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[That may or may not be a very faint bruise across the bridge of his nose. Elena's arm swing is a little stronger than it used to be and apparently he bruises now which is perfect.]

So how's being in the real world working out for everyone? Scale of zero to zero.

Remember, don't hurt yourselves with those brand new toys.

[Especially you, Elena.]

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[Says everything Rick didn't immediately try to hit him in the face.

Damon's expression is dark. There's an edge to the way he's narrowed his eyes. Like Rick, he doesn't know what the hell is going on. This entire thing has been hard to swallow; now he's got Rick reverted back human, Stefan thinking Klaus is alive. Elena doesn't realize yet Stefan isn't the Stefan they managed to get back after months, finally.

He is this close to ripping someone's throat out.]

What did Caroline tell you?

[She told him something. Their conversation didn't abruptly go radio silent for no reason.]

[He recognizes that expression. With the way things are, how could he not? It's the way he came back after they'd found Stefan in Tennessee, when they'd barely escaped from werewolves. When they figured he was gone for good. When Klaus had sapped Stefan's emotions from him with a compulsion of his switch.

When it's about him? It makes him feel colder.]

She told me... something about the ring. An alter ego? [He doesn't know what that's supposed to mean. When he thinks alter ego, he thinks Batman. Spider-Man. Not... kill everyone who likes vampires. What? He looks up at Damon, voice going quiet.] She said I was killing people. [And then his head drops and it hits him. Both hands cover his face.] Christ, Damon. She said I killed her dad.

[Dammit. What's he supposed to do with this? Maybe he should've brought Elena with him after all. She could give Rick a hug or something. Be Elena.

Damon can only be Damon, so he looks down at Alaric, who's got his head in his hands, and tries to wave it off. It happened, they don't need to brood about it. Bill wasn't winning any father of the year awards, anyway.]

He chose to die. [That's technically true. He doesn't allow the conversation to linger long enough for Rick to argue semantics.] You started sleepwalking. Killed some council members along the way. Incidentally, you're not the first. The ring's been carrying side effects for as long as it's been in Gilbert family. Who knew?

[There's a note of finality to everything. How did this happen? The most he'd had to worry about before was finding out about the Original family. (Who's he kidding? They're still the biggest threat.) He'd only just found Mikael's name. He just -]

So that all happened. [He felt it, of course he did. The same thing that made him leave Jeremy and Elena behind when they needed someone. A big, cold wave, ready to overtake him.] But when? No one's died in town lately.

[Klaus dead. Tyler dead. Caroline afraid of him and Damon wary. Since when was Damon wary of anyone? How had he gotten to this point when last week he'd been trying to stop Damon from killing people and ended up with a snapped neck?

Immediately he tugs the ring off with violence, scraping and turning his finger red from the effort. He shoves it into Damon's hand.] Take it. Throw it over the wall or something. Get rid of it. It's not too late, right? I haven't done anything.

Edited 2012-07-07 19:38 (UTC)

[Plenty of people have died in town recently. It's Mystic Falls; they can't go a week without a body or two. Can't go a week without those bodies resurrecting, either. That's the fun of daggers.

Before Damon can think about answering, Rick's shoving the ring at him. Damon rolls his eyes. Predictable.]

You're not throwing away the ring. [He should want him to. There are a lot of things Damon knows he should do that he winds up not doing. He knows he'll regret it, too, but he does it, anyway. Look, Rick might not feel like he's done anything, but he has. Trying to keep sane now won't change the body count. Damon figures the next best thing is trying to keep alive.

He holds it out.]

Wear it. If you die and come back and show signs of going crazy, I'll snap your neck myself.

You already did. [He feels like laughing or breaking down are the most appropriate responses here. Supposed to still be pissed about being killed, and now hre's apparently... Worse. Killing people who don't come back to life.

He drops his hand after taking the ring, but doesn't put the ring back on. Like he could. It turns him into a murderer and Damon expects him to keep it?]

So did I lose my memory or something? I was... I was in that cave before waking up. Taking pictures of the runes. [He digs around in his bag and opened the messenger, bringing the camera out. Trying to prove he was telling the truth, maybe. The screen, when it pops on, shows the name Rebekah in that Viking script.

What else was he going to do? The way Damon put it, it was like: you're a killer, accept it. But he couldn't. Not him. After trying so hard to freaking keep everyone alive -

So he pushes past it. For now. Knowing what was going on was a good start.] Caroline mentioned... I killed Klaus. [He pauses. Can't believe that sentence is coming out of his mouth. Klaus, the unkillable hybrid. Klaus who took over his body and almost got him killed. Again. Klaus the Original.] Is that... Seriously? Is that true?

Edited 2012-07-07 21:27 (UTC)

[Wait. The camera. Rick's got the camera on him? Damon blinks once at it, at the picture. One of the many scribbles on that wall. His gaze lands back on Alaric's ring. He's so used to seeing it on Alaric's finger, but it clicks suddenly that it shouldn't be there. The ring's turned into an indestructible saran wrap for the stake. It could be Jeremy's. Could be.

Something tells him no. Damon came with his wallet, car keys, and his phone. The clothes on his back. From the sounds of it, so did everyone else. Rick should've arrived with the stake, not the ring and the camera. He should've arrived as a vampire. This is feeling less and less like memory loss and more and more like someone's set back the clock. Which is impossible.

But so were werewolves, once upon a time.

Damon shifts his weight, weighing his next answer. Credit where credit's due, Bonnie's the one who put Klaus down. Rick just shoved a piece of white oak in the guy after. That, however, is not what's important. It's not what Rick needs to know.]

Esther turned you. The Original witch. She made one last vampire from scratch. Original vampire hunter for the Original vampires.

[Well, you can't say it lacked poetry.]

[It's one of those stupid moments where someone holds out a hand and says, hold on. You might wanna sit down for this.

Sitting down doesn't help, by the fucking way.]

What? [That's all he can say. Absolutely it. He drops the camera back in the bag, doesn't even flinch at the sound it makes as it hits the sais and the food. He just stares up at Damon, his ex-friend who snapped his neck and couldn't even apologize, who was telling him shit that was impossible, that made no sense.

Literally impossible. There was no maybe. No it might have happened, there's the smallest chance. It's a sad moment when dealing with Klaus and the Original family seems simple in comparison.

He breathes, twisting his fingers painfully together. The spot where the ring usually sits is lighter than the rest of his skin, a little soft to the touch.] But I'm human.

[No might've. It did happen. Damon's got no clue how it's not happening right now, but Rick sure as hell died in that tomb next to him.

He remains standing. There's not much else to say. He considers adding what they know—that Rick's life is tied to Elena's—but a) he's not sure if that's true anymore and b) he's...no, that's it. He's not sure if it's true anymore. Doubt it. It doesn't work like that when Rick is mortal again. Or. Should be mortal. There's only one way of knowing a hundred percent and even Damon's not about to test that out.

Hey, could be worse. The last thing they need is a Rick's hunter alter-ego running around while they're stuck here.]

I don't know what to tell you, Rick. You died. Something put you back.

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