The Shame of Today:
Moving Forward
Chapter 1
A/N: I want to thank everyone for the positive outcome of this story. I'll be making a bigger story from this as I got an idea. From now this won't be following the police brutality real outcome. I'll be making it my own and it will be a big part of the story, however I will be going forward with a Bamon romance and all that. The chapters will be short, some longer than others and I won't be able to constantly update due to my high school career quickly coming to a close but I'll write when I can and when the inspiration is there.
Damon Salvatore couldn't help but feel as if he let his friend down. He had told her that they'd sit and have a silent protest and out broke riots. He wasn't upset about it but he felt as if he failed her. He put her in danger, exposed her to more violence and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. On top of that he lied.
Going to Baltimore wasn't for her, no it was for him. He wanted to stop what was going on, he didn't want to have to protect Bonnie from a cop. He couldn't bare the thought of losing her again, he couldn't function without her. She was his right hand and he needed her. He needed to know there was one less enemy out there for her. While the trip could be considered to be for her, he felt he had to do it so there was no risk of losing her. Not like that, not because some cop was trigger happy.
Then the riots roared. The people trying to fight each other, others trying to calm their people and other being too angry to give a damn. He remembered overhearing a man, his words replaying over and over in his head.
"Don't give them a reason!" Then he remembered seeing the gang members trying to keep peace. Gangs that hated each other coming together to support this cause. Yet no one understood the message? No one could understand the pain that was felt over this? Blacks were still called thugs and being told they were over reacting? They weren't. Damon understood the riots, he was worse than the riots when he was angry. He got it, he didn't judge. He didn't agree with them due to it taking from other's silent protest but he understood. He could imagine how the people felt. Picturing their family being next, being afraid to leave their homes. Afraid to function in fear of being the next person among the dead. He got it, he felt it.
It wasn't a clean get away when the riot happened. Bonnie had went to mingle with others, to comfort and share concerns while he was looking around learning by ear. When everything turned into chaos all he saw was fire, all he heard was screams and he couldn't fight the feeling to throw up. Alaric had already turned into the hotel so he could video chat with Jo. Caroline was near with Stefan as they tried to cheer up some people, Caroline's natural sunshine made it all the more easier. Enzo was lurking somewhere with the promise of not hurting anyone and of course Elena was right by Damon's side. Who was missing? Bonnie Bennett. He couldn't see her. There were too many heart beats around. Damon was terrified. Was she dead somewhere? Was she being protected?
He felt their rage, in that moment he knew he'd kill someone, anyone if Bonnie was hurt. Damon was naturally destructive. He was working on that, but what reason did he have if his judgy witch wasn't by his side? She made him see differently, He encouraged her to be selfish. He had no one to help keep him in line if not her. Elena always forgave him, Stefan would always give into him at some point. Enzo would applaud him. Alaric would give him a look of disappointment but be his drinking buddy the next night. It wasn't even on Caroline's radar to care, not anymore.
Damon had rushed through the crowds, Elena hot on his tail as he screamed for Bonnie. Elena said something along the lines of her maybe being at the hotel but he wasn't taking that chance. When he found his witch she was huddled against the wall with a small girl. A girl that looked like bonnie, a girl that was crying for her mother. A mother that Bonnie had been trying to find but couldn't. She worried that her mother maybe had been arrested but she couldn't be sure. Who did she take this kid to? There was no one. She couldn't trust the cops. Bonnie spent so much time trying to find her house, the kid didn't know. Apparently Daddy wasn't in the picture either. So where did that leave the girl? With Bonnie.
Caroline had tried to convince Bonnie to try to take the girl to the police, Bonnie shot it down without hesitation. Elena offered to compel a cop to care for the girl, Bonnie didn't trust it. One cop to protect the girl? What happened when something happened to that cop? she said. She then offered to compel a family, she was told no again, something Damon understood. She went on about not letting the little girl stay in Baltimore, that what if her new family got hurt like her mother? So Bonnie kept her for their time in Baltimore. She held and sheltered the little girl whose name they learned is Cassidy Newton, nickname Cassie. What happened when Damon compelled a cop to tell them Cassidy's information? Her mom was dead, she was found last night once things calmed down. She got hurt in the riot, no other family to be found. So Cassidy was Bonnie's.
To Damon's surprise Bonnie was really good with Cassidy, their few nights in Baltimore Cassidy cried. She begged for her mom and Bonnie just held the girl telling her that she was looking for her, that she'd try to find her. Damon didn't have the heart to tell Bonnie that the woman was dead. When he did I'm trying to find her turned to, your mom left you in my care she says she loves you. Stefan took time to accept Cassidy, not because he didn't like kids but with how chaotic their lives were he was worried to which Alaric countered with that Bonnie was human and she was going to have kids at some point and with He and Jo having a baby, what was the difference? That set Stefan's perspective differently.
The only one that wasn't so happy, was Elena. Damon didn't blame her though due to her feeling with Jo having a baby. She was happy, but she was also envious. He knew Elena wanted a child and now not only did Jo have one, but Bonnie. Damon believed she didn't mean to show her jealousy but still, Bonnie kept Cassidy away from Elena as much as she could and when it became time to go back home it wasn't easy with Cassidy, she was 4. She understood that they were taking her from her home but as always with her Bonnie worked her charm and Cassidy calmed down, finally accepting that she maybe not see her mom again, but felt better everytime Bonnie told her that her mommy said she loved her.