AN: Once again, thank you so much for all of the reviews! I honestly appreciate them and it motivates me to continue on. Also, thank you to those who follow and favorite! I appreciate you as well but I would love to hear your feedback.


'Elena,' He spat, turning his full attention to Bonnie 'You know, my girlfriend, your best friend, that was supposed to be in a coma until you died. She's dead, yet, you're not. What the fuck did you do, witch?'

Bonnie felt her insides shatter as the sensation of someone pouring a bucket of cold water over her took hold of her body while confusion and pain marred her features, 'Damon, I—'

'What did you do, Bonnie?' He took a step towards her only to be stopped by Stefan's grip on his arm, the pain in the younger Salvatore's face equally raw.

Caroline moved to stand in front of Bonnie, visibly shaken and confused, 'She didn't do anything, Damon are you sure she's dead?'

Damon growled, fighting against Stefan's grip, 'Do I look like a fool to you, Blondie? She-She didn't have a heartbeat.'

Bonnie wanted to say something, anything but she couldn't. Not even five minutes ago, she believed that her best friend, the girl that was like a surrogate sister, was free of magic's grasp, able to continue her life only to hear that she didn't have a heartbeat.

For the life of her, she couldn't understand.

Then Kai's words entered her mind, So, Bonster, I linked Elena's life to yours. And the rule is, as long as you're alive, Elena will remain asleep. Oh, and please, don't go looking for some weird, witchy work around because as the incredibly powerful leader of the Gemini, I rigged this, so if you do try to outsmart it, both you and Elena would die.'

'Oh no—'

Damon smirked deviously, 'Oh, no, is right. I don't know why you're still alive but I am going to kill you.'

He lurched at her once more and Stefan pushed him against the nearest wall, 'We're all hurt behind this Damon but this isn't you talking. You're not yourself.'

'That's where you're wrong, little brother,' His eyes turned a blood red as he focused in on Bonnie 'I'm about to do something that I should've done months ago.'

'No, you're not yourself. If you were yourself, you would've noticed that Bonnie's not alive.'

'What are you talking about?' Damon pushed against Stefan's chest 'Get off me.'

'He's telling the truth, Damon.' Caroline quipped.

'Listen, Damon,' Stefan bit out 'You know this girl. You've spent months with her. You know what I'm saying is true. Bonnie's living because she's a vampire.' Bonnie held her breath as Damon's eyes found hers. For a moment, he stared impassively before his eyes widened and she saw recognition in his eyes, 'Y-Your heartbeat? What happened?'

Mortified, Bonnie's hand slowly found its way to her chest where her heart sat and she felt— nothing, immediately. As a vampire, she knew that their hearts beat but the rhythm was abnormal as well as few and far between. Damon's eyes never left her chest as he moved past Stefan towards the bed. Bonnie could tell by the way he stammered towards her that he was not the same vampire that had entered the room five minutes prior but Caroline refused to move, 'I'm not letting you near her, Damon.'

Damon closed his eyes in frustration, 'Leave the room, Caroline.'

'I don't care if you have your humanity back or not, I'm not leaving you with her. She's the only best friend that I have now and you won't hurt her anymore.'

'Stefan, grab your girlfriend before I remove her.'

Stefan sighed, also noting the change in his brother, 'Bonnie—'

'I can handle it.'

'Bonnie?' Caroline screeched, turning around to face her, 'I'm not going to let him hurt you.'

'I'm not going to hurt her, Blondie.'

'You're not going to hurt her? You're the reason why—' Bonnie reached forward and grabbed her best friend's elbow to silence her 'Caroline, I've got this. It's okay.'

Caroline eyed her before rolling her eyes and stepping to the side. As Damon attempted to maneuver past her, she grabbed his arm, looking him directly in the eyes, 'Try anything and I'm on you like a white on rice and it's going to take God to get me off.'

Stefan cleared his throat, ending the standoff. Caroline turned to smile at Bonnie, 'I'll be right outside if you need me.' With that, she exited the room with Stefan in tow.

Bonnie's eyes were everywhere but on Damon's as he stared down at her in amazement and utter confusion. Not even ten minutes ago, he entered this room filled with ill-contained rage that caused him to see red, ready to take out whoever dared to stand in his way, but now, as he stared at the transitioning witch in front of him, he felt nothing but guilt. She glanced up at him, finally, before looking down at her hands. She looked hopeless and isn't that what she preached on and on about to him about; hope? Where was hers now? Did he steal that away from her?

He couldn't wrap his mind around this. Not only was Elena gone for good but he put Bonnie in the one situation that she never wanted to be in.

He never saw her look like this and if he thought his heart was broken before, this was what heart break felt like. Did he do this to her? Did he finally break her?

The thought of breaking Bonnie Bennett was one that frequented his mind for the previous six months but even without his humanity, he knew he wasn't capable. He closed his eyes, one more time, in search of the heartbeat that he memorized once before and heard nothing.

'Damn it!' He yelled, punching the wall behind him and laying his forehead against it to brace himself.

Bonnie jumped at the sound of his fists cracking the drywall and clutched the sheets closer to her chest. She heard Caroline making her way back towards the door 'It's okay, Care,' she whispered as she slowly made her way out of the bed and stood, barefoot, in the middle of the bedroom floor 'Damon?'

His name left her lips as she took up the space behind him. She was angry at him, true, and he would see the error of his ways in the end, but for the first time in months, she could be near him without fearing for her life.

They stood in silence, neither one making a move or speaking and it was like that for a while until Damon turned around to face her. He opened his mouth and closed it before running his hands through his hair. He searched the bedroom for something to focus on at least until he could formulate a complete and coherent sentence.

'You need to feed,' Was the only thing that he managed to get out in response to his name 'You have to feed.'

'I'm not going to.'

'Bonnie-' He bit out, rage taking over the feelings of guilt, 'That's not an option. If you don't feed, you'll—'

'I'll die.' Bonnie spoke the words as if they meant nothing.

'Yes.'

'But wouldn't that be exactly what you wanted, Damon,' Bonnie's tone rose 'You've wanted me dead for months. All of those innocent girls are dead because you couldn't get to me.'

Damon grew quiet as he thought about the girls that he murdered simply because they favored Bonnie. It was psychotic, yes, but it was how he handled grief. He lashed out. In the previous months, he found himself drifting towards the man that he was May 10, 1994.

'I never wanted you dead, Bon. You know that.'

Bonnie scoffed, 'I don't know anything about you anymore.'

'I'm still your best friend.'

'Oh, really? My best friend disappeared more than six months ago after he saved me. Why did you even save me?' Damon tensed at the question 'Why put your happiness on hold just to hate me for it?'

'Because.'

'Because of what?' She stepped closer to him. Her eyes began to turn a shade of grey that was almost white, something that Damon had never seen before. He stepped away from her as he heard the wind begin to hip outside and against the windows of the boarding house.

'Your emotions, Bonnie. You're still a witch.' He warned, afraid that if he let her go too far; she would cause a hurricane.

'Am I? I have this damned insatiable thirst for blood and it is all that I can think about!'

'But you are still a witch with ties to nature and if you don't stop, this entire damned boarding house will fall.'

'Let it fall!' Bonnie yelled, flippantly 'You don't give a damn about my emotions. You want me dead, so let me die.'

'Bonnie, I'm warning you.' He growled.

'Maybe death would be better for—' She groaned as Damon pushed her into the nearest wall. Lightening began to strike outside and the wind began to become more violent 'Let me go.'

His, now red eyes, bore directly into hers, 'You will feed. This is not a question but a demand.'

She felt her resolve evaporating but she lifted her chin, challenging him, 'You don't demand me to do anything.'

Damon's grip on her arms became tighter, 'Don't test me. If anything happens to you, I will—'

'I will lose my mind,' Bonnie mocked in his voice, rolling her eyes 'Well, guess what Damon? I feel like I'm already losing mine. You wanted me dead.'

'I lost her, Bonnie!' He yelled 'I lost Elena, it hurt, and I lashed out, but I will not lose you. You will feed.'

Damon shook his head at the thought of losing Bonnie, 'I've lost your trust, I've hurt you, but as much as I know you don't want to hear this, I need you,' He sighed as he let her go and she leaned against the wall 'I'm so sorry, Bonnie. I really am but I need you as much as you need me.'

'I don't need you.' She spat, chest heaving.

'You're a transitioning witch,' He smirked, attempting to lighten to mood 'You need me?'

'I can figure it out on my own. What can you possibly teach me?'

'For starters, how to keep your emotions in check,' He said, motioning towards the storm brewing outside, 'Your vampirism causes you to feel everything times ten. You're also tied to nature from birth because you are a witch who draws her strength from natural elements. When those two mix, you have the power to flatten an entire city when you're upset. Right now, you're causing a category five hurricane.'

Realization came over her features as the storm began to die down outside. Her eyes faded back to the normal emerald color that Damon was familiar with, 'Good girl.'

'Why do I feel like this?' She whispered 'I can't take my mind off feeding and I don't want to be this person.'

'You are not this person, Bonnie. It'll all settle out with time.'

Abruptly, he felt the familiar, warm feeling of Bonnie's small arms around him and he felt the coldness of her tears on his t-shirt. It took him a while to register what was going on because he hadn't felt her embrace in a while but when he did, he quickly gathered her into his arms and sat on the bed with her cradled in his lap, 'What am I going to do?'

Damon sighed, unable to answer her question because he didn't know. He began to run his fingers through her hair as he did while it was just the two of them in the prison world. He found out shortly into their imprisonment that Bonnie was afraid of the dark and would sometimes have nightmares, this was the only way he knew to calm her down, 'All of this is just too much and now, Elena's gone for good.'

She cried harder at the reality that she had lost her best friend forever when all she had set out to do was save her. If only Damon hadn't interfered, the spell would have been a success, although technically it was but she couldn't tell him that. She couldn't tell him that she set out to kill herself and that his blood intervened.

'I did this.' He said, simply. He had been relieving the moment he found Elene sans heart beat over and over for the past hour. It was the only thing he could think about. He would have his time to grieve but for right now, he had to be there for Bonnie.

'We have to get her back,' She declared, 'I'm so sorry, Damon.'

He honestly didn't know what to say other than, 'We'll figure it out.'

She sniffled, 'I've been so worried about you but you're back?'

'I'm back. Here to clean up the mess that I've made.' He answered.

'I'm okay, Damon.'

'You're not. You're transitioning.'

She bowed her head, 'While Elena's lost her life for good. If I could switch places with her—'

'No.' Damon said with finality.

'But—'

'No.'

Silence fell over the couple before she stood up and made her way to the window. The storm had turned into a slight drizzle and the moon was bright in the night sky, 'I'm scared, Damon.'

'I am too.' He stood up.

'Why?' She questioned, as she turned around to face him.

'Because you are now a hybrid, and a powerful one at that, which means that many other supernatural beings will try to tame you, to use that power.'

She scoffed at his word choice, 'Tame me?'

'You are a Bennett witch. One of the most powerful line of witches I've ever come across, the vampire blood running through your veins only makes you more of a threat to others. Your power is...' He trailed off and looked directly at her. Her aura was amazing - captivating. The distinct smell of vanilla filled the air around and he could hear the magic bursting on her glowing skin 'Untamed.'

She sighed, 'What do I need to do?'

'For now, make sure that you don't use your powers as much. We'll find some way to hide them but always be aware of your emotions'

Bonnie looked down at her hands. Who was she without her magic? She would have to find out, 'Am I really that powerful?'

'You are.'

'Wow.' Was all that she could get out.

'I can't stay that I'll do a good job but I promise that I will protect you. I've said it before, and I meant it, if anything happened to you, I'd lose my mind,' Damon moved over to where she stood 'For now, you need to stay at the boarding house. Let us help you, right Caroline and Stefan?' He rolled his eyes and looked towards the door that opened slowly to reveal two guilty looking vampires.

'Right!' Caroline smiled before stepping towards Bonnie and enveloping her in an embrace, 'I love you, Bon. We'll get through this.'

Stefan stepped up next, 'We will.'

Let's get started.' Damon said, taking Bonnie's hand and taking the blood bag out of Stefan's hand.

Bonnie's eyes bulged, 'What?'

'We have to complete the transition now,' Stefan replied 'You have to drink it. It's now or never.'

Bonnie stared down at the bag in front of her then back up at Damon. She took the blood from him and made a small hole at the top of the bag, 'Okay.'

At first, Bonnie went slow. She took one sip of the blood and sat back, taking in the taste and feel of the thick liquid as it trailed down her throat.

'Bonnie, slow down,' Caroline took a step towards her 'Are you okay?'

'Never better,' Bonnie said as she looked up and Caroline noticed her eyes had turned that odd shade of white again. She tore into bag and when she was done, she made sure to lick her fingers 'More.' She growled.

'Oh, no you don't. Slow down, Vampire Junior,' Damon said as he walked Bonnie back over to his bed and pulled the sheets over her bottom half. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before whispering in her ear 'You may want to lay down.'

'For what?' She asked, confused.

Caroline smiled, sweetly, 'It'll all be over quickly.'

'Okay, what's going on? Am I done?'

'We'll be here when you wake up,' Stefan put his hand on top of Bonnie's before walking towards the door 'Damon, you may want to leave the room.'

'I want to stay,' Damon looked at his brother 'She's going to need me here.'

Stefan shook his head, 'Come on, Care.'

'When I wake up—' Bonnie's question was cut off by an intense pain, worse than the one she felt earlier. She screamed out in agony as she gripped the sheets so tightly that she started to rip them into 'What's happening? Damon?'

'I'm right here, Bon.' She heard Damon murmur before the world went black around her.