What's this? Another chapter? And so soon after the last one? Don't get used to this, people, it probably won't happen ever again. As it was, I felt a sudden bout of inspiration and couldn't help myself.

To the people who answered my questions: thank you very much! You're awesome and I'm very grateful to have you as readers.

To the guest that left me an awesome feedback: you're absolutely right. Last chapter really wasn't one of my bests, and for that I apologize. But I was just so happy I had finally managed to write something after I had just about given up on this fic… I can only promise to strive to write better chapters, even though I know some chapters will be better written than others. Once again, my most sincere thanks for your honest critique.

This is the chapter I'll probably really start to kiss canon goodbye. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

In the end, Isabella had left Mystic Falls and they found out that the reason why she hadn't minded the sacrifice was because Elijah had always intended for Elena to live the ordeal. And Damon and Stefan – but mostly Damon – messed up. Badly. Fools that they were, they tried to save everyone. And now here they were, two days after the curse was broken: Jenna and John were dead, and Damon was dying. All because they had thought they knew best, even though Bonnie hadn't known about her powers for more than eight months, and none of them had known about werewolves before Mason Lockwood had showed up.

So here Stefan was, in Alaric's apartment asking Katherine where Klaus was. She pushed him against the wall and told him to be quiet. The door opened.

"Klaus, you're back." She let him go and they both turn to the entrance to see Klaus and Elijah walking in. "Look who decided to come for a visit."

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" Klaus asked as Elijah closed the door.

"I need your help," Stefan told him, stepping closer. "For my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother," Klaus gestured at Elijah, "that requires my immediate attention." He started to walk away, going further into the apartment.

Stefan turned to Elijah.

"You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here," the Original said, approaching him. "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

And Stefan couldn't even resent him for that. Not when Elijah had made it clear that the only reason he had been going against his brother had been because he had thought Klaus had gotten rid of the rest of his family. Stefan understood his motive; yes, Elijah had wronged them, but Stefan knew he would have done the very same if he were in the Original's place.

He was so focused on Elijah he didn't see it when Klaus returned and placed himself behind his brother. "And so, I shall," he said, catching everyone by surprise when he daggered Elijah. Stefan felt disturbed to see him shushing his agonizing – and clearly betrayed – brother and how utterly indifferent the hybrid looked as Elijah dropped dead at his feet. And then, he was being slammed against the wall; to his utter shock, he hadn't even seen it when Klaus moved (proving again how utterly outclassed Stefan was). "Now, what am I gonna do with you?"

Klaus pulled him away from the wall but didn't let him go. Next thing Stefan knew, he was being staked. "Do you feel that?" The hybrid asked him, still holding him, for which he was thankful. "It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."

"He's just trying to help his brother," Katherine tried to intervene on his behalf, and Stefan was once again reminded that, in her twisted way, she did love him.

"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal," Stefan pleaded, clinging on to Klaus for dear life. "Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want." He couldn't lose Damon. He just couldn't.

Klaus removed the stake and he fell to the floor. The hybrid walked over to the counter and Stefan could both smell and hear it as he poured blood for himself. "Trouble is I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now." Stefan looked at him. "You are just shy of useless."

Klaus walked around him and crouched down so he was level with him. "I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent!" The blond said with a complimenting tone of voice, using the hand that was holding the cup of blood to emphasize his point. He stood up. "1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village... A true ripper." Stefan looked down at this, ashamed. "Sound familiar?"

How could it not? It had been after Damon had convinced him to go back to drinking human blood, and Stefan had lashed out after denying his offer to help. Stefan hadn't missed it then, the scared look on his brother's face once Marianna's head had dropped, and that had made him feel even guiltier than he had been after killing the girl. Which had made him even angrier – both at himself, for still losing control, and at Damon, for having persuaded him to do it. So, he had turned Damon away and gone on a killing spree for the records.

So that is what he meant with being useless 'the way I am now'. "I haven't been that way in a very long time," he said, turning to look at Klaus, seeing no mercy in those blue eyes.

"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with," Klaus said, approaching him. Stefan slowly got to his feet (still somewhat pained from his already healed wound), not at all comfortable to have the Original towering over him. "That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town."

Stefan was not convinced. Klaus was clearly able to see it (and Stefan wasn't happy to realize the Original could read him so easily) and, for whatever reason, he called for Katherine. "Katerina, come here."

She approached slowly and reluctantly put her hand on Klaus'. Stefan didn't blame her for being cautious. It was certainly warranted, for Klaus dragged her hand to his lips and bit her as soon as they touched; his status as part werewolf evidenced by his amber eyes and the rapidly infected wound on Katherine's wrist. Stefan ignored her mumbles of denial to watch as Klaus bit his own wrist and brought it to the terrified vampire's lips.

Salvatore and Petrova watched, astonished, as she healed before their own eyes. A wound that was supposed to be fatal to their kind… cured in mere seconds.

"You want your cure?" The hybrid looked at Stefan. "There it is." He wiped his mouth.

"Your blood is the cure," Stefan stated, defeated, because, of all the things that could be used to help his brother, he hadn't imagined it would be Klaus' blood. And there was no way he could get it without the hybrid's collaboration.

"Gotta love Mother Nature," Klaus said, unperturbed, with a tilt to his lips. Yeah, Stefan thought mutinously, she's an ironic bitch. "Now…" Klaus walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk, you and I."

And talk they did. Well, not really. Klaus just forced him to become a ripper again in exchange for his blood. But it wasn't just Stefan stuffing himself and losing control. No, it was more than that. He was to go with the Original on a trip (and probably make blood rain across the country) and become his… what? Sidekick, pawn, minion?

Seeing that Stefan was collaborating, the hybrid turned to Katherine. "Sweetheart… Take this over to Damon and come right back." It was clear to him Klaus thought he was compelling the doppelgänger. Stefan rued the day Damon had decided it was a good idea to provide Katherine with some vervain. Just like had been happening with most of their plans of late, the consequences were coming back to bite them in the ass.

"You want me to leave?" Katherine asked Klaus, and she was looking way too eager for Stefan's taste.

"Yes, and if I were you…" She left before Klaus had finished, taking the vial with her. "I'd hurry."

Stefan looked on in horror. Even if she found it in her twisted black heart to really go and give the blood to Damon, she wouldn't be able to enter the Boarding House! And he didn't know if she would relinquish it to whoever was looking after his brother – and even if she did, would they even trust her enough to try and give it to him? – or if Damon had enough strength left to go down to the door and take it himself. The hallucinations and fever had surely started by now!

His eyes found Klaus, sitting in a chair with a smirk on his lips. Stefan felt anger surge through him at the hybrid's indifference to his brother's fate. He shouldn't be surprised, should he? Look at the way he treated his own brother!

Speaking of Elijah, Stefan remembered a conversation he had with Isabella about the brown-haired Original. He had asked her how she had known the elder vampire would keep her safe when she was younger. "He's a man from another time, Stefan, with another mindset," she shrugged. "He gave me his word, and I knew he would keep it". If Klaus was anything like his brother, then Stefan's next words would wipe the smugness out of his face.

"I thought you were a man of your word. Looks like I was mistaken," he spat and was gratified when Klaus' smile did, indeed, fall.

"I would tread very carefully if I were you, mate," he threatened, leaning forwards in his seat.

Stefan couldn't care less about hurting the hybrid's ego. To him, Damon's health took precedence over everything. "You told me you would save my brother's life if I agreed to go with you, instead you sent Katherine in your place."

Klaus cocked his head. "Afraid she won't find it in herself to save your brother?"

"Even if she does," Stefan said. "What difference would it make when she can't set foot in the Boarding House."

"Well, that's too bad, I suppose," Klaus said, causing Stefan to growl.

"Are you going to hold up your end of the bargain or not?" It took all of his willpower for him to throw the blood bag at the wall, far away from his reach (and addicted as he was, even Stefan wouldn't lower himself by licking the wall; deranged he may be when off the wagon, but he was not that deranged).

It was clear the Original wasn't used to being questioned if his aggravated sigh was any indication. Beh, tanto peggio per lui. Stefan could be a stubborn little shit when he wanted to, Damon could attest to it.

And that was how he found himself approaching the Boarding House with Klaus by his side, no doubt as a way to guarantee Stefan wouldn't break his word. He watched as Katherine and Elena stood by the entrance door, bickering about the veracity of the cure, and pursed his lips. Thankful as he was that Katherine did try to come to his brother's rescue, he couldn't believe they were wasting time fighting instead of healing Damon. With a burst of speed, he took the vial from the Bulgarian's hand and went straight to his brother's room.

His heart missed a beat when he saw Damon's feeble form lying on the bed. He knew Damon would be looking like shit but hadn't thought he would be this bad (he hadn't been around Rose during her last moments, focused as he was on searching for Isobel. He had only heard about how bad it had gotten before Damon had mercy killed her). He approached the bed. "Hey."

His brother opened his eyes, but it took a while before those familiar blue orbs focused on him. "Hey," he said, and Stefan took a seat close to him. "Finally came to say goodbye, huh. I was wondering if you would." It was in moments like these that Stefan knew for sure that, despite everything, Damon still loved him.

"Actually, I did," he said. Damon's lips curved into a smile, and Stefan returned it while holding back the urge to sigh; yes, he was saying goodbye, but not for the reason his brother was thinking. Before Damon could pass away thinking he had failed, he continued. "I told you I would find a cure, didn't I?"

Damon's eyes widened as Stefan uncorked the vial. "Stefan, wha—"

He interrupted Damon by pressing the bottle against his mouth. "Drink."

His brother obediently swallowed it (and wasn't that a weird thing to say? 'Damon' and 'obedient' hadn't been used in conjunction since they were human). Stefan stayed put long enough to see color returning to him. Once he was sure Damon would be okay, he stood up and walked towards the door.

"Goodbye, Damon."

:::

They had been driving for hours now, going to wherever it was that Klaus was taking him. For some reason, the hybrid had let Katherine go. Not only that, he also knew that Elena had survived the ritual (a thing they hadn't wanted him to know), not that he seemed bothered by it; no, he had just asked, with a smile on his face, if her survival was Elijah's doing and left it at that.

He was torn from his thoughts by the feeling of his phone vibrating. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

'Hey, Stevie,' it started, surprising Stefan; there was only one person who called him that, and he hadn't thought she would contact him so soon. He unlocked the screen and kept on reading. 'Damy told me what you did. Actually called me and spent half an hour describing 'how stupid my brother is'' He snorted. He could clearly imagine Damon doing just that. 'Are you okay?'

Her concern warmed his heart. It was good to no know there really were no hard feelings between them. He found himself answering before the thought even crossed his mind. 'I'll be.'

Her response was immediate. 'Good. I would be really worried if you'd said you were fine. Just keep in contact, okay? No matter what.'

His lips tilted up. 'I promise.'

'I'll hold you to that.'

He pocketed his phone once again, all the while ignoring Klaus' curious looks, and went back to window gazing.

:::

They had been searching leads about werewolves for a whole month. Stefan wasn't too pleased to realize Klaus had no idea where to find even one pack. One would think he would keep an eye on them, seeing as this has been the plan all along. Yes, it was safe to say Stefan wasn't a happy camper.

On an unrelated note, he had kept his promise and been texting Isabella every other day. It brought him great amusement every time she would pass along Damon's complaints about Stefan having blocked his calls, or how Elena was getting on his last nerves. Apparently, Damon had fallen in the habit of describing in detail all the different ways he would murder every one of their friends. In the beginning, Stefan had worried about their welfare, but Isabella had managed to convince him Damon wouldn't really kill anybody. "Him venting his frustrations out is better than him keeping everything bottled up," she had said and Stefan agreed wholeheartedly. Now, his brother's grousing just entertained him.

His worries about Damon's fraying temper aside, he was immensely grateful that his brother was trying to keep Elena from following them. Stefan loved the girl dearly, but she didn't seem to grasp how dangerous for her he was right now; from what Isabella had texted him, it seemed she was attributing all the victims to Klaus. He didn't know if he should feel flattered or frustrated with this; yes, Klaus was dangerous and absolutely ruthless, and no doubt capable of leaving a trail of carnage in his path, but he wasn't the one doing it – whatever trails they were managing to follow was all on Stefan. He had explained to her once, how different he was when ingesting human blood, but it was as if she had completely forgot or ignored it.

But yes, he was being updated about his friends' lives through Isabella, who got her news from Damon's bitching.

On the first week of June, she surprised him by actually calling. (It was kind of an unspoken agreement between them, that they wouldn't call each other, so she wouldn't enter Klaus' radar.)

"Hey, Stevie," she greeted him, and he felt himself relax. She didn't sound like she was in trouble; if anything, she was sounding way too cheerful. He chuckled. From across the street, Klaus paused in his conversation and turned to look at him. Stefan ignored him.

"Hey, Bambi," he said and heard her groaning.

"Not you too," she whined, causing his smile to widen. "Keep on calling me that and I won't share my plans with you."

"What? No 'how do you do'?" He kept on teasing her. "I'll start to think you don't miss me."

"I already know how you're doing, Stevie," she sniffed, and Stefan could almost imagine the way her nose was turning up in feigned contempt; she acted too much like Damon, sometimes. "And you're absolutely right: I don't."

"Such cruel words. However shall I survive?" The mirth in his voice was undeniable, and he heard her grumbling about 'cheeky vampires'. He snickered, drawing Klaus' attention once again. Stefan waved the hybrid off, and he returned to his conversation. "So… plans?"

"Right… So, I managed to convince Damon to come visit…"

"You did?" He asked, flabbergasted; he didn't think his brother would ever leave Elena's side willingly. "How? Why?"

"Yep. Before they finished driving him insane." He grimaced, knowing their friends were pestering his brother because of him. "Not that he's stopped complaining since he arrived. It seems the weather isn't to his liking," they both snorted; Damon did get quite prickly when things didn't go his way. "Not that I blame him. Forks is an acquired taste. Anyway, I told him dad wanted to meet him, and that I was planning a get together on the 13th." Stefan inhaled. Damon's birthday. "Will you be making an appearance?"

He closed his eyes; with his enhanced hearing, he could hear Klaus approaching. "I don't know if I can."

"It would mean a lot to him," she told him quietly and Stefan clenched his teeth.

"I know," he mumbled.

"What would mean a lot to whom?"

He snapped his eyes open; Klaus was stood in front of him, regarding him with interest, head tilted to the side – just like a curious wolf.

"Oh, is that the big bad wolf?" Klaus raised an eyebrow at that, and it was all Stefan could do to not bring a palm to his face; Isabella had sounded blithely curious. "I would ask what his views on family were but seeing as he's the reason I can't contact Elijah…" she trailed off and Stefan knew she had just shrugged.

He pulled his phone from his ear and stared at it in disbelief. Please, someone tell him he had hallucinated her giving lip to Klaus! One look at the hybrid's narrowed eyes dashed that hope.

"I assure you…"

"Isabella."

"Isabella," Klaus uttered and Stefan turned his gaze upwards in consternation. Does she want to get herself killed? It wasn't as if it would be difficult for the Original to find her if he felt so inclined. Especially if she were to keep handing out information. "I assure you family is very important to me."

"Then you wouldn't mind if Stefan showed up to his brother's birthday party, would you?"

"Are you drunk?" Stefan asked before Klaus could answer her. The Original's eyes twinkled in amusement.

"No," she responded, drawing out the vowel in a way that made it sound as if she was suspicious of his motives.

Stefan snorted, incredulous. "Looks like your sense of self-preservation has taken a leave of absence," he told her flatly.

"Oh."

"Oh." Stefan brought his free hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Chi te lo fa fare?!"

She didn't answer him – though he knew she had understood him perfectly well. An uncomfortable silence descended between them but neither hang up on the other. He looked at Klaus, who was watching him entertained. Looked like his and Isabella's bickering managed to distract him from her blunder.

"Hope you don't mind Stefan having a plus one, love," the Original declared and Stefan raised an eyebrow, skeptical. Was Klaus really taking time out of his wolf hunt to indulge them?

"As long as you get here in time…"

"We will," Klaus declared. We will? Stefan wanted to question him. In the end, he decided it was best to drop it; he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Great!" She answered, upbeat. Stefan wanted to reach through the phone and throttle her. It was a lucky thing that vampires didn't get white hair or heart attacks, otherwise Stefan wouldn't be looking up to his health status in the following years. Forget about his friends' shenanigans and messed up lives! As it stood, he was sure Isabella was going to be the death of him! "Just don't forget to bring your rain coats."

"Right. Rainiest town in the entirety of the US…" he said drily.

"That's right! See—" she was interrupted by Damon.

"Was that Stefan?"

She cursed. Stefan returned the sentiment. Now that Damon knew they were in contact, he would be like a dog with a bone. "Bye," she said hurriedly and hang up.

Stefan pocketed his phone, sighing, and stared at Klaus. He ignored it as his phone started to vibrate and saw Klaus' lips tilt up in an amused smile.

"Aren't you going to answer?"

"We'll be seeing them soon enough," he shrugged, feeling defensive; that glint in the hybrid's eyes didn't bode well for his little family.

"This Isabella… she knows Elijah." It wasn't a question, but Stefan nodded either way; there was no reason for him to lie when Isabella had said it herself. "And they are on friendly enough terms that she can contact him whenever she feels like." He nodded again; Klaus had caught on the implication by himself, and Stefan wasn't in the mood to be tortured by underestimating Klaus' level of intelligence. Klaus' smile widened. "Sounds interesting."

*'Beh, tanto peggio per lui' means 'Well, too bad for him'.

*'Chi te lo fa fare?' can, apparently, be translated in many ways, depending on context. Stefan's meaning was along the lines of 'What the hell are you thinking?'.

If there are any Italians reading this (or anyone fluent in the language, really), and these are wrong, feel free to correct me. In fact, I would be really grateful if you did.