You Are My Life

Deal with the Devil

~Damon~

Getting into the witches' house wasn't impossible but it was more of a hassle than Damon wanted it to be. With each toe he stepped out of line, his skin sizzled with blisters. After great pain and suffering, he was able to make it to the basement, find shade, and throw himself to the floor to cool his burns. Unfortunately for Stefan, the little moments of pain had only heightened Damon's anger. 

"Wow. That was impressive." Stefan got up from the chair he was relaxing in. "But the coffins aren't here so...you can go away now."

"I don't care about the coffins. We need to talk." Damon pushed himself up from the floor and singed himself again.

"Okay, let's talk." Stefan crossed his arms.

"Nothing's ever easy with you, is it?" Damon asked.

Stefan just raised his brows in response. The rage peaked. Damon rushed at Stefan and shoved him through the house. Momentarily, Stefan overpowered Damon. He felt pain ignite down his back as he was shoved into one of the beams of light. Damon regained control and pushed Stefan out of the house.

When Stefan tried to get up, Damon kicked him in the chest, sending him back to the leaf-covered ground. With him in a compromised position, Damon grabbed a branch off the felled tree next to him and shoved it into Stefan's chest. He howled in pain.

"That is for screwing up my plan! You stop me from killing Klaus, and you steal his family! Why? Doesn't make sense!" Damon pressed the stake in further. "Answer me!"

"Piece by piece Klaus took everything from me. I'm doing the same to him." Stefan groaned through clenched teeth.

"But I had him, Stefan!" Damon twisted the branch, causing Stefan to cry out again. "Why did you screw it up?"

"I did it to save you!" Stefan capitalized on Damon's moment of confusion and threw Damon off his body.

Damon landed on his back with a grunt and stayed on the ground. "What? No. No way! You didn't do this for me."

Stefan clutched the wound in his stomach. "He was one step ahead of us. If Klaus died, his hybrids would have killed you."

"When are you going to get it through your head?" Damon rammed the makeshift stake back into Stefan. "Stop saving me!"

Ready to be done with this conversation, Damon walked away from the house. He needed time to cool off. Stefan wasn't going anywhere. He couldn't. 

For hours, Damon mulled over Stefan's words. It didn't make sense. His motive seemed out of character. There had been numerous times in the past when Stefan wanted to kill Damon. In all honesty, it would probably make Stefan's life easier if Damon was killed, too. If he had flipped his switch, he shouldn't care what happened to Damon. He decided it was time to go back and ask a few more questions.

"Do you know what I can't figure out?" Damon walked out of the woods toward the front of the witches' house where Stefan stood. "Why save me? Was it brotherly love, guilty conscience? Is the switch on, is the switch off?"

"Do you have somewhere you need to be, Damon? Maybe holding Mallorie's hand and skipping off into the sunset." Stefan smirked. "Don't think I didn't notice."

"Ah, deflection. That's not gonna work on me. I invented that." Though a flare of ire ran through Damon at the mention of Mallorie, he tried to control himself.

Stefan pushed off the wall he was leaning on. "We're done. Can't you just go away?"

Damon shook his head. "Not until you tell me why you saved me. You owe me that."