I feel kind of bad about how long it took me to update the last chapter so I'm updating again now. Hope you guys like it!

Then

If looks could kill, Bonnie was sure Damon would have died as soon as the door to the house they had stopped at opened and the dark haired girl who had opened it recognized him.

"What do you want?" She asked, not even taking note of Bonnie at first.

Damon grinned at her, leaning against the frame. "Come on, now Ava. Is that any way to treat a guest?"

"Guests are invited in," she said, venom in her tone.

"What if I told you I've changed? That I'm not the same man I was five years ago?" Damon said dramatically.

"What do you want, Damon?" Ava asked yet again, and looked very close to setting Damon on fire. Bonnie watched as his expression cleared and he turned serious.

"I've come to cash in."

Ava straightened noticeably and, if anything, only looked angrier. Her gaze turned briefly to Bonnie and she stared a moment. "What are you doing traveling with him? You're no vampire. Do you know what he is? What he's done?"

Bonnie opened her mouth to respond but Damon cut her off. "Let's not get into all that. You told me about a spell once, remember? Said it'd work on any vampire. I want it. Actually, I'd prefer it if you could teach it to my friend here."

Ava's eyes widened just slightly when she looked Bonnie's way again but she didn't comment on it. "I'm not inviting you in."

"Of course you're not."

"And I'm still going to kill you someday."

"Naturally." Damon rolled his eyes. Ava turned without another word and walked back into her house, leaving the door open. "Have fun."

"I think I hate you again," Bonnie commented before she started into the house of the hostile witch who probably hated her on sight just because she was traveling with Damon.

Xxxxxxxxx

Elena had to resist the urge to throw her phone in frustration when Damon's went to voicemail yet again. She was angry and she couldn't stop herself from being that way. It was easier to be angry.

But it was more than Damon just lying to her that had that anger sparking in her so brightly. She needed to be with him when he sought out Stefan, she had to be. Not only because she had to see Stefan but also because she couldn't not be there if something went wrong.

She had lost too much already. Her nightmares lately had moved from Jenna and her parents to what could happen in the future. She had horrible nightmares of the things Stefan was doing with Klaus, of Klaus growing bored of him and ending his life, of Klaus ending the deal with Stefan by ending Damon's life.

Damon wasn't answering his phone. She needed something to do. Sitting on her bed gave her too much time to think, gave her too much time to picture what could happen if Klaus figured out that Damon was still tracking him.

Getting up, she put on her shoes before starting to head out. Maybe she could find Caroline and they could go out. She most definitely needed something. Jeremy's door was ajar and Elena put her hand on it, about to open it…

"…I don't think I want to lose you."

Elena frowned, paused before she opened his door. His back was to her and he seemed to be talking to the air.

"I know that. She stormed out and we haven't really talked since. It's…different with you…"

"Jeremy?" Elena called. He spun.

"Elena…hey."

She crossed her arms. "Anna?"

"Yeah," he answered, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Well…I'm going to head out. Find something to do."

"Alright."

She waved on her way out but the frown hadn't left her face. The way he'd been talking, the tone of his voice…she was distracted when her phone rang and she pulled it out. She threw up her free hand and answered it.

"Finally! Where the hell are you?"

Xxxxxxxxx

"Hello to you to, Elena." Damon leaned back in the driver's seat of his car. "What did you need to speak to me so urgently about?" He had about fifty missed calls and a few angry voicemails from her.

"Where are you?"

"I'm…taking a break," he answered, glancing towards the house that Bonnie had disappeared into.

"With Bonnie?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not chasing after Klaus," he admitted. "At the moment, I am not anywhere near where Klaus and Stefan probably are."

There was a pause on the other end other end of the line. "You have to promise me, Damon. Promise me that when you do go after them, you'll take me with you."

"Yeah, sure. I promise," he said, his tone light. "Now, I gotta go. I'm still on…break." He ended the call before she could retort. He probably shouldn't have even called her back. She was most likely going to be even more pissed off at him when he got back.

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he waited. Ava was probably trying to convince Bonnie to kill him herself. A smirk formed on his face. Not that Bonnie needed the motivation.

Xxxxxxxxx

"You're a witch," Ava said, stalking over to her book shelf and yanking out a book.

"Yes," Bonnie answered, eyeing the woman warily and wondering if she was going to have to end up defending herself.

"And you're friends with that monster?"

"No!" Bonnie answered immediately. "We're not friends." Right? Of course not. "I tried to set him on fire once," she offered after a moment, reaffirming in her mind that she had.

"But you're helping him?" Ava asked, her anger not dying. "Do you owe him something as well?"

"No, this isn't about debts. And I'm well aware of the things he's done." And aware that this woman had known Damon before he'd returned to Mystic Falls. She still remembered clearly how much a sociopath Damon had been when he'd first gotten to Mystic Falls.

"And you're still helping him?"

"I have to." Bonnie sighed. "Look, everyone I love is in danger right now from someone a lot worse than Damon. If you really have a spell that can take down this threat…"

"You're going to use this spell to save people? And why does he want it?"

"For the same reason," Bonnie answered, chewing her lip. She shrugged at the look on Ava's face. "I know, unbelievable right? He wants to save his brother and I really believe that he'll do anything to achieve that."

"Damon Salvatore does not care about anyone but himself." She tilted her head, studied Bonnie. "But I do owe him and I need to end this debt…I hope that you do not end up dead because of whatever it is he has pulled you into."

Xxxxxxxx

Bonnie could hear the music blaring from the car radio as soon as she stepped outside the house. She stopped short with a frown as she approached when she didn't see Damon in the car but shook her head when she got close enough to look inside. He was lying across the front seats, almost dancing where he was lying.

"Having fun?" She asked.

"Are you kidding?" He sat up. "I'm bored out of my skull."

"Then why wouldn't you go find something to do?"

"The bitch hates me," he reminded her. "I figured I'd stay close…"

Bonnie grinned. "Don't tell me you were worried about me?" She asked as she opened the passenger door.

"Of course not. Let's get the hell out of here before she decides to storm out here and make good on her promise."

"Alright." Bonnie smiled wider and got into the passenger seat.

"I take it you got what you needed?"

Bonnie nodded. "You were right. This is going to work. It has to."

Xxxxxxxx

Now

"Don't tell me you've been avoiding me." Damon leaned against the banister, standing at the end of the stairs and watched his brother.

"Why would I do that?" Stefan asked, turning to face him. His expression didn't change. Damon studied him a moment.

"We need to talk," he said, pushing away from the stairs and ignoring the weakness in his limbs.

"I don't have anything to talk to you about."

"Yeah, I get it. You don't give a damn about me or Elena, you're evil, on Klaus' side, and so on…" Damon rolled his eyes, his tone dismissive. "You know, Rose said once that there is no switch, or that after a while you lose the ability to flip it."

"She was wrong." Stefan turned, intent on leaving.

"Yeah, see that's the thing. She wasn't." He dropped down on the couch. "And I've seen you with your emotions turned off, remember?"

Stefan stopped, turned to him. "This is your new ploy? Are you really going to try and talk me back into being the guy I was before? Between you and Elena, this is getting pathetic."

Damon only grinned and shook his head. "No, I'm not trying to talk you into anything. I know what I'm saying is the truth. But I also know that the only way to win this is by killing Klaus."

"You can't kill Klaus, Damon. It's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible, brother." Damon saw the spark of interest in Stefan's eyes.

"This is," he insisted again.

Damon tilted his head and studied Stefan a moment. "You really want to believe that? Come on, Stefan. I know you want Klaus dead just as much as I do."

"I've told you to let this go. You need to let it go."

"Can't," Damon said with a shrug. He stood then, walked over to Stefan. "Look, I get it. You're compelled, which means you can't go after Klaus yourself and you probably can't tell me anything. But I'm telling you, I have a way to end this."

"Why would you be telling me this?" Stefan asked with narrowed eyes.

"I need a favor, actually. I need Klaus here."

"What?" Stefan actually laughed at him. "No, I don't think so."

Damon crossed his arms. "Why not, Stefan? Worried about me? About Elena?"

"No, I-"

"Look, don't worry. There's no way Klaus will kill Elena now that he knows he needs her for his little hybrid army and he's keeping his deal with you, which probably means he's not gonna kill me."

"I'm not worried-"

"I just need you to get Klaus here. That's it. I'll take care of the rest," Damon continued, ignoring Stefan's denial. "Come on, little brother. What do you have to lose?"