𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋
i am who i am. your approval isn't needed

THE NEXT DAY, Damon was pacing around the living room of the Salvatore mansion explaining his plan to Jeremy. Echo, and Jack. The sister was laying her head on her brother's lap, smiling as he ran his hand through her hair. Jack had her feet in his lap with a frown on his face.

"So, as we know, in a psychotic lapse of judgment, Bonnie brought you back to life and died in the process," Damon commented causing his girlfriend to shoot him an unamused look. "May she rest in peace," he added looking at a random spot.

"She's actually right over there," Jeremy corrected, pointing to an empty chair across the room.

"Hey, Bon!" Echo shouted as she waved over at the chair and then went back to straight-face, and hummed as Jeremy continued playing with her hair.

"Whatever," the older vampire remarked with a roll of his blue eyes. "Look. The whole point is, I just happen to know a supernatural being who just happens to want to die, and in the spirit of nature needing balance and life for a life and all that stuff, I just think it would be a huge waste of a perfectly good death."

"Damon..." Echo trailed off as she sat up to stare at her boyfriend.

"What are you talking about?" The teenage boy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Something Elena doesn't need to know about until it works," Damon quickly said with an annoyed sigh. He didn't want to upset Elena even more if what he was thinking, couldn't happen.

Jack looked between them before raising his brows. "You want to work with Silas?"

"What? Why?" Echo questioned with narrowed eyes, and she reached over to entwine her left hand with Jack's right. She knew he was worried about Elena, and seeing that he and Bonnie had become friends, he wants to do anything to bring her back, and keep Elena happy.

"From the beginning, Silas' whole bad-guy plan was to kill himself, pass on to wherever he was gonna pass on to, and reunite with his dead girlfriend, Amara," the blue eyed vampire explained the story of Silas. "I want to use his death to bring Bonnie back to life."

"Really?" Echo asked, her mouth wide open. She went to look at the seat where Jermey said Bonnie was, but then shook her head as she realized she wouldn't be able to see her.

Damon gave his girlfriend a look before continuing his explanation, "To die, he has to be mortal. If he's mortal, then he's a witch, and if he dies as a witch, then he's stuck on the Other Side forever."

"He already tried to bring down the veil to the Other Side. He failed," Jeremy pointed out with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah." Jack nodded, pointing to Jeremy.

Suddenly, Jeremy turned to the empty chair, and a lot of emotions went through his fax.

Damon notices Jeremy was paying attention to Bonnie and gave him an annoyed look. "She knows I can't hear her, right?"

Rolling his eyes, Jeremy turned to look back at Damon before explaining what Bonnie said, "She thinks Silas wants to destroy the Other Side completely." Then, he began to pay attention to Bonnie again.

Clapping his hands together, Damon paced the floor as he continued his scheming. "Back to my original question. Let's say Silas destroys the Other Side, cures himself, becomes a witch. Is it supernaturally possible that he can do a spell that swaps her life for his life once he—pfft—kills himself?" He questioned loudly hoping the Bennett witch would answer and Jeremy would translate.

For a long moment, the ghost whisperer listened into what Bonnie had to say as the couple and Jack stared at him in anticipation.

"What'd she say? Tell me?" Damon asked, breaking Jeremy's focus from her.

He paused for a moment then smiled widely. "She's in!"

"Fantastic!" Damon cheered with a smug expression while gazing at Echo. "I knew this would work."

"Don't get ahead of yourself there, love," Echo stated, pointing at him. "We don't know if this is actually going to work, so go talk to Silas or whatever it is you have planned next."

Damon pouted. "I thought you would come with me."

She rose a brow and leaned on Jack. "Jack, Elena, Jeremy, and I will be spending the next few hours together. We're suppose to bing some movies and eat really terrible food. So, you go do whatever you want, get back here before the party tonight at the Whittemore mansion, and then we can have some fun."

Her vampire gave her a smirk before walking over to her, and pulling her up into a kiss. She placed her hands on the back of his head, played with his baby hairs for a few seconds before pulling away from him. "Hurry up, pretty boy or you're not getting any of this tonight."

"You're gross!" Jeremy shouted and threw a pillow at them.

Echo and Damon laughed before he pecked her lips and left. She looked at the two boys and rose a brow. "Ready to have some fun?"

NIGHT FELL FASTER than they expected, and the couple approached the Whitemore mansion, wearing royal clothing dating back to the 1850s.

Echo was dressed up as Queen Victoria, in a burgundy dress, a crown, and a really tight corset on that made her boobs look even bigger than they already wore. Damon was dressed up as Prince Albert, hair ruffled, and chest showing in his outfit.

And seeing as Echo doesn't go anywhere without weapons, she has daggers strapped to her thighs, along with a stake just in case a vampire decided to crash the party.

As they entered the house, she held her chin up as though she was truly royalty and Damon smiled over at her.

"Did I happen to mention how ravishing you look in that dress?" He asked and spun her around once before pulling her into him.

"You have, remember?" She smirked as she ran her hand down his chest. "The first time I put the dress on, you took it off, and we had some fun on the kitchen counter. Or did you forget because it was that good?"

He smirked and pulled her into a very heated kiss. "I also remember the round in the car with the dress on. That was very hard, by the way."

She grinned up at him. "I remember something else being hard, too."

His eyes widened for a second before he growled and pulled her closer, if that was even possible. "Don't tease me. You know I can't control myself when I'm around you."

She patted his chest twice before getting out of his arms, and walking away. She turned around quickly once she got a few steps away, and then motioned him closer. "Come on, lover boy. Let's have some fun."

"Ooh!" He skipped towards her happily, but then stopped once he saw Stefan in the corner, drinking. "Look who's here." He took out his phone and texted Silas: Stefan's here.

Suddenly, Elena walked up behind them with a wide smile. Beside her was Jack. "Hey, guys! You look amazing. Who are you suppose to be?"

"Queen Victoria and Prince Albert," Echo answered with a grin and then gestured to them. "Who are you guys suppose to be?"

Elena smiled even wider, her cheeks red as can be, and then said. "I'm Lady Anne Boleyn and Jack is King Henry the eighth."

Echo looked between them and then clapped her hands. "You both look amazing together."

Both Jack and Elena became a stuttering mess, not knowing what to say. "We are— you don't—" Elena giggles nervously and gripped Jack's hand. "We're gonna go dance." And with that, they were gone".

Echo looked up at her boyfriend with sparkling eyes. "I think they're perfect together. I wish they would realize it and go for one another."

Damon nodded in agreement and then said, "Let's find Stefan." He helped out his arm for her and grinned. "Are you coming, your majesty?"?

"Of course, my liege." She giggled as she gave him a small curtsy before looping her arm with his.

The two walked around the crowd searching for the male doppelgänger only to find him talking with Qetsiyah giving Damon the perfect opportunity to swoop in, take her place, then place his hand on Stefan's shoulder.

"More like an "I'm sorry" keg," Damon said with a smile, and lead Stefan with him to another room where Echo was waiting for them. 

"You, my brother, make a terrible wingman," Stefan commented referring to the Qetsyiah incident. 

"Trust me, last guy to hit on her is still paying for it," the older brother remarked with a frown.

Stefan looked around the room and noticed Echo looking at some old artifacts. "So, what exactly, are we doing here?" 

"Well..." Echo trialed off with a smirk.

Silas appeared behind Stefan with a smirk. "Hello, me."

The Salvatore doppelgänger turned around to look at him and Echo took that opportunity to break his neck, causing him to fall to the ground in a limp heap. 

"That was fun!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands. "Can I do it again?"

Silas looked over at her with a smirk, his eyes raking her body before he took Stefan's jacket and pit it on.

Damon looked over at him incredulously. "So you want to explain to me why my lovely girlfriend just killed my brother?" 

"Well, Tessa's spell mentally linked us. I lost my psychic abilities. Stefan lost his memories," the immortal explained in annoyance. 

"And this severed the link?" Damon asked, both uneasy and confused as to how all of it worked. 

Silas sighed and rolled his green eyes. "Yes, Damon. I can read your mind again. No. I'm not lying, and maybe your girlfriend enjoyed breaking your brother's neck just a little bit too much. And you think about your girlfriend naked too much." He smirked as Echo blushed and then he pointed at her. "You... well, you think about him a lot. Too much, to be honest. You're both sickly cute. I hate it."

"Well, I hate your face," Echo retorted with a fake smile.

"I can see that," he nodded, "please do remember that I came before him, meaning you should hate him for his actions, and not me. I'm much cooler. And hotter."

She rose a brow. "I can say that you already have a better personality than him. But, other than that, you two aren't much different. You're both pathetic."

Damon clapped his hands before a fight could break out. "Sold!"

"I'll cozy up to the witch and sift through her mind, figure out where she's hiding the anchor, and you, all you got to do is keep him dead," Silas explained, taking the daylight ring off Stefan's finger.

"Isn't Tess going to be slightly suspicious when the man whose brain she just fried is all of a sudden showing interest in her?" Damon questioned curiosity and worried. 

"Of all the men here, Tessa went straight for Stefan. This face won her heart before," Silas commented, pointing at himself causing Echo to scoff and roll her dark eyes. "See, a woman never forgets her first love, no matter how badly it ended." He looked between them before exiting the room to find the two thousand year old witch. 

Moments later, Stefan woke up from the floor with a groan, and looked up at his brother and then Echo enraged. "Uh! Hey, breaking my neck, huh?" 

Damon nodded with a bored look on his face. "Yeah." 

The annoying brother slowly stood up and glanced between the vampire and the vamp-huntress. "Pumping me full of vervain. All we need is a Damon-sized rationalization," he spat furiously, steadying himself on his feet. 

"Oh, the new you sucks," the better brother commented with a small groan. 

"How would the old me deal with this? Barrel full of laughs?" Stefan questioned incredulously, throwing his hands up. 

"Not really," Echo states while pursing her lips. "He might've complained more, actually. Or cry. He cries a lot."

Damon gave her a warning look. "He'd know it wasn't about him."

"Oh, who's it about Damon, huh? About you? Your desperation to prove to Echo that you're a worthy boyfriend?" Stefan interrogated furiously with a humorless laugh. "Or to prove to Elena that you're a good friend?"

Echo rolled her eyes. "And you wonder why I never like any version of you."

"I'm gonna get her best friend back, okay?" Damon snapped in frustration and broke Stefan's neck again, then texted Silas: Hurry up. -D 

After awhile, Stefan moved his hand, but his eyes were still closed so Damon leaned down next to him. "You awake? Stefan?" He pat on his little sibling'a face. "You alive again? Huh?" 

Stefan quickly head-butted Damon away and, because he was dizzy, broke his neck. "How does it feel, brother?" 

"Hey! Asshole!" Echo snapped incredulously. "What the fuck? As if I didn't hate you enough." 

Stefan glanced at her and scoffed angrily. "It's Damon you should hate. Breaking my neck continuously and for what reason?" 

"He's going to get Bonnie back! She may not mean anything to you right now but she means a hell of a lot to Elena!" She explained angrily and clenched her jaw. "So, I will risk anything to get her back. Even you. So, stop being a dick." Before he could say or do anything, she stabbed him harshly in the torso with one of her daggers. "You may not have your memories, but you better remember not to get in my way. Because if you do, I will torture you so bad that you might — well, you might get your memories back."

LATER THAT NIGHT, Damon was pouring some drinks for himself and Echo, who were both still in their outfits from the event, as Elena explained to them what happened at the ball.

"So, Professor Blondie knows about vampires?" The Salvatore asked curiously looking at the dried-up-Silas lying on the couch. 

Elena paced back and forth in anxiety. "He said that if I don't drop out of school, the wrong people are gonna start asking the right questions." 

"Ugh, that's not good." He handed Elena one of the drinks before pouring another. "What are you gonna do?" 

The doppelgänger stopped pacing and shrugged. "I don't know, but all I do know is that finding out the truth about Megan isn't gonna bring Bonnie back." 

"Yeah. Well, neither is a desiccated Silas in our living room," Echo retorted, pointing at the Stefan look alike. 

"So, the only way for Silas to trade in his life for Bonnie's is if he's a witch, but the only way to become a witch is to have the cure," Elena said, saying the information out loud. 

"Yep." Damon nodded and sipped his bourbon. 

Then someone knocked at the door and Elena looked in the direction of the door, then at Damon, who had a knowing look. "What?" 

"Were we expecting someone?" Echo questioned in confusion. 

"Now, who could that be?" He rhetorically asked while smiling widely and putting his drink down to answer the door. 

"What's so urgent? I'm on the run," Katerina commented, walking inside the house. Don't exactly have time for a pit stop." She grumbled until she noticed Silas on the couch. "Or maybe I do. Maybe I have all the time in the world. Katherine Pierce eludes death yet again — ha, ha!" She laughed gleefully in victory as Echo stared at her in hatred. "—and you three finally did something right for once. How does it feel?" 

"Thrilling," Damon answered, giving her a
look. 

"The right thing?" Echo asked, tilting her head. "You don't even know what the word 'right' means. All you ever done in your life was the wrong thing."

Katherine realized what they were implying and frantically shook her head. "Damon, no." 

"Damon, yes," Echo grinned.

He sped towards her and grabbed Katherine by the shoulders. "He needs the cure to become a witch," he explained before biting viciously into her neck. 

"No!" She cried out in pain and panic. Then he let go and she met his eyes. "No. No. No, Damon. No, no, please! He need all of my blood. It'll kill me, Damon! Damon, please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die, Damon. I don't want to die. Please!"

Damon paused, unsure of what to do, then his face hardened. "Good bye, Katherine." He grabbed Katherine by the hair and pushed her severed neck into Silas' mouth.

She began to slowly grow  weak, even though she kept struggling against him. Soon, Silas didn't look desiccated anymore and Katherine fell on the floor.

Elena, Damon, and Echo paused after a second when they heard a heartbeat. "Do you hear that?" He asked the twins curiously.

Elena listened in closely then her doe brown eyes widened in shock. "You've got to be kidding me." 

"Takes a licking, keeps on ticking," Damon commented in surprise, causing Echo to groan loudly.

Suddenly, Katherine opened her eyes and started breathing again before looking at them. "Am I in hell?" 

"I wish you were!" Echo exclaimed and flung a pillow at the annoying bitch. "Why can't you just stay dead?!"