A/N: Ain't going to lie I fought with this chapter, kept getting writer's block and didn't know what I wanted to happen because I'm too focused on future chapters. But here is the latest and thank you for your patience.

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

She was going to be the most bad-ass thing walking this planet. He would make sure of it. He would cultivate it; mold it until she was perfect. More perfect than she already was. Oh, sure she had flaws, who didn't? And maybe those flaws would take a backseat to her overall greatness. But then something else began to nag at him. Should one person really contain so much power? Would the witch side of Bonnie transition to and merge with her vampire side, and if so, would that mean total destruction for the planet since the vampire side augmented what's already inside of a person?

Damon with those cyan eyes shuddered. He could deal with a bitchy Bonnie, had done so in the past, but a bitchy Bonnie with an insatiable appetite for blood and justice, would he be strong enough to tame her? Did he want to tame her?

Damon could really mourn her mortality. He would probably miss hearing her heart beat, listening to it speed up when she was pissed or aroused. But everything else he liked her about would be more elemental, more abundant.

The jury was still out if that was a good or bad thing.

Already in Caroline's mind she was planning the rest of her and Bonnie's futures. They would truly have a lifelong friendship, and though Elena wouldn't be able to tag along, it gave the blond vampire some comfort to know she wouldn't be walking the earth alone for the rest of her life. Now all that was left to do was show Bonnie the pros of becoming a vampire. Sure she'll probably rebel in the beginning because Bonnie was prideful and stubborn, oh boy just thinking of that alone would make the next few hours a marathon of endurance for Bonnie's constant denials.

Part of Elena wanted Bonnie to transition but there was another part of her—small but there—that didn't want her to go through with it. Call it being selfish and she probably was being selfish but Elena didn't want her friend to bow and become something she knew Bonnie would have never chosen for herself. As much as she was tried of losing people she cared about, Elena didn't want to see Bonnie hate herself until she finally succumbed to old age. But she couldn't let Bonnie go either. Elena really had no idea what to do or think.

Elena's eyes left Bonnie momentarily to look at Damon with the obsidian eyes. She couldn't imagine what he might be thinking. Probably planning a life of him and Bonnie living as nomads, traveling from place to place, city to city causing mayhem everywhere they went. Sure it might seem like a charmed life to some, and maybe even slightly romantic, but in Elena's mind it was a tragedy. Pure and simple.

Constantly Damon tried to reach out with his mind to Bonnie. No matter how many times he called her in all the languages he knew, he couldn't reach her. He heard absolutely nothing. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing—he was going to take it as a bad thing. Maybe Katherine had lied about giving Bonnie blood as her way to raise their hopes only to crush them. Not much time had passed since they all stood in the woods and watched helplessly as Katherine snapped Bonnie's precious neck. He growled as the image played out in 3-D before his eyes. As soon as she was awake, and drank human blood, he'd convince Bonnie to runaway with him. She didn't need her life here in Mystic Falls. The world could become their playground.

Stefan vaguely heard the front door open. He kept his bluish-gray eyes locked on his brother wondering how Damon would convince Bonnie to finish the transition. By his watch she would probably wake up within the next fifteen to twenty minutes—maybe.

Not a single sound could be heard that was until the bedroom door creaked open. Stefan shifted and his eyes narrowed on the man who stood there looking cool and indifferent, a hand stuck in the pocket of his starched trousers.

"What happened?" the newcomer asked.

Everyone turned their attention to Elijah who hovered in the doorway. Elijah's dark brown eyes looked at every single person in the room, gauging their response, waiting for the inevitable explosion that was sure to follow.

Blue-eyed Damon rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on Bonnie.

Dark-eyes sneered at him but otherwise remained mute. He figured either the blond or the brunette would fill him in on what happened, on what his carelessness allowed to transpire. Where was a white oak stake when he needed one?

Caroline waved a wild hand in Bonnie's direction. "What does it look like happened? You let Katherine get away and the bitch forced fed Bonnie her blood and snapped her neck. And we're left to basically force feed her human blood so she can complete the transition and she'll hate us forever because of it. Does that answer your stupid ass question?"

Elijah didn't flinch; he didn't even seem remorseful about the turn of events. "I take it Katerina is dead?"

Caroline snorted and looked away.

Elena answered blandly. "She's dead."

Stefan could give the man props for giving off nothing in terms of his emotions or the fact his niece was just a moment away from waking up to realize she was one step away from becoming the thing she hated.

Elijah took a few more steps into the room. "I need to deal with the body," his eyes stared pointedly at Bonnie so there'd be no mistake in who he was talking about.

"What do you mean 'deal' with the body?" Elena snapped. "This is Bonnie!"

Now that really pissed dark-eyes off. Before he could even question the intelligence of his actions, he rushed over and jacked Elijah by the lapels of his jacket, pulling him forward until they were nose-to-nose.

"Give me one good reason not to rip you to pieces?"

With a simple shove, Elijah could force Damon through a wall, but he didn't go that route, instead taking the high road. The road of a gentleman. He would allow him this one infarction, but he would not be lenient in the future.

"I can give you several reasons not to follow through with your plan," Elijah replied smoothly. "But I'm on a strict time table and you're holding me up."

"You're not taking Bonnie anywhere," Stefan intervened. "You might call yourself her uncle but we're her family."

At this Elijah's patience was wearing thin. "Move," he carefully enunciated the word.

Dark-eyes shook his head in the negative.

"Damon, let him go."

The vampire in question stiffened.

All eyes flew to the bed only to realize that Bonnie's eyes were still closed before they backtracked to the door of the bedroom.

A booted heel took one step to maneuver around Elijah and Damon who were still in a gridlock with each other. Caroline and Elena shot up from the bed, eyes blinking rapidly, mouth's open in disbelief.

Blue-eyed Damon was simply a frozen sculpture as he kept his eyes on the lithe body that just casually strolled into his bedroom like nothing was going on.

Stefan's eyes zipped all over the place as his mouth opened and closed several times trying to find the words to describe or explain what he was seeing.

Slowly dark-eyed Damon released his hold on Elijah and took a step away from the old vampire. His brow furrowed in deep confusion before a look of fury overtook his face.

"Are you a ghost?" was the first thing Caroline blurted.

Bonnie's green eyes sparkled with humor. "No, I'm not a ghost. It's really me."

Everyone began talking at once.

... "What the actual fu-,?"…

… "Someone please explain to me what's going on before my head pops off"…

… "Do you have any idea of the emotional crap you just put us through and your ass has the nerve to be alive?"…

… "Wait? What?"…

… "I'm going to murder you, Bonnie!"…

That last proclamation caught Bonnie's attention. She stared at Elena who approached her and roughly pulled Bonnie into a bone crushing hug. Bonnie wrapped her arms around her friend and held her just as tightly and felt her nose tingle when she felt Elena trembling uncontrollably.

When the two girls pulled away Bonnie was thrust into another pair of arms. Caroline nearly snapped her spine in half. Stefan, surprisingly kissed her full on the mouth before hugging her. Bonnie had to shake her head to clear it because it was totally unexpected. Alaric looked like he wanted to keel over with a bottle of whiskey, and her boyfriend…

Bonnie stood before him searching his midnight eyes. Wordlessly he pulled her forward and fused his lips with hers becoming familiar with her taste and the little sounds of pleasure that emitted from her mouth that he happily gobbled up. That still didn't mean he didn't want to wring her neck—of course he did—but he would take this reprieve and run with it.

Bonnie cupped his face. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you what was going on."

Damon kissed the palm of her hand. "I know you have a damn good explanation for putting me through hell for the last ten minutes," he scrubbed hand roughly over his face. He hesitated and then stepped aside so she could have a reunion with the vampire with the blue-eyes.

In Damon's mind time slowed to a stop and it was just him and Bonnie in the room. He merely held out his hand and closed his fist around Bonnie's tiny appendage.

"Glad you're not dead," Damon said calmly, a little too calmly because Bonnie fully expected him to be the main one to hit the roof.

"I'm glad I'm not dead either," she concurred.

Bonnie was fully prepared to slip her hand out of his when Damon tugged her until her body crashed into his. Damon wrapped one arm across her shoulders and kissed her temple. He dipped his head to whisper in her ear.

"You do this shit to me again and I will finish what I started in the woods six months ago."

His harshly spoken words made Bonnie shiver before she subtracted herself from his embrace. Bonnie headed over to the bed, staring down at the body that had her face.

"Okay," Caroline said, "if you're you then what the hell is that?" she pointed at the body on the bed.

Bonnie bit a corner of her lip and stared apologetically at blue-eyed Damon. "A cadaver."

"Gross," Caroline shrieked and headed to the bathroom to scrub her hands raw. Elena followed closely behind.

"So wait," Stefan chortled, "the whole time the cadaver was in the woods with Katherine? Was that also responsible for the destruction to the house?"

"Oh, no I wiped the floor with Katherine's ass," both Damon's chuckled in appreciation. "But I had to do a switcher-roo in the woods," Bonnie waved a hand over the entire length of the body to reveal the true identity of the person.

Blue-eyed Damon was familiar with dead bodies and could tell the person who was Bonnie's stand-in, had been dead no more than a few days.

"Necromancy would have been involved to get that corpse to behave like a reanimated object," dark-eyes deduced.

"Lucy!" Elijah called and the statuesque witch entered the room, carrying a crisp white swaddling cloth.

"Necromancy and a glamour spell," Lucy tacked on as she walked to the other side of the bed. The others stood by and watched as she and Bonnie wrapped up the body.

Two other people, more than likely hired hands of Elijah's walked into the room to remove the body. With it gone, Bonnie stripped Damon's bed.

Stefan turned to Elijah. "You were in on this the whole time?"

The original vampire nodded his head. "Certain insurances needed to be put in place in order to trick Katerina into thinking she had won."

Bonnie interrupted. "I figured Katherine would either try to kill me or turn me into a vampire, so there was no other option than to make her think she had succeeded. And in order for things to work, I needed you all to think the same just in the event Katherine got away."

"And if your plan had failed?" dark-eyes said on a low growl.

"Then Bonnie would have gone into seclusion at my compound until we were able to apprehend Katherine," Elijah supplied.

"Look," Bonnie made eye contact with everyone in the room. "I know the situation and circumstances surrounding what happened wasn't ideal but it was the best plan we could come up with on such short notice. I couldn't tell a soul what was going on because we had to make things as believable as possible. I hated keeping this from you but it needed to be done."

Caroline and Elena reentered the bedroom after repeatedly washing their hands and arms.

"This settles everything," Elijah concluded. "Katherine is dead, many thanks, and my niece remains the most powerful witch on the eastern seaboard."

"I wouldn't say all that," Bonnie blushed—feeling humble.

Elijah looked at the Salvatore siblings. "Where are Katerina's remains?"

"Sprinkled like confetti on the west end of the property," Damon answered with a wild grin on his face.

The older vampire curtly nodded his head and then everyone began shifting out of Damon's bedroom.

Downstairs, Elijah opened the front door. Bonnie joined him. He cupped her cheek before kissing her forehead.

"I won't take so long in the future to check up on you," he promised. "Is the moonstone safe?"

Bonnie nodded. She wouldn't give up the details of its location not even to him.

"Good. I'll have my men collect what's left of Katherine."

"Don't bother," Stefan told him. "We'll burn what's left. Sorry but I just don't trust you with Katherine, not even with her severed head."

At that Elijah could do nothing but chuckle and nod in agreement. "So be it. Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you all. Bonnie…until next time."

Lucy approached Bonnie next. The two women awkwardly hugged one another. They were family, at least the way Lucy explained being a second or third cousin to her. Bonnie still had so many questions she wanted to ask her older cousin but knew right now wasn't the right time.

"I'll be around in the future, probably," Lucy hedged. "If anything else comes up, you know how to reach me."

"Thank you, Lucy," Bonnie flashed a smile. She didn't move from her spot until the taillights of the luxury vehicle Elijah climbed into left followed by Lucy's American model machine.

Closing the door of the boardinghouse, Bonnie faced the firing squad.

The lower portion of the house was a mess. "I'm sorry, you guys," she apologized for what felt like the millionth time today. "I should help you clean this up."

Damon waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Don't worry about it."

"No, I should. It'll only take me a second," Bonnie closed her eyes and started channeling her energy. Everyone watched in astonishment as the broken glass began to seal itself back together. Overturned furniture was righted, every and anything that was broken became whole again until there wasn't a shard left on the floor.

Moments later Bonnie opened her eyes and inspected her own handiwork. Pleased with the outcome she finally took a seat. It felt like she hadn't sat down in hours. This action prompted everyone else to do the same.

Damon sat down beside her, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together. Bonnie placed her head on his shoulder. As happy as he was that she was unharmed and was fine, there was still that tiny part of him that wished she was going through the transition right now to ensure they would be together for all eternity.

How soon can we be alone? He asked.

Very soon. Bonnie replied.

She knew how things would go from this moment forward. Stefan and Elena would want to dissect and analyzed everything that happened. Bonnie could easily weasel her way out of this by pretending to be exhausted but she had way too much energy for that.

But her eyes fluttered closed and Damon suppressed his knowing grin. "I think the night has finally caught up with Bonnie or either she's playing possum. In any case, I should take her home and properly discipline her for playing us."

"Hey," Bonnie opened her eyes. "The only person who got played was Katherine, and she's dead. Yea! We won and that was the whole point of tonight. But you're right, the night has caught up with me."

Blue-eyed Damon narrowed his eye as he looked over Bonnie. She didn't appear to be tired at all.

Caroline didn't want to let Bonnie out of her sight. "I think I'm entitled to a sleepover tonight," she put in her two cents. "You don't fake your death in front of your two best friends and think we're just going to let you getaway with that."

Inwardly, Bonnie sighed. It appeared everyone wanted to put her on lockdown. She rose to her feet. "We have years to have many sleepovers, but I seriously need to go home and crash. If I go home with you, I know you, Care you'll keep me up all night."

The blond sighed in defeat knowing Bonnie was right. Whenever they had sleepovers, Caroline wasn't sure what it was but she became a chatterbox and couldn't stop talking.

"All right," Caroline pouted and drew Bonnie into another hug. "I'll let you off the hook this time. But you're all mine this weekend."

"Deal," Bonnie smile and then hugged Elena good night, and waved at Stefan and Damon who winked at her.

Before she walked through the door Bonnie purposely opened her mind to listen to Damon's thoughts.

Be glad you have a boyfriend because otherwise you'd be in my bed tonight. Where you belong.

Bonnie shut the door to his thoughts. Why did she think he would be thinking about blood bags or something along those lines?

Bennett Residence

Nothing really scared Damon. It was kind of difficult to be terrified of anything when you walked the planet for over five hundred years, and actually took the fight to the things that go bump in the night rather than cowering away. There had never been a cowardly bone in his immortal body, not even when he was human, but tonight—the thought of losing Bonnie for any length of time—terrified him.

She sat on the bed not that far from him as he took his time lighting candles. He really was stalling because a mood didn't need to be set. Anytime he was alone with her he cherished the moment, counted his blessings because all of this could be a dream which might end abruptly at any moment. The words he spoke to Caroline when he took her hunting came back to him. The beauty of human life wasn't because they had life to begin with, but that anything could take them out at any given time. Life was fleeting. He learned that lesson when he thought he witnessed Katherine snapping Bonnie's neck.

It was a harsh wake up call. Bonnie was a powerful witch but she was still human. And even he was guilty of overlooking that one startling fact.

Bonnie shucked her boots off, followed by her knee-high socks and pulled her top over her head. She could tell that Damon was preoccupied by other thoughts. If she wanted to, she could easily tap into his mind and see for herself what he was thinking, but they had a rule, no prying unless an invitation was offered.

Damon blew out the match and started unbuttoning his shirt. He wondered idly why he was taking his time when he knew he could have had the both of them naked and writhing on the bed in seconds. He needed this moment to be drawn out for lots of reasons, but the biggest one being he just wanted to enjoy it. He wanted to see the myriad of emotions gloss over Bonnie's face. He wanted to hear her heart flutter in her chest when he touched her. He wanted to feel her fingernails claw his skin as he pleased her in ways she was told were forbidden for a girl her age to experience and take pleasure in.

His shirt joined hers on the floor and Damon's hand dropped to his belt.

Bonnie kept her eyes locked on his which were half-lidded with desire and something else. Something feral was in that gaze of Damon's that under much different circumstances probably would have had her putting the brakes on tonight. She wasn't the type of person to use passion to cover up insecurities. Bonnie didn't need to have sex or make that physical connection with someone to feel safe. She could take care of herself.

Tonight she decided wasn't about her. It would be about Damon.

His pants dropped to the floor and Damon kicked them away. Bonnie stood to her feet to work her jeans off her short, toned, caramel legs. Damon tilted her chin up with his index finger and searched her face for something. He flashed his cinematic smile just prior to sealing his mouth over hers.

Damon picked her up under her knees causing her legs to wrap around his waist. They fell backwards on the bed, bouncing against it. Damon stopped kissing Bonnie, the call of her blood flowing through her carotid artery too strong for even a seasoned and disciplined vampire such as himself to ignore. His cold fingers brushed her thick hair aside as he peppered her neck with teasing kisses that had Bonnie clutching him between her thighs.

"Please, Bonnie," came his simple yet loaded request. Bonnie didn't like him drinking her blood and he could understand her aversion to it, however, he was irritated by it. He had proven to her over and over again that he knew when to stop and that he could make it as pleasurable as eating her out, but she still shied away whenever he lingered around her neck for too long.

Deep inside Bonnie wanted him to drink, but call it her intuition she knew if she opened up this Pandora's Box it would be next to impossible to shut it again. But she wanted to show Damon she trusted him. She trusted him with her life and she trusted him with something else.

Infinitesimally she nodded her ascent. Damon's fangs burst from his gums, which had been throbbing, maddeningly so. His fingers twisted in her hair, not painfully, but enough to where he tilted her head at the right angle.

Bonnie pierced her eyes closed at the same time she felt the sharp sting of fangs breaking through her skin. Damon moaned low and guttural in his throat as her white-hot blood flooded his mouth and gushed down his esophagus. Sweet Lord above her blood was amazing. Rocket fuel is what he could compare the headiness of her blood to others he had tasted in the past. Everything within Damon came alive; his heart which beat very, very lowly was now pounding demandingly behind his ribcage. Her sweet, hot blood coursed through his capillaries and venules, filling him completely until he was fully, completely erect and painfully hard.

Bonnie wiggled on the bed and against his chest. Damon switched their positions to where he was sitting and Bonnie was straddling him. He disconnected for a moment before burying his fangs in her again, sucking, pulling, and dragging her succulent blood into his body.

He wanted her to bite him and return the favor and he also wanted to be buried to the hilt in Bonnie. Unfortunately she still wore her lace panties which the seat of them were soaked and wetting his leg. Bonnie ran her nails through his hair, and down his neck. When her eyes opened neither one of them could see that her eyes changed colors like a mood ring. They turned from green, to deep violet, to sky blue, before darkening to black. Bonnie opened her jaw just a little wider and pressed down on Damon's neck. He didn't jump but jerked a bit and felt Bonnie taking his blood.

It only vaguely occurred to him she didn't have fangs to do this, and her human teeth weren't supposed to be sharp enough to penetrate vampire skin. But somehow, someway, Bonnie was drinking from him like a vampire, and together they fed.

Bonnie was tumbling. Falling, falling, falling until her feet landed on hard ground. She could see nothing save a sliver of light that shone overhead like a spotlight focused on a single actor. She took a curious step, wondered where she was, but then paused when she saw a little boy, sitting on the floor chained to a humongous rock.

"Hello?" she said tentatively and softly but the acoustics of the place made her voice reverberate as if she had screamed.

The little boy quickly lifted his head and rose to his feet, the chains clanging with his movements. Bonnie's eyes searched his face. She didn't recognize him but there was something eerily familiar about him.

"Hi," she said and offered him a comforting smile.

The boy looked nervous as he clung to the rock as if he were either protecting it or trying to get it to protect him. As Bonnie looked at it distractedly for a second she noticed there were cracks in the rock, but they weren't large or deep enough for her to see what was inside.

"How did you get here?" the boy asked.

Bonnie's malachite eyes fell back to the boy. "I'm not sure. What's your name, sweetheart?"

The boy scratched at the skin on his wrist that was surrounded by nothing but iron. "Damon."

Startled wouldn't even come close to describing how Bonnie felt. "You're name is Damon?"

The boy slowly nodded his head.

"Who did this to you?" Bonnie demanded feeling her own injustice for the boy rise.

"He'll get mad if I tell you."

Bonnie approached the boy but he gasped and pressed his little body deeper against the rock. Bonnie pulled up short but to accommodate him she fell to her haunches, putting her at eye-level. When Damon chanced looking in her eyes beneath long, beautiful lashes she gasped again because she stared into those fathomless orbs nearly everyday.

So this was "child-Damon"? What was he doing here? And why was he chained to this rock? Was he being punished for something? And if so, who had handed down the punishment?

"I'm not here to hurt you, Damon. My name is Bonnie."

"I know who you are," Damon admitted. "He thinks about you a lot."

Confusion marred Bonnie's face. "I'm sorry, sweetie but I'm confused. Who are you talking about?"

Damon ignored her question as a faraway look overtook his face. "There was another girl who used to come and visit me. She had hair like what I think the sun would look like, and she had electric eyes. She held me when…when…I died I supposed. But I'm back. But I'm still here."

Bonnie shook her head to clear out some of the confusion. "What was the girl's name?"

"Elena."

Oh, Bonnie thought. So I must be deep in Damon's mind. How much of his blood did I drink to get here?

Bonnie stretched out a hand towards Damon. "I'm going to find a way to get you out."

Damon began to furiously shake his head. "I can't leave!" he cried hysterically. "He doesn't want me to."

"But you can't stay here," Bonnie fired back. "You're just a child."

"You should go before he comes."

Bonnie rose to her feet feeling outraged and impotent. She focused on the chains using everything in her arsenal to break them, but her magic didn't work here.

Damon stared at her strangely. "Please, go."

"I can't leave you here, Damon."

"I can't leave," he reiterated. "It's my job to keep his secrets locked away. If I leave, who will do it?"

Bonnie sighed heavily. What kind of a person would sentence a child—even a figurative child to a life of being chained to a rock full of secrets?

Against her will Bonnie felt herself being pulled away from Damon. She wanted stay and talk to him, get to know him, but the call back to reality was stronger.

On her side of the spectrum, Bonnie disengaged her teeth from Damon's neck. Reluctantly she opened her eyes and her sight was overwhelmed with eyes the color of coal on a face too handsome to be real.

Bonnie wiped a sliver of blood from the corner of his mouth. She felt heavier and lighter in equal measure, and she didn't fully understand what just happened. She could chuck it up as having an outer body experience, or maybe it was a projected image Damon wanted her to see. In any case, Bonnie felt her heart swell and burst as she stared deep into his eyes. She had never felt closer to another living thing in her entire life.

"I love you…Damon," spilled from her lips like sap coursing down a tree.

His eyes darkened if that were possible and Damon nipped her lip. "You mean it? You love me?"

Hearing the uncertainty in his voice made her smile. "Yes," Bonnie ran her fingers through his hair and held him just a little tighter. "I love you and I don't want you to leave."

That cinematic, charismatic smile was back on his face pulling her under, drowning her. "Then I'm not going anywhere."

Caroline could really curse her luck sometimes. At first she thought it was rad being an only child until she realized that she would be the sole one being punished if something mysteriously got missing or was broken in the Forbes' household. That's why she adopted Elena and Bonnie as her sisters and without fail held a sleepover at her house every single weekend. From the moment they met back in first grade they bonded quickly and solidified their friendship over their joint love of music and Keanu Reeves.

Now they were in their late teens still thick as thieves and willing to do anything for each other. That's why Caroline grumbled and cursed because Bonnie had asked her to help Tyler. Now here she was ruining her new Steven Madden boots, traipsing through the mud to bring Tyler a fresh change of clothes, food and water.

"Tyler," she called so he wouldn't go all psycho-killer on her just in the event the lingering effects of hunt, search, and destroy were still buzzing through his thoughts.

She heard him moving around in the cold, decrepit cellar or whatever it was supposed to be. Caroline bit her lip as she walked down the steps. The appalling stench of wild animal slapped her in the face making Caroline want to bolt in the other direction, but she cut off her sense of smell and soldiered on.

Once she was down in the old slave quarters she searched for Tyler and caught movement in the far right corner. The egotistical jock was clinging to the wall like a child afraid of the dark and Caroline felt something within herself melting towards the newly turned werewolf.

"I brought you a change of clothes. Food and water," Caroline sat down the items and stepped away. She was fully prepared to leave, but remained rooted to her spot when Tyler slithered out of the shadows.

His clothes from the night before were tattered and shredded. He looked like an extra from Michael Jackson's Thriller video. His black, cropped hair stuck out around his head and his obsidian eyes looked far more animated than what Caroline had been expecting. She gulped nervously and wondered if Tyler was all back or if there was still some part of him that remained wolf.

"Thanks," he said hoarsely and reached for the clothes. He grabbed the bottle of water and drank it all in one swallow and then ate the turkey sandwich Caroline prepared in two bites.

Caroline swung her arms back and forth not really sure what appropriate conversation would be. She had to abandon him when Elena called her frantic and hysterical that something was going on with Bonnie. Surely Bonnie would understand that her life and well-being was a little more important to Caroline than sticking around to see Tyler turn into a he-monster.

Tyler for his part felt embarrassed and pissed. He hated being vulnerable and having to rely on someone's pity to help him out. Caroline had shown up on his doorstep saying she wanted to help him resist transforming into a werewolf after "showing" him she had a supernatural secret of her own. That didn't mean he wanted her anywhere near him, nor did it mean he trusted her. Tyler was sure he never said one nice thing about Caroline his entire life, but there she was seemingly out of the blue willing to risk her life to help him.

He was grateful by her presence as well as irritated by it. "You can leave," he deadpanned and stripped what was left of his shirt off.

Caroline's eyes widened in appreciation. Tyler might be a douche but the boy had body for days. He quickly threw on the fresh, clean t-shirt and then flicked his eyes at Caroline as he lowered his ruined cargo pants.

She remained rooted to her spot. One of the perks of being a vampire meant she wasn't bashful about certain things like nudity. If Caroline was just typical human Caroline she probably would have thrown a fit that Tyler would presume to get undressed in front of her like she wanted to see him naked. But this new and improved Caroline didn't shy away from the male physique, and actually had a renewed love for it.

Tyler ruefully shook his head as he thrust his legs into the jeans Caroline confiscated from his room. He zipped the fly and buttoned them all with maintaining eye contact with her.

"Enjoyed the peepshow?" he asked and collected his clothes and trash and stuffed everything into the duffle bag he brought with him.

Caroline snorted and folded her arms over her ample chest. "I've seen better."

"I'll bet."

The two faced each other again. "How do you feel?" Caroline broke down and asked.

Tyler shrugged and shouldered the bag. "I'm glad it's over. It was the most excruciating thing I've ever had to go through," he shook his head. "I'm glad to be alive."

"You're strong, Tyler," Caroline confessed. "You have a strong heart and something tells me that's what you'll need in order to make it through this."

The werewolf pup nodded his head and then waved his hand for Caroline to proceed him out of the underground dwelling.

Once they were above ground, the awkwardness continued to grow between them. "Well," Caroline said cheerily, "I'm glad I could be of service."

"Are you planning on sticking around every full moon for the rest of your life to make sure I don't eat anyone?"

Caroline's face blanched at the thought of being sentence to doing this for life. "I don't think so. Look, I know we've never gotten along and have absolutely no reason to trust one another, but you're someone I've know my entire life, and well, you needed someone with you whether you want to admit that or not. I'm just glad I could be of assistance. So…I'll see you later, Ty."

He inclined his head and watched Caroline walk through the trees. "Caroline!"

She spun around to face him, her blond hair swishing against her neck.

"Tell Bonnie I said she's slick."

Caroline beamed and winked at Tyler. Was this the beginning of a F-ed up relationship?

Mystic Grill was unusually packed tonight. Damon hoped it would provide him with the cover he needed. He knew the she-wolf was around, asking questions about him, probing any and everyone for information on his whereabouts. So far he had been able to elude her, but Damon was sure his luck was running out.

He sat next to Alaric as the two of them tossed back shots and occasionally crowd surfed. Damon looked over his shoulder and grimaced as he watched Stefan try to help Elena improve her darts game. They were so wholesome and domestic it made his stomach gaseous.

Damon turned back around. He checked his pocket to make sure he still had the wolfsbane the only weapon he had against werewolves at the moment.

"Do you think she'll show?" Alaric asked over the cacophony of the room.

"Probably. And when she does," he took the plant out of his pocket to show it to Rick, "I won't hesitate to offer her something to eat."

The history teacher held the neck of his beer bottle between two fingers and stared at Damon. "You really do enjoy living on the edge don't you? That chick-,"

"Jules," Damon supplied him with a name. He was able to learn that from Carol Lockwood who had contacted Damon when Jules showed up asking questions about Mason.

"She doesn't seem the type to be satisfied with slapping you around for a bit. Seriously, Damon aren't you tired of the significant others of the people you kill coming after you?" Alaric had lowered his voice when a few deputies strolled past.

Damon snorted and picked up another shot glass. "I blame you for this lot I've seem to draw."

Rick stared at him aghast. "How are you blaming me for this?"

"Wasn't that your motive in coming here? To take out the vampire that killed your wife?"

That gave Rick pause and he hunched a shoulder. "I don't think we're drunk enough for this conversation."

Damon chortled and then stiffened. He felt some crushing pressure beat against his back, something of which he had never felt before. He swiveled on the stool looking at the entrance and his eyes widened when he saw Bonnie and her dark-eyed devil of a boyfriend come strolling into the establishment.

Whatever surrounded them was strong and beaming like a sonar wave as it fanned out to all corners of the restaurant. Damon covertly looked around and noticed he wasn't the only person to feel the change in the atmosphere. People inclined their heads, craned their necks, trying to sniff out what was coming, what was approaching. Damon couldn't keep his eyes off the both of them—which was odd—but typically it was always the female that drew and held his attention.

Bonnie and Damon in this moment personified the term "power" couple because that's all he felt wafting off them combined. Bonnie's skin was luminescent as if she had kissed an angel and Damon from Fell's Church, looked uber-smug and ridiculously comfortable in his skin.

"Gotdamn," Rick whispered.

Damon sharply looked at his drinking companion. He didn't appreciate the way his eyes were drinking in Bonnie.

"Do I need to report you to the school board for having inappropriate thoughts about a student?" Damon barked.

That seemed to knock some sense into Alaric's head as he diverted his eyes with some difficulty.

Damon's electric blue eyes tracked Bonnie as she made her way over to Elena. The two girls embraced and the minute they pulled away, Bonnie blindly linked her fingers with Damon's.

"You got incoming," Rick told Damon.

The vampire shifted his attention and saw Jules barreling down on him. Damon remained in his seat. This should be amusing.

"We're going to step outside for a minute," Elena told Stefan. She then wrapped her arm around Bonnie and tugged her out of the restaurant and didn't stop walking until they reached the grassy knoll where a few couples were spread out on blankets, star gazing.

"What?" Bonnie asked shyly.

Elena pushed her shoulder. "Don't what me. What's going on with you? Seriously you're broadcasting your happy waves and I'm finding it difficult to remain on my feet. I'm guessing you had a very good night with Damon."

Bonnie tried to keep the smile off her face but it was next to impossible and she gave up trying. "I did. Elena…I don't know why I was fighting him for so long. Fighting the way I was feeling, but something's happened and I finally told him that I love him."

Elena squealed in delight and threw her arms around Bonnie. "You are just on a roll this week. Beating up Katherine, conquering your fear of love," she drew out the word to which Bonnie rolled her eyes. "What's next?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know but whatever it is…I can't wait."

Back inside The Grill, Matt was doing his best to keep the customers happy. Tonight he was doing double duty being a waiter and bus boy. All of his friends seemed to be in attendance and for once he wished he could join them in being young and having no more responsibility than taking out the trash and washing his car, but Matt was all he had and he did what he had to, to support himself.

He saw Stefan and Damon—the cousin from Italy—near the dart boards engaged in a fierce battle that might end up with punches being thrown.

Near the bar he spotted Mr. Saltzman as he tried to blend into the wall while Damon tried to mack on a woman that was new to town.

Caroline was there being her usual social butterfly self yet she shared a look with Tyler who just walked past her on his way to the pool tables that had Matt pulling up short. Those two never looked at one another for any reason.

Bonnie and Elena just walked back into the place, laughing, blushing, and giggling like the girls they were. Matt sighed and cleared off his latest table before disappearing in the back again.

"Why don't we take this to the dance floor," Damon eyed Jules making sure his orbs smoldered at the right temperature. Jules didn't look amused or impressed but did take Damon's outstretched hand.

He led them to the packed floor, swung around, and pulled Jules as close to him as he could stand. There was something slightly revolting being this close to her. She was his enemy and he was working overtime to keep the sneer off his face.

Jules for her part looked just as disgusted to have to hold court with him. But she needed answers, and Damon had been playing Houdini with her long enough. He knew something about Mason, or perhaps was responsible for Mason disappearing off the face of the planet. All she had been able to gather from Carol Lockwood was that Mason sent her a text about returning to Florida. Apparently that hadn't happened as she had been waiting for Mason to return home.

So where was he? And more importantly, who was it that called and told Jules that Mason was dead and to ask to speak with some guy named Damon Salvatore? No matter how long it took, she'd get to the bottom of it.

Damon held her tight around the waist. They did a semi-sensual two step.

"Why did you lie about being Damon Salvatore?" Jules asked point-blank.

He hunched a shoulder and dragged his celestial blues over her body. Jules sighed impatiently. "I have warrants," he smiled. "I had to make sure you weren't 5-0."

Jules snorted derisively. "Cut the playboy act because I'm not interested in sucking your dick."

Damon's dark eyebrows flew into his hairline.

Jules tightened her hold on Damon's hand causing him to wince a tiny bit. She drew him closer so she could whisper in his ear. "I smell what you are, vampire. And guess what, there's a full moon tonight, and the night after that. If you don't produce Mason…well I'm sure you can figure out what I'll do next."

Damon spun Jules out and nearly pulled her arm out of its socket when he tugged her back to him. All humor fled his face and voice. "Threatening me will be a very big mistake on your part, little girl. You want to know what happened to Mason? I'll be sure to grant you a backstage pass to find out and ask him yourself."

When he spun Jules out again and she stopped her momentum, Damon was gone.

The sleek black Mercedes came to a stop on the tarmac. The back passenger door swung open and a polished dress shoe stepped out followed by the other. Elijah looked around the airstrip while buttoning up his blazer. Waiting next to his private jet was a business part of sorts.

"Jonas," Elijah greeted the distinguished middle-aged African American man.

"Elijah," Jonas replied just as succinctly, without a hint of emotion or sentiment.

The ancient vampire sized up his counterpart. "I've been assured the moonstone is safe. Have you made any progress on locating my family?"

Jonas lowered his eyes behind his frameless glasses. "I've been working non-stop. Your brother must have a witch working on his side to keep the location of your family well guarded. A simple locator spell has been rendered useless, but I will keep trying. I give you my word."

Elijah sighed—tiredly. "I know you will. When does Luka start school?"

"Monday," Jonas replied. "And he knows what he has to do. Keep an eye on Bonnie and make sure she doesn't go snooping."

"Good. I can't afford to have Niklaus looking to rehash old wounds. Knowing him he's probably already making his way here."

"And we'll be ready if that happens," Jonas said with certainty.

Elijah nodded his head in approval and clapped Jonas on the shoulder prior to boarding his plane.

Jonas walked back to his parked Range Rover and climbed behind the wheel. He shifted his eyes to his son.

"He doesn't suspect anything, does he?" Luka asked.

Jonas held up a finger to his lips to silence his son and then tapped his ear. Luka got the message that Elijah could probably hear them even over the roar of the plane's engines. He didn't speak again until the plane gunned its way down the tarmac.

"What he doesn't know will probably kill him," Jonas said with lethal cockiness. He threw his truck into drive and headed towards his new home, Mystic Falls.

Chapter end.

A/N: Love you guys!