"A Moment In Time"

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; those belong to their original creators. The way it's all stringed together is of my making. No profit is being made out of this (*sigh* unfortunately).

Fandom(s): Vampire Diaries
Character(s): Stefan, Damon and Elena
Pairing: many

Rating: strong T (just to be safe because of the language)
Words: 1,308 words

Requested By: Enx2103
Challenge/Summary: A Evil!Stefan/Damon confrontation at the boarding house after the events of "The Reckoning" (ep. 3x05)
Inspiration: The dialogue just came to me.

Spoiler(s): up to and including episode 3x05 ("The Reckoning")
Time Frame: An extension of the boarding house scene in the end.

A/N #1: At the end to avoid additional spoilers but whether you want to keep tonight's episode in mind is up to you (VD 3x07 was a fantastic episode, don't you think?)

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"Screwed Up"

"Where were you Damon?" Elena questioned, her voice cracking, as she was huddled into the leather couch at the boarding house with a glass of bourbon in her hands. She still couldn't believe how senior prank night had turned out all wrong.

Klaus wasn't supposed to show up. Tyler wasn't supposed to be turned into a hybrid. And the worst of all, Stefan wasn't supposed to disappear before her very eyes because that's what happened to the Stefan she knew, he disappeared and in his place was the vampire; the Ripper.

Damon sighed as he sat in the seat across from Elena. He could see the pain she was feeling through her eyes and even if he wasn't seeing it on her face, he could feel it. He was so peeved at himself for running off with Katherine just because he had a fight with Elena…if he hadn't left, maybe he could have prevented some of the things that happened tonight. But he'd never know because he couldn't undo what was done that night.

"I shouldn't have left." He softly declared which caused Elena to cast her gaze down to the glass in her lap as she held back her tears.

She didn't want him to see how his absence had truly affected her. Throughout the whole night, she couldn't help but wonder where Damon was because in the past, he always appeared when she truly needed him and it hurt when that didn't happen tonight.

He noticed that she was slowly distancing herself from him and he wasn't going to have that. He placed his hand on her knee as he gave it a firm squeeze, bringing her doe eyes to meet his promising gaze. "I promise you, I will never leave you again."

He wish he could say more, do more, to help her through this but he couldn't help but be pleased with the small smile that she gave him as she fought her tears back. He would take the smile because it was a start. She needed him…it may not be as intense as his need for her but it's a start.

"Well isn't this cozy." Another voice interjected from the room's entrance, causing Damon to immediately stand, unconsciously placing himself between Elena and their intruder…who turned out to be a smug Stefan as he leaned against a wall, witnessing the scene that transpired between Damon and Elena moments ago.

"What are you doing here brother?" Damon questioned tensely as Elena sat stunned behind him. Neither one of them could believe that Stefan was there.

"Last I checked, I live here." Stefan retorted back as he made his way towards Damon's alcohol stash. "Klaus is gone but he's asked me to keep watch on you until he returns." He stated, mainly at Elena, before he took a swig of his new drink. "From now on, you're under my protection."

Damon didn't like the sound of that. "For Klaus' benefit." He sneered out because it was clearly evident in his brother's mannerisms that if he had the choice, he wouldn't be here to protect some human (nevermind the fact that said human was the love of his life before Klaus compelled the switch in his brother to turn off).

"Exactly." Stefan's emotionless answer made Elena flinch in her seat.

Damon scoffed as he took a few steps forward but he still remained in between Elena and his brother. "I can't believe it. Is this really what it's come down to? After everything we've done, you're just going to sit back and watch Klaus use her as a living blood bag?" Anyone could tell that Damon was holding back his anger when he said those words and the vampire couldn't believe that he was saying them to his brother of all people. Before it use to be Stefan that would try to reason with Damon and to get him to help out but now…it was as if the tables have turned completely.

"How should I put this…yes." Stefan stated with a shrug before he took another swig of his alcoholic drink. His brother's anger didn't phase the Ripper as he didn't really care…he was there to do his job, whether he liked it or not. He knew that he should care but he just didn't have it in him to care.

Damon shook his head from side to side in a disappointed manner. "That's screwed up Stefan, even by my standards."

Stefan laughed. "Since when have I gone by your standards Damon?" Damon growled at the comment which caused a smirk to form on the younger Salvatore's face. "Besides, I thought out of everyone you'd be pleased about where I am now."

The older Salvatore rolled his eyes. "I never wanted you to be on Klaus' side."

The Ripper shrugged as he finished the rest of his drink. "That may be true but you are the one that wanted me to embrace the vampire within and here I am in all my vampire glory and yet you seem…dissatisfied."

Damon flinched at the reminder of what he tried to get Stefan to become when he first arrived to Mystic Falls. It was true that he wanted Stefan to start drinking human blood but he didn't want him to loose complete control to become what he is now. The guy before him was not his brother…there was no doubt in Damon's mind on that statement.

"You're a real piece of work you know that."

Stefan snickered, taking that as a compliment whether Damon meant it as so or not. "Takes one to know one. The only difference now is that I don't care." He stated before he returned his glass back to the trolley. "You use to be like that you know…whatever happened to that Damon?" Stefan questioned as he walked backwards to where he entered earlier as he never took his eyes off his older brother, who was giving him an ice cold stare. "Together we could have ripped the town to shreds brother…just thinking about all the possibilities is making me thirsty." He stated as he licked his lips before a sinister smile formed on his face as the mental images of bloody bodies being scoured around the town grounds because of the two of them. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts before they became too much that he'd attack Elena in the moment (which wouldn't do Klaus any good) as he gave a dramatic sigh. "It's a shame you've gone soft brother." He declared before he turned around to leave the room. "As you were!" He shouted back to them before he headed to the front door…he was feeling very thirsty at the moment.

Damon couldn't help the growl that escaped through his lips. He wanted to go and pummel Stefan to a pulp so badly in that moment but it was the feel of Elena's hand slip around his wrist that made him stop.

The vampire turned to face Elena, who was now standing, and he wasn't surprised to see the turmoil in her eyes again. It hadn't even occurred to him in the moment how Elena would take the confrontation between himself and his brother just now but he knew that she's had enough for the night.

"Let's get you home." Damon suggested before he subtly moved his hand in a way that go her hand off his wrist and into his own hand.

Elena could only nod as Damon led the way to the front door.

In a way Damon was right, she couldn't safely stay there anymore…not if Stefan was back. It wasn't that much safer at the Gilbert House either but she could only hope that Damon had a plan to keep her safe for the night.

That's all she could do at this point…she could only hope.

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A/N #2: So how was that? Usually I would be thinking how I'd make that point in the episode into a Delena moment so it was a bit harder to make Stefan and Damon more of the leads in the scene while Elena was on the side lines. I hope I captured the boys properly but I gotta say; it was entertaining writing them this way.

A/N #3: Thanks you for everyone who took the time to read my latest snippet/challenge on Nikita, it means the world to me. A special thanks to Ghostwriter and Enx2103 for leaving me a review for the Nikita challenge...it brought a smile to my face on a gloomy day =D. THANK YOU!

A/N #4: Originally I had stated that this chapter would be a Supernatural plot bunny but I ended up posting it as a new story titled "A Moment In Time: It's Just The Beginning" (under the Supernatural category). I hope you guys check that out afterwards because I really like what my convention's inspiration cooked up. So CHECK IT OUT and leave me a review there (and one here please!) You readers rock and if you have a challenge in mind, let me know in a review too (just pick one of the fandom, a pairing and a scenario)!

Coming Up Next: Vampire Diaries (challenge)

Originally Published: Oct. 27, 2011