Author's note: A little violence in this chapter and a brief character cameo.

8

KNOW THY ENEMY

"Are you sure you don't want me to come over?" Bonnie balanced her books with one arm, slinging her sports bag over her left shoulder, while trying to lock the front door at the same time.

"I'm okay, Bon," Matt's tired voice came over the line. "At this point it's just keeping her hydrated and making sure she doesn't choke on her own vomit. If it gets bad, I'll take her to Mystic General. Nothing I haven't dealt with before," He couldn't keep the bitter edge out of his voice.

Bonnie frowned in sympathy. Far too often, Matt was left to pick up the pieces and clean up his mom's mess.

"Alright," She reluctantly agreed. "But I'm coming over straight after practise."

"Bon—"

"No arguments, Mattie," She said firmly. "I'll be there."

"You're not gonna take no for an answer, are you?" He chuckled weakly at her stubbornness.

"Not a chance. I'll use blackmail if I have to."

"Blackmail?"

"You want me to tell Tripp what really happened to his guitar?"

"Don't you dare!"

"I'll see you later then.""

"You're evil."

"I love you too, Mattie," Bonnie sobered then. "I do, you know? You're my family, Matt. So if you need me, just say, 'hey'. And I'll be there; even if I have to blow off Calculus and face Caroline's wrath. I'll be there."

"Thanks, Bon."

They hung up and Bonnie headed down the drive towards her car. She was stopped in her tracks, however, by the sight of Damon Salvatore leaning casually against his Camaro, clearly waiting for her.

"You're making a habit of this, showing up," Her expectant gaze asked a silent question.

He smirked and opened the passenger side door. "Get in, Judgey. We've got places to be."

With a long suffering-sigh at Damon's perpetual bossiness – would it kill him, just once, to ask her nicely - she climbed into the car.

"I've been thinking," He started as they headed down the suburban street.

"Did it hurt?"

Damon glared at her. "Very funny."

He took the left turn taking them on to the main road through Mystic Falls.

"Tyler's envelope," He continued. "I know a guy in Georgia. He's a local fence; deals in unusual artefacts, mostly on the black market."

"A criminal? Do I even want to know how you know this guy?"

"Probably not, and you're judging again. The point is; he might be able to tell us more about the medallion."

Bonnie contemplated Damon's words. She had hoped that whatever Mason had left for Tyler would be able to shed some light on why her...family was after him. Instead, the items had left them more perplexed than ever.

"Just what we need. More cryptic bullshit," Damon had grumbled when Caroline showed them the envelope's contents: a postcard from Scotland and a silver medallion with a two-headed eagle on one side, and a cross and crown on the other. What looked like a serial number had been engraved along the crown's base.

"I guess it's worth a shot," She agreed finally.

"Great! You'll like Atlanta, Judgey," Damon wiggled his eyebrows and only then did Bonnie realise that they were on the road that led out of Mystic Falls, heading for the interstate.

"Damon! What the hell!" She was aghast. "I can't go with you to Georgia!"

"Why not?" He pouted.

"I have school for one thing. You know, I actually want to graduate in June."

Damon arched a sceptical eyebrow.

"You're taking almost all AP classes, Bon-bon. You can afford to cut class for a day."

"Maybe, but that's not the only reason."

"Right. You promised the jock you'd be there with a bucket and mop to clean up his mom's sick. Oww!" Damon glared at her.

"You were eavesdropping," She socked him in the shoulder again.

"Okay, seriously, Bon-bon, you're half vamp. You gotta know your own strength," Damon rubbed his probably bruised shoulder. He never thought he'd see the day when he actually missed the little witch's aneurysms. Fun times.

"Well it serves you right for listening to other people's conversations," She retorted.

"I'm a vampire, that's what we do."

"No, Damon, that's what you do. But I did promise Matt. So you'll have to handle this on your own," Bonnie dug around in her school bag. "Besides, you and I don't do so well together on road trips," An involuntary shiver rinsed through the little witch that did not go unnoticed by Damon.

"Are we ever going to talk about Dublin?" He ventured.

"Nothing to talk about," Bonnie said dismissively and continued to root through her bag.

Damon sighed. Her answer didn't surprise him but that didn't make it any less frustrating. He knew that Bonnie was uncomfortable with the idea of drinking blood or sharing it. But she had put those reservations aside that awful weekend and broke one of her most precious rules to help him. He had taken it as progress. Maybe she was finally ready to let her grudge against him go. Only for everything to go sideways when they got back to Mystic Falls. She actually seemed to hate him more. Damon wondered if he'd ever find out why. Or if he would just have to resign himself to never knowing. Given the little witch's determined avoidance of the subject, he was willing to bet on the latter.

Bonnie knew that Damon was sneaking glances at her. But she ignored it, unwilling to give him an opening for something she thought they would both do better to forget. Feeling the cool metal against her palm, she withdrew her hand and offered the medallion to Damon in triumph.

"What?" She said when he just stared at her; the silver pendant caught the light and it looked like a tiny flame was dancing on her palm.

"You trust me that much?" his gaze shifted back to the road, but the corner of his lip quirked up in a half smirk. Despite his joking tone, Bonnie got the sense that he was genuinely curious about the answer.

"I trust you enough," She said quietly. "Now turn around and drive me to Mystic High."

"I can do that. But basic courtesy would have you phrase the request as a question rather than a command," He said dryly, repeating her own words back at her.

"That's my line," She feigned annoyance, but couldn't stop the small smile that rose on her lips.

"Careful, Judgey," Damon glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I might start to think you actually like me."

"We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Xxxxx

Bonnie realised her mistake too late.

She had only thought of being practical. Having Damon drop her back home so she could take her own car would take too long and she would miss the first bell. But as the tell-tale Camaro pulled out of the parking lot and she made her way to the front steps, noticing the shocked expressions on her friends' faces, she realised her error.

"Why were you riding with Damon?" Elena was the first to speak.

"My car wouldn't start," Bonnie tried for nonchalance. Caroline elevated her eyebrows, a knowing look on her pretty features and Bonnie inwardly cringed at her lame excuse. To the blonde's credit, she didn't say anything. Elena however, was a different matter. Her brow furrowed in suspicion and she started firing questions at Bonnie like it was going out of style.

"But why would you call Damon? In fact, how come you even have his number? You guys hate each other and he usually just has Stefan call you when he wants something. Why wouldn't you rather call Stefan if you needed a ride?"

"She did," Bonnie froze as the younger Salvatore joined them. "But I had already left. The boarding house is closest to Bonnie's place. So I called Damon," Stefan lied smoothly and Bonnie could have cried with relief when Elena seemed to accept this explanation.

Caroline was a different matter. She was about to say something, but Stefan beat her to it.

"Do you girls mind if I steal Bonnie for a minute? I wanted to talk to you about our Chem project." She and Stefan both took AP Chemistry and had been partnered together for lab work this term.

Bonnie immediately agreed and sent up a silent prayer that Stefan was so damn perceptive. He had sensed she needed an out and provided one for her. Quickly making her excuses to her friends, she shot Stefan a grateful look and the vampire gave an almost imperceptible nod in response. Almost.

Caroline's keen eyes had not missed the silent exchange between the two.

"We'll talk later," She said significantly. And at the familiar determined gleam in her blonde friend's eyes, Bonnie knew that she hadn't heard the last of it.

For once though, the gods appeared to be on her side. Bonnie didn't have any morning classes with her two friends and at recess Mr. Judge, the music teacher, wanted to speak with her about the upcoming festival she was helping him organise. As the school day drew to a close, Bonnie had all but forgotten about that morning until Caroline finally cornered her during study hall.

"Expecting a call from Damon?"

Bonnie startled and snapped her phone shut.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Care," She chided, "And no. I was checking if I had any messages from Klaus. About Tyler."

She had hoped Caroline would take the bait but the blonde was not to be deterred.

"Given the little show you and Stefan put on, I take it Elena doesn't know you've been spending quality time with a certain vampire."

Bonnie pulled a face.

"Don't say it like that. You make it sound like...like..."

"Like you're with him? Canoodling in his Camaro? Making out with a kissy face and a condom in his back pocket?"

"Caroline!"

"What? This is Damon we're talking about. And all of a sudden it's like you two are joined at the hip."

"Don't be dramatic."

"Dramatic? A few weeks ago, you hated the guy's guts. Now you're hanging out together at weekends, he's driving you to school. And you seem to be talking to him a hell of a lot more than you are to us."

"It's not like that, Care."

"Then what is it like? What is going on between you and Damon Salvatore, Bonnie? Because I really hope I'm not about to lose another friend to that jerk."

Bonnie's eyes widened in alarm as she realised what her blonde friend was getting at.

"What? You think I...with Damon...I'm not... no!" She sputtered embarrassingly. "No. Just no, Care. I promise. Damon is helping me with something. That's all. We're trying to find out why Henrik took Tyler."

"But this isn't just about Tyler, is it? Otherwise, you wouldn't have kept it from us." At Bonnie's silence, she knew she was right. Caroline gave a resigned sighed. She could force the issue, but her friend was nothing if not stubborn. The blonde cheerleader knew she would sooner get blood from a stone than she would a word out of Bonnie Bennett.

"I wish you would tell me what's going on, Bon," She said eventually. "But I won't say anything."

"Thank you, Caroline."

"I do think you're making a mistake with Damon though."

"Care..."

"You're putting an awful lot of trust in him, Bonnie. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I'm not being naive about this."

"I really want that to be true. Just remember, Bon. Damon only looks out for Damon. Maybe he's being helpful now, when it's still convenient for him. But when that changes...
Just be careful, ok? And watch your back. 'Cause I wouldn't count on Damon to."

XXXXX

Damon had underestimated McCullough.

He knew how this worked; no honour among thieves, only trust the guy as much as you could pay him. But if he was honest, he had been arrogant enough to think that the smuggler was too much of a coward to ever try to cross him.

He was wrong.

"You just gonna stand there like some pansy, Salvatore?" the enemy vampire was grinning as they surrounded him, "Or are we gonna fight?"

Damon looked at the four vampires stalking him, a battle plan forming.

"Have it your way, Enzo," His eyes, like methane flames, glinted dangerously. "I've had my full of vice. I'm in the mood for violence."

Six well aimed strikes had the first vampire crumpling to the ground, with just enough time to avoid being hit by a massive spiked ball that was wielded by his partner.

Damon hissed at the sharp stinging sensation in his shoulder and glared at Enzo's answering smirk. The sneaky bastard had shot him with a crossbow. He pulled the arrow out, carelessly tossing it to the floor.

"Is that it?" Damon asked, sounding almost bored. "There's three of you and this is all you can do?"

The taunt worked. The vampires charged forward but Damon was ready. He leapt forward ramming a knee into one of his attackers. He ignored the coward's whining and spun round to take out the remaining two vampires.

Enzo went down hard; something that would have brought Damon great joy had he not been distracted by the sudden fire spreading through his veins.

"Not...very bright...are you...mate?" Enzo managed to get out, his lungs filling with blood. He glanced at the discarded arrow and Damon realized what he'd done.

"Vervain," He bit out.

"I'll... shake hands... with you in hell..," Enzo gave a dark chuckle, that quickly turned into a cough and he finally succumbed to his injuries.

XXXXX

The smell of fried onions and grilled steak had Bonnie practically salivating. Her foot tapped impatiently as she waited in line behind a soccer mum that seemed to be taking forever to place her order.

Caroline had given her a lift home after practise so she could fetch her car. She had been on her way to Matt's when her stomach growled in protest, reminding Bonnie that she had forgotten to eat anything since breakfast. So she'd decided to swing by the Grill first and called Matt, figuring she'd pick something up for him too. By the time she pulled into the parking lot, the world had turned grey and wet with a cold spring rainstorm. Bonnie dashed into the restaurant and had been glad that the line for food wasn't long. She was starving.

Soccer mum finally moved off, wrangling her twin six year old boys after her with an apologetic smile. The Grill wasn't especially busy at this time in the afternoon, so Bonnie placed her order and then slipped into an empty booth while she waited. She flipped her phone open, frowning slightly when there still wasn't any word from Klaus or Damon. Her werewolf uncle, she wasn't too worried about. But the wayward vampire had a knack for finding trouble and losing his shit in the process. She tapped her nails lightly against the polished table top.

Then something very odd happened.

The wall, decorated with black and white photos of the original town, began to swirl and blur; the low chatter of the other patrons became an indistinguishable hum. Her skin became hotter and each breath she took became heavier and uneven, in time with her quickening heartbeat.

"May I join you, Miss Bennett?" A deep, English voice asked her.

Bonnie's eyes went wide as the stranger from the library sat down at her table. His grey eyes twinkled as he looked at her and he smiled a happy smile, his teeth white and perfect from where she sat. Within seconds of his arrival an apron-clad waitress was at his side, grinning flirtatiously as he placed his order. She walked away with a deliberate swish to her hips, but the handsome man's gaze was fixed intently on Bonnie.

She could only return his stare with a blank expression. Slightly unnerved by his attention, she cast a quick glance about the room. There were plenty of empty tables so why did he insist on sitting with her? Then something occurred to her that she had been too surprised to properly take note of before.

"How do you know my name?"

"We've met before."

"Yes, in the library. But I didn't tell you my name. And you didn't introduce yourself either," Her eyes narrowed suspiciously but he just seemed to smile wider, as if he were amused by some secret joke that she didn't get.

"You may be surprised by what I know."

That was a highly suspicious remark, and her expression betrayed that opinion.

"You knew about Nelia Somerset."

"Among other things," He gave a nonchalant shrug. "I think you'd find my insight valuable."

His silvery eyes shifted to a spot just over her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see what he was looking at: a young man seated a few tables over. When he saw Bonnie looking, his eyebrows lifted flirtatiously over his long eyelashes. She quickly turned away.

"He's been watching you for a few days now."

"What?" Bonnie was alarmed. "Who is he?"

"An emissary of Mikael Mikaelson no doubt."

"Mikael? So he's a va-"

He held up a hand to stop her before she said anymore.

With the clinking of porcelain, his order arrived and he flashed a disarming smile at the older waitress. She blushed bright red before sauntering off like a preening Persian housecat. The stranger didn't notice; his gaze fixed once more on the vampire watching their table.

"He's not going to hurt you. For now, it serves Mikael's interests to have you alive," he sipped his chamomile tea leisurely. "But he is struggling. He must be young still. At that age, most male vampires think of nothing else while they're still conquering their bloodlust. Sex probably hasn't even crossed his mind yet."

Colour bloomed on her cheeks like the blush of a peach. Bonnie thought she was going to be sick. This stranger was talking about a vampire's desire to drink her blood as if they were discussing the weather.

"How do you know this?" Her heart beat furiously in her chest, making her quiver.

"Given your apparent fondness for their company, I would have thought you'd know a vampire when you saw one," He quipped as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who the hell are you?!" she seethed.

His nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply.

"My name is Tristan du Bois," he said with careful measure. He was focused and intent, all intensity and energy, even though he was deathly still.

Bonnie blanched. She could see it now. That something otherworldly about this man, something ageless and powerful, beautiful and terrible, it was magic.

"You're the warlock," She murmured softly. "You tried to kill me." Bonnie couldn't listen to anymore. Faster than the wings of a beating dragonfly, she was up and walking away.

"Miss Bennett, wait!" He called after her. She just walked faster.

Maybe it wasn't smart; maybe she should have been braver. But all she could think to do, with her head spinning and the blood roaring in her ears, was to Get. Far. Far. Away. Before she knew it, she was out the door and on the street.

"Ignore me, and you risk the lives of everyone you care for!"

That was enough to stop her, and she spun on her heel to face him. "Are you threatening me?" The rain still fell and within seconds she was drenched and freezing.

"No. I'm proposing we work together."

"Why should I?!"

Tristan stepped right in front of her, invading her personal space. He was a good head taller than her and she immediately felt overwhelmed by him. She was trembling, with anger or fear, she couldn't tell. But she held her ground.

"You try my patience," He spoke low in her ear. "Miss Bennett, if I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. I came to you because I hoped we might reach an accord. There are things you need to know. So stop fighting me and hear what I have to say, for your own sake."

"Is there a problem here?" Bonnie looked up in surprise to see Stefan standing there; his dark green eyes darting between her and the warlock. Tristan sneered at the younger Salvatore.

"This does not concern you, vampire."

Stefan ignored him and she was impressed that he didn't react to being called out so blatantly.

"Bonnie, are you alright?" He said gently.

"I'm fine," She took a shaky step away from the warlock. But Tristan wasn't quite finished.

"This is not something you can escape, Miss Bennett," He grabbed her hand, thrusting a small ring into her palm. "Choose to come to me willingly. You have one week, Miss Bennett – one. Then I stop being so understanding."

With that, Tristan disappeared into the rain like a ghost, as if he'd never been there. Stefan lost his stoic expression, his brow furrowing in concern as he turned to her.

"I'm fine," She repeated numbly. "Fine."

Xxxxx

Bonnie felt as though she were floating. As if the past half hour had not been altogether real. She had a vague recollection of Don, from the Grill, rushing out to remind her she didn't pick up her order. Then Stefan had guided her to her car. He draped his jacket over her shoulders and then insisted on driving her to Matt's. They had been driving in silence for five minutes; both aware of the other, but lost in their own thoughts.

"How come you were there?" Her voice sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness of the car.

Stefan glanced over at her in surprise. Despite her protests that she was fine, he knew that her encounter with that strange man had left her shaken. She'd been dazed and distracted, and he had fully expected Bonnie to ignore him for the duration of the drive to Matt's.

"I was at the bookstore a few blocks over when I sensed a...presence," He explained. "I thought it might be another vampire. Then I found you with that guy. Who was he Bonnie?"

"His name's Tristan. He's the warlock that's been after me."

"What? And he just showed up at the Grill? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he..." She broke off. "...it was weird..."

"Weird how?"

"Well for a guy who's been trying to kill me, he was almost...friendly?"

Stefan frowned, thinking back to the moment he found Bonnie. Tristan had been clutching her wrist, Bonnie trying to lean away from him. Nothing about that had looked friendly to him.

"Bonnie, he said you had one week. That you had to go to him. What was that about?"

The teenage witch bit her tongue. One thing she was certain of after their little exchange – Tristan knew about her true parentage. She was willing to bet that, whatever he wanted with her had something to do with the Mikaelsons. Whether this would work against her or not, she had no idea. But she couldn't tell Stefan any of this without explaining things she just wasn't ready to explain.

"You should tell, Damon," Stefan's voice cut through the fog of her thoughts. Her gaze snapped to him in surprise.

"What did he tell you?" She asked uncertainly.

"Damon? Not a thing. But I'm not blind, Bonnie. And I know my brother better than he thinks. Something's been going on with him, and I know you and he are in it together. You don't have to tell me. But, for some bizarre reason, since you've chosen to trust Damon out of everybody...tell him about Tristan. Don't do this on your own. "

Bonnie bit her lip guiltily.

"Do you think I'm making a mistake? Trusting your brother?"

"I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer that," Stefan sighed. "Damon and I are complicated. There's a lot of difficult history between us and it's not gonna get fixed overnight, if ever. I can only tell you to go with your instincts and just be a little cautious."

Bonnie rubbed her hands tiredly over her face. Caroline had said almost exactly the same thing. Minus the faint edge of optimism. She groaned.

"How did I get here, Stefan? When did this become my life?"

The vampire patted her knee sympathetically.

"Probably around the time I decided to darken your doorway," he was pleased to see her crack a small smile. "Listen, Bonnie. I know you only put up with me because of Elena. And now that's over, things are a little weird. But I do consider you my friend. So if you need help, if you just want to talk, or swap all Damon's bourbon for Ribena..." she chuckled slightly. "You can come to me."

A comfortable silence stretched between them before Bonnie asked curiously.

"Ribena?"

"Oh yeah. I do it when he's annoying. Trust me, Bonnie. There are few things funnier."

"Good to know."

XXXXX

Before she even got home, Bonnie knew that something was wrong. She had spent the rest of the afternoon with Matt, grateful to be able to focus on something other than her problems for a few hours. Kelly Donovan seemed to be recovering from her bender, and had even sat up long enough to watch Jeopardy with them and eat some of the soup Bonnie bought. Matt had kicked her out at nine and Bonnie reluctantly left him.

She had just turned the corner on to her street when an ill sense of foreboding began to creep up on her.

The first thing Bonnie noticed was the signature blue and white Camaro that only one person drove. The second thing Bonnie noticed was the vampire slouched against her front door.

"What took you so fucking long?" Damon spat as she bounded up the porch steps, hurrying over to him.

"Jesus, Damon. What happened?" He was sweating profusely and it seemed to be taking a massive amount of effort for him to hold his head up.

"Next time I tell you to come to Georgia," He tried to glare but could only grimace, "come to Georgia."

The elder Salvatore struggled to his feet, but the minute he stood up, a burning mixture of bile, acid and blood, rose, rebelled, and escaped Damon's stomach all over the Bennett porch.

"Bonnie," he wiped his mouth roughly with the back of his hand, "I think I've been poisoned."

TBC