Hello, darlings. I asked and you all answered.
*insert drum roll here*
You guys picked:
BOTH
I have my work cut out for me.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries.
Break On Through
Ric is lying down in the MRI machine while Meredith, Elena, and I are in the control room, waiting for Meredith to scan him.
"What are you looking for?" Elena asks.
"I don't know. A tumor, vascular anomalies, anything physical that might explain his behavior. If it's medical, I can treat it," Meredith says.
"And if it's not?" Elena asks.
"Then we'll deal with it like we always do," I say as I watch them slide him into the machine.
"When did you suspect him? That it was Alaric who was killing all of those people?" Elena asks.
"It was after he told me about his ring. I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fells are notorious busy-bodies," Meredith says.
"But then, why did you protect him?" Elena asks.
"Because I'm a doctor, I don't like to see someone hurt by something they have no control over. And because when he and I first met I felt like... I don't know, I- I just kind of want to help him," Meredith says.
"And she's got the hots for him," I say with a laugh.
I look over as I hear Ric starting to panic. My face drops and I look at Meredith.
"What's it doing to him?" I ask and she shakes her head.
"Nothing physical," she says before pushing a button on the table, "Everything alright in there?"
I watch Ric tightly close his eyes, then open them back up.
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay," he says.
I walk into Ric's hospital room as he's putting his shoes on.
"Meredith says that everything is normal," I say and he shakes his head.
"Yeah, well, everything is normal, because there is nothing wrong with me. I didn't kill Brian Walters, I didn't kill Bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach," Ric says.
I frown as he looks down at the last thing on the table; The Gilbert ring.
"Or I did and I've gone insane. Just like Jeremy and Elena's ancestor who wore that ring," he says.
"Elena's supposed to call Bonnie. They were made by a Bennett. Bonnie seems to think one can reverse the damage. I'll hang onto the ring if you want," I say and he nods, handing it over.
"Take it. I don't want it any more," he says.
Elena walks in with a smile and Damon walks in behind her, causing her smile to drop.
"You ready to ditch this House of Horrors? Oof, you look terrible," Damon says.
"Yeah, let me... let me check outta here," Ric says and walks out of the room.
"Salvatore," I say and exit the room.
I unlock my car and Damon's voice floats into my ears.
"Don't worry about him. Take him out for chicken soup, get him a martini, make sure he doesn't kill anybody," Damon says and I look over to see him talking to Elena.
"What is wrong with you? How could you just go out feeding with Stefan like some vampire pub crawl?" she asks and I roll my eyes.
"Oh, right. I thought we were talking about Alaric, but of course we're talking about Stefan," Damon says and I laugh quietly.
Elena stops walking forward and turns around to look at him.
"You stood there and let him feed on an innocent girl," she says and Damon walks closer to her.
"I didn't let him do anything. If you want to get nit-picky about it, I made him," he says.
"Why would you do that?" she asks.
"Because we're vampires, Elena. We need human blood to survive. We're predators, not puppies," he says.
"Well, Stefan found a way around it before," she says and I roll my eyes.
"Stefan has built himself a delusional wagon which he has repeatedly fallen off of. What he needs to learn is control," Damon says.
"He was able to manage when he was drinking my blood. Small amounts every single day," Elena says.
"Ah, yes, back when you two were in love and it was all rainbows and unicorns," he says.
"I'm just saying, maybe you're not the right person to be teaching Stefan about self-control," she says and I speed over to them.
"Which is why I'm teaching him," I say and they both look at me.
"What?" Elena asks.
"Damon's right. About one thing, at least. Stefan needs human blood. He's a vampire," I say.
"He just needs blood. It doesn't matter what kind," she says and I roll my eyes.
"Yes, it does, Elena. Have you ever tried surviving off of animal blood? Oh, wait. You're human. You have absolutely no idea what it's like to be a vampire," I say.
"I know Stefan doesn't need advice from you either," she says and I tilt my head at her.
"When have I done anything without self-control? Being sired to Klaus doesn't count. Go," I say and she shakes her head.
"I don't want him feeding on anyone. Someone could get hurt," she says.
"Well, luckily your wants don't affect Stefan. I'll keep you posted on the progress," I say and walk back to my car.
"I don't understand why you're making me walk through the grocery store. Do you know the last time I was in a grocery store? I'll give you a hint. I had a pulse," I say and Stefan rolls his eyes.
"You insist on teaching me against my will, so I'm teaching you against your will," he says as he pushes he shopping cart past me.
I glare at the back of his head before vampire speeding to stand on the end of the cart. He looks at me with wide eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asks looking around the aisle.
"No one's looking. Humans are stupid. And my teaching is necessary. You need it to live. I could go the rest of my undead life without cooking whatever-the-hell-Italian-Salvatore-specialty."
He smirks at me and grabs something off of the shelf.
"You a wine guy, Stef?" I ask and he nods.
"Who doesn't like wine?" he asks and I think about it for a second.
"Damn good question," I say and he laughs.
"You're doing that wrong," Stefan says and I look at him.
"I'm peeling a potato wrong?" I ask and he holds his hands up.
"I'm just letting you know," he says and I toss him the potato and knife.
"You do it then, Chef Salvatore," I say and open the fridge.
I pull out the blood bag that I put in there earlier. I sit it on the table and get two glasses from the cupboard.
"We'll do half a bag today," I say and he nods, "No overdoing it. If your idiot brother would've let me handle this, we could've done this much more smoothly."
I pour half of the bag in one glass and the rest in the other.
I walk over to him as he finishes the potatoes, and hand him the glass. He takes it and takes a sip, before tipping the glass and finishing the whole thing. I sigh and lightly sip my drink.
"Oh, Steffie," I say and he frowns, "It's okay. You've got a permanent buddy until we get this on lock-down. Say goodbye to freedom."
He laughs and shakes his head, beginning to cut up to potatoes.
"Hello, Elena," I say before turning around to see her standing there with a book.
"Hi," she says, looking around the kitchen counter, no doubt seeing the blood bag.
"Hey," Stefan says.
"I'm sorry. Damon told Alaric that there was no one home, otherwise I would have..." she says.
"We just got home," Stefan says.
"I just came by to pick up this book that you found, on my ancestor, Samantha," Elena says.
"That's fine," he says and she steps into the kitchen.
"How are you doing? Damon said that you were-" she says and Stefan interrupts.
"Yeah, I'm-I'm okay. Did you get everything you need?" he asks.
"Yeah. Well, if there's anything I can do to help," she says and I roll my eyes as she starts to leave.
"You don't have to read that, you know," I say and she looks at me, "Stefan already filled me in. Samantha Gilbert was committed to an insane asylum. She tried to give herself a lobotomy with a knitting needle and bled to death on the floor of her cell."
"If the same thing is happening to Alaric, then there is nothing you can do," Stefan says.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna let you two get back to... whatever it was you were doing," she says and walks out of the room.
Stefan grabs the drink from my hand suddenly and I grab his arm, pulling the drink away from him.
"Chill out," I say and he breathes heavily, "Who are you? Are you Stefan or a mindless vampire?"
"Stefan," he grits out.
"Well, Stefan," I say, releasing his arm, "Act like it. Are we finishing dinner or what?"
He closes his eyes tightly and takes a deep breath.
"Listen, Stefan. I'm a hybrid. Even though I make it look easy, it's not. You know about werewolf rage?" I ask and he nods.
"Vampirism amplifies emotions. Werewolf rage turned vampire..." he trails off and I give him a pointed look.
"Look at Tyler. That's uncontrolled rage. I control mine as best I can," I say.
"You hide it well," he says, moving to chop up the potatoes.
"I'm like the Hulk. I'm always angry," I say and he laughs.
"Well, Dr. Banner. Get that pasta cooking," he says and I laugh.
"Alrighty, Cap," I say and down my drink, placing the glass in the sink.
Stefan and I smile and chat as we eat our meal. Stefan suddenly drops his smile.
"Damon," he says and I turn to look at Damon.
"Where's mine?" Damon asks as he sits at the table.
"At the store," I say with a fake smile.
"What did you say to Elena this morning?" Stefan asks.
"I told her what she already knows. You're a vampire and you drink human blood and to get over it," Damon says and I nod.
"It's true. He did say that," I say and Stefan looks to me.
"Which is the same thing I'm telling you. Own it, live it, love it. Stop being ashamed of who you are," Damon says and stands up, Stefan grabbing his arm.
"Do me a favor, Damon. Next time you talk to Elena, keep me out of it, okay?" Stefan says.
"Gladly. Now, unless you're interested in a Sage-Rebekah sex sandwich, I suggest you make yourself scarce," Damon says and I gag.
"A what?" I ask before shaking my head, "Never mind. We're eating dinner. Take it elsewhere."
"Like where?" he asks.
"Where else do you take weird threesomes? A motel," I say.
"Or you take your weird dinner-bonding thing and you go to a motel," Damon says and picks up the bowl of pasta, "I'll even pack it up for you."
"Stefan and I aren't having sex though, Damon," I say and stand from my chair.
"The night is young," Stefan says with a smirk and Damon looks over at him.
Damon is clearly effected by this statement, but he quickly hides it.
"I don't care what you two do, as long as it's not here," Damon says and I roll my eyes.
I finish snooping around Alaric's apartment before I walk upstairs to the loft and look at Stefan.
"Find anything?" I ask.
"I did a little more digging on Samantha Gilbert," he says and closes the door behind him, "Founding families were always pretty good about destroying their records, but I found a couple of newspaper articles. It seemed she killed two people while she was in the institution. A nurse and a guard."
"Okay. So, definitely completely nuts," I say.
"She was under suicide watch. No personal effects, no jewelry," he says.
"Wait, so, you're saying that the violent behavior can still happen even if the person isn't wearing the ring?" I ask and he nods.
Someone moves downstairs and I take a deep breath in.
"Elena," I say and he looks at me like I'm crazy.
"What? You can smell her from here?" he asks.
"Hello, I'm Meg a werewolf-vampire hybrid. Yes, I can smell people from just downstairs, Stefan."
I open the door to the loft and smile as Elena holds a hand to her chest.
"What the hell?" Elena asks, "Why are you here?"
"Damon kicked us out, so we figured we'd do some Sherlocking and help Dad. What are you doing?" I ask.
"I'm looking for Ric's wedding ring. Bonnie thinks she found a spell that can help," she says and I look at Stefan.
"Find a wedding ring?" I ask.
"Wasn't looking for one."
"Well, let's get to it."
"What if Bonnie's spell doesn't work? What are you gonna do with him?" Stefan asks.
"I'm not gonna do anything, Stefan. I'm gonna keep looking until we find something that'll help him," Elena says.
"You don't know how long this has been going on. Might be too late," Stefan says.
"It's my family's ring that's doing this to him. It's my responsibility to fix it," Elena says.
"We have to help him," I say and Stefan opens the last drawer.
It looks like it has pictures and papers inside of it.
"What is that?" I ask and Stefan picks up a picture of a dead body.
"Pictures of his victims," Stefan says and I rush forward to look at the rest of the stuff.
Elena picks up an envelope with Jeremy's name on it.
"What's in that?" I ask and she takes out the papers.
"'Jeremy, if anything happens to me, carry on my work. You have the other ring, let the ring make you strong. The council must be cleansed before the work can begin,'" Elena read and Stefan takes the other papers from her.
"It's the Founders Council roster. Looks like some sort of hit list," he says.
"No, Alaric didn't write this," she says and I sigh.
"Who else would have written it, Elena?" I ask and she tears up the note, continuing to search for the ring.
I pick up the bottle and hand it to her. She twists open the bottle and tips the ring into her hand.
"We have to get back," she says.
Elena, Stefan, and I enter the house, but I quickly stop them smelling blood in the kitchen. I put a finger to my lips and gesture for Stefan to follow me. We head to the kitchen and find shards of blood-covered ceramic lying on the floor. I hear Ric coming down towards the stairs and I speed to close the front door before waiting for Ric to come down to the stairs. As he walks down the stairs towards us, he's wrapping a towel around his hand, looking rather cheerful.
"Hey there," Ric says, giving me a strange look.
"Hi. Where's Meredith?" Elena asks.
"Oh, she got called into the hospital for a last-minute surgery, but she'll be back later," Ric says and I gesture to his hand.
"What's goin on there?" I ask and he looks at his hand.
"Oh, I... I broke a coffee cup and sliced my hand open trying to pick up the pieces. Did Stefan catch up with you?" he asks and I shake my head.
"Nope," I say and he takes another step down the stairs.
"Did you get my ring?"
"I couldn't find it," Elena says and he comes down the stairs fully, still looking at me with that same strange look.
"Yeah, well my place is a bit of a disaster. I guess I'll just have to go get it," Ric says and I shake my head.
"Sorry, Dad," I say sadly and rush at him, wrapping a hand around his neck.
"Don't hurt him!" Elena says and I roll my eyes.
"I'm not!" I say as I pull out the sedative and stab him in the arm.
His heartbeat evens out and his eyes close. Someone moves around upstairs and I look at Stefan, who's standing in the doorway.
"You two, stay down here and watch him. I don't know if that will work for long. Who knows what the ring is doing to his body," I say and lay him on the floor, "I'm going upstairs to help Meredith. If anything goes wrong, scream for me."
I rush up the stairs and bust open the bathroom door. Meredith is laying on the floor with blood all over her. I quickly bite my wrist and place it to her mouth, propping her up with my other hand.
"Meredith," I say gently and she begins to drink from me.
She looks up at me as the color returns to her face.
"How you feeling?" I ask.
"Well, my ex attacked me," she says and I shrug.
"Eh, we've all been there," I say.
"Did I apologize for being rude to you?" she asks and I laugh.
"Water under the bridge," I say and she smiles, "Let's get you something to drink other than, well, me."
I hoist her up and help her down the stairs.
Elena tosses me a cup and I place it in the cabinet near me. I hear Bonnie coming downstairs and I hope her spell went well.
"Hey," Bonnie says as she enters the kitchen.
"You okay?" Bonnie asks as Elena turns to look at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Elena says.
"Abby says that all the dying and coming back to life might have chipped away at Alaric's psyche, making it easier for the darkness to take hold," Bonnie says, holding up a container of dry herbs, "These herbs are the binding element of the spell. He needs to take them twice a day."
I walk over and pick up the container.
"I'll get you more. Abby and I are gonna work on the garden," Bonnie says.
"How is she doing?" Elena asks.
"The transition's been hard, but I think she'll be okay. Eventually. I'm gonna go back and stay with her for a while. It'll give us a chance to work things through," Bonnie says and Elena starts to cry.
"I'm sorry, Bonnie, I- I didn't... I didn't want this to happen," Elena says, sniffling slightly, "If there was anything that I could do to make it different, I..."
Bonnie pulls Elena towards her.
"I know," Bonnie says.
"Please say that you forgive me," Elena says.
"Of course I do," Bonnie says.
"Hello?" Jeremy answers and I smile.
"Hey, Jerebear," I say and he laughs.
"Hey, are you checking up on me, too?" he asks.
"Too, huh? Big Sis Number One already call you today?" I ask.
"Nope. I'm talking to her right now. And I'm fine. I'm not flunking any of my classes. Yet. And I got a dog. Is there still zero Meglena communication?" he asks and I tilt my head.
I hear a ball being hit by a baseball in the distance and I raise a brow.
"Okay, one. Did you really just shipname me and my twin sister? And two, are you really about to play baseball?"
"Could you not do the freaky "I'm a hybrid and I can hear a thousand miles away" thing? And yes, I'm really at the batting cages with my friend. Who is waiting for me."
"Ooo, a friend, huh? Boy or girl?" I ask and he sighs.
"A boy. He's waving to me. Can I call you later?"
"I feel like I should introduce myself. Make sure he's a good influence."
"Nope! Bye. Love you!" he says and quickly hangs up.
I stare at the wall and narrow my eyes, "Love you, too, brat."
Review Responses
Bailieinabottle-
Awesome!
trix87-
Okay :)
Romantific-
That's very true. I don't plan on him dying.
Guest-
Of course I take your opinions into a vote.
MageVicky-
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed this one!
PrincessMagic-
Thanks!
Guest-
It's gone through now, darling. Thank you for giving your opinion.
Pinklips90-
Thank you so much!
Megmalan-
Okie dokie!
JL113-
Will do!
Panda Enchantress-
The witch is back! I'm glad you liked it.
jgood27-
Thank you!
PinkFlower-
I'm glad you like it!