Chapter 11: Poetic Justice.

'Not a stranger

No, I am yours'

/Plumb, 'Cut'

Darwin woke to a splitting head-ache and only a fuzzy recollection of the night before. His room was bathed in sunlight and he realised that it had to be well past midday. He grabbed his cell phone to check the time, but was distracted by an unread text message:

NIKLAUS said: If I could, I would.

'Huh?'

"Good morning."

He turned his head in surprise and saw Damon sitting comfortably in an armchair by the window.

"Have you been sitting there all night?"

"No, I haven't. But Stefan and I have been checking in on you now and then."

"Why?"

"Last night ended with you having a major breakdown. Don't you remember?"

"No, "he shook his head, "the last thing I remember is ... saying something about 'Erik the Red' to Elijah."

"You mean 'Daddy Original'."

"Oh God, the DNA-test!" He sat up, but immediately regretted the sudden movement and grabbed his aching head. "Where is he now?"

"He left right after you fell asleep. Not because of you, "Damon added at the crestfallen expression on Darwin's face, "he had to meet with his Warlocks."

"In the middle of the night?"

"You would be surprised at how many whitchy things take place at night."

"Is he coming back today?"

"I don't know, he didn't say." Damon changed the subject. "Thanks for stealing my dagger, by the way."

"Why are you so sure I took it?"

"Elijah found it in one of your boots."

"Oh, "Darwin was too worn-out and emotionally drained to make up a believable explanation, "You should thank me, really. It would have killed you, if you had used it."

"What do you mean?"

"You know absolutely nothing, Damon, "he said, feeling annoyed, "The dagger can only be wielded by humans. It will kill any vampire, who uses it. I guess, it's the closest thing to justice, you find among vampires today. It is actually forbidden by the Originals for a vampire to kill another vampire. It's an old code of honour that for the most part is still followed today. Originals themselves never kill other vampires for no reason."

"We had actually decided for Alaric to do the killing, since we figured that Elijah would be more wary of Stefan and I than him."

"Alright, in that case; did you know that the Original only stays dead for as long as the dagger remains in place?"

"You could have told me that, "Damon said accusingly.

"No, "Darwin answered bluntly, "before last night, everything was different. I could've told you nothing."

"What happened then?"

"Elijah happened. Basically, Klaus has Kol, If I want to see Kol again, I do as he says. And that was keeping you from interfering with Elijah, and keeping Elijah from finding out, who I am. Last night I failed in doing both. It's only a matter of time, before Klaus finds out."

"So, all along, you've been on Klaus' side?"

"What if it were you? "he asked, "What if Klaus had your brother, what would you do?"

"I see your point, "Damon admitted, "So who's side are you on now?"

"I'm on your side, "he assured him, "I always have been, and I'm done following Klaus' orders."

"I hear what you say, but I don't trust you."

"I know. I don't trust you, either, "Darwin paused, "...Are you mad at me?"

"Well, you're not really the sort of person anyone gets mad at, "Damon said, thoughtfully, "You're not exactly a successfull traitor. Besides, I now realize that killing Elijah will make no difference. It will do nothing to stop Klaus. But you still got some serious making up to do."

"Whatever it takes. Do you think the others will forgive me?"

"Well, I've done much worse things, and I'm still part of the group. And you're a good person, that's more than what can be said about me."

Darwin sighed and changed the subject. "I got a tattoo yesterday."

"Manly, "Damon commented, "Where?"

"At the little piercing parlour downtown."

Damon rolled his eyes: "I meant, where on your body?"

"Oh! On my lower back."

"Did you use a fake id or did you compel him?"

"Neither. I argued with him for almost an hour and he finally gave in. Just to shut me up, I suspect. And even then I had to pay him a lot of money. And I do mean 'a lot'!"

"What did you get?"

"I believe, I told him to write 'A Filthy Few.'" Darwin frowned. "But I don't think that's what he wrote."

"Come on, let me see it."

Darwin climbed out of the bed, turned his back to Damon, and lifted up his shirt.

Damon chuckled. "Ah, Poetic Justice."

"It says Poetic Justice?"

"No."

"What does it say, then? "Darwin asked impatiently.

"Maybe you should have compelled him."

"Damon; for the love of God: What does it say?!"

"Brat."

"What?!"

"It says brat."

(Break)

A couple of hours later, the hang-over was gone. Darwin had dressed in brown, corduroy over-alls and a green t-shirt with the anti-EU group's logo on the front. Now he was resting on his bed, watching episodes of that 70s show on Diefenbaker.

His cell phone went off and he reached out and grabbed it. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Guess what?" Jeremy's voice sounded over the phone, "I had a date with Bonnie last night."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, "Jeremy confirmed, then immediately started started backpedalling, "That is ... we decided to hang out."

"Really? "Darwin said unenthusiastically, "then I had a date with the Salvatore brothers, your history teacher, your aunt and uncle, a reporter, and an Original, all at the same time last night."

"Whoa, 'who pissed on your sugar sandwich?'" Jeremy asked, imitating Darwin's heavy accent.

Darwin snickered. He'd forgotten about telling Jeremy that particular Danish expression.

"Niklaus has been doing it for a week."

"Klaus?! How the Hell .. "Jeremy trailed off.

"It's a long story, "Darwin sighed, "can we meet at the Grill tomorrow after dinner? Then I'll tell you all about it."

"Sure, "Jeremy agreed, "Is it ok if Bonnie tags along? I mean, if she wants to."

"That's fine. Actually, bring Elena and Caroline, too. They should probably hear the story as well."

"I was getting a bit worried, you know, "Jeremy said, "Since I hadn't heard from you in awhile, and you usually text me every day."

It didn't sound accusing in any way, but Darwin couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He and Jeremy didn't really have that much in common, (other than both of them sorely needing a friend,) but they had instantly felt a kind of kinship. Darwin usually preffered adult company, but Jeremy had already experienced so much in his young life. He knew what it meant to lose someone you loved over and over again.

"I know, I'm sorry. So where was your sister, while you and Bonnie were hanging?"

"At Caroline's. They were looking through a stack of journals that Elena found at the lake house, "he said, then added, "Bonnie told me a lot about witchcraft. She even tried to channel me. We had quite a good time, until Luka's father showed up and took away her powers."

"Because of what you did to Luka, I assume."

"Yes, she's really down about it."

"I'll ask Elijah to make Luka's father give Bonnie back her powers."

"And you really think he'll do that?"

"Oh, I think he might grant me one small favour."

Darwin heard someone coming up the stairs and then there was a knock on his door. He took his phone away from his ear, and called out, "Come in!"

The door swung open and Elijah stood in the doorway.

"Er ... Jeremy, I'll have to call you back later, "he said, ending the conversation.

He put his phone back down on his night stand, but kept his eyes on Elijah. He felt wary, but for some reason he wasn't afraid anymore.

"What do you want? "he asked.

"It's a fine day. I thought I'd try to persuade you to take a walk with me."

"Alright, I will. And I'll even answer all your questions, if you do one thing for me."

"And that is?"

"Get Dr. Martin to give Bonnie back her powers."

Elijah shrugged. "That sounds fair. But your friend will have to promise to stay away from Luka."

"Deal."

(Break)

"... so I made a deal with him to keep you and Damon away from each other. And he told me to make sure you didn't find out anything about me."

They were following a path across the fields behind the Boarding House.

"So he didn't want Damon to kill me. That's strange."

"I actually think he was worried that you might band together. Don't know why."

"I wonder, why he sent you?" Elijah mused.

"He didn't. He contacted me the day, I arrived here. He had somehow found out that I was staying at the Salvatore Boarding House. I guess, Niklaus just knows everything."

"So, he hasn't really buried our family at sea?" Elijah sounded hopeful.

"No, he actually sent me a photo of Kol's body on my cell phone, otherwise there was no way in Hell I would have agreed to anything. I'm not naive, you know. I still have it on one of my computers, I can show it to you."

"I would very much like to see it, "Elijah said, then changed the subject, "What is your real name?"

Darwin grimaced: "Thorstar Eliasen, but please don't call me that."

"And what's your story?"

"My mother told me that I was conceived the night you and your family were turned. Her name was Hanna Olafsdaughter, by the way."

"I'm sorry, "Elijah said, shaking his head, "I don't remember her. So many things happened that night."

"I know, "Darwin assured him, "she wasn't from your settlement either. She and her father descended from a long line of werewolves, but for some reason were not carriers of the wolf gene."

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to turn, "Elijah remarked.

"No. Anyway, she heard the stories about what happened at your settlement in the weeks after you were turned and they frightened her. So, she begged her father to take her back to Scandinavia. He finally gave in and she, her father and 32 other men went on the journey. Among them were Kol Mikaelson, even though my mother had asked her father not to bring him along. But he did. I'm guessing that Kol had probably compelled him."

"I remember that, "Elijah interjected, "Kol leaving not long after we were turned. We had only just gotten our Daylight Rings."

"Yes, "Darwin said, then continued, "for some reason the men got sicker and sicker on the journey across the sea, dying one by one, and when the boat arrived at Denmark's West Coast, only my mother, her father, Kol, and one other man were still alive. My guess is that they didn't die of scurvy."

They had entered the woods, and slowly walked a path that led to the old cemetary.

"I was born in December the year 962. My mother raised me on her own, as her father died, when I was two. I was raised to be a farmer, even though I was out of a family of warriors. By then Christianity was taking over the Danes, the King, Harald Bluetooth, proclaiming in 965 that he had 'christianized the Danes', and over the next century the Viking Age ended and the Middle Ages began. Missionaries came to our house regularly, offering us eternal guilt, but my mother and I remained believers in the old Norse religion. I still am to this day.

Elijah couldn't help but smile. "You know, you'll have to die honourably in battle or you won't get into Vahalla, and somehow I don't see that happening."

"That's true."

"How were you turned?"

"By accident, actually. I was about to turn 16, when I got ill with smallpox. It killed most of the other kids in my village, and when my mother realised she was about to lose me too, she turned to Kol for help. She revealed to him that you had fathered me to get him to help me. He remembered your father giving all of you blood the night you were turned and tried feeding me some of his blood to heal me. He fed me his blood once a day, until I finally died on the third day. Imagine their consternation, when I came back to life a few hours later. By then my mother had already made arrangements to have my body burned on a funeral pyre. The other kids had all been burned almost immediately upon dying because of the danger of infection."

"What happened then?"

"Well, my mother was elated, of course. Until I went into a frenzy, bit her, and drank her blood ... I killed her."

"I'm sorry, "Elijah said sympathetically, "I still remember what it was like, being a new vampire."

"Well, that's the extent of my 'dark past' as a vampire. I've never killed since. Neither human, nor vampire."

"That's very commendable, "Elijah remarked, sounding impressed.

"I guess it just never was in my nature." Darwin shrugged. "Kol stayed with me, until he found a witch, who was able to make me a Daylight Ring. After that he started leaving me for long periods of time, never for longer then ten years in a row, though. At first, I felt horribly alone, as he and I were the only two vampires in Denmark. But after a couple of centuries, other vampires started to appear and by then I had learned how to live amongst humans."

"I wonder why he never told me about you?"

"I don't know, "Darwin admitted, "Maybe because he was never quite certain that my mother told the truth about my ancestry. There was no way it could be confirmed back then. But he brought Niklaus with him to Denmark once and introduced me to him. I actually liked him, maybe because I had never really had much of a family. It was Niklaus, who started calling me Darwin. Kol never called me anything but Thorstar... It was not long after I met Klaus that Kol disappeared and never came back."

They walked among the trees in silence for awhile, until Darwin asked: "Why did you assume I was Kol's son? I look a lot more like you."

"You've just reminded me so much of Kol from the very beginning, "Elijah explained, "You being erratic and completely controlled by your emotions, but always regarding everything with humour. And when you smile you actually look more like him. But where Kol is ruthless, you are compassionate."

'A word from our sponsors'.

"Kol do have a great capacity for compassion." For some reason, Darwin always felt like defending him. "He just doesn't know it. He never was easy to be around, true, but he always stuck by you when things were tough, ... if nothing else then to make improper jokes about your misery."

"I'll take your word for it, "Elijah said, "Somehow, I have a feeling that you know him better than I do."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, "Darwin sighed, despondently, "After my failiure last night, I will never see Kol again. That's for sure."

Elijah stopped walking, and turned to face him. They regarded each other for a minute to the sounds of the woods; the bird song, the wind in the tree tops, and small animals moving around on the forrest floor and stirring up the dry leaves.

"When it comes to the future nothing is certain, " Elijah finally said, "but I will promise you this one thing: No matter what happens, you will never be alone again."

AN: I have no idea how long it would take for a bunch of Vikings to cross the sea. I'm guessing that Darwin probably should've been born on the journey, as they would probably have had to travel up the American and Canadian coasts and then via Iceland and Greenland, to get supplies and wait out storms, maybe even for months at a time, depending on the time of the year. But hey, my Vikings are tough cookies and they row straight across the Atlantic in all weathers. And when they need a break, Kol will get off and push the boat.

Darwin's real last name is Eliasen, because Elias is the Danish version of the name Elijah.