Note: I'd just like to thank everyone who took the time to review. As a first time fanfiction writer it's much appreciated. I also thought i'd let you know that this story will be written from two points of view; Damon's and both Klaus and Caroline's. They both have their own backstories that will explain why they are the way they are now. However everything will be written in third person. It's probably going to be a pretty long story if i stay motivated enough to write it, so stick around, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Anyway… back to the story.

1:Origins

Damon forced his legs to drive even further forward as his feet skimmed the neverending granules of sand that layered the vast desert. From afar he would have looked like little more than a near transparent blurr. He ignored the stinging pain that surrounded his torso, the wounds created by the vervain were still fresh, and they would continue to heal at a snail's pace if he didn't find a blood source. Hours had passed since he had awakened from his slumber, and just like the lacerations that dug into his skin, the grief he was feeling was just as fresh. He had debated the possibility of simply flipping the proverbial switch, but he feared the lack of emotion as a result would lead him to make rash decisions. He also knew that Elena would have been disappointed to say the least given the years she had spent helping him get "clean and sober" as she had phrased it.

Blood bags and the odd deserving criminal had been his life force for years now, but Damon couldn't help but wonder if that particular "diet" would be sufficient in order to take down an original hybrid, his 250 year old plus vampire wife and their army of willing and unwilling servants. It seemed doubtful. The power that Klaus possessed was incredible and unlike anything Damon had ever witnessed in all of his 145 years, and that power was exerted to it's fullest over the course of the past two days. In the space of just 58 hours Damon had gone from living in a penthouse apartment on Bourbon Street to inhabiting a desert in the middle of No-man's Land.

To think that if he and Elena had never gotten involved in Elijah's so-called "rebellion" they would probably be lying in bed right now, or maybe at Rousseau's sipping the finest bourbon outside of Kentucky.

But then again one mistake is all a person needs to make before they find that their existence is crumbling down around them.

Flashback- The day of the ritual

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?". Elena looked at him, her eyes shining mildly with amusement. She stepped towards him and gently took Damon's hand in hers. "I'll be fine, don't worry." She gave his hand a quick squeeze to assure him. "I'll deliver the stake to Elijah and be back at your side before you even notice I'm gone". Elena smiled softly and leaned forward to give Damon a tender kiss. It was short, sweet and familiar.

Damon nodded his head and took a moment to observe her face. Deep brown eyes, soft tanned skin and long dark locks that fell down over her shoulders. He sighed. "Alright. Now go before I change my mind." Elena grinned and gave him one last peck on the lips before turning and speeding off into the distance.

In her hands Elena clutched a narrow velvet case. A fitting gift for the King and Queen of New Orleans. They deserved nothing less than the grandest of tokens in celebration of their 250th anniversary, and Elena was determined that she was going to be there for when they "received" it.

The moon was slightly hidden behind the dark clouds above. It was a cold evening. The air was mellow and chilly as midnight approached. The anniversary ball was the most anticipated event in years and would no doubt be a night to remember. The most revered vampires from all over the world had come to New Orleans to wish the happy couple well. It was Klaus' opportunity to display just how good of a ruler he was, to show that everyone was content and that he was well respected by all of his people; vampires, werewolves and witches alike. There was no question that he would destroy anyone or anything that was to threaten the night's success. That included his own friends and family.

Elijah was well aware of this fact. He had sparingly followed his brother for years, being able to come and go as he pleased. He had had the displeasure of witnessing his brother come into his own as ruler of New Orleans and had watched as Klaus developed his particular method of "dealing" with traitors and rebels. It was brutal and unforgiving. He knew this, and he knew the great risk he was about to undertake, but he was tired of his brother's reckless tyranny, and tonight would be the night that it would end. He was convinced of that much.

Of course he was a guest of honour at this evening's event. The brother of the King. Despite his younger brother's ultimate status, Elijah was also well respected amongst the supernatural community of New Orleans. He was famed for his mercy and compassion, but previous to the organisation of the rebellion he had been shunned for being "too weak" to take a stand against Klaus and for not caring about the people who were mistreated by the King. As a result it had been difficult to gain their support as many believed Elijah's rebellion was just another attempt by Klaus to root out potential traitors. He had convinced them eventually with promises and inspiring speeches, as well as earning the trust of Damon Salvatore, who was notorious for his desire for a rebellion. It had taken months of planning but the day had finally come. Tonight was the night everyone had been waiting for.

11:47. The spell would be underway quite soon. Elijah scanned the floor of the ballroom for Elena, but she was nowhere to be seen. His forehead creased in concern. If Elena wasn't here before the spell began the whole plan was bound for failure.

He continued to glance at his watch as the minutes ticked by. Elijah was growing restless. But just as he was about to make his way back towards the entrance someone grasped his arm, making him twitch slightly in shock; a foreign sensation. He turned his head and sighed in shear relief as his eyes found Elena's.

"Do you have it?", he questioned.

"Of course", Elena replied.

"Very well. Let's make our way towards the main hall shall we. We wouldn't want to miss the arrival of our hosts now would we?".

Elena grinned at him, although with a slight air of nervousness. Elijah held out his arm for her to take, a reassuring gesture, which she took, and they made their way out of the dining area and into the grand hall. The hall's ceilings rose to the heights of the Sistine Chapel and was adorned with delicate illustrations of beautiful roses, winding branches and other wondrous depictions of nature, Klaus' own work. The balcony stood tall and was attached to a great staircase that led down to the main floor. Every item that existed within the space was of the finest material, from the most exotic places and served to compliment each other. The room was truly a sight to behold.

The guests gathered below the balcony and waited for the arrival of their hosts. And as Elijah predicted, at precisely 11:55 the doors above swung open to reveal the King and Queen. Klaus was dressed in a sharp tuxedo with a neatly made bow tie around his neck, while Caroline shined in a deep green gown that flowed and stretched passed her ankles. The couple smiled as they approached the balcony's bannister, arm in arm, and carefully scanned the vast ocean of people below.

Elijah quietly observed his brother's features. Relaxed, carefree. Unassuming. He then averted his eyes towards Caroline. She too seemed quite content, always the more guarded of the two, but that was understandable. He suppressed a sigh. Caroline should never have been destined for this world. It had destroyed her inevitably, it always did. She had become harsh over the years. Caroline Forbes was a kind, caring individual. Caroline Mikaelson was something else entirely.

"Good evening, my friends and welcome to our 250 year anniversary ball!", Klaus began.

He spoke confidently, like a King.

"First of all Caroline and I would like to thank you all for taking an evening out of your busy schedule to be with us tonight"

He glanced at the woman beside him and smiled gently before turning back to his audience.

"I see many familiar faces, those of you who were probably present at our 100th anniversary ball and our 101st anniversary ball and our 102nd anniversary ball… and I think you get the picture."

There were a few chuckles in the crowd.

"And I suppose you could say that this is just another one. But it isn't. 250 years is quite the milestone, isn't it?" He asked, amusement evident in his voice.

"A quarter of a century of ruling by the side of another. Each year that has passed has been a testament to the absolute control that we have in this city".

Elijah was sure he could see a wicked glint in Klaus' eyes. But was he just being paranoid?

"People have attempted to overthrow me, but of course that's inevitable. All sorts of people, from different lands, different families, and so on. But there is one thing that they all have in common."

Klaus looked down at the swarms below, and for a moment Elijah was certain that he was staring right at him.

Klaus paused before loudly declaring, "They have all tried and they have all failed."

The room was silent for a long moment before Klaus finally spoke again.

"But we're not here to discuss such matters, after all it's a celebration!" His face quickly transformed into a perfect smile. "And now if you'd join me the-". Just as quickly as the smile appeared it disappeared, and morphed into a sickening expression of anguish. Niklaus clutched his chest tightly as his knees buckled and he fell to floor and out of sight behind the balcony wall. Elijah saw Caroline dash to kneel at Klaus' side.

Now was their chance.

Elijah turned to find Elena, but to his horror she was nowhere to be found. He searched the hall frantically, looking in every corner until his eyes landed back where they had started; the balcony.

Elena was at the top of the stairs, white oak stake out from it's case and poised above her head ready to strike. Elijah was momentarily frozen before he saw a flash of movement above. There was a loud crash before he felt the guests gather around him in the hopes of catching a proper glimpse of what was happening.

There was more silence.

Had Elena done it? Had she killed them?

His questions were all answered as he saw three heads emerge from below the cover of the balcony. Caroline, looking slightly disheveled, and Klaus, wearing an infuriated expression, with his hand wrapped tightly around the neck of one Elena Gilbert.

Elena struggled and waved her arms helplessly as she was dragged upwards by her neck and raised until she was dangling in mid-air.

Elijah's felt his insides churn. He felt distraught, then confused, and then angry. What had Elena been thinking?

Klaus held her over the side of the balcony for a few moments before simply letting her fall down onto the hard wooden floorboards below.

He snapped his fingers and made eye contact with the guards at the door before speaking.

"Take her and lock her up downstairs."

Elijah watched as two burly werewolves marched to where Elena lay, picked her up by her arms and dragged her out the door. Elijah's eyes stayed fixated on her until she was taken out of sight.

He was suddenly knocked out of his reverie when he heard Klaus speak once more.

"Well then, lets get the festivities started, shall we?"

His face was unblemished, not a mark could be seen on his body. He fixed his bow tie, smiled widely at the stunned audience and walked back out the way he came with Caroline following closely behind him.

Elijah took a deep and completely unnecessary breath. He needed to get Elena back.

It was time to regroup.

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Meanwhile, Damon and the rest of the rebels were lurking just outside the grounds of the mansion. Midnight had passed, and yet they had received absolutely no signal from Elijah.

Damon was pacing frantically. Elena had promised that she would be here. All she had to do was deliver the stake to Elijah and get out as soon as possible, but almost an hour had gone by and still there was no sign of her. He had a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach, a certain sense that something was wrong. He needed to find out what was going on.

Damon's eyes surveyed the area until they found Enzo. He quickly walked over to stand at his side.

" Elena isn't back yet, it's past midnight and none of us have heard anything from Elijah. Do have as much of a bad feeling about this as I do?"

Enzo tilted his head slightly to face his friend.

"Maybe Elijah sent Elena to check on our dear witches?"

Damon frowned. That didn't sound like something Elijah would do, but if something was wrong with the spell he supposed it was possible.

"Maybe. I'll check it out. Do you think you can hold down the fort until I get back?".

"Will do".

Damon patted Enzo on the back and turned to make his way to where the witches were conjuring up Klaus' fancy "de-hybridifying" spell. It had taken months to accumulate the ingredients, including a piece of ancient white oak, the elusive moonstone and the blood of a hybrid. Tyler Lockwood had been a willing sacrifice.

Damon arrived at Rousseau's in record time. The bar had been the rebellion's headquarters since it's foundation. It was hidden and nicely secluded deep in the heart of Bourbon Street, and as a result was one of the only places in the city that Klaus wasn't aware of.

He pushed the door of the bar open slowly, hearing the sharp screech of the hinges echo throughout the establishment. That was all he heard. There was no chanting, no voices could be heard, not a sound. It was disconcerting, and the eerie silence continued as Damon made his way behind the bar and into the back where the witches should have been stationed, but as he took in a deep breath, his senses were quickly assaulted by the unmistakable smell of blood, and not just a papercuts' worth of blood, but what seemed to be an entire sea of the red liquid.

Damon's assumptions came to pass as he entered the small room. Bodies scattered the floor. Blood had seeped into the wooden floorboards, turning the light wood to rust. Candles served as the border to the makeshift circle. All had been quenched, leaving Damon standing in the darkness. He shifted his head from side to side, every fibre of his being was on edge as he sensed the danger approaching.

Footsteps, muffled whispers. Damon swiftly broke off the leg of a chair in the corner to create a blunt stake for himself and prepared to strike. The footsteps grew louder, they were hesitant, careful. Suddenly a familiar voice rang out.

"Damon!"

The soft voice made his heart jump.

"Elena?"

A wounded Elena emerged from the doorway, holding her arm across her stomach. Following close behind her was Elijah. No pleasantries were exchanged as Elijah immediately got down to business.

"We have to leave. Unfortunately our plan was not as… foolproof as we thought it was. Klaus knew everything, and I would be willing to bet that he has already noticed our absence."

Damon sighed out of frustration and then moved to take Elena into his arms. She hugged him back tensely. It was then that he noticed her injury.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine", she responded quickly.

Elijah then spoke up.

"We need to leave. Now." His tone was final.

"What should we do with the bodies?", Damon asked.

Elijah looked at the seven dead bodies that were scattered all across the floor, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

"We must leave them. There's no time."

"How right you are my friend", Enzo announced as he appeared suddenly in the doorway. Damon's forehead creased in confusion as he addressed him.

"Enzo? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay with the others."

Damon's voice was laced with annoyance, but most of all confusion. Enzo stepped forward and the three were shocked to find that he was not alone, because behind him stood Klaus' right hand man, Marcel, as well as several other recognisable faces from Klaus' inner circle.

It took a while for Damon to process that fact, and then finally his face formed a sickened expression of realisation.

"No...no".

He repeated the words, full of disgust and feelings of almost overwhelming betrayal.

"Not you...why would you do this? I thought we were friends?"

Enzo laughed bitterly, his tone full of condescension.

"Friends? You left me to perish in a fire, to be burnt alive, and you think that we were friends?"

Damon winced at the memory, before meeting Enzo's eyes once again.

"You're going to be sorry you lived.", he told him, flashing his friend a sly grin.

Then without warning Damon rushed towards Enzo and tackled him to the ground in the process shouting "Run!" to the pair behind him.

He didn't have time to see if they did, before he heard the loud snap of his neck breaking.

End Flashback

Damon's jaw clenched as he recalled the memory. Apparently they had run, but Elijah was the only one who got away. He had spent the following two days locked in a cage in Klaus' basement. The environment brought him back to his Augustine days, not the most pleasant of times to be sure.

Enzo had been right there with him for years before he pounced on the only opportunity he was presented with after years of being a guinea pig for the Augustine's deranged and infinitely agonising experiments. It was definitely not something he was proud of.

He paused on top of a desert hill in the hopes of locating some sort of human activity. After a short glimpse over the landscape his sharp eyes spotted what appeared to be a truck stop or maybe even a store. It had taken a long time but he was finally on his way out of this hellhole.

He once again set off and soon found himself standing just outside the door of "Clancy's General Goods Store". Swiftly smoothing down his tattered leather jacket, he opened the door to the soft chime of bells. Damon immediately made his way to the counter and smiled at the fat balding man behind it.

"Would you mind if I used your phone? It's just that my truck broke down a couple miles back and I need repairs."

He flashed the man a charming grin. The other man looked at him skeptically. Perhaps the trucker story wasn't the cleverest. Damon Salvatore didn't exactly look like a trucker.

"Sure", he replied. "But you have to buy something first."

Damon rolled his eyes quickly. He didn't have any money, Klaus' henchmen had taken most of his possessions before they dropped him off.

He scanned the store subtlely before turning back to the cashier.

"Alright. Can you get me some of that beef jerky? Lots of it."

He pointed behind the counter. The man glanced at him questioningly before turning his back to Damon and proceeding to collect the jerky from the jar behind him. After a few moments he spun back around to face his customer.

Damon cast his eyes on the dried food disdainfully before speaking once again.

"You know what?", he questioned strangely. "I think I'd like a drink with that."

The cashier barely had time to register what he had just said before Damon lunged at him, gripped him by the throat, dragged his body over the counter, and all in one swift motion dug his fangs into the stunned man's jugular. His arms flailed uselessly around as he tried to push the vampire off of him, but all to no avail. Damon felt the man's efforts grow more and more feeble as he drained him powerfully. Within a matter of seconds the man was unconscious.

Damon dropped him to the floor carelessly, hearing the man's head bounce of the tiles with a thud. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand feeling rejuvenated and lacking that familiar dry sensation at the back of his throat that seemed to constantly plague him.

"Excellent service", he said more to himself than anyone else.

He stepped over the cashier's body and slowly sauntered towards the phone that was stationed behind the counter. He picked up the receiver and placed it next to his ear and then dialled a number he hadn't dialled in years.

The irritating beeps echoed in his ear as he waited for an answer, and then finally they ceased as he heard a voice call out a greeting.

"Alaric?" He questioned, needing reassurance.

It was a while until the voice answered back.

"Damon? Is that you? Wow, I haven't heard from you in years."

Damon smiled into the phone before replying.

"Yeah, it's me, Ric. Look I know it's been a long time." He sighed.

"But I was wondering if I could call in that favour you owed me?"

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Note: So that chapter turned out to be a lot longer than expected. Leave a comment or a review, if you want to leave a comment or a review. You know, no pressure.