The Long Way Home

Chapter 10: Christmas Through Your Eyes

Beta: PrincessOfSilence

Disclaimer: I own nothing of The Vampire Diaries. I only own my characters and my story.

"Damon."

"Hmm?"

"You're falling asleep again."

"What?" Damon slightly lifted his head up from the cocoon he created with his arms on the table and blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"No, I was reading."

His wife, keeping her eyes down in her book replied, "Then what is that book about?"

"It's about..." Damon waved his hands around and made a whooshing sound with his lips. "Magic and stuff."

Cassandra's dark brown eyes lifted from the book and she shook her head. She went back to her book, but couldn't fight the smirk on her lips watching Damon cuddle back into his folded arms. Her husband was an awfully threatening vampire, but a very cute sleeping vampire.

"Are you watching me sleep?" He hummed.

His wife quickly found her spot back in her book as trying to hide that he could still make her feel like a blushing rose. "No. I'm watching you drool all over Ric's books. And considering you're already on his bad side—"

"I don't drool." Damon grumbled and sat up, wiping his chin for good measure. He then stretched his arms over his head and searched for a clock. "What time is it?"

"Time for Ric to update his class library." She closed the book she'd been reading and placed it on top of the tall pile she'd accumulated. After Kai had escaped into Mystic Falls, the gang could do nothing, but go to their respective homes and lock all their doors. None of them needed Kai finding out where they lived. Bonnie was still stuck in the prison world, so Damon and Cassandra decided to take it upon themselves to raid Ric's resources and find another way to get her out. Hopefully with Bonnie's help, they'd somehow be able to banish Kai back into the prison world and lock him in there for good.

"We've been looking all night; nothing in these books has any mention of an Ascendant or something similar to it."

"Well, we haven't looked hard enough. Let's get to it." Damon clapped his hands before reaching for an open book that sat just to the side of his wife. The second his grip closed on it, Cassandra quickly tried to take it back.

"No, not that one!"

"What? Getting territorial over books, Cass?" He smirked at her, but it fell seeing she wasn't even slightly amused. She then moved the small pile of books the one Damon grabbed had been sitting on closer to her, a sheepish air about her.

"No...I was just..."

Damon closed the book and his eyes studied the cover. "Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology?"

His wife twiddled her thumbs on the surface of the table and it had hit Damon why she was looking at that book and others like it. She was still worried about Ava and what she could be. No other incidents had gone on, but Cassandra was still uneasy that an incident of that magnitude was a coincidence. Her search had run somewhat dry for a little while, but while Damon was taking some much needed Zs, she read every book she could find about vampires and werewolves, but found no useful information.

"Cass—"

"I was just looking." She tried to take the book back from him, but he kept it in his hands. "If it helps, I didn't find anything interesting."

"Probably because when it comes to our kid, she's about as interesting as it gets." Damon placed it back on the pile neatly. "I worry about Ava too, Cass, but she's just a baby."

"I know." She sighed. "It's just that Markos was truly afraid of what Ava would become in the supernatural world. I kinda wish that dumb jerk was alive so I could ask him what he meant."

Damon watched her move some books around and scooted his chair closer to her. "Would it be so terrible if Ava was just a normal little girl?"

"No, of course not," she replied. "I'd be happy about it."

"Good." Damon kissed her lips. "For now we pretend that Ava is just an ordinary little girl."

Cassandra smirked at him. "You always know what to say."

"It's a gift." He kissed her again with more gusto. His hands wound around the wooden rungs of her chair and sharply pulled her closer, earning a muffled squeal. She wrapped her arms around his neck and broke the kiss to rest her head on his chest, needing to hear the sound of his heart beating. She closed her eyes and let the sound of him lull her into the calmness he had such a way with awakening. He propped his chin atop her head, hugging her impossibly close to him in an effort to keep the moment alive, but the buzzing of Cassandra's cell phone diminished that quickly. Still staying in her position, Cassandra put the phone to her other ear.

"Hey Ric."

"Does he still hate me?" Damon grumbled to himself, earning an elbow in the ribs from his wife.

"Ouch!"

"What's up?"

"Have you seen Jo?" He asked.

"No, the last time I saw Jo was yesterday morning at the hospital." She answered to which Ric sighed deeply.

"Why?"

"So, I asked around the hospital. No one's seen Jo since last night at the ER." Elena reported. The group of them gathered in Ric's place to try and piece together what was going on. "A bunch of stab victims came in, and one of them's missing, as well."

"It was Kai; Jo knew he'd come after her, and he did." Alaric said.

"Not to give you boyfriend lessons or anything," Damon began and Cassandra fought the urge to stop his tirade. "But if you knew Jo's whackjob brother was out on the loose and after her, don't you think that keeping an eye on her would have been a smart move?"

"And what would you have had me do, Damon? Ask you to compel Jo to stay put?" Alaric's fists were clenched at his sides to which Damon simply nodded.

"Relax, you two. This isn't a pissing contest." Cassandra interjected.

Damon and Ric both pointed at one another and shouted, "He started it!"

"I have a four month old daughter who is more mature than the two of you." The hybrid sighed and the two men were about to throw insults at each other, but Elena stood between them.

"Guys, if Kai has Jo, we need a plan." At that, both Ric and Damon backed away to stand as far away as possible.

"Plan's easy: find Kai and kill Kai." Damon said.

"Uhm, do you remember when we were flung through the air and bombarded with hundreds of splinters not even a few days ago?" His wife gently reminded him. "Kai's dangerous."

"All the more reason to put him down." He agreed.

"Okay, so we need a game plan." She looked around the room expectantly. "Anyone have any ideas?"

Elena and Ric were quiet while Damon clicked around on his phone before holding it up to his ear. None of them knew where to start. They didn't even know where Kai would have taken Jo, let alone find him and kill him. After a few rings, Damon began talking to whomever was on the other line and Elena was the first to speak up.

"If Kai's over the anti-magic border, we can't do anything on our end."

"We can't." Cassandra then nodded her head at Ric. "But he can."

The professor crossed his arms over his chest. "And what exactly can I do? Need I remind you that I'm a human going up against someone with powers. Not exactly a fair fight."

"Yeah, but—"

"Just think sociopathic Ryan Reynolds." Damon's description of Kai cut off the brunette vampire's retort

"Haven't seen him," Matt said.

"Grunge vibe, annoying as hell."

"Still no idea."

"Well, if he has half a brain, he will be hiding where vampires can't find him. So, in between levels of Mario Kart, can you and little baby Gilbert maybe keep an eye out?"

"Yeah, got it. If we see him, we'll let you know." Matt hung up and Damon turned to the group.

"Well, Bevis and Butthead are on the lookout. Anyone else brimming with confidence?" He smirked.

"I mean, this just doesn't make sense." Alaric shook his head.

Damon gave an exaggerated eye roll. "What could possibly not make sense about magical twins absorbing into one another?"

"Listen, Jo needs her magic for the merge to work, okay?" Alaric retorted. "And she got rid of that back in 1994."

"Jo doesn't have magic because it's stuffed in a knife that was stolen and hidden by yours truly." Damon grinned. "Kai won't find it."

"Yeah, unless Kai does a locator spell." Ric narrowed his eyes at him.

"That's impossible." Cassandra shook her head.

"Why?"

"Kai was born without the ability to do magic," Elena said.

"If the only way to restore Jo's magic is to reunite her with that knife, Kai's gonna come for it." Ric mentioned.

"Ric's right." Elena added. "Even if Kai can't do the locator spell, he's gonna make it his mission to find it."

"Kai finds it. Great. Love it." The blue eyed vampire mentioned as he walked over to a painting that was hung up on Ric's wall.

"Why aren't you more concerned?" She asked him.

"Because if Kai goes for the knife, I will kill him because the knife is right here where I hid it. Ta-da!" He took down the picture and opened up the back, but to his incredible surprise, the knife was gone.

"Ta-da?!" Cassandra remarked and looked in the back of the painting herself, finding it empty.

Her husband tossed the painting on the ground in a fit of anger. "That little weasel."

"Okay, so now what?" Ric questioned.

"We go with my original idea. Ric, you're the only one that can cross the anti-magic border. That can at least get you on Kai's side."

"Once again, I reiterate that Kai can use magic and I'm just a human." He countered.

Cassandra huffed and pushed over Ric's coffee table to reveal a handgun mounted to the underbelly. She yanked it off and handed it out to him. "Jeez, Ric! Stop whining! Do you want to save your girlfriend or not?"

The room was silent as Ric stared down at the weapon in Cassandra's hand while Damon and Elena were wondering how Ric managed to keep a gun without them knowing and how Cassandra had found it without much effort. Ric frowned deeply knowing that Kai would kill Jo if he didn't step in and even after only knowing her for a few months, he knew he was in love with her and would do anything to protect her. Ric gently grasped the gun and took it from Cassandra's hand, making sure it was loaded before strapping it to the holster on his hip.

"Okay, let's do this."

"Finally." Cassandra tossed her arms in the air and gathered her bag up onto her shoulder.

"Got an extra one of those, Ric?" Damon asked curiously.

"Why?"

"Well, the first obvious reason is that us supernatural folk will have a better chance at killing Kai and secondly," Damon trailed off with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. "My wife looks hot holding a gun."

Ric rolled his eyes. "Don't make me shoot you."

Arriving at the cemetery, Cassandra slid out of Ric's car and scoped out the forest land laid out before her. She could see footprints along the crumpled leaves and fresh blood wafted through the dead air. She nodded to Damon and he zoomed away from her while Ric hid himself behind some thick trees. She followed the muffled sounds of voices to a mausoleum and put her fingers in her mouth to blow a loud whistle. Then she disappeared within the forest to hide from Kai who had made his presence known in the doorway. He cautiously exited the stone resting place and looked around to see who had called him. His beady eyes squinted at every rustle from the bushes or dancing leaf upon the ground. Suddenly, Kai was shoved out of the way by Damon. He nearly tumbled to the ground, but managed to keep his footing.

"Cemetery, really?" Damon narrowed his eyes at him. Kai moved to charge at the vampire, but another visitor stopped him in his tracks.

"Hi Kai." Cassandra grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kai held up both his hands and pushed them backwards. "Motus."

The pair stumbled over the anti-magic border and began to burn in the sun until quickly pushing one another back over it. Damon checked on Cassandra who had healed and the two supernaturals were murderous.

"Oh, whoops. Looks like you found the anti-magic border. Drew a line in the dirt for everyone's convenience. See?" Kai kicked dirt up on the ground past the line he had in-fact drawn to mark where the border started and stopped. "Yeah. You're welcome."

"How convenient." Cassandra hissed as the final burns on her skin cleared up. Kai was going to retort when Ric came up behind him and held him in a chokehold with a gun pressed against his temple.

The hybrid smirked wryly. "And so is that."

"Thank you. Kill him." Damon ordered.

"Alaric, don't!" Jo hobbled from the mausoleum holding her bleeding arm.

"What are you talking about?" Ric wondered.

"She's lightheaded and confused." The vampire assured him. "I'll give her some of my blood, okay? Kill him."

"No, you can't." Jo was now at the borderline between husband and wife. "If Kai dies, Liv and Luke have to do the merge. It's not fair to them."

"Who cares?" Damon argued. "Kill him."

"Jo, what if Kai beats you? Then we'll all be in danger for the rest of our lives." Cassandra interjected. Perhaps Jo would listen to reason.

"Ric, don't. I can win. I can beat Kai. I just need a little time to get stronger." Jo begged.

"We're moved truly." The vampire then looked to Ric. "Kill him now."

Jo was nearly on the verge of tears now. "I'll figure out a way to win. Please you have to trust me. Keep him alive."

"Ric." Damon hissed. In one quick motion, Ric smashed the butt of his gun against Kai's head and he crumpled to the floor.

"Tie him up." Ric nodded at Damon's order while Cassandra tended to a very weak Jo. She took her over by Ric's car and sat her down in the passenger seat.

"Here," the hybrid cut her wrist with her nail. "Just a little bit of this and you'll be good to go."

Jo daintily took Cassandra's wrist in her hand and suckled at the thin gash until she'd had her fill. She then watched as the skin stitched itself back together. Cassandra wiped any residual blood on the leg of her jeans and took a look at Jo's arm.

"I'm sorry," Jo whispered. "You and Damon must hate me."

Cassandra remained quiet for a while, carefully choosing her words before replying. "We don't hate you, Jo. We're just worried. Your brother is a psychopath and he knows he can beat you. This is what he's wanted all and you're just going to give it to him?"

"It's not that I want to give it to him." She corrected. "It isn't fair to Liv and Luke. They shouldn't have to merge."

"And why should you and Kai?" The hybrid countered. "It isn't fair to you either."

"I can beat him." Jo assured her. "I just need to practice more in time for the next celestial event."

Cassandra sighed heavily and checked on Jo's wound, mulling over her words. She was a woman with a mind that could not be shifted. Perhaps that was why she liked Jo and thought she was good for Ric; she wouldn't take anyone's crap. Ric was never the same after Jenna died and it was hard for him to get close to anyone because he was afraid of losing someone he loved and going through that kind of pain again. Cassandra just worried about Ric getting too close to Jo when he knew she had to complete the merge. I guess that meant Jo had to win and put Kai away for good.

"Well, then we better get you practicing." The hybrid hummed and handed Jo a water bottle from the center console of the car. "I know he's your brother and all, but I'm getting a little sick and tired of him."

Jo smiled warmly before taking a few swigs of water. The two women shared a moment of silence which was quickly disturbed by a flying rock puncturing Ric's rear tire.

"You dick!"

"Better go fix that tire!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes and took a blanket out from the backseat. "They are like an old married couple. Are you sure you wanna stick around with Ric? You'll be hearing that constantly."

"Trust me, I know what I signed up for." Jo chuckled just as a very grumpy Ric joined them.

"How's it going there?" The doctor asked him, but before Ric could reply, Cassandra handed him the blanket and patted his shoulder.

"I'll go talk to him." She left Ric and Jo on their own and made her way to Damon. She planted her hands on her hips and quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Do I need to give you a time-out?"

Damon looked at her over his shoulder and tossed the rock that was in his hand into the ground. Kai remained silent a few feet away from them, chained to the thick trunk of a tree. A couple chunks of the bark were gone from Damon practicing knuckleball on the side of Kai's head. Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, anxiously waiting for his response, but all she received was a little grumble.

"How can Ric just go with what Jo says?"

Cassandra took a deep breath and crouched beside her husband. She rubbed at one of his shoulders and perched her chin on the other. She could feel his anger and frustration burning off his body and hoped her gentle touch would lick those flames away.

"Do you remember when after Ava was born, we crashed your car into the Grill?"

Damon winced at the memory. "Don't remind me."

"Well, you didn't want me going with you because you wanted to keep me safe, but I was being stubborn and thickheaded." She continued and turned his face to look into his eyes. "But yet, you let me. You didn't try to stop me."

"I did try, but your mind was set." He admitted.

"And so is Jo's."

The vampire stared back into her eyes; as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. To his own surprise, Ric had found a woman that could hold her own and not shy away from the involvement of being part of a supernatural existence. Deep down he was elated for his best friend, but he was also weary for the pain that came with that burden was hard to handle. He pursed his lips, which his wife kissed and the worry lines in his forehead were erased. She pulled back and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"I just worry about him." Damon spoke quietly. "I know he hates me now for compelling Jo, but he's like my other brother."

"I know." Cassandra hummed and rubbed his shoulder. The pair sat quietly for a while until an extremely shocking realization hit them like a runaway train.

Kai was quiet too.

Damon was the first to stand up abruptly, followed by his wife who was just as anxious. The skies above them were suddenly much darker, spattered with rain clouds that were quickly swept in by the swooshing wind. Leaves kicked up around them and they felt it hard to keep themselves anchored to the ground.

"He stopped talking. He never stops talking." Damon called over the wind. The ground beneath them shook and Ric had jogged up to them.

"What's happening?" He shouted.

All of the sudden the wind died out and the clouds vanished. The trio was now marching up to Kai who was standing and free of his chains. He looked down at his hands in wonderment before peering up to address his so-called captors.

"You little magic sucker." The vampire pointed a finger at his chest. "Sucked up all that magic from the traveler spell."

Kai smirked evilly and lifted his hands, shooting Ric into the air and tossing him into a tree. "A lot of magic."

Both Damon and Cassandra rushed at Kai, slamming him against the trunk of a thick tree. Cassandra's fangs dropped down from her teeth and she was going to clamp down on his neck when he clenched his fist in front of her face. She shouted out in pain, her face contorting as he hexed her. Damon shoved Kai roughly to the ground before tending to his wife. Kai watched her features become more and more inhuman and he was strangely fascinated by them. The hybrid shook the pain from her head, still keeping her amber eyes and sharp fangs trained on Kai.

"I'm sorry." His eyes were just as emotionless as his apology. "Did that hurt?"

"Not as much as this will." Damon growled before rushing to Kai with a raised fist, but he vanished.

"Where did he go?" Cassandra asked.

"Gah! I really, really hate that move." Her husband shouted. The two of them heard Ric groaning by the base of a tree and ran over to him. There were no visible signs of cuts or bleeding, but with Ric being human it could be possible he was suffering internally from his fall.

"Ric, you okay?" Cassandra questioned and he gave her a small nod while holding onto his ribs.

"Come on, buddy. Take my hand." Damon offered, but Ric was hesitant to take it. "Take my damn hand, Ric. Let's go."

Ric finally accepted and with Damon's help he was able to get to his feet. Cassandra steadied his back against the tree to support him and Damon held his shoulders as he wobbled back and forth.

"How are you two not dead?" He asked them which earned him two confused looks.

"What are you talking about?" Damon raised an eyebrow. He then followed Ric's eyes which were on the line Kai had drawn in the dirt to mark the anti-magic border. All three of them were currently on the previously marked anti-magic side. Cassandra walked up to the line, the toe of her boots just behind it. She watched the particles in the air float in the rays of sunlight that cut through the naked tree branches. Her eyes found the line once more and she closed her eyes before rushing a few steps over it.

"Cass!" Damon was immediate to join her, worried that Kai had played a trick on them and switched the anti-magic side, but both of them had been on each side of the line now and nothing had happened to them. They each took a few more steps, testing their theory and were ecstatic to see that the border was officially gone. His wife turned to Damon with tear filled eyes and a big smile on her face.

"We can go home now."

Night had fallen upon Mystic Falls just as Damon and Cassandra pulled up to the boarding house. They'd spent most of the day packing up Cassandra and Ava's belongings to move back into their home; their real home. Stefan was waiting for them with the door wide open and a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Damon scooped up Ava who was fighting sleep while riding in her car seat. He carried her into the house and gave her a kiss on the forehead before handing her to Stefan. He cradled the baby close to him and she nestled her face in the crook of his neck. Damon set down the bag on his shoulder before rushing out to Cassandra who was still unloading the car.

"Hey, can you grab—woah!" Her request was cut off as Damon swept her in his arms and carried her towards the house. Cassandra wound her arms around his neck and giggled into his shoulder as to not wake Ava. Damon carried her over the threshold of their home and kissed her fiercely before setting her on her feet.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Salvatore."

Cassandra threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and whispering sweet words of love in his ear. They were finally home where they belonged.

"I love you." She pecked his lips softly and moved to get the rest of the bags from outside, but Damon stopped her.

"I'll do it." He kissed her. "Go get Ava ready for bed."

"Okay." She turned to Stefan who looked slightly uncomfortable holding a baby in his arms, but to his own surprise Ava had fallen asleep.

"Am I, uh, doing this right?" He asked her, a flicker of concern in his voice.

"You're doing fine, Uncle Stefan." She smiled warmly at him. His eyes met hers and he gently kissed the top of Ava's head. "I'm gonna take her up to the nursery."

"Alright." He handed Ava off to her mom and Cassandra saw the two brothers embrace before she disappeared upstairs. She was happy Damon and Stefan were beginning to act like brothers again and not complete strangers. The past four months had been hard on everyone, but the time apart had given them all a chance to heal and now they were ready to rebuild and start over.

Cassandra pushed open the door to Ava's nursery and fought the urge to gasp at how nicely it had been kept while they were gone. Everything was in its place and she felt herself welling up with tears at the thought they were finally home. The ballerina slipper pink walls with white edging were perfectly sweet for the little girl that would lay her head down to sleep there. Cassandra ran her hand over the dresser, bookshelf, and rocker before bringing Ava to her crib. She laid her down and covered her with a blanket before kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight my little angel. Welcome home," she whispered. Before leaving Ava's room, she turned off the light, switched on her monitor and closed the door behind her. She peaked her head in her and Damon's bedroom to see he had already fallen asleep and with a little giggle, she closed the door.

Traipsing down the stairs, she saw all the bags piled neatly by the door and was thinking of bringing them upstairs, but she was suddenly hit with a wave of drowsiness. She'd deal with the bags tomorrow. She reached for her phone in the pocket of her jeans, but groaned under her breath realizing she must have packed it in one of the many bags. She bellyached as she started unzipping the bags by the door, but after going through them she was now scratching her head as to where her phone was. She walked back out to the car and cursed herself as she looked under the seats for her phone. Her fingers finally curled around the slim device and she locked up the car before heading back to the house. She stepped onto the porch and reached for the doorknob, but to her dismay, her hand was pushed back from the door. She tried again and again, but was met with the same result.

"What the hell?" She grumbled and banged on the invisible barrier with her fists.

"Cool trick, huh?" Kai's voice behind her sent shivers up her spine. She moved to face him, but was quickly met with a baseball bat up the side of her head. She hit the ground hard and Kai lobbed the bat to sit up on his shoulder. He took one last look upon the house and gripped Cassandra's ankle, dragging her away from the home she just settled back into.

Looks like Kai has been a very, very bad boy! Tell me what you'd like to see in the next chapter! Please keep those reviews coming :) Love you guys!

NicoleR85: Thank you so so much for reviewing dear! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

amazing Aisha: Thank you for reviewing! Don't worry, Damon and Cassandra will have some romantic moments to come ;) I don't know how I feel about Steroline just yet. I'm still on the fence about it. I feel like the writers of the show rushed it on everyone. I hope you enjoyed this latest update :)