A/N: *clears throat* THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE OUTPOURING OF LOVE! It was truly unexpected and it really did lift my spirits back up and as a result my love for this story has been renewed, as evidence by this update. You guys are my ride or die posse and I wouldn't have it any other way. I was soooo ready to throw in the Bamon towel and go riding off into the sunset to explore another pairing for Bonnie, but I can't. You know you're in deep when you keep wanting to call your nephew Stefan or Damon lol. Here is the latest. Enjoy!

Special note: For those who follow Don't Ask Don't Tell and The Good Girl I will try to update sometime before this month is over lol. I promise.

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

An expensive pair of kicks paced back and forth across a hardwood floor. An olive toned hand raked through short cropped midnight hair furiously.

"It didn't work!" Tyler seethed into his cell phone.

The voice on the other end replied, "What do you mean it didn't work? What happened?"

Shaking his head back and forth Tyler wasn't in the mood to recant how eight werewolves were managed to be done in by a single black female. He paused to look out the window, stared at the clouds rolling lazily by a crescent moon. Next week was the full moon cycle. He was already feeling on edge, tense, and irritable. Tonight had been a total failure which certainly didn't help his mood. His anger and feelings of injustice had led him to this moment, chased with his fear of being discovered, Tyler Lockwood felt like a sitting duck and a ticking time bomb.

He gripped his cell phone tighter in his hands. Any tighter and it might burst into pieces. "You promised me that your spell would work. That the wolves would be able to get the jump on the Salvatore's and rip them to pieces. You didn't deliver! They're still alive and if they find out I was the one behind tonight's attack, I'm fucked!"

Tyler was met with silence which served to further tick him off. "Hello!" he barked.

"You need to calm yourself down. I did what you paid me to do. I upheld my end of the bargain. Sorry if things didn't work out in your favor. Did they have help?"

Yes, they did but Tyler wasn't going to bring Bonnie into the middle of this anymore than she already was. He understood her part in what happened to Mason, and though she may have been an indirect cause in his uncle's death, she certainly hadn't been the one to kill him.

"I don't know," Tyler hedged.

His denial was followed up with taunting laughter. "Lying doesn't become you, Mr. Lockwood. You don't have to protect her. I know all about the witch."

Tyler zipped his lips. When he concocted this whole plan he left Bonnie out of it. He would deal with her in his own way. Besides, it was hard to kill someone you've known your entire life like they're a stranger on the street. He figured with Damon and Stefan out of the picture, Tyler wouldn't have to worry about looking over his shoulder for the duration of his time in Mystic Falls, and he'd be able to get retribution for Mason. He could in essence kill several birds with one stone. Damon and Stefan would be dead—dead and Bonnie would be without her boyfriend. Sure he hadn't been doing this simply for Mason, but for everyone else Damon and Stefan killed.

"She has nothing to do with this," Tyler said. "The plan didn't work and now I'm back at square one and if those leeches figure out I'm behind it, they could make good on their promise to take out me and my mom."

"I don't know what to tell you, Tyler other than the fact you should have had a better plan. With a witch protecting them, one who is hella powerful by the way, did you really think anything other than total disaster would happen? I did what you paid me to do. Sorry things didn't work in your favor. My advice to you is to lay low. If you come up with a better plan and another two grand, I might consider helping you again. Until said times arrives, don't ever call this number again."

Click.

He was met with the dial tone. Tyler pulled his phone from his ear, stared at it for a second before throwing it at the wall.

Tyler took a seat on the edge of his bed. There had been a purpose to him going to Florida over the summer. He wanted answers. Finding Mason's motley crew of friends had been his number one priority and he stumbled upon a few surfers who were close to Mason, but they didn't turn out to be wolves. On his last and final night, he met the only wolf to survive the surprise attack on Damon and Bonnie at the boardinghouse. Carleigh.

Carleigh had been sure the vampire that Brady nipped before he jumped over the ravine would have met his end, but Tyler quickly burst her bubble and told her that somehow, someway Damon still lived. Carleigh had been livid upon hearing the news and then began to form a new ironclad plan.

But Tyler learned some invaluable information; a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. Good to know.

It had been Carleigh's idea to bring in a witch who could increase the strength of her pack since they were going up against vampires who were close to two hundred years old. Carleigh provided the witch, Tyler supplied the payment.

Several times he questioned the intelligence of his decision and wondered if he were doing the right thing. But any time he saw Damon strolling around his house for his bi-weekly Council meeting like he owned the place, it renewed his determination. He wanted Damon out of his life, although the vampire hadn't made a move to strike against him. Still, it was hard being forced to sometimes hold court with the man responsible for his uncle's death.

He had been in the woods tonight to make sure things went according to plan. Tyler kept himself at a distance and watched the drama unfold. Things were swaying in the wolves favor until Bonnie was unleashed and everything went to hell in a hand basket.

Tyler couldn't explain what it was his eyes saw. He saw Bonnie, tending to Stefan, and could hear her yelling for Carleigh not to kill Damon and the next, Stefan was off breaking bones and severing heads and Bonnie muttered one word and any werewolf standing in her kill zone dropped to their knees, dead.

Tyler had been absolutely and positively floored!

He had no idea what to do. Should he flee? Should he enter the picture and try to finish what had been sat in motion months ago? Should he pretend he saw the wreck and came to lend a hand and act like he had no idea what was going on? Tyler was rooted to the spot with a sever case of indecision. All he knew was that he couldn't expose his part in what happened tonight.

He booked.

Later that same night, he returned but the evidence of the earlier attack had been turned to burning rubble. Tyler stared in incredulity.

Lesson learned, let sleeping dogs lie. Yet this question began to fester within Tyler…

Just how powerful was Bonnie Bennett?


Greta hung up her phone and pocketed her cell the minute her bedroom door opened. She offered her brother a beguiling smile, but he knew her too well to buy into it.

"Who were you talking to just now?" Luka queried.

"Just finishing up some earlier business."

Folding his arms over his chest, Luka stared at his sister. "What are you really up to, Greta?"

The witch in question rolled her eyes. "You're acting just like dad, Luk, always thinking the worst of me. I'm here for a good cause, or at least I think it's a good cause. I'm sorry if you and dad can't accept that."

Luka wanted to believe that was her real reason for being here, but he knew better. There was no telling who Greta might have ran with, befriended, or bedded since taking off into the night.

"I'm going to bed," he told her. "Do you want to go to breakfast tomorrow?"

"At the lone restaurant in town?" she grinned. "I heard it's all the rage here, being it's the only restaurant in town."

Luka shook his head. "It's not the only restaurant in town. Good night, Gilly Bean."

"Night, Luka. And don't forget…always keep salt next to your bed."


Elena jumped to high heaven when she reentered her room after sneaking off to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Slapping a hand on her chest in a knee jerk reaction to seeing a dark figure loitering on her bed, Elena turned on the light.

"Turn it off," Stefan said in a guttural voice.

"Stefan?" Elena turned the light off and crossed over to her boyfriend. In the darkness of the room she couldn't make out his features, but in the glimpse she got of him, Stefan was in bad shape. She sat down next to him. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Stefan's head shifted only infinitesimally in her direction. He was still wearing his bloodied and torn clothing from earlier tonight. He didn't want the light on because the whites of his eyes were black and his fangs had yet to recede into his gums. For some reason he couldn't "turn off" his vampire face to save his life. Two hours had passed since he was nearly decapitated in the woods, two hours since he snapped and twisted bones into dust, two hours since Bonnie's delicious erection inducing blood flowed in his mouth.

Just thinking of her heady blood made Stefan want to tear something apart. He shouldn't be here. Close to Elena and her warm skin and enticing scent. But he couldn't go home because Bonnie was there providing an even bigger temptation. How Damon hadn't drained her dry was a miracle.

"We were attacked," he finally said, his words slurring a bit because of his fangs.

Ice flowed through Elena's veins. Something was seriously wrong with her boyfriend. She knew that instantly. You don't date a vampire and not recognize the signs of one who was ready to go off. Very tentatively she reached for his hand, but Stefan pulled out of reach.

"By whom?" she asked despite the sting his rebuff caused.

"Werewolves. They came out nowhere. Friends of Mason's. Wanted revenge. Almost got it, but…Bonnie…"

"Bonnie was there!"

"She's okay. She saved my life," and condemned me at the same time Stefan wanted to add, but didn't.

"Just tell me what happened to you, Stefan. You're shaking."

I'm shaking because I'm restraining myself. I want to rip into your skin, feed on your blood until you shrivel up and die!

That was the ripper, blood fiend talking. Stefan replied. "I shouldn't be here."

Elena made a move to wrap her arms around him, but having anticipated the action, Stefan flew across the room and braced his back up against the corner of the wall.

Gasping, Elena rose from the bed. Her hand found its way back to her neck and that's when she noticed she wasn't wearing…

"My necklace," she whispered. She had taken it off before getting in the shower like she did every night, and like every night she placed it back on before climbing into bed. She didn't do that tonight.

Stefan heard what she whispered. Elena couldn't see it, but he was smiling—evilly. He took a step forward, his boot making the floorboard creak. Stefan dragged his tongue across his bottom lip getting himself ready. Elena could see him becoming a giant mass of danger heading straight for her. When Stefan crossed into the sliver of moonlight that shone into the room through the bay window, Elena caught a glimpse of his face.

She held out a hand in warning. "Stay back, Stefan. This isn't you."

"All I need is one taste," Stefan said in a voice that was deceptively too calm.

Just as Stefan was preparing to lunge for her, and Elena was getting ready to scream, something crashed through her window and intercepted Stefan. There was a scuffle that her poor human eyes couldn't make out. All she saw were two dark shadows tussling on the floor, followed by the sounds of grunting, ungentlemanly cursing, and then finally a howl of pain so fierce that Elena covered her ears.

One dark figure rose while the other remained subdued on the floor.

"Well, I think that should take care of it."

At that, Elena snapped on her light at the same time her bedroom door burst open. Alaric, armed with his crossbow, and Jeremy with a…boot, Elena frowned, they observed the scene in front of them. Stefan lay sprawled on the floor, Damon stood poised over him.

Jenna was approaching, but Alaric quickly passed his crossbow to Jeremy to hide it from view, and then blocked the way.

"What the hell is going on?!" She questioned and tried to maneuver around RIc but he wasn't budging.

"A tree branch somehow came through the window," Ric lied and then nodded at Damon to get him and his brother out of here.

"A tree branch, really, Ric?" Jenna finally shoved her way inside and expected to see…well she wasn't sure but she was pretty damn sure that a tree branch didn't curse like a sailor. However, she skittered to a stop when sure enough there was a tree branch lying in the middle of Elena's bedroom.

Her eyes flicked up to her niece in disbelief.

"How did that happen?"


Damon manhandled Stefan all the way to the boardinghouse. It wasn't really necessary considering he snapped his brother's neck, but he only remained unconscious for half of the trip home.

"I'm not going inside, Damon," the younger Salvatore protested. "Bonnie's in there. If I see her I might kill her."

Sighing loudly, Damon narrowed his eyes. "Try it and I'll kill you. She's not here. She's with Caroline. Get in the house, Stefan."

"I can hear her heart beating."

"That's your heart, you fool. You're supped up on adrenaline. Now," Damon caught Stefan by the back of his shirt and promptly shoved him upstairs, told him to take a shower, and then to sleep it off.

Dragging a hand across his face, Damon paraded over to the wet bar. Once again too many events happened all at once that he had no idea where to start to place things in order of importance. He could certainly pat himself on the back on getting to Elena's on time, and stopping his brother from turning her into a late-night snack. In fact he shouldn't have allowed Stefan to wonder off after Caroline came to pick Bonnie up while they made quick work of getting rid of those bodies by setting them on fire. The scent of burning wolf nearly singed all of his nose hairs and Damon wanted nothing else but a shower and his girlfriend. But naturally he had to go save his brother from imminent disaster.

Damon never paid that much attention to Stefan's blood drinking schedule. After he learned that Elena had been breast-feeding Stefan for lack of a better phrase, Damon left him to it and figured Stefan had everything under control. Apparently that wasn't the case if he lost his mind after getting a hit of Bonnie's blood.

Yet could Damon really blame him? Bonnie's blood was like drinking from a unicorn. It was hypnotic, the flavor extraordinarily hard to find in any other living specimen on the planet, and it was spiced with her power. Stefan probably felt as if he had been pumped full of gamma radiation. He should probably check on him to make sure he wasn't attempting squeeze his frame into a pair of purple cutoff shorts.

Checking the time, Damon held off on calling Bonnie. He'd call her in the morning and then head over to Caroline's to pick her up and drive her to school, that is, if she were in the mood to go.

He remembered how she reacted the last time they battled werewolves and they had that amazing heart-to-heart. Bonnie hadn't wanted to kill, she had been driven to kill, and she despised herself for it.

Sitting down in his favorite chair, Damon crossed his legs, held his tumbler of brandy in one hand, while the other propped up his chin.

Bonnie had done something Damon never thought he'd ever see her do. She single-handedly took down six werewolves with a single word. She made their hearts plop out of their chests in the same fashion someone would flick dust from beneath their fingernails. Part of him was impressed with her skill and talent, while another more base part of him—probably the part of him that fueled his self-preservation—was a little terrified of what she could be capable of.

Taking a sip of his drink, Damon replayed that scene over and over in his mind.

His musings were interrupted when the door to his house blew open and a whirlwind by the name of Elena Gilbert rushed inside.

"Where is he?"

Damon was standing in front of her barring the way. "You shouldn't be here right now, Elena. He's not stable."

Her whiskey-colored eyes stared at him beseechingly. "What happened to him, Damon? He said he was attacked by werewolves and that Bonnie saved him. Did he have blood? Did he drink her blood?"

"Yes," Damon stated matter-of-fact, "and because of that he's barely holding himself together. That's why it's not safe for you to be here right now. Go home."

Elena stubbornly shook her head. "No, I need to stay. I need to be here with him."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Chick, do you have a death wish?" he bit out through clenched teeth. "My brother is high as fuck right now and he'll confuse you with an all-you-can-eat buffet if he lays eyes on you. Now spare me from having to go after Alaric, Jeremy, and Jenna if they come after me because I couldn't stop my brother from killing you. Go home, Elena."

Pressing her lips together out of frustration and concern, Elena finally noticed how disheveled and bloody Damon was as well.

"Is Bonnie okay? Are you okay?"

Damon nodded. "We're all fine." He lightly gripped Elena's elbow and directed her back to the front door. He opened it and gently pushed her outside. "I'll let Stefan know you stopped by and that your blind love for him nearly ended in a Shakespearian tragedy. Be careful driving home, Elena."

He closed the door in her face, blew out a breath of hot air and bounded up the stairs. He made his way to Stefan's room, opened the door, only to find nary a trace of his brother. The double doors leading to the balcony were wide open.

"Crap," Damon muttered.


Unable to sleep, Bonnie snuck out of the Forbes residence and sat out on the front porch. Every time she closed her eyes she saw nothing but blood, guts, and hearts. She saw herself as some flame in the night killing any and everything that displeased her. She saw herself standing on a pile of bodies, her kingdom of corpses.

She couldn't take it.

The night breeze chilled her skin, made her feel numb. Bonnie didn't want to go down this road again. She didn't want to use her powers for this, for taking lives. She was sure that wasn't the purpose or design of magic but that was how she chose to use it. Bonnie could have done a number of things, but they simply weren't good enough. Damon had been in danger, Stefan had been slowly bleeding to death, although she wasn't sure a vampire could bleed to death, and she knew she would be killed the minute the Salvatore's were dead. Her options had seemed severely limited so Bonnie did the spell she attempted to pull on Sage only last night.

Like a double-edged sword she had been fortunately and unfortunately successful.

A lone tear streaked down her cheek. A foreign hand wiped it away.

Bonnie jumped and sighed when she saw who was sitting next to her.

"I've been looking for you all night, cara?" he continued when she didn't respond. "What happened tonight?"

Bonnie shook her head. She didn't want to speak out loud what she did. It was too horrible.

Damon kept his gaze locked on the withdrawn expression on Bonnie's face. "Would it have anything to do with what happened in the woods tonight?"

"You were there?"

Her question sounded almost accusatory. Damon shook his head. "No, I happened to be passing through and by the time I arrived, there was nothing but the charred remains of… something," Damon's eyes dropped to Bonnie's hands. Her knuckles were covered with bruises. He checked her face again and saw numerous cuts and abrasions. "Tell me, what happened?"

Bonnie opened up and told him everything, starting from the time she left Elijah's up until now. Damon listened intently, heard the tremble in her voice as she explained in vivid detail what lengths she had to go to in order to stop the gang of werewolves from killing her boyfriend.

He hadn't been around when she was in danger, which happened to be a first. If they still had their link he would have sensed her in distress, but all he got was a vague impression that something was wrong. It was the "what" he couldn't answer.

Feeling impotent, Damon wasn't accustomed to that at all and he hated it. But he pushed that to the back of his mind. He could see Bonnie's physical scars but he knew it was the emotional and mental ones he needed to be worried about. He carefully wrapped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her lithe frame closer.

More tears fell down her face as she rested her cheek on his chest. "I didn't want to do it, Damon. I didn't want to."

"You did what you had to, to survive."

"Why does it always have to come down to that? I could have found another way."

"And even if you spared them tonight, Bonnie, what would have stopped them from coming after you another night? Hopefully now, the cycle is over since the message is clear. You are not one to be trifled with. But they were moronic for trying in the first place if they sensed you were a witch."

"I don't want to justify what I did. They were still people…"

Damon placed his finger on her lips to silence her. "They were out for blood, take theirs before they take yours. That's the supernatural creed."

Bonnie pulled his hand away from her lips. "Are you trying to make me feeling better? Because it's not working."

The rumble in his chest as he chuckled soothed Bonnie, and she enjoyed his closeness for a second before puling away and wiping her face free of tears with the back of her hand.

"I could have helped you," Damon reminded her. "If we still had our link…perhaps, no I know I would have been there in an instant to lend a helping hand."

"If," Bonnie snorted. "This night has been filled with nothing but ifs. But tonight ended with six less people on the earth and I'm the cause of it. How am I going to get past this?"

"The only way you know how, cara, one day at a time. I'm here. You know that."

Bonnie didn't dispute that, merely nodded her head. Her eyes closed when Damon pressed his lips to her forehead. They sat in silence for a minute longer, his arm around her, her cheek on his chest.

"I need to head back in and try to get some sleep. Thank you for checking up on me, Damon."

He smiled and watched as she rose from the porch and walked back in the house.


Zombies. That's how three different individuals felt as they walked along the halls of Mystic Falls High. Tyler kept anticipating being ambushed. Bonnie was trying her best not to see dead bodies any time she stared at the floor for longer than a second, and Stefan, he tried to fall back into his routine after a week-long intense blood detox program compliments of Dr. Damon. He made it exactly fifteen minutes being on campus before freaking and bolting.

Elena was beside herself with worrying and no matter how many times she pestered Damon to allow her to see or speak to Stefan for just a few minutes, he always denied her request. She didn't know what to do, couldn't handle being in the dark knowing he was suffering through another bout of uncontrollable blood lust. On the flipside to everything she was trying not to blame Bonnie for what she unintentionally unleashed in Stefan by saving his life by giving him blood. She had done the right thing. It wasn't Bonnie's fault that Stefan couldn't control his impulses.

For so long Elena had lived in the guise that Stefan had finally conquered his battle with blood, and could handle it like any normal vampire, if such a creature existed. This minor setback only proved they still had a ways to go.

And she would remain by his side throughout it all because she loved him just that much. His pain was her pain, his happiness was her happiness, and that was how she was going to write this story.

Exchanging her books in her locker, something fell and Bonnie dropped to the floor to pick it up, only someone else beat her to the punch. She looked up and came face to face with Luka Martin. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him. Probably the night they were on that rooftop lacerating her telepathic connection to Fell's Church Damon.

"Hey, you drop this," Luka said unnecessarily as he handed Bonnie a small notepad.

Their fingers brushed as she intercepted it and she caught a vision. Her eyes became opaque for only a second before Bonnie blinked rapidly and jolted up to her feet. Luka felt the exchange and had no clue what Bonnie may have potentially seen. He nervously looked down both ends of the hallway which were crowded thankfully.

"Thanks," Bonnie replied and tried her best to smile through the awkwardness. "I should get to class."

"Yeah, me, too. See ya."

Bonnie said nothing as Luka shuffled off to his next class. Closing her locker, Bonnie bit her bottom lip. The bell sounded and she made her way to class heading down the opposite end of the hall. That didn't stop her from looking over her shoulder trying to spot Luka in the crowd.

He knew Elijah?

Next she found Elena waiting for her at the end of the hall hugging her books to her chest. "Hey, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed.

Elena steered them to the library although they should have been making their way to Calculus. Bonnie followed until they reached the historical stacks. Elena spun around and faced her friend.

"Elena, what's going on?"

"Stefan is a mess," the raven-haired girl began without preamble. "You have to help him."

"Come again?"

Elena ran a hand through her hair. "Ever since the night you all," she lowered her voice, "had that altercation with those werewolves and you fed him his blood, Stefan has barely been hanging on. Damon's doing the best that he can, but his hands are tied. There's gotta be some spell or something that can fix this."

Bonnie stood and stared at her friend but listened to the words Elena didn't say. She was essentially blaming her for Stefan's condition, which she was deeply sorry about, but nothing would get Bonnie to change the decision she made to save his life. Bonnie understood that Elena wanted to go back to her my-life-is-perfect stage but those days were slowly going to be outnumbered because Bonnie had yet to tell Elena what her part might be in the supernatural scheme of things.

Worrying herself to death over Stefan's blood co-dependency problems would have to take a backseat to maybe being used as a surrogate mom for a supreme supernatural entity.

"What do you expect me to do, Elena? I can't help Stefan rein in something that's innate in him. I can't bind him the way I'm able to bind another witch from using…" and that's when an idea struck Bonnie.

"What?" Elena asked hopefully.

"Maybe…if I could get inside his head I might be able to block the part of him that craves blood—relentlessly."

DBBDBD

"Are you crazy?" was the first thing to come out of Damon's mouth after listening to Bonnie's ingenious plan to help Stefan. "Do you even know how to pull something like that off, if it's even possible? Look, I know you like the X-Men and all but you're not Professor Xavier."

Sitting on an ottoman, Bonnie stared up at Damon. "Have a little faith in me, Damon that I'm not completely incompetent. You saw what I did the other night."

"Yeah, I saw and…no. It's too dangerous. Something could happen to you. You might get trapped inside his mind, or he might get lost in yours. I know I've teased Stefan about being a girl, but come on. Have you thought of any that?"

"Yes," Bonnie rose to her feet and approached Damon. "I've tried to think of every variable. You're exhausting yourself in trying to keep tabs on Stefan. My blood should have run its course through him, but he's still grappling with controlling his impulses, right?"

Damon didn't want to admit to that, but he nodded.

"This could work."

"Or it could backfire," he rubbed her arm. "I think you're still too raw from the other night to try to do something like this."

Bonnie pulled away and put the entire library between them. She walked over to the window and peered out. "I'm fine."

Damon snorted. "No, you're not. You haven't even talked to me about it and I keep asking you…"

Bonnie spun to face him, "And maybe you should have taken that as a hint that I'm over it and to move on to something else."

"You can't fool me, Bonnie. I know you. You still think about it everyday. You toss and turn in your sleep. You shy away when I try to hold you, hug you, kiss you. I have enough to deal with in keeping Stefan from eating everyone in sight, the last thing I need is my girlfriend going off her rocker because she refuses to deal with the fact she killed."

Bonnie stiffened and looked down.

"There I said it. I made it real. You killed, Bonnie. You did what was necessary and you saved our asses. There's nothing wrong with that."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Bonnie exploded and the drapes on the window caught on fire. Bonnie and Damon glowered at one another until Bonnie turned away and watched the fire engulf the blood-red drapes for a minute before putting the fire out.

"Do you feel better?" Damon asked quietly.

"No, I don't, Damon. I'm not like you. I can't just…kill something sweep it under the rug and go whistling off into the sunset. You want to know what that she-wolf said to me that I can't get out of my mind? She said that whenever a vampire or a witch makes a choice, someone else suffers, and she was right, Damon, she was absolutely right. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but they were going to kill you. They were going to bite you and I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing you die again. So I killed them."

While she was busy talking and purging her feelings, Damon was approaching her.

"I did it without hesitating. I didn't care if they had families, wives, husbands, or children. I wanted them dead," her words were mumbled now that her face was pressed into his chest. "Something is wrong with me if I could want another person dead in cold blood."

"Nothing is wrong with you," Damon instantly refuted. "You are perfect just the way you are. Imagine if you had done nothing. I wouldn't be standing here. Someone would be flossing Stefan out their teeth right at this moment."

Although she wasn't in the mood to laugh, Bonnie chortled. A tiny bit.

"If you hadn't killed them, I would have. And I probably wouldn't have stopped with just their deaths. I'm not saying don't feel bad or guilty for having to resort to killing, but they weren't going to stop coming after us until we were dead. Would you have preferred if I died that night?"

"No."

"Then that's all the justification you need to get through this. We would have been separated for life, Bonnie."

White-hot pain carved through Bonnie at the thought of never spending another moment with Damon.

"I can't lose you," she whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere," Damon told her and kissed the crown of her head, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

Bonnie snorted, and leaned back to look up into his oceanic eyes. "I thought you were giving me space to figure something's out in my head."

Damon's eyes widened. "I changed my mind. I want you all to myself."

"I'm glad you do."

Bonnie stretched on her toes at the same time Damon lowered his head. Their lips met into a mutual collision and this time Bonnie didn't see dead bodies littering the ground as she kissed him.

As the minutes ticked off the clock, Bonnie ended the kiss. "I have an errand to run so I'll be back later," she said and then stepped out of Damon's arms.

He pouted. "Okay. Are you still going to attempt to invade Stefan's mind?"

"She won't have, too," Stefan interjected. Two pairs of eyes looked up at him. Stefan made his way down the short flight of steps in the library. "I paid a visit to Elijah. He compelled me to forget my hunger."

"Taking the easy way out," Damon complained. "You should have worked your way through it like a real man, Stefan."

"Damon," Bonnie reproached.

Stefan dropped his eyes to his boots momentarily. Bonnie saw nothing but regret lined on his face. The old Stefan was back.

"Its okay, Bonnie," Stefan stared at her poignantly. "He's right. I took the easy way out only because I couldn't stand another minute being away from Elena. I almost attacked her, and I never would have forgiven myself if I had. What I did was bad enough."

"Elena doesn't care about that. Her only concern is getting you the help you need."

"And that's what I did, Bonnie. So I'm good," the apologetic vampire cast his eyes on his brother who looked at him with severe disapproval lining his eyes the color of ice.

Bonnie and Damon watched as Stefan left the library. Damon didn't believe for one second everything would be all honky-dory just because Elijah compelled him. He would still continue to keep his eye on his brother. Bonnie was thinking it was time she question her uncle and his connection to the Martin's. What she saw in her vision came hurtling back to her, but first there was that stop she needed to make.

"I'll be back tonight," Bonnie reminded Damon and kissed him on the cheek.

He watched her leave and then finally noticed the smell of burnt linen. Great, now he had yet another project to work on. Just call him a vampire housewife.


Mystic Falls Cemetery

"Hi, Grams," Bonnie brushed the leaves that covered Sheila Bennett's headstone. Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Bonnie traced the engraved letters with her finger. "I know I promised to visit more often and there's no excuse why I haven't been by since your birthday." Pause. "Have you ever gotten to a point where you feel like your life is spinning out of control and you don't know how to stop it?"

Bonnie twiddled with her fingernails unable to voice what she came here to say. Her confession got lodged on the roof of her mouth; her heart began pounding, but Bonnie knew the pressure that was bearing down on the center of her chest would be relieved if she just admitted the truth.

"I liked it, Grams. I liked being able to wield that much power. It was…" a spontaneous smile burst across her face which lasted for three seconds, "I felt like I could do anything. Literally anything I wanted."

A far away look came to Bonnie's pea green eyes. "I didn't like feeling drained so much afterwards, but the rush…I shouldn't feel that way. I'm going to hell, aren't I?"

There was no response. The wind didn't even blow.

"I've asked myself this question every morning since it happened: am I changing for the better or the worst? Honestly I have no answer, but that feeling Grams…I feel like its part of my soul now. And I've been fighting not to tamper with something darker. How do I stop before it gets out of control? Who can I talk to about this?"

Again there was no answer. But the wind did blow and annoyingly Grams' headstone was covered with leaves once more. As Bonnie made a move to brush them aside, all of the words were covered save one:

"Mother," Bonnie said aloud and then the connection snapped in her brain. "My mother?"

Instantly getting to her feet, Bonnie stared down at the headstone, she was a little spooked and ready to leave. "I'll be back, Grams. I miss you. I love you."

Strolling away from her grandmother and taking the path back to her car, Bonnie stopped when she spotted Jonas Martin and an older woman with stark white hair cut in a cute pixie style seemingly waiting for her.

She slowed her steps. The last time she was here Katherine Pierce showed up. What was with her and this cemetery, Bonnie thought.

"Dr. Martin, hello."

"Hello, Bonnie. Sorry to interrupt but I need a moment of your time."

"For?"

"A proposition," the woman replied. "Pleased to meet you, Bonnie. I'm Gloria, and a fellow practitioner of the arts."

"Hi," Bonnie replied only to be polite. "What kind of proposition are you talking about?" Bonnie looked to Dr. Martin for the answer.

"For centuries our kind has been in the servitude of vampires. They've decimated entire bloodlines in a single act of revenge; have turned us into slaves where we no longer answer to nature and the balance, but nature's abominations."

"And it's time we turn things around, Bonnie. It's time we take back what's rightfully ours," urged Gloria. "We are the lawmakers, the top of the supernatural hierarchy and its time we remind them of their place. You think you might have it good now, but things can change in the blink of an eye," the white-hair witch snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. "But just see what happens when you fail to produce for them one time. Vampires have never been, and will never be a friend to us. No matter how much they may pretend to revere and respect us. We're collateral damage."

"Not for everyone it isn't."

"You're right," Jonas concurred. "Unfortunately they are the exception not the rule."

Gloria added, "Join us. And we can make the world over the way it was intended to be."

Bonnie folded her arms over her chest. "And if I don't?"

"Then that means you're with them," Dr. Martin deadpanned.

"I'm not with anyone. I rep myself. Now if you'll excuse me." Bonnie brushed past Dr. Martin, digging her keys out of her pocket.

"Bonnie?" Dr. Martin called.

Turning, Bonnie faced the college professor, and Gloria blew a white dust into her face. Bonnie instantly began coughing and went down. She was blind. She couldn't see. Bonnie wiped at her eyes, but it was pointless. All it served to do was make her feel like needles were in her eyes.

"What did you do?" Bonnie asked frantically and tried to get her bearings together. She was not going to go down like this.

"If you won't join us, then you can make a contribution."

Bonnie waited to hear what he meant, but then she felt something invading her body and pulling.

"What are you doing?"

Gloria stood over Bonnie. "You don't have to make this difficult, Bonnie."

"Then why are you?" Bonnie questioned through gritted teeth. She tried to counterattack but Dr. Martin was binding her powers while stealing them at the same time.

No! She was stronger than this! She fought against whatever he was doing, flipping through her mind for a blocking spell and began chanting. Her eyes were burning and the more she tried to use her magic it seemed to turn on her, attacking her.

Rising to her feet, Bonnie stretched out her hand. The wind picked up in velocity.

Blood began to leak from Jonas' nose, shocking him. He hadn't had a nosebleed since he was in his late teens, very early twenties.

He picked up the pace and continued chanting despite feeling as if Bonnie were squeezing him from the inside out.

"Gloria," Jonas panted.

The witch in question shouted something in a language Bonnie didn't recognize and the next thing she knew, she was being thrown sideways into her car.

That felt fantastic, and she was prepared to throw it right back while pulling their spines from their bodies. Bonnie was slow to get to her feet, but when she did, Jonas pressed the palm of his hand on her head and took…

Eve-ry-thing.

Bonnie screamed and tried to fight him off but he was like a leech. He was draining her, like a vampire, like a succubus. She had the power of a hundred witches, she should have been able to turn them into dust if she wanted to, but Bonnie was fighting against everything dark in her not to go that route.

And now it was too late.

She grabbed a hold of his coat sleeve, trying to wrench him off. "…no…don't…" Bonnie pleaded. "Damon." Her world was turning from gray, to white, to black, black to gray. Sounds were fading and she could barely feel her limbs.

"Let her go, Jonas. Take anymore and you'll kill her," Gloria advised.

Jonas let go, breathing as if he ran ten miles. He looked to his accomplice. "Let's go."

Laying on the pavement, next to her car, tears flowing from her eyes, Bonnie never wanted to die more than she did right then.

Jeremy who just pulled into the cemetery climbed out of his car and watched as a black Range Rover burned rubber down the road. Brushing it off as insignificant, he took the familiar path to his parents' grave when he saw someone lying on the ground. Jeremy recognized the car as Bonnie's and broke out into a run.

"Oh, my God, Bonnie!" he fell down next to her and drew back a little in horror. Her eyes were wide open but they were pure white. Getting over his initial shock he lifted her up and cradled her. "Bonnie? Answer me!"

"He took everything," she groaned. "He took it all."

"Who did? What did he take?"

"My powers."

Chapter end.

A/N: I hope this all doesn't seem rushed, but nothing will ever be concluded until you see The End. Stefan might have appeared to take the easy way out, but like Damon said, it won't be that easy. And Bonnie may have unwittingly or wittingly dabbled in something dark when doing that spell on the wolves, we'll shall find out. A few were surprised that Book Damon didn't intervene last chapter. Because he and Bonnie no longer have their link and it's been an extremely long time since they've swapped blood he no longer "feels" her in a sense. It takes him longer than usual to find her now, so that's why he wasn't there. And who thought little Tyler Lockwood had it in him? It's always bugged me how everyone could remain cool or at least tolerate Damon after he does really horrible things, so yes I wanted Tyler to be the exception to that rule. But again, thank you guys for showing this story so much love and for your continued support. I really did have a Kool-Aid gap tooth smile on my face while reading the reviews. And because you went hard for me, I'll go hard for you. Love you oh so much!