A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating! Real life caught up with me, but hopefully I will be back to regular updates on this story during the hiatus. This chapter is kind of short, but you'll see why I had to end it where I did.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters from the show. I do own this Rebecca, who is not the same as the Original named Rebekah on the show, as well as the plot and my other O/Cs.

Chapter 12

Becca had been on the airplane when she had felt the stake penetrate Damon's body. She had doubled over in her seat, scaring the middle-aged man who was her seatmate in first class and who had been far too interested in her earlier in the flight, to the point where Becca had seriously considered compelling him to leave her alone to worry about Damon in peace. But he and the flight attendant had assumed that she was just feeling ill, and Becca had let them draw that conclusion, closing her eyes and trying not to let worry entirely consume her. She had felt that Damon had been conscious for some time, but now his consciousness was much more muted. In fact, she thought he was slipping in and out of awareness, and she knew he was in a tremendous amount of pain. Luckily, it had been only minutes until the plane had landed, and she had raced off the plane while calling Ric. He picked up immediately, and she skipped all pleasantries. "Anything?"

"No, neither Stefan nor Amaya have been able to track him. It's like he's disappeared without a trace." She could hear Ric's frustration in his voice.

"They are hurting him again, more. We need to find him." She paused. "I am getting a car."

"Renting or compelling?"

"Compelling, it is faster. I will be there as soon as I can."

It was as Becca settled herself behind the wheel of the sports car she had "borrowed" – it had looked like the fastest of the cars waiting for arriving passengers – that she had an idea. She stopped for a moment, feeling along her bond with Damon. Could she use the bond to find him? She forced herself to explore the layers of pain, tracing the most recent, sharpest pain. Yes, she thought as she snapped her eyes open, she could follow the bond to Damon's location.

As she tore away from the airport, she glanced at her phone. She should call someone for back-up if she was going after Damon. The question was: Ric or Stefan? Stefan would be the more useful in a fight, but she didn't know him as well. And she trusted Ric. She decided she would provide plenty of muscle for the operation, anyway. She picked up her phone again, driving with one hand as she zipped in and out of freeway traffic at well over 100 miles per hour. "Ric, meet me at the gas station at the Mystic Falls exit in fifteen minutes."

"What's going on, Becca?"

"I can find Damon. Bring your weapons."

"How are you going to do that? And how are you going to get from the airport that quickly?"

Becca rolled her eyes. She was an Original, after all. "Just be there."

Exactly fourteen minutes later, Becca tore into the gas station. She left a trail of rubber as she parked her car next to Ric's. He was leaning against his truck, staring at her. "Nice car. Someone is going to be pissed about losing that."

Becca shrugged. "Not my problem. Are you ready?" She tossed her bag into Ric's backseat. "We can take your car. It is bigger. He is not far."

As Ric slid behind the wheel, he glanced over at her. "Do you mind my asking how you know where Damon is?"

"I discovered I can track him through the blood bond between us. I can follow the pain that he is feeling."

"Shit. I guess that's a good thing, though. Which way?" As Becca directed Ric out of the gas station, focusing on maintaining her connection to Damon's pain, she ran her fingers through her hair. She saw Ric glance over at her, looking worried. He spoke quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine. Damon is not."

"It's just I don't think I've ever seen you act like this before."

"Like what?"

Ric hesitated like he didn't want to say it. "Like a crazy vampire."

"I am a vampire, Ric. In fact, I am an Original. Do not forget it. Turn left here." A moment later, Becca regretted snapping at Ric. Dealing with her siblings, particularly her sister, had been stressful, and then Damon had been attacked when she was too far away to help him. She may have called Damon her ïhsanthá to placate Magdalena, but she realized that she definitely thought of him as hers, albeit her partner more than her ïhsanthá. But in messing with Damon, someone had messed with her, and Becca would not tolerate that. She knew she was on edge from the stress and the helplessness and the anger that she felt, and she had taken it out on Ric. She glanced over at her friend. "I am sorry."

"It's okay. I get it." A second later, he chuckled softly.

"What?"

"You're a lot better at apologizing than Damon is."

Becca couldn't help but laugh herself at that. "I have had many more years of experience."

Ric's voice was dry. "I don't think that's it." His tone turned more serious a moment later. "You're good for him, Becca."

Becca didn't know what to say to that. Damon was good for her, too, and she had to get him back. Luckily their approach to their destination saved her from having to make a response. "Turn right here. You can wait with the car in those trees."

Ric pulled the truck into a concealed spot in the trees and turned to look at Becca. "Shouldn't we call for reinforcements? Like Stefan or Amaya or Caroline? Or all three of them? I hate to say it, but any of them would be more use than me."

Becca shook her head. "We do not need an army. Then they would see us coming. I am going to get Damon out, and you will stay ready to drive us out of here." She didn't mention that she intended to kill everyone involved in hurting Damon.

Ric glanced down at his watch. "So how long do you think this will take?"

"Why? Do you have somewhere else to be?"

"I've been in Mystic Falls long enough to know that things seldom go as planned. Just wondering when I should start worrying that something has gone wrong."

Becca tilted her head at him. "Relax. We will be back before you know it." She sped away toward the building just beyond the trees, but she heard Ric's voice behind her.

"I'll relax when you do."

•••••

Killing the two vampires guarding the door to the building was child's play for Becca, and she slipped silently inside. She passed several empty rooms before she came to one with a locked door. She was suddenly certain that Damon was inside. She was still hyperaware of the bond between them, and as she focused, she heard unsteady breathing and a single heartbeat on the other side of the door. Becca snapped the lock effortlessly and tore the door halfway off its hinges as she opened it.

Becca burst into a good-sized room, and she saw him. Damon lay on his side, facing away from her and barely conscious. His wrists and ankles were bound with ropes, and Becca could smell his blood where the vervain on the ropes had burned deep into his wrists. His skin still smoked from the contact with the herb. A wave of anger like nothing she had felt in hundreds of years washed over her, and she saw red and felt her face changing involuntarily. How dare anyone hurt Damon like this? A small part of her was afraid of the intensity of her fury, aware of just how much power she held, but the rest of her just let the anger burn freely. She vowed again that she would kill whoever had done this to Damon, and they would suffer for it.

Damon moved slightly, groaning, and Becca flashed across the room to his side. "Damon, it is me. I am going to get you out of here." To her horror, Becca saw that a stake was protruding from his stomach, and she jerked it free with a growl, tossing the wood aside.

Damon's voice was a harsh whisper. "Becca?" He shifted again, trying to turn to see her.

"Shh, do not try to talk." Becca turned her attention to the ropes binding Damon, and she snarled as the vervain burned her skin.

Damon was still trying to speak, his words slurred with pain. "Trap. It's a trap."

Becca only half heard him. She tore off a piece of her shirt to provide some protection for her hands, but before she could snap the ropes that bound Damon, a door on the near wall flew open. Her attention had been focused solely on Damon, and a light dusting of powder landed on her before even she could react. Becca felt herself falling backward, unable to move. She twitched on the ground, helpless and furious. It was a paralyzation spell, magic being one of the few things that could affect an Original, and she realized with a start that the powder that had been thrown onto her contained some of the ash from the white oak tree to augment the power of the spell and personalize it for her.

Becca strained against the magic, confident that even with the ash it wouldn't hold her for more than a few seconds, but a figure appeared above her in those seconds. She knew the man. It was a vampire that she had known for centuries before her death, although they had never been friends. She hadn't known that he was still alive, but he was certainly one of the oldest vampires in the world. She gasped out his name. "William."

"Hello, Rebecca." Moving at a speed that not even most vampire eyes could follow, William scooped up the stake that Becca had pulled from Damon's body. Without a moment's hesitation, he drove the stake right into Becca's heart with all of his strength. Becca gasped out one final breath as she felt her body dying.

•••••

Damon had felt Becca's shock through their bond as she collapsed back away from him, and he struggled uselessly against his bindings, far too weak to have any success at getting free. He couldn't see what was happening, but he heard Becca recognize her attacker. A second later, Damon felt something that he had never before experienced in his years as a vampire. He felt a stake enter his heart, and he knew nothing more.

A/N: Sorry, cliffhanger ;) But I will try really hard to update soon. Please read and review - I would love to hear what you think.