Tw: mentions of sexual and physical assault

Damon pulls in front of the library. He's surprised to find Stefan standing outside already. Usually, he has to text him a couple of times to get his butt in gear. He'll lollygag out with the rest of the group. Today, it should just be Bonnie and Tyler.

Yet, Stefan stands with someone that Damon doesn't recognize. He's a tall man, towering above the younger brother. A long, curly beard of brown matches the hair on his head. He wears a leather jacket and tight jeans. Damon thought he finally knew just about everyone in town, but this man is a mystery.

He steps out of the car and inches closer. The stench of an unfamiliar vampire reeks through his nose. As Damon grows closer, he sees his brother's green eyes focused on the man intently. The man's charming voice breaks through.

"So, we meet on Fridays at The Grill. Then we head into the woods."

Stefan nods. "Sounds like a good deal."

Damon clenches his fists. Oh, no way in hell.

He takes the final step closer and clears his throat. Stefan draws back a little while the man stands firm. Damon tilts his head, remaining silent.

Stefan frowns. "Gary, this is my brother that I was telling you about. Damon."

Gary nods in Damon's direction. "It's nice to meet you. Stefan's spoken a great deal."

Damon narrows his eyes. "Has he?" He looks from a sheepish Stefan then back at the older man. "Just what were you inviting my baby brother to?"

Stefan whines. "Damon."

"Hush now. The grownups are talking."

Stefan's cheeks burn crimson as he glares at his big brother. Damon ignores him. Gary's smile fades.

"I find that a bit patronizing, don't you? Stefan is 17 years old."

"And he's still my baby brother. You didn't answer my question."

Gary shakes his head. "There are only so many vegetarian vampires period, let alone in town. A group of us have gathered every so often to hunt. I was simply asking Stefan to join us."

"He'll pass."

Gary arches a furry brow. "Don't you think that should be up to him?"

"As you said, he's 17. I'm his guardian. He doesn't do a thing without my approval."

"Sounds toxic to me."

Damon scoffs, shaking his head. This man looks like he's in his 30s. What does he have in common with a 17 year old, outside their supposed shared diet?

"With all due respect, which is none…" Damon ignores Stefan tugging on his arm. "How I parent my brother is none of your business. Now, run along with your cult and never go near my brother again."

Gary glances at Stefan. Damon moves in front of him. He allows the venom to take over his face and bares his fangs. Gary starts but thinks better, peering around Damon to look at Stefan.

"You have my number."

Gary vamps off. Damon quickly changes his face before turning to his younger brother. Stefan storms off towards the car. Damon groans, right on his tail.

"You're not getting away with this."

"Don't talk to me!"

"Hey." Damon grabs his arm and looks him dead in his defiant eyes. "You don't talk to me like that."

Stefan rips away. "I'm not a child!"

"We've had this conversation several times. I will never change my mind on it."

"He's just a nice guy!"

"He's an asshole."

"No, he only got that way after you were a dick."

Damon's jaw locks. His fingers twitch and he resists bending his brother over right then.

"Language," he warns.

Stefan ignores him. "At least Gary treats me like an adult!"

"Gary doesn't know you like I do. And how often have you spoken to him anyway?"

"Just a few times. We met here when I was waiting on Elena and Matt one day. I had a thermos with blood and he sniffed it out. We got to talking. He got hit by the deer poisoning too."

Damon tilts his head, not buying it. Stefan crosses his arms over his chest.

"It's like he said. There's not a lot of vegetarian vampires. It'd be nice to hunt with them."

Damon laughs. "That's never going to happen."

Stefan frowns. "Why not?"

"I am not going to let you go off in the woods with a bunch of strangers."

"They're not strangers! Gary's my friend."

Damon runs his fingers through his hair. "Come on, Stef. You are not that gullible."

"You're just jealous I've found someone I can do this stuff with!" Stefan rolls his eyes. "Have you even looked on the bright side? You hate hunting. This way I can do it and you don't have to worry."

Damon shakes his head. "I may not love hunting but there is no way in hell that's happening."

"You can't…"

Damon holds up a hand. "Let me stop you there. I absolutely can. I'm your guardian."

"I'm 17! I don't have to be here! I could take off and you'll never see me again."

"Don't be dramatic, Stef."

"I mean it! You can't force me to stay here! I'll leave. You won't be able to find me this time."

Damon purses his lips. He knows this is a hollow threat. Even if Stefan did manage to run away, he'd be able to find him easily. Especially if he teamed up with Lexi. Tyler would lend a hand, or rather paw, too.

And still, the boy that stands before him is not his little brother. This is a brainwashed mess. Damon opens the door to the backseat.

"Get in," he orders.

"I'm not done talking about this."

"Well, I am! Get in the car!"

Stefan stands there, unmoved. Damon yanks him by the arm and pushes him down onto the seat. Stefan's eyes widen, a bit of fear filling them. Damon stares at his hands, taking a slow step back.

"Put on your seatbelt," he whispers.

Stefan instantly complies, shutting the door. Damon shuts his eyes, counting down from 100. He always promised he'd never discipline Stefan in anger. As frustrating as his brother could be, he always takes a breath.

Stefan's attitude cannot stand but Damon will not turn into their father to stop it.

"Pull yourself together," Damon mutters.

After a round of deep breaths, he climbs into the driver's seat. He looks back at Stefan, who's pouting and staring out the window.

"Stefan, I'm sorry." His brother doesn't look up. "I shouldn't have put my hands on you."

Stefan doesn't respond. Damon bites his lip and pulls away from the curb.

Damon lets Stefan spend most of the evening in his room. He drops off some blood and dinner around 6. Both go untouched. Damon dines on bourbon and lots of it. Doesn't come close to making a dent.

He fucked up. Badly.

This is the side of himself he's tried to repress. One he's rarely let shown to Stefan.

He cringes at the memory from Stefan's ripper days. Damon came across his brother. Stefan is so different on human blood. Almost as if his humanity is shut off. A smack proved it wasn't completely.

Damon still isn't sure how it escalated so far. An argument broke out about a sketch of Stefan's face on wanted posters. Damon didn't make it that he cared about his brother, rather their secret being exposed. Stefan got nastier and nastier as he piled back the bourbon.

Finally, Stefan shot back, "Good thing Katherine isn't alive to see what a coward you turned out to be."

The mere mention of his former lover made Damon see red. His hand flew across Stefan's cheek. His brother gasped. For the first time in months, Damon watched fear fill his green eyes. He didn't see the ripper of Monterey. Rather, that scared little boy who hid from father's razor strap.

Damon quickly apologized but Stefan disappeared into the night. Three more victims were slaughtered that night. While Stefan is the one who sunk his teeth in, Damon takes the blame.

He swore he'd let himself go so far again. And while shoving isn't as bad as a slap, the guilt takes over once more.

Damon slams his glass down. He goes to grab the bottle once more when his phone rings. Damon grabs it and sees Meredith's name on the screen. He answers.

"Hello?"

"I need you at the hospital. Now."

"Why?"

"Stefan's here."

"What? No. He's in his room."

"I've got him in the bed beside me, Damon."

He vamps up the stairs and throws open his brother's door. The curtains billow in the wind, muddy shoe prints on the wallpaper. Damon's breath hitches.

"What happened?"

"I'll explain when you get here."

Damon is at the hospital within 5 minutes. His engine is barely off as he races into the emergency room. Meredith is waiting on him. She leads him into the quiet hall. Damon's blue eyes are wild.

"What happened?! Where is he?"

Meredith holds up a hand. "He's fine. Or he will be."

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"Stefan was found by some of the council patrol. He was alone in the woods, undressed."

Damon swallows. "What…"

"I've seen this before," she whispers. "You know The Initiative will do anything to torture Littles into repressing themselves."

"Bu…but Stefan is a vampire."

"There are supernatural members of The Initiative."

"Was he…I mean…"

"We checked. It seems there was an attempt but they must have gotten spooked. They burned his skin with vervain, which is why we brought him here. We're going to hook him up to an IV with animal blood."

Every bone in Damon's body tightens. He turns for them door, ready to rip that disgusting man limb from limb.

"No! Stop!"

Stefan's cries freeze Damon. The elder brother can hear a nurse trying to soothe him, but Stefan's fearful screams continue. Damon rushed down the hall and pushes open a curtain. Stefan is struggling against a nurse. He thrashes about, his paper gown tearing in the process.

"I can't!" Stefan cries. "I can't! I'll hurt people!"

"It's animal blood," the woman tries to assure him.

"No! You're lying!"

Damon sniffs the air. It is for sure fox blood. He takes a step forward.

"Stef."

His baby brother looks up, green eyes filled with fear. Damon winces as he takes in the vervain burns.

"Day," he whispers.

"I'm right here, Bunny." Damon slowly walks closer. "You're at the hospital. This nice nurse is just trying to help you."

"She…she's lying to me. That's human blood."

"It's not."

"Yes it is!"

Damon fights to keep his voice low. "It's fox blood. I promise."

"I can't…I can't trust…"

"You can trust me."

Damon crouches down by the bed, taking Stefan's shaking hand.

"It's me, your DayDay. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Stefan whimpers. "I'm scared."

"I know," Damon coos. "But you know me, Stef. I'd murder this nurse if she even tried to hurt you. So, if I'm letting her do this, that means it's not bad, right?"

Stefan hesitates, then slowly nods. Damon slowly unrolls Stefan's left hand. He caresses his brother's hair and presses kisses to his face, distracting him as the nurse enters the needle.

"See, all done. Such my brave boy," Damon praises. He looks up at the nurse and mouths thank you .

She nods. "I'll be back to check on him in a bit."

The nurse walks around the curtain. Damon continues fussing over his baby brother. Stefan frowns.

"You were right."

Damon bites his lip. "Stefan, there are many times I want to be right, but now isn't one."

"I'm so…I'm so stupid," Stefan whispers.

"Hey, hey, shhhh," Damon kisses his forehead. "You aren't stupid."

"You told me not to do it. I should've listened."

Damon wants to say yes, he should've. There was no reason to believe that man over him.

But now is not the time.

Damon fusses with his baby brother's hair. "You were tricked and manipulated."

Stefan's voice is going. "Just wanted to find people like me."

Damon frowns. He spent so much time objecting to Stefan's new diet, but over the years, he's come to see how important it is to him. Still, it's just another thing that makes his brother different, makes his life harder.

"I know I can't always understand, Stef. But I am here, and I'll try."

Stefan nods. Damon knows it's not enough.

He's not always enough.

Damon shakes the feeling away. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "For hurting you."

Stefan shrugs. "Didn't hurt."

"It still wasn't nice. I promise you, I won't ever do that again."

"I was being a brat."

"Hey," Damon's voice turns sharp. He cups Stefan's cheek. "No matter how you act, you don't deserve people hurting you. Ever. Do not accept that. From people like Gary or even people like me."

"You'd never mean to hurt me," Stefan whispers.

"It still doesn't mean I was right."

"It's okay, Damon."

"No, it's not. Just please let me apologize to you."

Stefan hesitates, then nods. He squeezes his older brother's hand. Damon exhales. He takes in the burn marks once again. Beneath Stefan's torn gown, he can see healing bruises on his bottom. Damon shuts his eyes, willing himself to not slip. When he finally opens them, he locks in on Stefan.

"We're going to find those bastards," he whispers. "I promise."

Stefan bites his lip. "Don't leave me?"

"I'm not going anywhere, ever."

A soft caw rings out. Damon looks over at the window and sees Crow sitting on the perch. He knows he can't come in, but still sits there. Stefan's body relaxes without even seeing him.