A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

"Damon, I don't know what you expect me to do," said Ryssa as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "I don't know any kind of healing spells and if I were to help with the pain it'd be like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. The most I can do is try to keep her still but she's stronger than me so I don't know if that would work either."

"I have to do something. Stupid wolf and stupid showdown. 'You're marked'," Damon ranted angrily. "What kind of crap is that?"

"Damon." Pace. "Damon." More pacing. "Damon!" Pause. "Where is she now?"

"She's at the Boarding House with Elena," he muttered and she stood up straight in panic.

"You left a delusional, sick vampire alone with a human?" she demanded. "Are you insane or do you really have that little regard for Elena's life?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on Damon, Rose isn't in her right mind, you really want to leave her alone with someone she'll see as blood bag?"

Realization dawned on his face and he blurred away into the night and she got into her car to help. "This is such a bad idea," she grumbled.

When she reached the house she found Damon and Elena already leaving and rolled down the window, "Rose?"

"She's gone," Elena replied.

"Get in." Elena opened the door and slid into the back while Damon took the passenger side as she reversed. "Where would she go?"

"The school, there's some rally thing going on, there will be people everywhere," Elena suggested and gave her directions.

Ryssa jerked the car to a stop and was hot on their heels as they searched for Rose. Damon started walking toward the sheriff and they followed. She covered her nose and mouth with her shirt and looked down at the body on the ground.

"Thanks for getting here so fast," Liz told Damon.

"I was in the neighborhood, what happened?" he asked.

"Vampire. One of my deputies discovered the body before anyone else could see him."

"We should secure the area, we don't know where they went." The sheriff said something to her deputies and he looked at Ryssa. "Can you connect to Rose's mind like you do other people? Try and find her before she hurts someone?"

"I'll take the east side, you got west?" Liz asked Damon who nodded and she walked away.

"I can try, no guarantees because of the bite. It might screw with the signal," Ryssa answered Damon.

"Do it."

Ryssa closed her eyes and reached out for Rose, skimming over people until she felt the other vampire. "I got her." She turned to Damon who handed Elena a stake and they went in the direction she felt Rose, glancing around warily.

They heard screams and ran toward Rose who had a girl by the neck, "Rose, Stop!" Damon yelled.

Rose rushed toward him and he caught her, pinning her to the ground. Ryssa grabbed Elena's arm to hold her back and erected a shield as they watched the two vampires.

"Rose. Rose! It's me, it's Damon," he soothed, looking into her eyes as she stopped struggling and slowly became normal. With a whimper Rose looked at the girl's body lying on the ground and began to sob.

"I never meant to hurt anyone," she cried and he held onto her. Rose rolled her head to look at Elena who was being held back by the witch. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Come on, let's get you home."

"I don't have a home, I can't go home." She cried harder, "please make it stop, I hate it, make it stop!"

Damon picked her up and carried her to Ryssa's car and when she opened the backseat, he climbed in with her. Elena took the front that time as she drove back to the Boarding House.

Ryssa watched from the doorway as Damon lay the pale and sweating vampire into his bed and went into the adjoining bathroom to get a cool washcloth, just to help somehow. She wrung it out lightly and set it near the bed and met Damon's eyes and he went back to the doorway with her.

"It's not much, but I can try to lessen the pain and put her into a deep sleep when it's time. I wish I could do more Damon, I really do, but I don't know what," she whispered to him and he looked over her shoulder at Rose.

"I know the feeling. I shouldn't have come to you, but you're the strongest witch I know, hell the only witch besides Bonnie. I thought when I saw you that Elijah might have something but that was a waste of time," he muttered.

"I'm sorry Damon. I'll do what I can." She gave him an apologetic look and grabbed some of the candles he had around the room and placed them on the floor in a circle and sat in the middle of it.

Focusing on her breathing, she slowly drew power from the flames and reached out for Rose's consciousness. She saw a cloud of darkness surrounding her and began to pull at where the darkness was thickest, drawing it into her. She winced and forced it away with effort, her nails digging into her palms. It was stubborn though, it didn't want to give up but she was stronger. She kept at it, stifling a groan as it sliced into her.

Damon watched Ryssa as she worked and turned back to Rose who became mostly conscious. He picked up the washcloth and swabbed some of the sweat away. Whatever the witch was doing was helping a little, he could see Rose becoming calmer.

"Hey you," he smiled at her.

"I'm sorry."

"So you went on a rampage, it happens."

Elena entered from behind him and looked over to Ryssa, whose eyes were closed and her hands were turning white but was chanting under her breath.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't like taking a human life, I never have," Rose said to Elena.

Ryssa's concentration broke and she leaned forward on her knuckles, her hair hanging around her face in a curtain as she caught her breath.

"Ryssa?" Damon called but she didn't answer. "You shouldn't be here," he told Elena.

"It's the worst part about it: the hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure afterwards. I wasn't meant to be evil," Rose rambled.

"Stop talking about it." Damon turned his back to Rose and Elena, watching the witch who still hadn't moved.

"Damon's like me. He wants to care but when he does, he runs. I'm sorry," Rose went on to Elena. "You need to fight, Elena. I know you're scared but you have to fight anyway."

Damon bent to touch Ryssa's shoulder and saw that her body was shaking. He set his jaw as he heard her inhale and continue chanting under her breath, doing whatever it was she was doing.

Suddenly Rose began to scream and Damon leaped onto the bed to hold onto her.

"What do we do?" Elena asked him.

"Go. I've got this."

Elena glanced at them and left the room and he turned his attention to Ryssa. "Anytime now, sweetheart!"

"Shut up Damon, I'm trying!" she snapped back.

Her whole body felt like it was on fire, but she ignored it. She didn't even know if it was working, she'd never tried this sort of thing before but now that she'd begun she wasn't planning on stopping. She felt her phone vibrate but blocked it out, pulling more of the agonizing pain away from Rose with all of her willpower. Elijah was going to be furious with her for this.

"Make it stop! Please, I can't take it anymore! Make it stop!" Rose screamed.

Eventually she stilled and Ryssa severed the connection, slumping onto the floor.

"Damn it!" Damon cursed as he watched the witch fall to her back. He listened closely to check that she was still breathing.

"Who would have thought you'd be a nice guy?" Rose joked softly to Damon.

"I'm not nice. I'm mean. I like it."

"You're lying."

"Shh, just sleep. Just sleep."

Ryssa struggled to clear her head, "Sleep Rose, it's over now."

After a long stretch of silence she saw the blurry imprint of boots in her peripheral vision and reached a hand out for him to help her up and he did. She glanced at the bed to see Rose's staked and ashen body and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Damon."

"It's fine. Go home."

Squeezing his arm once, she left, still feeling the effects of her spell. She hoped it had helped. Before she knew it, she was pushing open the door to her house with Elijah and making her way into the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

"Rose-Marie?" he asked.

She shook her head. She darted her eyes up to meet his gaze as he came over to her, and tried to smile reassuringly.

"What did you do?" Elijah stared at Ryssa. He caught the scent of blood and lifted her palms to see crescents where her nails had cut into her skin. "Ryssa? Look at me and tell me what happened."

"I took her pain away," she mumbled. He sighed, then picked her up and carried her over to the bed. "I helped her 'Lijah. I took the pain and sent it away."

"You foolish girl, you could have killed yourself." He looked down at her and she kissed him tiredly.

"I'm a Matthias," she retorted. "Can we go to sleep now?"

"Yes." He laid her down beside him and she curled into his side as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Sleep, Ryssa."