Silhouettes – Part XIII

Damon eyed Bonnie apprehensively as she carefully packed a bag of all the ingredients needed to create the cure. She had been quiet since they came back from the woods; unwilling to discuss her little trip to the afterlife. He was suspicious.

"So, I'm curious…you never told me what happened over there. On the other side." He watched her closely.

Her eyes darted up, before focusing back on what she was doing, avoiding his intense stare with a small shrug. "There's not much to say. We talked, she told me what I needed for the cure and that was it."

His eyes narrowed into slits. "That's it? I just find it odd that she would help you when it means helping Silas. She has to know that he's up to something."

"She doesn't. Qetsiyah is only interested in getting him trapped on the other side with her. And him taking the cure is the only way to do that."

It was disturbing to him how matter of fact she was right now, because he knew she was lying. "Bonnie…" he waited until she looked up at him. "What happened over there? And this time…don't lie to me about it." He added sternly.

Her shoulders dropped, and a sigh escaped her. "I did what I needed to do, Damon. She wasn't going to help Silas get what he wants, and I knew that if she wasn't going to give me what I needed…I'd have to take it." She tipped her chin up, owning her choice.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I used my expression magic to go inside her mind and suck the information out of her, okay!" She exclaimed raising her brows at him challengingly. "She fought me. She was in agony but I did it anyway because I had to! What other choice did I have?!" She knew using that kind of magic was dark, and dangerous, even with learning to control it the last few weeks, Bonnie felt that darkness bleed into her.

"You were the one that told me there was always a choice!" He fired back at her. "I am the one that is supposed to be making those choices, Bonnie, not you! It's bad enough I was the one to get you caught up in this, the last thing I want is for it change who you are!"

She laughed humorlessly. "I've already changed! And honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Damon balked at her with wide and disbelieving eyes as his arm flung out in a pointed gesture. "A couple months ago, you were terrified you'd end up hurting someone with this magic and now you're doing it intentionally? And you don't see anything wrong with that?"

Her head reeled back and her hands planted on her hips, attituding oozing out of her. "Excuse me? And who are you to judge on making rash decisions, Damon? What I did isn't any worse than some of the things that you've done."

She had him there, but this was different. He wasn't a good person; sure, he could do the redeemable deed here and there, but Bonnie was better than him. "You're right. I have done terrible things, and I'll continue to do terrible things as long as it means you don't have to! I don't care about what Silas wants; not if getting him what he wants is going to hurt you!"

Bonnie's arms crossed. "Well maybe I didn't do it for Silas!" His brows pinched in confusion. "Yes, getting the cure for Silas means getting rid of him for good, but it also means a future for us." She softened as she crossed over to him, grabbing his hands. "It means a human life, in New York. Putting all of this behind us once and for all. Isn't that what you want?"

His answer was instant. "Of course, it is."

She shrugged resignedly. "Then we're going to have to make sacrifices to get there."

He pulled her closer, tugging on her hands. "I know, I just didn't want you to be the one making them." He let out a resigned sigh as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his jaw on the top of her head. "I'm supposed to be the impulsive one in this relationship. The one that does something reckless or irrational; then you give me that look." Bonnie leaned back amusement, her eyes wide and brows arched high on her forehead. "No, not that one," he added with a playful shake of his head. "it's more of a scowl; judgy, like you just sucked on a lemon." The amusement slipped from her face; her eyes narrowed, her head tilted and her lips twisted in displeasure. "There it is." He teased with a smirk. "Contrary to what you might think…I love that look." Damon leaned down, rubbing his nose against her as her scowl softened to a reluctant smile, but she was quick to suppress it.

"Well, no wonder you enjoy pissing me off so much." She whispered against his lips. "Masochist." She teased back.

He slowly started to sway with her. "What can I say…I love it when you put me in my place." He spun her out, and pulled her back in, grinning at the surprised gasp he elicited from her. Cradling her hand in his against his chest, Damon snaked an arm around her waist as they swayed in a circle. "If you ever…change your mind," he started singing in a low croon by her ear that made her shiver. "About leaving, leaving me behind. Baby, bring it to me…bring your sweet loving, bring it on home to me."

Bonnie beamed up at him, as she recognized the words to the Sam Cooke song; the one they danced to their first night together. She was lost in his eyes as he sang to her, his fingertips caressing the small of her back, his thumb brushing over her knuckles lovingly. Gently, she rested her head on his shoulder, humming along with him and creating a melody.

"You know I'll always…be your slave, until I'm buried, buried in my grave." He kissed the top of her head lovingly, resting his cheek there. "Oh honey, bring it to me, bring your sweet loving...bring it on home to me."

Bonnie felt her throat tighten as the emotion of the moment got the best of her. The love she felt for him was so deep, so profound, that she felt like it was centuries in the making. She never even saw it coming. In the beginning, she had felt so much contempt for him that even the thought of any sort of relationship, friendship or otherwise, was revolting. He was just Stefan's arrogant, diabolical, brother that thrived on hurting the people around him. But somewhere along the way, he peeled that mask off and let her in, and she learned that underneath it all, he had heart of gold; fiercely loyal, passionate, and surprisingly, a hopeless romantic. A true southern gentleman. A man who, ironically, was more human than vampire, and loved her more anyone ever had.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when the front door creaked open. "Hello frenemies! Aw…this is cute." Silas drawled, sauntering down the steps from the foyer. Bonnie and Damon reluctantly pulled away; a look of annoyance reflected in their eyes. "Oh, please…don't stop on my account. I'm a sucker for a true love story."

Damon groaned. "When do we get to kill you again?" He threw the immortal a tense, plastic grin.

Silas chuckled. "Eager, are we? Soon. I've come to collect my witch." He glanced at Bonnie. "You and I have a cure to create. I assume everything went as planned?" He raised his brows pointedly.

She nodded with a bit of guilt. "Yeah…I got what I needed." She grabbed her bag tossing it over her shoulder.

"Great. Shall we?" He offered his arm, in a grand gesture and a cheeky smirk, but Bonnie glared at him, knocking his arm as she walked past him.

"Be careful." Damon called out to her with worry in his eyes.

Bonnie glanced over her shoulder with a smile, about to respond when Silas beat her to it. "I will…thank you." He stated with mock sincerity, earning another stony scowl from both of them, and with a snicker, he followed Bonnie out the door.

…

"Wow." Silas started, raising his cell phone for her to see. "Can you believe you can send a message to literally anyone in the world in virtually seconds?" Amazement was written all over his face.

Bonnie let out a huff of annoyance as her concentration was broken, yet again. "Do you ever shut up? Honestly…I could do with at least ten minutes of silence. I'm kinda in the middle of doing a spell that has never been done before in the history of time, so…" She trailed off glancing over her shoulder to pin him with a deliberate glower. She turned back, but it was only moments later when he continued, causing Bonnie to drop her head back irritably with a groan, looking up at the ceiling.

"I mean really…this is truly astounding to me. Do you have any idea how long it took to send a message by carrier pigeon?" The witch was silent, refusing to indulge him. "A long time. Half the time you didn't even know it would make it to its destination. Who ever thought of this is a genius." He added, typing away on the touchscreen of his phone. "How's it going over there?"

"It's almost done." She grumbled back.

…

It had been a couple hours since Bonnie had left with Silas, and Damon found himself growing impatient and concerned. He pushed himself to his feet from his lounge chair in the parlor room, and ambled to the liquor cart, topping up his drink, when a whooshing sound stilled his actions and made his eyes dart up.

"Stefan?" he asked cautiously, taking a sip before silently placing the drink down and cast his glance around the room. Another woosh caused the curtains by the window to flutter. Damon rolled his eyes as he picked up on her scent. "Not really interested in playing games today, Katherine…why don't you show yourself and we can handle this like adults, hm?"

A few seconds later, she walked out from around the corner, an oddly somber and humble look on her face; a look he hadn't seen since he was human. "Hi Damon." She greeted, slowly crossing the floor to stand in front of him.

"What do you want now?" he snapped, picking up his drink and tossing half of it back.

"Just to talk." She started softly. Her eyes cast down to her hands as she bit her lower lip. "Do you remember the day we met?"

Damon blinked, as he recalled the moment in his memory. "When I came home from the war."

She shook her head with a wistful smile. "No, before that. The battlefield was always an easy target for vampires; hundreds of wounded soldiers laying in tents waiting for death…it's like an all you can eat buffet. But when I saw you…something inside of me wanted to safe your life." She stepped closer, a reminiscent glimmer in her eyes. "You were the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. I gave you my blood, and I'll never forget when you finally opened your eyes." She let out a shaky breath. "I knew then that I had to see you again."

Damon swallowed. "I thought I was dreaming…I was so out of it. No one could figure out how I survived." He eyed her wearily. "Why are you telling me this?"

Katherine held his gaze for a moment, ignoring his question, before approaching the mantle that had pictures framed and on display; one of Stefan and Damon, with their arms around each other before they turned, one of their mother Lily – poised and sitting proper, and one of him and Bonnie. He was standing behind her, arms wrapped around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. She couldn't help the stab of jealousy. "You really love her, don't you?"

"I do." He confirmed.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, vulnerable and insecure. "Did you ever love me?"

Damon glanced away. "Katherine…"

"Please. Just tell me the truth."

"I thought I did." He couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched the tear slip down her cheek when she nodded, submissively. "I'm sorry."

She offered him a weak smile, closing the distance between them. Katherine gently brought a hand to his cheek tenderly, leaning up to leave a kiss on his cheek that lingered. "I'm sorry too." She whispered in his ear. A pained gasp left his lips, and he looked down at her as she pulled away, shock widening his eyes as he felt the vervain enter his bloodstream. "I wish it didn't have to be you." She pulled the syringe from his back, and slowly lowered him to floor as he fought through the poison. Once she was sure that he had lost consciousness, Katherine, dragged him easily to the car, loading him in the trunk of the SUV, and drove off.

…

AN: Okay everyone, we are getting to the end of this soon. I think 2 more chapters. I seem to have lost some readers on this, so I'm going to wrap this up and work on the other stories I have rattling around. Please review and let me know what you think so I know I still have you guys; all comments are appreciated! 😊 - Vanessa