kimkey prompted: "we know Damon's opinion about Lexie but what about Klaus, especially given his and Stefan's history? I can only imagine the argument between the brothers."
So, like most things with this, I have fudged how things actually went in canon. Klaus and Stefan still had their period of disastrous, murderous fun...but rather than Klaus abandoning him, Lexi abducted Stefan to rehabilitate the ripper out of him. That's about all that's changed.
This takes place not long after Damon returned to Mystic Falls and the brothers struck up their new dynamics.
Damon drums his fingers against the steering wheel, glancing at the clock. Stefan told him he'd be ready to go at 3. It's now 3:45 and his brother hasn't emerged from the massive mansion. Texts and calls go unanswered. He wouldn't have minded his brother staying later, but burning gas to come all the way out there…
He gets out of the car and strides up to the door, admiring the beautiful garden out front. There's an arrangement of pink and white roses that especially catch his eye. They're decorated in an "M" shape. He does a double take. Isn't Elena's last name Gilbert?
Damon knocks on the door. A moment later, a tall blonde with bright blue eyes appears in front of him with a wide smile on her face. Her scent instantly gives away what she is. No older than 30 biologically, but she's definitely lived a long time.
"Hi!" Her voice is filled with energy and matches her sparkly white teeth. "You must be Damon, I'm Caroline. Elena's mom."
He arches a brow. "I thought her mom was Miranda?"
Caroline's smile dampers a bit as she tilts her head. "I take it you haven't been around Mystic Falls for a bit." Damon shrugs. "My husband and I adopted Elena a few months ago."
Damon flinches. "Oh…alright. My apologies then." He doesn't wish to pry any further. Stefan really should've warned him about this sooner. "Anyway, I've been waiting on Stef but…"
Caroline laughs a little. "Yeah, the kids have been playing video games in the den. It's pretty loud in there. Even with Stefan's abilities, I doubt he can hear his phone." She gestures into the house. "Come on."
Damon steps over the line and looks around. The mansion is old, perhaps just as much as the boarding house. Elaborate paintings hang in the hallway. There are a few of Caroline from different time periods. The closer they get to the source of the noise, there are a few of Elena. Damon could've sworn Stefan mentioned Elena's father a few times…
"Dad!" Elena screeches with glee. "You suck at this!"
There's a familiar accented voice that Damon can't place. "Sweetheart, you must remember how old I am."
Damon freezes in place as his eyes land on a small framed photo. Elena is in the middle, a huge smile on her face. On one side, Caroline. They're wearing matching dresses, the daughter's in lavender and the mom's pink. On the left of the teenager is a man that makes Damon's blood boil.
He growls as he bursts into the living room, a confused Caroline hot on his trail. Sure enough, sitting in between Elena and Stefan is the tall, original hybrid himself. He doesn't look much different from the last time Damon saw him.
"You aren't any good for my brother!" He snarled.
Klaus glowered at him. "That's not exactly your choice to make, now is it?"
"You kill me and Stefan will never forgive you. As much as you like to pretend you're his family, you're not! I am." Damon's crazy, ice cold blue eyes landed on the hybrid before him. "So, you walk away or we can see who he'd pick."
Klaus' arm is wrapped around Stefan, both of them laughing. Damon's stomach churns as he thinks of the picture his brother has stuffed in an old photo album. The duo in some bar, smiling wide. A hint of devil in their eyes. If you look close enough, you can spot the human blood on the edge of Stefan's mouth.
Damon vamps across the room and drags his brother off the couch, jumping in front of him. Stefan's complaining but Damon keeps his eyes on Klaus as he rises off the couch. The hybrid keeps up his guarded demeanor, though his eyes are kinder. Elena sits on the couch, looking between the two, a bit of confusion and fear on her face. Caroline appears in the room and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Mom…" Elena whispers. "What's going on?"
"Let's…leave this between your dad and Stefan's brother, hm? I made some cookies earlier."
Elena doesn't break her gaze until she's completely out of the room. Klaus draws back a deep breath.
"Damon."
The elder Salvatore brother allows the venom to seep below his eyes. "What part of stay away from my brother didn't sink through your head back in the 20s?"
Stefan tugs on his arm. "Day, come on."
"Hush, Stefan. The grownups are talking." Damon growls.
Klaus takes a step forward. "If you want to have this argument, we can. Outside. But you are not going to scare my daughter."
"What? Couldn't get any real family that you had to adopt some poor defenseless girl to corrupt?!"
It's Klaus' turn for his eyes to grow dark. Damon draws his fangs, ready for a fight…
He's pushed to one end of the room while Klaus falls in the other. Stefan stands in the middle, breathing heavily.
"Stop! Both of you!" He looks at his brother. "Let's just go!"
Damon sees the anxiety in his brother's eyes. He glances over at Klaus. The hybrid's face has returned to normal, with almost a bit of…guilt?
No, that can't be true. This man is a psychotic nut job. There's no way he feels a damn thing.
Damon grabs Stefan's arm and drags him out of the mansion. As soon as they reach the driveway, Stefan pulls away.
"Are you insane?!" He snaps. "You could've traumatized Elena!"
"I don't want to hear about Elena right now! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Damon throws his hands in the air. "Why didn't you tell me that Klaus was Elena's…" He uses air quotes. " 'dad' now?"
"Hey, don't mock their relationship," Stefan snarls. "You don't know a damn thing about them."
"Watch it," Damon warns. "Of course I don't know, because you didn't tell me."
"Because I was trying to avoid all this!"
Damon pulls at his dark waves, trying to calm down. Still, he can't shake the image of Klaus' arm around his baby brother.
"This…this can't be happening. Bunny," Damon's voice grows soft. "He's bad for you."
"Klaus isn't the reason I was like that back then," Stefan says, his voice firm.
"No, but he certainly didn't help! And then when Lexi and I finally got through to you, he tried to pull you back."
"He was lonely! He wanted a friend!"
"That wasn't your job!"
"I know that! It's why I chose you and Lexi!"
"Then what the hell is this?!"
"He's not the same anymore." Damon scoffs. Stefan frowns. "He's not, Day!"
"I'm sure he's tried to convince you of that…"
"It's the truth! He's changed. Caroline…Mrs. Forbes-Mikaelson…she helped change him, alright? He was struggling after the treaty was struck and she rehabilitated him."
Damon shakes his head. "Monsters like that, they can't be rehabilitated."
Stefan's face falls. His voice comes out broken. "So, what does that mean for me?'
Damon frowns. He takes in Stefan's crumpled face and his heart crashes into his chest. The elder brother vamps before him and cups his cheeks.
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. You're different," Damon mutters. He kisses Stefan's forehead. "You're not him."
Stefan pulls away from him, shaking his head. "No, we are. If I'm capable of redemption, why isn't he?"
"Because you're…you! And he's Niklaus Mikaelson!"
"You don't even know him now!"
"I don't need to!" Damon throws his hands in the air. "Just because he's manipulated two people doesn't mean a damn thing."
"He didn't manipulate Elena! He saved her!"
"Yeah, right. I'm sure that's what she thinks…"
"He saved her from The Initiative!"
Damon stills. He sees the desperation, the sincerity written on his brother's face. His voice comes out slow.
"What?"
Stefan sighs, running his fingers through his hair. "After Elena's bio parents died, she was put with this asshole who was a member. He beat her, trying to ensure she'd be classified as a caretaker. Well, she wasn't and it got worse. He…he did a lot of terrible stuff, Damon. Until finally, one day, he threw her out into the snow. If Caroline and Klaus hadn't found her, she would've died."
Damon blinks several times as his heart races. No…no. This goes against Klaus' nature. There's no way he'd…
"Just because he did all of that," Damon whispers. "Doesn't mean…"
"Elena is on vervain. If he was trying to control her, she'd know it. But he's not. He's really good to her. Klaus loves her, dotes on her. He treats her like a princess. And he's not just nice to her, he's great to all of us." Stefan sticks his hands in his pockets and ducks his head. "He apologized to me."
Damon tilts his head. "What?"
"He…he said even if I was a ripper, I was still 17," he mumbles. "That he never should've gone near me. That he shouldn't have tried to make me pick between you and him."
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
"Would you have believed me?" Damon goes silent. "Exactly." Stefan sighs, looking back up. "Look, you were already nervous about me being friends with Elena. I knew if you found out who her dad was, you'd…well, you'd react how you just did."
"I mean, can't you understand why? Stef, I know you weren't exactly playing with dolls before you met Klaus but he only made you worse. Then when you tried to leave, he all but tried to kill me and Lexi."
"I know who he was. I also know who he is now. And if I didn't think he was safe, I wouldn't have brought you here."
Damon bites his lip. Stefan rubs the back of his neck.
"If you don't want me to hang out here, I understand."
He doesn't. Damon wants to forbid him from ever stepping foot on the property. Heck, he'd like to lock him up inside the boarding house and never let him go.
How different would that make him from Klaus…or how he used to be anyway.
"I…It's fine," Damon makes out. Stefan smiles a little. "But you have to tell me this stuff, Stef. Even if you think I'll overreact, I need to know where you are and who you're with. That includes parents."
Stefan nods. "I will, I promise."
Damon feels the hybrid's presence lurking behind the door. He tilts his head to the car.
"Get in. I'll be right there."
Stefan regards him carefully. "What are you going to do?"
"I won't stake him," Damon swats his bottom. "Just go."
Stefan reluctantly heads to the car. Klaus takes a step onto the porch as soon as the door closes. Damon stares at him for a few moments. Klaus clears his throat.
"Start a scene like that in front of my daughter again and I'll tear your lungs out," he says, his voice even yet sincere.
Damon nods. "Hurt my brother and you can expect the same."
"It's a deal." He glances at the car before meeting Damon's eye once more. "We put this all aside for the kids?"
"I'm not going to trust you for the next 50 years, but I won't make that Stefan or Elena's problem."
Klaus shrugs. "Seems fair enough to me."
"It better."
Damon heads for the car. Halfway through, he hears Elena's voice cut through.
"Is everything okay, Dad?"
"Don't worry, Princess. Everything's fine."
Damon turns in time to see Klaus wrapping his arms around Elena. He kisses the top of her head, a look of protection and happiness in those once devilish eyes. The teen is smiling, her head buried in his chest. They look…not unlike Stefan and Damon.
"Perhaps there's hope for the devil after all," he mumbles.
In the present day of this fic, Klaus and Damon have built a reluctant respect for one another. Similar to canon, Damon much prefers Caroline.
As of right now, my prompt list is empty! So feel free to fill it. :)
