*** Damon’s P.O.V.***

I heaved a bored sigh and threw one of my ice cubes from my drink at Luke as he chanted a locator spell. Thal was sleeping peacefully and that was a rare occasion as of late so I decided to not wake her. Luke stopped chanting and glared at me.

“That's not helping,” He said annoyed. I rolled my eyes.

“Well, you've been failing now for an hour, wonder twin, so at this point, I can't imagine it's hurting,” I rolled my eyes again as Stefan walked in.

“Damon, I know you're out a friend, but, uh, I'm not sure this guy's the best replacement,” Stefan smirked as he spoke sarcastically.   

“I don't think this guy's the best anything if his locator spell skills are any indication,” I paused and turned to Luke “Yo! Where's your sister?” I asked him.

“She's tired of being almost murdered. Look. I can find any person anywhere on the planet, ok? There's just something weird with your friend Enzo. I can't get a read,” He frowned. I gritted my teeth. “Why don’t you just use your girlfriend? She could find him even if he was at the bottom of the Atlantic,” Luke asked. I shook my head and ignored him. He didn’t have to know I had a sensitive side.

“Enzo? Didn't he, uh, go to Cape Horn?” Stefan asked scratching the back of his neck.

“He flipped his humanity switch. There should have been a body count all the way to the airport,” He had to still be in Mystic Falls.

“Well, why are you looking for him?” Stefan was the king of ignorant questions today.

“Gee. I don't know, Stefan. Vampire with no humanity who wants me dead for killing his girl. Hmm,” I mocked him and he shook his head.

“Well, maybe he hired a witch to block whatever Luke's doing. Is that possible?” Stefan asked and Luke shrugged.

“A cloaking spell? I guess,” He sighed standing up. “And like I said, your girlfriend could probably get around it. I don’t know why you keep underestimating her,” I growled and Luke shut up immediately.

“Look, Enzo obviously doesn't want to be found, so, uh, why don't you just drop it?” Stefan tried to diffuse the situation. I turned around as Tyler walked through the front door. 

 “We have a problem. Markos turned Sloan into a vampire, had her drink doppelgänger blood, and after some chanting ritual thing, she turned human again,” Tyler frowned as he walked farther into the house. All this talking was going to wake Thal and that was pissing me off.

“He cured her?” Stefan asked. His voice hopeful.

“He cured her to death. The blood took away her vampirism but left her in the state that she was in just before she turned,” He added. I shook my head.

“That state being dead. Got it,” I said eager to get him out the house.  

“So it kills vampires. What does the spell mean for the witches?” Luke asked walking up to us.

“No one cares. Keep chanting,” I gritted my teeth and Luke rolled his eyes at me before returning to his place on the mat.  

“The point is they feel if they can get rid of all magic they'll break some lame-ass witch curse,” Tyler explained. I sucked on the inside of my cheek.

“Markos said they can't settle anywhere without evoking earthquakes or hellfire, but they break that curse, and they just move right on into Mystic Falls,” I thought out loud.

“And come after Elena, Ana and me today, as in now,” Stefan concluded.

“Oh, well. Markos had a good week or two in the land of the living. Now where is he so can kill him?” I asked, but Tyler shook his head.

“No idea. They were moving camp when I got out,” I nodded, thinking over the situation in my head.

“Well, good news. Our friend Luke here is an alleged genius at locator spells,” I turned back to Luke and he stopped chanting to glare at me.

“Travelers are always moving. They're impossible to track. They'll find Stefan and Ana long before we can find them,” I bit the inside of my cheek. Could this kid do nothing?

“Well, what about one of those locator spell blocker deals? Is that simple enough for you?” I asked him. He glared at me.

“If all three doppelgängers are in the same place, yeah,” He said, I smiled. We didn’t have Elena here but he could start with protecting Thal and Stefan now.

“Perfect,” I then turned back to Tyler “You avoid the entire Czech language, figure out how to find Markos,” I said.

“How am I supposed to do that?” He asked

“Well, you have a Traveler inside of you. I mean, I have probably misplaced faith that you'll figure it out,” I turned to Stefan. “Meanwhile, you and I and our ex-girlfriend are gonna go on a little secret trip,” Stefan sighed.

“Sounds great,” He said sarcastically.

*** Thal’s P.O.V.***

I stood in the bathroom staring at my reflection. I took a deep breath in and out. I was supposed to be protecting my friends yet I was putting them in danger just being around them. Damon came up the stairs and walked into the room. I didn’t move as he looked around the room for a moment, most likely confused.

After a moment he walked into the bathroom and sighed when he saw me. I didn’t turned to look at him even as he came up to stand next to me. He put his arm around my waist and I snapped out of my trance moving away from him and wiping an eye.

“What’s going on?” He asked. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood a ways away from him. “Thal, you have to talk to me,” He said. I nodded.

“I think I should go live with my brother in New Orleans,” I said quietly. Damon stood still for a second before turning and leaving the room. I stood in the bathroom for a while longer until I heard the sound of something being unzipped. I walked out into his bedroom and saw a suitcase on the bed. He was throwing a combination of my clothes and his clothes into it along with our cell phone chargers. “What are you doing?” I asked him quietly.

“We’ve got to go to the cabin to shield you, Stefan and Elena from the travelers. I don’t know how long we’ll be there so I’m just throwing stuff in the bag,” He threw a pair of his pants onto the bed.

“Did you hear what I said?” I asked him. He didn’t stop going in between the drawers and the bed.

“Well, you know me and my selective hearing,” He commented. He quickly folded what was on the bed and shoved it in the suitcase.

“Damon,” He immediately stopped when I said his name again and he turned to me.

“Fine, I heard what you said and I ignored it,” He walked towards me. “We have worked too hard for either of us to just walk away,”

“It’s dangerous to be around me,” I shifted my eyes to the ground and Damon stepped up even closer to me.

“I’m a vampire, there’s no such thing as being safe,” He placed his hands on my shoulders and put his forehead against mine. “I know you want to be strong. I get that you feel weak because of this whole shitty situation, but you can’t be strong all the time,” His hands moved to either side of my face and we closed our eyes. “Right now, you in trouble and you can’t protect yourself, I’ll be strong for the both of us,” Our lips met for a brief moment. “Because there is no way in hell I’m letting you walk away from me,” He kissed me again and I smiled. “Yes?” He asked pulling me into his arms.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I finally knew what it meant to have a rock. Someone I could lea against, and rest on when I couldn’t continue any longer.

“Good,” Damon kissed my nose and turned away from me grabbing the packed bag from the bed. “That means no more talk of going to live with your psychotic twin brother,” He took my hand as we walked out the door and I laughed.

***

I sat at the dining room table with Luke. Damon had brought him to do the spell for us saying that he ‘wanted me to relax’ and not be stuck doing all the ‘witchy voodoo’.

“I’m sorry you have to do this,” I said. I rested my elbows on the table and used my hands to prop up my chin. Luke glanced at me and offered me a small smile.

“You’re a lot nicer than Damon,” He chuckled and I laughed.

“Yeah, he’s got some thorns doesn’t he?” I glanced at my ring and twisted it around on my finger. I had moved it to my right hand a while ago. I didn’t want to take it off but I couldn’t keep it on my left hand. Damon would probably have a heart attack. “But he can be incredibly sweet if he wants to be,” I smiled remembering that morning. Caroline then walked in and gave me an eye, saying that she wanted to talk. I smiled at Luke and excused myself before following her to the kitchen where Damon was making something.

“Help me make the game for later,” She said. I raised an eyebrow as she grabbed a stack of mini index cards and two pens. Damon gave me a confused look and I shrugged. “I have a couple written so far,” Caroline motioned to the hat on the counter and we both took a seat. I grabbed a cherry that was in a bowl, popping it into my mouth.

“Hey, munchie. Those are not for you,” Damon pulled the bowl away from me and I winked at him.

“Shhh, I'm thinking,” Caroline pulled one of the index cards out and uncapped the pen. Damon raised an eyebrow and took one of the cards that was in the hat. “Hey!” Caroline glared at him.

“Area 51?” Damon frowned and I pulled out another card.

“Stop!” Caroline groaned and tried to take the card but I moved it away from her so I could read it.

“’J.F.K. Assassination’? What the hell is that?” I asked.

“You guys are ruining the game!” She exclaimed.

“You asked me to help you,” I held up my hands in defense and Caroline rolled her eyes.

“Wait, what game?” Damon asked.

“Charades. Our theme is secrets that people think they're getting away with,” She gritted her teeth and Damon and I glanced at eachother.

“Well, Meryl Streep, I'd love to know how we're gonna act out Watergate,” He raised a good point. It didn’t make sense.

“Well, I'm sure team "Stelena" will figure it out,” She spoke really bitterly and I was starting to understand why she asked me to help her.

“’A,’ you just implied that we are on your team. Two, you just gave me that judgy little hinty voice. So what am I missing?” Damon picked up the same hints I did but Caroline shook her head.

 “It's probably nothing,” She wrote something else on a card and shoved it into the hat. It was definitely something.

"Speak,” I said taking her pen away.

“Well, don't you think that Stefan and Elena have been a little... You know?” I raised an eyebrow and shared another look with Damon.

“No. Clearly we don't,” Damon concluded. Caroline pursed her lips.

“Secretive? I caught them being all hushed and whispery at the car this morning, and now they're getting firewood out of the shed together, which apparently takes 20 minutes,” She glanced at the clocked and I raised my eyebrows.

“You know, now that you mention it, Elena got all cagey when I brought up Enzo,” I turned to Damon.

“You talked to Elena,” He nodded and ate a cherry.

“Yeah, when we first got here,” I bit the inside of my cheek but Caroline spoke out quickly.

“No, no. I'm not talking about Enzo. I'm talking about Stefan and Elena,” She said in an attempt to bring us back on topic.  

“How much have you had to drink?” Damon asked her. She sighed in frustration.

“Come on! She's single now, you two are on the outs,” I frowned.

“You two are on the outs?” I asked Damon. He opened his mouth but Stefan and Elena walked in saving him from an explanation. “This is not done,” I said quietly. Damon smirked and nodded.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be,” I shook my head and tried to suppress my smile.

“Cocktails. Good call,” Elena said smiling as she walked up to the counter.

“I'll, uh--I'll make a fire,” Stefan said uncomfortably before walking out.

“I'll help. Ahem,” Elena gave us a tight smile before walking out.

“Let the games begin,” Damon whispered. Caroline and I glanced at each other. I definitely saw it now.

***

Luke decided that he didn’t want to play charades with us so that gave us lopsided teams with team Stelena against team Charlie and his angels, CHA for short.

It was Damon’s idea.

Elena and Stefan just won their fifth charade and all we had was a big fat zero. I was pissed, and was seriously considering switching teams. Damon took another sip of his drink and leaned back.

“Five-zero, five-zero. Come on, guys. Zip,” I glared at Stefan. I you couldn’t tell Stefan was really competitive as well.

“Ok. Let's play a game called "never have I ever", hmm?” Damon asked sitting up. I got up from the table with the hat on the ground and went to sit in Damon’s lap in the arm chair.  

 “Oh, I don't think I'm drunk enough,” Elena groaned and collapsed on the couch next to Stefan.

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!” I held out my hands and smirked.

“I'll go first. Never have I ever died,” Caroline said. Everyone put one finger down and Damon held up his drink.

“Cheers to that one,” He said. We all grabbed our cups and took a drink.

“Ooh! Ok. Um, never have I ever been possessed by my evil doppelgänger,” Stefan eyed Elena and me.

“Not cool,” I said shaking my head as I took a sip.   

“Mean. Never have I ever been fooled by my evil doppelgänger while she was pretending to be me,” Damon groaned and I laughed at him and Stefan.  

“Low blow,” Caroline shook her head.

“Tough but fair,” Damon noted. He sat up a little bit and I readjusted myself. “Ok, I got one,” He paused and glanced at me.

“No! Don’t you dare,” I already knew he was going to target me.

“Never have I ever compelled a vampire,” He spoke slowly, fully forming each word as he locked eyes with me.

“Not cool man,” I sighed then sat up quickly. Damon grunted. “Sorry,” I offered him a half smiled. “I’ve got one though. Never have I ever seduced a Michaelson,” Everyone but Elena groaned.  I held out my hand and she high fived me. The room got quiet for a moment as everyone thought of something. Caroline then perked up.

“Never have I ever kissed a Salvatore brother,” I smiled and took a drink. “Today,” She added a moment later. There was an awkward silence. “So are you gonna drink or…” Caroline asked eyeing Elena. She could not have been any more blatant in her accusation.  

“Are you implying something?” Elena asked, her eyes narrowing. This was getting hostile and fast.

“Well, I'm gonna get another round. Does anybody-“

“Never have I ever lied about where Enzo is,” Damon interrupted his brother and I moved from off of his lap and sat on the arm rest. I pursed my lips before breaking the silence.

“Ok. What is going on?” I asked Stefan and he frowned shaking his head.

“Nothing obviously because nobody's drinking,” Stefan answered shrugging.

“I mean, clearly you know the rules of the game, right, brother? If you lied, you drink,” Damon held up his glass.

“Oh, no. I understand the rules,” Stefan spoke slowly.

“This just got weird. I'm officially buzzed, so I'm gonna go and get ready for bed,” She commented before getting up.

“Well, I could certainly use another round,” Damon said getting up as well before heading into the kitchen. I trailed behind him.

“What was that?” I whispered harshly to him. He shrugged and I shook my head. “Oh no, I walked up to him and made him face me. “You just threw accusations out there at your brother,” I had to keep my voice down so no one could hear me. “I mean, where the hell did the whole Enzo thing come from? I haven’t done a locator spell yet, for all we know he is just on a binder in some small town somewhere,” Damon shook his head and I frowned.

“I already tried the locator spell,” He mumbled. That statement confused me. How could he have done the spell already? “I got Luke to do it,” I took a step away from him. He got Luke to do the spell? Luke?

“You’re kidding me right? Please tell me you’re messing with me,” His silence was answer enough. “Yet you still don’t think I’m weak right?” I asked him.

“Thal, it wasn’t like that-“

“Damon!” Damon called from somewhere in the house. His eyes widened and he looked in the direction of her voice before turning back to me.

“Go,” I had just barely gotten the word out of my mouth before he disappeared. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest before walking to the living room in search of Stefan.

“Is it possible that someone over there could physically affect this plane?” He was standing in the middle of the living room talking on the phone.

“Actually, yeah. My grams knocked a lamp right off my desk today. I doubt it's easy, but if someone were emotional enough...” That was Bonnie, they must have been talking about the other side.

“Enzo,” He whispered.

“Enzo's dead?” Caroline asked from behind me. Stefan nodded and all the air was sucked out of my lungs.

“Yeah. I, uh, I killed him,” I couldn’t breathe, not that I needed to, but none the less all of the air around me had somehow disappeared. “Ana, I-“

“My life sucks, it really does,” I turned on my heel and left the room. I went out to the porch and stormed out into the field that was in the front of the house. “Enzo!” I screamed angrily, I held up my hands, my fingers sparking. My breath was coming quickly now and I threw lightning into the sky. “Enzo!” I screamed again.

“Geez love, who knew you were so powerful,” I spun around and before me was Enzo. I lost my breath again and ran to him. I went to wrap my arms around him but I just pass through him. “Sad side effect, I know,” Enzo sighed. I pressed my lips together and turned back to face him. “You should be with your friends right now looking for Luke, the cloaking spell is down and I reckon you’re very vulnerable right about now,” He stated. I clenched my jaw and turned to see Stefan and Damon going into the cabin. “Sadly, I can’t have you intervening with my affairs so I’m going to have to use some of the power from my witchy friends to hold you back,” Instantly I was unable to move.

“What are you doing Enzo?” I asked him.

“I would rather you not become collateral damage so I am keeping you out of the war,” I began to panic and flexed my magic trying to get free.

“Stop Enzo,” I called out for him. “Damon! Damon!” I screamed. I may have been a little bit angry with him but I was far from wanting him to die.

*** Third Person ***

“Luke? Luke? Where are you?” Caroline called out. Enzo had taken him somewhere and if they didn’t find him quickly the travelers would figure out where they were and that would put Stefan, Elena and Thal in danger.

“Maybe Luke-- You're upset,” Elena noted. Caroline had refused to say a word to her for the entire trip and she knew it was purposeful.  

“I'm not upset. Just looking for Luke, you know, Luke, who was here to protect you and Stefan, Luke, who's now missing because you and Stefan lied about where Enzo was, and now the Travelers can find you, do their spell, and wipe us all off the face of the earth!” Caroline exploded at her friend.

“I was worried that if Damon found out-“ Elena trailed and Caroline shook her head.

“What, he'd flip out and spiral and kill a bunch of innocent people? Yeah, that’s a possibility. I, however, am not Damon, so the fact that you lied to me about it makes less sense,” Caroline said. “And the possibility of Damon spiraling is like a five percent chance,” Caroline exclaimed. “If you haven’t noticed, he and Ana are a thing now and she keeps him sane,” Caroline paused. “She makes him happy,”

“I just didn't want to put you in an awkward position,” Elena made another excuse and Caroline rolled her eyes. “You and Ana have gotten so close lately,”   

“Yeah we have, because all my other friends are lying to me!” Caroline exclaimed throwing her hands into the air. “And correct me if I’m wrong but wasn't it awkward when I accused you and Stefan of being make out buddies again?” She asked raising her eyebrows.

“Actually, yes, it was. Where did that even come from?” Elena didn’t egg on her friend’s hysteria but rather glazed over it.  

“I have no idea,” Caroline sighed and shook her head.

“Well, are you over it?” Elena asked. To Caroline it didn’t really seem like her friend cared all too much about her, even though she knew that that couldn’t be true.

“Yes,” Caroline spoke through gritted teeth.

“Good. Now let's go find Luke,” She said before storming off into the woods. Caroline ground her teeth before following her.

*** Thal’s P.O.V.***

I struggled against the magic barrier even more as I caught the smell of Damon’s blood.  “Damon!” I screamed. “Let me go!” I let out one burst of power and the bindings broke as Stefan came out of the now flaming wood shed holding up a barely conscience Luke. “Where’s Damon?” I asked frantically, Stefan shook his head. I began to panic and without thinking I ran into the shed, putting out the flames around the cabin as I did. Damon was on the ground in the middle of the ashes with a wooden pole sticking out of his stomach. I ran to him and pulled it out. I then applied pressure to the wound I tried my best to concentrate and heal him as tears were streaming down my face. “Hold on, ok baby? Just hold on for me,” I whispered to him over and over again. He groaned and coughed up blood. He finally healed and I sighed with relief. I bent down and placed my forehead against his.

“I- I just wanted you to rest,” I shushed him. I knew what he was talking about and I didn’t want him to talk more than he had to. After I helped Damon get inside I went back out to the yard to watch the shed burn with Caroline and Stefan.

 “Never have I ever had a ghost try to burn me alive,” Stefan smirked earning a laugh from both Caroline and I.

“Drink,” Caroline said sarcastically.

“Come on. Car's packed. We got to get out of here,” Even though Stefan said that, none of us moved.

“We're friends, right? We tell each other things, we trust each other,” Caroline turned to Stefan and I turned to look at him as well.

“It's not because I didn't trust you guys,” Stefan started.

“No. It's just that you trust Elena more, and I get it. Of course you would. Still sucks to be left out of the loop, you know?” I turned back towards the shed.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, there are things that I tell you guys that I don't tell her,” I turned back to him and made eye contact with Caroline raising an eyebrow.

“Like what?” She asked.

“Like you have dirt on your cheek,” Caroline blushed and wiped her cheek. “And look, maybe I didn't want you to know that I killed Enzo,” Stefan didn’t make eye contact with either of us.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I know you and him were friends,” he said to me, “And I know you guys had that weird little chemistry thing going on,” He said to Caroline and I laughed when her eyes widened.

“Oh, please! You're delusional,” She scoffed rolling her eyes.

“I didn't want you guys to think any less of me. I'll, uh--I'll meet you over by the car when you're done,” He said awkwardly before walking away.

“Hey, I’m going to check on him alright?” I placed my hand on Caroline’s shoulder and she nodded. I walked over to Stefan as he stood by the car. “I wouldn’t have gotten too mad you know,” I said leaning on his car. He looked up at me and offered me half a smile.

“I guess I was just nervous,” He laughed at himself and I smirked. I linked my arm with his and rested my head on his shoulder.

“I like that you care what I think,” I laughed. Stefan let out a groan and doubled over. “Stefan!” I then felt the immense pain as well a moment later. I was out without minutes.

A/N

Hey guys, it's been a little over two weeks sincce the last part and I think you've waited long enough. I am also thinking of writing a christmas special for Thal and Damon. Tell me what you think.

I want to thank everyone again who comments, votes and reads my stories! You guys are so amazing and you make this story fun to write.

P.S make sure you don't forget to have a happy holiday season!!

P.P.S I don't know how you would forget but it's better to be safe than sorry.