Because you're you, and I'm me

A/N: I love you guys. Everyone who reviewed, or is reading this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries. Seriously. There would be Daroline. Elena would die. Klaus would stop drawing OMGPONIES, Kol would be engaged to his mirror…etc. Catch my drift?

~VD~

"Bonnie Bennett. May I take up a small amount of your time?" Damon asked, appearing behind her, spooking her. She turned around, her expression angry.

"Don't do that again, and you can." She said, not hiding the disdain in her voice. It was Damon's fault Caroline had left this early. Originally, Bonnie had thought she would have gone with Damon. But Damon was here, looking for Caroline like a lost puppy, leaving Bonnie to wonder whom Caroline took with her, if she had a backup at all. It had been well over two weeks since Caroline had left. Since she had left to track down 'Casper'. Wow, it's been 4 years, and only now you learn his name.

The last time Bonnie had gotten a witchy vibe, was when Caroline had channeled her. That had been over a week ago. Now Bonnie was certain she was dead. She just had to get her brain to accept it. That her best friend was not coming back. She didn't know why she couldn't accept it. Maybe there was a small glimmer of hope inside her that Caroline had done the impossible and killed him. But what were the chances of that?

"Okay. So you'll answer my questions?" Damon asked, looking at her. He seemed so vulnerable. He had been very different when she had first met him.

"Sure." She sighed in defeat. "What do you want to know?" She asked. Damon shook his head.

"Not here." He sighed.

"Then where?"

"You know where. Yours and Caroline's layer." He said.

"How can I trust you?" Bonnie asked, cautiously.

"You can't." He shrugged. "But Caroline turned me into someone different. The old me would've killed everyone she knew, had she left me. But I'm not that person anymore. So you don't have to trust me, you just have to trust the fact that I won't kill you." He explained. Bonnie raised her eyebrows.

"Let's go." She said. Damon trailed after her.

~VD~

The first time Caroline woke up was a week after she had killed Casper, as she would later find out. To her, it could've been years, but it wouldn't matter. She didn't want to wake up and face what she had seen. She didn't know what he wanted from her. Why had he taken her? Why had he saved her? He was supposed to hate her. She didn't get it.

He turned around. He could basically hear her thinking. Instinctively, he put a hand on her temple, trying to calm her down. Outside, she's still, connected to millions of wires she shouldn't need. But on the inside, there's a turmoil going on. He just knows it.

He wonders what will happen when she wakes up for good. He's seen it a few times, her eyes flying open spontaneously, and then collapsing again. He and the others are fighting for her life. It's kind of ironic, considering what they did to her the first time they found her locked in a little room. The thought sickens him. But he cannot undo what he did in the past.

But she doesn't wake up. Not yet anyway, and he lives in constant fear that she'll kill him when she does. Why wouldn't she? Sure, he had saved her life, but that could be misunderstood. He knew Caroline could take him; she had done that once before. He knew she was right to be cautious.

So, initially, he is surprised, when her eyes fly open and she grabs hold of his hand. Choking. She's trying to speak, he knows, but her cords are damaged. They need time to heal. He knows she's smart, she'll have figured this out.

"Go back to sleep, Caroline. You need to heal." He lulls her into sleep. Caroline stares at him. She digs her hand into his forearm, searching for a vein. He tries not to let on how it hurts him, he only hisses. He knows why she is doing this, but that doesn't mean he has to like it.

Are you going to kill me?

He almost hears her say it out loud. But she doesn't, because she can't. And part of that is his fault. Because he helped torture her. What if she does kill him one day? Then he won't have Casper to revive him. He fears the day.

"Casper is dead. Klaus thinks you're dead. So no. I'm not going to kill you." He says, almost soothingly. Caroline stares at him, swallowing. She tries to nod, but only drifts unconscious.

"No moving. You're still healing."

Caroline hears it in the back of her mind. She doesn't know what to do. Clearly, she cannot trust them. But she lives. She lives to see another day. Maybe. If she can heal. And she doesn't care how long she takes, because she knows she loves Damon. And that makes everything just a tiny bit better.

~VD~

"How often have you been in here?" Bonnie asked Damon, as she had her eyes scanned, entering the cave system.

"Just once. Didn't get to see much, apart from your fun torture chamber." He said, pissed.

"Yeah, that caught you by surprise, didn't it?" She asked. He smiled a shit eating grin.

"Yes. I'll admit that. Clever little girl." He said, looking around curiously. This is what he imagined the inside of a secret CIA torture lab to look like. "Feel like giving me a tour then?" He looked at Bonnie.

"I didn't come here to make niceties with you, Damon. You want answers, I don't have much time." She shrugged. Damon raised his eyebrows.

"Got a secret meeting with Baby Gilbert?" He asked. "Did you tell Caroline?" Damon asked mysteriously. Bonnie looked at him, angrily.

"And when would've been a good time for that? After you broke up with her…" She said, squatting down, shining a flashlight against the wall, before looking up at him to continue. "Or before she left to go kill him?" Damon looked at her curiously. She placed her hand in the wall, before it started turning to the side.

"Kill who?" He called after her. She didn't respond, so he just followed her inside.

"She didn't tell you?" Bonnie asked, inspecting the walls.

"No. As you said, when would've been the time for that?" He said, eyeing her. She entered a room, and lit up the candles with a flick of a hand.

"What is this place?" Damon asked.

"I call it Caroline's Lair. I've never been in here before. She designed the place after all." Bonnie said, taking in Caroline's room.

"Why not? Weren't you curious?" Damon asked.

"I respect her too much." Bonnie said. "Think of what she's been through. The fact that she survived that as a thirteen year old, and sometimes still has the ability to smile, and be positive, is incredible." She said, opening a small desk drawer. Damon took a look around the room.

There was no bed. He noticed that first. Only a Hammock. It looked cozy. The whole room was very Caroline. There was a big chair, with blood red pillows, and a huge cabinet, locked. He saw all kind of liquids inside. This was interesting. Another cabinet was full of metal gear. Another one was full of papers, scattered everywhere around the room. It made him miss Caroline. That was depressing.

"How long are we going to stay in this room? It depresses me." Damon said.

"I'm looking for something." She murmured, feeling along the walls.

"What are you looking for?" He asked. Bonnie stared at him.

"You're the one who is so intent on knowing whether she is alive. She left me a surefire version to see if she is alive. Now would you help me find it?" Bonnie ranted, feeling irritated. Damon's eyes widened.

"Before you said you couldn't figure out where she was." Damon said.

"Uh..I still can't. She's cloaked or…" Bonnie left that sentence hanging in the air. Damon looked at her.

"So…why not go down here earlier?" Damon asked. Bonnie looked at him, her eyes rimmed with tears.

"Do you know how hard it is, to have to risk knowing your best friend is dead? I didn't want to accept it. But she's been gone two weeks, I kind of think she's done." Bonnie sobbed. "But how do I tell Jeremy? How do I tell Tyler? He knows nothing about the supernatural world. It's all too messed up." She sobbed. Damon looked dumbfounded. He should've known he wouldn't be the only one Caroline affected. God, he was selfish. Bonnie was probably going mad inside. He stumbled backwards, hitting something on the wall. Suddenly the room went dark. Then something appeared on the wall. It was Caroline. Was it Caroline? Bonnie turned around to look at her.

"Caroline?" She asked. Caroline blinked a couple of time.

"I know you're here, Bonnie, watching this. I don't know who is with you, I hope it's someone important." Caroline smiled. Damon tried touching her, but his hand went through her. Hologram? Bonnie looked at him, afraid. He nodded at her encouragingly.

"If you're able to watch this, it means I died. I'm dead. My brain and heart both stopped. Dead. Probably buried 6 feet under." Hologram Caroline was biting her lip. Bonnie felt tears stream down her face. Damon heard her mumble a few, weak 'No's'. Damon himself tried not to. He would never live down crying in front of her.

"I never wanted to pull you into any of this. And it would be pretty wrong of me to go all emotional now of all times, saying it's my fault you had to worry about that." Caroline chuckled fondly. Damon couldn't believe he was seeing her. Even if he wasn't really.

"Because if I wasn't already dead, you'd probably kill me for it. But I welcomed it. I don't think I suffered too much, and now I'm in peace. So, I hope you and Jeremy can work through this together, and forget me soon. As if I was never there. If you see Damon, just tell him I say hi occasionally. I don't want him to know." She admitted. Bonnie glanced at Damon. Who just stood there, his face void of all emotion. She put a hand on his shoulder. She was crying, but Damon looked even more miserable.

"It'll be okay, Damon." She said. Damon glared at her.

"No, it won't, Bonnie." He said, annoyed. But Bonnie wouldn't give up.

"Yes it will." Somehow Bonnie wasn't willing to accept Caroline as dead. Damon overreacted.

"No. Caroline is gone, and she's not coming back. How do you expect anything to be okay?" He roared into her face. Seconds later he was clutching his head.

"You need to get over her." She cautioned. Damon looked up at her, his face still in an expression of pain. Then she left.

"Don't stay in here too long." She mumbled, barely audible. Damon sank to the floor, in exasperation.

~VD~

The second time Caroline Forbes woke up, it was for good. It was a month later. Her eyes flew open. She heard his voice. He was on the phone.

"Yes, she should be close to waking up. It's been over a month. You should come to visit. She won't want to see me when she wakes up." He said, turning around, shocked to find her sitting on the bed. She was eyeing him curiously. Her head was tilted to the side. She blinked at him, slowly.

"You better hurry up. She just woke up. I'm going to go now. Be here soon, alright?" He said, keeping his eyes locked with her. She was still eyeing him. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't afraid. She was powerful. He hung up, and placed the phone in his pocket. Then he raised his hands, indicating he wasn't going to hurt her. Caroline's expression didn't change.

"Not going to hurt you. Can you talk?" He asked, carefully. Caroline tilted her head to the other side, then, at inhuman speed, she got up, pushed him out of the window, and snarled at him. He was a demon, this wouldn't hurt him. He was back in a second, appearing out of dust. He half expected Caroline to attack again, but she didn't. She only stared at her hands, in horror. Then she looked at him, breathing heavily.

"What just happened?" She asked, horrified. He only shrugged his shoulders. "Why can I do that?" She asked, grabbing his collar. It scared her. What was going on? Was she a vampire?

"Did you turn me? Did Casper tell you to turn me, Lucifer?" She yelled, crying. She was a mess. Lucifer was quick to realize touching her would only make things worse, so he just tried to look empathetic.

"Caroline. Calm down." He said, softly. She snapped her head and stared at him.

"Why am I here?"

"I brought you here."

"Why the fuck would you do that?" She asked, confused.

"I was dead…" He started. She looked at him funnily.

"Yeah. I'm the one that killed you. Why save me?" She asked.

"Well, Kern and Braeden revived me, said if I didn't rescue you, they'd hunt me down." He shrugged. That was a lie. Sure, they had revived him, but he had gone to Caroline on his own terms. She shouldn't know that though.

"Where are they now?"

"They left for Russia." He shrugged. Caroline nodded, trying to take everything in. She looked herself down. She was still dressed in the shreds she wore when she attacked the castle.

"What day is it?" She asked, confused.

"It's the 25th of October." He said. Caroline stared at him.

"I was 'asleep' for over a month." She said, more to herself than to him.

"But you're healed." He said. "And human, may I add." He said, obviously feeling proud of himself. Caroline still looked miserable.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I was never really human." She sighed. Lucifer sighed as well. Then Caroline found something. A tattoo. Was it a tattoo though? It was glowing. A bright green shone through the intricate symbol that was planted across her arm, reaching all the way over to her collarbones.

"What is this?" She asked, worried.

"Cloaking tattoo."

"A what?" She asked.

"Since you're not a vampire, a witch can't cloak you. And since Caia will come looking for you, you can't be found. So we had to innovate."

"But I look like a freak!" She yelled. Lucifer smiled. She shot him a death glare.

"You just need to brush your hand over the tattoo, and it will disappear. You're pure magic, Caroline. You can figure this out." He dismissed. Caroline brushed her hand over the tattoo. It disappeared. She nodded.

"Thank you." She breathed out, quietly. He looked pained.

"You have no reason to thank me, Caroline." He looked at the roof. He looked genuinely sorry. She just raised her hands. She sighed. Then she looked down at her clothes. She was cleaned, but she wasn't wearing anything good. Not that it was cold at all.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Italy." He said. "Small house by the beach. I'm going to leave, I don't want to bother you. There's money in the closet, to buy some stuff for yourself. You might want to stay here a while. Relax."

"Why'd you bring me here?"

"He brought you here because I told him to." A British voice said from the door. She turned to see Elijah standing there, shadowed by Kol. She blinked a few times, trying to convince herself she wasn't dreaming. Lucifer quickly excused himself.

"Elijah." She stuttered. He nodded at her, waiting for Lucifer to leave. Then Kol smirked.

"I'm here too sweetheart, feel like addressing me?" Kol pouted as a joke. She rolled her eyes.

~VD~

"Damon. You have to move on." Ric groaned. Damon was sitting at the bar, upset. Damon glanced at him.

"No. I don't want to." Damon pouted like a little child, before drinking straight out of the bourbon bottle.

"Damon." Ric groaned frustrated. "See that girl over there? Go pick her up. Have sex."

"It won't be good. She ruined me." Damon groaned. Ric looked at him skeptically.

"How do you know? Come on; don't knock it off 'till you try it."

"I don't want to."

"Do you really think she'd want you here, wallowing in self-pity?" Ric tried. Damon rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you're using that card on me." Damon sighed, before lifting himself off of a chair.

"Go knock 'em dead." Alaric called after him. Damon was all 'Ra-Ra Go team'. Then he started talking to the lady. Not a minute later, he was leading her out of the grill. Alaric just shook his head in confusion.

~VD~

"Why did you tell him to bring me here?" She asked, staring down Elijah.

"Oh yeah, nice to see you too, Caroline. Don't I get a welcome?" Elijah said, annoyed.

"You'll forgive me if I have a little beef with your family." She dismissed. Then she turned around to take the money out of the closet. Elijah was right beside her within seconds.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well, your darling little brother decided it would be fun…" She said, walking away, and looking at the cupboards in the room. "…to leave me to die when we were storming the castle." She said, stuffing the money into her pockets. Her clothes were ripping on all edges. Kol wiggled his eyebrows when he noticed her distress. She rolled her eyes.

"He did what?" Elijah asked, staring at her. She shrugged.

"You heard me. I'm leaving now. Your brother thinks I'm dead, I'd like for it to stay that way." She said, staring him down. Elijah acknowledged this.

"As you wish." Then he turned around and left. Kol left shortly after. But not after staring at her for a few seconds. He only left when she gave him an aneurysm.

Once she was sure she was alone, she broke down crying. Why couldn't they just let her die? She knew it wasn't over. Casper was gone, yes. But now she had an angry witch on her feet. She couldn't believe it.

She began thinking about what she had realized. She loved Damon. She knew that. But she needed time to process things. Think about if she'd become a vampire for him. It almost made her brain explode. So she decided to think about things another day. She was in Italy after all. She had always wanted to go to Europe.

~VD~

Caroline had downed half a bottle of vodka, and was strolling through the streets. It was a beautiful little town, close to the beach. Life was fun. She had gone clothes shopping. She was wearing a grass green summer dress. She felt beautiful. Underneath, she was sporting a black bikini.

It was dark, there were pixie lights everywhere. Music was playing in the background, and people were dancing. Things were never like this in America. She had never consciously left America anyway. She came across a bunch of German tourists. They were fun. She danced with them for a while, and drank away some of their champagne. She was raising a bottle to the air, when suddenly she sensed something. She gave the German guys her e-mail address, and then left. Tonight was going to be a good night.

She saw her standing at a booth, drinking off a guy. In the open. Either she was drunk, or really sloppy.

"Getting a bit careless there, aren't we, love?" She said, in her best Klaus accent. She saw her flinch, turning around. Caroline was smiling widely. Katherine's eyes bulged.

"Caroline? Is that you?" She asked, amazed. Caroline smiled. Katherine hugged her immediately, compelling the guy along the way.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Oh. Long story." Caroline rolled her eyes. Katherine laughed.

"We're going to have so much fun together." She said, hugging her tight.

~VD~