Title: insatiable

Pairing(s): Bonnie/Damon, Rebekah/Stefan, Matt/Katherine, Caroline/Tyler, Jeremy/Anna, Elena/Loneliness, mentions of Bonnie/Jeremy, Damon/Bree, Bonnie/Klaus (One-sided), ect.

Summary: While recruiting Bonnie to join their road trip to Chicago to retrieve Stefan, Damon is lured into a trap set by a former lover and cursed to desire the one thing he believes that he cannot have, while Bonnie is caught in the crossfire.

Warnings: Non-Canon, Language, Slightly Dub-Con, Sexual Content, Explicit Sexual Content, etc.

Author's Note; Um don't ask me what this is because I don't know for real. So this takes place early season 3 but has a character who didn't get justice from season one as the "villain" partially but I am not going to really give her that label. I basically wanted to challenge myself to write Bamon. I didn't edit this because I have more fics to put up. I will come back and proofread later! Happy reading!

part one ||cursed

"There are no such things as curses; only people and their decisions"

― Yvonne Wood,

Atlanta, Georgia

Bonnie Bennett wasn't one for lying. She was in fact rather bad at it. She was genuine by nature. However, she was able to manage it when she saw fit. She had been lying to her friends all summer in fact, and while it had started due to her desire for them not to worry, now she was lying for her own benefit.

Bonnie hadn't been with her father's side of the family since the first week of summer. Since that first week she had in fact been a little of everywhere in attempt to regain her powers. Bonnie had started what she had dubbed, "The Great Summer Witch Tour," that first month. She'd done research the first week. Tracked down any possible places that she could possibly find any of her kind. Looked up folklore and witch origins. When she had a list of locations she packed a small suitcase, took the credit card her dad had given her for emergencies and got into her blue Prius.

She'd told her father that she was going on a concert tour and like with most things he had acquiesced and given her his blessing to spend what she needed when she needed. As long as he didn't have to get directly involved, Bonnie as usual, had her freedom.

Her first stop had been Salem, Massachusetts. She'd gone on a few tours. Visited the Wax Museum. The Witch House. There she had met a woman name Shareece Navarro, a fellow descendant of Tituba. Shareece had helped Bonnie regain her powers and taught her about the value or having a familiar. Bonnie had left Salem with her magic regained and black cat that she named Nyx. She thought about stopping her tour there but she'd learned so much about her heritage and people like her she had wanted to continue, so she did.

Bonnie ended up in Leonardtown, Maryland next, where she'd learned of the legend of Moll Dyer, a witch who had been blamed for the town's misfortunes and had her house set ablaze. As the legend went she'd escaped and put a curse on the town in her last moments.

The next stop for Bonnie had been New Orleans. She had only managed to spend a week in the city before she was warned away by the underground witch population. A vampire that apparently had some kind of ties to Klaus had control of the place and Bonnie had had half a mind to join their fight against him but she still had battles of her own to fight and so much to learn before she started joining wars in cities beyond her borders. She'd left New Orleans with a few new grimoires, more spell supplies than she could fit in her trunk and an indigo crystal talisman for her protection.

After New Orleans she wound up in Chicago. She had taken a job with a witch named Gloria who specialized in old school voodoo and allowed Bonnie to sing at her bar most nights after she had talked Bonnie into singing with the band once when she was drunk. Bonnie hadn't sung in front of anyone since her grams died but she had found it fun and people had paid attention.

She'd made a lot new friends on the road, even before Chicago. Formed alliances with other witches. Met other people with common interests. Men wanted to talk to her and not just to get to Elena or Caroline.

She'd liked Chicago the most. Learning under Gloria. Going shopping. Going to clubs. Going to shows. Singing and meeting all kinds of supernatural people that came in and out of Gloria's bar.

It was in that way that Bonnie met Lee. Bonnie had spent her longest stint in Chicago but became intrigued when Lee mentioned his friend Bree who'd managed to come back from the dead without any consequences. Bonnie was inclined not to trust Lee because he was a vampire, and one that she didn't know at that. However, once he'd mentioned that he had dated Stefan's friend Lexi, whom Bonnie hadn't gotten to meet but knew well enough that anyone who knew her could be trusted, Bonnie had been on board with meeting Bree.

She had learned up unto that point different ways from different witches, to circumvent the spirits. The nose bleeds had stopped and she was more in touch with her powers than ever. The thing was, she knew that it was only a matter of time before the spirits caught up to her and since she had managed to regain her powers, she knew that another consequence for bringing Jeremy back from the dead was coming.

She's wanted to know what Bree knew, which according to Lee, was how to free herself from the spirits. Bonnie had come into her own over the summer and she didn't want that to end.

She'd changed over the summer. She'd blossomed. Come into her powers. Experienced the world outside of the people she knew. Outside of Mystic Falls. She'd met so many people. Other witches. All interested in her for the sake of herself along the way. It had been a relief to have a break from the drama. To use her magic for something other than saving someone's life. To actually be able to learn about who she was and her heritage. To be free to be herself without anyone who had any expectations of her or how she was supposed to behave.

She'd tasted her freedom and she wasn't as excited to go home as she should have been. She couldn't exactly tell her friends that. She couldn't tell Jeremy that. Not when they'd been stuck in the same town with the same people all summer, stagnant for different reasons. Elena was chasing the past through her search for Stefan and the others were doing what they'd always been doing in the wake of Klaus and Stefan's departure. She'd felt like she had to make it seem like she'd been miserable without them, instead of relieved to have a break. They wouldn't understand and she knew it. Besides that, a part of her, a selfish part that she had begun to embrace, wanted to keep her experiences for herself.

When Bonnie met Bree she felt that she'd met a kindred spirit of sorts. The woman was sweet on the outside but all cunning and fire underneath. She had enough beauty and charisma to hold anyone's attention and to Bonnie she was a woman to aspire to be.

Bonnie had gone from working at Gloria's bar in Chicago to working at Bree's in Atlanta and no one in her inner circle in Mystic Falls knew about anything Bonnie had been up to. Each time Jeremy called, which was becoming rarer, Bonnie either lied or ignored the call.

Bonnie stood behind Bree's bar mixing a cocktail for some blond who had been complaining for the last hour about how her ex-fiancé had dumped her for a woman ten years younger when Bree climbed over the bar to stand beside her, her dark curls swinging as she moved and her tall frame dwarfing Bonnie's own.

She slid a fifty dollar bill in Bonnie's direction and Bonnie raised a brow at her. "What's this?"

Bree smirked, leaning against the wooden bar top. "You got a tip from Mr. Big over there in the corner booth," she said, "Said you were sweet. I think he's interested in you."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at Bree's wink. "Well he can find himself a nice Georgia peach if he wants something sweet," Bonnie said, folding the fifty and putting it into her apron, "Because I'm not interested. You can thank him for the tip though."

"Well aren't you a heartbreaker," Bree laughed.

Bonnie shook her head. "Not by a long shot," she said, "I just know what I want and he's not it."

"And what is?" Bree asked, "I mean clearly it's not that boyfriend you barely talk about. Lee says you had those boys in Chicago swarming and paid them all no mind. It's been a while since he lost Lexi and he even thought about putting his bid in. But you don't seem interested in much of anyone. You holding out for someone, sugar."

Bonnie sighed. "No," she said, "I love Jeremy. I'm just doing my own thing this summer and I don't want to deal with any drama from back home. We'll have plenty of time to catch up when I get back."

As if on cue, Bonnie's phone vibrated in her back pocket. Bonnie took it out and saw Jeremy's name on the screen. She ignored the call without much thought, which caused Bree to laugh harder.

"Like I said," Bree grinned, "Heartbreaker. I need to take a page out of your book. I always pick the wrong ones and when I love, I love hard. It's my curse I suppose."

Bonnie slid the woman at the bar her cocktail before turning to Bree. "If you took a page from my book you'd be bringing someone back from the dead for love and not even get so much as an I love you back," she said, "Not exactly something to aspire to."

"I came back from the dead for love," Bree said, "In a way. I didn't come back the same though. Wasn't really possible. Especially given the way I died. But lucky for me I have some pretty powerful friends and loyal ones to."

Bonnie nodded. "Well then," she said, "I guess I should take a page from your book when it comes to that. Since leaving and experiencing so much I've realized I couldn't say the same for the people I left back home."

"But you met some good ones on the road right," Bree said. Bonnie watched as she poured them both a glass of bourbon. She lifted her glass in a toast and Bonnie did the same. "To new friends."

"To new friends," Bonnie replied, clinking her glass against Bree's.

When Bonnie would look back on the moment later she would realize that it should have been her first tip off that things would rather quickly turn to shit.

:::

Mystic Falls, Virginia

Damon Salvatore hadn't had to work very hard to convince Elena to chase his dear little brother to Chicago after he'd been tipped off by Katherine. However, he was working hard to convince her to get Bonnie Bennett involved.

They were wasting possible road time arguing over whether or not to call the little witch, so they would have extra hands on deck.

"We can't have what happened in Tennessee happen again," Damon pressed, "We need back up. Real back up. If Stefan is where I think he is, there's likely another witch involved and Ric isn't going to work if that's the case."

Elena shook her head. "I don't want to bother her Damon," she said, "She's with her family and she finally has a break from all of this. Just because she told Jeremy that she's been bored doesn't give us the green light to infiltrate what's left of her summer."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I get it," he said, "She's your best friend. Sweet sentiments and all of that crap. But like I said, we are up against a ripper, a sadistic hybrid and quite possibly another witch. Do you really want get you or me killed on the off chance that we're disrupting Bonnie's playing Monopoly with her aunt and cousins? There's a chance that we'll need her. So we call her for back up or we don't go at all."

"Fine," Elena sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, "I'll call her."

Damon watched and waited as Elena called Bonnie. When the witch picked up the line Elena decided to go the small talk route at seven o' clock in the morning. Damon motioned for her to speed things up and get to the point.

After a moment Damon saw Elena frown. "What do you mean you're not with your aunt? Haven't you been there all summer?"

Damon decided to listen in on the conversation. "I've kind of been on the road," he heard Bonnie reply. "I've been making some connections with other witches."

Damon raised a brow as Elena smiled. "That's great Bonnie," she said, "I want to hear all about it. We'll have plenty of time to talk on the road. Why didn't you say anything about it?"

"I just wanted to have something for myself for a little while, you know," Bonnie replied.

Elena nodded. "Of course I understand." Her expression looked hurt however and Damon knew she didn't, "It's just that there was a time when you would tell me anything."

Damon gave her a look. Elena may not have understood but Damon did. There were some things that just needed to be experienced on your own. It was a part of change. Sometimes it was a person that helped you through something and sometimes there were things that you had to tackle or experience on your own. Damon had admittedly fallen short in the growth department the last few decades but he had experienced enough to know that some things required distance from the familiar and embracing of the new. If Bonnie was getting out of her comfort zone then more power to her.

"A little less self-pity and little more getting to the point," Damon said, "Ask her where she is?"

Elena huffed as Bonnie replied. "As I recall you don't exactly tell me everything either," she said, "Listen it wasn't anything personal."

"I know," Elena said, "I'm sorry. I didn't meant it like that." Elena cleared her throat as Damon pointed to the clock. "So where did your road trip lead you? Damon is being impatient about getting to Stefan and so I have to ask before he gets anymore obnoxious."

"Last time I checked you wanted to find him too and we need to move fast before our friendly neighborhood hybrid has Stefan on the move again," he said.

"I'm in Atlanta," Bonnie said, drawing Damon's attention, "I'm working at a bar actually."

"It wouldn't happen to be Bree's Bar would it?" Elena asked, looking pensive and probably remembering Lee and his sob story, but Damon's whole body tensed as he thought about literally ripping Bree's heart out.

"Yeah," Bonnie said, "How did you know?"

Damon snatched the phone from Elena's hand without any kind of preamble. He put the phone to his ear and tried to stay calm as he spoke into the receiver. "Bonnie," he said, "I need you to listen carefully to me and answer this question. The bar you work at, who owns it?"

"Bree," Bonnie said slowly as if talking to a child, "Hence the name Bree's Bar. Which obviously you know which is probably how Elena' knows. What's going on, Damon?

Elena rolled her eyes. "Damon, what are you talking about you know that Bree-"

Damon held up his hand to silence Elena. "And Bree," he said into the phone, "You've seen her. Talked to her. Had actual face to face interactions."

"Damon, are you drunk?" Elena asked at the same time that Bonnie responded, "Um yes. Have you been drinking?"

Damon felt as if he had been hit in the face with a brick. It was impossible. It didn't make sense. He'd killed Bree. Killed her in a way that even magic shouldn't have been able to resurrect her. When he killed someone they were supposed to stay dead and if the woman was anywhere near Bonnie, it didn't mean anything good.

"Listen to me Bonnie," Damon said, "and listen carefully. Make some kind of excuse and leave the bar. Go back to whatever hotel you're staying in and wait for us there."

"Damon," Elena and Bonnie asked at the same time, "What's going on?"

His eyes met Elena's as he talked into the phone. "Bree happens to be my ex-girlfriend and I may have killed her the last time I saw her."

"What?!" Elena spat. Damon fought the urge to roll his eyes. Elena hadn't asked questions when he had gone back into the bar that night and she might've even talked herself into thinking that Damon had just been saying goodbye to Bree or even giving her a warning. However, a part of her had known, but like with most things about him that she didn't like she'd chosen to turn a blind eye.

Bonnie for her part sounded unimpressed and not at all shocked. "You're the one who killed Bree?" she said, her tone deadpan, "Why am I not surprised?"

"You could at least fake surprise," Damon said, out of habit, going back into their banter in spite of the seriousness of the situation, "I mean a shocked gasp maybe. Elena's doing a good job at it. Her face is doing that disapproving pout thing she does when I do something naughty."

Damon waited for a sarcastic reply from the other end of the line but there was none. Instead a familiar voice came on the line and all he heard was, "Game on, honey pie," before the line went dead.

"Shit, shit, shit," Damon chanted throwing the phone across the room.

"What happened?" Elena asked.

"What the hell do you think happened, Elena?" Damon spat, "You can lecture me and give me all the disapproving looks you want on the way to Atlanta. We need to go now."

:::

Atlanta, Georgia

Bonnie didn't understand the fascination with people who kidnapped her keeping her in bathtubs. There was a joke in there somewhere but she was in too much pain to think of one in that moment.

Bonnie tried to take in her surroundings but she was dizzy, confused and her mouth was dry. She couldn't see much beyond the claw foot bathtub that she was in and the hardwood floors surrounding her.

She smelled the copper smell of blood and she looked down to see the cuts across her skin and realized that it was her own.

"What the fuck?" She frowned, her speech was slurred. She was going to kill Damon. He was going to die. There would be no misfire this time, it would be hellfire and she would laugh as he was engulfed by flames. This was all his fault.

"Don't bother trying to use your powers, sweet thing," a familiar voice said, "The belladonna has you fuzzy. Whatever you attempt won't be too effective."

"Bree?" Bonnie said, though she already knew that answer.

"That's right, baby," Bree answered, coming to sit on the edge of the tub, "I really do hate to do this. I like you a lot Bonnie. The problem is I hate Damon more. You see my dilemma right?"

Bonnie blinked at her. She thought about her own homicidal thoughts towards Damon only moments before. "Sadly," Bonnie admitted, "I kind of do. I'm sorry for what he did to you. If it helps, he doesn't treat me that much better."

Bree laughed and Bonnie wished like hell she could move enough to at the very least flip the woman off. "Don't tax yourself too much with talking," she said, "Your wounds are superficial but the poison is starting to take effect."

"Poison?" Bonnie looked down to see that she was surround by nightshade flowers.

"They won't kill you," Bree promised, "At least unless you're exposed too long but if I'm right…and I usually am, Damon will be here soon. He'll come and save the day and I'll have him right where I want him. Contrary to what you seem to think, he treats you far better than most. He's damaged. He doesn't know how to care about people but I know how he looks when he does."

Bonnie ignored her advice not to talk. She wanted answers. "So…what you want revenge?" she said, "I get it. He's tried...to kill me before. I've tried unsuccessfully, unfortunately….to kill him a few times. I understand hating him. What does any of this have to do with me?"

Bree reached out and stroked her cheek in an almost loving manner. "Not a thing, sweetheart," she said, "This isn't personal where you're concerned. Like I said, I like you. But I came back different. Darker than before and my hatred for that man, that monster became a living thing. He broke my heart you know, even before he ripped it right out of my chest. Killed my friend too. He has no qualms with leaving piles of dead bodies and a sea of broken hearts in his wake. Being with you, even in this short time I know you understand just how much of a monster her is."

Bonnie nodded. She did. She really did. The thing was, she couldn't see him as just a monster, not anymore. He was an idiot. He was reckless. He was a murderer. However, he also helped her fake her death and they had learned to tolerate if not care about each other. Still there was some kind of justice in the fact that one of his victims had come back to bite him in the ass. Bonnie might've laughed and possibly cheered Bree on if she wasn't the one being used as bait. She thought about that as she tried to see through the fog to reason with Bree.

"So you know our history," she slurred, "I've…told you some of it. Why use me as bait? You know he doesn't give a damn about me."

Bree laughed again and Bonnie cringed. She tried not to move as the pain was worse when she did. "I know a lot of things about that man," Bree said, "Things you wouldn't understand. Dark things. Things that would turn your sweet little brain to mush. I know his type too. Especially when it comes to witches. A sweet young thing like you, if it wasn't for you gutting him every chance you get I'm sure he wouldn't have held himself back for so long. I wish I had been as smart as you back then. I wish I had been as strong. But maybe you wouldn't have if he had treated you liked he did me. Whispered sweet nothings that turned out to be empty words."

Bree leaned in closer as she spoke and Bonnie tried to move away but winced when pain shot up her back and into her open wounds. "Don't blame Gloria or Lee. They had nothing to do with this. I just…I couldn't help myself when Lee told me he'd met a Bennett. I really did want to meet the last of the Bennett line. But when I met you and found out about your ties to my honey pie, something ugly came to life in me that I can normally keep locked away. He has to pay for what he's done for me."

"With his life?" Bonnie asked, not sure why she cared when hers was the one that was currently in danger.

"Oh no," Bree shook her head, "That'd be too easy. I want him to suffer. To feel torment. I made the mistake of loving someone who would never love me. I want him to know what it is to do the same. Because Damon…he doesn't really love. He obsesses. He gets fixated on things. That's what he did with Katherine. Let his obsession with her eat him alive. But he still had hope. From what you told me, she was even willing to throw him a bone once she surfaced. The pain of her rejection wasn't enough. No. He needs to know what it means to really want something that he can't have. Want it so bad it makes him mad with it. Then I want him to kill himself when he can't have it."

Bonnie frowned. "How…?" She tried to speak but the fog became heavier and the pain became too much.

"How do I expect to do that you ask?" Bree smiled, "Well, sugar, I'm going to dig into the deepest corners of his mind, those dark places he likes to hide and I am going to look for something that I believe is there. Something that I think makes you the perfect bait. Then when I find it, I'm going to bring it to the surface and watch it eat him alive."

Bree's smile was the last thing Bonnie saw before everything went black.

:::

The ride to Atlanta was tense and silent until the last hour of the drive. Elena broke the silence first.

"I get that you were putting on your nice act then," she said, "It was before I really knew you. But Lee was able to walk away that night. He spared your life even though you took Lexi from him. But you just couldn't let it go. You had to find a target and you knew Bree was an easy one."

"What do you want me to say Elena? Bree tried to have me killed? Yeah, it was for Lexi's sake and I may have been operating a bit differently at the time. I was still focused on finding Katherine. I get it. But do you really think I'm that different now? What did you expect me to do?"

Elena scoffed. "It wasn't like Bree didn't have her reasons," Elena said, "You broke her heart and killed her friend. What did you expect her to do? You would've killed Lee too if I hadn't been there when he walked away. But it's always someone else's fault right? All you see is that she betrayed you. You don't care about what you did to her or to Lexi because Lexi was a means to an end. And because you don't care, now Bonnie is paying for something that you did."

Damon squeezed the steering wheel as he sped the car up. "This little lecture might be more effective from someone who didn't have a five second rebound rate before they forgave me," Damon muttered.

"Are you serious? So now I'm the bad guy for believing you could possibly be a good person? If Bonnie dies because of you I swear to God Damon-"

"I fuck up," Damon spat, "That's who I am. That's what I do. Stefan wasn't supposed to sacrifice himself to Klaus for my stupidity but he did. Bonnie sure as hell wasn't supposed to pay for my sins but she is. But I swear I won't let her die. She can't die. I'm going to fix this and yes, I'll likely end up killing Bree again if she touched so much as a hair on Bonnie's head. So if you're going to get squeamish let me know now. I don't need you giving me shit for something that's already done and I don't need you making this about you. I'm going to get Bonnie out of this. I am. No one's going to pay for what happened to Bree but me."

"So what's the plan?" Elena asked, "You kill Bree and that's it. Do you really think it's going to be that easy? She came back from the dead Damon. Cleary she's more powerful than you thought."

"If she was I wouldn't have been able to kill her in the first place," he said, "She might have some powerful friends willing to do her some favors but I doubt any of them are in on this. I know how she operates." He clenched the steering wheel so hard it molded into his grip. "If it comes down to saving Bonnie, either Bree dies or I give her what she wants," Damon said, "Which is more than likely me. If I have to, I'll offer an even trade. My life for Bonnie's."

"What?" Elena scowled, "There has to be another way."

Damon rolled his eyes. Five second rebound rate, he thought. "Well we won't know until we get there," he said, "In the meantime just promise me one thing."

Elena looked anticipatory and Damon knew what she was expecting him to say. However, she would be disappointed, even if she attempted to hide it. That wasn't where his mind was. That wasn't where his focus was. It was on Bonnie and on his brother.

"If I don't make it out of this," he said, "You get Bonnie to safety and you bring Stefan home."

There was a flicker of disappointment on Elena's face before it closed off again and she nodded. Damon knew how to read her well, how to push her buttons. He always had. He could play her like a fiddle. It'd never been hard. Not really. But now wasn't the time for games. "Elena," he pressed.

"Of course," she said, "I promise."

Even as he nodded, Damon hoped it wouldn't come to that.

:::

The apartment Bree had was the same as the one she'd had while in college. When Damon sped up the stairs and to the front of the door, he didn't hesitate to kick it in. He'd left Elena in the car without a word and doubted that she'd follow him even though he didn't bother telling her not to.

As soon as he kicked down the door he was hit with the smell of blood. It was a familiar smell. Not just the copper scent of it. But the smell of blackcurrant and hibiscus. It was Bonnie's blood. The first time he had sniffed the scent he'd been trying to killer and now he was trying like hell to save her life.

Damon sped toward the scent and it led him to the bathroom. The familiar white claw foot tub stood out as Damon entered in. Blood was splattered on the surface and Bonnie's body lay limp inside surrounded by nightshade and vervain.

Damon cursed under his breath before he sped towards the tub and knelt in front of it. He reached in and attempted to pull Bonnie out but her skin was already red and swelling, worse it was beginning to discolor at her open wounds. The poison had already taken effect and there was no time to move her.

Instead Damon reached into the tub and grabbed the flowers, screaming through the burn of the vervain against his own skin, as he threw them aside. By the time he was done he was weakened to the point that he was fighting the urge to pass out. That was the plan he was sure. Bree was likely somewhere looking on laughing.

Damon pulled himself up and climbed into the tub, and pulled Bonnie into his arms. "I'm here Bonbon," he murmured, "I've got you. I'm here."

She couldn't hear him he knew but talking kept him from feeling and thinking the worse. He could still hear her heart beating but it was faint. He pried her lips open gently and he felt her shallow breaths wafting over his skin.

This wasn't how she was supposed to die. She was supposed to grow old snarking at him and judging his every mood. Not young and just discovering who she was and what she wanted. Whatever she experienced over the summer hadn't been enough. She deserved to experience so much more. She deserved to have whatever life had to offer. She deserved to be happy. She didn't deserve this. She was too good. Too strong. Too beautiful. Too loyal. This wouldn't be how she died. It couldn't be. This was the fate that he deserved, not her.

Damon bit into his wrist and he thought about the first time he had seen her as he pressed it to her lips.

She had been young then. About twelve or thirteen. He'd been thinking about his pact with Emily. About how it would lead him to finding Katherine. He'd checked in on the Bennett's on and off every few years. Made it a habit to save them when they needed it, but didn't seek them out otherwise.

When he had come to check in that year it was on a day where it had been raining. Most everyone on Bonnie's street had been inside but she'd run out her back door screaming and laughing. He'd watched her a long time as she spun around in circles trying to catch drops of water on her tongue. She'd stayed like that until Sheila had come out to yell at her to come inside.

That day he'd smiled such a pure and genuine smile. Watching her he had felt light. Weightless. After that he had come back every year. Each time he had seen her she'd been happy and light. Then came the year that his brother had returned and found Elena and Damon had had to watch instead as Stefan lived out the happy ending he had thought was supposed to be his with someone that had Katherine's face and Damon was back to obsessing about her all over again. Then he had gone back to keeping a different promise he'd made to make Stefan's life a living hell.

He'd succeeded in a way. He'd lost Stefan to Klaus and now Bonnie had lost her light to something that he had done. But hadn't she been losing it ever since he'd come to town to stay. Losing it little by little and as he felt Bonnie stir in his arms as he helped her swallow his blood, he made a vow to himself that he'd never let it go out completely.

Damon clutched her body to his as he watched her wounds close. For once him being what he was wasn't causing her pain. He wasn't the monster attacking her or hurting her friends. He was the monster saving her life. His blood was saving her. Restoring her light. But he was the monster that put her in danger in the first place and he would make sure she made it out alive, even if he didn't.

With each drop of blood he shed for her he heard her heart beat stronger and her pulse strengthen. "That's it little witch," he whispered, "Come back to me."

Damon didn't move his wrist until he felt her hand over his. She attempted to tug his hand away but her grip was still slightly limp. "Damon," she whispered as he pulled his wrist back and let out a shuddering breath at the sound of her voice.

"That's right," he said, "I'm here. You're okay."

"I'm going to kill you," Bonnie replied as she leaned limply into his body. His relief was all the more prominent at her words. Death threats, she would definitely be alright.

Damon gave a weak laugh. "That's fair," he replied. He shifted slightly. "How much can you move?" he asked, "We have to get out of here."

"What your blood didn't take care of," Bonnie said, her voice sounding a little stronger, "My powers should be able to handle. I learned some new tricks over the summer. Just give me a minute."

"We don't have a minute," Damon said, "I can't let anything else happen to you. We're getting the hell out of here now."

Damon gripped the sides of the tub and propped himself up, channeling whatever strength he had left in spite of the vervain still in the room.

"Well isn't this just the sweetest thing," a familiar voice said before Damon could move much.

Bree was there alive and well. There wasn't even a hole in her chest from where he'd ripped her heart out. It was as if he hadn't done any damage at all or it would have been if not for the expression on her face.

"Son of a bitch," Damon said as he wrapped his arms around Bonnie protectively.

"Now honey pie," Bree chastised as she walked into the room, "After everything we've been through, that's the reception that I get."

Damon looked between Bonnie and Bree and sighed. "Do whatever you want with me," he said, "Just let her go."

Bree's eyes narrowed and the sweet expression he was used to, turned into something hellish and he frowned. This wasn't the Bree he knew. His monster had created a monster and it'd been unleashed. "You're not calling the shots this time, baby," Bree said calmly.

"She doesn't have anything to do with this Bree," Damon said, "I'm sorry…for what I did to you. Whether you believe it or not. Because it turned you into whatever the hell this is and it's made someone that I ca….witchy here a target."

"Someone that you care about," Bree said, "That's what you were going to say right? You seem to be of the mind of making this sweet little girl think you don't give a damn about her, but that's just a cover up. Because you don't want her to find out what you really want. Am I right?"

Damon scowled, his grip on Bonnie tightening. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about," he said, and when Bonnie gave him a look that said he wasn't helping the situation he decided to go with a different tactic, "You're better than this Bree. Better than me. Bonnie is innocent in all of this. Elena is here. Just let Bonnie go. I'll stay here. Elena can get Bonnie out of here. Then you can have me."

"You think I still want you," Bree smirked, "That's cute. I just want you to suffer. And I agree, Bonnie shouldn't pay for your sins. That's why I'm going to heal her completely when I'm done with you. Get her back to full strength. I'll have to wait to make sure she doesn't stop me. She's not like you. Or me. She doesn't like you but she'd stop me. She'd save you on principal. Because she cares about people that care about you. She's good like that. But you know that don't you Damon."

"I do," he said and then, "As long as she doesn't get hurt. I won't fight you. But she'll try to save us anyway. She's probably plotting right now. She's weak and it might hurt her worse but she'll risk. Because that's what she does for the people she cares about and even if I'm not one of those people she'll do it for me. So your best bet since she's been learning some new tricks this summer and my blood is in her system healing her as we speak, is to let her go. That way no one gets between you and your, honey pie," Bonnie opened her mouth to object and Damon squeezed her hand. "Shhh," he said, "I being brave and valiant. Don't ruin the moment."

"You're an idiot," was Bonnie's response and Damon couldn't help but smile because even in her weakened state she could still manage to give him shit.

"She's right you know," Bree said, breaking the moment, "but I for one would like to know what else is in that head of yours besides stupidity. But first I think I'll take your advice."

"He may be an idiot and I may blame him for our current predicament but I'm not leaving him here," Bonnie said and Damon watched as she lifted her hand, likely to attempt a spell, just as he'd predicted. She would fight to the end. That was who she was.

"Oh, sugar, you don't have a choice." Damon watched as Bree whispered a spell that left Bonnie unconscious. She was then lifted from his arms with a wave of Bree's hand and cleaned of the blood on her skin and clothes with another whispered spell. Bree had been powerful before but whatever had happened to bring her back must have strengthened her as well.

Bonnie was carried through the air and out of the open bathroom door. Instead of taking her out to where Elena was waiting, Damon watched as Bree took her into the bedroom just outside of the bathroom and laid her on the bed.

"She's healing," Bree said as she walked back towards him, "She'll be just fine. I just want to make sure that you'll stay this compliant, so she'll stay here with us, but out of harm's way."

"That's fine," he said, "Do what you have to do. But after you're finished with me, she leaves with Elena."

"You care about her far more than she realizes," Bree smiled, "I just need to know how much more." Before Damon could respond, Bree hissed, "Aperire animo."

Damon felt like his head was being split into two. Images passed through his minds eye. Every moment with Bonnie he'd ever had. The shared and the secret. Her spinning in the rain. Her trying to kill him at the school carnival. Attacking her. Faking her death. Every argument. Then came the thoughts. Everything he had ever thought about Bonnie, even in passing. That she was a pain in the ass. That he liked her smile. That she was brave. Loyal. Self-righteous. Annoying. A light in the dark. Then came the darker ones. The ones he kept hidden. Those ones that were seeds of something that couldn't happen.

Damon attempted to push Bree out but she read the thoughts anyway. Fantasies that were never meant to see the light of day. Cycled and suppressed. Some were wild. Animalistic. Tying her to his bed and not letting her up for days. Fucking her into submission. Scratching. Biting. Breaking the skin while she begged. More. More. More. Because she was a martyr. A masochist and got pleasure from the pain.

Others were softer. He was gentle. Worshipful, in a way he had never been with others. He was her slave and he loved every minute of it.

There are others. Countless fantasies that passed through his mind and left just as quickly. Pushed down but not quite forgotten. He fights Bree but she digs through them all before she finally lets him go.

"Oh, baby that twisted little mind of yours," Bree smirked as she released him, "I should have known you never loved me. When it comes to love you never do anything by halves. You obsess over things. Fixate. And that sweet little witch in there has a chamber in your mind that's big and locked up tight, devoted to just that."

Damon watched as Bree lit candles he hadn't realized were around the room. "You jealous, baby," he asked, trying to downplay his shame at the discovery, there was a reason that his thoughts stayed secret.

"Oh no," Bree shook her head, "Amused more like. I thought about using Elena for this. But this particular spell only makes a difference if the feelings are unrequited. I remember you and her together. Even then she was wrapped around your finger. This spell would just give her an excuse to fuck you. Something to blame. Besides that your mind doesn't shy away from her in the same way. Elena you embrace. Katherine you embrace. But Bonnie…she scares you. What you feel for her scares you. That works for me."

Damon sat up in the tub more fully. "What spell?" he asked, ignoring her other accusations.

"I was hoping you'd ask." She said.

Damon watched as the nightshade and vervain around the tub ignited and turned to ash. He realized then, that the entire set up was for whatever spell she had. He was covered in his Bonnie's blood and that was purposeful as well.

"I want you to feel what I felt each time you walked away from me," she said, "How I felt each time you betrayed me. I want you to know what it is to want something so badly that it destroys you. This spell will make sure that all of those thoughts, those dirty little fantasies you have about Bonnie, everything you ever felt for her. The love. The hate. It'll be all you think about. In every breath. Every movement. Every moment and every minute. Your desire for her will outweigh everything. Even your thirst for blood."

Damon blinked at her. "What the hell would that accomplish?" Damon asked, "I won't touch her. I don't give a damn about some spell. She doesn't want me. I won't touch her."

"Oh you'll fight it," she said, "I'm sure. But I know the way you love and this will be an all-out war. You're selfish. You take what you want without regard for others. You've done it to her before. Used her for her power."

"This isn't the same thing," Damon objected.

"No," Bree nodded, "It's not. You'll fight it. Like I said. I'm counting on that too. You see. The more you fight the desire for her, the worse it'll get for you. It'll eat away at you quite literally. Each moment you deny yourself your body will decay until slowly but surely you'll desiccate. Won't matter how much blood you drink."

"Then so be it," Damon shrugged. He'd come into this with the idea he would likely have to either kill or die for Bonnie's sake and so he was prepared to do just that. He wouldn't touch her. He couldn't.

"Don't you want to know what happens if you give in?" Bree asked. Damon stared blankly at her. "No?" she frowned, "I'll tell you anyway. Can't have my sweet honey pie going into this thing blind."

Bree knelt beside the tub and grabbed Damon by the hair. "If you give in," she told him, "It'll only get worse. You won't think it can but it will. The minute you touch her, something darker in you will surface. You'll take and you'll take and you'll never be satisfied. Then eventually you'll take until she has nothing left to give."

"Just more reasons not to touch her." Damon shrugged.

"We'll see how long you hold out," Bree responded, tugging his hair roughly, "My guess is you'll go crazy and kill yourself after the first week. Even if you touch her she'll reject you and that's what I'm really counting on. That pain you feel when she spurns you and walks away. Leaving you to decay and rot like the piece of garbage you are."

Bree let him go abruptly and stood upright. She left the bathroom and returned with a grimoire and bottle of tequila. She lifted the bottle in salute and said, "Cheers to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, ruined any and all chances of happiness, murdered my friend and ripped my heart right out of my chest," then downed a large swallow.

"Can I get a swig of that," Damon mocked, "You know for old time sake." He couldn't think of running or trying to fight his fate. It wasn't an option. Not with Bonnie unconscious and vulnerable in the other room.

Bree upended the bottle of tequila over his head and Damon regretted his words as he screamed as the liquid burned his skin. "I told you, baby…I put vervain in everything I drink."

The pain was deafening and then Bree was chanting a moment later as if torturing him was a part of her everyday routine. "Producat in lucem, in tenebris. Intimo gratus vestra desideria accendant."

Damon felt his mind being breached as her chanting grew louder. The flames of the candles surrounding them expanded into the air as Bree continued to chant.

When the darkness came to take him, Damon embraced it.

:::

Bonnie's eyes snapped open as she was shaken away. "Bonnie," a familiar voice pled, "Bonnie. Come on. Hey, hey, wake up. Please." Elena. For a moment Bonnie was brought back to the night she'd faked her death. She'd heard Elena's cries then too, she'd just been unable to do anything about it.

Bonnie sat up in an unfamiliar bed and when Elena hugged her, she hugged the girl back. "Thank God," Elena said, "I've been trying to wake you up for twenty minutes. How are you feeling?"

Bonnie looked down at herself. Her wounds were gone. Her clothes clean. It was as if nothing had happened at all. She couldn't feel any pain and her powers that had been suppressed by Bree's powers, were thrumming under the surface. Bonnie let out a relieved breath. "I'm fine," she said, "I feel fine. Where's Bree?"

"Gone," Elena answered, "I came in when I saw her run out. What happened? Where's Damon? I can't find him."

Bonnie remembered Bree's threats and wondered if the woman had changed her mind about deciding to kill him. She hopped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "I tried the door already," Elena said from behind her, "It's locked."

Bonnie nodded. "Not a problem," she said. She put her hand on the handle. "Aperire." She whispered. The door cracked open with a creak.

As the girls walked into the room Bonnie's eyes landed on Damon. He was still in the tub covered in blood. He was trembling. Pale. Sweating. His skin scared from vervain. His ice blue eyes were one her and Bonnie felt naked, vulnerable as he stared her down.

Elena ran past her to Damon's side. "Oh my God, what did she do to you?" Bonnie watched as Elena took Damon's face in her hands and asked after his well-being. Damon's eyes stayed on Bonnie, however, as he pushed Elena's hands away.

"I'm fine," Damon said. Bonnie just stared at him with a look that spoke volumes and clearly showed her skepticism before she muttered. "You look even more ridiculous as a martyr than I do."

"Clearly you're not fine." Elena frowned before she went about the business of getting the vervain surrounding him away.

"I locked the door for a reason," he hissed in Elena's direction before he caught Bonnie's gaze again.

"You locked yourself in here?" Elena asked, "Why?"

Damon ignored her. "Are you alright?" he asked, Bonnie, "She didn't hurt you?"

Bonnie shook her head. She walked over to him slowly, kneeling down next to Elena. "I'm fine," she said, "What did she do to you? Not that you don't deserve it but….if you tell me I can try to fix it."

Instead of responding Damon grabbed her by the wrists, his grip hard enough to bruise. Bonnie resisted and his grip hardened even more. He pulled her forward and sniffed the air around her closing his eyes. Bonnie's first instinct was to attack but his expression stopped her. He was still shaking and his unwavering gaze was full of something like remorse and something else that looked like longing which didn't make any sense to Bonnie at all.

His was scowling as if he were at war with himself and Bonnie watched as his face began to distort. "I locked the door for a reason," he repeated.

He yanked her forward and Bonnie prepared herself to attack him with all she had when instead of biting her, he kissed her. He pressed his lips against hers roughly, almost violently. Stupidly Bonnie opened her mouth to protest but only invited in his tongue.

As Damon's tongue slid over the roof of her mouth, Bonnie shoved him away so hard his back hit the other side of the tub. "What the hell was that?"

"Bonnie be careful," Elena chastised, "Something is clearly wrong. He's already hurt. He wouldn't kiss you unless…well I don't know but obviously something isn't right." Elena reached out to Damon but he scooted away from her touch.

Damon didn't just look hurt but gutted and Bonnie recalled Bree's words about the pain of rejection and it eating Damon alive as she watched him pale further suddenly.

"What did she do to you?" Bonnie repeated.

"This isn't your problem." Damon said, shaking his head. His voice was weak. His eyes never left her.

"Tell me," Bonnie pressed.

Damon closed his eyes. Bonnie watched as he seemed to draw in on himself. "That isn't fair," he snapped, "I can't say no to you. I can't…"

"Damon." Bonnie demanded reaching out and grabbing his hands.

"I want you," he grumbled. "I want you and if I get you I'll want you more. If I don't…I'll desiccate and die. Like I said. Not your problem."

Bonnie blinked at him several times before dropping his hands. His words sunk in and from the pinched expression on Elena's face, they meant what she thought they meant. "What is it some kind of love spell?" she asked, scooting away slightly. "That's not possible. We keep the balance. I've been around witches all summer. There's a lot we can circumvent but not that."

"You're right," he said, "It's not. I had…feelings…thoughts….before. In passing….it wasn't anything…She made them surface so that they're all I can think about."

Bonnie stared. "You thought about me…before?" It was hard to process. She had admitted more than once that Damon was hot but it wasn't as if she'd ever entertained the thought of being with him. However, clearly he had and had thought about it enough for Bree to use it to torment him. Bree had claimed he'd had a type, especially in terms of witches and Bonnie was beginning to believe her. She thought about their interactions over time and had to admit there had always been a kind of tension underneath that she couldn't place.

"In passing," Elena cut in, "I mean it's probably just the spell. Can you find it Bonnie? Reverse it?"

Bonnie didn't bother to hide her eye roll. It was bad enough that Elena was quite obviously jealous even though they had been intending to come get Bonnie so that she could help bring Stefan home to reunite with Elena in the first place, but she was back to her old routine of asking Bonnie to snap her fingers and find a magical fix for everything.

"It's Bree's spell," Damon responded, "Only she can break it. She's gone. So I'm screwed."

"This is all your fault," Bonnie said, without much remorse at all. The sad thing was, she knew even as she said it, that it was true, but she would still do what she always did and save the day. Though, this time would be completely different.

"I'm aware," Damon said, dryly.

"We need to get you out of here and we'll find Bree," Bonnie promised, "It probably won't be soon. But I might have a lead in Chicago. That's where Stefan is right Elena?" From the smirk on Damon's face he didn't miss the dig and from the scowl on Elena's neither did she. Bonnie couldn't say that she cared. "In the meantime….I'm not going to let you desiccate and die."

"What?" Damon and Elena said at the same time.

Bonnie leaned forward and took Damon's face in her hands. She kissed him gently on lips before pulling away. "I'm not going to let you die," she said again.

"I don't want you do to anything that you don't want to," Damon said, even as Elena cut in with, "That isn't necessary. We have time to figure things out."

Bonnie ignored Elena and eyed Damon. "The spell is already affecting you," she said, "We don't have that much of a choice. But I never said I didn't want to…I've thought about you too…in passing. Nothing serious but I think I can survive a few kisses if it means you'll live to annoy me another day."

"What about Jeremy?" Elena frowned.

Elena was trying to play on Bonnie's guilt. On her loyalty. On her love. But it had faded over the summer. She was a different person. Even before getting kidnapped. She was afraid that once she went back to Mystic Falls she would fall back into old habits. She was stronger now but those around her had always known how to weaken her and play on her vulnerabilities. This would be a way to break free from that and she could do it while still appearing to be the martyr. It would be a direct departure from who she was before and for that reason alone, it was enough to make Bonnie follow through on her words.

But there was another reason. A reason that Bonnie didn't want to admit. Damon had come for her. She hadn't thought he would. He'd come for he and been willing to sacrifice himself for her, which for Damon wasn't a small thing even if the whole thing had been because he'd torn Bree's life apart in more ways than one. But that wasn't the reason, the reason was the thoughts that Bonnie kept secret, locked away that kissing Damon threatened to surface.

Bonnie sighed. Even if she had pushed him away, kissing Damon had been more exciting than kissing Jeremy ever had. She still cared about him, but this person that she was becoming was beyond anything Jeremy could handle or accept. She felt that to her core. She didn't expect this thing with Damon to play out in any way beyond the spell or physicality but she wanted to see how it played out just the same. "I'll explain it to Jeremy when we get home," she said, "He'll understand. Or he won't. In any case, would you rather me let Damon rot to death?"

Elena actually looked to be debating it. "What if it goes beyond kissing?" Damon asked, drawing Bonnie's attention. This wasn't a conversation to be had in Bree's creepy apartment with the remnants of an equally creepy spell around them and with Damon in a weakened state but Damon and Elena seemed determined to hash it all out.

Bonnie squirmed under his gaze a moment before she stood. "Hopefully we'll find Bree before it gets that far and if not…" Bonnie paused, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now can we please get out of this creepy ass bathroom?"

"Whatever you want," Damon said. Bonnie glanced at Elena and knew that it'd be a long ride to Chicago.

The girls helped Damon out of the tub and out of the bathroom. As they moved, one of his arms over Bonnie's shoulders, one of them over Elena's, Damon leaned his head on Bonnie's shoulder. "I'm no martyr but I'll fight it," he whispered into her ear, "I swear."

Bonnie looked over at him and as their eyes met she could tell that he didn't believe that she could want him anymore than she believed that he could want her. But he did, she could see it so clearly, he did and he had for a long time.

"Don't fight it," Bonnie murmured only loud enough for Damon to hear.

His eyes widened and not in the crazy way they usually did but in a look of pure shock before he nodded simply and buried his face in Bonnie's neck. "I won't."

Bonnie wasn't sure what she had just unleashed upon herself. Bree had warned her about what he could be like. She'd seen it firsthand. Obsessive. Dark. Violent. Fixated. It was his curse and now it was directed at her. She could have rejected it and yet she had taken it upon herself. His curse was her curse now, by choice, and even knowing what was likely to come, Bonnie didn't regret the decision.

End Notes: Not sure how I feel about this part. It turned out a little different than I initially thought it would. This is my first official Bamon fic without any side main pairings. Hopefully I can pull this off. If ya'll want this to continue please review and what not.