A/N: I'm posting mostly because it's Bamon Day. May 10th.

What you need to know: It starts with those final moments in 5x22 and then enters the world of fantasy from there. I changed somethings as I do not exactly follow the events that happened in canon, just FYI.

The ripcord was being pulled like an adhesive bandage from a wound. It took layers off. It was gum numbingly painful, but in matters of survival one couldn't be soft. Markos was determined to get the hell out of hell before it stopped existing for good. He stomped through Mystic Falls' cemetery letting whatever little honing device in him lead him to the anchor. He caught her figure looming next to a gate waiting for another of her friends to arrive. Grin in place, Markos quickened his steps, saw Bonnie spin around. She was no longer alone. It didn't matter to Markos; he was fully prepared to fight his way back into the world.

"We're running out of time!" Bonnie yelled over the howling wind. So far the only ones to make it through were Luke, Tyler, Enzo, and a very grumpy and weepy-eyed Elena. Thrusting out her hand Bonnie waited impatiently for either Alaric or Lexi to latch on.

The two long-dead vampires glanced at one another. Alaric waved a hand in front of him. "Ladies first." He refrained from adding on that Lexi should have the honor since she had been dead the longest between the pair of them.

Resolutely Lexi shook her head. "Stefan and Damon aren't here yet. Every person who goes through Bonnie brings her one step closer to death. I won't go until they go through first."

Either way Bonnie just wanted them to get on with it. She couldn't be diplomatic in a time like this as her own uncertainty loomed and grew bigger like a stain seeking out more room to grow.

"Alaric!" Bonnie cried through semi-clenched teeth.

"If they won't go I'll certainly take their place," Markos bombarded his way past Lexi and the former high school teacher.

Bonnie's eyes widened and she was prepared to flash back into reality. She watched as Alaric tackled Markos to the ground. The two of them started brawling. Lexi jumped in, kicking Markos in the stomach while he was laid out flat on his back. He grunted, recovered, and…

The void opened once more and sucked Markos into it. And since Alaric had been holding on to him…he went with him.

Bonnie could do nothing but stare with enlarged eyes. Lexi shared the same expression of disbelief while trying to keep her hair from whipping in every which direction. There was no time to mourn him, only time to keep things moving.

The Salvatore brothers arrived at the tail end of their ascension to who the fuck knew where, and Bonnie allowed herself a tiny moment of joy that she could send the others back without interruption, and it would be all over with.

"Was that Ric?" Stefan asked.

"Yes," Lexi replied.

"Come on!" Bonnie yelled over the roar of the wind that seemed to increase in density and speed. "Hurry!" In the back of her mind Bonnie had a feeling Liv was growing increasingly weaker and her brother Luke wasn't going to stand by and let his twin kill herself to save people who weren't friends or even close acquaintances.

Lexi and Stefan stepped forward. Each took one of Bonnie's hands. They evaporated in a blinding white light and it felt like a knife had been thrust into her chest. She gasped for a breath finding them harder to come by, but she straightened as much as she could. Blood was rising up her esophagus, her strength evaporating. Damon was next and last.

He eyed her speculatively noting Bonnie didn't look so good, looked drained and as if she were going to die at any second. He opened his mouth to ask if she were all right. She wobbled but it could have been due to the wind.

Bonnie shook her head, lifted a finger. "Just go home," she weakly waved him over. Damon took the three steps necessary to stand right in front of her.

The pale blue light glinted off her skin, and probably for the first time in a long time, Damon realized how beautiful she was and not just her exterior. There was a lot he could say, a joke he could make to kind of lessen the awkwardness, but he stood still as Bonnie raised her hands to touch him.

"Tell them I love them," she said and wrapped her tiny hands on his leather clad biceps not giving him the opportunity to say she could tell them herself.

Bonnie crashed to her knees after sending Damon back. Coughing violently, the wind thrashed her short hair around, the strands poking her eyes and cheeks leaving welts behind, or at least that's how it felt. She spat out of a wad of saliva and blood and unconsciously materialized in the real world. Her friends were standing some distance away, but perked up having heard Jeremy frantically calling her name.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy screamed.

"Bonnie!" Elena cried.

"Ohmygod Bonnie!" Caroline shrieked.

Caroline, Elena, and Jeremy started running toward her, but she disappeared before they could reach her.

The pale blue light began to glow brighter but there was no warmth to it. The wind was so strong Bonnie couldn't keep her eyes open against it. She closed them feeling the tears roll and immediately be swept away. The pain of sending everyone back…she could barely feel it now. She had watched her grandmother disappear into the ether after declaring she found peace. She would do the same.

Stretching her arms wide while still on her knees, Bonnie tilted her head back accepting her fate.

"Peace. Let me find peace."

She squirmed, let out a pitiful noise right before springing up in bed, panting and balling the sheets in her fists. A hammer started beating right above her right eye socket and her mouth had the consistency of paste. With pulse and migraine working in concert, Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and willed the throbbing in her body to go away.

Opening her lids, Bonnie glanced around at first unsure of where she was, but as she continued to appraise her surroundings the answer came easy enough. She was at the boardinghouse. The dark paneled walls and masculine furniture were cursors of that. Although the only rooms she had ever spent any deal of time in had been the library, living room, and one of the parlors, only twice had Bonnie stepped foot inside Damon's room. And if she were guessing right, she'd say it's where she was.

This couldn't be right. She couldn't step foot into Mystic Falls. Did that mean…with the destruction of the other side it took Traveler magic with it? Bonnie couldn't even wrap her head around that possibility. It was hard enough to think as it stood.

Lowering her eyes to the large bed she was tucked into, Bonnie stifled a scream.

Yes, being in Damon's room, in his bed was very disconcerting. Added to that, being in his room, in his bed in a silk nightie made her light-headed. Bonnie's little green eyes expanded. The panic and alarm she felt made her headache rage even more.

Speaking of head, Bonnie had ignored this feeling before yet was becoming conscious of it now. Her hair tickled the middle of her spine, shoulders, and brushed along her forearms. Her eyes bulged out of shock. Lifting her hands, they combed through the long, black strands sprouting from her scalp. Her hair hadn't been this length since her sophomore year in high school, and it certainly had never been pure, midnight black. What the hell? What had her grandmother done? Was she alive again? How much time had passed since those final, painful moments standing on the other side to now?

The ensuing questions were interrupted when the door burst open scaring her shitless. Bonnie jumped and refused to blink as Damon Salvatore filled up the doorway. He stared at her as she stared right back. Her eyebrows elevated once Damon began smiling at her in a way he had never smiled at her or anyone (that she knew of) before.

In two strides he was across the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. He reached for her hand, which made Bonnie inwardly recoil because she was unused to him touching her. Someone else had entered the room, and seeing Elena made Bonnie relax somewhat. Her ease melted, however, when Damon's head lowered and he kissed her hand.

Ummm?

"Oh, thank God, Bonnie," Elena breathed as she rushed over. She stopped short as Damon whipped his head to scowl at her though Bonnie couldn't see it. Elena seemingly deflated right in front of Bonnie who watched her best friend become demure, folding her hands in front of herself, eyes glued to the floor. "I'm glad you're well."

Damon turned to Bonnie wearing that same smile which softened his features. He cupped her cheek, thumb brushing over the apple shocking Bonnie again.

"And I'm glad you're awake," he said. "How do you feel?"

Bonnie maneuvered her face out of his touch, bothered by him caressing her. She hadn't forgotten his pointing the fireplace poker at her chest like it was a sword.

If she saw correctly, a look of hurt flashed in his eyes that Damon blinked away a second later. "How do you feel, Bonnie?"

"Right now…confused."

"I imagine you would be. You've been in a coma for five days."

"Five days?" Bonnie parroted in disbelief. There was no way her hair could grow to its present length in five days. No way in the world Damon Salvatore would treat her like…hell she didn't know but not like this in five days.

Bonnie shot a look at Elena who was still staring at her shoes. What the hell was her deal? Why wasn't she looking at her? Why wasn't she shoving Damon aside? Hell, why wasn't Elena looking annoyed her boyfriend or whatever they were calling themselves this week was being awfully touchy-feely with her best friend? "What happened?"

"It's my fault," Elena finally snapped out of her weirdness. "If I had been more vigilant…"

"Elena," Damon cut her off, "not now. Fetch Bonnie something to eat. Think you can manage that without screwing it up?"

Color blotted Elena's cheeks, "Yes, of course."

Bonnie's jaw dropped and she felt herself becoming indignant. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she addressed Damon.

Damon blinked at her, genuinely confused. His brows pinched together. "Plenty of things but if you could narrow it down…"

"Why are you talking to Elena like she's a servant?" she then pinned said person with an incredulous stare. "And why are you letting him?"

Her questions went unanswered as Damon and Elena appraised Bonnie like they were trying to get a read on her, figure out the cause of her asking a rather strange question. Bonnie could do nothing but sit there waiting for one of them to speak, say something, make some kind of sense out of this bullshit.

Somewhat to Bonnie's relief, a look passed between the lovers as they came to some kind of agreement. Her relief died ten seconds later.

"Give us a moment," Damon shooed Elena out of the room who went without complaint.

Bonnie had absolutely no words.

"To think," Damon started talking once they were alone, "I was beginning to miss the sound of your voice, but here you are just as judgey as ever. I'm relieved and irritated, I want you to know."

"I'm sorry but none of this is making sense. Why am I here at the boardinghouse and in your room, Damon?"

An indescribable expression tightened the corners of his mouth. "I'm going to call up Dr. Yang and have her come take a look at you. Do you need help with anything?"

Yes, she did. She needed help understanding why Damon was being uncharacteristically nice to her. Yes, she may have saved his life and that of his brother's; he had never been big on doling out his gratitude before. Why had Elena appeared almost scared of Damon when they're supposed to be in love with one another? None of this was adding up or aligning with the facts as she knew them, lived them. Was she still the anchor or was she back to being a witch or did she even have powers?

The questions swirling around Bonnie's head collided with the bile in her stomach.

"Can you answer something?" Bonnie began tentatively. At Damon's nod she continued, "What happened to me?"

Fury made his eyes look wild for a moment, and that strangely comforted Bonnie because at least she was used to that side of Damon. He expelled a breath and let go of her hand that Bonnie had forgotten he had been holding all this time. Her skin felt cold and bereft, leading her to frown.

"You were ambushed, having snuck off the property after I specifically told you it was too dangerous to be out," Damon chided.

The frown Bonnie wore deepened. That didn't line up with her version of her last memory at all. That suspicion she had, grew.

"I can only assume you thought you'd be all right having Elena with you, but she can be just as naïve. Anyways, you two were attacked at some dance club off Route 23. If Tyler hadn't been able to track you down I don't even…I don't even want to think what could have happened, but what happened to you was bad enough. You took a pretty hard hit on the head, according to Elena, and a Spathi did something to your magic."

"A what?" Bonnie tossed the covers aside and climbed out of bed. This was information overload, yet everything Damon was revealing made Bonnie feel suffocated with cold, stark fear. She was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if she said as much they'd think she was crazy. "Damon that's not…I don't think…"

Elena reentered the room bearing a tray of food. Bonnie became cognizant of her attire or lack thereof, and the fact she was standing in front of her best friend's boyfriend dressed in next to nothing. Bonnie's cheeks warmed and she looked around for a robe, towel, something to cover up because the nightie she wore stopped literally inches under her ass. All she could do was cross her arms and legs, which didn't do much or stop Damon from leisurely looking her up and down.

Bonnie glared, "Stop looking at me like that."

An easy smile curled his lips, "You never minded before."

She gaped at him. Elena sat the tray down on the bedside table like there was nothing wrong with this picture, like it was normal. But it wasn't normal for Bonnie. Her discomfort was palpable, and by the turn of Damon's head it seemed he finally caught on.

He stood from the bed, feeling discouraged by Bonnie's strange behavior and her unsettling confusion. "I'm going to call Dr. Yang. Eat something and get dressed," he left the room.

Bonnie sighed in relief. She reached for Elena's wrist, yanked her toward the bathroom where she turned on the sink faucet so they wouldn't be overheard.

"I don't know what the hell is going on, Elena, but I need answers. Why am I in Damon's room? Why are you not mad at the way he's talked to you? What the hell is a Spathi?"

"Bon…you need to calm down. Your heart rate is too elevated."

"Don't tell me to calm down when just hours ago, or an hour ago I was bringing you and everyone you cared about back from the other side, the strain of it nearly killing me."

Elena's brow furrowed. Question marks dancing around her head.

Bonnie exhaled harshly. She wasn't going to get anything useful out of Elena, she could tell. "Okay, can you tell me if you and Damon are still together?" Bonnie figured she'd start with the basics and then work her way up to the heavy duty stuff.

"Damon and I together? Like dating?"

"Yes!"

"No! He hates me. You know that."

Bonnie could no longer feel the floor under her feet. She shook her head. "Damon hates you? That makes no sense."

"He's never felt I was competent enough to protect you," Elena went on to explain, her visage puckering with irritation if Bonnie were reading things properly. She was lost in a lot of things, but lost as to what irritated Elena more. Damon's lack of faith or the fact Elena had to protect her?

"Protect me from what? I'm the one who usually protects everyone," Bonnie grumbled under her breath.

Elena heard her regardless.

She turned off the faucet, studying Bonnie carefully. Her behavior was off, including her manner, even the way she talked especially to Damon. Not to mention she seemed convinced another set of events happened that led to her coma. Bonnie's heart hadn't slowed once since she regained consciousness. Perhaps the injury she suffered had more damaging effects that would be seen in the coming days. The Arch Witch would not be pleased with this, Elena thought gloomily knowing she would be punished because of her failure to do her duty. But she'd accept it because what happened to Bonnie was her fault.

"I think you might be suffering from some mild form of amnesia," Elena deduced.

Bonnie's eyes went heavenward. "I can assure you, I'm not. The problem is…I'm not your Bonnie Bennett. Grams did something…"

"You think the Arch Witch did something to you?"

"What?" Bonnie breathed in shock. "Grams…"

"She's not going to be happy when she gets back from Axum," Elena stood a little taller, her chin going up. "If you want to have me reassigned I'll understand."

"Elena…please…I don't…"

"I failed you, Duchessina."

Duchessina? Bonnie's blank look spurred Elena into action to plead her case. Her words ran into each other.

"Can you tell me some facts," Bonnie interrupted her verbal diarrhea. "Maybe something will jog my memory."

Elena sucked in a breath, relieved she wasn't being dismissed, at least not yet. "Umm…you know your name. You're the granddaughter of the Arch Witch of Virginia, and daughter of the high priestess of Mystic Falls. You're nineteen, studying and well on your way to becoming a very powerful mage. Turquoise is your favorite color, and your favorite thing to eat is blueberries and walnuts mixed together with a little yogurt on the side."

Elena nearly added what she had been speculating for weeks. That Bonnie was madly in love with the commander of her guard, despite being possibly months away from becoming betrothed to the son of an ambassador from a neighboring coven. If dowry negotiations didn't continue to drag on. She kept that tidbit to herself.

"Does that clear up any confusion, Duchessina?"

"Why do you call me that?"

"It's your official title."

"So I'm royalty?" the befuddlement was plain enough for a dog to recognize. Bonnie waited for Elena to answer and she did with a nod.

"Yes, your lineage goes back two thousand years. Your family basically rules the southeast, mid-Atlantic, and New England states, Duch—,"

"—please call me Bonnie."

If Elena had any doubts about Bonnie's cognitive state, they were gone as she was sure the young witch was suffering from amnesia. This was not good. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

"We were partying?" Bonnie said.

"Yes."

"And then we were attacked?"

"Yes."

"By what or whom?"

Elena blew out a breath, tucked a stand of hair behind her ear as she delved into the events that led to her charge suffering a head injury, and her magic being tampered with.

Bonnie turned to face the mirror while Elena spoke; most all of what she was saying was fantastical rubbish. They were attacked by magic stealing demons, perfect. Bonnie was having a very difficult time reconciling how being dropped into another Bonnie Bennett's life—this one fighting demons—equated peace in Grams' mind. Were the pros the fact her grandmother was alive, her mom might actually be a participant in her life, and her family was actually powerful and thriving? Was it a pro that someone like Damon actually gave a damn about her life?

It was almost too much for Bonnie to process. So she examined herself.

The same face and body she was accustomed to, reflected back at her. Other than her hair being longer and, under the recessed lighting she saw had red low lights, nothing about her was changed. She looked well-fed, well-pampered. The soft material of the nightgown, its lacy detailing spelled expensive. Looking at herself nothing suggested she was suffering from being ambushed at any minute by the spirit of a dead supernatural being. Nothing said she had lost her entire family and was basically an orphan with a paper thin support structure. She was not a corporeal ghost living on borrowed time. She was the Bonnie before vampires but still foreign.

A lukewarm hand slipped on her shoulder. Bonnie snapped her gaze to the left.

She was alone in the bathroom with Damon. He didn't smile at her, but his hand fell away and he retraced his steps to the door, closing it softly. Elena had vanished somewhere.

Bonnie's mouth moved but she couldn't speak. She forewent turning to face him, but continued to eye Damon through the mirror. Her muscles tensed as Damon came to stand behind her. Her breath hitched and her brows lifted along her forehead the moment the vampire she wasn't so fond of, wound his arms around her waist bringing her flush against him.

As freaked out as this was making her…and it was…Damon willingly touching her in an unnervingly affectionate way…a strange part of Bonnie responded to it, which made her growl lowly because it wasn't right.

"If you ever make me worry like that again," he whispered in her ear, "I'm putting you over my knee, Duchessina."

Bonnie dug her nails into Damon's flesh which made him wince, but not loosen his grip. He chuckled a little. She should have known he'd find pain kinky.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and she knew this question would seem absurd since she wasn't automatically ordering Damon to take his gotdamn arms from around her. Nevertheless, she was going to ask it anyways.

"What is today's date?"

Damon answered, "May 10th."

She would remember it. Bonnie would remember it as the day she entered hell.

A/N: Thoughts? I'm supposed to be shuffling off to retirement not posting more stories that could become multi-chapter fics. *shrugs at my own inability to walk away* But I had an idea of an AU S6 of Bonnie taking over the life of another Bonnie Bennett in which she's mad loved, respected, and protected but using mythology from another supernatural series I've been reading for years; if anyone is familiar with the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. And I know the idea of Elena protecting anyone is laughable, you can stop laughing now, lol. I'm not promising to continue this, but I just wanted to share what I had so far. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.