Elena

"Is she alive?" a melodious voice breaks through the haze I'm in. The voice is distant however, and I can't seem pinpoint where it's coming from and whom it belongs to.

"No I killed her, just for fun." The question is followed by a sarcastic answer. Is that...Damon?

"Jeez, no need to be so rude." I'm confused - who is that? I want to wake up, but my body refuses to co-operate with me. It's a struggle in my mind, it won't allow me to get access to the parts I want to, especially the one which lets me to open my eyes. "I was just asking."

Although I can't open my eyes, I definitely can feel someone hovering over me, it's like someone's piercing through my skin and sees into the deepest parts of me.

"She's awake, you moron." The same sing-song voice says.

"Oh goody." Damon's voice reaches my ears; I can imagine him doing the eye-roll. "What took her so long?"

I can hear a shuffling of feet and the scraping of a chair against the floorboards. The steps are coming towards me and then there's a slight pressure on my forehead. Quick as a flash I regain control over myself, over my body. My eyes open and I inhale loudly, the big gulp of air burns my lungs like a fire and I start coughing. My eyes water and I can't distinguish the people standing before me. One is certainly Damon, but the other one?

"What... happened?" I finally manage to ask, propping myself upright on the bed I was lying on.

"You were annoying, went into hysterics, I took care of it." I look up to see Damon's cocky smirk, he says it all like he's proud of himself.

"What?" I don't remember much, only that...oh my god. Suddenly everything starts to flood back in – Stefan, his leaving, everything.

I feel the familiar panic starting to set in again in the pit of my stomach. I look around the room, ready to run wherever I can but it's then when I finally acknowledge another person with Damon in the room.

She's beautiful I think to myself. Her blonde hair would make any woman jealous and her face is something like of a supermodel, but what are strange about her are her eyes – so cold and so empty.

"W-w-who are you?" I stutter, unable to control my voice.

The woman smiles, making the hair on hands stand up – "We haven't officially met. My name is Destiny."

I feel like I'm punched in the stomach.

I stand up and walk over to her. I've only known the woman for five seconds and already I can feel the hatred for her. "Where's Stefan?" I ask, and no matter how weak I feel right now; I can't let her see it.

"Oh, he's somewhere." Destiny responds, licking her lips in a smug way. I seriously want to punch her in the face.

Damon comes behind me and grabs my shoulders – "Elena, it would be wiser not to provoke her."

I shrug him off and send him a dirty look.

"I want to see Stefan." I almost stomp my feet like a petulant child.

I glance between Damon and Destiny. Damon's face is a mixture of worry and... pain? Could it be? Destiny is observing me with a slight smile, she's definitely pleased with herself.

"Where is he?" I raise my voice.

I see that I won't get any answers out of those two, Damon looks like he's going to bite someone's head off soon and Destiny is enjoying the current situation way too much.

I make my way out of between them and enter the living room. I stop abruptly when I see what has happened to the room – it's in complete ruins, there's basically nothing left, only a few broken stones from the fireplace are lying on the floor, looking unhappy and lonely.

I swallow down the lump in my throat – "Stefan?" I yell and walk through the destruction.

"Stefan?" I search every room, but he's nowhere. "Stefan, please, if you can hear me..." my voice dies before I can end the sentence.

"He's not here, Elena."

I jump back from the sudden voice behind me and my heart is pounding like crazy from fright.

"Damon..." I gasp, turning around, holding my hand over my chest. He's looking at me strangely, like I'm going to break into thousand pieces.

"Where is he? What h-happened?" I start to realize that something is wrong.

"Please don't freak out?" he voices it like a question.

"Freak out? Freak out? Damon, if I don't get any answers I will most definitely freak out!"

He looks to his right, frowning, like his contemplating something.

"Uh, so... remember when I told you we needed a second fallen angel?"

My face drops at his words and I can feel myself breaking down, slowly but surely. Damon sees that, it reflects in his face.

"Well, Destiny took care of that. Stefan fell."

I shake my head - no, no, no, no I think to myself. I knew that Damon sent Stefan to Destiny with that plan, but I didn't think that it would actually happen. I still had a sliver of hope left in me, that maybe, just maybe this was just a horrible nightmare and Stefan will be okay, that this won't happen, that maybe I dreamed everything.

I wrap my arms around my body, as if they could protect me from all the emotions that are starting to assault me.

"How could you?" I whisper, recalling our previous conversation when I asked him the same question.

"I didn't have a choice." His answer echoes the one he gave me the last time.

"Where is he?" I croak, fighting the tears.

"They showed up here two days ago..." Damon pauses.

Wait, two days? Was I really out that long?

"Elena, he's not Stefan anymore, not the one you knew. Hell, even I barely recognized that man."

"Two days?" my voice is barely audible. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Well, I knocked you out the same way I did Jeremy." The mention of Jeremy brings another wave of pain and grief over me. I have no idea, if I'm able to survive this.

Damon smirks a little, and I see the evil side of him for a second. I wonder if Damon is capable of controlling himself, will Stefan be able, too?

"I expected you to wake up just as your brother did, but you didn't, and you weren't responsive, so I didn't know what to do. I left you like that." He says it like it's no big deal. "But Destiny here is a sly little bitch, I don't know how, but she managed to bring you back from whatever state you were in and here you are." He gesticulates with his hands.

"You didn't answer my question." I'm holding onto myself so tightly that my arms are beginning to hurt, but I can't let go or I'll just crumble into dust.

"I don't know where he is." Damon says. "He left as quickly as he got here and left that psycho here."

"Now that's no way to talk about a lady." Destiny saunters in, her long hair flowing behind her.

Damon rolls his eyes in annoyance – "I see no ladies here, no offence Elena."

I just shake my head.

Destiny ignores Damon's comment – "Stefan will be back shortly." She looks straight at me. "But I don't expect him to be happy to see you." Destiny walks next to me and puts her lips close to my ear.

"You see," she whispers, "I took Stefan and I rebuilt him. Stripped him down to the core, took away every piece of love, compassion, every piece of good that was in him, away. I'd say he's better now. After all, love is overrated and hurts like a bitch."

Her hand squeezes my shoulder painfully as she finishes, and then she walks away from me, laughing.

Stefan

Damon said that when angels fall, they lose everything that made them who they once were. He made it sound like it was a bad thing.

Everything he said was basically bullshit, because honestly, I feel great. I feel free even, I don't have to worry about anyone, I can't hear the annoying angel radio thingy in my mind anymore which usually drove me crazy and what I like the most is that I don't have to care.

The world is mine and I intend to revel in it.

So why am I back at this stupid little godforsaken house which Damon used to call home?

I already know what to expect – Damon looking like he swallowed something hot and now it's burning its way down to his stomach, Destiny acting like a five-year old and Elena – oh god – I don't even want to imagine the crying festival and the endless lectures about feelings and that shit, that's going to be thrown at me.

I take a look behind me, making sure that no one followed me here , because, holy crap, what will happen to everyone if Klaus were to show up – ugh, whatever, I really don't care. Well, I would be lying if I'd say that I don't care at all – of course I care about my own life, and that would be cut short if the war was brought to the doorstep right now.

I enter the dusty building, grimacing at how ugly and old everything in the house is. Why do we have to stay here, now?

I can hear voices coming from a room to my right, I can even make out some words they're saying - "Elena, he's not Stefan anymore, not the one you knew. Hell, even I barely recognized that man."

I smile to myself – good, the old Stefan was a bore.

I don't bother listening any further, it's probably some melodramatic lecture of how much I've changed and those why's and how's just make my head hurt.

I start to make my way to the living room – I guess you can't call it that anymore, since Damon basically tore it down – when Destiny steps out of nowhere and gives me a knowing smile which I don't return. Seriously – why would I? It's not like I like the woman. Sure, she's hot, but her personality – give me a break, I've never met a more crazy person in my life.

"Now that's no way to talk about a lady." I hear Destiny saying, I don't even want to understand what she's trying to do. I should start thinking what I want to accomplish. It's definitely not staying here, but according to the blonde and highly irritating woman – I, Damon and Elena are the ones from the prophecy and if I wish to save my own ass from getting sent to hell, I'd better help them defeat Klaus.

Okay, I can do that. Klaus is dead, problems solved; I can get away from here. One thing is sure that I will never ever return to this wretched city that is Mystic Falls. The bare thought of living here makes me shudder.

I hear Destiny's laugh, I wonder what was so funny and I have to admit that she does have a nice laughter. So did Elena.

Wait, what?

I shake off the ridiculous thought that just came to me.

"Stefan?" I hear Damon's voice behind me.

I turn around a give him the fakest smile I can manage, he responds with a grimace.

"I see you found your way back here." Damon says.

"Yep." Why bother making full sentences?

"Elena has been asking about you."

"Oh? And what did you tell her?" I'm actually very curious about that.

"That you're not worth her time, but she won't give up." He looks behind his shoulder. "Oh, see, there she is. I'll leave you two to talk." Damon says and leaves the room; I have the sudden urge to bang my head against a wall.

"Stefan?" her voice is hoarse like she's trying to keep it all together.

"Elena."

"I...I..." she begins, it's kind of funny even, how she's at loss of words.

"Are you okay?" she finally asks.

I smile, now a genuinely – "I'm perfect."

I don't know what she sees in me, but her face hardens at my response and I can almost feel the pain she's in. I remember those times when I could basically feel everything she did – Frankly, I don't miss them all.

"Is there something you wanted?" I ask, hoping that she'll leave soon.

Unfortunately, she doesn't leave. Instead she takes two long strides and grabs my arm, which I immediately want to yank back but for some odd reason my body won't let me.

"Do you feel that?" she whispers, looking straight into my eyes.

"Feel what?" I ask, confused.

"This. Us." She squeezes my hand and a jolt of electricity runs through it. Now I do pull my hand back.

"Don't you remember, Stefan?" her voice is desperate. "Every time we touch I feel it. It's like my whole body is filled with electricity. And you used to feel it too." She wants to grab my hand again, but I step back and I can see the hurt in her eyes, in her whole body - it slumps visibly and a tear rolls on her cheek, which she quickly wipes away with the back of her hand.

"I feel nothing." I say. "I feel nothing for you, and what I did once feel... it made me weak. It didn't let me see things clearly, but now I do. I don't have people telling me what's right or what's wrong, now it is I who get to make decisions for myself, not you, not Damon. Me. And the electricity thing – I do remember it, but I don't feel it anymore, and honestly, I really don't care."

I watch as Elena lowers her head in defeat – I got to hand it to her, I didn't think she would be able to handle this so well, I expected moaning and crying and begging, I guess grief does make people stronger.

"Fine, Stefan. Whatever." She tells me and walks away.

Damon

I heard the whole exchange between Stefan and Elena. I didn't know what to expect from my baby brother, who has apparently completely lost it, so I decided to stick around in case he decides to hurt an important piece of the prophecy – that is Elena. And he did ask me to keep her safe, although I didn't exactly say yes to him, but I do think that I owe it to Stefan, at least to the old Stefan. So I intend to keep Elena safe from everyone – except from me, of course, I still think that maybe I'll just get rid of her in the end, just to clear up any loose ends, but we'll see. For now, I'll try to be nice to her, even if it's a stretch. She truly can be annoying. I still don't get what Stefan saw in her.

Oh, and one other thing I don't get is why the fuck is Destiny sticking around here. She's been literally driving me insane with her stupid little games and attempts to be cute. I can tell you, she's not. Maybe if I get the weapon from Klaus, I can kill her too, would be a good riddance.

Stefan is worse than I thought he would be. I didn't consider that his whole being was built upon his emotions, his feelings, it makes him who he was and now when those are gone – he's just a shell and a dick.

When I fell, I guess you could say I was the same – I enjoyed the feeling of being free, the feeling of being able to do whatever you want, because that's what angels feel when they fall. That feeling lasts for a decade or two, and then comes the worst part, the want for destruction, death. I can't even recall how many lives have I ruined just because I needed to break something, how many lives I destroyed. I snapped out of it after 100 years, and that is a very long time.

After that the memories start to flood in – of your past life. Mine were about Katherine, about Stefan, our childhood and that was when I let myself feel again a little. The want for death and chaos is still there, but what are keeping me at bay are those memories – I hold on to them and I channel all that rage through them into the plan of revenge.

But more than a hundred years is a very long time.

And whether I like to admit it or not, I still care about Stefan. That is why I am going to save him – the prophecy promised salvation to one of the fallen one through the other and I am intending to make sure that Stefan is the one who's getting it, not me. He deserves it more.

"Hey, Stefan?" I walk over to him after Elena leaves.

He groans – "If you're here to give me another lecture, then you can forget it."

"No." I say pointedly. I step closer to him and lower my voice – "Did you get it?"

Stefan smiles devilishly – "Yes."

He takes the small bottle out of his jacket pocket and shows it, when I want to take it he pulls it away from my reach – "Not so fast." He clicks with his tongue which annoys me to beyond reason.

"C'mon, Stef, I'm not going to run away with it." I glare at him.

He bursts out laughing – "I was just kidding, here take it." And he fucking throws it in the air. Fortunately, I have good reflexes.

"Are you out of your mind?" I can't help but to raise my voice. "What if I hadn't caught it?"

"Relax, brother." He pats me on my shoulder. "I had faith in you." The tone of his voice is dripping with sarcasm.

"Dick." I mumble, examining the small bottle. It's cold to the touch and the red liquid sloshes in it when I twirl the bottle in my hands.

"Oh crap, the psycho is here." Stefan whispers, adopting the same word I used for Destiny before.

"I heard that, by the way." All the playfulness in her voice is gone. "Where is it?" she turns to Stefan, looking expectantly at him.

Stefan nods at me.

I show her the bottle; she immediately tries to snatch it out of my hands. But as I said – I have good reflexes and Destiny doesn't succeed.

"Not before you tell us what's it for." I narrow my eyes. Stefan steps next to me and together we form a kind of wall against the woman.

"Yeah. Tell us." Stefan smiles, but the smile is vindictive.

"You do know that I could wipe the floor with the two of you?" Destiny points her finger at me and Stefan.

"You do know that we really don't care?" Stefan retorts and I'd like to give him a high-five.

"Ugh, fine." She grimaces, her eyes flashing. "The bottle contains a liquid which administered to an archangel immobilizes him or her for a minute or so."

I look to Stefan, who is as equally amazed by this piece of news as I am.

"So this is thingy," I shake the bottle, "Is basically the only way for us to beat Klaus?"

"Yes, better start devising a plan." Destiny says and grabs the bottle from me with speed I didn't know she possessed.

"For safekeeping." She says and then she's gone.

Sorry for the lack of Stelena, I promise the next chapter will have more of them.

Thanks for reading and until next time! :)