14. No Exit

"Do you think that fellow loved milking cows?" Enzo asked Damon, looking at a photo of the couple whose house they had just invaded.

"Probably, then she became one" Damon replied, with blood dripping down his mouth, "So he drank himself into oblivion, she cheated with the pastor".

"Just because you lost your true love doesn't mean you have to dump on others" Enzo said.

"There's no love in there, look at the picture, it's old" Damon said, "The milk maid's nowhere to be found, it's just pathetic old Farmer John".

"Manners" Enzo said, "It's impolite to speak ill of our hosts".

Damon looked down at the dead body, "Doubt he'll mind".

"Somebody's cranky" Enzo said, taking out his phone, "It's been almost eight hours sine you last fed, so I suppose that's about right".

"You timing me?" Damon asked shocked.

"You feed on vampires now, I am a vampire" Enzo reminded, "The only way to assure my safety is to know how long you last before your next fix".

"Or you could just leave" Damon said.

"I don't abandon my friends, Damon, I'm not you" Enzo taunted, making Damon roll his eyes, "Besides if you hadn't come with me to kill Dr. Wes, he wouldn't have stuck you with that nasty virus".

Suddenly, the dead body gasped and sat up, turns out he wasn't dead, he was in transition.

"Ah, just in time" Enzo said, he kneeled infront of the confused man, "Hello".

"What did you do? What's happening?".

"Uh, you died, but luckily, you had my blood in your system, so when you drink this", Enzo held a blood bag, "You'll feel much better", Enzo ripped open the blood bag and forced the man to down it, "There you are".

"Attaboy" Damon said.

The newly turned vampire, slowly stood up, "What was that?".

"That was blood" Enzo replied, "You're a vampire, congratulations".

"I'm a what?".

"I know, it's overwhelming, and Damon will explain more in a bit, but before he does, settle a bet" Enzo replied, "Your wife, where is she?".

"Wait, I drink blood now?".

"Again, we'll explain everything" Enzo replied, while Damon groaned in annoyance, "Where's your wife?".

"She's gone, she left me years ago".

"Pastor" Damon said, causing the vampire to turn to him, "Pastor?".

"Pharmacist".

"Ah" Enzo said, annoyed that he lost.

"Yes, I will take that as a win for me, not for you" Damon said, as he vamped out and attacked the newly turned vampire.

"Stop trying to scare me, Damon" Enzo said, as Damon looked at him with the head of the vampire now in his hands, "I'm not leaving you, the only friend you have left, since you ruined things with Kol".

***

Caroline entered the boarding house, to see Kol, drinking in the living room, Rebekah, Elijah and Klaus were trying to find the travelers knife, while Kol and Caroline were keeping an eye on Katherine.

"You were right" Caroline told Kol, ignoring Katherine, and handing Kol a file, "He's off the rails, and this is from my mom".

"Missing people, and weird animal attacks?" Kol asked, going through the file.

"Check and check, there's something else" Caroline replied, "All the victims were found inside their homes without their head, and their skin was desiccated".

Kol looked at Caroline in shock, "He's feeding on vampires", Kol stood up, he grabbed a bottle of bourbon and threw it into the fire, "I shouldn't have let him walk away!".

"No, uh-uh, no" Caroline said, "This isn't your fault, Damon was the one who chose to walk away, we didn't force him, hell we gave him a choice, and he chose the wrong one, we both know, no one could've stopped him going after Wes the other night".

"She could have" Kol whispered, "The real Aria could have".

Caroline sighed, "Well, right now she's kind of busy, and it's up to us to cure Damon, and then let Aria punish him however she wants".

"You're right" Kol said, "So I'm guessing, Wes injected Damon with whatever he was going to inject Ri with".

"Good news, bad news" Caroline said, "Bad news is when this happened to Jesse, you had to kill him, but the good news is--", Caroline hesitated, "I'm sorry, usually, there's some good news".

"We're not killing him, only person can do that, and that person is not us" Kol said, "But I have to find him before he does something even more stupid".

Katherine, still in Aria's body, entered the living room, "Well, I can come with you" she told Kol.

"Aria, hey" Caroline greeted, exchanging a look with Kol, as her phone started ringing, pulling it out, she realised it was Klaus, meaning he had a new lead on the knife, "Um it's Klaus, we have a date night planned tonight, I should really go prepare for that".

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Kol asked, really not wanting be alone with Katherine.

"I'm sorry" Caroline said, "But it's Klaus, and it's important, please try to understand".

"It's fine" Katherine interjected, "Me and Kol have this".

"You really don't need to come" Kol told Katherine, "You're pregnant, and the last thing we need is for Damon to attack you, you should just rest here".

"No, I want to help you Kol, two heads are better then one" Katherine said.

Kol looked at Caroline, who was giving him an apologetic look, "Well, I guess I'll see you both when you guys get back?" Caroline asked.

"Not likely" Kol mumbled, glaring at the blond vampire.

***

"So, we've got eight hours till you need to feed again" Enzo said, "I wonder, what's New York like these days?".

"Crowed" Damon replied.

"Perfect" Enzo said, handing Damon his jacket, "Let's go".

As the two vampires wore their jackets, they suddenly heard chanting.

"Oh, what is that?" Enzo asked.

"It's the obnoxious theme song of the Travelers" Damon replied, walking towards the front door, opening it, Enzo and Damon saw that they were surrounded by Travelers, and when Damon tried to leave they house, he couldn't, "Oh, no" Damon groaned in annoyance.

Wes appeared infront of Damon and Enzo, "As a man of science, I always considered magic a cheat, turns out, I cheat, how's the appetite?".

"Funny you should ask" Damon replied, "I was just craving a blond".

"Aria was originally supposed to be my patient zero, but you're the next best thing" Wes said, Damon glared at Wes for mentioning Aria, "I couldn't let you ride off into the sunset without running a few tests".

"A few tests" Enzo mocked.

"Well, one test" Wes corrected, "Now that you're trapped with only one source of food, how long can you go before you feed on your best friend, granted I was hoping Kol was here because I wanted see if could kill an Original, but I guess Enzo will do".

Damon and Enzo exchanged a worried look.

***

Kol parked the car he stole, at the gas station, really needing some space from Katherine's nonsense.

"Can I ask you something?" Katherine asked, getting out of the car.

"No" Kol replied, filling the car with gas.

"I'm still going to ask" Katherine said, thinking Kol was joking, "Are you really holding on to hope that maybe this is the time that Damon can be saved?".

"You don't think he can be?" Kol asked.

"No, I don't" Katherine replied.

"Funny, how once upon a time, you were the one who believed Damon could be saved" Kol said, "You once told me that, when Damon first came into Mystic Falls, everyone saw him as a monster, but you saw something savable, and now look at you, you're giving up on him so easily".

"I guess I just want off the emotional rollercoaster that is Damon's redemption" Katherine said.

"Damon was redeemed a long time ago" Kol said, "You know I don't get it, me, Nik and Elijah, we've killed so many people, but yet here you are in a car with me, but you gave up on Damon after finding out her killed the Whitmore family? Who by the way, deserved it".

"You really care about Damon, don't you?" Katherine asked, hoping to divert the topic.

"You taught me" Kol replied simply, "You know, I'm going to go get something to eat, stay here and just, don't move".

"Aye, aye captain" Katherine joked, making Kol give her a mock smile.

"Someone find me a white oak stake" Kol mumbled, walking away from Katherine, who luckily didn't hear him.

Seeing Kol go into the gas station, Katherine opened the car's bonnet, she quickly ripped out a random pipe that was attached to the engine.

***

"Give it up, mate" Enzo said, as Damon threw a chair at the window, hoping to get out of the house, "Those Travelers sealed this whole place up tight".

"This spell can't last forever" Damon snapped.

"Doesn't need to" Enzo retorted, "Wes only needs it to last eight hours, remember? Then he can come back inside and autopsy my mangled corpse".

"Damn it" Damon said, sliding down the wall, "You're pretty Zen about all this".

"Did you forget everything I taught you in that cell?" Enzo asked, "Calmer heads will always prevail".

"If she was here, I would have been able to control myself" Damon whispered, taking a black ring box out of his pocket.

Enzo sighed, "If you love her so much, then why walk away from her Damon?".

"Everyone has a limit Enzo" Damon replied, "And I've passed that limit, there's only so much she can forgive me for, I don't want to see her face when she realises that I believed a text, I believed that she would keep our kids away from me, and then in my rage I killed her friend".

"She would have forgiven you for all that" Enzo said, "But I don't think she will forgive you for walking away from her".

Damon sighed, "Well, I guess we'll never find out" he said, staring at the ring.

"I'm calling Kol" Enzo stated, "He will find Wes and threaten him or maim him, or anything that doesn't involve your fangs on me".

"Kol's trying to get Aria back, I'm not calling him and diverting his attention" Damon said, "Plus, he told me not to come back".

"So my life is not worth your pride and guilt, or delaying your lover coming back for a few hours?" Enzo asked.

"Kol isn't me Enzo, he will always put Aria over anyone" Damon stated, "He won't come".

"Or he will" Enzo retorted, "Then you might hurt him, you don't wanna risk that, do you? Me, on the other hand--".

"I'm not gonna feed on you" Damon interrupted, "I'll find another way".

***

"Oh, bloody hell!" Kol yelled, seeing the broken pipe, "How the hell did this rip out?! I don't have time for this! The mechanic better have a spare".

"Oh crap" Katherine said, grabbing the pipe, that Kol threw to the side, and purposely smudging the grease on her shirt.

 "What now?" Kol asked, on his last leg of patience, not having seen Katherine's actions.

"I ruined my shirt" Katherine replied.

"Good for you" Kol said.

"Look, you got all that engine stuff on you, and I clearly have to change" Katherine said, "I saw a hotel, like, a couple streets down that way, do you think we should get a room, so that we can shower while we're waiting for the car?".

"A better option, you go, I'll stay here" Kol replied.

"Come on Kol, you can give them your phone number" Katherine said, "I assume your phone does receive incoming calls, right? Or is it from the Han dynasty?".

"You're not funny" Kol replied, making Katherine laugh, "I didn't even mean it as a joke" he mumbled.

"Will you grab my bag?" Katherine asked.

"Burn your bag?" Kol asked, "Sure".

"You're so funny" Katherine laughed, walking away.

"And murderous" Kol said, grabbing Katherine's bag, that was full of Aria's things, "The things I do for your safety Ri, you better be grateful when you come back" he mumbled, following Katherine.

***

"So, what?" Kol asked, entering the hotel room with Katherine, "You decided to bring your entire closet?".

"Well, I didn't know how long we'd be gone, and to be honest, Damon's spirals require a little more than an overnight bag" Katherine replied.

"Damon's not a lost cause, you know" Kol said, not liking Katherine's tone when she talks about Damon, "I'm going to bring him back, whether you like it or not".

"What makes you think he's not a lost cause?" Katherine asked curiously.

"Because I've been in his shoes before" Kol replied.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked confused.

"I've gone off the rails many times because of love" Kol replied, "Mainly when I found out Katherine killed all your ancestors, god, I've never wanted to murder someone as much as I wanted to murder her, and boy was I happy when the bitch died, I hope she's rotting in hell, or at least getting tortured by all of your doppelgangers".

"Katherine's a survivor, I'm sure wherever she is, she's surviving" Katherine said, upset with the amount of hatred Kol held for her.

Kol scoffed, Katherine was so bad at being Aria, even if she properly studied Aria and her relationships, Kol doesn't think Katherine would have still managed to play Aria, both of them were so different, while Aria looked out for others, Katherine looked out for herself, while Aria would die for the people she loved, Katherine would risk the people she loved for her survival, it amazed Kol that Katherine actually thought she could fool everyone by being Aria.

"Aria Connor would never say that about Katherine" Kol stated, "What are you and what have you done to Aria?", Kol looked at Katherine keenly, waiting for her to mess so badly, that she herself would tell Kol that's she Katherine, but she just smiled at Kol and handed him a drink.

***

"Towing chains" Enzo said, showing Damon the chains he found, "A farmer's best friend, in about an hour, mine, take a seat".

"They're not gonna let us out of here until I kill you" Damon said, sitting on the chair, "Or you kill me".

"Don't be dramatic" Enzo said, trying Damon up, "We'll work something out".

"There's no cure, Enzo" Damon stated, "Not for this".

"You've given it all of two days" Enzo snapped, "That's what you do, isn't it? There's a problem, you run, you did it to me, you did to your girl, you even did it your own kids".

"Because when I stay, I destroy things" Damon said, "And I refuse to destroy Aria and my kids".

"We're not all as fragile as you think we are" Enzo said, "The brief moment I met your girl, I could tell that she had a fire in her, a fire that will burn anything that will try to destroy her or her kids, you should give her some credit, I don't think she will let you destroy her".

After locking Damon, Enzo walked over and grabbed Damon's phone, "What the hell are you doing?" Damon asked.

"Calling for backup" Enzo replied, dialing Kol.

"I thought I told you not to call him" Damon snapped.

"I told you, your pride and guilt isn't worth either of our lives" Enzo said.

***

Kol was in the shower, while Katherine was messing around with the pillows, when she heard Kol's phone ringing, grabbing it, she realised it was Damon, making her roll her eyes.

"Oh, my god, Damon?" Katherine answered, fake concern in her voice.

"Hello, Kol" Enzo said, Damon had told him that Aria wasn't Aria, so he knew the person he was talking to could care less about Damon, "Wonderful to hear your beautiful, feminine voice".

"Enzo, what the hell do you want?" Katherine asked.

"I'm in a spot of trouble actually" Enzo replied.

"Where's Damon?" Katherine asked.

"Oh, he's here, salivating" Enzo replied, "About to chomp into my neck and feed until my head pops off, in a grotesque but slightly comical fashion".

"Wes infected him?" Katherine asked shocked, Kol not having told her that.

"You know about the virus?" Enzo asked, "Good, we could use a hand, not yours though, we could use Kol's hand, Wes enlisted some singing witches and trapped us in the house".

"Do not come here!" Damon yelled, not wanting to see Katherine inhabiting Aria's body.

"He doesn't wanna risk feeding on you and then risking the lives of his babies, kind of sweet, I have a suggestion, send Kol, you don't need to come" Enzo said, "Please don't come, because if he feeds on you, I have orders to kill him, and I'd rather not do that".

"Okay, text me the address, to my phone, and we'll be there as soon as we can" Katherine said, a plan forming in her head.

"Fine, oh, and ticktock, I've managed to restrain him, but you know how persistent Damon can be when he wants something" Enzo said.

"We'll be there soon" Katherine assured, hanging up.

As Katherine hanged up, Kol opened the bathroom door, "Were you talking to someone?" he asked confused.

"Just myself" Katherine lied.

"Wonderful" Kol said sarcastically, thinking Katherine's officially lost it.

***

"You'll be all right mate" Enzo assured, as Damon tried to get out of the chains, "Kol will come and we'll sort something out".

"There's no way Katherine's not coming with Kol" Damon snapped, "And as soon as I see her, I'm going to want to rip her head off, which if you didn't realise, would mean, ripping my soulmates head off!".

"Kol won't let you do that" Enzo assured, "And neither will I".

Before Damon or Enzo could realise, a gunshot was heard, and a bullet was stuck into Enzo's arm.

"If you were aiming for my heart, you missed" Enzo told Wes, who was standing by the broken window, a bunch of travelers behind him.

"Don't worry, I wasn't" Wes said, as Enzo looked at Damon, who was starting to lose control, "Chains were a good idea, now I can see exactly how strong he becomes when enraged".

It didn't take long for Damon to break the chains and free himself.

"Conclusion, very strong" Wes realised.

Damon speeded towards Enzo, but he punched Damon away from him and into a bookshelf.

"Boy, do I miss the indestructible Augustine cage right about now" Enzo said, as Damon easily recovered, he charged towards Enzo and bit into his neck, "Damon, stop, Damon, please, Damon, stop" Enzo pleaded, suddenly Damon fell to the floor, coughing out Enzo's blood, Enzo turned to Wes in confusion, "What did you do to him?".

"My friends here raised the acidity of your blood" Wes replied, "There must be some witch-y explanation for it, but Damon was basically drinking hydrochloric acid, I suggest you leave before the spell wears off".

"And go where?" Enzo asked, "With you?".

"There's one more thing I need from you" Wes replied, "Then I'll let you go for good, the other option is to stay in here with your cannibal friend and see how long you last".

"Go, Enzo" Damon breathed out, "I tried to kill you, I'll do it again".

"No" Enzo said.

"Go, Enzo!" Damon yelled.

After a moment, Enzo grabbed his jacket, and walked out.

***

Katherine was showering, when Kol came back from the garage.

"The bloody car is finally done!" Kol called out.

"I'll be right there" Katherine said, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her, suddenly a plan came into her head, so she opened the bathroom door, the towel still wrapped around her, "Hey, would you mind grabbing me my shirt?", Kol turned to Katherine, and frowned seeing her in just a towel, "It's the--the green one right on top".

Kol didn't say anything, he grabbed the shirt and handed it to Katherine, all while not looking at her, he was respecting Aria's privacy, as Katherine was using her body to seduce Kol and that didn't sit well with Kol.

"Thanks" Katherine said, disappointed that Kol wasn't looking at her.

"Just hurry up" Kol said, not sure how much longer he can keep this act up.

Katherine walked back into the bathroom, purposely leaving the door slight open, she took the towel off, exposing her bare back.

"Are you--", Kol turned around, and immediately saw Aria's bare back, causing him to quickly look away.

"Aria, close the damn door!" Kol yelled, startling Katherine.

"Oh, sorry" Katherine mumbled disappointed, closing the bathroom door.

 Eventually, Katherine came out the bathroom, and stood behind Kol, she ran her hand up Kol's arm, though it was Aria's hand, the touch felt wrong to Kol, because he knew it wasn't Aria.

Kol turned around to tell Katherine off, but as soon as he turned around, Katherine smashed her lips on to his, for a brief moment, Kol wanted to kiss her back, he wanted to kiss Aria for a brief second, but as quickly as that thought came, the more faster it left his brain, when he realised this wasn't Aria kissing him, it was Katherine, Aria would never do that, she wasn't the type of girl to go around kissing people, so Kol quickly pushed Katherine away from him.

"Kol--".

"Don't ever do that again" Kol snapped, grabbing his bag and walking out the door, causing Katherine to frown, she thought Kol would jump at the opportunity to make out with Aria, but here, the case was completely different.

***

Damon sat on the floor, when suddenly he felt a familiar smell, hit his senses, "Ria" he whispered, he turned to the door to see Aria standing there, immediately looking at her, Damon could tell it wasn't Aria, he wanted to stake himself for not seeing that before, "Don't come in" he warned, not wanting to hurt Aria's body or his babies, "Do not come in".

Kol came and stood next to Katherine, "Stay out" Kol told her, as he entered the house.

"Kol, no!" Damon yelled, stepping back, "Don't step closer!".

"How did revenge go?" Kol asked, not stepping forward but not stepping backwards either.

"I got stuck with a vampire virus, almost killed my last friend" Damon replied.

"So what?" Kol asked, slightly hurt, "We're not friends anymore?".

"Didn't think you wanted anything to do with me" Damon replied.

"I was angry Damon" Kol snapped, while Katherine looked confused, she didn't know Kol and Damon had a fight, "And I had a damn good reason to be angry, you know that, but that doesn't mean I would have left you alone while you were in trouble, I'm not you".

"Enzo, texted me the address here" Katherine said, making Damon glare at her, "Damon, we're here to help you".

"You can't help me" Damon snapped, he then looked at Kol, "I feed on vampires, you're a vampire".

"I'm also an Original" Kol reminded, "I doubt Wes's stupid injection, made you stronger then me".

"I don't want to find out" Damon snapped, "Leave, Kol, and take her with you".

"I'm not leaving you behind" Kol stated.

"I said, leave!" Damon yelled, showing his veins to Kol.

Kol smirked, "You're going to try harder then that to scare me".

Before Kol or Damon could stop her, Katherine stepped into the house, "And me" she said.

"No, no, no" Damon said, trying to shove Katherine out, he wanted to hurt her, but he couldn't risk Aria and the babies life, but he couldn't get her to leave, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snapped, angry at Katherine for risking his children's life.

"I'm proving to you that you're not a lost cause, Damon" Katherine said.

"Stop" Kol warned, standing between Katherine and Damon, "Don't go near him", he turned to Damon, not seeing Katherine grab a piece of glass and pierce her skin, "Damon, listen--", before he could finish his sentence, both him and Damon smelled Aria's blood, causing them to look at Katherine.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?!" Kol yelled, as Damon tried his best to control himself.

"I know he can resist this" Katherine said, trying to step closer to Damon, but Kol held her back.

"Don't you dare" Kol snapped, "You are not risking the babies life!".

"He loves me and the babies Kol" Katherine said, getting out of Kol's grip, "And that love is stronger than any craving".

Damon stared at Katherine for a moment, and suddenly he tried to lunge towards her, but froze when he couldn't move, confusing both Kol and Katherine.

"What's happening to you?" Katherine asked confused.

Kol looked at Damon, then at Aria's stomach, and smiled, the babies couldn't do anything about Katherine, but they could stop their father from attacking them and their mother.

"It's the triplets" Kol realised, "They're stopping Damon from moving".

Kol turned to Damon, he quickly speeded behind him and snapped his neck, rendering him unconscious, while Katherine stood there glaring at Aria's stomach, annoyed that Damon's babies saved his life, her plan was to get Kol to stake Damon, but that failed because of the triplets.

***

Damon slowly woke up, and realised he was chained up in the cellar of the boarding house.

"If you bring home a rabid animal, you're gonna get bit" Damon told Kol.

"Telling you to walk away, that was wrong" Kol said, "But I realise you deserved it, and what happens next, you deserve that as well, did you see what happened tonight? The kids you walked out on, stopped you from killing your soulmate, I'm going to cure you and bring Ri back, them I'm going to tell Ri the truth, and you are going to explain to her, how easily you walked out on your soulmate and miracle babies".

Damon tried to rip of the chains but failed, "I'm going to kill you, Kol".

"You can't brother, I'm an Original" Kol reminded, "And I'm not afraid of a Ripper, Damon, I invented Ripper's, remember? Now excuse me, I'm going to get you some vervain, and then I'm going to call Nik and ask on his, Elijah and Rebekah's progress, while you sit here and realise, that you are so screwed".

"You're really going to tell her?" Damon asked.

"Yeap" Kol replied, "If you couldn't tell, I'm still pissed".

"Then why save me?" Damon asked.

"I don't have it in me to feel guilty for leaving you" Kol replied, "You're my best enemy".

"I thought we were best friends" Damon taunted.

"Fix your attitude and we can rethink our relationship, darling" Kol said, "Just know, I am pissed, but I'm not giving up on you, if Ri was here, she wouldn't want me to do that, but at the same time, I'm going to have front row seats when Ri breaks up with your ass".

"How considerate" Damon said sarcastically.

"Always am" Kol said, walking out the cellar and closing the door behind him, "Enjoy your stay Damon, the next few hours are about to be painful".

"And that brings you nothing but joy, right?" Damon asked.

"Absolutely correct" Kol replied, "This is karma for walking out on Ri when she needed you the most".

***

Kol walked up to the living room, and saw Caroline near the fire, "Did you get Nik's text?".

"About him losing patience, and instead of finding the travelers knife with Elijah and Rebekah, he ended up tracking down Nadia, and biting her? Yes I did" Caroline replied.

"Where's Katherine?" Kol asked.

"Probably gone to see her dying daughter" Caroline replied.

"Good" Kol said, "Because if I had seen her, I think I would have told her that I know she's not Aria, and then I would have trapped her somewhere".

"I take the road trip went horrible" Caroline said.

"The bitch kissed me, and then she risked the triplets life but provoking Damon to bit her" Kol revealed.

"Okay, that's enough" Caroline said, standing up, furious that Katherine tried to kill the triplets, "We need to get Katherine out of Aria's body and that to now!".

"We can do that now" Elijah said, entering the boarding house with Klaus and Rebekah.

"We got the Travelers knife" Rebekah said, as Klaus pulled out the knife.

"Time to bring Ari back" Klaus smirked.

"And kill Katherine Pierce, once and for all" Kol stated smirking.

***

Presenting 5x14 of The Vampire Diaries. . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Wes trapping Damon and Enzo together, and forcing Damon to attack Enzo?

Thoughts on Katherine kissing Kol?

Thoughts  on the triplets stopping Damon from hurting Aria?

Thoughts Klaus biting Nadia as revenge for Katherine inhabiting Aria's body?

Next chapter: OUR QUEEN FINALLY RETURNS! I missed writing her so much 😢