Filing a report with Sheriff Forbes did not go as Damon planned. In his OCD/ADD brain, Bonnie would file the report, Shane would be arrested, there would be a trial and he would go to prison. None of that happened. Bonnie filed the report, Shane was arrested but that was it. Bonnie decided she wanted to tell all of her friends face to face what happened. She said it would be like ripping off a band aid. Everyone was supportive and upset. Caroline was very upset, more than anyone since she had encouraged Bonnie to "go for it B!" Damon stood supportive in the corner of the room, not uttering a word, just giving Bonnie nods every few minutes encouraging her to continue. He noticed Elena kept looking back and forth between them, obviously wondering why Damon knew before anyone else, but she said nothing.

She told them that she had filed a report and that her life would be under a microscope. They all said they would support her through it all. Damon didn't go with her when she went to tell her father, Caroline and Elena did. Caroline later told Damon, " Her father wants him dead."

"I know the feeling."

Bonnie returned to campus to pack her things for the Christmas break later that week and although Damon wanted to accompany her, she refused. " I'll be fine Damon, I feel stronger already knowing he will be punished."

Damon waited for as long as he could before contacting Bonnie, it had been 3 days and school was officially out. He knew the Sheriff had arrested Shane, but she could only hold him for 72 hours. 72 hours was up.

Before he could go completely apeshit, he got a call from Liz informing him that she had to release the professor because of lack of evidence. There was no rape kit, Bonnie had gone up to his room, the tape of Bonnie leaving his room had no evidence of distress and last but not least Bonnie seemed to have moved on pretty quickly from the rape. In fact she had a male resident stay in her room for 2 weeks. She had been spotted around the campus with the older gentleman. Professor Shane explained that Bonnie had a boyfriend and that the boyfriend was a little possessive. " She wouldn't want to tell him about us." He explained. "Nice looking boyfriend, blue eyes, black hair, drives a Camaro." Several of the young ladies in the dorm also were questioned and gave statements saying Damon had been a fixture in Bonnie's room for weeks.

Of course Sheriff Forbes knew it was BS but the assistant district attorney didn't. She didn't think there was sufficient reason to hold him on, so Shane was let go and no charges were filled.

"But he did it before!" Damon screamed into the phone.

"I know Damon, but in the eyes of the law there is nothing to be done. It is on file what happened."

" So are a bunch of other cases! I should have killed that motherfucker when I had the chance!" he screamed or compelled the DA like he planned. But he wanted justice for Bonnie and somehow compelling anyone did not seem fair to her pain.

" How is Bonnie? She was really upset when I told her," the sheriff asked.

" I haven't seen or talked to Bonnie in three days, when did you tell her?" Damon asked somewhat panicked.

"Two days ago," Liz said, the worry coming through the phone in her voice.

"Shit." He finally decided to call her father and asked if he heard from her and was relieved when he said that he was with Bonnie when the Sheriff called. Mr. Bennett said that Bonnie was visibly upset and she was more upset knowing that she had made a bunch of mistakes before reporting.

"Do you know where she is?"

"She is up at our family cabin by the lake, I am headed up there now."

" I would like to see Bonnie, she is not answering my calls."

"I would like to see you to," he said.

Damon was curious as to why. Mr Bennett had always been stand offish with him. He knew they were vampires and had encouraged Bonnie to stay away from them. Damon believed that was one of the reason he wanted Bonnie at Whitmore.

Damon called and let Stefan know that Bonnie was okay and with her father at their cabin by the lake. Damon followed her dad to the lake and into the cabin. She sat on the couch wrapped up in a blanket staring at the fire. As usual since her rape, when she saw Damon she turned her face and from him with that same shameful expression. He looked at her expectantly. He didn't know what he wanted her to say or do.

"Hey Bonnie B!" he father smiled. "how are you baby?"

"Dad, stop calling me that, I'm not a baby."

"You're my baby." He said hugging her close.

Damon smiled at the exchange. It was genuine and he was glad her father was there with her, especially since her mother was a piece of shit.

"Damon wanted to see you and make sure you were doing okay."

"I'm fine Damon," she said finally looking at him," Sheriff Forbes told you I guess."

Damon nodded, "I 'm sorry Bonnie."

"Don't be, it was all my fault, I did everything wrong, and now he is going to get away with it again," she said shrugging her shoulders in defeat.

" Bonnie," he started but she held up her hand and stopped him.

He was leaning against a wooden beam in the middle of the living room. There was an unfamiliar sound echoing in the cabin and he wasn't sure if he was imagining it.

"He is going to pay for what he did baby girl," he father said passionately interrupting Damon's thoughts, " I am going to make sure of it."

"No daddy," she said simply.

"Bonnie listen to me, we are going to go back to the district attorney, I am the mayor for Christ sake, I have pull and power in this town."

"No daddy," she interrupted.

Damon stood up straighter, he was growing agitated with her father pushing her and that noise, what the hell was the noise. Anyone watching could see that now was not the time and Bonnie was teetering on the edge. But her father wanted justice for his baby and Damon couldn't blame him for that. Watching Bonnie he knew he would burn Mystic Falls down to find Shane tonight. But something in her eyes told him this was where he needed to be. Something else was happening and Damon grew uncharacteristically calm and still in the cabin. Bonnie would need an anchor it was going to be him.

" Sweetheart listen to me, he is going to be punished even if I have to.." he began again.

"No daddy NO!" she yelled, putting her hands over her ears" I can't take anymore!"

He finally stopped his ranting and saw her, actually saw her and Damon watched her father's heart break.

"I'm sorry baby," he said.

"It's okay daddy," she smiled," I need some air" she said rising from the old couch. Damon watch her gingerly trod out of the back door to the cabin. Her shoulders were slumped and if he wasn't sure of what he heard before he was certain now. He leaned against the post again and closed his eyes.

Mr. Bennett looked at Damon and said, " How can I allow him to get away with what he did to her?"

"I can't begin to understand what you are feeling, but you can't be the one to do anything. Bonnie needs your support."

"Are you going to take care of him, vampire?" he asked.

"Of course," he said matter of factly, " I would be ripping him to pieces right now, but there is one thing stopping me."

"And what's that?"

"Bonnie, she can't take any more violence, not tonight, not now." He straightened to follow Bonnie.

Mr. Bennett nodded his head in agreement. " I will leave you two alone, do you think she will be okay?"

Before tonight Damon thought that Bonnie would recover, go to therapy and get help, but right now he wasn't sure. He didn't know if she would ever be okay again.

"I don't know." He said honestly.

He walked out onto the pier and sat down next to Bonnie. She had the blanket thrown over her shoulders as she stared out over the blackness of the lake, her feet dangling near the water.

They heard her father's SUV start and Damon glanced up to see the tail lights disappear over the top of the road.

"I am going to take next semester off I think."

"That's probably a good idea."

" I think so, maybe I will travel some."

" Are you running away Bonnie?"

" I should be able to," she said quietly.

" The Bonnie I know doesn't run from anything" He said his blue eyes sparkling as he watched her.

"The Bonnie you knew is gone." She stated flatly, scaring Damon.

"She's still there as judgy as ever," he said hoping to get a rise or at least a smile out for her.

"I'm so tired."

" You'll be okay Bonnie," he tried to assure her.

"I won't be okay, I will never be okay again." She gulped and then, "I'm pregnant," she choked out with sob.

"I know," he said." I can hear the heartbeat," He stated simply as if it she told him she was a witch.

"What am I going to do?"

He said nothing, there was nothing he could say. He put his arm around her shoulders as she cried.

/

They slept at the cabin that night. Well Bonnie slept Damon pondered. After calling her dad to let him know all was well, he planned. When he told Bonnie it would be okay, he meant it, with everything inside of him. He called his brother out to the cabin and even though he knew it might not be his place he told him about the pregnancy. Stefan stood shocked and asked Damon what Bonnie was going to do?

" I don't know but I want to run something past you."

Things had been tense to say the least between the two since the whole sire/bond/sex thing with Elena, although Stefan was her choice Damon felt pangs of guilt knowing he had banged his brothers lady love. And sometimes Stefan would look at him and he would see unresolved anger. Damon hoped that coming to his brother with this would somehow start the repairs of their relationship.

" I want to be there for Bonnie with the baby if she decides to keep it."

"We all will be there for her Damon," Stefan said, not knowing what his brother was getting at.

" Do you ever think about our father?"

Stefan was surprised to say the least, "Everyday." He said.

" I think about how much I disappointed him and how much of a bastard he was. And maybe if he would have been a little understanding we might not have gotten tangled up with Katherine."

It was the first time Damon had ever said anything like that out loud.

"Maybe."

" Do you ever wonder about being a father? What it would have been like if we were never turned but Katherine? "

Stefan explained, " Of course I do, I know what you are thinking Damon, but Bonnie may not even want to keep the baby. I know I wouldn't want a constant reminder of something awful that happened to me."

"And yet you are with Elena," he said with snark.

Stefan stood to leave at the statement.

"Wait, I'm sorry Stefan, I just really want you opinion, if Bonnie decided to keep the baby, do you think she would…that we could, that I," he stuttered, Damon who never stuttered or was off was suddenly unsure of himself.

Stefan watched him closely. Damon had been by Bonnie's side through all of her troubles, he had showed compassion and patience that Stefan didn't even think he was capable of anymore. He reminded him of his brother, the one he loved before it all went to shit with Katherine and then Elena. He wanted to tell him that it wasn't a good idea and a mistake. But somewhere in his heart he knew it was okay. Looking at his big brother he knew that this was a part of some grand plan that he could not see and that Damon was one of the mechanism in this story that needed to be with Bonnie and on whatever path this was she had been set upon.

" I think you would be an awesome father and that Bonnie would be lucky to have you in her life if she needed it."

Damon beamed." No need to get all Oprah AH HA moment on me!" he turned away so Stefan wouldn't see his huge grin.

" You're an ass." Stefan grinned.

"And you are a pain in the ass."

"I love you to brother, you are not thinking of proposing because that would be awkward?"

"Hell no, I'm a bachelor! I just want to you know, claim the kid, be her baby daddy! I want Bonnie to know that this is her choice but I will be there for her either way. Besides we were barely friends before this, I don't think Bonnie is ready for any kind of anything with anyone and I care for her, but not in any romantic way."

"That's a relief, what about Shane?"

Damon's face shifted into vamp mode and Stefan saw the blackness there, the killer.

"If he comes near her again, I'll kill him."

"The baby Damon, you told me about that book and we have been around too long to take it lightly. Do you think he is going to just give up, after all he did to try take her powers? And since the police think it was consensual…"Stefan trailed off and then whispered, "What if the book is true?

Damon looked at his brother, he knew he was right. Shane was not going to give up and since the law didn't think he raped Bonnie, he would have rights to the kid if Bonnie decided to keep it.

"Shit! I can't do anything about it until she decides."

The brothers sat out on the porch and talked all night and came up with a plan. Just before dawn, Stefan headed back to town.

"Thanks brother," Damon said sincerely.

"No problem man, I am here if you need anything."

Damon entered the cabin and sat down on the floor next to the fire, Bonnie lay sleeping on the couch. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically, he couldn't image how she was feeling. He leaned his head back on the cushions of the couch and dozed off. He woke several hours later to the sound of someone wretching their guts out in the bathroom. Making his way to the bathroom he saw Bonnie kneeled down on the floor, her head resting on the lid of the toilet. He grabbed a wash cloth and a cup of water and handed it to her. She sat back leaning her head on the cabinet. She took a sip of water, while Damon used the washcloth to wipe her brow.

"Better?" he asked.

"Hmm hmm."

He helped her to her feet and they made there way back to the couch.

" I hate it. I hate this thing growing inside of me," she said quietly.

"I know you do."

"I want it out of my body and I want to forget it."

He sat next to her silent.

" I want to get rid of it, to get rid of the memory of that night."

Damon still said nothing just continued to stare into the embers, the fire had long ago gone out and the cabin was noticeably colder. She hugged herself and stared at him.

"You have no comment."

"It is your choice Bonnie, I will support what you want to do."

"You don't think I should get and abor.. that I shouldn't make it go away."

He stared at her for a moment then said what was in his heart. " I think that you can't even say the word abortion, I think that as much as you hate this baby and the reminder of what happened, common sense Bonnie thinks this baby is apart of her. That it is a Bennett and they are rare and strong and powerful! You have the biggest heart of anyone I know Bonnie. I am your natural enemy but you have found it in your heart to help me and save my life time and time again."

"I just don't think I can do this," she cried.

"You can do anything, anything," he said passionately," I have watched you go out to conquer the world, standing up to the biggest bads there are. Whatever you want to do I am with you and you have options. I see you Bonnie Bennett, what you are, what you give, how you never give up, how you try. I see your compassion and your strength, I have seen the best and the worst of you and I can see with perfect clearness exactly what you are. You are the best person I have ever known." He said finally.

She'd ceased breathing a while ago. She saw the truth in what he was saying to her. "The best person he knew?" even Elena, she thought. She had drawn so much strength from him over the past month in a half, she had begun to trust him and lean on him. There were moment when they would banter like before and she was happy and she could almost forget, almost. "What do you want Damon?" she asked.

"Whatever you want," he lied " just give it some time before you rush into anything."

"Okay."she replied.

" I want you to know something, and I am not trying to influence what you do, in fact this may make you run for the hills." He said smiling.

She smiled back curiously," what is it."

He cleared his throat and began pacing the floor in front of the fire place. Bonnie observed him ringing his hands and she realized this was the first time she saw him nervous.

" Just think about it okay?"

"What Damon?"

"If you are afraid that you might be alone in this, you won't be I mean I want to be here if you decide not to...if you want to keep the baby."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to help you raise the baby, not just raise it. I want to be the father."

"But you are not the father," Bonnie said sounding like Maury Povich.

" There is more to being a father than DNA and I would do that. I want to do that."

"Damon before a few months ago we could barely stand each other, now you want to help me raise a rapist child?"

"Don't say that, it's your baby Bonnie, that's how I see it."

"This is insane." She said shaking her head in disbelief.

"Maybe this wasn't the right time," he defended. " I just wanted you to know."

"Damon, I have no idea what I am going to do, I can't stand the thought of Shane let alone carrying a child that is his, and what would I do about him."

"I'd take care of him," he said coldly and Bonnie knew what he meant. She was tempted to say go for it, it would be so easy.

Damon was so loyal, she saw how he was with his brother, Katherine and Elena, and the way he was looking at her it made he believe she could do anything, even have this baby.

Her stomach growled interrupting the intense moment, " Want to go have breakfast?"

He asked as if they were not just discussing something life altering.

"Yeah, I'd like that, let me get dressed," she ran her hand through her brownish locks, " I must look a fright" she said embarrassed.

"You're glowing." He said, his blue eyes twinkling.

The way he was looking at her took her breathe away.