A/N: This chapter is set back in time for the rest of our little group.
Helpless
Help me, by Johnny Cash
"I never thought I needed help before;
Thought that I could get by - by myself.
But now I know I just can't take it any more.
And with a humble heart, on bended knee,
I'm beggin' You please for help."
Elena watched Damon put his arm around Helen and leading her out the door. She shook her head. He had changed incredibly within a short amount of time. Stefan stood behind her and placed his chin on her shoulder. "Can you please pinch me, Elena? I can't believe that this is my brother", he said. „I know what you mean", she replied and swayed to the music in his arms. "I'm extremely curious to see how they continue from here", she added. "And you're excited about the baby", Stefan replied with a nod. "You aren't?" she asked. He smiled. „I am, but I also see possible complications, my dear", he said. She frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked. Stefan shrugged. „Well, you've seen what could happen when one of us smells blood. And children frolic around while playing, they hurt themselves from time to time. What if I encounter my nephew or niece and he or she has a sore knee and is bleeding?" Elena had to smile. This was typically Stefan – anticipating problems before they even occurred. "In this case, you will hold your breath, try to comfort the little one and inform the parents", she replied. Lovingly he searched her face. He would've given everything to be able to turn back time.
Elena should've had a family, she deserved it, even though he knew he never would've been a part of it. He would've loved to see her doe-brown eyes being passed down to a child, even if it never would've been his own. After Lexi had helped him to overcome his blood thirst in the beginning, he had started to gain his first doubts about the perfection and advantages of being a vampire. He had watched families with their children, grandparents holding their grandchildren and all those pent up feelings inside him towards what he had been taught as a young man, what he had been raised to be one day, had broken through and nearly thrown him back to on square one. Lexi had needed to remind him more than once that he wasn't the only vampire who had to cope with never having a family of his own. When he'd met Katherine, his father had been excited to hear Stefan's confession that he'd been honestly interested in her. For Lexi, the situation must've been even worse in the beginning. A woman of her time had been expected to get married and have children. All girls of her time had been raised that way and had to meet high expectations. Lexi had told him that she had suffered a lot and that those emotions would surface from time to time. Long conversations had helped them both back then.
And now Damon had the unique chance to be a father. After they had turned, they'd never talked about those kind of things. Damon's rage about the whole situation had been too strong to make small-talk. When'd been young, he'd had the feeling that Damon hadn't been interested in founding a family of his own at all, but maybe that had been simply to oppose their cruel father. At the old estate there had been lots of children and Damon had always been good with them in his human years. "There's a marquee running on your forehead, saying 'what if', Stefan", Elena brought him back to reality. He smiled and kissed her tenderly. "You're reading me too well, like always", he replied. „What's on your mind?" she asked. „How good Damon was with children when he was young. I think he'll be a good father." She pulled her head back and looked surprised. "Damon good with kids? Are you serious?" He nodded. „When I was little, he always played with me and the servant's children." Elena sighed. "Too bad I've never seen this side of you two, but maybe we'll see it with their child", she hoped. He grinned. "Maybe. By the way, I'm really looking forward to our brunch tomorrow – um, later."
Elena clamped her hand over her mouth. "Oh gosh!" Stefan frowned. „What's wrong?" he asked. „I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer", Elena replied. "Well, call Helen. She can do it", he suggested. Elena took her phone out and dialed the number. Holding it to her ear, she frowned. "Hm, nobody's answering", she said. "Try Damon's", Stefan said with a sudden bad feeling in his gut. Elena tried Damon's number just when the band took a short break and Stefan's auricles twitched. He could hear a phone ringing very very faintly, but outside the Grill. "Elena, hang up", he said. She looked surprised. „Come", he said tersely and pulled her with him. „Try again", he said as they stood outside of the Grill and perked his ears. Now he heard it much clearer and his gut tied in knots. "Do you hear this?" He notified Elena and she frowned. They followed the sound and finally stood next to Damon's camaro. "Shit!" Stefan cursed. Elena bent down and picked up Damon's mobile phone which lay underneath the car. She dialed Helen's number and a phone could be heard ringing inside the car. She looked through the window and saw Helen's purse. "Stefan?" she whispered and her eyes widened.
„Back to the others!" he hissed and vamp-sped back to the Grill. "Jessica!" he boomed across the dance floor. Helen's mother was talking to Bonnie and Jeremy and turned around. "What's wrong?" she asked. "I'm afraid Damon and Helen have been abducted!" Stefan explained and showed them Damon's phone. „We found this under his camaro and Helen's stuff is still in the car", Elena added. „Oh my God!" Caroline clamped her hand over her mouth. Jessica breathed deeply to keep her composure. She felt as if a rug had been pulled out under her. "Where's the car?" she asked strained. Stefan and Elena led the way while Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy and Tyler followed them. "Abby, try to locate her", Jessica said to her sister when they arrived. Abigail touched Damon's phone and concentrated to find him. Then she shook her head. "Nothing", she whispered. „Try Helen", Elena said and opened the passenger door of Damon's car, giving Helen's purse to Abigail. "It should work, damn", Abigail whispered and closed her eyes. "Helen, sweetie, where are you?" Her face took on a desperate expression. Jessica reached for her hand as if to support her magic. Tears brimmed in Abigail's eyes when she opened them and looked at her sister. "She's gone, Jess'… I can't find her", she croaked terrified. Jessica squinted her eyes and held onto the car. Slowly she leaned on it and shook her head. "It can't be…" she stammered and slowly slid down into a crouch. "Impossible…" She shook her head while tears ran down her cheeks.
Abigail kneeled next to her. "It… it doesn't have to mean that, sister… you know he would want her alive", she sobbed and hugged Jessica whose composure finally crumbled. "My child…", she sobbed and started to cry. The rest of the group stood by in awkward silence. "I think there's a way to find out what happened", Bonnie chimed in. She had followed the heartbreaking scenes with mixed feelings, but Jessica's and Abigail's pain had shaken her up. She remembered how she had felt losing her grandmother Sheila. The pain of the loss had been incredible, but she couldn't imagine that Kane would kill Helen when he could use her powers and Damon was perfect leverage. There had to be a way to find out what exactly had happened and she remembered a spell Sheila had taught her once. One could travel back in time, but only on the astral realm. Jessica and Abigail looked at her. "I can try to go back in time, but I need to draw a lot of energy", she said. Helen's mother looked at her sister and they nodded simultaneously. "We will help you", Abigail said and pulled Jessica up. "You can channel our powers, Bonnie. I think we know what you want to try", Jessica said and wiped the tears away.
Stefan was relieved, just like the others. Watching people suffer without being able to help was against all he ever stood for and this time, it was about his brother. Elena squeezed his hand and smiled bravely, despite of her tears. "I knew Bonnie would help", she whispered only audible for Stefan and Caroline. The three witches held their hands and formed a circle while Bonnie started her chanting. Wind appeared out of nowhere and whirled around them while the others stepped back a few. The magic inside the small circle was almost palpable for those standing outside. It was as if the cold air was vibrating with energy. Jeremy watched Bonnie closely and worried. The young witch had pushed her limit a lot of times in the past in order to help and that hadn't changed. With countless discussions during the past two years Bonnie had tried to make him understand that for her magic wasn't something to fool around with, it was a 'go big or go home'-thing for her. Jeremy had accepted it, but the fear that she might end like her Grams still remained. They had a strange relationship – she had finished highschool two years ago and attended community college in town while he still had to finish his senior year. Bonnie was two years older, but they were equal in their relationship and they loved each other. After all they had been through, Jeremy was a lot more mature than most guys at his age.
With the support of the Corey sisters, Bonnie had no problem reaching the level on the other side where time could be shifted and the three of them were able to see the past. They saw how Damon and Helen left the Grill and how Damon got attacked by Kane. They assumed that the syringe had held vervain, because the vampire collapsed on the spot. They saw how Kane threatened to kill Damon and forced Helen to do nothing while he placed the armlet on her and loaded both of them into the van. Slowly, Bonnie disconnected them from that point in time and brought them safely back into the present. With a sigh, the three of them dissolved their connection and swayed a bit. Jeremy caught his girlfriend. "Bonnie! Are you okay?" he asked worried. Elena and Caroline supported Jessica and her sister. „Yeah, I'm fine", the Bennett-witch replied indignantly. „She's very talented", Abigail interjected and Jessica nodded in agreement. Jeremy couldn't help placing a kiss on Bonnie's cheek. The witch accepted it reluctantly. She was embarrassed with him doing that in the presence of his sister.
„And? What did you see?" Stefan asked impatiently. He knew that magic was a physical challenge for witches, but his concern for Helen and his brother drove him. "They are both alive. Kane surprised Damon and sedated him with vervain, threatening to kill him if Helen intervened. Then he abducted them in a large white van", Bonnie explained. "And he used a repressor on Helen", Abigail added gloomily. "A what?" Elena asked. „You're talking about the armlet?" Bonnie asked. Jessica nodded. „A repressor is a magic device designed to block the powers of a witch completely. It can only be removed by the one who put it on the witch. Those things were invented in Europe during the medieval witch hunts. A large part of the hunting was related to power struggles between witch covens and certain circles wanted to get rid of their rivals." Caroline looked at Tyler. Somehow that all rang a bell within her. "That sounds like the fake sun and moon curse of the original vampires", she said. He nodded. „Yeah, it was made up for the same purpose." Jessica frowned. „You've really dealt with originals?" she asked surprised. „How did you manage to survive?" Abigail added. „With lots of luck and many casualties…", Bonnie replied with a sad glance at Elena.
„It's alright, Bonnie. I'm rather a vampire instead of really dead", Elena returned with a smile and kissed Stefan's cheek. „It's long and unpleasant story, Jessica. What do we do now?" Stefan distracted them. „We have to find her but with the repressor it's impossible to locate Helen. That's why we thought earlier that she might be dead", Abigail explained. "Can't you locate Damon?" Elena asked. Silence met her request. „Abigail tried it earlier, but… magic works differently when applied on vampires", Bonnie said hesitantly. „But you're using blood for your spells. Isn't that a stronger device?" Jeremy interjected. She shrugged. „Maybe, maybe not. I'll have to try it, but not here", she said. "Let's go back to the boarding house", Stefan suggested. Shortly after, all of them gathered around a table in the library of the Salvatore home. Bonnie took the map Stefan had given her and placed it on the table between two burning candles. "I need a bit of your blood, Stefan", she said. Grimly, Stefan bit his wrist open and let a few drops splash into the middle of the map. Bonnie started her chanting and everyone watched eagerly. They knew the blood should move into the direction of the location but instead, Stefan's blood began to dissolve until it was gone. Bonnie looked at their faces. "It doesn't work", she said aghast. „Vampire's aren't part of living nature. What does not live, cannot be found this way", Abigail explained softly. "That… that means… we're helpless?" Stefan looked from one witch to the other. All three of them nodded sadly.