A/N: This story is set after 5x22. No copyright infringement intended. I don't own the characters. They are merely written in my own light, OOC. This is an AU.
Oblivion Chapter 4: Perceive
"Let him up. Gather your things, hurry." The leader rushed his men, Bonnie, and Damon.
Damon snatched away from the massive-looking men. He walked slowly over to his things, and Bonnie did the same.
"Are you okay?" Damon asked, reaching down for his stuff as he looked over at a frightened Bonnie.
"What do you think they're going to do to us?" Bonnie whispered, frenzied.
"Don't be. If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead. I think they want my blood," he explained.
"…but why?"
"I guess to heal their people. Maybe there's a plague overwhelming their home."
"Stop the chit chatting and get your things!" The leader bellowed.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Bonnie snapped. Damon smirked at her brashness.
The leader laughed off Bonnie's rudeness and went back to chatting it up with his friend.
"Do you think he will be okay?" Bonnie asked of their animal as she stared worriedly at the creature.
"I don't know. I don't hear a heartbeat," Damon explained dejectedly. He looked over at the animal with sorrow. The creature had done so much for them since their short time on the planet. He hated to see his life end because of him.
"What did you do to my animal?" Bonnie shot him dagger eyes. He outburst took Damon away from his thoughts.
"Your creature should be fine in a few days. He's only asleep," he said coolly. He was smiling; he was quite a handsome fellow. Bonnie took her wandering eyes and thoughts about the mahogany man and shouted at him again.
"He better be okay, or I will…I will-," Bonnie instantly remembered that she was powerless. Damon wrinkled his brow. He so desperately wanted to finish her sentence as his lips slightly moved with hers.
"Or you will do what, gorgeous?" The man flashed her a sexy smirk.
"I will kill you," Damon said coldly, staring him straight in the eye.
The man looked at Damon for a moment and without so much as a warning he shot Damon in the leg with an arrow.
"Damon!" Bonnie squealed.
"Ahhh, you little shit," Damon grunted as he dropped to the ground in pain. He snatched the arrow out of his leg and Bonnie gently rubbed the spot above the wound in Damon's upper thigh, just ticks away from his manhood. Damon quickly straightened his brow. Bonnie's gentle touch made him tingle inside, and he immediately keyed in on her gentle touch, forgetting all about his pain.
Bonnie pushed her wrist against Damon's mouth after kneeling in front of him so that the men couldn't see him feed from her.
She looked at him, her green eyes saddened by his pain. Here he was, a mere vampire. He would heal and be perfectly fine, but Bonnie seemed to be extremely concerned over what Damon considered to be a minor injury.
Bonnie continued to stare into his pale blue eyes. Damon gave her a childlike look as he bit into her wrist, still watching her eyes as he fed from her. She beamed once he finished. They both had forgotten all about the armed men just yards away as green eyes gazed into a sea of shimmery blue ones.
Damon glanced down at his teeth marks in her tiny wrist. He couldn't bear to see one scratch on her. He bit his finger and slowly extended it up to Bonnie's mouth, placing it against her lips. She took his digit into her mouth, enveloping him. She closed her eyes as she sucked and licked the metallic liquid away from his finger. Damon's lips formed an 'O' as he was seconds away from moaning his oh's and ah's.
"Hey! Hey! Let's go!" The leader yelled.
Bonnie jumped, startled by the man's thunderous voice. Damon was still in a daze. He watched her hurriedly put on her shoes, trying to wake from his daze.
The guards rushed over, snatching Damon to his feet. They tied vines tightly around their wrists and lead them over to the horse-looking creatures like dogs on a leash.
Damon could easily escape from the restraints, but his need to keep Bonnie safe was way more important than his need to show off his power. He decided to be a good boy.
Soon they were underway, traveling by the moonlight and the men's torches.
They had walked for over an hour, being tugged roughly by the horse riders. Damon kept a close eye on Bonnie and she did the same with him. He wasn't at all happy about her having to walk in her three inch heels even though she had done it pretty well their first day on the planet, but this time was different, because she was being forced to do it, and when they strolled around the forest looking for shelter, they took lots of mini breaks along the way.
"Are you okay?" Damon asked. He eyed her wantonly, and she was not a picture of perfection as she sat tiredly, back against the tree, and beads of sweat covering her forehead.
"Yeah, you?" She asked, a crease in her brow.
"I'm not happy about our predicament. The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt," Damon clarified stoically.
Bonnie could see the concern in his eyes for her, realizing that she didn't like to see him sad or hurt either. She wanted to bestow on him the same kindness that he had shown her since being on New Earth when they faced such austere situations.
"I'm sorry, too. Maybe if I didn't make you sing Rihanna's song you would have been more alert." Bonnie chortled, and Damon let out a short chuckle.
"Maybe so." He continued to smile. "I'm going to get you a ride," Damon stated.
"No, it wouldn't feel right for me to ride on one of those…," Bonnie shook her head oddly at the horse-looking creature and then continued, "things while you walk. You've done so much for me, Damon, and maybe it's time I start doing something for you."
Damon smirked. "Bonnie, you have been saving my ass from the moment I arrived back in Mystic Falls. Let me do this for you?" He had the most determined look on his face.
Bonnie's eyes began to moisten from the ecstasy she felt in this moment because of Damon's sweet words, but there was no time to be emotional. They were in a situation and she had done plenty of crying already.
"Thank you, Damon," Bonnie said, acknowledging his kind words and efforts. She gave him a sweet smile.
Damon soon became lost in her emerald eyes. He was truly thankful to all the Gods for his vampire vision in this instance. He never imagined since meeting Bonnie that he'd be mapping out all the stars in her eyes.
After walking for another hour, the riders stopped.
"What…what…what are they doing?" Bonnie stuttered and was growing frantic of the unknown.
"They're stopping for a break," Damon answered unsurely, his brow furrowed as he watched them with a scrutinizing gaze. He hoped with every fiber of his being that he was right. Here was yet another moment that made him glad for one of his other vampiric gifts.
"We'll set up camp here and wait for dawn to head out again. Give the outlanders some water. Make sure you restrain them securely. I don't trust the male to behave. I'm sick of his insolence." The mahogany man issued out his commands and his right-hand man went quickly to work.
Damon smirked. He was relieved that he was right about the men wanting to take a break.
A pale man rushed right over. He pulled roughly on Bonnie's knots and the move angered Damon.
"Hey, you idiot. You're being too rough. Is that necessary?" He hissed.
The man stepped in front of Damon, towering over him, and growled in his face. He was tempted to compel the man to kill himself, but knowing Bonnie was there made him rethink his instinctive sadism.
He was weighing his options with Bonnie; but oddly, when he was with Elena, he didn't think about options or choices. As he glared at the man something that Bonnie had told him long ago drifted into his awareness.
"There's always a choice, but when you make one someone else always suffers."
Here he was, at a time like this, remembering Bonnie's words as they echoed loudly at the forefront of his mind.
"Be nice. Treat her like the queen that she is," Damon compelled with a smirk.
Bonnie's eyes widened; her jaw dropped, astounded by Damon's comment.
The man stepped back in front of Bonnie. He cut off her restraints. This time he was gentler. He even went so far as to massage her wrist.
"Do you need a foot massage?"
Bonnie giggled, looking at Damon. "I'm okay."
Damon proudly grinned.
Bonnie's newfound friend had fetched her some food, water, and made sure that she was as comfortable as possible before he was called away. After they were done eating and drinking, two other guards tied Bonnie and Damon with their backs to each other and far away from the group.
The leader was being inconspicuous by seating Bonnie and Damon several feet away from them as they discussed their plans, not realizing Damon could hear every word they spoke.
"This isn't good, Bon Bon." Damon frowned.
"What are they saying?"
"Apparently-," Damon cut his eyes to see the side of Bonnie's face as he slightly leaned in to her. "They want to use my blood during battle to heal their warriors."
"Oh, my God," Bonnie whispered in horror. "Damon you have to warn them about what your blood will do to them if they die."
"…and how am I supposed to do that without giving away my other secret weapon?" He widened his eyes absurdly at her suggestions.
"Ugh…just do it, Damon. It doesn't matter now. They know you're different from them which is why we're in this situation. You can either tell them or be prepared to fight hundreds of others like yourself or worse…hundreds of people will die because of your blood."
"Do you always have to be right?" He rolled his eyes, annoyed with Bonnie. "Hey! Dumb ass!" he yelled to the leader.
"Damon," Bonnie warned.
"Hey, dumb ass! Come here!"
Bonnie sighed loudly, grumbled, and then complained about his rude behavior.
The leader looked over at Damon with a scowl. He summoned to the guards to bring them over. They undid their restraints and rushed them over to the one in charge. The guard pushed Damon to his knees. He snatched away from the man and growled at him.
"What the hell are you yelling about?" He paused as he looked around to his friends. "Dumb ass." They laughed at Damon.
"When you and all of your friends wake up on fire, after your so-called great battle because of my blood, we'll see who's the dumb ass, and you're the only dummy I see on this entire God forsaken planet," Damon said coldly as he glared the man down.
The leader flashed Damon an evil look before pulling out his dagger and pouncing on him. He pinned Damon to the ground and pushed his knife into his neck, causing Damon to bleed.
"Let him go!" Bonnie jumped to her feet.
"Sit down!" A guard pushed her back down to the ground.
"Oh look, your girlfriend is angry. Let's see how she likes this." He raised up Damon's shirt and ran his sharp blade down his peck to his stomach, cutting him.
Damon loudly grunted through the excruciating pain as the knife cut through his soft pale skin like butter. "You didn't think I'd notice, but I see that your wound from my arrow has healed. Let's see how quickly you come back from this," he said sinisterly.
"I said let him go!" Bonnie screamed. This time when her anger flared, so did the small fire; her rage caused the flames to explode and a gusty wind to blow across their campsite.
Everything soon became eerily quiet. The group and Damon looked all around them as if they could hear something coming. After five long minutes of silence and looking around with worried faces the leader looked at Bonnie and smirked.
"Not only are you beautiful, but you have magic." His focus was now on Bonnie. "Did you create him?" He walked over to her, pushing his face into hers.
"No." Bonnie looked him square in the eye.
"You lie. You created him, and you will do the same for my men."
"I will never lift a finger to help you. You can rot in hell," she spat.
He gripped Bonnie tightly by the neck. Damon became unhinged at the sight of the man hurting her. He threw his bond wrist over the man's head and choked him with the vines.
"Get…get…him off of me." He flailed his arms widely around as he struggled to break free. The soldiers overtook Damon by piling up on top of him with all their strength.
The leader panted and clawed at his neck, fighting for air.
"Come here, girl. I warned you to be a good boy, didn't I?" The leader roughly grabbed Bonnie by her arm, pulling her away from the camp, but she fought furiously against him. Damon tried to break away from the guards, but it was useless.
"Get your fucking hands off her! I will kill all of you!" Damon yelled, red in the face.
"Get off of me!" Bonnie screamed repeatedly.
The man stopped dead in his tracks. He turned Bonnie around to Damon. He cupped and squeezed her cheeks tightly together, incapacitating her voice. "Is she special to you?! Does she not mean shit to you?! Is this not your woman?! Are you going to protect her?!" He screamed, a sadistic look in his eyes, goading Damon.
Damon looked into Bonnie's scared emerald eyes, almost coming to tears, and Bonnie had never seen his blue eyes look so afraid.
"She's my woman! She's special to me! Now let her go! Please! Please!" Damon shouted pleadingly. He was afraid, and it took a lot to make Damon afraid.
He stared at Damon for a bit and then walked Bonnie back over to him and pushed her down into his arms. Instincts and something deeper in Damon called beseechingly to him to wrap his arms around Bonnie, so he did. He rocked her gently in his arms, kissing her forehead as he caressed her back.
Bonnie figured Damon's spewed words were empty and only a tactic he used in hopes of freeing her, but after the leader had pushed her into his grasp, she knew that his words weren't a mere scheme or a strategy. Damon meant them, every one of them, at least the part where she was special to him.
"If you want to keep her safe, you'll do best not to antagonize me again. I'm in no mood for games or your smart-ass mouth." The man glared, and Damon flashed him an icy look in return. "Now that you have my attention, tell me this story about your blood?" The leader was now calmer as he sat back down beside them.
"What are you, Bi-polar? I'm not telling you shit," Damon argued. He didn't take threats well. "You scare the hell out of my woman and then you expect me to help you."
The man stared at Damon, annoyed, "Look, I won't hurt your woman, but I won't apologize for what I did. I have a family, and it is my duty to protect them and my people."
"Damon," Bonnie called to him, giving him a pleading look. She hoped his anger wouldn't keep him from speaking up about the dangers of his blood, but Damon wouldn't budge on the matter.
"His blood may heal your people, but if they die in battle, they will wake up as something else, and they'll never be able to walk in the sunlight again," she explained with a grim look on her face as she pushed herself away from her protective covering.
"Don't believe her, Tupac. They will say anything to keep us away from his healing abilities."
"Whoa…your name is Tupac, and your surname?" Damon asked through a timid chuckle, forgetting he was angry and what had happened to him and Bonnie not moments ago.
Tupac looked at them oddly. "Shakur," he answered.
Damon and Bonnie whipped their heads around to each other and then burst into a fit of laughter.
Tupac continued to look at them oddly and then became angry all over again. "Hey! Hey!" He got to his feet, yelling. "You don't dare mock me! That was my father's name, and his father before him!" He angrily pounded his chest.
They tried with everything in them to stop laughing but the coincidence was all too much for them to handle.
"I said stop!"
"Okay." Bonnie tried to snuff out her rude cackling.
"You both lie about his blood. You two are full of tricks. Cheyenne, Peyak, tie them up," Tupac demanded.
"Tupac, we are not lying to you. My blood is dangerous for you and your friends. Please don't do this," Damon pleaded seriously.
"Your words mean nothing to me. I said take them away."
The guards secured them to a tree. After the men left, Damon got on to Bonnie.
"Bon Bon, why didn't you stop me from asking him his last name?"
"His name caught me off guard," she replied excitedly.
"Shit, they'll never believe us." Damon rested his head against the tree and Bonnie looked at Tupac and his men worriedly. Bonnie and Damon began to dread what would come next.
:::::::
Stefan and Enzo had finally made it to Lucy's, and they left a trail of dead bodies along the way. Stefan never remembered feeling so good. The entire mess with Elena, Damon, and then Damon dying had really played a number on his way of life and his entire state of mind.
Deep down Stefan wondered why he wouldn't just let Damon go. His brother needed to suffer for all the hell he had put him through while he was alive, but he couldn't phantom the idea of Damon being dead.
Even without his humanity he still felt like a part of him was missing, and it was Damon. He grinned as he envisioned a world where just he and his brother existed and the Petrova's didn't. The only person that had a successful relationship with a Petrova was Silas, a man that wore his face.
Stefan grunted hilariously at the irony of it all. The doppelganger spell was a curse. Amara and Silas love didn't transcend time and space. All the spell did was create confusion and pitted brothers against brothers whilst endangering every living being that shared their face.
Maybe old Tom was Elena's true soul mate. I killed the wrong doppelganger. It should have been Elena, he smiled in thought.
"What are you smiling about?" Enzo asked, taking Stefan away from his thoughts.
"Oh, just about the people I killed but shouldn't have." Stefan laughed.
"…and who might that be?"
"Elena is such a flaky bitch. Katherine loved me. We could have been fucking and feeding together right now. What a waste." Stefan hooted outrageously at the thought of it all.
"Mmm, sounds like my type of woman," Enzo replied.
"Indeed." Stefan simpered. "Alright, we're here."
"…and where is here?" Enzo asked, furrowing his brow.
"Lucy Bennett's. She is so sexy. Unf." Stefan licked his lips at the thought of her.
"Lucy Bennett? Any relation to Bonnie?"
"Yeah, she's her thousandth cousin removed, like twenty times over to the left," Stefan replied. Enzo laughed.
"Is she a witch mate?"
"Yup!"
"Mmm, I wonder if I can get her to fry my brain while I drink her blood."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Stefan answered, averting him a serious gaze.
"Oh, you are the protector of the Bennett line?" Enzo asked as if Stefan's comment was absurd.
"Nope, but I want her to fry my brain, while I nibble on her boob." Stefan winked at Enzo.
Enzo snickered.
They hopped out of the car and walked to Lucy's front door. Stefan rang the bell and then rang it again and again. He was anxious. This woman had a plan on how to bring his brother back and he needed answers. Plus, he had an itch in his lower region that he was hoping she would help him scratch. Stefan didn't remember being this horny before when he shut off his humanity. It must be something in the blood I'm drinking.
Lucy finally opened the door after they had been standing on her porch for the last fifteen minutes, ringing her doorbell like mad men. She swung the door opened and scowled at the vampires. She then looked at Stefan. She was angry and quite put out with him for bringing another leech to her home.
"The deals off." Lucy slammed the door.
"Whoa! Hey!" Stefan yelled at the closed door and banged on it with all his vampire strength.
Lucy swung the door open again, stepped out onto her porch, and gave both vampires a brain-popping aneurysm. Stefan and Enzo clawed at their temples and went drifting slowly down to the ground in agonizing pain.
"Lucy," Stefan strained.
"I invited you, not your blood sucking boyfriend."
"Ahh!" Enzo growled and lunged for Lucy.
Stefan intervened, snapping the man's neck before shifting his eyes to Lucy.
"You're welcome." He grinned.
"I'm not helping you," she argued.
"Ah, come on! Why?" Stefan inquired disappointedly.
"…so, it's pure coincidence that a string of murders seemed to follow you and your little friend right here to my front door?" Lucy blared as she poked her finger hard into Stefan's chest.
Stefan smiled down at her finger. He grabbed it and lifted it slowly to his lips and kissed it. "I'll be more careful next time," he said seductively.
Lucy raised a brow curiously. He was much more composed when she last saw him. Hell, she didn't even remember he was in the room until she looked up and saw him looking down at Katherine's lifeless body on the floor of the study.
"You're different?" She wrinkled her brow.
"When the love of your life and your only living relative keeps kicking you in the balls you learn to grow a pair," he replied.
"Elena, broke your heart?"
"Yeah, but it's all better now," he said the words, and he meant them. There was nothing tying him to Elena anymore.
"If your brother broke your heart, why even try to save him?"
"Because he's all I got, and though I hate him…I love him," Stefan said, showing a glimpse of his humanity.
"I can't make any promises about bringing Damon back. My only concern is Bonnie, so if I'm not powerful enough to bring them both back…I won't" Lucy laid all her cards on the table.
Stefan deadpanned. "I know two more witches. They're travelers. Maybe they can help," he suggested. "Now, may I come inside?"
"No, you can't." Lucy grinned. "Let me get my things. I'll be out in a moment. Do you think your friend will be a problem?"
"He's not my friend, and he won't be a problem."
:::::::
Matt felt bad that he and the others had ganged up on Elena. Even though she was an obnoxious and miserable individual, he still found it in his heart to love her. She was his first love, and he supposed that he would always love her even though she didn't truly love him, He moved on in time, and he found comfort in their friendship.
He pulled up in front of their home. Alaric had gone back to teaching and bought a new place for Jeremy and Elena to lay their heads. Once Stefan flipped his switch, everything changed. He kicked the Gilbert's out of the boarding house, covered everything in the home and left, leaving the house without a permanent resident.
Matt got out of the car and jogged to the door. He knocked and waited. It didn't take long for someone to answer. It was Elena herself.
"Matt. Hey, what are you doing here? Don't you hate me like everyone else?" She asked pathetically.
"I don't hate you, Elena. I just don't like the person you've become. You've changed," Matt explained.
"Come in." She stepped aside and allowed him entry. "I'm not going to apologize for who I am, Matt. Being with Damon makes me feel alive. I'm living my life. I'm driving now. I'm not afraid to face down my demons, and it's all because of him."
Matt chuckled.
"What?" Elena inquired, annoyed by Matt's reaction.
"Human Elena was very courageous, and she cared about everyone not just the guy she was in love with," Matt said passionately.
"No." Elena shook her head in protest. "I am more courageous with Damon. I saved his life against Jesse. I defeated Connor, and I saved Bonnie, and together, Damon and I saved the town. We brought back Alaric, Tyler, and Stefan," she explained proudly and confidently, taking credit for everyone's hard work and accomplishments.
"Elena, do you even listen to yourself? In the beginning you didn't want to be a vampire. You continued to question yourself and who you were. Now you're taking credit for things that Bonnie did so bravely for us. She faced the unknown all alone without caring about her own fate, and it was Damon that brought her back, and you almost foiled his plan by being the jealous girlfriend." Matt paused, disgusted with the woman standing before him.
"You blew yourself up, Elena. The Elena I knew would have thought about her brother, her family, and her friends. You need some time alone to find you," he explained, moisture invading his eyes.
"No. No," Elena shook her head. "Being a vampire enhances and intensifies who you are. I've always wanted a love that consumes me. A love that is exciting. I've never known a love like this, and I miss it. I miss Damon, and we have to find a way to bring him back," Elena hissed in her deep raspy voice, sounding like a woman who smoked five packs of cigarettes a day.
She went from a frustrated straight-faced woman to an ugly crier. She began to violently sob as she thought about the fact that Damon was gone. She sniveled and grabbed her forehead as if she were in pain.
Matt was always a sucker for Elena, and now wasn't any different. Her water works had him all misty eyed. He slowly walked over to her, and before he knew it, he was feeding her information about Stefan and his plans. Thanks to Caroline the younger Salvatore was moments away from having his plans derailed by a sprung and sired-acting Elena.
Matt grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her gaze to his. "Elena, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Caroline told me that Stefan is working on a way to bring Bonnie and Damon home. Apparently, he heard a conversation between Bonnie and her grams and he thinks that there is something to this."
"There's a way to bring Damon back?" Elena quickly wiped away her tears.
"…and Bonnie." Matt frowned.
"Yeah, yeah, and Bonnie. She deserves to come back, too, for sure." She zoomed him a Mickey Mouse grin and then let out a light chortle.
"Do you even care about Bonnie, Elena?" Matt asked absurdly.
"Of course, I do, Matt. She was my childhood friend. We were like sisters, but I can live without her. She did all these amazing things for us so that we could be happy, but I cannot…I cannot live without Damon. I need him."
"People come and go every day, Elena. It's a part of life. What if this thing with Stefan doesn't pan out?"
"...but it will, it must. Stefan is going to bring Damon back, and he'll do it by any means necessary. You know this. Stefan loves me, he loves his brother, and he wants us both to be happy; wherever Damon is in this world or universe, he's thinking of me, too. He's trying to get back to me. He promised, and he has never broken a promise that he's made to me." Elena cried through her speech.
"...and what if this is a promise he can't keep, Elena, then what? Maybe you should make some use of this time alone. You know, find yourself again. You used to be so happy. I miss my friend." Matt looked at her, pleadingly.
Elena looked at Matt with moist, puppy dog eyes. She looked like she had aged five years since she had transitioned into this self-absorbed vampire.
"I don't want to think about it. I can't." Elena backed up against the wall and began crying all over again. She drifted down to the floor and continued to wail. This wasn't the girl Matt once knew. She was broken, and for the last several months she depended completely on Damon for her survival and it scared Matt senseless as he looked down on her with wide eyes, scratching the back of his head, astonished by the sad shell of his former friend.
::::::
Tupac and his group had finally arrived at their village. Bonnie and Damon were amazed by the massive brick wall that surrounded the place. Once Bonnie passed the threshold of the large gate an ominous feeling came over her. She looked to the sky. The wind blew in her direction, and only she could hear the trees whispering her name. Even Damon could feel this menacing aura hovering over the village.
"Bonnie," he called.
"Yes," Bonnie whispered in reply, still looking to the sky.
"Is this you?" Damon asked, squinting his eyes up at the trees.
"I'm not a witch anymore, Damon."
"What about the fire back at the campsite?" Damon cocked a brow curiously at her.
"That wasn't me," Bonnie answered surely.
"I think it was you." His brow crinkled, bemused.
The riders removed Bonnie's and Damon's restraints and then they, with Tupac in the lead, took them to a large building in the center of the community.
"Take me to your leader," Damon teased robotically as he whispered in Bonnie's ear.
"Stop it." Bonnie giggled.
"Tupac. You've returned." The older gentleman smiled. He was a muscular, tan man, and the only thing giving away his age was his salt and pepper hair. "I hope you've brought good news."
"I have something even better." Tupac looked at his guards and summoned for them to fetch Damon and Bonnie.
The elder gentleman looked over their appearances carefully, wrinkling his forehead in wonderment over the outlanders' attire, the way they wore their hair, and their clothes. "What is this?"
"Peyak saw this man healing a Largo. He can also heal himself, and his woman has magic," Tupac explained.
Everyone in the room gasps and hummed in wonderment at the Mystic Falls pair. Bonnie cut her eyes nervously around at the people and Damon did the same, peering at them with his piercing blue eyes.
"How is this possible?" The older gentleman asked.
"His power lies within his blood."
"…and the woman?"
"She hasn't used her magic against us, but it manifests itself when she's angry or afraid."
"I don't have magic," Bonnie spat.
"…and though my blood can heal, it's very dangerous." Damon intervened, waving his finger in warning.
"He's lying, Chogan. He'll say anything to keep his secret safe from us. If we take his blood into battle with us against the Badai, it will give us a better advantage. We can heal our warriors and put them back on the field at once. If we do this, it won't matter that they outnumber us twenty to one."
"Uh…bad idea, Mr. Cho," Damon warned. "My blood will heal them, yes, but if they die in battle they will come back as vampires, and can I just add that you'll never have the advantage of a sneak attack in broad daylight again," he said nonchalantly.
"Is this true, Tupac?"
"No." Tupac sped Damon a glaring look before answering the township's leader.
"Alright. Take some of the outlanders' blood and make sure our guests are treated well." The head honcho commended.
"They killed three of our men!" Peyak bellowed.
"We approached them in a hostile manner, Chogan, and we took them against their will. They were only defending themselves from what seemed like a brutal attack. They deserved to be treated as guest," Tupac spoke up for the pair. he knew that he and his men were way too brutish when approaching them.
Damon and Bonnie looked at each other. They were impressed and surprised that Tupac was standing up for them.
The guards took Bonnie and Damon and tried escorting them out of the building. The couple protested and yelled out to Tupac and the head honcho to not go through with their plan, but their warnings fell on deaf ears.
The guards walked the pair quickly through the parish. They looked around the village in wonder. Though they were indigenous people, they lived a relatively modern existence, and the village consisted of people of all different races, living in harmony.
The town had a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the small village; although some might consider it a small city.
Their homes were made from wood and they had plenty of windows for ventilation. Damon's eyes widened at the sight of a shower in the towns square which the people used to cool themselves from the sweltering days.
Not only did they admire the little city. They marveled at the animals which were similar to animals on Earth, but they were larger and had more character. There were what the Mystic Falls pair would call horses, chickens, dogs, and other furry little creatures that mirrored planet Earths beings.
"I wonder what the name of this planet is," Bonnie whispered mindlessly to the wind and Damon slightly grinned at her childlike face.
"Zinnia, meet our new guest. They'll be here for a while. Chogan wants you to make them feel welcomed," the guard said nonchalantly to the beautiful red-haired, mocha-skinned woman with freckles. Her hair was fluffy, tightly curled, and flowed down her back.
"Welcome, I'm Zinnia Shakur, and you?"
Damon looked at Zinnia oddly. Out of all the people in town, she was the only one covered completely. She wore a floor-length skirt and a long-sleeved shirt. He then noticed her disfigured skin peeking out from underneath the collar of her shirt when she moved. Damon immediately turned his attention back to Bonnie when he heard her speaking.
"I'm Bonnie Bennett, and this is my friend Damon Salvatore," she greeted politely.
"Are you married to that idiot, Tupac?" Damon wiggled his eyes at the woman and grinned.
"Damon." Bonnie shot him a warning look. He shrugged.
"Yes, that would be my husband." The woman laughed.
"Zinnia, you have to talk to your husband. He wants to use my friend's blood in battle to heal his men. It's a big mistake. We tried to convince him, but because of an incident that happened earlier he refuses to listen to us," Bonnie pleaded.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Well, let me show you where you will be staying," she said and then walked away.
Zinnia walked several feet ahead of them, forgetting they were even present. She finally came out of her own little world and remembered that she was escorting guests. She looked behind her and smiled when she saw that they were still following. After thirty minutes of walking, they finally arrived at a small home at the end of the town square.
The woman opened the door and held a hand up, gesturing for them to enter before her.
"Wow, this is so adorable," Bonnie gasped.
The little home had drapery and thin blankets on the bed. All the linen was in natural colors. The room was even accented with handmade bowls of potpourri, pictures, and vases which provided the room with splashes of colors.
Zinnia then went over the little two roomed home thoroughly, showing them where different things could be stored and where certain things were located. Sadly, there was only one large bed. Bonnie and Damon cut their eyes nervously at each other, at the thought of only having one bed, but on the bright side, it looked soft and very inviting.
Once the woman walked to what they referred to as the bathroom, the pair was in reverence of the fact that it had a shower, not like back home but it was awe inspiring to Damon who had been trying for a couple of weeks to make one.
"So how does this work?" Damon asked while tinkering around with the fixtures and the large tub hanging from the ceiling. He looked like a curious little boy as he marveled at the craftsman.
"Well, you have to heat the water and then fill this pale, then you open up this slot here which allows the water to pour slowly down over you."
"Ah, yeah, that's how I envisioned my shower, but I didn't have the right tools." Damon rubbed his chin in thought and Bonnie snickered at a domesticated Damon.
"I know you must be hungry, so please make yourself at home, and I will be back shortly with plenty of food and spirits," Zinnia said happily.
"Oh Zinnia, what's the name of this planet?" Bonnie asked.
"Earth."
Damon laughed. "This planet can't be called Earth sweetheart. Earth is where we are from."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Salvatore, but this is Earth," Zinnia said sassily.
"Omigod, Damon, this could be Earth. This could be our parallel universe. It could explain why the creatures are similar. Although they're amplified, their biological makeup is the same," Bonnie explained unbelievably.
"Okay, this is Earth, but our main concern is you stopping your nutty husband from making the biggest mistake of his life. Will you please try and talk some sense into him?" Damon looked Zinnia square in the eye. She was unreadable and it was quite off putting to him.
"Yes, Zinnia, please talk to your husband. He's making a terrible mistake," Bonnie added.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do." Zinnia still seemed indifferent about their concerns.
Bonnie sighed and then looked at Damon. "So…what do you think?"
"Well, we've slept together once. I'm okay with it, you?" Damon squinted his eyes at Bonnie, bracing himself for her response.
Bonnie giggled. "I was actually talking about Zinnia. Do you think she will talk to Tupac?"
"Oh yeah, right. I hope so, because if the chemical makeup of the animals is different it could be the same for the people." Damon sat down on the bed and stared at Bonnie for a moment, thinking.
"Are we going to ignore the fact that you have your powers back?" Damon pushed his bottom lip into his top one, giving Bonnie a deadpan look.
"That's impossible. When I died, I came back as the anchor and nothing more."
"Yeah, Bonnie, but somehow your grams spell brought us back to life. Granted, she sent us to the wrong damn planet, but you're no longer the anchor which was stupid. You're a little witch." A cutesy grin garnished Damon's face.
Bonnie sat down beside Damon. He rested his hands on the side of the bed, still smiling sweetly at her.
"Well, if that's true, I may be able to come up with a spell to get us back home. Once these people realize that we're telling the truth, I imagine they'll want to take their revenge out against us, and I don't want to be around for that." Her passive gaze became more serious.
Damon was no longer smiling. The thought of going back home knocked a little wind out of him.
"I know you must be worried sick about Stefan and Elena." Bonnie waited for his response.
"…and I know you must be worried about Jeremy." Damon rolled his eyes.
"We really need to try and find a way home. I know Elena and Stefan are finding it hard to move on. I mean you saw how shaken up Elena was when I told her that you were…that you were…gone."
She didn't want to imagine Damon being dead even though they were both dead and standing on the Other Side together waiting for it to explode into oblivion.
"I'm sure Stefan has probably turned to his old ripper lifestyle, and Elena..." Damon shook his head as he sat in thought. The night he died came back to him as if it were just yesterday. He and Elena died together, but they didn't return hand in hand back to Mystic Falls like he had wanted for them. He promised her that he would return. Damon pinched the bridge of his nose, still thinking about what Alaric had said.
You got the girl. Don't blow her up.
If he hadn't taken Elena with him on his suicide mission, he would have been able to make it back to her. Damon grunted in frustration, becoming angry.
"If Elena wasn't such a pampered princess, so damn clingy, and such a co-dependent…she wouldn't have been there, and I would have had time to pass over."
"...or maybe if you hadn't been so selfish with her you would have been able to tell her 'no,' making her see how wrong her actions were." The words slipped so easily from Bonnie's mouth. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw a guilty Damon staring back at her.
"Oh God, I don't know why I said that."
"It's okay. You said it because it's true. I fell in love with this great girl that cared about everything. I finally won her over and then I ruined her," Damon said somberly.
"She loves you, Damon, and that's all you've ever wanted. You should be happy because you won her love." Bonnie got to her feet and walked over to him.
"No, the only good thing about me dying is that I can't fuck up her life anymore, and I was there with you. You didn't have to face the end alone." He looked at Bonnie stoically.
"Thank you for thinking about me." She smiled.
"See…that's the thing. I didn't think about you. All I thought about was bringing Stefan back, saving the town, and as usual, Elena." Damon collapsed down onto the bed.
Bonnie lay down beside him and turned her gaze to his. "...but you did think about me. You came, and you found me. You didn't mope about losing Elena or Stefan. You joined me, and we faced the inevitable together, and I will never forget what you did. "She became teary eyed as she reminisced about that night.
"I won't forget that night either, and I'm glad we're here facing this new world together, too." They smiled at each other as Damon pushed his hand gently underneath Bonnie's, intertwining their fingers.
"Since Elena's been with me, how do you feel about her?" Damon asked in a low, husky voice.
Bonnie lay quietly for an extended period, thinking about Elena then and now.
"You two brought out the absolute worst in each other. I could hardly tolerate Elena. She was so selfish and consumed." Bonnie turned her gaze away from Damon and looked up at the ceiling. "When we return home, you two can start over, and maybe become better people together."
"What if…what if someone else in this world is better for me, and I'm better with them?" Damon questioned nervously, swallowing hard.
Bonnie turned quickly back to him. "Maybe there is, but you won't find that person in Mystic Falls, and it won't be one of Elena's friends. Don't you love Elena anymore?" Bonnie's voice cracked.
She knew very well what Damon was asking, and she knew very well what she was kind of hoping. It was the very reason she was always his cheerleader, rooting him and Elena on. It was why she would ask how his kiss was or how was he doing. It was the very reason for all those little looks that they gave each other.
They were falling in love, but doubt and fear was their Great Wall of China.
Bonnie broke Damon's heart; she could see it in his eyes. Right then and there, he was asking for confirmation of them, and she squashed the idea on the spot.
"Yea, I'm in love with Elena, but maybe it's time I do right by her, and right by me," he explained as he looked up at the ceiling like a broken man.
"So…um…um-." Damon cleared his throat, breaking the short silence between them. He didn't want to sound as heartbroken as he felt. "You're saying that Elena and I can work it out, or I should find someone new?"
Bonnie nodded quickly, then sat up on the bed, and wiped away a runaway tear from her cheek. "Yeah, I think you and Elena should work it out, because you've been through so much together, and it would be a shame to just throw it all away…you know." She looked back at him and smiled, and he looked at her, expressionless.
He sat up slowly, linking his hands together in front of him. An awkward silence fell across the room as they both tried to forget their awkward conversation.
"Hey, I'm going to try and find Tupac and Cho, see if I can talk some sense into them." Damon got up from the bed and left.
::::::
"Tupac." Zinnia smiled and walked swiftly to her mate. "I'm so glad you're home," she said, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly to her.
"Yes, but you know I can't stay." He gently pulled away from her. "The invasion is tomorrow," he said worriedly.
"I met the outlanders. They seem really nice."
"Yes, they are," he answered without looking at her, loading a few more things in his bag.
Tupac stopped in the middle of what he was doing and then turned to look at his woman. "The man's blood can heal people. It can heal you."
"I know. They explained a little about the situation to me." She paused. "We should talk about this Tupac. The outlanders say his blood could be bad if our men were to die in battle. Are you sure we shouldn't be listening to them?"
"Of course, we should, but we can't. The Badai grow stronger every day and they have control over most of our natural resources. We can't heal, feed our people, and not to mention all the people in our neighboring cities that they've left homeless. Look, his blood may be dangerous in this situation, but it's not for you. I want you to have his blood. It could heal your sickness."
"No." Zinnia shook her head.
"Please, for me."
"Everyone has to die, Tupac. It's the natural order of things."
"What about our children? You are so willing to obey the natural order of things that you would even ignore this blessing that has been bestowed upon us?" He pleaded passionately, his eyes moist as he held tightly to her hands.
"Okay, I will take his blood, for you, and our children." She timidly smirked.
Tupac returned her sweet gesture. "I love you so much, Zinnia. I want to be with you forever." He squeezed her tightly to him, again, as he closed his eyes, and Zinnia looked worriedly out into the room.
::::::
Later that night, Bonnie had eaten and taken a long, hot shower. It was definitely some work preparing it but she managed without her strapping friend. The shower was her ultimate reward for all her hard work in the end.
She took her own sweet time drying off. For some odd reason she didn't care about Damon popping in on her. She put on a night gown and some of the sensual oil that Zinnia had given to her. She then poured herself a glass of wine and sat down on the bed with her back resting against the wall.
It didn't take long for Bonnie's mind to drift off into happier times with Jeremy. She was surprised that he hadn't popped into her mind much sooner. She supposed it was because of her conversation earlier that day with Damon.
Bonnie soon lost her smile when she thought about returning to Mystic Falls. Being away from Jeremy had helped her to see how wrong she and Baby Gilbert were for each other. Thinking about their relationship, stole her happy mood and her appetite for the wine. She walked it over to the table and then snuggled into bed.
While Bonnie did her own thing, Damon walked around the village looking for things to steal from the people, so he could make a better way of life for him and Bonnie once they escaped the village. He had also talked with Tupac and Chogan, again. Well, he talked to two brick walls. All the visit ended up doing was causing him more bodily harm as he fought like hell to keep them from taking his blood.
When Damon returned to their temporary home, Bonnie was asleep. He looked over by the bathroom and noticed that she had fetched him some pales of water. He flashed over to the buckets and dipped a finger inside one of them.
The water was still slightly warm. He quickly filled up the pale that hung from the ceiling, closed the door to the room, removed his clothes, and opened the slot. He walked underneath the warm water, stepping onto the granite flooring, and timidly smiled.
The water was heaven pouring down onto his dirty skin. He grabbed the small glass bottle sitting on a tiny shelf on the wall and sniffed it. It had a fresh and florally scent. He poured a little bit of the liquid into his hand and then rubbed them together. The liquid made a good lather. He lathered up his hair, chest, and took in the fresh scent.
Damon stayed in the shower for as long as the water would let him. His only regret now was putting on his dirty underwear and jeans. It took them almost a full day to get to the village, and he hadn't had a chance to wash his clothes since he'd been there.
He grabbed his underwear from off the floor and hurriedly slipped on his jeans, rolling his eyes at the entire thought of having to put on dirty clothes all the while.
Damon crept in to the room. He was hoping that Bonnie was asleep, so he wouldn't have to face her again, but then again, he hoped that she was awake so he could feed.
He stealthily laid across the mattresses and eased his underwear underneath the bed. He laid on his side and looked at the window. There was a light breeze and the moonlight shone straight through the opening. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. He couldn't sleep. He could feel the heat radiating off Bonnie's body and he liked it.
He quickly closed his eyes again and tried to picture sexy times with Elena, but oddly, the only time with her that kept sneaking into his awareness was the night they argued about how toxic they were for each other. It was also the night he had confessed to killing her friend from college.
Damon cringed in thought of that night. Elena apologized to him for his bad behavior. She then laid down and spread her legs wide for him, rewarding him for the terrible things that he had done just because he thought she had dumped him. He felt sick in the stomach. Love isn't supposed to make you feel sick.
"Damon," Bonnie called.
Thank God, Damon thought in relief. He was so happy to be taken away from his bad memories.
"Yeah."
"Do you need to feed?"
"Yeah." He lay motionless for a few seconds before turning to face Bonnie. They both had the same bright idea. She turned to face him, and he turned to face her. Their heads smacked right dab into each other's, causing a loud thud with the collision.
"Ow." Bonnie grabbed her forehead.
"What the hell, Bonnie," Damon said as he grabbed his forehead.
They looked at each other and start laughing.
"Are you okay?" Damon asked as he rubbed the lower part of her arm. He instantaneously noticed Bonnie's different attire. "Is that a nightgown?" He squinted his eyes at Bonnie curiously.
"Yeah." Zinnia gave it to me when she brought the food and wine. It was so delicious. I saved you some."
"Thank you. You smell nice, and you look really beautiful." Damon gave her a yearning look and Bonnie became nervous under his gaze.
"Thank you," Bonnie replied.
"I've known you for so long. I can't believe I've never noticed how gorgeous you are."
Bonnie swallowed nervously and quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to take it from my neck or my wrist?"
Damon placed his hand on his neck, signaling to her what he wanted. Bonnie propped herself up on the bed. She leaned her head towards the pillow, exposing her neck to him, and closed her eyes.
Damon ran his finger over her carotid artery, slowly, as he extended his incisors. He drifted in to Bonnie, placing his fangs against her skin, and then slowly sunk them into her soft warm skin.
"Ugh," Bonnie moaned as she grabbed Damon's bare shoulder. She tenderly squeezed and pulled at his soft skin as he took in her warm ambrosia.
He took his fill and extracted his incisors slowly. He licked the remainder of her blood away from her neck, his lips, and teeth.
He gazed into her eyes as he bit into his finger. He wanted a replay of what happened to them the day before. He placed his finger to her lips and she quickly grabbed it and wrapped her full soft lips around his digit.
Bonnie sucked the blood from his small wound and licked his finger tenderly. She slowly moved his finger in and out of her mouth.
"Sss, yes," Damon lamented above a whisper. He had a strange suspicion that she wanted him, yet he never thought a woman like Bonnie would, but seeing her, here and now, had confirmed that he had a chance with the great Bonnie Bennett.
Bonnie heard Damon's moan. Her eyes popped open, and she released him.
Damon grinned timidly as he drifted back down to his pillow. Bonnie's chest moved rapidly up and down as if she were spent by the exchange. A wonderful throbbing feeling erupted between her legs, but she'd be damned if she gave into that urge. She wouldn't dare go after her best friend's man.
She plopped back down onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling with a frantic look on her face. She wanted Damon, but it was too soon. They had only shared small quarters for a short time.
He had only seen her ratchet self in the morning for a month. It was too soon for there to be something more. The entire time she laid in bed thinking about Damon, he was staring and smiling at her.
"Good night, Bonnie," his hoarse voice sounded before he leaned in to her, giving her a goodnight kiss on the cheek. He rested a hand on her flat belly. Bonnie looked at him as she moved her hand slowly over his, caressing it and his forearm tenderly. As she massaged his arm, her scorching skin caressing his cool skin helped to ease Damon's mind. He easily fell asleep under Bonnie's gentle ministrations.
"Good night, Damon," Bonnie said to the sleeping vampire before looking up to the ceiling. "God, help these people. God, help me," she whispered.