Separated At Birth

By: Tracy Cook

Disclaimer: I do not own anything; these characters belong to the creators of The Vampire Diaries.

Authors Note: This is an AU fic.

Pairing: Bonnie/Damon, Rebekah/Caroline.

Rating: M

Chapter Twelve

Being Deeply Loved By Someone Gives You Strength…

While Loving Someone Deeply Gives You Courage.

Silence surrounded Damon as he diligently rubbed the ropes around his ankles together. The only sound that could be heard echoing off of the walls of the torture chambers were his grunts of pain. With every kick of his legs, the razors dug into his wrists and scraped against his bones, but he knew that if he could free his legs then he could escape. He had to escape for Bonnie.

His concern for her numbed the pain and made it tolerable.

Finally, he rubbed the ropes raw and they were thin enough to break. This allowed him to move his legs around freely. Now he just had to find a way to lift his entire bodyweight over his head so that he could use his clawed foot to unlatch the contraption holding onto his arms. The problem with that was that the contraption holding his hands would nearly cut his hands clean off if he attempted to lift himself.

Damon didn't care though.

He had to do it. He had to escape and find the woman he loved. She needed to know that he would never just abandon her.

Mustering all of the strength that he had, he used his arms to lift his legs up over his head and he started to unlock the contraption with his sharp claws. The razors dug deep into the flesh of his arms, dragging along his wrists and causing deeper wounds to form and more blood to fall down on his face. It was nearly blinding him, but luckily he managed to see well enough to maneuver his way out of the blades.

As he unlocked the contraption, he fell to the ground with a loud thud. Quickly he removed the other rope that wrapped around his wings and arms, before sneaking out of the chambers. He did not have time to sit and lick his wounds, because Niklaus or Katherine could return at any moment. So, he grit his teeth and ignored the pain and the blood that was pouring from severed veins, and headed down one of the hallways toward the exit.

He had a plan.

Damon was going to head into town and speak with Grams. He knew that if the humans had brought her back to the city that was where Bonnie would be.

There was a large part of him that was tempted to find Niklaus and Katherine and take his revenge before leaving, but he couldn't risk it. If he died before he got to see her again it would destroy her. Plus, it wasn't worth it. They would still be there to kill at a later time.

O

Sneaking into the city was a difficult task. He had done so on numerous occasions in order to visit Bonnie. At first Grams had been against her granddaughter being involved with him. She did not think that it would be safe for her to be wandering around with a half-demon. For obvious reasons, if humans found out then she would have a target painted on her back, and if he could not control his need to kill then she could be killed by him.

Over time she had grown more tolerable about the two of them spending time together.

She had even helped hide him on occasion.

'Though if Bonnie's not home, she's gonna be really mad…' He thought to himself as he knocked on her door, holding the cloak over his back and head. Now both of those worries had come true. Humans had captured her, and he had put her in danger.

Grams opened the door a crack and peeked outside. Once she saw that it was Damon she immediately opened the door and her heart started to race. She was scared that Bonnie had been caught using magic or was mixed up in something in the demon world. "Hello, Damon. Please tell me that Bonnie is with you."

His face fell at her words. 'She isn't here…'

He didn't need to say anything; Grams already knew that something was wrong. Quickly she welcomed him into the house and asked, "What happened to her? Did she get caught using magic? I told you two that you needed to be more careful."

"It wasn't that." Damon sat down on one of the couches and clenched his jaw. He was frustrated. He had hoped that she would be at her grandmother's house. Now he had no idea where to look for her or who the man that took her was. "It's my fault. One of the demons caught us together." He did not dare tell her what they were doing together. Not yet. "And she told our leader. He had her locked away in the dungeons and then a group of humans came and rescued her."

"But, if they rescued her, shouldn't they bring her back here?" Grams took a seat beside the young man on the couch. She knew that he hadn't meant to hurt Bonnie. The two of them were in love with each other, she had always known that. That was what made her start to trust Damon in the first place.

She knew that if Bonnie could see the good in him then there must have been good.

"Yeah." He furrowed his brow in frustration. "That's what I thought too."

Damon abruptly stood to his feet and started toward the door. He did not know where he was going to go next, but he knew that he could not wait around for Bonnie to show up. He needed to search for her. Find the group of humans who took her away, find the young man that he had witnessed. There was something about him, something in his eyes that he felt that he recognized. It was like he had seen him before, only he was certain he had never seen him before.

'He just seemed so familiar… I need to find him.'

"Where are you going?" Grams wondered, standing and following him toward the door.

"I'm going to find her."

"Good luck to you, child." She said with a smile as she watched him walk through the door. She had faith that he would find her.

O

"Wait?" Elena asked with a confused look on her face. "You think that I'm some kind of wolf demon?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"How on earth could you think that I was a demon, Stefan!? Look at me, do I look like a demon?" She took a step toward him and stared up into his eyes.

He searched her eyes and found only kindness swimming in their depths and it further frustrated him. Her kind eyes felt like lies. Like she was trying to trick him into believing that she cared and that she was human. "You wouldn't look like a demon, Elena. These creatures have the ability to transform from demon into human in a matter of seconds."

"But, why would you think that it was me?"

"There are wolf tracks in the soil surrounding your house! Not to mention, you moved out of the city into the middle of nowhere right after my parents were slaughtered by those demons! If you aren't one of them then why would you move!? And why would you run from me!?"

"I'm not a demon!" She insisted angrily.

Stefan took another step toward her and reached out to hold onto her arm, staring deep into brown eyes. "Then why did you leave the city and why did you run when you saw me?"

"Because you are the king." Elena told him honestly. "And my father and I are taking part in illegal activities."

He suddenly felt numb.

Like all of the hope that he had was gone.

He had finally thought that he was on the right trail and now he was finding out that everything he had done was for nothing. There was a small ounce of happiness inside of him, though. He was happy to hear that the woman that he had developed feelings for was not a demon. That she was just a mere criminal.

"What activities?" Stefan attempted to keep his duty as the king.

"My father and I fled the city because the taxes were raised and we could no longer afford to pay on our house. We figured that if we lived outside of the city walls we wouldn't have to worry about taxes. But, we still weren't making enough money to live on, so we started stealing from the city and selling back products at a cheaper price to make some extra gold."

He watched her face and he witnessed the terror and fear painted across it. It told him that what she was telling him was the truth. And he wanted to believe her words more than anything, because if she was telling the truth then it meant that his feelings for her would not be in vain. It meant that she wasn't evil, she was just scared of him because she was disobeying his father's laws.

"My father would have you executed for stealing from within the city walls." Stefan informed her with a scowl.

Elena's eyes widened, she had not expected him to threaten her life. She quickly started begging, "Please don't have us executed! It was the only way for us to make a living!"

"Luckily." He smiled and released her arm. "I am not my father."

She let out a breath of relief and color returned to her face as she realized that he was not threatening her life. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, I am not going to persecute you for your crimes. I have much more pressing matters to attend to. I apologize for barging in, and I must be on my way. But—" Stefan paused and his lip quirked up into a smile causing Elena's heart to leap. "—it was nice to see you again."

O

Damon was a man on a mission.

His blue eyes were fixated on the entrance to the city, his jaw was clenched tightly, and his brow furrowed in deep thought. Over and over his mind reminded him of what he needed to do and why he needed to do it. He needed to form an army in order to take over the demon lands and unite them with the humans, and he needed to find out who the man was that took Bonnie from the dungeons.

Every minute that he spent away from her, not knowing if she was safe, was a minute of pure agony and concern. He needed to know that she was alive.

"Look what piece of scum decided to come into our city!" A man's voice spoke loudly behind him.

Damon's long ears twitched and his scowl turned into a smirk as he turned to face the group of humans. They were all wielding weapons and they appeared to be angry with him for entering the city. "What did you just call me?"

The man took a few steps toward him and spit in his face, "I called you rotten demon scum!"

His muscles tensed and he grit his teeth as he stared deep into the eyes of the human. He wanted more than anything to reach out and break his neck, but people from the city were now surrounding them and watching the confrontation. He knew that if he was going to unite the demons and the humans then he would have to have both races on his side. He would be forced to kill his pride and endure their ridicule to prove his point.

"I just came to visit someone." Damon spoke spitefully, but not violently. "I'm not going to hurt anyone, so how about you leave me alone."

One of the other men walked up to him and looked him over. "And why the hell would we just leave you alone!? We don't allow your kind here in the city."

"You should leave me alone." He raised his brows as he spoke. "Because, I am not here to cause any problems. I have no intentions of hurting anyone. I only want to unite the humans and demons and show the humans that not all of us are evil."

"I've watched a demon eat a child! Do you really expect me to believe that not all of you guys are evil!?"

"I do." He grinned playfully.

Damon knew that they could not physically harm him and if they attacked him then it would only make the humans look worse. He refused to fight back.

"I see, you wanna be a smartass eh?" The man took another step toward the half-breed. The cigar that rested between his lips moving as he spoke. "How about you get the hell outta our city before we force ya out."

"I would like to see you try." Damon replied confidently.

The men moved toward him angrily, throwing up their hands in a rage and attempting to attack him. But, before they reached him they were silenced by a dagger flying through the air. It quickly sped past the man in the front of the group, slicing his cigar in two. He stared in shock as it fell to the ground.

All of them turned to see who had thrown the knife, including the demon.

Standing in front of them was a young gentleman. He was wearing a very expensive looking tuxedo, his hair was slicked back stylishly, and he was wielding another dagger between his fingers as he stared the men down. His features were that of a human.

The other humans moved toward him with looks of confusion written across their faces. No man had ever stood up for the demons. They were monsters and to be hated, not to be sympathized with and defended.

"Who the heck do ya think you are?"

"That man was doing nothing to you." He spoke with a punctual British accent.

"That man?" The human laughed, pointing at Damon. "He's no man! He's a demon!"

"He has been nothing but respectful and courteous toward you, and from what I witnessed he was merely minding his own business."

"How about you stay outta this! You've got no right interuptin' our argument and telling us what to do! If you sympathize with demons then you may as well be as bad as them! Come on guys! Kill both of—" He started to cough on his own blood as the other dagger pierced through his throat. His blood spurting and covering the mystery man's face.

Within seconds he was dead.

The other men exchanged looks and then scurried away frightened. Leaving the man to grin victoriously and Damon to wonder who he was and why he had sympathized with him.

He put his knives away and then pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face and hands. "You are most welcome." He informed.

O

"Tyler?" Stefan asked as he walked through the front door of Elena's house.

The young knight was simply standing there staring him down with angry eyes.

"What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" The king wondered curiously as he took a step toward the other man. His eyes were dancing with something that looked nearly psychotic and it was starting to really frighten him.

"Yes, I did." Tyler grinned and his eyes flashed a bright yellow.

"Your eyes." Stefan breathed out.

"I've been waiting a long time for this."

O

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update this fic! My other computer was broken so I had to get a new one! But, I finally did so hopefully I can update more often! Thank you all for you wonderful reviews and encouragement! It has meant the world to me and I hope that y'all continue to enjoy this fic! How did you like this chapter? New characters introduced! Did you like it? And what about Tyler? :) Please do tell me what y'all think and what y'all want from the next chapter!

Thank you all for reading! I love you guys!

-Tracy Cook