06. Plan B

"Mmm" Brayden groaned, feeling a weight on his chest, "What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Hugging you" Caroline replied, laying fully on Brayden.

Brayden didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around Caroline's waist.

"We need to wake up" Caroline mumbled, though making no effort in getting up.

"No" Brayden said, placing a kiss on Caroline's head.

"You have to go to the Lockwood's today" Caroline reminded, "To help decorate for their charity ball".

"I'm not going without you" Brayden complained.

"You have to" Caroline said, "I'm going to spend the day with my mom, while you're going to make sure Damon doesn't kill Mason".

"Damon won't be able to kill Mason if I kill him first" Brayden said.

Caroline lifted her head from Brayden's chest, and looked at Brayden, "You should take some anger management classes" she joked.

Brayden opened his eyes and looked at Caroline, "That wasn't very nice of you Caroline".

Caroline smiled, "I think your company is making me mean".

"Is that so?" Brayden asked, an amused smile on his face.

"Mhmm" Caroline replied.

Brayden didn't say anything, he just put his hand on the back of Caroline's head, and pulled her head down to smash his lips on to hers, while kissing, he flipped their position with him now on top of Caroline.

After Brayden broke the kiss, Caroline looked at him, "You realise you're suppose to hate me, right?" she said, "If Katherine--".

"Shh" Brayden interrupted, placing his finger on Caroline's lips, "Don't ruin the moment by taking the she devil's name, and I can never hate you Caroline Forbes, I'm too addicted to you".

Caroline smiled, "Against the world?".

Brayden smiled, "Against the bloody world, princess".

Without wasting another second, Brayden pulled the covers over him and Caroline, finishing what he started.

***

"Good morning" Fae said, walking into Stefan's room, only to see the younger Salvatore still asleep, "Stefan, wake up!".

Stefan put his pillow over his head, "Go away" he mumbled.

"Come on, I'm here to give you your daily dose of blood" Fae said, removing the pillow from Stefan's face.

"Five more minutes" Stefan mumbled, pulling the duvet over his face.

"You know, if I told someone that in the morning the brooding and boring Stefan Salvatore became a baby, I don't think they would believe me" Fae teased, laying next to Stefan.

"Sleep" Stefan mumbled.

"Caroline told me to remind you about going to decorate at the Lockwood's today" Fae said, removing the duvet from Stefan's face.

"Fae, stop" Stefan said, pulling the duvet back over his face.

"Come on Stef, I'm bored, wake up" Fae said, shaking the younger Salvatore.

"Go annoy Damon then" Stefan said, turning his back towards Fae.

"And why would I do that if I have you to annoy?" Fae teased.

"Go away" Stefan said.

"No" Fae said, using her magic to throw Stefan's duvet on to the floor.

"Fae!" Stefan complained.

"Get up" Fae said, taking out a pocket knife from her pocket, "It's time for your breakfast".

"This couldn't wait?" Stefan asked, finally opening his eyes and looking at Fae.

"Nope" Fae replied, making a small cut on her hand, "I have a question first though".

"What?" Stefan asked, sitting up.

"Caroline and Brayden are going to pretend fight when they're out and about with each other, but what happens when Katherine finds out?" Fae asked, slightly worried.

"Well she threatened Sheriff Forbes, whose currently in our cellar, so I don't think there is a lot she could do" Stefan said.

"I hope you're right" Fae said, forwarding her hand towards Stefan.

Stefan looked at Fae, then grabbed her hand, and slowly drank her blood.

***

Caroline and Brayden walked down the stairs hand in hand.

"I'm going to check on my mom" Caroline said.

Before Caroline could walk way, Brayden grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, and placed a deep kiss on to her lips.

"Now you can go" Brayden whispered against Caroline's lips.

Caroline laughed and after placing one last kiss on Brayden's lips, she walked down to see her mother.

"You two are gross" Damon commented, walking down the stairs.

"No one likes a bitter single, brother" Brayden teased.

"Look whose finally in a good mood" Damon said, "Blondie really does effect your emotions".

"Tease me all you want Damon, but nothing you or anyone say is going to effect my good mood today" Brayden said, just as someone knocked on their front door.

"I think you might have jinxed it" Damon said, as Brayden went to open the door.

"Shut up" Brayden told his brother, opening the front door, Brayden saw Jeremy standing on the other, "Baby Gilbert, what a surprise, here to hang out with your new bestie?".

"I was hoping we could talk" Jeremy said.

"Everything okay?" Brayden asked, letting Jeremy in.

"I found some things out and I don't know who else to tell other then you" Jeremy replied.

"Well go on then" Brayden said, "I'm all ears".

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse, he's not a werewolf yet" Jeremy informed.

"Wow, fascinating, not enough" Damon said.

"Keep on going" Brayden told Jeremy.

"But Mason Lockwood is, and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend, that's why he's here" Jeremy continued.

"A moonstone?" Damon asked.

"That's some very interesting information" Brayden said, patting Jeremy's shoulder, "Good job, Jer".

"That's not all, I know where the moonstone is" Jeremy revealed.

"And you're bringing this to us, why?" Damon asked confused.

"Do I need a reason?" Jeremy asked, "Look, I just wanna help, okay?".

"What'd your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon asked curiously.

"Who cares" Brayden replied, "You wanted to know why Mason Lockwood is back in town, Jeremy just told you, now you don't have to sit there and scratch your head like an idiot wondering what Mason's agenda is".

"I don't scratch my head" Damon argued.

"Clearly you've never seen yourself in concentration mode" Brayden said, he then turned to Jeremy, "Want breakfast? I was just about to make pancakes for the Sheriff and Caroline".

"Always" Jeremy replied.

"Great, then you're helping me cook" Brayden stated.

Jeremy chuckled, "Fine" he said, following Brayden towards the kitchen.

***

Caroline entered the cellar, and immediately her eyes fell to the dinner Liz didn't eat.

"You didn't eat much" Caroline said, but Liz stayed quiet, "Well maybe you'll like the pancakes Jeremy and Brayden are making, I had a taste and they're really good", once again Liz said nothing, "There's some good news, Dr. Damon said the vervain's almost out of your system, so with any luck, you'll be freshly compelled, and back in your own bed by tonight", Liz once again didn't say anything, causing the smile on Caroline's face to fall, "Are you really just gonna pretend like I don't exist?".

Liz looked at Caroline, and after a moment, finally spoke, "Brayden said that you were murdered" she whispered, tears in her eyes, "Are you really dead?".

"Yes and no" Caroline replied, a small smile on her face, glad her mom was finally talking to her.

"How is it possible?" Liz asked confused, "Who killed you?".

Caroline sat down on the chair, and proceeded to tell her mother everything.

***

"God" Jeremy said, eating the pancakes, "You are a great cook".

"Thank you" Brayden said, "It's one of my many talents".

"No one likes a narcissistic Bray" Damon said.

"Caroline will disagree with you" Brayden said, just as Alaric entered the boarding house, "She not only likes me, but she's in love with me".

"Ric" Damon greeted, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"What are you doing here?" Alaric asked, confused seeing Jeremy at the boarding house.

"Eating pancakes" Brayden replied.

"That, and I was the one who found out about the moonstone" Jeremy said.

"Does Elena know you're here?" Alaric asked, concerned.

"Ugh, who cares, he's fine, he is no danger, and he's just trying to help, get over it and tell us what you found" Brayden said, making Jeremy give him a thankful smile.

"What's with the box?" Damon asked.

"This is Isobel's research from Duke, her assistant sent it to me" Alaric replied.

"Mm, Vanessa, the hottie" Damon remembered.

"Right, the one who shot an arrow at Damon" Brayden recalled, Damon having told him about him getting shot, but not that he took the arrow for Kaitlynn.

"Shut it" Damon snapped.

"Now do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?" Alaric asked Damon.

"Sun and the moon, blah, blah, blah?" Damon asked.

"The Aztec curse, cool" Jeremy said, slightly fascinated.

"Yes supposedly, vampires and werewolves used to roam freely, until a sharman put a curse on them to limit their power" Alaric informed, "Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun".

"Some of us" Brayden added, showing his daylight ring.

"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse, it's sealed with the moonstone" Alaric said, showing Jeremy an old drawing.

"What do you mean, sealed?" Jeremy asked confused.

"It's a witch thing" Damon replied, "Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse".

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse" Alaric suggested.

"I hate curses" Brayden mumbled, pouring himself a drink.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend, from a picture book, we're idiots" Damon said.

"And if we don't believe it, and it turns out to be the truth, then we're also idiots" Brayden said, he turned to Jeremy, "Do you know who was the stone right now?".

"Tyler" Jeremy replied.

"Can you get it?" Damon asked.

"Yeah" Jeremy replied.

"See? Now your life has purpose" Damon said.

"Just don't die" Brayden told Jeremy.

"So you two do believe it?" Jeremy asked the twins.

"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire" Damon replied.

"Ignoring it would just make us look like even bigger idiots then before" Brayden said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Damon asked, "Let's go, Stefan and Fae are already at the Lockwood's".

"You guys go, I'll meet you there" Brayden said, "I need to give Liz the pancakes and make sure she doesn't starve herself to death".

"Fine, we'll see you there" Damon said, Brayden nodded and with that Damon, Alaric and Jeremy left for the Lockwoods, while Brayden walked over to the kitchen.

***

"Knock, knock" Brayden said, knocking on the cellar door.

"You can come in Brayden" Caroline said.

Brayden opened the cellar door and gave Liz a small smile, "Uh, I made pancakes, thought you guys might want some".

Liz didn't say anything, just stared at the ground, while Caroline took the plate from Brayden.

"Thank you" Caroline said.

"Anytime, princess" Brayden said, "So, I'm going to go to the Lockwoods, I just wanted you to know".

"When will you be back?" Caroline asked.

"Soon" Brayden promised, placing a quick kiss on Caroline's head, he then turned to Liz, who was now looking at the two, "Um, I'll see you later, Liz".

"Bye" Caroline said, waving at Brayden as he walked away, "I never thought I'd see the day".

"What day?" Liz asked confused.

"Brayden is a very confident person" Caroline replied, "For the first time ever, I've seen Brayden Salvatore show signs of nervousness, he really wants you to like him".

"His a vampire, why does he care if I like him or not?" Liz asked.

"Because he loves me" Caroline replied, "And Brayden isn't the bad guy mom, he makes me happy, he's everything a girl could ask for, when I turned into a vampire, it was Brayden who stood by me, made sure I had complete and utter control over my bloodlust, I get you being scared of me, but don't be scared of him, he really does care about both of us".

After listening to Caroline, Liz didn't say anything, just let her words sink in.

***

"Hey, Stefan" Mason greeted, shocked seeing the youngest Salvatore alive and well.

"Hey, Mason" Stefan greeted.

"Wasn't excepting you here" Mason admitted, "Or anywhere".

"Yeah, I had this little accident" Stefan said, "But I'm fine now, so are my brothers".

Mason walked closer to Stefan, "What did you do to Sheriff Forbes?" he asked.

"Oh, she's fine too" Stefan replied, "But from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work".

"Not a problem" Mason stated, walking away from Stefan.

As Mason was walking away, he bumped right into Fae.

"Excuse me" Mason said, walking away.

"Oh my god" Fae whispered, looking at Mason's retreating figure.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked, walking over to Fae, "You okay?".

"When Kaitlynn met Mason, she felt like she saw him somewhere, now I know where" Fae whispered.

"Fae, what are you on about?" Stefan asked.

"When I touched him, I saw him, with Katherine" Fae revealed, "They were kissing, Stefan, and now I remember, a few months ago, me and Kaitlynn found out that Katherine was in Florida, so we went there to find her and keep an eye on her, where we saw her with this surfer dude, that guy was Mason, we just forgot about because we didn't really pay much attention to him then".

"We need to tell Damon and Brayden" Stefan said, Fae nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to call Kaitlynn as well" Fae said, pulling out her phone as the two vampires ran to the find the twins.

***

"Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?" Damon asked shocked, as Stefan told his brothers everything Fae told him, while Fae went to find Kaitlynn.

"We missed it, he got into town right after she did, it makes perfect sense" Stefan replied.

"But seriously, Mason, a werewolf?" Brayden asked shocked, "Something doesn't add up, I mean since when does Katherine Pierce go after surfers?".

"She's gotta be using him, she has to be" Damon said.

"Using him for what?" Stefan asked.

"Mason's here to find something called a moonstone" Brayden informed, "According to legend, the moonstone can break the full moon werewolf curse".

"Maybe Katherine wants it as well" Damon added.

"Why?" Stefan asked confused.

"Well--" Damon started, "No idea, that's the beauty of Katherine, she's always up to something".

"Okay, never compliment that bitch infront of me" Brayden snapped, "If I find her, I'm going to rip her heart out and mail to her werewolf boy toy as a birthday present".

"You don't even know Mason's birthday" Damon said.

"I'll find out" Brayden snapped.

"Guys stop" Stefan said, "We need to find the moonstone before Mason or Katherine do".

"No need, Jeremy's already getting it from Junior Mason" Brayden said.

"Tyler" Damon clarified, "Jeremy's getting the moonstone from Tyler".

"Why would you two involve Jeremy?" Stefan asked.

"He's playing Indiana Jones, he involved himself" Damon defended.

"And to be fair to him, he found out what we couldn't" Brayden said.

***

"Fae" Stefan called out, as the three brothers walked over to Fae and Kaitlynn.

"There you three are" Fae said.

"Fae, since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them" Stefan said.

"If we're getting an upper hand on Katherine, I want in" Kaitlynn said.

"What do you want me to do?" Fae asked the brothers.

Before Stefan could say anything, his phone started ringing, "It's Elena" he informed.

"Hang up on her" Brayden stated.

"Can you two play nice, please?" Stefan pleaded.

"Nice?" Brayden asked, "What's that?".

"Just don't say anything Brayden like" Stefan replied, walking away from the group.

"There's a reason our phones have the hang up button!" Brayden yelled, as his brother answered Elena's call.

"Are they still together?" Fae asked suddenly.

Brayden smirked, "Why Fae? You feeling jealous?".

"No" Fae replied quickly, "I'm just curious".

"Well, to answer your curiosity, no, they're not together anymore" Damon said.

"Meaning Stefan is all yours" Brayden assured.

"I don't want him" Fae lied.

"No one likes liars Fae" Kaitlynn said.

"Shut up" Fae snapped, she then turned to the twins, "What's the plan?".

"All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again, see if he gave Katherine the moonstone" Damon replied.

"Yeah, witch visions don't work like that" Fae said, "No witch gets to ask any questions on what they see".

"Then what's the point of you having visions if you can't control them?" Brayden asked, annoyed.

"Although, let's talk about that witchy juju thing your descendant has a habit of doing on me, you know the fun one where my brain bursts into flames" Damon said, "What is that?".

"That, my friend, is Bonnie giving you an aneurism" Fae replied.

"Well, is an aneurism only for vampires?" Brayden asked, realising where Damon was taking this.

"No" Fae replied, "That spell would work on anyone".

"Excellent" Brayden said, a smirk forming on his face.

***

"Hey, can you move your car, I'm blocked in" Mason told one of the workers, stepping out of the Lockwood mansion, his attention then went towards the truck where Fae was trying to get out a massive table, "Hey, how'd you get stuck doing that by yourself?" he asked, running over to Fae.

"Cause everyone else bailed" Fae replied, "They're stupid dickheads if you ask me".

"Here, let me give you a hand" Mason said, grabbing the table from Fae.

After making sure no one was around, Fae used her magic to gave Mason an aneurism, causing him to hold his head and fall to the ground in pain, Kaitlynn speeded over to him and kicked him, knocking him out.

"Knocking a guy out in heels, can I get anymore badass?" Kaitlynn asked.

Fae chuckled, "You're always badass".

"Yes I am" Kaitlynn said, as Damon, Brayden and Stefan walked over.

"If you two are done, then get in his truck" Brayden said.

The two girls nodded and sat in Mason's truck, while the three brothers carried Mason and placed him in the trunk.

***

"So I mainly drink from blood bags" Caroline told her mother, "It's not as good as the fresh stuff, but it beats the animal blood that Stefan's been trying to get me to drink, but Brayden is strictly against that, he said if I drink animal blood then I will most likely lose control and hurt someone, so no animal blood for me cause I don't want to hurt anyone"

"So you steal the blood from the hospital?" Liz asked.

"Damon and Brayden do" Caroline clarified, "I've been pilfering their supply".

"As long as you have blood, you don't need to kill?" Liz asked.

"I want to, it's my basic nature now" Caroline admitted, not wanting to lie to her mother, "But on a healthy diet, and if Brayden's around, I can control it, I'm getting better at it, I'm better than Stefan, he's a bit of a problem drinker, but to be fair, with Fae around he's getting better as well".

"I don't want this for you" Liz admitted.

Caroline nodded, "I know, but mom, I fell in love with a vampire, maybe not so soon but one day, I think I would have willingly turned into a vampire to be with Brayden forever" Caroline admitted.

"You love Brayden that much?" Liz asked shocked.

"Yeah" Caroline whispered, "If it came down to it, if it was possible, I know just for my happiness, Brayden would turn human, no matter how much he loves being a vampire, for my happiness he would do anything", suddenly Caroline heard the door shut, "Speaking of the devil, Damon and Brayden are home".

***

"There's nothing but chains in his bag" Kaitlynn informed, placing Mason's bag on the chair, while Brayden and Damon placed him on to a chair.

"Hey, you two, grab a corner each" Brayden ordered.

"What's this for?" Fae asked, as her and Kaitlynn helped Brayden and Damon spread the sheet across the carpet.

"I'm not letting the mutt stain my Persian carpet" Brayden stated.

"Why am I not surprised?" Kaitlynn mumbled.

"He's not going be out much longer" Fae said, placing her hands on Mason's head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Brayden asked confused, as Damon started using Mason's chain to secure him to the chair.

"Trying to see if I can find the moonstone" Fae replied.

"Oh, good, yeah, find out if he gave it to Katherine, find out where she is" Damon said, "And find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it".

"It's like you don't listen to anyone but yourself" Kaitlynn said, "She literally told you she can't control her visions".

"Well, she can find an answer to at least one of these questions" Damon said.

"It's in a small dark place" Fae said, looking into Mason's head, "There's water".

"Like a sewer?" Damon asked.

"Makes sense, I mean that's where he belongs" Brayden replied, glaring at Mason.

"No, it's a well" Fae realised.

"Why would it be in a well?" Damon asked confused.

Fae opened her eyes, "That's all I've got" she replied.

"Alright, Fae, you and I, we're going to find that well" Brayden said, "Kaitlynn and Damon, stay here and babysit the mutt".

"I never signed up for babysitting duties" Kaitlynn said.

"You wanted to help?" Brayden asked, "That's how, let's go Fae".

"You're rude!" Kaitlynn yelled, as Brayden walked out.

"Thank you!" Brayden yelled back.

***

"Hey, where are you two going?" Caroline asked.

"Trying to find a well" Brayden replied.

"A well?" Caroline asked confused.

"Long story" Brayden replied, "How's your mom?".

Caroline smiled, "Good, she's good, I think she's finally starting to understand everything".

"That's good" Brayden said.

"Caroline, you grew up here, is there by any chance you might know where a old well might be?" Fae asked.

"I mean, I used to play by a old well when I was a kid" Caroline replied.

"Do you remember where that well was?" Brayden asked.

"Yeah, I do" Caroline replied, "It's on the edge of the old Lockwood property".

"God, I love you" Brayden said, placing a kiss on Caroline's lip, "I'll see you tonight".

"I'll come with you" Caroline said.

"You need to be with your mom" Brayden said, "I'll be fine, it's a stupid well, it can't hurt me".

"My mom needs some time to process everything" Caroline said, "Let me help you guys find the moonstone, and give her some time to process the fact that her daughter's a vampire".

"Alright, let's go before Katherine somehow finds out" Brayden said.

"Where are you guys going?" Jeremy asked, walking into the boarding house.

"Baby Gilbert, you're with us, I'll explain everything on the way" Brayden replied.

"Okay then" A slightly confused Jeremy said, following Brayden out.

***

"This is it" Caroline said, leading the group towards the well.

"You guys think the moonstone is down there?" Jeremy asked.

"Only one way to find out" Brayden replied, breaking the lock and removing the gate from the well.

"Here" Caroline said, handing Brayden a torch, "And be careful, you don't know what's down there".

"Relax princess, I'll be fine" Brayden assured, jumping on the edge of the well.

"Brayden, I don't know about this" Caroline said, a bad feeling in her heart.

"I'll only be down there for a few minutes" Brayden assured, Caroline sighed but nonetheless nodded, and Brayden jumped into the well.

"Hey" Stefan said, running over to the group, "Where's Brayden?".

"He just went into the well" Fae replied.

As soon as Brayden's skin touched the water, his skin started burning, making him scream in pain, "Aah!".

"Brayden!" Caroline yelled, as the group of four stood by the edge and looked down, worried hearing Brayden's scream.

"Vervain!" Brayden yelled, trying to climb out of the well but failing.

"Oh my god" Caroline whispered, "Stefan, we need to get him out of there!".

"I know, Caroline" Stefan said, equally as worried, "But we're vampires, we can't go in".

"I'm human" Jeremy said, "I can save him".

"You sure?" Fae asked.

Jeremy nodded, "I'll save him" he replied.

***

Stefan tied the chain around Jeremy's waist, "Alright, I'm going to slowly bring you down, after your in the water, tie the chains around Brayden and we'll pull him up, then you, clear?".

"Clear" Jeremy said, holding on to the chairs as Stefan slowly reeled Jeremy down into the well.

When Jeremy reached the bottom of the well, he was met with an unconscious Brayden, he quickly removed his face from the water and realised it was all burned, without wasting any time, Jeremy tied the chain around Brayden's waist.

"Jeremy, hurry please!" Caroline pleaded.

"Pull him up!" Jeremy yelled.

Without wasting any second, Stefan started pulling Brayden up, while Jeremy grabbed Brayden's torch, and started looking around for the moonstone.

"Jeremy, you ready!?" Fae yelled.

"Give me a second!" Jeremy yelled, as his eyes landed on a chain, pulling the chain up, Jeremy came across a wooden box, which he didn't waste a second in grabbing, "Alright guys, pull me up!" he yelled, grabbing on to the chain.

Stefan quickly reeled Jeremy back up.

"Here" Jeremy said, handing the box to Stefan, he then turned to Brayden, who was still unconscious, "Is he okay?".

"He won't wake up" Caroline cried, as her and Fae kneeled beside Brayden, "Come on Brayden! Wake up! Please wake up!".

"Caroline, he needs blood" Fae said, "He needs blood to heal".

Without wasting any time, Caroline bit into her wrist, and put it near Brayden's mouth, which after a moment, Brayden started drinking.

"It's okay" Caroline cried, seeing Brayden slowly open his eyes, "You're going to be okay".

***

"Mom, you don't get it, I've never felt so scared in my life" Caroline cried, "Brayden was all burnt and he was unconscious and I thought I was going to lose him, but then Fae said he needed blood so I gave him my blood, and thank the god, he's okay now, he's actually down here, busy drinking blood bags to gain his strength again".

"You're different" Liz whispered, "I don't remember you being this strong, and this confident before".

"Yeah well, before I didn't have someone who pushed me to be the better version of me" Caroline admitted.

Liz looked at Caroline with teary eyes, "You don't have to take my memories away" she said, "I'll keep yours and Brayden's secret, I'll never do anything to hurt you Caroline".

"I think she's right" Brayden said, entering the cellar.

"Brayden--".

"You can't compel her Caroline, she's your mom, she deserves to know what her daughter has been through, she deserve to know this new you, without any secrets and lies" Brayden said.

"She said she will keep mine and your secret" Caroline said, tears in her eyes, "But what if she tells everyone about Stefan and Damon?".

Brayden sighed and turned to Liz, "You have every right to hate vampires, some of us are the monsters that people think we are, but they are good vampires as well, like my brothers and Caroline and Fae, and unfortunately even Kaitlynn, I'm not going to lie to you and say I'm a good vampire, because I'm not, I kill people, if anyone even dares looks at your daughter the wrong way, you can trust that the next they won't be found, and I'm not going to be cheesy and say your daughter changed me because she didn't, she just reminded me that the hot headed Brayden Salvatore, does have it in him to be good, so because of that, I'm not going to compel you and neither is Caroline, you are free to go and whether you want to tell the Council about me and my brothers thats your decision, and if you want to kill us, you know where to find us, just know, your daughter is good at being a vampire, if you're going to believe anything that I just said, then believe that you are very lucky that your the mother of Caroline Forbes".

Brayden looked at Caroline, who was looking at him with teary eyes, he didn't say anything else, just gave Caroline a small smile, and walked away, leaving the mother daughter duo all alone.

***

As soon as Brayden entered the living room, Damon speeded over to him and punched him in the face.

"Ow!" Brayden complained, rubbing his jaw, "What the hell was that for?".

"That was for jumping into a well without realising what was in it first" Damon snapped.

Brayden smirked, "Aww, were you scared you were going to lose your twin?".

Damon glared at Brayden, then shoved him, "You're not funny" he snapped.

"Damon, I'm fine, I'm standing infront of you, all healed up" Brayden assured,

"You know, you're lucky for the first time in your life you used your brain and took Jeremy with you, what would have happened if there was no one to help you?" Damon asked.

Brayden shrugged, "Then I would have died" he said simply.

Hearing Brayden, Damon punched him again.

"Okay!" Brayden yelled, "Stop with bloody punches!".

"I know your life means nothing to you Brayden, but it means a lot to the people around" Damon snapped.

Brayden sighed, "I didn't purposely jump into the well full of vervain" he defended, for the first time in years feeling like he was the younger brother.

"You should have checked" Damon argued.

"How?" Brayden asked, "How was I suppose to check?".

"I don't know" Damon snapped, "But you were an idiot for jumping into a well without knowing what was inside of it".

"But we got the moonstone, didn't we?" Brayden argued.

"Given the moonstone or my twin brother's life, I'd choose you everytime" Damon snapped.

Brayden smiled, "I know you're angry, but you got to admit, these nearly death experiences let us know how much we care for each other".

Damon shoved Brayden, "Go to hell".

"Not without you, brother" Brayden said, his eyes then landed behind Damon, when Mason's dead body was wrapped in a sheet, "You killed him?!" he asked shocked.

"Yeap" Damon replied.

"Please tell me you got answers before you ripped his heart out" Brayden said.

"Of course I did" Damon said.

"Where did Kaitlynn go?" Brayden asked, "I thought she was babysitting you".

"She was, but she got angry at me for killing Mason, so after staking me in the stomach, she left" Damon replied.

"She staked you?" Brayden asked, amused.

"Don't start" Damon warned, as Stefan entered the room.

"You let Kaitlynn stake you" Brayden said, laughing.

"I didn't let her stake me, she staked me without my permission" Damon snapped, making Brayden laugh even harder, causing Damon to turn to an amused Stefan, "Ignore him, and please tell me that him nearly dying was worth it".

Stefan pulled out the moonstone from his pocket, and threw it at Damon, who easily caught it, "We got it" he said.

"All this for you?" Damon asked, observing the rock.

"Yeap" Stefan replied, "I see you've exercised your usual restraint".

"Had to be done" Damon said simply, grabbing Mason's phone, "Carol, big opportunity in Florida, gonna be gone, for a long time, will send for my things once I get settled, much love, Mason" he typed out.

"Let's get rid of the body" Stefan said.

"No can do" Brayden said, laying on the couch, "I'm exhausted, you two can do that".

"You're not exhausted, you're lazy" Stefan said.

"Same thing" Brayden said, closing his eyes and putting an arm over his head.

"Ooh, last number dialed" Damon said, going through Mason's phone, gaining both his brother's attention, "I wonder who that could possibly be".

"No, no, no, don't provoke her" Stefan warned.

"Call her" Brayden said, sitting up.

"Damon, no" Stefan said, running to grab the phone from his brother, but it was too late as Damon had already called Katherine.

"Mason, you should've been here an hour ago" Katherine said through the phone.

"Wrong boy toy" Damon said, slapping Stefan's hand away from him.

"Damon" Katherine said shocked, "For once, you've surprised me, I assume Mason's with you?".

"He's right beside me, although his heart's across the room" Damon replied, shocking Katherine.

"You shouldn't have" Katherine said.

"I've had a very busy day today" Damon said, "Killed a werewolf, found the moonstone, hey did you know that he hid the moonstone in a bottom of a well full of vervain? Guess he didn't trust you very much, although he did love you, poor guy, hey where are you? Because I can bring him over, last goodbyes and all that".

"You have no idea what you've just done" Katherine said.

"Aww, did I put a kink in your master plan?" Damon asked, "I'm so sorry".

"Do you honestly believe that I don't have a plan B?" Katherine asked, "And if that fails, a plan C, then a plan D, and, you know how the alphabet works, don't you?".

Before Damon could say anything Brayden snatched the phone from him.

"Listen here you bitch" Brayden said, "Every plan you have, I'm going to ruin it, you did a huge mistake by coming back to Mystic Falls Katherine, threatening the love of my life and her mother, that's the biggest mistake of your life, because as soon I see you, I'm going to rip your heart out and feed it to you, you better pray to whoever you pray to, that you and I never come face to face, because then I'm going to do everything I have planned for you, and spoiler alert it will get very bloody".

Without hearing another word, Brayden hanged up on Katherine.

"Well, if Katherine wasn't scared then, she's definitely scared now" Damon commented.

"No one comes after the people I care about and gets out of it alive" Brayden replied.

Stefan smiled, "Mom gave you the right nickname".

"What?" Brayden asked.

"Remember, when we were kids, mom gave us nicknames" Stefan replied, "Damon was the attacker, I was the defender and you were the protector, cause you've always protected everyone".

"I can't believe you remember that" Brayden said, a sad smile on his face while remembering his mother.

"Don't pretend like you forgot" Stefan said.

The three brothers sat infront of the fireplace, in silence, all three going through different memories of their childhood together.

***

While the brothers were drinking and talking about their childhood, Brayden's phone started ringing.

"Jeremy, hey" Brayden greeted, "Where are you? I never got to thank you for saving my life".

"Katherine went after Jenna" Jeremy informed, shocking the brothers.

"What?" Brayden asked.

"Katherine compelled Jenna to stab herself" Jeremy cried.

The three brothers exchanged an alarmed look, realising what Katherine's plan B was.

***

Presenting 2x06 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Fae and Kaitlynn helping the brothers capture Mason?

Thoughts on Brayden stopping Caroline from compelling Liz? I just didn't like the way Liz found out about the vampires in the show, which is why I went with this route.

Thoughts on Jeremy saving Brayden from the vervain well? I knew it's new, but their friendship is already everything to me.

Thoughts on Katherine compelling Jenna to stab herself because of the brothers killing Mason and getting the moonstone?