Damon glanced at his watch – it was time he was back in the Falls, making sure that his soppy brother hadn't gotten Elena killed with his constant pleading for her safety. Didn't he know by now that Katherine did not care unless it hurt the brothers?

Watching his beloved Bonnie set Eric on fire had been priceless… Damon allowed himself a smirk as he looked into the night sky. She would be safe with Eric, he would make certain of it.

Katherine would know of course, by now, what had happened – one of her legions had tracked them to the vampire bar. Damon sensed movement behind him, subtle rustling in the trees. But they were too late, and the game now belonged to him. Baring his fangs, Damon's laugh echoed around the empty car park as he sprang onto the roof of his Ford Mustang. Sensing a twitch of branches and a swirl of leaves, he turned toward the approaching vampire and issued his challenge:

"Come out, come out, whoever you are…"

Granted not very original, but he was tired, though not hungry, and there was only about 25 minutes before dawn. But Damon consoled himself that he would probably be older than whatever flunky Katherine had sent to fetch him back. Age meant privileges; whoever faced him through the early morning mist, probably had very few.

But the attack and its strength caught him by surprise, a blow to the head throwing him off the car and onto the asphalt. Feeling a boot to his chest, he grabbed and twisted the ankle, using the leverage to swing the assailant into the trunk of a tree twenty feet away. Blurring there, he had his attacker in a choke-hold before the other had recovered.

Peeling the head back, he realised to his shock that it was a furious looking red-eyed brother who was already struggling against Damon like a bucking bronco.

"Damon, Damon, let me go!"

Great, the wailing had started, as it always did with his little brother after an unsuccessful betrayal. Careful to secure his brother against the tree with a chain of silver, rescued from the bottom of his shoe, he debated his options.

"Look, mon petit frère, I know that you didn't come here to help me." Staring shrewdly into his brother's red eyes, he saw shame and misery warring with rage, bloodlust and… yes, love for Katherine. For both of them, it always came back down to Katherine.

Taking his brother's chin in his hands, forcing him to meet Damon's mocking gaze, he continued:

"Let me guess, Katherine has Elena, and you agreed to do whatever it took so that she wouldn't hurt your beloved human copy. She gave you human blood to feed your thirst – it's why you're so strong; and made you take an oath of fealty."

The captive's groans were in the negative, though his eyes told Damon everything. He was entirely Katherine's creature, obedient because he could not be otherwise.

Damon almost lost it, why was his brother always such a predictable idiot? Punching him did not make feel nearly better enough. He, Damon, had saved Bonnie, so why could his moronic brother not have done the same for Elena? Did, he, Damon Salvatore, always have to do everything? The knight in bloody shining armour, indeed…

"What did she tell you to do to me?"

Croaking, his brother dared to grin as he replied:

"Bring you back with the witch, or kill you and bring back your head… If I don't Elena dies. I had no choice".

Damon contemplated his brother's idiocy for another few seconds, before giving his brother another dilemma:

"The sun comes up in 5, I'm sure you can feel it, the drag acting on your bones, pulling you deeper into Orpheus' underworld. Wait, you can't but you will, because I am removing the ring."

Damon pulled the silver chain off his brother and ran for the wind.