❝bad guy❞

"YOU'VE TRULY DONE IT THIS TIME, DAMON." Elijah shakes his head, tightening the ropes around Alaric's bound wrist as he huffs and puffs about the study. "How did you not hear him coming?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Damon scoffed, wiping the dagger on the bottom of his shirt. "I was a little busy murdering somebody."

Elijah stands up and looks at Damon irritatedly. "Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't–"

"I heard a commotion, is everything alright–" Rose trails off as she takes in the scene before her. John, dead on the floor, and Alaric temporarily dead and tied to a chair with Damon and Elijah standing amidst it all. "What on earth is going on in here?"

"Damon is an idiot."

The vampire glares at Elijah, giving Rose a petulant look. "How was I supposed to know my actions would have consequences?"

Rose is speechless for a moment before she takes a few steps towards them. "There's no use in fighting, boys, it won't get us anywhere. Right now we need to figure out what we're going to do because his girlfriend is out there with her annoying friend, and he's dead!"

"Right," Damon wipes a hand down his face. "I forgot about that part."

Rose sighs frustratedly. "Now obviously we can't let Alaric go yet, but we've got to get rid of the dead body, and take care of the two humans out there."

"I'll take care of John," Elijah walks over to his body where's laying out on the floor like some underwhelming display in a museum. "My brother will want to hear that the job is done, anyways."

Rose nods in agreement and looks to Damon. "We can't risk Alaric blabbing his mouth and you know him best out of all of us, so you need to take care of that. I'll compel the girls away, say something about the men getting too drunk for the public right now."

Damon nods in agreement with her makeshift plan, shifting his weight from leg to leg.

"Alright then," She sighs and turns around, heading back out the door towards the dining room.

The two watch her go, her presence brief but noted. Elijah breaks their silence with a small chuckle, shaking his head. "She's quite good at all this."

Damon hums curiously at the oddly awestruck look on Elijah's face. "Yeah, she is,"

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The vibration of Damon's phone brings him out of the calm state he'd fallen into sitting before Ric, waiting for him to wake up. He grabs for the device, a short sigh leaving his lips as he reads his brother's name on the screen.

"Damon, are you alright?"

He'd almost be amused at his brother's concern if he cared enough to be. He'd had a few short hours to come to terms with what he'd done, and what he was going to have to do to get Rosemary back once and for all, and in those hours he'd come to accept the fact that if things worked out the way they were supposed to, his brother would likely never speak to him again. Some things, though, were worth the sacrifice.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Damon shrugged off his brother's worried state. "Everything's fine, Stefan."

"Elena said that if a vampire uses the dagger on another vampire it'll kill them both. You didn't kill Elijah, did you?"

"Well I wouldn't be on the phone right now if I had, would I?" Damon eyes Ric before he looks away to the floor. "Listen, Stefan, things have come up."

"What? What are you talking about?" Stefan's confusion is obvious, and Damon can practically see the wrinkles form on his face thinking about what he could've got himself into now.

"Elijah is alive. He's going to stay alive, too. But," He sighs, put upon. "John is dead."

He hears Stefan take in a sharp breath. "What? How?"

"I killed him."

There's a clatter on the other line, and then silence. Damon thought he'd be more worried, but he's not. It's a relief to tell some semblance of truth after so long. Stefan is still quiet, but Damon doesn't try to fill it with an excuse. There was no excuse for him killing John other than he wanted to to begin with, and it just so happened to tie in nicely with his plan.

"What?"

Damon rolls his eyes at his brother's disbelief. "I killed John Gilbert. I stabbed him with the dagger– well, technically, he stabbed himself but my hands were there at some point."

"Damon, what the hell? Why would you do that? And what– what am I supposed to tell Elena?"

He stands up and stretches a bit, walking away from Ric to the minibar. He holds the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pours himself a drink, glancing upwards as the door opens again and Rose sends him a thumbs up.

Damon gestures for her to come in the room and she does, taking his seat near Ric. "I don't know, Stefan, tell her that her dad is dead? I don't care."

"What the hell has gotten into you, Damon?"

"I'm trying something new, called not giving a shit."

He hangs up quickly, leaving Stefan to digest the abrupt news he's just been given and spins around with a smile, handing Rose a drink of her own. She takes it with a nod, but looks at him inquisitively. "What was that all about?"

He sighs wistfully and walks over to her, leaning on the back of the chair she's in. "I just figured the truth was easier this time around."

"But what about Stefan? What if he finds out what we've been doing?"

Damon looks at her for a moment, then looks back to Ric, who's just starting to come to. His brother finding out the truth about everything isn't ideal, but it's certainly not the worst thing that could happen. Every time he'd pictured this scenario it'd ended with a lot more bloodshed, which truly said something, considering their current predicament.

Alaric is his friend, and perhaps the only person he doesn't want to murder for trying to keep Elena alive. But just like every other person he knows, Ric has only come to know and tolerate the version of Damon that's simply indifferent to things, and that's not the case when it comes down to it. Damon is impulsive and he's indifferent to most things, he'll admit, but he's not going to be swayed in the direction they're all hoping for.

When the big bad plan is revealed, Damon will be the villain.

He knew there was no way Alaric would speak to him after this was over. No matter how close they were, and how much he despised John Gilbert, it wouldn't matter. Damon was the bad guy.

When Elijah first contacted him about Klaus's intentions with Elena, he was admittedly hesitant. He didn't want to get involved in things like this again, but he knew there was no other choice. This was the best way to put an end to every wretched thing the doppelgängers' caused in their lifetimes.

Damon had only been scared for a moment at the thought of the consequences of his actions, but it was a rapid shift from fear to grim acceptance. He'd be turning his back on his brother, his only remaining family. The realization of what Stefan had been doing to him all along is what finally pushed him to that accepting stage.

The way Stefan prioritized Elena over anything else, how he threatened Damon continuously about staying away from Elena because he already a monster in Elena's eyes, and in Stefan's, too.

As odd as it was, it all changed in a day for him. He and Stefan said some choice words to one another, in the aftermath of him killing Lexi. That day he realized that history was repeating itself with Elena and Stefan, but instead of his wife dying again, it would most likely be Damon who perished at the hands of the doppelgänger.

He was much more enthusiastic to get rid of her after that. And as the time passed and they began to sort out their plan, Damon became comfortable with being the bad guy. He didn't care what happened to anyone besides himself, and he knew that because of the side he'd chosen he'd be fine.

And that stood true, still.

He was perfectly fine with being the bad guy.

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author's note; damon's life is falling apart but he's ok with it

edited and published; 5.1.22.

- liz