Damon strolled through the founders hall casually, giving the impression that he was just looking around, admiring the architecture. In fact he was looking for Alaric, who had yet to arrive. The vampire stopped when he spied Anna, going outside. He quickly caught up to her and started chatting. Anna seemed suspicious, so he cut to the point and told her about the invention. She regarded him with raised eyebrows. "I could ask mom, but you know, you've made it pretty clear that you don't trust us. So why should I even bother?" Okay, she had a point there, he had to admit. "Yeah, I don´t trust you, but I still think we should work together on this one. You want to stay in Mystic Falls and John Gilbert's in town, making that impossible. Bring me that artefact. John leaves, you can buy a welcome mat. Easy as that."
She still looked disbelieving, so Damon asked her to think about it and left her alone to do just that. He looked around for his brother, a little worried when he didn`t see him. Stefan had been strange earlier and Damon feared he would soon have to do something about it. He finally spotted Ric, who had just arrived with Elena and Jenna in tow. The girls disappeared upstairs and the vampire went over to join Ric.
"I just saw John at the Gilbert´s." the teacher said by way of greeting. "Did he say something?" Damon asked. "No, he was perfectly nice. Guess he didn`t want Jenna to notice something. He`ll be here soon." They walked to the bar to get drinks. "Well, he can`t really do much with all these people around. So I guess I`ll be safe for now. But we might have another problem." the vampire muttered. When Ric just looked at him doubtfully he elaborated: "Stefan. He`s getting worse."
"You should tell Elena. I asked her earlier and she thinks he`s doing okay." Alaric informed him. Damon heaved a dramatic sigh. He really had no desire to talk to the brunette about his brother. But unfortunately Ric was right. She needed to know. And maybe she could even help them. "Fine, I`ll tell her. Keep an eye out for John." He downed his drink and strolled towards the stairs. When he was sure that no-one was looking he dashed upstairs and snuck into the room where the girls were getting dressed. He waited until Elena was alone, before alerting her to his presence. Of course she tried to shoo him out, but Damon insisted they needed to talk now.
"Stefan's still drinking human blood." That got her attention. "He´s what?!" she practically shrieked and then asked if he was sure, since Stefan had insisted he was fine. Damon told her about the fridge full of stolen blood and that his brother was behaving strangely. That he feared Stefan might go all ripper on them.
Harsh words, but she needed to hear the truth. And he wasn`t exactly the best address when it came to breaking bad news gently. Still he almost felt bad for her, when she flopped down on the couch and shook her head in disbelief. "Why didn`t he tell me?" The vampire rolled his eyes. "He`s afraid of your reaction. Afraid you`ll ask him to stop. He can`t stop, Elena." The brunette looked up at him. "What are we going to do?" Her stare made Damon nervous. Why was she looking to him for guidance? Why were people suddenly relying on him? He was no-one you could rely on, damn it.
In the end he decided to tell her the truth again. "Last resort: lock him up, starve him, get him back on bunny blood. You up for that?" She flinched at his cold tone, but she held his stare nonetheless. "I`ll talk to him. If that doesn`t work…" she left the sentence hanging, but they both knew what she meant. Damon nodded curtly and left.
He returned downstairs, pausing when he saw Anna and Jeremy together. Listening in on their conversation he had to hide a smile. So she was infatuated with little Gilbert, who knew a lot more than he let on. Well, that could prove useful. Damon finally went on and joined Alaric and Jenna, who were waiting outside. He nodded when he caught Ric`s questioning look.
Shortly after the Mayor started introducing the girls and Damon focused his attention on them. One of them seemed to be missing. Damon had seen her leaving the dressing room earlier, looking rather green. She had probably bolted. Elena was the last to be announced and the vampire frowned when he didn`t see his brother at the bottom of the stairs, where he should be waiting. "Where`s Stefan?" Jenna hissed. Damon just shrugged. "He`s supposed to escort her!" Yeah, he knew that, thank you very much. He didn`t need Elena`s aunt telling him.
Seeing Elena walk downstairs the vampire quickly took Stefan`s place. Elena looked surprised, but she covered it well and even managed to smile. "Where is Stefan?" The vampire smiled as well. "I have no idea." He took her hand and escorted her outside. "What are we gonna do?" Rolling his eyes he motioned for her to take her place. "Right now, we just have to get through this dance." Elena looked doubtful. "Do you even know the steps?" Damon snorted and reminded her that he`d been around when the stupid dance had been invented.
Then the music started and the brunette finally shut up. She did well, Damon had to admit. Really graceful. Once the dance had ended he led her off to the side. "You go on with the contest, I`ll find Stefan." He didn`t give her time to reply, simply stormed off to look for his brother. Ric met him in the hall. "There`s no trace of him outside." Damon nodded grimly. They searched the hall together, but Stefan was nowhere to be found. And to make matters worse they ran into Carol Lockwood, who demanded to know, why no-one had told her that Damon would be escorting Elena instead of his brother.
Damon explained that Stefan hadn`t been feeling well earlier, but hadn`t thought it would be that bad. "He went home to lie down, but we didn`t have time to inform you. I`m really sorry." the vampire mumbled. Carol accepted his explanation and told him to give Stefan her best wishes, before leaving to continue with the contest. Damon and Ric went on, but clearly Stefan wasn`t here. "Let`s have a look upstairs." Damon suggested. The teacher followed him wordlessly. He frowned when Damon suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "What is it?"
"I smell blood." the vampire answered quietly. Ric looked apprehensive. "Can you tell where?" Damon nodded and followed the smell to a small bathroom. There were smears of blood on the mirror and signs of a struggle. "One of the girls is missing. Amber." Alaric murmured. So much for Damon´s theory that she had bolted. "Where could he have taken her?" the teacher asked. Damon tried to think. "Somewhere outside. The parking lot, maybe. Or the woods."
Ric nodded. "Let`s split up. You grab Elena, I´ll inform Jenna." The vampire felt very grateful for Ric`s help. But he just nodded. "You take the parking lot. Elena and I can search the forest. Call me when you find him. And be careful. He`s not himself." he warned. "I`ll keep it in mind. You be careful too." the teacher answered, surprising Damon once again. The vampire flashed him a smile and went in search of Elena.
Caroline had just been declared the winner and the contest was officially over, so luckily no-one would miss the brunette. He quickly relayed the news to her, while they went to fetch her coat. Stepping into the wood Damon picked up the noise of someone running. "This way, come on." They quickly ran in that direction. The vampire could soon hear them, the girl and his brother. So at least she was still alive. Suddenly her scream cut through the still night air. Damon and Elena arrived to find Stefan feeding on the struggling girl. He released her when Elena shouted his name and Damon quickly stepped closer.
"Stefan, come on get control. It's okay, come on. Breathe through it." he instructed calmly. Stefan looked at him with wide eyes. Clearly not recognizing his own brother he attacked and threw Damon against a tree. Groaning the older Salvatore got up again. Elena was screaming, pleading with Stefan to stop. And then Stefan was clutching his head in pain. Damon looked around and found Bonnie standing nearby, casting a spell. Once she stopped he moved closer to his brother again, trying to soothe him like a skittish horse. "It`s okay, Stefan." Stefan looked at him and then ran off. Just great.
Elena was crouching next to the girl. "We need to call an ambulance." Damon nodded. "Do that." He knelt down in front of the girl and compelled her to forget what had happened. Bonnie watched him with a disgusted look on her face, but remained strangely silent. "The ambulance is on the way." Elena informed them seconds later. Damon got up. "Good. Get Sheriff Forbes. And tell Ric what happened." Elena hesitated, but then did as she was told.
Minutes later she returned with the sheriff. The ambulance arrived almost at the same time. Liz questioned the girl before she was taken away. "She doesn't remember what happened." she said, giving Damon a pointed look, before turning towards the girls. The vampire held his breath when she asked if the girls had seen anything. If Bonnie didn`t keep her mouth shut now… But luckily the witch only inquired if the girl would be okay.
"It looks like it yeah. Don`t worry." Liz assured them. "Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here." Elena nodded and they both left. Once they were out of earshot, Liz turned to Damon. "They didn't see the bite mark?" He quickly shook his head. "I got here before they got too close. There was too much blood. They couldn't see it clearly." The sheriff looked relieved for a second, but it soon turned into a frown again. "The vampire got close. There are so many people in there. The vampire didn`t even care. This is bad news, Damon."
"Maybe it means he or she was careless. Makes it easier to catch them." Damon tried to placate her. "I hope you`re right." Liz said with a sigh. The dark haired vampire patted her arm, tried to reassure her. She finally thanked him and left, stating she would have to talk to the Mayor about a cover story. He didn`t envy her.
Slowly walking to his car, the vampire received a text from Alaric, who told him that he was taking Elena, Bonnie and Jenna home and asked Damon to be careful and to call should he need help. Damon smiled at the worry he could read in the few words, glad that at least something finally seemed to be working out right for him.
###
Arriving at the boarding house, Damon found Anna and Pearl waiting for him in front of the door, claiming they were there to talk. Damon tried to walk past them. He was not in the mood right now. Had other problems on his mind. But when Pearl suddenly said: "Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert.", he stopped. "Okay, I`m listening."
Pearl handed him the device and Damon looked at it quizzically. "What is it?" Pearl shrugged, told him she had no idea. "But now it's yours." He frowned at her, getting suspicious. "Where`s the catch?" Because there had to be a catch. But Pearl insisted there wasn`t. "My daughter wants to stay here. I want to stay here. You refused to trust us and for good reason. Consider this an apology." He watched them go, wondering if he could really trust them. Well, at least he had the device now. That was a start.
He entered the house and looked around, but Stefan didn`t seem to be home yet. Damon only hoped he wouldn`t do anything stupid. One stupid move was more than enough for one night. Fixing himself a drink he sat down to wait for his brother. He wasn`t surprised when his phone rang. "Elena, what can I do for you?" he asked sarcastically. "How is Stefan?" The worry in her tone was palpable. "I don`t know. He`s not home yet." Damon answered truthfully. "What do you mean, not home? Where could he be?"
"I don`t know. I guess he`s running around, feeling sorry for himself." Elena was silent for a long time. "I`ll come over. I`ll talk to him and if that doesn`t help… we`ll do it your way." Damon was sure that talking would get her nowhere, but if she wanted to try he knew he couldn`t stop her. So he agreed and hung up.
Stefan arrived only minutes before Elena. He cast a quick glance at Damon and then rushed upstairs without so much as a hello. Damon rolled his eyes, wondering why his brother always had to be so melodramatic. Of course Elena wasn`t much better. She entered the house with a flourish, giving the perfect impression of a distressed, concerned girlfriend. Damon was pleasantly surprised to find Alaric accompanying her. "He`s upstairs." the vampire said, before Elena had the chance to ask. She nodded, took a deep breath and walked upstairs.
Damon shared a quick glance with Ric, who motioned for him to follow her. Rolling his eyes the vampire complied. He waited in front of Stefan´s room, while he listened in on the conversation going on inside, suppressing a groan at their discussion. Elena kept insisting that it was all her fault and that Stefan wasn`t a monster. Stefan kept insisting that he was a monster and that she shouldn`t be around him, because it was too dangerous. Those two really deserved each other. The girl had the whole martyr thing down almost as well as his brother.
The older Salvatore flinched at the sound of a delicate body being pushed against the wall, followed by the sound of a fist impacting with said wall. For a second he debated going in, but he was pretty sure Elena would yell if she really needed help. So he waited with baited breath. Moments later Stefan was already apologizing and suddenly Damon could hear him sobbing. Elena whispered soothing words. And then there was a thud.
Damon entered the room to find Stefan on the floor, unconscious. Elena was standing over him, vervain dart still in hand, looking terrified. The vampire regarded her with raised eyebrows. "Sure you want to do this?" She nodded. "I`m sure." Damon bent down, picked his brother up and carried him down to the basement, where he put him in a cell. Once he`d closed the door he turned to Elena and Ric, who had followed him. "There's no guarantee it's going to work."
Elena peered into the cell. "It just has to." With a sigh the vampire followed Alaric, who was walking back upstairs. He stopped when he noticed that Elena was still standing in front of the cell. "You coming?" She didn`t even glance at him. "I`ll stay here." Damon hesitated a second, but then accepted her decision. "Keep a safe distance." he cautioned, before leaving her alone.
Back upstairs he offered Alaric a drink and they both took a seat in the library. "Will she be safe down there?" the teacher questioned. Damon shrugged. "As long as she stays away from the door." Ric didn`t seem pleased with this answer, but he didn`t comment. They sat in silence for a while. Damon listened for any noise from the basement, but all remained quiet.
"Jenna told me that John seems overly interested in Jeremy`s life all of a sudden." Ric told the vampire. "Anything in particular?" Damon wanted to know. "He inquired about a friend of Jeremy, a girl named Anna. Jenna said she and her mum are new in town." The vampire snorted. "Hardly. Her mother, Pearl, was in the tomb. She was the woman who saved our asses back in that farmhouse, when the vamps were closing in on us." The teacher looked surprised to hear that. "So Anna is a vampire? Do you think Jeremy knows?"
"Oh Jeremy knows a lot." Damon said meaningfully. "Care to elaborate?" The vampire smirked. "I overheard him talking to Anna earlier. Obviously she told him pretty much anything she knows. And he also read Elena`s diary. So I`d say he´s up to date." Ric seemed shocked at those news. "He didn`t say anything…" he murmured, suddenly remembering something else. "I think John knows that Anna and her mother are vampires. Jenna said he mumbled something strange about knowing all about them already. She didn`t know what to make of those words and he wouldn`t elaborate."
"Pearl is the vampire who stole the device from Jonathan Gilbert back in 1864. She and Anna were here earlier." Damon explained. He`d completely forgotten. Now he pulled the artefact out of his pocket and showed it to Ric. "This is the device John is looking for." The teacher examined it closely. "Okay... What is it?" Damon shrugged. "No idea. And Pearl couldn`t tell me either. But we have it and not that fucking John Gilbert. So I guess it doesn`t really matter."
Alaric nodded and continued to examine the device. After a while he gave up and put it on the table. Again they were silent for some time. Eventually Ric spoke up again: "Do you think it will work?" The vampire looked at him questioningly. "Locking Stefan up." he elaborated. Damon shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I`ve never done this. Bringing Stefan back from the edge… that was what Lexi did. She was good at that. Guess I shouldn`t have killed her."
Alaric regarded him with a frown. "Lexi?" Oh right, he didn`t know about Lexi. Probably hadn`t even been in Mystic Falls yet, when Damon killed her. "She was… Stefan`s friend. Very annoying. But like I said, good at bringing him back from the edge. She did it often enough. Vampire rehab." he snorted. "She showed up here, a couple of weeks ago. Came to visit Stefan. The sheriff was looking for a vampire back then. For me, actually. I had been a little careless, I guess. I had to get Liz off my trail, so…"
"So you killed Lexi." Ric finished his sentence. Damon didn`t like the way the teacher was staring at him. It was almost as if Ric was trying to read him. "Why did you do it?" he finally asked. "Like I said, I had to get Liz off my trail." the vampire repeated. "There would have been other ways. Tell me the real reason, Damon." Alaric demanded. And damn, how did he know him so well? How did this guy always manage to look past his mask? Damon thought about telling him some lie or maybe even telling him nothing at all. Strangely enough he found himself answering completely honest.
"She didn`t only have a history with Stefan. Lexi was the martyr-type. My brother seems to draw those. So she tried to save me as well. Only, I didn`t want to be saved. Her showing up here… it reminded me of some of my darkest times. Of the guilt. I didn`t want to feel the guilt. Back then my emotions were still off. I didn`t want to be confronted with my feelings. So the easiest way was to get rid of her." He sighed, stared off into space. "I do regret it." he admitted softly, surprising himself.
"It`s good to hear that." Both men jumped, since neither had heard Elena approach. She walked over to the vampire, a soft smile on her face. "You should tell Stefan." Damon frowned. "Why would I tell Stefan?" The fact that she had overheard was bad enough. That`s what you got for honesty. Damn Alaric. It was all his fault.
Elena was still smiling. "I think he needs to know that you`re not the heartless monster you always pretend to be. That there really is something good in you, like I always told him." She was looking at him with her wide doe eyes. So trusting. So stupid. "You shouldn`t believe anything I say, Elena. I`m a liar. I do whatever it takes to get what I want. Already forgot that?" he snarked. But this time she saw right through him. "That`s what you like everyone to believe. But I can see past that." she claimed.
Finally changing the subject, she asked: "So.. can I stay here tonight?" The vampire sighed. "Can I make you leave?" She shook her head. "No." Rolling his eyes at her antics, Damon told her she could sleep in Stefan`s room. Elena dropped a kiss on his cheek, bid Alaric goodnight and went upstairs. The vampire turned his head to find Ric smiling at him. "What?" he asked, getting defensive. The teacher chuckled. "She`s right, you know? You always pretend to be the big badass vampire, but deep down you`re a good guy."
"You must be mistaking me." the vampire claimed airily. Ric got up and moved to sit right next to him. He raised his hand, gently caressing the vampire`s cheek. "Don´t do that. Don`t pretend with me. The Damon who takes care of others, who can admit to his mistakes – that`s the guy who was my best friend. Still is my best friend." Damon´s breath caught in his throat at those words. He could see the sincerity in Ric`s eyes. "You staying too?" he asked quietly, hopefully.
Alaric´s eyes flickered towards the stairs. The look on his face was answer enough. He still didn`t want people to know about them. Okay, Damon could be patient. If he had to be. If it was worth it. And he knew Ric was worth it. "Maybe next time." the teacher offered, smiling ruefully. Damon nodded. "Next time." Ric leaned in to kiss him. Firm, possessive. Stealing the vampire`s breath away. "Good night, Damon."