Shadows of Redemption

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Summary: Damon refuses to come to terms with Bonnie's death. When he finds an unexpected ally and a chance to resurrect Bonnie from the other side, he must determine whether she is worth the ultimate sacrifice, or face the reality of losing her forever...

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A/N: This is my first Vampire Diaries story, and I am really excited about where the current season is going. My story will contain spoilers from this season, so if you haven't gotten caught up, you might want to put reading this story on hold. This is for people who are fans of Bamon. Enjoy and review!

The sound of carnival music and the smells of funnel cake and greasy pizza greeted Damon Salvador's heightened senses as he walked through the entrance of the fair grounds. It was Mystic Falls annual Fall Festival and most of the residents of the town had shown up to the event to celebrate. The air was cool and crisp on that late October afternoon and people were adorned in thick jackets, scarves and wool hats as they prepared for the harsh winter that was just around the corner. As the orangish-red leaves crunched beneath his black leather boots, Damon shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he took a brief moment to enjoy the beauty of the nature that was surrounding him. This was his favorite time of the year due to the fact that he loved the changes the atmosphere around him would go through. Damon was no stranger to change and always managed to find a way to adapt in order to go along with whatever life through in his way.

While the reformed serial killer typically made it a rule to avoid social events all together when possible, Elena had begged and pleaded with him to come with her and the others. She had been so desperate for a night of normalcy and fun that he didn't have the heart to tell her no. Inhaling sharply, Damon decided to make the best of the situation as h maneuvered his way through the small area, quietly taking in the lights, the sounds and the smells lingering in the air. Not too far away he could hear the sound of children laughing as they happily rode the brightly lit carousal.

He hadn't been there for longer then five minutes before Caroline raced over and greeted them with her perky smile and her larger then life personality. Caroline Forbes was a force of nature. The blonde, who he fondly referred to as 'Vampire Barbie' was laughing and smiling excitedly. Her big bright green eyes shone brightly as she dragged Elena to go play a game involving baseballs and glass coke bottles. As each girl took turns, they were soon joined by Tyler and Matt who both were more than willing to give their ex girlfriends competition.

"Elena always loved playing those cheesy little games. I would tell her that they were rigged, but she always figured she would be the one to beat the odds.."

Damon looked over his shoulder and his blue eyes widened when he found Bonnie standing there holding a stick wrapped with a flurry of pink and sticky cotton candy. For some reason, she was wearing her graduation robe and cap. For a long moment, Damon couldn't speak or move. He could only stare. Was this real, or was it just a cruel dream. Bonnie wasn't suppose to be there...it was impossible...

"How are you here?" he asked confused.

"What do you mean? I volunteer to run the kissing booth every year," she said innocently.

Damon stared at her confused.

"You aren't suppose to be here, Bonnie. You are suppose to be dead," he said curtly.

She rolled her eyes exasperated.

"I'm here, because your subconscious pulled me into your dreams. My magic just allows me to communicate with you whenever you conjure me up in a dream state," she explained simply as she happily bit off a chunk of cotton candy off of her stick.

He watched her feeling as if he was in the twilight zone. Her expression was so happy and carefree that he had to question the fact of whether or not this was an figment of is imagination, or was he in fact having a conversation with Bonnie's ghost?

"You seem...confused," she noted curiously.

He sighed unhappily.

"I wouldn't be confused if you didn't go off doing stupid little things like getting yourself killed," he spat feeling an familiar rage began to surface within him.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and laughed softly.

Taken aback, Damon stared at her with a frown marring his handsome face.

"What's so amusing?" he growled with his arms folded across his chest.

Bonnie stared at him smiling knowingly.

"You already told me this in your last dreams, Damon," she reminded amused, "You scold me for being so reckless and stupid by dying, and how you have every intention of dragging me kicking and screaming back from the other side."

Damon stared at her feeling completely baffled and confused.

"If we had this conversation before, why don't I remember it?" he demanded.

She shrugged casually.

"Maybe because you chose not to. Maybe having conversations with me in your dreams is too weird and complicated for you to deal with in reality," she said gently as removed her cap and stared at him wistfully.

He stared at her with his lips parted and not exactly sure what to say to her.

"You should go," she urged with a gentle smile on her lips, "Elena is waiting for you."

Damon looked up to see Elena running in is direction with laughter bubbling from her throat as she clutched a black and white miniature size panda doll. Her chestnut brown hair danced in the window as she closed the between them, her pretty face flushed with excitement. He turned back to Bonnie to say something when he noticed she was standing a lot closer then she had been when they had last spoken. Startled, he stumbled a few feet and watched as a slow smile stretched across her lips.

She stared up at him with a empty look in her wet hazel green eyes.

"Damon, listen to me. You have to let me go," she said quietly, "You can't save me."

Her words sounded strange and struck him as odd. Before he could ask her what she meant, Elena grabbed his attention by intertwining her fingers into his.

"Hey, babe. Who were you just talking to?" she asked starring up at him with curiosity in her big brown eyes..

Damon forced a smile before draping his arm around her shoulder.

"I was actually telling myself that I must have done something right in my life to have the most beautiful woman in the world on my arm," he said smoothly as he pulled her closer to him, a devious gleam reflecting in his blue eyes.

"I love it when you have your little sappy moments," Elena murmured happily as she stood on her toes and placed a kiss sweetly on his lips.

Damon moaned softly as he held her closer feeling his heart racing furiously in his chest. It was the perfect moment. Damon knew he should be enjoying it a lot more then what he was, but he couldn't. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut.

Suddenly the music blaring out of the sound system near the Ferris wheel stopped, and Damon eyes opened suddenly. Looking around, he felt a wave of horror crash over him as he came face to face with Silas who was holding Matt's severed head in one hand. He tossed it away carelessly before dragging his forearm across his dark and bloody lips. As he walked through the crowd of fleeing and terrified people, there was no denying the murderous look in his eyes. Turning to Elena, Damon moved to grab and rush her to safety when he heard a blood curling scream come from behind him.

Whirling around, his blue eyes widened in horror as he watched Silas grab Bonnie by the hair before he yanked her head back violently. He was preparing to bury his teeth into her neck when Damon cried out loudly, distracting Silas momentarily.

"No, don't," he pleaded hoarsely,"She doesn't deserve to die. Not like this."

Silas smiled coldly before proceeding to ignore Damon. Bonnie's screams turned into a strangled croak as he slowly crushed her windpipes as he lifted her off the ground with her feet dangling inches above the dirt. Her eyes were filled with tears and pain and blood poured freely from the corner of her mouth and her nose. She looked so helpless, so afraid that Damon tried desperately to rush to her aide. He was frantic and frustrated to find he was frozen in the spot where he stood. As much as he tried, he couldn't move. His hands were locked at his side and his eyes were forced to watch the horrific scene slowly play out in front of him.

Bonnie was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"I can't just let her die," he cried angrily as he attempted to rush to her side.

Out of nowhere, Stefan appeared positioning himself in between Damon and Bonnie and Silas. There was a sad yet calm expression on the younger Salvador brother's handsome face.

"There's nothing you can do for her, Damon. She's already dead and gone," he said in a strange and calming voice,"Don't try to save her."

Damon lifted his head helplessly and gasped as Silas threw Bonnie's lifeless body aside as if she was a rag doll. He watched how the witch's body crumbled against the cold hard ground and judging from the blood coming out of the corners of her eyes and mouth, one thing was obvious.

Bonnie Bennet was dead.

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"Bonnie!"

A strangled and tormented cry tore from Damon's lips as he sat up abruptly in his bed with his bed sheets soaked from the cold sweat pouring down his body. His breathing was shallow and labored, and his heart raced furiously inside of his naked and taut chest. Realizing that he just experienced another nightmare, he closed his eyes tightly feeling rage and frustration overwhelm him. It had been seven long and harsh days since everyone had learned about Bonnie's death, and while Elena and the others grieved deeply and quietly in their own way, Damon had refused to come to terms with the fact she was gone. As much as he wanted to accept it and attempt to move on, something inside of him just wouldn't allow him to let go.

Glancing over at the empty space beside him, a part of Damon wished that he had woken up next to Elena instead of alone drowning in a pool of his own body fluids. However, a bigger part of him knew that it was for the best that Elena had left Mystic Falls several days earlier. She and Caroline had left to return back to college and Damon knew that in order for the emotional doppelganger to cope with Bonnie's death, she would need to surround herself with some sense of normalcy. The last thing Elena need was to learn about the graphic and all to real nightmares that her boyfriend was currently having about her deceased best friend.

Forcing himself to roll out of bed, Damon made his way across the room over to the main window wearing nothing but a pair of gray boxer briefs. Squeezing his clear blue eyes shut tightly, he quickly pushed back the curtains allowing the sunlight to pour into the room. Despite the warmth that was slowly bathing across his nearly naked body, Damon couldn't shake the cold chill and emptiness that Bonnie's death had left inside of him.

Learning the news about the witch's untimely death had shocked and devastated everyone. Damon recalled feeling as if all of the air had deflated from his lungs when Jeremy had broken the news to him. He couldn't believe it, and didn't want to believe it. How could Bonnie, the one person who seemed to always have the right spell, or the right intentions for everything, no longer be alive? It didn't make any sense to him. Instead of coping with her death in a healthy and positive way, he allowed his anger to slowly mount until the point he was currently being blinded by hurt and anger.

"Stupid witch," he cursed angrily as he slowly jogged down the stairs making a beeline towards the kitchen intent on getting something to curb his mounting hunger.

Her death had changed everything. It had changed him, and for the life of Damon, he didn't understand his intense emotions. He had tried so hard to pretend that he didn't care for the little judgmental witch. He had never wanted to acknowledge that he had been both envious and in awe of her incredible power she had manage to channel over the past few months. The first time Damon had met Bonnie, he had relished in the fact that she was timid, frightened and unsure of herself. Back then it was easy for him to get under her skin and instill fear inside of her. Gradually, the stronger her power had made her, the less intimidated she had become, and she even eventually learned to fight back.

Reaching into the refrigerator, he grabbed a blood bag off of the top shelf before sinking his teeth and hungrily sucking the contents while brooding silently. He knew what would make him feel better. If he stalked and caught a live human being for his breakfast, Damon knew that a lot of his rage would be released, but he knew that Bonnie would be sitting on the "other side" judging him for giving into his murderous urge.

The thought of her the typical look of disdain and half smile she would always greet him with caused the corners of his lips to turn up in amusement. He had liked annoying her. He had liked making her scrunch up her face in disgust when ever he would walk into a room. That was the nature of their relationship. He would treat her as if she was expendable and insignificant, and in return, she would treat him as if the worst thing walking the planet since Hitler. Now that she was gone he felt an emptiness. A void.

Bonnie hadn't just been a verbal punching bag he like to wear down every now and then when he was frustrated. She had been an formidable and valuable ally. He had watch her grow from a timid and easily frightened teenage girl, to a powerful, confident and brave young woman. She had done the unexpected and had earned his begrudging respect.

He could never tell her this, because now she was gone. Desperate to get her off his mind, he walked over to the bar and grabbed the nearest bottle of liquor before flopping down on the couch in front of the fire place. Secretly he hoped that he could drink enough to make him forget her and find temporary release from the tidal waves of emotions that had been crashing down over him lately.

Deep down he knew that it would take more then drinking and cursing away her memory, but as he tossed his head back and closed his eyes and thought to himself...

It's worth a try, right?

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Later that day, the somber silence that had fallen over the house was interrupted by the sound of a fierce and heated argument that had broken out inside of the library on the second floor. Damon, drunk and completely inebriated, had been in the process of looking through Grimoires, searching for clues for any way to bring Bonnie back to life when Jeremy had discovered what he was up to the tension between the two men had led to an inevitable confrontation.

"There's no way I'm letting you do this, Damon."

The raven haired vampire barely lifted his head to acknowledge Jeremy's out burst as he tossed away one Grimoire he had just finished scanning through, while reaching for a new one. Damon had realized that for the past few days, he had been sitting around pitifully and been feeling sorry for himself. Bonnie was dead. That was a problem, not a permanent fact. Facts couldn't be changed, but every single problem had a solution. It it had been possible and feasible to bring Jeremy back to life, then it really wasn't that inconceivable to bring back Bonnie as had fully expected Jeremy to be the first one to jump aboard Operation Resurrect Bonnie, but surprisingly the young vampire hunter appeared to be less then pleased with Damon's plan of action.

"Please explain to me why exactly you have a problem with bringing your dead girlfriend back to life?" Damon asked impatiently, " I recall Elena telling me that not so long ago you would have done anything to bring back your dead vampire ex girlfriend. Makes me think that you cared a lot more about her then you do Bonnie."

"You don't know what you are talking about and this has nothing to do with Anna," Jeremy growled, his handsome face flushed with anger.

"Sure it doesn't. Who are you trying to convince, Jer? Me or your ghost girlfriend?" he taunted.

It took everything inside of Jeremy to keep from smashing his fist in the side of Damon's face.

"Ever since you learned that Bonnie was dead you have reverted back to this obnoxious jack ass who lash out at others because you are not man enough to confront your own feelings," Jeremy said hotly, "The only reason that you are bringing back Bonnie is because you are too stubborn and too selfish to let her go."

"I don't have a problem letting her go. I have a problem with the way she died. I have a problem with the way she made the sole choice to remain on the other side when she has unfinished business here," he said curtly.

Jeremy shook his head feeling a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"That's bullshit. The only unfinished business you have is making sure you milk her for everything that she is still worth before she dies. You just want to bring her back so that you can help your brother and get rid of Silas," he said angrily.

Damon's smile faded slowly as he lifted his piercing blue eyes from the ground to Jeremy and stared at him dangerously.

"Tread lightly, hunter. I don't have the best track record of exercising self control whenever I am in these kind of moods," he warned coldly.

"You know, you aren't as tough as you believe yourself to be," he said haughtily, "Beneath that stupid act of yours where you are busy trying to convince the world you are the biggest asshole, you and I both know that you actually give a shit."

Damon shrugged indifferently and smiled lazily as he licked a drop of blood off the corner of his lip innocently.

"Believe whatever the hell it is that you want to believe, Jer. I don't care," he said sarcastically before pouring himself another drink.

"If you don't care, then why are you screaming out my girlfriend's name every night?" he asked coldly.

Before Damon could answer, Jeremy gave him one last look of disgust before whirling around and storming out of the house.

Damon sighed heavily. He knew that he shouldn't have picked a fight with the kid, but Damon had spent the past week on the edge and he was more testy then usual, and Bonnie haunting his nightmares was not helping matters wasn't that he hated Jeremy for keeping Bonnie's death a secret. Sure, he resented him, but he didn't hate him. Bonnie had no doubt convince the young vampire hunter that they were better off keeping it a secret, and unable to resist the witch's desperate pleas, Jeremy had gone along with her wishes.

She was dead and there was nothing that he could do about it. Frustrated, he took the half filled bottle of Bourbon and hurled it across the room cause it to exploded into a million pieces as it shattered against the wall over the fire place.

"I never thought I would see the infamous Damon Salvador succumb to his emotions," a cold British laced voice said behind him, "You must be getting weak in your old age."

Damon didn't have to turn around to know that the intruder standing behind him was Klaus.

"Klaus," Damon said flatly, "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse."

"First you fight your brother for Elena, and now you are fighting Elena's brother about the Bennett witch. Are you oblivious to the terms of brotherhood or are you just tragically indecisive?"

Damon turned around slowly, and gritted his teeth as he watched the arrogant hybrid smiled tolerantly slowly and dramatically made his way down the stairs leading into the room. As he walked towards Damon, there was an unsettling look in Klaus sable tinted eyes that caused Damon's entire body to grow tense. To say the two men despised each other would have been the understatement of the year. Klaus had been the direct cause of a lot of tragedies that occurred in Damon's life over the past few months. The death of Rose and the fact Klaus mother was directly responsible for Alaric's dead were just two of the main reasons that Damon wanted to rip Klaus heart from his chest.

"Speaking of bad days, I heard about the rather unfortunate passing of the Bennett witch. In fact, her death is the sole reason why I had decided to seek you out, well one part anyways. The other part is that I wanted to come and pay my respects," he said innocently.

Damon struggled to contain his fury. Klaus had several descriptive feelings he had expressed to Bonnie over the past few months, but respect hadn't been one of those feelings. If Damon had to chose a fitting description, it would be homicidal obsession. He had tried to possess both Alaric and Tyler in attempts to assassinate her, and when that hadn't worked, Elijah had forced Stefan and Damon's hand and ended up turning Abby, Bonnie's mother, from a witch to a vampire. In the past, Damon had genuinely tried to get on good terms with Bonnie, but it seemed like despite his efforts, Klaus or some outside influence would find a way to screw things up. It was true that most of the reasons that Bonnie found to hate him had been because of Klaus's actions.

"Bullshit," Damon said angrily, "You hate Bonnie Bennett almost as much I did."

A ghost of a smile that slightly resembled amusement, touched Klaus's lips. A blind man could see that Damon was being torn up about something from the inside out and it had nothing to do with is alleged "hatred" for the Bennett witch. In fact Klaus had witness the two interact in the pass and while it was clear that Damon was hopelessly in love with Elena, he could tell that the arrogant and violent vampire also carried a spot in his heart for the witch. He wasn't sure if it was love or just deep friendship, but Klaus knew it was something significant if Damon was having this kind of unexpected reaction over her death. He was in the midst of the five stages of grief and at the moment it was obvious that Damon was under the impression that denial was only a river in Africa.

"I doubt that you hated her, Damon. We are mean to the ones that we care about. Just ask my siblings," he said amused.

"The irony of a psychopath psycho analyzing me is so not lost on me," Damon said wryly as he flopped down on the couch and crossed one leg over the other.

"She may have been my enemy, but she was an honorable one," Klaus insisted said with a note of respect and slight reverence in his voice, "Believe it or not, I am here because I know what you want and I can help you get it."

Damon jaw clenched tightly, and their was a murderous rage building behind the calm surface of his piercing blue eyes. Coming to terms with Bonnie's death was difficult enough. Having to deal with Klaus and his nauseating British accent, and smug smirk was threatening to push Damon, the reformed serial killer, over the edge.

"What is it that you think that I want?" he asked hotly.

"That's a no brainier, friend. You want Bonnie Bennett to rejoin you back in the land of the living, am I right?" he asked patiently.

Damon stiffened. Suddenly it was all beginning to make sense. Klaus appearing out of nowhere to express his condolences for Bonnie Bennet's unfortunate death was just a motive to get the limey bastard closer to an opportunity. An opportunity that Damon was sure that Klaus was preparing to present to him at any given moment.

"This may come as a shock to you, but I am here because Bonnie's death is rather inconvenient for me at the moment. There is a powerful witch in New Orleans that Marcellus is using as a weapon to keep me from reclaiming my rightful spot in the hierarchy in the Big Easy and I need the Bennett witch's help taking her down," he said darkly.

Damon smirked as he took another deep swig of his warm Bourbon sitting in the glass mixed with melted ice cubes.

"You need Judgey's help?" he drawled, "Take a number. Between Stefan and his unfortunate case of amnesia, Matt and his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide act, and Elena's emotional melt down, you will have to take a number. When it comes to you, playing Captain save a psycho won't be high on her list of priorities."

Klaus smirked amused.

"Then it will be up to you to convince her to make me an priority once we bring her back. We both know that witches are nothing more then pawns in a game of chess between two superior beings. Once they serve their purpose, they are expendable," Klaus said casually.

Damon head snapped up, and before he could control himself, he had grabbed Klaus by the collar of his expensive Armani jacket and had him jacked up against the nearest concrete wall.

He was breathing heavily and practically foaming at the mouth as he glowered down at the smirking Original vampire with fire in his eyes.

"Say what you want about whatever witch you want, but Bonnie is off limits. No one uses her...but me. When it is time for her to die, and won't be on her terms. It will be on mine and mine alone," he promised coldly as he glared murderously into Klaus' hunter green eyes.

Klaus stared up at Damon unimpressed.

"I did not come here to quarrel or engage in an altercation, Damon. I am here because we both need something and that is the Bennett witch. You need her to pacify Elena and I need her to remove a certain obstacle that is preventing me from getting exactly what I want," he said simply.

Damon gritted his teeth feeling angry and helpless. Reluctantly, he released Klaus from his iron like grip. While the last thing Damon wanted to do was make a deal with the devil and work with Klaus, he found himself willing to do just about whatever it took to bring Bonnie back from the other side. He owed her that much, and he was determined to make things right.

"So what's the plan, oh great and manipulative one?" Damon asked sarcastically as he walked over to the bar and poured himself a half of glass of Bourbon over the rocks.

Klaus smiled as if the solution was all too simple.

"We will go to Qetsiyah," Klaus said smirking deviously, "We will make her an offer that she cannot refuse."