Summary: Klaus' plan is set into motion but Elijah has intercepted. Damon plays along but he has a little something up his sleeve as a backup plan.

Damon was sure that he could wait until the next morning to fulfill Klaus' demands so in the meantime he explained to Alaric what was happening. Before any of that though, he checked out the hunter again because he was more concerned about Ric than the hybrid original's plans.

After a few drinks- or fourteen and constant mumbling about how he loved Alaric because he was awesome and sexy, he finally passed out in Alaric's bed. Alcohol usually didn't get to him but he was stressed and drank a lot. It couldn't be helped.

The next morning he woke to a soft voice chanting, wake up Damon and warm hands gripping his hips while something warm was pressed against his neck. "I really hope you aren't trying to get me all worked up just to leave me high and dry again." He murmured as he opened his eyes.

Alaric kissed down the vampire's neck and traced his fingers over a sharp hipbone. "That depends on if you tell me everything that happened last night." They discussed it but Damon was vague about it all. And drunk.

Damon rolled his eyes, staring up at the man who was straddling his waist. He knew he didn't have a choice. "Fine I'll tell you, princess. Fucking Elijah vervained me, then practically handed me over to Klaus who wants to jack me for my blood. Only thing missing was a big red bow for presentation."

"Did he hurt you, Damon?"

"Yeah, he hurt me bad, Ric. I feel so weak and vulnerable now." He threw his head back with a throaty moan and rolled his hips up against the hunter. "Oh Alaric, what am I going to do? I don't want the big bad hybrid to get me." He joked.

Alaric's breath hitched in his throat and his body reacted more to that joking moan than it should have. "Don't do that." It affected him too much.

Damon moaned again and reached up to roughly thread his fingers through blond hair. "And if I don't, what will you do?"

"Is that a challenge?"

Damon didn't answer, only closed the remaining space and kissed his hunter. It was definitely a challenge.

Alaric grabbed one of Damon's wrists and pinned it above his head while his other hand threaded fingers with Damon's. His lips, not even once, separated from the vampire's.

Damon moaned for real this time, hips bucking at the knee that was now between his legs. He was just expecting for someone to interrupt like always.

Alaric pulled away and tapped Damon's lips. "You compelled me."

Damon stared up at him. "What?"

"You confessed last night about the whole compelling me to take vervain." He leaned down and nipped at pale flesh. "You promised me you wouldn't compel me."

"I know but special circumstances call for special exceptions."

Alaric slipped his hands down between Damon's legs and with ease elicited a muffled moan from him. "Still."

Damon bit his lip and brought his hand up to the side of Alaric's face. "Upset?"

"No, I'm not about that at least."

"What then?"

"Elijah creeping on you."

"What?"

Alaric wasn't blind. Elijah had been around far too much for it to be just coincidence. Plus, he interrupted sex one too many times. He noticed that the original was looking out for Damon even if he tried to hide it. Alaric only noticed because he himself did the same thing after he met Damon. He tried hiding that he was watching over Damon and did well with it until Stefan noticed.

Either way, there were only a few reasons to go through that much trouble to watch over someone who was classified as your enemy. And those reasons narrowed down even further when you factored in the little fact of Elijah betraying his brother.

"For such a devious and conniving vampire you don't pay much attention do you?"

Damon raised a brow.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not upset with you so shut up." He leaned back down and kissed Damon again before rolling off of him.

Damon made a noise that clearly was disapproving of the loss of skin contact. "Shit, man." He sat up and glanced at the blond before rubbing his head. "So, did I drunkenly tell you the demands?"

"About locking Elena and Stefan up?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

They slipped into silence and Damon groaned. "Not like I have a choice but I'm going to do it." He felt a hand on his lower back so he relaxed into the touch. "I know, Ric."

He didn't even have to speak to get his message across.

"I can't just ignore Klaus. He thinks I'm compelled and if I don't do it he'll most likely..." He paused.

"Most likely what?"

"Kill you." He stood from the bed and slid on his jeans. "Looks like they're going into lock up." He was sure Klaus wouldn't kill Stefan and Elena since Elijah assured him but he was still on the fence about Elijah. There was too much going on.

"Damon," he started. "You don't have to worry about me." He reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"The hell I do. Klaus took our rings and we didn't even know. If he can do that, then he can kill you." Damon pulled his wrist away. "And I'm not letting that happen."

"Damon."

"I'm serious Alaric."

Alaric stood and placed his hands on Damon's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "You're such an idiot. You can't lock them up."

"If you're worried about Elena, she'll be fine. I have a plan to make sure no one will go near them while locked away."

Alaric sighed. He couldn't believe that he was going to let Damon do this. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

"I do. Don't worry. What could go wrong?"

Damon figured out how he would accomplish this. Stefan would be easy; he could just snap his neck and be done with it. Elena though, he didn't want to hurt her and he knew she would be on vervain still so he couldn't compel her to go into lock up. He needed a little extra help.

"You want me to what?" Bonnie questioned.

"I want you to do your witchy thing and put Elena to sleep for a few hours."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to put Elena, my best friend to sleep with magic for you because Klaus wants you to lock them up?"

Damon nodded. "It sounded more logical in my head."

"You've lost your mind. I'm not helping Klaus."

"You're not helping him, you're-"

"I'm not helping you either."

"Not me. Alaric and Elena, you're helping them. He'll kill them if I decide to ignore his demands, Bonnie." He really thought he lost Alaric last night and that scared the hell out him. He couldn't handle that again. He signed heavily and looked at her. "Please."

Bonnie saw the fear in Damon's eyes and she knew he was truly terrified. She never saw it before but there was a first time for everything. "If anything happens to them I will kill you."

"I know."

She narrowed her eyes and Damon fell to his knees.

"Ah, shit, I said I know. Stop it!" He groaned, grabbing at his head.

She stopped and nodded. "Okay, I'll help you but there are rules."

"Whatever you say your highness."

As Bonnie promised, she cooked up a spell to force Elena into a deep sleep. All he had to do was lock them up once she added the finishing touches. "Go now. Get Stefan and let me know when you're ready."

Damon groaned as he walked through the front door of his home and he was instantly greeted by his brother. "Shouldn't you be in school, young man?"

Stefan laughed and tossed Damon a grin. "You do realize that it's summer vacation, right?"

"Right. So where is Elena?"

"Upstairs."

He looked down at his phone then back up at Stefan. "Sorry about this, brother." He swiftly made his way over to his brother and snapped his neck. He always found some type of enjoyment when he did that.

Damon quickly texted Bonnie. 'Alright it's done, do your witchy thing.'

He pocketed his phone then carried Stefan down to the basement and locked him up. Heading back upstairs and called out to the girl. "Elena?"

"I'm upstairs." She replied.

He came around the corner and stood in the doorway. When he locked eyes on Elena she was already on the floor. "Thank you, Bonnie. You work fast." He sang as he took her to the basement as well and locked the door on his way out.

He called Bonnie and paced the hallway. "So, you think you can keep Klaus and pretty much all of those hybrid bitches out of the house?"

"For how long exactly?"

"As long as possible."

"I'll try but I might not be able to keep the house protected for more than a week."

"I'm sure they won't be in there that long." He hung up and stepped outside.

"And here I thought you wouldn't be able to follow through with my commands. I was afraid you weren't under my control. Actually, I'm still unsure about that so I have a little request, Damon."

Damon mentally groaned and stepped closer to the hybrid. "What do you want?"

"Take your ring off."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." He looked him in the eyes and smiled. "Take your ring off and burn."

Damon narrowed his eyes and looked down at his hand. All he could think was that Klaus was on to him, but he knew he wouldn't die because Klaus still needed him.

"Now!"

Damon cursed under his breath and took a chance by pulling the ring off. He bit his lip hard as the sunlight pierced his skin.

Klaus smiled. "Alright, I've satisfied my suspicion, put the ring back on." He was skeptical since Damon didn't do as he was told last night immediately but this reassured him that he had control.

Damon grunted as he forced the ring back on his finger and hurried to the shade. "You fucking bastard." He grumbled. He wasn't sure which was harder; having to obey Klaus willingly or unwillingly. Once he healed up he stood and leaned against the door. "You know, you kind of need me so I think I should at least get some better treatment in this arrangement."

Klaus smirked. "You haven't earned that treatment just yet." He tossed something to Damon and tilted his head.

Damon looked down at the item. It was a ring, a ring that looked like Alaric's. He felt a pain go through his chest.

"I don't know who's helping you but you aren't too bright if you thought I wouldn't know Alaric is still alive. Don't worry, that's not his ring. It's the fake someone planted in my room. This is just a warning, Damon. Whatever you're planning, stop it. You can release your brother and the Elena now. That was just a test. I still need them to continue with their plan of course." He grinned and turned his back to Damon. "Oh, watch your steps because there will always be someone watching Alaric and you." And then he was gone. That was his leverage. He did in fact need Damon so he couldn't do too much to him, but he could still control him.

Damon stood there in shock. He wondered what went wrong. He didn't suspect Elijah since Klaus didn't mention his brother but he worried someone else was revealing things to Klaus. "Shit."

He released Stefan and Elena and called off Bonnie. Something wasn't right. He slid into the driver's seat of his car and phoned Alaric.

"We have a big problem, Damon." Alaric murmured as soon as he answered.