Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Heart of Darkness

When Abigail descended into the basement of the Salvatore Boarding House, her mind had veered far from the world, right into the place it created after her parents died. But as soon as she peered through the barred door of the cell Alaric chose for himself, she was brought back to reality. He was sitting on the cot, staring at the wall with furrowed eyebrows that indistinguishably pulled his features together.

"Ric?"

"Yep. Still me." He turned toward the door as she stepped inside. "You know, you shouldn't be in here. It defeats the whole point of the being locked in a cellar thing. Besides, you have a decades dance to get ready for."

"Well, you still need the basics. Your own toothbrush, a couple changes of clothes, some books to read." She dropped the bag at his feet. "And about the dance, Rebekah changed the theme from the 70s to the 20s which means Caroline's plan to see Tyler is working. They don't need me."

He passed one of the books to her. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"What? No, I grabbed..."  She dropped the book to the floor. "Damon thinks he's hilarious."

He chuckled, and she could tell he thought it was funny. "At least one of us still has a sense of humor."

"Are you sure that you-" Her breath hitched in her throat. "I mean you don't have to be kept in here."

"Ah, no, this is..." He sat up slightly, the way he did when he was convincing himself of something even if he didn't have to. "This is the right place for me to be. At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to fess up to where I, or he, hid the white oak stake."

"We looked everywhere. You..." She knew him so well, but even she had come up empty handed. "The other you, hid it well."

He looked at her with desperate eyes, coming up with only one question, "What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?"

"It's the only thing that will kill him, so wage war, murder people..." She sat down next to him, taking one of his hands into both of hers. "Klaus stuff."

Elena walked in, silent as to gain their full attention before she pulled up a chair and sat down in front of them. "Now that Klaus knows where Jeremy is, it's not safe, so Damon and I are gonna go to Denver to pick him up. Try to figure out who sired your bloodline..."

Alaric narrowed his eyes at her. "Why did you say that like you're waiting for one of us to stop you?"

"I don't know..." Elena looked between them. "Me and Damon. Traveling across the country."

Abigail leaned forward. "I guess I'm more curious to hear what Stefan has to say about it."

"Actually, it was his idea. He thinks that I have some unresolved feelings for Damon." Her shoulders tightened. "Which is why I'm going on this trip. So that I can figure it out."

"Go on the trip," Alaric encouraged her.

Abigail smiled sadly. Not because she didn't want her to leave or stay, but because she was torn between asking her to do what was best for her and herself. But she knew the right thing to say was, "Elena, go on the trip."

Abigail and Stefan entered Alaric's cell that afternoon to find him lying on the cot with his eyes closed. A book was open on his chest, his hands were clasped behind his head, and the way he was breathing told them that he was not asleep. Still, they did not say a word.

Alaric opened his eyes. "Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep when that is what you're supposed to do?"

"I know it's not easy, so..." Stefan held up a bottle of bourbon. "We figured we'd speed up the process."