TVD OneShots

When The Emotionless Cry

This one is set after 2x12, but Damon hasn't killed Jessica. Also, Damon has NO HUMANITY
Characters: Damon, Stefan, Rose
Pairings: None
Warnings: Erm... I'm not sure tbh
Summary: Damon killed Rose, but it wasn't his fault... was it?

"Damon, come on!" Stefan pleaded with him. His brother was just stood there, accepting everything Stefan, Alaric, Caroline and Elena had thrown at him over the past two months. "No can do, brother. I like living with no emotions, life's simpler that way." Stefan looked at Damon, weak from the dull ache in the pit of his stomach eating at him, hurt because of what he'd had to do to Rose and determined to keep his emotions off. 

"Why? Why are you so insistent on keeping everything off?" Stefan asked desperately. Damon answered without hesitation. "Because everything hurts, Stefan! I spent two days straight with Rose. Two days of her screaming in pain, losing her mind and begging for death. That hurt, Stefan!" Stefan was taken aback by Damon's out-of-character outburst, but at the same time he completely understood it. "I cared about her, Stef. Alright? I cared. I cared and then I killed her because she got bit to save me. Jules was coming for me, but she took the hit instead." 

Call it sociopathic, but Stefan was pleased when he heard emotion start to creep into Damon's tone. It meant he was starting to feel, he was starting to let emotions in. "You did her a favour, Damon. She was in pain, she wanted it to be over and you did that for her! You gave her the release, the break from the agony she wanted! This isn't your fault, Damon." Stefan said to him, his facial expressions begging him to realise, to understand that it was alright to feel, but that it wasn't through any fault of his own.

"How is it not my fault, Stefan? I was the one who drove that stake through her heart, I was the one who ended her life!" Damon said, his voice breaking on the word 'heart'. "She was dying anyway, Damon! You just saved it from being even more prolonged and painful. You made it quick, peaceful, easy for her. She wasn't afraid anymore, you said so yourself. She went calmly, with you at her side in her favourite place instead of wasting away in a world of pain sat in your bed." Stefan could see his words were starting to get through to Damon. He could see the cracks in his shield, the fault in his mask. Damon's emotions, as much as the older vampire was trying to push them away, were breaking through the barriers. 

"It's my fault, Stefan. That bite was meant for me, I should have taken it. Rose took that bite for me, and now she's dead. So you can say that I 'did her a favour' as much as you want, that doesn't make her death any less my responsibility." Damon snarled, gradually building back up his walls.
"You feel guilty." Stefan whispered.
"I don't feel anything, Stefan! That's the whole point of turning it off, so I don't have to feel anything like that!" Damon's frown became more apparent on his forehead, his eyebrows almost pressing together.

Stefan hated himself for doing it, but he changed tactic. "Fine. It was your fault. You killed Rose. You put that stake in her chest, you ended her life." He said, walking slowly towards and point a finger at his brother to emphasise his words. "You stabbed her, you made her grey out. Rose's death was your fault." Damon looked at him with defiant eyes, but he didn't say anything. 

"You hear me? It is on you. She still had a few more hours, at least. Maybe they would've been full of pain but they were her last hours and you took those away from her, Damon! Her fall is entirely your fault." Stefan saw Damon swallow, his eyes starting to well up. 

"Stop it." Damon whispered, breaking eye contact with his brother. "No, because you don't deserve to turn it off! You don't deserve to escape this pain! Feel it, Damon! Feel the agony like she felt in her last moments, feel the guilt that you put on yourself when you chose to stake her!" Stefan demanded, getting ever closer to his brother. Damon stood there shell-shocked, tears starting to fill his eyes.