Under Control - Part 1

Victoria let out a tired yawn, stretching her hands high above her body. She felt cozy, lying there on a picnic blanket with Henri to her right and Vicki to her left. The sun in her place of peace was shining brightly, as it always did, and Victoria felt like she had finally found a sensation of peace. She snuggled deeper into her blankets, letting out a satisfied sigh. Vicki twisted in her place, giving Victoria a small chuckle. "Getting sleepy there, LeBlanc?"

"It's really cozy, okay? Sue me," Victoria retorted playfully, reaching out with one arm to give Vicki's shoulder a little push. The push sent Vicki sprawling onto the ground and the two girls laughed together. "This is nice. I can't remember the last time I felt a sensation of peace like this."

"When you were dying," Henri commented, turning his head to look at Victoria. The adult-turned-teen gave him a confused look. "When Damon was holding you as you died? It was nice, and every day since then has reflected that. That's what you deserve: peace."

"Amen to that," Vicki cheered, throwing her hands up into the air.

Victoria laughed in agreement and plopped back down onto the ground. She breathed in deeply and let it out, watching as some ladybugs started to fly lazily above the trio.

Something started to nag at the back of Victoria's mind and she swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling a heavy weight on her chest. She sat up and palmed her sternum, wincing as her heart began to ache.

"LeBlanc? You good?" Vicki asked, sitting up beside Tori with a concerned expression. Vicki placed a hand on Victoria's shoulder, and for some reason, that burned. Victoria moved away from Vicki with a flinch, and Vicki's expression dropped even more. "What's happening?"

"I feel like a mountain got dropped on my chest," Victoria admitted, struggling to take multiple deep breaths. "L-Like, I was fine and then something started scratching at the back of my mind...a question, I think, but it doesn't make sense."

Henri sat up, slower than Vicki, but with a more level-headedness than Vicki had. "Ask your question. We shall do our best to answer it."

"Why did you say 'every day since then has reflected that'?" Victoria asked, turning towards Henri with anxious eyes. "Every day hasn't been like that. There's been death and pain."

"There has been no death or pain," Henri refuted, shaking his head. "What are you saying?"

"I-I've died quite a bit since my resurrection," Victoria scoffed, wincing as her head began to ache. "Y-You know, as the Immortalis."

"What is the Immortalis?" Vicki asked, sounding curious.

The weighted feeling on Victoria's chest increased and she let out a breathy gasp, turning towards Vicki now with trepidation. "Y-You know what the Immortalis is."

"No, we don't," Henri rebuked, shaking his head. "Is that a band? And you have not resurrected. Not ever. You've been living here since you died at that high school dance."

"The Fifties Decade's Dance, to be precise," Vicki clarified.

Victoria licked her lips and she blinked her eyes in surprise. "T-That's not right. I came back to life. I didn't die permanently. I don't do that. That's not possible."

She surged to her feet, stumbling as she was hit with a wave of dizziness. Henri and Vicki leapt to their feet, moving to surround Victoria on either side. Vicki spoke, obvious concern lacing her words, "LeBlanc, you need to sit down and rest. You're not yourself today."

"Why are you calling me that?" Victoria questioned, flipping around to stare incredulously at Vicki. "You say 'Tori'. That's my nickname."

"No, it's not," sniffed Vicki, shaking her head. "That sounds like a lousy nickname if I've ever heard one."

"S-Something's not right," Victoria whispered, mostly to herself. She shook her head again and stumbled farther away from the picnic blanket and away from the lakeside. "S-Something's not right."

A sharp pain raced through her skull and Victoria let out a pained cry, her hands flashing up to tug at the roots of her hair. She closed her eyes, hoping that the lack of light would help reduce the pounding in her brain. Remarkably, it did. She took a hot minute before she started to flutter her eyelids, taking in the light a little at a time. She brought her hands down. Victoria took one look at them and screamed.

They were coated in blood.

Her head jerked up and suddenly, she wasn't in her place of peace. She was back in the forest, and...oh no...Frederick was in front of her. Not alive Frederick (or as alive as a vampire could be), but his body. Victoria let out a panicked shout and scrambled backwards, a terrified shiver racing down her spine.

"Why did you kill him?"

Victoria's head snapped to one side. Staggering towards her, looking beaten and bloodied and bruised, was Damon. Victoria couldn't stop the shock that came to her face as she observed him. He looked horrible. His words registered with Victoria after a moment of observation and she stammered out a shaky, "W-What?"

"Why did you kill him?" Damon questioned, tilting his head to one side. The gaping, bloody wound on his neck was sparkling red with blood and Victoria flinched at the sight. "There were plenty of other ways you could have stopped him, and yet, you chose the most brutal. You ripped him apart like he was paper."

"I-I didn't mean to," Victoria pleaded.

"A lot of people don't mean to do things, Victoria." Her head spun around to the other side. Zach was approaching now, with a wounded Stefan being dragged alongside. No, not wounded. Dead. His skin was a gnarly gray, a clear sign of desiccation. Victoria didn't even have time to let out a heartbroken cry before Zach started addressing her more. "But they don't have your level of control. You failed, though. You could not control the darkness."

"I can control it!" Victoria insisted, searching Zach's eyes for some sort of familiarity. He knew her. He knew what she could do. But there was nothing in his eyes.

"You can't," growled a different voice. Victoria flipped herself around, looking towards the spot directly behind her. Lee and Lexi approached, Lexi draped across the back of Lee. Lexi's eyes were covered with a bloody bandana and Lee had a bloody bandana tied around his mouth like a gag. Lexi spoke, tilting her head as she observed Victoria though she could not see, "You are a monster. You thrive in the darkness. You enjoy the taste of blood and you like how it decorates your hands."

"I don't!" Victoria shouted, shaking her head. "P-Please. What is happening with you guys?"

"You have fallen into the pits of negativity, Victoria," Zach drawled, grunting as he pushed Stefan higher up on his shoulder. "What happens when you look into the mirror next and you don't see yourself? You just see pure monster. Pure darkness. Pure...Immortalis."

On the word 'Immortalis', the ground underneath Victoria's feet opened up and it started to suck her down. Her eyes flashed open in fear and she started screaming, trying to claw, desperately, out of the hole. Nothing worked. Quickly, the ground reached her knees, her hips, her chest, her shoulders, her neck.

"Help me, please!" she sobbed, reaching for one of her friends.

It was Noble's voice that she heard clear as day as the dirt swallowed her up.

"Why would one help a murderer?"

Victoria bolted upright in her bed, a shout of fear tearing its way out of her throat. Her eyes were wild and she could feel her back erupting into cold sweats. She tore at the blankets entrapping her legs, pinning her to the bed. She needed to get out and get away. She was a monster. Stefan was dead, Damon, Zach, Lexi, and Lee were injured because of her. Henri and Vicki were insane. Oh gosh...she needed air. She needed relief. She needed something!

Two strong arms wrapped themselves around her torso and Victoria opened her mouth to scream because no, Frederick was back and he was going to get his revenge and hurt her and kill her and no, no, no, no, no, no!

"Peace, Victoria. Peace."

In an instant, the tension fell away from her body and she sunk into Noble's embrace. Her head flopped down against Noble's chest and she let out an exhausted sigh. She tried to match her breathing with Noble's, who seemed to be breathing in a very obvious way so she could follow. Noble started to rub his thumb against her upper arm and Victoria hummed appreciatively. They sat in silence for a few moments, just basking in each other's presences.

Noble was the first to speak, keeping his voice low so he didn't wake up the other inhabitants of the house, "Another nightmare?"

Victoria swallowed heavily and nodded, feeling tears prick at the corner of her eyes. She snuggled deeper into Noble's arms and he adjusted himself around her, resting his chin on top of her head.

"Do you wish to discuss the events of your dream tonight?"

"Not really," Victoria murmured, her voice rougher than usual.

Noble hummed and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. She squeezed her eyes shut. It had been nearly a month since her...exotic dream with Noble. She supposed she should be an awkward, nervous mess, but since the night with Frederick, that was the last thing on her mind. Still, whenever he did things like that, her mind couldn't help but wander to...other things.

"Do you want me to get your mother?" Noble asked quietly, ducking his head down so his lips were close to her ear.

Victoria carefully shook her head, making sure that Noble's lips didn't touch her at all. "N-No. No, I think I'm okay." She shifted herself in his arms and reached her hands up, rubbing her eyes wearily. Victoria let out a shaky breath. "I'm so tired of nightmares."

"I do not think anyone thrives with bad dreams," Noble murmured in reply, giving her upper arm a gentle squeeze. "Remember you are not alone in this."

"I know, I know," Victoria huffed, rolling her eyes. "But it doesn't mean that all of you are going to be walking with me through these nightmares."

"Your mind is a strong, powerful place," Noble said. "As is to be expected with you being the Immortalis."

"But you've got to be like over five hundred years old, and you can't even change my dreams," Victoria whined, turning towards Noble. She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine the look that he was giving her. "Don't give me that look."

"I am not giving you any look."

"Yeah, I sincerely doubt that," Victoria frowned, folding her arms around her chest. She flopped backwards, slipping out of Noble's hold so she bounced on her bed. "Gah, all I want to do is sleep."

"Then sleep."

"But I'm going to have nightmares and I don't want that."

"Of course not," Noble agreed. "Here."

Noble reclined onto the bed beside her and she shifted around, giving him room. He repositioned her so she was lying in between his legs, her back resting on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she rested her hands onto his. She let her head hit Noble's chest. He reached past Victoria and grabbed her comforter, pulling the large blanket over the two of them.

"Would you like me to reassure you of yours and our safety?" Noble questioned gently, and Victoria nodded her head rapidly.

"Yes, please."

Noble tightened his grip on her as he recounted, "Your house has been spelled by both your mother and Jeanine. No intruders will come into the house again. You have myself, Zachariah, Alexander, and Mr. Harper in the house. We have hundreds of years of experience between the four of us. You shall be safe, and we shall not allow your powers to become too much for you."

"Thank you," Victoria murmured, blinking her eyes tiredly. "Hey, Noble?"

"Yes, Victoria?"

"Have you ever heard of an Immortalis named Octavia R. Larsen?" Victoria asked, recalling the name that Henri had brought up to her.

"I am familiar with her, yes."

"What was she like?"

"Very dedicated, to her studies, to herself, to her family and to her friends, much like yourself," Noble chuckled, giving Victoria's hands a squeeze. "She strove to figure out everything she could about the Immortalis. Any secrets, any enemies, she wanted to know them all. To be prepared."

"She still died, though," Victoria whispered.

Noble paused and responded, his voice a bit tighter than before, "Yes. Yes, she did."

"When did she die?"

"December 2nd, 2009," Noble stated instantly, as if he knew the answer right off of his head.

Victoria froze, however, when she heard the date. "W-What? That's the day that Logan Fell kidnapped me and compelled me. B-But...that was also the day when I had that weird pain moment. I saw -" She swore violently and sat up straighter in Noble's grip. "- I saw the ooze! The ooze that makes up my powers! They were there that morning!"

"It is the start of the Transitioning," Noble explained. "When the current Immortalis dies and passes, then the next one is chosen instantly."

"Is that where you were?" Victoria asked. "Were you with Octavia when she was dying?"

"I was trying to save her," Noble affirmed, nodding his head. "I arrived too late. It was...unfortunate, to say the least. She was on the brink of exiting the Transitioning."

"What Immortalis would she have become?"

"I will never know, but I do suspect a Positive one. You would have enjoyed her company, Victoria. She was much like your friend, Caroline. If the three of you had met, the trio of you would be unstoppable."

"Feminist Noble, good to know," Victoria giggled. She snuggled deeper into Noble's embrace. "Thanks, Noble. For just...being here."

"Of course, Victoria. Now rest. You will be safe."

Victoria smiled at Lexi as she opened the door to the Salvatore boarding house. Lexi gave her a tired one in return and stepped aside, waving Victoria in. "Morning, Vee-Bee. You're here bright and early."

"I got to get to school later today, so I figured now would be better," Victoria admitted shyly. She offered up the cupholder filled to the brim with coffees and Lexi made grabby-hands for her coffee. Victoria carefully took out the drink with Lexi's name sprawled across it and handed it off to her. "Figured I could get coffee for all my favorite blood-drinkers."

"I love you," Lexi stated with great seriousness. She sauntered down the hall, taking a deep drink of her coffee and with a loud shout, she said, "Damon! Vee-Bee brought us coffee! Grab Stefan and get down here!"

"Oooh, coffee!" Victoria heard Damon say with glee, and Victoria giggled. She walked towards the entryway table and sat the cupholder down, following Lexi into the living room with the bag of food in her hands.

"I also brought you guys some takeout, even though you don't necessarily need it," Victoria added on, dropping the bag of food onto the coffee table. "Thought you guys might enjoy it."

"You really didn't need to do that, Vee-Bee," Lexi said, giving her friend a thankful, but concerned look.

Victoria didn't agree with her friend's statement, and verbalized her feelings. "All of you guys have gone above and beyond helping me and Stefan get reacclimated to the world after everything's that happened. I mean, when's the last time you saw Lee?"

"Last weekend," Lexi retorted, giving Victoria a warm smile. She dropped down onto the couch and Victoria took a seat on the opposite couch. Lexi took a long sip of her coffee, smiling brightly after she put her cup down. "Lee took me on a romantic walk through downtown Mystic Falls. We bought each other gifts and then went home and had some great food -"

"- And then he left you immediately to come comfort me because I had a terrible nightmare when Zach was showering at the boarding house, Kelly was showing Harper around the town, and Noble was gone talking to Jeanine," Victoria finished, giving Lexi a not amused look. "So yes, you will accept this takeout and coffee and thank me for it."

"Alright then," Lexi sniffed, raising an eyebrow at Victoria and taking another sip of her coffee.

Victoria heard a sigh of happiness to her side and turned towards the entryway. Damon bounced down the stairs and headed over to the couch that Victoria was sitting in. "Morning, Mama Bear." He plopped down right beside Victoria, their legs basically pressed up together, and leaned over, planted a messy kiss on her temple. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and leaned back in the couch, taking a long sip of his coffee. "Mhhm. Perfectly roasted. Give my regards to the barista."

"I'll be sure to tell them that the next time I see them," Victoria chuckled, giving Damon a warm smile. She frowned when she didn't spot the younger Salvatore in the entryway. "Where's Stefan?"

"Where do you think?" Damon snorted angrily, rolling his eyes. He gestured lamely with his cup towards the ceiling of the boarding house, referencing the upstairs.

Victoria's frown deepened. "Did you leave him alone with the blood?"

"I brought it down with me, Mama Bear; a little more faith, please," Damon grunted, taking another drink. "I'm still a little pissed that everything Kelly-Beans did was for naught."

"Bringing the bunny blood to the house?" Victoria asked for clarification. He nodded. "I thought this whole morning is about you pressing Stefan to drink blood; that the only way he can control it is if he actually immerses himself with it."

"Yeah, that's true, but I respect your mother enough to feel indignant on her behalf," Damon huffed, his lips falling into a pout. "And just when I was starting to respect McJudgey on a small level too. Don't tell anyone I said that."

"Your secret's safe with me," Victoria told him, leaning forward to open up the bag of takeout. She grabbed her personal little breakfast meal (breakfast burritos for the win!) and leaned back into Damon's embrace.

Victoria had been having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after that terrifying day and night at the tomb vampire's lair, but she had been relieved for the briefest of moments that Stefan was alright, that he wasn't addicted to human blood because her mother had stepped in and intervened. And then the truth came out, crashing out and shattering every misconception. And who had been the person to find out the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Surprisingly, Ms. Gibbons.

Yeah, she said that correctly. Ms. Gibbons.

Apparently, her last minute ditch attempt to save Ms. Gibbons worked out, and Damon had compelled the older woman to go to the boarding house. Since the death of Frederick, all of her former compulsion had been broken down. According to Lexi, there had been rounds and rounds of tears and grieving, but in the end, Ms. Gibbons (whose real name was later revealed as Cordelia Natalia Gibbons) offered to work at the boarding house as a sort-of live-in gardener, housekeeper, and chef. Ms. Gibbons revealed to the group that she had been a housekeeper for most of her life and she enjoyed the work. Somehow Damon couldn't say no, or so he told Victoria (she was pretty sure that he just did it because Victoria's eyes shone at the idea of Ms. Gibbons becoming another big character in her world).

Anyways, back to how the truth came out. Ms. Gibbons had approached Victoria and Harper one day (and as to why he was staying in her house instead of with Pearl and Anna was a discussion for a different time) while they were chilling and chatting in the main square (Noble pulled through and gave Harper his very own daylight ring). Their conversation had been...enlightening.

"Ms. LeBlanc?"

Victoria paused in the middle of her sentence of explaining to Harper what exactly a toaster oven was and turned away from the bench. She smiled warmly (as warmly as she could from recovering from her eyes and tongue being torn out only three days before) and waved her hand. "Hello, Ms. Gibbons! How are you doing?"

"Very well, dearie, thank you," Ms. Gibbons said truthfully, nodding her head. "I thank you, Mr. Harper, and Mr. Salvatore everyday for saving my life. I would not be here if it weren't for the three of you."

"You're welcome," Victoria replied, grinning. "What brings you out to the square today?"

"I-I found something at the boarding house while I was cleaning, and I felt the need to discuss it with you," Ms. Gibbons explained awkwardly, gulping heavily. "Do you have a moment?"

"If you don't mind?" Victoria asked, turning towards Harper with a question in her eyes.

"Of course not, Ms. LeBlanc," Harper told her warmly. "Perhaps I will try that cellular device you were telling me about and I will attempt to contact Ms. Anna. She was always kind to me."

"If you have troubles, I'll help you figure it out right after, okay?" Victoria told him.

Harper nodded once in her direction. "Ms. LeBlanc." He then stood up and nodded towards Ms. Gibbons, even giving her a little bow at the waist. "Ms. Gibbons." He strode off, pulling out the small phone that Kelly had bought him because 'I just thought he was so sweet!' (her words, though Victoria agreed wholeheartedly). When he had asked Kelly and Victoria if he was allowed to stay with them as he got reacclimated to the world, saying 'he needed space from the past', the two LeBlanc women couldn't say no.

Victoria patted the spot that Harper had just exited. "Sit down, Ms. Gibbons. What seems to be the problem?"

Ms. Gibbons sat down and her hands began to kneed into her skirt. Victoria picked up on the movement and narrowed her eyes slightly, but kept quiet. She needed to let Ms. Gibbons speak.

"Y-You remember how when I said I wanted to work at the boarding house, you told me about some of the...troubles...that the men of the family have gone through. J-Just so I was made aware?"

"Of course," Victoria said, nodding her head. Mainly, it had been Stefan's history with human blood (the PG versions of it; like if Disney had tried to make a remake of Stefan's history), Damon's sometimes careless attitude towards people and human blood, and Zach's obsessive need for research (like how he will sometimes not sleep for days because he's busy learning more about vampires and vervain or sometimes, on the rare occasion, debating which Britney Spears song was the best; Victoria was pretty sure she had walked in on that moment when he was severely sleep-deprived and slightly drunk, in Zach's defense). "Did something happen? If Damon insulted you, just remember -"

"- That he is a deeply mistrusting person who does not realize his own self-worth," Ms. Gibbons finished for her, nodding her head in agreement. "I may not have gotten married or had children of my own, but even I can look at the world through a mother's eye. But no, that's not it." She licked her lips, as if she was stalling or trying to think of the right words. "The morning after you, Mr. Salvatore, the younger one, that is, and Mr. Harper were rescued, I was taking out the trash. Lots of bloodied towels, old blood bags, the sort. But as I was doing so, I was hit with a very familiar smell. Something that I thought I would never have to smell again except in an accident."

"What was it?" Victoria asked, genuinely curious.

"Human blood."

Victoria let her shoulders drop, the unknown tension that had started building releasing in that statement. "Damon still drinks human blood, but he does the blood bag method instead of straight out of the vein."

"As you said before, yes, but this was different," Ms. Gibbons insisted, her hands releasing her skirt to tighten into stronger fists. "Because the smell of blood didn't come from one of the human blood bags. Mr. Salvatore, the middle one," Victoria really thought that it was hilarious that Ms. Gibbons called Damon 'the middle one' out of the three Salvatores, "labels his blood bags with ridiculous names. 'Soccer Mom', 'PTA Professor', 'That One Blonde Chick I Knew Once Upon A Time'. It's all rather like a frat boy. But this bag didn't have that. It was labeled clear as day as 'Bunny Rabbit'. I smelled human blood, Ms. LeBlanc, coming straight from that blood bag."

"And you can tell the difference between animal and human blood because...?"

A dark look settled over Ms. Gibbons' eyes and her fists tightened more. "Please, Ms. LeBlanc, just trust me when I say that I can tell the difference. What Mr. Salvatore, the younger, drank last night was not bunny blood. It was human. I confronted him, I did. I know how hard Ms. Branson and Mr. Salvatore, the middle one, have been working to help him. B-But when I tried to talk to him, he said that he knew and he had everything under control! I figured if anyone could tell me what I am supposed to do, it would be you. The Salvatores seem to listen to you."

Victoria frowned and looked away from Ms. Gibbons. "Leave it to me, Ms. Gibbons. I'll talk to him."

"Earth to Mama Bear. Come in, Mama Bear." This was followed directly by a hand snapping its fingers right in front of her face.

Victoria jolted in her seat, giving Damon an awkward smile. He gave her a playful one in return and commented, "Haven't seen you lost in Neverland in a while. You good?"

"Just remembering what Ms. Gibbons told me a few weeks ago," Victoria explained, shaking her head. "I can't believe that Elena would give Stefan her blood, even after the numerous warnings Kelly apparently gave her."

"To play devil's advocate," Lexi began, twisting her neck so her bones gave a loud pop, "Stefan wasn't healing as fast as he normally does; granted, that was because he was drinking bunny blood and not human blood. Elena saw that as an issue and spoke with him about drinking her blood. In the end, both parties consented. Was it a stupid ass decision that I'm sure Stefan is regretting right about now? Probably. But I'm not surprised that he did it."

"You're not?" Victoria asked incredulously, giving Lexi a look.

Lexi shook her head. "I'm not. Given what I've been able to glean from both Salvatore brothers," cue a short glare that she shot to Damon and Damon holding up his hands in defense and rolling his eyes, "Stefan may have felt like he failed in protecting you that day. Maybe he felt like taking human blood, he would be stronger and better to protect you."

"But at the risk of becoming a Ripper again?" Victoria debated. "Stefan forgets that I can die and heal. I'm perfectly capable of taking a little bit of pain."

"But dying is totally not traumatic for you?" Lexi shot back, giving Victoria a hard stare. "You liked being buried alive and then waking up six feet under, fully healed, and having to crawl your way back to the surface, like on that night?"

"Watch it, Lexi," Damon growled, his voice equal parts nonchalant and deadly.

Victoria held up a hand, silencing Damon, and matched Lexi's stare. "No, Lexi. Dying is not exactly sunshine and roses for me, but while it may be...traumatic...in some ways, it's also reassuring. It means I will come back intact, I will see Henri and Vicki -"

"- You'll add another tally to the 'How many times have I died?' list," Lexi finished for her. "I'm not saying that you're wrong, Vee-Bee. I'm just saying that Stefan, while emotions may be awkward and weird, cares for you. In his case, like a sister. He doesn't want to see you hurt, he doesn't like to see you in pain. Therefore, he'll do what he can to help protect you."

"Relationships are a lot of work," Victoria grumbled, unwrapping her burrito and taking a large bite.

"Amen to that, Mama Bear," Damon grunted, taking another sip of his coffee. "Alright, I think I've been here long enough. Back to being a horrible brother." He pulled Victoria close and gave her temple another kiss. "Thanks for dropping by, Mama Bear." He jumped to his feet and started to jog out when he skidded to a stop, flipping around and pointing towards Victoria. "Ooooh! You, me, date night?"

"Date night?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The good old Founders' Day 150th Year Anniversary Kick-Off Party is tonight, haven't you heard?" Damon snickered. "It's all the latest gossip. So, you, me, date night?"

"You know, sometimes a girl likes to be swept off her feet when she's asked by a man to a party," Victoria commented offhandedly.

In a flash, she was swept up into Damon's arms, holding onto her breakfast burrito with a tight grip. The coffee cup in his hand was by her knee and she wrapped one arm around his neck to try and stabilize herself. Once she was sure she wasn't going to lose her breakfast, she gave him a glare. "This isn't what I meant."

"But nonetheless!" Damon cheered, giving her his signature smirk. "Will you, Victoria whatever-your-middle-name-is LeBlanc -"

"- It's Khalida -"

"- Victoria Khalida LeBlanc, be my date to the party tonight?"

She rolled her eyes, but gave Damon a warm smile. "It would be my apparent honor, Damon Francesco Salvatore. Now go back upstairs and bother your brother. I need to get home and get ready for school."

"I'm off then," Damon responded, setting her down gently before bolting away, disappearing in a basic cloud of smoke.

Lexi and Victoria just caught each other's eyes and rolled them. Together, as if they were synchronized, they just scoffed, "Men."

"Morning, Elena!" Victoria called out, trying to appear chipper and happy although her frustration with Elena's tactics from few weeks ago with the human blood still bothered the hell out of her. "Morning, Matt." She gave Matt, who was standing right beside Elena, a warm, gentle smile.

Matt returned it in kind and held out one arm for her. Victoria took the cue and slipped into his embrace, giving and receiving one of the best one-armed hugs ever. "Morning, Tori. How are you doing?"

"Surviving," she answered honestly. She searched his eyes for a moment and asked in a gentle voice, "And you?"

"As well as I can be," Matt replied with as much honesty as Victoria had just spoke with.

"What are you two chatting about?" Victoria asked, looking between the two of them.

"My Uncle John's back in town," Elena explained, and Victoria didn't even bother hiding the frown that came to her face. Elena frowned in return and sighed, "I know, I know. I'm not exactly ecstatic about it either."

"I hate that guy," Victoria grumbled. "I remember enough about him to hate him."

"He said his trip is open-ended," Elena grumbled as the three turned to start walking down the hallway.

"Uncle John, I never really liked that guy," Matt huffed as he took his arm back. He shook his head.

"Does anyone?" Elena scoffed.

"Well, the two of us are here for moral support if you need us," Matt chuckled, sweeping his hand to have Victoria included in his statement.

"Thanks, but I think I'll suffer this one alone; you've both been through enough recently," Elena said, shaking her head.

"Thank you, by the way," Matt interrupted, pausing in their walk to give both girls a thankful look, "for just...for everything you guys did at Vicki's funeral and the memorial. I couldn't have done it without either of you." He gave Victoria a warmer look. "She would have really enjoyed what you sang."

Victoria blushed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm glad."

Until the funeral, she hadn't sung in the world of Mystic Falls since she had before the accident. When Matt had first approached her, asking if she would be willing to sing something at Vicki's funeral, she had been really cautious. She didn't have stage fright, perhaps, but Victoria was definitely hesitant. She didn't want to mess up. She couldn't mess up, and she was worried that if she tried to sing, she would be so overwhelmed with emotions...

But she did sing. She had discussed options with Kelly (who revealed in a dramatic fashion that she could play the violin?! What?!) and Victoria offered up the song "In Case You Don't Live Forever" by Ben Platt, a song that would not be created until waaaay later in the 2010s decade. There was some lyric changes that needed to be made, but Kelly knew the song and the two had performed the song at Vicki's funeral, Victoria singing and Kelly playing. There was not a dry eye in the entire church, including Victoria and Kelly.

"Is Caroline still baking for you guys, around the clock?" Elena asked, directly her question towards Matt.

Matt shook his head. "She finally went to her dad's, which is a good thing because my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped off one more lasagna."

"And how's Leah Hastings?" Victoria asked tentatively. "I heard that she was the one who found Vicki." Somehow, Leah Hastings was still involved in their stories. It seemed when one of them tried to avoid their fate, it was instead passed on to her. Poor girl.

"I've gone over and talked to her a couple of times, just to check on her," Matt said as they came to a stop by Matt's locker. He opened it up and started the day's exchange of textbooks and notebooks. "She said that she's dealing as best as she can. I'm going to check in with her after school today; I don't think she'll be back for a while."

"Tell her I hope she gets better," Victoria said, just as her phone started to ring. "Ugh. Sorry about that. See you guys in History?"

They nodded their heads in confirmation and Victoria grinned, walking down a partially unused hallway to answer her phone. She frowned. It said Damon was calling her. Why was he calling her? She answered the phone and immediately asked, "Aren't you in a Council meeting? What's wrong?"

"Mama Bear, I'm gonna need you to skip school today. We might have an issue."

"What kind of an issue?"

"I assume you know the conversations that have just been had?"

"John 'the Jackass' Gilbert talking about the break-ins."

"Yeah, well, Jackass Gilbert just brought up the dead EMTs and destroyed ambulance from the night of your murder and the old Fell Church ruins that were exploded during the tomb incident. He wants the council to investigate. He thinks that there's another supernatural creature around, one far worse than a simple vampire."

"Shit," Victoria breathed. Then her forehead crinkled with confused lines and she asked incredulously, "What do you mean the old Fell Church ruins got exploded?"

A/N: I WROTE A CHAPTER BY FRIDAY! WHOO! So proud of myself. Self high-five. High-five yourself, everyone. We did it. I'm so proud. Have a celebratory cookie.

So fun fact: trying to write chapters while still semi-recovering from a concussion sucks. Last chapter had soooooo many errors, everything from Stefan being a part of the war-planning (which involved me remembering that he was one of the ones they were trying to save), Markus being mentioned at the meeting and never showing up anywhere (which I promptly removed), and then Anna acting like she had never met Victoria (even though she had kidnapped her and killed her before the tomb). I definitely like this chapter waaaaaay more.

Vioble fluff, Datoria fluff, some Harper and Victoria besties vibe. I love it.

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} (17.5): insert name here XD, sammyleann's dad, TikiKiki, Maistryia, Don't-Say-It-Feel-It, another guest, Lime, herewegoagain, K, emma, just another guest, heyyeah, Guest (3), guest4ithinklol, Guest (6), Guest (9), guest (1), theappleseed, Anaidiana, Hayden, Takinginspiration1, Serena Salvatore, Prometo, Lolita, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime

Team Datoria {Victoria/Damon} (45): 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, charlievini, Guest (13), Guest (14), Guest (15), TrembleB4DietCoke, dhariti, Hayden, Guest (17), Elyse1821, Dannn, Yukihino-Sama, Dede, 4day, jazica, Guest (20), Unnisa, MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime, Tik, 00esoteric00, Hariana Halone, jenniferchase2402

Team Vilijah {Victoria/Elijah} (43.5): 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, Dalia2009, wolfcorgi, Nia, Rory, Teghan-Potter1370, Guest (12), Shiro7, alessandra92, Guest (16), Guest (18), Karina, Serena Salvatore, xrysatsan, Lolita, jazica, Guest (19), MoonlightMiracle-SakurianaHime, TheLadyO, jjaejjae, Guest (21), Guest (22)

Team Klatoria {Victoria/Klaus} (6): Tayla141, TikiKiki, Guest (9), Mythology216 the Beard King, thisIsNotATest, Guest (10), Tris Hart

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

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

Team Vioble {Victoria/Noble} (.5): Shiro7

New Followers!: AssassinNanaya, darkpegasuzz, beyondthestaras

New Favoriters!: livesinasong13, beyondthestaras

Onto reviews!:

BrookeWorm3: Yep! She'll stay alive. Frederick's gone. We got more fluff. You're welcome ;)

guest: No worries! And if you ever feel like there is a chapter that should have a more mature rating or trigger warning but doesn't, let me know and I'll add that. Noble is there to help her out with a nightmare. I can't reveal who, but I will say that Victoria will get a happy ending, and her partner (whoever that is) will be super supportive. They'll be relationship goals. I'll try and add Kelly more in the next chapter for you.

Elyse1821: It's a great word, honestly. Something's definitely happening to Victoria and the dead serious, no humor or happiness monotone kind of Victoria happened back in the tomb as well. Oooooh, who knows? ;p. Okay, cool! It probably won't be until the middle of summer, but it's a cool project to work on, nonetheless. I am a part of the Harry Potter fandom, but I've never read that! It's cool that the world is slowly acknowledging that fanfiction is a serious writing form. Oooh! Quick question: would a Regency, all-human Bridgerton meets Pride and Prejudice AU involving this story's characters be intriguing to you? I had a brilliant idea for a story for that and I might start dabbling with it and I want to see if anyone would like to read it XD.

DBZFAN45: Ooooooh, that does seem like a really Doctor Who-ish line. I never thought about that. I sort of stole the line off of Klaus (when he's like "I am the thing that lesser men fear"). I was gonna add Markus but it was too many people. I feel like if anyone tried to confess their love for Victoria to Noble outright, it would be a death sentence. Ooooh, also very John Wick. Victoria's just embracing the chaos. I still don't know for sure if Rose is going to survive, but I have a little bit of time before then. And that's really weird. Just refresh and if that doesn't work, wait an hour or two.

Lime: I'm sorry. I'm a ninja and a liar. What can I say? ;p I tried to wait, I honestly did.

Until next time, my lovelies,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F