A/N: well, betchy'all thought it would take me a good while to put up the next chappy, but here it is my fellow bamonistas! this is the wrap- up to our vampire and his fav witch's adventure in the prison world. yeah, and absolutely NO kai parker in sight, but there is the possibility that i might pick up this story again and explore the idea of the cure hiding out on that creepy island someday...

and as usual, i own only the storyline, 'cause if i created bonnie and damon, they'd be together fo-evah!

Damon looked over at Bonnie, who had been staring out of the window for the past twenty minutes. Her eyes looked like they were ready to close, which was good. Damon had suggested they take a scenic route home, and since Bonnie never replied, he took it as a tacit agreement. Shenandoah Valley was gorgeous at this time of the late afternoon, with the sun streaming through the trees. Occasionally they'd spot some movement in the woods on either side. Damon wondered if it were another bear, or perhaps some deer. Stefan would love it here, Damon smirked to himself as he thought of his brother.

Slight snoring from the passenger seat confirmed that Bonnie was out, black bob covering her left cheek and eye. Gently brushing the hair from her soft brown skin, Damon cheered internally because he could carry out his plan. He kept driving.

And as he drove, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a vision. What he saw scared him, and Damon was not often scared. There's definitely something about this place. Sheila must be warning us from the Great Beyond. I wonder has Bonnie had any premonitions…He shook himself and pulled into a nearby convenience stop. After he filled the tank with gas and picked up a few food items, he hit the road again, thanking the stars that Bonnie was still sleeping.

Several hours later, as the sun had just sunk below the horizon, Damon pulled the Camaro up to a trail head in Tennessee. A sign announced their location, and Damon felt a smile grace his lips as he recalled the last time he had been there. It had been over seventy-five years ago, maybe in the mid-1930s. People, men mostly, had snuck into the woods to have private parties. They headed there in small groups to be free of society's stigma and enjoy the company (sometimes very intimate company) of others like themselves. It was a place of warmth and romance and safety, and Damon had loved it. It was a shame that he hadn't visited in so long.

Damon left the car running in park so as not to disturb Bonnie's sleep. He didn't want her to know where they were until he'd unpacked and set up. So using his SuperVamp™ speed, he pitched the tent and lit a small fire at the campsite at the end of the trail.

When Bonnie awoke, she saw Damon running up to the car. She yawned.

"You shouldn't waste the gas like that, Killer," was the first thing she said to him, eyes still closed. "Bad for the environment, ya know."

Damon poked his head into the open window, elbows on the frame. "Hey, I didn't want you to wake up. And we all know how a snoring Witchy is a happy Witchy. Not to mention less Judgey in dreamland." He flashed her his trademark smirk as he pulled away and opened the car door. "Come on. Let's go."

"Where on Earth are we? Seriously Damon. Could you be any more irritating? I was looking forward to getting back to Mystic Falls and that terribly outdated television set. At least I could have some tequila, which you didn't bring with you." Bonnie frowned and then sighed as she followed Damon down the trail.

"You mean you didn't bring tequila." Damon retrieved a small bottle from his hip pocket. "I brought tequila. And a lime," he added, fishing it out of his other pocket. "We made a pit stop and you were still sleeping."

"Okay," Bonnie replied, "I guess you do have some redeeming qualities, Mr. Salvatore." She hooked her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment. They had stopped in front of the campsite.

Damon had selected a spot just a few feet away from a good-sized swimming hole. The tent opening faced the water, offering occupants an unencumbered view. The moonlight was bright on May 10, 1994 in Tennessee. Bonnie was almost speechless.

"Wow." She covered her hand with her mouth, tears threatening to well up. She couldn't believe how idyllic the scene before her was. She looked at Damon. "This is amazing. Where are we?"

"Doesn't matter where we are…well, actually, we're in Tennessee. What matters is that this is one of my favorite places in the world. One where I came to be myself, as well as be myself."

"You mean you weren't worried about your vampire side here?" Bonnie clarified.

"Mmhmm," Damon replied as he gazed over the water, remembering how the men, even if not completely his type, were so accepting of his dark side. He hadn't killed any of them, afterward he wasn't sure why, but maybe it was because they were so genuine and kind. None of them had offered their blood, but Damon hadn't felt the need to feed that night. He had just been.

Bonnie looked at Damon and smiled. She put her had on his arm. "Wanna go for a swim?"

Damon was silent for a moment. Finally, he responded. "Are you in a place where you can listen? I have something really important to tell you."

"Ummm, sure. I'm feeling much better. Must be something special about this place because I don't feel like I wish I could still give you an aneurysm." Bonnie rolled her eyes and smiled again. Damon almost blushed because her smile was so beautiful and natural and for him. He turned away and walked toward the water, stripping his clothes off as he went.

Before Bonnie could protest, he leapt into the water. Damon swam to the middle of the hole, where a small floating dock had been tethered. He climbed up, flopping onto his stomach. The moonlight covered him in sparkling drops the color of tanzanite. His pale skin took on an otherworldly glow so transfixing that Bonnie gasped. He was gorgeous. And he was about to open his mouth. I hope he doesn't ruin the moment, Bonnie thought as she sat silently on the rocks.

"I had a vision, Bonnie," Damon began, "and you know how strongly I believe in those kinds of things. Hell, I spent the better part of my vampirehood waiting for a cosmic event to take place. But this vision was a premonition. I saw the real Mystic Falls. I saw our friends struggling to fight some pretty horrible enemies. There were witch-vampire hybrids. Elena was under some spell that rendered her near death." He took a breath and looked down at the water.

"I was so devastated by Elena's absence that I locked myself in a coffin. I left you a note to say goodbye. You, my best friend, I left without a second thought. I wanted to desiccate until you and the rest found an antidote, a counterspell, a loophole, to break the curse. I left you alone."

Bonnie listened. Damon could hear her breathing speed up, her heartrate increase. She was holding her knees so tightly that he could even hear the sound of skin grating against fabric. Damon knew he had to finish what he was saying and quick.

"Bonnie, are you afraid of me?" he asked, looking up to meet her green eyes.

"Damon, I've been furious at you, frustrated with you, I've wanted to kill you, I've hated you, but no, I've never been afraid, except for once." she replied, her voice never wavering.

"I know. And that was when I bit you right after you tried to free Catherine. At that moment, I realized something about you, about myself." Bonnie looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to continue.

"I realized in that moment, when I sensed your fear, that I was afraid of you. And that I had been since the moment I met you. You see, the very first time I got wind of you, Bonnie Sheila Bennett, was when I felt your magic. That raw, unused, unlearned magic inside of you scared the shit out of me. And once I got to know you it was your fearlessness-I admired that, and my admiration scared me." He took a deep breath. "I had met witches, powerful witches, before. They were always afraid of what I could do to them emotionally-how I could reel them in with my charm and use them-they were never afraid of me killing them. You, on the other hand, have never been afraid of how I could use you. You have always given of yourself, to everyone, without concern for how that can damage you. And that fear of death at my hands, well, that was a one time thing that made you stronger and braver. This is why I'm so afraid of you, Bonnie. It's because I see your power, I see your bravery, I see your love. And this love is turning me into a mouse. I'm a lion, Bonnie, but you're turning me into a mouse with your love."

Bonnie gasped again, her mouth parting slightly. What can I say to that? She asked herself as she pulled off her shirt and shorts. "What are you trying to say, Damon? That I'm not good for you? That we can't be friends?" She crossed her arms over her breasts, covering her heart and its ember of hope, trying to protect it from the words that would surely break it, snuff the spark out. But I've always been able to piece my heart back together. I'm strong and resilient. If nothing else, life has shown me that. She put on a brave face as she looked into Damon's soul.

"No, Bonnie. That's not at all what I'm trying to tell you." Damon rose up onto his elbows. "I'm trying to tell you that when I saw that vision, I realized that I didn't want that to happen. I knew with every fiber of my being that I couldn't leave you to fight alone while I desiccated for years. If that means that we don't go back to the real Mystic Falls, that we have to be here together forever, then that's what I want. I just want you. But I don't know what I'd do if you didn't want me." He looked at the moon, as if it could grant wishes.

Bonnie jumped into the water with a yell. Her arms reached out toward the sky, her legs slightly bent. She looked to Damon like an angel, and for a split second it seemed that she would hover over the water. In that instant, Damon saw another vision.

Instead of Mystic Falls and destruction, he saw Bonnie. Her eyes were the same green, her skin the same glowing brown. Her hair was curly and wild and greying. There were feathery wrinkles around her eyes as she whooped and yelled her happiness. Her breasts were less pert, but still beautiful. Her belly was rounder and laced with silvery stretch marks. She still hovered over the water, but years into the future-their future, he was sure of it. He saw himself on the dock, waiting for her. It was an older version of himself. This future looked perfect.

I see you, Bonnie. I see us and what will be if we just stay here, Damon thought to himself. This is what I want, and it all starts with me choosing you.

Damon blinked a few uncharacteristic tears from his eyes. They rolled down his cheeks, but before he could wipe them away, Bonnie surfaced near the floating dock. Her hair was plastered against her forehead. She smelled like the woods. With one hand on the boards, she reached for a glistening drop with a forefinger and brought it to her lips.

"Damon," she said as she tasted his happiness, "I choose you, too. And if choosing my best friend means that we get to be the center of this crazy love story together, that's what I want. Maybe it doesn't mean that we can't try to find our way back, but I can be okay if we don't make it, if we're not meant to make it back to our friends. Just as long as we have each other. I know there might be rough times ahead in this strange version of the world, but at least it's ours. And no matter how much we have our ups and downs, we'll always end up back here."

At last, we're on the same page. Damon looked down at his witch and smiled softly, lovingly. And then he pulled her up onto the dock. They lay there, together, just being, under the stars. And as the moon set and the sun made its way impossibly back to May 10th, 1994, Bonnie knew that the day would indeed be different.

FIN

A/N: okay, yep, that's it. and maybe y'all can see where an exploration of the cure might come from later on down the line...maybe i'll write it, especially if you let me know what you think of this ending! please send me some love-and by love, i mean review, review, review!