AN: Hope that last chapter had some good brotherly love. We all love Damon and Stefan's relationship! Disclaimer: If I owned this, these characters would never have existed because I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with them! So we all owe L.J Smith a big thank you whether you like the books or not. The T.V show wouldn't have existed without them. We all love you!

Damon's Point of View

Damon didn't know what had caused him to hug his brother back. As macho as he wanted to be at that moment, it felt right. It had been forever since the two had interacted like that.
When they pulled apart, something felt different. Damon realized it must have been the fact that for the first time in a long time, they actually felt like brothers.
Alaric and Elena came back into the room and it was awkwardly silent.
"You're looking a bit stronger," Alaric observed. Then his eyes fell on the wound on Stefan's wrist that was still healing and he fell silent again.
"Well what's the plan?" Elena asked.
Thankful that the subject was changed, Damon answered instantly. "We'll figure something out."
"We've got to get Stefan out of this somehow," Alaric said.
Suddenly, Stefan stood up from where he was kneeling. "What? No! You guys are not planning on breaking me out. Didn't you hear what Katherine said?" he turned to face Damon. "You will die."
Damon shook his head. "No because luckily I'm smart enough to find my way around things."
Elena looked at him. "What are you planning?" she asked suspiciously.
"Did you guys not see the loop hole in this?" Damon asked, sitting up and leaning against the back of the couch.
"What are you talking about, Damon?" Alaric asked. "There is no loop hole."
"Oh, come on. I wasn't even there when you two talked to Katherine and I see it. What did she tell you two?"
"She told us that if we went searching for Stefan that she'd kill you," Elena explained shaking her head. "Damon I don't see where you're going with this."
"Quote he exact words," Damon told her.
Elena looked at Alaric, who shrugged. "I don't remember exactly but it was something like, 'if you stop playing hide-and-seek, then you get Damon."
"Yeah, and when Katherine said 'you' who did she mean?"
"Me and Alaric," Elena answered, still looking confusesd.
"Exactly! You and Alaric. If you and Ric go, I die."
Alaric looked up, apparently understanding. "Well who else do you suggest go then?"
Damon raised his eyebrows. "I'm not going to be weakened forever, Ric."
"I can't believe this!" Stefan hissed, startling everyone. "No one is doing this for me."
"I don't know, Stefan," Damon started. "I'd day I owed it to you." He used the same words Stefan had been saying to him to mock his younger brother.
Stefan shook his head. "I can't let this happen."
"Well it's three against one, Stefan. I'm sorry, brother, you're over-ruled."
Alaric stepped forward. "I'm in on one condition."
"And what might that be?" Damon asked, trying to hide his annoyance.
"You take someone with you."
Damon raised his eyebrows. "Who would go with me?" he pointed out. "In case you've forgotten, I'm not on nice terms with any of your guys' friends. Wicked Witch of the West I think is still crying in a corner because I didn't die from the bite, and Blondie is probably next to her, hugging and comforting her plotting my death."
No one said anything, because Damon knew he got them there. He hadn't exactly been making friends the day he came back to Mystic Falls. The only people who still remotely liked him were Elena-it was a kind of like/hate relationship. They had their fair share of pissing off one another. But she couldn't go rescue Stefan. Alaric-who he considered his best and only actual friend. The two of them had been off and on ever since they met, but they really did care for each other. But he couldn't go with him either. And finally, there was Stefan. They were brothers. Born to love each other, and for a while, that's all Stefan was to Damon. The guy he was supposed to love. But it became so much more after awhile. They have been through so much together, and it took Damon this long to realize he needed his brother almost as much as Stefan needed him. But Stefan was the one who was in need of help.
"Well there's not a single person that would be willing to go with you to help Stefan?" Alaric asked.
"Oh, there's a bunch of people who would be willing to go with me to save Stefan. My only concern is being accidently pushed off a cliff or accidently drowned in the process."
"Caroline wouldn't," Elena spoke up. "And neither would Bonnie. They're good enough friends of mine to not try to kill you."
Damon sighed. "What about that time where Bonnie set me on fire?" Damon pointed out. "You begged her to stop and the only reason she did, is because you broke her focus by grabbing her."
"Fine, then. Caroline will go with you and Bonnie to stop Bonnie from killing you," Elena said.
"And what makes you think Barbie will want to stop it?" Damon asked.
"She feels guilty," Elena explained sadly. "She called me and was in tears and said that this was all happening because of her."
Damon sighed. "Fine, I'll go with Bonnie and Caroline. But if I end up dead, you know who to call the cops on."
Stefan stared at everyone. "I can't let any of you do this."
"Give me one good reason why we you shouldn't," Damon said. When Stefan hesitated, Damon raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I thought so."
"Damon-"Stefan stopped when a loud, non-stop beeping noise was coming from Stefan. It didn't take Damon long to realize that it was Stefan's watch.
"Time's up," Stefan whispered. "I have to go."
Everyone was silent for a while when Elena ran into Stefan's arms. They hugged for awhile. And when they pulled apart Elena wiped a tear from her eyes. "I won't stop thinking about you, Stefan. But don't worry, Damon will talk to Bonnie and Caroline and we'll get you out of this.
Stefan nodded and hugged Elena again. When they broke apart for the final time, Stefan approached glanced at Alaric, who nodded.
"I hope to see you soon," Alaric said. Damon could sense the awkwardness in the air. Both Alaric and Stefan never really were close.
Stefan nodded in acknowledgement to what Alaric had said. Then Damon watched as Stefan's sad eyes fell on him. But Damon saw more than sadness in his younger brother's eyes. He saw fear. Stefan was scared, and Damon didn't blame him.
Damon beckoned Stefan to come with a turn of his head, and Stefan obeyed, moving closer to his brother.
"You don't have to do this for me," Stefan whispered.
"No your right, Stefan I don't. No one is holding a stake to my chest. But maybe I want to."
Stefan was scared, and Damon suddenly got protective over his younger brother. He wrapped Stefan in his arms, and Stefan gently put his arms around Damon, making sure not to cause harm to his sore body.
Damon sighed and whispered in Stefan's ear. "I'm going to make sure Klaus doesn't hurt you, okay?"
Stefan nodded. "Okay," he whispered back at Damon.
"You're my brother, and I will make sure you get through this." Stefan just nodded his response again, and stood up.
"I wish I could tell you where we'll be, but I'm meeting Klaus at the cave and then we're leaving right after that. Klaus is too smart to tell me where we're going."
Damon nodded. "I'll find you."
Stefan turned around and looked at his older brother. "You have to promise you won't come near me or Klaus before you've regained his strength.
Damon hesitated then nodded. "Fine. Now get out of here before Klaus kills you."
Stefan smiled again. He glanced back at Elena. "I'll be okay," he whispered.
Elena nodded, her mouth formed into a thin, tight line. With one last glance, Stefan left.

I'm done! And you all are probably plotting my death. Okay, so how many times have I lied to you about how many chapters there will be? Like 20 times? Alright, sorry. As you can see, this probably won't be the last chapter… Whoops. :P Uh… Sorry. Really. I thought it would be over and I could just move on with my life, but it didn't really turn out that way. I was actually angry with myself so I stopped writing this for like a week. *Clears throat* Alright, I'll just be honest, I forgot about it. Alright that was a lie, I remembered but I just have the time… *smiles guiltily* OKAY THAT WAS A LIE TOO! THE HONEST, SAD TRUTH IS THAT I WAS BUSY ON FACEBOOK AND DOING OTHER USELESS THINGS WITH MY LIFE! I KEPT WANTING TO WRITE THIS BUT I DIDN'T! HAPPY? Ha-ha. There's the sad, sad truth. But, I'm publishing now? Does that make it okay? Probably not.