12. What Are You?

Damon stood in front of the fireplace in the Salvatore's living room, a glass of bourbon in his hand, when suddenly two arms were wrapped around his waist.

"Hey".

Damon titled his head and smiled seeing his soulmate, "Hey" he whispered.

"What you thinking?" a curious Aria asked.

Damon turned around and put his free hand on Aria's waist, pulling her closer to him, "I'm not thinking about anything, I'm just happy".

Aria smiled, "I'm happy too, everything is starting to fall back in place, you're back, Kol's back, the siren's are gone, the triplets are happy, everything is just great".

"And we have you to thank for everything" Damon said, kissing Aria's nose.

Aria shook her head, "I might have brought you back, but the triplets brought Kol back and Cade is the one who got rid of the sirens".

Damon shook his head in amusement, "You can never just accept a compliment, can you?".

"Yes, I can" Aria retorted.

"No, you can't" Damon retorted back, placing his glass on the table, he then turned to Aria and placed a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her towards him, their lips lightly brushing against each other, "By the way, did I tell you that I love you?".

Aria smiled against Damon's lips, "You didn't today".

Damon smiled, "Well, Aria Connor-Forbes, I love you".

"Forever?" Aria asked.

"And ever" Damon said, finally placing his lips on to Aria's.

Aria wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and pulled her closer to him, while one of Damon's hands went down to Aria's waist, the other travelled behind her back, just as things were getting heated between the two soulmates, someone interrupted them.

"Forgive me", hearing the familiar voice, immediately caused Damon and Aria to separate from each other and turn to the person who barged into their home.

"Cade" an annoyed Aria greeted.

"I figured you two were busy so I let myself in" Cade informed the couple, "I came to offer my condolences, I'm sorry for your loss".

"Our loss?" a confused Aria asked, "What the hell are you talking about Cade? We haven't lost anyone".

"I'm referring to your ex-lover" Cade clarified.

"My ex-lover?" a confused Aria asked.

"Kol?" an equally confused Damon asked.

"When Kol made a deal with me, he agreed for a whole year both you and him would keep your humanity off" Cade informed, "However since you Aria, just couldn't stop yourself from turning their humanity back on, it rendered our agreement null and void, Damon and Kol are now free".

Damon and Aria immediately exchanged a look, they were happy that Kol and Damon were freed from Cade's deal, but they were also worried Cade wasn't going to give the two vampires their freedom for free.

"Well, if you're making house calls, I'm guessing it's not that easy" Damon said.

"Since it was Kol who made the deal of keeping his and your humanity off for a year, I'm free to end his life and recall his soul to the fiery pits of my world whenever I choose, punishment for not keeping his end of the deal" Cade explained, shocking and worrying both Damon and Aria, "I'm thinking he should die at midnight".

"And the fact that you're waiting tells me you want something more than Kol" Damon realised.

Cade smiled, "In fact, there is" he confirmed, "I've taken an interest in local history, there's an 18th-century journal written by Ethan Maxwell, I believe your friend, the occult studies professor, has come into possession of it".

"You want the journal?" a confused Aria asked, wondering what the devil would want with a local journal.

"It's a small price to pay for allowing Kol to live out the remainder of his immortal life" Cade said, "Do we have a deal?".

"We have a deal" Aria said without any hesitation, she had just gotten Kol back, she wasn't going to risk losing him again.

***

Damon and Aria entered the armory where Alaric, Dorian and Matt were.

"What are you two doing here?" a confused Alaric asked, standing up and facing the two soulmates.

"We need to borrow a book, the Maxwell family tell-all" Damon informed, "I'm guessing it's been out of print for a while".

"You mean this?" Dorian asked, showing Damon and Aria the book in his hands.

"Yeap" Aria confirmed.

Damon tried to walk over to Dorian to grab the book, but Alaric quickly blocked his way.

"Why are you two so interested in my family tree all of a sudden?" a confused Matt asked.

"We haven't been able to sleep lately, and I thought that would do the trick" Damon lied, making Aria shake her head, "What's it to you?".

"Well, Matt here has been getting visions because of that journal, and you show two show up looking for it" Alaric said, "Coincidence? I think not", Alaric turned to Aria, trusting her much more then he trusted Damon, "Tell me the real reason you want this journal Aria".

"Cade is going to kill Kol" Aria blurted out, making Damon face palm, "If we don't give Cade that book then in six hours Kol will be dead".

"What's he want with it?" a curious Dorian asked.

"We don't know" Damon replied, getting more and more annoyed with each passing second, "But if it saves my best friend's life, I don't care".

Alaric ignored Damon and looked at Aria, "You don't give the devil what he wants if you don't know why he wants it, Aria".

"I know that Ric, you've drilled that in my head many times but right now I can't follow your rules, it's Kol, the triplets just got him back, they can't lose him again" Aria said, "So either give me that book, or kill me, because I'm not stopping until I hand that damn book to Cade".

"You know I can't hurt you Aria" Alaric said.

"I know" Aria said, "So please Ric, just hand the book over".

Alaric shook his head, "Not until we know why Cade wants it".

Before Aria could stop him, Alaric pulled out a vervain injection out of his pocket and stabbed Damon with it, causing him to fall to the floor, unconscious,

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Aria yelled, glaring at her adoptive father, "What was that for?".

"Damon would have never agreed to help us with our research" Alaric pointed out.

"And you think I will?" an annoyed Aria asked.

"I think that you still have six hours left, Aria" Alaric pointed out, "Plenty of time for us to figure out why does the devil want this book".

Aria looked at Alaric, then at Damon, then back at the former hunter, "Five hours" she negotiated, "I need to have enough time to grab the book and make it back to Cade in case we don't figure the secret of this book".

Alaric nodded his head, "Deal".

***

Damon groaned in pain, he slowly opened his eyes and realised he was trapped in one of the armory's cells, he stood up from the ground and looked out the window where he saw Alaric, Dorian, Matt and Aria, Matt on a bed with Dorian attaching wires to him while Aria kept an eye on the heart monitor.

"Yeah, the clock is ticking on Kol's life, but by all means, let's give Donovan a physical" Damon taunted.

"Well, if we can figure out why this journal's so important to Cade, maybe we can figure out how to stop him" Alaric said.

"Me and Ric made a deal" Aria informed Damon, "If in five hours we figure out the secret behind this journal, then it's all good, if not, I'm taking that journal to Cade".

"All yeah, how's your little science experiment gonna do that?" Damon asked Alaric.

"We're gonna trigger Matt's visions by inducing a hypnotic state" Alaric informed, "If we're lucky, the answer's in his head".

"That'd be a first" Damon taunted.

Alaric ignored Damon and turned to Matt, "The sedative should be kicking in, how you feeling?".

"Like I'm on the back half of a 12-pack" Matt informed.

"That's good" Alaric said, he then looked at Aria and gestured for her to start.

"Matt, focus on this metronome" Aria instructed, starting the metronome, "And focus on my voice, okay? Close your eyes and relax your mind, now follow me down this long path".

"This might take a while" Alaric commented.

Suddenly, Matt's head fell back and he was pulled into a hypnotic state.

"Or we'll just dive right in" Damon said.

Aria quickly stopped the metronome, "Matt, describe to us what you're currently seeing".

"The bell" Matt informed, "Maxwell's journal, it's the old house where the witches were burned, but it's not old, it looks like it's brand-new, it's Sybil, she's here, she wants Ethan to come with her, he can't resist her".

Alaric and Aria immediately exchanged a worried look, the father daughter duo wondering what did the sirens do this time.

***

"We're in the caves" Matt continued, "There's a door, it's the room where you found the journal, it's full of the sirens treasures, there's tools and weapons, Seline's there too, she has the tuning fork, they're forcing Ethan to add it to the bell".

"Why?" Aria asked, "Why do they want Ethan to add the tuning fork to the bell?".

"The twelfth ring will unleash hellfire, incinerating Ethan's entire village" Matt informed.

"Come on!" an angry Damon yelled, banging his fist to the window, "Cut to the chase! Where's the smoking gun in this story, huh? Why is the journal so important?".

"Listen, he can't control what he's seeing, Damon, relax" Alaric defended.

"It's kind of hard to relax when someone we love's life is on the line, Ric" Aria said, "Kol might be an original, but something tells me, the devil will still find a way to kill him, so Matt really needs to hurry up and figure this mystery out".

***

"The witches are gathering for the ringing of the bell" Matt informed, "Ethan can't warn Bea, because he's been sirened not to tell her, he's encoded a message for her, he can't stop himself, he's been sirened to ring the bell and destroy the town, they're trying to stop it".

"We got to bring him out!" Dorian said, as Matt clutched his chest in pain, "He can't take much more".

"Matt? Matt!" Alaric called out, trying to bring Matt back to reality, "Matt! Matt, come on, Matt! Matt! Matt!".

"The witches are trying to hold back the flames and save the town" Matt continued, refusing to come back to reality, "They're dying, sacrificing themselves to stop the fire".

"I think he's having a heart attack" a panicked Alaric informed.

"Come on, Matt" Dorian said.

"My blood" Aria suddenly said, looking at Alaric, "My blood can help him".

"Will it?" a skeptic Dorian asked, as Aria bit into her wrist.

"If it repairs the heart in time" Alaric told Dorian.

Aria made Matt drink her blood and after a moment his heartbeat went back to normal.

"Beatrice" Matt whispered, "Beatrice, she has a plan to stop the sirens, she trapped the sirens, they're telling Ethan and Beatrice that they are doomed to hell because they made the bell, the witches cursed it so the blood of a hundred souls is on Ethan and Beatrice's hands, but there is a way they can be saved, that's if they release Cade from hell and then they kill him, Beatrice refuses, so the sirens sing their song to get Ethan to kill Beatrice but before he can she traps him in the room where you found his bones, he's trying to tell her the only way he can", Matt gasps and opens his eyes, "It's in the journal", he looks to where the journal was but realises it's gone, "Where is it? Where's Damon and Aria?".

Alaric and Dorian looked around and realised the journal, Aria and Damon were all missing.

Dorian looked down at his watch, "Five hours are up" he informed Alaric.

"Dammit!" Alaric yelled, quickly rushing out to stop Damon and Aria from losing their one chance of defeating Cade.

***

"Cutting it pretty close" Cade said, sitting in the Salvatore's living room, watching Damon and Aria walk in.

"Story of our lives" Damon said, holding the book out for Cade, who grabbed it but Damon didn't let go, "How do I know you're gonna keep up your end?".

"You don't" Cade said, after a bit of a struggle, Damon finally let go of the book, "Thank you" he said, going through the journal, "You and Kol are free to live out the rest of your immortal lives".

"Just between us bad guys has anyone ever earned their way out?" a curious Damon asked.

"I wouldn't want to give you false hope" Cade said, he held the journal up and it lit on fire, he then threw the journal into the fireplace and walked out.

"Well, that was surprisingly not that eventful" Aria commented.

"Don't jinx it" Damon said.

"Damon, we're literally in the middle of a battle with the devil himself, I'm not sure how more badly I can jinx this situation" Aria said.

 "Let's not test it knowing how our luck tends to go" Damon said.

Aria sighed, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Damon's neck, "Do you think it's finally done? Cade is finally out of our lives?".

Damon wrapped his arms around Aria's waist and pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her neck, "I don't think it will be over till the devil is dead, Ria".

"How do we do that, Damon?" a worried Aria asked.

"I have no idea" a equally worried Damon replied.

***

"So when were you two idiots going to tell me what was going on?" Kol asked, entering the Salvatore living room where only Damon stood, Aria having gone to Caroline and Klaus's to check on the triplets.

"After we saved your life, which we did, drink?" Damon said, holding a glass of bourbon out for Kol.

Kol shook his head but nonetheless grabbed the glass from Damon's hand, "You know next time you and Ri decide to save my life from the devil, I will like to be in the loop and not find out when Ri barges into the triplets room at the Mikaelson mansion, all giddy and happy and shouting that I'm free from the devil".

"Ria didn't tell you because she didn't want to ruin your day with the triplets" Damon said.

Kol sighed, "I just--thank you" he finally said, "For saving me from hell".

Damon shrugged, "That's no big deal, figured I owed you for the last five years".

"You don't owe me anything" Kol assured, after a moment of thinking he spoke again, "Do you think there might be a chance of redemption for us?".

Damon looked at Kol, "Well, according to the devil, nope".

"And according to you?" a curious Kol asked.

Damon took a moment to think about it, "I think if someone truly wanted to redeem themselves, they could, they just need a push in the right direction".

"Do you think killing the devil would be that push?" Kol asked.

Damon looked at his best friend, "I think it sure as hell can be a start".

Kol smirked, "Then shall we?".

Damon smirked, "We shall".

***

Alaric stood in the armory, going through some papers when Kol and Damon entered the building.

"Do you have any idea what you and Aria have done?" a furious Alaric asked Damon.

"Yeah" Damon said, he glanced at Kol, "I saved my best friend Ric, no apologies".

"Why do you only seem to care about loss when it's your own?" an annoyed Alaric asked.

"Because--say it with me, Ric--I'm selfish!" Damon stated.

"You have absolutely no idea how important that journal was!" Alaric yelled.

"Let me guess, it was a step by step instruction manual on how to kill the devil" Kol said.

Alaric looked at Kol then at Damon, "If Kol knows that means you do too, and you gave it to him anyway".

"Yeap, because I know how it ends" Damon stated, confusing Alaric.

"Come on Ric, grab a blindfold and some headphones" Kol said, "We're gonna tell you how to kill Cade".

***

"Sybil sure loved to hear herself talk" Damon said, as the trio entered the room full of all the siren's treasures, "But in all that blathering she did mention that she had an insurance policy against Cade".

"And I'm gonna bet this is the insurance policy" Kol said, grabbing a knife looking artifact from the table.

"Oh yeah?" Alaric asked, "And how sure are you two?".

"60/40" Damon replied, grabbing the relic from Kol, "But a relic of Cade's creation that is the means to destroy him? Now, that has a certain poetry to it", he held it out for Alaric but before he could grab it, he pulled it back, "Ah, admit it, I did pretty good", Alaric looked at Damon in amusement and grabbed the relic from his hand, "Now, you got to have a bottle of bourbon stashed in here somewhere, I say we grab that, exchange a few half-assed apologies for all the crappy things we've done to each other and make a plan to kill the devil".

"Sounds like a plan" Kol said.

"Sounds awful, honestly", Alaric, Kol and Damon turned around, and Kol's eyes went wide in shock seeing the person, "Honestly, I have a much better idea".

"Who the hell are you?" a confused Damon asked.

"Sebastian" Kol whispered.

Sebastian smirked, "Kol, long time no see, the last I see you was the time you murdered me for killing your bride".

"You're Aria's brother, from her pervious life" a shocked Damon realised.

"Wait" Alaric said, "The brother who helped kill her?".

"That's the one" Kol confirmed, glaring at Sebastian, who in turn just stood there smirking.

***

Presenting 8x12 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Cade wanting the Maxwell's journal in exchange for Kol's life?

Thoughts on Alaric and Aria teaming up to find out why Cade wants the Maxwell journal?

Thoughts on Damon and Aria stealing the Maxwell journal from Alaric?

Thoughts on Aria's brother Sebastian coming back to life? Please suggest face claims for him because your girl is struggling!

Also...FOUR CHAPTERS REMAINING!