Disclaimer: I do not own The Time Traveler's Wife or The Vampire Diaries.
The first time it happens, Stefan is three and his big brother has suddenly disappeared – only to be replaced by an even bigger version of him.
Or, six times Stefan Salvatore watched his brother Travel.
Stefan is 3, Damon is 20
Stefan is holding ten year old Damon's hand as he toddles next to him through their big backyard when Damon disappears, leaving a pile of clothing on the ground and a gaping Stefan behind. The three year olds green eyes well with tears and just as he opens his mouth to wail, a large hand settles itself onto his shoulder. He looks up to see a big man who looks just like Damon.
He sniffles. "Damon?"
The man's icy blue eyes warm and he smiles, "How'd you know?"
Stefan shrugs, "You look like him," and sticks his left thumb into his mouth. Damon smirks and hauls Stefan up and places him onto his hip.
"Where'd Other you go? Why are you here? Why are you so big?" Stefan starts to babble into Damon's ear, confused. The man says he's Damon and he believes him, but he's so big and people just don't disappear or grow or do whatever it was that Damon had just done.
"The other me went to visit with my friends; I'm a time traveler, and from the future, that's why I'm here and so big," Damon answers all of Stefan's questions that he peals out, leaving Stefan surprised, but satisfied.
"Where are we going now?" Stefan asks, wriggling in his brother's arms. He peers around them.
"Home," The big man answers simply, "Mom and Dad are there, right?"
Stefan nods, "Mama and Daddy are there, uh huh."
Damon ruffles his floppy hair, making the three year old scowl at him. Stefan took his thumb out of his mouth and frowned at his big brother. Shaking his finger at him, Stefan said, "Don't do that again."
Stefan watched as Damon threw his head back and laughed.
Stefan is 30, Damon is 25
Stefan is pacing out in the waiting room, checking his watch nervously every five minutes and twitching when Damon still doesn't reappear. Caroline is sitting in a hospital chair reading a magazine, Jeremy's next to her with his new girlfriend Anna, and Damon's still missing.
He hears a shriek and spins around.
Damon's Traveled back, but it's not the right Damon.
"You'll have to do," Stefan announced and goes to his wife's chair, where he gives him a duffle bag. Stefan takes it gratefully and pulls a confused twenty-five year old Damon into a bathroom.
"What's going on?" Damon is baffled, but he doesn't have time to be baffled.
"I'll catch you up," Stefan promises as he throws the duffle bag of clothing at Damon's head and shoves him in a stall, "You and Elena got married two years ago when you were thirty-five; you're thirty-seven now and Elena's giving birth to your first kid, a boy. This year's you Traveled five seconds after Elena's water broke, leaving her freaking out by herself. Hurry up, Damon, she's been asking for you!"
Damon bursts out of the stall gaping in dumb shock, but Stefan grabs his sleeve and pulls him out of the bathroom.
"Quickly, quickly, Elena's been in labor for ten hours now and is nearly all the way dilated," Stefan says hurriedly.
"How do you know how much my wife has dilated?" Damon asks as he wiggles his eyebrows.
Stefan rolls his eyes, "Real mature, Damon. Here." He shoves Damon towards a room door and can see Elena's face light up underneath the sweat and tears. Damon turns back and gives Stefan a thumbs up, and Elena mouths "Thank you," to him.
Stefan gives a half wave and returns to the waiting room where Caroline's waiting for him. He sits down and sighs, relieved.
"What'd I miss?" Stefan freezes and sees this year's Damon back, smirking tiredly, and Stefan groans.
Stefan is 25, Damon is 21
Stefan's making out with Caroline in his bedroom when he hears his brother land on the bedroom floor from Traveling.
"My eyes! My poor, delicate eyes!" He hears him moan, and Stefan groans in frustration. Caroline squawks as she and Stefan maneuver off of the bed. She shields her eyes from Damon's nudity.
"Hey, I'm sure I'm better looking than he is," Damon drawls as Stefan throws a throw blanket at him.
"Go get dressed," Stefan commands and Damon winks as he pops out the door. Stefan turns to Caroline with an apology on his lips, but Caroline just shakes her head.
"It's fine," She insists, though her eyes tell a different story, "Go mind your brother so he doesn't make the house fall down. We all know what he's like when he's bored." Caroline pushes Stefan out of the room, and the man obeys, walking to Damon's room down the hall.
He knocks and enters when Damon calls out, and crosses his arms. "Hey. Where are you from?"
"2006," Damon answers, "And I'm legal now! Let's get drunk." He smirks broadly.
"Drinking makes you Travel," Stefan says with one eyebrow raised and smirks with amusement as Damon's face turns into an expression of furious shock.
"What the hell? That's not fair!"
Stefan shrugs with amusement, "Elena likes it."
Damon mutters darkly about his girlfriend for several minutes. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"Well, I'm on break from school," Stefan says, "It's my last year and then I'll officially be a doctor. You Traveled yesterday and haven't returned yet and Elena's been itching to see you. Or I'm sure your favorite teacher would love a visit from his best student."
Damon points at Stefan, "I was not Alaric's best student."
"No, you're right, I was," Stefan smiles cheekily and dodges a pillow thrown at his head.
Damon sighs and brushes passed Stefan, and heads down to the living room. Stefan follows him quickly and arrives just in time to see Damon drinking anyway.
Damon smirks, "See? I don't Travel when I'm dru-" He disappears, leaving a pool of his clothing on the floor and the glass of bourbon drops to the floor and shatters.
Caroline's head pops around the corner of the staircase, smirking, "He drank again, didn't he?"
"Yeah," Stefan sighs and he goes to clean up the mess.
"You know that means we can go back upstairs . . ." Caroline trails off and Stefan decides to leave the mess for a few minutes more.
Stefan is 87, Damon is 25
Stefan maneuvers around with his cane, cursing when he stubs his foot into a book that's been left in the middle of the floor. He attempts to stoop down, and catches the title, "The Call of the Wild." A hand stops him from bending down at the way.
"Easy, old timer, let me get that," A voice says loudly and Stefan straightens up, rubbing his ear.
"I'm old, not deaf, Damon," He complains, and looks at his brother. His youngest nephew's the spitting image of his father, but Stefan can always tell them apart.
"Sorry, Gramps," Damon laughs and picks up the book, "This is my favorite."
"Yeah, and it's your kid's favorite too, and your grandkid's," Stefan grumbles, "I wouldn't mind, 'cept they always leave it on the floor for me to trip over. Bratty kids."
Damon laughs again and goes to help Stefan sit down. Stefan doesn't have any of it though, and swats Damon's hand away, "Bah! I've don't need anybody's help to sit my own ass down on my own damn couch."
Damon backs off, smirking, and says, "Man, you are one batty old guy, Stef. I can't wait to tell my Stefan about you."
"Where are you from, anyway?" Stefan asks, settling down and sighing with relief. His creaking joints were really bothering him that day.
"I'm from 2010, Grampy Stef," Damon hops over the edge of the couch and sits next to Stefan, "Where's the current me?"
Stefan's memory flashes to the day his Damon died, and he replies vaguely, "Traveling. Elena and Caroline are with the grandkids down at the park."
"What are you doing here by yourself?" Stefan can hear the concern leak into Damon's voice and quickly moves to distract him.
"Wanted some peace and quiet, that's why. Bratty kids are here all day and night, animals running around gold fish bowls being spilled, bourbon bottles being broken; it's a miracle this old house is still standing," Stefan knows if he rambles long enough, Damon will indulge him and move on.
"Alright, alright, you're old and need time to yourself," Damon teases, "I get it."
Stefan doesn't think he does, but that's okay.
Stefan is 7, Damon is 34
Stefan sniffles as he pumps his legs on the swings, trying not to think of his mother. His stitches in his stomach pull a little; a reminder of the car accident.
Someone joins him on the swing next to him, and they start pumping their legs in sync with Stefan's.
"Hey," The man greets and Stefan turns his head to see a Traveler Damon.
"Hi," Stefan greets quietly.
"It gets better," Damon doesn't need to elaborate; he knows. He always knows.
"Really?" Stefan doesn't ask how he knows, because Damon is always going to the future and the future Damon's are always coming here. He probably knows everything.
"Yeah. And we move on. You get a pretty girlfriend and so do I," Damon says.
Stefan crinkles his nose, "I don't want a girlfriend."
"Yeah, yeah," Damon waves a hand, "You say that now."
"But I mean it," Stefan insists, green eyes wide as he turns his head to look at Damon.
The darker headed man rolls his eyes, "Okay, Stefan."
They swing in silence.
"Dad's been being mean," Stefan says eventually. He sees Damon's hands tighten on the metal chains of the swing.
"I know," Damon repeats, "I know, but it gets better."
"Okay," Stefan says, because he's pretty sure Damon knows everything.
Stefan is 37, Elena is 37, Damon is 45
Stefan's always known that Damon will die young, but he's tried to ignore the fact. There have been clues, of course; none of Damon's Traveling counterparts have ever been older than forty-something.
But the night it happens, Stefan is still surprised.
It's New Year's Eve and the whole family is gathered – Caroline and Stefan's children are one and four, and Damon and Elena's kids are a little bit older than that. Jeremy's over with his wife Bonnie, and their friends Matt and Tyler are there with their wives and children.
Damon's standing with them one second, and then he's gone. He Travels back twenty minutes later looking like he'd been run over by two semis and golf cart. The bleeding wouldn't stop and Elena was crying. Caroline was ushering their friends and the kids out of the room while Stefan calls 911.
"Hold on, Damon, you've got to hold on," Stefan says once he's hung up. He grasps Damon's hand in his and sees Elena do the same on his other side.
Damon smiles and his eyes slide shut one last time.
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