Pivot: A Damon Restart Story

Chp 2

1958

"Damon!"

The first thing he smelt was the smoke.

"Damon!"

He tasted the blood in his mouth.

"DAMON!"

He felt the heat from the flames licking his pant leg.

"DAMON!!"

He snaps out of the trance and looks up to see his old friend trapped in a cage, surrounded by fire, "Damon, please."

Whispering his friend's name as memories of this nightmare haunt him, "Enzo." The memories of one of the worst times in his life, the memories of the lab. The memories of a certain golden cylinder filled with chilled soda acid mounted on the wall on the opposite side of the room. Damon moved to retrieve the fire extinguisher when Enzo reached through the bars of his cage, "Damon don't leave me here, please." Damon grabbed Enzo's hand to get him to let go, "I'm not." Enzo had to let go because the Vervain on the bars were burning his bare arms.

Damon didn't have time to think. His mind reeling from the fact he is back in the past at one of the worst times of his life. But he is also grateful. Leaving Enzo was one of his biggest regrets, and now he has the opportunity to fix it. He could still hear Enzo calling out for him as he ran through the flames that have devoured most of the room already. Prying the heavy extinguisher off the wall and heading back to Enzo's cage. Turning the cylinder to the side and pointing the hose directly at the keyhole of the lock. The soda acid burning through it, dripping onto the floor and smothering the flames that have come closer to the two vampires.

Once the soda acid ran out, Damon used the heavy brass cylinder to bash the lock open completely. Opening the cage door. He carelessly threw the extinguisher down and helped Enzo out of the cage. Both moving as fast as they could even though still weak to get away from the flames. As they were exiting the building, they came across a few of the crazy doctors that have not run away yet and drained them dry. The first few swallows burned from the Vervain they ingested but soon the blood ran clean, and the vampires had their fill.

Damon dropped the last body and waited for Enzo to finish. "Come on. We need to get as far away from here as we can," Damon says breathlessly. Enzo agrees, "Fine. Then you're going to tell what happened back there. I thought you were going to shut off your humanity and leave me. Then your eyes glazed over and turned white before you snapped out of it." "Yeah, I'll tell you, but not here. Too risky," Damon trusted Enzo. They had their problems and didn't get along at times, but that was in a timeline that no longer exists. The two vampires whooshed away from the burning building never looking back.

New York

Damon found his spare key for the small apartment he owned in the city and unlocked the front door. Enzo follows close behind him into the living space. A layer of dust covering everything, and the air smelt stale. Damon sat down heavily onto the small sofa, kicking up a cloud of dust causing him to cough then sneeze. "Ugh, needs a little dusting." Damon chuckles. Enzo grabs a wooden chair from the table in the dining room, turns it backwards and straddles it, "So? What happened?" Damon sighs, "You're not going to believe me."

Damon went on to explain what happened, "I have already lived through these years. In the original timeline I left you to die. It was one of my greatest regrets. I had originally switched off my humanity, turned and left you in that cage to burn to death...Only you didn't. One of the doctors got you out and you were kept for another 70 years before I learned you were alive. I rescued you with the help of a witch, and someone else, but the damage was done. You hated me, or you tried to. You told me you couldn't hate me because then you would have nothing left. A lot of things happened between getting you out of Augustine and your final death at the hands of my emotionless ripper brother. He ripped your heart in front of the witch who helped rescue you. Bonnie was the love of your life, and you were hers." Damon smiled sadly remembering the feisty witch.

Enzo was going to speak when Damon continued, "Things kept getting worse. It took another few years to get through everything and settle down. In that time, I lost my brother to Hell Fire that Katherine set off. He held her captive as the fire burnt them both. I had become human that same night when Stefan gave me the cure. A year later, Bonnie was killed in a car accident. She was leaving my home after visiting for a few days. She had left Mystic Falls shortly after Stefan's death and moved to Montana. She absolutely loved nature, felt closer to it after using so much Expression magic. She nearly lost herself to it, so the move did her good. Her car lost control just outside of town. She was trapped inside her car after it wrapped around a tree and caught fire."

Damon had to take a breath, or he was going to break down, "I married my girlfriend after I became human. I thought Elena was the love of my life. She was sweet, caring, and put everyone else first. Or so I thought. Over the eight years we were married, I noticed Elena had become cold, and selfish. She was a Doppelganger, like Katherine. That was what drew me to her, her face. Towards the end, if Katherine and Elena stood next to each other you wouldn't be able to tell them apart, not just in looks but personality as well. At least Katherine admitted to playing both my brother and I."

Enzo snorted, "So, the woman you have been obsessing about over the last five years was not worth it." Damon shook his head, "No, she was not. Neither of them were. Elena's true colors were revealed when she put a bullet in my skull. She had planned my death to the point of forging a will so she would get everything that belonged to the Salvatores. Instead of waking in the Afterlife, I end up in a room with two very powerful witches. It was then I learned that Elena was responsible for Bonnie's death. I already hated the bitch, and now I have never hated someone so strongly in my existence. Tessa and Ayanna have given me the opportunity to live my life over again. But there are rules, two to be exact. One, I can only tell two people I trust about being from another timeline. Two, some events still have to occur. Fate still has her hand in this. If the event is supposed to happen a certain way, I won't be able to stop it. I can influence the outcome, but that's as far as I can go."

"Do you have a plan?" Enzo asked even though he was overwhelmed and a little hurt that Damon originally planned to leave him to burn to death. Damon shook his head, "Not really no. I was just going to follow the same path I did but change some things. Like Maggie for instance, in the original timeline I killed her. But..." Damon could see Enzo getting upset, "That is not going to happen this time because you are here. You can go look for her if you want. She tried to Vervain me, calling me a monster for letting the people of Augustine burn to death. Including you. I had choked her so hard I decapitated her. I didn't care. I didn't care who I killed, who I hurt, or anything. She came at me, and I killed her. Another reason for you to hate me."

Enzo stayed quiet in his seat. Damon stared at the floor, the memories of major events going through his mind and how he can affect them. Some of which are years in the future, so for the meantime he is going to find his brother and keep an eye on him. Enzo called Damon's name, "What about Katherine?" "She is currently spying on Stefan," Damon sneers just thinking about the Doppelgangers. Damon stood from the sofa, "I'm going to take a shower then head out. I need a drink." They both decided to go to the nearest bar, drink the night away, then Enzo was going to find Maggie. Damon planned on staying in New York for a few years then finding his brother. Damon smirks when he remembers what he did after escaping Augustine originally and plans to enact his revenge by killing every living member of Augustine. Leaving none of them alive this time, not wanting to risk the creation of the Ripper Virus.

AN: There will be time skips. Most of the events happen after meeting Elena, but there are some events that will be covered.