Chapter 17

Dedication: It was close, but I had to choose Damon's Sexy Witch for this chapter. She always has amazing reviews and this wouldn't be possible without her. Thank you so much for everything 3

Note: I'm sooooo sorry this was late. I had writer's block... again. But, I got over it eventually and wrote this extra long chapter. I hope you like it. Bamon really progresses here (finally) and you guys will get to see a little more of Damon since Badass Bonnie's been under the spotlight for quite some time now. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Please leave a review if you enjoyed, it motivates me to write more.

Damon sprinted frantically up the stairs, his body moving quicker than ever but his mind moving contrastingly. He couldn't think about anything except that he had to run as fast as he could – and he did. At vampire speed, he approached Bonnie's door and without thinking, busted it open, almost knocking the little wooden door off its hinges. He didn't know completely what he expected to see, but it certainly wasn't what he saw.

An unconscious Stefan was tied to the doorknob of Bonnie's bathroom, using what appeared to be shabbily cut pieces of cloth. Bonnie kneeled next to him, attempting, in vain, to make the pieces of cloth tight enough to hold a super strong vampire. Upon seeing her, he flooded with relief. He could finally think straight again. He had a million questions, but somehow all he managed to say was, "Kinky," with a smirk that Bonnie didn't seem to appreciate.

"Get over here and help me!" Bonnie yelled at him angrily, but something about the tone of her voice told him that she wasn't angry at all. Not at him, that's for sure.

"You know that's not going to work, right?" Damon asked, concernedly as he rushed to Bonnie's side.

"I don't know anything anymore," said Bonnie, defeatedly as she continued to struggle with Stefan's limp body.

Damon felt his smirk disappear as he heard how broken she sounded. She didn't deserve what she'd been through.

"Hey," he said, crouching down next to her. "We're going to fix this," he brushed her arm gently, looking into her eyes. She pulled away, and he realised he shouldn't have done anything. Not now. "So," he cleared his throat, hoping to make a smooth recovery. "Are you going to tell me why you're trying to tie up my unconcious brother? It better not be what I think it is…" Bonnie frowned, but he knew from the way her eyes softened that his jokes were more comforting than she was letting on.

"He brought me this," she said, reaching into the pocket of Stefan's leather jacket that she was, for some reason, wearing, and pulling out a vial of glowing red liquid. Damon recognised it immediately.

"The cure," he whispered, remembering how he was going to drink the cure, himself, once, to be with Elena.

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't think so. Whatever this is, it's not the cure. Stefan's the one who tried to kill me."

"What?" Damon said, in horror and utter confusion.

"I knew when he gave me this jacket," Bonnie said confidently. To Damon, she sounded crazy, but still, somehow, he believed her. If anyone could make something that insane seem sound, it was Bonnie. "He gave me the vial, claiming it was the one you were going to take with Elena."

Damon stared at the cure in wonder. "Bonnie, if that really is the cure…"

"It's not, trust me." She looked at him, her eyes wide. There was not an ounce of hesitation in her stare.

Damon picked up the bottle, glanced at it for a moment before uncorking it.

"There's only one way to find out."

"Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie said with more fear than he'd ever heard in her voice.

He smirked at her concern for him. "Relax, Bon-Bon, I'm not going to drink it." He looked around the room, his eyes halting when they noticed a tiny plant in the corner of the room. He walked over to it, slowly, Bonnie standing up in alarm. Then, swiftly, he spilled the red liquid on top of it.

"Damon!" Bonnie said, but her voice sounded muffled in his mind, as compared to the bubbling sound coming from the plant. They watched as the leaves traded their green pigment for a black, burnt colour and gradually fell off one by one.

Bonnie and Damon exchanged looks in silence. When Bonnie finally spoke, it was a soft, "That plant was a gift."

"I'm sorry. R.I.P," Damon said, absentmindedly.

"From Enzo,"

"I take that back," he muttered, turning back around to face the plant. Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw her eyes light up slightly. He picked up a leaf gently and was surprised when it's crackly texture crumbled immediately. "Definitely not the cure. Good call, Bon. If you drank that, I…" He stopped, realising he was heading into dangerous territory again.

"You what?" Bonnie asked, although he was sure she knew already.

"There's the Bonnie Bennett I know. Always persistent even when it's bad for her."

Bonnie's expression hardened. "I decide what's bad for me." She said. "That red liquid in the vial certainly was."

"Really? What gave that away?" Damon said instinctively, before realising she was just trying to change the subject. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Are you just going to stand there staring between me and the plant? We're not going anywhere. Stefan's going to wake up any minute now, though."

Damon grimaced, remembering that the complications were about to get a lot worse.

He looked down at Stefan's limp body. "It's got to be what possessed me and Enzo. We both know he wouldn't do this off his own accord."

"Maybe, but how do we get him back."

"Well, the logical answer would be Caroline, but after the past few months, I think it's safe to say logic isn't our best bet."

Bonnie shrugged. "He's been around Caroline the whole day, if it were her, shouldn't he have woken up, or at least weakened a bit."

Damon nodded, remembering how the mere thought of Bonnie gradually brought him back. He looked at her and smiled slightly. "Definitely." She appeared out of breath and turned to look out of the window.

"Any ideas?" She asked, still not meeting his eyes.

Damon smirked at her. "Got any wood?"

Damon had hoisted Stefan's unconscious body onto the sofa.

"This idea is insane," Bonnie said, although she knew there was barely anything else they could do with the limited resources and time they had.

"Believe me, it'll hold him down. Especially since the vervain weakened him already. Stakes, please." Bonnie hesitantly handed him two of the various stakes she kept hidden in her apartment. Keeping Stefan's hands placed on both arms of the couch, Damon lodged one of the stakes into his right hand strategically. Stefan's eyes opened wide and he grunted in pain, unable to gauge his surroundings quite yet. He looked around the room before his eyes settled on Bonnie, but they quickly flicked away when the second stake was thrust into his left hand.

"Sorry brother… if that's who you are," Damon said.

"Wha – Damon," Stefan grunted. "What are you doing? Of course I'm your brother."

Damon shook his head. "I might not have been able to tell when you were asleep, but I've been in your shoes. I know what you are." He turned to Bonnie and casually said, "He's been possessed. Go get Caroline."

Bonnie stared at 'Stefan' with hatred, barely hearing what Damon said to her. Carelessly, she picked up her phone and texted Caroline to come over, but Damon frowned at her. "The hotel's next door, I think you can walk."

"What?"

"I need some time alone with my brother. Just go get Caroline and I guess Enzo, if you must." He rolled his eyes.

Bonnie wanted to ask what he meant by that. "…Enzo, if you must." It really infuriated her to hear that, and he knew it.

Nevertheless, she obeyed and stormed out of the apartment without looking back at him.

Stefan laughed although he was clearly still in pain. "I will never understand you two." He was clearly still making an attempt to seem normal, but Damon saw through it.

"We're going to play a game," Damon said, drying the emotion out of his voice. He wanted to seem as intimidating as he could be, which was quite a bit, even without him trying. He twisted the wooden bullet inside Stefan's right hand, promting him to yell.

"I ask the questions, you answer. You lie, this gets ten-times worse. You tell the truth…" Damon scanned the room for objects he could use to his advantage. He noticed a box on the counter and a smile crept its way onto his face. "If you tell the truth, you get a pork rind!" He said, reaching for the box, his eyes gleaming. He couldn't believe Bonnie had a box of those just lying around.

"Sure," Stefan said, nonchalantly. "Tell me, brother, how do you think you're going to tell the difference between the truth or lies? What are you going to do, compel me?" Stefan scoffed. If he was still trying to prove he was the real Stefan, he was failling miserably.

"Even when you're not yourself, I know you like I know the palm of my own hand," Damon replied truthfully.

Stefan grinned. "Okay then. Why don't we make it a little more interesting? We take turns asking the questions."

Damon laughed. "I don't think so."

"Why not? It's not like I can do anything to you with wooden bullets and vervain in me. It's just a fun exercise. And you know what, brother, I can tell when you're lying too."

Damon was intrigued. He nodded slightly. "I'm first. Are you possessed?"

Stefan smiled. "Gold star." At least he finally admitted it.

"My turn," Stefan said. "Do you really think you deserve someone like Bonnie Bennett."

Damon knew what he was trying to do. He just didn't know why. Evidently, he wanted to separate Bonnie and Damon, but what were his reasons?

"No," he answered, honestly and without hesitation. "Why did you try to kill Bonnie?"

Stefan's smile disappeared. "She's annoying," he said, convincingly.

"That's not even a good excuse," Damon said, twisting the bullet in his left hand. Stefan grit his teeth, but didn't yell. "Answer me," he said, raising his voice.

"Isn't it obvious," Stefan hissed.

"It will be when you say it."

"…fine," Stefan said, rolling his eyes. "She's dragging you down."

Damon frowned. Stefan said what he believed but not all of it.

"How so?"

Stefan didn't respond and Damon promtly twisted the bullet even more, to the point where he could feel his brother's skin shifting under it. Stefan screamed again, unable to control it.

"It's clear you're meant to be with Elena." He was lying.

Damon twisted the bullet, harder this time.

"Talk."

"Come on, Damon. You're not supposed to be awake. You're supposed to be one of us." Stefan hissed. "You know you were happier then. In a world where you got to see Bonnie every day. In a world where she stayed the same, no matter what you did. In a world where you couldn't hurt her." Damon told himself that he was lying, but felt an inexplicable urge to believe him and do exactly what he said. He was getting stronger. Damon instinctively reached for the vervain gun, but Stefan intervened, "Shooting me would be against the rules. I told the truth." Damon cupped his face with his hands but set the gun back down. Stefan was trying to get rid of Bonnie. To make Damon more susceptible to getting possessed again. And this time, no one would be able to wake him up. Damon shuddered.

"My turn again. I saw the look you had before you went to see Elena. Right before she woke up. You were going to leave. Hide. Never come back. Now, tell me something, Damon. Were you doing that for Bonnie or for yourself?"

Damon flinched. "You asked me if I think I deserve her. Absolutely not. I never will. She's strong, she's brave, she's selfless, she's kind and she's everything that I'm not. When I look at her, that's what she reminds me of. Everything that I'm not. But when I look at her, she also reminds me of what I can be. When I look at her, I see how much she cares. I'm not worthy of that, but when I look at her, she reminds me that I can be. Now, if you think that I would ever in a million years trade that glimmer of hope she gives me for my conscience or anything else, you are entirely wrong. I would never – never – trade seeing her smile, or hearing her laugh or even watching her fail miserably at making pancakes – for anything in the world. Except her happiness. So to answer your question, no matter how selfish I've been in the past, on that day, I was leaving because she needed it, not because I did." Damon had said these words without thinking. He hadn't even know he felt that way until he said it and then he knew for sure. He had convinced himself that he was entirely selfish and that he was leaving her again because he couldn't handle it. But something about Weird Possessed Stefan's presence made him tell the truth. Even if he didn't completely know it himself. Stefan looked disappointed, but to Damon's surprise he wasn't looking at Damon. He was stairing directly at the doorway. Damon turned around and saw Bonnie and Caroline standing by the door.