Welcome! And thank you for your reviews and following this story.

Again based on the Episodes, The Cell, Fifty Shades of Grayson and so on and so forth, this story will be a bit AU.

"Survivors aren't always the strongest; sometimes they're the smartest, but more often simply the luckiest."

~Carrie Ryan

"Sometimes, even to live is an act of courage."

~Seneca

"Caroline I got your call! What happen?" Elena starts stepping into her dorm room. She stops short staring into the perfect replica of her eyes.

"Hello my doppelganger self" She smirks twirling her hair almost seductively.

Katherine.

Elena frowns closing the door behind her, her eyes fix to the blonde in the room ignoring her duplicate. "What the hell is happening Caroline? Why is she here?"

Caroline grimace stepping closer, "It's complicated. Long story short, we were helping Stefan overcome his PSTD problem so we kind of locked him in the safe again, then you—'

"Interrupted the session, that's gonna cost extra." Chimes Katherine.

"And then Stefan rushed out right after your call and we just couldn't leave her by herself according to him so she tagged along." Caroline claps her hands, "So this idea was entirely not mine."

Elena sighs rubbing her temples, she nods. "Okay, no it's fine. Doesn't matter as long she doesn't get in the way."

"Um, helllloo, this cute, hot 'she' has a name you know."

Elena turns to her smiling, "Rrright I almost forgot, sorry, as long as the vamp slut doesn't get in the way."

Katherine shrugs flinging herself on Bonnie's bed. "I've been called worst, honey."

Caroline waves her hands exasperate, "Okay! This is NOT the time to be doing this! Where'd Stefan go?"

"He's with Aaron," Elena starts explaining taking a seat on her own bed. "Aaron might know a place where we can find Wes; he was taking me when Stefan met us. I had to leave them behind because of your call but he promise to call me when he find Wes." She looks at her phone. "He hasn't called nor text and I'm getting worried. It's been a while."

The blonde vampire nods pacing back and forth, "We need to fine Aaron again, make him tell us where Stefan went and what happened. Come on, oh!"

The two vampire friends look at the hundred year-old vampire raising a eyebrow at them. "Don't let me stop your little scavenger hunt."

Caroline hums for a moment then her lips turn upward slightly, "Oh don't worry Kat you're not going to be a bother at all."

~0~0~0~0~

Stefan paces the cell troubled like a cage animal just waiting to burst out. He shakes the poles once again when they did not budge he silently curse and pace some more.

This has been going on for thirty minutes and it's beginning to drive Damon crazy.

"Will you just stop it?! All you're pacing is giving me a headache; it looks like you have worms. Ugh not that's a disgusting thought."

Stefan glares at the space where he estimate his brother is trying to bore a hole on the wall. Nonetheless the younger brother stops moving.

He blinks, "Damon?"

"What."

"How did you survive? All those years tortured, in pain…how?"

Damon breathes in deeply, "Enzo's friendship kept me alive. He gave me a reason to hang on to my humanity. Even when I thought I'll be a prisoner forever…"

"You into a sport, Damon?" asks Enzo dully; hands resting on the rim cursing only his hands can taste freedom from behind the cell.

Damon lying on the cold floor doesn't acknowledge his question instead just lies on his stomach with droopy eyes.

Enzo keeps on going like he'd answered, "Yeah either am I. Any other interest? Fine wines, travel, cars?"

Damon licks his lips unresponsive. "I was into cars," Enzo says again talking like it wasn't a one-side conversation. "The kind you take on a Sunday drive to impress a pretty girl. Ever done that, mate?" There's an ongoing silence.

"Once or twice." Damon finally replies moving slightly.

Enzo raises an eyebrow "Oh, come now. Got to be more than that!"

Damon sighs, his hand resting under his cheek. "The girl I was trying to impress was more of a horse and carriage type girl."

The younger vampire frowns looking down at his cell mate. "Wait, just one girl? Really, I'll have you as a more…outgoing person."

"Never met another like her."

Enzo shrugs, "Well, fair enough."

Damon turns on his back, grunting as he did so, staring at the lifeless ceiling. The same litharge ceiling. "What about you? Any pretty girls?"

"Eh, too many to count."

Damon involuntarily snickers, typical Enzo.

"Actually there was one," Enzo starts solemnly. "Her name was Maggie."

"Where'd you met her?"

Enzo laughs silently. "Here of all places. She was working for Dr. Whitmore."

Damon hums for a second. "Charming?"

"Oh, she was very, she was kind to me. She used to sit there in the hallway taking notes while she observed me."

"That's how you fell for her?" It came out a bit rude in Damon's ears but honestly he didn't care after all the pain he's been through that day he wasn't one for politeness at the moment.

"Oh she was also stunningly beautiful."

"Aha." Damon said acknowledging the thought. Enzo stands up straighter gripping the poles, "You have to understand she—she wasn't part of the torture and the experiments. For the longest time, she didn't realize that Dr. Whitmore was doing more than just observing my behavior."

He paused, blinking. "I didn't have the heart to tell her. I was just so glad for her company, you know?"

Damon looks around the cell. "Yeah, I know."

"When she finally realized what was going on here, she couldn't bear it. She said she was sorry…and she left."

Damon lets the statement sink in, he turns once more to catch a better look at his cellmate; Lorenzo. "Well," he says placing his hands under his chin. "You know never really would have worked anyway. You're a vampire, she's a human. The relationship would have been doomed from the beginning."

Enzo sighs, "You need more positive outlook, mate. How about family? Got any living?"

"Considering the fact I'm hanging out here because of someone in my family sold me out, none that I actually talked too. And as living well not exactly. I have a younger vamp brother who got turned by the same women we apparently both fell in love with. It was a complicated triangle."

"Can imagine." He chuckles staring down at Damon, smirking. "That must really had sucked for you."

"Now who needs a more positive outlook?"

Enzo was about to responds back when a rather loud creak of a door stops him. Enzo stiffens and Damon scrambles up taking a few steps further into the cell.

Dr. Whitmore waltz right in tossing his keys as he watches each vampire, "Who's next?"

Damon looks away not wanting to meet his cold glance while Enzo narrows his own a small growl escapes his lips and only Damon could hear it.

Dr. Whitmore turns to his new addition. "21051, you seem to possess more energy today as well." He starts approaching his cell.

"I take that as an insult. I'm again having far more energy than my cellmate." Dr. Whitmore looks at Enzo, "I can't believe you missed it."

"Fine. Your turn." Whitmore unlocks his cell door and yanks Enzo out. Enzo gives Damon a quick look before he's lead on by the doctor. Damon lets out a stream of curses once he can no longer see them and not minutes later he can hear Enzo's choke moans and blood-curling screams.

Damon begins pacing his cell, fingers tucking at his hair by its own accord and occasionally gripping his ears as if the action can block out his screams. The cycle repeats until the lights turn off leaving Damon in total darkness.

Hours must have passed before once again Dr. Whitmore guides Enzo to his cell, dumping him unceremoniously into the cell and locks it behind him. Enzo gives out a low moan his eyes painfully shut with dry blood stains run down his cheeks as if he's been crying out blood.

"Why are you doing this to us? We are not simple animals you can butcher at your will." Damon growls trying to keep some anger in check not knowing for sure if there'll be a punishment afterward…actually who gives a damn?

Dr. Whitmore shines his lamp at his direction watching curiously Damon's pupils shrink abnormally small.

"Because 21051. I'm seeking at the smallest indivisible unit of your biological make-up, and once I can understand you from a cellular level I can put you to use."

Damon unconsciously lets out a small animalistic growl not exactly helping his cause at all. "Oh and yes, I do see you as only animals. Animals with no souls that need to be studied. And stopped."

He turns back and walks off leaving Damon growling silently. His dark pupils expand abnormally large.

Stefan sighs shaking his head miserably. He grips the poles tighter until cutting off the blood circulation. "God…."

"Yup." Damon replied his eyes close and popping the "p".

Stefan clenches his fist. He's angry, angry at Dr. Whitmore for putting his brother through that angry at himself for not being there, for in those years he was with Lexi, enjoying his life.

And not once did he think of his brother.

"How are we gonna get out of here? Maybe after we don't come home and Elena been looking for you, she'll find us and let us out."

Damon shrugs, "Points for optimism. Unfortunately no one knows this place even exists. I mean, you didn't. You know…the first year I actually thought you'll march right in her like some angry Ripper and get me out. Boy, I was disappointed when it didn't happen, but I did manage to escape. And there's really no points of drowning in more guilt, Stefan so don't give me your pouty face. Because of that I never told you…I never told anyone."

The younger brother lets out a whimper, "I am so sorry, D—"

"Don't start with the sappy sorry crap, Stefan! You know that doesn't work for me."

Another silence fills the cells as both Salvatore's replay their early conversation.

Life works in such mysterious ways; if this was 1800's Damon would have no problem talking to his brother about his worries, his fears and what's disturbing him and the same when backwards. Now it's just hard to start these times of conversations and even harder to remain in the topic.

For Stefan, now, it's easy for he has to know what happened and must know all the details whether Damon likes it or not. Probably the latter.

Finally manage the courage, "How did you escape? How did you do it?"

He can hear his brother's unsteady sigh and Stefan himself stops breathing. That sigh carries pain beyond his comprehension but he has to know!

"They let us out of the basement once a year. Every New Year's Eve, the Augustine people had a little cocktail party with a vampire buffet on the side. We were weak from the vervain injections, half starving from living on a glass of blood a day, chained up like animals.

Damon crawls to the opposite wall next to the little opening, Stefan does the same.

"This little annual shindig is where the Doctor got to show all this Augustine friends what he'd found in his research. Mrs. Fell had generously offered her hand so that Whitmore can cut it, letting her drink Enzo's blood to heal the wound. But on the plus side, that's how Enzo came up with his plan. 'Well, the thing about our daily rations of blood was barely enough for one vampire to survive on, he said after they dragged us back into our cells, 'but if one vampire were to drink two rations everyday for the next year, he'd be able to build up his strength. So by the time New Years Eve comes around again, that one vampire will be ready to fight.'

Stefan nods, acknowledging the plan. Damon continues, "So we played the famous rock-paper-scissors to see who that lucky vampire would be. He got rock while I draw paper, I was that lucky vampire."

~0~0~0~0~

"What!" Bonnie yells at Caroline while Katherine rolls her eyes. Caroline sighs, "Look Bonnie we wouldn't be asking you this if it wasn't serious-"

"So you want me to babysit Katherine!"

Katherine frowns, "Excuse me? Do I look like I need a sitter?"

Elena rises from her chair, "Yes you do, and I'm still can't see why you're here Jeremy."

The young Gilbert shrugs, "Just hanging out with Bonnie."

Caroline smirks, "Rriight hanging out. Anyway will you do this, please Bonnie we need to find Stefan!"

"And Damon." Chimes Elena, looking sternly at Caroline.

"And Damon," Caroline concludes, "Happy?"

Bonnie looks at her two best friends and sighs exasperatedly, "Okay fine! We will but just call us if you need anything."

"We?"

"Yes, Jeremy is helping me. End of story."

Elena nods, "Fine okay! Let's go Caroline." Elena stalks out the door while Caroline holds the door for a second looking at the couple. "Don't think I don't know what you guys been up to! Oh careful with her, she's a rat."

"Hey!"

~0~0~0~0~

A few hours pass by the last time Damon spoke. Stefan, already done biting all of his nails, begins softly to pull his hair. In the meantime Damon stares out into the hallway. "Still looks the same since the day I was here," he comments taking a whiff of the air and cringes, "Still smells the same too."

Stefan slowly rises from the floor, placing his hands through the bars. "What happened next? Did the plan work?"

Yet again another long pause before his brother shrugs, "It worked perfectly."

He moves away from the cell, "The Augustine's next party was in 1958, I'd been drinking Enzo's ration for an entire year, though he kept some to himself so he wouldn't desiccate. And as he starved himself, I got stronger from all the extra blood just like he said I would."

The older Salvatore sinks down next to the small opening. Stefan does too, belly to the floor as he stares up at his brother.

Damon glances down meeting green eyes before staring back into space. "It was close to midnight; Dr Whitmore picked me out of the cage. I manage to yank one of the chains off my wrist breaking my fingers in the process. Whitmore noticed, he stared as my fingers snapped into place, and I said watching his eyes go wide; "Now you see it…" before I stabbed him in both eyes, just like what he'd done to us. I made my way through other members; sinking my aching fangs deep into their necks enjoying the feeling of blood gushing into my raw throat…it's been over five years since I fed like a vampire. I was too deep into the bloodlust that I didn't noticed someone knocked some candles over, making the rug burst into flames next to the cage. Enzo called me out, I ran over trying to make the cage open but it was laced with vervain and the damn door just didn't want to open. Enzo helped too…it still wouldn't open and the flames crept closer to us.

"Enzo trusted me with his life," Stefan can barely here Damon's voice breaking, just a tiny bit.

"The fire was getting out of control I would have burned up or they would capture me again. There was no way I'll get another chance of escaping."

Damon blinks rapidly not noticing a tear drop running down his cheek, " So I chose to save myself. I looked at Enzo straight in the eye, I could tell he knew what I was about to do, I said sorry…I was sorry. He begged me, plead me but it was too late. I knew if I had to save myself…I had to stop caring for Enzo. So I turned off my emotions."

Stefan shakes his head biting into his lip, "I felt nothing as I walked away. And I let my friend to die. After that everything was fine."

He subconsciously wiped away the incoming tears. "Everything was fine."