Walking Wounded – Inspired by episode 3x18 – Murder of One.
Damon, Stefan and their friends help each other deal with the physical and emotional consequences of the recent events in their lives. Damon/Stefan/Elena/Caroline/Bonnie/Matt/Alaric.
Chapter 3. – Bonnie, Elena, Caroline
Damon and Alaric's voices drifted up the stairs as Bonnie walked down toward the basement. She stopped at the landing and watched for a moment. Damon stood at the cell door pouring a couple of shots of bourbon and passing one to Alaric.
"You shouldn't be down here. You should be in that palatial room of yours dreaming the dreams of kings." Alaric ribbed him.
"Not the dreams of kings I'm concerned about." Damon winced. "I got some sleep in the car."
"Like three and a half minutes." Alaric argued.
"I don't see you hurrying to settle in for the night." Damon countered. "Afraid of something?"
"Of course not.' Alaric said staring Damon square in the eyes. "You?"
"Nothing." Damon met his gaze.
"Liar." Alaric said.
"Self deluder." Damon shot right back.
On any other day she might have smiled at their banter but the stress in their voices countered any humor in the words. Instead she walked purposefully over to the cell.
"Step back, both of you." She directed. Damon stepped back against the cellar wall and Alaric retreated to the cot. She flung open the door and stepped determinedly into the cell.
"Please don't come in here." Alaric said his eye's fearful.
"Shh." Bonnie ordered. She closed her eyes and chanted quietly under her breath. "Done." She pronounced and stepped out of the room. "You can test it." She said to Alaric.
Alaric walked to the door only to find himself blocked by an invisible wall. He then took a running start and threw himself against it with all his force only to be repelled again landing in a heap on the floor. He looked up at Bonnie with immense gratitude and relief in his eyes. Damon also slid down against the wall finally allowing himself to relax a little. Bonnie walked over to the storage room, retrieved a blood bag and dropped it in Damon's lap.
"Drink that." She said still unsmiling. "And you." She turned to Alaric. "You need to take that thing off."
As she was about to head back upstairs Damon grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"No Damon. I'm not okay. None of us are okay." She said sadly. "Sorry, but I need to head back upstairs." She extricated her hand then hurried up the stairs. As she passed the living room she saw Matt pacing with distress.
"You did well today." Stefan tried to reassure him, putting a hand over his shoulder.
"Don't tell me I did good. " Matt batted Stefan's arm away. "There was nothing good about it. I picked my side. I did my part. But I don't feel like a hero. "
"Neither do I." Stefan nodded with understanding. "But we do what we have to do to keep the people we care about safe."
"Like you kept Damon safe?" Matt challenged him. Stefan's face crumbled momentarily.
"It's the nature of the world we live in." Stefan finally said. "We have to take the risk."
"Risk?" Matt asked incredulous. "If Bonnie hadn't delinked the Originals you would be dead now. I could have killed you all!" He shouted.
"But you didn't." Stefan said weakly.
"Why can't we just let each other live?" Matt asked tiredly.
Stefan opened his mouth to speak then stopped. "I don't know." He finally said.
Bonnie ran down the hall and into the guest room. She leaned against the doors and began to cry silent tears.
"That shower is to die for!" Caroline beamed as she walked out of the bathroom dressed in a thick robe, her hair wrapped in a towel.
"Tub was fantastic." A similarly dressed Elena countered as she pulled extra pillows from the armoire.
The moment they saw Bonnie, they were both instantly at her side.
"Hey. What's wrong?" Elena said gently.
"It's all so messed up." Bonnie said. "I've never seen Damon so wounded. And Alaric is so terrified of what he might do to us he only feels safe in that cell. Matt is coming apart and Stefan doesn't have any answers. I'm scared Elena. I don't know if I can help any of you."
"So we'll take care of you." Elena said gently. "None of us is strong enough to do this alone. That's why we're all here together."
"You're officially retired for the night." Caroline announced cheerily wiping a few tears from Bonnie's cheek. "No more drama or saving people required. Let's just be a couple of teenage girls for a few hours. I'll wash your hair. Elena can do your nails. They each took one of Bonnie's hands and led her into the bathroom.
Caroline placed an armchair by the sink and had Bonnie lean back. As the warm water began to cascade down her hair Bonnie began to cry again, but these tears were not ones of desperate fear but of relief and gratitude. Caroline shampooed and conditioned Bonnie's hair and massaged her temples then wrapped her hair in a soft white towel.
"I filled the tub for you." Elena took Bonnie's hand and led her to the tub filled to the rim with bubbles. "Added some lavender oil. Hope that's okay."
"Smells wonderful." Bonnie thanked her.
"Take as long as you need." Elena said as she and Caroline stepped out of the room.
Bonnie stripped off her clothes and gratefully sank into the bubbles. She let the water wash some of the stress away and chose to trust that for tonight things would be okay. Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the tub and dried off. She rejected the silk pjamas that obviously came with the room in favour of a familiar pair of Elena's flannel PJs. She removed her hair towel and shook her hair out, running her fingers lightly through it. She brushed her teeth with one of the complementary toothbrushes and with her first smile of the day she stepped out of the room.
"Much better." Caroline pronounced with a smile, taking in her tired but much more relaxed expression.
"Come and join us." Elena said, putting the lid on a bottle of nail polish and patting the bed beside her.
Bonnie crawled into the bed between Elena and Caroline. "If you don't mind I think I'll bypass the mani-pedies for tonight."
"Well too bad. This is a mandatory step in the Caroline Forbes guide to recovery." Caroline cajoled her.
Bonnie finally laughed. She propped herself up against the headboard and handed one hand to each of Elena and Caroline. They filed, buffed, massaged and applied moisturizer.
"French or sparkly." Elena asked holding up two bottles of polish.
"Might as well go all the way. Sparkly please." Bonnie smiled.
"So did I see you and Jamie exchanging a couple of looks?" Caroline prodded while Elena applied polish.
"He's like my surrogate brother." Bonnie protested all flustered.
"With piercing blue eyes and strong wood chopping shoulders." Caroline grinned.
"No!" Bonnie batted her shoulder in embarrassment.
"Watch the nails." Caroline warned then grew quiet. "You saved my life today." She said gratefully.
"I did, didn't I?" Bonnie smiled in realization.
"You're one of the good ones." Elena said. "Nature isn't going to let you be used for evil."
Caroline gave Bonnie's hands a final inspection. "Wonderful." She pronounced then looked up at Bonnie. "You're wonderful." she repeated.
"You're going to give me a swelled head." Bonnie said flattered. "Ready to sleep?"
They all nodded in agreement. Caroline flitted about the room turning off lights and drawing the blinds then joined them back on the bed. The lay down, their arms intertwined. Elena flicked off her bedside lamp but in unspoken agreement Caroline left hers on. Just in case.