Tiberius Salvatore: Mikaelson Extended

15

"Damon Bloody Salvatore. If this is some half-assed attempt to get me to come to this bloody college then well fucking done. I'm officially worried. Where in the bloody hell are you?" Rio said into his phone. He drove to Whitmore College. He tried Elena next but just like Damon, there was no reply. So he moved on to Caroline.
"Hey Rio, sorry I'm a little busy-" She said, once she picked up.
"Yeah, but I have a question. What happened to Damon?"
"Last I heard he was talking to Dr Maxfield." Caroline said, and her anger towards Damon seemed stronger than usual. Rio said nothing about it.
"Okay, thanks. Have fun doing whatever it is you're doing." He said and hung up. Well he was a step closer. He walked into the college heading for the reception where he could ask where Dr Maxfield could possibly be when he ran into Elena. "Elena!"
"Rio?" She stopped and peered closely. She was with someone.
"Hey, have you heard from Damon?"
"No, I'm getting a little worried, myself. Rio, this is Aaron, my friend. Aaron, this is Rio, Damon's brother."
"Hi, nice to meet you, Aaron." Rio smiled pleasantly.
"Aaron was going to help me find Dr Maxfield."
"I was just about to look for him."
"Come with us. Damon'll be glad to see you if we find him." Elena invited. "Unless you don't want to hang with kids."
"I usually don't make a habit of it, but I suppose I could make an exception." He teased back, and the three walked on. Aaron led them to a house, and Elena looked a little hesitant.
"Oh, um, you know, when you said that Wes was probably doing research I didn't realize it would be here at Whitmore House." The two vampires stood at the doorway, a little awkward.
"Oh, yeah. This place is like a second home." Elena just hummed in response. "What are you two waiting for? Come in."
"Thanks." Rio smiled, courteously as Elena tested the boundaries to see if they could get in.
"So, who actually owns this place?" She asked. "I don't actually know."
"Not to sound like a douche, but technically, I do. Yeah. It's part of the Whitmore trust that I inherited when my parents died. Yeah, don't hold that against me. Usually when people find out that my name's Aaron Whitmore--"
"Wait. Hold on. Your last name's Whitmore? So you, like, own this school?"
"Sorry about your parents." Rio nodded at the kid.
"Thanks, man. And, yeah, that's what they think." Elena walked around and a photo frame caught her eye.
"That's my dad." She said, pointing. Rio felt a sharp pain to the back of his neck as he fell. Vervain.
"Grayson Gilbert was one of the best doctors the Augustines ever had." An unfamiliar voice called.
"What the hell?" Aaron asked. Rio was feeling a little weak, what with not having fed for a while. The vervain effected his strength though he didn't pass out.
"I'm glad he didn't live to see this." The voice continued.
"Who- who're you?" Rio slurred. He couldn't talk properly.
"You should be out cold." The man said, before hitting Rio over the head.

"Rio! Elena! Damn it, you two. Get up already!" Rio woke up to the familiar voice of his brother. None other than Damon Salvatore.
"I'm up. Where are we?"
"Augustine." Was Damon's reply. "Come on, Elena. Wake up."
"Hey, doppelganger. Elena?" Rio leaned over and shook her. Elena was in between the two of them, but Rio's arms were longer. She groaned and shook her head.
"Hey." Damon whispered.
"Damon?" She asked. She tried to get up and reach over to him. "Are you-"
"I'm fine. Wes injected you with vervain. Maybe when it wears off, we'll be able to-" Damon shook the cell bars, groaning as he did. "break through these."
"What the hell is going on? Why are you here? Why am I here?"
"Not going to ask why Rio's here?" Rio asked, referring to himself in third person. Elena sat up.
"Rio? You too? Oh, God. Aaron. Why are we here?"
"Wes is carrying out the grand Augustine tradition. Getting his kicks off vampire torture."
"Did he tell you that?"
"He didn't have to. I've been here before."
"You what, Damon? What do you mean you've been here before."
"Someone in our family sold me out to the Augustines in 1953. Everyday, this nut job Dr. Whitmore tortured us, cut into us, took pieces of our eyes out, pushed us to every limit he could imagine, and he had quite the imagination. Kept me in this very cell, and don't think I haven't appreciated the irony."
"Don't joke, idiot. You're telling us you were here, being tortured, without even telling any of us? Damon!"
"How long were you here?" Elena asked.
"5 years. Give or take."
"You were tortured for five bloody years?" Rio asked, outraged.
"Damon how did you not go crazy?" Elena asked him.
"Believe it or not, I made a friend." Damon smiled a little. "His name was Enzo, and he was the welcome comittee. He was a soldier in Europe during World War II."
"How did he end up here?"
"Dr. Whitmore was working in a battlefield hospital when he discovered Enzo was a vampire, so he drugged him, locked him in a coffin to ship him overseas. He'd been here for ten years by the time I joined the party. He helped me cope, helped me focus my anger. He kept me sane."
"Damon, Wes knew my dad. They worked together. He said that my dad was an Augustine, too. I know that my dad was a vampire hunter, but he was also the town doctor. He was kind and gentle and loving. He wouldn't be part of a place that would cut your eyes out."
"People are full of surprises. Oh, hey." Damon approached the bars that separate the two lovers, and Rio kept a little distance from them. "I am so, so sorry I got you caught up in this. Hey. Look at me. Hey. But I promise you I will get you out of here, okay? Okay? I'll get you out of here."
"Damon, how did you survive all those years?" Elena repeated.
"Enzo's friendship kept me alive, he gave me a reason to hang on to my humanity. Made me talk about normal stuff, and sometimes I could pretend that he and I were just friends. That we weren't tortured every day."
"Oh, my God, Damon. Okay. Stefan is gonna figure this out. When you don't come home and no one hears from me, he will-- he will find us." Elena told him.
"Like he was missing for three months before you guys noticed?" Rio asked. "Please."
"Or more like I was stuck here for five years and Stefan never noticed. Unfortunately, little brother dearest doesn't know this place exists."
"But you were here for five years!" Elena wondered.
"Yeah, and in the first year, I'd thought he'd rescue me. He didn't. Once I escaped, there was no point in giving him more to feel guilty about, so I never told him what happened here. I never told anyone."
"When we get out of this, Damon, you and I are having a talk." Rio told his brother sternly.
"Sure, and you can spill your secrets too."
"What secrets?"
"Mother." Damon said and Rio was silent. "Oh, and now you go silent. Priceless, you want us to tell you our deepest darkest secrets but refuse to extend us the same courtesy."
"Both of you stop! You can't turn on each other." Elena said coming in the middle of their conversation.
"It's fine, Elena. Let him get it out." Rio said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what happened between our mother and me, but I don't see the point in tarnishing your memory. You loved her, keep it at that."
"Our mother was the best part of our human lives."
"Damon, just let it go. But you can't equate that to not telling us you were held hostage and tortured for five years."
"Why not? It was over, over half a century ago. Was I supposed to make you feel guilty for not knowing we were alive? Besides, I'm fine."
"Don't worry about me, Damon. I'm your big brother, I'm here for you to unload all your problems on."
"Sometimes extending the same courtesy would help. You don't have to walk around like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders, Rio. You've always been so worried about Stefan and me, and the Mikaelsons and your stepdaughter too."
"Oh crap, Anya. Damn girl's going to kill me." Rio swore all of a sudden. "We need to get out of here."
"You think?"
"Man, you don't get it, Damon! Anya's got me on this strict schedule. Call her every night or she'll come straight to Mystic Falls. And I refuse to let that happen." Rio stood up and started to check himself for his phone. Just in case. But of course, he had no luck. He tried the bars, wrestling them, while Damon and Elena talked.