Five Years Gone

Chapter Seven

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. Damon meets the others. But please keep in mind that Season 2 never happened and this is AU, so everyone is a bit OOC here. And of course Damon and Alaric aren't BFF's yet.

I wanna thank everyone who stuck around and never gave up hope that I'd continue this. This is for you. And I have to shout out a big 'Thank you' to CheckeredYcats who reminded me of a wonderful character I had completely forgotten about. I hope you're satisfied with the way I brought that character into the mix.

The End Of A Very Long First Day

Damon and Elena hadn't made it fully downstairs - still hand in hand, much to Damon's delight – when an excited cry reached their ears: "Mommy, can I go now? Can I, mommy?"

A second later something short and blurry dashed out of the kitchen and threw itself right into Damon's path.

"Damon," Linus panted breathlessly and, arms fastening around the vampire's waist, he began to tug at Damon. "Come and play with me!"

Damon nearly stumbled and stared in shock at the mop of blond hair at his hips before his eyes sought out Elena's.

Elena had to suppress a giggle. Damon's face seemed to beg 'A little help here? Get it off me!' and she was about to take pity on him and pry the kid away when suddenly Alaric appeared in the halls.

"Linus," he chided his son and unceremoniously pulled him away. He scooped him up and sat him onto his own hips. "What did I tell you, huh?"

Linus lip jutted out. "Not to bug Damon."

"Right, so…" Ric gave his son another stern headshake before his eyes finally fell onto Damon. "Damon…"

"Ric," Damon cocked his head to one side and waited for the teacher to continue. Alaric's eyes scanned Damon from head to toe, an eyebrow rising the only sign that he'd noticed the hand-holding with Elena, before his gaze finally landed on Damon's face again.

"You look… ugh, you're doing okay?"

Damon didn't miss the implied question. 'Are you stable? Is it safe for me to let my son near you? Do I need to grab the vervain darts?'

"I'm doing good," Damon replied and with a sidelong glance at Elena added: "Still a little confused but… yeah, I'm fine." He hoped Alaric could hear the unspoken 'No need to worry, I'm not gonna start chewing on the kid' in his words.

It seemed that the strange mental connection they'd begun to develop five years ago was still working because eventually Alaric relaxed and nodded.

"Good."

Then, with a look at the squirming boy in his arms, he added: "So, I think you've already met this young man."

"Yep," Damon spared the boy a quick glance. "Linus, right? Hi there."

Linus beamed back and squirmed in his fathers arms, wanting to be let down immediately. "Damon, are you gonna play with me now?"

Alaric prominently cleared his throat and Linus added sheepishly: "Please?"

Damon's eyes traveled from the kid to Ric and back. He was a bit at a loss for words, to be honest. He'd never been good with kids, well… he'd never really dealt with kids before. At least not since becoming a vampire. Of course Damon remembered the time when he'd been human and Stefan had followed him around like a puppy. But that had been different. Nowadays… Damon didn't know what to do.

He looked at Ric again, secretly hoping that he'd be spared an answer by some kind of interference on his part. But Alaric seemed to simply wait for something.

Eventually Damon shrugged. "What do you wanna play, kiddo?"

"Car race," Linus shot back, not missing a beat. "You can have my favorite car. And I made pictures for you, do you wanna see them? And we have to play hide and seek but you can't cheat. I'll show you the best hiding spots. And you have to push me on the swing in the garden, can we go outside? And can I see your vamp face? Is it scary? Show me, please Damon. Show me?"

Damon had taken slow steps backwards with every word that had spilled from the kid's mouth. Only Elena's firm hold on his hand was keeping him from bolting entirely. Ric noticed and, suppressing an amused smirk, finally took pity.

"Hey, slow down, grasshopper," he pulled Linus' head around to look him in the eye. "Damon's been very sick, remember?"

"Oh," Linus' face fell but a second later he beamed at Damon again. "Do you wanna have pancakes? When I'm sick Mommy always makes me pancakes and then I get better. Do you like pancakes? What's your favorite thing to eat?"

"My favorite thing to eat," Damon smirked. "Let's see, what is that?"

Alaric didn't like the look on Damon's face one bit and so, before Damon could continue, he quickly shot: "Of course Damon likes pancakes, right?"

The glare Ric shot him was so intense and daring that Damon was really tempted to contradict him. Just for the fun of it. Let's see how the teacher would cope with this. But then his eyes fell onto the kid's face, all innocent and enthusiastic, and Damon knew instantly… he'd lost. He didn't have it in him to crush the boy, God knows why. So with a suppressed sigh and rolling his eyes he finally nodded. "Of course. I love pancakes. But only if they're drowned in maple syrup."

"Me too," Linus beamed.

"Speaking of things to eat," Damon suddenly remembered why he'd come downstairs in the first place. He turned towards Elena who'd up to now watched the scene in silence. "Didn't you say something about plenty more where that… ugh, that bag came from?"

"Right," Elena remembered. "I'll get you something from the fridge." She decided then to dissolve the somewhat awkward moment by addressing Linus. "Why don't you go pick up the pictures you drew for Damon and show them to him, huh?"

"Can I, daddy?" Linus begged and tried to wriggle out of Alaric's hold.

Ric put him down to the ground. "Sure, off you go!"

Linus dashed away and Elena let go of Damon's hand. "I'll be right back."

Damon watched her go and Ric in turn watched Damon's face closely. Then he let out a not so subtle cough to pull Damon's attention back to him. "Ugh, thanks for… you know, not going into details about your eating habits. I'm not sure how much Linus really gets yet."

"I'll give you that, Ric. You've got your hands full with that one."

"You have no idea," Ric shook his head, eyes traveling to where his son had vanished. True father's pride radiated from Ric in spades and Damon suddenly felt something tug painfully in his chest. His heart? He shrugged it off and smirked instead: "So, Linus, huh? What on earth made you pick that name? Let me guess, you were drunk."

Ric was about to protest when a female voice suddenly chimed in from behind: "No, he wasn't. I chose the name Linus and I happen to like it."

"Jenna," Damon sent his most charming smile at the woman who now joined them in the halls. Once again he was surprised by the sheer beauty she seemed to radiate. "I have to say, Jenna, the pregnancy suits you. You look… gorgeous."

Damon didn't miss the quick look Ric and Jenna shared; a look so full of love and happiness that he had to add: "I guess you must be doing something right, Ric."

"Oh yeah," Jenna smiled a secret smile and blushed. To cover up for it she gave Damon the once over. "You don't look too bad yourself, Damon."

And then she surprised both men by suddenly pulling Damon into a tight hug (as tight as her protruding belly would allow, that is). "Welcome home, Damon," she gushed into his ear and Damon, stunned beyond belief, needed a moment until he tentatively hugged Jenna back.

"Ugh, thanks."

Jenna let go of him and took a step back. She noticed her husband's shocked stare and shrugged: "Don't look so shocked, honey. Blame it on the hormones."

"Right, the hormones," Ric shook his head before he turned around and started walking into the living room. "I need a drink. Damon?"

"Glad to notice that at least one thing hasn't changed," Damon smirked and followed him.

Later that night, after they'd all shared dinner and Ric and Jenna were busy getting a completely hyped and overtired Linus to bed, Damon and Elena settled next to each other in front of the fireplace. Damon was about to test the waters by throwing an arm around her when Elena suddenly shot up and gasped: "Oh my God! I completely forgot!"

"What?" Damon watched her grab her cell phone. "What is it, Elena?"

"Stefan! I haven't told him…"

Damon jumped up and snatched the cell away from her. "Don't bother."

"Damon," Elena's voice was firm. "I need to call him. He needs to know!"

Damon held her gaze for a second. When she didn't budge but kept staring at him relentlessly he finally caved. She was right, wasn't she? With a sigh he opened the contact list and after a bit of scrolling found Stefan's name.

"You don't keep him on speed dial, Elena? I'm shocked!" Damon smirked at her and held the phone out of reach when she tried to grab it.

"Damon, I don't think it's a good idea if you…"

"Oh, come on Elena," Damon pouted and hit dial. "This is gonna be fun!"

He sat down on the couch again and waited for the line to connect.

"Fun?" Elena doubted but sat down next to him. "Stefan's gonna get a heart attack the second he hears your voice."

"Good thing he's already dead then, huh?" Damon winked.

He listened to the phone ringing two, three, four times and wondered what could be keeping his brother so long (he was probably busy chasing Bambi through some German forest) when the line was finally picked up.

"Elena?" Stefan's voice sounded a bit out of breath, yet pleasantly surprised. "Hey, how are you?"

Damon kept quiet for another second before he drawled: "Hel-lo brother!"

You could have heard a needle drop in the following silence. In fact, Damon did hear something drop to the ground on Stefan's end. Probably a half-drained Bambi.

"Damon?"

"Surpri-ise!" Damon sing-songed.

Again a few seconds of silence fell. Damon grinned at Elena who in turn scowled back at him. She almost regretted handing the phone over to Damon. She should have known that he would enjoy shocking his brother far too much. And poor Stefan could probably be knocked over with a feather right now. But, seeing the look of pure joy on Damon's face… well, Elena thought with a smile, perhaps it was worth it.

"Damon," Stefan had finally regained enough composure to form words again. "How…? When…?"

"Very eloquent, brother. I see you haven't changed a bit over the years." Damon smirked. "I woke up this morning and I thought I'd say hi. So… hi!"

"Ugh, you woke up? Just like that?" Stefan sounded incredulous. Then, voice low, he asked: "Are you okay?"

"Oh, thanks for your concern, brother. How very touching," Damon chuckled. "I'm fine." With another look at Elena by his side he repeated: "Really, couldn't feel better right now."

"That's… that's great, Damon. I'm glad."

"What's the matter, Stef? Please don't tell me you're crying?" Damon thought he'd heard Stefan gulp heavily.

"I'm not crying, Damon," Stefan sighed into the phone. "I'm, I just…" another sigh could be heard. Then Stefan's voice changed immediately. "Is Elena with you?"

"Yep, she's right here," Damon couldn't help but taunt his brother some more. "In fact, she hasn't left my side ever since I woke up. Quite devoted, isn't she?"

"Hey," Elena groused from the side and tried to snatch the phone from his hands. Of course Damon was quicker. He jumped up and was across the room in a second. "She's taking really good care of me and has done so for a long time."

"I know," Stefan shot back unimpressed. "She complained to me regularly about having to haul your heavy ass into the bath tub. In fact, just a few days ago…"

"What?" Damon's eyes grew large. Elena had bathed him? While he had been unconscious? Damn it!

"Damon, give me the phone," Elena stood in front of him, one hand outstretched and the other on her hip. "Now! You've had your fun."

Without a word Damon complied, thoughts preoccupied with the mental image Stefan's comment had just given him.

"Hey Stefan," he heard Elena smile into the phone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let him shock you like that. But…"

"It's okay, Elena. Well, it's Damon. What do you expect?" Stefan chuckled and Damon, who was listening in, frowned. Stefan was chuckling? Huh? What had happened to his brooding brother? He sounded almost… happy.

"So," Stefan continued, "how is he, really? Is he okay?"

Damon's frown deepened. "He is standing right here and he doesn't like…"

Elena talked right over him: "He's fine, Stefan. He doesn't remember much and he's had a bit of trouble adjusting to everything that's happened but… yeah, he seems to be fine."

"Wow," Stefan breathed out. "That's really…"

"Yeah," Elena gulped and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "All this time and… It's a miracle."

Stefan seemed to sense her distress but instead of comforting her like he would have done years ago, he tried to lighten the mood instead. "My brother the miracle, right!"

Elena cracked up due to the funny look that spread over Damon's face hearing that. Damon on the other hand couldn't be more confused right now. What the hell was going on here? His brooding brother, cracking jokes? He'd have thought Stefan would come crawling through the phone in order to comfort Elena. What in God's name had changed their relationship to this?

Damon walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a Bourbon. Elena meanwhile had sat down on the couch again. "So, Stefan," her voice turned lighter: "You're still coming over for the wedding, right?"

"Of course, as soon as Caroline has found the perfect dress we'll be on a plane."

Elena laughed. She could clearly imagine her friend roaming Germany's finest boutiques, chasing the perfect dress and not giving up until she found it.

Suddenly Elena could feel Damon's questioning eyes on her and she realized that he didn't know about Caroline yet. She quickly sobered up. There were so many thing she'd still have to tell him…

She grabbed Damon's hand and pulled until he plopped down next to her. "Stefan, I'm sorry but… I gotta go. There's still so much I have to tell Damon. We'll talk soon, okay?"

"Of course," Stefan replied. "I'll let you know when we're coming."

"Bye, Stefan. And tell Caroline I said hi."

"I will. Bye, Elena." Sure that Damon was still listening in, Stefan added softly: "Bye Damon, see you soon!"

"Brother," Damon intoned absentmindedly. He was still trying to come to terms with all he'd just learned. Only when Elena closed her phone and threw it aside he seemed to snap out of it.

"So, what was that? Stefan and… Caroline?" Damon thought he'd heard wrong. "Don't tell me my brother's taken a page out of my book and is shacking up with Blondie now?"

"Ugh, Damon," Elena turned towards him, one leg bent and tucked under her. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and Damon knew instantly that she was working up the courage to say something shocking. "I guess you don't remember. Caroline's a vampire."

"What?" Damon's jaw hit the ground. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," Elena shook her head. "Katherine turned her right after Founder's Day."

"She's been a vampire for five years?" Damon couldn't believe it. "God, she must make the most annoying and neurotic vampire ever!"

"You'd be surprised, Damon. She's…" Elena tried to find the words to describe the changes in her friend. True, as a human Caroline had been kind of annoying and neurotic at times. But now…

"She's really brilliant, Damon. She proved all of you wrong." Seeing Damon's questioning eyebrow Elena clarified: "Everyone believed Caroline wouldn't make it as a vampire. You were the first to suggest staking her back then. Truth is, you even tried."

"Of course I did," Damon didn't remember but it sure as hell sounded like him. "What I don't understand though… why is she still around?"

"Because I stopped you," Elena answered. "You were all angry with me but Stefan was willing to give it a shot. So he tried to teach her and, well… it worked. She's doing great now."

"Oh, so she's adopted the Stefan-diet?" Damon scoffed. Great.

"No," Elena smiled sheepishly. "Caroline tried to stick to animal blood for a while but then… she said she just couldn't eat cute little animals. She kept talking about the pet rabbit she had as a kid and… well, long story short, she's off the animal blood and sticking to blood bags."

"And St. Stefan's okay with it? What happened to the tortured brooding brother I once had? The one that condemned everyone not willing to adopt the Stefan-diet?"

"Ugh, Damon," Elena placed a hand on his knee just when he was lifting the tumbler of Bourbon to his mouth. Damon nearly choked in shock. He still wasn't used to Elena's casual touches and friendly gestures.

"There's no such thing as a Stefan-diet anymore. He drinks human blood, too."

This time Damon really choked on his Bourbon.

TBC

I'm not really satisfied with the last part here. Promise to try better next time. In the meantime let me know what you think.