Author's Notes: Warning! Warning! Briefly described non-con between Klaus and Damon. Implied Alaric/Damon.
Summary: Damon offers himself in place of his brother. Klaus accepts.
Damon lay on his back, bare skin against hard wood. Klaus loomed over him and a still compelled Stefan stood helplessly to the side. Damon turned his head away, closing his eyes. He could do this. He could do anything for Stefan. He just didn't want his brother to have to see it.
"Eyes open, pretty." Klaus purred. And okay, Damon could do this. He could even look at Klaus if he had to. Just not his brother. No matter how strung out Stefan still was, how blurry this recollection would be, Damon felt ill at the thought of Stefan remembering at all.
Klaus moved and Damon arched his back, viciously cutting off a scream in his throat. He wouldn't give Klaus the satisfaction.
Damon was floating on pain, his world darkening. He felt Klaus pull back peripherally, which he supposed he was grateful for. His legs let down and even if Damon couldn't feel it at the moment, he knew there was blood and…Klaus running sluggishly, smeared, between his thighs. Damon had the fleeting, hysterical thought that there had always been something broken inside him, now it just matched up physically, that's all. He barely managed to gasp out,
"Promised…you promised-"
"Yes, yes, I know, love." Klaus stroked Damon's face like a lover in a mockery of affection. Damon's fracturing mind wondered if Alaric would ever touch him like that again now. Or if Damon could stand it if he did.
"You're free to go, Stefan."
"….Damon…?"
Damon still had his head turned determinedly away. He heard the soft, questioning voice that he'd been attuned to all his life, and then un-life. It was all little brother and Damon was even more sure that he'd made the right decision. Not that it was much of a decision at all. He never was very good at letting Stefan die.
The control and confusion didn't wear off fast enough and Klaus ordered him.
"Leave. Go home now. Our business is done. Damon stays with me."
Stefan left, was compelled to, but he was aware now; calling out for Damon, tears in his voice as he realized what had happened. Damon wasn't one for assurances or last words, but he did hope his brother would think of something to say to Alaric. Something sweet and sappy that would make them both feel better about the way things had turned out.
How they'd ended.
His brother and his lover were the last thoughts in Damon's head before he succumbed, but Klaus's hands were the last on his skin.