Godspeed, Mama Bear - Part 1

Damon

As soon as Damon spoke his words of compulsion into existence, detailing a world of peace and calm that only Victoria could see, he could physically see she was failing. Her eyes were becoming glassy and while she was looking at him, it was almost as if she wasn't seeing him. Not truly. Her breathing slowed and Victoria didn't even bother to try and spit out the blood that was gathering in the back of her throat. Damon could hear it. It was like the worse form of torture he had ever experienced, and that included his time spent with...his time spent with anyone.

"Thank you," Victoria murmured, looking up into his eyes. They were a little sharper, a little more aware of everything happening. Or maybe she was just a little more aware of his presence.

"Of course, Victoria," Damon mumbled, his grip on Victoria's body tightening. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her. He had to block out the sounds of Elena wailing, Stefan crying silently outside in the hallway, and Zach trying to hold himself together for all of their sakes'.

"S-Say my name. One last time," Victoria pleaded.

He didn't want to. The moment that he spoke to Victoria, she was going to give up. She couldn't give up. The ambulance would be there at the school any minute. She just had to hold on a little while longer.

But if Victoria was going to fade, and fade away forever, he wasn't going to deny her her last request.

"Godspeed, Mama Bear," Damon croaked, his eyes filling with tears even more than they already were.

Victoria smiled gratefully up at him, her beautiful teeth stained red with blood. The glassy look in her stare intensified and her head flopped to the side, limp. Weak. Her breathing stalled. Her heart stopped completely.

Victoria LeBlanc was gone.

"T-Tori...?" he heard Elena cry in a question. There was no reply. Victoria wouldn't be able to answer them ever again. No playful banter, no teasing. Nothing. She was gone.

Damon wanted to punch something and scream and cry and just drink himself into oblivion. And yet...he couldn't move. It was like he was frozen. Encased in ice. He couldn't even tell if he was trying to keep up the appearance of breathing.

"She's gone," Zach hissed, his voice tight with emotion. Zach moved his hands away slowly from Victoria's chest, where he had been trying desperately to stop the bleeding. His hands were stained red. Red with her blood. The once delicious scent left a sour taste in Damon's mouth and his stomach turned. Her life essence, now scattered across the floor.

There was a hand on his shoulder and Damon sucked in a shuddery gasp of a breath. His head snapped up, turning to look at Zach. The man had stretched his arm across, his bloodstained hand touching onto Damon's shoulder. No, not touching, clutching. Was it for Zach's need of support or was it for Damon's? Zach shook Damon's shoulder again, reeling him back into reality. But he didn't want to be in reality. There wasn't Victoria LeBlanc in reality anymore.

"Damon," Zach whispered. Damon barely acknowledged Zach's voice, but he did manage to blink. That had to count for something, right? "Damon, we need to get her out of here."

What?

"We need to take her body out of here."

"Don't talk about her like that." His voice was flat, monotone, and cold. How dare he speak about her like that?

"Damon, what do you propose we do? The longer we stay here, the more we risk being exposed," Zach tried to reason; it was hard to be convincing when there were tears threatening to rain down one's face. "Victoria -" His voice cracked saying her name and he swallowed heavily before continuing weakly, "- She wouldn't want us to put ourselves at risk for her."

"And yet, she was completely content with doing it for us," Damon breathed, shaking his head. "Taking an injury that she knew would kill her..."

There was a commotion outside of the cafeteria. A teenage girl, talking with a guy. In Damon's dazed and shocked stupor, it took him three times as long to realize that the guy's voice was his own brother and that the teenage girl was Caroline.

"Stefan! There you are! I've been looking for Victoria for ages but I haven't seen her anywhere! I wanted to ditch but I wanted to say goodbye to her first...holy shit, are you okay?" he heard Caroline screech at Stefan.

Zach's eyes widened fearfully and he looked towards Damon. He had heard Caroline too. She was only mere moments from walking into the room. She would see the Salvatore boys, covered almost head-to-toe in blood. And then she would take another step and see that it was her best friend who had supplied the blood. Her dead best friend. Dead, dead, dead.

Damon found that he didn't care what Caroline did. He just didn't want to move. He didn't want to let Victoria's body out of his hold. Because the moment that he did so, everything would be real. Life without Victoria would be real.

"Caroline..." Damon heard Stefan begin, but his voice cracked and he sounded like he silenced himself.

"Stefan, what happened? Did Elena break up with you? And where's Victoria?" Caroline demanded. Stefan must have flinched, done something, at the mention of her name because Caroline immediately said afterwards, "Stefan? Where is Tori?"

"Caroline..."

"Don't Caroline me! Is she in there?"

"Damon, we need to go now!" Zach hissed, his eyes flashing towards the double doors behind Damon.

Damon still remained frozen in place. He didn't move when he heard the double doors open and he definitely didn't move when he heard Caroline let out a panicked scream when she saw her body.

"TORI!"

Caroline was on her knees by his side, her hands fluttering as they barely touched her face. Caroline's shoulders were heaving and she was breathing fast. Her heart was fluttering like a scared little bunny's heart during a chase. It should have tempted Damon, but it didn't. Not even a little bit.

Caroline's hands moved around her body, touching her neck and cradling her head with her free hand. Her head snapped up and Damon looked into her eyes. They were filled with tears and pain and grief; sorrow, rage, and panic filled them only a moment later.

"You killed her," Caroline whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief. "S-She..." Caroline couldn't even continue.

"Caroline," Zach interrupted, reaching out to touch Caroline's shoulder. Caroline jerked away from Zach and she panted, her gaze never breaking from Damon's.

"You killed her!"

Caroline lunged for Damon. Damon had to drop her body so she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Caroline tackled Damon onto the ground, straddling him as soon as his back hit the ground. Caroline pulled a hand back, closed tightly in a fist, and swung at Damon. Damon let her. He let her punch his face over and over again, not caring when he felt his nose snap under her fist. He endured the pain and suffering of it all. All he could concentrate on was the words that Caroline was saying, punctuated each time with a punch.

"You killed her! You killed her! You killed her!"

"Caroline, stop it!" Damon thought he heard Elena scream. "Just stop it!"

"She was my best friend!" Caroline shrieked, punching Damon again. Damon just let himself go through the motions. "She was the best damn thing in my life and you took her from me!"

Something about that last sentence resonated with Damon. She was the best damn thing in Caroline's life; she was the best damn thing in his life. She cared about him when no one wanted to. She listened to him even when his brother, his uncle, and everyone else wanted to just let him go. She believed that he didn't just have to be a villain. She believed that he was capable of so much more. She believed in him.

"I don't feel safe around you. And for some stupid ass reason, I want to. Which is stupid, because I know you and I've seen the terrible things you've done, and yet, despite all of that, I just have this stupid feeling that you are a good man underneath it all."

Those words she had said to him when they have barely known each other. If she believed in him then...

So when Caroline swung again, ready to hit him once more, Damon's hand snapped up and easily caught her fist. Caroline froze, looking towards their connected hands with a stunned expression on her face. Damon used his other hand to push himself up into a sitting position. Caroline was still on his lap, looking towards him in shock that he had started to move. She didn't try to move off of his lap, and he didn't try to push her away.

Instead, he tightened his grip on her fist (not enough for it to be painful, but enough for her to look at him; really look at him). As soon as she was actually seeing him, and not just looking, Damon managed to croak out, sounding ridiculous with his broken nose, "I'm so sorry."

That was what broke Caroline. Her face scrunched up and her whole body shook with sobs. She fell into Damon's embrace and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter against his body. Caroline allowed him to do so, hiding her face away in his shoulder. Her fingers were like claws, digging in painfully into his back. Damon didn't struggle against her. As much as the two of them hated each other, she needed him as much as he needed her in that moment. Because the person who seemed to be the most important figure in their entire lives was gone, and neither of them knew how to fix that hole.

And with Caroline sobbing into his chest, Damon felt himself break apart. The tears and quiet, but powerful cries started a moment later.

Stefan

The moment that Stefan heard Damon's cries was also the same moment that he heard the ambulance start to pull up at the back of the school. Elena had explained briefly to the drivers that they needed to make sure their siren wasn't on when they pulled into the parking lot. That they didn't want to cause drama at the school dance and they wanted to keep everything quiet. Stefan pulled away from the wall and stalked down the hall, harshly wiping at the tears in his eyes as he went. He wasn't the strongest compeller they had available, but he was the best option they had. The EMTs would only question Victoria's blood on Damon and Zach, and neither of them were in the position to compel humans right now. Hell, Stefan wasn't either. Denial was the only way he was keeping it together. Well, mostly together.

Stefan turned the corner and physically ran into someone. Like, full-on head-on collision. He staggered backwards, not anticipating someone to be there.

"Whoa! Sorry about that, Stefan. Didn't see you there," Alaric chuckled, grabbing onto Stefan's shoulders to steady him. The teacher gave him a warm smile. "Just patrolling the school, as chaperones are supposed to do, you know? Anything back down there that I should be aware of?"

Alaric gestured down the hall, right where Stefan had just come from. Stefan schooled his expression and tried to appear nonchalant, shaking his head. "Nothing that I saw. Just wanted to take a walk, get some air. The gym was getting a little cramped."

"Makes sense," Alaric commented, nodding his head. "Alright, then. If you don't mind, I'll get back to patrolling."

Alaric moved to side-step Stefan, and Stefan instinctively stuck an arm out. Alaric paused and looked confusedly towards Stefan. Stefan shook his head and expressed, "I just saw Zach patrolling down this hallway. He told me that if I run into any of the other chaperones, I needed to tell them that he's got this side of the school covered."

"Are you sure?" Alaric asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "I heard some really bad crying a little while ago. You sure he's got it handled? I've seen how dramatic teenage girls can get and it's a lot for one man to take care of." Alaric took a step further and Stefan's hand curled up into a tight fist. "I can just take a quick look and double check -"

"- What are you doing?" Stefan demanded, narrowing his eyes. He let his compulsion take over and he watched as Alaric's body froze, his gaze attached to Stefan's.

"Patrolling the halls."

"Why are you here in Mystic Falls?"

"I got a job as a teacher."

"Is everything you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Forget we ever had this conversation and remain in the gym until the end of the dance, then go straight home," Stefan ordered. Alaric nodded dimly and turned around, stumbling off.

Stefan's body seemed to wait until Alaric was gone from eyesight before it decided to give out. Stefan staggered over to the lockers, his body hitting the lockers. Stefan's breaths came out more as breathy gasps as an unknown weight settled on his chest. He slid down the lockers, hitting the ground hard as his breathing increased. He slid his hands down and up his face. His fingers grabbed onto his hair and he tugged hard. The pain in the roots of his hair helped Stefan center himself.

He brought his hands away from his hair and Stefan slapped himself in the face a couple of times. "Pull yourself together, Stefan. Pull yourself together. You are fine. You are fine. Stop panicking. Stop..."

He trailed off as he felt his eyes beginning to burn. He let out a frustrated growl and he pressed his fists into his eyes. Stefan was fine. He was fine! He was fine!

"Like I said, I don't give up on people."

Stefan released a large breath, his eyes watering. The memory of her voice sounded so real, so lifelike. It couldn't be true that everything was over. Everything they had been working for. Working towards. They had just fought and gotten over it. He hadn't even had time to spend with her in the past few days. And now he wasn't going to be able to have anymore time.

Stefan allowed himself a moment to break, to curl up on the floors of a high school that just reeked of her. Her scent, her smile, her presence. He would go meet the EMTs in one second. For the moment, Stefan allowed himself to just feel like he was human. Weak, broken down, missing his friend. Maybe even his best friend.

Victoria LeBlanc, someone no one could replace.

Zach

Zach didn't pretend that he was okay. Not when he watched the EMTs hoist Victoria's corpse onto their gurney. Not when he watched them roll away, right after Stefan compelled them to go straight to the morgue. They were instructed to put Victoria's body somewhere safe until they could arrange the necessary funeral arrangements. Not even when he pulled Caroline and Damon apart, with the promise that he'd take Caroline home. Throughout the entire car ride with Caroline in his passenger seat, her eyes filled to the brim with tears, he kept silent. She didn't try to talk to him and he didn't try to talk to her. Zach believed that they both knew there was nothing they could say to console the other. They were too busy being broken, shattered by what had happened at the school.

In fact, it was only when Zach pulled up to the curb by her house that Caroline even spoke to him. "What happened to her?"

Zach started, not at all suspecting Caroline to speak to him. "You don't want to know about that."

"But I do, Zach!" Caroline yelled, flipping around in her seat to look at him. He gritted his teeth as he stared into her tear-stained face. She looked absolutely wrecked. "I-I do want to know. P-Please...she was my...please. Just please, Zach."

Zach gripped onto the steering wheel tighter and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he gave Caroline a censored but still truthful reiteration of that evening's events. "Some kid was trying to stab Damon with a broken mop handle. Victoria pushed him out of the way and the guy ended up getting her instead. The ambulance didn't arrive in time, as you saw."

Caroline let out a squeaking sob and she clapped her hands over her mouth, turning to look away. Her whole body was tense and Zach heard her heartbeat. It pounded quicker and quicker. It was almost tempting. Almost being the key word. Zach wasn't sure when he would feed again. His emotions were too much all over the place for him to worry about something like food.

Caroline brought one hand away from her mouth and Zach reached into the side of his car door. He pulled out a small container of Kleenex tissues and handed it over to Caroline. She nodded her head gratefully and grabbed the box, taking a handful of tissues and using some to blow her nose, others to clean up the makeup running down her face. Zach sat in his car silently, watching her as she moved.

"Damon didn't kill her."

Caroline flinched at Zach's stern tone of voice, mixed with a hint of protectiveness. Caroline glanced at him quickly over her shoulder before turning to look back at the dropdown mirror. "I-I know."

"Then why did you accuse him?"

"I saw him holding her and it was like the entire world stopped spinning," Caroline sniffed, shaking her head. "I-It felt like in the blink of an eye, a piece of myself was missing. Like, the most important piece of my life was missing."

Caroline shook her head and she leaned back against her seat, her eyes starting to fill up with tears once again. Zach supposed that there was going to be a lot of crying from various parties throughout the night. "T-Tori once mentioned to me, and t-this was before the car accident on Wickery, that I-I had enough heart for the two of us. That the capability of love and strength that she always knew existed in the world was just living in my heart."

Caroline quickly swiped away tears that spilled over her cheeks, grunting in frustration. "If I was the heart, she was the soul. She was proof that goodness existed even in darkness. She was there for me when my entire life was falling apart. To see her broken down, not -" She let out a strangled sob and took another minute before continuing, more weaker than before "- n-not breathing, I-I just snapped. I lashed out at the first thing I saw, aka Damon." Caroline shook her head and muttered weakly, "Why would someone kill her, even accidentally?"

"I don't know," Zach whispered, falling back into his seat as well. "I really don't know." He looked over towards her and asked softly, "Do you want me to walk you inside?"

Caroline shook her head rapidly. "My mom's going to be working throughout the night and I have no internal desire to let you see me break down even more. I-I'll be fine on my own. I-I'm used to it."

Before Zach could say anything else, Caroline quickly exited the car and walked over to her front porch. Zach kept the car where it was until he saw Caroline enter her house, shut the front door, and heard her activate the locking mechanism. It was only then that he drove away, haunted by the sounds of her gut-wrenching wails hidden behind doors.

Zach's hands drove him home. It was a numb reaction. An automatic reaction.

He arrived at the boarding house in record time and he slipped out of his car, not even bothering to lock the doors. He was about to walk around the back of the yard, into the house, and head straight for his room when he heard a familiar voice shout, "Hey, Zach!"

Zach looked up and froze. Lee and Lexi were standing on the front porch of the house, smiling widely. They looked good, still clothed in their date night outfits. Lee's tie was blue...dark blue...

Blue like her dress.

Zach flinched, as if he had been physically struck. Both vampires noticed and were flashed in front of him in a moment's notice.

"Zach, are you alright?" Lexi demanded, grabbing onto his arms. She sniffed deeply and gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief as she took him in. "Zach! You reek of blood. Human blood. What happened? Did you lose control?"

"I-I..." Zach stammered. Why him? Why was he the one to tell them? He couldn't do it. Zach was not okay and he was not strong enough to explain to them what happened that night.

"Zach, you need to breathe," Lee insisted. "Come on, just take a deep breath and rip the band-aid off. Don't worry. We can take it."

They couldn't. They really couldn't and they really wouldn't. How could he do that to them? He couldn't. He just couldn't.

But the words came spilling out of Zach's mouth, strong and desperate, "Victoria's dead."

He watched the light in their eyes shatter in one second.

Kelly

Kelly was inside her kitchen, nursing a headache with some hot chocolate and two pills of ibuprofen when she heard a loud knock on her front door. She smiled weakly despite herself. That was probably Victoria with her date, Damon. The smile on her face dropped slightly. Herself and Damon...that was not a friendship that was going to fly for a little while. Kelly just didn't really trust him. Like, at all. Something about him sent shivers down Kelly's spine. She snorted and took another sip of her hot chocolate before starting towards the door. She knew exactly why she didn't trust him.

"Why didn't you bring your keys with you, baby girl?" Kelly called out, setting her mug down on one of the side tables in the entryway. "There's got to be a pocket or something in that dress of yours..."

Kelly trailed off when she looked through the peephole of the front door. Victoria wasn't standing on the other side of the door. In front, it was both Salvatore brothers. They looked ragged and worn down, and their eyes were red. Victoria was nowhere to be seen.

Do not panic, LeBlanc, Kelly ordered herself, even though she herself could feel her heartbeat start to pick up its pace. Perhaps Elena dumped Stefan and Damon just brought him over because he doesn't know how to deal with feelings. That has to be the only reasonable explanation. Victoria's just at Elena's house.

Kelly opened the front door, doing her best to not let the boys notice how shaky her hands were. "Stefan. Damon. You two aren't my daughter. What are you guys doing here? I thought that the dance doesn't end for another hour or two. And where's Victoria?"

The brothers caught each other's eye and that caused another updraft in Kelly's heartbeat. Calm it down. You are fine. "Guys...you're starting to really freak me out here. What's going on?"

"Can -" Damon began, but his voice cracked. Kelly's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't think it was possible for Damon Salvatore to voice crack. Kelly lifted her gaze of confusion and awe from his throat to his face and her throat tightened. His icy-blue eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Maybe Elena broke up with him and Stefan doesn't know how to do emotions? Please, let that be the only explanation. Damon cleared his throat and said again, albeit this time more steadily, "Can we come inside, Kelly? We need to talk to you."

"Whatever it is, you can say it to me right here," Kelly ordered, standing up straighter. She was hoping to look intimidating. It was the only way she held a semblance of power between the three of them that they recognized. "Tell me what the hell is going on."

"You need to sit down," Stefan advised, taking a step forward.

Kelly lifted a finger and Stefan halted in his tracks, not moving another inch. "I suggest you stay where you are, Salvatore. I will give you three seconds to explain to me what happened. One -"

"- Kelly, please, this is going to be hard -"

"- Two -"

"- You really need to sit down -"

"- There was a problem at the school. A stabbing," Damon interrupted, and Kelly's blood ran cold. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes began to water. No, no, no, no. There was still a possibility. She didn't need to think so low. There was still a possibility... "Victoria was the victim. She..." Damon trailed off and licked his lips, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. "...I-I couldn't protect her, Kelly. I-I broke my word."

"Tell me you're lying," Kelly pleaded, her voice barely louder than a whisper. It felt like her heart had just stopped. She couldn't feel anything. Her whole being was just narrowed in on Damon's face; specifically the lone tear that trailed down his cheek. How many times had he cried that night?

"I wish I could."

"No!" Kelly shrieked, stumbling away from the door. It left the entryway wide open and both boys stepped inside, Stefan gingerly shutting the door behind the two of them. Kelly's legs felt like jelly and she fell, collapsing onto the staircase. Her gaze whipped back and forth between the two boys. "No! You have to be lying!"

"I'm not lying, Kelly, and I wish upon every good thing on this forsaken rock that I was," Damon crooned, squeezing his hands into fists. "She died to protect me. The guy caught me by surprise. I didn't even see him move and then the next thing I know she was -"

"- Shut up -"

"- pushing me out of the way and s-she was just there -"

"- I said shut up!" Kelly screamed, leaping to her feet. Her eyes burned, from tears, from rage, from anger. Her whole body shook and she pointed angrily towards the door. "Get out."

"Kelly -"

"Get out of my house!" Kelly screeched, dashing forward. She placed both of her hands on Damon's chest and shoved him backwards. "Leave right now! If I ever see your face again, I will kill you!"

"Kelly, it wasn't Damon's fault!" Stefan argued, stepping forward. He grabbed onto her shoulder and he brought his hand back a moment later, letting out a quiet yelp. It was almost as if he had gotten shocked. Serves him right, Kelly thought darkly. "Kelly, please."

"I trusted you to bring me back my daughter, safe and sound!" Kelly growled, jabbing her finger against Damon's chest. He didn't fight her on that. That didn't feel right. Why wasn't he fighting back? "I trusted you and looked what happened!" Her shoulders heaved with the ragged breaths she was taking and she leveled a glare at Damon. "Get out of my house right now or I will not be responsible for my actions."

Stefan looked towards Damon weakly, but the elder brother didn't say anything. He just flipped around and stalked out of the house. Stefan followed a moment later, slower than his brother and with more turns to look at Kelly. The moment he was gone, Kelly ran forward and slammed her front door shut. She waited a cautious minute before her panic started to set in.

Kelly's lungs were heaving for much needed air, and yet it felt like she was never getting enough. She rarely got panic attacks anymore, but when she did, they were bad enough to cause her some serious worry, on top of the worry she was already facing.

Kelly scrambled for the burner phone she had been using for the time being, which was lying blissfully unaware of the evening's events on the countertop in the kitchen. She clawed the phone into her sweaty palms and clicked onto the only contact without a name. It was just a phone number, one that she had had memorized since high school. Under orders from the phone number's owner, they didn't have a name. She always thought it was ridiculous, but that was the way they wanted things.

Kelly pressed the call button and placed it against her ear, bracing her back against the lower cabinets of her kitchen. The call connected almost immediately, and a warm chocolately voice that used to send shivers down her spine answered, "About time you called, Little Miss. I was wondering when you were gonna call back. How's our baby girl? Did she enjoy the dance?"

Kelly let out a choked sob as all the waterworks just let loose. Her cries were so loud that she barely heard the voice on the other end asking panickily, "Kelly, what's wrong? Baby, what's wrong?"

"V-Victoria's dead," Kelly cried, shaking her head. She didn't want it to be true. She didn't want it to be true. "S-She died and I-I wasn't here."

Her sobs gained in volume, and across the phone, she heard the anguished roar of a man who had just lost his daughter.

Lee

Lexi hadn't stopped crying since Zach told them the horrific news. She was still crying, hidden away in the guest room that the two of them had claimed for themselves inside the boarding house. It was supposed to be a special night for the two of them. A date night, one that they hadn't been able to go on since Victoria's accident almost eight months ago. Victoria had told them. She had assured them that she would be fine; that the presence of all three Salvatore men would be enough protection.

It wasn't enough protection.

It was never enough protection with her.

Zach had disappeared the moment he had entered the boarding house. Lee had tried both the library and his room, but both doors were locked. Whether Zach was located, he didn't want to be disturbed. That worried Lee, just a little. Hell, who was he trying to kid? That worried Lee, a lot. Zach was usually a calm guy, true, but Lee had never seen the newly-turned vampire act so numb. That was coming from a vampire who had been close to Victoria, but nowhere near the level that Stefan and Damon were. How was Stefan? How was Damon? Lee had half a mind to track them both down himself to see the truth. From what he heard from Zach, Stefan and Damon had gone to drop off Elena (more like Stefan had gone to do so and Damon sat blankly in the seat, murmuring, "I promised, Kelly. I broke that promise", over and over again like a broken record). After that, they were going to break the news to Kelly.

Kelly. Gosh, how was she taking the news? Lee, in watching Victoria grow up, had watched Kelly mature as a mother. The woman took to it like a duck taking to water. She just knew instinctively how to do...everything, basically. It did help that that man was around her a lot; her boyfriend, if Lee remembered correctly. He was nice. Kind, sweet, a loving father to Victoria. Lee was still bitter that Kelly's boyfriend had left the two of them when Victoria was fifteen. "Not forever" the man had promised, and yet he hadn't returned in two years. Maybe he would realize the folly of his ways when Kelly told him about the evening's events...

His thoughts trailed off to another man who was close to Victoria. Lee's fists tightened until his knuckles were white just at the thought of him. How dare he. Lee wasn't a vengeful spirit, not by any means when compared to his girlfriend, her best friend, and her best friend's brother, but he had his moments.

Lee stalked down into the living room of boarding house and brought his phone, dialing a number he had been forced to memorize back in the fifties. The voice of the person he wanted to reach came up on the other side, his Scottish accent thick and full, "Alexander. You know that I am busy at the moment. Call back later."

"No, you know what?" Lee growled, interrupting Noble before the elder vampire could continue. "I don't know that you're busy at the moment. Because you upped and vanished from Mystic Falls without so much of a further notice. You just revealed yourself to Victoria and then you go and abandon her -!"

"- Do not speak to me like that again, Alexander, for I shall not be so forgiving next time," Noble ordered, his voice calm but still holding a deadly tinge. "I have never abandoned Victoria. Never."

"And yet, the day that she needed your creepy stalking ass watching over her more than ever, you weren't here!" Lee yelled, frustrated tears appearing out of nowhere. He verbally growled and dragged a heavy hand over his face.

"What happened, Alexander?" Noble demanded, a tinge of panic in his tone. "What has happened to Victoria? I can be back in Mystic Falls in less than an hour -"

"- Don't bother," Lee huffed, shaking his head. "In fact, don't bother coming back to Mystic Falls ever. Your assistance will no longer be required. Go back to doing whatever you and your stupid occult groupies do best."

"Alexander, I will not ask you again: what has happened to Victoria?"

"Haven't you heard from your spies, Noble?" Lee rasped, squeezing his eyes shut tight. "Victoria's dead. She died to save Damon's life, and the time that she needed you the most, you weren't here. Now, lose my number and I'll lose yours. If I ever hear from you again, I will rip your heart out for failing the one job you held dear. For now, I'll let you sink in that guilt. Rot in hell, Noble."

Lee hung the phone up. He didn't bother waiting to hear Noble's response. Positive, negative, anguished, Lee didn't care. Lee shuffled through his phone's settings until he had properly deleted Noble's contact information from his phone. With that, he slipped his phone into his back pocket and fell to his knees.

That was finished. Now, all that was left was to grieve.

Grieve the woman who felt like his baby sister.

A/N: So apparently, I really hate chapters that are original. They are like extracting teeth. Anyways, that's why this chapter is a little shorter than the ones that usually are here (you might not be able to tell, because the A/N takes up a crap ton). Here, we get to see almost everyone grieving Victoria in their own little way. Some characters may seem a little OOC, but hey, it's fanfiction. What are you gonna do? We get a little sneaky peek of Kelly's boyfriend/Victoria's adopted father and we get Lee telling off Noble. Heck yeah! I was going to have Lexi telling off Elena in this chapter for being rude to Tori, but I decided to save that until later.

Also, Datoria has overtaken Vilijah in the shipping wars and I'm not sure how to feel about that. I love my sweet baby Elijah, so Vilijah stans, this ship needs you!

THE SHIPPING WARS! (feel free to keep on voting (you can vote for more than one ship!); 1 full point for if you choose one ship, two half points for two separate ships, more than 2, smaller decimals. Anything that is not a full point will be italicized. This will not decide the final pairing; I already know who Victoria will end up with, I just want you all to be able to guess):

ROMANTIC:

Team Stetoria {Victoria/Stefan} (16): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Elyse1821, Lime, herewegoagain, K, Yukihino-Sama, emma, just another guest, BookwormStrawberry, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana

Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (25.5): Sciave, Guest, ArganRose, CrystalAris, Marine76, Assenavira, CarlaPA, Guest (1), Maistryia, emma, just another guest, Freeshavacahdoh, Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (6), sabrinaannpierson, Guest (7), Guest (8), Guest (9), guest (1), hfgfgfrdr, lillen20, Yolo, theappleseed, Guest (10), Juko, Bulma, Ellay, V, Ghest

Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (24): guest, Guest, SoraLover987142, insert name here XD, sammyleann, Orange keys 25, LoyalElijahFangirl, Hinata Megumi, A. G Herz, Aryabloodlust, ferallahey, AngelColdHeart, BlueDragibus, dreamwalkerlisa, Guest, Stachelbeere, Guest (1), jocillyria, Guest (2), BookwormStrawberry, Ieviheichu, Teghan-Potter1370, karenc0r, Hachiko33200, Guest (11), Anaidiana

Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (5): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10)

Team Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (2.5): DreamerPop, MelissaMorningstar, Guest (11)

Team Vinn {Victoria/Finn} (1): silentmayhem

PLATONIC:

Vinn {Victoria/Finn) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, silentmayhem

Varcel {Victoria/Marcel) (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, jocillyria

Zinn {Zach/Finn} (.9): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25, karenc0r

Jol {Jenna/Kol} (1.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Lime, Orange keys 25, karenc0r

Kelas {Silas/Kelly L.} (.4): LoyalElijahFangirl, Orange keys 25

Koltoria {Victoria/Kol} (.2): Orange keys 25

Kennett {Kol/Bonnie} (.5): Lime

Autoria {Aurora/Victoria} (1.2): LoyalElijahFangirl, hfgfgfrdr

Vonnie {Victoria/Bonnie} (1): bpopa7110

Vibekah {Victoria/Rebekah} (1): BookwormStrawberry

New Followers!: maiyamatsudaira, SkyDaggers, beaujrka

New Favoriters!: jjaejjae, LegendsOfTime, maiyamatsudaira, DBZSUPERGT, beaujrka

Onto reviews!:

V: That was the goal! I'm glad it got the reaction I wanted. Your vote has been added!

Ghest: Oooooh, wouldn't that be exciting? We'll find out more next chapter! Your vote has been added!

edwardsgirl121: Yes! I made people cry! I wanted that! Whoo! Do any of them, really?

DBZFAN45: Yes, yes I was trying to make you cry and feel like your heart got ripped out. Did I succeed? I did not intend for the meadow to be such a Twilight reference, but it totally is. As for the Piero question...I don't know? I want him to show up eventually, but he honestly wasn't a part of my original plans, but as I'm expanding the universe and stuff, he sort of crept in. I'll let you know when I figure out how he makes an appearance. I know he's gonna show up in some journals, that's for sure. 2nd Amendment!: This made me laugh. Ahhhhh, I understand the Mind Vicki situation now. There will be a moment when Mind Vicki takes control of Victoria's body, but it won't be for many, many seasons, that's for sure.

grapejuice101: Your reaction makes me smile, which is kind of sick when you think about it. I can neither confirm nor deny as that would spoil everything (but here's a hint: at ease).

BookwormStrawberry: Yay! That was my whole plan! I'm really glad everyone's reactions to this last chapter have been like this. I was really worried for a second that everyone would hate it. Cuz I can ;p.

Anaidiana: Oh my gosh! You can totally review in your own language and I can use translator. I will have you know, though, that your grammar was fantastic. Don't sweat about it at all. Awww, thank you! Right? I've noticed that with OCs too. Awwww, shucks! No violent Damon reaction just yet, but that'll come a little later. Maybe ;p. That's true. I feel like Elijah and Victoria would be close together, even if the two of them are not dating. And again, don't worry! Your grammar was really good (especially for a translator). Your votes have been added :)

Originalfangirl: Aww thank you! That was seriously the goal. Given her "I don't give up on people" attitude, I do think she would be good friends with Klaus and Kol. It'd probably start off the same way her relationship with Damon started off, bumpy.

silentmayhem: If Noble knows something, Lee's not hearing it, that's for sure. As for your Raphael statement, sort-of? I've had to really solidify some things concerning Noble and Raphael, but yeah, your statement is semi-accurate. I seriously laughed out loud at your comment about human Finn being less dramatic. He seriously is probably the most chill one out of all the Mikaelsons, although like every Mikaelson, he has his moments. As for your PM, I usually like to keep the ambiance of what's happening, make people wonder. However, since it's just between the two of us...yes. You are absolutely correct and it's very scary how accurate you are. Like, you just know what I'm thinking in my brain. It'll be explained more in a handful of chapters, so stay tuned!

Melani: Yaaaaay! That was the goal! Your vote has been added. Eek! I hope you keep reading even if they don't end up together. No matter what happens between the two of them, whether they keep it romantic or platonic, Datoria will have many fun scenes in the future that you won't want to miss. Here's your update!

So, I haven't been feeling fantastic recently. Just tired with rehearsals, two jobs, theater classes, and this. I'm gonna drop back down to a once a week schedule (unless I get excited, because knowing me, I'm not gonna respect myself enough to follow a schedule XD), hoping for it to be Mondays that I update. We'll see how things go. If not by Monday, then by Friday, for sure.

Hope everyone is having a good 2022, and if not, kick it. That'll help things.

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F