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27. HEY, BROTHER (DO YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ONE ANOTHER?)
He meets Damon a day later, and it isn't really hard to find his brother, which only means he came here waiting for him to show up. What other reason would there be for him to choose New Orleans of all places?
"What, Stefan, don't tell me you came to visit your new best friend? Or are you here to make sure I am being a well behaved vampire?"
"I am here to see that you put your shit together so we can go back home." He sits at the bar next to his brother, and is quick to get a drink for himself. "I thought you would be enjoying the summer with Elena, so care to explain what happened?"
"Not all of us can be so sickeningly perfect as you and Blondie."
There it is. The usual bitterness in Damon's voice. Stefan had thought that with Katherine dead and the whole Elena thing resolved much earlier, they would get over this phase in his brother's life. Clearly, he was mistaken. Maybe killing Katherine did not do much to help Damon overcome their past, to process the unhealthy obsession he (no, both of them) had been living with for over a century. Or maybe there is another reason for his behavior now?
"I thought you had a good thing going on."
"Until she realizes I cannot change who I am. What I am. I cannot be the better man she wants me to be."
"You cannot or you don't want to?" He wants to argue, but bits his tongue to stop himself.
It occurs to him that he might say things he doesn't fully believe, but why? Stefan knows that Damon can be a good man, that there is another path his brother took that led him to a long, happy human life.
"Caroline and I got married."
This manages to get a reaction from Damon, but the shock only stays for a few seconds.
"Well, congratulations. You sure are full of surprises these days, little brother."
So this is it.
It is one thing to have Bonnie and Elena aware of their predicament, but Damon is a different story. And yet, Stefan can see how it will be difficult to keep things from him without it blowing up in their faces.
"It is not like we do not have our secrets. You never said a word about Augustine, or your friend Enzo, or the things they did to you."
"How do you—"
"If you want the truth, it is that I have been in love with Caroline for much longer than you think. The truth, Damon, is that I have probably lived more years than I can possibly handle. That is how I knew about the tomb vampires getting out, and how I knew everything about Klaus. That is the reason I thought that you could be happy with Elena if you were together. I lived through all of this before," he pauses to consider his conversation with Bonnie the day before, "maybe one too many times."
The drive back to Mystic Falls is awkward, mainly because his brother thinks he finally lost his mind. All the animal blood diet, Damon keeps saying. But then the mocking words die down, probably because he is also confused by the turn of events that has got his old friend and cell mate suddenly living in their house (Caroline just called to let him know everything went well and they did not have to kill anybody yet).
"So you got the cure, and you gave it to me, and died, so I could live happily ever after with Elena? I'm sorry, but I don't think being human would suit me at all."
"Yeah, it came as a surprise that you wanted it in the first place, but it's the truth."
Damon frowns.
"There is only one cure, though."
Which has always been a problem.
"I got it early this time, so we don't really have to fight for it." Stefan sighs, "I thought to use it with Caroline, but we both agreed it is not a good idea."
Considering that, if they die, they will just start all over again. So staying vampires and living for as long as they could seemed like the most plausible option. However, what if Qetsiyah did have some ideas about how to break the curse. If this is as she told Bonnie, and stopping the vicious loop is best for everyone… Suddenly, he is not sure he wants to share it with his brother anymore.
"If you change your mind about being human again, let me know."
"Ugh, I cannot stand the hero act any longer. Do you realize—"
Damon doesn't get to finish whatever he is about to say, as the car violently stops, as if it crashes with some invisible force, and then it's thrown to one side of the road. Stefan gets out only to be attacked by a painful headache.
He is screaming, and he isn't the only one. They got Damon too.
"You are not the only one who can play this game, Salvatore. This is a message from Markos. We are going to do things differently this time around."
Travelers. This is an ambush.
"Where is Silas?"
"I don't know."
"Lies."
"I don't think I like this game," he hears Damon's voice, it sounds less shaky, like he isn't in enormous pain anymore. Of course, the traveler's magic is limited, but they probably have counted on this too, so they get one chance to run away from this.
The moment Damon regains his balance long enough to break the leader's neck is the moment they escape.
"My car," he laments, as they stop only after reaching a small town.
"We will compel someone to go and recover it for you." Damon shakes it off. "Now tell me who the hell are those guys."
"Travelers. They are cursed witches, and they want..." His and Elena's blood, yes, but they would not go and kidnap him now if they don't have Silas yet.
Why did they come for him if they were going to let him slip so easily? It doesn't make sense.
Markos is on the other side and he is aware of the rewind and the changes in this lifetime, too, which only seems to confirm the veracity of Qetsiyah words. What other reason would there be for the Travelers to change their tactic from waiting until someone kills Silas, to actively looking for the petrified body? If they know Stefan moved the immortal from the island, wouldn't they know where the body is?
Unless…
"Okay. I am listening."
"The cure. They want the cure."
This was just a test to see if he had used the cure on himself or not. They probably have the former witch in their hands already.
Stefan is thirsty, aneurysms provoked by witches tend to do that. So they stop by a hospital and steal some more blood. Damon rolls his eyes, pointing out that there is a crowded pub not far from here and it would be much easier and fun to get their food the old fashioned way. It is for things like this that his relationship is falling apart (maybe getting rejected a couple of times did some good to him, so he could remember the downside of the type of life he led).
Grabbing his phone, he stares at Carolines picture while he contemplates if he should wait until they get home to tell her about this… no, what if the Travelers check about the cure with her, too?
"Hey. How are things going on over there?"
"We are on our way. Caroline, the travelers came for us."
"What?! That's… impossible. Silas and Amara…"
"I think what Qetsiyah told Bonnie is true. The Travelers are aware of the things that have changed. They have Markos on the Other Side. So be careful, because they might go looking for the Cure, or even to check if someone took it."
He hears her sigh loudly.
"Just what we needed when dealing with an unstable vampire at home."
"That bad?"
"Not really. He is being strangely agreeable with us, maybe because Enzo always knows how to repay kindness. Your brother, on the other hand, he wants dead…"
Damon mutters something about deserving whatever Enzo throws at him, guilt and regret fresh on his face just like in Stefan's memories.
"It will be okay. Just… take care."
"You too. I love you."
He imagines her smiling, and suddenly it feels two days is a long time without seeing each other. "I'll be home soon. I love you."
"Everything you have told me today sounds crazy." Damon says, looking at him as if he is evaluating every single word they exchanged tonight. "But it is the only way this… thing you have with Caroline makes sense. You really do love her."
"She is my family, Damon. You are, too. That is why I cannot continue being the way we were… sacrificing things for each other, that doesn't help either of us."
"I don't know why you are telling me this. You are the only one with the savior complex, Stefan."
Typical Damon, denying the best side of himself. 'You once went and killed yourself just to have me back.' Stefan wants to tell him. But that is exactly the type of behavior both of them need to avoid in the future.
"Between the two of us, I don't think Blondie can put up with the hero thing in the long term, anyway."
Stefan just smiles.
