02. The Hybrid

"What do you want now?" Damon asked, seeing Caroline enter his room.

"Brayden called me" Caroline informed, getting straight to the point.

Damon looked at Caroline in shock, "What?" he asked, thinking he didn't hear Caroline correctly.

"Brayden, your twin brother" Caroline reminded, "He called me last night".

"What did he say?" Damon asked, "Is he okay?".

Caroline shook her head, "He's not okay" she replied, "He told me that he just wants to shut it off and not feel a thing, he's hurting Damon, we need to find him now more then ever, he needs us, without us, he's going to turn it off then we might never get him back, so I asked my mom to trace where the call came from, and she told me that the call came from Tennessee".

"Where Brayden is with Klaus, who thinks your dead, so let's not risk it Caroline" Damon said, "I already told you, Brayden is gone, and I don't mean geographically".

"He's not gone yet" Caroline snapped, "There is still a chance Damon, a chance to bring him back to us, out of everyone, I thought you would be the person who would help me bring Brayden back home".

Damon looked at Caroline, various emotions flickering through his eyes, "The Brayden you knew is gone Caroline" he finally said after a moment of silence.

"No" Caroline said, "He's not gone, he is still there, all I have to do is bring him home".

Without hearing anything else from Damon, Caroline walked out of his room, leaving behind a conflicted Damon.

***

Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

"Are you okay?" Klaus asked Stefan, who was carrying a dead Ray on his back, while him, Klaus and Brayden walked up the Smoky Mountains, looking for Ray's pack, "Is Ray getting heavy?".

"I'm fine" Stefan snapped.

"You sure about that?" Klaus asked, trying to push Stefan's buttons, "You know, we've been walking for quite some time now, do you need some water or a little sit-down?".

"Okay, you know what, I get that us three are stuck together on this stupid hike, but that does not mean I have to hear your voice, so kindly, shut it" Brayden snapped.

"So much anger" Klaus teased, making Brayden give him the middle finger, "Your anger is going to get you killed one day, Brayden".

"Can't wait" Brayden said simply.

"I think my brother is angry because both of us are a little tired of hunting werewolves" Stefan said, "We've been at it all summer".

"And thanks to our pal, Ray, we've found ourselves a pack" Klaus informed, as they arrived at a campsite full of werewolves.

Stefan walked forward, gaining everybody's attention, who were shocked seeing a dead Ray on Stefan's shoulders.

"Ray, oh my god" A girl said, running over to Ray's body, after Stefan dropped him to the ground, "What's going on?", the girl then looked at Stefan and Brayden, "Who are you two?".

"The important question is, who am I?" Klaus interrupted, making Brayden roll his eyes, "Please forgive the intrusion, my name is Klaus".

"You're the hybrid" the girl realised, stepping back from the trio.

Klaus smirked, "You've heard of me, fantastic".

"And here I thought his ego couldn't get any bigger" Brayden mumbled.

***

After realising Damon was going to be no help, Caroline and Fae, along with Kaitlynn, who refused to let the two girls go and bring Stefan and Brayden by themselves, sat in the Grill talking to Tyler.

"A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon" Tyler informed the trio, "Chain ourselves up, but there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it".

"What kind of places?" Kaitlynn asked curiously.

"Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff" Tyler replied.

"Any place in Tennessee that werewolves might like to gather?" Fae asked.

"Yeah, here, give me your phone, I'll try to pull up a map" Tyler replied, taking Fae's phone from her.

"Thank you so much for this, Tyler" Fae said, grateful for the werewolf infront of him.

"As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan and Brayden are in this mess because I bit Damon" Tyler said.

"Exactly" Caroline said, making Kaitlynn chuckle while Fae glared at the two girls.

"It wasn't your fault" Fae assured Tyler, "You weren't in control, no one blames you for this".

Tyler gave Fae a small smile, "Here" he said, showing the phone to the three girls, "That's your best bet".

Caroline looked at the phone, then at her two friends, all three having determined expressions on their faces, they were determined to bring Stefan and Brayden back home, no matter what.

***

"It's fascinating, actually" Klaus said, "A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun, a true hybrid".

"Your beer sucks" Brayden said, taking a sip of the beer he managed to find.

Klaus rolled his eyes at the middle Salvatore, but before he could say anything to him, Ray woke up with a gasp, "Excellent timing, Ray" Klaus praised, "Very dramatic".

"What's happening to me?" A terrified Ray asked.

Klaus didn't say anything, just turned to the brothers, who got his hint, "Are any of you human?" Stefan asked, "Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire, if he doesn't get it, he will die".

"Doesn't take much" Klaus assured, "Just a sip, anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend along for the ride".

Brayden's eyes landed on a guy, who he could tell was human by just looking at him, causing a smirk to form on his face and without any warning Brayden speeded over to him and bit into his wrist and then shoved him towards Stefan, who held him near Ray.

"No!" A girl yelled, but Klaus quickly grabbed her before she could stop Ray from drinking her boyfriend's blood.

"You don't drink it, Ray, I will" Stefan said, "Problem is, I don't know how to stop".

"It's the new order, sweetheart" Klaus said, "You join us or you die".

"I'd rather die than be a vampire" the girl spat.

"Oh come on, we're not that bad" Brayden said, slightly offended, "I mean we are certainly better then you annoying little mutts".

Klaus looked at Brayden, "Really?" he asked, "Now, you choose to taunt me?".

"It's not a taunt, it's a fact" Brayden replied.

Klaus, deciding it was best to ignore Brayden, turned back to the girl, he bit into his wrist and forced his blood down her throat and then snapped her neck, killing her, while on the other hand, Ray also bit into the guy's wrist, completing his transition into a vampire.

Klaus smirked and turned to the rest of the terrified werewolves, "Okay, who's next?".

***

"In a couple hours, the full moon's gonna rise just above the ridge" Alaric informed the three girls, as they trekked up the smoky mountains, the three girls having emotionally blackmailed him to join them, "If Tyler's right, that's where the pack will be".

"Great" Fae said.

"Can we take a break?" Kaitlynn asked.

"How are you tired?" Caroline asked, "You're a vampire".

"Vampire or not, no one likes trekking for hours" Kaitlynn replied, as the group stopped near a lake.

"Wow, you are definitely prepared" Fae commented, seeing all the weapons in Alaric's bag.

"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching" Alaric said, taking a grenade out of his bag, "Here" he handed it over to Caroline, "Put that in your bag".

"Vervain grenade?" Caroline asked.

"Wolfsbane" Alaric corrected, making Caroline nod in understanding.

"Do you think we have time for a swim?" Kaitlynn asked, looking at the lake.

Before anyone could reply, someone speeded behind Kaitlynn and pushed her into the lake, shocking everyone, but they all breathed a sigh relief when they realised it wasn't a werewolf or Klaus, it was just Damon.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kaitlynn yelled, looking at a smug Damon.

"How the hell did you find us?" Fae asked, knowing all to well that none of the girls told him about their location.

Damon glanced at Alaric, "Thanks for the tip, brother" he said, letting the girls know that Alaric had informed Damon about their trip.

"So you just sold us out like this?" Caroline asked Alaric.

"You think I'd take you three to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" Alaric asked.

"He isn't backup, he is a nuisance" Kaitlynn snapped.

"And we don't need backup, we are very much capable of defending ourselves" Fae said.

"Exactly!" Caroline said, nodding in agreement, while Alaric and Damon just rolled their eyes at the three girls.

***

"There" Klaus said, feeding the human boy some of his blood in order to heal him, "Good as new, now you relax, okay, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up".

"They're dead" Ray cried, as Klaus walked over to him, "They're all dead".

"Well, he's through his transition, he should be feeling better soon" Klaus informed.

"So is this your master plan?" Stefan asked, "Build an army of hybrid slaves?".

"No, not slaves, soldiers" Klaus replied, "Comrades".

"Soldiers are needed in war" Brayden said, "We aren't in war, or is there something you would like to tell us? Are we in some kind of war, Klaus, a war you're not telling us about?".

"No Brayden, we are not" Klaus replied, making Brayden narrow his eyes at him, not believing a word that came out of the hybrids mouth, "You don't arm yourself after war has been declared, you build your army so big that no one ever dares pick the fight".

"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team" Klaus replied, "That's something you both will learn once you two shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulders".

"First of all, don't try to analyze our behavior, you're failing horribly" Brayden said, "Second of all, is that why me and my brother are still tolerating you, so you can see our attitude change?".

"You two will know why I'm keeping you both around, when I've decided that I want you guys to know" Klaus said, checking Ray's eyes, from which blood had started to come out, "Something's wrong".

"Huh" Stefan said, observing Ray, "That shouldn't be happening, should it?".

"Well, obviously" Klaus snapped.

***

"Get out of the water, Kaitlynn" Damon demanded.

"Kaitlynn, stay in the water" Caroline ordered.

"The only way Kaitlynn is coming out of this water is if you promise to not force us to go home" Fae told Damon.

"Not happening" Damon snapped, "I'm not an idiot like you three".

"Right now, all of you are acting like idiots" Alaric said.

"They're your brothers, Damon" Kaitlynn said, "You can't just give up on them like this".

"I didn't give up on them, Kaitlynn" Damon said, "I faced reality, which you should help Fae and Caroline face, not encourage their stupid little wish".

"It's not a stupid little wish, Damon" Caroline snapped, glaring at the oldest Salvatore.

Damon ignored Caroline and turned to Kaitlynn, "Get out of the water".

Kaitlynn looked at Fae and Caroline, then at Damon, "No" she stated.

"What is your guys big plan, Kaitlynn?" Damon asked, walking into the lake and stopping right infront of the Kaitlynn, "You three are gonna walk into a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow and wait for Stefan and Brayden to stop by?".

"My plan is to find your brothers and reunite them with my best friends" Kaitlynn replied.

"Damon, please" Fae pleaded, "For the first time, we actually know where they're going to be, we can get to them before we lose them again".

"We're not going home, Damon" Caroline added, "Not until we at least see them".

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse, Caroline" Damon snapped, "That makes you safe and Brayden happy, this? This is not safe, and once Brayden finds out about you risking your life like this, I assure you, he's not gonna make out with you, he's going to be majorly pissed".

"I don't care if he's pissed" Caroline snapped, "I am not leaving until I find him".

"It's a full moon tonight" Damon reminded the three girls, "And all three of you are vampires, the number one target of all werewolves currently present in this mountain".

"We'll find them before the moon is full" Kaitlynn assured.

"Please, Damon" Fae pleaded.

Damon hesitated, then after a moment, said, "Okay, but we're out of here before the moon's full and all of us are werewolf bait".

"Deal" Kaitlynn said.

"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kissy thing" Damon said.

"What happened to not mentioning that?!" Kaitlynn snapped.

Damon shrugged and walked out the lake, and an annoyed Kaitlynn following behind.

***

"You said it was gonna feel better" A shivering Ray said, "Why doesn't it feel better?".

"Some master race" Stefan taunted, making Brayden chuckle.

"Lose the attitude" Klaus told the brothers, in no mood for any of their taunts, just as another werewolf woke up with a gasp, "Derek, come feed your girlfriend".

While Klaus's attention was on Derek, Ray took this opportunity to run away.

"Go get him" Klaus ordered the brothers.

While Stefan speeded after Ray, Brayden took his sweet time, he could care less about catching Ray, he just wanted to get away from Klaus, especially since first time all summer, he could sense his soulmate.

***

As Ray was running away, he was suddenly tackled to the floor by Stefan, but he ended up biting Stefan's arm and once again ran away.

"Are you mad?!" Brayden yelled, finally coming and getting shocked seeing the bite mark on his brother's arm.

"I'm fine" Stefan assured.

"Yeah, I can see that" Brayden said sarcastically.

"We need to find Ray" Stefan said.

"No, we need to get you that assholes blood" Brayden retorted.

Stefan opened his mouth to say something, but both him and Brayden froze when they heard familiar voices.

"How you three doing?" They heard Damon ask.

"Shut up" Kaitlynn snapped, still annoyed at him for bringing their kiss up.

"I'm fine" Fae said.

"I'm hungry" Caroline said.

"For blood bag, or curly fries?" Kaitlynn asked.

"Both" Caroline replied.

Brayden and Stefan stood on top of the hill, where they saw a clear view of the group, but they couldn't see them, seeing Caroline and Fae, both Brayden and Stefan had to restrain themselves from running towards them.

"Where did he go?" Klaus asked, walking over to the brothers, causing both of them to panic, realising Klaus was going to see Caroline if they don't stop him.

"He's gone, let's go from here" Brayden said, standing infront of Klaus and blocking him from seeing Caroline.

Klaus ignored Brayden and turned to Stefan, "A fatal werewolf bite" he realised, "Ouch".

"Yeah, I'm gonna need your blood to heal me" Stefan said.

"Well, I tell you what, you two find Ray and then I'll heal you" Klaus said.

"Are you serious?" Brayden asked, glaring at Klaus.

"You better hurry Brayden, your brother's bite looks nasty" Klaus said, letting Brayden know he was very serious.

***

"We've got about a mile left" Alaric informed the group.

"Sun's about to set" Damon reminded.

"We're not blind" Kaitlynn snapped.

"I'm just saying" Damon defended.

"We have time before the moon reaches it's apex" Fae said, "We're going to be fine".

As the group were walking, they suddenly came across a delirious Ray.

"Stay where you are" Alaric warned, holding his crossbow up.

Ray ignored Alaric and instead looked towards Damon, Kaitlynn, Fae and Caroline, "Vampires" he realised.

"Heretic, actually" Fae corrected.

"Really?" Caroline asked Fae, "You want to correct him now?!".

Before the two girls could say anything else, Ray went to charge at them but Damon quickly grabbed him and shoved him to a tree.

Kaitlynn quickly grabbed Caroline's bag and took out the wolfsbane grenade and took the pin out, "Damon, catch!" she yelled, throwing the grenade towards the oldest Salvatore, who easily caught it and held it infront of Ray's face, who yelled in pain once the grenade exploded on his face.

"Let me guess, hybrid" Alaric said, once Ray was unconscious.

"A very weird hybrid" Fae said.

***

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer" Damon said, as Alaric tied Ray to the tree while the three girls placed a rope on the floor and dosed it with vervain water, "What else do we have?".

"Ric, use these on him" Caroline said, using a stick to hand Alaric the vervain soaked ropes.

"Aah! Ow!" Damon yelled, once his hand came in contact with the rope.

"I don't remember your name being Ric" Kaitlynn said, making Damon give her a mock smile.

"All right, that's the last of the vervain" Alaric said, taking the vervain ropes from Caroline and tying it around Ray, "We don't have enough stuff to hold him, I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon".

"If he talks, we won't have to make it to the ridge" Fae said, just as Ray woke up with a gasp and suddenly started screaming in pain.

"Is he turning?" A shocked Damon asked.

"That's not possible though, the sun is still up" Caroline replied.

"Tell him that" Alaric said, as Ray started to turn into a werewolf.

"Dammit!" Kaitlynn yelled, "These werewolfs aren't supposed to turn yet".

"You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold a wolf" Alaric said, as Damon tried to contain Ray, who kept trying to bite him.

"Damon, we have to get out of these mountains, now!" Kaitlynn yelled, "Let's go!".

Damon nodded, and after letting go of Ray, the group quickly ran away, leaving behind a screaming werewolf.

***

As the group was speeding away, Kaitlynn was suddenly thrown to the floor by Ray, who was now fully transformed into a werewolf, Fae quickly used her magic to fling the werewolf away from her best friend, while Caroline helped Kaitlynn stand up.

Seeing the werewolf about to charge back to the girls, Damon quickly grabbed his attention, "Here, doggy, doggy" he taunted, speeding away from the girls, and making sure the werewolf followed him.

"Come on, let's keep moving" Alaric told the shocked girls.

"We can't just leave Damon" Kaitlynn said, worried for the oldest Salvatore.

"We need to help him" Caroline said, equally worried.

"He can handle himself" Alaric assured, "Let's move!".

"He can handle the werewolf better with us by his side" Fae retorted.

"If Damon gets bit, then that's on us, Ric" Kaitlynn said, "He's here because of us three, we need to help him".

"No Kaitlynn, I'm the reason he's out here" Alaric snapped, "I told him where we were, and I'm telling you three to keep moving, let's go".

The three girls exchanged worried looks, but after some hesitation, they decided to follow Alaric towards the car, really hoping Damon wasn't going to get bit tonight.

***

Damon walked in the woods, trying to make his way back to the car without gaining any werewolves attention, having somehow lost Ray. Just as Damon thought he was in the clear, he heard a twig snap, causing him to look around in worry, when all of a sudden he was thrown to the floor by Ray, Damon quickly stood up and punched Ray in the face, Ray went to punch Damon but he quickly dodged his punches, he tried to tackle Ray to the ground but Ray kicked him away and ran over to him, but Damon quickly grabbed him and tried to keep him away, but it was proving very hard as it seemed Ray was determined to bite Damon.

All of a sudden, Brayden speeded behind Ray and ripped his heart out.

"Fancy meeting you here" Damon told his brother, as he dropped Ray's heart to the ground.

"Did Stefan not tell you not to follow us anymore?!" Brayden snapped, glaring at his brother.

"Might wanna take it up with both your girlfriends" Damon said, "You don't want Caroline chasing you, I'd stop with the late-night phone calls".

"It was a moment of weakness" Brayden defended, "Trust me, it won't happen again".

"Liar" Damon said, "Admit it Brayden, you need her, you can't survive without her and she's not going to give up on you, and Fae's not going to give up on Stefan".

"Well they both have to" Brayden snapped, "If we decide to come back home, Klaus finds out about Caroline being alive, and I can't let that happen, you need to make Caroline and Fae realise that me and Stefan are gone, we are never coming back home, now get lost and make sure the girls get home safely, and this time make sure all three of them stay put".

Damon opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get any words out, Brayden had speeded away.

***

"Are you okay?!" Kaitlynn asked, running over to Damon after seeing him walk over to the car.

"Please tell me you're bite free" Caroline said.

"Say something, Damon" Fae snapped.

"I will if you guys would let me speak, Fae" Damon snapped back.

"Are you okay or not?" Kaitlynn asked, checking for any werewolf bite on Damon.

"I'm fine, bite-free, get back in the car" Damon ordered.

"Can you just wait and let it sink in that you're okay" Kaitlynn snapped, causing Fae and Caroline to exchange a look, both surprised hearing the worry in Kaitlynn's voice for Damon.

"I'll give you ten seconds, nine, eight" Damon turned Kaitlynn around and forced her to walk, "Hey Ric, did you see where I parked my car?".

"You are a caveman!" Kaitlynn yelled.

"Seven" Damon counted, ignoring Kaitlynn's yell.

"You thinking the same thing as me?" Fae whispered to Caroline, looking at Damon and Kaitlynn.

"There's definitely something there" Caroline whispered back to Fae.

"Agreed" Fae whispered back, as the two girls followed Kaitlynn into the car, unaware of Stefan and Brayden standing on top of the hill and looking at them.

As Caroline sat in the back, she suddenly felt a gaze on her, a gaze she was all to familiar with, causing her to quickly look in the direction where Brayden was standing, only to see no one there anymore, causing her to sigh and lean her head back on her seat, realising once again she had missed Brayden.

***

Brayden brought a dead Ray back to the campsite, only to see all the other werewolves dead.

"Where's my brother?" Brayden asked, a devasted Klaus.

"You found him" Stefan realised, walking over to his brother, he was also looking for Ray but due to the werewolf bite on his wrist, he had trouble finding him.

"And killed him" Brayden said, he turned to Klaus, "He went rabid, I had to kill him".

"They all went rabid as well" Klaus said, taking a sip of the beer, "Some of them I killed, the other just bled out, in the end, they're all dead", Klaus let out a yell and threw the bottle of the beer on the the floor, "I did everything I was told! I should be able to turn them, I broke the curse, I killed a werewolf, I killed a vampire, I killed the doppelganger and the female soulmate!".

Realisation suddenly drew on the two brothers, the reason as to why Klaus's hybrids failed was because the doppelganger and the female soulmate were still alive.

Klaus looked at Stefan, "You look like hell" he said.

"Last I checked, I'm dying" Stefan reminded, "And you don't wanna heal me".

"If you want to punish someone, then punish me, I killed Ray, not Stefan" Brayden said, "Heal him Klaus, don't take my anger out on him".

Klaus looked between the two brothers, "It should have worked" he simply said, Klaus then grabbed a beer bottle, and biting into his hand, he let his blood flow into the bottle, he then handed the bottle over to Stefan, "Bottoms up" he said, as Stefan took the bottle from Klaus, "We're leaving", Klaus looked at all the dead bodies around him, he then turned back to the brothers, "It appears you two are the only comrades I have left".

If it was any other time, Brayden would have said something snarky in return, but after seeing Caroline tonight, Brayden no longer had any energy to do anything, so without saying anything he simply followed the hybrid, and after drinking Klaus's blood, Stefan also followed.

***

After getting ready for bed, Kaitlynn came out of her bathroom, only to see Damon sitting on her bed.

"I really should get a, keep out of my room Damon Salvatore, sign" Kaitlynn said.

"I was wrong" Damon said simply, confusing Kaitlynn.

"Wrong about what?" Kaitlynn asked.

"I thought Stefan and Brayden were gone, but I was wrong" Damon replied.

"Did you see them tonight?" A shocked Kaitlynn asked, "Are they okay?".

"I didn't see Stefan, but I saw Brayden" Damon informed, "And no, Brayden is not okay, he's so close to turning it off, but if we bring him back to Caroline, we can save him, and we all know over the centuries only Fae has been able to help Stefan with his ripper phase".

"What exactly caused you to change your mind all of a sudden?" Kaitlynn asked curiously.

"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my twin brother still can't let me die" Damon replied, "So I figure I owe him and my baby brother the same in return, I'll help you, Fae and Caroline bring them back".

Kaitlynn smiled at Damon, "I'm sure Caroline and Fae will be glad to hear that" she said.

"Before I tell them, I need you to answer one question" Damon said, walking over to Kaitlynn, confusing her.

"What question?" Kaitlynn asked.

"What made you change your mind?" Damon asked.

"What do you mean?" Kaitlynn asked confused.

"You were so hell-bent on staying on that mountain with Fae and Caroline, but then you just gave up" Damon replied, "What changed your mind?".

"The hybrid that was about to bite your head off" Kaitlynn replied.

"You had a bag full of weapons, a teacher with an eternity ring, a vampire and a heretic" Damon listed, "Could have kept going".

"I didn't want to become werewolf bait, and plus it was getting too dangerous" Kaitlynn said.

"It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it?" Damon asked.

"What are you trying to get me to admit?" Kaitlynn asked, getting annoyed.

"What changed your mind, Kaitlynn?" Damon asked again.

"Because I didn't want to see you on the brink of death again" Kaitlynn snapped, "Is that what you wanted me to say, that I don't like seeing you get hurt?!".

"Thanks" Damon said simply, about to walk out of Kaitlynn's room.

"Why did you make me say it?" Kaitlynn asked, stopping Damon from walking out, "Why was it so necessary for you to hear that I worry about you?".

"Because when I drag my brothers from the edge and deliver them to your best friends, I will also be bringing Klaus back, which means eventually Elijah will also come back into your life" Damon replied, "And I want you to remember the things you felt when it was just you and me, with no Elijah in sight".

For a moment, Kaitlynn just stared at Damon in shock, she had no idea what to say to him.

"Good night, Kaitlynn" Damon whispered, placing a small kiss on Kaitlynn's forehead and then walking out of her room.

***

Presenting 3x02 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Caroline, Fae and Kaitlynn working together to find Stefan and Brayden?

Thoughts on the taunts Brayden keeps sending towards Klaus?

Thoughts on Brayden saving Damon from Ray?

Thoughts on Damon and Kaitlynn's little moment?