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Abandonment Issues

"Hey there," Damon smirked at Jade as she was waking up that morning. Slowly turning in the grass, Jade felt her skin exposed, realizing that she was waking up from turning the night before. Everything came flooding back to her; rushing out of the basement to go find her dad; begging Elijah not to kill him; her father's promise they could all be a family before she and Mason finished turning. Then she remembered her dad and Mason were out in these woods too.

"Oh!" Jade said in surprise, jumping to cover herself.

"Yeah, not that I mind," Damon teased her, handing her her clothes. "But, I'm not sure who else might be waking up around here."

"You don't know where my dad is?" Jade asked, pulling her sweater on; she was careful not to ask about Mason, as she had been since Mason had actually admitted he had feelings for her. At least when she was oblivious it was easy to argue with Damon that he had nothing to worry about. While she still would never cheat on him, the argument could still be made on Damon's end that he could be uncomfortable because Mason did have feelings for her; she just wanted them to all be friends.

"Elijah took off with him last night, haven't seen either of them since," Damon shrugged as she finished getting dressed. "Are you...ok with everything?"

"Everyone's still alive?" she asked lightly and he nodded. "And I've got my usual post-turn hangover," she said now, making him smile. "You're here," she grinned. "Yeah, I'm more than ok."

"I'm glad to hear it," Damon said, taking her hand and pulling her in to kiss.

"Mmmm," Jade sighed in content. "Do you think we could head back to my place so I can get ready before we go to my dad's?"

"No," Damon shook his head quickly.

"No?" Jade laughed.

"Everything is just so calm right now," Damon half complained, though he was totally serious; she laughed still.

"Come on Damon," she begged, squeezing his hand. "This is the rest of my family we're about to meet." She stuck out her lip. "Please."

"Oh God," Damon said, his head falling back as he groaned. "No wonder you're so good at puppy eyes," he teased her.

"Hey!" Jade protested, laughing as she pushed him; he caught her hand to kiss her again.

"Let's go meet the rest of your family," Damon said softly as they pulled away. Yes, it took a lot of getting used to. Yes, it was completely unconventional. But he knew that Jade was excited because for most of her life she had an awful step-dad and an absent mom, being left to parent two younger siblings. Now, Vicki was doing well and so was Matt; Kelly was back, her step-dad was gone, and her dad was making an effort to be there for her. Everything was perfect.

Or so she thought.

"Hello?!" Jade called into the empty house. She knew in the last month her father had constructed a large mansion on the edge of town. He had given her the address a few days before, but she had yet to go out there. She turned to look to Damon who looked uncertain.

"Nik! Elijah!" she was calling, walking room to room. Damon figured out what was going on long before Jade found the note on the counter, but he didn't have the heart to say it before Jade came upon it herself. She didn't say anything, just crumbling it and tossing it to the floor.

"I'll be in the car," Jade said coldly, trying not to show any emotion but he could tell she was hurt. Letting her go, he picked up the note to read for himself.

Jade,

I know this is going to be hard to understand, but this is the best thing for us right now. I need to learn how to make more hybrids, so I can give that option to you if it is something that you really want. However, I'm not going to test this theory out on my only daughter. I will return home as soon as I can.

Your father,

Nik

Groaning, Damon tossed the note to the side. Pulling out his phone, he dialed Klaus immediately, though he wasn't surprised to get the voice mail.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?!" Damon shouted into the phone. "You put her through all of that just to leave her? Do you have any idea what that's going to..." He stopped himself, shaking his head. "She trusted you, and you bailed. I am done helping you win your daughter over, you are on your own."

One Month Later

"Don't you have work today Vic?" Jade was asking her younger sister curiously that afternoon as she came back from her shift at the hospital. Things got back to normal pretty quickly at the Donovan house, mostly because Jade refused to acknowledge that her father had gone. He had left her life as quickly as he had entered it and she wasn't going to concern herself with it anymore. They were all happy at least that she didn't go back to her usual method of dealing with things.

"Not till six," Vicki told her, rolling off the couch and coming to meet her sister in the kitchen.

"Where's Matty?" she asked now.

"Summer practices for football started," Vicki reminded her.

"Right, right," Jade brushed it off. Vicki had dropped out essentially after turning and wasn't concerned right now about ever graduating; the way she saw it, she had forever. Matt was a few weeks away from starting his senior year.

"Are you ok Jade?" Vicki asked in concern.

"Ah, long day," Jade yawned. "I was up all night turning, then couldn't get someone to take my shift so I had to be in at seven today."

"Mmm," Vicki sighed sympathetically. "Well, Damon's coming over right?"

"Yeah, soon," Jade nodded, then heard a knock at the door. They both exchanged a confused look. "Must have forgot his key or something."

"Do you ever think about moving in there?" Vicki asked, following her towards the door.

"I can't while I'm still responsible for Matty," Jade reminded her.

"I mean that place is huge," Vicki smirked.

"Are you inviting all of us to live with them?" Jade laughed as she reached to open the door. "Are you hearing this..." She trailed off when she saw that it wasn't Damon on the other side of the door. "Not Damon," she said, instantly becoming annoyed. "Nik." She spotted someone with him, a blonde who was probably around Vicki's age. "Chick I don't know. Get out," she announced, slamming the door on them.

"Healthy," Vicki nodded, noticing Jade roll her eyes as she moved to go upstairs.

"Jade, sweetheart," Klaus was insisting from the other side of the door. He was happy to hear the door unlocking, but then saw it was Vicki coming outside.

"Yeah," Vicki said, not sure where to start. "So, I don't really know what you're doing or who this is-"

"My sister, Rebekah," Klaus told Vicki.

"Ok," Vicki shrugged. "And waking her up kept you from calling or keeping my sister in the loop why?"

"I was looking for a way to-"

"Make more hybrids, I know," Vicki stopped him. She knew she was being a lot bolder than most towards the original, but she wasn't afraid because of her relation to Jade. "Look, my dad was a dick. And he left. My mom was and still can kinda be a massive flake. And even though she's back, she left a million times. Are you noticing a parental theme here that would make Jade hate your guts?"

"Mmm, I like both of them," Rebekah smirked at her brother. "Don't forget how angry she's going to be when she finds out you stuck her Uncle Elijah in a box, rather than waking everyone like you promised." Klaus looked at her like she couldn't be serious.

"I'm out of here," Vicki rolled her eyes, preparing to go inside. They heard a car leaving the driveway now, noticing Jade had some how snuck out around them and was leaving for Damon's home.

"How did she do that?" Klaus wondered out loud. It was rare that people could sneak by him.

"She's been doing that since she was fifteen," Vicki said. "Take an actual shot at parenting, and you'd know that about her." With that, Vicki went back inside.

"I love both of them," Rebekah said now, seeing the way they got under her brother's skin.

"You know what we're here for, right?" Klaus told her and she nodded.

"You need the doppelganger to see if her blood helps transition your hybrids," Rebekah said. "Since, so far, turning them has been a massive disaster," she tacked on. "Question though," she said as they headed back towards their car. "Where are you going to get a test wolf, since you're not going to try it on Jade?"

"I think I actually hate him," Jade was ranting at the Salvatore house later that night. Stefan and Elena were gone, off to senior prank night at the high school which she knew Matt and the rest of his friends were.

"I'm right there with you," Damon agreed with her.

"Like, he just shows up here out of no where again," Jade emphasized. "Like nothing ever happened. Then Vicki texts and says that girl was his sister and that Elijah is gone, so he obviously just sucks. Because he told Elijah-" She was yelling now, a lot of her words running together as she ranted like crazy.

"I know what he told him," Damon said, getting up and going over to where she was pacing. "And, I know what he promised you." He took her face gently in his hands, brushing hair out of her face. "You don't have to let him back into your life if you don't want."

"What if he gets pissed though?" Jade asked seriously. "He's dangerous and if-"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Damon assured her. "I think he loves you and wants to be your dad, he's just really bad at it."

"Mmm," Jade rolled her eyes, sighing heavily.

"What?" Damon asked sincerely.

"Vicki said something today," Jade half laughed as she thought about it. "She pretty much said the three of us should come live here."

"I wouldn't mind that," Damon smiled at her. "I'll ask Stefan, but I don't think he'll care." He noticed her expression. "Don't look so happy," he said lightly.

"What's the point though?" Jade asked now. "Yeah, Vicki needs to live her because she needs you guys because she's going to need to leave. But, me and Matty are still going to be here."

"You wanted your dad's plan to work," Damon said now. They hadn't talked about it much, just that her father wanted it to work so she didn't have to turn. They hadn't discussed the impact on their relationship, though Damon had certainly thought about it; he knew Jade did too.

"I don't want to leave you," Jade said, blinking back the tears that welled up in her eyes. Damon kissed her forehead and pulled her close to hug her.

"We'll figure it out, all right?" Damon was assuring her. "I promise." He didn't know what else to do, unless Klaus came through in a big way. Feeling her phone buzzing in her pocket, Jade pulled away and wiped at her eyes to answer her brother.

"Shouldn't you be tee-peeing the principal's office right now?" Jade asked lightly, making Damon smile.

"You need to get down here Jade," Matt told her seriously.

"What's going on?" Jade asked and Damon was already grabbing his keys, nodding for her to follow.

"Your dad and his crazy sister showed up here," Matt informed her. "I guess he had all this trouble turning wolves, so then he found out he needed Elena's blood for them to transition?" Matt was still trying to understand everything himself.

"Are they trying to kidnap Elena or something?" Jade asked as they got into the car. She didn't know why Klaus showed up at her door just to peel out of town again the second he got Elena.

"They found someone to test here," Matt said and she realized what he meant. Tyler had recently triggered his curse, turning on the most recent full moon with Jade and Mason. While Klaus hadn't gotten to him yet, he certainly planned to. "They're threatening to turn Tyler."

"Oh my God," Jade gasped. "Just stay there, and stay out of their way ok? I'm calling Mason now."

Damon and Jade sped all the way to the high school. Pulling into the parking lot behind the gym, Damon had barely parked the car before Jade was running out. She already spotted Mason's jeep, which meant he was inside and was furious at Tyler's involvement. Jade hoped to get inside before things spiraled too far out of control.

"They're in the gym," Damon told her, knowing he couldn't get her to slow down; at least he could come along to keep her safe. Following her into the gym, they saw where the teens were all gathered off to the side, watching while Mason argued with Klaus.

"Jay!" Matt called when he saw her.

"Stay there," Jade warned him, going over to where her dad, aunt, and Mason were. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Where's Tyler?"

"Over there, he's fine," Mason told her.

"What were you thinking?" Jade demanded of her father.

"He wasn't going to do it Jade," Mason interrupted. "He just did it to get us down here."

"Are you completely insane?" Damon snapped at Klaus now.

"I think I know Jade well enough to know that she wouldn't have seen me otherwise," Klaus pointed out to him, then look to his daughter. "Am I wrong?"

"You're crazy," Jade accused him. "If you wanted to talk to me at any point in the last month, I-" She felt Damon touching her arm.

"We're out of here," Damon said, taking her hand. "Matt!" he called over to the other side of the gym. "Let's go!" He knew Stefan would take care of Elena, leaving Tyler as Mason's responsibility; he wasn't so much worried about the others. Klaus sped over to cut Damon off.

"You can't go," he said, though he was mostly talking to Jade. Rebekah was surprised to hear this much need in her brother's voice; he truly seemed to love and adore his daughter.

"You'll have to kill me to stop me," Damon smirked at him. "Then Jade will really hate you forever."

"Jade," Klaus was saying to her now. "I am sorry that I left. Truly, I was doing all this to keep my promise to you. I suppose I'm just not used to having to check in with anyone on where I'm going." Jade didn't seem convinced. "Look, now that I have Elena, I can test another wolf and-"

"And then disappear again," Damon cut in. He had hated seeing Jade trying to hide how upset she was over the last few weeks. He would hate for her to get her hopes up again just for Klaus to bail on her all together. "And once you start making a ton of hybrids, probably never come back?"

"I'm trying to talk to my daughter Damon," Klaus told him. They were once on the same team, but it was very apparent since Klaus left Damon truly started to hate him. Right now, Klaus wasn't his biggest fan either.

"You just have a long history of the same predictable bull-"

"And that's coming from you?" Klaus mused.

"Hey," Mason interrupted them. "Try it on me."

"What?" Jade snapped first.

"I hate seeing you turn every month Jade," Mason said seriously. "I know that you really want this to work." He paused. "If he does this to me instead of leaving to find other wolves, then he gets to stay here. You have your dad," he told her, then looked to Klaus. "You keep your promise."

"Well," Klaus smiled, liking Mason more now than before; he had certainly passed Damon in Klaus's book. "Sounds like a plan to me then."

"Mason!" Jade protested. "What if it doesn't-" Before she could protest further her father raced forward, feeding Mason his blood, before quickly snapping his neck. "Mason!" she shouted, Damon have to catch her to keep from running over; there really was no point.

Jade paced the gym floor as they all waited for Mason to wake up. She convinced Matt to go home, taking Caroline and Bonnie with him. She knew that Tyler wasn't going to leave until he knew that Mason was all right. Elena didn't have much option but to stay, and Stefan of course wasn't leaving her. Klaus gave his daughter the space she needed, going over to where his sister was sitting on the bleachers.

"I certainly hope you know what you're doing," Rebekah said quietly. "If this doesn't work she is going to loathe you."

"The original witch says she needs to be dead," Klaus reasoned. "Meaning, that it's most likely her blood they need to turn."

"That way, if you broke the curse and she died like she was supposed to, you still wouldn't be able to make any more hybrids," Rebekah said, though they had been over it before. "Clever." Mason sat up now, gasping for air.

"Are you ok?" Jade asked worriedly.

"My head is killing me," Mason said, sitting up on the floor with Jade kneeling next to him. He couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of satisfaction as Damon looked aggravated at her caring about him so much.

"He needs to feed," Elena said, coming over now. "Mason, here." Mason bit into her wrist, slowly drinking. Feeling sick, he pushed her away. He fell over on his side, writhing in pain. It looked a lot like he did when he was about to turn. Klaus came over closer and Jade looked to her father in disgust as this didn't seem to be working.

"Mason," Jade said, trying to get him to look at her. He stopped now, kneeling, looking up at her with his eye glowing.

"I'd say it worked," Damon commented as Tyler offered Mason a hand to help him to his feet.

"What do you say Jade?" Klaus turned to her.

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