I still can't believe this came out of a one-shot.
I hope you guys like the direction I've taken, I really do. Also, ask me as many questions as you like about this, now that I know where I'm headed I'm pretty stoked and want to make sure you're all with me. I'm actually pretty nervous about this
...It took me by surprise as well.
Bonnie walked quietly behind Damon as they ascended the stairwell with Fahada at a human pace that seemed to irk Bonnie more than anyone else. She'd been on edge since returning to Earth, because she didn't know where she stood with anyone really; everything was dangling precariously in the air…The only solid something in her life; the vampire who was walking mutely ahead of her, well within arms-reach, had declared his love for her and thrown what little she'd come to know up in the air along with everything else. And now this. Fahada had led them to a stairwell on the far right of the estate; it was the only one that led to the third level as it opened up to the floor itself that was open-plan in its construction. Bonnie and Damon looked around as they reached the tops of the stairs – greeted with high wooden-beamed ceilings, spotless gleaming wooden floors. The heavy-set metal tables were all pushed against the white walls that were decorated with anatomical diagrams and maps of the world that ranged from being human-specific, to indications of which parts of land were claimed by various supernatural clans and covens. Bonnie's eyes darted this way and that before settling on the only table that was left in the centre of the humungous space where Imran stood with a patient smile on his face as he beckoned them with a gentle wave of his hand. Bonnie flashed to stand opposite him while Damon took his time approaching the table, indifferent to the three pairs of eyes that watched him in silence as he dawdled much to Imran's amusement. Imran tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible as he spoke, this was after all very serious business.
"So as my wife informed you we believe you Bonnie, are amidst the strangest transitional process to becoming a vampire while Damon's newly acquired magic is trying to find footing in his supernatural constitution." Damon frowned.
"My newly acquired what now?" He asked, sticking his neck out a little as his eyebrows shot up.
"You didn't think it strange when a Bennett witch used magic to try and protect herself from you and nothing happened?" Fahada quipped, her soft voice and her tone having a jarring effect on the vampire who promptly shut his mouth. Imran nodded to himself and looked to Bonnie.
"We'll be doing standard reflex tests with you, gaging your physical and instinctual reactions to try and see just how much vampirism is present in your system," he turned to Damon then, "for you it's a little more complicated," Imran said, "I hope you have some knowledge of witchcraft because you'll need it as you'll be casting spells in the next few minutes."
"Excuse you?" Damon sassed, a dark eyebrow arching incredulously. "I don't cast spells. Never have."
"Well," Fahada said, taking a step towards him, "You do now."
"Damon stop being so difficult." Bonnie muttered, looking up at him with tired eyes, "This is why we came here, to figure this out." Damon looked at her, his features still held in an unhappy compilation but he nodded, a quick, business-like motion and she pressed her lips together and nodded in return. They turned to Imran in unison and crossed their arms, looked at each other askance at their synchronicity, looked back at Imran and rolled their eyes.
"Shall we begin?" Imran asked, his voice sprinkled with laughter.
Amelia sighed softly as she sat opposite Lucy and Stefan in her library while they all busied themselves with reading, waiting for the first status report on Damon and Bonnie. Stefan had found an interesting novella about a werewolf's account of precolonial South Africa; before the Dutch settlers had arrived he'd lived with a tribe near the west coast, teaching them more efficient ways to hunt and how to live off of the land. They'd taught him their native tongue and dubbed him the 'Lone Wolf' something that brought a smile to Stefan's face. The book was of the same name. Lucy had found an academic text regarding Psychonautics and Witchcraft; the methodology of an altered state of consciousness with the use of meditation or mind-altering substances to enhance or inhibit one's magic. Both were thoroughly enthralled while Amelia ran through her case study notes she'd compiled regarding Bonnie and Damon. She'd constructed a timeline of their interactions, using both their and Stefan and Elena's accounts thereof. It turned out to be rather telling; especially regarding how Stefan and Elena had viewed Damon and Bonnie's 'relationship'. It only occurred to Elena once that Damon may have cared for Bonnie whereas Stefan never saw much past his ex-girlfriend and his brother. Damon and Bonnie however, simply being in the same room with one another – told an entirely different story. This was verified when Amelia had sifted through their consciousness'. She had seen things they'd seen, felt things they'd felt and come to the astute conclusion that no one – including Bonnie and Damon could have predicted their relationship taking this turn…in this way. Neither of them had ever fully acknowledged the other's feelings, or their feelings to the other because their lives were inundated with war and incessant drama. It was those four months preluding to Bonnie sending Damon home without her that marked the turning point in their dynamic. Damon had offered himself up to the altar of sacrifice for her, for once, Bonnie having done the same thing so many times before – and they'd both known that she'd do it again…and she did. In that moment their love took hold, found its footing as she sent him careening back home without her. Their love, as it was realised was torn apart by the immediate separation of the two of them. Cue Damon's hysteria and Lucy delving into his mind only to solidify whatever had manifested there upon their separation – causing them to meet halfway between Earth and Elsewhere and ultimately giving Bonnie the motivation to return home…
"Incredible." Amelia muttered. Lucy and Stefan looked up at Amelia who seemed to be unaware that she'd spoken at all, her eyes still down on the pages in front of her. Stefan and Lucy locked eyes then, shrugged, and went on with their reading.
Bonnie had never been happier to have been a cheerleader more than in this moment. She'd been especially bad-ass at tumbling and used these dormant skills to evade Fahada's speedy 'attacks'. Rolling out of the way with impressive agility Bonnie flashed back to her feet and side-stepped a wooden arrow before bending backwards and using her hands for momentary balance as she avoided an axe that had been thrown her way. Once Fahada had realised just how deft Bonnie was, she stopped holding back. Flashing upright she ran headlong towards Fahada, side-stepping each arrow until she was within arm's reach. Fahada's pretty face tilted into a smirk and Bonnie's confidence faltered. With a swift kick Bonnie was sent flying backwards but she managed to turn the motion into a backflip and landed with her one knee pressed to the floor and the other bent as she looked up and grinned at the vampire girl. Fahada nodded and tossed the crossbow aside.
"Impressive." The girl said with another nod, "But I wonder if you've been exposed to any of this yet." Then, a smell so sugary and so intoxicatingly mouth-watering wafted to Bonnie as she stood roughly twenty feet from where Fahada had taken the lid off of a container.
"What," Bonnie shuddered as she stood up, "…Is that?"
"Blood." Damon said from where he stood with Imran. Bonnie moaned as she twitched, staying rooted to the spot for fear of what she might do. Her face hadn't even changed into its vampiric form.
"Again," Fahada said, "Impressive." Bonnie whimpered. "She has exceptional control." Bonnie saw Imran nod in her peripheral vision, while Damon's eyes stayed trained on her as she stood there. "Would you like to taste this?" Bonnie began shaking her head in the negative but not a moment later was she nodding desperately. If she was in the midst of transitioning into a vampire then drinking blood would surely seal the deal and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that…if she'd ever be ready.
"This isn't what I wanted. Not ever." Bonnie hissed, tears welling up in her eyes, "I don't –"
"Chances are," Fahada interrupted, walking slowly to Bonnie with the container of Amelia's blood cradled carefully in her hands, "It's for the best if you do." Imran flashed to stand beside Fahada, walking along with her, falling in stride with her as they slowly approached Bonnie who'd already taken two steps back.
"Stop." Damon said, suddenly in front of Bonnie. "She said she didn't want to." Bonnie stared at Damon's back and felt her mouth part in a mixture of gratitude, awe and sudden awareness.
Damon had been right, when they'd died it had all changed – Bonnie was used to dying, but that didn't mean that the thought haunted her or terrified her any less when she ran a continuously high risk of dying once more just being who she was. Maybe this was literally the Universe's way of making sure she stood a better chance this time around? That she'd be less fragile and fallible, that she could withstand more and have a chance at her own future…
"Do you think this pleases us?" Imran said, his voice hard for the first time since Bonnie and Damon had met him, "My wife is a witch too and I assure you, I would be handling it in this exact manner…Bonnie's life changed irrevocably when she sent you home without her, when she managed to return herself to this realm and we have to deal with these consequences if she wishes to survive…Not drinking this blood isn't going to change the facts. If anything, it could be to her detriment." Bonnie swallowed and set her shoulders; they were right. Damon swore he felt her resolve dwindle even before he spun around to look down at her. Bonnie locked eyes with him and though they were still harbouring unshed tears she side stepped him and looked to Fahada who held out the bowl to her. Be brave Bonnie, she said to herself.
Bonnie's mouth had gone dry as she stepped forward to receive it. She felt Damon move closer and Bonnie pressed her eyes shut and lifted the corner of the container to her mouth and took the smallest sip. Then another. And then she screamed. Damon caught the container before it tipped over and spilled onto the floor, blindly holding it out to Imran or Fahada as he held Bonnie's writhing body by her waist as she began to struggle against her transition. Damon's eyes were wide with horror; he eased them both onto the floor and cradled her as she cried out in pain. He didn't know what to do and though it infuriated him he refused to let that crowd his thoughts – so he thought of anything that could help her. He could hear her heart slamming against her chest, fighting the good fight until it gave one hard thump, then another, fluttering one before it stopped altogether. She cried out as her fangs slid out of her gums, and he knew the pain all too well.
"Look at me, Bonnie," he said tapping the side of her face vigorously until her eyes popped open, their blue-green gone now with a black and red swirling around in her orbs as veins swam to the surface of her skin. "You're okay, just breathe through it." Her face pinched in discomfort and her mouth trembled but her breathing became deeper and soon her eyes returned to what Damon had now come to find normal. One blue and one green – just like his. Bonnie blew out a shaky breath and her head fell back as she pressed her eyes shut. He heard her fangs slide back and he relaxed a little.
"That was awful." She whispered when she lifted her head back up. "It was awful and incredible." Damon nodded knowingly. Imran and Fahada exchanged glances, once again surprised by Bonnie's flawless self-control – with witch's blood no less and how quickly she able to bring herself back from her vampiric state during her first turn.
"You did great though, didn't even spill any blood or anything." Damon complimented as he helped her into a sitting position, keeping an arm around her waist as they turned to face the vampire siblings. "So she transitioned…now what?"
"Now you cast some spells." Fahada said and Damon slumped back a little.
"Great." He said with a tight smile and flashed to his feet, pulling Bonnie up by the hand she intended to swat his chest with. Grinning he flicked her nose and sauntered over to Imran and Bonnie moved aside and smiled sheepishly at Fahada who chuckled.
"Don't feel bad," the vampire girl said, "That's actually the best version of how that scenario could have gone." Bonnie searched Fahada's face and then something clicked in place.
"…Why do I get the feeling you're constantly holding back your real strength from us?" Bonnie asked, "I mean you're always so calm and from my experience that stems from a bone-deep confidence in your capabilities." Fahada grinned openly then as she watched Damon wave his arms around exasperatedly at something Imran had said.
"Because I am," Fahada said matter-of-factly, "I am much older than you and all of your vampire friends combined, stronger than Lucy too, I have no reason to fear you or to fear for my safety. People assume me to be timid and shy because I choose the moments I speak very specifically but I'm not. In fact, if you were to know me fully you wouldn't feel comfortable standing near me…I am capable of great evil…" she looked over at her brother then, "But Imran says I show the purity of my soul when I choose not to act on those capabilities…" she snickered, "But he's always been the optimist between the two of us… I don't give into my base instincts as a vampire, because I know if I did I wouldn't have to worry about condemnation or hell because I'd make one of this world." Bonnie's mouth fell open slightly. "But that's the truth that lives in us all fledgling," Fahada went on, "We are all capable of great evil…As supernaturals we just approach that actuality at an unprecedented pace and there's more at stake when we decide to take matters into our own hands…You Bonnie, are now capable of a multitude of things that used to haunt your dreams but that won't change who you are…you're much too good for that, like Imran. You'll be the one to save the world as opposed to watching it burn."
"Is it," Bonnie swallowed and cleared her throat as she looked at Fahada, "Is it weird that I like you more after saying all of that?" Fahada shook her head.
"I'm glad you do, it gets awfully lonely when you live by the truth." Bonnie nodded, agreeing wholly with the sentiment, "But don't delve too deeply into my misgivings, you should be watching Damon right now." Bonnie's eyes flashed to Damon then and her mouth fell open – fully this time. He had his palm extended confidently; and hanging suspended in the air just inches from his open hand were ten arrows, all aimed at his heart; each arrow pointed inward, pressed closely to another as they honed in one target. Damon growled and sent off a pulse of magic and the arrows burst into small splinters that froze mid-air to avoid shooting all over the room and injuring the vampires inside of it. Bonnie blinked a few times and set the slivers of wood alight, Damon turning to smile at her as the embers floated up and away from him. His magic seemed completely instinctual, which explained why Lucy couldn't use spells against him; he'd been thwarted her efforts without even consciously casting a spell.
"That," Damon said, pointing to where the arrows had been, "Was fucking awesome."
I see you guys asking for babies and it tickles me.
If you play nice I'll post the next chapter. It's ready and waiting
Stay excellent.