Chapter 21
Two weeks had passed since Isobel crashed into town with her taunts and cryptic messages leaving turmoil in her wake. Two weeks of Ric constantly questioning how Gwen was doing and if she had noticed anything off about her magic. Two weeks of Damon openly teasing Stefan about his relationship with Elena. Two weeks of talking Stefan down while Elena played peacekeeper between the brothers and insisted she and Damon were just friends. Two weeks of Gwen hiding Isobel's file on her father because she knew that if she shared it, Ric would move up his timeline of his 'get out of Mystic Falls' plan.
The only good thing from Isobel's appearance was that Ric finally had closure. Of course, he only had it because he had been compelled. She imagined certain people would argue that it was not real closure since he did not arrive at it on his own — and that was exactly why she had not told any one of the favor she had asked of Isobel. As far as Gwen was concerned, the less than ethical aspect of the deal was worth it if Ric had a shot of being happy, which he did seem to be. Even with the lingering threats of Gwen's dad and the tomb vampires, he was noticeably lighter than he had been months, maybe years. He was was smiling and joking more and his relationship with Jenna was much better; so Gwen was not too hard on herself about her role in his altered state.
Besides, one could say that karma was already extracting its revenge for what she had done. In the last couple of weeks, she had barely slept more than five hours in a night. Either she tossed and turned for hours until she fell asleep or woke up two or three hours before her alarm was scheduled to go off and then could not get back to sleep. Obviously, a part of her was not doing so well with all of the secrets she was keeping.
Gwen reached over to her nightstand, blindly grasping for her phone so she could check the time. It was only four in the morning; still too early for her to get up. Ric was usually a deep sleeper, but he seemed to be up with any sound louder than a footstep these days. She wondered if her uncle was simply feeling all of the stress from the past few months or if it was some sort of trauma response from everything. Or maybe there was something he was not sharing with her. It would only be fair at this point, she supposed. Old habits and all that.
She flipped open her phone and went to the text messages she had ignored earlier in the night when she had been finishing up her math homework. Most of the messages were from Caroline and all involved the upcoming Founder's Day celebration. As she read through them, it looked like Caroline had managed to have a completely a one-sided conversation in the message thread; so much so that she had already made a decision by the time Gwen reached the last of her texts. Gwen felt bad for not responding before she had gone to bed; it was not as if she had fallen right to sleep. There had been time. Even if Caroline did not still need an answer, Gwen would still reply and assure Caroline had that she had made the right decision. Gwen knew she had been distracted the last couple of weeks and did not want her friend to feel neglected. Even if the response was late, Caroline would appreciate it all the same.
After replying to Caroline, she moved on to the next message, which was from Damon. She bit her lip, contemplating her response. All his message said was "We need to talk", short and vague as usual. Gwen honestly had no idea why he had bothered sending the text. It was not as if they did not have plenty of opportunities to talk. When he was not bothering Stefan and Elena, he was with her. She had seen him practically everyday since the incident with Isobel. It was never planned, he just showed up. She had not thought much of it at first. It was a small town after all; it was not out of the question for him to be frequenting the same places as her. But then, she had run into him at the public library. Finally, it registered with her that all of their recent encounters were not coincidences and he was not bored. He was actually following her. Gwen did not think it was out of guilt as his behavior had not changed, but something was up with him. And, now that she had calmed down, Gwen did not think he had any reason to feel guilty as far as she was concerned. Nothing that night had been his fault.
Still, it frustrated her that she could not figure out why she was suddenly seeing him everywhere. Gwen glanced back at the message, brows furrowing deeper. Was this him finally deciding to talk about what was going on with him? And why did it require a text when he was bound to track her down later today?
Gwen closed the phone and dropped it back on the nightstand. If she responded now, he would show up or call and she was not awake enough to deal with whatever it was he had to say. She pulled the covers around her. She would try to get another hour or two and then start her training for the day.
Three hours later, Gwen was sweating in the garage as she tried out some new defense moves. She had found them online, figuring she may need to expand her range. A partner was really needed to master a lot of them, but Gwen was doing her best between the air the punching bag. Ric would have trained with her, but he and Jenna had plans to check out a farmers market that was an hour away from Mystic Falls and had left an hour to pick up Jenna for their date. So even if her execution was not perfect, at least the movements would be more natural to her if, or really when, she found herself in a situation where hand-to-hand combat was needed.
Though the music blared from the stereo, Gwen barely heard it. It was little more than white noise as she concentrated on her training. So she felt her very startled reaction to an unexpected tap on her shoulder was more than justified. She spun around, reacting instinctually and moving to defend herself. Her punch was stopped mid-throw before she even registered who had snuck up on her.
"Damon? What are you doing here?" she yelled over the music, retracting her arm. He rolled his eyes and stepped around her, turning down the stereo. "Wait, how were you able to enter the garage?"
"Uh, external structure," Damon shrugged as he glanced around the room. "It must have been an add-on or not technically attached to the house. One of those gray areas."
"Oh." She felt sweat trickling down her forehead and quickly grabbed her towel to wipe it away. Though her cheeks burned with embarrassment she took some comfort in that her skin was already flushed from her workout. At least she had a legitimate reason for her face being bright red.
Gesturing to her and the punching bag, Damon asked, "So what's all this for? Releasing some frustrations?"
She rolled her eyes at his innuendo. "Actually, it was a way for me to deal with stress and anger. But now it's just part of Ric's training plan. He figures it can't hurt for me to be able to defend myself against a potential threat — both physically and magically."
Damon smirked in amusement. "You really think these one-sided defense routines will help you in a fight? I guess I could see them being effective against a human but a homicidal witch or a vampire? Not so much."
"You know, some of my kickboxing skills were useful when we had to rescue Stefan from the tomb vampires."
"Was that before or after one of them nearly suffocated you?" His voice was hard and his expression had quickly lost all hints of amusement. The sudden change surprised her, and she swallowed her snarky retort. Walking toward her he continued, "And where were these great defensive skills when Stefan attacked you?"
She tossed her towel onto Ric's workbench. Forcing herself to meet his gaze, she said, "I get it, all right? I was too slow in those situations. But the reflexes were there and that's why I'm practicing. "
They were less than a foot a part now. Damon looked down at her with an inscrutable expression, sending a shiver down her spine. That look usually precipitated him reacting in the extreme. Though she already felt his response was a bit of an overreaction to a simple training plan.
"Fine."
Holding her gaze, he leaned forward grabbed something off of the workbench. In the next moment, Damon had grabbed her right hand and forced the object into it. She could tell by the feel alone that it was one of Ric's wooden stakes — likely discarded for some imperfection as he kept his stash in more accessible places.
"Hold this from here," he said, repositioning her hand so it was a little further back on the hilt. "You want to have a good grip but be able to plunge it deep enough into the heart."
Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, confusion growing. "I know how to stake a vampire."
"Good," he said take a step back from her. "Try to stake me then."
She stared at him in disbelief. "I am not going to try to stake you, Damon. God, what is with you today?"
"You want to practice? You want to be prepared, right? Then, practice," he demanded, spreading his arms in a challenge.
"This is stupid."
She turned slightly and tossed the stake back onto the workbench. Gwen watched as it arched toward the tabletop and then Damon was suddenly forcing it back into her hand. His grip on her wrist was tight, causing her to wince. When she glanced up at him, she gasped and tried to take step back. His eyes were black and his fangs were protruding. For a second, the memory of him attacking that couple behind The Grill flashed through her mind and she was afraid of him.
"Good," he said, seeing the fear reflected in her eyes. He released her and took a few steps back. "Now, come at me."
Gwen shook her head and sighed, but complied. He clearly was not going to let this go. She fixed her grip on the stake and prepared herself to attack him. It was not as if this was a realistic situation. If she was really facing off against a vampire, she would use her magic and would never make the first move. Her physical defenses only worked as a surprise element. But she played along and lunged toward him, mentally preparing herself for what would happen if she failed.
As expected, her defeat was immediate. He had her pinned to him in about a second: her back flush against his chest with her neck exposed by one hand while the other restricted both of hers. The stake lay forgotten on the floor. When she fought against his grip, he tightened it.
"Still think your 'practicing' is doing anything?" he mocked, his breath tickling the skin on her throat where there was still the faint scar from Stefan. "Do you see how easy it would be for me to kill you?"
"So what?" She snapped, trying to ignore that there was a part of her that was enjoying this. "I shouldn't even try defend myself? Just leave my chances for surviving at zero? Besides, I could just as easily die from tripping down the stairs or driving in the car. I can avoid those things about as much as I can avoid supernatural beings that might want to kill me."
Damon's grip on her loosened. She took the opportunity to free one of her arms and elbow him, twisting free while he was distracted. Her freedom was short-lived though. Damon recovered quickly and had her trapped between him and the workbench, the edge of which cut sharply across her lower back. Smirking, she looked up at him and her witty remark dying on her tongue. His eyes were still dark and there was a coldness in them that she had never seen. Gwen pushed against his chest with both hands.
"C'mon, that's enough."
When he did not budge, Gwen went from nervous to annoyed. She pushed him again, though this time with the assist of a magical static shock. He took half a step back, blinking. As his eyes became their familiar blue, she felt herself relax a little. She waited for him to back away completely, a new kind of nervousness settling over her due to their proximity. Thankfully, Damon was too stuck in his own head to notice.
"Damon?" she prompted gently. His eyes snapped to hers; their intensity causing her breath to catch.
He took a step back, mumbling a quiet "sorry". She noticed he was still distracted though, his gaze as unfocused as his attention. An idea came to her as she watched him. Smirking, she acted quickly. And a few seconds later, she was straddling Damon, loosely holding stake above his heart.
"I don't know, Damon," Gwen said, grinning down at his bewildered expression, "I think practicing might be working."
"You cheated."
Gwen rolled her eyes, tossing the stake away. "A vampire wouldn't fight fair. Why should I?"
Damon scowled at her, though she thought there was the faintest hint of appreciation in it. Like he was impressed by, or at least enjoyed, her reasoning. She sighed and pushed herself off of him, trying to limit any accidental contact. Mercifully, she was not blushing and managed to stand with some grace. Damon followed her a moment later, still glaring though no longer directly at her.
"Did you come here for a reason?" she asked, her irritation returned. "Or did you just feel like driving me crazy? Because my uncle has that covered."
Damon's brow furrowed, though Gwen did not see the action as she was busying herself with cleaning up the makeshift gym space. "How so?"
"It's …," she started to say and then froze, rethinking her words. "It's nothing. Just him being overprotective."
"It wouldn't have anything to do with his plan for both of you to skip town and go off grid, would it?" Damon pushed, his tone accusatory.
Gwen, who had been putting away some dumbbells, dropped the weights with a loud clunk and looked back at him. She was not sure what she was more surprised by: That Ric had shared his plan with anyone or that he had shared it with Damon. "You know about that?"
"It came up when you and Isobel had your girls day," he said with too much nonchalance. Gwen let it pass though. She was more focused on what Ric had said to him. "I was surprised you never mentioned it."
"Ok, first of all, we've been dealing with way more immediate threats," she said, unable to control how defensive she sounded. "And second, it's not really a plan. It's a panicked reaction, if anything. I don't even know why he said anything about it to you."
He shrugged, but Gwen had the nagging feeling that she was missing something. Last she had checked her uncle hated Damon and vice versa. Had something changed?
"But you've said nothing about it — not Ric's plan, not your dad, nothing. No one … I didn't know this thing with your dad was still a concern."
Gwen's eyes narrowed. It was almost as if Damon sounded betrayed , which was not odd on in itself given his usual behavior. But it was also odd when he had no reason to be feeling that way when he had nothing to do with the situation. "Well, your dad wanting to kill you never really stops being a thing. But, like I said, there's been other things going on and my uncle and I are working on it."
"And the best plan you two have come up with is to run?"
"No, the best plan is for me to train — so I can hold my own in a magical or physical fight, and be as prepared as possible for if my father ever comes looking for me and does want to kill me. Now, Ric says I can do that from anywhere — and he's right — but I think it's better if we stay here."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you think it's better to stay here?" Damon pressed. "I get why Ric would want to leave, and it makes sense in the short-term, but why do you want to stay."
"We have ties here," she said simply.
He scoffed. "That explains nothing. Ric already said he wasn't willing to bring anyone else into this. I don't see you …. You plan to handle this on your own, don't you?"
Gwen cursed to herself. She forgot that Damon was actually smart, at least when he wasn't acting impulsively. He made to take a step toward her, but she held up her hands to stop him. "Just listen before you lose it."
He stayed where he was, waiting for her to continue with a clenched jaw and folded arms. She organized her thoughts quickly, hoping to convince him she was right.
"If Ric and I leave and we go from town to town, then he's always going to be with me. He won't have other people or responsibilities so he's more likely to be in the crossfire — and the same can be said for anyone else I care about. My father and his coven, they like the reputation they have but they don't want exposure or attention. If my father really does come looking for me, he will probably try to come for me when I'm alone or when I have the least amount of protection around. That's what you would do, right?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, momentarily confused.
"When you're hunting," she clarified. "You don't blatantly go after someone when they're protected. You isolate them and wait until they are vulnerable, right?"
Begrudgingly Damon nodded. "Usually, yes."
"So what does it matter where we are? If my father does come after me, he won't make a move until I'm alone."
"It matters because you shouldn't be trying to do this alone. You shouldn't be trying to do this at all!" He crossed the room, crowding into her space once more. She waited for his tirade; she was sure it would be close to the one she got from Ric last night. "What do you think happens if you go up against him alone?"
She shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. There's always the chance that he doesn't want to kill me and then all of this worrying and training is pointless. Otherwise I do what I can and hope for the best."
"You'll hope for the best?" he repeated in disbelief. "Do you even hear how stupid that sounds!"
"Do you have a better suggestion?" she snapped, raising her voice to match his.
"Of course. We go after him now, when he's not expecting it, and I take care of him. No ifs and maybes. No more stupid plans and it's all over."
"Except Bonnie and I have already tried a scrying spell. It didn't work. He is either protected from being located that way or the spell failed. And, you know, we could go back and forth for hours on this. I actually already have once today and I can't do it again." She went to walk around him but was stopped by him grabbing her upper arm. Sighing, she said, "Damon, I'm tired and I'm late to meet Bonnie. Can you and Ric argue about this with each other since you're such good friends all of a sudden?"
"Yah, I'll be sure do that," he muttered, though Gwen had a feeling he meant it. "Just keep me in the loop, all right? You don't have to do this alone."
She hesitated before nodding. Pulling away from him, she said, "Ok, fine. But I really do need to go."
He stepped back, letting her pass to collect her water bottle and towel. When she turned back around, she was surprised to see him still standing there. "Is there something else?"
"Yeah, you're going to train with me from now on."
About an hour and a half later, she was walking up the creaky steps of Bonnie's front porch. The folder from Isobel was carefully tucked into her bag. As she waited for her alarm to go off that morning, she had decided she needed to tell someone about it. That way it would not feel like so much of a secret. However, the only person she could tell was Bonnie, as she had the least amount of contact with Ric and would be able to handle the information without freaking out or overreacting. There was not really any new information; just more anecdotes that made what they already knew look so much worse. Gwen did not know exactly why she had brought it with her. It wasn't as if Bonnie would need it. She would be able to summarize its contents easily and they weren't vital to what she wanted to discuss. But who knew, maybe Bonnie would see something she didn't.
With a conviction she did not feel, Gwen knocked firmly on the door.
A few seconds passed and she heard the locks turn before the door swung open to reveal a very tire looking Bonnie. Gwen stepped inside at the wordless invite, raising an eyebrow.
"Is everything all right?" she asked while Bonnie closed the door, locking it again.
Bonnie shrugged. "Just tired. I guess I'm still processing everything that's happened over the last few weeks — months really. Everything happens so fast and I feel like there's never a minute to breathe. It's a lot, you know?"
Gwen nodded, suddenly feeling guilty. "Yeah, I guess you're right…. Maybe I should go?"
"Go? You just got here," Bonnie pointed out, looking at Gwen as if she had said something crazy. "Besides, didn't you have something you wanted to talk about?"
"Yes, but I… I hadn't realized you were having such a hard time. I don't — It's not important," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "We can talk another time."
Bonnie glared at her. "I'm tired not fragile," she said bitingly. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"
"This." Gwen relented, digging out the file from her bag and handing it to her friend. Bonnie took the folder to the dining table and started laying out its contents. "Isobel gave it to me. It's all about my dad and my many, many siblings and the coven. It's not much different than what Shelia found…"
"Then what's the problem?" Bonnie asked slightly distracted as she flipped through the documents.
Gwen hesitated, her confidence failing now that she had the chance to share her theory. When she took too long to respond, Bonnie paused her own investigation of the files and glanced at her with an impatient expression.
"Ok, well, just hear me out on this, ok?" she asked waiting for Bonnie's nod of agreement before she continued, deciding just to barrel through her theory. "All of this research from Isobel and your grandmother only talk about how powerful and dangerous my dad and is coven are. I mean, both of them made it seem like even asking about my dad could be a death sentence. And yet, no one has shown up in Mystic Falls because of anyone's research or the fact that I've been using magic."
"Why does that matter?" Bonnie interrupted.
"Allegedly, he can sense it or track me through my magic, remember?" she explained, not waiting for a response this time. "But he wouldn't even need that. My mom kept her family name and gave it to me. She didn't take any steps to really hide us from him. She just left. He could have come after me at any time, but he didn't — and he still hasn't." Gwen paused, slightly out of breath from how fast she had been talking.
"Ok," Bonnie said, slowly. "What's your point?"
"What if it's all just really good PR? What if he and his coven aren't really all scary and deadly? What if he's not coming for me?"
It was Bonnie's turn to hesitate, though Gwen could already tell that she was not buying into her theory. Gwen had to give her credit though; she at least looked like she was thinking over everything she had heard before rejecting it.
"I guess it's possible," she finally said. "I mean, I wouldn't mind having a similar reputation for Mystic Falls if it deterred certain beings from coming here and treating us all like playthings. But…well, I trust Grams." She shrugged, looking apologetic. "She said he and his coven were dangerous, I believe her. You shouldn't let your guard down — or get your hopes up."
Deflated, Gwen absently picked up one of the papers, though she did not really see what was on it. "Then why hasn't he come? I've been using my powers for months now, and even I can tell they're growing."
Sighing, Bonnie moved next her to give her a reassuring side hug. "I don't know but we know he's coming, which is more than we usually have. We can actually be ready for this one."
Gwen nodded, though she did not really believe it. They could read and theorize all they wanted and she would continue her training. But, when it came down to it, there was nothing in either Isobel's or Shelia's research to shed light on her father's thoughts or motivations. They could not predict when he would show up or the tactics he would use. With so many unknowns, could she ever really be ready for him?
AN: This chapter has had be stalled for a year and this is literally the fifth version of it. I do plan to finish this fic and I'll finish posting Part 1 on this site, but Part 2 will only be posted on AO3.
