elemental • n. m.

41. getting ready

•THIRD POV•

Damon and Stefan are walking out of the bar, the older Salvatore smirking.

"I'll give you ten points for flair."

Stefan sighs, "At least, now we know where Klaus and Elijah learned their tricks from." He thought back to when Aella told him Niklaus almost killed Damon with one of those tiny umbrella drink decorations.

Damon grumbles, "Don't think you had to wait till the last second to have your breakthrough, though."

Stefan rolls his eyes at his brother, "I didn't have a break through, Damon."

Damon mocks Stefan in a high pitch voice, "Oooo, Ooooo, my brother is about to die and I just had to save his life for the bajillionith time! Careful Stefan, your humanity is showing." He smiled, kind of pleased with himself.

Stefan continues walking, bewildered at the suggestion, "So you know what? You're right, Damon. You're right. You reminded me what my freedom felt like. And when we kill Klaus, I'll be free. Free to leave. See, I didn't do this for you, Damon. I did it for myself."

Damon smirks, "Sure, Stefan. Whatever you say..."

Stefan turns, grabbing his shoulders, while shaking him, "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?"

Damon lets his eyes roll to the back of his head as he remember just some of the times his brother has been there for him, and guilt creeps up on him. "Because I have to, Stefan! Because you are in this mess with Klaus, because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can't just leave you in a cell to rot."

Stefan is in a state of mild shock at the words, and so he chooses to bite back, "Aw, better be careful, brother. Your humanity is showing."

Damon punches Stefan in the face, making the younger Salvatore get up to retaliate, but before he can fully stand back up, Damon pushes him down again and kicks him several feet away.

.

When they got to the Salvatore Boarding House, they found that Aella had seemingly disappeared from the situation.

"So she just bleeped out of existence?" Damon was shocked, if anything trying to mask his hurt.

"We've been calling for hours." Elena had said, her arms crossed in distaste.

Bonnie piped in, "Maybe she's hurt? There's probably a reason as to why she'd been straying from Mystic Falls for so long before Ric called her here."

Alaric had bit his lip, guilt consuming him at the thought of something happening to the person he regarded as a sister.

"I'm sure she's just out there, being a hippie and smelling trees," Damon continued, for the sake of his friend, "probably forgot her phone."

"I'm sure the girl can take care of herself." Emotionless Stefan said. He too was worried, but more so because he wanted to get rid of Klaus once and for all, and he was afraid she would no longer assist the group.

"I just hope she doesn't ruin our plan..." Elena trailed off, her nerves creeping in.

Currently, Stefan was on the phone with Klaus, who happened to be in the woods in Portland.

"Portland is fantastic. Once you get over all the whiny music and healthy looking people, it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves."

Stefan deadpanned quickly, not seeing the point of the chit chat, "Your father is dead."

Klaus almost smashed the disposable phone in his hand out of pure shock. "What did you say to me?"

"Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?" Stefan kept his tone leveled.