"Before we do this, I just want to know one thing," Kai said as he wrapped his arm around Margot's shoulders.

The group were making their way to the boarding house to have one last drink before they went home. The Eclipse wasn't for a few hours so what better way to waste time than get drunk?

"What now?" Damon asked with a scoff.

"Why did you think this was your hell? I mean, I get why Ellie did but you? You haven't said a word."

The heretic smiled slightly at the name. She had told Kai that he could still call her Ellie, it was her name for so many years. It was their thing, no one else was allowed.

"Why don't you tell us how this pile of crap is gonna get us out of here?" The Salvatore asked, gesturing to the ascendant in Bonnie's hands.

"I'll explain as soon as you tell us what you did on May 10th, 1994."

"What difference does it make?" He asked, his arms flaring out. He already hated the Parker boy.

"Put it this way, Bonnie's magic is one part of the equation. My as-yet undisclosed knowledge is the other. Which means you would be hitching a ride home for free. I just want to know if you deserve to come along."

"What about Margot and Klaus? They haven't done anything."

"Are you really that stupid? Margot's my kid and Klaus is the father of her unborn children. I'm a sociopath, not a dick."

Damon sped over to Kai, grabbing onto his jacket before holding him in the air. "Or, I could just torture you until you say something usefu-"

In one second he was holding Kai and the next his body was consumed by blue mist before he was thrown across the street. Margot stood above him, her eyes dark blue as the mist danced along her fingers. "Don't touch him ever again."

Damon groaned as his body cracked into the concrete, going down a few inches before the mist disappeared.

"Fine- Fine," He coughed out.

Margot smiled before kneeling down and giving him her hand. However, instead of helping him up, she was sucked inside his mind.

"Barely see you in 50 years, Stefan. You're not gonna invite a brother in?" Damon asked as he stood outside the boarding house.

"Give me one good reason why," Stefan retaliated. Margot smiled as she stared at her father, sure he wasn't real but it was nice to see him again.

"Check your answering machine. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf."

"I heard your message. I also heard you sent Lexi some flowers. 17 years after you left her to burn to death on a rooftop."

"Well-"

"It's a little late, but I see you're trying to make amends. I just want to know why."

"Um, well, I can tell you this, Stefan, I'm tired of tearing up New York City. Maybe it's the partying, maybe it's my conscience."

"I believe that would require one."

"-And then I had this moment of clarity. And I said, 'wouldn't it be great if I just woke up in my own bed and could have a fresh start'?"

Just then, a man appeared behind Stefan.

"You must be Damon," The man said.

Stefan sighed, "Damon, this is uh, Zach Salvatore. He owns this house now. He knows the family history. And I told him if you got out of line, I'd take care of you myself."

Damon smiled at his brother, "Why are you always expecting the worst out of me, Stefan?"

"Oh, I don't. Otherwise, I wouldn't allow this."

"Come on in, Damon," Zach said before walking off, leaving the brothers alone.

"Oh... Thanks," Damon said, patting Stefan's shoulder before walking inside only to be held back by Stefan. "You ready to start over?"

"Hell yeah."

— — —

Zach stood in front of his wife with a camera. He grinned widely as he took a picture, the photo showing the beautiful woman with icing smeared on her lip.

"I am so getting rid of that photo," The woman warned as she grabbed it.

She sighed playfully before looking back at Stefan, "Stefan, take a picture of Zach and me.

Stefan quickly walked over before grabbing the camera from his uncle.

"Thanks, Stefan."

The camera clicked, emitting a white flash before he pulled it away from his eye.

The woman grinned, "And now back to my cravings."

As Zach walked away, Stefan moved over to the pregnant woman. He smelled blood. He glanced down before gently grabbing her wrist, "What happened to your wrist?"

The woman's eyes widened, "I don't know."

Stefan sighed before walking over to Damon who stood across the room with a smirk, "Damon, what did you do to Gail?"

"Looks like the jig is up," He groaned before Stefan grabbed his arm, leading him away from the guests. "Hey, how the hell did you feed on Gail? She's on vervain. It's in her coffee."

"I swapped it out last week. Same for Zach."

"These people are my friends. Zach is family. They trust me."

"Then they'll trust us both. Look, I'm only feeding inside this house, right? Snatch, eat, erase. It's all completely functional, Stefan. I told you, this is a new start."

Damon turned to walk away only for his neck to be snapped.

— — —

Damon groaned in pain as he woke up, the sun cascading onto the ground just a few inches beside him. He glanced up, his vision blurry, only seeing the shape of his brother.

"So here's what I don't get, Damon. Why'd you insinuate yourself back into my life? And then cheat and lie and break all the rules?"

Damon sighed as he stood up before leaning against the wall, "Well, I lied because I knew you'd be mad. Believe it or not, Stefan. I like being here." He grumbled before walking out only for his hand to burn as soon as he reached the sunlight.

He grunted, speeding back into the shade as his hand healed.

"You'll get your daylight ring back when you decide to behave. Now, answer my question. Why'd you come back here?"

"Because I missed my brother. I wanna have a connection to my humanity, Stefan. I wanted to feel something again. And when I decided to come home, it all came rushing back just like I hoped it would."

Stefan scoffed, "Congrats. Now what?"

"Let's just hit the road, you and me, huh? I'll let you drive my car. I'll get you off this vegan diet. I'll teach you how to feed again. It'll be great, Stef, huh? What do you say? Come on, trust me."

"Man, I can imagine a road trip with you."

"Yeah."

"I can imagine you feeding on innocent people and, uh, leaving a trail of bodies behind. I can imagine you making me drink human blood and laughing at me while I suffer."

"Way to be an optimist, Stefan."

"I'm just looking at the facts, Damon. In 1912, you convinced me to drink human blood again which is why I became a ripper. In 1942, you almost pushed me off the rails again because you were so damn needy. In 1977, you left my best friend to die, after I sent her to come help you. And now, I'm finally happy. I have a new life. I'm doing well. And, uh, you just can't handle that, can you, Damon?"

"I'm not trying to screw up your dumb new life."

"You don't have to try, Damon! All you have to do is exist. Because no matter what I do or where I go, you will be with me forever. Trying to destroy every single thing that I built. I don't know why I thought this time would be any different. I wanted it to be different, but you just keep failing."

"Guess that's a no on the road trip, huh?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, "That's a no on the road trip."

— — —

The moon had eventually covered the sun which freed Damon from the confines of the Salvatore shed. He smirked viciously before speeding into the boarding house and grabbing Gail.

He grinned as the woman screamed in his hold, feeling his fangs tear into her throat.

Stefan and Zach quickly ran in only to see bodies covering the floor while Damon, blood covering his face, held onto Gail.

"This eclipse party blows. I didn't see the sun at all when I came across the yard. You forget how much stronger we are when we drink human blood?"

"Zach," Gail whimpered out against Damon's tight hold on her neck.

"Damon, please don't hurt her," The human spoke with a frightened look.

"I want my ring back, Stefan."

Stefan glared at his brother before pulling the ring out of his back pocket and throwing it to the other vampire.

"Thank you," Damon said with a smile as he placed the ring back on his finger.

"I'm never going to be rid of you, am I?"

"No. No, you're not. Because in 1912, I showed you who you were, Stefan. In 1942, I gave you your freedom. And in 1977, I almost killed your best friend, because it should have been you there to help me, Stefan. You owe me. And It'll take you an eternity to pay me back."

Damon grinned, his fangs protruding out of his gums as dark veins appeared around his black eyes. He sent one final look at Stefan before biting into Gail's neck and draining every drop of blood she had.

Margot quickly pulled her hand away from Damon's letting him drop to the ground once again. "You killed her? You killed an innocent pregnant woman?"

Damon grunted as his head hit the concrete once again, "Yes, okay. I get it, I'm a monster. We've already covered this, kid."

She rolled her eyes, using the blue mist to levitate Damon before whispering in his ear, "She didn't deserve that, Damon," before snapping his neck.

Nik smiled at her proudly while Bonnie stared at Damon's body in shock. Kai, on the other hand, was practically jumping for joy as he walked over to Margot, "Oh my little one is all grown up. You're just like me, Little Elle."

— — —

Damon woke up with a groan. His neck hurt like a bitch.

Kai chuckled. He liked seeing the vampire in pain, it was a nice change. "Poor nephew uncle Zach."

He rolled his eyes as he sat up before leaning against the couch, "Stefan compelled Uncle Zach to forget about the girlfriend and the baby. But he couldn't cover up all the murders. The founders' council was restarted and Stefan took off. Bout a decade later, Stefan finds Margot."

Damon sighed once again, glancing between Margot and Bonnie, "Can we go back now?"

Kai glanced at the witch who looked unsure, "Oh, come on, Bonnie. You want to go home to your friends. I want to go back and give the rest of the Gemini Coven an excruciating death before becoming an uncle. It's a win-win."

"Bonnie, I know Kai isn't exactly a model citizen but none of us are. And if you knew what his coven did to him, you'd understand. I- I did the same to my coven and you didn't hold that against me," Margot spoke up from across the room.

The hybrid glanced down at her, tightening his hold on her.

"We need to get back, Bonnie. And if it means bringing home a sociopath then so be it. We can deal with him after," Damon added, his eyes pleading as he held onto her arms.

Kai sighed, glancing out the door and seeing the sun, "We missed today's eclipse. Rain check for tomorrow?"

— — —

"Look, we can still get out of here, Bonnie. We just steal that ascendant contraption. Find out what Kai knows and then we ditch them all. He doesn't have powers, Klaus is a dick and Margot will be fine. It'll be just you and me."

Kai scoffed as he walked into the kitchen. It was late, the sun had already gone down and Margot and Nik were back at their house.

"Actually, Damon, it's not that simple."

"You gotta stop doing that. It's creepy."

"Here's the thing, I have a peculiar effect on magic. I believe you know someone who had the same effect. You see, I can't generate it myself, but I can consume it from others. Temporarily," Kai smiled as he walked over to Bonnie, "My family called me an abomination, called Ellie one too. That hurt my feelings."

He smirked before grabbing Bonnie's hand, the touch emitting a red glow as Bonnie screamed in pain.

Kai held up his hand causing flames to appear around Damon. "Ok! We get it!" The Salvatore yelled.

Kai smiled before letting go of Bonnie causing the flames to disappear. "You can see why my coven and I didn't get along."

"You're like Margot."

"Finally. It took you long enough. Now, if I consume all of Bonnie's magic, I am just gonna end up killing her. But, if we work together, we can all go home as friends. Or, I can devour her magic, kill you both and bring Margot and Nik home with me. What's it gonna be?"  

A/N

My finger hurts and I can hardly type, sorry if there are typos :) stupid icing container