The two hour drive to the University of Virginia seemed to drag on. Night had fallen by the time they turned towards the housing complex. Was it her imagination or was the night growing darker? Bonnie registered it was smoke rising in the distance. Her stomach plummeted into her throat. As they neared her street, the sounds of fire engines and shouts grew louder. Flames burst from an upper window. Students stood on the street, huddled close in their pajamas and school hoodies. She hastily parked her car and flew out the door.
Arms closed around her from behind, holding her back. She struggled against him.
"Let me go!" panic rose as the flames flickered more urgently out her window, "I need to get my grimoire."
"Shh," Nick said softly, "If that is a witch hunter's fire, it will be lethal to us both. You have to let the mortals do their jobs."
Her eyes stung, the combination of smoke and devastation overwhelming her. She slumped against Nick, who was murmuring words of comfort in her ear. It was beginning to help when her window exploded. Bonnie couldn't contain her sobs. Everything important to her was in that room.
Nick placed a hand over one of her own and brought it down to her pocket. She could feel the crystal through the denim and a wave of refreshing peace settled over her. She sighed and leaned against Nick, his other arm still wrapped protectively around her shoulders. Their bodies were pressed close enough that she could feel every ridge in his biceps and abs pressed against hers. An unexpected thrill raced through her. His arms tightened ever so slightly in response.
"Well this is cozy."
They sprang apart as if doused with ice cold water.
Bonnie scowled, "Damon, why am I not surprised?"
The vampire smirked, "Shacking up with witches now, I see."
"The undead have no business here," Nick's voice was steel.
"Oh, you don't frighten me Abercrombie," Damon retorted, "I'm a friend of Judgy over here."
Nick's remained stoic, "Neither do you frighten me, Damon Salvatore."
"Aw, Bon-bon, have you been talking about me?" the vampire's grin was feral, "Has she shared my many...talents." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Bonnie felt sick to her stomach, but Nick didn't bat an eyelash, "You met my grandfather a couple of decades ago. Malcolm Armstrong."
The smirk slipped off Damon's face momentarily before returning in full force, "Malcolm, right. Didn't I kill that bastard?"
"Apparently you got it wrong the first time," Nick retorted back mockingly.
Damon shrugged indifferently, "It's not everyday a witch says no to me. I was a little off my game."
Bonnie swung her head between the two males, not understanding this new dynamic. Nick looked amused with Damon and Damon seemed almost wary of Nick. Bonnie was impressed to see him hold his own over the vampire and her respect for Nick grew a notch.
"Why are you here?"
"I came to check up on my favorite witch," Damon turned his gaze to her, "You don't write, you don't call. I'm starting to think you don't miss me Bon-bon."
Bonnie scowled at the ridiculous nickname, "Did you set my dorm on fire?"
Damon let out an incredulous, mocking laugh, "Who me? Why would I want to kill you after what you did last week?"
Bonnie furrowed her brow at him as he continued, "You know, you snuck into Mystic Falls, laid your annual remembrance bouquet for your grandmother and then cursed all the witchy stones that keep us from exploding in sunlight."
Bonnie exchanged a look with Nick, who shook his head and answered Damon, "Bonnie could not have performed a spell of that magnitude."
"Bennetts are pretty powerful witches, probably more powerful than the Armstrongs," Damon retorted.
Bonnie found her voice, "Someone has been draining my life force. I haven't been able to cast any advanced spells in a while. I thought...I thought it was just lack of practice."
Nick placed a comforting hand on her lower back, "Whatever force is attacking your vampires may be the same force attacking Bonnie."
"And the same one trying to burn her down," Damon turned his sharp eyesight on to the burning building ahead of him, "Bon-bon, did you place any protective wards of your apartment?"
She rolled her eyes, "Of course -"
He cut her her off, "-would they happen to be a set of runes inside of a pentagram?"
"That is no protection ward," Nick met Bonnie's eyes again, "That's a witch hunter's symbol."
"Why would a witch hunter want to harm a witch and vampires?" Damon asked, his tone suggesting that Nick was full of shit.
Nick shook his head, "The better question would be who is manipulating a witch hunter to harm both witches and vampires."
"You have a suspect in mind?"
Nick grimaced, "I do. But if I'm right, we need to get you to safety right away."
She met his eyes, startled by the fact that he was addressing her and not Damon.
Said vampire scoffed in response, "Right. And as soon as you get her safe, you finish the job. I'm taking Bonnie back to Mystic Falls. Her ancestors will protect her there."
Logically, Bonnie knew Damon made sense. Her ancestral spirits could protect her. And Nick did suspiciously appear in her life at the same time the Lapis Lazuli mysteriously stopped working. He seemed to have all the answers and good looking guys with supernatural know how were usually, in her experience, bad news.
But Bonnie couldn't deny how right her energy felt around Nick. The magic in her hummed with approval when their auras were in proximity of each other. It was a completely different feeling from when she would help the vampires in Mystic Falls. In those times, there was a wrongness that clouded her magic. But watching Nick stop time earlier was like watching Grams perform a spell. The crystal he have her brought back memories of her time with the Swiss coven.
She took stock of both men in front of her. On one hand, there was Damon with his sensual darkness and eyes that gleamed with the promise of power, pleasure and, most importantly, a world of pain. And then there was Nick, who had a different kind of edginess that went beyond the leather jacket, wicked grin and chip on his shoulder. In spite of the knowledge that Nick was capable of powerful, dark things, she sensed a lightness to him. His green eyes were also full of promises - ones Bonnie had forsaken long ago. They spoke of safety, peace and hope - possibly the most dangerous of them all.
"Damon," Bonnie began slowly, "Nick could have killed me at any number of times and I'm still alive."
"Don't be stupid," Damon's eyes flashed at her, "He's a pretty face and he's going to get you killed."
"I don't believe that," Bonnie shot back, "And it's my life!"
"What about your friends, little witch? Caroline? Elena? They're in danger too. You're going to abandon them?"
It was just like Damon, to hit her where it would hurt the most. Nick's hand on her back drifted to her hip, allowing her to lean slightly on him. It was enough to clear her mind.
"And how safe will it be for all of us to be in the same place?" she tossed the word right back in his face, "It would be like sending out a bat signal to this hunter saying 'We're all here, take us!' They started targeting me first, it is me they will be after."
Bonnie relished the look of utter fury on Damon's face for one moment before he bared his fangs and launched at Nick.
The witch was quicker and Damon crumpled to the ground, holding his head.
"S..s..stop," the vampire ground out.
"Bonnie," Nick said gently, "You can let up now."
Bonnie was startled to realize she had thrown out a spell too. She released it and Damon looked up, a trickle of blood trailing from his nose.
"Attacking Salem witches," Nick tsked, "Someone your age should know better."
Bonnie couldn't hold back a snort. Damon's scowl grew darker.
"I'm coming with you both."
"Hell no!" she burst out at the same time that Nick replied, "Sorry, no can do."
Damon rolled his eyes, "You two can burst all the aneurysms in my brain that you want and I will still find you. Vampire, remember?"
Nick pointed to himself and uttered, "Pirate" in a perfect Johnny Depp expression. Bonnie doubled over in laughter.
"I love that movie!"
"Obviously so does the vampire."
They both began laughing all over again.
Damon growled, his patience wearing thin, "This is not funny."
Nick regarded Damon, "He could really use some sun, it would improve his mood."
Bonnie shook her head, "Nah, he's always like this."
Damon lifted his head toward the sky and cursed, "Sunrise is close. I'm heading back to Mystic Falls. You would too, if you know what's best for you."
Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Always with the dramatics."
Damon smirked, "Until next time Bon-bon." He turned to leave, but stopped in front of Nick, "You are not your grandfather. I'll be seeing you."
Nick didn't blink, "Hopefully with a breath mint."
Bonnie couldn't remember the last time she laughed this much.
"Cute," Damon snarled, before speeding off.
"He'll be back," Bonnie sighed.
Nick nodded his agreement, "And we'll have your tires."
Bonnie slid him a look. The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile, "You interested in crashing a party?"