Chapter fourteen

The next few days were a fog for Damon. Meredith had set up an IV pumping blood and vervain back into his system. He drifted in and out of consciousness while his body healed. Occasionally voices would drift through to him.

"I think we can let him wake up soon." Meredith said "he won't rip out the stitches now."

Darkness.

"I love you." Sacha's voice. "You'll be fine soon. I promise."

Darkness.

"He's my brother. I have the right to see him." Distant this time, in another room.

Stefan. What the hell was Stefan doing here? Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He forced back the darkness that threatened to engulf him again, and then pushed himself into the upright position, choking back a groan at the pain in his abdomen. He looked down, it was almost healed. Why was it taking so long?

"No. You don't. " Alex told Stefan. "Not until Damon says you do. I will call you when he's up and about."

"I don't understand why you're doing this."

"You don't – " She couldn't believe he was actually saying that. "You know what, you need to get off of my property."Alex said.

Damon pulled the IV out of his arm and stood on rubbery legs. He stumbled forward and caught himself at the door frame. "You heard the lady. Get off our property. "

Alex moved quickly to his side."Easy, Babe." She said sliding an arm around his waist. She started to take him back to the bedroom.

"No. I want on the sofa. Tired of the bed. Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that." He said with less strength than he liked, he liked even less that he needed to lean against her as they walked.

"Damon… are you alright?" Stefan asked still standing on the porch looking in.

"Yep, right as rain." He said easing down onto the sofa. "Gonna be running that 100 yard dash later this afternoon. I might even get in a good staking before dinner. " he winced a little as he adjusted. "That is if you don't get the hell out of here."

"I'm sorry. " Stefan said. "I know that's not good enough, but I don't know what to do or say to make this up to you."

"You can start with Goodbye." Damon said.

"Are you still on the rowan and angelica?" Alexandra asked Stefan.

"Every day along with the vervain." Stefan said honestly.

"Are you saying someone was messing with his head?" Damon asked, and sighed. Well that just figured. Now there was someone else he needed to track down and kill. "Still not a good enough excuse for leaving me there. " He said tightly "Do you know what they did to me?"

Stefan shook his head. "She won't tell me."

"See Alex knows when not to announce to the enemy that you're vulnerable." Damon yelled at him, then winced and eased back putting his hand over his abdomen.

"Am I the enemy, Damon? Is that where we are now?" Stefan couldn't blame him. If they were enemies, he deserved it.

"Yes." Damon said quickly then growled in frustration at the fact that the wounded yet accepting look in Stefan's eyes got to him. "No. We're not enemies, but we're not friends either. We just… share the same parents. That's all." He said the last with a little less conviction than he would have liked.

"Okay. " Stefan said, relaxing. "I can handle that for now."

"For now is going to be a long time, pal. " Damon said, this time with a good deal of conviction. "Wasn't just me you put in danger. "

"I waited a hundred and forty eight years for you to forgive me for the last time. I can wait." Stefan said.

"Fine, just do it somewhere else." Damon said tiredly.

Stefan nodded. "I'll send your things over with Matt and Jeremy then."

Damon nodded "Fine… go already."

Reluctantly Stefan walked away, and Alex got up to close the door.

"You should still be in bed." She said coming back to sit beside him.

"How long were you planning to keep me unconscious?" He asked her. "Not fair with the vervain in the IV" he said.

"You were in a lot of pain, and the wound was healing very slowly. " She told him. "We were going to stop adding the vervain tonight. You would have woken up tomorrow. You're still in pain though aren't you."

"Yeah but it's nothing a bottle of bourbon won't cure." He said. "Have I said thank you yet?" He asked.

"No but you said you love me, I'll take the win on that one ."

He smiled and leaned over to lay his head in her lap. "There's nothing like a couple near death experiences to put things in perspective. " Damon said quietly. "Gotta say that was the most impressive rescue I've had in a while. "

"I had a good team. Caroline is impressive." She told him. "I like her. I can tell she's one of yours."

He smiled a little and nodded."The ritual was completed." Damon said as the smile faded from his lips. The thought of Caroline brought the images back to him in vivid Technicolor. "I saw what they wanted to know."

Alex stroked his dark hair." You don't have to think about that. With Timon gone they have no way to pull Tyler out of his rest."

"That's just it. He's not at rest." Damon said."And Klaus isn't dead."

"I don't understand."

"I think someone did the same thing to Klaus that was done to Julianna." Damon told her. "Only Tyler wasn't gone. He wasn't put into anything either. He's out there in limbo. Not a spirit, not able to pass over because he's not dead. He's just … homeless."

"Caroline is not going to like that." Alexandra wasn't sure what to do about it. She wasn't sure disembodied was something she had any power over. Then again he was undead… this was going to take research.

"Don't tell her."He said. "There's nothing she can do."

"And if it were me that was out there, would you want it kept from you?"

"You don't play fair." He said with a sigh. "There's something else you need to know. Timon told me that he had an arrangement with your mother. As far as he was concerned you were already his."

"Well… then I guess my father saved him a good deal of disappointment." She said coldly.

He looked up at her. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It's the hazard of having a mother as old and aristocratic as mine." Alex rolled her eyes. "She forgets that we aren't hers to play with. Or it could be that she's a witch and thinks she has the right to control everyone around her." She shook her head "It's alright."

"Sorry." He told her. "I just thought you should know."

"No I'm glad you told me." She said honestly.

"Speaking of witches, do you know who was messing with Stefan's head?"

"There is of course debate. I believe it was Bonnie all on her own. Everyone else thinks it was the ghost of her ancestor possessing her. "

Damon thought about it. "no… it wouldn't be Emily. She likes Stefan. She always has. Emily might have influenced her to hate what you are, but what happened after I will guarantee you is all Bonnie. "

"Regardless that house has to be dealt with and the spirits bound if they don't move on." Alex said. "Jeremy has told me enough about the place that I can't help believe that its time it was destroyed."

"I'm not going to argue there." Damon said. "How do we do it?"

"Well… I called my sisters." She said and Damon groaned.

"Isn't it bad enough that we have to deal with my brother being all puppy dog stalkerish at the door now we have your sisters coming?"

Alexandra laughed. "Don't complain. They are also going to help with that whole ring situation. Avril thinks that she knows how to make it work."

"Good. Because I have missed being breakfast in bed." He told her smiling. "But you're going to have to protect me from Yvette. She looked a little hungry last time I saw her." Her eldest sister gave him the cold horrors. Having dealt with Timon he had come to understand what the black eyes really meant. Yvette's eyes made Elena's look pale by comparison.

"I spoil you too much." She teased. "Don't worry about my sister. She won't cross me."

"That's that I thought about Stefan." He said. "I get it now, what you mean by you being the white sheep of the family." He shuddered involuntarily. "Timon was a real piece of work."

"I'm almost sorry that he's dead now." Most necromancers broke their thralls in the first few days, creating loyalty through fear. She could well imagine what Timon had done to Damon even in the short time he'd had him.

"There are more important things than vengeance." Damon said. "So why is this taking so long to heal?" The wound itched with the occasional sharp twinge of pain. It had been a long time since he had healed this slowly.

"The blade he used cuts through more than just the physical."She said gently.

Damon shuddered again. " That explains a few things .It will eventually heal right?"

"Yes, it will heal."She said. "Just slowly. How is the pain?"

"I'm alright." He said. "You have that knife.?"

"Yes it's locked up in the mausoleum. " She told him. "Elijah brought Timon's things to me as a sort of peace offering the morning after the ritual."

"He lies. You can't trust him. He will swear that he keeps his word and then he turns like a snake in the grass." Damon said.

"I know. Stefan told me. Elena thinks he is just driven to protect his family. She is very young and very naïve." She told him.

"Until we can make sure Bonnie isn't still messing with Stefan's head we can't trust him either." Although it still hurt at least he knew his brother hadn't entirely turned on him. Problem was that witchcraft wasn't like being compelled, there was more of the victim's personality and decision making involved. With all that Damon had done to him in the past, he had figured it would happen eventually. Part of him had always wondered if this new found brotherly love hadn't been the lead in to a trap. He thought it had finally been sprung when he had been left to Rebecca's mercies. Part of him still wondered.

"You have that look again." Alex said softly. "That old Katherine –Stefan look. " She stroked his hair.

" Just not used to being in pain." He lied, and she knew it. He was grateful when she didn't press.

"Then let's get you back into bed, old man. I'll join you until the children show up." By that she meant Jeremy, Matt and Caroline.

"Hey, you are robbing the cradle here. You don't get to call me old man." He teased as he slowly sat up. He let her help him to his feet even though the weakness he felt rankled.

"Is this where I point out you should respect your elders?" She asked slipping an arm around his waist to help support him as he walked.

"Yeah, cause that has ever happened." Damon smiled, the dark thoughts chased away temporarily.

Elena and the others filled boxes. "They are going to need a bigger house for just his things." She said sealing up yet another box of books. "Are you sure we need to pack everything up? He'll forgive you. He loves you."

Stefan shook his head "He'll never move back in here." He said. "He's angry and Rebekah was right about one thing. He had been going for the kill shot. He wasn't looking to make me suffer. He was looking to kill me. And that was before I let him be taken prisoner." He shrugged "It takes time to get over something like that. If ever."

"You had no way of knowing what she was going to do to him." Elena said.

"But I should have known." Stefan said "She's hurt him before. I knew they had been party to the attack the night before. There is no way I should have left him there. "He sighed. "He could probably have forgiven me if I hadn't made him talk about Alexandra in front of Rebecca. "

"He'll get over it." Elena said, she didn't notice the look that Jeremy and Matt had exchanged.

"I don't think either of them will be getting over anything any time soon." Stefan said as he carefully packed away what few mementos Damon had kept. "We should take the flowers over there too. They have a few days left in them."

"I'm on it." Caroline said walking into the bedroom. "They'll go in my car."

"Thank you."Stefan said a little sadly and moved on to fill another box.

"Thanks for coming. I wasn't sure if you would. " Elena told her friend as they continued to work.

"I'm not taking sides in this." Caroline said. "I love Bonnie. I don't think she did this to Stefan or Alex. But someone did. So I get that they think it was her or one of the dead witches using her to do it. But they don't talk crap about Bonnie around me and I don't want to hear anything about Alex from you guys. Okay? I'm Switzerland. Switzerland with a lot of flowers to deliver so why don't you help me get these out to my car."

Elena smiled "Okay." She said. "Damon definitely went total over kill with the flowers "

"I think it's sweet." Caroline said. "But I also think I am going to need a gas mask and all the windows open to drive these out there. " She laughed. "There is a definite down side to that whole vampire senses thing."

"Stefan says these were his mom's favorite flowers." Elena said balancing one vase carefully before opening the front door .

"Okay, that's beyond sweet. That's all the way to sentimental. Unless of course he was a mama's boy then it's creepy."

"And you wonder why Stefan thought Damon was being controlled?" Elena laughed.

Caroline put one vase on the hood of her car while she unlocked the doors and popped the hatch. "You know, other than Stefan, I've had more experience with Damon's angry dark side than anyone else here, and it didn't surprise me that he was acting like this. He's happy. He's not killing people or trying to seduce you away from Stefan. Take the win. Maybe you need to take a step back and really look at him, Elena. People aren't just what's on the surface. "

She nodded. Thing was, who else was on the list of people to step back and take a closer look at? "okay. One more load of flowers and you're good to go." Elena said and headed back inside.

Eventually Matt's new truck, Damon's SUV, and Elena and Caroline's cars were packed.

"I still don't know where they are going to put all of this." Elena said shaking her head.

"Well, our marching orders are to put it in the rooms above the millhouse except for his clothes until he's healed and they can sort out where to put it. " Matt said.

"There's a millhouse?" Caroline asked, having not seen it yet.

"Yeah. It's down by the river. It's the far boundary of the land he bought. Found it when I was putting up all the horse shoes. "

"Alex was talking about actually building another house on the property closer to the river and turning the cabin into a guest house. " Jeremy shrugged "looks like they'll be staying in town even if they don't make up with Stefan."

"Well that's a good sign at least." Elena said. She smiled when Stefan joined them.

"I'll help unload then leave." He said and got in the passenger's side of Elena's car.

Matt took the lead once they got to the Fell's Church property and drove past the house toward the river.

"I didn't realize how far the property extended." Stefan said as they followed him. "Damon was definitely looking for privacy. " he shook his head. "I guess I don't really know him."

"Don't over think it. Damon is Damon." Elena said as they neared the massive stone building set against the river. The wheel had long ago fallen to disrepair and now all that was left was the tatters and the rusted gears. "Trying to sort out what is and isn't normal for him is what got us all into this mess. I'm as guilty of it as you are."

"That is all you're guilty of "He told her as they parked the cars. "I remember this place now." He said getting out. "This wasn't originally part of the Fell's property. It was actually Salvatore land. My family's orchard was right over there." He told her pointing across the property line which was well marked by a freshly repaired fence complete with Horseshoe ornaments. "This used to be part of Veritas." He smiled a little, actually pleased by his brother's choice. "We used to have parties here for Halloween."

"Really? At a mill?"

"Right after the apple harvest my father would have the apples that weren't sold or preserved brought here and pressed to make cider. What didn't go into barrels to become liquor was used for the party. I wonder if Damon will have the mill restored. " he said walking around the building, part of him reliving happier times with his brother.

He could almost see them racing around the trees, running past where he was now standing and climbing up into the wheel workings. He remembered slipping and falling into the water. His head had been struck by the wheel and he'd gone under. Damon had saved his life then, diving into the water even though he could have been pulled under too.

Their father had blamed Damon for the accident.

Stefan sighed and put his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched a little.

"What about the rest of your family's land?" She asked, trying to pull him out of his thoughts. They'd looked to be happy ones but she could see the shift.

"I don't know. I'll have to look into it. Maybe Damon has the right idea moving out here." He said before walking back to the cars to start offloading his brother's things.

Caroline off loaded the vases onto the porch and went back to grab the suitcases from her vehicle before knocking on the door. She smiled when Alex opened the door. "We thought you might want these up here." She indicated the vases.

"Yes, thank you. I appreciate everyone moving him out of there." She opened the door and started bringing the vases in and setting them around the large room.

"So how is he doing? Stefan said he'd woken up." Caroline asked.

"Still in a lot of pain but he won't admit it. Otherwise he appears to be doing better than I expected, which means there is probably a hellish explosion on the horizon so, be wary. Ahm… just put the suitcases over by the door. I just got him back to sleep and don't want to disturb him." She sighed. "we need to talk," She was dreading telling the girl about what Damon had seen, but it was better now than later.

"Okay." Caroline said closing the door. It was the sigh that had made her uncertain. When adults made that sound and said they had to talk to you, it wasn't a good sign. She sat down on the sofa and waited as Alex joined her.

"We didn't stop the ritual in time." She said, "Damon saw what happened to Tyler, and Klaus."

Caroline's heart stopped in her chest. "He's not at peace is he?" She asked softly.

"No." Alex said gently. "Neither is he precisely dead." She explained what Damon had seen, and what she thought had happened.

"We have to help him." Caroline said pale eyes wide. "We can't just leave him out there like that."

"I know. I don't know how yet, but we will help him. I promised you that I would and I will." She sighed. "Once I've figured out how. "