Damon

Damon stumbled backwards, some invisible force thrust upon him. He was acutely aware of a thudding in his chest, a peculiar sensation rushing through his veins, and a lurch in his throat. Feeling as if he was choking, he backed up, grasping at thin air for a support that wasn't there.

That girl, that foolish teenage girl, was doing something to him. She possessed a weapon far superior to the one he and McCracken had developed, the weapon that was supposed to be so formidable that its strength protected its bearer. Wielding this device had indeed granted him insurmountable power and near invincibility; what sorcery could this Cleo character possess to be able to override such defenses so effortlessly?

And yet she sat there, eyes wide open, almost as fearful as he. A moment of uncertainty gave him pause: perhaps she did not know what she was doing.

But then a small, timid smile tugged the corner of her mouth, and he felt the wind knocked out of him again, and he knew, he knew that this girl was up to no good. Why else would she smirk at him like that, why else would she be looking at him as he felt his insides being crushed and suffocated?

Spinning around wildly, he was suddenly aware that the Ten Men were gaping at him, entirely unaffected by the girl's instrument of torture.

"Wh-what?" he stammered, drawing a shaky breath. "Don't you... feel it?"

"Daddy," whispered Cleo.

"No!" he said loudly, retreating. "I'm not - what are you - I demand that you stop this immediately! Stop whatever you're doing, stop it, go away, we'll let you go -"

One of the men made a note of protest. "We're supposed to keep her, sir."

He must have looked crazed, for they all fell silent under his icy glare.

"Daddy," said Cleo again. Damon summoned all of his strength, though he felt as if he was unraveling, and ignored her. "Damon," she said, and he had to respond, had to look into those eyes. He had the disconcerting, frightening feeling that he had seen them before, and seen and felt and known the emotion behind them, and somehow this Cleo... somehow she was bringing it all back to him.

"What do you want?" he asked huskily.

Her lower lip trembled. "I want my dad back."

"What are you talking about?" he asked as harshly as he could, then flinched, feeling inordinately guilty for speaking to her like that. She's the bad guy, he had to remind himself. She's not innocent.

"You're my dad, I know you are. You're Eric Valentine. You're married to Lissa Valentine, and McCracken took you away from us."

"On a Monday," he said despite himself.

She nodded, lips pressed together, tears glistening in her eyes. "Don't you remember?" she asked gently, as if he was a shaken, frightened puppy.

No. It was supposed to be the other way around. She should be trembling, not him. He should have destroyed her by now. He should have pressed that godforsaken button, watched her writhe in pain...

He felt as if he was going to throw up. "I - don't - know," he gasped.

"Monday," she said. "You met Mom on a Monday. You got married on a Monday. I was born on a Monday. You left on a Monday."

He clamped his hands over his ears, shaking his head. "So?" he asked, the single syllable ringing in the air, though the pieces were slowly clicking together in his mind.

When he woke up that day, he was surrounded by these very walls. When he woke up, they asked for his name, laughing because he couldn't remember. When he woke up...he held onto one thing. Monday. Damon. Mon-day. Da-mon.

He looked swiftly at his daughter. "Cleo," he said, and wrapped his trembling arms around her slender neck. "Cleo," he repeated, over and over, as the memories of Mondays long ago poured out from every crevice of his dusty brain, darting around them and settling down on their shoulders like a warm, comforting blanket.

Author's note

Gosh, I am so sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It actually took me a long time to write, and I'm still not fully satisfied with it, but I've had a crazy busy year and this week is midterm week. So, between study sessions, I finished this chapter.

Thank you for your continued support and reviews. I truly appreciate it!

Also, if any of you have YouTube accounts and feel like humoring me, I'd love more subscribers. My username is 327ecb. If posting this is against the site rules somehow, let me know and I'll gladly take it down.

Thank you thank you thank you! Don't forget to send in requests for upcoming chapters - and remember, if I really like one of your ideas, I'll write you a one-shot fanfiction from any of the following fandoms: Glee, Once Upon A Time, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Harry Potter, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and iCarly. Those are the ones I know best, and can better guarantee the accuracy of my character portrayal, but I'm also flexible and will happily write any type of fanfiction if given some background (and I do participate in other fandoms, those listed are my main ones) - I'll gladly do a real-life fanfiction, too. As in, pairing you with a celebrity, or something like that.

Actually, I'm dying to write a one-shot for somebody other than myself. So I may just open this little contest thing up to everybody.

If you're interested, let me know in a review, stating what fandom/person you want featured in this one-shot, and if it looks like it will work out, I will message you with further details.

Thanks!

~ecb327~