What Happened to You, Damon?

This is set in between season two and season three of the TV show—however, Stefan is not the Ripper, I haven't seen Season 3 yet and I don't feel like doing that. This is the day after Damon was healed. We're going to say Stefan fled and escaped from Klaus.

If there are any book references, let me know. This was originally based on the books and I changed it.

To say Stefan Salvatore was surprised would be a great understatement.

He stared down at the toddler on the floor through narrowed eyes, wondering how the child had gotten in.

The toddler stared back through big blue eyes. "Steffy?" he whimpered.

Stefan started, shocked.

Then, remembering his manners, he knelt in front of the little toddler. "Hey buddy… what's your name? How did you get in here?"

The kid huffed. "You knows my name, Steffy."

Something clicked in Stefan's mind, and his eyes widened. "Damon." At his baby brother's nod, he continued, "What did you do now? How did you get yourself turned into a baby?"

Damon merely stared at Stefan.

"Damn it, Damon. Answer me. I'm trying to help you."

When Damon opened his mouth, Stefan thought he would answer, but he began to cry instead. Sighing, Stefan lowered himself to the ground and opened his arms.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Come here, baby."

The toddler hesitated, but then got up, wobbling, and toddled over to Stefan, tucking himself against Stefan's chest. As he did so, he continued to wail.

So, Stefan mused, Damon was not only a toddler in appearance, he seemed to have a toddler mentality too, unfortunately. It seemed unlikely he would get the answers he needed.

"Shh," he whispered, rubbing Damon's back. "It's okay. Don't cry."

As he continued, Damon calmed, laying his head against Stefan's chest and sticking a thumb in his mouth, sucking on it quietly.

"Elena?" Stefan called in a low voice, trying his best not to upset Damon again. "Can you come here?"

His girlfriend appeared quickly, her eyes widening as she saw the child in his arms. "Who's that?" she asked.

"Take a wild guess," he responded, standing up and scooping his brother into his arms. "Can you watch him for a minute? I'm going to see if there's anything in his room for him to wear, he can't stay in this T-shirt forever."

Nodding, Elena reached out for Damon, who went to her without a fight. Taking his thumb out of his mouth, he whispered, "Steffy mad at me, 'Lena?"

"I'm not angry at you, baby," Stefan said before Elena could answer. "I'm sorry, I'm just confused. I'll be right back, okay?"

Damon nodded and cuddled his head down on Elena's shoulder as she took a seat on the couch, wondering what on Earth there was to do about this.

Stefan hurried upstairs to Damon's bedroom, ignoring everything and heading to the closet. "Hopefully there's something in here…" he mumbled to himself. He dug around in the closet, finding mainly only black t-shirts, black jeans, and of course, his black leather jackets. Finally, his hands found something soft and warm-feeling. To his relief, he pulled out a heavy wool sweater, one that wouldn't seem like a dress on his now-baby brother.

He returned downstairs with the sweater and pulled the T-shirt off of Damon, putting the sweater over his head instead.

"Will we go get him new clothes later?" Elena asked. Damon reached for Stefan, who picked him up as he answered Elena with a nod.

"Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon though," he sighed. "I haven't got any idea how to take care of a baby."

Damon yawned, wrapping his little arms around Stefan's neck and cuddling himself tightly against his chest.

"I can help with that," Elena told him. "It can't be hard."

"Come on, Damon, naptime."

Big blue eyes looked up at him. "Steffy will stay?"

"Okay, I'll stay."

Damon nodded and fell quiet again as Stefan carried him upstairs with Elena following just behind him. He laid a now sleeping Damon on the big bed, tucking the heavy black comforter over the tiny body, and then, keeping his promise, he sat down beside him, brushing the ebony hair off Damon's forehead.

What was there to do now? How could he turn Damon back if he didn't have the faintest idea what had happened to him?

"Would Bonnie be able to figure it out?" Elena asked.

"Maybe…" That hadn't occurred to him. Well, of course… Bonnie was a witch, she would know! Rising to his feet slowly, he nodded.

"I'll go call her."

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