Founder's Day - Part 1

Victoria cried out as she crashed into the water. 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.

"Tori!"

She was scared.

"Victoria!"

A more definite darkness was settling in around the corners of her eyes and 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 slowly beginning to drift off to a close. The river naturally coaxed Victoria's head up, so she was staring up at the night sky. The stars were out in numbers that night; each star paired with another in a beautiful showmanship of creation and splendor. They shone brightly down upon her gaze and Victoria found herself reaching towards the stars, as if they could save her from her watery grave.

"TORI!"

Victoria's eyes flashed open and it was only through her fast reflexes that she didn't straight up try to breathe in air. She couldn't see much; there was too much debris in the river and everything was dark. There was a strong arm around her waist, keeping her cemented to a strong body as the current swept the two of them farther and farther away from the bridge. Where were those voices coming from...?

Victoria's head flopped one way and she spotted the little handheld mirror that Caroline had given her on her way to the bridge. It bobbed along with Victoria and the stranger who held her. It stayed upright, somehow, and the mirror was open. Through the vile floating debris, Victoria thought she could make out the blurry pictures of Vicki and Henri.

And Henri? Henri didn't appear in mirrors. That wasn't his thing.

"Tori, listen to me!" Vicki was shouting, her voice like a pounding drum in Victoria's already drumming mind. "I can save you, I can heal you, without you having to die, but I don't know what will happen if I do. You might end up in a coma because of this and I can't confirm when you're going to wake up. I want to say by tomorrow, but it could be longer. Maybe even a month. I need your consent to do this."

What? Vicki could heal her? Since when was that possible?

Vicki let out an agitated growl of frustration. "Now is not the time, Tori! I need your consent! Can I heal you and damn the consequences?"

It was getting hard to breathe.

At this point, anything was better than dying again.

Victoria gave Vicki the strongest nod she could (albeit, it wasn't that strong) and allowed herself to slip into unconsciousness once more.

One week.

Well, to be more correct, it would be officially one week in a few hours, but that was of little matter to Damon.

One whole, frustrating, hair-pulling week since Victoria had been brought to the hospital by two mysterious French twin hikers (it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell Damon that those two hikers were probably the Ette twins that had shown up with Noble to help save Victoria from the tomb vampires). One whole week since Victoria had fallen off the Wickery Bridge and been brought to the hospital only for the doctors to tell the very full waiting room that she was in another coma.

The doctor put in charge of Victoria's case was named Jeremiah Nicholson (the same doctor who had been really rude towards Kelly-Beans before Stefan pulled out the compulsion card and made the good doctor want to strive for redemption in the medical field). He concluded that the coma was Victoria's mind's way of keeping herself protected, given her past history of PTSD when it came to large bodies of water (or small bodies; Damon did notice that Victoria only took showers...that sounded better in his mind). There was no reasonable way to determine when Victoria would wake up. Victoria had to want to wake up.

Nobody took that news well.

Dr. Nicholson didn't even bother telling them that only two could be in the room with her at the same time. They had moved Victoria to a more spacious room and everyone had come and piled in, on the condition that they would leave the room like it was on fire when the doctors needed to come in and do work. The first night, everyone spent the night.

Caroline and Bonnie had slept on the other available hospital bed, cuddling close to each other for comfort. Elena had been on the floor right by that bed, lying up against the wall with Stefan sitting right next to her, his arm around her shoulders and holding her close to his chest. His lips had been pressed tightly against her head and Stefan had looked like he was struggling to keep it together.

If Stefan had been struggling to keep it together, Zach had not been keeping it together at all. The only reason why he had stopped pacing the room was because Pearl had gotten sick of him moving. She had jumped up, grabbed his hand, and yanked him down against the wall with her. Zach had just gone along with it, but the look of his haunted eyes might not leave Damon's brain for a while. Anna was seated on Pearl's other side and held her other hand, while Jeremy Gilbert held tightly to Anna's hand, giving the back of her hand the occasional kiss.

At the foot of Caroline and Bonnie's bed had sat Carol Lockwood, dressed in satin sleep shorts and a tank top and a long dressing gown. The dark lines underneath her eyes were impressive and she had her hands clasped together. Tears had stained her cheeks and her shoulders had shook with silent sobs and quiet prayers. Alaric had sat on the side of bed with the girls, angled towards Victoria's bed. Jenna had been sitting on his other side, already passed out from pure exhaustion and the amount of tears that she had shed.

On the wall across from Victoria's bed had been Matt Donovan and Tyler Lockwood. The two, for that night, seemed to put their differences aside as they worried about their friend. Damon had been grateful, nonetheless. The last thing he had wanted was to throw them out for disturbing everyone else.

At the foot of Victoria's bed, Lee, Lexi, and Amber had taken up residence. Lee had seated himself in the middle and had wrapped an arm around both Lexi and Amber. The two girls had cuddled close to Lee's chest and Lee had whispered things to Amber in a soothing tone, but Damon did notice the way that his voice had cracked as he had tried to reassure Amber that everything would work out.

Harper, since the hospital had been so kind as to gift him some crutches once they realized he was disabled and without a pair, had been seated in one of the chairs. He had been by the door, next to Tyler and Matt, and Ms. Gibbons had sat down at his feet, resting her head against his legs.

In the two chairs beside Victoria had sat Kelly and Damon.

They weren't going to leave her.

Not now.

Not ever.

As the week progressed, the room got more and more spacious as others left. Carol Lockwood left, having to prepare for the Founder's Day Celebration in the coming days. She promised to only call Caroline if she absolutely needed to be there; otherwise, she was free to stay with Victoria. She even managed to persuade the schools to not give anybody school for the week. Carol said that Mayor Lockwood had swung it more as a "to celebrate the Founder's Day Celebration by relaxing" while, in reality, it was more due to the fact that even he was worried about Victoria's condition.

Sheriff Forbes had come in the next day, needing to know the details of how Victoria had ended up in the river. Damon had taken the Sheriff outside of the room (though it pained him to have Victoria out of his line of sight) and told her a half-truth: that there had been a new vampire who had compelled her to jump off and drown herself. The vampire had been dealt with (not). The Sheriff accepted it and made Damon promise to keep an eye on Caroline. She had said that she couldn't stop her duties as Sheriff to watch over her daughter, but she would be damned if she didn't get somebody else to help out. Damon agreed, of course. The little Blondie had been growing on him.

Alaric had managed to get Jenna, Jeremy, and Elena out of the room on day two. Both Gilbert kids looked exhausted and Elena looked pale, like she hadn't eaten in a while. Anna had gone with them too, hugging Jeremy and comforting him and telling him that everything would be okay. Ms. Gibbons left too, taking Harper with her (given the extensive damage on Harper's leg, phantom pains were now a thing of the present and gave him hell). Bonnie got taken home by Tyler and Matt, though Matt insisted he would come back once he had slept enough. "She was there for Vicki through days and days of utter pain. The least I can do is the same."

That left Kelly, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Zach, Pearl, Lexi, Lee, and Amber. Lee had tried to get Amber to leave too on day three, but the moment that she had stood up, she had nearly passed out. Lee took her to the extra bed and ordered her to sleep. Pearl had gotten up at that point and gotten onto the bed, taking the young Empath into her arms. The two were asleep almost instantly.

By day six (day seven in just a few hours), the group had dropped to Kelly, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Zach, Lexi, and Lee. Pearl had more or less stolen Amber by day four, insisting that a growing girl needed to sleep in an actual bed with food at the ready. She had driven Amber back home before going to the Gilbert household to be with her own daughter.

Damon was still sitting in the same chair, but across from him this time was Stefan, not Kelly. Kelly was passed out on the cot next to them, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. She had lasted quite a long time without sleep before her body finally betrayed her.

"I can't believe that this is how they felt."

Damon blinked, it taking him much longer than usual to register that his younger brother was speaking to him. Damon looked up towards Stefan, who was watching Victoria with a guarded expression in his eyes. That was a Stefan expression that Damon was all-too-familiar with.

"How who felt?" Damon rasped, his voice feeling tight and scratchy. It had been a while since he had last talked. Since anybody in that room had last talked. Most of them had decided unanimously that speaking was outlawed except for whispers. They were acting like Victoria was simply asleep, and if they were too loud, they would wake up.

Maybe Damon should play some heavy metal music.

"Them," Stefan sniffed, gesturing towards Caroline and Kelly. Caroline was draped across Lee's lap and she had her legs propped up onto Zach's legs. Zach was sleeping with his head on Lexi's, and Lexi was hugging Caroline's legs like they were her personal sleep buddy. Lee was barely awake, but he did keep a watchful eye on the door. "Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, Kelly, Carol, Sheriff Forbes...Vicki."

Damon's hands squeezed into fists at the thought of the spunky teenager that had died all too soon. So much of this tragic heartache, he believed full-heartedly, would have passed if that girl hadn't been killed.

Stefan continued, unaware of Damon's inner turmoil. "Four months, Damon. They had to wait four months before they got a trace of Victoria, and even then, she wasn't the same Victoria."

"Watch where you're going with this thought, Brother," Damon growled, narrowing his eyes at Stefan.

Stefan didn't seem to have the energy to argue with him, but he did manage an eyeroll. Damon was impressed. If he tried an eyeroll at the way he was feeling, he probably would pass out from exhaustion. Everyone else may have slept, but Damon was pushing the entire week of constantly being awake. It made a man tired.

"I'm just saying this: what happens when Victoria wakes up? Is she going to be our Victoria, the Wanderer? Or will she be Victoria, the one who grew up in Mystic Falls for her entire life? Or what if she's a completely different Victoria from a completely different place?"

"We'll cross that road when we get to it," Damon grunted, reaching out onto the bed to grab Victoria's hand. He brought her knuckles up to his lips and gave it a hard kiss before he set her hand back down onto the bed. "And then we'll get our Victoria back."

"But Damon -"

"- But Damon nothing," Damon interrupted, giving Stefan a glare. "You can think of the possibilities. You can determine the likelihoods of each of your suggestions, and you can share those thoughts with yourself. Right now, Mama Bear is in a coma and I don't want to think about the next steps except that she wakes up and that she is okay."

A tapping on her shoulder. The feeling of lightness and cloudiness dropping just a notch, but not fading away completely. Not yet, at least.

"Is it time?"

"Just about. Henri asked that I get you ready."

"What's going to happen? How long has it been?"

"To you, it hopefully had only been a short while. In reality, it has been...a while. Not a month, but still not...great."

"Oh."

"Yeah. When you wake up, you're not going to understand what's happening to you. It's going to feel like when you wake back up from being dead, but a lot more disorientating. Friends may be enemies. Don't use your magic. I'll be watching you and trying to keep you under control. Since Isobel still has your anklet, we're going to need to be careful of your powers until Kelly can whip you up a new one or one of the vamps can get it back."

"W-What am I supposed to do? How do I can myself orientated?"

"Find your safe spot in the real world. The one place where you feel completely, undoubtedly safe. No other place is going to work. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm sending you in now. Remember, no magic, find your safe place."

"No magic. Find the safe space."

"Good luck, Tori."

"Thanks, Vicki."

And Victoria's vision turned white as two, panicked-induced words filled her mind:

GET OUT.

"What the hell do you mean she's not in her room?" Damon demanded, stomping up to Dr. Nicholson. "Where the hell is she?"

"From what we can tell, she's still in the building," Dr. Nicholson said, trying to reassure Damon, but the Civil War vampire was too far gone to be simply "reassured". "We have the hospital on lockdown and every available security guard is searching for her right now."

"The one time we leave her alone in her room and she flies the coop," Damon growled, swearing angrily under his breath in Italian. "Your security guards have walkie-talkies on them?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you have one that connects with them?"

"Yes, and again, why -?"

Damon didn't even let him finish before he just grabbed the walkie-talkie and turned towards the rest of the vampires (and witch and human) who were glaring at Dr. Nicholson like he had just committed a war crime. "Split up and start sweeping the levels of the hospital. If you find anything, bring her back to her room and call me."

He then turned and started to human-sprint down the hallway, allowing his other senses to try and lure him to Victoria.

Which, and this was coming from a natural predator, should have been easy. Victoria literally smelled like ambrosia most of the time. However, this time there was no smell of ambrosia anywhere. In fact, it smelled more like a literal translation of death then it did life in the hospital. Damon started off the beginning of his hunt as the entrance to her room, taking several deep breaths in through his nose so he could solidify the scent in his brain. Once that was done, Damon flipped around and ran, keeping his speed down so as to not draw attention from the hospital staff. He still kept it fast enough that he did get the occasional, "Whoa, slow down there, Usain Bolt!" as he dashed past nurses and doctors.

The scent trail took him all over the hospital. First, from the floor her room was situated on, then up three levels to the one that Lee was hunting through. Her scent dodged and weaved between the rooms before talking the far stairwell back down to the ground level with Caroline. Caroline had been the one to point out a faint trailing of blood up another set of stairs and a sniff from Damon confirmed that it was Victoria's; probably from when she had violently ripped off the IV from her arm.

Damon followed the faint blood trail back to the original floor he had started his quest off on. Stefan was searching that floor, but he was on the opposite side of where the scent was leading to (the blood as well; Damon was kind of proud that his brother hadn't gotten on all fours to lick it up. Not only would that have been embarrassing as hell, but he also would be dead). Damon slowed his running, gently transitioning into a walk so as to not startle Victoria, wherever the heck she was.

He paused when he got outside of a supply closet. Not only did the blood trail lead into the closest, but the distinct smell of death was so rancid and full that Damon actually coughed. He heard a startle 'meep' (literally, the word 'meep' had been uttered from somebody's mouth) from inside of the closest and Damon crouched down, whispering, "Mama Bear?"

There was a distinct silence from inside the closet and Damon strained his ears to try and pick up a heartbeat...there it was. Confirmation that someone was in the closet, but Damon hadn't been so obsessed with Victoria that he had her heartbeat memorized...

...yet.

"Mama Bear? Are you in there?" Damon asked again, shuffling forward silently to rest his hand on the door. There wasn't another sound, and Damon grimaced. He didn't have forever to be stalling on her, no matter how much he wanted to. She needed rest. "Victoria, I'm going to come in. Is that okay?" Again, no response. Damon finally let out a frustrated sigh. "Baby, you're killing me. Can I come in, please?"

"B-Baby?" came a stammered reply from inside. The voice may be croaky and the voice may be unused in way too long, but it was still her voice nonetheless and it shot a bolt of pleasure and relief down Damon's body.

"Yeah, Baby, it's me, Damon," Damon said again, noting the reaction he got from calling her 'Baby'. The first time it had slipped out of his mouth, while he was comforting her as her mother performed lightning surgery on her, hadn't been intentional, but damn it all to hell, he wasn't able to stop calling her that. "Can I come in?"

"Scared," she feebly mumbled.

"I know you're scared. I'm scared too, Baby, but we can both be scared together. I know how much you like hugs."

"Hugs?"

"Yeah, hugs. Will you let me come in and hug you?"

There was a tiny noise, something between a grunt and a weakened moan, and Damon took that as a good sign.

He reached up and quickly twisted the knob of the door, pulling it open. Without waiting, he shuffled inside and closed the door again.

He had to say, for a supply closet, it was rather roomy. He could easily sit down and not touch Victoria at all, and there was just enough light filtering in from under the door that with his enhanced eyesight, he could see her clearly.

She seemed fine, if that was even a term he could use for her. Of course, she was pale, thinner from only getting nutrients through an IV, her hair, though Kelly and Caroline had taken turns washing it, still looked greasy, and she was dressed in a hospital gown, and no one, literally no one, could make that look flattering.

The moment that Damon sat down, Victoria was crawling towards him like a scared kitten. He stretched out his legs and watched as she crawled over them, coming closer and closer to sit in his embrace. Don't think bad thoughts, Damon. Don't think bad thoughts. Not right now.

Victoria straddled him, wrapped her arms tightly around his torso, and hid her face inside of his neck. Damon brought his legs up and trapped her from escaping, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her chest pressed up against his. The silent sobs from Victoria started up and all Damon could do was hold her and card his fingers through her hair, gently shushing her and cooing and saying mindless, mind-numbing platitudes that he knew weren't helping her feel better in the slightest.

"Time."

"What was that?" Damon asked, not entirely catching the context behind the one little word.

Victoria didn't move her head from Damon's neck, and when she spoke, her lips brushed up on the juncture where Damon's shoulder and his neck met. Hot damn, is this what she feels like? She would've made a good vampire. Seems she has a thing for necks too. "T-There's no perception of time in a coma."

"Is that so?" was all Damon could muster. Part of him didn't want to hear anything. Didn't want to know what she felt like in what had to be the second worst week of Hell she had ever experienced (the first being when Vicki had kidnapped her).

"To some, it feels like entire lifetimes pass when they've only been asleep for two days," Victoria continued, her voice sounding stronger but still terrified. "Others, they are in a coma, to them, for only a single blink of an eye before learning once they wake up that they've been out of it for seven years." She sucked in a raspy breath and Damon's grip tightened on her. "H-How long was I gone?"

"Six days," Damon explained gently, rubbing her back when a heartbroken gasp came from her mouth. "Supposed twin hikers found you and brought you to the hospital. Granted, these twins were French and had legs for days and undoubtedly worked for Noble."

"T-The Founder's Day P-Parade?"

"According to Elena who called Stefan last night, Caroline has about nine hours before she's supposed to start getting ready for the parade."

"S-She's here?"

"Everyone, and I do mean everyone, stayed the night your first night. Folks got up out of bed and drove in a panic to the station to be with you, kind of everyone. Now, it's gotten down to the originals: me, Stef, Zach, Kelly, Caroline, Lexi, and Lee. Speaking of which, I need to call them."

"Thank heavens," Victoria breathed, and her body sagged a little in Damon's grip...which meant that her body began to contour more to Damon's and he was having a very hard time trying to keep his grip...ahem, polite. "I-I thought I missed it."

"You were worried about missing a parade?"

"Season finale, Damon," Victoria murmured, weakling pinching his back with two of her fingers. "As of tomorrow, I will have been in Mystic Falls for the entirety of Season 1. I have graced, in some aspect, every single episode."

"Shit, that was all for one season? It's been a little more than six months and that was just Season 1?" Damon grunted, hardly believing his ears. "How many seasons were in this show again?"

"Not including the spin-offs? Eight."

"And with all spin-offs included?"

"Seventeen."

"Shit."

"Yeah," Victoria murmured. She quieted down, still clinging to Damon but noticeably not as hard or as frantic as before. Then quietly, she muttered, "It's strange."

"What, Baby?"

A shiver raced down Victoria's spine (Damon could feel it on his fingertips) and a sense of satisfaction descended on Damon. "V-Vicki said that I would only come out of my panic when I got to my safe space, the one spot I feel utterly, and truly safe. Never thought it'd be a supply closet. Maybe I'm just feeling weird."

Oh, my ridiculously ignorant Mama Bear, Damon breathed, not replying to Victoria but simply giving her head a kiss. It wasn't the supply closet.

"No!"

"Caroline, you're being ridiculous."

"You were in a coma for six days, Victoria!" Caroline shouted, her eyes wild with fury and her perfectly curled hair bouncing as she marched towards Victoria. She was already dressed in her Civil War attire, and if she didn't look ready to pounce on Victoria, the adult-turned-teen would have told her that she looked amazing. The yellow color really brought out the blonde in her hair. Caroline pointed to the couch within the Salvatore boarding house and narrowed her eyes at Victoria. "You are not participating in the parade. In fact, you are going to sit there and not move for the entire day. Maybe take a nap, I don't freaking care! But you are going to rest."

"This is a little over-the-top, don't you think?"

"You almost drowned again, Victoria!" Caroline screamed, shaking her head. "You only survived and miraculously healed because Vicki and Henri apparently are willing to bend over backwards to save you from that. I, however, am only human and this is the best that I can do. Sit. Down."

"No."

"You are being a total bitch right now!"

"Caroline, the purpose of putting me into a coma was to make me okay again," Victoria sighed, shaking her head. She folded her arms across her chest and cocked her hip as she got ready to fight. "I feel better than I have in months! Isn't that supposed to mean something?"

"Damon Salvatore, you get down here and tell Victoria that she's being a bitch!" Caroline shouted into the void, angling her head towards the stairs so her voice would reach the upstairs.

Victoria didn't bother to turn around, but she did hear Damon's footsteps as she reached the landing where they all knew Caroline would be able to hear him. "You know I'm not going to do that."

"No, because everyone freaking loves Victoria!" Caroline growled in frustration.

Victoria couldn't help but frown and she took a step forward towards Caroline. "Hey, Care-Bear? What's this really about? You seem really...stressed. Did something happen with Mrs. Lockwood or maybe -?"

"- You almost died, Victoria, and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it!" Caroline screeched, and her eyes started to water. She sniffed and aggressively wiped the tears away with her fingers, trying to not smudge her makeup. "There isn't anything I can ever do to stop it, and it kills me. It destroys me knowing that you could die right in front of my eyes and I would just be helpless to do anything!"

Victoria softened at that and she held her arms open. As soon as the invite was extended, Caroline was crashing into her, ducking her head into the crook of Victoria's neck as the teenager tried to keep her cries at bay. Victoria murmured softly, "I'm sorry. I...I am being a bitch. I didn't stop to think what all of this must be like for you, and you had to go through this twice. I don't mean to worry you and I'm sorry to put you through all of that and act like it means nothing. It doesn't mean nothing; it means something and it obviously meant something to you. I'm...I'm really sorry, Care-Bear."

"S'Okay," came the mumbled reply from her shoulder.

Victoria shook her head. "No, it's not okay." She gently pulled Caroline back and used her thumb to brush the tears out of Caroline's face. "I'm sorry. From a Wanderer's perspective, I need to be at the parade today. I-I think everything's going to be okay, but I really feel the need to go out today. Just to be safe."

"Okay."

"Okay," Victoria agreed, before she narrowed her gaze quizzically. A thought popped into her head and she gave a little sniff to confirm her suspicions. Her gaze on Caroline softened and she gently pinched one of her cheeks. "That time of the month, huh?"

"Yes!" Caroline moaned, flopping her head onto Victoria's shoulder again. Damon appeared in the doorway to the living room, right behind Caroline, holding a small bag of chocolates. Victoria sent him the most appreciative look that she could manage and he gave her that signature smirk of his and set the bag down on one of the hallway tables. Victoria rubbed Caroline's shoulders soothingly as the teenager continued to bemoan, "It came on like, your fourth day in the hospital and I am just sooooo irritated and my stomach hurts from the cramps and I yelled at Lee yesterday when he tried to be helpful because of my stupid hormones and now I feel bad and I'm worried about you -"

"- So not good, huh?" Victoria interrupted.

"Yeah, not so good."

"Well, it seems that you have a little fairy godfather who knows that you're having a tough time right now," Victoria began, pulling Caroline back gently. She turned the teenager around and pointed to the bag of chocolates that Damon had left on the table. "Bag of chocolates for our Miss Mystic Falls from one Mr. Damon Salvatore. Be sure to wear a jacket so you don't get chocolate all over your beautiful yellow dress."

"Damon!" Caroline shouted into the void of the upstairs, where Damon had snuck off to to get ready for the day. "You're my favorite Salvatore! Don't tell Stefan or Zach!"

"I won't!" came Damon's cheerful reply as Stefan sighed in exasperation from his bedroom, "I'm right here, Caroline!"

"Vee-Bee! If you've managed to convince Caroline to let you out of jail for the day, this dress won't put itself on!" Lexi shouted from where she was stationed in the red room (though Damon had insisted that Victoria should just call it her room. No one else was allowed to sleep in there besides her).

"I've got to go and get that dress on," Victoria groaned, shaking her head. She looked towards Caroline, who already had her hand deep in the chocolate. "Are we good now?"

"We good," Caroline grunted through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Cool. I'll see you in a little bit."

Victoria turned and dashed upstairs, narrowly avoiding running headfirst into Zach, who was running to grab the nearest bathroom before Damon "Bathroom Hog" Salvatore got to it first (Stefan's words, not hers). She slipped into "her room" and saw that Lexi was set up and ready to help Victoria into her dress. Victoria shut the door to the room behind her and locked it, just to make sure that no pesky boy (read: Damon) tried to get in before she was done changing.

"Thanks again for helping me, Lexi," Victoria said, expressing her thanks to the vampiress. "I know it's really last minute and everything."

"We can chat while you strip, Vee-Bee," Lexi sniffed, giving her a gentle snap of her fingers. "We need to get you all ready for the ball."

Victoria laughed, but quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the ballgown that Lexi had managed to procure for her. It was a deep red dress, just slightly lighter than the color of blood. There were beautiful black patterns accenting the folds of the dress and the neckline cut across in a way that was much more flattering on Victoria than she thought it would be. She really, really liked it!...

...Until Lexi turned Victoria around so she was facing the bed and started on the corset and all of Victoria's happy go-lucky thoughts about the dress and Lexi vanished.

"Dishonor on you and all your children, Alexia Branson!" Victoria swore as Lexi gave an unnecessarily hard tug on the corset strings. "May you burn in hell for your disgrace upon this community!"

"Suck it in, Vee-Bee," Lexi said in a way-too-cheerful voice, giving Victoria another tug as more curses fell from her lips. Lexi did something with the strings because then she said, "Be right back for the finishing touches in a few minutes!"

"Yeah, like slaughtering me?" Victoria wheezed as she heard the door behind her click open and then shut.

It was maybe a minute of her clutching to the end of her bed, wheezing, before she heard the door to her room open again. Victoria placed a hand on her side and managed to squeak, "Damon, you have to save me. Lexi is trying to kill me in this dress."

"Or perhaps she is simply trying to kill the male populace. You do look rather ravishing."

The rest of the breath in Victoria's lungs vanished as she flipped around and gleefully shouted, "Noble!"

She vaulted across the room and threw herself into her beau's arms. His deep throaty chuckle sounded like music to her ears as he easily caught her, swinging her around in a circle as she giggled. Once they were done spinning, Noble set her down and caressed her cheek softly before pulling her in close to kiss her. Victoria hummed happily and brought her hands up to grab the lapels of his suit jacket, holding him tight against her. It had only been a week but to her, it felt like an entirety since she had last seen him.

"Hello, my dear," Noble purred, his voice low and his Scottish accent just positively tickling Victoria. "I apologize that I could not come sooner."

"You came," Victoria breathed, standing up on her tiptoes to rub her nose against his mask-clad one. "That's all I care about."

"I would not miss this day with you for the world," Noble mused, dipping down to kiss her again. When he pulled back, he gave her a Cheshire Cat grin. "Ms. Branson's dress looks stunning on you."

"This is Lexi's?" Victoria gasped, pulling back to look down at the dress she was wearing in awe. "I was wondering how she managed to get something so late in the game that would actually fit me!"

"I may or may not have helped in that category," Noble let slide, smoothly setting Victoria's hand up onto his shoulder. He slid her other one into his hand and led Victoria into gently swaying from side to side in the essence of a slow dance. "Again, I may have managed to locate said dress at her storage facility and persuaded her to allow me a few minutes alone with you."

"Did she call you?"

"Damon, actually."

"Really?" Victoria gasped, pulling back slightly to look up at Noble in disbelief. Noble's red curls bobbed as he chuckled under his breath at Victoria's disbelief. Her cheeks colored and she swallowed awkwardly. "Sorry, it's just...you and Damon haven't been best of friends most of the time."

"While that is true, he cares immensely about you and he wanted you to have a slice of something familiar before something he claimed was the 'Season One Finale'?"

"He's awesome like that," Victoria smiled warmly, laughing. "And that finale bit isn't important. Are you going to be at the parade?"

"In the shadows," Noble confirmed, giving Victoria a gentle twirl. The way that skirt was made her twirl feel much bigger than it was and it felt as though she had been transported out of the boarding house and into a dance hall. "I do not suspect people will be relaxed with a mysterious stranger in a mask outside in broad daylight."

"They'd probably be more creeped out if you wore it at night," Victoria countered, grinning cheekily. "So, you just bribed Lexi to let you in while she was getting me ready so you could be in my amazing presence?"

"Yes," Noble murmured, kissing her forehead. "And because I have something for you."

"Ooooh. Color me excited," Victoria laughed as Noble released her from his arms so he could reach into his pockets. He retrieved two items, one that came in a beautiful box that looked rather like a ring box and another that was small enough to be hidden in his fist. "Do I get to pick which one first?"

"Unfortunately not," Noble said, shaking his head. "These items both, theoretically, already belong to you. I am just returning them." He gave no other explanation and simply held out the fisted hand towards her.

Victoria raised an eyebrow skeptically, but figured that since Noble hadn't led her astray yet, it wasn't like he had a spider in his hand. She held hers out hesitantly, nonetheless, and Noble rested his hand in hers. He gently unfolded his fingers until the item dropped into her palm, and Victoria's eyes widened in disbelief as a familiar weight rolled in her hand.

"My anklet!" she cheered, immediately bringing her hand back to observe the charms and chain. She looked up to Noble with her eyes shining. "You got it back from Isobel."

"Ms. Branson called me when you had been discovered and taken to the hospital. I hope you understand why I did not visit," he gestured towards the mask on his face and Victoria nodded. It wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't like she was even awake to remember anyone who visited, "so instead, I figured I would help you in a different way. I spent the rest of the week hunting down those two vampires who worked with Isobel and then sent the anklet to a trusted acquaintance to get it repaired."

"Can you help me put it on after the next present?" Victoria asked, to which Noble nodded. She held out her other hand and made a gimme hand towards the ring box. "Now, next present, please!"

Noble held out the box to her and Victoria grabbed it, giving him a little "Thank you" as he handed it to her. She cracked open the box and again, felt the literal breath from her lungs rush out in disbelief.

Sitting in the box wasn't a ring. It was a necklace. A black velvet choker with beautiful gold-circled sapphire. Attached to the sapphire was a moon and sun crescent, something that was decorating Victoria's anklet. But it wasn't the fact that the choker was so astonishingly beautiful that made Victoria gasp (even though it was astonishingly beautiful, let there be no mistake in that). She recognized that sapphire.

"T-That's the part of the necklace I lost in the woods! The night I transitioned," Victoria murmured in disbelief, her thumb caressing the stone. She honestly thought that she would never see the stone again. She looked back up to Noble and was super glad she hadn't put on any makeup yet, because her eyes started to water. "T-This is amazing."

"I am glad I could be of assistance," Noble told her, nodding his head. "The original purpose of the necklace was to be a backup, in case your anklet was taken from you. The other way around also works; if the necklace was taken from you, then your anklet would keep you covered."

Victoria closed the distance between them again and wrapped Noble tight in her arms. Noble returned the hug, pressing her body tightly against his and dropping a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Thank you so much. This is amazing."

"For you, my dear, everything is too little and still, absolutely not enough."

A/N: Hey y'all! I'm alive!

Thanks so much for all of your patience. So much has happened to me in these last few weeks, so I figured I need to post this chapter for you now!

Some things to know!:

1. Next chapter is the last chapter of Season 1. It is gonna be hella long cuz I wanted to end on Chapter 65.

2. The finale will be next Wednesday. Exactly one week from now (I'm almost done with it, so here's hoping!)

New Followers!: farrahjohnson21, SciFiDisaster, zarayalove, maxfan28535, Lenna13s, Brianna Gomez, silverkat87, Bre-Bre26, ladycamille337, solbound, Phoenix-Ryleigh, Mavsgirl1, Electris, Traveler Lovegood, MarMarStar06

New Favoriters!: farrahjohnson21, SciFiDisaster, vokaitlyn7, Hirzen, jingerr, celinadoy2406, Mavsgirl1, Electris, K456, solbound, MarMarStar06

Onto reviews!:

Child of Dreams: Thank you! The good luck was needed XD. And no worries, everything's cool!...or is it?

BrookeWorm3: Oh trust me, honey, that's a good thing. You're gonna need him next chapter...like, a lot. We get to see more of Allister next chapter, so stay tuned!

Elyse1821: You need sleep too! Make sure you get enough of that. More usage of the word 'Baby' in this chapter just for you (and I threw in "murdery" cuz it's the Season 1 Finale). Oh yeah, the Damon and Elijah bromace of protecting Victoria will be legendary.

DBZFAN45: Thank you. Seriously. Your words really encouraged me and inspired me and I can seriously not thank you enough for what they mean to me. I'm glad you consider Immortalis to be one of the highest ranking TVD fanfics on this site. So again, thank you. I had to actually google what the world thought each TVD character's Hogwarts house would be cuz I wanted to be accurate (Ravenclaw was the general consensus for Caroline). Yeah, I figured I really had to bring in the Ette twins again. Now I just gotta facecast them. She does eventually conquer her fear of water. I won't tell you the story of how (it's a long one) but I will say that it does, in part, involve Enzo at a time much sooner than he actually arrives in canon. And as to your last part...sort of? You'll understand later.

Vogiatzis: Oh my gosh. I didn't even realize why those abbreviations looked familiar XD. TAS - The Amazing Spiderman. Well, think of all the clues given to you in the last chapter and try to put it together. Once the reveal actually happens, you'll either be confused or feel like an idiot XD. As for your last part, maybe ;).

KEZZ 1: Thank you! Here's a chapter just for you!

SarahJeanM: Hello! Don't worry. I understand getting backlogged on reading chapters. Aww, thanks! I'm glad it was climatic. I have this unique way of writing climatic scenes that I don't really see anybody else use, so I'm glad they actually work XD. Here's another chapter for you!

Mavsgirl1: Got it! Thanks for your vote! Awww, thank you!

MarMarStar06: Awwww thank you so much! I'm actually not one for leaving reviews all too often either, but I do make the exception for a good story. Nah, you're not too late! Everyone's got until next week!

That's it for now because it is late where I am located in this wide world (late by my standards) and I would like to go to bed now, so apologies for any typos in my editing process XD.

Until next time,

Stay healthy and stay safe!

BecomingFearless1F