𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄
im not afraid when bravery means loving you

AFTER DAMON AND Echo had crazy morning sex, they showered, got a change of clothes, and then the blue eyed vampire called Enzo.

The British vampire answered his phone after two rings. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Damon shrugged to himself while picking out a shirt. "You don't happen to know where I can find a Traveler, do you?"

"You know Traveler — vagabonds and the like. Haven't seen any. Why?" The British vampire questioned him curiously.

"I've got two brain-dead teenagers who didn't realize two plus two equals one hijacked hybrid," he answered in annoyance before Echo began kissing his shoulder.

"Don't envy you there, mate," Enzo commented in amusement.

"Well, what do you say — field trip?" Damon asked with a smirk on his face as he grabbed a handful of Echo's ass. "I mean, I'm sure there's some salvage yard we haven't toured yet. I think it's a little too dangerous to let tweedledee and tweedledumber out of the house. Last thing we need's another Traveler possession in our midst."

"Sadly I've got to take a rain check. I'm late to meet some people," the brown eyed vampire said before hanging up.

"Will you stop that?" Damon asked playfully as he lifted his girlfriend off of the ground and pushed her up against the wall.

"You know you love it." She smirked as she trailed her hand from his jaw all the way down his stomach. "And you know you want me." She trailed her hand even further hand, grabbing his length. "You want this," she whispered into his way before sucking on his earlobe.

He growled and then aggressively kissed her as she smiled in triumph.

AFTER ANOTHER ROUND of sex, the couple walked out the front door of the boarding house while Damon was talking on his phone again. "How is it Travelers are everywhere until you actually need to find one?"

"Hunt going poorly then?" Enzo asked, his voice a little distant. He didn't seem to be care too much about their attempts at wanting to find the travelers.

"That's what I get for working with the Hardy Boys," Damon responded in a grumble.

"I take it you don't have Stefan's diaries handy," the Augustine vampire randomly commented causing Damon to stop in confusion. Echo paused too, and frowned. "I need you to check his journal for an entry on November 8, 1960."

Furrowing his eyebrows, the blue eyed vampire started walking again. "Stefan burned his journals a while ago. He was in a mood." He answered then clenched his jaw. "Why?"

"Well, just trying to settle a little debate. No matter. I'm right," Enzo mused with a hint of a smirk in his voice.

Echo furrowed her brows. Something seemed off. "Are you with them?" She spoke up, clenching her jaw. "Do you have my sister with you?"

"Not for long. I reckon one will be dead soon — Eye for an eye and all that," Enzo answered darkly through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Enzo," the older of the three slowly warned, hoping to calm him down. "You have your murder voice on. I need you to speak very slowly and calmly and tell me what the hell the problem is."

"The problem, if you must know, is that my girl Maggie, the one who got away, it turns out she didn't get away for long," he admitted angrily then took a deep breath. "Your ripper of a brother took a big bite out of her neck membrane in the sixties."

Damon'a face contorted into one of confusion then realization. "Sixties? Stefan wasn't even—"

"Got to jet, mate," Enzo said quickly, interrupting the Salvatore's act to defend his brother. "Nothing personal, just a bit of revenge, you understand?" He asked but didn't give Damon enough time to answer before ending the call.

Echo pursed her lips, wanting to punch something. "I swear to Chuck, if he hurts my sister, I am going to rip out his spleen and feed it to him."

"I won't let that happen," Damon told her determinedly. "What would you say to a field trip to the police station to dig up files?"

She stood straighter. "Let's go. I'm driving."

AT THE STATION, Damon left a voicemail message for Caroline as he and Echo waited for Liz. "Blondie, now is not the time to be screening my calls. You're the only one unaccounted for, and I don't know where Elena and Stefan are. At least call your mother."

"She's not picking up for me either," Echo stated with a frown. Usually Caroline answers right away. Something is going on and she didn't like it.

Just then, Sheriff Forbes walked up to them with a curious facial expression. "Why the sudden interest in Mystic Falls history?"

"You know when your brother kills your only friend's girl and you're stuck in the middle?" Damon answered her question with another question.

She looked at him with a blank face and shook her head. "No."

"Well, then don't ask," he remarked with a forced smile.

"Okay. 1960. There was a mugging reported November 9," Liz explained, going through some files in the cabinet.

Damon shook his head quickly and paced slightly. "No, no, no. It has to be the eighth. He was very specific about the eighth."

"Okay. Well, that would be Maggie James," Liz said, pulling out a file and setting it on the desk. "Died November 8, 1960, unresolved homicide, possible serial killer."

Damon studied the photo in the file and his eyes flashed with recognition. "Ooh. Stefan was right. He didn't kill Enzo's girl."

Echo pursed her lips and closed her eyes for a second. "It's because you did... right?"

He made an 'O' shape with his mouth and slowly nodded. "Yup."

AS THEY WERE walking up to the cafe at Whitmore, Damon turned to Echo with a hesitant look. "You're not mad at me, right?"

She simply rolled her brown eyes. "No, I'm not mad, Damon. I just hate that Enzo is threatening another sibling of mine, especially just as I thought we were becoming buddies."

"I don't know why he has Elena, but I do know he wouldn't hurt her. Enzo does like you so he doesn't want to upset you. I think he's just trying to scare Stefan." Damon sighed, frowning deeply.

"I used to scream, too, but for me, it wasn't so much the sharp instruments as it was the fingers. Those bloody fingers. Like I was a ball of dough," Enzo graphically said to the doppelgängers, who were strapped down to chairs, as the couple walked through the door.

Echo crossed her arms and Damon glanced around the room as he approached the vampires. There was bunch of college students just sitting around the cafe, doing homework or just staring. "Well, this is depressing. Stadium seating really necessary? These people are starting to creep me out."

Enzo turned to him with a bitter smile. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a veiled attempt to get to release the damn hostages."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that veiled?" The oldest Salvatore questioned sarcastically then scowled. "Release the damn hostages."

"Whose side are you on?" Enzo asked offended that his friend was working agaibst him at the moment.

"There are sides now?" Damon questioned incredulously.

"You were there with me in Augustine. Look. Don't tell me you've forgotten what it was like to cling onto the one thing that kept you from feeling pain!" The British vampire painfully explained, hoping to win his friend over.

"Enzo, I get it. The prospect of seeing Maggie again was your safety line to the outside world, the one thing that kept you from shutting it off," Damon expressed with a heavy sigh. He knew exactly how it felt. "There's probably a chapter in Elena's psych book about it."

Echo scrunched her nose up in disgust. "What, are you two study buddies now?" She gestured to Elena and Stefan. She couldn't believe that her sister was willingly hanging out with her toxic ex.

Elena looked at them and mouthed "What are you doing?"

To which, Damon shrugged slightly. "The thing is I didn't know she was your Maggie," he suddenly said, getting Enzo's full attention.

"What are you talking about?" He looked at the Salvatore in confusion.

"She didn't tell me her name when we met," Damon continued his confession as Echo stood by his side, ready to fight against Enzo if he tried to attack.

Enzo crossed his arms over his chest and peered at him with his narrowed brown eyes. "And when exactly was that?"

Damon took a deep breath as he moved forward, bracing himself to admit he killed his friends last shred of hope. "November 8, 1960. I'd gotten a message at the house saying a lady wanted to buy me a drink. Naturally, I was curious." Then he began to explain what happened that night as the group listened intently, "Had she gotten me with that vervain injection, things would have been very different. She didn't stand a chance against me."

Stefan gaped at his brother incredulously. "And you made it look like I did it?"

"Maggie was the hope Enzo clung to. You were mine, and when you didn't notice that I was missing for five years, let's just say I held a grudge," Damon explained bitterly to his sibling.

"You killed Maggie," Enzo whispered as he attempted to contain his rage.

"I didn't even bat an eye. My switch was off, Enzo. But I didn't do it to make your life miserable from every angle. I did it because I didn't care," Damon explained, feeling a little guilty now that he was seeing his friends face. "Just do whatever it is you got to do. You want to kill me, you want to hate me, do it. This is between us."

"Well, that's the problem, Damon. I don't want to hate you. Because if I hate you, then I have nothing left. There is another option," Enzo emotionally said before closing his teary eyes.

Echo's eyes widened and she took a step forwards. "No."

Damon came to the same conclusion as Echo, and rushed over and shook Enzo frantically. "Don't you dare! Hey, Enzo!"

Enzo slowly opened his eyes, revealing that they were dull and void of any emotion. He had flipped his switch. "There we are. You're right! I don't have a care in the world." Then he sat down at a table and seconds began to tick by.Ahh. This is fun, not caring." He tossed a bottle in the air and it crashed on the ground.

Damon stared at him unhappily, breathing out deeply. "Yep. Emotion-free. Bye-bye humanity."

Enzo lifted another bottle of liqour in a toast. "To Maggie James for whom I feel absolute and blissful detachment." He took a sip from the bottle.

The oldest Salvatore nodded to himself then walked towards him. "What do you say we get out of here? Where was it that you wanted to go — cape town?" He asked hoping to get Enzo to leave with him because he feared for the safety of Mystic Falls, and especially Echo. "

"Cape horn," Enzo corrected with a slight glare.

Damon shook his head with a forced smirk. "Even better."

Standing up, Enzo agreed to leaving. "All right. Everyone's free to go! Show's over!" He addressed the crowd, who all stood up and walked out of the cafe as if nothing happened. "Don't worry. I compelled you all to think you spent the day studying like the good, little students you are." He smirked then pointed at Liv who was trying to leave. "Except you. Stay. I want to test something." He then quickly attacked her, viciously biting into her neck.

"No!" Bonnie yelled out desperately and moved to stop him, but Echo was already rushing towards him.

But, Enzo was expecting her to act like a hero, so he spun around, broke off a bottle, and then stabbed her in the neck.

"No!" Damon growled angrily and sped towards his friend who kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into the bar. Damon's back made a snapping noise before Enzo was on him, snapping his neck.

Stefan broke free from his bonds, ran and jumped to come down hard on Enzo with his fist. Enzo grabbed his jug of vervain water and threw its contents at Stefan.

With both Salvatores temporarily out of commission, Enzo snatched Echo and Elena, and sped away.

ON THE WHITMORE campus, Enzo dragged a struggling Echo and Elena.

Elena growled out, "If you were gonna kill us, we'd be dead."

Enzo rolled his eyes. "I think you mean when I kill you, you'll be dead."

"I know how you're feeling."

"That's the point. I feel nothing."

"You're just lost," Elena told him, frowning. "You think cutting all this out of your life is the answer, but you're just biding time until it all comes crashing back."

He sighed in annoyance. "I know why Damon doesn't want to deal with you anymore."

"Hey!" Echo shouted and tried to yank her arm out of his hand, but he held on tighter. "Elena is right! You are lost and confused and lonely. Alright, Enzo? You just need—"

"You know, for a hunter, you aren't that skilled," he cut her off in amusement. "And you're way to talkative."

"Uh-oh. You're going to get your ass kicked," Elena sung out in amusement when she saw Echo's expression turn into a frown. "I actually feel kinda bad for you now."

Before anyone could blink, Echo pulled out a taser from her pants waist, and struck him with it.

Once it made contact with his skin, his body convulsed with a heavy amount of electricity coursing through his body causing him to let them go and fall to the ground.

Elena grinned as she stumbled backwards. "I told you."

"Oh, shut it," he growled out and tried to stand up, but Elena punches him across the jaw so hard he went flying to the ground in pain.

"Damon is your friend, he didn't kill Maggie on purpose. Alright? So why are you trying to punish him?" Elena asked, panting slightly.

"I just want to feel nothing!" He shouted and lunged at them. He went for Elena first, snapping her neck in a blink of an eye.

"Fuck you!" Echo shouted and was suddenly on top of him, punching him repeatedly. "Turning off your humanity and attacking your friends isn't the answer! You have to face your emotions head on!"

"That's rich coming from you!" He growled out, and pushed her against a tree, his hand around her neck. "You wanna know what I have learned about Echo Winchester? She doesn't face her emotions. She drinks and has sex to fill the void. What's so different with me simply turning my emotions off?"

"Damon cares for you, that's what's different," she whispered to him, staring him in the eyes. "And when Damon cares about you... he'll do anything to keep you happy. Alright? He's the biggest reason I haven't turned my emotions off yet. I have been through so much pain... so much. But, he is always there for me and he'll be there for you. I'll be there for you. And so will Elena and Care... we all care for one another here." She then paused and rolled her eyes, "other than Stefan. We don't like him."

Enzo's eyes twitched. "What he did to Maggie—"

"Is nothing compared to what he will do to make up for the mistake," she told him gently, and began to smile once she felt his hand around we neck loosen. "Please, Enzo, turn it back on so we can all work together."

Suddenly, Stefan showed up, and jumped on Enzo who was about to close his eyes. The stupid Salvatore grabbed Enzo who happened to be holding a stick. And seeing as Enzo was inches away from Echo, the stake punctured her in the chest.

"Fuck!" Echo shouted in pain, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh, crap." Her body began to turn grey and veiny, and she then fell to the ground, not moving.

"No!" Enzo shouted just as Stefan threw him into a nearby car. The brown eyed vampire's gaze hardened. "Ouch. Hope it's insured." He laughed and grinned wickedly.

Stefan then leaped onto the car, punching Enzo, who kicked Stefan down off the car and walked towards him. And soon, they were gone, fighting somewhere else.

"Echo!" Damon screamed as he appeared at the sight of a dead Elena and Echo. His eyes widened and he could feel his heart shattering at the fact Echo was dead. "No, no, no, no!" He zoomed towards her, and pulled her onto his lap. "You can't keep doing this to me. Please!" He grabbed her face, lifting it closer to his. "Come back to me."

And just like magic, the veins disappeared and Echo let out a loud gasp.

Tears fell from Damon's eyes and he pulled her up into a passionate kiss. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

Even though Echo was confused on how she came back to life — much like she was the first time she died in this universe — she deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you too."