You'll Never Take Our Humanity

By: Tracy Cook

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

Pairing: Bonnie x Damon, Hayley x Elijah

Warnings : There will be mentions of death, morbidity, graphic sex, alcohol, war, violence, suicide, etc. Do not read if these things bother you. This will be a very dark story. There will be vampires in this fic, but it is AU.

Rating: M

Chapter One

'Oh, How I've Wronged You My Love.'

His jaw was clenched tightly as he watched the scenery pass by through the window of the train. With each mile he was getting closer and closer to the life that he had left behind. To the ones he loved that he had run from. Blue eyes were fixated on the city that they were passing and his heart was hammering loudly in his ears.

He was nearly home.

He hadn't been back home in five years.

Shortly after turning eighteen years old he had enlisted in the military. He had wanted to live up to the expectations that he put on himself, he had wanted to make his father proud. Even though his father was no longer alive to see him succeed and follow in his footsteps, he knew that he was looking down on him and feeling proud that he was doing good by his country.

'That's more than Stefan can say...' His younger brother had opted out of the military and decided to follow his true passion and attend school. It wasn't that he didn't believe school was worthwhile, he just didn't see a purpose in attending school if they would all be dead in a matter of years. At the rate that the war was going, he didn't see much hope for them. He didn't see a future for them.

Still, he couldn't say that he was proud of himself.

Damon Salvatore had sacrificed everything he loved in order to follow in his father's footsteps. He had abandoned the woman that he loved more than anything in the world and he had never spoken to her again after he left.

The battlefield had taken away most of the humanity that he had prior to his arrival on the base. He had grown accustomed to watching children die, to watching innocent people be tortured and raped. He had witnessed horribly gruesome things and he could never erase them. But, worse than this, he could never erase the horrible things that he had done. The people he had murdered. The soldiers liked to hide behind the fact that they were doing so for their country, but he knew that it was still wrong.

They had killed more innocent people than malicious.

He had helped kill hundreds of families. Hundreds of children who were pure of hatred and war. They had full lives ahead of them and he had taken that away from them. He had taken away their chance to love, their chance to experience education, their chance to do anything.

He hated himself.

The things that he had done disgusted him.

His mind returned to the woman that he had left behind. The woman that he was about to see and talk to for the first time in five years. He had fought and killed hundreds of people, he had dodged bullets and grenades, and nothing scared him as much as seeing her beautiful face again. Nothing scared him as much as facing his regrets.

Would she hate him? Would she see the darkness that now corroded his soul? Would she welcome him with open arms? Would she slam the door in his face?

These were the questions that were racing through Damon's mind.

'Bonnie will hate who I have become...' He thought, internally berating himself for all of the mistakes that he had made. 'She always hated when I talked about joining the military... And there is a reason she didn't show up that night...' His stomach tangled in knots when he thought back to the dreadful night. It was the night that changed his life. The night he knew he had made the wrong decision, and he made it anyway. He had a knack for doing that.

"Which Precinct are you headed to?"

An accented voice asked from behind him and Damon's ears perked up. He didn't know for certain if the man was talking to him, so he turned to look.

Standing on the other side of the train was a man wearing a suit. He was standing up tall and had proper posture. He was wearing a hat that matched the suit he had on and he was holding on to one of the rails in order to keep his balance as the train sped on. 'Who is this guy and why the heck is he talking to me? He looks like he's straight out of Original Corp.'

Original Corp was one of the largest corporations in the world. They had buildings in every Precinct in the country and they even had some buildings across the seas. No one quite understood what they did, but they knew that whatever it was, was very important. They controlled everything electronic in the world and they all walked around sporting similar suits as the man standing before him.

His eyes weren't empty like the other employees though. They held something rare to see in an Original employee, and that was sincerity.

This was the only reason that Damon answered his question.

"Precinct Three."

"Me too." The mysterious man informed with a small and genuine smile. He too was examining the man standing before him. He had dark hair and his eyes told stories. Stories that no man's eyes should ever tell. Stories of war, stories of death and anguish, stories that would horrify any normal human being. This man wasn't normal though. He was a soldier in the military. That much was obvious from the black uniform that he wore and the gun he was carrying on his hip. But, there was so much more to him that told the business man he was a victim of war. "Are you on leave from the military?" He wondered.

Damon raised his brows and responded in a sarcastic tone. It was blatant that he was from the military considering his attire. "Yes."

"Visiting someone special on your time off?"

He didn't understand the other man. He was obviously uninterested in holding a conversation with him and yet the other man continued to try. It was strange behavior. "How on earth is this any of your business?" He sneered spitefully.

As the train screeched to a halt, they both stood there for a moment longer staring each other down. The proper man had not responded to his question and with a tip of his hat he said, "It was a pleasure speaking to you." With that he walked off of the train and left behind a baffled young man.

'What is wrong with that guy!?'

'I Hear Her Voice Saying,

Leave It Behind.'

Damon's eyes were fixated on the familiar house before him.

It was just as lovely as he had remembered. The house stood two stories high and there were gardens that lined the walkway full of bright colorful flowers. The wind was rustling around the branches of the trees in the front yard, causing leaves and small pink flowers to float through the air. It was like a vision from a dream. In fact, in a way, it was a vision from his dreams.

Hundreds of times over the last five years he had dreams plagued with the vision of the house and the memories that he shared with Bonnie inside. They had spent most of their teenage years together and those were the best days of his life. Even though they had never pursued anything more than a friendship, he had always been in love with the younger woman. He had always wanted to be more than friends, and so had she. It had simply never worked out.

'Maybe now... No... Don't get your hopes up Damon, she probably hates your guts.'

His dark hair was tossed by the wind as he licked over his lips and tried to internally convince himself to walk up to the door and knock. He was scared. He didn't want to see what he had lost. He didn't want to see the same hatred behind green eyes as he had that fateful day he told her that he was leaving.

'Damon had recently turned eighteen years old and had graduated from high school, but that didn't stop him from spending time with his best friend Bonnie who was still only fifteen. He loved spending time with her. She was his favorite person in the entire world. Lately, though he had been avoiding her a bit more because he was scared to tell her that he had enlisted in the military. She would never approve and he didn't want to lose her forever.

Tonight he would be leaving and he wouldn't be back for a really long time.

But, he knew that he owed it to her to tell her that he was going, so that was what he planned to do when she called and invited him over to bake some cookies with her. Bonnie was baking the cookies for the festival that would be held in town the next day and she needed some help. Plus, she really missed hanging out with her best friend.

Damon's lips twisted up into a half smirk as he got some flour on the tip of his finger and he swiped it across Bonnie's nose. The younger of the two gasped as he did so and she glared up at him, pushing him by the chest and telling him to stop. This was common for the two of them. They often flirted with each other and played around. It came naturally for them.

Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip as she focused on what she was doing. She was nervous as she said, "Grams and I were going to the festival together tomorrow, if you wanted to come along. I know it's probably gonna be really cheesy, but it could be fun?"

What she was really doing was asking him out on a date.

He knew it.

And it broke his heart. Because he wouldn't be there in the morning to go with her.

He knew that he had no choice but to tell her now. Staring down at his hands as he kneaded the doe, he chewed on his cheeks and tried to build up the courage to do so. Damon didn't want her to hate him. "I can't..."

"Oh..." She muttered under her breath. Her disappointment caused him to physically ache.

"It's not that I don't want to-" He quickly started to explain.

"-You don't have to explain yourself, Damon." Bonnie interrupted, laughing sarcastically. She didn't understand him lately. For months he had been flirting with her and sending signs her way that he wanted to be more than friends and then suddenly over the last two weeks he had stopped. He had stopped calling her every night, he had stopped coming over. He had stopped wanting her. "I understand."

"No." The older man insisted, pulling away from the doe and turning to look down into her eyes. He saw heartache behind them and he wanted to take it all away. But, he knew it was only going to get worse. "You don't."

"Then how about you explain it to me?" Her voice started to rise as she waved her hands around and stared into her eyes. She wasn't usually very emotional. Usually she hid it inside and bit her tongue. But, she had been doing that for weeks and she was tired of it. "Because you were flirting with me non-stop and now suddenly you're all standoff-ish! This is the first time we have even spent time together in weeks, Damon! What is it, did you find someone else?"

He quickly dismissed this. That was the last thing he wanted her to think.

For him, it would always be her. There was no one else.

"I'm not interested in anyone else!"

"Then what is it?" She asked with a furrowed brow and tears in her eyes.

"I really have wanted to spend time with you, Bon." He insisted, his blue eyes full of seriousness as he stared into hers. "I just..." He paused and took in a breath. "I can't go to the festival tomorrow because I won't be here."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked in a worried tone. She was no longer angry. "Why? Where are you going?"

"Look, I know that you do not approve of the military, but I enlisted."

"Damon, how could you?"

"I need to do this, Bonnie. I need to follow in my father's footsteps and do what will make him proud of me." Damon explained, he didn't want her to hate him for it. But, he had to do it. "I've been keeping my distance because I didn't know how to tell you..." His voice trailed off and silence filled the air between the two of them.

Neither of them knew what to say. Both of them were visibly breaking.

Bonnie couldn't breathe as she waited for Damon to finish what he was saying. She could tell that he had more to say.

"I'm leaving on that train tonight and I won't be back for a very long time, Bonnie..." His voice was barely audible as he spoke and she could feel the tears as they fell down her cheeks. He hated to be the reason she was crying. "I need to do this in order to prove something to myself..."

"But, why?" She asked. "You're only eighteen years old, Damon. Why do you want to risk your life for this silly war?" She reached out and placed her hand on his chest and stared up into his eyes with hopeful green. "You could stay here with me. We could finally be together..."

"I have to do this."

Damon reached up and attempted to wipe one of the tears from Bonnie's flawless cheek, only to have her pull away from his touch and stare at him with a deadly glare. She hated him. She hated him for leaving her. He forced a smile and pulled his hand away before saying, "I'm leaving tonight..."

"Please, don't go."

"I have to." He smiled sadly. "The train leaves at midnight. I'd love it if you'd be there to see me off."

As he headed down the path toward the house he felt shame for wearing his uniform. It made him feel like a terrible individual for leaving her. For doing what he needed to do. Especially considering that after all of it he wished that he had never left and that he could go back and make a different choice. It wasn't possible though.

Regrets were meant to be lived with.

Honestly, from the moment that he stepped onto that train he knew that he was making the worst decision of his life. He knew that he was going to regret it.

'His eyes were locked on the door to the train station as he listened to the clock tick away beside his head. He knew that there were only a few minutes left before he would board that train and he would leave Precinct Three for five years of his life. Deep inside he wanted Bonnie to show up at the train station and tell him not to go. Tell him that she had always been in love with him and that she couldn't live without him.

Or, at the very least tell him she would miss him.

Actually, he wouldn't mind if she came and slapped him across the face as long as she showed up. It wasn't looking good, though.

Most of the other recruits were already on the train, aside from a few who were saying goodbye to their loved ones, and him, who was waiting for his loved one. The only person on the face of the planet that he actually cared about. His stomach was lurching back and forth and he felt hopeless. He could die within the next five years and he would never see her again.

She didn't want to see him.

"C'mon Bonnie." He muttered to himself as he tapped his foot impatiently and crossed his arms over his chest.

"C'mon mate!" One of the recruits shouted from the train. He and Damon had instantly hit it off. His name was Kol. "We have to get going!"

Damon clenched his jaw and he stared at the doors for just a moment longer. Praying that she would show up to see him off. But she didn't show. With a sigh he turned and walked toward the train jumping on and offering a smile to Kol.

"Your lady didn't show, eh?"

"She's not my lady." He responded.'

To this day he wondered if she had shown up after he left. He had some hope in his mind that she had shown up just a few minutes too late and that he had missed her. That was the only thing that got him through the long nights.

'I Left Behind Every Trace Of A Coward,

And Moved Toward The Dreams, That were Born Of Our Fathers,

Who Told Us That The World, Is Only As Flat As We Make It Out To Be.

As he wrapped his knuckles against the door he held his breath and waited for someone to answer. He had no idea what to expect. There was a part of him that hoped that she had waited for him, but he definitely didn't expect as much. It had been five years and she had grown into an undoubtedly beautiful woman, she would have probably moved on and met someone new by now.

The thought of her dating someone else made him feel sick to his stomach and he pushed the thought from his mind as he waited impatiently for someone to answer the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open and he furrowed his brow as he was met with no one on the other side. At least he had thought it was no one until he realized that there was someone standing below him. He turned his attention downward and realized that there was a little girl standing in front of him. She had large green eyes that were shimmering with excitement, her smile stretched clear across her face, her hair was done up in braids with cute pink bows, and she had lovely caramel skin that caused her eyes to pop.

She couldn't have been older than two.

'Who is this...?' Damon thought to himself as he stared down into her innocent eyes. Riddled with memories of all of the children he had killed. He just wanted to protect this girl and he didn't even know who she was. But, she looked a lot like the woman that he loved and that made him love her, even if he didn't like what he was feeling in that moment.

"Hi there." She said with so much energy that he envied her. He wished that he still had such excitement in him and that he looked at the world with those eyes again. "Are you here to see mama?"

'Mama... Oh god, please no...' He tried to convince himself that there was a logical explanation. Perhaps Bonnie had moved out and someone else lived there now? He was at a loss for words as he stared at the little girl with a furrowed brow and a confused expression on his face. He had expected Bonnie to have moved on, though he had hoped she wouldn't, but he hadn't expected this.

"Mama!" The girl shouted.

"What is it..." A woman started as she walked into the room, her voice trailed off when she saw who was standing at her front door. It was like seeing a ghost. She had assumed that he had died. It was easier to sleep at night if he was dead to her. It was easier to love someone new if she thought that he was never coming back to her. And now he was standing before her wearing the uniform that tore them apart. She felt like she was going to break down in that moment.

Damon's eyes traveled over the gorgeous woman standing before him. She was wearing a dress that showed off her figure perfectly, and she had definitely matured. She was twenty years old now and she looked stunning. He caught her eyes with his and there was no more denying it. The woman standing across the room was Bonnie Bennett.

The look she was wearing matched his.

They both felt like they were seeing someone that they had never expected to see again, and neither of them knew what to say.

'She had a daughter...?' Damon wondered as he looked back down at the young girl who was now standing beside her mother and holding onto her leg. She looked just like her mother and he could already feel his heart warm as he saw the two of them together. But, he also felt anger. Not toward them, but toward himself. He had thrown away this. That could have been his family standing before him and instead some other man was in love with her and had been there when they had their daughter.

Years of military training couldn't have prepared him for the pain that he felt in that moment.

A man entered the room and he wrapped his arm around Bonnie's shoulders, pulling her close to him. Damon recognized the man. They had gone to high school together. His name was Marcel. In that moment as he watched the three of them standing together, he broke. He couldn't take it anymore. They looked like a happy family and he was envious of it. He had nothing left to show and he had lost it all chasing silly and pointless dreams in the name of a man who had hardly loved him at all.

"Who is our guest?" Marcel asked with a knowing grin.

"Damon... He was in your class in high school, remember?" Bonnie asked her husband with a smile. "We used to be really good friends."

"I'm sorry." Damon apologized. "I shouldn't have come by." With that he turned and started out of the door he couldn't stand being in that house any longer.

"Wait, Damon!"

'I Could Tell By Your Actions, And The Words That You Spoke,

That You'd Lost Someone Close, And Your Heart Was Half Broken.'

Elijah was sitting in his office in Original Corp.'s official building. It was just outside of Precinct Three and he spent most of his time there trying to provide for his family. Today was a very important day at the company. Many people were receiving news of promotion and he was waiting anxiously to see if he too would be receiving one.

If he got a promotion it would change his entire life.

He would have to work less and he would get paid more. Which meant that he would have more time to spend with the woman he loved and their daughter, and he would also have more money to help sustain their living situation. It would be a win-win. For now though, all that he could do was wait and finish up his work.

As he signed one of the documents he had just read over, a smile spread on his lips and his eyes landed on the photos that he had sitting all over his desk. They were a constant reminder of why he worked so hard. In one of the pictures, he and Hayley were standing and smiling on their wedding day. In another Hayley was pregnant and he had his hand on her baby bump. Then there was a photo from their daughter, Elizabeth's, first Christmas and birthday.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly glanced up to see who it was.

"Come in."

One of the other employee's popped his head inside and told him, "The boss wants to see you."

This was a big deal. No one ever saw the boss. Not unless they were getting promoted or fired. His heart started to race as he thought about all of the possibilities. A promotion would save his family and being fired would destroy them.

"Thank you. Tell him I will be up in just a moment."

'It's Come To Another Night, Filled With Cold Sweats,

Lucid Dreams In Restless Sleep. Oh Woe Is Me, Woe Is Me.'

He lifted the glass bottle to his lips and he downed another gulp of bourbon as he walked through the alleyway. Somewhere along the line since he left Bonnie's house, the sun had gone down and darkness had filled the sky. Now here he was, drunk off of his ass, regretting every decision he ever made and hating himself. Damon knew that he couldn't blame anyone else but himself, but he couldn't control the rage he was feeling.

"I finally get back." He shouted, laughing insanely. "And she has a fucking daughter?!"

Damon took another drink of the alcohol and he stumbled over a pothole nearly falling to the ground. He didn't care though. Honestly, if he fell and died in the street it would be a blessing, because he had only been staying alive to see Bonnie again. For five years he fought and nearly died, but he had to live just to see her again.

"I shoulda never left." He slurred drunkenly. "I shoulda just stayed like she asked! If I stayed that would be our daughter!" He screamed these words with such anger that he didn't even know he possessed. Over the years he had lost all of his innocence and now he was full of hatred and regret. Throwing the bottle he watched as it smashed into a million pieces against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"I shoulda fucking stayed."

Damon started to stumble through the alley again and that was when he heard something behind him. He had been trained to listen to these sort of things and always be prepared and even in his intoxicated state he was still aware. Turning, he looked behind himself and yelled. "Who are you and what do you want!? I have a gun!" He said these words with a devious and demented half smirk and a playful sing-song tone of voice. He didn't care anymore.

When no one responded he waved his hand and turned back around heading toward the hotel that he was staying at. He had hoped to stay at Bonnie's but seeing as her husband and daughter were there he didn't feel like he could.

"Aw, I didn't even get to say hi to Grams." He stated sarcastically. The older woman had never approved of him.

He snapped his head around when he heard another noise and he looked around for the source. "Okay seriously, who's there?"

Damon took a few steps back into the alley, looking around for the person who was obviously following him. With a raise of his brow he smirked and started to sing, "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Standing in silence he waited to see if something moved, but everything was silent and he was starting to think that it was just the alcohol and the paranoia of battle messing with his head. After being on that battlefield you started to fear for your life around every corner. He laughed and turned back around. "I must be going nuts."

A plastic bag was abruptly pulled over his head and tied tightly around his neck. He couldn't see and in his drunken state he couldn't fight back as he wheezed into the bag and tried to breathe. The person pulled him to the ground and Damon felt everything going black as he lost all of the oxygen in his lungs. He attempted to struggle and scream, but it was futile. He knew in that moment that he was going to die. He would never see Bonnie again. He would never see his friends back at the base. He would never fight with Stefan again.

His life was over.

'And Oh My God,

Do You Do This Out Of Love?'

He was standing in the bosses office staring at the back of a chair and waiting for the man to turn around. He didn't even know what the man looked like, he had only heard rumors around the building and he was feeling anxious. Yet, he remained composed. Standing with proper posture he waited for the other man to turn around before speaking.

The room was vast and full of beautiful sculptures. The walls of the room were all glass and they looked out into the biggest city in the country.

It was more than an office.

Elijah envied him. He also strove to be like him one day. One day he would run the company.

A few minutes passed by and the boss still hadn't turned around or said anything, so he took it upon himself to start the conversation. Perhaps he was waiting for him to do so? Taking a step toward his desk he spoke in a loud and punctual voice, "Excuse me, sir. You wanted to speak with me about something?"

Silence still filled the room and Elijah's heart was starting to pound in his chest as he cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow. There was something very odd about whatever was going on and he didn't quite understand it. He was worried that this was the man's sick way of firing someone and he couldn't handle the thought of losing his job.

Not now that Hayley was pregnant with their second child.

Eliijah took another step toward his desk and he spoke in a louder voice. "Sir."

As he attempted to take another step in his direction, a plastic bag was wrapped around his head and pulled tightly against his throat. He tried to scream and kick the person off of him, but there were many people and they were holding him down as they waited for the air to leave his body. Elijah tried to breathe, but it was to no avail as everything went black around him.

'Oh, How I've Wronged You My Love.'

Author's Note :

I have had this idea in my head for a while, but I didn't really know if y'all would like it! This will be my first Haylijah fic and it should have an equal balance between Haylijah and Bamon for the most part! This story will have supernatural beings in it, vampirism will be introduced in the next chapter and things will get pretty dark and twisted!

If y'all are interested in this idea than please leave me some reviews telling me what y'all think so that I know and can add the next chapter!

What do y'all think of Bamon? What about Damon's past do y'all want to know more about Kol and his friendship during the war? Do y'all like Boncel so far? What about Haylijah and their family!? What do you guys want to see with them? Who do you guys think is behind this and what are your ideas for why they are kidnapping them?!

Alright! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!

I love you all!

-Tracy Cook-