AN: Written in response to the trailer for next week, because I miss the bromance. Just reunion-y fluff and friendship, everything I want to see that will never, ever happen.

Dislciamer: I disclaim. ^.^

In a flurry of motion he's pinned to the wall, but when one hunts vampires for a living and teams up with the not-so-nice Salvatore brother more frequently than is strictly comfortable, well, it isn't that unusual. In fact, it's probably one of the most frequent occurrences of Ric's life these past few years.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Damon's a bit more insane than usual, Alaric notes, looking into his eyes, but his mind's too fuzzy to be properly alarmed. Being possessed will do that to a guy, he supposes. "How did you even get in?"

Alaric's choking, because Damon's hand is cutting off his windpipe, but this Salvatore is not going to see that anytime soon. "I'm not him," he forces out, coughing over the words. "I'm me."

Damon's eyes frantically study his, predatory and desperate all at once, before he carefully releases him. "What do you mean?"

Alaric slumps against the wall in the Salvatore's hallway, gratefully sucking in air. "Klaus released me. Let me go." Well, not so much let him go as forgot him completely. Alaric slipped out of Klaus' base—it had to be his apartment?—upon regaining consciousness. Well, when he remembered how to move. "Elena…?"

"She's here," Damon tells him, and Alaric feels a rush of relief. He's only got Katherine, then, and she's not someone he particularly cares for. She has, among other things, screwed up their plans, turned his wife against him, and destroyed the sanity of Damon, who has somehow become Alaric's closest friend.

"Jenna?"

"She's here too," Damon says, turning and strolling into his part of the house. The part no one else really goes into except during strategy meetings. Only Alaric goes there, when he's sharing drinks with Damon after a successful mission or when everything just gets to be too much for both of them and they want to hide from the world for a while. And drink. They always drink. "But you might not want to go near her." He makes one of those faces, the ones that say everything's gone to hell and he doesn't find it amusing but isn't inclined to fix things, either.

"Why?" Alaric follows Damon, stumbling less as he gains his breath but still weak on his feet from whatever abuse Klaus has afflicted on his body.

"Klaus kind of gave her a scare." Damon chews on his wording in the way that signifies he's understating things—a lot. "She's still getting her head around the fact that it wasn't… you." Damon tips his head on the last word before holding out a drink. There's nothing in Ric's stomach, but he takes it gratefully anyway. He's probably going to need to be drunk by the time he's all caught up on recent events.

"What did I miss?"

He listens intently as Damon fills him in on the drama since he was possessed: the search for Klaus, the messages, Caroline's scare with Matt, Bonnie's "death", Elijah's reawakening, and Damon's fights with Stefan.

"Elijah's back?"

Damon nods, tossing back a drink and pouring them both another. "Around here, or not. He's working with Elena. I'm apparently backing off. I'm not respectable." He's going crazy around the eyes again, which is worrisome for everyone. Especially as everything's shot to hell lately.

"Are you okay?" he asks. He doesn't expect to be slammed against a wall again—not so soon, at least—but he accepts it without a fight because he doesn't have the strength to fight back. Damon's face morphs into a vampire's mask and Alaric regards him carefully, willing him to regain control instead of accidentally killing him. Damon releases him after a few long moments and turns away, but Ric thinks he catches the glimmer of tears around Damon's eyes. It's not something he's suicidal enough to ask about—at least, not yet.

"No, not really. Just… shouldn't you go check on Elena, or Stefan, or your girlfriend, or something?" 'Get out' is the message Damon's all but screaming, but Ric has a feeling that would be a bad idea. Damon looks oddly lonely there, outlined by the fire and slightly hunched in on himself. He'd never ask anyone to stay with him, and Alaric's noticed that everyone always leaves. He thinks that maybe, for once, someone should stay… so he does.

He curls back up in his chair and drops his head into a hand, staring pointedly at the fire and not at Damon. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Damon take his original seat again, and he watches Damon glance over at him. "Are you okay?" Damon asks, taking Alaric's gesture and giving a little in return. Alaric doesn't smirk, doesn't point out that Damon obviously cares about him, because Damon always cares more than he should and is terrified by that truth. To point out Damon cares is the easiest way to set him off, and Alaric is too weary for games and battles right now.

"Not yet," Alaric tells him truthfully. But really, when are either of them ever okay? They live to go through the motions, pretending. Maybe that's why they make such a good team; they're a lot alike, though neither of them likes to see it.

With a flash Damon's gone, and a few moments later he's back. He hands Alaric a sandwich silently and drops a blanket down next to him. "Get better, then," Damon tells him in his usual blank, careless tone. "We'll need you in this again."

Alaric gives Damon a smile despite the pretend lack of regard. "Thank you." Damon doesn't shrug or smile, just disappears, but Alaric doesn't need more than that. In a very short span of time he's asleep, not worried in the slightest for his safety, because he feels safe in the knowledge that Damon's homicidal insanity has been suppressed once more. For a short time in the night, everyone is safe and everything is peaceful.

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