you so long as I am with you. Do we have an accord?"

By this time, Niklaus had bent down to Damon's level, his right hand coming up to lay gently on Damon's shoulder.

Damon glanced down as Niklaus brought his left hand out to greet him in acknowledgment of their bargain.

Glancing into Niklaus's eyes, Damon's hand came up to grasp his tightly with a softly whispered, "Yes, Mr. Mikaelson."

Nearly a full week had passed since he had gained wardship of Damon and the boy remained quiet and fearful in his presence.

It seemed that despite the deal they had struck, the boy was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Niklaus refused to bring the boy home to New Orleans at this moment; Kol alone would eat Damon alive upon seeing him so apprehensive.

Rebekah would no doubt try to smother him in an attempt to play mother to the dear boy and Elijah; if he had to hear one more remark about how utterly dismal, he was at caring for his wards, then Elijah would be the next one to gain a dagger through the heart.

No, until Niklaus had gained the boy's trust and gotten him to act as himself, he and the boy would stay in the old village.

Surely, it could not take very long to pull Damon from the fortress he had hidden within.

If he had only known how difficult it would be to gain Damon's trust, he would have taken him home with him immediately.

Damon slammed his eyes shut for the umpteenth time as he sat in the living room of his safe house.

He had had the home for as long as he could remember, it wasn't lavish, or something many would consider fantastical.

However, the home had been his since he was human.

The house was a two-story wooden cabin in the middle of the woods.

With three bedrooms and a singular bathroom, it wasn't exactly a place many would picture him hiding out in.

Oddly enough, he did not remember how he had come into possession of it.

Just like the pendant, its origins were a mystery even to him, but he had been using the house since he was 14 years old.

It had been the main escape from his father, who had decided that Damon was now of the proper age to be caring for the books for the plantation.

'As if he had planned to give him the family business instead of using him for free labor till Stefan was of age,' Damon thought bitterly as his eyes slid open again.

Ever since he stepped into the house, he had been hearing and seeing things. Things that weren't there, people that weren't there.

Damon honestly was starting to believe he was losing his mind.

First, he had heard someone calling his name in the woods with Elijah, then that same voice had said that the pendant would protect him when Stefan and the rest of the Scooby Gang had attacked him.

Now, as soon as he walked into the house, he could have sworn he had seen a blonde-haired man lounging in the living room.

When he had turned to get a closer look, however, he had been gone.

He had, of course, searched the rest of the house afterward but had turned up empty-handed.

While checking the master bedroom in the house, he could have sworn he had heard a man's voice speaking while a child was laughing in the background.

Damon still couldn't get the man's words out of his head.

This will be our home, for now, cub. Soon we will leave, and you will be causing mayhem right alongside the rest of the family.

For some reason, those words had brought forth emotions he hadn't felt in a long time.

Embarrassment, Joy, Hope, Fear…Love; he hadn't felt most of those until recently.

The last one he could have sworn he hadn't felt since his mother passed away; she had always been the one to care for him after all, so she was the only one he had truly ever felt familial love for, at least he thought she was the only one.

After all, Giuseppe Salvatore was a lot of things but, he would never be counted as a proper parent in Damon's eyes.

As for Stefan well, Damon had always cared about him in his own way but, sadly that care had not seemed to have been reciprocated.

So, to suddenly feel as if someone cared for him again after a century of being unwanted.

Damon truly felt like the world was spinning out from underneath his feet with every new piece of knowledge that he acquired.

So much didn't make sense in his head right now, and he had no idea how to fix it or if it could even be fixed.

How does one fix the feeling of losing their grasp on what is happening around them?

How was he supposed to keep moving forward when all he felt like doing was drowning in the endless sea of questions and mysteries that surrounded him?

Damon's world spun around him faster and faster until it seemed like the room was becoming nothing but, a blur of color.

Slamming his eyes shut Damon tried to force air from his lungs as he felt his throat closing in panic.

Voices started to fill his ears and he knew if he opened his eyes the mysterious blonde man would be back in the room.

'Damon!' 'Cub, it's all right. I am not going to hurt you.' 'Everything is going to be okay pup.'

Suddenly a child's voice rang out amongst the man's reassurances pleading desperately 'Don't leave me, please.'

Damon's eyes shot open quickly taking in the sight before him.

The blonde man from earlier stood in front of a child but, not just any child.

It was him from when he was 13 or 14 standing in front of the man begging, pleading not to be left behind.

His breath caught in his throat as the scene played out before him.

The blonde man knelt to eye level with him. 'Damon.'

The man breathed out softly, glancing away before quickly looking him in the eyes again.

'I will be coming back for you, I swear it. There is nothing that could truly keep me away from you. You are family now, and nothing shall ever change that.'

Tears poured down the face of the young Damon before he spoke softly, his voice breaking even as he tried to hide it. 'A-Always and Forever right, Babbo.'

'Always and Forever, my Bambino. For now, though, you must forget this. You will only begin to remember our time together once you have seen my siblings or I once again.' The blonde man whispered, staring the young boy in the eyes.

Damon drew in a shuttering breath as the scene disappeared from his view, more questions encircling his every thought.

Who was that man, and why had he called him Dad in Italian?

Giuseppe had refused to let him, or Stefan even speak Italian as they grew, claiming that doing so was blasphemous.

Ironic considering Venice was the place they had originally hailed from.

An earsplitting shriek sliced through the silence that had encompassed the small cabin.

Moving quickly, Damon barely glanced at the caller ID reading 'Liberty' on his phone before answering. "Hey," Damon coughed, clearing his throat, "Did you find anything?"

Silence rang softly through the phone, had he not been able to hear the quiet breaths leaving her lungs, he would have thought they had been disconnected. "Liberty?" Damon questioned curiously as the silence seemed to stretch on endlessly.

"Damon." A soft voice came over the line. "Sorry, I haven't been able to find out how you are connected to the Mikaelson family or to Klaus. Something else is coming your way though. Rumor was spreading that someone told the Augustine Society where to find you."

Damon's blood ran cold in his veins as she spoke; he was certain the Augustine Society had burned the same night Lorenzo had.

"I can hear you panicking through the phone Damon. It's fine, I've already told everyone you are in Greece so no one should come sniffing around Mystic Falls for you. I'm still looking into the Mikaelson's as well. Really, I just wanted to warn you to watch your back. The Augustine Society shouldn't be a problem but, be careful just in case someone decides to come and search Mystic Falls anyways."

"I am not panicking Liberty." Damon growled through the phone.

Truly he wasn't panicking no, he was furious.

His best friend had burned in that fire, and he was sure that he had avenged him by making sure the Society burned to the ground with him.

So, to find out that they had survived when Enzo hadn't; made a cold flame blaze through his entirety.

"They were supposed to be dead. None of them were supposed to make it out alive." He could hardly keep the anger out of his voice as he paced the length of the living room.

"I know but, all we can do is focus on the problem at hand and keep our eyes open. After we have sorted out the problem you are having with the pendant and the Original family, we can take care of the Augustine Society once and for all."

Damon snarled under his breath, forcing his hand to relax where it had curled tightly into a fist, his knuckles turning bone white.

"Once we are done, we are ending this, once and for all." Damon kept his tone as even as he could, barely resisting the urge to put his fist through the wall in front of him.

"Of course. For now, be careful. I've already lost one friend. I am not going to lose another."

Quickly hanging up, Damon's eyes slid shut as he fought to control the anger and fear that surged through his blood.

He had, albeit unknowingly, let Lorenzo's murderers walk away free once; he would not let them do so again.

Klaus strolled towards the Salvatore boarding house forcing himself not to grin at the sight that greeted him.

After witnessing the chaos his cub had left behind after being attacked, he decided to move his timetable forward.

He had been lucky enough to happen upon one of the group's members in the Grill after leaving the alley.

The man had reeked of vervain, so he had been unable to compel him.

However, the bar had been relatively empty, so it had gone unnoticed when Klaus forced him from the building.

A car ride and a spell later, Klaus had managed to take control of the man's, apparently named Alaric if his ID was anything to go by, body.

Anticipation flooded his veins as he surveyed the group that lay before him.

Stefan sat on the couch with the doppelganger cradled against his chest.

Across from them sat the Bennet witch, sorry ex-Bennet witch; he could not deny being proud of his son for his calculated decision.

As he made his way closer, all eyes in the room flashed to linger on him while the conversation lulled to a muted halt.

The silence was immediately broken as a blonde teenager sauntered into the room, rage and apprehension warring in her eyes.

"I thought you were just supposed to yank the pendant from his neck and bring him here to lock up." The blonde enquired forcefully as she came to a stop in front of the others.

"It wasn't that simple, Caroline. As soon as we walked up to him, he was already on the defensive. He was expecting us." Stefan's eyes snapped to Klaus, who stood stock still behind the couch.

"Did you tell him what we were planning, Alaric?" Klaus's eyes narrowed as he stared at Stefan.

The question was demanding, angry, and filled with accusations; had he chosen the wrong member to gain control of?

Perhaps this Alaric person was not as trusted as he had thought.

"Of course not. I was at the bar trying to get answers, not to tell Damon anything." Klaus reminded himself to keep his tone even; he was here to get information, and he couldn't do that if they immediately cast suspicion in his direction.

"Doesn't matter." Elena looked up from where she had kept her gaze on the ground. "Because of Damon being a stubborn and selfish idiot, we have even more problems to deal with."

Caroline's gaze filled with confusion as she took in the somber looks that had immediately crossed her friend's faces at those words. "What happened?" Her question went ignored as the group remained in a muted silence.

Klaus struggled to keep himself in check as he watched them attempt to blame his boy.

In one fell swoop, his young cub had knocked the entire fight from the doppelganger and her friends.

Their faces showed nothing but resignation and defeat at the circumstances they found themselves in.

"Bonnie?" Caroline probed gently, staring as the girl had tears swimming in her eyes.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Bonnie forced a watery smile onto her face as she turned to face her.

"Damon happened. Like always, he messed everything up. He shoved vervain into Stefan's blood, broke Elena's arm, and." The words seemed to escape her as tears cascaded down her face.

"And he started the process of turning me into a vampire. I haven't decided whether I am going to complete the transition or not."

She wiped angrily at the tears on her face, her eyes burning with emotion as she tried to will them to stop.

Shock crept along Caroline's face as the words finally seemed to register.

Before any words could cross her lips, Stefan stood from his place to lean against the bar facing them all.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is how we will draw Damon out and take another chance at locking him down before Klaus gets here. Alaric, you and he are friends, so how about you give him a call and ask him to meet you somewhere? Once he's there, the others and I will be waiting in the wings to take him down."

Elena's voice raised as she stood facing Stefan, "Did you not hear Elijah on the phone earlier? Klaus is already in town, and the odds are great that he is looking for or already has Damon by his side. I can't risk Jeremy, Jenna, or you guys just because there is a slight possibility that Damon is somehow special to Klaus. We already risked Bonnie, and now she will die or be a vampire for the rest of eternity."

It was clear to everyone in the room that she was beyond frustrated, her voice raising in octaves as every word left her lips.

Her eyes swung in Bonnie's direction, her gaze filled with hopelessness as she stared at her friend.

"Elena…" Bonnie's voice wavered as she fought back a new round of tears at her friend's begging gaze.

Bonnie's eyes took in the room; everyone's eyes were on her.

She knew what they were waiting for; they wanted her to complete the transition and become a vampire.

It may be too late to help them as a witch, but at least if she completed the transition, she could still help them with Klaus.

"Fine." Her voice barely brushed a whisper as she turned her eyes to the ground before she took a steadying breath.

"I'll complete the transition. I hope you know that when we are done with Klaus, I will kill Damon whether he is your brother or not, Stefan."

Klaus forced himself to relax, gritting his teeth as he watched the doppelganger and her little friends help the Bennett girl through her transition.

Anger. He could understand being angry towards Damon for putting her in this position.

However, even he knew that the only ones to blame for the current circumstances that had befallen them were themselves.

His boy had not gone out of his way to attack them.

No, he had acted in complete defense of his person, and yet, to this group of Neanderthals, he was unjustified in his actions.

Klaus barely caught the end of the conversation as he tuned back into the group plotting.

"…at the dance tonight. Ric's already a chaperone, so all we have to do is make it obvious that Elena is going. It might even draw Damon out so we can get ahold of him before Klaus does." Stefan seemed pensive as he spoke slowly, his words careful and calculated.

"We could have Elijah come and point him out to us. Besides, he might be able to help us with Damon. It's not like Damon is any match for him, and who knows, maybe Elijah will do us all a favor and kill him. Would save us the trouble of having to do it for ourselves." Elena ran her hands through her hair as she turned around from where she had been pacing to glance at everyone.

"How exactly do you plan to lure Klaus into the open?" Klaus was truly amazed at the audacity these children had.

They truly thought they were a match for him and that he would just let them use his blackbird as they saw fit.

He had been planning to wait to take Damon once he had finished the ritual and once he had handled his wayward older brother.

However, it seemed as if plans would have to change. Klaus knew that Damon could handle himself, but he was nothing if not protective of the boy.

He had not been able to defend him as he should for over a hundred years; Klaus would be damned if he had to wait any longer.

No, Damon would have to return to his possession much sooner than expected.

He may even be able to spirit his boy away to one of his other estates while he finishes everything he has to do in this town.

At the very least, it would give him peace of mind to know Damon was out of harm's way.

Besides, with Damon out of harm's way, Klaus could handle Stefan once and for all.

Ever since he had come to this town, he had done nothing but tried to hurt his brother at the whim of his girlfriend and friends.

He and his siblings may not get on, and certainly, he had put them into coffins, but he had never outright fought to harm them.

They were his to harm and berate just as he was theirs; no one else was allowed to do so, and any who even suggested would be met with swift vengeance.

On the other hand, his cub's brother stood here casually discussing orchestrating the elder's demise at the hands of another.

Klaus had been willing to be lenient with the boy when he had first arrived and give him the benefit of the doubt.

He had hoped that Stefan could be reasoned with so Klaus would not have to handle the threat that Stefan was to Damon.

It had become clear to him now that no matter how much Damon cared for Stefan, he would have to put down the threat that his boy's brother presented.

It was a pity that Stefan had changed so much from the vampire he had met during the 20's.

Rebekah would be sorely disappointed, but he was counting on Damon's presence to win her over eventually.

Damon may not be a child anymore, but Rebekah may still enjoy acting as an Aunt to the much younger vampire.

Only time would tell how his siblings would react to another addition to the family.

His train of thought was broken as the group, who had been silent for a period, finally spoke up.

"Bonnie was the plan originally…but, with her out of commission, we might have to ask Elijah if one of his warlocks is up to the task." Elena sounded uncertain, her face portraying the unease that had seemed to settle over her since the meeting began.

"And if they say no…." Klaus kept his eyes locked on the group as they exchanged looks.

It was clear they were unsure of what to do should his elder brother deny them help.

"Then, at the very least, we will know what Klaus looks like so we can bargain with or kill him later. We can't keep going through the day with our guards constantly up, hoping the person beside us isn't here for Elena. We need to know who we are up against." Stefan ranted as he pulled Elena into his arms, her back leaning against his chest.

"Might want to leave Damon alive if we are planning to have any chance of bargaining with Klaus." Caroline muttered.

"What? Am I wrong?" Caroline threw her hands up, frustrated, as everyone shot exasperated looks in her direction.

"Call Elijah." Bonnie nodded in Elena's direction, "Caroline and I will start getting ready for the dance. We'll just have to be fashionably late and leave when it's dark out."

Caroline and Bonnie immediately headed upstairs, searching for a room with no windows to get ready.

"Text Damon Ric. Find some way to convince him that he needs to come to this dance tonight. It may be our last chance to take him before anyone else can."

Stefan led Elena to the stairs as she held the phone to her ear, waiting for Elijah to pick up.

Klaus growled under his breath as he shot out of the house. The current circumstances weren't terrible, but he would have to deal with his buzzkill brother.

That was the last thing he wanted to do tonight.

At least he would get to see his cub tonight, and if he was careful, he would be able to grab the boy and get his brother out of the way.

Yes, he could make this work in his favor. All it would take is a little planning with Maddox, and everything would work out just fine.