Isobel - Part 3
Damon
Damon smiled widely as he watched Victoria stumble out of the Grill, looking around. Looking for him. He took a step forward to greet her, his hand raised in a half-wave, when many things hit him at once.
One: the potent smell of blood. He had caught a whiff of it earlier, but the rational side of his brain had just supposed that it was some careless chef in the back kitchen. Every time that Damon had gone to the Grill, he always got the faintest trace of blood. It honestly added to the whole aesthetic of the Grill for him. However, this smell was different. Ambrosial. Godly. Victoria. This was Victoria's blood. Why was she bleeding, and who made her bleed?
Two: She was crying. Full on sobbing. Her shoulders were shaking and even with the distance between them, Damon could see the full amount of terror in her eyes. Tears streamed down her face and when she caught his eye, everything in her posturing just screamed for him to help, to fix whatever problem was ailing her.
Three: Zach, Lee, Stefan, and Lexi were running out of the Grill like they were on fire, with Damon and Alaric as their destination course, and Elena and Bonnie were following close behind them..
Four: Victoria turned from him and started to immediately walk down a different way.
No.
Not walk.
Stagger.
Stumble.
She was in pain.
And Damon starting seeing red.
"Before you do something stupid, Damon, you need to listen!" Lexi growled, pulling ahead of the other vampires and planting two hands onto Damon's shoulders.
Damon swatted both of the hands off of him as quickly as they were placed on, not looking at Lexi and keeping his gaze tracked onto Victoria, who was already starting to stumble out of sight. "Don't touch me."
He took a step forward, but Lexi planted one hand onto the center of his chest and he was faced with the virtually impossible challenge of trying to get around Lexi Branson (spoiler alert: no one, perhaps maybe Pearl or Anna, got around Lexi Branson). "Lexi, do not test me."
"Don't test me, Damon," Lexi snarled, gripping the front of his shirt. That movement was enough for Damon to look down upon the smaller vampire, and there was a legitimate fire in her eyes. "Damon, you can't stop her."
"Why the hell not? What's going on?" Damon demanded, turning his attention away from Lexi and placing it onto his nephew. If anyone would tell him what was happening with Victoria, it would be Zach. "Why is Victoria walking away from us right now, bleeding and looking scared out of her wits, and why aren't we doing anything about it?"
"We are doing something about it right now, Damon," Lexi insisted, shaking her hand that was clenched in his shirt.
"Damon, Isobel compelled Victoria to stab herself in the leg with one of the steak knifes on the table and not scream," Zach hurriedly put in, taking a step forward and placing a calming hand on Lexi's shoulder. The tension in Lexi's body didn't dissipate, not even a fraction. "Then she compelled her to slit her throat if anyone tried to come up and stop Isobel."
"We couldn't make a move on her without the entirety of Mystic Falls watching Victoria die," Lexi added in.
"She's been compelled to go to the Wickery Bridge and stand on the ledge," Stefan stated, his shoulders shaking with unabashed rage. "If any of us try to physically stop her, then she's going to use her powers against us. If Isobel doesn't get the device by tonight, Victoria's been compelled to jump into the water and stay in it until she drowns."
"Why didn't she just use some of her magic to stop Isobel?"
"I took a sniff of the table," Lee growled, tensing his hands up into fists. "Smelled of sanitizing water and wyrmwood. Somebody prepped the booth before we got in. Stopped her powers. Isobel got Victoria's anklet too, which is how she got compelled."
"That woman is chugging vervain water the moment I see her. Can we get Kelly to stop her?" Damon immediately suggested. He and Kelly-Beans might not get along like they were Dorothy and Scarecrow, but the two got along well enough when it came to Victoria.
"Isobel was specific and said 'anyone'," Zach refuted, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Did physical mean us touching her to stop her or us moving objects in her way to stall her?" Damon threw out.
"Given the connotation and the way it was placed in the sentence, I'd say more along the lines of us physically touching her or an extension of ourselves, aka magic, touching her," Lexi confessed. She let out a defeated sigh. "This would be so much easier if we didn't care about Victoria's feelings towards death."
"Too bad we're such good people," Lee drawled, rolling his eyes.
Unneeded commentary aside, Damon could make a plan with the guidelines that the gathering had acquired.
He pointed to Zach. "Zach, call Pearl and get her and Anna to start felling big trees that would make Victoria's journey to the bridge really difficult."
"On it," Zach agreed, dipping away as he started to hurriedly type Pearl's number into his phone (why Zach had Pearl's number memorized was a little detail that Damon would pry out of his nephew a different day).
Damon then turned to Lee, pointing towards him. "Lee, I need you to get Amber. I don't necessarily trust her since we only met last night, but maybe she can use her hocus-pocus magic on Victoria and at least give her a little bit of peace as she's heading to the one thing she dreads most."
"I'll go pick up Doc now."
"Stefan, go with him and kidnap Caroline. Swing by and grab Kelly and Jenna while you're at it," Damon ordered his baby brother. "If anyone's going to want to stand by her side, it's going to be Caroline."
"Let's go," Stefan agreed, signaling to Bonnie and Elena to follow him and Lee.
Damon turned his attention to Lexi, who was still holding onto his shirt. "Alexia."
"Damon."
"Try and call Noble and catch up to Victoria. Give her the line if he answers. He might know of a way to either stop this or get Victoria to heal along the way."
"Of course," Lexi said, finally releasing Damon's shirt from between her fingers. She took a step back and Damon swiped his shirt down, sucking in a deep breath through his nose. Lexi's eyes were frantic, but calculating as she looked upon him. "What are you planning to do, Damon?"
"Something dramatic, I hope," Damon growled, flipping around and speeding off for parts that only he was aware of.
Victoria
The cold set into her bones immediately, dampening her coat and threatening to drag her under. The sudden impact against the water caused Victoria to suck in a large breath, which wasn't a great idea since she was underwater. Water came into her lungs and she thrashed around as it burned her lungs. Victoria clawed desperately at her darkened surroundings, trying to pull herself up towards the surface. Her legs refused to cooperate, though. They were like deadweights, dragging her down deeper and deeper into the abyss. She couldn't tell which way was up. Her heartbeat was so loud that even she could hear it. It was frantic and crazed.
She was scared.
She was scared.
She was so, so, so scared.
"Tori?"
She felt her body begin to shut down, her fingers stopping their desperate climb, her torso relaxing from its jerking around for oxygen, her eyelids beginning to drift off to a close.
"Ms. LeBlanc, you must come back to us."
She was so scared.
She wanted her mom.
She wanted Damon.
She wanted Zach.
She wanted to go home.
Just send her home.
"Tori."
Victoria sucked in a shuddery breath as the voice of Vicki fluttered into her ears. She blinked her eyes; once, and then twice. She was slowly able to take in her surroundings.
The burning sensation from her shoulder, hip, and thigh. Oh heavens, her thigh burned with every step that she took. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, and yet her feet did not stumble once as they continued moving on like little soldiers going to war.
Her eyes burned and her hands felt wet. She hurt. Everything hurt. She wanted her mom. She wanted Damon. She wanted Zach.
"Come on, Tori, you can do it. Look at me."
"I-I want D-Damon," Victoria whimpered, her eyes open but not really seeing, you know? She was just a canoe in an ocean of PTSD, following wherever the tides may take her.
"I know you do, Tori, and he's coming. I swear, he's coming, but I need you to look at me."
Victoria didn't want to.
But she did so anyways.
Victoria tried her hardest, focusing on the thing directly in front of her. It was a little mirror. A handheld mirror, and connected to it was a hand. A hand that led away from the mirror and to a human girl, whose heart was beating so fast that she sounded as if she had just run a marathon. Caroline Forbes. Her best friend. Her best friend would be there for her, even as Victoria walked to one of the hardest deaths in her life.
Victoria refocused back onto the mirror. Vicki's face took up the entire mirror; well, that wasn't very accurate. It was more like half of her face, since the mirror was so small. Vicki looked so concerned for Victoria, and it made Victoria's eyes water even more than they had in the however long it had been since the Grill.
"There she is," Vicki cheered lightly, her face showing physical relief at having Victoria look at her. "Okay, I want you to breathe, and breathe deeply. And slowly! Don't go hyperventilating on us, alright?"
"I-I'm so scared."
"I know you are, honey," Vicki cooed, her eyebrows tightening with sympathy. "I know, but you need to trust our friends. They aren't going to let you in that river. They'll find a way to stop Isobel before anything happens to you."
"Y-You can't guarantee t-that."
Vicki's face tightened and a dark look of concentration passed over her eyes. "I sure as hell will today."
Victoria sucked in a shuddery breath of air and released it as slowly as she physically could. The pain didn't dissipate, but the way that Vicki spoke made Victoria relax, even if it was just marginally. The panic that had made her wander through the woods like a zombie for the past few minutes was gone, just leaving her.
Victoria.
In pain.
With at least three stab wounds.
Yeah, that sounded about right.
"Care-Bear?"
"Yeah, Tori?" Caroline said immediately, straightening up from where she was walking beside Victoria.
"I-I need you to do something for me," Victoria whispered as the two continued to walk through the woods. Her advanced eyesight picked up on a couple of downed trees in their pathway and she spotted Pearl standing tall on top of one of the downed trees. The eldest vampiress gave Victoria a single nod before jumping off one of the sides, running with someone who looked like Anna to go fell more trees. "I-It's not going to make sense, but I don't know anybody else right now who I trust to do this."
"Even if it was you needing me to hide a dead body for you, all I would ask is where are the shovels and if I should bury it below Damon's bedroom window or Stefan's," Caroline replied immediately.
Despite everything going on, Victoria had to give a weak giggle at that. Victoria reached out and grabbed Caroline's hand. Caroline interlaced their fingers and gave her hand a solid squeeze. It was grounding, reminding Victoria that even though she might be walking to her death, she was alive. She was alive and she was with Caroline.
"I can only give it as a hint, so it's this: do not let Bonnie double-cross them," Victoria whispered, dropping her voice so that way only she and Caroline would hear what Victoria was saying. "I-I don't know if circumstances have changed, but I-I need you to peer-pressure her as much as you physically can. Do not let her b-betray them."
"Betray them with what?"
"T-The compass," Victoria breathed, physically flinching when she stepped onto a particular rock that just really sent a giant 'F-U' to her stab wound in her thigh. "I-It's spelled. T-The particulars are escaping me, but it is. B-Bonnie takes the magic away, b-but in the TV show, s-she doesn't really. Pretends. Don't let her pretend."
"On it," Caroline promised, nodding her head solemnly. She brought her eyes up and away from Victoria's face, staring off into the slight distance. Her body sagged a little in relief and that sent a wave of comfort over Victoria.
Wait...
Something about the way that she was suddenly feeling more calm than a moment before seemed...artificial?
"It's Amber and Lee," Caroline explained, giving Victoria's hand a squeeze. "I'm going to intercept Lee and get him or Pearl to run me back to the town. You gonna be good without me?"
"As good as somebody walking to a potential drowning death can be," sniffed Victoria, but she gave Caroline's hand a squeeze to let her know that she would be okay...ish.
She had to be.
Damon
Damon was usually more brash than he was slick, he would admit. Something about smashing and grabbing was more fun than just waiting for everything to fall into place. However, there were a few instances when Damon could put forth a facade of patience that he didn't usually have.
It just so happened that most anything involving his Mama Bear would bring out that patience.
So, as soon as the two vampires that had been staying in Isobel's home had left to do whatever it was that evil minions did, Damon sidled in, relieved to find that he was able to easily enter without invitation. He then grabbed a glass and poured himself some bourbon and he dropped down onto one of the couches, angling himself towards the door. When Isobel walked through, he would be ready to greet her.
Damon didn't know how long it was before the doorknob twisted on the front door. When it was pushed open and revealed Isobel, who didn't seem as shocked as Damon would have hoped to see Damon sitting on her couch.
"It's good to see you, Isobel," Damon commented, taking a long drag of his drink. "Having fun with those naughty little minions of yours?"
"How did you find me?" Isobel questioned as she stepped in, shutting the door behind her. She dropped her purse off on the coatrack right by the door and headed towards the couch.
Damon was up on his feet, speeding towards Isobel and cutting her off before she could even sit down. He was more than satisfied to see her flinch at his sudden closeness. Serves her right.
"Searched all the neighborhood bank-owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one," Damon sniffed, glaring down at Isobel with hatred in his eyes.
Isobel looked up at Damon, not intimidated by his glaring, and she smirked. She shook her head and chuckled. "Oh, I should have known. You're the one who taught me that. So, what are you really doing here?"
"Well, you caused quite a stir, you blew into town," Damon mused. "Saw everyone except for the man who made you. I'm a little hurt."
"I'm so sorry," Isobel deadpanned. In a flash, Damon was turned around and found himself in a headlock with Isobel growling into his ear, "Did you bring the device?"
It took Damon less than a blink of an eye for him to get out of the chokehold and across the room, facing Isobel from a respectable and safe distance. He pointedly said, "Ow." He then continued and asked, "What are you doing with John Gilbert?"
"We dated a few times when we were young," Isobel breezed by, picking up the glass of bourbon that Damon had set down on the table. She shot back the rest of his drink and grinned as she swallowed. "He was a little bit in love with me."
"I'm sure, one of the many," Damon snorted. "Now, this little invention: what do you want with it?"
"Oh, me personally?" Isobel asked, raising an eyebrow. She plopped down onto the edge of the couch and traced her hairline with a lone finger. "I don't want anything with it. I'm just doing what I'm told. You know, Damon, we're on the same side."
"Oh yeah, and what side is that?"
"Katherine's," Isobel sniffed, tilting her head as she observed her creator. "She wants John Gilbert to have the device and I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."
"John Gilbert has threatened someone I care about very deeply, something that you've done too, so forgive me if I'm not jumping on the opportunity to join teams," Damon spat, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling.
Isobel winced. Damon's eyes caught that subtle movement and his brow perked up. What had that been about? "It was never my intention for Victoria -"
"- Do not say her name -"
"- Ms. LeBlanc, then, to get injured. John Gilbert did not act according to plan any time that he caused Ms. LeBlanc grief and he will be dealt with accordingly."
"Bullshit," Damon snapped, standing up straight and folding his arms across his chest. "Why are you doing Katherine's dirty work?"
"Don't kill the messenger," Isobel grumbled. "We both know that you can't control Katherine. She does what she wants."
"So do I," Damon mused. He strode a few steps towards her and looked her up and down. "I also know that whatever plan you three bitches have cooked up is going to fail. How, you might ask? Because you hurt someone that many, many vampires, of all ages and abilities, witches, and humans alike care about. They will not let you win."
"Oh really, Damon?" Isobel chuckled. "You really think?"
"I know," Damon growled.
In a blink, Damon raced forward towards Isobel and grabbed her by her shoulders. He twisted the two of them around and tripped her up as they turned. Isobel fell and Damon went with her to the ground, slamming into the coffee table as they went down. It was conveniently made of metal (a pity) so no shards of woods peeled off and killed Isobel, but they both went down hard enough that the metal dented and bended and Damon could feel his bones rattle. Before Isobel could get a second wind about her, Damon had his hands tight around her throat, pinning her to the table.
It was almost therapeutic to see her eyes widen in fear when she realized that she couldn't shove him off. Her hands lashed up to claw at him, but the pain did little to dissuade him. He easily grabbed her wrists and shoved them under his legs, pinning them to the table too.
Damon leaned down and toned his voice down to a whisper that dripped with poison. "Now that I have your attention, listen up. You do not come into my town. You do not threaten the people I love. Going after Elena? Bad move. Going after Victoria? You signed your death warrant, if not by me, then by someone else in this town who loves her. You leave her alone or I will rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why?" He pulled back a little and let his anger pull his vampiric features forward. Isobel's eyes widened fearfully as Damon licked his canines and muttered, "Because it sends a message."
Damon tightened his grip on Isobel's throat and raised her head up before slamming it back down onto the metal. It was satisfying listening to her skull crack against the metal edge and to see the faint trail of blood that started to drip off of her and onto the carpet. Made Damon hungry.
He shoved himself off of Isobel and strode towards the front door, calling out over his shoulder, "Katherine wants something from us? You tell that little bitch to come get it herself."
Victoria
"Lee?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you jump off of a bridge if all your friends were doing it?"
"Is this a hypothetical conversation?"
Victoria gulped as she tried to steady herself on the very narrow, narrow ledge her body had forced herself to climb. Don't look down. Don't look down. You're afraid of water. You're afraid of heights. You'll practically give yourself a heart attack if you look down. "S-Sure. Let's go with that."
From behind her, she heard Lee sniff, pacing back and forth for a quiet moment, before he replied, "Hypothetically, is Zach one of these jumpers?"
"That's an oddly specific request," Amber commented, positioned on the other side of Victoria. She was leaning against the edge of the bridge and Victoria could see out of her peripheral vision that she was looking down at the water. Obviously someone isn't deathly afraid of heights or water. "Are you just going to do everything that Zach does?"
"Yes, I am, and I would say that you should too."
"I'm just supposed to do everything Zach does?" Amber questioned in disbelief. "What if he did jump off of a bridge?"
"Then I would trust that he did his due diligence to make sure that the water was deep enough, that there were no rocks, and that he would execute the perfect entry that he could easily teach to others."
"I'm not following Zach off of a bridge. You can, if you want to."
"I will, provided that Zach jumps first."
"So not the time right now, guys," Victoria hissed through clenched teeth, resisting the urge to close her eyes as a rather impressive breeze hit the bridge. It seemed the weather was really against her today. The wind around the bridge seemed more powerful than it supposedly was and she could hear the "usually super lazy river" (Caroline's words, not hers) sound like it was auditioning to be the drummer for Metallica. White water rafters would do great in that river.
Kelly had driven up to the bridge a while back with some roadwork construction signs and passed some out to Pearl and Anna. The two eldest vampires set them up two miles out on each side of the river and crafted a re-route option for people still wanting to leave or enter Mystic Falls. She, in addition to doing that, did a quick patch up job on Victoria's thigh (which hurt like hell, but Lee and Lexi were able to keep her steady while the wound was being cauterized a little).
"Want to hear a beaver joke?"
"You really do have a thing for beavers," Lexi mumbled, heading over into the conversation. On hearing alone, it sounded like the grouping behind her was Amber, Lee, and Lexi. She knew that Kelly had gone back into town to try and help Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Damon, and Stefan handle the Gilbert watch situation, and Zach had gone off to bring Pearl and Anna back to the bridge to see if either of them knew something that would help.
"What does a French beaver call his dam -"
"- Literally no one cares, babe -"
"- Ma'dame," Lee finished.
It was so stupid and ridiculous and just so not the time that Victoria couldn't help but erupt into giggles, and that apparently set Amber off too, who was doing her darnedest to keep Victoria's panic regulated down to a mere hiccup.
"Ready for another hypothetical question?"
"Give it to me," Lexi answered, with Victoria quietly echoing, "I'm worth it" under her breath, because apparently, she was a Harmonizer for life.
"Hypothetically, if a big, bad witch were to roll into town and she casted a spell that turned all of us, aka the supernatural gents and gals and all their pals, into animals, what animal do you think each of us would be? My money is Lexi being a cougar."
"Only you think that way, babe," Lexi sighed, and it sounded like she was shaking her head.
Keeping her eyes fixed on a rather tall tree that laid on the edge of the horizon, Victoria licked her lips and added shakily, "T-Then you'd be a beaver."
"I can live with that."
"Stefan's a dog of some kind," Lexi interjected, humming quietly under her breath. "Does he have golden retriever energy?"
"They're too smiley, and Stefan just broods all the time," Amber mumbled quietly under her breath, though all other parties had supernatural hearing and could hear her regardless.
"Damon's definitely a big cat too," Lee sniffed. "Sugar? What do you think his cat would be?"
"Panther, maybe? Since it's all black and he literally doesn't own a single shirt with a shred of color," Victoria suggested. Trust Victoria: she had looked.
"Okay, I'm a beaver, Lexington's a cougar, and Damon's a panther. We all know that you'd be a bear, Sugar. My bet would be grizzly, cuz I've heard they're more motherly -"
"- Why would I be a bear -"
"- Mama Bear -"
"- Oh, yeah, you're right. Well then, Care would be a horse, because she really likes them, but she'd never admit it."
"Okay, we've almost got a whole zoo. Zach's an owl or an elephant, because they never forget things. Let's go owl. Doc, what kind of animal do you think you would be?"
"M-Maybe I would be the elephant?" Amber said. When there was a brief moment of silence, she added hurriedly, "I-I've heard that they are the most empathic species."
"Perfect! Glad I put Zach as an owl then. I'm putting Kelly down as an electric eel, cuz she's rather shocking -"
"- Then in that case, I'm claiming Pearl as a white peacock, because that woman radiates girl boss energy," Lexi chuckled. "Oh! And Anna can be one of those glasswinged butterflies that have transparent wings. They're good at blending into their surroundings."
"That leaves us with finalizing Stefan, Elena, and Bonnie. Oh! And Harper, Jenna, Jeremy, Alaric, and Ms. Gibbons."
"Bonnie's a black cat, just cause I think it would be cute," Victoria interjected. "And Elena's a husky because they're attention seekers."
The moment that those words came out of her mouth, Victoria immediately regretted them. She opened her mouth to apologize, but she heard a snort from Lee behind her as he said, "Can't argue with that. I'm still going to put Stefan as a golden retriever unless one of us can come up with something else...oh! Poodle! Stefan's a poodle!"
"Signed, sealed, delivered, amen!" Lexi agreed, laughing her head off. "Let's all be honest here: he can be a bit high-maintenance. I love the man, but still."
"Jenna would be one of those cute dogs with the droopy ears. A cocker spaniel."
"I'm making Jeremy a goldfish," Victoria blurted out.
Lexi made an interesting noise and asked, "Any specific reason?"
"No, I just think goldfish are cute."
"Alrighty then."
"Let's make Alaric a hawk because he's supposed to always be hunting," Lee mused. "That leaves us Harper and Ms. Gibbons."
"Ms. Gibbons is maybe a rhino?" Victoria threw out. "Cute and unsuspecting but will impale you if given the opportunity."
"One more: give me Harper."
"A penguin, because they're loyal."
"Ladies, we have ourselves a zoo."
Whoever's idea it was to have Lexi, Lee, and Amber staying behind with Victoria at the place that she feared most and had the most nightmares about deserved a raise. Immediately.
A loud ringing noise filled the air and Victoria had to jut out her arms and wave them frantically in order to keep herself from toppling over. She let out a very loud, very unladylike curse word as Lee clicked the phone and answered with a, "Sugar's balancing on a very scary wire, so please be courteous with your calls next time and send me a text first."
"Hand over the phone, Lee. I need to talk to Mama Bear.'
"Sugar, it's for you," Lee commented, carefully reaching out and placing the phone in Victoria's hand.
She nodded her head, thanking him without looking back (because that would have foresuredly sent her overboard), and put the phone up by her ear. "Hey, Damon."
Damon's voice softened significantly and he replied with a soothing, "Hey, Baby. Sorry I didn't call earlier."
"I was not in the headspace for a call earlier. Your timing is perfect, believe me," Victoria reassured him. "What's up?"
"Everyone figured that you knew already what happened at the school, but I thought it would be wise to call you."
"Kelly wasn't able to stop Isobel?" Victoria asked, wincing.
"Sort of. She wasn't able to stop Quarterback's arm from being crushed, but her lightning-medical expertise stopped the pain for a while. She and Lockwood are taking Donovan to the hospital as we speak."
"What about Jerebear?"
"He left to get a drink and we can't find him anywhere around the school. Special snowflake's in a tizzy about it."
"I can get someone to send Pearl and Anna back down to help you guys out."
"Just send Anna. We got Ms. Gibbons and Harper looking for him as we speak."
"I don't want to be that guy, but Harper..." Victoria began, not able to finish the sentence. In some way, she felt responsible that Harper's leg was no longer attached to his body. Reasonably, she knew that she didn't plant the bomb, so she couldn't take the blame, but it still made her heart heavy whenever she thought about it.
"Ms. Gibbons is with him. He'll be fine."
"Send them to Isobel's house, but only once Anna and Pearl get back to you," Victoria told him. "I don't know how old Frank and Cherie are, but they're old enough to be some pain in the ass, and Harper, Anna, and Pearl will all be older than Isobel to stop her from doing anything bad."
"On it. You gonna be good?"
"When am I not?"
"Don't make me answer that, Mama Bear. See you in a while, crocodile. Alive, and well."
"See you later, gator," Victoria replied and she hung up.
She hoped that day ended up with her alive and well.
If not...
At least she would get to see Henri again.
Caroline
Some people called Caroline obsessive.
Some said that she was like a heat-seeking missile: when she got a target, she did not back down.
Did those comments hurt?
Yeah, a little.
But hey, they weren't wrong.
"Absolutely not!" Damon growled, throwing his hands up into the air. "No, no, no. Did I mention no?"
They all (they all being Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Damon, Alaric, and Jenna, who was distraught about Jeremy but had been supposedly placated about that by Kelly) were standing in the Salvatore boarding house, all gathered around in the living room. Elena was looking at Damon with what Caroline could only qualify as her signature puppy dog eyes, but it seemed that Damon was one hundred percent immune to them.
Finally, somebody who is.
"Just hear me out," Elena pleaded, clasping her hands together.
"I'm not going to give the device to Isobel so she could give it to John who is going to turn it to kill me and half of our group," Damon snapped, pointing a finger rudely in Elena's face. "I like being a living dead person."
"But it'll be useless; Bonnie can take its power away."
"I don't trust her," Damon sniffed, shaking his head.
"You trusted me to help when we went to save Victoria and Stefan from the tomb vampires. What's so different about this?" Bonnie demanded, planting her hands on her hips. "I can remove the original spell."
"John and Isobel will never know!" Elena insisted.
"The last time I trusted a Bennett witch fully, I watched my Mama Bear bleeding to death in front of me just because she was the Immortalis," Damon spat, looking positively feral. "So apologies if I'm not exactly jumping at the opportunity to help out."
"Jeremy will die if we don't do anything!"
"Pearl, Anna, Harper, and Ms. Gibbons are on their way to help him, remember?" Caroline interjected calmly, trying her best to play the "Victoria" in their situation. Someone needed to be the mediator while she was gone. Granted, Jenna would have probably been the better option, but she was busy trying not to break down at the thought of her nephew getting terribly injured. "Pearl and Anna are no doubt triple the age of Isobel and her two freaks combined, if not more. Pearl could snap Isobel's neck before she could even blink."
"Are you even up for this?" Damon questioned, gesturing towards Bonnie. "I mean, no offense and all, but you're not Kelly LeBlanc and you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."
Bonnie bristled at the "no-offense" comment and stood up straighter, folding her arms across her chest. "I've been practicing."
"It's not dance lessons, honey."
"What's your favorite book?"
"Call of the Wild by Jack London," Caroline blurted out, and all eyes turned to her in disbelief, Damon's eyes the widest of them all. She blushed under their attention and scoffed, "What? I pay attention."
"Ten points to Hufflepuff, Blondie," Damon mused, sounding half-impressed.
Caroline scoffed again and rolled her eyes. "Bitch, please. I'm a Ravenclaw."
Damon rolled his eyes before stilling and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath. He turned towards Bonnie, ignoring the very obvious "Call of the Wild" book in the young witch's hands. "I will accept this ridiculous plan. On two conditions."
"What now?" Elena sighed, shaking her head.
"Kelly-Beans double-checks your work," Damon listed, popping up a finger to signal that that was his first condition. "Second," he popped up another finger, "Victoria looks over it too."
"Deal."
Do not let Bonnie double-cross them, Caroline echoed in her mind, distinctly hearing Victoria's words in her ears. Of that, Tori, you can be sure of.
Damon
It was dark and had been downpouring for the past hour.
But damn it all, Isobel had the watch now, which meant that Victoria was free from her compulsion.
Damon had all but ran the moment that Isobel's hands clung to the watch (certifiably given the greenlight by Kelly and, according to Lexi, who had run the watch back and forth from Victoria, Victoria, who more or less said, "I may have magic, but it works a little bit different than that. But it feels empty, so I'm hoping that's a good sign."). He left the others to go about their business and booked it like every step he took left a forest fire behind him. He was all animal, running back towards the one thing that mattered to him.
It took him longer than he would have liked, but he finally skidded to a stop at the foot of the Wickery Bridge. The scene in front of him made his heart drop, but he knew that it would all be fixed.
Soon.
Victoria stood on the edge of the bridge, literally balancing on the railing and looking anywhere but down. Lexi and Lee were standing behind Victoria on either side, with Amber standing right behind her, her hands outstretched and shaking. How long had she been trying to keep Victoria's panic down? Somebody probably should feed the young girl a sandwich.
Lexi was the first person to see him, since she had her body angled towards his side of the street. Her eyes widened, from what Damon could tell at such a far distance. "It's done?"
"It's done!" Damon shouted happily, starting to jog at a human pace towards them.
"Hear that, Sugar? We're all good to go!" Lee cheered, letting out a whoop of excitement. Even Amber, the little shy thing that she was, cracked a smile.
Victoria turned her head over her shoulder and smiled so strong and bright that Damon could feel his heart melt (not that he would even announce that to anyone who wasn't Victoria). The adult-turned-teen carefully turned around on the railing and reached a hand out for Lee...
...just as both of her feet slipped off of the wet concrete railing.
No one could move fast enough.
Victoria let out a panicked scream as her whole body disappeared from view.
She fell.
And Damon just reacted.
Without breaking a sweat, Damon shed off his leather jacket and made a mad dash for the edge of the railing, shouting, "Mama Bear!" He threw himself over the side of the bridge and placed his hands in the best diver's position that he could as he plummeted towards the surface of the rapid river. Victoria's body already made a splash as he jumped, but he did notice two other splashes coming from either side of the river just as he hit the water.
Even with his advanced eyesight, it was close to five percent visibility underneath the water. The heavy rain from above, mixed with the rushing current and loads of debris that just seemed to come out of nowhere, prevented Damon from seeing anything.
He allowed the current to push him farther downstream, but even that didn't help. Damon pulled himself to the surface and let out a growl as his head broke up into the air. About a handful of feet away, a soaked Zach popped his head out too. "Where did she go?"
"I can't find her!" Zach shouted, before he took a large breath and ducked back under the water.
One unfortunate side effect of eating all the human food that they did meant that all their bodily systems worked well. Which meant that their respiratory systems worked. Which meant that Damon had to hold his breath underwater while he was trying to find Victoria instead of being able to search under the water like a submarine, otherwise, he would drown.
Damon took in a large breath and submerged himself, continuing the search as his undead heart hammered in his chest.
He didn't know how long he and Zach repeated the process.
Look, surface, breathe, submerge, repeat.
Look, surface, breathe, submerge, repeat.
Look, surface, breathe, submerge, repeat.
It didn't matter.
Victoria was nowhere to be found.
Unknown
He grunted as he tightened his grip on the young woman, his arm wrapped like a bar of steel around her torso. With his free hand, he made long, purposeful strokes towards the shoreline, cursing the stupidity of not shedding his wool turtleneck before diving in after the drowning woman. He hadn't had time to think, in his defense. He just reacted. The moment that that terrified scream had left her throat, he was in the water, waiting to catch her.
The current had swept the two of them farther downstream than he had ever been in his youth, but he was confident he knew the way back into Mystic Falls from where they were located. Push came to shove, and he would just ask one of the twins for the way back. A blow to his ego? Sure, but it would mean that she was safe, and as long as she was safe, then he could deal with a little blow to his ego. He would regain it back somewhere else.
He hit the edge of the sharp shoreline and two pairs of arms shot out, meeting him halfway. One set of arms grabbed his, holding tightly to him with a cement-like grip, while the other pair grabbed the woman in his arms under her shoulders. The two worked like clockwork, extracting the duo from the river and onto the extremely damp shoreline.
He let out a rough cough, spitting out any excess water that had gotten into his throat when he wasn't paying attention. He looked towards the closest person, the one whose arms had helped him to the shoreline. "Thanks for the assist."
"Any time," Nicolette replied, her French accent creating an attractive lure to her words. Well, it would be attractive to anyone else who wasn't him. After all, the two of them were the same species. Their powers were a little more inclined to those...less like them. "Is she alive?"
"Right when she hit the water, I could feel something," he answered, sitting up. He resisted the urge to shiver. Such a shame, that the base level of his nature was to not feel the cold anymore, and yet, his upper level of his being forced him to feel too much. "I haven't checked again."
"Her heartbeat is steady," Noisette called out, the arms who had helped the young woman in his arms out of the water. "She is soaked, and there is traces of previous wounds, but they seem to be healing."
"Didn't think that was possible for the Immortalis," he commented, shaking his head out. His hair was longer than others (he thought he had heard the twins murmur once that it was "shaggy" and "dignified") and thus, he sprayed the girls with water as if he was a wet dog. The two deadly glares he got from each of the girls made him shrug an apology. "You have a camp set up nearby?"
"The moment we heard what was happening, we called you to watch her and went and got ready in case a situation like this ever happened," Nicolette explained. She pushed herself up off the ground (dressed in designers clothes that shouldn't have ever seen a ray of sunlight, let alone a torrential downpour) and held out a hand for him. He grabbed it in his own and allowed the French woman to pull him up.
"Camp is less than two minutes away," Noisette added, hoisting the young woman into her arms. The stunning redhead's head flopped onto Noisette's shoulder and Noisette looked down upon the woman with fondness. "She is shivering. She needs a change of clothes."
"Let's head out then," he suggested, grabbing the bottom of his soaked turtleneck. It was still drier than his face, so he used it to wipe up any trace of rain and general dirt that had gotten onto him. "I need to get changed."
The trio (plus the unconscious woman) set out at a quick pace, making good distance in the limited amount of time that they had available to them. They had maybe ten minutes (and that was a very weak maybe) before news of the Immortalis' disappearance would reach them, and once it reached them, they might as well be screwed. Noisette and Nicolette had to be back before then, so no one would be the wiser.
They came upon a singular tent, canvas, held up by sturdy poles, and about the size of an average living room. Nicolette reached the tent first and opened it up, holding the flaps open for him and her sister (and passenger) to come through.
The first thing he did was make a beeline for the familiar trunk of his that laid on the closest cot. He dropped to a crouch beside the cot and ran his finger across the beautiful detailing on the latch of the suitcase.
TAS.
Yeah. He hadn't been that man in a while, but now was not the time for sentimentality.
He flipped open the trunk and grabbed a clean pair of underwear, socks, a thermal long-sleeved shirt, and sweatpants. He stripped right there, knowing that Noisette and Nicolette were too busy with changing their guest to pay attention to him. Once he was all dressed, he grabbed a piece of jewelry out of the corner of his trunk and slipped it over his neck. A simple metal chain with an oversized ring looped on with a rock almost as blue as his eyes were.
Maybe now was the time for sentimentality.
He turned back to the girls and found that their guest was all changed, now dressed in a similar fashion to him with a thermal shirt and sweatpants that barely fit her (Nicolette and Noisette were very tall and had the legs of a giraffe; this woman was tall, true, but not that tall). He quickly donned some slippers that one of the twins had left out for him and approached the trio.
"Did you check her?" he asked Noisette, as she had been the woman closest to their passenger. Noisette nodded and he continued, "Give me the details."
"It seems to be a self-defense mechanism," Noisette explained, reaching forward to touch the back of her hand to the woman's forehead. "Not one that is utilized often. I tried to enter her mind, to see what her dreams are made of. I was met by a woman I didn't recognize; she said, in short, that she had placed her into a coma to protect her. It was the only way to heal her without allowing her to die."
"Okay," he drawled, raising an eyebrow. He folded his arms across his chest and stared down at their recovering patient. "So how long until she wakes up? They need her out there, and if you-know-who finds out that she's like this, we're going to have more than just a bunch of small-town vampires after us."
"The woman in her mind said only until morning or late afternoon tomorrow."
"That's good," he confessed, feeling a weight of relief off of his chest. "What's our time looking like?"
"We got five minutes before I strongly recommend we disappear like we were never here," Nicolette said, glancing down at a way-too-fashionable designer watch that made him wonder why the hell she was wearing it in the forest.
"Okay, we'll head out in three and make for the hospital," he decided, nodding his head. "You two ready to play the 'twins who were hiking and found a half-dead person' role?"
"We have played it before," Noisette sniffed. She paused and looked up towards him for a second, her studious eyes looking deep into his. "Would you like a moment with her?"
He gave Noisette a look and she matched him with one of her own. "This is the second time you have saved her this way. Perhaps a few words will help encourage her recovery."
"Noisette and I shall start packing," Nicolette announced, reaching across and grabbing her sister. The two girls left and went about in a hurry, packing up trunks and breaking down cots.
Which left him.
And her.
He approached the cot cautiously, as if the woman in a coma on it could jump and attack him at any moment. He dropped down onto the ground beside the cot, angled so he was looking towards her sleeping face.
Tentatively, he reached out and placed a scarred hand onto the young woman's cheek. The woman in question let out a large breath when his hand touched her face, and just the overwhelming sense of relief that he could feel from her calmed him down too.
"Hello again," he muttered, careful to keep his words light enough that the young woman would hear while still keeping his conversation private from the twins. "I was rather hoping that the two of us wouldn't meet again like this, I confess. I have worked rather hard to make sure that your life here is nice. Nicer than my life here was, at any rate." He let out a large breath as he gazed down at her. "Look at the person that you're becoming, Victoria. My brother would be so proud of you; if he knew he was supposed to be proud. I hope you'll forgive my language, but I won't ever forgive that bitch you have for a mother for what she did to my baby brother. You were the best thing to ever happen in his life, and she just erased all of that." He grunted and shook his head. "I'm getting sidetracked. Sorry. I guess, what I want to say, is by any rate, I'm proud of you. You've wowed me at every step of your journey. And I'm saying that to Victoria Vanacore, as well as Victoria LeBlanc, and whatever woman in your mind you have going on there. You ladies will be unstoppable one day. We can make a bet, but I assure you, I will win."
"Allister, we have to go, now," Noisette warned him.
He sighed, but agreed. It was time for them to depart. The twins had to be back before anyone noticed that they were gone, and they had to sell the half-dead found person routine too.
Allister leaned forward and gently kissed Victoria's forehead. He pulled himself back and let out a grin when he saw the corners of Victoria's mouth poke up. "Let's get you all better, oh-niece-of-mine. We'll meet each other when you're alive and awake. Soon."
A/N: I'm back! Now, Imma be honest, I was going to kill Victoria again in this chapter because I wanted her healed for the finale, but I managed to find a way around that (which is weird for me to say, since I'm the creator and I have to find a loophole for my own work). We get Datoria fluff, we get some weird Lee antics (which I looooove to write). And who is this mysterious man? So mysterious. XD. Any guesses at who he could be?
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Onto reviews!:
KEZZ 1: Thank you!
DBZFAN45: I do love to tease all of you. Your reactions make it sooooo worth it! I will reveal that we will have more insight about Lady Victory in Season 2 (we're soo close!) Oh yeah, everyone can see it but Tori. She's special like that. I will reveal something about a future Katherine and Victoria friendship, and that is Katherine isn't upset that Victoria is close to Damon. You'll understand more why in Season 2. Sara Lance is a good character. I loved Captain Canary, though it was only for one season.
Elyse1821: He called her Baby in the first Isobel chapter. I was wondering why you didn't catch that XD. Oh yeah, I feel like Elijah will be protective of Victoria as well. Noble has a big part in the Season 1 Finale, so you'll see him again soon. That's good to hear! I'm trying to not make her Elena, to be short. I really don't like Elena's character development (to be clear, I think Nina Dobrev is an A-MAZ-ING actress. I just think that the writers made Elena have too much Main Character Syndrome).
Child Of Dreams: I mentioned this above, but Noble plays a major role in the Season 1 Finale, so stay tuned!
BrookeWorm3: This is for you; I found a loophole just this once for you to keep my promise that Victoria wouldn't die again in Season 1. Be forewarned, though: she will have deaths in upcoming seasons that I will not change, so get your comfort pillows ready!
Azera-v: Awwww thank you!
Guest: Your vote has been added, thank you!
I mentioned this in my author's note previously, but if you have an Instagram, I'll be posting fun content up there that y'all can look at, such as fanmade videos or Incorrect Immortalis Quotes. Love to see y'all there!
Until next time,
Stay healthy and stay safe!
BecomingFearless1F