A/N: Elena (human) and Damon (vampire) live in a society ruled by the vampires. While there is no capitol punishment for humans or vampires (life is too precious for it to be destroyed) certain vampires are gifted with the ability to transfer emotion and pain through a sort of telepathic connection which requires a physical touch. Vampires with this ability are called Empaths, the "gifts" they give are called Bestowals.

Elena's POV

Elena dropped her head as the dark haired man dropped her hands again. Her body was again set on fire, every nerve screamed at her in agony. Elena just worked on counting and biting her lip so that she would not give the heartless monsters the tears and shrieks they desired to hear.

Damon's POV

Damon tried to watch the blonde woman with mild disinterest, as he was supposed to, but inwardly, he was fascinated. She hasn't cried, begged for it to stop, or even whimpered. How does she exercise such control? Damon mused.
"One more should do it Empath. Except," the dark skinned Vampire paused, "give the human a Woman's Anguish. Yes, that will do nicely." A deep smirk set on the dark Vampire's face, and Damon had to smash his lips tightly together to stop himself from debating with his Superior.

Damon picked up the blonde woman's hands again. Wow, she has really soft hands. That skin... I wonder what the rest of her feels like... What?! No. This is a human. Beneath you. Even if her long fingers would feel wonderful running through your hair... STOP! Focus! "Woman's Anguish." What's that?

Two Bestowed memories bubbled to the surface and he could feel the automatic surge of energy flow down his arms. He placed her hands on either side of her head covering them with his own and worked on not getting distracted at the softness of her hair. The familiar blue glow emanated from his hands and encompassed Elena's head and Damon could feel the energy fading from his being. Damon dropped his hands and was taken aback as the woman sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands and... And...

Sobbed.

Damon didn't know what to do. She had never even flinched before when he'd given her physical pain, but she breaks at THIS? Damon reviewed the memories he'd given her and felt himself pulled into the familiar dream state that the memories provided.

Kathryn sat on the ground drenched in the blood of her only child and clutched the lifeless body, rocking the baby back and forth. Her tears mixing with the dampness of the rain that pounded around her.

Damon had to resist covering his ears as a glass shattering shriek of despair tore from the sobbing woman. Damon realized he gave her the grief and sorrow of a young mother whose child had been slaughtered. How horrific and... And... He couldn't even think of the right words to describe the despair.
The other memory he gave her showed a young woman sobbing on the floor of her flat...

Bonnie collapsed on the floor and felt her tears ruining her makeup and dropped the letter she had in her trembling hands. She didn't care. It hurt. She felt betrayed. She was heartbroken.

Damon stepped around the distraught woman and picked up the letter on the floor.

"Bonnie,
I'm leaving. I can't pretend to love you anymore, or even pretend to tolerate you anymore. You are not what I want. Anjelica is. She and I have slept together and she's pregnant. I want to be with her, not you. I never wanted you anyway.
Goodbye,
John H."

Damon was sucked back into reality before he could ponder the memory because the sobbing woman was been carted away by two guards back to her flat in the village. She looked desperate, and as if feeling him stare at her, she looked right at him. Her dark blue eyes locking with the amber of Damon's and a funny, unfamiliar emotion engulfed him. Regret. Guilt. He shook himself and the mud colored Vampire waved Damon away and Damon exited back into the hallway that led to his car.

Damon didn't think as he drove to his villa, he just drove. But when he walked in, all of those pesky complicated thoughts crashed in on him.

Guilt? Regret? I've never felt regret for what I've done to a human ever, and I shouldn't! She's a stupid human! But she's different from other humans, she NEVER cried, never begged for it to stop. Why now? Why? Who is this woman?
That last question burrowed deep into his mind and he stalked over to the computer to look at her file.

*two hours later*

Damon huffed with frustration. He had discovered that not knowing the woman's name made it difficult to find her file. He had been browsing through all the photo's of tall, blonde, blue eyed women, but couldn't find her. He shoved himself away from his computer and put his face in his hands in frustration. He had no idea how to find her. How to find this mysterious woman who was haunting his thoughts and making him feel all these stupid emotions.

"Maybe I'll continue after a nap," he sighed in defeat. And so, he sauntered to his over sized bedroom and collapsed in exhaustion from the days efforts onto his king-size white bed.

Elena's POV

Elena sat on her floor with her back to the wall. She couldn't understand. That Vampire was her tormenter. She should hate him. He even made her lose it, of course he didn't give her physical pain, but... But... She didn't even want to think about the sorrow those two women had in them, and immediately she began to tear up again. Elena shoved the thoughts from her head and instead focused on the amber-eyed Vampire with long, dark, curly hair she could run her fingers through forever, and how his strong hands touched hers with such gentleness and tenderness she could have let his hands stay on her's for hours... She was being ridiculous. She knew. He's just doing his job. And I'm a human. He probably hates my guts. But she couldn't get the way he looked at her when she was being dragged away, and she swore she saw remorse in those eyes. As if... As if he regretted what he did... As if he wanted to make my tears go away...

Elena continued to ponder her mysterious tormenter until sleep overtook her battered form...

A/N: Please be kind by rating and reviewing!