Angel of Mine (A Bamon One-Shot for the Supernatural Challenge)
By V.C. Turner
Sometimes love can move both Heaven and Earth.
Bonnie's eyes settled on the clouds floating beneath her. The morning sun was rising and it made them sparkle in gold and orange hues. No matter how many times she witnessed the spectacle, she still felt in awe of its beauty. Being a guardian angel did have its advantages.
She stood on her feather-topped pedestal and stretched her arms, her wings spreading out to their full width of almost six feet. She inhaled a deep breath, excited for the day to come.
Excited to see him.
Bonnie had never lived as a human, but she still felt their emotions. She was given the task of caring for one person. Her job was to keep him safe and she did a pretty good job of it despite his tendency to get himself into trouble on an almost weekly basis.
As a guardian angel, she watched over Damon Salvatore with a careful eye. She received her assignment about two years ago, after he barely survived a car accident that placed him in a coma for two weeks. During that time, no family came to visit him so she stood by his bedside and held his hand, even though she knew he couldn't feel her touch.
It amazed her that she felt such emotion for her human. That's how she referred to him when speaking with the other angels: "her human." Bonnie, however, didn't see him as simply human. To her, he seemed divine. A secret she held close to her soul was just how much she thought about her charge. His blue eyes haunted her even after he fell asleep at night. She longed to run her small fingers through his jet-black hair and see him smile at her.
But that could never happen.
She could only exist in the dimension between dreams and reality. She could never really touch him, and to her that felt like Hell even though she resided on the outskirts of heaven.
She soon began to run, hopping from cloud to cloud until she built up enough momentum to launch herself into the sky and begin her descent to Earth.
Bonnie loved flying. She loved soaring above and below the clouds. She loved the feeling of the air filling her lungs. She loved sensation of the wind against her sparkling, russet-colored skin as her wings cut through the air.
Bonnie flew circles around Damon's small house until she finally landed on his roof. On Earth, the only beings able to see her were the babies entering the world and the people leaving it. A small part of her wished that Damon could see her. Well, perhaps that part of her wasn't so small.
Showing herself was strictly forbidden. Humans weren't allowed to see their guardian angels unless they were on the brink of death and sometimes in dreams. Bonnie was not allowed to physically manifest herself unless Damon was in immediate danger. If this happened, she would need to take the memory of her from his mind.
Still, she dreamed of a day when would look directly into her eyes and say her name, but some things just weren't meant to be.
Damon Salvatore sat up in bed with a song running through his clouded mind. He blinked at the light shining in his window and noticed that he woke just minutes before his alarm clock sounded. Something stirred him this morning. Perhaps, he thought, it was inspiration for his next piece of music; one that, unfortunately, no one else would be able to hear.
He stood, stretching in front of the window with a smile on his face. It was Saturday. He could be himself today. He could write his music and play the piano to his heart's content without his father's voice screaming at him to get back to work on the construction site.
Damon worked as a foreman for his father's company. The young Salvatore had a talent for designing large buildings that always seemed to reach toward the heavens in some way. He loved staring at the clouds and thinking of ways to make one or several parts of a building point or arch upward, appearing as though they touched the sky.
Beneath the blueprints he took to work rested other sheets of paper with lyrics and musical notes to songs he dared not play for family. He needed to do something practical; something that was useful. Music, at least to the rest of the Salvatores, wasn't useful.
Damon plodded downstairs and made a cup of coffee before he strolled over to his piano. He ran his fingers over the ebony and ivory keys, playing a soft, romantic tune with one hand while taking a drink with the other. The simple melody reminded him of a recurring dream he began having two years earlier.
In that dream, a beautiful woman hovered over him like an angel. He could clearly see her face and at that moment he knew that he had to be dreaming. She had this golden brown skin and emerald eyes that appeared to see through him. Her voice echoed in his head each night when he placed his head on his pillow.
"I'm with you Damon," she said.
Her full lips taunted him each time she spoke to him at night. He knew no woman in real life could ever compare to this angel that belonged to him in his dreams. He never told anyone about her, but when asked why he didn't date very often, he simply said, "I already have an angel to call my own."
Damon scrawled some notes on a piece of paper and began bringing his music to life. Each note lifted off the keys, out the open window, and into the air.
"Where are you, angel?" he asked into the emptiness of his living room. He didn't receive an answer.
Well, he didn't receive an answer he could hear.
Bonnie sat on Damon's roof, staring up at the sky and listening to her charge play the most beautiful sounds in the world. She often sang along with the music, making up words as they came to her mind. She wasn't sure why she was chosen to be his guardian, but she felt it was the greatest blessing she could ever have. Just knowing him almost made her feel human. Almost. She still wanted to touch him. She still wanted to hold him and make him aware of her presence. She wanted him to hear her song. She didn't want to be a part of the end of his life. She wanted to be in his life.
Damon showered and dressed as he prepared to head to the store to buy some groceries. His refrigerator was seriously depleted since he barely had time to shop during the week. Giuseppe Salvatore was a merciless boss and an even stricter father, but he was all Damon had since his mother died and his brother, Stefan, went into the military.
He got into his Camaro and started the vehicle. He enjoyed the hum the old car made when it started. No one else in town had anything like it and he was proud that it stood out. As he began to pull out of his driveway, something pulled him back in his seat. He soon remembered that he needed to put on his seatbelt before heading onto the main road.
He tossed his phone in the passenger seat and continued his journey along Main Street, completely unaware that his guardian angel sat next to him with a big smile on her face and a cell phone in her lap.
Bonnie watched as the wind tousled Damon's hair. She reached over and played with it, knowing that even if he could feel her touch, he would quickly dismiss it as having to do with the air rushing in from the open window.
"I'm with you, Damon," she whispered.
He didn't hear it, but somehow he knew he wasn't alone.
As Damon pulled into the parking lot of the local Food Lion, his phone began to ring. He rolled his eyes, knowing who was on the other end of the line. He reached for the smartphone, not bothering to look at the display before hitting "accept"
"Damon," his father's voice boomed, "I need you to check on the Burke Street site today."
"Dad, it's my day off," Damon insisted, but knowing it was hopeless.
"Can't be helped son. One of the neighbors said last night's high winds might have caused some damage. We need someone to go out there and assess the situation before we call in a crew," Giuseppe said.
Damon felt it was pointless to argue with his father, so he reluctantly agreed and backed out of his parking spot to go to the work site. As soon as he pulled up, he noticed that some of the tarp covering the scaffolding of the building had been torn away. He got out of his car to give a quick check for structural damage.
Bonnie followed him, her presence close on his heels as he unlocked the gate and looked around the site for any apparent hazards. A shudder ran over Bonnie's skin; it was something she only felt when danger was close by. As a guardian, she couldn't see the future, but she could sense that something was about to happen.
A crackle of thunder sounded overhead, shaking the foundation of the unfinished office building. The wind began to pick up, stirring up the dirt around Damon's feet. He reached for his phone to check the weather report and noticed that a storm would be headed in his direction very soon.
"Damn!" he said to himself.
Bonnie chuckled. Damon exuded charm even when angry or frustrated. It made her celestial heart flutter. She stared at him as he squinted over her invisible shoulder. Dark clouds hovered overhead. The weather forecast from the day before didn't call for this storm, but the radar on his phone told him that he needed to secure the scaffolding alongside and leave as soon as possible.
His guardian angel watched over him as he anchored the metal scaffolding and tried to secure any loose debris so that it wouldn't be blown around in the 45 mph winds that were to come.
Danger was headed their way. Bonnie felt it just before her wings sprang from their resting place beneath her shoulder blades. Lightning hit the metal scaffold, sending large wooden planks in Damon's direction. In an instant, she stood over his crouched form, his arms over his head. Her wings spread out, then wrapped themselves around him as the boards crashed down.
Bonnie refused to let him die. She knew it wasn't his time. The winds picked up and more wood fell. Damon tried to run for better cover, but tripped over a bag of unmixed concrete and fell to the ground. He hit his head, regretting that he'd forgotten to wear his hard hat on site.
Bonnie hung over him again, her wings spread out to protect him until the threat was over. As the winds picked up, more debris flew around them. She wasn't certain if she could protect him from all of it; so, knowing that his eyes were covered, she partially manifested herself to shield him more.
Damon, his vision partially obscured by his arms, noticed something bright in front of him. He thought he was seeing the glow from the sparking transformer. Then his eyes focused a little more to reveal something he'd only seen in dreams. His angel.
He gazed at her worried face while she scanned their surroundings. Her beauty froze him in place as he silently watched her. Then the most beautiful sound rang in his ears.
"I'm with you, Damon," she whispered.
Her voice hung in his ears. He had no choice but to answer.
"Who are you?" he asked as he uncovered his face and stared into her jade-colored eyes.
Her shocked expression showed guilt as well as a bit of longing. For the first time in two years, they saw one another clearly; inhabited the same reality for several forbidden moments.
"Are you ok?" she asked, in spite of herself, and in full disregard of her training as a guardian angel.
Damon stood up and shook his head to make sure he really saw her. He reached out, his hand touching her shoulder.
"My God," he exclaimed, "You're real."
"Shhh," she whispered.
Bonnie placed a finger to his lips to quiet him. The winds died down and he watched in awe as her silver and white wings folded back into her heavenly form. She appeared to be his age. Her dark hair flowed into her shoulders. Her lips turned up into a smile.
"Are you … Are you my angel?" he asked as he found himself standing on shaky feet.
Damon knew he hadn't lost consciousness. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a hallucination. It was real.
"We're not allowed to speak," she told him, "I have to make you forget me."
Bonnie walked toward him and stroked his face. She always wanted to touch him, so she tried to savor the moment while she had it, and then hold onto it for the rest of her existence.
"Please, don't. I don't want to forget this. I promise I won't tell anyone," he pleaded.
She shook her head.
"I can't. You have to forget me. I have to make you forget me. It's the only way I can be the one to keep watching over you," she admitted.
Damon began to panic. The thought of never seeing her again, in his reality, just wasn't fair. He needed to touch her once more, so he reached for her hand. She let him take it. He intertwined their fingers.
"When will I see you again?" he asked.
She gave him a soft smile.
"When…. When it's your time to get your wings," she confessed as a sparkling tear began to fall down her beautiful face.
Damon ran his thumb across her cheek to wipe away the tear. It evaporated the moment it touched his human skin. The woman he loved was real after all, but forever out of his reach. How could he ever love a human when an angel was the one who owned his heart?
"I don't want to forget this," he said, his voice shaking, "I don't want to forget you."
"You have to," she said.
Bonnie prepared the blessing that would take his memory. She began to speak only to have him interrupt her.
"At least tell me your name," begged Damon.
"I can tell you, but you'll only forget," she said.
"I don't care. I just need to know the name of the angel who has always been there for me. Please," Damon whispered as he stepped closer.
Reluctantly, she granted his request.
"My name is Bonnie," she said quietly.
"Thank you, Bonnie. Thank you for saving me," Damon said.
She touched his cheek before she said the blessing to make him forget.
"I'm with you, Damon," she whispered.
Bonnie then began to speak in a language that Damon believed to be ancient Hebrew. He couldn't let her go. Not like this. Something took over his rational mind. As she continued to speak the words, he boldly placed his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers. At that moment, he knew what Heaven truly felt like. He kissed her with longing, knowing he would never see her again. She kissed him back, hoping the forbidden moment would never end. But it did. The second his lips separated from hers, her form began to fade from his sight. She was being pulled back to Heaven.
"Bonnie!" he cried out.
A blinding white light surrounded his angel. Bonnie's glowing skin began to shimmer and she soon became translucent.
"I'm with you, Damon," she said again, "Always."
Damon fell to his knees in grief. He still felt her lips on his and knew that she would fade from his memory soon after she faded from his sight.
"Bonnie," he repeated over and over again like a prayer that would go unanswered.
Shrouded in white and golden robes, Saint Peter stood at the entrance to the Gates of Heaven, his arms folded in front of him like a father waiting for his daughter after she missed curfew. Bonnie dreaded what would happen as she slowly ascended the steps and looked into his grey eyes.
"I'm sorry," the novice guardian angel blurted out.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but remained silent as if he were waiting for her to say something else.
Bonnie bit her lip and tried to figure out what he wanted from her. St. Peter didn't exactly give her any indication as to how she could manage to get out of this with her wings intact. She searched her mind for something: begging, praying, or making a promise to never manifest in Damon's presence again.
"I couldn't let him die," she finally said.
"What if it was his time?" St. Peter asked, his voice as deep as thunder.
"Dear Saint, I didn't feel that it was his time. He has so much work to do on Earth. He deserves to live," Bonnie answered.
"Do you feel it is you who has the right to make that decision?" he asked.
Bonnie cast her eyes down at the clouds beneath her.
"No, Dear Saint, it is not my decision. I'm only supposed to guard him, to guide him until it is his time," she pointed out.
"It is good that you remembered that part of your training, but you did overlook something," St. Peter said.
"The forgetting blessing," she stated flatly.
St. Peter nodded.
"And you've fallen in love with your charge," he admonished like an annoyed parent.
"I cannot apologize for that. I know I am supposed to protect him, but I could not help but fall in love with him," Bonnie confessed.
After several agonizing seconds of silent judgment, St. Peter spoke again.
"Do you wish to fall?" he said, his tone sounding more loving.
"Fall?" she asked.
"To Earth," he added.
Bonnie thought about it for a while. She heard of other angels being allowed to "fall" to Earth. They were reborn as infants and grew up to live a normal life, never knowing their true origin. She didn't want to lose her memories of being an angel; of flying through the air in her silver and white wings; of watching over the man she loved. She didn't want to start life over again. She would lose him.
Sadness consumed her and St. Peter noticed the young angel's struggles. He walked toward her, and took her hands in his.
"There are no tears in Heaven," he whispered as he comforted her.
Bonnie nodded, using the tip of her wings to wipe the wetness from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, St. Peter. I couldn't help it. I love him. If I fall to Earth, I'll lose him. I don't want to lose him," she said as she wept.
"Then, my sweet angel, you won't lose him," St. Peter pointed out, guiding her back toward her home.
"Thank you so much for understanding," she said, "I promise to take his memories of me away from him."
St. Peter nodded silently as he watched her walk away.
"One more thing, Bonnie," St. Peter added.
Bonnie turned to face him.
"What's that, Saint Peter?" she asked as she stretched her wings out to their full length before taking flight.
Saint Peter smiled down at her.
"I'm really going to miss you, little one," he said.
Before she could ask him what he meant, golden light surrounded her, then flowed through her chest as her eyes closed.
Darkness soon followed.
Damon Salvatore convinced himself that the angel he saw two weeks earlier was a figment of his imagination; a near death experience that wasn't real. He'd hit his head on the bag of concrete and saw what he wanted to see. Bonnie "The Angel" was a fantasy, and a beautiful one. She dwelled in his dreams and his memory, but in real life, she didn't exist.
Damon pulled into the parking lot of the hospital that cared for him while he was in a coma two years earlier. He went there every few months to thank the nurses that cared for him, bringing them roses and something for lunch each time. They swarmed him on each visit, lavishing him with hugs and kisses as they gushed over his recovery. Giuseppe Salvatore didn't understand his son's persistence in reliving the memory of the accident that almost killed him, but Damon considered it a second chance at life. He wanted to give back to those that gave to him.
When he entered the long-term care ward, no one greeted him as they normally did. A few unfamiliar nursing assistants passed by and told him that someone would be with him in a moment.
Damon set the large box of food on the counter along with the glass vase holding a dozen roses. He waited patiently, knowing that the nurses must be busy tending to patients. He heard excited chattering, but it took at least 15 minutes for the head nurse, Grace Winston, to come out to the front desk and greet him.
"Oh, sweetheart! It's so good to see you. I'm sorry nobody was here to meet you when you came in," she said, giving Damon a hug.
The short, gray-haired woman kissed his cheek, then pinched it like a loving aunt.
"It's okay," he responded, "I know you guys are busy."
She smiled widely at him and took his hand.
"You wouldn't believe how busy we are this morning! It's a miracle," Grace said as she pulled him down the hallway.
"What's a miracle?" he asked, surprised at the older nurse's strength as she easily tugged him along with her.
"She's awake. After two years, she's finally awake!" the woman said excitedly, "We almost gave up hope, but our little angel is awake."
Damon's heart sank as he remembered his own angel and the fact that he would never see her again because of some heavenly rule keeping them apart; that is, if she were real in the first place.
He walked into the large room toward a bed surrounded by doctors and nurses.
"Ms. Grace, should I even be in here? I don't know this person," Damon added, feeling guilty for invading the privacy of a stranger.
"Of course you know her," Grace said, "Well sort of. You both came in here on the same day…the day of the accident."
"My accident?" Damon said, knowing this was a rhetorical question.
"Yes. Both of you came in here with head injuries from when that damn tractor-trailer driver jackknifed and hit both of your cars. You both had head injuries. You woke up. She didn't…at least not until today," Grace explained.
The sea of medical staff white coats parted and Damon finally got a look at "their angel."
Only it wasn't their angel.
Her eyes opened to bright white light; not the kind to which she was accustomed. This light was cold, not warm. The cloud beneath her felt firm, smooth, and wrapped in a thin fabric that tickled her skin. Skin? It felt different somehow. She ran her fingers along her arms. They felt smooth, but the shimmer was gone.
She began to breath in the cold air around her. It filled her lungs, but something was off. She felt strange. Her heart beat strong and heavy. She heard a beeping sound to her left, and then other sounds came into focus. Talking. She definitely heard people chattering around her.
Bonnie blinked over and over until her vision cleared. Surrounded by strangers in a white room, she pushed back against something soft – not soft like a cloud. Her back was pressed against a pillow.
Her wings were gone. Where were her wings?! She wanted to ask the question out loud, but she couldn't yet find her voice. The strangers began speaking to her, but their words sounded muffled amidst her confusion. She held her hands up to her ears and closed her eyes. Fear gripped her as she tried to make sense of what happened to her.
Her body felt cold. The thin blanket covering her provided no comfort. She felt trapped; alone in a room full of strangers whose voices were all foreign to her. Then she heard it…something faint but familiar in the cacophony of sounds.
"Bonnie," the man said.
Bonnie knew that voice and it wasn't Saint Peter.
"Bonnie?" the man asked again.
Pushing her fear aside, she opened her eyes just as a warm hand wrapped around hers. She looked up into a pair of eyes that resembled the sky; the one through which she soared with angel's wings.
"Damon?" she said, her voice sounding weak and timid.
The heart monitor came alive, beeping rapidly to reflect the excitement she felt at seeing him; at touching him. Touching him for real this time. She wanted to hold him, but her legs refused to move no matter how hard she tried.
"It's going to take some time, dear," said nurse Grace, "But you'll be back on your feet soon enough."
Bonnie nodded at the woman, then turned back to Damon, shocked to see him and even more shocked that everyone in the room could see her. Something deep inside told her to not question it…that they would think she was crazy, so she clamped her mouth shut.
Damon squeezed her hand and smiled as tears welled in his eyes. Bonnie, used to comforting him, placed her hand on top of his.
"I'm here? I'm human," she whispered to him like a secret the two of them would have to share.
"I don't know how and I really don't care," he said, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.
Bonnie shivered and Damon instinctively pulled the blanket up around her, tucking it beneath her legs. She began to feel warmth almost immediately and smiled up at him.
"It looks like it's going to be a while before I can walk," she said.
"Then I'll carry you," he added.
Bonnie placed a kiss to his cheek.
"I guess it's your turn to protect me for a while," she pointed out.
Damon slid next to her into the small hospital bed, carefully wrapping his arms around her.
"Don't worry, angel," Damon whispered as he placed his forehead to hers, "I'm with you, Bonnie."
The End