Disclaimer: Nothing is owned, only borrowed.

Summary: Set after 3x07. The ghosts from the other side have returned to Mystic Falls and desperate to find a means of killing Klaus to free Stefan from his compulsion, Damon is eager to follow deceased werewolf Mason into the Lockwood Cellar. However, when trouble inevitably finds him, Damon is left with no choice but to ask for help from the people he can only hope still care about him.

Hurt!Damon. Delena if you squint. Damon and Alaric friendship.

Warnings: Moderately graphic description of injury.

Chapter 4

By only the blue glow of his cell phone, achingly bright in the complete darkness of the cave, the teacher looked over Damon, unconscious. Empathy, shock, fear, each emotion that crossed him warred with the others for dominance, ultimately translating into a look utterly focused. Drawing in a breath to prepare, Alaric immediately set to work.

The dark haired vampire was slumped forward, kept standing only by the four long stakes running through him, drawing forth enough blood that as Alaric broke off the ends to allow Damon to fall heavily to the floor, the teacher was sure he could hear a quiet slosh as the vampire's knees made contact. As morbid as it was, the teacher was not naïve enough to believe that the substance pooled under Damon could be anything other than blood.

"Hey," Alaric crouched beside Damon's prone form, still as he lay on his side. "Damon, wake up."

Truly Alaric could not have expected a response, for even if the vampire had been conscious, he doubted that he'd have the strength even to speak.

"Come on, man." Alaric winced as he pulled out the stakes still embedded in the other's abdomen. "We've got to go."

The vampire was unresponsive as Alaric rolled him gently onto his back. Clasping his hands under his chin, the teacher heaved a sigh, unsure. There was a fleeting feeling of guilt within the man at the realization that given the tightness of the cave's passage, he could not get Damon out of here by himself, not when the vampire was in this condition, and especially not in the dark. The teacher bit the inside of his cheek, ruefully, apologetically. He would have to rouse Damon.

"Hey, Damon." Alaric shook Damon's shoulder gently with the pads of his fingers, though the movement elicited no response.

"Damon." Alaric repeated, louder this time.

He needs blood, the teacher thought to himself, and he cast his gaze around in vain as if there could have been a blood bag nearby.

"Nothing is ever easy with you is it?" Alaric's eyes lingered on the wounds in Damon's torso while with his hands he fumbled around in the dark until his fingers found a stone just sharp enough to cut flesh.

Without so much as a second thought, Alaric pressed the point into the flesh of his palm, wincing as he drew a painful line on his hand from which appeared the crimson substance that Damon so needed. Carefully edging closer, Alaric gently lifted Damon's head with his uninjured hand, while drifting the other to his ashen lips.

"Come on, Damon. Drink it."

Alaric had not seen the darkened veins appearing under the vampire's eyes, rather he'd only felt the sting of fangs burying into his flesh as instinct moved Damon to bite down, a shaky hand moving weakly upward to hold Alaric's in place. The teacher let him drink for only as long as he dared, before he pulled away, relaxing Damon's head to the floor once more.

"Thank you." Damon's voice sounded like gravel.

"Don't mention it." Alaric said, rising to his full height, eyes never leaving Damon's motionless face. "Are you ready to go?"

Damon wheezed, "No, I think I'll just hang out here for a while." He paused before adding, "Hurts when I move."

The vampire broke into a coughing fit, and the ragged shutter of air through his chest, sounding nearly hollow, filled the cave. "Think my lung is punctured."

"Hey don't worry about it, I'm going to get you out of here." Alaric said, reaching down to take Damon by the shoulders. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

As slowly and gently as he could, Alaric pulled Damon up to meet him in a standing position. At the slightest motion, Damon's body immediately protested and he couldn't suppress a hiss, a whistle through his gritted teeth.

"A couple of stakes is all it takes to down the notorious Damon Salvatore?" Alaric teased, but his own voice seemed foreign to him. For, even he was hardly listening his own words as he pulled Damon's arm over his shoulder.

Had it not been for Alaric's hand, firm around his torso, Damon surely would have collapsed again, for at the sudden motion of being brought to his feet, the vampire could feel his knees weakening and his head lightening, a wave of nausea washed over him. Distantly, Damon could hear Alaric's voice, he was sure that the teacher was speaking to him, though the words seemed to run together, utterly indiscernible . However, even with eyes nearly closed, Damon could make out that they were moving, and he drew the conclusion that the other was offering him some sort of encouragement, as if tender words might somehow alleviate the pain coursing mercilessly through his body.

Despite Damon's groans, growing progressively louder as he was quickly losing his ability to stifle them, Alaric did not allow him to rest until they had reached his car, awaiting them in the lot where he'd left it.

"The sooner we get back, the sooner we can get some blood in you." Alaric had repeated, as much a reassurance to himself as it was intended to the injured vampire.

Keeping Damon balanced with one hand, Alaric used the other to toss his crossbow quickly into the back seat of his SUV. The night had grown considerably colder, though despite the feel of his socks, soaked through now, cold and wet against the soles of his feet, the teacher did not seem to notice.

"Ric…" Damon's head lolled forward, and Alaric knew that he was struggling to stay awake. "I need a minute."

Alaric only nodded, never ceasing his movements as he prepared the car for his friend. The vampire was seeing spots now, and nearly all of the feeling in his body had vanished save the four puncture wounds in his torso, smarting so painfully that Damon was nearly doubled over.

"I'm almost done, buddy. Don't worry."

Alaric had the door open on the passenger's side and was pulling up the lever on the side of the seat so that the back rest was laid flat.

"Alright, Damon. Let's go." The teacher shifted the vampire in his arms and eased him into the seat, taking care to lay him just centered so that he might extend his legs meanwhile keeping pressure off of his back. Quickly drawing the seatbelt across Damon's waist, Alaric wasted no time closing the car door and getting in on his own side.

In his absence, the inside of the vehicle had grown cold, and upon starting the ignition, Alaric began fiddling with the knobs on the dashboard, rubbing his hands together when it seemed that the heater was not working fast enough. To his right, the teacher could see Damon lying still in his seat, eyes closed. The vampire's face was twisted with pain, and whether it was due to the briskness of the night air or merely a catastrophic loss of blood Alaric could not tell, though Damon had begun to shiver so violently that the teacher feared that he would shift to a position where the seatbelt would aggravate his injuries.

"Damon." Alaric knew his voice was falling on deaf ears.

Nodding resolutely, Alaric then shrugged off his jacket, though damp on the outside, still warm on the inside from his wearing it. As he draped the jacket gently over Damon's upper body, Alaric once more looked his friend over. Blood still oozed from the punctures in his abdomen, a deep crimson stain spreading over a once stark white shirt as the fabric absorbed it.

"Just hang on, I'm going to take care of this." Alaric's voice was not hushed, though still Damon did not stir beside him, and even as the car began moving, pulling away from the wood, still the vampire did not rise.

A/N: I must admit, I am surprised you have lasted this long.

*Points crooked finger into the distance*

But, the worst is not yet behind us. Just ahead lies a bridge, and to cross it, a debt must be paid. A toll of sorts. A favorite, a follow, a review, you must pay the keeper. Though, be warned. He who collects your payment has not a kind heart. Should you fail to meet his bargain, you shall meet a fate most unpleasant.