…
Everything is water. Deep, blue hues are swirling around her, lulling her, dragging her off. Her hair is swaying with the seaweed, her fingers splayed, her legs, her arms, her body weightless, and it's so beautiful down here…
~ Bonnie, it's time to wake up. ~
She doesn't want to. She's not here to wake up. It's warm, she's comfortable. She belongs.
~ No. You don't. Not like that. ~
Trying to shush the voice, she opens her eyes, mesmerized to see a whirlwind of tiny bubbles glittering their way up around her. It's a breathtaking sight, which reminds her that she can't breathe down here.
Oh.
Or maybe she can…
His image floats by - Damon with his hair half obscuring his face, though the piercing blue of his eyes shines through even now. There's an urgency in his expression, like he's trying to tell her something, but abruptly something pulls him back, back, and away, his mouth wide open now, a silent scream making its way out in a torrent of more bubbles and all she can do is stare on in horror.
"Damon!"
She's not sure she yelled it out loud, but when she looks around, she's back in the cave, everything else just a dream remembered, and Caroline is looking down on her with worry in her features.
"You okay, Bonnie?"
Scoffing, she pushes herself up, trying to pull herself together, then she nods.
"Yeah, I… weird dream, is all." She shrugs, grinning, taking a look around the place. "Our two favorite mermen still gone?"
"One of them is back… - Damon is still gone, though. - Enzo brought us this…"
Caroline gives her a look as she points at her own outfit, then a pile of things not far from them, and Bonnie snorts, genuinely amused.
"Nice. This oddly suits you. Reminds me of our cheerleader days somehow." She chuckles as Care rolls her eyes, moving to grab another pair of the same kind of sweatsuit she's wearing and Bonnie's smile turns wry.
"I guess it's better than nothing?"
"Yah, not sure about that. At least it's comfy, though. Oh, and… not to forget this… diverse choice of granola bars if hunger strikes."
Another eye roll, another chuckle, but Bonnie realizes she genuinely doesn't care anymore. It's food, she's ravenous, and when she rummages through them she sees there's a chocolate chip version at least, so she grabs that one and eats it as soon as she's changed into the sweat pants and shirt, flopping down again next to her friend as she starts munching.
"So, where's your shadowy friend."
"He's not my friend."
Caroline looks indignant, and Bonnie chuckles again. There's something funny about it all, at least: the way Care seems to think it's not obvious that she kind of has the hots for Damon's dark-eyed companion. (The thought gives her an odd pang of… guilt? As if she, too, has developed a thing for… - No. No no no no no!)
"Well, okay," she quickly says. "Where is he, though? Did he say anything about Damon?"
"Uh uh. - He's basically been hiding out in some dark corner or other ever since…"
When Caroline trails off, Bonnie tilts her head, squinting at her friend curiously.
"Ever since what?"
"Oh never mind."
"What?" She frowns. There's something in her friend's tone that implies something happened.
Sure enough, Care gives a tired sigh.
"He said something, then I said something, and ever since then things have been… weird, I guess."
"That sounds ominous. Any chance for more details? What did he say? What did you say?"
"Ugh. I'm telling you. Guys," Caroline says a little too cryptically for Bonnie's liking. "I don't know what it is with them… if they can't be our knights in shining armor, they grow all petulant and too proud."
"You're not making this much clearer at all, Care…" Bonnie winks at the other girl, who doesn't seem to quite catch her drift, staring off into the bluish darkness down in the cave.
"It's… nothing. He was warning me about who I hang out with - I'm assuming he meant you - basically telling me to stay away from you. I mean, what the hell? That douche has no right to do that! You're my best friend and I'll stick with you forever!"
Bonnie has to smile, both touched and amused by the fire in her best friend's reply.
"Pretty much called me future collateral damage."
Bonnie's smile slips off her face as she raises an eyebrow.
"Collateral damage?"
"I know, right? Like, what does he think is going on here? That the next war between faeries and merpeople is about to start or something? And I'll get tossed aside or sacrificed right at the start?" Caroline chuckles a little forcefully. "Anyways. I called him out on it. Said he's just saying it because he's probably been nothing but collateral damage in the past. - And no." Caroline gives Bonnie a look, huffing, "I don't know what I was trying to say with that, but it sounded good when I did. So there."
Collateral damage… Bonnie bites her lip as her thoughts get hung up on those two words. The girls exchange a glance, neither of them saying anything for a while. The granola bar suddenly feels way too dry in Bonnie's mouth as a strange feeling gets ahold of her. Like Enzo knew what he was talking about. She doesn't want Care to become collateral damage. But suddenly it seems like an actual possibility. Already her poor friend is down here cut off from everyone and everything because of Bonnie. - Because of this whole craziness.
As if on cue, a feeling of dread comes over her, as if something bad is about to happen.
"Bonnie? Hey…"
Care is putting her arms around her, smiling encouragingly.
"I'm sorry, here I am rambling on about nothing, when you must be so confused about this whole thing."
Trying to smile, Bonnie grabs her best friend's hands, holding them tightly as she shakes her head.
"Nah. Just because I managed to get us in this huge mess because I can't drive a car for shit doesn't mean you don't have equal reason for being annoyed and upset - and yes, pretty freaking confused." She sighs, looking sideways up into Caroline's comforting face. "Ach, Care. What the hell have I gotten us into? What do we even do now? What if Damon never comes back?"
"Oh." A soft chuckle escapes the blonde. "If there's one thing I know with absolute certainty it's that that particular merman will be coming back for you."
Scoffing, Bonnie scrunches up her face. "What are you on about?"
"Nothing…"
Caroline's grin widens.
…
The way over to his father's underwater palace isn't too far, but Damon has to be cautious. He doesn't want anyone to find him, to follow him, or bring him in. He can't risk Guiseppe finding Bonnie, especially not now that it turned out she's so much more than what he first assumed.
Pondering about this new truth, this new obstacle - that he's met a goddamn faerie and for some odd reason decided to keep her safe rather than give her up - he keeps going, pushing onward until he can see the place come up before him. It's a large structure, a cave so much bigger than the one his faerie is currently hiding out in, and it's easy enough to get in without running into any of the guards if you know the place as well as Damon does. He has to smile to himself. His father will never know how easy it is to get into the place without being seen. It's a good thing (or a bad one, depending on who you ask…) the enemy is so bad about being close to the water, or the man would have died ages ago, overrun by his nemesis.
When Damon emerges out of the pool that leads up to the throne room, he's still not been confronted by anyone, and the look of shock on his father's face when Damon pops his head above water and hollers out a, "Father, I'm home!" is priceless.
The man whirls around, his features scrunching up and almost sliding off before he catches himself, waiting as Damon swaggers over to him.
"Care to chat, old man? I heard you have it in for my dear new friend Bonnie. But that was before you knew who she is-"
"I know who she is, son," Guiseppe waves him off, smugness back in his features. "More importantly, I know what she is."
Triumph slips off Damon's face but he forces himself to keep on smiling despite a sudden sense of acute dread. How the hell does his father know?
"Your little damsel is fae, and I bet that you don't know who she really is."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, son." Guiseppe smiles, the expression looking threatening as he bridges the remaining gap between them, patting Damon on the shoulder in a patronizing way. "She's a Bennett. - You don't know who the Bennetts are, do you?"
"Can't say I do. But I'm sure you're just itching to enlighten me…" Damon's nonchalance is merely superficial now, wariness making him tense up.
Guiseppe's shit-eating grin doesn't help matters, and Damon swallows, making sure his own expression remains neutral. He doesn't want his father to see how nervous his words have made him.
"The Bennetts, Damon, are one of the most influential faerie families. And rumor has it that dear Abby Bennett - who, as it turns out, is your little damsel's mother - is said to have had an affair with one of us."
What?
Schooling his face quickly, Damon manages not to let his surprise show. But this is big. It's… shocking - if it's true. It wouldn't be the first time Guiseppe has told a lie, but in this case… Somehow it doesn't feel like he's lying at all.
"She didn't tell you, then?" Guiseppe's beam makes his impenetrable eyes flicker with a dark light, and Damon knows this is not all his father has in store for him today. This won't go as smoothly as he had hoped. Asking his father to let him return Bonnie as swiftly as possible to her people so as to prevent a war, something tells him the old man won't go for that anymore.
Channeling his inner voice, he tries to reach Bonnie. But the distance between them makes the endeavor a stretch, especially since she's so inexperienced in using her mind to communicate. Still, he has to try.
~ Bonnie. - Bonnie! - Did you know? ~
Distinctly, he feels a wave of affronted anger, if no actual words. But he takes it to mean that she indeed didn't know - and it makes him feel slightly better.
"Maybe it's because rumor also has it that dear Abby didn't leave alone," Guiseppe drones on, shuffling along the throne room like he's just there to take a little stroll.
"What's that supposed to mean? None of us have ever left the sea for longer than-"
"That's not what I meant." He gives Damon an eerie look, all too calm, all too triumphant. "The sneaky little fae was said to be pregnant when she left."
~ No. No no no no no. That… ~
They're not his thoughts, or words, or feelings. He has barely made the connection what his father could be on about, but Bonnie in his head has already put two and two together, and the result she got clearly doesn't please her. Her voice, her emotions in his head are growing stronger and stronger, almost overwhelming in their intensity.
~ Bonnie. Easy. He's probably lying. Don't listen to- ~
~ No! ~
"Oh, and since you're here," his father interrupts the turmoil in his mind with the same calm grin as before. "Your brother got himself in a bit of a tight spot with the fishermen. I was wondering whether you could try and get him back before they hang him up and filet him like the rest of the fish they caught today. - Of course that's only if your little hybrid 'guest' doesn't need all of your precious time."
He's not thinking now, just reacting. The words barely translate to anything that makes sense, but the anger comes on its own, and with ferociousness. In a split-second, he's at his father's throat, his fingers clamping into the soft skin of his neck with an unrelenting grip, but even now Guiseppe is still grinning.
"What did you do? - What did you do?!"
The man's hands are clutching his arms, but he's unable to say anything, and Damon is unable to let go. This man, his father… He doesn't know him.
"What the hell did you do? Where's Stefan? - Where is he?!"
~ Damon. - Damon. Stop. You're killing him. Stop! He won't be able to tell you anything if you kill him now. ~
He closes his eyes, scoffing to himself. Of course she'd be the voice of reason in his head now. This girl he doesn't even really know, this girl who is a faerie, who's found a way into his head when it shouldn't be possible. How can she be so strong already? Nothing makes sense anymore.
And Stefan is in danger.
~ Exactly. So take a breath and try to help him. We need your father for that. ~
Sighing, he stares hard at his father before him, the eyes that have begun to turn glassy, that grin still distorting the man's features. There's nothing in this face that he could love. Nothing. But Bonnie is right. He still needs this man.
Letting go eventually, he pushes Guiseppe away, glaring down at the man in front of him as he catches his breath.
"Tell me where he is. Now."
"Not so fast."
Damon rolls his eyes, gritting his teeth as his old man slowly gets back up.
"First, you'll have to give me Bonnie Bennett. And then I'll help you get your brother back."
"No."
"In that case, Stefan will probably be dead before the week is over. I hear there's a new research team over at the Oceanic Institute who are just itching to dissect something as curious and fascinating as one of us…"
"You wouldn't-"
"Oh, son. You and I both know that I most certainly would."
~ It's okay, Damon, ~ the voice inside his head says and he shakes his head.
~ No. No, it's not. ~
~ I… we'll find a way. We'll… ~
~ No. ~
Guiseppe can't have her. Ever.
But leaving his brother to be experimented on and die is also not an option.
~ We'll find a way to save him. ~
~ I don't even know how to save you, Bonnie Bennett. And you don't know what it means to be a faerie yet. You don't know anything. How do you want to help me rescue my brother? - No. ~ He scoffs, running a hand over the back of his neck as he takes a few steps away from his father, glaring at the man with unadulterated hatred.
"Fuck you," he says. "Fuck you." And he thinks, ~ We're so screwed. ~
~ We will find a way. We will. ~
She seems so weirdly sure he's almost inclined to believe her...
