Chapter Text
Damon was so sure he did the right thing, but then Stefan was bugging him about it, telling him the opposite. That he needed to fix things with Elena. And there went his being sure of anything anymore. He felt like he was being pulled in a hundred different directions and he didn’t even know which way was up. In the end, it was his crushing loneliness that decided him to try and get Elena back. It was funny, loneliness had never bothered him so much before. It always hurt yeah, but not like this. While part of it was the famine after the feast type of situation, he knew most of it was because of Enzo. Just like him going back to chasing Katherine and the tomb had been because of Enzo. Because he needed /something/, some/one/ to fill that void Enzo left in his heart. Because he had to try and find a way to live without him and he didn’t know what else to try. And with all that pain flaring back up, he just needed something to make it stop. Even if it was selfish. Like he told Elena, he couldn’t change who he was. If she was smart, she wouldn’t take him back though.
He left her quite a few voicemails and was starting to lose hope. Or gain hope. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted at the moment. For her to do the smart thing and send him packing or for her to come back to him. It might be easier if he didn’t suspect that her acceptance was tied to his brother’s. That Stefan would turn on him again if Elena considered him unworthy. If he lost all the ‘progress’ he’d made from Elena changing him. Like losing Elena could mean losing his brother too. That was the hardest part. Stefan hadn’t managed to see anything worthwhile in him until Elena did. The more Elena softened to him, the more Stefan did. He didn’t know if that was part of the whole crazy doppelganger effect or what, but if he lost Stefan again too, he couldn’t take that. Not with Enzo hating him on top of it.
He came home from the grill after snapping at Stefan and Caroline for trying to babysit him, and stopped short when he saw Enzo sitting on the couch. “Enzo…” he breathed out. He suddenly remembered before he left Mystic Falls in eighteen sixty-five when Stefan told him that he didn’t care if Damon gave him an eternity of misery. He would take it if Damon just /stayed/. Damon never understood that sentiment until this moment.
“Hello, Damon,” Enzo said cheerfully raising his glass. He’d tried to stay away from Damon. He just couldn’t. Not the way they left things. The more he thought about it the more he realized how unfair he’d been to Damon. Oh, he still hated that Damon left him and thought that he was wrong and selfish to do so. But the fact that he hadn’t been able to without turning off his humanity meant something. And combined with how Damon saved him from the mad doctor’s poison even after he had what he’d wanted, he couldn’t help but hope that he could find his friend again. He knew that more would be out of the question given the whole girlfriend situation, but he would be happy with just his friend. If Damon could meet him halfway. Prove that he hadn’t been completely tamed. “We have a bit of business to attend to.”
“Missed a spot,” Damon pointed out the blood in the corner of his mouth as he eyed the bag that looked suspiciously like a body nervously. He wondered who was in the bag. Was it someone that Enzo brought to hurt him? Who would have been considered good enough for that? He remembered how Enzo planned to start small with Whitmore by killing his dog, so maybe it wouldn’t be someone too bad and he could head Enzo off before he got to the big ones.
Enzo just ignored him for the moment, letting the tension build, as he went to the fire. Might as well remind him how much he owed him. Stack the deck in his favor a bit. “Oh, I love a good fire,” he said contentedly as he made a show of warming his hands. “Ironic isn’t it? Since you left me to burn alive in one.”
“Didn’t we already do this?” Damon asked impatiently. “You tried to make me feel guilty. I saved your life. We’re even.” If only he could believe that. “What’s in the bag?” he had to ask.
“More like who,” Enzo chuckled. “Since you and I last spoke I’ve done a bit of soul-searching. Had a trip to the barber and did a little research. Which revealed to me that you killed almost every member of the Whitmore family in the years since you’ve escaped, leaving just one alive each time to carry on the family name, producing a whole new generation of victims for you to slaughter.” It was proof that he’d never been forgotten. That Damon was getting revenge for both of them. “Exactly as you said you’d do. Back when you and I were cellmates.”
“Well you know me. I like to keep my promises,” Damon said tensely. The more Enzo babbled the more nervous he got.
“And it’s occurred to me that perhaps I wrote you off too quickly. That, in fact, the Damon Salvatore I remember is alive and well. And I have a present for him,” Enzo smirked as he leaned down to open the bag.
“You brought me Aaron Whitmore,” Damon said almost relieved. It could have been a lot worse. “Alive,” he added when he listened for the heartbeat.
“He’s the last of the Whitmore clan,” Enzo said with a grin before reaching down and pulling his arm out. “Do you remember this vervain wristwatch? Doctor Whitmore never took it off. Even when he was rooting around in our chest cavities. It’s fitting Aaron should die wearing it too.” He was losing hope the more Damon hesitated, and the look on his face that said he didn’t want to be doing this. “So…do you want to kill him, or shall I?”
Damon decided to try and stall, not sure what he should do. If he did this, he might as well throw in the towel with Elena for good. And possibly with his brother as well. But if he didn’t, then he would lose Enzo for good. He did at least pull Aaron out of the bag and lay him on the couch as he made excuses for waiting. Including wanting him awake to see death coming. Enzo didn’t argue with that and just poured himself another drink as he sat down in the chair.
“Much as I’ve enjoyed your quality bourbon, I feel confident that our next drink will taste better with the sound of young Aaron’s dying screams ringing in our ears and the knowledge that your final act of revenge will have brought us both closure and a new beginning,” Enzo said, knowing that Damon was stalling, but the indecision he could see in his features was enough for him to allow it and keep pushing. Giving him more reasons to do it. And if it could mess up his relationship with the girlfriend that was keeping him on a leash all the better.
“I’m just curious. Do you ask all of your friends to prove their loyalty by killing someone over drinks?” Damon quipped.
“His grandfather slit our eyes open with a scalpel,” Enzo snapped, losing his patience as he got up to face Damon on an even keel. “You’ve taken out everyone else in the Whitmore family. I thought you’d want this?”
“Would you believe that he’s a friend of a friend?” Damon tried to appeal to sentiment.
“No. Because that would force me to believe that you’ve gone soft. When we both know that your very first impulse when I presented him to you was to rip out his throat.” He turned and went back to the chair, sitting down comfortably. “Show me my old friend’s still in there someplace. End this. For both of us.” When Damon’s phone chose that moment to ring, Enzo rolled his eyes at the timing. Especially when Aaron started waking up. “Looks like he’s coming round,” Enzo said impatiently, glad when Damon hung up the phone. “Time to make a decision, Damon. Do you want to kill him or should I?”
The call from Caroline, reminding him about Elena was enough to make his decision and he blurred over and snapped Enzo’s neck. He almost relished the burn of the vervain watch as he yanked it off. Pain was no less than he deserved. He then compelled Aaron to go pack up and leave town and never come back. And he needed to be gone before Enzo woke up.