.

Chapter 15

where angels fear to tread

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul.
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.
― Emily Dickinson

"What did you just say?"

"The HMS Titanic? That's the ship we're on right now. Did you think we were on a different ocean liner?"

"We're on the Titanic right now?" Bonnie asked, but she could hardly hear her own words. Blood rushed past her ears. She'd let a few hours of peace and a shiny ring distract her. Every trip had included some horrible event, a tragedy for her to witness or mourn in the aftermath; this one was no different.

"Yes, Bonnie, as I've said three times now, we're on the Titanic. You aren't about to mysteriously disappear on me, are you?" Damon's tone was joking, but Bonnie's face had drained of all amusement.

She spun around, running towards the nearest circular life preserver. There, printed in bold black letters, was the name of the ship. Damon bounded after her.

"Are you alright? Bonnie, is something wrong?"

"Damon, remind me of the date. And the time, what time is it?"

"It's April twelfth, and I don't have my watch on me. Maybe eleven?" Any blood that had remained in Bonnie's face was now gone.

Titanic had featured prominently in Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie's sleepovers when they were in middle school. Both Elena and Bonnie had gushed over Leonardo DiCaprio's floppy hair and blue eyes, lusted after the beautiful costumes, and cried at the tragic ending. Caroline had done all of these things too, of course. But Caroline was Caroline, so she'd taken it a step further. She had soon known everything about the film making process, and a lot about the real events. Caroline studied, and talked about, why Kate Winslet's makeup was all wrong, what happened to the real-life Heart of the Sea, and she'd drawn out a minute by minute timeline of the sinking of the ship. Sometimes, Caroline had to dissect things to know why she loved them, and while Bonnie didn't share the urge, she could certainly appreciate her friend's quirks now.

"We have to go; we have to get Stefan!"

"He might be back in his room now—"

"Good, let's go!" She dragged Damon towards the door, and back inside the ship. He had to course correct her a few times, but they managed to find their way to the hallway of first-class cabins where she'd arrived. Bonnie banged insistently on Stefan's door.

"Bonnie? Why do you need Stefan? What's going on?" His hurried questions were interrupted by Stefan opening his door.

"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" Stefan looked confused and Bonnie saw a very much raw haunch of meat on his table. She didn't have time to address his diet right now though.

"What time is it? We have to go; but tell me the time!" Stefan responded to her urgency and grabbed his watch from a side table.

"Eleven twenty-three."

"Fuck!" Bonnie hissed. "We're too late to do anything."

"Too late for what?" Damon asked.

"This ship is going to crash, and it's going to sink, and almost everyone on it is going to die. Tonight. In under twenty minutes."

"What?" Bonnie didn't pay attention to which brother had spoken. She was on the most famous ship in history, and it was going down. Time travel wouldn't protect her from a watery grave.

"Stefan, we might be able to lessen the damage. I need you to go and make sure the lookout is checking for icebergs. If you can see one that he can't, compel him to sound the alarm for it. And then make sure they're sending out SOS signals from whatever communications station we have on here. And then help anyone you can up to the lifeboats. Make sure they send them out full! Go!"

"Bonnie—?" Bonnie couldn't believe he was still standing in front of her.

"Stefan, I need you to trust me. This is happening. You can either stand by and watch it happen or save a lot of lives tonight. It's your choice, but you have to make it right now." The vampire sped off, leaving his door open in his haste.

"Damon, you need to get Damia."

"Damia Bennett? How do you even know—?"

"She was the first person I met when I woke up here. And I know you have to protect her, for your deal with Emily. You need to get her to a lifeboat immediately. I don't know where she is, but crew quarters are probably the absolute worst place she could be now. And compel anyone else you meet in third class to come up by half past twelve. They'll drown in their cabins if they don't."

"What about you?"

"I'll meet you there, I'm going to find Margie." He sped away, and Bonnie ran down the hallway. Margie had said she was staying near Stefan, when she'd invited her to her rooms to share her rose oil. But Bonnie couldn't remember the exact number. Had it ended with a twelve or a fourteen? The witch decided that it didn't matter, if she got it wrong she would just be saving another person's life, and knocked on twelve.

The man who opened the door was not Margie, or any of the relatives that the woman had pointed out to Bonnie earlier in the night. He looked young and rich, and his smile was smarmy.

"And who might you be? I didn't call for anyone tonight." His eyes raked over her body. Bonnie reminded herself that guys with bad attitudes didn't necessarily deserve to die.

"Sorry! I'm looking for my friend. But, there's going to be fireworks tonight, you should come up!" Bonnie turned away, but the man grabbed her arm, just at the space where her skin was not covered by her capped sleeves or long gloves. She gasped, hit by the wall of death around the man. It was the feeling of an old vampire, far older than Damon, Stefan, or Katherine. He felt like Klaus.

"You're lying. But why are you knocking on my door and lying to me about fireworks? Stop panicking, and tell me the truth." His command was accompanied by a distortion of his pupil, and Bonnie knew he was trying to compel her, but she couldn't calm her heart enough to fake it succeeding.

"I'm a witch. I can't be compelled. But the boat is going to hit an iceberg and sink soon. Like, in a minute. I need to find my friend and get anyone else I can off the ship." She said rapidly. The vampire released her, and a thoughtful look overtook his face.

"So everyone on this ship is going to die?" He didn't sound upset over it, but almost…excited.

"No! Not everyone!" Bonnie said. But then her vehemence gusted out of her like a popped balloon. She continued; tone defeated. "But most people, yeah."

"Well, thanks for the warning, love. I'll try not to gorge myself too much on the buffet, and I'll avoid this floor, so I won't kill your friend." He was actually rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Damon had taken advantage of the recently-dead when he was in a situation without many options. This vampire did not have Damon's resigned air to the pragmatic solution. The veins under his eyes were already darkening with thirst, and it only made his eager expression more disturbing.

"What? Everyone's going to die, so you're just going to kill them all to drink their blood?" Bonnie questioned him.

"Yes, I'm giving their lives purpose. I'm nice like that." He replied. Did he really believe that? Bonnie looked at his smiling face in horror.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked.

"Just about everything. I'm a thousand years old, comes with the territory. Ta!" He said, sliding past her.

"Wait!" He'd sped off, but stopped at the end of the hallway, head cocked to indicate that he was listening.

"You won't be able to kill or eat everyone. Please, send some up so they have a chance." The vampire looked at her, considering her words.

"Alright, but only because of my deep respect for witches. And—" He pointed a finger directly at her. "You'll owe me one." Bonnie nodded. She didn't expect that she would ever see this vampire again, and one IOU was a small price to pay for the lives this deal could save. He crossed his fingers over his heart, which, while childish, let her know he would honor his promise. Then he was gone.

She knocked on the next door over. This time, Margie answered it.

"Bonnie? Are you alright?" Bonnie couldn't imagine what she looked like right now. But she'd spent too long talking with that vampire. The iceberg would already have scraped the side of the ship, even if the witch hadn't felt anything.

"Margie, I'm fine. But you need to grab a coat, a heavy one, and any extras you have. The ship is sinking. There's no room for luggage, but you need to get up to the deck and on to a lifeboat."

"Bonnie, what are you talking about? There hasn't been any alert. I think they'd tell us if the boat was sinking."

"Margie. Please, you have to do this. I know we only met today, but I am trying to save your life. This boat is going to the bottom of the ocean, and anyone still on it is going with it. You need to go. Get your coat and go up to the deck. If I'm lying, you'll just have gone up there for a late night stroll, but if I'm not wrong and you stay here, you'll die." The woman swallowed. She stared at Bonnie hard, testing her sincerity before she nodded. Margie turned to her trunk, grabbed a heavy woolen coat, hesitated, and grabbed another one, thick with fur.

"Charles, his mother—" She started to say, but Bonnie pulled her from the room and pointed her towards the exit.

"If they're on the way, grab them. But Margie? Get yourself up there first, and don't let Charles, or anyone else, stop you from getting on one of those lifeboats. Okay?"

"Okay." Margie nodded, and started down the hall, Bonnie went the opposite way. She ran, knocking on every door. Some cabins opened at her knock, and some didn't. She shouted about fireworks and a party on the main deck, hoping to entice people upstairs without inciting a panicked stampede. She was in the stairwell, catching her breath, when a blur flashed before her eyes. A woman stood next to her, where there had only been empty space before.

"Great, another vampire." Bonnie said. The vampire's head cocked to the side, curious.

"Yes, and you're a witch. Why did you knock on my door?" Was every vampire that wasn't a Salvatore British? Even Katherine's odd accent, which Bonnie assumed was fake, had strains of it. Now was not the time to ask.

"The ship is sinking; I'm trying to get people upstairs."

"You won't reach many people at this speed." The vampire said. Bonnie nodded, she was already out of breath, and that was only one hallway. She was so out of shape.

"Will you help?" Bonnie asked. She wasn't hoping for much, after the last vampire, but it couldn't hurt to ask. This one hadn't referred to the passengers as a buffet yet, so she was already a step up in Bonnie's book. She ascended a few more steps when she nodded in agreement to Bonnie's request.

They entered the next hallway together. The vampire ran down the hall, knocking on each door so quickly it was nearly simultaneous. Confused heads were just poking out of their rooms and the vampire was already beside Bonnie again. She pulled them around the corner, hiding them from view.

"There will be fireworks on the deck at a quarter past twelve. Seal your portholes and then come up to the deck." The vampire yelled in a good impression of a man's voice. Bonnie hadn't thought about the portholes. It was a good idea, but the witch wasn't sure how much of a difference it would make. The ship did crack in half; some empty windows could hardly stop that from happening.

"What if they don't come to see the fireworks?" Bonnie asked. She didn't know if she would go and see fireworks after someone knocked on her door just before midnight to tell her about them. The vampire's face softened.

"We can't save everyone, young witch. Now come on, let's do another floor." Bonnie nodded, and the two repeated the process of knocking, running, and entreating people to come upstairs.

They continued until they felt a distinct lurch. They grabbed hands, both startled. Bonnie knew they'd hit the iceberg already, so what was that?

"What's your name, witch? I'm Rose-Marie." The vampire introduced herself. Bonnie hadn't asked her name. She didn't know anything about her except that she was a vampire and willing to help. That had been enough.

"I'm Bonnie."

"Well, Bonnie, this is your last hallway. I can hear water now, inside the ship." That must have been what caused the rocking. Too much water bursting in at once, or some piece of the great metal ship buckling as the ocean rushed into it.

"There's still so many people, and the lifeboats won't start casting off for another hour. Let's keep going." Rose-Marie didn't ask how Bonnie knew this, just nodded, and began the knocking process again.

They reached third class, and Bonnie began telling them that the show had already started, a group of children joined them in knocking, gathering their friends and their families. Suddenly, Rose-Marie turned to Bonnie in warning, but the people arrived before she could get out the words. Dozens of passengers, all at once. Some had wet pants, and were yelling about water in their cabins, but some of them were shouting about a monster on the lower levels, and just as many were moving in the jerking way that was a result of lazy compulsion. The vampire from cabin twelve must have started his feast nearby, just below them.

Bonnie knew it was time to go, and she let the crowd carry her away from Rose-Marie. She thought she heard Rose-Marie's voice, calling for someone named Trevor, but Bonnie wasn't sure. There were so many voices calling out, all searching for a family and friends they'd lost in the tight press of bodies.

But Rose-Marie had helped her without question, believing Bonnie's warnings and working with her to save lives. Bonnie hoped the vampire wouldn't go down with the ship searching for her friend, and that they might meet again in the future. Mystic Falls was due a few visits from friendly vampires.

Bonnie was pulled along with the crowd until they were all spit out onto the deck. It was already crowded with people of all ages and ticket classes. Barely half of them had any outerwear on, and Bonnie wasn't one of them. She shivered. She almost missed Katherine's gown. It had been dirty, but at least it had long sleeves.

By chance, the witch spotted Damon's face through a gap in the crowd, and she pushed herself towards him. When she reached him, he was arguing with a sailor at the stern of a lifeboat. Damia Bennett stood next to him, shivering with a threadbare coat thrown over her uniform. Her bun was still neat.

"I can't let her on. First class goes first. She's staff, she'll be on the last boats out." The sailor insisted.

"There are only twelve people on this boat!" Damon cried. Bonnie peaked over. He was right. Room for at least fifty, and there was only a dozen on board.

"That hardly matters, sir."

"Damon!" The vampire twisted around, noticing her. He motioned for Bonnie to get into the lifeboat, but she was stopped by a different sailor.

"I'm sorry miss, but I cannot let you board." Bonnie looked down at her dress, which left no doubt to which class she would have been ticketed with.

"I guess it's white women and children first, huh?" The sailor shifted uncomfortably but stayed resolute. Bonnie turned to Damon.

"Damon, just compel them." She hissed, knowing that he would hear her despite the chaos.

"I can't Bonnie. I haven't fed since coming aboard, and I'm weak. I used up almost all of my energy compelling people up here, and so did Stefan. I really only have one more in me. Damia will have to find her own way." He said. Damia left behind? Bonnie looked at him as if he were crazy. Did he not realize that he needed to protect Damia to fulfill his deal with Emily?

"Compel him! Get Damia on that boat or I'll stake you myself." Bonnie threatened. Damon kept their gazes locked for three tense seconds before he clenched his jaw and nodded.

He'd begun speaking to the sailor, eyes intense and voice soft, when Bonnie spotted Margie over her shoulder.

The woman had Charles and an older woman who must have been his mother with her, as well as two young children who clung to each of her hands. One was crying, but the other just seemed to be in a daze. Looking at their clothing, Bonnie doubted they were anyone Margie had known before tonight, but she held their hands just as tightly as if they were own, towing them towards the witch once she saw Bonnie waving to her in the crowd.

The crowd wasn't pushing too hard to get onto the boats yet, but Bonnie knew it would soon be a desperate crush. Margie's group soldiered their way through to them. Charles immediately slipped a thick fold of bills into each of the sailors' hands, and then turned to help his mother into the small boat. Bonnie thought he was bribing his way on as well, but once his mother, Margie, and the two children had all been handed in, Charles took a step back.

"Bonnie, come on, get in." Margie's words, and the stack of money from Charles, were more effective than Damon's pre-compulsion arguments. The crewmen didn't protest. They wouldn't stop her from getting on the lifeboat. But Bonnie shook her head.

"No, I'll be staying with Damon. But more people should get in." Just as the words left her mouth, the ship gave a sickening lurch. Screams echoed across the deck. The lifeboat swung away from the ship and then crashed back into the side.

"We have to lower it now. We'll lose it otherwise." The crewman who spoke jumped into the boat and started to untie the knots to begin lowering the boat to the water. Charles scrambled to help from his position on deck. Damon grabbed her arm, eyes serious.

"You should be on that boat Bonnie. If you jump now, you can make it." But the boat had already disappeared into the inky night, so she shook her head again.

"It's too late, and don't try to get me on another one either. I won't take someone else's spot. I've been here for hours Damon; you know I can't be tied here much longer." Bonnie's teeth worried her lip and she tried to believe her own assertions. She'd already been here longer than any other trip, but the bloodstone remained as icy to the touch as the water below.

"Come on, let's go up a deck, I want to see what's going on." She said, and he assented, pushing his way through the crowd in front of her to clear a path.

Damon and Bonnie found slightly higher ground to watch as lifeboats were lowered, some full, some nearly empty, into the water at a rapid pace. Bonnie wasn't ashamed to use a few light pushes, physical or magical, to make sure that children found an easier path through the crowd.

Their higher ground was rising beneath them, as one side of the ship sunk into the water. Bonnie looked at the mass of people still on deck, and the panicked shouts that had begun to spread through their ranks. The seriousness of the situation was setting in. Bonnie thought about the hundreds of people still below deck, the band that was still playing a jazzy tune in the distance, the passengers she had sacrificed to the vampire from room twelve for the hope that he would save more than he killed. If she had just realized where she was sooner, if she'd actually paid attention to her surroundings instead of Damon maybe she would have been able to save them all. The ship could have slowed down and glided through the sea without a scratch or a soul lost.

But maybe it would have just sunk a day later after she left, or a week later on its return trip to England.

A scream and a splash. People had begun jumping from the sides.

"Bonnie, we have to get off this ship, we'll sink with it if we don't." Damon said. Bonnie nodded in agreement and focused in on her surroundings again. It was no use lingering on her failures now. The bloodstone was still cold, she wasn't leaving, and their side of the ship was rising from the water as the other side sunk.

"They've stopped lowering lifeboats, but Damon, I don't think I can jump." In a world of vampires, witches, and werewolves, Bonnie's newfound fear of heights was completely irrational. But feeling the distance between her and the water grow greater and greater made the fear seem altogether too rational. It paralyzed her.

"There are still more boats, they're just stuck. I can get one out I think. Stay here." And then Damon was gone.

Bonnie clung to the rigging he'd left her near. She looked to her right and left, watching as more and more passengers decided taking the plunge into the ocean was a better choice than remaining on deck. Bonnie swallowed.

She hadn't even realized there were so many people on board, a small city really. Of passengers, and crew, and staff to make the whole ship run. Most never even had a chance at a lifeboat, even with Bonnie's desperate meddling. She'd been so focused on solving the problem of people trapped below deck in their cabins. If she'd told Damon and Stefan to save their compulsion for the crew, to make sure the lifeboats were full, more people would have been saved. Bonnie rubbed at her welling eyes. Was her bloodstone still cold because Nature was punishing her? She'd finally tried, really tried, to intervene with history and so now she had to live with it. She would watch her failure to save anyone play out before her, maybe even die herself tonight, and no one in the future would ever know what happened to her.

Or Damon would since he would see her younger self when he tried to open the tomb. And Stefan would, if he ever made it to Mystic Falls. Has she changed that too somehow? Would Stefan still go back to Mystic Falls on the night of the bonfire? Bonnie thought of every interaction, every change she might have made unwittingly. Any small spark left unattended can cause a forest fire. Had she doomed Elena as well as herself?

Bonnie nearly cried in relief when Damon reappeared. His face and arms were strained, he was clearly exhausted, but he was carrying a lifeboat behind him. One of the large ones made of solid wood that could fit dozens of people. Stefan, showing equal exertion, held the other end. It was a testament to the panic of the moment that no one noticed the supernatural strength displayed by the two brothers, even as they did the work of a four-man crew and crane.

Bonnie let go of her security post and stumbled over the rolling deck to reach them.

"Bonnie, get in and get the ropes. We have to do this fast." She climbed on, and frantically tied off the boat to the pulley system that Damon and Stefan had lifted the boat too.

It swung free of their grip, ready to be lowered. "Come on!" Bonnie shouted, not just to the Salvatores but to the other people trying to make their way towards them on the tilting deck. Stefan lowered one side of the boat to keep it even and steady. Damon handed people up to Bonnie as she pulled them into the boat. The deck lurched again, and the boat swung precariously. Bonnie grabbed the side of the boat, trying to keep on her feet.

The boat filled, three dozen people who hadn't made it onto any of the other rafts.

"Lower it." Stefan nodded at Damon's words, but Bonnie protested.

"There are still more people!"

"Bonnie, they're not going to make it. We've done all we can." Damon said frankly. "Stefan, start." He ordered. Stefan climbed into the boat himself but kept hold of the rope. Damon waited a moment, making sure it was steady, before following himself.

A little girl leaned over the side, watching as the blackness came closer and closer. The girl was alone, so Bonnie scrambled over the crowded bench seats to sit next to her.

"Hi, I'm Bonnie. What's your name?" Bonnie said, trying to project friendliness and comfort. The girl sniffled, but she wasn't crying. Bonnie wished she had a coat to wrap the girl in. The child, practically a toddler, didn't say anything, just fingered the long silk gloves that Bonnie still wore, despite everything that had happened.

"Do you like my gloves?" The girl nodded. The boat stopped its descent, and Stefan looked to his pulley in frustration. Bonnie pulled off her gloves and handed them to the girl. She'd long stop feeling the stinging chill of the wind, and the gloves hadn't been much protection anyway.

"Here, they're yours now." The girl took them and managed a small smile.

Bonnie stood up and carefully stepped over the bench so she could help Stefan.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked. Stefan was frowning at the rope. Where it had previously been sliding smoothly through the pulley, keeping them level as they were lowered, it now seemed stuck.

"Pulley's jammed." He glanced at the three dozen huddled passengers of their little boat, and the still rising hull of the Titanic at their side. "I can do it by hand, but it will be suspicious."

"Do it. No one is going to remember one odd thing in the midst of all this." Bonnie said. Stefan nodded and began quickly tinkering with the metal and rope. Bonnie didn't know exactly what he was doing but trusted that he was working to get them all to the water safely. Now to deal with the nagging worry in the back of her mind.

"Stefan, I need you to promise me something. On our new friendship." Bonnie said. She stressed the word new, hoping to remind him that he still had a lot to make up for.

"Anything." He said, glancing up from his work to meet her eyes so she knew he was sincere.

"No matter what happens tonight, I need you to meet me in Mystic Falls on May 23, 2009."

"2009? What?" The specific date, far into the future, must have made no sense, but Bonnie infused earnestness into her words.

"Just promise me. May 23, 2009. Wickery Bridge, okay?"

"Alright, I promise." Stefan said. Damon was giving them odd looks from across the boat. Bonnie didn't want to offer any further explanation, to either of them, so just nodded and left him to his work on the pulley.

She'd almost gotten back to her seat when the boat lurched again. Bonnie didn't know if it was because Stefan had finally gotten the rope out of the pulley, or if something had snapped, or if the Titanic had lurched and taken them with her. None of that even entered her mind because her vision and focus had narrowed to one point, less than two feet in front of her.

The girl, gloves in hand, had been leaning over the side again. Her little feet left the floor and Bonnie dove forwards, pushing the girl into the arms of a seated tuxedoed man. The witch had used her own body as a counterweight, and she'd miscalculated. The girl was safe, but Bonnie tumbled over the edge and into the water.

"Bonnie!"

She hit the water in seconds. It felt like every inch of her skin had been slapped. The cold air that she'd grown accustomed to was nothing compared to the water. Her entire body froze; she couldn't move her arms and legs. She couldn't even feel them. Her dress suddenly weighed fifty pounds. She opened her eyes, and thought she could see light somewhere above her, where the ship must be, but just as suddenly it was gone. She had nothing to swim to, no ability to swim, and the bloodstone was still cold. Bonnie really was going to die here.

Just as Bonnie gave up hope, an arm wrapped around her middle and dragged her upwards. Her head broke the surface and she gasped to bring air into her burning lungs. Damon towed her for a few minutes, cutting through the water easily. He pulled her to a capsized raft. Bonnie didn't know if it had been locked away on the boat and shaken free, or if it had been overturned earlier and doomed its inhabitants.

"Can you tread?" Bonnie struggled to move her limbs but managed a very weak tread. Damon let go of her and flipped the raft, before throwing her and himself on board. They lay on their backs, panting.

"The lifeboat? Stefan? Did they make it?" Bonnie managed to ask between labored breaths.

"I don't know. I dove after you." Damon said. He already sounded much better than her. Did vampires actually need to breathe? Twilight had said no, but Damon hardly sparkled either.

"Damon! Those people—!"

"They'll be fine. Stefan got them into the water, I'm sure of it." He sat up.

"Damn." He breathed, eyes wide with shock. Bonnie struggled to sit up for a moment, before Damon propped her up against his side, so that she could share his disbelief.

The lights of the Titanic had gone out while she was under the water, but they could still see the boat outlined against the starry night sky. One side was completely out of the ocean, nearly vertical in the air. Bonnie knew what was going to happen next, but still winced when the groans of wood and iron reached them. She hid her face in Damon's shoulder as the hull cracked and the ship split apart. The two sides of the massive Titanic disappeared in under a minute, slipping under the surface quietly.

Bonnie's hair had been frozen together, and it crackled as she tried to lift her head from Damon's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her so that her back was to his chest and her legs were bracketed with his own. He hugged her, his warmth enveloping her. The heat helped, but Bonnie's teeth still chattered. She couldn't shake the chill, not only from the water, but also from her earlier acceptance of her own death.

His hands rubbed up and down her arms, trying to generate more heat.

"Come on, Bonnie, let's get some life back into you. Vampire blood can't make you warm, work with me here." She weakly smiled at his efforts. But warmth she could do, it would just take some energy. She just had to muster some more. The adrenaline was gone, but she could do this. She had to.

She leaned over the side of the raft, this time with Damon's arm acting as a steady anchor and snatched a few pieces of debris from the water. She avoided thinking about the bodies floating among them.

She formed a pile of waterlogged wood and focused. At first, it only generated steam. But after a minute, the pile burst into hot flame. Damon flinched back in surprise, before drawing close again. They settled down beside each other, huddled in front of their small fire.

Bonnie eyed the glinting golden band on her finger and tried to process her day. She'd met another ancestor who didn't seem to like her. Bonnie thought about what Damia had said after they touched. You are our end. Did that mean Bonnie was the last of the Bennetts, that the line would die with her? Or had Bonnie inadvertently caused the ship to sink? Or was it both? Was it a prediction that Bonnie was going to die, childless, in the past, soaked through to the skin?

"Stop looking so glum. We survived!" Damon said, giving her shoulder a shake.

"Thanks to you. I was basically useless back there. I tried to warn people, but I was too late and slow. And if it wasn't for you and Stefan getting that boat…" Bonnie trailed off.

"So, an early win for super strength. This whole cursed existence thing saved a few lives, including yours. But look, we would have frozen out here if it wasn't for you. It's a team effort." Damon encouraged her.

"A team effort between a vampire and a witch. I like that." She said. "And stop calling yourself cursed, it's depressing."

Damon snorted.

"That's the point, Bonnie."

"Well it shouldn't be. What do you even have to be sad about? What exactly is so cursed about getting to live forever doing whatever you want?" She asked tetchily.

"You forgot the bit about having to kill people and feed on their blood to survive." Okay, point.

"Well you don't have to kill them; you could just compel them afterwards."

"But you hate compulsion. You didn't even like when I compelled those prostitutes, and that was for their own good." His definition of their own good might not be their own, but explaining bodily autonomy and self-determination to a vampire would have to take a backseat just for tonight. The whole murder wasn't the only choice had precedence for now.

"Compelling someone to forget a few hours is better than killing them, Damon, that's kind of a no brainer."

"Hmm," He intoned. Bonnie hoped that meant he was thinking over what she said. She might not encourage anyone to become a vampire, but after living as one for fifty years, she thought Damon would have learned to take the good with the bad better.

"Just wait until blood banks become a thing. You'll love them."

"Blood from a bank? I suppose people make willing deposits for us to pick up?" He asked sarcastically.

"Essentially, yes." Bonnie replied.

"Another thing to look forward too in your future then."

"Hey, 2009 isn't exactly just around the corner. You should live your life." Bonnie said, thinking about how if must have felt for Damon to live his entire life waiting for Katherine, only to find out that she didn't care about him. "If we ever get off the boat, you have to make some friends, have some fun. Don't just spend your whole life waiting."

"If we get off? Do you think I'm going to let you die out here, Bonnie?"

"Well, all I can do is light another fire, and I don't think that is going to do much good if we're stuck here much longer." Bonnie said with a yawn. The fire was nice, and no longer needed her magic as fuel to keep going, but it was far from a permanent solution.

He tightened his arm around her.

"I'll tow this boat behind me if I have to, Bonnie, don't think I won't." Damon said. Bonnie wanted to argue against this, images of Leonardo DiCaprio's frozen body at the forefront of her mind. She didn't want him in the water. But explaining that argument required too much energy, and she suddenly felt exhausted.

Her lids drooped. Hazily, she thought she saw a figure cutting through the water with a perfect breaststroke, but she blinked, and it was gone.

"I guess this trip was a total bust for you." Bonnie said, hoping to distract him from his proposed task.

"What?" He asked.

"Can't exactly get a grimoire from a sinking ship. That was why you were on the boat, right? For Charles's book. Did you think it had a clue about the tomb?"

"Not about the tomb, no. But I would have been on the ship anyway. Stefan and I have business in Virginia."

"Both of you? What is it?"

"Alessandro's oldest son, Zachariah, is dead." Apparently Zach was a family name, and an unlucky one.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Bonnie felt the shrug of Damon's shoulder beneath her.

"I never knew him. I haven't been back in Mystic Falls since I left. I didn't even want to go back for this."

"So why are you?" Bonnie asked. Was he finally going to fulfill his dream of burning down the Salvatore mansion? Or had he already done that? She'd never thought to follow up.

"He was murdered. I thought it might be a vampire. Someone getting revenge for the tomb; he's not the first murdered founding family member in recent months."

"You think a vampire got out?"

"No." Another shrug, "I can't let myself hope that. I thought it might be someone else like me, someone waiting. I can see why they'd want revenge."

Bonnie started to reply, but she was interrupted by a yawn. How could she be so warm and sleepy in the middle of the ocean?

"You can rest Bonnie, get some sleep. I'll wake you up when the fire goes out." Damon said softly.

Bonnie must have mumbled some response, but she couldn't remember. She blinked again, but her eyelids were too heavy to lift. She dropped off into an exhausted sleep.