02. Yellow Ledbetter

Four Months Ago

Once the bright light had gone, a confused Damon opened his eyes and immediately started looking around, "Huh" he said, realising all three of them were still at the cemetery.

"What's going on?" a confused Fae wondered, "Where did everybody go?".

"Where the hell are you going?" a confused Brayden, seeing Fae walk away, "Fae!".

"Well, I feel a fang, I'm still a vampire" Damon informed, as the twins followed Fae into the town.

"Same" Brayden said, the two brothers checking their teeth.

"Me too" Fae informed, also checking her mouth for her fangs.

"So we're either dead vampires, or Mystic Falls is no longer magic free" Damon said.

"Guys, look" Fae pointed, "That's the grill, still intact".

"I definitely blew that up about an hour ago" an extremely confused Damon said.

"Why is there no one here?" Fae wondered, "If this is still the other side then we should be able to see the living".

"Yeah Fae, something tells me this isn't the other side" Brayden said, as he looked around Mystic Falls, that had now turned into a ghost town, "So the question arises, if this isn't the other side, then what the hell is this?".

"For the first time, I have no answer to your question, Bray" Fae said.

"That's not good" Brayden said.

"Not good at all" Damon said, both him and Brayden knew if this was something Fae didn't even know, then there was high possibility they were in big trouble.

***

"You said that Stefan was looking for a way to bring Fae, Damon and Brayden back" Caroline snapped, sitting across Alaric at a diner and glaring at him, last night an extremely emotional Kaitlynn had called Stefan, asking him if there was any leads on how to bring her best friends and lover back, but Stefan ended up telling her that he had given up on them and she should to, Kaitlynn then told that to Caroline, who was extremely furious, wondering how can Stefan give up on his brothers and the girl he loved.

"I thought he was, I've been feeding him leads for months" Alaric defended, "He let me believe he was following them".

"Well I've been a little focused on magic bubble duty" a guilty Caroline said, "And as you can see by the lack of magic in Mystic Falls it's a spectacular fail of a mission, and now you're telling me that this whole time no one has been doing anything to help Fae, Damon and Brayden?!".

"Don't lie Caroline, your full focus was never on the magic bubble, you've been doing research on your own on how to bring Brayden back" Alaric retorted.

Caroline let out a sigh, "Yeah and I've been failing miserably, I thought maybe Stefan might have had some luck but he's not doing anything!".

"Well, Stefan might not be doing anyone, but I know someone who is" Alaric admitted, making Caroline look at him with a confused look on her face.

***

"Come on, just a little hint" Enzo whispered into the ear of the girl he was currently locked with in a coat room of a hotel.

"I don't know anything" the girl whispered as Enzo kissed down her neck.

"You witches are all so monstrously secretive" Enzo teased, "Lucky for me, I'm quite gifted at unraveling the truth".

Enzo started kissing down the witch's neck, her chest and down to her stomach, "Okay, there's a coven in Oregon" the witch finally revealed, "They found a way to communicate with their ancestors on the other side before it went away, maybe they know what happened to your friends, they call themselves the gemini coven, they're small and weird, and they don't like outsiders".

"See, you did know something" Enzo mocked.

"I just wanted you to work for it".

Enzo stood back up and started kissing the witch, however before they could get any further, someone clearing their throat caught Enzo's attention, "Hello" a smirking Enzo greeted, immediately recognising who was here, "Well, well, well", Enzo turned and looked at Caroline, "Now, there's a blast from the past, hello gorgeous".

Caroline gave Enzo a sarcastic smile in greeting.

***

"Oh my god" an annoyed Brayden said, as he, Damon and Fae walked down another street of Mystic Falls, "How many more dreaded streets, of this dreaded town are we going to wander?".

"When are you and Damon going to stop asking me questions I don't have an answer to?" Fae retorted, she then started looking around the street, "Also have you two noticed something about these cars around us?".

"Yeah, they're almost all twenty years old or more, and yet they look brand new" Damon realised, he suddenly stopped walking when his eyes landed on a familiar house, "And that is Elena's not so burnt to a crisp house", Damon walked over to the grass and picked up the newspaper laying there, after reading it, he turned around and showed it both Fae and Brayden, "Look".

Fae stepped forward and started reading the headline on the newspaper, "Rare solar eclipse expected to be seen across twelve states".

"The date" Damon clarified, rolling his eyes at Fae.

Brayden stepped next to Fae and read out the date on the newspaper, "May 10th, 1994", a shocked Brayden looked at his brother, "We travelled back in time?!".

"Is that even possible?" an equally shocked Fae asked.

"You're the witch, you tell us" Brayden retorted, just as the sky started going dark, Brayden looked up at the sun and saw the moon covering it, "And that will be the solar eclipse you were reading about Fae".

"I don't think we should be asking where we are" Damon said, also looking up at the sky, "I think we should be asking when we are".

***

"I wonder if there's any booze in this empty retroville" Damon said, swinging on the swing placed at the Gilbert's porch.

"It's so weird seeing this house like this and not in ashes" Fae admitted, as her and Brayden sat on the stairs.

"Alright, let's talk about everything we know so far about this place" Brayden said, needing to know where they were and why were they here.

"Well, before the other side crumbled my mom found me but she refused to come back to life saying she made a sacrifice that will help me find peace" Fae recalled.

"Good old Emily Bennett" Brayden said, "Saving our asses, like always".

"Talk about the part where you actually have a theory" Damon told Fae.

"Well, as far as I can tell this isn't peace" Fae pointed out, "So my theory is, the sacrifice my mother made was to send me here, and when all three of us held hands, I dragged you two along with me".

"Did you mom happen to mention how you will be able to get out of this place?" an hopeful Brayden asked, "Maybe a safe word, or some other clue?".

"Nope" Fae replied, making Brayden's hope diminish, "But if magic is what brought us here, then that's also our way out", an upset look formed on Fae's face as she talked about magic.

"And that frown that's not upside down is telling me what?" a confused Damon asked.

Fae looked at the candle that was placed on the small side table, she took a deep breath, "Incendia".

"Oh" Brayden whispered, when nothing happened to the candle, "You didn't get your magic back".

"No I did not" a dejected Fae informed.

"Perfect" Damon commented, feeling all the hope of seeing Kaitlynn again leave his body.

***

"I heard you dropped out of school" Enzo told Caroline, as she drove them towards the lead Enzo had found.

"And I heard that you were a lurker who was spying on my life" Caroline retorted, "When do we exit?".

"Soon, you should reconsider" Enzo stated, "I mean, looks can only get a girl so far these days".

"Yeah well, I'm not taking feminist tips from a guy who just used his tongue to get secrets out of a coat check girl" Caroline taunted.

"Garment attendant" Enzo corrected.

"You just made that up" Caroline said, refusing to believe something like a garment attendant existed.

Enzo looked at Caroline, "He wouldn't have wanted you to drop out of school because of him", Caroline looked at Enzo in confusion, wondering who he was talking about, "Brayden, I don't think he would have wanted this for you".

"Well, we'll find out what Brayden wanted for me once we bring him back, then he can convince me to go back to school and I'll listen to him because I love him, I'm not going to listen to you, because I don't like you" Caroline snapped, "Now, this gemini coven lead, are we sure it's real? Because I've never head of them, who are they?".

"No idea, that's not where we're headed" Enzo revealed.

"What?!" an annoyed Caroline asked, "Wait, where are we going?".

"You'll see" Enzo simply said, causing Caroline to let out an annoyed sigh, but nonetheless she kept driving, hoping wherever Enzo was taking her was worth it.

***

Stefan stood in the kitchen of his new house, making lunch for him and his new girlfriend Ivy, while the food was cooking on the stove, Stefan walked over to his fridge, opening he took out a blood bag that was hidden in a box and quickly drank it, he quickly threw the empty blood bag back into the fridge when he heard the doorknob to the front door rattle.

"Hey" Stefan greeted Ivy as she entered the house.

"Hey" Ivy greeted, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Perfect timing, I was just--".

"I ran into some of your friends" Ivy informed.

"What? Where?" a shocked Stefan asked, really not wanting to be found by any of his friends from Mystic Falls.

"Here" Ivy informed, just as Enzo entered the house with Caroline right behind him.

"Stefan, you are a hard man to track down" Enzo said, "I wasn't sure if your new friend would invite us in but she said this was your place, which means open invitation for all your old mates, right?", an excited Enzo rubbed his hands together, "Got any bourbon?".

***

Stefan walked over to the dinning table where Enzo, Caroline and Ivy sat and placed a bowl of salad in the middle of the table before taking a seat inbetween Enzo and Ivy.

"Good stuff, mate" Enzo mocked, as he took a bite of his food.

"So how do you guys know Stefan?" a curious Ivy asked.

"He and I went to high school together" Caroline informed, "I am also dating his brother", Stefan looked at Caroline, not missing the fact that Caroline used present tense to describe her and Brayden's relationship, "Oh and he is dating my best friend".

"Was" Stefan quickly corrected, as a shocked expression formed on Ivy's face, her mind thinking that Stefan used her to cheat on his girlfriend.

"Four months?" an angry Caroline asked Stefan, "That's how quickly you got over someone you claimed to love with all your heart?".

"What did you want me to do Caroline?" an annoyed Stefan asked, "Wait for someone who is never going to come back to me?".

"You don't know that!" Caroline snapped.

"Yes I do!" Stefan snapped back, "Fae isn't coming back and neither is Brayden, I've moved on, you should to".

"So how did you two meet?" Enzo asked Ivy, interrupting the argument between Caroline and Stefan before it got too heated and Caroline ended up attacking Stefan, which from the looks of it, she was really close to doing.

"Ivy's car was in the shop where I work" Stefan informed, looking at Enzo and ignoring Caroline's angry glare.

"You work at an auto repair shop?" a shocked Caroline asked.

"It's relaxing" Stefan defended.

Enzo let out a snicker, confusing an already confused Ivy, "Why, what did you used to do?" she asked Stefan.

"Ah, man of all seasons, jack of all trades" an amused Enzo taunted, he looked at Ivy, "Oh, you have a lovely clavicle".

"Oh, thank you, I think" a slightly awkward Ivy said.

"Forgive me, I always notice a woman's neck" Enzo said, "I'm a neck person, so is Stefan, right Stefan?",

"Not anymore" Stefan immediately said.

"Well, that's silly" Enzo said, "You can't just stop being a neck person".

"Is Enzo your boyfriend?" a curious Ivy whispered to Caroline.

"Oh god no, would you date that?" a disgusted Caroline said, "Plus I already told you, I'm dating Stefan's brother, his name is Brayden, he's much better then Enzo".

"Uh, hello, I'm right here" Enzo reminded the chuckling girls, "I have super sensitive hearing, practically supernatural, do you believe in the supernatural, Ivy?".

"Uh, I've never really thought about it" Ivy admitted.

"Myself, I'm a believer" Enzo said, "Had to get a witch to do a locater spell to find my buddy here".

Immediately Caroline let out an awkward laugh, really hoping Ivy took Enzo's words as a joke and not seriously.

***

"What the hell did I just walk into?" a wide eyed Brayden asked, walking into the Salvatore's kitchen and seeing his brother dancing to spice girls while making pancakes and drinking bourbon.

"Don't judge before trying it" Damon defended.

"Trust me, I have no desire to dance to spice girls" Brayden said, taking a seat on the dinning table, "Where's Fae?".

"Right here" Fae said, entering the kitchen with a grimoire in her hand.

"How did you sleep?" Damon asked, "Me, not good, my 1994 mattress was very lumpy, what you got here?".

"Oh I went to the Bennett's house to get my mother's grimoire" Fae informed, showing the brothers the grimoire.

"Fat load a grimoire's going to do without your magic" Brayden said.

"I'm hoping it will tell me how I can get my magic back" Fae said, taking a seat infront of Brayden.

"Well, I found this" Damon informed, showing Fae and Brayden the bottle of bourbon in his hand, "I drank it last year when Ric died", Damon walked over to the music player, he switched song off, he then closed his eyes and started spinning his CD collection around.

"So we're in some kind of snapshot of another time" Fae said, "From what I've seen from the exploring we did, everything that existed in 1994 still exists in here".

"For better or for worse" Damon said, showing Fae the CD he had picked.

"Don't you dare play anything" Brayden warned.

"Why not?" Damon asked.

"Because I already have a headache listening to your voice, your stupid music is just going to make it worse" Brayden snapped.

"You're a vampire Brayden, you don't get headaches" Damon reminded.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't get" Brayden retorted.

"Guys focus" Fae said, "Look, every witch goes through a period in which they can't do magic, maybe by using my mother's grimoire I can reteach myself how to do magic again".

"If you're still a witch, which, with our luck and your skill, probably ain't the case" Damon taunted.

"Don't be a negative nancy, Damon" Fae said, not taking Damon's words to heart, knowing he just didn't want to give himself false hope.

"He can't help himself, he was born a negative nancy" Brayden stated, making Fae chuckle.

"You know, I am acutely aware that we are in some otherworldly time dimension" Damon said, "However, did you two ever think for one second that maybe it's you two being negative reacting to my natural self negatively?".

"Your arguments make sense to no one but you" Fae stated.

"And I always react to you like this so don't place any accusations on me" Brayden said, just as he said that, the trio's attention went outside when they saw the sky go dark again, just like it did yesterday during the eclipse.

"You've gotta be kidding me" Damon said, looking at the solar eclipse through the sunroof in their kitchen, "Brayden, look at the date on that paper next to you".

Brayden grabbed the paper that was on the table, "May 10th, 1994" he read out.

"It's the same day as yesterday" a shocked Fae realised, "Which means we're living the same day again".

"Well, that proves it, we're in hell" Damon concluded, "My own personal custom built hell, and you two are in it with me, bottoms up".

Brayden looked at the date in the newspaper, suddenly he remember why this date was so important, he looked at Damon, who was looking right at him, the two brothers finally having a clue why they were stuck here, a clue neither of them had the courage to tell Fae about.

***

Two Months Ago

"What's a seven letter word for Damon really needs to stop dancing?" an annoyed Fae asked, sitting on the dinning table while Damon stood behind her, making pancakes and dancing to the music playing.

"That joke got old six weeks ago" Damon said.

"And so did everything else in this stupid place" Brayden said, entering the kitchen and sitting infront of Fae and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Tell me about it, every day for the last two months I've done this stupid thing and every day for the past two months twenty seven across manages to stump me" an annoyed Fae complained, "What the hell is an old tongue twister Eddie turned top forty?".

"You're much older then us" Brayden reminded, "How do you expect us to know answers to questions even you don't know the answer to?".

A smiling Damon walked over to his brother and placed a plate of pancakes infront of him, Brayden glared at Damon before grabbing a fork and rapidly stabbing the pancakes, "Stupid, dumb, idiot pancakes, made by a stupid, dumb, idiot person!".

"Whoa" Damon said, "Don't take your frustration out on the pancakes".

"So should I take it out on you?" Brayden asked.

"No, take it out on Fae" Damon retorted.

"Why am I involved in this?" a confused Fae asked.

"Because Fae all of us here are waiting for you to be witchy to get us the hell out of here" Damon reminded.

"I'm trying my best here" Fae defended.

"And failing" Damon stated, "Further evidence we're in hell, not only am I stuck you two, I'm stuck with a grumpy Brayden and a useless Fae".

An offended Fae opened her mouth to counter attack Damon, but suddenly stopped, "Did you guys hear that?" she asked the brothers, having heard a noise.

"There's nothing to hear in this place except us Fae" Brayden said, starting to eat the pancakes he brutally tried to murder.

"Brayden's right, we're the only three people here" Damon said, "We were the only three people here two months ago, we're the only three people here now".

"Guys I'm serious, I heard something" Fae said.

"You probably heard the sound of existential despair" Brayden said, not believing there was anyone else here.

"I hear that's what hell sounds like" Damon added.

"Why are you two so hell bent on believing this is hell?" a confused Fae asked.

"Because karma always comes and bite you in the ass" Brayden said, "Right Damon?".

"Shut up Brayden" Damon snapped.

"What are you two on about?" a confused Fae asked.

"Don't worry about it" Damon said, as Brayden took another bite of the pancakes and simply shrugged his shoulders when Fae looked at him with a questioning look on her face.

***

"So, Stefan, tell us this house, very charming, when did you get it?" a curious Enzo asked as Stefan stood at the kitchen counter, opening a bottle of wine.

"About a month or so ago" Stefan replied, pouring the wine into a glass.

"No, more than that, remember?" Ivy reminded, "We met two months ago and you already had it".

"You've lived here for more than two months?" a shocked Caroline asked, realising Stefan gave up on Brayden, Fae and Damon much earlier then they thought.

"Yeah, I guess I have" Stefan said, taking a sip of the wine.

"Well, I guess that's just weird because, you know, everyone thought you were living somewhere else" a hurt Caroline said, "And your job was supposed to be investigative work, not auto repair".

"Right, well I've moved on from that job" Stefan stated, sitting back down.

"You can't move on from investigative work until you've solved the investigation, Stefan" Caroline snapped, wondering how can Stefan just give up on his brothers and Fae like this.

"How about we just drop it?" an annoyed Stefan said, "I'm happy doing what I'm doing now, and that's all that should really matter, right?".

Caroline slammed her hands on to the table but before she could say anything, Enzo spoke, "There darling, no need to make a scene, really, it's all probably just some big misunderstanding, perhaps this will clear it all up", Enzo grabbed a fork from the table and stabbed Stefan's hand with it.

"Aah! Oh my god!" a shocked and worried Ivy yelled.

"Enzo!" Caroline scolded.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" Stefan snapped.

"So many secrets, what are you running from, Stefan?" Enzo asked, ripping the fork out of Stefan's hand.

"Um--I--I don't--", Ivy watched in shock as Stefan's hand started healing at an clearly unnatural rate.

Caroline placed her hand under Ivy's chin and forced her to face her, once she did, she started compelling her, "Calm down, come with me, let's go upstairs", Caroline grabbed Ivy's arm and pulled her out of her chair, "No need to make a scene?" she asked Enzo before taking Ivy away.

Once Caroline had taken Ivy away, Enzo looked at Stefan, "What kind of coward gives up on his brothers and the love of his life?".

"You don't know what you're talking about" Stefan said, he stood up from his chair and tried speed away, but Enzo quickly grabbed him and slammed him on to the fridge, he then stabbed him in his neck with the knife he had picked up.

"Why don't you enlighten me?" Enzo asked as Stefan yelled in pain, but instead of saying anything, Stefan threw Enzo on to the table, shattering it into pieces, he then removed the knife from his neck but before he could go anywhere, Enzo speeded over to him and slammed him on to the wall, but Stefan ended up headbutting him, he then punched him in the face and snapped Enzo's neck.

***

"You should probably get him out of here" Stefan told Caroline, who stood over Enzo's unconscious body, while Stefan attempted to pick up the broken furniture, "He'll be up soon, and I really don't feel like another go around".

"Why?" Caroline asked, looking at the youngest Salvatore, "Why don't you care about them anymore? You were the one who always cared, that's what Brayden and Fae loved about you, you know, amidst all the crazy in our perfectly messed up lives you cared more than anyone, how could you just stop?".

"Because I had to" Stefan stated, "I had to move on, you know, the months before I moved here I was following every lead that Alaric sent my way, I spoke to every witch, every shaman, every psychic in twenty countries around the globe, and every lead was a dead end".

"But Enzo has another lead, there's this coven in oregon--".

"The gemini coven, yeah, I looked into them too, Caroline" Stefan informed, "There was nothing there, because there is nothing we can do, Damon, Brayden and Fae are dead, I had to come to terms with that, and once I did, I had to start over, I couldn't just live my old life with my old friends, I couldn't go near Mystic Falls without them with me!".

Caroline shook her head, "It might be easy for you to move on from Fae, but I can't move on from Brayden, I'm completely falling apart without him, you can give up on Fae, but Kaitlynn isn't going to give up on Damon and I'm not giving up on Brayden, and we will also bring out best friend back, you can go to hell Stefan, and if you want him out of your house, you throw him out yourself, you absolute dick".

A teary eyed Caroline stormed out of Stefan's house.

***

Today

Brayden laid in his bed, he stared at the ceiling, before he pulled out something from his pocket, he held it up in the air and looked at the necklace in his hand, it was the same crystal necklace he had given Caroline when he had first met her, a necklace that Caroline had lost when she had gotten into the car accident with Matt and Tyler, Brayden had found it in his room, turns out in 1994 he had kept it here.

Brayden placed the necklace on his chest, "I miss you princess" he whispered, a tear falling down his eye.

***

Caroline sat in the drivers seat of her car, her phone in her hand, looking down at a picture of Brayden she had taken on one of their many dates, she looked the picture and the uncontrollable sobs started.

"Well, that was a bit of a bust" Enzo said, opening the passenger seat door and sitting inside, the moment Caroline saw him she turned her face the other way, Enzo glanced at Caroline and immediately he knew she was crying, "Hey, hey", Enzo put his hand under Caroline's chin and forced her to face him, after seeing her state, a furious Enzo opened the door again, "I'll be right back" he said, getting out of the car.

Once Enzo was gone, Caroline looked back at the photo of Brayden, "Please come back" she cried, "Come back to me Brayden, I can't live without you".

***

Fae stood in the kitchen, making dinner for herself, Damon and Brayden, she grabbed the bowls and walked over to the dinning table where Damon and Brayden were already seated.

"Thanks" Damon whispered, as Fae handed him his bowl and took a seat next to Fae.

Seeing Brayden's lost in his thoughts, Fae nudged him with her shoulder, "Back to earth, Mr. Salvatore".

"Don't call me that" Brayden said, hating being called Mr. Salvatore as that was what his father was called and the last thing Brayden wanted was to be compared to his dad.

Fae let out a sigh, "I miss everyone else".

Both Brayden and Damon looked at Fae, who in turn gave them a sad smile.

"Look who got twenty seven across" Damon said, his eyes landing on the newspaper, giving him the perfect opportunity to change the topic.

"Don't mock me, Damon" an annoyed Fae said.

Brayden snatched the newspaper from Damon's hand, "An old tongue twister Eddie turned top forty, Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam, yellow ledbetter, nice going Fae".

A confused Fae looked at Brayden, she then snatched the newspaper from his hand and looked it, and to her shock someone had filled out twenty seven across, "One of you is messing with me".

"No, are you messing with us?" Damon retorted.

"Damon, I didn't finish this crossword" Fae stated.

"Well, neither did I" Damon said.

Both Fae and Damon turned to Brayden, "Does it look like I do crosswords?".

Fae's eyes went wide, "If it wasn't one of us, that means there's someone else here".

Immediately Damon and Brayden exchanged a look, both wondering who else was in here with them.

***

Presenting 6x02 of They Don't Know About Us!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Damon, Fae and Brayden landing in the prison world?

Thoughts on Caroline finding out Enzo is trying to find out what happened to Fae, Brayden and Damon?

Thoughts on Stefan telling Caroline to move on from Brayden?

Thoughts on Brayden finding the crystal necklace in 1994? Who remembers it from back in season one?

Thoughts on Brayden and Caroline missing each other?