Chapter 7 – A New Life Dares to Begin update/proofed 06/09/2022

Damon's life over the past 3 days created a new routine partly out of necessity and the other part out of good ole Damon's selfishness he thought, after Bonnie and Enzo agreed to the plan, Damon realized he needed to know everything he could about the ancient magic they were dealing with. He owed it to Bonnie, he wasn't going to "Damon" his way through this. That night he lay next to Elena and started talking to her, he told her all of his ideas, his concerns, and the information he had learned from Demetrius, in his mind the plan started to come together. He took her hand in his, it wasn't warm, it wasn't cold either, he found comfort in her body just being there, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, this is how his days ended. They started in a much different way, much more Damon like, his eyes would open to the sunlight coming through his bedroom windows, and his human eyes could adjust much quicker than his vampire ones, as much as his vampire skin and body enjoyed the 4 superior quality shower heads he insisted on over a decade ago, his human body relished them so very much more, adding at least 5 more minutes to shower time. His sleep quality had improved so much with Elena next to him, he was often the first one up in the house. Damon took on the task of breakfast chef, this also gave him time to grill Demetrius about Gaia and Nature's Magic before the separation into the elements.

On day 2, Demetrius gave Damon an idea, that night he talked it over with Elena, "Honey when Demetrius was talking about how they had to scatter the magic to defeat Qetsiyah. They first had to weaken her blood magic by appointing her with consecrated botanical oils from Gaia's earth magic. That got me thinking, Kai used Bonnie's blood to link you with Gemini magic. What if we weaken the blood magic link with the same type of botanical oils before we perform the magic transfers. Demetrius isn't sure if the Gemini magic will be affected, he does think that the botanicals will strengthen your doppelganger's blood magic, as a side effect of Nature's magic can be used a win for our side. It will add natural elements to your body, that are not part of blood or Gemini magic. The idea is having both doppelgangers' blood charged and in the mix during the spell will give a little extra if we need it. With all our plans, having a little extra seems to be a great idea." He looks at her expressionless face, what a double edge sword this has been, having her so close, but not here at all. He sent her away 'Who is Damon Salvatore without Elena Gilbert?' He found out that question, there was no reason to ask again, this was better by far. Tomorrow he gets the 411 on how to create the botanical oils and start the ritual with Elena's body.

Day 3 started with detailed instructions from Demetrius, Stefan was sitting next to Damon at the kitchen table with one hand resting on his arm. Stefan was listening to everything Demetrius and Damon talked about, and the question came out, "Damon, one of my elements is water, I'm not a witch yet. How can the water for the ritual be spelled or energized by me if I don't have magic?" Demetrius asked, "Stefan, how can you see me? You are using magic. Your ability to conjure your magic has not awakened. At this moment you are siphoning Damon's. This is the brother's bond, your brother's magical connection is intact. Your magical essence is whole. This is wonderful. That is why you will be able to use access your elements through Damon. It will not be as strong, however, it will work, it will combine with Damon's elements to give enough power to energize the water to perform the ritual. Fueling the water-energy will require energy from fire because you will be using Damon's magic, the fire may burn you, please keep this in mind." Stefan looked at Damon "I've been burnt by hellfire, any other fire is nothing." Damon with deep concern in his voice, "Stef" Stefan's replied in a direct harsh voice "It's for Elena!" Damon nodded his head. The brothers agreed, that the ritual would proceed.

Damon followed all of Demetrius's instructions. As he was driving back to the Boarding house, Damon realized that he was quite comfortable with his magical powers, he had performed a dozen spells without any problems, no 'Damon hiccups' as Elena would call his act first, think last situations. He smiles, maybe there is something to be said about destiny, Bon will never let me live it down, Damon Salvatore a natural-born witch. The cell phone rings – it's Stefan, "I'm 10 away. How's everything going on your end?" Stefan continues with the update, "Good on the rejuvenation front. We may have something brewing in town." Stefan paused for the briefest of moments before continuing, "Matt called the hospital is missing blood. He wanted to give us a heads up. Caroline headed over to the hospital to have a look around. We may have a vampire in town." Damon took a breath, "Is Bon at the house?" Stefan replies "She has already put a barrier spell up for all vampires, she added Caroline's blood to link her to the spell so she can enter and exit." Damon hears the worry in Stefan's voice, "You're worried about Caroline. DON'T… She's smart, she isn't going to put herself in harm's way. Don't forget, she staked you, as the Ripper, remember." Stefan half-laughed, "Yes, she did kill me dead, didn't she, she is out there alone, without any backup. Damon, I just don't..." Stefan stops talking. Damon interrupted, "I know Stefan, I know. Blondie can take care of herself. She has always been better than all of us, give her credit, she has earned it. Remember the Scooby Gang days. Who did we always send out as Klaus bait? She always did the job and always came back. She is … Speaking of Blondie, she is on the other line, hold on Stef." Damon switches the line on this cell, "You are giving your husband all sorts of grief, Sister-in-law." Caroline responds, "He'll survive. I'm at the hospital. Damon, this is crazy. The blood that is missing is all the AB neg plus 2 patients with ABneg were drained within an inch of life last night, when the nurses checked on them this morning they were hooked up to transfusions with universal O positive blood. Someone is jones'ing for AB neg big time, but doesn't want to kill." Damon pauses for a brief second, his voice tone is worrisome as it begins, "Crap, we have a problem." Caroline concerned, "Clearly, we have a problem." Damon answered, "No, we have a big problem. Donavan is ABneg, you need to find him. Now Caroline, who or whatever is doing this will paint a target on the middle of our fair sheriff's back. Care, find him. I'm on my way." Caroline's take charge vampire was out, "No, I've got this. You get back to the house, we need you and Stefan bonded or witching, just alive. Do what needs to happen. I'll find Matt and get him to the house." Damon put his foot down, ok maybe he wasn't a vampire, he still knew how to drive, drive fast, drive well at a fast speed, vampire, human or witch, as the wind blew through his hair, he smiled, he was right, Blondie was all grown up, she would be just fine.

Damon walked into the house to Sheriff Matthew Donavan, "Damn it Caroline Elizabeth Forbes Salvatore, I'm the damn Sheriff, you can't just go around manhandling me. You have no right to do what you did. Caroline, take these damn cuffs off me... NOW, I mean it. Caroline! Stefan this is not funny. Tell her to give me the key. She kidnapped me, it is against the law. Damn it." Caroline rolled her eyes, "Matt, I wasn't trying to hurt you. You weren't listening, you were being stubborn. As I was trying so hard to explain, we are trying to keep you safe un…" Matt interrupted with a very demanding voice, "It's my job to keep this town safe. I think I know what the word safe is all about. Damn it, Caroline, give me the MY keys."

Everything goes silent as Damon slams the door, "Hello Scoobies, what did I miss?" he scans the room, Matt is sitting on the sofa with his arms behind his back. Stefan is leaning on the wall by the fireplace trying very hard not to smile. Caroline's standing pose is quite impressively intimidating, she had her arm crossed, glaring at Matt, the whites of her eyes had a pink glow to them. There were no maybes, Mrs. Caroline Elizabeth Forbes Salvatore was pissed off. Caroline smirked, "Good you're here, what took you so long? I thought you were going to be here first." Damon answered, "Apparently, may I ask, why the Sheriff of Mystic Falls is in our living room, in handcuffs?" Caroline turns to look at Damon, "Because he is being humanly male stubborn stupid! That's why!"

Matt yelled, "Damn it, Caroline. I'm the Sheriff, it's my job. I'm done talking to you." Matt stands up, with the most authoritative voice he could muster while being handcuffed, "Caroline Elizabeth Forbes Salvatore, you are under arrest for kidnapping an officer of the law, obstructing justice, and any other charge I can come up with. Now give me the damn key."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Give me a break" walked out of the living room towards the kitchen, she handed the key to Damon as she passed him. Damon had to give it to his sister-in-law, she was a stubborn one, he got to know that about her when Ripper Stefan was raging, he had to admit, he loved that about her, as long as it wasn't direct toward him, he smiled as he took pity on Sheriff Donovan. Matt stared at Damon with the 'are you going to do something about this' look, and in an angry demanding voice "She actually put me in a bag. Damon, a freaking body bag, carried me out of the police station. I told her, I'm the Sheriff, I have a job to do here. I wouldn't leave with her. Her answer to that, put me, the elected Sheriff of Mystic Falls into a freaking body bag and carry me out of my own police station. Can you believe that?"

Damon tilted his head, and smirked, thinking classic Damon 'wrong action, right reasons', he tried to keep a straight face, laughing out loud wouldn't help his relationship with the Sheriff of Mystic Falls that he was working at improving. Damon added a sympathetic tone to his voice, "Matt, I'm going to say something that you are not going to like. I agree with her. You are safer here in this house for now, just for now. Something is out there that is going after AB negative blood. You are AB negative, we need you safe, Sheriff. Bonnie has made this house the safest place in town for you. Let's work together Sheriff to figure out what Supernatural evil this is and then, we can come up with a real plan, maybe even use you for bait." Damon paused and watched Matt's eyes brighten, "Then Sheriff Donovan it is your job to kill it, making Mystic Falls safe for all its citizens. We both have to agree, that regular human bullets aren't going to keep you safe with a Supernatural enemy on the loose. You need Witchy protection, this house has 3 of them at your disposal."

Damon walked behind Matt, he unlocked the cuffs. He handed both cuffs and key to Matt, "I would really appreciate it if my sister-in-law wasn't arrested for trying to save your life. If you have to arrest someone." Damon put his arms out "It should be me, I'm the one that told her to bring you here, no matter what you said. We have to keep you safe, Sheriff Donovan. Elena would kill me if she wakes up and you're not around." Matt takes a deep breath and pulls out his phone, "I need to call the station." With his phone in hand, he looks up, "Tell Caroline, I don't want her damn 'I'm sorry cookies' she always burns them, and they taste horrible." Matt pauses for effect "And I will never EVER accept her apology." He raises his voice a little louder, "You stuffed me in a bag. I'm the damn Sheriff, Caroline, not just some human that is last on the priority list." His voice goes up a few more volume decibels "Yes, I know vampire ears can hear everything." Damon didn't smile or change his posture at all, one of these days, he is going to sit Mr. Sheriff Matthew Donavan down and explain where exactly he is on the vampire priority list.

Damon's text alert diverts his attention, he looks down, it is from Caroline – Going to Matt's to pick up his essentials. Damon gets the Sheriff's attention, "Matt here's what we know from the hospital," Damon sat down on the couch, and Stefan walks into the living room and joins them. Over the next hour, Damon and Stefan told Matt about a few of the vampires they had come across over the years with different types of feeding patterns. Damon called it "vampire kink". Stefan got up and poured the first round of Bourbon, and tensions ease a bit. The men sat back on the couch with a more relaxed posture, Matt is having a hard time letting go of the day's events as the bourbon starts working, "I still can't get over Caroline, seriously, she stuffed me in a body bag she stole from the supply closet. What the hell was she thinking!" Stefan defends his wife's actions, "She was thinking, how am I going to save the life of one of my oldest and dearest friend, who isn't listening and being cooperative. She knows what it felt like to lose me for a time. She wasn't going to lose you." Damon chimed in, "Especially when she could do something about it. Sheriff, that priority list you were talking about earlier. That human/vampire priority list that you seem to think your name is last on. If you'd like to make a wager, I would gladly take your money. You, Sheriff, are on the top of Caroline's list, and whether or not you want to see it, she just proved it." Stefan and Damon clinked their glasses together to make the point, to drive the point in, Caroline walks in the front door with a bag in hand. She walks over and stops directly in front of Matt, pauses, glares him straight in the eye, huffs, rolls her eyes at him, drops the bag at his feet, turns, and walks away. Stefan and Damon look at Matt, then each other, smile, Damon suggests, "Matt, I'm not telling you what to do, I'm suggesting you make peace with her before Thanksgiving. Stefan can tell you, she will shut you out of Friendsgiving. She will do it, it will be bad." Stefan nods his head, "Yes, very bad."

Matt leans over and opens the bag. Caroline went to his place, she got him an overnight bag, ok, for a few days. As he is going through all the items, he realizes just how well she knows him. He isn't happy about it, one of his oldest friends is a vampire, and that is what Caroline is. He touches his favorite sleeping shirt, she remembered. He would make peace, he smiled… Tomorrow, she needed to suffer, just a little too... She did stuff him in a body bag.

Caroline is in the kitchen starting dinner when Stefan joins in. Caroline complains, "He is such a stubborn jackass, his stubborn human person could have been dead. I smelled ABneg blood all over the street when I was walking into the Police Station, someone had been in front of the station before I got there. I tried to follow the scent, it was everywhere, and I couldn't pinpoint it. Matt wouldn't listen. He has always been so stubborn, so… He makes me so mad. I know I should have given him a choice. I can't believe I did it. I did a classic "Damon". I was thinking about that when I was at Matt's place. We are always judging Damon for doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, yet somehow when push comes to shove, we have all done it, you did it when Bonnie marked me, you vervained me, and got me out of town. I just shoved Matt in a body bag, I did kidnap him from his office. What made me think that was ok?" Stefan wrapped his arms around his wife, "Because Matt is on your list. Damon once told me not to walk away from my List of Loved Ones. You, my amazing Wife have a long full List of Loved Ones and Sheriff Matt Donovan is on that list, and you can't imagine a world without him in it. Caroline, it is that simple. Call it classic "Damon" wrong action for the right reasons, call it whatever you want. You did it because you will do anything to protect the ones that you love." Caroline turned in her husband's arms, and put her arms around his neck, "Guess who's at the top of the list?" Stefan didn't answer with words, he leaned down and took her mouth under his just to prove her point. Dinner was a little late.

Up in Damon and Elena's room, Damon got into bed next to Elena. He touched her face. He had so much to tell her, that somehow the words didn't come out. He kissed her on the lips. He laid his head on the pillow, his thoughts as he fell asleep 'Not tonight, I will tell you everything tomorrow, right after we wake you up'.