The Vampire Diaries V: The Morrigan

Chapter 2

I Figured I'd Do It My Way

A/N: Oh my god I can't believe I actually wrote this much. Well anyway, words between these ~a~ are telepathy. Words between these _a_ are personally thoughts. Just thought I'd clear that up. Oh and a Levin Bolt is like a really big psychic blast, just incase you didn't know. And now, on with the story.

The sun had just risen a few hours ago and there was very little activity throughout the town. Everyone was still shaking off the last vestiges of sleep; taking showers, fixing coffee, having breakfast. Things were peaceful all around, a stark contrast to a few nights ago, when deep in the forest, a war between good and evil had been waged. The good guys won, as they usually do in all the fairytales. But it was not the end of things. Not even close. Happily ever after was still a long ways off, though the heroes of that night were unaware of the fact. They were all trying to get on with their lives and put the darkness behind them. Some of them had decided the best way to do that was to try and pretend that that night and the events leading to it had more or less never happened. Which was why Meredith was calmly having a light breakfast with the rest of her family and Matt was taking his morning run. Stefan and Elena didn't have that option, considering the circumstances. They had been trying to figure out the best way to explain Elena's return and had come to the somewhat painful conclusion that there wasn't an explanation that would completely satisfy the town. So the only option was to leave which hurt Elena deeply because of all the ties she had to Fell's Church, and it hurt Stefan as well. No one wants to see a loved one suffer.

Bonnie chose not to even bother worrying about it for the time being. The way she figured it, she had a couple of months before everyone absolutely had to know what her plans were. So she figured she'd take that time to come up with something concrete so that her family wouldn't worry that she was just going to go cross-country as a hobo. So far, the only thing she'd managed was perfecting the art of sleeping in. Yesterday she had managed to last till 2 in the afternoon. She rewarded herself by renting a few really bad horror movies and camping out on the couch till 5 am. Which was unfortunate since her alarm was now screeching incessantly at her a mere 4 hours later. Reaching out an unsteady hand from the mountain of covers that was her bed, Bonnie's fingers fumbled along her night stand searching for the snooze button. She pressed it several times to no avail.

"Sonofa-" she muttered under her breath, slamming her fist into it hoping to possibly break it. A distressed wail came from the bed as the alarm kept screeching away. Sighing in defeat Bonnie threw back the covers and sat up, swinging her legs out of bed. She sat there for a moment simply glaring at her alarm clock before picking it up and chucking it at a wall, a surprisingly feral little growl emanating from her throat.

"Bonnie?" her mother called from the hallway, concern evident in her voice. "Is everything all right dear?"

"Ugh," Bonnie grunted loudly.

"Honey?" Obviously not loud enough.

"I'm fine mom," she replied somewhat hostilely.

"All right. Why don't you get cleaned up and come on down and have breakfast with the rest of us."

"No thanks. I'm not hungry."

There was a light knock on the door and then it was opening. Her mother made her way into the room a bit uncertainly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Bonnie asked, genuinely confused.

Her mother walked over to the bed and sat beside her, smoothing back her hair, which was wild and unruly from sleep. "Bonnie I know something's wrong. You've been sleeping in and staying up late for the past 6 days. You've been avoiding your family and your friends. Talk to me, tell me what's bothering you."

For a second Bonnie almost did. Wrapping her arms around her mother, she held on to her tightly, wishing she never had to let go. It was so much easier when all the important things were decided for her. She was so tempted to tell her mother everything; about Elena being alive, about wanting to travel instead of going to college, and most of all about the confusing state of affairs with Damon. She needed to talk to someone or she'd go insane. But her mother wouldn't be able to help her. Aside from the fact that she'd probably have Bonnie committed, if she believed her story her mother's advice would be to forget about Damon and the strange wanderlust that had come over her and go to college, find a nice husband and settle down.

"Bonnie?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you tell me what's wrong?"

Sigh. "There's nothing wrong mom, really. I'm just vegging out that's all. Things have been intense lately." Understatement. "After everything happened with... Elena," Bonnie let her voice crack for effect when she said Elena's name, "I never really got the chance to deal, ya know. I mean I'm not wigging out or anything like that, I just need, I dunno, time to breath. It's kinduv hard to explain. But I'll be fine really. I just need my space right now. Ok?"

Bonnie's mother held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Oh honey I'm so sorry I didn't realize. You take all the time you need sweetheart."

"Thanks mom," Bonnie said smiling up at her. Bonnie felt a little bad for using Elena as an excuse. After all, respect for the dead and all that stuff. _Fortunately Elena's not dead_, Bonnie thought. _Anymore at least_.

"Don't worry about it sweetie. I'd better get downstairs and make breakfast. You sure you don't want anything?"

"Positive. I think I'll head into town and grab myself some coffee and a bagel or something."

"Ok. Will you be back for lunch?"

"I don't know."

"Well call me and let me know alright?"

"Ok." Smiling affectionately at her daughter Mrs. McCullough left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Bonnie let out a yawn that practically broke her jaw and headed off to the bathroom for a quick shower. Half an hour later she was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt and getting into her car (A/N: does Bonnie have a car? Oh well, she does now). She drove around town aimlessly for a little while before stopping off at a Starbucks for coffee and a bagel. _Might as well eat something since I'm out here at this ungodly hour_. She drove to the edge of the woods, parked and got out, going over to a nearby tree and sitting under it with her back propped against it. She sat there for a time, just enjoying the sound of the birds singing in the trees and the animals scurrying through the underbrush letting her mind wander. She had heard the snap of twigs as he walked toward her, and felt his presence before that. So she wasn't surprised when Stefan settled himself down beside her.

"You're out early," he said quietly.

"It's 10 o'clock."

"True, but you're usually not even up till 12."

"What are you spying on me?" she said sharply. Wincing at her tone she muttered an apology.

Stefan just sat there and regarded her calmly. After a few moments of silence he tried another topic. "How's Damon?"

"Pardon?" Bonnie visibly stiffened at the mention of Stefan's brother.

"I said-"

"I know what you said. Why ask me?"

"Well you were the last one to see him."

Shock was written all over Bonnie's face as she just looked at Stefan.

"Don't look so surprised. You wander off into the woods mere minutes after Damon leaves. The odds of you not running into him are pretty slim. Why'd you go after him anyway?"

"I didn't 'go after' him," she replied.

Stefan looked at her skeptically.

"I didn't," she insisted. " I don't know why I wandered off, I just..." her voice trailed off as she tried to remember exactly what happened. "I-I saw something in the woods and... I remembered he'd left and then... I just sort of, went after him," she finished slowly. A puzzled frown marred her face. "Why did I do that?"

"Hmm. You were probably influenced." Stefan stated calmly.

"What?!"

"Well if you don't clearly even remember wanting to talk to him-"

"Well I didn't say that exactly."

"But you just said-"

"And why the hell are you so calm?!" Bonnie snapped.

"Why are you so upset?"

"I asked you first."

"Bonnie." Stefan said mildly amused.

"Well I did."

"Bonnie," he said, his voice taking on a somewhat demanding tone. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened with Damon. And while you're at it I'd like to know why you're practically hiding out in your house and avoiding everyone. Meredith said she's called you several times."

By now Bonnie had gotten up and started pacing and chewing her lip in frustration. "I'd like to know why everyone's being so damn nosy," she muttered under her breath. 

"We like you Bonnie. If you go crazy, we'd be less than thrilled to say the least."

Sigh. "Everything's just been so damn confusing lately. Even before you and Damon came back. My parents are all 'You need to take responsibility for your life and make plans'. Excuse me if I don't have plans. And then Damon comes out of left field with his whole 'Come away with me Bonnie. Be my queen of shadows' bit.  Or whatever the hell he wants to call it. Queen of shadows, sex toy, same dif." Stefan sat back calmly and let Bonnie continue her rant. It took Bonnie a few minutes to run out of steam. When she'd finished, she'd cursed Damon, Elena, Meredith, Matt, her parents, Fell's Church, and the whole of southern America straight to hell. Breathless and still very upset, Bonnie plopped herself down in front of him, crossing her legs and propping her elbows on her knees.

"Feel any better?"

"No."

Stefan cocked his head to the side and looked at her for a moment. "There is not a single person you know who escaped your wrath just now. What made me the exception?"

"Well you're nice enough. The only major fault you have is you whine to damn much about being a vampire. That and you're a lovesick moron, but that's usually unavoidable so I don't really blame you for that."

"Gee. Thanks."

Bonnie just shrugged and ducked her head to hide her blush. She realized she'd never really been so upfront with anyone before.

"So, now that you've voiced your complaints, what are you going to do about them?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Actually," Bonnie continued a bit shyly, " I was kinduv hoping you might help with that. See I'm not really ready for college. I'm not even sure I'm ever going. Either way right now I just sort of wanna, I dunno, wander I guess. It's a little hard to explain."

"I understand what you're getting at. I'm pretty much an expert at it since vampires can't settle long in one place. It's going to be hard without money though."

"Well that wont be much of a problem," Bonnie said brightly. "My grandmother left a trust in my name. No one else can touch it so I can do whatever I want with it as soon as I hit 18 which is in a few months."

"Alright that's good. Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Um, well I haven't really decided. There are so many places I'd like to check out. L. A., San Francisco, New Orleans, New York and a few other places. And that's just in this country."

Stefan chuckled at Bonnie's enthusiasm on the subject. She had looked so dejected when he'd come to see her. "Well why don't we start locally first. This would be your first time on your own, am I right?" Bonnie nodded. "You don't want to get in over your head if you can help it and you'll be less likely to do that if you stay in America."

"You're very naive for a 500 yr. old."

Stefan rolled his eyes at her. "I mean at least here most people speak English and you're more or less familiar with the laws smartass." Bonnie stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled. "And you might want to work on not looking so sweet and innocent. I'm not saying you need to be a badass, but you should carry yourself a little differently."

"Like I can protect myself you mean."

"Exactly."

"Ok. You do realize that I'm completely lost right? I know what I want, but I have absolutely no idea how to get it."

"I figured as much and I'm more than happy to help. First thing you need to do is find out how much money your grandmother left you and figure out where you want to live. Then I'll help you get settled. I'll give you whatever advice you need, but I'm going to let you do this on your own."

Bonnie nodded to herself. "Well that is the point of my leaving." She looked at Stefan and smiled warmly. She felt so much better than she had in months. She finally had a plan. Stefan stood up and brushed himself off. He reached a hand out to Bonnie and led her back to her car.

"We might as well work out some of the details now. We'll start by finding out how much money you have to work with."

"Alright lets go." As they drove off they were unaware that someone had been listening to their entire conversation.

~~~~~***~~~~~

Raven thought about continuing to follow Bonnie but thought better of it. She wasn't in any serious danger at the moment, especially not with Stefan around. _So that was Bonnie_. Hard to believe a tiny little thing like that had Damon so completely whipped. _But then they never thought a tiny thing like me would survive as long as I did so I guess size doesn't really matter_. Rustling her tail feathers to adjust herself, Raven headed into town. She was supposed to meet some friends she'd commissioned to help her look after Bonnie. They had planned to meet at the mall. There were plenty of other quieter places they could've met, but in a small town like this a bunch of leather clad pierced up Goth kids would hardly go unnoticed, so the mall was their best bet. She found them in the food court in front of McDonalds. "Hey chicas sup!" she called out, playing up the teenybopper bit. Herself, she had decided to go with something a bit more of the norm. Adults tended to give the average teen enough shit without said teens looking like they were not so secretly worshiping the devil. So she was dressed in a pair of khaki capris and a pink baby tee from the Gap. _Not my usual style_, she thought with a grimace, _but at least one of us will be able to get by the adults. That's definitely gonna have to change_. 

She took a seat at their table and surveyed the little group of hellions. She had opted for some perfectly normal humans, Goth fad not withstanding, for this particular job. After all she'd apparently been through, Bonnie would most likely be especially sensitive to any unaccounted for supernatural beings running around town.

"Hey Raven, been a while," Lancer greeted her in his quiet voice. He was a lanky young man of about 23 with shoulder length black hair that was currently slicked back and tied at the base of his neck. Chanterelle just nodded stiffly, obviously uncomfortable with her surroundings. "So what is it that you require of us Goddess of the Night?"

~Goddess of the Night? ~ She heard Jess, her twin brother, snigger in her mind.

~Shut up asswipe.~

"Guys, I thought I told you to tone it down," Raven said addressing Lancer and Chanterelle.

"Tone what down?" Chanterelle asked in a monotone.

"The Goth bit," Raven said, exasperation making its way into her voice. "You're supposed to be inconspicuous.

~Where'd you get these psychos? Wouldn't Deirdre be better for this?~ Jess asked.

~Deirdre's a 700-year-old demon.~

~So.~

~So Bonnie might pick up on that. Those two are just supposed to put a couple of tracers on her. She's never supposed to find out we were here. Now shut the hell up! I can't path and hold a conversation at the same damn time!~

~Sure you can. You're doing it right now.~ to piss her off further Jess started singing "Mambo Italiano". Raven responded with a Levin Bolt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a bird fall to the ground from its perch on a banner. Satisfied that there would be no more interruptions from his end, she turned her attention back to Lancer and his girl.

While Jess had been pulling the annoying little brother routine, Raven had been telling Lancer and Chanterelle what was needed of them: a tracer on Bonnie's car and one on a necklace Damon had said she always wore. Damon had mentioned that Bonnie was getting restless and would probably moving around a lot. This would make it easier for Raven to keep tabs on her.

"This is a quick job," Raven finished. "You plant the tracers and then you're outta here. And for the love of god put on some normal clothes."

Lancer seemed to consider this for a moment. Then, with a decisive nod, "We'll take out the piercings."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Fine whatever. You can't let her see you either way."

They parted ways, Lancer and Chanterelle to do their job and Raven to pick up her brother before someone could step on him. She went down one of the side corridors that usually lead to the bathrooms and sent him a brief surge of Power to wake him up. He ruffled his feathers and shifted to his human form.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked, brushing his hair back from his face.

He knocked her hand away. "Like someone hit me with a big honkin' Levin Bolt."

"Don't be such a friggen baby. You've had a helluvah lot worse."

"Whatever," he grumbled. " You took care of your business. Can we go eat now?" he practically whined.

"That depends. Did you get the info I needed?"

"Of course. This place is a dead zone sis. No one else was in Fell's Church when everything went down. Hardly anyone even knows the Salvatores spent any time here and no one knows about Klaus."

"Hm. Alright let's go." As the twins made their way out of the mall it became obvious to Jess that his sister was still very preoccupied.

He nudged her in the arm. "Hey. Watcha thinkin about?"

"I guess I'm still a bit worried. There are other reasons for Bonnie to be a target. She's a budding psychic. If she's got as much potential as Damon says, she'd make a good slave for someone strong enough to break her. And that's not counting all the other nasties that'd be interested. Plus there's her connection to the Salvatores."

"Well that's what we're here for," Jess said consolingly. "We keep a look out and make sure nothing touches her until she can handle it herself. Now c'mon. I'm starving."

"Jess."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for doing this."

"Hey it's no biggie sis."

"It's a big job Jess. We'll probably be at this for a few years."

"I know. Damon helped me too remember. I owe him."

"Even so, thanks."

"No problem." Pause. "Raven?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know chanterelle isn't a name? Its a mushroom."

"Leave her alone. She's trying to find herself."

Snicker. "Ok."

Once out of site, Raven and Jess both shifted into ravens and flew off in search of food.

~~~~~***~~~~~

It had been over a week since Damon had heard anything from Raven and he was starting to get restless. He was considering heading back to America when he received her call. "It's about time," he practically snarled into the phone.

"Patience is a virtue," she drawled.

"One I don't possess," he snapped.

"Aight aight don't get your panties in a twist. I made some inquiries and as far as anyone knows, you and Stefan were the only vamps in Fell's church. No one knows what happened, just that you were there. I had a couple of tracers put on Bonnie and her car so she'd be easier to track. See, everything's under control."

"We'll see about that."

Aight peeps. You know the drill. I should be updating a little more frequently now that school's done for the time being. In the meantime, review. It inspires me.

Bunny