Here is another chapter for your wonderful reading pleasure. I hope you guys don't mind but I stole a little Stelena moment from the show and used it for Bamon. I'm so glad you guys are giving this story a chance and thanks for the reviews and for adding to your favorites and following. Vie and leni18 this will answer some of your questions. Happy reading.

Mason's three day grace was coming to an end so he thought it best to check in with Damon and assess his progress with the Hopkins girl. No one was to know her real reason for being in their care, but he may have let it slip to Tyler that this kidnapping was payback. Four years prior Rudy Hopkins had been close to shutting the family business down. However, that wasn't the exact reason why Bonnie was there. The straw that broke the camel's back with Hopkins was him shooting Tyler's father. Richard Lockwood was trying to protect his business the faithful day he met his end. Ruby was close to unraveling their identities. Richard took it upon himself to destroy the files before Hopkins could look at them. Richard broke into the Bennett-Hopkins' residence and took anything that could point in their direction. All the other files were to be left and burned.

Unfortunately, for Richard, Detective Hopkins needed to go home to get his daughter's passport. Bonnie was going off to Indonesia with her university seminar to do a co-op teaching unit with the children there. The second Rudy walked through the door he knew something was wrong. He shook those feelings off and ran up to his daughter's room.

Richard had done the deed and it was time to cover his tracks. Mason was waiting out back for him and all he needed to do was torch the place. He covered every surface he could find with gasoline and made a trail out of the office into the kitchen. There he doused the stove in gasoline and threw a match to the line. Instantly fire took the room and Richard turned to the door, but not before Rudy appeared.

"Oh shit," Rudy yelled when he saw the fire then he drew his weapon when he saw Richard. "Freeze!"

Richard put his hands up. He was halfway out the door and certainly Rudy wouldn't be able to catch him, but that was if Mason was where he left him. Mason knew how important this job was, and he had faith in his little brother.

Richard raced through the door and immediately three shots were fired. He ran through the backyard, and climb the short fence into the neighbor's.

Rudy's house was burning to the ground right before his eyes and if he didn't act soon he'd be burned with it. He covered his face and raced the short fiery distance to the backdoor. He fired a few more shots at the man who did all of this, but his pant leg was on fire.

Richard ran down the road to Mason's car. He jumped in the passenger side and pulled the UBS with the information Rudy had on them. "Gave this to Mikael," Richard panted as he held his side.

"You're a suit that's your job to go to round table meetings," Mason joked.

"I'm serious give it to Mikael. Tell him I've set Hopkins back a couple of years, but he's not stopping any time soon."

Mason noticed a slight change in his brother's voice so he turned his head from the road. He saw blood and knew things went wrong. "What happened to you?" Mason asked as he slammed on the breaks. He quickly made a U-turn for the closest hospital.

"Take care of Tyler and Carol for me?" Richard knew he was going and he knew he was going soon. "Tell Hayley I love her and she'll always be my little girl," he cried as he thought about his only daughter and how they never talked. Hayley's mom was a waitress at his favorite bar and one thing lead to another and he cheated on his wife with her. It was hard to see Hayley, because her mom was jealous and rather to be the new Mrs. Lockwood. When she realized that wasn't going to happen she started making Richard pay to see Hayley and when he refused, she brainwashed Hayley into thinking he didn't love him.

"Shut up because you're not leaving me," Mason said as a tear ran down his cheek.

"I always knew you'd have my back and that you'd grow out of your punk kid phase. Dad would be proud of you."

"I'm serious man if you leave me I'll kill you I mean it," Mason yelled.

Richard let out an airy laugh and coughed up blood. "You can't take me to a Hospital. Just burn my body somewhere."

That was definitely out of the question Mason was going to figure something out. They were half way to the hospital and he'd be okay when the doctors got to him.

"They're going to ask questions and Rudy's going to be waiting for me to turn up somewhere. You have to burn my b-" he started coughing. Richard knew that was the only way and he was okay with it.

"Richard...Richard...Richie say something." Richard died in that car, and there was nothing Mason could do to help him than, but now Rudy was going to feel the pain, the Lockwood family did.

"I've been waiting for you to come get your nephew," Damon greeted Mason.

"Well, tell Tyler we're moving Mia around eight tonight. She's going to Jacksonville," Mason said.

"Really, that's not far. What the hell is in Jacksonville?" Damon asked. The kids usually went to well know cities he never in his life hard of a kid going to Jacksonville.

"A cancer survivor named Wendy she needs help with a guide dog training thing. She thinks Mia would be perfect there, and she just needed time to make the space for her," Mason said.

"All's well I guess."

"Yes it is. Mikael is waiting for your report back on Bonnie," Mason said getting to the point.

"I-ah I'm working on it Meredith is out of town and I have a few days before I can know anything for sure," Damon said.

"Maybe you should find another doctor. They're all riding my ass for your stats and you keep blowing Elijah off," Mason yelled.

"One has completely nothing to do with the other. I can handle my job."

"You sure don't act like it," Mason said and hung up.

Damon had been neglecting his responsibilities when it came to Bonnie. The girl was pretty self-sufficient and spent her every waking moment avoiding him. The longest almost of time they spent together on any giving day was at dinner. Caroline had moved back in and they would frequently spend the night in her room giggling about god knows what and watch Dawson's Creek on Netflix.

He didn't have to teach Bonnie how to care for herself, because she already knew. It was hard taking care of someone that didn't need him to cater to their every whim. Mason was on his way to get Mia. In the meantime Damon needed to have a little talk with Mia. "Hey Mia can you come in?" Damon asked as Tyler grabbed Peter so Mia could run inside.

"Yes?" Mia asked as she bounced up and down on her tiptoes.

"Sit down," Damon said as he poured her some milk to go with the gluten-free chocolate chip cookies he made. "You know that you're only supposed to be with us for a little while right?" Damon asked her.

"Yes," Mia nodded.

"Mason is coming back and he'll be taking you somewhere new," Damon said taking one of her cookies.

"Is Peter coming too?" Mia asked.

"No Mimi it's just going to be you leaving, but Tyler promised that he'd go with you," he smiled.

"Can Bonnie and Caroline come too?"

"I think it will be best if they stay here, but you can go to Caroline's room and tell them goodbye," Damon said. He knew Mia was upset and wanted to stay. He had to restrain himself so he could let her go. "If you want me to tell Peter, I can?"

"No I want to," Mia said with tears in her eyes. "I don't wanna leave Damon," she cried.

"Mia you're going to a nice place and you'll really like it there I promise," Damon said and hugged her. "I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, and if they do Tyler is going to give you a number to call and we'll come get you," Damon promised. That was the part of the deal no one knew about. Years ago one of the girls was taken to a child prostitute ranch in El Paso. Damon, Stefan, and Tyler rode there and kidnapped her. They knew they couldn't keep her so they sent her to Denver with some friends, until they found the right home for her. From that day on the boys had a silent agreement to protect the kids no matter the cost.

"I don't wanna leave you," Mia cried as she clanged to his shirt.

"I'm gonna miss you too Mimi," Damon said as he rocked her and tried to silence her cries. "Everything is going to be ok, and I promise we'll see each other soon, okay."

"You promise?"

"Pinky promise," he said wrapping his pinky around her tiny one. He got a Kleenex from the travel pack he always kept in his pocket and cleaned her face. "You ready to go upstairs, or do you want a minute?"

"Will you come with me?" Mia asked.

"Of course I will."

Damon took the little girl up the steps and he already regret it. He didn't want to deal with Caroline when she was emotional. He knew Bonnie was the only person closer to Mia than he was, but Caroline was going to take this to heart. Damon let Mia knock on the door.

"Hey guys," Bonnie smiled and stepped aside so they could get in. "What's up?"

"I don't want to tell them," Mia turned and whispered to Damon. Before Damon could respond Mia broke out in tears again and hugged his legs.

Damon picked the small girl up and addressed the questioning looks on Bonnie's and Caroline's faces. "Mason is coming to get Mia soon and he'll be taking her to her permanent placement."

"What?" Bonnie yelled.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner we could have planned a special dinner, and gone shopping, and watched your favorite movie, an"-

"Caroline," Damon warned. Mia was already upset and what Caroline was doing wasn't helping.

"If you want we could watch your favorite movie right now, and we can make popcorn balls you can take with you," Caroline promised.

"That sounds awesome, what do you say Mimi?" Damon asked. Mia just nodded and Caroline took her from Damon.

"Let's go down stairs and get Peter and Tyler to help us." Caroline raced out the door with Mia.

"Be careful. You guys could get hurt, or worse, break something expensive."

Bonnie was still in shock when she stopped Damon from leaving. "Can I help you?" Damon slowly asked looking at the tiny mocha colored hand on his chest.

"You can't just let her go Damon," Bonnie begged. "Please do something?"

"Look Bonnie I know how much you care about Mia and Peter, but I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell Tyler and Caroline. This may not be ideal, but it's a job. Just like everything else, jobs have rules and if you don't follow, you get fired. Now Bonnie, I don't want to fire you. Not with everything going on right now. The only thing we can do is make today special for Mia, to make going a little easier."

Bonnie let out a humorless laugh. "How do you do that?" She questioned as she studied his face. "How do you act like you don't care, like you don't feel anything? Because I can't do that. I… I feel, Damon. I feel everything."

Damon knew where this road of self-piety led and didn't want to travel it again. "Bonnie, stop."

Bonnie was stunned by Damon and how hard he was trying to push his pain away. Bottling all his anger inside wasn't going to make it go away. It was just hiding and growing darker and darker by the day. "I'm not going to stop, Damon, because I don't believe that you feel nothing."

Damon knew the girl was relentless and was going to push and push until she got what she wanted. "What? You think I want to be this person? I hurt you, Bonnie. I kidnap people and sell them to the highest bidder. I hate myself for what I do."

Bonnie knew Damon felt that way, but he rarely showed it. "Then show it! Do something, Damon," she placed a gentle hand on his cheek, "Anything is better than trying to convince me that you don't care."

"Well, I can't!" he yelled and turned away from her touch.

Bonnie grabbed his hand, "Damon," she urged him.

"You don't get it. If I let myself care, all I feel is pain. I can't let those kids see me like that. I can't let Caroline see me like that."

"Look I get that you need to be strong for your family so you do all the dirty work, but at the end of the day Damon you're being strong for everyone. You're carrying their burdens and your own, but who's there to be strong for you?" Bonnie asked.

"The only person in the world I trust," Damon smiled.

"Who?"

"Me."

"So predictable," Bonnie said as she left the room.

"You asked," Damon said as he shut the door.

Mason came around dinner time and stayed to eat with everyone. After dinner he helped Damon with the dishes and tried to move things along with Bonnie. "How are things going with the other two?" Mason asked.

"Peter's good, he really looks up to Tyler for some reason," Damon sorted.

"My nephew is admirable," Mason joked.

"I'd pay to see the day," Damon laughed.

"He'll grow into himself when the time comes, that's what happened with you," Mason laughed.

"I've never acted like Tyler and if I did, why didn't you just put me out of my misery?" Damon asked.

"I'm still waiting for you to grow out of it, but dude I know it's coming," Mason joked.

"Whatever."

"Stop being so sensitive you can't say that about Tyler."

"Oh, I can say a lot about Tyler, rightfully so," Damon laughed.

"You're no saint though, you pretend to be," Mason laughed.

"I'm as pure as my lily white skin."

"I defiantly don't believe you."

"As long as you don't tell Father Aloysius we're cool."

"Anyway what's up with Bonnie?" Mason said getting the conversation back on track.

"Since when are you so serious about work, we used to have fun, remember that?"

"That was before my brother was shot," Mason said with a solemn smile.

Damon couldn't imagine the kind of pain he'd inflect on the person that hurt Caroline, or Stefan, but he knew it would be immeasurable. "Nothing you do is going to bring him back man. You can't miss out on your life because he doesn't have his."

"But why is that ok. He had a family man. He and Hayley never fixed things, and she hates herself right now. Tyler is putting up a good front, but he refuses to go home to his quiet house and depressed mom."

"How's Carol?"

"She loved him through every stupid decision he made, and she doesn't know how to live without him."

"We are talking about Carol, she's a fighter. Just give her some time to grieve she'll bounce back," Damon said as he patted Mason on the back.

Mason smiled at Damon. "Thanks man."

"What are extended dysfunctional family members for?"

Mason's alarm went off. It was time for them to go, and he didn't get to talk to Damon about Bonnie. "I'm gonna grab Tyler," Mason said as he dried his hands.

"I'll get Mia's stuff," Damon said hiding up the stairs to Mia's room.

Bonnie was in her room trying to collect herself after Mia left. Caroline overrode Damon in a way only she could and left with Tyler and Mason. It was hard being completely alone. Bonnie knew what could happen to Mia while she was gone, and tried to push those thoughts away. She promised Peter and Mia she would protect them.

Her father was a cop, and the best in the tri-state. She had a duty to protect those kids and hanging around with Caroline had distracted her from that duty. Bonnie wasn't going to let Peter slip through her fingers. She was going to make sure they both got home...

Home-that was a big pill to swallow. She had no idea how to feel about never going home again. She tried not to think about it, but she hated it. She hated thinking she'd never see her parents again or hug her brother Jaime. She hated thinking that her Grams would never see her graduate college and go on to follow in her footsteps, by being a professor.

Bonnie had a life. She had Greta and Lexi who had been her friends forever. She had Matt who she loved all her life. When he asked her to senior prom it was the happiest she ever been. Then they were prom king and queen and it felt like the whole world knew what she did since she was four. She and Matt were meant to be forever. Now forever very well maybe over.

Bonnie wanted her life back. She wanted her family. She missed waking up in Matt's arms. There were always those fleeting moments in the wee hours of the morning when she'd wake and forget she wasn't home. She'd feel safe and wonder were Matt was. Then she'd remember, and sadness would consume her.

She hated that she was so helpless. Bonnie was a lot of things, but weak... That wasn't her.

She wondered how long she had been missing, and if anyone cared. She was just some black kid on vacation when she was taken. She was certainly no Natalie Holloway. Her dad would probably pull a Denzel and take a hospital hostage to get her story out there.

She laughed at the thought of him organizing his league of extraordinary gentlemen. She knew her uncle Jonas would be by her father's side. They had been partners for years. And Liz and Bill Forbes had been like second parents to her. They had a daughter her age, but she went missing when they were about three. They never had another child, but they adopted the community.

Bonnie was going to follow the rules, and get out. She was going home if it took her dying breathe and Damon was the key to her salvation. He deserved a real home just as much as the next guy. They were the same in Bonnie's eyes. He needed to be saved from this place. These people took him from his home, and if she wasn't careful she'd windup like him. She'd be a monster.

"Damon," Bonnie hadn't noticed him stand by the door watching her. She had been crying for long enough she supposed.

"Um can we talk?" Damon asked.

"Yes," Bonnie said wiping her face.

Damon didn't know what to say to her. He was doing the part of the job he hates. It was one thing to hang out with kids and to look out for his brother and sister, but this. Bonnie looked so innocent. She was just a kid, no older than Caroline and Stefan.

"Bonnie I'm not going to lie to you. This place... It's not all unicorns and kittens. It... I do things I don't like."

"Damon you don't have to like your job," Bonnie snarled at him.

The girl made it hard to be nice. "Look I'm trying to be nice. Believe it or not Bonnie I want to help you," Damon tried to say in an even tone.

"Maybe that's the problem."

"And all this time I thought it was your big ass mouth and stink attitude," Damon said with a humorless smile.

"Did you come here to insult me?"

"No I came here to tell you we're going on a road trip tomorrow," Damon said going to leave.

"Where?" Bonnie asked.

"The gyno."

I'm sorry to see Mia go, but like Damon said we'll hopefully see her soon. I forgot to put that I'm glad you guys like Tyler and Caroline. I love those two so much and I need so Forwood in my life. I hope you guys enjoyed this and next chapter isn't going to be so pleasant for Bamon, but you'll like it, and Stefan and Kol are going to make their first appearances. Love you, Bamily.