RARITY - A Damon Salvatore Fanfiction

The Hybrid

Ray Sutton. That's who we were after, for a while. Well, we were after werewolves, more generally. We had spent months travelling along the Eastern sea border. Klaus was deadset on creating his hybrids and Stefan and I had no choice but to reluctantly follow.

As time went on, I became more and more worried about Stefan. He was clinging to his humanity, yet his bloodlust was another battle entirely... and with my brothers influence, who knows how badly that could go. The two of us bonded in this time, more than we ever had before. I think he needed someone to remind him that his old life was still there. That Elena and Damon were still there. Truth be told, he knew this. And so did my brother. Whilst we were in Tennessee, Stefan returned briefly to Mystic Falls to tell his own brother to stop following us. He never told me what he did, strangely enough, we had shared all of our thoughts since leaving Virginia. He had told me what I missed with the sacrifice ritual and what happened with Elijah. The anger at my brother only rising consequently.

It wasn't until we found a werewolf pack, in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, that everything seemed to go downhill. Well, more than they already were. It was a full moon tonight, and the three of us caught them in the midst of preparations.

It was the first wolf, Ray Sutton, who transitioned and drank from the sole human that was present. It didn't take long however, until he was a shivering mess on the ground, blood streaming from his eyes. He ran off into the woods after, Stefan being bitten in the process. Klaus refused to heal the younger Salvatore until we brought the mess of a hybrid back to him. Meaning that it was up to us to find him and return - The cure acting as an insurance policy, to make sure that we do it, for Stefans sake.

Stefan and I decided to split up, knowing that the sooner we found him, the sooner we could get back and get the cure. The sky was darkening, the shadows from the trees becoming longer and longer, until I was alone, and solely illuminated by the moonlight. Eventually however, I heard voices. Familiar voices. I smiled as I recognised who they were, until I heard a struggle and my breath hitched in my throat. The wolf was there. I sped towards the source of the noise, only when I arrived however, two of the figures remained. Two figures I couldn't be happier to see.

"Grace?" I heard Alaric question, clearly just as astounded as I was.
"Alaric?" I question back, relief washing over me. Elena spun around, shock on her face, until it spread into a grin. She ran over in an instant and hugged me, knocking me back slightly as she did so.
"Oh my god, Elena" I sighed, "I'm so happy to see you both".
"I'm glad you're okay" she laughed, pulling back and allowing me to hug Ric.
"Im so sorry about Jenna..." I said, seeing the look on Alarics face. They both nodded in thanks, yet they both knew that they had other things to focus on right now. They were determined to not lose anyone else.

"How's Stefan? He's with you, right?". Elena asked as I turned back to her. My face dropped further at the mention of him, I knew I had to be honest here.
"He is... yes" I paused, looking to the ground. "But it's been months Elena, and he's struggling... I don't know how much more I can do" I muttered sadly. She nodded understandingly, glancing from Alaric and back.
"You won't have to anymore, the sooner we find him, the sooner we can get you both back home" Alaric added, smiling softly. I felt a sickening feeling plummet through me, tears stinging my eyes.

"I can't go home" I murmured.
"What?" They both said with equal levels of astonishment.
"Stefan has to go back to Niklaus and I can't leave him alone here". I responded determinedly.
"But what about Damon? He lost you and he lost his brother... he's not..." Elena paused, shaking her head. "You didn't see him when he was bitten... he was hallucinating you and then Katherine and now" she sighed, thinking of the things Damon told her, "he remembers everything, Grace" she smiled.
"I know..." I replied, tears stinging my eyes, "but I can't let his brother do this alone... it's tearing him apart enough as it is". I stopped, before stepping back.
"Grace... don't-".
"I'm sorry" I whispered, before speeding away, leaving the two of them alone once more.

By the time I found Stefan, he was alone and Ray Sutton was dead. The two of us stood at the edge of the ridge, watching Damon, Elena and Alaric get into their car. They were leaving. Good. I could feel my eyes watering, before Stefan put his arms around me comfortingly, causing the tears to finally spill over. The further we went, the less hope I had that we would ever return home.

We arrived back at the campsite, only the sight before us shook me to my core. All of the wolves were dead. All of them. Klaus stood in the middle of it all. And, for the first time since this all began... I felt sorry for him. I could remember when our mother placed this curse on him.
"They went rabid" he paused, "some of them I killed, some of them just... bled out" he walked over to us both, the look on his face was pained, angry. "In the end... they're all dead" he finished, looking to me. His eyes were watering, fists clenched around the bottle in his hands as his jaws tensed.

"Nik" I whispered, before stepping forward, not even noticing that I was reaching out to him. His eyes flickered to my hand, softening slightly, before the rage consumed him. He suddenly screamed out, throwing the bottle away from us, the impact of the glass on a tree making both Stefan and I flinch. Klaus screamed again at the sky, pure burning fury and pain, before turning back to us.
"I did everything I was told!" He yelled, "I should be able to turn them" his voice softened, shaking as the tears in his eyes shimmered in the moonlight. "I broke the curse... I killed a werewolf, I killed a vampire... I killed the doppelgänger" he listed, looking to the ground as he thought to himself.

It was then that it hit me - Why the hybrids were failing. The doppelgänger was still alive. Elena was still alive. I glanced to Stefan quickly, the uncomfortable look on his face told me that he had made the same conclusion.

"You look like hell" Klaus noted, turning to him once more.
"Last I checked, I was dying" Stefan responded. The bite on his arm was getting worse by the minute. To my surprise however, he apologised for failing Klaus, for killing the failed hybrid. My brothers face softened slightly, before he picked up another beer bottle, biting into his hand and letting his blood pour into it.
"Bottoms up... we're leaving" Klaus said, passing the bottle to him. "You're the only comrade I have left" he paused, before turning to me. "And you, Grace... my only family".

Meanwhile, back in Mystic Falls:

"What happened out there? What changed your mind?" Elena asked curiously. The two of them were stood in her bedroom, reflecting on the days events.
"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die... So I figure I owe him the same in return" Damon nodded, before turning to leave.

"I saw Grace too" Elena said, making the older Salvatore brother stop in his tracks.
"She wants to come back to us, to you, Damon... I know it".
"Then why is she still out there?" he muttered, still facing away from her.
"She's staying for Stefans sake... she knows that-"
"Another painfully stubborn martyr, brilliant" Damon cut in, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he turned back to face her. "Just what we need".

"You loved her, Damon... and you clearly still care about her now" Elena said softly. She noticed the pain washed over Damon's face, his jaw tense as he stared back at her.

"We'll get her back... We'll get them both back".