Author's note: Thanks for all the beautiful love, everyone! Things are about to get a little wild. :D
Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely moms!
Bonnie thumbed through Emily's grimoire that Damon retrieved from the trunk of his car in his best imitation of a blur. "There's nothing here that every remotely sounds like what Althea described," Bonnie lamented thoughtfully. "I'm here to help you both, but I don't even know how – or with what."
The three of them had been sitting on Elena's bed and adjusting plans since Bonnie's unexpected but exuberantly welcome arrival.
"So, after making all those plans, we're still going to let the tomb vampires out and repeat the ordeal of our junior year?" Elena asked grimly, plopping her head back onto the pillow.
"The tomb opening on that day is a Fixed Point," Bonnie replied, shaking her head regretfully. "That's all I know. She said that disturbing it would create a world without hope – whatever that means."
"So, leaving it closed would invite despair – one a global, maybe even cosmic, scale," Elena sighed, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes to stimulate herself awake and her brain into functioning. She needed a cup – or a gallon – of coffee. And a vacation. Away from smug witches named Althea who took delight in speaking in riddles – which may be fun when playing a game but suddenly loses all appeal when the apparent fate of the universe is at stake.
Coffee. Brain. Awaken. Coffee was magic, Elena groggily decided.
"Apparently," Bonnie nodded, despondent. "But maybe we can find a way to save Grams, at least! I can reach out to Lucy, or some other Bennett witches. Maybe if they share the burden, Grams can survive having to cast that level of magic," she added hopefully.
Both Damon and Elena nodded mutely, neither willing to voice that idea that Sheila's death could be the Fixed Point, as well.
"At least we don't have to lie to Anna – we can help her get her mom back and try to keep her alive," Elena beamed, desperate to find anything resembling a silver lining – though she had to admit that just Bonnie's presence was an amazing surprise, enough.
"And we'll be ready when Bon-Bon doesn't deactivate the Gilbert device," Damon added, grateful for the change of subject, before his lips curved into a wry smirk. "Again."
"Hey! It's the easiest way to get them off our backs should they try for a repeat performance," Bonnie defended. "Just make sure to leave the premises before it goes off."
"Yeah, no harassing uncle John this time," Elena teased, drawing herself up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "Let's just grab everyone and head home –"
"Just in time to the she-devil, herself," Damon grumbled.
"Ugh, Katherine," Elena groaned, dropping her head into her hands in annoyance. "I am not looking forward to seeing her again. What did she want last time? The moonstone?"
"And to just make us as miserable as possible in the process," Damon rolled his eyes. "And Stefan. I'm pretty sure she made a few plays at him."
"Why don't we just let her have what she wants, then?" Elena shrugged.
"And why would we do that?" Damon looked horrified at the notion of acquiescing to Katherine even by an inch.
"Because Klaus will eventually take it back from her, anyway. At least this way, we'll save ourselves the trouble and focus on defeating him, instead," Elena reasoned.
Damon scoffed, though nodded, begrudgingly admitting there was some sense to it. After everything that happened since Elena's magical sleep, the very notion of working alongside the cunning vampire left him feeling ill.
"It'll unbalance her," Bonnie supported. "She'll expect us to put up a fight, but if we're smart about this, we may even gain her as an ally against Klaus."
"And why would we ever trust that raging sociopath?" Damon argued, horrified. "She had Elena sealed in the boiler room to burn in hellfire."
"We wouldn't!" Bonnie was quick to reassure him. "But it doesn't mean we can't use her. We have the advantage of foresight. Maybe we can beat her at her own game."
"Maybe," Damon conceded for the time being, knowing there was plenty of time to change both of their minds –and aware that while his brain naturally gravitated toward a logical solution regularly, it was often devoid of such benefits where Elena and her safety were concerned. "Look, you two should probably get to school. I need to make a stop at the Boarding House. I don't remember if I started drinking from blood bags yet at this time, so I may need to stock up – and see if Stef can be in the same room as me without trying to stake me – pitifully trying, of course. Getting subpar scores from all the bunny and squirrel judges he's so eager to impress."
"Nope, no school! We're getting Enzo, today," Bonnie jumped up, suddenly excited at the prospect of not only being reunited with her lost love – but also saving him from unspeakable horrors years earlier.
"Sounds great!" Elena beamed, happy to do something useful as a human, and spend some time away from Mystic Falls with its looming tomb vampires, and Stefan mopeyness, and all the problems of yesteryear. "I'll get the—"
"You're not going," Damon interrupted.
"You can't be serious!" Elena argued, aghast.
"I'm perfectly serious. You know how dangerous Wes Maxfield is, and I'm not letting you anywhere near that place," he explained stubbornly, then amended his statement, upon further reflection, "again." Hoping to appeal to her logic, his voice softened. "Look, Bonnie and I both have supernatural powers, Elena. You're human."
"Would you rather I stay here and get kidnapped by Ben and Anna to be used as leverage?" Elena arched her eyebrow smugly, knowing she likely won.
"She has a point," Bonnie interjected. "I can protect her while we're in school, but there's nothing stopping Anna from grabbing her while I'm not around."
"Fine," Damon ground out. "But you're staying in the car, and you should know how much I hate this."
"Actually," Elena bit her lip shyly, fully aware that Damon would likely explode once he heard her suggestion. "I think I should distract him while –"
"Absolutely not!" Damon interrupted hotly, the anxiety within him steadily building.
"Just hear me out," Elena soothed, placing either hand on his face to trace comforting circles on his cheeks in a way that she knew calmed him. "Not only am I human, but I'm Grayson Gilbert's daughter," she said with an internal wince, still feeling deeply wounded and betrayed that her father could have participated to such cruel atrocities. "I could pretend to be interested in Whitmore's medical program. It wouldn't be suspicious at all."
"Elena, please," Damon beseeched, naked fear coating the blue of his eyes.
"He wouldn't hurt me, Damon," Elena implored, her voice raw with emotion as her dark eyes seemed to pull him into the magic that always seemed to flow between them, of their own volition. "I'm human. I can buy you and Bonnie all the time that you need to get Enzo to safety. Without me, he may capture you both, and hurt you. Please don't put me in a position to lose you again. I couldn't bear it."
Damon only stared back, locked into their shared, deep gaze. Although a part of him understood the reasoning behind her request, and he couldn't bear to see her in that much pain again – that moment when he had to say goodbye to her from the Other Side had been one of the most agonizing in his life, because it physically hurt him to see her so shattered.
"We could try it," Bonnie softly interrupted their silent exchange. "I learned this spell from some river witches when traveling through the Amazon. I can charm amulets to heat up to send a signal, and place one on each of her arms. If the left one heats up, it means we need more time. If it's the right, we're good to go, and Elena can start getting out of there."
"But what if –" Damon began, still evidently worried.
"And if Elena is in trouble, all she has to do is press into either amulet, and the ones we're wearing will heat up, so we know to come help," Bonnie interrupted soothingly. "We'll make this work, Damon."
"Fine," he sighed. "We'll try it your way – but the second there's even a hint of trouble, Elena, you get out of there. Promise me."
"I promise," Elena whispered in return, having never let her hands fall from stroking his cheeks.
He smiled into Elena's ministrations, placing a soft kiss on her left palm. "How do I let the two of you talk me into these ridiculous plans? I must have the patience of a saint."
"Damon, Patron Saint of Bourbon and Sarcasm," Elena giggled, pressing a quick peck to his lips.
"And having a culinary repertoire of one," Bonnie teased.
"Yeah, but that one recipe is excellent, so vampire blueberry pancakes are in a place of honor next to bourbon and sarcasm," Damon retorted.
"Hey, with that confidence, maybe someday your skills might even double into two recipes!" Bonnie grinned, nearly dancing to the door in her glee at being reunited with Enzo soon. Although heart positively melted at watching the obvious love between her two best friends, it made her acutely aware of her own loneliness and heartache – that much more determined to be reunited with the one who sent everything inside her alight with joy and wonder. "I'm off to work on the amulets. Meet back here at noon?"
"Perfect," Damon replied, gathering an increasingly groggy Elena in his arms. "I'm off to get this one caffeinated before she implodes."
Once they arrived at Whitmore University a few hours later, and Damon compelled them all past campus security, Elena swiftly made her way toward Whitmore Hall using the front entrance. Damon and Bonnie, meanwhile, snuck into the basement through a hidden door in the back. They saw that Dr. Wesley Maxfield was due to conclude his weekly office hour in ten minutes, after which there was a few-hours break before he was scheduled to teach his evening microbiology class.
They reasonably inferred that he spent that interlude between academic responsibilities on less-than-savory pursuits.
And so, Elena was able to catch him in his office right as he was about to leave.
"Doctor Maxfield," she barged in, followed by his helplessly embarrassed student aide that served as his secretary, as he began to gather his belongings. "I was hoping to speak to you for a few minutes about joining Whitmore's excellent medical program.
"I'm sorry, but my office hour has just concluded. Please make an appointment with Trudy, and she will do her best to schedule you in," he brusquely retorted, making his way out of the room.
Elena quickly got in his path, a bright smile frozen on her face. "It'll only take a few minutes. You see, I'm a legacy –"
"I'm really sorry, Miss…?"
"Gilbert," Elena supplied.
"Miss Gilbert. But I really have to –"
"It'll only take a few minutes," she insisted, blocking his path. "It's just," she paused, forcing her voice to become softer, sadder. In reality, she was so wrecked with anxiety that the shaking quality of her speech could easily be attributed to sadness, and she hoped that this is precisely how this foul man would see it. "My father, Doctor Grayson Gilbert, used to talk about his days here all the time when I was a child. He told me that the work he did here was revolutionary – he felt that the research he did here really helped humanity," she insisted, starting to feel sick, though she hoped that the obvious distress in her voice wouldn't be correctly interpreted.
At this, Wes seemed to soften almost, nodding. "Very well. I have some important work to which I must attend, but perhaps I can allow you a few minutes. Let's walk and talk."
The basement was the same dimly lit and creepy hall of nightmares that Damon remembered. Images of five of the worst years of his life came unbidden to his mind as he felt his hands tremble, his breath quicken.
"While your eyes regrow, two-one-oh-five-one, we are going to study the regenerative powers of a vampire's lungs," his tormentor nonchalantly announced as a scalpel was thrust deep into his chest and the sounds of his own screams filled the small space.
"Hey," Bonnie's hushed voice broke through his unwelcome reverie. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Damon replied, clipped.
"Enzo told me all about what happened here," Bonnie continued softly, unconvinced.
"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just get Enzo and go," Damon pressed forward, doing all he could to push the thoughts away. Every second they spent here was one where the situation could spiral out of control, and none of them could afford to be caught.
He surprised himself with how well he was able to maneuver the place, despite only having been let out of his cell to serve at the whim of a maniac masquerading as a medical benefactor – there was nothing about Doctor Whitmore that any sane person would associate with healing.
Bonnie pressed her talisman, signaling to Elena that they still needed more time. They agreed that it would be pressed every five minutes, until no longer necessary – at which point, the other one would be pressed, to alert her that she was to quickly make her way back to the car.
"As a legacy, your admission to the program would be all but guaranteed, provided that your grade point average an SAT scores are sufficient – though as Grayson's daughter, I have trouble imagining you being anything but brilliant," Wes complimented, evidently charmed by the young women who bravely sought him to follow in her father's footsteps.
Elena smiled, trying her best to hide her discomfort, as she sensed the warmth of the talisman attached to a bracelet on her left hand. "Thank you, Dr. Maxfield, truly. It means so much coming from such an esteemed mind as yours."
"The pleasure is mine," he smiled, as they neared a staircase. "And I'm afraid that it's here that I must take your leave. I've some important matters to which must –"
"Wait!" Elena desperately called, following him through the door and down the flight of stairs. When he stopped and looked back at her with a decidedly annoyed expression, she knew it was time to take a risk. "I'm afraid I wasn't entirely honest with you, Doctor Maxfield. Although I am very interested in following in my father's footsteps, I'm afraid that I have an ulterior motive."
"Oh? What's that?" Wes inquired with no small amount of suspicion.
"You see," Elena leaned in conspiratorially. "I found this journal my father used to keep where he described some … unorthodox experiments. Something to do with an," she paused, pretending to struggle to remember the name. "An Augustus Society?"
"The Augustine Society," Wes replied tersely, emphasizing the correction of the name, "is a matter of great secrecy, I'm afraid, and I cannot divulge our knowledge, methods, or other aspects of our research to a complete stranger, even if she happens to be the offspring of one of the most brilliant minds of our time."
"But, you see," Elena pressed, growing desperate. "My father once cured this girl, Megan King – she was diagnosed with a rare heart condition – her prognosis grim. But thanks to this research, she was completely cured and healthy, and is still alive! I want to be able to be a part of that. I want to help people, like my father."
"The work we do here, Miss Gilbert, is not for the faint of heart. Our methods are perhaps … unorthodox."
"How so?" Elena asked, her body trembling with what she knew was rage and disgust, but she hoped would be mistaken for passion and curiosity.
"I regret that I can tell you no more – at least until you become a student, which I hope you do. I would be honored to take you on as an assistant then, if your interests are still so inclined," he retorted, one again making to leave.
Sensing the talisman on her left hand heating again, Elena internally cursed and ran to cut him off. "You experiment on vampires." The gloves had come off. She knew this was an enormous risk, but she had to keep him away, and was swiftly running out of options. Short of assaulting him, this was the one course of action that would delay him. She suddenly wished she had brought something she could have used as a weapon to knock him out instead.
"You know," he breathed, his eyes widening. "Were your father's journals that detailed?"
Elena nodded mutely, not trusting herself to speak.
"Perhaps I was mistaken about you, Miss Gilbert, and you have the stomach to do what it takes, after all. I was about to conduct some research now actually. Would you like to accompany me and see for yourself?"
Elena felt bile rise in her throat at his obvious excitement. Swallowing thickly, she forced herself to smile. "I would be delighted," she shakily replied, and followed him through a door to which only he had the key.
"Who needs keys when you have magic?" Bonnie smugly shrugged, making short work of yet another poor excuse for an obstacle on their way to success.
Within minutes, they were at Enzo's cell. He sat silently against a wall, though his eyes were booming with rage, instantly locked with the shame-filled ones of Damon. It occurred to Bonnie very suddenly that he had absolutely no idea who she was, and the very notion of her one true love not being even remotely aware of her existence filled her with agony.
"Enzo," she barely heard Damon whisper, causing his interlocutor to jolt from his position, grabbing the bars in less than a second.
"Well, well, well – looks like the prodigal Judas returns," he sneered, his voice broken, yet nevertheless filled with contempt.
"We don't have time for this," Bonnie finally managed, her voice thick with emotion, as she whispered a spell to open the cell door.
Within moments, Damon blurred in to break Enzo's neck, lifting his prone form over his shoulder. "Let's go," Damon announced flatly, masking any unbidden emotion from his voice.
Bonnie nodded, and pressed the talisman that would heat on Elena's right arm as soon as they left the basement.
Elena and Wes were nearly at Enzo's cell by the time she finally, mercifully, felt the warmth of the talisman on her right hand. Breathing a sigh of relief, she made a big gesture of looking at her phone, gasping in alarm. "Doctor Maxfield! I am so sorry! I hadn't realized what time it was. I'm afraid I'm late for a meeting with a friend on campus, who promised to show me around. I couldn't just leave her," she explained, hoping she sounded sympathetic. "Please say that you'll still be willing to show me your research in the future."
"Of course," he nodded, sounding disappointed. "On your way then, Miss Gilbert."
Elena nodded enthusiastically, and wasted no effort bounding for the door, unaware of what was found as soon as he turned the corner to the now-empty cell.
"You helped them! You were distracting me before!" Wes roared, quickly catching up to Elena and grabbing her arm roughly, dragging her to the cells.
Elena gasped, alarmed by his strength, deducing that he must have been dosing himself with Enzo's blood regularly. "No, you must be mistaken! I would never –"
"I don't care who you are, or who your father was, Miss. Gilbert," he interrupted, seething with betrayal. "If my vampire is not returned to me in forty-eight hours, you'll be taking his place," he declared, before shoving her inside and locking the door. "Forty-eight hours. I have everything I need to turn you, and no one will ever find you again."
Elena sank to the floor, her head falling miserably into her hands. She was a weak human again, reliant on others to save her. Damon will undoubtedly come for her, she realized, only to get himself caught, too. Perhaps Bonnie, as well. This was a nightmare.
And if they did get out, they were only months away from ancient vampires hunting her for her doppelgänger blood, putting everyone in danger yet again.
Her hand hovered over the talisman, but she ultimately decided against pressing it. If Damon and Bonnie rush in to help her, they'll only get caught. Although she knew that they would regardless, perhaps if they waited, Wes would lower his guard.
Maybe the most ethical course of action for her would be to just disappear. It would save Jenna's life, and John's, and Jeremy from losing yet another family member. She understood realistically that if Klaus learned about her existence, he would undoubtedly find her, but at least if she's alone, her loved ones would be safe. She would have to sneak away. Damon would be hurt, but at least he would be alive. Last time was too close for comfort, and there's no guarantee that he would survive his encounter with the original would-be hybrid this time around.
"Where the hell is she?" Damon paced in front of his Camaro, whose trunk now held a recently-freed Augustine vampire, growing increasingly agitated. "Are you sure you pressed it? Press it again. Maybe it's not working –"
"It's working," Bonnie stressed, trying to stay visibly calm, though she was admittedly getting nervous, too. "Neither of us felt our talismans heat up, and Elena knows to press hers if she's in trouble."
"Does she!?" Damon agonized, near to ripping his hair out with worry. "Do you even remember what she can be like?"
"Don't do anything rash, Damon," Bonnie stressed, grabbing his arms. "You know how you get when it comes to her. We need to think. We need to plan."
"It's been half an hour, Bon! Do you have any idea what he could be doing to her by now? Screw this, I'm going," he murmured, willing the images from his mind as he raced back into the building to save Elena, praying he was not too late.
Bonnie watched him blur away and took a deep breath. Though she understood his behavior perfectly – having exhibited similar anxiety-fueled carelessness when Enzo was in danger – she knew that one of them had to be rational if they were going to all survive this.
Seething, she felt the magic within her crackle. Wes Maxfield had already taken so much from them – in his sneering, hateful, self-righteous hubris.
But today would be different. Today they would win, because he may think he has the the upper hand, but he had never encountered a Bennett witch.
Wes violently jerked his laptop open, relieved to see that the internet was at least finally working again. Taking measured breaths, he opened his email, in view of the human prisoner behind him. Aside from the usual professional correspondence at the university and several requests for extensions from desperate students, there was a peculiar one from an unknown address.
When he opened it, he found a most peculiar message.
Elena Gilbert will endeavor to distract you today while 21051 and a powerful witch free your vampire prisoner. If you allow them to get away and take her hostage, you can set a trap to capture them all.
Wes sat back and marveled at the curious turn of events. Had be received this email before Elena's visit, he likely would have sent her away immediately, assuming that she had been part of the scheme behind the correspondence, but with its delayed delivery, it seems he would have no choice but to follow the mysterious sender's advice.
Affording a withering glance to the girl miserably curled up in her cell, he began to look through the basement's architecture for the best place to trap the escaped test subject and the - witch? – that accompanied him. The rational thinker within him wanted to laugh at the existence of magic, though even vampires were once rumored to be mere fantasy.
A witch. Curious. Perhaps the day would see him the winner, after all.
I found it super-hilarious that Elena was shown to drink black coffee as a 17-year-old in the pilot, and then again when training with Alaric. That's quite the adult palate. :D Anyway, taking that as creative liberty to introduce a coffee addiction (which she probably has).
I actually really wasn't a fan of how much Elena was kidnapped as a human – to the point that I started writing With Great Power to empower some agency back into her – but I think it kind of works here. With that said, I don't plan to have something like this happen with anywhere near the frequency it happened in canon.
So, who sent Wes the email? Curiouser and curiouser. :D Althea said that there would be allies and adversaries (likely sent by a rival coven with opposing goals.). We'll learn more soon.
I don't plan to make the Augustine Society a major villain here. They're quick and a means to open something else, really. With Great Power is the story that deals with them extensively as the Big Bad. This story is going to have a different direction.
Much love and many hugs to you all. Please leave a comment so I could learn all your lovely thoughts and feelings! :D