A/N: Thank you so much for everyone who read, faved/followed and especially reviewed the first chapter of this fic! I really wanted to get this update out as soon as possible because I want to get focused on the all the good stuff. This was going to be a huge info dump to get it out of the way but no one really likes that and I don't want to put anyone to sleep so all the characters and their history in this universe will be revealed naturally as the story goes on.
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or these characters. They belong to The CW. No copyright infringement intended.
Bonnie and Damon sat on the sofa of what was apparently not the Gilbert house but the Salvatore house, just as confused as the human Stefan and century-old vampire Elena standing before them. One thing vampire Stefan had in common with human Stefan was the brooding forehead, which he was wearing to perfection at the moment.
"We appreciate you inviting us in," Bonnie offered. Not being able to put her foot through the door until she got the verbal consent was not something she'd thought she'd ever experience in her lifetime. She wasn't a fan.
"Don't make us regret it," Elena stated, sternly. She passed a fleeting look to Damon, who'd been studying her very hard and with no regard to her boyfriend's presence, and she told herself she was going to speak up if he continued. There was no denying how incredibly handsome this man was, and when he'd first settled his piercing blue eyes on her a feeling passed through her that she'd hadn't felt since she'd laid eyes on her first love, Silas, then again with his doppelgänger, Stefan. Then Damon opened his mouth and had been releasing nothing but a stream of crazy since.
"Explain this to me again, because it's still not making sense," Stefan said as he paced. "You both come from Mystic Falls but in the Mystic Falls you come from you, Bonnie, were a witch and you, Damon, was a vampire but Bonnie died then came back to life as the anchor to the other side which was then destroyed. Damon died after blowing up the Mystic Grill to kill a bunch of travelers but he didn't cross back over to the living in time so you two died holding hands as the Other Side collapsed and ended up here and somehow Bonnie is now a vampire and Damon is now the witch. That's what you're telling us?"
Bonnie and Damon exchanged a look, knowing how insane it all sounded. Damon gave a casual shrug anyway. "That's exactly what I'm telling you, brother."
"I'm not your brother," Stefan snapped. This was definitely going to take Damon some getting used to.
"You said in your world I've only been a vampire a couple years," Elena said, stepping up. "Stefan is the 150 year old vampire, turned by an evil doppelgänger of your Elena. I've never, in all my existence, have heard of another dimension or alternate reality."
"Supernaturals who've died have all gone to the Other Side," Damon reminded her. "It could've been the plane between the two worlds, and with it gone it allowed us to travel between them."
"It's possible only a witch would have the ability to travel to another dimension," Bonnie spoke up. "I watched all the other supernaturals get sucked into oblivion. I died a Bennett witch, and when I held Damon's hand, I took him with me. All we need to do now is find a way back."
"And what, you expect us to help you?" Elena asked, incredulously. "It doesn't matter how many of our so-called twins your friends with, we don't know you."
"I don't know, Elena, don't you think this is all too strange to be coincidence?" Stefan asked her. "They basically described our lives with the roles reversed. There's another version of ourselves living in an entirely different world. Is that something we can just ignore?"
"There's someone I have to ask about," Bonnie said and Damon looked at her curiously. "Is there a Jeremy that exists here?" Damon couldn't help but roll his eyes to the ceiling. They had literally traveled to a different dimension and all she cared about was getting to that dimension's probably just as annoying version of her boyfriend.
"My brother, Jeremy? Of course," Elena responded.
"Making out with the alternate version of him is still cheating, Bon," Damon sniped.
"Shut it," Bonnie threw back.
"Wait, are you two not a thing?" Stefan questioned.
"Like hell we are!"
"I'd rather be staked!"
Both sentiments were voiced at the same time and Bonnie and Damon glared at each other. Stefan's brow lifted. "Okay, wasn't sure because you said you died holding hands," he pointed out. "It sounded a little Romeo and Juliet-esque to me."
"If Juliet wanted to kill Romeo on a daily basis just to get him to shut his mouth for once, then yes, we are Romeo and Juliet-esque," Bonnie quipped.
"And if Romeo had to keep from - "
"All right, I don't care about any of this!" Stefan cried, cutting off Damon's retort. "Either way I know you need to stop eye-fucking my girlfriend! Seriously, dude, has the other Stefan not kicked your ass yet?"
Damon sighed. He would have to approach this topic delicately. He set his cerulean eyes on Elena once again, out of habit and because he was sure he could kick human Stefan's ass without using any magic. "It's weird sitting here talking to you," he said. "I'm insanely in love with my Elena, and seeing you..."
"I thought you said she was in love with your brother," Elena said.
"Was," Damon emphasized the word. "We're together now."
"Are you serious?!" Stefan exclaimed. "You stole your brother's girlfriend! Why would I help you, you're obviously a douchebag."
"It's a lot more complicated than that!" Damon exclaimed. He looked at Elena again. "Maybe I am a douchebag because when I look at you all I see is the love of my life and I've been fighting the urge to grab you and kiss you since you appeared."
Stefan approached Damon. "You're not going to keep disrespecting me!" He said in a threatening tone. "This is not whatever fucked-up world you came from. You're not taking her from me." Bonnie recognized the familiar look of menace in Damon's eyes as he looked up at Stefan, but she was more worried about the fact that Stefan's close proximity filled the air around her with his scent.
"I may not be a vampire anymore but I'll never be the one to fuck with so I suggest you back the hell away from me," Damon sneered. Elena grabbed Stefan by his muscular arm and pulled him back.
"Let's talk about this for a second," she said, and they moved to the side and dropped their voices in a serious discussion. Damon noticed Bonnie was rapidly tapping her foot and it immediately annoyed him.
"What the hell is your problem?" He asked, taking in the look of extreme discomfort she wore.
"I'm still so hungry," she said in a low tone. "He's all I can smell, Damon. I want his blood so bad."
"You need to keep it together," he demanded, sharply. "We can find someone for you to feed from once we leave here but for now, cool it." The burning in Bonnie's throat increased as she inhaled his scent again. She could hear the beating of his heart. She didn't see a person as she looked at Stefan Salvatore, she saw a meal. Damon began to panic once the black veins made an appearance. "Bonnie, no. You have no control and you'll kill him."
"Then stop me."
"I can't! I don't know any of your witchy juju spells - BONNIE, NO!" He shouted the last words as she flew off the couch. She had Stefan pinned against the wall, hissing at him, her fangs ready for action. Elena was just as quick, yanking Bonnie away from him and sending her spiraling through the air. Bonnie landed on her knee, and quickly gathering herself, flew at Stefan again. Elena threw her against the wall and wrapped her hand around her throat.
"Get out of here, Stefan!" Elena shouted to him. He hesitated and she glared at him. "Go!" He quickly ghosted from the room.
"Get off of me!" A fully vamped-out Bonnie snarled, completely taken over by the thirst.
"Bonnie, stop!" Damon shouted. The window nearest him shattered.
Elena threw Bonnie to the side. "What the hell are you doing?!" She yelled at Damon.
"I'm trying to stop her but I don't know how to direct the magic yet," Damon explained as he tried to focus on the baby vamp who was going for the raven-haired elder again. "Bonnie!" The chandelier on the ceiling shattered as Bonnie tackled Elena, raining glass down on them. Damon threw his arms over his head to protect himself, the front door flew open, and the fireplace roared to life.
"Just concentrate on her, dammit!" Elena screamed, throwing Bonnie off again.
"What the hell is going on in here!" Stefan was running back in, what looked like a stake made from a broken broom handle in hand.
Suddenly, both vampires rolled away from each other, screaming and holding their heads. "What the hell are you doing to her?!" Stefan exclaimed, furiously shoving Damon. The aneurysms instantly stopped.
"Sorry, that was only meant for Bonnie," Damon said, calmly.
A messy-haired, bleeding Elena slowly got up from the ground, her cuts and bruises starting to heal. She looked at Damon with a fire in her chocolate brown eyes, a look Damon had never seen grace his own Elena's face, even when she was at her worst. "You have five seconds to get out of this house before I kill you both," she warned, venomously. A now sober Bonnie saw this was not a threat to be challenged.
Three seconds later, Bonnie and Damon were storming from the Gilbert house, and both appeared like they'd just been involved in a vicious fight. "Thanks for ruining everything, Vampy," Damon spat angrily at Bonnie.
"I didn't want that to happen," she replied. "I just...lost control."
"Well, I think it's safe to say this world's Elena and Stefan don't like us," Damon declared.
"We look crazy." The looks they were getting from everyone as they walked the streets of Mystic Falls corroborated Damon's sentiment. Bonnie struggled as her eyes swept the streets, all the people walking by, their overwhelming scents, the loud noise of traffic and chatter and every other little sound her ears were picking up, it was all becoming a lot for her to handle.
"I can't do this," she said.
"What are you mumbling?" Damon inquired, his attitude still in place.
"I can't do this," she stated, louder.
"Don't be so dramatic," he said. "We'll find you someone to feed on when we get a chance, it'll be fine."
"I'm not going to do that."
"You don't have a choice," he snapped. "I did it, Stefan did it, Elena and Caroline did it, you can do it too, Judgy."
"No, I really can't," she said, shaking her head. "I can't be a vampire. I don't want to be a vampire! I can't feed on innocent people and possibly lose control and rip their heads off like some kind of monster! I can't do this, Damon!"
"Hey! You think I want to be human?" He reminded her. "No, it's awful. It's only been two hours and I'm already missing everything about being a vampire. Which is why we're going to find a way back home, no matter what it takes. I can only live in a world where I'm the immortal that fucks shit up and you're the judgmental little witch that puts me in my place, okay?" Bonnie nodded slowly. "Okay. So, we're going to have to find a place to stay that isn't packed with humans you're going to be attacking on a daily basis, which means you're going to have to learn compulsion. But first, I want to check out the boardinghouse."
"Why?"
"It's my house," he said.
"Not here it's not."
"It may be unoccupied right now," he replied. "And if not, we'll kill the owner and take over." Bonnie looked unamused. "Just kidding. Let's go."
Bonnie soon found herself on the city bus for the first time ever. Back home, she'd went from school buses, to riding with friends, to having her own little car to push around town. The city bus and cabs had never been necessary. She'd refused to try to compel a stranger to give up their car keys, with Damon commenting that if she'd rather risk the possibility of her snapping and wiping out a bus full of people rather than steal a car that was on her. He let it go for the time being, but reminded her she would eventually be the one responsible for finding them transportation.
All the seats on the bus were taken, so Bonnie and Damon had to stand, holding onto the poles for support. It wasn't long before Damon saw the panic rising in Bonnie again as she looked around at all the transports. "Damon..." Her voice was breathy. "Damon...it's happening again."
"Bonnie, look at me," he said, calmly. She closed her eyes and he repeated it in a more demanding tone, "Look at me, Bonnie." She set her viridian eyes on him. "Remember the last time you come back to life, that feeling you had when could actually feel Jeremy's touch. Remember that feeling you had when you looked at your best friends and they could actually see you too. What was it you felt?"
"Joy," she answered, softly.
"You felt joy," he repeated. "You felt joy and love and all that sensitive, mushy crap that happens when you come back from the dead to your family. Those people are our family, Bonnie, and you have an even better reunion to look forward to when we go back home. I mean, everyone missed you before, Bonnie, but with me gone too they'll probably all be suicidal by then." Damon smirked as Bonnie released a soft chuckle. She knew what he was doing and it was working.
"How about the first time I pissed you off and you gave me an aneurysm?" Damon continued. "What'd you feel then? Joy?"
"Satisfaction," Bonnie responded. "I felt your comeuppance. And yes, joy."
"I would ask you about the first time you knew you loved Jeremy but I'm not sure I can handle getting sick right now," Damon quipped. "But think about it, think about everyone you love back home, think of all the happy memories, and think about how many more you're going to create when we go back. You don't want to mess any of that up by bringing home guilt from something stupid you did here. How do you feel now, Bonnie?"
"I feel fine," she said with a small smile. "Thank you, Damon."
"Anytime, Judgy."
The boardinghouse loomed ahead as the tired pair ambled along the sprawling property toward the house. Damon had felt immense relief to see it still standing in all its glory. All he wanted was to shower, stuff his face, drown in a bottle of bourbon, and pass out in his own bed. Bonnie's desires were along the same lines.
Bonnie knocked on the door and they got no reply. Damon then pounded and there was still nothing. He turned the knob and found the door was unlocked, so he pushed it all the way open. Neither he nor Bonnie made a move as they peered into the hall.
"You're the vampire here," Damon reminded her. "Test it out."
Bonnie took a moment before attempting to put her foot through the door. She was able to without a problem and she stepped right in the house. "Maybe no one lives here," she said, hopefully as she walked in further. Damon followed her in.
"Let's check it out," he said, and they wandered into the living-room.
"It looks like someone may have just been here," Bonnie stated, observing the jacket slung over the back of one of the armchairs and the empty bottle of beer sitting on the coffee table.
"Hey! Who's there?!" The booming voice coming down the hall startled Bonnie and she looked at Damon with wide, worried eyes. They turned as a large figure entered the room. "Who the hell told you you could just walk in my house!"
Bonnie's heart skipped a beat. "Jeremy," she said, in a shock. Jeremy Gilbert stopped and his eyes widened in even more shock at the sight of her. Both Damon and Bonnie were taken aback by his response.
"Bonnie?"
A/N: Hate to leave it there, but I gotta for now. The other characters will be introduced, including Kai, and no this won't include a Beremy romance. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update. Leave a review and let me know either way. Thanks for reading! :)
Sidenote: I couldn't remember if what I wrote was the actual reason Damon blew up the Grill and I didn't want to take even time more to look it up, so if I don't have that right feel free to let me know. Either way, when I do get around to it I'll find out and fix it if it's wrong.