𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄
when i lost you, i lost a part of me too. you left a hole in me no one will ever be able to fill, because it will always belong to you

THEY WERE NOW at Whitmore, Stefan's body lying on a couch in front of them. Caroline stood above him in shock. Sure, they weren't that close, but he was still someone she knew and once had a crush on.

Elena rushed in, followed by Damon and Echo, and noticed the younger Salvatore.

Echo pursed her lips and rose a brow. "About time," she murmured to herself.

Damon glanced to his girlfriend before turning to look back at his brother, mixed emotions going through him.

"I didn't know where to bring him, and I just couldn't leave him outside." Caroline attempted to say, but her voice was cracking. "Bonnie has a plan, right? She—she said that she could bring people back." The blonde questioned, her voice breaking however, neither of them responded. "Tell me that she can bring him back..."

"We'll bring him back. Come on. Let's get away from prying eyes," Damon said in a emotionless voice, and started picking Stefan's body up.

Caroline latched onto Echo's hand as Elena looked on with her nose scrunched up and teary eyes.

IN ONE OF the unaccompanied dorm rooms, Damon, upset, kicked a wooden chair and broke it while Echo and Bonnie watched in sympathy.

There was no denying that Echo absolutely despises Stefan, but that doesn't mean she wanted Damon to go through this pain.

"Damon, stop," Bonnie demanded softly, also hating seeing him in such a state.

In his hand, he had a metal rod that he used to break a flower vase on the mantle causing them to flinch.

He turned around with a dangerously furious and devastated facial expression and pointed at Bonnie with the metal rod. "You said you had a plan, Bonnie."

She glared at him then at the rod. "I did. I had a traveler who knew the right spell."

"And you lost her!" He sneered viciously and shook the rod in his head.

"Calm down, babe." Echo stepped forward and pushed the rod out of Bonnie's face before wagging her finger at him.

Bonnie sent the vampire a small nod before glaring back at Damon. "I didn't lose her. She was sucked into oblivion like everyone else on the Other Side."

His hands clentched into fists and he threw his hands up in frustration while still holding the rod causing it to wave in the air dangerously. "Then find another one!"

"It's more than just knowing the spell. Markos was able to come back because dozens of Travelers were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to overwhelm me. I doubt they'll be willing to do that for a bunch of supernatural strangers," Bonnie explained, fed up with his yelling and blame towards her

Damon then pointed at her with the rod again with a snarl. "You know who needs motivation?" He questioned getting closer to her with the rod, pointing at her neck. "You need motivation because if the Other Side goes away, everyone we know there, including you, goes away with it."

"I know that. Do you think I want to die?" She snapped, completely scared.

"Babe!" Echo exclaimed and yanked the rod out of his hand. "I know what you're feeling, and I hate that you feel that way. But, threatening to kill the one who holds the other side together, isn't exactly going to help."

He listened to her then looked over at Bonnie desperately. "My brother is over there." He emotionally pointed out.

"I know that!" The Bennett snapped at him.

"So is Alaric, and so is your grams," the Salvatore began to list people all the people they had lost causing them to look at the ground.

"I know that, Damon." Bonnie sighed heavily and rolled her eyes then looked over at an empty space suddenly. "Enzo is here."

The couple turned around in the direction where Enzo was, though they couldn't see him.

"Well, if it's not Mr. Butterfingers himself. How'd it feel to have your only hope of coming back literally slip through your fingers?" Damon taunted in rage while his girlfriend rolled her dark eyes.

No one talked as Bonnie listened to Enzo talk and the couple stared at her wiating for an interpretation. "Are you serious? You found another Traveler?" She asked the ghost in hope and shock.

"Well, then get on it!" Damon snapped in his direction before it fell silent again because the British ghost was talking.

Then Bonnie shrugged at his response. "More or less." After she explained to them what he had explained, they left the dorm room in search of a way to act out the plan.

So, Jeremy, Jack, and Matt were in the front of a classroom as Echo sat on the desk and Damon walked towards them.

"Class is in session. First assignment—Anti-magic perimeter. Gilbert, whataya got?"

"I walked around Mystic Falls this morning to see where my hunter instincts disappeared," Jeremy explained with a small shrug.

Damon looked at him incredulously, waiting for him to continue. "Meaning what, your biceps shrunk, and your brain got smaller?"

Echo let out a loud snort before widening her eyes and covering her mouth to act like it down form from her.

Jeremy shot her a look. "Really?"

She shrugged and blinked innocently at him. "Sorry, baby bro."

The youngest Gilbert rolled his doe brown eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Meaning that I have a supernatural urge to kill vampires, so wherever I hated you less, there was no magic."

They all then looked down at a map of Mystic Falls, which had a big red circle drawn on it to determine the limits of the no-magic area.

"The cemetery's outside of the no-magic perimeter, a couple of un-populated areas other than that." Damon pointed out to the people in front of him.

"Hey, Professor Salvatore, not everyone can see the map," Caroline snapped from the other end of Damon's phone, which was lying on the desk on speaker.

"Yeah, don't forget about us, please," Elena added for she was with the Forbes.

Damon sighed heavily and rolled his eyes before looking at the blond human. "Donovan, you had one job."

Jack smiled lightly at that and then looked down at the phone, thinking about Elena who he had grown rather close to. It didn't even hit him until recently that he had fallen for her, even though he didn't completely understand those feelings. He just knows that he would not know what to do with himself if he lost her.

"I'll send you a picture right now," Matt said then took a picture of the map with his phone and sent it to Elena.

"We should be there," the doppelgänger said through the phone, wanting to help more.

Damon shook his head regardless of the fact that she couldn't see him. "Nope. You should not be. You are on witch duty because without crazy locks, no one's rising from the dead. So next order of business, mass murder. Quarterback?" He ordered and Matt brought over another set of maps. "Thank you. Okay. We got these from the Sheriff. Apparently there was some truth to her evacuation story. There's a major gas line that runs underneath the town. Now if it did leak, it could be deadly, as in massive explosion kind of deadly."

"Wait! What?!" Echo questioned the Salvatore in shock and confusion towards his plan. "No. No way."

"Echo—" He began to explain but was cut off.

"No. Mystic Falls might be a total nonstop drama filled shit hole, but it's my home. Our home," she snapped placing her hand on his. "We can't blow it up."

"We can't blow up our hometown," Matt argued, deciding to say the same thing as the huntress.

"Says one of the only people left in this group who can actually live there," Damon commented with a frustrated eye roll.

"We're not blowing up our town. We just need to lure enough Travelers to one spot," Elena added onto Matt and Echo's argument.

"How? We can't lure anyone anywhere stuck out here," Caroline pointed out in confusion.

"And that's where your mama comes in. She will convince them to gather somewhere inside. Meanwhile, these two geniuses at 7:00 will turn on the gas, let it leak," Damon explained pointing at the humans. "We'll have about ten minutes before anyone can smell it. You clear out. Boom! Travelers gone, resurrection spell starts, loved ones return. Good? Good? Class dismissed." With that, he left the classroom with Echo following shortly behind. "If you're going to lecture me, please spare it until after everything."

"I'm not going to lecture you." She rolled her eyes and walked by his side. "Although, this plan is stupid and there's no guarantee that this will work but whatever. So, what poor person is going to blow up our only decent restaurant in town?"

He chuckled at her as they left the building and walked out into the parking lot.

A few minutes later, as they approached their vehicles, he got a text and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is that 'we are good to go' text?"

"Operation Massacre... assuming Donovan knows the difference between a water-main and a gas-main.. yeah, I'm good," Damon answered with a nod then hesitated. "Listen.. I wanted to spare you the gory details, and then I figured, well, I'll be lying, and then the whole point of the universe would be moot because you'd be pissed. So here it is; Project Kaboom needs someone to trigger the explosion, so-to-speak," he quickly explained, hoping she wouldn't catch up in what he was saying.

"Okay..." The Winchester slash Gilbert trailed off, but her eyes widened once she realized where he was going with it. "

then her dark eyes widened in realisation. "Wait... you? No. Damon, no! Absolutely not!" She shook her head, tears burning in her eyes. "Never! Hell no! Find someone else to do it or somthing because you are not going to drive into a building and kill yourself. This is non-negotiable!"

Damon began to lowly mutter to himself as he scowled at the ground. "Go with your first instinct Damon, lesson learned."

"Look at me, Damon," Echo demanded sternly then grabbed him by the face and forced him to look into her eyes. "Do you see a happy life with me? Because that's all I see. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is you. I love you. I love you so fucking much. You are my life, alright and I can't even think of the possibility of losing you."

"Echo, I love you. I love you more than anything. You are my life," he whispered affectionately, resting his forehead on hers. "There's not a second of the day where I don't love you."

"Then don't go on this stupid suicide mission," she whispered pleadingly while stroke his face with her thumbs. "Don't go."

Damon sighed and pulled away lightly. "Listen... technically, it's only half a suicide mission because we're going to be bringing people back from the other side and I'm going to be with them." He then ran his thumb over her bottom lip. "And we all know you would do it if you wanted to."

She scrunched up her nose, thinking over his words. She then let out a small sigh. "Well, what if something goes wrong? What if you don't make it out or—"

He shut her up by bending down and capturing her lips with his. She sighed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, not wanting to pull away anytime soon.

IT WAS SEVEN when Liz sent the message to Damon, telling him it was time. All the travelers had been gathered in the Grill, and the gas has been sorted. All that was left now, was to trigger the explosion.

Taking a swig of Bourbon, Damon climbed into his car, his eyes staring at the town border sign.

He was ready to do this. He was ready to die. He was ready to make sure his girlfriend has the life she deserves in their home, with her family.

As he goes to start the car, the passenger side door opened, and Echo slipped into the seat beside him.

He looked at her annoyed, but not at all surprised. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" She asked, tilting her head to look at him. "Did you really think, I was gonna let you go on this suicide mission alone? I respect your choice to do this, Damon. And yeah, I trust your promise to come back to me. But, now I'm making a choice, and I need you to respect it."

"You're crazy," he tells her bluntly, staring at her in admiration.

She simply shrugged before nodding toward the ignition "What are you waiting for? We need to move."

Smirking, he started the car and began to drive, going as fast as he possibly can.

As they cross the border, the spell began to effect them, and Echo doubled over in pain. Her spine felt like it had bent in half and her head felt like it was caving in.

"Damon..."She trialed off, watching as he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, trying to speed them up even more.

Driving with one hand, he entwined his hand with her free one, giving it a small squeeze. "I know."

As they see the Grill, both of them grip one another tighter, preparing themselves for what is to come

All she hears is a smash, and a loud bang, before nothing.

Dead silence.

Blinking open her eyes, she finds the herself back in the cemetery, with Bonnie standing not to far ahead.

Once knowing Damon made it, they pass through Bonnie to the other side, with one goal in mind; making it back in time.

After passing through, the burnt remains of the Grill is what she finds, her body laid on a pile of rumble. Her entire body burnt beyond recognition.

Echo simply just stared, her lips slightly parted, she has never actually seen her own body in the third person before. She then shook her head to snap out of it.

"You need to go," a familiar voice said from behind, making her spin on her heel. There stood Alaric, offering her a small smile.

"Ric!" She exclaimed and ran to him, pulling him into a hug. "Oh, my god," she breathed out and then pulled back slightly. "It's good to see you, but I'm not going anywhere until I find Damon."

"I'll find him, I promise," he assured. giving her a small nudge. "Go back to Bonnie. We'll meet you there"

For a moment, she hesitated, before nodding slowly and beginning to walk. She had to have faith in him.

Echo walked around the other side, making her way back as fast as she could, relief taking over when she spotted the small group in the distance. With Bonnie, stood Stefan and Lexi, still having not passed through.

"Where's Damon?" Stefan shouts over the wind, as he saw her approach.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Like you care," she spat out before sighing. "He's with Ric. They're on their way." She swallowed thickly, worry seeping her body.

Bonnie, who is trying not to show how weak she feels, looked at them. "You three need to pass through."

A scoff escaped Echo's lips. "Not till Damon and Ric are here."

Stefan nodded in agreement "Not without him."

"Them," Echo spat out, annoyed with his presence.

Before Bonnie could argue, she began to stumble to the ground, a fit of coughs escaping her as she went.

Quickly, Stefan grabbed her before she hit the ground, only to be sent back through to the land of the living.

Lexi looked sternly at Echo. "If he meant to or not, I don't care. You need to go."

"I can't leave without him!" Echo shook her not, not wanting to leave Damon behind. "Lexi, I cant!"

The blonde bit her lip, before making a decision, and grabbing Echo's arm. She send her an apologetic look, before pushing her over to Bonnie, forcing her back over to the other side.

She arrived back with a a stumble, landing on the floor with a thud. "No, no, no." She looked up, her eyes shining in her eyes. "Fuck you, Lexi!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, tears running down her creamy cheeks. "He wasn't there! Damon wasn't back yet!"

"She did what she thought was best," Stefan spoke up, rolling his eyes at the vampire.

Echo stopped crying at that and slowly turned her head to look at him. Standing up to her feet, she saw him flinch, and she felt great satisfaction in the fact he was scared of her. "You better fucking watch yourself asshole or people will finally start to see who you really are." She went to walk away, but decided to stop and turn around. "Oh, and one more thing." She sent a punch to his face and then kicked him in the balls.

She turned around and walked away with a smug look.

A FEW MOMENTS later, Echo entered the crypt and saw that the spell had stopped. "What—? Liv!" She looked around for Liv, but both she and Luke were gone. She began to panic and rushed to find the anchor. "Bonnie! We need to find them. We need to start the spell again."

"We can't! That was our one shot," Bonnie responded with tears pooling in her own eyes. She was going to die along with the Other Side and there was no stopping it.

"But Damon is still over there, we need to—" The huntress began to desperately reason in a loud forceful tone of voice. She couldn't lose anyone else. Especially not Damon.

"Echo!" Bonnie yelled over her and had a hard time containing her emotions. "It's too late."

"No," Echo mumbled as tears began to pour down her face. "No." She clutched at her chest as she began to not be able to breath properly. "Please, he cant — no!" She didn't even attempt to quiet her screams of grief.

"He's here. You can say good-bye," Bonnie whispered sadly before leaving the crypt.

"I told you not to make promises you can't keep. You should have listened to me!" She shouted and then took in a deep unsteady breath, her lips trembling. "You should have gotten Matt to do the sacrificing!"

Damon, on the Other Side, walked over and stroked Carter's hair and face. She felt it, but couldn't see his hand. "Even if I wanted to apologize, you couldn't hear me... so I won't," have mumbled sadly as he watched his girlfriend break down because of his death.

"Please, don't leave me," she pleaded desperately as hot tears streaked down her face.

"I don't have a choice, baby. You are, by far, the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my 173 years on this Earth. I get to die knowing I was loved—not just by anyone—by you, Echo Gilbert of all people. It's the epitome of a fulfilled life. It's never gonna get any better than this. I peaked," Damon spoke even though she couldn't hear him and wiped the tears from her face. "I love you, Echo."

"Please... please..." She began to say but it was too hard for her to talk through the tears. "Come back to me. Don't leave me! Please! I need you!" She yelled while sinking to her knees and uncontrollably sobbing. "I love you! Please don't go!"

Damon looked at her and reluctantly stepped away from her as a tear ran down his own face. "I will love you forever. Hold onto that." Then he walked out of the crypt, listening to her pained cries as he did so.

Echo clutched at her chest and sobbed loudly to the point she couldn't breath or even see anything because of the tears.

Ric ran into the room and immediately pulled her into him, running his fingers through her unruly hair.

She fought the urge to scream as he gripped her wrists in his hands because she began to thrash around.

"Ric, He promised me!" She screamed and laid her head against his chest, wailing loudly.

Ric held her as tight as he could while a pang of sadness ate at his heart at the sight of seeing the strong, brave huntress this way.

"It's going to be alright, Echo," he murmured to her and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

She shook her head furiously and calmed down enough just to say, "it will never be okay."