Ronnie_R prompted: "I know you mentioned that Stefan can't separate his Little and adult memories and how being the ripper haunts him. Any chance we can see how Little Stefan copes with such trauma? Or even memories of Katherine? Unfortunately, Damon can't protect him from his own mind so I'm curious to see how he handles it and how Little Stefan interprets everything/reacts."

Damon knows it's creepy to watch his little brother sleep, and yet, it's his favorite activity.

Even when he's out of Little space, he looks so young and peaceful. Occasionally, he subconsciously slips his thumb into his mouth and makes the most adorable sucking noises. Caroline's lectured Damon about letting his brother do that instead of a pacifier, but it's not like Stefan's teeth can be damaged, unlike his human counterparts.

Sometimes, Stefan falls asleep curled up in a ball. Others, he spreads out like a starfish across the bed. His hand often over his big brother's face, head on his chest. Damon's favorite nights are the ones when Stefan allows him to rock him to sleep. He can ensure his brother is safe in his arms. It's why he tries to avoid Stefan sleeping his big boy bed as much as possible. Damon can protect him from the master suite.

One rainy night, Stefan remains snuggled into his big brother's side. Damon absent mindedly runs his fingers through the wavy hero hair, his eyes focused on the TV. The new Top Gun movie is proudly advertised on the screen. Damon settles back against the pillows. There was a time when war movies brought him back to a dark place. He's past that now. Double checking that his brother is firmly asleep, Damon feels comfortable keeping the Tom Cruise film on.

15 minutes in, Damon picks up soft whimpering. It's followed by thrashing. Stefan is kicking him. First in the leg, then the stomach. Damon lets out a soft oof. He looks down at his baby brother, who is whining with his eyes closed and thrashing his body about. Damon gently rubs his stomach.

"Stef?" The thrashing continues. Damon's hands move faster. "Stefan!"

A loud gasp, followed by a pair of wide green eyes look up into Damon's worried ones. The older brother frowns, gently stroking Stefan's cheek.

"Bunny," he whispers. "What happened?"

Stefan's quiet for a moment, his eyes in a cationic state of shock. Damon gently tries to sit him up, but his brother is limp. Anxiety fills Damon's stomach as he shakes him.

"Stef? Stef, what's going on? What's wrong?" Stefan merely blinks, showing the only signs of life. "Bunny, you're scaring me. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Blood."

The word comes out soft, almost in a whispery lisp. Stefan's voice sounds young, yet full of pain and regret. Damon regards him for a few moments, trying to figure out what state his brother is in. The speech impediment coming from his first childhood indicates that he's dropped. Yet, the haunted look tells a different story.

Damon pushes the hair out of Stefan's face. The little brother tilts his head, his lip quivering.

"There was so much blood, DayDay."

Damon nods, even though he has no clue what Stefan is referencing. "Where was the blood?"

"Everywhere," Stefan slowly pushes himself up onto his palms. Damon is quick to shut off the television, not wanting to scar him further. "Scary Stefy."

Damon frowns, moving closer to him. "Scary Stefy? Do you mean Scary DayDay?"

"Nuh uh. Scary Stefy hurt lots of people. They cried and cried, but he didn't stop."

The realization kicks Damon in the chest. He attempts to pull Stefan onto his lap, but his brother pushes him away.

"He ate them. Drank all their blood, 'til it ran out."

Damon slowly nods. He knows of his brother's ripper days. In fact, he was there to watch him begin the downward spiral. If not for him, Stefan never would've entered that world in the first place.

Yet, he wasn't there for all of it. Sure, he kept tabs, or at least he tried. Stefan was quick. A tornado that destroyed everything in his path. Damon could've, should've, found a way to stop him. Instead, he went off to whatever European country sounded the most appealing at the time.

"I did that," Stefan whimpers. "I hurted the people."

Damon wishes more than anything that compulsion worked on Stefan. It's something he swore he'd never do to his brother. And yet, in this moment, all he wants to do is erase the memories of that awful time.

"You were very sick," Damon tries to bargain. "You were all by yourself. I know that had to be so scary."

"Scary Stefy," Stefan repeats. His wide eyes stare up at Damon. "Father is gone. It…it's all my fault."

Another attempt to pull Stefan on his lap ends with Damon nearly pushed off the bed. "Father was mean and he tried to take you away from me. And I from you. You were scared and he was very mean."

"No hurting people. Not 'posed to."

"Sometimes, we have to break the rules."

"No!"

Damon shrinks back a bit at the ferocity in his little brother's voice. Stefan kicks his legs and pounds his fist onto the heavy duvet.

"No! No! No! Bad Stefy! I hurted people. Monster!"

Damon sits back, watching his little brother's tantrum in fear. Stefan's body thrashes about, kicking all of the pillows and blankets off of the bed. With one quick swoop, Damon is on the floor and the heavy California King mattress beside him. Stefan is left on the box spring, still screaming about how naughty he is, all the people he hurt.

"Ka…Katherine," he manages to get out.

Damon wishes more than anything he could take a look into his brother's head. It seems to be split between his ripper days, becoming a vampire and everything in between. Meshed with his dropped state and it's a terrifying sight. For once, Damon is unsure of what to do. Stefan will not let him close enough to touch. Every time Damon tries, he finds himself on the opposite end of the box spring.

"What did Katherine do?" Damon asks gently, already knowing the answer.

"Scary…vampire…gone."

Stefan's body partially stills as he rolls over onto his side to stare at his older brother once more. Damon holds his breath, fighting every urge to get closer to him. He's on human blood, he should be able to overpower him. But Stefan's grief, trauma and guilt is enough.

Tears cloud Stefan's eyes. "Scary Stefy hurted DayDay," he whispers. The whining is gone, his voice simply broken.

Damon's mouth drops open. "Stef." He inches closer to him. Stefan bares his fangs. "It's okay."

"Nuh uh. I…I was mean."

Damon draws back a deep sigh. "You were." He answers honestly, against every fiber of his being telling him to stop. "You hurt me. I didn't like it."

"I'm sorry," Stefan whimpers.

"I know you are," Damon manages to make out, the tears clouding his eyes.

"Didn't want to be alone." Stefan's lips form into a pout. "Lost Mommy. Lost Father. Needed DayDay. But DayDay go away."

"I did," he whispers, honestly. "I went far, far away. I wasn't there to help Scary Stefy and make him Nice Stefy."

"Not DayDay's fault," Stefan whimpers.

Damon manages to make it closer without any hissing or violence. Stefan recoils slightly. The pain hasn't left his eyes at all since he awoke.

"I know how scary this must be," Damon says. "Your big boy thoughts are mixing with your little boy ones, aren't they?" Stefan slowly nods. "It's true, Bunny, you did hurt people. But you aren't that boy anymore. You are kind, smart, you'd never do that again. And you've tried to say sorry and prove you mean it."

"Scary," Stefan repeats.

"It's so scary, I know." Damon hesitates. "Can I hold you, please? I hate seeing you like this."

Stefan eyes him hesitantly. The overprotective brother in Damon is screaming. He doesn't know what to be, if not Stefan's grand protector. And yet, he can't even bring him comfort in this moment.

Stefan crawls across the box spring and collapses against his big brother's chest. Damon quickly wraps his arms around him. With one, he keeps a tight hold, the other is reserved for rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"You aren't Scary Stefy anymore," Damon soothes. "You're just regular Stefy. My sweet, little Bunny Boy. DayDay's baby. That'll never change."

Stefan remains quiet. His thumb re-enters his mouth and soon, only sucking sounds can be heard. In spite of his brother trying to hide his face in Damon's t-shirt, the latter can see the guilt, anxiety and confusion warped across his eyes. Damon can hold his baby brother all he wants, but he cannot get inside of his head. He can't stop all of this pain.

Damon doesn't attempt to put the bed back together. He won't risk leaving Stefan alone, even for a moment. It takes another couple of hours for the little one to sleep again. They don't watch television or speak. Instead, Stefan remains snuggled against him. Damon refuses to let sleep overtake him. He doesn't need it.

Stefan needs him more. Even if, for the first time since his return to Mystic Falls, Damon can't help.