Author's Note: Obviously last night struck a chord in me. It is no secret that I love Stefan and Bonnie and I couldn't stop myself from filling in the blanks per say. Dedicated to the wonderful gal who listens to me flail about these two. You know who you are! Based on 4x17.

A Snapshot in Time

Time and Time Again - Stefonnie

It all happens so quickly.

Klaus' voice is near deafening in his ear and there is a streak of blonde. He hears the sickening crunch of knife meeting flesh and then they fall. One by one – until there are twelve bodies littering the ground. In the center Caroline stands, dumbfounded and Stefan wonders if even now she fully understands what she has done. He thinks not; she had been just acting on the instinct to save her best friend. The fact that she has killed to do so, and in the process set off a chain reaction that will see the veil between life and death disappear is an afterthought.

And one that will come over her hard and fast.

On the forest floor, Bonnie's body snaps, her back arching at an all most unnatural angle. There is a whoosh of breath and then she falls still. For a moment, Stefan thinks she's dead as well. He feels a cold sickness wash over him that only abates when he realizes amongst all this death there is still a heartbeat. Faint – but it exists.

His shoulders sag in relief.

Finally, he finds it in him to spring into action, moving into the now defunct circle. His eyes drift over Caroline who has leaned down next to Bonnie. "Why won't she wake up?" There is a note of panic in her voice and Stefan knows that that realization is coming. He is at a loss as to what to say to her so instead he too kneels beside his fallen friend, his hand coming to cup the side of her face. Her skin feels warm and his thumb swipes a circle before he looks up.

Caroline is gone.

He furrows his brows, his eyes moving quickly to scan the area.

"She's fled. No doubt to wash the metaphorical blood off her hands," Klaus drawls and Stefan's eyes come to him instead. The hybrid steps past the circle's boundary and Stefan immediately draws closer to Bonnie. His hand falls away from her face and plants itself palm down on the ground next to her head so that his body is angled between she and Klaus. Klaus stops sort and scowls. "Oh come on now, Stefan, no sense in offing the witch now. It'd be overkill don't you think?"

Then he laughs; an oppressive sound that has Stefan tensing. Beneath him, Bonnie's chest continues to rise and fall at a steady rate. He lifts his head to look at Klaus who has sobered up quickly. "I'll take care of the bodies. No sense in drawing any unnecessary attention," he states.

For a split second Stefan thinks he should thank Klaus but then he realizes that for all the harm Klaus has caused both Bonnie and Caroline he owes them this. Actually he owes them a hell of a lot more but Stefan isn't pointing any of this out. Instead he carefully gathers Bonnie into his arms, cradling her close and stands. She is limp (but there is still a heartbeat; he realizes now that he has one ear constantly tuned into it). He spares Klaus a look and then he takes her away from all of this.

She doesn't wake until he is carrying her up the steps to the back door of her house.

Her body tightens, he hears a gasp of breath and he looks down. A set of green eyes, glassy from the night's events look up at him. The confusion is evident. Before she could open her mouth he is speaking.

"It's okay. I've got you."

Perhaps she wants to answer. Her lips part but before any sound can come out, her eyes drift close.

It is probably better this way.

Rudy Hopkins opens the door. He and Stefan stare at one another before he moves aside to let Stefan bring her in. Stefan doesn't go for the couch, instead he moves with a familiarity even he didn't know he possessed, up the stairs and to the second door on the left. He carefully sets her on the bed. When he turns Rudy is standing in the doorway.

"What happened?"

Stefan is at a loss as to how to explain what he has witnessed to Bonnie's father. His mouth falls open a little as he searches for the right words to assure a distressed father that his daughter is okay.

"Is she cleansed?"

"I don't…know." Apparently Stefan will just skirt the truth instead.

Rudy pauses, his eyes firmly on his daughter. "Thank you for bringing her home." It is a dismissal.

"I'm staying," Stefan says firmly. He and Rudy lock eyes once again and for a moment he thinks that Rudy is going to fight him on this one. Instead Bonnie's father backs down. Together they hold a vigil. It is well past midnight when Stefan finally convinces Rudy to get some sleep. He promises to wake him if anything changes.

Then it is just the two of them.

Her heartbeat is still strong in his ears. He sinks down now, coming to rest on the edge of the bed. It should have never come to this, he realizes. It should have never gotten this far. It isn't like they were blind to the fact. Damon had told him (and had been uncharacteristically serious when he had done so). She had insisted she was fine despite the fact that she had just lost the first boy she had ever loved. She hadn't been showing for school.

They had left her alone.

He lets his head fall. In the scheme of things she somehow always comes in last doesn't she? It seems to be a hard lesson that he is learning over and over again. How are they so incapable of protecting her when she needs it the most? There is no denying that Elena needs them (she probably always well) but Bonnie needs someone too (even if it is just every now and then). And instead they tiptoed around her while Silas led her down the garden path.

The guilt is overwhelming.

He knows it is not just this. It is everything. It is all those times he had knowingly pushed her too far. It is her grandmother's death. It is that look on her face as she realized what was about to happen to her mother.

"I'm so sorry." The words slip out into the quiet darkness.

Her heartbeat remains the same.

He would have done it. What Caroline did (and somewhere in the back of his mind he wonders where she is, if she is okay). He would have found it in him to throw Klaus off, stepped into that circle and drove the knife into the witch's chest to save her. Unlike Caroline, he would have known the consequence.

And still, he would have done it.

Not because of guilt – but because she didn't deserve to die like that. She has barely lived. Her life has been twisted into something it should not be. She deserves a chance to take it back, to live it on her terms.

He is going to find a way to help her do that.

For now, he sits quietly.

She stirs minutes after the sun rises. His head turns the moment he becomes aware of it. He can't stop himself from asking the most obvious question.

"How you feeling?"

Her eyes are filled with utter confusion. And dread begins to pool in his stomach. It becomes painfully clear with just a few words that she doesn't remember. What happened the night before.

And what brought her to that horrifying scene.

He shouldn't have to do this. She has already lived this moment once before. The fact that it has been robbed from her memory angers a part of him. It isn't fair that she should have to go through this pain again.

But he can't keep it from her.

He tries to be matter of fact, his voice soft but firm when he tells her. He watches as her face breaks, and her body convulses into sobs. She is gasping for air by the time he moves to encircle her in his arms. It is automatic to rock, his face pressed into her hair. After a beat, he can't take the sound anymore. "Breathe, Bonnie," he reminds her. "You've got to breathe."

It takes time but eventually she gets it. She is still trembling when he lays back, bringing his feet off the floor. His arms are still tight around her when she turns her head, presses it into his chest and lets the tears come. He doesn't try to quell them. He knows she needs this.

And he is staying until she doesn't.