A/N - Hello lovely readers! I am so happy you all liked the first three chapters! This one took me a little longer to complete but it's got a little action and even a flashback to baby Grayson so hopefully you enjoy it. As always, I wait with bated breath to hear what you think. xoxo ~P

Chapter 4

Aunt Bonnie lived in the small loft apartment above the old doctor's office that used to be operated by the man Grayson was named for. As he did every day, he cut through the musty un-used office space and up the back stairs that led to the loft. The space wasn't large but his aunt had made it her own and he had always enjoyed visiting her as a kid. It was cozy, with aging overstuffed furniture that didn't match and sentimental knick-knacks everywhere. A small, utilitarian kitchen was at the back of the room and a ladder to the left of it led to a sleeping area. Almost two weeks had gone by since his estranged uncle's visit and nothing out of the ordinary had happened so Grayson had expected today to be like all the other days; he would sit down and Bonnie would explain (again) about the balance of power and the responsibilities that went along with having magic before going on to tell him how to theoretically practice magic. He would listen and try not to doze off on her. But today was not like all the other days. Today he walked into the loft and there were unlit white candles scattered throughout the room and a very old book was sitting on the coffee table at the center of the living room, along with a stone bowl containing a burning bundle of leaves. The smoke from the bundle was pungent and the smell seemed to permeate every corner of the space.

"Aunt Bonnie?" He called as he dropped his backpack at the door.

"I'll be right out" she called back from the kitchen.

Her back was to him but he could see her pouring water from a kettle into two mugs.

"I made green tea for you" she said and held one of the cups out to him.

In truth, he wasn't a big fan of tea but, of all the ones she had forced on him, he liked the green tea best. He accepted the mug from her and blew over the top of it to cool it down.

"What's with all this?" He asked gesturing to the unfamiliar items.

"I'm proud of how patient you've been and, in light of recent events, I've decided it's time to learn some real magic."

A mix of excitement and terror washed over him. Part of him was thrilled at the idea but he was also secretly hoping she had been mistaken about him having magic at all.

"Don't worry. We're going to start small. Come sit in front of this big candle on the table."

He sat crossed legged on the floor in front of the large pillar candle that was next to the old book.

"Ok, now remember what we talked about; focus on the candle, imagine it lighting up, see the fire in your mind. Got it?"

"Got it" he said and did his best to visualize the little black wick covered in orange flame.

"Now, keep your focus, and repeat after me: Phasmatos Incendia"

"Phasmatos Incendia" he said.

Nothing happened.

"Again, but you've got to mean it" Bonnie told him.

"Phasmatos Incendia" Grayson said more insistently.

Still no fire. He felt himself getting discouraged and he knit his brows at the candle.

"Again!"

"Phasmatos Incendia!"

"Louder!"

"Phasmatos Incendia!" He shouted at the candle and for a second he could have sworn he felt fire burning in his chest.

Then, to his complete amazement, the candle was lit. He glanced up at his aunt for approval but she was looking around the room with wide eyes. Grayson turned his head and saw that all the candles in the apartment were lit.

"Well, there goes my next lesson" she muttered.

"Did I do that?"

"You sure did."

"Is that bad?"

"No... I just wasn't expecting you to progress so quickly."

"Could you do that when you started doing magic?" He asked.

"Yes, but I did it on purpose. What were you thinking about when you lit the candle?"

"I just annoyed that it wasn't working."

"Emotions and magic go hand in hand, Grayson. If you let your emotions get the better of you when you're using magic, people will get hurt. We're going to need to work on your control."

She waved her hand and all the candles went out.

"We're going to try again but this time, I only want you to light this candle. Feel the magic moving through your blood and focus that power."

Grayson closed his eyes and, this time, he really could feel the power coursing through him. He drew the magic upwards and out, towards the candle and repeated the incantation. When he opened his eyes, the candle was lit but the flame was at least two feet high and the candle began to melt rapidly. With another wave of her hand, his aunt extinguished the flame.

"Yep, definitely going to work on control" she said with a worried expression.

"I don't get this. I'm not even related to any witches. Why do I have so much magic?"

He wasn't sure he liked having this kind of power. The last thing he wanted was to start accidentally setting fires.

"I can't say for sure but I have a theory. I'll tell you but you have to promise you won't repeat it. Not to anyone. Not even Tori. Your mom and dad know but that's it" her usually friendly green eyes were intense and serious.

"You're scaring me a little, Aunt Bonnie."

"I'm sorry, Gray but this is scary stuff. Your mom told me about Jeremy's visit. If he knew what I'm about to tell you... I don't even want to think about what the people he works for would do."

"Ok, I promise I won't tell anyone."

She nodded and took a deep breath.

"Vampires are animated by magic. Their existence is the result of a centuries old spell that was cast by two of the most powerful witches ever known and one of them was a Bennett witch. When my ancestor made your dad human for a day, she couldn't have removed the vampire spell from his blood. She could only suppress it for a short period of time. It wasn't gone, it was just dormant. It was flowing through him right along with the magic from Emily's humanity spell when you were conceived. So, oddly enough, on the day that Damon was human there was an extraordinary amount of magic coursing through his veins."

"And that makes me, what, like super warlock?" He asked skeptically.

"I think, for the purposes of magic, you're half Bennett witch. But you've got a dose of something else in there. Something with an edge that I think came from the vampire spell. I think it heightens your power and how your magic manifests itself is going to depend a lot on what you're feeling."

"So, I really am part vampire?"

Aunt Bonnie laughed.

"Unless you start craving blood or performing mind control, no. You're a witch, a warlock, whatever you want to call it, but you are not part vampire. There's just a trace of the vampire spell in your blood. Most of what I sense in you is familiar, it's Bennett magic."

"Why did it all the sudden decide to make an appearance?"

He'd been holding these questions back for days and now he couldn't seem to stop himself from asking them.

"Right time, right place. Or wrong time, wrong place. How ever you want to look at it. My line is dying out. There are only two other witches that have a hint of Bennett magic in them and it's faint at best. I'm the last of the most powerful witch family to ever live and I think the spirits of my ancestors are desperate to ensure that we go on. I guess they've decided I'm a lost cause..." she paused and huffed out a frustrated breath.

"Anyway, it's true that I didn't sense anything in you when you were a baby, but you aren't an average witch. You were conceived under very strange and powerful circumstances. Witches come into our power at 16 and I think because you were here on your birthday and my ancestors sensed the Bennett magic in your blood, they chose to draw it out. Whether you think so or not, I'm sure they believe they've bestowed an incredible gift upon you."

Grayson tried to absorb everything she'd just told him but it was overwhelming. It felt like something strange and unfamiliar was inhabiting his body and he wasn't sure how he and it were going to coexist.

"What if I don't want it? What if I just want to be a normal person?" He asked quietly.

"I wish it worked that way, Grayson. I really do, but trust me, fighting it won't do you any good. It's part of you now and if you don't learn to control it, there will be consequences down the road."

"Can we be done for today?"

He felt numb and he just wanted to go home. Fortunately, Tori was having dinner with her dad tonight so he wouldn't have to explain his mood to her.

"Yes, you've had enough for one day" she told him kindly.

The test for his driver's license was the following week so his mom came to get him a few minutes later.

"Dad's at the grill with Ric if you want to head over there" she suggested when he hopped in the car.

"Can we just go home? I'm really tired."

"Sure, of course."

When they walked in the door of the house, his mom grabbed his arm before he could head up the stairs and escape to his room.

"What's wrong, Gray?" She asked gently, her brown eyes full of concern.

The words got lost in his throat so instead he stepped forward and hugged his mom. She was small but sturdy and she hugged him back fiercely.

"It's ok, everything will be ok" she soothed.

"Dad was right. We should've stayed in New York."

Mom pulled back and put a hand on his cheek.

"Your Aunt Bonnie says everything happens for a reason. Maybe this was supposed to happen. Maybe you'll end up using your magic to help people and it will be a good thing."

"Or maybe I'll accidentally burn the house down."

"Taught you the candle spell, huh?" She asked with a smile.

He frowned and nodded.

"Oh come on, that's a pretty cool trick."

"Sure, if I could control it but I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I was just supposed to light the one candle. The first time I lit like twenty candles and the second time I almost incinerated the coffee table. I don't know if I can do this."

"You can and you will. You couldn't ask for a better teacher than Bonnie and your dad and I will be there for you every step of the way. You can do this, Grayson, I know you can."

"I'm scared, Mom" he confessed.

"It's ok to be scared. I'd be worried if you weren't but you're strong, too. I know this isn't fair and it isn't what anyone wanted for you. No one understands that better than I do but you play the cards that fate deals and you never fold. No matter what, you keep going, you survive."

"Were you scared when you turned into a vampire?" He asked.

"I was terrified and it took me a while to adjust. It was hard but I got through it, just like you'll get through this."

Grayson took a deep breath and nodded. He decided he would tackle magic the same way he tackled school; he wouldn't overthink it, he would just do it. Even if he hated the subject, if he put his mind to something he could usually make sense of it.

"There's leftover ravioli in the fridge. Want to split it?" Mom asked.

"Yeah actually I'm starving."

Grayson plopped down at the table and stared at his hands. Despite his resolution to take a head-on approach to his power, his still felt like there was something foreign flowing through him. There was an intense and un-tamable quality to it that made him nervous. Mom stuck the pan in the oven and came to sit down across from him.

"You know, when I turned I was so afraid of being a vampire that I lost sight of who I was. I thought it was going to make me into a terrible person who hurt people. Instead, it made me a miserable person because I hated myself and I was constantly afraid of losing control" she told him.

"So, what did you do?"

"Your dad... He made me realize that being a vampire wasn't the end of my life, it was the beginning of a new one. Has being a vampire caused me to hurt people that I probably wouldn't have as a human? Yes. Am I sorry that I hurt them? More than you can ever know. But vampirism has also allowed me to save the lives of people I care about and I get to spend an eternity with the man I love. I can't change what I am but when I embraced it, I freed myself."

The oven timer beeped at them so he got up to retrieve the pan and two forks. He set the leftovers between them and handed his mom one of the utensils. They ate in comfortable silence while he considered what she'd told him. This was how his mom gave him advice; she would tell him a story. Whether it was true or she made it up on the spot, it was always relevant and it never failed to make him re-think the situation. Mom's chirping phone broke the quiet and he saw his dad's name on the screen.

"Hi. Grayson wanted to come home so we're here. Are you and Ric still at the Grill?" She answered.

Then her face fell.

"What? How long ago? Ok. Yes, ok, I got it" she said, her voice strained and upset.

Mom hung up and swore under her breath.

"Your dad said he and Stefan saw three black SUV's headed this way. He thinks he can beat them here but we need to stay inside. I don't care what you see out there, you stay in the house" she told him and went to the front window.

He followed her and no more than five minutes later, he could see three black dots about a mile down the road. Just as they were about to reach the driveway, his dad materialized from nowhere and stood in front of them. The first SUV screeched to a halt just a few feet from where he was standing. Four men clad in black SWAT gear exited the car and pointed guns at Dad. One of them shot him in the chest and he fell to the ground.

"Dad!" He screamed and his mom grabbed his arm as he tried to go to the door.

"It's ok. Just stay here."

"They shot him!" Grayson yelled at his mom, trying to tug away from her grasp.

"Your dad knows what he's doing."

He turned back to the window to see one of the men kick his dad in the side. He didn't move and a sick feeling rolled through Grayson. Then, just as the men were crowding around him and crouching down to grab him, Dad sprung up from the ground. He tore the guns away from three of the men and broke their necks before he grabbed the shotgun from the last man and shoved it muzzle first through his chest. The man fell to the ground, the shotgun still protruding from his breastbone. It had taken Dad less than a minute to kill four people and something inside him clicked. This was why people were afraid of his family.

"Holy shit..." he murmured.

Two beings moving at vampire speed flew at the second vehicle before he saw Uncle Stefan and Aunt Caroline tear the doors from the car and drag the three occupants out. One of them got a shot off at Aunt Caroline but it hit her shoulder and she looked more pissed off than injured. She reached out and snapped his neck. The other man Aunt Caroline had pulled from the car took two steps towards Dad. His dad's hand swept up with a flat palm and suddenly the man's head was missing. Actually, it wasn't missing, it was lying on the ground next to where his body had collapsed in a heap. His dad shook the blood off his hand like it was excess dish water and turned to the third vehicle. Uncle Stefan wasn't as fast as Dad and one of the men had him pinned to the car with a stake pointed at his chest. His dad paused on his way to the third car and punched his hand into the back of the man that was pinning his uncle. When he pulled his hand back, there was a human heart in it. Dad tossed it aside. Six more guys leapt from the last SUV and Grayson recognized the tall, dark haired man at the front. It was his Uncle Jeremy and he was pointing a crossbow at his dad's chest.

"No" he heard his mom whisper desperately.

An arrow left the crossbow but his dad caught it a second before it went through his heart. His dad, his uncle and his aunt were lined up with his dad at the center and they looked ready to pounce. With the exception of Jeremy, they were all pointing handguns at his family members and they opened fire on the trio of vampires. They scattered so fast Grayson couldn't even see them moving. One of the shooters got lucky and, all of the sudden, his uncle was on the ground. A massive blood stain was forming on his stomach and he was struggling to get up.

The panic he'd felt before had turned into full blown fear. He had to do something. Anything. What good was having this stupid magic if he couldn't help his family when they needed him? Then it hit him; gunpowder. Gunpowder was flammable and these men had a lot of guns. He focused on the guns, imagining the bullets burning red hot inside the weapons.

"Phasmatos incendia" he growled angrily.

A series of loud pops that sounded a lot like fireworks rang out and the guns began to explode in the hands of the men holding them. Dad dropped to the ground to take cover, shoving his aunt down along with him. The men started to scream as they stared at the bloody stumps that had once been their hands.

"Gray, did you do that?" His mom asked hesitantly.

He nodded solemnly at her and felt his hands begin to shake. Uncle Jeremy turned and appeared to say something to the men. They all scrambled back into the SUV and it tore off in reverse down the road. Dad jumped to his feet and raced into the house. He saw relief wash over his dad's face when he saw them. Aunt Caroline was behind him, half carrying Uncle Stefan.

"Jesus, what the fuck was that?" Dad demanded.

"Bonnie taught Grayson the fire spell today" Mom said, looking a little worried.

"That was you?" His dad asked, sounding shocked.

"Uh-huh" he replied dazedly.

Grayson wasn't sure how he felt about what had just happened. It was all a little hazy at the moment. He knew he was more grateful to see his dad than he ever had been before but the terror still seemed to have a hold on him and he was struggling to breathe. Dad was hugging him a second later.

"You're ok, it's ok."

"There are dead men in our driveway. How is that ok?" He yelled and pushed away from the embrace.

Dad grabbed his shoulders and his gaze dropped to the floor.

"Look at me" his dad insisted.

Grayson lifted his eyes.

"You're right, dead guys in the driveway is not ok but you just saved us. Those men would have killed us and taken you with them, to God knows where. You did what you had to do" his dad told him resolutely.

"Do...do you think I killed them?"

"Probably not" Dad said but didn't appear overly confident about the answer.

"Grayson" his uncle's voice croaked from the couch.

Aunt Caroline had handed him a half full glass of bourbon and sat down next to him. There was a small dark stain on her shoulder from where she'd been shot but she didn't look like she was in any pain. Uncle Stefan, on the other hand, had taken a shotgun blast to the stomach and he looked miserable.

"Thank you. Another minute out there and I'd be dead. You saved my life" his uncle told him with a ghost of a smile.

"Will you be ok?" Grayson asked, eyeing the splotch of blood on his shirt.

"I'll heal" he assured him.

One of the first things out of Damon's mouth when he'd found out about the pregnancy was that his brother would make a far better uncle than he would a father. So far, he felt like he'd done a pretty decent job at the dad thing. Much better than he had ever imagined he would but, even when he was a baby, Stefan had always known exactly what to say to soothe his nephew. Some things, he supposed, would never change. Damon watched as his son's shoulders relaxed when he heard his uncle tell him he'd saved his life.

Their connection had been instantaneous and Stefan had never once faltered as a parental figure. It had irked Damon for weeks after they brought Grayson home that Stefan was able to rock his son to sleep when all the baby did was scream when Damon held him. He'd been on the verge of losing his mind over it but, of course, it had been his brother who brought him closer to his son.

"Do you remember when I was born?" Stefan asked him one night as he placed a sleeping Grayson in his crib.

"Vaguely" Damon responded irritably from the rocking chair where he had spent the last hour trying to coddle a screaming baby.

"Vaguely?" his brother asked skeptically.

"It was 150 years ago, Stefan."

"You know what I remember? When I was little, I remember it was you that taught me how to tie my shoes and ride a pony. When I fell down and hurt myself, I came running to you, Damon. Not our mother, not our father, to you. Because I knew you would be there for me. Dad would have yelled at me for crying and mom would've been mad that I'd ruined the clothes,but you just cleaned me up and made me laugh."

"Is there a point to this trip down memory lane?" he asked drolly.

"You knew what childhood was supposed to be. You knew then and you know now. And if you could relax around your kid, you could be a great father."

"I am relaxed" he said through his teeth.

His brother stifled a laugh and he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Look, I know this is driving you nuts and I can tell when you're about to snap so just listen. You tense up the second Grayson is in your arms and if you're freaked out, he senses that and he freaks out.You act like you're afraid you're going to drop him or something but you won't. You aren't going to hurt him."

"How do you know? I hurt everyone I love, eventually" Damon told him darkly.

"That's the attitude that'll drive a wedge between you and your son" his brother told him before leaving the room.

He dragged his hands over his face and stood up to look down at Grayson. He'd lied when he said he didn't remember his brother being born. Their mother had given birth to him in their house and they had tried to kick him out but he wouldn't leave. He'd wanted to be there when his sibling came into the world. A baby brother had been in his prayers every night and he had gotten his wish. From his seven-year-old's vantage point, he had peered at Stefan that first night when he was asleep, and he'd known instantly that he loved his baby brother more than he'd ever loved anyone.

Now as he gazed down at his son, he felt a similar emotion wash over him. He felt it every time he looked at the baby. It was a furious need to protect him coupled with a love that was almost overpowering. Gently, he reached down and placed his index finger in his son's tiny hand and his little digits curled tightly around Damon's. He stood there like that, with his finger wrapped in Grayson's hand, for hours. He thought about the first time he'd held his little brother in his arms and how easy it had been back then. So much had changed about him since his brother's birth in 1847 but surely there was at least a smidgen of that person still in him.The test came sometime in the pre-dawn hours when Grayson stirred and began to cry again. He plucked a bottle of the milk Elena had pumped from the mini-fridge and stuck it in the bottle warmer. Then Damon rolled his neck, breathed in and out deeply, and gently picked up the baby. A memory of himself chattering nonsense at a tiny version of Stefan struck him. He sat them down in the rocker but this time he tried to take his brother's advice and relax.

"Shh, shh, it's ok, little guy. I'm here and your midnight snack is on its way" he murmured.

Grayson's cries had subsided a little and he seemed to like the sound of Damon's voice so he kept talking in a hushed tone.

"You know that's the first thing I thought when I saw your mother? She looked like a tasty midnight snack...I probably shouldn't have told you that but you don't understand me yet and, unlike your mother, I don't have Goodnight Moon memorized."

The milk was finally done and, for the first time, when he held the tip to the baby's mouth, he took it and stopped crying all-together. If he hadn't been feeding an infant, he might have done a little victory dance.

From then on, it had only gotten easier and now the young man that stood next to him was, in every sense of the phrase, his pride and joy. Seeing the terror on his face this afternoon had been nightmarish but now his boy just looked exhausted. Damon touched his arm and he started.

"You alright, Gray?"

"Yeah I think I just want to be alone for a minute" he said quietly.

"Ok, don't go far though" Damon told him worriedly.

Grayson nodded and wandered in the direction of the backyard. Damon gave him two minutes and then crept out the side door and followed after him. He was sitting on the stone ledge of the patio that looked out over the yard and into the trees. Damon stood in the shadows of an alcove, wanting to give him his space, but there was no chance he was going to leave him alone after what had just happened. Grayson sat there for 30 minutes, just staring out at the trees and sighing occasionally.

"I know you're out here. You can come out now" he said eventually.

Damon's eyes widened in surprise but he stepped out from the alcove and came to sit next to his son. They didn't say anything for a while, they just sat there and stared at the trees.

"I've never seen you kill anybody before" he said finally.

"I know."

Damon had gone to great pains to prevent his son from seeing exactly what he'd just witnessed.

"I knew you guys were fast and strong but…wow" Grayson said, sounding bewildered.

"I'm sorry you had to see it."

"Me too but in a way, I'm kind of glad."

He gave his son a questioning look.

"I didn't get why Tori was so afraid to meet you guys but now I understand. I've lived with vampires my whole life and the weirdest thing I've ever seen was a massive cooler full of blood bags. I know you were just trying to protect me but I think I needed to understand it now."

"You aren't afraid of me, are you?" Damon asked.

It was his biggest worry in life, that he would do something stupid and impulsive that would make his son afraid of him.

"No. I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"Good. I need you to know that" he told him earnestly.

They sat quietly for a few more minutes before Grayson spoke again.

"I don't want to hurt people, Dad."

He sounded just like his mother. Damon had no problem hurting people. Especially people who attacked his family, but he tried to understand.

"I know you don't but you protected your family today. There's nothing for you to feel guilty about."

"If I didn't kill them, I probably ruined their lives by blowing off their hands" he said miserably.

"They shouldn't have been standing in your driveway with guns trying to kidnap you. I know this is hard. Believe me, I know about guilt. But you have to forgive yourself for this, Grayson."

"I wasn't even thinking about those men when I did it. I just did it. What kind of evil person just blows people's hands off without thinking about it?"

Damon turned and faced him.

"You are a good, kind, compassionate person, just like your mom. And just like her, you would do anything to protect the people you love. Your mom isn't evil, is she?"

"No."

"She killed ten people from that same group of lunatics to save my life once. That wasn't easy for her but she did it because she loves me and we made vows to protect each other."

"Another one you'll tell me some other time?"

Grayson sounded resigned but considering what had just happened, Damon figured the kid could handle this story.

"You know what? Screw it. You're more mature than 90 percent of the adults I know so I think you can handle it. A few months before we left for New York, your Uncle Jeremy lured me into a trap. The Augustine's, the people Jeremy works for, tortured me for two weeks before your mom and Stefan rescued me."

"Torture?" the boy asked, clearly horrified.

"They experiment on vampires. We're the perfect test subject; everything heals and grows back."

"But that's…"

"Evil?" Damon asked and gave him a pointed look.

Grayson nodded.

"Point taken."

"What you did today doesn't make you evil. If you start killing people for fun, then you can talk to me about being evil. I'm not saying you have to forget about what you did and not let it affect you at all, but you'll go insane if you spend the rest of your life beating yourself up about it."

"What're you going to do about the driveway?"

"Your mom and Caroline are taking care of it."

"You stabbed a guy with a shotgun" Grayson said sounding impressed.

Most of the time, the kid's personality reminded him so much of his mother it was unreal but, every once in a while, he caught a glimpse of his own disposition in there too.

"Yeah well, he was wearing a bulletproof vest" he said with a half-smile.

"It was scary as hell when it was happening but, when I think about it, it's like it was happening in a movie. It doesn't seem real."

"You're probably in a little bit of shock. It'll hit you later."

A/N – Don't hate me for leaving it there! I promise to be back as soon as I can. Thank you so much for reading!