A/N: Part 2. Damon and Alaric interaction after the incident. Probably a bit schmoopier than either would ever be, but Damon is a bit off his rocker here and besides, this is my playground. ^_^

I do hope you enjoy. Please Read and Review!

Summary: Weeks later and Alaric and the others don't know if Damon's really getting any better. Unstable!Damon and some Alaric/Damon slashness, though nothing graphic.

These Wounds- part 2

"Damon?"

Alaric approached the vampire warily. Damon wasn't moving, didn't even seem to be breathing. He just sat, cross-legged on the floor like a child, staring at the wall, but not really seeing it.

Every emotion in the teacher that was, and always would be, a bit afraid to put a name to, told him to run to Damon. Save him, help him. But the molecule of logic still functioning told him that he was no good to Damon dead, no matter how temporarily. Anything could happen to the vamp while he was out.

Damon had been…absent, was the easiest word for Ric's mind to give it, for weeks now. Unstable and dangerous on his best days, Damon was close to something feral now.

But Alaric still edged closer. Slowly, slowly, closer, palms up to seem as unthreatening as possible and repeatedly, softly calling his name.

The vampire hardly spoke a word since he, Stefan, and Elena had gotten him away from those whack-jobs and their bloodstained basement. He still wouldn't feed, having to be held still by either Stefan or Alaric as the other threaded the tube from a blood bag down his throat.

It was sickening and wrong and Alaric hated himself for it, but he found himself looking forward to the weak choking noises Damon made when they did that. He missed that voice and wanted to hear it, even if it broke his heart.

Damon showed no inclination to leave the mansion, to do anything really. He'd follow simple instructions sometimes, would let Stefan or Alaric, sometimes even Elena, guide him about with a gentle touch or a few soft words.

No interaction with Damon had ever been gentle or soft. You had to be rough with him, had to be brutal and unafraid to get the vamp to listen, to take an interest in anything you had to say. It wasn't until after Damon had staked Alaric, watched him die, and then killed vampires with him the next week that Damon had really warmed up, in his way, to the man.

Gentle with Damon, weak with Damon, was usually what ended up getting you killed.

But that was all they could be with Da- with this new Damon.

Desperate, Stefan had tried to incite his brother to a fight. He screamed, derided, and hit; Elena watching fearfully, hopefully, while Alaric clenched his fists so tight, blood welled in his palms. Finally, Stefan, in all out vamp mode had slammed Damon against a wall, holding him there and breathing heavily.

No one made a sound and Damon's head remained turned downward, dangling like it was too much work to hold it up. Stefan's shoulders slumped in defeat and he pulled back from Damon. He snapped forward just as quickly when it was clear Damon wasn't going to support his own weight. He guided his brother to the ground none too gently, frustration rolling off him in waves.

Alaric was moving before he knew it, intent on hitting Stefan, fighting him, demanding to know how he could go so far with Damon like this. Stefan turning around was what curbed Alaric's bloodlust. His eyes were red in a way that was all too human, tears on his cheeks.

They all stood bereft a moment, no one knowing what to do. Seconds passed and Elena approached Stefan. Wrapping their arms around each other, he cried silently into her shoulder. She hushed him, though tears shone in her eyes as well.

Dismissing them, Alaric knelt next to Damon with not a clue of what to do. He sat on the ground, pushing Damon's hair out of his eyes and telling himself that this was nothing to cry over. That Damon would be fine.

But knowing it was a lie.

Now within three feet, Alaric was reaching out his hand.

"Da-"

Pain exploded along his back as he was thrown to the ground and held there. Damon's eyes were wild, staring directly into Alaric's. He surprised himself with how unafraid he was. Still, he kept his hands where they had splayed beside his head, palms up as he searched for something, anything in the vampire's eyes to confirm that Damon was still in there. That he just had to get to him.

Minutes passed in silence until Damon finally spoke. His voice thin and gravely from disuse.

"Everyone…betrays me…everyone…" The manic look hadn't left, but Damon's eyes were shifting, beginning to see through Alaric again instead of looking at him. Voice becoming softer, as though he was only speaking to himself, Damon kept on. "Everyone…"

Head too filled with the desperation to not lose this chance, Alaric reached up, placing one hand against Damon's cheek.

"I haven't."

Stone still, he waited. Damon's eyes met his just briefly. Alaric stroked his thumb over Damon's cheek, hoping that when he got better, the sarcastic vampire would let this show of affection and concern go unharassed.

Slowly, the vamp lost eye contact as he leant his head down so that his forehead was resting on the teacher's chest, near his shoulder. He resumed muttering.

"Not good enough…"

'This isn't you, Damon. This isn't you.' Alaric wanted to tell him, but stopped. Because maybe this really was some part of Damon. The part that still felt as deeply, more deeply, than a human and had to be disguised and guarded at all costs because of the pain that had been inflicted before.

"Never me…no one ever chooses…wants me…"

For all his stumbling about in unfamiliar territory, Alaric knew the answer to that. He wrapped his arms around Damon's back and ran a hand through midnight black hair soothingly.

"I do."

Still no words or movement, but Alaric felt Damon start shaking in his hold, the vampire's fingers curling into his jacket harshly. And Alaric doesn't whisper reassurances or encouragement because that's stupid and deceitful.

But he doesn't let go either.