Disclaimer: I DO NOT own the Vampire diaries or any of the characters. Nor do I seek to infringe any copyright laws. ALL RIGHTS belong to LJ smith & the CW network.

AN: very short chapter...I'm sick atm so didn't feel like writing a long one, but wanted to give you something. Also massive thank you to all who review and continue to do so :)

CHAPTER 9: Baby Bonnie's first tiff

Damon couldn't process any of this. Bonnie had met Klaus and he hadn't harmed a curly hair on her head. From what they'd heard he was the most vicious and notorious vampire to walk the earth. Vampires as old as Katherine faked their deaths to escape his wrath. He held grudges for a thousand years and would stop at nothing to unleash a slow and painful punishment, even if your crime was petty. I mean in essence all Katherine had been guilty of was wanting to live, but it was enough to piss off the ancient vampire.

So, why had he saved Bonnie? Was it to use her when she was older? And why hadn't 17 year old Bonnie mentioned meeting him? She knew what he looked like all along and could easily identify him. Why wouldn't 17 year old Bonnie help them? Was she in league with him? It wouldn't be the first big twist and shock horror the group had been delivered, considering the tomb revelations.

Damon knew these thoughts were pure stupidity on his half. Bonnie was the most loyal and honourable person he knew. But this was what he did when people got close to him and broke down his walls. He looked for any reason to cut off and shut down from them. His head was swirling as Bonnie looked up to him with big puppy eyes, for support and reassurance that he'd keep her secret. She needed to know it was all okay and normal what had happened with the crazy beast and mystery stranger. She hoped sharing her experience with someone would be like a weight off her shoulders. She slowly realised she would not be receiving any emotional support from Damon.

Instead Damon took her tiny caramel hand, pulling her up and walking fast, with her scurrying by his side. He was cold and disconnected because he was focussed on his anger towards Klaus. He needed to talk to Stefan and Alaric about this. Damon cared so much for this girl but the irrational thoughts invaded the contours of his fragile mind. Was she going to betray him like the other women he had given his heart completely to? Deep, deep down he knew the urgency of his actions and illogical behaviour was because he knew she was innocent and that would mean something worse than a betrayal. It would mean Bonnie's safety was in question. Then there was Elijah. Did he know Bonnie too and of what relevance was that locket to her? And who was the anonymous lady that would supposedly have loved to meet Bonnie? It was all making absolutely no sense, which only frustrated an already impatient and unpredictable vampire more.

"Hey hey you're hurting me why?"She frowned and spoke softly, posing her question to the man she thought of dearly.

"Come on Bonnie please hurry up! That guy you met is a bad man. I have to explore this further. You're in very big danger."

"He saved my life. How's he bad? The only thing a danger to me right now is you. You're being mean and my arm ow! Please let go?" she asked confused, feeling hurt.

"Bonnie just be quiet please. I need a minute to think." he said a little harshly completely not meaning to. He ran his fingers through his hair anxiously and tried to hasten her little feet along.

"No pwease stop being like this, so scary and serious. Can we play more instead? I'll forgives you this mean moment if we can just go back to normal?"

"No honey I'm sorry." he tugged on her hand again, forgetting how dainty she was.

"Pretty pwease, we were having so much fun. I wouldn't have told you my secret if I knew you'd stop playing with me." She drawled cutely but with so much sadness, as she looked up at him with eyebrows furrowed. Her lips were pouted and her poor green emeralds were wide and sparkling with tears. What was she doing wrong? Was she being annoying? She didn't know why he was being so different all of a sudden, not her light hearted funny Damon.

"I said no for the last time Bonnie." his eyes were seething but he didn't mean to be hostile. He was just worried.

Bonnie was immediately quiet and let him lead her wherever he wanted to go. She bit her lip and then her fist because she knew she was going to cry. She still could not understand why he was being this way and so suddenly after she'd poured her heart out to him.

Damon soon picked her up because her tiny body wasn't keeping up. She refused to curl up in his chest. Instead she kept her fists down on him, pushing off and squirming in his arms. Her lips were frowned and quivering. Her wrist stung a little and she was now sobbing. Bonnie moved her bushy hair over her green eyes sadly, to disguise her misery.

Through her partial vision she could see Elena and Caroline shoving pie in each other faces. Normally the site would paint a smile on her little features but all she could think about was Damon's coldness. Stefan and Alaric immediately ran up as if sensing Damon's anxiety from his pained expression. He was never one to look broody, so Stefan knew it was serious. He also couldn't help but be drawn to the teary expression on Bonnies face. What happened? I hate seeing her so sad and him.

Damon quietly sat Bonnie down next to her besties and went to talk to Stefan and Ric, filled with dread. He was completely oblivious to how distressed little Bonnie was, leaving a distraught baby Bonnie feeling confused and neglected as usual.

Bonnie rubbed her baby fists over her big shocked eyes, unconsciously blowing spit bubbles, as tears streaked her face. Her lips were wet and she tried to bite them more. Elena and Caroline soon heard her fragile sobbing, as she inhaled and exhaled heavily trying to stop.

"Oh my god BB what's wrong?" Caroline came to cuddle her and she broke down on the little blondes tummy, howling and clasping Caroline's waist with her tiny hands.

Elena soon soothingly rubbed her back "Hey hey baby BB I hate to see you cwy. It breaks my baby heart." She drawled, for the first time sounding sweet because Bonnie really did bring it out in her. She may be an angry spoilt brat but Bonnie made her mushy and kind side appear.

"What did that idiot do? I'll bite him so hard for hurting your feelings. No wait I'll pinch him. He hates that the most." She said rubbing her hands together in anticipation before continuing. "I told you black haired guy was no good BB. No good at all!" she said adamantly, bobbing her head something furious.

"Yeah he was growing on me but not no more. You know I'll go for his knees like I did your daddy as he screamed in pain. Just speak to me BB." Caroline said softly, peering into Bonnies face space and moving Bonnie's curly locks out of her big green eyes.

"I don't like him anymore either. He made me feel naughty and invisible. I don't think I did nothing wrong did I? But one minute we were fine and then he was mad. Did I do anything? You can tell me if I was a bad girl, I'll be better I swear!" She asked her friends, frantically, then softly rubbed her little green eyes again, sniffling into Caroline's lilac dress.

"Well you have us and we've known you our whole lives. You're not naughty at all. You never would do nothing wrong. You usually get us out of our naughty ways." Elena said nodding her head firmly and invading Bonnie's personal space, practically smothering her caramel heart shaped face with kisses.

"Then what's his problem? I get people so wrong sometimes. You twos are my best buds. Your the only two people who'd never hurt me and my Grams. I wanna go home to her now and never see him again." she said adamantly before kissing their little, sticky hands softly with her wet, pink lips.

"Let's do it! Let's go home." They all got up, stuffing some picnic treats in Elena's bag for the journey. They then got ready to walk off, holding Bonnies little upset form.

Meanwhile, Stefan, Alaric and Damon were so caught up in their heated conversation that they did not even realise the girls were making a break for it.

"What do you mean Bonnie met Klaus and knows what he looks like?" Stefan asked anxiously. He crossed his arms, tapping his foot, waiting impatiently for his brother to let him in on what the hell was going on.

"Cliff note version. When she was 3, her father left her at home all alone. She ran out of the house to find her way to Sheila and got lots in the woods. Something attacked her. She said it was a beast with yellow eyes. Now I'm thinking werewolf."

"How'd she survive? It would have ripped her to shreds?"

"That's the thing Klaus saved her or Nicklaus, that's how he introduced himself to her. He literally ripped the beast off her from what I gather and he he" Damon paused breathing hard and going red in the face. "That fucker held her and comforted her till help came." Damon said bitterly, clenching his fist at the thought of Klaus touching Bonnie in anyway however innocent. "We need her to draw him or something. We'll have a rough idea of what the bastard looks like then. I don't care how old that son of a bitch is I'll find a way to tear him limb from limb!" Damon shouted, kicking a tree in anger. The truth was it burned to know Bonnie had been in danger and he had not been there to protect her. He hated that it was Klaus of all people who was there for her. He was also was worried because he did not like to think of her having any bond with anyone else. He detested the idea that there was anyone else she felt safe with and felt gratitude towards. Most of all he was paranoid about whether she and Klaus had met on other occasions? How many moments in that case had Klaus shared with HIS girl? What would 17 year old Bonnie do when she found out Klaus saved her once? Would it change anything? Of course it wouldn't. Damon shook the thought out his head, sweating with fear. Stefan's voice broke Damon out of his concerned, rambling thoughts.

"So he needs her for something?" Stefan asked, forehead particularly broody.

"Well I doubt it's because he cares for her right?" Alaric said, irritated by the whole situation. He was tired of people messing with his friends and surrogate family.

"Or maybe he does care? Maybe she's his pocket witch?" Damon said, knowing he was being, suspicious, neurotic and silly.

"Damon you know how stupid that sounds. Bonnie's allegiance has always been and will always be to Caroline and Elena." Stefan corrected his brother, getting annoyed. Damon really took any opportunity to push people away.

"I know it's ridiculous! It's just why wouldn't she say? She could have come to me and told me at anytime?" he screamed at Stefan frustrated. He and he alone wanted to be Bonnies solace, the one person she could always trust and come to with anything.

"Well reality check. I know you two are inseparable now, but our Bonnie and you aren't exactly best buds. You're the last person she'd confide in. If anything she's the most self guarded whenever you're around. You make her feel unwanted and like an inconvenience, like her life isn't worth anything. She doesn't like being weak or vulnerable around you because frankly you can be a big bitch to her. You two can't tolerate each other unless there's a buffer in the room." Alaric tried to talk some sense into Damon without hurting his feelings, but it had to be said and from the look on Damon's face he was extremely hurt and was only one step away from punching him in the face.

"Fine but she'd have told Stefan or Caroline and Elena?" Damon said irritated at the reality that he and 17 year old Bonnie weren't close at all. 17 year old Bonnie, if she were ever in any danger would never call him. She'd call Stefan or Caroline and for the first time he loathed that fact. He needed to change that. He was going to change that whatever it took. He also fought hard the urge to kick his bromance pal Alaric in the balls for pointing out the harsh facts.

"She most likely doesn't remember. Sometimes people block out traumatic events, especially experiencing them at such a small age." Alaric said trying to distract away from the pain he'd obviously caused Damon with his previous comment. He and Damon had an unconventional friendship and bond and he really didn't like wounding the guy.

"Or they met again after the incident and he compelled her?" Stefan queried.

"Can you compel witches?"

"He can compel other vampires."Alaric reminded them of a certain little biyatch in a tomb.

"Well I doubt witches are the same? Anyways the necklace is the next issue."

"What necklace?" Stefan and Alaric asked in worried unison.

"Elijah gave it to her but told her not to tell anyone. It's got the Earth, sun and moon all revolving around a mysterious black haired girl. She's dressed funny and what are those funny symbols on her body. How old you think this is?"

Stefan and Alaric inspected the foreign object carefully, not liking where this was going. It was moments like this that they realised how little they knew about the danger they were up against and how little they were prepared for it.

"We need to meet with Elijah. He says he's on our side but he's keeping secrets that clearly affect both Elena and Bonnie. I mean why would he secretly give this to her? Is it something that will help her or will it be a danger to her? We aren't playing with a full deck of cards right now and this is dangerous for all of us." Stefan sighed, running his fingers through his hair desperately.

"Are you mental? We are not meeting with him again. Not with the little girls with us. He already threatened to take them away. I won't allow it."

"What other choice do we have? The fact he gave this to Bonnie makes me think Klaus isn't the only original that knows her. God knows what this all means for her Damon. We have no choice. We stand to lose Bonnie and Elena right now and I can't handle this. I feel useless. We have to try something, anything. We need to be in the loop. Klaus is obviously a thousand steps ahead of us, with Elijah slowly closing in behind, leaving us in last place." Stefan said in one breathe, which actually resulted in Damon rubbing his shoulder to calm him.

"Fine I'll gather the girls. And we'll call a meeting at the boarding house. We can get Elijah's attention through Jenna. She has his contact details through the whole history shit they were doing. Alaric bring your weaponry. We may not be able to kill him but if it comes to it we can slow him down."

"No let the girls play for today, something tells me things aren't gonna get any easier so give them this one day. Also we should take this opportunity to see what Katherine knows. I can go in the tomb, once we settle the girls?" Stefan said rubbing his brothers shoulder back, to show his gratitude for calming him down.

"Okay fine but if things go wrong it's on you and I'll be fucking pissed and rip your face off if anything happens to Bonnie." Damon said in a half sing song tone that held something more serious beneath it.

"Believe me you won't have to. If that happened I'd do it myself. Now I think you should shut up and concentrate on mending your bond with baby Bonnie. You've obviously upset her." Stefan said pointing to the girls who were walking off with Bonnie sobbing, it echoing through the green lands. How they had missed that upsetting sound was beyond all three men.

All three guys ran after the three little girls, who were looking around the woods trying to make a decision on which way to go. Alaric noted that it was a mistake to take their eyes of them for even a second. They had managed to walk quite a distance away from them.

"Hey hey girls?" the three men called, catching up with them.

All three tiny heads turned and with shocked and slightly angry faces they began to run faster. They started to scream when Stefan and Damon caught up to them. They did not know how they were so fast but they put that thought to the back of their minds. Alaric just causally walked the rest of the distance to them, cursing Stefan and Damon's vampire speed under his breath. They really did make him feel like an old man.

"Look girls you can't just run off like that without letting us know." Stefan said gently picking Elena and Caroline up, knowing Damon would want his arms to be the only ones that cuddled Bonnie.

Damon slowly approached Bonnie seeing that she was quivering and appeared to be backing away from him. It was a sight that really broke his heart.

"Hey hey little one where you going? You know you don't have to be afraid of me ever. Please can I have a cuddle?"

"No!" she responded, eyebrows furrowed like she couldn't understand his mood swings. When he continued to approach her, she whispered no again, looking down at the grass and breathing heavily. Her sobbing got higher in volume when Damon tried to hold her hand. She ripped it away from him, rubbing her really sore green eyes again.

"Hey hey let me wipe away those tears please little one."

"No! I said no" she bawled "I want Care bear and Lena."

"Hush hush my lovely. I apologise if I did anything to make you feel sad. It's all okay. I didn't mean to panic you little one. I'm really sorry sweet heart. I know I seemed a little crazy jumpy before but I didn't mean it at all. Please you have to believe me. The last thing I'd ever wanna do is hurt you or make your sweet little face frown. I promise you we can go back to play now though if you'd like? I know I'd love it if we could play" He said gently and smiled softly again at her, trying to put her at ease, holding out his arms and hoping she'd run into him for an embrace. He noted how frowned her lips were and how watery her emeralds had become, streaking her caramel, rosy cheeked face. He'd hurt her. He knew that now but at the time he was so focussed on Klaus that he had been too cold towards her. He made a move to pick her up, to apologise to her at eye level. But before he could get his arms round her tiny waist, she turned and ran to Stefan. She whimpered, clutching at his trouser legs. He placed Elena and Caroline down as they gestured he cuddle their BB. He picked her up and she sobbed in his shirt, clutching him as she shuddered.

"Hey hey its okay. It's all okay poppet. Let's have a little nap okay? You sleep now. I've got ya sweet pea." Stefan kissed her bushy little head and rocked her from side to side timidly like she was a porcelain doll. He swayed her, mumbling in her ears that Damon didn't mean to be harsh and trying to relax her off to sleep. He gave Damon a sympathetic look as if to say she'll be okay with you soon, just give it time.

Soon Damon felt it. Caroline and Elena kicked both his knees as hard as they could before running back to hold Alaric's hand. They turned back once more to scream at Damon.

"Don't you ever hurt our BB again or we swear we'll get ya real good." Screeched Elena aggressively.

"Yeah we'll smash those knees black haired guy that's a promise." Caroline confirmed with a huff and blue eyes crosses in a glare. For someone with silly pink tails she still managed to pull off scary very well. They waved their little fists at him once more like cage fighters before skipping off.

Damon ignored the pain of their kicks. He didn't know how to deal with Bonnie hating him but this was even worse. He couldn't handle her feeling hurt by him. He despised how he always messed things up and tackled situations the wrong way. He detested the fact that now Bonnie was seeking solace in Stefan's arms. He wanted to be the only one that ever was that way with Bonnie. He was thankful to Stefan though as Damon could hear him telling Bonnie to give him a second chance. All Damon knew for sure was that he was gonna have to win his little ones heart back pronto, even if it meant ruining his reputation by making a fool of himself.

TBC...

An:So this was more a drama moment than humour. More will be revealed about Klaus and Bonnie later but first Damon's gotta win his little one back.