I don't own the vampire diaries and I don't own the characters.
This takes place after they find the cure and do the spell on Elena. I'm not sure if I'll continue it but I've had it stuck in my head for a while so why not give it a shot?
The main POV's will be Damon, Elena, and Stefan. You might get it from Jeremy or Caroline every now and then.
Enjoy.
Feedback is appreciated.

Damon's POV

Klaus agreed to help but with one look at Caroline he had to get the hell out of dodge. I couldn't blame him, seeing the people we love hurt is never something we want to witness, which is why I found myself leaving too. Jeremy had left when I did to take Matt home and the wolf and his superhero doppelganger sidekick had left to go check on Katherine. I still don't get why they worry about her, I sure as hell don't. Elena hadn't come after me, and for once I was thankful, there was someone I needed to talk to and I didn't know how to in front of Elena. I stopped by the store and picked up just one daisy and continued on to the cemetery. I passed Ric, and Elena's parents. I had to talk to her; I had to tell her what has happened this year just like I had done every year on this day for the past 150 years.

"Well your eldest son is a doppelganger. Who would have thought huh?" I set the flower on her marker and sit on the grass with my legs crossed under me. My mom, it's her birthday and I always come to see her. "You won't believe it mom but Elena chose me after all. I wish you could have met her, you'd like her a lot." I'm avoiding the point of the visit, part of me doesn't want to voice it out loud but part of me does. I don't know who else I can tell my deepest thoughts to except my mother. I know I should be able to tell Elena but I don't know how. She doesn't know the whole story. "Stefan's okay mom. I'm taking care of him just like I promised." I can't keep the memory from coming back to me no matter how hard I try, I re-live it every year.

My mom is sitting in her room with a three week old Stefan; I walk in a crawl up to sit next to her. I'm just about to turn 4 and I'm excited my little brother is finally here. My mom has been sick though so I worry about her a lot, she's not allowed to leave her room and my dad has been mad at everyone for the past few weeks. She sets Stefan down next to her and pulls me into her lap. "Damon, I need to tell you what's happening." I look up at her and she's trying not to cry, I don't know why but she keeps talking before I can ask. "I'm about to go away Damon, but I need you to do something for me okay?"

"Kay mamma." I smile up at her, glad that I can help while she's on her trip. "Where you go to?" She doesn't answer and I see more tears that want to come but she holds them back.

"Somewhere that I can watch over you and your brother. I need you to promise to keep him safe. You're a big brother now and he's going to need you, more than you know. Can you do that for me?"

I nod a few times. "Yes mamma. I'll keep Stefan okay, I promise."

A few days later my mom is gone and everyone is sad. Dad doesn't talk to me and he doesn't look at Stefan. I remember my promise though and I keep it. I help our housekeeper take care of Stefan and I sleep in his room sometimes to keep him from crying at night. As the years pass I see us growing up, I kept that promise. My father's rage at sadness at losing my mother grew and with it came a temper; I took it all in stride. He didn't ever try to hurt Stefan but I never let him have the chance. When I saw Stefan do something that I knew dad wouldn't like I always did something worse, I took the severe punishment and let Stefan have the lesser punishment. This continued our whole lives, even after we died and became vampires. I don't think Stefan knows I watched him from a distance, but I did. I couldn't break the promise I made to my mother. As the years passed though I grew lonely, after watching so many bad things happen I guess there came a time that I didn't care anymore. That's when I flipped the switch, I broke the promise. I always found myself back talking to my mom one day out of the year and that was the one day I'd let myself feel, feel all the guilt at not knowing or caring what was happening to my brother, but mostly I felt like a failure. I didn't want my mother to be disappointed with me. Then came the time when I saw her on the road, Elena Gilbert. We had talked, I fell in love with her instantly, I wanted her but I also wanted to be a man that she deserved, and from that moment on I flipped the switch back on.

I lift my head up to stare at my mom's marker and I start to talk again. "I'm sorry mamma. Ti amo mamma. Stefan told me who was using him, it scares me. I don't know if I'm strong enough to protect him, or Elena." I jerk my head around to see Elena watching me. I take a deep breath, I don't know if she heard what I'd said but I found myself hoping she had. "Elena. You found me." Damn, my voice cracks.

She walks and sits down next to me. "Damon. I just wanted to say I love you. I'll let you talk with your mother." She gets up and starts to walk away, I have to stop her.

I get up fast and grab her waist. "Don't you want to meet my mother Elena?" I raise my eyebrows at her and lead her back to where I was sitting. I sit down and pull her into my lap. Just because I know she doesn't speak Italian that's how I start the introduction. "Mamma questa è la ragazza che mi ha fatto di nuovo cura, Elena." I laugh at the look she gives me. It feels good to laugh after my trip down memory lane.

"What did you say Damon?" She rolls her eyes now so I translate.

"I said, 'Mamma this is the girl who made me care again, Elena'. She's heard a lot about you. I talk about you very much." She blushes and it gives me an idea. I didn't know if Stefan ever told her about our life before Katherine but I was sure it wouldn't be the same. Stefan and I grew up in the same house but very differently. "Do you want to see something?" I have to show her.

She looks at me skeptically. "We aren't going to dig up your mom too are we?" She raises an eyebrow and it takes me a minute to get the joke. My father and the grimoire.

I roll my eyes. "Ti ho detto che era divertente." I stand up and hold out my hand, "No Elena. I want to show you where I grew up, maybe tell you a story or two." She takes my hand and says goodbye to my mother. As we walk to the car I start to get nervous, she's been to the old Salvatore place before with Stefan but I don't know if he ever showed her this part of the mansion. The part that is still there and that I still consider my home. My mind is still reeling from finding out I'm a doppelganger and that Tatia is after Elena but right now I'm too focused on showing Elena where the fondest memories of my childhood were made.

We dont talk as I drive to the old house but I can tell she's curious. "This might be different from when Stefan brought you here. I don't think he remembers this particular place." This causes her to look at me with quesioning eyes.

"Why wouldn't he remember?"

I answer as I park and point towards a dark cottage off in the distance, but still on the property. "Because Stefan only remembers living in the mansion that we were building and moved into when he was a month old. I was 4 when we moved into the mansion. It was nice but it wasn't like a home to me. My home was there." She's looking but she doesn't say anything. I think she thinks it might hurt me to talk about it, she's wrong as usual, so I get out and go open her door. "I want to show you my home Elena. You've heard Stefan's story, now I would like to tell you mine. If you want to hear it."

She nods and takes my hand lacing our fingers together. We walk to the cottage and after we're inside I turn on the light, she looks around for a moment and her breath hitches. I walk to see what she's looking at and it's the only portrait still in the house, it was taken before my mother had passed in her room, our last time together as a family. I sit down on the couch and start the story.

Elena's POV

I had been looking for Damon for hours, I could tell he still had a lot on his mind after everything Asher had told him. I wanted to talk to him. I found him in the cemetary talking to his mom. I did my best not to hear what he was saying, I knew it was a private moment and I didn't want to intrude. Even though I'm singing in my head I hear him say that he's scared he can't protect Stefan and I. Before consciously making the decision I step toward him and he turns to face me. "Elena. You found me." My heart breaks when his voice cracks, he'd been crying.

I quickly go to him, he will talk to me when he's ready I know this now. "Damon. I just wanted to say I love you. I'll let you talk with your mother." I get up to leave; I wouldn't mind talking to mine either while I'm here. I do miss her and I can't wait to tell her about how I finally found everything I was looking for in Damon.

Apparently he had other plans. His arms wrap around me and I can feel him smiling with his head on my shoulder, "Don't you want to meet my mother Elena?" Why am I nervous? I shake the thought from my mind and follow Damon back to where he was sitting. He pulls me onto his lap and starts speaking Italian. The only word I can pick up is my name. I don't know what look I give him but he's laughing at it. It must have been somewhere in between a 'Seriously Damon?' look and a 'You better not have said anything inappropriate!' look. I roll my eyes and decide to ask him to translate. "What did you say Damon?"

"I said, 'Mamma this is the girl who made me care again, Elena'. She's heard a lot about you. I talk about you very much." I made him care again? I can feel my cheeks start to get dangerously hot and I look at the grass around us. I can't stop thinking of what he would tell his mom about me, or how many times he's come to visit her. I didn't think either Stefan nor Damon came to see either parent very often. I can feel his eyes on me and I hear him take a very deep breath. "Do you want to see something?"

I can tell he's nervous and I can feel the tension radiating off of him. I try to lighten his mood a little by bringing up a memory of the last time we were at one of his parent's graves together. "We aren't going to dig up your mom too are we?" I look up at him and I'm shocked to see him confused. I watch as it takes my joke a minute to sink in, then he rolls his eyes and laughs.

He stands up and holds his hand out to me, I take it and he pulls me up to him. "Ti ho detto che era divertente." Again with the Italian, I don't even ask for a translation. He can keep that between his mom and himself. "No Elena. I want to show you where I grew up, maybe tell you a story or two." This suprises me. Damon's never been one to open up about his past, but he knows I've always been curious and I can see in his eyes that now he's ready to tell me.

We drive to the place where the old Salvatore mansion was and I remember coming here with Stefan after I first learned that he and Damon were vampires. I stare out the window quietly. I don't know what to say honestly, I've never heard any stories about their lives before Katherine but something about Damon's look when he asked me to come with him seemed to say I was about to hear a lot. "This might be different from when Stefan brought you here. I don't think he remembers this particular place."

I'm taken back by this statement. At first I'm confused, maybe he's taking me somewhere else entirely. I notice the road though before I turn to look at him, it's the same place I'm sure of it. "Why wouldn't he remember?" I glance back out the window as he parks but turn back to look at him when he answers me.

"Because Stefan only remembers living in the mansion that we were building and moved into when he was a month old. I was 4 when we moved into the mansion. It was nice but it wasn't like a home to me. My home was there." I follow where he is pointing and that's when I see it. A small cottage on the back of the property. No wonder I didn't see it before, it would be almost impossible for a human to see it from here, they'd have to be closer and Stefan didn't exactly give me a tour the last time we were here. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Damon's stil nervous, I look down at my hands. I'm curious yeah, but I don't want to cause him to hurt by bringing up old memories so I don't say anything just yet. I turn around alarmed when he gets out of the car, I watch him come and open my door and hold his hand out for me once again.

"I want to show you my home Elena. You've heard Stefan's story, now I would like to tell you mine. If you want to hear it." I take his hand lace our fingers together and give him a gentle squeeze. Before I know it we are at the cottage and he leads me inside and turns on the light. It's beautiful, and he's right it does feel like a home when you step into it. I look around and take everything in. It seems clean and some things are up to date so I assume Damon has been looking after it. He seems to hold this place close to his heart and the thought makes me smile. I look at the bookshelves and I find an old portrait, similar to others I've seen at the boardinghouse but this one makes my breath hitch. I see Mr. Salvatore with his arm around a woman who I would assume is Mrs. Salvatore, Damon's parents, then I see the two children. A little boy who is sitting next to his mother, I'd know him anywhere, he has the same look in his eye in the picture that I saw the morning after I told him I chose him, Damon. He has one hand placed on a little baby, like he's protecting him, I realize this must be Stefan. He sits down on the couch next to me and starts to tell me a story about the older boy in the picture.

I listen carefully as Damon tells me how he loves his family and promised his mom to look after Stefan. As the story goes on I realize that what I'd once told Stefan about the choices Damon's made was very true. Every move he's made in his life hasbeen for love, love for his mother, love for his brother, and love for me.

Stefan's POV

It wasn't a long process, getting de-compelled. It hurt like hell though. I never left Caroline's side and was suprised she took it as well as she did. She stayed with me while I went last and I tried to take it as well as she did. When it was over Klaus came back and tried to compel us but was unsuccessful, why didn't I know about this spell when he compelled me to hurt Elena? I could have used it back then.

After about an hour of planning Caroline and I set off in search of Tatia. "Let's try the place where I always met with her." I lead Caroline towards the quarry and into the woods where I'd gone before. We waited for a while but there was no sign that Tatia was coming or had even been there. Caroline pulls out her cell phone and tries to call her. I know that it won't work, even though I've never consciously met her I know she's not stupid.

We then go to check the three places Caroline had met her before. "You know it sucks having to play spy Stefan!" I laugh. Caroline is back.

I roll my eyes and shove her playfully, "Yeah well at least I get to be with the neurotic, control freak on crack rather than someone boring."

She looks at me and shoves me back. "Good for you then. I got stuck with skulking vampire boy. Tell me Stefan is this you're broody look or your it's Tuesday look?"

I roll my eyes. "You think you're so funny huh Forbes?" She smiles a very big smile and sticks her tongue out at me.

She is still walking even though I've stopped. I quickly grab her arm and yank her behind me. "Tatia." I don't try to pretend to not know who she is, it's clear that all games are off. She heard every word that Caroline and I had exchanged. I feel Caroline stiffen behind me but I don't let go of her and I don't look away from Tatia.

"Sweet Stefan." She smiles and I almost throw up on the spot. She looks very much like Elena and Katherine, it's nerve-wracking.

"Not so sweet. Where is Katherine?" I can't help but ask, I feel like I should be thanking her for taking Elena's place.

"Ah yes, Katerina. You will see her soon enough. I was very displeased to learn that she had let Elena go. I had big plans for young Elena." She takes a step forward and I push Caroline as I take a step backward.

"Sorry to have put a kink in your plans. You won't get to Elena though." Caroline hasn't said anything and I don't think she will until Tatia speaks to her directly.

"Hmm we shall see Stefan. It's a drag that you and pretty Caroline can't be compelled anymore. I really enjoyed hearing from the both of you. Tell me Caroline, how is my dear Niklaus doing?"

"Klaus is pretty pissed with you actually, for taking Elena." I glance at her and see that she shows no fear in talking with Tatia, that's a good thing.

"I'm sure that is not the only reason. Never the less I'm sure he will be delighted to see me again soon. I've missed him so." She looks away from us now and I hear someone approaching in the woods.

About 3 minutes later Katherine joins us along with, "Travis?!" I half yell with rage.

"Sorry Stefan. I'm a werewolf, we don't trust vampires. No matter how good they might seem." Suddenly I'm struck with fear, Asher. I know Damon just found out about him but something tells me he and Elena would be upset if something happened to him.

"Where is Asher?"

"I kept him safe. He's at Elena's house with her brother. I was just told to let Asher take Elena to Damon and see what happened and then come back and tell Tatia."

She had compelled him. Damn, she's good. "You…" I look at Tatia now as I start to ask my question.

"Yes dear Stefan, I compelled him when I caught him standing guard when Katerina rescued Elena. Now for my message to be delivered."

Before I can move she runs to Travis and rips his heart out then grabs Katherine. I don't feel myself moving forward until Caroline pulls me back.

"Katherine!" I yell as I see the stake Tatia pulls out her back pocket. I try to break Caroline's hold but my attempts are useless. She can't kill my Katherine! It's at that moment that I realize that all this time I've only ever loved her. "I love you Katherine!" She looks at me and smiles. Then she's gone.

I fall to the ground and Caroline catches me. I'm sobbing harder than ever before as I crawl to Katherine's body. I look up at Tatia and she looks back at me with nothing but hate in her eyes.

"Tell your dear brother and his Elena this message Stefan." She gets on the ground across from me and says, "And then there were two."