A/N: Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. Enjoy.


Gnats

Elena paced the length of the corridor. She promised Stefan she would at least take a break from prowling the hospital and get some air, but a new scene would mean thinking and thinking would lead to worst-case scenarios and recriminations…and she was tired of thinking.

Her cell rang. The display forced her to answer.

"I'm guessing you are…pacing."

Elena rolled her eyes and stopped. "For once you're wrong."

"You rolled your eyes."

Elena snuck a glance in both directions. "Sometimes I wonder about you and your stalker tendencies Stefan Salvatore."

"Not stalking. I know you. Did you at least eat?"

Elena remained silent and Stefan sighed. "I can stop by the Grill and get you something. Burger and fries, no pickles, right?"

Elena barely heard the question. Bonnie was at the nurses' station, signing her name.

"Uh, I'll call you back. I have to talk to someone."

She hung up and started down the hall the same time the ICU doors unlocked and slowly swung wide. Bonnie saw Elena approaching and closed her face completely. They met in the middle of the hall, the space between them an ocean.

"I'm here to see Caroline," Bonnie said.

"I…"

Bonnie glanced down at the floor then back at Elena. "I should have been honest with you. But it wouldn't have changed anything. I couldn't let it continue Elena, I couldn't just…fall in line."

It was the best apology Bonnie was willing to give. Elena stared at her for a full minute before blinking. Before Stefan and vampires, before the bridge, before everything changed, there was the two of them.

"Let's go see Caroline."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. Elena mimicked the action.

"Okay."


Damon tapped the bar top and the good bartender topped off the Hennessey. A second later the liquid sloshed down his throat.

Alaric sat on the stool next to him. He nodded to the bartender and treated Damon to a quick appraisal. Damon swung his head around with a sloppy nod. Alaric frowned and Damon smiled.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?"

Damon nodded. "Oh, I know. That's why I'm here. Drinking. Did I drunk dial you?'

Alaric reached for the beer the bartender set in front of him. "You did. But don't think I came running over here to prevent you from making a total ass of yourself."

Alaric took a long drink and sat back with a defeated sigh. "I never thought I'd be babysitting the guy who killed my wife."

"That's so…wacky. Truly, in the true sense of the word. Wacky. I never thought I could go from zero to monster to zero again in two centuries. I thought I'd hit half a millennia before…" Damon paused as more Hennessey filled the glass.

"Before what? Before humanity caught up with you?"

Damon lifted his glass. "Exactly."

"I'm lost here. What happened in the hours since I last saw you?"

"I went to see Jeremy, told him about Anna, gave him some rather sage advice that I think he misconstrued as a legitimate excuse to kill himself." Damon waited for the usual condemnation but none came. He turned to Alaric, eyebrows raised. "Really?"

Alaric finished the beer and ordered another. "Really," he said.

They drank in silence for a few minutes. "So that's it?" Alaric asked.

"I think it should be enough, at least it should be good enough for getting trashed."

"Not good enough, sorry. What else happened?"

"I went walking. I never walk. And while walking I remembered the late 1800s. Not a good time. For anyone. Bad fashion, not enough flesh showing, no dancing except at balls. I remembered. It started raining and," Damon brought the drink to his lips, "the witch picked me up and dropped me here. And here I've stayed."

"Here? How long?"

"Since five o'clock yesterday."

Alaric nodded. "The witch then. Bonnie?"

"No, Baba Iaga."

Alaric rolled the sweating bottle between his fingers. He had on his intrepid reporter face.

"I've been meaning to ask about this new partnership."

"I would never replace you, Rick. Especially not with a lithe, good looking teenage girl with a shitload of power."

A wry smile was the only response Damon received and he scowled into his glass. He came here to drink, not think about Bonnie. He'd rather think about a stake through his heart. Or, better yet, about Elena. Bonnie's profile came to mind as she drove. She was small, like Emily. Small where Elena was tall and willowy.

Drinking wasn't working. Damon swallowed the rest of the Hennessey, said good riddance to Alaric, struggled into his leather jacket, and ambled out of the Grill into a light drizzle.

Being in one of his more relaxed moods, Damon headed towards the hospital. He hoped Elena would be there and Stefan would be absent. He needed the confirmation of place and time and reason that only Elena provided. He needed her brown eyes looking at him with annoyance or gratitude or concern. Hell, he might not do anything provocative except sit there next to her and be. Damon grinned. What a surprise that would be.

Of course, some divine mover and shaker decided to screw him as soon as he reached the second floor ICU.

Bonnie and Elena stood at the nurses' station, engaged in a heated conversation. From the look of Elena's mournful expression and Bonnie's clenched fist, it was most likely a topic that needed his special brand of conflict resolution.

Elena spotted him first. She immediately straightened and flashed him a warning glance.

"Hey, doe eyes, missed me?"

Bonnie turned and the two girls suppressed the same sigh.

"Damon, not now."

Elena stepped from Bonnie to stand between them. It was an unconscious defensive maneuver Damon never got tired of.

"So, what's with all the Sweet Valley whispering? Divulging more secrets, Bonnie?"

Elena wrinkled her brow. "What secrets?" She looked to Bonnie. "What is he talking about?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Don't know or care. Damon is not my concern right now."

"And who is?"

Elena sighed. "It's Caroline. She's…"

"There's bleeding they can't control. She is going to die if we don't start exploring options," Bonnie said.

They glared at each other. Damon coughed. "Ladies, settle down. Now, Bonnie," he smiled, "what options are you considering?"

"Not options. Option. As in vampire blood," Elena said.

Damon widened his eyes. "I think I might need to hear that again."

Bonnie ignored him. "Elena, can't you see this is the only way? This is Caroline. If we can do something, we have to do it."

"But it's too risky."

"Too risky? She is going to die."

"She might die with vampire blood in her system and then what do we do?"

"Elena—"

"Bonnie—"

"I'll do it."

Elena and Bonnie whipped around to look at him.

"What?"

"I said," Damon grinned, "I'll do it. Caroline and I…have history and perhaps, if I thought about it real hard, I might feel some sort of remorse for what I did to her. So what better way to expiate my sins than saving sweet Caroline?"

Elena shook her head. "Damon, that's very…kind of you but—"

"Do it," Bonnie cut in.

Elena grabbed Bonnie's arm. "Are you kidding me? Stefan maybe, but Damon? You're really going to trust this to Damon?"

"He's here, isn't he?"

Bonnie turned her attention to him. "Do it. She'll be safe long enough to heal and have the blood pass out of her system. So do it."

Damon remained still as she brushed past him. Heat licked his entire body and he knew she was playing it cool. He clamped his jaw and resisted the urge to call her back. They would talk later.

"Would you like to tell me what the hell is going on between you two?"

Damon shook his head. "Not really."

"Damon."

"Elena."

She stared him down but he only grinned and slipped an arm around her. "You're cute when you're apprehensive."

Elena stepped from him. "Damon, Jeremy and John almost died last night. I almost lost them. I almost lost you too," she searched his face for a moment. The fog of alcohol dissipated in an instant. Damon waited. If he had a functioning heart, it would be hammering.

Elena clasped her hands together and sighed. She looked away from him. "I almost lost Bonnie too. I don't know what's happening, but do me a favor," her eyes came to his, "don't help her if you plan on hurting her later."

Damon died a little more. This was what he earned for everything he did, a plea to be selfless. And not on behalf of Elena. On behalf of the witch.

Words were edging past his lips when Jenna interrupted him.

"Elena, do you have the spare keys I lent you? I asked Alaric to stay with Jeremy while I'm at work and you're at school," Jenna gave her a pointed look.

Elena frowned. "What spare keys? When?"

"The spare keys from like two nights ago. The night of utter hell. You came home, didn't have your keys, you left your purse too but managed to grab your dress."

Elena stared at her aunt as if she spoke gibberish. "Jenna, my dress was taken and I had my keys."

"No Elena, you…"

Elena shook her head. She gathered her hair in a frustrated ponytail. Damon reached out to touch the chain resting on her collarbone. Both women shared a look.

"Did you forget your necklace last night?"

Elena threw up her hands. "No. Can I ask why you would even ask that question?"

Damon rewound the hours to Elena walking up the steps. One of the porch lights was broken, but the moon was bright that night. The sheen of her hair attracted his eyes like magnets. She flicked her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. Long and graceful, white.

The realization stuck him in the gut. "Shit."

Elena took his arm. "Damon, are you okay?"

He gazed at her, then at Jenna. "I think Stefan might have the keys." He turned to Elena. "Remember you said something about giving the spare to Stefan?" His eyes widened for a second before looking at Jenna. "He's with Jon."

Jenna looked to Elena for confirmation. "Yeah, Damon's right. Sorry," Elena said. Jenna sighed and departed. When she was gone from view Damon took Elena aside.

"Go home, call Stefan. Tell him he needs to come over and stay there."

"Damon, what's going on?"

"Just…humor me, please."

Elena gripped his arm. "I want to know immediately, Damon. Whatever is going on."

Damon nodded. After traveling the world, she showed up on her porch.


"So Katherine is back in Mystic Falls?"

"How did you even know it was Katherine?"

"I told you, the damn necklace."

"You were lurking on the porch, weren't you?"

"Yes, okay, you caught me. Are we going to pull out the knives and produce a musical number?"

"Enough. Who cares about this right now when Katherine is in town, impersonating me and stabbing people," Elena looked between Stefan and Damon. Both men started to pace. Bonnie sat in an armchair, elbows on her knees. This month kept taking a shit on life in general.

"Katherine," Stefan murmured.

"She's back and she's nasty," Damon said.

"She sounds like a venereal disease," Bonnie responded. Three pairs of eyes landed on her. Surprisingly it was Stefan who quirked his lips.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Katherine's back in town. Sorry to interrupt the planning. Continue."

Elena pressed a hand to her forehead. "She tried to kill John."

"Then that's one good thing—she tried and failed. Now we get to kill him," Damon said.

"We get to talk to him," Stefan amended.

"And while you're chatting up Daddy Dearest, what are we going to do about security? The bitch was invited in."

Again, the eyes fell on Bonnie.

"Well?"

Bonnie gritted her teeth against Damon's tone. "Not a dog, can't perform tricks on command."

"Bonnie, is there a spell that—"

"There are, but I ward off one vampire, I have to ward off all vampires," Bonnie cut in. Stefan looked to Elena, who gave a curt shake of the head.

"You're kidding me. You can't tweak the spell a little?" Damon asked.

"No. I would have to draft a new spell but—"

"Then whisper some words over a bubbling cauldron."

Blood rushed in her ears. "I'm not that advanced."

Damon sighed heavily. "I should have guessed the extent of your power was pyromania with a little special effects action thrown in."

"Shut up, Damon," Stefan said.

"No, it's fine." Bonnie stood, "maybe he can stuff the heart back into that witch he killed and use her." Bonnie grabbed her bag. "Call me later," she said to Elena.

Elena caught her arm as Bonnie strode out the front door.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? I don't have a crazy homicidal vampire stalking my every move."

"Katherine or Damon?"

They shared a smile. Elena let go of her arm and fiddled with the necklace. "It seems as though one thing ends and another thing begins."

Bonnie shouldered her bag. "I'm going to go home and see if I can find something, anything."

Elena ran her hands down her face. "Bonnie, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"For tonight at least, can you cast that spell warding off all vampires? I…I want to feel safe. For one night."

Bonnie read the need in Elena's eyes. It took her a moment to remember that Elena had no spells to protect her, no special abilities, no rings of invulnerability. She was human. Jeremy and Jenna were human. Last year they were worried about summer festivities. This year it was about survival. Bonnie hugged her.

"At least you asked. I was going to do it anyway."


Bonnie bent to replace the withered lilacs with a fresh bouquet. She brushed leaves from the flat black marble headstone, her fingers absently tracing Gram's name. No power marked Gram's resting place, only the black stone and a copper vase of flowers.

The cemetery was quiet and empty after the funeral procession for Mayor Lockwood. She fled after giving her condolences to Mrs. Lockwood and Tyler. The words seemed empty coming from her.

It didn't make sense though. Nothing made sense. Katherine was in town and they were scrambling around without a fucking clue.

"I need help Grams," Bonnie said aloud. She knelt. She waited. A breeze lifted her hair. Wind chimes sounded yards away. A dragonfly flit past her. She had read in Gram's journal a prayer to nature, the Mother of witches. It had said something about listening to the wind, to the buzz of an insect and the whisper of flowers as they moved. In these sounds, it had said, was the answer.

Bonnie thought it was bullshit but that was when she was just beginning, when Grams was alive, when vampires were confined to books and films. She needed answers. She sat with her legs folded and closed her eyes. The sun warmed her face and neck. Breeze cooled the sweat on her brow.

"You're listening."

Bonnie scrambled to her feet. Violet eyes tracked her movements as she pressed against the nearest headstone.

"Akiri," Bonnie said.

Akiri tipped her head. "Bonnie." She set a single stem of white orchids next to the lilacs and stepped back with her head bowed. Bonnie stared at the other witch. Akiri was radically different from the Akiri she met in West Virginia. Her coppery brown hair was pulled back in a loose bun. She had on red lipstick and dark eye shadow. Like everyone else in town Akiri dressed in black, from her stud earrings to the trench coat, to the heels.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked.

"I am curious about you, and this place," Akiri said.

"Curious about me?"

"And this place, don't forget."

Bonnie smiled. It was startling how good it felt, to smile without any grudges, or because it was expected.

Akiri surveyed her. "The last time I saw you, you were on a mission. Did it end the way you expected?"

Bonnie glanced away. Akiri took her hands from her pockets. She stretched out a thin leather bound book to her. Bonnie restrained from automatically reaching for it. There was power in the palm of Akiri's hand, waiting to be read and applied. But if Bonnie had learned just one thing this past year, it was to always look a gift horse in the mouth.

"What is it?"

Akiri ran a hand over the smooth black leather. "A grimoire. Not as thick as most, but it is the first I had ever read. I learned from this. I still learn from it."

Bonnie had it in her hands without another thought. "Why?"

Akiri turned in a slow circle. She audibly inhaled and closed her eyes. The slight breeze turned into a steadily increasing wind. The clouds parted and the sun grew brighter. "You are young, Bonnie, but the world is not. It is in us to harness the power around us, shape the natural world, control its abominations if we cannot destroy them."

Bonnie gasped when the wind died suddenly and the light turned dark gray. There was a snap and flame danced along the tips of Akiri's fingers. Bonnie envied the control Akiri displayed. Akiri read it plain on her face. She made a fist and it was as though nothing had ever happened.

"How did you—"

"I can teach you to manage your power."

Bonnie turned the book over and over. The draw of it overwhelmed her senses. The image of the freezer and the gutted building wavered before her. Every time she used her power, it was in defense of someone else. Never for her benefit, never to do as she would. But that could be different. Akiri offered her control.

"Before we start, I have a question."

Akiri folded her arms behind her back. "Ask."

"What do you know about writing spells?"


Things happened backwards in the South. Damon used to respond to that statement with slow, but as he lounged at the bar at the wake for Mayor Lockwood, he had to agree.

"Who has a wake three days after the funeral?" Damon had asked his brother as they searched for a set of keys.

"It's not a wake, it's a," Stefan stopped to think, "a remembrance get together."

"Oh, so it's a wake. Because that's exactly what it is, a wake."

"As long as there's liquor and the opportunity to be a total dick, why should it matter?"

Damon drank to that. He forgot how well Stefan knew him. Did he know Stefan as well? There was a prick at the back of his neck. The couple had arrived. Damon drained the liquid from the ice. The prospect of facing them together, in public, supportive and so very, very human tempted him towards another drink. Instead he ordered a cranberry cocktail and slipped into the closest room.

A magnificent spread of finger foods lined the middle of the cleared side room. It was a good thing he ate well this morning—the mini quiches and cucumber sandwiches were about to be demolished.

"So, any theories?"

Damon popped a slice of brioche in his mouth and chewed before turning. Bonnie perused the oblong white plates. She ran a finger along the white tablecloth as she cast him a sidelong glance.

If he was surprised, he didn't show it. He reached beyond her for a shrimp crostini. "You're gonna have to be a tad more specific."

"Mayor Lockwood's death? Caroline's accident?"

"Your guilt?"

Bonnie compressed her lips. "Why does it concern you?"

"Because you're so much more amiable when you're miserable."

"Focus, Damon. Mayor Lockwood was in that basement. Tyler Lockwood drove the car Caroline was in. Neither are vampires and yet they seemed to be effected by the watch. Why?"

Damon bit into a carrot. "Do I have to guess?" He went to dip the rest of the carrot in a bowl of ranch dressing. Bonnie slipped her hand around his wrist.

"Don't be a total ass. Double dipping is disgusting."

Damon raised his arm despite her grip and ate the rest of the carrot. Bonnie scowled. "This was a mistake. I don't even know…"

"That makes two of us. What do I care about two aggressive alpha males spazzing out the night of your great mistake? I have an uber vampire bitch to kill. So if you know a way to find her and kill her, I'm all ears."

Bonnie stared at him. Damon nodded slowly, working his hands. "Come on, there are quiches to eat and whiskey to drink."

"Then go and eat them."

Bonnie swept off. Damon turned to the quiches but his blood-induced appetite vanished. He had a chill all of a sudden, as if the heat was sucked from him. He didn't know what she wanted. No contact in three days and there she was with all that damn warmth, green eyes flitting over his features, drawing him back into whatever covert operation she had going.

"Damon, hey."

Elena put a hand on his shoulder and drew him around. Her hair fell around her like streams of brown silk. Her forehead wrinkled in concern. "Are you okay?"

Damon gazed upon her face. Katherine had never looked at him with such soft eyes. She never wrinkled her brow either. If only Elena kissed him, ran her hand lightly along his jaw, rested her head on his chest. If only life just fell the way he wanted for once in his long, unnatural life.

"No. Excuse me," Damon said. Milking Elena for all her sympathy and long looks paled in comparison to finding out what the witch wanted. So, like a dumbass, Damon walked away from the woman he wanted and sought out Bonnie.


Stupid. Stupid. Colossally dumb, idiotic, and…stupid. Bonnie stood on the back porch and breathed. The smirk should have warned her. She should have played along, threatened him with an aneurysm, and end it. But no, no, she foolishly believed the nagging small voice in her head; it pushed her to say something to the only real partner she had in this whole vampire killer thing.

Well, she was perfectly capable of figuring out the Lockwood mystery. Bonnie played with her bracelets. It was a mystery. The spell for the watch was detailed down to the second. The wording was specific. Vampires. Unless Emily added a term last minute, there was no way the Lockwoods could have been affected.

Bonnie had even questioned Akiri on the subject, but the other witch only tapped her mouth and made her work on extended levitation.

She looked out over the lawn. Sprinklers ticked back and forth. Fractured light made graceful arches over beaded grass. Bonnie breathed deep. Energy buzzed in the air. The hard click of boots sounded behind her. A slight swagger, the clink of ice against a glass, silence.

"A peace offering." A glass half full of cranberry juice sat in front of her on the railing. Damon leaned against it. "I added a cap of vodka, just so you know I'm being serious."

He was not smirking this time. Only looking. Bonnie looked at the drink then at his face. It was an attractive face. It was wide open at the moment. She could say anything and not know what would happen. This was the unpredictable Damon. She could tell him to come with her and he might go. She could tell him she hadn't stopped thinking about the silence between them that day she picked him up in the rain. She could tell him a plethora of things.

"Are there other things out there besides witches and vampires?" she asked.

Damon blinked. "Humans. Animals. Insects."

"Other supernatural things then," Bonnie said.

"I only know of you and I."

"Are you sure? You've never heard of like, I don't know," Bonnie shook her head, "ghosts, changelings, things like that?"

"I have never met the Monster Mash crew, no," Damon said, grinning. Bonnie released a rush of air.

"It doesn't make sense."

"You know what doesn't make sense?" Bonnie sent him a quizzical look. "Our little partnership. I thought it ended upon reentry to Mystic Falls."

Bonnie shrugged. "I never had that impression."

"Really? As far as I know, all the tomb vampires are dead."

"Yeah, but the one that got away is back and from the look of things, it is far from over. We can always resume our regularly scheduled open hatred for each other though, if that's what you want."

Damon raised an eyebrow. He turned to stand beside her. "I can't say I miss that schedule."

"It would make life easier, wouldn't it?"

Damon looked down at her. "Life is never easy, Bonnie. It's just more or less difficult."

The heat crept across her chest and up her neck. What was he looking at so intently? She merely looked for the sake of it. He had such a compelling face when it wasn't covered in blood or snarling or emitting asshole vibes.

"I have to go. Let me know if you have any ideas."

Bonnie left him on the porch. Damon picked up the drink and drank it. "Meeting adjourned."