I know I said it would be a while, but I put a chapter of Supernatural up, so I thought I could put a chapter up for this one too. Next is Twilight but that's gonna take a few days.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who have reviewed and to those of you who have put me on their alert thing or their favorites list. It's much appreciated.

Chapter Four

The next day at school time seemed to fly by. Rebecca wasn't as dazed because she'd actually gotten some sleep. She was actually able to put up with Caroline. Rebecca felt she had to get along with her because Rebecca didn't want to apologize, but she wanted to make amends anyway.

Rebecca listened when Elena started talking about how Jeremy had already ditched six of his classes that year. She also talked about Stefan and his odd behavior when she'd gone to see him the day before.

"He's on the rebound and he has raging family issues."

Elena, Bonnie, and Rebecca were in Study Hall, which was held in the library. They were printing out flyers for the comet thing being held that night.

"Well, I knew the second one," Rebecca said. "Damon doesn't even like to talk about Stefan."

Bonnie smiled sympathetically in Elena's direction. "Did he call you to apologize?"

"No. Then I realized we never even really exchanged that stuff. We never got to the calling or texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Bonnie said.

"Isn't it?" Elena shrugged. "The timing was wrong anyway."

"When is it ever right?"

"I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there," Elena said, sounding irritated. "I mean, I went to his house and he practically shoved me out the door."

"Well, screw him then," Rebecca said. "It's his loss."

"Maybe he was just having a bad day," Bonnie said, giving Stefan the benefit of the doubt.

"Or maybe he has a split personality," Rebecca teased. "No, it was probably just that Damon was there with you. I've asked Damon what happened between them, but he wouldn't say."

Technically he had avoided the subject. When she'd asked him, he'd answered by asking a question of his own.

The tutoring session that day was slow. Rebecca had gone through everything that her group had given her, but she hadn't had time to do any lesson planning; she just made them do their homework and had helped when they'd needed it.

That didn't matter, though. What mattered was the excited little feeling she got when she saw the blue Camaro pull up in the school parking lot. Her session had ended and she wasn't responsible for her group anymore, so she got her things together and went to the car.

Once she was situated she realized he was listening to some soft rock group. She didn't know who they were but the music was still good so she didn't mind.

"How do you feel about sugar?" Damon asked.

She grinned at him. "Sugar's amazing. Why?"

"I thought we could go to the bakery, eat something sweet, and go into a sugar coma."

"Good plan, bad ending." She laughed and shook her head.

She finally took him in. She looked at his crystal blue eyes first; there was amusement there. Then she took in the rest of him. He was in his usual black attire. She noticed he had a silver and blue ring and she commented on it.

"It's Lapis Lazuli; it protects me."

"Protects you?"

"Yeah. It's a long story."

Damon hadn't really seemed to be the superstitious type, but . . . with all the attacks lately maybe he needed it as a precaution or something. Whatever made him feel better, she guessed.

"Lapis lazuli. Where'd you get it?"

"Stefan has one too. There's a little S in the middle for Salvatore."

"Hm."

Then she touched his hair. It was soft and messy today. It surprised her, but he almost moved back from her touch. It was almost like he wasn't used to anyone touching him out of kindness, or he'd been suspicious of why she was touching him. She didn't say anything about it but she did put it in the back of her mind so she could think about it later.

"You have bed hair," she teased lightly, drawing her hand back. "In the middle of the day."

His black strands were shaggy almost; it was sexy, though - he pulled it off very well. She just hadn't liked that it had fallen in his face. His eyes were too beautiful to hide.

She realized that he was holding onto the steering wheel tightly enough for his skin to turn whiter than it already was. Damon wasn't too pale by any means, but now he seemed to be conflicted and his hands' color was paying the price.

Maybe he didn't like being touched or something.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Damon."

Her fingertips were still tingling from where she'd touched him and she wondered what that was about. It happened every time there was physical contact between them. And maybe that was the whole problem. Damon had felt it too.

Damon suddenly turned his face away from her and she heard his teeth grind as he clenched his jaw. He took a few deep breaths and then he seemed fine. She had no idea what had just happened and Damon had ways of avoiding questions so she didn't even ask.

Once at the bakery they got a table and she ordered two chocolate éclairs. Damon decided to get the same. She insisted on paying this time and he let her.

"So, night of the comet, huh?" Damon said. "Why's it so special?"

She shrugged. "It passed over 145 years ago, hasn't been back since. 'Til now. Personally I don't care about it. I came because you asked me to."

"Well, shouldn't I feel special?" he teased.

"Definitely. Because I'm amazing like that."

Damon's lips twitched like he was fighting back a smile and she grinned at him. She was glad he wasn't acting weird now. The ride here from the school had been awkward; Damon had been distant after the whole teeth-clenching incident. His eyes weren't distant anymore; he was there with her.

Onto a more serious note . . . "Is Elena gonna be safe with Stefan? Emotionally, I mean. She's been through a lot this past summer and she doesn't need anymore drama right now. You told her that he was on the rebound, so is she . . ." Rebecca bit her lip before continuing. "Is that what she is to him?"

Damon looked at her for a moment, like he was considering what exactly to say. "Stefan would never intentionally hurt her. If he did he'd feel guilty about it forever."

Rebecca nodded knowingly. "Ah, I pegged him for that type. I think my exact thought was 'he's the I'm-dark-and-broody-so-give-me-love type'."

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

Things fell into a comfortable silence and she looked out the window. Kids were playing in the grass across the street; the parents were laughing and keeping watch of their children; there was a face painting booth along with food stands - the popcorn stand was busy. People were setting up chairs and picnic places.

She didn't get what the big deal was. It was just a comet. She thought a meteor shower would've been more exciting herself.

"Why'd you ask?" Damon asked, drawing her out of her reverie.

"Hm?"

"About Elena and Stefan."

"Oh, um, Elena told me about what happened with you guys when she went to your house. She said that he practically shoved her out the door."

"Yeah, he did."

"He's really a people person, huh?" She shook her head. "I think she thinks it was her fault, something she did."

"Mm, no," Damon said. "Our family problems started a long time ago. Not her fault."

She smiled. She realized she did that a lot when she was around Damon. She didn't know why, but she felt at ease around him. She could almost ignore her being-watched feelings. This was different than the easy feelings she had with Elena and Bonnie. She'd felt something shift in her the moment she'd met Damon. It was odd and scary, but also comforting.

"Is this for real? You being nice and sweet?"

He smirked. "I can be very nice and very sweet when I want to be. But I also have moments where I can be the complete opposite. Depends on which Damon I feel like being at the moment."

"Uh-oh. Split personality; not good. Might just have to watch out for that." Rebecca couldn't help but think of what she'd said about Stefan - she had joked about him having a split personality. Maybe it ran in the family.

Once they finished their snacks they left. It was getting dark and they decided to go get a seat on the grass. Damon had a blanket in his car so he went to get it while she mingled.

She saw Caroline talking to a few of her cheerleading friends; Bonnie had just walked into the Grill, and Vicki and Jeremy were talking at the entrance. Rebecca decided to go talk to Vicki because she wanted to know if the girl was okay. And she wanted to know if she remembered anything.

"Hey, Vicki. How're you doing?" She stopped by Jeremy's side. "Matt said you were getting out today."

Rebecca wasn't exactly friends with Vicki - she didn't like how Vicki played with Jeremy's emotions - but she liked her enough to say hi to.

"I'm okay. Fighting with my boss about my schedule. You'd think getting ripped up by a rabid animal would merit an extra sick day."

"Well, you feelin' okay?" Jeremy asked.

"I hurt."

Rebecca wanted to see the bite mark again but there was a bandage over it.

"The doctor . . . gave you something, right?"

"The kid stuff. Nothin' with an O in it. I think they were onto me."

Jeremy and Vicki grinned before he gave her an orange medicine bottle. Rebecca looked around to make sure nobody important was watching; this wasn't exactly a legal thing she was a part of.

"Here, knock yourself out. Literally."

"Thanks, Jer."

Vicki looked at Rebecca before she took one of the pills. Rebecca knew it was because Vicki wasn't sure what Rebecca thought about stuff like that. That was one good thing about Vicki; she didn't push drugs on other people.

"Hey, I had to ask him for pills too. Go ahead if it'll make you feel better."

Vicki grinned and nodded her way. "Cool. You here with someone?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here with -" she stopped to look around and jumped a little when a hand landed on her arm.

"Me."

"Him," she said, taking a breath. How did he do that? Jeeze. "Damon, this is Vicki and Jeremy. Jeremy is Elena's younger brother."

"Oh, hi," he said, smiling politely.

"Hey."

Then Vicki just looked at Damon. "I know you."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Damon said.

"Uh, I don't - I don't know how, but your face . . ."

Vicki shook her head and Rebecca arched an eyebrow at the girl's behavior. Vicki excused herself and headed to the bathroom.

"She knows you," Rebecca said. "Or recognizes you."

"I've seen her around," Damon sort of answered. "It's a small town, everybody recognizes everybody else."

"Hm."

Something was trying to make its way into Rebecca's mind, but she wasn't ready to think about what her mind was trying to think about, so she distracted herself . . . with Elena, who had been holding a candle across the street - everyone over there had one - and talking to Stefan. Elena had just walked away from him and Rebecca could tell, even from this distance, that Elena was upset.

"Um, Damon, I'll be right back. I have to make sure she's okay."

"Take your time. I'll go get a drink or something."

"Okay, thanks."

Then she took off after Elena. She found that it was easier to push through the crowd than it normally was for her. Slayer strength came in handy, she realized.

"Elena, wait!" Rebecca caught up with her quickly enough. "Don't go, okay? Forget Stefan for an hour or two. We can find Bonnie and Matt and even Caroline. We'll have drama free fun, okay?"

"Um . . ." Elena looked uncertain. "I don't know, Becca, I . . ."

"Oh, come on! We don't let guys ruin our lives." Rebecca grinned. "Right? Now, let's go."

Elena's lips formed a tight smile and she sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"Good."

Rebecca grabbed Elena's arm carefully - Grams' warning that she could hurt someone because she was getting stronger kept running through her head - and led her into the Grill.

Rebecca's promise of a drama-filled hour of fun turned out to be an unintentional lie. Vicki went missing, Damon disappeared - he had a tendency to do that- Jeremy was accused of being a drug dealer, and Tyler was accused of forcing himself on Vicki - Rebecca exhibited no surprise at the last one.

Rebecca, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy spent about thirty minutes looking for her, only for her to turn up wondering around the town square. She'd ripped her stitches open from where she'd been bitten, but luckily she wasn't bleeding that bad. She didn't even seem that hurt, but she was high, so that might've been why.

Matt was now re-bandaging Vicki's wound and making sure she was okay. Stefan walked in and Matt thanked him; Stefan had been the one to bring Vicki back.

"Ugh! Just so much drama," Caroline complained. "Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?"

Then Caroline glanced at Rebecca almost like she was scared Rebecca would snap.

Rebecca grinned; out of all the people she knew she was the only one who put Caroline in her place when it was needed. "It's okay, Care. I'm in a better mood today."

"Oh, good," she said relieved. "Yesterday you were acting really freaky."

"Yes, I was. I wasn't feeling well." That was as close to an apology that Caroline was going to get from her.

Then Stefan walked over and asked if they'd seen Elena.

"I think she went home," Bonnie said regretfully. "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her e-mail. She is big on texting, and you can tell her I said so."

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Bonnie handed Stefan a slip of paper with the information on it but yanked her hand back and just stared at him for a minute.

"You okay?" Stefan and Rebecca asked at the same time.

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked softly. Then she snapped out of it. "That was so rude. Excuse me, sorry."

Bonnie walked off, leaving Stefan and Caroline confused, and leaving Rebecca wanting to know what Bonnie had seen.

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's, like, her thing," Caroline explained.

Rebecca didn't even say anything about that; she knew that Caroline didn't believe in the boogedy-boogedy world. That was her prerogative. Rebecca didn't have a choice but to believe.

Stefan looked after Bonnie, concerned. Rebecca couldn't say anything in the way of explanation because Stefan wouldn't understand unless she spelt it out for him. Then he began walking away.

"Uh, wait here," Rebecca told Caroline. "I promise I'll be back."

Then she went after Stefan and caught him at the door. She wasn't being pushy; she was just concerned.

"Stefan, uh, I have to say something."

He turned to her and looked at her, very focused. Jeeze. It wasn't like it was life-altering, what she was about to say. But at least he was paying attention.

"What is it?"

"Elena has a lot of friends who really care about her. I know I don't know you very well, but you act a little strange. I just thought you should know that Elena's like a sister to me, and I take care of what's mine. So please don't hurt her."

It wasn't a threat; it was a warning. She wasn't much into violence by design - she'd need to get over that, she guessed - but there were other ways to make someone miserable. Rebecca wasn't spiteful by nature, but she was very protective of the people she loved. Her friends were actually her family.

Instead of being offended, Stefan smiled. "I promise you, I have no intention of hurting Elena. I'm impressed that you care about her so much."

Rebecca shrugged and grimaced at the same time.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way . . . We should start over. I can forget all the weird stuff that's happened and give you a clean slate. As long as you know where I stand."

"I do," Stefan said sincerely. "It's good you're looking out for her."

She smiled. "Okay, good. So -" she stuck her hand out "- hi, I'm Rebecca."

Stefan accepted her hand and shook. "Hi, I'm Stefan. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." She sighed then. "Is Damon still around? He has my stuff in his car again. It's beginning to be a habit."

"Um . . . I'm not sure, but if you can't find him, I can bring your stuff to you tomorrow at school."

"Good. Thanks." She said good-bye to Stefan and then went back to Caroline to do the same. "I'm gonna head home."

"Yeah, me too." Caroline stood up. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good. If Damon isn't here, I'll just walk."

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow."

Like the night of the party, Damon's car was still there so she got her stuff from inside. Then she texted him to see where exactly he was. She didn't get an answer. Part of her was angry; part of her was okay with it because she had left him to take care of Elena; the rest of her was worried that something might've happened to him.

She worried a lot, she realized.

She texted him again to let him know she was walking home and she wanted him to call when he could just so she would know he was okay.

On the way home Rebecca heard this incessant cawing. Weren't birds supposed to be quiet in the dark? She grabbed at her jacket and wrapped it tighter around her. It was mid September and it could get chilly at night.

And she still felt like she was being watched. What was that? Was it her being paranoid? Possible, she guessed.

Then she started hearing footsteps and she stopped walking. The footsteps stopped too. Someone was following her. She then continued, only more quickly. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew when the person was right behind her and she turned around instinctively and swung her fist as she went.

Whoever it was went down.

The person was female. Light brown hair with gray streaks. And an already purple area was appearing on her jaw. She was dressed in a gray business suit and she'd cried out when Rebecca had hit her.

"Oh, God! Are you okay? You scared me."

She helped the woman up and she realized she'd hit an older person. Forty or forty-five maybe.

"Glad to see you're on you're toes," the woman said. "I'm Ms. Gleeson, Watcher."

Watcher? No. Rebecca wasn't ready to make this decision. She didn't want to have to think about this yet.

"You need to be prepared. Most girls are trained all their lives. You need to start training now. Tomorrow after school."

Tomorrow was Friday. She didn't have anything to do tomorrow, but training and fighting wasn't really on her to-do list either.

"Meet me at this address." She handed Rebecca a piece of paper. It was an address to one of the warehouses that had been abandoned downtown.

"I don't have a car. It'll take a while for me to get there."

"I can pick you up from school. Take you there."

"Fine," Rebecca said, not seeing any point in arguing. "Two-thirty."

When Rebecca got home she was surprised to see that Chelsea was already there. It wasn't bad; it saved her from having to go get her. She was just surprised. Her aunt Tina was there too.

"Uh . . . Hi."

Tina was Jessica's older sister by about 3 years. Tina had the same green eyes Rebecca did; her mother had had green eyes too.

"Your father called me. Said you might need help, that you've been acting strange."

Rebecca smiled, but she was still confused. "Uh, I guess maybe I have."

Tina had been holding Chelsea but when the baby had seen Rebecca she'd reached for her. Rebecca took her automatically and kissed her cheek. She was a little warm.

"Is she running a fever?"

"She's fine. I'm here to help, I hope you don't mind."

It was weird, but Rebecca did mind. Chelsea was her responsibility, not anyone else's. She was maybe a little possessive of her things and her people, but . . . she thought that was okay.

"Are you living here now?"

"For a while. It's just a trial run."

Tina didn't have any children of her own and she could work from home, so Rebecca knew she'd be there for Chelsea when she couldn't, but there was still the thing of not wanting to share with other people.

"Well, I guess it makes sense," she said begrudgingly. "I do have a busy year ahead of me."

Rebecca liked her aunt, she did, but Tina hadn't been around much since her mother had died and having her here now in the house, living there, would destroy Rebecca's much needed routine.

"I guess we should put the little one to bed."

"Oh, she sleeps in my room."

"That's gonna bite you in the butt sooner or later, she's going to have trouble sleeping without you."

"I don't mind."

The next afternoon Rebecca went with Ms. Gleeson to the warehouse like she'd said she would. The Watcher had lesson plans for her training and Rebecca was able to look through them. Rebecca was glad she'd taken gymnastics for the past three years. She was sure her body wouldn't have been able to move as well if she hadn't.

Rebecca learned that Ms. Gleeson's first name was Diana and that she was relentless. Even when Rebecca thought she would fall over from exhaustion Diana pressed her for more. Diana said it would keep her alive, going on when she thought she couldn't.

They spent the weekend sparring, both going back and forth. Rebecca would almost win but it was never enough. Rebecca knew she could just pick Diana up and toss the Watcher across the room and win, but she didn't want to hurt the woman. She already felt a pang of guilt every time she saw the bruise on the woman's face.

Diana was also a great lecturer; Rebecca learned more than she'd ever wanted to know about vampires. Vampires got more powerful with age; they looked human until they fed; most of their emotions led to hunger - they couldn't help it, it was their curse; vampires had short tempers - they could be fine one minute and then snap the next.

Diana never ran out of things to tell her. Diana wasn't hard to get along with exactly, but Rebecca wasn't comfortable around her. Diana was stuffy and British and she expected nothing but perfection from Rebecca.

As the first week went by Rebecca became more and more worn out - mentally and physically. She began sleeping in class and her grades began slipping. Everyone was noticing how different she was becoming. She'd withdrawn from life. She no longer tutored because she couldn't find any pleasure in it. She didn't do anything, really, except train. She tried being there for her friends, she still helped them and was there for them when they needed her, but it was so hard lying to them about what was going on with her. Rebecca was innately honest, so it wasn't easy for her to be sneaky.

Elena and Bonnie were worried; Caroline speculated; Stefan brooded; Damon popped in and out of her life whenever it suited him and she got used to it. The only person she could really talk to was Sheila. Sheila, who was a witch, and had all these witch-y books. A Book of Shadows, something outsiders weren't supposed to see but Sheila didn't mind Rebecca seeing since she already knew the Bennett secret.

"Do these actually work?" Rebecca asked, looking at the book. "They sound like poems to me."

"Those are the English translations. In the original Latin they don't sound so poetic."

"Hm." She began reading through some of the spells.

Hear these words, hear the rhyme
Heed the hope within my mind
Send me back to where I'll find
What I wish in place and time

"You shouldn't read those out loud," Sheila warned. "They don't always work, but they can . . ."

Whatever the spell could do . . . Rebecca didn't find out because everything faded out. Sheila's voice, the room she was in. She'd fainted . . . and then woke up on a dirt road, with a carriage - horse and buggy, what the hell? - near her. A man was tapping her lightly on the face and speaking quite urgently to someone else.

Rebecca opened her eyes, dazed, and sat up.

"Keep still, you may have broken something."

She saw the voice belonged to an older man - her dad's age maybe. He was dressed in period clothes from the late 1800s, and she closed her eyes again briefly thinking maybe she wasn't really awake.

What the hell was going on? Where was she? When was she? Then she heard a muffled scream and her eyes shot open. The older man's companion was . . . Being bitten by a vampire. And just like that she sprung into action. Part of her wanted to say 'give me a break' but she didn't.

There were woods on either side of her so she yanked at a sturdy branch. It came away easily in her hands. There was nothing she could do for the now dead victim, but she could still save the other man. She kicked the vampire in the head and the creature fell to the ground. Instinctively, she slammed the wood through its heart and she stared, morbidly curious, as the creature turned gray and crusty. It had . . . Mummified. So that was what a dead vampire looked like.

She just stared. She was . . . fascinated in a very bad way. Part of her was giddy because she'd done it. Easily. The other part was in shock because she'd killed somebody. Someone was dead - really dead, not up-walking-around dead - because of her.

"Miss?" The older man's voice was far away, but she could still tell he'd been startled. "Are you well?"

Rebecca wasn't able to respond; everything went dark. She'd fainted again.

Okay, that spell does not belong to me - it's from Charmed. I promise that her being back in time is not going to change Damon in any drastic way. I like him how he is, sarcasm and homicidal tendencies and all, I wouldn't change him even if I could. And she''ll only be back there for maybe 5-ish chapters and that's only because I draw things out.

Let me know what you think! Thanks.