A/N: Here is the latest chapter. You guys have been awesome in your responses to this story, I really wasn't expecting it. I hope you guys like this follow-up chapter from the previous one. As always thanks in advance for reading and letting me know what you think!

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

"I don't enjoy feeling fear. It's unbecoming." –Damon Salvatore

"I'm assuming he's not a friend of yours?" Damon asked while using his body to shield Bonnie.

He didn't feel her tremble behind him, and judging by the smell of resolve coming off her skin, Bonnie was fully prepared to fight. Well he had heard of the expression never bring a knife to a gun fight. So it went without saying, never bring a maiden to a vampire fight. If he was completely on his own he wouldn't have to worry about protecting her. Nevertheless from what he's learned of Bonnie so far she wouldn't take being treated like a damsel in distress too kindly.

Tough. He had never put a woman in danger before and he saw no need in breaking with tradition.

He shoved her behind a tree. "Don't move from this spot," he ordered.

Bonnie growled. "I can help you."

Damon slighted her with a look. "I'd prefer it if you'd stay here."

He walked away before she could raise an objection. Damon waited for the vampire as he…limped his way towards them. The minute he was revealed, Damon almost wanted to take pity out on him. Almost. Vampires—no matter what physical shape they were in were still dangerous.

The vampire's skin was scaly and his clothes tattered and moth eaten. Damon had never seen an emaciated vampire before, well aside from his brother. He cracked his knuckles and cricked his neck. He should be done with the disgrace of a vampire in no time flat and then he could get back to seducing Ms. Bennett.

Hmm, lovely title for a movie Damon thought distractedly.

Bonnie gritted her teeth. She absolutely loathed when a man tried to treat her like she was some bumbling fool traipsing through the forest without a clue.

She slipped from the tree Damon had pushed her behind and ran over to a tree that was slightly closer to where he was standing. She tried her best to peer through the darkness to make out who the encroaching vamp was, but she couldn't see his face. It was too dark and her eyes were only human.

"So…hungry…" the vamp croaked.

"You've come to the wrong place if you're looking for a meal," Damon stated with deadly calm.

"I want the girl."

Damon shook his head in the negative. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. But I can put you out of your misery."

Damon moved so fast Bonnie was barely able to keep up with his movement. He blurred over to the vampire and in the next second, the vamp fell dead to the ground. Damon tossed his blackened heart aside, spun around when he sensed another vampire coming up from behind.

It was a woman—fangs out, hands bent into talons as she reached for his neck. Due to his strength, speed, and age, Damon was able to block her attack and flipped her on her back. The second she was down, he didn't hesitate to punch his fist through her chest—extracting her heart. He tossed it negligently aside.

He was barely winded as he rose to his feet and concentrated Power to his ears and nose to hear and scent where the other three were hiding.

Bonnie caught movement to her right and was about to yell "look out" when she was grabbed from behind and thrown ruthlessly to the ground.

Her knees and the palms of her hands broke her fall. Pain ricocheted through her body. Before she had the chance to right herself, a bony hand snatched her by the crown of her head, pulling it backwards, exposing her neck.

She cried out but then fought through it as she delivered an aneurysm that brought the vampire to his knees clutching his head in pain.

Bonnie rolled away, her hands furtively searching the ground for a piece of tree bark. When her fingers brushed against a piece of wood, Bonnie grabbed it, but the vamp jumped on top of her, choking her.

She never dropped the branch and stabbed it clean through the shoulder of the vamp. He roared in pain and loosened his grip just enough for Bonnie to scramble away.

Damon had finished off the other two without breaking a sweat. As he swiveled toward Bonnie who was busy trying to grab at a makeshift stake, there was a vampire who had uprooted a small tree and was about to toss it like a Frisbee at her.

Damon moved without conscious thought. Simply told his body to get there before the tree did. Once he was there, he tackled Bonnie to the ground, shielding her. The young witch's back pressed tightly against his front as the tree barely cleared his head as it flew over them. Damon didn't bother asking if she were all right. Merely snapped to his feet, grabbed the decrepit vampire by the shoulders, hoisted him up, and with the flick of his wrist sent the vamp spiraling into a tree shattering it into toothpicks. Zooming over, he picked up a shattered piece and stabbed it clean through the heart.

To Damon each of them wreaked of severe death and decay which meant they had been starved for decades, maybe even a century. He had no clue how they were alive. Seeing them made him think of Stefan when he was trapped in the Dark Dimension and was nearly starved to death. Time passed different in that place than it did on earth making it hard to gauge how long his brother had gone without blood. Damon just remembered how frail Stefan was, that if you tickled him with a feather he would have disintegrated on the spot.

So the obvious conclusion Damon reached is that those vampires remained alive due to magic.

This place was a lot more interesting than it seemed.

He strolled over to Bonnie, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. He held out a hand and helped her to her feet.

Bonnie looked around at the impromptu battlefield. "Tomb vampires," she whispered. "They must have escaped before the device went off."

Naturally this meant nothing to Damon.

"Well, they're dead now," his dark eyes searched her for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

Bonnie absently shook her head. "We have to get rid of them."

"I'm not exactly carrying a shovel on me," he retorted dryly.

Bonnie stared up at him drolly. "I can take care of it."

Now that he would have to see.

Bonnie began chanting the Latin words that would incinerate the bodies. Flames burst forth out of thin air. The heat of it licked against Damon's icy skin. He had never seen anyone so young exercise so much power before. Again, his gums began to throb with need.

The light of the fires burned his sensitive eyes, but it couldn't stop Damon from looking at Bonnie mesmerized. He had seen his fair share of parlor tricks and hypnotism, but he hadn't seen anything quite like the young lady standing in her night clothes burning his kind to a cinder.

She's pyrotelekinetic, Damon thought. Cupid just shot him through the heart.

Bonnie felt her reserves depleting. Burning five bodies at the same time was taking more energy than she was used to expelling. As a result she stopped the fires prematurely—her heart pounding and her ears ringing. She had burned the bodies enough that if a hiker or someone found the remains there was hardly anything left to make a positive identification.

Damon stepped closer to her. "You are simply too good to be true," he praised and wiped a trail of mud off her cheek.

Bonnie attempted to smile but it faltered and then, her world turned black and she lost the feeling in her legs.

Damon caught her before she hit the ground, his eyes going wide with alarm. He cradled her as her head lolled like a rag doll. Was she dead?

He could still feel the vibration of her heart beating coupled with the soft squishy sound of it. That reassured him but not nearly enough.

"Bonnie?" he shook her. She remained unresponsive. Damon cursed when blood trickled down her nostrils. If he still had a heartbeat it would have stopped.

He picked her up and cursed the fact he couldn't return her home. She had yet to invite him inside leaving no choice but to take her to the only other residence he knew.

Damon barged through the doors of the boardinghouse. He didn't care what the hour was. These people were supposed to be Bonnie's friends and they had better wake up and help her.

"Help me!" he bellowed. It only took a minute for one of the vampires to join him downstairs.

Stefan reached him first and watched as Damon cradled Bonnie in his arms. Her eyes were closed but that wasn't what drew his concern. It was the fact she was bleeding from the nose. Anger rushed through him as he looked accusingly at Damon who rolled his eyes already knowing that he was going to say.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. We were attacked by vampires and she burned them. Afterwards she fainted and she's yet to regain consciousness."

"Let's get her upstairs."

Elena, who was currently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, became fully awake as she saw Damon carrying Bonnie bridal style upstairs, her upper lip coated in blood.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Stefan and Damon rushed passed her and entered a bedroom down the hall. She was quick on their heels.

Damon laid Bonnie down gently in the middle of the bed, arranging her until she was comfortable.

Stefan took Elena by the arms. "I think she used too much magic and as a result lost consciousness," he offered her a smile. "She'll be all right. She's Bonnie."

None of this was making a lick of sense to Elena and she felt her panic rising. Bonnie had never had any problems with her magic before. The doppelganger was aware it was only the heavy duty spells that could be dangerous and threaten a witch's life. Yet Bonnie had been able to calm the fires of the warehouse as it burned without breaking a sweat.

Her dark brown eyes flashed over to Damon. "Explain to me what happened," the words slipped through clenched teeth.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose and broke down the situation.

It wasn't long after he was finished clearing his name—for lack of a better phrase—that the other Damon Salvatore meandered his way into the crowded room.

He stared at Bonnie prior to saying, "I told that girl not to bite off more than she could chew."

Several pair of eyes narrowed towards Damon who merely tried to look sheepish.

"Why do you always have to such an asshole?" Elena cursed before stomping her way to the adjoining bathroom where she grabbed a face cloth, saturated it with water and returned to clean the blood and dirt off Bonnie's face.

Damon snorted. Well that was the first time she called him that—to his face at least. Damon ignored the sting he felt and brought his gaze over to his baby brother who was currently checking Bonnie's pulse.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Stefan made a restless motion with his shoulders. This was outside of his area of expertise. "I'm going to call Alaric. He might know more about Bonnie's condition."

With Stefan gone it was just the two Damon's and Elena who was currently seated on the bed next to her friend.

The Damon's scowled at one another.

Stefan re-entered the room, the tension smacking him in the face. He pointedly ignored it as he joined Elena on the bed.

"Alaric is on his way. He said we should keep watch of her vitals until he gets here. Make sure she's as comfortable as possible."

Elena nodded her head. "On that note, if your name is Damon you need to leave the room."

Light Eyes had no problem leaving. He could tell when he wasn't wanted around, and Bonnie was essentially Stefan and Elena's problem anyways. He quickly disappeared.

However, Dark Eyes had no intentions of abandoning Bonnie.

Elena noticed that he stood rooted to his spot on the opposite side of the room. She looked up at him.

"I mean it, Damon. I don't want any bad vibes around Bonnie."

The five-hundred year old vampire scoffed and planted his hands on his hips. "If you haven't noticed, precious Elena, Bonnie can tolerate me more than she can that cur with my face. I'm staying. If she wants me gone, well she's going to have to wake up and throw me out herself."

And to prove how obstinate he was, Damon flounced on the bed next to Bonnie and wiggled his eyebrows.

Elena scoffed. That was such a Damon move.

Twenty minutes later, Alaric arrived and cleared everyone, aside from Damon from the room. Fifteen minutes later he stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. The teacher was ambushed by Elena and Stefan.

"How is she?" Elena pressed.

"She'll be fine. She just needs her rest. I don't think she's in any kind of real danger. I've read about witches when they use too much power that they can fall into a stasis coma. Their power becomes like a cocoon and protects them until they're strong again."

Stefan frowned. "How do you know she's not in that?"

A corner of Alaric's mouth tilted up. "She's not floating off the bed."

"But you're sure she's going to be fine?" Elena wanted the facts reiterated.

Again, Alaric nodded his head. "She will."

Back inside the room Damon lounged against the wall, his gaze locked on the subtle rise and fall of Bonnie's chest. For such a tiny thing, her heart was strong; it was the only sound he was listening to at the moment. There were many things about her which reminded him of his girls: Elena, Bonnie, and on occasion Meredith. She had Meredith's disdain for vampires, but her keen intelligence. Bonnie had Elena's strength and will power to save others. She shared his little redbird's gifts so when you added those things up Bonnie made the perfect woman. For him at least.

The door tentatively opened and the other Damon slipped back inside.

"I thought your master ordered you to stay away?" dark eyes taunted.

Light Eyes wanted to slam the door shut and ram his boot up Dark Eyes' ass. Instead he growled and walked over to the other wall and began to lean against it.

"I've known Judgey a bit longer than you. That said, if anyone should kick rocks," he pointedly cleared his throat, "it should be the imposter."

Dark Eyed Damon made a guttural noise in the back of his throat, but then something the other Damon said caught his attention.

"Why do you call her Judgey?"

"That's our inside thing."

Hmm. It was the first time Damon from Fell's Church heard a note of possession coming from Mystic Falls Damon in terms of the witch. Could his bravado of not liking Bonnie be just for show? To prove his loyalty only stemmed to one female in this clandestine bunch?

Press his buttons, Damon.

Dark Eyes climbed on the bed next to Bonnie and first combed his fingers through her wavy hair, delighting in the softness of the stands tickling his fingers. Taking it up a notch, he ran his fingertips along the contour of her cheek, before reaching his ultimate goal of holding her hand.

Light Eyes observed from his post, his eyes only narrowing infinitesimally. "Can you stop with all that touching? We don't need her to wake up in a bad mood."

Dark Eyes grinned and brought Bonnie's hand up to his lips and kissed it. He interlocked their fingers.

Something uncomfortable rolled through Light Eyed Damon and began to spread to his innards as he watched the vampire with his face act lovingly towards the witch. It was like an actor viewing themselves in a movie. It was completely weird because he had never had that type of interest in Bonnie. So to see "himself" behave with her the way he would Elena if she allowed him—was mind boggling.

And as mind boggling was it was, why was it beginning to irritate him?

Bonnie twitched a little against the bed and then her eyes fluttered just a second prior to her jolting up in bed.

"Easy, princess and welcome back."

Bonnie looked over to the man sitting on the bed, holding her hand. She was met with those obsidian eyes and she felt her heart torpedo in her chest.

"Damon?" she croaked.

Damon's grin stretched farther. "The one and only…well not anymore unfortunately."

Bonnie clasped her head as her brain pounded against her skull. She sensed someone else in the room leading her to seek out the source. It was the other Damon. His face was unreadable. She grimaced at him.

"How long was I out?" Bonnie asked.

"Five hours," the Damon who was seated beside her answered.

Bonnie's eyes bulged.

"You've had the house in an uproar, Judgey. Do you remember what happened?"

Bonnie remembered but she had no intentions of sharing that with either Damon.

"I'm just glad to be alive," Bonnie replied shakily. She looked down at the pale white hand clasping hers. She withdrew hers.

The door to the bedroom flew open and Elena strode in with Stefan and Alaric following after.

Bonnie found herself engulfed in a pair of thin arms and long raven hair. "Bonnie, thank God you're awake."

"How do you feel?" was Alaric's question as he checked her pupil dilation after Elena let Bonnie go.

"Tired. I need a moment, guys."

The other men in the room cleared out leaving Elena and Bonnie alone.

"Bonnie, what happened?"

The young sorceress sat up in bed, resting against the headboard. She really had no idea, but she fleetingly remembered her Grams warning her against using too much magic too soon. Everything had a consequence attached to it, and the magic could ricochet and push back. It was a weakness and not one she needed anyone of the undead sort to know.

"I'm still in an adjustment period, Elena. That's all I can come up with."

Elena nodded her head. "Do you feel up to eating anything? I can make you something."

The mention of food made Bonnie's stomach growl. "Thanks. I could use a shower, but can you tell me why both Damon's were in the room with me?"

Elena had no answer for that. "I asked them to leave but naturally because they're hard-headed they stayed."

Bonnie could believe it as she rolled out of bed.

"I think it's obvious that one of the Damon's has a crush on you," Elena sing-songed.

Bonnie almost tripped on her way to the bathroom. When she looked at her friend, the doppelganger was cheesin'.

"He never left your side," Elena added on.

"Whatever you're thinking, Elena, stop," Bonnie advised and continued on to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Half an hour later, Bonnie strolled downstairs dressed in Elena's clothes. Her nostrils picked up the scent of coffee, croissants, and scrambled eggs. It made her hunger skyrocket.

The second she reached the long formal table in the dining room, Bonnie picked up a croissant and a glass of orange juice. Out the corner of her eye she saw a bag of blood from the hospital lying conspicuously on the table.

Elena caught her line of vision. "That's for our visitor but he refuses to drink it."

Bonnie picked up the bag of blood trying her best not to recoil. When she turned around she spotted him looking at a painting hanging next to the fireplace.

"You're breakfast is getting cold," she mocked sarcastically.

Damon pivoted around and began to head for her. Bonnie was transfixed by the way he walked. All self-assured and seductive as his large belt buckle twisted to and fro with the motion of his hips.

Damon pulled the blood bag out of her hands and eyed it contemptuously. "Why should I diminish who I am and drink this putrid stuff? Nothing tastes as good as coming from the source."

Bonnie stared at him disapprovingly. "Damon you've proven you're not a monster. And I thank you again for saving my life. So can't you just do this one little thing?"

His black eyes bored into her emerald ones—calculating. "I'll drink this on one condition."

Bonnie waited knowing she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"You kiss me."

She laughed and gawked at Elena who lost her eyebrows to her hairline. Stefan appeared just as stupefied.

Bonnie bit into her croissant. "Not gonna happen."

Damon shrugged. "The Bonnie I know let me kiss her on the first night we met."

"She must have had low self-esteem."

A snicker came from across the room. Light Eyes held up his canter of whiskey as he winked at his double.

Damon loomed over Bonnie hoping to transport them back to the woods before they were ambushed by those vampires. He had been only seconds away from claiming her lips. He knew Bonnie wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her. No woman with lips that were almost in the shape of a bow should go without kissing. It would be criminal.

"You can resist me all you like, but it will happen."

Bonnie didn't hear a threat only promise in his words. It took some doing to swallow the bite of croissant.

"Hey," Elena interceded. "Why don't you just back off."

"No, its okay, Elena." Bonnie stared at Damon. "Follow me," she directed and led the way to the large brick inlaid patio.

The sun felt great against her skin the moment she was standing outside waiting for Damon. The chill of his body prickled along her back. When she turned around to face him, it was plain to see the victory on his face. Bonnie had agreed to nothing.

"As an act of good faith," she began, "if you drink this entire bag, and promise to only drink from bags…I'll," she cleared the lump that was forming in her throat. "I'll kiss you."

"Right now?" he whispered. "You'll kiss me?"

Bonnie shook her head and became interested in her shoes suddenly. "In the future."

"We don't know how long I may be here, princess. I may get swept up tomorrow so essentially that would let you off the hook."

"A girl can hope," Bonnie said dreamily.

Damon brushed her hair off her shoulder. "What if you gave me some other type of collateral that you won't renege on our deal?"

Bonnie's nostrils flared. "My word is my bond."

"So is mine," he iterated just as passionately.

"What kind of collateral?"

"You let me give you a vampire's kiss."

Bonnie was outraged. "You're not drinking my blood."

"I'm not talking about drinking your blood—per se, but I'll simply graze the skin of your neck with my fang and whatever blood is drawn will be the only blood I take."

Bonnie snorted, folded her arms, and walked away. Damon dropped the blood bag to the ground and pursued her.

She had made a promise to herself that no vampire would drink her blood ever again. She still had nightmares about the night Damon took hers by force. So what he was asking of her was out of the freaking question.

Damon knew she'd have an objection to that, but something else flickered in her eyes before she strode away. There was a reason she hated vampires. Intuition was telling him it had something to do with the other Damon. Bonnie didn't mind Stefan all that much and the only explanation for that is—he had never hurt her.

"What did he do to you?" Damon asked abruptly.

Bonnie stopped walking about midway across the lavish Salvatore backyard. Not far from her was Alaric's crossbow. He must have been practicing.

"What are you talking about?" she questioned and picked up the weapon.

Damon arched a dark brow in the air.

"Vampires or a vampire has hurt you personally."

She wasn't going to talk about it with him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with everything. It's the way you recoil from the other Damon's presence but not Stefan's. Did he…"

Bonnie faced him sharply. "Just leave it alone, Damon. It's bad enough you have his face."

"Ahh," he crooned. "I sensed the bad blood—pun fully intended—between you and the other Damon. I've given you many assurances that he and I are night and day. I may be no saint, but I've never hurt nor forced myself on a maiden. Women were not simply created to give pleasure, but to receive pleasure as well. A kiss from me will be the most orgasmic event of your life, Bonnie. In fact you might grow to love them and demand them."

Bonnie chuckled. "You're so smooth, Damon I'm sure you can sell water to a whale."

He didn't appear sheepish in the least. "It's one of my stronger suits. But…," he deliberately closed the distance between them, and dipped his head.

Bonnie could feel the coolness of his mouth beat against hers.

Damon looked into her eyes and saw they were becoming cloudy and unfocused. But then...he backed away.

"I'm not one to rush a good thing, so I'll exercise patience and restraint," he pointed at her. "Can you do the same?"

"I think I'll manage," Bonnie nearly growled. She hated when he did that. Work her up only to back off leaving her feeling neglected. It made no sense for him to have that type of power over her.

Instead of further tormenting the both of them he took the crossbow out of her hands. "Let me show you another way to vanquish an enemy. Last night you were marvelous, however, I don't like feeling fear. It's unbecoming. You're banned from losing consciousness on me unless I slay you some other way," he grinned shyly.

Bonnie felt the apples of her cheeks and the tips of her ears warm.

"Are you ready?"

Bonnie didn't think she'd ever be ready. But she was willing.

Chapter end.

A/N: I love writing from Book Damon's perspective because he's so damn smooth and far more interesting to me than TV Damon. Don't get me wrong, I love TV Damon as much as the next person, but sometime's he just seems one- dimensional missing depth because he's too busy picking fights with Stefan and chasing after Elena's panties. So I will delve a little deeper into both Damon's personalities, and again guys thank you for the encouragement for this fic. After last night's episode...I just want to scream. If you read the latest chapter of AKG, you know how I feel about it. And again THANK YOU to everyone who has read, reviewed, favored, or added to their alerts list. I hope I won't let you guys down. Love you!