...
Bonnie's breath left in a shudder, a tension falling away from her that she hadn't known had held her body in its grip. Her legs began shaking, her lips, too. She stood, like a wavering rod, trying to not sway too much as she watched Damon ride away. She couldn't move for a minute or two, maybe more, then she saw him turn around one last time to look at her, tapping against his heart with his hand, maybe a small smile on his face, she wasn't sure, because he was already getting too small against the wide horizon for her to see him properly.
Then he was gone. Bonnie knew that she would probably never see him again, and this time for real. There was no coming back from where he was headed. Despite what she had said, despite what Abby had said, they all knew that a cure would come too late for him. Before they would ever get a chance to give it to him, he would have to deal with the General, with command, with Elena.
Because he had remembered. He had remembered more than he should have, and he had acted on it, and in doing so he had sacrificed his life.
...
...
...
Damon listened. To Bonnie, to Abby, to Klaus, to Elena in his head. So many voices, and none of them his. There was an emptiness in him that neither of them could fill, but then...
Bonnie's face was swimming in front of him, beautiful, honest, unchanged, and he remembered. She had been his friend; all he had ever wanted to do was protect her, save her, and now he would have one more chance. Because there really was a cure, somewhere, somehow. He didn't need to know more, didn't need confirmation; there was still hope, for Bonnie, for others like them, if maybe not for him.
Damon! Elena sounded shrill over the link. You're not honestly considering letting them escape. Not again.
He could feel her distress, her disappointment in him, and her utter confusion about why the reprogramming didn't seem to have worked so well after all. But he ignored her. With an earnest face, he looked from the two Eternals to Bonnie. He had seen her honest concern for both of them, and he still couldn't understand.
"Did you forget how they killed your dad?" It was a cruel question. Of course she hadn't forgotten. But he had to ask, to make sure. The reply he got was a devastating glare. "Then I don't understand why you are with them. Enzo, I get: because you were bonded to him, you couldn't help it. But why this one, too?
He almost nudged the one on the ground again; it was too good to see them suffer. Eternals deserved to feel all the pain of those they had hurt, and more; and he knew he couldn't hurt Enzo, because he didn't want to hurt Bonnie. But then he saw her expression, now pleading and so very upset, and he froze. She actually cared about these people.
"They're not all monsters, Damon. The world isn't just good versus evil, the old you knew that." She stared at him, lips twitching briefly as she was looking for words, for a way into his heart. "These people are my friends. And just like us, they want the war to end. None of them chose to fight. They do it because they were forced to. Like you."
Damon.
It was bizarre, before he felt something shift inside of him, before memory began to properly return - his love for this beautiful girl, his anger over the link, his regret and defeat - he first noticed the change because of Elena's reaction. Her voice inside of him had turned desperate, upset, as if she had known before him that he was lost once more. No, not lost: found. Bonnie had managed to unearth something in him that everyone had thought was gone. But it wasn't. He was still there, and even if probably not for long, he could make it count. Because he believed in Bonnie, if not in everything she believed in. But he believed in her as a person, a winner, someone destined to bring about good.
He listened to her, to Abby, to Klaus, one of his own men, an opportunist and a Bonded. If that man was willing to believe in the cause, then shouldn't he try, too?
So he clenched his teeth, trying to rein in a sudden storm of emotions, then he lowered his gun. Mikaelson shot him a glance, nodding quietly, strangely grateful, and Damon nodded right back. "Alright," he allowed, gaze trained on Bonnie's flickering eyes, and he saw instant relief brighten them.
"Thank you," she breathed, but he shook his head.
"No, thank you, Bonnie. For reminding me of what I always wanted. Of who I am. I hope you'll find that peace out there." He swallowed, the words feeling foreign in his mouth, too heavy. "I can't help you any more, but Klaus and I will try to hold off reinforcements as long as we can. But you need to leave, now."
Bonnie suddenly rushed forward, her arms coming around him, and he gasped slightly before allowing himself to reciprocate it. This was goodbye then, although they didn't say the word, just pulled away quickly again, exchanging a last look, a last smile. Then Damon half stumbled a few steps away, calling out to his remaining soldiers.
"Let's go. Nothing to do here anymore."
"But Sir," one of them started, and he glared at the woman, his brow furrowed, his gaze dark.
"Soldier. You got your orders. Retreat."
When the woman didn't budge, just stared at him uncertainly, he shooed her like a child, raising his weapon at his own people, Klaus mirroring his every move.
"Go go go!" Klaus said, then, turning around, he addressed Bonnie. "I want in on that cure, Bennett. Your Eternal helped Hayley before. Now we returned the favor. Just remember who helped you here today, alright? And come find me when you got that treatment figured out."
Bonnie nodded.
Damon wanted to be as optimistic as that kid, but he already knew he wouldn't ever get to experience life without the bond, and for the first time in forever that thought didn't actually seem so bad...
...
...
When Enzo felt rain pelt down on his skin seemingly out of nowhere, the world suddenly caught back up with him and he sprang into action.
After Tyler had been shot, he had been held at gunpoint, unable to do anything in spite of his weapon, but then Bonnie had worked her magic and now the enemy soldiers were all retreating. He took a deep breath before racing over to where she was already busy assisting her mother with taking care of Tyler.
But when he got close enough, he quickly realized that something wasn't quite alright. Tyler was trying to get up and get away, looking positively panicked, and it didn't take Enzo long to make the connection. The kid didn't trust the doc, because she had once been responsible for doing what had been done to them. Caroline, Abby and Bonnie were trying their best to keep Tyler from getting up, but the more they pressed, the more agitated the kid became, only exacerbating his injury. Until Enzo stepped in.
"Let's just get him into the carriage," Rebekah was just saying, urging them all to get going again. "We can't stay here and we can't deal with his tantrum right now."
"Tantrum?!" Bonnie turned to glare at her, but Enzo laid a calming hand on her shoulder.
Let me deal with her. You just take care of him. - And, Bonnie. Maybe tell your mom to back off a little… He shot her a pointed glance and she finally understood.
…
Tyler stared at Caroline, then Bonnie, wide eyed and panicked, and Abby calmly tried to make him let her take a look at his injured arm that he was now holding half upright, Eternal weapon still attached. Her mom held her arms away from her, trying to show him that she posed no threat, but for some reason the kid was still freaked out.
"Don't touch me," he hissed, and his poor girlfriend tried her best to make him see reason.
"Come on, Tyler. Let the doc help you, please. You're bleeding pretty badly…"
"No, I'm… fine. Get her the hell away from me." His breath came out in labored bursts, and he struggled upward, his weapon threateningly looming up. But strangely, Bonnie was not afraid. Her old emotions, tainted by fear from her horrible memories, suddenly didn't have a hold on her anymore. Because this was not a monster. Just like Enzo, there was just a kid in front of her, turned into something against his will, and the real threat were people like the one her own mother had once been.
"Mom. I got this. Tell me what to do."
Abby briefly looked up and at her daughter, frowning in bewilderment. "Bonnie, I'm in the middle of trying to save his life, I need you to help me restrain him so I can finally take a look at his arm."
But Bonnie shook her head, not budging. "You need to step away, mom."
"Bonnie." Abby's exasperation was evident, and Caroline shot the two of them a desperate look, making her friend sit up straight for a moment.
"Mom. He clearly doesn't trust you," she said, adding under her breath, "He's afraid. Because of what you did."
There was a shocked realization in Abby's face, and she slowly backed away, her hands held away from her body as she stood up, hovering behind her daughter.
"She won't touch you, okay?" Bonnie told Tyler, who stared at her, still breathing too fast, but finally a little calmer.
"We need to get him in the carriage and go," Rebekah hissed over her shoulder, and Bonnie didn't look at her when she answered.
"Not before the bleeding is stopped, we can't." Addressing her mother, she asked, "So, what do I do?"
"He needs to take the weapon off. We need to - you need to take a look at the shot wound. From what I could see I think the bullet is still in there and it's wreaking havoc. We need to get it out."
Bonnie nodded. It sounded simple enough. Except, nothing was simple when it came to shot wounds, and even with her nurse training, she wasn't exactly prepared to go digging in an Eternal's arm.
"Tyler." She tried to sound as calm as possible for his sake, and she was almost surprised to see it work a little. He had turned considerably quieter. In the back of her mind she felt Enzo's presence, and she briefly glanced over to where he was standing by the carriage with Saltzman, making sure the man stayed put while they got ready to go on their way.
"I need you to take off your weapon," Bonnie soothingly explained, and Tyler's breathing picked up again. She and Caroline exchanged a look, and the brunette averted her gaze quicker, sweeping strands of hair out of her boyfriend's face where he lay half on her lap.
"I can't." His words were not much more than a breath, but Bonnie had heard him clearly, and she frowned at him, not sure whether he was being difficult after all.
"You can't?"
"I don't know, it… feels like it's fused to my arm..."
Bonnie gazed over to Abby, a slight panic making her hands shake, and she briefly closed her eyes to force herself to focus.
"That's not good," her mother whispered, and Bonnie couldn't help but glare at her. She needed something a little more helpful than her mom stating the obvious.
"What do we do?"
"You'll have to try and pry it off."
Bonnie grimaced, unwilling to inflict more pain on someone who was holding a deadly weapon so close to her face.
Enzo, I need you here.
What can I do?
She didn't even know why she called out to him over her link, but when she felt his instant presence, she was immediately calmer, more focused, and she bent over her patient, her hands carefully moving toward his weapon.
"I'm going to try and help you, okay?" She smiled down on Tyler, and he gave a weak nod, his pale lips pressed together into a line as he clenched his teeth in anticipation. Right then, Enzo appeared by her side, letting himself fall on his knees, ready to assist.
"She's good at this," he told his fellow Eternal, managing a convincing smile as he gently placed his hands on Tyler's body to hold him down. "Just so you don't accidentally spear us, okay?"
Tyler nodded, then looked away from his injured arm as Bonnie said, "On the count of three."
She hadn't made it past one before she already pulled hard on the metal, but just like Tyler had said, it seemed stuck, the glove-like part almost melted onto the scar on his arm, and all it did was make him yell out in pain, his body bucking and writhing as if of its own accord.
"Stop!" Caroline screamed. "Stop, you're making it worse!"
Bonnie was breathing heavily, feeling herself falter, but Enzo by her side looked so much more concerned under his mask that Bonnie knew she had to pull herself together, that she had to be the strong one for them all, and she knew she could do it. She had to.
"It's not coming off, Tyler," she told him what he already knew, smiling at him as best as she could. Her voice was sonorous and only slightly shaking, for which she was grateful, because she needed them all to believe that she knew what she was doing, and she especially needed Tyler to stay calm.
"Mom, can you get Alaric over here?" she asked, and Abby paused for a moment, confused, but then nodded, understanding.
"Of course. I'll be right back."
Bonnie smiled at Tyler, still holding onto his arm stuck in the weapon so that he didn't have to try and carry the weight.
What's your plan? Enzo asked, not looking at her so as not to give away his sudden concern, and Bonnie equally didn't show they were having a mind communication when she replied.
The damage is pretty severe. We won't be able to get his arm free and if we can't get it out, we can't stop the bleeding. He'll die. We need Alaric to perform his procedure and hope for the best. If he can get the Nanobots to deactivate, then maybe the weapon will come loose.
That's insane. We haven't even tried it out on an uninjured person yet, what if it doesn't work? He said the reason he was so unwilling to try it on me was because it would take weeks. With an injury like this, it's gotta be worse...
Bonnie didn't like the idea, either. The shot was surely similarly deep as Enzo's scar. She would be surprised if it hadn't at least grazed the bone. But she was desperate and she was not willing to let Tyler die. She wasn't willing to let anyone die anymore. This was their only choice.
And maybe, if it worked, there was hope to heal Enzo quicker, too.
You're still worried about me. I'll be fine, Bonnie.
Yeah. I'm just… I felt what the weapon does to you, Enzo. And I don't want that for you. To be honest it terrified me, how good it made me feel through you.
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw his jaw work, and she knew how agitated he was, how guilty he felt.
Don't feel like that. I know it's not by choice, she assured him, but of course words could never be enough.
She looked over to the carriage, getting nervous for her mom to return with Saltzman. The man seemed like the type who worked well under pressure, who excelled in situations like theirs. She really hoped she was right, because they needed it. She felt Caroline's gaze on her and tried to smile reassuringly, but it fell a little short.
"What are you going to do?" the girl asked, sounding so different from her usual confident self that it pained Bonnie.
"Alaric will just have to work his magic and kill those Nanobots and then we'll take care of the rest."
"You think it's gonna work? What if it doesn't?"
Yeah, what if it doesn't?
Enzo shot her a glance, too, and she decided to look down instead of dealing with the two. "You'll be alright," she told Tyler but she noticed that he was starting to drift off, that his body was starting to shake.
"Alaric!" she yelled and he finally appeared, following her mom, their steps on the sludgy ground heavy and hurried. He quickly kneeled down, not caring about his too nice pants getting wet, and laid out his instruments, a bottle of his secret liquid prominent among them.
"Please, do something, but not this." Caroline was sobbing now, and Bonnie tried to get her to look at her.
"Caroline. It's our best chance."
"What if it kills him? Those Nanobots, we don't even know what their function in the human body is. Maybe… maybe they are the only reason they don't succumb to the radioactive metal material inside of them. Maybe he'll die if we kill off the bots—"
"Caroline, stop." Bonnie shook her head, but Caroline wasn't finished yet, and it was probably for the better, because talking kept her from interfering with what Alaric was about to do.
"You can't know that it'll work, Bonnie. What if it was Enzo? You didn't seem so happy when he was about to get the treatment."
"Caroline, if it helps you, I'll have Alaric pour some of his stuff on my arm first, okay?" Enzo suddenly interrupted her and Bonnie shot him a concerned glance that he shrugged off.
Come on, we've been over this, Bonnie. We were willing to risk it, right? So if she needs reassurance—
I'm not arguing. I get it. Do what you have to do, but we gotta do this now! Damon won't be able to hold his people off for long and we need to get going. And I'm not letting Tyler die here.
Okay.
His answer was so short that it startled Bonnie for a moment. His features had softened when she looked at him now, and her shoulders slumped.
"Ric, you got enough to pour a little on my arm first?" he asked out loud, and Alaric gazed over at him puzzled, stopping in the middle of what he was doing. He raised an eyebrow, then broke into a grin.
"Ah, I see. You don't trust me after all. Or, should I say, you don't trust my assessment that the procedure will not do harm, hence you not telling me before that Tyler here is an Eternal just like you. You lured me into this, St. John, into coming on this journey with you. Now, do you honestly think I'd risk my life by administering something that would kill this poor kid?"
Enzo raised his eyebrows. "I don't know. Would you?"
Saltzman lightly chuckled in reply, a sound so out of place in their current situation that it was jarring. Then he quickly picked up his bottle and what looked like a scalpel and beckoned for Enzo to show him his arm, which he carefully did. He had taken off the weapon while talking to his sister earlier and was now ready to unravel the bandage he had put on in its stead. But Alaric jerked his head at him, still a grin on his face. "I'll just need a little access, don't take it off all the way, no need for you to be in complete agony. I know how marvelous - and necessary - those bandages are." He winked, then, when Enzo offered him his wrist, added, "This is gonna be a bit… unpleasant."
He nodded at the small blade, but did not wait for a reply before he swiftly cut into the now visible scar and Enzo sucked in air through his teeth as the sensation raced from there through his whole body in a shockwave. Bonnie was ready to step in, was opening her barriers wide already, allowing his pain to wash over to her so she could share it, ease it, but then, just as suddenly, Alaric poured the liquid and it was almost like a crackling surged through their bodies as he did, a strange sense of turmoil as they all watched the cut part of his scar flicker and dull ever so slightly.
Bonnie held her breath, fear and anticipation nearly rendering her immobile, but then she lifted a hand away from where she had still held Tyler's weapon to gently lay it on Enzo's arm, and her gaze met his.
It's working. Bonnie's amazement was palpable. The feeling had been short, but very sweet, exhilarating, freeing. The procedure was working and there really was hope for them all. Alaric Saltzman was right. Whatever he had done, it took away the pain, and it didn't matter how many treatments Enzo would need, Bonnie was ready and excited to wait through all of them until he was healed. It was working.
But there was no time for dwelling on it, for even thinking about it right now. No time to regret not having started the procedure way earlier. Because Tyler was dying, his body suddenly starting to seize, and Bonnie almost lost her grip on the weapon, making them all gasp out as Alaric leaned away in obvious revulsion.
"You can put your bandage back on," he told Enzo without taking his eyes off the weapon in front of him. "I think I proved that it's not going to kill anyone. Whether it can help the kid, however, I can't say. This was never intended as an actual medical treatment…" His voice had started to shake ever so slightly, and he was looking up to Abby, as if waiting for her agreement, and to Bonnie's surprise, her mother merely smiled down at the man briefly before nodding.
"Thanks for trying, Alaric. It can't get much worse. There is no treatment for cases like this, and he's dying. We gotta hurry…"
"Shall we, then?" he said, trying for a chipper tone again, and despite the situation, Bonnie couldn't help but think he was doing it for her mom's sake. "You might want to get back to holding him down. The weapon, too, please. I don't want to accidentally end up a head shorter…" He tried grinning at Caroline, too, but the girl was only glaring at him, then averting her gaze to look at Bonnie, then Enzo.
"Just… do it. Please. He only did this for me, he can't die now. It was never supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to be him, Enzo. They came for me," she confessed, sobbing, startling the others, making Enzo frown.
"It's alright, Caroline, we'll do what we can, okay? Tyler is strong," he tried telling her, looking helplessly over to Bonnie, not quite understanding.
"No, he isn't. You don't understand. He was never meant to be an Eternal. He wasn't even the right age yet. He just volunteered when they came to cut me, because he knew how much I was afraid, even more so than he was. I didn't want to become one, I hated the prospect with such a passion. When they came to get me, he just walked up to them, offering himself up, so they would spare me, and they really did. I don't even know what he told them to persuade them. But it can't have been good..."
Her voice got swallowed by such harsh desperate sobs that Bonnie felt the urge to wrap her arms around her, but she couldn't. Saltzman was just then pouring the liquid over Tyler's arm, still trapped in the weapon's grip, and they all waited with bated breaths for any kind of reaction.
Please work, she thought, and she could feel her own tension mirrored and multiplied in Enzo. They all needed this to work. Not just because of the obvious, because Tyler was one of them, their friend. But also because it was what they had set out to bring to the people, it was the one thing that they had to offer to make peace happen. It was a weapon as much as it was a cure - if it worked.
...
And it did…
…
They all watched as the liquid frothed up, working its way through. Wherever traces of silvery blood had trickled, the liquid followed, and Saltzman kept slowly pouring. He seemed tense. The rain had plastered his hair to his forehead, strands of it dripping before his eyes, but he didn't have a hand free to push them out of his face.
"There's an electromagnetic component in here," he explained, clearly as a way of relieving stress, and Bonnie and Enzo glanced at each other briefly, noting everything the man was willing to spill about his secret.
Caroline absently nodded, stroking Tyler's now calm looking face. He had lost consciousness before the procedure and was hopefully not feeling any discomfort for the time being, but of course they couldn't be sure.
"Can we get him into the carriage now, we really need to leave," Rebekah urged when they were still just sitting there, waiting, and she had lost patience. It was too dangerous to stay. They were sitting ducks there, out in the open, and the cold rain could easily give them hypothermia if they weren't careful.
She was relieved when Alaric finally turned to nod at her and she and Marcel quickly moved over to help them all move Tyler into the carriage. Rebekah caught a glance of Bonnie still holding the weapon, and she took the other girl's arm briefly to nod at her hands, a sudden worry washing over her.
"Let me take care of that. You'll want to clean your hands. Maybe Alaric will even let you use some of his concoction." She indicated the tiny traces of silver Tyler's blood had left on Bonnie's skin and grimaced as she saw her brother's partner look at her with genuine shock. Whatever she may have thought about their weird connection, she had seen for herself how good Bonnie was for her brother, how naturally they behaved around each other, and in all the years - even before he was turned into an Eternal, she had never seen Enzo so calm and almost at peace as he was with Bonnie by his side.
If Abby's case really was anything to go by, they should be careful, at least if they wanted to keep their bond alive, and Rebekah for one, was hoping they did.
Bonnie rasped out a quick thanks as Rebekah took the weapon out of her hands and quickly moved to rub her hands with the last remains of slush on the ground. She left her to it, following the others to the carriage, making sure the rest went swiftly now.
When she saw that Enzo, Caroline and Alaric had placed Tyler on the floor of the carriage, she stepped over to him, grabbing his shoulder briefly, whispering, "Go check on Bonnie. She didn't wear gloves when dealing with this…" She jerked her head in the direction of the weapon, then the injured Eternal, and Enzo made a face at her, nodding a quiet 'thanks,' before he left her there. "You gotta get her over here. Now."
With that, she got ready to sit on the small bench in the front, where Marcel had already taken a seat, ready to steer the horses away as soon as Bonnie and Enzo were back.
Rebekah tried to smile at her boyfriend briefly, a small smile, which he returned, and she allowed herself to lean against him for just a moment. "When this is over," she whispered, "will you go to the mountains with me? Maybe we can find some peace there, far away from everything…"
"I'll go anywhere with you, Rebekah St. John."
…
"Bonnie." Enzo called out to her, worry marring his features when he eventually appeared in front of her. "You okay?"
He noticed how vigorously she was scrubbing her hands and he gently but firmly stilled her movements, making her look at him. Distress was apparent in her face, and he smiled at her briefly before his frown took over.
"What is it?"
"I got his blood on me."
He nodded, gently rubbing over her hands, even when she tried to pull them away. "It'll be fine, Bonnie. Your mom dealt with the metal for years before it affected her. We can be more careful from now on…"
"I know. It's just… Is it weird that I realized just how much I want to keep this bond? I know we haven't really had time to talk about it properly, and of course we'll have to make that decision together, but—"
"I don't want to give it up either," he finished for her, his smile back, stronger, and finally, she smiled, too, leaning against him when the stress of the last few minutes finally caught up with her and she took a shuddering breath, fisting his drenched clothes with her fingers so desperately as if she was afraid he might just vanish.
"I can't let you go anymore, Enzo," she breathed, and felt him chuckle against her.
"Well, lucky me," he whispered back. "Because I don't want you to let me go, either."
When she slowly emerged back up to stare at him, her frown reappeared as she took him in, noticing the blood on his temple that the rain had washed down the side of his face, and her fingers moved up to touch him, when he took her wrist, shaking his head.
"Just a scratch. I'll be fine," he muttered, and she desperately had to believe it. "Let's go, love. Tyler still needs you. I know your mom would not hurt him, but if he wakes up, I'd rather it be you he sees than her. Let's just make sure you don't touch his blood anymore…"
"My mom probably has extra gloves…"
He nodded at her, then they finally got going, Enzo holding Bonnie against him in a sideways hug, trying to keep her warm in the cold rain.
I love you, Bonnie. Bond or no bond, it's not gonna change anything now.
She looked up to him briefly, her hair all wet streaks around her head, and she smiled at him. I love you.
…
