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 Ten

'I Rely On Myself, Just Making Sure That Was Clear.

I'm Not In Need Of Your Crutches, I've Faced All My Fears.'

"Bonnie,

I don't know why you have not written me back. My biggest fear is that the war has swept you away with it and I will never see you again. Kol, the roommate that I told you about in my other letters, keeps trying to get me to go out and meet girls with him. He keeps insisting that you don't love me any more, but I've told him over and over that there is only one girl for me.

And that is you.

I hope that some part of you feels the same way about me. I'm scared that I will return and you will have moved on with another man and left me behind. I'm scared to see you again after so many years of silence. It makes me wonder if the love I felt for you was always one-sided. If you only ever saw us as friends. I wish that you would answer me, even if the words would be painful.

All I want to know is if you want to spend the rest of your life with me as badly as I want to spend mine with you.

If not, you can tear up my letters asking for your hand in marriage, you can forget I ever asked and we can be friends again. I will support you with whoever you are dating now, I will love you no matter what. As long as I am a part of your life.

I'm keeping this letter short and sweet.

I was only writing to tell you that I am heading home in a few weeks and I want to see you again. Your house will be my first stop.

Love always,

Damon.'

Green eyes scanned the page for what had to be the millionth time in the last six months. She couldn't stop rereading the letter. She read it every night before she went to sleep, she read it every morning when she woke up. Her mind was consumed with memories of him and thoughts of a future that she could have had with him. A future that was taken away from the two of them by Marcel.

The page was crumpled from being folded too many times and tear stains had smeared the ink. But, for the most part it was intact. The letter, and her daughter, were the two most important things in her life. She cherished them.

She raised a shaky hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks before pressing her lips tightly together and folding the letter back up.

"I guess you didn't really miss much." Bonnie muttered to herself as she stuffed the letter under the old makeshift mattress that she had been sleeping on. Six months ago they had been quarantined in a large environment surrounded by towering walls. They called it Precinct 31. They were told that the war had gotten so violent that they had to keep the civilians hidden away and they would be safe in Precinct 31 because no one else knew about it.

What they didn't seem to care about was giving them the essentials needed to survive.

They didn't provide them with much food, or water, or shelter, or medicine. Basically, they just threw them out into a Precinct that more resembled a sewer filled with garbage, and then they left them there. The doors were sealed so that they could not escape.

Stefan, Kol, Sheila, and her, were what they considered well-off in Precinct 31. They were living in a large pipe which served as a shelter from both wind and rain, and they had some blankets, some food saved up, a few makeshift mattresses that the boys had put together for the girls to sleep on, and they had some boxes for storage.

Most people had it worse.

Bonnie had to remind herself of that every day.

She cast her eyes out of the opening of the large pipe-like structure and she watched as the rain slowed. She had been waiting all day for it to stop raining in hopes that she could take a walk and get some food. They were running out and Sheila would be hungry by mid-day.

At the moment she was sleeping with the boys. Bonnie watched as she snuggled up against Kol's chest and Stefan had an added arm around her for warmth. It was freezing out. Sometimes she would sleep with her mother and sometimes she would sleep in her "own" bed, which usually consisted of both men trying to snuggle on the mattress because it was nicer than the concrete.

She approached her sleeping daughter and reached down to stroke her cheek and give her a small kiss on the head. Her skin felt cold to the touch and it scared her.

In Precinct 31 if you got sick you usually died.

Bonnie caught Stefan's eyes and offered him a small smile, "I'm going to go and get some food can you watch over her?"

"Of course." He said with a genuine smile.

She delivered one final kiss to her daughter's cold forehead and then she squeezed Stefan's shoulder as she headed out of the pipe and into the freezing cold wind of the Precinct. It was still drizzling and she could feel it as it hit her skin. Her body was shaking, but as she looked around she found herself so lost in her thoughts that she didn't mind the cold.

Every time that Bonnie decided to stroll through the Precinct she found herself thinking.

She would look up at the towering walls and wonder what was on the other side. She would wonder how it could possibly be worse than where they were living. She imagined that it was a wasteland covered in the bodies of men and women and children, nuclear waste covering the land, filling the air, the water contaminated. She often times imagined that everyone was dead. Including the people who had locked them inside the Precinct.

'Why else would they have never come back to check on us?'

She would see the people who were less fortunate and she would feel a tug of guilt in her chest. She had always had this urge to save people, to help out the less fortunate, but she just couldn't help everyone.

And honestly, people didn't want her help.

They all secluded themselves and hid away. People didn't talk to each other, they didn't trust each other, and they didn't care to know each other. All that they cared about was making sure that they and the people that they cared about were alive. Bonnie didn't know most of the people that lived within the walls, only the few people that she had seen when she took her strolls.

Most of them didn't return her smiles, they just looked away from her.

'Not all of them though...' Bonnie thought to herself as she saw a young man that she would never forget. Marcel.

Marcel was standing near one of the berry bushes, picking from it, and he stopped to smile in her direction and wave. He was always trying to be friendly and patch things up, but no matter what he did or said to apologize, she could never seem to find it in her to forgive him. In her mind he had sabotaged and ruined her entire life. In her mind he had been the reason that Damon died that night. The only thing that she thanked him for was their daughter. Sheila was the only good thing that came out of their marriage.

Deep down, Bonnie knew that was a lie.

There had been moments in their marriage that she had loved him very much. They had shared passionate nights, compassionate mornings, and romantic walks in the mid-day. They had spent five years together and they had been for the most part happily married, but now when she looked at him all she saw was a lie. The lie that all of their happiness was based on.

She didn't see much hope for the two of them, but there was always a chance someday she could forgive him.

That day just wasn't today.

She walked in his direction and started to pick berries from another one of the bushes, a ways away from him. She didn't want him to talk to her and try again to explain his actions. Her eyes met his and she saw what she hated seeing behind them. She saw hope.

'Bonnie could tell that Sheila was worried about what was going on between her mama and papa. A few weeks ago, she had kicked Marcel out, and every day since he had been bringing her gifts and flowers to try and make up for what he did. But, no amount of candy was going to fix it. She knew that. Every time she looked at him she felt anger and hatred. She felt even more angry because she loved him and now she knew that was all based on a lie.

This was a man who wanted her badly enough to truly plan every moment. He stole her mail. He made her miss the train. He manipulatively texted her. She couldn't forgive and forget that.

If Bonnie and Marcel ever got back together again, how could she possibly trust him?

She just wished that there was an easy way to tell her daughter about what was going on. How do you explain these things to someone who was so young? She only knew about true love like the movies. Where the prince and princess fall madly in love and live happily ever after. She wasn't supposed to know how dark love could be.

Sheila was resting her head against her mama's chest as she snuggled close to her. She was halfway between sleep and waking and she stared up at her with drowsy green eyes. "When's papa coming home?" She asked.

She was always asking this.

Every time she asked it broke Bonnie's heart. She wished more than anything she could make it work with Marcel, only for her daughter's sake. She knew what it was like to be raised in a broken family. Luckily she had always had her Grams.

"I told you sweetie. I don't know when papa is coming home." Bonnie told her with a sad smile, running a reassuring hand over her daughter's back. "Papa and mama had a fight, he did some pretty bad things."

"Bad things?" Sheila asked with a furrowed brow. She knew what being bad was, she did it all the time and got in trouble for it. "Is he in timeout?"

She couldn't help but laugh. Though, the accuracy was more than a little off-putting. In a way he sort of was in timeout, only it could be forever. "Yeah, kind of." She explained. "I just don't think papa will be around much for a while."

"I miss him." She said.

"Yeah, me too." It was true. Bonnie did miss him. Bonnie missed the Marcel that she had married, the man who had comforted her in her time of need, not the man who had caused her pain. Not the man who had broken her heart.

A knock at the door caused them both to sit up and stare at it. Stefan and Kol were playing video games in the living room and they hadn't expected anyone else. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she knew who it was.

Her assumption was proven right when she heard yelling, "Bon-Bon! Please, answer the door! I need to talk to you!"

"Papa!" Sheila exclaimed, jumping out of the bed and running to open the front door. Bonnie quickly rushed after her daughter.

When the two year old pulled the door open, they were met with a sad sight before them. Marcel was standing in front of the door, a bottle of vodka in his hand, and he was wobbling. He could barely walk or talk due to the alcohol in his system and he had tears shimmering in his eyes. "Please, Bon-Bon, I know I messed up! I know I did! I just-I just-" He paused and nearly fell over as he took a step into the house, gripping the door frame to stabilize himself.

"Marcel, I think you should go." Bonnie told him. It hurt to see him like this. So broken and hopeless, but it was his fault. "I'll drive you home."

"No, no, no!" He shouted. "Wait!"

Silence filled the room and she crossed her arms over her chest waiting for her husband to explain himself. There was nothing that he could say to change her mind.

"I just-I did what I did because I loved you! You always loved him more and I just wanted a chance! I know what I did was wrong." Marcel swallowed hard and tried to focus on what he was saying. "What I did was so wrong and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you just let me, please? Please? For us, for our daughter."

Bonnie's chest tightened painfully and she placed a protective hand on Sheila's shoulder. "Marcel, I want to say yes. I just don't think I can ever look at you the same way again."

"That's okay! That's fine! I'll prove to you I'm not a liar! I'll prove that I can love you right!"

"If you really loved me you would have wanted me to do what made me happy." She whispered sadly.

"I know! I was a foolish kid back then and when I finally realized how terrible I was being it was too late! I couldn't lose you!" Tears were falling from his eyes and with each tear that fell Bonnie felt her heart shatter. "Please."

Suddenly, there was a man walking up behind Marcel, aiming a gun at his head. Bonnie screamed and pushed her daughter back into the house, but there was a man standing inside of her house as well. They grabbed her daughter and they held a gun to her head. None of them moved, they were too scared that they were going to be shot.

Bonnie's eyes were on Sheila. The poor girl was crying and shaking in fear. She just wanted to reach out and hold her and hide her away from the dark world they lived in.

"Come with us, or we will kill you!" The man shouted at her.

Marcel was drunk and he was acting stupid, his anger amplified by the alcohol and his commonsense lowered, he started to fight back. The men grabbed his arms tightly and he thrashed around and screamed. The barrel of the gun pressed hard against the back of the man's head.

"Are you Bonnie Bennett?" The man in the helmet asked her.

"Yes."

"Is this man a part of your family?"

Bonnie hesitated on answering the question. She didn't understand why she was being asked, and she didn't really know how to answer it on the spot. He was the father of her child, of course he was a part of her family.

"If he isn't then I am afraid we must kill him." He said the words with such simplicity that it was terrifying.

Marcel stared over at Bonnie with pleading eyes and she knew that no matter what had happened between the two of them, she couldn't let them kill him, he was still important to her, she still loved him and so did their daughter. "Yes, he's the father of my child!"

Marcel never stopped watching her as she picked the berries. From time to time he would stop by and say hi to Sheila, but Bonnie never really spoke to him anymore. Mostly because he refused to just be friends. Every time that she had tried, he had jumped right into asking her if she would ever forgive him and take him back.

She wasn't ready to be in a relationship with him or anyone.

She didn't know if she would ever be ready to be in a relationship again after everything that had happened.

When Bonnie turned to walk away from him, she lifted her hand and gave him a small friendly wave goodbye. She didn't do it to give him hope. She did it to see him smile. She always thought he had such a handsome smile.

'You're Scared, Can't Come To Terms With What You Are.

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, Will Only Lead You So Far.'

Six months.

They had been following the orders of a psychopath for six long months and they still had yet to visit their families. Every time that they asked Niklaus, they were turned down, they were told that in time they would get the opportunity to visit Precinct 31. That they would get to spend time with their families in this lavish facility that he had created.

Damon continued to bite his tongue and clench his jaw tight. He had followed orders for five long years with the hopes of seeing Bonnie again. What was a few more months?

At least that had been what he had been telling himself. Now he was starting to have his doubts. He was starting to question if Bonnie was even alive? If Precinct 31 even existed? And if Niklaus had been feeding them bullshit for the last six months. 'It sure as hell feels like it.' He thought to himself as he sat in the bar and sipped on his bourbon.

Elijah and Rebekah sitting across from him at the table, sipping on their respective alcoholic beverages.

Over the last six months, they had managed to conquer seventeen Precincts. They now had an army of "bloodsuckers" that reached into the thousands. "Bloodsuckers." That was a term that the people had coined for them. There were a list of names used for them, including the classic "vampire" in some parts of the country, but the most common was "bloodsuckers."

People in the Precincts that hadn't been touched by their darkness spoke of them, they spoke of how they had killed so many innocent people all over the world. They spoke of the monsters in the night with veins in their eyes. They spoke of them like they were a myth.

Damon supposed it was easier for them to believe that it was the military killing so many people. That they were victims of war. Not innocent people being slaughtered and changed into monsters in some ultimate search for world domination. It made him feel sick. He hated himself for the things that he had done, the people that he had killed. It was worse then the war, because at least then he didn't feel so selfish.

When he was fighting in the war, he wasn't only fighting for his family and his happiness, he was fighting for his country. For millions of people.

Now, he was doing it purely for himself and the people he loved.

He was doing it purely for the idea of some sanctuary that probably didn't exist.

Damon could recall one particularly terrible thing that he had done and it haunted him every single night. Elijah, Rebekah, and him, all walked into Precinct 17, pretending to be victims of war so that they would let them in. They pretended to be victims of the "bloodsuckers" so that the innocent people would open the gates to them and let them inside. The people of the Precinct had taken care of them, they had given them a room to stay in, they had fed them, they had helped them.

Over the months they had learnt to control their urges and cravings for blood and with that they had learnt to control the veins beneath their eyes. This allowed them the ability to walk the streets disguised. No one knew that they were dead. No one knew that they were monsters.

And after the people had helped them and given them supper, they had killed them all and eaten them instead.

He could still recall the way that their blood felt rushing through his veins. The way that they had tasted and how much he had liked it and hated himself for liking it. Now they were to do the same to the people of Precinct 18. Niklaus wanted them to kill and change them all. He wanted to control everyone on the face of the planet and he was starting to doubt in him. He was starting to think that Precinct 31 was a sham and everyone he loved was already dead.

He was losing his drive to keep fighting.

Damon finished his drink and set the glass down hard on the table. "I'm starting to think that Klaus is feeding us a load of bullshit about Precinct 31."

"Starting to think?" Rebekah asked in a sarcastic tone as she stirred her drink and stared down into it. She had been doubting things since the moment he said them. He was a power crazy madman that was playing off of their hope. He was using it to get what he wanted. "I have been saying that for months now. Every time we ask anyone about it they don't have a bloody clue what Precinct 31 is or where it is located."

The blonde paused to lift her drink to her lips, sipping from the small straw and eyeing Damon from across the table. "If you ask me, Precinct 31 is a complete sham."

She was the only one of them that did not have much to lose. Her and Matt had broken up a while back, she didn't have a daughter. The only thing that she was fighting for was Hayley, Elijah, and Elizabeth. She loved them all, but she had her doubts if they were alive. Too many things weren't adding up. Nik was getting everything that he wanted and he wasn't providing any evidence that they would get what they wanted.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right, Blondie." Damon sighed.

He was so tired of fighting. Every day was a struggle for him and he just wanted to give up. In a perfect world he would be married to Bonnie, he would help her raise her child and they would have many children of their own. This was the furthest thing from a perfect world though. Who could raise a family in this world? How could he ever be what she needed now that he was a monster?

"Perhaps it is time that we test this theory?" Elijah spoke up, as proper as ever.

Damon had watched the man sitting across from him rip the bones from people's bodies and use them to kill other people, and yet he still managed to sound like a perfect gentleman. It was insane.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked with a waggle of his brows and a smirk on his lips.

"Niklaus has given us two weeks to cool down from the last Precinct we overtook." He told them. "Perhaps we should take these two weeks and put them to use. I suggest that we go out in search of this so-called Precinct 31 and we find out for ourselves if it does in fact exist or not." Elijah shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, but inside he was a mess of emotions.

He missed his wife, he missed his child. Every day he thought about how he hadn't been there for his daughter's birthday. He wondered if she thought that her father had abandoned her? He wondered if she was alive at all.

"And what if Nik finds out?" Rebekah asked in a worried tone. The torture that he inflicted upon the people that disobeyed him was painful and eternal.

"He gave us two weeks to be free." Elijah reminded. "What we do with those weeks should be no concern of his."

Damon's smirk stretched from one ear to the other as he listened to his plan. They had superhuman speed and they would be able to search the country fast enough to be back in time, not to mention their enhanced senses would help them find their loved ones. He was done taking orders. It was time to take back control over his life.

"Count me in."

'When I'm Alone, It's Like I'm Staring Into A Mirror,

I Don't Know The Person Inside It, That's Never Been Any Clearer.'

Bonnie had decided to take a walk around the grounds today instead of heading right back to her shelter. She immediately regretted her decision. The sight of people suffering caused her to feel immense guilt. All that she wanted to do was find some way to brighten up their lives, to give them more than they had, but no one had anything to give.

She saw children suffering from illness that would ultimately die and she wanted to give them medicine, but she had none. She saw people sleeping out in the cold, their skin tinted blue, and she had no blankets to offer them. It made her feel selfish that she had blankets to keep her daughter and herself warm, but she couldn't give them away. She wished that she could.

One family in particular stood out to her.

It was just a mother and a daughter and she could have sworn that she recognized them.

'That can't possibly be them...' Bonnie told herself as she headed toward the two of them. As she got closer she realized that it was them. It was Hayley and Elizabeth from Damon's memorial. They were sleeping on the ground in the freezing cold, her daughter clinging to her body for warmth, both shivering. She felt her heart break for them. She knew that Hayley had lost her husband in the explosion, she had been forced to raise her daughter alone, and she had already lost so much.

She couldn't handle the sight. There was plenty of room, back in the pipe that she had been sleeping in, for two more people.

As she reached the two of them, she knelt down beside their sleeping forms. "Hey." She whispered, trying not to scare either of them.

Brown eyes fluttered open and Hayley furrowed her brow in confusion as she stared up at the woman. Her first inclination was to scream, but then she realized that she recognized her. She was at Elijah's memorial with her husband and daughter. "Uh, hi?" She asked, pushing herself into a seated position, Elizabeth now waking up.

"You might not recognize me, but I was at the memorial for the Original Corp victims." Bonnie reminded, in case the other woman didn't remember who she was. She could see it in her eyes though. She remembered her.

"Yeah, I know." Hayley said with a small smile. She hadn't met anyone in Precinct 31 that she recognized and even if Bonnie was practically a stranger it was nice to see a familiar face. "I remember, you were there with your daughter and husband." She watched as the girl visibly flinched at the word husband and she wondered what had happened between the two of them.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Elizabeth cried out, holding onto her stomach.

"I'm sorry sweetie, we don't have any food. We'll have to go and get some a little later."

"I just went and got some actually." Bonnie said with a smile as she reached into the pockets of her jacket, pulling out a handful of berries. Elizabeth eagerly sat up and started to take some of the berries from her hand, stuffing them into her mouth. It was evident that she hadn't eaten much. Both of them looked to have lost weight since the last time Bonnie had seen them.

"What do you say, Elizabeth?" Hayley scolded.

"Thank you!"

"It's no problem at all." Bonnie insisted. "Actually, we have a pretty good shelter on the other side of the Precinct. Four of us live there now, but there is plenty of room for two more."

"I wouldn't want to impose." She quickly declined. She felt like she would be a burden on Bonnie and the other people that lived with her if she and her daughter moved in with them.

"You wouldn't be imposing at all!" She smiled brightly, green eyes shimmering happily. "We have plenty of room and food, and you could always help us gather water and supplies."

"Are you sure?"

"I insist."

'Don't Go Thinking This Was A Waste Of Time,

I Couldn't Forget You If I Tried.'

Author's Note :

Thank you all so much for supporting this fic! I decided to add another chapter because it has been a while, I hope that y'all like it! The next chapter will FINALLY have Bamon and Haylijah reunited! Are y'all excited for it!? Please tell me what you thought of this chapter? What about Marcel and his attempts back into her life? What about Damon/Elijah/Bekah's plan? Do y'all like that Hayley and Bonnie will be living together now? :)) What would y'all like to see!?

Thank you so much for sticking with me! I love you guys!

-Tracy Cook-