AN: Yay! We won again! Now we just have Regionals, and then Nationals! Also fun: I found out that I get to be a flyer next year :D. Anyways, new chapter is up! Hope you guys enjoy :D
"If you wait until they're human, won't they die?" Bonnie asked.
"Not at all. They have to be completely human to begin aging, but if they're switched back, the aging won't affect them. It'll progress as normally as if they had been human all along." Bonnie tilted her head, thinking. She had no reason not to trust him, but he hadn't been the most trustworthy person she'd met. She'd have to talk to at least Damon and Elena and figure out what would happen from there.
"What do I have to do to get you to help us?" she asked.
"First, I'll need his Grimoire. If I'm going to perform the spell, I'll need to know his individual tendencies. Second, I need to know that Elena is willing to work with Elijah." He said.
"Why is that so important?" Bonnie questioned. She hadn't understood why anyone would help someone willing to harm people, and she couldn't think of a reason that would justify it.
"That's something you'll find out eventually." He said. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't risk it. He'd lost one child already, and he had no intention of losing Luca as well...something he knew that Elijah would be responsible for if he explained his motives to Bonnie.
Bonnie sighed. "I wish I could trust you." She said.
"If there's anyone who can, it's you."
Stefan slunk back to the boarding house, hoping he wouldn't come across Elena. He needed to talk to Damon, but he didn't feel like he could face Elena. He'd never spoken to her about what had happened at the witches' house, and they'd left without resolving anything. Resolving things was the last thing he wanted to do. He wished desperately that he was still capable of jumping to his second floor bedroom, but he wasn't nearly as strong as he had been. That's why he needed Damon.
He flashed in the door, relieved that he could still move quickly. From the looks of the expansive, empty house, there was no one home. He sighed, relieved, and made his way to the library, where he'd wait for Damon. He sat on the sofa in the large, cluttered room, reaching for a book on the side table.
"I didn't think you'd come back."
It was Damon. Stefan turned, hearing what should have been his voice speak to him.
"Surprise." He said, turning back around.
"Why are you here?" he could hear the characteristic edge of Damon's speech, and he smiled. They were still themselves.
"I have something you'll want, and I want my body back. I figure it'll be a lot easier to switch back if we're in the same city." He really, really wanted his body back. The deterioration of Damon's was scarily bad. When he'd first changed, the sheer power of Damon's body had surprised him. Right now, he felt like he was a Parkinson's' victim. Vampire Parkinson's'...great.
"There are very, very few things that I want right now, Stefan. Having you around doesn't count." He was grateful to see that his body was still in one piece; he knew that it would last longer than Stefan's.
Stefan smiled darkly, something Damon hadn't seen since before Elena came into the picture. "This is something you'll definitely want."
"Oh? Show me, and make it quick. I have a lonely ex-girlfriend of yours to take care of." Damon could see that his comment cut, and he didn't care. Abandoning Elena after hurting her was inexcusable. Damon watched as Stefan pulled a long dagger out of his favourite leather jacket, handing it to him and watching, amused. Damon opened the sheath, pulling out first a piece of paper, then the dagger. He read quickly, his eyes widening as he read.
"That's great, Stefan, but it also say we need the ash from some tree." Stefan smiled.
"Right here." He set down the jar of ash, watching his brother's expression. Damon paused.
"The only thing more annoying than you finding this, is you wearing that ridiculous expression on my face." He picked up the ash jar, opening it and sniffing it. "What's the plan?"
"I'm not sure; you're normally the mastermind...I figured this time would be no different."
Damon shrugged. "Fine." He said. "You run off and do...whatever it is you've been doing, and I'll think up a deviously wonderful plan."
"Fine. I do have to say though...I'd behave if I were you, Damon. Your body is much stronger than mine ever was." Stefan smirked at the barely veiled threat. It was nice to know that he had more power, for once.
"And I know more about my body than you ever will. Run along little brother. I have important, scary things to do." Stefan was starting to annoy him; something he was used to but would never enjoy. He watched as his brother shot out of the room, almost disappearing before his eyes. He looked at the blade thoughtfully, deciding what should be done.
"Did you find it?" Katherine asked, tilting her head. She'd told him where the dagger would be, but he hadn't believed that it would really be there.
"I did." He said.
"Where is it?" She wanted out of the tomb as fast as possible, and that meant killing Elijah.
"It's with Damon." He watched her expression change. "Which is a good thing" Stefan said.
"How is that a good thing?" Katherine said, alarmed.
Stefan leaned against the wall of the cave, smirking. "Well, I took out the part of the text that said the wielder had to be human. Damon dies, Elijah dies, and if your witch can really save my body, I'm switched back."
"Damon being dead benefits me how?" she said, musing.
"Without Damon to protect her, Elena is completely vulnerable. We can take her to Klaus and exchange her for your pardon." He said. "You can stop running."
"Stefan, I have to say I'm impressed." She said. "Damon's always been the schemer, but you've turned over a new leaf" His plan really was good.
"I've been working at it" he said, grinning. Katherine turned to him.
"I've got something else you could work at..." She flashed to him, lips meeting his harshly. Stefan pulled back. Katherine looked at him, puzzled.
"Damon's body" he said, shrugging.
"Both my favourite brothers in one" she said, smiling.
"Katherine, I'd really prefer my own."
"Fine." She huffed. "Time to get your plan going."
Bonnie knocked nervously on the door of the boarding house. She really, really didn't like coming to the large house, especially alone. She almost turned to leave when she heard a car pull into the drive; Elena.
"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" Elena said, slinging her purse onto her shoulder.
"I have some news for you guys." She said.
"Here" Elena said, unlocking the door. Damon had given her a key...he'd started locking it since the switch. "Come on in." She said. Bonnie looked hesitant. "Bonnie, Damon won't hurt you. He's..." she wanted to say different, but he was the same. "stable." It was the best word to describe him; stable. Bonnie followed her in quickly, closing the door behind them.
"Judgey? You're the last person I'd expect to see here." Damon said, swilling a glass of bourbon. He'd actually managed to get himself drunk the previous day, and he had a significantly smaller amount than normal in his glass.
"I have news for you two" she said.
"Like what?"
"Well" Bonnie said, sitting in the library. "The switch is impossible until both you and Stefan are human or as close to human as possible."
Damon shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the idea of being human again at all. "There's no other way?" he said, confused.
"Not that can be pulled off by Elijah's warlock." She cleared her throat. "Which brings me to my next point; he needs the Grimoire."
"No way." Damon said. The last thing he wanted to do was give Jonas another means of learning new tricks.
"Damon, if you want to stay alive and save Elena, we need to." She said. "but first, we're going to make copies. I want to know as much as possible."
"Fine." He said. "There's something I need from you, too".
"Oh?"
"I want you to find out everything you can about this." Damon pulled the knife out, handing it to Bonnie. The second she touched it, she went into what seemed to be a trance, her eyes wide and unfocused. She stayed like that for a few seconds, blinking when she was done.
"I'll...I'll take this home and look it over." She said.
"I think not." Damon said. "It's safer here, and I don't want it going missing."
"Good enough." She said. She looked at him. "How did you get this?"
"Stefan."
"You saw Stefan?" Elena said, surprised. She didn't like how things had been left, but secretly she was glad that she hadn't run into him. She wasn't ready.
"He stopped in earlier, dropping this off and running off somewhere." Damon said. He had an idea of where he'd gone.
"Off to do what?" Elena said.
"I think he's been talking to Katherine." There weren't many other possibilities...Katherine would have known about the knife, and there was no way Stefan would have found it on his own.
"I think I'm going to be sick" Elena said.
"I can't blame you at all." Said Bonnie. Leaving was one thing, but the possibility of Stefan going to Katherine was downright mean. Either way, they'd find out soon enough.
"What do we do now?" Elena asked.
"We scheme."