AN: People seem to like this story so I've decided to continue for as long as I keep getting reviews telling me you want more. This chapter is the start of episode 4.11. It mostly follows Damon's scenes as seen in the show but I've added an extra bit at the end of the first one. Enjoy.

"No way I'm not doing this," Jeremy says like he has a choice.

"What makes you think you have a choice?" Klaus asks. See, peas in a pod.

"You have to kill vampires to complete the hunters mark," Damon explains to the dim-witted idiot. "Mark equals cure. You're in a bar full of almost vampires so...get your hunt on."

"Screw you," Jeremy says and it's funny 'cause he thinks he's scary; "you said I wouldn't have to kill any innocent people." God, there it is again. Who gives a shit?!

"Jeremy they're not people." Fuck, how stupid is this kid?

"Enough," Klaus commands and he's right. This whole trying-to-reason-with-the-stupid-humans is a habit that's going to take some breaking. "Have at it or else..." Klaus orders. Mmm, he's hot when he's bossy.

"I don't take orders from you dick," Jeremy says to Klaus in an unconvincing attempt to be hard-core. "Hunters can't be compelled." Wow, Jeremy just reached a new level of stupid there. It's amazing, Damon wonders how many levels there can possibly be.

"You're right, I can't compel you," Klaus says with an edge of dark delight, this should be good. "But if your conscience is getting in the way then allow me to make this easy for you, because I can compel them." Oh, this is so exciting, Klaus is gonna compel the vampires to go after Jeremy. Damon should've got on board with supporting Klaus' evil plans long ago, it's so much more fun than being a good guy. "I'm gonna give you a two minute head start them I'm gonna send every vampire in here after you. You kill them or they kill your friend, Matt." Matt? That wasn't part of the deal.

"Whoa, wait a second," Matt says, appealing to Damon to help him. And damn, Damon does feel kinda bad for Matt because the poor bastard is only human after all. It must really suck being surrounded by supernaturals with awesome powers and have none of them yourself.

"No, no. You turn 'em, he kills 'em, that was the deal Klaus."

"I'm taking artistic licence," Klaus says flippantly. Damn, it would be nice to be so free. It makes Damon realise that he has a long way to go and Klaus can be the one to show him the way.

"You know we can't take them all on at the same time." Klaus can't be serious, Damon's good, but he's not that good. Especially when he's got to try to keep Matt the useless human alive and make sure Jeremy is the one to actually make the kills while not getting killed. Gah...Klaus is making this difficult.

"With you as his coach he'll be fine," Klaus says and damn him, he knows that will make Damon step up...and that's his plan, Damon realises. This is a test. "It's Matt I'm worried about."

Damon sighs. The look Klaus gives him then is one that says he's had enough pretending and he wants to speak to Damon alone. It's a look that sends a chill through Damon because of the familiarity it implies. It's going to take some proving to Klaus that he's worthy of Klaus' attention. And oh how he wants to be worthy.

"Jeremy go get the weapons out of the car I'll be right behind you." Jeremy goes but Matt's still standing there, can't he take a hint? "Both of you." Matt follows Jeremy outside leaving Damon and Klaus alone, apart from the transitioning newbies that is, oh and the hybrid bodyguards.

"If I hear an engine start, I'll kill Matt myself," Klaus calls after them with amusement.

With the exit of tweedle-dum and tweedle-dumber the atmosphere changes completely. Both Damon and Klaus drop their masks and Damon feels like he can breathe again.

"Look," Damon says, attempting to be reasonable, "I'll get this done for you but do you have to compel them to kill Matt? The poor guy is only human after all."

"Damon, Damon, Damon..." Klaus says pityingly while closing the distance between them. He stops just before he actually touches Damon, so close Damon could...what? An alluring smile forms on his lips. "Of course I don't have to," Klaus purrs, "and that's the point." Once upon a time Damon knew that, which proves he's been hanging around Elena way too long. "I'm doing it because I find it amusing. So you'd better get going Damon, Matt won't last long without you." Klaus eyes are alive with enjoyment as he dismisses Damon and walks away to compel the newly turned vampires. Damn it, Damon hates this feeling of inadequacy.

"Oh, and Damon?" Klaus says turning back to him, "I'm only tolerating you're squeamishness because I know deep down you're a monster too. Don't worry, we'll find him soon enough."

xxx

Lead here by the smell of Matt's blood, Damon finds Matt and Jeremy chit-chatting among the trees. He strolls up behind Jeremy who finally realises there's someone behind him. Jeremy turns, pulling a stake but he's slow and Damon easily stops his attack. Jeez, you'd think these idiots had a death wish.

"Don't hesitate. You're lucky it was me otherwise you two would be dead." Damon says with frustration. How many times does he have to go over this shit? It's just not that hard to remember.

"You set us up," Jeremy says angrily but there's a hint of disappointment there too. It just goes to show how far Damon's fallen that Jeremy thought Damon was trustworthy. Yuck.

"I was trying to get this thing over with. You're the one that pissed off Klaus. Now you need to fight your way out of it."

"Where are the other vampires?" Matt asks with justified concern. Damon's not really in the mood to save him at the moment.

"They're newbies, they're still trying to figure out how to track which means you have two seconds to get ready to fight."

"The lake house is this way. If we can get there they won't be able to get inside," Jeremy tells Matt. Far out they are making this difficult. Can't Jeremy see completing the marks is an inevitability? If he'd just get on with it Damon could be rid of all this crap.

"Wait. You wanna run?"

"They're gonna kill Matt." No argument there.

"Fine. Get outta here, I'll slow them down." Why does Damon do this to himself? As if Matt matters.

As soon as Matt and Jeremy run off a newbie vampire runs out of the woods and smack bang into Damon. Damon plunges his hand into the vampire's chest and the newbie falls to the ground dead, leaving Damon alone in the woods with a bleeding heart clutched in his hand. The satisfaction is fleeting. Damon looks down at the bloody organ, damn it's messy. And it's one less vampire for Jeremy to kill, what a waste.

xxx

"What the hell were you thinking?" Elena demands the second Damon enters the room. Fucking hell, she's a nagging bitch. There are several truthful answers he could give to this question; Jeremy's annoying, I wanted to impress Klaus, I want to find the cure to get you out of my life. "All I asked you to do was teach him how to fight."

"He's not the best student in the world," is the answer Damon comes up with, while pouring himself a drink. It's true and it won't piss Elena off too much. Being a terrible person comes in handy in situations like these, people expect you to be an asshole and that means they let you get away with it. But he still needs her onside to find this cure. Without her support, he loses Jeremy.

"Wait, now this is my fault?" Jeremy whines, doesn't he know when to shut up and let the grown-ups talk?

"Stop talking," Damon tells him, he's had just about enough of Jeremy's whinging today. "Look I know you're angry. But my way was the easiest, safest and fastest way to complete his make to get you the cure."

"I don't care about the cure Damon, not if it means putting the people I care about in danger," Elena rants predictably. Blah blah blah.

"Hey, there would've been no danger if he hadn't gone all bleeding heart." Why can't they understand there is no avoiding this?

"He killed someone, these were innocent people." Oh for fucks sake, there it is again. As if that matters, they were randoms.

"The mark grew, didn't it?" He'll never get it through her thick head that innocents don't matter when you're a vampire. As if anyone's really innocent anyway.

"Ok look, we need a plan. There's a group of compelled vampires out there and as soon as the sun goes down they're gonna come after Matt so we have to find a way to protect him." Yep, there it is again, that Gilbert sense of entitlement.

"Yes, I know. But there will be no problem when Big Jere and I go on a hunting expedition. Elena I know it's tragic, I get it, we also agree that he had to kill them. Now we have added incentive. So you take the least most valuable player home, Jeremy and I will finish this."

"I'm sorry, are you saying that I should leave him here with you?"

"Trust me, I will keep him safe. Ok." Elena nods in agreement and Damon has to resist the urge to bow to an imaginary audience. It really was a great performance.

xxx

"You really think they went back to the bar?"

"Where else are they gonna go? It's all cabins and vacation homes, they can't get in anywhere. Alright, there you go," Damon says handing Jeremy a sick crossbow. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"Fine," Jeremy sooks. Jeez, he could be a little happier about being handed such a cool weapon. "Let's get this over with." Jeremy leans down to load the bow and if Damon ever felt any affection for him it would be in this moment, seeing Jeremy capable of handling a deadly weapon, makes Damon like him just a little more. Ok, so maybe he doesn't want the kid to die after all.

"Listen, just go one at a time, only shoot for the heart, don't hesitate and don't miss," Damon instructs.

"Save the teaching moment, Elena's not here. You don't have to pretend like you give a damn about me." Little prick. That's appreciation for you. And that's just one more reason Damon can add to his list of reasons not to give a fuck.

"I'm trying keep you alive dumbass," and it's official, that's all Damon feels for Jeremy now. He's a means to an end. Kill vampires, complete the mark, find the cure. "C'mon."

xxx

So here they are, back at the bar but it's disturbingly quiet...and there's a big streak of blood on the floor.

"Something's not right," Damon says in a captain obvious moment. Damn, maybe Jeremy's stupidity is catching, he has been hanging around him a lot lately. They follow the trail of blood into the cool room and fuck, there's a pile of dead newbie vampires.

"Looks like we're gonna have to find some new vampires, what a waste." Bloody hell, in a town that's crawling with vampires just shouldn't be this hard to find some to kill.

"What the hell happened?" Jeremy asks.

"I confess, I did it." Great, just great. Enter Kol Mikaelson.

"Kol..."

"Jeremy, good to see you mate," Kol says in an annoyingly cheerful way, "sorry about the mess. It was a little crowded when I arrived and I prefer more intimate gatherings." It's at this time that about a billion thoughts race through Damon's head. What is Kol doing here? Where did he get that jacket? Is he here on Klaus' order? No, that doesn't make sense because Kol killing these newbies isn't part of the plan. But Kol is terribly efficient and so much better than Damon at this evil minion thing, maybe now that he's here, Klaus will use him instead. That thought upsets Damon, he doesn't want to be pushed to the sideline again. There is however one thing Damon can offer Klaus that Kol can't... but right now this situation needs handling so Damon pushes that appealing idea away for now. Damon's main goal at the moment is to keep Jeremy safe, not indulge in lurid fantasies. So, how can he handle this is a way that will please Klaus? He can't let Kol hurt Jeremy, but he can't kill Kol either. Think, damn it, think. "We three need to have a little chat."